IMPROVEMENTS IN CON- STRUCTING MOULDS FOR CASTING NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS
Year: 1858

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Carron, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Machinist, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN CON-
STRUCTING MOULDS FOR CASTING NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS."
Sealed the 5th October 1858, and dated the 17th April 1858.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Carron at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
17th April 1858.
I, WILLIAM CARRON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
CONSTRUCTING MOULDS FOR CASTING NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists of the methods herein-after explained of constructing
moulds for casting nails, spikes, and bolts.
My first improvement is particularly applicable to moulds for casting large
nails. In carrying the first part of my Invention into effect, I take a plate of
metal or other suitable substance, on one side of which are a series of patterns
nearly of the form of the nail to be cast, the said patterns being of a form such
as would be produced by laying the nail flat upon the plate, so much of the
head being removed from one side as will permit the body of the nail to lie
flat upon the said plate. On the other side of the said plate is a series of
patterns of the form of the portions of the heads cut away from the patterns on
the other side, the said portions of heads being exactly opposite the parts from
which portions have been cut off from the pattern nails. The two sides of the
mould are formed upon the two sides of the said plate, and the said plate being

page_text: removed, the two sides of the mould are brought together, when they form a
mould of the figure of the nails to be cast. Or each of the pattern nails may
be divided in a plane passing along the axis of the nail, and the halves of the
nails placed opposite to each other on the two sides of the plate. The two
sides of the mould are made from the two sides of the said plate.
My second improvement is applicable to moulds for casting nails having
mushroom heads, or heads other than flat heads. In carrying this part of my
Invention into effect I take a plate having holes, through which the pattern nails
pass up to their heads. One side of the mould is formed on one side of the
plate, and has impressions of the heads; the other side of the mould is formed
on the other side of the plate, and has impressions of the bodies of the nails.
My third improvement is applicable to moulds for nails having flat heads.
In carrying this part of my Invention into effect, I take a plate on which are
affixed the pattern nails, the said nails being placed with the top or flat parts
of the heads upon the plate, the nails being perpendicular to the plate. One
side of the mould is formed upon the side of the plate carrying the pattern
nails, the other side of the mould is a flat surface. The last described method
may be modified as follows:-Instead of a single plate two plates may be
employed, the pattern nail being fixed on the lower one, and passing through
the upper one, the projecting portion being of the form of the nail to be cast.
After moulding, the plate carrying the pattern nails is first lifted off wholly or
partially, and afterwards the second plate which held down the sand firmly
during the first withdrawal of the pattern. The moulds are made of sand
according to the ordinary method, and the gets or channels for the molten
metal are also formed according to the ordinary method.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Carron in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
14th October 1858.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CARRON, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Machinist, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventeenth day of April, 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 William Carron, Her special licence that I, the said William
Carron, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the

page_text: said William Carron, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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
CONSTRUCTING MOULDS FOR CASTING NAILS, SPIKES, AND BOLTS," upon the con-
dition (amongst others) that I, the said William Carron, 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 Carron, 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, that is to say :-
My Invention consists of the methods herein-after described and illustrated
in the accompanying Drawings of constructing moulds for casting nails, spikes,
and bolts.
My first improvement is particularly applicable to moulds for casting large
nails. This part of my Invention is illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the
accompanying Drawings, Figure 1 representing a plan of a mould constructed
according to this part of my Invention; and Figure 2 representing longitu-
dinal and transverse sections of a portion of the same taken through the lines
b and c respectively of Figure 1.
In carrying this part of my Invention into effect, I take a plate of metal
or other suitable substance marked a, on one side of which plate a are placed
a series of pattern nails d, nearly of the form of the nails to be cast in the
moulds, that is to say, the said patterns have a form such as would be pro-
duced by laying a nail, of the kind to be cast, flat upon the said plate a, so
much of the head of the nail being removed from one side as will permit the
body of the nail to lie flat upon the said plate a. The form of the pattern
nails d will be understood by an examination of Figures 1 and 2. On the
other side of the plate a is a series of patterns of the form of those portions.
of the head cut away from the patterns d; these head patterns are marked e
in Figure 2; the said patterns e are situated exactly opposite to those parts of
the patterns d, from which portions of the heads have been cut away; that is
to say, the portions e joined on to the imperfect head of the patterns & will

