IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING IBON AND STEEL
Year: 1857

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Hale, of Swan Walk, Chelsea, in the County
of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING IBON AND
STEEL."
Sealed the 24th November 1857, and dated the 27th May 1857.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Hale at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th May 1857.
I, WILLIAM HALE, of Swan Walk, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, do
hereby declare the nature of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING
IRON AND STEEL," to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in rolling iron and steel.
For these purposes, according to part of my improvements, one or more pairs
of rollers are used; the axes of the rollers of each pair, in place of being
parallel, as heretofore, are arranged to work across, or at an angle to each
other, and when two or more pairs are used, the succeeding pairs of rollers are
arranged in opposite directions to the axes of the preceding rollers; by these
means the grain of the iron and steel so rolled will be twisted, crossed, and
coiled more effectually than by the means heretofore resorted to; and when it
is desired to cross the fibres of iron or steel when worked into flat bars or
plates, it may be preferred to use, according to part of my Invention, a pair of

page_text: rollers with parallel axes, arranged the one to move at a greater surface speed
than the other; and these rollers have two other rollers working with like
surface speed to each other, such surface speed being intermediate of the
speeds of the two first-mentioned rollers, by which means the grain of the iron
or steel will be in the act of compressing crossed and interwoven, so as to
produce an increased toughness in the metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Hale in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
27th November 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HALE, of Swan Walk, Chelsea, in the County of Middlesex, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven, in the twentieth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Hale, Her special licence that I, the said William Hale, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, 'the said William
Hale, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN ROLLING IRON
AND STEEL," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Hale, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Hale, 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 thereof, that is to say :-
This Invention has for its object improvements in rolling iron and steel.
For these purposes, according to part of my improvements, one or more pairs
of rollers are used; the axes of the rollers of each pair, in place of being

page_text: parallel, as heretofore, are arranged to work across, or at an angle to each
other, and when two or more pairs are used, the succeeding pairs of rollers are
arranged in opposite directions to the axes of the preceding rollers; by these
means the grain of the iron and steel so rolled will be twisted, crossed, and
coiled more effectually than by the means heretofore resorted to; and when it
is desired to cross the fibres of iron or steel when worked into flat bars or
plates, it may be preferred to use, according to part of my Invention, a pair of
rollers with parallel axes, arranged the one to move at a greater surface speed
than the other; and these rollers have two other rollers working with like
surface speed to each other, such surface speed being intermediate of the speeds
of the two first-mentioned rollers, by which means the grain of the iron or
steel will be in the act of compressing crossed and interwoven, so as to
produce an increased toughness in the metal.
Having thus stated the nature of my said Invention, I will proceed more
fully to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 shows an end elevation of two pairs of rollers, arranged and
combined according to my Invention, when it is desired that the grain of the
iron or steel should be twisted or interwoven when being rolled, and by the act
of rolling; Figure 2 shows a plan of the same, the upper part or plate of the
framing being removed. a, b, are the first pair of rollers, the axes of which
cross each other at an angle; c, d, represent another pair of rollers, the axes
of which cross each other in the opposite direction to that in which the axes of
the rollers a, b, cross each other. The angle at which the axes of the pairs of
rollers cross each other may be varied, but the angle shown in the Drawing is
that which is preferred. The effect of passing iron or steel through between
rollers set at an angle to each other will be found to be, that the bar, as it is
rolled between the rollers grooved to suit round iron, will, in addition to being
compressed; be caused to rotate, and the fibres will be laid spirally, or in a
twisting direction, in place of being laid longitudinally of the bar, as when
rolling iron and steel in the ordinary manner. E is the main or driving shaft,
which receives motion from a steam engine or other power, on one end of
which shaft is keyed the toothed wheel e', which takes into and drives the
toothed wheels f, g, on the ends or necks of the bottom rollers b, d; on the
opposite ends or necks of the same rollers are keyed the angular toothed
wheels h, j, which take into and drive the angular toothed wheels k, l, keyed
on the ends or necks of the top rollers a, c. The Drawing shows a suitable
arrangement of framing for carrying the rollers with the regulating :screws

page_text: used for adjusting the space between the rollers, and the same will readily be
understood on examining the Drawings. In the Drawing the rollers are
shown grooved to twist round bars or rods, but they may be made to suit
various shapes, or may be turned plain for rolling flat bars or plates. When
it is desired to roll round bars into flat, the framing may be made to have the
axes of the second pair of rollers set in a direction parallel to the axes of the
first pair of rollers, in which case, after the round bar has passed through
between the first pair in its twisting state, the second pair being turned plain,
will compress it into a flat, and also preserve the twisted or angular direction
of the fibres of the iron produced by the first pair. When only one pair of
rollers are employed, the driving power may be applied direct to the end or
neck of one of the rollers.
Figure 3. shows an end elevation, Figure 4 shews a plan, and Figure 5
(Sheet 4) shows a front view, of another arrangement of two pairs of rollers
combined and arranged according to another part of my Invention. a is the
main or driving shaft, which receives motion from a steam engine or other
power. On the main shaft a are keyed the driving cog wheels (1) and (2).
The driving wheel (1) takes into and drives the cog wheel (3), keyed on the
neck of the lower roller 6, which has twenty teeth. The wheel (3) takes into
and drives the wheel (4), which has forty teeth, and is keyed on the neck of the
roller c.
The driving wheel (2) on the other side of the machine takes into
and drives the cog wheel (5), which has thirty teeth, and is keyed on the neck
of the lower roller e. The wheel (5) communicates motion to the cog wheel
(6), which has also thirty teeth, and is keyed on the neck of the roller d. f is
a guide fixed between the two pairs of rollers to prevent the plates buckling
up. The effect of passing iron or steel through between rollers arranged
according to this second part of my improvements is, that the first pair of
rollers will in the act of compressing stretch or elongate the fibres of the iron
on one side more than the other, and the second pair will in the act of com-
pressing restore the uniformity of the texture by overlaying the fibres of the
iron or steel on that side which was stretched by the first pair of rollers,
thereby increasing the toughness of the metal.
I would remark, that in place of the rollers being plain, as shown in the
Drawing, they may be grooved to suit any shaped bar, and that the difference
of the surface speeds of the several rollers may be varied.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I would have it understood that I make no claim to
any of the parts separately, nor do I confine myself to the details; but what I
claim is.

page_text: First, the combination described in respect to Figures 1 and 2.
And, secondly, I claim the combination described in respect to Figures 3,
, and 5.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Hale, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-seven.
WILLIAM HALE. (L.S.)
Witness,
JAMES G. JONES.