180 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCIIITECrS JOURNAL. 



[June, 



of one end of the skplp or strip when at a red heat, the two edges 

 curling towards eacli other, and one lapping under the other, so that 

 the first cnl IS made smaller than the sue of the tube when linislied ; 

 the skelp, or partly turned ami parll.- flat strip, is thin put into the 

 furnace, and when brought up to a welding state, it is introduced into 



a bell or mouth-piece, D, similar to that shown in the engraving, 

 and the turned-up end is sulficiently inserted through the bell 

 and between the rolls, H, H, to allow the pivers on the drawbench 

 to catch hold of the end of the skelp; the chain being then set in 

 motion, the skelp will draw through the bell, and, owing to the 

 ridge on the bell, the one end of the skelp will be caused to overlap 

 the other edge, and when it has left the bell, and it is in the pinch of 

 the rolls, the place of contact of the ri/lls being the point which gives 

 the welding pressure, the mandril b^ing within and olfering resistance 

 to the internal part of the tube. Between the back part or small end 

 of the bell, and the entrance of the rollers, there is a lube, c, through 

 which is conveyed either hot or cold blast, blown by the engine ; the 

 end of this tube is fixed over the s 'am of the skelp or tube. The 

 blast will have the eti'ect of producing the metal at the seam or joint 

 into a partly liquid state, or state of fusion. The rolls revolve by 

 machinery, and traverse at tlie same surf Lce speed as the chain on 

 the drawbench, so that the draft on the tube is eased, and the dralt 

 has not the tendency to stretch the lube more in one ()lace than ano- 

 ther, nor to pull the tube in two. The mandril is [ilaced in front of 

 the bell, the bulb protruding through and into the groove of the rolls. 

 By this process, the skelp, with the one end turned up, is produced at 

 one heat, and at one operation, into a lap-joint welded iron tube. 

 This process will be found most advantageous in the production, 

 particularly of lap-joint iron tubes, on account of the sm dl qu intity of 

 hands required, the very great facility it offers in their production, 

 and the superiority of the article produced. They will b-' found to 

 stand a greater pressure on the inch, according to the substance of 

 metal, than other similar tubes produced by any of the other known 

 piocesses, on ac<-.yunl of the properties of the iron being retained, the 

 tube only having .'ven heated once. By other processes the tubes are 

 repeatedly heated in the furnace, which lends to destroy the fibres of 

 the iron. Another very great advar)tage resulting from tins process, 

 is in the blast playing on the seam or joint of the tidje before it goes 

 under the welding pressure, so that in all cases dependence may be 

 placed on the joint being in a good welding state, which joint might 

 in some degree have got chi.led in the bell or mouth-piece, in the 

 bending. 



SHEATHING FOR SHIPS. 



George Fuedeiuck Muntz, Esq., M.P., of Ley Hall, near Birm- 

 ingham, fur " All improvtd manujaclnre of metal plales fur sliealAiiig 

 the bottoms of s/iijis or oilier vtasils." Granted October 15, 1S4J ; 

 Enrolled April 15, ls47. 



This invention relates to an ini|)roved manuf icturo of the sheathing 

 metal of copper and zinc, described in the specification of a p.Ltent 

 granted to tlie present patentee October 22, 1832, cuntaiinng GU parts 

 copper and 41J [larts zinc. The present improvements consist of an 

 alloy of 5lj parts of copper, 4U-J zinc, and 3i lead ; in making the 

 alloy, an additional quantity of zinc is used, on account of the loss of 

 that material during llie operation, so as to obtain an alloy containing 

 the dillerent metals in the above proportions. The liiad acts an im- 

 portant p.irt in the allov, as, without it, the alloy would not oxidize 

 sufiiiciently to keep the ship's bottom clean. Tiie alloy, after being 

 east into ingots, is rolled into sheets (by preference, at a red heat;, 

 and then anuealed ; and, if desired, the sh(>ets may be cleaned with a 

 mixture of sulphuric and nitrid acids, [iroperly diluted. 



The patentee does not conliue himself strictly to the above propor- 

 tions, fur the quanlitv of cupp -r may be increased (which will, liow- 

 evi-r, increase the cost of the sheathing metal), or it may be <lecrcas;-d 

 to a slight extent ; but it niuU not be reduced to fifty per cent, of the 

 »Uoy produced. Although lead is raentioned in the above description, 



anv other suitable metal m ly be us?d in place of it, but not with equal 

 advantage. 



The [) itentee claims the m inufaclure of sheathing metal, by 'o 

 using other suitible m 'tal or metals, when copper and zinc are com- 

 bined for tlie purpose of sheathm':^, as to allow ihe mixture to contain 

 a less proportion of copper than about sixty parts of c ipp '-r and forty 

 parts of zinc, and at the same tim ■ attain a sulfijient degr ee of oxida- 

 tion, and prevent separate acliou on the zinc. 



