NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING ANGLE IRON
Year: 1883

page_text: "
LETTERS PATENT to Charles Wicksteed of Kettering in the county of
Northampton, Engineer for an Invention of NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD
AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING ANGLE IRON
"
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Wicksteed at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 5th June 1883.
CHARLES WICKSTEED of Kettering in the county of Northampton Engineer
"NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING ANGLE IRON
"
Hitherto it has been found impracticable to bend angle iron into rings or curves
cold, and even when bending it hot the rings have to be beaten straight with
wooden mallets upon a table to take out the twist which is unavoidable with the
usual method of rolling it into the rings
Now I have ascertained that by placing the angle iron at an angle to the axes
of the rolls by means of suitable grooves in the same so that the direction of
pressure of the rolls shall not be in the same plane with the ring or curve to be
formed, tendency to curve in the wrong direction can be got rid of
In carrying my invention into practice I construct special rolls or I can use the
ordinary rolls suitably modified. Usually I employ three horizontal rolls, two at
the bottom and one above; grooves are formed in these so that the ring as it is
formed instead of standing up vertically hangs over to one side; or the rolls may
be placed at such an angle in conjunction with a horizontal table that the ring lies
flat upon the table as it is formed and is thus well supported.
The exact angle of the grooves depends upon circumstances and may be varied
to suit the section of metal being rolled, but I find that good results may be
obtained for an "inside" ring by forming the surface of the groove in the upper roll
at about an angle of 34° to the vertical, when horizontal rolls are used; the
surface of the groove of the lower rolls would be at right angles to that of the
upper one
In consequence of the ring being out of the perpendicular to the axes of the rolls
it is an advantage although not always necessary to place the two lower rolls with
their axles divergent and not parallel to the top roll; this suits them to the position

page_text: of the ring and tends to retain it more easily in position during the bending. The
most convenient plan is to make the lower rolls adjustable to varying angles to
suit the rings to be formed.
In rolling "outside" rings the same principle is involved but the angle for the
grooves would be altered. But it will be well understood that the angles, the form
and arrangement and in some cases even the number, of rolls employed may be
altered as required
SPECIFICATION in pursuance, of the conditions of the Letters. Patent filed by
the said Charles Wicksteed in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 5th December
1883.
CHARLES WICKSTEED of Kettering in the County of Northampton Engineer.
"NEW OR IMPROVED METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR BENDING ANGLE IRON
"
Hitherto it has been found impracticable to bend angle iron into rings or curves
cold, as the difference between the depth of the flange that is bent edgeways and
the thickness of the flange that is bent flat, causes the angle iron to twist and
bend in a different direction to that which is required.
Now I bave ascertained that by placing the angle iron at an angle to the axes of
the rolls, by means of suitable grooves in the same so that the direction of pressure
of the rolls shall not be in the same plane with the ring or curve to be formed, the
tendency to curve in the wrong direction can be got rid of.
In carrying my invention into practice I construct special rolls or I can use the
ordinary rolls suitably modified. Usually. I employ three horizontal rolls two at
the bottom and one above, grooves are formed in these so that the ring as it is
formed instead of standing up vertically, hangs over, or the rolls may be placed at
such an angle in conjunction with a horizontal table that the ring lies flat upon
the table as it is formed and is thus well supported.
The exact angle of the grooves depends upon circumstances and may be varied
to suit the section of metal being rolled and the curve to be formed, but I find that
good results may be obtained for an internal ring by forming the surface of the
groove in the upper roll at about an angle of 34° to the vertical, when horizontal
rolls are used, the surface of the groove of the lower rolls would be at right angles
to that of the upper one
In rolling external rings the same principle is involved but the angle for the
grooves would be altered. But it will be well understood that the angles, the form
and arrangement and in some cases even the number of rolls employed may be
altered as required.
Reference being had to the accompanying drawings in which like letters
represent like parts Fig 1 is a side view and Fig 2 a back view of rolls adapted
to carry out my invention, with part of an angle iron ring in position as when
being rolled for an inside ring Fig 3 is a similar view to Fig 1. but the iron is

