US1285057A - Preparation of continuous metal rod. - Google Patents

Description

y s. M. CUTTER.

PREPARATION 0F CONTINUOUS METAL ROD'.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 5.1917. RENEWED SEPT.l 3. I9I8.

1,285,057. Pafenfed Mmmm.;

IIIII,

` UurTEDs'rATEs PATENT OFFICE.

SOLOMON'H. CUTTER, 0F vW'Ili'.'LHERSFIIEILD, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOB T0 CAPEWELL HOBSENAIL COMPANY, 0F HARTFORD-CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION 0I 'CON- rmc'rrctrr.y l c PREPARATION or coN'rrNUoUs mman -no1). 1,285,057. i man erwten hunt. Patented Nov. 19, 1918.

application mea nay 5, 1917, serial No. 166,528.

To all whom t may concern:

.Be it known thatI, SOLOMON M. Comu, a United States citizen, residing at Wethersfield, Connecticut, have'invented the follow- `ing-describedImprovements in the Prpa# produce an equally clean and bright surface on the metal by mechanical action only and with a minimum expenditure for equipment and power. This principal object is attained by continuous operation and in the same operation with the annealing of the stock, which is also continuously performed, and it may also be combined with the first reduction of the i sectional` area of the stock,

thereby further simplifying and reducing the cost of manufacture by saving the expense involved in repeated'handlings of the same material.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the manner of carrying on the new process and certain principal or` desirable features of the apparatus employed.

Figure 1 represents in diagram the course ofthe rod stockfrom the condition inwhich received from the rolling mill, through the successive `operations constituting the ferred form of this invention, to its nal condition ready for the manufacture 0f nails or wire;

Figs. 2 and 3 represent in elevation and plan respectively, the rod-cleaning or scaleremoving part of the invention; and

Fig, 4 is a cross section on larger scale of the cleaning chest and the sand blast apparatus.

Fig.5 is a modification.

The coil of crude rod or wire is placed on the reel table 1' (Fig. `1*) and led therefrom through or alongsideof an electric Welder or other joining device 2 whereby the ends of successive coils of stock can be joined into a continuous length for passage through the apparatus. This welder does not of itself Renewed September 1918. Serial No..,258,467.

known tothe electric welding art, and -it maybe understood as representing any suitable means of joining the stock. From the' Welder the stock is led directly between the opposmg spring-pressed roller electrodes 3 of an electric annealing apparatus 4 where it becomes interposedin the ycircuit of a suitable current which, traversing the rod crosswise and while in motion, promptly raises it to the red heat necessary for annealing it. Dependin upon the size and material of the rod an its velocity, the electric annealer may comprise one or many pairs4 of opposing electrodes distributed along the path of the stock and supplied with current of .appropriate character for the .purpose stated. Its specific mode of operation is subject to adaptation to the-material to be annealed in various ways which will be well understood. In respect to the broadest aspect -of my process the said device may be considered as representing any suitable means of intensely heating the stock while in transit. From the lannealer the heated stock travels directly through a down-turned tube or conduit 5 `into a bath bath and designed toprotect the rod,\so

far as possible from oxidizing contact with ing on the velocity and thickness of the stock, and is kept in its molten state by -meanspf gas burners 7 distributed beneath it. The function of the molten metal is to provide or permit 'the cooling of the stock .at the gradual rate necessary kfor .proper an-l nealing and while out of contact with the atmosphere so as-to mlmmize the production of'scale.A For-this purpose the trough may consist of one continuous receptacle or a vseries ofreceptacles as shown in Fig. 5

each containin abath ofsuccessively lower temperature with` curved tube conductors 5L between them forY guidingr the stock from each one tothe next. It will `be readily understood that by means of an adequate number of these receptacles, the continuous stock traveling therethrough-will be subjected to the air'. The molten bath is contained in a f trough 6 of: greater or less length, dependthe proper temperature gradient for the best annealing results and will be the least subject to scale-,forming condltions during the heat treatment. The .material constituting the bath or baths may be lead, as above stated, or the low-fusing lead alloys which will be protected by an adequate ux to guard against their own oxidation, or for the lower temperatures certain mineral oils may be used.. In the case of a single, long trough the temperature may be made higher at the. receiving than at the delivery end by control of the burners.

