AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENING ANGLE IRON AND OTHER BAR IRON OF A TROUGH-LIKE SHADE ARTER IT LEAVES THE ROLLS AND WHILE STILL HOT
Year: 1860

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Martin Chambers, of Birmingham, in the
County of Warwick, Metallic Bedstead Manufacturer, for the Invention
of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS
FOR STRAIGHTENING ANGLE IRON AND OTHER BAR IRON OF A TROUGH-LIKE
SHADE ARTER IT LEAVES THE ROLLS AND WHILE STILL HOT"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Martin Chambers
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th March 1860.
I, WILLIAM MARTIN CHAMBERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick,
Metallic Bedstead Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND
APPARATUS FOR STRAIGHTENING ANGLE IRON AND OTHER BAR IRON OF A TROUGH-
LIKE SHAPE AFTER IT LEAVES THE ROLLS, AND WHILE STILL HOT," to be as
follows:-
In manufacturing angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like shape, the
bars on cooling become warped, and it is necessary to straighten the said bars
before they are fit to be used for manufacturing purposes. The object of my
Invention is to straighten angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like
shape without resorting to the ordinary method by means of the levelling
plate.

page_text: In straightening angle iron according to my Invention, I proceed as
follows: After the bar of angle iron has passed from the rolls, and while it is
still hot, I place it in a mould or trough having the form of the outer sides
of the angle iron. The said mould or trough is not however straight, but is
concave in the direction of its length, that is, it is higher at its ends than at
its middle. I press the bar of angle iron into the said mould or trough by
passing a roller over it, or by other pressure. The curvature of the mould or
trough is thereby given to the bar, and as the said bar cools, the greater con
traction of the thicker parts at or near the junction of the two sides causes
the bar to straighten itself. The degree of concavity in the trough or mould
varies as the strength and size of the angle iron vary. Instead of the trough
or mould described, a mould may be employed which is made to fit the inside
of the angle iron, that is to say, of a V shape, in which case the said mould
is made slightly convex in the direction of its length. The bar of angle iron
is placed upon the mould, and pressed into contact with it by means of a roller
or by other pressure. Bars of iron in general having a trough-like shape
may be straightened by the method I have described with reference to
angle iron.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said William Martin Chambers in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th September 1860..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
MARTIN CHAMBERS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Metallic
Bedstead Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of March, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and sixty, in the twenty-third year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Martin Chambers, Her special licence that I, the said William Martin
Chambers, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said William Martin Chambers, 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 AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN THE METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR

page_text: STRAIGHTENING ANGLE IRON AND OTHER BAR IRON OF A TROUGH-LIKE SHAPE AFTER
IT LEAVES THE ROLLS, AND WHILE STILL HOT," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Martin Chambers, my executors or admi-
nistrators, 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 Martin Chambers, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
In manufacturing angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like shape, the
bars on cooling become warped, and it is necessary to straighten the said bars
before they are fit to be used for manufacturing purposes. The object of my
Invention is to straighten angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like
shape, without resorting to the ordinary method by means of the levelling
plate.
I will describe my Invention with reference to ordinary angle iron, the
sides of which are at right angles to one another. The application of my
Invention to other kinds of angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like
shape only requires the working surfaces of the machinery or apparatus
hereinafter described and represented in the accompanying Drawing to be
made of a figure corresponding to that of the surface of the bar to be operated
upon.
In straightening angle iron according to my Invention, I proceed as
follows:-After the angle iron has passed or has in part passed from the rolls
by which it is rolled, and while the said bar is still hot, I place it in a mould
or trough having the form of the outer sides of the bar of angle iron.
Figure 1 of the Drawing represents this mould or trough in side elevation,
and Figure 2 represents the same in plan; Figure 3 represents a vertical
section taken through the line a, Figure 1; and Figure 4 is an end elevation.
The mould or trough is concave in the direction of its length, that is, it is
higher at its ends than at its middle, as represented in the side eleva-
tion, Figure 1. I press the bar of angle iron into the trough or mould,
Figures 1 and 2, by passing a roller over it or by pressure. The rolling
apparatus I employ is represented in elevation and plan in Figure 5. The
periphery of the roller c, shewn separately on a larger scale in Figure 6, has

