IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Haseltine, of the "International Patent
Offee," No. 8, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."-A communication from abroad by
Alexander Lyman Holley, of the State, County, and City of New York,
United States of Amerion Mechanical Engineer
ugs, ance
me, m
uty
of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL."-A communication from abroad by
Alexander Lyman Holley, of the State, County, and City of New York,
United States of America, Mechanical Engineer
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Haseltine at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 27th
August 1867.
I, GEORGE HASELTINE, of the "International Patent Office," No. 8,
Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE.
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
The said Invention consists in a novel mode of and means for casting ingots
and other masses from liquid malleable iron or steel. It is usual in the Bessemer
or pneumatic process to run five or six tons of steel out of a small nozzle in a
ladle into as many as twenty-or-thirty-moulds to form-ingots-of-suitable-
sizes for rails,¯railway axles, and small-forgings. To prevent the steel-from-
boiling over in the moulds, and thus making the ingots unsound or hollow, it
A

page_text: is necessary to frequently stop or check the stream of steel flowing from the
ladle this frequent closing of the nozzle and the time occupied by it, and by
placing and stopping the ladle over each mould, tends to chill the steel around
and in the nozzle and to form a scull in the ladle. It is sometimes impossible
to close the nozzle tightly or at all in moving the ladle from mould to mould.
Scrap and unsound ingots are often produced from this cause also. In pouring
small ingots, especially from the top, the stream of steel is likely to hit the sides
of the mould, and to spatter upon them, forming scales which are never perfectly
united with the body of the ingot, thus causing seams in the steel when further
manufactured. It is also difficult, if not impossible, to make ingots thus
cast of exactly or nearly the required weight on account of the rising and
settling of the steel in the mould, therefore an excess of weight forming more
scrap is usually allowed.
My improvements chiefly consist in remedying these defects to a
great extent, by casting two or more ingots in ordinary separate ingot
moulds at one pouring or teeming. For this purpose I prefer to place. a group
of ingot moulds made of cast iron or any suitable material around a central
ingot mould somewhat higher than the others. If they are compound moulds
I prefer to hold them together by one or more common bands passing around
the group and tightened by wedges. All these moulds are set upon what I
will call a "distributing bottom" which consists of a box or flask filled with
moulding sand or other suitable moulding material, in which are moulded
sprues or runners connecting the lower end of the central mould with the
lower ends of the surrounding moulds, the central mould being open at the
top, and the tops of the surrounding moulds being stopped with suitable vented
loam stoppers, or covered with cast iron plates coated with loam and properly
vented, the steel is run out of the ladle into the. central mould whence it
passes through the runners in the "distributing bottom" to. the surrounding
moulds. When the latter moulds are filled up to the stoppers the metal
continues to rise in the central mould until it is filled, thus forming a head
or riser which promotes the soundness of the surrounding ingots; the central
mould is then closed in the usual manner. Moulds formed from patterns
or otherwise in sand, clay, or other suitable moulding material may be set
upon and filled from the "distributing bottom" in place of the surrounding
ingot moulds. To prevent the stream of metal that pours into the central
mould from washing or injuring the said "sprues" or runners, I prefer to
mould from a pattern in the said "distributing bottom" a continuation of
the central mould and to run the "sprues" out of the sides of this
continuation. The lower part of this continuation, upon which the stream

