IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METAL
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METAL." A communication from abroad
by Abram Reese, of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America,
Manufacturer.
Sealed the 20th October 1877, and dated the 29th May 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 29th May 1877.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.; Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING
METAL." [A communication from abroad by Abram Reese, of Pittsburgh, Penn-
sylvania, United States of America, Manufacturer.]
This Invention relates to machines for rolling metal into taper or other irregular
forms, such as crow bars, plough beams, reaper bars, horse-shoes, and the like; and
consists in the combination of a vertically adjustable die bed, a longitudinally
adjustable supporting wedge, a reciprocating roll, toothed segments attached to the
ends of said roll and provided with crank arms for the application of power, a
stationary rack for the engagement of said segments, and connections for communi-
cating power to operate the said roll; also, in the novel construction, combination,
and arrangement of parts in a machine for rolling irregular forms, having the pecu-
liarities herein-after more fully described and specified.
The primary object of this Invention is to provide adequate resisting capacity to
compensate for the great pressure necessarily required in the operations for which
such machines are intended, and to provide suitable means for the application of
power and for the adjustment of a bed subject to such great pressure, these means
for adjustment being specifically adapted to a bed which must not be allowed to
yield or spring at any point under superincumbent strain.
Seated in bearings on a frame or foundation is a shaft carrying at each end a
wheel, to which power may be communicated by any suitable gearing. Attached to
wrist pins similarly situated on each wheel are pitman rods, so that wheels and rods
all move exactly together. On each side of the said frame is a permanent or fixed

page_text: rack. Gearing with the said rack on each side is a toothed segment on a rocking
frame, into which the ends or shafts of the roll are keyed concentrically with a seg-
ment. The journals of the said roll pass through sliding pillow blocks or journal
boxes, which reciprocate in massive horizontal housings. The rocking frame is pro-
longed at the end opposite the segment, and is there coupled by a wrist pin to one
of the pitman rods.
With mechanism arranged as above described, great mechanical advantage is
obtained for the movement of the roll. The interlocking teeth form a variable
fulcrum; the centre of the segment arc is the point of resistance, and the wrist pin
the point of application of the power; hence the mechanical advantage is in the
ratio of about three to one.
The remainder of my Invention relates chiefly to the bed and its adjustability,
which I will now describe.
That part of the frame under the path of the roll is made with a heavy web,
forming a continuous shelf. Resting on the top of this shelf is a solid wedge, to
which is attached an adjusting screw projecting through the end of the frame, and
adapted by means of a hand wheel or crank to move the wedge backward and for-
ward under the bed. This bed is also wedge-shaped, having its upper surface
horizontal or parallel with the plane of motion of the roll; it is raised and lowered
by operating the adjusting screw which works the said wedge. Thus, while this
wedge has horizontal motion, the bed has only vertical motion..
The aforesaid roll is preferably made hollow, and to it is bolted a working face
having grooves with parallel sides registering with the taper grooves of the bed.
Every move of the hand wheel effects a proportionate vertical move of the bed.;.
hence the operator can keep a constant hold on the bar, since it does not pass and
change or modify the area. between every pass of the roll when the pressure is off
.the bar.
Many advantages follow from such construction, chief among which are these,-
The roll works both ways over the bar, effects a perfect and thorough distribution
of the metal, and does not disarrange the fibrous structure.
The said machine may be in constant operation, and as no pressure comes upon
the bed till the bar is laid in position; its adjustment is easy, and no stoppage is
required.
In rolling iron and steel it is very important to reduce it at every pass, which
reduction is easily effected by the said machine.
Iron does not require so many passes as steel to effect a given reduction, and con-
sequently the number of passes or repetition of passes being entirely under the
operator's control, he can with equal facility work either iron or steel advantageously
on the said machine.
The aforesaid roll, having a fixed determined motion, soon wears the slides smooth,
and runs freely notwithstanding the enormous pressure; whereas in machines where
the roll must follow a pattern the roll bearings are continually changing, and pro-
duce injurious strains.
Instead of grooving the bed I may have one or more recesses in which removable
dies may be clamped, the said dies having the required taper grooves on their faces.
By this construction and the corresponding removeable working faces of the said
roll, a great variety of forms may be produced on a single machine, forms which
now can only be produced by forging or casting.

