Improvements in the Manufacture of Rolled Metal Articles, and in Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 24th July, 1893
Complete Specification Left, 24th Apr., 1894-Accepted, 16th June, 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE FREDERICK SIMONDS, of Fitchburg,
Massachusetts, United States of America, Engineer.]
Improvements in the Manufacture of Rolled Metal Articles, and in
Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent
Agents, 45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of rolled metal articles and more
especially to articles made of low grade steel which after rolling are converted into
high grade steel on the surface and for any desired depth inward from the surface
and then hardened and tempered, and also to an improved construction of the
rolling machine and dies described in the former British Patents No. 702985,
No. 206286 and No. 675989.
My improvements consist first, in taking articles of low grade steel and rolling
them through dies similar to those described in the prior British Patents No. 7028
dated 9th June 1885, for "Improvements in Methods and Machines for Making
Irregular Shaped Metal Articles that are Circular in Cross Sectional Area" and
No. 2062, 12th of February 1886 for "Improvements relating to Dies and Adjuncts
thereof for Use in the Production of Rolled Metal Articles "such dies being used in
a machine known as the Simonds rolling machine and described in Patents
No. 70288 aforesaid and No. 6759 dated 20th April 1889 for "Improvements in
Machines for the Manufacture of Rolled Metal Articles." Further improvements in
the said machine and dies are hereinafter described and these with great advantage
may be used in the process of rolling.
After the articles have been rolled or forged into the required shape, the second
step consists in placing them in boxes made of cast iron or any suitable refractory
material (having regard to the temperature at which the articles are to be treated)
filled with carbonaceous material and packed in such a manner as will as far as
practicable exclude the air from the interior of the boxes or seggars. Or the
articles may be packed in carbonaceous materials in a muffle furnace, so constructed
as to secure as far as possible the absence of air.
In carrying my invention into practice I prefer that the furnace shall be
constructed in the manner described in the Specification of prior British Letters
Patent No. 15444 of 1892, but in any case I construct my furnace in such a
manner that the percolation of air through the material of which the furnace is
composed is avoided, for instance by surrounding the furnace by an iron or steel
casing and packing the space between it and the bricks of which the furnace is
built with sand or other material which would exclude the percolation of the air.
The fire grate of the furnace must be so constructed that no free oxygen will enter
the chamber in which the goods are converted, thus all the oxygen used in causing
combustion will enter the interior of the furnace as carbon mon-oxide or carbon
di-oxide. The articles to be treated in this part of my process are left in contact
with the carbonaceous material until the carbon has entered the low grade steel to
a depth beyond that of mere case hardening to any predetermined depth and in
some cases where desirable I convert the low grade steel throughout to a high
grade steel.
The third step in the process except in cases hereinafter described consists in
hardening the product obtained from the furnace.
In some cases I take the

page_text: '
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product directly from the furnace, and before it has gone below the temperature
necessary for hardening according to the degree of hardening required I immerse
the same in brine oil. In other cases I allow the furnace to cool, and, after
extracting therefrom the articles treated I reheat the same in a tempering oven or
fire to such temperature as may be required having regard to the degree of
hardness required and then I immerse the same in brine oil as above stated.
My invention is applicable to the manufacture of rolled articles of varying cross
sectional area and varying shapes.
or
and
In the manufacture of balls, the balls after being rolled and converted to the
required depth are next rough-ground in a machine similar to the one described in
the Specification of the Patent for an Improved Manufacture of Spherical Rollers
and Balls dated 27 August 1892 and numbered 15445, or in a machine of the
following description.
The balls are held between two grooved discs so constructed that the balls are
held firmly and caused to rotate in the said grooves by the revolving of one of the
discs. The said grooves are so placed that whilst they hold the ball firmly in
position a part of the said ball projects beyond the outer edge of the discs. An
emery wheel, or two or more such wheels revolving on suitable axles is or are
caused to grind against part of the projecting ring of balls held between the said
disc and as the balls are rotated different portions of their surfaces are successively
subjected to the grinding action of the emery wheel or wheels. The above
mentioned discs and wheels are mounted on a suitable frame and motion is
communicated to them by means of belts or other suitable gear.
Although I have mentioned these forms of grinding machines other suitable
grinding machines may be employed for this purpose.
I then complete the balls by the processes of hardening and tempering above
mentioned and in order that the balls may be perfectly uniform in size and as
perfectly spherical as possible I regrind them in the machine which forms the
subject matter of the above mentioned Patent No. 15445 of 1892. After
burnishing, the balls are examined for fire cracks and tested for sphericity
and size.
