US1902821A - Apparatus for riveting plates of ships - Google Patents

Description

March '28, 1933. Q G, H, BATES 1,902,821

APPARATUS FOR RIVETING PLATES OF SHIPS Filed April 18, 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 avweutoz March 28, 1933. G. H. BATES 1,902,821

APPARATUS FOR RIVETING PLATES OF SHIPS Filed April 18 1930 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Elnoentoz strength is ensured when the hydraulic beyond the opposite plate.

Patented Mar. 28, 1933 UNITED STATES GEORGE H. BATES, on caANroR-n TOWNSHIP, union county, new Jnnsnmnsslenon INCORPORATED, on NEW YORK,'1\T. Y., A CORPORATION OF TO UNITED DRY BOOKS, NEW YORK Application filed A ru 18,

The improvements relate primarily to means and methods of riveting the shell plates of steel ships, but are not limited to this specific use.

In the'building of the steel ships the outplo-yed, hydraulically squeezed rivets are used for the plates forming the upper part of the shell, Where the greatest strength is required, rather than pneumatic or hand hammered rivets, and in applying these rivets a pressure as high as sixty tons or more is employed, the hot rivets being inserted through the rivet holes with the flange of the rivet head against the outer surface of one plate and the end to be upset or headed projecting A hydraulic bull riveter is then placed in position against one end of the hot rivet and a"holder on or anvil against the other end, and the hydraulic pressure applied until the rivet is squeezed or pressed home and headed up.

Rivets in excess of an inch in diameter are commonly used for this purpose, and thorough tests and examination have demonstrated that greater and more uniform squeezing method is employed, thus adding greatly to the factor of safety anddurability.

When the plating is first applied to the frame'in building up the hull a yoke is usual- 1y employed in the hydraulic method. This yoke consists of a substantially U-shaped rigid steel frame of great weight and strength which may be hung over theupper edges of the shell courses with its arms extending down on opposite sides of the plates, so that the yoke straddles the said plates. The hydraulic operated press or ram is mounted at the endof one arm of this yoke. and the holder-on or anvil opposite it in alignment therewith on the end of the otherarm, so that PATIENT OFFICE APPARATUS FOR BIVETI NG- llLATES 0F SHIPS 1930. Serial no. 445,240.

when the riveter head and anvilare applied to opposite ends of a rivet and hydraulic pressure applied to the riveter, the rivet willbe' squeezed orpressed home between them and headed upon one side,the necessary backing on both sides in thisoperation being provided by the two arms of the yoke. 1 l The yoke riveter may be moved along th upper portion of the hull to drive orsqueeze,

rows of rivets uniting the'lapped edges of two courses of plates or strakes and then raised and moved along to drive the next row of rivets. It may also be worked vertically to drive the rivets joining the strapped or lapped butts of the plates of a strake.

It will be seen that on account ofthe high pressure employed in this squeezing method,-

and the necessity of, moving the yoke, there V is a limit to the length of the yoke due to the fact that great mass andweight of metal must be employedto resist the stress imposed thereon by the pressure; Yokes commonly employed are limited to a length ofapproximately ten feet, andin this size will weighas much as seventeen tons or more. It will also be seen that in repairing andreplacing the plates of a ship-which has been dam aged in collision or by heavy seas, or other causes, the employment of a yoke below decks is not possible without the removal of deck stringers, a portion of the decks,'the plates above those damaged and in some cases other parts, which would increase cost of the repairs enormously. Yet, as above noted, hy-

draulic squeezing of the rivets in ships of great tonnage is-required. The necessity for this will be understood whenit is pointedout 7 that steel plates one andone quarter inchor 1 to a tremendous strain, which wo'uldnot be a safe procedure, with the plates secured only the riveted porf the ship, since this woulds'ubject such parts by temporary bolts, and would also =necessitate' the removal of floors, partitions and other partsand would -atthe .same time-inidrawings, employed'in the manner described,

these appliances and this method of employing them being described and shown'as an illustrative embodiment of the invention, but

26 not as a limitation thereof, since it is obvious that.variousmodifications thereof may be employed without departing from the scope of the invention.

