Improvements in Apparatus for Casting Pig Iron.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1893-Accepted, 1st Apr. 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Casting Pig Iron.
I, HENRY DEMING HIBBARD, of Highbridge, in the County of Hunterdon,
and State of New Jersey, United States of America, Manufacturer, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:
Figure 1 is a plan view showing my improved metal casting apparatus in con-
junction with a series of tracks and a cranc adapted to the easy practical operation
of the same.
Fig. 2 is a plan view on a larger scale, showing the moulds in which the metal
is cast and the turn table by which the moulds are carried.
Fig. 3 is a partial end view of the turn table.
Fig. 4 is a cross section on the line IV IV of Fig. 4.
Fig. 5 is a plan view of the series of moulds and constructed in accordance with
my invention.
Fig. 6 is a side view thereof.
Fig. 7 is an end view of Fig. 6.
Fig. 8 is a partial plan view, showing a series of moulds of modified
construction.
Fig. 9 is a side view of Fig. 8, and,
Fig. 10 is an end view of Fig. 9.
Figs. 11, 12, and 13 are views of the car for receiving the metal pigs.
Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.
Heretofore the mode of casting metal from blast-furnaces most commonly
employed has been to run it into a sand bed, which is grooved or guttered, so as to
cause the metal to assume the form of pigs of the desired dimensions. It has also
been customary to cast the metal in iron moulds or chills. The disadvantages
attending the first mode of casting are that it involves considerable labour in
forming the pig bed, and that the sand of the bed adheres to the metal, thus
detracting from its value for many purposes, especially for use in basic open hearth
practice where an excess of silica in the furnace is very undesirable. The use of
the chill moulds is also objectionable for the same reason, since it is the practice
to throw sand upon the iron after each cast, and there is no convenient means
by which the sand can all be removed before the metal is next poured into the
mould.
My invention is designed to overcome these difficulties and to provide means
by which I am enabled to cast the metal rapidly and to form pigs clean from sand.
Broadly stated the invention consists in a turn table carrying a radially arranged
series of moulds adapted to receive the molten metal either directly from the
furnace or form a transfer-ladle, and so constructed and arranged that when the
metal has solidified it may be tipped into an inverted position, thus delivering
the metal pigs and also clearing itself from all sand or dirt which it may contain,
and which would be apt to deteriorate the quality of the succeeding cast.
It also consists in certain preferred constructions of the parts by which they are
better adapted to perform the functions for which they are designed.
Referring now to the drawings in Fig. 1, A represents a turn-table carrying a
series of my improved moulds.
B is a ladle, by which the molten pig metal may be delivered to the moulds.
C is an engine for turning the table A, though it may be turned by hand or other
nower

page_text: T
'
D is a track on which the ladle may be carried by cars from the blast furnace
(not shown) to the mould table.
E E¹ are tracks and switches for the cars into which the pigs are delivered from
the moulds on the table.
F is a track upon which the cars laden with pigs may he run, and on which the
cars may stand while the pigs are cooled by water or otherwise.
G is a shipping track, and H is a crane by which the pigs may be removed from
the cars on the track F to cars on the shipping track. The apparatus may be
situated in the ordinary cast house of the blast-furnace; but for convenience
I prefer to employ a separate cast house for casting the product of a whole blast
furnace plant and to convey the metal in ladles from the furnaces to the apparatus.
This system of tracks while desirable, and proper to be explained as showing the
preferable arrangement of my improvement for practical use, is not an essential
feature of the invention.
The figures on the second sheet of the drawings show in detail the preferable
construction of the mould-table. It consists of a strong metal frame or wheel
mounted on a central vertical pivot 2, and it may be supported at its periphery by
anti friction-wheels 3. 44 are heams which form part of the table, and are
arranged radially therein. Between each pair of these beams is a series of moulds 5,
which may be cast in a single piece, but preferably in a number of sections bolted
together, so that they may be replaced when worn. Each mould series is fixed to
suitable beams or rails, forming a supporting frame, and pivoted to the table by
trunnions 6, on the axis of which the moulds may be tipped into an inverted
position.
