Im- PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Walker Torr, of the Firm of Robert
Walter Winfield and Company, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Merchants and Manufacturers, for the Invention of "Im-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY
I, CHARLES WALKER TORR, of the Firm of Robert Walter Winfield
and Company, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchants
and Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY

page_text: tubes of copper and alloys of copper, but may also be applied to the
manufacture of tubes of other metals and alloys.
My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described
in the process of casting short thick tubes to be afterwards lengthened
and reduced in external diameter and thickness of metal, and in the
machinery or apparatus to be used in the said manufacturé.
My said Invention is also applicable to the manufacture of cast
metallic tubes which are not drawn or rolled after casting.
I construct a metallic or other mould having an internal figure
resembling the external figure which the tube to be cast is required to
have. This mould is mounted horizontally in bearings in which it can
turn freely, and is provided with suitable gearing by means of which a
rapid rotatory motion can be given to it by manual, steam, or other power.
The mould being in rapid rotatory motion upon its axis the molten metal
or alloy is poured into it at one end. The said molten metal or alloy
fills the lower part of the mould and soon acquires the rapid rotatory
motion of the mould. The molten metal or alloy thus in rapid rotatory
motion under the influence of centrifugal force spreads itself with great
uniformity over every part of the interior of the mould, forming an
inner coating or lining very uniform in all its parts. As soon as the
metal or alloy has solidified, the mould is brought to rest and the hollow
cylinder or tube cast therein removed. The hollow cylinder or tube
thus made is more uniform both in texture and composition, when it is
made of copper or alloys of copper or other metal, or alloy having when
melted a great affinity for oxygen, than hollow cylinders made of the
same metal or alloy by the casting process as ordinarily conducted.
The hollow cylinder or tube made in the way described is where
requisite rolled and drawn in the usual way.

page_text: filed by the said Charles Walker. Torr in the Great Seal Patent"
Office on the 26th November 1874.
.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
WALKER TORR, of the Firm of Robert Walter Winfield and Company,
of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Merchants and Manu-
facturers, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Second day of June, in the year
of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty--|
seventh year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give-
and grant unto me, the said Charles Walker Torr, Her special license*
that I, the said Charles Walker Torr, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Walker Torr, 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
THE MANUFACTURE OF METALLIC TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS TO BE.
USED IN THE SAID MANUFACTURE," upon the condition (amongst others) that'
I, the said Charles Walker Torr, my executors or administrators, by³
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
six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Walker Torr, do hereby.
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained-
in and by the following statement thereof, that is to say :-
. My said Invention has reference especially to the manufacture of
tubes of copper and alloys of copper, but may also be applied to the
manufacture of tubes of other metals and alloys.

page_text: My said Invention consists of the improvements herein-after described
in the process of casting short thick tubes, to be afterwards lengthened
and reduced in external diameter and thickness of metal, and in the
machinery or apparatus to be used in the said manufacture.
My said Invention is also applicable to the manufacture of cast
metallic tubes which are not drawn or rolled after casting.
I construct a metallic or other mould having an internal figure
resembling the external figure which the tube to be cast is required to
have. This mould is mounted horizontally in bearings in which it can
turn freely, and is provided with suitable gearing by means of which a
rapid rotatory motion can be given to it by manual, steam, or other
power. The mould being in rapid rotary motion upon its axis the
molten metal or alloy is poured into it at one end. The said molten
metal or alloy fills the lower part of the mould and soon acquires the
rapid rotatory motion of the mould. The molten metal or alloy thus in
rapid rotary motion under the influence of centrifugal force spreads
itself with great uniformity over every part of the interior of the mould,
forming an inner coating or lining very uniform in thickness in all its parts.
As soon as the metal or alloy has solidified the mould is brought to rest
and the hollow cylinder or tube cast therein removed. The hollow
cylinder or tube thus made is more uniform, both in texture and com-
position, when it is made of copper or alloys of copper, or other metal or
alloy, having when melted a great affinity for oxygen than hollow
cylinders made of the same metal or alloy by the casting process, as
ordinarily conducted.
The hollow cylinder or tube made in the way described is, where
requisite, rolled and drawn in the usual way.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying
Drawing the manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation, and Figure 2 in plan machinery
or apparatus constructed according to my Invention to be used in casting
short thick tubes of copper or alloys of copper by the process herein-
before explained. Figure 3 represents a longitudinal section of the
same taken through the axis of the mould of the apparatus; and Figure 4
is a transverse section of the same taken on the line a, a, of Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several
Figures of the Drawing.

