Improvements in or connected with the Manufacture of Tubes from Solid Billets.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 4th June, 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in or connected with the Manufacture of Tubes from
Solid Billets.
A communication from abroad by RALPH CHARLES STIEFEL, of Ellwood City,
Lawrence County, in the State of Pennsylvania, United States of America,
Engineer.
I, JAMES GRIEVE LORRAIN, M.I.E.E., M.I.Mech. E., of Norfolk House, Victoria
Embankment, London, W.C., in the County of Middlesex, Chartered Patent Agent,
do hereby declare the nature of this invention (as communicated to me from abroad)
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described and
ascertained in and by the following statement:
This invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of tubes by means
of which certain advantages are obtained.
In the Complete Specification accompanying the application for Letters
Patent No. 30,449 of the year 1897 (hereinafter termed the main specification) a
method of and apparatus for manufacturing tubes is specified in which conical
rolls are employed.
The present invention is a development of that set forth in the said main
specification and it differs therefrom in this respect, that instead of employing
conical rolls of the form set forth in the said main specification discs or
combinations of discs and conical rolls are employed for attaining the same ends.
In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan partly in section and
Figure 2 a side elevation with part of one disc broken away illustrating a case
corresponding with that illustrated in Figures 1 and 2 of the main specification
but with discs instead of conical rolls as specified in the said main specification.
Figure 3 is a plan and part section and Figure 4 a side elevation of a case in
which the discs are so arranged with respect to one another that endwise movement
is obtained without the use of a ram.
Figure 5 is a plan and part section and Figure 6 a side elevation illustrating
a case in which instead of employing two rolls as in the main specification or two
discs as in Figures 1 to 4, a roll and a disc are employed.
Figures 7 and 8 also illustrate a case in which a disc and a roll are employed but
in which the arrangement is such that endwise movement of the billet can bo
obtained without the use of a ram.
In some of these figures discs with conical working faces are substituted for
the conical rolls described in the main specification, and in others similar discs
are substituted for one of the rolls so that a disc and a roll. co-operate for the same
purpose and to the same effect as the pairs of rolls described in the main
specification or the pairs of discs herein before mentioned. In Figures 1 and 2
are shown a pair of discs H, and I, with conical working faces h, and i, formed at
their opposed sides, the lines of said faces and the axes of the discs converging to a
common point C on the axial line of the pass.

page_text: The pass in this construction is in all material respects like the passes between
the rolls described in the main specification, and the piercing mandrel has the
same relative location therein. These discs revolve in the directions shown by the
arrows producing however the same effect on the billet and rotating it in
the same manner as in the case of the rolls referred to in the main specification.
In these Figures 1 and 2 the axes of the discs are set on lines more or less divergent
from the axis of the pass, the angles of divergency having no fixed relation thereto
covering all cases, but being governed by the shapes of the working faces of the
discs and the adjustable width of the pass; the principal requisite condition being
that the lines of the working faces and the axes of the discs shall converge to a
common point on the axis of the pass. In these figures the axes of the discs and
the axis of the pass lie in a common plane, the result being the same as with the
construction of rolls shown in Figure 1 of the drawings accompanying the main
specification; that is, the discs merely rotate and compress the billet, while a
ram R is used to force it endwise through the pass and over the piercing
mandrel D.
Any adjustment of the width of the pass may be effected in precisely the same
manner as that described for the rolls in the main specification, that is, by
swinging the discs around an axis which intersects the axis of the pass at a
common point C where all the lines of working faces and the axes of the discs
converge.
In Figures 3 and 4 are shown a pair of discs similar in construction to those in
Figures 1 and 2 but they are differently disposed for the purpose of enabling one
to dispense with the ram feed and effect the endwise movement of the billet as well
as its rotation by the discs alone.
To this end the axes of the discs are set above and below the axis of the pass
respectively as shown in Figure 4, this disposition of the discs acting upon a
billet within their grip to move it endwise, at the same time that it is being rotated,
by the inclined oppositely moving surfaces with which it is in contact, in a manner
well understood by those skilled in the art to which my invention pertains, and,
therefore, not needing extended description here.
In Figures 5 and 6 are shown a roll and a disc similar to the rolls and the discs
previously (in the main specification and herein) described, their axes and the lines
of their working faces converging to a common point C on the axis of the pass,
about which point they may be adjusted towards or away from each other by
swinging them angularly round the point C. In the constructions shown in these
figures the axes of the roll, dise and pass all lie in the same plane so that the
roll and disc only serve to compress and rotate the billets while a ram R is used
to propel them endwise through the pass and over the piercing mandrel.
In Figures 7 and 8 are shown a roll and disc similar to those in Figures 5 and 6,
but they are differently disposed so as to enable the ram feed to be dispensed with
and the endwise movement of the billet as well as its rotation to be effected by the
action of the roll and disc alone.
To this end the axis of the roll is inclined relatively to the axis of the pass and
the axis of the disc is set below the axis of the pass as shown in Figure 8, the
effect of these dispositions being to cause the billet to move endwise through the
pass as it is rotated by the oppositely moving surfaces of the disc and roll as will
be well understood.
It is to be understood that in the several arrangements of discs and rolls herein-
before referred to, the adjustment of the width of the passes is to be effected after
the manner or manners set forth in the main specification.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of this invention
(as communicated to me from abroad) and in what manner the same is to be
performed, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The employment of two dises substantially as and for the purpose set forth
with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

page_text: 2. The employment of two discs substantially as and for the purposes set forth
with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
3. The employment of a disc and a roll substantially as and for the purpose set
forth with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
4. The employment of a disc and a roll substantially as and for the purposes set
forth with reference to Figures 7 and 8.
5. The arrangement and combination of discs ram and mandrel substantially as
set forth with reference to Figures 1 and 2.
6. The arrangement and combination of discs and mandrel substantially as set
forth with reference to Figures 3 and 4.
7. The arrangement and combination of disc, roll, ram and mandrel substantially
as set forth with reference to Figures 5 and 6.
8. The arrangement and combination of disc, roll and mandrel substantially as
set forth with reference to Figures 7 and 8.
Dated this 7th day of January 1898.
JAMES G. LORRAIN,
Chartered Patent Agent, Communicatee.