IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Daniel Allen, of Laithfield House, Norfolk
Road, Sheffield, in the County of York, Steel Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Daniel Allen
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
6th November 1863.
I, WILLIAM DANIEL ALLEN, of Laithfield House, Norfolk Road, Sheffield,
in the County of York, Steel Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the sudden chilling of the steel
that now takes place upon its coming in contact with the iron mould now
used, and also to protect the iron mould from injury by the sudden heat and
direct contact of the molten metal.
My improvements consist in lining the inside of iron moulds in which
ingots of steel are cast with a thin coating of loam, clay, or other suitable
material that is a slow conductor of heat. I use a thin coating only of the
loam, clay, or material, so that the absorption of heat by the iron mould may

page_text: prevent such thin coating from becoming fused by the great heat of the steel.
The iron moulds may be perforated with small holes to allow of the escape
of the heated air contained in the lining.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Daniel Allen in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 3rd May 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
DANIEL ALLEN, of Laithfield House, Norfolk Road, Sheffield, in the County
of York, Steel Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the twenty-seventh year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said William Daniel Allen, Her special licence that I, the said William
Daniel Allen, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said William Daniel Allen, 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, use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Daniel Allen, my executors or adminis-
trators, 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 William Daniel Allen, do hereby declare
the nature of the 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 thereof, that is to say:-
The object of this Invention is to prevent the sudden chilling of the steel
that now takes place upon its coming in contact with the iron mould now
used, and also to protect the iron mould from injury by the sudden heat and
direct contact of the molten metal.
My improvements consist in lining the inside of iron moulds in which

page_text: ingots of steel are cast with a thin coating of loam, clay, or other suitable
material that is a slow conductor of heat. I use a thin coating only of the
loam, clay, or material, so that the absorption of heat by the iron mould may
prevent such thin coating from becoming fused by the great heat of the steel.
The iron moulds may be perforated with small holes to allow of the escape of
the heated air contained in the lining. In practising my Invention with
moulds already in use, it will be found desirable to perforate them all over
with small holes, say of about three-eighths of an inch in diameter, by which
the air contained in the lining may escape, and also in cases where the moulds
are very smooth, to roughen them a little by cutting notches over their face so
as to insure a better adhesion of the lining. New moulds made with the
intention of being lined may be cast with a rough face and with the perfora-
tions. Previous to lining the moulds should be washed on the inside with
clay wash, and the loam, clay, or material with which they are to be lined be
prepared of about the consistency of loam ordinarily used for lining ladles, or
as used by iron founders in loam work; the loam, clay, or material may
then be roughly spread or daubed over the inside of the moulds and afterwards
strickled or smoothed to an even face, leaving a uniform thickness as nearly as
practicable adhering all over the face of the mould. A coating of half an inch
thick will be found to answer well for an ingot of from one to two tons in
weight; for a larger size a little thicker coating will be better, and for a
smaller size a thinner coating may be used. Moulds thus prepared may then
be dried either in a stove or by any other convenient means, and when
thoroughly dry they will be ready for use. Moulds made in two or more
parts should, after being put together, have the joints carefully made good on
the inside with a further portion of the loam, clay, or other material used for
lining.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Daniel Allen, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
WILLIAM DANIEL ALLEN. (L.B.)