A NEW METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OR PREPARING IRON PLATES OR BLACK PLATES FOR TINNING
Year: 1829

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
MORGAN, of the Parish of Tipton, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturer of
Tin Plate, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by His
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Ninth day of September, in the tenth year of His reign,
did, for Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
Thomas Morgan, His especial licence, that I, the said Thomas Morgan, my
exors, admors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Morgan,
my exors, admors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times during the term of years therein ex-
pressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, my Invention of
"A NEW METHOD OF MANUFACTURING OR PREPARING IRON PLATES OR BLACK
PLATES FOR TINNING;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso
obliging me, the said Thomas Morgan, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my
said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to
cause the same to be enrolled in His said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within two calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had,
will. more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the snid
Thomas Morgan, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention
doth consist in doing away with the process of scaling altogether in the pre-
paration of iron or black plates for tinning, and using a process of clearing in
lieu thereof, thereby causing this latter process to be performed twice in the
course of preparing the plates for the purpose aforesaid. And in further com-
pliance with the said proviso, I, the said Thomas Morgan, do hereby declare
the manner in which my said Invention is to be performed by the following
description thereof; that is to say:
The bar from which the iron. plates, or black. plates are to be made is to be
rolled in the usual manner, but care should be taken to have the bar finished
with a clear surface; for which purpose the bar rolls should be kept in good
order, and the finishing grooves smooth, and the bar when rolled should be
plunged as quickly and with as little loss of heat as possible into cold water,
to clear off the scale. The bar is then to be cut into lengths and rolled into
plates in the usual way, but care should be taken not to overheat the bar
in the thick iron furnace, and to have a clear blue flame kept up in the
finishing furnace, that the plates may be as free from scaler and as mellow or
"soft as possible., Int cutting the edges of such plates as are intended to be
annealed together in a box or case, as herein-after is mentioned;,caro.should, be
taken to make them square on true and of equal size, so that, they may be
placed evenly in the box and none of their edges projecting beyond the rest,
by which means they can be better, annealed, than otherwise, they could.
When the black plates have been thus prepared they must be cleared or
pickled in sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol and water, in the same manner.asi is
now adopted in the scouring room in the last process prior to tinning (muriatic
acidior spirits softsalts, and perhaps some other acids might be used in this
process; but I believe sulphuric acid to be the best) Therobject of thus
clearing! or pickling ither plates is to remove all, oxydized and other rough
and hardoparticles from their surfaces, but they do not require to be so
perfectly cleared as in thetalasti process prior to. tinning, andr scouring, is
unnecessary in this process, it being sufficient to remove all particles, from
the surface of tho plates which would marks onsinjuret them in cold, rolling.
The pickle should be heated,fand bran and sawdust may be used therein in
this process as in the usual method of clearing or pickling the plates in the
scouring room prior to tinning and the plates must be kept well separated
'from each other, and not worked too tight, and occasionally, agitated,andi kept
in motion during the process so that the pickle may pass freely between them.
The plates will be found more difficult to clears in, this process than in that

