IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING AND SHEATHING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas James Hughes, of Albany Street, in the
County of Middlesex, Builder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
COATING AND SHEATHING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS."
Sealed the 23rd August 1864, and dated the 23rd February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas James Hughes
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd February 1864.
I, THOMAS JAMES HUGHES, of Albany Street, in the County of Middlesex,
Builder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN COATING AND SHEATHING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS OR OTHER VESSELS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention is not the application of any new material for coating and
sheathing ships, more especially iron vessels, but consists in an improved mode
of applying and fastening coating and sheathing of well-known materials, to
the bottom and sides thereof, and my object in proceeding as hereafter
described is principally to avoid contact of metal with metal.
I
I propose first to coat a ship's bottom (or any part thereof) with gutta
percha, caoutchouc, or any similar material or combination of materials. On
this coating I place the copper or other sheathing material, taking care to
overlap the edges of the sheets in such wise that while I can introduce a thin
layer of gutta percha between the laps I do not in breaking joint cause any.

page_text: unevenness of surface in the sheathing. I fasten the sheathing in position by
means of screws which pass through the laps of the copper, which are counter-
sunk so that the broad head of the screw may be passed home and leave no
projection on the sheathing. Before I put in the screw I place in the
countersunk hole a funnel-shaped piece of caoutchouc or other elastic material,
so that when the screw is driven home it becomes imbedded in this elastic
substance and does not touch the copper. The head of the screw down to
the screw thread is enamelled with glass, porcelain, delf, or any enamel I may
prefer.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas James Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
JAMES HUGHES, of Albany Street, in the County of Middlesex, Builder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto.
me, the said Thomas James Hughes, Her special licence that I, the said
Thomas James Hughes, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Thomas James Hughes, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING AND SHEATHING THE BOTTOMS OF SHIPS
OR OTHER VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
Thomas James Hughes, 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 Thomas James Hughes, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is

page_text: to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement :-
My Invention does not consist in the application of any new material for
coating and sheathing ships, more especially iron vessels, but in an improved
mode of applying and fastening coating and sheathing of well-known materials
to the bottoms and sides thereof, and my object in proceeding as hereafter
directed is principally to avoid contact of metal with metal.
In sheathing ships (say iron ships) according to my Invention, I first cover
a ship's bottom (or any part thereof) with gutta percha, caoutchouc, or any
similar material or combination of materials. On this coating I place the
copper (or other sheating material, which may be Muntz's metal, yellow metal,
Gedge's, metal, or other suitable metal or amalcum), taking care to overlap
the end edges, which are prepared with underlap and overlap, either by rolling
or otherwise, that while I can introduce a thin layer of gutta percha or other
coating material between the laps I do not in breaking joint cause any
uneveness of surface in the sheathing, which, when completed, presents an
uniform and unbroken surface. To fasten the sheathing in position I prefer to
use screws which pass through the laps of the sheathing metal, these laps and
part of the ship's bottom being so countersunk that the broad thead of the
screw may be passed home and leave no projection on the sheathing. Before
I put in the screw I place in the countersunk hole a funnel-shaped piece of
caoutchouc or other elastic material, so that when the screw is driven home it
becomes embedded in this elastic substance, and does not touch the metal of
which the sheathing is composed. The head of the screw down to the screw
thread is enamelled with glass, porcelain, delf, or any enamel. I may prefer
but I do not confine myself to this mode of securing the sheathing to the
ship's bottom, sometimes using a wooden block or plug, and copper nail, or
any contrivance I may find answer the purpose of securely fastening the
sheathing to the ship's bottom or sides.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and means by
which it is carried into practical effect, I would observe that I do not confine
myself entirely to the details herein given, as certain modifications may be
found necessary to suit the circumstances of particular cases. Nor do I
confine myself to any description of metal either for the sheathing plates or for
the fastenings, but I claim,-
Firstly, the exclusive use, as of my Invention, of plates or sheets of metal,
rolled or otherwise, having the ends or edges thereof so constructed or made as
to overlap and underlap each other without causing uneveness of surface.

page_text: Secondly, I claim the exclusive use of the mode of fastening to securing the
ends of the plates or sheets of metal by screws, as herein set forth.
And, thirdly, I claim the exclusive use of the combination of substances and
fastening, forming, when used as herein-before directed, improvements in
coating and sheathing the bottoms of ships or other vessels.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas James Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of August, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
THO. J. HUGHES. (L.S.)