IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING IRON WIRE
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Henry Edward Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, for an
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING IRON WIRE." A communication from abroad by Emmanuel
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Henry Edward Newton at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd December 1880.
HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING IRON WIRE." [A communication from abroad
by Emmanuel Minary, of Paris, in the Republic of France.]
This Invention relates to the manufacture of iron wire by means of rolling mills,
the object of the Invention being to simplify the process of manufacture, whereby
the amount produced will be considerably increased, and the quality improved, and
this at a less cost than heretofore.
Hitherto it has been usual to take the bar or rod of metal and heat it to white
heat, and then pass it backwards and forwards between rollers, in which are a
series of grooves of decreasing dimensions, until the rod or bar of metal.is rolled.
down to form wire of the required gauge.
This process necessitates the employment of at least two workmen to guide the
rod or bar of metal to the grooves in the rollers, besides requiring a number of boys
to straighten out the bar and prevent its curling up or forming kinks as it increases
in length and fineness. The metal is also liable to come into contact with the
ground, which tends to-chill it and render it more difficult to roll, thereby requiring
an increase of power to drive the rollers.
•
The grooves are alternately of square and oval section, and the dimensions are
left generally to the arbitrary discretion of the maker of the rollers.
It has been found that the oval grooves give the best results, both as regards the
speed of manufacture and economy in the driving power required.

page_text: According to the present Invention, it is intended where grooved rollers are
employed, to make the grooves exclusively of elliptic form, regularly traced, and
suitably arranged so as to obtain from each groove a uniform and constant drawing
action.
For the arbitrary tracing is now substituted a methodical rule, which is that of
adopting a constant relation between the sections of the grooves which follow one
another, and this relation is termed "the coefficient of drawing."
In tracing the ellipses of the grooves, a constant relation is adopted, such as
that comprised in the following expressions, viz., and, the first approaching to
that of the oval now in use, the second answering best to the conditions of the
drawing motion.
The constant relation of the elliptical sections of the grooves, which is termed
"the co-efficient of drawing," necessitates an increase in the speed of driving the
rollers, such increase being in the inverse ratio to the successive dimensions of the
grooves, if it is desired to avoid the curling up or kinking of the metal, or prevent
it from touching the ground.
The improved machinery which is employed for the manufacture of iron wire,
consists of a series of pairs of grooved rollers, each pair being mounted parallel to
the other, and either horizontally or vertically, or alternately horizontally and
vertically in bearings in a suitable framing.
Or the rollers may be mounted outside the framing, the ends of the shafts of the
horizontal rollers projecting beyond the framing for this purpose; the vertical
rollers being mounted in bearings in bracket castings secured to the side of the
framing.
A. guide is placed between every pair of rollers to conduct the iron from one
groove to the next, and these guides may be arranged helicoidally so as to produce
a torsion of the iron of 90 degrees in such a manner, that the iron of which the
section is elliptic presents the longest axis of the ellipse perpendicularly to that of
the succeeding groove. These guides are cast in two pieces, and in each piece is
formed a groove corresponding to half of the section of the elliptic groove in the
roller next to which the guide is placed. The form of this groove may be either
helical or straight as required. The guides are carried by brackets securely bolted
to the side of the framing.
The rollers of each pair are coupled together, and each pair is driven from the
main shaft by gearing so arranged as to increase the speed of each successive pair
of rollers in a ratio corresponding to the increasing fineness of the grooves, such
grooves diminishing in section approximately in the ratio of 725 to 1000. The
vertical rollers are driven by bevil gear, which receives its motion from the main
shaft in any convenient manner.
By means of the machinery arranged as above described, the process of manu-
facturing iron wire is continuous, as the rod is passed only once through the
machine, instead of at least 10 times, as under the old system; thus the amount of
labor required is considerably reduced. The time spent in passing the iron through
the series of rollers is so short, that the loss of heat is practically nil, and the metal
being thus kept at a high temperature, will readily take the desired form without
causing a strain on the working parts, as is the case when the metal is chilled.
The speed at which the iron wire is produced is at least double that attained under
the ordinary system, and this with less than half the amount of manual labour.
