IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR ROLLING FLAT BARS OF IRON OR OTHER METAL, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE ROLLS OF MILLS FOR ROLLING METALLIC SHEETS, PLATES, OR STRIPS
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to William Upton Thomas, of Kidsgrove, in the
County of Stafford, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR
ROLLING FLAT BARS OF IRON OR OTHER METAL, AND IN APPARATUS FOR
ADJUSTING THE ROLLS OF MILLS FOR ROLLING METALLIC SHEETS, PLATES,
OR STRIPS."-A communication from abroad by Richard Handley
Thomas of Cincinnati, Ohio. United States of America.
Scaled the 11th November 1873, and dated the 14th May 1873.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Upton Thomas
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 14th May 1873.
I, WILLIAM UPTON THOMAS, of Kidsgrove, in the County of Stafford,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS
IN MILLS FOR ROLLING FLAT BARS OF IRON OR OTHER METAL, AND IN APPARATUS
FOR ADJUSTING THE ROLLS OF MILLS FOR ROLLING METALLIC SHEETS, PLATES, OR
STRIPS," to be as follows:-

page_text: varying sizes, and consists in turning each of the rolls in a set, either
of two or three high, with flat grooves of varying depths, and in such
manner that the collars between the flat grooves of one roll run in the
flat grooves of the contiguous roll and divide them into two grooves of
equal or unequal width, thus doubling the number of working grooves
or channels in a set of rolls, and dispensing with the usual collar holes
in the top roll of a pair or middle roll of a set of three.
The rolls in accordance with this Invention are also made adjustable
endways by means of screws applied to the bearings of same, so that
the grooves may be varied in width to any extent within the extremes
of any pair or set by simply moving the rolls endways in opposito
directions, so that the left-hand divisions of the grooves become wider,
and the right-hand narrower, or vice versa, thus rendering one pair or
set of rolls adaptable. for rolling a much greater variety of sizes of flat
bars than heretofore. The necks, wabblers, and coupling boxes are
made longer than usual in the bearing to allow for this longitudinal
adjustment, and the coupling boxes may be kept up to their bearings
by means of coiled springs fitting into holes in ends of same, instead of
by the usual stretchers.
By means of this Invention the rolls are rendered much less liable to
breakage than in the usual method of turning rolls, and the collars may
be dressed up, as they wear like the other part of the grooves without
rendering them useless from an excess in the width of the bars rolled
by such rolls, as the adjustable character of rolls made upon this
principle prevents any difficulty from this source.
'
The second part of this Invention consists of certain new devices to
be used in connection with the housing screws of rolls for rolling sheets
or wide bars or plates of iron or other metal, so that the rolls can be
rapidly and accurately adjusted to run perfectly parallel to each other,
or so that the draught may be varied for the purpose of rolling moulds
for sketch plates, or straightening plates or bars, which tend to leave
the rolls crooked. These devices are termed respectively the "fine"
adjuster and " coarse adjuster, and are both used in connection with
the ordinary method of actuating the housing screws by means of bevil
or mitre wheels on the tops of the same, gearing into corresponding
wheels on the horizontal shaft furnished with a hand wheel, by which
the spindle, wheels, and screws are set in motion.
"