page_text: of metal strikes, I prefer to mould from ground fire-brick or ground crucibles
mixed with enough raw fire-clay to make it plastic, the rest of the
distributing bottom" may be made of good loam or moulding sand. The
"distributing bottom" must be thoroughly dried before the metal is poured into
it. When the metal is sufficiently cool the moulds are removed and the ingots
are separated by breaking off the "sprues." The size of the "sprues" and the
number of moulds to be grouped as described will depend on the heat and
fluidity of the metal and upon the weight of the ingots. For an ingot of six
or seven hundredweight the "sprue" may be one and one-half inch in diameter
if not more than a foot long. From four to eight ingot moulds may be placed
around the mould that receives the metal without making the "sprues" so long
that the metal will chill in them.
The "distributing bottom" may be moulded in any of the suitable ways
practised by founders; I prefer to make the exterior or shell a cast-iron
'flask provided with trunnions or ears by which it may be readily handled.
In some cases I dry the "distributing bottoms" in an oven, then set them in
the casting pit, and then set the moulds upon them; I prefer however to
carry flues from a suitable furnace or furnaces along the casting pit, and to
economize labor by setting the "distributing bottoms" as soon as they are
moulded to dry and to be heated over openings in these flues; hot ingot
moulds may at the same time be set upon the "distributing bottoms" to
assist their drying. By making two. or more flues in different parts of the
pit one set of "distributing bottoms" may be drying while another set is in
use, or the "distributing bottoms" may be permanently placed over flues in
the casting pit. These flues may be heated by steam pipes instead of by hot
gases from a furnace.
"
The ingots that are filled from the " distributing bottom may be made
of exactly the same weight or of any definite weight by simply regu-
lating the height of the mould. To make ingots of different weights in the
same mould I prefer to place loam stoppers of different lengths in the top
of the mould. The depth of the stopper governs the height and weight of
the ingot.
My improvements further consist in casting two or more ingots- at one
pouring in the following manner :-I place a group of ingot moulds in the
pit in the usual manner. The tops of these moulds should be flat and
should be in the same horizontal plane; upon the tops of these moulds I
place what I call-a-"distributing top" which-I prefer to make,.mould, and
-dry-similarly-to-the-distributing-bottom-herein-before-described. The said
top consists by preference of an.iron flask filled with moulding sand or other

page_text: suitable moulding material in which there are formed "sprues".or. runners
leading from the sides of a central cavity or basin into the tops of the ingot
moulds upon which the "distributing "top" sets. The metal may be run out
of the ladle into the central cavity or 'basin from which it will run into and
fill the moulds below. I prefer however for the purpose of making less scrap,
and also of making a high head or riser over the lower moulds, to set an ingot
mould over this central cavity or basin, and to make the said cavity or basin a
continuation of the said upper ingot mould. The flask that forms the shell
of the distributing-top" is provided with slats or ribs to rest upon the lower
moulds and to hold up the upper mould. The "distributing top" like the
stoppers or top plates herein-before described is properly vented so that the
air and gases may pass out of the lower moulds as the metal fills them.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Haseltine, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings,
forming a part of this Specification.
The said Invention relates to a novel mode of and means for casting ingots
and other masses from liquid malleable iron or steel. It is usual in the
Bessemer or pneumatic process to run five or six tons of steel out of a small
nozzle in a ladle into as many as twenty or thirty moulds to form ingots of
suitable sizes for rails, railway axles, and small forgings. To prevent the metal
from boiling over in the moulds, and thus making the ingots unsound or
hollow, it is necessary to frequently stop or check the stream of steel flowing
from the ladle; this frequent closing of the nozzle and the time occupied by it
and by placing and stopping the ladle over each mould tends 'to chill the steel
around and in the nozzle and to form a scull in the ladle. It is sometimes
impossible to close the nozzle tightly or at all in moving the ladle from mould
to mould; scrap and unsound ingots are often produced from this cause also.
In pouring small ingots especially from the top the stream of steel is likely to
hit the sides of the mould and to spatter upon them, forming scales which are
never perfectly united with the body of the ingot, thus causing seams in the
steel when further manufactured. It is also difficult, if not impossible, to make
ingots thus cast of exactly or nearly the required weight on account of the
rising and settling of the steel in the mould, therefore an excess of weight
forming more scrap is usually allowed.
My improvements chiefly consist in the peculiar means employed for casting
two or more ingots in ordinary separate ingot moulds at one pouring or
teeming. For this purpose I prefer to place a group of ingot moulds made of
cast iron or any suitable material around a central ingot mould somewhat
higher than the others. If they are compound moulds I prefer to hold them
together by one or more common bands passing around the group and
tightened by wedges. All these moulds are set upon what I will call a "dis-
tributing bottom," which consists of a box or flask filled with moulding sand
or other suitable moulding material in which are moulded sprues or runners
connecting the lower end of the central mould with the lower ends of the
surrounding moulds.

