Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Joints between Tubes and Sockets and the like.
Year: 1897

page_text: This Print is in accordance with the Original Specification as it stands after
Amendment (under Section 18 of the Patents, &c. Act, 1883) as allowed by
the decision of the Chief Examiner of the 3rd day of August 1898.
Date of Application, 29th Mar., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 28th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 5th Mar., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Joints
between Tubes and Sockets and the like.
I, JOHN BIRTWISLE, of 4, York Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the method of and apparatus for joining tubes to
sockets and the like and is especially applicable for joining together the different
members of bicycle frames.
I will describe my invention as applied to the making of a joint between the
end of a tube and an encircling socket or collar. Hydraulic or other suitable
fluid pressure, hereinafter referred to as hydraulic pressure, is applied
locally within the tube to expand that part which is contained within
the socket and thus make a joint between the two. The interior of
the socket is preferably grooved, roughened or keyed so as to ensure
a firmer
grip. It will of course be understood that the joint may be effected in the inverse
manner, that is by contracting the socket upon the tube by similar local fluid
pressure.
In expanding part of a tube within a socket or the like a suitable water pipe
or conductor is led within the tube. This pipe is provided with a part or chamber
in which the water is free to exert its pressure. This part may consist of a
flexible or similar chamber, such as may be formed from leather or indiarubber,
which is in communication with the interior of the water pipe and may expand
radially, but is preferably prevented from expanding longitudinally by suitable
plates. If desired the chamber may be formed by two plates arranged at a con-
venient distance apart upon the water pipe and provided with cup leathers or the
like, the space between the two plates communicating with the interior of the
water pipe. The two plates and the cup leathers are of a size to be slipped within
the tube which has to be expanded, so that when the water is admitted under
pressure the packing leathers seal up the ends of the chamber by being forced
against the tube and the water between the two plates exerts its pressure radially
and expands that part of the tube against the encircling socket. Similarly, when
a flexible cylinder, tube, or the like is employed to form the chamber, the pressure
is outward to expand that part of the tube within which the chamber is contained.
In use the chamber is placed within the tube and occupies a position within
that part of the tube which has to be expanded. Water under pressure is admitted
until the desired expansion has taken place.
In order to prevent breakage, bursting, or undue expansion of the socket or
that part which is surrounding the expanded part of the tube, it is preferred to
employ an external supporting device. This supporting device may consist of a
DQ17

page_text: hollow ring or the like which is adapted to be slipped upon the socket and con-
tains an indiarubber or other sealed flexible tube the interior of which is in com-
munication with a suitable supply of water under pressure, and is preferably in
communication with the expanding chamber within the tube. The pressure upon
each side of the joint may thus be balanced and the tube is expanded within the
socket or the latter is contracted upon the tube according to which is stronger.
By this arrangement an exceedingly high pressure may be employed without any
risk of breaking or bursting the joint. In case the supporting device has to be
used upon a socket where it can not be slipped into place, the ring may be divided
so as to open and then be closed in position, and the flexible tube may consist of
a length having both ends closed. The supporting device may then be placed
in position around any socket and closed, the two ends of the tube abutting and
forming a continuous support for the socket. If desired, the annular ring of
the supporting device may be furnished with cup leathers instead of with a tube
and the space within the ring may be in communication with the water supply.
Dated this 27th day of March 1897.
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Method of and Apparatus for Making Joints
between Tubes and Sockets and the like.
I, JOHN BIRTWISLE, of 4, York Street, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster,
Engineer, 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:-
This invention relates to the method of and apparatus for joining tubes to
sockets and the like and is especially applicable for joining together the different
members of bicycle frames.
I will describe my invention as applied to the making of a joint between the
end of a tube and an encircling socket or collar. Hydraulic or other suitable
fluid pressure, hereinafter referred to as hydraulic pressure,
locally within the tube to expand that part which
is applied
is contained within
the socket and thus make a joint between the two. The interior of
the socket is preferably grooved, roughened, recessed or keyed so as to ensure a
firmer grip.
In expanding part of a tube within a socket or the like a suitable water pipe
or conductor is led within the tube. This part may consist of a flexible or similar
chamber, such as may be formed of leather or india-rubber, which is in com-
munication with the interior of the water pipe and may expand radially, but is
preferably prevented from expanding longitudinally by the end plates or the like.
If desired the chamber may be formed by two plates arranged at a convenient
distance apart upon the water pipe and provided with packings, cup leathers or
the like which will prevent the passage of water, the space between the two plates
communicating with the interior of the water pipe. The plates with the packing
or leathers are of a size to be slipped within and to fit within the tube which has
to be expanded, so that when water under pressure is admitted to the chamber
through the water pipe, the packings seal up the ends of the chamber and the
water between the two plates exerts its pressure radially and expands that part
of the tube against the encircling socket. Similarly, when a flexible cylinder,
tube or the like is employed to form the chamber, the pressure is outwards to ex-
pand that part of the tube within which the chamber is contained.