My improved rolling machine is constructed as follows, that is to say, on a
suitable firm bed or standard I mount suitable guides between which a pair of
die-blocks carrying removable and adjustable dies slide. Anti-friction rollers
carried preferably by ball-bearings are provided to take the thrust of the said die-
blocks when in the act of rolling and thus reduce the friction to a minimum. Each
die-block is furnished with a toothed rack, preferably removable, which gears with
a toothed pinion placed centrally between the racks. By rotating said pinion first
in one direction and then in the other the die-blocks are caused to reciprocate in
their guides, each block however always moving in a direction contrary to the
other. The pinion shaft is firmly supported in suitable bearings and carries another
toothed wheel which gears with a toothed rack that is reciprocated by a suitable
driving crank. Said rack slides between guides and is maintained in gear with the
aforesaid toothed wheel by an anti-friction roller at the back thereof, which roller
is mounted on ball-bearings to reduce the friction. Suitable gear worked by hau 1
or power is provided for operating the driving crank.
The dies are made taper in reverse directions so that when at one end of their
stroke they are wide apart, and the blank to be rolled can be pushed between them,
and when at the other end of their stroke they are close together. Each rolling
operation is completed by one stroke of the dies, and the rolled article is also
simultaneously cut off from the blank, the dies being suitably constructed for this
purpose. A suitable support is provided for the blank while being rolled.
In the said former Patents 702885 and 206288 the dies were formed throughout of
tool steel; were very costly and when warped it was difficult to readjust them to
their former shape and position. I have however made an improvement in the
manufacture of the said dies which consists in forming them of low grade steel to

page_text: the required shape and afterwards converting and hardening them as above
described.
Dated this 24th day of July 1893.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Rolled Metal Articles, and in
Apparatus therefor.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine Lake & Co. Patent Agents,
45 Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of rolled metal articles and more
especially to articles made of low-grade steel and which, after rolling, are converted
into high grade steel on the surface and for any desired depth inward from the
surface and then hardened and tempered, and also to an improved construction of
the rolling machine and dies, described in the Specifications of former Patents
No. 702885, No. 206280 and No. 675989.
My improvements consist first, in taking articles of low-grade steel and rolling
them through dies similar to those described in the Specifications of the aforesaid
prior Patents No. 7028 dated 9th June 1885, for "Improvements in Methods and
Machines for Making Irregular Shaped Metal Articles that are Circular in Cross
Sectional Area" and No. 2062, 12th of February 1886 for "Improvements relating
to Dies and Adjuncts thereof for Use in the Production of Rolled Metal Articles
such dies being used in a machine known as the Simonds rolling machine and
described in the Specifications of Patents No. 70288 aforesaid and No. 6759 dated
20th April 1889 for "Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Rolled
Metal Articles." Further improvements in the said machine and dies
hereinafter described and these with great advantage may be used in the process
of rolling.
are
The second step of my improved manufacture consists in converting the rolled
or forged metal articles by heating them in boxes made of cast iron or seggars
made of any suitable refractory material (having regard to the temperature at
which the articles are to be treated) filled with carbonaceous material and packed
in such a manner as will, as far as practicable, exclude the air from the interior of
the boxes or seggars. Or the articles may be packed for this purpose in carbon-
aceous material in a muffle furnace, so constructed as to secure as far as possible
the exclusion of air.
In carrying my invention into practice I prefer that the furnace shall be
constructed in the manner described in the Specification of prior Letters Patent
No. 15444 of 1892, but in any case I construct my furnace in such a manner that
the percolation of air through the material of which the furnace is composed is
avoided, for instance by surrounding the furnace by an iron or steel casing and
packing the space between it and the bricks of which the furnace is built with sand
or other material which would prevent the percolation of the air. The fire grate
of the furnace must be so constructed that no free oxygen will enter the chamber
in which the articles are converted; thus all the oxygen required for combustion
will enter the interior of the furnace as carbon mon-oxide or carbon di-oxide.
The articles to be treated in this part of my process are left in contact with the
carbonaceous material until the carbon has entered the low grade steel to a
predetermined depth beyond that of a mere case hardening, and in some cases
where desirable I convert the low grade steel throughout to a high grade steel.

