IM- PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CASTING IRON
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough
Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IM-
PROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CASTING IRON."-A communication from
abroad by James Abercrombie Burden, of Troy, in the State of New
York, United States of America.
Scaled the 13th July 1869, and dated the 22nd May 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 22nd May 1869.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in
the County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CASTING IRON," to be as
follows:-
The invention which constitutes the subject matter of this Patent
relates to the manufacture of pig blooms, which are blooms composed of
cast iron intercolated with layers of fine iron ore (or other suitable
material) in the process of casting. Previous to this Invention such

page_text: blooms have been cast in moulds formed by applying detached iron
plates to a revolving turntable. After the casting the whole set of
moulds are pulled apart to get out the blooms, and consequently the
detached plates forming the moulds have to be set up at every operation.
As the resetting of the plates has to be done by hand the operation
requires much labor.
The object of the first part of this Invention is to save labor, and to
enable the pig blooms to be discharged by the use of machinery operated
by power. To this end the said first part of the Invention consists of the
combination of a spout for delivering the molten iron with a series of
removeable box moulds by means of a traversing mechanism, consisting
of a revolving table or chain, or some equivalent or substitute therefore
which operates to traverse the series of box moulds in succession beneath
the spout, so that each box mould in succession can receive a portion of
the molten iron. When the box moulds are filled ench may be removed
separately and successively by a crane, and reversed so as to drop out its
contents, and may then be immediately replaced by the crane in its
position upon the traversing mechanism. This part of the Invention
consists further of the combination of each box mould with a bridge
suitable for covering the crevice between it and the adjacent box mould,
so that the molten iron cannot enter said crevice.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to ensure an equable
combination of the materials of the pig blooms. Previous to this Inven-
tion it has been customary to deliver the ground ore or other pulveru-
lent material upon the layers of iron in the moulds by means of a spout
or shoe, which delivers the material at a substantially uniform speed.
On the other hand the speed at which the series of moulds is caused to
traverse is frequently varied during casting to suit the speed with which
the molten metal flows from the furnace. Hence when the moulds are
traversed rapidly each receives too small a quantity of the pulverulent
material for the quantity of iron, and when the moulds are traversed
slowly each receives too large a quantity of material for the quantity of
iron, and consequently the constitution of the pig blooms produced is
very irregular. The second part of this Invention is designed to obviate
the said defect, and it consists of the combination of the spout for
delivering the molten iron and the traversing series of moulds with an
apparatus for delivering the ore or other material in regulated quantities,
in such manner that the quantity of material delivered to the moulds is

page_text: regulated automatically in proportion or thereabouts to the speed with
which the moulds are traversed, the quantity delivered increasing with
an increase of said speed, and decreasing with a decrease of said speed.
This part of my Invention consists further of the combination of the said
spout traversing series of moulds and regulating apparatus with a device
for varying the relative speeds of the regulating apparatus and traversing
series of moulds, so that the constitution of the pig bloom may be varied
as found expedient.
The apparatus thus described may be greatly varied without ceasing to
embody the principle of the Invention. Thus, for example, in place of
using a turntable to combine the removeable box moulds with the spout
for the metal, it is proposed in some cases to use a reciprocating carriage
moving to and fro under the spout in a straight line, or to combine the
box moulds by links, so as to form them into a chain of box moulds
which is moved under the metal spout. The turntable or carriage may
be moved in any suitable manner, and the form and size of the box
moulds may be varied as found expedient. The distributing apparatus
also may be greatly varied, thus, for example, an elevator, such as is
used for moving grain in mills may be combined with the traversing
series of moulds, so as to deliver the mixing material from a receptacle
beneath the shoot upon that shoot in regulated quantities, or an endless
screw conveyor may be arranged to deliver said material in regulated
quantities. Moreover the second part of the Invention may be used
without the first by constructing the traversing series of moulds in the
previous mode herein-before referred to, and the first part of the Inven-
tion may be used without the second if deemed expedient.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said George Tomlinson Bonsfield in the Great Scal
Patent Office on the 20th November 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County
of Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the thirty-

page_text: second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors.
give and grant unto me, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her
special licence that L, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my exe-
cutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 MACHINERY FOR CASTING IRON," a com-
munication to me from abroad by James Abercrombie Burden, of Troy,
in the State of New York, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that 1, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 1, the snid George Tomlinson Bousfield, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say:
The Invention which constitutes the subject matter of this Patent
relates to the manufacture of pig blooms, which are blooms composed of
cast-iron intercalated with Inyers of fine iron ore (or other suitable
material) in the process of casting. Previous to this Invention such
blooms have been cast in moulds formed by applying detached iron
plates to a revolving turntable. After the casting the whole set of
moulds are pulled apart to get out the blooms, and consequently the
detached plates forming the moulds have to be set up at every operation.
As the resetting of the plates has to be done by hand the operation
requires much labor.
The object of the first part of this Invention is to save labor, and to
enable the pig blooms to be discharged by the use of machinery operated
by power. To this end the said first part of the Invention consists of
the combination of a spout for delivering the molten iron with a series of

page_text: removeable box moulds by means of a traversing mechanism, consisting
of a revolving table or chain, or some equivalent or substitute therefor
which operates to traverse the series of box moulds in succession beneath
the spout, so that each box mould in succession can receive a portion of
the molten iron. When the box moulds are filled cach may be removed
separately and successively by a crane and reversed, so as to drop out
its contents, and may then be immediately replaced by the crane in its
position upon the traversing mechanisın. This part of the Invention
consists further of the combination of each box mould with a bridge.
suitable for covering the crevice between it and the adjacent box
mould, so that the molten iron cannot enter said crevice.
The object of the second part of the Invention is to ensure an equable
combination of the materials of the pig blooms. Previous to this
Invention it has been customary to deliver the ground ore or other
pulverulent material upon the layers of iron in the moulds by means
of a spout or shoe, which delivers the material at a substantially
uniform speed. On the other hand the speed at which the series of
moulds is caused to traverse is frequently varied during casting to
suit the speed with which the molten metal flows from the furnace.
Hence when the moulds are traversed rapidly each receives too small a
quantity of the pulverulent material for the quantity of iron, and when
the moulds are traversed slowly each receives too large a quantity of
material for the quantity of iron, and consequently the constitution of
the pig blooms produced is very irregular. The second part of this
Invention is designed to obviate the said defect, and it consists of
the combination of the spout for delivering the molten iron and the
traversing series of moulds with an apparatus for delivering the ore
or other material in regulated quantities, in such mauner that the
quantity of material delivered to the moulds is regulated automatically
in proportion or thereabouts to the speed with which the moulds are
traversed, the quantity delivered increasing with an increase of said
speed, and decreasing with a decrease of said speed. This part of my
Invention consists further of the combination of the said spout
traversing series of moulds and regulating apparatus with a device
for varying the relative speeds of the regulating apparatus and
traversing series of moulds, so that the constitution of the pig bloom
may be varied as found expedient.
One mode in which the Invention has been successfully practised is

page_text: represented in the accompanying Drawings, wherein Figure i repre-
sents a plan of an apparatus embodying the Invention with a portion of
the moulds removed; Figure 2 represents a vertical section of one of the
moulds with the crane yoke applied to it; Figure 3 represents a plan of
one of the moulds detached from the turntable; Figure 4 represents
an end view of one of the moulds and crane yoke; Figure 5 represents
a central section of the apparatus with some of the moulds removed, and
Figures 6 and 7 represent enlarged views of portions of the regulating
repre-
portion of
represented in the accompanying Drawings, wherem Figure
sents a plan of an apparatus embodying the Invention with a
the moulds removed; Figure 2 represents a vertical section of one of the
moulds with the crane yoke applied to it; Figure 3 represents a plan of
one of the moulds detached from the turntable; Figure 4 represents
an end view of one of the moulds and crane yoke; Figure 5 represents
a central section of the apparatus with some of the moulds removed, and
Figures 6 and 7 represent enlarged views of portions of the regulating
apparatus.
The spout A for the delivery of the molten iron is supported at a
sufficient distance above the base of the apparatus to permit the series
of box moulds to pass beneath it. The box moulds B, B, B, each
consist of a box of cast iron, having in this example four mould
cavities a, a, a, a, for the pig blooms, and the sides of said cavities
are constructed slightly flaring so that the pig blooms will readily dis-
charge themselves when the box mould is turned upside down. In this
example the series of box moulds are combined by means of the turn-
table D upon which the whole series are supported, and as this table
is circular the box moulds are made of a wedge form so as to fit upon
and cover the surface of the turntable when the apparatus is ready for
work (as indicated by the radial lines in Figure 1.) Ench box mould
is fitted with two trunnions c, e, to which the hooks of a crane yoke E
can be applied, and in order to facilitate the turning over of the box
moulds these trunnions are arranged below the centres of the moulds,
so that when they are filled with the pig blooms they tend to upset
when suspended on the crane yoke. Each box mould is constructed
with a bridge piece m or lip, which when the moulds are set in juxta-
position bridges over the crevice between the sides of the two adjacent
moulds and prevents the molten iron from running into it. The box
moulds may be retained in their positions on the table by means of pins
projecting upwards from the table into sockets in the bottoms of the
box moulds or in any other convenient way. In order to remove the
box moulds make use of a crane yoke E having a latch at one
of its sides. This latch engages with a projection s cast at one end of
the box mould and holds the mould top side up while it is being hoisted
by the crane. When the mould has been swung by the crane over the
place where the pig blooms are to be discharged the latch is dis-
engaged and the box mould turns over and drops the blooms, afterwards

page_text: position.
In this manner each box mould in succession may be removed and
replaced by means of a crane, and thus all the pig blooms may be dis-
charged and the apparatus may be restored to a condition for receiving
a second casting with a very small amount of hand labour; if found
expedient the box moulds may be expeditiously washed with clay wash
after the blooms are discharged by lowering each while suspended by the
crane yoke into a vat of clay water, and raising it again therefrom.
The ground ore or other mixing material that is to be applied to or
mixed with the iron in the formation of the pig blooms is discharged
in regulated quantities from the hopper F, which is supported by a
suitable framework that may be constructed in any efficient manner and
is not therefore represented in the Drawings, the delivery mouth of this
hopper is fitted with a revolving distributing cylinder G having a series
of cells formed in its periphery, this distributing cylinder is caused to
revolve at a speed proportioned to the speed at which the series of
moulds are caused to traverse beneath the spout A for the molten metal
by combining said cylinder with a series of moulds upon the turntable
through the intervention of the cog wheels b, b, the pulleys d, d',
belt, shafts H, I, the bevilled wheels h, h¹, which connect those
shafts and the bevilled pinion and wheel which connect the shaft I
with the turntable D, the bevilled pinion being secured to the shaft I,
and the bevilled wheel being secured to the under side of the turntable.
When the distributing cylinder is turned the cells at its upper side are
introduced successively into the cavity of the hopper and become filled
with the material contained therein, while the cells at the lower side of
said cylinder successively discharge the material upon the shoot J by
which it is conducted to the moulds. In this combination of apparatus
the speed of delivery of the material from the hopper depends upon the
speed of the distributing cylinder G, and as the latter is connected with
the series of moulds as before described the speed of delivery of the
material varies with that of the moulds and is regulated thereby. In
order to ensure the passage of the material down the shoot the latter
may be constructed and operated like the shoe of a mill hopper, or it
may have a jarring motion imparted to it by means of revolving tappets.
In order that the relative speed of delivery of the material from the

page_text: hopper F may be varied, the pullies d, d, of the belt g are come pullies
which permit the speed of the belt g to be changed by shifting it. If
the barrels of these cone pullies be made of conical form the belt may
be shifted by a suitable fork while the apparatus is in operation. The
combined apparatus may be conveniently driven by means of a small
upright steam engine L, whose crank and fly wheel are secured to the
shaft H.
The apparatus thus described may be greatly varied without ceasing
to embody the principle of the Invention. Thus, for example, in place
of using a turntable to combine the removable box moulds with the
spout for the metal it is proposed in some cases to use a reciprocating
carriage moving to and fro under the spout in a straight line or to
combine the box moulds by links, so as to form them into a chain of
box moulds which is moved under the metal spout. The turntable or
carriage may be moved in any suitable manner, and the form and size
of the box moulds may be varied as found expedient. The distributing
apparatus also may be greatly varied, thus, for example, an elevator such
as is used for moving grain in mills may be combined with the traversing
series of moulds so as to deliver the mixing material from a receptacle
beneath the shoot J, upon that shoot in regulated quantities, or an
endless screw conveyor may be arranged to deliver said material in
regulated quantities.
Moreover the second part of the Invention may be used without
the first by constructing the traversing series of moulds in the previous
mode herein-before referred to, and the first part of the invention may be
used without the second if deemed expedient, what is claimed as the
Invention to be secured by Letters Patent is, the combination of the
spout for delivering the molten iron with a series of removable box
moulds and a traversing mechanism, substantially as before set forth.
Also, the combination of the box mould with a bridge piece, substan-
tially as before set forth.
Also, the combination of the spout for the molten metal the traversing
series of moulds and the apparatus for delivering the mixing material
in regulated quantities, substantially as before set forth.
Also, the combination of the spout for delivering the molten metal,
the traversing series of moulds, the apparatus for delivering the mixing

page_text: material in regulated quantities, and a device for varying the relative
speed of the said delivering apparatus, substantially as before set
forth.
In witness whereof, 1, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have
hercunto set my hand and seal, this Twelfth day of November, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (L.S.)