IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
Year: 1853

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to William Keates, of the firm of Newton, Keates,
and Company, of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Mer-
chants, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
Sealed the 7th June 1853, and dated the 24th March 1853.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said William Keates
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 24th March 1853.
I, WILLIAM KEATES, of the firm of Newton, Keates, and Company,
of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchants, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFAC-
TURE OF TUBES AND MANDRILS" to be as follows:-
The improvements in making tubes consist,-
First, in casting a hollow cylindrical ingot or billet of the required
metal or alloy in a cast iron or other suitable mould, having a cast iron
or other suitable metal core in its centre.

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required metal upon a steel or other mandril between a pair of grooved
rollers, the axis of the said rollers being parallel to each other and in
the same plane.
Thirdly, in the grooves of the said rollers being formed of a peculiar
curve or compound curve.
The improvements in mandrils consist,-
First, in forming a mandril of an iron or steel centre or shaft, sur-
rounded by a cast or wrought iron or steel cylinder, which cylinder is
formed of three or more parts, each of which is a longitudinal section
of the said cylinder, one of which acts as a wedge for tightening up
the parts of the cylinder, and also as a key for preventing its slipping
round on the centre shaft.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said William Keates, in the Great Seal Patent Office,
on the 24th September 1853.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I,
WILLIAM KEATES, of the finn of Newton, Keates, and Company,
of Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, Merchants, send greeting.
WHEREAS IIer most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-fourth day of March, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-three, in the
sixteenth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said William Keates, Her special licence
that I, the said William Keates, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said William Keates, 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 termi
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

page_text: THE MANUFACTURE OF TUBES AND MANDRILS," upon the condition (amongst
others) that I, the said William Keates, 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 Keates, 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, reference being had to the drawings annexed,
that is to say:
Firstly, my Invention, in so far as it relates to the manufacture of
tubes, consists of the following improved modes of operating, and in the
use of certain improved constructions of apparatus as herein-after men-
tioned. My improvements are applicable chiefly when manufacturing
tubes from soft metals and alloys, such as copper, brass, and other such
metals or metallic compounds; but some of them may also be applied
in cases where tubes are being formed from hard metal, such as iron.
In carrying my improvements into effect I first cast a hollow cylindrical
ingot or billet of the required metal or alloy in a cast iron or other
suitable mould, having a cast iron or other metal core in the centre
for the purpose of forming the circular aperture through the centre of
the ingot or billet. And I prefer that such core should be slightly
tapered to admit of its being started as soon as the metal begins to set,
in order that the metal may contract when cooling. In casting the
ingots or billets it is desirable that the following conditions should be
observed: first, that the thickness of the metal should not be less than
half an inch; and, second, that the bore of the ingot or billet should be
larger than that of the finished tube for which it is intended to be used.
I operate in this manner when proceeding to make tubes from copper,
or from its alloys, and the alloy which I prefer to use consists of 62
parts of copper and 88 parts of zinc when cast; but a sufficient addi-
tional quantity of zinc should be employed to cover the waste of this

page_text: metal in the melting operation. The ingots having been cast in the
manner just described, they are brought to a red heat in any suitable
furnace, and then put on a hot or cold mandril, according to circum-
stances, and passed between grooved rollers as often as can be done,
while the metal retains a suflicient degree of heat to allow of its being
rolled without cracking. The partially rolled tube is then reheated,
and the process of rolling continued through rollers having grooves of
gradually decreasing size, until a tube is produced of the requisite
length and diameter, or it is left somewhat shorter and thicker than
required for use in order to admit of finishing by rolling cold and
drawing as herein-after described, which latter processes are requisito
when the tubes are required to be of very uniform substance and
smooth surface. In reheating the tube between the rollings, which
must be done as often as the tube becomes cool, it may either be taken
off the mandril by means of a draw bench and introduced alone in the
furnace, or the mandril may be introduced into the furnace with the
tube upon it, so that both may be equally heated. The advantage of
the latter mode of proceeding consists in its effecting a saving of time
and labour, while it ensures that the tube shall remain hot for a much
longer period than when a cold or moderately heated mandril is used,
and thus greatly facilitates the process of rolling. When it is required
to finish the tubes by cold rolling and drawing through dies, the cold
rolling is performed in the same manner as the hot rolling, except that
the tube and mandril are cold instead of hot. In rolling the tubes
cither hot or cold care should be taken each time the tube is passed
through the rolls to turn it round about one fourth of its circumference,
so that each portion of its surface shall successively come in contact
with each portion of the groove. The drawing of the tubes is accom-
plished by means of a powerful draw bench of any approved construc-
tion, by which they are drawn whilst upon steel mandrils through steel
dies of the required dimensions. The rolling mills which I prefer to
use for the purpose of rolling metal tubes, either in a hot or cold state,
are constructed with grooved rollers, arranged two or three in a set
resembling in their general structure the rolling mills used for rolling