page_text: In use the chamber is placed within the tube and occupies a position within
that part of the tube which has to be expanded. Water under pressure is admitted
until the desired expansion has taken place.
In order to prevent breakage, bursting or undue expansion of the socket or
that part which is surrounding the part of the tube which has to be expanded,
it is preferred to employ an external supporting device. This supporting device
may consist of a hollow ring or the like which is adapted to be slipped upon the
socket and contains an indiarubber or other sealed flexible tube the interior of
which is in communication with a suitable supply of water under pressure, pre-
ferably, with the same supply of water as that which is fed to the expanding
chamber within the tube. The pressure upon each side of the joint may thus be
balanced and the tube is expanded within the socket. By this arrangement an
exceedingly high pressure may be employed without any risk of bursting the
joint. In case the supporting device has to be used upon a socket where it can
not be slipped into place, the ring may be divided so as to open and then be
closed in position, and the flexible tube may consist of a length having both ends
closed. The supporting device may then be placed in position around any socket
and closed, the two ends of the tube abutting and forming a continuous support
for the socket. If desired, the annular ring of the supporting device may be
furnished with cup leathers instead of a tube and the space within the ring may
be in communication with the water supply.
The accompanying drawings to which I will hereinafter refer show types of the
tools which may be employed and illustrate in what manner my invention may
be carried into effect, as applied to a bicycle frame.
Figure 1 shows partly in section and partly in elevation one of the lugs or
sockets which may be employed for securing together the head tube A and
the top tube B of an ordinary diamond frame bicycle. The end of the tube B is
placed within the branch Ċ of the lug or socket as if it were to be brazed or
soldered in the usual manner, a tight and close fit being preferred.
The tool or
instrument indicated at D is then introduced within the tube. This tool consists
of a tube a, which may if desired be flexible, and the end of which or any con-
venient part of which carries in a suitable manner the cup leathers or equivalent
or suitable packing or sealing devices b, 61. These leathers are arranged at a
suitable distance apart and may be supported by plates, nuts or the like 6 screwed
or otherwise secured to the pipe a, and that part of the pipe between them is per-
forated as shown at c or is provided in any other manner with means of access to
its interior. The extreme end at of the tube a is closed. The leathers or pack-
ings are of a diameter to properly fit the tube B with which they are to be em-
ployed, and are prevented from being forced longitudinally along the tube a by
the plates or nuts 68.
The tool is placed in the position shown and the pipe a is placed in communica-
tion with a supply of water under heavy pressure or is connected to a suitable
pump or the like. The water or other fluid passes into the space between the
leathers or packings b, b' which close against the tube or otherwise seal up the
chamber and prevent the escape of the water. The active or useful pressure of
the water is therefore radial and parts of the tube B are expanded into convenient
recesses, grooves, corrugations, keyways, or the like d formed in the socket C and
to which they conform perfectly. The remainder of the tube acted upon by the
water is forced dead against the smooth parts of the socket. The grooves or the
like d are preferably so formed as to prevent movement of the expanded tube end
in any direction. This may conveniently be effected by causing the grooves or
the like to cross each other, or by forming the interior of the socket with a series
of separate pits or recesses. After the application of a suitable pressure which
may be indicated by a gauge connected to the tube a the water pressure is relieved
and the tool is withdrawn. I have found with a tube of soft steel of 22 B. W. G.
and an external diameter of one and a quarter inches that a pressure of from one
to one and a half tons to the square inch is sufficient to effect a joint. This pres-

