Improvements in Machines for Casting Ingots.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 16th June, 1899-Accepted, 30th Sept., 1899
[Communicated from abroad by JOHN ILLINGWORTH, of 58, Park Place, Newark,
New Jersey, in the United States of America.]
Improvements in Machines for Casting Ingots.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
This invention relates to certain improvements in ingot casting machines, the
objects of the present improvements being to secure a mold better adapted for
the production of heavy castings, to reduce the cost of constructing the molds,
and to avoid the necessity for planing the sections of the mold to bring them into
proper alignment; to enable the mold, whether made solid or in sections, to
be drawn apart or away from one another at any point in the series, and to secure
other advantages and results, some of which may be referred to hereinafter in
connection with the description of the working parts.
Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference
indicate corresponding parts in each of the several figures, Figure 1 is a side
elevation of the improved ingot casting machine, Figure 2 is a plan of the same,
Figure 3 is a sectional view taken at line A-A, Figure 2; Figure 4 is a plan
in detail of one of the molds of the series; Figure 5 is a perspective view in
detail of one of the pressure pins hereinafter described; Figure 6 is an end. view
or plan of a loose pressure plate adapted to be inserted in the mold, especially
when the mold is of a solid construction and to operate in connection with said
pins; Figure 7 is a side elevation of the mold sections shown in Figure 4, and
Figure 8 is a rear elevation; Figure 9 is an elevation of the pressure plate shown
in Figure 6; Figures 10 and 11 are views in detail of certain wedges, the .
functions of which will be hereinafter described.
In said drawings, a indicates a suitable bed plate upon which the several
operating parts are supported. Said bed plate is provided with a heavy vertical
standard b, at the opposite sides of which are series of molds c, c, c. Beneath said
mold sections and on said bed plate are tracks or ways d, d, on which are arranged
cars or trucks e, e, about the length and width in plan of a pair of mold sections,
or, if the mold be of the solid construction, of the length and width in plan of
said solid mold, each car supporting a mold.
In the present construction, instead of making the bodies of the molds in
halves or sections, as heretofore, I prefer to employ in each a solid structure, as
shown in Figures 2 and 4. The molds of this construction are arranged on the
cars or trucks in series, and are separable from one another.
The chambers within the molds are, each, at the sides or ends toward the
hydraulic cylinder f, laterally enlarged, the recess g, being one half an inch more
or less in depth on opposite sides. Into the mold chamber of each mold, extend-

page_text: ing from one recess into the opposite recess, is arranged a movable pressure
plate h, which is permitted to slide therein backward and forward one half an
inch more or less, so that after the casting operation is effected, and when the
ingot becomes more or less solid, sufficiently so as to sustain its own weight, I
insert a wedge i, between the ingot and the plate h, and when thus slipped into
position the full length or nearly the full length of the ingot, the pressure
plate h, is again forced toward the ingot by hydraulic pressure and the ingot
is compressed and consolidated to cure any piping or the formation of a chamber
in the centre of the ingot due to the contraction of the metal by cooling.
At the sides or ends of the molds toward the hydraulic cylinder f, and piston k,
the said molds are perforated as shown at q, in Figure 8, to receive the pressure
pins z, Figures 2, 3 and 5. Said pins z, are longer than the thickness of
the end walls of the mold, so as to project either from the mold into the
chamber thereof, or from the outside of said mold, and at their inner ends
said pins z, bear endwise against the outer side of the pressure plate.
Thus, when the molds are pressed together in the series by the hydraulic
piston or pistons k, the pressure plates h, will be forced at their opposite
edges against the shoulders n, n, Figure 4, and the mold chamber will be prepared
to receive the molten metal. When the piston k, and plate w, thereof are drawn
backward or toward the hydraulic cylinder f, carrying with them certain of the
molds as hereinafter described, the pins z, of the last drawn mold from the
piston plate, will be free to permit the plate h, in said mold to be pushed back
from the ingot and the wedge i, to be inserted in the opening thus formed;
The wedge i, may have at its large end a handle, to facilitate handling, the
shoulders y, at the base of the handle being ample in size to receive the blows
of a mallet should I wish to drive the wedge between the ingot and pressure
plate.
To enable the operator to more perfectly and easily control the separation of
any one of the molds from the next in the series, especially when the said molds
are of the solid construction, I have provided at each side of the molds a pair of
binding or coupling bars j,j, which extend the full length of a series. One of
these bars on each side is fastened permanently or rigidly to the piston plate w,
as at 1, and the other bar is permanently or securely fastened upon the stud b.
The opposite ends of the said bars are supported one on the stud 6, and the other
on the piston plate and are free to slide on the supports m, m. The said bars
are each provided with coupling means, by means of which the said bars may be
secured to the molds. I prefer to employ in this connection pins r, Figure 3,
which fit into holes o, Figure 1, in the rods j, and also enter corresponding
holes p, Figure 7, formed in the sides of the molds. Thus, when I desire to
separate any two of the molds of a series, I pin one of the bars j, to the mold to
be drawn away from the one next toward the stud, the other end of said bar
being fastened to the piston or piston plate k. The second bar j, fixed or fastened
to the stud b, is pinned to the said other mold or the mold to remain stationary.
The hydraulic devices are then operated to draw the plate w, and the molds
coupled thereto, away from the mold to remain stationary,, which, being accom-
plished, the pins z, of said stationary mold are free to release the pressure plate
therein so that the latter may be forced away from the ingot to permit the
insertion of the wedge. After such insertion, the hydraulic device is again
operated to press the molds together. The moving mold section or sections
approaching the stationary section engages the outwardly projecting pins z,
thereof, and forces them inward against the pressure plate h. The latter, being
thus pressed, presses against the more or less plastic or semi-fluid ingot so that.
the metal thereof is compressed and any piping therein closed.
To facilitate the separation of the pressure plate from the ingot, should said
plate be hard to move in its mold, I may employ a hook s, or series of such hooks
loosely attached to the piston k, or piston plate w, and adapted to be caught upon
the pressure plate h. When thus arranged, and the hydraulic devices are operated

