US1683841A - Ribbed or corrugated sheet-metal member - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 11, 1928.

' 1,683,841 J. J. MULLEN ET AL RIBBED on CORRUGATED SHEET METAL MEMBER.

Filed Jan. 7, 1927 III III

.l/ VEN T 0 E5 .J ame; J Mu//en.

ans/5 fly 5 container, can

Patented Sept. 11, 1928.

JAMES J. MULLEN AND FRANCIS M. S'IlAMIBAUG-H,

T oFFicE.

OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI; SAID STAMBAUGH ASSIGNOR TO SAID MULLEN.

RIBBEI) 0R CORRUGATED SHEET-METAL MEMBER.

Application filed January 7, 1927. Serial No. 159,587.

This invention relates to sheet metal members of the type that comprise straight corrugations or folded portions of the plate from which the 5 member is constructed, one example of such sheet metal members being containers that are used as tanks or cases for transformers,-

which are submerged in oil.

Such containers comprise a sheet metal side wall provided with longitudinally-disposed ribs or corrugations and various methods have been resorted to for closing the ends of the ribs. In one type of construction that has been used extensively, the corrugations extend throughout the entire length of the plate used to form the side wall and cast metal members are cast onto the end portions of said plate after it has been bent into the shape desired for the side Wall, so as to close the ends of the corrugations andalso form the top and bottom of the container, but the objections to such a container are that it is extremely heavy and bulky; it is expensive to manufacture, and the joints between the side wall and the east end pieces "are apt to leak.

struction the corrugations on the side wall plate are flattened or mashed down at the end portions of the side wall and metal is to added to the, flattened portions of the cor-.

rugations, usually by a welding operation, so as to obtain plain runs or hands at the opposite ends of the side wall to which the.

end members, i. e., top and bottom ofthe be attached, but such aconstruction is objectionable, in that it looks crude; it is expensive to manufacture and the end portions of the side wall comprise numerous thicknesses of metal. In another type of construction slits are formed in the corrugations in the end portions of the side wall and the slitted portions of said wall then folded or bent into overlapping relation, with a view to obtaining rims or bands at the ends of the side wall to which the end members can be attached, but such a construction is also of crude appearanceiand is very expensive to manufacture, on account of the relatively great. amount of welding that is required to close the slits in the end portions of the side wall and build up sufiicient metal on same to producefairly smooth surfaced bands or rims to which the end members can e, a a h d, It still anather hollow ribs formed by bent or In another type of con- 'form the top and bottom of type of construction the plate which constitutes the side wall of the container is notched out at its ends, the intermediate portions of the plate lying between then bent orfolded so as to lVhile such a construction produces a containerthat presentsa mechanical-like appearance,- the cost. of fitting closures in both ends of each corrugation and then producin a welded joint around the entire edge of eacli of said closures makes this type of construction practically prohibitive toruse as a tank or case for transformers.

One object of our invention is to provide a sheetm'etal container of the general type previously mentioned, i. e., one havin a r bbed or corrugated side wall that is r3121 tively inexpensive to manufacture; that presents a neat and mechanical-like appearance, of'such design that it is a slim ple matter to produce liquid-tight joints between the end portions of the side. wall and the end members that constitute the top and submerged in oil or other liquid but we wish it to be understood that our broad idea isapphcable to various typesand kinds of sheet metal members used for other purposes.

