IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING MILLS
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake of the firm of Haseltine Lake
& Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for an Invention
of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING MILLS Communicated to him from abroad
by Gustav Erkenzweig, of Hagen, Kingdom of Prussia, German Empire,*
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 28th September 1882.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co, Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING-MILLS a com-
munication to me from abroad by Gustav Erkenzweig of Hagen, Kingdom of
Prussia, German Empire,
This Invention relates to rolling mills for manufacturing rods or other pieces of
iron and steel of small size, such as iron wire, hoop iron, and the like and is
designed to provide an apparatus by which such rods or pieces may be conducted
automatically during the rolling process from one pair of rolls to another one placed
laterally to the former and turning in opposite directions, this operation, which is
technically called "turning in," having hitherto always been carried out by hand.
To a standard of one pair of rolls is fixed a horizontal bar on which is adjustably.
secured a bracket carrying a vertical pin or spindle. On this spindle a boss turns
having an arm to the end of which is attached a tubular block or guiding piece.
The hole or bore of the said block is widened at the end where the rod which is
being rolled enters, while at the other end a hinged plate, combined with a locking
pawl, keeps it closed. All parts are so arranged, and they may be so adjusted that,
when the guide-block is swung round on the aforesaid spindle, it will, at one end of
its semicircular course, be opposite to the groove which delivers the rod or piece
undergoing the rolling process, while at the other end, it will be in front of the
receiving groove. When not operating, the block is kept opposite to the
delivering groove by a weight and a chain running over a pulley, or by other
suitable means.

page_text: When a rod passing out from between one pair of rolls, and conducted through
a tube into the guide-block, presses against the said hinged plate, the block will be
swung round. In order to prevent the hot and therefore pliant rod or piece from
dropping to the ground meanwhile, a number of rollers or other guiding-devices
are arranged on its path. Upon the arrival of the block opposite to the receiving
groove, the tail end of the aforesaid locking-pawl strikes against a fixed stud. This
causes the plate to become free, so that the rod will open it, in order to pass into
the conducting-tube leading to the groove of the receiving rolls. After the rod has
completely passed the block, the plate closes again, and the pall relocks it, where-
upon the block automatically returns to its normal position:
For certain reasons, the different pairs of rolls of a train are usually so arranged
as to be alternately at different heights. When this is the case, the aforesaid
spindle, around which the guide-block turns, and the said boss are provided with
screw-threads of suitable pitch and direction, so that the guide-block being moved
in a circular sense, will at the same time rise or descend to the requisite extent.
The described automatic gear may also be used when vertical pairs of rolls are
combined with horizontal pairs.
A modification of the guide-block consists in making the same of two parts
hinged together, and in providing it with a funnel-shaped hole or bore, one half of
which is in either part, and the outlet end whereof is either contracted or entirely
closed, so that the rod can only pass through the block after it has opened. The
block is normally kept closed by a spring and a locking-pawl, the latter operating
in a similar manner as the corresponding piece of the first arrangement. Scrapers
may be attached to the block, by which the scale is scraped off the rod during its
passage. Besides, it is advantageous to provide the block with an adjustable
lining.

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
28th March 1883.
"
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake and Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING-MILLS," a. com-
munication to me from abroad by Gustav Erkenzweig, of Hagen, Kingdom of
Prussia, German Empire
This invention relates to rolling mills for manufacturing rods of iron or steel of
small size, such as wire, booping or the like, and it consists essentially in an
apparatus by which such rods are automatically conducted during the rolling
process from one pair of rolls to another one placed laterally to the former and
rotating in opposite direction, this operation, which is technically called " turning-
in," having hitherto always been carried out by hand.
In the accompanying drawing Fig. 1 shows in front elevation and Fig. 2 in plan
two pairs of rolls of a rolling train fitted with the automatic guide; Fig. 3 is a
sectional end view thereof on line xx, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 represents a roller serving
to support the rod while being rolled. Figs. 5 and 6 show the piece C, Figs. 1, 2
and 3, or guide proper, in section with different positions of the movable parts;
Figs. 7 is an end view of the same piece from the left-hand side of Figs. 5, and Fig. 8
a plan. Figures 9 to 15 represent a guide of modified construction, Figs. 9
and 10 being each a plan with different position of movable parts, Fig. 11 a
section on line y y Fig. 9; Figs. 12 and 13 end views respectively from the back
and the front end, and Figs. 14 and 15 sections on the lines zz and u u, respectively,
of Fig. 13.
