CERTAIN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE CASTING OF METAL TYPES
Year: 1823

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, LOUIS
JOHN POUCHÉE, late of King Street, Covent Garden, in the County of
Middlesex, but now of Little Queen Street, Holborn, in the same County,
Letter Type Founder, send greeting.
WHEREAS His most Excellent Majesty King George the Fourth, by
His Letters Patent under the Great Seal of England, bearing date at West-
minster, the Fifth day of August, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and twenty-three, and in the fourth year of His reign, did, for
Himself, His heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said Louis
John Pouchée, my exors, adññors, and assigns, His special licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Louis John Pouchée, my
exors, adiñiors, and assigns, and every of them, by myself and themselves, or
by my and their deputy or deputies, servants or agents, or such others as I,
my exors, adiñors, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times hereafter during the term of fourteen
years therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and
vend a certain Invention, communicated to me by a certain Foreigner
residing abroad, of "CERTAIN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
THE CASTING OF METAL TYPES," within that part of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, and the Dominion of Wales, and
Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, in such manner as I, the said Louis John
Pouchée, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or any of them, shall in my or their
discretion seem meet; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a
proviso that if I, the said Louis John Pouchée, shall not particularly describe

page_text: and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
and cause the same to be enrolled in the High Court of Chancery within
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters
Patent, that then the same, and all liberties thereby granted, should utterly
cease, determine, and become void, as in and by the said Letters Patent,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Louis John Pouchée, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention to
consist in an improved mould for casting types, and also in a peculiar and new
arrangement of apparatus for the purpose of receiving type metal in a fluid
state, to be forced into the said moulds, and also in a new apparatus for
drawing the said types when so cast from the said moulds; and, in further
compliance with the said proviso, I, the said Louis John Pouchée, do hereby
describe the manner in which I have performed and apply the said Invention,
by the following description thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
marked A, B, C, and D, and to the figures thereto annexed, that is
to say:-
"..
'Drawing marked A.-Figure 1 is a side view of a table in which the
type moulds and their appendages are placed, as also of the framework by
which the various parts of my said apparatus are supported., H, K, L, are
parts constituting the mould bed and reservoir of liquid type metal, herein-
after more particularly explained. V is a long lever, acting from the joint at B,
and supported in the position here shewn by a catch bolt at t, herein-after more
particularly described. s is a string leading from this catch bolt to the trigger r,
which when pulled causes the lever V to fall. U is a plunger or rammer, which
on its descent falls into the reservoir of liquid type metal, thereby forcing the
said metal into the moulds. E is a housing or guard to prevent the liquid
metal from splashing over, to the injury of the operator, when the plunger
descends. O is a swinging bar, having a mortice hole at 9 (the tongue
taking into it). The lower end of this swinging bar O is acted upon by the
short lever, which, when the handle m is pulled up, causes the mortice hole
to take into the tongue 7, while the catch J, being turned, over upon the end
at F, keeps it in its place, and thus the whole mould bed is so confined as to
withstand the descending force of the plunger. is a wedge acting on the
inclined plane q, herein-after more particularly explained.
9
...Drawing marked B. Figure 1 is a front or end view of my said appa
ratus. Figure 2 is a plan or horizontal view of that part of the table, in
which the moulds are placed and confined, for the purpose of having the fluid

