IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL PIPES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1868

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WROUGHT METAL PIPES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR
THAT PURPOSE."-A communication from abroad by James Beach
Clow, of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania, United States of
-America.
Sealed the 8th June 1869, and dated the 29th December 1868.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 29th December 1868.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL PIPES, AND IN THE APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
Metal pipe, other than such as is formed by the exudation of molten
metal through properly shaped dies, or by casting, is usually made by

page_text: folding long sheets or strips of rolled metal, and welding the edges where
folded together. This folding is usually done by drawing such sheets
and strips through or between the converging concave faces of a pair of
skelping dies, the two dies at the forward end when closed together
having a front aperture of a nearly tubular shape; such dies are made
in two parts, with the plane of division running longitudinally and
vertically through them, and the two parts are hinged together at the
top. To operate them it is necessary to open up the hinged die, introduce
the metallic strip or skelp bar from which the pipe is to be made so far
that its forward end shall project somewhat beyond the forward end of
the dics, close down the hinged die, to do which requires sufficient force
to fold the skelp bar to a tubular shape, and then, after properly fastening
the moveable hinged dic, catch the projecting forward end of the skelp bar
with a pair of tongs and draw the bar through.
The present Invention relates to the construction and use of improved
dies for the purposes above set forth, and the nature of it consists in
making a slot or opening in such dies along the back or line of division
of the upper parts sufficiently large to admit of the passage through it
of the jaws of a pair of tongs or other device by which the skelp bar
is to be drawn through the dies; and it further consists in the con-
struction and arrangement of machinery for manufacturing pipes in
connection with such dies. The hinging of one of the dies is thereby
dispensed with, both being made fixed, and the skelp bar is caught at
the middle of one end with a pair of tongs, and is introduced into the
dies at the flaring end and is drawn through, passing the jaws of the
tongs along the slot or opening in the upper part of the dies. The two
dies, similar in shape and construction, are securely fastened to any
convenient bed or foundation. The dies are concave on their inner
faces, in the line of their cross sections of a nearly or exactly tubular
shape in front, and flaring towards their rear ends. Along the top of
the dies or between them and longitudinally therewith a slot or opening
is made sufficiently wide to admit of the passage of the jaws of a pair of
tongs. The skelp bar, being a flat sheet of metal of the proper width,
is caught at or about the middle of one end by the tongs, is introduced
into the dies at the flaring end and pulled through, the tongs passing
along the slot or opening. The force requisite for this purpose is applied
to the handles of the tongs, as presently to be described, or in any con-
venient way, the tongs all the while retaining their grip on the skelp bar.

page_text: The edges of the bar are by the concave faces of the dies folded down and
under, so as to form a skelp, the edges of which when welded together
give the pipe or tube required. In this way the skelp bars or blanks
are passed through one after another as rapidly as may be desired.
The bottom part of the dies is made slightly different for forming butt
or lap weld skelps as may be required. For a lap weld the bottom edges
of the dies are usually fitted neatly together, and by a finger or guide
properly inserted at any convenient point one of the edges of the skelp
is made to overlap the other slightly. In dies for making a butt weld
skelp a slot or opening is left between the dies on the bottoni and a
tongue placed therein, which projects slightly upwards, and against
which the sides or edges of the skelp blank are bent. In either case
the operation of the machine is substantially the same as is above
described. The skelps when made arc welded in the usual way. The
dies are arranged with the drawing apparatus in front of the heating.
furnace from which the heated bars or sheets are drawn by the tongs.
held by the workman up to the dies, here the tongs are connected by a
hook to an endless chain stretched over two pitch wheels, to which
notion is imparted by any suitable means, so as to cause the chain to
travel away from the dics, the tongs are thus caused to draw the skelp
bars through the dies along, the slot in which the tongs pass, as before
mentioned..
The advantages claimed are, a clicaper construction of dies, sinco
both of the dics are fixed, and the cost of hinging is wholly obviated.
The labour of forcing the hinged die downwards after the blank is
introduced is also saved. With this. Invention no manual labour is
required, except to catch the blank with the tongs, as- neither of the
dies when they are in use requires to be moved; wear and tear are
reduced to a minimum, a better skelp is also produced, since with the
ordinary mode of doing such work the skelp bar or blank is apt to be
kinked in closing down the hinged dic, with consequent loss in the pipe.
..

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Scal Patent
Office on the 28th June 1869.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lanc, in
the Count of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Twenty-ninth day of December, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-eight, in the
thirty-second year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special
licence that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, adminis-
trators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton
Abel, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL PIPES, AND IN THE
APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," (a communication to me from
abroad by James Beach Clow, of Allegheny, State of Pennsylvania,
United States of America,) upon the condition (amongst others) that I,
the said Charles Denton Abel, 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 Charles Denton Abel, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
Metal pipe, other than such as is formed by the exudation of molten
metal through properly shaped dies or by casting, is usually made by

page_text: folding long sheets or strips of rolled metal and welding the edges where
folded together. This folding is usually done by drawing such sheets
and strips through between the converging concave faces of a pair of
skelping dies, the two dies at the forward end when closed together,
having a front aperture of a nearly tubular shape; such dies are made
in two parts, with the plane of division running longitudinally and
vertically through them, and the two parts are hinged together at the
top; to operate them it is necessary to open up the hinged die, introduce
the metallic strip or skelp bar from which the pipe is to be made so far
that its forward end shall project somewhat beyond the forward end of
the dies, close down the hinged die, to do which requires sufficient force
to fold the skelp bar to a tubular shape, and then, after properly
fastening the moveable hinged dic, catch the projecting forward end of
the skelp bar with a pair of tongs and draw the bar through.
The present Invention relates to the construction and use of improved
dies for the purposes above set forth, and the nature of it consists in
making a slot or opening in such dies along the back or line of division
of the upper parts sufficiently large to admit of the passage through it
of the jaws of a pair of tongs or other device by which the skelp bar is to
be drawn through the dies; and it further consists in the construction
and arrangement of machinery for manufacturing pipes in connection
with such dies. The hinging of one of the dies is thereby dispensed
with, both being made fixed, and the skelp bar is caught at the middle
of one end with a pair of tongs, and is introduced into the dies at the
flaring end and is drawn through, passing the jaws of the tongs along
the slot or opening in the upper part of the dies.
To enable others skilled in the art to make and use this Invention
I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation,
referring for that purpose to the Drawings hereto annexed, in which
Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved skelping dies, showing
their construction and how used; Figure 2 is a front view of the dics
and skelp, showing the mode of making lap welded pipes; Figure 3 is a
similar view, showing the mode of making butt welds; and Figure 4 is
a side clevation of a furnace, dics, and apparatus used in connection
therewith, and representing a skelp bar passing through the dies.
Similar letters of reference indicate similar parts in each of the Figures.
A, A, are two dics, similar in shape and construction, securely
fastened to any convenient bed or foundation B. The dies are concave

page_text: on their inner faces in the line of their cross sections, of a nearly or
exactly tubular shape in front as at a, and flaring toward their rear ends
as at a¹. Along the top of the dies A, A, or between them, and longi-
tudinally therewith, I make a slot or opening sufficiently wide to
admit of the passage of the jaws e of a pair of tongs. Tho skelp bar d,
being a flat sheet of metal of the proper width, is caught at or about the
middle of one end by the tongs, is introduced into the dies A, A, at the
flaring end a', and pulled through, the tongs passing along the slot or
opening 6, as shown in Figure 1. The force requisite for this purpose is
applied to the handles e', e', of the tongs, as presently to be described, or
in any convenient way, the tongs all the while retaining their grip on
the skelp bar d. The edges of the bar dare by the concave faces of the
dies A, A, folded down and under so as to form a skelp, the edges of
which when welded together give the pipe or tube required. In this
way the skelp bars or blanks are passed through one after another as
rapidly as may be desired. The bottom part of the dies is made slightly
different for forming butt or lap weld skelps, as may be required. For a
lap weld the bottom edges of the dies A, A, are usually fitted neatly
together, and by a finger or guido properly inserted at any convenient
point one of the edges of the skelp & is made to overlap the other
slightly, as shown in Figure 2. In dies for making a butt weld skelp a
slot or opening is left between the dies on the bottom, and a tongue i,
Figure 3, placed therein, which projects slightly upwards, and against
which the sides or edges of the skelp blank s are bent, as in Figure 3.
In cither case the operation of the machine is substantially the same as
is above described. The skelps when made are welded in the usual
way.
In Figure 4 are shewn the dies as connected with a furnace and with
apparatus for drawing the skelp bars through the dics. C is a heating
furnace, in which the bars or sheets are heated, being first brought to
the width and length desired. On the furnace doors being opened a
workman draws out a heated bar, which is caught by the tongs e, e¹.
m is an endless chain, which passes along the top of the draw bench D,
over a toothed wheel at the end, so made that the teeth shall enter the
links of the chain, back under and around a similar wheel n with or
without teeth in like manner. Power is applied to the wheel at the
further end of the draw bench D, which latter should be as long as the
pipe to be made. A hook e² on one of the handles of the tongs is then
inserted in a link of the chain m, the handles are fastened together, or so

page_text: held that the jaws e of the tongs shall keep their hold on the skelp bar d,
the tongs guided into the open slot of the dies, and by the action of
the chain m the skelp bar d is drawn through the dies and brought to a
tubular shape, as at o. This bar having been passed through the dies,
the tongs are unhooked from the chain, and the operation is repeated.
The advantages of the before described improvements are, a cheaper
construction of dies, since both of the dies are fixed and the cost of
hinging is wholly obviated; the labour of forcing the hinged dic down-
wards after the blank is introduced is also saved. With this Invention
no manual labour is required, except to catch the blanks with the tongs.
As neither of the dies, where they are in use requires to be moved, wear
and tear are reduced to a minimum. A better skelp is also produced,
since with the ordinary mode of doing such work the skelp bar or blank
is apt to be kinked in closing down the hinged dic with consequent loss
in the pipe when made. The dies A, A, may be made separate or
together, so as to form a single die with two faces opposite each other.
If made separate they may be easily adjusted on the bed B so as to form
the skelp exactly of the proper size.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, what I claim is,-
First. The construction and use of skelping dies made either solid or
separate, with a slot or opening extending longitudinally along their
upper part through or between them, substantially as and for the
purposes herein-before set forth.
Second. The arrangement of an endless chain m operated by toothed
wheels on a draw bench D in connection with open backed or slotted
dies A, A, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.
In witness whercof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-sixth day of June, in
the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and sixty-
nine.