Apparatus for electroplating

Claim 1

A PLATING APPARATUS FOR THE ELECTRODEPOSITION OF A SMOOTH, UNIFORM, ADHERENT SILVER PLATE ON SEMICYLINDRICAL, SEMIANNULAR STEEL BEARING SHELLS COMPRISING A TANK, A SUBSTANTIALLY NONCONDUCTIVE WORK SUPPORT IN SAID TANK, SAID WORK SUPPORT HAVING A GENERALLY FLAT HORIZONTAL BASE PORTION FOR SUPPORTING AT LEAST ONE BEARING SHELL ON ITS LONGITUDINAL EDGES, A SPRING-TYPE ELECTRICAL CONTACT MEANS ON SAID BASE OF SAID WORK SUPPORT FOR CONTACTING THE INNER DIAMETER OF THE BEARING SHELL, A THIEF RING ON SAID BASE OF SAID WORK SUPPORT FOR ENCIRCLING THE BEARING SHELL TO INHIBIT EXCESSIVE UNDESIRABLE ELECTRODEPOSITION ON THE LONGITUDINAL EDGES THEREOF, A PAIR OF GENERALLY PARALLEL SEMIANNULAR CONDUCTIVE METAL BEARING SHELL END PLATES ON SAID BASE BETWEEN WHICH SAID CONTACT MEANS IS DISPOSED, SAID ELECTRICAL CONTACTS, SAID THIEF RING AND SAID SEMIANNULAR METAL PLATES IN ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION WITH A SOURCE OF NEGATIVE POTENTIAL TO INDUCE UNIFORM CURRENT DISTRIBUTION ON SAID BEARING SHELL, AND AN ANODE IN SAID TANK IN ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION WITH SAID SOURCE OF POSITIVE POTENTIAL.