page_text: iron or copper bolts and bars. The form of groove, however, is not
that of a semicircle, which is that commonly adopted in such cases, but
a compound curve made up of two semicircles of different radii; the
radius of the semicircle forming the sides of the groove being shorter
or less than the radius of the semicircle, which forms the bottom of the
groove. The method of forming or setting out the groove is as follows,
reference being had to Figure 1, of the drawings annexed, which is an
elevation of a portion of a pair of such grooved rolls in working con-
tact. Let the centre line A, B, be the vertical diameter of a circle,
which would be formed by two semicircular grooves, described from
the centre C, with the radius C, A. Divide the circumference of this
circle into four equal parts at the points D, E, F, G; then upon the
diameter A, B, set off the two points or centres x, and o, at a distance
equal to one twenty-fourth of the radius A, C, on each side of the
centre C; then, with a, as a centre and the radii D, and a G,
describe the ares D a, and G d, the compound curve a D, A, G, d,
will be that of the required form of groove. The form of the other
groove b, E, B, F, c, is determined in the same manner, with the
centre o, and the radius o, E. The corners of the grooves are rounded
off a little to prevent their wearing or chipping off too fast.
I do not confine myself to the exact form of groove shewn, so long
as the arcs forming the sides of the groove are of less radius than that
constituting the bottom of the groove.
The mandrils which I use when rolling and drawing tubes, as before
described, may be composed of steel or iron as may be deemed prefer-
able, and they may be either of the ordinary construction or of the
construction hercin-after described.
Secondly, my Invention, in so far as it relates to improvements in
mandrils, consists of the improved compound mandril represented in
Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, of the drawings annexed. This mandril consists,
firstly, of a central shaft or axis similar to an ordinary mandril of any
of the various kinds in common use for drawing, rolling, or turning, or
as working mandrils for machines, such as printers' mandrils, used for
carrying the metallic cylinders or rollers employed in printing textil

page_text: and other fabrics; and, secondly, of an external shell, tube, or cylinder
formed of three segments, and a wedge or tongue by which they can
be tightened up when required. The edges of the segments are
accurately jointed by planing, and those of the wedge or tongue, which
tapers in breadth from end to end, are fitted up in a similar manner.
In using this mandril the cylinder or other article to be carried by it
is slipped over the central shaft or axis of the compound mandril, the
segments of the shell are then introduced in their proper order, and,
finally, the whole is fixed or tightened up by inserting the wedge or
tongue, and hammering it in.
Figure 2, is a plan of my compound mandril complete, with a copper
roller d, upon it, and Figure 8. an end view of the same. Figure 4,
is a section of the central shaft a, and an end view of the shell h. and
roller d, and Figure 5, a plan of the shell 6, with the wedge c, upper-
most, to shew the taper in its breadth, e, is the central shaft or
mandril having a slot e, to receive the nib o, projecting from the inter-
nal surface of one of the segments of the shell b, to prevent the latter
from turning or slipping round upon the shaft; b, is the shell formed of
three segments 1, 2, 3, (or a greater number of segments might be
used,) and a wedge c; one of the segments has a nib o, projecting from
its interior surface, for the purpose before mentioned; d, is a copper
cylinder or roller of the ordinary construction. having a nib a, which
fits into a slot on the external surface of one of the segments of the
shell of the compound mandril, for the purpose of preventing the roller
from slipping round upon the shell.
And having now described the nature of my said Invention, and in
what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I claim
in respect thereof is,-
First, the casting of hollow circular ingots or billets of brass and
other alloys of copper in iron moulds, with iron or steel cores, for the
manufacture of tubes therefrom, as herein-before described.
Second, the rolling of ingots or billets employed in the manufacture
of tubes through or between rollers having grooves of the peculiar
form represented in Figure 1, of the drawings, and herein-before
described.

page_text: Third, the use of mandrils heated to any required temperature when
rolling tubes, as herein-before described; and,
Fourth, the improved compound mandril represented in the draw-
ings, and herein-before described.
In witness whereof, I, the said William Keates, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Tenth day of August, One thousand
eight hundred and fifty-three.
WILLIAM KEATES. (L.s.)