IMPROVED MEANS OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL RODS, BARS, OR TUBES
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hesketh Hughes, of Homerton, in the County
of Middlesex, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVED MEANS OF
ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL RODS, BARS, OR TUBES."
Sealed the 25th March 1870, and dated the 29th September 1869..
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hesketh Hughes at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th September 1869.
I, HESKETH HUGHES, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MEANS OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL RODS, BARS, OR TUBES,"
to be as follows:-
My Invention relates to an improved means of rolling or reducing
metal rods, bars, or tubes by means of a circular motion and a to-and-
fro motion being given at the same time to the rolls. The rolls may
be plain or fluted, or may have any device or design upon them so that
the rod, bar, or other article shall be impressed with such device. One
way of accomplishing the above object is to mount upon a frame a

page_text: pair of rolls; the rolls are arranged upon shafts at opposite ends of the
frame, and as the rolls rotate they are caused to travel to the other sides
of the frame and act upon the bar, rod, or tube placed between them,
and impart an alternating rotary motion to it whilst being drawn
through. The rod or other article is guided between the rolls by means
of plates or otherwise so that it shall pass through in a straight line.
The to-and-fro movements of the rolls may be produced by cranks and
connecting rods direct to the rolls, or by suitable gearing. The apparatus
or machinery above referred to forms no part of my Invention, but is
given merely as an example.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hesketh Hughes in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 29th March 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME I, HESKETH
HUGHES, of Homerton, in the County of Middlesex, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hesketh Hughes, Her special licence
that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Hesketh Hughes, 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 "IMPROVED MEANS
OF ROLLING OR REDUCING METAL RODS, BARS, OR TUBES," upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Hesketh Hughes, do horeby
declare the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement thereof, reference being had to the Drawing
hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention relates to an improved means of rolling or reducing
metal rods, bars, or tubes by means of a circular and a to-and-fro motion
being given at the same time to the rolls. The rolls may be plain or
fluted, or they may have any device or design upon them, so that the
rod, bar, or other article as it passes through then shall be impressed
with such device as well as being reduced.
I do not confine myself to any form or construction of apparatus
for effecting such rolling and reducing, as that does not form any part
of my Invention, but I think it is necessary to give one form or con-
struction of apparatus to make my Invention well understood. I have
therefore shown in the annexed Drawing an apparatus which I prefer
to employ, as I have found by actual trial that it admirably answers
the purpose for which it was originally intended. A, A, are two rolls
mounted upon shafts B, B', which are drawn to and fro alternately in
the housings or standards by the rotation of the crank shaft © which is
actuated by a belt working on the fast pulley D from an engine or other
prime mover. The ends of the shafts B, B', are engaged in sockets E, E,
so that they are free to rotate therein by the gearing F, F, on the
opposite end of the frame. Both shafts are slotted lengthwise to receive
feathers or ribs upon the rolls, so that the shafts are free to slide laterally
in the bearings of the housings as they are being rotated by the pinions
G, G³, one of which transmits its motion to the other. Both pinions are
kept in place during the working of the apparatus by a bracket H. The
shaft B' is rotated by the spur wheel F, which receives its motion from
the pinion K on an additional shaft L in connection with bevil gearing
M, N, on the lower end of the crank shaft C, as clearly indicated in the
Drawing. The metal rod, bar, or tube to be reduced or impressed with
the design is placed between the rolls, and bears against plates or
guides a, a, which serve to keep it straight and free from bends, etc.
as it is being operated upon. In the Drawing I have shown the rolls
as being plain, but they may be, as before mentioned, fluted or engraved,
or otherwise-deviced. as circumstances may dictate, so that the counter-
part of the impression may be transferred to the article under operation.

page_text: The rolls may be run at any speed as found suitable for the article which
is between them, and to facilitate the throwing of them into the
required speed I fit change wheels on the free ends of them, when by
means of a stud I am enabled to gear any pair of the wheels for the
purpose required.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and one
way of carrying the same into execution, I would here again remark
that I do not claim any form or construction of apparatus for effecting
the object which I propose in this my Specification to effect; but what
I do claim is, the improved means of rolling or reducing metal rods, bars,
or tubes by rolls which have a circular and a to-and-fro motion given
to them at the same time, whether such rolls be driven or worked by the
machinery or apparatus as shown in the Drawing, or by any other kind
or construction of machinery or apparatus.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hesketh Hughes, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy.
Witness,
H. GARDNER,
166, Fleet Street,
London.
HESKETH HUGHES. (L.S.)