AN IMPROVE- MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YELLOW METAL SHEATHING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Philip Henry Muntz, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Merchant, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVE-
MENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YELLOW METAL
SHEATHING."
Sealed the 10th May 1864, and dated the 27th February 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Philip Henry Muntz
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th February 1864.
I, PHILIP HENRY MUNTZ, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Merchant, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YELLOW METAL
SHEATHING," to be as follows, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in mixing with the ordinary proportions of copper
and spelter which form the metal commonly called Muntz's metal a small
quantity of tin, from one to three per cent. or thereabouts, the proportion I
prefer being two per cent.; the result gained is that the metal is better
adapted to wear longer in salt water.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Philip Henry Muntz in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PHILIP
HENRY MUNTZ, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchant,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Philip Henry Muntz, Her special license that I, the said Philip
Henry Muntz, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Philip Henry Muntz, 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
or "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF YELLOW
METAL SHEATHING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Philip
Henry Muntz, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Philip Henry Muntz, do hereby
declare the nature of my 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:-
My Invention consists in mixing with the ordinary proportions of copper
and spelter which form the metal commonly called Muntz's metal a small
quantity of tin, by which an alloy is produced capable of being rolled at a
red heat into sheathing for ships, and in which a considerable alteration
of the metal takes place, so that whilst it is still subject to a sufficient degree
of oxydation to keep the bottom of a vessel clean, it will be more durable
than the yellow metal sheathing now in use, and which is composed of copper
and spelter only.
.
I will now proceed to describe more particularly the manufacture of this
alloy, and the result of experiments made since the filing of my Provisional

page_text: Specification, in which I have stated that the proportion of tin employed may
vary from one to three per cent. (or thereabouts) of the bulk of the alloy.
I find that the proportions of the several metals which produce the best
results are sixty and one-quarter parts of copper, thirty-nine parts of spelter
and three-quarters of a part of tin, all these metals being in the purest
state in which they can be obtained. I use a sufficient excess of the propor-
tion of spelter to allow for loss in casting (as is well known by experts to be
necessary), so that as nearly as possible the proportions above named may
be combined in the manufactured sheathing. The alloy having been cast into
ingots is then rolled into sheets and prepared for use in the same manner as
ordinary yellow metal.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would remark that I am aware that it
has been before attempted to combine tin with copper and spelter for the
manufacture of sheathing, but not within the proportions herein-before specified,
that is to say, within such proportions as will form an alloy sufficiently
susceptible of oxydation to keep the bottom of a vessel clean, which shall
also be more durable, and shall offer greater resistance to the action of sea
water, whilst at the same time it admits of being rolled at a red heat. I
therefore make no claim to the combination of tin with copper and spelter for
the manufacture of sheathing, unless when made according to this my Invention,
and I wish it to be understood, that whilst I do not limit myself to the
exact proportions herein given, as I am well aware that they will admit
of slight variation, that which I claim is the improvement or improvements
in the manufacture of yellow metal sheathing, by using in combination with
copper and spelter such a proportion of tin as will render the sheathing
more durable in its resistance to sea water, sufficiently susceptible of oxy-
dation to keep the bottom of a vessel clean, whilst it retains its capability of
being rolled from the ingot at a red heat, as herein more fully set forth and
specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said Philip Henry Muntz, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of August, in the year of
one Land One thousand eight hundred and sixty four
PHILIP HENRY MUNTZ. (LS.)