MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FLANGING BOILER HEADS AND OTHER CIRCULAR METAL PLATES
Year: 1876

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of IMPROVE
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FLANGING BOILER HEADS AND OTHER CIRCULAR
METAL PLATES." A communication from abroad by Richard Charles Nugent,
of the City of Dayton, State of Ohio, United States of America.
led the 16th June 1876, and dated the 18th January 1876.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 18th January 1876.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FLANGING BOILER
HEADS AND OTHER CIRCULAR METAL PLATES."
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery for forming flanges on
circular metal plates, such as those.used for boiler ends and other purposes.
According to these improvements a pair of rolls are mounted so as to overhang
the framing carrying them, and to such framing, in front of the rolls, is hinged a
table which serves to receive the plate to be flanged, and which can, by means of
segment racks and worms be raised from a horizontal position into a position at
right angles or at any other angle to the axis of the rolls. The trunnions on which
the table turns are carried in slotted holes in brackets on the framing, so as to be
capable of adjustment to and from the rolls by means of adjusting screws, according
to the thickness of the plate to be flanged. The table carries a slide adjustable in a
slot therein in a direction to or from the rolls, which slide carries the pivot of a
circular disc lying upon the table, on which it is free to revolve round the said
pivot. The table also carries a transverse bar sliding on guides on each side of the
table, and extending across the said disc, which bar has at its centre a screw which
serves to clamp the centre of the plate to be flanged on to the centre of the circular
disc.
The segment racks for moving the table are in gear with worms on shafts
extending to the back of the machine, where they are driven by the same gearing
that drives the rolls. The front bearings of the worm shafts are capable of being
lowered by means of eccentrics turned by hand levers, so as to lower the worms out
of gear with the racks when required. On the inner faces of the segment racks
are formed other racks in gear with shrouded pinions, which also act as guides
'

page_text: to the racks, and which are fixed on a shaft carrying at its one end a brake wheel
operated by a weighted brake lever having a treadle,by which its action can be
regulated; the shaft has also a ratchet wheel, in gear with which is a pawl attached
to the framing, and capable of being put out of gear by a hand lever. A plate to
be flanged having been placed upon the disc (which should be of such a diameter
as will leave the width of plate for forming the flange projecting beyond it), and
the centre of the plate made to coincide with that of the disc, the latter is then
adjusted on the table so as to bring the circumference of the plate between the
rolls to the required extent. The transverse bar, which is capable of swinging on
its one guide as a hinge, is then brought into position, and its screw is made to
clamp the plate on to the centre of--the disc. The worins being put in gear with
the segment racks, and the rolls made to revolve, these will cause the plate to turn
on its centre, as its periphery which is to form the flange passes between them; at
the same time the table is caused to rise by the motion of the worms and segment
racks, whereby such periphery will be gradually bent up from the plane of the plate
by the action of the rolls until the table is raised to the angle corresponding to that
which the flange is required to receive. The worms are then lowered out of gear
with the racks so as to arrest the further upward motion of the table, and this is
now held in its raised position by means of the before-mentioned pawl and ratchet
wheel, while the formed flange is passed several times through the rolls in order to
finish it. The upper roll is then raised from the lower one so as to withdraw the
finished flanged plate from between them, and the table is allowed to descend by
its own weight into the horizontal position again by withdrawing the pawl from
the ratchet wheel and regulating the action of the before-mentioned brake by means
of the treadle, so as to prevent the descent from taking place too rapidly.
The axes of the flanging rolls are by preference continued back some distance, and
on a portion of the same, situated between the front and back uprights of the
framing, are fixed or formed other rolls that may serve for rolling flat plates.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by the
said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 29th June
1876.
CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR FLANGING BOILER
HEADS AND OTHER CIRCULAR METAL PLATES." A communication to me from
abroad by Richard Charles Nugent, of the City of Dayton, State of Ohio, United
States of America.
This Invention relates to improvements in machinery for forming flanges on
circular metal plates such as those used for boiler ends and other purposes.
According to these improvements a pair of rolls are mounted so as to overhang
the frame carrying thein, and to such framing, in front of the rolls, is hinged a
table which serves to receive the plate to be flanged, and which can by means of
segment racks and worms be raised from a horizontal position into a position at
right angles, or any other angle to the axis of the rolls. The trunnions on
which the table turns are carried in slotted holes in brackets on the framing, so
as to be capable of adjustment to and from the rolls by means of adjusting screws,
according to the thickness-of_the_plate to be flanged. The table carries a slide
adjustable in a slot therein in a direction to and from the-rolls, which slide_carries
the pivot of a circular disc lying upon the table, on which it is free to revolve
round the said pivot. The table also carries a transverse bar sliding on guides on
each side of the table, and extending across the said disc, which bar has at its
centre a screw which serves to clamp the centre of the plate to be flanged on to
the centre of the circular disc.
The segment racks for moving the table are in gear with worms on shafts

