Improvements in Pipe-welding Apparatus.
Year: 1890

page_text: Complete Specification Left, 17th Apr., 1890-Accepted, 28th June, 1890
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Pipe-welding Apparatus.
I JAMES SIMPSON of McKeesport in the County of Allegheny State of Pennsylvania
United States of America, Machinist, 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:-
Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of my improved apparatus, showing it in con-
nection with the usual draw bench and skelp-heating furnace.
Figure 2 is a front view of the bell and the parts therein contained.
Figures 3 and 4 (sheet 2) are vertical sectional views illustrating modified forms of
my improvement.
Figures 5 and 6 are vertical cross-sections on the lines V-V of figure 3, and
VI-VI of figure 4, respectively.
Figure 8 is a plan view illustrating another modification.
Figure 7 is a vertical longitudinal section on the line VII-VII of figure 8.
Figure 9 is a vertical cross section on the line IX-IX of figures 7 and 8.
Figure 10 is a plan view, and figure 11 an end view of the hell holder.
Figure 12 is a vertical section of the bell and bell holder, showing the bell
reversed.
Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each.
Heretofore, in the manufacture of pipe, there has always been a difficulty experienced
(especially in the use of thin pipe-iron) in preventing the edges from turning in in
the bell, and thus making an irregular projecting scam on the interior of the pipe,
and a rough seam on the outside, which spoil it for practical use, rendering it
impracticable to cut screw threads on the exterior. This fact is the source of great
loss in the manufacture of pipe, and it is the object of my invention to prevent it.
To this end, I employ, in connection with the pipe, a tongue or seam support in the
bell, arranged to bear on the skelp at the inner side of the seam, and also on the skelp
at an opposite point. This constitutes one of the items of my invention. It is some-
times difficult to cause the tongue or seam-support to bear directly on the seam,
but a device which bears on at least two points in the interior of the skelp is self-
centering, and will always adjust itself in proper position to prevent the edges of
the seam from turning in.
A second item of my invention consists in a heel or creasing device which bears on
the skelp, preferably at or near the place of its entrance into the mouth of the bell,
and thus facilitates the bending or turning up of the skelp and makes the formation
of the pipe easier and more accurate than has hitherto been possible.
A third item of my invention consists in using an antifriction roller or rollers as
the bearing end for the seam support or heel, or both, the purpose being to
prevent these parts from exerting frictional resistance to the passage of the skelp
through the bell.
My invention further consists in certain details of construction hereinafter described,
and succinctly defined in the claims.

