IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METAL
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the Firm of Haseltine,
Lake, & Co., Patent Agents, Southampton Buildings, London; for
the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR ROLLING METAL."-
A communication from abroad by Francis G. Tibbits, of Phila-.
delphia, Pennsylvania, and George E. Weaver, of Providence, Rhode.
Island, both in the United States of America.
Sealed the 2nd October 1874, and dated the 6th July 1874.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 6th July 1874.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT. LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lako, & Co.,
Patent. Agents, Southampton Buildings, London, do hereby declare the
nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
ROLLING METAL," a communication, to be as follows:-
In practising this Invention several pairs of rolls are arranged alter-
nately horizontally and vertically, and each roll is set in housings,

page_text: and capable of adjustment longitudinally in a manner herein-after
explained, in addition to the usual means for adjustment to bring their
acting faces in proper relation to each other.
I provide a suitable framework of iron for sustaining the several sets
of rolls, and the gearing for driving them.
The first part of the said improvements relates to so combining the rolls
of cach pair and the several contiguous pairs of rolls with each other
that the faggot or bar to be rolled shall be surely guided from one pair to
the next in the series. To this end I construct each roll with the shaft
upon cach side of the acting score or roll proper of a lesser diameter than
the roll, and so that when a pair of vertical and horizontal rolls are set in
proper relation the acting scores will by their projection beyond their
shafts be brought much closer together than would be possible if the
scores were cut in a cylindrical roll of the same diameter throughout.
In combination with each roll of both the horizontal and vertical
series guards are placed to bridge over and enclose on all sides, with the
exception of an opening for the passage of scale, the space between any
two contiguous rolls. The guards are all similar in construction, and
consist of a bar of iron having a head set at an angle of about 45° with
thic bar, and shaped conformably with the groove or score in the roll
and the space between it and the next pair, so as to ensure the guiding
of the metal from one set of rolls to the next in the series. The guards
arc set obliquely, resting at their heads in the grooves of the rollers,
their foot bearing being in sockets in the framework. The upper guards
of the horizontal rolls and the side guards of the vertical rolls are held
up against the scores of the rolls by springs, the end bearing of the
guards for horizontal rolls being pivot bolts in the plates, and of guards
for the vertical rolls being shoulders cut in the guards and iron frame.
The guards in combination with the rolls as constructed, and their
arrangement in the series, constitute a complete guide for the metal
which is being rolled.
The said Invention also relates to the arrangement of the gearing for
driving the rolls of each series. The prime mover, which by means of
a pinion and wheel drives the lower roll of a pair, drives through another
pinion the upper roll of the same pair. Other gear wheels give the
proper reduced speed to the upper roll of the next pair, upon whose
shaft is a pinion corresponding to the above-mentioned pinion, which

page_text: engages with another of the same diameter on the shaft of its fellow
lower roll. Upon the same shaft with one of the last-mentioned gear
wheels is another gear wheel which gives the proper reduced speed to
the lower roll of the next pair, and a pinion on its shaft engages with
another of the same diameter on the shaft of its fellow upper roll, and
this arrangement is preserved throughout the entire series of rolls
employed.
The series of vertical rolls are driven by a similar arrangement of
gearing, with the difference only that the movement of the first pair of
rolls is communicated by bevil gear wheels. By thus connecting the
lower roll of the quickest moving pair with the upper roll of the next
in the series, and this with the lower roll of the next, and so on
throughout the entire series, all the pairs of rolls connected by the
train are made to revolve in the right direction with the least possible
number of gear wheels, and with the avoidance of intermediate
wheels.
All of the rolls are capable of being adjusted endwise from one side of
the machine. For this purpose each roll is provided with a cup, which
is held to the roll by means of a strong screw. The under side of the
cup has a cavity of the same diameter as the. shaft of the roller. The
journal of the roll shaft is longer than the journal bearing and check
screws inserted diagonally through the frame bear against a lip on the
journal boxes. These check screws and the screws in the end of the
roll work in opposition to each other. By slackening the check screws
and turning the other screw to the right, or by turning the check screws
to the right and slackening the other screw, the roll can be adjusted
endwise without difficulty.
The scale from the several pairs of rolls drops into troughs by which
it is discharged into a box or receptacle located on one side of the
machine. The faggot to be rolled is introduced into a guide; it is then-
seized by the first pair of rolls, and carried through the several pairs
consecutively.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
i.
filed by the said William Robert Lake in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 6th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, London, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by. Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of July, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the
thirty-eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said William Robert Lake, Her special
licence that I, the said William Robert Lake, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William Robert Lake,
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,
üse, exercise, 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 METAL," a communication to
me from abroad by Francis G. Tibbits, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
and George E. Weaver, of Providence, Rhode Island, both in the United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said
William Robert Lake, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said In-
vention, 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 Robert Lake, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Drawing forming a part of this Specification :-
According to this Invention several pairs of rolls are arranged alter-

