IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO MACHINERY FOR GROOVING METAL OR PORCELAIN ROLLS AS USED IN THE GRINDING OF WHEAT OR OTHER GRAIN AND TO MACHINERY FOR RENEWING SAID GROOVES WHEN WORN BY USE
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alexander Basil Wilson Consulting Engineer of Holy.
wood in the County of Down Ireland for an Invention of IMPROVEMENTS IN
AND APPERTAINING TO MACHINERY FOR GROOVING METAL OR PORCELAIN
ROLLS AS USED IN THE GRINDING OF WHEAT OR OTHER GRAIN AND TO
MACHINERY FOR RENEWING SAID GROOVES WHEN WORN BY USE
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alexander Basil Wilson at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th April 1883.
ALEXANDER BASIL WILSON Consulting Engineer of Holywood in the County of
Down Ireland, IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING TO MACHINERY FOR
GROOVING METAL OR PORCELAIN ROLLS, AS USED IN THE GRINDING OF WHEAT OR
OTHER GRAIN, AND TO MACHINERY FOR RENEWING SAID GROOVES. WHEN WORN.
BY USE.
My invention relates to that class of Machenery in which the grooving is effected
by the reciprocating motion of a tool or tools forced against the surface of the roll,
the movement being that of the roll or tool or of both combined.
The first part of my invention relates to an improved arrangement of tool holder.
It is usual in order to prevent the point of the tool from being damaged by the
return motion after a cut has been effected to make the tool holder with a joint or
hinge which permits the point to move in the direction of the return stroke.
through an arc the versed sine of which is sufficient to clear it from the roll. By
this arrangement the point of the tool is frequently broken in moving the joint.
and the drawback is such that machines have been constructed at considerable
additional expense. in which the tool is moved away. from the roll on its return
stroke by other special means.
In my invention to get rid of this difficulty and to cause the return motion to
move the joint. I fix to the jointed tool holder a piece or pieces of wood or other
U
;

page_text: suitable material, hereinafter called Wood blocks, close to the tool and so arranged
that they bear firmly on the roll during the cutting stroke, steadying the tool, and
are so placed. that on the return stroke they touch before the tool, move the joint,
and prevent injury to the cutting edge.
The second part of my invention relates to the arrangement of the tool holders.
and wood blocks as aforesaid,
As it is of the utmost importance the grooves should be reguliar and of equil
depth it is usual to employ one cutting tool only at a time, the want of sufficient
rigidity causing the roll to spring away from the blunter tools and make too deep
a cut with the sharp ones, To prevent this I fit the wood blocks so that the
depth of the cut is determined by the projection of the tool beyond the face of the
blocks. both tool and blocks being made adjustable; by this means I can use a
number of tools at the same time.
The third part of my invention referres to the tool proper. and the sheath in which
it is contained,
The steel of which such tools are made being of special quality and very brittle
is preferably produced. of small section; it is therefore usual to hold them in frames
or sheaths of softer metal the cutting edge only projecting; the frame or sheath
being of square section.
In my invention I make it of cylindrical section with a groove cut in it parallel
to its axis. in which the steel lies. I make it of this section to enable the cutting
edge to be set to the angle necessary for cutting the grooves in the various degrees
of spiral required.
The fourth part of my invention consists in obtaining the necessary motion of
the roll or tools to cut the grooves, from a hydraulic direct acting Cylinder,
It is usual to obtain such motion from screw's or gearing or a combination of
both with which the following drawbacks always exist,
(1) A more or less complicated system of gearing or screw's is necessary to reduce
the ordinary workshop shafting speed. to the slow rate required.
(2) Each joint and working part has a certain amount of slack or play. which
injures the steadyness of motion,
(3) Considerable power is necessary to move the various working parts and
special attention and oiling is required to keep them in order.,
(4) If the points of the tools meet a hard part of the roll which they cannot
penetrate, they being the weakest part are broken off. as the gear is necessarly
made sufficently powerful for the heaviest cut,
(5) The speed cannot be readily changed or altered. without stopping the
machene.
:
(6) Considerable complication of gear is necessary to vary the degree of angle of
the spiral cut.
In my invention I arrange the hydraulic cylinder that it can be driven either by
the Town or other supply of water or by a pump or pump's worked by hand or
power, such pumps discharging into a closed resevoir partly filled with air, so as
to form an elastic cushion and prevent the strokes of the pump's being communicled
to the cylinder; by this mean's I get over objection No. 1.
I secure the roll or tools direct to the ram of the hydralic cylinder thus avoiding
joints and slackness as in item 2.
I obtain any required power without special loss by friction or wear as in
item 3.
