IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN EXPANDING BOILER TUBES
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Tomlinson Bousfield, of Loughborough Park,
Brixton, in the County of Surrey, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS
IN APPARATUS USED IN EXPANDING BOILER TUBES." -A communication
from abroad by Richard Dudgeon, residing at New York, United States
of America.
Sealed the 13th July 1866, and dated the 7th March 1866.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th March 1866.
I, GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the
County of Surrey, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for
"IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN EXPANDING BOILER TUBES," to be as
follows:-
The object of the Invention is to enable the ends of boiler tubes to be
expanded in the holes in the flue sheet. Previous to this Invention it has
been customary to expand the ends of tubes by an expanding tool composed
substantially of a series of swages radiating from a common centre, and caused
to diverge by means of a tapering plug driven into the centre of the tool by
the repeated blows of a maul or sledge.
The principle of the Invention which constitutes the subject matter of this
Patent is to expand the tube by rolling the metal by the application of one or
more pressure rollers to the interior of the tube, so that the metal is extended
by rolling in contradistinction to the old system of driving it outwards by

page_text: hammering, and as the roller can be operated by hand, the use of mauls or
sledges and all the inconveniences that attend their employment are dispensed
with.
The simplest mode of embodying the Invention is to fit a roller into a stock
or block of metal which is arranged to slide in a longitudinal groove formed
in one side of a tapering plug. The profile of the roller should be the same
as the profile of a longitudinal section of the interior of the expanded end of
tube. The tapering plug with the roller is inserted into the end of the tube
to be expanded, and is turned round and round by a wrench or spanner, and
at the same time forced endwise into the tube. As the plug bears against
one side of the tube and is tapering, the endwise pressure forces the roller
against the opposite side of the tube, and the turning of the plug causes the
roller to roll upon and extend the metal, thas expanding the tube. The
surface of the plug may have a shallow flat screw thread formed upon it, so
that the turning of the plug causes the thread to bite into the metal of the
tube and draw the plug inwards, thereby causing it to exert a continuous
pressure upon the roller. As the stock of the roller is arranged to slide in
the groove of the tapering plug the roller retains its place in the tube, while
the plug moves forward into the tube.
The above-described roller expanding tool may be modified by making the
plug cylindrical instead of tapering, and by fitting a wedge-formed plug in
the longitudinal groove beneath the roller stock; in this case the roller and
cylindrical plug both retain their places in the tube when they are turned
round, while the wedge-formed plug is forced in between the two and presses
the roller against the metal. In this modification the roller expanding tool
is conveniently turned by turning the wedge-formed expanding plug by means
of a wrench or spanner.
Both varieties of the above-described roller-expanding tool are attended
with the disadvantage resulting from the direct action of the plug upon the
metal of the tube; the roller expanding tool for general use is therefore con-
structed, by preference, with three or more rollers, which are held in a ring
frame or stock, and are operated by means of a tapering plug inserted between
them. The rollers should be set at equal distances apart; they should also
be of equal size, and their profile should be the same as that of a longitudinal
section of the interior of the extremity of a tube when properly expanded.
In this case the tapering plug is simultaneously forced inwards between the
rollers and turned upon its axis, and the rollers are caused to turn by the
frictional contact of the surface of the plug with their surfaces, so that
the series of rollers are caused to roll within the end of the tube, and are at

page_text: the same time caused to diverge by the turning and entrance of the tapering
plug in this case the tapering plug may have a shallow flat screw thread
formed upon its surface, so that it will draw itself inward as it is turned by
hand, but such a thread is not essential to the successful operation of the
instrument.
In order that one tool may be used for performing the two operations of
expanding the tube and of trimming off its end, tho expanding rollers are
combined with a cutter which is arranged to turn upon the stock of the
expanding rollers, so that the compound tool thus formed may be used first to
expand the tube, and then the cutter may be turned without withdrawing the
tool to trim off the end of the tube. In this case the rollers retain their
positions in the groove which they have formed by rolling, and hold the tool
in the tube while the cutter is operating. The cutter may be turned by a
wrench or by a ratchet handle similar to the handle of a ratchet drill, and the
cutter may be forced against the tube by the action of a nut fitted upon a
screw which is formed upon the outer end of the roller stock.
In all the above-described modifications of the roller expanding tool a
roller is combined with a tapering plug. by whose action the roller is forced
outwards in the tube, therefore the peculiarity of this Invention consists in
the combination of a roller and tapering plug, but the arrangements thereof
and of the mechanism used therewith may be greatly varied when carrying
out this Invention.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Tomlinson Bousfield in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 30th August 1866. *
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of
Surrey, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special licence that I, the said
George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from