Instead of the grooved rollers plain rollers may be used, in which case the bar
will be rolled alternately square and rectangular in section, the guides being formed
to correspond, the only condition being that the form of the bar shall be
rectangular before passing to the last pair of rollers which are grooved, and so as to
roll the rod round.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Henry Edward Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
1st June 1881.
HENRY EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROCESS OF AND
MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING IRON WIRE." A communication from abroad
by Emmanuel Minary, of Paris, in the Republic of France.
The manufacture of iron wire forms one of the most important branches of the
iron trade and is a speciality at a great number of works.
This manufacture is carried out on two distinct plans, namely, first, by rolling
the iron in a heated state between rolls, and, secondly, by drawing the iron in a
cold state through a drawing plate.
According to the first plan the iron heated to white heat is passed successively
through grooved rollers which are coupled together and have a rapid rotary motion.
These rollers compress and lengthen out the iron, at the same time modifying the
form and reducing the section; the lengthening out being in inverse proportion to
the reduced section and finally give a cylindrical form to the wire, the diameter of
which will correspond to certain determined sizes known in commerce by certain
numbers.
In the second plan the iron is drawn cold through a series of holes in a drawing
plate, each hole being of less diameter than that preceding it, so that at each
drawing the diameter of the rod is reduced and the length is proportionately
augmented.
In this latter case the iron is securely attached to a bobbin to which rotary
motion is given, and it is drawn forward by this movement with sufficient force to
overcome the resistance of the metal to its passage through the hole of the drawing
plate, the result being the reduction of the section and a proportionate lengthening
out of the iron into wire which at the same time is wound on the bobbin.
.
In this mode of manufacturing wire it will be evident that the iron after the
drawing has taken place will have a resisting force greater than that requisite to
withstand the drawing operation. Thus iron of the best quality only can be used,
and a greater uniformity in the diameter and in the cylindrical form is obtained
than by rolling as well as a perfect homogeneity of the metal in its whole length.
The rolling operation is however more convenient than the drawing operation,
but the differences of toughness and cohesion arising from the insufficient or
unequal heating of the iron during the rolling operation have hitherto somewhat
restricted the use of rolled wire except where great strength is not required. These
inconveniences can in part be neutralized and corrected by reheating the wire in
close vessels, but even then the rolling process has other defects which it is
impossible to avoid except by a complete modification in the mode of working and
the adoption of another kind of rolling machinery.
According to the system hitherto employed the iron rod or bar leaves the roughing
out rollers in the form of a square having sides of about eleven or twelve
millimetres, its temperature being that of white heat. It passes then successively
between two sets of rollers called doubling rollers, that is to say, a workman
introduces it into the first groove of the first set of rollers, and it is seized as soon
as it appears on the other side by a second workman, who as rapidly as possible
guides it to the first groove of the second set of rollers, from which the first workman
directs it into the second groove of the first set, and so on, the iron rod passing
from one set to the other through the four grooves in each of the sets of rollers, so

page_text: that the iron rod is being acted upon at one time by two, three, or more grooves
according as the length of rod and the skill of the workman will permit.
The rod being thus acted upon at one time by the two sets of rollers the name of
doubling has been given to this process of rolling.
On leaving the eighth groove the iron is received by a third workman who
introduces it into the groove of a third set of rollers, on leaving which the foreman
passes it through a pair of finishing rollers the groove of which is round and gives
to the wire its cylindrical form and its definite diameter.
The rolling in grooves has a kind of welding effect on the fibres of the iron
analogous to that of forging, and causes a lengthening out of the rod in the sense of
the movement of the rollers.
The form of the grooves has hitherto been an alternate succession from square to
oval and from oval to square. As to the dimensions of the grooves there exists no
rule to determine them; they are usually left to the arbitrary judgment of the
roller manufacturers, and their verification is effected by trials and supposition.
The square iron on leaving the roughing out rollers is introduced into the first
groove of the doubling mechanism, which is oval. The foregoing effect of this
groove is very energetic, as will be seen by the considerable increase in the length
of the iron rod or bar. In the second groove, which is square, the lengthening out
is less; in a word, the lengthening out effect of the oval grooves is much greater
than that of the square grooves, and, moreover, the iron rod or bar passes through
them more easily. On leaving each groove the rod or bar should be seized
immediately, and introduced as promptly as possible into the next groove, in order
to avoid winding or curling, that is to say, to avoid too much of the red hot iron
as it leaves the preceding groove trailing on or touching the ground, which will
have the effect of chilling the iron and causing it to set.
Again, considering the great speed of rotation of the rollers, which is not less
than four hundred revolutions per minute, and which corresponds to a tangential
velocity of the iron of four metres per second, an idea can be readily formed of the
great skill the workmen must have to be able to seize with tongs near its extremity
the red hot iron rod which rushes out suddenly from the rollers, and then the
activity which is necessary to transfer this rod from one set of rollers to the other
and introduce it into the next groove. A few seconds of hesitation, a single false
movement, will cause sufficient delay for thirty, forty, or even fifty metres of rod
to spread over a large surface of ground, where the iron chills and becomes hard, so
much so that when introduced into the following groove it not only causes great
strain on the machine but gives rise to inequalities in the size of the wire, and also
crushes the fibre, thus altering its quality and inducing breakages and waste.
It also often happens that from some cause the iron resists its introduction into
the guide which precedes each groove, and that after several unsuccessful attempts
the workman is obliged to cut off the extremity of the iron with a chisel to insure
the iron passing to the rollers. In such a case, no matter the rapidity of this
operation, the inconveniences mentioned above are reproduced more or less.
The continued observation of the rapid lengthening out of the iron rod or bar
under the action of the oval grooves, which is a proof of the great drawing power
and less resistance, and the opposite effect observed with the square grooves, shows
that beyond the actual drawing both labor and time are dispensed uselessly to
to give this latter form to the iron.
The flat surfaces of the iron are moreover a cause of its cooling under the action
of the rollers as they present a more extended face to the rollers than the oval
section, such cooling causing as a consequence an increase in the resistance of the
angles of the iron to the rolling out action, and giving rise to cracks in the surface.
It will therefore be evident that the square form is not favorable to the rolling of
iron wire, and does not recommend itself for any reason whatever, but that on the
contrary the oval form, or more strictly speaking the form of an ellipse, in which
all parts of the surface are convex, and where the action of the rollers can be

page_text: usefully employed to produce the drawing out, is the only form that should be
employed.
Such is the conclusion at which the inventor has arrived after much careful
study of the rolling operation.
The system now proposed is based upon the exclusive use of elliptic grooves,
regularly traced according to a methodical rule, and placed so as to obtain a uniform
and constant rolling or drawing out action. The rule consists in adopting a
constant relation between the sections of the grooves which follow one another.
Such relation, which is adopted provisionally, and to which is given the name of
the "coefficient of drawing," being expressed by the number 0-725, which signifies
that the section of the ellipse of each groove multiplied by this number gives the
section of the groove which follows it, or that divided by the same number it gives
the section of the groove which precedes it. This relation may however be
modified according to the hardness of the metal to be rolled; thus for steel the
"coefficient" may be increased to 0.800 or even 0.850, while for soft iron it may be
diminished to 0-700 or even less; this rule should apply to all the grooves except
the last, which is round.
The application of this method of rolling will have the effect of decreasing the
number of grooves generally employed to obtain the same amount of reduction in
the section of the iron under the old system.
With the "co-efficient of drawing" of 0-725 it is only necessary in order to
produce wire of gauge No. 20 from square rod of 11 m/m 3, to have six
rolling out grooves, the seventh having little to do but to give the round form to
the wire.
The effect on the iron in each groove will be uniform and of the same value, the
reduction in the section being always the same.
The new system is therefore reduced to the following points, namely:-
1st. The entire suppression of the square form for the grooves of the rollers and the
adoption of an elliptical form in lieu thereof.