In thesaid drawings, Figure 1 is a plan of a hydraulic riveting apparatus embody:

ing the present structural imporevements and adapted to be employed in practicing the present improved method or process;

Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same,

lookingin the direction indicated by the arrows in Figure 1 Figure 3, is an elevation looking outboard or in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. y

The appliances illustrated in the drawings comprise a pair of steel plates 1 and 2 of heavy steel, reinforced and rendered rigid by, integral heavy steel flanges 3, 3 and 4 v respectively and straps 5 and 6 secured to said flanges and running across the same"; connectingv and adjusting rods .8 bolted through the plates 1 and 2 and spacing them; an'anvil or holder-on 9 backing against the plate 1 and a hydraulic riveter 1O backing I against the'plate 2, both movable thereon; air

rams 11 and 12 carriedby the plates 1 and 2 respectively and spacing and adjusting stops 13 and 14 on one of the rods 8.

.The plates 1 and 2 with their reinforcing members constitute. what are called strongbacks to receive the pressure of the riveter, and'the connecting rods are passed through the plates A to be riveted. For this purpose rivet holes may be taken advantage of, or

i other holes may be drilled through the plates.

It is also possible to use port holes or any other openings in the hull, if convenient.

The rods 8 are preferably connected with the strongbaoks bybeing passed through the rectangular platesl and 2 near their four corners, and are held against longitudinal 'movement and the plates held against movement thereon or with respect thereto by means of nuts 15 and 16 on opposite sides of the plates ,and on the threaded ends 8' ofthe rods. This arrangementpermits the accurate adjustment of the plates so that they will be disposed in planes exactly parallel to each other and held securely in this relation... This is important for the reason that if the plates were not so disposed the pressure caused by the hydraulic riveter would causea twisting strain or torque on the plates and the rods, which would tend to distort these parts and also buckle the rods,and to cause them to bind in the holes of the plates through which they are intended to slide freely. Parallelism is also essential to. proper squeezing and heading of the rivets. The rods number 3 in each group, and are arranged in line, but any other suitable number of rods and any other satisfactory arrangement may be employed.

The rods may also be otherwise distributed and the plates may be of other size, form and construction, it'being contemplatedthat theinside plate may be of small area, Where the compartments in the hull are such that an inside strongback of the same size as the outside strongback cannot be conveniently.

used.

It has been found desirable to lubricate the rods and the holes in the plates in which they work with lubricating grease, so that they will slide freely therethrough and will not bind, but this is not essential, and any other means for preventing binding may be employed. 7

The entire structure backs and connecting rods may be supported vertically in any suitable manner, as by slings or chains hung overhead or by blocks or rails placed beneaththem and on which theymay slide. This makes it possible to have the including the strongstrongba'ck and its support entirely between decks B and G, as indicated. In order to have the inboard back clear the deck beams D or other obstructions, it may be mortised at the top as shown at 17, 18 and 19, or otherwise shaped to clear them.

The holder-on'9 has its base I the plate 1 of the inboard strongback and has its anvil shank 21 provided with a recess 22 to form a head on the rivet, in the usual manner. The riveter 10 has its base 23 20 against against the plate 2 of the outer outboard strongback and also has its riveting punch or die 24: provided with the usual recess 25, to fit over the head of a rivet or form a rivet head, as thecase may be. It also has the usual forward moving fluid pipe connection 26 and backing pipe connection 7. f This riveter and the holder-on or anvil member may be of any desired form. As illustrated, the riveter is of the usual hydraulic plunger form used with the yoke type bull riveter "and operates in the ordinary way, and therefore need not be further described. The details of construction of the holder-on are also unimportant, so long as the construction'is such" as to provide a sufficiently strong and b rigid backing or anvil. Both members may also be mounted on their plates in any suitable manner, so as to be moved-in both directions thereon to operate on rows of rivets uniting lapped plates and similar rivets uniting the butts of the plates. As several laps.

of the plates will be operated on between each deck and the next, in some cases, it is necessarythat the riveter and holder-on be movable substantially throughout the length and height of the backs. To this end they may be hung on chains suspendedfrom any convenient overhead part or from the bars 8 (see F and G, Fig. 1) and provided with block and tackle, or other means for supporting these members and permitting horizontal and vertical movement may be'used, such as beams mounted to slide up and down on which the riveter and holder-on maybe mounted to slide horizontally.

