An Improved Method of and Machine for Forging Metals, Chiefly Designed for the Manufacture of Tubes, Cylinders, Shafts, and similar Work.
Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 25th Oct., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 18th Aug., 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 12th Oct., 1888
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Machine for Forging Metals, Chiefly
Designed for the Manufacture of Tubes, Cylinders, Shafts, and
similar Work.
1, MANASSAH GLEDHILL, Director of Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co., Limited, of
Openshaw, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to a novel method and machine whereby I can forge or work
steel or other metal either hot or cold, for the manufacture of hollow or tubular and
also solid objects for various purposes, such for instance as steel, iron, copper or gun-
metal tubes for use in the construction of ordnance; hollow cylinders to be
manufactured into weldloss rings or tubes for the shells or flues of steam-boilers;
liners for the cylinders of steam-engines or the like; steel or iron shafts, either hollow
or solid, and other objects that are circular in transverse section. The said invention
is applicable to cylindrical or taper work and to the production of tubes, shafts or the
like either with regular or continuous surfaces, or with grooves, depressions or other
irregularities or inequalities.
The said invention affords the means whereby a hollow ingot or block of steel or
iron can be converted or developed by pressure or squeezing, and without hammering
or welding, into a tube, cylinder or shell of any required dimensions. Moreover my
improved method produces a circumferential disposition of the fibres which is very
advantageous in many cases.
For the purpose of my invention I use rollers by and between which the ingot is
rotated and moved end wise while subjected to the required pressure, the said ingot, in
the case of hollow work, being preferably placed upon a mandrel or bar. These rollers
form part of a machine which is constructed as follows, that is to say, it has a strong
bed at the ends of which I provide bearings for the mandrel, the said bearings being
adjustable in all directions. The aforesaid rollers are supported in bearings in vertical
frames or standards secured upon the bed and extending across the same. I use these
rollers arranged at equal distances apart in such a manner that the tube or shaft being
....
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page_text: operated upon, extends centrally between them above the machine bed. The rollers
or one of them must have the bearings adjustable radially in the standard so that the
said rollers or roller can be made to approach or recede from the centre of the space
between them, and thereby can be caused to exert greater or less pressure upon the
metal as desired. I prefer to use hydraulic power (in some instances in combination
with screws) for exerting the required pressure through the said rollers upon the
object being forged, and for this purpose I combine with the roller-bearings suitable
apparatus.
The rollers are rounded or curved on their peripheries or working surfaces; the
curved surface is not quite symmetrical but has such a deviation from the plane of its
rotation as to give to the periphery a slightly spiral form or configuration, so that the
three rollers work together with a tendency to impart to the tube or shaft between
them an endwise, as well as a rotative motion. By reversing the rotation of the
rollers, the end wise movement is also reversed so that all parts of the surface of the
said tube or shaft can be successively and repeatedly subjected to the action of
the said rollers.
When I employ this machine for finishing cylindrical or taper tubes for use in the
construction of guns, such as those described in the provisional specification accom-
panying my application for Letters Patent filed July 6th 1887, No. 9561, or for other
purposes, use a mandrel which is accurately made to the required diameter of the
bore of the tube and has its surface burnished or otherwise made as smooth as
possible.
The ingot, either hot or cold, being placed upon the said mandrel and properly
adjusted relatively to the rollers, is subjected to the action thereof until it is reduced
in diameter and thickness and extended longitudinally to the required dimensions.
By the continued pressing, squeezing or closing action of the rollers upon the metal
of the tube, the latter is made to conform accurately to the shape of the mandrel
throughout its entire length, so that, if the mandrel is properly shaped and surfaced,
the tube will not require any subsequent finishing in a lathe or otherwise. In some
instances, however, I draw and reduce the tubes without using a mandrel.
Shafts for steam-engines or other machinery and other like objects whether
cylindrical or taper, may also be drawn, reduced and finished in the said machine.
I provide the said machine with one, two or more sets of the aforesaid rollers,
according to the length of the tubes or other objects to be subjected to the action of the
said rollers, and I provide a suitable index or indicating apparatus to facilitate
observation of the work during its progress.
Dated the 25th day of October 1887.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
An Improved Method of and Machine for Forging Metals, Chiefly
Designed for the Manufacture of Tubes, Cylinders, Shafts, and
similar Work.
