IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Steven, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark,
North Britain, Ironfounder, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING."
Sealed the 7th December 1858, and dated the 16th June 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Steven at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
16th June 1858.
I, THOMAS STEVEN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain,
Ironfounder, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING," to be as follows, that is
to say :-
This Invention comprehends certain improvements in making external
moulds for casting pipes and various other articles, which can be divided into
symmetrical halves by bissecting planes, or planes passing through their axes,
and of which the halves require, for their proper adjustment together, the
coincidence of at least two pairs of counterpart points in their sectional
surfaces.
The Invention also comprehends certain improvements in making cores to
be used in casting pipes and similar articles, and certain improvements in
making moulds for casting axle bushes for cart wheels.
In making external moulds for pipes according to the improved system or

page_text: combination of processes forming the first part of this Invention, half patterns
only are used, such half patterns being made in duplicate by turning or other-
wise shaping a compound piece of metal or other suitable material capable of
separation or bissection into two symmetrical halves after being so turned or
shaped. Moulds for one or more pipes may be made in one mould box,
according to the size of the pipes. In making a mould for one pipe, the half
pattern is laid down upon a flat surface, and a flask is placed over it and sand
rammed in in the ordinary way, to form a half mould. The balf mould is
simply lifted off the half pattern and flat surface, or the half pattern and
flat surface are lowered from the half mould, but no movement takes place
between the half pattern and the flat surface. A second half mould being
formed in the same way, the two are placed together (one of them being
inverted), and then constitute a complete external mould for the pipe.
Provision must be made for so adjusting the half mould flasks upon the
flat surface bearing the pattern, and upon each other, that the two half moulds
may be perfectly parallel and coincident when brought together to form a
complete external mould. In making external moulds for pipes of com-
paratively small size, it is preferred to mould two or more in one box; and in
doing this it is necessary to arrange the half patterns symmetrically with
referance to a determinate axis, and to provide for the accurate coincidence of
the pairs of half moulds, in the manner herein-before indicated. In making
moulds for two or more pipes, passages are moulded between the pipe moulds
to give vent to air and vapour, and thereby prevent the destruction of any of
the moulds by the action of the air or vapour from an adjacent mould.
In making pipe cores according to the second part of this Invention, a
core box of the ordinary kind, in two halves hinged together is used. The
core box being open, and a little sand being placed in the bottom half box, a
core bar is introduced which is of such a size as to project considerably above
the level of the half box, and sand is rammed in on each side of it, and
moulded with a surface at about that level. Sand is rammed in the top half
box, and moulded by means of a pattern, with a recess fitting on the projecting
part of the core bar when the core box is closed. The core bar is formed, and
the sand in the top half box, or in both half boxes, is moulded, so as to form
passages for air and vapour on putting together the core, thereby rendering it
unnecessary to form such passages by means of rods or prickers in the ordinary
way. The parts of this process of making cores that are considered to be new
are the method of shaping the parts of the core to fit together, and include
the enlarged core bar, and the method of forming the passages for air and
vapour.

page_text: In making moulds for axle bushes for cart wheels according to the third
part of this Invention, metal rings or plates are placed in the moulds at the
parts corresponding to the ends of the bushes, the object being to chill the cast
metal at these parts, and thereby produce a better wearing surface, and one
requiring less finishing than in bushes cast in moulds as ordinarily made.
When a metal mandril is used in these moulds, there may be substituted for
one of the rings for chilling the ends of the bush a collar or shoulder formed
or fixed on the mandril itself.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Thomas Steven, in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th December 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
STEVEN, of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North Britain, Ironfounder,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, in the twenty-first year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Thomas Steven, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Steven,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Steven, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MAKING MOULDS FOR CASTING," upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Thomas Steven, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Steven, do hereby declare
the nature of my 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 in writing, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto attached.
and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say::-

