IMPROVE- MENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE METHOD AND MEANS OF MANUFACTURING RAILWAY RAILS, AND OTHER LONGITUDINAL BARS, AND GIRDERS, AND JOISTS, WITH GROOVES, RECESSES, INDENTATIONS, RIBS, OR BEADS
Year: 1881

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Amos Joseph Acaster at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 24th December 1881.
AMOS JOSEPH ACASTER, of Sheffield, in the County of York Engineer IMPROVE-
MENTS IN OR RELATING TO THE METHOD AND MEANS OF MANUFACTURING RAILWAY
RAILS, AND OTHER LONGITUDINAL BARS, AND GIRDERS, AND JOISTS, WITH GROOVES,
RECESSES, INDENTATIONS, RIBS, OR BEADS
This Invention has reference to certain improvements in or relating to the
method and means of manufacturing grooved, or recessed, or indented, and ribbed,
or beaded, railway rails, and grooved, or recessed, or indented, and ribbed or beaded,
bars, girders, joists and other similar longitudinal or structural devices which are or
may be required for use for railway or tramway rails, or for bridge building or for
other constructive purposes.
The present Invention has especial reference to improvements in or connected
with the practical carrying out, manufacture, or working of a material part of tho
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent N° 4884/7 and bearing date the
18th day of December A.D. 1876 and which were granted unto me in respect of
my "Improvements in rail joints for railways the part whereof to which my
present improvements have reference being the rails, various forms of which were
described in the Specifications of the said Letters Patent, and were illustrated in
the drawings annexed thereunto, the peculiarity of their formation being the.
manufacture thereof with grooves, recesses, or indentations (hereinafter referred to
for conciseness of description simply as grooves") or ribs or beads (hereinafter
"

page_text: referred to simply as "ribs ") longitudinally of the rail, for for the purposes specified
in the said Specifications, vizt, to dispense with the use of nuts and bolts in jointing
or connecting the ends of adjacent rails, and with the necessity for drilling the
usual holes therein, to reduce the cost, and lessen the number of the parts required,
and to provide a strong self locking joint.
The principle of the Invention as therein described is equally applicable to
longitudinal bars, and to girders, joists, and other similar longitudinal or structural
devices which it is required to unite end to end for various constructive or other
useful purposes, and which it has been usual to unite, join, or connect together by
means of side plates such as fish-plates, and of bolts and nuts (which are always
liable to loosen and come apart) and which have necessitated the drilling or
perforating and consequent weakening of the connected parts;-and therefore I
desire it should be understood that where hereinafter the term "rails" is used
(being used alone simply for conciseness of description) the reference comprehends
rails of any usual section and also comprehends the applicability of the improve-
ments to such other similar longitudinal devices as are immediately herein before
referred to.
0
Rails formed with such grooves or ribs in suitable positions for the intended
purpose hereinbefore indicated, cannot be properly rolled by any usual appliances
without alteration of their shape adjacent to the grooves or ribs being rolled, and
which it is most important should not be done, as there is thus given an inperfect
and insecure means of retaining the wedge keys by which the parts are united.
It has formerly been attempted to form such grooves and ribs in and on rails by
passing the rails in an inclined position between rolls but as this has hitherto been
effected the rails have been so rolled as to leave certain "fins" and "laps" and
other irregularities along them which render them-unsafe-for-travelling over. The
defects herein before mentioned have been greatly owing to the improper formation
of the rolls, which did not support the parts of the rails adjacent to the parts in
which the grooves and ribs were actually being rolled. Such an arrangement of rolls
is described in the Provisional Specification of an Invention for which Letters
Patent No 5051 have been applied for by Charles Henry Halcomb.
The object of a principal modification of my present improvements is to remedy
these defects by so shaping and conforming the rolls adjacent to the parts by which
the grooving or ribbing is actually effected as that the rails when passing through
and being rolled in the angular or inclined position shall have every part thereof
adjacent to the parts which are having the groove rolled into or the rib rolled onto
them completely supported by all surrounding parts of the rolls, vizt, the parts
thereof adjacent to the parts actually effecting the rolling of the grooves or
ribs into or onto the rails, so as to effect what is required without otherwise
altering the shape of the rails.
The accompanying drawings illustrate various improved and practically perfect
arrangements of apparatus for attaining this object, the drawings illustrating the
apparatus so far as is necessary to render the arrangement and method of operation
thereof clear of comprehension, and without confusing the same by showing the
necessary standards, framing, or gearing, to none of which my present invention
has any particular reference, and all of which may be of any usual or suitable
formation or description.
It should be understood, although the accompanying drawings only illustrate the
manufacture of a double headed rail, that the Invention is equally applicable to the
forming of bull-headed, or T-rails, or of bars, joists or girders of any usual or
required cross section, and in or on which it is required to form grooves, or recesses,
or indentations, or ribs, or beads, longitudinally thereof, and suitable for the purpose
hereinbefore indicated.
According to the arrangement of apparatus illustrated in Fig 1, the rails are
gradually reduced in the usual manner between (two-high or three-high) rolls x
from the bloom or ingot state into the usual or ordinary sections by continually

