IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES MEANS, OR APPARATUS FOR OR CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON OR STEEL TUBES AND LIKE STRUCTURES
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Andrew Ballantyne, of the City of Glasgow,
in the County of Lanark, North. Britain, Mechanic, for the In-
vention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES MEANS, OR APPARATUS FOR
OR CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON OR STEEL TUBES
AND LIKE STRUCTURES.”
Sealed the 21st April 1871, and dated the 1st November 1870.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Andrew Ballantyne at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on
the 1st November 1870.
I, ANDREW BALLANTYNE, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of
Lanark, North Britain, Mechanic, do hereby declare the nature of the.
said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES, MEANS, OR APPARATUS FOR
OR CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE IRON OR STEEL TUBES AND
LIKE STRUCTURES," to be as follows, that is to say:
This said Invention has reference to a new or improved mode of and
means or arrangement of mechanism or of a machine and its parts
for bending and shaping or rolling the usual clipped, rolled, or drawn
A

page_text: strips or "blanks " of flat sheet wrought iron or steel into tubes or the
form of tubes with "scarf" or "lap" and abutting joints, ready for
being subsequently heated and welded into tubes, all otherwise in the
usual manner and by the usual construction and arrangement of welding
machinery.
And the nature of the said Invention consists in passing each sheet of
the said ordinarily prepared long sheet metal "blanks" in a heated
state as they are taken from the usual heating furnaces through a series
of two, three, or more sets of duplex or pairs of rollers ranged in a
horizontal line and at a little distance in advance of each other, all by
preference of a short form, having the journals of their spindles carried
in one strong frame or machine, and actuated by a train or set of wheels
from a single first motion transverse or longitudinal shaft, according as
spur or bevelled gearing or wheels are employed respectively, so that
the raised and recessed bending and shaping surfaces of the rollers will
pull the plate or "blank" through them longitudinally at the same
surface speed, with as little lengthening or "drawing" and abrasion in
that direction as possible.
'
The first and each succeeding pair of rollers, according to the said.
new or improved arrangement for the purpose of this Invention,
gradually bend or curl the two edges of the flat straight plate or
"blank" laterally, either up or down, according as the grooved roller of
the first set is placed below or above respectively, this first pair being
made to give a less or more segmental form to the central part of the
"blank" in cross section, the second pair greatly increasing the bend to
a U shape in cross section, or having the upper edges slightly more
bent inwards than the form of that letter indicates; while the next or
third pair of rollers, which in this case have each grooves in them, will
bend in the edges either more towards each other, or quite round, or
over and close, so as to approximately or completely form a circular,
or it may be oval, tube ready for welding, when an abutting edged
joint is required, or a fourth pair of rollers may be used for the latter
case, having semicircular grooves in each to completely form the tube
instead of doing so by the third set.
When the edges and tubes are to have "lap" or "scarf" joints the
blank by these improvements is passed through a pair of "scarfing"
rollers, one, by preference, of a plain cylindrical form, while the other has
an annular recess or groove of the same width and depth as the "blank"

page_text: 66
round it, having its inner edges or rims bevelled, so that as the blank is
rolled or drawn by the revolving and gripping action of the rollers
through the groove its edges are wholly or partially "scarfed," ready for
entering the first pair of bending rollers before described, which in some.
cases may complete the scarfing of the edges; but blanks scarfed
as heretofore may be used and so fed in as described in any case by a
guide table or other equivalent so as to insure their being entered and
passed through the rollers in the true centre line thereof. In this case of
making the tubes with "scarf" joints the annular groove of the finishing
roller or the one which presses over the two edges towards each other is
not made semicircular, as in the case of forming the abutting or
stump” jointed tubes, but has that half of the groove bending the
one edge of the plate over and inwards smaller or projecting more than
the half which presses down the other, so that the one "scarfed" edge
is pressed down and over below the other to the desired distance or
width of lap to be given to the "scarfed " edges and joint, according to
the size of the grooves in the rollers and the width of the "blank."
The deepest part of the groove of the "lap" edge pressing roller finally
pressing down the outer scarfed edge on the one pressed in below it, or
otherwise two pressing and finishing rollers may be used for the latter
purpose, and which in either case would complete and roll out the tubes
with "scarfed" joints; all otherwise as described in reference to abutting
welded joint tubes, all by these improvements made in one heat ready
for being welded in the ordinary manner, and by the same machinery
as heretofore employed. In some cases, however, these tubular struc-
tures may be so rolled, formed, and finished with their joints or edges
left open to any desired extent, as for rones, or prepared in a similar
manner, all ready for making soldered joints instead of welded joints.
In front of the two finishing rollers, where the joint is still open, a
mandrel may be firmly fixed in the centre line of the moving and form-
ing tube to a part of the frame of the machine by the lateral arm or
neck passed out through the open slit of the joint, and having the head
or point of the mandrel passed forward as far as the grooves of the joint
closing and finishing rollers to give a more smooth and accurate form
to the inner surface of the tubes or ducts so formed in such cases when
so desired than when done by the rollers alone without a mandrel, which
mandrel, as well as the annular grooves and projecting rims or ridges,
would require to correspond to the particular cross section of the tubular
structure being formed, leaving room for the thickness of the sheet

page_text: metal. These tubes or tubular structures may when desired be thus
rolled and formed of various other cross sections (in the said improved
manner and by the said improved arrangement of mechanism) as oval
or rectangular, with the corners rounded or polygonal, or be similarly
rolled in the form of ornamental rones or gutters of various sections, or
for elastic hollow keys for fixing the rails of railways in their chairs;
and in these latter cases the lengths so rolled may be afterwards cut
into their required shorter lengths by circular saws while yet soft and
hot, or in some cases by shearing or cutting machines, such as those used
for cutting "angle iron" in a cold state.
For rolling tapered "blanks" into slightly tapered or conical tubes
the closing and finishing rollers might be made to gradually open and
recede from each other by an automatic arrangement while the tube was
being passed through them to suit the increasing diameter; and the
finishing set of rollers might have three rollers in place of two for so
opening or receding from each other to thus finish the "blank" or
unwelded tube..
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Andrew Ballantyne in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 1st May 1871.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ANDREW
BALLANTYNE, of the City of Glasgow, in the County of Lanark, North
Britain, Mechanic, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the First day of November, in the year of our
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-fourth
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Andrew Ballantyne, Her special licence that I,
the said Andrew Ballantyne, my executors, administrators, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said Andrew Ballantyne, my executors, adminis-
trators, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODES,

