Improvements in Compound Gold Wire.
Year: 1890

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Compound Gold Wire.
I LEVI LYMAN BURDOx of No. 924 Broad Street Providence in the State
of Rhode Island United States of America Mechanic 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:-
In the production of certain articles of gold-plated jewelry, as for example,
watch-cases, thimbles, finger-rings, tc., it is a common practice to increase the
thickness of the gold of such articles at the points or places which are subjected
to the most wear, the gold being comparatively thin at certain other points,
as say the inner surface of a thimble or finger-ring. Sometimes articles of this
class are filled" as it is termed, with an inferior metal, which is considerably
harder than the surface metal, although most frequently a lower-fusing or cheaper
metal is used in both cases, however, the filling metal possesses no intrinsic
worth, therefore the goods or articles made of such materials are called "plated"
and are sold as such, irrespective of the thickness of the gold surface.
The object have in view is to produce a compound seamless wire made
entirely of alloyed gold and adapted to be used in the manufacture of pins, rings,
and other articles. By means of my improvement articles made therefrom may be
stamped and sold as gold of a specified value or carat.
My present invention consists, essentially, of two or more pieces or portions of
gold having varying grades or values united together and forming a seamless ingot
adapted to be reduced to seamless compound gold wire; as for example, suppose a
piece of my improved seamless or all-gold wire weighing say one oz. has an average
fineness of 9 carat, the shell or exterior portion of the wire being of 12 k. fineness
and weighing 5 dwt, and the inner portion weighing 15 dwt. of 8 k. gold. In this
case the shell is equal to 60 k. and the inner portion 120 k., total 180 k., which
divided by one oz. or 20 dwt. produces an average or assay of 9 k. gold as before
stated.
Take another example and in which the wire weighs one oz. and is made of three
grades of gold, the average fineness being say 6 k. In this case the scamless shell
may weigh 5 dwt. 14 k. fine; the inner or centre portion 14 dwt. 3 k. fine, and the
layer of gold solder interposed between the shell and the inner portion for uniting
the parts together be of 8 k. and weighing 1 dwt. The shell would be equal to 70 k.
the inner portion 42 k. and the gold solder 8 k. total 120 k. which divided by 20 dwt.
as before, produces in the wire an average fineness of 6 k. gold.
My seamless compound gold wire may be produced by the "sweating" process.
That is, the seamless exterior gold shell, which in itself may consist of two united
seamless tubes of gold of different grades or values arranged one within the other, is
united to the inner portion, also of gold but of less value than the shell, by subjecting
the ingot or wire to a suitable heat which melts portions of one or more of the low-
fusing metals, with which the said gold portions are alloyed. These low-fusing
metals when thus melted mix together, thereby uniting or welding the parts to
each other.
Another way of producing seamless compound wire is to take two disks of gold,
one having more value or carat than the other, place one flatwise upon the other and
unite their contiguous surfaces together, then by suitable tools and mechanism
ransform the now compound disk to a tubular form, which then is seamless and
susceptible of being reduced to small wire. Such hollow gold wire will be seamless
exteriorly, its value or carat having the same relative proportions that the compound
lisk possessed.
In the appended drawing illustrating my seamless compound gold wire-
Figure represents in partial section a side elevation of a piece of enlarged
eamless wire or small ingot consisting of two pieces:

page_text: Figure 2 is a transverse sectional view, taken on lineæ æ ;
Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 1, showing a piece of seamless hollow compound
gold wire
Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view thereof taken on line o o;
Fig. 5 represents a piece of my improved wire having three portions, ei:.: a
seamless exterior shell of gold, an inner portion of gold of less value than the shell,
and a layer of gold having a different value than the other portions interposed
between and uniting them;
Fig. 6 is a transverse sectional view of the same taken on line mm;
Fig. 7 represents a longitudinal sectional view, reduced, of a piece of hollow
seamless compound gold wire produced from a compound gold disk, and
Figs. 8 and 9 show sectional views of seamless compound gold wire having
compound shells.
A more extended and specific description of my improved wire is as follows
a designates the ingot or seamless compound gold wire as a whole, composed of a
seamless exterior gold portion g and one or more interior portions of gold having
less value than the outer shell.
The shell I which is seamless is made of gold suitably alloyed to produce the
desired carat or grade. Obviously it should have a higher intrinsic value than
the interior portions. The shell may be produced in any well-known manner, as
for example it may be drawn to a seamless tube-form from a disk of gold. Some-
times the disk itself may be compound, that is made of two or more disks of
gold of different values united together by sweating or by solder, and then
transformed into a seamless tubular form which may be reduced to seamless
wire without the introduction of the inner portion b, as shown in Fig.
indicates the inner or filling portion, this is also composed of gold, but its grade
or carat is less than that of the seamless exterior portion g. The filling portion
may be solid as shown in Figures 1 and 2, or annular in cross-section, as in
Figures 3 and 4. The part may be united to the shell by solder, or by the
sweating process, having first properly prepared the surfaces to be united. I
make no claim herewith to means for uniting these parts together. After they
have been united the pieces may be reduced to wire of any desired form cross-
sectionally by the usual machinery and shop appliances.
In some cases it may be desirable to produce wire having say three grades of
gold, that is, within the outer seamless gold shell is freely introduced a reduced
core or filling portion b, solid or tubular in cross-section, of gold of much less
value than the outer shell, thus forming an annular space between them; into
this space is fitted a thin shell or layer of gold s having a greater value or carat
than the core but a less carat than the shell
g. This layer s, when the whole
is subjected to a properly heated furnace, or burners, melts and serves as a solder
to unite the several parts together, see Figures 5 and 6.
I would state that a seamless compound gold shell may have a solid or
annular inner or filling portion of lower grade gold united thereto, substantially
as indicated in cross sections, Figures 8 and 9. In such case it is evident that
the ingot or wire produced therefrom would be substantially as shown in Figures 2
and 4, except that in these last named figures the shell is produced from gold
having a uniform quality, whereas as just stated, the shell itself, as represented
by-Figures 8 and 9, is compound, that is made of two parts or pieces of gold having
different values.
I do not claim broadly in this application a seamless compound wire.
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. As a new article of manufacture a compound gold wire, consisting of a seamless
"exterior portion or shell of alloyed gold and an inner portion. or filling of alloyed
gold of less value than the said exterior portion,

page_text: 2. A compound gold wire adapted for jeweler's uses, consisting of a seamless
exterior portion of alloyed gold united to an inner portion of gold of less value than
the said exterior portion.
3. A compound gold wire, consisting of a seamless exterior portion of alloyed
gold having an inner portion of gold of less value united to the said exterior portion
by sweating, that is united by a refusion of one or more of the low-fusing metals
forming the alloys of the two gold portions.
4. A compound gold wire, consisting of a seamless exterior portion or shell of
alloyed gold, an inner portion of alloyed gold of less value than the said exterior
portion and a layer of gold interposed between and uniting the contiguous surfaces
of the said outer and inner gold portions.
5. A hollow compound gold wire, consisting of a seamless exterior shell of alloyed
gold and an inner tube or shell of gold united thereto possessing less value than the
said exterior shell.
Dated the 18th day of November 1890.
PHILIP M. JUSTICE,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Associate Agent.