Improvements in Apparatus for Heating and Welding by the Electric Arc.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 18th Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 17th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 6th Feb., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Heating and Welding by the
Electric Arc.
I, HENRY HOWARD, of Coombs Wood Tube Works, Halesowen, near
Birmingham, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as
follows:-
It is found that a carbon operated by hand is liable to heat the work irregularly
it being impossible for the workman to keep the point at the same distance from the
work or to be absolutely certain that he has caused the arc to impinge at every
necessary point of the surface and when operated mechanically the arc has travelled
over a direct line backwards and forwards, and is therefore liable to cut a narrow
groove in the metal without sufficiently spreading and diffusing the heat to make a
satisfactory weld.
According to this invention I move the carbon or pencil mechanically causing it
to gyrate at the end of an arm whose length is greater or less in proportion to the
width of the heat it is desired to obtain. The arm upon which the pencil is
mounted may also be moved in and out, and the whole apparatus be moved
relatively to the work. By this means the path of the arc may be made to follow
any figure at constant or varying rates of travel and any portion of the metal or
other electrode may be evenly heated to the desired temperature.
In some cases I arrange screens to cover the work and retain the heat after. the
arc has moved away. The arc may gyrate in a fireproof vessel, or behind a curtain,
thus concentrating the heat on the work and shielding the eyes of the workman
from the light.
I give motion to the carbon by means of an electro motor mounted upon the
same carriage with it, and give motion to the carriage by the same motor, or by
other suitable mechanical appliances. I also, in some cases mount a hammer
hydraulic press or other tool upon this carriage and actuate it by the same or by
another electro motor. These appliances may either work simultaneously with the
arc, or they may be put into operation in turn suitable switches being provided to
allow of this being done.
Whether the arc and the hammer press or tool are in operation simultaneously or
alternately it is equally desirable to have them very close to the arc so that they
may operate as soon as possible after the arc has left and in order to prevent injury
to them, I interpose between them and the arc a screen of non-conducting
material.
In place of mounting the carbon as above described the work may be mounted
upon a carriage to which the desired motions are given beneath a gyrating carbon.
In order to strike the arc at the commencement or during the operation of
heating I employ a high tension spark from an induction coil, or a mechanical
appliance enabling the carbon to touch the iron, and to be withdrawn at the will of
the operator.
When welding hollow cylinders by this process I employ two strong horizontal
bars fastened by screws to hold the hollow cylinder tightly down on the anvil.
The carbon gyrates above these bars and the arc plays between them. They
prevent the. hollow cylinders from getting out of place, and out of shape by
expansion.
When it is desired to heat the work not by the actual arc itself but by the heat
from.it. I enclose, the work in a box formed of thin sheets of carbon or other
refractory conducting material, or I interpose between it and the arc such a sheet,.

page_text: and I move the arc or arcs over the surface of such sheet or sheets as above
described.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Heating and Welding by the
Electric Arc.
I, HENRY HOWARD, of Coombs Wood Tube Works, Halesowen, near
Birmingham, Manufacturer, 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 :-.
It is found that a carbon operated by hand is liable to heat the work irregularly
it being impossible for the workman to keep the point at the same distance from the
work or to be absolutely certain that he has caused the arc to impinge at every
necessary point of the surface and when operated mechanically the arc has travelled
over a direct line backwards and forwards, and is therefore liable to cut a narrow
groove in the metal without sufficiently spreading and diffusing the heat to make a
satisfactory weld.
According to this invention I move the carbon or pencil mechanically causing it
to gyrate at the end of an arm whose length is greater or less in proportion to the
width of the heat it is desired to obtain. The arm upon which the pencil is
mounted may also be moved in and out, and the whole apparatus be moved
relatively to the work. By this means the path of the arc may be made to follow
any figure at constant or varying rates of travel and any portion of the metal or
other electrode may be evenly heated to the desired temperature.
In some cases I arrange screens to cover the work and retain the heat after the
arc has moved away. The arc may gyrate in a fire proof vessel, or behind a
curtain, thus concentrating the heat on the work and shielding the eyes of the
workman from the light.
I give motion to the carbon by means of an electro motor mounted upon the
same carriage with it, and give motion to the carriage by the same motor, or by
other suitable mechanical appliances. I also, in some cases mount a hammer
hydraulic press or other tool upon this carriage and actuate it by the same or by
another electro motor. These appliances may either work simultaneously with the
arc, or they may be put into operation in turn suitable switches being provided to
allow of this being done.
Whether the arc and the hammer press or tool are in operation simultaneously or
alternately it is equally desirable to have them very close to the arc so that they
may operate as soon as possible after the arc has left and in order to prevent
injury to them, I interpose between them and the arc a screen of non-conducting
material.
In place of mounting the carbon as above described the work may be mounted
upon a carriage to which the desired motions are given beneath a gyrating
carbon.
In order to strike the arc at the commencement or during the operation of
heating I employ a high tension spark from an induction coil, or a mechanical
appliance enabling the carbon to touch the iron, and to be withdrawn at the will of
the operator.
When welding hollow cylinders by this process I employ two strong horizontal
bars fastened by screws to hold the hollow cylinder tightly down on the anvil.
The carbon gyrates above these bars and the arc plays between them. They
prevent the hollow cylinders from getting out of place and out of shape by
expansion.
.

page_text: When it is desired to heat the work not by the actual arc itself but by the heat
from it I enclose the work in a box formed of thin sheets of carbon or other
refractory conducting material, or I interpose between it and the arc such a sheet,
and I move the arc or arcs over the surface of such sheet or sheets as above
described.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a side elevation partly in section, and Figure 2 is an end elevation
partly in section of the apparatus I employ.
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the mandril and Figure 4 shows a detail.
The apparatus is specially applicable to welding tubes.
A is the main carriage of the machine, it is provided with wheels running upon
rails B, this carriage is moved to and fro by a hand wheel C and bevelled
pinions CC Mounted upon this carriage is a second carriage D provided with
wheels E running between guides E' on the main carriage A. The upper carriage D
supports the carbon and has a reciprocating to and fro motion given to it, as is
hereinafter described.
F is a pneumatic or other hammer driven by the belt F' from an electro motor G.
The hammer F and motor G are both mounted on the lower carriage A they are
of ordinary and well known construction and as their details form no part of this
invention they are not shown on the drawings.
H is a mandril for supporting the work it is carried by a standard H' fixed to
the bed plate. The upper surface of this mandril is slotted to receive the anvil J
and block of refractory material L which are connected together and to the rod M
which passes out at the end of the mandril H and is fixed to the lower carriage A.
It will thus be seen that as the lower carriage is moved to cause the carbon h and
hammer E to operate successively on different parts of the seam of the tube the
anvil J and block L move with it and always remain under the hammer and carbon
respectively.
NN are bars for holding the work down upon the mandril H, as shewn they are
pivotted at H and are drawn down by the right and left handed screw link Ŏ but
they may conveniently be operated by hydraulic presses.
a is an electro-motor of any ordinary type upon the upper carriage D it actuates
a belt pulley b driving through the belt a second pulley c whose axis has fixed to
it the pinion gearing with the wheel e to one end of whose axis f is fixed the
bevil pinion gearing with the bevil pinion g' upon the axis g to one end of which
is fixed eccentrically the holder of the carbon h. To the other end of the axis f
is fixed the pinion f which gears with the wheel j to whose axis is fixed the
pinion k gearing with the wheel fixed to whose axis is a disc m (shown more
clearly in Figure 4). This disc is slotted and carries a pin n which can be fixed
in the slot at any distance from the centre of the disc. The pin n is free to move
along a slot in an arm o pivotted at o' to the upper carriage D. Pivotted to the
slotted arm o is one end of an arm p whose other end is pivotted to a standard
fixed to the lower carriage A. The result of this arrangement is that as the disc m
revolves the upper carriage D is moved to and fro upon the lower carriage A the
motion in one direction being faster than in the other whilst at the same time the
carbon moves in a circle about its axis g. Thus the work being fixed it will be
seen that so long as the lower carriage is stationary the carbon gyrates above and
heats a patch of work equal in length to twice the distance of the pin n from the
centre of the disc m and in width to twice the distance of the carbon h from its
axis g. This axis is free to slide up and down through the pinion g' but is prevented