page_text: the figure of the inner sides of the angle iron to be operated upon, and is
rolled along the bar in the trough, Figures 1 and 2, by means of the
handles d, d. The roller c may be made so large as to have sufficient weight
to press the bar into close contact with the mould, or a weight may be placed
on the apparatus, Figure 5, at or about the place marked e, so as to press the
roller c sufficiently upon the bar of iron in the mould. By this means the
curvature of the trough or mould, Figures 1 and 2, is given to the bar of
angle iron, and as the said bar cools on removal from the mould, the greater
contraction of the thicker parts at and near the junction of the two sides of the
angle iron causes the bar to straighten itself. The degree of concavity in
the trough or mould, Figures 1 and 2, must be varied as the strength and
size of the angle iron vary; but I have found in practice that the degree of
concavity represented in the Drawing answers well for the varieties of angle
iron commonly required in commerce.
Instead of a trough or mould of the kind described and represented in
Figures 1 and 2, a mould may be employed which fits the inner sides of the
angle iron, and the angle iron to be operated upon is placed upon the said
mould and pressed into contact therewith by a suitably shaped roller.
Figure 7 represents in side elevation a mould of this kind, and Figure 8
represents the same in plan; Figure 8 A represents a transverse section and
end elevation of the same. The angle iron being placed upon the mould
Figures 7 and 8, a roller of the form represented on a large scale in Figure 9
is passed over it, and presses the angle iron into close contact with the mould
Figures 7 and 8; I préfer, however, the mould and roller of the form repre-
sented in Figures 1, 2, 5, and 6. Instead of using moulds to operate upon
one bar of angle iron at a time, the said moulds may be made double or treble,
or a greater number may be fixed side by side so as to operate on two or more
bars at once. I prefer to use double moulds as represented in transverse
section in Figures 10 and 11, Figure 10 representing a double mould of the
kind represented in Figures 1 and 2, and Figure 11 a double mould of the
kind represented in Figures 7 and 8. A double roller of the kind repre-
sented in Figure 12 is used with the double mould Figure 10, and a double
roller of the kind represented in Figure 13 is used with the double mould
represented in Figure 11. When a greater number of moulds than two are
fixed side by side, rollers having a corresponding number of suitably shaped
grooves must be used with the said moulds. Instead of rollers a suitably
formed die may be drawn over the bar so as to press it into contact with the
mould, or a die of the same length as the mould in or on which the bar of
angle iron is placed may be employed, the bar of angle iron being enclosed

page_text: and pressed between the mould and the said die. For example, the iron
being placed in the trough or mould Figures 1 and 2, the mould Figures 7
and 8 may be placed and pressed therein, the bar being straightened by
pressure between the two moulds. I prefer, however, to press the bar of
angle iron into contact with the mould by means of rollers as herein-before
described.
Although I have only described the rollers by which the bar or bars of iron
are pressed into contact with the moulds as actuated by hand, yet the said
rollers may be drawn over the bar or bars of iron by means of an endless
chain worked by steam power, or by any other suitable mechanical agent.
Bars of iron in general having a trough-like shape may be straightened by the
method I have described with reference to angle iron.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of
carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise details herein described and represented, as the same
may be varied without departing from the nature of my Invention; but I
claim, as my Invention, the improvement or improvements in the method of
and apparatus for straightening angle iron and other bar iron of a trough-like
shape after it leaves the rolls and while still hot, herein-before described and
represented in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, pressing the said
bars while hot into contact with a curved mould, and thereby giving the said
bars such a figure, that on cooling they become sufficiently straight for manu-
facturing purposes.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Martin Chambers, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of September,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty.
Witness,
WILLIAM MARTIN CHAMBERS. (L.S.)
RICHARD SKERRETT,
Clerk to George Shaw.