THE

London

JOURNAL OF ARTS AND SCIENCES.

No. XLI.

Recent Patents.

To LOUIS JOHN POUCHEE, of King Street, Covent Garden, in the County of Middlesex, Type-Founder, in consequence of a Communication made to him by a certain Foreigner, residing abroad, for certain Machinery or Apparatus to be employed in the casting of Types.

[Sealed 5th August, 1823.]

THE machinery for which this patent has been obtained, is the invention of M. Henry Didot, of Paris, and is calculated to cast from one hundred and fifty to two hundred types at one operation. It consists of a mould formed by a combination of steel bars with grooves and matrices, which are secured by a frame and brace of iron, upon a strong wooden bench; and a lever carrying a heavy rammer, is intended to fall down into the middle of the mould, for the purpose of driving a portion of

fluid type metal through small apertures into the grooves and matrices, where the body and face of the letter is cast. The manner in which this apparatus is constructed will be seen in Plate XII.

Fig. 1. is a perspective representation of the bench with the moulds placed thereon: but in order to understand the operation of the machine, it will be necessary first to describe the manner in which the moulds are formed; Fig. 2 represents the several bars, that constitute one side of the mould when put together. The bar a, with horizontal grooves, which form the bodies of the respective types, is made fast by screws to the bar b, b, which received the matrices c, c. Each of these matrices has the face of the intended letter stamped into it, and they are so arranged that they individually stand opposite to the respective grooves of the bar a. On the top of the matrices the bar d, is fastened for the purpose of holding them securely in their places: e is a straight bar intended to be laid upon the bar a, as a cover to the grooves, in order to form the upper sides of the square recesses; f is called the break-bar, and is to be placed in front of the bar a: it has a series of small nicks, or openings, which come exactly opposite to the ends of the grooves; and through these nicks or openings, the fluid type metal is to pass into the groove and matrices, where the body and face of the letter is cast. The spaces between the nicks of the break-bar coming against the side of the grooves, are to close them and form the feet of the types. g is a bar, that is to be laid upon, and form the cover of the break-bar, and these when so combined, produce one side of the type mould.

In order to shew the form of the passages through which the type metal has to flow into the moulds, a section of the several bars combined, is shewu at fig 3:

h being the recess between the moulds, into which the fluid metal is to be poured to the height of the dotted line, and from whence it is ejected and driven into the moulds by the descent of the rammer, as will be hereafter

described.

Fig. 4, is a horizontal view of the mould, and part of the bench or table on which it is laid: the iron frame intended to confine it, being thrown open; the respective letters refer to similar parts of the moulds before described in figs 2, 3 and 4. The several bars being combined, and laid upon the solid metallic bed as shewn, the lateral pieces of the frame k, k, which turn upon hinge joints, are then brought to bear against the sides of the mould bars; the top piece l, l, is next placed over them, and the whole is made fast by bringing the looped part of a swinging lever m, fig. 1, to bear upon the nose or projecting end of the top piece . This swinging lever is brought up to its bearing by means of a tongue n, which is forced against the lower part of m, by the action of the hand lever o.

The mould, as shewn at fig. 1, is now ready to be employed for casting. A quantity of fluid type-metal is poured (by means of a ladle) into the central recess of the mould, (as seen at h, fig. 3). The rammer p, is now to be let fall into the recess h, which is done by drawing the trigger q, when a string connected to it pulls back a bolt or catch at r, and the long lever s, instantly descends with the rammer p. By this means the fluid metal, previously occupying the lower part of the recess h, fig. 3, is displaced from thence by the rammer p, and having no means of escaping, is driven with great force laterally into the moulds and matrices.

The operation of casting having been thus performed, the next consideration is a mode of withdrawing the

types from the moulds. To do this the workman places his foot upon the step t, fig. 1, when the end of the compound lever, acting against a pin u, under the leg w, throws up the lever s, sufficiently high for the workman to take hold of the handles ; he then lifts the lever until it has passed the spring catch at r, and there he leaves it supported as seen in the figure. The hasp y, in front of the table, is now raised, when the swinging lever m, being released, quits the tongue of the top-piece, and allows the frame of the mould to be opened as at fig. 4.

The mould and the cast within it is now removed from the bench, and placed upon a table provided with cramps, which hold the solid part of the cast, while the mould bars are carefully drawn asunder by wrenches, leaving the types standing out on each side of the cast, like the teeth of a comb; from whence they are broken off and dressed by hand in the usual way.

By this apparatus about two hundred types may be cast at one operation, and the casting repeated twice in a minute, or even quicker.

[Inrolled, Feburary, 1824.]

To JOHN BAINBRIDGE, of Bread Street, Cheapside, in the City of London, Merchant, (in consequence of a Communication received by him from a Foreigner resident in the United States of North America), for certain Improvements upon Machines for cutting, cropping, or shearing, Wool, or Fur from Skins; also for cropping, or shearing Woollen, Silk, or other Cloths, and Velvets, or any other Fabric, or Fabrics, thereof respectively,