IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON SHIPS, STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS, BRIDGES,. AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHERE NUMEROUS SHEETS OF IRON ARE USED."
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Bertram, of 5, Upper Harden Street,.
Woolwich, in the County of Kent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON SHIPS, STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS, BRIDGES,.
AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHERE NUMEROUS SHEETS OF IRON ARE USED."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Bertram at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 21st.
December 1854.
I, WILLIAM BERTRAM, of 5, Upper Harden Street, Woolwich, in the County
of Kent, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON SHIPS,. STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS, BRIDGES,..
AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHERE NUMEROUS SHEETS OF IRON ARE USED," to be as
follows:-
Heretofore in the manufacture of iron ships, steam and other boilers,.
bridges, and other structures where numerous sheets of iron are used, it has
been usual to fix the edges of such sheets of iron together by rivets, and also,.
when ribs or angle irons have been used to give strength to the structures, the
sheets have also been fixed thereto by rivets, by which modes of construction.
all the parts are greatly weakened by the quantities of metal cut away to.
receive the rivets, and the weight of iron used to obtain a given strength has.

page_text: been necessarily increased by reason of such cutting away the overlapping of
the edges and the greater thickness of metal at those parts. Now, the object
of my Invention is to cause the sheets of iron to be formed suitable at the
edges that they may be welded together, and where ribs or angle iron have
heretofore been used and are required to give strength to the structures, the
sheets of iron are forged or rolled with ribs thereon in a suitable manner to
admit of the edges and the ribs of one sheet being welded to those of another,
and such ribs are made either transversely or in the direction of the lengths of
the sheets. In ship-building, the keel and keelson and also the cut-water and
stern-post are all welded into one piece of iron, and the sheets and ribs are
welded thereto; and in order to bring up the parts about to be welded one to
the other to a welding heat, as they must be heated and welded in their
positions, two portable forges or furnaces are used, one on either side of two
sheets or parts which are to be welded together. These furnaces each con-
sists of a vessel or chamber to contain fuel, having an opening on side to
receive the end of the blowing pipe, and at the opposite side an opening, so
that when the blast of air is sustained, and the opening has the sheet or part
resting against it, the flame and heat will be projected against the surface of
the iron, and as the other furnace is held and used on the opposite side of the
iron, the two pieces in contact, and which are to be welded together, will
become heated to a welding heat, when two hammermen striking together, or
one pressing and the other striking, weld the two heated parts together; or in
place of hammermen it is preferred to have two steam hammers opposite each
other, or one steam hammer and an anvil. For the purpose of facilitating the
use of the portable furnaces and portable steam hammers, they are mounted in
suitable frames which move on rails, in some cases above and in other cases
on the ground, and the frames, rails, and apparatus used with the portable
forges and steam hammers are to be such as to admit of their following the
varying form of the structure for the time being under process of being put
together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Bertram in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
21st June 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BERTRAM, of 5, Upper Harden Street, Woolwich, in the County of Kent, send 8
greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her beirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Bertram, Her special licence that I, the said
William Bertram, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Bertram, 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 "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON SHIPS, STEAM AND OTHER BOILERS,
BRIDGES, AND OTHER STRUCTURES WHERE NUMEROUS SHEETS OF IRON ARE USED,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Bertram,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 William Bertram, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement thereof (that is to say):-
Heretofore in the manufacture of iron ships, steam and other boilers,
bridges, and other structures where numerous sheets of iron are used, it has
been usual to fix the edges of such sheets of iron together by rivets, and also,
when ribs or angle iron have been used to give strength to the structures, the
sheets have also been fixed thereto by rivets, by which modes of construction
all the parts are greatly weakened by the quantities of metal cut away to
receive the rivets, and the weight of iron used to obtain a given strength has
been necessarily increased by the overlapping of the edges of the sheets
where connected together by rivets. Now the object of my Invention is first
to cause the sheets of iron to be suitably formed at the edges for being
welded together, and the form I prefer to give to the edges of the sheets of
metal before being welded together will be better understood on examining
Figure 1 of the Drawings, which shows the section of a series of sheets of
metal welded together according to my Invention; at the same time I would
remark that it is not essential to thicken or give any particular form to the
edges of the sheets of mictal, as they may be welded together by overlapping

