Process and Apparatus for Making Seamless Hollow or Tubular Bodies with Ribs or Flanges.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 13th Feb., 1895-Accepted, 6th Apr., 1895
Process and Apparatus for Making Seamless Hollow or Tubular
Bodies with Ribs or Flanges.
We, OSCAR FRIEDRICH, and WILHELM SCHULTE, Iron and Steel Workers,
both of Duisburger Eisen und Stahlwerke, Duisburg, Rhine Province, Prussia, in
the Empire of Germany, 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 :—
This invention relates to processes and apparatus for making seamless metal
tubes and hollow or tubular bodies with ribs or flanges on the draw-bench. These
ribs or flanges are longitudinal ones to strengthen tubes used as bearers and
pillars.
It is known that bearers and pillars produced by rolling have serious defects.
More especially the greater T and I shaped profiles are not sufficiently strong or
stiff to avoid distortion. Such bearers or pillars will easily warp as they are
comparatively of little substance of material and therefore not sufficiently strong in
proportion to their weight.
For this reason box formed bearers of various kinds with or without ribs or
flanges for use in connection with bridge and other structural purposes have been
hitherto manufactured from pieces of sheet, angle and other shaped iron rivetted
together, thereby obtaining a stronger and more rigid column or bearer than those
produced by rolling.
Such rivetted bearers and pillars are expensive to manufacture and too heavy in
proportion to their strength, as the thickness of the sections has to be greatly
increased to make good the loss of strength caused by the rivet holes. Further,
the great number of rivets used in the construction of such columns or bearers,
frequently involves difficult and costly repairs and, as is well known, they are
more difficult to paint and more liable to deterioration.
Repeated attempts have been made to manufacture such bearers and pillars
by rolling, but the rolling even of simple hollow or tubular bodies over a
imandrel, as well as the shaping of hollow bodies filled with sand, has proved a
complete failure. Although much wanted, especially in building construction,
such seamless box-shaped bearers and pillars, stiffened by longitudinal ribs or
flanges and made from malleable material of uniform substance throughout, have
not yet been successfully manufactured. The methods in use for rolling are
scarcely suitable for making plain tubes of somewhat large diameters.
Contrary to rolling, the manufacture of such box or hollow bearers or columns
with longitudinal ribs or flanges, has been successfully carried out by us on the
draw-bench as hereinafter described. Seamless supporting beams and pillars so
manufactured on the draw-bench are an entirely new and useful article for use
in connection with building, machine and other construction, the manufacture
of which has been hitherto unsuccessfully attempted. The great disadvantages
of pillars, beams, &c., composed of sheet, angle and other shaped iron rivetted
together and of those produced by rolling, are entirely obviated in those
manufactured according to our invention.
By a particular formation and solidification of the nearly finished article in the
draw-bench, wrought iron, as well as steel, obtains a density never before
reached. The walls of longitudinally flanged or ribbed tubes can be drawn very
thin because their resistance against distortion is secured, by their box or

page_text: trunk shape, in such a high degree that the thickness of the walls which would be
necessary for rivetting can be greatly decreased.
Further, these seamless tubular pillars and bearers can be better protected
against rust by paint than those made by rivetting, which latter easily rust on
the rivet heads and therefore often require repainting and repairs, whilst the
improved drawn pillars and bearers, made without seam, in addition to being very
light and having great supporting capacity, require only small
maintenance.
expenses
of
The method of manufacturing the improved tubes and other articles is as
follows:-
Hollow bodies of malleable material, cast or otherwise produced, and having
pieces connected therewith for producing the flanges or ribs, after having been
pressed and stretched into flat bands in a rolling mill or under the steam hammer,
are opened out at one end by hand and by suitable devices, in such manner that
the band formed piece can be drawn on a suitable strong draw-bench over
specially constructed fixed mandrel, which, at its rear end, has the form of the
inner profile, and works in conjunction with a specially formed draw plate which
has, in its back cross section, the outer profile of the bearer or pillar.
a
The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which :-
Fig. 1 represents an arrangement of draw-bench suitable for this purpose.
Fig. 2 is an elevation and Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of parts showing one
method of fixing the end of the article being worked to a travelling carriage.
