AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANU- *FACTURING AXLES, SHAFTING, AND OTHER LIKE SOLID ARTICLES WHICH PRESENT A ROUND FIGURE IN CROSS SECTION
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Clay, of Liverpool, in the County of Lan-
caster, Iron Master, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVED MODE OF MANU-
*FACTURING AXLES, SHAFTING, AND OTHER LIKE SOLID ARTICLES WHICH PRESENT
A ROUND FIGURE IN CROSS SECTION."
Sealed the 5th May 1854, and dated the 7th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Clay at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 7th
March 1854.
I, WILLIAM CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Master,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MODE OF
MANUFACTURING AXLES, SHAFTING, AND OTHER LIKE SOLID ARTICLES WHICH PRESENT
A ROUND FIGURE IN CROSS SECTION," to be as follows:-
1.
This Invention' consists in manufacturing axles, shafting, screw blanks of
screw jacks, and other like articles, by subjecting the heated metal from which
these articles are to be made to a process of rolling, and thereby producing
them in a finished state with little or no aid from the forge hammer.
The apparatus which may be found most convenient for carrying out this
Invention is a hollow fixed bed equal in length to the article to be formed, and

page_text: presenting in cross section a segmental or excentric figure. Working in this
bed, and mounted excentrically to the curve thereof, is a roller, the axial line of
the periphery of which corresponds with the figure of the axle or other article
intended to be manufactured. The heated metal is placed between the roller
and the curved bed, and by the rotation of the roller it is pressed down
between them into a gradually decreasing space, by which means the metal
will be rolled out, and extended laterally until it takes the required shape.
The face of the fixed bed may be shaped towards its extremity so as to
correspond with the figure of the periphery of the roller. By submitting the
metal to this rolling action, not only will it be converted to the required form,
but its fibres will be so disposed that great toughness and strength will also
result. It will be obvious that other mechanical means than that above
explained may be employed in carrying out this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Clay in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
6th September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
CLAY, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Iron Master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said William Clay, Her special license that I, the said William
Clay, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Clay, 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 "AN IMPROVED
MODE OF MANUFACTURING AXLES, SHAFTING, AND OTHER LIKE SOLID ARTICLES
WHICH PRESENT A ROUND FIGURE IN CROSS SECTION," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William.Clay, by an instrument in writing under
my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature

page_text: 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 William Clay, 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, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
My Invention of an improved mode of manufacturing axles, shafting, screw
blanks of screw jacks, and other like solid articles which present a round
figure in cross section, consists in subjecting the heated metal from which
these articles are to be made to a process of rolling, and thereby producing-
them in a nearly finished state, with little or no aid from the forge hammer.
The apparatus which I propose to employ for carrying out my Invention
consists of a curved fixed bed equal in length to the article to be formed, and
presenting in section a segmental or excentric figure. Working in this bed,
and mounted excentrically to the curve thereof, is a roller or cylinder, the
axial line of the periphery of which corresponds with the figure of the axle or
other article intended to be manufactured.
The heated metal is placed between the roller or cylinder and the curved
bed, and by the rotation of the roller it is pressed down between them into a
gradually decreasing space, by which means the metal will be rolled out, and
extended laterally until it takes the required shape. The face of the fixed
bed may be shaped towards its extremity, so as to correspond with the figure
of the periphery of the roller. By submitting the metal to this rolling
action, not only will it be converted to the required form, but its fibres
will be so disposed that great toughness and strength will be given to any
article made in this manner.
In order that my Invention may be clearly understood, I have shewn in
the accompanying Drawing various views of the apparatus which I propose
to employ.
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2, a plan view; and Fig. 3,
a partial cross section. A, A, is the working cylinder, which is mounted in
suitable bearings by its axle B, and is made to work in the curved case D,
which is secured to the bed or foundation plate C. The bearings in which
the shaft or axle B are mounted are secured to the horizontal bar E, E,
which is so constructed and arranged that the shaft can be slightly raised or

page_text: lowered and varied in its position as circumstances may require. The lump
of metal to be acted on is shewn at G, as just entering the machine, and at
H, as just leaving the machine, having been operated upon by the roller
or cylinder, and worked or fashioned into the required form. It will be
seen on referring to Fig. 2, that the section of the concave D, at the exit end
of the machine is made to correspond to the intended shape or form of the
axle, so that when the latter is delivered from the machine but little remains
to be done to it.
It will be obvious that other mechanical means than that above explained
may be employed in carrying out my Invention, for instance, although I have
shewn that the surface of the roller or cylinder A, as well as part of the con-
cave D, is constructed in a manner to produce the required form or shape, yet
it will be evident that a somewhat similar effect may be produced if one or
other of these surfaces is made plain and the other indented.
A modification of the machine above described may be made by causing
a flat plate, with the under surface thereof suitably formed, to move over
another suitably formed plate with the lump of iron between them, the
action of such a machine being somewhat similar to that of a common
mangle.
The flat moveable plate may, if required, be weighted and kept in position
by suitable bearings, and upon having a reciprocating motion communicated
thereto, the lump of iron will be rolled over between the moveable plate and
fixed bed, and quickly brought to the required form.
Having now described the nature of my improvements in manufacturing
axles, shafting, and other like solid articles which present a round figure in
cross section, and set forth the best means with which I am acquainted for
carrying the same into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I am aware
that balls of puddled iron have been rolled into blooms, by means of a cylinder
made to rotate in a curved or concave chamber; I do not, therefore, mean
or intend to claim generally the rolling of iron into blooms, by means of a
cylinder made to rotate in a curved or concave bed; but that which I consider
to be new in the improved mode above described of manufacturing axles,
shafting, and other such like solid articles, and therefore wish to claim as the
Invention secured to me by Letters Patent as aforesaid, is, the use and appli-
cation to the aforesaid purpose of a roller or cylinder made to rotate within a
concave case, the working surfaces of such roller or cylinder and concave case
or either of them, being indented or so formed as to produce the necessary
form of axle or shaft as above described. I also claim the use of a moveable

page_text: plate or plates in combination with a stationary bed, for the same purpose,
the surfaces of such plate and bed, or one of them, being indented as above
set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Clay, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Thirty-first day of August, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
Witness,
FRED. WALKDEN,
66, Chancery Lane.
WILLIAM CLAY. (L.S.)