CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES AND SUCH LIKE ARTICLES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Edmund Burke,, of Upper Thames Street, in-the
City of London, Gentleman, and Alexander Southwood Stocker, of the
Poultry, in the City of London, Manufacturer, for the Invention of
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES AND SUCH
LIKE ARTICLES
Sealed the 10th October 1854, and dated the 29th July 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Edmund Burke and
Alexander, Southwood Stocker at the Office of the Commissioners of
Patents, with their Petition, on the 29th July 1854.
We, EDMUND BURKE, of Upper Thames St., in the City of London,
Gentleman, and ALEXANDER SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, of the Poultry, in the City of
London, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES AND SUCH LIKE
ARTICLES," to be as follows, that is to say :-.
Our improvements consist in the application of thin sheets of metal coiled
or wound around a suitable core or mould, or the forming of one layer or series
over another, to form a tube or other hollow structure, the layers of which
may be massed, consolidated, or soldered; and if sheets of iron be thus used
to produce tubes, the necessity for subjecting the edges or lappings to a
welding heat is avoided, the loss from "wasters" common to the ordinary
process prevented, and the tube or other hollow article formed will be of a
much stronger and more uniform quality than tubes of the ordinary make.

page_text: To produce a screwed end or ends suitable to take into the ordinary
screwed socket, extension piece, or bend, we propose either to screw them by
cutting in the ordinary way, or to produce the threads for such screwed ends
by pressure in a suitable die, after the tube has been completely formed.
For some purposes we prepare the surfaces of the sheets of metal, so as to a
produce a ready and perfect combination of the layers or coils, and when
necessary, we hoop or band the external surface of such tubes, or we serve or
bind the same with wire or other suitable binding.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Edmund Burke and Alexander Southwood Stocker in the
Great Seal Patent Office on the 14th October 1854.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, we, EDMUND
BURKE, of Upper Thames Street, in the City of London, Gentleman, and
ALEXANDER SOUTHWOOD STOCKER, of the Poultry, in the City of London,
Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of July, in the year of our Lord
One thousand cight hundred and fifty-four, in the seventeenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto us, the
said Edmund Burke and Alexander Southwood Stocker, Her special licence
that we, the said Edmund Burke and Alexander Southwood Stocker, our
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as we, the said Edmund
Burke and Alexander Southwood Stocker, our exécutors, administrators, and
assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from time to timo and
at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed, should and lawfully
might make, usc, exercise, and vend, within the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention
for "CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES AND SUCH
LIKE ARTICLES," upon the condition (amongst others) that we, the said Edmund
Burke and Alexander Southwood Stocker, by an instrument in writing under
our 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 we, the said Edmund Burke aud Alexander South-
wood Stocker, do hereby declare the nature of our said Invention and in

page_text: what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement, reference being had to the
Drawings hereunto annexed:
Our improvements consist in the application of a thin sheet of metal coiled,
wound, or lapped more than once around a suitable core, mandril, or mould;
or the forming of one layer or series over another, to produce a tube or
other such like article or hollow structure, the layers of which may afterwards
be massed, consolidated, or soldered together.
Thus, for instance, in the making of an iron gas tube or a water pipe,
we take a sheet or sheets of iron, and wind, coil, or lay the same around a
suitable mandril, of a size corresponding with the bore, and when the sheet or
sheets of metal have been properly wound and secured, the mandril is with-
drawn, and the tube in this state is immersed in a bath of zine; the edges
and coils are thus secured and consolidated, and the tube is rendered
incorrodable.
It will thus be seen that we avoid the necessity for subjecting any of the
parts of a tube thus produced to a welding heat, thereby preventing the occur-
rence of what are known as "wasters," and common to the existing process
of manufacturing wrought-iron tubes, and producing the tube or other hollow
article much stronger, lighter, and of a more uniform good quality than tubes of
the ordinary make. For some purposes we prepare the surfaces of the sheets
of metal so as to produce a ready and perfect union or combination of the
layers or coils.
For tubes to be subjected to great internal pressure, we hoop or band the
external surface. Tubes for gas, water, steam, and various other purposes,
hollow girders, boiler and other flues, the barrels of cylindrical and other
boilers, and such like articles, can be produced with great facility, very strong,
light, and true, avoiding welding, frequent reheatings, or punching and rivetting
of the parts. If tubes or other articles are required of copper or brass, or
any similar composite metal, onc surface or both surfaces of the sheet or sheets
of which the tube or other article is to be formed may be tinn'd or
otherwise thinly coated with a suitable soldering material; or the edges and
that part of the sheet corresponding with or coming opposite thereto, after the
tube has been lapped or wound up, may be soldered together or secured in any
similar or suitable manner.
When the purpose for which the tubes may be required renders it neces-
sary that the ends thereof should be screwed, we take a thin ferrule of a
proper size, screwed externally, or what is known as a nipple or thimble piece,
and having made it sufficiently hot, we shrink one on to each end of the tube

