IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WELDLESS TUBES AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE, IN PART APPLICABLE TO FORMING RODS OR BARS."
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Robert Elliott, of the Town and County of Newcastle
on Tyne Engineer for an invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WELDLESS TUBES AND IN THE MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN
THE SAID MANUFACTURE, IN PART APPLICABLE TO FORMING RODS OR BARS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Robert Elliott at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 21st February 1882.
ROBERT ELLIOTT of the Town and County of Newcastle on Tyne Engineer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WELDLESS TUBES AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE IN PART
APPLICABLE TO FORMING RODS OR BARS.
My said Invention relates to Improvements in the manufacture of weldless
tubes and in the machinery or apparatus employed in the said manufacture and
has for its object to produce tubes with the grain or fibre of the metal in a helical
direction to prevent the longitudinal splitting of the tubes.
According to my Invention the metal from which the tube is to be formed is
placed in a vessel having at one end a hollow die of steel or other hard metal in
which a groove or grooves is or are cut in a helical or screw-like direction after the
manner of a screw box projecting into this die is a bar or core which may be
secured to the lower end of the vessel before mentioned the said bar or core
protruding above the die and constituting between itself and the said die an
annular communication from the interior to the exterior of the said vessel
containing the metal. Upon the part of this core opposite the groove or grooves
in the die a corresponding groove or grooves may be formed or the grooves may be
in this part of the core and not in the die On pressure being applied to tho
metal in the aforesaid vessel the said metal is forced from the said vessel between
the said die and core being caused by the groove or grooves thereof to take a
helical or screw like course therethrough, The necessary pressure upon the metal
for this purpose is obtained by hydraulic or other suitable power applied in any
convenient way either to move the die into the cylinder or the cylinder over the

page_text: Or the
die or the die may be a fixture at one end of the vessel and a ram be provided for
forcing the metal towards the end where the arrangement is used. I may facilitate
the operation by causing the die to revolve which may be effected by making the
die exteriorly circular and bearing against antifriction rollers disposed around the
exterior of the said die so that it will be rotated by the action of the metal passing
through it Or the said rotation may be effected in a given ratio with the advance
of the ram by gearing from the mechanism which moves the said ram.
core may be rotated in place of or in addition to the die The tubes formed with
a helical or screw like grain or fibre as herein before described may afterwards be
variously treated to suit them for the purposes to which they are to be applied the
helical ribs being removed or not For example for boiler tubes the ends may be
expanded to a diameter equal to or greater than that of the exterior of the helical
ribs. They may be strengthened by rolling or by drawing being made thick and
afterwards drawn down to the diameter required the ribs or helical projections
being preferably first removed The grooves of the dies hereinbefore described
may be gradually lessened to merge into a plain tubular orifice so that the tubes
are issued without helical projections but still with a helical formation of fibre or
the grooves may gradually merge from a plain tubular surface to the full depth of
the said grooves at the outward end of the die.
A circular saw or saws may be arranged to remove the ribs or helical projections
if necessary
Tubes of the ordinary types can be made into the helical form by forcing or
drawing them through or between a die and core bar like those hereinbefore
described or the passage of such tubes may be effected by causing the die and core
bar to revolve together
Solid bars can also be formed of any desired pattern by any of the above
described apparatus In thus treating such solid bars the core can be continued
only for a short distance the die afterwards terminating in a contracted passage
of the size and form of the bar to be made Or the core can be omitted and the
passage through the die can be of a Serpentino form to give the necessary twist to
the metal

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent and of
an Order of the Lord Chancellor filed by the said Robert Elliott in the Great
Seal Fatent Office on the 20th September 1882.
ROBERT ELLIOTT of the Town and County of Newcastle on Tyne Engineer
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WELDLESS TUBES AND IN THE
MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE IN PART
APPLICABLE TO FORMING RODS OR BARS
"
My said Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of weldless tubes
rods or bars and in the machinery or apparatus employed in the said manufacture
and has for its principal object to produce tubes rods or bars with the grain or
fibre of the metal in a helical direction to prevent the longitudinal splitting of
the tubes
And in Order that my said Invention may be fully understood I shall now
proceed more particularly to describe the same and for that purpose shall refer to
the several figures on the annexed sheets of drawings the same letters of reference
indicating corresponding parts in all the figures
Figure 1 represents in section and Figure 2 in end view an apparatus arranged
for carrying my Invention into effect in forming a tube-The metal from which
the tube is to be formed is placed in a molten or plastic condition in a vessel A
having at one end a head piece A² carrying a hollow die a of steel or other hard
metal in which are formed grooves a³ in a helical or screw like direction after the
manner of a screw box. Projecting into this die a is a bar or core b which is
secured to the lower end of the vessel A the said bar or core b passing through the
vessel A and die a protruding therefrom and constituting between itself and the
said die an annular communication from the interior to the exterior of the
vessel A-On pressure being applied to the metal in the vessel A the said metal is
forced from the said vessel between the said die a and core 6 being caused by the
grooves a² thereof to take a helical or screw like course there-through-The
necessary pressure upon the metal for this purpose is obtained in any suitable or
convenient way-According to the arrangement here shewn the vessel A. is_a
fixture and the head piece A³ is fitted at its lower end to slide tightly therein-To
the said head piece A³ is fixed a cross piece A³ to which the rods c of hydraulic
rams C are connected. The cylinders may be of ordinary or any convenient
construction. Their stroke is longer than that of the head piece A in the vessel A
so that the hydraulic rams when brought to their topmost position raise the head
piece A² out of the Vessel A to admit of the metal being put into the said vessel
and to admit also of the changing of the die a or the core bar b.
It will be readily seen that as the rams of the cylinders C are depressed the
head piece A is forced into the vessel A and that the only exit for the metal
being through the space between the die a and core b the metal will issue
therefrom as a tube to the fibre of which a helical twist has been imparted
I may facilitate the operation by causing the die to rotate as the metal passes
there-through This rotation may be effected by mahing the die exteriorly circular
and with a bearing against antifriction rollers disposed around the exterior of the
said die so that it will be rotated by the action of the metal passing through it but
I prefer to give a positive rotation of the said die at a speed bearing any given
ratio to the speed of advance of the part which gives the pressure to the metal-
Figure 3 represents in longitudinal section an arrangement for this purpose The
vessel A. for containing the metal is furnished with a cap piece A in and between
which and the body part of the vessel is a recess in which is contained and in

page_text: which can rotate the die a the said die being furnished with a worm wheel & with
which gears a worm e to which motion of rotation is imparted by the gear f from
a crank shaft f' this also through the wheel f³ transmitting motion to the wheel g
keyed to the screw box h which can revolve but is incapable of longitudinal
movement in its bearings in the framing of the machine-When rotation is given
to this screw box the screw is caused to travel therein and to force forward into
the vessel A the ram or piston i to which is attached the core b as shewn, the
gearing at the same time giving motion of rotation at the required relative speed
to the die a. Figure 4 represents in longitudinal section a modification wherein
the vessel A is caused to move and the head piece A³ and core b are stationary
being fixed in the framing k. The vessel A is connected to the rods c of the
bydraulic rams and is urged upwards over the head-piece A2 as will be readily
understood from the drawings-In this Figure I have shewn the helical grooves
as being in the core b in place of in the die a for it is to be understood that they
may be either in the die a or in the core bor in both and that there may be but
one groove or thread or more than one groove or thread in both or either of these
parts and also that the said grooves or threads may have any convenient figure-
Figure 5 shews in longitudinal Section and Figure 6 in cross section forms of
corresponding grooves for the die and core which may be employed
Figures 7 and 8 are corresponding views of another form of grooves in the die a
only The depth of the grooves in this case is greater at one part than at the
other as shewn-In Figures 9 to 11 I have shewn various forms of tubes with
various shapes and arrangements of ribs thereon and therein, formed by grooves
of corresponding shape in the die or in the core or in both Figure 12 represents
various forms which the tubes may have in section. Figure 9 is a side view and
section of a tube suited for a gun barrel-Figure 10 is a corresponding view of a
form suitable for boiler tubes-In Figures 9 and 10 the ribs are shewn on the
exterior and in Figure 11 on the interior but they may be formed both on the
exterior and in the interior if desired.
In place of rotating the die as before explained the core may be rotated if that
be found more convenient.
The tubes formed with a helical or screw like grain or fibre as herein before
described may afterwards be variously treated to suit them for the purposes to
which they are to be applied the helical ribs being removed or not-For example
for boiler tubes the ends may be expanded to a diameter equal to, or greater than,
that of the exterior of the helical ribs as shewn in Figure 10-They may be
strengthened by rolling, or by drawing, being made thick and afterwards drawn
down to the diameter required the ribs or helical projections being preferably first
removed The grooves in the die or core may gradually merge from their full
depth into a plain annular figure.
A circular saw or saws may be arranged to remove the ribs or helical projections
if necessary.
It will be readily understood from the foregoing descriptions that solid bars or
rods can also be formed of any desired section by apparatus analogous to any of
those herein before described-In thus forming such solid bars or rods the core
can be continued only for a short distance the die afterwards terminating in a
contracted passage of the size and form of the bar or rod to be made-Or the core
can be omitted and the passage through the die can be of a serpentine form to
give the necessary twist or helical formation to the grain or fibre of the said rods
or bars.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of my said Invention
and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried into effect I
would observe in conclusion that what I consider to be novel and original and
therefore claim as the Invention secured to me by the hereinbefore in part recited
Letters Patent is First-The manufacture of weldless tubes or of bars or rods
consisting in passing the metal to form them through or between parts which
impart a helical or screw like direction to the said metal and consequently to the

page_text: fibre or grain of the resulting tube bar or rod substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Second The apparatus for manufacturing tubes with a helical or screw like
fibre or grain substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figures 1
and 2 of the accompanying drawings.
Third: The apparatus for manufacturing tubes with a helical or screw like
fibre or grain substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 3 of
the accompanying drawings.
Fourth: The apparatus for manufacturing tubes with a helical or screw-like
fibre or grain substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 4 of
the accompanying drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Robert Elliott have to this my Specification
set my hand and seal this twelfth day of September One thousand eight
hundred and Eighty two.
ROBERT ELLIOTT. (L.S.)