page_text: and is capable of adjustment longitudinally in a manner herein-after
explained, in addition to the usual means for adjustment to bring their
acting faces in proper relation to each other.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
O
.
Figure 1 is an end elevation of a machine constructed according to
this Invention; Figure 2 is a top view; and Figure 3 is a side elevation
of the same.
Figure 4 is a longitudinal section on the line x, x, Figure 2.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of one of the said rolls, and means
for adjusting the same.
A, A, B, B, are the aforesaid rolls; Ċ is a suitable framework of
iron for sustaining the several sets of rolls, and the gearing for driving
them.
The first part of the said improvements relates to so combining the
rolls of each pair and the several contiguous pairs of rolls with each
other that the faggot or bar to be rolled shall be surely guided from one
pair to the next in the series. For this purpose I construct each roll
with the shaft D upon each side of the acting score or roll proper E of a
lesser diameter than the said score or roll, and so that when a pair of
vertical and a pair of horizontal rolls are set in proper relation, as seen in
Figure 4, the acting scores will by their projection beyond their shafts
be brought much closer together than would be possible if the scores
were cut in a cylindrical roll or a roll of the same diameter throughout
its entire length.
In combination with each roll of both the horizontal and vertical series,
guards a are so placed as to bridge, over and enclose on all sides, with
the exception of an opening for the passage of scale, the space between
any two contiguous rolls. These guards are all similar in construction,
and consist of a bar of iron or other metal having a head set at an angle
of about 45° with the bar, and shaped conformably with the groove
or score in the roll and the space between it and the next pair, so as
to ensure the guiding of the metal from one set of rolls to the next in
the series. The said guards are set obliquely (as shown in Figures
2, 3, 4) resting at their heads in the grooves of the rollers, their foot

page_text: °
bearing being in sockets in the framework. The upper guards of the
horizontal rolls and the side guards of the vertical rolls are held up
against the scores of the rolls by springs b, the end bearings of the
guards for the horizontal rolls being pivot bolts in the plates c, and
those of the guards for the vertical rolls being shoulders cut in the
guards and iron frame. The said guards in combination with the rolls
constructed and arranged in the series, as herein described, constitute a
complete guide for the metal being rolled.
The said Invention also relates to the arrangement of the gearing for
driving the rolls of each series.
Referring to Figures 1 and 3, F is the prime mover which gives
motion by means of the pinion F' to the gear wheel G, and drives the
lower roll of that pair on whose shaft is a pinion G¹ (the counterpart of
which is shown in Figure 1), and which engages with another of the
same diameter on the shaft of the upper roll of the same pair. The
gear wheel G³ drives the gear wheel H, and gives the proper reduced
speed to the upper roll of the next pair, upon whose shaft is a pinion
corresponding to the above-mentioned pinion G', which engages with
another of the same diameter on the shaft of its fellow lower roll.
Upon the same shaft with the gear wheel H is the gear wheel I, which
gives the proper reduced speed to the lower roll of the next pair by
means of the gear wheel E¹, and a pinion corresponding to the pinion G¹
on its shaft engages with another of the same diameter on the shaft
of its fellow upper roll, and this arrangement is preserved throughout
the entire series of rolls employed.
The vertical rolls are driven by a similar arrangement of gearing
shewn in Figures 3 and 4, with the difference only that the movement
of the first pair of rolls is communicated to the same by bevel gear
wheels. By thus connecting the lower roll of the quckest moving pair
with the upper roll of the second pair in the serics, and this with the
lower roll of the next, and so on throughout the entire series, all the
pairs of rolls connected by the train are made to revolve in the right
direction with the least possible number of gear wheels, and without
intermediate gear wheels.
All the rolls are capable of being adiusted endwise from one side of

page_text: with the guards arranged and operating as herein set forth for the
purposes specified.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Sixth day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
five.
Witness,
JA. EDWARDS,
8, Southampton Buildings,
London.
Wч, ROB. LAKE. (L.S.)