U.S. patent number 3,877,414 [Application Number 05/366,788] was granted by the patent office on 1975-04-15 for apparatus for coating wire filament with liquid.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Acrometal Products, Inc.. Invention is credited to Francis N. Brideau, Floyd A. Dumas.
United States Patent |
3,877,414 |
Brideau , et al. |
April 15, 1975 |
Apparatus for coating wire filament with liquid
Abstract
A pair of soft elastic porous bodies disposed in face-to-face
engagement for movement therebetween of a wire filament. One of the
bodies is saturated with wire coating liquid under pressure from a
manifold on which the saturated body is mounted, the other body
absorbing coating liquid from the saturated body. The manifold with
the one body is mounted for adjustment movements toward and away
from the path of movement of the wire filament, and the other
porous body is biased toward engagement with the manifold mounted
body and the wire passing between the bodies. A wiping roll is
positioned to tangentially engage the wire filament as it moves
away from the porous bodies and rotates in a direction to wipe the
wire filament in a reverse direction to that of movement of the
filament.
Inventors: |
Brideau; Francis N. (Mound,
MN), Dumas; Floyd A. (Hamel, MN) |
Assignee: |
Acrometal Products, Inc.
(Minneapolis, MN)
|
Family
ID: |
23444503 |
Appl.
No.: |
05/366,788 |
Filed: |
June 4, 1973 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
118/234; 118/104;
118/266; 118/118 |
Current CPC
Class: |
B05C
1/06 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B05C
1/04 (20060101); B05C 1/06 (20060101); B05c
001/06 () |
Field of
Search: |
;118/118,234,264,18,22,266,123,104,118,234,264,DIG.18,DIG.22,266,123,104 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
Saffran, German Application 1,127,768 Printed April 12, 1962. .
Antonio, German Application 1,947,890 Printed Oct. 29,
1970..
|
Primary Examiner: Newton; Dorsey
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Merchant, Gould, Smith &
Edell
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. Apparatus for coating a moving wire with liquid comprising:
a. an elongated manifold having a plurality of spaced outlet
openings arranged in a longitudinally extending row, and a liquid
inlet opening spaced from said row of outlet openings;
b. a first body comprising a sheet of felt cloth partially
encompassing said manifold and having an inner surface overlying
said openings and a wire engaging outer surface;
c. means for releasably holding said sheet in engagement with said
manifold;
d. a second body of soft elastic porous material having a
wire-engaging outer surface;
e. means mounting said second body in wire engaging face-to-face
engagement with said first body whereby said second body absorbs
coating liquid from said first body;
f. and means for guiding said wire between said bodies;
g. the elasticity of said bodies being such that each thereof
yields to partially encompass said wire moving therebetween.
2. Apparatus for coating a moving wire with liquid, comprising:
a. a supporting frame structure;
b. means for guiding wire for longitudinal movement thereof
relative to the frame structure;
c. a first body of soft elastic porous material having a
wire-engaging outer surface;
d. body mounting means on said frame structure mounting said first
body for wiping engagement of said first body with said wire and
comprising, a sub-frame mounted on the frame structure for
movements transversely of the path of movement of said wire, and a
manifold carried by said sub-frame;
e. means for holding said sub-frame in desired positions of said
movement thereof;
f. means including said manifold for delivery of a constant supply
of wire coating liquid under pressure to said first body;
g. a second body of soft porous material having a wire-engaging
outer surface;
h. and mounting means mounting said second body for movements
toward and away from engagement of the outer surface thereof with
said wire and with the outer surface of said first body, said
mounting means being yieldingly urged in a direction toward said
engagement of said outer surface;
i. the elasticity of said bodies being such that each thereof
yields to partially encompass the wire moving therebetween.
3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 in which said mainfold defines
fluid inlet and outlet passage means, said first body overlying
said outlet passage means, said body mounting means further
including clamping elements carried by said subframe for clamping
said first body on said manifold.
4. The apparatus defined in claim 2 in which said mounting means
for the second body comprises a rigid mounting bar, said sub-frame
including spaced portions defining guideways, said mounting bar
having opposite end portions disposed in said guideways and
supported therein.
5. The apparatus defined in claim 4 in which said guideways slope
downwardly toward said manifold, whereby said mounting bar is
gravity biased toward face-to-face engagement of said second body
with said first body.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention is in the nature of an improvement over prior wire
coating or enameling devices using rotary metallic cylindrical
applicators, die applicators of the type using metal or felt wiping
dies or pads, some having apertures through which a wire filament
moves, and bath or spray-type coating applicators. Examples of such
prior applicators are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,968,687,
1,994,802; 2,394,066; 2,740,373 and 3,194,210. In some prior
structures, wire must be threaded through small apertures; in
others using metallic applicator rolls, replacement of the rolls
when worn is expensive; and in others, difficulty has been
experienced in obtaining a uniform coating over a length of wire
filament.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An important object of this invention is the provision of apparatus
for coating a moving wire filament with liquid, which applies a
coating having a uniform thickness over the entire surface of the
filament.
