IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN-JOINTED. TURES APPLICABLE TO THE MAXI & Can.
Year: 1871

page_text: 1
LETTERS PATENT to John Huggins, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Tube Manufacturer and Machinist, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN-JOINTED.
TURES APPLICABLE TO THE MAXI & Can
m.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Huggins at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
27th September 1871.
I, JOHN HUGGINS, of Birmingham, in the County' of Warwick, Tube
5 Manufacturer and Machinist, do hereby. declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN
I, JOHN HUGGINS, of Birmingham, in the County' of Warwick, Tube
5 Manufacturer and Machinist, do hereby. declare the nature of my said
Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN

page_text: JOINTED TUBES, APPLICABLE TO THE MANUFACTURE OF TUBES GENERALLY," to be as
follows (that is to say):
My improvements in the manufacture of tubes relate principally to
the description known as open-jointed tubes, notwithstanding the same
machinery may be applied to the manufacture of tubes generally,
whether the same be formed from copper, brass, iron, or other metals or
alloys of metals, but I will limit my description say to the manufacture
of open-jointed tubes from strip iron, the said tubes being afterwards
coated, finished, or operated on as may be desired, according to the use
for which they may be required; and my improved machinery for
effecting this object will be understood from the following description :-
In a suitable frame I set up a pair of rolls, one convexed and the other
concaved or grooved to the same or corresponding curve, a sufficient
distance being allowed between the lower (by preference) concaved roll,
and the periphery of the convexed roll above, to take an average thick-
ness or strip of iron for the manufacture of such tubes. Immediately in
front and in connection with the rolls described, I set up horizontally
another pair of rolls geared to the former; the peripheries of these rolls
are both hollowed out so as to form or give the diameter of the tube
desired to be made, motion being imparted to this series of rolls by a
band or other equivalent means for communicating motion by any main
power whether steam or otherwise. And in front of the said series of
rolls before described I set up another series, their peripheries being
suitably graduated, which concentrates and diminishes the circle from
one pair to the other; and this second series is in like manner put in
motion by an independent band or other equivalent means, the speed
being regulated by the size of the working pulleys. And if required, I
set up a third or more such series of rolls, the peripheries of which are
graduated, so as to gradually impinge and reduce the surface of the
metal that is being submitted to their operation, and by which tubes are
formed.
In carrying my Invention into effect I take a strip of iron from a
suitable heating furnace, and by the aid of unskilled labour present the
end of the said strip to the convexed and concaved peripheries of the
first rolls, working by preference in a vertical direction, the action of
which will cup or hollow the strip, to prepare it to be gathered in by the
peripheries of the pair of lateral rolls geared and connected with the first,

page_text: and from this the rudely formed tube passes on to the operation of the
next pair of rolls in succession, until it is turned out through the last pair
perfectly formed and in a mercantile condition, either to be sold in that
state or coated with brass or other metal as may be required. Tubes
thus formed may be produced with unusual expedition and perfection.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said John Huggins in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 27th March 1872.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOHN
HUGGINS, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Tube Manu-
facturer and Machinist, send greeting.
+
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-seventh day of September, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one,
in the thirty-fifth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and suc-
cessors, give and grant unto me, the said John Huggins, Her special
license that I, the said John Huggins, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said John Huggins, 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 MACHINERY FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF OPEN-JOINTED TUBES, APPLICABLE TO THE
MANUFACTURE OF TUBES GENERALLY," upon the condition (amongst others)
that I, the said John Huggins, by an instrument in writing under my
hand and seal, 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.

