IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING INGOT MOULDS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Briggs, of Barrow, in the County of
Lancaster, Ironfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING INGOT MOULDS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Briggs at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th June 1868..
I, JOSEPH BRIGGS, of Barrow, in tlie County of Lancaster, Ironfounder,.
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS:
IN CONSTRUCTING INGOT MOULDS," to be as follows:- |
This Invention has for its object improvements in constructing and
making moulds in which to cast ingots parallel or taper, octagon,
circular, or any other shape, of Bessamer steel or any other metal, by
which means a saving is effected both in weight and cost from twenty-five-
to seventy-five per cent. I make and construct a mould of cast, wrought,
or sheet iron in one or two or more longitudinal pieces, circular,
octagon, or any other shape, one inch in thickness, or more or less,
according to the size of the ingot to be cast. I then place around the

page_text: same one or more hoops of iron where required to afford temporary
support for the same. I then place around the same a box of sheet, or
wrought, or cast iron one-quarter of an inch in thickness, more or less
according to the size of the ingot to be cast in the same, and about the
same depth. I also place around the bottom of the same a piece of
angle iron two inches in breadth or thereabouts to form a bottom for
the same; the mould is then placed upon a bed plate in common use.
I then keep filling up and ramming the space outside the ingot mould
or lining with sand, such as is commonly used by iron moulders, or with
any other material, untill the same is full or nearly so. I then smear
over the said lining with the mixture in common use; the mould is
then ready to receive the molten metal; or the said space may be
rammed up with sand and clay or loam, and dried in the usual way of
loam work; or the space may be filled up with coarse dry sand, which
will require no ramming, but simply beating or shakeng on the outside;
or the box may be made sufficiently. long to receive two or more moulds,
the same being filled up in the same manner as for a single mould.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters
Patent and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Joseph
Briggs in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 30th December
1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BRIGGS, of Barrow, in the County of Lancaster, Ironfounder, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said Joseph Briggs, Her special licence that
I, the said Joseph Briggs, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Joseph Briggs, 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,

page_text: and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CONSTRUCTING INGOT
MOULDS," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Joseph
Briggs, 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 Joseph Briggs, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in constructing and
making moulds in which to cast ingots parallel or taper, octagon,
circular, or any other shape, of Bessemer steel or any other metal, by
which means a saving is effected, both in weight and cost, from twenty-
five to seventy-five per cent. I make and construct a mould of cast,
wrought, or sheet iron in one, two, or more longitudinal pieces, circular,
octagon, or any other shape, one inch in thickness, or more or less;
according to the size of the ingots to be cast. I then place around the
same one or more hoops of iron where required to afford temporary
support for the same. I then place around the same a box of sheet,
or wrought, or cast iron one-quarter of an inch in thickness, more or
less, according to the size of the ingot to be cast in the same, and about
the same depth. I also place around the bottom of the same a piece
of angle iron two inches in breadth or thereabouts, or otherwise form a
flange around the bottom to form a bottom for the same; the mould
is then placed upon a bed plate in. common use. I then keep filling
up and ramming the space outside the ingot mould or lining with sand,
such as is commonly used by. iron moulders, or with any other material,
until the same is full, or nearly so. I then smear over the said lining
with a mixture in common use; the mould is then ready to receive the
molten metal; or the said space may be rammed up with sand and clay
or loam, and dried in the usual way of loam work; cr the space may
be filled up with coarse dry sand, which will require no ramming, but
simply beating, or shaking on the outside; or the box may be made
sufficiently long to receive two or more moulds; the same being filled
up in the same manner as for single moulds.

page_text: Figure 1 shews a plan view and Figure 2 an under side view of an
ingot mould, such as is above described, suitable for casting taper ingots;
Figure 3 is a side view of the same; and Figure 4 a side view with
the outer box of the mould in section; Figure 5 shews full size a
similar view of a portion of the lower part of the mould.
In the arrangement shewn in the Drawing the inner mould is made
up of two or more longitudinal pieces a, a, of cast iron, the sides of
which are fitted together in the manner shown at Figures 1 and 2; or
in place of the sides being only fitted together they may each have
longitudinal grooves formed in them, as shewn at Figure 6, which when
the sides are fitted together form chambers which may be filled in with
sand, and thus perfectly tight joints will be secured between the sides
of the mould. At the bottom of each of these longitudinal pieces a
flange a¹ is formed, upon which the mould rests when it is placed within
the outer box; when the parts of the mould are put together they are
retained by hoops b, b, placed around them; two of the longitudinal
pieces a have also eyes c formed upon them for convenience of lifting
the mould. d is the outer box, of a form corresponding to the form of
the mould. This box is similarly made up of four or it might be other
number of longitudinal strips or pieces held together by hoops. At the
bottom of each of the strips an internal flange d' is formed, upon which
the outer flange at the bottom of the inner mould rests when this
mould is placed into the box. d² are longitudinal taper flanges on the
exterior of the sides or strips d, and the retaining rings which hold the
sides of the box together bear upon these flanges. After the mould has
been placed into the box and set upon a bed plate the space between
the mould and box is filled in as above described, and the inner
mould or lining is smeared over with the mixture in common use.
Moulds for casting parallel ingots may similarly be formed, and the
moulds may also be made to cast ingots of a cylindrical or other form;
the moulds and box might also be made in one piece, and then the
retaining hoops would not in all cases be required. By thus constructing
moulds in which to cast ingots the moulds may be made at much less

page_text: cost and of less weight than the metal moulds now used, and the metal
when poured into the mould will not be so rapidly chilled. Also when
a mould is worn out it will only require one new side plate, and so a
saving of 75 per cent. is made in restoring it; and also by constructing
moulds in the above described manner ingots with parallel sides may
be cast, which is a very great advantage.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Briggs, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of December, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
eight.