Improvements in Machinery for Rolling Wire, for making Wire Spokes, or for other Analogous purposes.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 29th June, 1897-Accepted, 7th Aug., 1897
Improvements in Machinery for Rolling Wire, for making Wire
Spokes, or for other Analogous purposes.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincoln's Inu Fields, in the County of London,...
Gentleman, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has been com-
municated to me from abroad by William George Allen, of Hartford, Connecticut,
United States of America Machinist) and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement:-
This Invention relates to machinery for reducing wire by rolling, and is particu-
larly designed for use in operating upon wire for the production of blanks which
are of reduced diameter for a portion of their length only, such for example, as
blanks for wire-spokes, but the machinery constructed in accordance with this
invention can be used for the manufacture of a great variety of other artioles, as
will be clear from the following description of its application to the manufacture
of wire spokes.
act.
In acting upon wire to reduce a portion of its length only, it is not expedient to
act upon it with rolls having a circular pass, for the reason that the metal is there-
by injured and the blank greatly weakened at the point where the rolls begin to
For this reason it is advantageous to act first upon the wire by means of roll's
which flatten it, so as to produce an oblong, or oval; cross-section, and then by
another pair of rolls having a circular pass which further reduce the stock and at
the same time make it of circular cross-section.
The object of the present invention is to accomplish the entire operation by
means of a single pair of rolls. To this end the rolls are made of a circumference
sufficiently great to afford the required length for two, or more, sets of acting sur-
faces; that is to say, for a portion of their periphery the rolls will have shallow
and broad grooves adapted to flatten the wire, and for another portion semi-circular
grooves. Or, if more than two operations on the stock are required, there may "be""
three, or a greater number of reducing surfaces, for acting successively upon the
wire.
Co-operating with the rolls so constructed are devices for delivering the wire to
the rolls for the first operation, withdrawing it after such operation, and again
advancing it as often as the wire is to be acted upon. The said devices are so
constructed as to turn the wire on its axis, so as to present the proper surfaces for
the action of the rolls. The latter are cut away between contiguous acting surfaces
to admit the end of the wire initially, and to permit its withdrawal between two
successive operations.
At the last operation the wire is released by the feeding devices, and is carried
entirely through the rolls.
The feeding devices and their actuating mechanism may be constructed in
various ways. In the machine hereinafter described as embodying the principle
of the invention, the wire is held at one end by a chuck, or set of gripping, jaws,
carried on the end of an arbor. Suitable mechanism is provided for reciprocating
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page_text: this arbor to advance the wire to the rolls and to withdraw it preparatory to another
advance, and other mechanism for turning the arbor on its axis before the second
advance. In the operation of first flattening the wire, and then giving it a
circular cross-section, it must be given a quarter turn between the two operations
so as to present the narrower edges to the action of the rolls.
To prevent the pressure of the rolls from turning the wire sidewise, a guide
is provided, adjacent to the rolls, which guide keeps the wire from twisting. This
device can manifestly he used with any pair of rolls adapted to roll down a flattened
wire to a circular, or other cross-section.
With the mechanism as herein before described it is referred to provide means
for cutting off blanks of proper length from a wire, and for delivering these blanks
to the chuck, or gripper, so that the machine can operate continuously upon a wire
of any length.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan of a machine constructed in accordance with the present
invention;
Figure 2is aside elevation thereof, parts of the mechanism being broken away
and omitted
Figure 3 is an end. elevation looking towards the right from the line 3-3,
Figure 1;
Figure 4 is an end elevation of a pair of reducing rolls having three acting sur-
faces and their supports;
Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the periphery of one of the rolls shewn in
Figure 4;
Figures 6, 7,
...
7
of the parts and are respectively a plan, front elevation, end view, with some,
and end view complete, of the devices for preventing the
turning of the Hattened wire as it is fed to the rolls;
Figure 10 is a detail of the pivot for the lever which oscillates the chuck for
feeding the wire to the rolls; - .
Figure 11 is a detail view, partly in section and partly in elevation, of the
chuck for holding the wire as it is fed to the rolls; and Figure 12 is a plan of the
rolls and adjacent parts-sliewing the movable pressure jaw in the closed position.
