IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOOPS AND TYRES
Year: 1865

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to John Ramsbottom, of Crewe, in the County of
Chester, Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOOPS AND TYRES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Ramsbottom at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
25th May 1865.
I, JOHN RAMSBOTTOM, of Crewe, in the County of Chester, Engineer, do
5 hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOOPS AND TYRES," to be as
follows:
My Invention relates to certain improvements upon the Invention for which
former Letters Patent were granted to me on the Seventh day of January One
thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, No. 48, and it consists in making the
taper mandril described in the Specification of the said Patent with shallow
spiral grooves, so as to enable it to be introduced into the hoop partly by
rotation on its axis, and partly by end pressure. The improved grooved taper
mandril may be used for expanding the hoops, either in combination with a
duplex steam hammer, as described in the Specification above referred to, or.
in, combination with lateral and edge rollers or blocks.
Another part of my Invention relates to the rolls employed in rolling hoops
and tyres, and it consists in making oblique grooves on the face of the roughing
rolls, to force the metal-to one side of the hoop, for the purpose of forming

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said John Ramsbottom in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
25th November 1865.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
RAMBBOTTOM, of Crewe, in the County of Chester, Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fifth day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, in the twenty-eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said John Ramsbottom, Her special license that I, the said John Ramsbottom,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said John
Ramsbottom, 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
MACHINERY EMPLOYED IN THE MANUFACTURE OF HOOPS AND TYRES,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said John Ramsbottom, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of
their hands and seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said John Ramsbottom, 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 (that is to say):-
My Invention relates to certain improvements upon the Invention for which
former Letters Patent were granted to me, on the Seventh day of January
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, Number 48, and it consists in
making the taper mandril described in the Specification of the said Patent
with shallow spiral grooves, so as to enable it to be introduced into the hoop
partly by rotation on its axis, and partly by end pressure. The improved
-

page_text: grooved taper mandril may be used for expanding the hoops, either in com-
bination with a duplex steam hammer, as described in the Specification above
referred to, or in combination with lateral and edge rollers or blocks.
Another part of my Invention relates to the rolls employed in rolling hoops
and tyres, and consists in making oblique grooves on the face of the roughing
rolls to force the metal to one side of the hoop, for the purpose of forming
the flange of the tyre, by this means a tyre may be rolled out of a cylindrical
or slightly conical hoop.
And in order that my Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying two.
Sheets of Drawings, reference being had to the figures and letters marked
thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation, Figure 2 a plan, and Figure 8 an end view,
partly in section, of a machine for expanding hoops and tyres constructed
according to my present improvements.
is secured to.
the bearings 6
The bearing ●
a is a tyre, which is represented as having been expanded by forcing it on
to the conical mandril 1, the circumference of which is provided with shallow
spiral grooves, deepest and sharpest at the small end, and gradually reduced.
in depth and sharpness towards the larger end; the mandril
the face plate or flange of the spindle l, which is supported in
and e; these bearings are attached to the foundation or bed c.
is also stayed above by the cross stay f. The smaller end of the taper
mandrilis supported in a moveable bearing in the balanced lever d, the
upper end of which is secured by the stirrup d'. The spindle ¹ and mandril?
are caused to revolve rapidly by steam or other power applied to the spindle /',
either by spur gearing, or in any other convenient manner. The tyre is forced
up the mandril in the following manner :-g is a conical roller, with a shoulder.
fitting the back and partly round the flange of the tyre; this roller revolves.
in a bush of the swing frame or-lever h, which is hinged to the slide i, and.
this slide is guided between the ribs c', c³, and c³, fixed to the foundation.or
bed c; j is another roller, in which is a groove fitting the front, the tread, and.
part of the flange of the tyre; this roller revolves in bearings in the slide. i,.
which is moved to and fro on the foundation or bed c by water under pressure
acting on a piston in the cylinder k; the piston rod of this cylinder is con-.
nected at to the slide i; the length of the cylinder & must be rather greater.
than the length of the taper mandrill. The tyre is compressed between the-
rollers g and by water under pressure acting on a piston in the cylinder m,
the piston rod m¹ being connected to one end of the link m³, the other end of
which is jointed to the top of the swing frame or lever h; a portion of the

page_text: piston in the cylinder m forms a trunk or expanded piston rod passing through
the lid of the cylinder m, as shewn at m³, for the purpose of reducing the
quantity of water supplied to that end of the cylinder m when it is required
to separate the rollers g and j. The cylinders k and m-must be provided with
ingress and egress valves, and with supply and waste pipes, and as the
cylinder m traverses to and fro with the slide i, the supply and waste pipes
for it must be arranged to slide through stuffing boxes, or connected to the
mains by elastic pipes or swivel couplings. It is proposed to use water for the
cylinders k and m under a pressure of about 'three hundred pounds per square
inch, but steam may be used instead of water, or screws or other mechanical
power may be substituted for the purpose of moving the slide i, and for forcing
the rollers g and toward each other. The mode of operation is as follows:-
The slide i is forced back to bring the rollers 9 and to the smaller end of the
taper mandrill, the roller g is moved to a greater distance from the roller j,
and the lever d is thrown back, as shewn by dotted lines in Figure 8, to allow
a thick hook (produced in the manner described in the Specification of the
Letters Patent above referred to, or in any other suitable manner) to be
placed on the smaller end of "the conical mandrill, and between 'the rollers 'g
and j, the balanced lever d is then restored to its former 'position, and secured
by the stirrup d'. The mandril Z is then caused to rotate, and the water
under pressure is admitted to the cylinders k and m to 'compress the thick
hoop between the rollers g`and j,' and to move the slide i with the rollers g
and j and the tyre a slowly towards the thick end of the conical mandril, the
rotary motion of which screws it into the hoop or tyre during the traverse of
the slide i. The expanding action of the mandril 7 gradually enlarges the
diameter of the hoop or tyre, and this action is facilitated by the 'rollers g
and j, which, whilst they retard the rotation of the hoop or tyre, also reduce
it to the required width. The expanding action of the mandril is further
facilitated by the traversing of the slide by the pressure of the water in
the cylinder k. The slide i with the rollers g and j, and the hoop or tyre a
are moved towards the thick end of the mandril, and when the hoop or tyre
has been sufficiently increased in diameter, and has assumed the required
shape, the progress of the slide i is arrested by shutting off the water from
the cylinder k. In order to liberate the tyre from the taper mandril, the
rotation of the mandril is continued until the tyre is slackened by the con-
tinued action of the rollers 9 and j, the water at the same time being applied
to the outer end of the cylinder k, which will reverse the motion of the slide i,
carry the hoop or tyre back to the small end of the mandril, or the tyre
may be liberated by reversing the motion of the mandril Z and slide i. The
and

