Improvements in Apparatus and Method for Casting and Conveying Metal from Furnaces.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 16th Nov., 1896
Improvements in Apparatus and Method for Casting and Conveying
Metal from Furnaces.
I, EDWARD A. UEHLING, of 214, North 5th Street, Newark, in the County of
Essex, and State of New Jersey, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:—
In the casting and handling of pig-iron as now generally practiced, the iron
is run into open sand-molds called "pigs." In this operation the iron runs
direct from the furnace into a long sand-runner from which side-runners are
led off called "sows" which feed the "pigs." The "sows" are cut off from
the main runner as the pig-beds fill up but the "pigs" must be detached from
the " SOWS "and the latter broken into proper lengths for handling after
the
iron has set. This breaking off is done either while the iron is still red-hot in
the beds making it an exceedingly hard task or the iron is left to cool in which
case heavy bars or sledge hammers are required to break the "pigs" off the sow,
and then break the latter into proper lengths. After this breaking water is
sprayed over the iron and when it has sufficiently cooled is gathered, loaded on
trams and taken to the yard where it is piled. The scrap is then gathered from
the beds and the sand is wet down and molded up for another cast. These
operations must be repeated from four to six times a day to take care of the
product of a modern blast furnace and they depend almost entirely upon the
brute force and physical endurance of the operators. The product is rough and
irregular and the operation is very wasteful producing large quantities of serap
which must be reinelted and carries much sand with the iron which reduces
the value of the iron. Moreover this method of running the iron from the
furnace into the sand is under very poor control. It sometimes runs so slowly
that the iron chills in the long-runner before it reaches the lower "pig-beds."
At other times the running of the iron is with such a rush that the cores which
forin the partitions between the pig molds are washed away and the beds sheeted.
In either case the iron must be taken up from the sand beds and remelted to
make it marketable besides the expense of having to break it up and remove
it from the beds.
The method above stated has also the disadvantage that the iron as it runs
from the furnace is frequently of varying quality and it is of common occurrence
that several grades of iron are run from the furnace at the same cast. In this
it not infrequently happens that a portion of the "cast is deficient in those
"

page_text: elements which are necessary to constitute good cast iron, as for example, silicon
and graphitic carbon; while another portion has an excess of these elements.
In either case the iron has less value than it would have if the elements were
properly mixed.
In addition to all this, much difficulty is often experienced in keeping the
slag from running with and contaminating the iron as well as preventing some
of the iron from being wasted with the slag.
To avoid the disadvantages and difficulties above stated and to reduce the cost
of the production and improve the quality of the product is the object of my
invention, and which embraces a novel construction of plant in which the metal
is run from the furnace into a large reservoir so mounte! that it can be brought
in communication with a series of inovable molds and its contents can be poared
into the latter in a continuous and perfectly controlled stream, forming pigs of
uniform size which solidify on their way to the dumping end where they are
mutomatically delivered into a car or other suitable conveyance.
Tron as inpped from a blast furnace when working in good condition is highly
suplanted and when run direct from the furnace through a short runner into
a-upply reservoir of large capacity will retain its fluidity for several hour. In
the employment of such reservoir there is therefore, time and opportunity not
only to thoroughly mix the contents of the reservoir, but also to sample the
same, and if desirable treat the iron in any manner that may seem expedient to
improve its quality or change its charmeter before tapping it into molis,
In the accompanying drawings I have illustrates an irou casting plant
embelying all the features of improvement which constitute my invention. These
improvements in apparatus me not however all necessarily connected or com-
bined in this way.
In these drawings, Figure 1 represents in side elevation a metal casting and
conveying plant embodying my invention. Figure 2 is a top view or plan of
the same. Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing the construction and
relation of the molds to each other and a portion of the endless truck-carrier
for the molds. Figure shows in enlarged transverse section the inold-carriers
and their supporting frame. Figure shows the mold-carrier and one of its
guide-drums in section.
In these drawings 1 have shown a plant of machinery whereby my invention
may be carried into effect and wherein the furnace A in which the charge of iron
is inelted, is shown in connection with a comparatively short iron-runway by
which the charge is conveyed to and delivered into a reservoir 1) wherein it is
mixed and from which the metal is poured in a continuous stream into a spout E
which leads into the molds F of a continuously travelling endless-carrier, the
molds whereof are constructed to operate as an endless travelling casting plat-
form and while in motion are coated with a refractory material. The reservoir
and the endless emrier of molds are of such construction and co-relation and
are operated in such instner that the separate molds will be evenly filled and
the operation of casting rendered continuous for the charge collected in the
reservoir.
The runway is provided with suitable controlling gates B and the reservoir
into which the runway leads is suitably mounted to deliver the molten iron
into the spout E which has a fixed relation to the receiving end of the mold
carrier, while at the other end of the latter the pigs are dropped into a
or suitable convevor to be carried where desired.
Car G
The reservoir is mounted on a plane Lelow the iron-runway and the endless
mold-enrrier by means of wheels is mounted below the spout upon rails, so that
the molds will travel under and past the end of the spout.
The carrier for the molds is constructed of links Q the ends of which are con-
meeted in endless relation by axles the ends of which have loose flanged wheels. ()
running on rails R outside of the links. The rails are secured in a supporting
structure so that the flanged wheels will be supported alike at the upper and

page_text: at the under travelling sides of the endless mold-carrier while the carrier is main.
tained in position upon the supporting structure by a suitable drum mounted
in each end of the structure.
The respective drum shafts at the delivery ends of the mold carriers are con-
nected by suitable mechanism with an engine L by which either or both of the
carriers can be operated as may be required.
The molds or buckets are of a size and shape suitable for forming the pigs and
they are fixed by means of lugs F on their bottom sides to the links so that
each mold is caused to turn over at the end of the carrier to deliver the pig and
to bring the upper side of the mold down in its travel back to the spout where
the open side of the mold is again turned uppermost to be again filled.
One side of each mold is extended so as to form an upward curved lip f, adapted
to overhang the side of the contiguous mold, so as to form a lapping guard or
shield over the space between the molds and thereby prevent the metal as it
is poured from the spout from falling between the molds. This function of the
lapping lip is brought into action as the open sides of the molds turn up to
receive the metal poured from the spout and as the molds so turn up the lip
stands toward the spout and over the side of the contiguous mold. This is very
important because the flow of the metal from the spout and the travel of the
mold carrier are both made continuous.
To make the pig of convenient size without decreasing the capacity of the
molds prefer to make them of a length twice that of the "pig-bar" and divide
the mold by a transverse rib or partition F2 seen in Fig. 4 such partition however
preferably only partially dividing the pig-bar so that it will be freely dumped
RS a single bar from the mold and afterwards broken apart, thus giving the
advantage of molding two "pigs" in the same travelling mold at the same time.
The reservoir is of comparatively large size and for iron may vary between 40
and 50 tons capacity I prefe
Such as will be sufficient to contain a full
cast of the furnace it is designed to serve.
The large capacity is important for the purpose of carrying out my invention
to the best advantage because large quantities of molten metal will insure a
more uniform mixture and will also retain its fluidity a longer time, so that the
metal inny be tested, thoroughly mixed, and if desirable otherwise treated before
pouring into the inolds. The reservoirs are provided with approved mechanism
by which the flow of the metal into the molds is kept under perfect control of
the operator. Since the speed with which the empty molds are brought under
the stream of metal flowing from the reservoir is also under perfect control, the
combination of the reservoir with the furnace and the molds secures not only a
uniform quality of metal but also a uniform size of pigs and avoids all loss in
scrap. The length of the mold carrier must be such that the metal shall have
time to solidify before it reaches the end where the pigs are dumped and depends
upon the temperature of fusion and the specific heat of the metal for which the
plant is designed, lead requiring a much shorter mold carrier than iron. It
further depends upon the speed with which the metal is poured. For iron
poured at a moderate speed, fifty feet may be considered the minimun safe length.
It is also important to prevent the molten metal from "freezing" or sticking
fast to the molds and for this purpose I provide for applying to the empty
molds while they are travelling back a film or conting of refractory material to
which the metal will not adhere.
For iron to be used in pudel'ng or steel furnaces where a chilled iron is an
advantage, a film or coating of fire clay answers the purpose, but for irons to
be used in castings more especially such as require machining, a film or coating
of fire clay is inadmissible, and a coating of carbonaceous material, preferably of
graphite, inust be used and which at the same time will serve to improve the
quality of the iron.
Loam or clay and especially fire clay are the materials mostly used for coating
molds to prevent the hot metal from sticking to and destroying the molds.

page_text: Carbonaceous material and especially graphite are much more expensive and are
employed only when, in addition to preventing the iron from sticking in the
molds, to also prevent the chilling effect of the iron on the molds.
For automatically applying such film arrange beneath the lower empty side
of the carrier a reservoir V preferably with upwardly-inclining sides and forming
a dash-board for containing a supply of the material with which the molds are
to be coated and which is in liquid form, the coating substance being mixed
with water to such a consistency that it will impart to the molds a film or conting
of the required thickness. At the reservoir is placed a suitable pump 1 in
J which are
communication with the reservoir and having hose connections
provided with spraying nozzles, which are controlled by an operator who occupies
in position beneath the carrier and constantly directs the spray into the molds
on their return movement after having dumped the pigs. As the fluid is sprayed
upon the walls of the molds during their return movement to again receive the
metal, the surplus fluid will run from the inolds down into the reservoir to be
again injected into the molis,
It is important to notice that as the conting fluid is projected upward by fores
from the nozzle, the provision of the reservoir dash-board serves to catch the
splashing fluid, and for this purpose the dash-board extends up in close proximity
to the underside of the molds and preferably in a direction toward the dumping
end of the inold-carrier so that as the fluid is thrown into the mold the splashing
back will be collected by the dash-hoard.
While the lower empty molds are being thus coated to prevent the iron stick-
ing to them, the heat from the upper filled molds will, by radiation so greatly
increase the heat of the lower empty molds, as to dry the coating thoroughly
before the molds reach the point where they are again filled with the molten
metal. As this spraying of the coating substance is under free control of an
operator in manipulating a spraying nozzle the coating of the molds is made
uniform and easily effected.
This method of coating the molds on the lower side of the carrier while on its
upper side the carrier inolds are both being filled and emptied occasions no delay
in the casting operation.
My invention can be carried out with one fixed reservoir and one moll-carrier
for each furunce but in practice 1 prefer to have duplicate mold-carriers and
reservoirs and prefer to have the latter mounted on trucks running on rails as
shown, so that either reservoir may be placed in communication with either
mold-carrier. When two or more furnaces of the same plant are equipped with
my invention the reservoirs are interchangeable and also the metal from one
furnace can he transported in the reservoir of one furnace to and poured into
the molds of another furnace by which delays which might result from necident
to any part of the easting plant are avoided. The mold-carriers are not necessarily
placed in close proximity to the furnace the metal from which they are to
receive, but in plants consisting of several furnaces are preferable in a centrally
located casting house and the time of "casting the furnaces may be so timed
that one will follow the other, thus making the operation of pouring the metal
almost continuous and giving the advantage that one crew will be able to do
the pouring of all the furnaces instead of having a crew for each furnace.
זי
Moreover, in such plant the equipment necessary for one furnace will answer
for two or more.
In the operation the furnace is tapped and the slag is separated in the usual
way and the iron is run into the reservoir wherein it is thoroughly mixed by
rabbling or by other means treated to improve its quality or make it more suitable
for a special purpose.
After the reservoir containing the metal to be poured has been brought into
proper position for delivering its contents into the spout E and the mold-carrier
set in motion by an engine the reservoir is tilted or tapped and the iron poured
into the spout from which it runs into the molds which turn upward at the end

page_text: of the carrier just under the delivery end of the spout and are filled as they
move outwardly in the way stated and deliver the pigs at the end of the carrier.
While the casting operation is thus effected on the upper side of the endless
mold-carrier the operation of coating the empty molds on the under side of the
carrier is simultaneously effected from beneath the endless carrier. To obtain
the best results in coating the molds the spraying of the coating material into
the molds is made in a direction opposite to the travel of the molds, but it is
obvious that the direction of the spray may be in the same direction as the travel
of the empty molds.
