A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN CORRUGATED METALS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Montgomery, of the City, County, and State
of New York, in the United States of America, Gentleman, for the
Invention of "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN CORRUGATED METALS,
AND IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME."
Sealed the 4th August 1854, and dated the 24th March 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Montgomery at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
24th, March 1854.
I, RICHARD MONTGOMERY, of the City, County, and State of New York, in
the United States of America, do hereby declare the nature of the said In-
vention for "A NEW AND USEFUL IMPROVEMENT IN CORRUGATED METALS, AND IN
MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME," to be as follows:-
The first branch of this invention relates to the manufacture of metal plates
applicable to steam boilers and other purposes, which plates are plain on their
margins and corrugated within, the corrugated part being thinner than the
margins. In effecting this object, I employ rollers suitably shaped on their
periphery for producing these corrugated plates from plain sheets or plates.
By forming the plates with thick flat margins, they will, when rivetted together,
give great stiffness to the joint, and furnish a firm basis on which to head down

page_text: the rivets; the reduction in thickness of the middle, and a corresponding
increase of its surface, add greatly to its capacity to transmit the heat from fire
or flame on one side of it to a liquid on its opposite side. Moreover, the great
comparative thickness of the plate at the base of the rivet operates as a frame
to stiffen, strengthen, and keep in place a series of plates rivetted together, in
this way dispensing in many cases with the use of angle iron. The plate may
be bent into any required shape, either in the process of corrugating or
subsequently, to adapt them to rectangular, circular, or other structures.
Whenever the folds are required to be so deep as to endanger the fracture
of the metal if they were formed abruptly by passing through a single pair of
rollers, they may be formed by using a series of pairs of rollers which make
the folds gradually deeper, and heating the sheet in the interval between its
passage through the successive pairs.
The second branch of this Invention relates to the corrugating of plates of
metal into beams, suitable for houses, bridges, ships, &c.
In carrying out this part of the Invention, the plates are passed a number
of times through a pair of grooved rollers and a stationary crimping die, by
which the folds of the beam are gradually brought to the proper depth without
endangering the rupture of the metal, which is unavoidable when the corruga-
tion of folds of any considerable depth is effected by rollers alone.
The rollers are made to match together in such manner as to leave spaces
between them corresponding in length to the width of the plate to be corru-
gated. The spaces are all of a length measured in the line of their sinuosities.
The several folds becoming nearer each other, just in proportion as they
increase in depth, so that the distance between the opposite sides of the beam
measured in a straight line is least when the folds are deepest, and greatest
while the corrugations are shallowest. In rear of these rollers a crimping die
is placed, which consists of two blocks, with grooves across them; opposite and
on a level with the openings between the rollers.
These grooves at the end next the rollers are bell-mouthed, to facilitate the
entrance of the plate between them, while their transverse curvature within
the bell mouth corresponds to that of the openings between the rollers. These
grooves, however, become gradually narrower and deeper as they approach the
opposite side of the die; so that when a plate is forced through them from the
rollers its folds will be deepened and brought nearer together in proportion to
the degree of taper of the grooves. When the plate leaves the grooves of the die.
the depth of its folds and their distance apart will correspond to the size of the
opening in the rollers adjacent to that through which it last passed, in order

