IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING METAL TUBING
Year: 1873

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Alfred Vincent Newton, of the Office for Patents,
66, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical
Draughtsman, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE
OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING METAL TUBING."-A communi-
cation from abroad by Samuel Russel Wilmot, of Bridgeport, in the
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Alfred Vincent Newton.
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 18th April 1873.
I, ALFRED VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery
Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE
• OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING METAL TUBING," to be as follows:―
The one part of this Invention consists in a die drawn locked seam
metal tube or tubing, which not only has its seam compacted and com-

page_text: pressed in every direction towards its centre, but also the whole circum-
ferential portion of its body, both inside and out, similarly and
simultaneously compacted and compressed. A metal tubing of this
description may not only be made true or smooth externally and
internally, but of greater length, and thinner or lighter, likewise closer
and stronger than a locked seam tube produced by means of rolls. Such
improved tubing may be made from a strip of brass, copper, steel, or
any other suitable metal or composition of metals. The means employed
to produce such tubing may be more or less varied according to cir-
cumstances, as may also the shape or description of seam produced,
and such tube or tubing be either plain or fluted and have its seam
arranged either on the outside or inside of it.
The Invention also embodies an 'improvement in the art of manu-
facturing tubing of sheet metal strips or skelps with interlocked joint or
seam, and consists in the method of condensing and consolidating the
joint or seam, and also the metal of the tube by drawing the same
through a die or dies that impinge against, compress, consolidate, and
draw upon all the exposed surface or surfaces of the joint or seam and
the tube.itself.
Another part of the Invention which admits of division as regards its
novel features consists generally in an organised system of devices
including guides, formers, and dies, whereby on draft as distinguished
from thrust being applied to a strip of sheet metal the latter is bent into.
tubular form and its edges turned to constitute a locked seam, and such
seam not only closed but firmly compacted or compressed in every
direction in common with the whole circumferential portion of the tube,
both inside and out, by the drawing of the tube as the seam is closed
through a finishing die, thus producing a die drawn locked seam tube
which is smooth externally and internally, and may be made of greater
length and thinner, or lighter and stronger, than any locked seam tube
heretofore produced by means of rolls.
The apparatus in which the 'tube is drawn consists of a trough fitted
with a male and female former which are tapered towards one end, and
are so shaped relatively as to bend up the edges of the metal strip as it
is drawn between them, and gradually give it a tubular form. In front
of the formers are,dies, in passing over and between which the joint is
formed and the tube completed. On the top of a male-core-or-former.is

page_text: a plate, the edges of which overlap the body or shaping portion of that
former, and also overlap the upper edges of the female former. to guide
the edges of the bent strip and ensure the smooth, and steady draft of
the strip between the formers to the dies. The metal on leaving the
formers enters a circular closing die which has a. gradual taper in the
direction of its length, and arranged concentrically; within this die is a
metal core constructed preferably in sections, and constituting a virtual
extension of the male former. The rear sections of the core are so
shaped at their upper sides as to act as folders of the edges of the metal
strip and gradually to cause the edges to interlock, and the most
forward sections constitute a sustaining core and assist in the com-
pression of the metal and consolidation of the tube as it is drawn through
sections which are a virtual continuation of the closing die before
mentioned.
.
SPECIFICATION filed in pursuance of the conditions of the 'Letters
Patent, and of an Order of the Lord Chancellor, by the said Alfred.
Vincent Newton in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 15th
November 1873.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, ALFRED.
VINCENT NEWTON, of the Office for Patents, 66, Chancery Lane, in the
County of Middlesex, Mechanical Draughtsman, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Eighteenth day of April, 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 Alfred Vincent Newton, Her special
licence that I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, my executors, . admi-
nistrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said Alfred Vincent
Newton, my executors, administrators, and assigns, should at any time
agree with, and no others, from time to time and at all times there- .
after 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 Inven-
tion for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MODE OF AND APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING
METAL TUBING," being a communication to me from abroad by. Samuel
Russel Wilmot, of Bridgeport, in the State of Connecticut, United States.
.

