Improvements in the Manufacture of Tin and Terne Plates and other like Metal Coated Plates or Sheets and in Apparatus Employed in the said Manufacture.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 11th Oct., 1898
Complete Specification Left, 5th July, 1899-Accepted, 30th Sept., 1899
Improvements in the Manufacture of Tin and Terne Plates and other
like Metal Coated Plates or Sheets and in Apparatus Employed in
the said Manufacture.
We, RICHARD BEAUMONT THOMAS, of Dennel Hill, near Chepstow, in the County
of Monmouth, Gentleman, and HUBERT SPENCE THOMAS, of The Cottage, Lyd-
brook, in the County of Gloucester, Tin Plate Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
-
Our invention relates principally to the tinning or metal coating operation
in the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other like metal coated plates
or sheets and consists in conducting the said tinning or metal coating operation
in the manner and by the use of the apparatus hereinafter described whereby
the following advantages, among others, are secured.
The immersion of the plate into and its passage through the fluxing box and
through the molten metal pot or bath or pots or baths, until the coated plate
is seized by the rolls for the finishing operation is facilitated and the tinman's
labour or other skilled labour altogether obviated as far as immersing the plate
or sheet into and through the fluxing chamber into the molten metal below is
concerned until it is seized by rollers, nippers or other mechanical conveyors.
The disturbance of the coating metal and flux in the pot or bath is also reduced.
Further, every part of the surface of the plate being coated is fully exposed first
to the action of the flux and afterwards to that of the tin or coating metal and
has such a speed given to it in passing through the flux and coating metal in
the pot or bath that the plates have a brighter appearance with a less quantity
of metal than plates coated in the ordinary way and the liability of oxide or
"scruff" gathering on and injuring the surface of the plate is obviated and a
larger number of plates can be passed through to the rolls than by the use of
the apparatus ordinarily employed.
We will describe our improvements as applied to the tinning operation in
conjunction with the apparatus which we employ for that purpose.
We use in the tinning pot or bath (or tinning pots or baths) having a fluxing
box at its entrance end, a to and fro or reciprocating pusher having a curvilinear
motion through about a semi-circle. The acting part of the said pusher has
preferably nearly the same curvature as the bottom of the tinning pot or bath
and turns on a horizontal axle or spindle above the said bath. The reciprocating
pusher is so weighted that when at liberty to move it returns to its normal
position and occupies the entrance end of the bath, its front acting end, which
is provided with a flange or snug, projecting from and being situated consider-
ably above the fluxing box at the entrance end of the bath. The forward position
of the reciprocating pusher for passing the plate through the fluxing box and
coating metal in the bath may be effected by a cam on a shaft above that on
which the pusher turns, the said cam acting against a short arm near the centre
on which the said pusher turns; but we do not limit ourselves to any particular

page_text: mechanism for actuating the reciprocating pusher. For example, the weight
on the pusher for returning it to its. front or normal position for receiving the
plate to be coated may be dispensed with and both the forward and back motions
of the pusher may be effected by mechanical means, but in every case we prefer
to so actuate the reciprocating pusher that it gives a quicker travel to the plate
through the first portion of the tinning operation than is imparted to it during
the finishing part of the operation.
The flange or snug at the forward end of the pusher, against which flange or
snug the plate is placed, may be made adjustable to suit short or long plates; and
the plate may be kept in its place against the said snug or flange by a spring
or by tappets or other mechanical means.
Top, bottom and side guides, fixed or movable, are connected to and are
actuated by the pusher like the stage and protection of a pit.
In conducting the tinning operation by the use of the apparatus described
the attendant situated at the entrance end of the bath places the plate nearly
vertically against the snug or flange at the top of the pusher when the said
pusher is in its front position and has temporarily come to rest.
As the pusher
makes its forward motion it pushes the plate before. it through the flux in the
fluxing box and through the molten tin in the bath to a pair of rolls in the
finishing pot or bath where the plate is finished by passing between rolls or a
series of rolls in the ordinary way.
The plate having been seized by the rolls the reciprocating pusher makes its
back motion to the front of the bath ready to receive a second plate and so on.
The pusher hereinbefore described may be used for pushing a series of parallel
plates at a time through the fluxing box and bath so as to feed a series of plates
simultaneously to the required pairs of rolls for the finishing process.
Although the reciprocating pusher is principally useful for feeding plates
through a tinning or metal coating bath or baths yet it may be used for analogous
operations in the manufacture of tin or metal coated plates such for example as
passing the plates through a swilling bath immediately in front of the fluxing
box of an adjoining tinning bath of the kind described in the Complete Specifica-
tion of our Application No. 15,345 of 1897.
Dated this Eleventh day of October 1898.
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.
Improvements in the Manufacture of Tin and Terne Plates and other
like Metal Coated Plates or Sheets and in Apparatus Employed in
the said Manufacture.
