Improvements in Apparatus for Dealing with Forgings or Masses of Metal to be Hammered.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
4
Improvements in Apparatus for Dealing with Forgings or Masses of
Metal to be Hammered..
A communication from abroad by FREDERICK WINSLOW TAYLOR, residing at the
Corner of Locust and Magnolia Avenues, Germantown, Philadelphia, State of
Pennsylvania, United States of America, Mechanical Engineer.
1 PHILIP MIDDLETON JUSTICE of 55 and 56. Chancery Lane in the County of
Middlesex Fellow of the Institute of Patent Agents 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 :-
"
Heretofore in transferring forgings of considerable size between the fire and the
smithing tools, hoisting and hoisting and travelling devices such as cranes, shears,
gins &c. in great variety of forms have been employed; and "porters" or long
bars of iron have been attached to and in continuation of the axis of the forging
which is then technically called a use" whereby it may, when suspended on the
crane &c., be guided to and localized between the dies of the steam hammer. the
tail or handle of the "porter-bar" which is frequently equipped with a cross lever
being the means by which the forge-men manoeuvre the suspended mass-In some
cases however, instead of a separate piece, the practice is to fashion the porter-bar
from, and have it integral. with the work operated on; or, in still other cases, the
porter-bar consists of the stock of material out of which the work in contemplation is
to be produced without giving that stock any particular form.
And, in general, the common method of procedure with these devices has been, for
the purpose of transferring the forging or use to and fro between the fire and the
haminer, to suspend it and its attached or integral porter-bar in a balancing condition
from the fall of the crane &c. and by moving or travelling the suspensory mechanism,
гр

page_text: to effect such changes of place as are necessary. Then, after a heat has been taken
and the suspended mass brought in such balanced condition to the hammer, the
practice has been, by shifting the sling or moving a counterpoising weight, to cause
a preponderating of the "use" or heated end, this preponderance serving to main-
tain the work upon the anvil in such position as the forgemen, by laying hold of
and weighing down upon the tail end of the porter-bar as a manoeuvering lever
may locate it in. The withdrawal from the hammer for re-heating &c. being usually
accomplished by re-establishing an equilibrium and retreating the crane &c.
Now the present Invention relates to an improved and novel forging mechanism by
which such forgings may be attached, slung, guided and controlled, not only in tho
act of withdrawal from and return to the fire, but also and especially at and during
the localizing and manoeuvring of the "use" or work beneath the steam hammer.
Its chief objects are to substitute for the skilled and disciplined labour required
of the smith or forgemen by the old method of doing those things, mechanical
devices whereby the whole operation may be under the control of perhaps the smith
alone, and so ensure an accuracy and efficiency of action with a promptness or response
to the smith's wishes in conducting the forging operation which it is otherwise almost,
if not quite impossible to attain.
Moreover the present invention removes in practice an element of danger to the
hammer and work, as well as of risk to human life and limb, which the customary
method of employing men to lay hold of and control the free end of the porter bar
heretofore entailed. For the shock and tingling in the hand and arm of the black-
smith should he strike a misdirected blow with a hand hammer, or not seat his work
properly upon his anvil, are even with the use of a sledge, increased into violent and
dangerous movements; but when they come from foul blows delivered by the
ponderous power hammers of today, they are increased into titanic forces, which,
possibly at a single stroke, produce most disastrous accidents to property life and
limb. Otherwise, by the jar and vibration, with the consequent crystalizing of metals
and the loosening of bolts and joints, which the liability for misapplication incident to
the manual localizing of the " use within the hammer's range of action produces,
there is occasioned a slower, but an acknowledged. and incideous deterioration of the
mechanism subjected to them. And those who are familiar with steam hammers are
well aware that a frequent accident and interruption of their working is caused by
the intense vibrations of a foul blow loosening and shaking off porter-bars of the
separate sort from their attachment to the forging or use.
