Patent GB-208300-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in and relating to tube welding machines
IPC: B21C37/08
Filed: 1922-10-24
Abstract: 208,300. Gale, F. G., and Shaw, P. W. Oct. 24, 1922. Tubes.-In a machine for electrically welding tubes, of the type comprising feed rolls, contact rolls at either side of the seam and presser rolls, the tube is guided at the seam by fins located at opposite sides of the feed rolls and extending from and supporting an internal mandrel which extends from one side to the other of the feed rolls. The tube 4 is passed first over a vertically adjustable roll 167, then over a mandrel 93 extending through feed rolls 43, 44, then under a pair of contact rolls 3 and between a pair of presser rolls 5, and is passed thence through a conical guide tube 128 and guide rolls 122 to a second pair of feed rolls 66, 67 from which it is delivered through straightening rolls 173, 170, 171 which remove the upward curl due to the welding operation. The pair of feed rolls 43, 44 and 66, 67 are respectively geared together and driven by spur gear 65, 70 on shafts 24, 71 and bevel gear 26, 72 from a shaft 25, which is driven by bevel gear 87, 85, 84 from a shaft 83 rotated by gearing from a motor 242. The lower roll of each pair is mounted in a yoke-shaped frame 47, 48, Figs. 6 and 11, which is adjusted by a screw 50 in a second yoke-shaped frame 45, 51 and the upper roll is mounted on an eccentric portion of a shaft 52 which is provided at one end with a spring-controlled splined sleeve 55 rotated by hand to adjust the roll and locked in position by a pin 58 engaging one of a number of holes 57 in a flange 56 on the sleeve. Seam-engaging fins 94, 95 are secured to the mandrel and are respectively carried by a support 96, Fig. 1, vertically-adjustable through an arm 99 by a screw 100, and by a yoke-shaped frame 101, the end member 121 of which is at a lower level than the top of the roll 43 so as to enable the welding point to be seen by the operator. The cheeks 102 of this frame 101 are slotted at 103 to engage the guide blocks 53 in which the shaft 52 is mounted, and the frame is adjusted vertically by a hand-operated shaft 109, which is connected by bevel gear to a pair of worms engaging worm wheels 105 on a pair of screws 104 screwing into the blocks 53. The pin 94 has an extension 97 engaging a groove 98 in the upper roll 43. In a modification the rear end of the mandrel may extend to a position just in front of the contact rolls, being provided with an insulating sleeve 74, Fig. 16, and a further guide pin 75. The tube is guided to the contact rolls by a pair of rolls 111 carried by the frame 101 and by a number of rolls 112 mounted on a slide 113 adjustable by a screw 115. The contact rolls 3, Fig. 3, are carried by shafts 140 which are journaled in bearings 139 angularly adjustable, to suit the size of tube, on a trunnion 141 carried by a slide 137 and secured in adjusted position 'by slots 143 and screws 142. The slides 137 are vertically adjustable by screws 138 in slides 134, which are transversely adjustable by screws 135 in guides on a two-part head-member 131 which supports also a transformer 130 and is secured to insulated supports 125. The transformer is further supported by brace members 159 secured to the parts 125 by bolts 160 and braced by rods 161. The contact rolls may have chambers 145 connected by ducts 146, 149 respectively with the passage 147 and pipe 150 communicating with the pipes 148, 151 of a circulating system for cooling the rolls. The pipes 148, 151 are carried by a fixed member 154 held in position by a flanged collar 152 on the end of the shaft 140 so that the cooling medium may be supplied during rotation of the rolls. The passage 147 is connected to the pipe 148 through a port 156 in a sleeve 155, leakage round which is prevented by packing 157 and screwed gland 158. The rolls 5, Fig. 4, for completing the weld are mounted preferably together with gears 11 pinned thereto, on shafts 9 journaled in bearings 10 on slides 6, which are transversely adjustable by eyebolts 27. The rolls are preferably positivelyrotated by spur and worm gear 13, 15, 16 from. a snaft 17 on one of the slides which is connected by a universal joint 19 to a shaft 20 rotated by bevel gear from the shaft 24. In order that the rolls may be replaced for welding tubes of different shapes and sizes, the nuts 41 on the shafts 9 are first removed and the shafts withdrawn axially by hand-operated pinions 36 and racks 35, which are formed on sleeves 34 mounted between collars 39, 40 on the shafts. Guide rolls 116 are carried by screw-adjusted slides 117, mounted in guides on the slides 6 in front of the rolls 5. The guide rolls 122 are carried by slides adjustable by screws 126 in guides in the frames 125. The straightening rolls consist of two rolls 170, 171 driven from the gear 70, and a roll 173 carried by a screw-adjusted support 174.