The Works Of Messrs. Schneider And Co.

THE ROLLING MILL DEPARTMENT. 91 fillets. The brasses are of phosphor-bronze, and have a large surface ; they are lubricated with hot-neck grease. The roils are not cooled down with water, and the bearings often reach a high temperature. The roll-setting screws are worked by hånd. A spring buffer is placed in a cavity in the centre of the body of the shaft. This arrangement was adopted after several breakages of roils, which had driven back the shaft and the engine itself. The bufi’ex’ lias never failecl to prevent the récurrence of similar accidents. The plan of the sheet milis (Fig. 223) shows two other trains besides the one just described. One of these consista of four pairs of housing frames with small roils, worked by a 250 horse-power horizontal engine, the flywheel rim of which weighs 30 tons, and the speed is 40 revolutions per minute. The other consiste of five pairs of roils of varions lengths ; it is worked direct by a vertical engine, which gives an average speed of 35 revolutions per minute to a flywheel 9.500 metres (31 ft. 2 in.) in diameter, the total weight of which is 72 tons. The rim weighs 48 tons. These two trains are provided with the necessary accessory apparatus, hydraulic cloubling machines and shears for cutting oft’ the edges of the sheets. An electric 15-ton traveller runs above the milis for putting in and taking out the roils. The roils are always turned and fitted up in the repairing shop, never in the housings, in order to prevent all loss of time in rolling. Besides these miils, there is another set beyond the line of the plate miils. It consiste of three pairs of housing frames; two serve for rolling special sheets and the third for cold rolling after shearing. There are, therefore, for sheet rolling, 17 pairs of rolis, all of hard cast iron, worked by four engines, which act direct on the rolls ; there is no intermediary toothed-wheel gearing, and the engines are provided with heavy fly- wheels. Shearing Machines.—The sheets immediately after rolling are placed on trucks and carried to the shearing machines. One type of shears for cutting off the corners is shown in Figs. 237 to 240, Plate XLV. Most of the sheets are cut to size under four large combined shears worked by a central steam engine. The blades of these shears are 3.200 metres (10 ft. 6 in.) long ; they are illustrated in Figs. 241 to 244, Plate XLVI. There are, besides, special shears for cutting the shee.ts to varions shapes, besides three shears for cutting out circles and rings. The pickling plant consists of nine tanks. Close-Annealing Plant.—In the vicinity of the miils, the sheets are classified, marked and placed in close- annealing chests (see Figs. 247 and 248, Plate XLVII.) which are taken on trucks to annealing furnaces placed in the neighbouring building ; these furnaces are illustrated by Figs. 245 and 246, Plate XLVII. The group of furnaces is 40 metres (131 ft.) long and 1.900 metres (6 ft. 3 in.) wide; it is 1.200 metres (3 ft. 11 in.) deep, and is placed completely below ground level. The top is formed of movable arches placed side by side. The furnace is fired by eight grates of the usual type placed along the length of the furnace. The flames circulate in a passage before they are distributed through openings, the section of which is regtilated to obtain a uniform temperature, namely, about 700 deg. Cent. (1292 deg. Fahr.) in the centre of the annealing chests. The chests consist of a cast-iron bottom, covered by a cast- steel bell, the joint being made with fine sand. The furnace will hold 90 tons of sheets, distributed in chests of varions sizes. It is served by an overhead electric traveller, of 15 tons lifting power. The lifting in and out of the chests, and the placing of the arched covers, are effected rapidly ; three close-annealing operations are completed per week ; the coal consumed averages 140 kilogrammes (308 Ib.) per ton of sheets, fire lighting included. This furnace is only used for annealing ordinary-quality sheets. The sheets that require special handling, and annealing at a higher tem- perature, such as dynamo sheets, for instance, are annealed separately in other furnaces. In the same building thin sheets are stored according to weight and sizes in special frames, and in quantifies varying between 1,200 and 1,500 tons. Fig. 249, Plate XLVII., gives a good idea of the enormous accumulation of rolls of all kinds that are kept in stock by Messrs. Schneider and Co. The view is of one part of the roli stores of the rolling miil départaient.