IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES
Year: 1848

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JoпN
OLIVER YORK, of Number 24, Rue de la Madeleine, Paris, Engineer, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent under the Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-first day of November, in
the twelfth year of Her reign, did give and grant unto me, the said John
Oliver York, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial licence, full power,
sole privilege and authority, that I, the said John Oliver York, my exors, adñiors,
and assigns, and such others as I, the said John Oliver York, my exors, adñiors,
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, should and lawfully
might make, use, exercise, and vend my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES," within that part of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland called England, Her Dominion of Wales, and Town
of Berwick-upon-Tweed, during the term of fourteen years thence next
ensuing; in which said Letters Patent there is contained a proviso, requiring
that I, the said John Oliver York, shall particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, by an instrument in writing under my hand and seal, and cause the
same to be enrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six
calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited
Letters Patent, as, reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large
annear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
John Oliver York, do hereby declare that the nature of my Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, are particularly described
and ascertained in and by this present Specification or instrument in writing,
reference being had to the-several Drawings hereunto-annexed, and in which
said several Drawings similar parts_are_marked_and_referred. to by similar
letters or figures (that is to say) :-
My said Invention consists, firstly, of a mode or modes of manufacturing
steel or iron tubes to be used as tubular flues for steam boilers, or for any
other useful purpose, by casting or making hollow cylinders of steel or iron
in short thick lengths, and then rolling the same out until they became tubes
of the intended length and thickness or substance, in manner herein-after
described.
The material of which I prefer to make tubes intended to be used or
applied as tubular flues is cast steel, which I deem to be a more durable
material for that purpose than iron, and less costly than brass.
Any cast-steel hollow cylinder which I intend to manufacture into a tube I
make by casting the same in any ordinary manner, with a bore of the diameter
which the finished tube is intended to possess, or nearly so, and of a thickness
sufficient to enable me to roll it out into a tube of the length and substance
required.
In Figure 1 of the said Drawings hereunto annexed I have shewn a side
view of a hollow cylinder such as I make or use for the purpose of manu-
facturing tubes according to this part of my Invention, and such cylinders
may be made either of steel or of iron. If they are made of iron I prefer
to make them in manner herein-after described, but they may of course be
made in any other manner which may be found most convenient. Having
made or obtained a hollow steel or iron cylinder of this description, I proceed
to roll it out or elongate it until it has been made of the requisite length and
thickness by one or other of the two following modes of operating. One of
the said modes of operating I effect by means of machinery or apparatus
such as partially shewn in Figures 2 and 3 of the said Drawings hereunto
annexed.
Figure 2 is a longitudinal section of part of the machinery or apparatus,
shewing the first two pairs of a series of several pairs of rollers composing
parts of the machinery, and such machinery may contain five, six, seven, or
any other convenient number of pairs of rollers, according to the size and
thickness of the tubes to be produced by means of the machinery; but the
number of pairs of rollers must be so limited, that heated hollow cylinders, such

page_text: as intended to be operated upon, may be passed through the whole of them
whilst they remain in a heated state, and sufficiently hot to enable the rollers
to produce the required effect.
Figure 3 is a front view, in elevation, of the first pair of the said series of
rollers, shewing the manner in which they are furnished with grooves, which
are semicircular, or nearly so, such grooves being made in the same manner
and form as grooves are made in rollers intended to be used for rolling round
bars of iron, but with greater accuracy than grooves are usually made in
rollers intended to be used for the said last-mentioned purpose. Each of the
rollers shewn in Figures 2 and 3 is marked with the letter R. Figure 3 also
shews the manner in which the rollers when mounted in their bearings are
placed together, so as to operate upon hollow cylinders or tubes passing
between them. This pair of rollers is furnished with several grooves (the
number of which may be increased or diminished as may be found most con-
venient) of different dimensions, so as to make the series of rollers applicable
for the purpose of operating upon hollow cylinders of various diameters. The
axes of these rollers are mounted in bearings placed in frames or housings in
the ordinary manner adopted in making rollers of this description. Motion
is to be given to this pair of rollers by any convenient means, and the two
rollers are to be caused to move together and at equal velocities by means of
a pair of toothed wheels or pinions, mounted upon or connected with the axles
of the rollers in any convenient way. This first pair of rollers is to be placed
nearer to the furnace than the others, and then the others successively one
after another behind the first pair in like manner, as shewn in Figure 2, care
being taken to leave sufficient space between each pair of rollers to allow the
length of the cylinders or tubes to be operated upon by the machinery to be
free from one pair of rollers before it begins to pass between the next pair.
Each of the successive pairs of rollers are constructed in the same manner
and receive motion in the same way as the first pair, but the grooves of each
pair of rollers after the first pair are to be made smaller than the grooves of
the preceding pair, and the last pair of rollers is to have its grooves made
of such a size as to roll or press the hollow cylinders passing between them
into tubes of the required, thickness.
7
A cylinder to be operated upon by means of this machinery is to have
inserted in it the end of a straight mandril a, a, which must be a little longer
than the tube to be made, and of the same diameter as the bore of the
intended tube. The bore of the hollow cylinders being made slightly larger
than the bore of the intended tubes, so as to facilitate the insertion of the

