Ix- PROVEMENTS IN TURNING AND GRINDING MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING TRUE SURFACES UPON METAL ROLLERS AND OTHER CIRCULAR OBJECTS
Year: 1871

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hamilton Ela Towle, of the City and State
of New York, United States of America, now of Newgate Street,
in the City of London, Civil Engineer, for the Invention of "Ix-
PROVEMENTS IN TURNING AND GRINDING MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING TRUE
SURFACES UPON METAL ROLLERS AND OTHER CIRCULAR OBJECTS.”—Partly a
communication from abroad by J. Morton Poole, of Wilmington,
Delaware, United States of America.
Sealed the 14th July 1871, and dated the 1st April 1871.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hamilton Ela Towle
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st April 1871.
I, HAMILTON ELA TOWLE, of the City and State of New York,
5 United States of America, now of Newgate Street, in the City of
London, Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING AND GRINDING MACHINERY FOR

page_text: PRODUCING TRUE SURFACES UPON METAL ROLLERS AND OTHER CIRCULAR OBJECTS,"
partly a communication, to be as follows:-
Truly formed surfaces upon rolls or calenders for use in various
machines requiring accuracy of workmanship in the product are most
difficult to make, and imperfect ones when in use are the source of great
loss to the manufacturer in the quality as also in the quantity of the
product, for example, in the use of rollers which are not true in machines
for calendering paper and in rolling sheet metal, the most serious
expence and loss is incurred from the imperfections in the rollers
employed, and these very imperfections increase and multiply themselves
by use and necessitate the re-surfacing of the rollers from time to time,
the frequency of renewal depending upon the degree of perfection
required in the product.
The improvements herein referred to have for their object the pro-
vision of machinery which will produce accurately surfaced rollers or
other circular objects, and are designed to overcome certain difficulties
hitherto experienced in machinery for turning or grinding objects and
producing surfaces truly cylindrical or conical, or of any symmetrical
longitudinal section.
The greatest difficulty in this operation has arisen from the fact a
that it is impracticable to make a machine which will always admit of
the work being adjusted in it so as to be perfectly true with respect
to other parts of such machine, for if the several parts composing the
machine could be made to work perfectly true at first it is obvious that
they would soon loose their truth in consequence of the natural wear of
one part moving upon another.
To overcome. this difficulty the nature of my Invention consists in
applying two or more grinding or turning tools, or a suitable tool and
a stop, which are arranged opposito each other on cach side of the axis
of the object to be rendered cylindrical or conical upon a saddle or
support which is free to move transversely to the axis of the said object,
or for the same purpose conversely the saddle or support of the grinding
or turning tools or their substitutes may not be allowed to move freely
transversely to the axis of the object, but instead the object itself may
be allowed to move in this direction, or a combination of the transverse
motion of the saddle or support of the said tools or their substitutes
with that of the object may be employed, while at the same time there
is still maintained a uniform or given distance between the said tools

page_text: or tool and stop, the said saddle or support also being free to move
longitudinally or in a direction with the axis of the said object.
This Invention is specially applicable for turning cylinders to a
uniform diameter after such cylinders have seemingly to the eye and
even under the application of the callipers been turned true in a lathe
which has but one stationary tool, or which has been turned thus
seemingly true in a machine constructed as herein described by adjusting
one of the pair of tools and fixing it and its support so that it works
singly and alone upon the article being turned. A horizontal or vertical
bed similar to that of a lathe, for example, is made to carry a saddle or
supporting slide rest for the grinding or cutting tools, this saddle may
be moved longitudinally in respect to the bed by means of a rack and
pinion or screw turned by hand or otherwise in the manner common in
lathes and planing machines for obtaining such motion. The object to
be surfaced or ground is supported near the ends of the bed upon
bearings conveniently constructed to permit the object to be put in and
taken out of the machine. These bearings are so constructed that the
said object instead of being rigidly held shall be free to move trans-
versely when impelled by a very light force; this is accomplished by
suspending the aforesaid object in such a way as to permit it to swing
in a pendulous manner within limits adjustable by hand screws from
the end supports, or the same result may be accomplished by so holding
the object upon end supports that it cannot move in a direction trans-
verse to its axis, but instead thereof the grinding or cutting pair of
wheels or their substitutes are themselves supported in a pendulous
or vibratory manner similarly within limits adjustable by screws or
their equivalent, so as to move freely by a slight force in a direction
substantially transverse to the direction of the axis of the object being
ground. A single grinding wheel and a piece of some hard material,
for example steel, termed a stop, may be used, the stop taking the place
of one of the grinding wheels and serving its purposes, except that it
is not intended to perform any cutting. The distance between the
grinding wheels or wheel and stop is adjusted laterally, according to
the required diameter of the object, by screws and hand wheels. Several
pairs of grinding wheels may be used if the object is long enough.
They are mounted on shafts or spindles which carry pulleys for receiving
the driving belts or straps, and these straps receive their motion from
a convenient drum or pair of drums geared together), preferably by
friction surfaces; these friction surfaces are preferably made of somo

