IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING IRON AND OTHER METAL
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Asa Lees, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Machine Maker, and James Brierley Slater, of the same Place, Foreman,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS
FOR CASTING IRON AND OTHER METAL."
Sealed the 11th December 1866, and dated the 16th June 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Asa Lees and James
Brierley Slater at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their
Petition, on the 16th June 1866.
We, ASA LEES, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker,
and JAMES BRIERLEY SLATER, of the same Place, Foreman, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING
MOULDS FOR CASTING IRON AND OTHER METAL," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists in an improved mode of supporting the pattern
plate at the outer edges thereof in addition to a central support of the
moulding plate, in order to prevent the twisting or binding of the pattern
plate when the sand is being rammed into the box unevenly.
In performing our Invention the wheels or other patterns to be moulded
project partly through a fixed moulding plate on which the moulding box is
placed. The patterns are cast or fixed to a plate which is raised and lowered

page_text: by racks and pinions or other equivalents. The outer edges of this plate
bear on four or other convenient number of uprights, which can be moved
laterally by eccentrics or other equivalents. When the same is being removed
into the moulding box the pattern plate is supported by the uprights above
referred to, but as soon as the ramming in is completed the uprights are
moved laterally to allow the pattern plate to be lowered, thereby freeing the
patterns from the sand. The above apparatus forms one-half of the moulding
box, and the other half is formed by a precisely similar apparatus having
patterns corresponding to the other half of the articles to be moulded. When
both half boxes are completed they are placed face to face, and the molten
metal is run in to cast the articles required.
In some cases all the patterns may be on one pattern plate, and the other
box may be rammed on any convenient flat surface. The moulding appa-
ratus is kept warm by gas, as usual, or by a tray of hot cinders or otherwise.
By this means the articles moulded are kept of an uniform or of the desired
thickness throughout, and the binding of the parts of the apparatus is
prevented.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Asa Lees and James Brierley Slater in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th December 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, wo, ASA
LEES, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Machine Maker, and JAMES
BRIERLEY SLATER, of the same Place, Foreman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the said
Asa Lees and James Brierley Slater, Her special license that we, the said Asa
Lees and James Brierley Slater, our executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as we, the said Asa Lees and James Brierley Slater, our executors,
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 MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR
CASTING IRON AND OTHER METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that we,

page_text: the said Asa Lees and James Brierley Slater, our executors or administrators, by
an instrument in writing under our, or their, or one of our or 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 we, the said Asa Lees and James Brierley Slater, do
hereby declare the nature of our said Invention, and in what manner the samo
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement (that is to say):-
This Invention consists in an improved mode of supporting the pattern
plate at the outer edges thereof, in order to prevent the twisting or
binding of the pattern plate when the sand is being rammed into the box
unevenly.
In performing our Invention the wheels or other patterns to be moulded
project partly through a fixed moulding or dye plate, on which the moulding
box is placed. The patterns are cast or fixed to a pattern plate which is
raised and lowered by racks and pinions or other equivalents. The outer
edges of this plate bear on four or other convenient number of uprights, which
can be moved laterally by eccentrics or other equivalents. When the sand is
being rammed into the moulding box the pattern plate is supported by the
uprights above referred to, but as soon as the ramming in is completed the
uprights are moved laterally to allow the pattern plate to be lowered, thereby
freeing the patterns from the sand. The above apparatus forms one-half of
the moulding box, and the other half is formed by a precisely similar apparatus
having patterns corresponding to the other half of the articles to be moulded.
When both half boxes are completed they are placed face to face, and the
molten metal is run in to cast the articles required. In some cases all the
pattern may be on one pattern plate, and the other box may be rammed on
any convenient flat surface. The moulding apparatus is kept warm by gas as
usual, or by a pan of hot cinders or otherwise. By this means the articles
moulded are kept of a uniform or of the desired thickness throughout, and
the binding of the parts of the apparatus is prevented.
And in order that our Invention may be fully understood and readily carried
into operation, we will proceed to describe the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation; Figure 2 a plan; Figure 3 a section through
the line A, B; and Figure 4 a plan with the moulding and pattern plates
removed of our improved moulding machine. The Drawings are made half

