AN IMPROVED METHOD OF ROLLING ARMOUR PLATES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Devonshire Ellis, Managing Director of
the Firm of John Brown and Company (Limited), of Sheffield, in
the County of York, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD
OF ROLLING ARMOUR PLATES."
Sealed the 20th July 1869, and dated the 26th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Devonshire Ellis
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 26th January 1869.
I, JOHN DEVONSHIRE ELLIS, Managing Director of the Firm of John
Brown and Company (Limited), of Sheffield, in the County of York,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED
METHOD OF ROLLING ARMOUR PLATES," to be as follows:-
The width of rolled armour plates has hitherto been greatly restricted
by the difficulty of suitably heating a wide pile, and of perfectly
expelling therefrom in the rolling the cinder or slag which whilst such
pile is being heated accumulates in the spaces between the separate
moulds or slabs constituting it. I propose to obviate these difficulties,

page_text: and to roll armour plates of great width from a comparatively narrow
pile, not by any novel mode of building up or of heating the pile, but
'simply by rolling it first to the full breadth and then to the full length
required, or first partially to the breadth, then partially to the length,
and so on alternately until the desired dimensions are obtained, in lieu
of rolling in one direction only as hitherto practised.
I purpose operating as follows:-Having set in motion rolls of a
length exceeding the greatest breadth to be given to the armour plate
I introduce the pile and roll it to and fro until I have obtained the full
width of plate required; I then, by means of turntable, crane, or other
suitable apparatus, turn this plate and roll it in the direction of its length
until it has attained the length and thickness originally determined upon.
I may, however, in some cases find it preferable to turn the plate more
than once, and obtain the full length and breadth by alternating the
rolling as herein-before explained. Armour plates may be thus obtained
of almost any width, and perfectly-welded throughout.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent
filed by the said John Devonshire Ellis in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 24th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
DEVONSHIRE ELLIS, Managing Director of the Firm of John Brown and
Company (Limited), of Sheffield, in the County of York, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Devonshire Ellis, Her
special licence that I, the said John Devonshire Ellis, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Devonshire
Ellis, 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 METHOD OF ROLLING ARMOUR PLATES," upon the condition

page_text: (amongst others) that I, the said John Devonshire Ellis, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, 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 calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Devonshire Ellis, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement:-
The width of rolled armour plates has hitherto been greatly restricted
by the difficulty of suitably heating a wide pile, and of perfectly
expelling therefrom in the rolling the cinder or slag which whilst such
pile is being heated accumulates in the spaces between the separate
moulds or slabs constituting it. I overcome these difficulties, and roll
armour plates of great width from comparatively narrow piles by rolling
the pile firstly to the full breadth and then to the full length required,
or first partially to the breadth, then partially to the length, and so on
alternately until the desired dimensions are attained, in lieu of rolling in
one direction only as hitherto practised.
I operate as follows:-I build and heat my pile in the ordinary
manner, and having set in motion rolls of a length exceeding the greatest
breadth to be given to the armour plate, I introduce the pile and roll
it to and fro until I have obtained the full width of plate required;
I then, by means of turntable, overhead crane, or other suitable appa-
ratus, turn this plate and roll it in the direction of its length until it has
attained the length and thickness originally determined upon. In some
cases I find it preferable to turn the plate more than once, and obtain
the full length and breadth by alternating the rolling as herein-before
explained. Armour plates may be thus obtained of almost any width,
and perfectly welded throughout.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is carried into practical effect, I would have it
distinctly understood that I do not limit myself to any particular size of
pile or dimension of rolls (excepting that I require rolls exceeding the
greatest breadth to be given to the armour plate), and that I claim as
the Invention secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent, the rolling of armour plates first to their full breadth and then
to their full length and thickness, or partially to their width and then to
their length, and so on alternately, substantially as and for the purposes
herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jolin Devonshire Ellis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
their length, and so on alternately, substantially as and for the purposes
herein specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jolin Devonshire Ellis, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness to signature,
C. B., HOLLAND,
Sheffield.
JOHN DEVONSHIRE ELLIS. (L.S.)