US3882816A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus for forming layers of fusible metal on articles
Assignee: AT&T Inc
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Filing: 1972-09-22
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Granted: 1975-05-13
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Expires: 1992-09-22
Abstract
Abstract In fabricating sealed contacts, often their axially extending leads are solder coated to protect them from contamination and to enhance their solderability into circuits. An apparatus for solder coating the leads, which minimizes their bending, includes a conveying apparatus that moves the contacts through various stages of the solder coating apparatus to form layers of solder on the leads. These layers, which are carefully controlled, are no greater than a certain maximum thickness, and are thinner on the ends of the leads than on the side surfaces thereof. To coat the leads, the contacts are individually mounted in a plurality of holders, each of which is fixed to an individual bead of an endless chain of the conveying apparatus. As the chain is advanced through a passageway of a tube having various curvilinear and rectilinear slots formed in the outer surface thereof, the holders extending through these slots are oriented in various longitudinal positions along the tube and angular positions about the chain to appropriately orient the leads through the stages of the solder coating apparatus. In a first stage, the contacts are loaded into the holders from a bin and moved in a predetermined orientation to second stage where a mixture of powdered solder and flux is applied to each lead by coating wheels having resilient peripheral surfaces. The leads are moved into simultaneous contact with these surfaces to coat the side surfaces and ends of the lead with the mixture. Next the leads are moved in the same angular orientation by the chain through a heating apparatus having a baffle arrangement to substantially confine hot gases to the vicinity of the leads to melt the solder of the mixture. The chain then moves the solder coated leads longitudinally along the tube and rotatably about the chain due to the camming action of the slots on the holders. This changes the angular orientation of the leads and immerses the contacts and leads in a clenching bath to remove any residual flux from the leads. The contacts are next rotatably and longitudinally moved out of the cleaning bath and into a rinsing bath. Finally, the contacts are moved through a drying chamber to remove any remnants of the rinsing bath and are stripped from the holders into a bin.
Inventors
- 👤 David L Rooz
- 👤 Ford J Brown
- 👤 Richard J Merwarth
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-29 15:32
CPC Classifications
H; H01; H01H; H01H11/00; H01H11/005; B; B23; B23K; B23K3/00; B23K3/06; B23K3/0646; B23K3/0669; B23K3/0676; B23K3/0692; B65; B65G; B65G2201/00; B65G2201/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 19
Claim 1
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for forming layers of a fusible metal on articles, comprising: an elongated member forming an enclosure and having a surface and a slot formed in the surface and extending longitudinally along the member; a strand-like member extending within the enclosure; means for applying on each article a mixture of the metal and a flux; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting each article to the strand-like member; means for heating at least the fusible metal of the mixture to melt it; and means for advancing the strand-like member along the elongated member to move the mounting means longitudinally along the slot to convey each article through the applying means to apply the mixture on each article, and to convey each article with the mixture thereon through the heating means to melt at leaSt the fusible metal of the mixture and thereby form the layers of the fusible metal on the articles.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
171 words
An apparatus for forming layers of a fusible metal on articles, comprising: an elongated member forming an enclosure and having a surface and a slot formed in the surface and extending longitudinally along the member; a strand-like member extending within the enclosure; means for applying on each article a mixture of the metal and a flux; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting each article to the strand-like member; means for heating at least the fusible metal of the mixture to melt it; and means for advancing the strand-like member along the elongated member to move the mounting means longitudinally along the slot to convey each article through the applying means to apply the mixture on each article, and to convey each article with the mixture thereon through the heating means to melt at leaSt the fusible metal of the mixture and thereby form the layers of the fusible metal on the articles.
Claim 3
Independent Claim
181 words
An apparatus for forming layers of a fusible metal on articles, comprising: an elongated member having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending enclosure, and a rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the elongated member and extending longitudinally therealong; a strand-like member extending through the enclosure of the elongated member; means for applying on each article a mixture of the fusible metal and a flux; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting each article to the strand-like member; means for heating the fusible metal of the mixture to melt it; and means for advancing the strand-like member through the enclosure of the elongated member to move the mounting means longitudinally along the slot to convey each article through the applying means to apply the mixture on each article, and to convey each article with the mixture thereon through the heating means to melt the fusible metal of the mixture and thereby form the layers of the fusible metal on the articles.
Claim 4
Independent Claim
181 words
An apparatus for forming layers of a fusible metal on articles, comprising: an elongated member having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending enclosure, and a rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the elongated member and extending longitudinally therealong; a strand-like member extending through the enclosure of the elongated member; means for applying on each article a mixture of the fusible metal and a flux; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting each article to the strand-like member; means for heating the fusible metal of the mixture to melt it; and means for advancing the strand-like member through the enclosure of the elongated member to move the mounting means longitudinally along the slot to convey each article through the applying means to apply the mixture on each article, and to convey each article with the mixture thereon through the heating means to melt the fusible metal of the mixture and thereby form the layers of the fusible metal on the articles.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
121 words
The apparatus of claim 2, further comprising a treating medium for removing any residual flux from the articles after the metal has been applied, wherein the elongated member also has a curvilinear slot communicating with the rectilinear slot and traversing the axis of the elongated member, wherein the article mounting means passes sequentially through both the rectilinear and curvilinear slots and is sequentially supported by and sequentially engages the edges of both slots and movably mounts each article to the strand-like member, and wherein the mounting means moves both longitudinally and rotatably about the strand after the layer has been formed on each article to both rotate and translate each article into the treating medium to remove any residual flux therefrom.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
16 words
The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the treating medium is a heated, ultrasonically vibrated water bath.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
14 words
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the strand-like member is an endless bead chain.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the fusible metal is a solder.
Claim 9
Independent Claim
268 words
An apparatus for solder coating wire-like members, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to partially rotate in a bath of a viscous mixture of solder powder and flux to coat the surface therewith; a second coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the mixture the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; a tube having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending passageway, a rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong; a strand-like member extending through the passageway of means for fixedly holding each wire-like member; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting the holding means to the strand-like member; a heat tunnel for heating each wire-like member; a plurality of heat guns for forcing a heated gas through the heat tunnel; and means for advancing the strand-like member through the passageway of the tube to move the holding means longitudinally along the slot to convey each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and the second wheel to compress their resilient peripheral surfaces and to simultaneously coat each wire-like member with the viscous mixture without rotating each wire-like member about its axis, and to convey each coated wire-like member through the heat tunnel to melt the mixturE and thereby solder coat each wire-like member.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
268 words
An apparatus for solder coating wire-like members, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to partially rotate in a bath of a viscous mixture of solder powder and flux to coat the surface therewith; a second coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the mixture the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; a tube having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending passageway, a rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong; a strand-like member extending through the passageway of means for fixedly holding each wire-like member; means connected to the strand-like member and passing through the slot, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for mounting the holding means to the strand-like member; a heat tunnel for heating each wire-like member; a plurality of heat guns for forcing a heated gas through the heat tunnel; and means for advancing the strand-like member through the passageway of the tube to move the holding means longitudinally along the slot to convey each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and the second wheel to compress their resilient peripheral surfaces and to simultaneously coat each wire-like member with the viscous mixture without rotating each wire-like member about its axis, and to convey each coated wire-like member through the heat tunnel to melt the mixturE and thereby solder coat each wire-like member.
Claim 11
Independent Claim
373 words
An apparatus for solder coating wire-like members, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to partially rotate in a bath of a viscous mixture of solder powder and flux to coat the surface therewith; a second coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the mixture the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; a tube having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending passageway, a first rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong, a curvilinear slot also formed in the outer surface of the tube and curving helically about the axis of the passageway, and a second rectilinear slot also formed in the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong, the curvilinear slot joining the rectilinear slots; a bead chain extending through the passageway of the tube; means for fixedly holding each wire-like member; means connected to the bead chain and passing through the slots, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for movably mounting the holding means to the bead chain; a heat tunnel for heating each wire-like member; a plurality of heat guns for forcing heated gas through the heat tunnels; a bath for removing any residual flux from the wire-like members; means for advancing the bead chain through the passageway of the tube to move the holding means longitudinally along the slots to convey; each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and second wheels to compress their resilient peripheral surface and to simultaneously coat each the wire-like member with the viscous mixture without rotating the wire-like member through the heat tunnels to melt the mixture and solder coat each wire-like member; each solder coated wire-like member along the elongated member and rotably about the bead chain member to position each wire-like member in the cleaning bath to remove substantially the residual flux; and each cleaned, solder coated wire-like member along the tube and rotatably about the bead chain to position each wire-like member out of the cleaning bath.
Claim 12
Independent Claim
373 words
An apparatus for solder coating wire-like members, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to partially rotate in a bath of a viscous mixture of solder powder and flux to coat the surface therewith; a second coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the mixture the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; a tube having a curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending passageway, a first rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong, a curvilinear slot also formed in the outer surface of the tube and curving helically about the axis of the passageway, and a second rectilinear slot also formed in the outer surface of the tube and extending longitudinally therealong, the curvilinear slot joining the rectilinear slots; a bead chain extending through the passageway of the tube; means for fixedly holding each wire-like member; means connected to the bead chain and passing through the slots, including grooved portions supported by and engaging the edges of such slot, for movably mounting the holding means to the bead chain; a heat tunnel for heating each wire-like member; a plurality of heat guns for forcing heated gas through the heat tunnels; a bath for removing any residual flux from the wire-like members; means for advancing the bead chain through the passageway of the tube to move the holding means longitudinally along the slots to convey; each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and second wheels to compress their resilient peripheral surface and to simultaneously coat each the wire-like member with the viscous mixture without rotating the wire-like member through the heat tunnels to melt the mixture and solder coat each wire-like member; each solder coated wire-like member along the elongated member and rotably about the bead chain member to position each wire-like member in the cleaning bath to remove substantially the residual flux; and each cleaned, solder coated wire-like member along the tube and rotatably about the bead chain to position each wire-like member out of the cleaning bath.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
154 words
An apparatus for coating wire-like members with a fluidic substance, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to rotate partially within a bath of the substance to coat the surface therewith; a second, freely rotatably mounted, coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the substance the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; and means for conveying each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and the second coating wheels with the axis of each wire-like member being substantially parallel with the axes of the wheels and without rotating the wire-like member about is axis to compress their resilient peripheral surfaces and to simultaneously coat with the substance the side surfaces and ends of each wire-like member.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
154 words
An apparatus for coating wire-like members with a fluidic substance, comprising: a first coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface and being mounted to rotate partially within a bath of the substance to coat the surface therewith; a second, freely rotatably mounted, coating wheel having a resilient peripheral surface mounted so that its peripheral surface engages that of the first wheel; means for rotating the first wheel to rotate the second wheel therewith and to coat with the substance the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and second wheels; and means for conveying each wire-like member into simultaneous contact with the first and the second coating wheels with the axis of each wire-like member being substantially parallel with the axes of the wheels and without rotating the wire-like member about is axis to compress their resilient peripheral surfaces and to simultaneously coat with the substance the side surfaces and ends of each wire-like member.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
48 words
The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the fluidic substance is a fusible material mixed with a flux to form a viscous liquid, and wherein the end of each wire-like member is positioned between the surfaces of the coating wheels upon the contacting of such members with such surfaces.
Claim 16
Independent Claim
205 words
An apparatus for simultaneously coating a pair of leads extending axially from each end of an elongated body, which comprises: a first pair of axially mounted, identical coating wheels spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of the elongated body and having resilient peripheral surfaces and being mounted to rotate partially within a bath of a viscous liquid to coat the surfaces therewith; a second, freely rotatably mounted, pair of axially mounted, identical coating wheels having resilient peripheral surfaces mounted so that their peripheral surfaces engage those of the first pair of wheels; means for rotating the first pair of wheels to rotate the second pair of wheels therewith and to coat with the liquid the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and the second pair of wheels; and means for conveying each elongated member into the space between the pairs of wheels, and for conveying the leads into simultaneous contact with the peripheral surfaces of the first and second pairs of wheels with the axis of each lead being substantially parallel with the axes of the wheels and without rotating the leads about their axis to compress such surfaces and to simultaneously coat with the liquid the side surfaces of the leads.
Claim 17
Independent Claim
205 words
An apparatus for simultaneously coating a pair of leads extending axially from each end of an elongated body, which comprises: a first pair of axially mounted, identical coating wheels spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the length of the elongated body and having resilient peripheral surfaces and being mounted to rotate partially within a bath of a viscous liquid to coat the surfaces therewith; a second, freely rotatably mounted, pair of axially mounted, identical coating wheels having resilient peripheral surfaces mounted so that their peripheral surfaces engage those of the first pair of wheels; means for rotating the first pair of wheels to rotate the second pair of wheels therewith and to coat with the liquid the resilient peripheral surfaces of the first and the second pair of wheels; and means for conveying each elongated member into the space between the pairs of wheels, and for conveying the leads into simultaneous contact with the peripheral surfaces of the first and second pairs of wheels with the axis of each lead being substantially parallel with the axes of the wheels and without rotating the leads about their axis to compress such surfaces and to simultaneously coat with the liquid the side surfaces of the leads.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
131 words
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the conveying means comprises: a tube having curvilinear outer surface, a longitudinally extending passageway, and a rectilinear slot formed on the outer surface of the elongated member and extending longitudinally therealong; a bead chain extending through the passageway of the tube; means for fixedly holding the elongated body; means passing through the rectilinear slot for mounting the body holding means to the bead chain; and means for advancing the bead chain longitudinally through the passageway of the tube to move the body holding means longitudinally along the slot to convey the leads into simultaneous contact with first and second pairs of wheels without rotating the leads to compress their resilient peripheral surfaces and to simultaneously coat with the substance the side surfaces of the leads.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
12 words
The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the elongated bodies are sealed contacts.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1978-05-12 | 1978-11-11 | 1979-05-13 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1982-05-12 | 1982-11-11 | 1983-05-13 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1986-05-12 | 1986-11-11 | 1987-05-13 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |