Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Pipe and other Flanges.
Year: 1889

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
[Communicated from abroad by GEORGE VAN WAGENEN, of New York, and JOHN
GRAVES, of Brooklyn, both in the State of New York, United States of America,
Manufacturers.]
Improvements in Machines for the Manufacture of Pipe and other
Flanges.
I, HENRY HARRIS LAKE of the firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
The invention relates to machines for manufacturing sheet metal flanges for pipe
couplings and other purposes and consists in mechanism hereinafter described
embracing male and female dies by which the circular centrally apertured blanks of
sheet metal first have their central portions turned downward to form the hubs of
the flanges and then said hubs are thickened or upset preparatory to being internally
threaded. By means of the invention I am enabled to rapidly and successfully
manufacture wrought metal flanges, which possess the requisite strength and
durability for all the purposes to which coupling flanges are usually applied.
Referring to the accompanying drawings
Figure 1 is a front elevation partly in section of a machine embodying the
elements of the invention and designed to accomplish the first step in the formation
of the flange.
Figure 2 is a like view of same illustrating the dies formed to complete the second
step in the process of forming the flange.
Figure 3 is a bottom plan view of the male die.
Figure 4 a like view of the ejector for stripping the flange from the male die.
Figure 5 a plan view and central section of the sheet metal blank from which the
flanges are made.
Figure 6 a plan view and central section of the blank after having been subjected
to the first step in the formation of the flange.
Figure 7 a plan view and section of the finished flange.
Figure 8 a bottom view of a modified form of ejector for stripping the flanges from
the male die, and
Figure 9 a side elevation of a further modified form of ejector.
In the drawings A designates the base of the machine and B, B the side standards
carrying guides C on which the drop carrier D is arranged to have a sliding move-
ment. The carrier D is connected by levers E with an eccentric shaft of ordinary
construction, not shown, by which the carrier may be elevated and allowed to drop
during the use of the machine. The present invention is not limited to any special
mechanism for imparting movement to the drop carrier D since various forms of
mechanical devices for accomplishing this purpose are well known and form no part
of the present invention. Upon the lower edge of the carrier D is secured by screws F
the male die G which is circular in outline and provided at its centre with the
inverted. conical spreader H. In the upper surface of the die G is formed the
recess I in which is arranged the ejector J, the latter consisting of a circular disc
provided with downwardly extending pins K, and being supported upon the lower
end of the vertical spindle L which extends upward through the centre of the drop
carrier D and is retained in position by means of the elastic cushion M the disc N and
nut O, the cushion being between the disc N and the upper edge of the carrier D
and the whole being secured in position by the nut O which engages a thread upon
the upper end of the spindle L. Directly above the disc N is provided the
stationary frame P having downwardly extending projections Q which are in

