IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING METAL
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Frederick Behn, of the Commercial Sale
Rooms, in the City of London, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING METAL."-A communication
from David Brown, of the City of Baltimore. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Frederick Behn
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
23rd March 1855..
I, CHARLES FREDERICK BEHN, of the Commercial Sale Rooms, in the
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING METAL" to be as
follows:-
This Invention consists of a peculiar combination of mechanical parts into
a machine for making moulds for casting metal. For this purpose an open
rectangular box is employed, having within it a piston, which is capable of
being moved up and down therein. The piston is arranged so as to receive
the pattern, which it raises into the half flask, together with the sand to form
the mould. The piston and apparatus is formed to admit of the pattern
descending into the piston before the piston itself descends. The piston, it is
preferred, should be raised and lowered by excentrics on an axis; but the means

page_text: of raising and forcing the piston into the box may be varied. In making a
mould two half flasks are used, and only one half of a mould is made at a time,
and the making of a half mould is performed by placing sand in the box above
the piston and the pattern. The quantity of sand is regulated by a frame and
"strike." After the sand has been thus placed in position, one of the half
flasks is fixed to the box, and the piston and pattern, together with the sand,
are forced into the half flask, by which the sand will be pressed into the form
of the desired half mould.. The pattern is then allowed to. descend into the
piston, and then the piston is lowered into the box, leaving the half mould in
the olf Anch
•
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Charles Frederick Behn in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th September 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRÉSENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
FREDERICK BEHN, of the Commercial Sale Rooms, in the City of London,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-third day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five, in the eighteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Charles Frederick Belin, Her special licence that I, the said Charles
Frederick Belin, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as
I, the said Charles Frederick Behn, 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING METAL," (a communication
from David Brown, of the City of: Baltimore, United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles Frederick Behn, by
t an instrument in writing under my hand, and seal, 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...

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Frederick Belin, 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 (that is to say) :-
This Invention consists of a peculiar combination of mechanical parts into
a'machine for making moulds for casting metal. For this purpose an open
rectangular box is employed, having within it a piston, which is capable of
being moved up and down therein. The piston is arranged so as to receive the
pattern, which it raises into the half flask together with the sand to form the.
mould. The piston and apparatus is formed to admit of the pattern descending,
into the piston before the piston itself descends. The piston, it is preferred,
should be raised and lowered by excentrics on an axis; but the means of raising
and forcing the piston into the box may be varied. In making a mould two
half flasks are used, and only one-half of a mould is made at a time, and the
making of a half mould is performed by placing sand in the box above the
piston and the pattern. The quantity of sand is regulated by a frame and strike.
After the sand has been thus placed in position, one of the half flasks is fixed.
to the box, and the piston and pattern together with the sand are forced into
the half flask, by which the sand will be pressed into the form of the desired
half mould. The pattern is then allowed to descend into the piston, and then
the piston is lowered into the box, leaving the half mould in the half flask..
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention, I will proceed to.
describe the manner of performing the same...
In making moulds for castings it is desirable. that the partings of the flasks,
where these are used, should be firm and hard, and the edges not liable to chip
or.break; and to the accomplishment of this, amongst other objects, is the
Invention particularly directed, while at the same time I increase the facility
and rapidity with which moulds can be made.
The annexed Drawing shows the machine applied in making a mould for
the moulding of water pipes.
3
i
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Figure 1, front elevation of the machine; Figure 2, end view from right to
left, some parts of the machine being left out to avoid confusion; Figure 3 is
a section through A, B, in Figure 1'; Figure 4 is a section of the top part of
the. machine, to show the toggle joints and interior of the flask; Figure 5 is a
plan of half the machine, the flask being left out; Figure 6 is a plan and
transverse section of the flask; Figure 7 shows an elevation and section of a
wooden frame used to facilitate the striking of the sand to the proper form

page_text: before pressure; Figure 8 shows a side view of the pedestal and small excentric.
a represents the sides of a box of the length of the pipe or other article to be
moulded; m is the pattern of the pipe sunk half way in the upper face of what
I call the piston, which is moveable up and down by means of the cross head,
connecting rod, and excentric, shewn in the Drawing; n, n, is the half of a
semicircular flask clamped to the top of the box; 8, s, is the sand struck with
à strike board of the shape shown in the Drawing, see Figure 7, before the
flask is clamped down. The parting of the half mould to be formed will of
course be at the face of the piston. The curved line under the pattern repre-
sents the distance through which the latter may fall under the action of a
toggle joint, hereafter to be described.
To explain now the operation of the improvement in accomplishing the
proposed end, which it must be borne in mind is the hardening of the partings,
especially at the edges next the pattern, suppose the machine in motion, it
will be seen from inspection of the Drawing, that as the piston is moved
upwards by the action of the excentrics the sand comes in contact with the
interior of the flask first at the edge of the latter, and the surface in contact
gradually increases until the top of the flask is reached by the sand, after which
the whole body of sand is subjected to the pressure of the machine between
the edges of the piston, the pattern, and the flask. It will be scen too; that the
pressure on the sand begins on the parting that is to be, and gradually
increases from the reaction of the flask until the latter is filled with the sand,
so that the result is that the greatest pressure has been where most wanted,
that is, at the parting, and the least pressure where it is required to be the least,
that is, at the top of the flask. The sand being thus compressed between the
piston, the pattern, and the flask, the pattern is made to drop into the piston,
which relieves the mould, saves. the edges of the parting, resting as they do
on the surface of the piston, and the flask being unclamped, the mould will be
found within it perfect in all respects.
The stationary part of the machine is the piston box a, a, screwed or fixed
to the outer stands b, b, and on the inner ones c, c. These four stands are
screwed to a bed plate a', a', on which are also three small stands or pedestals
d, d, d, for the main. shaft e, e. The moving parts are driven either by hand or
steam power by a pinion f fixed on a shaft g, and a spur wheel h fixed on the
main shaft, which rests in the outer stands b, b, and the pedestals d, d, d. On
this shaft are three excentrics k, k, k, by which means the piston 1, 1, with the
-pattern m, m, and the sand (covering it in equal thickness all over) is lifted so
as to force the sand into the half flask ni, n, fastened tight on the box a, a, by
means of the handles o, and keys or wedges working through them. The two

page_text: smaller excentrics p, p, merely act on the piston by pulling it down again after
the sand has been compressed. 7, 7, 9, are cross heads screwed to the piston,
and sliding on the rods ",,, on which are fastened rings (or stops) s, 8, 8, with
set screws for regulating the height of lift, and thereby the pressure to be given
to the sand. After the sand is thus compressed the pattern is withdrawn by
the mechanism, consisting of the lever u, the toggle joints v, v, v, Figure IV.,
connected by the rod v', the india-rubber spring w, and the offset in the cam x.
As soon as the pressure is sufficient, the excentric being then at the top centre,
and the machine in motion, a square offset in the cam, a on the main shaft
allows the lever to yield to the influence of the india-rubber spring, whose force
then acting upon the rod v bends the toggle joints, and causes the pattern to
drop, as already described, and the further revolution of the main shaft restores
the lever through the operation of the inclined plane on the cam to its first
position. By this motion the chipping of the edges of the mould is completely
avoided, as the surface of the piston holds tlie sand in its position while the
pattern drops. To make the mould perfect at the outer edge of the bell, a
circular plate is kept in its position against the sand when the pattern drops,
as shewn at Figure IX., and a similar plate is used at the bead end of the
pipe.
When the half flask with balf the mould is lifted off, and the shaft is turned
round so far that the excentrics are on their lower centre, the pattern is moved
at the same time by the cam lever and toggle joints to its right position;
vizt, projecting half way from the upper surface of the piston, and the
machine is again ready to receive the sand for the second half mould. As the
sand has to surround the projecting half of the pattern equally and uniformly,
viz, in a semicircular form; a wooden frame y; y, (Figure VII.,) open at the
top,, is put on the box, the sand is filled in, and the surplus struck off by a
board z, made to fit. This frame is next removed, and the other half flask
fixed in the place of it. The handles being turned up and the wedges driven,
the revolution of the shaft, and with it the compressing of the sand, may be.
proceeded with.
From the above description, aided by the Drawing, it will be readily under-
stood that although the pattern and the flask shown are suitable for making
moulds for the moulding of pipes, other patterns and flasks may be used in
order to make moulds for moulding other articles; and it will be understood
that in making the boxes and the pistons, and the other parts of the machine,
they will be made of varying sizes, according to the sizes of moulds desired
to be made.
Having thue decoribed the notrine of the said. Invention and the manner

page_text: of performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
any of the mechanical parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the precise
details, so long as the peculiar combination of parts is retained; and what I
claim is, a moveablo piston, operated substantially as above described, and
carrying the pattern upwards along with the sand upon it; in combination with
a flask connected with a piston box into which the sand is forced with the
pressure necessary to form the mould, substantially as described.
And in combination with the above I claim the construction of the piston
plate, so as to permit the dropping of the pattern, as described already.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Frederick Behn, have hereunto 1
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
Witness,
JNO. ALCOCK.
CHARLES F. BEHN. (Ls.)