CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL TUBES AND SOLID FORMS, AND IN APPARATUS AND MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN
Year: 1852

page_text: BEASLEY'S SPECIFICATION.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
BEASLEY, of Oak Farm Works, Kingswinford, in the County of Stafford,
Tube Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at Westminster,
the Tenth day of June, in the fifteenth year of Her said Majesty's reign,
did give and grant unto me, the said William Beasley, my exors, adñiors, and
assigns, Her especial license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I,
the said William Beasley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, and such others
as I, the said William Beasley, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, should at any
time agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter
during the term of years therein mentioned, should and lawfully might make, use,
exercise, and vend, within that part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland called England, the Dominion of Wales, and Town of Berwick-
upon-Tweed, the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and
all Ier said Majesty's Colonies and Plantations abroad, my Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL TUBES AND SOLID FORMS,
AND IN APPARATUS AND MACHINERY TO BE EMPLOYED THEREIN;" in which said
Letters Patent there is contained a proviso that I, the said William Beasley,
shall particularly describe and ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and
in what manner the same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing,
under my hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of

page_text: Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of
the said in part recited Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will
more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Beasley, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described and
ascertained in and by the following description, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked thereon,
that is to say:-
My Invention consists, firstly, in the use of a rolled tapered strip of metal,
iron, or steel, or a mixture of both, bevilled at the edges, and hollow on the
underside, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, whereby I obtain a much stronger
joint than by the old form of strip.
Secondly, in a new form of mandril.
Thirdly, in the application of cross rolling to a coil for the purpose of
effecting a perfect weld.
Fourthly, in a method of crushing together or "jamming up" the seams
of the coil whilst undergoing the process of cross rolling.
Fifthly, in the application of hot or cold blast acting simultaneously on the
entire length of the coil during the process of cross rolling.
Sixthly, in the method of loosening a tube from a mandril.
Seventhly, in a new form of die for drawing tubes or solid rods.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
(Figs. 1 and 2) are sections of the strips of metal of the forms above
named; (Fig. 3) a view of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, the mandril, having a coil twisted
in it.
I will now proceed to describe my process as applied to the manufacture of
twisted tubes and gun barrels. I take a strip of metal of the form shewn in
Figs. 1 or 2, and coil it round a mandril, the hollow or concave side being next
the mandril; and here I may observe that in using strips of the ordinary sec-
tion I have found that there is an inclination to rise at the joints or seams,
leaving those parts the weakest where most strength is required. By using
either of the forms shewn in section in Figs. 1 and 2, there is more metal to be
welded in at the seams, and a stronger joint must necessarily be obtained.
When coiled on the mandril the strip presents the appearance of having been
hollowed on the outer side, as will be seen on reference to Fig. 4, resulting from
the natural rise of the metal before mentioned. I then strip the coil from the
mandril and put it into a furnace having a door front and back, and allow it to

