USRE12779E - of minneapolis - Google Patents

Description

No. 12,779. REISSUED APR. 14, 1908. G. A. GOODSON. PROCESS OF PLATING METALLIC BODIES.

- A PPLIGATION FILED NOV. 24, 1905. BPEUIMENS.

jhsourre- 1h 50 area- To all whom it may concern.

, molten platlngn etal, of higher fus'ibility than the plating metal and will not be melted, but willremain intact.

I In carrying out said old process it has been "foundthatconsiderable time is required to heat the, wireto the, temperature of the mol- UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE A. GOODSUN, U1 MINNEAPOLIS, ,MINNIDSOTA, A'SSIGNOR TO GOODSON ELEC- TRIU 'UALXC-XNIZINQ COMPANY, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, CORPORATIONOF MINNESOTA PROCESS OF PLATING METALLIC BODIES.

I Specification of Reissued Letters Patent. Reissued Apr. 14, 1908.

Original application 'filed March 31, 1904, Serial No. 200,913. Divided and application filed June 9, 1904, Serial No. 211,745. Original Patent No. 789,690, dated May 9, 1905,

1905. Serial No. 288,981. (Specimens.)

Be it known that l UnoaenA. GoonsoN, a citizen of the Dinninion of Canada, residing at Minneapolis, in'the county of II'ennepin and State of ;\Iinnesota, have invented eer tain new and useful Improvements in Processes of Plating Metallic Bodies and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This application is filed as a division of my original application Serial No. 200,913, filed by me March 31, 1904, entitled Process and apparatus for galvanizing, tinning and other wise plating wire and other metallic bodies.

My invention has for its object to provide an improved process of galvanizing, tinning or otherwise plating wire and other metallicbodies; and to this endmy invention or discovery consists of the novel process hereinafter described and defined in the claims.

The old process which has hitherto been generally employed in galvanizing and tinning wire may be summarily stated as follows: The zinc or tin used in plating the Wire is kept in molten condition in large troughshaped kettles suitably mounted for the direct application thereto of flames from buining fuel, and the wire is dravn through the large bod of molten plating metal contained in said ettles. To efl'ect good plating the molten plating metal must be kept substantially at a predetermined temperature,

' and the submergedportion of the wire bemg) drawn therethrough must be brought to stantially the same temperature as the The wire of course is ten plating metal. Hence thegreater the length'of the kettles containingthe molten latingmetal' the more rapidly the ;W ire.'1nay be drawn "therethrough, and, conversely, the slotventhfe movement of the wire the shorter the kettles maybe, It is' equally evident that mg I have electrica Application for reissue filed November 24,

I the longer and more bulky the kettles the more space is required l'or the same and the greater is the amount of heat required to maintain such a large body of plating metal. 1n molten condition at the proper tempera ture, and, on the other hand, a slow movement of the wire, required when the kettles are short, is wasteful of time. As a compromise between the two plans above noted it has in. practice been found advisable to employ kettles of about twelve Feet in length and to draw the wire through the molten metal at the rate oi about seventyfive feet per minute. This seems to be about the best result in point of capacity which can be secured. -Under these conditions it will be seen that a large amount of space is taken up by the kettles, that a large quantity of fuel is required to keep the plating metal at the proper temperature, and'that the wire can only be drawn through the molten plating metal at a comparatively slow rate of speed. Moreover, much labor and attentn is required to maintain the fires and reliably to control the temperature of the molten plating metal so as to get the best results in the quality of the plating, for it is a well known fact that comparatively slight variation in the temperature of the molten. platingmetal either above or below the predetermined proper temperature will result in poor plating, or it may be, if the variation.

be considerable, that the wire will not be plated at all. Another serious objection to the old process is the fact that such a large body of the molten lating metal must be eX osed to the atmosp'liv I ere, thereby producing a. arge waste from the resultmg oxidation.

My improved process herein disclosed and claimed 1s ,a radical departure from the old F pr0cess above summarlzed and overcomes many'of the. obj'e'ctionsabovej noted, securing greatly increased product perunitflof time,"

a better quality .0 product, and a saving in the amount of plating metal consumed! In my ,practice ujlp; to the fdateof thiswrity excited contacting fillli faces of'the plating metalfandlthe wire or T h e al, t be ated e ii v-t reby otherwise stated, the molten metal has been held in tubes of small caliber, the wire has been drawn therethrough under a continuous movement, and a current of electricity has simultaneously been passed through the molten lating metal and through that portion of t e wire which is submerged therein.

The accompanying drawing illustrates one form ofapparatus which I have found to be well adapted for carrying out my new process above stated.

In the single view of said drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a curved pipe or tube of relatively small caliber composed of iron or other suitable material. As shown, the tube 1 is of approximately semicircular form and is supported with its open ends upward and is supported by a pair of metallic pedestals 2,

electrlcally connected therewith. The ped estals 2 are shown as fixed to a base 3 of insulating material, such as a wooden sill or floor. The said pipe or tube 1 aflords an attenuated conduit open at its ends and through which the wire 4 may be drawn, and is adapted to. hold ormaintain around that portion of the wire being drawn therethrough an attenuated or thinly-drawn-out body of molten platin metal 5. Said molten plating metal 5 may e supplied to the-plating tube 1, so as to keep the tube filled to the proper height, in any suitable wa I have shown for the purpose a small melting pot or kettle 6, subject to the flames of a gas-burner 6 and connecting with the plating tube 1' by a small sup ly pipe 1. i The melting pot 6 should be msu ated from the supporting-standard 2.

