AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING PLATES, BARS, RODS, AND SHAFTS
Year: 1859

page_text: Sealed the 5th July 1859; and dated the 21st January 1859.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Bernard Lauth. at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
21st January 1859.
I, BERNARD LAUTH, late of Pittsburg, State of Pennsylvania, U.S.A., but
now residing at Surrey Street, in the City of Westminster, Mechanician, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
AND IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING PLATES, BARS, RODS, AND SHAFTS," to be
as follows:-
This Invention-relates to the rolling of plates, bars, rods, and shafts of iron
and steel, for the purpose of bringing the same to shape, and also of improving
the quality of the metal. When the attainment. of the latter result is the
chief object, I subject the metal to cold rolling in the manner to be presently
explained, and then anneal it and submit it again to the action of the rolls,
repeating the rolling and annealing until the fibres of the metal are sufficiently
condensed.

page_text: In carrying out the rolling of iron and steel plates, bars, rods, and shafts
according to my Invention, I employ pressing rolls, either plain or grooved,
according to the kind of articles to be operated upon, and at the front and the
rear of these rolls I mount a drawing frame for giving alternately a forward
and backward draught to the rod or other article submitted to the operation
of the rolls. Supposing a rod to be under operation, it is passed between the
rolls and secured at its opposite ends to clamps or heads which travel over
horizontal guides extending between the rolls and the drawing frame. To
each head or clamp is connected a rack or chain which gears into a spur pinion
with which the drawing frames are provided. An alternating rotary motion
being communicated to these pinions, they will draw the rod backwards and
forwards between the grooved rolls, and the rod being shifted in the clamps
from time to time to bring different parts of its periphery in succession under
the nip of the crown of the grooves, the rod will be quickly reduced to a true
cylinder. When operating upon plates and rods or bars of a sectional shape
other than round, no shifting in the clamps or heads will be requisite, but the
consolidating of the fibres and bringing the articles to shape will be effected
simply by backward and forward rolling.
It will be understood that as the clamps or heads are guided in their move-
ment and the traverse of the article under operation is effected by a drawing
motion, the tendency of the metal to twist or curl under the pressure of the
rolls will be effectually neutralized.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Bernard Lauth in the Great Seal,, Patent Office on the
20th July 1859.
:
TO. ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, BERNARD.
LAUTH, late. of Pittsburg;. State of Pennsylvania; United States of America,
but now. residing at Surry Street, in the City of Westminster; Mechanician,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-first day of January, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine, in the twenty-second year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Bernard Lauth, Her special license that I, the said Bernard Lauth,
my exécutors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, 'the said Bernard
Lauth, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree

page_text: 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 "AN IMPROVED MODE OF AND
IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING PLATES, BARS, RODS, AND SHAFTS,"
upon the
condition, amongst others, that I, the said Bernard Lauth, by an instru->
ment in writing under my hand and seal; 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 Bernard Lauth, do hereby declare the
nature. of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement and accompanying Drawing (that is to say):
This Invention relates to the rolling of plates, bars, rods, and shafts of iron
and steel for the purpose of bringing the same to shape and finish, and also of
improving the quality. For this purpose I employ pressing rollers, and cause.
the articles to be drawn to and fro between them by clamps or other attach-
ments to which a travelling motion is imparted. The said rollers therefore
perform no-part in giving motion to the articles under operation, but act simply
as rotatory guides and pressers, and they themselves receive motion by the:
drawing action.
. The precise arrangements by which this may be accomplished may be varied
to a considerable extent; I have, however, in this my Specification. shewn
Drawings of one I have found to answer, and which I will now proceed to
describe.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation, and Fig. 2 a plan view, in both of which,
however, one-end is shewn as broken off, but it is merely a counterpart of the
other end; one main shaft of the machine is shewn at a, mounted in
suitable bearings, upon which are three pullies b, c, d, the two first being loose
and the last mentioned, fast. Another main shaft is at e, upon which also'
there are three pullies f, g, h, the first of them being fast and the others loose;
according to the arrangement shewn, it is intended that separate straps from
any prime mover are applied to each of the above shafts. Suppose that these
straps are on the pullies d; h, rotatory motion will be .communicated to the
shaft a, but the other e will not be driven, the strap thereof being on a loose
pulley, but if the two straps be shifted simultaneously across the loose carrier
pullies c, g, and on to the pullies-b, f, then the shaft e will be driven, but no

page_text: pinion
motion from the power will be communicated to the other, and thus the two
shafts may alternately be caused to communicate motion to the operative
parts of the machine, which are as follows:-Upon each of the shafts a, e, is a
pinion taking into a toothed wheel k, upon the axis of which is a
driving a toothed wheel m. Upon the shafts of the last-mentioned wheels are
drums n, provided with spiral channels, within which are chains o; these chains
pass over guide pullies p, and their ends are attached to standards-q, which
rest upon a table r fixed to the framework. These standards carry clamps s,
which grasp either end of the article to be operated upon, so as to draw it first
in one direction and then in the other. The arrangement of clamp shewn in
the Drawing is particularly applicable when rods are to be operated upon;
Fig. 3 shews the construction thereof upon an enlarged scale. The clamp s
is formed in two parts, which may be separated, but may also be held together
by a hoop t, and it is provided with a recess as shewn at u. The rod (which
we now suppose to be the article under operation) is shewn at v, upon either
end of which is temporarily welded a piece w, w, of smaller diameter,
provided with a button a, which is placed within the recess of the clamp, by
these buttons therefore the rod may be drawn to and fro. Between the
shafts a, e, are standards y, which carry grooved rollers 2, the said grooves
being formed so as to finish the rod to the required shape. The lower of these
rollers is mounted in fixed bearings, but the bearings of the latter are mounted
in guides so as to be capable of being adjusted upward or downward. This
adjustment is regulated by set screws 1, which determine the height to which
the roller can move, and against these screws the bearings are carried by
counterbalance weights 2, mounted upon levers, on the other side of the
fulcrums of which are vertical rods 3 pressing against the under sides of the
said bearings. At 4 are strap forks mounted upon a shaft 5, which shaft is
connected by levers to other levers 6; as the standards 9 travel to and fro, they
arrive alternately in contact with these levers 6, by which means the shaft 5 is
caused to rock upon its centre so as to move the forks 4, and traverse the
driving straps simultaneously upon the pullies before described. The method
of operating with the machine is as follows:-Supposing the straps to be
on the pullies d, h, the gearing above described, communicating motion to the
drum n, will cause the chain o to be wound thereon, by which means the
rod v under operation will be drawn forward under pressure of the rollers z,
the amount of such pressure being regulated by the set screws 1.
This
operation will bring the temporary thinner end of the rod between the
rollers, at which time the rod is turned round a portion of a revolution so as to
present another part of its surface to the action of the rollers. This turning

page_text: of the rod is allowed by the thinner diameter being within the grooves of the
rollers, the upper one of which is kept up by the counterbalance weights 2.
The straps now pass on to the pulleys b, f, when the other drum n will com-
mence winding up the chain and drawing the rod through the rollers in the
opposite direction, and this is repeated until the required diameter and finish
are accomplished.
I have in the above description alluded particularly to the treatment of rods
or shafts, but plates or other articles of metal may be operated upon after the
same manner, the rollers being fluted or plain accordingly; and I would
also observe that although I have shewn and described a certain arrangement
of machinery for accomplishing the objects of my Invention, yet I do not
confine myself thereto, the essential character thereof, and that which I claim
as secured to me, being the use for the purposes above set forth, of apparatus
for drawing the articles to be operated upon between pressing rollers either
grooved or plain.
In witness whereof, I, the said Bernard Lauth, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fourteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-nine..
BERNARD LAUTH.
(L.S.)