page_text: attain a welding heat, and close to the door in front I have fixed in proper
bearings a pair of stationary rolls hung either on vertical or horizontal axes.
and in some instances I require these rolls to have tapered grooves cut in their
peripheries. When the coil has reached a welding heat, I insert into it from
the door in the back of the furnace a mandril of the form shewn in Drawings;
Fig. 4, having the plug c on one end formed to fit into a corresponding socket
attached to an iron rod, with which I am enabled to push the mandril through
the furnace. Above this plug are two butts or washers of not more than suf-
ficient projection to prevent the coil from slipping off, the one marked D being
fixed and that marked E capable of being slid up the mandril; this latter
enables me to remove the coil at pleasure. Having inserted this mandril into
the coil when at a proper heat, I push it forward by means of the rod and
socket above named, until the opposite end, protruding through the front door
of the furnace, is received between the pair of stationary rolls, when it is laid
hold of by a pair of tongs on a drawbench, and the mandril with the coil on
it drawn from the furnace through the rolls, causing them thereby to rotate.
By this operation the seams of the coil are crushed up together, and in some
measure welded, and the concavity of the strip forming the coil is found to be
on the inside of the tube, the outside being a straight line. If necessary, the
tube may be reheated before undergoing the next operation, viz., cross rolling.
I then place it between three long rolls, whose peripheries almost but not
quite touch, leaving between them just sufficient space for the coil. These
rotate all in the same direction, and if it be required to manufacture a cylinder
of equal diameter and thickness of metal, the rolls are hung parallel, their
axes being the angles of an equilateral triangle; but if the tube be a taper
the rolls must also be tapered, and must be hung out of the parallel or hori-
zontal line, so that the large diameter of the rolls may form the large diameter
of the tube, and the small diameter of the rolls the small diameter of the tube.
By this operation the fibre of the metal is driven in the direction of the cir-
cumference of the tube, and during the process I subject the tube to either
hot or cold blast, supplied from any suitable apparatus into a receiver having a
funnel mouth the whole length of and parallel to the rolls, which discharges
the blast between the upper and lower rolls along the entire length of the
tube at the same time; the tube is thus kept at welding heat for any length of
time I may require.
the
I will now describe another method of crushing or "jamming up"
seams of the coil, which in many cases I prefer to that already named. The
heated coil is taken at once from the furnace, without passing through the
stationary rolls to the cross rolls, the upper one of which is raised by means of

page_text: weighted levers, and in this case the frames or standards of the cross rolls will
require to have one of the "holsters" solid. The coil now rests between the
two lower rolls, and whilst it is kept rotating by the action of these two rolls,
I insert into it a mandril with a collar on it, similar to the one before de-
scribed, but shorter than the coil itself. By means of this mandril I drive the
coil forcibly against the solid "holster," and thus "jam up" the seams. This
having been continued for a sufficient time, I press down the upper roll by
means of double or treble threaded screws bearing on the necks of the rolls, by
which I can reduce the tube to any required size, and allow the cross rolling
to proceed.
The next part of my Invention refers to a method of loosening tubes from
a mandril, for which purpose I employ two horizontal rollers, hung one above
the other, at a sufficient distance to admit of their peripheries bearing on the
tube when screwed on to it, the tube being kept in its position by any suitable
guide. These rollers I cause to rotate both in the same direction. The tube
is afterwards bored in the ordinary manner.
The next part of my Invention, viz, the improved die for drawing or
reducing tubes or solid bars, is formed of any convenient number of concentric
metal rings, connected by three or more suitable stay pieces. The advantage
of this form of die over the solid one being, that during the process of
drawing the scales or scoriæ are allowed to fall away through the spaces be-
tween the concentric rings, and whilst operating, I allow hot or cold water, or
a jet of steam, to play upon the metal, thereby chilling it, and enabling it to
counteract the resistance of the die. This produced a rod or tube perfectly
clean and free from scale.
Having thus described the nature of my said Inventions, and the manner
in which the same are to be performed, I wish it to be clearly understood that
I do not confine myself to the precise details, nor do I claim the exclusivo use
of the rollers described, except for the purposes herein mentioned. But what
I claim as my Invention is,-
Firstly, the use of a rolled tapered strip of metal, bevelled in the usual
way, but hollow or concave on one of its sides, as described.
Secondly, the form of mandril described and shewn in Drawings.
Thirdly, the mode of crushing or "jamming up" the seams of the coil
during the process of cross rolling.
Fourthly, the manufacture of twisted tubes by welding them, by means of
cross rolling in manner described.
Fifthly, the application of hot or cold blast acting simultaneously on the
entire length of the tube during the process of cross rolling, as described.

page_text: Sixthly, the employment of the rolls described for the purpose of loosening
the tube from the mandril.
Seventhly, the use of the die described for drawing tubes and solid.
metal rods.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Beasley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, One thousand eight hun-
dred and fifty-two.
metal rods.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Beasley, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Sixth day of December, One thousand eight hun-
dred and fifty-two.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Sixth day of December, in
the year of our Lord 1852, the aforesaid William Beasley came before our
said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.