Pur
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 26th May, 1888
Complete Specification Left, 26th Feb., 1889
Complete Specification Accepted, 4th May, 1889
and other Purposes.
A communication from JEAN PIERRE SERVE, of Givois, Department du Rhone, in
the Republic of France. Manufacturer.
I, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON. F.C.S, M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, and 6, Bank Street, Manchester, both
in the County of Lancaster, and 323, High Holborn, in the County of Middlesex,
Civil Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:
In patents No. 1669 dated February 6th 1885 and No. 5436 dated April 19th 1886
is described a new kind of ribbed fine tube for steam boilers and other purposes, and in
the specifications of the said patents are shown the principal forms and modifications
which may be given to these tubes according to the various modes of manufacture
that may be adopted, and according to the various applications of which they are
susceptible. Amongst the various modes of manufacturing described in the afore-
mentioned patents, and more especially in that of April 19th 1886 it is mentioned
that the tubes may be made from sheets or plates of metal on which the projections
forming the ribs are first produced by rolling or drawing after the said sheets or plates
bave been bent to the shape of the tubes, and welded longitudinally, so that the ribs
may be placed either internally or externally.
It was also mentioned that these tubes could be made by drawing in suitably shaped
mandrils, through dies, cold or heated ingots having the shape of short thick tubes
provided with thick projections corresponding to the ribs to be formed in the tube.
In the present specification will be described some simple and practical means of
manufacturing tubes, which my correspondent employs in preference to any other.
For the purpose of producing a metal plate with thin projecting ribs, a plate of
metal of iron steel or bronze, etc., is first taken, which may he stamped, hammered;
rolled, or cast and provided on one side with a flat surface, and on the other with a
number of corrugations corresponding in position to those of the ribs in the finished
tube.

page_text: The various operations which are hereafter described may be effected either by
drawing or rolling, but it is supposed in the following description that the operation
is effected by rolling,
The metal plate is first submitted several times to the action of a rolling mill, the
lower roller of which is for instance, plain, whilst the upper one is provided with
hollows or grooves of suitable shape and width so that the ribs of the plate may be
gradually thinned towards the ends. When the original thickness of the ribs has been
reduced by nearly one half, and the plate also lengthened, a roller provided with
slightly rounded hollows or grooves corresponding in position to those of the upper
roller, is caused to act on the underside of the plate. These rolls produce on this side
of the plate and behind the ribs on its opposite side, swellings, which have for their
object to supply the metal needed to complete the formation of the ribs.
To this end the grooves of the lower cylinder may be made to decrease gradually
and disappear altogether in the last operation in which the plate is finished. The
rollers corresponding to the latter operation can also be arranged so as to thin down
the sido edges of the plate for the purpose of preparing them for the longitudinal
welding of the tube, after the plate has been bent to the proper shape.
The fastening or joining of the two longitudinal edres, which have been thinned
down can then be effected in any suitable manner. For instance, the thinned edges
may be folded and turned down so as to form a sort of hook constituting at the same
time a rib of the tube.
The parts of this fold or hook can be soldered together by means of a brass ora
other suitable solder. Or the parts of the metal forming it may be welded by rolling,
drawing or hammering when the nature of the metal admits of it. Or the connection
may be effected on tho plain part of the tube, by a lap or butt joint, the elges
of the plates being then connected by means of a solder or by a weld formed
either in the rolling or drawing apparatus, the tube being heated-either previously
or during the operation, by means of a blow pipe, or by other suitable ineans, such as
electricity for instance.
In case the ribbed tube is manufactured as stated in the specification of patent
No. 5436 of the 19th April, 1886, by passing successively through a series of dies
suitably shaped, a short and thick tube provided with projections corresponding to
the number of ribs in the finished tube, it must be pointed out that in order to
supply metal enough to form the ribs during the various operations, the original
tube is made so as to present externally to start with swellings corresponding to
the internal projections of the tubes; these external swellings decrease as the
drawing process goes on, and finally disappear when the tube is admitted to the
last drawing operation. The external projections have for their object to supply
metal to the ribs and prevent the latter from becoming reduced in height during
the successive operations of drawing or rolling, which the tube inust undergo before
attaining the required length.
It will be understood that in case the ribs are external, the operation is reversed,
that is to say, the swellings supplying the ribs with metal are placed internally.
