IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING FROM PATTERNS FOR CASTING
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Platt, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, and George Little, of the same Place, Machinist,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING FROM PATTERNS FOR
CASTING."
Sealed the 8th September 1864, and dated the 14th March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Platt and George
Little at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with their Petition,
on the 14th March 1864.
We, JOHN PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical
Engineer, and GEORGE LITTLE, of the same Place, Machinist, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING
FROM PATTERNS FOR CASTING," to be as follows:-
The pattern to be moulded is placed upon and attached to a bed or table,
and its outline is then surrounded by a template formed of sheet metal. Upon
this template the box or flask is placed, and the sand rammed in. The whole
being now turned over presents the aforesaid template on the upper side,
and through which the pattern is drawn, the edges of the sand being thus
protected.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Platt and George Little in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 14th September 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, JOHN
PLATT, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer, and
GEORGE LITTLE, of the same Place, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto us, the said John Platt and George Little, Her special license that we,
the said John Platt and George Little, our executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as we, the said John Platt and George Little, our
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 MOULDING FROM PATTERNS
FOR CASTING," upon the condition, amongst others, that we, the said John
Platt and George Little, by an instrument in writing under our hands and
seals (or under the hand and seal of one of us), 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 Sea!
Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately after the date
of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said George Little, do hereby declare the
tature of our 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 and accompanying Drawings (that is to say):-
According to our Invention the pattern to be molded is placed upon and
attached to a bed or table, and its outline is then surrounded by a template
formed of sheet metal. Upon this template the box or flask is placed, and
the sand rammed in. The whole being now turned over the pattern may be
withdrawn through the template, whereby the edges of the moulded sand are
protected.
In the accompanying Drawing we have shewn certain apparatus by which
this general principle may be carried into operation, but the said apparatus
may be varied in the details thereof.

page_text: Fig. 1 represents the arrangement in vertical section, the position of the
parts being that which they assume when the sand is about to be rammed;
Fig. 2 is a view of one side of Fig. 1; and Fig. 3 a plan view, shewing the
bed or table with the sheet metal template and other parts, the box or flask
being removed.
The bed or table is at a, upon which the pattern 6 is placed, it being
secured thereto by bolts c, which are screwed into it at one end, and at the
other end pass through a cross head d abutting against a projecting part e..
The template, formed of sheet metal, is at f, and is colored red in the
Drawing, Fig. 8, for the purpose of denoting its form. At 9 are pins screwed
into 'strengthening pieces h formed on the template, which pins pass through
the bed or table a, so as to be capable of sliding freely therein, and carrying
nuts at their other ends. The bed or table a is provided with arms k
furnished with axes 7, which are capable of being turned in bearings m formed
upon vertical rods n, which slide in guides formed in a framing o, and thus
the said bed or table with the template f may be moved upward or downward
with a parallel motion. The box or flask is shewn at p secured (according to
the position of the parts in Fig. 1) to the bed or table by the usual pins and
cottars q. At r is a carriage running upon rails s, and carrying bars t, which
are repeated on the other side of the apparatus. These bars are capable of
moving on pins u situate in parallel slots, and are also provided with inclined
slots, within which are pins fixed to the carriage, and by which the ends t*
of the said bars may be elevated or depressed. The apparatus, as seen at
Fig. 1, is ready for the process of moulding, and the sand is to be rammed in
after the usual manner. This having been done the rods n are raised by any
convenient power, and the box or flask, together with the bed or table a and
its pattern 6 will therefore be elevated. The whole is now turned over
upon the centres 2, and the rods n being allowed to drop will deposit the box
or flask
p upon the ends t* of the rods t, which are then driven along their
inclined slots, so as to effect a levelling of the moulding apparatus. The
rods n are now again moved upward, whereby the bed or table a and its
pattern will be lifted from the sand, the workman tapping it during this
operation as usual, the template f, however, being loose from and independent
of the bed or table will remain on the surface of the sand, and the edges
thereof will thus be protected; but when the pattern is entirely withdrawn,
then the bed or table will arrive in contact with, the nuts i on the end of the
studs g, and the template also will be lifted. The box or flask with the
moulded pattern being now on the carriage r may be wheeled away and
another substituted for similar operations to those above described, the pattern.

page_text: being again turned over on its centres l, so as to bring it into the position
shewn at Fig. 1. The above operations complete the moulding of one box, and
consequently of one portion of the pattern, the other may be effected after
the same manner from another part of the pattern, or the ordinary plan of
moulding for this second part may be adopted. It will have been seen by the
above description that the template for protecting the edges of the sand is not
the bed or table of the machine, but that it is separate and distinct therefrom,.
and capable of independent motion, and it will therefore appear that the same
moulding machine may be used for various patterns, and that the thin metal
templates may be adapted thereto. We would also observe that although we
have illustrated the use of our improved template in combination with certain
apparatus, yet we do not limit ourselves thereto, and would remark that in
some cases the box or flask may be lifted by hand, as in the ordinary way of
plate or plaster moulding.
Having thus described and ascertained the nature of our said Invention,
and the manner in which the same may be performed, I desire it to be under-
stood that we do not claim the withdrawal of the pattern through a space
formed in a metallic surface, such method being known and in use; but we
claim as secured to us, under the above in part recited Letters Patent, and
for the purpose above set forth, the use of the loose template surrounding or
partially surrounding the pattern fixed to a bed or table, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Little, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of September, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE LITTLE. (L.S.)