IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS. EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Whitworth, of Manchester, Engineer, for tho
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS.
EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE."
Sealed the 18th December 1866, and dated the 29th September 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Whitworth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
29th September 1866.
I, JOSEPH WHITWORTH, of Manchester, Engineer, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING IRON AND STEEL, AND
IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in casting iron and steel,
and in apparatus employed for this purpose. In casting certain articles, such
as hoops or other hollow forms or shells, when using rams (usually actuated
by hydraulic power) arranged to give pressure to the melted metal in the
mould, I, after for a time applying the pressure, and when the mass has become
solidified, withdraw at the proper time the internal resisting instrument to allow
of the contraction of the metal in cooling. In forming some articles, such as
those of considerable length, as well as others, I apply pressure, which I prefer
to be hydraulic, to the outer surfaces of the mould, which I make in parts or
sections, and I introduce dried or baked loam or sand between the parts or
sections, by which the escape of air is facilitated, and yet when pressure
is applied to the sections or parts of which the mould is constructed the said

page_text: sections or parts are able to come nearer together, and thus admit of the
requisite pressure being applied over a greater extent of surface of the fluid
metal in the mould than when plungers only are applied.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Whitworth in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 29th March 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
WHITWORTH, of Manchester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the thirtieth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Joseph Whitworth, Her special licence that I, the said
Joseph Whitworth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Joseph Whitworth, my exccutors, 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 IRON AND STEEL, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR THIS PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others), that I, the said Joseph
Whitworth, 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 Whitworth, 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:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in casting iron and steel,
and in apparatus employed for this purpose. In casting certain articles, such
as hoops, or other hollow forms or shells when using rams (usually actuated
by hydraulic power) arranged to give pressure to the melted metal in the
mould, I, after for a time applying the pressure, and when the mass has become

page_text: solidified, withdraw at the proper time the internal resisting instrument to
allow of the contraction of the metal in cooling. In forming some articles,
such as those of considerable length, as well as others, I apply pressure, which
I prefer to be hydraulic, to the outer surfaces of the mould, which I make in
parts or sections, and I introduce dried or baked loam or sand between the
parts or sections, by which the escape of air is facilitated, and yet when pressure
is applied to the sections or parts of which the mould is constructed, the said
sections or parts are able to come nearer together and thus admit of the
requisite pressure being applied over a greater extent of surface of the fluid
metal in the mould than when plungers only are applied.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows an elevation of apparatus or mechanism combined according
to my Invention; and Figure 2 shows a vertical section of the same;
Figures 3, 4, 5, and 6, show horizontal sections, but on a larger scale than the
previous Figures in order that the several parts may be shown fully and
clearly; these sections are taken respectively at the lines marked A, B, C, D,
E, F, and G, H, in Figures 1 and 2; in each of these Figures the same
letters of reference are used to indicate the same parts.
A is a cast block having in its centre a cylinder B of steel, within which a
plunger C works, which when water or liquid is forced into the cylinder B
raises the ram Q; it is preferred in all cases to use hydraulic pressure in
working this machinery, as shown in the Drawings and herein described; I
would however remark that other powerful pressing apparatus may be applied
in place of the hydraulic cylinders and plungers or some of them. D, D, are
two screw columns, the lower ends of which are securely fixed through tho
casting A, whilst the parts of the screw columns D. above A have threads
formed upon them so that the cast block E may by means of screw nuts
G, G, G', G', be supported in any desired position on the upright screws D, D.
The mould E, F, is of steel in order that the same may, as described in the
Specification of Letters Patent, granted to me on the 24th day of November
1865, No. 3018, be of sufficient strength to sustain the great pressures to
which, as therein described, steel or iron is subjected. This stecl mould is to
be secured in the casting E, which I prefer to be done by a screw nut F¹;
within this mould is a filling piece J,which is of cast iron, and is securely
retained therein by a screw nut J', or it may be by other means; within the
filling piece J is the lining H of cast iron, perforated with numerous holes to.

