IMPROVEMENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF STEEL CROSSINGS FOR RAILWAYS, AND IN THE MOULDS FOR CASTING THE SAME, ALL OR PART OF WHICH SAID IMPROVE- MENTS IN MOULDS ARE APPLICABLE FOR CASTING OTHER ARTICLES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Francis William Webb, of Crewe, in the County
of Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF STEEL CROSSINGS FOR RAILWAYS, AND IN
THE MOULDS FOR CASTING THE SAME, ALL OR PART OF WHICH SAID IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MOULDS ARE APPLICABLE FOR CASTING OTHER ARTICLES."
Sealed the 19th June 1866, and dated the 23rd December 1865.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Francis William Webb at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd December 1865.
I, FRANCIS WILLIAM WEBB, of Crewe, in the County of Chester,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
*MENTS IN THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF STEEL CROSSINGS. FOR RAILWAYS,
AND IN THE MOULDS. FOR CASTING THE SAME, ALL OR PART OF WHICH SAID IMPROVE-
MENTS: IN., MOULDS ARE APPLICABLE FOR CASTING OTHER ARTICLES," to be as
follows:::
Firstly, my improvements in the construction of steel crossings (reversible
ir.otherwise) for railways.consist in forming them so that the junction of one

page_text: rail with the point or crossing will overlap its junction with the other rail to
about the extent of half the length of a "fish plate," so that a "fish plate"
will only be required on one side as the overlapping rail on the other side will
answer the purpose of a "fish plate" on that side, and by this means also the
sudden transition from the rail to the point, or vice versa, is obviated. This
part of my Invention also consists in securing the point.or crossing and the
ends of the rails to which it is to be attached in the act of casting the point or
crossing as herein-after described.
Secondly, my improvements relate to the manufacture of Bessemer or
other steel railway crossings without wing rails in the solid, reversible, or
otherwise, and consist in casting them with the point end deeper than
required when finished, and then forging and reducing the casting to its
proper depth, thereby condensing and consolidating the metal in that part of
the crossing where it is subjected to the greatest wear. This part of my
Invention also consists in manufacturing Bessemer or other steel crossings or
points with the rails attached, as herein-before referred to under the first
head of my improvements, by preparing the mould in which the crossing is to
ba. cast so that the ends of the rails may be inserted when heated to near the
welding heat, at which moment the molten metal is poured into the mould,
so that the heated ends. of the rails and the molten metal will fuse or
-weld together, the rails being arranged in the mould so as to give way during
the contraction of the metal when cooling in a manner explained in reference
to the loose parts of the interior of moulds,, herein-after described under the
third head of my improvements.
Thirdly, my improvements relate to moulds formed of metal for casting
steel railway crossings, and which improvements are also applicable for
casting other. articles, and they consist in forming and constructing the mould
in suitable.parts to form the required casting, which parts are held together
correctly while the molten metal is poured in and till it begins to cool, and
then give way to allow the metal to contract freely in cooling; this I accom-
plish when the exterior parts of the mould is: to. give way by holding the parts
.together by the force of springs, weights, weighted levers, a definite and
limited amount of friction between the surfaces, or by pins, rivets, or bolts of
a metal, which will fuse and release the parts at a given temperature, or by
cords or wires which will easily break or give way by the pull or contracting
strain of the cooling metal within the mould. I also form and arrange some
of the parts of the mould which are required to project from the sides of the
interior of the mould so as to be in pieces separate from the mould, and

page_text: secured in their places to prevent them from floating or being moved by the
molten metal when poured into the mould by some one or other of
the expedients herein-before mentioned for securing the exterior parts of the
mould together, so that when the metal contracts in cooling within the
mould these moveable parts will give way without putting any considerable
strain upon the casting..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Francis William Webb in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th June 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, FRANCIS
WILLIAM WEBB, of Crewe, in the County of Chester, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of December, in the year of our Lord
5 One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself; Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Francis William Webb, Her special license that I, the said Francis William
Webb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said.
Francis William Webb, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
0 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
THE CONSTRUCTION AND MANUFACTURE OF STEEL CROSSINGS FOR RAILWAYS AND IN
5 MOULDS FOR CASTING THE SAME, ALL OR PART OF WHICH SAID IMPROVEMENTS. IN
MOULDS ARE APPLICABLE FOR CASTING OTHER ARTICLES," upon the condition:
(amongst others) that I, the said Francis William Webb, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what. manner the same was to be
O 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 Francis William Webb,' do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same .is

page_text: to be performed; to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement (and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
.
My improvements are illustrated by the Figures upon the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings.
Fig. 1 is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a side view of my improved crossing;
Fig. 3 is a view of one half of a mould for casting steel. crossings; Fig. 4, an.
edge view of the two half moulds put together and partly represented in
section; Fig. 5 is an end view of the mould; Fig. 6 is an end view of
moulds for rails of different cross section to that shewn by Fig. 6; Fig. 7 is
ra side view of the crossing or. point when cast, supposed to be under the
operation for reducing and consolidating the point end.
The Figs. 3, 4, 5, and 6 not only illustrate my improvements for mould-
ing steel crossings, but expedients which may be used for moulding other
-articles in steel, which improvements are further illustrated by Figs. 8
and 9, sections of a mould for casting hammer blocks; Figs. 10 and 11,
--sections of a mould for casting punch and hammer blocks; Figs. 12 and 13,
=sections of a mould for casting hammer "tups." Each pair of sections are
taken one at a right angle to the other, and illustrate the mode of applying
*my improvements to the casting of articles of like form.
.. Firstly, my improvements in the construction of steel crossings (reversible
or otherwise) for railways consist in forming them so that the junction of
one rail (x), see Fig. 1 on 2) with the point or crossing (a) will overlap its
junction with the other rail (y) to about the extent of half the length
of "a fish plate" (b) (secured by bolts 6¹), só that "a fish plate" will
only be required on one side (as shown), as the overlapping rail (a) on the !
other side will answer the purpose of a fish plate on that side, and by this
means also the sudden transition from the rail to the point, or vice versa, is
obviated.
Secondly, my improvements relate to the manufacture of Bessemer or other
steel railway crossings without wing rails in the solid, reversible, or otherwise,
and consist in casting them with the point end deeper than required when
finished, and then forging or reducing the casting to its proper depth, thereby
condensing and consolidating the metal in that part of the crossing where it
is subjected to the greatest wear. Fig. 7 shows the point or crossing as when
cast and the hammer (c) and anvil (c¹) for reducing and consolidating, or
this may be done by rolling if required.
Thirdly, my improvements relate to moulds for casting steel railway crossings,
and which improvements are also applicable for casting other articles of steel,

