Improvements in Rolling Mills having Three Superposed Rolls.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 6th July, 1892-Accepted, 24th Sept., 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Rolling Mills having Three Superposed Rolls.
I ALPHONSE THOMAS of Clabecq in the Kingdom of Belgium Engineer do
hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the same is
to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
This invention relates to rolling mills having three superposed rolls and consists
of the improvements hereinafter described in such rolling mills the objects of
which improvements are to obviate the rapid deterioration of the rolls and in
particular of the intermediate roll when the latter is driven by friction; also
to prevent the pressure caused by rolling between two of the rolls froin being
transmitted to the journals of the third roll; also to provide for rapid rolling
of bundles or ingots having a certain thickness the object last stated being
attained by means of an arrangement which admits of much greater pressures
being exerted than is possible where the middle roll is driven solely by friction.
This invention comprises:
(a) A special mode of construction of the bearings that support the journals of
the rolls;
(b) The use of adjustable wedges between the said bearings for regulating the
distance between the rolls, and of means for advancing and withdrawing said wedges
between the bearings.
(c) The use of adjustable wedges either above the upper brasses or below the
lower brasses of the journals of one of the rolls for regulating the pressure of said
brasses upon the journals.
(d) An arrangement allowing of adjusting the cap of the lower bearing upon
which rests the wedge which regulates the distance apart of the lower and
middle rolls.
(e) Modifications in the construction of the standards of the casings or housings
with various arrangements of the vertical grooves or slots for the passage of the
suspension rods of the bearings of the rolls.
(f) A method of driving the middle roll by means of the middle pinion of the
pinion casing.
(7) A new arrangement for retaining in place the bearings of the rolls between
the standards of the casings and for allowing of easily removing the same.
(h) The use, for regulating the distance apart of the rolls, of wedges placed
either under the lower brasses of the journals of the top and middle rolls or under
the lower brasses and above the upper brasses of the journals of the middle roll.
(i) Various means of regulating the distance of the rolls from one another,
without the use of wedges between the bearings.
In order to enable my invention to be more readily understood, I shall describe
the same with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:-
Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rolling train of three superposed rolls to which
there are applied certain improvements which form part of my invention.
Figure 1 illustrates a modification of the mode of adjusting the wedges.
Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof, partly in section on the line A-B
Figure 1.
Figure 3 illustrates respectively in front elevation, in side elevation partly in
section and in horizontal section, one of the bearings which serve to support the
journals of the upper roll of the rolling mill, showing a special arrangement of
wedge which serves to regulate the upper brass of the journals of the upper roll.
Figure 4 is a view in section on the line C-D Figure 1, of one of the casings of

page_text: the rolling mill showing the arrangement of the suspension rods of the upper and
middle rolls of Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 5 and 6 are similar views showing other arrangements of the suspension
rods of the upper and middle rolls.
Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 show in side and in front elevations and in plan, various
forms of wedges which can be employed.
Figures 11, 12, 13 and 14 show various arrangements of suspension rods for the
rolls, and of the wedges which regulate their distance apart.
Figures 15 and 16 show in side elevations, the application to a rolling train, of
various means of regulating the distance apart of the rolls without the use of
wedges under the upper and middle rolls.
Figure 17 shows in side elevation a special construction of the bearings, combined
with a mode of moving the rolls apart by means of wedges parallel to their axis,
and by means of the lower brass of the journals of the upper roll.
Figure 18 is a detail view of one of the separating wedges employed in this
arrangement.
The same letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all these figures.
I shall first describe the arrangement and the parts shown in Figures 1, 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
In these figures, a is the top roll, a' the middle roll and a" is the bottom roll of
the rolling mill having three superposed rolls the journals of which are carried by
the bearings b, b, b, which are preferably formed in one piece, as shown in Figures 1
and 3. They may however be formed in two pieces, pedestal and cap, but in such
a manner that when fitted together and fastened together or not by means of bolts
or otherwise they shall fill the same office as the bearing made in one piece only.
care wedges which can be advanced or withdrawn by means of their screw
threaded spindles c', c actuated by the nuts e, e (Figure 1) or by endless screws e', el
(Figure 1) or in any other suitable manner, in horizontal grooves d, d formed in
the standards D between the bearings b, b, b at the centre of the brasses u of the
journals of the rolls and in the axis of the pressure screws ; the faces of the
bearings b, which are in contact with the wedges c, e are planed to the form of a
cone (see Figures 1 and 3) and the bearings of the top roll a are connected together
by stays t, (Figures 1 and 2) so as to form as it were one piece.