Notwithstanding any precautions some scale will be formed, though by no means so much as inthe case of furnace annealing and air-cooling and some scale and'undesirabl'e dirt is ordinarily found on the crude stock prior to annealing. For removing such scale, and in place of the common picklng process, the continuous annealed stock from the trough 6 is led through a bench of straighteningl rolls 8, which, in the present case are driven solely by their contact with the stock, to a bending device which may be called the Scaler since its function is solely that of removing or loosening the dirt and scale, which is accomplished by bending and reversely bending the stock on short radii. This device comprises two rolls 9 and 10 appropriately journaled in a suitable framework, geared together by the gears 11 and driven by thelarge gear 12 and sprocket chain 13 or in any other suitable way and at a certain` speed later referred to. The roll 9 first encountered by the'stoek, is disposed in advance of the other roll 10 and slightly higher than that roll so that the stock will run straight to the iirst roll and wrap around it for about half its circumference, running thence to the second roll 10, wrapping around that roll also about one-half its circumference. The diameter of each roll is small enough so that the bending of the stock around its half circumference, rst in one direction andy then in the other, will so distort it as to dislodge'or at least loosen the scale and dirt; in the ease of stock for use in making horse-nails, the diameter is approximately four inches. It has long been customary to loosen the scale on metal rod by bending it back and forth and the sealer above described utilizes that well understood expedient but carries it on to a greater extent than heretofore practised l withm my knowledge, by bending the stock at least 180" in each direction and on a short radius as above stated. The sealer rolls are providedA with flanges 14 on one or both sides i in a chamber or chest 16. For crude stock which is not particularly dirty or heavily sealed in the first instance that the loosening of such scale as effected by the sealer above described, suiciently weakens its attachment to the metal to rmit of its removal by steam jet blast a one which is of course a far more economical treatment than any part of the common pickling operation. For this urpose the stock from the sealer rolls 9 and) 10 runs through the sand blast chamber 16, while the same is inoperative, to the outlet in the wall at the far side of the chest at which point the a steam jet nozzles 15 direct powerful and vely high velocity jets of steam convergently an on opposite sides of the stock and in such manner that the steam blows back through the outlet into the chest 16 wherein it is' condensed and removed as water or findsother escape. In the case of square or rectangular stock, as in horse-nail stock, the jets deliver to the opposite corners thereby covering all four sides but any number of gets may be employed. A steam pressure'o 60 to 100 pounds escaping through jet holes about g inch diameter in this manner will etfeetually scour and clean the general run of iron or low carbon steel rod used in horse-nails if it has previously been passed through a sealer of the kind herein described.

For specially dirty rod stock, however, the

sand blast apparatus is additionally brought into operation and when it is used the steam jets are continued and serve the additional purpose of removing the sand from the issuing rod and blowing it back into the chest. It is important that no sand be left on the rod to injure the drawing dies in later stages of manufacture.

Thesand blast comprises a set of high velocity ejector nozzles 17 disposed within the chest to attack all sides of the stock, as shown in Fig. 4, and each is operated by steam or other fluid pressure medium taken from the same main', 18, which supplies the jet nozzles 15. The entire set of sand blast nozzles is controlled by the shut-oit valve 19 as indicated. The blast nozzles 17 are. constructed on the usual ejector principle and draw their supplies of sand from the bottom of the chest, through the sand pipes 20. The sand is ordinarily mixed with the water from steam condensation which is kept. at a predetermined level in the chest by an appropriate overflow connection 21 (Fig. 4). The action of the apparatus will be understood from the drawings without further dctailed description and it will be apparent that the combined action of the sand blast and jet nozzles 15, acting on the rod from the Scaler rolls 9 and 10 will produce a bright clean surface on the dirtiest stock. equal if not superior to the best that can bc I have discoveredi obtained by picklin, washing" and baking, u

and is of course. ro ced b continuous operation besides eing infinltely cheaper to carry on. It will be understood however that the use of the sand blast is auxiliary to the essential'steps which comprise the. use of the sealer andthe jets of steam, and 1s to be used only in` thecase of extraordinary tenaciousness of the surface material to the latter. As above stated, the general run, of

l crude Ystock as received. from the rolling mill is of such a character as to be thoroughly cleaned by the use of the Scaler and the jets v alone. Y

In my prior Patents No. 120236 and No. 1142499, I have disclosed the util1zat ion'of a sand blast for cleaning rod 1n substltution for pickling and in the first mentioned patent the combined use of the sand blast .with cony removed at and-by theiscaler rolls where itv falls to the iioor or in a receptacle and is in a condition to b e salvaged and brings agood price on the market. It is notvaluable when mixed with sand as in the'case of both of the mentioned patents. The outpt of the present process is greater, ,since j the velocity of the stock through the sealer and jets may be higher and at the same time the expense, due to the saving of steam, is

materially reduced. 'Even whenthe sand blast is in action-less abrasive effect is requiredof it and hence fless steamis used, than in the case 'ofthe said patents. `Other distinctions and improvements from the manufacturing and mechanlcal oint of view will be apparent to those s lled in this art.l

The stock is drawn through the sand blast4 chest and jet nozzles by a owerful winding drum 22 on which it 1s coiled in its cleansed condition and from which it may be removed in coil form to be transported direct to the drawing or finishing machines.

