AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING STEEL OR IRON PLATES WITH COPPER, AND MANNER OF ARRANGING OR DISPOSING SUCH PLATES
Year: 1867

page_text: ETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of .the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING STEEL OR IRON PLATES
WITH COPPER, AND MANNER OF ARRANGING OR DISPOSING SUCH PLATES."—A
communication from abroad by Edwin Turner Ligon and Thomas Jackson
Foster, both of Demopolis, in the State of Alabama, United States of
America.
Sealed the 31st March 1868, and dated the 4th November 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1867.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature
of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING STEEL OR IRON
PLATES WITH COPPER, AND MANNER OF ARRANGING OR DISPOSING SUCH PLATES,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the covering of steel with copper, and consists in
serrating or otherwise roughening the surface of the steel to be covered, and
then placing the said serrated steel plate with the copper plate in contact with
such surface and with borax or tinners' flux between the two plates, after

page_text: which the two plates are placed upon a thick bed plate or cast iron or steel
previously heated to or above the melting point of copper; pressure is
then brought to bear, and the steel plate by expanding under heat the
copper will be forced into the indentations and body of the steel, and as the
steel cools it will be closed or shut up, thus fastening the copper thereto and
producing a permanent adhesion or union of the two metals. The edges of
steel or iron plates coated upon their outside with copper by the improved
mode herein above described or otherwise are laid or placed edge to edge, and
not only will a continuous joint of copper be left, but all the rivets and edges
of the plates will be upon the inside when such plates are attached to the
sides of a vessel.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 4th May 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand. eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto.
me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special licence that I, the said
William Edward Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said William Edward Newton, my 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF COVERING STEEL OR IRON PLATES
WITH COPPER, AND MANNER OF ARRANGING OR DISPOSING SUCH PLATES," being a
communication to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said William Edward Newton, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under iny, or their, or one of their 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

page_text: calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Edward Newton, 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 statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
:-
This Invention relates to the covering of steel with copper, and consists,
first, in serrating or otherwise roughening the surface of the steel to be covered;
and, second, in then placing the serrated steel plate with the copper plate in
contact with such surface and with borax or tinners' flux between the two
plates, after which the two plates are placed upon a thick bed plate or cast
iron or steel previously heated to or above the melting point of copper. This
bed plate is placed on the lower disc of the press, the upper disc of which is
made hollow and with a non-conducting substance inside; pressure is then
brought to bear, and the steel plate by expanding under heat the hot or melted.
copper will be forced into the indentations and body of the steel, and as
the steel cools it will be closed or shut up, thus fastening the copper thereto
and producing a permanent adhesion or union of the two metals.
I will now describe one illustration of one mode of adapting steel or iron
plates coated with copper to a useful purpose, and whereby an improved
combination of steel or iron plates is produced possessing many advantages.
This adaptation consists in so bending the edges of steel or iron plates coated
upon their outside with copper by the improved mode herein above described
or otherwise that when such plates are laid or placed edge to edge not only will
a continuous joint of copper be left, but all the rivets and edges of the plates will
be upon the inside when such plates are applied or attached to the side of a
vessel; for instance, as copper is much softer than steel or iron it is obvious
that when the plates are rivetted copper being next to copper a more perfect
joint will be the result, and the plates will be less liable to oxydation than
steel or iron. The seams or joints to the several plates produced as above
stated may if so desired be filled upon the outside with solder, whereby addi-
tional strength will be given to the plates, and their attachment to each other
as well as a smooth and unbroken surface to the sea if the plates are applied
to a vessel, thus greatly reducing the friction thereon. By turning or bending
in the edges of the plates when secured together as described they are far
stronger, and a more uniform and even strength throughout the entire plates
will be secured, rendering them in a great measure self-sustaining without any
backing

page_text: The mode of securing together steel or iron plates coated with copper, as
above described, is more especially designed for vessels, but it is obvious it may
be applied to other purposes.
In the accompanying Drawings, Fig. 1 is an inside view of a series of plates
coated with copper; Fig. 2 is an outside view of the same, and Fig. 3 is a
transverse section in the plane of the line a, a, Fig. 1.
A in the Drawings represents a series of plates that (along their edges B)
are bent over and then secured together by rivets or in any other suitable
manner. These plates A are made of steel or iron, and upon one side are
coated with copper, and by such copper surface at their bent over edges they
are in contact with each other, forming a copper joint, and one of the advantages
of which have been herein-before referred to.
Having now described the Invention which has been communicated to
me as aforesaid, and having explained the manner of carrying the same
into effect, I claim as the Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as
aforesaid,―
First. Uniting steel and copper in the manner herein set forth.
Second. I claim combining steel or iron plates coated with copper in the
manner and for the purpose described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Second day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (L.S.)