IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CASTING COPPER AND ITS ALLOYS UNDER PRESSURE
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CASTING COPPER AND ITS
ALLOYS UNDER PRESSURE."-A communication from abroad by Alexander
Stenhen Lavroff of St. Petershuro in the Empire of Russia.
Sealed the 29th July 1873, and dated the 12th June 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 12th June 1873.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CASTING COPPER
AND ITS ALLOYS UNDER PRESSURE," a communication, to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to cast articles from copper and its
alloys under artificial pressure in a more efficacious and better manner
than has heretofore been employed.

page_text: One of the most important deficiencies in articles cast from copper
or its alloys in general is their defective density, the articles being
penetrated by cavities of greater or less extent. The porosity of the
metal diminishes the durability of the articles cast, especially if the
mass of the metal is considerable. In this case the alloy of which the
article is cast in cooling sometimes becomes distributed as follows:-
Either its various constituents separate, or alloys of various fusibility are
formed, the most fusible of them filling the cavities and pores formed
during such cooling. Thus in the mass of metal irregular amassments of
this alloy appear, the texture of the metal is not homogeneous, and the
article is not durable.
To diminish these important evils the articles are cast nearly always
of a greater height than is required, that is to say, they are cast with a
runner; but in consequence of the expense and many other inconveni-
encies the height of the runner cannot exceed a certain limit, so that
notwithstanding the same the cast article remains porous, and is not
homogeneous or durable.
To fully obviate these deficiencies I apply to the fluid metal in the
mould a high artificial pressure immediately after the casting, and
continue this operation until the metal becomes hard, or even quite
cool.
I wish it to be understood that I am aware that the application of
pressure to fluid metal in the mould is not new; but the means by which
it has hitherto been accomplished or has been proposed to be done are
quite different from the process employed by me, which is as follows.
To produce the pressure I use the following apparatus:-On suitable
foundation walls I erect a cast-iron beam, on which is placed in the first
instance a cast-iron plate with a conical stopper; this stopper forms the
bottom of the mould, and the plate supports a strong metallic mould
consisting of several pieces. This mould is closed by a solid cast-iron
cover, which is drawn to the beam by bolts connected with buffers of
any suitable construction, which allow the mould, after having been
filled with metal, to expand by heat without injuring the parts of the
apparatus.
In the middle of the cover I cement a cylinder of clay or other
material which should be a bad couductor of heat leaving in its axis,
which is in a line with the axis of the apparatus, a runner. On this
•

page_text: cylinder I place a cast-iron piston, provided with a runner and cup, the
whole being supported by thin flexible stays. The said cup and runner
are also lined with clay. To delay the cooling of the top part of the
cast article the upper portion of the widest part of the mould and the
lower surface of the cover are also lined with clay; conical escape holes
for air and gases are provided.
The pressure is produced by means of a separate frame, which consists
of two cast-iron beams, united with each other by bolts. This frame
surrounds the mould, and hangs freely on a crane by a chain attached
to a brace. To the upper beam is attached a plug, by means of which
after the mould has been filled with metal, and the frame lowered, the
runner is closed and the pressure transmitted to the aforesaid piston.
To increase this pressure I attach to the lower surface of the beam a
hydraulic press of ordinary construction, whose piston in descending
transmits the pressure to the lower beam of the frame.
In some cases it may be found more convenient to make the cylinder
of the hydraulic press rigid over the mould, and to provide the piston of
the press with a plug acting directly on the piston; or to make the
cylinder of the press rigid below the apparatus, and to lift the whole
mould filled with metal by means of the piston against a beam provided
with a plug, and fixed immovably above the apparatus, as in ordinary
hydraulic presses.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 10th December 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twelfth day of June, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,

page_text: 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
"IMPROVED APPARATUS FOR CASTING COPPER AND ITS ALLOYS UNDER PRESSURE," a
communication to me from abroad by Alexander Stephen Lavroff, of St.
Petersburg, in the Empire of Russia, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said William Robert Lake, 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 William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing, forming a part of this Specification :-
The object of this Invention is to cast articles from copper and its
alloys under artificial pressure in a more efficacious and better manner
than has heretofore been employed.
One of the most important deficiencies in articles cast from copper or
its alloys in general is their defective density, the articles being pene-
trated by cavities of greater or less extent. The porosity of the metal
diminishes the durability of the articles cast, especially if the mass of
the metal is considerable. In this case the alloy of which the article is
cast in cooling sometimes becomes distributed as follows:-Either its
various constituents separate, or alloys of various fusibility are formed,
the most fusible of them filling the cavities and pores formed during
such cooling. Thus in the mass of metal irregular amassments of this
alloy appear, the texture of the metal is not homogeneous, and the
article is not durable.
To diminish these important evils the articles are cast nearly always
of a greater height than is required, that is to say, they are cast with
a runner; but in consequence of the expense and many other incon-

