AN IMPROVED MILL FOR ROLLING AXLES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
I JOHN HODTCHKINS BICKLEY of Dover in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"AN IMPROVED MILL FOR ROLLING AXLES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND FOR
OTHER PURPOSES" to be as follows:-
=
My Invention relates to an improved construction for a three-roll mill for rolling
railway axles and other objects, the bar having the desired form imparted to it by
being rolled in a cavity between all the rolls.
My improved mill is provided with three rolls mounted in suitable housings, the
top roll being mounted in vertical slots in the said housings above the space between
the lower roll bearings. The housings may be fitted to rails upon a bed-plate
beneath the mill and clamped thereto by bolts. The caps at the tops of the housings
are provided with vertical steam cylinders, the pistons of which are provided with
rods projecting through stuffing-boxes downward into the said slots and the said
rods are secured to the boxes which support and move the upper roll. These boxes
are made in halves, with bolts to take up the wear; but the lower rolls are set in
open boxes or bearings so that one of the said lower rolls is movable and arranged
to slide outward for discharging the finished work. The lower rolls are mounted
at the same level in the housings and the upper roll being set centrally over them
the whole three surround a cavity in which a shaft can be laid parallel with the
rolls and in which it can be subjected to a rolling pressure upon its entire length.
The profile or form of the rolls is varied so as to impart the desired form to the
axle or other article to be rolled.
The bar is introduced between the three rolls by raising the upper one a sufficient
distance, the lower rolls being set close enough together to retain the bar in the
cavity between them. The upper roll is then lowered and pressed upon the bar
and all the rolls are revolved until the bar is fully shaped. By moving one of the
lower rolls horizontally at the close of the rolling operation the finished axle or
other object falls between the lower rolls and is discharged from the mill. Or the
work may be discharged from the mill by fingers in one of the lower rolls operated
by a bar, the said fingers lifting the finished axle or other object over the lower
rolls instead of its being dropped from between the said rolls. Tho steam cylinders
at the tops of the housings afford the means of raising, lowering and pressing down

page_text: The
the top roll with grent facility, the cylinders being provided with rotary valves and
connected by a steam-pipe to a boiler, so as to tako steam above or below the
piston. The said valves are each set in a casing near the cylinders and are provided
with inlet and outlet connections to the bottom and top of the cylinder.
valves are also each connected with an exhaust-pipe by an elbow and being
constructed to rotate in their casings are connected by cranks and a tio-bar so as
to be moved simultaneously by a handle on the said bar.
The
To draw back one of the lower rolls when the bar is fully shaped I provido a
cam behind each of its boxes and connect the cam with the box by a strap.
cams are sunk in slots in the housings and the said cams are connected together by
a shaft provided with a hand-lever for turning the cams at pleasure. When the
boxes are pushed in for rolling a bar the cams aro in a neutral position and no
pressure is transmitted to the cam-shaft to cause it to turn; thus the boxes aro
locked securely in the desired position.
Motion is imparted to my improved mill by means of a suitable driving spindle
provided with a gear wheel, the said gear whoel taking into other gear-wheels.
secured upon the ends of the three rolls, thus rotating all three rolls at the same
time.
DAL!
T

page_text: I JOHN HODтCHKINS BICKLEY of Dover in the State of New Jersey, United
States of America do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention for "AN
IMPROVED MILL FOR ROLLING AXLES OF RAILWAY CARRIAGES AND FOR OTHER
PURPOSES 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 accompanying Drawing forming a part of this Specification,
"
My Invention relates to an improved construction for a three-roll mill for rolling
railway axles and other objects; the bar having the desired form imparted to it by
being rolled in a cavity between all the rolls.

