Method of electrolytically marking metallic articles
AssigneeSKF Compagnie d'Applications Mecaniques
InventorGuy Moulin
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Abstract
In a known method of electrolytically marking metallic articles a hood having its bottom closed by a stencil with perforations is partially filled with an electrolyte and contains a cathode. An article to be marked is brought into contact with the stencil and constitutes the anode. The invention consists in maintaining the space within the hood at a partial vacuum sufficient to cause bubbles of air which have passed through the perforations in the stencil to flow upward in the hood, thus preventing electrolyte from seeping downward through said perforations.
Claims7
A method of electrolytically marking metallic articles comprising, the steps of, providing a chamber containing an electrolyte at a normal level therein and having a stencil closing its bottom, the stencil having a porous portion corresponding to the design to be marked on an article, creating a partial vacuum in the chamber in the region above the normal level of the electrolyte with a vacuum device, placing the article to be marked below and in engagement with the stencil, and applying an electric current between the electrolyte and the article.
A method of increasing the life of a stencil and maintaining the clarity of its electrolytic marking on a metallic article, the stencil being of the type having a porous portion corresponding to the design to be marked electrolytically on the article and located at the bottom of a chamber containing an electrolyte, comprising creating a differential pressure across the porous portion of the stencil, engaging the stencil against the article to be marked, and applying an electric current between the electrolyte and the article, said differential pressure being sufficient to cause an inward flow of air through the porous portion of the stencil and into the chamber at a rate sufficient to prevent fouling of the porous portion and thus substantially eliminate the need for separate cleaning of the stencil.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.