By the use of a safety valve on the water supply which can be regulated to any
desired pressure I limit the power and avoid the breakages mentioned in item 4.
By a regulating valve I vary the speed instantly as referred to in 5.
By securing the roll direct to the ram of hydralic cylinder and making the
whole free to revolve round their axises subject to the regulating & controling
power of an adjoustable guide I cut whatever spiral may be required as referred
to in 6

page_text: The fifth part of my invention consists in the arrangement for sharpning and
deepning grooves reduced by wear. This I do by the combined action of the
wood blocks and the hydraulic cylinder as already discribed, The wood blocks are
adjousted to fit into the old grooves and by them to guide the roll or tool through
the correct spiral the cylinder furnishing the necessary power without preventing
the roll turning on its axis.
The sixth part of my invention consists in so arranging the, machene that the
roll while being grooved moves vertically through the tools, the cutting taking
place in tile up stroke The roll is thus steadied, its weight does not affect the
depth of groove but rather is of use where driven by hydraulic power. In expelling
the water from the cylinder in the down stroke.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Alexander Basil Wilson in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th October 1883.
ALEXANDER BASIL WILSON Consulting Engineer of 2 Martello Terrace Holy-
. wood in the County of Down Ireland IMPROVEMENTS IN AND APPERTAINING. TO.
MACHINERY FOR GROOVING METAL OR PORCELAIN ROLLS AS USED IN THE
GRINDING OF WHEAT OR OTHER GRAIN, AND TO MACHINERY FOR RENEWING SUCH
GROOVES WHEN WORN BY USE,..
My invention relates to that class of machinery for the grooving. corrugating. or.
smoothing or regrooving recorrugating or resmoothing the surface of Rolls as used
in the grinding of wheat or other grain or material to be reduced to powder which
grooving corrugating or smoothing or regrooving recorrugating or resmoothing is
produced by a tool or tools which tool or tools may be either stationary and the
Roll under operation moving or the tool or tools moving and the roll stationary or
both Roll and tool or tools moving as may be found most suitable, The first part
of my invention relates to an improved arrangement of tool holder. It is usual in
order to prevent the point of the tool being damaged by the return stroke in
machines which are of the reciprocating description to. make the tool holder with
a joint or hinge so constructed that the point of the tool may be moved freely
in the direction of the return or non-cutting stroke through an arc the versed
sine of which is sufficient to clear the cutting edge from the surface of the roll
under operation the movement being produced by the friction of the roll on the
point of the tool. By this arrangement however the point being of extremely
hard and brittle material is frequently injured and to avoid such injury machines
have been constructed at considerable additional expense with specially provided
gear for moving the tool away from the roll at the end of each cutting stroke by
means other than the friction of the roll itself, and for bringing to position for the
next cut. In order to reduce the complication and expense of such gear and to
cause the return motion to move the tool by friction without risk of injury I fix
to the jointed tool holder a piece or peices of wood or other suitable material
hereinafter called Blocks fitted close to the cutting edge and arranged that they
bear firmly on the roll during the cutting stroke and so placed that in the return
stroke they touch the roll before the tool comes in contact therewith and by their
friction thereon move the toolholder on the joint to such an extent as prevents
injury to the cutting edge. In one form of this arrangement to obtain easy
adjustment I make the Blocks Cylindrical and force them through a tapered hole
in the tool holder, by this means I consolidate that part of the block presented to the
surface of the roll. The second part of my invention relates to the arrangement of the
tool holders and blocks as aforesaid, As it is of the utmost importance that each cut
should be regular and of equal depth it is usual to employ one cutting tool only at a
time, If more be used irregularities arise from the impossibility of keeping the
tools equally sharp even in the most strongly constructed machines the blunter
tool springs the roll from it towards the sharper tool, making the cut of the former
too shallow and of the latter too deep. To prevent this I put a greater pressure
on the blocks of all the tools than the greatest pressure that would be put on the
roll by the bluntest of the tools in operation, and regulate the depth of the cut by
the projection of the tool beyond the face of the blocks no tool can therefore
penetrate into the roll deeper than the blocks are set for. I can thus use a
number of tools at the same time, and accuracy in setting the roll in the Machine

page_text: is not of such importance as when one tool only is used. The third part of my
tinvention relates to the tool proper. The material of which such tools are made
being of special quality and brittle is more easily produced of small section, It is
therefore usual to hold the hard material in frames or sheathes of soft metal the
cutting edge only projecting, To avoid the difficulty of setting such tools
accurately in position if made as they usually are of square section, I make the
sheath of round section, cylindrical, with a groove prepared in it parallel to its
axis for the reception of the hard material, or, I make the tool and sheath in one,
connecting the hard and soft material of which it is constructed by soldering or
welding, Or if preferred, I make the sheath of alternate layers of hard steel and
softer metal, cramped, welded, or soldered together, as may be most suitable, in
which case I cut more than one groove by the multiple tool thus described and
held by one tool holder, The fourth part of my invention relates to the method
of obtaining the necessary relative motion of the roll and tools to produce the cut
or cuts. It is usual to obtain such motion from screws, gearing, or a combination
of screws and gearing the power being supplied from a steam engine or other
source and communicated to the machine by belts, gearing, or other equivalent
means, with the following disadvantages,
(1) A more or less complicated system of gearing or screws is necessary to reduce
the ordinary speed of workshop shafting to the slow rate required during the
cutting stroke, and to make the return stroke sufficiently fast to avoid loss of
time,
(2) Each joint and working part of such a machine has a certain amount of
slack, or play, which is injurious to the steadyness of motion,
(3) Considerable power is necessary to move the various working parts, and
special attention and oiling is required to keep them in order.
