IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING AND SHAPING MALLEABLE METALS
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT. to William Johnson, of 47, Lincoln's Inn
Fields, in the County of Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain,
Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING
AND SHAPING MALLEABLE METALS."-A communication.
Sealed the 17th May: 1853, and dated the 22nd March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Johnson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 22nd March 1853.
I, WILLIAM JOHNSON, of 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Civil Engineer, do hereby
déclare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING
AND SHAPING MALLEABLE METALS" to be as follows:
This Invention relates to a novel system of rolling or shaping various
malleable metals, and bears more especially upon the manufacture' of
wrought iron into railway wheels, railway bars, cylinder and valve
covers, boiler cuds or heads, as well as flat plates, discs, and cones..
[Price 8d.]

page_text: In forming solid railway wheels by this system, a table revolving
horizontally upon a set of conical bearing rollers is used; this table
having a central recess in it to receive the lower shaping die for one
side of the wheel to be rolled.
This die surface corresponds in sectional outline with the outline of
one side or face of the wheel, and it has a central pin standing up
to form the axle hole in the wheel boss.
It is upon this die that the mass of metal to be rolled is laid, such
mass being squeezed on the upper. surface to form the opposite sec-
tional outline of the wheel by a pair of horizontal rollers set with their
axes in one line, but revolving in opposite directions.
'These rollers are driven from their outside ends furthest from the
centre of the apparatus, their inner ends being brought close together
at a point coinciding with the centre of motion of the revolving wheel
and die apparatus.
Thus to accomplish the required shaping effect the two rollers of
this pair are exact counterparts of each other, and are each shaped so
that their longitudinal sections coincide with the sectional contour of the
radius of the wheel.
In this way, when the apparatus is set in motion, with a mass of
iron laid in it, the combined effect of the rollers and die shapes tho
two sides or faces of the wheel, whilst the tyre or running surface is
formed by the circumferential pressure of two or more vertical rollers
shaped to the required tyre section.
In this way a finished wheel is rolled at oue operation by the com-
bined roller and die actions.
By another modification the circumferential shaping rollers are dis-
pensed with, and the rolling surface of the wheel is shaped by forcing
the malleable metal into an annular recess surrounding the table
carrying the bottom revolving die. Or no table need be used if three
or more horizontal rollers are suitably disposed above and below the
metal to be rolled, such rollers being sot to radiate from the wheel's
centre, the tyre surface being formed with circumferential rollers as
before.
It is to be understood that all kinds of malleable metal may be

page_text: shaped and manufactured by this system, the dies or rollers being
suitably modified for their special purposes, copper still bottoms, buffer
plates and tubes may be thus made,
SPECIFICATION in pursuance ofthe conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Johnson, in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 22nd September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM JOHNSON, of No. 47, Lincoln's Inn Fields, in the County of
Middlesex, and of Glasgow, North Britain, Civil Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-second day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Johnson, Her special licence
that I, the said William Johnson, my executors, adininistrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Johnson, my executors,
administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no
others, from time to time and 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROLLING AND SHAPING MALLEABLE METALS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Johnson, by an instrument in writing
undermy 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 Johnson, 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

page_text: in and by the following statement, reference being had to the accom-
panying drawings, and to the letters and figures marked thereon, that
is to say:
My said Invention relates to a novel system of rolling or shaping
various malleable metals, and-bears-more especially upon the manufac-
ture of wrought iron into railway wheels and wheel tyres, railway bars,
cylinder and valve covers, boiler ends or heads, as well as flat plates,
discs, and cones. In forming solid railway wheels by this system, a
table revolving horizontally upon a set of conical bearing rollers is used;
this table having a central recess in it to receive the lower shaping die
for one side of the wheel to be rolled. This die surface corresponds in
the sectional outline with the outline of one side or face of the wheel,
and it has a central pin standing up to form the axle hole in the wheel
boss. It is upon this die that the mass of metal to be rolled is laid,
such mass being squeezed on the upper surface to form the opposite
and sectional outline of the wheel by a pair of horizontal rollers set with
their axes in one line, but revolving in opposite directions. These
rollers are driven from their outside ends furthest from the centre of
the apparatus, their inner ends being brought close together at a point
coinciding with the centre of motion of the revolving wheel and die
apparatus. Thus to accomplish the required shaping effect the two
rollers of this pair are exact counterparts of each other, and are each
shaped so that their longitudinal sections coincide with the sectional
contour of the radius of the wheel. In this way, when the apparatus
is set in motion, with a mass of iron luid in it, the combined effect
of rollers and die shapes the two sides or faces of the wheel, whilst
the tyre or running surface is formed by the circumferential pressure of
two or more vertical rollers shaped to the required tyre section. In
this way a finished wheel is rolled at one operation by the combined
roller and die actions. By another modification the circumferential
shaping rollers are dispensed with, and the rolling surface of the wheel
is shaped by forcing the malleable metal into an annular recess
surrounding the table carrying the bottom revolving die; or no table
need be used, if three or more horizontal rollers are suitably disposed
above and below the metal to be rolled, such rollers being set to radiate