page_text: Referring now to figs. 1 and 2, 2 represents the pipe welding bell, which is or may
be of the usual form.
3 is the bell-holder, which is shown in detail in figs. 10, 11, and 12.
4 is the front wall and door of the skelp heating furnace.
5 is the skelp, shown in the operation of being drawn from the furnace through the
bell in which its ends are bent round and welded so as to form the hollow pipe.
6 is the usual tang welded to the skelp, and 7 are the tongs which seize the tang
and afford means for pulling the skelp through the bell. The seam-supporting device 8
consists of a piece of metal adapted to fit within the skelp in the bell and to bear
thereon at the seam, and also at an opposite point, as shown in fig. 1. To this end it
may conveniently be bifurcated, as shown in the drawings. At these bearing-points
there are preferably antifriction rollers 9, which may be laterally curved or ellipsoidal
in form, so as to conform to the internal shape of the pipe, as shown in fig. 2, and the
rear of the device is also preferably provided with a heel 10, serving the purpose
above indicated, and having a roller 11, which bears on the skelp. This device inay
be supported or held in proper position relatively to the bell by various means, a
desirable form of which is shown in fig. 1. A vertical rod 12 extends from the heel
of the seam supporting device, and is pivotally connected at 13 to a slide 14, which
moves in bearings 15 projecting from the furnace wall.
16 are chains connected with arms projecting laterally from the rod and passing
over pulleys 17, so as to afford easy means for raising and lowering the apparatus.
The operation is as follows:-In using the apparatus, as the skelp is hoing drawn
through the bell the seam support 8 is lowered into position at the rear of the bell, and
is inserted into the latter, as shown in fig. 1. The fact that two rollers are used causes
them to center themselves in the skelp and to bear thereon against the inner side of
the forming seam as well as on a point opposite thereto, while the engagement of the
supporting rod or shank 12 with the rear edge of the bell limits the forward motion
of the rollers and prevents their jamming therein. At the same time the rear roller 11,
bearing on the skelp, tends to fold it up into the proper tubular form, and to facilitate
its entrance into the bell. When the skelp has been drawn completely through the
bell, the seam supporting device may be removed by raising the chains, and if at first
the rear chain he lifted more than the other it has the effect of tipping back the lower
portion of the rod 12, and of withdrawing the seam support from the bell.
The advantages of my improved device constructed as above described will be
appreciated by those skilled in the art. It makes the skelp easy to be drawn through
the bell, causes the skelp to turn up symetrically and to unite at the edges to form a
better and smoother seam than is otherwise possible, and enables the skelp to be
worked at a high heat without danger of becoming misshapen.
The device may be modified in various ways within the scope of my invention, as
stated in the claims of the patent. For example, it may be inverted in position, so as
to bear on the under side of the skelp, in which case the skelp would be folded down-
wardly and the seam would be at the lower portion of the bell instead of at the
upper portion thereof. This is illustrated in fig. 12 in which the bell holder is shown
as provided with a recess 19, in which that part of the tongue or seam support on the
outside of the bell fits and centers itself, so as to hold the bell in proper position. This
recess is also shown in figs. 10 and 11.
Other modifications in form are shewn in the drawings. Thus in figs. 3 and 5 the
device is constructed so that the seam support is fixed to the exterior of the bell and
projects into the interior thereof, from the rear, and the bell is provided with a ring
or eye 18 for the attachment of a chain to hold the bell in proper position. In this
form of the device, as in that shown in figs. 7 and 12, but a single bearing on the
skelp inside the bell is shown. It is provided with antifriction rollers 9 and 11, one
directly supporting the seam and the other bearing on the skelp at the rear of the bell.
In the device shown in fig. 12 no antifriction rollers are shown.
In figs. 4 and 6 the device is shown constructed as in fig. 1, except that there are
po rollers at the heel and at the ends of the bifurcated portion. This bifurcated portion

page_text: may conveniently be made of spring metal, so that the forked jaws, when in the bell
shall be somewhat in a state of compression toward each other and shall tend to
diverge and to spread themselves against the interior of the pipe. The action of this
form of my improvement, as regards its self centering and the supporting of the
seam and the creasing of the skelp, is substantially the same as that explained with
reference to fig. 1.
The device shown in fig. 7 is similar in construction to that shown in figs. 3 and 5,
except that no friction rollers are used. All of these forms may, of course, be
reversed in position, as before explained, and other modifications will suggest them-
selves to the skilled pipe-maker. For example, a friction roller or rollers may be used
at the front or sean supporting part of the device, and not at the heel, or vice
versa; and 1 intend to cover, also, as of my invention, the use of a heel or creaser,
with or without the seam-support, and the use of a seam-support having an antifriction
roller, whether the heel be used or not.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed declare that what 1
claim is
First. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a tongue arranged within the
bell, and having an antifriction roller which supports the seam, substantially as and for
the purposes described.
Second. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a skelp-creaser which is situate
at the rear of the bell and bears on the skelp at an intermediate portion only of its
width, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Third. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a tongue which bears against the
pipe in the bell at opposite points, so as to support the seam, substantially as and
for the purposes described.
Fourth. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a tongue arranged within the
bell, directly inside the position of the seam, to afford a support thereto, and a heel
which is connected with said tongue and bears on the skelp at the rear of the bell,
substantially as and for the purposes described.
Fifth. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a tongue having antifriction rollers
which bear against the pipe in the bell at opposite points, so as to support the seam,
substantially as and for the purposes described.
Sixth. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a seam-support or tongue which
bears against the pipe in the bell at opposite points, so as to support the seam, and a
heel which is connected with said tongue and bears on the skelp at an intermediate
portion of its width, substantially as and for the purposes described.
Seventh. In combination with a pipe welding bell, a seam-support or tongue
arranged within the bell, and having an antifriction roller which supports the seam,
said roller having a periphery laterally curved to conform to the internal shape of the
pipe substantially as and for the purposes described.
Dated this 15th day of April 1890.
Per pro J. T. KING,
J. Johnson,
Agent.