CERTAIN IMPROVS IN PROALATION
Year: 1852

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Crooke, of Manchester, in the County
of Lancaster, Packer, and John Wilkinson Wood, of the same
place, Manager, for the Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Crooke and
John Wilkinson Wood at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their 'Petition, on the 6th October 1852.
WC, JOHN CROOKE, of Manchester,. in the County of Lancaster,
Packer, and JOHN WILKINSON WOOD, of the same place, Manager, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "CERTAIN IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE METHOD OF PRESERVING HOOP IRON FROM OXYDATION OR
DECAY" to be as follows:-
Great damage having ensued from the rusting of the iron hoops used
in packing, many efforts have been made to prevent such results,
among which painting-the hoops has been most generally adopted. It
has been found, however, that painting in the ordinary manner does
not effectually prevent rust, as the paint peels off when the iron hoop
is bent round the package. This Invention effectually fixes the paint
on the iron hoop under the circumstances. This result- is obtained in
the following manner:-The "hoop iron" is immersed in a solution
of sulphuric acid, nitric acid, and water, of the following-proportions:

page_text: 40 ounces of sulphuric acid, and 2 ounces of nitric acid, to one
gallon of water. The hoop iron remains in the solution about fifteen
minutes, the result of which is that it throws off a thin scale. (It
is the presence of this scale on the surface of the hoop iron which
prevents the paint from adhering to it when bent round the
package, and when bent it laminates or scales off, taking the paint or
varnish with it, and exposing the metal to oxydation or rust.) The
hoop iron is taken out of the solution and wiped dry, and afterwards
painted as usual, and the paint will now adhere so firmly to it that no
bending or other similar use of it can remove the paint. Thus a very
great saving is effected by preventing all rust which arises from iron
hoops or bands painted in the ordinary way, as the rust eats through the
canvass and tarpauling used in packing the bales of goods, &c., and
causes great damage to the goods so contained.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent.
filed by the said John Crooke and John Wilkinson Wood in
the Great Seal Patent Office, on the 6th April 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we.
John Crooke, of Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Packer, and
John Wilkinson Wood, of the same place, Manager, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date at Westminster, the Sixth day of October,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-two, and in the sixteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said John Crooke and John Wilkinson Wood, Her special
license that we, the said John Crooke and John Wilkinson Wood, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said
John Crooke and John Wilkinson Wood, our executors, administrators,
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 "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
METHOD OF PRESERVING HOOP IRON FROM OXYDATION OR DECAY," upon the

page_text: condition (amongst others) that we, the said John Crooke and John
Wilkinson Wood, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the
said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be performed,
and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office within
six months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that we, the said John Crooke and John
Wilkinson Wood, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement (that is
to say):
Our improvements in the method of preserving hoop iron from
oxydation or decay are designed principally for preserving the hoop
iron used for packing or binding bales or packages of cotton or other
goods from becoming oxydated or rusted, and thereby damaging the
goods so packed, a great amount of injury to the goods, &c. having
been frequently caused by the oxydation or rusting of the iron hoops
used in packing the same. Many and various expedients have from
time to time been devised for the purpose of preventing such results,
among which the practice of painting or vanishing the said hoop ion
has been most frequently adopted, but it has been found by experience
that painting or varnishing in the ordinary manner does not effec-
tually prevent rust or oxydation, as the paint peels off, especially on the
inner side, when the hoop iron is bent or bound round the balc or
package. This defect is principally caused by the presence of a
thin "scalé," which prevents the paint or varnish from adhering firmly
to the surface of the iron; and when the hoops are bent round the bale
or package this "scale" laminates or peels off, taking with it the
paint or varnish, and exposing the surface of the metal itself to oxy-
dation or rust. The rust or oxydation thus arising from the iron hoops
or bands so painted eats into and destroys the canvass and tarpauling
used in packing the bales, &c., at the same time causing great and
serious damage and injury to the goods therein contained. Our Inven
tion is for the purpose of effectually preventing -such lamination or
peeling off of the paint or varnish under-any circumstances, and thereby

page_text: entirely obviating the damage or injury thus occurring to the goods.
This desired result we obtain in the following manner: the iron hoops
or bands are to be completely immersed in a bath containing sulphuric
acid and nitric acid, diluted with water according to the following
proportions; namely, about forty ounces of sulphuric acid, and
about two ounces of nitric acid, diluted with about one gallon of
water. The iron hoops or bands are to remain immersed in this
solution for the space of fifteen minutes or thereabouts. The result
of this immersion will be the detachment of the thin,"scale" from
-the surface. of the metal. The iron hoops or bands are then to be.
: removed from the solution, and wiped or otherwise dried. They are
then to be painted or varnished in the usual manner, and when dry it
will be found that the paint or varnish will now adhere firmly to the
metal, so that no subsequent bending or other similar use can detach or
remove the paint or varnish from the same. Thus a very great saving
is effected, not only of the iron hoops or bands, but also of the
canvass and tarpauling or other packing material, but more especially
of the goods, &c. therein contained.
Having thus described the nature and object of our said Invention
.of improvements in the method of preserving hoop iron from oxydation
or 'decay, together with the manner of carrying the same into practical
:effect, we would remark, in conclusion, that we claim as our Invention
-the detaching or removing the "scale" from the surface of the said
hoop iron previous to painting or varnishing the same, whether such
operation be performed exactly by the method herein-before more par-
⚫ticularly specified, or by any other similarly efficient means.
In witness whereof, we, the said John Crooke and John Wilkin-
son Wood, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Fifth
day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-three.