page_text: make the heads of the said patterns d complete. I form one side of a mould
of sand upon the upper side of the plate a, and I form another side of a
mould on the other side of the plate a, and when the two sides of the mould
thus formed upon opposite sides of the plate a are brought together, they form
a mould proper for casting nails similar to the pattern nails d, but with perfect
heads.
Instead of placing the patterns d and e upon opposite sides of the plate a,
the said patterns d and ẹ may be fixed upon separate plates, and the sides of
the moulds moulded upon the separate plates, instead of being moulded on
opposite sides of the same plate.
Instead of placing the whole of the pattern nail, excepting a portion of its
head, on one side of the plate a, and a portion of the head on the other side,
I sometimes divide each pattern nail in a plane passing along the axis of the
said nail, as represented in Figure 2 A, and place the halves of the nails
opposite to each other on the two sides of the plate a. The two sides of the
mould are then made from the two sides of the said plate.
Instead of affixing the two halves of the nail on opposite sides of one plate,
two plates may be employed, as in the case last described. The get by which
the molten metal is supplied to the moulds is marked f, in Figure 1.
My second improvement is applicable to moulds for casting nails, having
mushroom heads, or heads other than flat heads.
In carrying this part of my Invention into effect, I proceed as follows:-
I take a plate, shown in section, and marked g in Figure 3, the said plate g
having a series of holes through which pattern nails are passed up to their
heads, or in which a series of shanks of nails marked h are fixed, as shown in
Figure 3. When I pass nails to their heads through the holes in the plate g,
Figure 3, I take a mould in sand from one side of the plate g, so as to obtain
impressions of the shanks of the nails, and I take a mould from the under side
of the plate g, thereby obtaining an impression of the heads of the nails, and
when the two moulds or mould sides thus made are brought together, they
constitute a mould suitable for casting nails similar to the pattern nails,
excepting that the nails cast in the said mould will be shorter than the pattern
nails by the thickness of the plate g. I prefer, however, in carrying this part
of my Invention into effect, to use two plates, one marked g carrying the
pattern shanks, as shown in the section, Figure 3, and another marked i,
carrying the pattern heads, as shewn in the section, Figure 4, and to take the
two sides of the mould from the two plates g and i respectively.
In applying this part of my Invention to nails having hollow mushroom
heads, I employ patterns and plates having the form represented in section in

page_text: Figures 5 and 6. The plate k, Figure 5, carrying the shanks / has concave
depressions m around the shanks 1, and the plate n, Figure 6, carrying the
pattern heads has convex projections o, as represented. I form one side of
the mould on the plate k, and the other side of the mould on the plate n.
The two sides of the mould formed upon the plates k and n are represented
brought together in their proper relative positions in the section Figure 7, in
which said Figure the cavities of the mould are marked o². The gets or
channels by which the molten metal is conveyed to the cavities o³ are marked p.
The nails cast in the moulds are readily detached from the waste metal cast
in the gets p by being broken off at the angles q.
My third improvement is applicable to moulds for casting nails having flat
heads. In carrying this part of my Invention into effect, I take a plate on
which are affixed the pattern nails, the said nails being placed with the tops
or flat parts of the heads upon the plate, the nails being perpendicular to the
plate. Figure 8 represents in plan a pattern plate, made according to this
part of my Invention; Figure 9 represents the same in longitudinal section,
and Figure 10 represents the same in transverse section. The plate is
marked r, the pattern nails s, and the gets tin the several Figures 8, 9, and
10. I form one side of a mould upon the plate r, the other side of the mould
being a flat surface. Instead of forming one side of the mould upon a flat
plate, I sometimes use a plate of the kind represented in plan in Figure 11,
and in section in Figure 12, and marked x, that is to say, a plate having a
series of slight depressions u formed therein, corresponding or nearly corre-
sponding to the size of the heads of the pattern nails.
Where it is wished to ornament the tops of the heads, ornaments w may be
formed on the plate x, as shown in Figure 11. I make a series of grooves y
on the plate a, the said grooves forming in the mould side made upon the
plate xa series of fine ribs on the edges of the gets, from which said ribs the
nails cast in the mould are more easily detached than if they were cast directly
in the gets themselves. Figure 13 represents in transverse section the
two sides of a mould formed according to this part of my Invention; the
said two sides are marked z and I respectively. The cavities in which the
nails are cast are marked 2, and the gets are marked 3. Figure 14 repre-
sents an end elevation of the casting boxes; Figure 15 represents one of the
said casting boxes in plan, and Figure 16 represents a longitudinal section of
the same.
The last described method may be modified as follows:-Instead
of a single plate r, Figures 8, 9, and 10, two parallel plates may be employed,
the pattern nail being fixed on the lower one and passing through the upper
one, the portion of the pattern nail projecting above the upper plate being of

