IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET METAL ROLLERS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1869

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Thomas Reeder, of Preston, in the County of
Lancaster, Tin Plate Worker, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET METAL ROLLERS, AND IN THE MACHINERY
EMPLOYED THEREIN."
Sealed the 9th July 1869, and dated the 27th January 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Thomas Reeder at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 27th January 1869.
I, THOMAS REEDER, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Tin
Plate Worker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET METAL ROLLERS, AND IN THE
MACHINERY EMPLOYED THEREIN," to be as follows:-
My Invention is particularly beneficial when used for making rollers
of tinned sheet iron, but it may be used in making other sheet metal
rollers, the object being to produce rollers that are perfectly cylindrical
from end to end.

page_text: In performing my Invention the edges of a plate of sheet metal are
first bent over, and then the sheet is formed into a tube or cylinder with
the bent edges locking into each other as usual. This tube is then put
on a mandril having a longitudinal groove for the joint. A die of the
exact diameter of the finished roller is then drawn over the tube on the
mandril, and the action of this die equalises the irregularities in the
thickness of the sheet metal, thereby producing a roller of uniform
diameter throughout its length. In some cases more than one die may
be drawn over the tube on the mandril, or the same die may be drawn
over more than once; and as the die is of the exact diameter of the
finished roller it is evident that the thicker parts of the sheet metal are
drawn out and elongated until the metal is of uniform thickness. It
may sometimes be preferable to force the mandril and tube through
stationary dies. The sheet metal tube is drawn on the mandril, and the
mandril is forced out of the finished tube by means of a screw and nut
or other equivalents.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Thomas Reeder in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th July 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
REEDER, of Preston, in the County of Lancaster, Tin Plate Worker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-nine, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs, and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said Thomas Reeder, Her special
license that I, the said Thomas Reeder, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Thomas Reeder, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter during the
term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise,
and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,
the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SHEET METAL ROLLERS, AND IN THE MACHINERY EMPLOYED

page_text: CHEREIN," upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Thomas
Reeder, my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing
under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Thomas Reeder, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say):-
My Invention is particularly beneficial when used for making rollers
of tinned sheet iron, but it may be used in making other sheet metal
rollers, the object being to produce rollers that are perfectly cylindrical
from end to end.
In performing my Invention the edges of a plate of sheet metal are
first bent over, and then the sheet is formed into a tube or cylinder with
the bent edges locking into each other as usual. This tube is then put
on a mandril having a longitudinal groove for the joint. A die of the
exact diameter of the finished roller is then drawn over the tube on the
mandril, and the action of this die equalises the irregularities in the
thickness of the sheet metal, thereby producing a roller of uniform
diameter throughout its length. In some cases more than one die may
be. drawn over the tube on the mandril, or the same die may be drawn
over more than once; and as the die is of the exact diameter of the
finished roller it is evident that the thicker parts of the sheet metal
are drawn out and elongated until the metal is of uniform thickness.
It may sometimes be preferable to force the mandril and tube through
stationary dies. The sheet metal tube is drawn on the mandril, and the
mandril is forced out of the finished tube by means of a screw and nut
or other equivalents.
In order that my Invention may be fully understood and readily
carried into operation, I will proceed to describe the accompanying
Sheet of Drawings, reference being made to the figures and letters
marked thereon.
Figure 1 is a side elevation of my improved machine for making metal
tubes; Figure 2 is a plan, and Figure 3 is an end view of the same;
Figures 4, 5, and 6 are detached views of the die and die holder; and

page_text: Figures 7 and 8 are detached views of the mandril and the chuck which
supports the same on an enlarged scale.
a is the bed of the machine; b, the headstock carrying the driving
apparatus; c is the driving shaft, on which is a pinion gearing into a
wheel on the screw shaft d; this shaft d is supported in bearings on
the headstock b; e, e¹, are two stationary guide bars bolted to the
frame 6 at one end, and to a suitable frame g at the extremity of the
bed a; f is a screw nut made to traverse by the screw d; this nut
slides on the guide rods e, c¹. A frame or rest 9 is bolted to the bed a
for the purpose of supporting the end of the screw d, and also to hold
the chuck or block h to which the mandril i is bolted, as shewn
detached in Figures 7 and 8. It is evident that the die hereafter
described is also a support to the mandril. j is a cross head sliding on
the guide rods e, e¹, to this cross head j is attached the die j¹ and die
plate j, see Figures 4, 5, and 6; k is a stationary frame through which
the guide rods e, e¹, pass; l is a lever hinged to the rod e¹, and in con-
tact with the frame k, its use will be hereafter described; m is a cross
head sliding on the guide rods e, e¹, connected by the rods n, n¹, to the
screw nut f and cross head j. A rope o secured to the under side of
the screw nut f passes over the grooved pulley o¹, and is coupled below
to an adjustable screw rod o²; from the nut at the other end of this
rod the rope o is taken er the grooved pulley o³, and fastened to the
back part of the cross head m.
In making sheet metal rollers the operation is as follows:-A sheet_of
metal is cut of the length and width required to make the roller, the
edges are then bent in any convenient manner, and an unfinished tube
is made by locking the bent edges into one another as usual. The
Drawing represents the machine in position ready to receive the un-
finished tube or roller. In Figures 1 and 2 such a tube is shewn in
dotted lines, marked i¹. The attendant rests one end of the tube on
the end of the mandril i, which is made taper at the extremity, the
joint of the tube being placed over the longitudinal groove in the
mandril . The machine is then set in motion by moving the rod p con-
nected to the starting rod p' so as to bring one of the driving straps on
the driving pulley; by this means the screw d is caused to revolve, and
as the screw nut f traverses it draws with it by the rods n, n¹, the
cross head j carrying the die j¹ and also the cross head m in the
direction of the arrow.
At the front of the cross head m is a small pro-
ย
B