page_text: of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Alfred
Vincent Newton, 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 seven calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said Letters

page_text: under a cross guide bar or roller c; down within and along a trough C
between adjustable side guides or wings D, that serve to direct the strip
to its proper position beneath the core or male former E and between
the latter and a correspondingly shaped female former F, subject to the
action or pressure of a cam lever or other suitable clamp G, which,
bearing down on the male former E, serves to pinch or keep the strip A
from buckling or crinkling while being drawn between the two formers.
Said formers E and F. are of tapering width, diminishing towards their
forward ends, and the trough C may be of a corresponding taper. In
addition to such construction of said formers, their contiguous surfaces
which bear upon the strip A. are of a general curvature at their rear ends,
and a gradually quickening curvature towards their forward ends, to
produce a gradual bend of the strip into a tubular or partly circular
form, as it is drawn forwards between the formers E and F.
The strip
A is drawn forwards and through the dies in front of the formers by
first cutting a tongue or tapering extension on the front of the strip, and
passing it through in front of the apparatus, so that it may be readily
taken hold of by a pair of power pincers or otherwise, and so form a
handle or hold whereby to draw the remainder of the strip through the
apparatus, such handle portion afterwards being cut off as waste from
the one end of the tube.
On the top of the male core or former E is a plate d, the edges of
which overlap the body or shaping portion of said former, as clearly
shewn in Figures 5 and 6, and also lie over or overlap the upper edges
of the female former F to guide the edges of the bent strip and insure
the smooth and straight or steady draft of the strip between the formers
to the dies free from any bruising or marring of the edges of the strip.
The male core or former E may be removable by sliding it backwards on
releasing the clamp G, and when in position it is retained in place,
together with its attachments (which enter the dies in front), and it is
prevented from being drawn unduly forward on heavy draft being applied
to the strip, by a stop or projection e on an attached front extension or
section arranged to enter a recess in the upper portion of the closing
die H. This closing die H is of a closed circular form in its transverso
section, but of a gradual taper in direction of its length, reducing in
diameter forwardly, that is in the direction in which the strip travels or
is drawn. Arranged to fit concentrically within this die is a correspond..
ingly tapering forward extension of the core or male former E, which
extension is preferably constructed in sections f, g, h, i, the two latter

page_text: sections h, i, as also an advance ring or mandrel k fitting as sleeves over
a central shank 1 of the section f, g, and being retained in place by a
nut m on the outer or forward end of said shank. The section g fits as
a top or cover, and virtually forms part of the section f, and has
attached to it by a dovetail lock or otherwise a tongue n, which lies
within a curved tapering groove o in the upper surface of the section h,
but (or for the most of its forward portion) is free from contact there-
with to allow of the underlapping portion of the seam in the tubing, as
the latter is closed, passing under the tongue, the edges of the strip of
which the tubing is composed having been previously bent to lock the
one with the other by their travel along grooves r, 1¹,
in the upper
surface of the top section g and beneath a tapering upper part of said
top or cover, and by their continued travel along or past the tongue n.
This tongue forms a close fit on its upper surface with the interior of
the die H, which sustains it against being strained or broken by the
passing strip or partially formed tubing. The top g or upper part of the
section may also be similarly supported by the die H. The tongue n
is grooved along its one side in continuation of the groove in the
piece g, subject to interruption by a jog or rise u, which turns the one
edge v (Fig. 13) of the strip inwards, while the other side of the tongue
is made with an overhanging portion w at the root of the tongue. The
section i has a groove s in its upper surface for the passage of the closed
seam of the tubing out of the groove O, through it, and the mandrel k
has a slightly reduced continuation s¹ of the groove s for similar accom-
modation of the seam within the finishing die I. This die I is secured
to the forward end of the trough C by being slidden down into vertical
grooves made to receive it.
:
The operation of the apparatus is as follows:-As the strip A is drawn
between the formers E, F, and out through the dies H, I, it on reaching
the position shewn by dotted line 6¹ in Fig. 3 is curved as represented in
Fig. 11, and on reaching the dotted line 62 is further bent as in Fig. 12.
After this, and when the strip passes within the die H which gradually
causes the edges of the strip to approach and give to the strip its required
tubular shape, said edges pass within the grooves 7, 71, and along the
grooved and recessed sides of the tongue n, and on reaching the position
represented by dotted lines 63 are bent as represented in Fig. 13, the one
edge v being bent inwards by its passage over the jog u, while the other
edge is shaped as represented in Fig. 13 by its passage under the wing w
of the tongue n. The further passage of the strip to the position repre-

