IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAKING OF MOULDS FOR CASTING IN METALS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Archibald Gibb, of Maryhill, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Iron Founder, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAKING OF
MOULDS FOR CASTING IN METALS."
Sealed the 3rd July 1866, and dated the 8th January 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Archibald Gibb at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th
January 1866.
I, ARCHIBALD GIBB, of Maryhill, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Iron Founder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAKING
OF MOULDS FOR CASTING IN METALS," to be as follows, that is to say:-
This Invention consists essentially in the construction and use of new and
improved automatic machinery and apparatus for ramming and forming or
constructing the longer class of sand moulds, more particularly such as those
formed in two halves in long cross-barred moulding boxes placed upon the
top of a horizontal flat bed plate having the pattern or patterns either laid
upon, attached to, or partially inserted therein, and when both halves. are
clamped or screwed together with a core placed up the centre of the mould,
and are most generally used for casting the smaller class of iron pipes, as well
as being also applicable for making the moulds of similarly long metal
[Prim d

page_text: castings of various kinds in a much more economical, efficient, and expeditious
manner than such moulds have heretofore been constructed.
Under one modification or arrangement of this Invention or improved
apparatus or mechanism as applied to the making of moulds for small pipes,
the horizontal bed plate upon which the pattern and moulding box are placed
to form the mould is either attached to or made in the form of a traversing
table or carriage moving on v-shaped bars or rails, and revolving or rolling
wheels or pullies upon stationary or moving axes. The table or carriage with
the moulding box thereon is fed forward in steps or distances corresponding
to the divisions between the cross bars of the box beneath two, three, or more
ramming blocks worked vertically in guides by connecting rods and cranks,
eccentrics, or.cams upon a longitudinal horizontal shaft working in bearings
carried overhead on a suitable strong fixed framing for the purpose.
The intermittent forward motion of the table which takes place in unison or
at corresponding intervalswith the up-and-downdouble stroke of the rammers
is effected by a transverse shaft, by preference placed below the machine and
rammers and the level of the ground, carrying a spur wheel gearing into a
toothed rack on the under side of the table. This transverse shaft receives its
intermittent motion by a ratchet wheel and rocking pall lever on its end,
which is actuated by a connecting rod attached to it and the revolving crank
pin of an intermediate transverse crank shaft geared direct to the longitudinal
shaft driving the rammers by bevel wheels of equal size, so that when the
ratchet pall and its carrying lever are making the back stroke and the table
is stationary, the rammers come down in the spaces between the bars of the
box and ram, or compress the sand therein which had previously been filled
or fed into the box by hand in the usual manner, or by shoots or sprouts from
a hopper or screen above, into which it is regularly raised and fed by elevators.
The sand is fed into the moulding box just before it reaches each of the
rammers, and the first of these being formed approximately to the shape of
the pattern and space between the bars, gives the first thickness or part of the
mould next the pattern a more perfect ramming action into all the corners
and angles of the mould, while the second or a third, when desired, finishes
and flattens off the sand level with the top of the box and bars, and this
operation, when the quantity of sand is properly regulated, produces the mould
of any desired uniform hardness. The larger part of the moulding box and
mould, such as where the faucet of the pipe is formed, may either be rammed
by hand in the usual manner, or a special large suitable rammer may be
worked in the same manner as the others, but made capable of being put into
or out of motion at pleasure, independently of the others, when required for

page_text: forming or ramming this large part of the mould by a clutch and hand lever
for the purpose.
In some cases iron scrapers are placed above the box
capable of being set at different heights for the purpose of scraping or levelling
off the loose sand fed into it by the forward action of the table and moulding
box for being rammed, as well as for levelling off the compressed sand, and
finishing off the upper surface of the mould when desired.
A further improvement for regulating the hardness to which the sand of the
mould shall be rammed, besides that of regulating the quantity of sand fed in
below the rammers, consists in making the connecting rods which work the
rammers capable of being lengthened and shortened by coupling them to the
latter by a screw rod or socket joint with a jam nut or pinching screw for
fixing the two parts of this connecting rod at the desired length, thus causing
the rammers to descend more or less into the moulding box, and so compress
the sand to the required density. By the time the carriage or table has
reached its extreme forward motion or position each box or half mould will
be fully rammed and finished (the sand having been fed in and rammed in
the spaces between the transverse bars in succession) and the simple catches
which held the box to the table being released, it is lifted off by a swing bar
and links attached to the free end of a hand lever, the fulcrum of which is
carried by a chain from above attached to any convenient light travelling or
swing crane,and deposited or placed two together face to face with the core up
the centre of the mould, when they are then screwed or clamped together and
cast in the usual manner in an angular or vertical position. The adjacent
edges or faces of the half boxes are all planed and made to fit accurately to
each other and also the upper surface of the pattern or ramming table, so that
no time is lost in searching for particular boxes.
Another improvement or part of this Invention has reference to steadying
or holding the cores of pipes in moulds formed in two half boxes and put
together afterwards over the core to form the complete mould, and consists in
turning or forming a narrow annular groove in or near the centre of the
pattern to the depth of the thickness of the pipe, or equal to the diameter of
the core, and forming a small vertical hole in the centre of one of the middle
cross bars of the upper halves of the moulding box, which is made to come
exactly over the centre of the groove in the pattern when placed over it on
the table to form the mould. These small vertical holes may only go a short
distance into the bar, or they may pass right up to the upper side, and the
centre cross bars with the holes may either be formed in one with the box like
the other bars, or made detached and inserted or fixed at pleasure into grooves
formed in the sides of the boxes for their retention, and in some cases may be

