IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRESSING AND CONDENSING METAL IN A LIQUID OR SEMI-LIQUID STATE WHILE IN A MOULD
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Edwards, of the Firm of Edwards, and
Co., 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery. Lane,. in the County
of Middlesex, Patent Agents and Engineers, for the Invention of .
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR PRESSING AND CONDENSING METAL IN
A LIQUID OR SEMI-LIQUID STATE WHILE IN A MOULD."-A communi-
cation from abroad by John Blake Tarr, of Fairhaven, in the
County of Bristol, in the State of Massachusetts, United States of
America.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Edmund Edwards at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 29th September 1871, pursuant to the 9th Section
of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS. SHALL COME, I, EDM UND
EDWARDS, of the Firm of Edwards.and.Co., 22, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the: County of Middlesex,. Patent Agents and
Engineers, send greeting..

page_text: WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS FOR PRESSING AND CONDENSING METAL IN A LIQUID OR SEMI-
LIQUID STATE WHILE IN A MOULD," and have petitioned Her Majesty to
grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and assigns, Her Royal
Letters Patent for the same, and have made solomn Declaration that
the said Invention has been communicated to me from abroad by John
Blake Tarr, of Fairhaven, in the County of Bristol, in the State of
Massachusetts, United States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Edmund Edwards, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, 1
fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement, and accompanying Drawings.
This Invention relates to certain novel improvements in ingot mould
presses, for the pressing and condensation of metal while in the 1
mould in a liquid or semi-liquid state, which improvements are
designed,―
First. To facilitate the pouring of the metal into the mould and also
to prevent the metal from adhering to the interior of the mould by
combining a moveable mould with a press in such manner that the a
plunger of the latter operates from below upward as will be herein-after
explained.
.
· Second. To prevent that portion of the mould bed through which
the plunger moves and is guided from allowing the melted metal to
leak, and at the same time to prevent the parts from binding and 2
working hard in consequence of unequal expansion and contraction of
the mould bed and follower, as will be herein-after explained.
There are several objections to presses for condensing melted metal
in moulds, wherein the plungers are arranged to work into the upper
ends of the moulds. One objection is the inconvenience of pouring the
metal from the ladles, owing to the pressing devices being. in the way,
and another objection is the loss of time and labour attending the
removal of adhering metal from the interior of the moulds, the adhesion
being caused by pressing downward upon an inert body of metal.
Another objection is owing to the unequal expansion of the pressing a
plunger, and the guide or stuffing box through which this plunger moves
which causes the plunger to bind and work hard.

page_text: The accompanying Drawings are in illustration of this Invention.
They represent a single press and mould, but in carrying this Invention
into effect a number of these presses may be employed and arranged
either in a straight line or in the arc of a circle concentric to the axis
of motion of the crane which is used for carrying the ladles.
Figure 1, Sheet I., is an elevation of the front of the press; Figure 2.
Sheet I., is a top view of the press with the mould removed; Figure 3.
Sheet II., is a section taken vertically and transversely through the
centre of the press and the mould. The same letters of reference denote
the same parts in all the Drawings.
The cylinder A of the press is firmly secured to an open head A³,
which latter is bolted to the under side of a bed plate B' mounted upon
walls of masonry. Within the cylinder A works a solid piston a', the
rod a of which passes up through the top cylinder head and has rigidly
secured to it a plunger C, shewn in Figures 2 and 3. This plunger C,
which may be cylindrical or prismatic in cross section, passes up through
the mould bed B and may have a removeable cap n on its upper
end, which can be taken off when worn out and another substituted.
Into the upper side of the mould bed B and concentric to the axis of
the plunger C a recess is made, into which is applied a sectional collar
composed of radially moveable sections i, i, i, i, which are held down in
place by bolts, which pass through oblong radial slots made vertically
through the bed B. The inner edges of the sections are fitted closely
against the sides of the plunger O, against which they are held by'
means of springs 8, as shewn in Figures 2 and 3. This expansible collar
is designed to prevent any of the metal which is poured into the mould G
escaping at the bottom thereof around the plunger, and also to accom-
modate itself to the expansion and contraction of the plunger, so that
the latter will always work freely without leaking. The top surfaces
of the sections i are not quite flush with the top surfaces of the mould'
bed B; there is not however sufficient space left between the base of
the mould G. and the said collar sections to permit leakage when the
mould is confined down in its place on the bed B. The mould G is
flanged at its. base and confined down in place on the bed B by means
of brackets and screw fastenings J, J. The top of the mould is provided
with a tightly-fitting cover 9, which is confined down in place by means
of a screw h, which is tapped through the centre of a clamp D, the
hooked ends of which are received beneath shoulders e, e, on the sides

