IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF SOCKETS AND FERRULES OF WROUGHT IRON AND OTHER METALS, AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
SOCKETS AND FERRULES OF WROUGHT IRON AND OTHER METALS, AND IN
MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE." -A communication from
abroad by Robert Briggs, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America.
Sealed the 2nd August 1870, and dated the 30th May 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th May 1870.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN
MANUFACTURE OF SOCKETS AND FERRULES OF WROUGHT IRON AND OTHER METALS,
AND IN MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
THE
The usual and customary way of making iron sockets or ferrules has
been to take a strip of metal of similar width and length, to scarf or

page_text: bevil off the ends, turn them up together, to join the ends at a welding
heat by a hammer upon the beak of an anvil, and to finish by swaging
or rounding and sizing upon a mandril in a hollow bed or die by the
application of a top swage or die with a hammer.
According to the present Invention a piece of tube which has been
either butt or lap welded, or otherwise formed, is placed at a welding heat
upon a mandril projecting between three rollers, of which the top roller
is capable of being moved to and from the mandril somewhat by the
action of a treadle, and has a circular cutting rim formed on the front
end thereof. The mandril has a shoulder, which determines the distance
to which the tube is to be pushed between the rollers, and thereby also
the length of the ferrule or socket to be formed. The tube being inserted
as described, the said roller with circular cutter is closed down upon the
mandril, and, on rotary motion being imparted to the three rollers simul-
taneously by suitable gearing, the end of the tube situated between them
is cut off from the other part of the tube by the circular cutter on the
moveable roller, while at the same time the portion cut off is rolled upon
the mandril by the action of the rollers, so as to be of the exact size
required and of uniform thickness. After the socket or ferrule has been
thus formed the mandril is withdrawn from the inside thereof by being
slid back in the frame by means of a lever connected thereto, and the
cutting roller is raised by releasing the treadle actuating the same,
whereupon, by again pushing forward the mandril into its former
position for receiving the next socket or ferrule, the finished socket will
be thereby expelled from between the rollers.
The arrangement preferred for supporting the three swaging rollers
consists of a bed plate having two uprights for carrying the shafts of the
rollers, which overhang the front upright. The shaft of the cutting
roller is carried in a block capable of sliding up and down in guides in
the front upright, which block is connected by rods to a weighted
treadle, which tends to keep the roller in the raised position. The other
end of the shaft to the cutting roller is carried in a spherical bearing in
the back upright, and the three shafts have pinions in gear with an
inside or outside spur wheel driven by a pulley and belt or in any other
convenient manner.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 9th November 1870..
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence, that
I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors,
administrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others,
from time to time and at all times thereafter 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 "IMPRÒVEMENTS IN THE MANU-
FACTURE OF SOCKETS AND FERRULES OF WROUGHT IRON AND OTHER METALS, AND IN
MACHINERY EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," a communication to me from
abroad by Robert Briggs, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United
States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Charles Denton Abel, my executors or administrators, by an instru-
ment in writing under my, or their, or one of their hands and seals,
should particularly describe and ascertain the nature of the said Inven-
tion, 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 Charles Denton Abel, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and
by the following statement thereof, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
The usual and customary way of making iron sockets or ferrules has
been to take a strip of metal of similar width and length, to scarf or

page_text: bevil off the ends, turn them up together to join the ends at a welding
heat by a hammer upon the beak of an anvil, and to finish by swaging
or rounding and sizing upon a mandril in a hollow bed or die by the
application of a top swage or die with a hammer.
According to the present Invention a piece of tube which has been
either butt or lap welded, or otherwise formed, is placed at a welding
heat upon a mandril projecting between three rollers, of which the top
roller is capable of being moved to and from the mandril somewhat by
the action of a treadle, and has a circular cutting rim formed on the
front end thereof. The mandril has a shoulder which determines the
distance to which the tube is to be pushed between the rollers, and
thereby also the length of the ferrule or socket to be formed. The tube
being inserted as described the said roller, with circular cutter, is closed
down upon the mandril, and, on rotary motion being imparted to the
three rollers simultaneously by suitable gearing, the end of the tube
situated between them is cut off from the other part of the tube by the
circular cutter on the moveable roller, while at the same time the portion
cut off is rolled upon the mandril by the action of the rollers so as to
be of the exact size required and of uniform thickness. After the socket
or ferrule has been thus formed the mandril is withdrawn from the
inside thereof by being slid back in the frame by means of a lever con-
nected thereto, and the cutting roller is raised by releasing the treadle
actuating the same, whereupon by again pushing forward the mandril
into its former position for receiving the next socket or ferrule, the
finished socket will be thereby expelled from between the rollers.
Having thus set forth the nature of this Invention I will now proceed
more particularly to describe the manner of performing the same, for
which purpose I shall refer to the accompanying Sheet of Drawings, in
which Figure 1 shews a perspective view of a tube of metal with a
socket or ferrule formed upon and cut from the end thereof, according
to the present Invention; Figure 2 shews a side view of the arrangement
of the machine employed by preference for performing this operation ;
Figure 3 shews an end view of the same shewing the gearing for driving
the rollers; Figure 4 shews an opposite end view of the machine shewing
the rollers, mandril, &c., and Figure 5 shews a plan of the machine.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in cach of the Figures.
The tube A upon and from which the ferrule B is to be simultaneously
formed and cut off is placed at a welding heat, or at any required heat,

