US1148272A - Electroplating apparatus. - Google Patents

Description

H. ADERER.

ELECTROPLATING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 17. 1915.

l lwfimw Patented July 27, 1915.

3 vwe Mko'c U %T@ PATEN l l@.

nueo annnnn, F BLOOMFIELD, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOR M J. r. JELENKo & com- PANY, A COPARTNERSHIP COMPOSED on JESSE n. JELENKO AND HUGO ADERER, OF

NEW YORK, N. Y.

.ELEGTROPLATING APPARATUS.

Application filed April 17, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HUGO Annnnn, a citizen of the United States, residing atBloomfield, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electroplating Apparatus, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact specification.

This invention relates to electro-plating apparatus particularly adapted for use in plating a variety of articles of difi erent shapes and sizes.

In plating a single shape and size of article, the proper plating current and electrode distance is determinable by calculation and experiment once and for all, but in plating various sizes of articles of different shapes the apparatus must be capable of ready adj ustment to meet the varying kinds of work. In dental and j ewelerswork where much gold plating is done, the conditions vary with each piece of Work and it is important to provide an easy and ready control of the voltage and electrode distance and to do this with a minimum of time and attention on the part of the operator.

It is an object of this invention to provide such an electro-plating apparatus by providing adjustable electrode supports in series with a lamp rheostat, the resistance setting of which may be observed from the glow of the filaments at a glance. The electrode arms are made adjustable to vary the relative position of the electrodes and the distance between them and consequently the resistance of the electrolyte and the rate and character of the metal deposit and it is possible to observe the amount and character of this adjustment by the varying glowof the lamp filaments in series with the electrodes. In adapting the apparatus for occasional use with a variety of objects, the electrode supports have'been made readily movable for the insertion and. removal of the electrodes from the electrolyte and back out of the Way against their support and their adjustable mounting allows the electrolyte receptacle to be supported independently of the board and in no fixed relation to it. To avoid confusion in making the various adjustments, the movements of the electrodes into and out of the electrolyte are arranged to be made in a vertical planeonly and are distinct from the relative adjustments of the electrodes Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2?, 1915.

Serial No. 21,966.

within the electrolyte made preferably by movement of the anode horizontally.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of the apparatus, and Fig. 2 is a diagram of the board connections.

The board A of marble or other insulating material is to be fastened in vertical position to a wall, and carries on its face the electrode supports B and C and the lamp rheostat D. The board is provided with a passage (not shown) for the entrance of the supply wires and on its back it is provided with grooves (not shown) for the wires connecting the lamp and electrode arms as shown in Fig. 2.

Either support B or C may serve to carry the anode or cathode plate, Preferably, the arm 13 by its holder jaws 4, 4 supports the proper anode or supply plate, 5, and the arm C by its jaws 6, 6 supports the hook 7, carrying the article 8, to be plated. The jaws 4, 4, and 6, 6, are similar, being arranged to normally spring apart and being contractible to gripping engagement with the articles they carry by the slide loops 9 and 10, respectively. The jaws are fastened at "the upper. .endsin, c onvenient manner to the insulating handles 13and1'4. The

jaws 4, 4, are pivoted horizontally to the link 15, at 16, and the link 15 is pivoted vertically at 17 to the link 18, which latter is pivoted horizontally, as at 19, to the bracket 20 carried by the board A. The jaws 6, 6, like jaws 4, 4, are pivoted horizontally, as at 21, to the link 22 and link 22 is pivoted horizontally at 23 to the link 24, pivoted horizontally at 25 to the bracket 26 carried by the plate A in spaced horizontalrelation to bracket 20.

It is to be understood that, while any of the pivotal connections of arms B and C may be rigidly set by tightening the proper pivot screw, they are of the adjustable friction type holding their various positions as set, yet movable by the hand of the operator. The electrode supports are themselvesof a conducting material, as copper, and the frictional engagement of the double pivots reducesthecontact resistance between them. Preferably, the support 13 carries the anode and the support O the cathode or article, to be plated, By this arrangement, since the linkages of support C are movablein a suban al y. ve c l Pl et e ner to'ris ne abled t6 readily withdraw the article for and separate from the movement accompanying the insertion and withdrawal of the article and confusion between the two is avoided. The linkages of each support allow them to be folded back against the board when not in use and the electrolyte receptacle E may within certain limits be positioned at any convenient distance from the board B and yet be readily accessible to the electrodes by adjustment of the support links.

