US1566645A - Alfred b - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 22,1925, l a. 1,566,645-

A. B. BREEZE TUBE EXPANDING AND COMPRESSING TOOL File@ Dec.- 26, 1922 MINIMUM NNIIIIHIIIHMH Patented Deaf 22', 1 92'5.

UNITED 4STATES ALFRED lPA'rlaz'NT ,oF-FICE..

n.` BREEZE, or c1NoINNArronIo, 'AssIeNon To THE -cINcINNArI BALL CRANK COMPANY, OF CINCINNATI, OHIO,v A CORPORATION 0F OHIO.

l TUBE EXPANDING AND COMPRESSING TOOL.

Application led December 26, 1922. Serial No. 68,827.

To all wwm t mayjconcem:

Be it known that I, ,Amann B. BREEZE, a citizen of theUnited States, and residingat Cincinnati, in the county of Hamilton and State of Olo, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Tube Expanding and Compressing Tools, of which the following specification is afull disclosure.

This invention relates to dies and tools for enlarging and longitudinally compressing for increasing the metal thickness or upsetting the end of a tube to provide a length of tubing with an integral hub end. Tube lengths of this character are extensive- 1y used for automobile steering reach rods or drag links as connecting rods withgthe hub end or ends containing a bearing. A type of such product comprises the invention shown and described in Letters Patent No,

1,272,033, to Clifford Greene, dated July 9, 1918, for steering reach rod. y

The exempliication of the present invention will be generally confined herein to sucha product, although constituting but one of the various mechanical forms in which the principle of the invention may be used. The dies and tools are used in connection with the process or method ot enlarging or upsetting the end of a tube as made the subject-matter of the invention shown and det scribed in the application for Letters vPatent, Serial No. 476,340, to myself, liled July 9, 1921, in which the tube is preliminarily enlargedand lon itudinally compressed 'free from the externa die connement, and to its final andfvnished form in a die.

It is desirable to form drag links,reach rods, tonguearms, radius rods, and similar members of the motor vehicle construction,

of metal ltubing, and it is also desirablethat the enlarged'ends required for containing a bearing and attaching the rod, be of a formation which will furnish the required metal thickness for threading, possess' great strength andy durability, and provide a socket and seat for the movable bearingelements. l y,

In this capacity, the l invention -'may be practised Vfor forming the sockets only, comprisin 'a stub .portion of the normal diameter o Athe tubing and a socket portion of greatenz-vcro'ssj sectional area than the stub portion. The stub portion may either be engaged overthe end of a link length of tubing, or weldedto the end of the link length, methods well known vin the manufacture of reach rods or similar members of the motor vehicle construction.

The essential characteristics of the product as formed by my improved diesl and tools are a great strength and durability, particularly at the junctionconnccting the two diameters, a wall thickness toV allow for internal and external threadingl at the outer end lof the largero'diameter, so that the .shell is not substantially weakened by the threading, a cylindrical surface on the inside-of l lThe dies and tools provide for the rapidv and economical production of a socket, possessing the characteristics enumerated and the invention herein particularly relates to the tools and dies employed in the process of forming the socket, preferably for the nal or inishing step. The tool is shaped to prevent freezing or wedgingwithin the article tobe upset, which would vprevent the withdrawal of the'tool.

To aid in clear and comprehensive understanding of the invention, I shall describe the ,same in connect-ion with the lprocess of making a socket, forming part of a drag link, as itis incorporated inathe steering mechanism of motor vehicle constructions, and, as illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in whichz- Figure 1 is a detail view illustrating the parting side of one ofthe die sections or halves, having a plurality of die chambers, and expanding, compressing and upsetting mandrcls or tools, each tool shown in its`cooperative position withitsrelated die and performance upon the tubing, which tubing is illustrated in section.

This in a single View shows the several steps of the operation for obtaining a denitely shaped tube product, contemplating a showing, of the different stages rather than the simultaneous operation upon a number .of pieces of tubing.1 v

following in successive order which is necessary to bring it to its finished form.

In this instance the normal metal thickness of the tubing is sufiicient for obtaining the desired. metal thickness of the socket or enlarged end portion without longitudinally compressing the tube while expanding.

` Figure 2 is a View similar to Figure 1, but showing a smaller number of tools, in which the tube is expanded and longitudinally compressed for the purpose of increasing the metal 'thickness of the expanded portion.'