page_text: mandril, the action of the rollers during the process w press and ammis
the bore to the size required.
A cylinder having been heated to such a degree as to enable the rollers
during the process to roll-out or-elongate the steel or iron of which it is.
composed upon the mandril, I proceed to pass it, together with the mandril
inserted in it, through between the first pair of rollers, and through a pair of
grooves in those rollers a little smaller than the external diameter of the
cylinder, which will have the effect of diminishing the cylinder according to
the size of the groove through which it may be passed, and thus the thickness
of the hollow cylinder or tube will be diminished and its length increased.
The moment the cylinder tube quits the grooves in one pair of rollers the
workman turns it round the fourth part of a circle, so that the greatest
pressure of the second pair of rollers may be exerted upon different parts of the
hollow cylinder or tube, for the purpose of better ensuring the equalisation
of the thickness of the tube. The cylinder being turned to this extent, one
end of it is, with the mandril remaining in it, to be immediately passed between
the next pair of the series of grooves, which are smaller than the first pair,
and are made in the second pair of rollers, and opposite to the grooves which
the cylinder has just quitted. The cylinder will then by the action of the
rollers be drawn through between them, and thus further pressed or drawn
out and elongated, in like manner as by the action of the first pair of rollers.
The cylinder with the mandril still inserted therein is then in like manner to
be passed between each of the series of grooves made in the other pair of
rollers composing the machinery, taking care to turn the cylinder to the
extent before mentioned between each pair of rollers, and when a cylinder
thus operated upon has passed out from between the last pair of rollers it
will be found to have been pressed or drawn out into a tube of the external
diameter of the last pair of the series of grooves through which it has passed,
or nearly so.
For the purpose of facilitating the process, I deem it best to place the
several pairs of rollers in a straight line, or nearly so, and in such a manner
that each set or series of grooves made successively in the series of rollers,
and through which cylinders are to be successively passed, may be placed in a
straight line, or nearly so.
The other mode of operating upon hollow cylinders, so as to manufacture
tubes according to my said Invention, I effect by means of machinery or
apparatus, parts of which are shewn in section in Figure 4 of the said Drawings
hereunto annexed.

page_text: This machinery or apparatus also consists of a series of several pairs
of rollers constructed, mounted, and receiving motion in like manner as
herein-before described with respect to the machinery shewn in Figures 2
and 3, and the first two pairs only of the series of rollers are shewn in
Figure 4.
I prefer, however, in constructing this machinery to make the rollers of a
considerably larger diameter than those used in constructing the machinery
firstly herein-before described. In operating with this machinery, I use a
stationary mandril in place of a moveable mandril, such as before mentioned,
and parts of this stationary mandril X, X, are shewn in Figure 4. The
mandril in this machinery is to be held firmly at one end in a dovetailed
groove (as shewn in Figure 4), or in any other convenient manner. The
shank of the mandril may be made in one or in several pieces, but I prefer to
make it in several pieces, so as to screw together in the manner shewn in the
Figure, and it must be long enough to extend through the whole length of
the series of rollers when it is placed in the series of grooves in which it is to
act when used in operating upon a hollow cylinder passing between the rollers.
An enlarged part Y is to be made upon the shank of the mandril at every
part of it, which is to be placed between each of the pairs of rollers, and the
diameter of each such enlarged part must be equal to the diameter of the bore
of the intended tube, or thereabouts.
A steel or iron hollow cylinder to be operated upon, being heated to the
required degree, is to be placed upon the mandril, as shewn in dotted lines
at c, c, and the mandril being then firmly secured, so as to be held fast during
the operation, the hollow cylinder is to be pushed along the shank of the
mandril until one end of the cylinder enters the grooves in which the mandril
is placed between the first pair of rollers, those grooves together forming a
circle, or nearly so, of a smaller diameter than the outside of the cylinder to
be operated upon. Those rollers being set in motion will draw the hollow
cylinder through between them and over the enlarged part of the mandril,
and thus press the substance of the cylinder between the interior of the
grooves and the enlarged part of the mandril, so as to cause the cylinder to be
drawn out or elongated according to the degree of pressure to which it is
subjected. The cylinder having passed through between the first pair of
rollers, is then to be turned round upon the shank of the mandril the fourth
part of a circle, as herein-before mentioned, and to be pushed along the shank
of the mandril until one end of it enters the grooves in which the mandril is
placed in the second pair of rollers, between which rollers it is to be passed in