page_text: facilitate the passage of air and vapour or gases, and at the outer surface of
this lining are numerous grooves in order that the air and vapours or gases
as they pass through the perforations may get freely away; the interior of
the perforated metal lining H has a lining of sand, loam, clay, or other refractory
material, which is moulded in the metal lining to the required form, it is then
dried and put into position to receive the melted steel. The metal lining H
is retained in its place by the turn buckles or stops U, U, and the casting E
is arranged to turn on one of the screws D, D, as on an axis, so as to come
exterior or outside of the press when it is desired to remove the article
from the mould, and when introducing a fresh mould into position; K is a
core which is of metal, and is coated with sand, loam, or other suitable
refractory material; the coating is formed separately from the metal core
and dried, and is then placed on the metal core, and it is retained thereon by
pins, together with the lower nose K² of metal as shown. The upper end of
the stem of the metal core K is fixed into the bar K', which is fixed in the
under side of the piston R, which works in an hydraulic cylinder formed at
the upper part of the iron block or casting L, the form and nature of which
is clearly shown in the Drawings. The stem of the core K is capable of
sliding through the tubular plunger M, fixed as is shown to the casting L,
and the lower end of this tubular plunger is formed of steel, and is faced with
sand, loam, or other refractory material, it closes on the melted metal in the
inould when the casting L is lowered, and such plunger M resists the passage
away of the metal when the pressure of the ram Q of the plunger C is applied
to the bottom. The upper cylindrical part of the casting L is hooped with
steel, and when of considerable dimensions it may be lined with a cylinder of
steel. The piston rod R¹ of the piston R has a screw thread cut or formed
on its outer surface for the purpose of adjustment according to the length of
the core K. required; O, O, are two collars, secured as is shown to the upper
or cylindrical part of the casting L. The piston rod R' is capable of sliding
freely up and down through the holes in the collars O, O, except when locked
by the screw clip N'. The block or casting L is also when not locked by the
screw clips N, N, capable of being raised or lowered on the upright screws D, D.
The screw clips N, N, and N', are each of two parts, which are capable of
being moved to or from each other by left and right-handed screws on the shafts
P, P, and P¹. The screw shaft P¹ passes through the slot in the hollow piston
rod R', and against each side of the bearing på on the casting L it has two
collars p¹, p¹, fitted on, which prevent it being moved laterally through the
slot. On the screw shaft P¹ is a hand wheel by which that shaft is turned,
and by which the two parts of the screw clip N', N', are caused to separate

page_text: or come together, and when together to lock the piston rod R', and prevent
it moving through the collars O, O. The left and right handed screw shafts P
have pinions P fixed upon them, which pinions gear with two wheels P³, P³,
as shown. These wheels P³, P³, turn on axes fixed to one of the two parts
of which each screw slip N, N, is formed. The outer ends of such axes are
connected together by a bar as shown. To each of the wheels Ps a lever P* is
fixed, which levers are connected by a rod P³, which at its ends is pin-jointed to
such levers, hence when one of the two levers P' is moved, it by the connecting
rod P³ gives motion to the other lever, and consequently both their wheels
are simultaneously rotated, and the two wheels in their turn give simultaneous
motion to the screw shafts P by means of their respective pinions. It is
preferred that the block or casting L, and parts connected therewith, should
be raised and lowered as required by hydraulic power, but it may be by other
apparatus attached to the eye bolt S. In the arrangements shown the pouring
of the melted steel or iron into the mould is intended to be performed before
the core is introduced into the mould, and this is desirable where the sides
of the hollow casting are comparatively thin, as is the case in casting hexagon
shells, but where the sides of the hollow article to be cast are of greater thickness
and where the pouring of the melted metal may be freely performed after the
core is in its place in the mould the core may be introduced into its position
before pouring.
In using the apparatus above described, the parts being in the positions
shown in the Drawings, the melted steel in suitable quantity is poured into
the mould, and the block L is quickly lowered into position; the screw clips
N, N, are then to be locked, and the ram Q brought up by its plunger C, and
so the melted metal is subjected to great pressure. When the metal has
become set the metal core K is raised, and in rising it will become free from
the coating of sand, loam, or refractory material. The metal core K is lifted
by admitting water or liquid under pressure by opening a suitable valve to the
space under the piston R, which piston is set free by unlocking the screw
clip N. The core K is raised up through the part M which remains in
position, so that the metal remains still compressed within the mould. In
casting steel shells 150 lbs. weight, I find the pressure should remain on
about 8 minutes before the core K is withdrawn. The lifting of the metal
core K allows the cavity formed in the hot metal to contract in the latter part
of the cooling. The distance between the nuts G and G¹ on the screws D, D,
is left greater than the depth of the block E to allow sufficient movement
upwards whilst the pressure is being applied, and to prevent the turn buckles
or stops U, U, being broken off and the metal lining H pushed out. The

