IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURE OF STEEL INGOTS and
Year: 1885

page_text: "J
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of the firm of Allison Brothers, of 52 Chancery
Lane, London, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agents, do hereby declare the
nature of said invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MANUFACTURE OF STEEL INGOTS
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
:
This invention is an improvement upon those in which the metal is poured from
an open ladle through the atmosphere into the mouth of a mold having a falling
bottom; the capacity of such mold being thus increased while the inetal is poured
into the mold at its open mouth.
The present invention differs from those heretofore invented, in two essential
particulars, first, in the drawing of the metal into the mold instead of pouring it,
thereby avoiding the fall of the metal in contact with the atmosphere, and the
carrying of air into the inold by the descending current; and secondly, in the
enlargement of the mold in the exact ratio in which the metal is admitted, and
thereby avoiding the production of any vacuity within the mold, into which air
might be attracted.
The invention consists essentially in the combination, with a closed duct from
the bottom of the fluid metal kettle, of a movable bottom or stopper inserted in
the mold and operating to prevent the admission of the metal except as such
bottom or stopper is moved by suitable means.
Such a construction secures the transfer of the fluid steel from a ladlo or other
receptacle to the interior of the mold in the presence of the atmosphere acting
under its ordinary pressure without any separation of the metallic particles, and
without any admixture of the air therewith; and the process and apparatus
claimed, are intended to obviate the use of all means for exhausting the air from
he mold, the ladle, or any intervening duct; and to employ the ordinary action of
gravity in transferring the metal from the ladle to the mold, while avoiding the
disturbances to which the uncontrolled influence of gravity is liable to expose the
metal.

page_text: The metal, when poured either through the open air or through a duct, subjected
to atmospheric pressure, is liable to have its particles separated in their descent by
the accelerating force of gravity; which particles, when introduced into the mold,
are liable to draw air into the mold, between the separated particles, and to mix
the same intimately therewith.
To draw the metal into the mold without the presence of air; and without the
use of exhausting apparatus; such a construction is formed that the access of the
metal to the mold depends exclusively upon a gradual enlargement of the mold;
thus regulating the flow into the mold so that all the particles of the fluid metal
move at a slower rate than would be due to the uncontrolled action of gravity.
"
The drawing shows means for practicing. the invention with the bottom "pour
ladles heretofore used; and also by attaching the mold directly to an aperture in
the bottom of the ladle.
Fig. 1 shows the latter construction, and is a vertical elevation (in section where
hatched) of a kettle and of a mold having a movable bottom connected with a
- hydraulic piston; Fig. 2.is a central section of an alternative construction for filling
a number of molds at the same time; Fig. 3 is a plan of the kettle, shown-in
Fig. 2, the line x, x, indicating the plane of the section in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is a
vertical section of a stationary mold and movable ladle constructed with a bottom
spout having attached to it a perforated stopper to fit the mold; and Fig. 5 is a
section of the mold on line y, y, in Fig. 4.
The molds employed, may be made of metal, and in sections if required, for the
convenient removal of the ingot.
The means for controlling the flow of the metal into the mold operates alike,
whether it be a bottom moved downward, or a stopper moved upward; to admit
the metal; and such part will therefore be called a stopper, hereafter. When the
mold is attached to the ladle, the latter may require to be raised vertically with
the mold attached, as in Figs. 2 and 3; or, a fixed ladle or kettle may be used, and
the mold movably secured beneath it, as in Fig. 1; the metal being supplied to
either the ladle or the kettle, from the furnace, in any convenient manner.
precise charge may be supplied to the kettle, or the surplus may be tapped from
the side of the kettle, if desired, after the molds are filled. In Fig. 1, A is the
mold, B the straps to hold its sections together; C the kettle, D its refractory
lining; E the aperture in its bottom, F a collar on the bottom around such
aperture.
The
The mold is fitted to the aperture by means of the collar F, and held thereto by
flanges and bolts b. G is a bed plato having blocks H to support the mold
concentrically over a water or air cylinder I fixed upon a platform J' which is
connected with the bed plate by pillars K.
The mold has the movable stopper a of refractory material, fitted within the
mold and attached to a head c by bolts d, the head being formed upon the upper
end of a piston rod e, the movement of which is governed by the piston / in the
cylinder I.
g is a stuffing box at the top of the cylinder to make the piston double acting.
Inlet pipes h, h, and outlet pipes o, o¹, aro provided respectively at the top and
bottom of the cylinder; and is a three way cock connecting the inlet pipes with
an accumulator or source of water pressure by pipe i. The cock j is provided
with a handle and shifting rod , by. which the operator can draw the water into
either end of the cylinder, and move the piston up or down at pleasure.
The outlet pipes are also provided with discharge cocks m, m'; the cock m
being opened when the piston is forced upward to adjust the stopper a to the
aperture in the bottom of the ladle; and the cock m¹ being opened to regulate the
speed at which the head descends under the load of fluid metal; the water or air
used to force the piston up being employed to sustain it in the required position
during the filling of the kettle.
During the operation, the head c is sustained with the stopper a close to the
bottom of the kettle; the joint between the edge of the stopper a and the