page_text: to separate the molds, the pressure plate will at the same time be drawn back
from the ingot to allow the insertion of the wedge, as will be understood.
To hold the molds in alignment in the series, I provide at opposite sides of:
said series, rods t, t, t, t, preferably four in a set, which lie parallel with one
another and are secured at opposite ends upon the stud b,. and hydraulic cylinder f.
Supported by and between said rods are blocks u, apertured to receive the rods
as illustrated in Figure 3. Said blocks are provided with threaded holes in
which are screws, which bear upon the molds and hold them in proper vertical
position and alignment, and permit of the movement hereinbefore described.
The hydraulic cylinder and piston may be of any usual construction.
In operating the machine above described, I prefer to begin casting in the
molds next to the stud b, which are filled with molten steel or metal, which is
allowed to cool until in a condition to sustain its own weight, after which the
molds thus filled are coupled to the stud b, and the other molds of the series are
secured to the piston and drawn thereby away from the filled mold, the hydraulic
devices being operated in any manner to accomplish such a result. The wedges
are then inserted between the plastic ingots and the plates h, the large ends
being uppermost and the molds are again forced together, the moving molds
next to the filled molds engaging the pins z, of said filled molds and the latter
pressing the plates h, against the wedges so that the latter comprises the ingot,
the compression being greater toward the top of the ingot.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
-
1. The improved ingot casting machine herein described, comprising a bed,
a series of molds supported thereon and having ingot compressing means, means
for coupling a portion of said molds together and means for moving said
coupled molds back and forth on said bed to operate the compression means of
the molds, substantially as set forth.
2. The improved ingot mold herein described, comprising a bed, a series of
molds movable on said bed, a stud at one end of said series and a hydraulic
cylinder and piston at the opposite end, and coupling strips j, parallel with the
series of molds, substantially as set forth.
3. The combination with a bed, a series of molds each having a pressure plate,
a stud and a hydraulic cylinder and piston, of coupling strips j, for coupling
any one mold of the series to the piston, whereby the said mold may be released
from the next mold in the series and the pressure plate therein released to permit
the insertion of a wedge, substantially as set forth.
4. The combination with a bed, of a series of perforated molds having pressure
plates and pins, and means for moving said molds back and forth on said bed
to permit the operation of said plates, substantially as set forth.
5. The combination with a bed, stud and hydraulic mold operating devices, of
a series of perforated molds, each having pressure plates and pins, coupling
devices in connection with the hydraulic operating devices and means for separ-
ably connecting the hydraulic devices with the molds, substantially as set forth.
6. In an ingot machine, the mold having a perforated side or end with movable
pins in said perforations and a pressure plate within said mold engaged by said
pins, substantially as set forth.
7. In an ingot machine, the combination with the mold having a pressure
plate therein operable from the outside of said mold to secure a compression of
the plastic ingot therein, of a hydraulic piston and cooperating means for operat-
ing the said pressure plate, substantially as set forth.
8. In an ingot machine, the combination with a series of molds and means for
moving said molds back and forth in the direction of the series, of rods or bars t, t,
arranged at opposite sides of said molds and carrying blocks u, u, and screws v,
substantially as set forth.

page_text: 9. In an ingot machine, the combination with a track or way having a stud
and hydraulic devices at opposite ends, of a series of carriages or trucks, a series
of molds thereon, rods t, blocks u, having screws v, for holding said molds in
position, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 16th day of June 1899.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
.
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.