Year: 1887

page_text: [Communicated from abroad by CHARLES SWINSCOE, of Clinton, Massachusetts,
United States of America, Manager of the Clinton Wire-cloth Company.]
I HENRY HARRIS LAKE, of the firm of Haseltine, Lake, & Co. Patent Agents,
Southampton Buildings in the County of Middlesex, 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 :-
This invention relates to the galvanizing and tinning of wire-cloth wire-netting and
other materials or articles.
It is well known that in galvanizing or tinning wire-cloth, wire-netting and
the like by the ordinary process, the web is passed into the pot through a flux
of sal-ammoniac or similar substance to brighten it or remove the oxide, then through
the molten metal constituting the coating material, and finally through a stratum
of-sand or asbestos to wipe off or remove the surplus coating material, the fiux
and sand or asbestos, as the case may be, being placed on the molten metal in
the pot, and the flux separated by a partition from the wiping material.
The employment of sand has, however, been found to be objectionable for several
reasons. Being very heavy its weight causes the web, more especially in light
fabrics having fine meshes, to sag, at or near the centre and thus displace the wires
of which it is composed, the wires becoming permanently fixed in a wrong position
Price Rd 1

page_text: when the galvanizing or tinning material with which they are coated cools. The
finer grains or particles of sand are also liable to become embedded in the coating
and thus give it a rough, unfinished appearance; and sometimes the grains adhere
to each other, thereby forming "slag" or lumps which act. injuriously on the coating,
removing it almost entirely in some places, and leaving it too thick in others.
Asbestos being of a fibrous nature is more objectionable in some respects than
sand, as its action is distinctively that of a wiper, thereby destroying the grain
or gloss of the coating and leaving it with a comparatively dull and unfinished
appearance.
My invention is designed to obviate these difficulties or objections, and to that
end I make use of means which will be readily understood by all conversant with
such matters by the following explanation:
In the accompanying drawing.
Figure 1 is an isometrical perspective view illustrating the method of using my
improvement, a portion of the furnace and pot being represented as removed, and
Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams introduced to exemplify certain details pertaining
thereto.
Like letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the different figures
of the drawing.
A represents the furnace, B the pot, and the guide, these parts being of the
ordinary form or construction.
The galvanizing or tinning materials D, of which the coating is composed, are
placed in the pot 13, being kept in a molten state and at the proper temperature
in the usual manner.
A flux of sal ammoniac or other suitable materials E is placed on the molten
motal D, at one side of the guide C, and a stratum of layer of coke H on the opposite
side, the flux and coke being of less specific gravity than the metal and, of course,
floating thereon.
The guide
is partially submerged in the metal, and extends above the surface
of the same a sufficient distance to subserve as a dam or partition to keep the coke
and flux properly separated.
In carrying out my improvement, the web of wire-cloth or netting J is drawn by
suitable mechanism (not shown) downwardly through the flux E into the molten
metal, D and thence beneath the guide C upwardly through the coke H being
galvanized or tinned on its passage in a manner which will be readily obvious
without a more explicit description.
The coke is used as a wiper in place of the sand or asbestos usually employed, and
being of small specific gravity does not operate to sag the web or displace the
wires of which it is composed; neither does it adhere to or become mixed with
the coating material on the wires as the web is passed through it, being, on account
of its extreme lightness, floated out of or expelled from the same before it cools,
leaving an exceedingly smooth and brilliant surface which I have found it impossible
to produce when any other wiper which I am familiar with, is employed.
Coke being a product of mineral or pit coal, and devoid of nearly all the elements
which would render it readily combustible, retains the heat from the molten metal
on which it floats without being consumed thereby, and being very light a very thick
layer may be employed, thus bringing a greater working surface, so to speak, in
contact with the web than is possible where either sand or asbestos is used.
As the coating on the wires begins to cool or harden at the point where the
web leaves the surface of the molten metal and passes upwardly into the wiper,
it is important that it should not cool too rapidly, or before the surplus coating
material has been removed, and hence it is necessary, in order to produce the best
results, that the wiper should not only be adapted to be heated readily to the
temperature of the molten metal on which it is disposed, but to retain the heat so
that when the web is submitted to it the surplus coating material may be kept
in a liquid state long enough to be properly removed.