To a standard of one pair of rolls, for instance the rolls A, is fixed at a suitable'.
height a horizontal bar a, on which is adjustably secured a bracket b carrying a
vertical spindle d. On this spindle a boss e turns having an arm e¹ to the end of
which is attached the guiding piece C. The arm e' is by preference made of
two flat bars arranged to be shifted upon each other, and secured together by a
socket fand a set screw, so that the length of the arm may be varied at will.
The guiding piece, or guide C, shown to a larger scale in Figs. 5 to 8, consists in
the first place of a hollow block of iron h in which by preference a bush or lining k
is fixed by set screws or in other suitable manner. The bore or hole of the said
bush (or of the block itself, when the bush is not used) is widened at the end where
the rod which is being rolled, enters. At its other end the block is provided with
a plater pivoted thereto and pressed against its end surface by a weight or a
spring; this plate being ordinarily kept locked by a lever or locking pawl m also
pivoted to the block h and operating by means of a weight or a spring. Instead
of this lever any other locking device acting by gravity or the force of a spring
may, however, be employed. 1 is a steel lining plate so arranged that it may be
easily exchanged, and n a bar, stud or stop fixed in front of the receiving rolls; and
serving to disengage the lever m from the plate r.
;
In case the different pairs of rolls are placed at the same height, the arrange-
ment as described is substantially complete. After due adjustment of the various
parts in respect to the grooves to be put in relation to each other, the guide will, at
one end of its semicircular course, be opposite to the groove which delivers the rod
undergoing the rolling process, while at the other end it will be in front of the
receiving groove. The different pairs of rolls are, however, usually placed at
different heights, and so that, while one roll of each pair is in a line with a roll of
the neighbouring pairs, the other rolls are alternately arranged above and below
the former; such relative position being preferred in order to obtain a simple.

page_text: disposition of pairs of rolls working alternately in opposite directions. This
difference in height requires the guide to rise or to descend during its course; and,
for imparting to it such motion, the spindle d and the boss e are provided
respectively with outside and inside screw-threads the pitch whereof is equal to
double the diameter of a roll, and which have a left or a right hand direction, as
may be required. Besides, in case a rod is to be conducted from a pair of rolls A,
Fig. 1, to a pair B placed lower than A, the apparatus is suspended to a chain p
passing over a pulley and carrying a weight or attached to a spring adapted to lift
the apparatus. This weight or spring will have the effect of turning the apparatus
on the screw-threaded spindle d and of keeping it, while it is not operating,
opposite to the tube q, Figs. 1 & 2, which is arranged in a line with the delivering
groove of the rolls A. If, on the other hand, the rod is to be conducted to a pair'
of rolls placed higher than the delivering pair, the weight of the apparatus itself
tends to bring the same back to its position of rest.
The guide C being in its receiving position, the bush k will be with its open end
opposite to the outlet end of the conducting tube q fixed to the frame of the
delivering rolls A, and the plater will be closed and locked. When a rod then
passes out from between the rolls A and enters into the guide C, it presses against
the plater and swings the guide round on the spindle d. On account of the
screw-threads with which the spindle is provided, the guide will, however, move
in a helical line; and, in travelling over a semi-circle, it will be lowered or raised,
àccording to the direction of the said screw-threads, the extent of its vertical
motion being equal to the diameter of a roll, as the pitch of the threads amounts to
the double thereof. In order to prevent the hot and, therefore, pliant rod from
dropping to the ground meanwhile and from slipping out of the guide, a number of
rollers D, Figs. 2 and 4, or other supporting devices are arranged on its path.
Besides, a spring buffer c against which the arm e¹ strikes, is fixed upon the bar a,
or in any other suitable place, for the purpose of stopping the motion of the
apparatus without violent concussion.
Upon the arrival of the guide opposite to the receiving groove, the locking pawl
or lever m strikes against the fixed stud or bar n. This causes the lever to turn
on its centre, and to unlock the plate r. At the same time the guide is maintained
in this position by the end of the lever m, which, also forming a pawl, catches into
a notch cut into the stud or bar n. The plater having become free, the rod pressing
against the same will open it and thereupon pass into the conducting tube q' leading
to the groove of the receiving rolls B.
