CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS TO BE USED IN ROLLING METALS AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METAL TUBES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, THOMAS
DEAKIN, of Balsall Heath, in the County of Worcester, Esquire, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Twelfth day of June, in the thirteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said!
Thomas Deakin, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, Her especial license, full
power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said Thomas Deakin, my exors,
adors, and assigns, and such others as I, the said Thomas Deakin, my exors,
aditiors, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time
to time and at all times during the continuance of the term of years therein
expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within
England and Wales, and the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in the Islands
of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, and Man, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, my Invention of "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY
AND APPARATUS TO BE USED IN ROLLING METALS AND IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
METAL TUBES;" in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso, obliging
me, the said Thomas Deakin, to cause a particular description of the nature.
of my Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, to be enrolled in Iler said
Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and

page_text: immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in
and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
Thomas Deakin, do hereby declare the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following description, reference being had to the
several Sheets of Drawings hereunto annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention conists in rolling machinery for the manufacture of metallic,
cylindrical, taper, and other tubes and solids.
The first part of my improvements relates to the manufacture of cylindrical
tubes, by the employment of a series of grooved rollers so placed and combined
that the metal from which the tube is to be formed passes quickly between
each pair of rollers in succession, whereby the metal which proviously was of
the form of a flat plate or skelp gradually approaches to the form of a
cylinder, which form it assumes when passing between the last pair of rollers;
and when iron is the metal employed, the process of bending and rolling the
plates into the cylindrical form desired is quite sufficient to perfect the welding
up.the joint of the tubes at the same operation. The plate or skelp should be
brought to a welding heat previously to its being submitted to the rolling :
operation, but in some cases the welding up the joint of the tube may be
required to be performed after the bending and rolling has been effected.
I will now proceed to describe the machinery shown in the accompanying
Sheets of Drawings relating to this part of my improvements.
Sheet A, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal elevation of the machinery for
making tubes; Figure 2, a longitudinal section, taken centrically through the
rollers at the line 1, 1; Figure 3, a plan view; Figure 4, an elevation of the
feeding or entering end of the apparatus; and Figure 5, an elevation of the
opposite or discharging end. A, A, the side framing of the apparatus, upon
which are mounted the four pairs of rollers B, B, B, B. I do not, however,
confine myself to the employment of this number of rollers in each apparatus
herein shewn and described, as a greater or less number may be used; but I
prefer this number generally as most advantageous. These rollers are con-
nected together by means of spur wheels, so that the surface velocities of the
rollers acting immediately upon the metal passing between them shall be
equal, although the diameters of such rollers may be unequal or equal, as.
most convenient. Immediately in front of the first pair of these rollers B, B,
Fig. 3, are placed the pair of rollers C, C', the centres of the shafts of these
rollers being in a direction at or near to right angles to those of the rollers

page_text: B, B, and therefore revolving at right angles to them. The peripheries of
the rollers B, B, are all concave; the concavity of the first pair, from the
rollers C, C¹, being greater than the concavity of the other pairs, and this.
concavity decreases in each pair of rollers until the last, in which the two
concavities of the rollers form together a circle. The peripheries of the two
rollers C, C, are different from each other, that is, one of them, as C, is
convex, and the other C¹ is concave. The lower ends of the vertical shafts D, D,
carrying the rollers C, C¹, revolve in steps E, E, upon the bed plate F, which
thereby supports the weight of them and the rollers. The rollers are geared.
together by spur wheels, and the requisite rotatory motion is given to them:
and to the rollers B, B, by any well known and convenient mcans. The red.
circles in Figure 1 denote the pitch lines of the gearing and driving wheels.
attached to the rollers. A represents the plate or skelp of inetal in the process
of being bent and formed into a tube. The flat skelp is previously heated in
a suitable furnace and then passed through the machine, first between the
convex and concave rollers C, C¹, by which it is bent from its previous flat form.
and assumes that of the peripheries of the rollers, being about semicylindrical,
of considerably larger diameter or radius than that of the intended tube, and
then passes on to the first pair of the horizontal rollers B, B, by which the
edges of the skelp become further bent round and begin to approach ench.
other, and this rounding gradually goes on in the passage between the
remaining pairs of rollers, then in passing between the second pair of rollers
the edges are caused to approach nearer together; the action of the third pair-
brings the edges into contact, and the last pair effects the closing or welding
of the joint. When the whole formation of the tube is intended to be effected
at one operation of the machine it is necessary that the skelp should be at a
welding heat when passed into the machine. Thus it will be seen that at one
operation of the machine the flat plate or skelp will be bent up to the
cylindrical form, the joint welded up, and the perfect tube produced at one
beat of metal. This result however cannot always be obtained, as when very
thin plates or skelps are used for the manufacture of tubes. In this case the
metal cannot be retained at a welding heat sufficiently long to ensure a perfect
junction of the edges of the skelp at the last pair of rollers; I thereforo
only bend up the skelp to the tubular form and bring the edges together at
the first operation preparatory to the welding process, which I then effect by
passing it at a welding heat between the rollers of a second machine of similar
construction to that previously described, but not having any rollers similar
to these C, C I sometimes arrange this machine by placing the rollers B, B,.