2nd. The adoption of a "coefficient," of which the value remains to be deter-
mined for the different qualities of iron and steel, but which for medium iron is
fixed provisionally at 0.725, this number expressing the section of a groove
relatively to that which precedes it, and of which the section is equal to 1.000.
3rd. The adoption for tracing the ellipse of the grooves of a constant relation or
something between the following parts, viz., and, the first approaching to
the ovals now in use, the second answering best to the conditions of the
rolling.
The relation of the elliptical sections of the grooves designated "coefficient of
drawing," and which has a value of 0.725, necessitates giving to each pair of grooved
rollers a speed increasing in the inverse ratio, if it be desired to avoid the winding
or curling of the iron on the ground, which is a frequent cause of cooling and of
accidents.
1000
The section of one groove being represented by 1·000, that which follows it has a
section of 0-725, the drawing out increases inversely in the same relation; thus the
iron which on leaving the first groove would be one metre in length would attain a
length of 1 or 1 360 in its passage through the second groove. All the rollers
having the same diameter the speed of rotation should become accelerated in the
same ratio, and this increase of speed will be obtained by giving to the gearing
which actuates each pair of rollers the same ratio, viz., Similar gearing will be
employed for each set.
1'000
0725
This necessity for accelerating the speed of each pair of rollers requires an entire
change in the arrangement of the rolling mill. Rolling mills as hitherto in use are
arranged as follows:-
Each series of rollers is on the same line; the axles of the rollers are horizontal
and form a prolongation the one of the other; a workman is placed before and
behind the series, and behind these again are two or three boys provided with
hooks, and whose duty it is to prevent the iron from curling up or kinking when

page_text: it touches the ground. In this plan all the rollers are connected together by means
of junction shafts and coupling boxes, and all have consequently the same speed of
rotation. This is a great inconvenience, and from it results the curling up and
tendency to kink on the ground, as the first pair of rollers pays out the iron much
quicker than the second pair can take it up, and the second than the third, and so
on, the length of the wire becoming much greater in each succeeding groove.
The attendance on such a machine when driven at the usual speed is also an
affair of great difficulty, and requires such skilful workmen that the recruiting of
the staff is often a most difficult matter, and gives rise at times to considerable
interruption in the work, thus tending to increase the cost of production.
The following is a description of machinery for rolling wire in a methodical,
continuous, and simultaneous manner, as arranged according to the present
Invention:-
The mechanical combination may vary somewhat according to circumstances,
thus all the rollers may be arranged parallel the one to the other, either horizontally
or vertically, and be formed with one or several grooves at the centre of their
length, so that the rolling of the hot iron will take place at an equal distance from
the bearings which support the axles of the rollers. In this case guides of chilled
cast iron to conduct the iron from one groove to the other will be placed helicoidally
for the purpose of giving a twist to the iron of about ninety degrees, so that the
greatest axis of the iron, the section of which is elliptical, shall be presented at
right angles to that of the new groove.
Or the rollers may be placed alternately horizontally and vertically, and each
have only one groove in the centre of its length. The guides in this case will be
straight, as the iron has not to be twisted, the vertical rollers answering the same
purpose, or the grooved portion of the roller may be placed outside the bearings
and the framing, the rolling being effected externally of the framing. The rollers
may be arranged either all horizontally or all vertically, but the guides will be
helicoidal as in the first arrangement above mentioned, or the rolling may take
place externally of the framing, the rollers being arranged alternately horizontal
and vertical with a straight guide between them.
In the accompanying Drawings the last arrangement is illustrated, Fig. 1 being
a plan view, Figure 2 an elevation, and Figures 3 and 4 vertical sections on the
lines A, B, C, D, respectively of Fig. 1.
This arrangement is not chosen to illustrate the Invention because it is better
than the others, but because it is more comprehensive, and while it includes some
points that are not required in the other arrangements, it furnishes sufficient
indications to enable a competent person to practically carry out those arrangements.
There are no doubt advantages in this system, such as facility of inspection, as
the rolling is carried on outside the framing and under the eyes of the workman,
facility of repair and of lubricating, but these advantages are more than com-
pensated for by several serious inconveniences, among these may be mentioned
the great strain on the plummer blocks on the side of the machine where the
rolling takes place, which causes a rapid wearing away of the blocks and alters
the parallelism of the axles of the rollers.