page_text: screw
and immerse it in a suitable metallic bath, and securely attach it to the tube;
or we take a short piece of plain tube, shrink it on, galvanize it, and afterwards
in the ordinary way; or the ends of the tubes may be screwed by the
application of "dead pressure" with screwed blocks or dies, raising the threads
instead of cutting or removing portions of the metal, as in screwing with
stocks and dies. In forming tubes or other articles of a greater length than
one sheet of metal, we so arrange the joint or joints that there shall be no
break or weak place in the article manufactured. In the Sheet of Drawing
hereunto annexed, a mandril or spindle is shewn composed of three parts, around
which is lapped the sheet or sheets of metal. This mandril may be fixed
between the centres of a suitable lathe, or it may be fixed between the heads
of a machine constructed for the purpose; the edge of the sheet being true, is
inserted in a groove or otherwise secured, and a rotary motion being com-
municated to the spindle, the sheet is taken up and lapped or coiled around
it, proper precautions being taken to ensure the perfectly close contact of
one coil or lap over the other; and when a sufficient number of turns or
coils have been wound upon the mandril, the whole must be secured, either
by banding or coiling with binding wire or with temporary clamps. The
ends of the tube are then cut square, making the tube of a proper length,
and the core or mandril is next withdrawn, and the tube finished, by securing
the inner and outer edges, or by massing, consolidating, or soldering the parts
together, by immersion in a bath of molten metal.
Fig. 1 exhibits a section of a compound mandril, upon which the sheets are
intended to be coiled; a being the centre; b and c, two curved pieces or
cheeks to complete the circle; d, a groove in which the first or inner edge of
sheet is inserted.
Fig. 2 is a side view, partly in section, of a short mandril, as Fig. 1, with the
tube formed thereupon, a, b, and c being the parts of mandril before described;
e being the tube which has been lapped thereupon; f, f, two end pieces or
caps, having the centres therein, and fitting on to the square ends of mandril;
or they may be square hoops or bands to secure the parts of the compound
spindle or mandril, which may be composed of three or more parts.
Fig. 3 is a view of a tube with the core, spindle, or mandril removed, -the
tube having been cut to a proper length and the ends squared, the external
surface being lapped with binding wire.
:
Fig. 4 is a view of the same tube, with the screwed ferrules, nipple, or
thimble picces, shrunk on to its ends, and in which state it may be galvanized,
or immersed in a suitable bath of molten metal.
Fig. 5 is an end view of. Fig. 4. The small rib or feather piece projecting

page_text: inward may be removed previously to being galvanized, or the tube may be
drawn over a cutter, or it may be turned back, and take the curve of the
internal bore of the tube by being drawn over a suitable core die; or the edge
of the plate in the formation of the tube need not be turned back in the
groove of core spindle, as shewn at Fig. 1, but may be held or secured in
various ways, so as to be of the same curvoture as the core spindle, and giving
a clear bore to the tube when made, as seen at Fig. 6.
Fig. 6 is a section of another arrangement of a core spindle or mandril,
and. Fig. 7 is a side view of Fig. 6. It will be seen that there are several
short pins or studs projecting from the face of mandril upon which corre-
sponding holes in the edge of the plate or sheet of metal are placed, and
the coiling or lapping proceeds as before described.
An uniform pressure
throughout the length of the sheet and mandril is applied to keep the first
layer in contact with the mandril, and afterwards to ensure the perfect contact
of one coil upon the other.
Fig. 8 is a view of a completed tube, fitted with a male screw at one end
and a female screw or socket at the other.
Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section of a locomotive tube, with a ferrule
driven into the end thereof; a being the tube; b, the ferrule; and c, the tube
plate of boiler.
Fig. 10 is a longitudinal section of a piece of locomotive tube, fitted into
the conical hole of the tube plate of a locomotive boiler without a ferrule.
a is the tube; b, the tube plate; c is the lipped or coned end of tube, which
has been expanded to fit a correspondingly shaped hole in tube plate.
Fig. 11 is a view in section of a hollow T girder.
Fig. 12 is a section of a trunk or flue.
In the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed we have shown a few of the
purposes to which our Invention may be applied, but the applications are so
varied that it would be impossible to give details and illustrations of the whole.
We are aware that tubes have been made of sheet iron cold, the edges being
overlapped and rivetted, or turned back the reverse way and hooked together,
to form a close joint, and that these have also been galvanized; but what we
claim as our Invention is,-
First, the application of a thin sheet of metal coiled, wound, or lapped around
a suitable core, mandril, or mould, to produce a tube or other hollow article in
the manner described.
Second, the forming of one layer or series over another, continuously and
in close contact, without welding the edges of the plate or sheet together, for
the purpose of producing a light and strong tube or other article, whatever may

page_text: be the configuration or section, if hollow, and whether formed upon a core or
mandril or otherwise.
Third, the galvanizing or immersing in molten metal, for the purpose of
soldering together, massing, or consolidating articles so made.
In witness whereof, I, the said Edmund Burke, on behalf of myself and
the said Alexander Southwood Stocker, have hereunto set my hands
and seal, the Fourteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four.
EDMUND BURKE. (L.S.)