page_text: MEANS, OR APPARATUS FOR OR CONNECTED WITH THE MANUFACTURE OF MALLEABLE
IRON OR STEEL TUBES, AND LIKE STRUCTURES," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said Andrew Ballantyne, my executors or adminis-
trators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one of their
hands and seals, 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 Andrew Ballantyne, 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 statement in writing, reference being had to the
accompanying Drawings and to the letters and figures marked thereon,.
that is to say :-
My said Invention has reference to a new or improved mode of, and
mcans or arrangement of mechanism, or of a machine and its parts, for
bending and shaping or rolling the usual clipped, rolled, or drawn strips
or blanks of flat sheet wrought iron or steel into tubes or the form of
tubes (sometimes termed "skelps"), with "scarf" or lap, and abutting
joints, ready for being subsequently heated and welded into tubes,
all otherwise in the usual manner, and by the usual construction and
arrangement of welding machinery.
And in order that the nature of my said Invention and manner of
performing it may be properly understood, I shall now proceed to
describe the several illustrative Figures on the three Sheets of Drawings,,
which I have hereunto appended for the purpose of showing the best
modes and means I am at present aware of for putting my said
Invention into effect or practice, the same reference letters and numerals
being employed to represent the same or like parts in all the Figures
where they are shown.
Referring to Sheet 1, Figures 1, 2, and 3, are respectively a
longitudinal vertical section, plan, and end elevation, of the front and
entering end of one arrangement or modification of my new or improved.
machine or mechanism, suitable for making, or rolling and bending, or
drawing and pushing and shaping the flat plates or blank forms of hot
sheet metal, as p, into "skelps," or tubular forms, in accordance with
my said Invention, all ready for being welded with abutting edges or

page_text: joints, or as butt welded tubes (Figure 16), by any of the modes and
means heretofore used for so welding them.
Figures 4 and 5 are a front elevation of the second and third pairs of
bending and finishing or delivering rollers B, B¹, C, C³, respectively, as.
shown detached from the machine, Figures 1 and 2.
Figures 6 to 13 are similar front elevations respectively of other sets
of two and three rollers, suitable for other purposes, and constructions
of tubes or $6
skelps," which are not convenient or possible with the
sets of rollers A, A¹, B, B, and C, C³, shown in Figures 1 to 5, and
particularly for scarfed and lap welded tubes (Figure 17).
Figures 14 and 15 are inverted or under side plans of two forms of
mandrels suitable for being applied in front of and passed through the
first set of rollers, which are all grooved or hollow (or of the concave
form in a section parallel to the axis) as in the rollers C, C³, Figures 1
and 2, or those in Figures 5 to 13.
Figures 16 and 17 show the various sections of the plate p, taken as
on the lines 0---0, 1- - -1, 2---2, 3- - -3, and 4---4, in Figure 1, as in the
act of being formed into a parallel round tube or "skelp" of the butt and
lap welded form, ready for being welded, represented in red lines in all
the Figures; the direction of its motion and that of the driving.gearing
and rollers drawing and bending it being indicated by the arrows in the
several Figures; Figure 17 indicating the cross sections for scarf and
lap welded tubes. And Figure 18 is a side elevation of a conical form
of "
skelp," with a cross section of each end as formed by opening or
closing the finishing rollers from or towards each other respectively, and
particularly indicated in Figure 10, and by the sets shown at Figures 5
to 13, either with or without the use of the mandrels, Figures 14 and 15.
Referring to Figures 1 to 5, each sheet of the said ordinarily
prepared long sheet metal blanks (as p) in a heated state, as they are
taken from the usual heating furnaces, one at a time, is passed through
a series of two, or by preference, three or more sets of duplex, or pairs
of corresponding annular, grooved, and rimmed or ridged bending and
shaping rollers, (as A, A, B, B¹, C, C',) ranged with their acting, or
rolling, and drawing peripheries in a nearly horizontal centre line, with
the under side of the tube in a straight line, each set of rollers being
set at a little distance in advance of each other, all, by preference, of a
short form transversely, having the journals of their spindles (a, b, c,)
as close to the rollers as possible, and carried in a strong frame formed

page_text: 111
of side and end standards f,ƒ", ƒ", attached by stays f², all secured
on a main frame or sole plate fas a fixed or stationary machine, having
the lower rollers all actuated by a train or set of geared toothed wheels
g, g', from a single first motion longitudinal shaft h, or it may be a
transverse shaft, mainly through bevelled or spur gearing or wheels,
according as the former or latter shaft is employed, all so that the first
raised and recessed bending and shaping surfaces of the rollers A, A³,
B, B¹, C, C¹, will pull or roll the plate or blank form of sheet metal p
through them longitudinally at the same surface speed, with as little
lengthening or drawing and abrasion of the metal blank or its surfaces
in that direction as possible; the upper rollers A, B, C, being actuated
from the lower ones A¹, B¹, C¹, by the spur wheels g², g¹¹, on their
respective spindles, gearing into each other.
According to this modification or arrangement of my said Invention,
and for the purposes thereof, the first and each succeeding pair of
rollers A, A, B, B¹, C, C¹, gradually bend or curl the two edges. of
the long, flat, straight plate or blank p laterally, either up or down,
according as the grooved roller A¹ (distinguished by the accented letter)
of the first set A, A', is placed below or above respectively, and which
determines the position of the other rollers indicated by accented or
unaccented letters above or below the straight line and traverse of the
blank P before referred to as the position in which the rollers must be
placed, namely, in a nearly horizontal straight line at the acting
surfaces whether the rollers are of the transverse, horizontal, or vertical
class, that is, having their axes in these directions respectively. In this
arrangement all the rollers are shown with their axes horizontal,. the
first pair A, A', being made to give a less or more segmental form or
bend to the central part of the blank p, as seen in the cross sections in
Figures 3, 7, 7, 16, and 17 at p¹, and the second pair of rollers B, B¹,
(when these are used) with deeper annular projecting or rimmed and
grooved rolling bending surfaces than those of A, A¹, respectively,
greatly increasing the bend of the plate from that at p¹ to a U shape in
cross section or having the upper edges slightly more bent inwards than
the form of that letter indicates, as seen at p³, while the next or third
pair of rollers C, C¹, which are both formed with grooves in their
peripheries bend in the edges of the blank or partially formed tube
from the U shape either more round and over towards each other, as
seen at p³ in Figures 5, 16, and 17, or it may be quite round or over