page_text: mould F, and parts contained therein, and also the core shown in the Drawings
as being used therewith, are suitable for casting hexagon shells, but other
forms of moulds and apparatus for casting other hollow bodies, such as hoops
or cylinders, and others where cores are used and where it is desired to have
the power of withdrawing such cores whilst the casting of steel or iron still
remains under pressure in the mould may be employed in this press.
Figure 7 shows an elevation of some of the principal parts of a press similar
to that already described; Figure 8, a vertical section thereof; Figures 9 and
10, show vertical sections of the parts taken at right angles to the section
shown at Figure 8; the mould here shown is suitable for casting an ingot
under great pressure.
Figure 11 shows a horizontal section taken through
the mould and parts connected therewith at the line A, B. The mould F,
which is of steel, is suitable for chill cast ingots of the form shown; F¹, Fº,
are moveable top and bottom parts of the mould; the part F is made with
inclined sides, and is received into the block or casting E, which is retained
in any desired position on the screws D by the screw nuts G, G; the part F
of the mould is carried by the ram Q actuated by the plunger C in the
hydraulic cylinder; the part F¹ of the mould is not made so long as the
parts F, F, in order to leave spaces at the end open through which the melted
metal is poured, and the mould on this side is made complete by the two parts
F, F; the parts F', F2, and F, are coated with baked sand or loam, and such
may be the case when required with the sides of the mould, and where necessary
provision is to be made for the getting away of the air, gases, and vapours, as
before described; these coatings of sand prevent the sudden chilling of the metal
and enables smaller ingots to be cast and pressed than would otherwise be pos-
sible. In using this arrangement of moulds in a press such as above described
the melted metal having been poured in the block or casting L is lowered, by
which the upper part or side of the mould will be made complete; the screw
clips N are locked together, and the part will be pressed on by the part M;
the hydraulic plunger C is then put into motion and pressure applied to the
fluid metal in the mould. When the article is set and sufficiently cooled
the clips N are unlocked, and the parts connected with the block L raised,
and then by a further motion of the ram Q the mould and ingot may be lifted
out of the block E. Either or both of the top and bottom surfaces F¹ and F
may be actuated by hydraulic or other power, when both are actuated they
should be simultaneously caused to approach cach other. In this manner
may various forms of solid castings be produced, the moulds being formed
accordingly, such as cranked or other axles or shafts, the connecting and other
rods of steam engines, and other similar articles, and when the length is

page_text: considerable the moveable sides of the steel moulds used may be actuated by
several hydraulic rams. No rule can be given as to the extent of pressure
which may be most advantageously applied in all cases, as the thickness,
quantity, and quality of metal acted on vary so largely, whilst the forms of the
articles to be cast also differ very largely, careful observation, however, on the
part of the workman will enable him quickly to judge.
It may, however, be desirable to remark, that where the metal in the interior
of a casting is found on cutting or removing the ends or other parts to have
formed itself into irregular crystals it has not been subjected to sufficient
pressure or the pressure has not been continued for a sufficient length of time.
The character of the metal of such a casting, if of steel, may be improved and
rendered more uniform throughout by heating the same to a moderate red heat
and then subjecting the casting to further pressure either on end, or lengthwise,
or both, according as it may be desired to contract or extend the length, this
heating and subsequent pressure is also advantageous in removing or breaking
off the very hard coating of sand, loam, or other refractory matter employed
on the surfaces of the moulds.
By applying the pressure as herein described in respect to Figures 7, 8, 9, 10,
and 11 to the whole length of the article which is being produced the pressure
may be maintained uniformly on every part until the operation is complete;
whereas with plungers acting (as is described in my said former Specification)
at the end or on comparatively small part of the surface of the article, this is
not the case, the pressure then ceasing to be uniform when the metal is no
longer fluid.
I would further remark that in subjecting fluid steel or iron to very high
degrees of pressure in steel moulds, and at the same time cooling it therein as
described in my said former Specification, it is of importance that the amount
of the pressure applied should always exceed that produced by the shrinking
on cooling which is simultaneously going on, or in other words the pressure
applied should be sufficient to overcome the counteracting forces resulting
from the rapid cooling of the surfaces of the article, and the slower cooling
of the interior metal, so that the atoms are caused to approach each other by
the pressure more rapidly than the said counteracting forces can separate
them.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to the
separate mechanical parts of which the combined arrangement is composed.
Neither do I claim under the present Letters Patent the subjecting fluid steel
or iron when in steel moulds to very high degrees of pressure.

page_text: The peculiarity of the present Invention consisting, first, in the arranging
mechanism as herein described so as to be able to remove the cores whilst the
metal remains in the moulds under pressure.
Secondly. The casting steel and iron moulds of which the sides are caused
to approach one another by great pressure so as to apply pressure uniformly
over the whole length of the article which is being cast as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Whitworth, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.