US2028013A

US2028013A - Ornamentation

Info

Publication number: US2028013A
Application number: US10551A
Authority: US
Inventors: Alfred F Reilly
Original assignee: Evans Case Co
Current assignee: Evans Case Co
Priority date: 1935-03-11
Filing date: 1935-03-11
Publication date: 1936-01-14
Anticipated expiration: 1953-01-14

Description

Jan. 14, 1936. A. F. REILLY 1 ORNAMENTATION' Filed March 11, 1955 Patented M14, 1936 UNITED STATES' PATENT OFFICE- to Evans Case Company,

North Attleboro,

Masa, a corporation of Massachusetts Application March 11, 1935, Serial No. 10,551

4 Claims.

The invention is adapted to produce ornamentation upon metal whether in the form of sheets, plates, strips, completed devices or parts of devices. Throughout this description and the 5 claims the term, article, will beused to indicate a completed device oran element thereof partially or wholly formed or a plate, sheet or strip of metal.

It is frequently desired to form an article of a lo cheaper orbase metal which is not in itself beautiful in appearance and which may not retain its finish. In order to'render such an article more beautiful and more satisfactory for use and sale it may be suitably covered with a protecting 25 coatto suitably ornament it. This is particularly true of such devices as compacts, cigarette cases, lighters, vanities, toilet articles and other devices of personal adornment or use. The present invention is not, however, confined to such uses.

In carrying out the invention an article of metal may be provided with a chromium coat previously electroplated in any suitable manner. It may be desired to associate with the chromium coating or a part thereof a figure or ornamental design of a contrasting color. For this purpose a coating of gold is especially desirable. Gold may be electroplated ordinarily upon the base metal of the article but gold may not be electroplated upon the chromium plated surface. A pattern, form or figure may be cut into and through the chromium plate to expose the base metal. In order to obtain a clean cut, definite outline to the figure or design so applied the chromium plate may be cut by mechanical means such as a chisel-like cutting device which may be held in the hand or may be placed in a suitable lathe or similar machine. The form of the pattern or design cut may be determined by the movement of the hand or cutting tool which if desired may be controlled by a fixed pattern devlcein a manner known in the art. Such a mechanical cut will at least go through the chromium plate so as to entirely expose the base at the cut portions. The chromium plate of course is very thin, being measured in thousandths of an inch and the cutting tool may cut beyond the chromium plate and cut into the base metal.

This may be an advantage in that it may provide a sure and clean surface for the contrasting coating. Such coating also maybe an advantage in that it may provide a somewhat roughened surface which may aid in producing the pleasing efiect desired by irregular reflection of light. when the chromium coated article. has been cut with the desired design or ornament, it may without further treatment be placed in an electrolytic bath carrying gold and there may be pro.- duced an electroplate of gold on the design or cut portions of the exposed base. Since the gold will 5 not be deposited from the electrolytic bath on the chromium because of the inherent character of the chromium itself it is not necessary to apply a protective coating or resist to the chromium plated portion of the article or to any other portion of the article.

The direction and arrangement of the cut lines may vary within wide limits to produce desired effects. The cut lines may for instance be straight and substantially in contact with each other and parallel to each other so that no chromium plating is exposed between the cut lines. This will eventually produce a more or less dull, solid gold effect at the cut portion. The lines may be straight or curved or may turn at angles or a single line may partake of two or more of these characters and the lines may be associated with each other in such a way that the chromium plate is left exposed and not mutilated by the I adjacent lines or portions thereof. By properly choosing lines and associating them together on. an article an embroidered or tapestry-like efiect may be produced to which the reflected light may give an appearance of raised or curved portions.

By removing the chromium plate by'means of a mechanical cutter a clean definite outline to the cut or the design may be produced. When it is desired to keep the outline clear but giving a dulled or roughened effect to the design as a whole the cuts may be left rough in any suitable way such as by using a cutting tool having a more or less dull or broken edge. This may allow the gold plate to set on the slightly roughened metal and produce a pleasing dull efiect.

It may be possible to allow the cut article to remain in the electrolytic bath long enough to deposit in the cuts a layer of gold substantially thick enough to make a substantially smooth surface on the article. This will contemplate bring- 5 ing the surface of the gold plate to substantially the level of the chromium plate. This procedure is not essential, however, and to produce desirable effects it may be desirable to let the surface remain rough by allowing the surface of the gold plate to be somewhat below the surface of the chromium.