page_text: upon the mandril J being pushed against the shoulder j thereof so as
to insure its being of the exact length required. The mandril J is
situated between the three swaging rolls H, H, H³. The upper roll H' is
mounted upon a shaft G¹, the end of which nearest the roll is supported
in a sliding bearing P capable of working vertically between grooves in
the one upright framing D while the other end of the shaft is carried
in a spherical or pivotting bearing O in the other upright D. By this
means the roll H¹ is capable of being moved vertically to and from the
lower rolls H, H, (the shafts G, G, of which run in fixed bearings in the
uprights D, D,) such motion being effected by means of the treadle M,
connected to the sliding bearing P by links m, m, and which carries a
counterweight or balance N that maintains the roll H' in a raised
position when the treadle is not depressed by the foot of the operator.
Upon the introduction of the tube A. between the rolls as described, the
operator by depressing the treadle M causes the roll H' to descend upon
the end of the tube on the mandril, the circular cutting edge I of the
roll being thereby made to cut into the tube at the exact distance
from the inner end required for the length of the socket at the same
time by the continued depression of the roll H¹ and by the rotary
motion imparted to it and to the other rolls indicated by the arrows (by
means hereafter described), such inner end of the tube is reduced to
the exact size required by being swaged down upon the mandril, so that
when cut off from the tube by the action of the cutter I, such inner
end of the tube is formed into a socket or ferrule of the exact size
required and of great uniformity in thickness. After the socket is
cut off the tube the mandril is withdrawn by the withdrawing lever K,
through the hand withdrawing lever K and the connecting link k.
Upon releiving the treadle M, the weight N which counterbalances
it and the top roller and its bearings lifts the roller, when upon replacing
the mandril J to its projection for making the next socket the finished
socket B will be expelled from between the rollers. The bed plate C, C,
and the uprights D, D, constitute the framework of the machine for
carrying the shafts G, G, G'. These shafts have at the driving end the
train of gear wheels E, E, E, which are driven by the central wheel E',
5 (this wheel may be an external gear wheel with the three others around
it or an internal gear including or surrounding the three others). The
central wheel E³ has upon the same shaft or sleeve the pulley F, to which
motion can be given by a belt. The shafts G, G, G', project beyond the
frame on the front (or working) end of the machine and carry the

page_text: rollers H, H, H³, the first two, H, H, being plain, and the third having
the before-mentioned cutter I either formed upon it or placed with it on
the shaft G. The length of the shafts is so great that the slight angular
motion which it is needful to give to the upper shaft G', does not
interfere with the action of the wheels E, E, E, E', nor practically affect
the parallelism of the socket when finished, although they may vary
slightly in the thickness. The lever L to release the mandril is hung by
its centre to the front upright D (locked by the arc 7), and it supports
the centre or fulcrum of the withdrawing lever K. The upper end of
this lever K is forked, and in the fork the mandril J rests, the collar j'
of the mandril embracing the ends of the fork. The mandril is placed in
the interstice between the three shafts, the front end projecting through
a hole in the upright D between the three rollers H, H, H. This end
of the mandril is tapered, and has the shoulder j to form a stop for the
end of the tube from which the socket is to be made. The withdrawing
lever K is connected by the link to the hand withdrawing lever K¹ in
front of the machine. This lever K' moves in the arc Q and is locked
by the notch q¹ in that arc. When the lever is thus locked the workman
can use as much force as desirable in pushing the tube end on to the
mandril, and after the completion of the rolling the workman by
springing the lever K¹ sideways out of the notch q can then operate
the lever K and withdraw the mandril from the finished socket. The
treadle M is hung upon the bed plate with the counter-balance weight N
at the back end, and a foot pad on the front one. To this treadle is
attached the side connecting links m, m, which are connected to the
lifting bearing of the top shaft G¹ and roller and cutter H¹ and I as
before described, so that the workman by placing his foot on the treadle
of the machine can cut off and roll the socket and release the same by
removal of his foot.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention and in what
manner the same is to be performed as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I desire it to be understood that I do not limit

page_text: formed thereon operating in a similar manner to the cutter of the roll H',
but it is preferred to employ the before-described three-roll arrangement
as it is considered that the sockets or ferrules may be manufactured
more satisfactorily and cheaply thereby. Also I am aware that the
rolling of metals transversely to the axis of rotation in the interstice
between the rolls is an old device of long known use, and that a machine
having rolls thus arranged has been proposed and put in use for forming
sockets or ferrules upon a mandril, such welded sockets or ferrules
having however each been previously separately made from a strip of
metal, and I do therefore not claim such arrangements or mode of
making sockets or ferrules, but what I claim is, —
First. The manufacture of sockets or ferrules of wrought iron or
other metal from tubes (previously either butt or lap welded or otherwise
formed), by cutting off such sockets or ferrules from the tube simulta-
neously with the swaging or closing down thereof upon a mandril, sub-
stantially as herein-before described.
Second. The combination of the annular cutter with the swaging roll,
and of this with the supporting rolls and mandril, as herein-before
described for the manufacture of sockets or ferrules of wrought iron
or other metals from tubes (previously either butt or lap welded or
otherwise formed), by cutting off the same simultaneously with the
swaging or closing down thereof upon a mandril.
Third. The arrangement of the mandril J in combination with the
rolls H, H, H', and the withdrawing lever K, substantially as and for
the purposes described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have here-
unto set my hand and scal, this Twenty-seventh day of October,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.