US399382A - Process of continuously annealing and plating wire - Google Patents

Description

(No Model.)

J. OOPPIN.

PROCESS OF GONTINUOUSLY ANNEALING AND PLATINGWIRE. No. 399,382. Patented Mar. 12, 1889.

WITNESSES, NVENTOR.

/fi/1/z/(,M W 0 UNITED STATES PATENT ()FFICE.

JUHN. COFFIN, 0F J OHNSIUWN PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNUR TO 'lHE GAMER IA IRON' COMPANY OF PENNSY LVANIA.

" PROCESS OF CONTINUOUSLY ANNEALINQAND PLATING WlRE.

:0 emen forming part of Letters Patent No. 399,382, dated March Application filed July as, 1888. Serial m 281,264. (No modal.)

1'0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN COFFIN, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at.Johnstown,

in the county of Cambria and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in the Process of Continuously Annealing and Plating Wire; and I do,

hereby declare the followin and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

'hlyinvention relates tothe artof continumetallic coating, commonly called galvanizing, but more properly plating.

in the process of continuous annealing and platingit has been customary to fi 1st. pass the wire through. an annealing-bath of red -hot lead and then throiwh an acid. bath, and then through the zinc. The object of the acid bath is to thoroughly cleanse the surface of thewi re diate hath of,

from oxide. There would be great gain accomplished it the-wire could he passed from the lead'annealing-hath directly to the zinc-coating hath Without passing through an in terme 'ing-bath to about the tom acid, because where an acid ba is nsed the wire has to'be cooled almost col to prevent the acid from being vaporized,

and then the. cold wire in passing into the plating-bath chills the bod y of th 0 bath, so that the operation is delayed. If the plating-bath were not chilled at all, the operation would be somewhat delayed, because the wire has to come tot-he temperature of the fusing-point of the plating-metal before any plating will take place. it has been heretofore impossible to dispense with the acidbath. between the annealing and the plating baths, because where the wire is exposed to the atmospheric action a film of oxide is deposited on the wire, which prevents the adhesion of theplatingmetal. .To overcome this objection and make ,l a itpossibleto run directly from the annealingbath to the 'platinghath is the feature of my presentinvent-ion;

To carry my invention into effect, I first the wire through an acid bath to remove all traces of dirtand oxide, thence through a red hot-lead annealing-bath. I then carry it through a suitable conduit filled with'i educg to be a full, clear,

ously annealing wire and coating it with a plat-ing-bat-h is the usual limitto the ging them in the baths.

ing-gaspto the platingbath, thence-through;

the plating-bath, and finally wipe from it the surplus metal and coil it upon reels inthe usual manner.- v t My invention, then, consists, in the main part, in the reversal of the order of the acid and annealing baths and the gas-filled con-' duit, which makes this reversal possible.

The object of'my invention is to che'apen the process of annealing and plating-by preventing-a toma-ke possible a more rapid progression of the wire through the baths, as the time in the speed of manipulation; and by bringing the wire into the plating-bath at'or near the temperature "of the metal contained therein very little time is required in this bat-h. The conduit which forms part of my invention is similar in construction to one which I describe in an application, Serial No. 281,263, for a patent for process of annealing and platingwire, filed simultaneously with this application. It' is desirable to make this conduit of suitable length, so that the wire will slowly cool from the temperature of the lead annealperatnre of the plat. lug-bath before reaching it, for if theconduit were so short that the wire reached the plating-bat-h at a full red heat there would be some hardeningand stilfening ofthe wire, due to the sudden cooling from the 'full red to the temperature of the plating-bath, and th'e object of annealing would be somewhat thwarted.

' To get sufficient'length without occupying too I make the conduit of A much floor-space, shape, and place in the apex of the-A a suit able roller to 'conduct-thewirs over, it being understood in this, as in other plating processes, that it is desirable to carry many wires through the several baths simultaneously. "To prevent. gas from escaping from the conduit and to prevent'the atmosphere from entering it, I sealthe ends of the conduit by il11II1P$- Thus one leg of the under the surface of conduit is fixedentirely and the other leg of the lead annealing-bath, the conduit .is fixed entirely un'der'the surface of the plating-bath. If -no provision were mad to pre'ventit, the contained gas in the conduit waste of acid from vaporization, and

would become very hot from the many wires 1 passing through it,and the temperature of ceases thew ire would not be reduced enough before reachifig the metal of -the plating-bath. To keep the gascool in the conduit, I cool the .Outside of the conduit by spraying on it jets of water from pipefs'near the apex of the A. The water flows down the sloping sides, and is carriedaway by means of stop-gutters located at the bottoms of the legs and above the surfacesof the baths. I supply gas to the 0011-, duit through a suitable pipe.

