IMPROVEMENTS IN' THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOUND WELDED STEEL AND IRON PLATES, BARS, RODS AND OTHER ARTICLES OR PIECES
Year: 1882

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Alfred Leslie Stanley Leighs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 14th October 1882.
ALFRED LESLIE STANLEY LEIGHS, of Borough Road, in the County of Surrey,
Engineer IMPROVEMENTS IN' THE MANUFACTURE OF COMPOUND WELDED STEEL
AND IRON PLATES, BARS, RODS AND OTHER ARTICLES OR PIECES
My invention relates partly to the manufacture of compound metal plates or
plates of steel and iron welded together to be employed as armour for ships, forts
and the like, or to be used in the construction of armour to be worn upon the
person, and also applicable for various purposes to which such compound plates
have not hitherto been applied, such as edge plates for carriages, screens and
coverings for ambulance and other waggons, and for a number of purposes to which
iron plates have heretofore been applied.
My invention also relates to the manufacture of bars or rods, links for chains,
and other articles, of iron and steel welded together with the weld extending in
the proper direction. The said bars or rods are especially adapted for use where
great strength combined with lightness is required, such as, for axles or shafts, back
bones and other parts of bicycles.
Compound Armour plates have been heretofore made of a steel plate welded to
an iron plate, but in every case both these plates have been of considerable thickness.
I have discovered that the steel plate at or near the point where the weld is
effected is harder, tougher and more capable of resisting strains or blows than any
other material heretofore employed. One part of my said invention is based upon
this discovery, and consists essentially in welding a steel plate to an iron plate and
then removing the steel by any suitable means until the iron plate has only a thin
facing of steel which is extremely hard and tough owing to its proximity to the
weld, and which can, moreover, be still further hardened and toughened by
tempering in any suitable manner.
In carrying this part of my invention into practice it is necessary that the steel
plates, and, in some cases, the iron plates also, should be of greater thickness than is
required for the steel and iron in the compound plate when manufactured, because
it is impossible to properly weld thin steel and iron plates, I, therefore, roll or grind
D17

page_text: the compound plates until only the required thickness of steel remains, which in
some cases is not more than one fiftieth part of an inch. For ordinary armour to
be worn upon the person or for screens and coverings for ambulance and other
waggons, or similar purposes, the steel and iron are both reduced by grinding or
otherwise until only the thickness of the weld is left. The outer surface of the
steel facing can be hardened by hammering and then polishing by means of buffs
which bring the temperature of the steel to a sufficiently high degreo to produce a
proper temper if the plate is plunged into cold water. The colour produced by the
tempering can afterwards be removed without altering the temper.
Another part of my invention is based upon the discovery that, if bars, rods, links
or similar articles are formed of iron and steel welded togetlier, with the weld
extending in the proper direction, they are capable of withstanding greater strains
than when the said articles are made of steel or iron alone.
In carrying this part of my invention into practice I form one half of the bar,
link, or other article of steel and the other half of iron and weld the two halves
together, by any suitable means in such a manner that the strain upon the said
article will be borne by the weld. For example, in inaking a shaft or axle, I take
a half-round bar of steel and a half-round bar of iron of the same length and weld
them together, and then finish the said shaft or axle by grinding, rolling or other
suitable micans.