page_text: sure will of course vary, however, according to the diameter of the tube and the
width of the grooves into which it has to be forced. In the example to which I
refer the grooves were about a quarter of an inch wide and about three thirty-
seconds of an inch deep, the edges and corners being rounded so as not to cut the
tube.
With the employment of great pressures however, there is a danger that the
surrounding socket, especially when light and thin, may be burst or broken when
the tube end is expanded. To lessen this danger I prefer to employ the second
tool or device illustrated at E in the same figure although it will be understood
that under certain circumstances and when desired the first tool may be employed
alone. This second tool consists of a suitable and sufficiently strong shell or the
like E which is capable of being slipped or otherwise arranged upon the socket C
so as to surround it. Contained within the shell E is a closed pipe or ring F
capable of resisting water under heavy pressure and constructed of some flexible
material such as leather suitably treated or of indiarubber and strong insertion.
Water under pressure and preferably from the same source is admitted into the
ring F simultaneously with the admission of water under pressure to the tool D.
A balanced or a balancing pressure is thus set up on each side of the socket and
the greatest pressures can be used without fear of damage as the only parts cap-
able of expansion are the parts of the tube B which come over the grooves or the
like in the socket. Instead of being provided with the ring F the tool E may
have internal cup leathers or packings to prevent the escape of water, in which
case the water would come directly into contact with the external face of the
socket. The tool E is of such proportions and is so arranged that its pressure
exerting part surrounds that part of the tool D at which active pressure is exerted.
It is preferred to so construct and arrange this latter tool that its leathers or pack-
ings come against part of the tube B which can not be expanded.
If desired the socket may be simply supported externally by encircling remov-
able metal rings or the like.
In the branch G of the socket a tube such as a head tube A is shown, secured
in place by expanding it at any convenient point in its length instead of merely
inserting and expanding its end. The tube is placed in position and the parts of
the tube at the points h, h¹ are expanded as herein before described into suitable
grooves or the like in the branch G, the tool E, of course, being placed around
the parts to be expanded if desired.
In some instances it will not be possible to slide the tool E into position as
already described, owing, perhaps, to a socket being already connected to one
end of a tube when a joint has to be made at the other end. To meet such a case
the modified tool E shown in Figure 2 may be employed. In this modification
the shell E is divided and the two halves are connected together, as by a hinge H,
so that it is capable of being opened and placed in position around any joint. The
ring F would have its ends closed but not connected together so that it also could
be opened with the shell, its ends abutting together when the tool is in use.
tool may be maintained in its closed position by the removable ring J.
The
In the modified' form of tool illustrated in Figure 3 the water chamber instead
of having cup leathers or other packing secured to the end plates may be sur-
rounded by a flexible water tight tube K capable of expanding and following
parts of the tube B into the grooves d of the socket.
Suitable valves or cocks may be arranged upon the pipe a and the pipe leading
to the tool E, so that pressure may be applied or relieved when desired. For
example, water under a moderate pressure such as town's pressure may be first
employed to fill the tools and then the heavy pressure may be applied by establish-
ing communication with an accumulator or with a pump. The pressure may be
relieved by cutting off the heavy pressure and allowing some of the water con-
tained in the tools to escape.
Many other forms of joints than those represented may be formed according to
this invention by placing a tubular part within a suitable socket and by expanding

page_text: it by local hydraulic pressure and by the tool or tools described. If desired, and
in order to additionally strengthen the joint, a short length of lining tube may be
inserted and be similarly expanded.
Equally of course my invention is applicable to the formation of tubular joints
other than those of bicycle frames, and possesses special value for aluminium and
similar joints which can not well be brazed.
In some cases, in the construction of a bicycle frame, it may be necessary to form
openings in parts of the sockets so as to permit the insertion or withdrawal of the
tool D, but this will only rarely be necessary.
Tubes and the like joints as herein described have not been damaged by heat
and are as strong at the joint as at any other part.
If desired the parts to be joined may be tinned or similarly treated and may
afterwards be subjected to a gentle heat to melt the solder thus preventing the.
access of water and subsequent corrosion, or the joint may otherwise be protected
by enamel or the like after it has been made.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is:-
1. The herein before described process for making tubular joints which consists
in internally grooving, recessing, or channelling the socket, placing the tubular
member therein and expanding it into the socket by local pressure, substantially
as and by the means set forth and as illustrated by the accompanying drawings.
2. Appliances for forming tubular joints by local fluid pressure, consisting of
an expanding tool and a balancing tool constructed arranged and operated sub-
stantially as herein before described and as illustrated by the accompanying
drawings.
3. An appliance for making tubular joints by local fluid pressure, consisting of
a tool D, provided with a space or chamber into which a fluid under pressure can
be admitted and in which the fluid pressure is exerted radially so as to expand
one member of the joint into the other, constructed substantially as hereinbefore
described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
4. An appliance for making tubular joints by local fluid pressure, consisting of
a tool E, provided with an encircling shell which with the joint forms an annular
chamber into which fluid under pressure can be admitted and in which the fluid
pressure is exerted radially so as to balance pressure exerted within the joint, con-
structed and arranged substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to
the accompanying drawings.
5. Tubular joints made by application of local fluid pressure and so that one
member of the joint is thereby interlocked with the other, substantially as and
by the means herein before described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 27th day of January A.D. 1898.
W. E. HEYS & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.