When our invention is embodied in a transformer tank or case, as herein illustrated, the side wall of the tank with a plurality of corrugations or hollow ribs that terminate short of the ends of are closed. at both ends by integral portions of the plate from which the side wall is tormed, the end portions of the side wall beis provided yond the ends of said corrugations constitut ing rigid, plain uncorrugated bands that are formed by end merge into plain portions of the wall that lie between the corrugations. Any preferred type or kind of end mem'bers'canibe used to the tank, but we prefer to use flangedcnd platesthat are 0on longitudinally-disposed said side wall and which sections of the plate that said notches are I On welding or in any other nected by rivets,

the end portions of the designates thes'de'wall ofa transformer tanker: case which n'1ay be oblong, oval or side wall and secured tosame of any other preferred cross-sectional shape andzeonstrurtcd from one or a plurality of metaliplates, B: designates the end members that constitute the top and bottom of said tank, and C designates longitudinally-disposed corrugations or hollow ribs on the side wall A. In such a container the corrugations '0 increase the area of the side wall thatispresented to the air wh ch circulates over the eontainer, and thus, in eiiect, act asradiating fins which absorb heat from the oil or other liquid inside of the container that is used to cool the transformer which the container houses, but, as previously stated, it is immaterial what funct on is performed by the corrugations C gations C may vary in nnmbergin dimen sions and in arrangement, and in addition to increasing the 'adiating surface of the side wall oii the tank, said corrugations also act to reinforce and stiffen the side wall.

As shown; in: the drawings, the corrugations C terminate shortof the top and hottoinedges ofthe side wall A, and the end Y plain or unend bands or rims to which the end members B are attached, preferably by flanges 1 on said. end-members arranged either on the inside or on the outside of the end rims of the by riveting, welding or in any other suitable manner. The corrugations G are provided at their ends with closures formed by integral portions of the-plate fromwhich the sidewallis constructed, and while said end closures can be formed in various ways without departing from the spirit of ourinvention, it is preferable to provide the side portions 2 of the corrugations with angularly-disposed, integral extensions 3 that merge into the end sections of theplate that constitute the end bands or rimslto which the top and bottom oflthe tanlr are attached.

In the operation-ofconstruction the side wall A. of the tank, longitudinal l y-aligned notches are formed in-the opposite ends of the a platerwhich constitutes said side wall at The corru-' the points where corrugations are to be formed, prior to the operation of, bending or foldin said plate to produce the corrugation. 'lhe metal at the inner ends of said notches is also preferably bent; and by a combined bending and drawing operation, so as to produce the angularly-disposed portions, 3 previously referred to, that constitute the end closures for the corrugations, it being preferable to form disposed portions 3 at the inner end of each notch that increase gradually in depth or height from the center towards the side edges notch and which are drawn or stretchcdslightly at the points merge into the end sections 4 of the plate which lie between adjacent notches. 'll1ereafter, when the intermediate portions of the; plate lying in longitudinal alignment with sa d. end notches isbent or the corrugation C, the two laterally-bent portions 3 at the inner end of each notch come together into abutting relationship, and thus co-opcrate to form a closure for one end; of the corrugation that is disposed at an angle and integrally connectedto the rim or plain end portion of the side wall located beyond the endof the corru ation. In the operation of folding or bending the intermediate portion of the plate to produce a corrugation C, the adjacent endsections 4 0f the plate lying at opposite sides of the notch in the end of the plate cometogether or move into substantially abutting relat onship, as showirin Figure each other to form part of the rim, bandor uncorrugated end portion of the side wall, said end sections l lying in the same plane and merging'into plain portions of the wall that lie at opposite sides of the corrugation,

thereby forming very rigid end bands. Subsequently, the joint 5 between said end sections el and the joint between the angularlydisposed portions 3, are closed by a continuous seam (5, produced by a soldcringyllfi welding or brazing operation. said scams 6 also tending to stiffen the endr m of the side wall* formed by the end sections l of the platewhich are not subjected to a. bending or deforming operation which weaken the same. \Ve make no claim herein to the method of constructing the container or to the apparatus used in the operation of bendin or-folding the intermediate portions of" the plate that constitute the corrugations 12 or ribs. as said method forms the subjectmatter of our pending application for patent Serial No. 159,588, filed J an. 7, 1927, and said apparatus forms the subject-matter of our pending application Serial No. 159,589, filed 121 Jan-7,1927. a

While we prefer to form the end closure of each corrugation C by two laterally-pro jecting' extensions 3 on the side portions 2? ofthe corrugation that are joined together 13 shaped 7 two angularly- 75 3 where they folded to produce 35 2, and thus co-operate with 1 tends to wall have been closed by a seam 6 located at the longitudinal axis of the corrugation, we wish it to be understood that the end closures of the corrugations can be formed in various other ways without departing from the spirit of our invention. The essential thing isthat the ends of the corrugations be closed by integral portions of the plate or plates of which the corrugations form a part,the particular shape of said integral portions being immaterial and the particular location of the scams or joints in the end closures and in the end portions of the plate being immaterial, so long as the side wall of the container is provided with integral, laterally-projecting corrugations provided with closed ends formed by integral portions 'of the plate, and arranged between plain or uncorrugated rims at the ends of said wall that are formed by end sections of the plate that lie in the same plane and merge into plain portions of the wall located between the corrugations. After the joints in corrugations and in. the end rims of the side or seamed, said wall will be just as tight and will present practically the same appearance as a wallprovided with corrugations or hollow ribs produced by a drawing operation. In other words, a sheet metal member or receptacle of the construction above described can be manufactured at a fraction of thecost of a mem her having end rims and provided with hollow ribs or corrugations that are produced by a drawing operation, because the end rims of my improved member or receptacle are formed by substantially straight or flat end sections of the plate, and the corrugations C and the parts of the plate that constitute closures for the ends of said corrugations are formed by a simple bending operation, followed by a seaming operation that is relatively inexpensive, on account of the short length of the joint-s in the end 010 sures of the corrugations and between the end sections of the plate located beyond the ends of the corrugations. This, coupled with the fact that the side wall is absolutely liquid-tight throughout its entire area and is provided with rigid end bands comprising a single thickness of metal to which end members can be easily attached, makes such a receptacle particularly well adapted for use as a transformer tank or case. viously stated, however, our invention is not restricted to a container or receptacle, but is applicable to any kind of a sheet metal member provided with a closed end corrugation o o w rib the end closures of the gations, a rim atone As preour invention, what deslre' to secure by Having thus described we claim as new and Letters Patent is:

lfA sheet metal member having a side Wall provided with laterally projecting ribs, or hollow corrugations, formed by folded or bent portions of the plate from which said receptacle is constructed, end closures for said corrugations formed by integral portions of said plate, and a rim located beyond one end of said corrugations and formed by abutting end sections of said plate that merge into the portions of the side wall located between said corrugations.

2. A sheet metal receptacle provided with end rims formed by abutting end sections of the plate from which said receptacle is constructed, laterally-projecting corrugations or hollow ribs on the side wall of said receptacle located between said rims and formed by bent or folded portions of the plate, and

end closures for said corrugations formed by integral extensions the corrugations arranged in abutting relationship and joined together by seams which extend across said rims between the abutting end sections of the rims.

3. A sheet metal'receptacle, comprising a side wall provided with laterally-projecting corrugations and flat portions between said corrugations, said corrugations being formed by bent or folded portions of the plate from which said side wall is constructed, end closures for said corrugations formed by integral bent portions of said plate that are joined together by seams, and a rim at one edge of said side wall formed by abutting end sections of said plate that are joined together by seams located in alignment with said corrugations. v

4. A sheet metal receptacle having a side wall provided with laterally-projecting corrugations or hollow folded portions of the plate from which said receptacle is constructed, closures for one end of saidcorrugations formed by integral extensions on the side portions of the corruformed by end sectons of the plate that merge into said extensions and which form continuations of the portions of the side wall located between the corrugations, and welded joints between the co-operating extensions at the ends of the corrugations and also between the adjacent end sections of the form part of said rim.

JAMES J. MULLEN. FRANCIS M. STAMBAUGH.

ribs formed by bent or a plate that on the side portions of edge of said sidewall V

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