page_text: clastic substance which will permit their diameters to be varied by means
of adjusting screws working upon compressing plates, and whereby the
proper tension upon the endless belt in its various parts may be obtained.
Respecting the arrangement of the cutting tools or grinding wheels,
they may be in pairs of two alike, or one cutting tool or grinding wheel t
may be omitted from a pair and in its place a stop or rest piece sub-
stituted. The latter with the tool or wheel will make two surfaces to
be brought into contact with the surface of the object, forming a pair of
touching surfaces, only one of which may serve to effect the cutting or
grinding upon the object, and these pairs of cutting tools, grinding 1
wheels, or their substitutes may be arranged in three ways, the first. is
that in which the latter do not have provision made for lateral motion
while there is provision made for free lateral motion of the object; the
second is that in which there may be no lateral motion of the object
allowed, but in this case the pair of cutting tools, grinding wheels, or their 1
substitutes in pairs must be free to move laterally; the third method
is that in which both the object and the tools or their substitutes are
allowed to move laterally. In either case the laterally moving parts aro to
be so suspended or pendulously supported that they will be free to move
laterally and with lateral movements dependant upon and determined 2
by the surface of the object itself. Provision in the machine is made
for giving the object rotary motion similar to that in an ordinary lathe.
When the object is to be made cylindrical the longitudinal motion of the
rest or support of the cutting tools or grinding wheels is made in a
plane parallel to the axis of tho object; and when the object is to be a
made taper or smaller in one part than in another, or with a gradual
change in diameter, the plane of motion of the said rest or support is
at an angle with the axis of the object. The parallelism of a cylindrical
object is secured by placing the supporting points of the axis of the
objects at the same distance from the plane of the ways on which a
the cutting or grinding tools movo longitudinally. In case a gradual
change in the diameter of the object is required, one end of the axis is
elevated or lowered so that the cutting tools do not move in a plano
parallel to the axis of the object. By raising one end of the object and
lowering the other, so that its axis pierces the plane of motion of the a
pairs of cutting or grinding wheels or their substitutes, various desirable
forms to rollers are readily obtained.

page_text: filed by the said Hamilton Ela Towle in the Great Seal Patent
Office, on the 30th September 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, HAMILTON
ELA TOWLE, of the City and State of New York, United States of
America, now of Newgate Street, in the City of London, Civil Engineer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of April, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one, in the thirty-
fourth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hamilton Ela Towle, Her special
licence that I, the said Hamilton Ela Towle, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Hamilton Ela Towle,
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,
usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
“IMPROVEMENTS IN TURNING AND GRINDING MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING TRUE
SURFACES UPON METAL ROLLERS AND OTHER CIRCULAR OBJECTS," the result
partly of a communication to me from abroad by J. Morton Poole, of
Wilmington, Delaware, United States of America, and partly of Inven-
tion and discovery made by me, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Hamilton Ela Towle, 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 Hamilton Ela Towle, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention; and in what manner the same

page_text: the following statement, reference being had to the accompanying
Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
Truly formed surfaces upon rolls or calenders for use in various
machines requiring accuracy of workmanship in the product are most
difficult to make, and imperfect ones when in use are the source of t
great loss to the manufacturer in the quality as also in the quantity
of the product, for example, in the use of rollers which are not truc
in machines for calendering paper, and in rolling sheet metal, the most
serious expense and loss is incurred from the imperfections in the rollers
employed, and these very imperfections increase and multiply them- 1
selves by use, and necessitate the resurfacing of the rollers from time to
time, the frequency of renewal depending upon the degree of perfection
required in the product.
The improvements herein referred to have for their object the
provision of machinery which will produce accurately surfaced rollers 1
and other circular objects, and are designed to overcome certain
difficulties *hitherto experienced in machinery for turning or grinding
objects and producing surfaces truly cylindrical or conical, or of any
symmetrical longitudinal section.
The greatest difficulty in this operation has arisen from the fact that 2
it is impracticable to make a machine which will always admit of the
work being adjusted in it, so as to be perfectly true, with respect to
other parts of such machine, for if the several parts, composing the
machine could be made to work perfectly true at first, it is obvious that
they would soon lose their truth in consequence of the natural wear of 2
one part moving upon another.
The object of my Invention is to overcome the difficulties above
described and to produce rollers having the most accurate surfaces
required. in the arts, and I divide the method of accomplishing it into
three systems.
3
The first system consists in applying two or more grinding or turning
tools, or a suitable tool and a-stop or touching piece, which are arranged
opposite each other on cach side of the axis of the object to be rendered
cylindrical or conical upon a saddle or support which is free to move
transversely to the axis of the said object, while the object itself cannot 3
move in such transverse direction.

page_text: The second system consists in the converse arrangement of the first
system, namely, the saddle or support of the tools for cutting or grinding
or their substitutes is not allowed any transverse motion. to. the
direction of the axis of the object, but instead of this the object itself is
allowed to move in this direction.
And the third system consists in an arrangement of the parts by which
both the object itself and the saddle with the grinding tools, or their
substitutes upon it, are allowed the slight transverse motion required,
being a combination of both the first and the second systems above
described.
This Invention is specially applicable for turning cylinders to a
uniform diameter after such cylinders have seemingly to the eye, and
even under the application of the callipers, been turned true in a latho
which has but one stationary tool, or have been turned, thus seemingly
true, in a machine constructed substantially as herein described but
without the free transverse motion peculiar to this Invention.
My Invention is also specially designed for grinding such objects
smaller in one part than in another with a gradual change in the diameter
of the object. A horizontal or vertical bed similar to that of a lathe,
for example, is made to carry a saddle or supporting slide rest for the
grinding or cutting tools, this saddle may be moved longitudinally in
respect to the bed by means of a rack and pinion or screw turned by
hand or otherwise in the manner common in lathes and planing machines.
for obtaining such motion. The object to be surfaced or ground is
supported near the ends of the bed upon bearings conveniently con-
structed to permit the object to be put in and taken out of the machine..
These bearings are so constructed that the said object instead of being
rigidly held shall be free to move transversely when impelled by a very
light force, this is accomplished by suspending the aforesaid object in
such a way as to permit it to swing in a pendulous manner within.
limits adjustable by hand screws from the end supports, or the same.
result may be accomplished by so holding the object upon end supports
that it cannot move in a direction transverse to its axis, but instead.
thereof the grinding or cutting pair of wheels or their substitutes are
themselves supported in a pendulous or vibratory manner similarly
within limits adjustable by screws or their equivalent, so as to move
freely by a slight force in a direction substantially transverse to the
.

page_text: ..
direction of the axis of the object being ground, or, if preferred, a
combination of both the above ways may be adopted. A single grinding
wheel' and a piece of some hard material (for example steel) termed
a stop, may be used, the stop taking the place of one of the grinding
wheels and serving its purposes except that it is not intended to perform
any cutting. The distance between the grinding wheels or wheel and
stop is adjusted laterally according to the required diameter of the object
by screws and hand wheels. Several pairs of grinding wheels may be
used if the object is long enough. They aro mounted on shafts or
spindles which carry pulleys for receiving the driving belts or straps,
and these straps receive their motion from a convenient drum or pair
of drums geared together, preferably by friction surfaces; these friction
surfaces are preferably made of some elastic substanco which will
permit their diameters to be varied by means of adjusting screws working
upon compressing plates, and whereby the proper tension upon the
endless belt in its various parts may be obtained.
•
Respecting the arrangement of the cutting tools or grinding wheels
they may be in pairs of two alike or one cutting tool or grinding
wheel may be omitted from a pair and in its place a stop or rest
piece substituted. The latter with the tool or wheel will make two
surfaces to be brought into contact with the surface of the object,
forming a pair of touching surfaces, only one of which may serve to
effect the cutting or grinding upon the object, and these pairs of cutting
tools, grinding wheels, or their substitutes may be arranged in three
ways, the first is that in which the latter have provision made for lateral
motion, while there is no provision made for free lateral motion of
the object, the second is that in which there may be lateral motion
of the object allowed, but in this case the pair of cutting tools, grinding
wheels, or their substitutes in pairs must not be free to move laterally.
The third method is that in which both the object and the tools or their
substitutes are allowed to move laterally. In either case the laterally
moving parts are to be so suspended or pendulously supported that they
will be free to move laterally and with lateral movements dependant
upon and determined by the surface of the object itself and the
guiding ways. Provision in the machine is mado-for-giving the object
rotary motion similar to that in an ordinary lathe. When the object
is to be made cylindrical the longitudinal motion of the rest or support

page_text: of the cutting tools or grinding wheels is made in a plane parallel to
the axis of the object; and when the object is to be made taper or
smaller in one part than in another, or with a gradual change in
diameter, the plane of motion of the said rest or support is at an angle
with the axis of the object. The parallelism of a cylindrical object is
secured by placing the supporting points of the axis of the objects at
the same distance from the plane of the ways on which the cutting or
grinding tools move longitudinally. In case a gradual change in the
diameter of the object is required one end of the axis is elevated or
lowered so that the cutting tools do not move in a plane parallel to the
axis of the object. By raising one end of the object and lowering the
other so that its axis pierces the plane of motion of the pairs of cutting
or grinding wheels, or their substitutes, various desirable forms of rollers
ow woodils obtained

