A METHOD FOR OBTAINING A METAL TABLEWARE ARTICLE, IN PARTICULAR A PLATE OR TRAY, WITH IMPROVED PERIPHERAL BORDER, AND ARTICLE SO OBTAINED

Abstract: A method for obtaining a metal tableware article having a central body with its edge-portion featuring a raised pe­ ripheral border, characterized in that said raised border con­ sists of an annular element constructed of plastically deformable metal which receives the edge-portion of said central body within a slot, and which is deformed by pressing to take on the definitive configuration, with compression of the slot to crimp the border onto the said edge-portion.

Description: The present invention relates to a method for producing a metal tableware article, in particular a plate or tray, with an improved peripheral border, and the article so obtained. It is known to form plates, trays or other tableware articles from sheet metal, suitably deformed by means of known technologies. For practical and aesthetic reasons such articles are advantageously provided with a raised peripheral border. This raised border is generally applied, and existing technology traditionally welds it onto the periphery of the formed sheet metal. This operation is very time-consuming and its incidence on product-costs is disproportionate, chiefly when the product is not made of precious material. It is known to braze in order to obtain a firm connection, without cavities, as disclosed in AT-B-14 622. Connections for resilient crimping can be used for elements like handles which occupy a small space in the edge of a tableware article. This kind of connections are disclosed, for example, in AT-B-265 566 but they are not adaptable for a border which must be circular, continous and without cavities between border and edge. Borders can be also produced by deformation and back-fold of the peripheral portion of sheet material from which the tableware article is made but such type of bordering causes cavities which are troublesome in use because of the accumulation of liquids expecially during washing. The object of the present invention is therefore to provide a method for obtaining a metal tableware article with a raised peripheral border, for example a plate or tray, which will avoid the aforesaid disadvantageous time comsumption and the other disadvantages of the known art. To attain such object, the invention proposes a method for obtaining a metal tableware article with a central body the edge portion of which features a raised peripheral border, characterized in that said raised border consists of an annular element made of plastically deformable material which receives the edge portion of the central body in a slot within it and which is deformed by pressing to take on the final configuration, said slot being compressed to cause it to crimp onto said edge portion. The object, advantages and characteristics of the invention will become more apparent from an examination of the following illustrative and not limiting description of one form thereof, with reference to the appended drawings in which: Figure 1 is a partial plan view of a plate obtained according to the invention; Figures 2 and 3 are sectional views taken through the line II-II of Figure 1, in two successive processing steps. As is shown in the Figures, the plate comprises a central body indicated overall by 10, which can be formed by any known method of pressing or turning or the like. According to the invention, an annular element 11 is mounted around the edge-portion of the central body. As can be more clearly seen from Figure 2, said element receives said edge-portion in a slot 12: the element 11 is readily mounted while still open, and is then closed by a butt weld, shown schematically at 13. The element 11 is advantageously made by metal having a considerable copability of being deformed plastically, for istance copper. The plate is then pressed, with deformation of the element 11 which takes on its definitive configuration as shown in Figure 3. Such pressing automatically closes the slot so that the element 11 remains firmly anchored to the edge-portion of the body 10 without calling for any further welding operation or particular finishing. The element 11 is yet more firmly fixed to the edge-portion of the body 10 if this is even slightly curved during the pressing of the element 11 into its final form. The plate obtained definitively in the manner described can naturally be given subsequent treatments of the kind usually adopted for such products, such as electroplating or the like. The method and the combination of parts according to the invention, i.e. the central sheet-metal body combined with an endless raised border crimped onto the body by pressure, permits the article to be formed very rapidly and with a high satisfactory quality of finish. Said configuration and disposition of the parts avoids any need to weld the raised border to the edge-portion of the central body, welding being employed only to close the raised border in ring-fashion prior to final forming when the depth of the slot requires that the element 11 be open to permit mounting onto the edge-portion of the body 10. During a sufficiently forceful plastic deformation of the element 11, the slot 12 may in fact be opened on one side and the material of said element 11 may overrun the edge-portion of the body 10 to crimp it. One of the advantages offered by the present invention is than the peripheral raised border is outstandingly resistant because it is formed from material work-hardened by the deformation undergone when applied. Moreover, metallic materials which would be inadvisable for use in production methods involving conventional configurations of the article can be used in forming the article in accordance with the invention - for example those not suitable for the brazing operation conventionally employed to fix the border to the periphery of the sheet-metal body. In the configuration of articles according to the invention there is no need to use a brazing alloy, which has a far from negligible incidence on conventional production costs since silver alloys must be used if firm fixing is to be achieved and not tin alloys - which provide poor anchorage. An excellent finish of the predisposed raised border according to the invention can be obtained and it is therefore possible to form tableware articles in a combination of the colours of the metals used, for the body and raised border respectively, with aesthetically pleasing results. The advantages obtained with the method and configuration according to the invention are manifold and permit the production of tableware articles which have a very high-quality finish and appearance, but low cost. These results are attained without the structural simplifications which detract from the quality of the article - such as borders produced by deformation and bock-fold of the peripheral portion of the sheet material from which the articles is constructed. It is known that such type of bordering places a drastic limitation on the shapes that can be produced, and also causes cavities which are troublesome in use, especially during washing, because they accumulate liquids. With the method and disposition of parts according to the present invention it is possible naturally to obtain the very wide variety of raised borders called for by aesthetic considerations, and a broad range of metal tableware articles can be produced of which plates, trays and drinking-glasses are mentioned as typical but not limiting examples.

Claims: A method for obtaining a metal tableware article having a central body (10) with its edge-portion featuring a raised peripheral border, characterized in that said raised border consists of an annular element (11) constructed of plastically deformable metal which receives the edge-portion of said central body within a slot (12), and which is deformed by pressing to take on the definitive configuration, with compression of the slot (12) to crimp the border onto the said edge-portion. A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said annular element (11) is butt-welded (13) after said edge-portion has been inserted into the slot (12). A method according to claim 1, characterized in that said edge-portion is not flat, but curved in the area embraced by said annular element (11). A method according to claim 3, characterized in that said edge-portion is curved during the deformation by pressure of said annular element (11). A metal tableware article with a central body (10) with its edge-portion provided with a peripheral raised border, characterized in that said raised border consists of an annular element (11) constructed of plastically deformable metal which receives said edge-portion of said central body (10) in a slot (12), and which is deformed by pressing to take on the definitive configuration, with compression of the slot (12) to crimp it onto said edge-portion. A tableware article according to claim 5, characterized in that said annular element (11) is butt-welded (13) after said edge-portion has been inserted into said slot (12). An article according to claim 6, characterized in that said edge-portion is not flat, but is curved in the area embraced by said annular element (11). An article according to claim 7, characterized in that said edge-portion is curved during deformation of the annular element (11) by pressing.

Inventors: SAMBONET, SERGIO
Applicants: FINDESIGN S.P.A.
Application year: 1985
Main classification: A47G19
IPC codes: B21D51, A47G23, A47G19