IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL INGOTS, AND APPARATUS THEREFOR
Year: 1885

page_text: I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, and Co, Patent
Agents, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of my invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL
INGOTS, AND APPARATUS THEREFOR" to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of compound metal ingots, and to
apparatus therefor.
The object of the said invention is to mould and cast ingots composed of
concentric layers of differing metals, or qualities of a metal, from which to
manufacture guns, gun-tubes, armour plates for ships and fortifications, or other
forms of castings, which layers will be more evenly and perfectly united or welded
together than those in ingots of a similar kind' manufactured by the means and
processes now commonly in use.
A further object is to facilitate the process of casting whereby the cost of
producing the ingot is reduced.
The said invention consists essentially in the process of, and means for, casting
ingots of concentric layers of steel of different grades or qualities from which to
manufacture guns, armour plates, etc, substantially as hereinafter set forth.
Several methods of forming compound ingots have been devised and employed
with more or less success; the process most commonly practised being to heat
a plate or plates to redness, arrange it or them in, or in contact with, a suitable
mould, and then to cast the molten metal around, or against, the said plate or
plates. This method secures a cohesion of layers of considerable strength or
firmness, but when the plates made from such ingots are tested they are generally,
if not always, found to possess imperfections in the weld.
In other cases, compound ingots of iron and steel have been formed for other
purposes. These I now refer to, were made by casting in a mould having' one or
more removable slabs therein. The slab being in position in' said mould, one layer
or body of metal is cast and allowed to set, when the said slab is removed, leaving
D...oll

page_text: a space in the mould into which a second layer of metal of a differing quality is
cast to form the compound ingot. Inasmuch as the slabs used in this process are
liable to warp when subjected to the extreme heat and weight of the metal, and
to thus allow the said metal to escape between the edges of the slab and the sides
of the mould where it hardens and cements the said slab to the mould so that
ready withdrawal is prevented or hindered, this device cannot be successfully
employed in casting ingots of a size adapted for the purposes for which the ingots
formed according to this invention are intended.
Even should the slabs referred to work evenly in the mould, the process of
drawing off the several side slabs, successively from a core just cast and set, would
occupy so much time as to allow the air a sufficient contact with the core surface
on a portion of the sides to produce a coating or film of oxide which would
seriously interfere with a proper cohesion of the different layers.
To overcome these difficulties and others of practical importance and to secure
an ingot of differing layers in which one casting surrounds an inner or core casting,
and in which the cohesion of adjacent layers is perfect, the said layers being joined
under the best conditions of heat and without any intervening oxides, I construct
my improved mould and carry out the improved processes, substantially as
follows.
In carrying the said invention into practice I provide a suitable bed or base
made preferably of cast metal in which are formed independent channels or ducts
through which the molten metal may run from separate funnels, or receptacles for
the molten metal, to upright mould-sections, said ducts being preferably provided
with linings of fire brick in any suitable manner.
The mould sections for forming the compound ingots are removable from the
said base or bed and from one another, and have inclined sides whereby they may
readily be drawn from the newly cast metal before the latter becomes too cool to
secure subsequently a perfect welding of layers.
The said mould sections are arranged in a series or nest concentrically around
an upright centre mould-section having therein.a chamber for forming the core of
the ingot, and communicating with one of the funnels through a duct.
Outside of, and around, said core or centre mould-section is arranged, preferably
before casting the core, an outer mould section which forms a chamber around the
inner mould-section, or, if this has been removed, the core itself.
This chamber also communicates through a duct, with another funnel.
The opening at the top of the outer mould-section is, ordinarily, as large or
larger than the base of the inner mould-section to allow the said inner mould-
section to be drawn therethrough. I prefer, furthermore, to have a greater degree
of inclination in the inside walls of the outer mould-section than is in those of
the inner mould-section, so that the layers of the ingot will each be proportionately
thicker at the same end of the said ingot.
Thus, when the ingot is subsequently forged, to bring it to a prismatic shape,
the several layers will be proportionately compressed and lie parallel, being then
of approximately equal thickness throughout their lengths.
In casting with this mould or set of mould-sections, the core metal which is
preferably of a harder grade of steel than that for the outer layer or layers, is
poured through a funnel communicating with the chamber of the core mould.
When the metal is sufficiently set or hardened to hold its own weight, the centre
mould-section, is drawn off by suitable means and at the same time, or as soon
thereafter as possible, steel of a different grade is poured through the second
funnel and rises quickly and evenly around the core. As the said core still retains
a very high degree of heat and as no opportunity or an extremely short one, is
given for the oxygen of the air to come in contact with and coat the surface of the
core with a film of oxide, a complete and perfectly cohering weld or union of layers,
is formed.
Thus cast, the layers of the ingot; when the latter is subjected to the usual
forging process, cannot be separated.