page_text: tyre thus partially formed may be finished in an ordinary tyre rolling mill, or
in any other convenient manner. I wish to observe here that a duplicate set of
rollers g and j, together with the slide i and cylinders and m may be applied
to the opposite side of the taper mandril 1, to act on both sides of the hoop or
tyre a, and that the whole machine may be placed vertically if preferred; by
means of the improved machinery above described a thick cylindrical hoop or
bloom without flange may be worked into the shape of.a tyre, as shewn at a,
in Figure 2, the different diameters of the rollers 9 and j causing the heated
metal of the hoop to fill up the grooves in the rollers; or instead of the rollers
g and j, stationary blocks of the required form may be used, the hoop or tyre
in that case would slide between their surfaces, or a combination of rollers
and blocks may be used. The film of metal protruding between the joint of
the rollers 9 and j may be prevented by the application of a block or roller
fixed to the slide i, and coming into operation when the flange has been
sufficiently raised. The grooved taper mandril above described may be
applied vertically in combination with a duplex steam hammer, as shown and
described in reference to Figures 4 and 5 on Sheet 2, or in any
other machine
for expanding hoops or tyres. In Figures 4 and 5 the taper mandril Z is con-
nected to the vertical bar l', which fits in a socket on the spindle 1 revolving
above in the bearing n, and below in the slide n'; the connecting rod / fits
slack in the mandrill, and in the socket of the spindle P, to prevent injury
to the spindle by the blows of the hammer; the bearing n is fixed to the
radial frame o, and the slide n' is moved up and down between V grooves or
guides fixed to the frame o by water under pressure acting on a piston in the
5 cylinder n³, the piston rod of which is jointed to the slide n. The frame o is
supported above in the fixed bearing p and below in a footstep p'. The taper
mandril Z is rotated on its axis by the bevel wheel 9 on the upright shaft q',
which is supported in the bearing p; the wheel 9 gears into a similar wheel r
fixed to the horizontal shaft r, the bearings of which are fixed to the radial
frame o; to the shaft is also fixed a bevel pinion gearing into the
wheel P, which is connected to the spindle ♬ by a key and groove. The hoop
or tyre a to be expanded is supported on the brackets s, which are capable of
being moved between guides on the foundation plate s. The wheels t
running upon the rails t' support the hammer blocks of a duplicate steam
5 hammer. The mode of operation is as follows:-The taper mandril is raised
by introducing water under pressure to the under side of the piston in the
cylinder n to allow a thick hoop or tyre to be laid upon the brackets s, which
are placed midway between the hammer blocks of the duplex steam hammer,
as shewn in Figure 5; the taper mandril is then caused to rotate slowly, and

page_text: at the same time it is forced down by the water applied to the upper side of
the piston in the cylinder n; the duplex steam hammer is then started, and
the swage blocks of the hammer heads striking upon the hoop or tyre which
is carried round with the taper mandril consolidate and give the requisite
shape to the hoop or tyre while it is being expanded or increased in diameter
by the descent of the taper mandril. The introduction of the taper mandril
into the hoop or tyre is facilitated by the friction of the hoop or tyre on the
brackets s.
On Sheet 1, Figure 6 represents a pair of rolls with four grooves for a
rolling mill constructed in the manner described in the Specification of Letters
Patent granted to Peter Rothwell Jackson, on the Third day of October One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, Number 2261. The two lower
grooves and the corresponding shoulders of these rolls are made with oblique
grooves, as shewn full size in Figure 7, the object of which is to force the
metal of the hoop or tyre to one side, in order to form a flanged tyre out of
a cylindrical or slightly conical hoop. It is evident that when rolls with
several grooves, as shewn, are employed, the hoop is acted upon in succession
by the several grooves, but the same object may be obtained by the use of
a mill with grooved roughing rolls, as described, the tyre being finished in a
separate mill with rolls of the ordinary construction.
.
Having thus stated the nature of my-Invention, and described the manner
of performing the same, I declare that I claim,-
First, making spiral grooves in taper mandrils used in expanding hoops
and tyres.
Secondly, the combinations of machinery for forcing taper mandrils into
hoops or tyres, as shewn and described.
And, thirdly, making oblique grooves in the roughing rolls of rolling mills,
in the manner and for the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Ramsbottom, liave hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of November, One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-five.