Improvements in the Casting Mechanism of Linotype and analogous Machines.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 28th Nov., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 23th Aug., 1895-Accepted, 5th Oct., 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Casting Mechanism of Linotype and analogous
Machines.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, Sole Manufacturers and Licensors
under the "Linotype" Patents, and ERNEST GIROD, Engineer, both of No. 6
Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street, in the City of London, do hereby declare the nature
of this invention to be as follows:-
Our invention relates to improvements in the casting mechanisms of linotype and
analogous machines, and the objects of it are to secure a really perfect injection of
molten metal into the mould and to prevent more metal being driven past the end
of the delivery pipe than is required to fill the mould.
In carrying our invention into effect, we provide a valve which is mounted in
such a way as to work quickly between the mouth of the delivery pipe from the
metal pump and the opposite mouth of the mould. The port in it is preferably a
line of perforations placed so as to establish a communication between the delivery
pipe and the mould when the valve is moved into the proper position. Further,
the valve is adapted to fit both the face of the mould and that of the metal delivery
pipe air and metal tight, when it is in the closed position.
The valve is worked, preferably, as follows. It is pivotted at one end so as to
work in the vertical plane between the delivery pipe and the mould and the
necessary reciprocating motion is obtained from the second justifying cam in the
case of a Linotype machine, or froin any other suitable cam, through suitable
connecting rods and levers, it being timed to remain shut until the down stroke of
the pump shall have filled the front end of the delivery pipe with a volume of
metal under pressure sufficient to nll the mould. The valve is then opened and the
metal is injected through it under pressure. As soon as the mould is full, the
valve is shut.
Dated this 28th day of November 1894.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
Agents for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Casting Mechanism of Linotype and analogous
Machines.
LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, Sole
Manufacturers,
Licensors
We, THE
and Vendors, under the " Linotype" Patents, and ERNEST GIROD, Engineer,
both of No. 6 Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street, in the City of London, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
Our invention relates to improvements in the casting mechanism of linotype and
analogous machines adapted to producing linotypes or printing bars.
In all machines of this class, a series of matrices and spaces is temporarily
assembled and held immoveably with reference to each other with all the faces
which contain the matrices or formative cavities standing in one plane. A pot
171

page_text: .
containing molten metal is mounted near to the above series and furnished with
an ejecting pump adapted to be automatically worked at the moment when metal
is required in the mould. The latter has a cavity equal in size and contour to
the body of the linotype or printing bar to be produced. The face of the metal
pot where the molten metal is delivered is a plane parallel with that formed by
the aggregation of the matrix faces above described, and the two opposite faces of
the mould are planes likewise parallel with both the aforesaid planes and with each
other. At the proper moment, the metal pot. the mould and the matrices are
brought into contact, the respective plane of the metal pot with one of the above
mentioned faces of the mould, and the opposite face of the said mould with the
above mentioned matrix faces, each plane fitting up against its fellow plane too
closely to allow of metal escaping.
Experience with the Linotype machine--the only machine for the production of
printing bars, which has come into use in this country-bas shewn that, air gets
inixed with the molten metal in the delivery pipe from the metal pot, and that
metal is dropped between the contacting planes of the metal pot delivery, the mould
and the assembled matrices.
The objects of the present invention are to secure a really perfect injection of
molten metal into the mould, to prevent more metal being driven past the end
of the delivery pipe than is required to fill the mould cavity, and, consequently,
to prevent a rebound of metal from the said cavity.
In carrying our invention into effect, we provide a valve which is mounted in
such a way as to work abruptly between the mouth of the delivery pipe from the
metal pump and the opposite mouth of the mould. The port in the said valve is,
preferably, a line of perforations placed so as to establish a communication between
the delivery pipe and the mould above mentioned when the valve is moved into the
proper position. Further, the valve body is adapted to fit both the face of the
mould and that of the metal delivery pipe, air and metal tight.
The foregoing paragraph describes the present invention in its basic form. In
other words, all mechanism and every device included within the language of the
said paragraph are to be understood as falling within the scope of the present
invention.
