Improvements in the Process of Embossing Tin Plates and other Sheet Metal.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 11th June, 1890
Complete Specification Lelt. 11th Mar., 1891-Accepted, 11th Apr, 1891
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of Embossing Tin Plates and other
Sheet Metal.
I, JOHN WILLIAM SANKEY, of the firm of Joseph Sankey & Son, Albert Street
Works, Bilston, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is to produce upon the tin plate or other metal
embossed pattern which shall have the effect of the raised portion being brighter
than the back ground. This I effect by passing the tin plate between two rolls,
the upper one being of steel highly hardened, with the desired pattern cut upon it,
the lower roll being made of gun or other suitable metal. The two rolls are
brought into contact & the rolling mills operated, pressure being gradually applied
to force the pattern on the top roll into the softer metal of the bottom roll upon
which ultimately an exact reverse of the pattern is obtained. The pressure of the
rolls is then slightly released & the metal to be embossed passed between the rolls
with a suitable pressure & the desired result is thereby obtained.
Dated this 10th day of June 1890
HENRY F. TALBOT,
7, Cherry Street, Birmingham, Agent for the Applicant.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in the Process of Embossing Tin Plates and other
Sheet Metal.
I, JOHN WILLIAM SANKEY, of the firm of Joseph Sankey and Sons, Albert
Street Works, Bilston, in the County of Stafford, Manufacturers, do hereby
declare the nature of this invention, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following.
statement:
The object of this invention is to produce upon the tin plates and other sheet
metal an embossed pattern which shall have, preferably, the effect of certain
portions thereof, as desired, being brighter than the remainder.
According to this invention, the tin plate or other sheet metal is passed between
the two rolls, of which one is of steel into the surface of which the desired pattern
has been cut or produced and the steel afterwards highly hardened, and of which
the other is of a softer but sufficiently hard metal, such as gun metal, or steel of
a specially soft quality into the surface of which the reverse pattern has been
produced by revolving the two rolls in contact under great pressure gradually
applied. After the rolls have been prepared in this manner, the holster pins are
slackened back somewhat, according to the thickness of the tinplate or other sheet
metal to be operated upon, and such tin plate or other sheet metal is then rolled
between the rolls and receives the pattern or design embossed therein. The
peculiar and very pleasing effect, above described, of certain portions of the
pattern being brighter than the remainder, is produced by sinking the corresponding
portions of the design to such a depth in the roll in which the pattern is first
cut, or in the surface of the softer roll after the pattern in reverse has been
produced therein in the manner described, that while the remaining portions of the
tin plate or other sheet metal in which the pattern is produced are tightly pressed
between the prepared surfaces of the rolls, the portions which are to appear bright
are simply pressed by portions of the prepared surface of the one roll into the
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page_text: corresponding portions of the prepared surface of the other roll without being
compressed tightly between the prepared surfaces of the rolls.
Convenient rolling mechanism for use in carrying out this invention is illustrated,
in side elevation by Figure 1 of the drawings herewith, in plan by Figure 2, and
in vertical section (taken on line ax of Figure 1) by Figure 3. Figure 4 is a
detail section illustrating one of the gauges hereinafter described; Figure 5 is a
longitudinal section through a roll having a gun metal surface, shewing the means
by which the gun metal is carried on a steel spindle; and Figure 6 shews a portion
of sheet metal in which a pattern has been embossed by the rolls.
Referring first to Figures 1, 2 and 3, a set of three high rolls A B C are carried
in holsters D mounted upon a suitable bed E. The middle roll B is of steel,
having the pattern first cut therein while the steel is soft, and then the surface
highly hardened. The rolls A and C have a surface of softer metal, such as
gun metal, or steel of a specially soft quality, and the reverse pattern is formed in
them by revolving the three rolls together in place within the holsters, while
screwed down one upon the other under great pressure, the holster pins being
tightened up from time to time as the pattern is being gradually formed into the
surface of the softer rolls A and C ; or, the pattern may be formed first in the
surface of only one of the rolls A or C, by carrying only such roll and the roll B
in the holsters and revolving them in contact under pressure. If the pattern has
been produced in the surfaces of both the rolls A and C, the tinplate or other
sheet metal may be embossed by rolling between either of such rolls and the
roll B; or, if the surface of one of these rolls has been first prepared, in the
manner described, the tinplate or other sheet metal may have the pattern embossed
by rolling between such roll and the hardened steel roll B, and, if the other
roll also be carried in the holsters so as to revolve in contact with the roll B, the
surface of such other roll may at the same time be gradually prepared by the
pressure thus brought against it of the roll B.
In order to facilitate the putting in of the blanks at the proper point in the
revolution of the rolls, a pair of gauges c are let into the surface of each roll A
and C. One of these gauges is shewn to an enlarged scale by Figure 4. A hole
is drilled into the body of the roll, a spiral spring d pushed therein, and then the
gauge e pushed in against the pressure of the spring. The gauge is prevented
from getting out of the hole by a set screw e, screwed in from the adjacent end of
the roll with its inner end entering a recess formed in the side of the gauge. This
allows of the gauge being pressed out sufficiently to form an abutment against
which to push the blank, but prevents the gauge being pushed out too far. The
outer ends of the gauges are slanted off on their forward edges, as shewn in
Figure 3, so that they cannot be pressed fully in by the roll B until just as the
sheet metal is about to be gripped between the rolls. In feeding in the blanks to
the rolls they are simply pushed against the backs of the pair of gauges until they
are caught between the rolls.
is
Inclined guides F, to guide the blanks as they are pushed in between the rolls,
are fixed in position on the feeding-in side of the rolls A and B, when the blanks
are to be rolled between them; and such guides are placed in a corresponding
position on the feeding-in side of the rolls B and C when the blanks are to be
rolled between them. The rolls may be driven in any convenient manner. In the
arrangement for this purpose as illustrated, motion is conveyed from an overhead
shaft to a pair of fast-and-loose pulleys G G'on a shaft f, on which is a pinion g
which gears with a wheel turning on a stud carried by the bed. A. pinion
formed with or fixed to the wheel h, and gears with a wheel j on the end of a
spindle which is coupled with the roll C. The mechanism may, however, be
simplified by dispensing with the spindle k, the wheel being fixed on the end of
the roll. In such case, the nearer holster D is mounted on the end of the bed, and
the other in such position along the bed as will suit the length of the rolls
employed. The rolls must of course be geared together; in the illustration this
is shewn to be effected by means of pinions fixed on the ends of the rolls.

page_text: When a gun metal surface is adopted for the rolls A and C, the gun metal is
cast around a steel spindle H (see Figure 5), and, in order to secure its being
firmly retained thereon, the portion of the spindle around which the gun metal is
to be cast is turned somewhat roughly and also gradually smaller towards the
middle, as shewn. The surface of the roll is of course turned up smooth before
commencing to produce the pattern thereon.
It is impossible to illustrate, in the drawings accompanying this Specification,
the appearance produced by rolling the tinplates or other sheet metal between rolls
one of which has the pattern sunk in places deeper than the projection of the
corresponding parts on the other roll, but Figure 6 represents a small piece of a
pattern supposed to have been rolled between rolls prepared in such manner, and
the parts which are left unshaded are intended to represent the bright portions of
the pattern.
In Figure 6 the straight broken lines represent the sides of the
rectangular blank which has been passed between the rolls and from which the
oval pattern embossed thereon has been cut out for stamping into such an article
as a waiter or tray. In such cases it is preferred to form a pitted groundwork or
other pattern or design on the parts of the blanks which are to be subsequently
cut away, as if the portions of the surfaces of the rolls between which such
parts pass are left plain so as to leave the surfaces of such parts plain there
is a tendency of the sheet metal being puckered or rendered unlevel by the
embossing action of the rolls being exerted over only a part of the area thereof.
The parts thus cut away may be formed into other articles by stamping or
otherwise.
Dull portions of the pattern having the same or a greater projection above the
groundwork than the bright portions may be produced in the sheet metal, if
desired, such for instance as to represent the centres of flowers or the like (see the
shaded centres of the flowers Figure 6) and in such case the operation of producing
the pattern on the surface of the softer roll may be greatly facilitated by letting
in picces of metal to project in positions corresponding to those where such dull
portions of the pattern are to stand out somewhat prominently in the sheet metal.
The markings of leaves and similar markings in a pattern may be produced by
compressing the sheet metal between correspondingly-shaped portions of the
surfaces of the rolls so as to appear dull, or the rolls may be prepared to leave
such markings bright and the leaves dull. In forming small raised domes in the
groundwork, or other parts of the pattern in the sheet metal, the upper parts of
such domes may be left bright in the manner above indicated.
The distinction between what are termed the "bright" surfaces and the "dull"
surfaces of the tin plate or other sheet metal, consists in the former being uncom-
pressed portions of the metal which shew consequently the natural brilliancy of
its surface, while the latter have been tightly compressed between the surfaces of
the rolls and the natural brilliancy of the metal thereby dulled or deadened.
In some cases, such as when a pattern of small area for a waiter is to be
embossed in tinplate or other sheet metal, the hard steel roll may be half (or other
aliquot part of) the diameter of the other roll of the pair, and the pattern be
produced in two (or more) places around the surface of such other roll, so that
the hard steel roll will revolve twice, or more times, for each revolution of the
other roll, and two or more blanks have the pattern embossed therein for each
revolution of such other roll,
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
:―
1. The improvements herein described in embossing tin plates and other sheet
metal, that is to say, by rolling them or it between a pair of rolls of which one
has had the desired pattern first formed therein and has then been used to impart
such pattern in reverse to the surface of the other roll, substantially as described.
2. The improvements herein described in embossing tin plates and other sheet

page_text: metal, that is to say: by rolling them or it between a pair of rolls of which one
has had the desired pattern first formed therein and has then been used to impart
such pattern in reverse to the surface of the other roll, portions of the pattern on
one of the rolls being sunk to such depth that the metal under process of being
rolled will not, at the parts which correspond in position with such portions of the
pattern on the roll, be compressed between the prepared surfaces of the rolls, sub-
stantially as described, for the purpose set forth.
3. As a preliminary part of the process of embossing tin plates and other sheet
metal, preparing the desired pattern in the surface of one roll and in parting it in
reverse to the surface of another roll by rolling in contact therewith under great
pressure, substantially as described for the purpose set forth.
4. As a preliminary part of the process of embossing tin plates and other sheet
metal, preparing the desired pattern in the surface of one roll and imparting it in
reverse to the surface of another roll, portions of the pattern on one of the rolls
being sunk to such depth that the tin plates or other sheet metal, when subsequently
rolled between such rolls, will not, at the parts which correspond in position with
such portions of the pattern on the roll, be compressed between the prepared
surfaces of the rolls, substantially as described, for the purpose set forth.
5. The improvements in the process of embossing tin plates and other sheet
metal, substantially as herein described.
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.
COL
דד
רט הוא זממודד
STEPHEN WATKINS,
Wolverhampton, Agent for the Applicant.