page_text: ני
made of wood when desired. Before placing the upper box over the pattern to
form the mould a segmental "chaplet" with a vertical stem is placed in position
with its stem into the hole in the bar and its segmental part resting in the
groove of the pattern, and in the case of the hole only going a short distance up,
the stem rests or abuts on the bottom of the hole. The ramming of the sand
fixes the "chaplet" in this proper position, and so that when the top part is
fiuished and lifted off the pattern table and placed over the lower half of the
mould and box with the core therein the segmental part of the "chaplet
bears on the centre of the core, so that the core cannot rise or bend from the
force of the molten metal on its under side in casting; and as an additional
security against this bending of the core, more particularly required when the
centre bars are inserted in grooves, or when the stem of the "chaplet " comes
up to the top of the box a transverse screw clamp is fixed to the sides of the
box over the centre bar, when the mould is finished all ready for casting, and
a thumbscrew in the centre of the clamp is screwed down so as to rest upon
the centre of the cross bar, or upon the upper end of the long stem of the
chaplet" when such is employed, thus preventing the core, "chaplet," or
centre bar from rising in the operation of casting the pipe, unless by bending
the moulding box itself, which is made strong enough to resist all such strain
in casting.
45
In place of making the transverse shaft below the machine for actuating
the pattern table to revolve by the action of a ratchet wheel and lever as
herein-before described, it may be made a rocking shaft by keying the said
lever thereon, and substituting for the toothed wheel and rack afixed vertical
lever on the said shaft, either actuating a bar with a ratchet pall or carrying
the pall itself working in a ratchet rack of a pitch equal to the distance
between the bars of the moulding box attached to the table or carriage, so
that the forward motion of the rocking shaft and vertical lever carrying the
ratchet pall would move forward the table one tooth at a time, and the table
may be fixed or held stationary when desired during the backward motion of
the rocking lever and ratchet pall, and the descent of the rammers by aspring
or weighted lever, catch, or break, which would be allowed or made to fall
and come into action, or be raised out of action with the table at the extreme
forward or back stroke of the said rocking lever or at the extreme up-and-
down stroke of the rammers respectively by a stud projecting from either of
these, and made to come in contact with projections on a sliding rod o
oscillating lever for that purpose, which would fix or release the table, as
described.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Archibald Gibb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
July 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, ARCHIBALD
GIBB, of Maryhill, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Iron Founder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Archibald Gibb, Her special licence that I, the said Archibald
Gibb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Archibald Gibb, 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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OR MAKING OF MOULDS
FOR CASTING IN METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Archibald Gibb, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in
writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 immediately after
the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Archibald Gibb, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and
to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists essentially in the construction and use of new
and improved automatic machinery and apparatus for ramming and forming
or constructing the longer class of sand moulds, more particularly such as
those formed in two halves in long cross-barred boxes placed upon the top of
a horizontal flat bed plate having the pattern or patterns either laid upon,
attached to, or partially inserted therein, and when both halves are clamped
or screwed together with a core placed up the centre of the mould, are most
generally used for casting the smaller class of iron pipes, as well as being also