page_text: on the line x, x, Figure 1, showing two of the ingot moulds in place..
letters indicate the same parts in both Figures..
66
"
Like
"
e a
The central mould a is open at the top, and the tops of the surrounding
moulds 6 are stopped with suitable vented loam stoppers c or covered with
cast-iron plates coated with loam and properly vented. The steel is run out of
the ladle into the central mould, whence it passes through the runners d in the
distributing bottom e to the surrounding moulds b. When the latter moukis
are filled up to the stoppers c the metal continues to rise in the central mould a
until it is filled, thus forming a head or riser, which promotes the soundness of
the surrounding ingots. The central mould a is then closed in the usual
manner. Moulds formed from patterns or otherwise in sand, clay, or other
suitable moulding material may be set upon and filled from the "distributing
bottom" in place of the surrounding ingot moulds. To keep the stream of metal
that pours into the central mould a from washing or injuring the sprues or
runners d, I prefer to mould from a pattern in the "distributing bottom
continuation a¹ of the central mould a, and to run the sprues d out of the sides
of this continuation. The lower part of this continuation, upon which the
stream of inetal strikes I prefer to mould from ground. fire-brick or ground
crucibles mixed with enough raw fire-clay to make it plastic. The rest of the
"distributing bottom" e may be made of good loam or moulding sand. The
distributing bottom" must be thoroughly dried before the metal is poured into
it. When the metal is sufficiently cool the moulds are removed, and the
ingots are separated by breaking off the sprues.. The size of the sprues and
the number of moulds to be grouped as described will depend on the heat and
fluidity of the metal, and upon the weight of the ingots. For an ingot of six
or seven hundredweight the sprue may be one and one-half inch in diameter
if not more than a foot long. From four to eight ingot-moulds may be placed
around the mould that receives the metal without making the sprues so long
that the metal will chill in them.
66
The "distributing bottom" e may be moulded in any of the ordinary ways
practised by founders; I prefer that the exterior or shell should be a cast-iron
flask e provided with trunnions or ears e, by which it may be readily handled.
In some cases I dry the "distributing bottoms" in an oven, then set them in the
casting pit, and then set the moulds upon them.. I prefer however to carry
flues from a suitable furnace or furnaces along the casting pit, and to economise
labour by setting the "distributing bottoms" as soon as they are moulded to dry
and to be heated over openings in these flues. Hot ingot moulds may at the
same time be set upon the "distributing bottoms" to assist their drying. By
making two or more. flues in different parts of the pit one set of "distributing

page_text: bottoms" may be drying while another set is in use. Or the "distributing
hottoms" may be permanently placed over flues in the casting pit. These flues
may be heated by steam pipes instead of by hot gases from a furnace.
The ingots that are filled from the "distributing bottom" may be made of
exactly the same weight, or of any definite weight by simply regulating the
height of the mould. To make ingots of different weights in the same mould I
prefer to place loam stoppers of different lengths in the top of such mould.
The depth of the stopper governs the height and weight of the ingot.
My said improvements further consist in casting two or more ingots at one
pouring in the following manner :-I place a group of ingot, moulds in the pit
in the usual manner; the tops of these moulds should be flat and should be
in the same horizontal plane. Upon the tops of these moulds I place what I
call a "distributing top," which I prefer to make, mould, and dry similarly to
the "distributing bottom" e herein-before described. The said top consists by
preference of an iron flask filled with moulding sand or other suitable moulding
material, in which there are formed sprues or runners leading from the sides
of a central cavity or basin into the tops of the ingot moulds, upon which the
"distributing top "sets. The metal may be run out of the ladle into the central
cavity or basin from which it will run into and fill the moulds below. I
prefer, however, for the purpose of making less scrap, and also of making a
high head or riser over the lower moulds, to set an ingot mould over this
central cavity or basin and to make the said cavity or basin a continuation of
the said upper ingot mould. The flask that forms the shell of the "distributing
top" is provided with slats or ribs to rest upon the lower moulds and to hold
up the upper mould. The "distributing top," like the stoppers or top plates,
herein-before described, is properly vented so that the air and gases may pass
out of the lower moulds as the metal fills them.
I
In witness whereof I, the said George Haseltine, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Tenth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
GEORGE HASELTINE. (L.S.)