page_text: prior.. to tinning, and will require to be kept longer in the pickle for that
purpose, but the length of time cannot be specified, as they must remain till
they are tolerably clear.. About half a box of black plates may be cleared.at
once in a hole or cistern of ordinary size, that is to say, of about twenty-
three inches in length by, fourteen inches in breadth, and if the plates have
been cold rolled: a greater number may be cleared at once in a hole of the
above size. To make. the pickle of proper': strength, about three quarters
of a pound, or from that quantity to about.a. pound: of sulphuric acid, will
generally be found sufficient to a gallon of water, and when a hole of plates
has been cleared about two quarts, or, from that quantity to a gallon of
the pickle, should be taken out of the hole and replaced by fresh pickle of
similar strength for each following hole of plates. The strength of the picklė
however, and the quantity necessary..to be changed with each hole. of plates,.
cannot be accurately stated, as they will vary, with the quality of the plates,
the heat of the pickle, and the strength of the sulphuric acid. Instend: of
throwing away such pickle as is above directed to be taken out of each hole
after the plates have been cleared, it will be. well. to put it into another hole.or.
cistern, and any plates which are difficult to clear may be pickled twice by
putting them first into such last-mentioned hole or cistern (which may be kept
up by occasionally adding a little fresh pickle if necessary), there to remain till:
they are removed into the hole, or cistern in which they are to be cleared,.as
above-mentioned. As the outside. plates are often difficult to clear, it would.
be better to have them pickled separately from the others, being first cold-
rolled, if necessary. When the plates have been thus cleared, they should.
be washed (scouring is unnecessary), and placed on their edges, apart from
each other, to dry. The drying should be effected as quickly as con-
venient, and for that purpose the plates should either be dried on a stone.or
dipped in hot water, previously to placing them on their edges to dry, and
if it be intended to anneal them in a box or case, as herein-after mentioned,.
it will be better to use the, hot water, and add to it a little quicklime; the
more effectually to remove any acid adhering to the plates. When the above"
process (which will prevent the necessity of scaling the plates) is completed,
the plates should be cold-rolled in the usual way, and 'afterwards annealed by:
either of the methods-now in-use; (that is to say?) either by steeping the plates.
in dilute muriatic acid, and heating them'in an open furnace, or by enclosing
them in an iron box or cases, in which they are annealed without the use of
dilute muriatic acid. In case of annealing, the plates in a box they should
be pressed tightly together, so as to admit as little air as possible between
them, and the box must be allowed to cool before it is opened. . Boxes of

page_text: various constructions have been used for annealing the plates, but those which
I have found most convenient have been about an inch and a half longer..and
broader in the clear than the plates they were intended. to: anneal, and from
four to five. inches deep in the clear, with two upright pins on each side of
the box, placed about three or four inches from each end, and fastened against.
the sides, or rivetted through the bottom of the box. The pins may be either
round or square, and about half an inch in diameter, and they should stand
so far above the top of the box as to reach about and inch and a half above
the lid when it is fitted down on the box. The lid. should be provided .with
corresponding-holes-to-let-the-pins-through. Through-each-pin+should-be
an opening the long way of the box, about the eighth-of an inch in width and
án. inch in length, and commencing half an inch-from the top-of the pin-to
let in a wedge, which, when driven in, will force down the lid, and keep the
plates tight together, for which purpose as many, plates, must be put in each
box as it can possibly hold, consistently with. the shutting down of, the lid.
The lid, sides, and bottom of the box may be about half an inch in thickness,
and the sides should be rabbetted for about half an inch from the top, and
the lid made to fit the rabbet.so as to be level with the sides. of the box when
it is on. The plates having been annealed are to be pickled or.cleared, and
scoured-in-the-usual-way-prior-to-their- being-tinned, and-it-would-be-well-to-
take out of every hole about a gallon of the pickle, after the clearing of such
box and plates; and to supply, the place with fresh pickle. The pickle. so
removed may be used in clearing.or.pickling the black plates the first time, in
the manner. herein-before directed to, be, adopted instead of sealing.. When
the plates have been annealed in a box; it sometimes happens that they do not
clear in the scouring,room prior to tinnning-so readily as, those which have
been annealed in an open furnace; in this case it may be well to take them
out of the pickle when about half cleared, scour them in the usual way, and
then return them into the pickle and complete the process of clearing. They
will not afterwards require to be again scoured prior to tinning, washings
being in this case-sufficient.
Now whereas I have detailed the ordinary processes for preparing the plates
for tinning, not, with a view of claiming them as my. Invention, but, because
-many manufacturers omit some of the particulars herein-before described;-
whereas it is important that they should all, be attended to, in order to S
obtain, the best result from my method of manufacturing, and whereas I claim
as my Invention the adoption of a process as herein-before described of clearing
instead of scaling iron or black plates in the course of preparing them for
tinning, and previous to their being cold, rolled and annealed, whereby the

page_text: iron lost in the scaling is saved, and a better article produced at a cheaper
rate. And such my Invention being, to the best of my knowledge and belief,
entirely new, and never before used within that part of His said Majesty's
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, His said
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Specification of the same, and that I do verily believe that this
my said Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve
or disguise with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters
Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain exclusive right
and privilege to my said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Morgan, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Twenty-ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-nine.
THOS MORGAN. (L.B.)
3 AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-ninth day of October, in
the year of our Lord 1829, the aforesaid Thomas Morgan came before our
said Lord the King in His Chancery and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.