US1071036A - Method of process of producing hollow tapes, ribbons, or bands of metal. - Google Patents

Description

P. A. FELDKAMP.

METHOD 0R PROCESS OF PRODUCING HOLLOW TAPES, RIBBONS, 0R BANDS 0P METAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1912.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

F. A. FELDKAMP.

METHOD 0R PROCESS OF PRODUCING HOLLOW TAPES, RIBBONS, OR BANDS 0P METAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 12, 1912.

3 Ms m m Mm M m N T A H A w M mm M m rm mm mm 1 m O O 0 Sm, o S wo o o N T3 N\ A, wo W O UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE;

FREDERICK A. FELDKAHP, or nnwanx, new JERSEY, ASSIGNOB 'ro nmcrnom'no PRODUCTS 00., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

METHOD OR PROC SS OF PRODUCING HOLLOW TAPES, RIBBONS, OB BANDS OF METAL.

Specification Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 26, 1913.

Application filed April 12, 1912. Serial No. 890,230.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK A. Few- KAMP, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newark, in the county of Essex and i State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Methods or Processes of Producin Hollow Tapes, Ribbons, or Bands of Meta 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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

The present invention has reference to a novel method or process of producing hollow tape, ribbon or bands by depositing by electrodeposition upon a readily fusible band or tape of lead, or other easily fusible metal, a shell or skin of electrolytically deposited metal, such as copper or the like; and, this invention relates, more particularly, to a novel method or process for making hollow tapes, ribbons, or bands of metal, and of the character set forth in another application for Letters-Patent filed by myself on the third day of April, 1912, Serial Number 688,338.

The invention, therefore, has for its principal object to provide a novel method or process for the purposes hereinabove stated, whereby such hollow tapes, ribbons, or 35 bands of metal may be produced electrolytically in a simple and perfect manner and at a comparatively low cost.

With the objects of the invention in view,

the said invention consists in the novel process or methodof electricall producing hollow tapes, ribbons, or ban s of metal,

substantially as will be more fully described in the following specification, and then finally embodied in the clauses of the claim which are appended to and which form an essential part of this specification.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic representation, partly in vertical section and partly in elevation, of an apparatus and instrumentalities employed in producing hollow metal tape, ribbon, or bands of metal, and Fig. 2 is a detail plan view, on an enlarged scale, of the right-hand end of the apparatus and mechanism represented in said Fig. 1. Fig.3 is a detail transverse sectional representation of the electro-plating tank employed; and Fig. 4: is a detail plan view of the said plating tank. Fig. 5 is a longitudinal vertical section of a portionof the electrolated lead or readily fusible metal band a ter having passed through the electrolyte contained in the plating tank; and Fig. 6 is a similar section of the finished hollow metal tape, ribbon or band, after the lead or other readily fusible metal core or matrix has been fused or melted out of said plated shell or skin.

- Similar characters ofreference are em-- ployed in the said above described views, to indicate corresponding parts.

Referring now to the several figures of the drawings, the reference-character 1 indicates a suitably constructed electro-plating tank, which may be of any suitable width and length,and of any suitable construction, the tank here shown comprising v longitudinally extending sides 2,. the ends 3, and a base 4, the tank being preferably divided into two plating compartments by a longitudinally extending partition 5. Extending latera ly across the said compartments, at suitable intervals, are suitably constructed guiding and supporting rolls, as 6, the said compartmentsbeing also provided at suitable intervals in planes above and below the laneof said rollers 6, with laterally extending guide-bars 7 and 8, said bars 7 being formed with holes or perfo-- rations 9, and the said bars 8 being likewise provided with holes or perforations 10. As shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings, any number of such plating tanks 1 may be placed in tiers vertically one above the other, being suitably secured to the vertical supporting posts 11 of a building. It will be understood, however, that these tanks may be differently arranged and otherwise supported, if desired.

