Improvements in or relating to the Jointing of Tubular Structures.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 1st Mar., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 1st Dec., 1898-Accepted, 21st Jan., 1899
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or relating to the Jointing of Tubular Structures.
I, CHARLES VANDELEUR BURTON, of 33, Queens Road, Chelsea, in the County
of Middlesex, Doctor of Science, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the jointing of tubular structures and has for its
object to enable brazing to be dispensed with.
The parts to be joined, say for example a tube and lug of a cycle frame, are
constructed so that the one will fit closely within the other. In the end of the tube
is placed a plug of some ductile metal such as lead or some other sufficiently
yielding solid substance, the metal or substance being preferably fusible at a
moderately low temperature. The plug is of a length in accordance with the
length of the joint and fits tightly into the end of the tube. A strong rod,
chain, or the like runs axially through the plug, the ends of the rod terminating
in strong plates or discs which lie closely against the ends of the plug. The
latter is preferably cast round the rod so that the rod discs and fusible metal form
a solid plug.
Depressions are formed in the exterior of the lug in some suitable manner the
depressions being sufficiently deep to indent the fusible metal in the interior of
the joint. The effect is to cause the end of the tube to fit tightly into the lug
making an airtight and satisfactory union.
The joint is now subjected to a heat sufficient to melt the metal or other
substance composing the plug which is run out, the plates and rod being carried
with it, when the joint will be complete.
The plates and rod may in some cases be dispensed with.
In a modification the fusible metal is enclosed in a steel or other sufficiently
hard metal capsule which fits closely within the inner member of the joint. The
ends of this capsule are not closed but reduced so as to leave small openings
through which the metal or other ductile material may subsequently flow when
fused. If desired, only one end of the capsule may be left open, the other end
being closed.
If desired, a steel or other metal liner may be placed within the joint, this
liner carrying the fusible plug.
The process may be reversed by encasing the joint in a strong shell containing
the ductile metal, indentations being made from within outwards by means of a
suitably constructed tube expander or like device.
If it is desired to join two tubes of equal diameter the two ends are enclosed
within a closely fitting sleeve, the depressions being made in this sleeve the plug
being arranged so as to lie partially within each end of the two tubes to be
joined. Or a liner which will fit closely within the ends of the two tubes is
filled with the ductile metal and placed within the ends of the members of the
joint, or a liner may be combined with a sleeve such as previously described.
The depressions in the joint may be of the nature of indentations at one or

page_text: more points, or corrugations or flutings and they may be formed by pressure or
hammering, the process being conveniently carried out by steam, "hydraulic or
other power.
If desired the ductile plug may be left in the joint for strengthening purposes
or in order to save the trouble of removal.
It is to be understood that the above described method of jointing tubular
structures is capable of very varied application.
Dated this 1st day of March 1898.
BOULT & WADE,
Agents for the Applicant
Improve neats in or relating to the Jointing of Tubular Structures.
I, CHARLES VANDELEUR BURTON, of 33, Queens Road, Chelsea, in the County
of Middlesex, Doctor of Science, 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 a method and device for use in joining one tube to
another tube or hollow article by forcing the parts of the joint into engagement
with each other in a novel manner without the use of cement or of brazing or
soldering material.
The method and device above referred to may be employed with great advan-
tage in, for example, joining a tube to a tubular lug in a cycle-frame, engag-
ing two tube-ends with each other or with a tubular connecting-sleeve, or
engaging a liner or bush with the interior of any article in which it is received.
According to this invention a tubular joint is made by placing a plug of
deformable material, for instance, a ductile or plastic solid, within a tube which
is encircled by the article to which it is to be joined, and applying force to the
plug to shorten it in one or more of its dimensions; the plug is of such material
or is so constrained as to tend to maintain its volume constant, so that such
shortening of one or more of its dimensions causes it to expand along other
dimensions to deform into engagement with each other the parts of the joint
which encircle it.
The material employed for the plug may if desired be one which is fusible at
a somewhat lower temperature than that at which the parts of the joint would
become subject to injury by heat, so that after the plug has served its purpose
in the operation of producing the joint, in the course of which it becomes inter-
locked with the tubular members thereof, it may readily be removed from its
place by heating the exterior of the joint so that the plug fuses and runs out;
this fused material can be saved and again made into a plug for further use.
