IMPROVE- MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC COVERS OR LIDS FOR TEA KETTLES, TEA AND COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOUTS FOR METALLIC VESSELS."
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Topham, the younger, and Edward
Snushall, both of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gal-
vanizers and Iron Plate Workers, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC COVERS OR LIDS FOR TEA KETTLES,
TEA AND COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SPOUTS FOR METALLIC VESSELS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Topham and
Edward Snushall at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents,
with their Petition, on the 15th May 1875.
We, WILLIAM TOPHAм, the younger, and EDWARD SNUSHALL, both
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Galvanizers and Iron Plate
Workers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC COVERS OR LIDS FOR TEA
KETTLES, TEA AND COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF SPOUTS FOR METALLIC VESSELS," to be as follows:-
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in

page_text: pots, and other vessels, and in the manufacture of spouts for metallic
vessels.
Metallic covers or lids for tea kettles, tea and coffee pots, saucepans,
slop pails, and other vessels are made of two parts, namely, of a dome
or convex top and a rim on the under side of the said top, the two parts
being connected together by a flange on the edge of the dome top. The
said top and rim are usually connected together by hand labour, and
hence there is a want of uniformity in the size of the covers or lids.
One part of our Invention consists in making the two parts of the
said covers or lids and connecting them together by the mechanical
processes or combination of processes herein-after described.
.
"
In making the top of the cover or lid according to our Invention, we
form, by stamping from sheet metal in the usual way, a dome-shaped
disc, the extreme edge of the disc being slightly turned inwards on its
under side.
•
By means of a pair of tools worked in a press the' bent or inclined
edge of the disc is still further bent inwards so as to bring the said
edge into a cylindrical figure. By the operation of a second pair of
tools worked in a press the cylindrical edge of the disc is further bent
or cupped inwards, so as to form around the under side of the disc a
trough or hollow lip or beading. The top of the cover or lid is now
ready to be connected to the rim, which rim is made in the following
manner: We take a strip of sheet metal and bend it into a ring, and
join the meeting ends of the ring by means of an ordinary cramp joint.
The ring is next placed in the lower tool of a pair of tools worked in a
press and the upper tool is brought down upon it. By the operation
of the said pair of tools the upper edge of the ring or rim is bent
outwards or expanded and the lower edge of the ring or rim is cupped
inwards or contracted. The rim is thus eompleted and is ready to be
connected to the dome-shaped top herein-before described. This is
effected by engaging the expanded upper edge of the rim with the
hollow lip or beading on the under side of the said top. The two parts
thus loosely connected together are placed in a lower die or tool, the
engaged parts being situated and supported on the face of the die. By
the descent of a flattening tool the hollow lip or beading and the
expanded upper edge of the rim are flattened or closed upon one another.
The upper edge of the rim is thereby securely fixed to the top, and the

page_text: flange external to the rim of the cover or lid is at the same time formed.
The cover or lid is thereby completed, the flattening or closing operation
last described so firmly securing the two parts together that the cramp
joint of the rim does not require to be brazed.
By making covers or lids by the processes or combination of processes
described great economy in their manufacture is secured, together with
uniformity of size and neatness of appearance. By the cupping or
contracting of the lower edge of the rim of the cover or lid the fitting
of the cover or lid in the mouth of the vessel is facilitated.
We make the spouts of tea kettles, tea and coffee pots, and other
metallic vessels of two longitudinal halves, and join the half parts
together by brazing or hard soldering. The said longitudinal half spouts
are made by cutting out blanks from sheet metal and raising the said
blanks by dies or tools worked in a press into the said half spouts. The
edges of one half spout are so bent as to form a shoulder around the
said half spout. Upon this shoulder the plain edges of the other half
spout are placed and the two edges brazed together. By means of the
said shoulder the brazing together of the half spouts is facilitated; or
the two half spouts with plain edges may be temporarily held together
by cramping, or by binding them while their meeting edges are brazed
together.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Topham and Edward Snushall in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 10th November 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
TOPHAм, the younger, and EDWARD SNUSHALL, both of Birmingham, in
the County of Warwick, Galvanizers and Iron Plate Workers, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters, Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto us, the said William Topham and Edward
Snushall, Her special license that we, the said William Topham and