page_text: in vertical positions instead of horizontal, as before described; the rollers C, C',
will of course likewise be reversed in their position, but the action of them
upon the skelp and the result will be precisely the same as by the first
arrangement.
My next improvement consists in the means by which I manufacture taper
tubes. The machinery which I employ for this purpose is the same as that
previously described for manufacturing cylindrical tubes, except that one or
more of the pairs of rollers employed, instead of having their grooves regular
and of equal size throughout the whole of their peripheries, are formed of
varying sizes, either increasing or decreasing, according as the tube to be manu-
factured is required to be produced of increasing or decreasing diameter. One
of these rollers is represented in section in the detached view, Fig. 6, Sheet B,
which shews the form of the groove. It will be seen that proceeding from
the point a in one direction round the roller the size of the groove is gradually
increased until it arrives at the same point a, which is the junction of the great-
est and least portions of the groove; proceeding in the other direction from
the point a the reverse obtains; the corresponding roller working with the one
shewn in Figure 6 is of course grooved in a similar manner, so that when
working together they present a circular groove of gradually varying diameter,
and thereby produce a tube the taper of which corresponds with the varying
size of the grooves; the variation in the sizes of the grooves will of course
depend upon the degree of taper the manufactured tube is required to have.
I sometimes employ taper plates or skelps of metal in the manufacture of
taper tubes by means of the above-described machinery, and when I require
to manufacture tubes cylindrical upon the interior and taper upon the exterior
I then employ skelps of metal of unequal thickness.
I will now describe the means I adopt for forming and making the varying
grooves in the rollers so that they shall present a smooth surface, and also
that their variations shall be perfectly regular and uniform throughout the
circumference. The apparatus which I employ for this purpose is shewn in
Figure 7. It consists of a frame or headstock H in bearings, in the top of the
uprights of which is mounted the shaft or mandril H, upon which is fixed the
driving cone of pullies or wheels H", and by which the requisite rotary motion
is given to the mandril El. The mandril is hollow, and slotted upon opposite
sides; a rod I passes into the hollow of the mandril from one end. The
inner end of the rod is pointed or wedge-shaped, and passes into and bears
against a corresponding recess in the end of the cutter I', which is of two
or more parts, the cutting edges of which pass through the slots in the sides of

page_text: the mandril and project beyond it. The rod I is caused to traverse along the
mandril by means of the screw 1" passing through a bracket fixed to the back
of the upright carrying the open end of the mandril, the end of the screw bear-
ing against the end of the traversing rod so that as the screw is screwed up
it causes the cutter to expand by acting on the rod. The cutter is of course
carried round with the mandril. A spur pinion is fixed upon the screw I", by
which a slow but regular rotary motion is given to it, by which the expansion
of the cutter will be effected at a regular and uniform rate. The rollers L, L,
are mounted upon shafts in a carrying frame in the position shewn, one being
above and one beneath the cutter; a slow rotary motion is given to the rollers
(both moving at equal velocitics) at the same time that a rapid motion is given
to the mandril and cutters. When the cutter is in the position shewn in the
Drawings the largest part of the groove required will be cut, because the
largest part of the cutter is then in the plane passing through the two centres
of the rollers; but as the cutting progresses the size of the groove cut will
gradually decrease, by reason of the cutter being caused to expand or traverse
upon the mandril, when the smaller part of the cutter comes gradually into
action until the rollers have made one revolution, when the cutter will have
traversed so far that only the small end of the cutter will be in action in
cutting the smallest part of the groove where the junction with the largest
part of it takes place, or vice versa.
The degree of variation of the grooves cut in the peripheries of the rollers
will depend upon the form and length of the cutter, and the amount and rate
of traverso given to it in relation to that of the rollers upon their axes.
I will now describe my mode of manufacturing any other form of tube. For
this purpose, having manufactured the cylindrical tubes in the manner before
described, I again heat them and pass them between rollers, the periperies of
which are of such a form as to cause the tubes to assume the exterior form
desired. Figure 8 represents an elevation of a pair of rollers N, N, the
forms or shapes of the peripheries of which are such as to compress the
cylindrical tubes between them and into the form of a hollow railway rail, as
shewn in Figure 9. Figure 10 shews an arrangement of these rollers 0, 0, 0,
placed triangularly, for compressing and rolling cylindrical tubes into hollow
trilateral forms, suitable likewise for railway rails, the peripheries of the
rollers being of such shapes as to produce the forms required. Figure 11
shows the hollow trilateral rail produced and rolled by the arrangement of
rollers, Figure 10. Figure 12 is another form of hollow trilateral rail,
slightly differing from the preceding. Figure 13 represents a cylindrical tube.

