IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ROLLING TRON
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Edward Newton, of the Office for
Patents, 66, Chancery Lanc, in the County of Middlesex, Civil
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR
ROLLING TRON"
A communication
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Edward
Newton at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his
Petition, on the 4th May 1858.
I, WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, do hereby declare the nature of the
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR ROLLING IRON" to
be as follows:-
The first part of this Invention relates to the arrangement of rolls
for rolling large bars of iron, and consists in arranging the rolls with
their axes vertical, or nearly so, and parallel with each other, the two
outside rolls being goared to turn in opposite directions, so that the bar,
after being passed in one direction between the centre roll and the
outside roll on one side, can be passed or rolled directly back between
the centre roll and the outside roll on the other side.

page_text: This arrangement possesses over two horizontal rolls, as ordinarily
used, the same advantages in rolling large bars of iron that have been
found in the use of three horizontal rolls in rolling small bars.
The second part of the Invention relates to a further improvement in
the method of rolling bars of iron, and consists in combining with rolls
for rolling, what may be termed, the opposite or main faces of the bar
the employment of what I term supplementary or end rolls, the axes of
which are at right angles, or nearly so, with the axes of the main rolls,
the axes of all the rolls being in the same plane, or nearly so, and the
whole being so arranged as to afford, at the same time, a compound
rolling action upon the bar, so that, while the main rolls are rolling
the opposite main faces of the bar, a direct rolling action is also had
upon the bar between the faces of the supplementary or end rolls and
the ends and collars of the main rolls; the main rolls, in addition to
their own direct rolling upon the main faces of the bar, being thus
made to form, by means of their ends and collars a bed or base for the
rolling of the iron by the supplementary rolls, and thus to act as a sub-
stitute for a parallel or bottom roll to the supplementary rolls, by which
means I am enabled to reduce the iron by direct action in two direc-
tions at the same time. I use the terin "direct action" to explain or
describe that action of the rolls upon the iron whereby it is reduced in
a direction perpendicular to, or is spread in a direction parallel with,
the axes of rotation of at least one of the rolls; and by the term
"forcing action" of the rolls I mean that whereby the bar is reduced
in a direction parallel with the axes of the rolls, or is forced to spread
in a direction perpendicular thereto.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Edward Newton in the Great Scal
Patent Office, on the 4th November 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, 3
WILLIAM EDWARD NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, send greeting.

page_text: year of
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of May, in the
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and.
grant unto me, the said William Edward Newton, Her special license
that I, the said William Edward Newton, iny executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Edward Newton,
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 APPARATUS FOR ROLLING IRON," being a communi-
cation from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said William Edward Newton, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, should particularly describe and ascertain the nature
of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be per-
formed, 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 Edward Newton, 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
drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say):
The first part of this Invention relates to the arrangement of rolls for
rolling large bars of iron, and consists in arranging the rolls with their
axes in a vertical position, or nearly so, and parallel with each other;
the two outside rolls being geared so as to cause them to turn in
opposite directions, in order that the bar, after being passed in one
direction between the centre roll and the outside roll on one side, may
be passed or rolled directly back hetween the centre roll and the out-
side roll on the other side.
This arrangement possesses over two horizcutal rolls, as ordinarily

