IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU- FACTURE OF METALLIC WINDOW FRAMES AND SKY-LIGHTS
Year: 1855

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to David Moline, of Adelaide Place, in the City of
London, Merchant, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF METALLIC WINDOW FRAMES AND SKY-LIGHTS."-A communication.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said David Moline at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th January 1855.
I, DAVID MOLINE, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC WINDOW FRAMES AND SKY-
LIGHTS" to be as follows:-
In constructing iron window frames and sky-lights in the modes now
employed, they are generally either cast in one piece of cast iron, or made of
separate wrought-iron sash bars, fitted, or welded, or brazed together. Both
these methods are objectionable, as the cast-iron frames are apt to warp in the
casting, and are easily broken in carriage, while the cost of fitting together the
wrought-iron frames is very considerable. By the present Invention, a number
of detached pieces of wrought or cast iron sash bar are laid together in the
required form, and a boss of cast iron is cast around the bars at each of the

page_text: junctions, so as to unite the bars together. The moulds for casting these
bosses may be of metal, or of sand, or loam. The pieces of sash bar may be
cut into short lengths, according to the size of the panes of glass to be
employed; or a series of long parallel bars may be employed, with short lengths
between them, connected as above described. Brass or copper, or alloys of
copper, may be employed in the manufacture of window frames and sky-lights
in a similar manner.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said David Moline in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
23rd July 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, DAVID
MOLINE, of Adelaide Place, in the City of London, Merchant, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of January, 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 David Moline, Her special licence that I, the said David Moline,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
David Moline, 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
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC WINDOW FRAMES AND SKY-LIGHTS," communi-
cated to me from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said David Moline, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 David Moline, 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 thereof, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and.
to the figures and letters marked thereon, that is to say:-
In constructing iron window frames and sky-lights in the modes now

page_text: employed, they are generally either cast in one piece of cast iron, or made of
separate wrought-iron sash bars, fitted, or welded, or brazed together. Both
these methods are objectionable, as the cast-iron frames are apt to warp in the
casting, and are easily broken in carriage, while the cost of fitting together the
wrought-iron frames is very considerable.
By the present Invention, a number of detached pieces of wrought or cast
iron sash bar are laid together in the required form, and a boss of cast iron is
cast around the bars at each of the junctions, so as to unite the, bars together.
The moulds for casting these bosses may be of metal, or of sand, or loam. The
pieces of sash bar may be cut into short lengths, according to the size of the
panes of glass to be employed; or a series of long parallel bars may be employed
with short lengths between them, connected as above described.
Brass or
copper, or alloys of copper, may be employed in the manufacture of window
frames and sky-lights in a similar manner.
Figure 1, Sheet I., of the accompanying Drawings, is an elevation or front
view of a window frame constructed according to the Invention; Figure 2 is
a horizontal section of the same. A, A, is the outer frame of the window,
formed of wrought-iron bars of the sectional form, shewn at A, A, in Figure 2;
B, B, B, B, are vertical wrought-iron sash bars extending from top to bottom
of the window; C, C, C, are short transverse pieces of similar sash bar placed
horizontally between the vertical bars B, B. The sash bars are united to each
other by a series of cast-iron bosses D, D, D, and they are united to the outer
frame by half bosses E, E. F, F, are quarter bosses at the corners of the
outer frame A.
Figure 3 is a front view on a larger scale of one of the bosses D; Figure 4
is a side view, and Figure 5 is a back view of the same. The form of the
boss is made to correspond with that of the sash bars, so as to form a continu-
ous bearing surface for the reception of the panes of glass, and the putty or
cement by which they are fixed.
Figure 6 is a side view, and Figure 7 is a plan, of the lower half of a metal
mould or chill, for casting the boss D; Figure 8 is a side view, and Figure 9
is a plan, of the under side of the upper half of the mould. The sash bars are
laid in corresponding notches b, b, c, c, in the lower half of the mould, and the
upper half is then placed upon the lower, being guided into its place by two
pins d, d, which enter corresponding holes e, e, in the upper half mould. The
two halves are secured together by keys or cotters driven into apertures in the
pins d, d. Two openings f,f, are made in the upper half mould, through one
of which the air escapes, while the melted cast iron is poured in at the other
opening. When the metal has solidified, the parts of the mould are separated

