AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOY, APPLICABLE TO THE CASTING OF TYPE AND.
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Besley, of Fann Street, Aldersgate Street, in
the City of London, Type Founder, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED
MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOY, APPLICABLE TO THE CASTING OF TYPE AND.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Besley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 28th
June 1855.
I, ROBERT BESLEY, of Fann Street, Aldersgate Street, in the City of London,
Type Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOY, APPLICABLE TO THE CASTING OF TYPE
AND OTHER ARTICLES," to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce a harder alloy than that com-
monly used in the casting of metal types and other printing and embossing
surfaces, which alloy shall be capable of, being run with facility into moulds or
dies, and so producing good counterpart impressions thereof. The ingredients
which I prefer to employ in the manufacture of this alloy are lead, regulus of
antimony, nickel, copper, zinc, and tin. The zinc is subjected to a white heat
to drive off any sulphur that it may contain, and while the zinc is in a fluid
state the nickel and copper are introduced. By continued stirring, the mixture
of these metals is effected, and a small quantity of lead is added thereto.
Another portion of lead is melted down with the regulus of antimony in a
separate vessel, and this mixture is then added to the fluid alloy above men
tioned. The whole is then subjected to a high degree of heat before any
attempt is made at clearing off.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Robert Besley in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
28th December 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ROBERT
BESLEY, of Fann Street, Aldersgate Street, in the City of London, Type Founder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the nineteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Robert Besley, Her special license that I, the said Robert Besley, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Robert
Besley, 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 "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF
METALLIC ALLOY, APPLICABLE TO THE CASTING OF TYPE AND OTHER ARTICLES," being
a; communication, from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Robert Besley, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Robert Besley, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly_described and ascertained in and by the following
statement (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to produce an alloy of a harder and tougher
quality than that commonly used in the casting of metal types, and having the
property (when in a molten state) of retaining its fluidity a sufficient time to
ensure a good casting when run into moulds or dies, and of setting quickly
when it has entered the moulds or dies.
It is well known that the alloy commonly used in the manufacture of print-
ing types is composed of lead, tin, and antimony, combined in various propor-
tions, according to the judgment and requirements of the type founder. The
best metal that can be made by the admixture of these bodies, is, however, an
imperfect compound, wanting strength and continually deteriorating while in a

page_text: molten state by the evaporation of that most important element antimony,
which action is taking place during the whole time that the manufacture is
proceeding. Now, in order to prevent this change in the quality of the same
pot of metal, and to ensure the production of a series of castings that shall be
perfectly homogeneous, I propose to add to the compound known as, type
metal certain substances which possess the property of fixing the antimony
and giving the alloy the other qualities which it seems to require. The sub-
stances which I employ for this purpose are nickel, which will impart hardness
to the alloy, and copper, which, besides giving additional toughness, appears to
act as a flux to the antimony, and ensures its complete amalgamation with
the other metals. I may remark that the result of a long series of experi-
ments has proved that these metals may be in part displaced by others which
play a somewhat similar part in the formation of the improved alloy. Thus,
by a diminution of the quantity of nickel, and the substitution in lieu of the
subtracted portion of nickel of an equivalent portion of metallic cobalt, the
required hardness will be obtained; and, further, by the addition of bismuth
in place of a small quantity of copper, (which, like the copper, also acts as a
flux,) I am enabled to produce a homogeneous compound, and also to ensure
the quick setting of the alloy. It will thus be understood that the substances
which I introduce by preference into the compound of lead, antimony, and tin,
in order to attain the objects above enumerated, are nickel, copper, metallic
cobalt, and bismuth; the nickel and cobalt being the materials used to give
bardness, and the copper being the medium by which these substances are
caused to unite with the antimony of the common type metal, while by
the introduction of the bismuth, (which has the well-known property of
passing instantly from fusing to fixity,) the setting of the alloy is somewhat
expedited.
The proportions that I have found best for the purpose contemplated are
as follows:-
100 parts of good virgin lead.
30
"
20
وو
regulus of antimony.
tin.

page_text: taining the antimony (with continued stirring), and the result will be a perfectly
homogeneous compound.
Having now set forth the nature of this Invention of "An Improved Manu-
facture of Metallic Alloy, applicable to the Casting of Types and other Articles,"
I wish it to be understood that, under the above in part recited Letters Patent,
I claim the means herein described for effecting the more thorough combina-
tion of the antimony with the other component parts of the alloy, and of greatly
increasing the hardness and toughness of the alloy without detracting from its
quality of being easily manipulated.
In witness whereof, I, the. said Robert. Besley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-eighth day of December, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
2
DADEDT DECLARY
D
ROBERT BESLEY
(SUT)