Patent GB-529584-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to apparatus for the treatment in liquids of metal articles
IPC: H01J9/46
Filed: 1939-05-08
Abstract: 529,584. Treating articles with liquids. WESTINGHOUSE ELECTRIC INTERNATIONAL CO. May 8, 1939, No. 13693. Convention date, May 7, 1938. [Class 82 (ii)] [Also in Group XIII] In apparatus for treating metal articles with liquids, the articles are delivered in batches to a series of foraminous buckets or receptacles movable into and out of associated tanks containing treating solutions, the buckets being operated so that the articles are passed from one to the next so that they are successively treated in the solutions in the tanks. The articles may be delivered to a hoist from which they are discharged on to a feed belt 1 and automatically fed therefrom on to an automatic weighing feed belt until a given weight has been weighed as a batch which is then fed into the first of the buckets or receptacle. The articles, especially the bases of incandescent electric lamps are fed from the hoist and then by plates 31 on to a belt 15 mounted in a casing 28 provided with a pivoted flap 37. and thence on to an automatic feeding and weighing device 16 against a pivoted flap 38. When the desired weight has been accumulated on the device 16, the flap 37 is lowered and the flap 38 raised, the articles then being discharged in the first of a series of perforated buckets pivotally mounted over a series of tanks numbered 1-10. Tank 1 is filled with a caustic soap cleaning solution, tank 2 contains washing water, tank 3 is a draining tank, tank 4 contains an acid solution, tanks 5 and 6 washing water, tank 7 a soap bath, tank 8 washing water, tank 9 washing water or a silvering solution and tank 10 washing water. The driving mechanism of the buckets is so constructed that when the odd buckets 1, 3, 5, 7 and 9 are in the elevated position the even buckets 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, are in the lowered position to receive the articles from the odd buckets. The end even bucket 10, Fig. 9, is secured to arms 103 rigidly mounted on a shaft 104 rotatably mounted in bearings on a suitable framework and rocked by a motor 102 by a sprocket 107 on the shaft 109 of the motor which drives a sprocket 110 on a shaft 111 through a chain 112, the shaft 111 being rotatably mounted on a gear box 113 driving a shaft 114 carrying a sprocket 115 which drives by a chain 117 a sprocket 116 mounted on the shaft 104. Rotating with the sprocket 116 is another sprocket which drives by a chain 121 a sprocket 119, Fig. 10, mounted on a shaft 121 serving to actuate a mercury switch 122 connected in the circuit to the motor 102 so as to alternately raise and lower the even buckets and lower and raise the odd buckets. To reverse the switch the latter is secured to the top of a lever 123 pivotally mounted at 124 and connected by springs 125 to a lever 126 also pivoted at 124 and oscillating between stops 127, 128. The lever 123 also oscillates between stops 129, 130 so that after the lever 126 has been moved from one extreme to the other by one of the rollers 131, 132 pivotally mounted on the sprocket 119, the lever 123 and the switch 122 snap from one extreme to the other and cause, by the action of the springs 125, a reversal of the motor and so raise one set of buckets and lower the other set. The bucket 9 is secured to arms 133 rigidly mounted on a shaft 134 carrying a sprocket 138 which operates another odd bucket-carrying shaft 134a by means of a chain 139 passing over a sprocket 138a on the latter shaft and also the next odd bucket shaft in like manner by a chain 139b and so each shaft carrying the buckets 7, 5, 3, 1 is biased by a counterweight 140 supported by a chain 141 passing over and secured to a sprocket 142 fixed on the shaft 134a. The weight 140a for the bucket 9 is secured by a chain 141a to a sprocket 142a mounted on a shaft 143 which is moved in opposite directions to that of the shaft 104 by gears 144, 145 on shafts 143, 134, the shaft 143 also carrying a loose sprocket 149 operated by a chain 151 from a sprocket 150 on the shaft 116. The shaft 104 also carries a sprocket 152 over which passes a chain 153 which also passes over a sprocket 152a on the shaft 104a to drive the latter, the other even bucket shafts being driven in similar fashion. Counterweights 163 similar to the weights 140 are mounted in the even bucket shaft. To operate the buckets, the motor 102 is started and the shaft 104 moves in a counterclockwise direction causing the wheels 116, 150 to move in the same direction and the driving lug 154 to move in the space between it and the lug 155 extending towards the sprocket 150 from the adjacent sprocket 152. The chain 151 immediately operates on the wheel 149 to withdraw the driven lug 156 extending therefrom into engagement with the driven lug 157 of the wheel 144 to allow the odd buckets to drop under the influence of the weights 140a, 140 so that the noses of these buckets are withdrawn from the registering even buckets and have entirely cleared these buckets by the time the latter have started to rise by engagement between the lugs 154, 155. When the even buckets have been raised completely the wheel 119 has been raised through the angle 159, Fig..10, and the roller 13 1  has reached the position formerly occupied by the roller 132 the lever 126 thus being moved to its full position from the right to the left until it passes the point of alignment with the lever 123. The spring 125 then snaps both levers into their left hand position against the stops 129, 130, thus causing the switch 122 to break the circuit to the wire 160 and complete the circuit between the wires 161, 162. This causes a reversal of the motor 162 and a release of the lug 154, the lug 155 and the wheel 152 and its associated mechanism then returning to the position shown in Fig. 9 thus allowing the even buckets to drop out of the way of the odd buckets and after the lost motion between the lugs 156, 157 has been taken up to effect a raising or upward lifting of the odd buckets to the position shown. As a safeguard against raising either set of buckets above their normal upper positions, two other mercury switches are provided to break the circuit and stop the operation of the bucket. Motor control circuits are described for three phase operation of the motor. The articles 36 are finally discharged from the bucket 10 on to a vibrator 17 and then into a drying drum 39, Fig. 13, provided with a flange 40 forming a helical trough 41 and driven by members 43, 44 engaging an idler and driven roller respectively. To facilitate the drying and to polish the articles, sawdust 60 is fed to the drum by a conveyer 48 which feeds on to a worm which discharges on to another worm by which it is fed into the drum. To reclaim the sawdust, the latter passes through apertures 55 in the drum on to an outer drum 56 provided with a helical flange 57 which feeds it into a chamber 58 from which it is removed by the conveyer 48. The drum may be heated by gas burners 59 and the hot gases from the end of the drum are conveyed from a housing 61 by a pipe 62 to a pipe 209 where they are mixed with hot gases from the chamber 55 by a blower 207a and passed into a spray chamber 201, 210 where the sawdust is washed out of the gases before they pass into a stack 211. Other hot gases are drawn through pipes 64 by a blower 205 and passed back by a pipe 206 into the drum 39. Baffles 220, 221 may be provided in the pipes 64 to regulate the supply of gases and when it is desired to pass them into a stack 204 a baffle 214 is opened. When it is desired to silver the articles the silvering solution is contained in tank 9.