page_text: The centre mould may, under some circumstances be drawn off before the outer
mould is placed in position to form the chamber around the core, but inasinuch as
there would, under that process, be considerable lost time, and as the outer mould
section protects, to a degree, the surface of the core while the core mould is being
drawn off, I prefer the arrangement of moulds first described.
The mould-sections may be of any desirable shape in plan but for making ingots
for guns or gun tubes, I form the centre mould-section round, and larger than the
desired barrel or bore in the gun. By means of this mould I form a gun ingot
with a hard steel core and an outer layer of soft and elastic metal, the core being
round so that where bored out a barrel lining of hard steel is formed of uniform
thickness and power of resistance throughout its periphery.
In forming ingots of concentric layers of hard and soft metal for armour plates
for vessels, fortifications or the like, I prefer to make the moulds oblong and
I may have suitable moulds adapted to form two or more oblong cast cores
surrounded by one enclosing cast jacket.
.
Although the devices described are especially adapted for bottom casting, it is
evident that they may be employed in top casting without making any material
changes in their construction. In using them in the latter process, however,
I prefer to fill the runners with clay in any ordinary manner so that the metal
cannot be wasted by passing up into the funnel. In said process of top casting
also enlarge the opening in the centre mould, to allow the metal to be poured
may
in more freely.

page_text: Apparatus therefor.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be par-
ticularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The chief object of this invention is to mould or cast ingots, composed of con-
centric layers of differing metals, or of different qualities of a metal, from which
to manufacture guns, gun-tubes, armour plates for ships and fortifications, or other
forms of castings, which layers will be more evenly and perfectly united or welded
together than those in ingots of a similar kind manufactured by the means and
processes now commonly in use.
A further object is to facilitate the process of casting, whereby the cost of
producing the ingot is reduced.
The said invention consists in the process of, and means for, casting ingots of
concentric layers of steel of different grades or qualities from which to manufacture
guns, armour plates, etc, substantially as hereinafter set forth.
Several methods of forming compound ingots have been devised and employed
with more or less success; the process most commonly practised being to heat a
plate or plates to redness, arrange it or them in, or in contact with, a suitable
mould and then to cast the molten metal around, or against, the said plate or
plates. This method secures a cohesion of layers of considerable strength or
firmness, but when the plates made from such ingots are tested they are generally,
if not always, found to possess imperfections in the weld.
In other cases compound ingots of iron and steel have been formed for other
purposes. These I now refer to were made by casting with a mould having one or
more removable slabs therein. The slabs being in position in said mould, one layer
or body of metal is cast and allowed to set, when the said slab is removed, leaving
a space in the mould into which a second layer of metal of a differing quality is
cast to form the compound ingot. Inasmuch as the slabs used in this process are
liable to warp when subjected to the extreme heat and weight of the metal, thus
allowing the said metal to escape between the edges of the slab and the sides of
the mould, which metal when hardened cements the said slab to the mould so that
ready withdrawal is prevented or hindered, this device cannot be successfully
employed in casting ingots of a size adapted for the purposes for which the ingots
formed by my improved devices are intended.
But even should the slabs referred to work evenly in the mould, the process of
drawing off the several side slabs, successively from a core just cast and set would
consume so much time as to allow the air a sufficient contact with the core surface
on a portion of the sides to produce a coating or film of oxide which would
seriously interfere with a proper cohesion of the different layers.
To overcome these difficulties and others of practical importance and to secure an
ingot of differing layers in which one casting surrounds an inner or core casting

