IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN KINDS OF IRON, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF IRON
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Griffiths, of Wolverhampton, in the County
of Stafford, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE
OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN KINDS OF IRON, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS
ARE ALSO APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OTHER
DESCRIPTIONS OF IRON."
Scaled the 24th April 1855, and dated the 26th October 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Griffiths at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
26th October 1854.
I, JAMES GRIFFITHS, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Engineer,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MODE OR PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN KINDS OF IRON, AND IN THE MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OTHER DESCRIPTIONS OF
IRON," to be as follows:-
The description of iron to the manufacture of which my Invention bas
reference is that known as "small hoop iron." The improvement in its
manufacture consists in forming it from billets of larger dimensions than
usual, by reducing such billets to bars of a width equal to that of two of the

page_text: bars intended to be ultimately fabricated, but of the same length and thick-
Each of these bars is then divided longitudinally into two by the
action of a cutting apparatus connected with the "strann rolls," and the two
bars so produced are subjected to the action of finishing rolls to complete
them. The improvements in the machinery consist,―
Firstly, in the application and arrangement of cutters and guides for the
purpose of dividing the bars longitudinally at the "strann rolls," as above-
mentioned.
And, secondly, in improved mechanism for regulating and adjusting with
case and precision the interval between the finishing rolls, the last-named
improvement being more or less applicable to rolls for drawing iron in general.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Griffiths in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th April 1855.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
GRIFFITHS, of Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-sixth day of October, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself,
Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Griffiths, Her special licence that I, the said James Griffiths, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said James Griffiths,
my executors, administrators, or 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 of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OR
PROCESS OF MANUFACTURING CERTAIN KINDS OF IRON, AND IN THE MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS USED IN SUCH MANUFACTURE, PART OF WHICH IMPROVEMENTS ARE ALSO
APPLICABLE TO MACHINERY USED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF OTHER DESCRIPTIONS
OF IRON," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James
Griffiths, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should par-
ticularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what

page_text: 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 James Griffiths, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be. per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, aided by the Sheet of illustrative Drawings to these Presents
annexed (that is to say) :-
:-
My said Invention consists, firstly, in an improved method or methods, pro-
cess or processes, for manufacturing iron of small sizes, by forming strands of
twice the width of the proposed bars, and dividing such strands lengthwise
by cutting apparatus of a novel form and construction; also by shortening
the process of preparing the billets for making such iron by the use of similar
cutting apparatus, to produce such billets by dividing puddle bars or piled
bars longitudinally for that purpose.
Secondly, in certain additions to, or improvements in, the ordinary rolling
machinery constituting the cutting apparatus, employed to divide the strand or
bar before mentioned longitudinally.
Thirdly, in an improved combination and arrangement of mechanical parts
for regulating, varying, and adjusting the distance between the finishing rolls,
and which mechanism is also applicable to other rolls which require frequent
adjustment, such as those for making boiler plates or the sheets from which
tinned plate is manufactured.
In the ordinary mode of fabricating the descriptions of iron before referred
to, each bar or rod is formed singly by rolling down the material to the -pro-
posed width and guage from a billet which has been previously produced by
bolting down a stouter and shorter billet to a smaller cross section, the first-
mentioned billet being required to bear a definite proportion in size to the rod
or bar proposed to be manufactured. My method effects a considerable saving
by dispensing with this part of the common process, inasmuch as it enables
me to use a much larger billet than the old method, as will hereafter appear.
By the common process, the material from which each rod is to be fabricated
passes singly through all the stages. The reduction of the billets to their
ultimate form of bars has also to be effected under other disadvantageous
conditions. From the smallness of the body of iron under operation, rapid
loss of temperature ensues in the first stages of the process of rolling or
"bolting down," so that during the later or perfecting stages the heat is
frequently so far exhausted as to render the result precarious, and the smaller

page_text: the bar or strand in course of fabrication, the more it will be liable to this
drawback.
The objects of my Invention are to prevent this inconvenience, and to
enable the process to be carried on with diminished expenditure of labor,
time, and fuel, and consequently at a reduced expense. I accomplish these
purposes partly by cutting or dividing larger masses or strands of iron into
smaller ones, in place of reducing them by the slower process of rolling, and
partly by operating upon a double quantity of material at once, so that the
mass, being larger may not be so rapidly cooled down, and a double amount
of useful effect may be obtained at each stage of the process through which
such double quantity passes. I proceed as follows:-
Firstly, in preparing the billets, I shorten the process by dividing a large
puddle bar or piled bar lengthwise by means of my cutting apparatus,
instead of bolting it down to the required size by the more tedious operation
of the rolls.
Secondly, I use billets of a transverse sectional area four times as great as it
would be practicable to use for the same purpose in following the ordinary
method; these billets are bolted down into strands of a length and thickness
adapted to produce the required bar, but of twice the width. Each of the
strands so formed is then passed through a pair of cutters, which divide it
down the middle. These cutters, which I shall hereafter describe, may form
parts of a pair of rolls, by whose action the rolling process is continued
simultaneously with the cutting. The two rods or bars produced by the
bisection. of the strand are then completed by subjecting them to the action
of hard or finishing rolls in the ordinary manner.
Many of the advantages attending this method are at once apparent. In
the first place, the billet, consisting of a larger body of metal is more retentive
of heat, and goes to the strand rolls at a temperature better adapted for
working. In the next place, in the operation of preparing the billets there is a
considerable saving of time, labor, and fuel, inasmuch as to produce a given
quantity of small bar iron, one billet only has to be made in the improved,
where two are necessary in the common method, and that billet may be
produced by a much shorter process. In addition to this, the labor, time, and
fuel expended in the latter case in heating and bolting down the original
billet to a second of smaller size are in the former case entirely. dispensed
with. If the billets are made by compounding portions of bars in the
manner termed "piling," the saving will be still greater, because one opera-
tion of piling by the new process may be substituted for four such operations

page_text: by the old, the piled bar formed being divided by cutting into two billets, and
each of these billets containing the material for two bars. Lastly, in all the
subsequent parts of the process up to the cutting there will be a similar
saving, inasmuch as the quantity of material undergoing manipulation will
always be twice as great by the new as that by the old method, and since the
operation of dividing the strand may be effected simultaneously with one
stage of the rolling, it will cause no delay tending to countervail the advan-
tages enumerated. Two pairs of hard rolls will, however, be necessary in
the new process in place of one pair in the old, but as each of these will
perform its proper quantum of work, no loss will accrue from this addition to
the apparatus.
Let it be supposed, by way of example, that the kind of iron proposed to
be manufactured is half-inch hoop. The fabrication of such iron by the
common way would be commenced by forming for each rod to be manu-
factured a billet about one inch and a half square in cross section; each of
these would have to be bolted down into a second billet, about three-quarters
of an inch square in cross section, and this second billet must then be returned
to the furnace, and when re-heated be bolted down to about five-sixteenths of
an inch square in cross section to prepare it for the strand rolls, by which it is
attenuated nearly to the required guage, and then completed by being passed
through the finishing rolls.
For making such iron by my improved method, I prepare for every two bars
or rods to be made, a billet about one inch and a half square in cross section.
This billet may either be prepared in the ordinary way, by bolting down the
puddle or piled bar, or by the shorter process of dividing the same-lengthwise
by my improved cutting apparatus. When prepared it contains the material
for two of the bars to be finally produced, and is now to be bolted down to
about three-fourths of an inch square in cross section, to prepare it for the
strand rolls. By the latter it is gradually reduced to a thickness a little
greater than that of the boop bar proposed to be made, and to a width equal
to that of two such bars, or one inch; it is then subjected to the cutters,
which divide it into two half-inch bars, and these are completed by the
finishing rolls in the ordinary manner.
In describing the cutting apparatus which I employ for effecting the bisec-
tion of the strands or bars, I shall refer to Figure 1 of the Drawings annexed
to these Presents. In these Drawings the Figures are marked with alpha-
betical characters, for the purpose of identifying the parts referred to in the
course of the description. Figure 1 represents a pair of cutters adapted for