The detail ofthe winding drum is quite old f in the art and need not be described. It `is driven` by a belt pulley 23 which also drives the sprocket 24 of the chain 13 above referred-to' as driving the Scaler roll. The

speed ratio of the sprockets 12 and 24 is such as to give the sealer rolls a very slightly vmi higher surface velocity than that which is imparted to the stock by the winding drum.

y this speed relation the sealer rollsl assist in drawing thestock through the apparatus which precedes it in the present system and at. the same time the said rolls become more effective' in their scale removing function.

This is because their tendency is constantly` to produce a slacken'ed condition in the stretch of stockextendin forwardly from them which however mere y results in a certain amount of slippage on the stock because the said rolls have no` grip thereon other than by the friction u n their half circumferences and the prof uction of the slightest slack relieves such friction to the polnt of slippa e. Such slippage or rubbing friction 1s ound to be highly beneficial in loosening tough scale for subsequent removal by the steam'jets or the sand blast as the case may be. y

Between the` winding drum and the jets, the stock already cleaned bythe mechanism above describedis subjected to a first drawingvoperation by which itis reduced to a predetermined and uniform cross-sectional s1ze. 'Such apparatus 1s of common deslgn and in the present case is represented by two pairs of drawing rolls 25 mounted on axes which are at 90 angles from each other to form between the rolls a pass ofthe requisite size. Thus the coil of rod eventually removed from the winding drum is not only cleaned equivalent to a pickled rod but is also uniformly sized to the requisite standard gage and all of the said preparation is done rapidly and continuously and the apparatus required for suchjpreparation occup1es less space and consumes less power than the ordinary procedure and less than necessary with my priorpatents forproducing equivalent results. It will be of course understood that the preparing process is not confined to the use of v all the detailed steps above described and that various omissions, additions, modications, reversals, andchange's of proportion'may be resorted to within the scope of the following claims. .l

Claims:

1. The process of preparin rod stock for manufacture, in lieu of pic ing the same, lwhich consists in first passing the Stock through a sealer wherein it is continuously bent and reversely bent and subjected to rubbing friction and then through the action of high velocity iiuid fpressure jets. v

2. The process o preparing rod stock-for manufacture, which consists 1n continuously bending the stock in opposite directions around substantially one-half the circumference of each of two adjacent bending rolls thereby dislodging 'the bulk of the scale therefrom and then subjectin the stock continuously tothe action of hig velocity uid pressure jets.

3. The process of preparing rod stock for manufacture, which consists 1n first continuously bending and reversely bending the stock to dislodge the bulk of the scale therefrom and thereafter subjectin it to fluid pressure jets containing an a radant matorial. s

4. The process of preparing rod stock for .manufacture, which consists in manufacture, which'consists in first vrempving some of the scale therefrom by` bendin the stock, then subjectmg it to the action o fluid pressure jets successively with and without abradant material therein.

5. The process of preparing rod stock for manufacture, which consists in assing a continuous length thereof vsuccessively and continuously through an annealing heat and a cooling medium and through a, scale removin and cleaning apparatus.

6. e process of preparing rod stock for assing a continuous length thereof successively and continuousl through an annealing heat and cooling me ium,a scale-removing and cleanng apparatus and a set of sizing drawing ies.

7. The process of preparing rod stock for manufacture, which consists 1n locally raising a continuous, traveling length of the stock to an annealing temperature, cooling the same as it emerges from the annealing zone and while passing it through a nonoxidizing medium, andfcoincidently cleaning the stock emerging from said medium.

8. Apparatus for preparing rod stock for manufacture comprising means for advancing the stock, a scaler comprising` a pair of bending rolls acting thereon and each enaged with opposite sides thereof and means for drivin the bendin rolls at a different surface ve ocit from t at of the' stock engaged therewit 9. Apparatus for preparing rod stock for manufacture, comprlsng means for advancing the stock, a sealer comprising a pair of bending rolls acting thereon and each enaged with opposite sides thereof, means for drivin the bendin rolls at a different surface ve ocity from t at of the stock engaged thereby and fluid pressure jets acting on said stock subsequent to the bending thereof.

10. Apparatus for preparing rod stock for manufacture, comprising means for advancing the stock in combination with a scaler including a pair of bending rolls, aI sand blast chest receiving the stock from said rolls, and pressure jets of non-abrading materlal acting on sald stock and adapted to blow the scale and dirt therefrom into said chest.

11. Apparatus for preparing rod stock for manufacture, comprising the combination of a sealer including a pair of bendin rolls, a sand blast chest receiving the stor therefrom and pressure jets of non-abrading fluid acting on the stock issuing from the said chest.

12. Apparatus for preparing rod Stock for manufacture, comprising means for advancing the stock, a pair of-adjacent rolls about which the stock is bent and reversely bent,- and ianges adjacent said rolls with which the stock engages for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification.

SOLOMON M. CUTTER.

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