from Metal Tubes and in Embellishing the same.
Year: 1888

page_text: from Metal Tubes and in Embellishing the same.
We, JOHN BURKHARDT, Machinist, and WILLIAM HENRY JACKSON, Manufacturer,
both of 31 East Seventeenth Street in the City and State of New York, United
States of America, 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 :-
In the manufacture of ornamental metal work, like railings, balusters, fenders and
similar articles, it has been the practice to make use of metal balls, either cast, or
spun of thin metal to adorn such work.
The object of our invention is to produce sphereoidal concavo-convex ornaments
from sections of metal tubes. We make use of dies of the desired forms and sizes,
in which a section of the tube of the proper length to form the hollow sphereoidal
body is placed to receive the action of a press. The dies, may be made in two
equal or unequal parts, and the upper one may be attached to the slide or plunger
of a press, and the lower one may rest upon the platen or seat of the press. To
produce these hollow sphereoidal bodies of a shape and surface configruation
resembling such objects as the pineapple, the acorn and other analogous forms, the
shape and size of the two dies for forming these objects will be different.
The interior concave surfaces of the dies may be made with embellishing figures
thercon or they may be made plain and embellishing figures of various designs
may be impressed upon the spereoidal products by subsequent operation of the dies
and press, the product being first covered with a thin clastic hard metal jacket
made to represent in relief the particular design or figure to be imprinted upon it.
It is obvious that these designs embodied in jackets may be produced in great
variety.
Before the second operation of the press (and after the product is formed) the
latter may be filled with rosin or plaster to prevent disfiguration during the
imprinting of designs thereon. The section of tubing to be used must be of large
bore or orifice as compared with the thickness of the metal which forms it and will
be placed in the lower die directly under the upper die that is attached to the slide

page_text: of the press and the compressing will begin simultaneously at both ends thereof
and cause the metal to curve inwardly all around and the dies will meet if the
piece of tubing is of the proper length to form a globe; the dies of course being
hemispherical for that purpose. But if the dies are of different forms or sizes as
would be necessary to form a body of the shape of the pineapple, the tube or blank
will be proportionately longer and the dies will meet at the line of the greatest
diameter of the article produced.
In forming these sphereoidal bodies a raised central girdle will be made around
the article by stopping the action of the dies before they have reached the line of
the greatest diameter of the article.
may
To form an aperture at the extremities of these ornamental hollow metal bodies
a stop at the base of the concavity of the dies may be used to limit the swedging,
upsetting and turning in of the metal at the ends of the section of tubing whereby
an aperture will be provided through or into which a rod, wire, or baluster be
inserted and secured, and such baluster, rod or piece of metal made as the stem of
a nut or apple may be inserted through openings formed in the center of the dies
and be secured to the sphereoidal product by the operation of the press while the
same is being formed, the dies serving to compress the metal around the rod or stem
inserted through the openings and k.
In the accompanying drawings Figures 1, 2 and 3 represent different shapes of
these oblate sphereoidal concavo-convex bodies such as may be formed of tubing by
our-process.
Figure 4 represents a section of tubing of suitable length to form the product
represented by Figure 1 seated in the bottom concave die a ready to receive the
compressive action of its counter die.
Figure 5 exhibits the proper dimensions of a section of tube to form the globe
shown in Figure 2.
Figure 6 represents a section of a tube after having been subjected to the
compression of one die only the section being seated upon a plain platen with a solid
core (, (shown in dotted lines) inserted within it.
Figure 7 represents a vertical central section of a pair of dies to form oval shaped
ornaments with openings through which to insert a rod wire or other piece of metal
to be secured to the metal body while the same is being upset, turned in and formed
as herein specified.
Figure 8 represents a vertical central section of a pair of dies for forming oval
shaped bodies; and exhibits one kind of design of a hard metal elastic jacket, which
may be used for ornamenting the exterior surface of the metal bodies formed in
such dies.
A rod like d, suitable for use as above stated, is shown in Figure 3. The openings
above referred to are intended for the insertion of the section of a baluster or rod to
be used as part of a fender or railing or like articles.
The openings k through dies shown in Figure 7 are provided to permit the insertion
of a rod, a baluster or other piece of metal for the purpose mentioned, and similar
openings corresponding therewith of the press used to actuate the dies for the introduc-
be made through the platen of the press, and
also through the slide or plunger
tion of such rod or baluster to the hollow metal body to be formed from a section of
tubing as specified. Such rod or other piece of metal will be inserted in proper position
before the action of the press begins.
After a sphereoidal hollow body is formed as above described by the use of plain
dies, the article may be embellished by the use of a jacket embodying a design inter-
posed between the article and the dies, and such design may be imprinted upon the
article by the action of the press. Several simple designs embodied in flexible jackets
may be successively imprinted upon the same article in the same manner and by the
substitution of such jackets.
We would here state that we are aware that very small articles like beads have
heretofore been shaped by compressing the ends only of tubular sections into a rounded
form without shaping the periphery thereof, the tube being comparatively thick in

page_text: relation to the size of the article to bo formed so that sufficient body is provided in the
tube to prevent crimping or doubling; and we are aware that larger hollow articles
have been swaged into more or less rounded form from comparatively thin tubular
metal by first casting a thick temporary lining of soft metal into the tube to give body
thereto and then shaping in one or more sets of rounded dies.
But our invention differs from the former in making bodies of any desired size
without using tubing of a thickness increased as the diameter is enlarged, and also in
not only swaging and upsetting the ends of the tube into a smaller diameter, but also
changing the diameter of the middle part thereof; and it differs from the latter most
essentially in not employing lining of soft metal or any other material.
By our process the metal of the tube is changed in thickness in different places,
and smooth uncrimped oblate sphereoidal bodies may be produced thereby ; and we
believe that we are the first to discover this method of converting sections of closed
tubing into sphereoidal hollow and analogous bodies.
It is necessary to state in this specification that we contemplate the use of the
clamping device or yoke B C described in our application of this date for a patent
for making balusters and other articles, in connection with the dies described herein
and bearing No. 3292. Such use may be availed of without alteration of the
mechanism employed, but the section of tubing to be placed in the yoke and the
hemispherical dies, would be of greater longitudinal dimensions than would be required
to form a globular or oval shaped body, and the product hemispherical at its ends
with reduced central diameter or waist, resembling the hour glass.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is;
First. The process herein described of forming hollow sphereoidal bodies from thin
sheet metal, which consists in first forming the metal into a tube, then placing a short
section of said tube between two dies having the form of the body to be made and
compressing the tube in the said dies.
Second. The process described of embellishing sphereoidal metal bodies consisting
of the interposition of flexible metal jackets in sections embodying ornamental designs
in relief between such sphercoidal bodies and the dies employed for forming the same
as set forth.
Third. The process of attaching stems rods or sections of railings to concavo-convex
sphereoidal metal bodies consisting of the compression of the metal of such bodies
around the stems, rods or railings during the operation of forming such sphereoidal
bodies as set forth.
T1.
1 1
n 35
1000