IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLAT BANDS
Year: 1841

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS: SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
STIRLING NEWALL, of Gateshead, in the County of Durham, Wire Rope.
Manufacturers send greeting.
:
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her-
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Sixteenth day of November, in the fifth year of Her reign, did;
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me; the said Robert
Stirling Newall, Her especial, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I;
the said Robert Stirling Newall, my exors, admors, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Robert Stirling Newall, my exors, admors, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
during the term of years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FLAT
BANDS;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, that I, the said
Robert Stirling Newall, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear:

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Robert Stirling Newall, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following instrument in writing, and
by the Drawing therein referred to and hereto annexed:-
Flat bands, as hitherto used in this country in mining operations, driving
machinery, and for other purposes, are generally composed of hemp, leather
wire, or chains in various combinations; and the nature of my Invention con
sists in manufacturing such bands exclusively of iron or other metal, in the
several manners herein-after described.
My first improvement consists in manufacturing a flat band by subjecting a
piece of iron or other metal of good quality (and I prefer that known as the
best charcoal iron, manufactured in the usual way by rolling, and of suitable
weight and dimensions, according to the size of the band required,) to a process
of drawing through rectangular orifices or dies of hardened steel or other
material, in the same manner as in the ordinary and well-known processes of
tube or wire drawing..
The dies which I use are represented in end view, plan, and elevation at
Figures 1, 2, 3. a is a sole plate; b, a bridge, through the top of which the
screw c passes, for the purpose of regulating the breadth of the orifice between
the drawing edges d', d, the length of it being regulated by changing the
drawing edges d³, d. The pieces d³, d', are also made of various thicknesses
to suit the different draughts; and I recommend that they be so proportioned
that the four sides of the piece of metal shall be drawn at the same time. It
is of importance that the piece of metal to be operated upon be drawn through
the die in a straight line at right angles to its edge. The edges d³, d, are
made wider than the slot in the end of the bridge, so that they may not be
forced through it. The die is fastened to a bench by bolts. As it is difficult
to roll iron beyond a certain length, it may be convenient to draw it in a hot
state through dies; and as in the process of drawing, the metal becomes
hardened, it may be necessary to anneal it by heating it in a furnace, and
after the oxide has been removed from it by means of diluted sulphuric acid.
or other well-known means, to repeat the process of drawing when cold.
When a band of considerable length is required, it will be necessary, or.
it may be convenient to rivet two or more bands together; the method
in which this junction is effected is of considerable importance. Various
methods are shewn in the annexed Drawing, and I prefer those represented
in Figures 4 and 5 to that in Figure 6; scarfing the ends, and rivetting
in the manner recommended, is much preferable to welding or brazing,

page_text: as the operation of hammering in welding gives a brittleness to the metal,
which no subsequent process of annealing can remove, so as to give the bam-
mered part the same strength which it had before; and in brazing, the union
of the two metals is not such as can be depended on, or should be trusted to.
5 These bands when of iron may vary in thickness from one-twentieth to one-
fourth of an inch, and in breadth according to the strength required. Flat
bands manufactured in the way described will be found to possess greater
strength and durability than those of hemp or similar materials of the same
weight; and if extreme lightness, with the greatest degree of strength, be
required, steel may be used instead of iron. It may be advisable, in some
situations where the iron becomes rapidly corroded, to make the band of..
copper instead of iron or steel.
Having now described the nature of this my improvement in the manu-
.facture of flat bands, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I wish
it to be understood that I lay no claim to the exclusive use of the die, or of
the above-mentioned methods of rivetting, except so far as the same is or may
be necessary or useful in the manufacture of flat bands, as herein described.
And I hereby declare that what I claim in respect of this my first improve-
ment is, the manufacture of flat bands by drawing through dies, as herein
described.
My next improvement in flat bands consists in manufacturing them of a
combination of narrow bands or strips of iron or other metal, which bands,
for some purposes, particularly in deep mines, possess advantages over the flat
bands before described, on account of the greater security against accident or
sudden breaking, which such a combination presents.
The improved bands now spoken of are composed of strips of metal, arranged
side by side, and fastened to cross pieces, as represented in Figure 7. For
this purpose, I use metal drawn through dies, as above described, or metal
rolled in strips, taking care to select such as are free from flaws and straight;
or, if necessary, to cut their edges true and parallel, which may be done by
circular shears. The pieces, of which the flat band is to be composed, are
laid side by side, and kept in a state of equal tension by weights acting over
pullies, while the cross pieces, as at a, a, Figure 7, are rivetted on and joined.
at the end by a butt joint, as at b, or by an overlap joint, as at c. The cross
pieces may be from eighteen inches to five feet apart, the breadth and thick-
ness of the component pieces of the band varying according to circumstances.
And I hereby declare that what I claim in respect of my last-mentioned
improvement is, the combining several pieces or strips of metal, so as to
constitute a flat band, as herein-before described.

page_text: My third improvement consists in forming a flat band by weaving narrow
strips or wires of metal in a loom, the strips or wires which constitute the
warp being wound on separate bobbins, and kept at a uniform tension during
the operation of weaving.. It will in most cases be advisable to have the wire
used as the weft of smaller size than that used as the warp.
In witness whereof, I; the said Robert Stirling Newall, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our.
Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-two.