An Improved Process for Producing "Tubes, 'Pillars, and other Hollow Bodies of 'Conical Shape or of Varying Cross-section, and Apparatus therefor.
Year: 1896

page_text: Date of Apolication, 31st July, 1896--Accepted, 28th Nov., 1896
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION..
An Improved Process for Producing "Tubes, 'Pillars, and other
Hollow Bodies of 'Conical Shape or of Varying Cross-section,
and Apparatus therefor.
I, ADOLPH HUSENER, of No. 14 Hobestrasse "Duisburg on Rhine, in the Empire
of Germany, Departmental. Manager, 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:-
The present. Application.for Letters Patent, relates to a process and means for the
production of conical tubes and masts, and the preparation of tubes and hollow
bodies of varying section.across.the longitudinal axis. The process is based on the
well known principle of the rolling of hollow blocks into double strips or bars and
the subsequent expanding of the same. This process which has been frequently
employed before, has recently been again brought into use on a larger scale.
According to the same,.hollow blocks after once rolling.are.again expanded direct and
there are produced thereby, round or angular tubes with two ribs lying.diametrically
opposite to each other and running in the longitudinal.direction (Figs. A. B.). If
such a tube he .again pressed together to a double bar but in such a manner that the
original ribs now become,projections.on.both sides of the double bar which has been
pressed together (Fig. C.).and.the.said double .bar .be passed through rolls set at the
requisite distance apart and not compressing the ends a a, the form shewn in
Fig. D. is obtained which.again furnishes widened tubes without ribs (Fig. E.). If
on the other hand the rolls requisite for the first rolling of the hollow blocks have
apertures or have depressions in the middle, double bars (Fig. F.)are formed. and
corresponding tubes with four longitudinal ribs at right angles to each other (Fig. G.).
Further depressions or cut-out pieces in the rolls produce correspondingly further
reinforcements or .ornamentations of the finished tubes. As in common with every
other rolled product which is required to have a given outline the same must be
rolled between rollers set to a given guage corresponding to the required outer
diameter of the product, this is also the case in the manufacture of tubes in the
manner hereinafter set forth. Such .a mechanism can be constructed by means of
rollers placed horizontally and vertically similar to the universal roller arrange-
ment in use for the rolling of flat iron (universal iron). Hitherto, during the
whole duration of an operation the diameter of the product. has been unalterable,
or alterable only to a very small degree so that until now there has been no
application of a tapering rolling. The invention which forms the subject of the
present application has for its object, to produce tapering tubes or hollow bodies
with varying section.across .the longitudinal axis from a single piece directly by
means of rolling cutting and widening. A hollow bluck H. Fig. 1. suitable for
tapering tubes.inust be so.constructed that it possesses.an.interior uniformly tapering
opening whilst outwardly of a width which remains the same throughout its
whole length. The thickness of the walls.w.of.the hollow block must also be the
same throughout the whole length. If the block .H be then rolled in a universal
roll under side pressure, or in the .closed universal roller mechanism there is
produced a double bar H¹ Fig. 2. which whilst having an outwardly uniform
shape, contains within a longitudinal slit .h' which corresponding to the conicity
of the opening of the hollow block will run uniformly tapering. The part shewn
shaded in Fig. 2 is then cut away and there is obtained parallel to the inner
tapering longitudinal opening, a double bar .uniformly tapering on the outside:also....!