IRON \V1 RE. 



William Reid, of St. Pan;ras, Mi I ilesex.'ngiii'er, fir " fniprore- 

 mtnln in the minafictare of wire." — Granted October 23, ISlli; En- 

 rolled April 29, 1847.— (Reported in the Patent Journal.) 



This invention relates specially to the manuf.ictura of iron wire, and 

 also to the clean-sing, or prep iring the surfice of the sun ', to receive 

 a metallic coating, for the purpose cjf preventing osiilatiou, and has 

 for its object the producing wires of greater lengtli-, and more perfect 

 throughout its entire leng'li, than can be efT-cte I bv anv ni 'ans at pre- 

 sent in use, and consequently better c ilculated for the purposes to 

 which it is applied ; mure esp-'ci ally f jr tr insmitting the currents in 

 electric telegr iphs. For, whereas the bundles of wire, whicli average 

 ab lut 192 f'et in length, and weigh 14 lb., are welded together when 

 reduced to the sizi wliicli they are intended to remain, the parts join- 

 eil almost invariably bi'ing thicker than the rest, and at the same 

 time rendered more brittle, and not unfrequently unsound. Now, the 

 improvement in the first ()irt of this invention, consists in welding end 

 to end, scarf-wise, two, three, four, or mure bars of iron, suitable for 

 the purpose, and afterwards drawing them through Ihe drawing ma- 

 chine, which process not only renders it the same siz'? throu'^hout, 

 hut by the strain required, eH'-ctuilly tries the different joints, which, 

 if not sound, will give way, thus detecting any imperfections that 

 arise in the construction. Bv this m'ans, ihe patentee states lie c in 

 readily furnish bundl's of wire, of ten times the usual length, or even 

 anv length that may be required. After dr awing, the wire is sub- 

 mitted to the annealing oven, which reniiers it as near as m iv be of a 

 homogeneous quahty throughout. With ri^gard to the welding and 

 drawing the iron, he does not lay anv claim to the different operations 

 when considered without respect to the order in which they are per- 

 formed. Although these improvements have been specially mentioned 

 as desirable for ihe m.inufactnre of iron wire, it m ly also be eciually 

 well applied to the manufacture of steel wire. Tlie second p.irt of 

 these improvements rel.ites to the preparing wire to receive a coaling 

 of zinc or tin, in order to prevent it oxydizing; the ordmarv melliod 

 being to immerse it in a solution of nitric or sulp'iuric acid, from the 

 unequal action of which, or one part remaining longer iii th- solution 

 than another, the quality of the iron is much deteriorated. Now, ac- 

 cording to this invention, the surface of the wire is prepared solely 

 by a mechanical agency, or at least so far as to require only the acid 

 very much dduted, the apparatus for which is as follows: — the coils, 

 as they are taken Irorn the annealing oven, are placed on reels, whicli 

 revolve freely on vertical spindles, from a suitable frame-work. The 

 form of these reels is the frustum of a cone, the small end being up- 

 permost, so as to admit of the coil of wire being easily placed thereon ; 

 the ends of these coils, which may be five, six, or any convenient num- 

 ber, are led round, or rather half round three rollers, whose axes are 

 also vertical; the sinuous route passes throughout, bending the wire 

 alternately in contrary directions, as it turns over each roller; it is 

 then conducted through another series of five rollers, whose axes lay 

 horizontally; the wire, in passing the sinuous course prescribed by 

 them, is bent in a contrary direction to that in passing the previous 

 set of rollers. In order that one wire shall not ride on the other in its 

 pass.ige through the diHerent sets of rollers, the wires are passed 

 through suitable guides, and for the purpose of changing the point of 

 contact on each roller, so that it shall not wear the s ime into grooves, 

 Ihe (jrst series of rollers is caused to traverse backwards and forwards, 

 in a direction at right angles to the motion of the wire ; thus far the 

 process is merely lor breaking up any scale or oxide on the surface of 

 the wire; it is then passed between two pieces of wood, faced with 

 K'ather, or other substance, on which a constant stream of emery is 

 peiiultted to fiuw from a hopper above; these pieces of wood are 

 s [ueezed together with sulficient pressure to clean the sarfice of the 

 wire, as it passes between them. Instead of leather, he sometimes 

 applies grooved su; faces, cut in the manner of a fil^, suit.ible to re- 

 ceive the size of the wire to be cleaned. The wire is next cjiiveved 

 throuo-li a solution of weak sal-ammoniac or muriatic acid ; this u 

 ed'.:cted by passing it down into a trough filled witii the liquid, turning 

 11 over two rollers immersed therein; it is then conveyed to tli-j bath 



