AN IMPROVE MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING SHEET IRON
Year: 1862

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Foxall Griffiths, of Birmingham, in the
the County of Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING SHEET IRON."
Sealed the 25th September 1862, and dated the 2nd May 1862.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
2nd May 1862.
I, THOMAS FOXALL GRIFFITHS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN RAISING OR SHAPING SHEET IRON, to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to the raising or shaping of plates or disks of slicet
iron into the form of hollow cylinders closed at one end, from which said hollow
cylinders vessels or articles of a great variety of forms may afterwards be
produced by the process called spinning, and by other well-known processes
employed for shaping iron.
In raising or shaping sheet iron according to my Invention I proceed as
follows: I raise or shape the disk of sheet iron into a conical cup-like form
by means of dies and pressure as is well understood, I then cast in the interior
of the cup a lining of lead or other soft metal or alloy. This I effect by support-
ing a core or mandril in the axis of the cup, and pouring the melted metal into
Price 8d.]

page_text: the annular space between the cup and the core or mandril. The upper
end of the core may be expanded and fit on the top of the cup, so as to keep
the said core in the axis of the cup. On the solidification of the metal the
core is withdrawn, and the cup is subjected to the action of a drawing through
die, that is, a punch or cylindrical die being placed in the interior of the lined
cup, the said cup is forced by the said punch through the hole in the drawing
through die, when the said cup is raised or shaped into the figure of a hollow
cylinder closed at one end. The lined hollow cylinder may be further shaped
by dies or otherwise before the lining is removed by being melted out. When
many cup-like articles of the same size are to be operated upon, the linings
may be cast in a separate metal mould and placed in the cups, instead of
casting a lining in each cup.
SPECIFICATION
in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th October 1862.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
FOXALL GRIFFITHS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Second day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, in the twenty-fifth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Foxall Griffiths, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas
Foxall Griffiths, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths, 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
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN BAISING OR SHAPING SHEET IRON," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths, 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:-
My Invention relates to the raising or shaping of plates or dlisks of sheet
iron into the form of hollow cylinders closed at one end, from which said
hollow cylinders vessels or articles of a great variety of forms may afterwards
be produced by the process called spinning or wheeling, and by other well-
known processes employed for shaping iron. In raising or shaping sheet iron
according to my Invention, in order to produce a hollow cylinder closed at
one end, I proceed in the manner herein-after described and illustrated in the
accompanying Drawings. I take a plate or disk of sheet iron and by means
of dies and pressure I raise the said disk of sheet iron into a conical cup-like
form, the said raising process being conducted in the ordinary manner.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents in elevation and section a cup-like
vessel which has been raised as described. I place in the interior of the cup,
Figure 1, or cast therein, a lining of tin or of tin and lead or other soft metal
or alloy, as represented in section in Figure 2, in which said Figure 2 the soft
metal lining is marked a. The soft metal lining a is produced in the manner
herein-after described. I subject the cup and lining, Figure 2, to the action of
a pair of drawing through tools, by the action of which tools the cup is
elongated and reduced in diameter. The soft metal lining being removed by
fusion, a vessel of the form represented in elevation and section in Figure 3 is
produced. The said vessel is then annealed, and I place in the said vessel,
Figure 3, a soft metal lining having the figure of the said vessel, as represented
in Figure 4, and subject the said vessel and lining to another drawing process,
so as to give it the shape represented in elevation and section in Figure 5.
By subsequent drawing processes I give the vessel or partially raised hollow
cylinder, having a soft metal fining therein as represented in Figure 6, the form
represented in elevation and section in Figure 7, and having placed another
lining in the said cylinder, Figure 7, I give it the form represented in Figure 8.
By the processes described the cup-like vessel, Figure 1, is raised or shaped
into the form of a hollow cylinder closed at one end, as represented in Figure 8.
A lining being placed or cast in the hollow cylinder, Figure 8, it may be
further elongated or shaped by dies or otherwise, and the lining afterwards
removed by being melted out. The vessel of sheet iron is annealed after
each drawing process.
Hollow cylinders produced in the manner described may be applied to the
manufacture of a variety of articles, the manufacture of some of which I will

page_text: herein-after illustrate.
Figure 9 represents in elevation, and Figure 10 in
vertical section the drawing through bed, and Figure 11 represents in elevation
the die or punch which I use to convert the cup-like vessel, Figure 2, into the
partly raised cylinder, Figure 3, that is to say, the cup-like vessel with its
soft metal lining being placed on the bed, Figure 10, as represented, the die or
punch, Figure 11, is made to descend and enter the said cup and force it
through the hole in the drawing through bed. The raising of the vessel,
Figure 3, into the form of the hollow cylinder closed at one end, represented
in Figure 8, by the successive processes herein-before described is effected by the
use of beds and tools of the construction represented in Figures 9, 10, and 11,
the drawing through bed for each successive process having a hole of a
progressively decreasing size from that last used, and the punch having a
progressively increased length and diminished diameter from that last used, as
is well understood and commonly practised in raising metals by drawing them
through tools. In some of the later stages of the drawing process the
cylindrical vessel with its lining may be forced into and partly through the
drawing through bed by means of the flat tool represented in Figure 12, the
carrying of the vessel and lining through the bed being completed by means
of a cylindrical punch.
:
I produce the linings which are placed in the cups or partly shaped hollow
cylinders by casting them in moulds of the construction represented in Figures
13, 14, 15, and 16. The mould, Figure 13, is used to produce the lining in the
vessel, Figure 2, and I will describe its construction. The said mould consists
of a base plate b, having a conc or stem c rising therefrom, the said stem
having the figure it is wished to give to the interior of the lining. Over the
said stem or core c a cover d is placed, the edges of which cover rest in the
annular depression in the base plate b. The interior of the cover d has
the figure it is wished to give to the exterior of the lining. By pouring fused
metal through the hole e in the top of the cover d, the space between the said
cover d and siem c is filled with the said fused metal, and the lining a,
Figure 2, thereby produced. Figures 14, 15, and 16 represent in section
the moulds which I respectively employ to produce the linings of the vessels,
Figures 4, 6, and 7. When the lining is cast in the cups or partially raised
hollow cylinders, I then use a core or mandril of the kind represented in section
in Figure 17 of the Drawings; the said core or mandril consists of a plate f
and stem or peg g. The plate has an annular depression f, into which the
open end of the vessel or cylinder fits as represented. By pouring fused metal
through the opening h, the space between the cylinder and core or peg g is
filled with the fused metal. On the solidification of the metal the core or

page_text: peg is withdrawn and the soft metal lining is left in the vessel, as represented
in Figure 8. By using cores or mandrils of the kind represented in
Figure 17, having the requisite sized depressions and shaped pegs, soft metal
linings may be cast in the vessels, Figures 1, 3, 5, and 7, instead of placing
linings therein which have been made in separate moulds as before explained.
Where, however, many cup-like vessels or articles of the same size are to be
operated upon, it is more economical to use linings which have been cast in
separate moulds.
To illustrate the application of hollow cylinders made according to my
Invention to the production of various shaped vessels and articles, I will
describe and represent the conversion of the said cylinders into bottles and
into globular or spherical vessels, and into hollow articles having a partly
globular and partly cylindrical or other figure.
1 produce a bottle having an octagonal figure in cross section from the
hollow cylinder, Figure 8, by means of the dies represented in Figures 18
and 19 of the Drawings; Figure 18 representing an end elevation, longitu-
dinal vertical section, and plan of under side of the upper or moveable die, and
Figure 19 representing an end elevation and longitudinal vertical section of
the lower or fixed die. The upper die is connected to the screw of a press,
and the lower die is fixed on the bed of the said press. The acting faces of
the dies have such a figure that when they are brought together they enclose
a hexagonal space, as will be understood by an inspection of the Drawing.
The hollow cylinder to be operated upon being filled with soft metal, is
placed on the lower die, Figure 19, and the upper dic, Figure 18, is brought
down upon it, the said dies shaping six sides of the said cylinder at each
operation. The cylinder or partly made bottle is turned in the lower die
from time to time so as to permit the dies to operate upon all parts of the
cylinder. An octagonal bottle of the form represented in elevation in
Figure 20 is thereby produced, the sides of the said bottle being shaped by
the faces i, i, of the dies, the neck by the raised portions h, k, of the dies,
and the mouth by the depressions 1, 1, in the said dies. The soft metal is
removed from the bottle by melting it out.
To produce a spherical or globular vessel according to my Invention, I
raise a hollow cylinder with a hemispherical bottom from a plate or disc of
iron in the manner herein-before described. A hollow cylinder of this kind
is represented in clevation and section in Figure 21. I place or cast in the
said cylinder a soft metal lining, as represented in Figure 22, and place it in
the lower die m of the pair of dies, Figure 23, the said die m having the same
The upper
figure as the lower part of the said cylinder, as represented.

