IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL KNEES EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS, BUILDINGS, RAILWAY OR PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clay, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Iron Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN METAL
KNEES EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS, BUILDINGS, RAILWAY OR
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 19th
November 1857.
I, WILLIAM CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Manu-
facturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN METAL KNEES EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS, BUILDINGS, RAILWAY
OR OTHER WAGGONS OR CARRIAGES, OR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My Invention of improvements in metal knees employed in the construction
of ships, buildings, railway or other waggons or carriages, or other analogous
purposes, consists in the application of steel to the manufacture of such articles
in place of wrought or cast iron, as heretofore. By this means greatly
increased strength, as well as increased rigidity, is obtained, and I am therefore
enabled to make the articles lighter than when iron is employed.
An obvious modification of the above consists in making the knees from a
compound bar composed partly of steel and partly of iron, or of a material
known as homogeneous metal, or a mixture of iron and steel made into an
ingot and rolled down to the required form.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clay in the Great Seal Patent Offico on the 19th
May 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Nineteenth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twenty-first year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said William Clay, Her special license that I, the said William
Clay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Clay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
METAL KNEES EMPLOYED IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF SHIPS, BUILDINGS, RAILWAY OR
OTHER WAGGONS OR CARRIAGES, OR OTHER ANALOGOUS PURPOSES," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Clay, by an instrument in
writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to bo
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Clay, do hereby declaro the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to bo per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say):-
14
My Invention of "Improvements in Metal Knees employed in the Con-
struction of Ships, Buildings, Railway or other Waggons or Carriages, or
other Analogous Purposes," consists in the application of steel to the manu-
facture of such articles in place of wrought or cast iron as heretofore.
In carrying out my Invention I take a bloom ingot or bar of steel and roll
it down into a taper or other suitable form, such as is required for metal
knces for ships, buildings, railway or other waggons or carriages, by means of
a rolling mill and apparatus, such as is described in the Specification of a
Patent granted to me, and bearing date December Sixteenth, One thousand

page_text: eight hundred and forty-eight. I would remark, however, that although I
prefer to use the mechanical arrangement shewn and described in the Speci-
fication of my former Patent above referred to, it will be obvious that the
object may be effected by other mechanical contrivances, which are applicable
for rolling iron or other metal of a taper form; I do not, therefore, mean or
intend to confine myself to the use of any particular construction or arrange-
ment of rolling apparatus; and I would further remark that any desired
section may be employed according to the particular purpose for which the
knees are to be used. By making metal knees in this manner greatly
increased strength as well as increased rigidity is obtained, and I am therefore
enabled to make the articles much lighter than when iron is employed, as
heretofore.
An obvious modification of the above consists in making the knees (which
may be of any desired section) from a compound bar composed partly of steel
and partly of iron. When the knees are made from a compound bar composed
partly of steel and partly of iron, I prefer that the steel part of the bar should
be at that part of the knee which is subject to compression when the knee is
strained, and the iron part should be at that part which will be subjected to a
tensile strain. The material known as homogeneous metal, or a mixture of iron
and steel, made into an ingot and rolled down to the required form, may also be
employed for making knees, and will be found to be superior to the ordinary
iron knees.
Having now described my Invention, and the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim making metal knees employed in the construction of ships,
buildings, railway or other waggons or carriages, or other analogous purposes
of steel or a combination of steel and iron, as above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have bereunto set my
hand and seal, the Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM CLAY. (L.S.)