IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING RAILROAD AND OTHER BARS
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Robinson, of No. 7, Laurence Pountney
Hill, in the City of London, Ironmaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVED
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING RAILROAD AND OTHER BARS."-A communication
from abroad by John Kennedy, of Philadelphia, in the State of Penn-
sylvania, United States of America.
Sealed the 26th July 1864, and lated the 1st March 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Robinson at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 1st
March 1864.
I, JOSEPH ROBINSON, of No. 7, Laurence Pountney Hill, in the City of
London, Ironmaster, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING RAILROAD AND OTHER BARS," to 'be as
follows:-
The first part of this Invention consists in arranging "three high" rolls
for rolling bars, rails, or beams, so that the article shall be subjected to the
rolls in each of its passes to and fro, and so that each succeeding pass shall
roll down the fin formed at the preceding pass, and thus avoid the turning of
the rail, bar, or beam. Combined with the top roll of the series, or with the
roll that performs its part of the operation, are yielding guides or their equi-
valents for causing the bar, beam, or rail to pass from the roll, and not wind
around it. It is well known that the tendency of the metal in passing

page_text: between rolls is to follow the rolls, and any portion of the metal that detaches
itself from the rail or beam turns up in the direction of the rotation of the
roll, but by reversing the passage of the rail or beam through the rolls such
detached or parted portion is again rolled down into its place. When rolls
are used arranged "two high" it is necessary to turn the rail or beam over,
and when it must of necessity be turned over its length must be limited owing
to the rapid cooling of the metal.
In the improved arrangement of three high rolls the top and bottom rolls
are (what is termed) groove rolls, whilst the centre roll of the series is a
tongue roll. The grooves are formed as progressive grooves, the last being
duplicated to complete the bar. By passing the bar under the action of the
top and bottom roll alternately the fin formed on the bar by the nip of the
rolls will be rolled down by contact with the grooved recess in the next
succeeding rolling. The rolling surface of the centre roll is greater in cir-
cumference than that of the lower roll for the purpose of throwing or keeping
down the end of the-bar or-beam, and prevent--it. from winding on the centre
roll. Fixed guides receive the lower side of the bar, rail, or beam, and keep
it in a direct line as it leaves the rolls. To prevent the bar when passed
between the top and centre rolls from winding around the latter, and yet to
keep the top roll almost a duplicate of the lowest, yielding or self-adjusting
guides or clearers are used, whose points are made of steel, and shaped to fit
into the sharp angles of the grooves, and take the rail or bar upon themselves
the moment it passes the point of closest impact between the rolls; thus not
only is the bar prevented from winding itself around the top roll, but it is
guided and conducted out between stationary guides. These guides or clearers
are supported by rods pendent from weighted levers, which hold them into the
corners of the grooves, but springs or other equivalent means may be used
for holding up these clearers in their proper places, whilst their points may
conform to the adjusted and adjustable position of the rolls.
The second part of the improvements consists in providing drawing and
forming rolls for rolling heavy iron bars or beams with feed rollers, which
turn with a positive motion imparted to them by means of belts and pulleys,
cogged gearing, or other mechanical devices, and which carry or feed the
iron when placed on the same to the forming rolls, thus dispensing with the
necessity of pushing the iron towards the rolls by hand labour, and conse-
quently facilitating the work of feeding in the pile.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Joseph Robinson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st August 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSEPH
ROBINSON, of No. 7, Laurence Pountney Hill, in the City of London, Iron-
master, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the twenty-seventh year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Joseph Robinson, Her special license that I, the said Joseph
Robinson, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I,
the said Joseph Robinson, 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 "Iж-
PROVED MACHINERY FOR ROLLING RAILROAD AND OTHER BARS," being a commu-
nication from abroad by John Kennedy, of Philadelphia, in the United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joseph
Robinson, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, 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 imme-
diately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joseph Robinson, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say):-
The first part of this Invention consists in so arranging "three high " rolls
for rolling bars, rails, or beams, so that the article shall be subjected to the
rolls in each of its passes to and fro, and so that each succeeding pass shall
roll down the fin formed at the preceding pass, and thus avoid the turning of
the rail, bar, or beam. Combined with the top roll of the series, or with the
roll that performs its part of the operation, are yielding guides or their equi
valents for causing the bar, beam, or rail to pass from the said roll and not
wind around it.

