An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Renewing Old Steel Rails
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Feb., 1899-Accepted, 6th May, 1899
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Apparatus for Renewing Old Steel Rails
I, EDWARD WILLIAM MCKENNA, of No. 402, Jefferson Street, Milwaukee, in
the County of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin, United States of America,
Manufacturer, 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:-
:-
This invention relates to a method of and machinery for renewing old steel
rails for their original purpose, and its objects are, first, so to prepare the rail
for the nnal shaping thereof that uniform fishing angles may be secured, and
that as little reduction as possible shall be made from the original weight of the
rail which is to be renewed; secondly, so to organize and arrange the machinery
of the rolling mill plant that it may effectively carry out such a process and may
be run with economy, that the time required for manipulation of the rail may
be minimized, and that little time may be lost in idleness of the machinery;
thirdly, to provide improved transfer mechanism for manipulating the rails in
the mill. My invention will be described hereinafter and particularly pointed
out in the claims.
In the acompanying drawings, which illustrate the machinery of a rolling
mill plant for practicing my invention,
Figure is a plan view, somewhat diagrammatic in its character, showing
the general arrangement of the machinery of the mill,
Figure is an elevation of a breaking-down roll train which is employed in
practicing my invention, and which constitutes one feature thereof;
Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view on line A-B of Figure 2;
Figure 4 is a vertical sectional view of a transfer table constituting another
feature of this invention, the section being taken on line C-D of Figure 5;
Figure 5 is a plan view of the said transfer table, Figures 4 and 5 both in-
dicating in addition a roughing roll train;
Figure 6 is a detail sectional view on line E-F of Figure 5.
Simular letters of reference are used to indicate similar parts wherever they
are shown.
The work of renewing old steel rails to adapt them for further use for their
original purpose, after they have become distorted by long service, is carried
on under varying conditions which differ widely from those which obtain in the
manufacture of new rails In the latter case the maker is working with blanks
of a uniform size and shape and containing an absolutely exact quantity and
distribution of metal. while worn rails, even from the same track, will vary in
height and will be otherwise distorted in shape, though the amount of metal
remaining in the rails will be approximately uniform. Another difficulty is to
retain the original fishing angles; or, as is required in some cases, to renew rails
of different shape but of substantially equal weight and reduce them to a standard
shape with uniform fishing angles. The tendency here is, in attempting to give
the rail the proper height, to spread the inside of the head and of the Hange too
[DQ71

page_text: far apart, destroying the fishing angles and leaving the rail permanently dis-
torted in shape, so that the renewed rails do not properly fit the standard fish
plates, and loose joints are formed when the rail is again put into service.
In accordance with this invention the rail is reduced by pressure upon the
top and bottom thereof to a height which is slightly less than the width of the
pass in the roughing rolls Such pressure will crush the head and buckle or
upset the web, forcing the head and flange slightly nearer together. This work
may be done upon the rail immediately after it leaves the furnace then the rail
may be entered in the roughing rolls, and, since its height is less than the width
of the pass, the upper and nether pressure of the rolls will force the metal out
into the head of the rail, giving it the desired shape and fishing angles, and any
surplus metal is carried out in elongating the rail.
A rolling mill plant constructed for carrying out the process above set forth
and embodying a number of novel features which are also capable of being used
in rolling mills of different character, may be generally described as follows:
Referring to Figure 1, two furnaces a a for heating the old rails which are
brought to the mill for renewal are illustrated, a charging machine being
located before each of said furnaces for pushing the old rails into the same.
Immediately in front of each furnace, before an opening therein at the opposite
end from the charging machine, is provided a breaking-down roll train, illus-
trated in detail in Figures 2 and 3. This roll train is adapted to engage the
top and bottom of the rail as it leaves the furnace and to exert pressure thereon
to bring the head and flange nearer together, and further serves to withdraw the
rails from the furnace A transfer table illustrated in detail in Figures 4, 5
and 6 is located between the furnaces and is adapted to receive a heated rail from
either of them, said transfer table being also adapted to carry the rail opposite
a set of diven rollers ee which serve to enter the rail in one of the passes
of the roughing rolls d After passing through the roughing rolls, the rail is
carried on by driven rollers to a second or finishing roll train, which is adapted
to complete the rolling of the rail, whereupon it may be sawn and bored in the
usual manner.
With this arrangement of machinery, the time required for manipulation of
the ail is minimized, since one furnace may be charged and heated while the
rails are being withdrawn from the other; and since the roughing and finishing
roll trains are in tandem, the rail may be passed once through each of them and
then carried on to the next roll train of the series without stopping or changing
the direction of motion.
