IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METALS
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Brown, of Smethwick, in the County
of Stafford, Ironmaster, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METALS."
Scaled the 9th March 1869, and dated the 30th October 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Brown at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
30th October 1868.
I, WILLIAM BROWN, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Iron-
master, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METALS," to be as follows:-
My said Invention consists of the improvements hercin-after
described in machinery for rolling metals, and consists of additions to
and improvements in machinery described and represented in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, bearing date the 12th
day of September 1867, No. 2588.
In the Specification of the Patent referred to I have described and
represented two sets of parallel rolls driven at different velocities, the

page_text: bar to be rolled being passed directly from one set to the other set,
the second set moving at a rate greater than that of the first set, so as
to receive the lengthened bar at the additional speed which its
elongation requires. I find that three or more sets of rolls similarly
arranged and driven may be used with advantage, and one part of my
present Invention consists in the use of three or more sets of parallel
rolls, driven at different velocities.
Another part of my present Invention consists in the use of one or
more pairs of rolls in place of the top roll described and represented in
the Specification of the Patent before referred to. By the use of the said
one or more pairs of rolls the pile, billet, or ingot is flattened to the
required thickness before it is introduced into the strand or reducing
rolls, and the operation of the said strand or reducing rolls thereby
facilitated.
Another part of my present Invention consists of the following
arrangement for driving the strand or reducing rolls. I will describe
this part of my Invention as applied to three sets of rolls.
Instead of the toothed wheel described and represented in the
Specification before referred to, I employ a large toothed wheel on
the shaft of the lower roll of the first pair of rolls. The toothed wheel
takes into a pinion on the shaft of the middle roll of the second set
of three rolls, and the last described pinion takes into a toothed wheel
on the shaft of the lower roll of the next pair of rolls, and so on through
the whole series.
My Invention is applicable to the rolling of metals in general, but
is especially applicable to the rolling of iron and steel and copper and
alloys of copper.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Brown in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 26th April 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BROWN, of Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Ironmaster, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of October, in the year

page_text: 1
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the thirty-
second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Brown, Her special licence that I,
the said William Brown, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said William Brown, 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, excrcise, and vend, within the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and
Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLIng
METALS," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Brown, 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 William Brown, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say :-
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after
described in machinery for rolling metals, and consists of additions to
and improvements in machinery described and represented in the
Specification of Letters Patent granted to me, bearing da the 12th
day of September 1867, No. 2588.
In the Specification of the Patent referred to I have described and
represented two sets of parallel rolls driven at different velocitics, the
bar to be rolled being passed directly from one set to the other set, the
second set moving at a rate greater than that of the first set, so as to
receive the lengthened bar at the additional speed which its elongation
requires. I find that three or more sets of rolls similarly arranged
and driven may be used with advantage, and one part of my present
Invention consists in the use of three or more sets of parallel rolls
driven at different velocities.
Another part of my present Invention consists of the following
arrangement for driving the strand or reducing rolls. I will describe
this part of my Invention as applied to three sets of rolls.

page_text: Instead of the toothed wheel described and represented in the
Specification before referred to, I employ a large toothed wheel on
the shaft of the lower roll of the first pair of rolls. This toothed wheel
takes into a pinion on the shaft of the middle roll of the second set
of three rolls, and the last described pinion takes into a toothed wheel t
on the shaft of the lower roll of the next pair of rolls, and so on through
the whole series.
My Invention is applicable to the rolling of metals in general, but
is especially applicable to the rolling of iron and steel and copper and
alloys of copper.
Having explained the nature of my Invention I will proceed to
describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the manner in
which the same is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in front elevation a rolling mill provided with
three sets of parallel rolls arranged according to my present Invention
for the making of wire rods; Figure 2 is a plan of the same; Figure 3
is an end elevation of the said sets of rolls; Figure 4 is an end elevation
of the pinions, and Figure 5 is an end elevation of the gearing wheels of
the said sets of rolls.
The three sets of parallel rolls are marked respectively A, B, C.
Each of the sets of rolls A, B, consists of a pair of rolls, and the set of
rolls C consists of three high.rolls. The said sets of rolls A, B, C, arc
coupled together by wabblers and pinions in the usual way, as
represented in the Drawings. Each of the said sets of rolls is driven
at a different speed from the others. This is effected by the following
arrangement of gearing. d is the driving shaft provided with an ordinary
clutch e. The said shaft d is coupled with the shaft f of the lower
roll of the pair of rolls B. On the shaft f is a pinion g which gears
with a large toothed wheel h on the top roll of the first pair of rolls A.
On the shaft is a toothed wheel i which gears with a pinion k on
the shaft of the middle roll of the set of three high rolls C. By this
arrangement the first set of rolls A is driven at a slower speed than the
set B, and the set B is driven at a slower speed than the set C, so that
the bar passes through the series of rolls with the greatest regularity.
The same object may be effected by driving the rolls at the same
speed and making each set of different diameters, that is to say,
making the second set of greater diameter than the first set, and the
third set of greater diameter than the second set.