page_text: Figure 14, a taper tube, interiorly and exteriorly, being of equal thickness of
metal throughout. Figure 15 represents a tube taper exteriorly, and cylindrical
interiorly, and of unequal thickness of metal.
My next improvement relates to the manufacture of spiral or helical metal
tubes. This improvement is illustrated in Sheet A, Figure 16, which repre-
sents an elevation of the apparatus, and Figure 17, which is a plan view of
the same. The apparatus consists of a pair of rollers P, P, mounted ono
above the other in the framing Q, Q, the bearings in which the rollers revolve
being in the uprights Q, Q, of the framing, and the mode of attachment to
the bearings being such that the rollers may be removed or replaced with
facility, for it will be necessary to remove the rollers from the frame before
the spiral or helical tubes can be removed from the rollers. These rollers are
geared together at one end by the gearing wheels P¹, P', so that they revolve
in unison. The peripherics of the rollers are formed with spiral grooves T, T,
around which the direction of the spiral of one is in one direction and that of
the other is in another direction, so that as the rollers revolve, the groove of
one always coincides with the groove of the other, and the two together form.
the exterior of the spiral tube, as is the case with grooved rollers generally.
The grooves may be of any form, so as to manufacture the spiral or helical
tubes of any form of cross section desired. Motion is given to the rollers by
any convenient known means. When a spiral tube is to be formed, I take a
previously manufactured cylindrical or other shaped tube suitable for my
purpose, and as the rollers P, P, revolve, I apply one end of the tube to the
grooves in the rollers at or near the smaller ends of them, or the reverse, a
catch being provided to secure it, and as the rollers revolve the tube will be
drawn between them and coiled along the spiral groove T, T, thus forming
the spiral tube required; and when the tube has been formed, I stop the
machinery, and removing the rollers from their bearings, I draw off the spiral
tube, and then replace the rollers in their bearings, preparatory to another
operation. The rollers may be formed with any required degree of taper, so
as to manufacture tubes of corresponding forms, and the spiral grooves may be
made so as to produce spiral tubes either regular or irregular in the pitch of
the spirals, increasing or decreasing, as required.
When I require to manufacture helical tubes, I employ cylindrical rollers
instead of taper ones, and proceed entirely as before described with respect to
spiral tubes. By my improved construction of machine I am enabled to
manufacture spiral or helical tubes in which tho direction of the spiral or
helix shall be either right-handed or left-handed, and this Ieflect simply by

page_text: causing the straight tube to be coiled during the process, and wrapped around
either one or the other of the two rollers, the grooves of one being right-
handed and the other left-handed, and therefore a correspondingly formed
tube is produced. I have hitherto only described this machine as being
employed by itself for the purposes described.
I will now describe its adaptation to my improved mode of manufacturing
tubes described as the first improvement in this my Specification, and shewn
in Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, when I apply to and use it in combination with
that machine as shewn in plan, Figure 1. The frame Q, Q, is then made with
a dovetailed bottom, so as to slide upon the bed plate U, and the tube still in
a heated state, as it issues from the cast of the grooved rollers B, B, is
received in the grooves in the rollers P, P, and as it is coiled upon one of the
rollers, the rollers will advance by the frame sliding upon the bed plate, and
allow the coiling to proceed. The angle at which the rollers P, P, arc placed.
with respect to the roller B, B, will depend upon the nature of the spiral or
helix of the grooves.
Having now described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode by
which it is to be carried into effect, I wish it to be understood that I do not
confine myself to the precise form of and construction of machinery, or exactly
to the modes of operation herein-before shewn and described, as such may be.
varied in detail when practically employed; but what I claim as being sub-
stantially of my Invention is,-
Firstly, the construction and arrangement of machinery for manufacturing
metal tubes, wherein the plate or skelp of metal is operated upon by a series
of rollers, by which the metal will be bended up and welded to the form of a
cylindrical tube at one or more operations of the machine, as herein-before
described.
Secondly, I claim the mode of manufacturing taper tubes by the employment
of rollers having grooves therein of varying sizes, as herein-before described.
Thirdly, I claim the mode described of forming the grooves of rollers
employed in the manufacture of taper tubes, or solid bars of metal of regular
varying size, by means of a traversing cutter, as herein-before described.
Fourthly, I claim the mode described of forming and shaping metal tubes
to be employed as railway rails and for other purposes, as herein-before
described.
Fifthly, I claim the mode described of manufacturing spiral or helical tubes
or solids by means of taper or cylindrical rollers having spiral or helical
grooves upon their peripheries or surfaces, as herein-before described.

page_text: Sixthly, I claim the employment of the machinery lastly herein-before
described for producing solid mictal spirals or helices.
In witness whereof, I, the said Thomas Deakin, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Eleventh day of December, One thousand eight
hundred and fifty.