History Have you ever heard of a man named Joseph Galamb ?

He played a huge part in the design for Ford ,on a patent dated November 22,1932 he is credited as being the inventor of a grille shell that looks a lot like the Deuce grille shell,but as pointed out by Alchemy it doesn't apper to be what ended up in production. HRP

 

Except that isn't the iconic 32 Ford grille shell.....

 

He is also credited as being the chief designer of the Model T. HRP

 

Here I am with egg on my face,this was sent to me this morning and I didn't pay much attention to the drawing just the content.

Thanks for point out my faux pas. HRP

 

Typo......Those old drawings are wild...drawing is dated 1931...top secret. Morning is a good time for eggs anyhow...

I like the hand drafted stylized font for the Fig. txt

 

Not only drawn in April of 1931 but on April Fools Day! HRP

 

Thats a very nice Radiator Shell...I mean Shield...and all along we've called it Grill Shell......or is that Grille......Grilles are for eggs right......oops...Grill is for eggs.

HRP did he create the A Radiator Shell as well I ask?

 

As long as you brought it up, what is a grill shell? Do 32 Fords have a grill? I was taught in the sixties that the shell around a radiator is a radiator shell and according to your drawing, that is the terminology used in the picture.

 

This should clear up radiator grilling.
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?...0DEADEEED176DDC569B80DEADEEED176DDC&FORM=VIRE

 

Slang rules...Its kind of like driving as soon as you get your license the rules go out the window, hence when things are drafted and titled we tend to develop our own terms to describe it.

Funny I type in Radiator Shield and get nothing car elated but type in Grille Shell and up pops Model A and 32 Shells

 

Shield...not Shell trust me 46 I'm not grammar anal...seriously, but since we are being specific it is Radiator Shield. There must be a description of the grille in the Patent story there as it is shown...What does it say HRP?

 

Stand corrected, it does say shield.

 

Below is the actual Copy of the patent and it is interesting throughout the whole document the entire assy. is referred to as the Radiator Shield including the Grille till the end of description and the Shield is referred to as a shell in a couple of instances with some typos thrown in to boot

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1888719

 

Like the saying ,6 of one 1/2 dozen of the other,they are both the same only different vernaculars. HRP

 

I am going to go waaaay out on a limb with speculation that I have no way of proving....but may be good for discussion....or not...

Given the date of the drawings, post 1932 Ford intro, could this possibly be designed as a retrofit for Model A Fords to give them a bit more current 'look' ? With four million A's made, a large market for accessories.

edit: dimensions would suggest retrofit for '30/'31 more so than '28/'29.

Ray

 

Looking at the actual drawing you can see some similance to the final design of the 32 grille shell,altho what he has drawn looks like it mimics the Model A in some respects,the insert looks similar to what Ford ended up using with the exception of the crank hole cover.

In the case the more,the design was improved on before the first Deuce rolled of the production line. HRP

 

https://patents.google.com/patent/US1840881A/en?inventor=Harold+J+Blair

And they called this a Shell...​

 

Guys the Patents were done for the Ford Motor Company
its the real deal...which is really cool.



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In automotive engineering, a grille covers an opening in the body of a vehicle to allow air to enter. Most vehicles feature a grille at the front of the vehicle to protect the radiator and engine. Merriam-Webster describes grilles as "a grating forming a barrier or screen; especially: an ornamental one at the front end of an automobile."[2] Other common grille locations include below the front bumper, in front of the wheels (to cool the brakes), in the cowl for cabin ventilation, or on the rear deck lid (in rear enginevehicles).

Prior to 32, Ford radiators didn't have any protection for the finned area of the radiator.

 

There is not a doubt in my mind they used Harold Blair's design for the 1931 Ford. HRP

 

Heres the patent info for the 32 that you posted HRP



https://patents.google.com/patent/US1888719A/en?q=Galamb+Joseph&oq=Galamb+Joseph&page=2
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So, the above info suggests the Galamb design would have been timely for 1932 model introduction, but was not chosen for production........

Ray

 

Dictionaries aside these are Galambs text typos and all below and he refers to the grille as a shield till point 10 he mentions grille not specifically in reference to the above text. As you guys say grille would have been tossed around as much as shield and as 46 said this was a new era in shields as 32 Was the first year a grille graced a Ford.