page_text: with the edges close so as to approximately or completely form a
circular or it may be oval tube, as seen at p in Figures 6 and 16,
ready for being welded as butt jointed or welded tubes when these are
required; or otherwise, a fourth pair of rollers, C², C", Figure 6, may
be used, having semicircular grooves in each made a little smaller than
the grooves of the former rollers for the latter purpose of finishing and
delivering them as round tubes instead of doing so by the rollers C, C',
and in some cases the set of rollers B, B¹, may be dispensed with, par-
ticularly when this second set of finishing rollers 03, 0", are used,
and the first pair of rollers A, A¹, are made to bend the plate more
towards a half circle than shown at p in the various Figures, in
which case the rollers C, C¹, and C2, C", and their frames as f¹¹, ƒîiî¸
would take the place of B, B¹, and C, C¹, and their frames f" f
respectively. When the edges and tubes are to be made with or have lap
or scarf joints, the blanks p by these improvements are each passed
through a pair of scarfing rollers A³, A", Figures 8 and 8ª, one of
them, as A, by preference of a plain cylindrical form, while the
other A³ has an annular recess or groove as p*, corresponding to the
width and parallel depth of the blank p, Figure 17, round its periphery,
having the inner edges p* or rims of the groove at each side bevelled so
that as the blank is rolled or drawn by the revolving and griping action
of the rollers A³, A¹¹, through the groove, its edges are either wholly or
partially scarfed (when these rollers are used, as seen at Figures 8, 8ª,
and 17,) ready for entering the first pair of bending rollers A, A¹,
Figures 1, 2, and 3, before described, and which in some cases may have
the edges p* of the curved part of the projection or hollow rolling surface
A2, A", so bevelled as to scarf the blank p, on its inside or outside,
respectively, as shown at Figures 7 and 7, which rollers may complete
the scarfing of the edges or wholly scarf them when the rollers A³, A¹¹¹,
Figures 8 and 8*, are not used, but it is to be understood that blanks scarfed
as heretofore may be used and fed into the first bending rollers A, A¹,
or A³, A", Figures 1 to. 7, 7ª, described, in any case the blanks
p are
guided as usual by a guide table, as at pº, and vertical guides attached
thereto or other equivalent so as to ensure their entering into and passing
through the first and succeeding pairs of rollers A, A¹, B, B¹, C, C¹, in
the true centre line thereof. In this case of making the tubes with scarf
or lap joints (as seen in the several sections of Figure 17, and the pairs
of rollers A2, A", Figures 7, 7ª, and D, D¹, Figures 9, 9ª, and 10), the
annular groove 1, 2, of the finishing top roller D of the pair of

page_text: rollers D, D¹, (to be used as equivalents for scarf and lap tubes, which
the rollers C, C¹, C³, C", Figures 5 and 6, were described for butt jointed
tubes,) which presses over the two edges of the blank towards each
other is not made semicircular as in the case of the rollers C, C1, C2, Cu,
for forming the abutting or stump jointed tubes, as seen in the sections
Figure 16, but has the half 1 of the groove of the roller D for bending
the one edge 1¹ of the plate over and inwards below the other edge 2',
smaller in diameter or projecting more than the half 2, which curls over
and presses down the other edge 2¹ to the desired distance or width of
the lap and opening to be given to the scarfed edges and joint according
to the size of the grooves in the rollers and the width of the blank p.
The deepest part at 2 of the groove (of the said lap edge pressing curling
rollers) either pressing down the outer scarfed edge 2¹ which has been
curled up into it past the edge 1' on to this edge 1¹ below it, or otherwise
two such plain grooved pressing and finishing rollers C, C¹, or C², C¹¹,
Figures 5 and 6, before described, may be used for this latter purpose, as
a finishing set of rollers for pressing down the scarf edges and joint
close; or otherwise such plain grooved scarf pressing and finishing rollers
may be used of any of the arrangements of two or three rollers in the
set, as shown at Figures 9 to 13 (with the duplex or stepped grooves 1, 2,
for the overlapping of the scarfed edges) and which in either case (with
the said plain rollers C to C", or D to Dш, Figures 5 to 13) would
complete and roll out the tubes or tubular skelps parallel from end to
end either round or oval of different sizes in cross section, according to
the size and shape of the grooves and the width at which these and their
rollers are set, all otherwise substantially as described in reference to
Figures 1 to 6, for abutting joint welding skelps or tubes, and by these
improvements made in one heat ready for being welded in the ordinary
manner and by the same machinery as heretofore employed. Figure 9ª,
shows a modification of the new or improved overlapping rollers, much
similar to that shown in Figure 9, in both of which the rollers are
shown as horizontal having the differential overlapping grooves 1, 2,
formed in the under roller D', being a plain hollow groove for forming
the lower side of the tube opposite the scarf lap joint 1, 2, in the
latter case however, Figure 9³, this lower roller D' is made with the
sides smaller in diameter, but with projecting edges 3 close to the
groove strengthened by entering the groove 1, 2, of the upper roller D,
all for supporting the sides of the tube p³ when the rollers are shifted or
separated from each other to make wider or larger parallel or tapered

