IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL AND MALLEABLE IRON
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler, of Broad Street
Buildings, in the City of London, Gentleman, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL AND MALLEABLE IRON."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Carl Johan Laurentz
Leffler at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 27th March 1865.
I, CARL JOHAN LAURENTZ LEFFLER, of Broad Street Buildings, in the City
of London, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING INGOTS OF STEEL AND MALLEABLE IRON," to be as
follows:-
The object of this Invention is to obtain ingots of steel and malleable iron
of a uniform structure throughout. To attain this end I provide by a simple
means increased facilities for the escape of the gases generated during the
casting operation; thus I place one or several moulds at an angle against or
around an upright mould, between which and the lower ends of the inclined
moulds I form a communication. Into the upright or central mould I pour
the molten metal, and from this mould it passes through lateral openings into
the inclined moulds. These openings, as well as the lower part of the upright
mould, may be lined with fire-clay, but I prefer to make the openings of a
slightly conical shape, so that pipes or cylinders of burned fire-clay and made

page_text: to fit the openings can easily be placed therein. A head of metal being
maintained in the upright mould the inclined moulds will fill to a cor-
responding height, and by reason of the inclination of these moulds a larger
surface of liquid metal than is due to the diameter of the moulds will be
formed, the increase being in proportion to the angle at which the moulds
incline towards the upright mould. By this simple contrivance the gases will
be enabled to escape more readily from the metal, and at the same time the
metal will also solidify more slowly round the sides of the mould than if the
same had been in an upright position. The moulds may of course be made of
any size and shape to suit the intended castings, which may be square, flat, or
cylindrical blocks, or tubes, or rings.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 27th September 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CARL
JOHAN LAURENTZ LEFFLER, of Broad Street Buildings, in the City of London,
Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler, Her special licence that I, the said
Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler, my executors, ad-
ministrators, 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 AND MALLEABLE
IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Carl Johan Laurentz
Leffler, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler do
hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The chief object of this Invention is to obtain ingots of steel and malleable
iron of a uniform structure throughout. To attain this end I provide by a
simple means increased facilities for the escape of the gases generated during the
casting operation, and by the manner of constructing and arranging the moulds
I cast sounder ingots than are usually obtained, and that in an economical
and expeditious manner. Thus I place a series of moulds at an angle against
or around an upright mould, and bring the lower end of that mould into com-
munication with the lower ends of the inclined moulds. Into the upright or
central mould I pour the molten metal, and from this mould it passes through
lateral openings into the inclined moulds. These openings, as well as the
lower part of the upright mould, may be lined with fire-clay, but I prefer to
make the openings of a slightly conical shape, so that pipes or cylinders of
burned fire-clay, and made to fit the openings, can easily be placed therein.
A head of metal being maintained in the upright mould, the inclined moulds
will fill to a corresponding height, and by reason of the inclination of these
moulds a larger surface of liquid metal than is due to the diameter or cross
section of the moulds will be formed, the increase being in proportion to the
angle at which the moulds incline towards the upright mould. By this simple
contrivance the gases will be enabled to escape more readily from the metal,
and at the same time the metal will flow steadily and solidify more slowly
round the sides of the mould than if the same had been in an upright position.
The moulds may of course be made of any size and shape to suit the intended
castings, which may be square, flat, or cylindrical blocks, or tubes, or rings.
The moulds may be coated with a layer of coal by smoking them over coal tar
in the usual manner, or they may be washed with a mixture of fire-clay and
black lead; the joints between the moulds should be made tight with fire-clay
or loam; and recesses may also be formed on the sides where the supporting
blocks join each other, to admit of their being made tight in the same
manner.
In the accompanying Drawing I have shewn my Invention as applied to the
casting of ingots suitable for conversion into heavy and light shafting, into
square bars and axles, into tubes, and into railway bars, wheel tyres, and into
plates.
Fig. 1 shews in transverse vertical section, and Fig. 2 in plan view, an

page_text: arrangement of moulds set around one central upright mould for casting at
one and the same time ingots for shafting and for flat plates and a wheel
tyre, but it will be presently obvious that any one of these moulds may be
readily replaced by one of another form, so as to make all the surrounding
- moulds of a corresponding height, or, when it is found desirable, to cast the 5
same description of ingots at one and the same time. A, A, is a vertical
cylindrical cast-iron mould forming the centre of a group of five. An annulár
bead or projection is formed on the lower end of this mould to fit a cor-
responding recess made in the upper face of a set of four cast-iron blocks B, B,
which form the central support for all the moulds. These blocks rest upon la
cast-iron base plate C, and are secured thereto by keys c, c. D, E, F, G, are
moulds set at an incline around the 'central mould A; their inner and lower
ends rest upon the blocks B, and they are further supported either by an
adjustable frame, as shewn at D, or by a brick pier, as shewn at F¹. One of
the blocks B is shewn detached 'in several views at Figures 3; these blocks B, 1
when put together, form a central well or cavity corresponding in diameter to
the mould A, and they are cast with horizontal passages 6 through them to
form a communication between the lower end of the inclined moulds and the
central mould A. These passages 6 are lined with cylinders of burned fire-
clay to prevent the radiation of heat at this part, to protect the passages from 12
the destructive action of the heat. The inclined moulds I construct in various
ways to suit the work in hand; thus, in order to facilitate the manipulation of
moulds for casting ingots for long shafting, I make the mould in two lengths,
as shewn at D, and couple the parts together by means of a cramp and wedges;
or I may use a mould of this kind for casting short, flat, cylindrical, or square 2
ingots. In this case at the line of division I introduce into the mould a cross
plate d, as shewn in the detached view, Fig. 4, and secure the parts together
by a cramp and wedges. An opening or openings made in this plate, and
lined with fire-clay cylinders, allows for the flow of the metal from the lower
to the upper division. In place of using a detachable cross plate d, and a 3
tapering mould divided transversely to admit it, I sometimes divide the mould
longitudinally, as shewn at Figures 5 and 6, where Fig. 5 shews the lower half
of the mould in plan view, and Fig. 6 the upper half in longitudinal section
taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 5. The construction of mould which I employ
for casting wheel tyre ingots is shewn in vertical section at Fig. 7; it s
consists of two main parts, vizt., a hollow block g, the cavity of which corre-
sponds to the form of the ingot to be cast, and a cover g¹, which is secured to
the part g by means of bolts or pins passed through lugs with which these
parts of the mould are provided, as shewn in the detached views, Figures 8.

