IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METAL TUBES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Robert Lake, of the " International
Patent Office," Southampton Buildings, London, Consulting
Engineer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR
MANUFACTURING METAL TUBES."-A communication from abroad by
Stephen Paschall Morris Tasker, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Sealed the 17th February 1871, and dated the 29th December 1870..
5
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said William Robert Lake
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition
and Declaration, on the 29th December 1870, pursuant to the
9th Section of the Patent Law Amendment Act, 1852.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
ROBERT LAKE, of the "International Patent Office," Southampton
Buildings, London, Consulting Engineer, send greeting.
WHEREAS I am in possession of an Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS
IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METAL TUBES," and have petitioned
Her Majesty to grant unto me, my executors, administrators, and.

page_text: assigns, Her Royal Letters Patent for the same, and have made solemn
Declaration that it has been communicated to me from abroad by
Stephen Paschall Morris Tasker, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United
States of America.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said William Robert Lake, do hereby
declare that the following Complete Specification under my hand and
seal, fully describes and ascertains the nature of the said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, in and by the following
statement:-
The nature of this Invention consists in a machine which slits,
bevels, and bends the skelp at one operation, in making lap-welded
metal tubes. Butt-welded tubes are made in the same machine by
substituting plain cutters for slitting the sheets into the proper width
without beveling their edges. In either case the sheets are passed
through suitable guides to feed rolls which catch their front ends and
pass them through the bending rolls. The first pair of rolls for each
skelp of a sheet bends the middle portion of the skelp in the form of one
half of a circle, the edge portions being brought parallel to each other.
As the skelp passes through these rolls it is caught by another pair
of rolls and one of the unbent portions is bent down to continue the
circle, and the other partially bent. The third pair of rolls completes
the bending operation, the skelp being then ready for the welding
process.
To effect the bending as described, one of the first pair of rolls has an
annular groove and the other a corresponding tongue, the curved part
of each being one-half of a circle. The roll in the second pair, which
is in a like position to the tongue roll of the first pair, is so curved as to
continue the bending, leaving a portion to be bent by the third pair of
grooved rolls. The usual guides for the skelp as it passes through
the rolls are dispensed with by constructing one or more of the rolls
with wide flanges which overlap the edges of the other rolls.
For a better understanding of the machine a detailed description will
now be given.
In the accompanying Drawings which make a part of this Specifi-
cation Figure 1 is a plan or top view of the machine; Figure 2 is a
longitudinal section at the line x, x, of Figure 1; Figure 3 is a front
view of the cross bar and cutters H, H³, H¹; Figures 4 and 5 are
respectively back face views of the double cutter H, and a single

page_text: cutter H; Figure 6 is a front view of the frame L and circular cutters J ;
Figure 7 is a vertical section through the centres of the bending rolls M
and M; Figure 8 is a like view of the rolls N and N¹; Figure 9 is
a like view of the rolls and O¹; Figures 10 and 11 are mill head
cutters.
A is the bed plate, and B, B, the housings in connection therewith.
With the latter the several parts of the machine are connected.
On the horizontal plate C, the ends of which are secured to the pro-
jections a, a, of the housings B, B, there is a mouth D through which
the metal sheet passes into the machine. The said mouth D is provided
with carrying wheels E, E, E, E, which facilitate the forward movement
of the sheet to the feed rolls F, F, on the shafts G, G. There are
guides D', D¹, through which the sheet passes from the feed rolls F, F,
to the bending rolls. In advance of the feed rolls are stationary
cutters H, H¹, H', in the cross bar I for slitting the sheet into suitable
widths for the skelp. A front view of the cross bar and cutters in
connection therewith is given in Figure 3, back face views of the double
bevel cutters H and single bevel cutters H' are shown respectively in
Figures 4 and 5. These cutters have the proper bevel to bevel the edges
of lap-welded skelps. In making butt-welded skelps plain cutters are
used. In either case it is well to have two or more cutters in line in
the direction of the movement of the sheet so adjusted in their
altitudinal position as to divide the cutting to avoid giving too much
labor to a single cutter. Milled head cutters whose peripheries are of the
same shape as the stationary cutters H, H', H³, may be used instead of
the latter for beveling lap-welded skelps, said cutters are shown in
Figures 10 and 11. And for slitting the sheet for butt-welded skelps,
circular cutters J represented in Figure 6 may be advantageously adopted,
the cutter shafts being connected with the vertical frame. This frame.
may be secured between the housings B, B, in the place occupied by the
cutter bar I in Figures 1 and 2. The shafts 1, 1¹, 2, 2¹, and 3, 3¹, are
provided with pairs of bending rolls M, M³, N, N¹, and O, O¹,
bringing the flat skelps into tubular form at one operation as they pass
from the cutters H, H', H', the said shafts being connected with the
feed rolls F, F, above described by suitable gearing, as represented in
Figures 1 and 2; the power is applied to one of the shafts G of the feed:
rolls, or any other shaft in the train. The peripheries of the said rolls
in the order stated are of the form represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9,
which are cross sections of single pairs of rolls detached from the
for

