IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING RAILS, BARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1881

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Henry Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the
County of Middlesex, Gentleman, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
BENDING RAILS, BARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR ARTICLES, AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." A communication from
abroad by Ladislav Vojacek, of Smichor, Prague, Bohemia.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Henry Johnson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 25th August 1881.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING RAILS, BARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN." A
communication from abroad by Ladislav Vojacek, of Smichor, Prague, Bohemia.
This Invention relates to improvements in bending railway rails, girders, angle
iron, bar iron, and other like articles, and it has reference to an arrangement
whereby the bending is effected by causing apparatus to travel along the article to
be bent, which according to this Invention does not necessarily partake of any
motion in the direction of its length.
In carrying out the said Invention, the apparatus for bending rails for railways,
for example, is constructed as next hereinafter described.
Three parallel rollers are employed, two of which are capable of turning freely
on journals working in bearings in a suitable frame constructed of cast iron, or
built up with plate and angle iron, or cut out of a single plate, whilst the third,
preferably the middle roller, is mountad in bearings capable of lateral adjustment,
in a direction perpendicular to a plane drawn through the axes of the other two
rollers. These adjustable bearings are formed in the extremities of two bars
capable of sliding longitudinally in suitable guides in the frame hereinbefore
described, and the said bars are connected together at their opposite extremities by
a cross head provided with a screw. One extremity of this screw is provided with
a suitable lever handle or crank, and the other extremity bears against the frame
carrying the two rollers which are immoveable relatively to each other.

page_text: The axis of the adjustable roller is suitably prolonged to admit of the application
of long levers, or an endless screw and worm wheel or toothed or other suitable
gear, for the purpose of imparting rotary motion to the said roller, as hereinafter
described.
This apparatus operates in the following manner, viz.:-The apparatus is
slipped over the article to be bent in such a manner that the two outer or end
rollers bear against what is destined to become the convex side of the article, and
the middle or adjustable roller bears against the opposite concave side. The
screw working in the crosshead connected with the adjustable bearings of this
roller, as herein before described, is then turned until the said middle roller is
caused to exert the pressure necessary to bend the article to the desired extent.
This roller is then rotated by the means hereinbefore described, whereby the whole
apparatus is caused to travel along the article, and at the same time the pressure of
the adjustable roller on the one side, and of the other two rollers on the opposite
side, impart to the article a uniform bent or curvature throughout its entire length.
By suitably altering the position of the adjustable roller, the extent to which the
rail or other article is bent may be varied at pleasure, and any desired curves may
be thus produced.
Small guide rollers may be arranged with their axes at right angles to the axes
of the bending rollers, in order to maintain the article in position and prevent it
from becoming twisted or distorted during the operation.
In bonding articles presenting great lateral stiffness, such as tramway rails, it is
desirable to increase the power of roller which propels the apparatus along the rail
by means of suitable gear, such as a worm wheel driven by an endless screw or
other equivalent arrangement. In the case of ordinary railway or vignalle rails, it
is most convenient to turn the adjustable roller by means of four long levers
inserted in suitable holes formed in a species of capstan head fixed on the axis of
the said roller. When operating on other articles or bars presenting comparatively
little resistance, the roller may be rotated by means of an ordinary cranked handle
or fly wheel.
In lieu of causing the bending apparatus to travel along the article by rotating
one of the rollers, as herein before described, a fixed or stationary windlass may be
employed to draw the apparatus over the article by means of a rope or chain; and
it is evident that in case of need the required result may be obtained by maintaining
the bending apparatus stationary, and causing the bar or article to be bent to move
through it by means of feed rollers or other suitable devices.
The advantages of the improved apparatus consist in its compactness and
portability, which renders it especially suitable for railway work.
Rails of any
length and elasticity may be bent with facility and expedition by means of this
apparatus, either on the line or in the works, and caused to assume any desired
regular or irregular curvature.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said John Henry Johnson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th February 1882.
JOHN HENRY JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of Middlesex,
Gentleman. "IMPROVEMENTS IN BENDING RAILS, BARS, AND OTHER SIMILAR
ARTICLES, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN."
communication from abroad by Ladislav Vojácěk, of Smichor, Prague, Bohemia.
A
This Invention relates to improvements in bending railway rails, girders, angle
iron, bar iron, and other like articles, and it has reference to an arrangement
whereby the bending is effected by causing apparatus to travel along the article to
be bent, which according to this Invention does not necessarily partake of any
motion in the direction of its length.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood I will now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall refer to
the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures..
Figure 1 represents in plan, Figure 2 in transverse section, and Figure 3 in
elevation, machinery or apparatus for bending rails for railways or other similar
articles according to the said Invention.
Three rollers marked respectively W, W¹, and W11, are employed, two of which,
videlicet, those marked W₁ and WI, are capable of turning freely on journals w
working in bearings in a frame T, TH, constructed of cast iron or built up with plate
and angle iron, which is shewn as consisting of two plates bolted together by bolts
and nuts and distance pieces, but which may be cut out of a single plate as may be
convenient. The third roller W is monnted in bearings carried by side bars L¹, L",
connected by a cross head or distance piece V at top, and sliding in guides F¹, F",
secured to the frame T¹, T". A screw S passes through a screwed hole in the
cross head V. One extremity of this screw is squared to receive a lever handle or
crank, the other extremity of the said screw bearing against the plate V2 secured
to the framing T¹, T, as seen clearly in Figure 2.
The axis of the adjustable roller W is suitably prolonged to admit of the
application of long levers or an endless screw and worm wheel, or toothed or other
suitable gear for the purpose of imparting rotary motion to the said roller. In the
Drawing it is shewn as terminating in a squared end for receiving a lever H, shewn
in position in Figure 2.
The apparatus operates in the following manner :- The said apparatus is slipped
over the article to be bent in such a manner that the two outer or end
rollers W¹, W, bear against what is destined to become the convex side of the
article, and the middle or adjustable roller W bears against the opposite or
concave side, as shown in plan and side elevation respectively in Figures 4 and 5,
where the rail is marked X. The screw S in the crosshead connected with the
adjustable bearings of this roller W, as hereinbefore described, is then turned, and
thereby the distance between the planes in which the roller W and the
rollers W, W₁, are respectively situated is decreased until the said roller W is
caused to exert the pressure necessary to bend the article to the desired extent.
This roller is then rotated by means of the lever H or by other suitable or
convenient means, whereby the whole apparatus is caused to travel along the
article, and at the same time the pressure of the adjustable roller W on the one
side and of the other two rollers W, W", on the opposite side impart to the
article a uniform bend or curvature throughout its entire length. By suitably
altering the position of the adjustable roller W the extent to which the rail or other
article is bent may be varied at pleasure, and any desired curves may be thus
produced.