page_text: To
jection m¹ which enters the tube i¹, and by the motion of the various
parts of the machine the tube is forced on to the mandril i, the cross
head j, and die j¹ moving over the mandril slightly in advance of the
tube ¹. After the tube i¹ is forced on the mandril the direction of
the screw d is reversed, and the die j¹ is forced over the tube, which
remains stationary on the mandril. In case the die should have a
tendency to push the tube i¹ off the mandril instead of passing over it
I make use of the lever 1 and plate which is secured to a screw work-
ing in the lever l. The lever Z being hinged to the guide rod e¹ is
brought into a horizontal position, resting on the guide rod e; the plate
¹ is then opposite the end of the mandril, and it is brought up against
the end of the tube by means of the screw and hand wheel ; the
stationary frame k maintains the lever in position. The lever is
shewn by dotted lines in Figure 3 in the position it occupies when
brought against the tube i¹. When the die j¹ has passed over the
entire length of the tube the latter is ready to be soldered, which
is done while the machine is at rest; after soldering the machine is again
started, so as to move the die in the direction of the arrow in Figure 2,
the die j¹ removing all surplus solder and finishing the tube so that it
is perfectly cylindrical and ready to be taken off the mandril.
accomplish this I make use of a ring of metal in two pieces, which ring
fits the mandril i accurately, and is held in position in front of the die j¹
by the strap or plate j³; on reversing the motion of the machine this
ring is pushed over the mandril, coming in contact with the end of the
tube and forcing it off the mandril i. It will be seen by referring to
Figures 1 and 2 that the connecting rods n, n', are at liberty to slide
over the lugs or projections f¹, f, on the screw nut f; the connections
of the rods n, n¹, to the cross heads j and m are rigid by the pins, as
shewn. When forcing the tube off the mandril in some cases the tube
is so firm that it might be injured by the continued action of the pushing-
off apparatus; to obviate this the connecting rods n, n¹, are at liberty
to slide on the projections f¹, f. While the machine is at work pushing
off the tube, or at other times when forcing the die over the tube, the
motion is conveyed direct from the screw nut f by means of the rope o
and screw rod o³ to the cross head m, which by the action of the con-
necting rods n, n', only draws the cross head j over the mandril, but
should the resistance be greater than the roper eadily overcomes then
the rope o yields, which allows the connecting rods n, n¹, to slip over
the projections f¹, f, and thus slightly ease the pressure of the cross

page_text: head j and die j¹. The tubes may be soldered as described, but in some
cases, especially when sheet iron is employed, I dispense with solder and
draw the dies once or more times over the tube, then remove it off the
mandril and rivet the joint. It may be found advisable sometimes to
put a clamp over the tube on the projection m¹ of the cross head m to
facilitate the drawing of the tube off the mandril. The rod P is pro-
vided with two set washers, by which the machine is stopped at either
. end of the stroke. The length of each stroke depends on the tube to
be made. The stroke can be altered by altering the position of the pro-
jections m², m³, in the slot of the connecting rods n, n', and securing
them by pins or otherwise, as shewn; the length of the rope must be
altered to correspond, and this is done by means of the screw rod and
nut ở.
Figures 4, 5, and 6 represent an elevation, edge view, and plan of the
die and its frame. e, e, are the guide rods; j, the cross head; j³, a flat
plate fitted by grinding into the cross head j; j¹ is the die ground to fit
into the plate j³; j³ is a plate or strap bolted to the cross head j securing
the die j and plate ja to the cross head j; and i is the mandril, seen
best in Figures 4 and 8.
Figures 7 and 8 represent the chuck or block h and the mode of
securing the mandril i to it; this chuck his bolted to the stationary
frame g; in its interior it is formed into annular recesses, into one of
which the mandril i fits and is secured by means of a long bolt **, which
passes through the block h and mandril i and is drawn tight by a nut in
a countersunk recess at the other end of the mandril i. In some cases it
may be desirable to use a spring die in lieu of that previously described.
Figures 9 and 10 represent a spring die made of a piece of hardened
round steel wire long enough to go once round the tube, bearing
against a piece of india-rubber or other elastic material fitting into the
plate into which the dier is held by the circular disc r¹, the whole
being held in the cross head j by the plate j³, as before described. I
make use of this spring die in cases when the thickness of the metal
under operation is very unequal. The solid die can be employed to
follow the spring die on the same tube. Tubes made by this improved
machinery are adapted for all purposes in which sheet metal tubes or
rollers have been previously employed, and particularly where great
precision and exactitude are necessary, as in beams for looms, rollers for
warping machines, drums of spinning machines, and other purposes.
4.

page_text: Having thus described a convenient mode of carrying out my Inven-
tion so as to produce cylindrical tubes of tinned sheet iron or other metal
either soldered or rivetted together at the joint, I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not intend to limit myself to the details here given, as
the same may be varied without departing from the peculiar character of
my Invention; what I claim is,-
First. The improved mode of manufacturing sheet metal rollers or
tubes, as described.
Secondly. The machinery shewn and described for making the same.
And, thirdly. The grooved mandril i and the mode of securing the
same to the chuck h, as shewn and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Reeder, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-third day of July One thousand
eight hundred and sixty-nine.