page_text: 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN EXPANDING
BOILER TUBES," a communication to me from abroad by Richard Dudgeon, a
person resident at New York, United States of America, upon the condition
(amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my executors
or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or one
of their hands and seals, 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 Georgo Tomlinson Bousfield, do
hereby declare the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
The object of the Invention is to enable the ends of the boiler tubes to be
Provious to this Invention it has
expanded in the holes in the flue sheet.
been customary to expand the ends of tubes by an expanding tool composed
substantially of a series of swages radiating from a common centre, and caused
to diverge by means of a tapering plug driven into the centre of the tool by
the repeated blows of a maul or sledge.
The principle of the Invention which constitutes the subject matter of this
Patent is to expand the tube by rolling the metal by the application of one or
more pressure rollers to the interior of the tube, so that the metal is extended
by rolling it in contradistinction to the old system of driving it outwards by
hammering, and as the roller can be operated by hand, the use of mauls or
sledges and all the inconveniences that attend their employment are dispensed
with.
The simplest mode of embodying the Invention is to fit a roller into a stock
or block of metal which is arranged to slide in a longitudinal groove formed
in one side of a tapering plug. The profile of the roller should be the same
as the profile of a longitudinal section of the interior of the expanded end of
tube. The tapering plug with the roller is inserted into the end of the tube
to be expanded, and is turned round and round by a wrench or spanner, and
As the plug bears against
at the same time forced endwise into the tube.
one side of the tube and is tapering, the endwie pressure forces the roller
against the opposite side of the tube, and the turning of the plug causes the

page_text: roller to roll upon and extend the metal, thus expanding the tube. The
surface of the plug may have a shallow flat screw thread formed upon it, so
that the turning of the plug causes the thread to bite into the metal of the
tube and draw the plug inwards, thereby causing it to. exert a continuous
pressure upon the roller. As the stock of the roller is arranged to slide in
the groove of the tapering plug, the roller retains its place in the tube while
the plug moves forward into the tube.
The above-described roller expanding tool may be modified by making the
plug cylindrical instead of tapering, and by fitting a wedge-formed plug in the
longitudinal groove beneath the roller stock; in this case the roller and
cylindrical plug both retain their places in the tube when they are turned
round, while the wedge-formed plug is forced in between the two, and presses
the roller against the metal. In this modification the roller expanding tool-
is conveniently turned by turning the wedge-formed expanding plug by means
of a wrench or spanner.
Both varieties of the above-described roller expanding tool are attended
with the disadvantage resulting from the direct action of the plug upon the
metal of the tube; the roller expanding tool for general. use is therefore
constructed, by preference, as represented at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the
accompanying Drawings, with three or more rollers a, a, a, which are held in
a ring frame or stock B, and are operated by means of a tapering plug C
inserted between them. The rollers should be set at equal distances apart;
they should also be of equal size, and their profile should be the same as that
of a longitudinal section of the interior of the extremity of a tube when
properly expanded. Their journals c, e, are also held in radial slots, which
permit the rollers to move outwards from the centre of the stock. In this
case the tapering plug, is simultaneously forced inwards between the rollers,
and turn upon its axis by the application of the hands of the operator to a
wrench or spanner D, fitted to the head of the plug C; and the rollers a, a, a,
are caused to turn by the frictional contact of the surface of the plug with
their surfaces, so that the series of rollers are caused to roll within the end of
the tube, and are at the same time caused to diverge by the turning and
entrance of the tapering plug. The tapering plug may have a shallow flat
scrow thread formed upon its surface, so that it will draw itself inwards as it
is turned by hand, but such a thread is not essential to the successful operation
of the instrument; or in place of such a thread the slots which hold the
journals of the rollers may be slightly skewed, so that the axes of the rollers
will be slightly skewed to the axis of the tube, the effect of which is to cause
the tapering plug when turned in one direction to draw into the tube, and when

page_text: reversed to loosen itself between the rollers. In order to hold the rollers in
their innermost positions when the tool is inserted in the tube a ring groove
may be formed in the stock B, and a spring ring g may be inserted into it, so
as to bear upon the journals of the rollers a, a, a, and hold them in their
inner positions when the tapering plug is removed. In order that one tool
may be used for performing the two operations of expanding the tube and of
turning off its end, the expanding rollers and stock are combined with a
cutter E, which is arranged to turn upon the stock of the expanding rollers,
so that the compound tool thus formed may be used first to expand the tube,
and then by turning the cutter without withdrawing the tool to trim off the
end of the tube. In this case the rollers retain their positions in the groove
which they have formed by rolling, and hold the tool in the tube while the
cutter is operating. The cutter may be turned by a wrench or by a ratchet
handle G operating in a manner similar to the handle of a ratchet drill, and
the cutter may be forced against the tube by the action of a nut II fitted upon
a screw which is formed upon the outer end of the roller stock B.
A simpler form of roller expanding tool is represented at Figures 6 and 7
of the accompanying Drawings. In this example three rollers a, a, a, are
used, and in place of being made solid are bored out and arranged to turn
loosely upon arbors e, e, e, so that they may diverge when the expanding
plug C is turned and forced in between them. The tapering plug C shown in
this example has a screw thread cut upon it, as before described, but this is
not essential to the practical operation of the instrument. In the roller
expanding tools represented in the Drawings the rollers are represented with
profiles adapted to expand the tube in the form commonly produced by the
old expanding tools, but it is generally experient to use rollers such as are
represented at Figures 8 or 9, with profiles either straight or straight with a
shallow indentation forming a ring groove around the roller, the effect of
which is to form a slight bead within the tube, which bead holds the tool in
its place after the work is commenced. When such rollers are used the hole
in the tube sheet may he left cylindrical without the edges being chamfered or
countersunk. The roller expanding tool may be used in connection with a
gauge to fix its position by bearing upon the tube sheets at the sides of the
tube, so that the rollers will be set at the places where the tubes are to bo
expanded however the projection of the end of the tubes beyond the tube
sheet may vary; such a gauge may consist of a sleeve placed upon the stock
of the tool in place of the cutter E, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the end of the sleeve
nearest the rollers being enlarged and recessed, so as to admit within it the
end of the tube that projects beyond the tube sheet.

page_text: Although a tapering or wedge-formed plug is preferred as the expanding
instrument, the Invention is not limited to an expanding instrument of that
form, as circumstances may render expedient the use of an expanding instru-
ment of different form; thus when a tool is sufficiently large an arrangement
of toggle jointed levers may be inserted in it for the purpose of expanding the
roller in place of a tapering plug.
In all the above-described modifications of the roller expanding tool at least
one roller is combined with a tapering plug (or its equivalent by whose action
the roller is forced outwards in the tube), and with a stock or holder, by
which the roller is prevented from twisting sidewise as it is turned round in
the tube. These three instrumentalities are all that are absolutely essential
to the construction of the roller expanding tool, but the cutter and ratchet
handle constitute with the said instrumentalities or implements useful com-
binations, which are supplementary to the aforesaid fundamental combination;
what is claimed, therefore, as the Invention to be secured by Letters Patent
is, the combination in an expanding tool of the following implements, viz.,
the roller, roller stock, and expanding instrument, these three operating in
combination substantially as set forth.
Also the combination in an expanding tool of the following implements,
viz., the roller, roller stock, expanding instrument, and cutter for trimming
the tube, all operating in combination substantially as set forth.
Also the combination in an expanding tool of the following implements,
viz., the roller, roller stock, cutter, and a ratchet handle for turning it, all
operating in combination substantially as set forth.
Also the combination in an expanding tool of the following implements,
viz., the roller, roller stock, cutter, and screw feed therefor, all operating in
combination substantially as set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of August, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (
GEO. T. BOUSFIELD. (ta)

page_text: In the flatter of the Letters Patent granted to GEORGE TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD,
for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED IN EXPANDING
BOILER TUBES," bearing date the 7th day of March 1866, No. 699.
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATIONS proposed to be
entered by RICHARD DUDGEON pursuant to the Statutes in that case made and
provided.
WHEREAS the Letters Patent granted to George Tomlinson Bousfield were
obtained for an Invention communicated to the grantee by me, and have been
assigned to and are now vested in me:
And whereas it has been alleged that before the date of the said Letters Patent
certain experimental tools had been made for expanding the ends of boiler tubes
somewhat similar in action to those described in the Specification to the said
Letters Patent as being the simplest mode of embodying the Invention, which in
the said Specification are further stated to be attended with the disadvantage
resulting from the direct action of the plug upon the metal of the tube:
And whereas experience has shewn that such tools in consequence of such
disadvantage are of small practical value, I therefore do not wish to retain under
the Patent any claim for such tools, or for the supplementary combinations in the
Specification also described, which have also not proved to be of any great practical
value:
And whoreas experience has also shewn that the supplementary combinations of
the cutter and ratchet handle with the roller expanding tool are not of any great
practical value, I wish to disclaim these also, and desire to limit the claim to roller
expanding tools in which the tapering plug has no direct action upon the metal of
the tube, but acts on the rollers only which are caused to turn by the frictional
contact of the surface of the plug with their surfaces, and to disclaim and strike out
from the Specification the parts relating to such before-mentioned tools, and such
supplementary combinations, viz., the portion beginning with the words "The
"simplest mode" on line 31, page 4, of the said Specification as printed by Her

page_text: Majesty's Printers, and ending with the words "netal of the tube," line 18, page 5,
and the portion beginning with the words "In order that" on line 5, page 6, and
ending with the words "roller stock B" on line 16, page 6. And the first para-
graph on page 7 beginning with the words "Although a tapering" down to tho
words "a tapering plug" on line 6, page 7, and the portion beginning with the
words "These three instrumentalities" on line 11, page 7, down to the end of
line 14, page 7, and the portion. beginning at line 19, page 7, down to the end of
line 27, page 7.
And in order to render the remaining portions of the Specification clear as being
intended to refer and be restricted to those roller expanding tools in which the
tapering plug has no direct action upon the metal of the tube, but acts on rollers
only in the manner above mentioned, I strike out the words "one or," line 25,
page 4, and the word "more" on line 26, page 4, and I make the sentence at
line 18, page 5, begin with the words "the roller," and strike out the word
"therefore" at the end of the same line, and also strike out the words "all" and
"at least" on line 7, pago 7, and the word "one" on line 8, page 7, and change the
words "roller is" on the same line, and also in the two following lines into the
words "rollers are," and eliange the words "it is " on line 10, page 7, into the words
they are," and the word "roller" on line 17, page 7, into the word "rollers."
And in order that the effect of this Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alterations
may be clearly seen I annex a copy of the Specification as it will appear when such
Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alterations is made as aforesaid.
"TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
"TOMLINSON BOUSFIELD, of Loughborough Park, Brixton, in the County of Surrey,
"send greeting.
"
"WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Hor Letters
"Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of March, in the year of our Lord One
"thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of Her reign, did,
"for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said George
Tomlinson Bousfield, Her special license that I, the said George Tomlinson
Bousfield, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said
"George Tomlinson Bousfield, 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 "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS USED
IN EXPANDING BOILER TUBES," a communication to me from abroad by Richard
"Dudgeon, a person resident at New York, United States of America, upon the
"condition (amongst others) that I, the said George Tomlinson Bousfield, my
"executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or their, or
one of their hands and scals, 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 J, the aid George Tomlinson Bousfield, do hereby
"declare the nature of the 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, that is to say :-
"The object of the Invention is to enable the ends of the boiler tubes to be
"expanded in the holes in the flue sheet. Previous to this Invention it has been
customary to expand the ends of tubes by an expanding tool composed sub-
stantially of a series of swages radiating from a common centre, and caused to
diverge by means of a tapering plug driven into the centre of the tool by the
repeated blows of a inaul or sledge.
"The principle of the Invention which constitutes the subject matter of this
"Patent is to expand the tube by rolling the metal by the application of pressuro

page_text: "rollers to the interior of the tube, so that the metal is extended by rolling it in
"contradistinction to the old system of driving it outwards by hammering, and as
"the roller can be operated by hand the use of mauls or sledges and all the incon-
"veniences that attend their employment are dispensed with.
"The roller expanding tool for general use is constructed by preference as
"represented at Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 of the accompanying Drawings, with
"three or more rollers a, a, a, which are held in a ring frame or stock B, and are
"operated by means of a tapering plug C inserted between them. The rollers
"should be set at equal distances apart; they should also be of equal size, and
"their profile should be the saine as that of a longitudinal section of the interior of
"the extremity of a tube when properly expanded. Their journals e, e, are also
"held in radial slots, which permit the rollers to move outwards from the centre of
"the stock. In this case the tapering plug is simultaneously forced inwards
"between the rollers, and turn upon its axis by the application of the hands of tho
"operator to a wrench or spanner D fitted to the head of the plug C, and the
"rollers a, a, a, are caused to turn by the frictional contact of the surface of
"the plug with their surfaces, so that the series of rollers aro caused to roll within
"the end of the tube, and are at the same time caused to divergo by the turning
"and entrance of the tapering plug. The tapering plug may have a shallow flat
"screw thread formed upon its surface, so that it will draw itself inwards as it is
"turned by hand, but such a thread is not essential to the succosaful operation of
"the instrument, or in place of such a thread the slots which hold tho journals of
"the rollers may be slightly skewed, so that the axes of the rollers will be slightly
"skewed to the axis of the tube, the effect of which is to causo the tapering plug
"when turned in one direction to draw into the tube, and when reversed to loosen
"itself between the rollers. In order to hold the rollers in their innermost positions
"when the tool is inserted in the tube a ring groove may be formed in the stock B,
"and a spring ring g may be inserted into it so as to bear upon the journals of tho
"rollers a, a, a, and hold them in their inner positions when the tapering plug is
removed.
"A simpler form of roller expanding tool is represented at Figures 6 and 7 of
"the accompanying Drawings. In this example three rollers a, a, a, are used and
"in place of being made solid are bored out and arranged to turn loosely upon
"arbors e, e, e, so that they may diverge when the expanding plug C is turned and
forced in between them. The tapering plug C shown in this example has a screw
thread cut upon it as before described, but this is not essential to the practical
"operation of the instrument. In the roller expanding tools represented in the
"Drawings, the rollers are represented with profiles adapted to expand the tubo in
"the form commonly produced by the old expanding tools, but it is generally
expedient to use rollers such as are represented at Figures 8 or 9 with profiles
either straight or straight with a shallow indentation forming a ring groove
around the roller, the effect of which is to form a slight bead within the tube,
which bead holds the tool in its place after the work is commenced. When such
rollers are used the hole in the tube sheet may be left cylindrical without the
edges being chamferéd or countersunk. The roller expanding tool may be used
in connection with a gauge to fix its position by bearing upon the tube sheets at
"the sides of the tube, so that the rollers will be set at the places where the tubes
are to be expanded however the projection of the end of the tubes beyond the
tube sheet may vary, such a gauge may consist of a sleeve placed upon the stock
of the tool in place of the cutter E, Figures 1, 2, and 3, the end of tho sleeve
nearest the rollers being enlarged and recessed so as to admit within it the end of
the tube that projects beyond the tube sheet.
"In the above described modifications of the roller expanding tool rollers are
combined with a tapering plug (or its equivalent, by whose action the rollers aro
forced outwards in the tube), and with a stock or holder by which the rollers
are prevented from twisting sidewise as they are turned round in the tube.
What is claimed therefore as the Invention to be secured by Letters Patent is,

page_text: "the combination in an expanding tool of the following implements, viz., the
"rollers, roller stock, and expanding instrument, these three operating in com-
"bination substantially as set forth."
In witness whereof, I, the said Richard Dudgeon, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Sth day day of April, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-five.
I hereby grant my fiat, giving leave to the above-named Richard Dudgeon, to
file in the Great Seal Patent Office, with the Specification to which the same 1
relates, the above-written Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration, dated this
Twenty-seventh day of May, One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.
RICHARD BAGGALLAY,