The rolls which are located immediately in front of the furnaces are called
breaking-down rolls," as distinguished from those having roughing and finish-
ing passes shaped to conform to the cross-section of the rail; these latter being
termed main rolls" The passes of the main rolls, as indicated most clearly
in Figure 4, are shaped for spreading the head and flange of the rail apart after
they have been crushed together by the breaking-down rolls, and thus to impart
the required cross-section and fishing angles to the rail, completing the process
which has heretofore been described
To secure a thorough understanding of the breaking-down roll train, it will
only be necessary to refer to Figures 2 and 3, which clearly illustrate its con-
struction The rolls themselves, e e, preferably are of an operative length sub-
stantially equal to the opening in the furnace, and may have smooth cylindrical
surfaces without grooves or passes of any kind They may be journalled to
rotate in housings at either end and may also be provided with a middle support-
ing housing, as illustrated. Their rotation is effected by means of a driving
wheel belled to an engine or other suitable motor g, indicated in Figure 1.
In order to enable the breaking-down roll train to receive a rail from any
portion of the furnace, travelling guides h h are provided, arranged to move to
and fro along a way which is formed by the bed-plate of the machine. This
travel of the guides is produced by means of a worm shaft j engaging with

page_text: threaded extensions of said guides, and connected through intermediate gearing
with the driving shaft upon which the driving wheel f is mounted, means being
provided for reversing the direction of rotation of the worm shaft, by connecting
the same through the clutch mechanism k with different sets of gearing operated
by the said driving shaft. The effect of these breaking-down 1olls is, as has been
stated, to crush the head of the rail, buckle or upset the web, bringing the head
and flange nearer together, and also to break the scale which has formed upon
the rail while in the furnace so that such scale may readily be removed by
scrapers.
Each rail, as it leaves the breaking-down roll train, is received by the transfer
table, being caught by the driven rollers upon said transfer table and carried
to a substantially central position thereon, as indicated by dotted lines in
Figure 5.
Since the transfer table is designed to receive rails from a furnace disposed
at either end, it is evident that the rollers must be capable of being driven
in either direction at the will of the operator. Clutch mechanism, shown in the
upper portion of Figure 5, is provided for this purpose, the two levers on the left
serving respectively to control the clutch mechanism securing the rotation of
the rollers in one direction or the other The lever shown upon the right
similarly controls the clutch unechanism of the chain and sprocket gearing
actuating the chains oo, thus permitting the intermittent operation of the said
chains for the purpose of moving the rails laterally from the transfer table.
The function of the transfer table is to carry the rail to a position from which
it may be entered in a pass of the roughing roll train, and since the roughing
roll train is preferably provided with three passes so arranged that the rail must
be entered upon its side, that is, resting upon the head and the edge of the
flange it is convement to construct the transfer table as shown most clearly in
Figure 4 The framework is constructed to form three ways m m m, shown in
Figures 1 and 5, which are independent of the roll table upon which the driven
rollers are provided, these ways m resting upon rollers nn, so that the whole
framework may be moved to and fro thereon, such movement being secured by
means of a rack and pinion, as indicated in the lower right-hand portion of
Figure 4
Sprocket chains oo are provided in connection with each of the said ways m,
said sprocket chains passing over sprocket wheels at either end of the ways and
being provided with projecting dogs ? for engaging a rail and carrying it along
the ways. To effect the driving of said sprocket chains, the set of sprocket wheels
over which said chains are passed at one end of the ways may be mounted upon
a driving shaft q, which may be operated through intermediate driving mechanism
by the engine y before referred to.
Since the rail comes from the breaking-down roll train in an upright position,
that is, resting upon its flange-and since it must be entered in the roughing
rolls while resting upon its side, that is, upon the head and an edge of the
flange means are provided for automatically turning the rail upon its side as
it is carried along the transfer table. The dogs which carry the rail along the
ways of the transfer table engage it by the flange portion thereof; and prefer-
ably near the front of the transfer table is provided a stop, as for instance the
roller 2", said stop being mounted so that the head of the rail will be engaged
thereby as the latter is carried along and as the motion of the flange portion
continues, the result will be to tip the rail over This action is indicated quite
clearly in Figure 4. As the dogs and sprocket chain continue their travel, they
will automatically be disengaged from the rail by turning over the sprocket
wheel at the end, thus leaving the rail free, lying upon its side on the driven
rollers cc which carry it forward and enter it in one of the passes of the rough-
ing rolls opposite which it has been stopped. In the drawings, the mechanism
has been illustrated in a position to stop the rail opposite the third pass of the
roughing rolls, and it is evident that by adjusting the transfer table with the

page_text: rack and pinion gear, it may be arranged to stop the rail opposite either of the
roughing passes
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said in-
vention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The herein-described process of renewing steel rails for their original pur-
pose, which consists. in heating the rail, reducing it to a uniform height by
pressure upon the top and bottom thereof, bringing the head and flange nearer
together and thereafter spreading the head and flange apart again, at the same
time shaping the rail to the desired section, whereby uniform fishing angles
may be secured, substantially as described.