At any suitable point or points, preferably, at the one end and outside of the platin tank 1 are a series of suitable rods or splndles, as 12, 13, 14 and 15, the rods or spindles 15 being provided with an arrangement of upper and lower rotary brushes 16, the purposes of which will be presently more fully specified. Rotatably mounted u on the said rods or spindles 12 are suita le reels, as 17, upon which are rolled suitnected a pipe 29 which leads into the tank 30 able strips or bands 18 of lead, or other easily fusible metal, said strips or bands extending in forward directions, between other reels 19 and 20, mounted-respectively upon the previously mentioned rods or spindles 13 and 14, the reeled off portions of the strips or hands 18, passing beneath a roller 21, at the end of the lating tank 1, into and extending longitu inally of the tank through the compartments the: Jr, and the reeled off portions of said strips or hands 18 being arranged upon and passing over the supporting rollers 6 within the plating tank. At the opposite or left-hand end of the plating-tank 1, the said strips or hands 18, which in the meantime have received by electro-,

or reservoir 24, and conveys the water from said sprayer back into the said tank or reservoir 24. At a suitable point in front of the washin device there may be placed a cutting off evice, as 31, for cutting the said plated strip or' band into suitable lengths. This cutting off device may be adjustably arranged, so that short or long pieces .may be cut from the plated strip or band 18, as will be clearly evident, the said cutting ofi' device being of any suitable construction,

and in this case being shown as'an electrically controlled and electrically operated apparatus.

The pum 25 herein-above mentioned may be operate by means of an suitable mech-- anism, that herein shown eing a belt 32 passing over a pulley-wheel 33 mounted upon a power-driven shaft 34. Upon said shaft 34 is another pulley-wheel 35 over" which passes a belt 36 for driving a pulle wheel 37 which operates a worm 38. Mes ing with said worm 38 is a worm-wheel 39 for suitably revolving the previously-mentioned feed-rollers22' and 23. Of course it will be understood,.that any other suitable arran ement of mechanism may be .em-

'- p10 e for operating both the said pump 25 an the said feed-rollers'22 and 23, if desired.

As shown more particularly in Fig. 4 of the. drawin the partition 5 is left at its ends with t e open parts 40 and 41, so as to establish communication at the end of the tank 1 between the two,co'mpartments thereof, a suitably constructed agitator,-'as 42,

being arranged in one of said open parts, as 40, whereby a continuous circulation of the electrolyte contained in the v compartments of the electroplatin tank 1 will be roduced from one tank or compartment into the other in the direction of the arrows indicated in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

Rotatably arranged upon the previously mentioned reels 19 mounted upon the rods or spindles 13 are coils 43 of wire of any suitable gage, said wire being usually of copper. The wire is reeled off said reels 19, and the wire-strands 44 of said coils extend forwardly into and throu h the plating tank, the respective strands eing arranged and movably disposed upon opposite sides of the reeled-off portions of the flat strips or bands 18, said wire strands passing through the holes or perforations 9 and 10 of the respective guide-bars 7 and 8, within said tank 1. At the opposite end of the said tank 1, the said wire-strands 44 of the respective coils of wire 43 pass over and around an upper and lower arrangement of return-pulleys or wheels 45 and 46, returning respectively above and below the said flat strips or bands 18, in the form of wire-strands 48 which also pass through some of the holes or perforations 9 and 10 in the respective guide-bars 7 and 8, passing finally from the other end of the tank 1, and being rewound upon the reels which are mounted upon the respective rods or spindles 14. Y

To revent the reels 19 to unreel too fast,

suitab e friction devices, as 49, may be used, as indicated in Fig. 1 of the drawings, and

any suitable power-driven mechanism may I be employed for producing the winding-up operation of the reels 20, as will be evi ent.

Having in the above briefly'set'forth one form of apparatus which is especially adapted for use in the process of oroducin hollow electrolytically deposited tape, r1 bon,

1 or bands, of the general construction represented in Fig. 6 of the drawings, I will now more particularly set forth the method or process of producing the said finished article of manufacture.

The electrolytic solution having been placed in the tank 1, the machinery is set in motion, the fiat band 18 of easily fusible metal bein drawn through the tank, entering at t e one end thereof, the band .18 being the cathode. The wire-strnds,hereinabove mentioned, are distributed in the said tank, in substantiall the ,manner shown,

traveling also throng the electrolyte, upon;

opposite sides of the band 18, the said wire strands traveling in the same direction of the band, from one end tank to the other end thereof, and then back again, said wirestrands acting'as the anodes. The result is that the copper from the entering wire- .anodes is uniformly distributed upon the entire surface-portions of the cathode band,

the reduced wire being reeled upon the reels 20, for future use, or other by-products, and the uniformly copper-plated band being continuously delivered at the Opposite end of the tank, and passing between the cutters of the previously-mentioned cutting apparatus. A complete electric circuit is established through the apparatus by means of the main circuit- wires 50 and 51, and the branch- circuit wires 52, 53, 55, 56, 57 and 58. The circuit-wire 52 is connected at one end of the electro-plating tank 1, by means of the circuit-wires 55 and 56 with the entering cathode-wires coming from the reels 19, be