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement (that is to say) :—
My improvements in the manufacture of tubes relate principally to
tubes known as open-jointed tubes, notwithstanding the same machinery
may be applied to the manufacture of tubes generally, whether the
same be formed from copper, brass, iron, or other metal, or alloys of
metal, but I will limit my description say to the manufacture of open-
jointed tubes from strip iron, the said tubes being afterwards coated,
finished, or operated on as may be desired according to the use for which
they may be required.
And my improved system or machinery for effecting the object (viz.,
the bending of a flat strip of iron into a transverse circular form) will
be understood from the following description:-In a suitable frame I
set up a pair of rolls, one convexed and the other concaved or grooved
to the same or corresponding curve, a sufficient distance being allowed
between the lower (by preference) concaved roll and the periphery of
the convexed roll above to take a strip of iron of suitable thickness for
the manufacture of such tubes. Immediately in front and in connection
with the rolls described I set up horizontally another pair of rolls
geared to the former, the peripheries of these rolls are both hollowed
or curved out so as to form or give the diameter of the tube desired to
be made, motion being imparted to this series of rolls by a band or other
equivalent means for communicating motion by the agency of any
main power, whether steam or otherwise; and in front of the said series
of rolls before described I set up another series, their concaved peripheries
being suitably graduated, and so slightly diminishes the circle from one
pair to the other, and this second series is in like manner put in motion
by an independant band or other equivalent means, the speed being.
regulated by the size of the working pulleys; and if required I set
up a third or more such series of rolls, the peripheries of which are
graduated so as to gradually impinge and reduce the circumference
of the metal strip or tube that is being submitted to their opera-
tions, and by which means strips of iron or other metal are formed into

page_text: in the edge view, Figure 1, marked P, Q, and R, and in dotted circles
at Figure 2. I say circles, because these grooved rolls are double,
one working immediately above the other, the semicircular grooves
around their peripheries drawing (by their revolving action) the tube
that is being formed between their surfaces.
Hitherto I have only mentioned the rolls that work vertically, but
between these horizontal grooved rolls are placed, set up in supports
formed with the standards L and M before referred to; each set of
horizontal rolls derive their motion from the advancing action of
the tube being rolled or impelled forward from the preceeding rolls,
as will be hereafter referred to. These horizontal grooved rolls are
marked a, b, and a¹, b¹, and like the vertical rolls have set screws for
adjusting them so as to preserve a strictly central line through their
grooved surfaces, as shown by the dotted line in both Figures, for the
gradual forming and advancing tube to pass through from the flat strip,
the projecting arms extending forward from the cast standard K in
Figure 2, merely show that additional horizontal rolls may be added
if desired. U, U, Figure 1, represents a top view of the carriages that
support the ends of the shafts E, F, and G, but which (as before stated)
is omitted in Figure 2 to avoid confusion. The shaft V represented
in plan, Figure 1, is partly broken off for convenience of space, and on
which the driving wheel A is secured; the shaft V is defined in Figure 2
by the dotted circle marked with the same letter, and on this shaft
a pinion is fixed, also shown in dotted lines in Figure 2, which gears
with two toothed wheels secured on the respective shafts W and X, the
former being only exhibited in dotted lines in Figure 1, and on the
shafts X and X¹ are secured the gearing wheels marked A¹ and B¹, the
inner dotted circles representing the operating wheels or first forming
rolls, marked E' in Figure 1, the lower forming roll being partially
shown in dotted lines marked c, c, hereafter referred to. The axis W
derives its motion from a wheel working in the pinion fixed on the
main shaft V, and on the shaft W is fixed a bevilled wheel, partly
shown in dotted lines marked C¹, which gears into a corresponding
bevilled wheel marked D¹, Figure 2, which bevilled wheel is secured
to a vertical shaft, marked F¹, and to this axis or shaft a toothed wheel
is secured, marked G', as also the grooved forming roll H¹; the
toothed wheel G¹ gears with a corresponding wheel fixed to a cor-
responding vertical shaft or axis shown in dotted lines in Figure 1,

