CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS. IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METAL PIPES OR TUBES
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the County
of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twenty-sixth day of September, in the ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the
said Alfred Vincent Newton, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege
and authority, that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton,
my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree with, and
no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all
Her Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, and the Islands of Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, an Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS.
IN MACHINERY FOR MANUFACTURING METAL PIPES OR TUBES," being a communi-
cation from a Foreigner residing abroad; in which said Letters Patent is
contained a proviso obliging me, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, and to cause the same to be enrolled in Her Majesty's
High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately

page_text: after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the
same, reference being thereunto had, will inore fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Alfred Vincent Newton, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly
described and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference
being had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures
marked thereon (that is to say):-
This Invention of Improvements in Machinery for Manufacturing Metal
Pipes or Tubes, as communicated to me from abroad, consists in a peculiar
arrangement of apparatus whereby leaden pipes may be manufactured with
an interior coating of tin at one and the same operation. The object of such
manufacture being well known to persons conversant with beer engines and
other machinery for raising and forcing fluids, it will be needless to point out
the application and utility of such pipes to the industrial arts.
In the accompanying Drawings Fig. 1 is a perspective view, and Fig. 2 a
longitudinal vertical section, of the machinery to be employed for this purpose.
It will be seen that the machinery herein represented has many parts in
common with that generally used for making continuous lengths of leaden pipe.
To such parts, however, I lay no claim, but consider it necessary to shew and
explain them in connection with the improved arrangement of parts, in order
that the nature of the Invention may be more clearly understood. The lead
pipes are produced in this machine by the employment of hydrostatic pressure,
which forces the lead in a fluid state around a mandril in a small chamber
between it and a die, and thence drives it through the said die as it chills.
This mandril being hollow is made to inject fused tin through lateral openings,
and thus spread a coating of tin over the surface of the inside of the pipe as it
passes out from the machine. The outer framework of the machine consists
of two main head plates of cast iron, connected together by four rods or bars
of wrought iron, perforating the head plates at the four corners, and firmly
secured thereto by screws and nuts upon the ends of the bars outside the head
plates, each bar having a strong shoulder fitting to the insides of the plates,
as exhibited in Figs. 1 and 2. A, A', represent the head plates, and B, B, the
rods with the nuts upon their ends. Each of the head plates has an orifice
through the centre about nine inches in diameter. This frame is placed
horizontally upon a solid foundation of stone (or may for convenience be
placed vertically or diagonally), and is intended to support and sustain two
metal cylinders C and M. The larger cylinder C constitutes the hydraulic
press: It may be made five feet long and thirty-two inches in diameter, with

page_text: a bore of fourteen inches and a half in diameter. The smaller cylinder M,
used for receiving the lead or other metal to be formed into pipes in propor-
tion to the above size, should be four feet long and two feet in diameter, and
have a bore of six inches diameter. This cylinder is made of composition metal.
The head plate A¹ has a conical recess upon its inner surface, bored to the
depth of several inches, into which one end of the cylinder C is closely fitted,
as seen in the section Fig. 2. The other end of this cylinder is supported by
a strong cross bar of cast iron, running from one of the lower main connecting
rods to the other, and having a circular or curved bed for the reception of the
cylinder. Another curved cross bar passing from one of the upper con-
necting rods to the other secures this end of the cylinder firmly in its place.
D, Fig. 1, represents this last cross piece. L is a steel pinion of six
inches in diameter, and made a little smaller than the bore of the lead
cylinder M. The head L' of this piston is fourteen inches and a half in
diameter, corresponding to the bore of the press cylinder C, and packed
to prevent the water from passing it. That end of the piston which
enters the small cylinder M has a piece of metal m attached to it, and
forming a head which just fits the bore of the cylinder, and is made of the
same kind of metal, in order that when heated it may expand equally with the
cylinder, and keep it packed tight. The face of this piece m is concave, and
there is a groove turned in it around the outside (as shewn in the Drawing), to
avoid the necessity of any packing. E is a circular plate four inches thick,
and corresponding in diameter to the cylinder C, to which it is securely
attached by screws. This plate has an orifice in the centre six inches in
diameter, to allow of the passage of the piston. Packing must be put between
this plate and the end of the cylinder, to prevent the escape of the water in
returning the piston. The water is forced into the press cylinder C, through
the centre of the head plate, as represented in Figs. 1 and 2, b, b, being the
small copper tube through which the water is forced. F is the force pump,
which is regulated by a fly wheel G, driven by a small steam engine or other first
The lead cylinder M is placed within the rods before mentioned, at
the outer end of the machine, and perfectly in line with the press cylinder.
That end of the lead cylinder which is next the press is supported by a cross
piece, in a similar manner to the press cylinder, but as it has frequently to be
taken out it has no fastenings on the upper side. The other end of this
cylinder is not placed directly against the head plate (A), but is attached in'
the first instance means of screws to a large plate H, four inches thick, c.
considerably larger than the end of the cylinder called the die plate. Fig. 3
represents this plate detached from the machine, and Fig. 4 shews it in
mover.

