US1343842A - Process and apparatus for metal-plating - Google Patents

Description

R. J. PIERSOL. PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR METAL PLATING. A

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3, 1920.

Patented June 15,1920.

W/ ME 88158 A INVENTOR fazzzereffwa Arm/Mrs ROBERT PIERSOL, 0]? BEN TLEYVILLE,'PENNSYLVANIA.

PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR METAL-PLATING.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 15, 1920.

Application filed January 3, 1920. Serial No. 349,172.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ROBERT J. Pmnson, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Bentleyville, county of Washington, and

State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and Improved Process and Apparatusfor Metal-Plating, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to means for plat-..

ing one material with another and has referonce more particularly to a means for plat? mg m cacao at a temperature between the melting point of the two materials, the material of the higher melting point with the material of the lower melting point.

The object of this invention is to provide a meansfor plating one metal with another metal which will be inexpensive and easy to apply.

Many materials, such as iron and copper, cannot be plated successfully the one with the other, by ordinary means, because an inhibitory gaseous film between the two metals interferes with adhesion. Experiment has shown that when plating takes place in a vacuum, the higher temperature breaks down the gaseous film which is removed by the vacuum. For ,instance, iron can be plated successfully with melted copper in oac'uo. But unless the gaseous film had been removed by the vacuum the adhesion would have been imperfect. This is probably due to the fact that the metal has greater adhesion for the gaseous film than it does for the other metal. Since this is true, necessarily the film must be removed before the influence of the adhesive attraction of the two metals can come into play. Experiment has shown that when the gaseous films are removed, two different materials, other than iron and copper, may be plated with each other in the same way. Therefore this process covers any two materials for which adhesion is desired.

.1 have knowledge that processes have been used in which a solid material is covered by a material which has been volatilized in cacao. aseous state instead of a liquid state. Therefore there is no relation between the two processes. The previous processes have had to do with coating a material in a solid state by a material in a gaseous state. W'hile my process has to do with coating But a volatilized material is in a.

a material in a solid state by a material in a liquid state.

Such a process is of commercial importance. For instance a piece of statuary of an inexpensive base, either metal or non-metal, could be coated with copper with a slight expense. But the copper plated statue would have all the durability and beaut of a solid copper statue. Also metals, such as steel, which may be corroded by weather ing, could be copper plated, thereby increas in their life many fold.

Tteference is to be had to the accompanying drawing forming apart of this specification in which it is understood that the draw ing illustrates only one form of apparatus which could be used in carrying out my process, and in which i-gure 1 is a central sectional view through the apparatus.

ig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Referring to the accompanying drawing by numerals, 10 indicates a vacuum jar which may be placed in an oven at a temperature between the melting points of iron and copper. 11 is an exhaust pipe which is attached to any suitable vacuum pump not shown. A crucible 12 is placed in said vacuum jar and contains melted copper 13. A block of iron 14 is suspended on a wire 15 above said crucible, said wire being wound around and secured to a pulley 16 fixed to a shaft 17. The shaft 17 is rotatably supported by bearings 18 and 19 constructed in any suitable manner in the walls of the vacuum jar 10. A chamber 20 preferably cylindrical in shape is interposed between the bearing 18 and the vacuum jar 10, and a soft iron core 21 is fixed to the shaft 17 and positioned in said chamber 20. The iron core 21 has a plurality of radiating arms each of which is attracted magnetically by object to be plated can be attached to the wire 1:".

, I would state in conclusion that the invention has to do primarily with a process and the drawing shows only one of numerous ways by which the mechanical part of the process may be :arried on, so that the field covering the process should not be limited by any one type of apparatus. Also the proc ess should cover any two different metals whatsoever and should not be limited to the two already mentioned in illustration.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent: 7

l. A process for the plating of one metal liy another metal which consists in treating one of saidm'etals with the other of said metals in cacao at a temperature between the melting points of the two metals.

2. A. process for the plating of one metal with another metal which consists in enveloping the metal with the higher melting point by the fused bath of the metal with the lower melting point, said metals being heated 'i-i'z oucuo to a temperature between their melting points.

3. An apparatus for the plating of one material with another material which con- 30 sists m a vacuum yar, a container placed in said jar adapted to contain a fused material, and means for lowering a second material into the first mentioned fused material.

4. An apparatus for the plating of one material with another material which consists in a vacuum jar, a container placed in said jar adapted to contain a fused material,

a solid material, a shaft rotatably mounted inside said vacuum ar, a flexible means connecting said solid material and said shaft adapted to wind upon said shaft as said shaft is rotated, and means for rotating said shaft.

An apparatus for the plating of one material with another material which consists in a vacuum jar, a container placed in said jar adapted to contain a fused material, a solid material, a shaft rotatably mounted inside said vacuum jar, a flexible means connecting said solid material and said shaft adapted to wind upon said shaft as said shaft is rotated, a plurality of radiating soft iron arms fixed to said shaft, a plurality of electromagnets rotatably mounted outside said vacuum jar adapted to i'nagnetically en gage the soft iron arms inside said vacuum jar and rotate said arms and said shaft when said electro magnet is rotated, and means for electrically eficiting said electromagents.

OBERT J. PIERSOL.

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