page_text: and they consist in forming and constructing the moulds in suitable parts to
form the required casting, which parts are held together correctly while the
molten metal is poured in and till it begins to cool, and then give way to.
allow the metal to contract freely in cooling; this I accomplish when the
exterior parts of the mould are to give way by holding the parts together by
the force of springs, weights, or weighted or spring levers, à definite and
limited amount of friction between surfaces, or by pins or bolts of wood or
other suitable material which will burn away with heat, or pins, rivets, or
bolts of metal which will fuse and release the parts at a given temperaturé,
or by-cords or wires which will easily break or. give way by the pull or con-
tracting strain of the cooling metal within the mould. I. also form and
arrange some of the parts of the mould which are required to project from the
sides of the interior of the mould so as to be in pieces separate from the
mould, and secured in their places to prevent them from floating or being
moved by the molten metal when poured into the mould by some one or other.
of the expedients herein-before mentioned for securing the exterior parts of
the moulds together, so that when the metal contracts in cooling within the
mould these moveable parts will give way without putting any considerable
strain upon the casting.
Figs. 8, 4, 5, and 6 illustrate this part of my Invention as applied for
casting my improved. steel crossings or other articles of like form. It will be
seen that the exterior of the mould (formed of cast iron or other suitable
metal) is in two halves (d), and that they are secured together (as shown in
Figs. 4 and 5) by bolts (d') and cotters (d³), each cotter acting against a
spring (d), consequently the exterior parts of the mould are held sufficiently.
tight against each other to resist the pressure of the molten metal, but not
to resist the contracting strain of the metal when cooling. Loose pieces cor-
responding to the form of the ends of the rails to which the point or crossing
is to be attached have to be secured in the interior of the mould. These
pieces (e) are shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5, and are secured by wood pegs (e¹)
arranged so that molten metal can come in contact with them and burn them
away sufficiently to liberate the loose pieces by the time the contraction of the
metal begins. When ready for casting, the mould is placed vertical with the
large or open end uppermost, into which the metal is poured. Two alter-
native methods of holding the loose parts of the mould are shewn in Fig. 4 in
dotted line; one method is by suspending the loose piece (e) by a cord or
wire (e), which will readily break with such strain as will come upon it when
the metal contracts, the..other method is by suspending or holding up the

page_text: piece (e) by a spring (e³). The loose pieces (6) are supposed to be beld. by.
stops () to prevent them moving upwards, but they are only prevented from
moving downwards. the spring (6) or cord or wire (e³). In place of the
wood pegs (¹), fusible metal bolts or pins may be used, which will melt and
liberate the loose pieces (e) as herein-before explained.
Figs. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, and 18 illustrate the mode of applying my improve-
ments for casting in steel steam hammer and anvil blocks, and hammer
tus," and other like articles having undercut parts. In each example ƒ is
the base plate of the mould; g, the mould above, and resting upon the base
plate; h are loose pieces to mould the undercut parts; they are held against
the side and top of the mould in Figs. 8, 9, 10, and 11 by bolts d³,
cotters (d), and springs (d), or they may be secured by wood pegs or fusible
metal pins, as shown in dotted line, Figs. 8 and 9, or one or other of the
expedients herein-before mentioned. f¹ represents a piece of fire-brick in
Figs. 8. and 9, against which the metal falls when first poured into the
mould. Figs. 12 and 13 represent a mould for casting hammer "tups" with
an internal undercut groove; the loose pieces in this case are made up in
three parts, namely, a wedge (h¹) passing through and held up against the
base plate (f) by a lever (h³), cotter, and spring (as shown, the lever having
its. fulcrum attachéd to the base plate at (h³). To, the wedge (h¹) the loose
mould parts.(h) are attached by wood pegs (h), as shown, or by other suitable
means, as herein-before mentioned. When the molten metal is poured into
the mould the wood pegs will begin to burn away, so that when the metal
begins to contract the inclined surfaces will act to force down the wedge (h¹),
so that the parts (h) can approach each other to the required extent, or the
lever (2) may be released when the metal has been poured into the mould
to leave the loose parts perfectly free to give way to the contraction of the
metal.
. I have now particularly described the nature of my Invention, and the
-modes of carrying it into effect; and claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the improvements in the construction of railway crossings or
points as herein-before described and shown in the Drawings.
Secondly, the improvements in the manufacture of steel crossings or points
for railways. by casting them deeper than required when finished at the
point end, afterwards consolidating them, substantially as herein-before
described.
Thirdly, the construction and arrangement of moulds for casting steel rail-
way crossings or points, and for casting hammer and anvil blocks, and for

page_text: casting other articles of steel, substantially as herein-before described and
illustrated by the Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Francis William Webb, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
F. W. WEBB. (L.S.)