page_text: In order to avoid waste and to obtain a quick manufacture through the
simultaneous rolling of several bars it is advisable especially for small bores and
articles to be manufactured for trade purposes on a large scale, to produce hollow
blocks with two or more conical hollows a' a' a' (Fig. 3 and 4), to roll the same
out (Fig. 5 and 6) and to divide the same along the lines x x in separate conical
double bars.
As blocks with conical openings can be manufactured much more easily and
simply than such as have a uniform internal diameter, the preparation of the
hollow blocks shewn in Fig. 3 and 4 will offer little difficulty, and this process
will materially simplify the production of tubes of all kinds and especially those
of smaller diameter which do not require to be conical but whose suitability is
nevertheless not affected by a slight tapering such as fire and steam heating tubes,
tubes for heating apparatus and the like.
When
If it be desired to construct tubes or hollow bodies with otherwise varying
section in the longitudinal direction, it is only requisite to arrange the inner
opening accordingly in the short hollow block to be used, whether the same be
done by direct casting or by subsequent pressure or otherwise, whilst the hollow
block in this case also has a uniform outward breadth b. (Figs. 1, 3, 4, 7, 9). For
instance, the hollow block K Fig. 7 produces a double bar K Fig. 8, the hollow
block L Fig. 9 produces a double bar L' Fig. 10. By cutting and widening, these
double bars may be converted into tubes or long hollow bodies which, as shewn
in Fig. 8, are alternately straight and conical, whilst tubes corresponding to
Fig. 10 possess a cross section continuously widening towards the middle.
the widening, as hereinafter described has taken place, either partially or entirely,
the ribs can be removed at a welding beat by repeatedly pressing together and
rolling over tongue-shaped. mandrils. Tapering tubes can also be provided with
4 ribs or the like by the use of rolls of corresponding profile. The widening of
a double bar. formed in the above described manner can be effected firstly, by
expanding the same, and throughout its length, by means of a mandril which is
still. smaller than the smallest diameter of the tube to be formed and by subsequently
drawing the so widened double bar through guage rollers, the set of which during
the drawing can be increased or diminished according to the material contained in the
double bar.
In the following description other methods are set forth for widening the
tapering or other tubes, by means of mandrils which during the drawing expand
either automatically or by hand or mechanical power. Fig. 11 shews a mandril
constructed as an envelope and formed of several parts c, lying at an angle to
the direction of motion. This mandril is forced on the drawing of the tube upon
the cone on the mandril rod d and is thereby expanded in its diameter. The
drawing of the tube will at the same time, effect in consequence of the effort of
the several pieces c to advance upon the cone e, that the said pieces also press
firmly against the inner wall of the tube; as soon as the widening of the slit in
the double bar permits of a further expansion of the tube, the separate parts c
advance automatically upon the cone e. The parts c may be guided on the cone e
by means of undercut slots and lie somewhat at an angle to the direction of
propulsion, so that their intervals f leave no traces in the tube when the same is
gradually increasing in diameter. The separate parts c must be connected together,
so that they all advance equally; this can be achieved as shewn in Fig. 12 very
easily, by means of a ring g, the separate parts c being so connected with the
ring 9 by means of bars i with projections or heads, that a radial displacement
in the slits k of the ring 9 is possible (Fig. 13).
If the said ring g be secured to a tuber pressed over the mandril bar d, the
separate parts of the mandril may also be adjusted from the outside by means
of a mechanical device. For this purpose, there is shewn in Fig. 14 a hand-wheel m,
whilst in Fig 15 a hand-lever n, is designed for this purpose. This adjustment
of the mandril can obviously also be effected, by means of wedges, weights, or the
jike. In the alternative form Fig. 16 .the single parts c¹ of the mandril together with

page_text: their prolongations care secured by hinges, and can be pressed apart, by means of
cones et e³, whereby the separate parts are displaced parallel to the direction of the
axis of the mandrif. The cones e¹ e, are connected to each other and to the tube r, and
can be also adjusted, by means of the same, from the outside. In the modification
Fig. 17, the separate parts es together with their prolongations c', are connected to
the mandril as shewn and kept apart by aid of pivotted bars, by means of a
tube. The necessary pressure is in this case most suitably provided, by means of
a strong spring o, which may be adjustable by means of an adjustable rings; if
we suppose the power of the spring to be equal to P, then the power forcing or
acting upon the tube is P₁ = P. tang. a (Fig. 18).
If the tube becomes smaller the tangent will simultaneously be smaller, on the
other hand, the spring will be compressed to a given extent v, therefore the spring
pressure P becomes greater, so that P' remains constant as a product of P. tang. a
that is to say, a mandril may be constructed, having a properly chosen length of
the pivotted bars in proportion to the spring pressure P in Fig. 17, which will
expand the tube with a given equal and exactly determined power P', so that it is
posssible to use one and the same mandril at the same moinent, as well for tubes
of very large as also of very small diameter.
All the above described mandrils are very suitable as well for conical tubes, as for
tubes with varying cross section and for the preparation of smooth or non-conical
tubes, in view of the fact that the diameter of a given tube prepared from a flat
bar, can not be exactly determined beforehand, so that a solid mandril constructed
for one and the same kind of tube often proves too large, consequently there is
a danger of bursting the tube; or it may prove too small and cause the tube to
be badly shaped, and not round. Furthermore an outside guiding of the tube is
unnecessary with the above described mandrils, because the mandril itself, being
inserted under great pressure, gives the tube sufficient inner guiding. Fig. 19 shews
a conical mandril formed of 2 parts p pl, which serves for tubes of small and
very small diameter, and also for short tube ends, which without much expenditure
of force, can be widened at once throughout the whole length. This mandril may
of course, consist of several parts connected together in front and disposed at an
angle or parallel to the direction of travel. The mandril is easily removed from
the finished tube after taking out the wedge 9, or a screw with a
wedge (Fig. 20) with which apparatus the diameter of the mandril during the
drawing can be simultaneously altered.
The conical hollow bodies, which may be very cheaply constructed by means of
this invention, are very suitable for application as conical pillars, for instance,
especially those with 4 ribs as shewn in Fig. G, the said pillars are suitable
for light and electric current supporting pillars, columns, telegraph, and telephone
pillars, flag staffs, supports for railings, piles, conical tubes and tubes of all kinds,
which admit of much easier preparation in consequence of being only slightly coned..
Furthermore a slight alteration in the diameter of the cross section of a tube may
be effected, by means of an alteration of the thickness of the walls of the said
tube. This is applicable in cases when with tubes or masts or the like, an alteration of
the cross section is only permissible to a small degree, whilst the strain upon the material
with the increasing leverage of the load constantly increases (Fig. 21 and 22).
In this case, the construction may be so arranged that a hollow block with a
straight opening or with an opening of only very slight conicity is first
rolled into a double bar, then is passed at the last operations through a pair of
rollers which are slightly alterable during the rolling. As the double bar has
already reached very considerable length before the last operation, the thickness
of the walls of the tube or double bar usually does not exceed 1 to 2 c.m...
consequently the alterability of the rolls during the passage of the material
throughout its length need also amount to 1 to 2 c.m. at the most. The same
may be effected by screwing up the pressure spindle by hand or mechanically or
by means of excentric bearings for the rolls or by lever or wedge combinations.
The double bars T U Fig. 23 and 24 prepared in the above described manner.