There are many kinds of fusible material suitable for use according to this
invention; one such material for instance is a fusible metal composed of eight
parts by weight of bismuth, five parts by weight of lead, and three parts by
weight of tin. Another is a mixture of pitch, tallow and dry plaster-of-Paris
similar to the mixture used by art metal workers as a bed for hammering metal
upon.
It is not necessary, however, that the deformable plug should also be fusible,
for if desired it may be allowed to remain in the completed joint; on the other
hand if it is desired that the plug should be removed it may be broken up
mechanically, or dissolved out by a chemical agent or by water or by other
solvent, or it may be charred or otherwise disintegrated sufficiently to permit

page_text: of its removal. It may comprise a casing, harder than its central portion; in
this instance the casing could be retained in the completed joint and the central
portion removed; such central portion might be of fusible metal, or of a 'liquid
introduced through holes in the harder casing, the holes being acterwards
plugged for instance with fusible metal which would melt upon the application
of heat to the joint and allow the fusible or Huid contents of the casing to run
out.
Where necessary any desired means may be employed for restraining the
expansion of the deformable plug, either by hindering or by preventing its
expansion from occurring otherwise than in the manner desired; such means
may take the form of a tenacious transfixing-piece with terminal enlargements
between which the plug is retained, or having one or more projections or enlarge-
ments for a like purpose intermediate of the ends.
Ordinarily the portions of the tubular joint would be circular cylindrical and
in such cases the plug would be a circular cylindrical plug approximately fitting
the interior of the smaller tubular member of the joint, in which it might be cast,
the member serving as a mould; where the parts to be joined are not of circular
transverse section the plug would correspondingly be non-circular in transverse
section; but it is to be understood that it is preferred to use the circular-cylm-
drical form which has the unique property that any deformation whatever pro-
duced by thrusts transverse to the axis of symmetry must result in an increase
of periphery, provided that the possibility of a diminution of volume is excluded.
To enable the plug, to be kept in the desired position within the joint it may
be necessary in certain cases to provide it with devices such as the chain or rod
hereinafter described.
One of the readiest means of applying force to the plug for the purpose
described is to place the tubes for the joint with the plug within them between
jaws or tools which are forced together hydraulically or otherwise so as to pro-
duce depressions on the inner and outer tubular portions of the joint. These
depressions reduce the diameter of the plug in the line of action of the jaws,
expanding it and the tubular portions of the joint transversely to that line of
action. Or slots can be provided in the inner member of the joint, the jaws
being used to produce depressions on the outer tubular member only, and force
them through the slots into contact with the plug which they deform as in the
previous example. Or if desired one or both of the two jaws may pass through
openings in the tubular portions of the joint so as to come into actual contact
with the sides of the plug in the process of deforming the same.
In many cases during the deformation process it is advisable to enclose the
joint in a jig or mould
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal central section of two tube-ends ready to be joined
according to this invention, the deformable plug being seen in elevation within
the inner tube, the tubes being shown between two jaws which are to apply the
power by which the operation of jointing is effected.
Figure 2 is a transverse section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1.
Figures 3 and 4 are views similar respectively to Figures 1 and 2 except that
in them the jaws are shown closer together and the tubes are seen to be deformed
by the mutual action of the jaws and plug so as to become interlocked against
any endwise or transverse or rotary movement in relation to each other.
Figure 5 is a plan of the joint shown in section in Figures 3 and 4.
Figure 6 is a transverse section through two tube-ends in position within the
retaining mould or jig and ready to be joined according to this invention:
Figure 7 is a longitudinal section on the line 44 of Figure 6:
Figures 8, 9, 10 and 11 are views similar respectively to Figures 1, 2, 3, 4
and 5 but showing an alternative construction of joint produced by pressing the
outer tubular member into and through slots in the inner tubular members to

page_text: act upon the plug within the latter which becomes deformed as in the previous
example.