page_text: The advantages of coke over sand in this respect will be apparent by reference to
figures 2 and 3. In figure 2 it will be observed that the layer of coke H presents a
very large contact or working surface to the web J, and as the particles or pieces of
which the layer is composed are very light and the layer comparatively thick, the
coke is disturbed for a considerable distance at either side of the web as it is drawn
upward, thereby enabling the particles which are brought into immediate contact with
the web in removing the surplus coating material to be properly reheated before being
again brought into service, for instance; the particle resting on the molten metal
will be of substantially the same temperature, but as it is carried upward by the web
will lose a portion of its heat in performing its work, so that when it reaches the
point it will be comparatively cool, but it will then be thrown outwardly and fall
to the point m, from whence it will be carried, as the mass revolves, to the point
for further service, being heated on its journey from m to x to its normal temperature.
The operation of the grains of sand, as shown in Figure 3, is similar to that of the
particles of coke, but as the sand is of greater specific gravity, its grains, after being
carried from the bottom to the top of the layer F, by the rising web, fall again into
their original position, or nearly 50, and hence do not become heated properly in
traversing from m to, the distance between these two points in Figure 3 being much
less than in Figure 2.
In galvanizing or tinning wire fabrics in the manner described, gases are sometimes
generated which become confined in and beneath the wiping material, when sand or
asbestos are used for that purpose, and unless great care is exercised, bubbles will
form which interfere with the proper coating of the wires.
The use of coke obviates this difficulty, as it is sufficiently porous to permit the
escape of the gases, and yet adapted to retain sufficient heat to melt off the surplus
coating material.
It will be understood that the coke is broken up into particles or pieces corresponding
in size with the character of the work, the pieces being quite small for the finer
grades of cloth or netting, and larger for the coarser grades.
I do not confine myself to the use of the flux E disposed on the metal D or in any
other position as a flux may be dispensed with when the wires of which the web J
is composed are not sufficiently oxidized to prevent the coating material to adhere
properly; neither do I confine myself to any special form of guide C. nor to any
special means for immersing the web J; nor to the use of the coke in coating wire-
cloth and wire netting only, as it may be employed to good advantage in coating
other articles with metal in the manner described.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said invention,
and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to ine by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
First. In galvanizing or tinning wire-cloth, wire-netting and other articles, the
employment of coke as a wiper for removing the surplus coating material, substantially
as described.
Second. The improvement in the coating or galvanizing of metallic articles which
consists in subjecting such articles to the action of a molten metal bath, and to the
wiping action of floating particles of coke on said bath, substantially as set forth.
Third. In galvanizing or tinning wire-cloth, wire-netting and other articles, passing
the cloth, netting or article to be coated into a mass of molten metal or coating
material contained in a suitable pot or vessel, and withdrawing the same through a
wiper composed of coke disposed on said molten metal in the pot, substantially as
described.
Fourth. In galvanizing or tinning wire-cloth,wire-netting and other articles, passing the
cloth, netting or article to be coated through a flux of sal-ammoniac or similar material,
then into a mass of molten metal or coating material contained in a suitable pot or vessel,
and withdrawing the same through a wiper composed of coke, the flux and wiper

page_text: being disposed on said molten metal in the pot and separated by a dam or partition,
substantially as set forth.
Fifth. The combination of the coke H, with the metal D, pot B, and guide C
substantially as described.
Sixth. The combination of the coke H, with the metal D, flux E, pot B, and
guide C, substantially as set forth.
Seventh. The combination of the pot B, guide C, and coke H, substantially as
described.