page_text: applicable for making the moulds of similarly long metal castings of various
kinds in a much more economical, effecient, and expeditious manner than such
moulds have heretofore been constructed.
And in order that my said Invention, and the best manner of performing
the same which I am at present aware of, may be properly understood,I shall
now proceed to describe the several illustrative Figures upon the Sheet of
Drawings which I have hereunto appended for that purpose, the same refer-
ence letters and numerals indicating the same or corresponding parts in all
the Figures.
Figures 1 and 2 are respectively a side and end elevation of a mould-making
machine with sand-lifting and feeding mechanism attached,all constructed in
accordance with and illustrative of one modification of the first or main feature
or improvements of my said Invention, shown as in the act of making one-half
of a "green sand" small pipe mould, which is shown partially in section at the
part where the sand and mould is "rammed" or compressed, for the better
understanding of the action thereof. Figures 3 to 13 inclusive are views of
details which will be herein-after more fully named and described.
In the arrangement of the mould-making machine shown in sharp black
lines in Figures 1 and 2, framing consists of two main side standards A
firmly bolted at the lowest part to the strong sole or bed plate B secured to
a suitable foundation of masonry, not shown in the Drawings, and further
secured and stayed to each other longitudinally at the centre and upper parts
respectively by the strong cast-iron rail C and the malleable iron tie rods D.
The main driving shaft E, which gives motion to the other moving parts of
the machine, revolves in bearings formed at the top of the standards A, and
is actuated at pleasure by a belt from any adjacent prime motion shaft for the
purpose, nct shown in the Drawings, passing round the loose revolving cone
or "speed pulley" F, through or by the friction clutch G and hand lever
mechanism G. Two cranks E', E², are formed near the central part of the
shaft E for actuating the two vertically reciprocating rammers or compressers
H, H', by the duplex connecting rods I, I, working in the slide and guide
bearings formed in the rail C and bracket C', the rammers being formed
at their lower ends with dovetail recesses for receiving and furnished with
screw pins for fixing the rammer heads or pressing blocks J and J¹, of any
desired form, for ramming the sand, so as to suit the particular moulds
and boxes required or under treatment for the time being. Two V-shaped
rails are formed on the upper surface of the bed plate B, and also upon the
continuation or additional sole or rail plates B', B2, fixed by flanges to the
ends of the bed plate B, and properly secured to the foundation masonry, so

page_text: as to carry the carriage K which traverses on them by the six pairs of
V-grooved rolling wheels L. The upper surface of the travelling carriage K
is plained level, so as to receive the "pattern board" or "plate " M, in this
case formed like a box of cast iron plained parallel and flat on its under
edges and upper surface, and having a semicircular groove formed along the
centre, into which the pipe pattern N is fitted, so as to be sunk and raised
half below and half above the upper plained face of the plate M which forms
the "parting" of the moulds, and on which the plained and jointed sides or
edges of the moulding boxes O are placed for forming the moulds. The
pattern plate M and moulding box O are fixed on the respective surfaces
named in the true longitudinal vertical plane passing through the axis of the
shaft E and rammers H and H', and held there by the steadying pins and
swivel catch handles P and P¹, passing through and over their respective
snugs M' and O'. An intermittent forward motion is given to the carriage K
(carrying the pattern plate, pattern, and moulding box M, N, and O, as
shown in Figure 1, in the direction of the arrow 1, above the moulding box,)
to the extent of one division at a time of the uniform distance between the
cross bars o of the box O, by the pin Q of the crank disc keyed on the over-
hanging end of the crank shaft E, connected by the reciprocating rod Q' to
the loose rocking pall lever R, the pall R¹ of which takes into the teeth of
the ratchet wheel S¹ keyed on one end of the longitudinal shaft S geared by
the bevel or mitre wheels T,T', to the two transverse shafts U and U¹, which
transmit their motion to the carriage M bythe two spur or rack wheels V,V',
keyed on their inner ends gearing into the teeth of the rack V2 screwed to itg
under side; the shafts S and U, U', are carried by and revolve in bearings
formed on the under side of the bed plate B. The pin Q and its disc are so
set on the shaft E in relation to the cranks E¹, E, that they turn the ratchet
wheel S' in the direction of the black lined arrow 1 round it, and move the
carriage M and moulding box O forward, while or during the time the
cranks E', E, and the rammers H and H' are passing through the upper
part of their revolution and stroke, and so as to leave them stationary while
the rammers are passing through the lower part of their stroke, and com-
pressing the sand and mould in the spaces between the bars o of the moulding
boxes O. A friction disc S is fixed to the bed plate B, and constructed to
act with any desired degree of tightness when desired against the back face of
the ratchet wheel S¹, so as to hold and prevent it and the shaft S from any
undue motion from the percussive action of the lever R and pall R' on the
ratchet wheel S',and to prevent the said ratchet feed mechanism from giving
any undue motion to the shafts U and U', or their gearing and other attach-