The heat of the iron and also that disengaged by the rolling is very great, and
being in close proximity to the bearings, causes the lubricant to rapidly use up and
waste away, thus increasing considerably the wear of the parts and the cost of the
lubricating, as from the close proximity to the heated iron it would be impossible
to employ water to prevent overheating without disastrous effects.
Fig. 1 then represents in horizontal plan, and Fig. 2 in elevation, a rolling mill
with the rollers arranged alternately horizontally and vertically, and in such a
manner that their grooves shall be in the same horizontal line.
The horizontal rollers are indicated by the letters a, a', a², a³, the vertical rollers
by b, b', b. In order that the Drawing should not be confused the guides have
been omitted in these Figures, but one is shewn in detail on a larger scale in plan
and front and side elevation at Figures 7, 8, and 9, respectively, Sheet II.

page_text: The line followed by the rod or the line of rolling is indicated by the arrow
which in the Figures 1 and 2 passes in the direction of the letters a, b, a', b¹, a²,
b², as
The guides are formed of two pieces of chilled cast metal, and in each of these
pieces is formed a hollow corresponding to half the elliptic section of a groove.
This hollow is either helical or straight, according to the arrangement of machinery
to which the guide is to be applied. These guides are maintained rigidly in position
in brackets bolted to the sides of the framing by means of pressure screws, see
Figures 7, 8, and 9.
All the mechanism will of course be firmly secured to a foundation plate which
will rest upon a solid bed of masonry.
It will be seen on an inspection of the Figures that the new arrangements is
composed of three distinct portions. The first includes the rollers both horizontal
and vertical, in the grooves of which the rolling out is effected, all being placed
outside the framing; the second includes the mode of communicating the movement
by means of shafts, junction shafts, and coupling boxes.
The third comprises the means of transmitting the power from the driving shaft M.
It is in this portion that the multiplications of speed are effected by means of sets of
gearing, each set being composed of a large and small wheel, the relative proportions
of which are in the ratio of 1999. These wheels transmit the speed to the several shafts
on which they are mounted, and these shafts are connected by means of junction
shafts and coupling boxes to the axles of the horizontal rollers.
1.000
Figures 5, Sheet II., and 6, Sheet I., show diagrams in plan and in elevation of
a portion of a series of rollers representing the first arrangement above referred to,
that is to say, the rollers are parallel and horizontal, and the guides, not shown, are
helicoidal so as to give a twist of ninety degrees to the wire.
This arrangement has the advantage of simplicity, as the bevil gear for driving
the vertical rollers is dispensed with, and the horizontal rollers are driven in the
manner indicated in the section, Fig. 3.
0-725
Fig. 10 shews the gradation of the six elliptical grooves, which succeed one
another in the ratio of 1 and through which the rod is passed, and is reduced in
section from a square form having sides of, say, 11m/ to the diameter of 4 m/m
4 tenths, which is the gauge of No. 20 round wire.
m'
Of the four arrangements the first two are preferred, but the other two may be most
suitable under some circumstances. Of the first two the first, in which the rollers
are parallel and the guides helicoidal, is preferred to the other notwithstanding the
fact that the guides are straight, but it is for experience to decide which is
practically the best arrangement. It may be noted in passing that the first
arrangement allows for readily increasing the length of the apparatus should it be
considered that six pairs of rollers are not sufficient to effect the desired object.
The advantages of the new mode of rolling wire are as follows, viz. :-(1) increase
in speed of working; (2) retaining the high temperature of the iron during the
whole process; (3) preventing the curling up or kinking of the iron wire, and
consequently dispensing with a great part of the manual labor; (4) decrease in
the wear of the grooves; (5) economy in the motive power. required to drive the
machine; (6) greater uniformity in the form, the dimensions, and the quality of
the wire produced; (7) prevention of waste; (8) a considerable increase in
the production and consequent reduction in the cost of same.