Another object of this invention is the provision of wire coating
apparatus, utilizing wire-engaging applicator elements which are
inexpensive and easy to replace when worn.
Still another object of the invention is the provision of wire
coating apparatus which has a minimum of moving parts, which is
highly efficient in operation, and which can coat wire filament of
various diameters with a minimum of adjustment.
To the above ends, there is provided a wire filament coating
apparatus which includes a pair of coater bodies of soft elastic
porous material having outer opposed wire filament engaging
surfaces, a frame structure mounting the porous bodies and
including a manifold for delivering coating liquid to one of the
porous bodies and for movement of the other of the bodies toward
and away from engagement with the one body. A pump is provided for
delivering coating liquid to the manifold under pressure, and a
guide roll is journaled in the frame structure for guiding wire
filament between the porous bodies. A rotatively driven wiper roll
is journaled in the frame structure for tangential engagement with
coated wire filament moving away from the coating bodies and
rotates in a direction wherein the filament engaging portion of the
roll moves rearwardly or reverse to the direction of movement of
the filament. A doctor blade is utilized to remove coating liquid
from the wiper roll. One of the porous bodies, in the nature of a
sheet of felt, is held on the manifold by a clamp arrangement,
whereby the sheet may be quickly and easily removed and replaced
when necessary. The opposite body, in the nature of a strip or
block of felt, is one of a pair mounted in grooves on opposite
sides of a mounting bar that is slidably mounted in the frame
structure for movements sloping downwardly toward and upwardly away
from the felt sheet mounted on the manifold.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a fragmentary view in front elevation of a wire filament
coating apparatus produced in accordance with this invention;
FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view in side elevation, some parts being
broken away and some parts being shown in section, and some parts
being shown diagrammatically;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on
the line 3--3 of FIG. 1;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary section taken substantially on
the line 4--4 of FIG. 1, some parts being broken away;
FIG. 5 is a greatly enlarged fragmentary section taken
substantially on the line 5--5 of FIG. 3; and
FIG. 6 is a view in exploded perspective of the manifold of this
invention, some parts being broken away and some parts being shown
in section.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In the drawings, a supporting frame structure is indicated
generally at 1, the same comprising a horizontally disposed main
frame member 2 in the nature of a heavy metallic cross-sectionally
rectangular tube, a pair of horizontal forwardly and rearwardly
extending plate-like members 3 welded or otherwise rigidly secured
to opposite end portions of the main frame member 2, a channel
member 4 having opposite ends secured to the front end portions of
the plate-like members 3 by nut equipped bolts or the like 5, and
supporting legs 6 extending downwardly from the members 3 and
connected by end members 7 and a lower cross frame member 8. The
plate-like members 3 are reinforced by gussets 9 that are welded to
the members 3 and to the opposite ends of the main frame member 2.
The frame structure 1 further includes a pair of laterally spaced
parallel side frame members 10 that are welded or otherwise
anchored at their lower ends to the main frame member 2 and extend
upwardly therefrom, a pair of reinforcing gussets 11 each welded to
the lower end portion of a different one of the side frame members
10 and to the adjacent end portion of the main frame member 2, and
a top frame member 12 having opposite ends welded or otherwise
anchored to the upper ends of the side frame members 10. Further,
the frame structure 1 includes a channel-like support member 13
that is rigidly secured at its upper end to the main frame member
2, and which extends downwardly therefrom to support a geared head
motor 14 by means of nut-equipped bolts 15.
Each side frame member 10 has mounted on its inner surface one of a
pair of horizontally disposed support rails 16 on which is mounted
a subframe 17 comprising a pair of laterally spaced vertical end
plates 18 that are each disposed in laterally inwardly spaced
parallel relationship to an adjacent one of the side frame members
10, and a cross bar 19 disposed at the rear edges of the end plates
18 and welded at its opposite ends to the end plates 18. Also
welded to the end plates 18, adjacent their upper edges, are a pair
of mounting bars 20 each adapted to extend longitudinally of and
rest upon a different one of the support rails 16. Each of the
mounting bars 20 is formed with a pair of longitudinally spaced
downwardly opening notches 21 for reception of the flange 22 of a
different one of a pair of threaded adjustment nuts 23 that are
screw threaded on studs 24 which project forwardly from the support
rails 16.