page_text: from the wheel's centre, the tyre surface being formed with circumferen-
tial rollers as before. It is to be understood that all kinds of malleable
metal may be shaped or manufactured by this system, the dies or
rollers being suitably modified for their special purposes, copper still
bottoms, buffer plates and tubes may be thus made.
Figure 1, on the sheet of drawings is a vertical section, and
Figure 2, is a plan of one modification of the Invention; Figure 3, isa
vertical section of a slightly different modification, and Figures 4, and 5,
are a vertical section and a plan of a third.
In these several modifications a railway wheel has been selected as
the article operated upon in illustration of the Invention; such a
wheel is represented at A, in Figures 1, and 2, in the act of being
formed. Its under side is shaped by the die plate B, fixed upon a
vertical spindle, and fitting into a recess in the table C, which revolves
upon the conical rollers D. Die plates of various patterns can be fitted
into the table C, according to the section it is desired to give the
wheel. The axle hole in the wheel boss is formed by the pin F,
standing up in the centre of and made in one piece with the die
plate B. The upper side of the wheel is shaped by the two horizontal
rollers E, of a contour corresponding to the section to be given to that
side of the wheel. The axes of these rollers are in the same straight
line, but they are made to rotate in opposite directions by gearing at
the outer extremities of their spindles. They are borne in a suitable
frame to allow of their being removed for the introduction of the metal
to be shaped. In this instance the tyre of the wheel is formed by the
vertical rollers G. Four of these vertical rollers are represented as
acting upon the periphery of the wheel, but more or fewer may be
employed as may be found advantageous. According to the modifica-
tion represented in Figure 3, the vertical rollers for shaping the tyre
of the wheel are dispensed with, the proper form being given to this
part by the table C, the outer edge of which rises above the die
plate B, and is moulded to the required contour as at H, and the
rollers E, E, have shoulders upon them I, I, so as to meet the
table C, at the extreme outer edge of the flange of the wheel.
According to a third modification of the Invention, and represented in

page_text: Figures 4, and 5, the upper and under surfaces of the wheel aro
both formed by rollers. At A, is the wheel in the act of being formed
on the upper side by three rollers as at B, B, B, and on the under
side by three similar rollers C, directly opposite to those above, whilst
the tyre and outside of the flange are produced by the three vertical
rollers D. In this instance the rollers B, and C, are made slightly conical
in order to reduce the friction arising from the unequal rate of movo-
ment of the various parts of the disc of the wheel. It is also obvious
that conical instead of cylindrical rollers may be employed to shape
the upper side of the wheel in the modifications before described with
reference to Figures 1, 2, and 3. I may also remark that the number
of rollers employed under any of the modifications described is not
restricted to that shewn in the drawings, but may be increased or
otherwise as may seem desirable. In making wheel tyres, cylinder
and valve covers, and other articles of similar shape, it will be obvious
to the practical man that the form and proportions of the rollers and
die plates must be modified to suit each particular case so as to
produce the complete article at a single operation. I may also re-
mark that this Invention is applicable to the construction of articles
of rectilinear form, such as rails or angle iron. In this case the rail,
for example, is first formed as a ring by means of machinery similar to
that herein-before described, after which it is cut open at one side,
and then straightened by passing through rollers or otherwise.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the
said Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or
carried into effect, I may observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine
or restrict myself to the precise dotails or arrangements which I have
had occasion to describe or refer to, as many variations may be made
therefrom without deviating from the principles or main features of
the Invention; but 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,―
First, the general arrangement and construction of machinery herein
described for shaping malleable metals into articles of circular contour.
Second, the application and use in machinery for shaping metals of

page_text: a revolving die below in combination with rollers above radiating from
the centre so as to produce articles of circular contour, as herein-before
described.
Third, the application and use of rollers of various contours arranged
to act on both sides of the article to be shaped, such rollers radiating
from the centre so as to give a circular form, as herein-before described.
Fourth, the application and use of the vertical rollers for forming the
tyre of the wheel or the outside of similar circular articles in combina-
tion with the die below and radiating rollers above, or with the
radiating rollers on both sides, as herein-before described.
Fifth, the system or mode of first shaping certain articles in an
annular form by means of the machinery herein described, and then
cutting them open and straightening them out to their proper rectilinear
contour.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Johnson, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM JOHNSON. (L.S.)