IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING, GRINDING, POLISHING, OR OTHERWISE PREPARING RODS, BARS, TUBES, OR CYLINDERS OF METAL."
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Little, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster,
Mechanical Engineer, for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR
APPARATUS FOR DRAWING, GRINDING, POLISHING, OR OTHERWISE PREPARING
RODS, BARS, TUBES, OR CYLINDERS OF METAL."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Little at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 12th March 1880.
GEORGE LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING, GRINDING,
POLISHING, OR OTHERWISE PREPARING RODS, BARS, TUBES, OR CYLINDERS OF
METAL."
In drawing rods, bars, tubes, or cylinders of metal I cause them to be drawn
through suitable dies by means of a carriage mounted upon a slide bed and propelled
by a screw to which rotatory motion is imparted, or by other means, and when the
said carriage has moved to a determined distance it shifts a strap or other driving
apparatus which arrests the motion of the machine. If the article be round it is
caused to revolve during this operation. Before entering the dies the article moves
in contact with a cleaner for removing loose grit, and then against an endless band
covered with emery or other such substance, by which means the scale of oxide or
other such matter is removed before the article enters the dies, and they are there-
fore preserved from injury. This emery or other such band may be in duplicate so
as to act on both sides of the article at the same time. The said travelling band or
bands I employ without the use of dies for in like manner removing the scale or
performing the operation of grinding, to take the place of turning, and it may also
be used with a finer coating or with plain leather or other such material for simple
polishing.
If the article be square or with any other number of sides it will of course require
turning so that each face may be operated upon, but this might be avoided by
employing separate bands placed at the necessary angles for operating simultaneously
upon the several faces.
Another improvement consists in a method of arranging the dies. For this
purpose I form several apertures in one plate, which on being turned or slidden will
bring any required aperture to the operating position,

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said George Little in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 11th September
1880.
GEORGE LITTLE, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Mechanical Engineer.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS FOR DRAWING, GRINDING,
POLISHING, OR OTHERWISE PREPARING RODS, BARS, TUBES, OR CYLINDERS OF
METAL."
According to the methods in use hitherto for finishing rods, bars, or tubes of
metal it has been customary on their coming from the forge to draw them through
dies in an ordinary draw bench, and one part of my Invention consists in a method
of avoiding damage to such dies by reason of the hard scale which remains on the
article after the ordinary pickling process. This improvement consists in causing the
rods, bars, or tubes before entering the dies to travel in contact with an endless
belt or belts covered with emery or other grinding substance, but such belt or belts
may be otherwise employed, as hereafter mentioned. I also employ a general
arrangement of machinery or apparatus for this purpose of removing the scale, and
this I proceed to describe. Fig. of the accompanying Drawings is a front
elevation; Fig. 2, an end view; and Fig. 3, a section on the line A, B, of Fig. 1.
The same letters of reference are used for the corresponding parts in each Figure.
At 1 is a frame carrying a pulley which is double sided with a flange between the
two sides and 2 mounted upon a shaft 3, the said shaft being broken off for con-
venience of illustration, but provided with the usual fast and loose pulleys by
which it is to be driven. The upper part of the frame 1 is provided with a vertical
sliding part 4 carrying a stud 5, upon which are mounted two pulleys 6 and 7.
turning loosely thereon. Passing around these pulleys 6 and 7 and the pulley 2
mounted upon the shaft 3 are two endless bands 8 and 9, the outer surface of which
is covered with emery or other similar substance. The hand wheel 10 acts upon
the slide 4 in the usual manner by means of a screw for the purpose of giving the
requisite tension to the endless bands 8 and 9. 11 and 12 are beds supported upon
standards 13 and 14; these beds have carriages sliding thereon, as will be well
understood by any one conversant with a slide lathe. It is necessary therefore
to describe one of them only, as the other is similar in construction. The carriage 15
is provided with standards 16 and 17, in which is mounted a spindle 18 having a
bevil wheel 19 driven by the bevil pinion 20 upon a shaft 21 carried by standards 22
and 23 cast or otherwise fixed to the carriage 15. Upon the shaft 21 is mounted a
grooved pulley 24, around which an endless rope 25 passes by which it is driven,
the said rope 25 passing around guide pulleys 26 and 27 carried by brackets 29, 30,
attached to each end of the bed 11 upon which the carriage 15 slides, this
arrangement of bands and guide pulleys permitting the carriage to be traversed
from one end of the bed 11 to the other, whilo at the same time rotatory motion is
being imparted to the grooved pulley 24 by the endless band 25 which receives
motion from any convenient source. The standard 29 is provided with a screw 31
and hand wheel 32 by which the guide pulley 26 may be adjusted so as to give the
requisite tension to the driving band or rope 25. Within the bed 11 is a screw 33
which may be driven in any convenient manner; attached to the underside of the
carriage 15 is a bracket 34, see Fig. 3, carrying a short shaft 35, one end of
which carries a lever 36. To this lever is connected a rod 37 sliding through
brackets 38, 39, attached to the carriage 15 and provided with a handle at 40.
