US1958468A - Method of producing hydrometer floats - Google Patents

Description

May 15, 1934. H. E. CHRISTIE ET AL METHOD OF PRODUCING HYDROMETER FLOATS Filed Jan. 6, 1930 m si e MW Ti a AW? m m V W m Wm A a w Patented May 15, 1934 Y NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE METHOD OF PRODUCING HYDROMETER FLOATS Application January 6, 1930, Serial No. 418,736

11 Claims.

This invention relates to an improvement in method of producing hydrometer floats, and particularly to a method by which to produce metallic hydromoter floats.

An object of the invention is to provide a simple and practical method according to which hydromoter floats made of metal may be quickly and easily produced at small cost.

A further object is to provide a method by which any number of hydrometer floats may be produced with great accuracy.

A further object is to provide a method by which to produce hydrometer floats and by which the weight of each individual float may be quicldy, easily and accurately altered so that the float will stand at a predetermined level in use.

A further object is to provide a new and improved method by which to add weight to a hydrometer float.

A further object is to provide a new and improved method by which hydrometer floats of any desired contour may be readily and cheaply produced.

Other objects and aims of the invention, more or less specific than those referred to above, will be in part obvious and in part pointed out in the course of the following description of the elements, combinations, arrangements of parts and applications of principles constituting the invention; and the scope of protection contemplated Will be indicated in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing which is to be taken as a part of this specification, and in which I have shown merely a preferred form of embodiment of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a core piece used in connection with this invention.

Figs. 2 and 3 are similar views showing progressive steps in the production of the float shell.

Fig. 4 is a detail sectional view illustrating the step by which weight is added to the float.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the manner in which weight may be removed, and

Fig. 6 illustrates a step which may or may not be used at the will of the operator.

In carrying out this method the first step is to provide a core piece having practically the size and proportions desired for the completed float. An example of such a core piece as L is illustrated in the drawing Fig. l, the core piece in the present instance having been made from a metallic composition having a low melting point.

Having provided the core piece the operator places it in a suitable electro-plating bath as 1 and in a well understood manner thus plates or coats the entire exterior surface of the core with a desired thickness of jacket or shell as G as illustrated in Fig. 2, the metal deposited upon the core having a relatively higher melting point than the metal of the core, being for instance preferably copper.

After a desired thickness of shell has been deposited then the whole is removed from the bath and subjected to heat as illustrated in Fig. 3, the heat being at a predetermined and suflicient temperature to melt the core L without injury to the material of the shell.

Just prior to subjecting the article to heat two small holes or openings as 2 and 3 are drilled one i into the upper end and the other into the lower end, these holes extending through the material of the shell so that air may enter through one thereof as that indicated 2 and so that the molten metal of the core may flow out through the other, as 3, as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3.

It is to be observed that by this procedure the shell which remains after the heat treatment is actually of two thicknesses, an outer thickness as 4 of metal, such as copper deposited by electroplating, and an inner thickness as 5 of the metal from which the core was made, the inner thickness appearing as a tinning throughout the entire inner surface of the shell and serving thereby to re-inforce and toughen the copper shell, as will be readily understood and as clearly indicated in the drawing Fig. 4.

It is desirable that the lower end of the float should be weighted, and in order to provide this the present method proposes that the necessary weight be introduced into the interior of the shell as molten metal and thereafter cooled. To this end the present invention contemplates the provision of a container as H adapted to contain a quantity of molten metal as 6 preferably in the amount which it is desired shall be introduced into the float. A heater as 7 may be provided to maintain the metal 6 in molten condition. The container, with its metal 6, having been provided, the operator places the lower end of the float into the metal 6, as indicated in Fig. 4, and by sucking with his mouth, or otherwise, upon the upper end of the float, through opening 2, draws the metal 6 into the float through opening'3, as indicated by the dotted line 8, it being important to note in this connection that the tinning as 5 within the float at this time provides a proper surface with which the molten metal 6 engages and with which said metal readily bonds or fuses the heat of the metal 6 serving to melt so much of the tinning as it comes in contact with and thus causing the two to become fused together when they have cooled.

When the float has been removed and allowed to again cool its lower end portion consists of a substantially solid body of metal consisting of the metallic weight piece 9 and the surrounding shell of the float, and it is proposed as a further step of the present method that wherever necessary a desired portion of this solid metal may be removed, by cutting, grinding or otherwise. In Fig. 5, the portion indicated by dotted lines 1%) illustrates the part which has been removed so that the remainder shall comprise just the necessary amount of weight to cause the float to stand at a predetermined level in the liquid medium in which it is designed for use.

The weight piece 9 serves to seal the lower end of the shell, and it is intended that the opening 2 at the upper end may be sealed in any appropriate manner, as for instance by the placing of a spec of cement, or solder, therein.

The exterior surface of the float may now be polished or otherwise finished as may be desired, for instance it may be plated with a thin coating of gold or silver if desired.

It is further proposed by the present invention that if it be desired to re-inforce any portion of the float this may be accomplished by plating that particular portion or portions of the core L before or other proceeding to plate the entire core as above suggested with regard to Fig. 2. Such a step is illustrated for instance in the drawing Fig. 6 wherein it will be understood that the shaded parts of the core are plated with a suitable thickness of re-inforcing metal as 11 preparatory to introducing the core into the bath 1.

