US1779811A - Method of manufacturing insulators - Google Patents

Description

Oct. 28, 1930. w. F. HARVEY MANUFACTURI METHOD AOF NG INSULATORS Driginal Filed Jap.A I5, 1.928

2*' Shevets-Sheet 1 A INVENToR PVI is ATTORNEY` estema oct. 2s, -1930 ,UNITED sTATEs wasn i 'WILLIAM r." Enviar, oF

Lum, amwyonx; maar a. HARVEY ExEcUrnrx WILLIAM r. HARVEY, nncnasnn man or armrae'ruame msum'roas Application led anuary 3, 1928, Serial No. 244,200. Renewed March 25, 1930i My invention relates to the method of manufacturing insulators, and has to do more particularly with porcelain insulators of the type having a multiplicity of skirts or laterally 5 projecting anges extending away from the longitudinal or body portion, the principal object of the invention being to manufacture such an insulator as an integral structure from a single mass of clay or such material as may be used.

Heretofore, the practice in manufacturing porcelain insulators of the general type mentioned has been to make `two or more units separately, and produce the finished insulator by nesting and cementing together such sepmass of moist clay and is there after baked as an entirety, thus giving a uniform texture and character to every part of the insulator, 3 a 'result which is not possible where the insulator is made by cementing together independent porcelain sections which have been previously baked and which may be made from differentmasses of clay.

An additional object of the invention is to afford a one-piece porcelain insulator which is cheaper to manufacture than types of insulators now in use, and which has greater eficiency both mechanically and electrically than old forms of insulators;

v Another purpose of the invention is to afford mechanism and a method of procedure for constructing such an insulator in a, quick, practical, and economical manner.

To these and other ends, the invention comprehends the structure and method that will appear clearly from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the novel features being iication.

In the drawings: l

pointed out in theclaims following the speci- Figure 1 is a sectional view illustratin an Figure 6 is a view showing the second v plunging operation with the structure according to Figure 5;

Figure 7 is a plan view of the parts shownv in Figure 5;

Figure 8 is a sectional view of an insulator constructed according to the invention;

Figure 9 is a perspective view of one of the lower mold sections shown in Figures 2 to 4, and

Figure 10 isa similar view of one of the upper mold sections shown in Figures 2 and 3.

The invention may be carried out in a variety of `Ways, and with different materials,

but is more especiall adapted to form insulators from clay by t e commonly known Wet process method, the herein disclosed structure and procedure indicating, by Way of example, certain preferred ways of'accomplishing this.

In manufacturing a porcelain insulator by the wet process, a mass of wet clay is forced v into a mold ofplaster Paris or the like, through the instrumentalit of a rotating metal plunger or die to w ich heat is applied in any suitable manner, the simultaneous rotation and pressure of the plunger serving to impart its'form to the mass of clay, which is thereafter hardened by firing.

In applying this to the present invention, a bottom mold 1 is employed which is suitably formed to shape the end or head of the insulator. A mass of wet clay is placed within the mold 1 and a plunger is then forced against the clay, said plunger comprising a hollow and preferably cylindrical portion2 and a lateral or flange portion 3.

part of the clay body to form the skirt portion 4 of the insulator, while the main body of the wet clayis forced upwardly into the hollow portion 2 of the plunger, leaving a central mass of clay 5 when the plunger has reached its lowermost position,'as shown in Figure 1. It will be seen that this much of the operation serves to complete the first skirt portion 4 of the insulator, .and leaves a remaining body of wet clay ready to be pressed to form a second skirt portion, which operation takes place immediatelv after the first operation just described.

While forming a second skirt portion from the body of cla 5, it isnecessary to arrange ,a mold over t e skirt portion 4 after the plunger has been removed. This is preferably accomplished by a sectional mold 6 shaped to conform to the grooved skirt portion 4, and a sectional mold 7 preferably with inclined bottom surfacesl engaging correspondingly inclined top surfaces on the mold 6. The mold sections 7 can be held in o erative position by suitable means such as a and 8, as shown in Figure 2, and when the mold sections are thus arran ed, the parts are ready to receive a secon plunger 9, see Figure 3, which descends againstthe central mass of clay 5 and forces it out against theA mold sections 7, causing the body of clay 5 to assume the shape illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. e