page_text: The second part of the improvements consists in providing drawing and
forming rolls for rolling heavy iron bars or beams with feed rollers, which turn
with a positive motion imparted to them by means of belts and pullies, cogged
gearing, or other mechanical devices, and which carry or feed the iron when
placed on the same to the forming rolls, thus dispensing with the necessity of
pushing the iron towards the rolls by hand labor and consequently facilitating
the work of feeding in the pile.
On reference to the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents in longitudinal
elevation the rolls with the frame and parts connected thereto, and illustrating
the first part of the Invention; Fig. 2 is a transverse section of Fig. 1. and
Fig. 3 is a longitudinal vertical section of Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal
clevation of a set of drawing and forming rolls illustrating the second part of
the improvement; Fig. 5 is a tranverse section and Figures. 6 are detached
views of the same. In the rolling of railroad-rails, bars,-beams,-&c. .as_at
present pursued, the length of the rail, bar, or beam is limited by two almost
insuperable causes, viz., first, the inability to give them the required number
of passes through the rolls whilst they retain a sufficiently high welding heat,
and secondly, the difficulty of turning the rail, bar, or beam when very long,
which must be done to prevent or roll down any partings of the fibre of the
inetal and to roll down the fin that forms at the loose or free parts of the
grooves of the rolls. The construction and arrangement of rolls illustrated in
Figures 1, 2, and 3, effectually remove the difficulties heretofore encountered,
and permit of a rail, bar, or beam being rolled at a single heat one-third
longer than can be done by the arrangements of rolls at present in use.
This
is done by so contriving that each succeeding pass shall roll down the fin
formed by the preceding pass and avoiding the turning over of the bar, rail, or
beam, which in rolling a beam of fifty or sixty feet in length is a very
important saving. The bar, rail, or beam is also rolled in its passages back
and forth, every part of the rail or beam which has a tendency to part or rise
being rolled down; moreover, the necessary heat for rolling is longer retained
in the metal than when the bar is returned at each pass over the rolls to be
re-entered at the same side of them, for not only is an economy of time
effected bnt the metal retains more of its heat in passing back through or
between the rolls than when passed back over them. It is well known that
the tendency of the metal in passing between rolls, is to follow the rolls, and
any portion of the metal that detaches itself from the rail or beam turns up in
the direction of the rotation of the roll, but by reversing the passage of the
rail or beam through the rolls such detached or parted portion is again rolled
down into its place. When "two high" rolls are used the rail or beam must

page_text: be turned over, and when this act of turning over is a necessity the length of
the bar must be limited owing to the rapid cooling of the metal. A rail or
beam fifty feet long can be rolled by the plan illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3
with greater facility than a rail thirty-five feet long can be rolled by the old
method. It is believed that a rail even seventy feet long can be economically
rolled without a weld, a thing hitherto unknown in this art.
A, A, represcut the base or bed of the frame with undercut grooves a, a,
formed in their upper face. Upon these base pieces are supported the pillar
blocks or side pieces of the frame B, B, which are scrowed to or otherwise
united to blocks that can move in the undercut grooves a, a; C, D, E, repre-
sent three rolls whose journals c, d, e, are supported in suitable boxes f, g, h,
arranged in the side pieces B, B, of the frame. Over the tops of the journals
c, d, e, of the rolls are followers i, j, k, which are adjustable to their respective
journals through the set screws F, F, at the tops of the pillar blocks B.