We, RICHARD BEAUMONT THOMAS, of Dennel Hill, near Chepstow, in the County
of Monmouth, Gentleman, and HUBERT SPENCE THOMAS, of The Cottage, Lyd-
brook, in the County of Gloucester, Tin Plate Manufacturer, do hereby declare
the nature of our invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to
be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:
Our invention relates principally to the tinning or metal coating operation
in the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other like metal coated plates
or sheets and consists in conducting the said tinning or metal coating operation
in the manner and by the use of the apparatus hereinafter described whereby
the following advantages, among others, are secured.
The immersion of the plate into and its passage through the fluxing box and

page_text: through the molten metal pot or bath or pots or baths, until the coated plate
is seized by the rolls for the finishing operation is facilitated and the tinman's
labour or other skilled labour altogether obviated as far as immersing the plate
or sheet into and through the fluxing chamber into the molten metal below is
concerned, until it is seized by rollers, nippers or other mechanical conveyors.
The disturbance of the coating metal and flux in the pot or bath is also reduced.
Further, every part of the surface of the plate being coated is fully exposed first
to the action of the flux and afterwards to that of the tin or coating metal and
has such a speed given to it in passing through the flux and coating metal in
the pot or bath that the plates have a brighter appearance with a less quantity
of metal than plates coated in the ordinary way and the liability of oxide or
scruff" gathering on and injuring the surface of the plate is obviated and a
larger number of plates can be passed through to the rolls than by the use of
the apparatus ordinarily employed.
We will describe our improvements as applied to the tinning operation in
conjunction with the apparatus which we employ for that purpose.
We use in the tinning pot or bath (or tinning pots or baths) having a fluxing
box at its entrance end, a to and fro or reciprocating pusher having a curvilinear
motion through about a semi-circle.. The acting part of the said pusher has
preferably nearly the same curvature as the bottom of the tinning pot or bath
and turns on a horizontal axle or spindle above the said bath. The reciprocating
pusher is so weighted that when at. liberty to move it returns to its normal
position and occupies the entrance end of the bath, its front acting end, which
is provided with a flange or snug, projecting from and being situated consider-
ably above the fluxing box at the entrance end of the bath. The forward movement
of the reciprocating pusher for passing the plate through the fluxing box and
coating metal in the bath may be effected by a cam on a shaft above that on
which the pusher turns the said cam acting against a short arm near the centre
on which the said pusher turns; but we do not limit ourselves to any particular
mechanism for actuating the reciprocating pusher. For example, the weight
on the pusher for returning it to its front or normal position for receiving the
plate to be coated may be dispensed with and both the forward and back motions
of the pusher be effected by mechanical means, but in every case we prefer
to so actuate, the reciprocating pusher that it gives a quicker travel to the plate
through the tin pot or bath than is imparted to it by the rolls during the finishing
part of the tinning operation, that is to say, where the plate passes into and
through the finishing or grease pot and is no longer under the action of the
pusher.
The flange or snug at the forward end of the pusher, against which flange or
snug the plate is placed, may be made adjustable to suit short or long, plates; and
the plate may be kept in its place against the said snug or flange by a spring
or by tappets or other mechanical means.
Top, bottom and side guides, fixed or movable are connected to and are
actuated by the pusher like the stage and protection of a pit.
In conducting the tinning operation by the use of the apparatus described
the attendant situated at the entrance end of the bath places the plate preferably
upon a movable table by which the said plate is brought against the snug or
flange at the top of the pusher when the said pusher is in its front position and
has temporarily come to rest. As the pusher makes its forward motion it. pushes
the plate before it through the flux in the fluxing box and through the molten
tin in the bath to a pair of rolls in the finishing pot or bath where the plate is
finished by passing between rolls or a series of rolls in the ordinary way.
The plate having been seized by the rolls the reciprocating pusher makes its
back motion to the front of the bath ready to receive a second plate and so on.
Figure 1 of the accompanying drawings represents in plan machinery or
apparatus to be employed in the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other
like metal coated plates or sheets according to our invention.

page_text: Figure 2 is a vertical section of the same taken on the dotted line,
Figure 1.
The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of
the drawings.
A is the tin coating pot or bath and B is the fluxing chamber at the front
end of the said bath A, the flux in the said chamber B being confined between
the flux plate 6 and the sides or walls of the bath A as usual.
a are rails or bars in the pot or bath A on which rails or bars the plates travel
and by which they are kept off the bottom of the bath.
The plate feeding and carrying mechanism constituting the essential feature
of our invention consists of a reciprocating pusher e in the form of a pair of
curved arms branching out of or connected to a single radial arm e² having a
boss turning loosely on a shaft f. The free ends of the curved arms e, e of
the pusher terminate in flanges or snugs e¹, el. The boss e³ of the pusher has
a toothed or pinion like collar at one side with which gear wheels g, h keyed
or fixed respectively to shafts g², 2 alternately engage to give the pusher its
reciprocating motion. The shaft g2 is the principal or driven shaft of the machine
and drives through the spur wheels g³, h3 represented in the plan Figure 1, the
secondary shaft 2. It will be seen by an examination of the drawings that. the
wheels 9, hare toothed through about one half of their circumference, the other
half being plain or cylindrical. It will also be seen that when the toothed part
of the wheel by which the pusher is brought to its normal position at the front
of the machine, as indicated in full lines in Figure 2, escapes or passes out of
gear with the pinion like collar e3 of the pusher c, e¹, e², the toothed part of the
wheel h, by which the forward or carrying motion is given to the pusher, is
about to gear with the toothed collar e³ of the pusher.
