IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM COPPER, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Sydney Pitt, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM COPPER,
AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN. A communication from abroad by
Count Stanislas de Plater-Syberg, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
Sealed the 12th January 1877, and dated the 11th August 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Sydney Pitt at the Office of
the Commissioners of Patents on the 11th August 1876.
SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM COPPER, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of articles
from copper.
The Invention consists essentially in the employment of copper deposited by
cicctric currents for making without fusion jointless tubes, wire of any diameter,
vessels, cartridge heads, &c., of pure ductile and tenacious copper.
Up to the present time electro-metallic deposits have only been used for plating,
the deposits have never been employed in trade without fusing the metal to render
it ductile and tenacious, and able to enter into competition with articles produced
froin cast copper.
According to this Invention the copper is deposited by means of electric
conductors upon a core of form suitable to that which it is wished the article should
finally assume. When a sufficient thickness of copper has been deposited the
article is taken out of the bath and the core removed by fusion or otherwise so that
the deposit of copper remains entirely free. It is then made ductile and tenacious
by first annealing it, and then drawing, stamping, rolling, hammering, or twisting
it, which completes what is necessary to render the copper suitable for all purposes
for which pure copper obtained in any ordinary way is employed. The metal inay
afterwards be treated or worked in any desired manner.
As an example of the node of manufacture there is given the following
description of the apparatus which it is preferred to use in precipitating the copper
for making drawn tubes without joint, the copper bath being of any suitable
strength. The bath is of wood lined with lead; at the centre of the bottom of this
bath a porous cell is placed on a badly conducting block. Two strong pieces of
[Price 6d1

page_text: iron occupy the centre of this vessel, they are hung from two transverse pieces of
wood placed across the top of the porous cell. The upper ends of the pieces of iron
which project beyond the cell are connected to a conductor of circular form by
several radial pieces of metal. The cylindrical cores upon which the copper is to be
deposited are hung by wires from this circular conductor. The cylindrical cores dip
into the copper bath for the length that it is desired to give the cylinder from
which the tube is to be drawn. The porous cell is filled with water acidulated
with from 30% to 5% of sulphuric acid (56°). The apparatus is now ready for use,
the acid attacks the iron, an electric current is established from the iron to the bath,
passing through the circular conductor, and copper is precipitated on to the cores.
Every 12 hours the neutral sulphate of iron is removed from the porous cell
and is replaced by new acidulated water. The copper bath is kept saturated by
means of balloon-shaped vessels having their necks inverted and which are filled
with crystals of sulphate of copper.
The apparatus gives large quantities of electricity at a feeble tension, and the
deposit is in consequence extremely tenacious and compact.
When the deposit has attained a sufficient thickness the article is removed from
the bath and the core is melted out. There remains a .cylinder of deposited copper
which is annealed, taken to the draw bench and drawn on a mandril. The tube is
completed by successive annealings and drawings.
If tubes of great length are to be made the core is placed horizontally and is
ranged round the bath.
Several porous cells may be placed in the bath and the conductors arranged in
any way that will give the best deposit of the metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Sydney Pitt in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 9th February
1877.
SYDNEY PITT, of Sutton, in the County of Surrey. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF ARTICLES FROM COPPER, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
THEREIN." A communication from abroad by Count Stanislas de Plater-Syberg,
of Paris, in the Republic of France.
This Invention has for its object improvements in the manufacture of articles from
copper and in apparatus employed therein.
The Invention consists essentially in the direct employment of copper deposited
by electric currents without any fusion for the manufacture of drawn jointloss
tubes, wire of all sizes, raised vessels, cartridge capsules, and the like articles
requiring to be made of pure ductile and tenacious copper.
Up to the present time the metallic deposits obtained by humid methods and
electric currents have had no other applications than those known under the name
of galvanoplastics.
The deposited metal has never been otherwise applied in the arts without a
preliminary fusion intended to render it ductile and tenacious. It is the application
of such copper without melting to the manufacture of drawn, stamped, raised,
hammered, and rolled articles which it is desired to patent.
The copper is caused to be deposited upon a conducting core of a form appropriate
to the article to be produced. When the thickness of the copper deposited upon
the core has attained the desired dimensions the piece is removed and the core is
got rid of by fusion or otherwise, so that the deposit of copper alone remains. The
qualities of ductility and tenacity are then communicated to it by annealing by
heat, then a drawing, or stamping, or rolling, or hammering, or raising, completes
the work to be effected to render the copper suitable for all the purposes to which
copper obtained by the ordinary metallurgical operations is suitable. The metal

page_text: may be submitted to as many annealings and mechanical treatments as may be
convenient.
As an example of this mode of manufacture the production of drawn jointless
tubes is given. The bath employed is of sulphate of copper of any degree of
purity.
The apparatus which is employed for the precipitation of copper of a quality
suitable for the manufacture is represented in the annexed Drawing. M, N, is a
wooden vat lined with lead. In the middle of the vat on an insulating support
there is placed a porous cell A, B; strong pieces of iron E, F, occupy the central part
of the vat; they are held suspended by wooden cross pieces resting on the sides of
the porous cell. Several metal cross pieces C, D, C¹, D¹, are secured by a screw to
the irons and support a conducting circle m, n. To this circle the cylindrical cores
on to which copper is to be deposited are attached, they are suspended by one or
more conducting wires. The cylindrical cores dip into the bath of coppor solution
a distance equal to the length desired to be given to the masses to be drawn. The
porous cell is charged with water acidulated with from 3 to 5 per cent. of sulphuric
acid at 56 degrees. In this state the apparatus is set to work; the acid attacks the
iron; an electric current is established from the iron to the bath passing through
the circle, and the copper is precipitated upon the cores. Neutral sulphate of
copper is removed every twelve hours from the porous cell and is replaced by fresh
acidulated water. The copper bath is maintained in a state of saturation by means
of flasks filled with sulphate of copper in crystals and having their necks inverted
and immersed in the liquid in the bath.
The apparatus furnishes a large quantity of electricity of feeble tension, from
which there results a very firm and compact deposition.
The deposit having accumulated to the thickness desired the piece is removed
and the core is melted out; a hollow cylinder of deposited copper remains, which is
removed at once to be drawn on the mandril. There is obtained in this way a
tube which successive drawings and annealings brings to a finished state; if it be
desired to obtain tubes of great length the cores are arranged horizontally and are
bent around the vat.
Several porous cells can be placed in the same bath, the conductors being
arranged accordingly.
The advantages of the process are as follows:-Articles of pure copper can be
obtained directly from very impure copper baths; in most cases there is a great
saving of labour, as the piece at once takes approximately the form of the finished
article; there is a saving in metal resulting from the fewer number of annealings
which are required; there is a diminished waste resulting from the smaller number
of successive changes of form; the metal is of great purity, completely free from
other metals, oxygen and carbon, always necessarily to be found in cast copper.
This Invention then creates a new industrial manufacture utilizing for this
purpose know methods; the precipitation of copper by electricity being in the
domain of galvano-plastics; but that for which I claim the exclusive right under my
patent is,
The manufacture of drawn, stamped rolled, hammered, or raised articles from
deposited copper without fusion, but rendering the metal ductile and tenacious,
substantially as described
I also claim the arrangement of the depositing vat, substantially as described.
•
In witness whereof, I, the said Sydney Pitt, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sixth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.
SYDNEY PITT. (L.S.)