page_text: ments through the momentum of their own parts or otherwise. Friction or
break straps W, W', are hinged to the under side of the bed plate B and to
the levers X, X', actuated by the rocking shaft and lever Y and Y, so as
to act on the under part or periphery of the wheels V and V₁ at pleasure,
and be capable of easy release (by turning the hand lever Y in the opposite
direction to that which puts on the breaks W, W¹,) when the carriage
and its actuating shafts and gearing have to be run fast backwards in the
direction of the blue arrows 2; after completing or ramming the upper or
lower half of a mould in readyness for a fresh traverse forwards with a new
box placed upon it. This quick back traverse may either be done by hand
through the spoke wheel Z, shown in dotted lines as carried on the elongated
end of the shaft U, or otherwise by the automatic mechanism shown in blue
lines in Figures 1 and 2, and the power and motion of the machine through
the belt a passed round the cone pulley F, and the pulley on the short
spindle c, carried in a bearing bracket c'bolted to one of the standards A, and
through the belt d passed round the pulley e on the spindle c, and the
pulley running loose on the shaft S, but capable of being put in motion at
pleasure by the friction clutch f. In some cases when the machine is desired
to be worked at a high velocity I prefer to break or stop the momentum of
the carriage itself just at the time the ratchet mechanism is completing each
intermittent forward feed distance of the carriage by an arrangement of break
mechanism shown in dotted lines in Figures 1 and 2, actuated by the pin g
projecting from the rammer H; as the rammer rises and falls the pin g works
in the "steped" slot of the link h, so as respectively to raise and lower the
horizontal arm of the bell-crank lever i and the strong open break frame j
linked to it, and sliding in guides attached to the cross rails A¹ of the
standard A. The two lower arms of the framej carry the friction or break
pullies, which press upon the upper surface of the carriage so as to hold it
steady while the rammers are down, pressing the sand into the recesses of the
moulding box O, and vice versa, so as to release the carriage for its forward
action while the rammers are passing through the upper part of their stroke.
Instead of the break pullies being employed to stop and hold the carriage
by friction and pressure on its upper surface, the lower ends of the arms j of
the frame may be formed into stems or retaining catches, so as to come
down and enter notches cut to suit them at distances corresponding to the
fixed cross bars of the moulding boxes O, either in the top of the carriage or
in a rail or plate bolted on to it for the purpose; or otherwise the stems of
the frames; might be made to come down and catch the bars o of the
moulding box itself, any of which plans would retain the carriage and

page_text: moulding box quite firm while the alternate parts of the mould were being
rammed. The moulding boxes employed may be of the ordinary form and
construction, but to produce good work and save time in finding the par-
ticular "top parts" to suit each particular lower box I prefer to plain the
upper and lower faces or edges of all the upper and lower boxes straight and
parallel to a particular depth to suit the class of work for which they are to
be employed, and to make all the holes of the upper boxes in the same position
of their snugs (1, so as to suit the steading pins of any of the under boxes,
which pins are all placed in a like positions of their snugs to suit the holes in
the upper boxes, and also to make both the snugs O' of the upper and lower
halves of the boxes O with holes through them, in the same position relative
to the centre line of the box to suit the steading pins on the upper side of the
pattern plate M, so that when any two halves of a mould have been rammed
or formed, and the upper and lower boxes are put together they will exactly
coincide with each other, and form a close and fine "parting," as shown at
Figures 12 and 13, where the moulds are shown in section as complete and
ready for being cast.
In working the arrangements of mechanism shown in Figures 1 and 2, the
sand for making the moulds after former use is roughly damped and heaped
up towards the lower box (not shown in the Drawings) of a set of elevators,
from which it is raised by the chain of buckets 3, passed round an overhead
hexagonal chaiu wheel or drum 3'; and I prefer to set the elevators in motion
by a hand lever or automatic mechanism, so connected with the mould-making
machine that it will start and stop the elevators along with the machine, and
to regulate the speed of the elevators by a beltand cone pullies, so as to deliver
as nearly as possible the required proportion or quantity of sand for the par-
ticular size of moulds being made for the time being into the filler or spout box 4,
which conveyes or delivers itintotheupper end of the cylinderic sieve or screen5,
which is covered outside by wire cloth of the fineness desired for the particular
kind of sand and class of work required. The sieve5is by preference disposed at
an angle in the upper part of an enclosed box or chamber 6, furnished with two
spouts or ducts 7 and 71, leading from it at a considerable angle, so as to convey
the mixed and sifted sand passed through the wire gauze of the sieve 5 to the
top of the moulding box at the spouts or nozzles 8 and 8' of the ducts 7 and 71
wherethesandisfilled into thecompartments between the bars o of the moulding
box O, previously placed with its face for forming the" parting" of the mould
down over the top of the pattern N, upon the pattern plate M, where it is
temporarily and quickly fixed by the swivel catch handles P¹, and where a
little "parting" and fine sand is riddled (as usual by hand over the whole
'

