IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREWING TACKLE AND IN APPARATUS FOR SCREWING METAL TUBES."
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Heap, of Oldham, in the County of
Lancaster, Tool Maker, for the Invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN
SCREWING TACKLE AND IN APPARATUS FOR SCREWING METAL TUBES."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Heap at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
14th May 1873.
I, JOSHUA HEAP, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Tool
Maker, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN SCREWING TACKLE AND IN APPARATUS FOR SCREWING METAL TUBES," to
be as follows:-
My Invention relates principally to apparatus for screwing metal
tubes, such as, for example, the ordinary wrought-iron gas or steam
tubing, but is also partly applicable to screwing stocks or tackle for
screwing bolts and for other similar uses.

page_text: My said Invention relates in the first place to apparatus for screwing
tubes of a comparatively large size. In such apparatus constructed in
manner according with my said Invention the tube is held by a vice
consisting of three or more gripping pieces, which are fitted to slide to
and fro radially from the centre of the position occupied by the tube
during the operation of screwing. The said gripping pieces are simul-
taneously forced towards the tube to be screwed by the action of curved
inclines on a ring which is fitted to be revolved within the framing of
the apparatus. The rotation of the said ring may be conveniently
effected by means of a spur pinion gearing with teeth cut or formed in
the said ring, or with a segmental rack fixed to the said ring. The
screwing dies are fitted to slide to and fro radially in a die holder which
is fitted or formed with spur teeth in order that it may be rotated by
means of a shaft and pinion to effect the screwing of the tube, or bevil
or worm gearing may be employed for the said purpose. The said dies
are forced towards the tube by means of curved inclines formed on a
ring which is fitted to revolve in or upon the said die holder, and the
said die holder is mounted in a frame which is fitted to slide towards or
from the aforesaid vice, according as the die holder is turned in one
direction or the other during the operation of screwing. The action of
the die is regulated by revolving the ring in or upon the die holder, and
this I effect by turning a central wheel, which if preferred, may be
mounted on a screwed stud or axle, and which gears with a second
wheel carried by the said die holder, which second wheel gears with a
spur segment formed or fixed on the said ring, or a pinion revolving
with the said second wheel gears with the said segment.
When constructing screwing stocks I form the said stocks in two
parts hinged together, a handle being fixed to or formed on each part.
The two parts are drawn together by means of a screw, and the cut of
the dies may be increased or decreased by turning the said screw. I
prefer to employ dies which are cut or threaded on each side, so that, for
example, supposing dies of a triangular shape to be employed, a pair of
dies would be capable of screwing three different sizes of tubes, the
changes of size being effected by opening the stocks and partially
revolving each die.
This part of my Invention is also applicable to stocks for screwing

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Joshua Heap in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 14th November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JOSHUA
HEAP, of Oldham, in the County of Lancaster, Tool Maker, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourteenth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three, in the thirty-
sixth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Joshua Heap, Her special license
that I, the said Joshua Heap, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Joshua Heap, 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
SCREWING TACKLE AND IN APPARATUS FOR SCREWING METAL TUBES," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Joshua Heap, by an instru-
ment 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
Scal Patent Office within six calendar months next and immediately
after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Joshua Heap, do hereby declare
the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying Drawings, that is to say :-
My Invention relates principally to tackle or apparatus for screwing
metal tubes, such as, for example, the ordinary wrought-iron gas or steam
tubing, but is also applicable to be employed in the screwing of bolts
and for other similar uses.
My said Invention is particularly applicable to apparatus for screwing
tubes of a comparatively large size. In such apparatus constructed in
manner according with my said Invention the tube is held by a vice