page_text: size, and shew an arrangement by which moulds for four wheels are made at
one time.
a, a, a, a, are the patterns on which the moulds are formed, fastened to
the pattern plate 6 by the nuts c; these patterns are supported on plates &,
placed between the moulding plate 6 and the patterns a, see Figure 3. The
pattern plate b is fastened to the frame e by the screws e¹; the frame e is
furnished with four projections or feet, the bottoms of which are inclined (see
Figures 1 and 3), immediately below which are the inclined projections on
the slides f; these slides fare supported by and slide on projections f¹ bolted
to the inside of the machine, and are capable of being moved laterally to and
fro by means of the eccentrics g acting on the lugs h cast to the slides f; the
eccentrics 9 are fastened by set screws on the shaft h' which moves in the
bearings h³ bolted to the inside of the machine, see Figure 4. One end of
the shaft h projects through the machine, and is furnished with the handle i,
by means of which the eccentrics g are actuated. The projections; and k
cast on the outside of the body of the machino limit the extent of motion of
the handle and action of the eccentrics g.
Figure 1 shews the frame e in dotted lines in the position which it is
made to assume by means of the eccentric g when the handle i rests on the
projection j. By looking at Figure 3 it will be seen that the inclines on the
slides fare moved under the inclines of the feet of the frame so as to
support it; and in Figure 1 the slides fare shewn moved laterally, so as to
allow the frame e, and with it the pattern plate and patterns, to descend into
the moulding machine. The vertical motion of the frame e is obtained by
means of the racks bolted to the frame e, and acted on by the pinions m
fastened to the shaft n, moving in bearings bored in the bosses n¹ and n² cast
on the sides of the machine. On the end of the shaft n is the handle o,
having its motion limited by the stop p fixed on the boss n¹; the frame e is
preserved in its upright position when moving by the slides 7 cast on the
inside of the machine, and the slides r cast on the outsides of the frame e, so
that no lateral motion can be imparted to the pattern plate b; the pins s are
for the purpose of holding a moulding box in position when placed on the
moulding platet; the piece u, see Figure 2, is for the purpose of forming
the git or runner through which the molten metal is poured when the articles
are being cast; and v, see Figure 1, is the pan for containing hot cinders or
other material to keep the patterns a dry.
The mode of operation is as follows:-A moulding box furnished with lugs
having holes in them corresponding with the position of the pins s, having
been placed on the machine, the attendant moves the handle o in the direction

page_text: of the arrow in Figure 4, causing the patterns a to project above the moulding
plate t; the handle i is now moved from the projection j, and allowed to
rest on the projection k, so that the inclines on the slides fare under the feet
of the frame e; the handle o is now liberated from the hand, and the frame e
holding the pattern plate and patterns allowed to bed itself on the slides f,
which are firmly supported on the projections f¹, bolted on the inside of the
machine for that purpose; sand is then rammed into the moulding box to
the required extent, and when the mould is finished the handle i is moved
from the projection k to the projection j, which causes the eccentrics to move
the slides laterally from under the feet of the frame e; the handle o is then
moved until it comes in contact with the stop p, thus causing the patterns to
be withdrawn from the sand, and the moulding box is then removed from
the machine.
Another moulding machine, similar in all respects to the one described, but
having the corresponding opposite surfaces of the patterns bolted on its pattern
plate, and having boles in its moulding plate corresponding in position to the
pins s, is used for obtaining the other portion of the moulds. The two
moulding boxes thus obtained are placed face to face, and the molten metal
poured in.
Although we have shewn and described the pattern plate as elevated and
depressed by means of racks and pinions, yet the same object may be effected
by means of the inclines on the slides f and the frame d only.
Having thus stated the nature of our Invention, and described the manner
of carrying the same into operation, we declare that we claim supporting the
pattern plate of moulding machines at the outer edges thereof in the manner
shewn and described, whereby the binding or twisting of the said pattern
plate is obviated, or any other modification of machinery for effecting the
same purpose.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Brierley Slater, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, One thousand.
eight hundred and sixty-six.
JAMES BRIERLEY SLATER. (L.S.)