US1150560A - Resoldering process. - Google Patents

Description

" G. VAN MOORE. RESOLDERING PRUCESS.

APPLICATION man FEB. 23. ms. 1,150,560,, Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

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5 6 V J J 5 J W I f 5 m 7 1 J V r i 1 fl GEORGE VAN MOORE, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

RESOLDERING PROCESS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

Application filed February 23, 1915. Serial No. 10,086.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I. GEORGE VAN MOORE, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the county of Bronx and State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Resoldering Processes, of which the following is a specification.

The repairing of leaking ice cans is a problem which many have tried to solve. As the cheapest and most economic way of getting over this difficulty, some dip the bottom of the can in hot pitch, others paint the seams with tar or with white or red lead or other paints, and others have called in tinsmiths who have attempted repair by soldering. Of the numerous coating preparations put upon the market for this purpose, none has ever been known to serve the intended purpose satisfactorily, nor has an ice can ever been repaired by the ordinary soldering method so that it would hold. These modes will only last a few freezings and then the can Will leak worse than ever.

The present invention has reference to a process of restoring leaky ice cans to a condition even superior to that in which they originally came from the manufacturer. This superiority is the result of the removal of that factor in the cans as manufactured which, in the first instance caused them to leak soon after being put into service, and

in the second instance, rendered repair bythe aforementioned modes impossible.

In describing the process and its performance, reference will be had to the accompanying drawing forming a part of this specification and wherein like characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, in which:

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View of a fragment of an ice can as produced by the manufacturer, Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view of two pieces of galvanized iron soldered together andillustrating the efi'ect of forcibly separating them, Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1 with the old or original solder melted out of the seam, Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 with the galvanizin in the vicinity of the seam removed, Fig. is a view similar to Fig. 4; with the seam refilled with solder. Fig. 6 is a vertical sectional view of apparatus employed in the performance of the process, and ig. 7 is a sectional detail of part of said apparatus.

In the drawing, reference numerals 1 and 2 respectively indicate the side and bottom walls of an ice can constructed of black iron. As produced by the manufacturer, the can has its black iron walls galvanized on both sides, though in the accompanying drawing, the outside galvanizing is eliminated as having no bearing on the present invention, and only the inside galvanizing 3 is illustrated. The seams of a can are usually rlveted as at 4, though other binding may be adopted, and the seams finally filled completely with solder 5 sweated well into the seams.

When an ice can constructed as illustrated in Fig. '1, is put into service, either in the freezing of new ice, or in what is known as refreezing, expansion is outward, and the force of expansion is so great that often the can will become buckled to such an extent that a special mechanical operation becomes necessary to restore the canto its original shape. When a can expands, particularly to the extent of buckling, the present day construction of the can is such that its soldered seam gives way and leaking occurs. The most natural thing for the ice manufacturer to do toward repairing the can is to attempt resoldering, but efforts in this direction have never passed beyond the attempt, for the very reason that the element that permitted the original soldering to give way is still present in the can, as will soon be described. The next resort, when resoldering by the common tinsmith method fails, is for the ice manufacturer to paint the seams with tar, pitch, white or red lead, or other paint preparations intended as remedial agents for this problem. These, likewise, always fail, never serving effectively beyond a very few freezings. The ice manufacturer, whether his leaky cans have been temporarily repaired by soldering or painting, must, at great expense and annoyance due to the loss of the use of the cans while undergoing repair, continue treatment of his leaky cans by these two ineifective methods until the cans are ready to be scrapped, as the plant cannot, except at great expense, be reequipped with new cans. It can readily be seen, therefore, that leaky cans and their repair becomes a problem with the ice manufacturer which has never heretofore been satisfactorily solved.

The reason a new ice can soon leaks after being put into service is because of the pres-- ence of the galvanizing, and yet the galvanizing is an absolute necessity in an ice can.

A new can could not be soldered first on the black iron and then galvanized, as a defect would exist where the solder and galvanizing met and at this point, the black iron would soon be eaten through by the many elements, such assalt and various gases, present in an ice manufactory.