"
"
22
Now, the present Invention, broadly speaking, consists in dispensing with the
condition of equilibrium usually established in the suspended forging for its transfers,
and in place thereof effecting as it were a floating of the mass. Also in mechanically
controlling not only the levels but also the tilting or vibrations of said floating mass
as need be during the forging operations, and in devising mechanism for carrying
these effects into practice. In general the devices which have been found to accom-
plish these ends best comprise, in conjunction with the ordinary forging plant, a
suspending device proper, such as the aforesaid crane upon which the forging or
porter-bar provided use
is slung and fulcrumed with a normal tendency to pre-
ponderate in the portion about to be hammered, and a tilting device which, acting in
opposition to such gravitative effect, serves, as desired to restrain or overcome it; the
whole being so combined and contrived that a release at a proper time by the tilting
device will permit gravity to act for seating the work upon the anvil.. Moreover it is
preferred that this tilting device should be an ambulatory down-haul, working from
below, substantially as the inverted counterpart to an ordinary overhead travelling
crane. But without departing from the purview of this Invention the tilting device
may be modified in many respects; for example, it may be a mechanism adapted
merely to pay out and haul down by turns on the forging or even consist of a fixed
shackle or bridle with which the porter-bar can be engaged and then the vibration or
other movements of the floating inass can be produced by simply lifting or travelling
the crane or other suspending device.

page_text: To clearly explain the nature of the Invention reference is had to the accompanying
drawings forming part of this Specification and in which :-
*
22
Figure 1 shows in side elevation and partly in section simple forms of the sus-
pending and tilting devices in the act of applying a use to the dies of a steam
hammer.
Figure 2 a plan view of the structures illustrated in Figure 1 broken lines -
and y-y respectively denoting planes on which the sections of Figure 1 are taken.
Figures 3 and 4 side elevations and end views respectively of the preferred form of
tilting device. It being here illustrated as ambulatory and capable of traversing
sidewise as well as longitudinally.
Figures 5, 6 and 7 are respectively side elevation, plan view and cross-
sectional detail (the latter taken on the broken lines of figure 6) of a
modification.
Figure 1ª and 5" inclusive, comprises a series of views illustrative of a railway
system ranging to considerable distances about the shop. Of this Figure 1ª is a
general plan view; which being taken from below the level of an overhead travelling
bridge crane, merely indicates said crane's position and range by the cross-section of
its piers. Figure 2 gives side elevation of a portion of this system on a considerably
larger scale the broken lines - indicating that on which the sections through
the piers in Figure 1 are taken. The suspending and tilting devices are here
4: "in a
represented in the act of floating and traversing a porter bar provided use
substantially level position.
Figure 3 is a fragmentary view,. taken endwise and from the left of the device
shown in Figure 2" and
9
Figures 4 and 5" respectively are endwise and side elevations of a double track
modification of the tilting device's railway.
C
In general, in these views an ordinary steam hammer A whereof a al are respectively
its hammer and anvil dies, is located and secured about its anvil base B in the usual
way to the shop foundations; of which Z denotes the ground z the ground line, and
a trench or other suitable conduit wherein the tilting device is conveniently
situated. Said device consists, in Figures 1 and 2, of a hydraulic pulling jack
acting as an adjustable anchor for a cable c, adapted to be led and guided over ond
or other of a series of snatch blocks c etc, which, like said jack, are bolted or other-
wise fixed to the ground. From them the cable c is passed upward and bridies the
porter-bar D preferably by a shackle or loose ring so that said porter-bag may be
both swiveled and slid freely end wise through this bridle ring which, to facilitate
such movement, is further preferably provided with transverse handles c³. The
porter-bar D being in this (that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2) as well as in those
Figures 3 and 4 and 3ª and 4ª represented as of the separate sort and attached to the
use "of a forging E by what is technically called tongs-hold to wit; the
crotch dd and the tongue e; whereas, in the case of Figures 5, 6 and 7 it is
represented as of the integral sort, and consists of the free and generally speaking,
unheated end of the continuous ingot or forging D'; whereof E' is the heated portion
corresponding to the " use E about to be hammered.