page_text: skelps or tubes, in the latter case moved or separated from each other
automatically, as indicated in Figure 10, where the screws f³ for raising
and lowering the top rollers by their bushes (in the frame f", f, Figures
1 to 3, which are there only set by a hand screw key before starting the
machine for regulating the desired size and pressure to be given to the
parallel form of tubes) are actuated automatically by the cross shaft i
and the bevil wheels a connecting them, this shaft i being driven by the
chain, passing over the chain wheels 2, 3, respectively keyed on the
overhanging ends of the shaft i and ď¹ of the lower roller D¹, all so as to
raise the roller D to the height desired while the blank or tube p³ is passing
through the rollers to suit the increasing size of the conical skelps or
tubes p towards the large end so as to deliver the tubes, as shown at
Figure 18; but other equivalent automatic mechanism might be employed
to raise the rollers or separate them when they were disposed horizontally,
as shown in Figures 11, 12, and 12ª, and in Figure 13, showing three
slightly different improved arrangements of these overlapping rollers with
the new differential overlapping grooves 1, 2. Referring to Figure 11
the new overlapping differential grooves 1, 2, are formed in two different
rollers D², D, on vertical spindles, the grooves on their lower side
coinciding, but at the top the groove 1 in the roller D³ is made smaller
and lower than that at 2 in the roller D, so as to produce the differential
step at the parts marked 1 and 2 at the scarfed edges 1' and 2¹ of the
blank p³, so as to overlap them, substantially as described in reference
to the modification shown and described in reference to Figure 9, and its
modification, Figures 9ª and 10.
Figure 12 shows a modification with the new stepped overlapping
grooves 1, 2, formed also on the upper part of the two vertical rollers
D3, D, without their lower rims and coinciding grooves, but having
instead a plain grooved and rimmed horizontal roller D¹ (similar to D' in
Figure 9) for forming the lower part of the tube opposite the joint. The
vertical rollers D³, D¹¹¹, or D³, D", of these modifications are shown as
expanded from each other in Figures 11 and 12", which they may be,
by screwing their bushes to or from each other in the slots of their
frames by screw spindles, either by hand or automatically as desired,
and at Figure 12ª the horizontal roller D™ is indicated as lowered in a
like manner, showing the skelp p³ much larger than p³ in Figure 12. In
Figure 13 the lower part of the tube p³ is shown as formed by two
vertical rollers D', D', exactly similar, while the new overlapping grooves

page_text: 1 and 2 are shown on a single horizontal roller D (similar to that of D
in Figures 9, 9, and 10) except that it is formed in two parts with the
grooves 1 and 2 respectively in each, the two parts D* of the roller D
being held together by screw nuts n on the spindle behind them, which
screws them tightly up against a ring n¹ formed in two halves entering
an annular recess in the adjacent faces of the two parts D* of the roller D,
so that the ring n¹ cannot fall out and yet is easy of removal for the
insertion of others of various thicknesses to set the rollers D* nearer to.
or wider apart to suit the size of the blank p or tube p³ to be rolled,
bent, or overlapped for the time being, these rollers D and D' in this
arrangement being also capable of separation from each other as
described and shown in reference to Figure 12ª. In Figure 8ª the
roller A³ is shown formed in two halves A* for the like purpose of
making it suit different widths of blanks p so as to scarf their edges,
all otherwise as described in reference to A2 in Figure 8, the roller A³
in Figure 8 being shown in section to indicate the arrangement
of the screws n and ring n³, which is shown in side and edge views
detached in Figure 8b, all more clearly than shown in the elevation
of the application described in reference to the roller D, D*, Figure 13.
Any of these rolling or drawing and shaping or overlapping rollers
under these improvements may be thus formed in two parts at the
centre and shifted and fixed or set at various distances apart within
certain limits to suit several sizes of tubes as described in reference to
the rollers D and A³ in Figures 13 and 8%, or by other equivalent holding
or fixing arrangement. In front of the two finishing rollers C, C¹,
C², C, when these first are used as at m where the joint is being formed
by the two edges of the blank at p², and is still open, a short mandrel M
shown in detached under side plan and end view Figure 14 is or may
in some cases be used and firmly fixed in the centre line of the moving
and forming tube p³, p', (Figures 1, 2, 5, or 6) to a part of the respective
standard frames of the machine f™ by the lateral arm and neck M², M",
passed out through the said open part of the joint p², and having the
head or point M³ of the mandril M inserted through or as far as the
acting groove surfaces of the joint closing and finishing rollers C, C¹,
and C2, C, when both are used so as to sustain the pressure of the
rollers and give a more smooth and accurate form to the inner surface
and the whole of the tubular structure. formed by these improved con-
structions and arrangements of the rollers and mechanism either with or
without a mandril than when done by the rollers alcne without this
or

page_text: 13
otherwise ordinary form of mandril, which, as well as the actuating
annular surfaces or grooves and projecting rims or ridges of the rollers
would require to correspond to the particular cross section p' to p¹³,
Figures 43 to 52 on Sheet 3, of the tubular or hollow structure, being
formed as round, oval, square, polygonal, or gutter-shaped, shown in the
several cross sections and detached side views of the rollers, Figures 4
to 6 and 9 to 13 on Sheet 1, and 24 and 25 on Sheet 2, and 29 to 33
and 39 to 41 on Sheet 3, leaving room for the thickness of the sheet
metal as shown at p¹ to p¹ in these Figures at the parts where the
rollers act. When these skelps or tubular structures are to be rivetted
or soldered as for copper and brass tubes and other purposes as ducts or
rhones by these improved arrangements of rollers the distance between
the edges of the plate at the joint may be made of any desired width or
opening to suit such purposes, as shown in the several end views and
sections at p² to p¹s in the Figures 9 to 13 and 17 of Sheet 1, and in the
several Figures on Sheets 2 and 3 above-named, and to be herein-after
referred to in the description of the modifications on these Sheets.
When any of the sets of hollow grooved bending and finishing rollers,
Figures 5 and 6 before referred to, and Figures 9 to 13, either having
their axes indicated by c and d variously initialed placed horizontally,
vertically, or at an angle, are substituted for the rollers B, B', Figures 1,
2, and 4, then in that case the long mandrel M, shown in detached
under side plan in Figure 15 may when desired be used and fixed to the
side frames f" as at m¹, Figure 1 (instead of the mandrel described in
reference to Figures 1 and 14) in front of the said bending and finishing
rollers (being in that case the first set of hollow rollers through which
the mandrel could be passed) all as described in reference to Figure 14
at m, except that as in this case the point of the mandrel M¹ would be
made longer when it had to pass through more than one pair or set
of these overlapping or finishing rollers, and as the curved blank
plate p¹ in this position m¹ is still broad and flat in the curve at the
end where it enters over the mandrel at m³ two outer wings M³ are
formed, one projecting downwards on each outer side of this part
of the mandrel, forming a segmental groove, gradually assuming a
semi-oval or U shape, which supports or curls up the two edges of 19
the plate as it is pushed and drawn forward by the first and second
set of rollers, (as A, A, and D, D¹) on each side of it, and bends or
curls the segmental blank p¹ as at m¹¹, to the U shape p² (shown in
Figures 16 and 17), ready for and before entering the first set of hollow

page_text: rollers, as described in reference to Figures 5 and 6, and 9 to 13, or their
equivalents on Sheets 2 and 3, all indicated by the letter D, variously
distinguished by numerals, any of which may be used as the last or
second last joint closing and finishing rollers either with or without the
said mandrel, Figure 15. When these overlapping rollers as D to D¹¹¹¹,
with their differential overlapping grooves 1, 2, Figures 9 to 13 are used
either as the second last or last set of rollers of the machine, they leave
the scarf joint considerably open as shown at 1', 2, (in these Figures and
at Figure 17,) which requires to be pressed close by ordinary finishing
plain grooved rollers, or a roller of a suitable size and shape to that
shown at C, C¹, C²,C", in Figures 5 and 6, on Sheet 1 before described,
and in Figure 25 on Sheet 2, and Figure 30 or 32 on Sheet 3 to be
herein-after described, which finish and deliver the scarf or lap joints
and tubes, as indicated at p' in the several sections where shown all ready
for being welded, or this thorough closing of the joints may be done by
a pair of rollers in the welding machine when preferred.
Referring to Sheet 2, Figures 19, 20, and 21, are respectively a longi-
tudinal vertical section, a plan, and a front end elevation of the feeding
in end, taken at the line 0---0 of another modification or arrangement
of my improved "roll," or rolling and drawing mechanism, constructed
in accordance with and illustrative of my said Invention with four sets.
or pairs of rollers or rolls arranged as shown, the first two being hori-
zontal, and the second vertical in a nearly horizontal line for the scarfing
and making of lap jointed tubes or skelps, or of the same with butt
joints all ready for being welded at one heat from a plain unscarfed plate.
Figures 22 and 23 are respectively a front and back side elevation of
the first and second pairs of horizontal rollers A³, A¹ and A, A¹, as
taken on the line 0-0 and 1---1 in Figure 19, detached therefrom
to a large scale respectively, corresponding to my improved construction
of scarfing and first bending rollers, also suitable for feeding in the plate
when first scarfed in the ordinary way in a drawing and cutting bench,
or for that of the plain edged plates for butt welded joints, substantially
the same as described in reference to the rollers A³, A¹, and A, A', in
Figures 8 and 1 to 4 on Sheet 1, except that the rollers A¹, A, are
inverted or transposed, which bend or curve the sides of the plate p
down as shown at p¹ in Figure 23, which causes the joint 1', 21, to be
formed along the lower centre line (instead as above as shown in all
the Figures on Sheet 1), and also a corresponding reversing of the third
pair of rollers D³, D", which in this case are of the improved double

page_text: grooved form for shaping and overlapping the edges of the plate p¹
in the sectional form delivered from the roller A¹, A, Figure 23, to
that shown at ps in Figure 24, which shows a back side view of these
rollers with their differential overlapping grooves or edges 1, 2, below,
and all otherwise substantially as described in reference to Figure 11
on Sheet 1, but in this case shaping the plate or tube from the section
p Figure 23, to that of p³, Figure 24, all without the use of the
intermediate set of ordinary rollers B, B¹, Figures 1 to 4, or the
mandrel M at m¹, Figure 15 on Sheet 1, for bending the plate into the
U shape, although either of these may be inserted at m³, by separating
the horizontal frames f", f, from the front one f¹ when desired for
some kinds of plates and tubes which would not stand so great a bend
at once from the section shown in Figure 23 to that at Figure 24.
The rollers D³, D", deliver the overlapped skelps, as seen at p³, Figure 24
to the fourth pair of rollers C, C³, which are of the ordinary con-
struction of plain grooved finishing rollers, described and shown in
reference to Figures 5 and 6, but here disposed horizontally, but they
might be disposed vertically, in either case pressing the outer scarfed
edge 2¹ hard on to the inner edge 1', so as to thoroughly close the
joint and deliver the tube at the back end of the machine, as shown at
p', Figures 19, 20, and 25, in one heat ready for being welded, all other-
wise substantially as described in reference to the corresponding ordinary
construction of plain double hollow grooved finishing and delivering
rollers described in reference to C, C¹, C2, C¹, in Figures 1 to 6, which
rollers and those B, B¹, shown at Figure 4 for bending plates into the
U shape in rolling and bending open tubes and in tube making mechanism
are not new in themselves, except in their connection with my new
forms and arrangements of rolls for the scarfing and first feeding in of
the plate p, Figures 8 and 8ª and with the bending and scarfing rollers
A, A1, A2, A", and A³, A¹¹, described in reference to the general views
1 to 3, and Figures 7, 7ª, on Sheet 1, and their equivalents on the other
two sheets, as well as with the various improved constructions of over-
lapping and jointing rollers with their differential grooves 1, 2, and over-
lapping rims 3, and distinguished in all the Figures where seen by the
letter D, initialed with numerals in pairs or in sets of three rollers for
bending and delivering tubular and other open jointed or gutter shaped
hollow articles from sheet metal.
These Figures 24 and 25 represent detached enlarged back elevations
of the rollers D2, D", and C, C', taken on the lines 3 - - 3 and 4-4
-SO

page_text: respectively. In Figure 19 their vertical spindles d², d¹¹, and c, c¹, being
carried in sliding bushes in the two horizontal frames f", f, provided
with strong shifting and retaining screws fs and small jam screws f*
easy of access for fixing at various distances to suit for making
various sized tubes by the same rollers, or with larger rollers when
desired, the bevel wheels 2 on the horizontal shafts " which actuate
the spindles &, d", of these rollers being made to shift with a key or
feather and slot to suit that made by the screw, and which differential
action could be made automatically by an equivalent arrangement to
that shown at Figure 10 on Sheet 1, or by a right and left-handed screw
working into the bushes across the frames f", f, similar to that shown
at o¹ across the front part of the frames ƒ¹ below the narrow table frame
or plate o, and which, when turned by a handle or key "shipped" on
the outer end o", shift the guides p° along slots on the plate o to suit any
width of the blank plate p required; the hot plate being drawn on to the
table o and guides p° placed close to the furnace, all so that it enters the
first rollers in the true centre line of the set of rollers which draw and
push the blank through them, the rollers being driven from the first
motion shaft h and bevel wheels g, g¹, substantially as otherwise shown
and described in reference to Figures 1 to 4 in Sheet 1, except that the
frames f, f, and f¹ are secured and carried on the top of frames f
formed of strong transverse open frames which carry the bearings of the
first motion shaft h at a lower level to allow the actuating shafts 7" to
pass in below the horizontal frames f", f", and which causes the front
horizontal rollers A, A, to be actuated by the intermediate shafts /¹
and spur wheels g³, g™, in addition to the wheels 9³, g¹, in the former

page_text: 3
---
3 respectively in Figure 26. These rollers A³, A", are constructed
substantially as described in reference to my improved rollers, Figure 7,
for scarfing and feeding in and bending the flat plate p, fed into them
from the furnace at o to a segmental form p² at one operation, and
deliver it to the improved overlapping rollers D³, D", which is a mere
adaptation of the modification described in reference to Figure 11, on
Sheet 1, and which may deliver the skelp in the form and with the
nearly close joint, as shown at p³, Figure 29, with these two sets of
rollers A², A", and D², D", without the third pair of rollers of the
ordinary plain grooved finishing form C³, C", shown in Figure 30, being
a side view on the line 4---4 in Figure 26, and described in reference to
Figure 5 or 6, or by preference with these finishing rollers C², C", when
it is desired to press down the scarf joint very close and deliver the tube
all ready for merely welding, as shown at p', Figure 30, and either with
or without the use of the improved construction of mandrel M, as
indicated in blue lines at m¹, fixed between the first and second pairs of
rollers A², A", and D', D", Figure 26, and in section at Figures 29 and 30,
and in black lines in detached under-side plan and inner and outer
delivery end views at Figures 35, 36, and 37, showing the section of the
plate p¹ as it enters the mandrel and leaves it at p² much more bent to
enter the overlapping rollers D³, D₁, all otherwise substantially as
described in reference to Figures 1 and 15, on Sheet 1, the skelp in this
arrangement being bent or curled up, so as to form the scarf overlapped
joint along the centre and top side instead of on the under side as in the
arrangement shown in Figures 19 to 25, on Sheet 2.
Figures 31 and 32 are side views of a modification of lap rolling,
jointing, and finishing rollers D³, D", and C, C", substantially as
described in reference to Figures 11 and 6, except that they have extra
rims 3, 3' (not shown in the said Figures), which enter the grooves of
the opposite rollers, but which enable these rollers to be moved to and
from each other (as described in reference to Figures 11 and 6, and
break band as it were at the junction of the two rollers so as to sustain
the sheet metal in shape at the joint for various sizes, or while being
moved, and corresponding to Figures 29 and 30, and capable of being
substituted for the said rollers D², D", and C³, C", in the general
arrangement or modification of my improved machine, Figures 26
and 27, for the purpose of making parallel or conical round and oval
tubes, as shown in transverse section at p³, in these Figures 31 and 32,

page_text: in end section for the former and in plan and opposite end views for
the latter in the detached section Figure 44 and Figures 42, 42º, 42"
respectively.
Figure 33 shows a side view of a pair of my new differential grooved
rollers marked D³, D", suitable for being used instead of the mandrel M
(Figures 35, 36, and 37) at m³ in Figures 26 and 27 when preferred
between the first and second pair of rollers A³, A", and D³, D", also
suitable either for butt or overlapping joints without changing the
rollers and for bending the plate from the segmental form p³, shown at
Figures 28 and 34, to the semi-oval shape shown at p², Figures 33
and 34, so as to make it easier on the sheet metal and on the
rollers D, Du, for some classes of work to be formed into the nearly
round shape, shown as given to the tube by these rollers D³, D", at ps
in Figures 29 and 34, which latter shows all the various sections of the
skelp or tube while being formed at the several rollers or lines 0 0,
1---1, 2-2, 3---3, and 4---4, in Figure 26. These several rollers D², D¹¹,
Figures 29, 31, and 33, are similar to or modifications of the detached
set of rollers described in reference to Figure 11 on Sheet 1, and
Figure 24 on Sheet 2.
Figure 38 shows a side view of an arrangement of these rollers for
forming overlapping jointed tubes or skelps of various sizes of a more
circular form either parallel or conical, which might be used instead of
the rollers, Figures 29 to 32, being a modification of those described in
reference to Figure 13, on Sheet 1, only having the said improved pro-
jecting edges 3 not shown in the said Figure. Figure 38ª shows the
enlargement which it is possible to give the skelps with this arrangement
and yet maintain their round shape.
Figure 39 is an end elevation of a modification of my improved
arrangement of three rollers, D³, D, D¹", having the rollers D³, D,
set at nearly equal angles to themselves and the horizontal roller D,
instead of being vertical, but otherwise as described in reference to
Figures 12 and 12ª, for receiving the partially curved plate p¹´or p*
(Figure 34) after it has been so bent by and from the scarfing and
bending rollers A, A, or A³, A", to be used either with or without the
rollers A³, A, for the purpose of finishing and overlapping the same as
a parallel or conical skelp or tube of various sizes, as from p³ to p³,
Figures 12, 12ª, and 38, 38%, as the former, and as p³, p³, in Figure 18
for the latter, delivered all ready for welding by the use of a subsequent
B

