Improvements in or relating to Moulds used for Casting Linotypes or Type Bars.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 5th Feb., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 5th Nov., 1895-Accepted, 11th Jan., 1896
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to Moulds used for Casting Linotypes
or Type Bars.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, sole Licensors, Manufacturers and
Vendors under the Linotype Patents, ERNEST GIROD, Engineer and WALTER
CHARLES THOMASON, General Manager, all of 6 Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street,
City of London, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
This invention relates to improvements in or relating to moulds used for casting
linotypes or type bars.
According to the known practice of casting type bars there is a limitation to the
length of such bars according to trade sizes now the object of our invention is to
cast type bars in any desired length by making the moulds with a sliding plate,
fillet, or guide, which can, by means of a pawl and ratchet teeth, or otherwise, be
opened out or closed in to suit the length of the bar to be made.
The moulds otherwise are of the usual kind and to enable a repetition of fixed,
yet outside, lengths of bars to be produced, the free end of the mould box can, by
a screw, be brought into contact and so fix the slider at any desired spot in the
mould.
Dated this 5th day of Fahmuan 1905
H. GARDNER,
Patent Agent, 166 Fleet Street, London,
Agent for the said E. Girod and W. C. Thomason.
Improvements in or relating to Moulds used for Casting Linotypes
or Type Bars.
We, THE LINOTYPE COMPANY, LIMITED, sole Licensors, Manufacturers and
Vendors under the Linotype Patents, ERNEST GIROD, Engineer and WALTER
CHARLES THOMASON, General Manager, all of No. 6, Serjeants Inn, Fleet Street,
in the City of London, 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:-
The present invention relates to improvements in or relating to moulds used for
casting a linotype or type bar at one casting operation from a stereotype matrix or
from a matrix consisting of separable matrices assembled in line. It affects both
the mould-cavity-i.e., the actual space in which the body of the linotype or
printing bar is cast as well as the mould block, i.e., the block of metal in which
the mould-cavity is formed.
The object of it is to provide improved means for varying the length of the
mould-cavity when linotypes or printing bars shorter than the maximum length of
the mould-cavity, are required, and to, thereby, obviate the necessity of sub-
stituting a mould-block of a different capacity for the one previously in use in the
machine.

page_text: The actual mould-block of a linotype machine, as the latter is made under
Patents granted to Ottmar Mergenthaler, consists of four pieces held together in a
way proper for producing a mould-block having a central or mould cavity through
it of a different length and sized in all its dimensions to form the body of the
linotype. The said four pieces are a top and a bottom piece having their opposite
faces truly parallel and as wide as the depth of the linotype body, and two distance
pieces of the same width as the top and bottom pieces and as thick as the linotype
body. The top and bottom pieces are made fast together, face to face, with the
distance pieces between them flush, as to their sides and outer ends, with the
respective ends of the mould-block, thus framing the central or mould cavity last
mentioned between them. These distance pieces are hereinafter referred to as
"liners." The above mentioned mould-block is bolted to the face of a wheel
known as a mould-wheel, each revolution of which provides for the presence of the
above mentioned mould-cavity between the assembled matrices on the one side and
the casting mechanism on the other, in time for the casting operation. One jaw of
the vice which holds the line of assembled matrices and space bars, is constantly
forced by a spring towards its fellow jaw, the two being thereby adapted to close
upon a line of matrices of any length, either the maximum or a shorter one.
When the line of matrices is a short one, the movable jaw is pushed in front of the
mould cavity, the edge of the resulting linotype being without printing characters
for a distance equal to the overlap of the mould cavity, by the movable jaw then
in front of it. But this movability of one jaw towards the other, does not provide
for any variation of the linotypes in respect of their length. When, therefore,
linotypes shorter than the maximum leugth of the mould-cavity are required to be
made in any particular linotype machine having a mould-block of the usual con-
struction, it has hitherto been necessary to substitute a mould-block having a
mould-cavity of the proper length for the one then on the mould wheel. Each
demand for a change in the length of the linotype or printing bar, has necessitated
the removal from the mould-wheel of the mould-block then on it, and the fixation
of another in its place.
The present invention consists in one of the liners above mentioned being
adjustable between the top and the bottom piece, in the sense of the length of the
mould-cavity, there being combined with this adjustability, a releasable detent fast
on the adjustable liner and adapted to engage in one of a series of equidistant
notches aligned within reach of the said detent upon either the top or the bottom
piece of the mould-block.
Referring to the accompanying drawings which are to be taken as part of this
Specification and read therewith,
Figure 1 is a front elevation of a mould-wheel fitted with a mould-block made
according to the present invention.
Figure 2 is a vertical section taken on the line 2-2 of Figure 1 (including a
inatrix in dotted lines).
Figure 3 is a sectional plan taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.
Figure 4 is an enlarged plan of the bottom piece of the mould-block.
Figure 5 is a rear elevation of the improved adjustable liner.
Figure 6 is an end elevation of the said liner, from the left hand.
Figure 7 is a plan corresponding with Figure 5.
A is the mould wheel and a is the bush by which it is mounted, as heretofore,
upon the stud about which it is revolved by suitable gearing engaging with its
toothed periphery a¹. a², a², a², a² are four holes through the wheel A at equal
distances from each other and from the centre of the wheel. Their function is to
fit over four studs projecting towards them from the front of the machine, for the
purpose of holding the mould-block immovable during the act of casting. Neither
they, nor the details of the bush a, nor the toothed periphery a', form any part of
the present invention.
B is the top piece of the mould-block and C is the bottom piece. D is the fixed
liner at one end of the mould-cavity E. With the exception of the length of the

