Improved Method of Manufacturing Pipes, Tubes, and other Articles of Metal by Galvanic Deposits.
Year: 1889

page_text: Date of Application, 7th Sept., 1889
Complete Specification Left, 7th Feb., 1890-Accepted, 8th Mar., 1890
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of Manufacturing Pipes, Tubes, and other
Articles of Metal by Galvanic Deposits.
I, JULIUS KUMME of 153 Koepenickerstrasse, Berlin, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
My invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing pipes, tubes and
other articles of metal or alloys of metal by galvanic deposits. The process of
obtaining depositions of metals by electrolysis from metallic solutions or from fused
salts of or containing metals, in general, is well known, and long since employed for a
variety of objects, but the metal hitherto obtained by galvanic depositions is of
crystalline structure and too brittle to be usefully employed for forming pipes, tubes,
and other articles which are liable to sustaining pressure, strain or bending.
By the improved method of my invention, metal pipes or tubes without a seam, and
other articles of such metal, which may be precipitated by the electric current from
an electrolytic bath, may be manufactured, and the structure of the metal, in the
course of treatment is made to undergo such a change that it will obtain the same, or
nearly the same tenacity, as if the metal had been drawn or hammered, or rolled, or
prepared by any other known treatment. Metal pipes, such as copper, brass and
similar pipes or tubes of soft metal used to be made of a short length of pipe of
considerable thickness, which is gradually diminished by drawing out, rolling,
hammering and similar treatment, by which the original length of pipe is extended
to the required length. This usual mode requires an expensive plant of machinery
and considerable power to be applied. With the improved method of my invention,
the mechanical means for operating on the metal, as well as the driving power for
working the same, are so much reduced, that the working expenses are trifling as
compared with those occasioned by the ordinary treatment of the metals in question.
I am aware that a method exists and has been secured by Letters Patent in the
United Kingdom, No. 1:831 1886 to obtain inetallic deposits in the form of tubes,
pipes and other shape, from an electrolytic bath and to change the structure of the
metal, as it is being deposited, by burnishing, compacting, pressing or acting on the
same while in the bath. This process, however, being distinctly based on and limited
to the treatment of the metallic deposit while it is in course of being formed to
compacting the metal in a cold state and while being precipitated in infinitely thin
layers, is materially different to the improved method of my invention, which requires
no mechanical treatment of the metal, as it is being deposited, and no burnishing,
compacting, pressing or other similar apparatus to act on the metal while still
remaining in the electrolytic bath, as described and claimed in the Letters Patent
aforesaid.
The improved method of my invention for manufacturing metal pipes, tubes and
other articles of any metal or alloy capable of being precipitated from an electrolytic
bath, consists in first obtaining the metallic deposit, such as copper, zinc, nickel,
etcetera, or suitable compounds or alloys of metals in the usual manner, without any
mechanical treatment of the same while in course of being formed.
To make a metal tube, for example, a suitable core of iron, steel, or other
conductive metal, forming the cathode, is introduced or laid into the electrolytic bath
and the electric current being closed, the metallic deposit will be precipitated to the
cathode and surround the core up to the desired thickness which depends on the
quality of the bath, the strength of current and the time of applying the same.
surface of the cathode or metal core may conveniently be covered, first, with a thin
lining of plumbago or a similar conductive material, for the purpose of preventing
The

page_text: the metallic deposit from firmly adhering to the metal of the core of which it is to be
separated without being torn or hurt.
When the deposit has been formed to the desired thickness, the core or cathode is
removed from the bath with the deposit still adhering to it; the deposit, at this stage,
has the usual crystalline structure which renders it unfit for many purposes of use.
To change the structure of the metal, that is, to deprive it of its crystalline structure,
and to endow it with the proper tenacity and density, I subject the same, while still
on the core or cathode to heat and while in a glowing state I compress the metal by
any suitable means, such as rolling, hammering, pressing and the like. This
mechanical treatment of the heated metal has not for its purpose the drawing out of
or extending the length of the metal, nor does it require expensive machinery, a short
and moderate pressure on the glowing or heated metal will be sufficient to effect the
change and to render the metallic deposit nearly as dense and tenacious as if it had
been drawn or rolled or hammered. The pressure applied to the deposit, together
with the glowing, will also serve to make the deposit loose on the core, so that it may
readily be removed when finished. Or the core may as well be withdrawn from the
surrounding deposit which has been formed on it, before heating the latter; in this
case the hollow tube or pipe must be put on another core before being acted upon by
the condensing pressure. But, in general, it will be found more convenient to leave
the metallic deposit on the cathode during the glowing and rolling or pressing
treatment.
The metal pipes or tubes thus obtained are seamless and may be manufactured to
any suitable thickness and length, any number of cathodes or cores may at a time
be put into the bath and connected to the circuit. If the bath be sufficiently rich and
a strong current applied, a considerable number of tubes or pipes may be formed in
one operation, the subsequent heating and pressing of the deposit requiring but little
time and work.
According to the ordinary mode of drawing out metal pipes, the thinnest pipes will
require the greatest amount of work, accordingly, the price of such pipes increases in
the same proportion as the diameter and thickness decreases.
With the improved mode of my invention, on the contrary, the thinnest pipes or
tubes require but the least deposit and time and work. For the thinnest pipes and
tubes my invention will, therefore, offer the greatest advantage.
Instead of forming or manufacturing metal tubes or pipes by precipitating the
whole of their body from the electrolytic bath, the improved method of my invention
may also with advantage be employed by forming only part of the tube or pipe in
the manner described. The metallic deposit, in this case, serves to replace the
soldering of the adjacent edges of a pipe or tube formed of a sheet metal blank and
rolled on a core. The core or cathode, in this case, is made conductive only on that
part or line where the deposit is to be formed, and the sheet metal tube, rolled on said
core, is covered with a non-conductive substance except on that part where the jointing
deposit is to be formed. The said deposit, accordingly, will unite the two adjacent
edges of the rolled blank; after glowing and compressing the galvanic deposit, the
seam will hold better and have a better and smoother appearance than by soldering,
as ordinarily employed.
By this modification of my invention, tubes and pipes of sheet metal may with good
advantage be manufactured at little expense. The body of the sheet metal tube may
be of other metal than that employed for the joint or seam of the edges and applied by
way of galvanic deposit with subsequent heating and compression.
Dated this 6th day of September 1889.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improved Method of Manufacturing Pipes, Tubes, and other
Articles of Metal by Galvanic Deposits.
I, JULIUS KUMME of 153, Koepenickerstrasse, Berlin, in the Empire of Germany,
Manufacturer, 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 :-
My invention relates to an improved method of manufacturing pipes, tubes, and
other articles of metal or alloys of metal by galvanic deposits.
The process in general of obtaining, by electrolysis, depositions of metals from
metallic solutions or from fused salts of or containing metals, is well known and long
since employed for a variety of objects; but the metal hitherto obtained by galvanic
depositions is of a crystalline structure, and too brittle to be usefully employed for
forming pipes, tubes, and other articles such as are liable to sustain pressure,
strain or bending.
By the improved method of my invention, metal pipes or tubes without a seam,
and other articles of such kinds of metal that may be precipitated by the electric
current from an electrolytic bath, may be manufactured, and the structure of the
metal, in the course of treatment, is made to undergo such a change that it will
obtain the same, or nearly the same tenacity as if the metal had been drawn or
hammered or rolled or prepared by any known process hitherto employed. Metal
pipes or tubes, such as copper, brass and similar pipes or tubes of soft metal,
hitherto, used to be made of a short length of pipe of considerable thickness,
which was gradually diminished by drawing out, rolling, hammering or other similar
treatment serving to extend the original short length of pipe to the desired length.
This usual mode requires an expensive plant of machinery and considerable working
power for driving the same.
