CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FROM ZINC, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES
Year: 1844

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
NEWTON, at the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County of
Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Tenth day of July, in the eighth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Newton, my exors, adññiors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Newton, my exors, adññiors, 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 mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, an
Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WIRE FROM
ZINC, AND THE APPLICATION OF THE SAME TO VARIOUS USEFUL PURPOSES," being
a communication from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters
Patent is contained a proviso obliging me, the said William Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately-after the
date of the said in part 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 said
William Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon, that is to say:-
The principal object of the present Invention is the manufacture of wire
from zinc; and the description of this Invention, for which I have obtained
Her Majesty's Letters Patent, as aforesaid, has been communicated to me by
my Correspondent abroad, as follows:-
In commencing the manufacture of wire a plate or sheet of zine of about
the thickness of the wire intended to be produced is taken, and must be cut
into strips or rods by means of the ordinary shears or apparatus used for
slitting or cutting up iron, or the rotary cutters hereafter described may be
employed. These strips are cut off in widths equal to the thickness of the
metal plate so as to form square rods. These rods are then rounded off by
passing them between grooved rollers, after which they are passed through the
draw-plate, or they may be conducted direct to the drawplate without employ-
ing the grooved rollers. The operation of drawing is facilitated by greasing
the draw-plate. The Inventor prefers performing these operations without the
employment of heat. When wire of great length is required, which is always
an advantage, the circular cutters hereafter described, and which form an
integral part of this Invention, are employed.
. In order that the Invention, and the manner of carrying the same into
effect, may be perfectly understood, I have shewn in the accompanying Drawings
various views of the machinery employed for the purpose of cutting the metal
into long strips. Fig. 1 is a plan or top view of the machine; Fig. 2, a side cleva-
tion; Fig. 3, a transverse section taken in the line A, B, of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4, a
front elevation. Similar letters indicate corresponding parts in all the Figures.
a, a, Fig. 2, is the framework of cast iron; 6 and 6, two iron shafts; c and c',
two steel discs mounted on the shafts b, b'; and d, an iron screw. The
shafts b, b', are mounted in bearings in the framework parallel to cach other,
and are furnished with cog wheels of equal diameter, which wheels take into each
other. The shaft b is furnished at one end with fast and loose pullies f and f
and at the other end the circular steel disc c is firmly mounted upon the shoulder.
Another steel disc c' is also mounted in a similar manner on the shaft ;
these two discs form a cutter. The shaft carries a second cog wheel, which
screw d by means of the small intermediate
shaft and cog wheels n and n'. The screw d is mounted in such a manner
communicates motion to the
9
.

page_text: us to be capable of turning freely on its axis. h is a female screw which slides
upon the table k of the framework, and is for the purpose of supporting and
guiding the sheet of zinc to be cut. It has a round knob or projection at the
top, which enters a hole pierced in the centre of the sheet. Supposing motion
to be communicated to the shaft 6 by means of the driving pulley, the shaft b¹
will be caused to turn in a contrary direction, causing the rotary cutters c and
c to revolve in opposite directions. The screw d will also be made to turn on
its axis, and thereby cause the guide h carrying the sheet of metal to advance
towards the cutters. This guide will advance a certain distance according to
the intended width of the strip to be cut from the sheet of metal; the vertical
cutters turning in contrary directions will cause the horizontal sheet of metal
to move round upon its centre. The strip of zinc thus cut will be wound off
upon the conical drum or barrel m fixed at the side of the machine (as seen
in Fig. 3), and to which motion is communicated by means of a small chain
passing round a cog wheel upon the shaft 6, and from thence to another cog
wheel fixed loosely upon the drum shaft, and causing it to turn by friction of
contact. This arrangement is necessary in order to prevent the zinc from
breaking from any sudden strain arising from a variation in the speed of tho
machine. The width of the strips is varied by changing the two small cog'
wheels n, n, severally fixed upon the intermediate shaft g and screw d. The
screw guide is made in two parts in order to facilitate its removal from the
screw d, and save time by preventing the necessity of turning the screw in a
contrary direction for some length of time, when it is necessary to move it
back to any required distance from the cutters. Instead of the wheels n, n',
two concs with driving band may be employed, in order to vary the speed of
the screw as the diameter of the sheet diminishes without putting any part of
the machine out of gear. Zine wire may also be produced by first passing rods
of zine previously formed by casting between grooved rollers in a heated state,
and when they have been sufficiently operated upon by the rollers, allowing
them to cool, and passing them in a cold state through the draw-plate in the
manner above mentioned. The preference is however to be given to the first-
described operation, which consists in cutting the zinc into strips before
operating upon it with the draw-plate.
Application of the wire to various purposes.-This wire may be employed
for the manufacture of metallic cloths or tissues, lattice work, &c., in the same
manner as other metallic wire. It may also be used for manufacturing books
and eyes, and other fastenings for wearing apparel, in the same manner as
those commonly made of brass, iron, or other metals; for ropes and cables; for
fastenings for bottles containing acrated water or other effervescing liquids; or

page_text: it may be covered with paper or other suitable substance, and used by milliners
or artificial flower makers. It may also be employed in horticulture, &c.
I claim, as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited
Letters Patent, first, the methods above described of manufacturing zinc wire,
either by casting in bars or rods and then rolling it down and afterwards
drawing it, or by cutting it into strips and then submitting it to the operation of
drawing; and also the arrangement of rotary cutters for cutting the zinc into
strips, as above described and shewn in the Drawing. Secondly, I claim the
application of zinc wire to the various purposes above set forth, such as the
manufacture of metallic fabrics, trellis work, hooks and eyes, or other fasten-
ings, and other similar purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Newton, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.