AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES AND TUBES
Year: 1854

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Childs the younger, of Brighton, in the
County of Sussex, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES AND TUBES."
Sealed the 20th April 1855, and dated the 6th November 1854.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Childs at the Office
of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the 6th November
1854.
I, WILLIAM CHILDS the younger, of Brighton, in the County of Sussex,
5: Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN
IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES AND TUBES" to be as follows:-
I take a ribbon or strip of metal and taper the edges, so as to make a
"scarf" joint when brought together, as hereafter stated. I form my tubes
by winding the ribbon spirally round a cylinder. The edges are welded as
: quickly as they are put together, or as fast as the pipe or tube is formed.

page_text: WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Sixth day of November, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty-four, in the eighteenth year of Her reign,
did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said
William Childs the younger, Her special licence that I, the said William
Childs the younger, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others
as I, the said William Childs the younger, my executors, administrators, 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 "AN IMPROVEMENT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF PIPES AND TUBES,"
upon the
condition (amongst others) that I,. the said William Childs the younger, 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 William Childs the younger, 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 thereof, reference being had to the Drawings hereunto
annexed, that is to say :-
My Invention consists in a mode of manufacturing metal pipes and tubes,
by employing ribbons or strips of metal, tapered or chamfered at the edges,
so as to make a scarf joint when brought together, as hereafter stated, and
forming the pipes or tubes by winding the ribbons or strips spirally round a
cylinder, the edges being welded as quickly as they are brought together, or as
fast as the pipe or tube is formed.
The Drawings hereunto annexed represent different views of an arrange-
ment of machinery for forming metal pipes and tubes according to my
Invention Figure-1-is a longitudinal section of the same; Figure 2, a plan;
Figure 3, an end elevation of the right-hand end of Figures 1 and 2; and
Figure 4 is an end elevation of the left-hand end of Figures 1 and 2; Figure 5
shews different views of one of the parts detached from the machine.
A, B, and C are three rollers turning in bearings in a strong cast-iron frame
D. The middle roller B is that on which the pipes or tubes are formed, and
it is made moveable, to admit of its being.removed and replaced by others of
varying dimensions, according to the diameter of the pipes or tubes required. to

page_text: roller B by means of
The roller B is driven
be formed. The rollers A and C are driven from the
the wheel gearing A¹ and C', as shewn in Figure 3.
by a strap passing round the pulley B'. E, E, are screws, passing through nuts
formed in the frame D, and furnished with hand wheels, by turning which the
bearings of the upper roller A, and consequently the roller itself, can be
adjusted in reference to the roller B; and F, F, are similar screws with hand
wheels for adjusting the roller C in like manner; G, G, are drawing wheels,
which are formed with roughened surfaces, and to which motion is given from
the inside bevilled wheel H by means of the bevil wheels G', G', in the manner
shewn in Figure 4. The wheel H is driven by a strap passing round the
pulley H', which is formed on the axis of the wheel H. I is a semicircular
guide or rest, shewn in Figure 2, by which the end of a ribbon or strip of
metal which has been introduced into the machine is directed downwards, and
bent round, so as to pass between the under side of the roller B and the upper
side of the roller C. The roller B passes quite through the machine, and its
left-hand end is supported on friction wheels J, J, in the manner shewn in
Figure 4. One of these wheels is shewn detached in Figure 5. A bar or rest
is fixed in front of the machine, on which the workman supports the ribbon or
strip of metal while introducing it into the machine. This is not shewn in the
Drawings.
The action of the machine is as follows:-A ribbon or strip of metal, pre-
viously prepared and heated to a welding temperature, is introduced between
the rollers A and B, as near to the left-hand end of the machine as its width
will allow; it is then carried round by these rollers, and forced against the
fixed semicircular guide I, which directs it between the rollers B and C towards
the front of the machine, and it then comes in contact with the friction wheels
J, bearing the end of the roller B, and these wheels being set at an angle allow
the metal to pass between them and the roller B; the roller B then con-
tinues to wind on the ribbon or strip, the edges of which are welded as they
are brought together by the pressure of the rollers A and C. The further
revolution of the roller B completes a pipe or tube equal in length to that
of that roller, and the first formed end of it is then brought under the action of
the drawing wheels G, G, by which the pipe or tube is gradually released from
the roller B, the formation of the pipe or tube being still continued until the
required length has been produced. By this means pipes or tubes of regular
diameter throughout may be formed of any length. Taper tubes can only be
produced of the same length as the roller B, the form of which must then be
made to correspond to that of the taper tube to be manufactured, and the
position of the rollers A and C must be varied accordingly.

