CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING IRON OR OTHER METALS, PARTS OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY IN WHICH CYLINDERS OR ROLLERS ARE USED
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLAY, of Clifton Lodge, in the County of Cumberland, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Sixteenth day of December, in the twelfth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said.
William Clay, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said William Clay, my exors,. adfuors, and assigns, and such
others as I, the said William Clay, my exors, admors, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times during
the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-
Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and in the
Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING IRON OR OTHER METALS, PARTS
OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE APPLICABLE TO OTHER MACHINERY IN WHICH CYLINDERS
OR ROLLERS ARE USED;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso,
obliging me, the said William Clay, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, particularly to describe and ascertain the nature of my said
Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, and to cause

page_text: the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more
fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Clay, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of certain improvements in machinery for rolling iron or
other metals is designed to produce, by the process of rolling, bars of taper
forms, as for instance, wedge-shaped bars or conical bars.
The taper forms of bars-I effect-by-allowing one of the shaping rollers to
recede gradually from the other as the rolling operation goes on, whereby, the
space or distance of the rollers apart becoming enlarged, the metal in passing
between them assumes a gradually increasing thickness, either in a wedge,
conical, or other form, according to the shape of the grooves cut in the
rollers.
.
Various modes of permitting one of the rollers to recede from the other
amight be devised, but one which I have found to be well suited to the purpose
consists in the adaptation to rolling machinery of pistons bearing against
confined columns of water or other non-elastic fluid, the ends of the piston
rods maintaining or affording the means of keeping the bearings of the rollers
from shifting their positions, excepting as the columns of water are allowed to
relax their resistance by a slow, and gradual escape of the fluid from the
cylinder or chamber through an adjustable valve. The apparatus I have
arranged for this purpose is shewn in Sheet I. of the accompanying Drawings,
in which Fig. 1 represents a vertical section, taken transversely through the head
of one of the standards wherein the bearings of the journals of the rollers are
mounted, shewing the piston, its rod and appendages, with the column of water
against which the piston bears, and the valve; whereby a small quantity of thie
fluid may be allowed gradually to escape. Fig. 2 represents a partial front
view of the rollers, the bearings and part of the regulating apparatus in the
head of the standard being shewn in section. Of course it will be under-
stood that two such standards support the ends of the rollers. Fig. 3 is a
horizontal section, taken in the line 1, 2, of Fig. 1, shewing the parts inverted,
or as seen from below; and Fig. 4 is another horizontal section, taken on
the upper side in the line 3, 4, of Fig. 1, shewing the entrance and exit

page_text: valves of the chamber of water, and the means of working or regulating the.
exit valve.
'
In the rolling mills usually employed for rolling bar iron the rollers are
generally mounted in fixed bearings, or bearings which during the operation of
rolling are rendered immoveable by being maintained in their places by strong
screws or bolts. In my improved machinery or apparatus the ends of the:
bearing A of the upper roller are let into grooves in tlie standards, as in
ordinary rolling mills, in such a manner as to admit of their sliding up and.
down therein, in order that by so sliding the parallel distance between the
rollers may be allowed to change. The rising of the bearings with the upper
roller is regulated and governed by piston rods a, which rest on the tops of the
bearings, the upper end of the piston rods being connected to the solid piston b.
of the hydraulic cylinder or water chamber c, as shewn in Figures 1 and 2..
This cylinder c is filled with water or other non-elastic fluid or liquid, and is
furnished with good leather or other suitable packing for the purpose of pre-
venting any leakage of the water, The packing is kept in its place by a
metallic ring or plate d, which is firmly secured to the body of the cylinder by
strong screw bolts. The cylinder is supplied with wator from any convenient'
source by a lateral tube p, shewn in Fig. 4, through the rising feed valve o, tho
construction and operation of which will be clearly understood by referring to.
the Drawing. f is the exit valve, through which, when partially opened, the
water is allowed to escape from the chamber c on pressure being applied to
the lower end of the rod a, by which pressure the piston 6 will be made to rise
and partially to expel the water, as will be the case when a bar of iron is
passed between the shaping rollers B, B. The valve f is constructed in such
a manner that the opening for the discharge of the water may be regulated.
with the greatest exactness by merely advancing, or receding the plug g,
worked by the screw at its back end, the effect of which will be to open or:
close the valve to any extent that may be required. There is a slight spring:
behind the plug g, which is merely intended to push it forward and close the
aperture of the valve when the upward pressure of the piston is not in action,
as will be the case when the rolling operation is suspended. An additional
valve h is also made to communicate with the exit passage i; this valve,:
however, is always kept closed by a strong spring, as shewn, and will never
allow any water to escape this way from the cylinder except when any extra-
ordinary pressure takes place, at which time the power of the spring will be
overcome, and by yielding, prevent the machinery from being too greatly
strained. This valve (which I call a safety valve) may, in conjunction with
an hydraulic. cylinder and piston, as-shewn, be adapted to other rolling

page_text: machinery in which pressing cylinders or rollers are used, such as' sugar and
crushing mills, for the purpose of allowing one of the rollers to yield to any
undue and sudden pressure or strain, which might otherwise derange the
machinery.
.. In introducing into my improved machinery a mass of iron between the
shaping rollers, say, for the purpose of producing a wedge-formed bar having
parallel edges, I employ a pair of rollers of the ordinary kind, having the
grooves and flanges as shewn at m, m, m, m, in Fig. 2. The mass of iron
being about to be introduced between the rollers in the first groove, I open
the valve f, by withdrawing the screw behind the plug g to such an extent as
will allow the escape of water from the chamber c in a small current, regu-
lating the opening for the intended 'discharge according to the required taper
of the bar to be formed, the required extent of which opening will readily be
found by the experience of the workman. The operation of rolling now
proceeding, the pressure of the metal passing between the rollers will cause
the bearings of the upper roller to rise and force up the piston rods a, in doing
which the piston will be made to rise in the chamber c. But the ascent of the
piston being resisted by the non-elastic fluid in the chamber C, the escape of
water through the valve f and outlet i must take place to allow of the ascent
of the piston, and consequently the separation of the rollers; according, there-
fore, to the rate of the escape of water, will the taper or inclined shape of the
bar to be produced be determined.
It will thus be seen that by my improved apparatus the process of rolling
metals is carried on much in the usual manner, except that by means of open-
ing the valve more or less the escape of the water from the chamber will
allow the upper roller to rise, and consequently give the requisite tapered form
to the bar under operation, according to the rapidity with which the water is
allowed to flow out of the chamber. As I do not intend to confine myself to
any particular forms of bars to be produced by my improved machinery, it is
not necessary to describe more precisely the shapes of the rollers. I will,
therefore, only add, that by forming the grooves of the rollers in elliptical shapes,
as at n, n, in Fig. 2, I am enabled by the gradual rise of one of the rollers
and repetitions of the rolling operation to produce bars of conical figures.
It is sometimes desirable to roll a bar taper or wedge-formed for a portion
of its length, and level for the remainder of its length.
.
For this purpose it will be necessary to allow the upper roller to rise to a
certain distance only and then to stop. This I effect by means of adjusting
screws k, k, one over each bearing of the rollers, similar to those heretofore
used, except that it is through the axis of these adjusting screws, forming

page_text: guides, that the piston rods a pass, as shewn in the Drawing at Fig. 1, and it.
will therefore be understood that when by the escape of the water from the
chamber the bearings of the rollers have been allowed to force up the piston:
rod and the piston a certain determined distance, that then the upper edge of
the bearing A of the top roller will come into contact with the under side of:
the adjusting screw k, beyond which it cannot rise, and as the bearing will.
for the time become fixed, the bar of iron under operation will for the
remaining portion of the process be rolled parallel. The adjusting screw k
passes through a hollow screw made in a socket fixed in the frame, and the
I screw can easily be raised or lowered, so as to limit the rise of the bearing
A, by merely turning the hand wheel 2 attached to its lower part.
.
It may be as well to observe, that in order to introduce the sliding bearings
of the upper roller into the vertical grooves of the frame, and to remove them
when required, a portion of the side of the frame is made removeable, as:
shewn at j, j, in Figures 1 and 2, and is retained in its place by pins or screws,
or in any other convenient known manner. A portion also of the head of the
standard in which the piston works is made removeable, for the purpose of
getting at the piston and packing when required, as. will be seen at q, q,
Figures 2 and 3.
in
Another mode of permitting the shaping roller to receive gradually from
each other (the use of a piston and column or chamber of non-elastic fluid
being in this instance dispensed with) is shewn in Sheet II. of the Drawings.:
Fig. 5 is a vertical section, taken transversely through the head of one of the
standards, wherein the bearings of the journals of the rollers are mounted..
. A vertical sliding rod a is made to press upon the upper bearing A, corre-.
sponding in object to the rod a in Fig. 1, and which rod slides through a
hollow screw k, as before. The upper end of the rod a is not in this instance.
connected to a piston, but merely bears against the under part of a sliding
frame r, r, which is allowed to rise by the rotary movement of an excentric
or heart-formed cam s.
Fig. 6 represents a partial front view of a pair of grooved rollers mounted
in standards, with the modification of apparatus for allowing the rollers to
separate from each other. A pair of rollers as before, or of the ordinary kind,
is mounted in the standards, having each two bearings t, t, which with their
plummer blocks carry a horizontal shaft u, u, extending across above the
machine. Upon this shaft are fixed the excentrics or cams s, acting within
the sliding frame r, r, of each standard. The under sides of the sliding
frames bear upon the upper ends of the vertical rods a, which keep down
the bearings A, and consequently retain the 'rollers in contact, and in order to

page_text: allow the upper roller to rise for the purpose before described, motion is. given
to the excentric shaft by sliding the wheel walong the feather or key of the
shaft u into gear with the train of wheel's connected to a pinion v fixed on the
end of the lower roller. Hence it will be seen that when the shaping rollers
are in motion the train of wheels will cause the excentrics s'to revolve, and
thereby, as their smaller radii bear against the bottom of the frames r, to
allow the frames and the vertical rods a to be forced upwards by the pressure
of the mass of metal passing between the rollers.
Having now described the nature of my Invention of improvements in
machinery for rolling iron or other metals, and indicated the further uses to
which these my improvements may be applied, I desire it to be understood that.
I do not intend to confine myself solely to the use of of the forms and arrange-
ments of machinery described, as I am aware that many other mechanical
arrangements might be employed for effecting the same object; but that which
I claim is,
Firstly, the application to rolling machinery in general (when such is
required) of apparatus which will allow the bearings of one of the compressing
rollers to rise gradually in their standards while the operation of rolling is
proceeding, and thus to admit of taper forms being produced with the same
facility as parallel bars.
Secondly, the construction or arrangement and adaptation of the hydraulic
apparatus and its appendages, shewn in Figures. 1, 2, 3, and 4, to a machine
for rolling iron or other metals, by which the shaping rollers are enabled to
separate gradually for the purpose of producing taper rods or bars by the
rolling process.
.
Thirdly, the modification of apparatus shewn at Figures 5 and 6, by which
an excentric or heart-shaped revolving cam is employed to regulate the gradual
progressive separation of the rollers for the purpose above described.
5
And, fourthly, the adjustable screw k, Figures 1, 2, 5, and 6, in conjunction
with the apparatus claimed under the second and third heads, whereby bars of s
metal are enabled to be rolled taper for a portion of their length and parallel
for the remaining part thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-nine.
WILLIAM (L.S.) CLAY.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Fifteenth day of June, in the
year of our Lord 1849, the aforesaid William Clay came before our said Lady
the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification aforesaid, and
all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form above written.
And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the tenor of
the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Sixteenth day of June, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and forty-nine.