ARMOUR PLATES OF HAMMERED OR ROLLED WROUGHT IRON, THE WHOLE OF THE RIVETS BEING PROTECTED AGAINST THE DIRECT BLOWS FROM THE CANNON SHOTS
Year: 1863

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Charles Louis Van Tenac at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
11th May 1863.
I, CHARLES LOUIS VAN TENAC, of Tredegar, Monmouthshire, South Wales,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"ARMOUR PLATES OF HAMMERED OR ROLLED WROUGHT IRON, THE WHOLE OF THE
RIVETS BEING PROTECTED AGAINST THE DIRECT BLOWS FROM THE CANNON SHOTS,"
to be as follows:-
The Drawing No. 1 shows the section of a system of armour plates with
two distinct plates, one outside B, and one inside A. The inside plate A is a
sort of rail with large flanges, being fixed by the set of rivets a to the sides of
the ship (or other objects to be protected); the plate B is placed in such a
way as to cover the rivets a, and is supported by the tenon b. The inside
plate C is then fixed, and holds the plate B by its tenon 6. This plate is
supported by the set of rivets c alternatively with the set of rivets a. The
other plates are fixed in that way consecutively. In this system the rivets are
protected by a thickness of three inches and three-eighths (34) of iron. A sheet
of gutta percha or india-rubber, vulcanised, R, can be placed between the
sides of the ship and the plates, but it must be compressed part of its thickness
in fixing the rivets. A thin sheet of lead may also be placed if convenient
between the plates A and B to lessen the vibrations. The rivets in the same
vertical plan are twenty-four inches and a half (24) apart, and one inch
three-eights (1 thick. If convenient, some intermediate rivets may be used

page_text: to hold up the flanges of the inside plates. The thickness of the plates can
be increased or lessened according to the resistance they must bear.
Drawing No. 2.This Drawing is showing a system of armour plates of
hammered or rolled iron. In this system the inside plate F being fixed by
the set of rivets f crossing equally the flanges of the outside plate F, the
outside plate G is placed afterwards, and supported by the tenons g and h, and
the set of rivets h¹. The plate K is equally fixed by the tenons 7 and 1, and
the set of rivets 1. In this system of plates the rivets are protected by a
thickness of iron of four inches and one-eighth (4). Three (3) sorts of
joints m³, m, are shown, and the most suitable may be selected.
Drawing No. 3.-This Drawing shows the section of another system of
armour plates of wrought, rolled, or hammered iron like the previous ones,
and the plates are fixed by sets of rivets protected by a thickness of iron of
five inches bare (5 bare), and of six inches five-eights (6. The plates like S
are fixed by a set of rivets s at the upper part of their flange. They aro
also supported by the set of rivets st, and their under flange is cut up to allow
the rivets s to pass and hold the upper flange of the outside plate N. The
other details are clearly shown on the Drawing. In this third system the
rivets are better protected against the direct blows from the cannon shots than
in the second, and the rivets of the second system better than those of the
first. Those plates can be forged or rolled fourteen feet long and more, they
are of a less difficult and expensive make, and obtained of any thickness
suitable to their object with any description of iron that may be required.
Besides, the above plates offers to the destructive power of the cannon balls a
stronger surface for resistance, for this reason, that the nerves of the iron of
the outside plates are not weakened by numerous holes and exposed rivets like
in the plates now in use. The vibrations are even less, and spread in a smaller
compass; besides, the rivets not being roughly and directly shaken, and little
exposed to suffer frequently, are better able to hold out longer.