Inven IN CASTING METALS, GLASS, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE."
Year: 1867

page_text: Inven
IN CASTING METALS, GLASS, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND
EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE."
IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS
Sealed the 9th April 1868, and dated the 17th October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Jacques Rives at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 17th October
1867.
1. JACQUES RIVES. of 13, Rue de Nemours, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Mechanician, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING METALS. GLASS, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND
APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THIS PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object the applying pressure to castings of molten
metal, glass, and other fluid substances whilst they are solidifying in order to
render them dense and homogeneous. For this purpose I place the mould in
which the casting is to be made in a strong vessel which can be closed air-
tight, and after the molten metal, glass, or other substance of which the
casting is to be formed has been poured into the mould I close up the vessel
and force into it compressed air, by which a very high degree of pressure
may be placed upon the metal or other substance during the time it is
solidifying.
The apparatus I prefer to construct in the following manner:-The air-
[D. 071

page_text: tight vessel form of a hollow cylindrical vessel of cast iron, closed at its
lower end, and strengthened on the exterior by rings of wrought iron shrunk
upon it. The vessel is closed air-tight at its upper end by a hemispherical
cover, between which and a flange around the upper edge of the vessel is
placed a washer of soft metal; the lid when closed is pressed firmly down on
to the washer by a screw working through a head or nut which is held down
to the vessel by three descending arms formed at their lower ends with lugs
to hook on to other lugs which pass below the flange on the top of the vessel.
When the head or nut is thus held the lid can be forced down by turning the
screw which works through the nut. In cases where it is desirable to apply
heat to the material during the time it is solidifying, as, for example, when
casting ingots of steel, I surround the mould into which the steel is to be cast
with a casing of thin metal, and place it within the air-tight vessel. Between
the thin metal case and the sides of the vessel I place pieces of charcoal
roughly broken up, so that air may permeate readily through the charcoal.
When the melted metal is poured into the mould the charcoal is thereby
brought to a red heat and ignited, and by this means the metal is kept
heated. As soon as the metal has been poured into the mould a thin plate is
placed upon the top of the metal in fusion, and a thick plate of fire-clay is
placed over the top of the mould; the lid of the outer vessel is then put on,
and the joint is made air-tight by forcing it down by a screw, as above described.
Afterwards compressed air is admitted into the vessel from a suitable
reservoir the communication between the reservoir and vessel can then be
closed by a cock, so that the pressure in the vessel may be increased by the
expansion of the air as it becomes heated.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Jacques Rives in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
17th April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JACQUES
RIVES, of 13, Rue de Nemours. Paris, in the Empire of France, Mechanician,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Jacques Rives, Her special licence that I, the said Jacques Rives,

page_text: my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Jacques
Rives, 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
CASTING METALS, GLASS, AND OTHER MATERIALS, AND IN APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
THIS PURPOSE," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Jacques
Rives, 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 Jacques Rives, 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 thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object the applying pressure to castings of
molten metal, glass, and other fluid substances whilst they are solidifying in
order to render them dense and homogeneous. For this purpose I place
the mould in which the casting is to be made in a strong vessel which can
be closed air-tight, and after the molten metal, glass, or other substance of
which the casting is to be formed has been poured into the mould 1 close up
the vessel and force into it compressed air, by which a very high degree of
pressure may be placed upon the metal or other substance during the time
it is solidifying.
The apparatus I prefer to construct in the following manner: The air-
fight vessel form of a hollow cylindrical vessel of cast iron closed at its lower
end, and strengthened on the exterior by rings of wrought iron shrunk upon
it. The vessel is closed air-tight at its upper end by a hemispherical cover
between which and a flange around the upper edge of the vessel is placed a
washer of soft metal: the lid when closed is pressed firmly down on to the
washer by a screw working through a head or nut which is held down to the
vessel by three descending arms formed at their lower ends with lugs to
hook on to other lugs which pass below the flange on the top of the vessel.
When the head or nut is thus held the lid can be forced down by turning
the screw which works through the nut. In cases where it is desirable to
apply heat to the material during the time it is solidifying, as, for example,

