AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE BUTTS AND OTHER PARTS OF RAILWAY RAILS
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, for
the Invention of "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR
UTILIZING THE BUTTS AND OTHER PARTS OF RAILWAY RAILS," a com-
munication from abroad by Henry Chisholm, of Cleveland, Ohio,
United States of America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said wiam Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 5th April 1872.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declaré
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND
:
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co.,
Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declaré
the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED METHOD OF AND

page_text: MACHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE BUTTS AND OTHER PARTS OF RAILWAY RAILS," a
communication, to be as follows:-
The nature of the said Invention consists in the peculiar formation or
construction of cast rolls for the purpose of utilizing the butts, fag-ends,
or other parts of steel railway rails.
It is well known among those skilled in the art to which this
Invention belongs that steel cannot be perfectly welded without much
expense in time and labour, and requires borax or other flux in the
operation.
It is also well known that it cannot be piled, either alone or with iron
or other steel, and united by welding, hammering, or rolling into a
compact and homogeneous mass without resorting to the use of flux,
much skill, and labor.
By piling, lapping, fagoting, or folding steel pieces together, and
alone and subjecting the same to a welding heat and the action of com-
pression by rolls or hammering, seams will occur throughout the entire
mass when the surfaces of the pieces are in contact, which prevents the
pile or fagot sought to be welded together from being intimately
combined and having that homogeneous character and freedom from
flaws and seams so essential and important to the products of this
manufacture.
Various expedients have been resorted to for the purpose of utilizing
the butts or fag-ends cut from steel railway rails during the process of
their manufacture, but they are found to be too expensive or im-
practicable when compared with the improvements herein described,
which in part consist in the peculiar construction and arrangement of
chilled cast rolls for reducing the fag-ends or butts of steel rails to the
-desired shape and size without cutting, lapping, piling, fagoting and
folding; the upper and lower rolls are mounted and supported in housings
in of the usual modes. On the shaft at the outer ends of the rolls
any
are attached gear wheels for the purpose of turning the said rolls in the
proper direction. A section of the said rolls is so grooved as to be in
form similar to an ordinary railway rail, and through this part between
the rolls is first passed the piece of steel rail. In making this pass the
piece or butt is reduced in size, and extended in length in the same pro-
portion. After having passed through the rolls at the aforesaid grooved

page_text: part, it is inserted between the rolls at another part which compresses
the metal vertically. The next passes are then between the rolls, at
parts so grooved as to reduce the fag-end or piece of steel to a bar or
rod. This object is obtained by subjecting the metal as it comes from
the rolls after compression to a further compression and reduction, as
may be found expedient in the manipulation. In some cases it may be
advisable to compress the steel vertically. After the butt or piece has
passed through between the rolls as last described it no longer partakes
of the form of a rail, but assumes that of a bar, which is again re-
duced by compression in passing between the rolls. By this operation
the butt or steel rail is reduced by the action of the rolls to a steel bar
or rod of any desired size, and of a perfectly homogeneous character,
without the seams or flaws consequent upon lapping, piling, or fagoting.
The foot and head of the rail are rolled down without lapping or folding
upon the neck or web of the rail, or being compressed upon it. The
head and foot are so compressed and rolled out by the rolls having such
peculiar form or construction that the rail or piece of steel during the
series of passes is reduced from an irregular shape to that of a uniform
bar or rod.
By this process the metal is worked or rolled out longitudinally on its
flat side and vertically, and by the action of the rolls the head, foot, and
neck are all worked out at the same time, but independently of each
other, so that the different members of the rail do not lap or fold into
each other during the process of conversion to a bar or rod:
5 SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 5th October 1872.
r
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
0 Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters. Patent, bearing date the Fifth day of April,. in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-

page_text: fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special licence
that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors, administrators, and 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 "AN
IMPROVED METHOD OF AND MACHINERY FOR UTILIZING THE BUTTS AND OTHER PARTS
OF RAILWAY RAILS," a communication to me from abroad by Henry
Chisholm, of Cleveland, Ohio, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said William Robert Lake, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing, under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, 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 Robert Lake, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, 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:-
The nature of this Invention consists in the peculiar formation or
construction of cast rolls for the purpose of utilizing the butts, fag-ends,
worn out or old iron and steel railway rails.
It is well known amongst those skilled in the art to which this
Invention belongs that steel cannot be perfectly welded without great
expense in time and labor, and borax or other flux is required in the
operation.
It is also well known that it cannot be piled, either alone or with iron
or other steel, and united by welding, hammering, or rolling into a
compact and homogeneous mass without the use of fluxes, and much
skill, and labor.
'By piling, lapping, fagoting, or folding steel pieces together, and alone
subjecting the same to a welding heat and the action of compression