page_text: veniences the height of the runner cannot exceed a certain limit, so
that notwithstanding the same the cast article remains porous, and is
not homogeneous or durable.
To fully obviate these deficiencies I apply to the fluid metal in the
mould a high artificial pressure immediately after the casting, and
continue this operation until the cast metal becomes hard or even quite
cool.
I wish it to be understood that I am aware that the application of
pressure to fluid metal in the mould is not new, but the means by which
it has hitherto been accomplished or has been proposed to be done are
quite different from the process employed by me, which is as follows:-
To produce the pressure I use the apparatus shewn in the accompanying
Drawing.
Figure 1 is a vertical section of the said apparatus on the line x, x,
Figure 2, the latter Figure being a plan of the same.
0
The construction and action of the said apparatus are as follows:-On
the walls of the foundation A I erect a cast-iron beam B, on which is
placed in the first instance a cast-iron plate C, with a conical stopper D.
This stopper forms the bottom of the mould, and the plate C supports a
strong metallic mould, consisting of the pieces E, E, E. The said mould
is closed by a solid cast-iron cover F, which is drawn to the beam B by
bolts g, g, connected with buffers H, H, of any suitable construction.
These buffers allow the mould after having been filled with metal to
expand by heat without injuring the parts of the apparatus.
Into the middle of the cover F I cement a cylinder I of clay or other
material which should be a bad conductor of heat, leaving in its axis,
which is in a line with the axis of the apparatus, a runner. On this
cylinder I place a cast-iron piston K, provided with a runner 6 and
cup L, the whole being supported by thin and flexible stays a, a. The
cup L and the runner 6 are also lined with clay. To delay the cooling
of the top part of the cast article the upper portion of the widest port of
the mould E and the lower surface of the cover F are also lined with
clay, as shewn at d, d. c, c, are conical escape holes for air and gases.
The pressure is produced by means of a separate frame, which consists
of two cast-iron beams M, M', united with each other by bolts N, N.
This frame surrounds the mould, and hangs freely on a crane, not shown

page_text: in the Drawing, by a chain attached to the brace O. To the beam M is
attached a plug P, by means of which, after the mould has been filled
with metal and the frame M, M³, lowered, the runner 6 is closed, and
the pressure transmitted to the piston K. To increase this pressure
attach to the lower surface of the beam Ba hydraulic press R of ordinary
construction, the piston of which in descending transmits the pressure to
the lower beam M' of the frame.
I
Having thus described the construction and action of the apparatus, I
will add that in some cases it may be found more convenient to make
the cylinder of the hydraulic press rigid over the mould, and to provide
the piston of the press with a plug P acting directly on the piston K, or
to make the cylinder of the press rigid below the apparatus, and to lift
the whole mould filled with metal by means of the piston against a beam
provided with a plug, and fixed immovably above the apparatus, as in
ordinary hydraulic presses. It is clear that in both of these cases the
frame M, M', will not be required.
By pressing the liquid metal in the mould, as above described, the
following conditions, on which the success of the casting and nature of
the metal depend, must be observed:-Any section at a lower level of
the mould may be equal to or less, but must never be greater than a section
taken at a higher level. The upper portion of the article cast must be
protected from cooling as much as possible by providing corresponding
parts of the mould with a layer of clay or other bad conductor of heat.
The pressing piston, which acts immediately on the metal, should be
made of some bad conductor of heat, and should press not on the whole
surface, but only on the central portion of the column of metal contained
in the said mould.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the
same, I wish it understood that I claim,—
First. The use of the buffers H, H, in connection with the mould E,
as herein described and shewn in the Drawing, and for the
forth.
purpose set
Second. The frame M, M³, acting by means of the plug P, piston K,
and the clay cylinder I, on the fluid metal contained in the mould, not a
only by its own weight but by the action of the hydraulic press R,

page_text: as herein described with reference to the Drawing, and for the purposes
set forth.
Third. The piston K, with the runner 6 and cup L acting on the
surface of the metal, not directly, but by means of the clay cylinder I,
and only on the central portion of the surface of the column of metal
contained in the mould, as herein described with reference to the
Drawing, and for the purposes set forth.
Fourth. The plug P closing the runner 6 when the mould is filled
with metal, and transmitting the pressure to the piston K, as herein
described with reference to the Drawing, and for the purposes set forth.
Fifth. The lining d, d, of a material which is a bad conductor of heat,
as herein described with reference to the Drawing, and for the purposes
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.
Witness,
H. J. NOONE,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London
W. ROB³. LAKE. (L.S.)