Improvements in the Manufacture of Various Articles from Aluminium or Metallic Alloys containing a Large Percentage of Aluminium and Apparatus to be Employed in connection therewith.
Year: 1897

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Apr., 1897
Complete Specification Left, 7th Jan., 1898-Accepted, 7th Apr., 1898
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Various Articles from
Aluminium or Metallic Alloys containing a Large Percentage
of Aluminium and Apparatus to be Employed in connection
therewith.
I, GEORGE ALEXANDER DICK, of No. 110, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to the manufacture of bars of certain sections, tubes and
various other articles from aluminium or metallic alloys containing a large
percentage of aluminium.
I have discovered that a body of aluminium or aluminium alloys such as those
above referred to in a heated plastic state may be longitudinally divided and if the
temperature be maintained and the air excluded so as to protect the surfaces of the
parts from becoming oxidised, the two parts will again unite and form one solid
mass without risk of separation at the joint and this discovery I utilise in the
manufacture of tubes and various other articles in the following way.
For the purpose of this invention, I employ any suitable pressure chamber or
container for the heated plastic metal and at one end thereof I provide a suitable
die and working in the pressure chamber or container I arrange a suitable piston or
plunger. Or, the die may be arranged at the end of the ram, which, in this
case, must be hollow so as to let the produced bar or tube pass through.
Within the chamber or container I arrange a short mandrel carried by a bridge
or girder which may in elevation take the form of a segment of a circle whilst in
transverse section it should be more or less of an inverted V-shape so as to present
a sharp edge to the advancing metal or alloy whilst the mandrel is formed on or
fixed or otherwise arranged in connection with the bridge or girder and extends
into the die.
The girder may be with advantage formed, at its base, to the arc of the interior
of the pressure chamber so that when the same is placed therein it will at once
centralise itself and the mandrel with relation to the die.
The bridge or girder may be formed in one span or three or more parts or legs
may radiate from the centre thereof.
A body of metal or alloy in a sufficiently heated state, placed in the container or
pressure chamber and forced forward by the plunger or piston, will, on meeting the
sharp edge of the girder, become divided into two or more parts and upon entering
the die, which is formed with a bevelled, flared, or curved mouth for that purpose,
the two parts will be pressed around the mandrel and against each other and will
thereby become firmly welded together or united in such manner that it will be
difficult or impossible to discover the point of junction in the finished bar or tube.
It will be understood that the metal must be maintained in the required plastic
condition until the parts have united in the manner hereinbefore described.
The surfaces of the divided mass of plastic metal whilst separated by the bridge
or girder are in close contact therewith and are protected from atmospheric in-
fluence, whilst immediately that they pass beyond the bridge they are forced closely

page_text: around the mandrel and together by the form of the die, and as they are not
exposed to atmospheric influence no oxidation of the surfaces takes place to
interfere with the successful uniting of the parts.
In order to maintain the pressure chamber or container at an even temperature
during the squeezing or squirting operation, any suitable heating means capable of
regulation may
be employed but the preferred device and which forms part of the
present invention consists of a number of convolutions of suitable wire properly
insulated and disposed around the entire outer surface of the pressure chamber or
container or around the lining of the container or within the outer wall thereof and
through which coil a sufficient current of electricity is passed from any suitable
source.
By this arrangement of parts, the heat conveyed to the plastic metal under treat-
ment may be regulated at will by varying the strength of the electric current passed
through the coil.
By the means herein before described, tubes and various other articles of
aluminium may be made rapidly, accurately and economically whilst the length
thereof is merely governed by the quantity of metal within the container or
pressure chamber.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Various Articles from
Aluminium or Metallic Alloys containing a Large Percentage
of Aluminium and Apparatus to be Employed in connection
therewith.
I, GEORGE ALEXANDER DICK, of No. 110, Cannon Street, in the City of London,
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:-
-
My said invention relates to the manufacture of hollow bars of various sections,
tubes and various other articles from aluminium or metallic alloys containing a
large percentage of aluminium by squirting, squeezing or pressing the same while
in a plastic condition through a die in connection with which a mandrel is
arranged.
It has before been proposed to manufacture tubes and other articles for the
production of which a mandrel is required by squirting, squeezing or pressing
metal, while in a heated and plastic state through a die, but for this purpose a
long mandrel passing into the die has been employed, the said mandrel either being
carried by and travelling with a ram or plunger working within a pressure chamber
containing the heated metal and employed to exert the necessary force thereon, or
fixed outside the pressure chamber and projecting into the die.
This long mandrel (which necessarily became highly heated) owing to its being
unsupported at one end and to the great pressure exercised by the ram during the
squirting or squeezing operation, was unsteady, and, when carried by the plunger,
became elongated and drawn out of shape, thus rendering the operation useless for
practical purposes.
Some of these objections applied to the employment of a mandrel fixed outside
the chamber beyond the die and extending into the latter, in addition to which in
this case the length of tube was necessarily limited to the length of the mandrel.

