IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLID AND SEAMLESS METAL TUBES, GUN BARRELS, AND ARTILLERY, AND FOR MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAME
Year: 1864

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joseph Barnsley, of Coombs Wood Tube Works, in
the Parish of Hales Owen, in the County of Worcester, Metal Tube
Manufacturer, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF SOLID AND SEAMLESS METAL TUBES, GUN BARRELS, AND ARTILLERY, AND
FOR MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAME."
Sealed the 10th February 1865, and dated the 14th December 1864.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joseph Barnsley at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 14th
December 1864.
I, JOSEPH BARNSLEY, of Coombs Wood Tube Works, in the Parish of
Hales Owen, in the County of Worcester, Metal Tube Manufacturer, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
THE MANUFACTURE OF SOLID AND SEAMLESS METAL TUBES, GUN BARRELS, AND
ARTILLERY, AND FOR MACHINERY TO BE USED IN THE SAME," to be as follows:-
I take a hollow bloom of iron of the required size from the heating furnace,
it through two or more pairs of iron or steel rolls, grooved suitably
to the exterior of the tube, gun barrel, or cannon intended to be made. The
pairs of rolls are placed behind each other in a successive line at such
and
pass

page_text: distances apart as to allow the tube, gun barrel, or cannon to leave the
preceding pair of rolls before it enters the next pair of rolls, and so on
throughout the whole train of rolls. I pass a solid bar of steel through the
whole train of rolls, and secure such bar to a back stand or support by a
moveable screw. Upon such bar and in the centre of each pair of rolls I fix
an egg-shaped mandrel of the size proportioned to the inner diameter of the
tube, gun barrel, or cannon I wish to make. I keep the bar in the centre of
the train of rolls by self-adjusting vertical bars or supports, each working upon
a shaft so as to allow the tube, gun barrel, or cannon to pass along the entire
length of the bar and through each pair of rolls in succession, and to return to
the supporting position immediately the tube, gun barrel, or cannon in process
of manufacture has passed beyond it; I disengage the finished tube, gun barrel,
or cannon from the bar by a hinge or joint placed in the bar behind the last
pair of rolls.
DESCRIPTION OF MACHINERY.
My machinery consists of two or more pairs of iron or steel rolls, each pair
grooved to the required size. The pairs of rolls are fixed in a line at a
greater distance from each other than the length of the tube, gun barrel, or
cannon. To each roll I attach bevilled or cog wheels so calculated as to turn
each pair of rolls when connected with the motive power at the speed I
require. A steel bar or rod runs through the whole train of rolls horizontally;
it is secured at the further end to a back stand or support a moveable
crew, so that I can disengage the bar from the back stand. The bar has a
shoulder worked in it behind the centre of each pair of rolls so as to support a
mandrel, and behind the last pair of rolls the bar has a hinge joint, by which
I disengage the tube, gun barrel, or cannon when rolled from the bar. Under
the bar at a proper distance from each other I place vertical self-adjusting
moveable bars of iron, by which I support the horizontal bar, each of which
vertical bars works on a shaft or pin, and is made heavier at the lower end so
as to return to its vertical position; as the tube, gun barrel, or cannon passes
beyond it along the horizontal bar, I place upon the horizontal bar in the
centre of each pair of rolls an egg-shaped mandrel which I secure to the bar
and against the shoulder by a cotter.