AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREVENTING THE OXIDATION OR CORROSION OF IRON EXPOSED TO WATER OR DAMPNESS
Year: 1871

page_text: .
TTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF PREVENTING
THE OXIDATION OR CORROSION OF IRON EXPOSED TO WATER OR DAMPNESS."
-A communication from abroad by Cornelius Godfrey, of Dix Hills,
in the State of New York, United States of America.
aled the 16th January 1872, and dated the 11th September 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners, of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 11th September 1871.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
"AN IMPROVED MODE OF
declare the nature of the said Invention for
PREVENTING THE OXIDATION OR CORROSION OF IRON EXPOSED TO WATER OR
DAMPNESS," to be as follows:—
The oxidation and corrosion to which iron structures or articles of iron
are subject when in contact with water, more especially salt water or

page_text: acidulated water, is the cause of serious deterioration of the structures of
which it forms the whole or a part. This is more especially the case
when such oxidation or corrosion is promoted or augmented by a certain
galvanic action arising from the presence of another metal or metals
with which the iron forms an electric battery, in which the iron forms
the electro-positive element, and the other metal or metals form the
electro-negative element. For in such case the oxygen of the water or
acidulated water is set free in immediate contact with the iron, with
which it enters into combination to form the oxide of iron, thereby causing
the corrosion and loss of the iron. This oxidation from the above or any
other cause dependent upon the presence of water or acidulated water
in contact with the iron it is the object of this Invention to prevent.
to this end it is proposed to connect with the iron a metal or combination
or an alloy of metals, which being electro-positive with reference to iron
will, when an electric action is set up by the presence of water, take up
the oxygen and protect the iron. The electro-positive metal used may
be zinc or an alloy of zinc and tin or mechanical combinations of zinc with
tin. It is not proposed to attach such metals or alloys as a continuous
coating to the iron exposed to the action of the water, or acidulated
water, but at any convenient and distant points of such surface..
And
The applications which may be made of this Invention are numerous
and varied. Among the many structures and articles to which it may be
applied may be mentioned steam boilers, anchors and their chains,
buoys, the propelling screws of steam vessels and their shafts, and the
appurtenances of the same, rudders, iron pumps, water meters, and iron
pipes laid in the ground or elsewhere, especially when conveying - or
surrounded by fresh water, salt water, or acidulated water.
Many modifications will be necessary in the application of the
Invention according to the nature, form and exposure of the structures,
bodies, or articles to which it is applied. The electro-positive metal
may be fashioned and applied in the form of studs, bolts, spikes, nails,
rivets, plugs, collars, rings, bands, nuts, straps, plates, or couplings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 11th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
וי
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eleventh day of September, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the
thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
,trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my exccutors, 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 PREVENTING THE OXIDATION OR CORROSION OF IRON
EXPOSED TO WATER OR DAMPNESS," being a communication to me from
abroad by Cornelius Godfrey, of Dix Hills, in the State of New York,
United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 per-
formed, 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 Alfred Vincent 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 (that is to say).:-
The oxidation and corrosion to which iron structures or articles of iron
are subject when in contact with water, more especially salt water or

page_text: acidulated water, is the cause of serious deterioration of the structures of
which it forms the whole or a part. This is more especially the case
when such oxidation or corrosion is promoted or augmented by a certain
galvanic action arising from the presence of another metal or metals,
with which the iron forms an electric battery; the iron forming the
electro-positive element, and the other metal or metals the electro-negative
element. For in such case the oxygen of the water or acidulated water
is set free in immediate contact with the iron with which it enters into
combination to form the oxyde of iron, thereby causing the corrosion and
loss of the iron. This oxidation from the above or any other cause de-
pendent upon the presence of water or acidulated water in contact with
the iron it is the object of this Invention to prevent. To this end the
Invention consists in effecting this object by connecting with the iron a
metal or combination of metals or alloy which shall be electro-positive
with reference to iron, such for instance as zinc or alloys of zinc with tin
or other metals, or mechanical combinations of zinc with tin. It is not,
however, proposed to attach such metals or alloys continuously over the
whole surface of the iron exposed to the action of the water or acidu-
lated water, but at any convenient and distant points of such surface.
The applications which may be made of this Invention are numerous
and varied. Among the many structures and articles to which it may
be applied may be mentioned steam boilers, anchors and their chains,
buoys, the propelling screws of steam vessels and their shafts, and the
appurtenances of the same, rudders, iron pumps, water meters, and iron
pipes laid in the ground or elsewhere, especially when conveying or sur-
rounded by fresh water, salt water, or acidulated water.
Many modifications will be necessary in the application of the
Invention according to the nature, form, and exposure of the structures,
bodies, or articles to which it is applied. The electro-positive metal may
be fashioned and applied in the form of studs, bolts, spikes, nails, rivets,
plugs, collars, rings, bands, nuts, straps, plates, or couplings.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of “An Improved
Mode of Preventing the Oxydation or Corrosion of Iron Exposed to
Water or Dampness," as communicated to me by my foreign corre-
spondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect,
I wish it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters
Patent I claim, the protection of iron surfaces or bodies from oxidation
or corrosion when exposed to the action of fresh or salt water, or
ر

page_text: dampness, or acidulated water, by applying to the iron an electro-positive
metal, alloy, or combination composed of zinc and tin substantially as
herein-above described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Eleventh day of March, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.