page_text: pattern and enterion of the box), all while the carriage is at its backmost
position upon the top of the rail plate B'. I prefer to take the motion of the
mechanism for driving the sieve 5 from the shaft E so that it may stop and
start with the self-contained or portable mould-making machine itself, already
so far described, as carried upon the sole plates B, B, and B, and this arrange-
ment for driving the sieve 5 is indicated in red lines, and consists of the angled
intermediate shaft 9, gearing to the shaft E by a pair of mitre wheels 10 at
its lower end, and to the shaft of the sieve 5 by a pair of angled wheels 11
at its upper end.
A light spiral rib 12 is attached to the internal circum-
ference of the wire gauze so as to strengthen it, and retain and distribute
the sand within the sieve while it is being sifted, and also to screw or carry
any small stones, lumps, or other impurities which are in the sand and do not
pass through the wire cloth out at the open end 5' into a conduit 5" for
receiving them.
The operation of making or ramming the mould by this improved
mechanism and its action is as follows:-The carriage with the lower or upper
half of a moulding box O fixed upon it as herein-before described is rolled in
upon the rails of the bed plate B until the teeth of the rack V2 on its under
side takes into the first feeding rack wheel V, when the attendant then pulls
the clutch handle G¹ out from the standard A, which puts the clutch G into
gear with the driving cone F, and sets the crank shaft E and all other main
moving parts of the machine into action, and to give a more regular motion
to the crank shaft E it is furnished with a weighted fly wheel partially to
balance the weight of the cranks and rammers. The forward motion of
the carriage brings the divisions of the moulding box O in succession, first
under the nozzle 8, from which the first layer or portion of sand is fed
into them, and then under the rammer blocks J, which being made ap-
proximately to the shape of the recesses of the mould on its under face,
comes down between the cross bars o of the box, and presses the sand into
all the angles and recesses of the mould. The recesses between the crosg
bars o thus rammed next come under the nozzle 8', where they are filled
with sand, this time to a considerable distance above the edges of the moulding
box O, after which they come beneath the flat ramming block J', which
presses the sand down to near the upper surface of the box; and when the
whole of the compartments of the moulding box O have been so filled and
rammed with the sand by the successive traverse of the carriage K, and the
last feeding rack wheel V has pushed the carriage to its extreme forward
position over the rail plate B², then the attendant either stops the machine by
reversing the clutch handle G¹ towards the standard A, or the traverse of the

page_text: carriage may be made to do so by the mechanism indicated in red lines,
which consists of a pin 7 projecting from the back end of the patterntable M
which at the extreme forward traverse of the carriage K comes in contact
with the bevelled foot of the vertically sliding rod m, so as to raise it and
reverse or tilt the bell-crank mechanism n, which by the connecting rod p
pulls the hand lever G' towards the standard A, and by disingaging the
clutch G, automatically stops the machine, and at the same time by a pin pro-
jecting from the sliding rod m, raises the lever 2 and rod r, which by its
segmental foot or slot. disengages the pall R¹ by a lateral pin from the teeth
of the ratchet wheel S', and so leave the carriage and its feeding shafts Sand U
free to be reversed back by the hand wheel Z, or by power by putting the
clutch finto gear with the pulley e' after freeing the breaks W, W1, by the
lever Y, all as herein-before described. The density or hardness to which the
sand and mould is rammed by the different rammers Haud H' is regulated
to some extent by the quantity of sand fed into the moulding boxes O'before
reaching the rammers, and also by lengthing or shortening their connecting rods
I and 1', made in two parts and bolted together at their centres for that
purpose, and also so as to slide and shorten when any extreme force is
brought upon them by accident or carelessness in allowing the rammers to come
dowa upon the bars o of the boxes or other hard objects, and thus prevent the
chance of breakage to the rods or other parts of the machine. An oscillating
screen or division plate 13 is placed in the chamber 6 below the sieve 5,
arranged with a lever 14 outside, so as to regulate the proportion of sifted
sand which shall pass down the ducts 7 and 7' in relation to each other,
according to the angle at which the plate 13 is set; and both ducts are fitted
with throttle slides or shutters 15 at their nozzles hinged on balanced levers
so as to be easily opened and shut by hand, or by palls for the purpose
attached to some part of the travelling carriage K, at the proper times when
the sand is or is not respectively required to enter the moulding boxes O.
Another arrangement which I employ for regulating the quantity of sand, and
consequently to some extent the density of the mould, is to feed in a surplous
quantity of sand into the moulding box O, and between these and the rammer
blocks J and J¹ to employ light fixed scrapers as shown at 16, in Figure 1,
capable of being raised and lowered to scrape and level of the sand by the forward
motion of the carriage and moulding box themselves to the heightand quantity
desired to be compressed into the mould by the rammer blocks; and I also use
a third scraper 17 attached to the rail A² of one of the standards A to smooth
of the surplous compressed sand even with the surface or height of the edges
and bars of the box, which with the former routine completes the ramming