The end plates 18 are formed to provide one of a pair of aligned
vertical slots 25 that extend downwardly from the upper edge of
their respective end plate 18, each slot being notched or widened
near the upper edge of its respective end plate 18, as indicated at
26. Further, each end plate 18 is formed to provide a second slot
27 that slopes downwardly and rearwardly from the front edge of
each end plate 18 toward the lower end portion of its respective
slots 25, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. Each of the slots 27 adjacent
the front edge of its respective end plate 18 is formed to provide
an upwardly opening notch 28, the slots 27 being in alignment, as
are the slots 25. The end plates 18 are connected at their lower
ends by an open-topped drain pan 29 and by a rigid bar 50 that
slopes rearwardly and downwardly within the tray 29, and having its
upper edge portion 31 disposed shortly below the level of the
bottoms of the slots 25, see particularly FIG. 3.
An elongated hollow cylindrical manifold 32 includes a cylindrical
wall 33 and a pair of opposite end walls 34, the cylindrical wall
33 being provided with a pair of rows of longitudinally spaced
discharged openings 35. The end walls 34 are provided with
generally rectangular guide lugs 36 each of which is slidably
mounted in a different one of the slots 25 in the end plates 18.
The lugs 36 are so disposed relative to the rows of discharge
openings 35 that, when the lugs 36 are properly disposed in the
slots 25, one of the rows of openings 35 is on a level with the
axis of the manifold 32, the other row of openings 35 being
angularly spaced above said one row of openings 35. Preferably, the
axes of the upper row of openings 35 are disposed approximately 45
circular degrees above the horizontal. An inlet fitting 37 is
mounted in the manifold 32 preferably diametrically opposite the
lower row of openings 35, the lower row of openings 35 being in the
front portion of the manifold 32, the inlet fitting 37 projecting
rearwardly. A conduit 38 is secured to the fitting 37, and is shown
diagrammatically in FIG. 2 as extending to a reservoir 39 of
coating liquid, such as enamel. A conventional fluid pump 40 is
interposed in the conduit 38 for the purpose of supplying wire
coating liquid under pressure to the manifold 32. A by-pass conduit
41 is connected to the conduit 38 between the pump 40 and manifold
32, and leads back to the reservoir 39, the conduit 41 being
provided with a pressure relief valve 42.
An elongated spacer bar 43, preferably made from round metallic rod
stock, has a pair of downturned ends 44 that are received within a
pair of discharged openings 35 at opposite ends of the upper row
thereof, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6. A first coating body 45 is in
the nature of a sheet of soft elastic porous material, such as
felt, and is mounted on the manifold 32 by being partially wrapped
around the top, front and bottom portions of the manifold 32 and in
overlying relationship to the spacer bar 43, see particularly FIG.
3. As there shown, the lower portion of the sheet 45 is interposed
between the bottom portion of the manifold 32 and the upper edge
portion 31 of the rigid bar 30. The sheet 45 is releasably held in
place on the manifold 32 by an elongated clamping rod 46 having its
opposite ends slidably disposed in the slots 25, and a pair of
clamping screws 47 that are screw threadedly mounted in a mounting
bar 48 which overlies the clamping rod 46 and has its opposite ends
disposed in the widened or notched portions 26 of the slots 25. As
shown, the clamping bar 46 and mounting bar 48 are disposed in
upwardly spaced parallel relationship to the manifold 32, the
clamping screws 47 engaging the clamping rod 46 to cause the
portions of the porous sheet 45 engaging the clamping rod 46 and
bar 30 to be securely clamped therebetween and the adjacent
portions of the manifold 32. Also, as particularly shown in FIG. 3,
the spacer bar 43 provides for a pocket between the manifold wall
33 and the overlying portion of the porous sheet 45 which pocket
becomes filled with coating liquid from the upper row of discharge
openings 35 to aid in saturating the porous body or sheet 45 with
coating liquid. The coating liquid, being under pressure from the
pump 40, quickly and effectively saturates the porous body 45
throughout its length and width.
A pair of second bodies of soft elastic porous material, such as
wool felt, are indicated at face of and are mounted each in a
dovetail groove 50 in an opposite side of an elongated rigid
mounting block or bar 51, disposed forwardly of the manifold 32 and
first porous body 45. At its opposite ends, the mounting bar 51 is
provided with aligned longitudinally outwardly projecting stub
shafts 52 each of which is slidably mounted in a different one of
the slots 27 in the end plates 18. The stub shafts 52 not only
permit the mounting bar 51 to gravitate downwardly into engagement
of the outer faceof one of the second bodies 49 with the front or
outer surface of the first body or sheet 45, but also permit the
mounting bar 51 to be rotated on its own axis so that either one of
the bodies 49 may be disposed selectively in face-to-face
engagement with the porous body or sheet 45. The notches 28 in the
slots 27 provide support for the mounting bar 51 in forwardly
spaced relation to the porous body 45 to provide for easy threading
of wire filament, indicated at 53, between the opposed first and
second bodies 45 and 49.