The plunger 9 is then Iwithdrawn and the band 8 removedpermittin the mold sections 7 to be withdrawn latera ly from the position shown in Figure 3, after which the mold sections 6 can be lifted as shown in Figure 4, and then withdrawn laterally from the insulator. B the operation just described, the second s irt ortion 10 is formed, exs tending laterally rom the central body portion 11 of the insulator and spaced along the same from the first formed skirt portion 4. In this fashion it is possible to construct an insulatorwith two or more lateral flanges or skirt portions all from one mass of clay, givinga completed insulator structure of similar texture throughout and uniform mechanical and electrical characteristics. It Will be understood, of course, that the described operation can be repeated with additional sectional molds to form three or more skirts or flange portions in larger insulators where this may be desirable.

In Figures 5 and 6, a modified form ofv. mold is illustrated as shown at 12. In thisv case, the first plunger or die has a flat bottom surface, forming the clay mass into the of the form shown in Figure 1. The mold i sections 12 would then be provided with corresponding flat bottom surfaces and after the second plunger operation, thev insulator would have the form illustrated in Figure 6.

With' this arrangement, after the plunger is Y withdrawn from the `insulator, thebottom mold 1 is dropped away and the mold sections 12 can then be'readily removed by a lateral motion-after the retaining band 13, is separated from the mold sections. When the insulator is thus formed, the grooves 14' are cut into the skirt portion 15, see'Figure 8, to form the petticoat 16 by grooving the clay while wet.

While I haveldescribed alternative ways of forming the grooves in the skirt, as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 and in Figures 5 and 6, other convenient methods and devices can bel adopted without changing the general. scheme of successively f ormin two or-more skirts or laterally extending anges from a single mass of wet clay. In Figure 8, the interior of the insulator is shown threaded as at 17, as usual in this .type of insulator, the threading operation being preferably performed after the general shape of the insulator is completed, as illustrated in Figures 4-and 6. 4 While the invention has been described with reference to' certain particular adaptations and methods, it is not confined to theprecise disclosures herein set forth, and this application is intended vto cover any other embodiments or methods which will accomplish the described purposes and come withinthe scope of the following claims.

I claim: y

1. The method of making a one-piece insulator consisting in forming a multiplicity of skirts or lateral anges by successive pressure operations on a wet mass of material, such pressure being applied endwise of the insulator and crosswise of the skirts.

2. The method of making a one-piece insulator consisting in first pressing a wet mass of material in a mold forming an initial skirt or lateral flange, then positioning a mold over said skirt, and finally pressing the remainder of the wet mass against the last mentioned mold to form a second skirt.

3. The method of making a one-piece insulator consisting in first pressing a wet mass of material in a mold forming an initial skirt or lateral flange and an outwardly extending central portion, and thereafter pressing said central portion to form a second skirt above thepfirst mentioned skirt,

4. The method of making a one-piece inI sulator consisting in first subjecting a wet mass of material in a mold to the action of a plunger having a hollow portion with a lateral flange portion at its forward end, said plunger acting to form in said wet mashape illustrated at 13 in Figure 5, instead terial a skirt portion and to force the central lun part of the wet mass rearwardly into saidhollow portion of the plunger, and there-"- after subjecting said central part of the wet mass to the action of a second plunger to 5 form a second skirt on the insulator. 5. The method of makn'g a one-piece in- .sulator consisting in first subjecting a wet mass of material in a mold to the action of a plunger having a hollow portion with a l, lateral flange portion at its forward endfsaid plunger acting to form insaid wet material a skirt portion and to force the central part of the wet mass rearwardly* into said hollow portion of the plunger, positioning a mold u over said skirt portion, and thereafter subjecting said central part of the wet mass to the action of a second plunger to force the clay against the last named mold and form a second skirt on the insulator.

6. The method of making a one-piece wet process insulator consisting in first forming one portion ,of the insulator by pressing i-t into a mold, retaining the mass in said mold and protecting the opposite side of said g5 formed portion by a sectional mold while subsequently forming another part of the in. sulator inte al with the first mentioned part by app ying pressure toward said sectional mold and the first named portion.

$0 In Witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. r

WILLIAM F. HARVEY.

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