IMPROVEMENTS IN INGOT MOULDS FOR CASTING STEEL AND OTHER METALS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hackney, of the Landore Siemens Steel
Works, Landore, Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN INGOT MOULDS FOR CASTING STEEL AND
OTHER METALS."
Sealed the 14th October 1873, and dated the 14th July 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hackney at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 14th July 1873.
I, WILLIAM HACKNEY, of the Landore Siemens Steel Works, Landore,
Swansea, in the County of Glamorgan, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN INGOT MOULDS FOR CASTING STEEL
AND OTHER METALS," to be as follows:-
-
In filling ingot moulds from below in the manner described in the
Specifications of Patents granted to Alexander Lyman Holley, on the
7th April 1868, No. 1167; to William Ireland and Jonathan Ireland,

page_text: the younger, on the 10th February 1872, No. 429, and in other Specifi-
cations it has been found difficult to fix in a ready way stoppers at any
required height in the moulds. Various contrivances for this purpose
have been devised, some of which are described in the Specifications
above referred to.
My Invention relates to the construction of stoppers for such ingot
moulds and to means of readily fixing them at any required height, and
providing against the fracture of the mould or the fracture or adhesion
of the ingot by the formation of a fin round the edges of the stopper.
For this purpose I make the stopper by preference of cast iron, and
wedge or jam it or secure it in the mould by the pressure of springs
attached to it, as I will presently describe. I then ram the space round
the stopper with clay, loam, damp sand, or other suitable material so
that no fin may be formed at the top of the ingot.
The stoppers are made of various forms to suit moulds for ingots
parallel or taper or of different sectional forms.
One form of stopper is a block of cast iron somewhat less than the
mould so that it can be easily dropped into it. This block is provided
either with a rectangular bow of wrought iron cast-into it or otherwise
secured to it, or with a cast-iron rib projecting upwards from it with a
hole in to serve for a handle. The stopper being let into the mould
to the required depth is secured by one or more keys or wedges driven
in between the bow or the edge of the rib and the interior of the
mould.
When it is desired to remove the stopper it can be slacked by a blow
on the bow or rib. The edges of the stopper are made slightly bevilled
or with grooves running round them so as to hold the clay, loam, sand,
or other material rammed in.
Instead of holding the stopper by wedges it may be secured by a set
screw passed through a rib projecting upwards from it, and screwed so
as to bear against the inside of the mould.
Another method is to fix on the upper side of the stopper bent springs
which when free expand to a width greater than the interior of the
mould, and which when the stopper is pushed into the mould bear
against the sides or angles thereof so as to retain the mould in position
by their frictional pressure.

page_text: The stopper may also in the case of a parallel mould be made with
two of its opposite edges convexly rounded and such as to fit the mould
tightly in one of its dimensions. The stopper can then be inserted
freely when it is held inclined, but can be jammed fast at any required
height by a blow on the higher part of its inclined surface so as to bring
it down level, or nearly so, and thereby make the full parts of the
rounded edges bear hard against opposite sides of the interior of the
mould.
For adjusting the height at which any of the stoppers above described
are fixed posts may be employed as described in Holley's Specification
above referred to. Such a post can be placed within the mould extending
up to the required height, and when the stopper has been placed upon it
and secured the mould with the stopper secured therein is removed from
off the post.
When a height of ingot different from that of the post is required I
use rings of various heights, which I place on the floor round the bottom
of the post one above another in any required number. I then place
the ingot mould on the pile of rings so formed and secure the stopper
therein, which will be at the height determined by the length of post
extending above the highest ring. When this mode of adjustment is
applied to tapering moulds the post should be provided with a separate
head nearly filling the part of the mould where the stopper is to be
fixed, and this head serves as a block for the ramming of the material
round the edges of the mould, which otherwise might drop out, the
head of the post itself being too small to fill out that part of the taper
mould.
Stoppers made and fixed as above described may be made either flat
or hollowed on their lower surface, and may have vent holes through
them. When employed in moulds for casting tyre ingots they may have
a hole for the core and may be provided with bow handles for lifting
them. The core may in such case be held down by a bar passed through
the handles.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Hackney in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 14th January 1874.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HACKNEY, of the Landore Siemens Steel Works, Landore, Swansea, in
the County of Glamorgan, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-seventh
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said William Hackney, Her special license that I, the
the said William Hackney, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Hackney, my 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 INGOT MOULDS FOR
CASTING STEEL AND OTHER METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said William Hackney, my executors or administrators, by an
instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of 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 I, the said William Hackney, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, reference being had to the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is
to say :-
In filling ingot moulds from below in the manner described in the
Specifications of Patents granted to Alexander Lyman Holley on the
7th April 1868, No. 1167, and to William Ireland and Jonathan Ireland,
the younger, on the 10th February 1872, No. 429, and in other Specifi-
cations it has been found difficult to fix in a ready way stoppers at any