Figure 3 is a reduced end View of the separable dies shown in Figure 1.

Figure 4:' is a similar View of the dies shown in Fig. 2.

The dies are of sectional form and combined as a unit and arranged in consecutive order so that the tube can be lconveniently advanced from one die to a second in quick succession from the first to the'last stage of forming, requiring only a single heating of the tube.

. In Figure 1, for the first step, the end of the tube 1 is expanded free from external diev confinement Vby the expanding tool 2. The tube of the required size and length is preliminarily heated to the required degree, and held Abetween the gripping dies 3--3, with end 1, to be' enlarged, extending beyond the gripping dies, and the opposite end of the tube maybear against an abutment (not shown) to prevent longitudinal movement of the tube within the dies while the tool is being forced into its end. The tool 2, for the first step, consists of a shank portion 4 of appropriate diameter, a conical head ortion 5, andl a tapering tool centering end) 6, of a diameter which will telescope into the normal diameter of the tube without producing a tube expansion. For the second step, the tube is gripped between the gripping dies and the expanded end portion 1, engaged between the forming dies'7, 7, and an expanding tool 8, forced into the end portion 1, the tool 8 corresponding to thetool 2, except that the shank and head portions are of different or increased dimension. For the final forming operation, the tube is disposed between the gripping dies andv appropriate shape-forming dies 9 9, after-which a tool 10, to which the present invention is directed, is forced into the end of the socket 1. v

The tool consists of a shank portion 11, -a head portion 12, and av tip or tool center or end portion 13. The shank portion is of slightly less diameter than the full internal diameter the socket is to possess for its finished dimension, thus offering a clearance space 14 ybetween the periphery of the shank and the 'internal' surface of the socket, which allows for-the escape of gases, and avoids a bindingk of the parts which would interfere with the withdrawal of the tool. The head portion 12 is of larger diameter'than the shank portion and of a diameter to produce the maximum expansion of the socket. rIhe rear end of the head provides a shoulder 15, furnishing a circumferential edge, which serves to sklve the internal surface of the socket with the return or withdrawal stroke of the tool. The forward end of the head 12 is .squared and rounded at its outer edge to form a shoulder 15a adapted to press the metal against a corresponding shoulder 16 of the die, to appropriately shoulder the 4interior of the socket at the juncture of the two diameters of the tube, as the tool is forced inwardly. The tip "or centering end ofthe tool is Vtapered to telescope into the normal internal diameter of the tube and assist in properly shapingthe tube at the juncture of the two diameters and not interfere with the withdrawal of the tool. The head of the tool, as it is forced into the tube, expands, draws and compresses or forges the metal to completely fill the die, crimping and expanding the conical portion of the tube, formed by the tool in a precedlng step-forging of the same against the shouldered portion 16 of the die. The head, as it is withdrawn on the return stroke, again functions upci; the tubing, due to the relative contract-ion of the tube and the expansion of the head, the temperature of the tube .constantly decreasing while the tool absorb- 111g the heat expands, so that its rear shoulyde r edge skives the surface of the tube, and,

being. of comparatively reduced longitudinal dlmension, can be forced into the tube for quite a considerable length and withdrawn in a reverse direction of motion without freezing or becoming bound within the itube, and can be worked without lubricaion. The head, in reverse stroke smooths the tube and renders it truly cylindrical, features highly desirable when the socket is to contain a slidably movable bearing. i

Under the method shown in Figure 2, the tube end is expanded and compressed longitudinally by a tool 17, which is provided with a hammer I portion 18, which strikes against the end of the tube as the tool is forced into the tube. After the tube has been initially shaped, as shown, it is subjected within adie to the action ofa finish- `ing tool 10 corresponding in construction substantially as heretofore described. The Y head 12 and tip 13 of the tool l0 maybe removably secured upon the end of the shank portion for purposes of renewal or interchange.

I-Iaving describedmy invention, I claim: In a device of the character described, comprising a separable die, and a forming of the tool,

tool adapted to be thrust into the end of a tube dis osed within the die, said tool havin a cy indrical shank portion and a cylindrlcal head portionof greater diameter than the shank ortion for expandingand formvli ing the tu and a `tapering tip extending from the forward end of the head portion,

the head portion at the end toward the tip portion, providing a shoulder overhanging a shoulderv of the die', for compressing the metal of the tube against the die shoulder.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my 11a/me. v

ALFRED B.- BREEZE.

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