A represents the upper roll and A' the lower roll, each having acting sur-
faces a a between. which the peripheral surfaces of the rolls are cut away forming
depressions The acting surfaces a a of the rolls have shallow, broad peripheral,
grooves therein, acting on the wire to flatten and elongate it, while the acting
surfaces aa which are longer than the acting surfaces a a to compensate for the
elongation effected by the latter, have semi-circular peripheral grooves which act
upon the edges of the flattened wire to make the cross-section circular.
The rolls A and Aare mounted on the ends of the shafts A and A³ respectively,
supported in b
in bedrings in framework B, the lower shaft A³ being rotated by the
bevel wheel, on the end thereof, engaging with a corresponding bevel wheel c
on the main shaft C, driven from any suitable source of power through the toothed
wheel The shift A³ transmits motion to shaft A through pinions at and a
carried thereby, respectively.
ni
17778
"" are a pair of feed-rolls for intermittently feeding the wires to a cutter, -
which latter consists of a bushing: d and a shearing blade d carried. by a sliding
rod, reciprocated in one direction by a cam wheel on the shaft C and in the
reverse direction by a spring d.
As the wire is advanced by the feed-rolls it is passed through bushing_d,.,to a
position to
engaged by a movable gripping jaw e on a sliding.carriage E. The
jawe is pivoted at el and has a rearwardly extending arm carrying a roller e
running along a track e', having inclined surfaces at each end thereof to close
and open the jaw at the proper times. The carriage E is given its forward and
backward movements by a connecting rod connected at one end to the carriage E
and carrying.at it
its other end a roller f engaging in a cam groove, in the side of
a wheel on the shaft C.
dos za oldeţ
-: 47

page_text: After a suitable length of wire has been severed by the cutter and is, in position
to be, gripped by the jawe, the carriage E is advanced as, above explained, such
forward movement causing roller to run up the incline at the rear end of the
track, thereby closing the jaw e tightly against the wire. At the instant the limit.
of the forward movement of the carriage E is reached, the rollere runs down the
incline at the front end of the track, thereby releasing the grip of jawe upon the.
wire. The blank remaining momentarily in this position is gripped at one end by
a chuck, whereby it is fed to the reducing rolls.
The chuck proper consists of two or more jaws h h on the extremity of the shaft i
the said jaws having conical surfaces ¹ at one end, which bear against the
edge 3 of a sleeve arranged around the said jaws and fitting closely about the
shaft to the rear of the jaws so as to slide freely thereon, and is also connected by
means of an annular groove and collar to the end of a rod sliding in lugs
or ears on the framework and having a notch therein with which a spring
engages as hereinafter explained. In a recess in the eilge 2 of the sleeve is
secured a spring catch h which, when the sleeve is turned to the proper position;;
engages under a stationary tooth o situated in front of the rolls, the effect being,
when the reverse movement of the shaft i begins, to slide the sleeve forwardly.
over the jaws h releasing the jaws which spring open and release the wire, the
latter passing on through the rolls. The continued reverse movement disengages:
the spring catch from the tooth o.
!:
The shaft is moveable longitudinally in bearings and carries a wide pinion
thereon engaged by a rack operated from a cam wheel, to rotate the shaft
and chuck at the proper time to turn the Hattoned blank to present its narrow:
edges to, the acting surfaces a al having the semi-circular grooves therein. The
longitudinal movements of the shaft for advancing the wire to the acting sur
faces a a, then withdrawing it by a reverse movement while depressions a² of the
rolls pass over the wire, during which interval the wire is turned a quarter of a
rotation, and again advancing the .flattened wire to the acting surafces a¹¹, are
effected by a lever K pivoted at & to an adjustable slide 1, the said lever K carrying."
at one end a roller engaging a peripheral cam groove in a drum ³ on the shaft C..
At its other end the lever K is connected to the extremity of the shaft i in such a
way as is clearly shewn in Figure 1 as to permit the said shaft to freely rotate.'