I, MANASSAH GLEDHILL, Director of Sir Joseph Whitworth & Co., Limited, of
Openshaw, Manchester, in the County of Lancaster, Engineers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performod to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
My invention relates to a novel method and machine whereby I can forge or work
steel or other metal, either hot or cold, for the manufacture of hollow or tubular,
and also solid objects for various purposes, such for instance as seamless steel, iron,
copper, or gun-metal tubes for use in the construction of ordnance; seamless or
wellless hollow cylinders or tubes to be manufactured into the shells or flues of
steam-boilers; liners for the cylinders of steam-engines or the like; steel or iron
shafts either hollow or solid, and other objects that are circular in transverse section.
The said invention is applicable to cylindrical or parallel and also to taper work, and
to the production of tubes, shafts or the like either with regular or continuous longi-
tudinally straight surfaces, or with grooves, depressions or other irregularities or
inequalities.
The said invention affords the means whereby a hollow ingot or block of steel or
iron can be converted or developed by pressure or squeezing without any hammering
or welding, into a tube, cylinder or shell of any required dimensions, and in such a
manner as to produce a circumferential disposition of the fibres of the metal which is
very advantageous in many cases.
For the purpose of my invention, I use rollers by and between which the metal
ingot or block is rotated and moved end wise while subjected to the required pressure,
the said ingot, in the case of hollow work, being preferably placed upon a mandrel or
bar. The said rollers form part of a machine which is constructed as follows, that is
to say, it has a strong bed above or upon which I provide bearings for the mandrel
or for the bar or tube being worked, the said bearings being adjustable in all directions.
I use three rollers which are supported in bearings in vertical frames or standards
secured upon the bed. These rollers are arranged at equal distances apart in such a
manner that the tube or shaft being operated upon extends centrally between them.
The rollers or one of them must have the bearings adjustable radially in the standard,
so that the said rollers or roller can be made to approach or recede from the centre of
the space between them and thereby can be caused to exert greater or less pressure
upon the metal as desired.
The construction of this machine will be more clearly understood by reference to
the accompanying drawings, in which
Figure 1 is a front elevation of the said machine.

page_text: Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation thereof, some of the parts being removed.
Figure 3 is a transverse section on the line x, x, Figure 1.
Figure 4 is a front elevation of the said machine, and
Figure 5 an end elevation of a portion thereof, illustrating a modified arrangement
of the bearings for the mandrel or for the bar or tube being operated upon.
Like letters indicate corresponding parts throughout the drawings.
a is the bed; b, b₁ are the vertical frames or standards. c, c, c are the rollers, the
shafts c¹ of which are mounted in suitable bearings in the said frames or standards.
dis the engine-shaft or driving-shaft provided with a pinion e which gears with the
central wheel. This central wheel has fixed on or secured to it a pinion g which
gears with the three spur-wheels c² on the ends of the roller-shafts c¹. Through the
medium of these gear-wheels, the driving-shaft imparts motion to the rollers c.
The machine shown in the drawing has the central wheel and pinion g mounted
on a boss 62 formed around a hole in the standard 1, which hole is provided to allow
a long tube or shaft to pass endwise through the machine; this provision is, however,
not always necessary.
h, h are longitudinal shafts one of which is arranged to be put into and out of gear
with the engine by means of a clutch or other suitable device. The said shafts are
geared together by a transverse shaft and bevel wheels j', to ensure their working
in unison. Or the said shafts h, for the same purpose, may be provided with pinions
geared with a rack fixed on or connected with a hydraulic cylinder arranged to move
to and fro across the machine. The shafts are geared by worms and worm-
wheels with screws c³, and thereby rotate the said screws to adjust the bearings of
the two lower rollers c to the work.
The upper roller is, in this instance, arranged to be adjusted separately by means of
the hand-wheel m, which is connected, by a chain n and chain-wheels n¹, n², with a
worm o geared with a worm-wheel p on the screw c which moves the bearing of the
said roller.
In some instances, I use hydraulic power alone or in combination with screws
for exerting the required pressure through the said rollers upon the object being
forged.
A is the ingot being forged or worked in the machine. The mandrel q extends
through the ingot and is supported in bearings r, r. A hydraulic press s is provided
for effecting the end wise movement of the said mandrel and the work at the com-
mencement of the rolling operation, or for ensuring the required endwise motion of
the work (if variations of its diameter are desired) during the rolling of the parts
where such variations occur. Other suitable apparatus may, if desired, be used for
moving the work end wise for the purpose above specified. The ram of the hydraulic
press or its equivalent does not require to be rigidly or permanently attached to the
mandrei. I sometimes connect it therewith by means of a thrust-block or bearing, as
shown at t in Figure 1.
In Figure 1, the bearings carrying the mandrel are shown suspended from an
overhead crane, but, in some instances, I mount them on the bed of the machine or
otherwise arrange them.