Figs. 12 and 13 are views similar to Figs. 1 and 3, to illustrate the formation
of a joint according to this invention by applying pressure to the ends of a
cylindrical plug to cause it to expand laterally into barrel form in company with
the tubular members which encircle it.
Figures 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 are views which respectively, are similar to
Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 except that they show a construction of joint in which
a liner is inserted in the manner hereinafter described.
Like letters indicate like parts throughout the drawings.
In the example illustrated by Figures 1 and 2 the plug A is placed in the end
of the tube B which extends into the end of another tube C. These tubes are
placed between jaws DD'. When these jaws move towards each other in the
direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 2, they deform the contained plug
and also the ends of the tubes BC in the manner indicated by Figures 3 and 4,
reducing the diameter of the plug along the line X-X of Figure 4 and causing
it to expand along the line YY the perimeter of the cross-section of the plug
on the plane of section shown by that figure being increased by reason of the
departure from the original form of cross-section which was circular, the area
of cross-section remaining approximately constant in virtue of the contained
deformable but nearly incompressible plug.
Not only are the ends of the tubes B and C interlocked by this deformation in
a manner which prevents them from having any rotary motion in relation to
each other, but the increase in the perimeter of the cross-section of the plug A
results in a corresponding increase in the perimeter of the inner tube-end B
encircling it, so that the end of the inner tube B becomes expanded into such
very close contact with the interior of the outer tube C that a fluid-tight joint is
produced. In addition to the alteration in the cross section of the joint its form
is also altered longitudinally as indicated in Figures 3 and 5 in which the
original contour of the parts is indicated by dotted lines, the alteration of form
produced by the combined action of the plug and the jaws being shown in full
lines. The depressions B₁ (Figures 3 and 4) and G¹ (Figures 3, 4 and 5) made
in the tubes B and C by the jaws DD serve to aid in locking the jointed tubes
against any longitudinal movement in relation to each other, in addition to the
locking effected by the alteration in the form of the tubes along the longitudinal
central plane containing the line Y-Y of Figure which gives the joint some
such external form as is indicated by the plan Figure 5.
In the arrangement shown in Figures 6 and 7, a short liner E is placed within
the end of the tube B, and the latter is then introduced into the end of the other
tube C for a distance equal to the length of the liner E. Within the liner E a
closely fitting plug A has previously been cast the plug being transfixed by a
core of steel A2 terminating in discs or enlargements A³ of a diameter nearly
equal to the internal diameter of the liner. One or both of the enlargements
on the core C has four notches cut in its circumference to allow of the with-
drawal of the core after the joint has been made. The parts are now placed
within a two part jig FF which encloses the joint, fitting closely around the
outer member C. In each part of the jig are two openings & through which can
pass four tools or jaws D which are arranged opposite each other so that each
opposite pair can act upon and form the joint in the manner previously described.
By employing the jig FF the joint is prevented from being deformed otherwise
than by merely having the four depressions made in it.
The form of the jaws need not be such as is indicated in the jaws DD' of
Figures 1 and 2 which produce depressions of the kind illustrated in Figures 3,
4 and 5, for tools of any shape capable of producing a shortening of the diameter
of the plug and tubes along the lines X-X, Figure 4, may be employed.
A further alternative is illustrated in Figures 8 to 11, in which the inner

page_text: tube B is provided with holes B2 into which the jaws DD' force the indenta-
tions C which they make in the outer tube C; the indentations C serve not
only to lock the tubes B and C together by engaging with the holes in the former
but they act upon the plug A so that it becomes deformed and expands both the
tubes in the manner herein before described with reference to Figures 1 to 5.
In Figures 12 and 13 is illustrated the formation of a joint by applying pres-
sure to the ends of a cylindrical plug A by means of rams EE acting in the
direction of the arrows marked upon them to cause the plug to expand laterally
into barrel form and to force into similar form the tube-ends which encircle it.
The rams may be carried on screw-threaded rods, one of which may pass through
the plug and through the other rod which is formed hollow so that by screw
apparatus of any convenient known type the rams can be caused to approach each
other to compress the plug longitudinally and expand it radially.
