IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CORRUGATING AND MOULDING SHEET METAL, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Melville Clark, of 53, Chancery Lane,
in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CORRUGATING AND MOULDING SHEET
METAL, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES."
-A communication from abroad by Asa Johnson and William
Thornton Still, both of Brooklyn, County of Kings, and State of
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Melville
Clark at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 28th May 1870.
I, ALEXANDER MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR CORRUGATING
AND MOULDING SHEET METAL, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE FOR
OTHER PURPOSES.," to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to a new manner of forming the teeth or
corrugations upon rollers and gear wheels that are to mesh into each
other with the object of making them run smoothly and fit closely
together at all points.

page_text: The Invention relates also to a new construction of machinery for
moulding or corrugating sheet metal, such machinery consisting chiefly
of rollers constructed on the new plan.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Sheet of Drawings represents a diagram
of a pair of rollers constructed on this improved plan; Figure 2 is a
perspective view of the moulding or corrugating machine; Figure 3
is a vertical transverse section of the two rollers used on the same;
Figure 4 is a detail end view of the rollers showing a modified con-
struction of the same. Similar letters of reference indicate correspond-
ing parts. The rollers or wheels are grooved on their peripheries,
lengthwise, on a circle equal to a circle struck from the centre of the
roller to or around the roller or wheel, at one half the depth of the
teeth or moulding to be formed. After the compass has been set
same as to form the above circle we put one of its points at one point
or end of the tooth, projection, or moulding to be formed, and the other
point of the compass far enough from the centre of the roller or wheel,
so that when the first point, which is at the end of the tooth or
moulding is swung around it will strike exactly at the other end of
the tooth, segment, projection, or moulding to be formed, making all
the profile lines of said teeth on the same curve as the pitch line of
the roller.
In the Drawing a represents the centre of the roller, and 6 a circle
drawn at one-half the depth of the teeth or corrugations to be formed,
the radius of this circle being the pitch line of the roller. d is the point
where one point of the compass is placed and e the other to form the
side d, f, of the tooth. One point of the compass is then placed at the
other end h of the tooth, and the other point of the compass at i to form
the side h, f, of the tooth. In like manner all the teeth are formed. It
does not matter whether the sides of the teeth are long or short. By
this means of forming the teeth or corrugations the rollers or wheels
will run smoothly together, bearing as equally at all points as round
rollers of the same size. They will not bind and may be run one way
as well as the other. The advantages of this method of forming rollers
and gear wheels will be readily appreciated when it is remembered that
the main difficulty has always been to get the teeth to fit properly
without binding, and especially in rollers for corrugating sheet metals
forming siding and other mouldings, where one side of the projection
is to be straight and longer than the other; the difficulty has been to

page_text: get the teeth or projections to bear equally at all points. This rule of
making the profile lines of such teeth or corrugations on the same curve
as a circle having the pitch line for a radius is the only perfect rule,
and the further they are from the pitch line just in that proportion they
are imperfect and will not run smoothly but bind more or less. A, in
Figure 2 represents the bed plate of the machine on which are placed
two standards B, B, at a suitable distance apart. In suitable journal
boxes within the standards B, B, the rollers C, C, of the above con-
nection are placed onc above the other and the upper roller pressed
down upon the lower by means of the screws D, D, bearing upon the
upper journal boxes, which are allowed to slide up and down in grooves
made for that purpose in the standards. In front of the rollers C, C,
is a feed table E, which is moved inward to the rollers at the desired
instant, by any suitable device, and carried outward again by means of
the weights G, G. The rollers C, C, are connected by means of gear
wheels H, H, placed outside of one of the standards on one of their
journals so that motion being communicated to either one of said
rollers both of them will revolve in the proper direction. The rollers
C, C, are provided on their outer surfaces with two or more kinds of
teeth or projections, the rollers being made either entirely solid or
hollow with a solid rim upon which the teeth or projections are formed.
These teeth or projections are formed as above specified. By having
different kinds and shaped mouldings on the same rollers I only have
to groove as much surface for each kind of moulding as is required
for that particular kind which is the width of one sheet of metal.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Alexander Melville Clark in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 13th October 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALEXANDER
MELVILLE CLARK, of 53, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex,
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-eighth day of May, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the
thirty-third year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Alexander Melville Clark,

page_text: Her special licence that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Alexander Melville Clark, 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 MACHINERY FOR
CORRUGATING AND MOULDING SHEET METAL, WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE FOR OTHER PURPOSES," a communication to me from abroad by
Asa Johnson and William Thornton Still, both of Brooklyn, County of
Kings, and State of New York, United States of America, upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alexander Melville Clark,
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 Alexander Melville Clark, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
thereon (that is to say) :-
This Invention relates to a new manner of forming the teeth or
corrugations upon rollers and gear wheels that are to mesh into each
other, with the object of making them roll smoothly and fit closely
together at all points.
The Invention relates also to a new construction of machinery for
moulding or corrugating sheet metal, such machinery consisting chiefly
of rollers, constructed on the new plan.
Figure 1 represents a diagram of a pair of rollers constructed on this
improved plan; Figure 2 is a perspective view of the moulding or
corrugating machine; Figure 3 is a vertical transverse section of the
two rollers used on the same; Figure 4 is a detail end view of the
rollers, showing a modified construction of the same. Similar letters
of reference indicate corresponding parts. The rollers or wheels are

page_text: grooved on their periphery lengthwise on a circle equal to a circle struck
from the centre of the roller to or around the roller or wheel at one-
half the depth of the teeth or moulding to be formed. After the compass
has been set same as to form the above circle, I put one of its points at
one point or end of the tooth, projection, or moulding to be formed,
and the other point of the compass far enough from the centre of the
roller or wheel, so that when the first point which is at the end of the
tooth or moulding is swung around it will strike exactly at the other
end of the tooth, segment, projection, or moulding to be formed, making
all the profile lines of said teeth on the same curve as the pitch line of
the roller.
In the Drawings a, Figure 1 represents the centre of the roller; and
b, b, a circle, drawn at one half the depth of the teeth or corrugations
to be formed, the radius of this circle being the pitch line of the roller;
d is the point where one point of the compass is placed; and c the other,
to form the side d, f, of the tooth. One point of the compass is then
placed at the other end of the tooth, and the other point of the compass
at i to form the side h, f, of the tooth. In like manner all the teeth aro
formed. It does not matter whether the sides of the teeth are long or
short. By this means of forming the teeth or corrugations, the rollers
or wheels will run smoothly together, bearing as equally at all points as
round rollers of the same size. They will not bend and may be run one
way as well as the other.
The advantages of this method of forming teeth or corrugations on
rollers and gear wheels will be readily appreciated when it is remembered
that the main difficulty has always been to get the teeth to fit properly
without bending, and especially in rollers for corrugating sheet metals
forming siding and other mouldings, where one side is to be straight
and longer than the other the difficulty has been to get the teeth or
projections to bear equally at all points. This rule of making the
profile lines of such teeth or corrugations on the same curve as a circle
having the pitch line for a radius is the only perfect rule, and the further
they are from the pitch line just in that proportion they are imperfect
and will not run smoothly but bind more or less.
A, in Figure 2, represents the bed plate of the machine, on which are
placed two standards B, B, a suitable distance apart. In suitable journal
boxes within the standards B, B, the rollers C, C, of the above connection
are placed one above the other, and the upper rollers pressed down upon

page_text: the lower by means of the screws D, D, bearing upon the upper journal
boxes, which are allowed to slide up and down in grooves made for that
purpose in the standards. In front of the rollers C, C, is a feed table E,
which is moved inward to the rollers at the desired instant by any
suitable devices, and carried outward again by means of the weights G, G.
The rollers C, C, are connected by means of gear wheels H, H, placed
outside of one of the standards on one of their journals, so that motion
being communicated to either one of said rollers, both of them will
revolve in the proper direction. The rollers C, C, are provided on their
outer surface with two or more kinds of teeth or projections, the rollers
being made either entirely solid or hollow with a solid rim upon which
the teeth or projections are formed. These teeth or projections are
formed as above specified. By having different kinds and shaped
mouldings on the same rollers I only have to groove as much surface
for each kind of moulding as is required for that particular kind which
is the width of one sheet of metal.
Having described the nature of the Invention, and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to
be protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,―
1st. The method herein described of forming teeth or corrugations on
rollers and gear wheels, substantially as set forth.
2ndly. Constructing the surface of each roll of two or more sections
or series of longitudinal ribs or projections, and corresponding sections
or series of grooves or depressions, in order to produce by the same rolls
on two or more plates two or more different styles of corrugations or a
mouldings, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alexander Melville Clark, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Eleventh day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventv.
Witness,
J. O. DEWEY,
53, Chancery Lane.
A. M. CLARK. (L.S.)