IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING METALS
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in
the County of Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of
Glasgow, North Britain, Gentleman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN CASTING METALS."-A communication from Mess" Jackson Brothers,
Petin Gaudet and Company, of Rivé de Gier, in the Empire of France,
Iron Manufacturers.
Scaled the 3rd April 1857, and dated the 7th February 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said -John Henry Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th February 1857.
I, JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North.
Britain, Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN CASTING METALS," a communication from Mess" Jackson.
Brothers, Petin Gaudet and Company, of Rive de Gier, in the Empire of
France, Iron Manufacturers, to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the employment of centrifugal force in casting
steel articles, such as railway wheels, tubes, and hollow axles, and consists in
causing the chills to rotate at a high velocity during the time the molten
metal is running in. Articles cast according to this Invention are stronger

page_text: and lighter than when composed of the ordinary materials cast in the
usual way.
In casting railway or other solid wheels, the chill, which is shaped internally
to the exact form of the wheel, is secured by bolts and nuts to an end of a
shaft which is made to revolve at the rate of from about five hundred to one
thousand revolutions per minute. The molten steel is run into a central
opening in the cover of the chill, and is instantly directed by the. centrifugal
force against the inner circumference of the chill, thus rendering that part of
the wheel perfectly sound and homogeneous, and thus it is entirely free from
flaws. When the chill is full, a mandrill is caused to enter the central
opening, and as the chill still continues to revolve it has the effect of smoothing
or polishing the central opening in the wheel. The mandrill is then with-
drawn, and the revolutions of the chill having been stopped, the cover is
removed and the complete cast-steel wheel taken out. This wheel may or
may not, as found desirable, be subjected to the blows of a steam hammer
between suitably shaped dies. The casting of steel tubes suitable for marine
or locomotive boilers is effected in a similar manner to the' above, the chill
consisting of a tube, into which the steel is run. When the metal is set,
the tube is removed by opening the chill down the centre, it being made in
two parts for that purpose, and is held together during the running in of the
metal by metal ferules or rings driven on to it. The steel tube so cast is
then removed to the rolling mill and is drawn out to any desired extent. If
intended for a hollow railway axle, it is reduced into shape by a steam hammer
or other well-known contrivance.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
7th August 1857.
"
[
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex;
and of 166, Buchanan Street, in the City of Glasgow, North Britain, Gentle-
man, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight, hundred and fifty-seven, in the-twentieth year of Her.
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,

page_text: the said John Henry Johnson, Hèr special license that I, the said John Henry
Johnson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said John Henry Johnson, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after during the-terin 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," a communication from Messieurs Jackson Brothers; Petin
Gaudet and Company, of Rive de Gier, in the Empire of France, Iron
Manufacturers, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,' the said John
Henry Johnson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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.
2
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Henry Johnson, 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, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to 'the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say::-
The said Invention relates to the employment of centrifugal force in casting
steel articles, such as railway wheels, tubes, and hollow axles, and consists in
causing the chills to rotate at a high velocity during the time the molten
metal is running in. Articles cast according to this Invention are much
stronger in proportion to their weight than articles composed of the ordinary
materials cast in the usual way.
In casting railway or other solid.wheels, the chill, which is shaped internally
to the exact form of the wheel, is secured by bolts and nuts to an end of a
shaft which is made to revolve at the rate of from about five hundred to one
thousand revolutions per minute. The molten steel is run into a central
opening in the cover of the chill, and is instantly directed by the centrifugal
force against the inner circumference of the chill, thus rendering that part. of
the wheel perfectly sound andthomogeneous, and thus it is entirely.free from
flaws. When the chill is full, a mandrill is caused to enter. tlie central
opening, and as the chill still.continues to revolve it has the effect of smoothing.
or polishing the central opening in the wheel. The mandrill is then 'with-
drawn, and the revolutions of the chill having been stopped, the cover is
removed and the complete cast-steel, wheel.taken out. This wheel mayor