page_text: and in which the cohesion of adjacent layers is perfect, the said layers being joined
under the best conditions of heat and without any intervening oxides, I construct
my improved mould and carry out the improved processes, substantially as follows:
In the accompanying drawing,
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved mould for casting ingots, portions
thereof being in section to show more clearly the interior construction thereof.
Figure 2 is a horizontal section on the line x.
Figure 3 is a sectional elevation illustrating more clearly the process of casting.
Figure 4 is a plan of the inner or smaller mould-section.
Figure 5 a plan of the outer mould-section showing in plan-an ingot-layer.
therein.
Figure 6 is a plan of the outer mould-section and bed or parts thereof, showing
the complete ingot prior to the withdrawal of the said outer mould and,
Figure 7 is a plan of inner and outer moulds of special shape for casting gun-
ingots.
Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.
a indicates a suitable bed or base made preferably of cast metal in which are
formed independent channels or ducts d, d, through which the molten metal may
run from certain separate funnels, or receptacles c, c³, for the poured metal, to
upright mould-sections b, 61, said ducts being preferably provided with linings of
fire brick in any suitable manner.
The mould-sections for forming the compound ingots are removable from the
said base or bed and from one another, and have inclined sides, as shown in
figures 1 and 4, whereby they may readily be drawn from the newly cast metal
before the latter becomes too cool to secure subsequently a perfect welding of
layers.
Said moulds are arranged in a concentric series or nest, as shown in the several
figures, b¹ being an upright centre mould-section having therein a core chamber e
communicating with the funnel c¹ through the duct d¹.
Outside of, and around, said core or centre mould-section is arranged, preferably
before casting the core, a mould b which forms a chamber f with the inner mould-
section, or, if this has been removed, the core itself.
Said chamber f communicates through the duct & with another funnel c.
The opening at the top of the outer mould-section is, ordinarily, as large as or
larger than the base of the inner mould-section to allow the said inner mould-
section to be drawn therethrough. I prefer, furthermore, to have a greater degree
of inclination in the inside walls of the outer mould-section than is in those of the
inner mould-section as illustrated in Figure 1, so that the layers of the ingot will
each be proportionately thicker at the same end of the said ingot.
Thus when the ingot is subsequently forged, to bring it to a prismatic shape, the
several layers will be proportionately compressed and lie parallel being then of
approximately equal thickness throughout their lengths.
In casting with this mould or set of mould-sections, the core metal which is
preferably of a harder grade of steel than that for the outer layer or layers, is
poured through the funnel c¹, filling the chamber e. When the metal is sufficiently
set or bardened to hold its own weight, the centre mould-section 61, is drawn off
by suitable means, and at the same time, or as soon thereafter as possible, steel of
a different grade is poured through the funnel c, and rises quickly and evenly
around the core. As the said core still retains a very high degree of heat, and as
no, or extremely little, opportunity is given for the oxygen of the air to come in
contact with and coat the surface of the core with a film of oxide, a complete and
perfectly cohering weld, or union of layers is formed.
Thus cast, the layers of the ingot, when the latter is subjected to the usual
forging process, cannot be separated and the ingot be thus rendered worthless for
the purposes proposed.
The centre mould may under some circumstances be drawn off before the outer
mould is placed in position to form the chamber around the core, but inasmuch as

