Improvements in Joining Pieces or Articles of Metal Foil or Thin Metal together or to other Pieces or Articles of Metal.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 23rd July, 1889-Accepted, 24th Aug.,
1889
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Joining Pieces or Articles of Metal Foil or Thin
Metal together or to other Pieces or Articles of Metal.
I, JAMES YATE JOHNSON of 47 Lincolns Inn Fields in the County of Middlesex
Gentleman do hereby declare the nature of this Invention (which has been communi-
cated to me from abroad by Lebbens Harding Rogers of the City County and State
of New York United States of America Manufacturer) and in what manner the
same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement:
This Invention consists of a novel mode of forming joints between pieces of metal
foil or between a piece of foil and a metal plate or other heavier piece of metal, and
consists essentially in pressing the sheet of foil or thin metal against the surface of
the metal (whether foil or heavier metal) to which it is to be joined along the line of
proposed union, and by such means as will leave the metal fully exposed up to such
line, and then while the foil is so pressed removing entirely the foil, projecting
beyond the line of pressure, and running a fusing device along the exposed edge or
edges, thereby fusing the metal under pressure, as hereinafter more fully described.
The two acts of removing wholly the metal projecting beyond the compressing
device, and fusing the surface or surfaces under compression may be and preferably
are performed at one operation and by the same tool.
This invention is especially applicable to joining pieces or sheets of tin foil together,
and may in such cases be readily practised without the use of solder or flux. Tin
foil may also be joined to sheets or pieces of other metal such for instance as brass,
but in this case it is preferred to employ some suitable flux such for instance as
sal-ammoniac. In the joining of other metal foil to metal foil or to pieces of thicker
metal a flux suited to the character of the materials may be employed, though, in the
joining of foil to foil, the Invention is not limited to the use of à flux.
The usual form of soldering iron serves the ordinary purposes of this invention.
though the device employed for fusing or melting away the foil may be varied, and
variations in the form of the soldering iron may be sometimes found desirable for
particular classes of work.
The pressure employed should be sufficient to keep the metal surfaces in close
connection. When this is done and when the pressure device is of the proper shape
to allow the metal to be removed up to the line of proposed union and the heating
device to be applied to the metal at the edge of the area of pressure, a joint will be
formed by the melting of the material just within the edge of the pressure area
owing to the conduction of the heat inward to the material where it is pressed. Such
joint will in fact be in the nature of a welded joint and will moreover be a clean
smooth one destitute of the projecting lug of cast metal formed on the edges outside
of the area of pressure as would be the case if the metal which is free or exposed
were melted and allowed to adhere as has heretofore been done. Any means for
holding the foil down against the surface to which it is to be united may be employed,
provided it leaves the metal fully exposed to the application of the heating right up
to the line of pressure.
A plate or block of iron or of glass, or of any other
material, will serve the purpose. In the case of a straight joint the edge of the
holding block or plate may be made straight and in the case of joints formed on
other lines the edge of the holding plate or block should have a corresponding
form.
Having thus described in general the nature of this invention, I will proceed to
more particularly describe the same with reference to the accompanying drawings
in which-
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sun and ma-k involving this invention.

page_text: a vertical cross section of rigure 1.
Figure 3 illustrates the manner of joining tin foil to a brass plate.
Figure 4, is a vertical cross section of Figure 3.
Figure 5, shows in vertical section another form of apparatus suited to a special
kind of work.
Figure 6, shows the two sheets of foil, Figure 1, as joined together.
Referring to Figures 1 and 2, A indicates a bed plate of any material upon which
the work may be laid. In the joining of foil to foil it is desirable that the surface
of the plate should be rather hard and smooth. Glass, metal or wood will serve as
the material for the bed-plate.
B, C, indicate respectively sheets of tin foil to be joined together on the line a, a,
indicated in Figure 6.
D, indicates a block or plate of glass, or other material having a straight edge
corresponding to the line a, a, and adapted to press the foil B, C, closely together on
a line abutting upon, or just adjacent to, the line of proposed union. Positive
pressure, as of the hand, may be applied, or the weight of the block itself may be
relied upon to compress the sheets of foil. The width of the block or the extent of
the area of pressure back of the joint seems to be quite immaterial.
E indicates a form of tool which may be used in practising this invention, and
which consists simply of a heated piece of metal like a soldering iron heated to a
sufficient degree to melt the foil.
In practising the invention with such a tool the iron is passed over the foil and
against the edge of the holding piece so as to remove the surplus metal beyond the
line of proposed union, that is to say, the material beyond the edge of the line of
pressure, and at the same time, or directly following upon such removal, to heat the
metal at the edge of the area of pressure so as to forin a joint on the line of proposed
union. In this operation the surplus metal is removed by the wiping action of the
tool as it comes into contact with and melts the metal projecting from the clamping
edge of the block. The removal of the surplus material up to such edge may be
accomplished in other ways without departing from the nature of this invention, the
design being to produce a joint without surplus attached metal and by the direct
application of heat to the metal at the edge of the clamping surface so as to produce
a union within such edge. The use of a heated wiping tool as described, is preferable,
however, because the operations of removing the surplus metal beyond the clamping
edge and the. application of the heating tool to the edge of the material on the
direct edge of the line of pressure, are practically simultaneous.
In Figures 3 and 4, a plate of brass is indicated at E, and a sheet of tin foil to be
united thereto is indicated at d The operation is substantially the same as before.
Sal ammoniac or other flux is laid upon the exposed portion of the foil and the iron
or, tool passed over the same, so as to melt and remove the foil up to the pressure
edge of the holding-plate D. The joint will be formed at and just within the edge
of the holding or compressing plate.
Figure 5 illustrates a device that may be used for practising this invention in
sealing the cover of a can or package G. The package G, may be of tin foil, and
the cover plate H, (which may also be of foil) is secured thereto by joining or sealing
its upturned edge to the upper edge of the receptacle G.
In performing this operation the body of the package G, is supported with its
upper end in a circular holder M, of iron or other suitable material, and with its
edge projecting just above the surface of the said holder. The upturned edge of the
cover H, is pressed against the upper portion of the body G, as indicated, by means
of a clamping, or holding ring or washer P, adapted to fit into place rather snugly
so as to compress the two sheets of foil between it and the holder M, with a part of
each sheet projecting. On passing a soldering or fusing iron over the exposed edge
of the foil an air tight joint will be formed just at the upper clamping edge of the
plates or holders the material projecting beyond their meeting edge being removed.
I am aware that it has been heretofore proposed to unite sheet metal by holding
the material in a clamp having a groove and melting the metal in a groove, thus as

page_text: it were moulding upon the edge of the sheets a ridge of metal. Such process is not
however, adapted to the production of a welded joint such as is provided by this
invention because the heating device cannot be directly applied to the edge of the
foil at the edge of the clamping surfaces which edge is sunk beneath the surface of
the clamp, and because the heat of the mass of molten material lying in the groove is
conveyed away by the material of the clamp. Moreover, the surplus material lying
beyond the clamping edge is not removed but remains moulded on the edge of the
sheet metal.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said
Invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is:
1. The herein described improvement in forming a metal foil joint, by clamping
the foil along the line of proposed union, removing entirely the surplus metal
beyond the line of pressure, and applying the heated tool directly to the edge of the
foil, thereby fusing the metal within the line of pressure, and producing a joint
which lies wholly within such line, as hereinbefore described.
2. The improvement in forming a metal foil joint, which improvement consists in
clamping the foil along the line of proposed union, and applying a fusing device to
the surface of the foil directly along the edges of the clamping device, thereby
effecting a separation of the foil at such line, and at the same operation fusing the
foil under pressure as herein before described.
3. As a means for uniting a cover of metal foil to a package or can, the holder
combined with a clamping ring or device adapted to compress the edges of the said
cover and package leaving said edges exposed to the action of a fusing device,
substantially as herein before described.
Dated this 23rd day of July 1889
J. H. JOHNSON & Co.,
Agents.