page_text: metal forced into them. Fig. 3 is a representation of the same parts, the
ironwork K, K, being here thrown open, and the situation of the moulds
exposed to view.
g
I shall reserve the explanation of the manner in which these moulds
are put together for a future part of my Specification, and shall now proceed
to describe the mauner in which they are arranged on the table for the
purpose of having the fluid type metal forced into them. The moulds A, A,
are placed upon the table H, H, H, and pushed up against the square knobs.
, x, which are fixtures in the table, and form in fact the ends of the reservoir
herein-after mentioned. The side arms K, K, are then to be brought
together so as to embrace the moulds, and the top piece L, L, placed over them,
as shewn at Fig. 2, for the purpose of locking up. The arm m, Fig. 1, being
now raised by hand, forces a short lever N, not visible in the Drawing, but
only dotted in against the lower extremity of the swinging lever O, and
thereby brings it forward, which causes the mortice hole ġ in the upper part of
this lever to pass over the tongue of the top piece l, and thereby draw it down
tight upon the bars of the mould, when a catch J falls over the upper edge of
the swinging lever, and holds it in that situation. Two wedges, herein-before-
mentioned, extending from the under side of the top piece, at this time bear
against the inclined plane 9, 9, at the ends of the arms K, K, and presses them
with considerable force against the bars A, A, which constitute the mould, by
which means every part of the mould is confined and kept in close contact.
The mould being thus prepared, a quantity of flint type metal is poured into the-
basin or reservoir C, till it is about one third full. In order to force this metal
into the moulds a trigger r must be pulled, which is placed under the wood
frames in front of the machine, Fig. 1. The trigger, by means of a string
extending from it to a small levers, draws back a catch tooth t, and permits
the long lever v to descend, when u, which is rammer or plunger, falls into the
reservoir C, and by that means drives the metal with considerable force out of
the reservoir C into the grooves of the mould bars, and thence to the matrices,
by which means the types are cast in manner herein-after more particularly
described. In order to withdraw from the table the moulds containing the
types thus produced, the operator places his foot upon the step R at the front
end of the long lever W, which acts upon a shorter lever, and thereby forces
up a pin X. A stem Y extending from the under side of the lever V, rests
upon the head of this pin X, and by its rising the lever V is forced up a little
way. The operator at this moment takes hold of the handles G, G, at the
front end of the lever v, and lifts it above the catch t, by which it is held up

page_text: in the position shewn in Fig. 1, until discharged again by the trigger 2º, as
before described. The catch J is now to be released or lifted up, and the
mortice hole g of the swinging lever O withdrawn from the tongue of the
piece L. This piece L is now raised from the mould, and turned upon its
pivot, in the position shewn in Fig. 3, on to a wooden block Z, Fig.1, placed at
the side of the table to support it. The side arms K, K, are now withdrawn,
and a small lever z in front of the machine is to be pressed upon by the hand,
which will cause a plug to pass through an aperture in the table, and raise the
moulds with the cast collectively from the table to which they adhered. The
adhesion of the type metal cast in the mould will hold the bars so firmly
together that it will now be necessary to seperate them by force. This may be
done in various ways, but I employ a table fitted with levers, as herein-after
more particularly described with reference to the Drawing marked C, by which
the moulds and matrices are carefully drawn from the cast, when the types will
'be found extending along the sides of the metal which occupied the reservoir,
and may be thence broken off and trimmed in the ordinary manner.
Figure 4, 5, 6, and 7 are the various bars constituting the mould, and
shewn at full size in the Drawing marked D. Fig. 8 in the Drawing marked
B is a representation or bird's-eye view of the two parts of the mould, as
shewn in the table at Fig. 3, but with the top bars removed. Fig. 9 is a
transverse section of the two parts of the mould complete.
I will now proceed to describe the various pieces of metal or bars which,
when put together, constitute the type moulds, and then will describe, by
reference to the Drawing marked C, the manner of withdrawing the castings
from the said moulds; and first of the construction of the type moulds, by
reference to the Drawing marked D.
Drawing marked D.-These type moulds consist of two parts, and each
part of four bars, as represented separately at Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4; and first
with reference to Figure 1 :-D, D, represent a series of small bars of copper,
kept in their places by the top plate ff, and at the lower ends of which bars
of copper are the matrices for the letter or face of the type. A, A, are a cor-
responding series of grooves, which, when covered by the bar, Fig. 2, being
turned over upon them, as shewn in Fig. 5, constitute a mould for the body of
the type.
When putting the parts of the mould together, the bar, Fig. 2, is
turned over upon the grooves, with the surface g, g, downwards, filling up the
angle e, e, and making, together with the bar, Fig. 1, a long square bar, is
shewn at Figure 5; and in line along the centre of one of its surfaces, as at
L, L, will be seen the open ends of the groove ready to receive the type
metal. The ends of the body of the types which are next to these openings