page_text: marked F, and to which vertical shaft or axis is also secured the
corresponding forming roll to that shown in Figure 2, marked H'; the
peripheries of both these forming rolls are semicircular in shape.
Minor details may be referred to at Fig. 3, which represents an edge
view of the peripheries of the first forming rolls E', E', and c, c; to
the main carriage supporting the said rolls a bracket is formed, marked
J', for supporting a table piece, marked K¹, as also a guide L' with
set screws for holding it in position, and likewise a guide in front
of the second pair of forming rolls, marked M', in which a recess is
formed for receiving the shouldered end of a nose mandril, marked d,
shown separate at Fig. 4, which mandril I prefer forming by screwing
the shank. end so as to adjust its place when in use by a set screw as
shown.
I prefer also fitting each series of rolls both vertical and horizontal,
with a guide forming a lead for the strip or tube under formation, that
the same be presented straight to the impinging operation of the rolls,
which said guides are marked respectively e, e¹, f, g, h, and i. In con-
venient proximity to the table piece K¹ a suitable muffle is constructed
for heating the strips; and in continuation of the standard K supporting
the last finishing rolls, a table is set up for receiving the finished tubes
as made or rolled forward, which table may be supported by suitable
standards secured to the sleepers N and O.
With this general description I will remark that care must be taken
to so speed the several pulleys as to produce a slight draught motion;
that is to say, the strip or tube the moment it is advanced and gripped
by their revolving action will be advanced forward with a slight lead or
draught on the preceeding rolls, as by an observance of this arrangement.
the tubes produced will be delivered in a straight and uniform condition,.
and by way of example I will suppose that by means of bands working
in connection with an overhead main driving shaft, the rolls are put in
motion, each series working in a direction from the muffle, and a strip of
iron of the desired gauge and necessary width according to the grooved:
character of the rolls being sufficiently heated is brought forward from
the muffle with tongs or pliers by a humble or unskilled attendant, and
the end presented through the guide L' to the action of the first pair of
rolls E¹ and c, c, Figure 1, which will bend the edges of the strip so as.
to impart to it the form exhibited in the edge view of the rolls as seen at:

page_text: .
Figure 3, the action of the rolls impelling the strip forward to the guide
M³ which has the effect of guiding it between the grooves of the hori-
zontal slowly revolving second forming rolls H', which from the
curvature of the rolls gradually impinges and bends the heated strip
into form, at the same time the nose, mandril is affording sufficient
internal support to prevent the strip of iron under operation from
cockling, and by these means the strip will leave these rolls formed into
a tube with considerable accuracy and uniformity, and will be impelled
forward to the action of the drawing rolls R, Q, and P, with the inter-
mediate squeeze of the horizontal rolls a and a¹, band b', as read off
from Figure 1, thus advancing the tube and delivering it from the
finishing rolls on to the receiving table before referred to, but not shown
in the Drawing. I prefer the first and second pairs of shaping rolls to be
larger than the finishing rolls, as they are more gradual in their action
on the hot strip, in bending and turning up the same into a tubular
form, and forms an important part of my Invention.
4
Having now given a general description of my new system or com-
bined arrangement for the manufacture of tubes, will observe that
different sized tubes will require different rolls grooved or shaped on
their peripheries according to the diameter of the tube desired to be
made; and although my system of rolling out tubes has the effect of
delivering them straight and uniform in the meeting of the edges of the
metal, nevertheless, to make this quality more positive and certain a
vertical guide may be provided just in front of the second pair of
forming rolls which will equalize the coming together of the edges of
the metal, so as to ensure straightness in the joint, and if necessary to
weld the joints of such tubes it is only to arrange the muffle for heating
strips to a welding heat before passing the iron strips through the rolls
as herein described and exhibited to effect this object; and in like
manner when forming tubes of other metals, more particularly strong
copper, brass, or zinc tubes, or tubes of an unusual thickness, I believe my
system will be found highly beneficial, such tubes being soldered, brazed,
and finished in the ordinary way of finishing what are technically termed
metal tubes. And as a further remark, it will occur to any practical
machinist, that much modification of detail and arrangement may be made
or any number of series of rolls used after the second pair of forming
rolls, without affecting the general character of my Invention, which as

page_text: a new combined system for the turning up or forming of tubes, as herein
drawn, described, and set forth, or its equivalent, I claim as of my
Invention, and wish protected by these my in part recited Letters
Patent.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Huggins, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty-fifth day of March, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-two.
Witness,
JAMES S. COCKINGS,
Patent Agent,
Birmingham.
JOHN HUGGINS. . (L.S.)