page_text: In the side of the lower part g a hollow block is fitted for admitting the
Imolten metal into the mould, and a channel is cut in the cover to receive
an escape pipe g³, which is secured by pins to the mould. Each inclined
mould of whatever form is similarly provided with an escape pipe-situate at
the upper end of the mould, for the double purpose of forming a vent for the
air and gases/contained in the mould and in the molten metal, and of
retaining a head of metal above the ingot to insure a perfect casting. These
escape pipes should be made so that the metal may be stopped at the moment
of cooling, as shewn at .Fig. 1. Before putting on the cover of the wheel
tyre ingot mould G la core of fire-clay is inserted, as shewn at g, Fig. 7,
whereby the formation of an annular casting will be ensured. It will now
be understood that moulds constructed and arranged in a group as above
explained, so that they are all in communication (through the supporting blocks
B, B,) with the central mould A, the pouring of a good supply of molten
steel or malleable iron down the mould .A will ensure the simultaneous
formation of ingots corresponding in number to the moulds or divided moulds
brought into connection, and by ireason of the inclination of the surrounding
moulds the surface of the rising metal will be extended beyond the 'cross
sectional area of the moulds, and the air and gases contained therein will be
free to escape at the upper part of the moulds, and thus allow the molten metal
to solidify and form good ingots.
Instead of arranging four moulds around a central mould, as shewn 'at
Fig. 2, I may provide a greater or less number of supporting blocks, and a
corresponding number of moulds. Thus, in the plan view, Fig. 9, Ilhave
shewn six blocks 'B which are recessed, as shewn in the vertical 'section,
Fig. 10, to receive the foot of the central mould A or of the mould A';
Fig. 10, and the passages in the blocks B in this, as in all the examples;
I protect by means of fire-clay pipes or cylinders to ensure a free flow of the
molten metal. In some cases I also propose so to form the central' mould and
the blocks that they will lock together. This arrangement is shewn in
sectional elevation and sectional plan at Figs. 11 and 12. Vertical slots are
cut in the foot of the mould A to receive dovetails formed on the inner faces
of the blocks. This arrangement avoids the necessity for keying the blocks
to a bed plate, as explained with reference to Fig. 1.
Instead of dividing the moulds transversely to form two ingots of the metal
flowing through one supporting block, I may mount one mould upon the other,
as shewn at Fig. 13, where F, F¹, are two moulds placed one upon the other,
and intended for casting ingots of a smaller size. These moulds severally
connect by distinct openings in the same block B with the central mould.

page_text: The mould D on the opposite side of the central mould is in this case fitted
for casting hollow ingots destined to be rolled into tubes. The core is formed
of a tube of fire-clay, and the mould is divided longitudinally, as shewn by
the cross section, Fig. 14, or it may be made slightly conical to facilitate the
delivery of the casting. The head of the mould is closed by a cover secured
by a wedge, as shewn, and it is fitted at its upper end with a vent for. the air
and gases.
Another mode of arranging moulds is shewn at Fig. 15, where a mould for
casting wheel tyres is mounted on the upper end of a mould for casting, say,
railway bars. An opening is made in the lower mould to allow the molten
metal to flow up into the hollow fire-clay core and through lateral openings
made therein into the wheel tyre mould. The vent for the air will in in this
case be applied to the upper mould. Fig. 16 shews a similar arrangement
with a wheel tyre mould set on the incline or parallel with the lower mould;
Fig. 17 shews a further modification in which two moulds for casting ingots
for plates are set on the incline, and connected together at their extremities.
Thus the metal after filling the lower mould completely rises to fill the upper
mould.
In all these arrangements the like provision is required for supporting and
ventilating the moulds. I also propose in some cases, instead of arranging the
moulds radially around a central vertical mould, to place them in parallel rows
on opposite sides of an oblong mould.
Having now explained the nature of my Invention, I wish it to be under-
stood that I claim arranging moulding apparatus for casting ingots in the
manner above described, whereby a series of inclined moulds are brought into
communication with a central mould, and the molten metal poured into the
central mould is caused to fill those moulds simultaneously.
In witness whereof, I, the said Carl Johan Laurentz Leffler, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, the Twenty-seventh day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
C. J. LEFFLER. (L.S.)