page_text: of the mould. The mould chamber is tapered slightly from above
downward nearly to its lower end, so as to facilitate the removal of
the ingot after it is sufficiently cool. But that portion of the chamber
in which the plunger works is made straight or with parallel sides.
The pressing is performed by means of a hydrostatic pump, not shown t
in the Drawings, with which the cylinder A communicates by means
of a pipe which I will now describe. Two pipes ff, are applied
respectively above and below the piston a¹. These pipes have vertical
pipes b, b, connected to them, from which latter pipes d, d', lead off,
the pipe & leading to the pump, and the pipe d'leading into an elevated 1
tank in the neigbourhood of the pump. At the junction of the vertical
pipe 6 with the two horizontal pipes ff, three-way cocks c, c¹, are
applied for regulating the direction of the currents into and out of the
cylinder A. When the mould G is supplied with metal and the cover g
secured down in place thereon the cock c is turned so as to form a 1
communication between the cylinder A above the piston and the outlet
pipe d', through the medium of the pipe f, cutting off from the pipe b..
The cock is then turned so as to form a communication between the
interior of the cylinder. A below the piston, and the inlet pipe d through.
the medium of the pipe b, the cock c', and the pipe . Now, when 2
pressure is applied and the fluid enters the cylinder below the piston
the fluid above the piston will escape freely through the pipe d'. When
it is desired to draw down the plunger C the cock c¹ is turned so as to
cut off from the pipe 6 and form a communication between the cylinder
below the piston and outlet pipe d' through the medium of the pipe f¹, 2
and the cock c is turned so as to cut off from the outlet pipe d', and
form a communication between the inlet pipe d and the cylinder A
above the piston through the medium of the pipes b and ƒ.
During the act of condensing the metal in the mould G by this
improved press the body of metal will be lifted and condensed against 3
the cover and sides of the mould. By thus moving upward the
mass of metal is prevented from adhering to the sides of the mould.
It should be here remarked that the metal does not quite fill the
moulds G, so as to allow space for lifting it, as above stated.
After one ingot is formed and condensed it is removed from the 3
bed B and another mould substituted, so that the operation of filling
the moulds and condensing the metal therein can be conducted rapidly
and with very little labour.

page_text: By arranging the pressing apparatus beneath the mould bed it will
be seen that a clear space is left for obtaining freedom of access to
the moulds for both filling them and removing them: The mould
bed may be level with the floor of the foundry, and the pressing
apparatus located in a pit below the floor. The cocks c, c', are brought
down within convenient reach of the attendant.
Having now described the Invention, what I claim is,—
First. The cylinder and plunger arranged below the mould bed B, and
combined with a moveable mould, substantially as described.
Second. The cylinder A and its open head A' arranged below the
mould bed B, substantially as described.
Third. Pipes ffƒ³, b, b', d, d', and three-way cocks c, c', combined
with the cylinder A of the press, substantially as described.
Fourth. The combination of an expansible collar with the plunger C
and mould G, substantially as described.
Fifth. The arrangement of an expansible plunger collar on the upper
side of a mould bed, having a pressing apparatus arranged beneath it,
substantially as described.
:
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Edwards, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.