2. The herein-described process of renewing steel rails for their original pur-
pose, which consists in heating the rail, applying pressure to the top and bottom
thereof to crush the head and buckle or upset the web, thereby to bring the head
and flange nearer together, and thereafter rolling the rail to the desired section
by spreading the head and flange apart again and forming the required fishing
angles, substantially as described
3. In a rolling mill for renewing old steel rails, the combination with a furnace
for heating the rails, of a breaking-down roll train through which the rail may
be passed upon leaving the furnace, said roll train having opposing surfaces
adapted to engage the top and bottom of the rail and exert pressure thereon,
whereby the head and flange are brought nearer together, and main rolls for
operating upon the rail after it leaves said breaking-down rolls, said main rolls
having passes shaped to spread the head and flange apart again and impart the
desired cross-section to the rail, substantially as described
4. The combination with a furnace, of a breaking-down roll train placed in
front of an opening therein, sand roll train having rolls of an operative length
substantially equal to the width of the opening in the furnace, a guide adapted
to receive a rail from any part of the opening in the furnace and to direct the
same between said rolls, whereby pressure is exerted upon the top and bottom
of the rail to bring the head and flange nearer together, and means for moving
said guide opposite any point in said opening, substantially as described.
5. In a rolling mill for renewing old steel rails, the combination with a furnace
for heating the rails, of a breaking-down roll train adapted to receive a rail from
an opening in said furnace, said oll train having a pair of cylindrical rolls
between whose opposing surfaces the rail is adapted to be passed, a guide for
receiving a heated rail from the furnace and directing the same between said
rolls, a way along which said guide may travel, motor mechanism adapted to cause
said guide to travel to and fro across the opening in the furnace to receive a rail
lying at any part of said opening, and main rolls for operating upon the rail
after it leaves said breaking-down rolls, said main rolls having passes shaped
to the desired cross-section of the rail, substantially as described.
6. In a rolling mill, the combination with a pair of furnaces for heating old
steel rails, of breaking-down roll-trains in front of said furnaces and adapted to
receive said rails therefrom, said breaking-down roll-trains being adapted to
exert pressure upon the top and bottom of the rail to bring the head and flange
nearer together, a transfer table located between the furnaces and adapted to
receive a rail from either of them through the medium of one of the said break-
ing-down roll trains, a number of main roll trains placed in tandem, said transfer
table being adapted to convey a heated rail to the first of said main roll-trains
and means for passing the same successively through said main roll trains, sub-
stantially as set forth
7. In a rolling mill, the combination with a furnace for heating old steel
rails, of a charging machine opposite one end of said furnace for charging the
old rails into the same, a breaking-down roll-train opposite the other end of
said furnace for withdrawing the heated rails therefrom, said breaking-down

page_text: roll-train having opposing surfaces adapted to exert pressure upon the top and
bottom of the rail to bring the head and flange nearer together, a transfer table
for receiving a rail from the breaking-down roll-train, a plurality of main rolls
in tandem, and means for conveying a heated rail from the transfer table and
passing the same successively through said main roll-trains, substantially as
described.
8. The combination with a furnace, of a breaking-down roll-train adapted to
receive a rail therefrom, a transfer table adapted to receive a rail in an upright
position from said breaking-down roll train, ways upon which said rail may be
moved laterally, dogs adapted to engage the flange of said upright rail, means
for causing said dogs to move along sand ways longitudinally thereof, carrying
the rail with them, and a stop adapted to engage the head of the upright rail
while the flange is moved by said dogs, whereby the rail is turned upon its side
as said dogs continue their travel, substantially as set forth
9 The combination with a furnace, of a breaking-down roll train adapted to
receive rails therefrom, a transfer table adapted to receive rails from said break-
ing-down roll train, said transfer table extending to a position opposite a main roll
train, said main roll train having a plurality of passes, means for moving the
rail along said transfer table, mechanism for automatically stopping the move-
ment of the rail as it reaches a position opposite the main roll train, and means
for adjusting said mechanism to cause the same to stop the rail opposite any one
of said passes in the main roll train, substantially as described.
10. The combination with a furnace, of a breaking-down roll train adapted to
receive a heated rail therefrom, a transfer table, a main roll train associated
therewith, said main roll train having a plurality of passes, endless chains upon
said transfer table, dogs carried by the said endless chains adapted to engage
the flange of the rail and to move the same along the transfer table, means for
engaging the head of the rail as it is moved to turn the rail upon its side,
mechanism for automatically stopping the movement of said rail, and means for
adjusting said mechanism to cause the same to stop the rail opposite any one of
the passes of said main roll train, substantially as described.
Dated this Eighteenth day of January 1899
EDWARD WILLIAM MCKENNA.
Haseltine, Lake & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.