page_text: Small guide rollers may be arranged with their axes at right angles to the axes
of the bending rollers in order to maintain the article in position and prevent it
from becoming twisted or distorted during the operation.
In bending articles presenting great lateral stiffness, such as tramway rails, it is
desirable to increase the power of the roller which propels the apparatus along the
rail by means of suitable gear, such as a worm wheel driven by an endless screw
or other equivalent arrangement.
Figures 6 and 7 are respectively a side elevation or transverse section of a
portion of an apparatus shewing the prolonged end of the axis of the roller W as
having keyed upon it a worm wheel a, with which gears a worm b upon a shaft
turning in bearings c fixed to the adjustable bar L" and the plate T¹ respectively,
the said shaft being provided with a handle d for causing the worm to give motion
to the worm wheel, and consequently to the roller W.
In the case of ordinary railway or vignolle rails it is most convenient to turn
the adjustable roller by means of four long levers inserted in suitable holes formed
in a species of capstan head fixed on the axis of the said roller after the manner
shewn in Figure 2. When operating on other articles or bars presenting compara-
tively little resistance the roller W may be rotated by means of an ordinary cranked
handle or fly wheel.
In lieu of causing the bending apparatus to travel along the article by rotating
one of the rollers, as hereinbefore described, a fixed or stationary windlass may be
employed to draw the apparatus over the article by means of a rope or chain; and
it is evident that in case of need the required result may be obtained by fixing the
bending apparatus so that it is stationary, and causing the bar or article to be
bent to move through the said apparatus by means of feed rollers or other suitable
devices.
The advantages of the improved apparatus hereinbefore described consist in its
compactness and portability, which render it especially suitable for railway work.
Rails of any length and elasticity may be bent with facility and expedition by
means of this apparatus either on the line or in the works, and caused to assume
any desired regular or irregular curvature. If desired the end rollers W¹, W¹,
or one of them, may be adjustable in place of or in addition to the roller W.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into
effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original,
and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part
recited Letters Patent is,-
First. The hereinbefore described improvements in bending rails, bars, and other
similar articles by submitting them to the action of an adjusted machine constructed
and traversed along them, essentially as hereinbefore described.
Second. The apparatus for bending rails, bars, and other articles wherein rollers
are provided for bearing respectively upon opposite sides of the rails, bars, or the
like to be bent, so that when the apparatus is passed along them the said rails,
bars, or the like are bent to a curvature in accordance with the distance apart, to
which have been adjusted the planes of the rollers which bear respectively on the
one side and the other of the said rails, bars, or the like, essentially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Henry Johnson, have to this my
Specification set my hand and seal, this Twenty fifth day of February
One thousand eight hundred and eighty two.