The short shaft 35 carries a half nut 41, which when placed in gear, in which
position it is shewn, with the revolving screw 33 by means of the handle 40 will

page_text: cause the carriage to traverse along the bed as in a slide lathe. Attached to the
bed 11 is a toothed rack 42, gearing into which is a wheel 43 mounted fast
upon a shaft 44 carried by brackets 45, 46, formed upon the carriage 15 and
provided with a handle 47, by which handle the. carriage may be rapidly traversed
along the bed 11, the nut 41 having previously been lifted out of gear with the
screw 33. The standard 48 supports rails 49, 50, upon which are mounted
brackets 51, 52, 53, which act as guides, and support the rods, tubes, or bars 54 and
55, one or both of which are to be operated upon, but I will confine my description
to one of the rods, tubes; or bars. The rod 54 is secured at one end in the chuck
56, mounted upon or forming the end of the spindle 18, which spindle is rotated
by the endless driving band 25 acting through the wheels 20 and 19. The handle
40 is then placed in the position shewn in the Drawing, in which position it is
retained by the notch 57 in the rod 37; then if resting upon the lower part of the
slot in the bracket 39, this movement of the handle 40 will, through the medium of
the lever 36 and short shaft 35, bring the half nut 41 into gear with the screw 33,
which will draw the carriage 15, and with it the rod 54, in the direction longitu-
dinally of the arrow 57. The attendant then depresses the treadle 58, which acting
upon the bell crank lever 59 and 60, through rod 61, turns the said lever upon its
stud 62, which will bring the end of the lever 60 carrying a roller 63 against the
endless emery band 8, as seen in Fig. 2, and as the said band is in motion and
pressed against the object, the emery surface of the band will act upon the surface
of the rod, tube, or bar 54, which is at the same time being drawn across the
emery band, and longitudinally in the direction of the arrow 57, by the movement
of the carriage 15, and as the rod, bar, or tube is at the same time being rotated, it
follows that the emery band will operate against the whole of the surface of the
rod, bar, or tube presented to it. The movement of the carriage 15 in the direction
of the arrow 57 is so proportioned to the speed of the endless emery band 8 that
the scale will be removed or nearly so from the said rod or tube by the abrasive'
action of the said emery band, by the said rod, bar, or tube being once passed
through the machine. When the carriage 15 has arrived at the opposite end of
the bed to that at which it now is 11, the end of the bar 54 being operated upon
has arrived at the supporting bracket 51. The catch holding down the treadle 58
is then removed, and the elasticity of the endless emery band forces back the roller
63 carried by the lever 60, and the said emery band 8 runs clear of the bar 54; the
half nut 41 is then opened by pushing back the handle 40, which is retained in
that position by the notch 65 resting in the lower part of the slot in the bracket
39. The carriage is then moved back to its starting position, as shewn on the
Drawing, the finished rod is removed from the chuck 56, another one placed therein
to be operated upon as previously described. In my description I have so far
referred only to the endless emery band 8, bed 11, carriage 15, and parts connected
therewith, but in the Drawing I shew a second emery band 9 to operate on a
second rod, bar, or tube, and a second bed 12 provided with carriage and apparatus
similar to the one before described, and the parts thereof are designated by the
same figures of reference as those previously used, but with an asterisk added
thereto. If it be desirable, the machine may be constructed to operate on one bar,
rod, or tube; in that case one bed with its sliding carriage and apparatus only will
be required; or if it be desirable, the machine may be constructed to operate on a
number of rods, bars, or tubes, in which case a number of such beds, carriages, and
apparatus may be employed situated in different places, each operating upon its
respective rods, bars, or tubes. So far I have referred to removing the scale from
round bars, rods, or tubes only, but an arrangement I propose to use when
operating upon rods of other such sections, as polygons, is shewn at Figs. 4, Sheet 3,
and upon all parts previously referred to in the description of Figs. 1 and 2 I
attach the same figures of reference. Upon the spindle 18, mounted in the standards
formed upon the carriage 15, I mount a circular disc 68, the periphery of which is
provided with notches corresponding in number with the sides of the rod, bar, or
1.

page_text: tubes to be operated upon, which in the upper carriage 15* is a bar 70* of square
section, and in the lower one a bar 70 of a hexagon section; these discs are
retained in position by catches 69, 69*, which pass into the notches formed in the
periphery of the said discs 68, 68*. The endless emery band passing around the
pulleys 2 and 6, previously described in reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3, is shewn by dotted
lines 8, and passing the sides of the bars 70 and 70*, and running in contact
therewith, removes the scale therefrom. After the carriage has drawn the bars
lengthwise, past the surface of the said endless emery band 8, and the scale has
been removed from one of the sides of each of the said bars or rods, the detents or
catches of the notched plates 68, 68*, are lifted and the bars 70, 70%, turned through
the required angular distance so as to present a fresh side surface to the action of
the endless emery band 8; the carriages 15, 15*, will then be back by their handles
47, 47*, to their starting position, and the operation is repeated until all the surfaces
of the polygon or other figure have been acted upon by the said emery band. I
have shewn in Fig. 4, Sheet 3, by dotted lines 73, that two endless emery bands
may be employed to operate upon a rod or bar simultaneously, and it will be
further understood that I may apply several such bands to the entire number of
sides of the polygon in the bars, rods, or tubes under operation by placing them to
act on different planes so as not to interfere one with another. Figs. 5 and 6,
Sheets 4 and 5, illustrate an apparatus which I propose to use for imparting a
longitudinal traversing motion to the rod, bars, or tube simultaneously with a
rotary motion imparted at the same time the articles are in contact with the emery
bands aforesaid. By these means I dispense with the bed 11, carriage 15, and
their adjuncts, described in reference to Figs. 1, 2, 3. In this apparatus I pass the
bars forward by means of grooved rollers, which, while they revolve upon their
axis, also move round bodily, and while passing the bar or rod formed in direction
of its length cause it to rotate around its axis. At 80 is a frame within which is
mounted a tube 81 having a bevil wheel 82 cast or otherwise secured at one end
thereof, the other end having a wheel 83 keyed thereon; within this tube 81 is an
inner tube 84 having at one end a circular plate or disc 85, the edge of such
plate 85 forming a spur wheel, the other end of the inner tube 84 being provided
with a collar 86 to keep the said tube in position. Upon the plate 85 are mounted
pedestals or bearings 87, 88, 89, 90, provided with caps 87, 88, 89*, 90* ;
within these bearings are the spindles of rollers 91, 92, such rollers being geared
together at one end by means of pinions 93, 94. One end 95 of the spindles
of roller 92 is provided with a pinion 96 gearing into a wheel 97 carried upon
one end of a short shaft 98 turning in a pedestal 99 carried by the plate
or disc 85, the other end of the short shaft 98 having a bevil wheel 100
formed thereon, which gears into the bevil wheel 82 before named. Screwed into
the plate 85 is a stud 101 carrying one end of a spring 102, the other end of such
spring being provided with a step 103 embracing a neck or collar 104 formed upon
an extension of the roll 91. At 105 is a thumb screw which upon being screwed
upon a rod 106 connected to the spring 102 forces the roller 91 towards the
roller 92, thereby causing the said grooved rollers to grip the bar or tube and pass
it onward between them. The angular grooves 108, 109, around the circumferences
of the rolls 91, 92, are placed centrally so as to keep the bar or rod 107 in a line
with the axis of the plate 85. In the frame 80 previously referred to is mounted a
shaft 110 capable of turning in bearings therein, and provided with toothed wheels
111, 112, taking into the teeth of the wheels 85*, 83, before mentioned. As these
wheels 111, 112, revolve the plate 85 is rotated and carries the rollers 91, 92, and
their gearings mounted thereon along with it; but the teeth of the bevil wheel 100
being in gear with those of the bevil wheel 82, which for the present may be
considered a fixture, such rotation of the plate 85 will cause the bevil pinion 100 to
be rotated; this rotatory motion is then imparted to the rollers 91, 92, through the
shaft 98 pinions 96, 97, the said roller 92 driving the roller 91 by means of pinions
94, 93, and thereby the rod, bar, or tube 107 is passed onward between them.

