An Improved Manufacture of Sheet Metal from Lead, Tin, and other similar Metals or Alloys thereof and Apparatus for that Purpose.
Year: 1884

page_text: An Improved Manufacture of Sheet Metal from Lead, Tin, and
other similar Metals or Alloys thereof, and Apparatus for
that Purpose.
I, CHARLES DENTON ABEL of No 28 Southampton Buildings, Chancery Lane
in the County of Middlesex, Consulting Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention for "AN IMPROVED MANUFACTURE OF
SHEET METAL FROM LEAD, TIN AND OTHER SIMILAR METALS OR ALLOYS THEREOF,
AND APPARATUS FOR THAT PURPOSE" and in what manner the same is to be
performed to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, that is to say :-
Thin sheet metal or metal foil has heretofore been produced from lead, tin and
alloys by rolling out slabs of metal to the required degree, either hot or cold.
According to the present Invention such sheet metal or foil is produced by forcing
the liquid metal through narrow openings between cheeks or dies, either by means
of hydraulic presses or by pressure pumps or other suitable mechanism.
The advantages of this method of manufacture as compared with that at present
employed are mainly as follows:-
1. The unequal thickness in the sheet metal frequently resulting from the
ordinary mode of manufacture is entirely obviated, perfectly uniform thickness
being insured.
2. All formation of oxide is prevented.
3. The process of manufacture is cheaper and much more expeditious.
One arrangement of apparatus for carrying out the improved manufacture is
shewn on the accompanying Drawing, in which Fig. 1 shews a longitudinal section
on line a-b Fig. 2. Fig. 2 shews a sectional plan. Fig. 3 is a cross section
through the cheeks or dies to an enlarged scale and Fig. 4 is a sectional plan of the
pressing box, consisting of the four parts m n p and q. In Fig. 1 H' H* &c. are
hydraulic presses which may be of any desired number; K' K' &c. are the pistons
or plungers thereof to which is suitably connected the plate or head K of cast or
wrought iron, working accurately against the sides of the rectangular box or
chamber P. B' B' are two end cheeks or dies working in guides, and situated a
greater or less distance apart, according to the width of the sheet metal to be
produced, the adjustment of which cheeks as also that of the side cheeks to be
presently described, is effected by means of the hand wheels W' W2 as shewn at
Fig. 2, the motion being transmitted either by toothed gearing, cord pullies, or any
other suitable mechanism.

page_text: In Fig. 2 the position of these cheeks at the points g and h determines the
width of the sheet of metal. E E are standards projecting up from the hydraulic
presses and serving to support the pressing box P. The pressing box is enclosed
by one or more castings that are notched out at the points L. Instead of employing
cast iron for this purpose, T iron may be employed, suitably arranged and
supported by the iron rings R for taking the pressure exerted on the box by the
presses. The rings R are circular and surround the entire structure.
The openings L in the supporting plates serve to permit of the box being
warmed in the first instance and cooled when it is in operation. Any suitable
known medium may be employed for this purpose.
At Fig. 3 one of the before described end cheeks B¹ B' is shewn in section; the
side cheeks B B, which are adjusted by the screw spindles S S, serve to determine
the thickness of the sheet metal to be produced; they are guided in recesses B³ Be
formed in the pressing box, and can be entirely drawn out of the latter by openings
at T T¹.
As indicated at Fig. 2, both the end cheeks B! B³ and the side cheeks B3 B are
adjusted rapidly and accurately in position by means of the band wheels W₁ W³,
Wi being made to adjust B and B by toothed racks as shewn, while W2 is caused
to rotate all the screw spindles S simultaneously for the adjustment of B3 and B*.
For producing the sheet metal the liquid metal is caused to flow from a
neighbouring furnace into the box P, which becomes filled up to the top of the
projecting rims oo Fig. 3. The cheeks or dies are then closed up so as to separate
the upper part of the metal which may contain oxides and other impurites
specifically lighter than the pure metal, and to enclose the latter within the box
until it has cooled down to a certain degree. The cheeks are then opened out
again to the exact distance required for producing a metal sheet of the desired
thickness and width, and the bydraulic presses are put in action so as to force up
the plate K and thus extrude the metal in the form of a continuous sheet between
the cheeks B1 B2 B3 B4.
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. The manufacture of sheet metal of lead, tin, and other similar metals or
alloys thereof by forcing the metal by means of hydraulic or other pressure between
cheeks or dies, substantially as herein described.
2. In apparatus for producing sheet metal by forcing the same through cheeks or
dies, the use of two sliding cheeks B¹ B2 actuated by any suitable mechanism for
determining the width of the sheet metal, substantially as herein described.
3. In apparatus for producing sheet metal by forcing the same through cheeks
or dies the use of two sliding cheeks B³ B' actuated by any suitable mechanism for
determining the thickness of the sheet metal, substantially as berein described.
4. The combination of the plate K, actuated by hydraulic or other pressure, with
the pressing box P containing the metal to be converted into sheets, and supported
externally against the pressure by rings R, substantially as herein described.
5. The use of apparatus for producing sheet metal by pressure and dies, arranged
and operating substantially as herein described.
Dated this 8th day of July 1884.