Improvements in Wire Drawing, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Application, 6th Nov., 1896
Complete Specification Left. 6th Aug.. 1897-Accepted 30th Oct. 1897
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Wire Drawing, and in Apparatus therefor.
I, BENJAMIN BOHIN FILS, of St. Sulpice, pres l'Aigle (Orne) in the Republic of
France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
Hitherto it has not been possible to suitably and economically draw metallic
wires of one millimetre and upwards diameter by means of multiple draw plate
machines, principally for two reasons, firstly, the impossibility of drawing at high
speeds which heat the draw plates so as to cause them to fracture if they are of
stone, diamond, ruby, sapphire, etc., and secondly the difficulty of communicating
to the bobbins, upon which the wire is wound between the different draw plates,
the exact tangential velocities which they require. Hitherto it has been only
possible to approach to this theoretical result by forming the feed bobbins of a
diameter slightly larger than that which is suitable or necessary; this assists in
the operation of the machine but it has the great disadvantage of causing friction
in the wires. A result of this is the production of dust which is carried into the
draw plates thereby stopping them up so as to break' the wires or at any rate to
score them in such a manner that they become unsuitable for sale.
According to my invention I am enabled to draw metallic wires, of 1, 2 and 3
millimetres diameter, at a high velocity and without heating the draw-plates by
arranging all the feed bobbins except the finishing bobbin and the diamond draw
plates in a bath of a liquid lubricant.
My improvements can be advantageously applied to multiple drawing machines
with vertical bobbins because in this case the centrifugal force due to the rotation
of the bobbins only agitates the liquid in which the wire passes. If my improve
ments were applied to an apparatus having horizontal bobbins this same centri-
fugal force would cause the liquid to fly up and so would necessitate the employ-
ment of a jacket for retaining the liquid in the bath; even if this jacket were
transparent it would still be very difficult to attend to the machine whilst with
vertical bobbins this is very easy.
The number of the bobbins and of the draw plates may be varied to any desired
extent according to the hardness of the metal and the greater or less reduction in
diameter which it is desired to effect at each operation. The draw plates are as
usual of steel or of hard stones such as rubies, sapphires, diamonds.
The bobbins and the draw plates-may also be arranged in different manners on
the draw bench, such as in alignment, in the form of a square, in the form of a
circle, or in the form of an oval..
"
In carrying out my invention the wire is initially arranged on a bobbin from
which it is unwound so as to pass through a narrow slit into a trough preferably
lined with lead or formed of enamelled cast iron and containing the lubricant.
The wire then passes into the first draw-plate immersed in the lubricant from
which it is drawn by a feed bobbin around which it makes one turn. The wire,
which is always immersed in the liquid, passes into a second draw-plate, through
which it is drawn by a bobbin and so on until the final bobbin is reached. The
last draw-plate is preferably arranged outside the bath but as the wire, when it

page_text: reaches the said draw-plate, is still coated with liquid it does not become heated
nor does it grip.
All the bobbins, which may be of any suitable material, such as metal, glass,
porcelain, vulcanized rubber, etc., according to the metal to be drawn may be
operated by gearing, chains belts, etc., and they may be cylindrical, conical,
concave or of any other suitable shape.
Owing to the bath of lubricant a sliding action may take place between the
bobbins and the wire in cases where the tangential velocity tends to become too
high. This sliding action takes place without gripping and without the forma-
tion of metallic dust.
In a modified form of apparatus in which the bobbins are placed on a square
draw bench or table the said bobbins are each formed with two grooves of different
diameters so that the wire to be drawn passes twice round the table or bench
before being wound upon the last bobbin and it passes through as many draw
plates as there are bobbins; the wire first travels in the smaller grooves of the
bobbins and then in the larger grooves.
In the circular form of my apparatus the bobbins are placed around the draw
bench and the wire to be drawn proceeding from the bobbin passes successively
through the draw plates before being wound upon the last bobbin which is placed
outside the liquid bath. Each bobbin could, as in the preceding arrangement, be
provided with several grooves of different diameters with supplementary or
auxiliary draw-plates placed in such a manner as to cause the wire to pass once or
twice around the bench before being wound upon the last bobbin. The bench
carrying the bobbins could be made oval without otherwise altering the apparatus.
To prevent the lubricant from running down the spindles carrying the bobbins
the said spindles can be arranged to pass through stuffing boxes. Or the bobbins
can be made hollow and have a tube pass up into them, the upper end of each of
the said tubes being above the level of the liquid.
The above described machines with circular, square and oval benches or tables
can have all their bobbins superposed upon a central spindle so that the said
bobbins, which are of different diameters, form a kind of cone.