Quoted from Galamb Patent;

I have used the reference numeral 10 to indicate generally a radiator shell which forms an ornamental enclosure for a radiator, shown by dotted lines 11. The shell 10 is of the ordinary construction consisting of a highly polished band in position around the top and sides of the radiator. This band has a relatively narrow inturned bead 12 forming an outline for the front of the raends and intermediate portions of these strips are secured to several transverse U shaped members to thereby form a unitary structure. The strips 18 are formed from a flat strip of metal bent back upon itself along its center. The lengths may be either formed singly in a punch press or may be cut from stock formed by continuous rolling, either of which methods of forming are suitable.

The transverse members for holding the intermediate portions of the strips in lateral spaced relationship consists of a pair of U shaped or channel members 14 which extend across the shell 10. The web portions of these channels have a plurality of equally spaced tabs 15 punched therefrom so as to extend outwardly away from the arms of the channels. These tabs are of such length that the arms of the strips 13 straddle these tabs and may be spot welded thereto, as shown by the cross 16 in Figure 6. The ends of. the strips 13 are in like manner secured to curved channel members 17 which lie back of the top and bottom portions of the bead 12 and which are also provided with tabs 15 for welding the ends of the strips thereto.

It will be apparent that the space between the strips 13 allows free entrance. of air to the radiator and in fact the total area thus provided is considerably larger than the clear space through the average radiator so that no air restriction is offered by this shield.

Referring to Figures 7 through 9, an alter-' nate construction is shown wherein the curved channelsi17, shown in my preferred structure, are replaced by plates 18 which are proportioned to hide from view the radiator tanks. These plates are disposed at the top and bottom of the shield and are provided with tabs 15 whereby the strips 13 may be spot-welded in place. This construction is Among the many advantages arisin from the use of my improved device it may e well to mention that I have provided U shaped members extending both vertically and transversely across the radiator front so that maximum rigidity is provided. Due to the transverse members the impact received on the individual vertical strips are distributed to the adjacent strips so that an exceptionally strong shield results. I am, therefore, able to construct the shield from very light material and still obtain ample strength for the purpose desired. This is particularly advantageous when a polished chromium steel shield is desired as the cost of the thin sheet stock used materially reduces the cost of the structure. When such a polished radiator shield is to be constructed the individual strips may be automatically polished and bufled as they are being formed sothat very,

, various parts of my improved device without departing from the spirit of my invention,

particularly desirable where the radiator tanks are. diagonally creased to prevent vibration of the tank walls.

Figure 8 illustrates a starting crank grom-* met 19 which is secured to the lower plate and is.provided with an opening therethrough whereby the starting crank may be inserted to crank the engine.

and it is my intention to cover by my claims, such changes as may reasonably be included within the scope thereof.

I claim as my invention 1. ha radiator shield, reinforcing members extending along two 0 posite edges of the radiator, a plurality 0 tabs extendin outwardly from each of said members, an

a plurality of U shaped strips extending be--- tween said members and straddling one of the tabs thereon, said strips being secured to said tabs to thereby form a unitary structure.

2. In a radiator shield, channel shaped reinforcin members extending along two 01)- posite e ges of the radiator, a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from each of said channel members, and a plurality of U shaped strips extending between said members and straddling one of the tabs thereon, said strips being secured to the tabs to form a unitary structure. 7 v

3. In a radiator shield, reinforcing members extending along two opposite edges of the radiator, a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from each end of said members,

and a plurality of U shaped stripsextending between said members and straddling one.

of the tabs on each member, said strips being spot welded to the tabsto thereby form a uni-' tary structure.

4. In a radiator shield, reinforcing members extending along the top and bottom of the radiator, a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from each of said members, and aplurality of vertical Ushaped strips extending between said members and straddling one of the tabs of each member, said strips being secured to the tabs to form a unitary tructure. Y

' ing channel sha 5. In a radiator shield, a radiator shell having an inwardly extending bead forming an outline for the radiator front, reinforcing members extending across the to and bottom of the radiator behind said bea a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from each of the reinforcing members, and a plurality of vertical U shaped strips extending between said members and straddling the respective tabs thereon.

6. In a radiator shield, inwardly extended reinforcing members extending across t diator, a plurality of tabs extending outwardly from the web portions of each of said members, and a plurality of vertical U shaped strips extending between said members and straddling the respective tabs thereon, said strips being welded to said tabs.