There are also side bearers a to the journals for holding them in a proper
vertical line. The tops of the pillar blocks are held together by stay rods G, G,
and screw nuts thercon. The rolls herein represented are arranged for five
passes, but may be arranged for a greater or less number of passes, they also
have a duplicate of the finishing pass (which is the last one) because that
groove should be more perfect than the others need be, and the working passes
will last as long without repair or renewal as will two sets of finishing grooves.
The shape or contour of the bar, rail, or beam, is formed in reverse in the
rolls as is common in the art, and may be made with such gradual reductions
or changes of form as are found most advantageous. The top and bottom
rolls C, E, are what are termed groove rolls or flanged rolls, whilst the centre
roll D of the series is a tongue roll. The rolling surface of the roll D is
greater in circumference than that of the lower roll E for the purpose of
throwing or keeping down the end of the bar or beam and preventing it from
winding on said roll D, thus it overhangs the lower roll. The guides H
receive the lower side of the bar, rail, or beam, and keep it in a direct line as it
leaves the rolls. Now as it is actually necessary that the roll D should have
a greater rolling surface than the one E below it, and as the top roll C must
bear the same relative position (mechanically) to D that D does to E (that is to
prevent the bar from winding around it), there would seem to be a mechanical
impossibility when it is understood that the roll C is almost a duplicate
of E, and yet in effect it must be as much larger than D as D is larger than E.
To overcome this hitherto insuperable difficulty in the sizes of the rolls when
used, "three high" is one of the most important features of the Invention, and
consists in the introduction into the machine of yielding or self-adjusting

page_text: guides or clearers m, m, whose points are made of steel and shaped to fit into
the sharp angles of the grooves and take the rail or bar upon themselves the
moment it passes the point of closest impact between the rolls. Thus not only
is the bar prevented from winding itself around the top roll C, but it is guided
and conducted out between stationary guides n, n, and thus these guides or
clearers m have the same effect in keeping the bar or beam from winding ou
the roll C that the large diameter of D effects in protecting itself, whilst C
and E may thus have the same rolling surfaces, which they must have to match
with the centre one D that works in common with both of them. The guides
or clearers m are represented as suspended froin rods o, o, attached to levers
P. p. which are pivotted on the rod q and furnished at their outer ends with
weights r, r, to hold the guides in the corners of the grooves. Of course springs
or any other equivalent device may be used for holding up these guides in
their proper places whilst their points may conform to the adjusted and ad-
justable position of the rolls. The beam or cross bar I prevents the heels of
these-guides-or clearers from rising above a fixed position, whilst their points,
which can descend by the rising of the weight, cannot rise, being in contact
with the roll.
Suitable guides are furnished for keeping the bar in its proper lateral
position, whilst the stationary guides below and the yielding or elastic ones
above keep it in proper horizontal position and prevent winding. The
operation is as follows:-The pile or iron of which the bar or beam is to bo
made being suitably heated, is first passed through the groove or pass 1 (sce
Fig. 3), and returned through the pass 2. In coming through 2 a fin will be
formed at the lower left-hand corner of the pass or loose side of the groove.
It is then passed through the groove 3 (without being turned over), and the
fin formed in the groove 2 now comes in the tight or solid part of the groove
and is rolled down, whilst another or lesser one forms at the upper right-hand
corner, which is now the loose corner. Thence it passes through the groove
4, where the fin formed in the groove 3 comes into the closed part of the
groove and is rolled down, and a lesser one formed at the lower left-hand
corner, which in turn is rolled down at the fifth pass, and so on, each
succeeding pass rolling down the fin formed in the preceding pass without the
bar being at any time turned. If any part of the bar or beam should start
up or detach itself, which often happens, and curve up as it invariably does
in the direction of the motion of the rolls, at the return pass it will be rolled
down again, as the direction of the bar is reversed at each operation or pass,
and thus the bar or beam need never be changed "end for end." Should it
be necessary at any time to bring the bolt back after it has passed through

page_text: the groove 1, and before it passes through the groove 2, it may be done by
passing it through the pass 8. As the bar or beam goes through the passes
it is received on the skeleton table J and thence back between the guides, as
above stated. By this construction and arrangement of "three high" rolls
not only can a longer bar be made, and with less labor than heretofore, but a
better bar, inasmuch as it is made quicker, and whilst the heat is in a better
welding condition. There would even be economy in the preservation of the
heat by returning the bar between the rolls than over them if not rolled or
reduced on returning, as they lose less heat when passed between than when
passed over the rolls.