page_text: by rolls or hammering, seams will occur throughout the entire mass
when the surfaces of the pieces are in contact; the parts of the pile.
or fagot sought to be welded together are thus kept from being inti-
mately combined and having that homogeneous character free from
flaws and seams so essential and important in the products of this
manufacture.
Various expedients have been resorted to for the purpose of utilizing
the butts or fag-ends cut from steel railway rails during the process of
their manufacture, but they are found expensive or impracticable when
compared with the improvements herein described, which improve-
ments partly consist in the peculiar construction and arrangement of
chilled cast rolls for reducing the fag-ends or butts of steel rails to the
desired shape and size without cutting, lapping, piling, fagoting, and
Figure 1 is a side view of the aforesaid chilled cast rolls and their
housing; Figure 2 is a top view, and Figure 3 an end view of the
same. Like letters indicate the same parts throughout the Drawing.
•
In Figure 1, A represents the top roll, and B the lower one; these
rolls are mounted and supported in the housing C. The shafts at the
outer ends of the rolls are provided with gearing D, Figure 3, for the
purpose of turning the said rolls in the proper direction. It will be
observed that a section of the rolls at a is so turned out as to be in
form similar to an ordinary railway rail, and through the same between
the rolls is first passed the piece of steel rail. In making this pass the
piece or butt is reduced in size and extended in length in the same
proportion. After having been passed through the rolls at a it is
inserted between the rolls at b, and the metal is thereby compressed
vertically. The next passes are between the rolls at 'c, and afterward
at d, the object being to reduce the fag-end or piece of steel to a bar or
rod. This object is attained by subjecting the metal as it comes from
the rolls at d to a further compression and reduction by passing it again
between the rolls at e or f, as may be found most expedient in the
manipulation. In some cases it may be advisable to pass the piece as
it comes from d between the rolls at fto compress the steel vertically.
After the butt or piece has passed between the rolls at e or fit no
longer partakes of the form of a rail, but assumes that of a steel bar

page_text: which is again reduced by compression in passing between the rolls at g
and afterward between the rolls at h. By this operation the butt or old
steel or iron rail may be reduced by the action of the rolls to a bar or
rod of any desired form or size, and of a perfectly homogeneous character
without the seams or flaws consequent upon lapping, piling, or fagoting.
It will be noted that the foot and head of the rail are rolled down
without lapping or folding upon the neck or web of the rail or being
compressed upon it. The head and foot are so compressed and rolled
out by the rolls having such peculiar form or construction that the rail
or piece of steel during the series of passes is reduced from an irregular
shape to that of a uniform bar or rod.
"
By this process the metal is worked or rolled out longitudinally on its
flat side and vertically; and by the influence of the rolls the head, foot,
and neck are all worked out at the same time, but independently of
each other to such an extent that the different members of the rail do
not lap or fold into each other during the process of conversion into a
billet, bar, or rod.
It is not absolutely essential that the order of passes through the rolls
herein specified should be observed in all cases, as the order of the series
is susceptible of various changes. The rolls may also be modified so
that the order of grooves herein shown need not be strictly followed, as
the pass or groove 6 may be in some other part of the rolls. The same
may be the case with a, d, f, and the others. The order herein shown is
considered the most convenient system for the purpose.
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. The rolls A, B, provided with a series or system of grooves of
the form or construction described and shewn, and arranged in relation
to each other, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
Second. The rolls A, B, having a series of irregular-shaped and
graduated grooves of the form or construction shewn at a, c, d, operating
conjointly as and for the purpose described.
Third. The herein described mode or process of reducing the butts,
fag-ends, and old railway rails to a billet, bar, rod, or the like, by a

page_text: series of compressions between rolls having a system of vari-formed
grooves, substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of October, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
two.
Witness,
F. MILLION.
W. ROBT. LAKE. (L.S.)