page_text: which is attached an adjusting screw e, projecting through the end of the frame, and
adapted by means of a hand wheel or crank f to move the wedge backward and
forward under the bed g. This bed is also wedge-shaped, having its upper surface
horizontal or parallel with the plane of motion of the roll R; it is raised and lowered
by operating the adjusting screw which works the said wedge w. Thus, while the
wedge w has horizontal motion, the bed g has only vertical motion.
The purpose of this arrangement will be apparent in the following description of
the operation of the said machine:-For the sake of illustration I will take as an
example a reaper bar. The bed g has a recess formed, as shown in Figures 3 and 4;
that is to say, the form of a taper groove; it is adjusted by the wheel till it gives
a space between itself and the roll slightly smaller than the section of the bar to be
tapered; then the said bar is laid in the groove, and one or more passes of roll R
are made; then the bed g is screwed up slightly, and a further reduction takes
place, and so on, the said bar being gradually but quickly reduced till the required
size is obtained.
Should the metal at any time exhibit a tendency to "fin," it is only necessary to
turn it on its side and subject it to a pass or two passes between the plain surfaces
of the bed and rolls.
The aforesaid roll is preferably made hollow, and to it is bolted a working face
having grooves with parallel sides registering with the taper grooves of the bed; this
construction is shown in Figure 2.
Every movement of the hand wheel effects a proportionate vertical movement of
the bed g; hence the operator can keep a constant hold on the bar, since it does not
pass and change or modify the area between every pass of the roll when the pressure
is off the bar.
Many advantages follow from the above-described construction, chief among
which are the following, namely:-
The roll works both ways over the bar, effects a perfect and thorough distribution
of the metal, and does not disarrange its fibrous structure, the latter being an
advantage of very great importance with regard to the strength of the finished
article.
The said machine may be in constant operation, and as no pressure comes upon
the bed g till the bar is laid in position, its adjustment is easy, and no stoppage is
required.
In rolling iron, and more especially in rolling steel, it is very important to reduce
it at every pass; this reduction is easily effected by the said machine.
Iron does not require so many passes as steel to effect a given reduction, and con-
sequently the number of passes or repetitions of passes being entirely under the
operator's control, he can with equal facility work either iron or steel advantageously
on the said machine.
The aforesaid roll, having a fixed determined motion, soon wears the slides smooth,
and runs freely notwithstanding the enormous pressure to which it is subjected;
whereas in machines wherein the roll must follow a pattern, the roll bearings are
continually changing, and produce injurious strains.
Instead of grooving the bed g I may have one or more recesses, as shewn in
Figure 5, in which removable dies may be clamped, the dies having the required
taper grooves on their faces. By means of this construction and the corresponding
removable working faces of the said roll R, a great variety of forms may be pro-
duced on a single machine, forms which now can only be produced by the process of
forging or casting, the former process being very costly, and the latter unreliable in
point of strength.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, and the manner of performing the same, I wish it understood
that I claim,-
First. In a machine for rolling metal, the combination of the adjustable die bed
the wedge, the reciprocating roll, the toothed segments provided with crank arms
for the application of power, the stationary racks, and the pitman rods or link con

page_text: nections for communicating power to operate the roll, as above described and for the
purposes specified.
Second. A machine for rolling metal embracing the following instrumentalities,
that is to say, the main frame, the adjustable bed, the wedge, the duplicate housings,
the reciprocating roll supported in the said housings at both ends of its shaft, the
toothed segments provided with crank arms for the application of power, and means
for communicating power on both sides of the machine to the roll, as above described
and for the purposes specified.
Third. In the aforesaid machine, the combination of a roll capable of having
different working faces attached thereto and a die bed, recessed as shown, for the
purpose of receiving dies of different forms, as above set forth.
Fourth. A rolling machine for producing metal bars or other articles or objects of
an irregular form or shape, and which consists of the parts constructed and combined
as shewn in the accompanying Drawing, and operating as above set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-seven.