New or Improved Machinery for use in Galvanizing Wrought or Cast Iron and Steel Pipes, Bars, and Hoops, and for other like purposes.
Year: 1891

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Mar., 1891
Complete Specification Left, 14th Dec., 1891-Accepted, 16th Jan., 1892
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery for use in Galvanizing Wrought or
Cast Iron and Steel Pipes, Bars, and Hoops, and for other like
purposes.
I THOMAS JONES of Atlas Tube Works Netherton in the County of Worcester
Manufacturer do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows :—
My invention has for its object to facilitate the galvanizing of wrought or cast
iron and steel pipes bars and hoops and other articles by removing them from the
galvanizing bath of melted zinc by means of machinery constructed and operating
in the manner hereinafter explained.
I will describe my invention in connection with the galvanizing of an iron pipe.
The said machinery consists essentially of the following parts. An inclined
platform the lower end of which is situated immediately over that end of the bath
of melted zinc from which the pipe is to be drawn has at top and bottom pulleys
over which an endless band or chain passes. The axes of the said pulleys are
horizontal. The upper part of the said endless band is connected with a pair of
forceps or a gripper which when tension is put upon the said part of the band
closes the gripper and grasps anything which may have been introduced between
its jaws. I will hereinafter describe the said gripper.
Motion is communicated to the upper pulley by a vertical band working on a
lower pulley connected with another horizontal shaft at right angles by bevil
gearing. The last named shaft carries one fast and two loose pulleys. Two bands
connect the last named shaft with the driving power one of the said bands being
crossed. By means of a clutch the machine may he geared to or ungeared from
the driving power. By means of a treadle situated close to the galvanizing bath
and operated by the foot of the workman either the crossed or the uncrossed band
may be brought onto the fixed pulley and motion in one or other direction given to
the endless band carrying the gripper.
The machinery is used in the following manner.
The pipe is immersed in the galvanizing bath in the usual way and after having
remained therein sufficiently long is raised from the bath and one of its ends intro-
duced between the jaws of the forceps or gripper. The endless band being put in
motion by the workman operating the treadle the galvanized pipe is gripped and
drawn up the inclined platform. When it has nearly reached the top of the inclined
platform the motion of the endless band is reversed the gripper looses its hold on
the tube which falls through a slot in the inclined platform into a water trough or
other receptacle. The gripper descending to the bottom of the inclined platform
is ready to receive another pipe from the bath which by the reversal of the motion
of the endless band is gripped and carried up the inclined platform as before
described.
The gripper is fixed to a carrier wheel which travels on rollers up and down
the inclined platform. The band is connected to the arms of the gripper by
means of a link. One of the said arms crosses the other and the link being
engaged on the crossing inclined arm causes the closing of the jaws of the gripper
when tension is put on the band.
The machinery may be used for galvanizing two or more pipes or articles at the
same time instead of a single pipe or article.
Dated the 24th day of March 1891
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicant.

page_text: COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
New or Improved Machinery for use in Galvanizing Wrought or
Cast Iron and Steel Pipes, Bars, and Hoops, and for other like
purposes.
I, THOMAS JONES, of Atlas Tube Works, Netherton, in the County of
Worcester, Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of my invention and in
what manner the same is to be performed to be particularly described and ascer-
tained in and by the following statement:-
My invention has for its object to facilitate the galvanizing of wrought or cast
iron and steel pipes, bars and hoops and other articles by removing them from the
galvanizing bath of melted zinc by means of machinery constructed and operating
in the manner hereinafter explained.
I will describe my invention in connection with the galvanizing of an iron pipe.
The said machinery consists essentially of the following parts. An inclined
platform the lower end of which is situated at that end of the bath of molten zinc
from which the pipe is to be drawn, has at top and bottom pulleys over which an
endless band or chain passes. The axes of the said pulleys are horizontal.
Travelling on rollers up and down the said inclined platform is a carrier supporting
a pair of forceps or a gripper. By the closing of the gripper its jaws grip the tube
or article being operated upon.
.
