A PREPARATION OR APPLICATION OF SUNDRY ARTICLES AND MATERIALS TO BE USED CHIEFLY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPPING OR MARINE PURPOSES
Year: 1800

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
COLLINS, of Greenwich, in the County of Kent, Esquire, send greeting..
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Third did, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date
at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of April, in the fortieth year of His
reign, give and grant unto me, the said William Collins, His especial licence,
that I, the said William Collins, during the term of years therein men-
tioned, should and lawfully might use, exercise, and vend, within England,.
Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of "A
PREPARATION OR APPLICATION OF SUNDRY ARTICLES AND MATERIALS TO BE
USED CHIEFLY FOR THE PRESERVATION OF SHIPPING OR MARINE PURPOSES;"
in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso obliging me, the
said William Collins, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to
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 His Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within one calendar month after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same (relation being thereunto had)
may more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Collins, do hereby declare that the explanation and description of
my Invention and Preparation of Sundry Articles and Materials, or the
Application thereof to the Preservation of Shipping or Marine Purposes, to
be as follows:-

page_text: r
The principle of one of my Inventions or improvements consists in applying
mixtures of various metals and semi-metals, in sheets, plates, or pieces, as a
substitute for copper sheets or any other materials which have hitherto been
applied to the purpose of preserving ships or vessels by sheathing or covering
their bottoms. I divide my Invention or improvements of this nature. into
three classes, which, from the appearances the .several. metallic compounds
exhibit, may be called red; yellow, and white sheathing.
1st. Of the red, which consists of copper, with a portion of zinc or tin or
other metal or semi-metal sufficient to render it close, compact, and less
liable to corrosion by sea water without destroying its ductility, so that the
mixture when cold may admit of extension by the laminating rollers or other
mechanical means. I have found out eight parts of copper to one part
zinc a good composition for the purpose;-but-the proportions may be varied to
any extent, or tin substituted for zinc, provided the ductility and other proper-
ties of the metal be preserved
2d. Of the yellow sheathing, which consists chiefly of zinc and copper, the
proportion of zinc being much larger than in the preceding class. This addi-
tional quantity of zinc produces a considerable change in ductility. The
compound, if exposed when cold to the action of the rollers, would be lace-
rated; and in order to render it capable of bearing the necessary mechanical
processes it must be heated, and in that state extended and spread out into á
proper forni, either by rolling, stamping or any other mode of pressure...
hundred parts, copper and eighty of zinc afford a good composition; but the
proportions may be varied, or other metallic substances added, provided the
property of bearing the mechanical process when heated be not destroyed.
The exact degree of heat is not defined, as it may vary according to the
nature of the metallic compound. I have found a low red heat proper for
the purpose of working the above composition.
..One
3d. Of the white sheathing, which consists of tin, lead; zinc, copper, regu-
lus of antimony, or any other metal or semi-metal capable of being mixed
together by heat, and formed either by casting or any other mechanical process
into plates or pieces, proper to lay upon a ship's bottom. Sixteen parts tin,
sixteen parts zinc, and one part copper form a good mixture.
In the foregoing description I have considered one example_in_each_class_as
.necessary to explain the nature of my Invention or improvement. I do not, how-
[ever consider any particular compound of metals or semi-metals, or any
mecha-
nical process which may be necessary to give the proper form, as constituting
my claim to an exclusive right (for all these may have been employed before
for other purposes), but I declare that my Invention and improvement, and the

page_text: principle thereof, consists in the application of various metallic or semi-metallic
compounds to a purpose to which they have not been before applied, and for
which they appear to me, from the "superior ability. to resist the corrosion.of
sea water; preferable to the materials at present in use. I declare another of
my Inventions or improvements to be the application of metals or metallic
'mixtures as a substitute for iron in the several parts of the chains and
saucers of the chain' pumps usually called Cole's Chain Pump! I have
found sixteen parts of copper to one and a half part of tin a good mixed metal
for this purpose, but copper alone, mechanically hardened or mixed with a
portion of zinc or a little more or less tin, will answer. I give the above 'as
an example, but by. no means confine myself to that mixture. I declare
another of my Inventions or improvements, to be the application of
leather rings; either edgewise or dished, as a substitute for the flat pieces
of leather hitherto applied to the saucers of chain pumps. By thus dimi-
nishing the surface (to which the contraction is always proportioned) the leathers
shrink less, and this shrinking has hitherto formed a material defect in chain
pumps, by suffering a large portion of the water to fall back. I also make the
working tube or chamber of metal, in lieu of. wood and. metal, preserving its
form; and presenting a smooth and equal surface to the leather rings, enables
my pump to work with more effect, and to preserve that, effect for a greater
length of time. I also use a circular bottom adapted to the saucers, either of
metal, durable wood, lined with metal or cast iron, in lieu of the iron roller
hitherto employed; by which means my pump draws off the water lower from
the ship's well. Another alteration consists in enabling the improved chain
pump to serve the purpose of a small. pump, commonly called a hand pump,
by fixing a toothed wheel on the sproket wheel or its axis, which, being driven by
a pinion of a size proportioned to the power to be applied, may be worked by
one, two, or more men, as circumstances may require. The advantages arising
from this improvement are, that the space taken up by the hand pump, as well
as the expence of it, will be saved, and any quantity of water, from five
hundredweight to three tons per minute, delivered by the chain pump only,
without any danger of choaking from the obstructions usually found in a ship's
well, to which most hand pumps are subject. The toothed wheel, by means of
a catch, also serves as a pall to prevent the wheel running back when the men
stop working.
In the foregoing description of my alterations in the chain pumps
for ships, I consider the machine, as improved by Captain Bentinck and
William Cole, to be well known to all persons interested therein. The want
of durability in the iron chain, the irregularity of the wood chamber, the

page_text: imperfections of the iron roller, at bottom, together with the shrinking of the
leathers, were defects so great in their pumps as to cause the machine to lose
near half its effect after being a short time in use; but the excellence of its
general principle for marine purposes induced me to attempt its improvement;
and having had proof of the superior excellence and utility of the machine, as
altered by me, I claim the benefit which may arise from an exclusive right to
make and vend such machines with the alterations or improvements here
described or any of them. The exclusive right to another improvement,
which I claim under the Patent, is the application of the several mixed metals
or semi-metals, as formed into plates or pieces to the covering of houses and
other buildings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Collins, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixteenth day of May, in the year of our Lord