IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING MILLS
Year: 1875

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Imray, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING MILLS."-A communication from abroad
by Ignatius Hahn, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Imray at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 29th July 1875.
I, JOHN IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING MILLS," to be as follows:-
-
This Invention relates to mills for rolling metal beams to a triangular,
rectangular, polygonal, or other shape, the improvements being more
especially adapted to the production of hollow welded iron beams, but
being in part applicable to rolling mills generally.

page_text: The mill for rolling hollow beams consists of a pair of horizontal
welding rolls combined with several sets of vertical and horizontal rolls
with suitable mandrils mounted between them, the several sets of rolls
being connected by gearing, so that their surfaces travel with velocities
suited to the work to be done. The bearings of the horizontal rolls arc
fitted to slide vertically in the framing, and are worked by right and
left-handed screws geared together, so that cach roll of cach pair can be
moved to an equal distance from a medial horizontal plane, which would
be the plane of contact with the rolls if they were brought close together.
The vertical rolls are mounted in bearings, which can also be slid by
screws on horizontal guides, so that cach roll of each pair can be moved
to an equal-distance from a medial vertical plane. The vertical rolls
are driven by bevil gearing from horizontal shafts, on which the driving
bevil wheels are fitted to slide with feathers, so that as the rolls are
moved to or from the middle of the mill the driving bevil wheels which
work them are made to slide with them along their respective shafts,
with which-they are always made to revolve.
Instead of round shafts with feathers square or polygonal shafts may
be employed for driving the vertical rolls.
Besides being moved laterally, as above described, the vertical rolls
can also be canted so as to be more or less inclined from the vertical;
and in order that they may be driven in such attitudes they arc con-
nected by universal joints to their driving shafts and bearings.
The horizontal rolls are made with flanges adjustable to suit different
widths of the work. For this purpose the shaft of the roll has a screws
thread cut on it, and the flange is made as a nut to screw thorcon, so
that by turning it in the ono direction or the other it can bo mado to
approach to or recede from the middle of the roll, and the flange so
adjusted is secured in its position by a second flange screwed on behind
it acting as a lock nut.
The mandrils employed for hollow work are fitted on a rod which lics
between the rolls in forked bearings formed on arms that stand up from
horizontal cross shafts, so that these arms can be canted down to allow
the work to pass them.
In operating with this apparatus the heated metal is passed first
through the welding rolls where its joint is welded on the mandril lying
between the rolls. It then passes between the successive pairs of

page_text: vertical and horizontal rolls, and over other mandrils placed between
them so as to receive its finished shape, which may be triangular,
rectangular, polygonal, or oblique, according as the rolls are adjusted
and set, and as the mandrils are shaped.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Imray in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 10th December 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
IMRAY, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lanc, in the
County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Petters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand cight hundred and seventy-five, in the
thirty-ninth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and succes-
sors, give and grant unto me, the said John Imray, Her special
license that I, the said John Imray, my exccutors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Imray, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agroc 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, tho
Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
ROLLING MILLS," a communication to me from abroad by Ignatius
Hahn, of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, in the United States of America, upon
the condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Imray, my
executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and scals, 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Imray, 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

page_text: following statement thereof, reference being had to tho accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked thereon, that
is to say :-
This Invention relates to mills for rolling metal beams' to a triangular,
rectangular, polygonal, or other shape, the improvements being more
especially adapted to the production of hollow welded iron beams, but
being in part applicable to rolling mills generally
The mill for rolling hollow beams consists of a pair of horizontal
welding rolls combined with several sets of vertical and horizontal rolls
with suitable mandrils mounted between them, the several sets of rolls
being connected by gearing, so that their surfaces travel with velocitics
suited to the work to be done. The bearings of the horizontal rolls are
fitted to slide vertically in the framing, and are worked by right and
left-handed screws geared together, so that each roll of cach pair can be
moved to an equal distance from a medial horizontal plane, which would
be the plane of contact with the rolls if they were brought close together
The vertical rolls arc mounted in bearings, which can also be slid-by
screws on horizontal guides, so that each roll of each pair can be moved
to an equal distance from a medial vertical plane. The vertical rolls
are driven by bevil gearing from horizontal shafts, on which the driving
bevil wheels are fitted to slide with feathers, so that as the rolls arc
moved to or from the middle of the mill the driving bevil wheels which
work them are made to slide with them along their respective shafts,
with which they are always made to revolve.
Instead of round shafts with feathers, squarc or polygonal shafts may
be employed for driving the vertical rolls
Besides being moved laterally, as above described, the vertical rolls
can also be canted so as to be more or less inclined from the vertical, and
in order that they may be driven in such attitudes they are connected by
universal joints to their driving shafts and bearings.
The horizontal rolls are made with flanges adjustable to suit different
widths of the work. For this purpose the shaft of the roll has a screw
thread cut on it, and the flange is made as a nut to screw thereon, so
that by turning it in the one direction or the other it can be made to
advance towards or recede from the middle of the roll, and the flange so
adjusted is sccurod in its position by a second flange screwed on behind
it acting as a lock nut.

page_text: The mandrils employed for hollow work are fitted on a rod which lies
between the rolls in fork bearings formed on arms that stand up from
horizontal cross shafts, so that these arms can be canted down to allow
the work to pass them.
In operating with this apparatus the heated metal is passed first
through the welding rolls where its joint is welded on the mandril lying
between the rolls. It then passes between the successive pairs of
vertical and horizontal rolls and over other mandrils placed between
them so as to receive its finished shape, which may be triangular,
rectangular, polygonal, or oblique, according as the rolls are adjusted
and set, and as the mandrils are shaped.

page_text: shewn in Figs. 3, 5, and 6, may be applied to all the shaping rolls of the
series.
a is the bed plate; 6 are housings which may be made in one piece
or in several pieces; c, c, are a pair of welding rolls, the grooves of
which correspond to the size of the work to be done. These rolls are
journalled in boxes K, those for the lower rolls resting upon or in the
housings b, while the upper boxes are adjustable by means of the usual
set screws 1; h, h¹, h², h³, are horizontal rolls journalled in boxes m sup-
ported in the housings 6 and controlled by a scries of right and left
hand screws.
These horizontal rolls (shown in Fig. 5) are provided at
each end with a collar ², part of the inner surface of which is screwed
to correspond with a thread upon the shaft of the roll, so that both
collars may be moved forward or backward to increase or diminish the
working faces of the rolls, the collars being also bevelled, as shown,
where octagonal or like figures are to be rolled. In order that the
collar i may retain its position it is secured by a lock nut or second
collar on the roll shaft-outside of the collar i. These rolls h³, h³, can
be and in general are coupled by universal joints to that portion of the
shaft journalled in the boxes m, the coupling being effected, as will be
hercafter described, for the vortical rolls m are the boxes in which
the horizontal rolls are journalled These boxes all hang on rods or
bolts n, n¹, provided with right and left hand screw threads working
through threads in the boxes. At the upper end of each of the
bolts n, n', is a worm wheel o firmly secured to the bolt and gearing
with worms p, p³, of which there are alway two on one common shaft,
power being applied to one or both ends of the shaft according to cur-
cumstances. By these means the horizontal rolls can at pleasure be
caused to recede from or approach each other in such manner that the
circumference of both the upper and the lower rolls are always cqui-
distant from a horizontal middle plane passing through the point of
contact of the welding rolls.
The horizontal rolls h, h³, as well as the welding rolls c, c, are driven
by breaking spindles and coupling boxes from gearing placed at the
sides of the machine, or by properly arranged belting, the circum-
ferential speed of the welding rolls and vertical rolls being made to
correspond with that of the horizontal rolls.
*.
Alternating with the horizontal rolls are one or more sets of vertical
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page_text: secured in outer boxes 8, 8, which move in transverse ways s³, cach outer
box s being acted upon by an independent screw t, t. The lower ends
of the shafts v of the vertical rolls are provided with one half w of a
universal joint or coupling, the other half being fastened to the lower
shafts v', which are kept in line by guide boxes y, y', also moving in
transverse ways. At the lower end of the shafts varo bevil wheels
driven by bevil wheels ¹, the latter caused to revolve with shafts,
along which they are made to slide on feather keys (or the shaft may
be square or angular, as shewn) along with the shafts v³, the lower
ends of which take into grooves in the bosses of the bevil wheels =¹.
The guide boxes y, y', or shafts v² are acted on by right and left hand
screws ³, *, causing the vertical rolls to approach or recede at their
lower points, and as the bevil wheel a slide on their driving shafts &³
preserving their gcar with the bevil wheels z, it follows that the vertical
rolls may be as readily driven in one position as another.
'.
The manner of securing the oscillating boxes r, r, to the outer
boxes 8, 8, to permit the canting of the vertical rolls is similar when
applied to the horizontal rolls, as referred to above.
The power for driving the vertical rolls u, u³, is first communicated to
pulleys or a gear wheel on a shaft 20 (see Figs. 1 and 2), and thence
by pinions 27, 28, 2, 10, is transmitted to the various shafts &² These
rolls are so arranged that when vertical they are always equidistant
from a vertical plane passing through the centre of the welding rolls.
In conjunction with the welding and shaping rolls two or more
mandrils d, d', (see Fig. 1) are employed, the first & being loosely con-
nected to a rode and placed within the bite of the welding rolls, so
that a tube can be welded on it, and the second mandril d¹ or
succeeding mandrils, if more are used, being finishing mandrils,
intended to preserve the opening of the hollow beam or other article
rolled are also placed loosely upon the rod e and held in place by collars
or shoulders upon the rod. The rod e is supported in the middle of the
series of horizontal rolls and vertical rolls by forked levers f,ƒ³, which
project from shafts g, g', capable of rocking in their bearings to permit
the fall of the forked levers ƒ,ƒ³.
The operation of this apparatus in the production of hollow welded
beams will be understood on reference to the diagrams, Figs. 7 and 8,
which illustrate respectively the position given to the horizontal and
vertical rolls for a hollow beam of the size shewn, and in which 3 pairs