In Fig. 2, the effect of the expansion of the can body upon the soldered galvanized black iron at the seam is illustrated. Reference characters 1 and 2* correspond to the black iron side and bottom respectively of the can as illustrated in the other views, and 3 and 5 to the galvanizing and solder respectively thereof. Two pieces of galvanized black iron soldered together, when forcibly separated will appear as in this Fig. 2. In some instances (not shown) the solder 5* will peel from the galvanizing 3 3, but in a great many and probably most instances the solder will adhere to both galvanized coatings 3, 3 and while the galvanized coating of one piece, say 2, willnot separate from its base, the solder adhering to said galvanized coating will pull with it the galvanized coating from the other piece or base 1. At other spots, the galvanizing will leave piece or base 2* and be carried by the solder with the galvanizing of the other piece or base 1. This is exactly what takes place soon after a new can is put into use. The expansion causes the galvanizing of either side 1 or bottom 2 to peel off with or from the solder. In either event, it can be readily understood that the galvanizing within the soldered seam is responsible for the leaking of the can. Likewise, efforts, bestowed in repairing the can of Fig. l by present soldering methods must fail for the same reason that the original soldering by the can manufacturer fails.

In solving this problem, it has been discovered as a natural answer to the foregoing that the galvanizing must be removed, but only where it is not necessary to the protection of the black iron body of the can. This removal must, therefore, be within the seam, whether it be a bottom or side seam of the can, and obviously no mechanical means could be devised to remove this galvanizing from within the seams. The means employed is chemical in conjunction with certain mechanical steps. Toward this end, the old solder is melted out of the seam leaving the can as illustrated in Fig. 3, it being immaterial whether or not the melted solder remains within the can or not. In the actual performance of the method as now practised, however, the solder remains within the can for reuse, the can being tilted to run the melted out solder from one end to 4 the other of the seam while the exposed portion of the seam is having its galvanizing removed in a manner to be described. Before the original solder is melted out of the seam, the seam is flooded with 22 muriatic acid, with or without ammonium chlorid, to render the parts clean. After the soldering tool has been applied to melt out the original solder and the latter issues from the seam, the seam is flooded with 22 muriatic acid and ammonium chlorid. Vere the black iron walls 1 and and the galvanized coating thereof cold hen the strong muriatic acid and ammonium was applied, no immediate attack thereof on the galvanizing would be noticeable, and the process practised in this manner would not be commercially practical. It is to be remembered, however, ,'that the heat from the step of melting out the original solder is still present, and under the influence thereof the chemicals immediately, as soon as the removal of the original solder exposes the galvanizing, attack the galvanizing, completely destroying and removing the same from within the seam. Fig. 4: illustrates the condition of the ice can at this stage, the galvanizing within the seam and partly beyond the same being completely removed, leaving the black iron walls 1 and 2 exposed.

If necessary, an additional amount of solder may be added to the old solder melted out preparatory to resoldering the seam, but before this solder is sweated into the seam, the molten solder isfiowed fromone end to the other of the seam to expose all portions of the seam to the action of the chemicals to insure perfect decomposition or destruction of the galvanizing. This be: ing assured, the molten solder is flowed over the entire seam and by the application of a soldering tool is completely sweated into the seam as at 6 in Fig. 5, where it forms a perfect bond directly with the black iron walls 1 and 2 without interposition of galvanizing to peel away and prompt leaking when the can is put into service. The fluxing chemicals, or the acid alone if destruction of the galvanizing has been determined, are again applied to assist in the final filling of the seam with the solder, and this chemical or chemicals cause the solder to adhere to the black metal. such adherence being prompted by the chemical or chemicals forming with the decomposing galvanizingwhich is usually zinca coating for the black iron as will insure perfect bond between such black iron and the solder. Thus the essential portion of the galvanizing remains untouched and oulx that portion removed as originally caused the solder in the new can to give way.

In summary, the principle of the resoldering process is that the original solder is melted out, the galvanizing removed from the black iron. the black iron prepared for reception of the solder. and the new solder flowed into the seam into bond with the black metal, virtually in a single operation.

. illustrated in Fig.

This is accounted that from the first to the last of the performance, the seam is heated, this heat being applied in the melting out step and later applied in the resoldering step, and the heat from both of these steps overlapping the intermediate step of decomposing the galvanizing and rendering such intermediate step commercially practical. Not only this maintained heat is carried intoall of the steps of the process as an essential factor, but the chemical employed performs in each step a very essential function, namely; in the first step, of cleaning the originally soldered seam and everything in its vicinity of foreign matter; in the intermediate step of attacking the galvanizing under the influence of the heat to decompose the galvanizing within the seam and prepare the black metal to receive new solder; and in the final step, of causing the returned or new solder to properly adhere to the black iron. Any salt or other foreign matter within the seam, due to leaking thereof, will be quickly decomposed under the action of the chemical and heat.

When the heat from the soldering iron passes to the muriatic acid and ammonium chlorid, one or both, asphyxial fumes in the form of visible vapor arise, and were no provision made to take care of the same they would completely envelop the operator and render performance of this process absolutely impossible. In operating on side seams of a can, the can is laid on its side as illustrated in Fig. 6, and a flue pipe 8 having a goose-neck 9 to direct the fumes away from the operator is attached to the can by means of a clip 10, said clipbeing carried by said flue 8 and serving to hold the flue pipe 8 always against the side, or nearly so, of the ice can. A compressed air pipe is secured on the side of the flue pipe 8 and has a goose-neck 11 extending around one wall of the end of the flue pipe 8 and its nozzle end extended into the flue pipe 8, as 7. The air issuing from the end of the nozzle portion 11 into the flue pipe 8 causes the deadly fumes generated within the ice can to take the path described by the arrows in Fig. 6 and to be removed from within the can and prevented from enveloping the operator or inconveniently obscuring his view of that portion of the seam, side or bottom, on which he may be working. In operating on bottom seams, the can is stood on end and the goose-neck 9 replaced by an angular section indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 6 and directed away from the operator.

In melting out the solder, of the zinc galvanizing with it, and while the zinc is hot, the chemical cuts the galvanizing out of the melted solder and attacks the remaining galvanizing coating on it carries part for by reason of the fact the iron leaving a muriate coating on the lIOIl.

What is claimed:

1. A process of soldering seams in gal vanized iron articles, consisting in: clearing the seam to expose the galvanizing; heating the seam; applying a fluxing and galvanizing-removing chemical to the seam while the latter is hot to remove the galvanizing from the iron within the seam and to prepare the exposed iron for the reception of solder; and in sweating solder into the prepared seam.

2. A process of resoldering seams in galvanized iron articles, consisting in; melting out the original solder from the seam to expose the galvanizing; while the seam is hot from the melting out step applying muriatic acid and ammonium chlorid to destroy the galvanizing so exposed and to prepare the iron from which the galvanizing is removed for the reception of solder; and in sweating solder into the seam.

3 A process of soldering seams in galvanized iron articles, consisting in; clearing the seam to expose the galvanizing; heating the seam; applying muriatic acid and ammonium chlorid to the seam to destroy the galvanizing so exposed and to prepare the iron from which the galvanizing is removed for the reception of solder; and in sweating solder into the seam.

4.. A process of soldering seams in galvanized iron ice cans and the like, consisting in; clearing the seam to expose the galvanizing; heating the seam; applying a fluxing and galvanizing-removing agent to the seam while the seam is hot to remove the galvanizing from the iron within the seam and to prepare the exposed iron for the reception of solder; sweating solder into the prepared seam; and in removing the visible asphyxial fumes arising within the can in a manner to prevent them from being breathed by the operator and to prevent them from materially obscuring the seam upon which the operator is working.

5. A process of resoldering seams in galvanized ice cans and the like, consisting in; melting out the original solder from the seam; while the seam is hot in flooding the seam with muriatic acid at approximately 22 test in the presence of ammonium chlorid; and in sweating solder into the seam so treated.

6. A process of resoldering seams in galvanized iron cans and the like, consisting in; melting out the original solder from the seam; running the molten solder to one end of the seam to expose the other end of the seam; flooding the exposed portion of the seam with a galvanizing-removing agent which functions more rapidly under the influence of heat; running the molten solder to the other end of the seam and flooding the exposed portion of the seam with said agent;

and finally in returning the molten solder over the seam and sweating it thereinto and into intimate adherence with the iron Within the seam from which iron the galvanizing has been removed.

7. A process of soldering seams in galvanized iron articles, consisting in destroying the galvanizing within the seam by a chemical agent which combines with the galvanizing to form a solder-receptive deposit on the de-galvanized iron, and in melting solder into the prepared seam- 8. A process of re-soldering seams in galvanized iron articles, consisting in melting out the original solder which carries with it part of the galvanized coating, applying a chemical agent while the iron is hot to cut out the galvanizing from the melted ont solder and to destroy the galvanizing w1th1n the seam, said chemical agent combining with the galvanizing out out of the seam to form a solder-receptive deposit on the degalvam'zed iron, and in melting solder into the prepared seam.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

J ULIAETTA VAN Mooim, WILLIAM W. DEANE.

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