The stops 13 and 14 are employed when desired to limit and adjust the movement of the frame composed of the strongbacks and connecting bars by coining in contact 7 with the plates A. They will not however be placed so that they will exert any substantial pressure against theseplates, as such pressure might buckle the plates. Their principal function is'to provide a guide which will enable the operators to ascertain that the backs are accurately spaced.

The air jambs or rams 11 and12 are employed to move the backs in one direction or the other to push the rivet through its hole 3 and dispense with the use of a sledge for that purpose. Theram 11 moves the backs in an inboard direction and the ram 12 moves them in an outboard direction, the first by'pressing its plunger 11 against the inner side of the 40 plates and the latter by pressing its plunger 12 against the outer side, so that the back in each case is moved away from the plates and the opposite back toward the plates. This movement brings one of the riveter-dies in contact with the head of the rivet, and holds it in place until the hydraulic pressure is applied to .squeeze and set the rivet. A rivet which has been thus squeezed, headed and set, is indicated at E (Fig. 2). Vvhen a rivet has been set, one of the air rams is operated again to move the strongback away from the plates and permit the insertion of anotherof the rivet, or by inserting the rivet from the inside, mo-vin theaiivil die against its h'e'ad and then setting it by meansof the riveter die or head 24. In the first method, the rivet V erlO presses againstthehead of the rivet' and forces-the outboardback away from the plates and the inboard back carrying, the

' holder-on 9 against the rivet,and in the second method the riveter head 24= simply: squeezes the unset end {of therivet down' while the headed end on the opposite sideis held against the plate and also squeezedby the anvil die. In the first methodthe extending shank of the rivet is set by the die 22 and in'the'second method it is set by the riveter head or die 24. In'both operations the head 24, which is 'theend of a plunger, is retractedwhile the rivet is being inserted, and-inboth" operations the" str'ongbacks are; moved inboard or outboard after a rivet has-been squeezed to'permit the passing'of a-rivet in between the two riveting dies and through the rivet hole. In the first methodthe "rivet is pushed through the rivet hole by the die 24; actuated by the air rams, 11- and; in the second method it is pushed throughfrom the inside by the anvil die 21 actuated by the rams 12. I l 4 If desired, the relative positions of the hydraulic riveter and holder-on may be re versed, the former being inboard and the latter outboard. In practice, it has been foundmore convenient however to'have them arranged as shown, as the bulky hydraulic bull rivetercan be supported and moved more conveniently on the outside.

When it becomes necessary to move the apparatus past one of the bars or-ribslof the ships frame, the connecting bars 8. are withdrawn from the rivet holes of the 'plates' and the two strongbacks moved past the said b'ar., The bars 8 arethen passed through other rivet holes and the two plates connected and adjusted for the riveting of another section or area of the shell. It will be "seen that the adjustment of the plates and the movement .of the riveting devices issuchthattheplates may be riveted to the frame bars ofthe ship or to any other member'of the ships frame 7 regardless of the thickness of the same or the 5 length of the rivet employed. In fact the present apparatus can beadjusted and moved to any position necessary to do the work that is done by a yoke riveter duringthe original plating of the hull, and to do it at any time after the ship is completed and in commission.

An important feature of the imp rovements V resides in theconstruction and arrangement whereby the hydraulic. plungenand holder- V on constitutingthe riveter proper are ad-' justable at all times and under all conditions so that the pressure of the riveter is IIOt QOIIT- municated to the shell or other part of'tlie ship'which is being riveted.

While the accompanying drawings arenot T2130 intended to bemade to scale, it may be stated for, the benefit of those skilled in the art and er by the action of the hydraulic pressure backed by its strongback and the anvil by the pressure of its strongback communicated toit from thehydraulic riveter through the connecting bars. In this manner the hydraulic pressure in the riveter is caused to, act on both ends of the rivet simultaneously.

It should also be noted thatby the use of the apparatus described a very great increase in pressure in proportionto the weight ofthe backing is obtained.

lVhat I claim is:

1. In an apparatus of the kind described,

a a fluid pressure device, a rivet holder-on and anvil device, the said two devices adapted to be positioned opposite each other and on opposite sides of a sheet metal shell composed of plates positioned to be riveted together and in position to engage and act against opposite ends of a rivet passed through said plates, backing means for said pressure device and said holder-on with respect to which they are mounted for lateral and vertical movement, and means extending through said shell for connecting said backing members and holding them against separating movement, whereby when the said pressure device is pressed against one end of a rivet and the said pressure is resisted by the said holder-on in contact with the opposite end of said rivet, the said backing devices will hold said pressure device and holder-on against yielding movement due to the connection of said backing devices through the shell, and whereby said pressure device and holder-on may bemoved to engage opposite ends of rivets located at different parts of the shell without moving thesaid backing means or disconnecting them.