The valve is worked direct from some regularly acting member of the general
mechanism of the machine, such as a cam, through suitable connecting rods and
levers. It is timed to remain shut until the ejecting stroke of the pump shall have
filled the front end of the delivery pipe with a volume of metal under pressure,
sufficient to fill the mould, when it (the valve) is at once opened and the metal
injected through it under pressure.
The mechanism for working the valve, as well as the detail construction of the
valve itself, may, either or both of them, be of any suitable or convenient type.
Our invention does not impose any lunit in this respect, but on the other hand,
includes within it, the combination with the face of the mould and that of the metal
delivery pipe of any quickly acting valve adapted to suddenly open and as suddenly
close the metal delivery pipe and the mechanism for working the said valve.
The accompanying figures illustrate the combination of the present invention
with the casting mechanism of the well known Mergenthaler "Linotype" machine
as made and used in this country under the various Patents concerning it.
Consequently, many of the mechanical details illustrated are characteristically
linotype. But it is to be understood that the present invention is quite independent
of the characteristic mechanical details, in respect of the act of casting, of any
machine capable of producing linotypes or printing bars.
Figure is a sectional side elevation illustrating the combination of the
present invention with as much of the mechanism of a Linotype machine as is
affected by it.
Figure 2 is a transverse vertical section along the lines 2-2 of Figures 1 and 3.
Figure 3 is a vertical section along the line 3-3 of Figure 2, from the right
hand of the foure

page_text: Figure 4 is a side elevation of Figure 2 likewise from the right hand of the
figure.
Figure 5 is a plan corresponding with Figure 1 but omitting the mould wheel.
Figure 6 is a front elevation of the mouth of the metal delivery pipe
A is a series of matrices and a their formative cavities. They are both indicated
by dotted lines in Figure 1 in which they present themselves in end elevation.
B is the inould having a cavity b corresponding in size and contour with the
body of the linotype or printing bar. The only feature of the mould concerned in
the present invention is its two opposite faces 61, 62, both of which are planes parallel
with each other and with the plane a produced by the aggregation of those faces
of the linotypes which contain the cavities a described in the preceding paragraph.
Those familiar with the Linotype machine will recognise the mould wheel C
and its addenda which however not being concerned by the present invention need
not be further described.
D is the metal pot in which the inetal to be injected into the mould cavity b is
kept molten
E is the rod of the ejecting pump and F, part of the bracket upon which the pot
is supported. There are combined with these well known parts certain operating
devices by which it is caused to swing to and from the face 12 of the mould B upon
a pivot not shewn in the drawings but as these do not form a part of the present
invention and are not affected by it, they are omitted from the drawings.
G is the outer end of the well known delivery pipe from the metal pot D, and is
of about the same length as the valve itself.
The valve illustrated is of the plug type but it is to be distinctly understood
that any type of valve suitable for the purpose of the invention may be used.
H is the valve body. It is a solid block longer than the series of matrices and
extends along the front of the outer end G in which position it is held incorporated
with the said end by any suitable device, e.g., a dove-tail joint, as illustrated in
Figure 1. h, h are a series of ports in the valve body, they are of the same
diameter and parallel with each other. Their function is to maintain a communica-
tion between the end G and the mould cavity 5 during the time that the cast is on.
For that reason they extend through the body H from the end G to the front face
of the said body, where they present themselves in a row not longer than but
nearly as long as the mould cavity 61 and in a proper position for delivering into
the said cavity as heretofore. The front face of this block H, at any rate for an
appreciable distance above, below and at each end of the row of ports 1, h, is a
plane, as heretofore, which is parallel with those a¹, 61 and 62 already described,
when the pot is in the casting position. I is the plug of the valve. The valve
body H is bored longitudinally to receive it. 1, i are transverse ports through it
at right angles with its axis and positioned to be alignable with the ports h, h
respectively, thereby making them continuous through the block when the valve
is open. ¹¹are stuffing boxes, one at each end of the block to pack the plug I.