page_text: top and bottom pieces B and C, which the present invention increases to meet the
necessity of providing suitable bearing surfaces for the adjustable liner, the above
mentioned parts are of the same construction and are held to the mould-wheel, e. g.,
by flanges a and b and screws 1, as heretofore; that is, the mould-block has its
front and rear faces parallel with each other; it fills a cavity parallel with a
diameter of the mould-wheel and which is formed in the latter to receive it; and
stands therein with its front and rear faces in the same planes, respectively, as the
front and rear faces of the mould-wheel.
F is a distance piece. It is held between the top and bottom pieces B and C in
any convenient way, e. g., by two ridges f, f', which are let into the top and bottom.
pieces, respectively. The sides of the distance piece are parallel and its width is
not more than about a third of the thickness of the bottom piece C. Besides being
a distance piece, it serves also as a guide as well as a stop for the adjustable liner.
G is the adjustable liner. Like the fixed liner D, it is as wide as the top and
bottom pieces B and C, and both liners are provided with the inwardly projecting
corners D, G, adapted to prevent the withdrawal of the linotype from the mould-
cavity E by the receding metal pot. The sides of the adjustable liner, from the
outer end inwards for about a third of its length, are provided with two depending
flanges 9, 9, standing at right angles with the said liner and within the width of it.
9', 9 are two corresponding grooves cut in the opposite sides of the bottom piece C
to receive the respective flanges. The length of a groove is that of a flange plus
the distance through which the liner G is adjustable. H is a slot cut in the liner G
from its outer end inwards and parallel with its sides. Its width is enough to allow
the bifurcations 92, 93, of the liner G to keep in touch with, for its full length, and
to move freely over the sides of, the distance piece F, whereby the latter is adapted
to serve as a guide for the liner G during its travel to and fro between the top and
bottom pieces B and C. The flanges 9, 9, the grooves g¹, g', the slot H, and the
guide F, prevent the adjustable travel of the liner G being other than in the sense
of the length of the mould-cavity E.
It is to be noted that the adjustable liner G is, when the mould-block is fixed in
working position on the mould wheel, within reach of the operator's hand; and
the present invention includes a special mechanism for fixing the inner edge g³ of
the liner G, at any distance, preferably, in terms of a printer's unit of linear
measurement, from the fixed liner D, within the limits of the adjustability of the
said liner G. This mechanism consists of a series of equidistant and vertical
notches aligned upon the front face of the bottom piece C. The distance from
the centre of one notch to the centre of the other is an em or may be any other
convenient unit. i is a detent of the proper size to enter, and fill in respect of its
width, any one of the said notches. This detent is carried by a spring arm i¹ fixed
to the top of the liner G, flush therewith and continued downwards through a
groove cut in the front face of the front flange g, far enough to hold the detent
opposite the series of notches h, and thence past it to provide a thumb bit 3. The
resilience of the spring arm is sufficient to keep the front face of it from
projecting to the front of the plane of the aforesaid front face of the flange g.
It is obvious that the presence of the grooves g', g', prescribes the maximum
length of the linotype or printing bar which can be cast with any particular mould-
block made according to the present invention, because the jaws of the vice above
mentioned must be aligned with the ends of the mould-cavity E to prevent the
escape past them of molten metal.
To facilitate the accurate adjustment of the liner G, there is provided a scale j
cut on the front face of the mould-block in full view of the operator and close to
the said liner. As a matter of course, the length of the linotype to be cast, or in
other words, the length of the mould cavity is measured from the nose of the fixed
liner D. j is the scale in question having, for the reason just stated, its O co-incident
with the nose of the fixed liner D. It is divided into inches and ems or other
convenient units. The maximum length of linotype which the mould block

page_text: illustrated is capable of producing is 4 inches. The scale shews that the mould
block in Figure 1 is set for a length of 3 inches 4 ems.
This
It has already been explained that the mould-block is held in a cavity in the
mould-wheel. It is proposed to make the mould-wheel with more than one cavity.
All such cavities are of the same dimensions and are symmetrically positioned in
the wheel with reference to the axis of the latter and to each other.
equivalence of dimension and symmetricalness of position are both clearly illus-
trated in Figures 1 and 2 which shew a mould-wheel having two cavities. The
object in having a mould-wheel with more than one cavity is to provide for it
receiving a series of the improved mould-blocks each differing from its fellows in
the width of its mould-cavity E, i.e., in the thickness of its liners in order that
each mould-cavity may be thereby adapted to work with matrices of different
fonts. To change moulds, after two mould-blocks have been fixed in their
respective cavities in the mould-wheel, the latter is disengaged from its driving
gear, turned through an arc of 180° and re-engaged.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is:-
1. The mould-block having an adjustable liner, as set forth.
2. The mould-block having a mould-cavity adjustable in the sense of its length,
as set forth.
3. The combination of top piece; bottom piece; fixed liner; adjustable liner
and guides and stop for the latter; as set forth.
i
4. The combination of top piece; bottom piece; fixed liner; adjustable liner
guides and stop, and a device for holding the nose of the said adjustable liner at a
certain desired distance from the nose of the fixed liner; as set forth.
5. The combination of mould-block; adjustable liner; series of notches aligned
with the latter; detent on the adjustable liner adapted to engage with any one of
the series of notches aforesaid, and a scale of linear dimensions set out on the
mould-block; as set forth.
6. The combination of mould-wheel and multiple mould-blocks having their
respective mould-cavities adjustable in the sense of the length of the linotypes to
be cast, each mould-block having its mould-cavity of a different width from that of
each of the others, as set forth.
Dated this 5th day of November 1895.
PHILLIPS & LEIGH,
No. 22, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicants.