AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY USED IN GALVANIZING SHEET IRON, OR COATING SHEET IRON WITH ZINC OR ALLOYS OF ZINC
Year: 1877

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Richard Heathfield, of Birmingham, in the County of
Warwick, Manufacturer, for the Invention of "AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY USED IN GALVANIZING SHEET IRON, OR
COATING SHEET IRON WITH ZINC OR ALLOYS OF ZINC."
Sealed the 20th October 1877, and dated the 9th June 1877.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Richard Heathfield at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 9th June 1877.
RICHARD HEATHFIELD, of Biriningham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY. USED IN
GALVANIZING SHEET IRON, OR COATING SHEET IRON WITH ZINC OR ALLOYS
OF ZINC."
In the ordinary method of galvanizing sheets of iron, the sheets, after having
been properly cleaned, are passed through a bath of melted zinc or alloy of zinc, each
sheet being either guided to and passed between a pair of plain rolls or dipped
without the use of rolls under a bar in the pot, as is well understood. The coated
sheet after passing from between the rolls or under the bar is guided to the surface
of the bath, when it is taken hold of and removed by the tongs of the attendant
workman.
My Invention consists in placing an additional pair of rolls in the bath of melted
metal in the path of the sheet as it passes from the principal or ordinary rolls
whereby the coating of the sheet is much improved.
The axis of the additional pair of rolls are situated in a plane at right angles, or
nearly at right angles, to the plane of the ordinary rolls used in galvanizing iron,
the said.additional rolls being situated a short distance below the surface of the
melted metal.
Although in practice I have found that one additional pair of rolls is sufficient
for ordinary purposes, yet two or more additional pairs of rolls placed in a plane at
right angles, or nearly at right angles, to the plane of the ordinary rolls, may be
employed where it is deemed desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Richard Heathfield in the Great Seal Patent Office on the 6th
December 1877.
RICHARD HEATHFIELD, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Manufacturer.
"AN IMPROVEMENT OR IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS OR MACHINERY USED IN
GALVANIZING SHEET IRON, OR COATING SHEET IRON WITH ZINC OR ALLOYS
OF ZINC."
In the ordinary method of galvanizing sheets of iron, the sheets, after having
been properly cleaned, are passed through a bath of melted zinc or alloy of zinc,
each sheet being either guided to and passed between a pair of plain rolls, or dipped,
without the use of rolls, under a bar in the pot, as is well understood.
The coated
sheet after passing from between the rolls or under the bar is guided to the
surface of the bath, when it is taken hold of and removed by the tongs of the
attendant workman.
My Invention consists in placing an additional pair of rolls in the bath of melted
metal in the path of the sheet as it passes from the principal or ordinary rolls,
whereby the coating of the sheet is much improved.
The axes of the additional pair of rolls are situated in a plane at right angles, or
nearly at right angles, to the plane of the ordinary rolls used in galvanizing iron,
the said additional rolls being situated a short distance below the surface of the
melted metal.
Although in practice I have found that one additional pair of rolls is sufficient
for ordinary purposes, yet two or more additional pairs of rolls placed in a plane at
right angles, or nearly at right angles, to the plane of the ordinary rolls, may be
employed where it is deemed desirable.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying Drawings the
manner in which my Invention may be performed.
Figure 1 represents in plan, and Figure 2 in transverse vertical section, taken on
the line A, B, of Figure 1, apparatus or machinery to be used in galvanizing sheet
iron, or coating sheet iron with zinc or alloys of zinc, the said apparatus or machinery
containing my Invention. The section, Figure 2, is drawn to a larger scale than
Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in both Figures.
c, c, is the pot or bath containing the melted zinc, or alloy of zinc, the said pot or
bath being heated in the ordinary way by the flues d, ; e, f, is the ordinary plain
pair of rolls in the said pot or bath, situated one over the other, the distance between
the said rolls e, f, being adjusted by the screws g, g, acting on the bearings of the
upper roll e; h, i, is a guide for guiding the sheet between the ordinary pair of rolls
e, and also between the second or additional pair of rolls, k, l. The axes of the
said additional pair of rolls, k, l, are situated in a plane at right angles to the plane
of the ordinary pair of rolls, e, f, as best seen in the section, Figure 2; but the acting
or cylindrical surfaces of the two pairs of rolls, e, f, and k, l, are situated parallel to
one another as seen in Figure 1.
The distance between the additional pair of rolls, k, l, is adjusted by the following
arrangement of parts, best seen in the side elevation, Figure 3, and plan in Figure 4.
At each end of the rolls is vertical axis m, carrying at its lower end a cam n
(see Figure 4) which presses against the bearing &, in which the said roll Z works.
The cam axis m has at its top a ratchet wheel 2, with which a pawl g on the
framing of the pot or bath engages and prevents the back rotation of the said cam
axis. By turning the cam axis m, m, by means of a lever 7 (indicated in dotted
lines in Figure 1) fitted on the square ends of the said axis, the cams n, n, may be
rotated more or less, and the distance of the roll from the roll k determined with
great nicety, the cam axes being held in their adjusted positions by the pawls q, q,
engaging with the ratchet wheels p, p. I do not, however, limit myself to any
particular mechanism for adjusting the rolls k, l, as they may be forced together

page_text: by levers or other equivalent contrivance, instead of by the arrangement of parts
shown.
The two pairs of rolls, e, f, and k, l, are driven in the manner represented in
Figure 1. A toothed wheel on the driving shaft gears with the toothed wheel s
above it. The inner end of the shaft 8 of the wheel e carries a large toothed wheel
t, which gears with pinions below it on the axes of the rolls e, k, respectively. The
pair of rolls e, f, is geared together by the pinions at u, and the pair of rolls k, l,
is geared together by the pinions at v. The additional pair of rolls k, l, is situated
at such a height that the grip of the rolls (that is, the plane in which the sheet of
iron is operated upon by the rolls is situated) is a short distance above or below the
surface of the melted metal.
The sheet of iron to be galvanized is passed by the workman to the guide h, and
from thence through the ordinary pair of rolls e, f, by which it is seized and carried
through the said rolls to the curved guide i, by which it is guided to the additional
pair of rolls, k, l, after passing through which rolls k, l, the plate is taken hold of
and removed by the tongs of the workman. The manner in which the sheet of irón
is passed through the two pairs of rolls, e, f, and k, l, and the guides h, i, is repre-
sented in Figure 2, where a sheet in the act of being galvanized is marked x.
vertical stop w is fixed in the position represented in Figure 2 to prevent the sheet
of metal returning to the side at which it was introduced should the workman fail to
seize it with his tongs as it rises from the pot.
A
Instead of the single pair of additional rolls k, l, as represented in the Drawing,
two or more pairs of rolls, the axes of which are situated in planes at right angles
to the planes in which the axes of the ordinary rolls are situated may be employed.
By combining one or more additional pairs of rolls with the pair of rolls
ordinarily employed, the axes of the said additional rolls being arranged with
respect to the axes of the ordinary pair of rolls in the manner herein-before
described and illustrated, a very uniform and smooth face is given to the coated
sheet.
Having now described the nature of my Invention and the manner in which the
same is to be performed, I wish it to be understood that I claim as iny Invention,
the improvement or improvements in apparatus or machinery used in gal-
vanizing sheet iron, or coating sheet iron with zinc or alloys of zinc, herein-before
described, and illustrated in the accompanying Drawings, that is to say, combining
with the pair of rolls ordinarily used in the pot or bath of melted zinc, or alloy of
zinc, an additional pair or additional pairs of rolls, the axes of the said additional
pair or additional pairs of rolls being situated in a plane or in planes at or nearly at
right angles to the plane of the ordinary pair of rolls, as described and illustrated.
In witness whereof I, the said Richard Heathfield, have hereunto set my hand
and seal, this Third Day of December, in the year of our Lord One thousand
eight hundred and seventy-seven.
Witness,
THOMAS HAMMOND KNIGHTS,
RICHARD HEATHFIELD. (L.S.)
235, Lodge Road,
Birmingham.