page_text: section. It is placed against the head plate, and sustained by two brackets or
sockets screwed to the head plate, into which the arms or ears c, c, in Figure 3,
are fitted. The plate is further preserved in its place by a circular groove or
ring (see Figure 2) turned on that face which is intended to fit against the
inner surface of the head plate a, and on this inner surface is a corresponding
circular head or projection to fit the groove 63. A similar groove is also
provided on that face of the plate H which comes against the cylinder M,
where a beading is made to fit the groove, and thus an unchanging centre at
this end of the machine is secured, as was done at the other end, by the
insertion of the press cylinder into the head plate. Into the die plate H, above
described, a die I (shewn in position at Fig. 2 and detached at Fig. 5) is fitted.
This die can be changed as occasion may require, by unscrewing the die plate
H from the cylinder M. It is about a foot in diameter, and of the same
thickness with the die plate; and when inserted into that plate, through an
orifice for that purpose, the outer side of the die rests against the head plate A.
This die is bored in the centre on the inner side next the cylinder M, from
four to five inches in diameter, to a depth within three fourths of an inch of
the outer side. The orifice is then continued through three inches in diameter
only. The die is provided with a flanch about three quarters of an inch wide
on the inner edge, which fits into a corresponding recess in the die plate H.
c is the mandril which forms the bore of the pipe, and it is held in its position
by being screwed into an arm g, projecting from the side of the orifice of the
die I. To this projection are sometimes added arms extending to the sides of
the die. Fig. 7 and 8 give a view of the side of these fixtures into which the
mandril or core c is screwed. The precise form of this fixture for holding the
mandril is immaterial. It should extend beyond the die into the cylinder an
inch or more, and be so fitted as to leave a clear chamber of near two inches
in depth between it and the inner surface of the small die, to be hereafter
mentioned. The mandril or core c may be of any convenient length, and is
screwed into the holder g above described, extending outward through the centre
of the orifice in the die into the head plate, and may be readily changed from
without. Fig. 6 shews a side view on an enlarged scale of one form of holder,
with a rod attached, and the mode of its insertion in the large die I may be
The mandril d
seen by looking at this Figure in connection with Fig. 5.
having been inserted, the three-inch orifice in the outer side of the large die I
through which the mandril projects, is now contracted to the size of the outer
surface of the pipe to be made by the application of a small die (h), Fig. 2.
over the
through the opening in the head plate. This die is slipped on
It is thin, and cup
mandril c, and just fits into the orifice of the large die.