page_text: passing them through the progressive gates or shaping openings formed in and
between the adjacent rolls of the rolling mill as from No 1 to 3, Fig 1-and while
still in a comparatively hot state, they aro then passed between the rolls, as in
No 4 and 5, in an inclined or angular position, in such a manner as that the
desired grooves or ribs may be directly formed and rolled therein or thereon, the
last passage, as at No 6, or passages through the rolls, partly closing the grooves or
turning down the ribs, and perfectly finishing them and the adjacent parts of the
rails to the desired contour. The grooves or ribs may be thus formed either one
or more but preferably two at each passage.
The essential feature of my improvements in the arrangement of apparatus
illustrated in Fig 1. is the shaping of the rolls adjacent to the parts 4, 5, and 6, by
which the grooves or ribs are actually rolled and shaped into or onto the rails, so
that all adjacent parts of the rails are completely supported, and so that the
operation of rolling the said grooves or ribs into or onto the rails will not otherwise
alter the shape of the rails.
The rolls may be arranged, geared, and supported, in any usual manner, this
forming no part of my present invention, and they may be cast or forged, either of
iron, steel, or of any other suitable material, and suitably case hardened, but I prefer
to make them of cast iron, chilling those parts to which my present improvements
more particularly refer by which the grooves or ribs of the rails are to be made, and
those parts wherein the shaping openings grooves or projections are made being
turned to the required shapes and dimensions.
In the rolling of ribbed rails according to the arrangement illustrated in Fig 1
the rolls are properly shaped to produce the ribs instead of the grooves. In Figs 2
and 3 I have illustrated a ribbed rail as produced according to the above described
method, and according thereto the ribs are firstly rolled somewhat to the
conformation illustrated in Fig 2, and in the finishing gate or gates of the rolls
they are turned down, and the general contour of the rail perfected as delineated
in Fig 3.
7, represents the necks of the rolls, and 8 the driving part, shown in end view in
Fig 4.
According to the modification illustrated in Figs 5 and 6, the rails may be formed
with the grooves or ribs, by independent and specially formed and specially
arranged adjustable rolls 9, being passed between and acted upon by these rolls
immediately after they have been reduced to the usual or any desired section by
the ordinary rolls.
A great difficulty hitherto experienced in the manufacture of rails is that when
rolled to form as regards their usual cross-section, they are not straight at the ends
which are more or less turned up or down as the case may be, but this disadvantage
is quite overcome, according to the arrangement of apparatus to which reference
is now made, and in or according to which the rails are or may be passed from the -
ordinary rolls after being reduced to the ordinary sections directly to and through
the independent grooving or ribbing rolls which form the grooves or ribs in or on
the rails when the latter is in a cooler state, and this is an important advantage, as
the rails are thereby greatly strengthened:-and inasmuch as the grooving or ribbing
rolls 9, are preferably arranged in opposite pairs, and placed apart as shown in
Fig 6, depending upon their dimensions, and are set at different inclinations to
make or produce the required grooves or ribs as clearly indicated in Fig: 5. and
the heads of the rails are each supported by free turning horizontal rolls 10,
arranged immediately under and above the respective pairs of rolls 9, and which
cause the general contour of the heads of the rails to be kept perfect, and the web
of the rail is moreover supported on each side by free turning vertical rolls 11,
arranged between the pairs of rolls 9, the rail is perfectly supported at every or
nearly every part of its figure for a good portion of its length, and thus it is of
necessity straightened, and the disadvantages hereinbefore referred to are completely
avoided

page_text: In this arrangement, the rolls are or may be made in any usual or suitable
manner slightly adjustable from or towards each other so as to conform to any
section of rail which may have been previously rolled a little out of truth, or of its
usual dimensions.
According to the modification illustrated in Fig 7. the grooves or ribs are formed
by direct pressure as distinguished from rolling: the necessary force being obtained
by hydraulic or other pressure and the grooves or ribs being pressed into or onto
the material of the rail, after the latter has been rolled down to the ordinary or
required section by the usual means. This improved method is especially
applicable for the purpose of straightening the ends of rails which have been rolled
by the usual means, and in or at the ends or at parts of which it is desired to
form grooves or ribs. This modification is carried into practical effect, by the use of
wedge or inclined pieces 12, which are suitably formed of hard steel or chilled cast
iron and are forcibly compressed (by any suitable arrangement of hydraulic power,
or by the use of eccentrics, being linked or otherwise suitably connected thereto, or
by any other suitable power) inwards and towards each other from the opposite
sides of the web of the rail, and by the use of suitably guided die blocks 13, also
formed of hard steel or chilled cast iron, and with the required ribbed grooved or
shaping parts, and with inner inclined faces upon which the wedge pieces 12 act,
and by means of which arrangement, the die blocks 13 are forcibly compressed
into or against the rail immediately after it has left the rolls, straightening the
same and forming the grooves or ribs as and at the parts required all together,
and perfecting the required contour of the adjacent parts, the upper and lower or
outer faces of the heads of the rails being suitably supported in, between or by
properly shaped mould blocks or rollers (10) at the points of pressure, to preserve
their required proper contour. The upper-block-10,-is-preferably-a-solid-block
which fits the head of the rail and resists the pressure-and it is made adjustable
so that as soon as the grooves are formed it may be lifted up by eccentrics, levers or
otherwise, to allow of the rail being quickly removed
Having now described the nature and objects of my said Invention together
with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or carried into
practical effect I would remark in conclusion that what I believe to be novel and
original and therefore claim as the improvements constituting the invention
secured to me under or in respect of the Letters Patent appertaining to or to be
issued in respect hereof is :-
First. The herein before described improvements applicable to rolls for manu-
facturing grooved or ribbed rails by gradually reducing the same from the bloom
or ingot state into the desired grooved or ribbed sections in the manner herein-
before indicated; the said improvements consisting in so shaping the grooving or
ribbing parts and all adjacent parts of the said rolls (as at 4, 5, and 6 Figure 1)
as that while the rails are having the grooves or ribs rolled into or onto them, all
adjacent parts thereof shall be completely supported by the rolls and prevented
from being altered in shape; substantially as herein before described with reference
to Fig 1 on the annexed drawings.
Second. The herein before described improved method and means of manufacturing
such grooved or ribbed rails and other longitudinal devices, by gradually reducing
the same in the usual manner to their required sections in a rolling mill, and by
then immediately passing them through an independent adjustable mill, the rolls
of which are specially formed and are set at such inclinations as to produce the
required grooves or ribs in or upon the rails and to properly finish the adjacent
parts, the rails being properly supported and their general contour perfected; all
substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 5 and 6 on the
annexed drawings.
Third. The herein before described improved method and means of manufacturing
such grooved or ribbed rails, and other longitudinal devices; by gradually reducing
the same in the usual manner to their required sections in a rolling mill, and by

page_text: then (and preferably immediately). pressing the grooves or ribs into or onto the
substance of the rail by the aid of guided die-blocks and wedge pieces which latter
may be thrust inwards or actuated by any suitable power, the rails being properly
supported; all substantially as herein before described with reference to Figure 7 on
the annexed drawings.
In Witness whereof I the said Amos Joseph Acaster have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty-second day of December in the year of our
Lord One Thousand eight hundred and eighty-one.