page_text: required height in the moulds. Various contrivances for this purpose
have been devised, some of which are described in the Specifications
above referred to.
My Invention relates to the construction of stoppers for such ingot
moulds and to means of readily fixing them at any required height, and
providing against the fracture or adhesion of the ingot by the formation
of a fin round the edges of the stopper. For this purpose I make the
stopper a block of considerable weight, by preference of cast iron, and
wedge or jam it in the mould or secure it therein by a set screw or by
the pressure of springs attached to it, as I will presently describe. I
then ram the space round the stopper with clay, loam, damp sand, or
other suitable material so that no fin may be formed at the top of the
ingot, and to give a hold for the material so rammed I make the edges
of the stopper by preference slightly bevilled, and either roughened or
with grooves running round them.
The Figures on the accompanying Sheet of Drawings shew various
modes of constructing and fixing stoppers according to my Invention as
applied to parallel and also to taper moulds.
Figs. 1 and 2 shew by vertical section and plan a stopper S of cast
iron with a wrought-iron bow B cast in it, which serves as a handle and
also for securing the stopper in the mould by means of a wedge A driven
between the bow and the interior of the mould.
Figs. 3 and 4 shew by vertical section and plan a stopper S cast with
a rib R projecting upwards from it; a hand hole is provided in the rib
for lifting the stopper, and the wedge A is driven between the edge of
the rib and the interior of the mould. Two-wedges, one at either edge
of the rib, may be employed, as shewn in Figs. 5 and 6; and the stopper
may have two ribs with a wrought-iron bow B cast into them, as shewn
in Figs. 7 and 8.
For stoppers of the kind shewn in the Figures above referred to, in
order to avoid the necessity of having numerous wedges to suit different
sizes of moulds or different heights in taper moulds, the wedges employed
may be of the kind shewn in edge view, side view, and plan at Fig. 23,
the sides and edges being tapered both ways so as to provide in one piece
four different sizes of wedge; or the wedges may be made as shewn by
front view, edge view, and plan in Figs. 21 and 22, having their sloped
faces made in steps.