page_text: there would, under that process be considerable lost time, and as the outer mould-
section protects, to a degree, the surface of the core while the core mould is being
drawn off, I prefer the arrangement of moulds first described.
Figure 3 illustrates the method referred to at the beginning of the last paragraph,
the outer mould section being illustrated as being laid aside while the core is
being cast.
The mould sections may, in plan, be of any shape, but for making ingots for
gons or gun tubes, I make the centre mould-section round, as in Figure 7 and
Jarger than the desired barrel or bore in the gun. By means of this mould
form
a gun-ingot with a hard steel core and an outer layer of soft and elastic metal, the
core being round so that when bored out a barrel lining of hard steel is formed of
uniform thickness and power of resistance throughout its periphery.
In forming ingots of concentric layers of hard and soft metal for armour plates
for vessels, fortifications etc I prefer to make the moulds oblong, substantially as
shown in Figures 4 and 5, and I may have suitable moulds adapted to form two or
more oblong cast cores surrounded by one enclosing cast jacket.
Although the devices shown in the drawing are especially adapted for bottom
casting, it is evident that they may be employed in top casting without making
any material changes in their construction. In using them in the latter process
however I prefer to fill the runners with clay in any ordinary manner so that the
metal cannot be wasted by passing up into the funnel.
In said process of top casting I may also enlarge the opening shown in Figure 7,
in the centre mould, to allow the metal to be poured in more freely.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated
to me by my foreign Correspondent, I declare that what I claim is ;
First. The combination of inner and outer mould-sections and a bed, the said
inner mould-section being adapted to be drawn from the ingot cast therein, leaving
said ingot standing with a chamber between said ingot and the outer mould to
receive a second casting.
Second. A series of separable inner and outer moulds, for casting compound
ingots, having independent chambers therein, in combination with a bed having
ducts leading to the respective chambers, substantially as, and for the purposes, set
forth.
Third. In combination with a bed, a mould section having walls of one degree
of inclination and a larger mould-section with a wall of a differing degree of
inclination, said sections being removable from the bed and from one another,
substantially as set forth.
Fourth. The combination of a bed a, having independent ducts therein, inner
and outer mould-sections arranged on said bed and separable therefrom and from
one another, and independent funnels, said parts being arranged and combined
substantially as, and for the purposes, set forth.
Fifth. In combination with a bed having independent ducts, removable mould-
sections b, 61, one of which is seated over the mouth or exit opening of one of said
ducts and the other is larger than the first to form a chamber with the ingot cast
in the first said mould, the other of said ducts leading into said chamber, substan-
tially as set forth.
Sixth. In combination, a bottom base or bed having ducts d, ď,
funnels c,
and removable inner and outer moulds, substantially as, and for the purposes, set
forth.
c¹
'
Seventh. In combination with a suitable bed or base, inner and outer mould-
sections, of which the inner is provided with tapering sides and is, of one integral.
piece, or free from joints from the base upwards; to prevent the said section from,
warping and the liquid from entering said joints, substantially as, and for the
purposes, set forth.
4.
j

page_text: Eighth. The process herein described of casting compound ingots consisting in
first casting an ingot layer, then withdrawing the mould therefrom as soon as the
casting will sustain its own weight, and then casting in an outer mould, outer
layers, substantially as set forth.
Ninth. The process herein described of casting compound ingots consisting in
casting an ingot layer, withdrawing the mould after the metal has set but before
it has cooled below a welding heat, and casting a differing metal into the space
between an outer enclosing mould and the first casting, substantially as set forth.
Tenth. The process of casting compound ingots consisting in first casting an ingot
layer, then removing, the entire mould in which it was cast leaving the ingot
standing, then surrounding the layer with a second mould, and finally casting a
second layer or layers against the first to form a compound ingot, substantially as
Bet forth.
Eleventh. In combination with a bed, a round or cylindrical mould removable
from said bed and an outer mould, said moulds cooperating to form compound
ingots from which to manufacture guns, substantially as set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.