page_text: the form of the nail to be cast. After moulding a mould side upon the said
plates, instead of removing both plates at the same time from the mould side,
I depress the upper plate first, that is to say, the one carrying the pattern
nails, the under plate remaining on the uprights of the machine hereinafter
next described and represented in Figure 17 of the Drawings, and holding
the sand firmly in its place during the withdrawal of the pattern nails. A
double plate may also be employed in a similar manner instead of the single
plate g, Figure 3.
Figure 17 represents in side elevation the machine herein-before referred
to, and which I employ for separating the pattern plate and mould side. The
pattern plate 4 is supported on the platform 5, which is capable of a rising
and falling motion. The mould frame is supported on the uprights 6, and
the pattern plate 4 is raised to the same level as the tops of the uprights 6;
the mould side is then moulded upon the pattern plate 4, and the said pattern
plate depressed and separated from the mould side by the depression of the
platform 5. The motion of the platform 5 is thus effected:-7 is an axis
carrying a disc 8, the said disc is connected with the platform 5 by means of
the connecting rod 9. An arm or lever 10 fixed on the axis 7 enables the
workman to give a partial rotation to the disc 8, and thereby to raise or lower
the platform 5.
In the description herein given of the manner of carrying my Invention
into effect, I have not thought it necessary to describe such particulars relative
to the making of moulds for casting nails, spikes, and bolts, as are well
known and commonly practised, excepting so far as is necessary to make my
Invention intelligible; but I believe a workman acquainted with the ordinary
methods of making moulds will fully understand my Invention by the descrip-
tion herein-before given, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings..
Although for convenience of description I have described only the con-
struction of moulds for making nails, yet my Invention is equally applicable
to the construction of moulds for casting spikes and bolts; but as spikes and
bolts differ from nails only in size and slightly in form, and as the moulds for
casting them are made in precisely the same way as those for casting nails,
I do not think further details necessary.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim as my Invention,―
Firstly, the method herein-before described, and represented in Figures 1, 2,

page_text: and 2 A of the accompanying Drawings, of constructing moulds for casting
nails, spikes, and bolts, that is to say, constructing the said moulds by
moulding the two sides of the mould upon the opposite sides of a pattern
plate, the said pattern plate being made by having a portion of the pattern
nail, spike, or bolt on one side, and the other portion of the pattern nail,
spike, or bolt on the other side, or using two pattern plates, having the two
portions of the nail, spike, or bolt fixed thereon respectively, the said portions
of the pattern nail, spike, or bolt being such as would be produced by
dividing a nail, spike, or bolt in a plane in the axis of the nail, spike, or bolt,
or parallel to the axis of the nail, spike, or bolt, as herein-before described.
Secondly, the method herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 3,
4, 5, 6, and 7 of the accompanying Drawings, of constructing moulds for
casting nails, spikes, and bolts, that is to say, constructing the said moulds by
passing the pattern nails, spikes, or bolts through holes in a plate, and
moulding the two sides of the mould upon the two sides of the. said plate, or
fixing the shanks of the nails, spikes, or bolts on one plate and the heads on
another plate, and moulding the two sides of the mould on the said plates,
the shanks of the nails, spikes, and bolts in this part of my Invention being
perpendicular to the surface of the plate through which they are passed or to
which they are attached, as herein-before described and illustrated.
Thirdly, the method of constructing moulds for casting nails, spikes, and
bolts herein-before described, and illustrated in Figures 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13,
14, 15, and 16 of the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, constructing
moulds for casting nails, spikes, and bolts having flat or nearly flat heads by
moulding one side of the mould upon a pattern plate made by attaching the
pattern nail, spike, or bolt perpendicular to a flat plate, the flat part of the
head being placed upon the said plate, whether the other side of the mould
be made upon a flat plate or a nearly flat plate, plain or ornamented, as
described and illustrated.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Carron, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight.
Witness,
GEORGE SHAW.
WILLIAM CARRON. (L.S.)