William Kennedy (b.1867)
William Kennedy (1867- ) of W. Kennedy
1901 Living at 8 Furzeham Road, West Drayton: William Kennedy (age 36 born City of London), Electrical Engineer. With his wife Clara Kennedy (age 29 born St. Georges, Mddx) and their daughter Bessie Kennedy (age 5 born Lewisham).[1]
1911 Living at 11 Furzeham Road, West Drayton: William Kennedy (age 44 born London City), Selling and Demonstrating Own Inventions - Cold Pipe Bending Machinery. With his wife Clara Kennedy (age 39 born London West) and their two children; Elizabeth Kennedy (age 15 born Lewisham); and William Horace Kennedy (age 7 born West Drayton). They have been married 18 years with three children of whom two are still living.[2]
Science Museum catalogue [3]
KENNEDY BENDING MACHINE. Presented by W. Kennedy, Esq., 1919.
This is a machine, patented by Mr. W. Kennedy in 1903-9, for bending tubes or rods of various sections, when cold, without distortion.
It consists of a cast-iron body having a screwed mandrel projecting upwards from its centre, and a stop at one point in its circumference. Rings or formers of the required radius, with their outer faces grooved to fit the tube or rod to be bent, are placed on the mandrel, and an adjustable top plate is screwed down above them. An arm, pivoted at the top of the mandrel, carries a vertical pin having upon it a grooved roller which is at the level of the former. The work is laid behind the stop and the roller is placed behind the end to be bent, the top plate being screwed down so as to prevent any flattening. The arm is then revolved and so wraps the work round the former through whatever angle is required. For the smaller sizes the arm is revolved by a lever fitted to it, but for the heavier sections gearing is employed. The pin carrying the bending roller has a pinion on its lower end, which gears with teeth cut round the body, and is rotated by a ratchet lever on its upper end. The top plate is unscrewed by the bending lever, by means of a loose pin in the arm, which drops into holes formed in its upper surface.
The example shown will bend iron pipes up to i in. diam., and brass or copper pipes, unloaded, up to 1-25 in. diam. With suitable formers it will also deal with angles, channels, &c. The mandrel is 4-25 in. diam., and six rings are shown, for pipes of 0-875 in., i in., and 1-25 in. diam., having radii of 3 in. and 4 in - Inv. 1919-228. S.M. 1196, L.S.