page_text: used, the same advantages in rolling large bars of iron that have been
found in the use of three horizontal rolls in rolling small bars.
The following advantages are obtained in the use of this part of the
Invention.
A saving of the time and labor required to pass back the bar over
the upper roll after every passage between the rolls, in order that it
may be again entered on the same side of the rolls, and he passed in
the same direction between them.
It is found in practice to be disadvantageous to run rolls for rolling
large bars of iron beyond certain speeds determined by the diameter of
the rolls, and the form and size of the bar; and this limit is first found
in the difficulty of handling and guiding the bar when it is passed back
over the upper roll, particularly in the first or roughing grooves where
the pile is short. In the present arrangement the speed can he
increased, since the bar is passed directly back between the rolls, each
side of the rolls being alternately the front or entering side.
I am also enabled to use an arrangement for handling the iron at
the rolls, which cannot be so advantageously adapted with two hori-
zontal rolls as ordinarily employed, whereby the labor for rolling large
bars is further materially diminished. The iron, on passing between
the centre roll and one side roll, can be received upon the iron arm of
a crane, having its shaft or axis at a sufficient distance back from the
rolls, so that the bar can be brought into position to be entered imme-
diately between the centre roll and the other side roll by merely
swinging the arni of the crane from one side to the other of the centre
roll, or it can be carried in a similar manner from one set of rolls to
another, as from the roughing to the finishing set, one crane being used
on each side of each set of rolls.
If two or more grooves be used in the same rolls, one above the
other, the bar can readily be elevated or depressed as required, the
cranes being properly constructed for that purpose. In most cases
the bar need not be turned before being re-entered between the rolls,
since any feather or fin which may be formed on one edge of the bar
in passing in one direction will be rolled down in passing in the oppo-
site direction. for in returning the edge which was before formed where

page_text: the rolls lapped, or came together will be brought in contact with the
solid angle of the groove.
The bar being passed between the rolls alternately in opposite direc-
tions, the action of the rolls upon the iron is reversed at every passage
of the bar, and, consequently, any cracks, checks, or flaws which are
commenced or made when the bar is rolled in one direction will be
rolled down and closed up when the bar is rolled in the other direc-
tion; whereas, when the bar is rolled continually in the same direction,
particularly in flanched bars, as rails, the tendency in the rolling is to
increase and open at every subsequent pass the cracks, checks, or flaws
that have once been formed.
The advantages arising from the use of three horizontal rolls instead
of two have long been acknowledged; but three horizontal rolls, one above
the other, cannot, conveniently, be used for rolling large bars of iron,
on account of the large diameter of the rolls required to give. the
necessary strength, which increases to a great degree the labor and
difficulty of entering and handling the bars; hence the continued use
of two horizontal rolls for rolling large bars.
.
The great advantage of alternately passing the bar in opposite direc-
tions, both on account of the saving of time and labor, and to avoid
cracks, checks, or flaws, or tearing of the bar, particularly in flanched
bars, has, however, been considered so important that recourse has, in
soinc cases, been had to the expedient of reversing the motion of the
rolls at each passage of the bar. In consequence of the weight of
machinery to be thus stopped, and suddenly put in motion the speed
must be considerably reduced, but by the use of the present Inven-
tion, and the arrangement of three rolls vertically, as herein described,
I am enabled to obtain all the advantages due to the alternately
reversed action of the rolls upon the iron, while the rolls themselves
have a continuous motion, thereby effecting an important saving in the
time and labor required to roll large bars, and to diminish the number
of defects and defective bars, thus effecting an important saving in the
cost of making such bars.
The second part of the Invention relates to a further improvement
in the method of rolling bars of iron, and consists in combining with

page_text: rolls for rolling (what may be termed) the opposite or main faces of
the bar the employment of what I term supplementary or end rolls,
the axes of which are at right angles, or nearly so, with the axes of
main rolls, the axes of all the rolls being in the same plane, or nearly
so, and the whole being so arranged as to afford, at the same time, a
compound rolling action upon the bar, so that, while the main rolls
are rolling the opposite main faces of the bar, a direct rolling action is
also had upon the bar between the faces of the supplementary or end
rolls and the ends and collars of the main rolls; the main rolls, in
addition to their own direct rolling upon the main faces of the bar,
being thus made to form, by means of their ends and collars, a bed or
base for the rolling of the iron by the supplementary rolls, and thus to
act as a substitute for a parallel or bottom roll to the supplementary
rolls, by which means I am enabled to reduce the iron by direct action
in two directions at the same time. I use the term "direct action" to
explain or describe that action of the rolls upon the iron whereby it is
reduced in a direction perpendicular to, or is spread in a direction
parallel with, the axis of rotation of at least one of the rolls; and by
the term "forcing action of the rolls" I mean that whereby the bar is
reduced in a direction parallel with the axes of the rolls, or is forced to
spread in a direction perpendicular thereto.
In rolling the iron by means of the supplementary rolls between the
face thereof and the ends and collars of the main rolls the action of
the supplementary rolls upon the iron is direct, and although it is re-
duced thereby in a direction parallel with the axes of the main rolls,
still the reduction of the iron is essentially similar to the direct action
of two rolls, the ends and collars of the main rolls being used in place
of and being equivalent to the face of a roll parallel to the supple-
mentary roll, while, at the same time, the main rolls have a direct
action upon the iron between their own main faces. The second part
of the Invention thus consists in arranging the rolls so that the main
rolls, and their ends and collars in combination with the supplementary
rolls, shall afford a compound rolling or reducing action upon the iron
in two directions at the same time.
If supplementary rolls be used to operate upon the bar on both ends