page_text: In making wire rods of iron or steel or other small sections of iron or
steel by the use of my improved machinery I pass the billet, pile, or bar
through the three sets of rolls A, B, and C, and return it through the
upper pair of rolls of the set of three high rolls C. The manner in which
the bar is passed through the three sets of rolls and returned through
one set will be best understood by referring to the transverse sections of
the rolls A, B, C, represented in Figures 6 and 7, Figure 6 representing
the first operation of the three sets of rolls upon the bar, and Figure 7
representing the second operation of the said sets of rolls upon the bar.
In passing the bar through the three sets of rolls it is operated upon in
the following manner: The puddled bar represented in section in
Figure 9, in passing through the sets of rolls A and B, is successively
shaped of the respective figures represented in Figures 10, 11, and 12.
The bar, Figure 12, is then returned through the upper pair of rolls of
the set C, and is thereby shaped of the figure represented in Figure 13.
In passing the bar, Figure 13, a second time through the series of rolls it
is turned angleways and passed through the three sets A, B, and C, and
returned through the upper pair of the three high rolls C. The bar is
by this second operation successively shaped of the respective forms
represented in Figures 14, 15, 16, and 17; or the puddled bar repre-
sented in Figure 18 may be shaped by the operation of the three sets of
the rolls in the manner represented in Figures 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,
and 26, that is, the bar, Figure 22, shaped by being passed through the
three sets of rolls A, B, C, and returned through the set C, is again
passed through the three series of rolls flatways instead of angleways, as
previously described, so as to give it the respective shapes represented
in Figures 23, 24, 25, and 26. In passing the bar through the sets of
rolls from one pair to another of the whole series the same face is pre-
sented to the rolls until the bar has been passed through the whole
series. It is then turned by the workman, and passed back through one
pair of the three high rolls, when it is again turned by the workman to
be passed a second time through the whole series of rolls; the bar, when
passed a second time through the whole series of rolls, presenting the
same face to the rolls from one pair to another, and so on till it is
reduced to the proper size, as will be understood from the explanation
herein previously given. After the bar has been brought to the required
size by the operation of the three series of rolls it is passed to the
ordinary rolls of the mill marked D, E, F, represented in Figures 1 and 2.
Figure 8 represents the bar being passed through the pair of rolls. D,

page_text: and Figure 8 represents the bar being passed through the pairs of
rolls E, F. The ordinary mill D, E, F, is represented in the Drawing
as being worked by the set of rolls C having the highest speed, but the
said ordinary mill may be placed parallel with the said set of rolls C,
so that the rolled bar may enter the rolls of the ordinary mill before
the whole of it passes out of the set of rolls C. The oval and square
grooves of the sets of rolls A, B, C, are made by forming one half of
each groove in one roll and the other half in the other roll, as represented
in Figure 1. The rolls may however have each a collar on one side of
the grooves to prevent the formation of a fin on the bar; or a collar or
two collars may be put on the bottom roll of one pair and on the top roll
of the next pair. I prefer to have collars on the rolls when the metal
is in a hot and thick state, for the purpose of confining the metal
between the collars and preventing it spreading; this, together with the
blunting of the angles of the bar between the collars will make a very
sound bar. The grooves with collars also enable the metal to be reduced
much quicker and permit the use of a larger bar of metal. I prefer
to make the last set of three high rolls having the greatest speed, the one
for returning the bar when rolling rods of small size, but when large
bars are being rolled I prefer to made the middle set the three rolls for
returning the bar, that is, I transfer the top roll of the set C to the
middle set B, but any one of the sets of rolls may be made three high.
I also prefer, when the bar is in a hot and thick state, to so arrange the
draughts of the said sets of rolls that the bar being rolled is pushed by
the first set of rolls A into the second set B, and by the second set B
into the third set C; that is to say, more metal is made to pass from the
set of rolls A than can be taken up by the set of rolls B, and more metal
is made to pass from the set B than can be taken up by the set C. By
passing the bar through the sets of rolls having the draughts described
the bar will be "upset" or compressed in the direction of its length, and
its quality thereby improved. When the bar has been sufliciently
reduced it is again passed through the sets of rolls, the draughts of
which are so arranged as to keep the bar on the stretch and cause it to
pass through the rolls with great regularity. In rolling rods, hoops,
strips or bars of copper, or alloys of copper and steel rods, I proceed in
the manner already described, excepting that I alter the speeds and
draughts of the rolls to suit the metal being operated upon.