As shown in Figure 14, by means of a very simple arrangement of rods and
pinions, all the wedges of one casing can be operated together by means of a single
hand wheel not shown.
Instead of the rods for operating the wedges c being made to pass in grooves in
the standards of the casing, they could be made much shorter and their ends be
passed into a projecting part of one of the adjacent bearings; in this case the
operating nut would be situated in a recess in said projecting part.
Instead of a wedge under each bearing, two might be employed one on each side,
adapted to slide in grooves parallel to the axis of the rolls.
An arm (Figures 1 and 3) is fixed to the lower part of each of the top bearings
and passes in the groove d of the standard parallel to the spindle c¹ of the
wedge so as to serve as a support to the nut e or to the endless screw which
causes the wedge to advance or to recede, in order that the latter shall follow
the ascending or descending movement of the said top bearing when its distance
is regulated with the middle bearing.
This arm might also just as well be fixed to the top of the middle bearings,
and in place of an arm as the one shown, there could obviously be employed
for instance a bent or curved piece which would embrace the standard instead
of traversing the same, and would be fixed to the two sides of the bearing.
are the suspension rods of the middle roll, and 9, 9 the suspension rods
of the top roll; they are located in vertical grooves or slots in the standards D D,
said grooves being arranged in such a manner that the two rods of one and the
same bearing shall be situated diagonally in relation to the lower face of the
said bearing and of the standard (see Figure 4).

page_text: This arrangement allows of arranging the regulating wedges exactly in the axis
of the pressure screw and in the middle of the brasses and of causing to pass
between the suspension rods, the spindle of the wedge which causes the latter
to advance.
The standards might also be made with only two grooves of sufficient size to
allow of the passage through each, of two rods f, y arranged as above and
allow of the passage of the wedge between the same, which would be tantamount
to dispensing with the separation which exists between the grooves in the
preceding construction.
Or, the suspension rods might instead of being arranged in diagonals as in
Figure 4, be arranged as in Figure 5, where the two rods ff of the middle
bearing are arranged in such a manner as to correspond to the two ends of one
and the same side of the lower face of said bearing, and the two rods
9, 9 of the
top bearing are arranged in such a manner as to correspond to the two ends of
the opposite side of the lower face of the said top bearing.
With this arrangement I employ with advantage suspension rods curved or bent
as shown in Figure 13 where f is one of the rods of the middle bearing, and y
one of the rods of the top bearing.
Another arrangement is shown in Figure 6 according to which instead of
providing each of the top and middle bearings with two suspension rods, there are
four suspension rods fff for the middle bearing and four rods g, g, g, g for the
top hearing, each of the rods corresponding to one end of one of the sides of the
lower face of its bearing. In this case the number of the vertical slots or grooves
in the standard is double, or each groove may be made large enough to allow of
the passage of two rods.
My system of wedges might be applied also to rolling mills in which the
suspension rods of the rolls are arranged side by side in the axis of the standards,
in which case adopt the arrangement shown in Figure 11, according to which I
construct the wedges with a spindle c' split for a certain length at ", " in a
manner as to form there a slot or groove in which passes one of the suspension rods
of each of the top and middle bearings.
C
Instead of splitting the spindles of the wedges as just stated, I may, as shown in
Figure 12 split one of the suspension rods of the middle roll for a certain length
at and split the corresponding suspension rod of the top roll, at g', g', g'', g",
on a level with the separating wedges e of the bearings in such a manner as to there
This
form slots or grooves in which pass the spindies e', c' of the wedges c.
arrangement allows of placing the suspension rods as well as the wedges in the axis
of the standards and of the pressure screws.
Figure 14 shows a modification of this system according to which the rods
instead of being split, are merely curved or bent for a certain length. The
same modification can obviously be applied to the spindle c¹ of the wedges c in
Figure 11.
