Improvements in the Manufacture of Wrought Iron or Steel Blanks for the Spokes of the Wheels of Railway Carriages and Wagons and in Machinery to be used in the said Manufacture.
Year: 1898

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Wrought Iron or Steel Blanks
for the Spokes of the Wheels of Railway Carriages and Wagons and
in Machinery to be used in the said Manufacture.
We, JABEZ LONES and EDWARD HOLDEN, trading as Lones, Vernon and Holden,
of Sandwell Iron and Axle Works, Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows
Spoke blanks to which our invention relates are used for the manufacture of
quadrant shaped spokes of the wheels of railway carriages and wagons; that is to
say, the said spoke blanks consist of flat bars of wrought iron or steel, having
thickened and tapered ends; or bars having thickened and tapered ends and
thickened middles, the said bars being bent into a quadrant shape to form the
spoke, the middle or crown part of the bent bar supporting the rim or tyre of
the wheel and the tapered ends having sufficient metal when welded together to
form the wrought iron or steel boss or nave of the wheel.
Our invention consists of the processes or combination of processes hereinafter
described for the manufacture of wrought iron or steel blanks for the quadrant
spokes of railway carriage and wagon wheels and also in the machinery hereinafter
described to be used in the manufacture of the said spoke blanks.
By our invention the manufacture of the spoke blanks is not only economised
but the spokes made from the said blanks as well as the boss of the wheel are
improved.
Our invention consists in making the blanks of quadrant spokes principally by
rolling instead of by forging as usual.
In making blanks according to our invention for quadrant spokes having
thickened ends only, the crown and sides of the spoke having the same thickness.
of metal, we take a billet or slab of wrought iron or steel and by a series of rolling
operations in grooved rolls we reduce the thickness of the billet or slab excepting
near its ends, leaving the said ends nearly of the thickness required for the taper
ends of the spoke. The thick ends of the bar thus left are by the rolling operation
made taper from the shoulders where they join the rolled bar to their outer ends,
the tapering thick ends described of the blank projecting from both faces of the
bar instead of from one face only as in ordinary rolled or forged spoke blanks.
The tapering thick ends of the partly made blanks are further thickened by an
upsetting operation and are afterwards finished by bending them out of the plane
of the body of the blank by a separate pair of grooved bending rolls.
By forming the spoke blanks with thickened tapering ends projecting from cach
face of the blank as described, the quadrant spokes made therefrom are superior to
the forged or rolled blanks having the ordinary thick ends inasmuch as the
ordinary separate welding piece to make up the boss with the said thick ends of
the spokes is rendered unnecessary for the welding of the ends of the quadrant
spokes together and consequently the boss of the wheel is improved.

page_text: The rolls we employ for rolling these spoke blanks are of the ordinary kind
excepting that the grooves of the said rolls have figures proper to reduce the
middle of the bar and to fashion the taper thick ends of the bar and for the
purpose of ensuring the accurate rolling of the boss we gear the rolls together
by means of toothed wheels on the barrels of the rolls situated within the housings.
These toothed or gearing wheels may either be made at one or at both ends or at
the middle of the barrels of the rolls and may be cast with the barrels of the
rolls or keyed thereto.
In making blanks according to our invention for quadrant spokes having a
thick middle or crown piece on one face, we employ back rolling operations effected
by segmental rolls having gaps or cut away parts for the introduction of the bar
or slab between the rolls, the bar being shaped and returned by the motion of the
rolls to the workman in front of the rolls. One half of the slab is first shaped by
the back rolling operation so as to reduce the thickness of the metal between the
middle part, which is to be left practically of the original thickness, and the thick
end which thick end is at the same time fashioned, and the half of the bar
unoperated upon being presented to and passed between the segmental rolls is
similarly reduced and fashioned. A blank or bar having a thick middle part on
one of its faces and having tapering thick ends of the kind herein before described
is thus produced.
The rolled spoke bars or blanks are bent into quadrant spokes in the ordinary
way, the finishing of the spokes constituting no part of our invention.
