Improvements in Apparatus and Appliances for Casting Metals.
Year: 1897

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus and Appliances for Casting Metals.
I, OLIVER IMRAY, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (as communicated to me from abroad by The Pennsylvania Salt Manu-
facturing Company, of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, United
States of America,) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to apparatus and appliances for facilitating the casting of
metals into moulds and the removal of the castings therefrom. For this purpose, a
number of moulds are arranged in a row between two rail tracks, that on the one
side leading at its one end to the melting furnace and at its other end to a turn
table, and the track on the other side leading also to a turn table, both the turn
tables being arranged on a transverse track. Instead of a single row of moulds with
its tracks, there may be two rows parallel or nearly so, their two tracks which lead to
the furnace meeting there, with a set of points. A ladle has a long handle held in a
sleeve in which it can turn, this sleeve being mounted by trunnions on a swivel at
the top of a lifting jack carried in a truck which can run on the rails. Thus the
stem of the ladle can be turned on its axis and raised or lowered and the ladle can be
rocked up or down or swung round horizontally. The truck being run up to the
furnace, the ladle is passed through a door in the furnace wall and dipped into the
metal; the truck with the charged ladle is then run along one of the rail tracks and
the metal is poured into the moulds, the truck being then run back to the furnace
for charging the ladle afresh.
On the other rail track belonging to the row or to each row of moulds, there is a
truck carrying tongs for raising the castings from the moulds. The handle of this
implement is mounted like that of the ladle, or it may be merely carried by a swivel
suspended by a length of chain hanging from a framing on the truck. By means of
the turn tables the trucks can be transferred to the transverse line of rails to be moved
to other parts of the establishment.
Dated thin 7th d
.
1100
www.PPORTS ating metais.
I, OLIVER IMRAY, of No. 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the
County of London, Chartered Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention (which has been communicated to me from abroad by The Pennsylvania
[Price 8d.]

page_text: Salt Manufacturing Company, of Philadelphia, Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania,
United States of America) and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
This invention relates to apparatus and appliances for facilitating the casting of
metals into moulds and the removal of the casting therefrom, as I shall describe 5
referring to the accompanying drawings.
Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan of the ladle and ladling plant;
Figure 2 is a plan of the ladle and car;
Figure 3 is a side elevation of the same, partly broken away;
Figure 4 is a plan of the extractor and its car;
Figure 5 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the preferred form of
mounting the extractor or tongs:
Figure 6 is a rear elevation of the same, partly in section, and
Figure 7 is a detail section of a portion of the furnace wall.
Referring to Figure 1, 2 represents the side wall of a melting furnace, having an
opening 3 through which a ladle 4 is passed to dip the metal. The ladle 4 is mounted
upon a car 5, which during the dipping rests upon a switch portion 6 of the track,
which may be swung against either of two stops 8 to lead into either of two diverging
tracks 7, 7. Along the outer side of each of these tracks are placed moulds 9, 9, into
which the metal is poured from the ladle on the car travelling along either track.
Outside each set of moulds is a track 10, upon which travels a car 5¹ carrying
gripping-tongs 11, which left the ingots and carry them to cars on a cross track 12
which at the junction of the tracks 7 and 10 has turn-tables 13, by which the cars can
be transferred from one track to another.
The ladle-car, shown in Figures 2 and 3, consists of a hollow frame 14, mounted
upon four wheels 15, and having within it a jack 16 of the usual construction, com-
prising the vertically moving rack-bar 17, which is raised and lowered by pawls
operated through a handle 18 and a shaft 19 having a hand-wheel 20. To the upper
end of the rack-bar is swivelled a yoke 21, having bearings for trunnions 22 projecting
from opposite sides of a collar 23 surrounding the ladle-handle 24. The collar 23 is
prevented from moving longitudinally along the handle by rings 25 fixed on a
sleeve 26, which is held in any adjusted position upon the ladle-handle by a set-
screw 27. The tongs 11 shown in Figure 4 are mounted in substantially the same
way as the ladle, these tongs being fulcrumed to a crosshead 28 having trunnions
supported within the yoke 21' carried at the upper end of a jack like that of the
ladle-car. If desired, the same car may be used for either the ladle or the
tongs.
It is preferred, however, to mount the tongs as shown in Figures 5 and 6, plates 29
being fixed upon the car, and carrying a triangular frame 30, from which hangs a
chain 31 terminating with a bolt on which the tongs are fulcruined. The tongs
thus suspended can be swung forward to grasp the ingot, at or beyond its centre
of gravity thus lessening its leverage and so enabling the operator to handle a
heavier ingot than when the tongs are mounted as in Figure 4.
Figure shows the preferred form of fore-plate for the furnace the portion under
the door being inclined backwards so as to allow the ladle-car to approach more closely
to the furnace, and the ladle to enter further into the furnace-chamber, so that the
distance of the ladle from the fulcrum on the car can be shortened, thereby enabling
the operator to handle a larger weight of metal.
In operation, the ladle car being moved into the position shown in Figure 1, the
operator dips metal from the furnace, and moving the ladle car along one of the
tracks 7, fills one of the moulds 9. When the metal is set, the car is moved along
its track, and the ingot being lifted from the mould, is carried to and deposited on
cars on the track 12.
The advantages of the arrangement are that an operator can dip up a large
quantity of metal and pour the same with very little manual labour, while the whole
system is compact and simple and occupies a comparatively small space.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. In combination with a furnace having a door for insertion of a ladle, a ladle-
track leading therefrom, a car carrying a dipping-ladle, a set of moulds arranged
adjacent to the ladle track, and a second track for a car carrying tongs for removing
the ingot, substantially as described.
2. In combination with the subject matter of the preceding claim a second ladle
track and switch for either track, a second track for a car having gripping-tongs,
and a cross track with turn-tables at the junctions, substantially as described.
3. A wheeled car having a jack with a vertically movable bar, and a dipping-ladle or
tongs fulcrumed on the bar, substantially as described.
4. A wheeled car having a frame-work, and depending chain carrying tongs pivoted
to the chain, substantially as described.
Dated this 8th day of July 1897
ABEL & IMRAY,
Agents for the Applicant.