Year: 1885

page_text: I, EDMUND EDWARDS, of the firm of Edwards and Co., Patent Agents and
Engineers, of 35, Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane, London, in the County
of Middlesex do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communication
to me from abroad by Edwin Norton, and John George Hodgson, both of Chicago,
Illinois, United States of America, Manufacturers) and in what manner the same
is to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement and accompanying drawing (that is to say) —
This invention relates to machines for soldering the ends or heads upon sheet-
metal cans, and it has for its object to provide a simple and effective machine for
soldering the ends of cans by revolving them in a bath of molten solder, so that the
cans may be placed in and taken out of the machine with great facility and
dispatch, and wherein, also, the machine may be quickly and easily adjusted to suit
cans of any size or length; and to this end the invention consists, primarily, in
revolving the can in the solder bath by means of a pair of revolving rolls or pulleys
upon and between which the can rests, and which thus communicate a revolving
motion to the can.
These rolls are of course driven in the same direction. Any suitable means may
be employed to operate them-as, for example, a continuously-moving chain or belt
engaging with sprocket or chain-wheels or pulleys on the ends of the rollers. These
rolls or the bearings in which they are mounted are made adjustable to and from
each other, so that by simply placing them nearer together or farther apart they
will accommodate cans of different diameters. In order to diminish as much as
possible the friction of the can in revolving, an adjustable pivotal bearing is
provided against which the end of the can rests and upon which it revolves as
upon & pivot. By this means the cans may be soldered with very great facility,
as all that the operator is required to do is simply to lay or place the can upon the
revolving rolls, leave it there until the joint is soldered by revolution in the bath
and then remove it and replace it by another can.

page_text: This of course may be very easily done by a boy, and there is no necessity to
stop the machine or the rolls in order to place the can in or take it out. As the
parallel rolls all revolve in the same direction, place or means for soldering an
additional can at the same time may be made by simply adding another roll.
The machine may therefore be made to solder a dozen or more cans at a time
with very little additional cost in its construction.
The invention also consists in the novel devices and novel combinations of
devices herein described and shewn in the drawings.
In the accompanying drawings, which are in illustration of the invention, and in
which similar letters of reference indicate like parts, Figure 1 is a side elevation of
a machine embodying the invention. Figure 2 is a plan view of the same.
Figure 3 is an end elevation. Figure 4 is a vertical cross section, and Figure ŏ is
a detail plan view, of one of the adjustable inclined can-revolving and supporting
rolls.
In the drawings, A represents the frame of the machine, which may be of any
suitable material and shape; B, the tank or bath of molten solder, and C a heating
plate or table upon which the cans to be soldered may be placed preliminary
thereto. The top plate or part, D, of the frame should preferably be inclined at
about the angle it is desired to incline the cans in order to present their edge or
corner properly to the bath of molten solder. This plate or rail D is provided with
one or more longitudinal slots, d, which also serve as a guide-groove.
E, E, are the inclined can revolving and supporting rolls. The shafts E¹ of these
rolls revolve in adjustable brackets or bearing-blocks F, which are provided with a
tongue or projection, f, fitting in the guide d, for the purpose of securing the
brackets and their rolls parallel to each other. The brackets or slides F are secured
to the plate D by the bolt f¹, which passes through the slots d in the said plate,
and by means of which the rolls E, E, may be adjusted to the desired distance
apart to present the end or corner of the can properly to the solder bath B.
The shafts E of these rolls are each provided with a sprocket or chain wheel, E³,
by means of which the said rolls are revolved by the pitch-chain Es, which passes
round the pulleys E at the corners of the machine.
E is the driving pulley by which this pitch chain is actuated through the
spur gears E E'.
E is an adjustable pulley for regulating the tension of the chain, mounted on
the moveable slide E, which is secured to the arm E10 by means of the set
screw Ell
The solder bath B is provided at its top with an inclined plate, b, having a
rounded projection, b¹, against which the side or body of the can rests. This
rounded projection or rail b¹ serves as a guide for the can. The rolls E, E, upon
and between which the can rests, should, however, be so adjusted that the can 4
resting between the rolls will just touch the rounded bead or rail b¹ without
bearing much weight thereon. The top of the tank B is provided with an
adjustable rail or guide, 62, which forms the back wall of the slot B¹, in which the
end or corner of the can projects, and through which it comes in contact with the
molten solder in the tank.
This rail or guide 62 may be adjusted to or from the can, so as to increase or
diminish the width of the slot in the tank by means of the adjusting screws b³.
The end of the can is not permitted to bear against or touch this guide-rail 63, but
for the purpose of diminishing friction is supported against the end of a pivot or
pin, G, which is made adjustable both vertically and to or from the end of the can
so that the pivot may be made to rest against or near the centre of the can-head.
The adjustment of this pin vertically is effected by means of a set screw, g, by
which the vertical shank g¹ is fixed or secured to the bracket or projection g³.
The shank g¹ is provided with a sleeve, g³, on its upper end, through which the
pin or pivot G passes, and may be adjusted to or from the can by means of the i
set-screw g. By turning the shank g¹ so that the pin G stands at an angle to
the can, the bearing end or point of the pivot G may be adjusted laterally
4

