IMPROVE- MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING PIPES AND TUBES
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Archibald Brooman, of the Firm of
Robertson, Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the
City of London, Patent Agents, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING PIPES AND TUBES."-A commu-
nication.
Sealed the 1st September 1853, and dated the 5th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Archibald
Brooman at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with
his Petition, on the 5th March 1853.
I, RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson,
Brooman, and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in City of London,
Patent Agents, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING PIPES AND TUBES " to be as
follows:-
This Invention is for an improved machine or tool for making
metal pipes without seam or joint. The machine consists of a series of
rollers, the edges of which are grooved, arranged radially within
a circular or other properly shaped box having a central hole through
which the metal for forming the pipe is passed and made to receive the

page_text: compressing action of the rollers. It is known that malleable pipes of
the harder kinds of metals have been made without seams, and by
the aid of rollers, as well as by drawing the ingots and mandrils
through dead dies. In the former case the rollers are propelled by
gear wheels, and pass the metal through by friction and pressure.
The defect of this system is, that few rollers can be employed; and the
metal, instead of receiving an equal pressure on all sides, receives the
greatest at those points where the groove is deepest, and thus the
tendency is to press the metal out in two directions, and with unequal
velocities; hence its perfect cohesion is injured by the tendency to
Inmellate or flake, and the strength is necessarily inferior. By this
machine the pipe is made on the principle employed where dead dies
are used, viz., by drawing or pushing through. The rollers not
requiring gear to revolve them are increased in number sufficient
to reduce the depth of the groove on their edges to a degree so small
that their action is nearly or quite the same as if the metal were
passed through flat ones. This is the action absolutely necessary in
making a pipe to ensure its strength. The ingot of metal being
subject to the equal pressure all round can only extend itself in
the direction of its length, which is the proper and only direction in
order to ensure the proper qualities of merchantable pipe. All this will
appear by the following description of the construction and operation
of this machine or tool:-
At A, is represented a strong metal box of a circular or polygonal
form. Along its bottom a number of grooves are cut radially, as seen
at a, a, &c. There are to be as many such grooves as the box is to
contain rollers, and they form the guides in which the blocks carrying
the rollers play; holes are also bored and tapped with threads to
receive set screws, as shewn at b, b, &c. One or more set screws to a
groove, as may be judged best, to resist the pressure upon the rollers.
A cover A', is accurately fitted to the box, as shewn. A hole to
receive the metal to be acted on is made through the box and its
cover. The rollers are seen at c, and are disks of metal. It is preferred
to form the axes by turning them out of the solid, and they are of
such a length that the ends abut (diagonally) against each other,

page_text: when the whole train is in the box, as clearly seen in Figure 1. This
also determines the "set;" for when the screws b, are properly turned
up, and the axes touch, the inner corners of all the rollers should also
touch on both sides, thus imparting great solidity to the machine.
The groove on the edges of the rollers, if cut in section, should be the
segment of a circle whose extent is proportioned to the whole number,
so that when properly "set," as before described, the central opening
will form a true circle, as seen at d, and this is the outside diameter of
any pipe formed therein. The plummer blocks, which hold the
rollers, are represented at E, E, &c. these are formed to play in the
grooves a. The journals of the rollers drop in a half round, cut in the
inner ends of the blocks, one half of the roller being embraced within
the slot, cut down through said block, as clearly represented. Any
block and its roller may be taken out of the box without disturbing
the others. The screws b, act against the back or outer ends of the
plummer blocks, and thus they set up the rollers, as previouly described.
To make pipe and tubes by these machines a number of them are
required, and they must be graduated in the size, so that the central
hole d, will be of different diameters, as it is by passing the metal
through said series that it is gradually drawn or rolled down to the
given diameter and thickness. In the first place, an ingot or form of
metal is cast. The form is that of a thick cylinder, of suitable diameter
and length, having a hole through it centrally. This is put upon
a mandril, and one of the set of tools of the right size to begin
with is then fixed to a draw bench; and the end of the mandril B,
with the ingot B', upon it, is put through the hole in the box A,
and rollers, and the grippers secured to them. In order that the
ingot may go through, one end is reduced small enough to pass with
the mandril. The rest of the operation is the same as drawing a pipe
through a dead die. As it is being drawn through the rollers, the
thickness of the ingot is reduced, and the metal forced out in the
direction of its length. The pressure of the rollers, acting on small
spaces on all sides, prevents the separation of the particles by lateral
pressure, as in the case of the use of geared rollers; hence the quality
and finish of the pipe is the same as if made from sheet metal,