page_text: My said Invention comprehends certain improvements in making external
moulds for casting pipes and various other articles, which can be divided into
symmetrical halves by bissecting planes, or planes passing through their axes,
and of which the halves require for their proper adjustment together the
coincidence of at least two pairs of counterpart points in their sectional
surfaces.
My said Invention also comprehends certain improvements in making
cores to be used in casting pipes and similar articles, and certain improve-
ments in making moulds for casting axle bushes for cart wheels.
And in order that my said Invention may be properly understood and
carried into effect, I will particularly describe the manner of performing the
same, referring as I proceed to the explanatory figures on the Sheet of
Drawings hereunto attached.
In making external moulds for pipes and similar articles according to the
improved system or combination of processes forming the first part of this
Invention, half patterns only are used, such half patterns being made in
duplicate by turning or otherwise shaping a compound piece of metal or other
suitable material, capable of separation or bissection into symmetrical halves
after being so turned or shaped. I prefer to make the half patterns of metal
for the sake of surface finish and durability, and I prefer to make them
hollow (when the shape of the article admits of it), for the sake of lightness
and convenience. In making the half patterns for pipes and other articles
capable of being shaped by turning, according to one modification two castings
or blank pieces are taken, and having had their junction surfaces rendered
truly plane, are fixed together by means of wrought-iron rings shrunk on, or
by clamps or otherwise, and are placed in a turning lathe, care being taken to
cause the axis of the lathe to lie along or between the junction surfaces. The
compound pattern is then turned down to its intended shape, and after removal
from the lathe, is separated into two equal half patterns.
In making a mould for one pipe or similar article, a half-pattern is laid
down upon a flat surface, and a flask is placed over it, and sand rammed in in
the ordinary way to form a half mould. The half mould is simply lifted off
the half pattern and flat surface, or the half pattern and flat surface are
lowered from the half mould, but no movement takes place between the half
pattern and the flat surface, the shifting of the half pattern being prevented by
fixing it or otherwise. A second half mould being formed in the same way,
either upon the same half pattern or upon a duplicate, the two are placed
together (one of them being inverted), and then constitute a complete external
mould for the pipe.

page_text: In making external moulds for pipes or similar articles of comparatively
small size, I prefer to mould two or more in one box; for example, in
moulding two in one box, according to one modification, two half patterns A
are fixed upon a flat plate B, as shown in Figures 1 and 2 on the Sheet of
explanatory Drawings hereunto attached, Figure 1 being a transverse vertical
section, and Figure 2 a plan. A flask C is placed over the half patterns and
rammed up for the bottom half mould, being turned over after it is lifted off
the half patterns. A second flask c is then placed over the half paterns A,
and rammed up for the top half mould as shown in transverse vertical section
in Figure 3, the gates D being formed in the usual way. The complete
mould is shown in transverse vertical section in Figure 7, and in longitudinal
vertical section in Figure 8.
=
Provision must be made for so adjusting the top and bottom half mould
flasks upon the flat surface bearing the half pattern or half patterns, and upon
each other, that the two half moulds may be perfectly parallel and coincident
when brought together to form a complete external mould. In the arrange-
ment for moulding two or more articles in one box it is further necessary to
place the half patterns symmetrically with reference to a given axis, so as to
insure the accurate coincidence of the individuals of each pair of half moulds.
If the flasks are connected together and to the plate B by the ordinary pins
and sockets, as shown in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 7, and if both the top and
bottom flasks are rammed upon the same half pattern or half patterns, the
half pattern or half patterns A must be fixed upon the plate B, in such position
or positions that the pins E on the one side of the plate B, and the sockets F
on the other side thereof, will be equidistant from the longitudinal axial line
of the single half pattern, or equidistant from a longitudinal vertical plane
about which the two or more half patterns are symmetrically disposed. It
may be explained that I consider the half pattern or half patterns symmetrically
disposed when any part on one side the longitudinal vertical plane, passing
through the axial or centre line, is directly or rectangularly opposite to the
similar corresponding or counterpart part on the other side of such plane,
and therewith equally distant from such plane.
It will be observed, that in Figures 1 and 3 the plate B has pins E on the
left-hand side, and sockets F on the right-hand side, in order that the two
flasks C, c, may be connected together with facility. Thus, the bottom
flask C, Figure 1, has pins G on the right-hand side to enter the sockets F of
the plate B and sockets H, on the left-hand side, to receive the pins E of the
plate B. Then when the flask C is inverted, as in Figure 7, its pins and
sockets G, H, are brought respectively into the same positions as the pins

