AN IMPROVED SHEET METAL BENDING AND TUBING MACHINE
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Abraham Herts, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury,
in the County of Middlesex, Commission Agent, for the Invention of
"AN IMPROVED SHEET METAL BENDING AND TUBING MACHINE."-A com-
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PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Abraham Herts at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 8th.
July 1856.
I, ABRAHAM HERTS, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, in the County of
Middlesex, Commission Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said
Invention for "AN IMPROVED SHEET METAL BENDING AND TUBING MACHINE," (a
communication,) to be as follows, and consists of a non-axled cylinder, with
one or more shafts or rollers passing through it (said cylinder resting and
working on friction rollers), by which I am enabled more accurately to form
metal tubes upon a mandril. The mandril is covered with sheet metal, with
the edge so arranged that the material to be bent can be passed under it a
little, or a slot can be formed on the mandril by attaching a strip of metal
thereto. One end of the cylinder has cogs, into which gear cog wheels on

page_text: the shaft or shafts, passing through it in such manner that the cylinder shall
rotate in the opposite direction to the shaft or roller impelling it. The rollers
are operated upon and regulated by levers and connecting rods. Motion
may be communicated to the machine by means of a treadle, or by other
suitable means.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Abraham Herts in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
8th January 1857.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ABRAHAM
HERTS, of 22, Bunhill Row, Finsbury, in the County of Middlesex, Com-
mission Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Eighth day of July, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the twentieth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give, and grant unto me, the said
Abraham Herts, Her special license that I, the said Abraham Herts, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Abraham
Herts, my executors, administrators, or 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 "AN IMPROVED SHEET METAL.
BENDING AND TUBING MACHINE," a communication from William Webster, of
Morrisania, United States, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the
said Abraham Herts, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal,
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 Abraham Herts, 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,
reference being had to the accompanying Drawings, and to the letters and
figures marked thereon, that is to say:-

page_text: The said Invention relates to a peculiar construction and arrangement of
machinery or apparatus for rolling up or bending sheet metal into tubes or
other curved forms, suitable for stove pipes, speaking pipes, locomotive tubes,
and other purposes where sheet metal tubes or curved plates are required.
According to this Invention the sheet of metal to be rolled into a pipe or
tube, baving been previously cut to the length of tube to be rolled, and of a
width corresponding to the desired circumference of such tube, allowance
being made, if found desirable, for a slight overlap of the edges for subsequent
soldering or welding, is inserted at one edge lengthwise into a straight slot or
narrow groove, made longitudinally in the mandril upon which the sheet is to
be rolled. This mandril, if for light work, may be composed of wood, covered
with sheet metal, one edge of the metal overlapping slightly, so as to leave a
slit for the introduction of the edge of the sheet to be rolled; but for heavy
work the mandril may be of solid metal. This mandril, with the sheet inserted
therein, is placed inside a hollow non-axled metal cylinder, which is supported
on external friction rollers, and is fitted or formed internally at one or both
ends with cog teeth, which gear into a spur pinion running loose on a stud,
and this pinion in its turn gears into a second pinion fast on the end of a long
roller inside the hollow cylinder before referred to. A second roller is also
placed inside the cylinder, and works in bearings in the ends of two levers, by
which means it may be raised or lowered, as desired.
In order to introduce the mandril the moveable roller must be elevated, and
the mandril, with the sheet of metal, is then inserted into the cylinder between
the two rollers; the moveable roller is then brought down so as to press upon
the mandril, and squeeze it between the combined surfaces of the two rollers
and the internal circumference of the hollow cylinder.
By imparting a rotatory motion, either by a winch handle or by ordinary
driving pullies, to the fixed roller, a similar motion will be transmitted through
the loose pinion to the hollow non-axled cylinder, and the mandril, by its contact
therewith, will be caused to revolve and roll up the sheet of metal into a tube,
the two rollers serving to press the metal slightly round the metal as it revolves.
By slight modifications two or more tubes may be rolled at one time in the
same machine, it being necessary for that purpose to multiply the pressing
rollers accordingly.
And in order that the said Invention may be fully understood, I shall now'
proceed more particularly to describe the same, and for that purpose I shall
refer to the several Figures on the Sheet of Drawings hereunto annexed, the
same letters of reference indicating corresponding parts throughout all the
Figures.

page_text: Figure 1 of the Drawings represents a side elevation of the machine; and
Figures 2 and 3 are opposite end views of the same, corresponding. A is the
main framing of the machine; B, a hollow non-axled cylinder, supported and
turning upon the four antifriction rollers C, C, which turn loosely on studs
fitted to the brackets C¹. On the main framing D is an internal cog wheel,
fitted or formed inside the cylinder B, and gearing into the broad pinion E,
which works loose on a stud in one of the brackets C¹. The pinion E gears
also with a smaller pinion F on the end of the roller G; this roller works in
bearings at each extremity, which bearings are fitted into the brackets C¹, and
secured therein by set screws, as shewn at H. This arrangement is adopted
for the facility of introducing the roller into its place in the machine. A
second roller I (both rollers being of the same length as the cylinder B) is
supported at each extremity in the ends of the levers K, which work on fixed
centres at L in the brackets C³. This latter roller is made moveable so
as to rise and fall, to allow of the introduction of the mandril M (shewn
in enlarged detail section at Figure 4). This motion may be obtained by
means of the links N, N, which are connected to the levers K at one end,
and the short lever arms 0, 0, on the shaft P at their other extremity.
On this shaft are fitted two other arms P1, P₁, the one connected by means
of the link Q to the treadle R, and the other carrying a counterweight S,.
which serves to raise the moveable roller I. When the foot is removed
from off the treadle, this motion enables the mandril M, with the rolled
tube, to be removed from between the rollers, and again replaced, fitted
with a fresh sheet of metal m. The foot of the attendant is now brought
down on to the treadle, when the roller I will descend and press upon the
mandril, which is caused to rotate by its frictional contact with the roller G
and the inner surface of the cylinder B, driven either by the winch handle T,
or by the fast and loose driving pullies U, U¹, on the end of the roller G.
By means of this rolling and pressing action the sheet m will be smoothly
pressed round the mandril in the form of a tube, which may be readily slipped
off when completed. Different sized mandrils for different diameters of tubes
may be used, by simply adjusting the connections of the levers K and O, and
links N, by means of the various holes made therein.
Having now described and particularly ascertained the nature of the said
Invention, and the manner in which the same is or may be used or carried
into effect, I would observe, in conclusion, that I do not confine or restrict
myself to the precise details or arrangements which I have had occasion to
describe or refer to, as many variations may be made therefrom without
deviating from the principles or main features of the said Invention; but what

page_text: I consider to be novel and original, and therefore claim as the Invention
secured to me by the hercin-before in part recited Letters Patent, is,-
First, the general construction, arrangement, and combination of mechanism
for rolling up or bending sheet metal into tubes or other similarly curved
articles, as herein-before described.
Second, the application and use of a non-axled cylinder in combination with
a mandril and two or more pressing rollers for rolling or bending sheet metal,
as herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said Abraham Herts, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, the Eight day of January, One thousand eight hundred
and fifty-seven.
ABRAHAM HERTS. (L.S.)