ing in slidable electric contact therewith, and at the other end of the tank 1 the circuit-wire 52 is connected by means of the circuit-wires 57 and 58 in electrical contact with the previously-mentioned return-pulleys or wheels over which the said anodewires pass. Similarly, the circuit-wire 53 is electrically connected at its respective endportions in sliding electric contact with the lead band 18 at the one end, and with the copper-plated band at the other end of the plating tank 1. As the copper-plated band coming from the tank 1 passes from between the cutters of the cutting apparatus, the .end of the said copper-plated band is brought into contact with a circuit-wire 60 which connects the electrically operating cutting apparatus, by means of a circuit-wire 59 with the circuit-wire 52, thus placing the cutting apparatus in circuit with the band 18. The result is, that as the copper-plated band passes from the tank 1, the cutting apparatus is intermittently operated, and the copper-plated band is severed or cut into pieces of desired lengths, which are automatically collected in a receptacle 61. If desired, the band 18 may be provided with suitably disposed holes or perforations, as 62, so that the severed pieces of electroplated band, immediately after they have left the tank 1, in section, will have the appearance represented in Fig. 5 of the drawings. After the electro-plated band 18 has passed from the end of the electroplating tank 1, and has been cut or severed into sections of suitable lengths, the fusible lead or other metal core within each section is thereupon removed from the copper shell or skin by the application of heat, the said metal core being of such readily fusible metal so as to easily clear itself from the electrodeposited copper shell, and the readily fusible metal flowing from the said copper shell or skin electrolytically deposited upon the said metal band 18 during its passage through the electroplating tank 1.

From the foregoing description, and from an inspection of the drawings, it will be clearly evident, that by the use of comparatively heavy wires moving, as anodes, into and through the electrolyte, these wires are constantlybeing reduced, so that their cross-sectional areas become less, and the wires will pass out of the electro-plating tank, after the reduction, in comparatively thin wires. The arrangement of the several wires is such that at the place or point of the heavy ill-passing wires, there will also be the thin or greatly reduced out-going wires. The corresponding speed-movements of the several wires is such that at any point across the series of moving Wires within the electroplating tank, the reduction of the wires is such, so-that the sumtotal of the.

of No. 7 or 8 gage, which after a travel of' from four to five hours pass from the tank as out-going wires of No. 20 gage.

In the usual electro-plating processes, there is always a loss in the anodes of about 50 per cent., in the form of scrap copper, while with the present method of passing the reduced wire automatically from the tank upon reels, there is no labor required in handling or removing the scrap-anodes from the tank; and, furthermore, there will be no loss of electrolyte clinging to the scrapanodes as they are being removed. It will also be evident, in the present case, that the reduced wire, say to a No. 20 gage, as a by-product, has a greater market value than the No. 7 or 8 gage of the iii-passing wireanodes. Therefore, there not only is no loss in anode-copper, but a more valuable article, in the form of a thin copper wire which is produced from the less valuable copper wire passed into the eleotro-plating tank during the process of electroplating, besides the great saving in labor and electrolytic solution.

Of course it will be understood, that according to existing conditions and the work to be performed, in-going wires of larger or smaller gage may be used, the outgoing wires during the process of plating being reduced accordingly, and the time of movment of the wires through the electrolyte also being varied as occasion demands.

By means of the herein described process or method and the apparatus employed, I have provided anovel and eflicient method or process for producing hollow tape, ribbon, or bands of metal, in the form of a shell-like article, the walls of which are quite thin and still have great strength, whereby the article is especially adapted for use in radiator constructions and cooling devices and may be used for many other purposes.

I claim v 1. A method or process of producing hollow tape, ribbon or bands of metal which consists in passing a band of readily fusible metal into a tank and'through the electrolyte therein, passing 'wire as an anode into and through the electrolyte upon the opposite sides of the said band and in reverse directions through the electroplating tank, forming electrolytically a shell of metal upon said readily fusible metal from the said wires during their passage through said plating tank, and passing the electroplated band of readily fusible metal from the other end of the plating tank.

2. A method or process of producing hollow tape, ribbon or bands of metal which consists in passing a band of readily fusible metal into a tank and through the electrolyte therein, passing wire as an anode into and through the electrolyte upon the opposite sides of the said band and in reverse directions through the electroplating tank, forming electrolytically a shell of metal upon said readily fusible metal from the said wires during their passage through said plating tank, passing the electroplated band of readily fusible metal from the other end of the lating tank, severing the said electroplated band into sections, and then removing the readily fusible metal from within the said plated shell by fusion.

3. A method or process of producing hol low tape, ribbon or bands provided with tubular staying studs which consists in passing a band of readily fusible metal provided with amultiplicity of holes or perforations into a tank and through the electrolyte therein, passing wire as anodes into and through the electrolyte upon the opposite sides of the said band and in reverse directions through the electroplating tank, forming electrolytically a shell of metal upon all of the exposed surface-portions of said perforated band from the said wires during their passage through said plating tank, and passing the electroplated band of readily fusible metal from the other end of the plating tank.

4. A method or process of producing hollow tape, ribbon or bands provided with tubular staying studs which consists in passing a band of readily fusible metal provided with a multiplicity of holes or perforations into a tank and through the electrolyte therein, passing wire as anodes into and through the electrolyte upon the opposite sides of the said band and in reverse directions through the electroplating tank, forming electrolytically a shell of metal upon all of the exposed surface-portions of said perforated band from the said wires during their passage throu h said plating tank, passing the electrop ated band of readily fusible metal from the other end of the plating tank, severing the said electroplated band into sect-ions and then removing the readily fusible metal from within the said plated shell by fusion.

5. A method or process of electroplating which consists in continuously moving a cathode into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte contained therein, continuously moving an anode into and out of the electroplating tank and through the electrolyte contained therein,

moving said anode and cathode at different speeds into, through and out of the tank and the electrolyte, and continuously deposit-ing from said moving anode upon said moving cathode.

6. A method or process of electroplating which consists in continuously moving .a cathode into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte contained therein, continuously moving an anode into and out of the electroplating tank and through the electrolyte contained therein in the direction with and also the reverse of the direction of the movement of the oathode, and continuously depositing from said from said moving anode upon said moving cathode.

8. A method or process of electroplating which consists in passing a band of one kind of metal into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte therein, moving wire of another metalas an anode into and out of the tank and through the electrolyte, and forming an electro-deposition of metal upon said moving band from said moving wire.

9. A method or process of electroplating which consists in continuously passing a band of one kindof metal into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte therein, moving wires of different cross areas as anodes into and out of the tank and through the electrolyte, and forming an electro-deposition of metal upon said moving band from said moving wires.

10. A method or process of electroplating which consists in continuously passing a band of one kind of metal into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte therein, continuously moving a series of wires as anodes into and out of the tank and through the electrolyte therein and in opposite directions of the tank, and forming an electro-deposition of metal upon said moving band from said moving wires, the in-going wires being of larger cross-area than the outgoing wires, but the sum of the total cross-sectional areas of all wires at the different points across the electroplating tank being the same or approximately the same.

11. A method or process of electro-plating which consists in continuously moving an anode in the direction of its longitudinal axis into an electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and out of said tank parallel to the longitudinal axis of a cathode within the electrolyte, and depositing from said axially moving anode upon said cathode within the electrolyte.

' 12. A method or process of electro-plating which consists in continuously moving an anode in'the direction of its longitudinal axis into an electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and'out oi said tank parallel to the longitudinal axis of a cathode within the electrolyte, continuously moving said cathode in the direction of its longitudinal axis into the electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and out of said tank, and depositing from said axially moving anode upon said axially moving cathode within the, electrolyte.

13. A method or process of electro-plating which consists in'continuously moving an anode in the direction of its longitudinal axis into an electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and out of said tank parallel to the longitudinal axis of a cathode within the electrolyte, and continuously depositing from said axiallymoving iLIlOdB upon said cathode within the electrote. l i. A method or process of electro-plating which consists in continuously moving an anode in the direction of its longitudinal axis into an electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and out of said tank, parallel to the longitudinal axis of a cathode within the electrolyte, continuously moving said cathode in the direction of its longitudinal axis into the electroplating tank, through the electrolyte contained in said tank, and out of said tank,.and continuously depositing from said axially moving anode upon said continuously and axially moving cathode within the electrolyte.

15. A method or process of electroplating which consists in passing a metal body of one kind of metal into and out of an electroplating tank and through the electrolyte therein in the. direction of its longitudinal axis, moving wire of another metal in the direction of its longitudinal axis as an anode into and out of the tank and through the electrolyte; and forming an electrodeposition of metal from said wire upon said firstmentioned metal body.

In testimony, that I claim the invention set forthabove I have hereunto set my hand this 10th day of April, 1912.

FREDERICK A. FELDKAMP.

Witnesses:

FREDK. P. FRAENTZEL, FREDK. H. W. FRAENTZEL

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