page_text: sented by dotted line 6' causes the edge v to be further slightly hooked
or bent by the combined action of the die H and the groove in the side
of the tongue n, while the other edge of the strip by its passage under
the forward portion of said tongue, and transversely within as well as
along the groove o, is bent by said parts, in combination with the
tapering die H, to pass under and into engaging position with the first
mentioned edge is represented in Fig. 14. As said strip A further moves
towards the front and narrower or closing end of the die H the engage-
ment or hooking together of the two edges is completed by the action
of the forward portion of the groove o and surrounding portion of the
die on the edge which passed' under the tongue, so that when the seam
enters the grooves in the section i the same is closed by the die H. The
seam having been thus closed or locked the strip assumes the shape of a
locked seam tube as represented in Figures 15 and 16, but is not yet
materially drawn or finished. To complete it or make of it a perfect
die drawn locked seam tube, the closed tube as it leaves the tapering
die H and tapering core sections f, h, i, is drawn through the finishing
cylindrical die I and around the cylindrical mandrel or core k, having
the groove s¹ in it for accommodation of the scam. This produces a
drawing action on the tube, and compresses or compacts the seam not
only as regards its faces or above and below, but edgewise or in every
direction, and simultaneously compacts or compresses the whole body of
the tube circumferentially both inside and out as it passes through or
from out of the die I.
If preferred the strip A may be introduced to the apparatus in a
partly curved form instead of in a flat shape. Likewise the formers,
dies, and accompanying devices may be constructed to produce a fluted
tube; also if desired to throw the seam outwards instead of inwards
without departing from the principle that distinguishes the Invention
from other devices heretofore used to produce a locked seam tube.
Having now set forth the nature of the Invention of "Improvements
in the Mode of and Apparatus for Manufacturing Metal Tubing," as
communicated to me by my foreign correspondent, and explained the
manner of carrying the same into effect, I wish it to be understood that
under the above in part recited Letters Patent I claim,―
First. Condensing and consolidating the joint or seam and also the
metal of the tube by drawing the same through a dic or dies that
impinge against, compress, consolidate, and draw upon all the exposed

page_text: surface or surfaces of the joint or seam and of the tube itself, substan-
tially as described.
Second. An improved machine constructed substantially as described
of formers, guides, and dies, the same being so organized that as a strip
of metal is drawn therethrough or between the same said strip will be
bent into a tubular form and its edges caused to interlock one with
the other, and the seam thus produced will be closed in the manner
above set forth.
Third. The combination of the male former E and its overhanging
plate or portion d with the female former F, and the tapering circular
closing die H with its tapering core or extension of the male former E,
essentially as herein set forth.
Fourth. The combination with the tapering die II of the tapering
section or portion f, having grooves ", "¹, arranged to converge in a
forward direction, substantially as specified.
Fifth. The grooved tongue n, wing w, and jog u, in combination with
the groove o in the section or portion of the core and the closing die H,
essentially as described.
Sixth. The combination with the elements recited in the last preceding.
clause of claim of the drawing die I and its grooved core k, substantially
as specified.
Seventh. The sectionally constructed core or core extension composed
of detachable sections f, g, h, i, and k, arranged in relation with each
other and with the dies H, I, essentially as described.
Eighth. The detachable male former E with its attached core or
forward extension, in combination with a stop e, arranged to resist the
draft on said former E relatively to the tapering die H, substantially as
specified.
In witness whercof, I, the said Alfred Vincent Newton, have here-
¯unto set my hand and seal, the Fifteenth day of November, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-
three.