page_text: will be the feet of the type; and in order to give to these feet the required
flatness, and at the same time to allow an apperture for the type metal to be
forced through, the bar, Fig. 3, is moved up to the surface C, C, of Fig. 5,
when the bars will assume the form shewn at Figure 6. Now it will be seen
that each projection, as at S, S, S, S, will come against a division of the
grooves, and project beyond it at each side, and thus each projection will be.
the means of forming one foot of two different types, while the spaces or nicks
between these projections will admit the passage of the type metal. But in
order to insure the direct passage of the fluid type metal into the moulds, the
bar, Fig. 4, with the concave surface K, is turned over upon the bar, Fig. 8,
while in the position shown at Fig. 6, which thus completes the solid, Figure 7,
which is the shape of one part of the mould of which the two parts are repre-
sented on the table in the Drawing marked B, Fig. 3. Fig. 8 is a section of
one part of the two parts which constitute the mould, (that is to say,) is a
section of Figure 7; and the dotted line in this Figure shows the heighth to.
which the reservoir C should be filled with the fluid type metal when the
rammer falls. It should be here observed that the top bars of the moulds
should be slightly reduced in some places, as at P, P, Fig. 4, to allow the air
to escape when the fluid type metal is forced into the moulds. It will be
observed that on the face of the copper bars D, D, Fig. 1, are small numbers.
which correspond with similar numbers on the face g, g, of the bar, Fig. 2;
and by this means, if any type is found to be imperfect, by looking at the
number marked on the body of it, the faulty matrix will at once be discovered.
Having now described the moulds, and having previously described the
manner of forcing the metal into them, it will be necessary to describe the
manner of drawing the casting so made as aforesaid from the said moulds,
which is an operation requiring some force and a very steady application of
power. In order to explain this I refer to the Drawing marked C.
Drawing marked C.-Fig. 1 is a plan of my herein-before mentioned table,
on which I place the said mould for the purpose of withdrawing the casting
from it. A, A, are two slides moved by the lever P; and B, B, are two
opposite slides moved by the lever R. e, e, e, e, are 4 knobs or studs fixt to
these slides, and fit into corresponding knotches in the mould; G, G, are
two handles by which the pins H, H, H, H, are pushed forward over the.
mould when laid upon the table to keep the mould down; M is a bar raised
up when occasion requires by a lever, and is used to push up the center part.
of the casting where the edges of the casting holding the types have been
freed from that part of the mould to which they were attached; Y, Y, are,

page_text: merely rests or holders for the convenience of the operator to put the bars in
where they have been withdrawn. from the moulds. Fig. 2 is a plan of part
of the said table. showing the mould with the top bars taken off, and one of
the sides of the mould J drawn to one side by means of the knobs e, e, while
the other side of the mould K, not having been acted upon, shows the effect
of the said lever P. Fig. 8 is a sectional elevation of my said table. J, K,
are the moulds, J being drawn to one side by the lever P. The manner in
which this lever acts is shown at S, which is a short arm working on the fork
ff, which, it will be seen, is connected with the knobs e, e, and slides A, A.
The lever X is acted upon by the foot at Z, the weight W giving the counter-
action. This is the lever which acts upon the bar M that forces up the central
part of the casting. In order to withdraw the casting the mould should be
placed on the table exactly over the bar M, with the nobs e, e, fitting into
their respective knotches; and the handles G, G, pressed forward to hold down
the mould. When so placed the two top bars on each part of the mould may
be raised and removed by hand. The levers P and R being then acted upon,
the sides J and K of the mould will be drawn away from the casting, and the
bodies of the types will be exposed. The lever X should then be acted upon,
and this will raise the bar M by means of the pin P, which will thus force up
the center of the casting, when the whole will be found cleared from the
mould, and the types may be broken off and trimmed for use in the ordinary
way.
Now whereas the forcing of type metal in a fluid state into moulds by
means of a rammer or plunger is not now, nor claimed by me as part of the
said Invention, but such an improved mould composed of such bars as áre
represented in the Drawing marked D, and also such an arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for the purpose of receiving type metal in a fluid
state, and for the purpose of keeping such moulds in the proper position for
the casting to be made in them, as is represented by the Figures 2 and 3 in
the Drawing marked B, and also such an apparatus as aforesaid for drawing
the said types when so cast as aforesaid from the said improved moulds, as
is represented by the Drawing marked O, being, to the best of my know-
ledge and belief; entirely new, and never before practised in that part of
the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland called England, the
Dominion of Wales, or Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, I do hereby declare
this to be my Spécification of the same; and that. I do verily believe this my
-sáid Specification doth comply in all respects, fully and without reserve or
disguise, with the proviso in the said herein-before in part recited Letters

page_text: Patent contained; wherefore I do hereby claim to maintain my exclusive
right and privilege to the said Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Louis John Pouchée, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of February, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named Louis John Pouchée,
being first duly stamped, in the
presence of
LOUIS JN° (L.S.) POUCHÉE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fourth day of February, in the
year of our Lord 1824, the aforesaid Louis John Pouchée came before our said
Lord the King in His Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification afore-
said, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Inrolled the Fourth day of February, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and twenty-four.