IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES
Year: 1861

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Rigby, of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES."
Sealed the 26th September 1861, and dated the 15th July 1861.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Rigby at tho
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th July 1861.
I, WILLIAM RIGBY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES," to be as
follows:-
My improvements in the manufacture of armour plates consist in shaping
and finishing the same by the combined processes of hammering and rolling
in place of shaping and finishing such plates by either process alone, as pre-
viously practised.
Armour plates when manufactured and finished by the process of hammering
alone are not found to possess the fibrous character required in the iron
composing such plates, and when such plates are shaped and finished from an
early stage of their manufacture by the process of rolling alone, they are not
found to possess the solidity required for resisting the effects of heavy pro-
jectiles. Now, I bave found that by first manufacturing, shaping, extending,
and reducing such plates to a suitable thickness by hammering, and then
finishing the same by rolling them down to the thickness required, when
finished, that such plates are more solid than plates that are chiefly made and

page_text: finished by rolling alone, and that a fibrous character is imparted to the iron
by finishing them in the rolls, thus rendering them tougher and better adapted
for resisting the effects of heavy projectiles.
I would remark that I am aware that it is not altogether new to employ
the two processes of hammering and rolling in the first stages of the manu-
facture of armour plates, but in the subsequent processes of building together,
extending, and finishing such plates, they have been manufactured chiefly by
hammering or rolling alone; and my Invention consists in manufacturing and
shaping such plates first by hammering, and having reduced them to a suitable
thickness I finish the same by rolling them down to the thickness required, so
as to impart a fibrous character to the iron composing the same.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Rigby in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th January 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
RIGBY, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Rigby, Her special licence that I, the said William
Rigby, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said William Rigby, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARMOUR PLATES FOR DEFENSIVE PURPOSES,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Rigby, 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 s
Letters Patent.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Rigby, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof, that is to say:-
My improvements in the manufacture of armour plates consist in shaping
and finishing the same by the combined processes of hammering and rolling,
in place of shaping and finishing such plates by either process alone, as pre-
viously practised.
Armour plates when manufactured and finished by the process of hammering
alone are not found to possess the fibrous character required in the iron
composing such plates, and when such plates are shaped and finished from an
carly stage of their manufacture by the process of rolling alone, they are not
found to possess the solidity required for resisting the effects of heavy pro-
jectiles. Now, I have found that by first manufacturing, shaping, extending,
and reducing such plates to a suitable thickness by hammering, and then
finishing the same by rolling them down to the thickness required, when
finished, that such plates are more solid than plates that are chiefly made and
finished by rolling alone, and that a fibrous character is imparted to the iron
by finishing them in the rolls, thus rendering them tougher, and better adapted
for resisting the effects of heavy projectiles.
I would remark that I am aware that it is not altogether new to employ
the two processes of hammering and rolling in the first stages of the manu-
facture of armour plates, but in the subsequent processes of building together,
extending, and finishing such plates, they have been manufactured chiefly by
hammering or by rolling alone; and my Invention consists in manufacturing
and shaping such plates first by the process of hammering, as is well under-
stood, and having reduced them to a suitable thickness by this means, I finish
the same by rolling them down in suitable rolls to the thickness required, so
as to impart a fibrous character to the iron composing the same.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Rigby, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-one.
W. RIGBY. (L.S.)