page_text: moving the roll B¹ horizontally at the close of the rolling operation, the finished
axle could be dropped upon a truck and carried away from the mill. The steam-
cylinders shown at the tops of the housings afford the means of raising, lowering,
and pressing down the top roll Bº with great facility, the cylinders being provided
with rotary valves V, and connected by a steam-pipe, P, to a boiler, so as to take 5
steam above or below the piston p (shown in Figure 1) at pleasure.
The valves are each set in a casing W, near the cylinder, and provided with
inlet and outlet connections m m' to the bottom and top of the cylinder. The
valves are also each connected with an exhaust-pipe by an elbow T and being
constructed to rotate in their casings W, are connected by cranks f, and a tie-bar, g, 1
so as to be moved simultaneously by the handle h on the said bar. The ports in
the valves are seen in the sections in Figures 4 and 5, where an arrow, i, shows
the entrance of the steam through the valve into one of the cylinder-passages m
through a port n, in the valve, the exhaust from the opposite end of the cylinder
passing out through the passage_m³, through the port n¹ in the valve to the
discharge at T, as at arrow at r. By turning the valve one-fourth of a revolution
in its scat the action of the ports would be reversed and the steam and exhaust
pass through the passages m 'm', in opposite directions. With such a construction
it will be seen that the upper roll may be moved in either direction or pressed
upon the bars with the full force of the steam above the pistons p.
To draw back the roll B¹ when the bar is fully shaped, I provide a cain j, behind
each of its boxes b¹, and connect the cam with the box by a strap, c. The cams
are sunk in slots in the housings, and are connected together by a shaft / having
a hand-lever, l, secured thereon, for turning the cams at pleasure. When the
boxes are pushed in, as shown in Figure 1, for rolling a bar 8, the cams are in a
neutral position, and no pressure is transmitted to the shaft / to cause it to turn,
thus locking the boxes securely in the required position.
Instead of this arrangement for removing the finished work from the mill I may
employ the apparatus shown in Figure 8. One of the lower rolls is provided with
a central longitudinal boro in which works a shaft d³ carrying the cone-shaped
cams, or wedges bs. The said shaft d³ is operated by the lever e³ pivotted to the
housings of the mill. The pins c³ work freely in sockets in the said roll and extend
into the central bore of the said roll. By moving the lever e³ in the direction of
the arrow the cams or wedges braise the pins and retain them so that their
upper ends are above the surface of the roll. The pins c³ thus carry the finished
shaft or axle over the roll and discharge it from the side of the mill.
In Figure 2 is shown the end of the driving-spindle E' which is mounted in any
suitable manner opposite the centro of the bar 8, and provided with a gear-wheel, F,
'to rotate all the three rolls at the same time.
In Figure 6 is shown such arrangement, and the three gear-wheels G, secured
upon the ends of the rolls B, B, and B³, to receive the motion of the gear-wheel F,
Bet centrally between them. The gear-wheels G are omitted from Figures 1 and 2
to avoid obscuring the Drawings; but in the latter view both ends of the rolls
are shown fitted for gears, which may be driven from opposite ends by shafts
similar to E¹.
It will be seen that the use of the steam-cylinders having their valves connected
by the tie-bar y enables me to control the movement of the upper roll with great
facility, so that the bar s may be introduced with the least possible trouble from
the side of the rolls. The use of the cams to open the lower rolls also enables me
to discharge the finished bar instantaneously and to restore the rolls to their
working position without the delay occasioned by the use of screws, such as are
The apparatus shown in Figure
commonly used to adjust the rolls sidewise.
'enables me to discharge the finished work from the mill, without displacing either
of the rolls from its working position and the arrangement of the driving-gear F
in the centre of the three rolls also avoids the transmission of the power through
one roll (or its gear-wheel) to another,

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:
First: The combination, with the rolls B, B', and B2, arranged and operated as
described, of the steam-cylinders D, provided with rotary valves V, having a
connection or tie-bar g, for moving them simultaneously, and the piston-rods E,
secured to the boxes of the upper-roll boxes c, the whole operated substantially as
shown and described.
Second :-In a three-roll mill having the rolls arranged and operated as described,
the combination, with one of the lower rolls, of sliding boxes, as b³, cams to move
them to and fro, as described, and a connecting shaft, l, and hand-lever A, for
operating the cams simultaneously, as and for the purpose set forth.
Third-In a three-roll mill having the rolls arranged and operated as described,
the combination with one of the lower rolls having a central longitudinal bore, of
the pins c³, cone-shaped cams or wedges b³, shaft d' and lever eas and for the
purposo set forth.