The tenacious transfixing levice may consist of a chain by means of which the
plug may be drawn into and retained in proper position in situations in which it
would otherwise be liable to accidental displacement. The plug may be cast upon a
rod which transfixes it between plates, which serve to resist expansion of the
plug in the line of its axis, under pressure. The rod will also retain the plug in
the desired position during the formation of the joint, and the plates are of such
size and shape that they will not be gripped by the tubes in the formation of the
joint but will be left free for withdrawal subsequent to the melting out of the
fusible plug.
The plates may be attached to a chain instead of, or in addition to a rod.
The plug may be provided with a casing A of harder material, which when
the plug is employed in the manner indicated in Figures 14 and 15 will be
deformed like the tubes B and C as shown Figures 16 and 17, and is intended
to be left inside the joint as a strengthening liner. This cased plug may be
provided with a chain passing through a small opening in the casing or with
a rod or with both. The casing may have both its ends entirely closed, if it is
not desired that the ductile material should be subsequently removed by fusion;
but if the ductile material is to be melted out, one or both ends of the casing A
should be open.
The plug may consist of a capsule or casing such as A4 with both its
ends closed, containing instead of fusible metal, a liquid which can
be delivered into it through a hole or holes closed by a, fusible
stud; the latter will melt and allow the liquid to evaporate if heat be
applied to the joint for the purpose, after the plug has served its object. If
the plug be so placed in the joint that the fusible stud comes at its lower end
the liquid will flow out as soon as the stud melts.
Plates A³ to resist longitudinal expansion of the plug, together with a trans-
fixing device A2 to connect them are indicated by chain lines in Figures 1, 2,
3, 4, 8, 9, 10 & 11.
Although the indentations B' C₁ herein before referred to by way of example,
extend longitudinally along the joint, it is to be clearly understood that the
number and form of the indentations employed may be varied as desired as long
as they operate to bring about shearing deformation of the plug, that is to say
to reduce the dimensions of one or more portions of a deformable plug in such a
manner as to effect an increase in the dimensions of some other portions of that
plug for expanding the portions of a tubular joint into engagement with each
other in the manner described. Such indentations suitably disposed may not
only be utilized in producing the joint but may also serve as ornamentation for
the parts jointed; for instance in a cycle, the indentations may be given the
form of the maker's initials, monogram, or trade mark.
In the foregoing description it has been assumed that a single tube B
expanded into one end of another tube C; but the tube C might be a sleeve
with two tubes such as B expanded into its opposite ends; in such case a single

page_text: plug A about double the length of the joint portions of either tube B could be
used, with two sets of jaws DD', one set for each tube B; or a pair of tube-
ends might abut against each other at the middle of the length of the plug A
(Fig. 1) to be expanded into the encircling tube C by a single tube A and
single set of jaws DD, arranged and operating in the manner hereinbefore
described, each jaw making one half of a depression in one tube B and the
other half-depression in line with it in the companion tube B.
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 the formation of tubular joints the employment of a plug of material
operating in the manner described.
2. In the formation of tubular joints the employment of a plug such as
described having a casing of a material harder than that of which the central
portion is formed.
3. In the formation of tubular joints the combination with a plug such as
described of a device for hindering the expansion of the plug in one or more
directions.
4. In the formation of tubular joints the combination with a plug such as
described of a transfixing piece such as A² having enlargements to hinder
the axial deformation of the plug.
5. The process for the jointing of tubular bodies consisting in first placing
within the inner member of the joint a plug such as described and then reducing
the plug in one or more of its dimensions.
6 The process substantially as described for the jointing of tubular bodies
consisting in first placing within the inner member of the joint a plug such as
described next placing this member within the outer member then enclosing the
latter in a mould or jig closely fitting it and finally reducing the plug in one
or more of its dimensions.
7. The tubular joint substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1
to 5 or Figures 6 and 7 or Figures 8 to 11 or Figures 12 and 13 or Figures 14
to 18 of the accompanying drawings.
8. The complete plug as described with a tenacious transfixing piece or a
restraining shell substantially as described and illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 or
Figures and 7 or Figures 8 and 9 or Figures 14 and 15 of the accompanying
drawings.
Dated this 1st day of December 1898.