page_text: The third step in the process except in cases hereinafter described, consists in
hardening the product obtained from the 'furnace. In some cases I take the
product directly from the furnace, and before its temperature has fallen below that
necessary for hardening according to the degree of hardening required I immerse
the same in brine oil. In other cases I allow the furnace to cool, and, after
withdrawing therefrom the articles treated I re-heat the same in a tempering oven
or fire to such temperature as may be necessary having regard to the degree of
hardness required and then I immerse the same in brine o oil as above stated.
My invention is obviously applicable to the manufacture of articles of varying
cross sectional area and varying shapes.
In the manufacture of balls, the balls are first rolled and converted to the required
depth and are then rough-ground in a machine similar to the one described in the
Specification of Letters Patent for an Improved Manufacture of Spherical Rollers
and Balls, dated 27th August, 1892 and numbered 15445, or in a machine of the
following description, that is to say, a machine having two circularly grooved discs
constructed to hold the balls firmly between them. One of the discs is rotated
and by its motion causes the balls to revolve in the grooves. The said grooves are
so placed that whilst they hold the balls firmly in position a part of each ball
projects beyond the outer edge of the discs. An emery wheel, or two or more
such wheels, is or are provided to grind against the projecting part of the ring of
balls; as the balls are rotated different portions of their surfaces are successively
subjected to the grinding action of the said wheel or wheels. The above-mentioned
discs and wheels are mounted on a suitable frame and motion is communicated to
them by means of belts or other suitable gear.
Although I have mentioned these forms of grinding machines other suitable
grinding machines may be employed for this purpose.
I then complete the balls by the processes of hardening and tempering above
anentioned and in order that the balls may be perfectly uniform in size and as
perfectly spherical as possible, I re-grind them in the machine which forms the
subject matter of the above mentioned Patent No. 15445 of 1892. After
burnishing, the balls are examined for fire cracks and tested for sphericity
and size.
My improved rolling machine is illustrated in the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 being a rear elevation of the machine,
Figure 2 a side elevation, and
Figure 3 a section on a greatly enlarged scale taken on the line a, a, Figure 1.
It is constructed as follows, that is to say, in a suitable standard A, I provide
guides B, B between which a pair of die-blocks C, C carrying removable and
adjustable dies D, D slide. Anti-friction rollers E, E carried preferably by ball-
bearings are provided to take the thrust of the said die-blocks when in the act of
rolling and thus reduce the friction to a minimum. Each die-block is furnished
with a toothed rack F, preferably removable, which gears with a toothed pinion G
placed centrally between the racks. By rotating said pinion first in one direction
and then in the other the die-blocks are caused to reciprocate in their guides, each
block however always moving in a direction contrary to the other. The pinion
shaft G is firmly supported in suitable bearings H, provided in a strong bracket J
secured to the standard, and on it is secured another toothed wheel K which
gears with a toothed rack L that is reciprocated by a suitable driving crank.
Said rack slides between guides L' and is maintained in gear with the aforesaid
toothed wheel K by an anti-friction roller M at the back thereof, which roller
is supported by balls to reduce the friction. Suitable gear worked by hand or
power is provided for operating the driving crank.
The dies are made taper in reverse directions, as indicated in Figure 1, so
that when at one end of their stroke they are wide apart, and the blank to be
rolled can be pushed between them, and when at the other end of their stroke
they are close together. Each rolling operation is completed by one stroke of

page_text: the dies, and the rolled article is also simultaneously cut off from the blank,.
the dies being suitably constructed for this purpose. An adjustable standard N is
provided in front of the machine to support the blank while being rolled.
According to the said former Patents 70288 and 20628 the dies were formed
throughout of tool steel, were very costly, and when warped it was difficult to
readjust them to their former shape and position. I have however made an
improvement in the manufacture of the said dies which cousists in forming them of
low grade steel of the required shape and afterwards converting and hardening.
them in the manner above described with reference to balls and other articles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by
my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. The manufacture of rolled metal articles consisting in first rolling the articles
in low grade steel to the proper shape, then converting them from the surface.
inward to any desired depth into high grade steel, and then hardening and tempering
the same, substantially as described.
2. In the manufacture of steel balls first rolling low grade steel rods through
suitable dies, then rough grinding the spheres obtained, and subsequently hardening
and tempering the same, substantially as described.
3. The manufacture of finished balls as herein before described.
4. The improved rolling machine substantially as described, and illustrated in
the accompanying drawings.
5. The manufacture of dies for use in rolling machines from low grade steel and
subsequently converting and hardening the same, substantially as described.
Dated this 24th day of April 1894.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents for the Applicant.