IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE
Year: 1870

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles Denton Abel, of No. 20, Southampton
Buildings, Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent
Agent, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF WROUGHT METAL TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED
FOR THAT PURPOSE."-A communication from abroad by Robert
Briggs, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States of
America.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles Denton Abel
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition,
on the 30th May 1870.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings,
Chancery Lane, in the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY OR APPARATUS
EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," to be as follows:-
This Invention consists mainly in bending skelps preparatory to the
welding of the same for forming tubes, or in welding the same after they
are bent by drawing the skelps or tubes through dies which are

page_text: mechanically opened or closed during the operation of drawing. For
this purpose strong jaws or tongs are employed, the bits or dies of which
have a suitable configuration for either bending or welding the skelp
(as the case may require), which tongs or jaws are operated (opened or
closed) by a tongsman simultaneously to the drawing out of the skelp or
tube from the furnace by another workman with the usual drawing
(or lazy) tongs upon the ordinary draw bench.
The present Invention relates also to the construction and use of
machinery or apparatus for automatically opening and closing such jaws
or tongs, carrying the dies by means of the power which actuates the
draw bench, thus avoiding the employment of a tongsman, and also
permitting the use of more force with greater certainty of action than
can be obtained by manual labour.
The arrangement which it is preferred to employ for this purpose is
as follows:-The ordinary draw bench has an endless chain running
down it which is driven by a chain wheel at the end farthest from the
furnace. In place of the idle wheel over which the chain usually runs
at the furnace end is substituted a chain wheel, to which the chain
consequently imparts a positive motion. Upon the shaft of this wheel
is placed at one or both ends cams or crank arms which by the rotation
of the shaft are caused either to depress levers or crank arms, or to pull
connecting links or chains connected in such a manner to the before-
mentioned jaws or tongs carrying the dies that these are thereby closed.
In front of the furnace end of the bench is placed a pair of jaws upon
arms which are hinged upon stud pins below the top of the bench, the
length of the arms from the stud pins to the jaws being such as to give
a small arc of motion to the jaws. Or in place of jaws sliding blocks
may be employed running in guides, and instead of both jaws or blocks
being made to move one may be fixed. When the jaws or blocks are
closed up a ratchet pawl connected thereto drops into a notch and holds
the jaws or blocks in place until it is desired to open them again, when
the pawl is lifted out of the notch and the jaws released, which are then
caused to drop open by a counterweight or spring.
In operating the apparatus the whole chain is first brought to rest by
throwing out a clutch upon the driving chain wheel of the bench, and the
dies attached to or forming part of the jaws or blocks are thrown open
ready to start.
A skelp or tube is then laid between the dies and the
drawing (or lazy) tongs attached thereto, the workman then throws in

page_text: the clutch, thus setting the bench and die machinery in motion at once,
the dies closing simultaneously with the first 12 or 18 inches motion of
the bench, and remaining closed while the skelp or tube is drawn out.
In place of bringing the whole chain to rest the cam or crank arm on
the front chain wheel shaft may be loose on the shaft, so that the bench
may run without cessation, and the cam or crank be thrown or clutched
into gear by the workman at the instant that he drops in the hook of the
lazy-tongs on the drag-out carriage. As soon as one revolution of the
cam or crank has been made, it or its clutch may be made to drop out
of gear, so that upon lifting the ratchet pawr the dies will fall open and
remain open until it is wished to close them again.
In the manufacture of gas tubes by this apparatus one, two, or
more openings of different sizes can be made in the dies, so that what-
ever number of passes it may be desired to make through reducing
apertures can be had as readily as by the present method of changing
tongs. These openings can be made all in the same line or by rotating
bits which shall present new openings each time the jaws are opened
or closed.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Charles Denton Abel in the Great Seal Patent
Office on the 29th November 1870.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, CHARLES
DENTON ABEL, of No. 20, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, in
the County of Middlesex, Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Thirtieth day of May, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy, in the thirty-third
year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and
grant unto me, the said Charles Denton Abel, Her special licence
that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, my executors, administrators,
and assigns, or such others as I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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