page_text: their edges, or otherwise, as shown at Figure 2; and where ribs or angle iron
have heretofore been used and are required to give strength to the structures,
the sheets of iron are to be forged or rolled with ribs thereon in a suitable
manner to admit of the edges and the ribs of one sheet of iron being welded
to those of another sheet, such ribs being made either transversely or in the
-direction of the lengths of the sheets of iron, as shewn at Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,
and 8, which show several series of sheets of iron welded together according
to my Invention.
In ship-building, the keel and kelson and also the cutwater and stern post
may all be welded into one piece of iron, and the sheets and ribs of iron to
form the vessel may be welded thereto and to each other, or in place of
forming the keel, the cutwater and the stern post separately to have the
sheets or plates welded thereto, they may be formed from sheets or plates
suitably formed by forging or otherwise, so that when welded together in the
construction of a vessel such sheets or plates will be of sufficient strength to
constitute the keel, cutwater, and stern post. And in order to bring up the
parts about to be welded one to the other to a welding heat (as they must be
heated and welded in their positions which they are to occupy in the structure),
two portable forges or blast furnaces, are used, one on either side of two sheets
or parts which are to be welded together. These forges or furnaces each
consists of a vessel or chamber to contain fuel, having an opening on one side
to receive the end of a blowing pipe, and on the opposite side another opening,
so that when the blast of air is sustained, and the opening has the sheets or
parts resting before it, the flame and heat will be projected and concentrated
against the surfaces of the iron, and as the other similar blast furnace is held
and used on the opposite side of the iron, the two pieces in contact (which
are to be welded together) will become heated to a welding heat, so as to be
welded together, by hammermen striking together opposite to each other, or the
one pressing and the other striking; or in place of hammermen, when required,
I propose to employ two steam hammers suitably arranged and supported to
act opposite each other, or one steam hammer and an anvil, to resist its
action whilst welding the parts together.
The construction of forge or blast furnace I have found convenient for
effecting the union by welding of sheets or parts in forming structures accord-
ing to my Invention is sbewn at Figure 9, where a plan and elevation of two
such forges or blast furnaces are shewn, with two parts of iron which are
about to be welded placed in a position opposite to and between the mouths
of the forges to receive a welding heat. Each of these forges or furnaces
consists of a closed vessel or chamber a, a, (to contain coke or other fuel),

page_text: lined with suitable fire brick, or material to stand the requisite heat. Each
vessel has a pipe or opening b, b, to receive the end of a pipe through which
a blast of heated or cold air is forced by any suitable blowing apparatus into
the vessel a, and through the ignited fuel, by which a flame will be forced
through each outlet c, against the parts to be heated and welded. Each vessel
or chamber a is furnished with a feeding aperture d, d, plugged and luted with
fire material when in action, and also with means for removing the clinkers,
&c. below the blast pipe and outlet. The form and dimensions of the mouth
or outlet c of each vessel or chamber a is to be varied according to the shape
and extent of the surfaces to be heated and welded. The parts of iron which
are to be welded together having been brought to a welding heat, the furnaces
are to be moved a distance, and the welding of the heated parts together may
be accomplished by hammering by hand hammers, as before mentioned, but I
prefer, when desirable, to employ two portable steam hammers opposite each
other, or one steam hammer and an anvil. In order to facilitate the use of
portable furnaces and portable steam hammers, they are mounted on suitable
frames which move on rails, which may be in some cases above and in other
cases on the ground or platform, and the frames, rails, and apparatus used
with the portable forges and steam hammers are to be such as to admit of
their following the varying form of the structure for the time being under
process of being welded or put together. In some cases, in place of employing
steam hammers, I cause the parts at a welding heat to be pressed together
by rollers or levers acting simultaneously on both sides of the parts to be
welded.
I will now describe the arrangement of steam hammers I prefer for
forging the sheets or plates with ribs, or with thickened edges, so that the
welded parts may serve the purpose of ribs, where ribs or angle iron are
required, and have heretofore been used to give strength to the structures.
The sheets of iron used are to be forged with ribs thereon, as shown at
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8, so as to admit of the edges and ribs of one
sheet or plate of iron being welded to those of another sheet or plate,
and such ribs may be made transversely, or in the direction of the length, or
in other forms or directions, according to the structural strength required.
Figure 10 shows a section, and Figure 11 a plan, of a series of four steam
hammers suitably arranged, with faces and anvils of proper forms for forging
sheets or plates of iron with edges and ribs as required for being welded
together to form structures according to my Invention; and it will be seen
that the sheet or plate may be supported and carried by a revolving crane,
connected with the central framing of the series of hammers, so that the sheet

page_text: or plate may be readily changed from one anvil to another, and thus sub-
jected to the action of a series of tools of proper forms or faces to shape the
edges or the ribs as required. The chamber a, to which the steam is admitted,
and the piston a¹, are of a square form, as is also the guide chamber b, in
which the hammer block 6¹ moves, and the action of the steam on the piston a¹
is controlled by a slide valve c, connected to a lever c¹ which is acted upon by
a screw and hand wheels d, d, by which, the action of the apparatus is under
the complete control of the workman, so that he can regulate the blows of the
hammer according to the force and number of blows required; and when an
encreased impetus is required to be given to the hammer, a pressure of steam
can be obtained on the top or back of the piston at any length or part of the
stroke by causing a projecting surface a³ on the back of the piston to come
in contact with a valve at the lower part of the steam chamber e, (which
is capable of being raised and lowered by the screw e¹ within the steam
chamber a). The steam chamber e is in constant communication with the
steam boiler, so that steam can be admitted to the top of the piston a when
desired to give additional force to the blow, in addition to the gravity of the
piston and hammer, at any length of stroke. The axis of the screw e¹ has a
pulley e fixed thereon, to which motion is communicated by a rope or chain
in any convenient manner. The screw e¹ is formed hollow, to permit the
exhaust steam to pass away.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Bertram, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM BERTRAM. (L.S.)
Witness,
ROBERT EDMONDS TAPLIN.