Fig. 3 also shows a simple form of opener and expander forming the head of the
mandrel.
Figs. 4 and 5 are similar views to Figs. 2 and 3 showing a modified arrangement
for holding the end of the article being worked.
Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section showing one form of draw plate and a modified
form of opener and expander or head of mandrel.
Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively a side and front elevation of the draw plate and
frame shown at Fig. 6.
Figs. 9, 10 and 10ª are respectively an end view, a face view and a section of one
of the draw plate sections shown at Figs. 6, 7 and 8.
Fig. 11 is a cross section, Fig. 12 is a side view and Figs. 13 and 14 are opposite
end views of the mandrel head shown at Fig. 6.
Figs. 15 represent various stages of the process undergone by the article
before it is finished, and
Figs. 16 represent other forms of articles capable of being produced by our
invention.
Fig. 1 shows in what manner the previously opened up band b coming from
the heating furnace a is brought to the bench and drawn to the required shape.
This
The mandrel consists of a rod or shaft c and a long extended head S.
mandrel head is formed at its fore part as an opening wedge, whilst the rear end has
a smooth parallel exterior forming an anvil, as shown at Figs. 2, 3, 6, 8, 11, 12, 13
and 14.
0
This wedge shaped fore part, when required to produce articles of considerable
size, consists of the pointed wedge or opener e and the stretcher or expander ƒ,
Figs. 6, 11, 12, 13 and 14.
The draw plate z, for such forms of columns or bearers as can be produced by a
In the interior of this
single drawing, is constructed as a long extended funnel.
funnel, and parallel with the axis of the piece to be drawn, are raised round shaped
ribs, which are gradually widened out and Hattened from front to rear and finally
run into a plane surface corresponding with the walls of the finished bearer or column.
These ribs, the cross section of which is continually altering along the
longitudinal axis of the draw plate, are arranged in such a mauner that the material
of the walls of the piece being drawn, which has been opened and widened to
some extent by the wedge point e and the expander f, is at first only slightly
grooved by the forward part of the ribs on the mandrel head, and then pressed

page_text: sideways and distributed by the following broadened parts of such ribs, in such
manner that the band shaped piece being worked will, during its drawing over the
mandrel and through the draw plate, only gradually assume a form similar to the
rearmost cross section of the draw plate and mandrel head. Thus, in the rear
part of the draw plate and of the mandrel head, no further shaping of the tube
takes place, but only a compression and finishing or smoothing of the already
shaped work, similar to the ordinary drawing process.
In many cases it is preferable to construct the draw plate of several sections k,
as shown in Figs. 6 to 10%.
The sections k are mounted in a strong frame i, having trunnions i¹ mounted in
bearings in the draw-bench, and such parts / and i are formed with corresponding
conical friction surfaces, and the sections are placed within the frame i and are
pulled to and immovably held in their right position by simply tightening the
draw chain. These draw plate sections are provided at their front part with blunt
wedge shaped ribs l, which produce and gradually spread furrows in the material
of the piece being drawn and finally smooth them down on the anvil ġ in order to
press and distribute the material sideways in every direction.
The rear end of these draw plate sections represents an ordinary draw plate
for compressing and smoothing the finished walls of the article.
Each section of the draw plate is preferably arranged so as to form free spaces
between the sections in a longitudinal direction in order to receive part of the
sidewardly pressed material, which is there formed into a flange or rib as shown
at Fig. 8.
The opening out of the flattened tube may be effected by several mandrels and
in several operations, and this may also apply to the furrowing and distribution of
the material on the outside of the piece being drawn. This would allow of making
the draw plates or the sections lighter and shorter and thereby easier to handle,
whilst at the same time the frame i, as also the front end of the piece to be opened
up, can be kept shorter.
With the last drawing operation, the shaping, the compression, and the smoothing
or polishing of the walls of the bearers or columns, is finished. The same mandrel
rod or shaft c may be used with different stretchers or expanders and anvils g,
these parts being separately made in special shapes. The anvil g, see Figs. 6, 12
and 14, is slipped over the opener e and pressed against the collar h, after which
all the sections of the stretcher or expander fare laid round the neck between the
anvil and the point or opener e.