To effect the speedy drying of the coating in the molds, the return lower side
of the carrier should travel as near as practicable to the upper casting side of
the carrier to get the best effect of the radiated heat therefrom upon the bottoms
of the coated molds. The carrier forms a continuous revolving truck for the
molds and to prevent the undue heating of the axles from the metal in the molds
I provide the axles with sleeves P of some suitable material.
I prefer that the flanged wheels shall be made to revolve and not the axles.
It is important that the molds shall have a fixed relation to the links of the
endless carrier and that they shall be so fixed between the axles of their rolling
supports because by such construction the molds are inverted to discharge the
pigs, such inversion being effected by the passing of the rolling supports over
the guide-drun of the driving gear and which guide-drum also operates the carrier
by its connected gearing. In Fig. 2 the engines and the gearing which connects
thein to the endless mold-carriers is shown as being loented between
the mold-carriers and such gearing consists of IL цент ll, ou the
guide-drum of each carrier, which respectively engage a pinion b, on a shift c
which has a gear c, which engages a pinion f, on a double crank-shaft 7, which
at each end connects with the engine. Suitable clutch devices h control the con-
nection of the engines with the independent mobarriers.
As a means of hastening the cooling of the metal in the moids, mater may be
sprayed thereon from sprinklers suitably arranged above the molds, as shown
in Fig. 1.
W is the reservoir for collecting the slag.
It is to be understood that changes in the form, proportions and manner of
details of construction as are embraced in the terms of the claims may be resorted
to without departing from the principle or sacrificing any of the advantages of
this invention.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is :-
1. The hereindescribed method of casting pig metal which consists in collecting
the metal from the furnace in a reservoir, bringing said reservoir into communica-
tion with an endless connected series of molds, pouring the metal from the reser-
voir in a controllable continuous stream into said molds, and moving the latter
continuously at such a speed that they will be uniformly filled, automatically
and continuously deliver the pigs at the opposite end and continuously injecting
refractory material into the empty molds as they return to be refilled with molten
metal.
2. In the manufacture of pig iron, the combination with an endless travelling
connected series of molds, a reservoir for continuously supplying the said travelling
nolds with molten metal, of forcing mechanism in communication with a reser-
voir containing a refractory liquid substance and suitable means connecting
aid forcing mechanisin with refractory liquid for injecting the liquid in a spray
nto the empty inolds for the purpose stated.
3. In the manufacture of pig iron, the combination with an endless travelling
connected series of mohis, a reservoir and a spout for continuously supplying th
aid travelling mold, with molten metal and a reservoir for containing a refractor

page_text: liquid substance having a dash-board incline upward in close proximity to the
inolds, of spraying mechanism in communication with said refractory substance
arranged to inject the fluid into the empty molds above the dash-board.
4. In the manufacture of pig iron, the combination with an endless connected
series of molds, means for supplying them with molten metal, a reservoir for
containing a liquid refractory substance for conting the molds, a pump in com-
munication with said liquid, a ho-e and a spray-nozzle connecting said pump,
and means for operating said mold in a circuit, for the purpose stated.
5. The combination in a metal casting plant, of a reservoir for receiving the
molten metal from the furnace, an endless connected series of molds, a spout
connecting the reservoir and series of molds, mechanism for projecting in spray
a conting of refractory sub-tance into the empty molds and suitable means for
operating the molds in a circuit.
6. A plant for the manufacture of pig-iron consisting of a furnace for smelting
ores, a series of endless connected molds in parallel relation, a reservoir for
supplying each connected set of molds, engine for driving either set of molds
separately or both together, mechanism for spraying the empty molds with a
refractory substance, and a divided spout having independent cut-offs for direct-
ing the molten metal from the furnace to either or both of the reservoirs, sub-
stantially as described.
7. For casting pig iron a plant having arranged side by side two or more
independent series of connected molds forming enddle casting platforms, the
molds whereof have their contiguous edges overlapping and are mounted upon
Tolling supports, fixed ways for such supports, a spout at one end of each set
of inolds a blast furnace and reservoirs communicating between the mold cartiers
and blast furnace, a driving mechanism in connection with each set of molds,
an engine and mechanism for connecting it to the driving gear of the said set
of molds, a reservoir for containing a mixture of refractory material and spraying
devices for the refractory material for operation sub-tantially as described.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.