(4.) If the points of the tools meet a hard part of the roll which they cannot
cut they being the weakest part are broken off as the gear is necessarly made
sufficiently powerful for the heaviest cut, and cannot easily be varied to suit a
lighter cut.
"
(5) The speed of cut cannot be easily changed and if altered varies the rate of
the return stroke,
(6) Much complication of gear is necessary to vary the degree of angle if the
grooves are required to be spiral.
(7.) In resharpening old rolls it is almost always necessary to entirely remove
the original grooves by grinding or otherwise, before regrooving, from the difficulty
of making the tool follow the exact spiral, which may have been made by a
different machine, not a true spiral, or such that the gear will exactly coinside
with it.
(8.) The machine can only work during the time that the Engine or other
motive power is available or running.
To avoid the disadvantages of 1. I employ a hydraulic cylinder directly
connected to the Roller or tools, the water supply for which being obtained either
from the, town Main, or other suitable source, or from a pump or pumps worked
by hand, steam power, or otherwise, discharging into a closed resevoir partly
filled with air, so as to form an elastic cushion and to prevent the stroks of the
pump or pumps being communicated to the hydraulic cylinder, and producing a
jerky pressure therein, and corresponding motion to the ram.
To avoid the disadvantages of 2. I couple the roll. or tool, direct to the hydraulic
ram, without the intervention of joints.
To avoid the disadvantages of 3. By the use of a hydraulic ram as aforesaid, I
avoid almost all the power, special attention, and oiling, usualy necessary.
To avoid the disadvantages of 4. I place an easely regulated safety valve on
the hydraulic Cylinder.
To avoid the disadvantages of N° 5. I fit a regulating valve on the water
supply to the hydraulic cylinder, which I can alter without varying the exit of
water from it on the return stroke.

page_text: To avoid the disadvantages of 6. I avoid the use of gearing for determining
the spiral of grooves, The hydraulic ram being free to turn in the hydraulic
cylinder, I make a projection on the ram bear against an adjustable angle guide,
which as it rises causes it to turn, and produce a spiral motion on the roller
attached thereto.
To avoid the disadvantages of 7. In regrooving an old roller, I remove the
adjustable guide, screw the wood blocks against and into the grooves, exhisting in
the roller, and by their grip turn the roller and ram which are otherwise free to
move through the spiral to which the roll was originaly grooved.
To avoid the disadvantages of 8. By the use of any constant available supply
of water under pressure, I can work the Machine independantly of other motive
power.
An arrangement of such a machine is shewn in Fig 1. of the drawing A. is the
roller, B. B. B, B, are the tool holders, O. a plate on which the tool holders are
bolted and which can be revolved by worm D. Engaging in worm wheel E, F. is
the hydraulic ram_working in Cylinder G. the inlet and exit of water being
regulated by valve H.
Fig. 2. Is an enlarged view of the tool holder in which A is the hard tool proper,
partly surrounded by B. the soft sheath, C. C. the blocks regulated by screws D.
E, the pin on which the tool holder rocks F. portion of Roller in section.
Having thus described my invention and shewn by the drawings annexed one
mode of practically carrying it out, I would have it clearly understood that I
do not confine Myself to the precise method shewn and described, as the same may
be in many ways modified in detailes, while still retaining the principles and the
characteristic features of my invention, but I claim as My invention the improve-
ments relating to roller grooving machines, substantialy as set forth, illustrated, or
described, herein whether seperatly or in combination. In witness whereof, I the
Baid Alexander Basil Wilson have hereonto set my hand and seal, this Seventeenth
day of October in the year of our Lord One thousand Eight hundred and Eighty
three.
ALEXANDER, BASIL, WILSON (LS.)