The devices for guiding the wire to the rolls and for preventing the rolls from
turning and twisting the wire as it is passed between the rolls in its flattened con-
dition, are as follows:-
is a bracket secured to the framework B (by ears 11,) in front of the rolls A A
An arm of the bracket serves as the stationary jaw of a pressure device of which
the moveable jaw 2 is pivoted at to another arm of the bracket. is a stationary
bushing secured to the arm of the bracket through which bushing the wire-is
fed. It being only necessary that the pressure device should act upon the blank
after-it has been flattened and during the time that it is being acted upon by the
surfaces at a to, close the jaw against the wire at the proper time, I employ a
disc in keyed on the shaft A3 outside of the roll A, the said disc being cut away for
a portion of its periphery so that it has an extended portion m', corresponding to
the acting surfaces a, adapted to bear, at its inner edge, upon a bevelled surface
on the jaw thereby pressing the said jaw tightly against the wire as it slides
between the jaws to the rolls.
In order to prevent the wire from being advanced too far through the rolls before,
it is acted upon by the flattening-grooves, so as to regulate the extent of the end
portion of the wire which is unacted upon, a moveable stop is provided at the
exit side of the rolls. This stop consists of an angular piece p adjustably secured
to aji angular extension on a lever pl pivoted at p to the framework B and adapted
to the raised and lowered from the line of the grooves at the proper times by a
cam wheel on the shaft C the said cam-wheel bearing against a roller on the
rear end of the lever ?¹
The operation of the machine is as follows: The continuous wire is féd
:

page_text: forward intermittently by the feed-rolls 11), through the bushing d to a position
to be gripped by the jaw e, at which instant the cam wheel d³ actuates the blade d'
to sever a proper length of wire. Immediately after this has been effected the
cam. wheel advances the carriage E which movement causes the jaw e to close
tightly against the wire, as already explained. When the carriage reaches the
limit of its forward movement the wire is released, and at the same instant the
chuck is advanced with its jaws h open, this movement being effected by a longi-
tudinal movement of the shaft i effected by the lever K and cam groove in the
drum. During this forward movement of the jaws h, the sleeve h³ is held
stationary by the spring engaging the notch in the rod j, and the conical
surfaces of the jaws engaging against the edge 2 of the sleeve closes the jaws
tightly upon the end of the wire. Further movement of the shaft i carries the
sleeve forward with the jaws, disengaging the spring from the notch and slid-
ing the rod in the lugs. The wire is now advanced through the bushing 15 and
between the rolls (depressions a² of the latter being at this instant opposite each
other, and no pressure being applied by the jaw 12.) If the wire has been-gripped
at the proper point, its position will not be affected by the stop p which is at
this period of the operation in the line of feed. But if too short a grip has been
taken upon the stock by the chuck, due to any slight irregularity in the operation'
of the machine, the free end of the wire will come in contact with the stop to force
the wire further into the grip of the chuck.
At the instant the end of the wire projects through the rolls for a proper distance,
the flattened grooves come into action against opposite sides thereof and flatten it
for a portion of its length. The wire being released from the bite of the rolls
by reason of the depressions aª (following the flattening grooves) coming opposite
each other, the can operates to reverse the movement of the shaft i drawing
it back to another feed. During this reverse movement the cam-wheel i actuates
the rack to rotate the wheel 2, thus turning the shaft i and with it the wire one-
quarter of a rotation, bringing the wire with the flattened part in an edgewise posi-
tion relatively to the next acting parts of the rolls.
The wire is now advanced again by the operation of the cam groove, the jaw 12.
being brought into action to prevent the wire from turning (as already explained)
and the grooves of semi-circular cross-section acting upon the wire to give it a
circular cross section. When the chuck reaches the limit of this second forward
movement, the spring catch engages the tooth o (having been brought into line
therewith by the rotation of the shaft ) so that at the beginning of the reverse
movement of the chuck, the sleeve his momentarily held stationary, the jaws
sliding therein and being released so as to spring open and release the wire, which
is carried on through the rolls. The shaft and with it the sleeve (through
frictional contact with the jaws) are now further rotated by the cam i, rack and
wheel to return the spring catch h* to its original position.
During the time these operations are being performed another length of wire
is. severed by the cutter and brought forward by the carriage to be grasped by
the chuck, and the movements already described, are repeated, thus making the
operation of the machine continuous.
In Figures 4 and 5, the rolls A and A are shewn as having three pairs of acting
surfaces a, a, andia, the surfaces a having flat grooves therein and the surfaces 6
and having semi-circular grooves therein, those in the surfaces a being
of less diameter than those of the surfaces a6, whereby the wire upon being
flattened is more gradually restored to a circular cross section by the action of
the two sets of grooves than where one set only is used for this purpose.