page_text: to overcome and compensate for the inaccuracies of the guiding ways.
The parallelism of a cylindrical object is secured by placing the sup-
porting points of the axis of the objects at the same distance from the
planc of the ways upon which the cutting or grinding tools move along,
as shewn in Figure 1 and Figure 4, and the gradually varying diameter 5
or tapering forms are given to the objects by placing the axis of the
object at such an angle with the plane of said ways as will produce
the desired variations, which may be innumerable.
An object being ground upon these principles with a variable diameter
is shewn in Figure 8.
Figure 8 is a longitudinal section of the machine; Figures 9 and 10
side elevations of differently ground rollers.
1
In machinery for rolling sheet metal the rollers are required to be
slightly smaller in the middle than at their ends, so that when they
expand by heat they will be straight or cylindrical also in machinery 1
for calendering paper, the lower rollers in the slack are properly slightly
larger in the middle than at the ends to compensate for their bending
under the immense weight and pressure they are required to sustain.
My Invention will enable the maker of such rollers to taper them
either from one end to the other, from their ends to the middle of their 2
length or from the middle of their length to their ends.
To make the machine convenient for grinding taper rollers, the end
supports of the object are provided with means for raising and lowering
the same within the moderate limits required, this is conveniently done
by providing wedges or thin blocks of metal, which may be increased 2
or diminished in number, under the end supports, but I prefer to employ
screws for the purpose, as shewn in Figure 8 at 0¹, C¹. These screws
are provided with hand wheels c', c, for adjusting them vertically.
And in practice the journal boxes B' in the end bearings of the object
should be pivotted or otherwise so constructed as to accommodate the 3
object to the different angles of inclination from a horizontal plane
which may be necessary
to obtain the desired taper. Provision should
also be made for giving the object D rotary motion while being reduced
by the devices G.
139
To produce the roller shown in Figure 8 I raise one end of the g
roller.D above and the other I depress a like distance below a horizontal

page_text: plane passing through the axis of the grinding devices F, and grind the
roller until the devices F move tangentially to the circumference of the
roller from one extremity to the other, or from end to end.
To grind the roller shewn in Figure 10 I elevate one end of the roller
in such a manner that its axis will intersect a plane passed horizontally
through the centres of the grinding devices F only at one extremity of
this roller. If in this position I commence to grind the roller it will
be more reduced in diameter at the end which has not been elevated
than at the opposite end, and I continue to reduce in this way till the
grinding wheels will move tangentially to its circumference from the
middle of its length to one extremity. By repeating this process with
the opposite end of a roll I reduce the same as represented by Figure 10.
If, instead of repeating the process with the opposite end of the roll
clevated as just described, I continue to grind until the grinding
wheels move along to the circumference of the roll from one end to
the other I produce the roller shewn by Figure 9.
Having thus fully described the said Invention and shewn how the
same may be conveniently and advantageously carried into practice I
claim,―
First. The arrangement of one or more pairs of cutting or grinding
tools or one or more pairs composed respectively of a cutting or grinding
tool and a rest upon a frame which is free to move laterally or trans-
versely to the object which is being turned or ground, the tools
constituting a pair being capable of adjustment and fixation thercon
in relation to one another, and dependent for their movements to and
from the surface of the object placed between them to be turned or
ground by their contact with the surface or surfaces of said object at
opposite points thereof, substantially as herein described..
Second. A machine constructed substantially as described for grinding
objects cylindrical or slightly tapering as above described, whereby the
object to be ground shall be so supported in its bearings that whilo it
is free to move transversely to its axis it shall be acted upon in the
operation of grinding by one or two grinding wheels, placed one on each
side of said object, and being capable of adjustment or fixation on their
support, and the said object being dependent for its transverse movement
on its contact with the surfaces of said wheels at opposite parts thereof,
as set forth.

page_text: Third. The arrangement of grinding and reducing rollers as set forth
in the above first and second claims when employed in combination with
each other substantially as described.
Fourth. Reducing the surface of a cylindrical object by means of one
or more grinding or reducing devices operating in the manner abovo 5
claimed and moving parallel to a vertical plane passing through the
axis of said object but inclined to a plane passing through its axis,
substantially as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hamilton Ela Towle, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of August, in 10
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
one.
Witness,
E. C. JACKSON.
HAMILTON E. TOWLE. (L.S.)'
Civil Engineer,
20, Budge Row,
Cannon St.,
London,
& 170, Broadway, New York.