IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING IRON PLATES FOR COATING OR COVERING WITH TIN, LEAD, OR ANY OTHER METAL OR ALLOY."
Year: 1878

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by George Nurse at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd August 1878.
GEORGE NURSE, of Redbrook Tin Plate Works, in the County of Gloucester.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN PREPARING IRON PLATES FOR COATING OR COVERING WITH
TIN, LEAD, OR ANY OTHER METAL OR ALLOY."
According to the present system of preparing iron plates, the process adopted is
that when pickled they are swilled, and from thence packed into the annealing box
wet, and thence into the furnace, to be annealed and prepared for cold rolling.
Now, according to my Invention, I proceed mainly as follows:-After pickling
the plates, using portable grates or racks, they (together with the racks) are then
immersed in hot water and thoroughly swilled, and moved direct from the water
into a revolving stove, herein-after described. When taken out of the stove, the
plates are removed from the racks and taken to the rolls, so that the plates shall be
as solid as when (as at present) they are put in, after cold rolling for the second
annealing, the advantage gained being that by passing them through in this way,
the plates are annealed much quicker and have a better surface for cold rolling the
second time.
In some cases the plates are removed from the racks and placed direct into the
annealing pot without first being passed through the rolls, as before described.
By this system of drying the plates I am enabled to prepare the plates for tinning
or coating with but one annealing, i.e., cold rolling a sufficient number of times to
present a surface for tinning or coating.
If the plates are to be cold rolled direct from the pickling for the annealing, I
prefer to put them in a chamber or stove in a suitable manner, so that the gas is
eliminated from the plates, and afterwards the cold rolling takes place, the plates
issuing from the rolls without blister.
The advantage gained by first cold rolling the plates is that with the old system
of annealing more plates can be placed in the pot after black pickling, and further,
the plates can be annealed at a much lower temperature, and consequently a saving
of annealing pots is effected.

page_text: The stove I prefer to use is constructed with a turntable moved by suitable means,
such as a hand wheel, the heated air passing between the plates as the table
revolves; or, in certain cases, other modes. of putting the table in motion may be
used.
In some cases I make arrangements for forcing hot air between the plates in the
racks, and thus dispense with the use of the stove, and I sometimes anneal the
plates direct from the openers before pickling.
After pickling they are dried in the manner before described, but they may be
put into a stove or chamber after being discharged from the racks of the first stove,
and then placed in rows, or one above the other, in the chamber before described, to
eliminate the gas previous to cold rolling.
One important object in annealing the plates direct from the openers or mill is to
burn a portion of the oxide or scale off the plates, so as to be enabled to use much
less vitrol or other acid.