IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER, BRASS. OTHER TUBES OR PIPES
Year: 1850

page_text: TO ALL TC WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, WILLIAM
HENRY RITCHIE, of Brixton, in the County of Surrey, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Royal Letters Patent, under the. Great Seal of the United Kingdom of Great
Britain and Ireland, bearing date at Westminster, the Twenty-third day of
April, One thousand eight hundred and fifty, in the thirteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and. successors, give and grant unto me, the
said William Henry Ritchie, my exors, admors, and assigns, Her especial
license, full power, sole privilege and authority, that I, the said William Henry
Ritchie, my exors, adiñors, and assigns, or such others as I, the said William
Henry Ritchie, my exors, admiors, or assigns, should at any time agree with,
and no others, from time to time and at all times during the term of years
therein expressed, should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend,
within England, Wales, and the Town-of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF COPPER, BRASS.
OTHER TUBES
OR PIPES," communicated to me from abroad; in which said Letters Patent
is contained a proviso that I, the said William Henry Ritchie, shall cause a
particular description of the nature of the said Invention, and in what
manner the. same is to be performed, by an instrument in writing, under my
hand and seal, to be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery
within six calendar months- next and immediately after the date of the said in
[Price Sd.]

page_text: part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto
had, will more fully and at large appear.
NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
William Henry Ritchie, do hereby declare that the nature of the said Inven-
tion, and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, reference being had
to the Drawing hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say:-
The Invention consists of causing cast tubes of copper, brass, and other
suitable metal to be elongated, by causing them to be pressed or rolled
between surfaces which alternate and take the tubes further and further into
the grooves at the successive alternations, such grooves being tapering (having
their slides inclining towards each other), and the rolling or pressing surfaces
are so worked that the end of a cast tube is progressively taken by the
narrowest portion of the grooves, which for the time being are to act thereon,
the grooves widening out as the parts thereof come into action on the larger
and more and more distant parts of the cast tube.
And in order that the Invention may be more fully understood and readily
carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the Drawing hereunto annexed.
Figure 1 shews a section of two rollers, which are geared together so as to
move at the same surface speed, as is well understood, and they are to be
driven in such manner that they are alternately to move fast in one direction
(that is, in the way of the arrous), so as to take in a cast tube (with a mandril
within it), and roll it between the grooved surfaces, and then the motion of the
rollers is to be reversed and bring back the cast tube, the return motion of the
rollers being caused to be somewhat larger in extent than the previous
advancing motion, according to the extent the particular class of tube under
operation is capable of being elongated at each time of rolling, and which is
well known. The rollers will then be caused to rotate and again take in and
roll the increased length of tube, and thus again extend its length, the return
movement of the rollers again being caused to be somewhat more than the
advancing motion, so that when the end of the cast tube is moved up towards
the rollers it will enter a somewhat narrower portion of the grooves, and the
rollers will then again rotate and draw in the whole length of tube, and again
elongate it. The rollers will then again make a retrograde motion, and moye
back the tube; and they are caused to rotate back somewhat more than
they previously advanced, and then again, the end of the tube being forced up
to the rollers, they, in their advance movement, will take hold of the end of
the tube further into and at a narrower part of the grooves, a distance equal

page_text: to that which they moved back beyond what they moved forward, and by
these reciprocations, aided by the circumstance of the back rotations being
each time greater than the previous advancing motion, the tube will be pro-
gressively elongated.
The tube thus acted upon by the grooves will ultimately assume a conical
form, corresponding with the portions of the grooves in the rollers which have
called into action, and if the process be continued further, the smaller end of
the tube will progressively become cylindrical, till the whole length of the
tube is made cylindrical, and of a diameter corresponding will the smallest
diameter of the grooves, for it will be evident that the smaller end of the cast
tube having been brought to the diameter of the smallest parts of the grooves,
the rollers will no longer act thereon, and the end of the tube will pro-
gressively be caused to protrude beyond the smaller parts of the grooves, and
the smaller parts of the grooves will successively take hold of the tube further
and further along its length, and reduce each part of the same to a diameter
corresponding with the smallest diameter of the grooves. It should be stated
that after each backward movement of the pressing rollers the tube is to be
slightly turned, so that there shall be a constant change where the principal
pressure of the rollers takes place. And it should also be stated that the
tubes thus in the progress of being elongated should from time to time be
removed from the mandrils, and be annealed, as is well understood..
I would remark that the rollers thus used may each have one, or more than
one groove therein, and more than one tube may be under operation at the
same time; or the grooves may be of different sizes, so that a tube having
been operated on and elongated by one of the grooves in each roller may then
be operated on by the next smaller grooves, and so on, and may then be made
with parallel sides, as above explained; and the most convenient mode of
carrying the tube under operation is to employ a horizontal, open, quadrangular
frame, supported and guided on suitable rails, and caused to slide to and fro,
the mandrils being supported thereon at either end, in such manner that they
will be in the centres of the openings between the rollers, such frame being
moved forward when the rollers move forward, and back when the rollers
move backward. The tube or tubes under process are to be turned partly
round when they are brought back. The frame is to be moved towards the
rollers each time, immediately after the rollers have made their retrograde
movements and the tubes have been turned partly round, so that the end of
the tube or tubes under process may enter the grooves and be taken thereby
when the rollers again make their advanced rotation. The cast tubes or pipes
to be elongated by these means should by preference be cast conical, though

page_text: this is not essential. By these means not only is a new mode of making
cylindrical tubes or pipes obtained, but new forms of pipes may be made.
Thus, in Figure 2 a pipe or tube is shown, tapering from the middle towards
each end; and in Figure 3 an enlargement is produced in the middle, the
other parts being of the same size one with the other, and cylindrical. Again,
in Figure 4 an enlargement is left at one end. These new forms of pipes or
tubes result from the circumstance of being able, by the process above
described, to act first at one end and then on the other, and also having the
power to leave any part of the pipe or tube of an enlarged size, as to compared
with the other parts.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that what I
claim is the mode herein described of elongating cast copper, brass, and other
suitable metal tubes or pipes by rolling surfaces caused to alternate in their
rotations, and to act as above explained. And I also claim the making of
pipes or tubes without seams, of the forms described in respect to Figures
2, 3, 4.
☐
In witness whereof, I, the said William Henry Ritchie, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-second day of October, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty.
WM HY (L.S.) RITCHIE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Twenty-second day of October,
in the year of our Lord 1850, the aforesaid William Henry Ritchie came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
form
aforesaid, and all and every thing contained and specified, in
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according to
the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Twenty-third day of October, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and fifty.