It will of course be understood that the metal 11 has been deposited by electro-plating the same as described with reference to Fig. 2 but that during the time while the metal 11 was being deposited all portions of the core upon which it is desired the metal 11 shall not occur are protected by a suitable grease or other coating in a well understood manner.

By practicing the method herein illustrated and described it is made possible toproduce any number of hydrometer floats all substantially identical with each other, the degree of accuracy being such that scale indications as 12-12 may be formed directly in the material of the upper or stem portion of the float, the addition or removal of weight at the bottom end of the float as above described serving as means by which to correct any slight variation in the weights of different floats so that all may be made to stand at a given level in use. In order to provide such scale indications it is intended that the core L, which is itself of course cast in a suitable standard mold prepared for the purpose, be formed with suitable depressions therein shaped to correspond with scale lines and figures as indicated in Fig. 1 so that these depressions will be reproduced in the metallic shell which is plated over the core, as indicated in Figs. 2 and 3, it being proposed as a further step of the present method that these depressions may be filled with suitable coloring material, such as wax, paint or the like so they will be prominently visible to an observer.

It is also possible by this method to produce floats having shaped characteristics which would not be possible from a practical View point in the manufacture of glass hydrometer floats.

Whie it is above set forth that the metal shell 4 is deposited by electrical process it will of course be understood that this metal may if desired be deposited by any other process such for instance as the schoop metal spraying process. It is also intended that if desired the core piece illustrated in Fig. 1 may if preferred be made of material other than metal, as for instance a waxy material, the essential characteristic being simply that it will provide a readily meltable body or core of appropriate firmness and shape to receive the deposited metal thereon. Obviously where other than metal is used for this core however the shell resulting after removal of the readily meltable core, plating said core to form u a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving a sufficient portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell to constitute a thin lining upon the shell walls, and then adding a weight ,7

within the shell at the lower end thereof.

2. The herein described method of producing hydrorneter floats, which method consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core 7 being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, and then attaching a weight to a remaining portion of said core material at the lower end of the shell.

3. The herein described method of producing hydrometer floats, which consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistencyfor removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, attaching a metallic weight in molten form to the lower end of the shell in fused relation to a remaining portion of said core material, and then causing the molten material of said weight to solidify.

4. The herein described method of producing hydroineter floats, which consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal of the but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, attaching a metallic weight in molten form to the lower end of the shell in fused relation to a remaining portion of said core material causing the molten material of the weight to solidify, and then removing a portion of said weight and of said shell and of said remaining core material.

5. The herein described method of producing hydrometer floats, which consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, and then causing a quantity of weight forming material to be drawn through said opening into the shell sumcient to constitute a desired weight at the lower end of the shell.

6. The herein described method of producing hydrometer floats, which consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, introducing through said opening a quantity of molten metal into contact with a remaining portion of said core material at the lower end of the shell so as to become fused with said core material, and then causing said molten material to solidify.

'7. The herein described method of producing hydrometer floats, which consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of the shell, forming a pair of openings through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, applying sue tion at one of the shell openings and thereby drawing into the shell through another of the shell openings a quantity of molten metal into contact with a remaining portion of said core material at the lower end of the shell so as to become fused with said core material, and then causing said molten material to solidify.

8. The herein described method of producing metallic hydrometer floats where a portion of said float requires greater thickness than other portions, which method consists in providing a readily meltable core, plating with metal that portion of the core which corresponds with the portion of the float requiring added thickness without plating the remainder of the core, then plating said core and said plating as one with metal to form a thin metallic shell covering said core and said first plating, the core being of material having a relatively lower melting point than the metal of either said first plating or said second plating, forming an opening through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving a sufficient portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell to constitute a thin lining upon the shell walls, and then adding a weight within the shell at the lower end thereof.

9. The herein described method of producing a hydrometer float having a relatively large bulbular portion and a relatively small stem-like extension thereon, which method consists in providing a core piece corresponding with the shape desired for said float and being formed of readily meltable material, depositing as by electroplating upon said core a layer of metal suflicient to constitute a shell conforming to the contour of said core, the metal of said shell having a relatively higher melting point than the material of the core, forming an opening through the shell at the lower end of the bulbular portion and a second opening through the shell at the upper end of the stem portion, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, and then applying suction at the shell opening at the upper end of the stem portion and thereby drawing into the shell through the opening at the lower end of the bulbular portion a quantity of weight forming material.

10. The herein described method of producing a hydrometer float, which method consists in providing a core piece corresponding with the shape desired for said float and formed of readily meltable material, depositing as by electro-plating upon said core a layer of metal sufilcient to constitute a shell, the material of said shell having a relatively higher melting point than the material of the core, forming a plurality of openings spaced apart through the shell, heating the whole to reduce the core material to a consistency for removal through said opening and removing a portion of the core material through said opening but leaving the remaining portion adhering to the inner surface of the shell, and then operating at one of said openings to move a weight into the lower end of the shell through another of said openings.

11. The herein described method of producing a waterproof metallic shell which method consists in providing a readily meltable core of the shape desired for said shell, plating said core to form a thin metallic shell thereon, heating the whole to reduce the core material of such consistency as to be capable of flowing through a suitable opening of the shell, and removing a portion of the core material but leaving a suflicient portion thereof adhering to the inner surface of the shell to constitute a thin lining upon the shell Walls HOWARD E. CHRISTIE. KIBBEY W. COUSE.

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