page_text: The "fine" adjuster consists of an adjustable coupling to the hand
wheel spindle, which is for the purpose divided into two longths at some.
convenient point about the middle of its length. The end of ono part of
the spindle is made to pivot into the end of the other, or the contiguous
ends of the two parts of the spindle are mounted upon bearings in same
line of centres, but in such manner as to be capable of revolving
independently, and to have free ends for the attachments of the coupling
now to be described. Upon the inner end of ono part of the spindle is
keyed a worm wheel of any convenient size, and upon the corresponding
end of the other part is keyed a face plate or disc, on which are mounted
parallel with its face and with each other, but on opposite sides, two
short cross spindles running in bearings projecting from the said face
plate so far as to throw the short spindles opposite to the middle of the
width of the worm wheel. One of the said short spindles carries a worm
or screw which gears with worm wheel, and the other runs free of the
worm wheel, but the two spindles are geared together by means of a pair
of small spur wheels, and each spindle is supplied at opposite ends with
a hand wheel or cross to turn same. When the housing screws are
being worked together by the hand wheel or main spindle this coupling
acts as a fast coupling or clutch, but for the adjustment of the rolls one
upon the other preliminary to parallel rolling, or for the variation of the
inclination of rolls slightly to suit the exigencies of rolling plates or
sheets colder on one side than the other, or for similar purposes, a "fine"
or intermediate adjustment of the housing screws may be rapidly given
by the roller or the "catcher" by simply giving a turn or two to one
or other of the hand wheels or crosses on the short spindles gearing
with the worm wheel of the coupling, thus setting cither housing screw
forward of the other as much as may be necessary for the above
purposes.
The "
"
coarse adjuster is simply a clutch gearing at the back of one
of the mitre or bevil wheels on the horizontal hand wheel spindle. The
clutch is a face clutch sliding on a fast feather, and is divided into an
approved number of radial teeth gearing into notches on the back of the
said mitre or bevil wheel, which runs loose on the shaft when unclutched.
By these means the roller is quickly and easily enabled to turn one
housing screw by itself, and thus give the top roll the necessary
inclination for rolling plates thicker on one side than the other, or for
moulding sketch plates Of
oithan the "fine" adinctar
41

page_text: "
"coarse" adjuster may be used apart from the other, or they may be
both used in combination in the same setting apparatus, or the "coarse
adjuster may be used to the "roughing" rolls, and the "fine" adjuster
to the finishing rolls of a plate or sheet mill, as may be required or
preferred.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of tlie Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Upton Thomas in the Great Seal Patcut
Office on the 14th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
UPTON THOMAS, of Kidsgrove, in the County of Stafford, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give
and grant unto me, the said William Upton Thomas, Her special
license, that I, the said William Upton Thomas, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Upton Thomas, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at
any time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times
thereafter 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 In-
vention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MILLS FOR ROLLING FLAT BARS OF IRON OR OTHER
METAL, AND IN APPARATUS FOR ADJUSTING THE ROLLS OF MILLS FOR ROLLING
METALLIC SHEETS, PLATES, OR STRIPS," (a communication to me from abroad
by Richard Handley Thomas, of Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of
America) upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said William
Upton Thomas, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands or seals, 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.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Upton Thomas, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner

page_text: the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained.
in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the
accompanying Sheets of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The first part of this Invention has for its main object the lessening..
the numbers and changes of the rolls required for rolling flat bars of.
varying sizes, and consists in turning each of the rolls in a set either of
two or three high with flat grooves of varying depths, and in such
manner that the collars between the flat grooves of one roll run in tho
flat grooves of the contiguous roll, and divide them into two grooves of
equal or unequal width, thus doubling the number of working grooves?
or channels in a set of rolls, and dispensing with the usual collar holes in?
the top roll of a pair or middle roll of a set of three.
The rolls in accordance with this Invention arc also made
adjustable endways by means of screws applied to the bearings of.
same, so that the grooves may be varied in width to any extent within
the extremes of any pair or set by simply turning the rolls endways in
opposite directions, so that the left-hand divisions of the grooves become,
wider, and the right hand narrower, or vice versa, thus rendering one.
pair or set of rolls adaptable for rolling a much greater variety of sizes:
of flat bars than heretofore. The roll necks, wabblers, and coupling
boxes are made longer than usual in the bearing to allow for this
longitudinal adjustment, and the coupling boxes may be kept up to
their bearings by means of coiled springs fitting into holes in ends.
of same instead of by the usual stretchers..
By means of this Invention the rolls are rendered much less liable to
breakage than in the usual method of turning rolls, and the collars may
be dressed up, as they wear like the other part of the grooves without
rendering them useless from an excess in the width of the bars rolled by
such rolls, as the adjustable character of rolls made upon this principle
prevents any difficulty from this source.
The second part of this Invention consists of certain new devices to
be used in connection with the housing screws of rolls for rolling wide
bars or plates of iron, or other metal sheets, so that the rolls can be
rapidly and accurately adjusted to run perfectly parallel to cach other,
or so that the draught may be varied for the purpose of rolling moulds.

