IMPROVEMENTS ***MY MAN Manrenne D ww MANUFACTURE OR MOULDING or Remwar Omerns.ILWAY CHAIR
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Matthew Andrew Muir, of Glasgow, in the County
of Lanark, North Britain, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
***MY MAN Manrenne
D
ww
MANUFACTURE OR MOULDING or Remwar Omerns.'
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Matthew Andrew Muir at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th April 1855.
I, MATTHEW ANDREW MUIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Machinist, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OR MOULDING OF RAILWAY CHAIRS" to be as
follows, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the manufacture or moulding of railway chairs, in
such manner as to secure superior accuracy in the form of the finished chairs,
together with simplicity in the details of the moulding apparatus and process.
One or more chairs may be moulded and cast in one box; but when the two
chairs are moulded in one box, the pattern chairs, which are preferably formed of
metal, are combined with a transverse saddle piece, the whole being so contrived
as to give all the accuracy due to the use of chill plates, whilst the latter are
dispensed with. The two patterns are steadied in position upon the base plate

page_text: in any convenient manner, as, for example, by conical pins on the pattern chair
soles, which enter corresponding holes in the plates. When thus placed, the
transverse metal piece, which may overlap the edges of the two patterns a short
distance only, or which may be made long enough to extend entirely over the
two patterns, is placed so that a central pendant projection upon it fits in
between the two contiguous faces or cheeks of the patterns, whilst the two
narrow extreinities of the transverse piece rest upon the solid top of the chair
at the part which in the finished chair is, the open jaw or recess for holding the
rail. This jaw portion is solid in the pattern chair, and each contiguous face,
when the two are set on the plate, has a feather or recess upon it, corresponding
to recesses or feathers, one on each side of the central portion of the transverse
saddle piece; or feathers or recesses may be made on the tops of the jaw por-
tions, corresponding recesses or feathers being formed in the corresponding
parts of the transverse saddle piece; thus, when the latter is inserted in position
it is securely steadied. When thus arranged, the sand is rammed in in the
usual manner, and the patterns are then removed, leaving the transverse piece
of metal in the sand. The latter now answers as the retainer for the two
metal cores for the rail spaces of the jaws. These cores are each made with
a feather or recess, to correspond to the recesses or feathers in the retaining
saddle or transverse piece; so that they are thus held and steadied entirely from
the inside without the use of external chill plates. The mould is then finished
and the metal poured in the usual way, the poured metal coming in contact
with cold metal only at the jaw cores. To prevent injury to the holding trec-
nails of the chairs, the spike holes are cast with under or sole edges rounded
off. To accomplish this according to oné plan, a separate metal core, button, or
flange piece is arranged to be placed upon the moulded projections as left by
the holes in the pattern sole after the body of the chair is moulded. The
upper edge of the hole in the chair sole is left square, the whole being' slightly
conical with its widest part upwards, and the pattern is formed to suit. The
hole is made quite through the pattern, but a plug piece is carried by the
plate, upon which the pattern is rammed, and this plug enters: the hole in
the pattern to the depth of the under rounded part of the hole, so that the
projection in the sand mould does not reach quite through the base flange, but:
leaves a portion to be formed by the separate metal or other core piece. The
plug has a central projection on its end, which forms a central recess in the
projection in the mould, and the separate core piece, which is afterwards added,
has a corresponding central projection, so that one fitting into the other, the
centres of the two portions of the core forming the hole are thereby made to
coincide. The rounding on the lower edge is effected by the separate core

page_text: piece, with a rounded or bevilled edge, to allow for the separation of the parts
after casting. This mode of forming the holes may be adopted whether the
ordinary chill plates are used or not. Where the chill plates are used, the plug
on the plate on which the pattern is rammed is connected to that plate by a
pin and slot, so as to allow the pattern to shift when the ramming action forces
it against the sides of the mould box. The rounding-off of the spike hole
edges may be effected in the casting in various ways. In one modification, the
lower flask or section of the mould box carries bar pieces with projecting pins,
on which the metal button-like core pieces are formed or fixed. Or; according
to another modification, the plate upon which the lower section of the mould
box, or that corresponding to the under side of the chair, is rammed, has
recesses formed in it corresponding to the rounded portion of the spike hole,
and a corresponding projection is thus formed at that part of the mould, this
projection meeting the projection on the upper section of the mould box, and
the two together forming the core of the hole.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Matthew Andrew Muir in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 24th October 1855.
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, MATTHEW.
ANDREW MUIR, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her. Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of April, 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 Matthew Andrew Muir, Her special license that I, the said
Matthew Andrew Muir, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such
others as I, the said Matthew, Andrew Muir, my executors, administrators,.or
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 THE MANUFACTURE OR MOULDING OP RAILWAY CHAIRS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said.Matthew Andrew Muir,
by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly

page_text: 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 Matthew Andrew Muir, do hereby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement in writing, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say:-
My said Invention relates to the manufacture or moulding of railway chairs,
in such manner as to secure superior accuracy in the form of the finished chairs,
together with simplicity in the details of the moulding apparatus and process.
One or more chairs may be moulded and cast in one box; but when two chairs
are moulded in one box, the pattern chairs, which are preferably formed of metal,
are combined according to one modification with a transverse saddle piece, the
whole being so contrived as to give all the accuracy due to the use of chill plates,
whilst the latter are dispensed with. The two patterns are steadied in position
upon the base plate in any convenient manner, as, for example, by conical pins
on the pattern chair soles, which enter corresponding holes in the plate. When
thus placed, the transverse metal piece which may overlap the edges of the two
patterns a short distance only, or which may be made long enough to extend
entirely over the two patterns, is placed so that a central pendant projection
upon it fits in between the two contiguous faces or checks of the patterns, whilst
the two narrow extremities of the transverse pieco rest upon the solid top of
the chair, at the part which in the finished chair is the open jaw or recess
for holding the rail. This jaw portion is solid in the pattern chair, and each
contiguous face, when the two are set on the plate, has a feather or recess upon
it, corresponding to recesses or feathers, one on each side of the central portion
of the transverse saddle piece; or feathers or recesses may be made on the
tops of the jaw portions, corresponding recesses or feathers being formed in
the corresponding parts of the transverse saddle piece; thus, when the latter
is inserted in position, it is securely steadied. When thus arranged, the sand
is rammed in in the usual manner, and the patterns are then removed, leaving
the transverse pieco of metal in the sand. The latter now answers as the
retainer for the two metal cores for the rail spaces of the jaws.
The main object of the present improvements is the obtainment of a mode
of setting these cores accurately in position with facility, so as to avoid loss of
time in their adjustment. To attain this end the cores are each made with
a feather or recess, to correspond to the recesses or feathers in the retaining

page_text: saddle or transverse piece, so that they are thus held and steadied entirely from
the inside, the cores resting upon the saddle piece. The mould is then finished
and the metal poured in in the usual way, the poured metal coming in contact
with cold metal only at the jaw cores; or, instead of holding and adjusting the
jaw cores by means of a fixed saddle piece, the same effect may be obtained
by means of separate pieces of metal applied to each chair, and formed with
recesses or feathers for the cores. These core supporters consist in the case of
cach chair of two pieces of metal, which meet on the top of the chair, whilst
their sides project down to the sole of the chair, to act as chill surfaces to the
sole, a slight chill being formed requisite at this point to prevent injury to the
chair from unequal radiation and cooling. To prevent injury to the holding
treenails of the chairs, the spike holes-are cast with their under or sole edges
rounded off. To accomplish this according to one plan, a separate metal core,
button, or flange piece is arranged to be placed upon the moulded projections
as left by the holes in the pattern sole after the body of the chair is moulded.
The upper edge of the hole in the chair sole is left square, the hole being
slightly conical, with its widest part upwards, and the patters is formed to
suit.
The hole is made quite through the pattern, but a plug piece is
carried by the plate, upon which the pattern is rammed, and this plug
enters the hole in the pattern to the depth of the under rounded part
of the hole, so that the projection in the sand mould does not reach quite
through the base flange, but leaves a portion to be formed by the separate
metal or other core piece. The plug has a central projection on its end, which
forms a central recess in the projection in the mould; and the separate core
piece, which is afterwards added, has a corresponding central projection, so
that, one fitting into the other, the centres of the two portions of the core
forming the hole are thereby made to coincide. The rounding on the lower
edge is effected by the separate core piece, with a rounded or bevilled edge, to
allow for the separation of the parts after casting. This mode of forming the
holes may be adopted whether the ordinary chill plates are used or not. Where
the chill plates are used, the plug on the plate on which the pattern is rammed
is connected to that plate by a pin and slot, so as to allow the pattern to shift
when the ramming action forces it against the sides of the mould box. The
rounding-off of the spike hole edges may be effected in the casting in various
ways. In one modification, the lower flask or section of the mould box carries
bar pieces with projecting pins, on which the metal button-like core pieces are
formed or fixed. Or, according to another modification, the plate upon which
the lower section of the mould box, or that corresponding to the under side of
the chair, is rammed, has recesses formed in it corresponding to the rounded