page_text: when casting ingots of steel, I surround the mould into which the steel
is to be cast with a casing of thin metal, and place it within the air-tight
vessel. Between the thin metal case and the sides of the vessel 1 place
pieces of charcoal roughly broken up so that air may permeate readily through
the charcoal; when the melted metal is poured into the mould the charcoal
is thereby brought to a red heat and ignited, and by this means the metal
is kept heated. As soon as the metal has been poured into the mould a
thin plate is placed upon the top of the metal in fusion, and a thick plate of fire-
clay is placed over the top of the mould; the lid of the outer vessel is then put
on and the joint is made air tight by forcing it down by a screw, as above
described. Afterwards compressed air is admitted into the vessel from a
suitable reservoir; the communication between the reservoir and vessel can
then be closed by a cock, so that the pressure in the vessel may be increased
by the expansion of the air as it becomes heated.
And in order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS..
Figure 1 shews a vertical section of an apparatus constructed as above
described, the apparatus shewn is more especially suitable for making castings
of steel, but similar apparatus may be employed when making castings of
glass or other fluid substances.
A is a strong vessel of cast iron strengthened exteriorly with wrought iron
rings a shrunk upon it; B, a lid for closing the vessel air-tight; S, the screw
for pressing down the lid or cover on to the top of the vessel A: the screw
works through the nut n, which when the lid is to be closed is held down to
the vessel A by three arms formed at their lower ends with lugs c which are
passed under other lugs o, the stems P of which are fixed to the upper
strengthening ring a of the vessel A. The screw and nut are connected to the
top of the lid B by three other arms n' descending from a ring n² through
which the screw passes freely. The construction of these parts is clearly seen
in the cross section shewn at Figure 2. At the top of the screw is carried
a pulley, over which is passed a cord E by which the screw and with it the
lid B can be. raised or lowered when the lid is disconnected from the vessel.
q, q, are steady pins to keep the lid concentric with the top of the vessel A,
and m is a soft metal washer for making the joint between the vessel A and
lid B air-tight. In the interior of the vessel A is placed the iron ingot
mould L into which the melted metal is to be poured; the lower end of the
mould is closed by an iron bottom, as shown, and the top of the mould is

page_text: covered over with a slab of fire tile marked D, the ingot mould is surrounded
by a casing T of thin sheet iron, and between this casing and the sides of
the vessel A is placed charcoal broken into small pieces so that the air may
pass freely amongst it. At Figure 3 is represented a reservoir of compressed
air communicating with the vessel A by a pipe r, on to which is fitted a
pressure gauge F to indicate the pressure of air in the reservoir. The
passage of air through the pipe r from the reservoir to the vessel A is controlled
by a cock R, the piper also carries a tap R', by opening which the pressure
of air may be reduced when desired.
The apparatus is used in the following manner:-Supposing the air
reservoir to be filled with air at a pressure of about 10 atmospheres and
that the melted steel is ready to be run into the ingot mould, the metal is
poured into the ingot mould T. the small disc of sheet metal D' is placed on
the top of the fluid metal, and the whole- is covered over with the disc of
fire-tile D. as shewn in the Drawing, the fire-tile having previously been
heated to a while heat. As the ingot mould becomes heated by the metal
poured into it the heat is radiated from it across the small air space between
the mould and the thin metal case by which it is surrounded. heats this
casing to a red heat, and ignites the charcoal by which it is surrounded. The
lid B is closed and fixed securely on the top of the apparatus, the lower end
of the screw being forced down on to the circular washer won the top of the
lid B by turning the screw by the lever arms T₁ upon it; the apparatus being
closed the tap R is opened, the compressed air passes into the apparatus so
making the pressure in the vessel A equal to the pressure in the air reservoir,
the air becoming quickly heated in the vessel A the pressure rises and
if the tap R is then closed the pressure in the vessel A will risc above that
in the air reservoir. It will thus be seen that the pressure in the vessel A can
readily be regulated by means of the taps on the pipe r. I would here
remark that the quantity of air which passes from the air reservoir into the
vessel A is relatively very small, as the vessel A is almost entirely filled with the
ingot mould, the casing, and the charcoal with which it is surrounded. This
is very advantageous for economizing the compressed air employed, but more
especially for concentrating the heat in a small space, so that the metal in
the ingot mould may cool slowly and as regularly as possible, the exterior
of the vessel A is surrounded by water contained in a bath or vessel V so as
to keep it cool, as shown by the Drawing. Steel thus cast into moulds and
subjected to pressure is under the most favorable conditions for solidifying
into a homogeneous mass, for as regards pressure it is compressed with a
force which is considerable, as a pressure of 10 atmospheres corresponds to a

page_text: column of melted metal of about 45 feet high; if this is compared with the
height of the head or get of metal usually employed by founders it will be
seen how greatly superior is the process of casting above described to that
usually employed.
A pressure of 10 atmospheres has been taken as an
example, but there is nothing to prevent a pressure of twenty, thirty, or forty
atmospheres being employed as this may be done without danger. By the
process above described a dense and homogenens ingot is obtained, as the
metal is not only subject to pressure whilst in a fluid state, but also as it
passes through the pasty into the solid state. By the combined use of a
concentrated heat and great pressure a highly malleable steel is obtained, and
also a sicel which when tempered becomes extremely hard, these being the
two most valuable qualities in steel. The process above described of sub-
jecting castings to atmospheric air under pressure whilst they are passing
from the fluid to the solid state may as before stated be employed when
forming castings of glass or of other material which is cast into a mould in
a fluid form in order that it may solidify therein.
In witness whereof, I, the said Jacques Rives, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
JACQUES RIVES. (L.s.)