IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING WIRE
Year: 1878

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake,
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for. the Invention of
IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING WIRE." A communication from
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abroad by David Shaw and David Spence, both of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Sealed the 5th July 1878, and dated the 23rd April 1878.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 23rd April 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING
WIRE." [A communication from abroad by David Shaw and David Spence, both
of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.]
This Invention relates to that class of machines for rolling wire, in which the
various sets of rolls employed are adapted to rotate with increasing rates of speed,
and it consists in the combination and arrangement of rolls and gear wheels with
the main driving shaft, as herein-after fully described.
The housings in which the said rolls are mounted are arranged in pairs, herein-
after termed the first pair or set, the second pair or set, and the third pair or set.
This arrangement of pairs may be continued or extended if desirable. Below these
sets of rolls is located a shaft upon which are mounted the gear wheels for imparting
motion to the said rolls.
It is desirable that the second set of these series of rolls should rotate with a
greater rate of speed than the first set; that the third should have an increase of
speed over the second set, and so on, so that the "slack" caused by the elongation
of the metal as it is rolled, will be taken up, and thereby the buckling and twisting
of the same avoided.
It is also desirable to avoid the friction incident to numerous rolls, which are
usually arranged in one set, and also to provide such an arrangement of rolls and

page_text: Shop
gearing that the wire can be passed from one set to another without being
suddenly bent at an angle to the grooves through which it passes. Hence I operate
the first pair or set of rolls through the medium of a gear wheel upon the aforesaid
shaft; a gear wheel upon the axis of the upper roll of the first pair, and small gear
wheels mounted one upon the axis of the said roll, and the other on the axis of the
lower roll. As this pair of rolls is designed to have the slowest rate of speed, the
first-named wheel on the axis of the upper roll is somewhat larger than either of
the other wheels in order to counteract the tendency of the large or driving wheel
to impart a swift rotation thereto:
In the second pair of rolls the second gear wheel upon the driving shaft inter-
meshes with a gear wheel upon the axis of the lower roll; this wheel also gears
with a wheel on the upper roll.
The rolls of the second set will rotate in a direction reversely to that of the rolls
of the first set, so that as the wire passes through the groove between the latter
it can be gradually carried up and around in a direction toward the rear of the same,
while so inclining toward the second set that it will enter the groove thereof on
the other side.
It will be observed that while in the first set of rolls three gear wheels are
employed, in the second set but two are necessary, and thereby the friction incident
to the use of a third wheel is avoided, and no matter how many sets of rolls are
employed in every alternate set, but two gear wheels upon the axis of the rolls will
be necessary.
For the third set of rolls which are arranged to rotate faster than the second pair
and in a reverse direction I employ a gear wheel on one end of the axis of the top
roll and two gear wheels on the other ends of the axes of these rolls. The first-
named of these three wheels intermeshes with a gear wheel upon the driving shaft,
which wheel may be considerably larger than the third wheel on the said shaft, and
hence imparts to these rolls a greater rate of speed than the other rolls.
In combination with the first set of rolls it may be of advantage to use an upper
auxiliary roll with a gear wheel upon its axis, which intermeshes with the gear
wheel of the adjacent roll, and both of these rolls are formed with a groove so that
the wire may be passed between the upper and middle rolls of the first set before
passing between the middle and lower rolls to the next of the series.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 22nd
October 1878.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING
WIRE." A communication from abroad by David Shaw and David Spence, both of
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.
This Invention relates to that class of machines for rolling wire in which the
various sets of rolls employed are adapted to rotate with increasing rates of speed,
and it consists in the combination and arrangement of rolls and gear wheels with
the main driving shaft as herein-after fully described.
In the accompanying Drawing,-
F
Figure 1 is a plan; Figure 2, a side elevation; and Figure 3, an end elevation of
the said Invention.
A designates the housings in which the said rolls are mounted, as shown in
Figure 2; they are arranged in pairs c, d, constituting the first pair or set, e, f, the
second, and g, h, the third pair. This arrangement of pairs may be continued or
extended if desirable. Below these sets of rolls is located a shaft, upon which are
mounted the gear wheels for imparting motion to the said rolls.
It is desirable that the second set of these series of rolls should rotate with a
greater rate of speed than the first set; that the third set should have an increase
of speed over the second set, and so on, so that the "slack" caused by the elonga-
tion of the metal as it is rolled will be taken up, and thereby the buckling and
twisting of the same avoided.
It is also desirable to avoid the friction incident to numerous rolls which are
usually arranged in one set, and also to provide such an arrangement of rolls and
gearing that the wire can.be passed from one set to another without being suddenly
bent at an angle to the grooves through which it passes. Hence the first pair or set of
rolls c, d, is operated through the medium of a gear wheel k upon the shaft j, a gear
wheel n upon the axis of the upper roll c and small gear wheels o, q, mounted upon
the axes of the rolls c, d. As this pair of rolls is designed to have the slowest rate
of speed, the first-named wheel n is made somewhat larger than either of the
wheels o, q, in order to counteract the tendency of the large or driving wheel k to
impart a swift rotation thereto.
It is obvious that the result would be the same if the wheels n and k were both
made small, but in view of the arrangement of rolls which follow, it is more con-
veniently practicable to employ wheels having about the relative sizes shown, and
above described.
The first gear wheel k on the shaft ; engages with a gear wheel n upon the axis of
the roll c; but in the next pair of rolls the second gear wheel upon the shaft j inter-
meshes with a gear wheel upon the axis of the lower roll f; this wheel also gears
with a wheels on the upper roll e. In this manner the rolls e, f; will rotate
reversely to the rolls c, d, so that as the wire passes through the groove between
the latter, it can be gradually carried up and around in a direction toward the rear
of the same, while so inclining toward the second set that it will enter the groove
thereof on the other side.
It will be observed that while in the first set of rolls three gear wheels n, o, q,
are employed, in the second set but two wheels r, s, are necessary, and thereby the
friction incident to the use of a third wheel is avoided, and no matter how many
sets of rolls are employed in every alternate set, but two gear wheels upon the axis
of the rolls will be necessary. The gear wheel is represented as being somewhat
smaller than the first wheel k upon the same shaft, since as it engages with the
mall wheel r the rolls will have a quicker rate of speed than the first pair in

page_text: which, as herein-before explained, the wheels n and k are respectively made larger
than the wheels r', 8.
In the third set of rolls g, h, which are arranged to rotate more quickly than
the second pair, and in a reverse direction, I employ a gear wheel t on one end of
the axis of the top roll and two gear wheels v, u, at the other ends of the axes of
these rolls. The wheel intermeshes with a gear wheel m upon the shaft j, which,
as shown, is considerably larger than the wheel l, and hence imparts to these rolls a
quicker speed.
In operating with these improvements in the first set of rolls it may be of
advantage to use the upper auxiliary roll b; this roll has a gear wheel p upon its
axis, which intermeshes with the gear wheel o of the roll c, and is grooved as shown
in Figure 2. The roll c is formed with a corresponding groove, so that the wire
may be passed between the rolls b, c, before. going between the rolls c, d, in its
regular course to the next of the series of rolls.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it under-
stood that I claim, in a machine for rolling wire the series of rolls arranged in pairs,
each pair having two intermeshing gear wheels in combination with the shaft j and
its gear wheels, which are adapted by their various sizes to impart an increase of
speed successively to the respective sets of rolls operated by them, and which
alternately engage with the gear wheel upon the axis of the upper roll of one pair,
and with the lower one of the aforesaid two intermeshing gear wheels of the next
pair, as above described and for the purpose set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-eight.
TIT
DODT TAIZE
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