page_text: .
position to come into contact with the disc N when the drop carrier D is elevated
the purpose of this portion of the structure being explained hereinafter. The
pins K connected with the ejector J when in their normal position extend
downward through apertures in the die G to a point on a level with the lower
horizontal surface of said die from which surface the conical spreader H extends
downward as illustrated in Figure 1.
-
Below the male die G there is secured upon the base A the female die R whose
upper surface is on the same plane as the lower surface of the male die G and receives
the blank which is to be formed into the flange. The female die R is provided with
a central opening S having substantially vertical walls against which the central
portions of the sheet metal blank may be spread to form the hub of the flange. . In
the drawings the sheet metal blank is lettered a and the hub portion of the flange b.
In the use of the machine illustrated in Figure 1. the drop carrier being in an elevated
position, the sheet metal blank a is placed centrally upon the female die R and the
carrier D then allowed to drop, the effect being that the spreader H will enter the
central opening d in the blank a and cause the adjacent portions of the blank to he
turned downward against the inner walls of the opening S thereby forming the
hub of the flange as illustrated in Figures 1 and 6. The natural spring in the sheet
metal will cause the hub portion of the flange to adhere to the spreader H and hence
the next step in the operation of the machine will be to strip the flange from the
male die and this may be accomplished by means of the ejector J; the drop carrier D
being now caused to ascend the disc N prior to the carrier D completing its upward
movement comes into contact with the projections Q, Q and arrests the movement
of the spindle L and pins K, the cushion M allowing the carrier to complete its
movement, the effect being to carry the lower surface of the die G upward on the
pins K, the disc J and lower surface of the recess I then coming together and the.
pins K forcing the flange downward on the spreader H which being conical or tapered
permits the same to escape. The cushion M may be either of rubber or a coiled
spring, either answering the same purpose, the only object of the same being to
permit by its compression the carrier to have a slight upward movement after the
ejector has been stopped by the projections QQ. The machine illustrated in Figure 1
thus forms the central portion of the blank a into the hub b for the flange; and in
the subsequent steps in the manufacture it is desirable that the hub & be thickened or
upset and then internally threaded.
The machine for thickening or upsetting the hub portion of the flange is illustrated
in Figure 2 and is similar in all respects with the machine illustrated in Figure 1
with the exception that the male die is provided on its under surface with an annular
groove to receive the up-turned hub of the flange, and hence like letters of reference
indicate like parts in said Figures. The male die in Figure 2 is for convenience
lettered T and it is secured to the lower edge of the drop carrier D by screws as
shown. In the under surface of the die T is formed the annular groove V shown
more clearly in Figure to receive the hub b of the flange.
After the blank has left the machine illustrated in Figure 1 it is placed upon the
female die W of Figure 2 with its hub portion b turned upward and then the drop
carrier D is allowed to descend, when the spreader H will pass through the opening
in the flange and guide the upper edges of the hub 6 into the annular groove V which
is of the proper depth to upset said hub, the hub being compressed between the
upper surface of said groove V and the female die W. The operation of stripping
the flange from the spreader H of Figure 2 is the same as that of stripping said
flange from the spreader H of Figure 1, this step being accomplished by arresting
the movement of the ejector J prior to the completion of the upward movement of
the drop carrier D and causing thereby the pins K to force the flange from the
sides of the spreader. After the flange has left the machine illustrated in Figure 2
it is subjected to an ordinary threading machine and threaded as illustrated in
Figure 7. The ejector J in lieu of being provided with pins K may be furnished
with the segmental projections e illustrated in Figure 8 which extending through
..slots in the male die would accomplish the same purpose exactly as the pins K; or

page_text: in lieu of both the pins and the segments the ejector may have a ring connected
with the disc by pins i, as illustrated in Figure 9 for the purpose of stripping the
flanges from the spreader H. In the use of the ejector illustrated in Figure 9 the
ring would be seated in an annular groove formed in the under surface of the male
die and the pins i would move in apertures in said die, such as those illustrated in
Figure 1, 2 and 3.
It will be observed that by means of the invention flanges from sheet metal may
be rapidly and successfully manufactured without waste of metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondents I declare that what I claim is ;—
First. For the manufacture of flanges from sheet metal, the male and female dies
hereinbefore described, the male dies having the spreader, one pair of said dies being
adapted to form the hub portion of the flanges and the other pair to upset said hub
preparatory to the same being threaded; substantially as and for the purposes set
forth.
Second. For the manufacture of flanges from sheet metal, the male and female
dies adapted to form the hub on the centrally apertured blank, the male die having
the spreader, combined with the ejector for stripping the flange from the spreader
after the hub has been formed; substantially as set forth.
Third. For the manufacture of flanges from sheet metal, the male and female die
for forming the hub of the flange, and the male and female die for upsetting said
hub, combined with ejectors for stripping the flanges from said male dies; substantially
as set forth.
Fourth. The male and female dies for forming the hub the former having the
spreader and the latter the central opening, combined with the male and female dies
for upsetting the hub, the former having the annular groove and spreader and the
latter the central opening; substantially as, and for the purposes set forth.
Fifth. The male and female dies for forming the hub of the flange and upsetting
said hub, the male dies being secured to a drop .carrier, arranged between guides,
combined with ciectors for stripping the flanges from the male dies, said ejectors
being connected with the drop carrier and having a more limited movement than the
same, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
Sixth. The male die having the spreader and secured to the drop carrier and the
female die having the central opening, combined with the ejector secured to the
spindle passing upward through said carrier, the cushion and disc on the upper end
of said spindle, and the frame for arresting the ejector while the carrier continues
its upward movement, substantially as set forth.
Dotal : al., 1
L1000
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, Agents for the Applicant.