In the coating operation, the wire 53 moves upwardly between the
inter-engaging porous bodies 45 and 49 from a source of supply, not
shown, of the wire 53, and toward a curing oven, not shown, but
wherein the enamel or other coating substance on the wire is cured
or dried. Means for guiding the wire 53 toward the coating bodies
includes a circumferentially grooved guide roll 54 that is
journalled in bearing brackets 55 carried by the channel member 4,
as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. While but one strand or filament of wire
53 is shown, it will be appreciated that a plurality of filaments
or lengths thereof may be fed through the coating apparatus as far
as the lengths of the porous bodies 45 and 49 can accommodate them.
With refernece to FIG. 5, it will be seen that the soft yielding
characteristics of the felt bodies 45 and 49 cause the same to
yield to form channels for reception of the wire filament 53 when
the bodies 45 and 49 are in face-to-face engagement. The coating
liquid, being under pressure from the pump 40, thoroughly saturates
the porous body 45, as above indicated, some of the coating liquid
being absorbed by the adjacent second porous body 49. Thus, as the
wire 53 moves upwardly between the bodies 45 and 49, coating liquid
is wiped thereupon by the saturated bodies 45 and 49, surface
tension of the coating liquid causing the same to adhere to the
wire 53 in the minute apertures adjacent the wire 53, indicated at
56. These small apertures are formed by distortion of the bodies 45
and 49 around the wire filament 53. In view of the fact that fluid
is being constantly supplied to the body 45, through the manifold
32, the liquid seeps downwardly through the body 45 and drops into
the drain pan 29. From thence, the excess coating liquid descends
through a drain tube 57 into a tray 58 that is mounted on the main
frame member 2 and which is provided with a return conduit 59, by
means of which the coating liquid may be assumed to be returned to
the reservoir 39.
For the purpose of more closely controlling the distribution of the
enamel coating on the wire 53, a wiping roll 60 is provided in
upwardly spaced relation to the subframe 17 and coating parts
carried thereby. The wirping roll 60 is provided with aligned axial
stub shafts 61 that are journaled in suitable bearings 62 at the
upper end portion of the side frame members 10, for tangential
engagement of the outer cylindrical surface of the roll 60 with the
wire 53. The drive motor 14 is provided with an output shaft 63 on
which is mounted a drive pulley 64. A driven pulley 65 is mounted
on one of the shafts 61, and an endless flexible drive belt 66 is
entrained over the pulleys 64 and 65. Preferably, the motor 14
operates to rotate the wiper roll 60 in a direction wherein the
wire engaging surface portion thereof moves in a direction reverse
to the direction of movement of the wire 60, to wipe excess coating
liquid from the wire 53. Coating liquid is removed from the wiper
roll 60 by a doctor blade 67 that is mounted in an elongated
mounting block 68 having shaft portions 69 and 70 at its opposite
ends, these being pivotally mounted in L-shaped notches or slots 71
in the side frame members 10. A normally generally horizontally
disposed rod 72 projects forwardly from the shaft 70, and has
adjustably slidably mounted thereon a weight 73 which urges the
holder 68 in a direction of rotation on the common axes of the
shafts 69 and 70 to move the doctor blade 67 toward engagement with
the wiping surface of the wiping roll 60. A knob 74 at the outer
end of the rod 72 limits forward movement of the weight 73, and is
used as a handle when it is desired to swing the doctor blade 67
out of engagement with the wiper roll 60. An open-topped tray 75
underlies the bar 68, and is rigidly secured at its opposite ends
to the frame side members 10, by machine screws or the like 76.
Due to the fact that the coating enamel or liquid is delivered to
the porous body 45 under pressure, the effects of coating materials
of different viscosities on the thickness of each coat placed upon
the wire 53 are minimized. We have found that, in the
above-described arrangement, cheaper grades of felt can be used in
the applicator bodies than must be used in present day felt-wiping
dies. Further, the soft and elastic character of the bodies 45 and
49 permits the same to be used with wires 53 of various diameters,
and effectively coat the same.
While a commercial form of the wire coating apparatus of this
invention has been shown and described, it will be understood that
the same is capable of modification without departure from the
spirit and scope of the invention, as defined in the claims.
* * * * *