page_text: of horizontal and 4 pairs of vertical rolls are supposed to be used, the
welding rolls c, c, and mandril being of a size adapted to produce such a
tube. The reduction will be made by the horizontal rolls (Fig. 7), the
first pair h, h¹, of which are adjusted by means of the worms and worm
wheels o, p, and right and left hand screws n, n³, until the distance
between the faces of the roll, as indicated by a gauge on the housings,
is as shewn. The second pair of horizontal rolls, ³, h³, arc adjusted by
like means to the loss distance, as shewn, and the third set to a still less
distance. Of the vertical rolls (Fig. 8), the pair next to the welding
rolls act chiefly as guide rolls to steady the tube in its passage to the
first pair of horizontal rolls, and are set by means of the right and loft
hand screws, pinions a³, a¹, and screws t, t The second set by
similar means are adjusted so as to stand at the greater distance-shewn,-
the third set still farther apart, and the last or outer pair at the width
of the finished beam.
-
The vertical and horizontal rolls having been set as explained, the bar
e is shifted forward, and the oblong-mandril d', a little smaller than tho
interior opening of the finished beam, is slide on to the bar which is
pushed forward until its end is near the welding rolls, when the round
mandril d is placed loosely on the front end, the forked levers ƒ,ƒ¹, are
then turned up to sustain the bar e in the middle of the rolls, and the
back end of the bar is supported or stopped in the usual manner adopted
in rolling pipes.
This adjustment of the rolls applies to a beam such as is illustrated (in
section) in Fig. 9, the mandrils and distances of the rolls apart being
varied to suit the different sizes of beams to be produced.
The power for driving the rolls is then applied, and the piece of
metal, properly heated, is drawn forward from the furnace until it is
brought within the grasp of the welding rolls, which seize it and pull it
forward, welding it into a tubular form. In its forward motion the pipe
first meets the support f, knocks it down and passes to the first pair of
vertical rolls which guide it to the first pair of horizontal rolls, which
flatten it slightly, thence to the second vertical rolls, which square the
corners, and so on from the horizontal rolls which flatten to the vertical
rolls which again square the corners, until it has enclosed the second
or succeeding mandrils d', knocked over the support f¹, and passed the
entire series of rolls, as soon as the hinder end of the beam has reached

page_text: g the beam is finished, and the bar e is withdrawn, the mandrils d, d', fall
off, tho bar can then be carried back and the machine reset for rolling
another beam.
This completes the operation of rolling a beam; but as the machine is
designed for rolling beams of various forms, the rolls may be adjusted to
produce different shapes in the following manner -The hexagonal beam
(Fig. 10) can readily be rolled by the vertical rolls and a proper adjust-
mont of the bevilled collars i (Fig. 5) of the horizontal rolls. If a
triangular shaped beam (Fig. 11) is to be produced, the right and left
hand bolt 3 (Fig. 3) is turned until the bases of the vertical rolls are the
desired distance apart, which can be determined by the gauge a², then
tlic pinions a' and a" are disengaged by sliding them along their respec-
tive journals, and each of the independent screws t, t, arc turned
until the boxes 8, s of the rolls register on the gauge so as to indicate
the desired angle; a and a aro thon thrown into gear again to provent
t, t, from turning so as to disarrange the relation of the rolls If the
horizontal rolls are provided with oscillating boxes acted on by indopen-
dent screws (as at r, r, 8, 8, and t, t, of the vertical rolls, Fig. 3) shaped
such as those shown at Figs. 12 and 13 may be readily produced by
adjusting the horizontal and vertical rolls at suitable angles.
In many cases there are required only one or two sets of horizontal
rolls, with either a pair of vertical rolls at cach side of the horizontal
rolls, or only a pair in front, and after the last pair of horizontal rolls,
or even a single pair of vertical rolls placed in front of the last pair of
horizontal rolls, but this depends on the article to be rolled.
In order to utilize already existing machines and adapt the machine
to existing pipe works, the apparatus can be constructed without the
welding rolls c, c, or only that part on the left of the welding rolls
(Fig. 3) and can be set in line with existing welding rolls, and one of cach
pair of the horizontal rolls may be kept in stationary bearings, the other
being adjusted by single-threaded housing screws.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I claim,-
First. The use, for rolling metal beams, of a series of alternating
horizontal and vertical shaping rolls in combination with a pair of welding
rolls, substantially as herein described.

page_text: Second. Providing the rolls above referred to with adjustable sliding
boxes and universal couplings, substantially in the manner and for the
purposes hercin set forth.
Third. The combination of a scries of rolls such as are above referred
to, with mandrils supported between the rolls, substantially as and for
the purposes herein described.
Fourth. The method, substantially as herein described, of adjusting the
position of a pair of rolls so that each shall be equidistant from the
middle line of the mill, by the use of right and left handed screws
for shifting equally the roll boxes.
Fifth. The method, substantially as hercin described, of varying the
working faces of rolls by the use of adjustable screwed collars and
lock nuts.
.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Imray, have hercunto
set my hand and scal, this Tenth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and soventy-
five.