IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON POTS FOR MELTING SILVER AND OTHER METALS AND ALLOYS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1879

page_text: C. LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Thomas Andrews, of Handsworth, in the County
of Stafford, Manager of Works, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON POTS FOR MELTING SILVER AND OTHER
METALS AND ALLOYS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS TO BE USED IN THE SAID
MANUFACTURE."
Sealed the 31st October 1879, and dated the 13th May 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Thomas Andrews
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th May 1879.
JOSEPH THOMAS ANDREWS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Manager
of Works. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON POTS FOR
MELTING SILVER AND OTHER METALS AND ALLOYS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS
TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
Wrought iron pots used for melting silver are commonly forged or wrought by
hand.
My Invention consists in manufacturing the said silver melting pots and pots
for analogous purposes by the process or combination of processes, and by the use
of the tools or apparatus hereinafter described, whereby the manufacture of the
said melting pots is much facilitated and consequently economized. I will describe
the manufacture of the said wrought iron melting pots according to my Invention
in conjunction with the tools or apparatus which constitute part of my
Invention.
I cut out from wrought iron a circular disc or blank of the required size, and
I give the said disc or blank such a sectional figure that its edges or marginal parts
are thinner than the middle part of the disc or blank; the said marginal parts of
the disc having a bevilled or chamfered figure, the thickness of the metal at the
extreme chamfered edge of the disc being about one third that of the middle part.
The thin circumferential or marginal parts of the blank or disc having been raised
to a welding heat the said blank is operated upon in succession by a series of two
or more drawing through dies and a shaping or finishing die in conjunction with a
punch or plunger, the said punch or plunger forcing the blank or disc through and
into the dies and thereby fashioning it into a melting pot. Each of the drawing
Price 6d I

page_text: through dies has a taper hole in it, the taper of the said holes progressively
diminishing from the first to the last die, and the shaping or finishing die is cylin-
drical and has a closed hemi-spherical bottom. The punch used in the first stages
of the shaping process may either be conical or cylindrical, but the punch at the
finishing stage is cylindrical and its end corresponds in figure to the closed bottom
of the last or finishing die used. By the operation of the taper dies and their
plungers or punches the thin heated marginal parts of the blank are first gathered
in and a cupped taper figure given to the said blank, and by the operation of the
cylindrical or finishing die and its punch, the taper figure of the partly made pot
is converted into a cylindrical figure and a hemi-spherical bottom given to the
said pot.
In order to facilitate the removal of the punch or plunger from the shaped articlo
I make the said punch or plunger in three or more segmental parts expanded by
means of wedges. By removing theso wedges the punch contracts and may be
readily withdrawn from the shaped article.
I prefer to work the punch or plunger by hydraulic pressure, but I do not limit
myself thereto. When I use a hydraulic press I connect the punch to the ram of
the press and I fix the stationary taper and cylindrical dies to the head of the
press. As the ram is raised the punch carried by it forces the heated blank into
the fixed dic.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joseph Thomas Andrews in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st November 1879.
JOSEPH THOMAS ANDREWS, of Handsworth, in the County of Stafford, Manager
of Works. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT IRON POTS FOR
MELTING SILVER AND OTHER METALS AND ALLOYS, AND IN TOOLS OR APPARATUS
TO BE USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE."
Wrought iron pots used for melting silver are commonly forged or wrought by
band.
My Invention consists in manufacturing the said silver melting pots and pots
for analogous purposes by the process or combination of processes, and by the use
of the tools or apparatus herein after described, whereby the manufacture of the
said melting pots is much facilitated and consequently economized.
I will describe the manufacture of the said wrought iron melting pots according
to my Invention in conjunction with the tools or apparatus which constitute part
of my Invention.
I cut out from wrought iron a circular disc or blank of the required size, and I
give the said disc or blank such a sectional figure that its edges or marginal parts
are thinner than the middle part of the disc or blank, the said marginal parts of
the disc having a bevilled or chamfered figure, the thickness of the metal at the
extreme chamfered edge of the disc being about one third that of the middle part.
The thin circumferential or marginal parts of the blank or disc having been raised
to a welding heat, the said blank is operated upon in succession by a series of two
or more drawing through or raising dies and a shaping or finishing die, in con-
junction with punches or plungers, the said punches or plungers forcing the blank
or disc into the dies, and thereby fashioning it into a melting pot. Each of the
drawing through or raising dies has a taper hole in it the size of the said holes
progressively diminishing from the first to the last dic, and the shaping or finishing
die is cylindrical, or partly cylindrical and partly conical, and has a closed hemi-
spherical or other shaped bottom. The punch used in the first stages of the shaping
process may either be conical or cylindrical, but the punch at the finishing stage
is cylindrical, and its end corresponds in figure with the closed bottom of the last
or finishing die used.
By the operation of the taper dies and their plungers or punches, the thin heated
marginal parts of the blank are first gathered in and a cupped taper figure given
to the said blank, and by the operation of the cylindrical or finishing die and its
punch, the taper figure of the partly made pot is converted into a cylindrical figure,
and a hemi-spherical (or other shaped) bottom given to the said pot.
In order to facilitate the removal of the punch or plunger from the shaped
article, I make the said punch or plunger in three or more segmental parts expanded
by means of wedges. By removing these wedges the punch contracts and may be
readily withdrawn from the shaped article. The punch may also be readily removed
when made in one piece by first slightly annealing the pot.
I prefer to work the punches or plungers by hydraulic pressure, but I do not
limit myself thereto.
When I use a hydraulic press I connect the punch to the ram of the press and
I fix the stationary taper and cylindrical dies to the head of the press. As the
ram is raised the punch carried by it forces the heated blank through or into the
fixed die.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4 represent in section the four sets of drawing or shaping
and finishing tools which I use for fashioning the heated blank into a melting pot.

page_text: In Figures 1, 2, and 3, which are drawing or shaping tools, the dies into which the
blank or disc is forced are marked a and the conical lower tools or plungers are
marked The upper dies or tools a are stationary, and the lower tools or plungers b
are raised into the upper dies' to effect the shaping operation.
Figure 5 represents in section a portion of the upper die a, Figure 1, with the
wrought iron disc or blank c, c², entering the said die a by the ascent of the lower
tool or plunger b. The said disc or blank has the sectional figure represented;
that is, its edges or marginal parts c², c², are thinner than the middle part.c of the
blank. The thin marginal edges c², c², of the blank having been raised to a red
heat, the said disc or blank is placed on the top of the plunger b of the set of
tools, Figure 1, and the said plunger 6 raised so as to carry the said heated blank
into and give it the shape of the upper die a and the end of the plunger b as repre-
sented in the said Figure 1. The cupped blank or partly made pot, Figure 1, is
operated upon in succession by the pairs of drawing or shaping dies or tools
represented in Figures 2 and 3, so as to elongate the said cup or pot and reduce
its diameter. The partly made pot, after it has been operated upon in the dies,
Figure 3, is next operated upon in the pair of finishing dies or tools represented in
Figure 4, by the action of which its sides are brought nearly parallel to one
another, and the pot thereby converted into a cylindrical figure, as seen in the pair
of flanging dies, Figure 6, where a cylindrical pot is represented, that is to say,
the fixed die d, Figure 4, is partly conical and partly cylindrical, and has a
closed hemi-spherical top. The plunger e is cylindrical and has a hemi-spherical
end. As the plunger e ascends, the sides of the partly shaped pot, Figure 3,
are first closed upon the said plunger by the action of the conical part of the
upper die d and the pot is afterwards made to take the figure of the upper cylindrical
half of the die d, as will be understood by an examination of the Drawing. The
pot is thus completed, but if a flange is required at its mouth it is operated upon
by the flanging tools herein after described.
The blank may be shaped into a pot at one heat or may be heated before each
operation of the raising and finishing tools.
