A NEW MODE OF FASTENING RIVETS, SCREW SEATS, OR OTHER SIMILAR DEVICES IN METALLIC PLATES, AND ALSO OF SECURING THEREBY COPPER SHEATHING UPON IRON VESSELS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Office," No. 12, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "A NEW MODE OF
FASTENING RIVETS, SCREW SEATS, OR OTHER SIMILAR DEVICES IN METALLIC
PLATES, AND ALSO OF SECURING THEREBY COPPER SHEATHING UPON IRON
VESSELS." A communication from abroad by William Brainard Barnard,
of Waterbury, Connecticut, United States of America.
Sealed the 27th January 1865, and dated the 5th November 1864.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said George Haseltine, at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration on the 5th November 1864, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 12, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "A NEW MODE OF
FASTENING RIVETS, SCREW SEATS, OR OTHER SIMILAR DEVICES IN METALLIC PLATES,
AND ALSO OF SECURING THEREBY COPPER SHEATHING UPON IRON VESSELS," and have
petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, Her. Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn

page_text: declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by William
Brainard Barnard, of Waterbury, Connecticut, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, in and by the following statement :-
The nature of this Invention consists primarily of a novel mode of contract-
ing the rim or neck of a hole or cavity which has been drilled or punched in
a metallic plate, so that it shall embrace the pin or rivet, or overlap the screw
seat which may be placed therein, and thus securely clinch and fasten the
It consists secondly in the use of rivets or screw seats so secured to
unite and fasten together metallic plates or bars, or the copper sheathing upon
iron ships in the manner herein-after particularly described.
same.
In the Drawings which accompany and form a part of this Specification,
Figure 1 represents in section the punch used for the purpose of contracting
or countersinking the edges of the cavities in which the rivets are to be
secured. This punch A is made of a suitably tempered metallic bar, having
its lower end beveled off to a point or rounded off in a convex form so as to
fit upon and into the mouth of the cavity to be countersunk. A recess 6 is
drilled longitudinally in the centre of this convex end of the punch, equal in
diameter to the size of the pin or rivet to be secured in the cavity, and equal
in depth to the length of such pin or rivet.
Figure 2 illustrates in section the manner of securing the rivets or screw
seats by means of the hollow punch A. Having inserted a rivet c in a simple
cylindrical hole d, drilled or punched in the metallic plate B (but which does
not extend entirely through the plate), the hollow punch A is placed over the
projecting end of the rivet c, so as to rest upon the rim of the hole d; a blow is
then struck upon the punch, causing it to drive in or countersink the rim of the
cavity d around the rivet c so tightly and closely as to grip and hold even a
straight rivet with great firmness. To ensure perfect security, the lower end
of the rivet may be enlarged as shown by r in Figure 4, so that the neck of
the cavity when contracted as described shall in a measure overlap the same.
Figure 5 illustrates a form of screw seat e (together with a screw f) which
may be likewise readily secured in a metallic plate B' by overlapping the rim
of a cylindrical cavity thereon as shown in Figure 8. This improved mode of
securing rivets in metallic surfaces is especially adapted to the purpose of
uniting plates where it is desirable that one of them should present an un-
broken exterior surface, and that there should be no perforations through the
same, as, for instance, in the armour of an iron-clad vessel or in the joints of

page_text: heavy steam boilers. If the iron plates of the turrets in iron-clad vessels be
secured by means of bolts fixed upon the outer side of the inner plates in the
manner herein-before described it is evident that all danger to the inmates of
the turret during an action from the loosening of the bolts will be prevented,
as they cannot in any event fly inwards.
Again this improvement is peculiarly useful in the sheathing of iron-clad
vessels with copper, for it admits of the entire insulation of the rivets as well
as of the sheathing itself. This is effected, where copper rivets or screw seats
are used, by surrounding or enclosing the end of the rivet (c), or the entire
body of the screw seat (e, Fig. 3), in an envelope or coating of rubber, paint,
or other suitable insulating material before placing it in the cavity, and it is
quite evident that this insulating material will not be displaced by the counter-
sinking or clincking in of the rim of the cavity around the same. By using
screw seats of ebony, vulcanite, or other non-corrosive material instead of
copper, the separation and insulation of the copper screw to be used there-
with from the iron plate would be complete, and the fastening thereof still be
perfectly firm and secure. The use of this improvement in the sheathing of
iron vessels is illustrated by Figures 6, 7, and 8 of the Drawings.
Figure 6 is an elevation of a portion of the side of an iron vessel upon
which the sheathing is secured by means of the within-described Invention.
Figure 7 is a vertical section in the line x, x, of Figure 6. Figure 8 repre-
sents in section a rivet having its lower end enlarged (so that it shall be more
firmly held in its retaining cavity) and its outer end threaded to receive a nut,
together with the manner in which it secures the sheathing upon the iron
plate. Figure 9 is a cross section in the position indicated by the line y, y, of
Figure 6, showing the manner in which the edges of the sheathing plates may
be lapped over & locked together to obviate the necessity of intermediate.
rivets.
It is evident that where the rivet or screw of copper, which is needed to
secure the sheathing plates upon an iron vessel, is prevented from coming into
direct contact with the iron by an insulating coating as just described, or by
the use of a screw seat in itself non-corrosive, that if the sheathing itself be
properly separated from the iron by some insulating substance there can be no
possible danger of galvanic action. To effect such an insulation of the sheath-
ing in connection with the mode of securing the copper sheets by means of the
rivets herein-before described, a thin sheet of india-rubber or gutta percha
(G, Figures 6, 7, & 8), or a coat of some suitable adhesive paint or cement
may be placed between the copper sheets H, H, and the iron surface K of the
vessel to extend over the hull and up a short distance above the water line or

page_text: point at which the sheathing.terminates, as illustrated in Figures 6 & 7, or
even to the very deck. In such case I contemplate planking over the coated
surface exposed above the sheathing so as to protect it fully.
By the use of screws f .and screw seats e in fastening on the copper sheets
the ready removal and replacement of the sheathing, or of any portion thereof,
may be easily accomplished without injury to the hull of the vessel or the
expense of forming new cavities therein. To obviate the necessity of using a
great number of screws or rivets in sheathing a vessel, the edges of the plates
may be held and fastened lengthways by thin copper battens E, E, Figure 6
& 7, which although secured by rivets or screws to the hull, will, owing to
their rigidity, require a comparatively small number thereof. The vertical
edges of the sheathing plates whose remaining edges are held under the
battens E, E, may be united together and secured without rivets by lapping
them over upon each other, forming a lock joint as clearly illustrated in
Figure 9. It will be found advantageous when thus sheathing a vessel to
place close fitting rings or washers of rubber around the shank of each pro-
jecting screw or rivet before placing the insulating coat or sheet over the
vessel, as this. will afford an additional precaution against the leaking in of
moisture around the rivet.
.
Having thus fully described the character of this Invention, I do not claim
the hollow punch A in itself as a new tool, nor do I claim the fastening of
rivets, &c., in metallic plates by the use of such a punch when the cavity in
which the rivet is inserted is pierced or extended entirely through the plate,
but what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent is, the im-
proved mode of securing bolts, rivets, screws, or screw seats in metallic plates
by contracting or driving in, upon, and around the bolt, rivet, screw, or screw
seat the edge or, rim of a simple cavity into which they are first inserted
substantially in the manner her ein described and set forth.
In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fourth
day of November, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred
and sixty-four.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.S.)