The plates to be tinned or metal coated are preferably placed upon a frame,
rest or table having bottom guides or rests proper marked c, c and side guides c¹, c¹
carried by bottom bars ², 2 hinged to or turning on the shaft d. For convenience
of description we will hereinafter refer to the several parts c, c¹, e² as the table.
The table c, c, c² in its normal position is preferably approximately horizontal
as indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2, but on the cam i, which is carried by
the driving shaft g², striking against the free end of the rocking lever 7, 1, which
turns on the shaft m, the table c, c1, c2 is lifted by the link or connecting rod n
into a vertical position as represented in Figure 2. Weighted fingers pare
provided by which the plate is prevented from leaving the flange or snug el
of the pusher e and thereby prematurely entering the metal coating pot or bath
when the table is raised into the vertical position. On the cam escaping the
free end of the rocking lever the table falls into its horizontal position, a
spring acting as a buffer to break the force of the fall and thereby prevent
damage to the machine.
It will be seen by an examination of the plan Figure 1 that we prefer to
triplicate the pushing mechanism and adjuncts with each hath A, the said
pushing mechanism being arranged side by side, the pusher at one side of the
bath being at the commencing end of its stroke when the pusher at the other
side of the bath is at the finishing end of its stroke, the middle pusher being
in an intermediate position with respect to the outside pushers.
The plan
Figure 1 also shows the respective positions of the three plate receiving tables
or rests. The table at the side near the top of the drawing is down or preferably
approximately horizontal while the table at the side near the bottom of the
drawing is up or vertical and the middle table is in the act of being raised or
lowered.
The machine is used as follows:-
The plate or sheet to be tinned is placed upon the table c, c1, c2 when in its
preferably approximately horizontal position. On the return of the pusher e
to its normal position at the front of the machine the table is raised into its
vertical position by the action of the cam i on the rocking lever 7 the plate being
temporarily supported by the fingers the top edge of the plate being brought

page_text: under the flange or snug e¹ of the pusher. On the pusher e commencing its
advance motion, the flange or snug bears on the edge of the plate, and the said
plate is carried off the table and through the fluxing chamber and metal coating
bath and is delivered into the finishing or grease pot s which is of the ordinary
construction and constitutes no part of our invention, the pusher after it has
made its advance stroke taking the position indicated in dotted lines in Figure 2.
We wish it to be understood that we do not limit ourselves to the kind of
gearing described and represented for giving the reciprocating motion to the
pusher as other gearing may be employed for that purpose without departing
from the nature of our invention.
We prefer to employ a weight connected by means of a chain or cord u
to the radial arm e2 of the pusher to assist in the return of the pusher e into
its fully raised position at the front of the machine.
The pusher herein before described may be used for pushing a series of parallel
plates at a time through the fluxing box and bath so as to feed a series of plates
simultaneously to the required pairs of rolls for the finishing process.
Although the reciprocating pusher is principally useful for feeding plates
through a tinning or metal coating bath or baths yet it may be used for analogous
operations in the manufacture of tin or metal coated plates such for example as
passing the plates through a swilling bath immediately in front of the fluxing
box of an adjoining tinning bath of the kind described in the Complete Specifica-
tion of Letters Patent granted to us No. 15,345 of 1897.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that we
claim as our invention:-
First: In the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other like metal coated
plates or sheets the use of an apparatus consisting essentially of a curvilinear
reciprocating pusher for carrying the plate through the coating or other bath
the said pusher being constructed and actuated by gearing substantially as herein-
before described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Secondly: In apparatus for the manufacture of tin and terne plates and
other like metal coated plates or sheets, the combination with a table capable
of turning from a horizontal or approximately horizontal position into a vertical
position, of a reciprocating pusher and mechanism for actuating the said table
and pusher substantially as hereinbefore described and illustrated in the accom-
panying drawings.
Thirdly-In apparatus for the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other
like metal coated plates or sheets, the combination with the table c, c¹, and
pusher e, c, e, e³ of a weighted finger p for temporarily supporting the plate
or sheet as the table moves into the vertical position substantially as hereinbefore
described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Fourthly: In apparatus for the manufacture of tin and terne plates and other
like metal coated plates or sheets:-the combination with the pusher e, e¹, e², e
of a weighted finger 7 for temporarily supporting the plate or sheet prior to the
pusher making its advance stroke substantially as herein before described and
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
Dated the Thountl
e T 1
1000
W. T. WHITEMAN,
Agent for the Applicants.