IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION WITH ROLLING MILLS TO FACILITATE THE HANDLING AND EXPEDITE THE ROLLING OF MASSES OF METAL
Year: 1872

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Peter Kirk, of Workington, in the County of
Cumberland, Iron Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION WITH ROLLING MILLS TO
FACILITATE THE HANDLING AND EXPEDITE THE ROLLING OF MASSES OF
METAL."
Sealed the 9th May 1873, and dated the 20th November 1872.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Peter Kirk at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
20th November 1872.
I, PETER KIRK, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland, Iron
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN CONNECTION WITH ROLLING
MILLS TO FACILITATE THE HANDLING AND EXPEDITE THE ROLLING OF MASSES OF
METAL," to be as follows:-
My Invention relates more particularly to the rolling of bars, plates,
or masses of iron or metal of great weight, but may also be advan-
tageously employed wholly or in part in the rolling of bars, plates, or
masses of a comparatively moderate weight. In the rolling, for example,

page_text: of bars of iron I employ travelling bogies running on tables or platforms,
which are hinged at one end to fixed supports, the other ends of the said
tables being provided with means whereby the said ends are raised and
lowered. This arrangement is applicable principally to mills having
three or more rolls working together. The bogie on one table receives
the bar or mass of iron as it issues from between the lower pair of rolls,
and when through the end of the said table is so much raised as that the
said bar or mass of iron may be conveniently passed between the upper
pair of rolls, and be received by the bogie on the other table, which has
also been raised. One end of the last-named table is then lowered, so as
that the bar or mass of iron may be returned between the lower rolls. I
prefer to raise and lower the ends of both tables simultaneously by
means of steam power or of hydraulic power as may be preferred, as,
for example, the ends of the said tables may be suspended by means of
chains or wire ropes passing over pulleys, and be directly connected
with the piston rod of a steam cylinder, or with the piston rods
of two or more steam cylinders. The upper surfaces of the said
tables may be plain, but I prefer to employ an arrangement of
guiding and shunting grooves to effect the lateral movement of the
bogies or of one of the said bogies. I form sets of straight guiding
grooves on the table, the wheels of the bogies running in the said
grooves; and I also form sets of shunting grooves, which guide the
bogie laterally from one set of straight grooves to another, the arrange-
ment being such as that when the bogie passes from one set of grooves
to another set the wheels of the said bogie drop to some extent, the
grooves which the wheels are entering being deeper than the grooves the
wheels are leaving. The said wheels have thus no tendency to pass
back into the grooves which they have left, and as the bogie passes to
and fro in the direction of the length of the table the said bogie is
shunted or shifted from one set of guiding grooves to another without
any attention or interference on the part of the operators, the bar or
mass of iron being thereby successively presented at the several sets of
grooves in the mill.
In most cases the said guiding and shunting grooves are only required
on one side of the mill.
A hinged frame may then be employed in lieu of one of the said
tables, a travelling table or bogie being fitted to move on the said frame
towards and from the rolls. On or to the upper surface of the said

page_text: travelling table or bogie I fix adjustable stops at such points as that the
bar or mass of iron may move a suitable distance over the said
travelling table or bogie before it comes into contact with one of the
said stops, and thereby gives motion to the said travelling table or bogie.
Projecting rails may be employed in lieu of the said grooves if pre-
ferred, and also the said arrangement of guiding grooves or rails may be
used on fixed platforms or on lifting tables or platforms which are not
hinged, as herein aforesaid, or the bogies may be used on such lifting
tables without the said guiding grooves or rails.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Peter Kirk in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
20th May 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, PETER
KIRK, of Workington, in the County of Cumberland, Iron Manufacturer,
send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twentieth day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two, in the thirty-sixth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Peter Kirk, Her special license that I, the said
Peter Kirk, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said Peter Kirk, 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, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle
of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN
CONNECTION WITH ROLLING MILLS, TO FACILITATE THE HANDLING AND EXPEDITE THE
ROLLING OF MASSES OF METAL," upon the condition, amongst others, that I,
the said Peter Kirk, by an instrument in writing under my hand and
seal, 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.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that I; the said Peter Kirk, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates more particularly to the rolling of bars, plates, |
or masses of iron or metal of great weight, but may also be advan-
tageously employed wholly or in part in the rolling of bars, plates, or
masses of a comparatively moderate weight. In the rolling, for example,
of bars of iron I employ travelling bogies running on tables or platforms,
which are hinged at one end to fixed supports, the other ends of the said
tables being provided with means whereby the said ends are raised and
lowered. This arrangement is applicable principally to mills having
three or more rolls working together. The bogie on one table receives
the bar or mass of iron as it issues from between the lower pair-of rolls,
and when through the end of the said table is so much raised as that
the said bar or mass of iron may be conveniently passed between the
upper pair of rolls, and be received by the bogie on the other table,
which has also been raised. One end of the last-named table is then
lowered, so as that the bar or mass of iron may be returned between the
lower rolls. I prefer to raise and lower the ends of both tables simul-
taneously by means of steam power or of hydraulic power as may be
preferred, as, for example, the ends of the said tables may be suspended
by means of chains or wire ropes passing over pulleys, and be directly
connected with the piston rod of a steam cylinder, or with piston rods of
two or more steam cylinders. The upper surfaces of the said tables may
be plain, but I prefer to employ an arrangement of guiding and shunting
grooves to effect the lateral movement of the bogies, or of one of the said
bogies. I form sets of guiding grooves on the table, the wheels of the
bogie running in the said grooves; and I also form sets of shunting
grooves which guide the bogie laterally from one set of straight grooves.
to another, the arrangement being such as that when the bogie passes
from one set of grooves to another set the wheels of the said bogie drop
to some extent, the grooves which the wheels are entering being
deeper than the grooves which the wheels are leaving. The said wheels
have thus no tendency to pass back into the grooves which they have
left, and as the bogie passes to and fro in the direction of the length of
the table, the said bogie is shunted or shifted from one set of guiding
grooves to another without any attention or interference on the part of

page_text: the operator, the bar or mass of iron being thereby successively
presented at the several set of grooves in the mill.
In most cases the said guiding and shunting grooves are only required
on one side of the mill.
A hinged frame may then be employed in lieu of one of the said
tables, a travelling table or bogie being fitted to move on the said frame
towards and from the rolls. On or to the upper surface of the said
travelling table or bogie I fix adjustable stops at such points as that the
bar or mass of iron may move a suitable distance over the said travelling
table or bogie before it comes into contact with one of the said stops,
and thereby gives motion to the said travelling table or bogie.
And in order that my said Invention may be well understood I have
supplied to accompany this Specification a Sheet of Drawings illustrative
of the means whereby I carry the said Invention into practical effect,
the said Drawings being marked with letters of reference, corresponding
marks indicating the same parts in the various figures.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 represents an
elevation partly in section of so much of a rolling mill as is necessary to
be shown for the purposes of illustration, and Fig. 2 is a plan of the
same. The said mill contains three rolls a, b, and c, which revolve con-
tinuously, the mass of metal being passed between the rolls b and c to
one side of the mill, and back again between the rolls a and b. A strong
platform d, consisting of a wrought-iron framing covered with cast-iron
plates is hinged at e to pedestals, which are secured to a suitable
5 foundation. A framing ƒ consisting of two trussed 'girders connected
together, is hinged at g to pedestals, which are also secured to a foun-
dation. The tops of the girders of the framing fare suitably formed to
serve as rails or are fitted with rails on which the bogie h may travel.
The surface of the platform d is in this example formed with guiding
) grooves i, i, in which run the wheels of the bogie j. The said bogie is
suitably provided with a brake and with a buffer block k, which comes
or may come into contact with a fender / when the bogie is “
run in."
The grooves on the said platform, or two or more of them, may com-
municate with lines of grooves leading to the furnace, in order that the
5 iron to be rolled may be more readily conveyed to the rolls, but this
arrangement is not essential. The upper surface of the bogie h is
formed with slots or holes, in which stops may be placed in varying

page_text: positions as the mass of iron increases in length. The platform & is
balanced or partly balanced by means of a weight m, which is suspended
from a lever n which is connected by one end with the said platform, a
corresponding arrangement being employed for the framing f. The
ends of the platform d and of the framing f, which are nearest to the
rolls, are suspended by rods o, o, there being in this example four of the
said rods which are jointed to the four corners of a rectangular iron
frame p. The frame p is sustained by the chain q which is conducted
to a steam cylinder fixed in a convenient position, and is connected with
the piston rod of. the said cylinder. The said cylinder is provided with
suitable appliances for regulating the admission and emission of steam;
but as the manner of effecting this part of my Invention will be well
understood, and as the means employed may be greatly varied it has
not been considered necessary to represent the said steam cylinder in the
Drawings.
Steam is now
platform and
The operation of the various parts may be described as follows :-
Supposing the platform d and framing f to be in their lowest positions,
as represented by the full lines in Fig. 1, and a bloom or mass of
iron to have been placed on the bogie j, the said bogie is now run in,
say, for example, down the grooves marked 1, and the said bloom is
drawn through the rolls and is received by the bogie h.
admitted to the aforesaid steam cylinder, whereby the said
framing are elevated into the positions represented by the dotted lines.
The bloom is now passed through the upper rolls, and is received by the
bogie j. In practice the said bogie is prevented from moving by means
of the brake until a little more than half the length of the bloom or bar
has passed over the roller at the end of the said bogie, when the said
bogie is allowed to run down the platform, and is guided by the shunting
grooves represented by the curved lines in Fig. 2, and on a larger scale
in Fig. 3, into the grooves marked 2. The platform and frame with the
bogies are now lowered, and the bogie j is returned to the rolls
passing down the shunting grooves marked 3, and the bloom or bar is
passed through the second set of grooves in the lower rolls. These
operations being repeated the iron may be successively passed through
all the sets of grooves in the rolls, or through as many as may
required.
A platform having guiding and shunting grooves or rails may be

page_text: Projecting rails may be used instead of the grooves in the said plat-
form or platforms if preferred, and also the herein described arrange-
ment of guiding grooves or rails may be used on fixed platforms,
or on tables or platforms which are lifted bodily instead of being
raised at one end, or the bogies may be used on tables or platforms
which are lifted bodily, but which have not the said guiding grooves, as
I believe that previously to my said Invention bogies have not been
used in the manner herein set forth.
Having now fully described and indicated the nature of my said
Invention, and the means whereby I carry the same into effect, I would
in conclusion have it to be understood that I claim,―
First. The employment of platforms or framings, which are arranged
to be raised and lowered at one end, substantially as and for the purposes
herein-before set forth and indicated.
Secondly. The employment of bogies on movable platforms, sub-
stantially as and for the purpose herein-before set forth and indicated.
Thirdly. The employment of grooves or rails for guiding the bogies to
the different sets of grooves in rolling mills, substantially as set forth
and indicated herein-before, and by the accompanying Drawings.
And, lastly. The general arrangement of the apparatus as herein-
before described, and as illustrated by the accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Peter Kirk, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Nineteenth day of May, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Signed and sealed by the said Peter Kirk,
in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent for the Patentee,
Manchester.
PETER KIRK. (L.S.)