page_text: by driving a chisel between them, and giving the upper half of the mould a
lateral blow, so as to break off the runners or gates. The mould is then taken
apart, leaving the wrought-iron sash bars united by the cast iron, which has
flowed around them to form the bosses. The lower half mould, Figure 6,
has a bolt or stem g attached to its base, and furnished with a nut h, for
securing it to a support, as herein-after described.
Figure 10 is a front view, Figure 11 is a side view, and Figure 12 is a
back view, of one of the corner bosses F; Figure 13 is a side view, and
Figure 14 is a plan, of the lower half mould for casting the boss F; Figure 15
is a side view, and Figure 16 is a plan, of the under side of the
upper half
of the mould. The notches a, a, in the moulds are made to correspond with
the sectional form of the bars of the outer frame, and the interior of the mould
is made to correspond with the required form of the boss.
In other respects
the moulds and the mode of casting the boss are similar to those herein-before
described for casting the bosses D. In a similar manner the half bosses E in
Figures 1 and 2 are cast. As, however, the bosses E and F do not completely
surround or embrace the bars A, I introduce a short screw or other projecting
piece, or I make a countersunk hole or holes in the bars A at such parts, so
that when the melted cast iron is poured into the mould, it may envelope the
head of such screw or projection, or enter such countersunk holes, and thereby
firmly attach itself to the bars.
In Sheet II. I have shewn a table or framework for supporting the moulds
during the operation of casting the bosses. Figure 17 is a plan; Figure 18
is a side view; and Figure 19 is an end view. G, G, G, are three..rows of
columns, the outer rows being fixed at a somewhat greater distance apart than
the width of the widest window frame which is required to be manufactured.
These columns carry a series of double parallel bars H, H, H. Each double
bar consists of two parallel bars, united by bolts and nuts and distance pieces,
or otherwise at the ends. I, I, I, are similar double bars, lying upon the bars
H, H, and at right angles to them. The bars I, I, are secured to the
bars H, H, by bolts and nuts and washers at some or all of the intersections.
The bars H and I are planed, or otherwise made straight and true on their
upper and under surfaces, so that in whatever positions the bars I are laid
upon the bars H, their upper surfaces are in the same plane. The bases of the
metal moulds or chills, herein-before described, are also made flat and true;
and they are placed upon the bars I, I, and secured by screwing the nuts upon
their stems, which pass through the double bars.
In proceeding to manufacture a window frame, the bars I, I, are laid side
by side at such distances apart as to correspond with one series of bars in the

page_text: required window frame, as, for example, the vertical bars. The lower halves of
the metal moulds or chills are then arranged along the bars I at the positions
corresponding to the intersections of the bars of the required window frame,
and they are secured in their places by their respective nuts. Care must be
taken to place the moulds for the half bosses and quarter bosses in their proper
places. The wrought-iron bars A, A, which form the outer frame, are cut to
the proper lengths (and bent, if required,) and laid in the moulds. The vertical
wrought-iron sash bars. B, B, are also cut to their proper lengths and laid
in their respective moulds. The short horizontal sash bars C, C, are also
similarly laid in the moulds. Short screws are previously screwed into the bars
A, A, at the points at which they meet each other or the sash bars. The upper
half moulds are then placed upon the lower ones, and secured by their keys
When the metal has
i, i; and the melted cast iron is poured into each mould.
solidified, the upper half moulds are taken off, and the window frame is lifted
out of the lower moulds. Another set of wrought-iron bars is introduced into
the lower half moulds, and the upper halves are again replaced, and the moulds
again filled with melted cast iron, and another window frame is made, and so
on, until as many have been manufactured as are required.
"By merely varying the position of the bars I, I, and the moulds, and cutting
the sash bars to corresponding lengths, a great variety of different sizes and
shapes of window frames or sky-lights may be manufactured with the same
moulds and apparatus. In a similar manner, window frames with diagonal or
curved or other forms of sash bars may be manufactured by varying the forms
and positions of the moulds. The sash bars may be all cut into short lengths,
or some of them may be continuous, either in a vertical, horizontal, or other
direction.
Thus, in Sheet II. the vertical sash bars are represented as continuous, and
the horizontal ones as in short lengths. Sky-lights are manufactured in a
similar manner.
In lieu of employing wrought-iron bars and uniting them by cast-iron
bosses, other suitable metals or alloys may be employed in a similar manner.
Thus, bars of rolled or wrought copper or brass may be employed, and united
by casting brass bosses upon them.
The bars themselves may also be of cast metal. The bosses should be of a
metal or alloy of the same or greater fusibility than the bars. If their fusi-
bility is the same, or nearly so, care must be taken to run the metal into the
moulds at 'so low a temperature that it may solidify without fusing the bars.
In lieu of employing metallic moulds or chills, moulds of sand, or loam, or
other materials may be employed.

page_text: Having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that what I
claim is, the manufacture of metallic window frames and sky-lights, by uniting
a series of metallic bars by placing them in suitable metallic or other moulds,
and casting metallic bosses at the junctions or intersections of the bars, as
herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said David Moline, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
DAVID MOLINE. (L.S.)