by a groove and feather from turning relatively to it. Its upper end is supported
by a counterbalanced lever r pivoted at r' and carrying a screw by which the
height of the carbon can be adjusted and terminating in a handle by which the
workman can depress the lever and carbon against the counterbalance weight and
strike the arc by approaching the carbon to the work. s is a bracket fixed to the
upper carriage it has fixed to its end a tubular socket s¹ which receives a weighted

page_text: rod s² carrying inclines which rest upon corresponding inclines upon the top of the
sockets so that the rod can be turned in the socket but always tends to resume its
normal position. The lower end of the rods has pivotted to it a counterbalanced
lever whose end carries a brush s which presses against the underside of the
mandril H. The circuit for forming the arc is as follows:--The wire- from the
positive pole is attached to the terminal t upon the brackets and the current passes
by the socket & rod lever and brush to the mandril. It will be observed
that since the brush s is fixed to the upper carriage D the electric connection with
the mandril H and through it with the work is always approximately in a line with
the carbon. The wire from the negative pole is attached to the terminal t¹ and the
current passes from thence by a wire to the switch board u and through the frame
of the machine to the axis faxis g and carbon 7.
The wires of the circuit for working the hammer are attached to terminals upon
the switch board u and the current passes from thence by wires to the motor.
The wires of the circuit for moving the carbon and upper carriage D are attached
to terminals upon the switch board and the current is led from thence by wires
to the motor a. In the arrangement shewn in the drawings three circuits are used
but it will be understood that by a suitable arrangement of switches the whole
work may be done by one or two circuits but these are not usually convenient
arrangements because the various operations do not all require the same power.
In some cases in order to prevent the burning of the work I do not operate
directly upon it by the are but interpose a thin screen w (Figure 3) of carbon or
other conducting refractory material. This device is also applicable to other
arrangements for heating and welding by the electric are thus when it is desired to
heat or melt metals out of contact with the air I enclose them in a box of thin
carbon plates and I connect one pole to the box and the other pole to a carbon or
pencil which is mechanically moved as above described beneath the bottom of
the box.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I wish it to be
understood that no claim is made under this application to some of the novel
features described in this Specification as such features form the subject of
subsequent applications made by me but what I claim is :-
1. In apparatus for heating and welding by the electric arc where the work forms
one pole and a pencil the other pole, the combination of supports for the pencil
and the work with mechanism for continuously altering the positions of the
pencil and the work relatively to each other both longitudinally and transversely.
2. In apparatus for heating and welding by the electric arc where the work
forms one pole and a pencil the other pole, the combination of a fixed support for
the work, a carriage to support the pencil and mechanism which moves the pencil
relatively to the carriage and the carriage relatively to the work.
3. In apparatus for heating and welding by the clectric arc where the work
forms one pole and a pencil the other pole, the combination of a fixed support for
the work, a carriage movable along the line to be heated or welded, a second
carriage to support the pencil and mechanism which moves the pencil relatively to
the second carriage and the second carriage relatively to the first.
4. In apparatus for heating and welding by the electric arc where the work
forms one pole and a pencil the other pole the combination of a fixed support for
the work a carriage to support the pencil and also a hammer press or other tool
mechanism which moves the pencil relatively to the carriage and the carriage
relatively to the work and mechanism for actuating the hammer press or other
tool.
5. In apparatus for heating and welding by the electric arc where the work
forms one pole and a pencil the other pole, the combination of a fixed support for
the work a carriage movable along the line to be heated or welded, a hammer press
or other tool upon the carriage mechanism for actuating the same, a second carriage

page_text: to support the pencil and mechanism which moves the pencil relatively to the
second carriage and the second carriage relatively to the first.
6. In heating and welding by the electric arc where the work forms one pole and
a pencil the other pole interposing between the pencil and the work a thin sheet of
refractory conducting material.
7. In apparatus for welding by the electric arc the combination of a mandril or
support for the work with two bars or jaws to press the two portions of work
against the mandril near the point at which the weld is to be made.
Dated this 1st day of December 1891.
HENRY HOWARD.