' wastage of gas, except through sometrifling leakage, therefore a large supply of gas is not required, and the smallamount of gas I use I thoroughly dry. I prefer to use hydrogen, carbonic-oxide, or other suitable reducing-gas, and thoroughly dry it by causing it to bubble through sulphuric acid, for it is well known that a wet gas, which may be reducing at a high temperature, will be oxidizing at a low temperature. 1

Referring to the annexed plate of drawings, which forms part of this specification, Figure 1 is a sectional elevation; Fig. 2, a plan of my invention, and Fig. 3 a detail on line X. Y of Fig. 1. l a

ike letters of reference refer to like parts throughout.

XV represents a-wire in course of passage through the severalbaih's, the arrows showing its direction of passage,

B represents the acid bath, A the lead annealing-bath, and-C the plating-bath,

a, b, and 0 represent suitable sinkers in the several baths, to retain the wire under the surface of the contained liquid.

v a is a roller located at the end of the acid bath B, the ofiice of which is to guide the wircsinto the bath.

b' is a roller located between the baths B and A, the oflice of which is to guide the wires in their passage between these baths.

D represents the conduit. This conduit, as

is shown by drawings, is A shape, and has located atits apex the roller (1', which serves as a .guide to the wires through the conduit.

The rollerd' is entirely within the conduit,

but may have one of its journals extend through a stufling-box, so as to have power applied from without to revolve the roller d i and assist in the passage of the wires. One

end of the conduit dips under thesurface of the lead bath A and the other end dips under the surface of the plating-bath C, the object of this seal being to prevent the egressof gas or ingress of air. d is a pipe to supply the conduit with dry cas b d d 'are spray-pipes to spray wateron the outside of conduit D, to keep its surface cool.

1 d d. are stop-gutters attached to the legs of the conduit above the surfaces of the baths, to conduct away the water which has been sprayed upon the outside of the conduit and which has run down its sloping sides. The overflow ofthe stop-gutters d d" is shown "The c onduit Dis rectangular in section,-so

introduced is fastened to the wire which is There is no" as to accomodate many wires.- The form is clearly shown in Fig. 3, which is a section on lineX Y of Fig. 1. 4 i

The dots in Fig. 3 represent the wires within the conduit, one of which is marked \V.

In operating myinventi'on at least one wire is always kept within the conduit. To introduce other wires, the end of the wire to be already in the conduit, when its passage course of operation, should a wire become broken in the conduit, a new wire is introduced by fastening its -end to any of the progressing wires?' The roller d at-the top of theconduit is not grooved to separate the wires, but is a plain roller, so that if the wires do not maintain their relative position of entering the conduit no trouble is experienced. I have spoken of my invention as a process of plating wire. L I do. not confine myself narrowly t0 the commercial article known as wire, but wish to have my invention embrace all metallic strips, woven webbing, twisted strands, linked wire,or other articles which it is usual to plate and which ordinarily are long enough to'betreated by the continuous method. By my invention I am not restricted to a particular kind of acid, as the office of the acid bath which I use is mere] y to clean the wire. Thus I may use a bath'ot' dilute sulphuric acid, after which I .might place a bath of running water to remove t e adhering-acid. It would be permissible to use sulphuric acid in my process, because-the heat of the annealing-bath would be suflicient to drive'ofl the hydrogen which otherwise would be objectionable; or I might use a bath of any other acid or any combination of baths,

through will introduce the new wire. In the or might use someot-her annealing-bath, or

, might substitute for the annealingbath a tubular furnace; and I may use any proper plating-metal.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure Letters Patent, is-.

1'. The process of annealing and plating wire by continuous operation, consisting-in passing the wire, first, through a suitable cleaning-bath of annealing-bath of red-hot lead or other medium; third, through a sealed conduit filled with reducing-gas, and, fourth, through abath substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The process of annealing and plating wire by continuous operation, consisting in passing the wire through an annealing-bath, thence directly through a conduit filled with reducing-gas, plating-metal, substantially as and for the purpose set forth; f

In testimony whereofi affix my signature in presence of: two witnesses. 1

WVitnsses: JOHN COFFIN.

- HARRY A. SHIELDS, JAMES CRANSTON.

acid; second, through an of molten zinc-or other suitable plating-metal,

and thence through a bath of

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