HYDROSTATIC SAFETY APPARATUS the
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Sullivan, of Boston, in the County of
Suffolk, and State of Massachusetts, in the U.S. of America, for
FOR
HYDROSTATIC SAFETY APPARATUS
the Invention of
"
ON ROLLING MILLS OR OTHER MACHINERY."
THE ROLLERS
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said James Sullivan at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition and
Declaration, on the 4th June 1872, pursuant to the 9th Section of
the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL
COME, 1, JAMES
SULLIVAN, of Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and State of Massa-
chusetts, in the United States of America, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an
Invention for ** HYDROSTATIC
SAFETY APPARATUS FOR THE ROLLERS ON ROLLING MILLS OR OTHER MACHINERY,"
and have petitioned Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same,
017

page_text: 144
παν
the first and true Inventor thereof.
thaally beneve mysen to be
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Sullivan, do hereby declare
that the following Complete Specification, under my hand and seal, fully
describes the nature of my said Invention, and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, that is to say:-
وو
The nature of my Invention relates to improvements on the so-called
breakers or relief apparatus for the rollers on iron rolling or squecz-
ing machinery, or similar machines of a kindred nature, and consists in
an apparatus containing a cylinder in which a piston is movable. The
cylinder stands in connection with one or more safety pistons that are
movable in smaller cylinders, and held down in their positions by levers
and weights. The cylinder, as well as the connections with the smaller
cylinders, is to be filled with oil, or any other suitable liquid, forced
under pressure in the apparatus; and the safety or relief pistons are to
be weighted in such a manner that they will rise up before the estimated
breaking strain of the rollers is attained, and by this means prevent the
rollers from breaking in case a hard piece of iron or too much iron
should suddenly be brought in between the rollers or squeezers.
An alarm apparatus is attached in such a manner that when the
rollers recede from each other and the pistons are pressed upwards, that
then an alarm is given, so that the attendant may know that the rollers
have receded from each other, and that the bar that is being rolled has
got a cobble on it; and it is then easy to examine the bar and re-roll it.
By this arrangement the attendant will always be warned when the
estimated breaking strain of the rollers is approached, and when a
faulty bar is being rolled, owing to the spreading apart of the rollers.
This my improved relief apparatus is to be placed under the lower end
of the pressure screw, and on the upper side of the saddle piece that
rests on the upper bearings for the roller; or my relief apparatus may
be made in one piece with the saddle, and in this manner rest directly
on the upper bearings. It could also be arranged under the bottom
roller, in which case the weight of the said roller would have to be
taken into account when calculating the breaking strain, and the
levers and weights on the safety apparatus would have to be placed
accordingly.

page_text: I do not confine the use of my improved apparatus to iron rolling or
squeezing machinery alone, as it can to the same advantage be used on
quartz mills, stone breakers, or similar machines where a relief apparatus
may be useful.
The apparatus is provided with a force and screw pump, by means of
which the liquid can be forced under pressure in the apparatus before it
is put to test in the frame of the rolling machinery. Or the liquid
may be poured in through small inlet holes, and the pressure afterwards
regulated by the levers and weights. A pressure guage may be applied
and arranged so as to indicate the exact pressure between the rollers at
any time.
This my improved apparatus is to take the place of the very defective
ordinary cast-iron or other breakers now in use on rolling mills, for
which purpose I construct it as follows:-
On the Drawing Fig. 1 is a ground plan; Fig. 2 is a longitudinal
section over the line A--B taken on Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a cross section
over the line C-D taken on Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a central longitudinal
section over the line E-F, also taken on Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is an end view;
and Fig. 6 is a sectional elevation of an ordinary rolling machinery
frame with an ordinary breaker placed therein. Similar letters refer
to similar parts whenever they occur on the different parts of the
Drawing.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my Invention, I
will now proceed with a description of the construction and operation of
the same.
a on the Drawing is a block of iron or suitable metal provided with
a circular chamber or cylinder b bored therein, as shown. A cap or
cover c is screwed in the block a, and furthermore attached to the
block a by means of the screws d, d, d, d. In the cylinder is the
piston e movable and provided at its lower end with an hydraulic
packing consisting in the angular packing ring f and nut g screwed
over the end of the piston e. The piston e is provided with an annular
collar h that is made to rest against recess in the cover c; the upper end
of the piston e projects through a circular opening in the cover c. The
cylinder 6 stands in connection with the smaller cylinders i, i, by means
of the channels h, k, as shown. In the cylinders i, i, are the pistons I, I,
provided at their lower ends with similar hydraulic packings, movable

page_text: up and down tightly. The pistons 1, l, are held down by means of the
levers m, m, and weights n, n, in the same manner as ordinary safety
steam valves are arranged; for this purpose slotted guide bolts o, o,
or their equivalents steady the levers m, m, and slotted supporting
bolts p, p, or their equivalents support the extreme end of the
levers m, m, as shown. On one side of the block a is arranged a
suitable force pump q for the convenience of forcing the oil or other
liquid used in the apparatus. The said force pump consists of a pump
rod q provided in its lower end with a collar and suitable hydraulic
packing s.
The pump rod q is guided in a sleeve t having a screw
thread cut on its outside periphery that screws into a female screw in
the block a, as shown. The lower end of the screw sleeve t rests
against the collar when it is screwed down in the block a, and the
upper end of the sleeve is provided with a suitably shaped head u,
square, hexagonal, or otherwise, over which an ordinary wrench can be
placed for the purpose of turning the screw t.
A hole is made in the block a leading to the pump q, t, through
which the oil or liquid may be poured in the cylinder b; a small vent
hole is made close to the supply hole for the purpose of letting the
air escape from the pump as the liquid is poured in. A small channel x
leads from the pump q to the cylinder b, which channel is covered by a
suitable stop valve y placed in the bottom of the cylinder b as shown,
whereby the liquid that is once forced in the cylinder b cannot escape
back again through the channel x. A vent hole z is made through the
piston e for the air to pass out from the cylinder 6 when the same
is being filled with the liquid. The vent hole z is covered by means of
a screw plug 1 or similar device, as soon as the cylinder b is filled with
the liquid.
The manner in which the apparatus is filled with liquid and regulated
is as follows:-I screw the sleeve t out so far that the packing s
on the pump rod q may be moved beyond the hole v, and pour the
liquid in through said hole, after first having opened the vent hole z,
1, in the piston e, and press the liquid in the cylinder 6 by manual
power applied directly to the handle 2, and when the cylinder is filled I
close the vent hole by means of the screw plug 1, and continue to force
till the pistons rise to their proper place for use by means of the handle 2,
rod q, and piston r, S, until it is impossible to force any further by
direct manual power, when I screw the sleeve u down, and place the

page_text: "
weights n, n, in such a place on the levers m, m, that the pressure on the
piston e will be somewhat less than the ultimate breaking strain of the
rollers or other machinery for which my apparatus is to serve as a relief.
In Fig. 6, I have shown an ordinary rolling machine frame 3, 3,
through the upper part of which the pressure or regulating screw 4 is
screwed, as shown. 5 is the upper roller, and 6 is the lower one. The
neck of the upper roller is provided with a bearing 7, on the top of
which rests the saddle 8, as shown. Between the lower end of the
screw 4 and the upper side of the saddle 8 is placed an ordinary
breaker" 9, made of cast iron and of such a strength that it ought to
break before the ultimate breaking strain of the rollers 5 and 6 is
attained. But this kind of breaker has not been found to be service-
able, and I propose therefore to use my improved relief apparatus in
place of the ordinary breaker 9, as shown in Fig. 6. I intend therefore
to place my apparatus on the upper side of the saddle 8 (or make it in
one piece with the saddle), and screw the under side of the screw 4
against the upper end of the movable piston e. After the liquid in the
cylinder b is compressed, and the weights n, n, adjusted so as to rise
at a certain pressure less than the estimated breaking strain of the
rollers or other machinery, and the apparatus placed in the position above
named, should then such a pressure occur between the rollers on account
of a hard or cold piece of iron coming between them, or for other
reasons, the cylinder 6 will be moved upwards while the piston e
remains stationary against the pressure screw, and thus communicate
the pressure of the liquid contained therein to the safety pistons 1, 1,
that will rise upwards, and thus for the time being relieve the pressure
between the rollers and prevent the breaking of the same. As soon
as the sudden pressure is relieved between the rollers the piston e, safety
pistons 1, 1, and levers m, m, with their weights n, n, will automatically
take their original relative positions.
Small vent holes 10, 10, are made in the upper ends of the small
cylinders i, i, so as to prevent the safety pistons 1, 1, from being forced
out from the cylinders i, i, and also for the purpose of letting the air
escape from the cylinders i, i, when filling the same with the liquid that
is used. When the breaking strain of a roller or other part of a machine
is estimated, it is easy to calculate the weight and position of the
balls n, n, so that the safety pistons 1, 1, may rise before such ultimate
breaking strain is attained.

page_text: The alarm connected with my safety hydrostatic apparatus may be
made in any suitable and practical way, but for convenience sake I have
shown it in the Drawing to be arranged as follows:-On the upper end
of the stationary piston e is secured an arm 11, on the outer end of which
is hinged a lever 12, provided in one end with a tooth 13 resting on the 5
under side of the lever m, and in the other with a weight 14, as shown.
To the under side of the arm 11 is also secured a bell or gong 15 on
which the weight 14 strikes as soon as the tooth 13 is liberated from the
lever m, which takes place as soon as the pistons 1, 1, are pressed up-
1
wards when the estimated breaking strain is attained between the rollers,
thus giving warning to the attendant that the rollers have spread apart
and that a faulty piece of iron has passed between the rollers. I do not
confine myself to this exact arrangement of the alarm, as any other
suitable arrangement may work to equal advantage.
Having thus fully described the nature, construction, and operation of 1
my Invention, I wish to secure by Letters Patent and claim,—
1st. A relief apparatus for the purpose as herein described, actuated
by the compressive force of a liquid held enclosed in a vessel covered by
one or more pistons.
2nd. The construction and arrangement of the block a, screw cap or
cover c, cylinder b, and piston e, provided with the packing f and
collar h, as and for the purpose set forth.
3rd. In combination with the cylinder b and piston e the channels
k, k, cylinders i, i, safety pistons 1, l, one or more, as and for the pur-
pose set forth.
4th. In combination with the piston e, cylinder b, and piston 1, 1,
the supports p, p, levers m, m, and weights n, n, one or more, or their
equivalents, for the purpose set forth.
5th. The construction and arrangement of the force pump q, collar r,
packings, the screw sleeve t, the channels x, v, for the purpose of filling
and compressing the liquid in the cylinders b, i, i, as herein set forth.
6th. In combination with the pistons e and 1, 1, the vent holes z and
10, 10, for the purpose as herein set forth and described.

page_text: 7th. In combination with an hydrostatic safety arrangement the
automatic alarm apparatus, or its equivalent, as herein shown and
described.
Dated this Sixteenth day of May, A.D. 1872, at Boston, in the
Witnesses,
AWAN ANDREN.
GEORGE E. PHELPS.
JAMES SULLIVAN. (L.S.)