page_text: N is a
shaped on the outside, and is held in its place by a small iron cylinder or tube
h¹, one end of which is placed against the small die to which it is fitted, and the
other rests against and is supported by a strong iron plate which is secured to
the outside of the head plate by four strong screws.
plate which is
screwed to the head plate, and is intended to keep the tube h¹ secure in its
place. The centre of the plate N is hollow, to allow of the passage of the pipe
as it is formed in the dies, by means of the screws which hold the plate N.
The position of the small die in reference to the mandril c may be adjusted so
as to correct any inequality in the thicknesses in different sizes of pipe. To
effect the tinning process in the above-described machine, a small hole i is first
bored from the top of the die plate H (see Fig. 2) downward until it strikes the
upper edge of the large die, when it communicates with a small chamber or
reservoir in the top of the die (see Fig. 9), capable of containing a few
pounds of melted tin. From one end of this chamber a hole is bored down-
ward through the die I until it strikes the end of one of the arms of the
fixtures for holding the mandril or core; it is then continued through that
arm to the end of the mandril, where it is screwed into the holder. The
mandril or core itself is bored or made hollow so as to continue this channel
to a point beyond where the pipe is formed. The channel is there made
to communicate through small lateral apertures with the outer surface of
the mandril. At this point a recess is made on the outside of the mandril,
entirely encircling it. That is, the diameter of the mandril is here contracted,
but towards its outer end gradually attains its original or nearly its original size.
The course of the melted tin along the channel above described may be traced
by the red color in Fig. 2, but will be more clearly shown in the partial
section Fig. 10, which shews the bearing 9 for the mandril in a different
position. In manufacturing, as soon as the pipe has started, melted tin is
poured into the orifice at the top of the die plate, which immediately makes its
way through the channel described to the recess or chamber on the outside
of the hollow mandril, which is kept constantly full by the pressure of tin
above. Of course, every part of the inner surface of the pipe, as it passes
along over the mandril, is brought in contact with the melted tin, and a perfect
coating of tin is necessarily given to the interior of the pipe. The parts of the
machine which contain the tin must be carefully kept up to the degree of heat
5 necessary to preserve the tin in a state of fusion. The process of manufacture
is as follows: The lead cylinder M is first heated (by means of a small
furnace constructed for that purpose underneath and around it) to nearly or
quite the temperature of melted lead. The cylinder is then filled, through a
small hole near the die plate, with lead raised to a temperature much above

page_text: the fusing point. The hole through which the lead is poured is stopped by an
iron plug. The machine is immediately put in motion, without giving the
metal time to set in the cylinder. The lead is then forced from the cylinder
while fluid past the holder into the chamber in the large die. The die being
inserted, not in the cylinder, but in the large die plate, which is not exposed to
the same degree of heat as the cylinder itself, is of course of a temperature far
below that of the cylinder, consequently, as soon as the metal .enters this
chamber, it begins to set; and, if by reason of its.being a little too hot, it is
not cooled sufficiently by the large die, the moment it touches the small outer
die, which is comparatively cold, it becomes solid, and issues from the machine
in the form required. Much care is requisite to keep the different parts of
the machine at the proper temperature, for if the heat be too great the metal
will not cool in the large die, but will be forced out in a liquid state. If, on
the other hand, too little heat is used, the lead will not pass the holder of the
rod in a fluid state, and the pipe made is imperfect and useless, and has to be
re-manufactured. After one charge or cylinder full of lead is forced out, the
piston is returned to its starting point by means of a return pump affixed to
the side of the machine, which forces the water into the lower end of the press
cylinder below the head of the piston. K, K, in Figures 1 and 2, represent
the apparatus for working this pump. In the partial section Fig. 11, a
modified form of die I is shown. Instead of making a conical opening in that
die, as above described, a series of concentric rings are turned therein, thus
forming steps or shoulders to deflect the fluid metal on to the core or mandril.
From the foregoing description, it will be seen that pipes or tubes of various
sizes can be readily made by this machinery, for by unscrewing the plate N
the tube h¹ and the die h may be removed. The mandril c can also with
facility be unscrewed from its socket, and a smaller or larger mandril substi-
tuted, its corresponding die h being then pushed up to its bearings against
the die I by the tube h¹. The plate N is replaced and bolted to the head
A, when the operation may be continued as before.
Having thus fully described the machine and its mode of working, I wish
it to be understood that under the above in part récited Letters Patent I
claim the mode of injecting tin into metal pipes or tubes during the process of
manufacture, in order to cover the inner surface of such pipes or tubes with
a coating of tin, as above explained.
In witness whereof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Eighteenth day of March, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-six.
A. V.
(L.S.) NEWTON.

page_text: AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the same Eighteenth day of March,
in the year above mentioned, the aforesaid Alfred Vincent Newton came
before our Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specifi-
cation aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained, in form above
written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to the
tenor of the Statute in that case made and provided.