The present invention requires that the valve should be kept closed for a short
time after the three planes above mentioned are respectively in contact, during
which time a degree of pressure is established in the delivery pipe by the injecting
stroke of the pump piston; that the valve should be opened abruptly, kept open
long enough for the quantum of metal to be forced through it, and shut abruptly.
The mechanism illustrated is capable of actuating the valve satisfactorily. It
consists of a cam J upon a wheel J' which rotates once during each cycle of the
casting mechanism. The cam has two operative surfaces, one of them an incline j
and the other of them an arc concentric with the wheel J. The next member of
the valve actuating mechanism is a push rod. This latter is supported in a pair
of brackets k, k¹ through eyes in the eyed outer ends of which it enjoys a to and
fro linear motion. These brackets are shewn as held by a bar 2 which is a part
of the machine frame. The push rod in question consists of two parts 1, 1. These
two parts are made one push rod by means of a long nipple 12 on the part l' aligned
with it and entered into a socket in the adjacent end of, and aligned with, the

page_text: part, a collar fast on the part 1, a collar 15 fast on the part and a spiral
spring around the reduced end portion 12 and the socket ³, strong enough to
keep the said two collars apart, and to transmit without a shock, the pushing action
of the cam incline j on the part to the part 1. This combination of collars,
spring, nipple and socket stands hetween the brackets k and is so positioned
that the collar is normally held by the spring up to the inner face of the
bracket next to the cam (the bracket ) as against an abutment.
The cam end of
the push rod is fitted with an antifriction roller m and the part is angular in cross
section to prevent its turning about its axis. n is a spiral returning spring
surrounding the push rod and acting between the inner face of the bracket and a
collar n¹ fast on the part 1.
The next member of the valve actuating mechanism is a bell crank lever o
having a short arm and a long one. Its fulcrum is in a bearing o¹ supported by an
arm springing forward from the top of the bracket k¹. The outer end of the
shorter arm of the bell crank lever and the adjacent end of the push rod which is
continued through the bracket and there forked for the purpose, are pivotted
together, while the outer end of the long arm of the said bell crank lever o is
connected to the outer end of an arm p fast on the end of the valve plug I, by a
longitudinal slot o² in the said long arm embracing a stud p¹ projecting laterally
from the arm p. This arm p is suitably cranked to accommodate it to the
respective positions of the valve plug I and the slot o². The object of the marked
difference in the lengths of the two arms of the bell crank lever o is to provide for
the motion of the valve being an abrupt as distinguished from a leisurely one.
The invention acts in the following manner. Figures 1 and 5 show the inould B
and the metal pot D in the casting position, and the cam J at the initial point of
its engagement with the push rod. The pump piston is just going to begin its
injecting stroke. The engagement of the incline with the push rod, swings the
hell crank lever o and the cranked arm p into the position indicated by the dot and
dash line in Figure 1, thereby abruptly shutting the valve. The plug I is in fact
turned through a quarter of a circle as indicated by Figures 1 and 3. The arcual
surface of the cam now engages the push rod and, by its concentricity, keeps the
valve shut. During the term of the engagement between the are 7 and the push
rod, the pump piston makes its injecting stroke thereby filling the delivery pipe
and the ports h, h between it and the valve plug I with the metal under pressure.
The cam J frees the push rod before the pump piston, by its return stroke, releases
the metal between it and the valve from the pressure above mentioned.
A soon
as the push rod is freed, the resilience of the returning spring n opens the valve
with a motion as abrupt as that with which it was closed, and the injection of the
metal into the mould cavity b takes place.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is :-
1. The combination with the casting mechanism of a linotype or analogous
machine, of valve controlling the delivery pipe from the metal pot to the mould
and mechanism for operating it abruptly with reference to the term of the injecting
stroke of the metal pump piston; as set forth.
2. The combination with the mould wheel and casting mechanism of a linotype
machine, of a valve adapted to open and shut the delivery pipe from the metal pot,
and a cam push rod bell crank lever and returning spring mechanism for actuating
it; as set forth.
1008
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.