page_text: and forming of each box or half mould ready for being removed from the
machine. In place of using the elevating, sifting, and feeding mechanism to
supply the mould with the sand as herein described, the sand may be prepared
and filled into the mould by manual labour in the usual manner just before
reaching the rammers J and J'. Having completed each half mould as
herein described, their boxes O are released from the pattern bed plate M by
turning the catch handles P', and removed therefrom by hand or any ordinary
lifting mechanism, but I prefer to do so by the simple lever arrangement shown
in end and side elevation respectively in Figures 3 and 4, as in the act of carrying
a moulding box O. This lifting and removing mechanism consists of the
swing bar s, attached by a swivel link to the free end of the short arm of the
hand lever t, jointed or fulcrumed to the lower end of the rod u, attached to
the chain of a light travelling or swing crane over head, by which the half
moulds and boxes are carried and deposited, or placed (all much in the usual
manner) two together, and face to face as at o, o, with the core v up the
centre between them on the inclined casting bank 1,1, where they are then
clamped together and cast, by preference with the " gate "formed at the
end of the boxes in place of on the side as sometimes done, all as shown
in side elevation in Figure 5, and representing one pipe mould complete ready
for being cast. The swing beam or bar s is formed with short bent arms at
with eyes or hollow bearings formed in them, the arm s
being jointed at its upper end to the bar s, so that the eyes can be easily
shiped into journals or pivots st formed on the ends of the boxes O, and
fixed by the pin s³ or other equivalent catch. Wheu projecting pivots are ob-
jectionable, or in the way, as at the upper end of the top half of the moulding
box, where the "gate" is shown, the pivots s' may be formed on short portable
bars as shown detached in side and edge view in Figure 3, with two eyes
which slip on to the usual handles of the boxes; or otherwise the pivots s'
may be formed on the arms s¹, s, of the bars, and sliped into eyes or bearings
formed in the ends of the boxes O. The rammed box O is then lifted from the
plate M by pulling down the chain t' attached to the long arm of the levert,
and hooked to any convenient fixed object, or to the box O itself, as indicated
by the dotted chain after being inverted or turned on its pivots &, by which
it is slung as shown in Figure 3 for the purpose of finishing the interior of
the mould in the usual manner. When so finished the moulding box O is
turned on the joint s" of the bar s to the longitudinal angle shown by the
dotted lines in Figure 4, ready for being lowered and placed in the position
for being cast as shown in Figures 5, by the travelling crane and hand lever t
as herein-before described. In forming the channels or "gates" in the moulds
its two ends s¹,

page_text: 'gate"
for casting the pipes by, I prefer to place the loose raised piece N¹ on the
pattern N between the usual annular "rummer" N², and the end of the
faucet when forming the under half of the mould, and when forming the
upper half I place the piece N³ upon the long "print" of the faucet leading
from the outer end of the mould and box to the runner N2, shown in dotted
lines in Figure 1, so that when the mould is complete, as shown in Figure 5,
and the molten metal is poured into the outer "gate," formed by "a gate
pin" and the hand much in the usual manner, in the small box at v¹, it runs
along the channel formed by the piece N3 round to the lower side of the
"runner" N and along the channel formed by the piece N' into the lower
part of the faucet of the mould; or otherwise, when it is desired to form the
"gate" in the upper side of the box, in place of at the end, the last division of
the box may be left a little long to allow room for the gate pin at the one side
clear of the rainmers while compressing the sand and the "gate" channel
formed partially by hand as usual before fiuishing the mould; or the ";
hole may be cut after the mould is fully rammed by forcing a thin metal tube
into the sand over the "runner" N, which would cut out and remove the
sand along with it so as to leave the required chaunel. When some compart.
ments of the boxes O are required to be larger than the others, as for large
faucets, and flanges or side faucets, or flanges for branches, a larger sized
rammer may be used for ramming the sand into these large compartments
worked by a loose crank disc and pin which may be placed on the crank
shaft E outside in front of the frame A (as at Q, which works the ratchet
feeding mechanism) with a friction clutch and hand lever for putting it into
or out of action when desired; and for some kinds of boxes and moulds one
large rammer or ramming block might be attached to the lower ends of both
rammers Hand H', made ou the lower face to suit the various compartments
of the box between the bars immediately below it, so as to ram several spaces
at one time and the carriage be fed forward by the hand wheel Z or other
feeding motion herein described to the long proper place or distance each time
before the crank shaft E was started by the lever G' to bring down the rain-
mers H, H', again. In place of the ratchet wheel S₁ being used for feeding
forward the carriage K a plain rimed wheel may be employed with the silent
feed lever motion employed for the feeding forward of the tables and carriages
of saw frames. Or by another arrangement one shaft U may be employed
in place of two, and it and the shaft S made to oscillate in place of revolve,
by dispencing with the ratchet wheel and pall S¹ and R', and making the
lever R a fixed lever to the shaft S in place of loose, and by keying a rocking
vertical lever upon the single shaft U in place of the wheel V (all in contrary

