IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING AND TEMPERING UMBRELLA RIB WIRE, EITHER SOLID OR PARAGON
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Robert Wright, the younger, of Sheffield,
in the County of York, Steel and Wire Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING AND TEMPERING UMBRELLA
RIB WIRE, EITHER SOLID OR PARAGON."
Sealed the 7th March 1876, and dated the 11th September 1875.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Robert Wright
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th September 1875.
I, JOSEPH ROBERT WRIGHT, the younger, of Sheffield, in the County
of York, Steel and Wire Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
my said Invention for “IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING and Tempering UMBRELLA
RIB WIRE, EITHER SOLID OR PARAGON,” to be as follows :-
My Invention relates to an improved method of hardening and
tempering either solid or paragon wire to be used for umbrella ribs, and
consists chiefly in passing the wire previously made to the section

page_text: required in continuous lengths, and before being cut into short lengths
for the ribs, through a pipe or bath containing molten lead, or through
a furnace or other suitable heating apparatus; it is then passed through
a vessel or hardening pan containing oil or other equivalent material,
and then through a second bath of molten lead, or through a furnace or
-other-suitable heating apparatus of either smaller dimensions or of a less
degree-of-heat-than the first-mentioned one, for the purpose of tempering
the wire; it is afterwards cut up into the desired lengths-by-the-usual.
cutting machinery or otherwise.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Robert Wright in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th March 1876.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROBERT WRIGHT, the younger, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Steel and Wire Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria; by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Robert Wright, the
younger, Her special license that 1, the said Joseph Robert Wright, the
younger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Joseph Robert Wright, the younger, my executors, admini-
_strators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN HARDENING
AND TEMPERING UMBRELLA RIB WIRE, EITHER SOLID OR PARAGON," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Robert Wright, the
younger, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
d'escribe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
.

page_text: 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 Joseph Robert Wright, the younger,
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 statementthereof :-
My Invention relates to an improved method of hardening and
tempering either the solid or the paragon wire to be used for umbrella
ribs, and consists chiefly in passing the wire already made to the section
required (before being cut off into short lengths for the ribs) in con-
tinuous lengths through a pipe or bath containing molten lead or a
furnace or other suitable heating apparatus; it then passes through a
vessel or hardening pan containing oil or other equivalent, and from
that through a second molten lead bath, furnace, or other heating
apparatus of either smaller dimensions or of a less degree of heat than
the first-mentioned one, for the purpose of tempèring the wire; it is
then cut up into the desired lengths by the usual cutting machinery or
by hand.
By my improved process of passing the wire in continuous lengths
through baths, &c., as above described, a uniform temper is obtained
throughout the entire length, whereas in the heretofore employed method
of cutting the wire into short lengths first, then heating them (the short
lengths) in pans, and plunging them into oil, and afterwards placing or
rolling them amongst heated bars or rods, some portions of the said
short lengths of wire were extremely hard and brittle, whilst others were
soft and would bend with only slight pressure.
Having thus described my improved method or process of hardening
and tempering umbrella rib wire, either solid or paragon, I would have
it understood that I do not confine myself to any particular size or shape
of vessel, bath, furnace, or heating apparatus which contains the molten
lead, oil, or other equivalent, or to the quantity of such molten lead, oil
or other equivalent; but what I claim as my Invention and believe to
be new is, the method or process of hardening and tempering umbrella
rib wire in continuous lengths by passing it through a series of baths,

page_text: vessels, furnaces, or other heating apparatus containing molten lead, oil,
or other equivalent, in manner and for purposes substantially as described
in the foregoing Specification.
In witness whereof, I,-the said Joseph Robert Wright, the younger,
have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eighth day of March,-
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
six.
JOSEPH ROBERT WRIGHT, JUNIOR. (L.S.)