"
"
Now this mass, with the heated end preponderating and seated on the anvil as
shown in Figures 1 and 2 is suspended upon a sling F hanging from the fall F¹ of a
travelling trolly crane F2 of which ff are the rails and the stringers of the
overhead track; its winding mechanism being indicated by the drums FF3 while
the rest of said crane's mechanism being well understood is here:left without further
detail; save when such crane is employed as the suspending device, it is best
adapted to carry out the present Invention when its tracks are spread and spanned as
in Figures 2 and 3 by a travelling bridge F, whereon the trolly FF2 is adapted to
traverse substantially as there indicated, by the bridge girders ff" and wheels f³ f
However said sling F may, as shown in Figure 5 be adapted to merely raise or lower
as by attaching it to a purchase or tackle fall F1 secured to some convenient point
above; or else when the capacity of the tilting device for movements:orradjustments
is further developed and rendered substantially that of an inverted counterpart of the

page_text: 16
::
above-mentioned and well understood traverse trolly crane; it is in many cases possible
to float and mechanically manipulate the porter use or forging by hanging, it
with the aforesaid preponderance on a mere support. Such modification is
illustrated in Figure 3 where the sling F is the bight of a chain simply hanging
from above.
+
"
use
"
But deferring further detail of the parts and passing to the operations of the
illustrated devices and modifications, it will be best to commence with Figure 1" in
which N, O, P and Q, indicate by their outlines in plan an ordinary gang of forge
furnaces in one or other of which, say N, the work or porter provided
(see E-D Fig. 2) has been brought to a proper heat. Then the bridge traversing
trolly of the overhead travelling crane (Fig. 2) being brought to a proper
position on its pier supported tracks, its fall F' is attached to the work by the sling F
at such a point that the preponderance required to effect proper seating on the anvil
in the subsequent hammering, is at once and without further shifting, assured; and
the shackle of the tilting cable e being slipped loosely over the tail of the porter-
bar D, the overhead crane is then operative not only to lift the use "from its bed in
the fire by taking a hoist with its fall but it can also, by traversing or travelling,
withdraw the use from the furnace. For in such lifting the under faces. of, the top
flange of the I-shaped conduit rail K (Fig. 3ª) affords an anchorage against an
upward movement in the wheels jj of the trolly yoke J to which the lower end of
the cable c is linked. And, in such withdrawal, these wheels, rotating about their
axles i i, travel along said rail as a guide and steer the porter-bar to which the cable c
connects them until they have passed down the siding in and come. to the switch n'.
This latter, pivoting in the axis of the main line L, is then manipulated after the manner
of an ordinary railway switch to shunt the trolly yoke J to said main line; down
which line (the movement of the overhead crane being suitably changed) the traveller J
is next towed, and finds its way to the hammer..
"
However, instead of a single track in such railway systems, multiple tracks may be
employed as shown in Figures 4 and 5", wherein a four wheel trolly truck J' con-
stitutes the anchorage, and by its greater breadth and location within the four
rails affords not only a better guiding capacity than a single track trolly J
but also, as indicated in. dotted lines in Figure 4", affords a chance to increase and
spread the anchorage connections, and thereby to steady and free the floating mass
from vibration and jolting. A still further increase in anchorage range is shown
in Figures 3 and 4, where anchorage rails still more distant and
spanned by a bridge carrying a traversing trolley J as above alluded to, are employed.
But in some cases, where the furnace and hammer are more closely associated, it
is found that the radius that the combined length of the porter-bar and use * afford
is frequently sufficient to dispense with any railway system. For example, if in
Figure 1 the door of the furnace be substantially the point of view, and its distance
substantially the same as that of the hammer A from the pulling jack C, a simple lift
and traverse of the crane F1 will carry the
use "
or heated end from one point to
the other the slinging being here, as in all the other cases, such as to produce a
proper preponderating tendency of the heated end, and the porter being bridled from
involuntary tilting as by the pulling jack through the shackle and cable c.
During traverses it is generally preferable to maintain the work D—E
substantially level as shown in Figure 2. And for this, the purchase F1, for the most
part, amply suffices. But should it be desired to raise or lower the work while in
this level floating state, the underground trolly may be elaborated into such a structure
as is illustrated in Figure 4. And further, by the combination and the travelling
traversing and hoisting and paying-out capacities of cranes as tilting and suspending
devices the compass direction as well as the altitude of the floating mass may be
determined at will and without change from a level state either in transit or at the
hammer..
j
Arrived at the hammer, the operations, &c., are briefly as follows:
I. The devices shown in Figures 1 and 2 will not only effect a proper level, but
they will also serve to, vibrate the floating mass in any desired vertical divergence by

page_text: either lifting with the fall F and pivoting about the shackle C, or else by pulling
with the jack C and pivoting about the sling F, or even and more quickly, by
pulling on F and c concurrently. Longitudinal feeding of the " use E through the
hammer and anvil (a and a¹) are permitted by the freedom of the shackle
"
endwise
of the porter-bar D; horizontal changes of location being effected by suitable
traverses of the trolley F².
