Improvements in or connected with the Expanding of Metal Tubes.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 18th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION,
Improvements in or connected with the Expanding of Metal Tubes.
A communication from abroad by RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL, of Ellwood City,
Lawrence County, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
Engineer.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I. Mech. E., of Norfolk House, Victoria
Embankment, London, W.C., in the County of Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as communicated to me from abroad)
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 improvements in or connected with the expanding of
metal tubes by means of which certain advantages are obtained.
In the Complete Specification accompanying the application for Letters Patent
No. 30,450 of the year 1897 (hereinafter termed the main specification) a process
of and apparatus for expanding metal tubes is specified in which conical rolls are
employed.
The present invention is a development of that set forth in the said main
specification and it differs therefrom in this respect, that instead of employing
conical rolls of the form set forth in the said main specification discs or combina-
tions of discs and conical rolls are employed for attaining the samo ends.
In the accompanying drawings,
Figure 1 is a plan partly in section and Figure 2 a side elevation with part of
one disc broken away illustrating a case corresponding with that illustrated in
Figures 1 and 2 of the main specification but with discs instead of conical rolls as
specified in the said main specification.
Figure 3 is a plan and part section and Figure 4 a side elevation of a case in
which the discs are so arranged with respect to one another that endwise movement
is obtained without the use of a ram.
Figure 5 is a plan and part section and Figure 6 a side elevation illustrating a
case in which instead of employing two rolls as in the main specification or two
discs as in Figures 1 to 4, a roll and a disc are employed.
Figures 7 and 8 also illustrate a case in which a disc and a roll are employed but
in which the arrangement is such that endwise movement of the hollow billet
can be obtained without the use of a ram.
In some of these figures discs with conical faces are substituted for the conical
rolls described in the main specification, and in others a similar disc is substituted
for one of the rolls so that a disc and a roll co-operate for the same purpose and to
the same effect as the pairs of rolls described in the main specification or the pairs
of discs hereinbefore mentioned.
In Figures 1 and 2 are shown a pair of discs H, and I, with conical working
faces h, and i, formed at their opposite sides; the lines of said faces and the axes
of the discs converging to a common point C, on the axial line of the pass.
The pass in this construction is in all material respects like the passes between
the rolls described in the main specification, and the expanding mandrel D has

page_text: the same relative location therein. These discs revolve in the directions shown by
the arrows producing the same effect on the hollow billet and rotating it in the same
manner as in the case of the rolls described in the main specification. In these
Figures 1 and 2 the axes of the discs are set on lines more or less divergent from
the axis of the pass, the angles of divergency having no fixed relation thereto
covering all cases, but being governed by the shapes of the working faces of the
dises and the width of the pass; the principal requisite condition being that the
lines of the working faces and the axes of the discs shall converge on a common
point on the axis of the pass.
In these figures the axes of the discs and the axis of the pass lie in a common
plane the result being the same as with the construction of rolls shown in Figure 1
of the drawings accompanying the main specification, that is the discs merely rotate
the hollow billet and compress its walls against the sides of the mandrel while a
ram R, is used to force it endwise through the pass and over the mandrel D.
Any adjustment of the width of pass may be effected in precisely the same
manner as that described for the rolls in the main specification, that is, by swinging
the discs around an axis which intersects the axis of the pass at a common point C,
where all the lines of working faces and the axes of the discs converge.
In Figures 3 and 4 are shown a pair of discs and a mandrel similar in construc-
tion to those in Figures 1 and 2 but they are differently disposed for the purpose
of enabling the ram feed to be dispensed with and the endwise movement of the
hollow billet as well as its rotation to be effected by the discs alone. To this end
the axes of the discs are set above and below the axis of the pass respectively as
shown in Figure 4, this disposition of the discs acting upon a hollow billet within
their grip to move it endwise against and over the mandrel at the same time as
it is being rotated by the oppositely moving surfaces with which it is in contact,
in a manner well understood by those skilled in the art to which this invention
pertains, and therefore not needing extended description here.
In Figures 5 and 6 are shown a mandrel located in the pass formed between a
roll and a disc which roll and disc are similar to the rolls and the discs previously
(in the main specification and herein) described, their axes and the lines of their
working faces converging to a common point C, on the axis of the pass, about which
point they may be adjusted towards or away from each other by swinging them
angularly round the point C. In the constructions shown in these figures the axes
of the roll, disc and pass all lie in the same plane so that the roll and disc only
serve to compress upon the mandrel and rotate the hollow billet while a ram R, is
used to propel it endwise through the pass and over the expanding mandrel.
In Figures 7 and 8 are shown a roll and disc similar to those in Figures 5 and 6
but they are differently disposed so as to enable the ram feed to be dispensed with
and the endwise movement of the hollow billet as well as its rotation to be effected
by the action of the roll and disc alone.
To this end the axis of the roll is inclined relatively to the axis of the pass and
the axis of the disc is set below the axis of the pass as shown in Figure 8, the effect
of these dispositions being to cause the hollow billet to move endwise through the
pass as it is rotated by the oppositely moving surfaces of the disc and roll as will
be well understood.
It is to be understood that in the several arrangements of discs and rolls herein-
before referred to, the adjustment of the width of the passes is to be effected after
the manner or manners set forth in the main specification.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
(as communicated to me from abroad) and in what manner the same is to be
performed, I declare that what I claim is: -
1. The employment of two discs substantially as and for the purpose set forth
with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
2. The employment of two discs substantially as and for the purposes set forth
with reference to Figures 3 and 4.

page_text: 3. The employment of a disc and a roll substantially as and for the purpose set
forth with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
4. The employment of a disc and a roll substantially as and for the purposes set
forth with reference to Figures 7 and 8.
5. The arrangement and. combination of discs, ram and expanding mandrel
substantially as set forth with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
6. The arrangement and combination of discs and expanding mandrel sub-
stantially as set forth with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
7. The arrangement and combination of disc, roll, ram and expanding mandrel
substantially as set forth with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
8. The arrangement and combination of disc, roll and expanding mandrel sub-
stantially as set forth with reference to Figures 7 and 8.
1000
Dated his own day of vandal
KODUS
JAMES G. LORRAIN,
Chartered Patent Agent, Communicatee.
JAMES G. LORRAIN,
Chartered Patent Agent, Communicatee.