page_text: extending to the back of the machine, where they are driven by the same gearing
that drives the rolls. The front bearings of the worm shafts are capable of being
lowered by means of eccentrics turned by hand levers, so as to lower the worms out
of gear with the racks when required. On the inner faces of the segment racks
are formed other toothed racks in gear with shrouded pinions, which also act as
guides to the racks, and which are fixed on a shaft carrying at its one end a brake
wheel operated by a weighted brake lever, having a treadle by which its action
can be regulated; the shaft has also a ratchet wheel, in gear with which is a pawl
attached to the framing and capable of being put out of gear by a hand lever..
A plate to be flanged having been placed upon the disc (which should be of such
a diameter as will leave the width of plate for forming the flange projecting beyond
it), and the centre of the plate made to coincide with that of the disc, the latter is
then adjusted on the table so as to bring the circumference of the plate between
the rolls to the required extent. The transverse bar which is capable of swinging
on its one guide as a hinge, is then brought into position and its screw is made to
clamp the plate on to the centre of the disc. The worms being put in gear with the
segment racks and the rolls made to revolve, these will cause the plate to turn on
its centre as its periphery which is to form the flange passes between them; at the
same time the table is caused to rise by the motion of the worms and.segment racks,
whereby such periphery will be gradually bent up from the plane of the plate by
the action of the rolls, until the table is raised to the angle corresponding to that
which the flange is required to receive. The worms are then lowered out of gear
with the racks so as to arrest the further upward motion of the table, and this is
now held in its raised position by means of the before-mentioned pawl and ratchet
wheel, while the formed flange is passed several times through the rolls in order to
finish it. The upper roll is then raised from the lower one so as to withdraw the
finished flanged plate from between them, and the table is allowed to descend
by its own weight into the horizontal position again by withdrawing the pawl
from the ratchet wheel, and regulating the action of the before-mentioned brake
by means of the treadle so as to prevent the descent from taking place too rapidly.
The axes of the flanging rolls are, by preference, continued back some distance,
and on a portion of the same situated between the front and back uprights of the
framing are fixed or formed other rolls that may serve for rolling flat plates.
Fig. 1 represents a side elevation; Fig. 2, a plan; and Fig. 3, a vertical transverse
section on the line X, X, of Fig. 1, of a machine according to this Invention for
flanging plates; Fig. 4 is a part vertical longitudinal section on the line X', X'. of
Fig. 3.
Figs. 5 and 6 are respectively transverse and longitudinal sections to an enlarged
scale of one of the worm bearings and its eccentric, as will hereafter be described.
A, A, is the frame of the machine, having in its upper part two rollers, B, B₁
arranged one over the other, connected by gear wheels b, b, and driven by any
suitable power applied through a band wheel C and gearing C, or in other suitable
way. The journal boxes g of one roll are adjustable by means of screws g¹ above,
and a spiral or other suitable spring.g² below, or in other known way. The necks b₁
of these rolls extend at one end beyond the outer face of the framework, and a pair of
dio rolls B are fixed or formed thereon. T is a swinging table hinged by means of
lugst and pivotting bolts t¹ to brackets v, v, bolted to the frame. These brackets are
slotted as at v¹, so that by means of set screws 2,3, which bear against the pivotting
bolts the table T may be adjusted toward or from the die rolls B to suit
different thicknesses of plates.
The table T is supported from below, and is capable of being raised from the
horizontal into the vertical position by means of circular segments S, which pass
through the end of the frame A, and are worked by means of worms H that engage
teeth m on the outside of the segments. The shafts H¹ of the worms Hare

