US379974A - Rolling-mill plant - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

o. H. MORGAN. -LOLLING MILL PLANT.

N4 PETERS. Poimiwgnphar, Wuhington. DTC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES H. MORGAN, vOE WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

ROLLING-MVILL PLANT.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,974. dated Marh 27, 1888.

Application filed January 30, 1888. Serial No. 262,323. `(No model.)

To @ZZ whom it may concern.;

Be it known that I, CHARLES H. MORGAN, of Worcester, in the county of Worcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain 5 new and useful'lmprovements in Rolling-Mill Plants;4 and I do hereby declare that the fol lowing is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specication, and in which'- Figure l represents a top or plan view of a rolling-mill plant embodying my improvements. Fig. 2 is an end/view, upon an enlarged scale, of a transferring device used jin l 5- connection with my aforesaid improved plant, looking in the direction of arrow a, Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section through a portion of said vtransferring device upon a still larger scale, taken on line b, Fig. l; and Fig. 4 is a plan view showing one method of driving the feed-rolls of my improved plant.

My invention relates more particularly to rolling-mill plants for the production of what are commonly known as wire rods, and it consists of the improved system' of furnaces, reducing-rolls, and feeding, transferring, storing, and coiling mechanism, hereinafter set forth.

vIn order that others may fully understandl the nature and purpose of said improvements, I nwill now proceed to give a detailed description thereof. y

In the drawings, A A A A represent a series of ordinary furnaces for heating the bi1- lets in the manufacture of wire rods, which are in this instance ranged in'a semicircle in front of the continuous train of rolls B for partially reducing said billets. Prior to entering between said rolls B the billet passes over a se'- 40 ries of supporting andcarrying rolls, C, and, as

it leavesv the last set of rolls of said train partially reduced, it enters a swivel conductingpipe, c, wherebyvit is guided in between a set of feedrolls, d, thence by another suitable guide, e, e,.or e2, in-betweenanother set of feed-rolls, f, which feed said billet into or onto asuitable storage receptacle or device preparatory to being further reduced t the size of a wire rod by the continuous trains of rolls D D. 5o As the finished rod issues from between the last set of rolls of one of said rod-trains, it is practice said hot-bed bars may be held inpoheating of the metal after leavingthe rolls I3 guided onto a suitable automatic reel, E, three of which are shown in, this instance, and coiled thereon by the rotation of said reel. Such, in

brief, is the general arrangement of the several elements'composing my improved plant,

and which comprises the essential feature of myinvention. vVarious modes of construction may be adopted in carrying out said invention in practice, 6o

and I therefore do not limit myself to any par,-

ticular construction. For this reason I have shown simply in skeleton form the various parts or groups of parts required to illustrate my said invention. y 65 F represents a' combined storing and transferring device, and consists of a pair'of tubes,

g g, mounted longitudinally in circular frames g gf at the ends. Said frames are each in'turn4 supported on a pair of frictionrolls,"h3 h3, fit- 7o ted to turn in suitable stationary bearings. When the device is in its normal position, the tubes g g are both upon the same horizontal plane, as shown in Fig. 2, with one tube in line with the feed-rolls f and the other with the train of rolls D, as shown in Fig. 1.

- F represents an ordinary heating-furnace" similar to the furnaces A, and F2 is what is termed a hot-bed, consisting of a series of transverse or cross bars, upon which the bil- 8o lets may be placed for temporary storage as they are delivered from the train VB, in case of j. the derangement of any of the machinery e'm-v ployed for further reducing said billet. In

8 sition by partially embedding them in the 5.5 ground or by fastening longitudinal bars to the ends thereof. o I have shown three different ways inwhich l' the billets may be conducted from the billettrain B to the aforesaid device F, furnace F', or hot-bed F2, consisting of a pipe, e, a series l of rolls, e', and an open trough, e,- but I prefer in practice the pipe e, for the reason that the metal, being inclosed, is prevented. fromcooling in passing between the points named. It is also preferable to employ a device vF rather than a furnace F between the train of rolls D D and said conducting-tubes e, as re- I roo would ordinarily be unnecessary to pass through the subsequent stages of reductionin producing the wire rods. The protection of the billets after being deposited in the tubes g may be facilitated by making said tubes, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, with an inner and outer casing, and filled in between with asbestus or other non-conductor of heat.

The feed-rolls d and f may be operated in any convenient and well-known way. In Fig. 4 I have shown' one method of driving said rolls by means of a chain of spur-gears, h h h2, intermeshing one with another, and which may in turn be drivenin any well-known way.

It is preferable in practice to combine two or more rod-trains D D and their respective conducting devices and reels with the train of rolls B, so that the billets may be passed on for further reduction to one and then the other of said-rod-trains and their reels as fast as delivered from said train B. Being thus deliv- 'ered in rapid succession, owing to the use of several furnaces A, as previously described, it is obvious that the production of the mill is very materially increased over the ordinary mills in common use.

As thehot-bed F2 is not an essential feature of my invention, I reserve the right to use the same or not, as desired. .l

The operation of reducing a billet to a wire rod by the use of my improved plant may be briefly summed up as follows: The attendant first removes the billet from one of the heating-furnaces A in the usual way and deposits it on the feeding or carrying rolls C. Said rolls then carry it forward between the first set of reducing-rolls of the train B, when it is then continued to be fed forward and reduced by said rolls and each succeeding set of rolls of said train in the usual way. Upon issuing from the last set of rolls the billet enters and passes through the swivel guide-pipe c, which has previously been swung in line with one of the sets of feed-rolls, d, by means of the operating-rod t', connected with the forward end thereof. Being now passed in between said feed-rolls, the latter feed it forward into and through the conducting-pipe e and in between the second set of feed-rolls,f, which in tu rn pass it forward and deposit it in the tubes g in line therewith. An attendant now turns the device F one-half a revolution by means of a handle, j, thereon, as indicated in Fig. 2, thus bringing said filled or loaded tube in line with the train of rolls D. An attendant next grips the forward end of the partially-reduced billet by means of a suitable swivel gripping device or tongs and draws it forward and inserts it between the first set of rolls of said train D, as indicated by full and dotted lines in Fig. 1, when said rolls and each succeeding set feed forward and further reduce the billet, asin the former iustance,to the size of a wire rod, which Y as it issues from the last set or finishing-rolls, is guided by a swivel device similar to the de vice c, Vpreviously described, into and through a suitable conducting-pipe, k or k', onto one of 65 the reels E, upon which it is coiled between the double row of spokes l thereof as fast as delivered thereon,thus completing the operation. In practice it is preferable to employ two reels for each train of rolls D, as shown at the righthand side of Fig. 1, for the reason that while the coil is being formed upon one reel the one previously coiled on the other reel may be removed, and thus obviate any unnecessary delay in the rolling and eoiling operations.

The various parts of the plant are so constructed in relation to one another that the forward end of each billet will enter between the feed-rolls d before its rear end leaves the last set of rolls of the train B, and between the feedrolls f beforeleaving said feed-rolls d. Therefore, after having been fed in between the first set of rolls of said train B, as previously described, the billet is passed forward automatically until it is deposited within one of the protecting tubes g of the device F. When thus deposited, the forward end of said billet projects beyond the front end of the device a. sufficient distance for the attendant to grip and draw forward the same,as previously described.

For the purpose of convenience in illustration I have shown only a. few sets of each train of rolls; but it will be understood that a. considerable larger number are employed in practice, the additional number thereof being governed according to different circumstances and requirements.

Having described my improved plant, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is- Y In a rolling-mill plant, the system of billetheating furnaces A, supporting and carrying rolls C, and primary train of rolls B, for partially reducing the billets and delivering the same in rapid succession therefrom, in combination with two or more systems or apparatuses for further reducing said partially-reduced billets to wire rods and forming the same into coils, consisting of the swivel guide-pipe c, feed rolls d, conducting pipes e, or their equivalents, feed-rolls j, storage receptacles or appliances F F F, the trains of rolls D, reels E, and suitable guides interposed between said storage receptacles or appliances and the rolls D, and between said rolls and the reels, all arranged for operation substantially as shown and specied.

CH AS. H. MORGAN.

Witnesses:

PAUL B. MORGAN, A. A. BARKER.

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