NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC RODS AND WIRE
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Arthur Clifford at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 21st May 1880.
ARTHUR CLIFFORD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"NEW OR IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC RODS
AND WIRE."
In the ordinary method of manufacturing metallic rods and wire slit rods are
drawn through draw plates having holes progressively diminishing in size. By
this treatment the slit rod, at first rectangular in cross section, is made cylindrical in
cross section, and reduced to the required diameter. There is, however, a great
strain upon the metal in this process, owing to the resistance which the metal offers
in its passage through the draw plate, and the rods and wire require annealing
from time to time, in order to remove the hardness produced by the drawing
process.
The machinery constituting my Invention has for its object to facilitate the
the production of rods and wire from slit rods, as well as to improve their quality,
the metal when operated upon by my machinery being not only not subjected to the
strain of the ordinary manufacture, but compressed and thereby consolidated.
My new or improved machinery consists essentially of a pair of rolls, preferably
of equal diameter, and provided with semi-cylindrical or nearly semi-cylindrical
grooves of progressively decreasing size. The said rolls are, however, not mounted
and driven as ordinary rolls are. They are not geared together, and turn freely in
their bearings, no rotary motion being given to either of them by steam or other
power. One of the rolls is capable of adjustment. In using this machinery the
slit rod is passed through the series of grooves, beginning with the one of largest
diameter and from that to the next smaller one, and so on, until a rod or wire of
the required diameter is produced. The rod, as it passes between the rolls, gives
rotary motion to them, the "eye" of the rolls or the parts of the opposed grooves
nearest each other being virtually a draw plate, the drawing hole of which travels
with the rod or wire, under manufacture. The scraping resistance of the ordinary
draw plate is thus replaced by pressure, and the rod or wire while being reduced in
diameter is compressed or consolidated.
As the compression of the grooves on the metal is principally in a plane at right
angles to the axes of the rolls, it is desirable that the rod operated upon should be
of somewhat greater diameter in that plane. To effect this I prefer to place in front
[Prine 277

page_text: of each groove a small pair of rolls, so situated that the rod or wire passes between
them before entering the groove in the principal rolls, and there is thereby produced
a slight flattening on opposite sides of the rod or wire. These small rolls are
situated vertically, and the flattening produced by them gives increased diameter
in the required plane, that is, in a plane at right angles to the axes of the principal
rolls.
When it is thought desirable the rods or wire may be finished by an ordinary
draw plate, or may be treated in part by an ordinary draw plate and in part by
my new or improved machinery. The rod or wire being operated upon requires to
be annealed from time to time.