Skelp Welding Machine.
Year: 1890

page_text: · COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Skelp Welding Machine.
I, HERBERT JOHN ALLISON, of 52 Chancery Lane, London, in the County of
Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (which has
been communicated to me from abroad by The Spiral Weld Tube Company, a
corporation organized under the laws of the State of New Jersey, and doing business
at East Orange, New Jersey, and in the City, County, and State of New York,
United States of America), and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
The object of this invention is to cheapen the construction of a machine for
welding the ends of thin sheet metal skelps for the manufacture of spirally seamed
pipes, and also to facilitate the manipulation of the machine and the inspection of the
partially welded seam.
To accomplish these objects the anvil and the lower furnace are fixed in relation to
the hammer and the upper furnace, the screw for feeding the carrier is provided with
pulleys adapted to receive reversing belts, the mechanism for sustaining and
vibrating the hammer is arranged wholly at one side of the hammer arm, and the
vibrating lever to actuate the reversing belts is projected from the opposite side
of the bed.
The lower furnace, as well as the anvil, has been made movable in such machines
heretofore, and the hammer has been pivoted between stanchions which interfered.
materially with the inspection of the partially welded seam; but by the present
construction no mechanism is interposed between the operator and the hammer which
operates upon the seam. The invention will be understood by reference to the
annexed drawing, in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine; Fig. 2 is a
plan of the same; Fig. 3 is a cross section on line a, a, in Fig. 1, looking toward the
anvil; Fig. 4 is a cross section on line y, y, in Fig. 1, looking toward the furnace;
Fig. 5 is a cross section on line z, z, in Fig. 1, showing only the parts for vibrating
the hammer arm and feeding the carrier. Fig. 6 is a side view, and Fig. 7 an end
view of the pulley for vibrating the hammer.
A is a bed with flanged top having seats B near its forward end to sustain the
D¹
clamps C for holding the ends of the skelps E in contiguity between the furnaces D,
The skelp is indicated by dotted lines.
In the operation of the machine, the furnaces direct jets of gas, upon the opposite
sides of the skelp, and the furnace and hammer are moved gradually from one edge
of the skelp to the other so as to successively heat and weld the joint across the
skelp.
I
The carrier F formed of a flat plate, is fitted to slide longitudinally upon the top of
the bed between the clamps C, and carries the lower furnace D₁, and fulcrum y for the
upper furnace, near the front end of the bed. It also carries the anvil H adjacent to
the lower furnace, and the hammer fulcrum bearing J adjacent to the rear end of the
carrier. The upper furnace D is pivoted to the fulcrum g, upon. the forward side of
the anvil, by an arm d provided with balance-weight 2; and a slotted segment / and
bolt are provided to hold the upper furnace elevated when adjusting the skelps, as
shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.
i
"
The fulcrum bearing J is arranged in the rear of the anvil, wholly at one side of the
arm which carries the hammer 1. The hammer arm is pivoted to the bearing by a
stud J, and is provided at its rear end with a crank pin, a. A crank shaft fitted.
within a bearing c is provided with a crank pin d which is connected with the pin a
by a link b, which is provided with compression springs e, as is cominon, to produce
1
"
2

page_text: A shaft G is fitted to a bearing H upon the rear end of the carrier at the same side
as the fulcrum .hearing J, and is connected with the shaft of the crank d by bevel
gears f. f
"
t
A pulley is provided with a hub k fitted to a bearing upon the rear end of the
bed a,
and the shaft G is fitted to turn therewith and slide longitudinally as the carrier
is moved upon the bed.
A screw n is fitted to a nut m upon the carrier, and collared in a bearing o upon the
bed, and the rear end of the screw is provided with two sets of fast and loose pulleys
to rotate in opposite directions. The pulleys s, s¹, are made larger than the
pulleys u, u', and the belts applied to the same are driven in opposite directions, and
at such speeds as to rotate the screw much faster in one direction than the other.
..
The pulleys and are fastened to the screw shaft n', and two belt guides p, p, are
attached to a shipper bar g mounted in guides over the pulleys. A shifting lever t is
pivoted upon the bed, upon the opposite side from the fulcrum bearing J and the pulley k,
and the operator, when standing adjacent to the shipper bar to shift the belts, has an
unobstructed view of the hammer and of the partially welded skelp upon which it is
operating. The furnaces are supplied with gas and air under pressure, through
pipes v, v, the movable furnace D being supplied through flexible hose, which are not
shown as they form no part of the present invention.
In using the machine to join the ends of two skelps, the operator raises the upper
furnace, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, and adjusts the skelps with their ends
overlapped the desired amount upon the middle of the lower furnace. The upper
furnace is then lowered, the blast turned on to generate the heat, and when the edge
of the skelp nearest the anvil is sufficiently heated for welding, he moves the belt
guide into the position shown in the drawing, to throw the belt upon the fast
pulle to feed the carrier along and thus move the anvil beneath the edge of the
skel. The hammer is then started by applying a tightener to a belt upon the pulley k,
as is common in such constructions, and the heating and welding of the skelp are
continued until the carrier. has moved the hammer all the way across the skelp and
the scam is completed.
,
"
.
When the seam is completed, he moves the shifting lever to throw the belt guide p
over the loose pulley s¹, and the belt guide p over the fast pulley u, which reverses
the motion of the screw and runs the carrier back quickly to its initial position shown
in Figs. 1 and 2, and he then raises the movable furnace to remove the welded
skelps.
- 1
Heretofore, it has been supposed that a. stationary anvil would chill the heated
metal before it could be welded, and that the welding could only be effected by
vibrating a hammer or anvil to and from one side of the seam in opposition to a
hammer vibrated upon the opposite side.
..:
It has been discovered, by repeated experiments, that a stationary anvil may be
used without ar letrimental results, and that all the mechanism for moving the
anvil and lower furnace may be dispensed with. The lower furnace may be fixed
directly upon the carrier, to make the anvil lower, and to pivot all the movable parts
lower upon the carrier and therefore much closer to the bed plate. The structure is
tlius not only cheaper, but has greater steadiness and durability.
The furnace is shown secured upon the carrier between ribs s² and secured by set
screws but it is immaterial how the furnace or anvil be fixed rigidly to the carrier,
to move with the same.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said. inven-
tion, and in what manner. the same is to be performed, it is declared that what
is claimed is :--
1.
ist. In a machine for cross welding skelps, the combination, with clamps. for
holding the skelps, of a movable carrier having an anvil fixed rigidly thereon,
and a hammer vibrated to and from the anvil; as and for the purpose set forth.
2nd. In a machine for cross welding skelps, the combination, with clamps for

page_text: holding the skelps, of a movable carrier having an anvil fixed rigidly thereon, a lower
furnace fixed upon the carrier adjacent to the anvil, an upper furnace supported
movably over the fixed furnace, and a hammer vibrated to and from the anvil, as and
for the purpose set forth.
3rd. A cross welding machine comprising a bed having clamps at opposite sides to
hold the skelps, a carrier fitted to slide upon the top of the bed between such clamps,
a lower furnace fixed upon the carrier near one end of the same, a fulcrum near the
end of the carrier, an upper furnace with an arm and balance weight pivoted upon
such fulcrum, a fulcrum bearing fixed upon the carrier near its opposite end, a
hammer with arm having pivot projected at one side and fitted to such fulcrum
bearing, and means connected with the movable carrier for vibrating the hammer
arm, as and for the purpose set forth.
Dated this 3rd day of June 1890.
ALLISON BROS.,
Agents for the Applicant.