page_text: I have said for convenience of description that the wheel 82 was a fixture, but the
shaft 110 is provided with a toothed wheel 111 gearing into the wheel 83 keyed
upon the tube 81, which carries at its other end the bevil wheel 82 before referred
to; as this wheel is turned in the same direction, but at a slower speed than the
plate wheel 82, the aforesaid rolls, 91, 92, will revolve on their spindles with a
speed proportionate to the difference of the velocities of the plate wheel 85 and
bevil wheel 82, which may be varied according to the required speed. The above
described apparatus I mount in duplicate upon a bed E, as shewn in Fig. 7, and
the bars or rods to be operated upon are fed into the first apparatus G, which then
passes them onward to the apparatus H, so that when the end of the bar 107 has
left apparatus G, it will still be drawn forward and rotated upon its axis by the
apparatus H, and in its passage between the apparatus G and H the said bar 107
will be acted upon by the endless emery band F for the purpose of removing the
scale therefrom, as previously described. When the bars, rods, or tubes have had
the scale removed from their surface, I then pass them through dies by means of a
draw-bench. After such rods have been drawn they may if desirable be passed
again through the previously described machine used for removing the scale, but
which machine has had the emery band previously used replaced by others, the
surfaces of which are either covered with fine emery, or may be a plain leather
surface, so as to polish the surface of the rods, bars, or tubes after they have been
subjected to the action of the draw bench aforesaid. When operating on square or
other polygonal sections of bars, rods, or tubes, the rotary motion of the plate 85 is
suspended by disconnecting the gear which drives, as the said plate has only to be
turned round as each side of the polygon is finished. In this case the grooved
rollers in part only a longitudinal traverse to the bar to be operated upon. Figs. 8
and 9 shew my improvements in arranging the dies used in drawing rods or bars of
metal, Fig. 8 being a front view, and Fig. 9 a section taken on the line K, L, of
Fig. 8; 120 is a disc or chuck around which the dies 119 are mounted, the said
dies having each a hemispherical seating so as to be readily self adjusted to the line
of drawing. They are supported by set screws 121, 122, passing through lugs 123
formed upon the circumference of the disc or chuck 120, recesses being formed in
the dies to receive the pointed ends of the set screws 121, 122. The set screws
121, 122, do not hold the dies firmly in position, but allow them to swivel thereon,
as hereafter mentioned. The aforesaid disc with its dies I mount upon a stud 124
screwed in the end of a draw-bench of the usual construction, a portion of which is
seen at 125 in such position that the centre of the die 119 is in a line with the
direction in which the bar or rod is being pulled during the process of drawing, as
shewn by the arrow in Fig. 9. While the bar or rod is being drawn the die 119
will be forced against the end 120 of the draw bench; and being free to swivel upon
the end of the set screws 121, 122, will bed itself upon the flat end surface of the
bed of the draw bench. After a rod or bar has been drawn through the die 119
aforesaid the chuck 120 is turned upon the stud 124, and another die brought into
position for drawing, and so on until the entire series of dies will have been used,
by which time the die first referred to will have had time to become cooled, and
thereby be again ready for use. By allowing each die time to cool before repeating
the operation of drawings, the said dies retain their guage much longer than when
one die only is used as in the ordinary machine. The dies are also more readily
placed in position for drawing by being mounted in the chuck 120 than by the
heretofore existing arrangements.
Having now described and ascertained the nature of my said Invention and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, I desire it to be understood that
I claim as secured to me under the above in part recited Letters Patent, and for the
purposes above set forth,-
Firstly. The arrangement and system of machinery or apparatus, substantially
as described and shewn in the Drawings.

page_text: Secondly. Causing the articles which are to be treated to run in contact with
belts covered with emery or other grinding substance, substantially as shewn.
Thirdly. The mounting and constructing the dies for drawing rods, bars, and
tubes, as shewn,
In witness whereof, I, the said George Little, have hereunto set my hand and
seal, this Eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and eighty.
5
GEORGE LITTLE. (L.S.)