page_text: för sketch plates, or straightening plates or bars, which tend to leave
the rolls crooked. These devices are termed respectively the "fino"
adjuster and "coarse" adjuster, and are both used in connection with
the ordinary method of actuating the housing screws by means of bevel
or mitre wheels on the tops of same gearing with corresponding wheels
on horizontal shaft furnished with hand wheel, by which the spindle
wheels and screws are set in motion.
The "fine" adjuster consists of an adjustable coupling to the hand
wheel spindle, which is for the purpose divided into two lengths at some
convenient point about the middle of its length. The end of one part
of the spindle is made to pivot into the end of the other part, or the
contiguous ends of the two parts of the spindle are mounted upon
bearings in same line of centres, but in such manner as to be capable of
working independently, and to have free ends for the attachments of the
coupling now to be described. Upon the inner end of one part of the
spindle is keyed a worm wheel of any convenient size, and upon the
corresponding end of the other part is keyed a face plate or disc, on
which are mounted parallel with its faco and with each other, but on
opposite sides, two short cross spindles running in bearings projecting
from said face plate so far as to throw the short spindles opposite to the
middle of the width of the worm wheel. One of the said short spindles
carries a worm or screw which gears with worm wheel, and the other
runs free of the worm wheel, but the two spindles aro geared together by
means of a pair of small spur wheels, and each spindle is supplied at
opposite ends with hand wheel or cross to turn same. When the
housing screws are being worked together by the hand wheel or main
spindle this coupling acts as a fast coupling or clutch, but for the
adjustment of the rolls one upon the other preliminary to parallel
rolling, or for the variation of the inclination of rolls, slightly to suit the
exigencies of rolling plates or sheets colder on one side than the other,
or for similar purposes, a "finc or intermediate adjustment of the
housing screws may be rapidly given by the roller or the "catcher" by
simply giving a turn or two to one or other of the hand wheels or crosses
on the short spindles gearing with the worm wheel of coupling, thus
setting either housing screws forward of the other as much as may be
necessary for the above purposes.
The "coarse" adjuster is simply a clutch gearing at the back of onc
of the mitre or bevel wheels on the horizontal hand wheel spindle. The

page_text: section. These boxes are made somewhat longer than usual to allow of
the endway adjustment of the rolls, and have an internal chambering
ff, to prevent shouldering from the wear of the ends of the wabblers.
and coupling spindles; G, G, are spring stretchers, two or more to cach
box, for the purpose of keeping the boxes up to the necks in any vari-
able position of the rolls endways.
In the enlarged view Fig. 2 of the spring stretchers g is a tubular
casing enclosing spiral spring g¹ and sliding past g³; the solid end of
tubular casing and the end of sliding piece 9 are made conical or
otherwise to fit into holes or notches in ends of coupling boxes. Only
the parts of a rolling mill required to make clear this part of this Inven-
tion are shown on the Drawings; in other respects the mill is made
as usual, and is geared and coupled as usual, and driven by steam or
other motivo power.
In the operation of this mill it is preferred to put the bloom or pile
through the top pass first, and if necessary the top roll may be made to
be raised by balance weights, levers, and connecting bars by usual well
known arrangements. In this case the screws could be set down for the
bottom passes. The bars rolled will not require the usual turn upside
down. The last end leaving the rolls will be the first end in the next
pass, and also reverse the fin. Bars may be finished in any groove, and
the thickness may be regulated by working the rolls nearer or farther
apart to the extent of half the depth of the collar. The rolls may be of
any usual size, and proportioned to the proposed sizes of the bars to be
rolled. The width of the bars may be varied to any dimension between
the extremes for which any set of rolls are arranged, by simply resetting
their position in relation to each other longitudinally. Mills on this
principle may be arranged for either 2 or 3 rolls high. In 2 high.
trains the bars may be returned under the rolls, the last end first, which
being turned up for the next pass would reverse and prevent the fin as a
in 3 high rolls. To roll small flats, say from half inch to ono and
a half inch, the rolls would only require to be moved one quarter inch
cach way. By these means great saving is effected in the cost of rolls
required for rolling any given number of sizes of flat bars of iron or
other metal, and the wear of the rolls is more easily repaired, and the.
danger from breakage of the rolls is much less than with the ordinary
methods of constructing the rolls.