(Figures 1 and 3) is a wedge ending in a screw threaded spindle ¹ of the same
kind as the wedges c, which works in a horizontal groove y formed in the top bearing b
in such a manner that the lower face of said wedge x rests upon the upper face of
the upper brass u of the journals of the top roll a, in the axis of the pressure
screw; this wedge a is caused to advance or to recede, for regulating the tightening
of the brass, by means of a nut screwing upon its screw-threaded spindle ..
Instead of the nut being located, as shown, in a recess in the bearing, the
spindle could be prolonged through the standard D, as is the case with the
spindle of the wedges c, and the nut be placed on the outside of the standard.
This wedge might also just as well be located in the same manner either under
the lower brass 2 of the said journal; or above the upper brass 3, or under the
lower brass 4 of the journal of the middle roll, or it may be under the lower brass 5
of the journal of the bottom roll, and instead of a nut, any other suitable means
might be employed for operating the same.
The wedges between the bearings might be replaced by wedges of this kind

page_text: acting directly under the lower brasses of the journals of the upper and middle
rolls.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 3 the lower face of the wedge r rests upon
a. block X inserted between the latter and the upper face of the brass u in order to
allow of arranging above the top roll a the nut which serves to cause the
wedge to advance or to recede when said wedge is arranged to work parallel to
the axis of the roll a.
j, Figure 1, is the support which forms the cap of the bottom bearing the pedestal
of which is formed by the casing, and upon which rests the wedge which serves to
regulate the distance of the bottom roll a" with the middle roll a¹. This support j
provided with a screw-threaded spindle o which passes in a groove formed in the
standard D parallel to the grooves in which pass the screw-threaded spindles c¹ of
the wedges.
A hand nutq screws on the end of said screw-threaded spindle
outside the standard D and allows of the support being caused to advance or recede
readily according to requirements, said support j being made for this purpose
slightly less wide than the space which separates the suspension rods of the top and
middle bearings between the standards of the casing.
0
9, 9, 9 Figure 2 are the pinions corresponding respectively to the rolls a, a', all
The pinion of the middle roll a' is connected to the latter by a shaft h
one end of which is connected to the neck of the roll a¹ by a sleeve, whilst the
other end is furnished with a movable claw-coupling or sleeve which engages with
a fixed claw on the neck i¹ of the pinion g'. These claws could be replaced by a
cone brake or by a sleeve.
By reason of this arrangement, according as the sheets or wide plates to be rolled
are more or less thick, the middle roll a' can be driven by the middle pinion g' by
causing the claw-coupling of the shaft to engage with the claw of the middle
pinion or by placing the claws out of engagement, leaving the middle roll a¹ free
to revolve by friction on the bottom roll all and top roll a.
For rolling sheets or wide plates of for instance 7 millimeters thickness or above,
the middle roll a' is driven by the pinion by means of the claws 1, 1, and the
wedges c are caused to advance by meaus of handled nuts or endless screws e or
any other suitable mechanism for moving the top bearings to the extent of some
millimeters away from the middle bearings, that is to say the roll a away from the
roll a', and the middle bearings away from the bottom bearings, that is to say the
roll a away from the roll a¹¹."
The consequence is that when the middle and bottom rolls are employed for
rolling, the top roll will be maintained during the operation out of contact with
the middle roll, and if rolling is effected between the top roll and the middle roll,
the latter will not come into contact with the bottom roll. Besides, the mode of
driving the middle roll a' by the corresponding pinion g¹, effects a great economy
of power, the friction no longer taking place between the periphery of the
middle roll and that of one or the other of the top or bottom rolls, as is the
case when the middle roll revolves by friction, but all the friction is transmitted
to the lubricated journals, that is to say, upon a surface which is shorter and
of less diameter, and the resistance is further reduced by the brasses of the
journals.
But when on the contrary it is desired to roll sheets or wide plates of less
thickness, or when the bundle or ingot has become reduced to a thickness less than
7 millimeters for example and it be desired to still further reduce this thickness,
the claws, are thrown out of engagement in such a manner as to disconnect the
pinion and the roll a', and the wedges c are caused to recede until the
rolls a, a, all come into contact; rolling is then effected with the middle roll
revolving by friction.
n, n Figure 1 are projections or borders cast in one with the standards D, and
forming grooves in which slide plates m retained against the standards D by
bolts P. The holes r by means of which the said bolts pass through the plates in
are elongated to an extent sufficient to allow of the plates m sliding in the

page_text: grooves n, n either to enable them to cover the edge of the bearings b, band of the
support as shown on the left of Figure 1 to prevent the same from passing out
from between the standards D, or as shown on the right of the same figure, for
completely disengaging the bearings and the support in order to allow of their
being removed without detaching the plates.