When a flange is required at the mouth of the pot I forge the said flange by the
use of the set of dies and tools represented in Figures 6, 6A, 7, and 8, Figure 6
representing the pair of dies before the flange is formed upon the pot; Figure 7,
a plan of the underside of the top die; and Figure 8, vertical sections of the pair
of dies; Figure 64 represents the pair of dies after they have operated upon the
edge of the pot and formed the flange.
The pot, after it leaves the pair of dies, Figure 4, has a greater depth than is
required in the finished pot, and from the upper edge of the said pot the flange is
made. The moveable dic f has the shape and size of the exterior of the pot as
represented, and the inner edge of the upper tool g has a shaping shoulder and recess
I made in it for upsetting and spreading laterally the metal at the mouth of the pot
so as to form the flange. The said shaping shoulder and recess & in the upper tool g
has the form best seen in the plan, Figure 7, and section, Figure 8. The left hand
section of Figure 8 is taken on the line C, D, Figure 7, and the right hand section
of Figure 8 is taken on the line A, B, Figure 7. The said shaping shoulder and
recess is expanded at i, i, for forming the lips or gripping parts of the pot, and is
furnished with a cross depression h² for forming the spout of the pot. The pot is
first heated and placed in the bottom die f, and a slightly taper mandril or plug k
is placed in it, as seen in Figures 6, 64, and 8. The bottom die fis then raised in
the press until it comes in contact with the top tool g, and by the action of both
tools f, g, the edge of the pot is upset, and spread laterally, and made to tako
the figure of the shaping shoulder and recess h, as represented in Figures 6 and 8,
so as to form the flange of the pot.
When a flat bottomed pot is to be made I use the pairs of tools represented in
Figures 9 and 10, instead of finishing the pot by the use of the pairs of tools,
Figures 3 and 4, that is to say, I take the pot made by the pairs of tools, Figures 1
and 2, and place it on the lower plunger or tool m, Figure 9, and raise the said

page_text: plunger m, so as to force the said pot into the upper tool or die l, and give a cylin-
drical figure to the pot. The partly made pot, Figure 9, is next placed on the
cylindrical plungern of the pair of tools, Figure 10, and by the ascent of the said
plungern the pot is forced into the upper tool p and its bottom flattened.
In making a flange on flat bottomed pots, the bottom of the lower tool of the
flanging tools, Figures 6, 6A, and 7 has a shape proper to receive the flat bottomed
pot. The plug has also a similar figure.
Although I prefer to use a wrought iron disc or blank of greatest thickness at its
middle, as represented in Figure 5, yet a blank of uniformn thickness throughout
may be employed, and although I have represented the tools or apparatus which I
prefer to use in carrying my Invention into effect, yet I do not limit myself thereto,
as a greater or less number of pairs of tools may be used to shape, or shape and
flange the pot. I use by preference hydraulic pressure for working the moveable
tools, but they may be worked by steam or other power, and the position of the
tools may be inverted, so that the plungers have a descending motion instead of an
ascending motion.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be perforined, I wish it to be understood that I claim as my Invention
of "Improvements in the Manufacture of Wrought Iron Pots for Melting Silver
and other Metals and Alloys, and in Tools or Apparatus to be Used in the said
Manufacture,"
Manufacturing the said melting pots by the process or combination of processes,
and by the use of the tools or apparatus herein before described and illustrated in
the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, manufacturing the said pots from circular
discs or blanks of wrought iron, having by preference the sectional figure described
and represented, heating the marginal parts of the said blanks and subjecting them
to the operation of a series of pairs of raising or shaping tools, so as to progres-
sively raise or fashion the said heated blanks into pots, and if required forming a
flange at the mouth of the pot, substantially as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Thomas Andrews, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty ninth day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy nine.
Witness,
5
W. J. PARKINS,
18, Lozells St.,
Birmingham,
Clerk.
JOSEPH THOMAS ANDREWS.
(L.S.)