Dated this Sixth day of August 1808
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Wrought Iron or Steel Blanks
for the Spokes of the Wheels of Railway Carriages and Wagons and
in Machinery to be used in the said Manufacture.
We, JABEZ LONES and EDWARD HOLDEN, trading as Lones, Vernon and Holden,
of Sandwell Iron and Axle Works, Smethwick, in the County of Stafford, Manu-
facturers, do hereby declare the nature of our invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:―
Spoke blanks to which our invention relates are used for the manufacture of
quadrant shaped spokes of the wheels of railway carriages and wagons; that is to
say, the said spoke blanks consist of flat bars of wrought iron or steel having
thickened and tapered ends or bars having thickened and tapered ends and
thickened middles, the said bars being bent into a quadrant shape to form the
spoke, the middle or crown part of the bent bar supporting the rim or tyre of
the wheel and the tapered ends having sufficient metal when welded together to
form the wrought iron or steel boss or nave of the wheel.
Our invention consists of the process or combination of processes hereinafter
described for the manufacture of wrought iron or steel blanks for the quadrant
spokes of railway carriage and wagon wheels and also in the machinery hereinafter
described to be used in the manufacture of the said spoke blanks.
By our invention the manufacture of the spoke blanks is not only economised
but the spokes made from the said blanks as well as the boss of the wheel are
improved,

page_text: Our invention consists in making the blanks of quadrant spokes principally by
rolling instead of by forging as usual.
In making blanks according to our invention for quadrant spokes having
thickened ends only, the crown and sides of the spoke having the same thickness
of metal, we take a billet or slab of wrought iron or steel and by a series of rolling
operations in grooved rolls we reduce the thickness of the billet or slab excepting
near its ends, leaving the said ends nearly of the thickness required for the taper
ends of the spoke. The thick ends of the bar thus left are by the rolling operation
made taper from the shoulders where they join the rolled bar to their outer ends,
the tapering thick ends described of the blank projecting from both faces of the
bar instead of from one face only as in ordinary rolled or forged spoke blanks.
The tapering thick ends of the partly made blanks are further thickened by an
upsetting operation and are afterwards finished by bending them out of the plane
of the body of the blank by a separate pair of grooved bending rolls.
By forming the spoke blanks with thickened tapering ends projecting from each
face of the blank as described, the quadrant spokes made therefrom are superior to
the forged or rolled blanks having the ordinary thick ends inasmuch as the
ordinary separate welding piece to make up the boss with the said thick ends of
the spokes is rendered unnecessary for the welding of the ends of the quadrant
spokes together and consequently the boss of the wheel is improved.
The rolls we employ for rolling these spoke blanks are of the ordinary kind
excepting that the grooves of the said rolls have figures proper to reduce the
middle of the bar and to fashion the taper thick ends of the bar; and for the
purpose of ensuring the accurate rolling of the bars we gear the rolls together
by means of toothed wheels on the barrels of the rolls situated within the housings.
These toothed or gearing wheels may either be made at one or at both ends or at
the middle of the barrels of the rolls and may be cast with the barrels of the
rolls or keyed thereto.
One
In making blanks according to our invention for quadrant spokes having a
thick middle or crown piece on one face we employ either forward rolling or back
rolling operations effected by segmental rolls having gaps or cut away parts for
the introduction of the bar or slab between the rolls, the bar being shaped and
returned by the motion of the rolls to the workman in front of the rolls.
half of the slab is first shaped by the back rolling operation so as to reduce the
thickness of the metal between the middle part, which is to be left practically of
the original thickness, and the thick end, which thick end is at the same time
fashioned, and the half of the bar unoperated upon being presented to and passed
between the segmental rolls is similarly reduced and fashioned. A blank or bar
having a thick middle part on one of its faces and having tapering thick ends of
the kind herein before described is thus produced.
The rolled spoke bars or blanks are bent into quadrant spokes in the ordinary
way, the finishing of the spokes constituting no part of our invention.
We will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings
the manner in which our invention is to be performed.
We will first describe the making, by ordinary or forward rolling, of blanks for
quadrant spokes having thickened ends only the crown and sides of the spoke
blanks having the same thickness of metal.
We take a heated billet of wrought iron or steel and by rolling operations we
reduce the billet into a long bar square in cross section and approximating in size
to the bar from which the spoke blanks are to be made. We take the reduced
bar and pass it through the groove 1 of the pair of geared rolls represented in side
elevation in Figure I and cross section (taken through the last finishing groove)
in Figure 2, and thereby produce the long bar represented in Figure 3 the said
bar being square in cross section with two of its angles removed. We take the
bar Figure 3 and pass it in succession through the grooves 2 and 3 of the rolls
Figure 1 so as to produce first the bar represented in Figure 4 and afterwards
that represented in Figure 5. The bar Figure 5, oblong in cross section, is next
passed through the finishing groove 4, Figures 1 and 2, so as further to reduce the

page_text: The
bar and leave at intervals on opposite faces thickened taper parts joined point to
point, as represented in Figure 6, which shows a portion of a long bar which has
been operated on by the groove 4 of the rolls. In the said Figure 6 the thickened
taper parts, made at intervals on opposite faces of the bar, are marked a, a and
the reduced parts of the bar, between the pairs of taper thickened parts a, a, are
marked b, b, the taper thickened parts a, a passing into the thin part of the bar
by shoulders c, c. By an examination of Figures 1 and 2 it will be seen that
the acting faces of the groove 4 formed in the top and bottom rolls are provided
with shaped depressions d, d and with shoulders passing into the cylindrical
parts of the rolls. By the operation of the parts d, d where they coincide or come
opposite one another, as represented in Figure 2, pairs of taper thickened parts a, a
at the required distances apart on the bar are fashioned the cylindrical parts of
the groove 4 reducing the said bar and forming the thinner parts b, b.
middles of the depressions d, d of the finishing groove 4 of the rolls have cross
projections made upon them for the purpose of notching the rolled bar on opposite
faces where it is to be divided. By dividing transversely the rolled bar Figure 6
at the notched parts e, e several spoke blanks of the kind represented in Figure 7
are produced. It will be seen that the taper thick ends a, a of the blank project
from both faces of the said blank and from the said taper thick ends the boss or
nave of the wheel is made, the taper thick ends having sufficient metal when
treated as hereinafter described and welded together, to form the boss or nave of
the wheel without the ordinary separate welding piece excepting for special or
unusually large naves or bosses. The crown and sides of the quadrant spoke are
made from the reduced parts b, b of the cut off bar or blank Figure 7. Figure 8
represents a partly shaped quadrant spoke made from the blank Figure 7, a, a being
the thick tapering ends from which the wheel nave or boss has to be made, f being
the crown of the quadrant spoke and g, g the sides of the same.
The quadrant spoke Figure 8 is finished by an upsetting operation so as to
further thicken the ends a, a and the latter are afterwards bent out of the plane of
the sides g, g by a pair of bending rolls so as to bring the thickened ends together
to form the wheel nave or boss; but the upsetting, bending and finishing processes
of the quadrant spoke are of the ordinary kind and constitute no part of our
invention.
When spoke blanks are to be rolled on one face with thickened middle parts
from which the crowns of the quadrant spokes are to be made we proceed in the
Manner just described excepting that the top roll at the finishing groove has a
depression formed on its periphery suitable for fashioning the thick middle or
crown piece of the spoke blank, in addition to the depressions for fashioning the
taper thick ends.
This modification of our invention is represented in Figures 9 to 14 both
inclusive of the accompanying drawings and the modified rolls are represented in
side elevation in Figure 15 and cross section through the finishing groove, in
Figure 16.
