IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES OR PIPES BY MACHINERY
Year: 1845

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
HARDY, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Gentleman, send
greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by
Her Royal Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing
date at Westminster, the Fifth day of June, in the eighth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Hardy, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and
authority, that I, the said James Hardy, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, and such others as I, the said James Hardy, my executors, admi-
nistrators, 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 mentioned,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England,
Wales, the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and in all Her Majesty's Colonies
and Plantations abroad, and in the Islands of Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney,
Sark, and Man, my Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF
METALLIC TUBES OR PIPES BY MACHINERY;" in which said Letters Patent
there is contained a proviso obliging me, the said James Hardy, by an
instrument in writing under my hand and seal, particularly to describe and
ascertain the nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to
be performed, and to cause the same to be inrolled in Her Majesty's High.
Court of Chancery within six calendar months next and immediately after
the date of the said in part recited Letters Patent, as in and by the same,
reference being thereunto had, will more fully and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Hardy, do hereby declare that the nature of my said Invention, and
the manner in which the same is to be performed, is particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following description thereof, reference being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the letters and figures marked
thereon (that is to say) :-
The object of my improvements in the manufacture of metallic tubes or
pipes is to effect the rolling of the skelp, when brought to a welding heat, with
such expedition that the metal shall not cool before it is welded into a pipe or
tube, and brought to the required diameter. To complete this operation at
one heating, I have found it desirable that the rotation of the rollers should be
continuous, as much time is lost by the ordinary plan in stopping the rollers
after the skelp has been drawn over the bulb of the mandril and between the
grooves of the rollers, in order that the mandril may be released and drawn
out from the skelp or partly-formed tube, which is again to be pressed between
the rollers to receive the squeezing pressure in the grooves. One mode of
effecting the return of the skelp or unfinished tube, without stopping the revo-
lution of the rollers, is described in the Specification of a Patent granted to
me on Twenty-eighth March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-four,
in which three grooved rollers are arranged one above the other, and
the skelp, when drawn over the bulb of the mandril, and placed between the
middle and lower rollers, is raised, together with the mandril, by an arm or
lever, in order that it may be subjected to the second squeezing operation
between the upper and middle rollers, which will return it to the front of the
rollers ready to be passed through the next adjoining set of grooves. By my
present Invention I am enabled to dispense with the third grooved roller, and
also the lever and apparatus connected therewith for lifting the unfinished tube
and its mandril, as just stated, and complete the welding and drawing out of
the tubes without displacing the mandril.
In the accompanying Drawings I have shewn my improved machinery to be
employed in the manufacture of metal tubes or pipes, Fig. 1 being a front
'elevation, and Fig. 2 a side elevation of the same. A, A, are strong cast-iron
standards, which support the bearings of a pair of rollers B, B, furnished with
grooves varying in diameter according to the size of the tubes required to be
made, and having keyed on their shafts a pair of cog wheels which gear into
each other, and cause the rollers to revolve simultaneously. C shews one of
a series of mandrils, the bulbs of which protrude through the circular open-
ings between the rollers. The other ends of the mandrils rest upon a framing
D, and being provided with set screws 1, 1, the distance which the bulb pro-

page_text: trudes from the grooves of the rollers B is regulated according to the grip
desired to be given to the skelp or tube. E is a horizontal shaft, one end of
which is supported by a bearing F; its inner end is provided with a square
socket which fits upon the shaft of the lower roller B. Upon the horizontal
shaft E two bevil wheels G and H are loosely mounted, and between them is
a clutch box I, and lever (see the partial plan view Fig. 3), which slides upon
a feather edge on the shaft E, and is for the purpose of locking into the teeth
on the boss of either of the bevil wheels, as may be required. Rotary motion
is communicated, by means of a bevil wheel K, to both the loose wheels
G and H, and as the clutch box I is slidden by its lever from the right to the
left, and vice versa, the rotation of the grooved rollers will be reversed. The
lower roller B is provided with a raised portion between the grooves, which
projections fit into corresponding recesses between the grooves of the upper
roller, and are for the purpose of steadying the rollers when at work, by which
means a more perfect circular compression of the skelp or tube is effected.
a, a, are screws in the head of the standards for adjusting the bite or pressure
of the rollers.
The following is the mode to be pursued in forming metal pipes and tubes
by my improved machinery:-A piece of iron or steel of any given length,
breadth, and thickness, is first obtained; and having formed it into a skelp by
any of the ordinary means, it is placed in a furnace, where it remains until it
has attained a welding heat. When the required heat is obtained the skelp
is removed from the furnace and pushed over the bulb of that mandril which
projects, say, from the largest diameter of groove in the rollers B; then, by
throwing the clutch box I into contact with the teeth on the boss of the bevil
wheel G, the rollers will be caused to rotate and grip the skelp, which is drawn
between the grooves and over the mandril, and pushed out on the other side of
the machine. The skelp having thus undergone a rolling pressure on its whole
outer surface, and the welding together of the edges being partially effected, it
is (immediately it has become released from the rollers) turned round a quarter
of its diameter, more or less, and the clutch box I is then thrown into contact
with the teeth on the boss of the wheel H, by which means the rotation of the
grooved rollers B will be immediately reversed. The tube thus partially
welded is again brought into contact with the rollers and passed through the
grooves, and a different surface being now presented to the surface of the
grooves, as above stated, any inequality in the first rolling, or any fur or other
excrescence on the outer surface of the tube, will be removed. When the
tube has been subjected to this second pressure,
it may,
if required, be passed
in like manner through the other grooves of the rollers, and be extended

page_text: in length, and reduced in diameter and thickness, as is well understood.
The economy of time in manufacturing metal pipes or tubes, according to my
improved mode of operation as above explained, will be at once evident to all
persons connected with such manufacture.
In conclusion, I may add that I am enabled to weld and make both lap
and butt joint tubes or pipes with equal facility, and also to weld, form, and
make tubes or pipes from spiral strings or narrow strips of twisted metal.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Hardy, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of November, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and forty-five.
Signed, sealed, and delivered, by the
within-named James Hardy, in the
presence of
JAMES (L.s.) HARDY.