IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOYS, AND IN MOULDS EMPLOYED IN THE USE OF THE PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Georg Höper, of Iserlohn, Germany, but at present
of 33, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Phosphor Bronze
Manufacturer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF METALLIC ALLOYS, AND IN MOULDS EMPLOYED IN THE USE OF THE
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georg Höper at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th December 1880.
GEORG HÖPER, of Iserlohn, Germany, but at present of 33, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Phosphor Bronze Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOYS, AND IN MOULDS EMPLOYED IN THE
USE OF THE SAME, AND OF OTHER ALLOYS AND METALS."
The object of this Invention is to produce metallic alloys of different classes as
required, some of them possessing great hardness combined with great relative
elasticity, density, and resistance to oxydation and friction, and to others being of
a softer nature, but possessing great textile strength and toughness, density, and
resistance to oxydation and to friction.
The characteristic feature of the alloys made according to this Invention is that
they possess a marked increase of elasticity as compared with phosphor bronze as
heretofore made of equal hardness.
For this purpose phosphorus, tin, and copper are combined in the following
nmanantiana avis ..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Georg Höper at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 13th December 1880.
GEORG HÖPER, of Iserlohn, Germany, but at present of 33, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Phosphor Bronze Manufacturer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC ALLOYS, AND IN MOULDS EMPLOYED IN THE
USE OF THE SAME, AND OF OTHER ALLOYS AND METALS."
The object of this Invention is to produce metallic alloys of different classes as
required, some of them possessing great hardness combined with great relative
elasticity, density, and resistance to oxydation and friction, and to others being of
a softer nature, but possessing great textile strength and toughness, density, and
resistance to oxydation and to friction.
The characteristic feature of the alloys made according to this Invention is that
they possess a marked increase of elasticity as compared with phosphor bronze as
heretofore made of equal hardness.
For this purpose phosphorus, tin, and copper are combined in the following
proportions, ie:
Phosphorus, from 31% to 8%.
Tin,
">
°
12% » 15°
°°
Copper sufficient to make up the 100 parts.
These proportions permit of producing numerous shades of hardness and
toughness, but it would neither be practicable nor necessary to enumerate all the
useful combinations that are possible, and it may here suffice to describe some
typical combinations and their application, as follows:-
When hardness, density, and resistance to oxydation and to friction are the

page_text: These alloys, even when harder than gun metal, may be worked without much
difficulty, and will be found highly valuable in the manufacture of the following
articles, viz.
Hydraulic pumps and presses, air pumps, pumps for acidulated, alkaline, or salt
water, sewage apparatus, and pumps generally; also for parts of fire engines and
fittings therefor, torpedo machinery and torpedo fittings, stern posts and other
parts of ships and boats, rigging, rudder post, marine engines, screw propellers, 2
ships' logs, and paddle wheel shaft bearings; front rollers for flax spinning, thread
guides and other parts of spinning machinery; machinery and fittings for powder
mills, including tyres for wheels for cars and trucks, powder presses and rams for
same, hammers, chisels, shears, knives, and other tools; vent hole fittings and other
fittings for ordnance and ammunition; steam, gas, and water fittings, knives for
cutting or chopping rags or other substances in paper mills, plant for salt and other
mines, including pipes for bore holes, cocks, taps, fastenings; punches and dies for
punching or pressing sheets of gold, silver, German silver, yellow metal, and the
like; locks and keys, church bells and other bells, valves, unions, and other parts
of general machinery or clockwork.
When it is desired to produce soft alloys possessing great tensile strength and
toughness, density, and resistance to oxydation and to friction, the following
proportions are valuable, viz.:-
Phosphorus, 31, per cent.
Tin,
1/2
"
"
to 5 per cent.
Copper sufficient to make up the 100 parts.
These alloys are recommended in the manufacture of all kinds of screws, bolts,
nuts, and nails, and are especially valuable in such places where they are exposed
to oxydation, say, as railway or tramway fastenings, or in bridges, ships, and
machinery in general.
When resistance to friction is the chief object, care should be taken that those
alloys which are to possess such resistance are judiciously combined with regard to
those very varied circumstances that may influence the conditions or the effect of
friction.
I classify such alloys into three groups, viz.:-
1. Alloys for friction with smooth motion, and for friction upon very hard
surfaces (bardened steel spindles).
2. Alloys for friction with irregular or jerky motion.
3. Alloys for friction with fast motion and heavy pressure, for friction upon soft
surfaces (mild steel or forged iron).