page_text: pair of plain rollers of substantially the same construction without the
differential or stepped grooves 1, 2.
Figure 40 is a similar end view and modification of my improved
arrangement of these rollers to that described in reference to the
Figure 39 just described, and for the like purpose, but applicable for
drawing bending, and shaping a hexagonal hollow parallel or conical
structure or tube, as shown in the transverse sections, Figure 49; and
Figure 45 is an end diagram of a similar modification to that above
described, in reference to Figures 39 and 40, applied to the construction
of long parallel approximately rectangular hollow structures or tubes,
as seen in enlarged cross section at Figure 45, for the purpose of being
afterwards cut into short lengths while it is yet hot by circular saws,
or when cold by shearing and clipping machines made for the purpose,
into short lengths for making elastic keys for fixing the rails in railway
chairs, as shown applied in the end diagram of a rail and cast-iron chair
sleeper, Figure 45b.
Figure 41 is an application of this three-roller arrangement with the
rollers D✶ and D**, D**, and their spindles d*, d*, d*, disposed and
arranged substantially as described in reference to Figures 13 and 38,
but applied to the drawing, rolling, and bending of more open articles,
as for rhones or gutters, Figures 50, 51, and 52, in this case shown as
applied to that indicated at Figure 51 in the same machine and from sheet
metal, by a similar or the same arrangement of drawing gear and heating
furnaces as used for the closer tubular structures, by the mere changing
of the rollers on their spindles d*, d**.
In the several arrangements of rollers, Figures 12, 13, 38, and 41,
having their spindles lying at right angles to each other, these may be
actuated substantially as described in reference to Figures 19 to 21 on
Sheet 2 from a main shaft, as h, so that the mean diameters of all the
rollers at their working surfaces will run at a nearly uniform speed or
circumferential rate, the horizontal spindles d, d¹¹¹, d*, being actuated
from their intermediate shafts (as h¹) by spur wheels (9³, g, and
g², g",) and the vertical spindles d³, d¹¹¹, d³, d**, from their intermediate
shafts (as ") by bevel or mitre wheels (as ²); and in the case of the
arrangement of angled rollers, Figures 39, 40, and 45ª, the angled
spindles (as d³, d₁₁,) could each be actuated from the horizontal spindle

page_text: (as d) by the angled wheels, as indicated in blue lines at d* in these
Figures.
Figures 43 to 49, on Sheet 3, show detached cross sections of a few of
the more regular forms of hollow structures which can be drawn and
pushed, or rolled and bent, or curled and pressed into parallel; tapered;
or conical tubes from sheet metal (of these and such like forms) by
my improved constructions and arrangements of rollers and rolling:
mechanism herein so far described. And it is to be understood that
any of these cross sections may be made with open, butt, scarf, or
plain lap joints, although only shown with one form of joint in some
cases:
Figures 50 to 52 show similar cross sections of a few of the open
sided structures, which can be rolled and bent by my improved arrange:
ment of tube-making machines and arrangement of these rollers, all
substantially as herein-before described.
For rolling tapered flat blanks or plates p into tapered or conical
tubular structures the sets of ordinary closing and finishing rollers,
C, C¹, C2, C, and their spindles, and particularly also all my new or
improved scarf lap jointing and finishing rollers and their spindles,
indicated by the letters D, d, and their numerals and accents may be
made to gradually open and recede from each other by the automatic
arrangement described and shown in reference to Figure 10, or their
equivalents, while the blank is being passed through them to suit the
increasing diameter of the skelp or tube from p³ to p³ (all as herein
described) which would then be either subsequently pressed down and
finished at the overlapping joints or in the case of scarfed joints by the
ordinary hollow smooth grooved finishing rollers when that is desired*
to suit the purpose for which the tapered skelps are required, and the'
oval enlarged circumferences given to them towards the one end, when
two rollers only are used in the set, can be shaped to the true conical or
other form desired while or after being welded in a set of three rollers,
as described, or on mandrels for the purpose, as other approximately`
formed conical tubes and structures have been as heretofore made, and
finally welded, all by the means heretofore used for doing so. These
improved overlapping and finishing sets of rollers are constructed and
arranged with either two or three rollers in the set, as desired, to suit
the parallel or conical and particular cross sectional form of tubular or
hollow structure required, and the nature or hardness and thickness-