1 2., In ardevice of the character described, a riveter and an anvil adapted to be placed on opposite sides of plates to be riveted with a rivet to be squeezed between them, separate backing members. for the said riveter and .anvi'lwith respect to which they are mounted to be laterally and vertically movable and members spacing and connecting said backingmembers, adapted to extend through said plates and located at points removed from the zone of operation of said riveter and anvil. a

3. In an apparatus: of the kind described,-

a hydraulic squeezing riveter and an anvil adapted to be placed'on opposite sides of- 7 plates to be riveted, backing members or strongbacks against which the respective bases of said riveter and anvilare adapted to press, elongated connecting members adjustably secured .to and v connecting said strongbacks at points laterally removed from each other and adapted to pass through the plates, said connecting members adapted to secure said strongbacks'in parallel planes and to adjust them with respect to said planes,

whereby pressure against a rivet in the platesplaced between the riveter and anvil will cause the anvil to. move toward said riveter. through pressure of the strongback of said 4. In an apparatus of the kind described,

a hydraulic squeezing riveter and an anvil adapted 'tobe' placed on opposite sides of plates to be riveted, backing members or strongbacks against which the respective bases of said riveter and anvil are adapted to press, elongated connecting members adjustably secured to. and connecting said strongbacks at points laterally removed from each other and adapted to pass through the plates, said connecting members adapted to secure sald strongbacksr IHPZLI'LllQlP'l8H16S and to adjust them with respect to; said planes, whereby pressure against a rivet in the plates placed betweenjthe riveter and an vil will cause the anvil to move toward said riveter through pressure of the strongback of said anvil against it communicated in the form of a pull on said ccnne'cting'members and last named strongbackcaused by the said riveter pressing against itsstrongback and the said backs are moved in unison and in adirection parallel to the line of riveting pressure, and pneumatically operated plungers connected with said backs and adapted to press against said plates to move the parts to riveting position and cause the anvil to pass a rivet in contact therewith through a plate, and to position for riveting.

5. In an apparatus of the kind described, a hydraulic squeezing riveter .and an anvil adapted to be placed on opposite sides of plates to be riveted, backing members or strongbacks against which the respective bases of said riveter and anvil are adapted to press, elongated connecting members adjustably secured to and connecting said strongbacks at points laterally removed from each other and adapted to pass through the plates, said connecting members adapted to secure said strongbacks in parallel planes and to adjust them with respect to said planes, whereby pressure against a rivet in the plates placed between the riveter and anvil will cause the anvil to move toward said riveter through pressure of the strongback of said anvil against it communicated in the form of a pull on said connecting members and last named strongback caused by the said riveter pressing against its strongback and the said backs are moved in unison and in a direction parallel to the line of riveting pressure, and a stop carried by one of the connecting members and adjustable thereon and adapted to limit and gauge the movement of the backs with respect to the plates. i 6. In an apparatus of the kind described,

a hydraulic squeezing riveter and an anvil adapted to be placed on opposite sides of plates to be riveted, backing members or strongbacks against which the respective bases of said riveter and anvil are adapted to press, elongatedconnecting members adjustably secured to and connecting said strongbacks at points laterally removed from each other and adapted to pass through the plates, said connecting members adapted to secure said strongbacks in parallel planes and to adjust them with respect to said planes, whereby pressure against a rivet in the plates placed between the riveter and anvil will cause the anvil to move toward said riveter through pressure of the strongback of said anvil against it communicated in the form of a pull on said connecting members and last named strongback caused by the said riveter pressing against its strongback and the said backs are moved in unison and in a direction parallel to the line of riveting pressure, and the said riveter and anvil adapted to be moved to different positions vertically and laterally with respect to said backs. Witness my hand this 8th day of April, 1930, county of New York, State of New York.

GEORGE H. BATES.

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