page_text: For the alloys of the first group, which may be very hard, 1 recommend the
following proportions:—
Phosphorus, from 4 to 5°..
Tin,
"
7 9%*
Copper making up the 100 parts.
These will be found suitable in the manufacture of front rollers and thread guides
in flax spinning machinery; spindle bearings, bushes, toothed wheels in clockwork,
and worm wheels in scientific apparatus, slide faces, eccentric straps, plungers,
piston rods, and piston rings.
For the alloys of the second group, which require more elasticity, but which may
be less hard than those of the first group, the following proportions may be
suitable:
Phosphorus, from 31% to 4°.
Tin,
"
5 7°°
"
Copper to make up the 100 parts.
I recommend these alloys in the manufacture of cog wheels, toothed wheels,
pinions, paddle wheel shaft bearings, slide valves.
If the construction of the patterns from which these articles are cast be based
upon the strength of iron or common gun metal, which is usually the case, the
superior strength of the alloys of the second group permits of increasing their
resistance to friction at the expense of their surplus of resistance by adding lead in
the proportion of 2 to 5% of the total weight.
To pinions wheels I would not add more than about 2°, but in the case of
slide valves and paddle wheel shaft bearings 5° may be employed.
In combining the alloys of the third group, which are chiefly intended for
bearings whose shafting consists of mild steel or forged iron, it must be borne in
mind that the bearings should as a rule be a shade softer than the shafting that
has to revolve on or in them.
The following proportions will meet this requirement:—

page_text: parts of ships' and boats' rigging, radder posts, and marine engines, screw-propellers,
ships' logs, and paddle wheel shaft bearings; front rollers for flax spinning thread
guides and other parts of spinning machinery; machinery and fittings for powder
mills, including tyres for wheels for cars and trucks, powder presses and rams for
same, hammers, chisels, shears, knives, and other tools; vent hole fittings and
other fittings for ordnance and ammunition; steam-gas, and water-fittings; knives
for cutting or chopping rags or other substances in paper mills; plant for salt and
other mines, including pipes for bore holes, cocks, taps, fastenings; punches and
dies for punching or pressing sheets of gold, silver, German silver, yellow metal,
and the like; locks and keys, church bells and other bells, valves, unions, and other
parts of general machinery or clockwork.
When it is desired to produce soft alloys, possessing great tensile strength and
toughness, density, and resistance to oxydation and to friction, the following
proportions are valuable one.
I recommend these alloys in the manufacture of cog wheels, toothed wheels,
pinions, paddle wheel shaft bearings, slide valves.
If the construction of the patterns from which these articles are cast be based
upon the strength of iron or common gun metal, and which is usually the case, the
supreme strength of the alloys of the second group permits of increasing their
resistance to friction at the expense of their surplus of resistance by adding lead in
the proportion of 2 to 50% of the total weight.
To pinions and wheels would not add more than about 2%, but in the case
of slide valves and paddle wheel shaft bearings 5°/。 may be employed.

page_text: In combining the alloys of the third group, which are chiefly intended for
bearings whose shafting consists of mild steel or forged iron, it must be borne in
mind that the bearings should as a rule be a shade softer than the shafting
that has to revolve on or in them. The following proportions will meet this
requirement:-
-
Phosphorus, 3% to 4% : Tin, 2 to 3%.
Lead,
9
"
13% Zinc, 3 5°
Copper to make up the 100 parts.
"
The zinc is added in order to improve the fusion of the high proportion of lead
with the other substances, but the employment of zinc is limited, because the alloys
of zinc with so high proportion of phosphorus as 3-4% are very brittle and
very hard, and the latter circumstance again permits the employment of tin, also in
but limited proportions, as recommended above.
°
As it is well understood in the trade that an excess of phosphorus has generally
to be added (for deoxydizing), I would only in conclusion point out that the
proportions of phosphorus named above represent the percentage of phosphorus
in the finished alloy and not the total quantity of phosphorus used in the
manufacture of the alloy.
Phosphor bronze generally, and the above alloys in particular, will reach their
highest degree of density, elasticity, and resistance when they are cast in chill
moulds. Therefore I prefer, wherever practicable, to cast them in chill moulds, as
is well known, but in cases where the patterns have irregular or complicated
outlines or surfaces, which, by reason of obstruction to contraction while cooling,
might cause the casting to crack or become spongy in places, I prefer to employ
moulds of a peculiar construction, which, while retaining the advantages of the
chill, allow the casting to contract; I make these moulds partly of metal and partly
of loam, sand, or other suitable non metallic material; the metal part I insert in
such places where their chilling action is of moment or generally useful, and I unite
them when required by means of wires, clamps, or other means; I insert the metal
pieces in such a way as to offer no resistance to shrinking.
An illustration of the latter case is shown in Figure 1 of the accompanying
Drawings, and is a representation of my combined mould for casting a screw
propeller. A is the central core, which is of metal and slightly conical to allow for
shrinking at this place; B, B, B, are metal chills around the boss of the propeller.
The other parts of the mould are filled with loam.
When cast in a mould consisting entirely of metal the obstruction to contraction
would be so effective as to expose this casting to a great danger of getting cracked
or porous in places.
When cast in a mould consisting entirely of loam or similar moulding material,
the density and resistance of an important part of the propeller exposed to heavy
strains, i. c., the neck or boss would be inferior to what can be produced, but when
cast according to the principles of this Invention, that same part of the propeller
would enjoy the advantage of the chill without the casting being thereby exposed
to a greater risk of getting cracked through obstruction than if it were cast
entirely in loam. Single propeller blades may be chilled at the root or boss end
according to the same principle.
But even when the pattern so constructed that a mould consisting entirely of
metal would offer no impediment to shrinking, there are cases where it would not
be practical to employ such a mould. For instance, when the article that has to be
cast is long and comparatively thin, say, a valve spindle (about 18 inches in length
and 1/2 inch in diameter). In this case the molten alloy while running down the
mould might on its way lose so much heat by contact with the chill that it might
"set" prior to filling the bottom part of the mould.
Under such circumstances I would confine myself to chilling that part of the
valve spindle that is most exposed to breaking, say, its neck or collar part, and I
would cast the remainder of the piece in loam or similar moulding material.