On reference to Figures 4 and 5, which illustrate the second part of the
Invention, A represents the heavy iron frame which supports the journal
boxes of the rolls; B, C, and D represent the rolls for rolling heavy iron bars
or beams, and which are of the usual construction of "three high" rolls, they
are formed with grooves according to the shape of the bars to be rolled;
E, F, and G represent guide plates, the partitions a of which stand opposite
the tongues of the rolls, and thus cause the pile to enter the proper grooves
of the rolls; H and I are two cylindrical rolls which are mounted in front
of their respective guide plates E, F, and in such a manner that the bar,
when in contact with the feed rolls and the roll which draws or forms the
iron, may clear the guide plates, as represented by the red lines c and d. The
rolls H and I may have a positive motion imparted to them by means of the
belts Land M, which pass respectively around their pulleys N and O, and
the journals f, g, of the rolls B and C, from which they receive their revolving
motion, the revolution of the rolls H and I being in the same direction of
those of their respective rolls B and C, or in other words, the feeding rolls
rotate in the same direction as their respective drawing or forming rolls.
The operation of the machine is as follows:-Motion being imparted to the
various rolls, the end of the heated pile is placed upon the feed roll I, which
carries it on to the forming roll C and between the rolls C and D, whence it
passes out between the partitions of the guide plate G, until its end drops
over the edges of said plate and down on to the plate E. The top line of the
feed roll H being above the level of the plate E, the pile is fed to the roll B
and passed between the rollers B, C, in a manner similar to that above
mentioned. The application of the feed rollers, as described, to rolling mills
effects great advantage in the feeding in of the pile to the latter. In the
arrangement as used heretofore the pile as it escaped from the forming rolls
was allowed to fall upon a truck, buggy, or carriage, which was placed in
front of the rolls, and this carriage with the heavy bar on it had to be pushed

page_text: by hand towards the rolls, which is very laborious, while under the present
arrangement this labor is performed 'automatically by the feed rolls which
carry the pile forward rapidly into the rolls, which alone is of great importance,
as the rolls will take the piece much better than when it comes against them
slowly, as is the case when actuated by manual labor only. The feed rolls
may be driven by any known mechanical device suitable to the purpose,
provided they turn in the direction to carry the material to the drawing or
forming rolls.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of improved machinery
for rolling railroad and other bars as communicated to me from abroad, and
explained the manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be under-
stood that under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,-
First, so arranging "three high" rolls for rolling railroad and other bars
that the said bars may be rolled or reduced as they pass both forward and
backward, and so that each succeeding pass shall roll down the fin formed at
the preceding pass, whereby the necessity for turning the bar as heretofore
will be avoided.
Second, the yielding clearer or guide or its equivalent in combination with
the top roll of the series, or with any roll of a series which performs its duty:
Third, the application to each of the pairs of drawing or forming rolls of a
feed roll such as described, and driven by gearing or other machinery for the
purpose of carrying and feeding the pile or bar of heavy iron to the drawing
or forming rolls substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joseph Robinson, have hereunto set my
band and seal, the Twenty-sixth day of August, in the year of our
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
above-named Joseph Robinson,
in the presence of
THOMAS COOPER,
Book Stall seler,
Gt. Malvern.
JOSEPH ROBINSON. (L.S.)