Motion is communicated to the upper pulley of the endless band or chain by a
vertical band working on a lower pulley connected with another horizontal shaft at
right angles by bevil gearing. The last named shaft carries one fast and two loose
pulleys. Two bands connect the last named shaft with the driving power one of
the said bands being crossed. By means of a clutch the machine may be geared to
or ungeared from the driving power. By means of a treadle situated close to the
galvanizing bath and operated by the foot of the workman either the crossed or the
uncrossed band may be brought onto the fixed pulley and motion in one or other
direction given to the endless band carrying the gripper.
Instead of using one fast and two loose pulleys and bands for reversing the motion
of the gripper carrier two bevil wheels actuated from the driving shaft and reversed
by the action of a sliding clutch may be used.
The machinery is used in the following manner. The pipe is immersed in the
galvanizing bath in the usual way and after having remained therein sufficiently
long is raised from the bath and one of its ends introduced between the jaws of the
forceps or gripper which are closed upon it. The endless band being put in motion
by the workman the galvanized pipe gripped by the gripper is drawn up the
inclined platform. When it has nearly reached the top of the inclined platform
the motion of the endless band is reversed; the gripper is opened and losing its
hold on the tube the latter falls through a slot in the inclined platform into a water
trough or other receptacle. The gripper descending to the bottom of the inclined
platform is ready to receive another pipe from the bath which on the reversal of
the motion of the endless band is gripped and carried up the inclined platform as
before described.
The machinery may be used for removing two or more galvanized pipes or articles
at the same time instead of a single pipe or article.
I will now proceed to describe with reference to the accompanying drawings the
manner in which my invention is to be performed.
Figure 1 represents in side elevation and Figure 2 in plan, machinery con-
structed according to my invention to be used in galvanizing tubes, barз hoops and
the like;
.
Figure 3 represents in cross section the cooling trough and of one of the tube
supporting and raising levers in the said trough;
Figure 4 represents in front elevation, drawn to a large scale, the asbestos dies

page_text: which I prefer to use for removing the superfluous zinc from the tubes as they are
drawn from the galvanizing bath;
Figure 5 represents in side elevation; Figure 6 in plan and Figure 7 in cross
section, a portion of the inclined platform and bath and the gripper and its carrier
drawn to a larger scale and
Figure 8 represents in end elevation (partly in section) drawn to a larger scale,
the endless band or chain driving and reversing mechanism of the gripper carrier.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawing.
a is the bath containing the melted zinc from which bath the galvanized pipes
(or other like articles) are to be drawn; bis the inclined slotted platform the lower
end of which is situated at the end of the bath from which the galvanized pipes or
articles are to be drawn ; c and d are pulleys at the bottom and top of the plat-
form b, over which pulleys the endless band or chaine passes. Travelling on the
said platform and situated over the slot 62 at its middle, is the carrier f, mounted
upon wheels, (see Figure 7) which supports the gripper g, the said carrier being
connected at h to the endless chain or band e. The long arms of the gripper are
slightly taper (see Figure 6) and are situated in the forked uprights i and k on the
carrier f. The forked upright k is of less width than the other forked upright i so
that when the long arms of the gripper have been closed for causing the gripper
jaws to grip the tube 1, the weight of the gripped tube tends to wedge the said
gripper arms in the uprights i k and prevent longitudinal back motion in the said
gripper. The gripping jaws are maintained in their closed position by the cross
pin or cotter passed through holes in the wider fork i on the gripper carrier f
The long arms of the gripper g are separated for opening the gripping jaws and
releasing the tube when the gripper carrier has nearly reached the top of the
inclined platform by means of the fixed stop m over which the upper long arm of
the gripper rides (see Figures 1 and 2).
b
Under the inclined platform b is a water trough or tank n into which the coated
tubes, released from the carrier f, and falling through the slot in the platform b,
are received for cooling the said tubes.
Crossing the said trough or tank n is a series of curved levers p on which the
tubes falling into the said trough are received and supported (see Figure 3).
These levers are carried on the axis p² worked by the hand wheel ³, the said axis
turning in bearings on the side of the water trough n.
By operating on the hand wheel p³, the curved arms of the levers p supporting
the galvanized tubes, can be lifted out of the trough n when it is required to remove
the said tubes.
The superfluous zinc coating is removed from the tube as it is drawn from the
bath by the asbestos dies q 92; the lower die being fixed and the other die q²
being carried by a weighted lever.
As these asbestos clearing dies constitute no part of my invention I do not
consider a further description of the same necessary.
The mechanism for driving and reversing the motion of the endless band or
chain e is situated at the higher end of the inclined platform b and consists of the
following parts. The axis d of the higher pulley of the endless band or chain
is prolonged; and working loosely upon it are two bevil toothed wheels r and 2,
with which the middle bevil toothed wheel gears, the said middle bevil wheel
receiving rotatory motion from a driving band passing over the pulley s on the
shaft of the said middle bevil wheel. By the rotation of the middle wheel 3
rotatory motion in opposite directions is communicated to the wheels and 2.
Sliding on and connected to the shaft d² of the pulley d by a sliding key and key
way and situated between the bevil wheels, is a sliding clutch t having clutch
teeth on its opposite faces. By sliding the clutch t in one direction on its shaft
the clutch teeth on one face can. be engaged with the wheel and that wheel
thereby geared to the shaft d² (see the dotted position in Figure 8); and by sliding
the clutch tin the opposite direction the opposite face of the said clutch can be

page_text: engaged with the other wheel r and that wheel geared with the shaft d². In this
way, rotatory motion in one or other direction is imparted to the shaft d³ and the
pulley d and the motion of the endless band e thereby reversed. The sliding
clutch t is operated by the lever u the fork of which embraces a collar of the said
sliding clutch.
The clutch lever is operated from the hand lever v situated near
the bath a. The axis of the said lever v passes to the other end of the machine
and carries the vertical slotted link w the upper end of which is jointed by a pin
and slot to the bottom of the long arm of the clutch lever u. By pulling the hand
lever from or pushing it towards the bath a, as indicated by the arrows in
Figure 8, it operates the axis p², and link w and the latter gives the required
motion to the lever necessary to engage the clutch t with one or other of the bevil
toothed wheels or 2. The positions which the lever u and link wo take in order
to gear the clutch t with the wheel 2 are indicated in dotted lines in Figure 8.
The machinery is used as follows:-
The tube having been immersed in the bath a sufficiently long to galvanize it,
the said tube is raised from the bath and one of its ends passed between the asbestos
dies 92 for removing the superfluous zinc from it. The end of the tube is then
introduced between the open jaws of the gripper g. The long arms of the gripper g
are then closed and preserved closed by the pin or cotter being passed through
the holes in the forked upright i. The tube being thus gripped by the gripper the
endless band or chain e is put in motion by the workman operating the sliding
clutch t through the hand lever, axis 2, link w and lever u and the galvanized
tube is drawn up the inclined platform b. Just before the gripper 9 reaches the
stop m
near the top of the inclined platform as indicated in dotted lines in
Figure the workman withdraws the pin or cotter and by the action of the
said stop m the long arms of the gripper are opened and the tube released
from the jaws of the said gripper. The released tube falls into the cooling
trough n and is received and supported upon the curved levers p in the said
trough and by lifting the said levers p the cooled tubes may be removed. The
motion of the endless band or chain é being reversed, by operating the lever v
the gripper carrier f is returned to the bottom of the platform and the
operations herein before described are repeated.
When two (or more) tubes or other galvanized articles are to be drawn from
the galvanizing bath a at the same time by the machinery, two (or more) pairs
of grippers are arranged on the same carrier and the slot in the inclined platform
is made sufficiently wide to permit of the passage through it to the cooling
trough of two (or more) tubes or articles.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my invention
and the manner of performing the same I declare that I claim as my invention :-
First The construction and combination or arrangement of parts of machinery
herein before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings for removing
galvanized wrought or cast iron and steel pipes, bars and hoops and the like,
from the galvanizing bath; that is to say the combination with the galvanizing
bath of the inclined slotted platform b, 2 and gripper and gripper carrier fgik
together with the arrangement for opening the gripper or grippers and releasing
the pipe or pipes or other articles; also giving motion to and reversing the
motion of the gripper carrier by an endless rope or chain actuated substantially
as described and illustrated.
Secondly-The combination with the machinery claimed in the first claim
of the water cooling trough in which the released pipes or articles are received
and the appliances for supporting them in and raising them from the said
cooling trough substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
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