In Figures 4 and 5, 1 have shown the mandrel 9 supported in bearings u which are
movable or adjustable longitudinally upon the bed a. Each of these bearings is
provided with a V-block arranged to be raised and lowered by means of a screw
working in a screw-threaded hole in a worm-wheel vl, to which rotary motion may be
imparted by the worm 3 and hand-wheel v³.
C
It will be seen that the ingot lies centrally between the three rollers and can move
endwise while subjected to the action of the same. The said rollers c are rounded or
curved on their peripheries; the working surface, however, does not extend quite
centrally or symmetrically, but has such a deviation from the plane of its rotation as to
give to the periphery a slightly spiral form or configuration, as shown at c*, so that the
three rollers work together with a tendency to impart to the tube or shaft between
them an endwise, as well as a rotative motion. By reversing the rotation of the rollers,
the endwise movement is also reversed, so that all parts of the surface of the said tube
C

page_text: or shaft can be successively and repeatedly subjected to the action of the said rollers.
In some instances, the rollers may be modified by making the working surface rounded
or curved as above described, but without the spiral configuration.
When I employ this machine for finishing cylindrical or taper tubes for use in the
construction of guns such as those described in the specification of my Letters Patent
dated July 6th 1887, No. 9561, or for other purposes, I use a mandrel which is
accurately made to the required diameter of the bore of the tube and has its surface
burnished or otherwise made as smooth as possible.
The ingot, either hot or cold, being placed upon the said mandrel and properly
adjusted relatively to the rollers, is subjected to the action thereof until it is reduced
in diameter and thickness and extended longitudinally to the required dimensions.
By the continued pressing, squeezing or closing action of the rollers upon the metal
of the tube, the latter has its exterior surface brought to the required finished condition,
while the bore is made to conform accurately to the shape of the mandrel throughout
its entire length, so that, if the mandrel is properly shaped and surfaced, the tube will
not require any subsequent finishing in a lathe or otherwise. In some instances,
however, I draw and reduce the tubes without using a mandrel in the machine. In
this case, I sometimes finish the interior of the tube in a boring-machine. Large or
heavy shafts for steam-engines or other machinery and other shafts or bars or similar
objects, whether cylindrical or taper, may also be drawn from an ingot or mass of
metal and reduced and finished, either hot or cold, by the action of the rollers in the
improved machine as above described.
By means of these peculiarly shaped rollers, which have their working surface so
formed as to touch at any given moment only a very limited portion of the surface
area of the metal, I am enabled to exert very great pressure upon all parts of the
metal successively, and can, therefore, work and finish the tube or other object cold.
I provide the said machine with one, two or more sets of the aforesaid rollers,
according to the length of the tubes or other objects to be subjected to the action of
the said rollers.
To facilitate observation of the work during its progress, I provide an index or
indicating apparatus which, through the medium of suitable levers or other mechanism,
is caused to move according to the progress of the work. In Figure 3 the index or
indicating apparatus is shown at w fixed on the standard b. This apparatus moves in
correspondence with the adjustment of the bearings of the lower rollers, and is so
arranged that it will indicate upon a dial the exact diameter of the ingot or tube being
operated upon.
I wish it understood that I do not claim generally or irrespectively of the improve-
ments hereinabove described the forging of a metal tube, shaft or bar by causing the
same to rotate on its axis under pressure between rollers as I am aware that this
manner of shaping metals for various purposes has been already used; but I am not
aware that it has ever been attempted to convert steel or other ingots into the form of
tubes, shafts or bars in such a condition in respect of accuracy and finish that no
lathe-work is necessary to complete their manufacture, or that the cold forging of
cylinders, tubes or other objects such as are hereinabove mentioned has ever been
attempted.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I claim is :-
First. The method or process of forging, either hot or cold, a seamless or weldless
cylinder or tube by the action of the peculiarly formed rollers upon the exterior
surface of a hollow ingot, with or without a mandrel, substantially as described.
Second. The application of this method or process to the manufacture of accurately
formed and finished shafts or bars, as above set forth.
Third. A pressing or squeezing roller having a working surface formed on its
periphery in the peculiar manner herein set forth, for the purpose specified.
Fourth. A machine in which one, two or more series or sets of the aforesaid
pressing, squeezing or forging rollers or other suitable rollers acting as herein described

page_text: are arranged in combination with means for operating the said rollers and adjusting
them to their work, substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination, with adjustable pressing or forging rollers operating as
above described, of apparatus for indicating the progress of the work as above
specified.
Sixth. A tube, shaft or bar manufactured as above described from an ingot or block
of metal by forging it accurately to the required dimensions and finishing it between
rollers arranged and operating as herein set forth.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.