page_text: that it may enter therein freely and be further crimped, by being forced through
another groove of the die adjacent to the last it passed through; in this way
the crimping is effected chiefly by the die. For the purpose of more readily
passing the plate through the die, a pair of rollers may be placed in front of it
to seize the protruding end as it is forced through the die by the action of the
rollers behind.
In case the die should be placed somewhat lower or higher at its rear side
than the openings between the back rollers, the beams made by this arrange-
ment would be arched. This effect would be produced still better by curving
the grooves in the die block, so as to correspond to the arch or curvature in
the beams which it is desired to make.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Richard Montgomery in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 23rd September 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, RICHARD
MONTGOMERY, of the City, County, and State of New York, in the United
States of America, Gentleman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said Richard Montgomery, Her special license that I, the said Richard
Montgomery, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the
said Richard Montgomery, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there-
after 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 "A NEW AND USEFUL
IMPROVEMENT IN CORRUGATED METALS, AND IN MACHINERY FOR PRODUCING THE SAME,'
being a communication from abroad, upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said Richard Montgomery, 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: per-
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Montgomery, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the
letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
:-
The first branch of my Invention consists in making plates of metal
applicable to steam boilers and other purposes, plain on their margins and
corrugated within, the corrugated part being thinner than the margin. It
also consists of rolls of a peculiar construction for producing these corrugated
plates from plain sheets or plates, and for bending and arching them.when
necessary.
The second branch of my Invention consists in machinery for corrugating
plates of metal into beams suitable for houses, bridges, ships, &c., in which
machinery the plate is passed a number of times through a pair of grooved
rolls and a stationary crimping die, by which the folds of the beam are
gradually brought to the proper depth, without endangering rupture of the
metal, which is unavoidable when the corrugation of folds of any considerable
depth is effected by rollers alone.
In the accompanying Drawing, Fig. 1 represents a plan; and Fig. 2, a
transverse section of one of my new boiler plates, with a series of rivet holes
punched in its margin; Fig. 3 represents a side elevation of a pair of my
improved rolls; and Fig. 4, a transverse section taken at the line x, x, of Fig. 3;
showing in black lines a blank or plain plate of metal just entering the rolls to
be corrugated, and in red lines the same plate just leaving the rolls after it has
been corrugated and bent or arched; Fig. 5 represents a plan of machinery
for corrugating plates into a form suitable for beams and joists of houses,
bridges, ships, &c.; Fig. 6 represents a longitudinal section through the front
rolls at the line o, o, of Fig. 5; Fig. 7, a transverse section at the line a, x, of
Fig. 5, shewing a plate designed for a beam on its passage through the machine
where the depth of the folds is the least; Fig. 8, a similar section through
the crimping dies at the line ☑..of Fig. 5, to shew the greatest depth
of the folds; Fig. 9, an elevation of the crimping dies, shewing the configura-
tion of and bell-shaped entrances to the spaces through which the plate passes
to be crimped; and Fig. 10, a longitudinal section through the crimping dies
at the line 2, 2, of Fig. 5, shewing the configuration of the crimping spaces
near the point at which the plate passes therefrom. The dotted lines in
Figs. 9 and 10 shew the approximation of the crimping folds towards each
other from front to rear of the dies, and the increase of depth of the folds

page_text: corresponding to this approximation is shewn by the dotted lines in Figs. 7
and 8.
The margin A of my improved plate, shewn in Figs. 1 and 2, is about
double the thickness of the middle B, which is intended to double its original
linear dimensions in the direction of the arrows c, while the depth of the folds
of the corrugation is such, that the plate, notwithstanding its attenuation, will
possess much greater lateral stiffness than it would have done if left flat, and
of the thickness of the margin. The plate is extended but little in the direction
of the folds of the corrugation, and this is compensated for by the protrusion of
the ends e of the folds.
The folds are produced (while the margin is left flat) by a pair of fluted
rolls (Figs. 3 and 4), made of a length equal to the width of the sheets to
be corrugated, and in circumference equal to their length, the length being the
distance between the outer edges of the flat margins a, a, on the ends of the
rolls, and the circumference being measured on the surface of these margins.
Between these margins a series of circumferential grooves 6 and ridges
or tongues d are made, of a width and depth corresponding to the breadth
and depth of the required corrugations; the ridges of one roll are made to
match into the grooves of the other, but so as to leave a space between the two
equal to the thickness of the sheet of metal when corrugated. The radius of
the grooves b in this example is made less than the radius of the flat margins
a, a, and the radius of the ridges is made greater than that of the margins, so
that the corrugation will protrude on each side of the plate the same distance
beyond the margins. The margins a and a on the ends of the rolls form the
flat side margins 1, 1, of the plates, but the end margins 2, 2, of the plates
are formed by a flattened strip m on one side of each roll, which is formed by
removing the outer portion of the ridges for a length equal to twice the width
of the flat margin a of the plate, until the radius of the portion of the rib thus
flattened is the same as that of the margins a, a, on the ends of the rolls. The
rolls thus shaped are geared together by equal cog wheels E, E, so that the
flattened strips m, m, will always meet precisely opposite to each other once
during each revolution of the rolls.
The two surfaces of the rolls thus formed are each the counterpart of the
other, and their point of nearest approximation, which is in the plane that
passes through their axes, leaves a space of the proper thickness and shape for
the plate. On the back edge of each of the standards F an adjustable bracket
is secured by means of screw bolts g. Each bracket has a horizontal slot in it,
in which a brass i is fitted, which supports the journals of a small roll H, with

page_text: ridges and grooves in it, corresponding to those of the lower roll N. The
purpose of this roll is to support the plate as it issues from the rolls, and when
it is required to bend or arch the plate the roll is raised, so as to deflect it as it
leaves the rolls M and N to the extent necessary to give it the desired curvature.
An example of a plate thus curved is shown in red lines at P¹, Fig. 4.
A pair of guard plates is bolted to the front edges of the standards to direct
the plate P properly between the rolls. Each of these guard plates has a
series of holes r in it, to receive horizontal bars to support the plate which is
being fed into the rolls. Some of the devices well known for ensuring the
entrance of articles between metal rolls at the proper point of their revolution
should be employed to ensure the feeding of the plate between the rolls at the
moment the flat strips m are approaching the point of nearest approximation,
so that the end of the plate may be seized on the middle of the space m on the
line
of the rolls M and N, Fig. 3. By this means all the plates
will be made with margins of uniform width.
I have described rolls whose circumference only equals the length of the
plate to be corrugated, but it would, especially for short plates, be better to
make the circumference of the rolls exceed the length of the plate fully one-
third, to give more time for feeding; in this case, the flattened strip m would
be measured in width as much as the rolls, while the length of the ridges and
grooves & would remain unchanged.
If the plate to be corrugated is thick, or the folds to be made are deep, it
should be brought to a white or welding heat before passing it between the
rolls, in order to prevent fracture, and to make it assume the required form
more easily, and then, in case flaws do not exist in the original plate, the
finished plate will be sound; but if there be any hidden defect, the corrugating
it will be certain to develope it, so that by this process of manufacture not only
does the plate receive the proper shape, but its soundness is also effectually
tested..
The margins of each plate can be upset (bent over) to any required thickness,
by first heating and then passing them in succession between three rolls, two
of which are to feed and clamp the plates, and the third to upset their edges;
or a plate may be properly heated and then clamped in a vice, with one edge
protruding as far as it is desired to upset it, and then it may be upset by com-
pression, or by a drop punch or swedge, or a clamp may be made in two parts,
which will clamp between them so much of the middle of the plate as
is not required to be upset, and allowing the parts which are to be upset
to project into a groove of a width equal to the thickness to which it is

page_text: required to upset the margin of the plate, and then forcing, either by pressure
or percussion, a swedge or follower upon the edge of the plate, to compress it
down until it fits the grooves, thus increasing its thickness, and at the same
time giving it a symmetrical shape. In this way the margins may be made, if
required, four, five, or more times the thickness of the middle of the plate.
I do not confine myself to the shaping of this plate in the precise manner I
have specified, but leave it to the constructor to make such changes in this part
of the process as his judgment and experience may suggest.
The thick flat margins of plates when rivetted together give great stiffness
to the joint, and furnish a firm basis on which to head down the rivets. The
reduction in thickness of the middle and a corresponding increase of its surface
add greatly to its capacity to transmit the heat from fire or flame on one side
of it to a liquid on its opposite side; moreover, the great comparative thickness
of the plate at the base of the rivet operates as a frame to stiffen, strengthen,
and keep in place a series of plates rivetted together in this way, dispensing in
many cases with the use of angle iron.
The plates may be bent into any required shape, either in the process of
corrugating or subsequently, to adapt them to rectangular, circular, or other
structures.
Whenever the folds are required to be so deep as to endanger the fracture
of the metal if they are formed abruptly, and by passing through a single pair
of rolls they may be formed by using a series of pairs of rolls which make the
folds gradually deeper, the plate being heated in the intervals between its
passage through these successive pairs of rolls. And whenever it is deemed
best to make the folds across instead of lengthwise of the plate, the ridges
and grooves on the rolls must be made parallel to their axes.
In the second branch of my Invention, the rollers C and D, as shewn in the
Drawing, Fig. 6, are made to match together in such manner as to leave spaces
e, f, g, h, between them, corresponding in length to the width of the plate to be
corrugated. The spaces are all of a length measured in the line of their
sinuosities, the several folds coming nearer each other just in proportion as they.
increase in depth, so that the distance between the opposite sides of the beam
measured in a straight line is least when the folds are deepest, and greatest
while the corrugations are shallowest, the beam in this way diminishing in
width as it increases in depth.
The upper and lower rolls are in outline the counterpart of each other, so
that the openings between them are of uniform depth, and just equal to the
thickness of the plate of which the beam is to be made. In rear of these rolls

page_text: a crimping die is placed, which consists of two blocks with grooves i, j, k, l,
across them, opposite and on a level with the openings e, f, g, h, between the
rolls C, D. These grooves at the end next the rolls are bell-mouthed, to facili-
tate the entrance of the plate between them, while their transverse curvature
within the bell mouth corresponds to that of the openings between the rolls.
These grooves, however, become gradually narrower and deeper as they
approach the opposite side of the die, so that when a plate is forced through
them from the rolls, its folds will be deepened and brought nearer together in
proportion to the degree of taper of the grooves. When the plate leaves the
groove of the die, the depth of its folds and their distance apart will correspond
to the size of the opening in the rolls adjacent to that through which it last
passed, in order that it may enter therein freely, and be further crimped by being
forced through another groove of the die adjacent to the last it passed through.
In this way the crimping is effected chiefly by the die. For the purpose of
more readily passing the plate through the die, a pair of rollers may be placed
in front of it, to seize the protruding end as it is forced through the die by the
action of the rolls behind, so that when the rolls in rear have lost their hold of
the plate, its passage through the die may be effected by the rolls in front; or
one plate may be forced through the die after it leaves the rolls C, D, by the
succeeding plate, which, pressing against its end, will drive it forward.
In case the die should be placed somewhat lower or higher at its rear side
than the openings between the back rolls, the beams made by this arrangement
would be arched. This effect would be produced still better by curving the
grooves in the die block, so as to correspond to the arch or curvature in the
beams which it is desired to make.
As the frame in which the rolls are supported and adjusted is of the usual
construction, I have not deemed it necessary to describe it particularly; and
with regard to the construction of the crimping die, it is only necessary to say
that it is made in two parts, which meet in the plane of the grooves. The
grooves forming the upper side of the die are made in the under side of the
upper half or block, and those forming the under side in the upper side of the
lower half or block. These two halves of the die are firmly bolted together,
and to the bed frame of the rolls, so that during the operation the strain may
not displace them.
What I claim as my Invention, and desire to secure under the herein-before
recited Letters Patent is, the corrugated metal plate with margins, flat or nearly
so, and thicker than the middle of the plate where the folds of the corrugations
are deepest.

page_text: I also claim the construction and arrangement of the rolls for corrugating
the plates in the middle, and leaving their margins flat, substantially as herein-
described.
I also claim the method of forming corrugated metal beams by passing a
plate of metal of the proper size through a series of grooves between rolls, and
through a series of crimping dies, substantially as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Montgomery, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, the Third day of September, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
RD MONTGOMERY. (L.S.)