The main coat may be gold and the cut portions electrolytically coated with chromium or coatings may be used of any metals each of an elec- 3 is a transverse vertical section of the fragment of Fig. 2 during process of manufacture illustrating the removal of the chromium plate. Fig. 4 is a transverse vertical section similar to Fig. 3 illustrating the article in final ornamented form. Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section showing in exaggerated enlarged form a roughened cut, and Fig. 6 is a fragmentary-plan view similar to Fig. 2 illustrating another embodiment of the invention.

An article may be formed of a base metal it! which may be relatively strong and cheap. In the drawing this is illustrated as having a flat surface but the surface may be of any suitable form. The article is covered preferably by electroplating with a coating H of chromium. As made the entire surface of the article may be covered with a coating of chromium. Such a plain coating is illustrated at the left of Figs. 2 and 3, but it will be understood that initially it extends across the entire article. A cutting tool such as i2 may be applied to cut lines through the coating ii to expose the base metal ill at suitable points. The cutting tool may be oneratedby hand or it and/or the article may be held and manipulated suitably by known machines which need not be further described. In Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 the cut portion is indicated by a plurality of straight lines l3 arranged in groups leaving exposed between them areas of the chrome plate H. As illustrated more especially in Fig. 3 the cuts l3 extend not merely through the chrome plate I i but to some extent into the base metal Ill. The proportions ofthe base metal and the coatings illustrated in the drawing are much exaggerated for purposes of clear illustration. The exact dimensions or proportions are immaterial to the present invention. Ordinarily the chrome plate will be very thin and to insure removing all the chrome it may be necessary or desirable to cut into the base metal It! as illustrated. The cutting tool 82 may be a chisel-like or lathe cutting tool of any suitable form and having any desired shape or character of cutting edge. The drawing shows a pointed cutting tool, but the shape of the tool forms no part of the present invention and it may have a fiat, straight cutting edge so as to eliminate some or all of the cutting lines l3. When the article has been brought to the condition illustrated in Fig. 3 it may have a design cut into it which will be outlined by the chromium coating II. In this condition without further treatment the article may be placed into a suitable electrolytic bath in which gold may be deposited upon the article. From an electrolytic bath gold will not adhere to chromium. In as much as gold will not deposit upon the chromium plate II but will deposit upon the exposed base metal III the gold will take the position illustrated at M in .Fig. i overlying the cut portion i3. As illustrated in Fig. 4 the gold plate is irregular following substantially the'lines l3 and this may be a desirable arrangement.

In order to produce a duller, more difiused light reflecting effect the cuts I3 instead of being smooth may be made rough and irregular in some such way as illustrated, in much exaggerated form, at Na in Fig. 5. The means for producing such cuts are well known in the art and need not be described, but may consist in general of correspondingly irregularly shaped or dulled cutting tools corresponding to the cutting tool It.

In Fig. 1 the lines forming the base for the gold plate M are illustrated as straight and parallel. A different effect may be produced by such an arrangement of lines as illustrated in Fig. 6 where the cutting lines may be straight and parallel during a portion of their length as at l5. Other portions of the lines as at 66 may be curved and not parallel but spread apart to irregular extents leaving between the lines uncut chromium portions as at H. In other portions as at i8 the lines may be closely crowded together. By suitably choosing and associating such lines of non-uniform form an eifect of depth -or a third dimension may be produced when the ornamented surface is viewed in the light. This effect is brought about not merely by the variation in lines but also by the contrast in color between the gold placed upon the cut portions and the chromium remaining on the uncut portions.

The specific means and results illustrated are not essential since the invention may be embodied in numerous other forms and operations.

I claim as my invention:

1. The method of omamenting an article comprising electroplating the article with chromium, cutting through the chromium with a mechanical cutter in lines beginning and ending straight and parallel but being differently curved at intermediate portions, and electroplating with gold the cut lines only so as to produce an effect of varying elevation.

2. The method of ornamenting an article comprising electroplating the article with chromium to a smooth surface, cutting through the chromium by means of a mechanical cutter in lines in part parallel and in such close contact as to remove all the chromium and in part not in parallel and so far separated as to leave chromium between them and electroplating the cut lines only with gold.

3. The method of ornamenting an article comprising electroplating the article with chromium to a smooth surface, cutting through the chromium by means of a mechanical cutter in lines in part in such close contact as to remove all the chromium and in part so far separated as to leave chromium between them and electroplating the cut lines only with gold.

4. The method of omamenting an article comprising electroplating the article with chromium to a smooth surface, cutting through the chromium by means of a mechanical cutter in lines in part parallel and in part not in parallel and electroplating the cut lines only with gold.

ALFRED F. REILLY.