IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL, AND IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH ROLLING OR REDUCING
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Booth, of Broomhill, Sheffield, in the
County of York, Millwright and Engineer, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL, AND
IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH ROLLING OR
REDUCING."
Sealed the 18th January 1870, and dated the 4th November 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Booth at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th November 1869.
I, JOSEPH BOOTH, of Broomhill, Sheffield, in the County of York,
Millwright and Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL,
AND IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH ROLLING OR
REDUCING," to be as follows:-
The object of my Invention is to reduce metal blooms, ingots, rods,
bars, rails, plates, wires, or other similar articles in a continuous working
and during one "heating" of the metal, and relates in the first place to
passing the metal to and fro between and under two sets of rolls

page_text: revolving in separate "housings" set at an angle; and, secondly, in
passing the metal alternately direct through and between two pairs
of rolls which revolve in separate vertical housings," one pair only
acting upon the metal in each travel.
My Invention consists, firstly, in arranging and employing two or
more sets of rolls fitted at an angle and leaning towards one another,
either by fixing the "housings or frames at an angle, or by fitting the
rolls in such a manner that the axial line of one roll shall be slightly in
advance of the other in the housings." I cause the metal to pass
under the second pair of rolls after having passed through between
the first pair by means of a tube or plate, which acts as a guide. The
metal is then returned by the workman between the second pair of
rolls to be further reduced, and then guided under the first pair to be
again further reduced by passing between the first pair, and so on
through and under the several pairs until the metal is reduced to the
required size or thickness. I prefer that the metal should be passed
between each pair of rolls twice before it passes to the third pair, which
is placed in a similar manner and at the same angle, or at any other
angle if found necessary, to the first pair.
Secondly. When the bars, rails, plates, or other articles are of too great
a thickness or dimensions to be bent and returned through the second pair
of rolls, as above mentioned, I pass them to and fro direct between two
pairs of rolls successively, one pair only acting upon the metal as it
travels in one direction; the other pair being separated to allow the
metal to pass freely. The "housings in this case are set vertically, the
rolls being shaped to suit the section of the metal article to be produced.
Guide rollers and plates are employed to prevent the metal getting out
of shape during the operation.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joseph Booth in the Great Seal Patent Office 30
on the 30th April 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
BOOTH, of Broomhill, Sheffield, in the County of York, Millwright and
Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joseph Booth, Her special licence
that I, the said Joseph Booth, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joseph Booth, 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
THE MODES OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL, AND IN THE ARRANGEMENT OF
MACHINERY FOR EFFECTING SUCH ROLLING OR REDUCING," the condition
upon
(amongst others) that I, the said Joseph Booth, 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 Joseph Booth, my do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawings
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
The object of my Invention is to reduce metal blooms, ingots, rods,
bars, rails, plates, wires, or other similar articles in a continuous working
and during one "heating" of the metal, and relates to passing the metal
to and fro between and under two sets of rolls revolving in "housings "
set at an angle.
"
My Invention consists in arranging and employing two or more sets
of rolls fitted at an angle and leaning towards one another, either by
fixing the housings" or frames at an angle, or by fitting the rolls in
such a manner that the axial line of one roll shall be slightly in
advance of the other in the "housings." I cause the metal to pass
under the second pair of rolls after having passed through between the
first pair by means of a tube or plate, which acts as a guide. The metal.

page_text: is then returned by the workman between the second pair of rolls to
be further reduced, and then guided under the first pair to be again
further reduced by passing between the first pair, and so on through and
under the several pairs until the metal is reduced to the required size or
thickness. I prefer that the metal should be passed between each pair
of rolls twice before it passes to the third pair, which is placed in a
similar manner and at the same angle, or at any other angle if found
necessary, to the first pair.
The manner in which I carry my Invention into effect is represented
in the accompanying Drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end view of two
pairs of rolls arranged in housings set at an angle, each pair leaning
towards the other, so that the upper roll of each pair is slightly in
advance of the lower, as before referred to. In this Figure, as will be
seen, the metal bloom, rail, rod, bar, or other piece of metal a to be
reduced is passed by the first workman into a groove or channel formed
in the two rolls b, c, where it is partially reduced by the pressure they
exert upon it, the rolls being caused to revolve in the proper direction
for taking the metal between them and drawing it through. It then
enters the tube d to be led or guided under the second pair of rolls e, f,
so as not to be acted upon by them. This tube terminates at the foot
of the housings, and when the first end of the metal projects or appears
through it the metal is immediately caught by a second workman and
inserted between the second pair of rolls e, f, so that it can be further
reduced (if desired). The loop or slack then formed is taken out by a
third workman and placed behind a post or upright at any fixed dis-
tance, so that the last end of the metal is drawn away from the guide or
tube d as it leaves each pair of rolls by passing round these posts or
uprights. The action of this second pair of rolls, which revolve towards
each other to draw the metal through them as they reduce it, leads it
into a second tube, which is so bent or curved that the metal is guided
under the first pair of rolls b, c, so as not to be operated upon by them.
By this means the metal is drawn continuously by the second pair of
rolls from the first pair, a loop being always formed by the metal
passing round the post or upright. When the first end of the metal
appears at the second tube it is immediately caught by the first workman,
who inserts it between another part of the first pair of rolls to be again
reduced. Here again the loop or slack is taken by a fourth workman
and placed behind a post or upright, as before, passing through the third

page_text: tube and again under the second pair of rolls; it is again caught by the
second workman, who again inserts it between another part of the
second pair of rolls, to be still further reduced each time that it is caught
by the first and second workmen, and inserted between the rolls by
them. The loop or slack is taken out behind the post or uprights by
the third and fourth workmen. The metal is thus reduced to the
required size or thinness by a series of successive rollings alternately
between the first and second pairs of rolls after passing through the
tubes, as before explained.
I do not of course desire to limit myself to passing the metal between
and under the rolls the exact number of times just described, as in some
cases the metal will be found sufficiently reduced by only passing it
through the first and second pairs once only; and again in other cases it
will be necessary to operate upon the metal a greater number of times
than those stated. And in order that such a condition of working may
be clearly carried out I have shewn in Figure 2 a plan view of 6 pairs
of rolls with a length of metal passing between them in the manner I
have previously described. The view is supposed to represent a long
length of metal which has been reduced by a series of successive rollings
until it has acquired the desired thinness or diameter.
I wish it to be distinctly understood that although I have more par-
ticularly referred to reducing metal down to a size usually designated
wire, I do not in any way restrict myself to such a practice, as in many
cases, such as when a comparatively wide sheet or plate has to be reduced
in thickness, as would be the case when plain rolls are employed, I only
pass the metal through, say, a section of the first pair, and then under
the second pair; and when such working is desired the metal can be
shifted to an opposite section or portion of the second pair of rolls to be
still further reduced. In such a case the tube may be like a flat hollow
box for the metal to pass through and be led under the other pair of
rolls towards which it travels.
I have referred to leading the metal through guide tubes, but in some
cases an ordinary plate would be found sufficient to guide it so that it
passes in the required direction.
I have also referred to passing the metal round posts or uprights, and
in many instances that will be necessary; but in other cases the posts or
uprights will not be required except when the metal is led from one set
of rolls in a housing to another set of rolls in some adjacent housing.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, that of
reducing metal by passing it between one pair of rolls and under another
alternately until it is reduced to the required dimensions, I therefore
claim as my Invention,-
Firstly. Rolling or reducing metal blooms, ingots, rods, bars, rails,
plates, wires, or other similar articles by a continuous working by
passing the metal between and under rolls alternately in the manner
herein-before described and represented in the annexed Drawings.
Secondly. In fixing or arranging the housings at an angle, so that the
metal after passing through between one pair of rolls shall pass under
the second pair of rolls in the manner and for the purpose herein-before
described.
Thirdly. I claim the employment of tubes or plates for guiding the
metal from one pair of rolls downwards, so that it shall pass under a
second pair of rolls, substantially as herein-before described.
And, fourthly. I claim the alternative of setting the housings of
two pairs of rolls at an angle and leaning towards one another at the
top, or of setting two pairs of rolls in the same housings, so that the
upper rolls are slightly in advance of the lower rolls for directing the
metal in a downward direction, as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Booth, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of April One thousand
eight hundred and seventy.