With the improved method of my invention, the mechanical means for operating
on the metal, as well as the driving power for working the machinery, are so much
reduced that the working expenses are trifling as compared with those occasioned by
the ordinary treatment applied to the metals in question.
I am aware that a method exists and has been secured by Letters Patent of
Great Britain, No. 15831 of 1886, for obtaining metallic depositions in the form
of tubes, pipes and other articles by electrolysis from an electrolytic bath, and for
changing the structure of the metal, while being deposited, by burnishing, compacting,
pressing or otherwise acting on the same during the process of formation within
the bath. This method, however, being strictly based on and limited to the mechanical
treatment of the metallic deposit, to compact the same, while being deposited in
infinitely thin layers, is materially different from the improved method of my invention,
which requires no mechanical treatment of the metallic deposit, in the course of its
being formed, and no burnishing, compacting, pressing, or other apparatus to act on
the deposit while still remaining in the electrolytic bath, as described and claimed in
the Letters Patent aforesaid.
The inproved method of my invention for manufacturing metal pipes, tubes, and
other articles of any metal or alloy of metals capable of being precipitated from an
electrolytic bath, consists in, first, obtaining the metallic deposition, such as copper,
zinc, nickel, or suitable compounds or alloys of metals, in the usual manner, without
any mechanical treatment of the deposit while in the course of being formed, and in
subsequently compacting the said deposition by suitable mechanical means,
independently and out of the galvanic bath.
In carrying my invention into practice, I proceed as follows:-
To make, for example, a metal tube, I introduce or place into the electrolytic bath
a suitable core of iron, steel, or other conductive metal, or a core of non-conductive
material coated or covered with a conductive substance, forming the cathode, as well
known in the art of producing metallic depositions. The electric current- having

page_text: been closed, the metallic deposit will be precipitated on the said core or cathode, and
surround the same up to the desired thickness, which depends on the quality or
richness of the bath, the strength of the current, and the time of working of the
same. The surface of the core or cathode may be covered, before placing the same
into the bath, with a suitable thin lining of plumbago or other suitable conductive
substance, for the purpose of preventing the metallic deposit from too firmly adhering
to the core, which is to be withdrawn without injuring or hurting the shell that has
been formed by the deposit.
When the deposit on the core or cathode has reached the desired thickness, the core
is removed from the bath with the deposit still adhering to it; the metallic deposit at
this stage of the process, has the usual crystalline structure which renders it unfit
for many purposes of use. To change the structure of the metal, that is, to deprive
it of its crystalline structure and endow it with the desired tenacity and density,
I subject the same, while still on the core, to heat, and in the heated state I compress
or compact the metal by any suitable means, such as rolling, hammering, pressing,
drawing, and the like. This mechanical treatment of the heated metal has not for its
purpose the drawing out of or extending the length of the metal, though a com-
paratively small increase of length may result, nor does it require an expensive
machinery or working power, a short and moderate pressure on the heated metal
being sufficient to effect the change of structure and to render the inetallic deposit
fully or nearly as dense and tenacious as if it had been drawn out, rolled, or hammered
by the ordinary process.
In some cases, particularly with metal deposits of a very low melting point, the
heating of the metallic deposit, previous to the compacting pressure being applied,
may be entirely dispensed with, in other cases, a moderate degree of heat will be found
sufficient to obtain the purpose in view, and with some metals it will be found
necessary to heat them to a glowing state before being subjected to the compacting
pressure.
The heat and the pressure applied to the metallic deposit on the core will also
serve to make the deposit loose on said core, so that it may readily be removed, when
finished.
Instead of heating and compacting the metallic deposit while still on the original
core or cathode to which it has been precipitated in the bath, the said core or cathode
may be withdrawn from the surrounding shell formed or deposited on it, and the said
shell or tube or pipe will then be slipped on another suitable core before being
compacted, or heated and compacted by the condensing pressure. But, in general, it
will be found more convenient to leave the metallic deposit on the cathode during the
compacting, or heating and compacting stage of the process.