After the rod has completely passed the guide, the weight 2 causes the plate r
to close again, while the pawl or lever m relocks it. Simultaneously, by the action
of the plate on the lever, the latter is disengaged from the bar or stud n. The
apparatus is thereupon brought back to its normal position either by the weight
or the spring arranged for this purpose, or by its own weight, in the manner
hereinbefore stated.
The described apparatus, may also be used when vertical pairs of rolls are
combined with horizontal pairs as is sometimes the case.
Instead of utilizing the screw threads of the spindle d for producing the
ascending or descending motion of the guide C during its circular movement,
a helical or inclined guiding way having the spindle for its axis, may be arranged
at any convenient distance therefrom, while the arm e¹ is provided with a roller
running on the said way. Besides, in such case, the spindle d and the boss e may
be replaced by a ball and socket, or other universal joint, by which the arm e¹ is
connected to the bracket.b:
The modified guide represented by Figs. 9 to 15 consists of two parts h and h¹,
by preference fitted with the linings k and k', fixed therein by means of dove-tail
ledges, keys and set-screws, as shown in the drawing. These linings which are
made of steel or chilled cast iron, are provided with a funnel-shaped bore corre-
sponding to the section of the rod to be rolled and one half of which is in either
part of the lining. The said bore is considerably contracted towards its outlet end,

page_text: or its sides run tapering together until they meet, so that, while the guide is
closed, the rod will jam itself in the same. At the end of the guide from which
the rod enters, the two parts h and h¹ are hinged to each other, and a spring l
serves to press them together. Besides, the guide is provided, alike to the one
described first, with a locking-pawl m, one end of which forming a hook, engages
by the action of a spring with a projection on the part h¹ so as to keep the guide
closed while it conducts the rod from one pair of rolls to the other. o and o¹ are
steel scrapers fixed in forked arms and serving to scrape the scale off the rod during
its passage. The scraper o is pivoted by its arm to the part h, and pressed against
the rod by a special spring, whereas the scraper o¹, the arm whereof is fixed to the
part h', operates by the power of the spring 7.
By this guide the rod is conducted from one pair of rolls to the other in a similar
manner as in the first case; but, when the lever m on the arrival of the guide near
the rolls B, strikes on the stud or bar n, the part h¹ becoming free from the hook
of the lever, is pushed sideward by the rod. The latter, in advancing, first passes
between the scrapers o o' for the purpose stated, and then enters into the tube q¹
which leads it to the receiving groove. After the passage of the rod, the guide is
reclosed by the spring and locked again by the lever m. Simultaneously this
lever is disengaged from the stud or bar n where it had become caught, so that the
apparatus can then return to its position of rest.
The guide may yet be modified by having its plane of division arranged
horizontally. In this case it would be possible to replace the spring acting
on the lever m by a weight attached to the tail end of the lever, as in Fig. 5.
Having thus described the nature and object of this invention, and the manner
in which it is to be carried out in practice, as communicated to me by my
correspondent, I claim
1. The combination with a rolling train comprising two or more pairs of rolls
placed laterally to each other, of a hollow guide C, travelling in a curved line from
a point opposite to the delivering groove to a point in front of the receiving
groove, the guide having a part hinged thereto arranged to be automatically locked
and released, and by means of which the end of the rod to be conducted, is retained
in the bore of the guide until the latter has arrived at the end of its course,
substantially as hereinbefore specified.
2. The combination with a rolling train, as described, of a hollow guide C
turning by its arm e¹ and boss e on the spindle d, and simultaneously guided by
screw-threads on the said spindle and in the boss e, or by the described equivalents
of such threads, from a higher point to a lower one, or vice-versa, substantially as
and for the purpose specified.
3. The guide C divided longitudinally into two parts hinged together and each
of which is provided with one half of a tapering bore, in combination with a
locking-device arranged to automatically lock and release the movable part, sub-
stantially as, and for the purpose, described.
4. The combination with the described guide C, of two scrapers o and o' adapted
to scrape off the scales from the rods passing between them.
5. The combination with the described guide C, of a detachable and adjustable
bush or lining as hereinbefore stated.
In Witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal this twenty fourth day of March in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty-three.