Year: 1845

page_text: LONDON:
PRINTED BY GEORGE E. EYRE AND WILLIAM SPOTTISWOODE,
PRINTERS TO THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY:
PUBLISHED AT THE GREAT SEAL PATENT OFFICE,
25, SOUTHAMPTON BUILDINGS, HOLBORN.

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, WILLIAM
MUSHET and ROBERT MUSHET, both of Dalkeith, in the County of Edinburgh,
Iron Founders; send.greeting.
'
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at West-
minster, the Tenth day of December, in the ninth year of Her reign,
did give and grant unto us, the said William Mushet and Robert Mushet, .
our exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that we, the said William Mushet and Robert Mushet, our.
exors, admors, and assigns, and such others as we, the said William -Mushet
and. Robert Mushet, our exors, admors, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times hereafter, ..
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make,
use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, our Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MOULDING IRON;" in which-
said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that we, the said William
Mushet and Robert Mushet, shall cause a particular description of the nature
of our said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, -
by an instrument in writing under our hand and seal, to be enrolled in Her
said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next

page_text: and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent,
reference being had thereunto, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, we, the said
William Mushet and Robert Mushett, do hereby declare the nature of
our Invention, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement
thereof, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
figures and letters marked thereon (that is to say) :-
Our Invention consists of an improvement in the moulding, making, or
manufacturing of castings from pig or cast iron, by compressing the sand or
loam used in moulding operations by means of motive, hydraulic, or other
mechanical power, from whatever source derived, or in whatever way produced,
in place of by hand labour, as hitherto.practised; and our improvements are
adapted to most descriptions of moulds, and may be effected by stampers,
pressers, or rollers, and of all sizes, proportions, and dimensions that may be
In our
necessary for the different kinds of work and eastings required.
improvements, when the patterns are deposited in the under half of the
moulding-box, and a sufficient quantity of sand or loam is thrown in, as by
the old modes of operating, we submit the whole to the action of a plunger
or plungers, roller or rollers, or any other mechanical means of pressure, and
by the action of one or more plunges or strokes bring the loam or sand to the
required state of compactness. This being effected, the reverse or upper part
of the moulding-box is then placed over that which has been already com-
pressed, and is filled with a sufficient quantity of sand, due precaution being
taken that sea sand, commonly called parting sand, or any other substance
suitable for the purpose, shall intervene, so as to form an entire and perfect
separation between those parts of the mould that are intended to be formed
in the upper and those to be formed in the under part of the moulding-box.
The whole is again submitted to the action of the plunger or plungers, and in
the ordinary way the patterns are removed for the reception of the molten iron.
In making moulds having a plain and leval surface, the upper part of the
moulding-box may be compressed by the hand, and, as the case may be, the
upper and under parts of the moulding-box may be both compressed at one time
by the mode described in this Specification.
The utility of our improvements for casting articles of commerce in great
numbers must be obvious, such as railway chairs, pipes, rails, plates, and a
variety of others unnecessary to mention.
For the purpose of making our improvements understood by any competent
workman, we have introduced one description of machine or apparatus for

page_text: effecting the objects of our Invention, which, as will be seen by the illustrative
Drawing, consists of a longitudinal frame or railway A, laid in a horizontal
position, upon which is placed a travelling carriage B, into which are to be
deposited the moulding-box or boxes containing the patterns intended to be
cast from. To this carriage is attached a pitch-chain, rope, or other means,
for the purpose of bringing it under and exposing it to the action of the
plunger C, which, upon motion being communicated to it from any prime
mover, presses down or consolidates the loam or sand in the moulding-box to
the proper degree of compactness by one or more strokes, as may be deemed
necessary, after which a retrograde motion is given to the carriage, which is
brought back to its first position, and the boxes are removed and others sub-
stituted in succession for a repetition of the like operation. The plunger or
presser consists of a block of cast iron or other suitable material, to which are
attached two or more pistons working into 'vertical guide holes D, und, by the
intervention of a joint of the ordinary construction, are coupled to two or more
eccentrics, as the case may be, affixed upon axles attached to the roof or
other convenient part of the foundry, and impelled either continuously or
at intervals by suitable gearing pulleys or belts from the prime mover, as
already stated.
And we do hereby declare that although we have found the method of
obtaining our improvements, as herein stated, to be effectual for the objects of
our Invention, yet it is obvious that the same effects may be attained in a variety
of other ways than that just described, as by a cylinder or cylinders of greater
or less weights and diameters, length or lengths, or by a series of rollers; or
the plungers may be made to act from below against a stationary plate or other
contrivance placed above, or the carriage may be made capable of being con-
veyed to receive the pressure by a rack and pinion, or almost any other
contrivance known amongst mechanics; or it may be wrought at right angles
to the frame containing the plunger or plungers, rollers or cylinders, either in
front of the longitudinal frame or from behind it, according to the requirements
of the foundry, or from local circumstances or otherwise, all of which must be
sufficiently obvious to any competent workman.
And in conclusion, we hereby declare that what we claim under the afore-
said in part recited Letters Patent, is, our improved mode or modes of pressing
the loam or sand into moulding-boxes for foundry purposes by mechanical
means in lieu of hand labour, and by whatever means the same may be
effected; and we wish it to be understood that our claim comprehends the
exclusive use and privilege of so arranging, extending, or diminishing the
various parts of our machinery or apparatus so as to be adapted to every

page_text: and number of patterns and moulding-boxes that may be required in
ctice.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Mushèt, for myself and on behalf
of the said Robert Mushet, have affixed my seal to and subscribed
these Presents, written on the Sheet of Stamped Parchment by John
Arbuthnot Home; Clerk to Thomas Weir, Writer to the Signet, at
Edinburgh, the Sixth day of June, One thousand eight hundred and
forty-six years, before these Witnesses, John Arbuthnot Home afore-
said, and James Pringle Halley, Chancery Office, Edinburgh.
W MUSHET. (L.S.)
JOHN A. HOME, Witnesses.
JA P. HALLEY, Witness.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1846, the aforesaid William Mushet came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification'
aforesaid, 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.
Enrolled the Tenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-six