page_text: being formed into an outside ring. Fig 4 is also similar to Fig 1, but the ring
which is also an inside one-lies flat upon the table,-the position of the rolls
being altered to enable it to do this and the double rolls being partly below the
level of the table top and the single roll above Fig 5 is similar Fig 4 but the ring
is being rolled the other way round and the single roll is below the table and the
double rolls above Fig 6 is a plan of Fig 5.
A is the single roll and B, B the double ones and C is the angle iron to be bent.
By referring to Fig 1 it will be seen that instead of the angle iron being rolled
with the pressure perpendicular to the "tread" of the ring to be formed as has
bitherto been the practice with the double rolls outside and a single roll inside the
ring, my rolls are so shaped and disposed that the bar or ring is canted over and
the whole pressure bears upon the outside of the angle there being no roll upon
the inside of the angle as in the ordinary plan.
In order to understand why this method of bending angle irons produces
a true instead of a twisted ring, it is necessary to point out that in bending
a bar of iron, the inside edge is compressed while the outside edge is drawn
out and a part at or near the centre remains the original length, it necessarily
follows that the thicker the bar, the greater the compression and extension
must be in a ring of a given diameter. Bearing this in mind and looking
at Fig 1. it will be seen that whereas all parts of the angle iron are the same
length when it is straight, as soon as you begin to bend it, the tendency, if not
prevented would be to extend the edge E¹ more than the edge E' insomuch as
the edge E draws from the centre of the depth of the flange, while the edge E
draws from the centre of the thickness of the flange, only thus the angle
iron would necessarily be bent over towards E' which is in a different direction to
that required, but by placing the angle iron in the position shown in relation to
the axes of the rolls so as to bring the pressure to bear at an angle to the plane
of the ring required, part of the pressure goes to counteract the tendency of edge E'
to extend more than edge E' by compressing edge E¹ and extending edge E' while
the other and greater part goes to bend the ring in the direction required.
Exactly the same principle is involved and tendency over come in bending external
rings as shewn in Fig 3 the angles of the double and single rolls being exchanged
broadly speaking.-It will be noted in all the Figures but perhaps most clearly at
Fig 3 that the angle iron is entirely surrounded by the rolls upon all the external
surfaces of the ring-thus the face C¹ is covered by the roll A.; the face C by the
rolls B. B, the edge C3 of the web by the flange A' and the edge C by the flanges
B. B¹ In order to balance the opposing forces and produce a flat ring it is
necessary that the angles which the roll-faces of horizontal rolls inake with the
vertical should be adapted to the diameter or curve of the ring or equivalent to be
rolled and to some extent to the thickness.and quality of the metal which is being
operated upon but for general purposes I find that angles of 28° to 34° and 62° to
56° with the vertical as shewn in Fig 1 and 3 answer very satisfactorily. The
same proportions may be adopted with rolls which are not placed horizontally as
in Fig. 4 and 5. In these two figures (4 and 5) the rolls are shewn so disposed
as to work in combination with the table D upon which the ring C lies flat as it
is formed. The employment of the table is useful in supporting the angle iron
and for convenience of general manipulation. In Fig 4 the ring is shown with
the inside web at the top and off the table; in Fig 5 the inside web lies flat upon
the table, Both these are internal rings but external rings-that is rings having the
web on the outside-could be rolled just as easily by altering the position of
the rolls.
What are commonly called angle irons, that is having both webs of equal length
have been mentioned hitherto, as rings of this section are most generally required
but other sections of a similar nature such as L iron can of course be rolled in the
same manner, the angles and shape of the rolls being modified to suit. Curves
also can be rolled by this method as well as complete rings
By referring to Fig 7 it will be seen that the axes of rolls B. B may with

page_text: advantage be varied from being parallel with each other so as to make them as it
were radii of the ellipse that the ring presents in plan as shown in Fig 7 and bring
them square with the part of the angle iron they touch and as the smaller the ring
is the greater the divergence of the rolls from the parallel must be, it is best to
make them adjustable to the varying angles required
Having now described the nature of my invention and the method of performing
the same I claim.
1. The method substantially as herein described of bending angle iron by
passing it between conical rollers.
2. For the purpose of bending angle iron in the manner referred to in the
preceding claim the combination of the rolls A and B formed and arranged
substantially as herein described.
3. The combination with the rolls A and B of a horizontal table D substantially
as and for the purpose specified.
4. Placing the axes of the rolls B. B. in diverging lines substantially as and for
the purpose set forth and shewn in Fig 7 of the accompanying Drawing
In witness whereof I the said Charles Wicksteed have hereunto set my hand
and seal this Fourth day of December in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty three.
Signed sealed and delivered by the
before named Charles Wicksteed
in the presence of
GEO W LAMB Solicitor Kettering
THO³. NEWTON. his Clerk
CHARLES WIORSTEED (L.S.)