Abstract: The present invention concerns a method for modulating the enzymatic activity of an enzyme, wherein said enzyme interacts with BMP, said method comprising the step of administering or inducing Hsp70, or a functional fragment or variant thereof, in a form suitable for allowing interaction between BMP and Hsp70, or said functional fragment or variant thereof, and thereby modulating the enzymatic activity of an enzyme interacting with BMP.

Abstract: A plurality of coated strands are conveyed through a drying oven. A plurality of nozzles impinge the upper surface of the coated strand as it passes therethrough. Baffle plates positioned below the strands redirect the gas stream such that, after the gas stream has passed through the strands, it is redirected so as to impinge on an opposite surface of the coated strand.

Abstract: This invention relates to a novel bushing apparatus having unique nozzles or projecting orifices for the production of round glass fibers. Particularly, it relates to a bushing having tips with cross-sections in the form of finite-sided polygons. It is shown that the use of noncircular tips to produce round fibers can result in higher tip packing densities, higher throughputs, and increased forming process stability than are now possible using the present state of the art. Tips with square cross-sections are shown to be the most preferred embodiment.

Abstract: The present invention provides a method and apparatus for supporting a strand. The strand is positioned between a pair of nozzles that are tilted towards each other such that an upwardly directed gas stream issuing from the first nozzle intersects an upwardly directed gas stream issuing from the second nozzle along a line which along with the strand, forms a generally vertical plane. The combined upwardly directed force from the gas streams lifts and supports the strand while the opposing lateral force from each gas stream on the strand tend to reduce and lateral movement and stabilize its relative position.

Abstract: This invention relates to an improved apparatus and method capable of accurately measuring fixed lengths of moving strand or yarn as it is pulled from an essentially continuous source of supply and wound onto a take-up reel by an appropriately powered winding mechanism. In its preferred embodiment, the invention is used to measure lengths of fiber glass strand unwound from forming packages and onto rotating bobbins carried on a twist-frame. Moving strand is maintained in continuous contact with a metering rim supported on an essentially frictionless layer of pressurized air thereby causing the rim to rotate. In particular, the improvement comprises means for bleeding off a portion of this pressurized air by allowing it to escape through the surface of the rim whereby any broken filaments which may break away from the strand are sloughed off from the surface of the rim before they tend to become wrapped about its circumference.

Abstract: This invention relates to a novel bushing apparatus and nozzles or projecting orifices known as tips for the production of glass fibers. Particularly, it relates to a bushing having tips with cross sections in the form of finite-sided polygons. It has been shown that the use of noncircular tips to produce round fibers can result in higher tip packing densities than are now present in the art and that tips with a square cross section represent the most preferred embodiment. Still, more preferred is the embodiment which is the subject of the instant invention wherein rows of tips are interconnected by an integrally formed rib that increases the bending stiffness of the tip plate and its resistance to high temperature thermal creep.

Abstract: This invention presents both a method and device capable of accurately measuring fixed lengths of moving strand or yarn as it is pulled from an essentially continuous source of supply and wound onto a take-up reel by an appropriately powered winding mechanism. In its preferred embodiment, the invention is used to measure lengths of fiberglass strand unwound from forming packages and onto rotating bobbins carried on a twist frame. As its principal component, the invention utilizes a lightweight, low inertia measuring rim supported on a layer of pressurized gas, such as air, so that frictionless rotation of the rim about a stationary hub is thereby made possible. Moving strand is maintained in continuous contact with the rim thereby causing it to rotate. The number of rotations is counted by electrical means and multiplied by the circumference of the rim whereby the length of strand advanced over the rim and onto the rotating bobbin is calculated.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for controlling a glass fiber forming environment is disclosed. A fin cooler having a plurality of hollow cooling fins, each provided with a coolant liquid flow passage and further having a header block provided with separate coolant liquid inflow and outflow channels, is placed in a closed loop coolant liquid circulation network. Water may be employed as the coolant, but preferably a heat transfer liquid having a boiling point higher than water, low vapor pressure, and a high specific heat value, is used as the coolant liquid. The heat transfer liquid takes on heat from the glass fibers as it passes through the cooling fins, and gives up this heat in a heat exchanger which may use plant process water or forced air as the secondary heat transfer medium. By regulating fluid flow, fin temperature can be manipulated to improve process control and product uniformity.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for producing hollow glass fibers is described in which the glass from a bushing tip and the gas used to provide a lumen in fibers as they are drawn from the tip are fed from passages in the tip sized to provide desired inside to outside diameter in the fibers drawn at the tip. This ratio is established inside of the tip by sizing the gas column having the tip and the glass column leaving the tip such that the ratio of the gas column to glass column is substantially the same ratio desired in the hollow fiber being drawn. Apparatus used to produce this ratio is also shown.

Abstract: A fiber glass bushing is described which produces hollow glass fibers from a multiplicity of tips having air tubes centered inside of them. Modules for providing a common header for rows of tubes centered in rows of tips on the bushing bottom are shown along with means to maintain the tubes centered during the running of the bushing.

