AN IMPROVED COMPOUND TUBE FOR VARIOUS USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES
Year: 1884

page_text: I, THOMAS BUDWORTH SHARP of French Walls Smethwick in the County of
Stafford, Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
AN IMPROVED COMPOUND TUBE FOR VARIOUS USEFUL AND ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES
to be as follows:-
For certain purposes such as bedsteads picture rods stair rods hat rails &c it is
customary to use what are called cased tubes which are ordinarily made thus:-
An open jointed iron tube is placed inside a thin brass tube and the two are
drawn together so that the brass tube is closed down onto and closely clips the iron
tube or a thin strip of brass is by various devices folded around the somewhat
thicker iron tube and like the compound tube just mentioned they are drawn
together and closely resemble it but in neither of these cases is the outer brass
really attached to the inner iron & it only retains its place by the tightness with
which it clips it and as a result breakages of the outer brass often occur owing to
the expansion of the inner tube, the contraction of the outer tube, the molecular
changes which take place in the brass itself and other causes: also a greater thick-
ness of brass has to be used than is really requisite as far as regards the actual
frictional or corrosive actions to which they are usually subjected and generally
they cost more money than there is any need for.
Now my invention consists in making what I consider to be a sounder better
and cheaper tube than those I have just briefly described and I do so in the
following manner:-I take a thin strip of iron or steel and after having ground
pickled or otherwise cleaned and prepared one side I make an electro deposit on
the side so prepared of another metal or of an alloy (preferentially brass) in a well
understood manner which it is not requisite to describe here as the mere fact of
depositing. brass on iron is no part of my invention and I then form it into a tube
by first rolling or drawing the flat strip into a section similar to what is known
as the Channel Section, taking care to keep the side on which the deposit has been
made on the outside of the channel; or I may take a channel section in the first
instance and form the required deposit on its bottom outer side; I next draw it
through a round die with a V shaped recess on one side of it, which may be said
to resemble a pear in shape: On its passage through this die the channel is

page_text: turned over into a tube with the brass side outwards and the two sides of the
channel pointing inwards. The outer section of this tube of course resembles a
pear also and while passing through the die I take care that the point where the
two sides of the channel are pressed against one another is in the apex of the said
die. I next draw it through a round die of about the same size as the pear shaped
die was before it had the V shaped recess cut into it and after cleaning lacquering
and cutting to length the tube is finished. If I had drawn the tube directly from
the channel section to the round section, however much I might have pressed the
edges together they afterwards would have sprung apart and left an open joint or
gap the whole length of the piece but by drawing it first through the pear shaped
die as described, although that die does not permanently close in the joint any
more than the round die alone does yet it enables the round or last die to just press
down the projecting edges so that instead of standing apart they press and are
sprung closely and tightly against one another. Although I have invented and
described this particular section, yet I might have turned up the coated strip &
brought the edges together with a folding joint or otherwise or in the case of
comparatively thick tubes I would only use the plain ends pressing against one
another. In those cases where an internal support in the drawing is necessary
I attach a suitable plug or support by a tail piece or rod to the bench or else-
where in the usual manner.
Dated this sixteenth day of January, One thousand eight hundred and eighty

page_text: I, THOMAS BUDWORTH SHARP of French Walls Smethwick in the County of
Stafford Mechanical Engineer do hereby declare the nature of my invention for
AN IMPROVED COMPOUND TUBE FOR VARIOUS USEFUL & ORNAMENTAL PURPOSES,.
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:-
For certain purposes such as bedsteads picture rods, stair rods, hatrails &c it is
customary to use what are called cased tubes which are ordinarily made thus
An open jointed iron tube is placed inside a thin brass tube and the two are
drawn together so that the brass tube is closed down onto and closely clips the
iron tube or a thin strip of brass is by various devices folded around the somewhat
thicker iron tube and, like the compound tube just mentioned they are drawn
together and closely resemble it, but in neither of these cases is the outer brass
really attached to the inner iron & it only retains its place by the tightness with
which it clips it and as a result breakages of the outer brass often occur owing to
the expansion of the inner tube, the contraction of the outer tube the molecular
changes which take place in the brass itself and other causes: also a greater
thickness of brass has to be used than is really requisite as far as regards the actual
frictional or corrosive actions to which they are usually subjected and generally
they cost more money than there is any need for.
Now my invention consists in making what I consider to be a sounder better
and cheaper tube than those I have just briefly described, and I do so in the
following manner:-I take a thin strip of iron or steel and after having ground
pickled or otherwise cleaned and prepared one side I make an electro deposit on
the side so prepared of another metal or of an alloy (preferentially brass) in a well
understood manner which it is not requisite to describe here as the mere act of
depositing brass on iron is no part of my invention, and I then form it into 2. tube
by first rolling or drawing the flat strip into a section similar to what is known as
the channel section, taking care to keep the side on which the deposit has been
made on the outside of the channel: or I may take a channel section in the first
instance and form the required deposit on its bottom outer side. I next draw it
through a round die with a V shaped recess on one side of it which may be said to
resemble a pear in shape: on its passage through this die the channel is turned
over into a tube with the brass side outwards and the two sides of the channel
pointing inwards. The outer section of this tube of course resembling a pear also
and while passing through the die I take care that the point where the two sides
of the channel are pressed against one another is in the apex of the said die.
I next draw it through a round die of about the same size as the pear shaped die
was before it had the V shaped recess cut into it and after cleaning lacquering and
cutting to length the tube is finished. If I had drawn the tube directly from the
channel section to the round section, however much I might have pressed the edge
together they afterwards would have sprung apart & left an open joint or gap the
whole length of the piece but by drawing it first through the pear shaped die as
described, although that die does not permanently close in the joint any more than
the round die alone does yet it enables the round or last die to just press down the
projecting edges so that instead of standing apart they press and are sprung closely
and tightly against one another. Although I have invented and described this
particular section yet I might have turned up the coated strip & brought the edges
together with a folding joint or otherwise or in the case of comparatively thick
tubes I would only use the plain ends pressing against one another. In those

page_text: cases where an internal support in the drawing is necessary I attach a suitable
plug or support by a tail piece or rod to the bench or elsewhere in the usual
manner.
I will now proceed to explain with reference to the accompanying sheet of
drawings the manner in which my invention may be performed.
Fig I represents the channel section or strip with the thickened edge.
Fig II represents the same piece of metal at the point where it is passing through
the die which is shewn at Figs V & VI.
Fig III represents the same piece of metal after it has passed through the
said die.
& Fig IIII represents the section of the finished article after it has passed
through the die shewn at figs VII and VIII.
It is not necessary to shew the form where I use a plain strip (that is when the
natural thickness of it will suffice to keep the one edge from getting under
the other) as they appear externally just the same when finished & go through
the same dies as the channel section would or the thickened edge section would.
As however the precise details herein described and illustrated may be considerably
varied without departing from the nature of my invention I wish it to be under-
stood that I do not limit myself to the said precise details but can vary them
considerably according to the circumstances of the case & as my experience
dictates without exceeding the limits of my patent. For instance I might attain
my object by rolling instead of drawing.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is
1. The use of a strip of iron or steel which has been electro-brassed or otherwise
electroplated for turning up into sections externally resembling the ordinary cased
tube substantially as described in this specification.
2. The use of a strip of iron or steel which has been partially prepared for
electro brassing or other electroplating for turning up into sections externally
circular & on which the electrobrassing or other electroplating process is com-
pleted when the strip is partially or wholly turned up so as finally to externally
resemble the ordinary cased tube substantially as described in this specification.
Dated this fifteenth day of October 1884.