IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF BOILER TUBES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Wilde, of Manchester, in the County of
Lancaster, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF BOILER TUBES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN,
PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES."
Sealed the 15th August 1871, and dated the 8th June 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Wilde at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
8th June 1871.
I, HENRY WILDE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer; do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF BOILER TUBES, AND IN APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO OTHER PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
•
This Invention consists in coating iron boiler tubes with copper by the
currents derived from electro-magnetic induction machines for the

page_text: purpose of protecting them from the corrosive action of the chemical
substances contained in the water with which they are in contact.
In this improvement I take iron tubes that have been drawn or
rolled in the ordinary manner and place them in a bath of dilute
sulphuric or hydrochloric acid in which they remain until the scale or
oxide is easily removed from the surface by scouring with sand and
water. The interior surfaces of the tubes are protected from the action
of the solutions of copper by closing the ends with plugs of wood or
other suitable material. A film of copper is then deposited upon
the exterior surfaces of the tubes by immersing them in a bath of
cyanide of copper solution, and submitting them to the action of the
electric current from an electro-magnetic induction machine. The tubes
are then washed in clean water and immersed in a sulphate of copper
solution until by the action of the magneto-electric current a sufficient
thickness of copper has been deposited upon them. The tubes are
suspended in the vats containing the solutions from the polar extremities
of magnets, by which means the thickness of deposit at the points of
electrical contact is more equal than it would be if the tubes were
suspended by wires. This method of suspending the tubes by magnets
is also applicable for suspending other articles in electro-depositing
solutions.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Henry Wilde in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 7th December 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HENRY 2
WILDE, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-fourth s
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Henry Wilde, Her special licence that I, the
said Henry Wilde, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Henry Wilde, my executors, administrators, and

page_text: 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF
BOILER TUBES AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN, PARTLY APPLICABLE TO
OTHER PURPOSES," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Henry Wilde, 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 I, the said Henry Wilde, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
bo performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists in coating iron boiler tubes with copper by
the electric currents derived from electro-magnetic induction machines,
for the purpose of protecting them from the corrosive action of the
chemical substances contained in the water with which they are in
contact.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thercon.
Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation; Fig. 2 a plan; and Fig. 3 a transverse
section of the apparatus employed in the manufacture of my improved
boiler tubes.
a is an iron tube that has been drawn or rolled in the ordinary
manner, this tube is first placed in a bath of dilute sulphuric or hydro-
chloric acid in which it remains until the scale or oxide is easily removed
from the external surface by scouring with sand and water. The interior
surface of the tubo is protected from the action of the solutions of copper
by closing the ends with plugs 6 made of wood or other suitable material;
these plugs are held against the ends of the tube by the screwed rod c
and flanged nuts d. When the tube is thus prepared it is immersed

page_text: in a bath of the ordinary cyanide solution of copper and a film of
copper is deposited on its exterior surface by the action of the electric
currents from an electro-magnetic induction machine excited by
magneto-electricity. Any of the machines for which Letters Patent
were granted to me on the First day of December One thousand eight &
hundred and sixty-three, Number 3006; on the Twenty-sixth day of
October One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, No. 2762; or on
the Twenty-third day of March One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
seven, Number 842, or other machines embodying the same principles
may be employed for this purpose. The tube is then washed in clean ]
water and immersed in a sulphate solution of copper contained in
the vat e, along the sides of which are extended the positive copper
bands
copper
plates f, the ends of which are united by the
To one of
the bands g is connected the band of copper h, connected to the positive
』
The tube is sus- 1
terminal of the electro-magnetic induction machine.
g.
pended in this bath by the copper straps i, connected with the negative
pole of the machine by the copper band j, and the electric current is
transmitted through the solution until the requisite thickness of copper
has been deposited upon the tube. Iron tubes coated with copper in the
manner above described are more durable and less expensive than those 2
made of copper or brass. When the tubes are of small diameter they
may be suspended in the vats containing the depositing solutions from
the polar extremities of magnets connected to the negative pole of the
machine, by which means the thickness of deposit about the points
of electrical contact is more equal than it would be if they were sus- 2
pended by wires or straps, this mode of suspending and forming electrical
contacts is also applicable to other articles made of iron.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention and described a
convenient mode of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First. The coating of iron boiler tubes with copper by means of the
electric currents generated from electro-magnetic induction machincs
excited by magneto-electricity, and as the evolution of such electric
currents available for arts and manufactures is my discovery I do not
limit myself to the peculiar construction of electro-magnetic induction
machine employed.
Secondly. The apparatus for closing the ends of iron boiler tubes
during the process of electro-coppering of any equivalent apparatus for

page_text: the purpose of preventing the sulphate solution of copper from acting
upon their interior surfaces.
And thirdly. The making of electrical contacts in electro-depositing
solutions by means of magnets, in the manner and for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Wilde, have hereto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December One thousand eight
hundred and seventy-one.