This arrange-
ment is most advantageously employed with the circular form of the apparatus
and in a suitable form of the same the bobbins are superposed upon a spindle
passing through a stuffing box; the wire to be drawn, in order to pass through
the draw-plates and be returned to the bobbins, passes over guide rollers which
are loose upon their axes arranged around the bench or table. In this arrange
ment the first and last bobbins are arranged outside the lubricating bath. To
facilitate the arrangement of the wire on the superposed bobbins the trough con-
taining the liquid lubricant is provided with suitable means whereby it can be
emptied when desired.
In cases where an oval bench is employed two spindles can be arranged at the
foci of the ellipse, the said spindles being provided with stepped bobbins for
increasing the number of draw-plates which can be arranged in a sufficiently
large number in a relatively small space by employing guide rollers as in the
preceding arrangement. In this arrangement also the first and last bobbins are
placed outside the lubricating bath.
The lubricating bath which I employ in carrying out my process may be varied
as desired according to the nature of the metal to be drawn. It may be, for
instance, water acidulated with sulphuric, citric or tartaric acid to which may be
added, if desired, soapy water, flour of rye or of starch; the acid bath is more
particularly suitable for iron and steel. In other cases, notably that of copper,
an alkaline bath containing lime, soda or potassium can be employed with advan-
tage and to this may be added glycerine if desired. I may also employ oil.
Dated this 6th day of November 1896
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in Wire Drawing, and in Apparatus therefor.
I, BENJAMIN BOHIN FILS, of St. Sulpice, pres l'Aigle (Orne) in the Republic of
France, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in
and by the following statement:-
Hitherto it has not been possible to suitably and economically draw metallic
wire of one millimetre and upwards diameter by means of multiple draw-plate
machines principally for two reasons firstly the impossibility of drawing at high
speeds, as such speeds heat the draw-plates so as to cause them to fracture if they
are of stone, diamond, ruby, sapphire, etc., and secondly the difficulty of com-
municating to the bobbins, upon which the wire is wound between the different
draw-plates, the exact tangential velocities which they require. Hitherto it has
been only possible to approach to this theoretical result by forming the feed bob-
bins of a diameter slightly larger than that which is suitable or necessary; this
assists in the operation of the machine but it has the great disadvantage of causing
friction in the wire. A result of this is the formation of dust which is carried
into the draw-plates thereby stopping them up so as to break the wire or at any
rate to score it in such a manner that it becomes unsuitable for sale.
According to my invention I am enabled to draw metallic wires, of 1, 2 and 3
millimetres diameter, at a high velocity and without heating the draw-plates by
arranging all the feed bobbins except the finishing bobbin and the diamond draw
plates in a bath of a liquid lubricant.
My improvements can be advantageously applied to multiple drawing machines
with vertical bobbins as in this case the centrifugal force due to the rotation of
the bobbins only agitates the liquid through which the wire passes. If my
improvements were applied to an apparatus having horizontal bobbins this same
centrifugal force would cause the liquid to fly up and so would necessitate the
employment of a jacket for retaining the liquid in the bath and even if this
jacket were transparent it would still be very difficult to attend to the machine;
apparatus with vertical bobbins is very easily attended to.
The number of the bobbins and of the draw plates may be varied to any desired
extent according to the hardness of the metal and the greater or less reduction in
diameter which it is desired to effect at each operation. The draw plates are as
usual of steel or of hard stones such as rubies, sapphires, diamonds.
The bobbins and the draw-plates may also be arranged in different manners on
the draw bench, such as in alignment, in the form of a square, in the form of a
circle, or in the form of an oval.
In the accompanying drawing:-
Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of apparatus arranged according to
my invention, the bobbins and draw-plates being in alignment;
Figure 2 is a plan thereof;
Figure 3 is a view of a detail;
Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 2 but shewing the bobbins and draw-
plates arranged in the form of a square;
Figure 5 is a view of a detail drawn to a larger scale;
Figure 6 is a plan view similar to Figure 2 but shewing the bobbins and draw-
plates arranged in a circle;
Figures 7 and 8 are views of details drawn to a larger scale;
Figures 9 and 10 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2 of a further arrange-
ment; and,

page_text: Figure 11 is a plan of another arrangement of bobbins and draw-plates.
In carrying out my invention the wire is initially arranged on a bobbin A from
which it is unwound so as to pass through a narrow slit a (shewn in front
view in Figure 3) into a trough B preferably lined with lead or formed of
enamelled cast iron and containing the lubricant. The wire then passes to the
first draw-plate f immersed in the lubricant, through which it is drawn by a
feed bobbin C around which it makes one turn. The wire, which is always
immersed in the liquid, passes to a second draw-plate f¹ through which it is drawn
by a bobbin C and so on until the final bobbin A is reached. The last draw-
plate is preferably arranged outside the bath but as the wire, when it reaches the
said draw-plate, is still coated with liquid it does not become heated nor does it
grip.
All the bobbins, which may be of any suitable material, such as metal, glass,
porcelain, vulcanized rubber, etc., according to the metal to be drawn, may be
operated by gearing, chains, belts, etc., and they may be cylindrical, conical, con-
cave or of any other suitable shape.
Owing to the bath of lubricant a sliding action can take place between the
bobbins and the wire in cases where the tangential velocity tends to become too
high. This sliding action takes. place without gripping and without the forma-
tion of metallic duct.
In the modified form of apparatus shewn in Fig. 4 in which the bob-
bins C, C¹, C C7 are placed on a square draw bench or table the said
bobbins are each formed with two grooves of different diameters as shewn in
Figure 5 so that the wire to be drawn passes twice round the table or bench
before being wound upon the last bobbin A¹ and it passes through as many draw-
plates as there are bobbins; the wire first travels in the smaller grooves of the
bobbins and then in the larger grooves.
In the circular form of my apparatus shewn in Figure 6 the bob-
bins C, C
.C are placed around the draw bench and the wire to be drawn
proceeding from the bobbin A passes successively through the draw-
plates f, f
before being wound upon the last bobbin A' which is placed
outside the liquid bath. Each bobbin C could, as in the preceding arrangement,
be provided with several grooves of different diameters with supplementary or
auxiliary draw-plates placed in such a manner as to cause the wire to pass once
or twice around the bench before being wound upon the last bobbin. The bench
carrying the bobbins could be made oval without otherwise altering the apparatus.
To prevent the lubricant from running down the spindles d carrying the bob-
bins the said spindles can be arranged to pass through stuffing boxes e as shewn
in Figure 7. Or the bobbins can, as shewn in Figures 1 and 8, be made hollow
and have a tube h pass up into them, the upper end of each of the said tubes
being above the level of the liquid.
The above described machines with circular, square and oval benches or tables
can have all their bobbins superposed upon a central spindle so that the said
bobbins, which are of different diameters, form a kind of cone. This arrangement
is most advantageously employed with the circular form of the apparatus and in
a suitable form of the same shown in Figures 9 and 10 the Bobbins C, C . . . . 0%
are superposed upon a spindle k passing through a stuffing box e; the wire to be
drawn, in order to pass through the draw-plates f and be returned to the bobbins
passes over guide rollers which are loose upon spindles arranged around the
bench or table. In this arrangement the first and last bobbins A and A¹ respec-
tively are arranged outside the lubricating bath. To facilitate the arrangement
of the wire on the superposed bobbins the trough B containing the liquid lubri-
cant is provided with suitable means whereby it can be emptied when desired.
In cases where an oval bench is employed two spindles can be arranged at
the foci of the ellipse as shewn in Figure 11, the said spindles being provided
with stepped bobbins for increasing the number of draw-plates f which can be
arranged, in a sufficiently large number, in a relatively small space by employing

page_text: guide rollers as in the preceding arrangement the said guide-rollers being placed
outside and concentrically to the draw-plates. In this arrangement also the first
and last bobbins A and A¹ respectively are placed outside the lubricating bath.
The lubricating bath which I employ in carrying out my process may be varied
as desired according to the nature of the metal to be drawn. It may be, for
instance, water acidulated with sulphuric, citric or tartaric acid to which may be
added, if desired soapy water, flour of rye or of starch; the acid bath is more par-
ticularly suitable for iron and steel. In other cases, notably that of copper, an
alkaline bath containing lime, soda or potash can be employed with advantage
and to this may be added glycerine if desired. I may also employ oil.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:-
1. In apparatus for drawing wits arranging the draw-plates and the feed
bobbins in a lubricating bath substantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore
described.
2. In apparatus for drawing wire the construction wherein the draw-plates are
arranged around the circumference of a circle and the bobbins are mounted on a
central spindle and wherein guide rollers for the wire are arranged concentrically
to and outside the draw-plates, substantially as described and illustrated.
3. In apparatus for drawing wire the construction wherein the draw-plates are
arranged in an ellipse and the bobbins are mounted on two spindles placed at the
foci of the ellipse and wherein guide rollers for the wire are arranged concentri-
cally to and outside the draw-plates substantially as described and illustrated.
4. In apparatus for drawing wire of the kind described in Claim 1 the employ-
ment of the tubes h inside the bobbins for preventing the leakage of the lubricant
from the bath, substantially as described and illustrated.
5. In apparatus for drawing wire of the kind described in Claim 1 the employ-
ment as the lubricant of any suitable alkaline or acid bath to which has been
added soapy water, glycerine or other material suitable to the nature of the wire
under treatment.
6. The improved apparatus for drawing wire hereinbefore described and illus-
trated respectively in Figares 1 and 2, 4, 6, 9 and 10 and 11 of the accompanying
drawing.
Dated this fith day of August 1897
G. F. REDFERN & Co.,
4, South Street, Finsbury, London, Agents for the Applicant.