The metal pipes or tubes thus obtained are seamless and may be made to any desired
thickness; their length depends on the length of the core or cathode placed into the
electrolytic bath. Any suitable number of cores or cathodes, of equal or different
length, may simultaneously be placed into the bath and connected to the terminal of
the source of electricity. If the bath be sufficiently rich and the current of suitable
strength, a considerable number of deposits may be formed at a time on the series of
cores or cathodes in one operation, the compacting of the deposits being always done
subsequently and when they are entirely separated from the bath.
According to the ordinary mode, hitherto practised, of drawing out metal pipes, the
thinnest pipes require the greatest amount of work, accordingly, the price of such
pipes increases in the same proportion as the diameter and thickness decrease.
But with the improved mode of manufacturing according to my invention, the
thinnest pipes or tubes, on the contrary, require the least amount of time and work in
forming the deposit and compacting the same. My invention, therefore, offers the
greatest advantage in forming thin metal pipes or tubes.
Instead of forming or manufacturing metal pipes or tubes, as before described, by
precipitating the whole of their body from the electrolytic bath, the improved method
of my invention may also, with advantage, be employed by forming only part of the
tube or pipe in the manner described.

page_text: In this modification of my invention, the metallic deposit only serves to replace the
soldering of the adjacent longitudinal edges of a sheet-metal blank rolled on a core to
form a pipe or tube. The core or cathode, in this case, need be made conductive only
on that part of its length where the deposit is to be formed, and the sheet-metal blank
rolled on said core may suitably be covered by a non-conducting substance except on
that part or seam where the jointing deposit is to be precipitated. The said deposit,
accordingly, will unite the two adjacent edges of the rolled blank, and the said galvanic
joint, being preferably subjected to a subsequent compacting, or both heating and
compacting treatment, as before described, will hold better, and have a better and
smoother appearance than a seam formed by soldering, as ordinarily employed.
By this modification of my invention, tubes and pipes of sheet-metal may, with good
advantage, be manufactured at little expense. The body of the sheet-metal tube or
pipe may consist of other metal or alloy of metals than that employed for the joint or
seam of the edges and applied by way of galvanic deposit, with or without subsequent
compacting, or heating and compacting.
My invention further comprises the tubes, pipes, and other articles of manufacture,
provided they are made according to either of the modifications of my invention, as
before described.
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 method of forming pipes or tubes or other articles of metal or alloys of inetal
capable of being precipitated by electrolysis, consisting in forming galvanic depositions
on a cathode by the well known process, and subsequently compacting said depositions
independently and out of the bath by a suitable compacting process, substantially as
and for the purpose described.
2. The method of forming pipes or tubes or other articles of metal or alloys of metal
capable of being precipitated by electrolysis, consisting in forming galvanic depositions
on a cathode by the well known process, and subsequently heating and compacting
said depositions independently and out of the bath by a suitable compacting process,
substantially as and for the purpose described.
3. The method of forming pipes or tubes of metal, consisting in rolling a blank of
sheet-metal on a core and jointing or uniting the adjacent longitudinal edges of the
blank by forming on them a galvanic deposition, and subsequently compacting, or
heating and compacting the seam, substantially as and for the purpose described.
4. As an article of manufacture, pipes, tubes and other articles of metal or alloys of
metal capable of being precipitated by electrolysis, made substantially as described by
forming galvanic depositions on a suitable cathode in the electrolytic bath and
subsequently compacting, or heating and compacting said depositions, independently
and out of the bath.
5. As an article of manufacture, pipes or tubes of sheet-metal, formed, substantially
as described, by rolling the sheet-metal blank on a core, and jointing or uniting the
adjacent edges of the said blank by forming a seam of galvanic depositions along
the same.
Dated this 6th day of February 1890
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Of 6, Lord Street, Liverpool, Agents for the Applicant.