page_text: Edward Shushall, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as we, the said William Topham and Edward Snushall, our
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 THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC COVERS OR LINS FOR TEA KETTLES, TEA AND
COFFEE POTS, AND OTHER VESSELS, AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SPOUTS FOR
METALLIC VESSELS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the
said William Topham and Edward Snushall, our executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under our or their hands and seals,
or under the hand and seal of one of us or them, 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 we, the said William Topham and Edward
Snushall, 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:
Our Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described in
the manufacture of metallic covers or lids for tea kettles, tea and coffee
pots, and other vessels, and in the manufacture of spouts for metallic a
vessels.
Metallic covers or lids for tea kettles, tea and coffee pots, saucepans,
slop pails, and other vessels are made of two parts, namely, of a dome
or convex top and a rim on the under side of the said top, the two parts
being connected together by a flange on the edge of the dome top. The 8
said top and rim are usually connected together by hand labour, and
hence there is a want of uniformity in the size of the covers or lids.
One part of our Invention consists in making the two parts of the
said covers, and connecting them together by the mechanical processes
or combination of processes herein-after described.
E
In making the top of the cover or lid according to our Invention, we
form, by stamping from sheet metal in the usual way, a dome-shaped

page_text: disc, the extreme edge of the disc boing slightly turned inwards on its
under side.
By means of a pair of tools worked in a press or stamp the bent or
inclined edge of the disc is still further bent inwards so as to bring the
said edge into a cylindrical figure. By the operation of a second pair of
tools worked in a press or stamp the cylindrical edge of the disc is
further bent or cupped inwards so as to form around the under side of
the disc a trough or hollow lip or beading. The top of the cover or
lid is now ready to be connected to the rim, which rim is made in the
following manner:-We take a strip of sheet metal and bend it into a
ring, and join the meeting ends of the ring by means of an ordinary
cramp joint. The ring is next placed in the lower tool of a pair of tools
worked in a press or stamp and the upper tool is brought down upon it.
By the operation of the said pair of tools the upper edge of the ring or
rim is bent outwards or expanded and the lower edge of the ring or
rim is cupped inwards or contracted. The rim is thus completed,.and
is ready to be connected to the dome-shaped top herein-beforo described.
This is effected by engaging the expanded upper part of the rim with
the hollow lip or beading on the under side of the said top. The two
parts thus loosely connected together are placed in a lower die or tool,
the engaged parts being situated and supported on the face of the die.
By the descent of a flattening tool the hollow lip or beading of the top
and the expanded upper edge of the rim are flattened or closed upon one
another. The upper edge of the rim is thereby securely fixed to the top,
and the flange external to the rim of the cover or lid is thereby com-
pleted, the flattening or closing operation last described so firmly
securing the two parts together that the cramp joint of the ring does not
require to be brazed.
We make the spouts of tea kettles, tea and coffee pots, and other
metallic vessels of two longitudinal halves, and join the two half parts
together by brazing or hard soldering. The said longitudinal half
spouts are made by cutting out blanks from sheet metal and raising the
said blanks by dies or tools worked in a press or stamp into the said
half spouts. The edges of one half spout are so bent as to form a
shoulder around the said half spout. Upon this shoulder the plain edges
of the other half spout are placed and the two edges brazed together. By
means of the said shoulder the brazing together of the half spouts is
facilitated.

page_text: Having explained the nature of our Invention we will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in elevation, and Figure 3 in
section the partly made top of a cover or lid which has been prepared
according to our Invention, that is, after the dome-shaped disc a has
been made by stamping in the ordinary way the inclined edge of the
disc formed by the stamping process is by the operation of a pair of tools
worked in a press or stamp brought into a cylindrical figure. The
cylindrical edge of the dome-shaped disc is marked b.
Figure 4 represents in elevation and Figure 5 in section the dome-
shaped top a, Figures 1, 2, and 3, after its cylindrical edge 6 has been
bent or cupped inwards by the operation of a second pair of tools, so as
to form around the under side of the disc a trough or hollow lip or
beading marked c.
Figure 6 represents the strip of sheet metal from which the rim of
the cover is made; Figure 7 represents in elevation and Figure 8 in
plan the rim made by bending the strip, Figure 6, into a ring and
joining the meeting ends by the ordinary cramp joint. The rim is
marked d and the cramp joint is marked e.
The
Figure 9 represents the rim d after it has been operated upon by a
pair of tools worked in a press or stamp so as to simultaneously bend
outwards or expand. the upper edge f and cup inwards, or contract the
lower edge g, and also compress and perfect the cramp joint e.
dome-shaped top a, Figure 5, and the rim d, Figure 9, are now ready to
be connected together. This is effected in the manner illustrated in
Figures 10, 11, and 12; that is to say, the expanded upper edge ƒ of the
rim d is engaged with the hollow lip or beading c on the under side of
the top a, as illustrated in Figure 10, so as to loosely connect the two
parts a and d together. The connected top a and rim d, Figure 10, are
next placed in a lower die or tool on the bed of a stamp or press, the
engaged parts c,f, being situated and supported on the face of the die.
By the descent of a flattening tool carried by the plunger of the stamp
or press the hollow lip or beading c of the top a and the expanded upper
edge f of the rim dare flattened or closed upon one another, as illustrated
in section in Figure 11, and elevation in Figure 12. By the flattening
or closing of the parts c, f, the rim and top of the cover are securely
connected together and the flange of the cover is at the same time