page_text: machine, and the skelp P in position between the rolls. As the skelp
passes through the first pair of rolls M, M³, as will be seen by the
Drawings in said Figures, the middle portion of the skelp P is bent into
the form of one-half of a circle, the outer portions being brought parallel
to each other, the peripheries of the rolls having corresponding grooves
and tongues d, d¹. As the skelp passes through the second pair of
rolls N, N', the flat part 6' is bent inward by the curved part e of the
roll N, completing its bending, the edge coming against the contiguous
side of the tongue f, and the part 6 is also partially bent inwards, as
represented, by the curved part g, the edge coming against the bottom of
the tongue on that side.. The mandrel Q has a groove to allow of a free
passage of the tongue. In the Drawings the roll N¹ is represented of
suitable form for lap-welded skelps. For butt-welded skelps a slight
change is made in the roll N¹ so as to bring the edges opposite each
other. In passing through the third pair of rolls O, O', the remaining
unfinished part 6 of the skelp is bent down upon the edge of the bent
part by the circular part of the roll O¹ to complete the bending
process. This last portion of the skelp in lap joint tubes, as represented
is of necessity carried out from the centre equal to the thickness of the
skelp. The mandril Q is made of corresponding form so as to secure a
firm bending, but in making butt-joint skelps the mandrel of course
must be a true circle. The ordinary guides for the skelps as they pass
through the rolls are dispensed with by means of the wide flanges k of
one or more of the rolls which overlap contiguous rolls so as to form
efficient guides, as represented in the Drawings.
Having thus fully described the said Invention as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, what I claim is,—
First. The adjustable beveled cutters H, H¹, H³, in combination
with the guides D', D', and feed rolls F, F, substantially as described.
Second. The combination and arrangement of the feed rolls F, F,
guides D¹, D', and cutters H, H³, H¹, and bending rolls M, M', for
slitting and beveling the skelps and partially bending them, as repre-
sented in Figure 7 at one operation, substantially as described.
Third. Jointly the construction of the roll № with the curves e
and g and tongue f and the combination thereof with the roll N, as
described.
Fourth. The combination of the rolls N, N', with the rolls M, M³, by
moons of suitable
11

page_text: Fifth. The combination of the rolls O, O', with the rolls N, N', for
finishing the bending of the skelp, substantially in the manner
described.
Sixth. The construction of one or more of the bending rolls with wide
flanges k and combining the said rolls with the other parts of the machine
in such a manner that said flanges shall overlap the contiguous rolls
substantially as represented so as to guide the sheet of metal or skelp as
it passes through the machine, as above set forth.
Seventh. The combination and arrangement of the three pairs of
bending rolls M, M, N, N', and O, O', for bending a flat skelp into
the forms represented in Figures 7, 8, and 9, substantially as described.
Eighth. The combination and arrangement of the feed rolls F, F,
cutters H, H, H', bending rolls M, M³, N, N¹, and O, O', for slitting,
beveling, and bending skelps at one operation, substantially as
described.
Ninth. The combination and arrangement of the circular cutters J
with the feed rolls F, F, and bending rolls M, M', for slitting sheets
for butt-joint skelps, as above set forth.
Tenth. A machine for slitting, beveling, and bending skelps at one
continuous operation.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Robert Lake, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of December,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.
Witness,
W. J. LOWE.
WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE. (L.S.)