IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WELDED IRON TUBES OR PIPES, AND IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE
Year: 1877

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by Edward Roden at the Office of the
Commissioners of Patents on the 30th July 1877.
EDWARD RODEN, of Compton, near Wolverhampton, in the County of Stafford,
Commercial Traveller. "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WELDED IRON
TUBES OR PIPES, AND IN MACHINERY AND APPARATUS TO BE EMPLOYED IN THE
SAID MANUFACTURE."
In the ordinary method of manufacturing welded iron tubes or pipes, a plain
strip of iron, or a skelp or strip bent, more or less, into a tubular form, is heated in
a furnace to a welding heat, and by the action of the rolls or other pressing
machinery the edges of the heated skelp are welded together. In this method of
manufacture the whole of the iron of which the tube or pipe is to be made is raised
to a welding heat, and grave inconveniences arise therefrom, especially in the
manufacture of welded iron tubes or pipes made froin thin strips, or having little
substance of iron in them. By my Invention the inconveniences referred to are
avoided, and welded tubes or pipes can be readily made from very thin skelps
of iron.
I will describe the manufacture of a welded iron tube according to my Invention
in conjunction with the machinery and apparatus I employ. Instead of heating
the whole of the strip or skelp of iron, I heat only the edges which are to be
welded together, and the parts adjacent thereto. In order to effect this I construct
a furnace having a long narrow opening at its top, and the strip of iron from which
the tube is to be made having been bent into a tubular form, with its edges over-
lapping, is placed upon the said opening in the furnace, the said overlapping parts
being alone exposed to the strongest heat of the furnace, while the greater part of
the tube being external to the furnace is but slightly heated. Near the end of the
furnace a bulb mandril supported on a rod is situated, the axis of the said bulb
mandril being in a line with the axis of the partially formed tube on the furnace.
The end of the mandril rod is fixed to a wagon capable of travelling on a draw
bench; underneath the bulb of the mandril is a pressing roller which is pressed
upwards or against the bulb of the mandril by a spring or weight, or otherwise. A
pair of tongs connected to the wagon of the draw bench or other drawing
mechanism takes hold of the partially formed tube at its upper side, and motion
Price 21

page_text: being communicated to the said chain draw bench or other drawing mechanism, the
partially formed tube is drawn from off the furnace on to and over the bulb mandril,
its overlapping and heated edges being pressed between the bulb of the mandril and
the roller underneath, and thereby welded together.
After the welding of the skelp has been effected, the mandril and its rod, together
with the tongs and welded tube, are removed to a sufficient distance from the
furnace to allow the tube to be removed from the mandril. The mandril and other
parts are then restored to their original positions near the furnace, ready to act upon
and weld a second skelp.
By means of my Invention welded iron tubes or pipes can be readily and
quickly made, and from thinner iron than can be conveniently used in the ordinary
method of manufacture.