page_text: aperture E being packed with ganister or other material, as at n. The kettle is
then filled, preferably to a marked point, with the quantity of metal required to
charge the mold, and the metal is then allowed to stand a while in the kettle for
the purpose of disengaging any contained gases; the large area and shallow depth
of the kettle affording much greater facility for the disengagement of the gas than
the mold itself.
During this settling of the metal, the kettle may be kept hot by a surrounding
jacket, if required; and at its completion the discharge cock m¹ at the bottom of
the cylinder is opened sufficiently to permit the descent of the stopper at a suitable
speed to draw the metal into the mold.
This speed may be regulated in such manner as to produce a perfectly smooth
surface upon the outside of tlie ingot; and as the metal introduced into the mold
is already free from any admixture of air or gases, no porosity is produced during
the natural contraction of the ingot, when the metal entirely cools in the mold.
By furnishing the required amount of metal to the kettle and arresting the
descent of the stopper before all the fluid metal has entered the mold; the head of
the ingot will be sufficiently fed during the shrinkage of the metal to form a
perfectly solid and square end upon the ingot.
The cock m¹ may, if desired, be automatically moved as the stopper descends,
so as to gradually close the discharge outlet to compensate for the increasing
weight of the fluid metal in the mold; and thus prevent any undue increase
of speed.
The outlet pipes o, o¹, can also be connected together so that the water will
flow from below the piston to its upper side as it moves downward; and the
cock, to regulate the speed of descent, would then be placed in such connecting
pipe. When the contents of the mold is cooled, the blocks H can be knocked out
and the mold detached from the collar F and lowered by a suitable hoisting device
so as to rest upon the bed plate, from which it can be removed to have the ingot
extracted. The stroke of the piston should be such, that the head c can be
lowered even with the bed plate for this purpose.
In Figs. 2 and 3 is shown an apparatus to produce the same effect, but adapted
to fill any desired number of molds at once.
In this device, the kettle C is formed with a flat botton and having five molds
attached to it, by the same means as in Fig. 1.
The kettle is sustained upon hydraulic plungers J fitted to cylinders J' upon
a platform L, and the stoppers a are affixed to stationary rods K¹ which are
secured to the platform beneath the centres of the apertures in the bottom of the
kettle, over each mold.
In operation, the stoppers fill or close all the apertures during the filling of the
kettle with the metal, shown at M; and the hydraulic plungers are then forced
upward, as shown in Fig. 2, lifting the kettle with all the molds attached, and
drawing the metal into the molds, the same as with the former apparatus.
The plan in Fig. 3 shows the apertures E plainly, as well as the difference in the
area of the united molds and the kettle itself, which therefore requires a depth
much less than the length of the ingot.
The kettle is sustained in its elevated position until the ingots are cooled, when
the molds can be taken apart and detached from the kettle, leaving the ingots
standing upon the beads of the rods K'.
The kettle can then be lowered with the ingots projecting up through the
apertures E, through which the ingots can then be removed by suitable hoisting
apparatus.
In Figs. 1 to 3, the flow of the metal into the mold is regulated by the descent
of the stopper from the mouth of the mold; but the same regulation can be
effected by attaching a perforated stopper to the bottom of the ladle, and causing
it, by an upward movement of the ladle, to ascend from the bottom of the mold
toward its mouth, during the filling of the mold. Such a movable ladle, with