page_text: strips, and other sections of iron and steel; Figure 28 is an end elevation
of the billetting rolls; Figure 29 is an end elevation of the pinions; and
Figure 30 is an end elevation of the driving or speed wheels; Figure 31
is a transverse section of the rolls; Figure 32 is a side elevation of the
quick set of billetting rolls separately; and Figure 33 is a side elevation
of the quick set of strand rolls separately. A, B, and C are the three
sets of billetting rolls, each of the said scts A, B, consisting of a pair of
rolls, and the set C consisting of three high rolls. The said sets of rolls
are geared together and driven at different speeds by the arrangement
of the driving or gearing wheels represented. The arrangement of the
said driving or gearing wheels is the same as that herein-before
described, and the parts are marked with the same letters of reference.
By means of the said driving gearing the second set of rolls B is driven
at a higher speed than the first set A, and the third set C is driven at a
higher speed than the second set B. The rolls of the two sets A, B, are
provided with flattening grooves, and the three high rolls of the set C
are provided with flattening grooves and edging grooves (see Figure 32).
D, E, F, are the three sets of strand rolls, each of the sets D, E,
consisting of a pair of rolls, and the set F of three high rolls (sce
Figure 33). All the strand rolls are provided with flattening grooves
and plain parts. The sets D, E, F, of the strand rolls have the same
speeds as the sets of billetting rolls A, B, C, to which they are respec-
tively coupled. In rolling hoops or strips of large size the pile, billet,
or bar is first passed through the three sets of billetting rolls A, B, C,
and returned through one pair of the three high rolls of the sct C; or
the pile, billet, or bar may be first passed through one pair of the three
high rolls C and returned through the three sets A, B, C. I prefer to
pass the bar first through the flattening grooves of the three sets A, B, C,
and return it through an edging groove of the top pair of the three high
rolls C. In Figure 31 the bar is represented being passed through the
flattening grooves of three sets of rolls A, B, C, and returned through
an edging groove of the top pair of the three high rolls C. On one side
of the flattening grooves of the rolls is a collar to prevent the formation
of a fin in the following operation:-The edging grooves of the set C
are formed by making one half of the groove in one roll and the other
half in the other roll; by this means the angles of the bar in returning
it through the edging groove are blunted, and cannot fin in the next
operation. After the bar has been sufficiently reduced by passing it
through the sets of rolls A, B, C, and returning it through the set C, it

page_text: is transferred to the sets of strand rolls D, E, F, through which it is
passed in the order described with respect to the sets of billetting
rolls A, B, C. The bar is then passed to the hard or planishing
rolls H, two or more pairs of which are required. In rolling hoops
or strips of small size I sometimes dispense with the separate series of
strand rolls D, E, F, and use the series of rolls A, B, C, both as billetting
rolls and strand rolls; that is to say, the whole of the rolling operations,
with the exception of the planishing, are done between one pair of
standards or housings, thereby requiring less hands than when a double
series of rolls are used. As I use a pile or billet of much greater weight
than that ordinarily used I arrange shears near the rolls for the purpose
of dividing the bar after it has been passed through the first scries of
rolls A, B, C, and returned through one pair of the three high rolls C,
and also for again dividing the bar if required after it has passed through
the series of strand rolls D, E, F, as described in the Specification of my
Patent herein-before referred to, so that I can employ several pairs of
hard or planishing rolls. In rolling hoops of long lengths I cause the
hoop to pass direct from the plain parts of the set F of the strand rolls
to the planishing or hard rolls G, H, either in a right line or in a curved
direction, similar to the arrangement represented in Figure S^. In
making small hoops or flats the billet may be flattened by passing it
through the one pair of three high rolls to the proper thickness for the
width of the hoop, and then passing it through a series of pairs of rolls,
the bar being guided from one pair of rolls to another by guides made
of a trough-like shape; and I also use a guide or guard fastened to the
trough to prevent the bar from turning up, so that the trough keeps
the bottom and side of the bar straight while the top guide or guard
keeps the top of the bar straight while passing from one groove to
another of the series of rolls. In making slit rods I pass the bar through
a series of two or more pairs of rolls and return it through one pair, the
rolls having flattening and edging grooves similar to those represented
in the billetting or bolting rolls C. The bars are then passed through
planishing rolls. The slit rods are thus produced much quicker than
usual, and the iron is in consequence much softer to work afterwards.
Instead of employing flattening grooves and edging grooves in the
three high or quick set of rolls C, flattening grooves and oval and square
grooves may be used, as shown in the three high rolls represented in
Figure 34. In order to make the rolling mill take up less room the
pinion housings marked p, p, in Figure 27 may be dispensed with, and

page_text: the pinions may be cast or fixed upon the spindles of the rolls A, B, C,
between the said rolls and the roll housings. In this case the speed
wheels give motion directly to the pinions and rolls.
Although I have only represented in the accompanying Drawings
three sets of rolls, yet more than three sets of rolls may be employed,
cach set being driven at a different speed from the others.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner
in which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I
do not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated,
as the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention; but I claim, as my Invention of improvements in machinery
for rolling metals,―
Firstly. The arrangement or combination herein-before described and
illustrated in the accompanying Drawings of three or more sets of
parallel rolls driven at different velocities, two or more of the said sets
consisting of pairs of rolls and the other set of three high rolls, the pile,
billet, or bar in passing directly from one set of rolls to another present-
ing the same face to the rolls, the pile, billet, or bar being turned
only when it is returned through the three high rolls, substantially as
described and illustrated.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of parts herein-before
described and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings for driving the
said three or more sets of parallel rolls.
In witness whercof, I, the said William Brown, have hereunto
set my hand and scal, this Twenty-third day of April, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine.
Witness,
GEORGE SILAW.
WILLIAM BROWN. (L.S.)