page_text: and sockets E, F, of the plate B, so that the pins and sockets g, h, of the top
flask csuit both the plate B and the bottom flask C, to which they are
transferred.
If a sufficient number of moulders are employed on one article, two plates B
may be provided (each with one or more half patterns upon it, as the case may
be,) and the top flasks may all be rammed upon one plate, and the bottom
flasks upon the other, in which case the flasks may be connected by means of
the ordinary arrangement of pins and sockets, the plates being constructed to
suit the respective flasks. In either case, to secure increased accuracy, guiding
projections and recesses may be formed on the plate or plates and on the boxes,
in addition to the ordinary pins and sockets.
In making moulds for two or more pipes or similar articles, air passages
are moulded between the pipe moulds to give vent to air and vapour, and
thereby prevent the destruction of any of the moulds by the action of the air
or vapour from an adjacent mould. One of these air passages is shown at I,
in Figure 7, and it is formed by means of a half pattern i, fixed upon the
plate B, Figures 1, 2, and 3,
Amongst the various articles which may be moulded according to the first
portion of my said Invention, herein-before described, the following may be
named Flange and faucet pipes, pump barrels, railing, stair, and Newal
bars, panels, colums, ornamental pillars, and sash weights.
In making half patterns for ornamental stair and Newal bars, and for other
articles not shaped in the turning lathe, a half pattern may in each case be
shaped in wood or other suitable material, from which two or more metal
half patterns may be cast, to be used in forming moulds according to the
improved system herein-before described.
In making pipe cores according to the second part of this Invention, a
core box of the ordinary kind in two halves hinged together is used. Such
a core box is shown as open and as shut in transverse section in Figures 5
and 6; and a portion of the top half is shown in longitudinal section, and as
open in Figure 4, whilst the finished core is shown in its place in the complete
mould in Figures 7 and 8, which are respectively transverse and longitudinal
sections. The core box being open, and a little sand being placed in the
bottom half box J, a core bar K is introduced, which is of such a size as to
project considerably above the level of the half box J, and sand is rammed in
on each side of it, and moulded with a surface at about that level. Sand is
rammed in the top half box I, a pattern M being introduced to form a recess
fitting or nearly fitting the projecting part of the core bar K when the core
box is closed. The core bar K is so formed, and the sand in the top half

page_text: box L, or in both half boxes, is so moulded as to form passages N, Figures 6
and 7, for air and vapour on putting together the core, thereby rendering it
unnecessary to form such passages by means of rods or prickers in the ordinary
way. The pattern M, for making in the top half core the recess for the
core bar K, and portions of the passages N, is shown in side elevation in the
top half box L, in Figure 4; it has a semicircular piece O formed on or
attached to it at each end, and is supported, if required, by points such as
that shown at P, having a small pin in each, to enter holes made in the core
box, to keep the bar in proper position. The recesses left by the parts O, P,
are filled with sand before inserting the core in the mould.
In making moulds for axle bushes for cart wheels, according to the third
part of my said Invention, metal rings R, S, Figure 9, are placed in the
mould, Figure 10, at the parts corresponding to the ends of the bushes, the
object being to chill the cast metal at these parts, and thereby produce a
better wearing surface, and one requiring less finishing than in bushes cast in
moulds as ordinarily made. When a metal mandril is used in these moulds
there may,
if convenient, be substituted for one of the rings, namely, for the
larger S, a collar or shoulder as at T, Figure 11, formed or fixed on the
mandril U itself. The rings are shown detached in Figure 9, and Figures 10
and 11 are vertical sections of complete moulds for casting each a couple of
bushes, these moulds being constructed in ordinary ways, excepting as far as
regards the provision for chilling the ends.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention, and the manner in
which the same is or may be used or carried into effect, I have to state
that I do not restrict myself to the precise details herein-before described or
delineated, and that I do not claim to have invented every separate detail
herein-before described and delineated, but that what I believe to be novel
and original, and claim as the Invention secured to me by the herein-before
in part recited Letters Patent, is,―
First, the system or mode of making external moulds for casting pipes and
various other articles which can be divided into symmetrical halves, by bis-
secting planes, or planes passing through their axes, and of which the halves
require for their proper adjustment together the coincidence of at least two
pairs of counterpart points in their sectional surfaces, wherein half patterns
placed upon flat plates are used for forming both halves of the moulds, as
herein-before described.
Second, the system or mode of making cores for pipe and similar moulds,
wherein a pattern is used for forming a recess in one half of the core to receive.
the projecting part of the core bar partly imbedded in the other half of the

page_text: core, and the shaping of the said pattern and core bar respectively, so as to
form or obtain a passage or passages for air or vapour in the finished core, as
herein-before described..
Third, the application and use in moulds for casting axle bushes for cart
wheels of metal surfaces for chilling the ends of the bushes, as herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Steven, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of December, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
EDMUND HUNT, Patent Agent,
28, St. Enoch Square, Glasgow.
THOMAS STEVEN. (L.S.)