page_text: produce on expansion: the tubes T' U' Fig: 21 and 22 which possess a slight conicity
through the alteration of the: thickness of the walls, but which are in every section,
equal in strength to the requirements of them, and consequently like a strongly
tapered tube with equal wall thickness, shew a minimum weight for the mast or
support with a maximum strength as supports. If short tubes of say 2 to 6 metres
long are to be made somewhat coned (on account of unequal resistance) through
alteration of the wall thickness and have to be produced in quantity, the double
bar when nearly finished is again thoroughly heated and passed at the last
operation through a pair of rolls whose diameter is equal to or greater than the
length of the tube to be prepared. According to the profile of the surface of this
pair of rolls the same will impart at the last operation as shown in Fig. 25
double bars M for tubes with tapering walls, or as shewn in Fig. 26 double bars
for tubes with otherwise changing size of walls etc. The dotted lines yy indicate
the limit of the length of each separate tube, which according to Fig. 26 is
simultaneously provided at the ends with a little projection which afterwards may be
widened out to a flange.
Double bars as shewn in Fig. 23.may be produced for tubes of similar size in a
still simpler manner by taking 2 or more hollow blocks whose wall thickness has
been cast taporing from the first, and placing the same upon one another and
rolling together so that they display a given profile which remains outwardly the
same throughout (Fig: 27).
Finally; it should be mentioned, that hollow blocks can be very simply and suitably
prepared for the manufacture of the above described tubes, by placing between 2 iron
sheets, an incombustible insulating material.
The iron sheets are made of the same material as the hollow block, they are firstly,
placed in moulds or shapes and then the blocks cast around them. The sheet iron
unites itself thereon with the fluid material to a single whole and there are produced
hollow blocks with correspondingly formed slits or openings at those places which
previously were occupied by the insulating material between the iron plates.
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 :-
First. The process for the production of conical or tapering tubes, masts, and
hollow bodies of varying cross-section from hollow blocks rolled to double strips or
bars, consisting essentially in forming the said hollow blocks with one or more
tapering, or other openings, although the blocks are of equal external width
throughout, and in cutting or separating after the rolling the aforesaid double
strips or bars of equal external width with one or more tapering or other slits or
apertures into one or more outwardly and inwardly tapering double strips for the
purpose of further expansion to outwardly and inwardly conical or tapering tubes, or
to tubes or hollow bodies of varying section across the line of the longitudinal axis.
Second. The modification of the process set forth in Claim I applicable to the
production of tubes of small taper or small variation in the cross-section, caused by
variation of the wall-thickness consisting essentially in the rolling of the hollow blocks
for the preparation of the tubes in double strips with varying wall thickness along the
line of the longitudinal axis.
Third. The process for the preparation of tapering tubes or hollow bodies with
varying diameter of cross-section from hollow blocks rolled to double strips or
bars, consisting in the forcing of the said double strips prepared as set forth in
Claims 1 and 2 over mandrils automatically expanding during the operation or which
are expanded during the operation either, mechanically or by manual power.
Fourth. The modification of the expanding mandril referred to in Claim 3 having
the cone e supported by the mandril rod (Fig. 11) and an envelope composed of
several parts c: placed at an angle to the direction of the drawing of the tube, which
envelope is simultaneously firmly pressed against the inner walls of the tube by the
force necessary to expand the strip.

page_text: Fifth. The modification of the expanding mandril referred to in Claim 3 in which
the parts c (Fig. 12) lying at an angle to the direction of the drawing of the tube can
be thrust from the outside on the cone e upon the mandril rod, by means of a tube r
passing over the mandril rod; or in which the parts c' c (Fig. 16) which lie at an
angle to the direction in which the tube is drawn and are all linked to the mandril.
rod can be thrust apart from the outside during the drawing by a tube passing over
the mandril rod by means of the cones el and e³ or the levers and * (Fig. 17).
Sixth. The modification of the expanding mandril referred to in Claim 3 consisting
of a mandril constructed of two or more parts p p' (Fig. 19) connected with each
other in front which can be adjusted more or less tapering during the drawing of the
tube by means of a wedge g or screw q' (Fig. 20), and can after removal of the wedge-
(or screw, or lever) be removed from the finished tube.
Dated the 31st day of Inly 1896.
W. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
322, High Holborn, London, W.C., Patent Agents for the Applicant.