page_text: distinction to the arrangement for feeding forward the carriage as described
in reference to Figures 1 and 2), fitted with a ratchet pall or a "silent feed
action "attached to its upper free end, working respectively into a ratchet
rack or a plain plate with projecting edges bolted up to the under side of the
carriage K, in place of the toothed rack V2, which in this case must be con-
siderably longer than shown in Figure 1; and the motion of the rocking lever
and divisions or distances of the ratchet teeth must in this case be equal to the
distance between the bars of the moulding boxes in use at the time, and this
motion of the rocking shaft can be regulated by shifting the pin in the fixed
lever on the end of the shaft s to which the rod Q¹ is attached. When
desired a light angled revolving shaft might be substituted for the connecting
rod O' and driven at top by a pair of "mitre" wheels from the shaft E, and
having keyed on its lower end a segmentally toothed wheel working into a large
bevel wheel on the shaft S; or in the case of only one transverse shaft U being
employed, the segmental wheel could work into an angular face wheel keyed
on the outer end of the shaft u, and in either case the number of segmental
teeth would require to divide the number of teeth in the large wheel into an
even number of parts, and each part would require to be equivalent at or
upon the circumference of the wheel V to move the carriage K by the
rack Va distance equal to that between the bars of the boxes being rammed
for the time being for every revolution of the segmental tooth wheel and
crank shaft E, and the segmental teeth so set as to move the carriage K,
while the cranks E and E2 were passing the upper half of their revolution.
Instead of the carriage K running on rolling wheels it may be made in
the form of a travelling table, either rolling on fixed wheels or on V-grooved
rails in the same manner as the travelling table of plaining machines, and
when the carriage has to run fast back by hand, a toothed wheel may be used in
place of the hand wheel Z, worked by a pinion on a wench or crank handle.
Instead of using the chain and "buckets" 3 for elevating the sand a large screw
may be employed revolving in a long angled trough, such as used sometimes
for conducting grain, and in place of a revolving sieve, rectangular flat trays
or riddles may be employed covered with wire cloth on their underside having
vibaratory motion given to them by any of the usual means of doing so in
the same class of sifting mechanism used for cleaning and sifting grain.
Another improvement or part of my said Invention has reference to the
steadying or holding of the cores of pipe moulds formed in two half boxes and
put together afterwards over the core to form the complete mould. Figures 6
and 7 are respectively a transverse section and plan of the central part of the
top half of a moulding box, constructed in accordance with, and sufficient to

page_text: illustrate one modification or means of practically carrying out this part of my
said Invention for steadying the cores of pipe moulds; and Figures 8 and 9
are respectively a similar transverse section and plan to Figures 6 and 7, of
the centre of the top part of a box, as placed over the pattern table ready for
forming the top half of a pipe mould, illustrative of another modification of
my improvements in carrying out this part of my said Invention for steadying
the cores of pipe moulds; and Figures 10 and 11 are respectively transverse
sections of a pipe core box with the core as in the act of being formed in it,
and of a pipe core as formed complete in the said box ready for being placed
in the moulds, illustrative of a part of the same modification of my improve-
ments shown in Figures 8 and 9; while Figures 12 and 13 are transverse
sections through the central part of two complete pipe moulds as ready for
casting, each showing respectively the application thereto of my improved
means of steadying the cores, so as to prevent them from bending while the
pipes are being cast as shown in detail in Figures 6 to 11 inclusive. In
the arrangement shown in Figures 6, 7 and 12, an annular groove w is
formed near the centre of the pattern N, to the depth of the required thick-
ness of the pipe, and to the diameter of the core, upon which is placed the
segmental part of the "chaplet "a before proceeding to ram the upper half of
a moulding box O. In a transverse line with the groove wo, at the central part
of the sides of the box O, grooves or feathers are formed for the reception of
the portable cross bar y, having grooved or feathered ends to correspond, and
formed with a small hole some little distance up into it at the centre, which
when placed in position receives and rests upon the stem of the chaplet,
where it is firmly fixed by the wedge y¹ to the sides of the box. Two small
loose segmental pieces w¹ are placed over the chaplet to fill up the annular
groove even with the rest of the pattern, and the sand is then rammed in on
each side of the bar y which holds the chaplet z firm in the upper part of the
mould, so that when the box O is lifted off the pattern N and plate M it lifts
the chaplet and the two small segments w¹ also, which are removed when
the mould is turned in the swing bars to be finished inside, and being then
placed over the top of the under half of the box, with the core v placed
therein, as shown in Figure 12, is ready for casting; the segmental part of
the chaplet comes down and bears upon the core v, and steadies and holds it
from rising and shifting at the centre of its length through the force of the
molten metal on the under side while the pipe is being cast. The stem of the
chaplet a may also in some cases be made long enough to pass quite up
through the cross bar to the top of the box, in which case the bar may either
be portable, as at y, or rigid as indicated at o', in Figure 7, having the small