page_text: with the additional advantage of being without a seam. After the
ingot has been drawn through and reduced as far as practicable by one
tool a second is placed on the draw bench, or the pipe removed to
another draw bench where the next size is already fixed, and is
passed through in the same manner: this operation of putting the pipe
through successive tools is continued until the pipe has obtained its
determined size and thickness. If before that time it should be found
necessary to anneal it, that operation is performed. Finally, the
mandril and pipe are put in a loosening machine, and the latter re-
moved, and another ingot put upon the mandril, as before. In passing
through the rollers a fine line is left upon the pipe, indicating the
place where those join each other. To take this off, it will be
necessary to draw the pipe finally through a dead steel die, which
gives it a smooth finish. Ornamental pipes and tubes may be made
by engraving the edges of the rollers with some fancy device or figure,
as seen in Figure 3, the impression being given at the last time of
passing the pipe through.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Richard Archibald Brooman, in the Great Seal
Patent Office, on the 5th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
RICHARD ARCHIBALD BROOMAN, of the Firm of Robertson, Brooman,
and Company, of 166, Fleet Street, in the City of London, Patent
Agents, send greeting.
WHEREAS Iler most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent bearing date the Fifth day of March, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the sixteenth year
of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant
unto me, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, Her special licence that
I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman,
my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and at all times thereafter

page_text: during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully might make
use, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great Britain
and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN MACHINERY FOR MAKING PIPES AND TUBES," commu
nicated to me by a foreigner residing abroad, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, should particularly
describe and ascertain the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the same was to be performed, and cause the same to be filed
in the Great Seal Patent Office within six calendar months next and
immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, do
hereby declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner
the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the drawings annexed, that is to say:
This Invention consists of an improved machine or tool for making
metal pipes without scam or joint. The machine consists of a series of
rollers, the edges of which are grooved, arranged radially within a
circular or other properly shaped box, having a central hole through
which the metal for forming the pipe is passed, and made to receive the
compressing action of the rollers. It is known that malleable pipes of
the harder kinds of metals have been made without seams, and by the
aid of rollers, as well as by drawing the ingots and mandrils through
dead dies. In the former case the rollers are propelled by gear wheels,
and pass the metal through by friction and pressure. The defect of
this system is that few rollers can be employed, and the metal, instead
of receiving an equal pressure on all sides, receives the greatest at those
points where the groove is deepest, and thus the tendency is to press
the metal out in two directions, and with unequal velocities; hence its
perfect cohesion is injured by the tendency to laminate or flake, and
the strength is necessarily inferior. By this machine the pipe is made
on the principle employed where dead dies are used, videlicet, by pushing
or drawing through. The rollers not requiring gear to revolve them
are increased in number sufficient to reduce the depth of the,
groove on