In Figs. 4 and 5 a device is represented for fixing the piece to be drawn on the
draw-bench. This device consists of a frame o rigidly connected with the carriage
platen by brackets m, and into which clamping pieces p are inserted; these
clamping pieces, in conjunction with the divided conical ring 9, form a space between
them which corresponds in cross section to the shape of the piece being drawn, and
are sufficient to grip and hold the latter firmly without the use of any screw, key
or wedge by the strain put thereon when the carriage is moved along the bench.
When the article formed is to be used as a column or pillar, the expanded conical
end by which it is attached to the draw-bench, will form a solid base. The draw
chain is attached to the rear axis of the carriage n.
Figs. 2 and 3 show another device for gripping the piece to be drawn. In this
case the carriage is provided with a divided pedestal or bearing chair w, into which
a divided ring is inserted, the latter, by means of screws or a suitable locking
lever, gripping and holding the article firmly on the outer side, whilst a loosely
fitting rings on the mandrel rod or shaft c prevents the crushing or deformation of
the article being manufactured.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what
we claim is :-
1. The combined process of making seamless box shaped beams, bearers and

page_text: columns with longitudinal strengthening and stiffening ribs or flanges, consisting of,
first, preparing a hollow body of malleable metal with rudimentary longitudinal
projections to form the strengthening ribs or flanges; second, flattening and extending
lengthwise the said hollow body by rolling or under a steam hammer; third, opening
out one end of such flattened and extended hollow body; fourth, fixing such opened
out end in a travelling carriage running on a draw-bench; and fifth, opening out,
shaping, compressing and smoothing the article by drawing the same simultaneously
over a fixed mandrel and through a fixed draw plate, substantially as herein
set forth.
2. In making seamless box shaped beams, bearers and columns by the process
herein described, a draw-bench having a fixed mandrel, a fixed draw plate, and a
travelling carriage, to which latter one end of the work is fixed, such mandrel head
being pointed at its front end so as to open the flattened hollow body, and both
mandrel head and draw plate being of such forms as to bring the material to the
desired shape by first distributing it sideways and then finally compressing and
smoothing the same, substantially as herein set forth.
3. The manufacture of seamless box shaped bearns, bearers and columns, by the
process herein described, in a draw-bench having a draw plate consisting of a
solid outer frame provided with trunnions mounted in bearings in the draw-bench
and having a conical aperture, draw plate sections fitting such conical aperture,
and spaces between the sections to form the longitudinal strengthening flanges or
ribs, such sections being fixed securely in position by simply tightening the draw
chain on the work, substantially as herein set forth.
4. In a draw-bench employed in conducting the process herein described, a device
for fixing and holding the work, consisting of a frame connected to a carriage,
internally coned clamping pieces inserted in such frame and fitting around the
conical enlargement of the work, and a divided conical ring fitted inside said
enlargement, the work and said conical parts being securely held in position in the
carriage on motion being given to the latter, substantially as herein set forth.
5. In a draw-bench employed in conducting the process herein described, the
combination of a draw plate constructed as herein described, with a device for fixing
and holding the work, consisting of a divided pedestal, a divided ring fitting within
such divided pedestal and surrounding the opened end of the piece to be drawn,
a ring inserted within the latter, and means for pressing the divided outer ring
towards the inner ring so as to grip firmly the work between them, substantially as
heiein set forth.
6. In a draw-bench employed in conducting the process herein described, the
combination of a draw plate constructed as herein described, with a mandrel head
consisting of a fixed opening point, a fixed collar at the rear of such fixed point, a
loose circular anvil passed over the point and fitting against such collar, and loose
expander sections fitting around the neck of the head between the point and the
anvil, whereby the form of the mandrel head can be varied, substantially as
set forth.
7. In a draw-bench employed in conducting the process herein described, the
peculiar construction of mandrel head and draw plate, each being formed with
curved ribs parallel with the axis of the work, and with plain finishing surfaces,
the said ribs being gradually widened and flattened from front to rear where they
die off into the plain finishing surfaces, substantially as herein set forth and for the
purpose stated.
יני
101
HARRIS & MILLS,
23, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C., Agents.