page_text: like manner as between the first pair, and so-with respect to each of the
other pairs of rollers in the series with which the apparatus or machinery is
furnished.
If I make a cylinder of wrought iron for tlie purpose of manufacturing it
into a tube, as before described, I prefer to make such a cylinder in the follow-
ing manner-I take a short thick bar of iron, of the shape shewn in a trans-
verse section in Figure 5, and of the dimensions requisite for forming the
intended cylinders, I then by any convenient means-bend or turn up the edges
of the bar of iron, so as to form a cylinder, such as shewn in transverse section
in Figure 6. If a cylinder made in this way be heated to a welding heat
and subjected to the action of either of the two descriptions of machinery
herein-before described, the action of the first pair of rollers to which it may
be subjected, in manner herein-before described, will weld the joint and press
the cylinder into a shape more perfectly cylindrical, the same pair of rollers
and the others of the series also manufacturing the cylinder into a tube, in
the manner herein-before described.
The next part of my said Invention consists of a mode or modes of
compressing the sides of tubes intended to be used to form tubular flues for
steam boiler in such a manner as to diminish the area of the tubes without
diminishing or materially diminishing their interior surfaces. In Figures 7
and 8 I have shewn transverse sections of two tubes the sides of which
have been compressed in this manner. In Figure 7 I have shewn a tube
compressed on two opposite sides, and in Figure 8 a tube compressed on four
sides, but tubes may also be compressed in this way on three sides or more
than four sides. I compress the sides of tubes in this way by drawing them
whilst in a heated state through pairs of tongs made in shapes proper for
producing the desired effect.
In Figures 9 and 10 I have shewn side views of the jaws of two pairs of
tongs made of proper shapes for compressing tubes in the manner shewn in
Figure 7, the tubes being first to be drawn once or oftener, as found requisite,
through the tongues, Figure 9, so as to flatten two opposite sides; and then
in like manner through the tongs, Figure 10, so as to complete the com-
pression of each of the same two sides and compress the tubes into the form
shewn in Figure 7.
In Figures 11 and 12 I have shewn side views of the jaws of two pair of
tongs made of proper shapes for compressing tubes in the manner shewn in
Figure 8; in this case the tubes being first to be drawn through the tongs,
Figure 11, so as to flatten four sides of them, and then through the tongues,

page_text: Figure 12, so as to complete the compression of those four sides, and cause
the tubes to assume the form shewn in Figure 8.
If the tubes are to be compressed into any shape different from those shewn
in Figures 7 and 8 the shape of the tongs to be used for that purpose must of
course be varied accordingly.
Having now described the nature of the several parts of my said Invention,
and the manner which those parts are respectively to be performed, I hereby
declare that I claim as of my said Invention,-
Firstly, the mode or modes of manufacturing steel and iron tubes, by rolling
or pressing short thick lengths of hollow cylinders of those metals upon or
along straight mandrils and between series of rollers, in manner herein-before
described.
Secondly, the mode or modes of manufacturing steel and iron tubes, by
rolling or pressing short thick lengths of hollow cylinders of those metals over
or along stationary mandrils and between series of rollers, in manner herein-
before described.
And, lastly, the mode or modes of compressing the sides of tubes intended
to be used to form such tubular flues as aforesaid, in manner herein-before
described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Oliver York, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this
day of May, One thousand eight hundred
and forty-nine