A few lines will suffice to justify these views. Each rod or bar of iron will be
introduced only once into the train of rollers by the workman, instead of ten times
as under the old system. The iron when once inserted in the first groove passes
through the whole series of rollers automatically, the result being to prevent curling
or kinking and to dispense with the extra attendants. The short space of time
taken up in passing the rod through the whole series of rollers will reduce the loss
of heat to nil.
'
The amount of time can easily be determined by dividing the distance by the
average speed of the iron in the grooves. The distance from axle to axle of each pair

page_text: of rollers is thirty centimetres, and there are seven pairs, thus 35° x 7 = 2 metres
45 centimetres which is the distance between the first and seventh grooves. The first
roller makes seventy revolutions a minute, and its circumference is sixty centimetres,
its peripherical speed is therefore 0 70° per second. The last roller makes six
hundred revolutions per minute, and its circumference being also 60° its peripherical
speed will be six metres per second. The average speed of the passage of the
iron being half the sum of these two speeds will give = 3 35° per second.
The time of the passage will thus be = of a second, or not quite three
quarters of a second, evidently the loss of heat in so short a space of time is not
worth consideration.
245
If now the disengagement of heat due to the action of the rollers be taken into
consideration, it may be presumed that such heat will be in a greater ratio than
the cooling, and therefore if anything the temperature of the wire on issuing from
No. 7 roller will be higher than when introduced to No. 1 roller.
The rolling will therefore be effected while the iron is at a high temperature
when it possesses its maximum of malleability, which is far from being the case
under the plan of rolling hitherto adopted, and will present the least possible
resistance to the compressing and lengthening out action. Much less power will
therefore be required to drive the machine, and as the rollers have to exert only a
moderate pressure great saving in the wear and tear of the machinery will be
effected.
The iron being rolled at a high and uniform temperature the flexion of the rollers
will be nil, the form and the dimensions of the wire will be uniform, and the
metal, in no part of which the cohesion will have been altered, will preserve
throughout its length, its quality, and purity, without flaws or cracks, thereby
preventing waste.
As to the rate of production it has been shown that the wire No. 20 issues from
the rollers at the rate of six metres per second. Now as a lineal metre of this wire
weighs about one hundred and sixteen grammes, the production per minute will
be 116 x 6 x 60 = 41 kilos. 760 grammes per minute or 2500 kilos. per hour.
The present rolling mills work on an average twenty hours a day, thus by the
new system fifty thousand kilos. will be produced per day, which is at least double
the ordinary production, and with less than half the labour. It will be understood
that the number of pairs of rollers may be increased or diminished according to the
kind of work required; thus, for instance, when manufacturing finer wire, say,
No. 18 gauge, or even No. 17, it will be necessary to increase the number.
"
It is also possible that the coefficient of drawing" of 0725, which has been
adopted provisionally, may be modified and be lowered to 0.700 or even 0.650, in
which case a less number of grooves would be needed to obtain the desired result,
and consequently a less number of pairs of rollers.
It has also been found that good results may be obtained by rolling with plain
rollers, that is, without grooves, the rollers being arranged in accordance with one
of the plans before mentioned.
The iron passes successively from square section to rectangular, and from
rectangular to square. These forms when rolled with plain rollers do not cause
the same inconveniences as when rolled in grooves, for with the plain rollers only
two faces of the section are in contact with the surface of the rollers instead of all
four, as in the grooves.
In this instance the rollers are arranged at suitable distances apart with the
helicoidal or other guides between them, such distances being regulated by the
"coefficient of drawing" referred to above. The only condition to be observed is
that the last pair but one of the rollers shall be arranged to roll the wire of a
rectangular form, which is more suitable than the square section for taking the
round form from the last pair of rollers, which have circular grooves for the purpose
of giving that form as before explained.
Having now described the Invention of "Improvements in the Process of and
Machinery for Manufacturing Iron Wire," as communicated to me by my foreign

page_text: correspondent, and explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,
the process of and machinery for manufacturing iron wire, substantially as
herein shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Henry Edward Newton, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Thirty first day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty one.
H. E. NEWTON. (LS.)