IMPROVE- MENTS IN PIPE MOULDING AND CASTING APPARATUS, AND IN BLACK-WASHING THE MOULDS
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex,. Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN PIPE MOULDING AND CASTING APPARATUS, AND IN BLACK-WASHING
THE MOULDS."A communication from abroad by George Ross, of New-
port, in the County of Campbell, and State of Kentucky, United States.
of America.
Sealed the 14th June 1867, and dated the 14th January 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clark at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
January 1867.
I, WILLIAM CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN PIPE MOULDING AND CASTING APPARATUS, AND I
BLACK-WASHING THE MOULDS," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists, first, in an improved arrangement of pit or trench..
and its appurtenances used in casting pipes in a vertical position, whereby the-
operations of clamping, moulding, facing, drying, coring, casting, and stripping.
can be performed consecutively and without interfering with one another..
In one arrangement the ground plan of the pit is in the form of the letter C.-
with the terminations coming in close proximity, two- cranes are erected in

page_text: what may be termed the centres of the two semicircles of such figure, the
extended arms of said cranes describing or moving round over said pit; the
pit is divided into four parts, beginning from the one end forming the receiving
part for the flasks, which is somewhat shallower than the other parts, and is
the shortest division, next to this comes the moulding division, which is some-
what greater in extent than the receiving part, the subsequent division of the
pit is the oven, being an enclosed and covered portion provided with an
inlet door on the one side and an outlet door on the other, at this part the pit
is wider; these three divisions occupy about half of the pit, the remaining
portion being the casting part which is the deepest; the moulds as the work
progresses are lifted forwards in succession by the cranes before mentioned;
the moulds and castings are ultimately lifted from the casting division, and
laid on tressels having hollows to receive them, on which the flasks are opened,
stripped, and re-clamped, a crane then lifts and deposits them again in the
receiving part of the pit. The two cranes and the oven are so arranged rela-
tively to each other as to be each capable of communicating with every part
of the oven so as to enable the two gangs of operatives, moulders and casters,
to act independently and without interference one with the other. Instead of
the pit being in the form of the letter C it may have an S form, the axes of
the cranes being disposed in the centres of the two semicircles, and sweeping
round over the pit or trench for lifting the moulds therein; the same cranes
also serve for lifting the molten metal, and otherwise as may be desired.
That branch of the Invention relating to the black-washing of pipe moulds
consists in the employment of a casing fitting nicely over the sprinkler to
close the perforations therein, also in the combination with the sprinkler of a
conical guide piece or head to retain the sprinkler in the centre of the mould,
and prevent it from damaging its sides, and finally, in a fender or cage placed
under the mould in a suitable tank, and used in combination with the sprinkler;
the sprinkler is made of tinned sheet iron or other suitable material in the form
of a cylinder, and provided with a series of perforations through which the
black wash is intended to ooze out. The diameter of this sprinkler is some-
what smaller than the inside diameter of the pipe mould to which the black
wash is to be applied, and it is provided with a conical guide piece or head
intended to keep it in the centre of the mould, and to guide and cause it to
pass down through said mould without injuring its sides; the sprinkler is sus-
pended from a rope, which is secured in a ring at the upper end of a rod that
passes down through the cylindrical body of the sprinkler, and is firmly inserted
into the head. A casing made of tinned sheet iron, having 2 flange at bottom,

page_text: fits nicely over the sprinkler, and when it is placed on said sprinkler the
flange projects beyond the edge or shoulder of the conical head; when the.
sprinkler is filled with black wash, and the casing covers up the perforations,
nothing is allowed to escape from the interior of the sprinkler, and thus
arranged it can be carried to any place, and adjusted over the mould in the
desired position. The mould is formed in a flask which stands in a perpen-.
dicular position in the pit and over a tank intended to receive the surplus
black wash placed directly under the mould, and in the tank is a fender or.
circular cage, which forms the guide for the sprinkler after the same has passed
through the mould, and prevents it floating off sideways; the top of the flask.
is covered by a board with a flange to keep it in place, and provided with a
hole in its centre just large enough to let the head of the sprinkler pass, but
too small for the flange of the casing; after the sprinkler has been charged
with black wash it is brought over the hole in the board and lowered. As
soon as the flange of the casing comes in contact with the board it begins to
lift off, and the black wash oozes out through the perforations, and is applied
uniforinly to the interior of the mould.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clark in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
July 1867.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters.
Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirtieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Clark, Her special licence that I, the said William Clark, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as 1, the said William
Clark, 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 PIPE MOULDING
AND CASTING APPARATUS, AND IN BLACK-WASHING THE MOULDS," a communication

page_text: to me from abroad by George Ross, of Newport, in the County of Campbell,
and State of Kentucky, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Clark, 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 Clark, 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 two Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to
the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to improvements in pipe moulding and casting, and
in black-washing the pipe moulds.
That branch of this Invention relating to the moulding and casting of pipes
consists in an improved arrangement of the pit or trench and its appurtenances
employed in casting pipes on the vertical method, whereby the several opera-
tions of clamping, moulding, facing, drying, coring, casting, and stripping are
enabled to be performed consecutively and without interference one with the
other, the same resulting in a saving of time, space, and labor, and particularly
of the more costly labor of the moulders. In pits of this class now and here-
tofore employed the drying portion or oven has had but one single outlet,
namely, that communicating with the moulding pit, the latter connecting at
its end most remote from the oven with the casting pit; a consequence of this
arrangement has been that the moulding pit has had to do the double duty of
a channel of communication between the casting pit and the oven and of a
moulding pit proper, the effect being either to throw the moulders out of work
whenever the casting pit has had to be filled from the oven, or to oblige them
to assist in the operation of shifting, to which duty the lower paid caster is
fully competent; a serious expenditure of time and labor is also incurred
by the necessity of twice handling with both cranes and two gangs of men of
every flask conveyed from the oven to the casting pit, or from the casting pit
to the oven.
Figure 1 is a perspective view of this improved moulding and casting pit
and the apparatus connected therewith; Figure 2 is a plan of the moulding
and casting pit; Figure 3 is a vertical section of this Invention for black-
washing pipe moulds; Figure 4 is a similar section of the same showing its

page_text: application to a mould; Figure 5 is a transverse section of the sprinkler;
Figure 6 is a transverse section of the fender. Similar letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts.
A, B, C, and D are different portions of a pit or trench having horizontally
a form nearly identical with the letter C, A being the shallowest portion of
the pit for receiving the empty flasks, B being the part next in order as well
as in shallowness for moulding, C being the oven for drying, and D being the
longest and deepest portion to receive the successive batches of dried moulds
for the operation of casting; this oven C is provided with distinct and separate
inlet and exit doors E and E', communicating with the moulding and casting
pits respectively; F is a crane by means of which freshly-clamped flasks are
shifted from the receiving pit A to the moulding pit B, and thence into the
drying oven C; G is a crane by means of which the dried moulds are swung
around from the oven into the casting pit D, and by which, after having
received the metal, they are hoisted from the pit on to a pair of trestles or
skids H, H', on which the flasks are opened, stripped, and re-clamped; tho
crane G is also used to return the flasks from the skids H, H', to the receiving
pit A; a cove or hollow h in the upper edges of the skids prevents the flasks
rolling off while being stripped; the two cranes F and G and the oven Care so
arranged relatively to one another as to be each and either of them capable of
communicating with every part of the oven without interference, thus enabling
the two gangs of operatives, moulders and casters, to act independently and
without detention of one another.
Operation. The flask having been rammed and blackened in the usual
manner for vertical casting is conveyed by the crane G to its appointed place
in the oven, to be followed by others in like manner until the oven is full ;
the oven is then closed, and a fire being lit in the furnace, the moulds are
dried in the customary manner; the exit door E¹ of the oven is then opened,
and the moulds are by means of the crane G conveyed one by one into the
pit D to be properly gated and cast; in the act of casting the ladle is sus-
pended and passed from flask to flask through the instrumentality of the
crane G. The casting having been effected, the crane G is again brought into
requisition to hoist the flasks one at a time on to the skids H, H', whence,
after opening, stripping, and re-clamping the empty flasks are by means of
the same crane G returned to the receiving pit A, when the work proceeds as
before; thus the entire series of operations necessary for casting pipes on the
vertical method are enabled to be performed in their natural order and in a
continuous circuit without interference or detention.

page_text: The arrangement selected to illustrate this Invention is one that has been
satisfactorily tested in the foundry; but various changes may obviously be
made while retaining the essential feature of an oven having separate com-
munications with the moulding pit and casting pit; for example, an inferior
modification retaining some of the more important advantages of this plan
may have the form of the letter S, the two cranes in such arrangement being
of course on opposite sides of the trench."
That branch of the Invention relating to the black-wasbing of pipe moulds
consists in the employment or use of a casing fitting nicely over the sprinkler,
and arranged in such a manner that when the casing covers the sprinkler the
latter can be filled with black wash and nothing is allowed to escape; and
after the sprinkler has been adjusted in the proper position over the centre of
the mould said casing can be readily removed; the application of the black
wash to the inside of the mould can thus be effected in a short time with little
trouble and without danger of injuring the interior of the mould; the Inven-
tion consists also in the combination with a sprinkler of a conical guide
piece or head in such a manner that the sprinkler is retained in the centre of
the mould and prevented from damaging its sides.
The Invention consists, finally, in a fender placed under the mould into a
suitable tank, and used in combination with the sprinkler in such a manner
that said sprinkler after having passed through the mould is still kept in the
centre and prevented from floating off to any other part of the tank whence it
cannot conveniently be fetched out.
I, Figures 1 and 2, represents the sprinkler which is made of tinned sheet
iron, or other suitable material in the form of a cylinder, and provided with a
series of perforations a, through which the black wash is intended to ooze out.
The diameter of this sprinkler is somewhat smaller than the inside diameter of
the pipe mould to which the black wash is to be applied, and it is provided
with a conical guide piece or head K intended to keep it in the centre of
the mould and to allow it to pass down through said mould without
injuring its sides. The sprinkler is suspended from a rope L, which is secured
in a ring at the upper end of a rod c that passes down through the
cylindrical body of the sprinkler and is firmly inserted into the head K. M is
a casing made of tinned sheet iron or other suitable material and provided with
a flanged at its bottom. This casing fits nicely over the sprinkler I, and when
it is placed on said sprinkler the flange d projects beyond the edge or shoulder
of the head K. When the sprinkler is filled with black wash, and the casing
covers up the perforations a, nothing is allowed to escape from the interior of

page_text: the sprinkler, and thus arranged it can be carried to any place and adjusted
over the mould in the desired position; the mould N is formed in a flask O
which stands in a perpendicular position in a pit and over a tank P intended
to receive the surplus black wash placed directly under the mould, and in the
tank P is the fender R, which forms the guide for the sprinkler after the same
has passed through the mould and prevent it floating off sideways. The top of
the flask is covered by a board S with a flange to keep it in place and provided
with a hole in its centre just large enough to let the head of the sprinkler
pass, but too small for the flange of the casing M. After the sprinkler has
been charged with black wash it is brought over the hole in the board S and
lowered; as soon as the flange of the casing M comes in contact with the
board S it begins to lift off and the black wash oozes out through the perfora-
tions a and is applied uniformly to the interior of the mould. With ordinary
devices for black-washing pipe moulds the sprinkler is placed into the mould
and then the wash is poured in. It is obvious that by these means the black
wash cannot be equally distributed; and furthermore if some of it is spilled in
pouring it into the sprinkler the interior of the mould is liable to be damaged.
These difficulties are obviated by this Invention, which allows of carrying the
black wash in the sprinkler to the mould and of distributing it uniformly
throughout. The surplus wash collects in the tank P, and by the fender R
the sprinkler is held in the centre and prevented from floating off on one side,
which would render the recovery of the same troublesome and inconvenient.
Having described the nature of this Invention and the manner of performing
the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be protected by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
First, the vertical pipe mould drying oven herein described, arranged with
separate and distinct communications with the moulding and casting pits, as
and for the purpose specified.
Secondly, the described or equivalent consecutive arrangement of receiving
pit A, moulding pit B, oven C, and casting pit D.
Thirdly, the combination of the two frames F and G with the moulding
pit B, oven C, and casting pit D, arranged substantially as specified.
Fourthly, the skids H, H', arranged in the described combination with
cranes F and G, and continuous pit A, B, C, D.
Fifthly, the flanged casing M in combination with the sprinkler I, con-
structed and operating substantially as and for the purpose shown and
described.
Sixthly, the combination of the board S with the casing M and sprinkler I,
substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

page_text: Seventhly, the head K in combination with the sprinkler I and casing M,
as set forth.
Eighthly, the employment or use of the fender R in combination with the
sprinkler I and casing M, constructed and operating in the manner and for the
purpose substantially as specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clark, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Second day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven.
Witness,
A. M. CLARK,
53, Chancery Lane,
London.
W. CLARK.
(L.S.)