page_text: Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of Man, an Invention for "Iм-
PROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF WROUGHT METAL TUBES, AND IN MACHINERY
OR APPARATUS EMPLOYED FOR THAT PURPOSE," a communication from abroad
by Robert Briggs, of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, United States
of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said Charles
Denton Abel, 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 six calendar months
next and immediately after the date of the said Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said Charles Denton Abel, 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, reference being had to the accom-
panying Sheet of Drawings, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon, that is to say :-
In bending skelps preparatory to welding of tubes, or in welding the
same after they are bent by drawing through dies which open or shut
tongs or jaws have heretofore been employed, the bits or dies of which
have suitable forms for either hending or welding (as either case may
require), which tongs or jaws are operated (opened or closed) by a
tongsman simultaneously to the drawing out of the skelp or tube from
the furnace by another workman with the usual drawing out or lazy-
tongs upon the ordinary drawbench.
Now the present Invention consists,―
Firstly. In bending such aforesaid skelps preparatory to the welding
of the same, or in welding such tube skelps by drawing the skelps or
tubes through dies which are automatically closed up while the tube or
skelp is passing through by means of the same power which actuates
the drawbench.
Secondly. The Invention consists in the construction of apparatus or
machinery whereby such automatic closing of the dies is effected.
By these means the employment of a tongsman is avoided and the
use of more force is permitted with greater certainty of action than can
be attained by manual labor resulting in an improved manufacture of
the tubes or skelps.

page_text: The methods which are employed by preference for carrying the afore-
said Invention into practice are shown on the accompanying Sheet of
Drawings, in which Figure 1 shows a front elevation, Figure 2 shows
a back side clevation, and Figure 3 shows a front (or working) side
elevation of the head or furnace end of a machine for bending skelps
(or when provided with suitable dies for welding tubes), the jaws and
dies of which are moved by a crank with a system of chains and chain
pulleys.
Figure 4 shews a front elevation, and Figure 5, a front (or working)
side elevation of the head or furnace end of a machine for bending or
welding, the jaws of which are moved by cams acting upon outside
levers.
Figure 6 shews a front elevation, Figure 7, a complete (shortened)
side elevation, and Figure 8, a plan of a machine for bending or
welding, the jaws of which are actuated by a cam placed beneath the
floor. The back or driving end, shown in this arrangement, applies
equally to the driving ends of all the other arrangements.
Figure 9 shews a front elevation, Figure 10, a back side elevation,
and Figure 11, a front side elevation of the head or furnace end of a
machine for bending or welding, with sliding jaws or blocks which are
closed by a crank with a system of chain pullies.
Figure 12 shews a front elevation, Figure 13, a transverse section on
the line of the front chain wheel, and Figure 14, a back side elevation
(or that farthest away from the workman) of a machine for bending or
welding, the jaws of which are moved by a clutch cam. Similar letters of
reference indicate similar parts in all the Figures.
The ordinary draw bench A has an endless chain B running down it
which is driven by the chain wheel C (Figures 7 and 8) at the outer
end or that more remote from the furnace. This chain usually runs over
an idle pulley without teeth at the front or furnace end. In place of this
pulley is substituted a chain wheel D, so that the chain imparts a positive
motion to this last wheel (and to its shaft d when necessary) at the
front or furnace end. Upon the shaft of this wheel D is placed, at one
or both ends, crank arms or plates E (Figures 1 and 10), or cams F
(Figures 5, 13, and 14), or the cams F may be formed or fixed upon
the sides of the chain wheel itself, as shewn at Figures 6 and 7, so that
each revolution of the wheel D may allow such crank arms to pull
connecting links or chains G (Figures 1 to 3, and 9 to 11), or cause

page_text: such cams to depress or move the levers H (Figures 4, 5, and 14), or
open directly the arms K (Figure 6) whereby the proper motion can be
given for closing up the tongs or dies for bending skelps or welding
tubes. In front of the working end of the bench I is placed a pair of
jaws J upon arms K, one or both of which are hinged upon stud pins L
below the top of the bench, the arms (or the distance from the stud
pins to the jaws) being of such a length as to give a small arc of motion
to the closing dies Z. In place of the jaws and arms may be used
sliding blocks running on ways, and actuated in like manner by the
cranks or cams. One form of machine with such sliding blocks is
shown at Figures 9 to 11.
In the arrangements shewn at Figures 1 to 3, and 9 to 11 for closing
the jaws the crank or crank plate E rotates the pulley G by the chain G,
thereby also rotating the pullies G² on the same shaft M³ as G', which
pullies operate the closing of the jaws or blocks J by the chains G³
passing over the guide pullies G*. Whenever the jaws or blocks J have
been closed up ratchet pawls M (Figures 3, 5, 6, and 11) drop into
notches (or into a ratchet wheel M on the shaft M², as at Figures 3
and 11) and hold them closed until the time when it is desired to open
them again, when the ratchet can be lifted by treadles O and the jaws
will be released. The construction thus allows the jaws or blocks. to
drop open at one portion of each revolution of the cams or crank arms.
Such opening of the jaws or blocks is effected in the arrangement at
Figures 9 to 11, by means of the weights J¹, I', attached to the sliding
blocks J by ropes or chains passing over guide pulleys J², J.
In the arrangements at Figures 1 to 8 the jaws are so formed as to
drop open of themselves. As an equivalent for the before-mentioned
ratchets for holding the jaws closed may be employed with advantage-a
toggle joint arrangement, such as is shown at N, Figure 12; this being
more suitable for holding and retaining the jaws in the closed position,
especially when employed for welding dies. This toggle joint consists
of the cranked hand lever n turning upon a fixed stud pin n² as a
fulcrum, and jointed at n³ to the link n' connected to the jaw J, and
its certainty of action and locking is insured by the weight M' which
is dependent from the centre pin n³ of the toggle. The jaw can be
opened at any time when the cam is not acting upon the arm K by
depressing the hand lever n.
In operating the machines shown at Figures 1 to 11 the whole chain

page_text: is first brought to rest by the use of the clutch lever P and its system
of crank arms p and connecting rods p', and the clutch arm Q which
moves the clutch R (Figures 7 and 8). A little practice enables the
workman to throw out the bench at such portion of the stroke of the
cams or crank that the jaws shall begin to close when the machine is
sct in motion again. While the machine is thus at rest a skelp or tube
is laid between the dies and the drag out or lazy-tongs S is attached
thereto, and the hook S¹ is dropped into the chain. The workman then
operates the clutch lever P so as to start up the bench and the bending
or welding machinery at once, the dies being thereby made to close up
simultaneously with the first twelve or eighteen inches of motion of the
chain, and remaining closed while the skelp or tube is drawn out when
the operation will be repeated on the next skelp or tube.
In operating the machine shown at Figures 12 to 14 the skelp or tube
is laid between the dies and the drag out or lazy-tongs attached´as
before, and the workman places his foot on the treadle lever T so as to
bring the pin U upon the link V against the plate W. At a portion
of the revolution of the chain wheel the pin U can pass behind the
plate W, a notch being cut in the edge of the latter for that purpose.
The link V is connected to the clutch lever P₁, and the cam F is by the
motion imparted to the latter brought into position to act upon the
lever H and is held there during such portion of one revolution as is
needed to close the jaws. At the moment the jaws begin to close the
workman drops the hook S¹ and the drag out carriage X and tongs go
down the bench with the workman and his tube.
In welding tubes by means of dies having two or three sizes of reducing
apertures the arm Y (Figure 14) is raised or depressed by the workman
by the handle Y¹, shewn in dotted lines in order to support the tube at
the right height for the particular aperture of the dies, through which
it is to be drawn. Such apertures of the dies need not necessarily be
placed in a line, as shewn, but a rotary bit can be used which shall
present new openings each time the jaw is opened or closed.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention, and in what
manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I wish it to be understood that I do not limit
myself to the precise methods of carrying the same into practice, as
herein-before described, with reference to the accompanying Drawings,

page_text: as these may be variously modified without departing from the nature
of the Invention; but what I claim is,-
First. Skelps or tubes made by drawing them through dies that are
automatically closed by the same power that actuates the draw bench,
substantially as herein-before set forth.
Second. The construction and use of machinery for bending skelps
or welding tubes wherein the closing up of dies through which the
skelps or tubes are drawn is effected automatically and in conjunction
with the mechanism that actuates the draw bench, substantially as
herein-before set forth.
Third. The construction and use of machines with moveable jaws
for opening and closing the dies in bending skelp or welding tubes,
wherein the jaws and dies are operated automatically by cams or cranks
brought into action by means of clutch mechanism, substantially as
herein before set forth.
Fourth. The employment of ratchet pawls or equivalent appliances
for retaining such aforesaid automatically closed jaws in position, sub-
stantially as herein-before set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles Denton Abel, have here-
unto set my hand and seal, this Twenty-ninth day of Novem-
ber, in the year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and
seventy.