page_text: may not, as found desirable, be subjected to the blows of a steam nammer
between suitably-shaped dies.
The casting of steel tubes suitable for marine or locomotive boilers is
effected in a similar manner to the above, the chill consisting of a tube into
which the steel is run. When the metal is set, the tube is removed by
opening the chill down the centre, it being made in. two parts for that purpose,
and is held together during the running in of the metal by metal ferules or
rings driven on to it. The steel tube so cast is then removed to the rolling
mill and is drawn out to any desired extent. If intended for a hollow railway
axle, it is reduced into shape by a steam hammer or other well-known
contrivance.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I shall
now proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose
I shall, refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed,
the same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.
Figure 1 of the Drawings represents in vertical section a chill D-placed
vertically upon the horizontal axis A. The shaft A is supported in bearings
on the plummer blocks B, which should be firmly fixed on masonry. C is a
pulley, receiving motion from any suitable driving mechanism, and made
fast upon the shaft A, which terminates at the end next the chill in a disc A¹,
and to this disc is fixed the chill D by the bolts b. The internal form of the
chill corresponds to the shape of the desired wheel of which it is the mould;
it is closed by a cover E, retained in its place by the keys C. The molten
metal may be introduced by means of a large ladle or receptacle G, suspended
from a crane, and provided with an outlet at h, which outlet can be closed by
the plug H, placed at the end of a wrought-iron rod, and introduced into the
interior of the ladle, as shewn in the Drawing. A support J carries a mandrill
I, which mandrill can be made to advance or recede as required by means of
the hand wheel and screw spindle K.
The ladle or receptacle G being supplied with cast steel in a molten state,
the shaft A is made to revolve at a velocity of from five hundred to a thousand
revolutions per minute, the same velocity of rotation being thereby of course
imparted to the chill. The plug H is now removed from the outlet or pouring
spout of the ladle or receptacle G, and the moulten metal immediately runs
into the interior of the chill D.
The centrifugal force generated by the revolution of the chill drives the
metal to the circumferance of the chill, thus producing a great pressure and

page_text: cohesion among the particles, and rendering the casting-perfectly homogeneous
and free from flaws. So soon as the chill is full of the molten metal the
mandrill I is made to advance and enter it at the central aperture of the chill,
thus forming and polishing the interior of the hole of the wheel, and rendering
the metal in the chill still more homogeneous.
After this operation, and when the metal is set, the machine is stopped, the
keys c knocked out, the cover E removed, and the casting can then be with-
drawn therefrom. If desired the casting may be subsequently hammered by dies.
In Figures 2 and 3 is illustrated the application of this Invention of the
casting of steel tubes.
On the disc A¹ on the end of the shaft A, Figure 2, I fix the chill D, which
is retained in its place by the bolts c. This chill, which is made in two pieces,
as shewn in Figure 3, is held together by means of the rings or ferules 9, and
is made to rotate at a velocity of from five hundred to one thousand revolutions
per minute by the driving shaft A. The molten metal is poured either from
crucibles or by means of a ladle, as above mentioned, into the interior of this
chill, and is immediately driven to the internal surface, on which it becomes
evenly spread. A mandrill, similar to that at I (Figure 1), but of a sufficient
length to penetrate the entire depth of the chill, is then made to enter the
chill, where it compresses the particles of metal and smooths the internal
surface of the casting. The machine is then stopped, the tube withdrawn
from the chill and taken to any suitable rolling mill, there to be drawn out or
rolled into the form T (Figure 4). The tubes thus obtained are much
stronger and cheaper than those composed of copper. Should it be desired to
make hollow and steel railway axles, a cylinder of the same weight as the
required axle is cast, as above described, and is then conveyed to a hammer,
where it receives the form of the axle shewn at Figure 5. Such axles are
easily made, and although lighter, are of much greater strength than the
ordinary hollow axles, whilst their cost is considerably less.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but
what I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,
First, the system or mode of casting solid steel wheels, as herein-before
decanibed

page_text: Second, the system or mode of casting and constructing steel tubes, as
herein-béfóre déscribed.
Third, the system or mode of making hollow cast-steel axles, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have hereunto!
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of August, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-seven.
J. HENRY JOHNSON. (L.S.)