At the end of the board A opposite the supports B, C, the plug 29 carries the lamp socket 27. This socket is provided with electrical connections 'for varying the resistance and thereby the current of the circuit and the intensity of the lamp D. For this purpose, I preferably employ a lamp of the well-known Hy-Lo type, having a plurality of intensities. Thus by using two filaments 30, 31, singly, in series, or in parallel, four intensities can be obtained. The lamp base 28 contains suitable switches for securing these intensities, which are controlled by the cords 32, 33.

It will be seen that rather coarse adjustment of the voltage between theelectrodes is provided by the lamp rheostat, and that intermediate adjustments are provided by varying the relative positions of the electrodes and that these intermediate adjustments'in character; and "extent are readily cyanide of gold and potassium, contained in the, receptacle B positioned on the support F at any. convenient distance within the limits of the electrode support links and the two electrodes are adjusted to a proper dis- 7 tance to give an even deposit on the article.

The lamp rheostat is set at a resistance to give the voltage necessary to carry on the plating, at the desiredrate and the current is turned on, the strength of the glow of the lampindicating approximately the strength of the current. As the electro-plating pro 7 gresses', the article is removedvertically from the electrolyte for inspection and the rate as 945 t e deposit ma e w trolled as by re-positioning the electrodes in the bath by horizontal movement of the anode around pivot 17. If for a more even or compact deposit the distance between the electrodes is increased the filament glow will fade and indicate the amount of the change effected and it will also indicate when the lamp resistance is to be decreased to compensate for the increased resistance of the electrolyte. If a more rapid deposit is allowable, the distance between the electrodes may be decreased to increase the current and this increase may be gaged by the brightening of the filament glow which will also indicate when the rheostat resistance must be increased to compensate for the decreased resistance of the electrolyte.

When not in use the electrolyte receptacle E is removed and the supports B and G are pushed back against the board A out of the way of the operator. By simply placing the dish E within reach of the supports B and O and moving the supports to hold the electrodes within the electrolyte the apparatus is ready for use while the ease with which the article may be inspected and the current and consequently the rate of deposit, controlled and observed particularly adapt the device for use by dentists, jewelers and others having need of an electro-plating device for occasional service, out of the way when not in use, yet readily accessible and easily and accurately adjustable to various kinds of work.

Having thus described my invention, I declare that what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an electro-plating apparatus, a board, a pair of electrode supports extend- .observable in -the-varying-glowof th -1a p ing outwardly therefrom and relatively adustable to vary the current between the electrodes, and a glow device mounted in circuit with said supports and in position to indicate by its intensity variations in the current through said supports.

2. In an electro-plating apparatus, the combination of a board carrying an electrode support, a second electrode support mounted on said board for vertical and horizontal adjustment with relation to the first support and a variable lamp resistance car-- ried by said board for varying the voltage between the electrodes carried by the supports and indicating the current passing between said electrodes.

7 3. In an electro-plating apparatus, the combination with a supporting board, of an adjustable outwardly projecting electrode support having two horizontal pivots about which the electrode may swing in adjustment and a second outwardly projecting adjustable electrode support having one vertical and one horizontal pivot about which the second electrode may swing in adjustment.

4. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivoted thereto, depending anode and cathode terminals carried by said links, and means for varying the distance between said terminals.

5. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivoted thereto, depending electrode supports oarried by said links, one of said supports being adjustable in a substantially vertical plane, and means for varying the distance between said sup ports and between said supports and the board.

6. The combination with a board, of outwardly projecting links pivoted thereto, a variable resistance lamp mounted on said board and in circuit with said links, depending electrode terminals carried by said links, and means for varying the distance between said terminals.

7 In an electro-plating apparatus, a

board carrying a contact bracket, a depending electrode support linked to said bracket to be movable toward and from the board, said electrode support comprising an operating handle at its upper end and electrode carrying means at its lower end.

8. In an electro-plating apparatus, a board carrying a contact bracket, a link pivoted thereon, a second link pivoted to said first link, and a depending electrode sup port intermediately pivoted to said second link, said electrode support having an operating handle at its upper end, and electrode carrying means at its lower end.

In testimony whereof I afiiX my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

HUGO ADERER.

Vitnesses:

J. S. Woos'rnn, ARTHUR ALLEN, Jr.

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents. Washington, D. G.

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