US1332445A

US1332445A - Cutting sheet metal

Info

Publication number: US1332445A
Application number: US159394A
Authority: US
Inventors: Ralph D Mershon
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1917-04-03
Filing date: 1917-04-03
Publication date: 1920-03-02
Anticipated expiration: 1937-03-02

Description

R. D. MERSHON.

. CUTTING SHEET METAL.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 3. 1911. RENEWED JULY 18. 1919.

Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

6 m w n 5 RALPH ID. MERSHON, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

CUTTING SHEET METAL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 3, 1917, Serial No. 159,394. Renewed July 18, 1919. Serial No. 311,904.

To all whom z'tmay concern:

Be it known that I, RALPH D. MERSHON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Sheet Metal, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

In my copending application Ser. I No. 159,146, filed AprilQnd, 1917, I have described an electrode, for use in electrolytic condensers and other electrolytic apparatus, composed of a crimped or corrugated strip of thin sheet metal carried by a metal supporting frame. For the purpose of securely holding the sheet metal plate the upper and lower edges thereof are grooved across the folds or corrugations, to receive the edges of the upper and lower members of the supporting frame. To make this groove by prior methods without mashing the folds or otherwise distorting the plate is a diflicult operation, and it is accordingly the chief object of my present invention to provide a simple method by which the groove can be quickly and easily out without the slightest injury to the plate. To-this and other ends the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described.

In the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side view of a portion of an electrode having a crimped plate provided with a groove in its upper edge to receive the upper member of the supporting frame. Fig. 2 is a detail perspective view showing the up per-frame-member in the groove. Fig. 8 is also a detail perspective view, showing the grooved upper edge of the crimped plate. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view showing the edge of the crimped plate inserted in a trough-shaped mold, for casting on said edge a block of fusible material. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view showing the edge of the crimped plate and a block of fusible material thereon, filling the spaces between the folds. Fig. 6 is a similar view, showing a groove and a hole cut through the fusible block and the folds embedded therein. 7 The plate 10 is composed of thin sheet 'metal and is folded or crimped so that it may be used in a vessel or cell (not shown) of convenient size. To give it mechanical strength it is mounted in a suitable supporting frame, of which the upper cross member is shown at 11 and one side member'at 12.

-The lower edge of the said upper member Patented Mar. 2, 1920.

extends into a groove 13 in the adjacent edge of the plate 10, which groove is simply a series of alined notches cut in the upper ends of the folds or crimps.

In cutting the groove by my present method the individual folds are supported on eachside by fusible material which fills the space between adjacent folds. This holds the folds apart at the proper distance. The groove is cut, for example by sawing, through the folds and the interposed material, the latter serving as a support for the sheet metal and so preventing mashing of the folds and formation of heavy burs at the edges of the out; Preferably the desired support is provided by casting a block of the fusible material on the edge-portion of the plate, the material or substance used being one that has a lower melting point than the metal of the plate. Among the various materials that can be used I. may mention lead, zinc, or tin, or'other metal or an alloy of two or more of the same; or non-metallie materials and compositions, for example sulfur, shellac, rosin, etc., with or without admixture with other substances, fusible or non-fusible. Preferably I use a mixture of sulfur and graphite, especially with aluminum plates. In this composition the graphite makes the sawing easier, partly because it permits less sulfur to be used, and partly because of its lubricating eflect.

The supporting block can be conveniently cast upon the crimped plate in the following manner.

A mold is prepared in the form of a trough 14 (preferably in two or more separable parts) slightly deeper than the groove that is to be cut, and the molten material is poured into the mold. The edge of the plate is then inserted into themolten material to a point well above the point where the bottom of the groove is to be. The edge of the plate,-composed of the end portions of the folds,is thus embedded in a solid block 15, Fig. 5. A groove 16, Fig. 6, can now be.

cut across the folds, as by sawing or milling, or a hole 17 can be bored through the folds, without distorting the same in the slightest degree and even without leaving an appreciable bur on the edges of the thin sheet metal. then melted off, leaving the crimped plate as it was originally except for the presence of the groove 13 01 hole 17, or both.

The crimped plate is then mounted in its The block of fusible material is supporting frame, and is electrically connected to the-latter in any convenient and suitable manner, as by welding one or more strips l7,cut from the plate, to the upper member 11 of the supporting frame.

It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific details of procedure herein described; nor is it limited to use in the manufacture of electrodes but can be used for cuttingsheet metal for "numerous other purposes. It is also to be understood that the method of making the out, whether by boring, drilling, milling, sawing, or the like, is immaterial.

I I claim 1. The method of cutting a clean aperture in sheet metal Without distortion or material burring, comprising casting on the sheet metal about the place where the out is to be made a block or body of material having a lower melting point to support the sheet metal, cutting the desired aperture through the cast material and thesheet metal, and melting off the remaining cast material.

2. The method of cutting an aperture through a plurality of spaced layers of sheet metal, comprising castlng between such layers at the point where the aperture is to be made a block or body of material having a lower melting point to support the sheet metal whereby the separation of the successive layers thereof will be maintained,

\ cutting the desired aperture through the 1 and into the folds thereof at the point where the aperture is to be made a block or body of material having a lower melting point to maintain the separation of the folds and prevent distortion thereof, cutting the aperture through the cast material and the successive spaced folds of the sheet metal, and then melting out the remaining portion of the cast body.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature.

RALPH D. NERSHON.