page_text: or the hot or cold state in which the iron, steel, copper, brass, or other
sheet metal is used, and are opened or removed from each other by
hand for the parallel structures, and automatically while finishing and
herein-before
delivering the same, all ready for being welded, as
described.
Although in the general arrangements of my improved machine or
mechanism, Figures 1 to 3 on Sheet 1, three sets of rollers have been
shown as arranged for making butt jointed tubes and skelps only, it is
to be understood that the same may be done by the two sets of rollers
A, A¹, C, C¹, only, without the rollers B, B³, when preferred; and that
for making these with scarf or plain overlapping joints the rollers
A², A", and D, D¹, (Figures 7, 7ª, and 9, 9), could be substituted for
the said rollers (A, A¹, C, C¹,) either with or without the addition of an
ordinary pair of plain grooved joint pressing and finishing delivery
rollers, C, C¹, C², C", Figures 5, 6, which would give either two or
three sets of rollers in this arrangement for scarf and lap joints, and
when the rollers B, B¹, are used, as they may be, all either with or
without the use of a cylindrical pair of scarfing rollers A³, A¹¹,
(Figures 8 or 8ª), in front of the said bending, or bending and scarfing
rollers A, A³, or A³, A¹¹, to wholly or partially scarf the plate before
entering these rollers, thus giving either four or five sets of rollers in
this arrangement or machine according to circumstances and the kind
of tubes to be made.
And further, that although in the modification or general arrange-
ment of my improved machine or mechanism, shown in Figures 19 to 21
on Sheet 2, four sets of rollers have been shown, as arranged for the
making of scarf lap jointed tubes or skelps only, it is to be understood
that the same may be done by the two sets of rollers A, A', and D², D",
when the rollers A², A", Figures 7 or 7ª, are substituted for those
(A, A',) indicated in these Figures (19 to 21, and to a large scale at
Figure 23), and when it is not required to press the scarf or lap joint
close before leaving the machine (by the ordinary smooth-grooved set of
rollers, as C, C³, therein shown as the fourth set of rollers), and thus
deliver the tubes ready for welding with three sets of rollers when these
latter C, C, are used.
And also that in the general arrangement or modification shown in
Figures 26 and 27, on Sheet 3, three sets of rollers have been shown
for making scarfed lap jointed tubes only; but plain,- lap, and butt

page_text: 111
jointed tubes may also be made in that arrangement by the mere
substitution (for the latter) of the plain curved unscarfing rollers A, A',
(Figures 1 to 3 or 23) for the rollers A², A", and in some cases only the
substitution of the rollers C, C¹³, or D³, D", (Figures 5 and 33) for the
rollers D, Du, and that a scarfing set of cylindrical rollers as A³, A¹¹¹,
Figure 8 or 8%, may be used in front of the rollers A2, A", or the
substituted rollers A, A³, either to partially or wholly scarf the plate
before entering either of these latter sets of bending rollers used, which
would cause the arrangement to have either three or four sets of rollers.
Having thus particularly described my said Invention and the manner
in which the same is or may be carried into effect or practice, I may.
observe in conclusion that I do not confine or restrict myself to the
precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to describe,
delineate, and refer to, as many variations of and from these may be
made without departing from the main or essential features of my
said Invention; neither, on the other hand, do I claim to have invented
the forms and constructions of many of the parts or their modes of
attachment and use by themselves specially, which I have had occasion
to describe and refer to for the purpose of making my said Invention
properly understood, as many of these may have been used in other
arrangements of tube rolling and bending mechanism, such as the modes
and means of mounting the rollers in their bushes and frames, with their
setting and fixing screws, and the shapes of the plain, raised, and
grooved rollers B, B', and plain double grooved rollers indicated by the
letters C, C¹, and C², C", or their uses and modes of driving the rollers
of such machines, except in so far as these have essential reference to
or are combined with and form part of my said Invention; but what I
consider novel and original and therefore claim as the Invention secured
to me by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is,-
"
First. The construction and arrangement of the parts of three
modifications of my improved machine or mechanism, as a whole, and
particularly the combinations and arrangements of the rollers, with any
number of sequential sets varying from two to five, all substantially in
the new or improved manner, and for the purpose of drawing and
bending tubes or "skelps" and open hollow ducts from sheet iron, steel,
and other metal blanks, by and through the sets of rollers, driven at a
nearly uniform circumferential speed, as herein described and shown in

page_text: Figures 1 to 3, on Sheet 1, and Figures 19 to 21, on Sheet 2, and
Figures 26 and 27, on Sheet 3, inclusive and respectively, or any mere
modification thereof.
Second. The making of the first pair of cylindrical feeding, or curved
feeding and bending rollers, or both of these, with projecting edges,
bevelled on the inner side, so that either or both pairs will either
individually or jointly scarf the edges of the metal plate while being
passed or rolled through the machine by these and the other bending,.
finishing, and delivering rollers for forming the same into tubes or skelps,
all substantially in the new or improved manner herein described and
shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
Third. The construction, arrangement, and use of a differential or
stepped groove or grooves, either formed in one or in two of the rollers;.
forming a set for the overlapping of the edges of scarf or lap jointing
tubes or <6
skelps," and in one or more of these sets of drawing and
bending or finishing and delivering rollers of machines or mechanism
for drawing and bending tubes or "skelps" from sheet metal, all.
substantially in the new or improved manner herein described and shown
in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof..
:
Fourth. The construction, arrangement, and use of three rollers in
the set, for the overlapping of the edges or joints of tubes or "skelps,"
as the second last, or last finishing set of rollers in tube or "skelp"
drawing and bending machines or mechanism, all substantially in the new
or improved manner and for the purposes herein described and shown in
the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
Fifth. The automatic shifting of the said rollers, with two or three in
the set, to and from each other, for the making of tapered or conical
lap jointed tubes or "skelps," in machines for drawing and bending
of tubes or "skelps," all substantially in the new or improved manner,
and for the purposes herein described and shown in the accompanying
Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
Sixth. The rolling and bending of open ducts or structures from sheet
metal in the same improved drawing and bending arrangement of three
rollers and machines or mechanism for making tubes or "skelps," all

page_text: substantially in the new or improved manner herein described and
shown in the accompanying Drawings, or any mere modification thereof.
In witness whereof, I, the said Andrew Ballantyne, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of April, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-one.
Witness,
W. R. M. THOMSON,
Patent Agent,
ANDREW BALLANTYNE. (L.S.)
20, Buchanan Stree,
Glasgow.