page_text: Hitherto it has been considered necessary in order to produce tubes or like
articles from aluminium or aluminium alloys of the nature above stated by squirt-
ing, squeezing or pressing the same through a die that the mass of metal acted
upon should not be cut or divided or otherwise interrupted in its passage to the die,
but that it must be forced directly into the die and around the mandrel, so that the
tube or other article may be produced uninterruptedly from the homogeneous
mass.
I have discovered that a body of aluminium or aluminium alloys such as those
above referred to in a heated plastic state may be divided, and, if the temperature
be maintained and air excluded, so as to prevent the surfaces of the parts becoming
oxidised, the two parts of the divided metal, will, when brought together under
pressure, again unite and form one solid mass without risk of separation at the
joint, and this discovery I utilise in the manufacture of hollow bars and various
other articles in the following way: -
For the purpose of this invention, I employ any suitable pressure chamber or con-
tainer for the heated plastic metal and at one end thereof I provide a suitable die and
working within the pressure chamber or container I arrange a suitable piston or
plunger. Or, the die may be arranged at the end of the ram which in this case
must be hollow so as to let the produced bar or tube pass through it.
Within the chamber or container I arrange a short mandrel carried by a bridge
or girder which may in elevation take the form of a segment of a circle, whilst in
transverse section it may be more or less of an inverted V-shape so as to present
a sharp edge to the advancing metal or alloy, whilst the mandrel is formed on or
fixed to or otherwise arranged in connection with the bridge or girder and extends
into the die.
The girder may be, with advantage. formed. at its base, to the are of the the
interior of the pressure chamber so that when the girder is placed in the latter it
will at once centralise itself and the mandrel with relation to the die. The bridge
or girder may be formed in one span, or three or more parts or legs may radiate
from the centre thereof.
A. body of metal or alloy in a sufficiently heated state, placed in the container or
pressure chamber and forced forward by the plunger or piston, will, on meeting
the edge of the girder, become divided into two or more parts and upon entering
the die, which is formed with a bevelled, flared or curved mouth for that purpose.
the two parts will be pressed around the mandrel and against each other, and will
thereby become firmly welded together or united in such manner that it will be
difficult or impossible to discover the point of junction in the finished bar or tube.
It will be understood that the metal must be maintained in the required plastic
condition until the parts have united in the manner hereinbefore described.
The surfaces of the divided mass of plastic metal, while separated by the bridge
or girder, are in close contact therewith and are protected from atmospheric in-
fluence, whilst, immediately that they pass beyond the bridge they are forced
closely around the mandrel and together by the form of the die and as they are not
exposed to atmospheric influence, no oxidation of the surfaces takes place to
interfere with the successful uniting of the parts.
In order to maintain the pressure chamber or container at an even temperature
during the squeezing or squirting operation, any suitable heating means capable
of regulation may be employed, but the preferred device, which forms part of the
present invention, consists of a number of convolutions of wire of suitable resistance
properly insulated and disposed around the entire outer surface of the pressure
chamber or container or around the lining or within the outer wall thereof, and
through which coil a sufficient current of electricity is passed from any suitable
source.
And, in order that my said invention may be more clearly understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed, aided by the accompanying drawings, more fully
to describe the same.

page_text: DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Figure 1 is a horizontal section of an apparatus suitable for carrying the
invention into effect, in this figure the bridge or girder is shown formed in one
span.
Figure 2 is an end view of a bridge or girder, drawn to an increased scale;
with three radiating arms for supporting the mandrel, and Figure 3 is a sectional
view of a container illustrating a method of heating the same by means of
electricity.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2 a represents a strong frame, 6 represents a
hydraulic cylinder, b¹ represents the ram 62 represents an extension of the ram,
which I call a plunger, and represents a pressure chamber or container of any
suitable and well known construction designed to resist the extreme degree of
heat and heavy pressure to which it is subjected in the operation hereinafter
described, and g represents the plastic metal contained within the pressure
chamber c.
The pressure chamber or container c, which is open at one end, is provided with
a die holder f formed with an orifice f¹ through which the formed tube or the like
is forced, and e* represents such tube issuing therefrom.
Within the die holder f is received a die d adapted to impart the desired form
to the issuing tube or the like, whilst the necessary pressure to force the plastic
metal g through the die d is obtained from the plunger 6 which works within
the pressure chamber or container c and the die holder f and die d are held
in place by means of separate jaws h.
Within the pressure chamber or container in connection with the die dis
employed a short mandrel e', which is carried by a bridge or girder e, which is
supported by the die d, as represented in the drawings or it might be otherwise
supported as will be readily understood.
The bridge or girder e, for the purpose of strength in elevation is shaped to the
form of two intersecting ares of circles whilst in transverse section on its acting
face it may be bevelled, so as to present a sharp or more or less rounded edge e** to
the advancing plastic mass of aluminium or aluminium alloy 9 whilst the
mandrel e is formed or fixed on the rear side thereof or is otherwise arranged in
connection with the rear or thickened side of the bridge or girder e, and extends
into the opening d¹ of the die d.
The girdere may be with advantage formed at the extreme points of its base to
enter into corresponding notches or recesses formed in the die d, or, it
formed to the arc of the interior of the die holder f or otherwise arranged so that
may be
when placed in position it will at once centralise itself and the mandrel e¹ with
relation to the die d.
A body of metal g in a sufficiently heated state placed within the pressure
chamber or container c and forced forward by the plunger or piston 6ª will, on
meeting the edge e** of the girder e, become divided into two parts, and upon
entering the die d which is formed with a bevelled, flared or rounded mouth to
facilitate the entry thereof, the two parts will be pressed around the mandrel e¹ and
the freshly divided surfaces of the plastic metal g will be brought together under
great pressure and will thereby be caused to be firmly welded together or united
in such manner that it will be difficult or impossible to discover the point of
junction in the finished article.
The surfaces of the divided mass of plastic aluminium or alloy g while separated
by the bridge or girder e, are in close contact therewith and are protected from
atmospheric influence, whilst, immediately that they pass beyond the bridge or
girder e they are forced closely around the mandrel e¹ and together by the formation
of the mouth of the die d, whilst the advancing metal closely fills the die around
the mandrel e¹ and thereby completely excludes air, and, as after the first entry of
the metal into the die the divided parts are not exposed to atmospheric influence,
no oxidation of the surfaces can take place to interfere with the successful uniting
thereof.

page_text: It will be understood that the aluminium or alloy 9 must be maintained in the
required plastic condition until the parts have united in the manner herein before
described, and, for this purpose any suitable heating means capable of regulation
may be employed.
In the example given at Figure 3, is shewn a method of heating the container or
pressure chamber by the aid of electricity in order to maintain the aluminium or
alloy, in the required plastic condition.
The container or pressure chamber here shewn is built up in the manner
described in the Specification of Letters Patent granted to me dated 29th November
1894 No. 23172, of several cylinders c c in which latter, which is called the
lining, the plastic metal is contained.
Around the exterior of the lining and embedded in insulating material is
coiled in a number of convolutions a length of wire c*, of suitable resistance and
the ends of which are connected with the poles of a dynamo or other powerful source
of electricity.
By the means hereinbefore described, hollow bars and various other articles of
aluminium or aluminium alloys of the nature above stated may be produced
rapidly, accurately and economically, and the length thereof is merely governed by
the quantity of plastic metal within the container or pressure chamber c, whilst,
inasmuch as the process is effected under great pressure, it is possible to manu-
facture tubes or the like of great strength and without any perceptible joint in the
finished article.
I am aware that apparatus similar to that hereinbefore described, with the
exception of the wire coil, has been employed in the manufacture of pipes from
lead, and I would therefore have it understood that I make no claim to such
apparatus, which is herein shown and described merely as a convenient means for
carrying my invention into effect.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The manufacture of hollow bars, tubes and other articles from aluminium or
aluminium alloys, of the nature above stated, by forcing the latter, in a heated
and plastic state, by means of a plunger through a die and around a short mandrel
entering the die and supported by a bridge or girder arranged between the body of
heated metal and the die plate, the metal, which is during the process cut or
divided by the bridge or girder, having its cut surfaces protected from contact with
air and brought together in the die under heavy pressure, while so protected, so
that they again unite, substantially as hereinbefore described and for the purpose
stated.
2. In apparatus such as that herein before described for manufacturing hollow
bars, tubes and various other articles from aluminium or aluminium alloys of the
nature above stated, the arrangement of a coil of suitable wire, properly insulated,
around the entire outer surface of the pressure chamber or container or within the
outer wall or around the lining thereof, substantially as and for the purpose
herein before stated.
Dated this 7th day of January 1898.
VAUGHAN & SON,
Agents for the Applicant.