Western Electric Company, Inc.

Hugh A Wells

John G Tucker

William G Bellamy

The formation of dross in a molten solder bath (28) by surface agitation of the bath, and the adverse effects of dross on a solder pumping operation, are essentially eliminated by suspending a pump shaft (36) and an impeller (38) thereon for free rotation within a housing (96) in the molten solder bath so that solder in the solder bath is precluded from making any significant contact with the rotating shaft. To insure against binding between the impeller (38) and an opposed horizontal inner surface (132) of the housing (96), a small amount of solder is permitted to flow continuously between the impeller and the surface into contact with the rotating shaft (36) adjacent the impeller. The small solder flow then is exposed to the atmosphere to form a correspondingly small amount of light powdery solder dross (134). The thus formed solder dross (134) is confined within the housing (96) as the dross rises vertically in the housing relative to the shaft (36) to a level above the upper surface of the molten solder bath (28). The dross (134) then spills over a top surface of the housing (96) and falls to the upper surface of the molten solder bath (28) for subsequent removal.

Methods of and apparatus for pumping solder

In winding tape on an article a preselected length of the tape is collected from a tape supply and the collected tape is severed from the supply to form a trailing end portion on the collected tape. The trailing end portion of the collected tape then is attached to the article and the article is rotated to wind the collected tape onto the article without any significant back tension in the tape which could damage the article. Preferably, the collected tape is moved from a collecting position to a position adjacent the article between the tape severing and tape attaching operations, to eliminate twisting and misalignment of the tape as it is transferred to the article, and possible damage to the article. The tape collecting operation also preferably involves winding the tape onto a rotatable tape collecting member in a small compact package, to reduce the size of the apparatus required.

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Winston-Salem, NC, United States of America

Hugh A Wells