Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting or Shearing the Flanges of Channel Iron and Iron of other Sections.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 22nd Mar.,
1004
Complete Specification Loft 22nd Lon 1804 Accented 26th Jan. 1895
Complete Specification Loft 22nd for 1804 Accepted 26th Jan.. 1895
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting or Shearing the Flanges of
Channel Iron and Iron of other Sections.
6
I, JAMES CHAPMAN, of The Lancaster Wagon Company Ltd. Lancaster
Boiler-maker, do hereby declare the nature of my invention to be as follows:-
My invention is for the purpose of rapidly and neatly cropping or shearing rolled
girders of the sections known as "channel" iron or H" iron, and its object is
specially to shear the flanges of such girders. I form a suitable bed having a
channel or recess of adjustable width or with adjustable gripping screws to hold
the girder. The said bed may be formed in two halves, one or both of which may
be a sliding jaw, forming members of a vice closed by a suitable screw or screws.
The sides of the said recess are cut away at a suitable distance from the end of the
bed, and are armed with steel dies or fixed shear edges. The girder is placed on
These
the bed with the flanges upwards, and the acting shears are mounted above.
consist of a pair of triangular expanding blocks, the outer or cutting edges being
vertical, the base being at or about right angles to the cutting edges and the inner
edges inclined and provided with suitable recesses, or flanges forming slides to
receive the corresponding faces of a triangular descending wedge or expander.
The said wedge is operated by a powerful hydraulic piston or other available
power. The inclined slide faces of the blocks are maintained in contact with the
faces of the wedge by means of a suitable bolt or bolts passing through both
blocks and wedge, and having suitable powerful springs on each end to allow the
blocks to expand in action. It will be understood that in shearing out a portion
of a flange of a channel or "H" iron girder, it is necessary in addition to shearing
the flange laterally to shear its base longitudinally in the plane of the surface of
the main web, in order to leave the said web its full original width. To accomplish
this, the before named fixed shears or dies in the side of the recess in the bed, are
made to correspond in both directions, with the horizontal length, and vertical
width of the piece of the flange to be sheared out. The acting shears or blocks
are provided with similar vertical and horizontal cutting edges, their width
corresponding with the desired length of the cut. When the piece to be removed
is at one end of the girder there are only one horizontal and one vertical cutting
edges to each block. When it is desired to remove a piece from within the length
of the girder, there are two vertical and one horizontal cutting edges to each
block.
The action is as follows:-The girder having been placed in position with the
desired point of cut, true to the fixed shears, the binding screws or vice screw or
screws are tightened to grip the girder. The upper tool is then lowered, having
the blocks in their position of smallest total width, and as soon as their lower
edges or bases come in contact with the girder they are arrested, and the wedge
continuing its movement thrusts the cutting blocks outwards with great power, and
so shears off the flanges by the shearing action of the blocks in conjunction with
the fixed shears. At a suitable distance laterally an abutment is formed as part of
or attached to the bed to limit the movement of the sheared piece beyond what is

page_text: necessary for severance. Thus if one flange should be sheared before the other,
the sheared piece forms an abutment compelling the remaining motion to pass
entirely into the other shearing block. A slight compensating lateral movement is
allowed in the ram or rod operating the wedge for this purpose.
Dated this 20th day of March 1894.
EDGAR CONISTON MILLS,
Agent to the Applicant.
Improvements in Apparatus for Cutting or Shearing the Flanges of
Channel Iron and Iron of other Sections.
I, JAMES CHAPMAN of The Lancaster Wagon Co. Ltd. Lancaster, Boiler-
maker do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by
the following statement :-
My invention is for the purpose of rapidly and neatly cropping or shearing rolled
girders of the section known as "channel" iron or "H" iron and its object is
specially to shear the flanges of such girders.
In the accompanying drawings
―
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section, Fig. 2 a cross section and Fig. 3 a plan view of
my improved apparatus.
Figs. 4 and 5 are detached views which will be subsequently explained.
A is the main bed of the apparatus having a channel or recess of suitable width
and depth to receive the girder to be operated upon which is shewn in position
at B. This recess may be made of adjustable width or with suitable gripping
screws to hold the girder. In another form the bed may be formed in two halves
one or both of which may be a sliding jaw forming members of a vice closed by a
suitable screw or screws.
At a suitable distance from the end of the bed the sides of the said recess are
themselves cut away or recessed as shewn at a Fig. 3 and they are armed or
partially filled with suitable steel dies C which form fixed shear edges. One of
these dies is shewn detached in Fig. 5. The edges marked a form the cutting
edges and the distance between the vertical edges e corresponds with the width of
the piece it is desired to remove from the flange of the girder the depth c¹
corresponds with the depth of the flange measured inside the channel iron.
The acting shears or hard steel cutters are shewn at D. They consist of a pair
of triangular expanding blocks the outer or cutting edges d being vertical or
slightly tapered at the lower part as shewn. The inner edges d' are inclined and
form slides to receive the corresponding faces of a central triangular descending
wedge or expander E. This wedge is operated by a powerful hydraulic piston or
other available power.
Fig. 4 shews a sectional plan through this wedge on the line x y from which it
will be seen that it is provided with flanges e e for the purpose of maintaining the
blocks D in true position.
The inclined slide faces of the blocks D are maintained in contact with the faces
of the wedge E by means of a suitable bolt F passing through both blocks and
wedge and having suitable powerful springs G on each end to allow the blocks D
to expand in action. It will be understood that in shearing out a portion of a
flange of a "channel or "H" iron girder it is necessary in addition to shearing a
flange laterally to shear its base longitudinally in the plane of the surface of the
main web in order to leave the said web its full original width. In order to
"