Figures 7, 8, 9 and 10 show various forms of wedges which may be employed for
regulating the distance apart of the rolls.
Figure 7 shows a wedge of the ordinary construction.
Figure 8 shows a wedge furnished with projecting borders ell, el at its upper
part. This wedge is specially designed to be employed between the middle bearing
and the top bearing and the lower face of the latter is then formed with a
groove indicated in dotted lines in Figure 3, in which engage the borders cl
of the wedge in order that the latter shall follow the ascending movement of the
said top bearing when said bearing is moved away from the middle bearing.
Figure 9 shows an arrangement of twin wedges the inclined faces of which slide
one upon the other, which dispenses with the planing to conical shape of the faces
of the bearings.
Figure 10 shows a wedge c the screw-threaded spindle c' of which is formed of a
separate piece, ending in a T shaped part which fits in a recess of similar shape in
the wedge c. This arrangement allows of making the wedge e much wider.
Figures 15 and 16 show in side elevations casings for rolling mills to which there
are applied various systems of regulating the distance apart of the rolls which do
not require the use of wedges under the top and middle bearings as in the
preceding arrangements.
Figure 15 shows an arrangement according to which the middle roll is rendered
stationary; for this purpose the pedestals S of its bearings are wedged between
projections or shoulders H, H cast in one with the standards. In this case the
distance apart of the middle and bottom rolls is regulated by means of wedges c
placed under the bearings of the bottom roll, and the distance apart of the
upper and middle rolls may be regulated as shown by means of vertical screw-
threaded rods I which pass from bottom to top through the bearings of the upper
roll and the top of the casing and are operated by nuts K screwed upon their upper
ends and which rest upon the top of the casing.
With this arrangement when rolling is effected between the middle and bottom
rolls, friction takes place only at the lower brass 5 of the journal of the bottom
roll and at the upper brass 3 of the journal of the middle roll.
Instead of rendering the pedestal of the bearings of the middle roll stationary,
its cap might with the same object in view, be rendered stationary by the same
means. Similarly either the cap or the pedestal of the bearings of the top roll
could be rendered stationary and instead of fixing or rendering stationary the
pedestal or the cap of the bearings by means of the projections shewn, the
stationary portion might be cast in one with the standards.
Figure 16 shows a modification of this arrangement according to which the
standards are formed with vertical grooves in which are located strong rods L upon
which are formed the projections H H between which the pedestals S of the
middle bearings are wedged as shown, or the caps of said pedestals or the pedestals
or the caps of the top bearings are wedged.
The rods L are screw-threaded at their upper part and they can be raised and
lowered and with them the middle roll, by means of nuts M N, one M of which
for each rod can be operated from the top of the standards upon which it rests,
and the other N through an opening in the upper part of the standards as shown.
This last arrangement might be modified by keying the lower ends of the rods L
in the pedestals S of the middle bearings and thus dispensing with the projections H
and the grooves in the standards as will be understood.
In the arrangement shown in Figure 17, I form the cap of the middle bearing
and the pedestal of the top bearing in one piece q, and for regulating the distance

page_text: apart of the rolls I employ suspension rods I keyed in the lower brass 2 of
the journals of the top roll by means of which said brasses 2 and with them
the top roll can be made to move up and down by means of the bolts K
screwed upon the screw-threaded upper ends of the rods I on the top of the
standard. Furthermore between the cap of the top bearing and the piece q and
between the latter and the pedestal of the middle bearing I introduce in suitable
grooves parallel to the axis of the rolls of the rolling mill, wedges 6 one of which
is shown separately in Figure 18 and of which the screw-threaded spindle 7 is
operated by nuts 8 for which a suitable support is provided. According to this arrange-
ment the pedestal of the middle bearing rests upon projections H of the standards D
and a wedge c operated by a nut e upon its screw-threaded spindle c' is located
under the bearing of the bottom roll so as to allow of the bottom roll being moved
nearer to or away from the middle roll.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that I claim
1. The use, for carrying the journals of the rolls, of bearings made in one single
piece or of bearings made in two pieces, cap and pedestal, constructed in such a
manner as to fill the same office as a bearing made in one piece.
