US994326A - Method of producing steel bars and plates. - Google Patents

Description

W. McO'ONWAY. METHODOF PRODUCING STEEL BARS AND PLATES.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.17,1911. I 994,826.,

Patented June 6, 1931.

awuwwcw UNITED STATES PATENT WILLIAM MQCONWAY, or :errTsBUns, 'PENusYLvANIAQ To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM MCGONWAY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certam new and useful Im rovements in Meth: ods of Producing Stee Bars and Plates; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the 1o invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to niake and use the same. I

My invention relates to a method'of producing steel bars and plates devoid ofpiping, of uniform quality throughout and in an economical manner.

Heretofore in the manufacture of steel bar and plate the usual method has involved the castingof a steel ingot of such cross sec tional area and shape aswhen elongatedby forging and rolling the ingot will produce a bar or plate of the desired length and cross sectional area. These ingots are usually square or rectangular in cross sec-' tion and of such dimen sions that in cooling the metal draws from the center of the ingot toward the surface forming what is "technically known as a pipe resulting in defects that require the ITGjGCtIOIl of a considso erable portion the ingot, and furthermore ingot to vary in quality.

the lack of uniformity in the cooling or setting of the molten metal throughout the mass results in the segregation of the steel elements which causes different parts of the From an ingot of square or rectangular cross section and of the required length, said ingot produced in the manner hereinbefore specified, the piped or defective portion is 40 either first cut off, orfroifn, the ingot elongated in the rolls there is temoved that portion found to be defectiue from the same cause. This, usual, method of producing steel bar and plate, results first in a mate- }ria-l loss from the ingot which greatly adds to the cost of manufacture, and second gives rise to a constantly existing uncertainty as to whether or not the metal-in the bar or up to sample.

To overcome the loss incident to, and the defects in the bar or plate resulting from the present practice of producing steel bar 'and plate is the objectof my present invention.

To this end, my invent-ion taken as a Whole, and generally stated consists in first plate is of uniform quality throughout, or"

Mnmon or PRODUCING STEEL BARS Ann mamas,

Patented ones, 1911. Application filed February 1?, 191 1. Serial No. 609,149. f

" casting an annular ingot, ofattenuated sec-= .tion, that is to say of a thickness which will permit the quick and'uniform setting of the molten metal throughout the mass. whereby piping withintheingot is avoided; secondly, transforming. the ingot by pressure which increases one 'dimensionand. diminishes another dimension of the ingot, third, rolling the annulus or. blank thus produced to increase its diameter andreduceits cross section; and finally dividing therolledarb nulus to form a billet, so that the sameor the sections thereof may be subjected-to rolling in the usual plate or. bar mills fonthe production of the ultimateplateor bar.

In .the drawings chosen for. the purpose of illustrating my invention; Figure l is a pla-nvie-w ofan' annular steel ingot, adapt ed for the purposes of any invention, asit comes from the mold with the Esprue and sinking heads attached; Fig."2 is a. section of the annular ingot as it comes, fromthemold; Fig. 3is a plan view of the ingot with the sprue and sinking heads removed; Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the ingot shown in plan in Fig. 3; Fi 5 is a plan [view of the annular ingot after it liasbeen subjected to pressure to increase its diameter and decrease its length; Fig. ,6 is .a sectional view of the ingot shown in Fig. 5 ;-Fig. 7 is a plan view of the annular ingot shown in Figs.

5 and 6 after it has been subjected to rolling to increase its diameter and decrease its cross section; Fig. 8 is a plan view of the annulus shown in Fig.7- divided into a plurality of sections for final rolling; Fig. 9 is a plan view of the annulus shown in Fig. 7

out at a single point to enable it to be" I opened out for final rolling, and Fig. 10 is a plan view of the annulus shown in Fig. 9

after it has been opened out to enable one end thereof to be introduced into the bar or plate rolls.

Like symbols refer to like partswherever ,1 0

they occurl I will now proceed to describe my invention more fully so that others skilled in the art to which itappertains may apply the same.

withdrawn from-the;

mold. The main point to attended to in-1'? producing this annular casting'isto see that v In the drawings, A indicates an annular the same has what 1' term an attenuated section, that is to say, the cross section or thickness of the ingot, as at 2-2, is such that a quick and uniform settingor congelation of the molten metal throughout the mass will ensue, or in other words, the radiating surface of the casting is so proportioned to the thickness and total weight of-the molten mass that no ortion of the massremains fluid long enoug to be drawn to another portion of the mass, as would occur if one part solidified materially earlier than another. As a f'esultof this step of my process piping in the ingot is avoided, and a uniform quality of metal is obtained throughout the mass.

r Sinking heads a may or may not be mm ployed in casting the hollow steel ingot A, and this will be measurably determined b the dimensions of the ingot, as it is wel understood by those skilled in theart that in large castings the use of sinking heads to compensate for shrinkage of the mass in cooling will insure greater solidity in the casting, and furthermore piping, if any occurs, will take place in the sinking heads with a resultant minimum of loss. Having thus obtained a hollow cast steel ingot A of attenuated section, and of the required length to give the desired dimensions when reduced to bar or plate form said ingot is transformed by pressure, preferably hydrostatic pressure, so as to diminish the length and increase the diameter thereof. This operation will result, in the case of the annular ingot A, in the production of a n-annular blank A, whereinthe metal of the mass has been displaced laterally or radially both inwardly and outwardly from the center of the ingot, and is in the best condition for the operation of rolls in the subsequent reduction of the blank. The blank A is then subjected in its annular form to the operation of rolls which increase the diameter of the annulus and reduce its cross section to the dimensions required for submission to the rolls of a bar or plate mill as the case may be, as indicated at A", after which the rolled annulus A is cut at one or more points 6%,; and the single billet or the several sections thereof are reduced to ultimate bar or plate form in suitable mills. In case of a single section of the rolled annulus A', as shown in Fig. 9, the blank may be opened out as indicated at a, Fig. 10, to enable the end of the billet to be entered in the bar or plate rolls.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patcut is:

An improvement in the method of manufacturing steel bars and plates, which consists in producing a hollow ingot of attenuated section to permit quick and uniform setting of the molten mass, transforming said ingot by pressure which increases the diameter and reduces the length thereof, rolling the annular blank thus produced to increase the diameter and reduce the cross section thereof, and finall severing the annular rolled blank and su mitting the billet or billets obtained to rolling in suitable mills to produce theultimate bar or plate.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature,

in the presence of two subscribing witnesses WILLIAM McooNWAY.

Witnesses:

'HooH M. STERLING,

M fl-Bannanr.

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