page_text: тогшей.
The cover or d is completed by rivetting & know or meat % to
its summit as usual, as seen in Figure 12.
By making covers or lids by the processes or combination of processes
described great economy in their manufacture is secured together with
uniformity of size and neatness of appearance. By the cupping or
contracting of the lower edge g of the rim d of the cover or lid the
fitting of the cover or lid in the mouth of the vessel is facilitated.
Figures 13 and 14 represent inside elevations of the two longitudinal
halves of a metallic spout made according to our Invention; Figure 15
represents the said halves combined together; and Figure 16 is a cross
section of the spout shown in Figure 15 drawn to a larger scale. The
said longitudinal half spouts are marked respectively i and k, and are
made by cutting out blanks from sheet metal, and raising the said
blanks by dies and pressure into the figures represented. The outer
edge of the half spout i iş bent out of the plane of the other part of the
said half spout, so as to form a shoulder around the half spout, the said
shoulder being marked Ɩ, and a similar shoulder marked m is made at
the inner edge of the other half spout k. The other edges of the two
half spouts are plain or unbent. In connecting the two half spouts i, k,
together the plain edge of the half spout k is placed upon the shoulder
of the half i, and the plain edge of the half i is placed upon the
shoulder m of the half k, and the said edges are brazed together, the
shoulders l, m, facilitating the brazing together of the two half spouts.
The manner in which the plain edge of one half spout is supported by
the shoulder of the other half spout is best seen in the enlarged sectional.
view, Figure 16.
Instead of making a shoulder and a plain edge on each half spout a
shoulder may be made on both edges of one half spout, and plain edges
on the other half spout with like effect.
As the several raising or bending and pressing dies or tools which we
employ in carrying our Invention into effect are of the kinds commonly
employed in stamping or raising metals for other purposes we have not
thought it necessary either to describe or to represent the said dies or
tools.
•
Having now described the nature of our Invention and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, we wish it to be understood that
we do not limit ourselves to the precise details herein described and

page_text: illustrated, as the same may be varied without departing from the
nature of our Invention; but we claim as our Invention of improve-
ments in the manufacture of metallic covers or lids for tea kettles, tea
and coffee pots and other vessels, and in the manufacture of spouts for
metallic vessels,—
1
Firstly. Making the dome or convex tops and the rims of metallic
covers or lids, and connecting the said tops and rims. together by the
mechanical processes or combination of processes herein-before described
and illustrated in Figures 1 to 12, both inclusive, of the accompanying
Drawings, that is to say, forming around the under side of the stamped
dome-shaped top, by means of a series of pairs of dies or tools worked in
a stamp or press, a trough or hollow lip or beading, and expanding or
bending outwards the upper edge of the rim by a pair of dies or tools
worked in a stamp or press engaging the expanded edge of the rim with
the trough or hollow lip or beading of the top, and closing or flattening:
the engaged parts by a flattening tool, so as to securely connect the rim
and top together, and at the same time form the flange of the cover or
lid, substantially as described and illustrated; also, cupping or con-
tracting the lower edge of the rim, and perfecting the cramp joint by
the same pair of tools by which the expanding of the upper edge of the
rim is effected, as described and illustrated.
Secondly. Making the spouts of metallic vessels of two longitudinal
half spouts, made and connected together substantially as herein-before
described and illustrated in Figures 13, 14, 15, and 16 of the accom-
panying Drawings.
In witness whereof, we, the said William Topham and Edward
Snushall, have hereunto set our hands and seals, this Sixth day of
November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and seronto five
Witness,
JAMES HARTLEY YATES,
Birmingham.
(L.S.) 3
WILLIAM TOPHAM.
EDWARD SNUSHALL. (L.S.)