IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON OR OTHER METALS WITH TIN
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Sussex Place,
Loughborough Road, in the County of Surrey, for the. Invention of.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON OR OTHER METALS WITH TIN." -A com;
munication.
Loughborough Road, in the County of Surrey, for the. Invention of.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON OR OTHER METALS WITH TIN."A com;
munication.
Sealed the 5th June 1857, and dated the 27th January 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bous-
field at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1857.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road,
in the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN COATING IRON OR OTHER METALS WITH TIN," to be as
follows:-
The iron is first cleaned in the usual manner with dilute sulphuric acid, so
as to remove oxide or dirt. The chloride or other salt of tin is dissolved in a
wooden trough or closed box, and to aid the action scraps of zinc may be
introduced; whiting may be used with advantage. Steam is then applied to
the solution of tin, and the effect is, that the tin is precipitated upon the iron
to any thickness desired. Steam is chief agent in exciting the action which
precipitates the tin from the solution. When coated, the metal will resist
acids generally and heat, so that when red hot the tin will not burn off.
7

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 25th July 1857:
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Sussex Place, Loughborough Road, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the
said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 IRON OR OTHER
METALS WITH TIN," (a communication,) upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same was to be performed, and cause the samo
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 George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 thereof, that is to say:
The Invention consists of depositing tin on to iron and other metals from a
solution of a salt of tin, in the following manner:-
:
To one hundred pounds of fresh water there is added about seven and a
half ounces of the cream of tartar of commerce (sup. tart. potash), and the
powder dissolved, which is better effected by the aid of heat." To this solution
there is added about an ounce of common whiting as an alkali. A solution is
then made of about three ounces and a half of, the common tin salt of com-
merce in ten pounds of fresh water, which is added to the mixture above
named, and the whole is made to boil for a few minutes, so as to perfect the

page_text: solution and admixture. The iron or other metal to be coated must be
cleaned by dilute sulphuric acid, or by any of the well-known means of
removing rust or dirt, to which no claim is made, so as to be free from such
impurities, and the metal will be ready to receive the coating. The solution
should be contained in a vessel of wood or porcelain during the process of
coating, so as not to precipitate the tin on the vessel. The solution is then to
be heated to the temperature of about 160° Fahrenheit, which is best done
by the introduction of steam. The metal to be coated is then immersed in
the mixture, together with scraps of zinc, about two pounds weight or more,
and immediately pure tin will be precipitated upon the surface, forming a
perfect coating so intimate as to protect the metal from the action of humidity
or of salt water, or the same effect will be produced if the whole vessel were
of zinc instead of introducing scraps of that metal. The thickness of the
coating will be determined by the length of time the articles are in the bath,
but in eight hours the quantity deposited will be sufficient for most practical
purposes.
The materials used in this process are the cheapest known which will
produce the effect, for which reason they are adopted, and the proportions
proved by experiment to be the most practical are given, but it is obvious that
other salts of tin can be used and chemical equivalents for the other materials
employed.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fourth day of July, in the
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
year
5
Witness,
W. S. HARRISON,
New Court, St. Swithin's Lane.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L:s.)