US10976A - Improvement in processes of galvanizing metals - Google Patents

Description

O. B. MILLER. comma METALS.

Patenhed May 30, 1854.

, UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' CHRISTIAN MILLER, or

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 10,976, dated May 30 1854.

1'0 all whom it may cdncern.-'

Be it known that I, CHRISTIAN B. MILLER, of Wilmington, in the county of New Castle and State of Delaware, have invented and made certain new and useful Improvements in-the Processor Method of Galvanizing or Coating Metals with Metals; andI do hereby declare that the following afull, clear, and

exact description of the method of construc tion and mode of operating the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, andmaking a part of thisspecification, in 'whi ch-- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the whole apparatus complete, showing the platform or groundwork w w w, the framing and keys 2 eye .2 y yy. 1;, the smoke-flues e e, and chim- '-n'ey s'taek;fff to the furnace'A A; B B 0 0, the tanks .mounted on casters or wheels; is la It k k, thegailings or connectingfimbers, used alsoas resting-bars, for the cylinder D; 'No. 1, vat of sulphuric acid and water; No. 2, vat

- of sand and water; No. 3, rinsing-tub of pure water; No. 4,-dippingbath containing water, copper, and lead; No. 5, the drying-chamber; No. 6, caldron or cruset; g, a side door or hot-air vent to the furnace; hh h, sliding or detachable divisions; -Z Z, blocks, and tackle o 0 o o, pulleys m. m, and rollers 11 n, working on the beams or ways R R RR, on which the reticulated cylinder D and a similar one to be used are shifted or moved from place toplace; 8, the stay or connecting rod.-

Fig. 2 is a reverse view of thefurnaceA A,

showing the firegratingc and doorsb b, with Fig. 3 is the long portable caldron or cruset forcoating large sheets or masses of metal; Fig. 4, the cover thereof.

Fig. 5 is the long cylinder used in coating large masses of metal or sheets, a abeing the hinged door thereof.

Fig. 6 is the top to small caldron or cruset Toenable others to be skilled in the use, and

.lapplication of my invention and improvements, I will proceed to describe the construction and operation thereof, the nature and principles of which consist in coating or galvan= izing the harder metals by a process or method .of rotary dipping orimmersion in molten volu mes of the softer fusible metals---such as zinc,

' tin, lead, or their various combinations the result being more effectually produced by the aid of chemical agents and mixtures used, together with peculiar mechanical apparatus described as follows, viz:

I construct a furnace AA, and'fire-flues e e, and chimney or' smoke-stack f f f, Figs. 1 and 2, having fire-gratings 0, doors I) b, ashpits cl d, and a-hot-air ventg g, Figs. 1 and 2. This furnace may be built of stone or brick, or other suitable fire-proof material, and of required dimensions and durability, surrounded by suflicient groundwork or a plat: form 10 w w. A substantial frame-work is next constructed, and may be put together as'shown .in Fig. 1-, or in any desired manner or form of construction, observing though that'this framing must have two stout longitudinal beams or pieces of timber R R R R,

and answering as ways for the rollers 11. n, by which means the cylinder is shifted or moved from vat and tub, to the caldron or 'cruset. The cylinders D, Figs.- 1 and 5, are made. of suitable wire-cloth or retic'ulatedmetal and formed with rods or bolts with two sets of screw-taps 1:1) 0 -v on each end, by which the rods fbcing detachable and acting as a fastening-bar. Through these cylinders runs an axis 7' r r, having formed at each end crank- 'holding the axles of the preparing and coat ing cylinders D and Fig. 6 and to aidin the revolving of said cylinders in coating.