page_text: hole right up through to the top, and when the boxes are placed ready for
casting the centre screw of a portable clamp wedged to lugs at the sides of
the boxes is screwed down so as to press upon the top of the stem of the
chaplet, so as to prevent it and the core from rising while being cast; and
when desired this clamp may be screwed down upon the bar y, in which case
the wedge y' need not be driven so tight, and only used to hold the bar and
chaplet tight in their position in the box, and these bars may either be made
of wood or metal as desired. In the arrangement shown in Figures S, 9, 10,
11, and 13, the annular groove w in the pattern N is dispenced with, and the
bar y is wedged down so as to bear upon the surface of the pipe pattern N,
(Figures 8 and 9), and in making the core va form of chaplet a¹ is rammed
into the central part of the upper half of the core v and core box v¹¹, con-
sisting of a short pin a¹, by preference formed with a screw or thread round
it, and enlarged a little at the two ends. The pin is inserted into a small
hole bored in to the depth of the core box ¹¹ to the required thickness of the
pipe, and upon the other end of this pin, projecting some distance inside of
the core, is pressed a small plate a", which is firmly rammed and fixed into
the sand forming the upper half of the core (Figure 10), and when the two
halves of the core v and core box " are brought together, and the core v
finished, as shown at Figure 11, the pin x¹ projects above the core sufficient,
when placed in position in the complete mould ready for casting, as shown at
Figure 13, to bear against the under side of the bary of the top box previously
fixed in it, as before described, which thus prevents the core v from rising in
the mould from the force of the molten metal while the pipe is being cast.
my
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be performed, I may state that I do not confine or
restrict myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occa-
sion to describe and delineate, as many variations may be made therefrom
without departing from the main or essential features of said Invention;
neither do I claim to have invented the construction or arrangement of many
of the working and other parts of the mould-making mechanism by them-
selves, which I have thought it necessary to describe and delineate for the
purpose of making my said Invention properly understood, except in com-
bination with the new or improved parts and arrangements of mechanism
forming the essential features of my said Invention; what I consider to be
novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for the construction of or making the longer class of moulds in long cross-

page_text: barred moulding boxes for the casting of pipes and other similarly long castings
in metals, substantially in the improved manner herein described and shown
in the accompanying Drawings under the first head or part of my said Invention,
or any mere modification thereof.
Second, the general arrangement of machinery or apparatus for the con-
struction of or making the longer class of moulds in long cross-barred moulding
boxes for the casting of pipes and other similarly long castings in metals, by
traversing them one at a time,longitudinally, under one, two, or more rammers,
so as to ran the sand into one, two, or more compartments of the box or
mould at a time successively, until the whole compartments or mould is com
pleted, substantially in the improved manner herein-described and shown in
the accompanying Drawings under the first head or part of my said Invention
or any mere modification thereof.
Third, the general arrangement and construction of machinery or apparatus
for elevating, mixing, and sifting, as well as to some extent regulating the
sand to be fed into long horizontal moulds and moulding boxes, substantially
in the improved manner herein-described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings under the first head or part of my said Invention, or any mere
modification thereof.
Fourth, the constructing the connecting rods of mould rammers in two
parts, so as to be capable of regulating the depth to which the rammer shall
descend into the sand of the moulds (but not the rammers or their action by
themselves) for the purpose of regulating the density or hardness to which the
mould shall be rammed, and also the arrangement and and use of scrapers for
regulating the height or thickness of the layer of sand, which shall pass below
the rammers for the like purpose of, to some extent, regulating the density of
the finished mould, substantially in the improved manner herein described
and shown in the accompanying Drawings under the first head or part of my
said Invention, or any mere modification thereof.
Fifth, the general arrangement and construction of mechanism for lifting
and placing the longer class of rammed moulds and their moulding boxes
ready for being cast, substantially in the improved manuer herein described
and shown in Figures 3, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings under
the first head or part of my said Invention, or any mere modification
thereof.
Sixth, the general arrangement and construction of mechinery or apparatus
for steadying or holding the cones of moulds for pipes, so as to prevent them
from bending by the force of the molten metal while being cast, substantially
in the improved manner herein described and shown in the accompanying

page_text: Drawings under the second and last head or part of my said Invention, or any
mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Archibald Gibb, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
W. R. M. THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
ARCHIBALD GIBB. (L.S.)
20, Buchanan Street,
Glasgow.