Of course, it will be understood that in machines wherein rolls having three (or
more) acting surfaces are employed, certain changes in the operation of the feeding
devices, are necessary, whereby the blank is advanced to the rolls for the action of
the first set of acting surfaces, then withdrawn after such operation, advanced to
the rolls for the action of the second set of acting surfaces, withdrawn after such
operation and finally advanced to the rolls for the action of the third set of acting

page_text: surfaces. Such modifications, however, will be readily made by any skilled
mechanic from the explanations given in this specification.
Of course, it will be understood that the movements of the several parts and
mechanism must be properly timed and regulated so as to properly co-act with
reference to each other and that modifications may be made in the details without
departing from the nature and principle of the invention, and that although I
have described the invention as being applied to the making of wire spokes the
mechanism may be used for other analogous operations.
As already stated, and as will he readily seen, the size of the rolls. may be
varied, and a larger number of independent grooves or acting surfaces be arranged
thereon, as may be most advantageous for the particular purpose. When, there-
fore. mention is made of two grooves or acting surfaces and parts co-operating
therewith it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to that number,
two being simply the minimum.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In a machine for rolling wire or the like a pair of reducing rolls having sets
of grooves or acting surfaces in the same line, for acting successively upon the
stock, the peripheries of the rolls being cut away between contiguous sets of
grooves, in combination with feed mechanism for advancing the wire or the like
to the rolls, then withdrawing it, and advancing it for another pass, substantially
as hereinbefore described.
2. In a machine for rolling wire or the like a pair of reducing rolls having a set
of flat shallow grooves therein, for flattening the wire stock, and a set of grooves
of semi-circular cross-section, in line with the said flat grooves, for restoring the
circular cross-section of the wire or the like, the peripheries of the rolls being cut
away between contiguous sets of grooves, in combination with feed-mechanism for
advancing the wire or the like to the rolls for the action of the shallow flat
grooves, then withdrawing the wire or the like and turning it a quarter of a rota-
tion, and again advancing it to the rolls for the action of the grooves of semi-
circular cross-section, substantially as hereinbefore described.
3. In a rolling machine, the combination with the rolls for acting upon the wire
or the like, of a device constructed and arranged to act upon the said wire or the
like to prevent it from twisting under the action of the rolls, and means for auto-
matically throwing the said device into operation during a portion of the rotation
of the rolls, substantially as herein before described.
4. In a rolling machine, the combination with the rolls for acting upon the wire
or the like and having sets of grooves therein, one set or sets for flattening the wire
or the like and the other set or sets for afterwards giving it a circular cross-section,
the peripheries of the rolls being cut away between contiguous sets of grooves, a
device constructed and arranged to press upon, or grip, the wire or the like as it is
fed to the rolls and means, rotating with one of the rolls, for actuating the gripping
device while the rolls are acting, on the flattened stock, substantially as hereinbe-
fore described.
5. In a rolling machine, the combination with the rolls having acting and non-
acting peripheral surfaces, of a device constructed and arranged to grip the wire
or the like as it passes through the rolls to prevent twisting, and a disc situated
at the end of, and rotating with, one of the rolls, and having a peripheral extension
corresponding with the acting surface of the roll for actuating the gripping device,
substantially as hereinbefore described.
6. In a rolling machine, the combination with the rolls and a single feeding
device for successively presenting the wire or the like to the said rolls, of a carriage
for successively delivering the wire or the like in proper lengths to the feeding
device, and means on the carriage for gripping and releasing the wire or the like
at the proper times, substantially as herein before described.

page_text: -
1.1
La rolling machine for reducing the diameter of wire or the like for a portion
of its length only, the combination with the rolls having segmental veripheral
acting surfaces, and being cut away" botween the ends of the said surfaces, of a
moveable stop at the exit side of the rolls and means, for moving the said stop
Tinto and out of the path of the wire or the like at the proper times, substantially as
herein before described.
r
8: The arrangement and combination of parts constituting a machine for rolling
wire for making wire spokes or for analogous operations substantially. ag herein-
before described and illustrated in, the accompanying drawings..
Dated this 29th day of June 1897.
admed
"
on
JOHNSONS & WILLCOX,
47 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Agents.