page_text: The ribbons or strips of metal are prepared for being submitted to the
machine in the following manner :-In the case of iron, they are heated in any
suitable furnace and passed between rolls, by which the edges are scarfed; or
chamfered and notched, or roughened like a file, the thickness of the edges
being at the same time slightly increased, as shewn in Figure 6, so that the
pressure of the rollers A and C may produce a perfect weld at the joints when
the edges are brought together. The ribbons or strips for making tubes of an
increasing thickness or diameter are rolled of a corresponding width or thick-
ness. In the case of steel being the metal employed, the ribbons or strips are
first converted and then taken direct from the scrapers, by which any adhering
slag or cinder is removed through the scarfing rollers and on to the tube-
forming machine. In forming long lengths of tubes or pipes, the welding
together of the series of ribbons or strips, so as to form a continuous length,
may be performed by a small pair of rollers in front of the tube machine, or by
means of the tube machine itself, the speed being reduced for that purpose.
The adhesion of the heated metal to the rollers may be prevented by any of the
methods commonly employed for that object.
The method of manufacture above described is applicable to the formation
of tubular vessels of any dimensions, and of either simple or complex shapes,
and embossed, if desired; the middle roller or mandril B must in this latter
case be made in three or more pieces, to admit of its being withdrawn from
the manufactured article. In making large tubular vessels, such as steam
engine boilers, a convenient plan will be to form the cylindrical parts of them
of the exact required length on a mandril to correspond; the drawing wheels
G, G, may then be dispensed with, the mandril and tube on it being removed
together from the machine. The ends of the boilers may be formed of plates
scarfed at the edges, so as to overlap each other, and welded together by
pressure between appropriate dies, which must be so constructed as to bend the
plates to the required hollow shape, and leave an upright edge or flage all
round, so that the ends may be rivetted to the body part of the boilers. The
same proceeding is followed in making cannon or mortars from_steel_or_iron,
and the breech is filled up after the cylindrical portion has been bored out, by
screwing in a metal plug, or by welding in a similar plug before boring, the
plug being temporarily fixed to one end of the middle roller of the machine to
admit of this being done.
Although I have only described the ribbons or strips as having even or plain
scarf edges, I do not confine myself to such plain edges, as it will be obvious
that they may be of any such irregular form, that when two edges are brought
together, they will lock into each other. Again, instead of only single ribbons

page_text: or strips being employed, I reserve to myself the use of two or more strip
combined, or side by side.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, I declare that I am aware that barrels
for guns and fire-arms have been manufactured from rods and bars of metal
wound spirally round a mandril, and afterwards welded together, and I do not
therefore claim the same; but what I do claim as my Invention is,-
The mode of manufacturing metal pipes and tubes, by employing ribbons or
strips of metal, tapered or chamfered at the edges, so as to make a scarf joint
when brought together, and forming the pipes or tubes by winding the ribbons
or strips spirally round a cylinder or mandril, the edges being welded as quickly
as they are brought together, or as fast as the pipe or tube is formed, in the
manner herein-before exemplified and described.
I also claim the method herein-before described of welding strips, plates, or
ribbons into a continuous length by means of rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Childs the younger, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Second day of May, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-five.
WILLIAM CHILDS, JUNIOR.
(L.S.)
WILLIAM CHILDS, JUNIOR.
(L.S.)