Having completed the apparatus, the process or operation'of' preparing and coating proceeds as follows: Thefurnace A A being fired and attaining the required degree of for the purpose of supporting the cylinder D,

end plates or disks a; mare kept'in place; The cylinders D and Fig. 6 have doors, which are kept closed, when required, by one of the handles,'as shown: in the diagrams, and which have rest-places or axle-bearings q q qq formed intheir top edges for the purpose of r heat merely sufficiently to melf'the zinc, which is kept in a proper state of fusion (care being observed that the melted mass is not permitted to scorch or burn, which care and a little experience and use of a pyrometer or thermometer will establish) while the zinc is being fused the articles to be coated or zincked are placed in the preparing cylinderv D, and being suspended by the block-and-tackle fixtures, as shown in Fig. 1, are loweredand deposited in the vat No. 1 or the decapage bath, in which is; a solution of sulphuric acid and water sufficientl-y strong merely to detach the oxidation or .other superfluous matter. -While in this bath the cylinder is revolved by manual power, by which revolution or motion the articles are cleaned of all extraneous'particles; but in order to render the decapage more complete the cylinder D is shifted along on the railway-beams R RR Rand deposited in the scouring-vat No. 2, containing sand and water, and agitated therein a few minutes also, this finallycom-.

pletingv the decapage. After this the cylinder Dis removed to the rinsing-tub No. 3, containing simply pure water, in which the cylinder is revolved repeatedly for a few minutes. inder D' and deposited in a similar one,'called the coating-cylinder, which is suspended by the tackle apparatus and deposited in the dipping-bath No. 4, containingwater and copper and lead clippings or particles, covering the bottom of the bath 4.. While in this bath.

the cylinder is agitated or revolved repeatedly for several minutes, (say five or ten,) which dipping, owing to the galvanic action produced by the copper, lead, and water, acts as more, observing that during the time of cojating the cruset must be covered with thetop or cap, Fig. 6. The required timebeing given for coating, the cylinder is slowly withdrawn, revolving it at the same time, and after being withdrawn the articles coated are thrown into warm or tepid water and permitted to cool gradually In the preparation and coating of large massive articles or long sheets of metal large and long cylinders, like Fig. 5, are'to be used, and the diaphragm-divisions h h are tobe detached, forming the long vats and tubs, having a sufficient number of them, as required 5 also, long or parallel ogrammic crusets or melting-caldrons and covers, Figs. 3 and 4, are used, and in the drying operation the long cylinders are swung on cranes or beams Then the articles are taken out of cyl- 01- their equivalents and subjected to the drying agency of the furnace by opening the hot-air yent or escape g, Fig. 1, instead of suspending the cylinders immediately over the furnace.

By my'improved process or system many great advantages are attained: first, cheapness and dispatch secondly, great economy of labor and a saving in the amount of' zinc used; thirdly, lessdanger and injurious effects to the health of the persons employed; fourthly, great durability of coating and uni= formity or equality of coating, the metal absorbing in its pores the coating, forming a solid combination, not being merely asuperficial film or temporary covering, as is'the result of 'the modes heretofore resorted to in galvaniz-' ing metals, fifthly, the detaching or separating of the several pieces is readily accom-. plished, and entirely dispensing with manip-' ulation or handseparating, the pieces not sticking or running together; sixthl'y, by the use of the rotary-cylindrical preparing and coating devices a pure deposit of zinc is produced, for the cylinders act as strainers and purifiers, owing to their reticulated principle, of construction, and thus is dispensed with the injurious operation of hand dipping .or skimming, this cylinder acting as a mechanicalrotary skimmer, by which the fused metal is freed of the impurities or dross, which cannot beaccomplished by hand-skimming; sevefithly, it has been practically dem- ..onstrated that by my process two persons can do more in a given time than-six persons can possibly accomplishby any other mode heretofore known. I, Again, too, less than onehalftheeost is required that is attendant upon any other method.

My process is also admirably adapted to the effectual, durable, and cheap coating of cannon and balls, shells, anchors, and'chain cables, and sheathing and other metallic articles used in naval architecture and for maritime purposes, wherein the articles are liable to atmospheric oxidation or aqueous salinous corrosive action.

Having given a plain and comprehensible description and explanation of my improved process of galvauization or coating of metals, the same process or method being applicable to the coating with tin, lead, and copper, now what I claim as new and original with myself, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is as follows, viz:

The construction and application of the rotary reticulated immersing cylinders or receptacles D and Fig. 5 and the use. thereof in combination with the melting and drying vapparatus'A A A and diaphragm-tanks B B O C, for the purpose of rotary dipping, substantially as described, and operated as set forth, for the galvanizing of metals.

CHRISTIAN B. MILLER. WitneSsesz.

SAML. GRUBB, JOHN S. GALLAI-IER, J r.

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