page_text: Figure 2 of the accompanying Drawings represents such a valve rod or
spindle mould of my construction, and Figure 3 is a section at right angles to
Figure 2. A and B are metal chills inserted on each side of the collar C on
the spindle. Each chill is in two halves, one half being placed in each half
mould; S represents the sand. The same principle applies to rods, screws, spindles,
and such like parts under similar circumstances. Many alloys, and phosphorbronze
in particular, have the peculiarity to become porous when they have to run along
a metallic surface for some distance, say, 12 inches or more. For castings where
this could not be avoided, say, for long spindles, chilled moulds cannot be employed,
and I prefer to chill such castings locally according to the principle of this
part of my Invention, notwithstanding that the pattern of such spindles may offer
no obstruction to contraction, nor that there may be any risk of the metal being
prevented from filling the pattern by cooling too fast; Figure 4 shows such a
spindle mould of my construction and having a metal chill A in two halves on one
side of the collar; Figure 5 is a section at right angles to Figure 4.
In the case of casting "front rollers" for flax spinning thread guides, the employ-
ment of my combined moulds will counteract the porosity in the circumference
created by loam or sand moulds, as well as the imperfect filling of the thinner parts of
the pattern, which would occur when the casting were performed in solid chill moulds.
Front rollers of phosphorbronze generally, and of my phosphorbronze in particular,
will when cast in a sand mould and around a metal spindle (as is usual in the
manufacture of the common brass rollers), show a tendency to become porous in
their circumferance, that is, just in that part where absolute density is required.
After being cast, the cooling and contraction of the rollers will commence in part
around the central spindle, and will thus draw away the metal from the periphery,
rendering the latter porous, to avoid this]I chill the periphery; and for this purpose
insert metal pieces or chills in the sand mould at the circumference of the roller to
be cast.
Figure 6 represents such a metal chill in two halves to be inserted in a sand
mould; Figure 7 is an end view; Figure 8, plan of outside; and Figure 9, plan of
inside of a half chill; Figure 10 is a sectional view showing the position of the
chills when inserted in the sand mould and ready for casting the roller on its
spindle, which is placed in the mould; A, A, are the two halves of the chill kept in
proper relative position by means of steady pins a; d, d, are lugs for connecting
and fastening the parts to the mould box or frame.
These combined moulds are also useful in the manufacture of front rollers of other
metals than phosphorbronze.
The employment of chill moulds consisting entirely of metal is not practicable
for these purposes; a number of these rollers are, as is well known, cast on to one
common spindle with some space left on the said spindle between each two such
rollers;
the spindle is placed in the mould and the metal run round it, not only at
the places where the rollers are to be formed, but also round the aforesaid inter-
mediate spaces between then, so as to form a coating or lining on the spindle in
these spaces to avoid rusting, and this coating is so thin that the metal would be
cooled too fast and would set before the mould is filled; I therefore prefer to
cast this part, that is, the thin lining, on the spindle in sand, as usual, and only
employ the metal pieces or chills A at the places where the rollers are to be
formed.
And having thus described and ascertained the nature of this Invention and the
manner in which it is or may be carried into effect, I declare that I do not claim
the manufacture of phosphor bronze in which the relative proportions of the
constituent parts are substantially different from those herein specified, and which
hence also to a great extent possess different properties or general characteristics
compared with those herein specified, but I claim,―
Firstly. The manufacture of phosphor alloys or phosphor bronze having the
relative proportions of the constituent parts herein specified.
Secondly. The employment of moulds partly of metal and partly of loam

page_text: or other suitable non metallic material, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Georg Höper, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Ninth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty one.
GEORG HOPER. (L.S.)