US1003827A - Art of drying and polishing. - Google Patents

Description

F. A. TOLHURST. n ART 0F DRYING AND POLISHING.

APPLIoATIoy FILED JUNE 29, 190s.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

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ART 0F DRYING AND POLISHING.

PPLIUATXON FILED JUNE 29, 1908. 1,003382?, Panted Sept. 19,1911.

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MTNEEJE UNITED STAIIES PATENT OFFICE.

FREDERICK A. TOLHURST,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y., .SSIGNORTO TOLHUBST MACHINE WORKS, OF TROY, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

am: or .DRYING AND romsmmi.

Specicatlon of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1911.

Application led June 29, 1906. Serial No. 440,858.

To all whom it concern:

' Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. Torf.

` nonsr, a citizen of the United States, re-

siding at New` York, county of New York, and State of` New York, 'have invented certain new and useful Im rovements' in .the Art of Drying and Polis ing, of which the following is 'a specification. V

The invention relates to such improvements and consists of the novel construction and combination of parts hereinafter Cle-I scribed and subsequently claimed.

Reference may be had to -the accompanying drawings, and the reference characters marked thereon, which form a part of this specification. Similar characters refer to similar parts in the several figures therein. The invention relates to drying and brightening acid-dipped and electro-plated metal articles. o

It iscustomary inithe manufacture' ot many kinds of metal articles, as one of the final steps in such manufacture, to dip them into an acid solution to remove the traces of manufacturing, as for instance to remove fire marks, or to clean them from metal dust,

, oil, dirt accidentally collected, or other foreign or undesirable matter to ut them in nal commercial condition. ther metal articles are electroplated. In the case of the articles which are acid-dipped, and in the case of those which are electro-plated'also, it is necessary that the liquid in which they were immersed be removed quickly and uniformly from all parts of thesurfa'ce to prevent oxidation, corrosion and stain. It is lfurther necessary to brighten these surfaces, that is., to impart to them'the uniform lustrous and` bright appearance common to the completed commercial 'articles of these classes.- Heretofore 'such art-icles have been dried and brightened by being tumbled 'in barrels, or shaken in sieves, containing hard wood saw-dust. The particles y'of'saw`dust by reason of their orosit absord the moisture ltrom the sur ace o the articles, and

.serve also by a sort of 4gentle 'attrition or batting' action to brighten the articles, that is, to give them 'the lustrous 'ap earance which constitutest the commercie Ifinish.'

The work as performed with the saw-dust .and attendant apparatus'. is tedious and laborious, and Where conducted on a large scale involves considerable ap aratus in the way of tumbling barrelasanz# ust' bins, etc.,

`eration constitutes a ver and requires also much manual labor. Furthermore, the saw-dust 'is constantly dcteriorating, as itabsorbs the moisture from repeated operations and is therefore uncerarticles with great rapidity, is ca able of acting at one time on exceeding y.y -lar quantities of such articles to simultaneous brighten and dry them, even when suc articles with great rapidit is capable'of .or elaborate form, and will, accomplish the work at a very low cost.'

Accordin to thepresent invention a mass of the meta articles are taken wet from the cleaning or electrolytic bath and are subjected to the actionof a blast or current of hot, dry air moving at great velocity, and in accordance .with one feature 4of the invention, the mass of articles is at the same time moved in a transverse direction to the'direction of movement of the current of air, and also preferably at Va high velocity. articles are thus dried andat the same time brightened, or'rendered lustrous to a very high degree, giving them agpleasing, satisfactory and superior commercial finish.

Both the drying and brightening action is accomplished by the action of rapidly moving air currents, 'and not by any attrition due to movement of the articles in the mass either against or relatively to each other, or against any other substance; In fact withA most such articles,.itis essential that they be at rest relatively to each other individu- The ally, as they would otherwise bescratched Iand' abraded so as to be uncommercial.

The movement of the air and 'of the'mass ,of articles 1nl 'transverse dn'ectionstserves to rend/er the drying and brightenig action 4 o f the' a1r uniform in all parts of all the articles, notwithstandi'n" intricacy l.of shape in the .articles ndja so. notwithstanding thatthe `artlcles' w .individually be very small and the mass of articles operated upon at one time be relatively very'great. This appears' to be due to anintense vortex act-ion of the air set up between and around all parts of the massed articles, :whereby all the parts ont the articles are reached and acted upon by the violently moving' air currents.

in the accompanying drawings there is illustrated an apparatus which has been found to be suitable ,and convenient for carrying sti'tuting my inventioinand the invention is described more in detail in connection with and by the aid of, said drawing. lleierringto the drawinsligure l is an elerationj ot an apparatus for supplying a. strong current Vci? hot and dry air to a in. ot such" metal articles while the metal articles are also y'in motion at a high velocity;

and Q isa substantially central section y on vthe line 2 2 o Fig. l.