page_text: In the Sheet of Drawings representing the second part of this Inven-
tion, or the adjusting apparatus for rolling mills for sheets, and plates,
and wide bars, A, A, represent the housings or frame of a pair of rolls
with housing screws B, B, coupled or connected by means of the mitre
or bevel wheels C, C', and the spindle D, and operated by hand wheel E.
. The parts that are now to be described are those that are now, and
constitute this part of the said Invention. The spindle D is made in
two parts, united by an adjustable coupling or "fine" adjuster at
about the middle of its length. F is a faco plate on disc keyed on the
end of the spindle D³, and the end of the spindle D takes bearing within
the socket or sleeve of said face plate or disc. This latter piece carries
two short spindles G, G, mounted in bearings as shewn, and geared
together by the spur wheels H, H. One of these spindles carries a
worm or screw gearing into worm wheel I keyed on end of spindlo D,
and both spindles carry hand wheels for operating the worm wheel in
any position of the coupling.
"
Instead of the 2 spindles D and D¹ pivotting together in the manner
shewn they may run on bearings carried by a light frame rising and
falling with the housing screws, but the above described arrangement is
preferred. J is a clutch sliding on fast feather on the spindle D, which
in connection with the teeth on the back of the bevel wheel C, forms
what is termed the " coarse or rough adjuster. The clutch is operated
in the usual way by the lever handlo K, which must be carried on
sliding stud in such way as to rise and fall with the apparatus as a
whole. This clutch or coarse adjuster enables the roller to rapidly
disconnect the screws, and rapidly set the rolls at any degree of
inclination for moulding sketch plates or for rolling plates of unequal
thickness at the edges, and to reconnect the screws again almost
instantly. A stud pink and eyo k¹ serve to fix the position of the
clutch for level rolling. By means of the central coupling or fine
adjuster the roller or catcher is enabled to casily and rapidly set his
rolls level, or to straighten plates inclined to run crooked, by a turn or
two of one or other of the hand wheels H, H, otherwise this adjuster
simply acts as a fast coupling.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention, and the
manner in which the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not

page_text: limit myself to the precise details of construction and arrangement
herein-before described with reference to the accompanying Drawings,
as these may be variously modifiod without departing from tho nature of
the several parts of this Invention; but what I claim as new and desire
to be secured to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent
is,
-
First. The use of rolls for rolling flat bars, having collars on the one
roll running in the channels or grooves of the contiguous roll or rolls so
as to divide the grooves into two openings of equal or unequal width,
the said rolls being capable of adjustment endways for the purpose of:
varying the width of the said grooves, substantially as herein-before set
forth.
Second. Arranging the geared roll or housing screws of rolling mills,
to be capable of independent adjustment by making the one gearing
wheel loose on the gearing spindle and connecting it thereto by means 1
of a clutch, substantially as herein described.
Third. The use for adjustment of the roll or housing screws of
spindles D, D¹, so. arranged and combined by means of gearing that the
one spindle may be rotated independently of the other, substantially as
and for the purposes herein-before described.
Fourth. The use of spring stretchers to the coupling boxes and
spindles of rolling mills, arranged and operating substantially as herein-
before described.
2
In witness whereof, I, the said William Upton Thomas, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twelfth day of November, in 2
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
Almon