The numerals 7 represent conductors connecting standards 2, the platingtube 1, the molten metal 5 within the tube 1, and the submerged portion of the wire 4 into an electric circuit supplied with current from any suitable source. The tube 1 should be covered with a wrapping 8 of asbestos or other heat-insulating material.

With the apparatus above described it is ob- V -vious that the plating metal 5 and the wire 4 submerged therein, may be heated to a common temperature by the current supplied thereto. The current of course is properly regulated for maintaining the molten plating metal and thewire to be plated at the exact desired temperature for the best results. The wire 4 may be drawn through the tube 1 by hand or b any suitable mechanical devices.

It will e seen that under this process and with the formof apparatus above described the amount of thep atingmetal which must be necessarily kept in a molten condition and at the required redetermined temperature for the best resu lts in plating is reduced to a minimum, and. hence it follows that by the application of the proper electric current this small attenuated body of plating metal may be quickly brought to the required temperature coincidently with the corresponding heating of the wire, and be there maintained while the wire is being drawn through under a continuous movement. It is further obvious that the attenuated body of molten lating metal is protected from the atmosp iere, except only at the open ends of the tube 1, and this, if desired, can be reduced to an opening of substantially the same diameter as the wire itself, or be fitted with a gland, so as to exclude the air entirely from the plating tube 1, and hence it follows that the oxidation of the molten'metal is reduced to a minimum and may be said to be almost entirely eliminated.

From my experience in the .practical application of my process of plating metallic bodies herein disclosed,it-seems clear that the molten plating metal which has been subjected to an electric current of the roper strength and for the proper length 0 time, becomes changed in condition so that, when the metallic body is submerged in a molten bath of plating metal so electrically treated, the plating metal will firmly unite with the metallic body to be plated. Just exactly what the change is in the molten platin metal thus subjected-to an electric current, T am unable to state; but what -I do know is that I get a plating or coating which so firmly unites to the wire or other body to be plated that it seems to be an amalgamation of the latingme'tal withthe surface portion of the ody to be plated.

As an illustration of the preferred conditions of'practice of my invention, I may state that where the plati metal employed is, for instance, lead, and t e internal diameter of the ,tube or conduit 1 is say three uarters of'an inch, the current employed i or maintainin the lead in the tube or conduit in the mo ten condition will in general be a current of from 1500 to 2,000 amperes applied. for from twelve to fifteen'hours. It wi of course, be understood that, in all cases, the metalto be plated, whether with zinc, tin or lead, is to be subjected to. the usual preliminary pickling operations, fa- 12 miliar to those skilled in the art, and which need not, therefore, be set forth in full herein.

'Of course I do not limit myself to any special form ofapparatus for carrying my process into effect. Ap aratus capable of 12 doing the work -ma ta lre 'a considerable range in diversity of orms and construction. For example, I have disclosed in my nding application Serial No. 209,993, filed April 7, 1904, an apparatus within the principle of the apparatus herein disclosed in a broad point of view, but embodying numerous additional features better adapting the same for the commercial utilization of my new process herein disclosed and claimed.

In practice it has been found that this process gives highly satisfactory results with the use of lead as the plating metal. These results consist in the production of a firmlyadhering non-scaling coating of the lead upon the metal to be plated, which, sofar as I. know, has not been commercially'practicable under any hitherto known processes.

So far as Iknow the process herein disclosed is a pioneer invention or discovery of large practical utility and value, and I desire to claim the same herein in the broadest possible way. a

What I claim and desire to secure by Let- 1ters Patent of the United States, is as folows:

1. The process of plating wire or other metal, WhlCl'l consists in brmging the same into contact with molten plating metal, and in electrically exciting contacting surfaces of the molten plating metal and the metal to be plated.

, 2. The process of plating wire or other metallic bodies, which consists in submerging the same in a bath of molten plating metal,

.and in passing a current of electricity through the be plated.

3. The process of plating Wire or other metallic bodies, which consists in maintaining an attenuated body of plating metal around plating metal and the metal to a portion of the metal to be plated, and in passing an electric current through said attenuated body of plating metal and the submerged portion of the metal to be plated, substantially as described.

4. The process of plating wire or other me through the plating metal and the-metal to be plated, substantially as described. 5. The process of electroplating, which consists in submerging the metal to be plated in a bath of molten plating metal, and sub jecting both to an electric current, with the metal to be plated, and the molten plating metal, connected up in multiple, in a common electric circuit.

6. The process of plating Wire or other metallic bodies, which consists in subjecting molten plating metal to an electric current and in applying the molten plating metal to the wire or other metallic body to be plated.

7. The process of plating wire or other metallic bodies with lead, which consists in subjecting molten lead to an electric current until its condition has been so changed that it will firmly unite with the body to be plated, and applying the lead in molten condition to the wire or other metallic body to be plated.

8. A metallic body plated with electrically treated molten metal.

9. A metallic body plated with electrically r treated molten lead.

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

-GEORGE A. GOODSON. -Witnesses:

MALIE HOEL, FRANK D. MERCHANT.

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