page_text: stopper attached to the end of a long bottom nozzle, is shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in
which C is the ladle, S a nozzle of sufficient length to extend to the bottom of the
mold, R a fire clay or plumbago tip applied to the end of the nozzle to protect it;
and D' the lining of the ladle extended within the nozzle to its tip.
-
The stopper is formed as a flange al on the tip of the nozzle, and the flow of the
metal from the ladle is regulated by a valve N operated by a handle P at the side
of the ladle, in the usual manner. With this apparatus the valve is closed and
the ladle is filled with the desired amount of metal; the ladle is then suspended
over the mold and lowered with the stopper inside of the latter.
When the stopper is in contact with the bottom of the mold; the valve is
opened, and the metal Q descends in the nozzle, forcing the air before it, which
readily escapes around the edges of the loosely fitting stopper.
When the metal comes in contact with the bottom of the mold; the air is
entirely expelled therefrom, and the-metal- thereafter flows into the mold without
any contact of the air. The mold is filled by lifting the ladle slowly and per-
mitting the metal to enter the mold at a regulated rate; the stopper resting on
the top of the fluid metal meanwhile, and thus preventing it from rising except at
the desired rate.
-
The ladle may be supplied with just the charge required to fill the mold, or
with several times that amount; and the valve be closed in transferring the nozzle
from one mold to another.
By this apparatus, equally with that shown in Figs. 1 to 3; a closed duct is
maintained between the bottom of the ladle and the movable stopper within the
mold; the sides of the mold, in Fig. 1, serving as a closed duct to any point, to
which the movable bottom or stopper is moved; and the atmosphere being thus
excluded from the moving metal by either device. In each apparatus, the same
facility is afforded for settling the metal to free it from gases before filling the
mold and in each, the metal is prevented from separating into streams or particles
in contact with the air.
It is intended to disclaim herein all the means heretofore used for pouring metal
into a mold, or for filling the mold by exhausting the air therefrom; as the inven-
tion is expressly devised to avoid the evils of the former method, as well as the
expense and difficulties attending the latter.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
.
1. The combination, with a mold having a movable bottom or stopper, of
a fluid metal kettle or ladle having an aperture in the bottom, and a closed
duct extending from said aperture to the movable bottom or stopper within
the mold.
2. The combination, with a fluid metal kettle having an aperture in the bottom;
of an ingot mold fitted to such aperture, and a movable bottom fitted to slide
within the mold and to close the aperture from the kettle; as and for the purpose
set forth.
3. The combination, with a fluid metal kettle having an aperture in the bottom;
of au ingot mold fitted to such aperture, a movable bottom fitted to slide within
the mold; and means substantially as described, for mechanically moving said
bottom and drawing the metal from the kettle into the mold; as and for the
purpose set forth.
4. The combination, with a fluid metal kettle having an aperture in the bottom;
of a removable mold secured thereto at the aperture; a movable bottom fitted to
the mold; a cylinder, having a piston attached to the movable bottom by a piston
rod; means for forcing the piston and bottom upward by hydraulic pressure; and
an adjustable escape cock at the bottom of the cylinder, to regulate the velocity of
the piston's descent; as and for the purpose set forth.
o

page_text: 5. The combination, with a fluid metal kettle, of a series of apertures in-the
bottom of the kettle; a series of molds detachably fastened to the kettle at the
apertures; and means for closing the apertures in the kettle while filling the latter,
and before filling the molds..
6. That process of filling an ingot mold, which consists in drawing (in distinction
from pouring) the metal into the mold by a gradual enlargement of its internal
capacity, substantially as herein shown and described.
ALLISON BROB,
Agents for the Applicant.