Abstract: A bushing support system for anchoring hollow fiber forming tips in a fiber glass bushing is described. The truss like support for the air tubes and bushing tips insure minimal movement of the tips during bushing operation and that any movement is accompanied by corresponding movement of their tubes to thereby maintain the initially established concentricity of tube wall to tip wall when the tubes are positioned in the interior of the tips.

Abstract: The invention involves a fiber glass bushing which is provided with a plurality of tubular feed inlets, through a top cover chamber, which by means of controlled introduction of a gaseous medium allows a gaseous void to be maintained above the glass level in the bushing. The gas void allows easy removal of the bushing from the forehearth and the tubes provide a means of stopping glass flow from forehearth during bushing removal without requiring severe cooling of the surrounding ceramics. Flexibility in glass feed to the bushing for optimum conditions is also possible.

Abstract: A fiber glass bushing is disclosed which is formed with a corrugated bottom which provides a plurality of flat ridges on which are positioned orifices. The ridges are separated by grooves containing ceramic insulation and the bushing provided with means to support the bottom when glass is being drawn from the orifices.

Abstract: A modular molten glass column comprised of a plurality of modular glass conduits for providing glass to, for example, a high pressure glass fiber forming bushing is disclosed. The column consists of several glass modules, each of which includes a glass conduit, a heating source for the conduit, insulation for the conduit, an outer protective cover, and connectors for joining the conduit module to other similar conduit modules, a glass melting forehearth, and a glass fiber forming bushing adapted to receive glass at elevated pressures and to form filaments therefrom. The modular molten glass column supplies molten glass to the bushing without requiring any pumps or the like. Furthermore, the glass column requires substantially less energy than conventional forehearths.

Abstract: A fin cooler particularly suited for use with a high pressure glass fiber forming bushing is disclosed. The fin cooler is structured to provide support for the tip plate of the bushing so that sag or creep of the tip plate which occurs due to the pressure and temperatures at which the tip plate operates, is substantially reduced. The fin cooler is provided with a cooling water conduit and an air distribution chamber. The cooling water serves to remove heat from the fins during operation of the bushing and that air flow from the chamber may be used to provide cooling when the bushing is shut down, or as needed during operation, the air flow maintaining the attenuating zone i.e. the tip plate and surrounding area at a desired temperature.

Abstract: A high pressure glass fiber forming bushing and cooperating fin cooler assembly are disclosed. The bushing is provided with a corrugated tip plate which carries the nozzles or tips through which the glass fiber is forced by a pump or other pressure creating means. Additionally, the tip plate is provided with recesses which extend across the tip plate transversely to the corrugations. A cooperating fin cooler is secured beneath the tip plate to cool the filaments and to provide support for the tip plate. The fins of the fin cooler are arranged parallel to the corrugations in the tip plate. A plurality of ceramic rods are carried by the fin cooler and extend transversely to the fins and coincident with the recesses in the tip plate. These ceramic rods are received in the recesses to provide support for the tip plate.

Abstract: A bushing environment control assembly for use with a glass fiber filament forming device is disclosed. The assembly controls the environment in the attenuation zone immediately below the glass fiber forming bushing's tip plate, the area in which the molten glass is attenuated and formed into filaments. A fin cooler assembly is secured beneath the tip plate and is provided with both liquid and gaseous coolant mediums. The coolant gas is directed into the zone adjacent the fiber forming tips from a plenum chamber in the fin cooler assembly. Additional coolant gas is directed downwardly parallel to the attenuated strands. The fins of the fin cooler are also adjustable with respect to the tip plate.

Abstract: A high pressure modular forehearth which receives molten glass under pressure and supplies the molten glass to a plurality of high pressure glass fiber forming bushings is disclosed. Glass is melted in suitable means and is supplied to a modular molten glass column. The high pressure modular forehearth is secured at the lower end of the glass column by a transition module. The modular forehearth is provided with suitable heating elements to maintain the molten glass at a desired temperature. Each module of the forehearth is structured to receive a high pressure glass fiber forming bushing through which the molten glass is forced under pressure to form glass fiber filaments.

Abstract: An apparatus is disclosed for threading one of several generally parallel strands through an operation through which the strands travel. The apparatus is designed to thread a broken strand using the movement of strands adjacent to this strand. The apparatus is also designed to reduce the downtime for the adjacent strands which are employed to pull and guide the broken strand through the rethreading operation. The apparatus is designed to allow for strand guide stabilization through the rethreading operation to allow the strands and guide to pass through the system easily and without placement errors in strand threading positioning. The apparatus includes a means for holding the broken strand, a means for releasably maintaining an adjacent guide strand within the apparatus and a means for releasably grasping the moving pull strand.

Abstract: A delivery system is disclosed for pumping and pressurizing viscous fluid materials, such as molten glass. The pump comprises a rotating rotor which is located in a channel of the viscous fluid, such as in the forehearth of a glass melting furnace. In a glassmaking operation, the rotor uses the viscous drag of the molten glass against it to pump the molten glass from an open channel into a closed and pressurized channel where the pressurized molten glass may be, for example, extruded into glass filaments. The pumping system described also finds utility in pumping other viscous materials such as resins in fluid form.