page_text: dividing the strand in making half-inch hoop bars, one of the rolls or cutters
being shewn in side elevation and the other in longitudinal section. In
constructing such cutters for the purpose of dividing larger bars, the only
difference will be that they must be made of proportionately larger dimensions.
The cutters consist of two pairs of concentric rings or circular plates of steel,
or of iron with steeled edges. Of the two plates composing each pair, one is of
larger diameter than the other, the difference being greater or less according
to the thickness of the strand or bar which they are intended to divide. In
Figure 1, a, a, are these rings, and in this example the excess in the diameter
of one ring over that of the other is about one-fourth part of an inch, so that
the edge of the larger ring projects beyond that of the smaller about one-
eighth of an inch. The larger ring on either roll is placed opposite to the
smaller ring on the other, so that the projecting edges of the larger rings
slightly overlap each other, and form a pair of cutting edges. The cylindrical
surfaces of the rings, which are in this case about half an inch broad, act as
rollers, and roll out the two bars at the same time as their cutting edges sever
them asunder. b, b, shew the cross section of the iron in course of being cut
and rolled; c, c, are collars on the axis of the rolls; and d, d, shew the section
of a screw thread cut on the latter to receive an inside screw in the nute; fis
á loose collar or heavy washer, intervening between the nut e and the cutting
rings a, a. By screwing up the nut e, the cutting rings a, a, are pressed
against the collar c, so as to be firmly retained in their places. The rolls are
adjusted endways, so as to bring the cutting edges of the rings into mutual
contact, and their distance apart is adjusted to the guage suitable for the
intended make of iron. They are mounted in a pair of holsters, and furnished
with guides in the same form and manner as other rolls.
The cutters a, a, when used for dividing the strand, may be mounted on,
and form part of, the strand rolls, but I prefer mounting them, as above
described, in a separate pair of holsters; because if attached to, and forming
part of, the strand rolls, it is not easy to arrange them so as to make the edges
of the cutters adjustable to each other, as the strand rolls cannot be moved
endwise for that purpose, but must always maintain in that direction the same
relative positions. The cutters for dividing the puddle or piled bars only
differ in size from these now last described.
My improvements in the mechanism for varying and adjusting the distance
of the rolls from each other consist in the application for that purpose, instead
of the screwed pin and spanner commonly used, of a scroll, formed upon the
pin or spindle, and working against a corresponding fixed scroll abutting

page_text: against a part of the holster or housing, the turning of the spindle being
effected by the action of a worn or endless screw upon a worm wheel fixed
on the upper part of the spindle. The general arrangement is shewn in
Figure 2 of the Drawings, which represents an elevation of one of the
holsters with the apparatus attached. Figures 3 and 4 are respectively a
side view and plan view of one of the scrolls. An inspection of the last-
mentioned Figures will shew that the working faces of the scrolls are inclined
planes 9, 9, and one of these scrolls being fixed in the holster, the corre-
sponding one attached to the spindle will, on being turned, impart motion to
the spindle in the direction of its axis by the sliding of the inclined faces
against each other. In Figure 2, h, h, is the holster; k, k, the rolls; and j,
the cap. Against the cap j the spindle s bears, and by its descent or ascent
effects the depression or permits the elevation of the cap, thereby forcing the
rolls closer to each other, or allowing them to separate to a greater distance.
I is the scroll on the spindle; and m, the corresponding scroll, against which it
acts. The latter is let into a cavity or recess in the holster, against the upper
part of which it abuts. The spindle s passes through the scroll m and the top
of the holster, and is furnished at its upper extremity with a worm wheel n.
o is the worm or endless screw, which works in gear with the worm wheel n.
Its shaft is carried in bearings attached to a moveable plate bolted to the top
of the holster, the bolts passing through slots in the plate, which permit the
latter to have its position varied to a certain extent, to meet the convenience
of the workman. On the end of the worm shaft, extending to the front
side of the rolls, is fixed a band wheel p, by which the workman, through
the medium of the worm and wheel, turns the spindle s; thereby-causing the
scroll partially to rotate around the axis of the spindle; the sliding of its
working faces against those of the fixed scroll m, effecting the elevation or
depression of the spindle, according to the direction of the motion com-
municated.
Having explained the nature of my Invention, and the manner of carrying
the same into effect, I desire it to be understood that the matters which I
claim as new and of my Invention, with reference to the subject of the
foregoing statement, are,―
Firstly, the form, construction, and arrangement of parts constituting the
cutting apparatus, before described, or any modification thereof.
Secondly, the method herein-before pointed out of forming small bars of
iron by the bisection of a strand lengthwise, and the use and application
of the cutting apparatus for the latter purpose.

page_text: Thirdly, the method of producing billets from puddle bars or piled bars,
by dividing the said bars longitudinally by the afore-mentioned cutting
apparatus, and the use and application of such cutting apparatus for that
purpose.
Fourthly, the arrangement and combination of mechanical parts herein-
before described, for the purpose of adjusting and varying the distance of rolls
from each other.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Griffiths, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-first day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-five.
JAMES GRIFFITHS. L.S.)
Signed, sealed, and delivered by the before-mentioned
James Griffiths, in the presence of
J. TAYLER,
Patent Agent,
Manchester.