page_text: accomplish this the fixed shearing dies C are made with their horizontal cutting
edges in the said plane of the upper surface of the web and the acting shears
or blocks D are provided with lower horizontal cutting edges d². The width of
these blocks is such that they will pass through the opening in the fixed shearing
blocks C. At a suitable distance laterally an abutment a' is formed with the bed
on each side which may conveniently be the back of the recess into which the
shearing dies C are fixed. The main plunger or ram is allowed slight lateral
freedom in order that if one flange should be sheared before the other the sheared
out piece coming in contact with the said abutment a¹ prohibits further motion in
that direction and compels the remaining motion due to the descending wedge E to
pass entirely into the other shearing block and so complete the shearing of the flange
on the other side.
When the piece to be removed is at one end of the girder one horizontal and one
vertical edge only of each block will operate.
The action is as follows:-The girder having been placed in position with the
desired point of cut true to the fixed shears, the binding screws or vice screw or
screws are tightened to grip the girder when the bed is so constructed. The upper
tool is then lowered, having the blocks in their position of smallest total width, and
as soon as their lower edges or bases come in contact with the web of the girder
they are arrested, and the wedge continuing its movement thrusts the cutting blocks
outwards with great power, and so shears off the flanges by the shearing action of
the blocks in conjunction with the fixed shears.
The bolt F is an easy sliding fit in the holes in the blocks D and passes through
a vertical slot in the wedge E as shewn by dotted lines at e¹ in Figs. 1 and in full lines
in Fig. 2 and of sufficient length to allow of the full vertical stroke of the wedge E
relatively to the block D.
It is obvious that I may use this apparatus to shear a piece out of one flange
only of a girder in which case one of the triangular shearing blocks D is replaced
by a dummy and the fixed die on the same side is removed and its recess filled up.
The said filling and the flange on that side then serve as an abutment for the
dummy block and all the motion of shearing takes effect on the opposite flange.
It is also obvious that I may shear out of either or both flanges a piece of any
length greater than the width of the shearing block by moving the girder
longitudinally after a cut and taking two or more subsequent cuts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improved apparatus for shearing out a portion of the flange or flanges of
rolled girder iron consisting of the duplicate outward moving shearing blocks
combined and acting in conjunction with the shearing dies fitted into recesses in the
groove of the frame holding the girder substantially as and for the purposes
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In apparatus for shearing the flanges of rolled girder iron the outward
moving triangular shearing blocks in conjunction with and operated by a descending
wedge or expander actuated by hydraulic or other external power substantially as
and for the purposes hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accompanying
drawings.
3. The acting shearing blocks having inner inclined sliding faces in contact with
the faces of the descending wedge and maintained in contact therewith by means
of a bolt or bolts passing through the holes in the blocks and a suitable slot in the
wedge and provided with suitable spiral springs acting to press the blocks against
the wedge substantially as and for the purposes herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
4. In apparatus for shearing the flanges of rolled girder iron consisting of the
combined descending wedge, shearing blocks, and fixed dies, the operating ram

page_text: having a desired amount of lateral freedom substantially as and for the purposes
herein before described.
Dated this 21st day of December 1894.
EDGAR CONISTON MILLS,
Agent to the Applicant.