page_text: to correspond to the lateral adjustment of the rolls E E, so that it will be seen that
by turning the shank g¹ and adjusting it up and down, and by adjusting the
pivot G in the sleeve g³, the end of said pivot may be adjusted to near the centre
of any can, whatever may be its diameter or the relative adjustment of its
supporting-rolls E E.
In soldering cans which have conical ends terminating in a nozzle and which,
therefore, have no flat heads for the end of the pivot G to bear against, we provide
the pivot G with a bent arm, G¹, inclined preferably at an angle of about forty-five
degrees to the pin G, which arm may be set at right angles to the axis of the can,
as shown in figure 2, and thus form a pivotal bearing for such cans.
In this case,
of course, the conical point or nozzle of the can is really the pivot, rather than the
arm G¹ extending at right angles to the axis of the can. If preferred, also, the
pivot pin G may be set so that the angle formed by the junction of the arm G¹ will
project partially into the central hole or nozzle of such conical-headed cans.
The rolls E E should be made of larger diameter than the sprocket or chain
wheels for long cans, so that the can may project over the sprocket or chain wheel
without touching them. In the drawings the rolls E E are shewn of two
different sizes.
It will be observed that three cans may be soldered at a time on a machine
having four rolls, as a can may be placed between each two rolls. By simply
increasing the number of rolls the machine will be enabled to solder an additional
can for each additional roll.
The rolls E may of course consist of continuous cylinders, or one or more narrow
pulleys, as shown in the drawings. The solder in the tank B is preferably kept in
a molten condition by gas flame. H represents a gas-pipe, and H¹ an air-pipe, for
supplying such flaine.
Though it is the preferable method of practicing the invention to make both or
all the rolls E E, upon which the cans rest, can-revolving as well as can-supporting
rolls that is to say, to have them all driven-still some of the advantages of the
invention may be secured if only each alternate roll E is driven by the sprocket-
chain, and the other rolls E made to act simply as friction-rolls to support the can.
The invention is therefore not confined to rolls all of which are driven by the
sprocket-chain or equivalent means.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim is
1. In a can-soldering machine, the combination of a solder bath or tank with
inclined can supporting and can-revolving rolls and mechanisms for driving said
rolls, and thus rotating the can, substantially as specified.
2. The combination, with a solder bath, of inclined can-supporting and can-
revolving rolls and a pivot or pin for the end of the can to rest and turn upon,
substantially as described and shewn.
3. The combination, with a solder bath, of a series of can-supporting and
can-revolving rolls, all driven in the same direction, and a pitch chain and sprocket
or chain wheels for driving said rolls, substantially as described and shewn.
4. The combination of the solder bath with two or more can-supporting and
can-revolving inclined rolls adjustable to and from each other, to accommodate cans
of different diameters, substantially as described and shewn.
5. The combination of the solder bath with two or more adjustable inclined
can-supporting and can-revolving rolls and one or more adjustable pivots for the
end of the can to rest and turn against, substantially as described and shewn.
6. The combination of the solder bath B, slotted rail, or plate D, adjustable slides
or brackets F, rolls E, revolving in the said adjustable brackets, sprocket or chain
wheels E, and pitch chains E³, and adjustable tension-pulley Es, substantially as
described and shewn.

page_text: 7. The combination, with a soldering-machine wherein the can is revolved in an
inclined position in a bath of molten solder, of an adjustable pivot, G, for the end
of the can to rest and revolve against, substantially as described and shewn.
8. The combination, with a soldering machine wherein the can is revolved in an
inclined position in a bath of molten solder, of an adjustable pivot, G, having a bent
arm, G¹, to form a pivotal bearing for conical-headed cans, substantially as described
and shewn.
9. In a soldering machine wherein the can is revolved in a bath of molten solder,
a pivot or pin for the end of the can to rest and bear against, substantially as
described and shewn.