7. In a radiator shield, a plurality of inwardly extending channel shaped reinforcing members spaced forwardly from the front of the radiator, spaced tabs extending forwardly from each of said members, and a plurality of vertical U shaped strips extendin between said members and straddling 51G respective tabs thereon, said strips being welded to the tabs.

8. In a radiator shield, a radiator shell enclosing the exposed edges of the radiator and having an inwardly extending bead outlining the front thereof, a plurality ofinwardly extending channel members disposed across the top and bottom of said radiator behind said head, a plurality of channel reinforcing members extending across the intermediate portion of saidshell, aligned tabs extending outwardly from each of said channel members, and a luralityof vertical U shaped strips straddhng each row of aligned tabs, said strips being secured to the tabs.

9. In a radiator shield, a radiator she'll enclosing the exposed edges of the radiator and having an inwardly extending bead outlining the front thereof, a. plurality of in- 'wardly extending channel members disposed across the top and bottom of said radiator behind said head, a plurality of channel reinforcing members extending across the intermediate portion of said shell, aligned tabs extending outwardly from each of said channel members, and a plurality of vertical U shaped strips straddling each row of aligned tabs, said strips being spot welded to said tabs.

10. In a grille for automobile radiators and the like, the combination of upper and lower base plate members, a plurality of substantially vertical bar members secured to the outer faces of said base plate members, the former members being substantially in the form of U-shaped channel bars, and laterally extending lugs in the outer faces of said base plate members adapted to engage e top and bottom of the ra-' with the inner surfaces of said U-shaped bar jections extending perpendicularly from theface of said base plate and adapted to enage with the inner surfaces of said channel ars.

JOSEPH GALAMB.

 

Check this out I have never seen one but did it happen...wouldn't this be nice in the ole Hotrod...

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Joe Galamb, sure. He was an expert at forming sheet metal. Some say THE expert. Around the Ford plant they were astonished at the knack he had for making complex shapes of sheet metal.

Henry Ford on the other hand, loved steel forgings. But if you examine an early Model T or A compared to one made three or 4 years later you will see all kinds of forged brackets and parts replaced with lighter, cheaper stampings all the work of Joe Galamb.

His favorite phrase was "take a piece of sheet metal" but the joke around the plant was that in his Eastern European accent it came out "take a piss of shit metal".

 

My head starts spinning after so much patent lawyer speak but when it stopped spinning this paragraph caught my eye.
I've seen a few deuce grill shells over the years that appeared to have a polished nickel plating.
Was this something Ford (or Galamb) considered doing as a carryover from the model A?

The terminology has me confused, is he talking about the insert or the shell?

 

Denny you may be absolutely correct in that the patent we are looking at may be just for the grille itself. I just researched HRP's Pic of the assy. and dug up info and I thought it was it all but yeah gotta have another look. I accept the facts and I think your right.

Therefore the Grille is referred to as the Radiator Shield...just a sec...see below it says in In the Rad Shield is a Rad Shell (Item10 in Drawing) and it goes on to describe the grill itself covered by an outlining bead (Trim)

9. In a radiator shield, a radiator she'll <(typo Shell) enclosing the exposed edges of the radiator and having an inwardly extending bead outlining the front thereof, a. plurality of in- 'wardly extending channel members (vertical bars) disposed across the top and bottom of said radiator behind said head<(Typo Bead), a plurality of channel reinforcing members extending across the intermediate portion of said shell, aligned tabs extending outwardly from each of said channel members, and a plurality of vertical U shaped strips straddling each row of aligned tabs, said strips being spot welded to said tabs.

I have a tough time deciphering engineers written hieroglyphics...but I still think hes referring to the Whole Shell and grille Components as the Radiator Shield.

 

Evidently theres another one...





https://patents.google.com/patent/U...tor&oq=Radiator+shell+construction+ford+motor

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The vent is something that really could have worked on a Model A's.HRP

 

You betcha These are true patents for Ford and may have seen production...and yes they would be rare. I think likenesses were added to Deaths Doorstep...(not he had them in the Quarter)

...Hey that Radiator Shield I reread it again and it may still be the Grille and Shell together...read point 9 in post 27. Its not a big deal we know it for what it is but it is interesting the way he was describing it.

...and I repeat...

I have a tough time deciphering engineers written hieroglyphics...but I still think hes referring to the Whole Shell and grille Components as the Radiator Shield.