II. In the device illustrated in Figures 3 and 4, the capacity for horizontal vibra-
tions is still further increased by the traversing and travelling of the inverted crane;
and the spring S inserted between the links of the cable affords a means of
absorbing vibration and increasing the life of the attached devices which is of a great
advantage.
III. In Figures to 7 depressions of the porter-bar are effected by altitudinal
adjustments of the jibs T T of the downwardly-acting inverted derrick V; in which
the dotted cylinder 2 (Figure 5) indicates said jib's actuating mechanism, Vits
wheeled stay carriage and the post its guide part and fixed frame. Said jibs are
placed at a suitable height, as shown in Figure 5, and there held rigidly, as by fixing
the ram immovably; this device also illustrates that modification in which a stationary
bridle engages the porter-bar while motion is developed solely by shortening and
lengthening or traversing with the suspending crane &c., as must now be fully
understood. And
IV. By combining the overhead crane of Figures 1 and 2 with the sling F and
attaching an inverted underneath crane as shown in Figures 3 and 4, both plane and
conic figures can be generated in the floating mass as the incident of such crane's
manifest manipulating capacities. For as in case I above, either may be called on to
effect movements in the floating mass about the other's mean point of attachment, or,
by simultaneous action, about many other centres.
In the operation of all these devices it is preferred that during the actual action of
the hammer, the anchorage cable c, or its equivalent, should be slacked off from,
or released from actual contact with, the porter-bar 1; but as this may sometimes be
neglected, or not be convenient, it is generally preferred to contrive and provide the
anchorage connection as shown in Figures 3 and 4, with an intermediate spring recoil
check.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In apparatus for dealing with forgings, a steam hammer in combination
with a suspending device whereby the forging is sustained; a tilting device whereby
the floating of the forging is effected, and mechanism for altering the length of one or
both of said devices so as to enable the forging to be manipulated under the hammer,
substantially as and for the purpose specified.
Second. In apparatus for dealing with forgings, a steam hammer and a furnace in
combination with a travelling suspending device whereby the forging is sustained and
transferred from said furnace to said hammer; a tilting device whereby the floating of
the forging is effected and mechanism for altering the length of one or both of said
devices so as to enable the forgeman not only to transfer a forging from furnace to
hammer, but also to manipulate it under said hammer, substantially as and for the
purposes herein before described.
Third. In apparatus for dealing with forgings, a steam hammer and a furnace in
combination with an overhead travelling and traversing trolly crane whereby the
forging is sustained; a travelling tifting device whereby the level of said forging is
regulated when suspended; a rail system whereby said tilting device is anchored and
guided, the whole co-operating to enable the forgeman not only to transfer a forging
from furnace to hammer, but also to manipulate it mechanically under said hammer,
substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
Fourth. In apparatus for dealing with forgings, a steam hammer in combination

page_text: with one or more furnaces, a fulcrum and an underneath inverted-downwardly-acting
travelling trolly crane the length of whose tackle being alterable at will enables the
forgeman to suspend the forging upon said fulcrum in a floating and preponderating
condition so as to traverse it to, manipulate it beneath, and rest it upon the anvil of
said steam hammer, substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore described.
Fifth. In apparatus for dealing with forgings, the combination of a steam hammer;
a crane, one or more furnaces, and underneath switch provided anchorage railway,
leading from said hammer to said furnace or furnaces; a truck adapted to run along
and be guided by said rail system; and an anchor bridle attached to said truck and
adapted to steer and maintain forgings when suspended on said crane in a floating
posture, substantially as and for the purposes herein before described.
Dated this 27th day of March 1889.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE.