US1853569A

US1853569A - Equalizer rod

Info

Publication number: US1853569A
Application number: US353225A
Authority: US
Inventors: Jacob A L Moller
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1929-04-06
Filing date: 1929-04-06
Publication date: 1932-04-12
Anticipated expiration: 1949-04-12

Description

April 1932- J. A. L.MOLLYER 1,853,569

'EQUALIZER ROD Filed April 6, 1929 //l III II I/ I INVENTOR BY MFM ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 12, 1932 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

AcoB A. L. uiinnna, on NEW YORK, N. Y.

EQUALIZER BOD Application filed April 6, 1929. Serial no. ss,225.-

, 5 paper, waxed paper and similar products.

Machines have been developed for this purpose which apply the coating material to paper by passing the paper under tension over a roller which applies the coating material to one side of the paper after which the coated face of the paper is passed over a rod. or bar, termed an equalizer rod, for

spreading the material over the surface of the paper and removing excess material therefrom. One type of machine emplo ed for this purpose is illustrated and descri ed in the patent to Mayer, No. 1,043,021, dated October 29, 1912.

The equalizer rod shown and described in that patent is in the form of a long rod having convolutions on its face. These convolutions are formed by applying closely wound wire of small diameter thereto or by cutting very fine threads in the surface of the rod. The paper being coated passes over the equalizer rod so that the active or bearing portion of the wire or threads are soon worn down. This causes the equalizer rod to scrape off more of the dope or coating material with the result that the layer of coating material applied to the paper becomesthinner as the wire or threads are worn down to a greater degree. As a result of this wearing away 5 of the convolutions or the equalizer rod the coating becomes relatively thinner and consequently the product obtained from the machine is not uni-form. V

The principal object-of thepresent inven- 40 tion is to produce a product coated more uniformly than heretofore been thought pos- V sible.

A further object of the invention is' to improve the construction of equalizer rods em- 5 ployed for the purpose described and to increase the life and service obtained therefrom.

These and other important objects and features ofthe invention will more fully appear from the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention illustrated in the drawings.

In'the 'drawings- Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of a por- I tion of a machine embodying the present in-. vention;

Figure 2 illustrates a portion of the equalizer rod employed in the construction shown in Figure 1; and

Figure is a sectional view of the form of equalizer rodillustrated in Figure 2.

The form of the invention illustrated in the drawings is applied to a machine such as is shown in said patent to Mayer, No. 1,043,021, and for convenience of reference the same characters are used herein as are used in the patent.

The material 2 to which the coating is to be appliedis passed over smoothing and tensioning

members

19,20, 21 and 22. The members 19 and 22 are provided with square edges which smooth out any wrinkles which may be in the paper before it passes over the coating roller 33. The coatingroller is partially immersed in the coating material contained in the vessel 25. The coating material is carried on the surface'of the roller 33 as it rotates in the direction of the arrow and is thus applied to the under-surface of the paper.- The coating material applied to the paper adheres thereto and is smoothed out by the equalizer rod 56 over which the paper passes immediately after the coating material has been applied thereto. The coated paperthen apasses under the roller 38 and on throu h other parts of the machine,-not shown, tof 0 dried or otherwise treated .and finished. 5

The equalizer rod is heldin position by the bar which forms a right angle grooveor notch with the rear 'face'ofthe square tube 54.

If desired, the rod may be moved with reference to the paper and box during operation as suggested in the patentv to Mayer referred to above.

The equalizer rod ordinarily used is about three-sixteenths inch in diameter and is provided with an engaging or active surface having convolutions formedby a very fine thread or by tightly wound wire of very small diameter The diameter'of the wire or the size of the threads determines the thickness of the layer of coating material remaining on the paper as it passes from the equalizer rod. In making one type of carbon paper the diameter of the wire is about four thousandths of an inch, but if the diameter of the wire is smaller the thickness of the layer of coating material will be less; and if larger, the thickness of the coating will be greater.

It is of the utmost importance that the bearing surface of the equalizer rod should not be worn down since any variation in depth of the spaces between turns of the wire or thread will result in' variations in the thickness of the layer of coating. lVhen such wearing down of the convolutions occurs the thickness of the coating is vdecreased. In practice'it is found that the portions of the material coatedin the early stages is thicker than that which is applied when the rod is worn down.

Ordinarily, the wire used to form the convolutions is made of iron or steel and is soon worn down not only by the passage of the paper over the wire but also by reason of friction between the. rod and the trough formed by the square box 54 and the bar 55, in which the rod is supported. The small spaces between the convolutions of wire then become comparatively shallow sothat the layer of coating becomes thinner as the operation continues.

In practice this variation is so pronounced that the equalizer rod has to be removed after running about 200 to 250 reams of paper. The worn rod may be used for producing coated products having a thinner layer of coating material but a new rod must be substituted in order to continue to produce paper coated to the same thickness as that already run.

In the present invention this difiiculty is overcome and a product produced having a layer of substantially uniform thickness throughout the length of the material.

This is accomplished" by providing the equalizer rod with a coating of hard Wearresisting material This is preferably efl'ected by depositing a coating of chromium upon the wire or over the thre'adsof the rod, by electro-plating. The chromium plating is particularly effective when applied to a completed wire-wound rod, that is, after the wire has been applied thereto and while held tightly in place. Figure 2 of the drawings illustrates an enlarged portion of such a rod showing the rod 56 to which the wire 60 is applied, the wire being provided with a coating 62 of chromium.

The plated chromium surface is the only portion of the rod which is engaged by the paper. The hard bearing surface thus provided prevents wearing away of the fine wire or threads so that the product produced by the use of the present invention is of umform quality over long periods of operation. It

.tween adjacent turns of the wire are partially filled with the plating material so. as to provide a bond between the same, thus increasing the strength and wearing characteristics of the rod. Furthermore, the plating seems to be deposited most heavily on the outermost part of the wires or threads, with the result that the coating material is spread by the rod thicker and more evenly than by a similar unplated rod when a wire winding is used, the spaces between the turns of the wire or at the base of the threads are rounded out by the'plating material.

The invention is not limited to its use in connection with machines such as that described above but may be used with other coating machines or mechanism for applying an even coating of material to webs or sheets of material. Therefore it is not intended to limit the invention to the particular combination of parts shown and described except as defined by the claims.

I have used in theaccompanying claims the word helical to describe a thread running around the surface of the rod always at an oblique angle to a plane normal to the axis of the rod. It is tobe understood that the use of the Word helical is in no sense intended to limit the shape of the rod to that of a geometrical cylinder, and it also is to be understood that the threads may with somewhat less advantage lie in planes'normal to the axis of the rod.

What is claimed as new is 1. An equalizer rod for use in coating machines, whieh is. provided about its circumference with fine convolutions; formed of fine wire closely and tightly wound, characterized by the fact that the rod has a coating of chromium over said wire winding which is continuous in a direction longitudinal of the rod.

f 2. An equalizer rod for use in coating machines whichcomprises a rod wound with a nne wire, the convolutions of which are substantially touching one another and having a coating of an abrasion-resisting metal continuous longitudinally of the rod.

' 3. A method'of making an equalizer rod for use in coating machines which comprises winding :1 fine wire over the surface of a rod and thereafter coating the re thus formed. with a material resistant to c rrosion and abrasion.

Signed at New York, New York, this 29th day of March, 1929.

JACOB A. L. MQLLER.