In making this modified spoke blank the billet after the preliminary rollings,
is passed through the groove 4 of the rolls Figure 15 so as to produce the bar
Figure 9; the bar Figure 9 is then passed in succession through the grooves 5
and 6 so as to produce first, the bar represented in Figure 10 and next that repre-
sented in Figure 11. The bar Figure 11 is finally passed through the finishing
groove 7 for rolling the long bar Figure 12.. This bar is the same as that repre-
sented in Figure 6 excepting that on one of its faces, between adjacent pairs of
thick tapering parts a, a, a thickened or crown piece 62 is formed. The long bar
Figure 12 is divided transversely at e, between each pair of thick parts a, a, into
spoke blanks of the kind represented in Figure 13, which blanks are bent into
quadrant spokes of the kind represented in Figure 14 having a thickened crown
piece in addition to the thick taper ends a, a.
the pair of rolls Figures 15 and 16 by which the thickened crown parts are shaped
The depression in the top roll of 5
on the long bar Figure 12 is marked h in Figure 16. In other respects these

page_text: rolls are the same as those first described and represented in Figures 1 and 2 and
corresponding parts are marked with the same letters of reference.
In order that the finished bar may with certainty be removed from the finishing
groove 4 of the rolls Figures 1 and 2 and from the finishing groove 7 of the rolls
Figures 15 and 16 we provide at the back of the finishing groove of each pair of
the said rolls a guard or platform marked i represented in plan in Figure 17 and
section in Figure 18 of the drawings. On to this guard or platform the finished
bar issuing from the finishing groove of the rolls is delivered. The said guard is
fixed to a support and the latter to the housings of the rolls. The said guard has
the form best seen in Figure 17; its middle inner end, which is reduced in width,
fits beween the collars of the rolls and its outer or forked parts bear upon the said
collars so that the bar as it issues from the finishing groove is caught by and
delivered on to the said guard and its removal from the groove effected with great
certainty and without distorting the bar.
The rolls Figures 1 and 2 and the rolls Figures 15 and 16 are geared together
by the toothed wheels k, k at each end of the barrels of the rolls and within the
housings of the rolls; or the gearing wheels may be situated at one end only of
the barrels of the rolls or at the middle of the barrels and may be cast with the
barrels or made separately and keyed thereto. By gearing the rolls together by
gearing wheels on their barrels as described and represented the accurate rolling
of the bars is ensured and the production of waste bars prevented.
In making according to our invention spoke blanks with thickened ends and
with thick middles for the crown parts of the spokes, by back rolling operations
we proceed in the following manner and use for the purpose the pair of grooved
back action or gapped rolls represented in side elevation in Figure 19 and trans-
verse section, through the last groove of the rolls, in Figure 20.
The grooves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 of these rolls are inclined grooves, adjacent
grooves being inclined in opposite directions. The way in which the collars engage
together to form the inclined grooves is best seen in Figure 19. The acting faces
of the inclined grooves are so shaped as to fashion the thick taper ends of the bar
as well as to fashion the thick middle or crown piece of the bar, the acting faces
of the grooves of the lower roll fashioning one half of the taper thick ends and
the acting faces of the grooves of the upper roll fashioning the other half of the
taper thick ends and also the thick middle or crown piece on one face of the bar.
In Figure 20 the depressions in the rolls for finishing the thick taper end of the
bar are marked P, and the depression in the top roll for fashioning the thick
middle or crown piece on the bar is marked q; and the gaps or cut away parts in
the rolls for the introduction of the bar or slab between the rolls are marked r, r.
The workman standing at the front A of the rolls introduces the portion of the
heated slab or blank to be shaped between them, which bar being siezed by the
rolls in their back rotation shape it and return it to the workman at the front A
of the rolls as is well understood.
In making spoke blunks by back rolling operations we proceed as follows. The
workman holding the slab or bar Figure 21 by his tongs at the middle introduces
the front half of the bar into the groove 1 so as to cause the rolls by their back
motion to shape that half of the bar as represented in Figure 21; that is to say,
the formation of a head on one end of the bar and the thickening of the middle
of one face of the bar are commenced. The partly shaped bar Figure 21 is then
passed in succession into the grooves 2, 3 and 4 of the rolls so as to elongate the
half of the bar and further fashion the head and middle part of the bar as repre-
sented in Figures 22, 23 and 24. The bar Figure 24 is next passed into the
groove 5 of the rolls so as to taper the sides of and elongate the head as represented
in Figure 25 and the bar Figure 25 is finally passed into the last or finishing
groove 6 of the rolls so as to further elongate its head and perfect the taper of
the said head as represented in Figure 26; one half of the bar is thus fashioned.
The unoperated upon half of the bar Figure 26 being presented to the front of
the rolls that half is operated upon in succession by the grooves 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

page_text: and 6 of the rolls so as to shape it in a similar manner to that described with
respect to the half bar already operated upon. That is to say, by the action of the
groove 1 the bar Figure 26 nas the form given to it represented in Figure 27;
next by the action of the groove 2 the form; represented in Figure 28;
next by the action of the groove the form represented in Figure 29; next by
the action of the groove 4 the form represented in Figure 30 and finally by the
action of the finishing grooves 5 and 6 the forms represented in Figures 31 and 32.
Figure 33 represents a finished spoke blank made by the back rolling actions
described of the rolls Figures 19 and 20 the said blank having thickened taper
ends a, a and a thickened middle piece on one face. The blank Figure 33 13
bent into a quadrant wheel spoke and finished in the manner hereinbefore described
with respect to the spoke blank.made by ordinary or forward rolling operations.
Although we prefer to elongate and taper the head by the use of the finishing
grooves 5 and 6 yet these grooves may be dispensed with and the gradual tapering
of the head be effected in the grooves 2, 3 and 4, the shapes of which are modified
accordingly.
The back action or gapped rolls Figures 19 and 20 are geared together by toothed
wheels k,k within the housings of the rolls for the purpose of ensuring great
accuracy in the rolling of the bar as described with respect to the rolls used for
forward or ordinary rolling.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as our invention of "Improvements in the manufacture of wrought iron or
steel blanks for the spokes of the wheels of railway carriages and wagons and
in machinery to be used in the said manufacture":―
First; Manufacturing spoke blanks to be made into quadrant shaped spokes
from rolled bars of wrought iron or steel having thickened tapering ends projecting
from each face of the bar, or from rolled bars of wrought iron or steel having,
in addition to the said thickened tapering ends, thickened middle parts on one
face, the nave or boss of the wheel being made wholly or mainly from the said
thickened tapering ends and the thickened crown of the spoke from the thickened
middle part of the bar, the said bars being rolled by ordinary or forward rolling
processes conducted substantially in the manner hereinbefore described with respect
to Figures 3 to 14, both inclusive, of the accompanying drawings.
-
Secondly; Manufacturing spoke blanks to be made into quadrant shaped
spokes from rolled bars of wrought iron or steel, by back rolling operations, the
said bars having thickened tapering ends projecting from each face, from which
tapering ends the nave or boss of the wheel is wholly or mainly made, and also
having a thickened middle part on one face from which the thickened crown of the
quadrant spoke is made, the back rolling operations being first conducted on one
half of the bar and afterwards on the other half of the bar substantially as herein-
before described with respect to Figures 21 to 33 both inclusive of the accom-
panying drawings.
Thirdly The improvements in rolling machinery hereinbefore described and
represented in Figures 1, 2, 15 and 16 of the accompanying drawings, used in
conducting the processes of manufacture referred to in Claim 1, the said improve-
ments consisting in the construction of the finishing groove by which the thickened
tapering ends of the bar are fashioned or by which the thickened tapering ends
and the thickened middle parts of the bar are fashioned, and the combination with
the said finishing groove of a back guard or platform of the kind represented in
Figures 17 and 18 for ensuring the delivery of the finished bar from the said
groove of the rolls.
Fourthly; The improvements in back action or gapped rolls or rolling machi-
nery hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 19 and 20 of the accom-
panying drawings used for conducting the process of manufacture referred to in
Claim 2 the said improvements consisting in forming the acting peripheries of a

page_text: series of inclined grooves with depressions of such shapes as will gradually thicken
and taper the ends of the bar and at the same time thicken one face of the bar
substantially as described and illustrated.
Lastly Gearing together the pairs of rolls of the rolling machinery claimed
in Claims 3 and 4 with gearing wheels on the barrels of the said rolls and within
the housings of the rolls for the purpose and substantially as described and illus-
trated.
That the Tanter third day of Mouch 100%