page_text: Figs. 9 and 10 shew by vertical section and plan a method of fixing a
stopper by means of a bar 6 strained between the stepped or notched
edge of a rib R cast on the stopper, and the stepped or notched edge of
a wedge W, which is shewn to an enlarged scale at Fig. 24. By making
the successive steps or notches of the rib R vary in depth to the extent
of a quarter of an inch, while those in the wedge W vary by a much
smaller amount, as for example a sixteenth of an inch, the stopper can
be readily and firmly fixed at any part of a taper mould, the wedge W
being driven till the bar 6 is brought nearly to a horizontal position.
Figs. 11 and 12 shew by vertical section and plan the method of
fixing the stopper by a set screw C; and Figs. 17 and 18 shew by part
vertical sections methods of fixing the stopper by revolving wedges or
eccentric or cam shaped segments pivotted on the rib of the stopper and
made to bear firmly on the surface of the mould by a light blow on their
upper side.
Figs. 13 and 14 shew by vertical section and plan a method of securing
the stopper S by bent springs D fixed by cotters to the stopper. These
springs being so bent that when free they expand to a width greater than
that of the interior of the mould are bent inwards when the stopper is
inserted, and their elasticity causing them to press against the mould
serves to hold the stopper fimly in position.
Figs. 15 and 16 shew by vertical sections transverse to each other a
stopper which on two of its edges c and d is rounded in such a manner
that it will enter the parallel mould in an oblique position, but when
turned more nearly horizontal by a blow on its higher edge will jam
itself in the mould. For this purpose the opposite edges of the stopper
are by preference curved to a radius somewhat less than half the width
of the mould.
Fig. 19 shews by vertical section a stopper held by wedges in a short
taper mould suited for casting a solid cheese-shaped ingot; and Fig. 20:
a like arrangement for casting a hollow ingot, the stopper in this case
having through it a hole H for the reception of a core, which can be
held down by a bar passed through the bows B of the stopper. Stoppers
constructed as above described may be set in their places in the moulds
in any known manner and there secured.
For properly adjusting the position of the stopper in the mould it is
convenient to employ a post in the manner described in Holley's Specifi-

page_text: cation above referred to, and for this purpose I prefer to construct and
apply the post according to the method shewn in the vertical section,
Fig. 25. The mould indicated by the dotted lines M is placed on a pile
of rings d or blocks of various heights suited to the desired position of
the stopper in the mould. Farther, the post may be made with a loose
head ffixed to a stem f¹, which can be secured in any desired position
by a set screw g, and packing rings e can be introduced between the
head and the body of the post. The use of a separate head fis
particularly advantageous in connection with tapering moulds, as heads
of different sizes may be employed so as to suit the width of the mould
at different heights, and thus when the stopper is placed on the head the
sand, clay, or loam rammed round its edges is prevented by the nearly
fitting head from dropping out before it is caused to cohere by the
ramming.
Moulds provided with stoppers, adjusted and secured as I have above
described, may be grouped together and supplied from a central runner
or git according to any known method.
Figs. 26 and 27 shew by vertical section and part plan a group of four
moulds supplied from a central git or runner G, which may be a wrought-
iron tube divided longitudinally in halves, the halves secured together
by rings H, and a funnel mouth placed on the top to receive the metal
as it is poured.
It may readily be seen that when stoppers are secured in moulds
according to any of the methods described above in reference to Figs. 1,
2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, or 20, they may be released by a blow
of a hammer on the stopper or its rib so as to slack it down from the
wedge or wedges, and when the stopper is secured in the mould at a
depth too great for a hammer to reach it conveniently the blow may be
delivered by a bar or dolly. In like manner when the stopper is held
by jamming as described with reference to Figs. 15 and 16 it can be
released by a blow downwards near its lower edge.
Having thus described the nature of my Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that I
make no claim to the use of stoppers generally for ingot moulds, nor to
the use of stoppers made of sheet iron and turned up at the edges so as
to be held in the moulds by their own elasticity, nor do I claim generally

page_text: the use of posts for adjusting stoppers to the desired height in ingot
moulds, but I claim,―
First. The use for ingot moulds to be filled from below of heavy metal
stoppers, grooved or roughened on the edges for the purpose of holding
material rammed between them and the interior of the mould.
Second. The methods, substantially as herein described, of securing a
stopper such as is referred to above at any required height in an ingot
mould by wedging or jamming it against the interior surface of the
mould.
Third. The method of securing stoppers for ingot moulds such as are
referred to above by means of springs, substantially as herein described
in reference to Figs. 13 and 14.
Fourth. The use for adjusting stoppers to the required height in ingot
moulds of a post with an adjustable or removeable head, substantially
in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hackney, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four.
TTTTTISE
TARZYŻDY