Figs. 5, 6, and 7 will serve to illustrate the construction of the mould series.
Instead of showing the moulds carried by a rotatory table, these figures show them
carried by stationary supports; but the construction of the moulds and the manner
of their pivoting may be the same in both cases. The series of moulds is composed
of a casting having a number of adjacent flaring cross-cavities 7, which may be
connected at the end by a longitudinal cavity 8; or the connecting cavities or
channels may be at the middle of the cross cavities, or the mould cavities may be
connected in other ways. Fig. 6 shows how the mould series may be made in
: sections, secured together by bolts 9. This figure also shows a desirable con-
struction of the apparatus-namely, that a series of moulds is secured to each side
of the pivoted supporting frame, so that the tipping of the frame will simultaneously
discharge the pigs from the moulds into position to receive a cast of metal.
wheel 10 is applied to one of the trunnions 6 to afford convenient means for tipping
the moulds and for holding them in position.
.
2
A
The operation is as follows: The table having been turned to bring one of the
lines or series of moulds into position to receive a cast of metal, is conveyed thereto
in a ladle or in a runner trough, and being poured into the series flows into the
several connected mould cavities and forms a series of pigs with a connecting sow.
The table may then be turned to bring another of the radial series of moulds under
the ladle or runner to receive a charge of metal, and as each series of moulds
reaches a position over the cars 12 for receiving the pigs, and when the metal
therein has solidified, it is upturned on its pivot in either direction, thereby dis-
charging the metal upon the car, clearing the mould from any contained impurities
and Bringing the opposite and cooler series of moulds into an upright position for
the next cast. This overturning of the moulds is easy, because the weight of the
pigs in the upper moulds makes the series top heavy and easy to tip, whereas when
the moulds are empty their frame is balanced by equilibrium of weight above and
below. Instead of discharging the pigs. directly upon the body of the car, I may
place on each car a removable cradle or frame 11. (See the figures on Sheet 4 of
the drawing.) The cradle may be provided with suitable projections, so that when
the contents of the moulds are dropped thereon the sow may be broken by the fall
and separated from the pigs. When the cradle has received a load of pigs from the
mould, the car may be drawn on the tracks, as before explained, to the crane H,

page_text: where the cradle may be lifted and its contents discharged as a whole upon the cars
on the shipping track.
In Figs. 8, 9 and 10 I show the moulds set on but one side only of a pivoted
supporting axle. This construction is not so good as that illustrated in Figs. 6, 7,
and 8, because it lacks the advantages possessed by the latter in respect of con-
venient balance of the parts and the cooling of one line of moulds while the opposite
line is in use; but it is within the scope of my invention and is intended to be
covered in the claims.
My improved apparatus is capable of modifications in various ways within the
scope of my invention. Some of these modifications I have illustrated in the
drawings and others will be suggested to the skilled mechanic by the foregoing
description. The manner of use of the moulds when mounted on stationary
supports, as shown in the figures on Sheet 3 will be readily understood. A number
of series of moulds may be arranged in this manner in line with each other, and, if
desired, instead of having their supports stationary, they may be longitudinallly
movable to carry the moulds to a suitable place for dumping. For example, the
moulds may be carried on cars or may be moved by chains or other mechanism.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what inanner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
-
1. In apparatus for casting pig metal, a turn-table carrying radially arranged
series of moulds mounted on pivots in the table and adapted to be overturned, sub-
stantially as and for the purposes described.
2. In apparatus for casting pig metal, a turn-table carrying radially arranged
series of moulds mounted on pivots in the table and adapted to be overturned, and a
car-track extending beneath said turn-table, substantially as and for the purposes
described.
3. The series of moulds described herein for casting pig metal, in combination
with tracks extending beneath said moulds for conveying the metal (in molten and
pig condition) to and from the said moulds, substantially as and for the purposes
set forth.
4. The improvements in apparatus for casting pig metal, substantially as and for
the purposes hereinbefore described, set forth, and illustrated in the drawings
annexed.
101 ....
L1000
F. W. BARKER,
Applicant's Agent.