AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING RAILWAY WHEELS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CAST STEEL
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughts-
man, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR
CASTING RAILWAY WHEELS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CAST STEEL."-A
communication from abroad by John Blake Tarr, of Chicago, in the State
of Illinois. United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 7th April 1866. ...
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby
declare the nature, of the said, Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
APPARATUS FOR CASTING RAILWAY WHEELS AND OTHER ARTICLES OF CAST STEEL,"
to be as follows:-
The object of this Invention is to produce articles of cast steel by subjecting
this metal while it is in a liquid state in moulds to considerable pressure for

page_text: the purpose of expelling the air and rendering the steel more dense than it
would otherwise be and free from blisters or other imperfections. In illustra-
tion of the mode of attaining the objects of this Invention I will describe the
construction and operation of a machine adapted to produce railway wheels
of cast steel, but it is not contemplated to confine the Invention to the
casting of wheels or parts of wheels, as other articles or objects can be
produced by modifying the forms of the moulds without changing the principle
of the Invention. The machine is in substance a moulding press, the base
plate of which forms the lower section of the mould within which the wheel is
cast. Over this is placed a ring which forms the vertical section of the mould
and produces the circumference or tread of the wheel and also a portion of the
flange. This ring is fitted within a recess formed in the upper face of the bed
plate, and it is capable of being held firmly thereto by hooked screws fitted to
the bed plate, or of being connected with the upper part of the mould by
means of similar hooked screws fitted to the ring. The outer surface of the
wheel is formed by an upper or top plate, which constitutes with the ring and
base plate a closed chamber or mould, within which the wheel is cast. The
centre hole of the wheel is produced by means of a conical core which fits into
central holes in the top and bottom plates of the mould. The top plate is
cast with three or more vertical projections, which are tapped to receive screw
rods. These rods have their bearings in the cross head of the press, and keyed
to their upper ends are spur wheels, which gear into a central spur wheel
carried by a loose stud axle having its bearing also in the cross head of the
press. By giving rotary motion to this axle a simultaneous motion is given
to all the spur wheels, which through their screw rods serve to raise or depress
the top plate of the mould, the action of which is similar to the follower of a
press. Three or more ingates are made through the top plate, and at the
upper and smallest ends of these ingates flaring holes are made through
dovetail slides, which latter are used after the metal has been poured into the
moulds for cutting off the upper ends of the sprues. The ingates are made
flaring for the purpose of allowing the cast wheel to be freed from the
top plate after the operation of casting or pouring the liquid steel into the
mould. Directly beneath each one of the ingates a hole is made through the
base plate for the reception of a block of plumbago or other refractory
substance, beneath which is a thumbscrew for adjusting the block and
keeping its exposed surface always flush with the surface of the mould
section.
Before commencing the operation of casting it is desirable to cover the
cutire surfaces of the sections of the moulds inside with soot to prevent the

page_text: metal from burning the moulds and adhering to their surfaces.. When
sections of the mould are adjusted in their proper positions, and the central
core is inserted from beneath the base plate, the liquid steel is poured into
the mould through the three ingates until the mould is full; the slides are
then immediately moved over the ingates, so as to cut off the upper ends of
the sprues and to close the openings. The central shaft is then rotated so as
to depress the top plate with a steady and powerful pressure upon the liquid
metal in the mould, whereby the air and gaseous carbon will be expelled from
the steel through suitable apertures which are made in the mould sections
for the purpose, and at the same time compress the steel so as to render it
more dense. After the pressure has been removed, which is done after the
casting has "set," the top plate is elevated a sufficient distance to free it from
the wheel. It is then depressed again and the ring is connected thereto by
the hooked screws (it being at the same time released from the holding-down
hooks) so as to release the ring section; this done the top plate is again
elevated, and with it the ring. The core is then driven out and the cast steel
wheel is free to be removed from the mould.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Alfred Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 6th October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special licence that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR CASTING RAILWAY WHEELS

page_text: AND
being a communication to me
OTHER ARTICLES OF CAST STEEL,"
from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, 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 Drawing hereunto annexed,
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The object of this Invention is to produce articles of cast steel by subjecting
this metal while it is in a liquid state in moulds to considerable pressure for
the purpose of expelling the air and rendering the steel more dense than it
would otherwise be and free from blisters or other imperfections. In illustra-
tion of the mode of attaining the objects of this Invention I will describe the
construction and operation of a machine adapted to produce railroad carriage
wheels of cast steel, but it is not contemplated to confine the Invention to the
casting of wheels or parts of wheels, as other articles or objects can be produced
by modifying the forms of the moulds without changing the principle of the
Invention.
In the accompanying Drawing Fig. 1 is a plan view of the machine
adapted for casting railroad carriage wheels; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the
machine; Fig. 8 is a vertical section through the machine, showing the several
parts or sections of the mould in position for allowing the cast wheel to be
removed from the machine, and Fig. 4 is a vertical section showing the
several parts of the mould in position for receiving the metal. Similar
letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several Figures.
The mould is composed of three parts or sections. A represents the base
plate of the machine, and constitutes the lower section of the mould, within
which the wheel A¹ is cast; B represents a ring which produces the circum
ference or tread of the wheel, and also a portion of the flange thereof. This
ring forms the vertical section of the mould, and it is fitted within a recess
formed in the upper face of the horizontal section or bed plate A, as shown in
Figures 3 and 4. C represents the upper section of the mould, which produces
the contour of the outer surface of the wheel, and forms in conjunction with
the ring B and base plate section A a chamber or mould, within which the

page_text: have
wheel is cast. The centre hole of the wheel A' is produced by means of a
conical core D, which is driven through the central holes made in the plates
A and C, the larger end of the core being down, as shown in Figures 2 and
4. The section C of the mould. is cast with three or more elevations a, a, a,
projecting perpendicularly from its upper surface, which portions have female
screw threads formed'in them for receiving the vertical screw rods b, b. These
rods have spur wheels c, c, c, keyed on their upper: ends, as shewn on the
Drawing. Circular enlargements or shoulders 6',' 61, 61, are formed on the
rods near their upper ends, so as to press against a cross head E, and
resist any upward movement of the screw rods. The spur wheels c, c, c,
hubs or collars c', 'c', c', formed on them which afford a bearing upon the cross
liead E for each screw shaft. There is a central shaft F which has its bearing
in the cross head E; and which is the driving shaft for turning the screw rods b;
it being fitted with a spur wheel d which engages with the three spur wheels c, c, c;
and thus rotates the screws simultaneously when it is desired to move the mould
section C up or down. The cross head E is supported and held down by means of
three upright posts G, G; G, which are firmly secured to the bed plate. A and
the cross head E, as shown in the Drawing. Two or more hooked screws 9, 9,
which fitted into tapped sockets in the base plate A, A, at suitable points
are used for holding down the ring section B, and similar hooks h, h, are
fitted to the ring section B for the purpose of allowing this ring to be lifted
up by means of the section C, as shown in Fig. 3. This section. B is thus
elevated for the purpose of removing the wheel A'. Three or more ingates
e, e, e, are made through the upper section C for the discharge of the molten
metal into the mould, and at the upper and smallest ends of these ingates
flaring holes are made through dovetail slides f, f, f, which latter are used
after the metal has been poured into the moulds for cutting off the upper' ends
of the sprues." The ingates e are made flaring for the purpose of allowing
the cast wheel A¹ to be freed from the section C after the operation of casting
or pouring the liquid steel into the mould, as will be herein-after described:
Directly beneath each one of the ingates e a hole is made through the base
plate A for the reception of a block i of plumbago, beneath which is a set
screw for adjusting the block and keeping its exposed surface always flush
with the surface of the mould section A, as shown in Fig. 3 and 4. Any
other refractory substance may be used instead of the plumbago which will
answer as well to prevent the liquid steel from melting the surface of the
section A and adhering to it at the points below the ingates.
Before commencing the operation of casting it is desirable to cover the entire
surfaces of the sections of the moulds inside with soot to prevent the metal

page_text: from burning the moulds and adhering to their surfaces. When the sections of
the mould are adjusted in their proper positions, as shown in Figures 2 and
4, and the central core D is inserted from beneath the base plate A through
this plate and the upper plate C the liquid steel is poured into the mould
through the three ingates until the mould is full; the slides f, f. f, are then
immediately moved over the ingates so as to cut off the upper ends of the
sprues s, s, and to close the openings. The main shaft F is next rotated so as
to depress the plate C with a steady and powerful pressure upon the liquid
metal in the mould. This pressing operation will expel the air and gaseous
carbon from the steel through suitable apertures which are made in the mould
sections for the purpose, and at the same time compress the steel so as to
increase its density. When the casting has "set" the pressure is removed and
the plate C is elevated a sufficient distance to free it from the wheel. The
plate C is then depressed again and the hooks h, h, are turned over it, the
hooks 9, 9, being at the same time turned outward so as to release the ring
section B. This done the shaft F is again rotated so as to elevate the plate C
and with it the ring B, as shown in Fig. 3. The core D is then driven
down and the cast steel carriage wheel is free to be removed from the mould
section A. It will be seen that the upper section C of the mould in which
the casting is made forms the follower of a press for condensing the steel
and expelling from it gas and air while the metal is in a liquid state.
Wheels or other articles thus produced of steel will possess superior strength
and toughness, and the castings can be made very rapidly and with great
perfection.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "An Improved
Mode of and Apparatus for Casting Railway Wheels and other Articles
of Cast Steel," as communicated to me from abroad, I wish it to bo
understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First, subjecting the cast steel while in a liquid state and within the mould
which is to give the desired form to such a degree of pressure as will cause the
expulsion of air and gas from it and render it more solid, by means substantially
as described.
Second, constructing the bottom of the mould at those points which
are directly under the ingates of adjustable blocks of plumbago or other
analogous refractory substance, substantially in the manner and for the purpose
described.
Third, the manner substantially as herein described of constructing the ingates
with cutters on them when said ingates are applied and operated as described
for the purpose set forth.

page_text: Fourth, the use of adjusting screws in conjunction with the mould
sections A, B, C, and the hooks g, h, or their equivalents, substantially as
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, the Third day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
Witness,
J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
A. V. NEWTON. (Ls.)