page_text: die n, Figure 23, being brought down upon the cylinder in the lower die, the
open end of the said cylinder is contracted or cupped inwards by the hemi-
spherical depression in the said upper die. A spherical vessel is thus pro-
duced, as represented in Figure 24, from which said vessel a teapot or other
article may be manufactured.
When the vessel or article is required to possess a partly spherical and
partly cylindrical figure, I take a vessel of the shape represented in Figure 25.
A soft metal lining is placed or cast in the vessel, as represented in Figure 26,
and the said vessel placed in the lower die of a pair of dies, the said lower
die having a figure proper to receive the contracted end of the vessel, and the
upper die having a hemispherical depression therein similar to the die n,
Figure 23. By the operation of the said upper die the wide end of the vessel
is contracted or cupped inwards, and a vessel of the form represented in
Figure 27 thereby produced. The lining being removed, the cylindrical part
of the vessel, Figure 27, may be fluted or otherwise ornamented.
Figure 28 represents, in elevation, a vessel, the contracted part of which
has an octagonal figure. I shape and ornament the contracted part of the
vessel by the use of the apparatus represented in side elevation in Figure 29,
and transverse section in Figure 30, of the Drawings. The said apparatus
consists of a core or mandril capable of turning in the uprights o, p. The
part of the core or mandril is cylindrical, and the part r has an octagonal
figure in cross section, as seen in Figure 30. The vessel s to be operated
upon being placed on the core or mandril in the position represented, the
washer t, coiled spring u, washer v, and screw nut w are put upon the
mandril, and the said screw nut made to engage with the screw on the said
mandril, the washer is thereby pressed by the coiled spring u against the
parts of the vessel s, and holds the vessel firmly in its place on the core
or mandril. By hammering the contracted end of the vessel, the core or
mandril being turned in order to operate upon every part, the said end is
made to take the figure of the said mandril. Holes marked x are made near
the end of the mandril, each of the said holes being in a line with the middle
of each of the flutes on the mandril, the said holes serving to indicate to the
workman the position of the said flutes. Various ornamental figures may
be given to the vessels by using various shaped mandrils of the kind repre-
sented in Figures 29 and 30.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do not
limit myself to the precise details herein described and represented in the
Drawings, as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of

page_text: my Invention; but I claim as my Invention the improvement or improve-
ments in raising or shaping sheet iron, herein-before described and illus-
trated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, raising or shaping disks
or plates of sheet iron into the form of hollow cylinders closed at one end by
first raising conical vessels by dies and pressure, and afterwards subjecting the
said raised vessels to the action of drawing through tools and dies so as to
produce hollow cylinders closed at one end, the said conical vessels and partly
raised cylinders being supported during the action of the drawing through tools
and dies by a lining of soft metal or metallic alloy placed or cast in the said
vessels or partly raised cylinders; also fluting or otherwise shaping vessels of
sheet iron by the machinery or apparatus represented in Figures 29 and 30
of the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Foxall Griffiths, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-two.
QUQUELO FOLYT
Witness;
GEORGE SHAW.
THOMAS FON
GR
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