page_text: their edges to a degree so small that their action is nearly or quite the
same as if the metal were passed through flat ones. This is the action
absolutely necessary in making a pipe to ensure its strength. The ingot
of metal being subject to the equal pressure all round can only extend
itself in the direction of its length, which is the proper and only direc-
tion, in order to ensure the proper qualities of merchantable pipe. All
this will appear by the following description of the construction and
operation of this machine or tool, of which Figure 1, of the drawings
annexed is a plan, and Figure 2, a cross section. In Figure 1, a part
of the cover is broken away to exhibit the arrangement more clearly.
A, is a strong metal box, of a circular or polygonal form; along its
bottom a number of grooves are cut radially, as seen at a, a, &c.
There are to be as many such grooves as the box is to contain rollers,
and they form the guides in which the blocks carrying the rollers play;
holes are also bored and tapped with threads to receive set screws, as
shewn at b, b, &c. One or more set screws to a groove, as may be
judged best, to resist the pressure upon the rollers. A cover. A'. is
accurately fitted to the box, as shown. A hole to receive the metal to
be acted on is made through the box and its cover. The rollers
are seen at c, and are disks of metal. It is preferred to form the axes
by turning them out of the solid, and they are of such a length that the
ends abut diagonally against each other, when the whole train is in the
box, as clearly seen in Figure 1. This also determines the "set;" for
when the screws b, are properly turned up, and the axes touch, the
inner corners of all the rollers should also touch on both sides, thus
imparting great solidity to the machine. The groove on the edges
of the rollers, if cut in section, should be the segment of a circle whose
extent is proportioned to the whole number, so that when properly
"set," as before described, the contral opening will form a true circle,
as seen at d, and this is the outside diameter of any pipe formed therein.
The plummer blocks which hold the rollers are represented at e, e, &c.;
these are formed to play in the grooves a. The journals of the rollers
drop in a half round cut in the inner ends of the blocks, one half of the
roller being embraced within the slot cut down through said block, as
shewn by the drawings. Any block and its roller may be taken out of

page_text: the box without disturbing the others. The screws b, act against the
back or outer ends of the plummer blocks, and thus they set up the
rollers, as previously described. To make pipes and tubes by these
machines a number of them are required, and they must be graduated
in size so that the central holes d, will be of different diameters, as it
is by passing the metal through said series that it is gradually drawn
or rolled down to the given diameter and thickness. In the first place,
an ingot or form of metal is cast; the form is that of a thick cylinder of
suitable diameter and length, having a hole through it centrally. This
is put upon a mandril, and one of the set of tools of the right size to
begin with is then fixed to a draw bench, and the end of the mandril B,
with the ingot B', upon it, is put through the hole in the box A, and
rollers and the grippers secured to them. In order that the ingot may
go through, one end is reduced small enough to pass with the mandril.
The rest of the operation is the same as drawing a pipe through a dead
die. As it is being drawn through the rollers, the thickness of the ingot
is reduced, and the metal forced out in the direction of its length. The
pressure of the rollers acting on small spaces on all sides prevents the
separation of the particles by lateral pressure, as in the case of the use
of geared rollers; hence the quality and finish of the pipe is the same as
if made from sheet metal, with the additional advantage of being
without a seam. After the ingot has been drawn through and reduced
as far as practicable by one tool, a second is placed on the draw bench,
or the pipe is removed to another draw bench where the next size is
already fixed, and is passed through in the same manner.
This opera-
tion of putting the pipe through successive tools is continued until the
pipe has obtained its determined size and thickness. If, before that
time, it should be found necessary to anneal it, that operation is per-
formed. Finally, the mandril and pipe are put in a loosening machine,
and the latter removed and another ingot put upon the mandril, as
before. In passing through the rollers a fine line is left upon the pipe
indicating the place where those join each other. To take this off it
will be necessary to draw the pipe finally through a dead steel die, which
gives it a smooth finish.
Ornamental pipes and tubes may be made by engraving the edges of

page_text: the rollers with some fancy device or figure, as seen in Figure 3, the
impression being given at the last time of passing the pipe through.
And having now described the nature of the said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is,
Firstly, the construction of a roller die for making pipes without
seams, to be operated in a manner similar to the dead die.
Secondly, the arrangement of the rollers within a box, so that they
shall be directed radially toward the centre, and be made to revolve
by the passing of the metal through them. producing an equal pressure
tending on all sides to the said centre as described.
Thirdly, ornamenting the edges of the rollers for producing im-
pressions or ornamental figures upon the metal, as described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Archibald Brooman, have
hereunto set my hand and seal, this Fifth day of September,
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three.