IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FILE BLANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN.
Year: 1867

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Gray, of Sheffield, in the County of York,
Saw and File Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF FILE BLANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN.'
Sealed the 4th February 1868, and dated the 22nd October 1867.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Gray at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
22nd October 1867.
I, WILLIAM GRAY, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Saw and File
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "In-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FILE BLANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to the rolling of file blanks of all shapes and sizes
required by the trade in lieu of forging the same by hand labour, and
consists in the employment for that purpose of rolls to which are attached or
fitted plates and collars of steel, wrought or cast iron, brass, or other suitable

page_text: metal or alloy, such plates and collars being specially formed and adapted
for the production by rolling of file blanks. In order to afford facility for
changing the said plates and collars I propose to make them removable
from the main body of the rolls, for which purpose a shoulder is formed upon
the body of the main rolls, and a key is also provided which enters a corre-
sponding keyway made in the moveable plates and collars, so that when the
latter are adjusted and fixed in their proper places upon the body of the
main rolls and against the shoulder and collars they are prevented from
slipping round, and are maintained in their proper places. The said collars
are to be adjusted by set screws, and and the plates are variously shaped so as
to suit the different patterns of file blanks which are intended to be produced
and also to produce the tang end of the file and to effect the shaping of the
point or corresponding end of the file blank. The steel will be required to
be cut into lengths for the production of each file blank and passed through
the roll betwixt the plates adapted for producing the tang of the file. The
tang of the partly rolled or shaped file blank is then passed through other
plates, completing and producing a perfect rolled.and shaped file blank. The
different names given to the file blanks intended to be produced by rolling in
this improved machine are known in, the trade as flats, hand, equalling,
parallel, square, three square, round, half round, rubbers, and horse rasps.
On passing a properly heated bar or piece of steel of required dimensions
between the rolls it will receive the required shape intended to be produced.
The machine will require to have spur wheels attached to the rolls at the
ends or otherwise, as may be found most convenient, in order to adjust the
speed and working of both the rolls, so that the plates on the top or bottom
roll may exactly correspond or coincide with each other, and thus nip and
shape the bar on both sides simultaneously. By varying the shape of the
plates used in this machine any size or shape of file blank can be produced
by the same machine, as the plates are easily removed. The file blanks may
be produced either by passing the pieces of steel through the rolls edgewise,
or by passing them through the rolls with the broad or flat side of the pieces
of steel upwards when required; half-round file blanks for example will have
'to be rolled with the broad side uppermost, and either the flat or half-round
side uppermost, as may be most convenient and advantageous for the pro-
duction of this shape of file blank.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Gray in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 20th
April 1868.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
GRAY, of Sheffield, in the County of York, Saw and File Manufacturer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven, in the thirty-first year of Her
reign, did for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Gray, Her special license that I, the said William Gray,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
William Gray, my executors, administrators, or 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 "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF FILE BLANKS, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED THEREIN, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Gray, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
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 Gray, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon, that is to say :-
This Invention relates to the rolling of file blanks of all shapes and sizes
required by the trade in lieu of forging the same by hand labor, and consists
in the employment for that purpose of rolls to which are attached or fitted
plates and collars of steel, wrought iron, chilled cast metal, brass, or other
suitable metal or alloy, such plates and collars being specially formed and
adapted for the production by rolling of file blanks. In order to afford
facility for changing the said plates and collars I propose to make them