page_text: of the main rolls at the same time (as may be done where there is but
one groove in each pair of rolls), the supplementary rolls will, in part,
form a bearing for each other, in addition and complementary to that
formed for their action by the ends and collars of the main rolls.
The following advantages are derived from the use of this part of the
Invention.
The iron being reduced or rolled in two directions at the same time
it can be formed in a less number of passes than by the ordinary
method, thus saving time and labour, and enabling the bar to be finished
at a higher heat.
The iron being reduced in both directions at the same time is ren-
dered more solid and compact, and more nearly approaches in texture
to hammered bars than bars made by the ordinary process of rolling
between two rolls.
In the manufacture of flanched bars, as rails and T bars, where the
flanch is wide and thin, it is found impracticable to maintain or force
the iron into the flanch by rolls, the axes of rotation of which are, in
all the grooves, perpendicular to the plane of the flanch, and it has,
consequently, been found necessary, in most cases, to pass the bar
through at least one groove before the body of the bar is completely
formed, so that a direct and spreading action can be had upon the
flanch, which is then spread much wider than required in the finished
bar, so that it may be reduced in the subsequent grooves in a direction
perpendicular, as well as parallel, to the axes of the rolls, so that the
iron
may not be too much forced or strained, and its elongation, from
the action of the rolls upon it, may be more nearly proportioned to that
of the body and head of the bar. By the improved arrangement of the
parts of the machine this direct and spreading action can be obtained
as often as is desirable during the formation of the body of the flanched
bar or rail, each supplementary or end roll forming with the ends and
collars of the main rolls a groove for the direct rolling of the flanch,
at the same time that the body of the bar is being rolled by the main
rolls, and I am thus enabled to form such bars, reducing the width of
the flanch in each and every groove after it is first formed.
This forms the distinguishing character of the present Invention

page_text: as relates to rolling such bars, and greatly diminishes the liability to
produce cracks, flaws, and defects, and enables the manufacturer
to form, when required, flanches much wider and thinner than can be
done by rolls as ordinarily arranged.
It has been found impracticable. to roll. I .bars with two flanches
(when the flanches are wide or thin) in the ordinary rolls with
parallel axes, as it is obviously.impossible so to pass the bar between
such rolls as to obtain a direct spreading action upon both flanches,
and the iron cannot be forced into wide and thin flanches by the
forcing action of the rolls.
Bars of this form being well adapted to resist a lateral strain are
much used for girders and beams, and have heretofore been generally
made of separate bars rivetted together. Their weight and cost to
resist a given lateral strain is thus much increased, and their use
is consequently much more limited than if they could be produced
by the simple and cheap process of rolling, which by the use of the
present Invention can be readily and economically effected.
In the accompanying drawings, Fig. 1, is an elevation of the
improved apparatus for rolling, shewing the rolls arranged according
to the present Invention. Fig. 2, is a vertical section taken in the
plane of the axes of the rolls. Fig. 3, is a horizontal section taken
in the line A, a, of Fig. 1. The same. letters of reference indicate
similar parts in all the Figures. a, represents the frame so arranged
that it can be firmly secured by bolts b, to the foundation timbers.
In this frame are arranged three vertical rolls, c, d, e, one in the
middle and one on each side, mounted in suitable boxes, which are
adjustable by means of wedges and screws f. They are coupled by
ineans of suitable coupling boxes y, with shafts h, below, and geared
together, so as to turn with equal velocities by means of cog wheels i, i.
The coupling boxes should be so formed as to allow the outside rolls
to be set to or from the centre roll without moving the shafts below.
The rolls represent the finishing set of rolls for rolling rails. The
peripheries of the rolls c, d, e, are formed with two grooves j, j, near
the lower end of the usual form, and near the upper end with other
grooves k, k, also of the usual form, except that no collar is provided, 8