page_text: connected by gear wheels H³, H³, with the driving power at any convenient point
as at b. The inner edge of so much of the segments S as passes through the
frame A is provided with teeth ml gearing with a pinion n. This pinion has a
collar or collars n' which bear on shoulders or flanges n² of the segments S, so that
operating like friction rollers they act as guides to the segments S in their motion,
keeping the outer teeth m.in gear with the worms H, but without throwing the
pinion teeth n out of gear with the inner teeth m¹. The shaft of the pinion n also
carries a ratchet wheels engaged by a pawl s', which when desired is thrown out
of gear by a lever 82. On the shaft of the pinion n outside the frame A is, a
wheel N provided with a brake lever q, weight q', and treadle q. In the table T is
formed a slot w, shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2, of such length that a box e
adjustable longitudinally therein may be brought directly under the centres of the
different sized plates to be flanged. Vertically through this box e is a circular hole
or socket, which is occupied by a cylindrical or .conical pin e¹, the latter carrying a
circular revolving disc E. The plate to be flanged is placed on the disc E, with so
much of its outer edge as is to be turned up to form the flange required, inserted
between and gripped by the die rolls B. At the same time by the use of an
adjusting screw the box e is adjusted in the slot w, so that the centre of the
disc E shall come directly under the centre of the plate to be flanged. Extending
transversely across the table and a little above it is a presser bar D, adjustable to
and from the die rolls B on ways D', which are supported by bracket arms D2.
This presser bar is hinged to one of the ways D₁ by an eye d, so that it can be
swung up from and down to the plate to be flanged, as well as to be moved
longitudinally along it; when down it is locked to the other of ways D' by a hook d¹,
or it might be by set screw or other equivalent deviec. Through the middle of the
bar D is a set screw d having a centering point, which by the adjustment of the
presser bar D is brought directly over the centre of the plate to be flanged and
directly over the centre of the rotating disc E below. The screw d² is then turned
down, so as to clamp the plate to be flanged tightly at its centre to the centre of
the revolving disc E. The die rolls B2 then being properly adjusted so as to take
a firm bite on the plate to be flanged, their rotation causes the plate to rotate so
much of its outer edge as is to constitute the flange passing between the.die rolls.
At the same time the worms H acting on the segments S cause the outer. end of the
table T to rise, so as gradually to approach and come to a position at right angles
to the axes of the die rolls B2, and thus the periphery of the plate is bent up so as
to form the flange. After the body of the plate is thus brought to a vertical
position, it is by preference kept there while the flange is passed one or more times
through the rolls, in order to perfect the form of the flange and give it a finished
appearance. For this purpose an eccentric on a shaft under the bearing / of
each worm H is moved by a lever 2, so as to throw the worm out of gear with the
segment S, thus leaving the position of the table T unaffected by the continued
operation of the machine and held in position by the ratchet wheels and pawl s¹.
When the flanged plate has undergone several finishing revolutions it is removed from
the machine, the presser bar D being thrown back to permit of its removal, by the
lever s the pawls is thrown out of gear with the ratchet wheels, and then
controlling by the treadle q the power of the brake wheel N, the table T, and the
disc E are allowed to come gradually down to a horizontal position, after which the
operation can be repeated.. As it is advantageous that the disc E should be of
about the diameter of the flanged plate, after the flange is turned up it is made
removeable-with-the-pin-c-which carries it, and a series of such discs E of different
sizes be provided one for each size of boiler head to be made. The gradual-turning.of
a flange in the manner described produces but little strain on the iron, as compared
with the ordinary mode of turning flanges by dies and heavy pressure, and gives by
a simple and rapid operation a product perfect in shape and uniform in strength
with little or no risk of loss by imperfect workmanship.
-
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign 'correspondent, I

page_text: claim in respect of machinery for flanging boiler heads and other circular metal
plates
First. The combination of a pair of die rolls for gripping the edge of the plate to
be flanged with a swinging table, a revolving disc thereon, and a centering clamp
'substantially as herein described.
Second. The combination of the swinging table with a revolving disc having its
axis adjustable, and an adjustable presser bar with centre screw for clamping the
plate, substantially as herein described.
Third. The use for moving the swinging table of toothed segments and worms
arranged and operating substantially as herein described.
Fourth. The combination with the segments of the swinging table of pinions,
ratchet wheel, and brake wheel, for holding and lowering the table, substantially as
herein described.
Fifth. Raising or lowering the worms into or out of gear with the toothed
segments by means of eccentrics under the worm bearings, substantially as herein
described.
Sixth. Adjusting the pivots of the swinging table to suit different thicknesses
of plates to be flanged, substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of June, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and seventy-six.
CITTAC
ADT
CHAS. D. ABEL. (L.S.)