page_text: removable from the main body of the rolls, for which purpose a shoulder is
formed upon the body of the main rolls, and a key is also provided which
enters a corresponding keyway made in the moveable plates and collars, so that
when they are all adjusted and fixed in the proper places upon the body of
the main rolls and against the shoulder on the main roll they are prevented
from moving and slipping round, and are maintained in their proper places.
The said collars are to be secured in their places laterally by set screws, and
the plates are variously shaped, so as to suit the different patterns of the file
blanks which are intended to be produced, and also to produce the tang end of
the file and to effect the shaping of the point or opposite end of the file blank.
In making a file blank I proceed as follows:-Firstly, the steel will
be required to be cut into lengths for the production of each file blank and
passed through the roll between the plates adapted for producing the tang of
the file; secondly, the partly rolled or shaped file blank is then passed
through other plates, tang foremost, thereby completing and producing a
perfect rolled and shaped file blank. The different names given to those
file blanks which are best adapted for being produced by rolling in my
improved machine are known in the trade as flats, hand, entering, equalling,
parallel, square, three square, round, half round, rubbers, and horse rasps.
On passing a properly heated bar or piece of steel of required dimensions
between the plates in the rolls it will receive the required shape intended to
be produced. The machine will require to have spur wheels attached to the
rolls at the ends or otherwise, as may be found most convenient, in order to
adjust the speed and working of both the rolls, so that the plates on the top
and bottom rolls may exactly correspond or coincide with each other, and
thus nip and shape the bar on both sides simultaneously. By varying the
shape of the plates used in this machine file blanks of almost every size
and shape can be produced by the same machine, as the plates are easily
removed or changed. The file blanks may be produced either by passing
the pieces of steel through the rolls edgewise, or by passing them through the
rolls with the broad or flat side of the piece of steel upwards, when required;
thus half round file blanks for example will have to be rolled with either the
flat or the half round side uppermost, as may be most convenient and
advantageous for the production of this shape of file blank.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose shall
refer to the several Figures on the annexed Sheet of Drawings, the same
letters of reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of my Drawings represents a front elevation of a rolling machine
fitted with my improved appliances for rolling and shaping file blanks;
Figure 2 is a corresponding sectional elevation looking at right angles to
Figure 1, shewing a pair of steel plates adapted for rolling a parallel file
blank; Figure 3 is a detail of a pair of these rolls, with some of the steel or
chilled cast metal plates or discs and loose collars removed therefrom to shew
the main body of the rolis; and Figure 4 is a detail of a pair of plates
adapted for rolling or shaping an "entering" file blank.
A, A, are the ordinary frames or standards of a rolling machine, and B, B',
are the two rolls to which are attached or fitted the several plates or portions
of dises C, C, of steel, wrought iron, chilled cast metal, brass, or other
suitable metal or alloy and loose or removeable collars D, D. In making up
a roll suitable for rolling one or more patterns of file blanks I slip on to the
body B of the roll a series of plates or portions of discs C and loose collars D
arranged alternately, and pushed home so as to bear against the fixed collar
or shoulder E formed upon the roll near one end thereof; F is a long key
formed on each roll and fitting a corresponding key way a made in each of
the several plates and collars C and D, D, in order to prevent them from
turning or getting loose on the rolls. These plates and collars are all kept
in their places laterally by means of set or pinching screws b, b, fitted into
the loose collars D and bearing against the body of the roll. Although I
have represented at Figure 1 a pair of rolls fitted up for rolling several
different descriptions of file blanks, namely flat, half round, and three square
blanks, I prefer to have the machine when at work fitted up for rolling only
one description of blank at a time, and to change the plates C when a fresh
pattern is required. Whatever may be the form and dimensions of the file
blank to be rolled the moveable plate or portion of a disc C should be shaped
or cut away at the periphery to suit such form, as shewn clearly in Figures 2
and 4, where C. C', represent the top and bottom plates, each having a
portion of their periphery removed for the production of a parallel file blank.
In lieu of forming the shape or matrix of the file blank in the main body of
the plate C, I prefer to employ a separate loose piece c, which is readily
adjusted by dovetails into the main plate C, so that should this part become
injured it does not involve the loss of the entire plate, but only the separate
portion; Figure 4 is a similar detail view of a pair of plates C, C', formed
for shafting what is known as an entering file blank, which requires to be
tapered towards the point. In both these examples the piece of steel to be
rolled into a file blank is inserted edgewise or with the narrow edge upwards

page_text: between the rolls; half-round file blanks should be rolled breadthwise, the
flat side being by preference placed uppermost, as shewn in Figure 1. When
rolling half-round and three-square blanks the peripheries of the steel or
chilled cast metal plates C should be channelled of course to correspond. It
will be obvious that any taper or reduction in the file blank can be produced
in one direction by suitably shaping the plates c, c¹, or C, C¹, as shewn in
Figures 2 and 4 where the portion of the periphery from 1 to 2 serves to
form the tang of the blank, whilst the remaining portion of the matrix
from 2 to 3, in Figure 4, serves to produce the requisite taper towards the
point of the entering file blank. Any lateral reduction or taper in a direction
at right angles to the taper or reduction shewn in Figures 2 and 4 is
accomplished by fixing by the aid of screws or otherwise into the peripheries
of the loose collars on each side of the steel plate C the matrix plates G, G,
as shewn in Figure 1, the contiguous edges of such plates being made to
protrude over the periphery of the steel, wrought iron, chilled cast metal, or
composition of metal plate; and to form the sides of the tapered or reduced
portion of the matrix; H, H, (Figure 1), are spur wheels secured to the necks
of the rolls, and geared together in order to ensure perfect accord between
the two rolls when at work, so that the upper and lower halves of the cavity
or matrix formed by the two rolls shall accurately coincide and produce a
perfect file blank. When rolling a file blank I first pass the piece of steel
through a groove, which rolls it parallel, but imparts the proper cross sectional
form to the blank and shapes the tang. The tang is formed by being nipped
and partly sheared at the edges by the action of the matrix and die plates 1, 2,
(Figure 1), the matrix being formed by attaching the side plates 1 to the
plate C of the upper roll, and the die is formed by the projecting piece 2 on
the plate C of the lower roll, such projection fitting into the matrix and
compressing the tang inside. The partly shaped file blank is then passed
through a second groove with the tang foremost. On entering the blank
between the rolls the tang is pushed home up to its shoulder into a contracted
portion of the groove shown at 3 (Figure 1), and the taper of the file blank
towards its point is then produced by the tapering groove, as shewn at 4
(Figure 1).
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel
and original, and therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the
herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the rolling of file blanks by

page_text: the aid of rolls formed or constructed of a series of shaping plates or portions
of discs of steel, wrought iron, chilled cast metal, brass, or other suitable metal
or alloy, and loose collars disposed alternately upon the main body of the roll
substantially as herein-before described and illustrated by my Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Gray, have to this my Speci-
fication set my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-eight.
WILLIAM GRAY. (L.s.)