page_text: consisting of three or more gripping pieces which are fitted to slide to
and fro radially from the centre of the position occupied by the tube
during the operation of screwing. The said gripping pieces are simul-
taneously forced towards the tube to be screwed by the action of curved
inclines on a ring which is fitted to be revolved within the framing of
the apparatus. The rotation of the said ring may be conveniently
effected by means of a spur pinion gearing with teeth cut or formed in
the said ring, or with a segmental rack fixed to the said ring. The
screwing dies are fitted to slide to and fro radially in a die holder which
is fitted or formed with spur teeth in order that it may be rotated by
means of a shaft and pinion to effect the screwing of the tube, or bevil
or worm gearing may be employed for the said purpose. The said dies
are forced towards the tube by means of curved inclines formed on a
ring which is fitted to revolve in or upon the said die holder, and the
said die holder is fitted to slide towards or from the aforesaid vice,
according as the die holder is turned in one direction or the other during
the operation of screwing.
When employed in the screwing of bolts the bolt which is to bo
screwed is secured in the vice, the action of the machine being the same
as when screwing tubes.
And in order that my said Invention may be fully understood I have
caused a Sheet of Drawings to accompany this Specification, the said
Drawings being made to a scale of about one-half of the full size, and
marked with letters of reference, corresponding marks indicating tho
same parts in the various Figures.
Referring in this place to the said Drawings, Fig. 1 represents a
vertical longitudinal section; Fig. 2, an end view; and Fig. 3, a side
view of an apparatus suitable for screwing tubes, and constructed in
accordance with my said Invention.
In the said Figs. A is the framing of the apparatus; B is a vice to
hold the tubes during the operation of screwing; and C is the revolving
die holder herein-after styled the cutter head. The said vice is in the
example formed in the end of the casting which constitutes the framing,
a recess being formed therein, and being turned out to receive a ring a.
The said ring is also seen in Fig. 4, which is a front view of the said
vice, with the covering plate 6 removed. The said ring is formed with
three curved cam-shaped inclines which act upon the outer ends of three

page_text: gripping pieces c, c, c, which are fitted to slide up and down in grooves
formed in the framing. A plate on which are formed curved ridges is
secured to the ring a, and the said ridges are made to correspond in
curvature with the said cam-shaped inclines. The said ridges work in.
5 grooves formed in the said gripping pieces, as indicated at d, and act to
draw back the said gripping pieces when it is required to release the
tube. Worm teeth are formed on the periphery of the ring a, or on a
portion thereof, and a worm e, which is mounted in a recess formed in
the framing, gears with the said teeth. When the said worm is turned
by means of the handle fin the direction which will cause the ring a
to move in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 4, the said
gripping pieces are forced simultaneously inwards, and are caused to
grip and hold the tube to be screwed which has been placed in position...
as indicated by 9. The cutter head O is formed with a boss h, which is
turned and fitted to revolve and to slide within the bush i which is fixed
in the framing. A front view of the said cutter head, with the covering
platek which encloses the dies removed, is seen at Fig. 5. The said
cutter head is also turned out to receive a cam ring which is fitted to
be revolved within the said cutter head, and is formed with three curved
cam-shaped inclines, as in the case of the aforesaid ring a. The said
cutter head is fitted with three dies m which are arranged to slide in
grooves prepared in the said cutter head, and are suitably formed and
prepared as regards their inner ends to screw or cut the required screw
thread upon the tube which is to be screwed. The said dies are arranged
so as that the sides or edges on which the "cutting edges
" are formed are
radials from the centre of motion of the cutter head, or thereabouts.
The ring is furnished or formed with spur teeth, indicated by dotted
lines in Fig. 5, and a spur pinion n formed on a short shaft which is
fitted to revolve in the cutter head gears with the said teeth.
When the said pinion is turned by means of a key or other appliance
in the direction indicated by the arrow the ring 7 is caused to revolve
within the cutter head, and the aforesaid curved inclines acting on the
ends of the dies m force the said dies inwards. When the said pinion
is rotated in the direction contrary to that indicated curved ridges which
work in grooves formed in the dies draw back the said dies as in the case
of the action of the ridges d on the aforesaid gripping pieces. Spur
teeth are formed on the periphery of the cutter head, and a pinion o,
which is fixed on the shaft p, gears with the said spur teeth. A second

page_text: shaft q is mounted in a bearing formed in one end of the framing, and is
connected by the bevil gearing with the shaft p, so that when the
shaft q is rotated by means of the handles a revolving motion is com-
municated to the cutter head. In smaller sized machines the cutter
head may be rotated by means of a handle fixed or formed on the boss h.
The bush is tapped to receive two screwed collars and u, the screw
thread of one collar being finer than that of the other collar, and corre-
sponding in pitch with the thread which is to be cut upon the smaller
sized tubes. The pitch of thread of the other collar is made to correspond
with the thread which is to be cut upon the larger tubes. The bush i is
capable of being withdrawn so that when a bolt is to be screwed, and in
cases when a thread is to be cut of a pitch different from the pitch of
thread of either of the said collars, a bush fitted with a collar screwed
with the required thread may be substituted for the bush i.
In the Specification, which accompanied my petition, I mentioned
that a wheel might might be mounted on a "screwed stud or axle," and
I intended the said wheel when rotating on the said stud or axlo to
produce the same practical effect as I now obtain by means of either of
the said collars. Since filing the said Specification I have found it to
be desirable to form a passage for tubes or bolts extending entirely
through the cutter head and its boss h, so that I have substituted the
collars with external thread for a wheel with internal thread. My
reason for forming the screwed collar into a spur wheel was that
I intended to connect such wheel by means of an " intermediate
with a spur wheel or pinion on the axle of the pinion n, in order that
the last-named pinion might be rotated in all positions of the cutter
head; but I do not now consider this arrangement to be necessary, as
the said cutter head can be readily rotated until convenient access can
be had to the axle of the said pinion n, but I should employ the said
arrangement if considered to be desirable at any time. The collars t
and u are provided with screws v, by means of which either of the said
collars can be temporarily fastened to the boss h.
"
When the apparatus is to be used in screwing a tube the tube is
placed in position within the central orifice of the vice, and the handle f
is turned in the direction which will cause the tube to be securely held
by the vice in the manner herein-before described. One of the collars,
say, for example, the collar t, is now attached to the boss h by turning
the screw; and if the cutting dies have not previously been set they

page_text: are now set to suit the size of the said tube. The handle s is now turned
in the direction indicated in the Drawings, and the cutter head is caused
to rotate and also to advance towards the tube to be screwed by reason of
the collar screwing into the bush i, and the dies will form a thread on
the end of the tube. When the dies have obtained sufficient hold upon
the tube the screw may be relaxed, and the screwing may be con-
tinued without the aid of the said collar as a guide to regulate the
traverse of the cutter head. A thread having been formed extending
the required distance on the tube the direction of motion of the handle 8
is reversed, and the cutter head is thus withdrawn from the tube.
In some or in most cases it will not be necessary to adjust the dies
for each tube which is to be screwed, as if the dies have tapered or
suitably formed, as will be understood, the thread will be formed with a
single traverse or "cut," but if considered to be desirable in any case
the thread may be completed by successive "cuts," the dies being "set
up" at intervals during the operation.
In the example a cutter x, which may be set up by means of the
screw y, is mounted in the cutter head, and is useful for severing tubes.
A disc cutter may be substituted for the cutter x, if preferred, and also
a shaving or turning tool may be attached to the cutter head, and will
be found useful for turning up the outer surface of the tube at the part
where the thread is to be cut. It will be understood that when bolts
are to be screwed suitable dies are placed in the cutter head, and when
specially constructed for screwing bolts modifications may be made in
the holding vice, the action of the apparatus being practically as herein-
before described.
Various other modifications may be made in the apparatus if desired,
as, for example, the cutter head may be fitted with a die formed in one
piece, or in less or more than three pieces, and the arrangements for
setting up the dies may be varied, and the apparatus may be actuated
otherwise than by hand, what I consider to be the important feature
in my Invention being the combination in one apparatus of the
cutter head or die holder capable of being rotated and of traversing
as the screwing proceeds, with a vice for holding the article to be
screwed.

page_text: In the latter part of the aforesaid Specification, which accompanied
my petition, I described a form of screwing stock; but I purposely do
not include the said stock herein.
Having herein-before fully described and indicated the nature of my
said Invention, and the manner in which I now carry the same into
practical effect, I would have it to be understood that I claim,-
First. The "important feature of my Invention," substantially as
herein-before defined.
And, lastly. The general arrangement and combination of parts
forming a complete apparatus for the purposes herein set forth, sub-
stantially as herein-before set forth and indicated with reference to the
accompanying Drawings.
In witness whereof, I, the said Joshua Heap, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of November, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-three.
Signed and sealed by the said
Joshua Heap, in the presence of
EDWARD K. DUTTON,
Agent for the Patentee,
3, Princess Street,
Manchester.
JOSHUA HEAP.
(L.S.)