The apparatus for giving motion to the mass ot articles has a rotatory movement and is arranged todispose the articles very sides, or .vertical Walls, of the container or basket Q are provided With a large number of relatively snizill apertnresll, which are designed to permit the air to there throiagh while retaining the articles Within the basket it.

The. spindle 4e may be driven in any suitable manner, and ris shown provided With al pulley G over which passes a belt 7, said belt running over a guide wheel 8 to a driving pulley 9. it suitable brake may be provided, and brake shoe l0 is shown acting the pulley tl, said brake shoe beingr mounted on thc lever 13 pivotally supported on the traine at lll. Pivotally connected to 'the other end of the lever i3 is a screwtlarearlcd rod lf2 threaded into a recessed lug or support on 4the machine frame. A hand wheel lf3 serves to rotate the rod 12 and to apply or release the brake.

upper portionorn the casing,T l is pronp. with an opening 17 to which a suithle lidI i8 is iitted. A pipcfor conduit 2O passes into an aperture if) in the lidvto supply the air for the drying and brightening operation. .i pump 2l is shown for driving the air through 'the pipe 20, and a pipe 23 conxmunicat'es from the air pump 2l to a suitable air-heating and drying chamber 22.

Vthrough the pipe 2l'.

ont or practicing the method conincase? Within said chamber is shown a series of steam coils 25, supplied from av pipe 2(3,for heating and drying the air as it is drawn in by the pump 23, the steam passing out The apertures '2S serve to admit the air to the heating and drying apparatus.

After the articles are placed within the basket or container 2,' and the basket is started into motion, :1t first slowly and then more and more rapidly until a. high velocity is attained, the Wet metal articles Within the basket 2, by reason of centrifugal action, will distribute themselves up and around the vertical sides of the basket or container 2 leaving the central part empty. At the same time the hot dry air is forced at great velocity. into the interior of the basket or container, and by reason of the 'pressure land the centrifugal action is driven at great velocity through all parts of the .mass of articles and about and against all surfaces of the varticles in the mass, .finally passing out through the apertures 3. This air then escapes through one or more openings 31, located in the outer periphery of the casing l. It Will thus be seen that the various articles in the mass are at rest with respect to each other, and

that theyare moving at great' velocity in c .one directionuvhile subjected to the action oi a current of hotl and dry air moving in a, transverse direction, or inreality in a great. number oi various transverse directions. This transverse movement causes the air to act equally upon all sides and upon all surfaces of the metal articles, Whether interior or exterior, and not only does it dry them quickly and easily, but `ogives them the uniform lustrcmsness or brightness so desirable vand necessary as a commercial finish, the finish imparted by this method be#4 ing more uniform and brighter than by tumbling in saw-dust.

l' claiml. The process of simultaneously drying and brighteningA .metal articles taken from an electrolytic bath which consists in forchot. dry air at high velocity through a mass ot' said articles While wet to simulta neously dry and brighten them. A

2. The process of drying and brightening dipped or plated metal articles, which consists inforcing a current of hot, dry, air through a mass of said articles while the mass of articles is in transverse direction to the direction of the air current'.

3e The process of dryingr and brightenrinfr dipped or plated metal articles, which consists in forcing a current of hot. dry, air

through a mass of said articles while theY mass ot' articles is in rapid motion in a transverse direction to the direction oi the air current,4 the articles constituting the rapid motion in a 'ling .dippe mass being at 'rest with respecty toleach other. i r

ing a mass of said articles to rapid rotation, whereby the mass is subjected to restrained `-'centrifugal action and lthe articles constituting the mass are at rest Awith respect t0 each other, and introducing dry air under pressure near the center of rotation of said mass' and forcing it outwardly through said mass;

5. The process of drying and brightening dipped or plated metal articles taken from an eleetrolytic bath, which consists in forcing a current of dry air through a massof sai articles while the mass, of articles is in rapid motion inl a transverse direction to the i direction of the air current, the articles constituting the mass being at rest with 'respect to each other,

6. The process of drying and brightening dipped or plated metal articles taken from an ele'ctrolytic bath which consists in forcing a current of dry air through a mass of said wet articles in a plurality of directions .j and at a high velocity, whereby said air currents will'tact directly upon all surfaces of the articles and upon all the articles of the mass whereby the articles are both dried and brightened simultaneously. f

7. The prcessof drying and brightening dipped o1" plated metal articles taken from an electrolytic bath which consists in rapidly moving a mass of said articles and forcing a current of dry air through said mass of articles in a direction different from the direction of motion of said mass.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this th day of June, 1908..

FREDERICK A. TOLHURST. Witnesses:

HOWARD CAMPBFLL, PETER FLINT.

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