IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING ROLLS FOR ROLLING PLATES OF UN- EQUAL THICKNESSES
Year: 1859

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Richard Christopher Rapier at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th July 1859.
I, RICHARD CHRISTOPHER RAPIER, of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in the County
of Northumberland, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of tho said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN WORKING ROLLS FOR ROLLING PLATES OF UN-
EQUAL THICKNESSES," to be as follows:-
My Invention consists in adapting steam, or hydraulic machinery, or both,
to rolls for rolling plates with two edges or other desired parts thicker than
the rest of the plate, to adjust the rolls and regulate the distance between them,
in order that they may be further apart from each other when rolling the
edges or other parts required thicker than the rest than they are when rolling
the remaining parts of the plate. For this purpose the rolls have a smooth
surface without any grooves or recesses thereon, and I adjust, as hereafter
explained, any of the following methods. For plates requiring comparatively
slight pressure, the edges may be made thicker by tightening up the screws
after the plate has entered the rolls the desired distance, and releasing them in
sufficient time before the plate leaves the rolls. For rolls requiring greater
pressure than can be easily and quickly applied and discontinued by hand, as
above, I apply steam or water pressure. A steam cylinder is placed above
each end of the rolls; on steam or water being admitted above or below the
pistons, pressure may be applied to the rolls or discontinued at pleasure. The
steam or water cylinders may be placed below the screws, so that the rolls
may be used as heretofore for ordinary plates; the serews press upon pistons,
and the pistons press upon bosses cast on the bottom of the cylinder, and the

page_text: cylinder presses on the rolls after the plates have been reduced to the thickness
intended for the edges, or nearly so, the use of the screws is to be discontinued
and steam or water admitted into the cylinders, which are thereby pressed
lown upon the rolls, the pressure being applied as soon as the plates have
passed through the rolls as far as desired for forming the thick edge
or part,
and similary discontinued before the plates leave the rolls. The pipes to the
cylinders are made with sliding pieces or joints, to allow of the necessary
vertical movement. The cylinders may be placed at a distance from the rolls
which they actuate. The piston rods are attached to levers, which are so
connected to the bearings of the upper roll, that when the piston travels in one
direction the top roll is pressed down upon the bottom roll. By a slight
modification of the lever the cylinders may be fixed on the framing of the
rolls. A balance weight may with advantage be employed to bring the piston
back again. Or the pistons are connected by levers to the bearings or blocks
carrying the upper rolls in such manner that when steam or water is admitted
into the cylinders above the pistons the top roll is depressed, and is raised
when steam or water is admitted below the pistons. The cylinders are always
in communication with each other, so that the same pressure is always main-
tained in the one as the other, and one four-way cock serves for regulating
both cylinders. Instead of using levers, I sometimes key pulleys on to the
screws below the ordinary handles, and pass a belt round the pulleys and over
suitable guiding pulleys, and attach it to the ends of the piston rods, which in
this case pass through both top and bottom of the cylinders; and the two ends
of these belts being fastened the one end to the top rod, and the other end to
the bottom rod, the screws may be turned either way by raising or depressing
the piston, and thus the top roll pressed down or released. The cylinders may
be bolted on to the framing in a horizontal position, a toothed rack being
attached to the end of each piston rod, and gearing into toothed wheels keyed
on to the screws, which may thus be turned either way.
Or, I combine a steam cylinder and pump with two hydraulic presses, one
made to act on and depress the journals or bearing in which the journals of
the upper roll revolve at one end, and the other at the other end. A pipo
connects the two bydraulic presses, in order to ensure simultaneous action.
Lastly, instead of the steam cylinder and pump, I sometimes supply the
water from an accumulator placed in any convenient situation.