Process and apparatus for multiple surface treatments of battery cans

Abstract

Apparatus for surface treatment of battery cans, including cleaning and electroplating of the interior and exterior surfaces of battery cans as they are transported along a continuously moving production line. The battery cans are automatically loaded from a conveyor onto workpiece holders on a series of circular carriers. Surface processing enclosures operated by cam followers are arranged to enclose the battery cans so that a processing fluid may be automatically injected. The processing fluid may simply be a surface cleansing or drying agent or in the case of electroplating, the processing fluid is a liquid electrolyte so that a plating voltage can be applied to plate either the external or internal surfaces of the battery cans.

1 . Apparatus for surface treatment of workpieces of the type having a hollow longitudinal casing open on one end with internal and external surfaces and a substantially uniform cross-section along the length of the casing, said apparatus comprising: 
 a stationary base defining a workpiece processing path between a loading station and an unloading station,    a workpiece carrier arranged to traverse along said processing path,    a plurality of guide members uniformly spaced along the workpiece carrier located so as to successively traverse said processing path,    a plurality of workpiece holders disposed in said guide members and arranged to be movable in said guide members between a loading / unloading position and a processing position,    a plurality of surface processing enclosures disposed on said carrier each having an open end and arranged to be movable with respect to a respective workpiece holder between an open position wherein a workpiece is openly disposed on a workpiece holder and a closed position wherein a workpiece is enclosed within a said surface processing enclosure, and    cam and follower means responsive to movement by the workpiece carrier with respect to said stationary base, said cam and follower means being adapted to successively move a workpiece holder at said loading station from said loading/unloading position into said processing position and then to move said surface processing enclosure into said closed position, whereby a workpiece placed in the workpiece holder at said loading station may be processed in said surface processing enclosure while it moves along the processing path to said unloading station.    
   
   
       2 . Apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said workpiece processing path is circular about an axis, and wherein said carrier is rotatably mounted on said axis and having a circular periphery, and wherein said guide members are disposed on said periphery.  
   
   
       3 . Apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said workpiece holders each include an upwardly extending projection arranged to receive a workpiece casing placed over said projection, and wherein said surface processing enclosures are arranged to enclose a workpiece casing placed over said projection and dimensioned to substantially conform to the external surface of said workpiece casing and form close clearances therewith.  
   
   
       4 . Apparatus according to  claim 3 , wherein said surface processing enclosures include means to selectively inject a workpiece processing fluid into the clearance space between said surface processing enclosure and the external surface of said workpiece casing.  
   
   
       5 . Apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein said processing fluid is a liquid electrolyte, and further including means to impose a plating voltage between said casing and said surface processing enclosure of a polarity to plate the external surface of the workpiece casing.  
   
   
       6 . Apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein said processing fluid is a surface cleansing agent.  
   
   
       7 . Apparatus according to  claim 4 , wherein said processing fluid is a surface drying agent.  
   
   
       8 . Apparatus according to  claim 1 , wherein said workpiece holders each include an upwardly extending projection arranged to receive a workpiece casing placed over said projection and dimensioned to substantially conform to the internal surface of said workpiece casing and form close clearances therewith and wherein said surface processing enclosures are arranged to enclose a workpiece casing placed over said projection.  
   
   
       9 . Apparatus according to  claim 8 , wherein said projection is a hollow tube and further including means to inject a workpiece processing fluid through said hollow tube into the clearance space between said surface processing enclosure and the internal surface of said workpiece casing.  
   
   
       10 . Apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said processing fluid is a liquid electrolyte, and further including means to impose a plating voltage between said casing and said surface processing enclosure of a polarity to plate the internal surface of the workpiece casing.  
   
   
       11 . Apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said processing fluid is a surface cleansing agent.  
   
   
       12 . Apparatus according to  claim 9 , wherein said processing fluid is a surface drying agent.