IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR BENDING BARS AND PLATES OF METAL, AND IN THE CONVERTING FOR PURPOSES OF THIS INVENTION OF APPARATUS ALREADY IN USE."
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Berney, of Bracon Hall, in the County of
Norfolk, Clerk, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
BENDING BARS AND PLATES OF METAL, AND IN THE CONVERTING FOR PURPOSES
OF THIS INVENTION OF APPARATUS ALREADY IN USE."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Berney at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
13th July 1867.
I, THOMAS BERNEY, of Bracon Hall, in the County of Norfolk, Clerk, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
APPARATUS FOR BENDING BARS AND PLATES OF METAL, AND IN THE CONVERTING
FOR PURPOSES OF THIS INVENTION OF APPARATUS ALREADY IN USE," to be as
follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery and apparatus
for bending and straightening bars and plates of metal, and for forming and
working metal, and in the converting for purposes of this Invention of appa-
ratus already in use; and as I have already been granted a Patent for
"Improvements in Apparatus for Bending Bars and Plates of Metal," which
Patent bears date December 14th, 1866, and the Number 3291, the
improvements herein claimed are only such as are consistent legally with the
said Patent.

page_text: These improvements herein described consist of various parts and of various
additional means of adjustment, and in the construction and use of the said
apparatus, and in improved modes of carrying them out, and also of improved
means of carrying out the provisions of the former Patent, and in the con-
version for the purposes of this Invention of apparatus already in use, and for
any other parts of this Invention, for all of which parts and for any modi-
fication of the same and of any of them, and for all the respective com-
binations and permutations of which they, or each, or any of them may be
capable in use with this or other modifications of this Invention, and whether
with themselves or with the various modes of adjustment, or with any of the
methods of using the apparatus, or any part thereof, or with any other part or
parts of this Invention, or with those described or provided for in my former
said Patent, or any modification of the same, all, or some, or any one of them,
I claim the Invention and hereby seek for protection.
This Invention has for its object to straighten and to bend bars and plates
of metal in a cold or else in a hot state into some curved or other forms as
may be required for various purposes, sucb, for instance, ns for the building of
ships, roofs, and bridges. To this end the bars or plates to be operated upon
are fed into the machine by suitable feed rollers, hereafter more particularly
described, and are passed as may be required either over or under a roller
mounted in suitable stationary or other bearings in a locking lever frame.
Such bar in its course both before it has passed through the feed rollers and
after it has passed the depressing rollers is suitably guided, stayed, and
supported as may be required. Such guidance and support and stay are given
to it in the latter position to enable it to bear the longitudinal strain upon it
as it is drawn forward, and to prevent torsion. This is effected in any suitable
manner, but the following is preferred :-A bar or stay which may be some-
what similar to the drawing bar is pin-jointed together with it to the upper
part of the lever frame, or to the drawing bar or otherwise. It is also formed
with slots, and is capable of similar and other adjustment. Upon the lower
end of this stay sets of rollers are mounted, so that they can revolve in the
same plane as that in which the lever frame moves, one set is supported by
springs. This stay is of such length that when the lever frame is in its first
position and a bar has been passed in and has been fastened to the drawing
bar the upper set of these rollers may rest upon it. As the drawing bar is
moved forward this stay slowly follows it, travelling on the bar which is being
bent. And other like stays may be similarly pin-jointed one to the lever
frame and the other to the drawing bar. Suitable means are adopted to
prevent its unduly flying back, which may in some cases by bars pin-jointed to

page_text: the lower part of it, and resting as "falls" against the lever frame. Means
are also adopted to regulate its movements both backwards and forwards as
required. And, farther, the lower part of the drawing bar in being moved to
or from the axis of the first-mentioned roller may be moved both in a straight
path, and in a path curved or inclined both upwards and downwards in the
plane of the action of the lever frame, the end of the bar that is being bent
being kept independent of such deviation from an horizontal path. The
movement upwards will lessen the pressure of the depressing roller, the
movement downwards will increase it. And, farther, the end of the bar which
is being bent, although connected to the lower part of the drawing bar when
being drawn and propelled forward, may be caused to deviate from the path
taken by it. It may both be led upwards so as to increase the pressure of
the depressing roller, and downwards so as to lessen it. Also it may be
caused to deviate both to the right and to the left when required to bend bars
into a serpentine or into double curves. And, farther, the end of the bar or
plate which is being bent may be turned or twisted where it is held near the
drawing bar; this will give a twisted form in addition to any other curve
which may have been given to such bar or plate. And this twist may be
given both while the end of such bar or plate is moving in a straight path,
and in any path or direction deviating therefrom, and it may be given to it
after it has been drawn to its full curved length, the other end of it being still
held between the rollers or between guides of the lever frame.
In some cases
the apparatus is arranged so as to be adjusted as the bar or plate to be bent
is passing between the rollers. The lever frame and guide frame and stay are
suitably graduated, and by preference commencing at the horizontal line, and
by means of a graduator capable of adjustment and applied by preference to
the lever frame, they can be adjusted as required according to circumstances;
this graduator is formed in some cases of steel splines, and are pierced for
pin joints both at their centres and towards their ends at equal distances from
their centres; these splines are divided into sets of pairs which are similarly
pin-jointed to each other at their centres, and these pairs are arranged so as
to cross each other at equal angles, and these sets of pairs are then arranged
in a sequence in positions similar and contiguous to each other, so that the ends
of each set are pin-jointed to those of the set next it, so that however extended
or contracted they are thus formed of two sets of parallel splines crossing each
other at similar angles, but in opposite directions. The graduators thus
constructed may be single or be composed of two or more sets compounded
together.
One form of the feeding apparatus is formed of sets of auxiliary rollers of

page_text: any required form and sliding on flats and keys by preference, or feathers, or
otherwise, formed for the purpose, but other forms and arrangements may be
used. This lever apparatus or some modification of it is mounted at the
back of the lever frame, so as to be capable of adjustment so as to bring it
opposite the entrance between each pair of bending sets of rollers as required,
and having means of adjustment of the feeding rollers laterally and separately;
they are to be suitably formed for obtaining a sufficient hold and power over
the bar or metal to be passed by them between the bending rollers; suitable
pressure for this
purpose and to bring the rollers and spindles into gear with
each other is in some cases given by means of levers acting upon the bearings
in which one of the pair of spindles is mounted, which thus move in sliding
blocks or otherwise, so as to give the requisite vertical adjustment of the sets
of rollers. This feeding apparatus is arranged to be moved by hand, and is
also capable of being placed in and out of gear with the rolling or other gear
of the apparatus, or with the gear by which it is driven by levers or by other
suitable mechanical equivalents. The relative speed at which this feeding
apparatus is driven when so geared is capable of variation; this may be done
in some cases by having one of the pair of spindles mounted with or driven
from the spindle of one of a pair of conical drums mounted in reverse positions
on parallel axes opposite each other, and upon which a suitable driving band
is caused to work in any required position, so that by these means the speed
can be regulated while the bar or plate is passing between the feeding rollers,
but other means may be used. The bending auxiliary rollers are for most
purposes preferred to run loosely on their primary rollers. The levers are in
some cases employed when so required to raise or adjust the bending rollers
so as to admit of the bars to be bent being inserted between them by the feed
rollers. The ends of each of these levers is carried along the edges of one of
the discs of the roller frame backwards, and has a slot in it which fits a collar
formed on the nave of a hand wheel. The nave or boss of each hand wheel
is tapped so as to fit a screw upon which it works, which projects from the
disc of the roller frame into which the head of the screw is pin-jointed; by
this means when the hand wheels are turned the levers will rise with them,
and the compressing screws with the bearings and rollers which are supported
by them are simultaneously raised; the bearings when so raised work on
suitable guide keys or in suitable slots. Again when they are screwed down
the whole are secured in their places, subject only to the action of the com-
pressing screws; these compressing screws are mounted with band wheels
which by suitable mechanical means where convenient are caused to work
together. The same pin joints which act as fulcrums to the levers act as

page_text: fulcrums also to a pair of weighted levers which have a similar lifting effect
upon the rollers, but project over the forward part of the discs and act in the
same plane with them, and they may both act together with the other levers
forming one with them at their mutual fulcrum joint and separately and
independently. And other weighted levers differently placed may be used in
some cases for the same purpose; they may in some cases be double and also
be in pairs, and be mounted upon either side of each disc. Each pair of
depressing or compressing rollers may be provided with such weighted levers.
The action and the weights of the upper of these sets of levers may be con-
tained within the diameter of the discs. In some cases weighted levers or
springs are employed to press the bearings of the rollers towards each other so
as to give liberty to allow of irregularly formed bars passing between them,
which in such case is done by liberating the levers from the constraint of the
collar of the hand wheel before mentioned, and by adjusting a weight or a
spring to the end of the lever or otherwise. The inclination and declination
before provided for in the course of the drawing bar is preferred to
be effected in the following manner, though other means may be used:-
At about the level of the axis of the first-mentioned or stationary roller
the drawing bar is provided with a carriage or traveller which is suitably
guided. A complete guide frame is in some cases formed, which may
be constructed of H or of channel iron for the carriage to slide in, or so
as to form grooves in which run flanged wheels mounted on the axles of the
carriage or traveller. The first position of this guide frame is horizontal,
and by preference in the plane of the axis of the stationary roller, near which
it is mounted on suitable bearings. The other end has a socket or sockets,
which is or are supported by one or more screw nuts. Each nut works on a
screw which is erected in the plane in which one of the members of the
drawing bar and of the lever act, and each of such screws works on a pin
joint which is situated at a point considerably below the horizontal plane of
the guide frame; these nuts are formed with cogged wheels of one or more
sizes or otherwise, by means of which they can be put either in or out of gear
with a rack bar, one end of which is fixed to the carriage or to the drawing
bar, so that as the carriage is drawn or propelled forward the rack bar when
in gear with it turns the nut. As a modification it may be turned by an endless
rope or chain. Each rack bar is also preferred to be double, so as to form
a long slot lined on each side with teeth, and it is so arranged that by suitable
means it may be put into gear on the one side so as to make the end of the
frame to rise on the screw, and on the other side so as to make it gradually
to sink.
And it may be put out of gear and the guide frame be fixed in the

page_text: horizontal plane and at any elevation preferred; by these means the carriage is
made to travel along the guides and to carry the drawing bar with it. In
any case the drawing bar may have a lateral inclination given to it when
required. The rapidity of these movements may be varied by the size of the
cógged wheels or pulleys used or other arrangements of the form of the screw
or screws and of the nut traveller. The position of the guides may be varied
both beforehand and while a bar is being bent, but the course of the end of
such metal bar must be independent of such variation in such inclination and
declination of the drawing bar except as regards any lateral movement. And
during the movement of the carriage which would otherwise give to it a
curved or a deviating course the end of the bar or plate to be bent is
during such variation in the course of the bar guided and supported,
as is also the other part of the bar at all times during its course. This
independent guidance and support is effected in the following manner,
though other plans and arrangements may be used:-The drawing bar is
formed by preference of two members which are framed together, and which
at the level of the axis of the centre roller are provided with pin joints which
work in the same horizontal plane with it on joints corresponding with them
on the carriage or traveller; but their lower ends are preferred to project
Bome way below it. The carriage is also provided with other joints in the
same horizontal plane as the other joints, and in the same vertical planes in
which the members of the drawing bar respectively act, or more or less. In
each of these joints is mounted by a suitable hinge or disc a screw, which
by preference is double threaded, and which extends both upwards and
downwards. Each end of these screws is screwed into a socket which
also forms a pin joint with a cross piece; these cross pieces are pin-jointed
to the respective members of the drawing bar in such manner that in
each case they are in or are parallel with the plane of the joints before
mentioned on the carriage. Each screw is also parallel to the forward edge of
the drawing bar to which it belongs. The two cross pieces thus pin-jointed
to each of the two members of the bar respectively and to the sockets on the
ends of the screws are of such length that the screws as the bars move are
always parallel to it. Upon each of these double threaded screws works two
long nuts, one pair of which works on the screws above the traveller carriage,
the other pair on that which is below it; about one-half of each nut is
formed as a circular ball joint, and upon it a socket is mounted forming a ball-
and-socket joint; at one end of the socket are connected clamps suitable for
holding the end of any metal bar to be bent, the other end is connected with
a traveller formed of a frame with runners mounted so as to travel on the

page_text: drawing bar parallel to a screw.
The other half of these nuts is formed as
a cogged wheel or wheels, one or more, with flanges at each side of them;
each of these cogged wheel nuts is acted upon when in gear by a rack bar,
which also may be double or formed of two members, but with teeth on the
inside of only one of them. One end of this rack bar is fastened to or near to
the lever frame, and when in gear the member of it with the teeth is placed
in connection with one of the cogged wheels of the nut either of that above
the carriage or with that below the carriage, so that as the carriage advances
the nut and traveller (with the clamp holding the bar to be bent) either sinks
or rises, as the case may be, that is to say, it is capable of deviating from the
centre horizontal line and both upwards and downwards, and as the lever frame
and bar return to their position the other nuts with the travellers also return
to their position. Instead of racks and wheels or pulleys and chains other
equivalent means may be used. The clamps for holding the ends of bars may
be attached to the universal joint of the travellers, and at any point along the
rack bar connected to them, and in some cases to the carriage itself. As the
machine when used with auxiliary rollers as before shewn is necessarily wide
the two members of which the drawing bar is formed are framed together at a
distance apart from each other proportionate to the width of the lever frame,
and each member is provided with the screws, nuts, and travellers as before
described, to which the rack bars leading to the roller frame are attached.
Upon these rack bars a cross bar or frame for the clamps is applied by
apparatus fitting on to the cogged teeth of it and capable of adjustment to
any required position upon them so as to afford facility for giving to any short
bar any part of a curve which the machine as adjusted at the moment would
give. It is also connected to the drawing bar by chain or otherwise. Upon
this cross bar or frame the clamps are capable of adjustment laterally, so that
through which ever opening of the machine the bar to be bent be passed or
propelled it may be held by the clamp in the same plane with it if desired;
also by means of this adjustment of the clamp along the cross bar or frame or
otherwise the end of a bar to be bent may be drawn either to the right or to
the left so as to give a twist to it when required. When bending a large
beam of this character of form I they may occupy the whole depth between
any two of the primary rollers, while its flanges will be supported on either
side by the auxiliary rollers, and if the web be found liable to give way and to
become crippled it is to be supported, and this is preferred to be effected in
some cases by auxiliary rollers mounted separately on handles or otherwise
and retained against it on each side by any suitable means, but in most cases
I prefer to use the arrangement by which the centre roller being dispensed

page_text: with the upper and under rollers are to be used together. In this case the
web is to be supported on either side by what may be called central lateral
auxiliary rollers of suitable form; these are preferred to be strongly mounted
on powerful levers mounted by pin joint or otherwise on standards which are
to be inserted into the solid bearing of the removed central roller or other-
wise, and are capable of adjustment by screwed sockets or otherwise so as to
have sufficient basis; other means of support may be used. In some cases
the central lateral auxiliary rollers before mentioned are mounted at once on
to the standards, and extra pressure is given through them to the screwed
sockets by the screws in the journals in the lever frame which act upon the
discs and cause them to approach each other. In some cases for bending
large bars of angle and T iron these levers bearing auxiliary rollers of any
requisite form are mounted on one of the primary rollers along which it can
slide or be otherwise adjusted to any required position from the centre towards
either side. The side of the bar is supported by an auxiliary roller or other-
wise, and the alteration required in the form of flanges of it is effected by
their being thus pressed by the rollers of the levers against the opposite
primary roller to which a requisite curved form is given. In place of
employing the drawing bar for the purpose the lever frame may be otherwise
connected with and acted on by the steam or other power employed, but the
drawing bar and its apparatus may still be employed and be actuated in a
different manner, and the rack bars previously mentioned connected to the
drawing bar may in some cases pass on the outside of the lever frame and be
there acted upon for such purpose by suitable gear.
In straightening bars the drawing bar may if necessary be disconnected from
the traveller and be otherwise secured, and the requisite pressure may be given
by the use of the rack and worm wheel before mentioned. The traveller or other
traveller also in some cases carries a roller or rollers mounted on it so as to form
the requisite support to the bar or plate which is being straightened or bent, and
by the travelling of this support backwards and forwards the pressure of the
rollers upon any part of the bar or plate can be rapidly varied, and these rollers
may be mounted on discs capable of revolving if required, and various means
may be adopted for carrying this operation into effect. By the use of these
means bars may also be straightened. This apparatus has the advantage that
after a bar has been drawn through the rollers it may be passed back again
by means of the stay bar or otherwise either between the same rollers just
used or if desired between any other pair of them, and these rollers are
capable of adjustment by means of revolving discs or otherwise so as to adapt
them to the position and form of the depressing rollers to be used. The bar

page_text: to be bent can be thus drawn backwards and forwards, and the proper means
provided for the purpose be used for altering and varying any curve as may
be required. In some cases, especially in bending very long and light bars, it
is proposed if necessary to cause water by a jet or jets or otherwise to play
5 upon it as it leaves the rollers, and in some cases it is proposed for a bath to
be provided for it to decline into as it passes away from the rollers.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Thomas Berney in
the Great Seal Patent Office on the 3rd February 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
BERNEY, of Bracon Hall, in the County of Norfolk, Clerk, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirteenth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Thomas Berney, Her special licence that I, the said Thomas Berney,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
Thomas Berney, 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 APPARATUS FOR BENDING BARS AND PLATES OF METAL, AND IN THE CONVERTING
FOR PURPOSES OF THIS INVENTION OF APPARATUS ALREADY IN USE," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas Berney, my executors or
administrators, by an instrument in writing under , 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 Thomas Berney, 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 :-

page_text: This Invention has for its object improvements in machinery and apparatus
for bending bars and plates of metal, and in the converting for purposes of this
Invention of apparatus already in use; and as I have already been granted a
Patent for "Improvements in Apparatus for Bending Bars and Plates of
Metal," which Patent bears date December Fourteenth, One thousand eight
hundred and sixty-six, and the Number 3291, the improvements herein
claimed or hereafter to be claimed are only such as are consistent legally with
the said Patent.
These improvements berein or hereafter to be described consist of various
parts and of various additional means of adjustment, and in the construction
and use of the said apparatus, and in improved modes of carrying them out,
and also of improved means of carrying out the provisions of the former Patent,
and for any other parts of this Invention hereafter to be described, for all of
which parts, and for any modification of the same and of any of them, and
for all the respective combinations and permutations of which they, or each, or
any of them may be capable in use with this or other modifications of this
Invention, and whether with themselves or with the various modes of adjust-
ment, or with any of the methods of using the apparatus, or any part thereof,
or for any other part or parts of this Invention, or with those described or
provided for in my former said Patent, or any modification of the same,
all, or some, or any of them, I claim the Invention and hereby seek for
protection.
This Invention has for its object to bend bars and plates of metal in a cold
and also in a hot state into some curved or other forms as may be required
for various purposes, such, for instance, as for the building of ships, roofs, and
bridges. To this end the bars or plates to be operated upon are fed into the
machine by suitable feed rollers, hereafter more particularly described, and a
Drawing of one arrangement of which is appended bereto, see Figure 1; and
they are passed as may be required either over or under a roller mounted in
suitable stationary or other bearings in a rocking lever frame; such bar in its
course both before it has passed through the feed rollers and after it has
passed the depressing rollers is suitably guided, stayed, and supported as may
be required; such guidance and support and stay are given to it in the latter
position to enable it to bear the longitudinal strain upon it as it is drawn
forward and to prevent torsion. This is effected in any suitable manner, but
the following is preferred :-A bar or stay which may be somewhat similar to
the drawing bar is pin-jointed together with it to the upper part of the lever
frame or to the drawing bar, or otherwise; it is also formed with slots, and is
capable of similar and other adjustment. Upon the lower end of this stay

page_text: sets of rollers are mounted, so that they can revolve in the same plane as that
in which the lever frame moves; one set is supported by springs. This stay
is of such length that when the lever frame is in its first position and a bar
has been passed in and has been fastened to the drawing bar the upper set of
these rollers, or other suitable means of applying it, may rest upon it. As the
drawing bar is moved forward this stay slowly follows it, travelling on the bar
which is being bent; and other like stays may be similarly pin-jointed to
the lever frame and the other to the drawing bar. Suitable means are adopted
to prevent its unduly flying back, which may in some cases be by bars pin-
jointed to the lower part of it, and resting as "falls" against the lever frame;
means are also adopted to regulate its movements both backwards and forwards
as required. And, further, the lower part of the drawing bar in being moved
to or from the axis of the first-mentioned roller may be moved both in a
straight path and in a path curved or inclined both upwards and downwards in
the plane of the action of the lever frame, the end of the bar that is being
bent being kept independent of such deviation from an horizontal path; the
movement upwards will lessen the pressure of the depressing roller, the move-
ment downwards will increase it. And, further, the end of the bar which is
being bent, although connected to the lower part of the drawing bar, when
being drawn and propelled forward may be caused to deviate from the path
taken by it; it may both be led upwards so as to increase the pressure of the
depressing roller, and downwards, so as to lessen it; also it may be caused to
deviate both to the right and to the left when required to bend bars into a
serpentine or into double curves. And, further, the end of the bar or plate
which is being bent may be turned or twisted where it is held near the
drawing bar; this will give a twisted form in addition to any other curve
which may have been given to such bar or plate, and this twist may be given
both while the end of such bar or plate is moving in a straight path, and in
any path or direction deviating therefrom, and it may be given to it after it
has been drawn to its full curved length, the other end of it being still beld
between the rollers or between guides of the lever frame. In some cases
the apparatus is arranged so as to be adjusted as the bar or plate is
passing between the rollers. The lever frame and guide frame and stay are
suitably graduated, and by preference commencing at the horizontal line of
the lever frame at the level of the central roller or axis of the frame, and also
by means of a graduator capable of adjustment, and applied by preference
to the lever frame at the level of the said axis, and capable of being extended
upwards. The pin joint connecting the drawing bar and the guide stay bar
frame to the lever frame can by means of this indicating graduator be adjusted.

page_text: as required according to circumstances; this graduator is formed in some cases
of steel splines similar and equal to each other, which are pierced for pin
joints both at their centres and towards their ends at equal distances from
their centres; these splines are divided into pairs which are similarly pin-
jointed to each other at their centres by means of pins, and each such centre
pin is similarly pierced with a hole towards one end of it to fit and to slide
upon a straight rod, and these splines are arranged so as to cross each other
at equal angles; and these sets of pairs are then arranged in a sequence upon
a straight rod, upon which they slide by means of the said pierced centre pins
in positions similar and contiguous to each other, so that the ends of the
splines of each set are pin-jointed to the ends of those of the set next to it, so
that the whole framework is capable of extension and contraction, thus forming
a graduator capable of adjustment; and however extended or contracted it is
thus formed of two sets of parallel splines similar and equal to each other,
crossing each other at similar angles. The graduators thus constructed are
in some cases single, and in some cases are composed of two or more
sets compounded together and suitably pin-jointed together at their points of
intersection.
The feeding apparatus, as shewn in the accompanying Drawings, Figure 1,
is formed of sets of auxiliary rollers r of any required form capable of lateral
adjustment by sliding along the spindles ¹, r, guided by flats or keys rll, 11,
but other forms and arrangements may be used; m represents an angle iron
being passed forward by the feeding rollers r; m¹ represents a tee-iron; m", a
channel iron; m, an I iron or girder; and m, a pair of angle irons to be
bent together. This feeding apparatus or some modification of it is mounted
at the back or entrance of the lever frame so as to be capable of adjustment so
as to bring it opposite the entrance between each pair of bending sets of rollers
as required, and having means of adjustment for the feeding rollers laterally
and separately; they are to be suitably formed for obtaining a sufficient hold and
power over the bar or metal to be passed by them between the bending rollers;
suitable pressure for this purpose, and to bring the rollers and spindles into
gear with each other, is in some cases given by means of levers acting upon
the bearings in which one of the pairs of spindles is mounted, which thus
move in sliding blocks or otherwise so as to give the requisite vertical adjust-
ment of the sets of rollers. This feeding apparatus is arranged to be moved
by hand, and is also capable in some cases of being placed in and out of gear
with the rolling or other gear of the apparatus, or by the gear by which it is
driven by levers, or by other suitable mechanical equivalents. The relative
speed at which this feeding apparatus is driven when so geared is capable of

page_text: variation. This may be done in some cases by having one of the pair of
spindles mounted with or driven from the spindle of one of a pair of conical
drums mounted in reverse positions on parallel axes opposite each other, and
upon which a suitable driving band is caused to work, so that by these means
the speed can be regulated while the bar or plate is passing between the
feeding rollers, but other means may be used. The bending auxiliary rollers
are for most purposes preferred to run loosely in their primary rollers. The
levers ¹¹¹ before described, a modification of which is shewn in the Drawings
at Figure 7, are in some cases employed when so required to raise or adjust
the bending rollers c, so as to admit of the bars to be bent being inserted
between them by the feed rollers. The ends of each of these levers is
carried along the edges of one of the discs 61 of the roller frame backwards,
and has a slot in it St, which fits a collar formed on the nave of a hand
wheel S. The nave S or boss of each band wheel is tapped so as to fit a
screw there shewn, upon which it works, which projects from the disc of the
roller frame into which the head of the screw is pin-jointed. By these means
when the band wheels are turned the levers will rise with them, and the
compressing screws Wt with the bearings a and rollers c which are supported
by them are simultaneously raised. The bearings when so raised work ou
suitable guide keys or in suitable slots. Again when these levers are thus
screwed down the whole are screwed in their places subject only to the action
of the compressing screws W'. These compressing screws W' are in some
cases mounted with hand wheels, which by suitable mechanical means where
convenient are caused to work together. The same pin joints 1, 81, act as
fulcrums also to a pair of weighted levers with weights p, which have a
similar lifting effect upon the rollers, but project over the forward part of the
discs and act in the same plane with them, and in some cases they may
both act together with the other levers, forming one with them at their
mutual fulcrum joint 6, 8, and separately and independently. And other
weighted levers differently placed may be used in some cases for the same
purpose; they may in some cases be double, and also be in pairs, and be
mounted upon either side of each disc. Each pair of depressing or com-
pressing rollers may be provided with such weighted levers. The action and
the weights of the upper of these sets of levers may be contained within the
diameter of the dises. In some cases weighted levers or springs are employed
to press the bearings of the rollers towards each other, so as to give liberty to
allow of irregularly formed bars passing between them, which in such case is
done by liberating the levers from the constraint of the collar of the hand
wheel before mentioned, and by adjusting a weight or a spring at the end of

page_text: the lever. The inclination and declination before provided for in the course
of the drawing bar is preferred to be effected in the following manner, though
other means may be used. At about the level of the axis of the first-
mentioned or stationary roller the drawing bar is provided with a carriage or
traveller which is suitably guided; the form of the traveller is in some cases
only a simple roller. Also a complete guide frame is in some cases formed,
which may be constructed of H or of channel iron for the carriage to slide in,
or so as to form grooves in which run flanged wheels mounted on the axles of
the carriage or traveller. The first position of this guide frame is horizontal,
and by preference in the plane of the axis of the stationary roller near which
it is mounted on suitable bearings; the other end has a socket or sockets,
which is or are supported by one or more screw nuts. Each nut works on a
screw which is erected on a plane in which one of the members of the dividing
bar and of the lever act, and each of such screws works on a pin joint which is
situated at a point considerably below the horizontal plane of the guide frame.
These nuts are formed with cogged wheels of one or more sizes, or otherwise,
by means of which they can be put either in or out of gear with a rack bar,
one end of which is fixed to the carriage or to the drawing bar, so that as the
carriage is drawn or propelled forward the rack bar when in gear with it turns
the nut. As a modification it may be turned by an endless rope or chain.
Each rack bar is also preferred to be double, so as to form a long slot lined
on each side with teeth, and it is so arranged that by suitable means it may
be put into gear and on the one side so as to make the end of the frame to
rise on the screw, on the other side so as to make it gradually to sink, and it
may be put out of gear and the guide frame be fixed on the horizontal plane
at any elevation preferred. By these means the carriage is made to travel
along the guides and to carry the drawing bar with it. In any case the
drawing bar may have a lateral inclination given to it when required. The
rapidity of these movements may be varied by the size of the cogged wheels
or pulleys used, or other arrangements of the form of the screw or screws and
of the nut traveller. The position of the guides may be varied both before-
hand and while a bar is being bent, but the course of the end of such
metal bar must be independent of such variation in such inclination and
declination of the drawing bar except as regards any lateral movement.
And during the movement of the carriage, which would otherwise give
to it a curved or a deviating course, the end of the bar or plate to be
bent is during such variation in the course of the bar guided and supported,
as is also the other part of the bar at all times during its course. This
independent guidance and support is effected in the following manner,

page_text: though other plans and arrangements may be used:-The drawing bar is
formed by preference of two members which are framed together, and which
at or at about the level of the axis of the centre roller are provided with pin
joints which work in the same horizontal plane with it on points corresponding
with them on the carriage or traveller, but their lower ends are preferred to
project some way below it. The carriage is also provided with other points in
the same horizontal plane as the other joints, and in the same vertical planes
in which the members of the drawing bar respectively act, or more or less. In
each of these joints is mounted by a suitable hinge or disc a screw, which by
preference is in some cases double thredded, and which extends both upwards
and downwards. Each end of these screws is screwed into a socket which
also forms a pin joint with a cross piece; these cross pieces are pin-jointed
to the respective members of the drawing bar in such manner that in each
case they are in or are parallel with the plane of the joints before mentioned
on the carriage; each screw is also parallel to the forward edge of the
drawing to which it belongs. The two cross pieces thus pin-jointed to
each of the two members of the bar respectively and to the sockets on the
ends of the screws are of such length that the screws as the bars move are
always parallel to it. Upon each of these double-threaded screws works two
long nuts, one pair of which works on the screws above the traveller carriage,
the other pair on that which is below it; about one-half of each nut is formed
as a circular ball joint, and upon it a socket is mounted forming a ball-and-
socket joint. At one end of the socket are connected clamps suitable for
holding the end of any metal bar to be bent; the other end is connected with
a traveller formed of a frame with runners mounted so as to travel on the
drawing bar parallel to a screw; the other half of these nuts is formed as a
cogged wheel or wheels, one or more with flanges at each side of them; each
of these cogged wheel nuts is acted upon when in gear by a rack bar, which
also may be double or formed of two members, but with teeth on the inside
of only one of them. One end of this rack bar is fastened to or near to the
lever frame, and when in gear the members of it with the teeth is placed in
connection with one of the cogged wheels of the nut, either of that above the
carriage or with that below the carriage, so that as the carriage advances the
nut and traveller (with the clamp holding the bar to be bent) either sinks or
rises, as the case may be, that is to say, it is capable of deviating from the
centre horizontal line and both upwards and downwards, and as the lever
frame and bar return to their position the other nuts with the travellers also
return to their position. Instead of racks and wheels or pulleys and chains
other equivalent means may be used. The clamps for holding the ends of bars

page_text: may be attached to the universal joint of the travellers, and at any point along
the rack bar connected to them, and in some cases to the carriage itself. As
the machine when used with auxiliary rollers, as before shown, is necessarily
wide, the two members of which the drawing bar is formed are framed
together at a distance apart from each other proportionate to the width of the
lever frame, and each member is provided with the screws, nuts, and travellers,
as before described, to which the rack bars leading to the roller frame are
attached. Upon these rack bars a cross bar or frame for the clamps is applied
by apparatus fitting on to the cogged teeth of it, and capable of adjustment to
any required position upon them so as to afford facility for giving to any short
bar any part of a curve which the machine as adjusted at the moment will
give. It is also connected to the drawing bar by a chain or otherwise; upon
this cross bar or frame the clamps are capable of adjustment laterally, so that
through whichever opening of the machine the bar to be bent be passed or
propelled it may be held by the clamp in the same plane with it if desired;
also by means of this adjustment of the clamp along the cross bar or frame
or otherwise the end of a bar to be bent may be drawn either to the right or
to the left so as to give a twist to it when required. When bending a large
beam of this character of form I it may occupy the whole depth between any
two of the primary rollers, while its flanges will be supported on either side
by the auxiliary rollers, and if the web be found liable to give way and to
become crippled it is to be supported; and this is preferred to be effected
in some cases by auxiliary rollers mounted separately on handles or otherwise,
and retained against it on each side by any suitable means; but in most cases
I prefer to use the arrangement by which the centre roller being dispensed
with the upper and under rollers are to be used together. In this case the
webb of it may in some cases be supported on either side by what may be
called central lateral auxiliary rollers of suitable form. These are preferred
to be strongly mounted on powerful levers mounted by pin joint or otherwise
as standards, which are to be inserted into the solid bearing of the removed
central roller or otherwise, and are capable of adjustment by screwed sockets or
otherwise so as to have sufficient basis; other means of support may be used.
In some cases the central lateral auxillary rollers before mentioned are
mounted at once on to the standards, and the extra pressure is given through
them by means of the screws in the journals in the lever frame which act
upon the discs and cause them to approach each other. In some cases for
bending large bars of angle and T iron levers bearing auxiliary rollers
of any requisite form are mounted on one of the primary rollers along which
it can slide, or be otherwise adjusted to any required position from the centre

page_text: towards either side. The webb of the bar is supported by an auxiliary roller
and by the lever itself, or otherwise, and the alteration required in the form
of flanges on it is effected by their being pressed by the rollers of the levers
against the opposite primary roller to which a requisite curved form is given,
see Figure 8* and 8**; a is the centre roller; is a lever, seen in section
mounted on the upper roller c by means of the band.; W, W, are examples
of angle iron being bent, the webb of which is supported between an auxiliary
roller and a part of the lever 1; lr, are the pressing rollers of any suitable
form required, and mounted on the lever and removeable. In place of
employing the drawing bar for the purpose the lever frame may be otherwise
connected with and acted on by the steam or other power employed, but the
drawing bar and its apparatus may still be employed, and be actuated in a
different manner, and the rack bars previously mentioned connected to the
drawing bar may in some cases pass on the outside of the lever frame, and be
there acted upon for such purpose by suitable gear.
In straightening bars the drawing bar may if necessary be disconnected
from the traveller and be otherwise secured, and the requisite pressure
may be given by the use of the rack and worm wheel before mentioned.
The traveller or other traveller also in some cases carries a roller or
rollers mounted on it so as to form the requisite support to the bar or
plate which is being bent, and by the travelling of this support backwards
and forwards the pressure of the rollers upon any part of the bar or plate
can be rapidly varied, and various means may be adopted for carrying this
operation into effect. This apparatus bas the advantage in some cases that
after a bar has been drawn through the rollers it may be passed back
again by means of the stay bar or otherwise, either between the same
rollers just used, or if desired between any other pair of them; and these
rollers are capable of adjustment by means of revolving discs or otherwise, so.
as to adapt them to the position and form of the depressing rollers to be used.
The bar to be bent can be thus drawn backwards and forwards, and the
proper means provided for the purpose be used for altering and varying any
curves. In some cases, especially in bending very long and light bars, it is
proposed if necessary to cause water by a jet or jets to play upon it.as it
leaves the rollers, and in some cases it is proposed for a bath to be provided
for it to decline into as it passes away from the rollers.
Ordinary rolling mills as at present in use may be modified to suit some
purposes of this Invention, especially for bending plates; thus in some cases
large journals are fixed to each side of the rolling mill frame and mounted on
B

page_text: suitable bearings; these journals are hollow and generally only segments of
circles, the upper part being open to admit of the insertion and movement of
the coupling boxes already in use. The weighted levers in use are turned
and placed so as to act in the same plane with the sides of the mill frame;
these sides of the mill frame are to be strongly framed together, and to the
top of this machine so framed together are affixed a lever frame with slots
and otherwise, as before described, so as to form a lever rocking frame
suitable for carrying out these purposes of this Invention. The plate after it
leaves the rollers is supported, and sometimes it is so by a simple roller
mounted in a frame with a central handle attached to the drawing bar, and
working in an universal socket joint. And when torsion or twisting is required
to be given to the plate, in addition to the bending given by the action of the
lever frame, it is done by the curve or variation given to the bed or frame
upon which the roller travels, causing the ends of the roller or one of them
to rise or fall as may be required, but other modifications of rolling mills may
however be adopted.
I wish it to be understood that this graduator, as herein described, capable
of contraction and extension is by no means a separate Invention for the pur-
pose of graduating any given line, but forms a part of this machine, and is
used and applied to or at the lever frame for the purpose of enabling me to
adjust the position of the pin joint connecting the drawing bar and guide
frame bar to the lever frame, so as to enable the operator to form complete
sets of curved bars of different sizes; but inasmuch as the various qualities of
bars, still less the heat given to them, cannot be constant, I by no means tie
myself to carry this out accurately.
I do not claim the the Invention of the feed rollers, nor of the conical drums,
nor of the joint of friction blocks, as herein described, but only the use of
them in conjunction with this machine.
Having now described my Invention of improvements in machinery or
apparatus for bending bars or plates of metal, and having explained some of
the manners of carrying the same into effect, I would observe that although
the arrangement and combination of parts herein shewn and contained are
those, which I prefer and consider, most advantageous and advisable for
carrying out the object of the Invention, I do not mean and intend to confine
myself thereto as the construction and arrangement of parts of them, and
also the combinations of the same or of some them and also the means of
actuating and working parts of them, are capable of considerable variation
without departing from the nature of the Invention or the principle upon

page_text: which it is founded; I therefore reserve to myself the right to adopt such
mechanical means as may be found most convenient to carry out the object of
the Invention.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Berney, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Third day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight.
THOMAS BERNEY. (L.S.)