2. The use of stays for connecting together the two bearings of the top roll
or the caps of said bearings for the purpose of making them as one.
3. The use of adjustable wedges inserted into horizontal grooves in the standards
between the bearings of the journals of the rolls, the faces of said bearings which
are in contact with the wedges, being in some cases planed to conical shape; also
the use of a device for causing the said wedges to advance or to recede by means
of their screw-threaded spindles, in the axis of the pressure screw.
4. The use of a rigid arm fixed to the bottom of the top bearings in order
to serve as a support to the nut or other part which causes the wedge to advance
and to recede.
5. The use of adjustable wedges for regulating the tightness of the brasses
of the journals of the rolls and especially the upper brasses of the journals of the
top roll.
6. The special construction of the support which constitutes the cap of the
bearing of the bottom roll, consisting in making said support less wide than
the space which separates the suspension rods of the bearings between the standards,
and in providing it with a screw threaded spindle furnished with a nut by means of
which the support can be made to advance or recede at will between the standards
from the outside of the standard.
7. The construction of the casings with vertical grooves or slots for the passage
of the suspersion rods of the bearings of the rolls arranged in such a manner that
the two suspension rods of one and the same bearing shall terminate at two
opposite angles of the lower face of the latter, the four grooves formed in one
pair of standards of the casing constituting below the latter four corners of a
rectangle.
8. In a rolling mill the casing of which is perforated with grooves arranged as
above described for the passage of the suspension rods, the arrangement of the
suspension rods in such a manner that the two rods of one and the same bearing
are located in two grooves which terminate at two ends on the one and the same side
of the lower face of the said bearing.
9. The mode of suspension of the bearings of the rolls by means of four sus-
pension rods for each of the top and middle bearings, arranged in such a manner
that they end one at each corner of the lower face of its bearing, and the
construction of the casing of the rolling mill with two grooves or slots corresponding
to each corner of the lower face of the bearings of the rolls.
10. The use of suspension rods curved, bent or split for a certain portion of
their length in order to enable the suspension rods, as also the wedges which regulate

page_text: the distance apart of the rolls, to be arranged in the axis of the pressure screw;
also the use for the same purpose of wedges, the screw-threaded spindles of which
are curved, bent or split for a certain portion of its length.
11. The use of plates sliding in grooves formed by projecting borders on the
outside of the standards for retaining the bearings in place between the standards
and for allowing of readily taking down the same, said plates being perforated
with oblong holes in which slide the bolts which keep them against the standards.
12. A mode of driving the middle roll by the middle pinion of the pinion casing
transmitting its motion to a connecting shaft connected to the middle roll.
13. The use between the bearings of the middle roll and the bearings of the top
roll, of wedges provided with lateral projecting borders engaging in a groove in the
lower face of the top bearings.
7
14. The use of wedges provided with removable screw-threaded spindles.
15. The construction of the standards of the rolling mill with projections or
shoulders between which the pedestal or the cap of the bearings of the middle roll
or of the top roll is wedged, in combination with an arrangement of screw-
threaded rods operated by nuts for raising or lowering the bearings which are not
fixed in place between the projections of the standards.
16. The arrangement for regulating the distance apart of the rolls, consisting in
wedging the bearings of the middle roll or of the top roll between projections
formed on rods located in grooves in the standards and capable of being raised or
lowered, for the purpose of raising or lowering the roll, by means of nuts screwed
upon their screw-threaded upper ends.
17. The modification of this arrangement consisting in suspending the bearings
of one of the rolls from rods which pass through the top of the casing and are
capable of being raised or lowered by means of nuts screwed upon their screw-
threaded upper ends.
18. The use for regulating the distance apart of the rolls, of wedges acting directly
upon the brasses of the journals of the rolls and operated by nuts screwed upon
their screw-threaded spindles.
19. In a rolling mill in which the cap of the middle bearing and the pedestal of
the top bearing are made in one single piece a mode of moving the rolls away from
one another which consists in the use of suspension rods serving to raise and to
lower the lower brass of the top roll, and in the use of wedges located between
the cap and the pedestal of the top bearings and of the middle bearings in
grooves parallel to the axis of the rolls; the whole as above described and as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
R
1000
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.