page_text: as in the grooves j, j, to embrace the flanch of the bar, but the upper
ends of the rolls form a face corresponding to the inside face and the
edges of the flanch. Just above the junction of each pair of rolls, and
on each side of the centre main roll, is what I term a supplementary or
end roll l
The peripheries of these supplementary rolls are cylindrical, and
extend over that portion of the face of the two rolls which corresponds
with the flanch of the rail. The shaft upon which these rolls turn
is fixed, and is at right angles to the axes of the main rolls, and is so
arranged as to form a bearing for the upper neck or journal of the
centre roll, and can be raised or lowered, so that the peripheries
of the supplementary rolls can be properly adjusted with reference to
the main drawing rolls to suit the required thickness of the flanch.
From the foregoing it will be seen that after the bar is passed
between the centre and one of the side rolls the end next the rolls is
simply moved sidewise by a crane, so that it may be entered between
the centre roll and the other side roll, and, when required, can be
raised or lowered by the crane from the level of one groove to that
of the other, and is run directly back in the reverse direction without
loss of time, the labor being comparatively slight.
In rolling rails it will be necessary to use, in addition to the
finishing rolls, a set of roughing rolls arranged in a similar manner.
This pile is first passed successively through the grooves of the
roughing rolls corresponding to j, j; then through those corresponding
with k, k, where the bar is acted upon by the supplementary or end
rolls, so as rapidly to reduce the iron and to partially form the flanch.
The bar is next passed through the upper or flanching grooves k, k,
where it is also operated upon by the supplementary or flanching
rolls, and the flanch is thus fornied and spread so as to be finished in
the grooves j, j, which operate in the ordinary manner; the supple-
mentary or flanching rolls being thus made to operate in four grooves,
the body of the bar in the grooves k, k, both in the roughing and
finishing rolls, being drawn and rolled between the main rolls, while,
at the same time, the flanch is being drawn and rolled between their
ends and the faces of the supplementary rolls.

page_text: ;
I it be desired, the main rols can have a set of grooves similar
to k, k, one at each end of the supplementary rolls, below as well as
above. This cannot, however, be conveniently done, in consequence
of the small distance left between the driving or coupling boxes below;
and, in practice, it will be found that supplementary rolls acting on the
upper ends alone will be sufficient, as the flanches can be so formed
and spread in the upper grooves as that they can, even when very wide
and thin, be rolled without difficulty in the lower grooves. In rolls, as
ordinarily arranged, but oue groove is generally employed for spreading
the flanch, whereas by the present arrangement with supplementary
rolls
upon the upper ends only the flanch is spread by direct action
in four grooves.
Where it is desired to roll bars with a flanch both at the top and
at the bottom the flanches are alternately operated upon by the supple-
mentary rolls, the bar being turned after passing through one groove h,
so that the flanch which was below, and operated upon solely by
the main rolls in passing in one direction, shall, in passing in the
reverse direction, be operated upon in turn by both the main and
the supplementary rolls.
The same arrangement can also be advantageously used to roll bars
without flanches; in that case the collars of the main rolls form the
bed or base for the action of the supplementary rollers, the iron being
reduced much more rapidly, and rendered more compact and solid than
when the supplementary rolls are not used.
In the improved arrangement the centre roll and each of the side
rolls form together one pair of rolls. The centre roll acts thus in place
of what, in the ordinary arrangement of two horizontal rolls, would be
a bottom roll to each of the side rolls, and the bar being passed
alternately between each pair of rolls, the grooves must obviously be so
formed that the same shape of centre roll will be suitable for both. 8
The opposite sides of the bar being alternately rolled by the centre roll,
this can easily be accomplished by a person skilled in the art of design-
ing and turning rolls for rolling iron, the proper shape and form being
given to the grooves in all the rolls.
Having now described the Invention that has been communicated 8