page_text: portion of, the spike hole, and a corresponding projection, is thus formed at that
part of the mould, this projection meeting. the projection on the upper section
of the mould, box, and the two together forming the core of the hole.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood, I shall
now proceed to describe the several explanatory Figures upon the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto, attached. These Figures relate to certain of the modifi;
cations of moulding apparatus for railway chairs comprehended in my present
Invention.
Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section of one flask of a mould box for
moulding two railway chairs, the patterii chairs being shewn inside as vertically
sectioned in each case through one of their spike holes; Figure 2 is a plan of
the two patterns; and Figure 3 is a plan of the bridge piece as inverted;
Figure 4 is a transverse vertical section, shewing two chair patterns with
separate supporting pieces; Figure 5 being a corresponding plan; and Figure 6
consisting of detached views of the supporting pieces and core;. Figure 7 is a
vertical section. and Figure 8 is a plan, of the upper flask of the mould box
for the railway chairs, shewing one mode of forming the under portions of the
spike holes; finally, in Figure 9 is represented, in plan and elevation, the metal
button sometimes used, as a core for the bottom of the spike hole. In the
modification, of moulding apparatus, represented in Figures 1, 2, and. 3, two
railway chair patterns A are placed upon the sole or "parting" plate B of the
flask, the sand or mould material being rammed upon them in the usual way
to form the under flask of the, mould. The portions of these patterns, corre-
sponding to the open jaws for receiving the rails of the finished chairs are filled.
up, the actual jaw openings being formed in the casting by means of metal
cores, which are inserted into the mould after the patterns A are taken out.
Upon the tops of the patterns A; at the parts corresponding, to the open jaws,
and across from one pattern to the other, is placed a cast-iron saddle-picce C,
which remains in and forms part of the mould.. This saddle piece C is formed
with a central flanged portion D, projecting down between the two pattern
chairs A, and each of the faces of this projecting piece in contact with the sides
of the chair patterns A is formed with a raised feather E. A recess is of
course made in each chair pattern to receive this feather, but its chief use is to
support the metal core when this is inserted after the withdrawal of the pattern
from the mould. The core piece is represented in side and front elevation at F
and G in Figure 6, and is formed with a lateral recess II, fitting upon the
feather E on the saddle piece C. The feathers and recesses may respectively
be either on the saddle piece or, on the core, and they may either be on the
side or top of the core, and corresponding parts of the saddle piece, as already.

page_text: "
mentioned. At I is placed the small metal pattern, which forms the continua-
tion of the "gate by which the molten metal enters- the mould. According
to the modification represented in Figures 4, 5, and 6, four separate supporting
and chilling pieces J, two to each chair pattern A, 'are used instead of the
saddle piece. These pieces are shown as detached in Figure 6, namely, in
edge elevation at .K, and as looking on the inner face of one of them at L.
Each pair meets at the centre of the top of its chair pattern upon the portion
corresponding to the open jaw, and each piece is formed with sides M, the
bases of which are extended; as at N, to act with a slightly chilling effect upon
the portion of the sole of the chair between the jaws, whilst upon the'sides M
are feathers E, which enter the recesses I in the core, and determine the
exact position of this last. In both these modifications, the core when placed
in the mould rests upon the cast-iron pieces, instead of upon sand as in
ordinary moulds. The spike holes O are made completely through the pattern
chairs, as shewn in Figures 1 and 4, but small button-like projections 'P,
formed or fixed upon the sole plate B, enter the under sides of the holes.O,
and prevent the sand from being rammed completely through the pattern,
serving also, to steady the pattern upon the plate. From the point where the
projections Preach, the holes are tapered upwards, being widest at their tops.
The under portions of the spike holes are formed, according to one plan, by
making recesses Q in the plate R, Figures 7 and 8, 1 upon which the upper flask of
the inould is rammed. This plate R has also recesses at S, where the metal
of the sole of the chair is to be thinner, and where the manufacturers marks
are placed. Thus, when the sand or mould material is rammed upon the
plate R, projections will be formed upon this part of the mould corresponding
to the recesses Q; and when the two flasks of the mould are put together, these
projections will just meet the parts of the mould formed by ramming into the
holes O in the pattern chair. The recesses Q are formed with rounded edges,
so as to give this form to the holes in the finished chair. According to another
plan, the bottoms of the spike holes O are formed by means of small metal
cores T, such as are represented in Figure 9. These cores are formed with
plate B must have, similar
central projections, and the buttons P on the
projections to form recesses in the sand rammed into the holes, so that when
the cores T are laid upon the sand projections, their projections will enter the
recesses in the sand, and insure their being placed concentrically and with
accuracy. A small central aperture is made. through the core T for the
escape of air.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used

page_text: or carried into effect, I may 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 my 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 general arrangement and construction of apparatus for moulding
railway chairs, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use, in apparatus for moulding railway chairs, of
saddle pieces, or of separate supporting pieces, such saddle or supporting pieces
being formed with projections, feathers, or recesses for determining the
position of the core pieces for forming the open jaw portion of the chair, the
core pieces being formed with corresponding recesses, feathers, or projections,
as herein-before described.
Third, the herein-before described systems or modes of moulding railway
chairs, so that the chairs are cast with the spike holes rounded off on their
bottom edges.
In witness whereof, I, the said Matthew Andrew Muir, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
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