page_text: b is the metallic tubular mould made by preference of cast iron, the
interior of the said mould having the figure and external diameter of
the thick tube to be cast; c represents a thick tube of copper or alloy of
copper which has been cast in the mould b by my process. The said
tubular metallic mould is situated horizontally and has a rapid rotatory
motion imparted to it during the casting of the tube. It is mounted and
turns freely in bearings constructed as follows:-On the bed plate d of
the apparatus are bearings e, e, in brasses carried, by which bearings
the driving shaft turns, as represented. That end of the said shaft
nearest the mould is shouldered or reduced in diameter at f³ (sce
Figure 3), and on the said shouldered or reduced end f the end b² of the
mould fits. By means of a cross pin or key / passed through the
end 62 of the mould and shouldered part 2 of the shaft the mould is
firmly secured to and rotates with the shaft. The opposite end 68 of the
mould is supported by and turns freely on the bearing block or
support i, the said block or support being fixed in its place on the bed d
by the screw pins and nuts at g. The inner face of the block i is
furnished with a collar or tubular shoulder (see Figure 3) upon which
the end 6s of the mould fits and turns. The bearing block i is fitted
to the end of the mould by a sliding motion; this is effected by pro-
viding the ends of the bearing block i with slots 23 which take
the
upon
screw pins at g on the bed plate d (see Figures 2 and 4). By sliding
the bearing block i upon the bed plate d after the end b² of the mould
has been cottered or keyed to the shaft the collar 23 of the said block
enters the end ³ of the mould and thereby supports the said mould.
By the tightening of the screw nuts upon the screw pins at 9 the block i
is fixed in its place and the apparatus is ready for the casting of a tube.
The bearing block i, besides serving to support one end of the mould b,:
For this purpose.
also serves to supply the molten metal to the mould.
V
a funnel-shaped chamber or receiver **, best seen in Figure 3, is made in
the bearing block i, the bottom of the said chamber opening into the
end 6s of the mould. The mould is rotated at a high speed by means
of a band passing over the driving pulley k on the shaft f, the said band
receiving its motion from any convenient motive power. Or instead of
5 driving the mould 6 through a shaft to which it is keyed the said mould
may be directly driven in various ways; for example, the mould may
have on its exterior a toothed wheel with which a toothed wheel driven
in any convenient way gears.

page_text: Although I have represented the mould as arranged to be driven by
steam or other motive power, yet the said mould may be driven by
manual power.
1
In casting a tube of copper or alloy of copper by the process and
apparatus constituting my Invention I proceed as follows:-The mould b
being supported in the manner represented a rapid rotatory motion is
given to it through the driving pulley k or the other gearing described.
While the mould 6 is in rapid rotation the molten metal or alloy is
poured into the chamber or funnel it, from whence it passes through the
end 6 of the mould into the interior of the lower part thereof. The
molten metal passing into the lower part of the mould soon acquires the
rapid rotatory motion of the said mould, and by centrifugal force spreads
itself with great uniformity over every part of the interior of the mould,
forming an interior coating or tubular lining marked c to the mould,
the thickness of the said tubular lining being determined by the quantity
of molten metal poured into the receiver or funnel . The rotation of
the mould is continued until the hollow cylinder or tube c cast in it has
solidified, when the mould is brought to rest. A tube or hollow cylinder
is thus cast having the qualities herein-before explained, that is, it
is very uniform both in texture and composition.
To remove the cast tube c from the mould b the screw nuts at 9 are
loosened and the bearing block i moved by a sliding motion from the.
mould so as to withdraw its collar from the end of the mould..
It will generally be found that during cooling the cast tube has con-
tracted sufficiently to allow of its being easily withdrawn from the mould
at the end 68, but if such is not the case the cotter or key his next
removed, and the mould containing the cast tube is taken off the
shaft f. By raising the mould into a vertical position and giving it a
few blows the tube c is extracted therefrom. The mould having been
again cottered or keyed to the shaft f, and the bearing block i returned
to and fixed in its place, as represented in the Drawing, the apparatus is
ready for the casting of another tube. The interior of the mould 6 may:
be conical instead of cylindrical, or of other figure, which will permit of
the tube cast in it being removed by a sliding motion. When the
external figure of the tube to be cast is such that it will not pass from
the mould by a sliding motion, the mould may be made in two or more

page_text: parts by longitudinal divisions and keyed or clamped together during
use, but in every case the internal figure of the tube cast will be
cylindrical.
Although I prefer to commence the rotation of the mould before the
molten metal is poured into the receiver or chamber i, yet the rotation
of the mould need not be commenced until a portion or the whole of the
molten metal of which the tube is to be made has been poured into the
receiver.
The cast tubes of copper or alloys of copper are finished by being
hammered or rolled upon a mandril between suitably grooved rolls and
afterwards drawn through dies, as is commonly practised in the manu-
facture of tubes of copper or alloys of copper.
Besides tubes of copper or alloys of copper my Invention is applicable
to the manufacture of cast tubes of tin, Britannia metal, and other metal
or alloy.
In some cases, as for example in the manufacture of printing rollers,
used in printing calico or other fabrics, the cast tubes of copper or alloys
of copper need not be subjected to the hammering or rolling and drawing
processes herein-before described.
Having now described the nature of my Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I do
not limit myself to the precise details herein described and illustrated, as
the same may be varied without departing from the nature of my
Invention, but I claim as my Invention of improvements in the manu-
facture of metallic tubes and in machinery or apparatus to be used in
the said manufacture,--
First. The process of casting metallic tubes herein-before described
and illustrated in the accompanying Drawing, that is to say, casting
metallic tubes in a mould to which a rapid rotatory motion is given,
whereby the molten metal poured into the said rotating mould spreads
itself under the influence of centrifugal force with great uniformity over
every part of the interior of the mould, and a tube is thereby cast very
uniform both in texture and composition, the process of casting being
conducted substantially as described and illustrated.
Secondly. The arrangement or combination of the parts of the
machinery or apparatus to be used in the said process of casting, sub-

page_text: stantially as herein-before described and illustrated in the accompanying
Drawing.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Walker Torr, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twentieth day of November,
in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy-four.
Witness,
CHARLES WALKER TORR. (L.S.)
GEORGE FREDERICK ASSINDER,
Cambridge St. Works,
Birmingham.