Dated th: 5th day of Man. 1000
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: A communication from abroad by JEAN PIERRE-SERVE, of Givors, Rhône, in the
Republic of France, Manufacturer.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E. of the Agency for Foreign
Patent Solicitors 6, Lord Street Liverpool and 6, Bank Street, Manchester both
in the County of Lancaster and 323 High Holborn in the County of Middlesex
Civil Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to the manufacture of tubes for steam boilers and for other
purposes, and consists in improved means hereinafter described for forming the said "
Ribbed tubes
tubes with ribs for augmenting their capacity for transmitting heat.
for boilers, condensers, and other like apparatus are described in the Specification of
Letters Patent granted to H. H. Lake A. D. 1885 No. 1669, and in the Specification
of Letters Patent granted to Jean Pierre Serve dated A. D. 1886, No. 5436 there are
described certain ways of and means for making these tubes. The production of ribs
formed integrally with the tube and projecting to a sufficient distance into the interior
of the tube to enable them to come in contact with the hotter part of the current of
hot gases or vapour passing through the tube, as set forth in said former specifications
has been attended with considerable difficulties in practice. The present invention
has for one of its objects the removal of these difficulties by a special preparation and
treatment of the blanks or ingots, whereby a sufficient body of metal is provided at the
places where the ribs are to be formed to enable the metal to be gradually reduced
in thickness by drawing or rolling processes, and the ribs produced to the extent or
size required for the purposes of the invention described in the Specification of the
said Patent No 1669 of 1885. When the tubes are made of steel or iron the ribs
are preferably formed upon a flat plate or skelp which is afterwards bent and welded
at the edges, but when the tubes are made of more ductile metal, such as copper,
they are preferably made by a drawing process forming solid drawn or weldless tubes
as hereinafter described.
In order that the said invention may be fully understood the description of the
same will now be more particularly proceeded with and for that purpose reference will
be made to the several Figures on the annexed sheet of drawings, the same letters of
reference indicating corresponding parts in all the Figures.
Figure 1 of the said drawings represents a transverse section or end view of a plate
or blank employed in the manufacture of steel or iron tubes, for example.
Figure 2 shows the shape which the plate assumes during the rolling process, and
Figure 3 is a transverse section of the finished ribbed plate or skelp ready to be
bent into the form of a tube.

page_text: The plate or blank Figure 1 may be produced either by casting or by pressing,
hammering, or rolling an ingot or blank of rectangular or other section and of a
thickness at least equal to the thickness of the finished strip including the depth of
the ribs.
Figure 4 shows a transverse section of a ribbed tube with outside ribs placed on
a support used for welding it under a steam or power hammer.
Figure 5 is a longitudinal section of a tube with inside ribs on a mandril placed
between rolls for welding the edges.
Figure 6 is a transverse section of this finished tube.
To produce a tube with internal longitudinal ribs to project into the tube a
sufficient distance to enable them to absorb heat from the hotter gaseous or vapourous
contents of the tube, (as indicated in Figure 6 for example), a plate or blank is
prepared by the rolling or otherwise of a form in section such as that illustrated in
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings. This plate is thicker at the parts where
the ribs are to be produced. The thicker parts are in the form of ridges or elevations
on both sides of the plate, the ridges marked a being formed on the side on which
the ribs are to be produced, and the smaller ridges or elevations b being formed
opposite to the ridges or elevations a on the other side of the plate. In determining.
the proportions of these ridges or elevations care should be taken to leave sufficient
metal in the ridges or elevations to form the finished ribs without taking any metal
(or any objectionable amount of metal) from the body of the plate between the ribs.
This plate is passed several times through rolls, the top roll of which, corresponding
to the ridges a, is shaped with grooves becoming narrower and narrower so as to thin
these ridges as the plato itself is lengthened by being drawn through the rolls. On
the other hand the grooves of the bottom roll corresponding to the projections b
diminish-continually in depth and disappear finally at or towards the last pass through
the rolls, the metal contained in the projections & being, as already stated, intended-to-
feed the ribs in course of formation on the other side of the plate.
In the rolling process the thickness of the plate and of the ridges is gradually
reduced to the form represented in Figure 3. In these successive reductions the
ridges a are reduced in thickness as the plate is drawn out the metal for forming the
ribs being taken from the ridges or elevations a and b Figure 1, the metal forming
the body of the plate being taken from the original body of the plate or blank
employed at the commencement of the operation. It is not necessary in forming the
blank, Figure 1, that the projections a and b be formed simultaneously.
In order to make the ribbed plate thus obtained into a tube, it is first slightly bent
under a hammer at one end, and is then passed hot through a kind of drawing plato
in the form of a funnel so as to give it a cylindrical shape and bring together or over
each other the edges which have to be welded to finish the tube. The longitudinal
joint of the two edges of the bent plate or skelp may be effected by bending back
the longitudinal edges of the plate at right angles to its surface, the edges thus bent
being booked or otherwise brought together and forming one of the ribs, the projecting
parts being united either by brazing or by welding, by means of rolling, drawing or
hammering according to the nature of the metal. The joint may also be made in the
plain part of the tube between the ribs by lapping over or by bringing together the
edges of the bent plate, the union being effected either by brazing or by welding
the metal itself by means of the tube rolls or drawing plate, the tube being heated
either beforehand or during the uniting process by a blowpipe or in any other
suitable manner, for instance, by electricity, in what is known as the process of
electric welding.
The following arrangement is preferably employed for making the longitudinal
weld of the tubes with internal or external ribs. In the case of a tube with external
ribs, for example, the tube heated to a white or welding heat in a furnace is
introduced into a die or support B, Figure 4, provided with grooves for the
reception of the ribs, and fixed to the anvil bed of a power hammer provided with
a face C¹ not exceeding in width the distance between the ribs. An inside mandril D
is placed in the tube in order to present the requisite resistance to the blows of the

page_text: hammer C, which welds the edges as the tube is pushed forward in the support B
This progressive movement can be readily effected by means of tongs holding the
end of the tube, which is supported internally at this point by a filling piece made
with a hole in the centre so as to slide upon the rod employed to support and keep
in place the mandrel D.
Tubes with internal ribs can be welded in the same way by providing grooves in
the mandril in place of in the support B as indicated in Figure 4, whilst in
welding tubes with both external and internal ribs both the support and the mandril
will be grooved. Tubes with internal or external ribs (or both) may also be welded
by passing the tube on a suitably formed mandril between a combination of horizontal
and vertical rolls, there being, for example, two rolls working on horizontal axes,
one (a welding roll) at the top and the other at the bottom of the tube and two rolls
on vertical axes at each side. When welding externally ribbed tubes the rollers are
arranged to act on the parts between the ribs. Figure 5 illustrates a method of
welding tubes with internal ribs by means of a pair of grooved rolls H I. In this
case the tube is supported at the point where it passes between the rolls by a taper
mandril F formed with grooves for the passage of the ribs, and being retained in
position by a rod G.
This conical mandril F is, as shown, farnished with grooves spread out or widened
at the point or entering end, and with ribs reduced in height so as to facilitate
the adjusting of the tube to the mandril when the tube is introduced into the grooves
of the rolls. The mandril should also turn freely on the rod G which allows it to
follow the action of the ribs of the tube which guide it into the required position, so
that it produces no disadvantageous resistance when the rolls catch the tubo to wold
its edges.
In making ribbed tubes without weld by drawing through the successive draw plates
thick and short tubes or blanks furnished with rudimentary ribs or p
corresponding to the ribs of the finished tube, in order to feed these ribs wi
during the various successive passes of the tube through the draw plates or gauge.
there is taken as a basis for the manufacture, a thick metallic tube having for cach
internal projection (corresponding to the projections a Figures 1 and 2) intended to
form the ribs of the tube, outside projections (corresponding to the ridges b in
Figures 1 and 2) which latter will be gradually reduced as the tube is drawn and
will disappear entirely at or towards the last pass, the metal contained in these outside
projections being intended to feed the rib constantly to prevent it losing in height
during the successive passes before the finished tube has obtained the length which it
is intended to have finally.
The process of making weldless tubes described in the Specification No. 5436
of 1886 is simplified by employing blanks or ingots perforated or hollow from and to
end, in place of being solid at one end as described in that Specification.
It will be understood that should the ribs have to be outside the tube, the position
of the projections a and b in the blank must be reversed.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me
by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
1. In the manufacture of ribbed tubes the use of blanks or metallic plates furnished
with thicker parts or ridges on both sides at the places where the ribs are to be
formed, and containing sufficient metal to feed the ribs during the whole of the
subsequent drawing or rolling processes, substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
2. In the manufacture of externally ribbed tubes welding the edges of the tube by
causing it to pass hot through a support presenting grooves or channels of the outside
shape for the passage of the ribs and surrounding the tube except at the part where
the overlapping edges are brought together under a hammer, the inside of the tubo
being supported internally by a suitable mandril, substantially as hereinbefore described
and illustrated in Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.

page_text: 3. In the manufacture of internally ribbed tubes welding the edges of the tube by
drawing it over a mandril presenting grooves or channels for the passage of the ribs,
the tube being supported externally by a support surrounding the tube except at the
part where the overlapping edges are acted on by the hammer, substantially as
hereinbefore described with reference to Figure 4 of the accompanying drawings.
4. In the manufacture of tubes with internal ribs the use of grooved rolls for welding
the edges, the tube being supported internally by a taper or conical mandril furnished
with notches or grooves on its circumference for the passage of the ribs, these notches
or grooves being larger at the opening or forward end of the mandril so as to
facilitate the introduction of the tube and compel the ribs to engage immediately
with the said grooves, the said mandril being capable of rotating upon the rod
which supports it, substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in Figure 5
of the accompanying drawings.
5. In the manufacture of ribbed tubes the process of welding the edges by passing
the tube between a combination of vertical and horizontal rolls, substantially as
herein before described.
6. In the manufacture of ribbed tubes drawing out with a draw plate a tubular
blank perforated or hollow from end to end and furnished with projections or ridges
on the side on which the ribs are to be formed, in combination with supplementary
projections or ridges on the opposite side, the said supplementary projections or
ridges being absorbed by the ribs in the finished tube, substantially as hereinbefore
described.
Dated this 25th day of February 1889.