page_text: to me by my foreign correspondent as aforesaid, I would observe, in
conclusion, that I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself
to the use or employment of the two parts of the Tivention in combi-
nation, as they can be used separately; for instance, the three vertical
rolls can be used without the supplementary or end rolls, and will
produce important results in rolling large bars by reason of rolling
alternately in opposite directions, and saving time and labor in handling
the bars; and in like manner the supplementary or end rolls can be
applied to the ends of horizontal drawing or main. rolls, whether
two or three be used, and will produce advantageous results in the
forming of flanched bars; but I believe that in most cases it will be
found decidedly more advantageous to use both parts of the present
Invention in connection, as above shown and described.
I would further remark that I do not wish to be understood as
claiming broadly the employment of rolls with their axes at right
angles, as I am aware that in machines for making spikes four rolls
have been used with the axes of one pair placed perpendicular to those
of the other, each roll forming one entire face or side of the groove,
but, when so arranged, the rolls of one pair do not form the bottom
bearing for the action of either roll of the other pair, but simply sides
to prevent the spreading of the iron, and but one groove can be formed
by the four rolls. According to the improved arrangement the ends
and collars of one set of rolls form in whole or in part one bearing,
acting as a substitute for a parallel roll to the supplementary roll.
I am thus enabled to use, when it is desired, two grooves in each pair
of main rolls, which are made to act in combination with the supple-
mentary rolls, and as many intermediate grooves in the main rolls
as may be required, and to roll flanched bars with a direct rolling
action upon the bar in two directions at the same time, the ends and
collars of one set of rolls forming one bearing for the flanch.
According to the improved arrangement but three rolls act upon the
iron at the same time, except only in the case of rolling flanched bars
with supplementary rolls above and below, when but one groove
is used in the main rolls, and in this case also the ends and collars of
the main rolls form one bearing for the flanch.

page_text: In most, if not in all, cases, however, in which such machines have
been used for forming spikes, but one pair of rolls has been used for
drawing and reducing the iron, while the other pair has acted simply
as sides to prevent the spreading of the iron.
In machines for welding tubes four rolls are also used with the axes
of one pair perpendicular to those of the other; but it is obvious that
in this case, as in the spike machines, the rolls of one pair in their
relation to the other act merely to prevent the spreading of the iron,
and not as a bearing by their ends and collars for the direct rolling by
the rolls of the other pair. Neither are the rolls in this case intended
to reduce and draw the iron, but simply to weld the tube.
What I claim as new in the present Invention, and desire to secure
by Letters Patent, is the employment of rolls, (for rolling large bars of
iron,) arranged or mounted in a vertical or nearly vertical position,
when three rolls are combined together, one on each side of the centre
roll, thereby constituting what is equivalent to two pairs of rolls, each
pair rolling in opposite directions, so as to reverse the rolling on the
bar, while, at the same time, the rolls have a continuous motion.
And I also claim (in combination with what I term main drawing
rolls) the employment of one or more supplementary or end rolls, with
axes at right angles, or nearly so, to the axes of the main rolls, and
acting in whole or in part against the ends and collars of the main
drawing rolls for the purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Edward Newton, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, the Third day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-
Witness, J. W. MOFFATT,
66, Chancery Lane.
W. E. NEWTON. (i.s.)