Improvements in or relating to I
Year: 1898

page_text: Improvements in or relating to
I, CHARLES THOMAS CROWDEN, of Vernon Lodge, Eastnor Grove, Leamington
Spa, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this.
invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to tube-expanders, its object being the construction of
hydraulic apparatus by which one or a series of tubes may be caused to engage
with a socket lug, tube plate, header or the like.
A convenient construction of apparatus according to this invention is one in
which a frame carries a series of studs adapted to enter simultaneously a number
of tubes. Each stud carries an expansible chamber, to the interior of which a
fluid under pressure is delivered, so that by expanding this chamber after it
has been introduced into the tube the adjacent portions of the latter are also
expanded and so caused to engage the socket, lug, tube-plate or header which
may be grooved or otherwise formed to receive them, and which serves as the
resistance against which the effort of expansion is exerted. Conveniently the
studs are screw-threaded or otherwise made to be adjustable endwise, so as to
regulate the situation, within the tube, of the expansible chamber.
That portion of the stud which enters the tube end can be curved or can be
provided with a curved or rounded head, between which and a ring or distance
piece on the stud the expansible chamber is retained so as to be secured against end-
wise displacement. The frame or support may also have adjustable projections
or legs to enable the distance between it and the face of the socket tube-plate
or the like to be varied as desired. The frame may be dispensed with and a
single portable tool used on each joint.
°
By giving each stud a curved stem or a rounded head or both, the apparatus
is made useful not only for expanding straight tubes but also for use upon tubes
which curve as they leave the socket, tube-plate or header, or are disposed at an
angle to the passage through which access to them is attained.
In the case of expanding the tubes into the joints in the frames of tandem
cycles or cycles of special construction, in which case it would not pay to make
a mould or jig for the whole frame, I prefer to make the joints independently
of each other, thereby necessitating only a mould or jig for the, particular lug
or portion to which the internal pressure is being applied, as the hydraulic pres-
sure is exerted only at the part of the frame at which the tool is situated.
Dated this 7th day of January 1898.
BOULT & WADE.
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: Improvements in or relating to Tube-expanders.
I, CHARLES THOMAS CROWDEN, of Vernon Lodge, Eastnor Grove, Leamington
Spa, in the County of Warwick, Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
-
This invention relates to tube expanders, its object being the construction of
hydraulic apparatus by which one or a series of tubes may be caused to engage
with a tube plate, header or the like.
A convenient construction of apparatus according to this invention is one in
which a frame carries a series of studs adapted to enter simultaneously a number
of tubes. Each stud carries an expansible chamber, to the interior of which a
fluid under pressure is delivered, so that by expanding this chamber after it
has been introduced into the tube the adjacent portions of the latter are also
expanded and so caused to engage the lug, tube-plate or header which may be
grooved or otherwise formed to receive them, and which serves
as the
resistance against which the effort of expansion is exerted. Conveniently the
studs are screw-threaded or otherwise made to be adjustable endwise, so as to
regulate the situation, within the tube, of the expansible chamber.
That portion of the stud which enters the tube end can be curved or can be
provided with a curved or rounded head, between which and a ring or distance
piece on the stud the expansible chamber is retained so as to be secured against end-
wise displacement. The frame or support may also have adjustable projections
or legs to enable the distance between it and the face of the socket tube-plate
or the like to be varied as desired. The frame may be dispensed with and a
single portable tool used on each joint.
By giving each stud a curved stem or a rounded head or both, the apparatus
is made useful not only for expanding straight tubes but also for use upon tubes
which curve
as they leave the tube-plate or header, or are disposed at an
angle to the passage through which access to them is attained.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan partly broken away of a multiple tube expander constructed
in accordance with this invention:
Figure 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1:
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
A frame A, having a series of passages A' bored in it for the transmission
of fluid pressure, carries on its plates a series of studs B. Each of the latter is
hollow having a passage running longitudinally through it from one end nearly
up to the head and all the studs are screwed into the frame plate A so that the
passages within them communicate with the passages A¹ in the frame. Each
of the studs B has a rounded head and immediately behind this head is situated
an expansible chamber B2, into the interior of which the central passage B¹ opens
through a short radial hole B³.
The heads of the studs B are of a size adapted to fit loosely within the tubes C
which are to be expanded in the example shown in the drawings in the tube
plate D. It will be seen that all the studs carried on the frame A can be caused
to simultaneously engage a corresponding number of tubes C so that when the
faid pressure is supplied to the expansible chambers B³ every tube C will be
expanded in position in the tube plate D.
In order to adjust the position of the expansible chamber B within the end
of the tube C, each stud may either be adjustable in the frame A or as shown in
the accompanying drawings. An adjustable collar E which can be fixed by a

page_text: lock nut E¹ may be employed, the position of this collar E upon the stud B
determining the distance that the latter can enter the end of the tube C.
In addition to devices for adjusting the position of the studs themselves or
instead thereof, the frame A may carry adjustable projections or legs F which
by bearing upon the face of the tube plate D enable the distance of the frame
from the tube plate to be determined.
Fluid pressure is conducted to the interior of the frame A through a pipe A²
connected in some suitable manner.
Instead of the expansible chamber B2 cup-leathers or washers B4 may be fitted
to the stud so that the water under pressure, admitted through the passage B
causes the cup-leathers or washers to make a tight joint with the contiguous
portions of the tube C, and acts directly upon the portion of tube exposed to it
between the washers.. In this case the manner of expanding the tube into the
part encircling it is similar to that in which the fluid operates in the manufac-
ture of tubular joints described in the Specification of prior Letters Patent
No. 22721 of 1895 granted to me.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is:
1. In a tube expander the combination with a hollow stud B of an expansible
chamber or of cups or washers on the stud and an adjustable collar or distance
piece substantially as described.
2. In a tube expander the combination with a frame of a series of adjustable
studs each carrying a chamber which can be expanded by fluid pressure sub-
stantially as described.
3. In a tube expander the combination with a hollow frame such as A A' with
or without adjustable legs of a series of hollow adjustable studs substantially as
and for the purpose described.
4. The complete multiple tube expander substantially as described and illus-
trated in the acompanying drawings.
Doted this 7th day of November 1898
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant.