IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATING FOR VESSELS OF WAR, FLOATING OR LAND BATTERIES AND FORTIFICATIONS"
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, of Buckau, in the
Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer but at present residing at the West-
minster Palace Hotel, in the City of Westminster, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATING FOR VESSELS OF WAR, FLOATING OR
LAND BATTERIES AND FORTIFICATIONS"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste
Gruson at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 19th November 1866.
I, JAQUES HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of
Prussia, Engineer, but at present residing at the Westminster Palace Hotel,
in the City of Westminster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ARMOUR PLATING FOR VESSELS OF WAR, FLOATING OR LAND
BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS," to be as follows:--
My Invention of "Improvements in Armour Plating for Vessels of War,
Floating or Land Batteries, and Fortifications," consists in casting iron
[Price 8d.]

page_text: plates in the required form, and giving to the surface the requisite hardness
by employing chills or iron moulds.
The metal which 1 employ for the purpose of my present Invention is a
mixture of white and the best grey charcoal iron of a steely nature, taking
care to use selected qualities of the metals which are free from impurities,
and to employ them in such purity that a perfect mixture of the metals is
effected. In melting the metals in the cupola I decarbonise them to a
certain extent by using a very powerful blast; by employing the mixture of
metal, as above described, armour plates which have been hitherto made of
wrought iron may be made of cast iron in any requisite form and of the
requisite toughness and hardness, and great economy in the manufacture of
armour plates or other protecting iron plates may be effected. Cast-iron
plates so made will be found to possess an unusual amount of strength and
tenacity, and will be capable of resisting heavy blows.
In carrying out my Invention as applied to cast-iron plates for batteries or
turrets, iron moulds of the required size and form are to be constructed and
joined together so as to enable the plates to be cast in segments suited for
coating or covering the external face of the battery or turret. The larger
these segments can be made the better, as the thickness can then be increased
and the chilling can be carried deeper into the face of the plate, and the
resistance of the armour plating will thereby be increased.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 18th May 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAQUES
HERMANN AUGUSTE GRUSON, of Buckau, in the Kingdom of Prussia, Engineer,
but at present residing at the Westminster Palace Hotel, in the City of
Westminster, 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 sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, Her special licence that I,
the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no

page_text: 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 ARMOUR PLATING FOR VESSELS
OF WAR, FLOATING OR LAND BATTERIES, AND FORTIFICATIONS," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be 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 1, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson,
do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described, and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto
annexed, and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say): -
My Invention of Improvements in Armour Plating for Vessels of War,
Floating or Land Batteries, and Fortifications," consists in casting iron plates
in the required form, and giving to the surface the requisite hardness by
employing chills or iron moulds.
The metal which 1 employ for the purpose of my present Invention is a
mixture of white and the best grey charcoal iron of a steely nature, taking
care to use selected qualities of the metals which are free from impurities, and
to employ them in such purity that a perfect mixture of the metals is effected.
In melting the metals in the cupola I decarbonize them to a certain extent
by using a very powerful blast. By employing a mixture of metal as above
described armour plates which have been hitherto made of wrought iron may
be made as herein-after described of cast iron in any requisite form and of
the requisite toughness and hardness, and great economy in the manufacture
of armour plates or other protecting iron plates may be effected. Cast-iron
plates so made will be found to possess an unusual amount of strength and
tenacity and will be capable of resisting heavy blows.
In carrying out my Invention as applied to cast-iron plates for batteries or
turrets iron moulds of the required size and form are to be constructed and
joined together so as to enable the plates to be cast in segments suited for
coating or covering the external face of the battery or turret.
The larger
these segments can be made the better, as the thickness can then he increased
and the chilling can, as herein-after described, be carried deeper into the

page_text: face of the plate, and the resistance of the armour plating will thereby be
greatly increased.
Figures 1, 2 and 3, in the accompanying Drawing represent sectional
views of three different forms of armour plating adapted to fortifications.
Fig. 1 represents a turret which may be either fixed or moveable; Fig. 2
is a sectional view of a casemate; Fig. 3 represents part of a casemated
battery, or it may be adapted for a floating battery, or for an armour-plated
ship. It will be seen that in all these Figures the plating is made of a curved
or rounded form so as to cause any heavy projectiles to glance off when they
strike the plating. Armour plates of the forms shewn would be very expensive
if made of wrought iron or steel, as they would require to be bent and to be
planed or cut so as to bring them into the desired forms.
The construction of mould and mode of casting which I employ in carrying
out my Invention will be best understood by referring to Fig. 4, which re
presents a section of a mould suitable for casting a curved armour plate which
is to be chilled on both sides. It should, however, be understood that if
preferred the amour plate may be chilled and hardened on the outer side
only.
In Fig. 4, a, a, are metal sides of the mould in which the armour plate b is
to be cast by running the molten metal into the gate c and down the channel c'
to the bottom of the mould, into which it runs through suitable openings
provided there for the purpose. When the metal mould is filled the molten
metal will run over at the top and fall into a space d, d, made at the back of
the mould or behind the metal plates which form the mould. By adopting
this improved method of casting the cast plate will be prevented from cooling
too fast as the molten metal behind the mould will keep the latter hot and
cause the casting to cool gradually and form a plate having hard surfaces and
a strength and toughness not heretofore possessed by cast-iron plates. It will
of course be understood that the mould may be constructed to produce cast
plates of any desired form, according to the parts of the ship, battery, or
fortification to which the armour plating is to be applied. By casting the parts
in the required form in the manner described and chilling them to the depth
required armour plates of any required curvature and form may be made
without employing the expensive and tedious operation of bending and planing
and cutting the edges in the manner hitherto practised.
Having now described my Invention of "Improvements in Armour Plating
for Vessels of War, Floating or Land Batteries, and Fortifications," and having
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I claim as the Invention
secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid the manufacture of armour

page_text: plates by casting them and chilling their surfaces in the manner herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jaques Hermann Auguste Gruson, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Thirteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
J. H. A. GRUSON. (...)