Abstract: A curved discharge tube is manufactured by preparing a straight quartz tube having an eccentric longitudinal opening and then bending the heated tube into a current tube with a thicker waall portion of the tube on the outside and the thinner wall portion on the inner side. It is advantageous to seal inner gas into the tube before bending so as to obtain a curved tube having uniform wall thickness.

Abstract: A slag breaker of a pressure-type coal gasifier having a rotary grate with a plurality of grate segments, a generator bottom and an ash separator, has an inclined breaking plate arranged to be located immediately below the grate segment and prior to the ash separator and provided with a plurality of breaking projections, and a wear sheet arranged to be located on the generator bottom and provided with a plurality of breaking webs.

Abstract: A process is disclosed for cleaning and passivating stainless steel apparatus used in the manufacture, transport, storage and/or use of nitrogen oxides. The process involves sequentially treating stainless steel surfaces of apparatus which contact a nitrogen oxide, with various solutions, in such manner as to enable the apparatus to substantially maintain the quality of the nitrogen oxide to be manufactured, transported, stored and/or used therein. Thus, for example, the purity of nitrogen tetroxide, used as a propellant for rocket engines and the like, may be maintained longer, the shelf life significantly increased and rocket engine flow decay problems markedly reduced through use of the disclosed cleaning and passivating process.

Abstract: A flat glass sheet of a given outline configuration is supported in a shaping station by a combination of a gas hearth bed portion and readily replaceable flat plate means comprising spaced plates having spaced edges of conforming shape that define an elongated slot conforming to the outline shape of at least a portion of the periphery of the flat glass sheet. The gas support bed portion provides hot gas under pressure to float the flat glass, and the flat plate means is located in close proximity to an end of the gas hearth bed portion to provide a narrow space at the level of the gas hearth bed portion for escaping gas between the flat plate means and the extending glass sheet portion to limit sag of the extending glass sheet portion. The flat plate means may be covered by material that does not mar hot glass, such as boron nitride, in case the glass sheet portion sags a limited distance to slide in contact with the flat plate means before it is lifted on a shaped, ring-like member.

Abstract: A blowhead mechanism for use in a continuous rotary motion press and blow type glass ware forming machine wherein the blowhead is attached to a shaft which is rotatably mounted on the machine by means of an arm and having a loosely mounted annular cam member on said shaft with a cam track therein having inclined and vertical portions, a cam follower mounted on said shaft in a position to engage the track during rotary movement of the shaft and blowhead, means to rotate the cam member, stop means to limit rotation of the said shaft whereby the shaft and the blowhead rotate from a first position to a second position whereat the shaft is moved vertically downward to place the blowhead onto a blow mold and after blowing the glass ware the shaft is moved up and rotated back to its original position.

Abstract: An apparatus for automatically or manually controlling the rejection of specific articles of glassware or other objects produced by I. S. Machines or other manufacturing equipment includes a control circuit for monitoring the sequence of operation of a plurality of individual identical manufacturing machines and for electronically controlling a rejector apparatus in relation to the programmed operation of any of particular ones of the individual manufacturing machines or in response to operator manual control.

Abstract: Liquid fuel, such as gasoline, is converted into gaseous form in an enclosed chamber rotating at high speed (e.g., 10,000 rpm) and containing a catalyst support material impregnated with 90% cupric chloride and 10% nickel chloride by weight. The converted fuel passes through a microporous (e.g., 40 microns) peripheral wall of the container and then mixes uniformly with air flowing through an annular space surrounding the container to form a combustible mixture.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for melting thermoplastic material is disclosed utilizing, in a preferred embodiment, a vessel having a bottom wall and upstanding sidewalls. A protective liner for the vessel is provided, being formed of corrosion resistant material. The furnace may include both through-the-batch and floor electrodes, and also hot spot fining to a conductive outlet channel.A method is set forth for operating the furnace described herein utilizing symmetrical, below the batch heat dissipation for accelerated melting. In order to protect the liner, which in some instances may be fabricated from an oxidizable refractory metal, start-up burners are operated under a reduced oxygen supply.

Abstract: A vapor generating system in which a furnace section is provided that is formed by four upright walls. A plurality of openings are formed in one of the walls, and a plurality of gasifiers extend adjacent said one wall and surround the openings so that the respective interiors of the gasifiers communicate with the openings. A bed of adsorbent material is supported in each gasifier for adsorbing the sulfur generated as a result of the gasification of fuel introduced into the gasifier, and air is passed through the bed of adsorbent material to fluidize said material so that, upon combustion of said fuel, a substantially sulfur-free product gas is produced which passes from the gasifier, through the openings and into the furnace section.

Abstract: This invention concerns shaping sheets of glass or other deformable material to compound shapes. A sheet having a desired transverse component of curvature engages the downward facing surface of a deformable vacuum mold having a lower transversely curved wall and is held thereagainst by vacuum while still hot enough to be distorted as the vacuum mold deforms to apply the longitudinal bending component to the sheet to be shaped.

Abstract: A powdered raw material feeding device is mounted beside a glass melting tank for feeding the powdered raw materials of glass onto a surface of molten glass in the tank. The raw materials thus riding on the molten glass are forced to move in the downstream direction in response to the feeding of the raw materials to the tank. An obstruction device is stationarily mounted in the way of a heap of the raw materials on the molten glass so that an extreme end of the obstruction device is embedded in the heap of the raw materials on the molten glass at a position near the laterally central position of the path of the heap, whereby upon movement of the heap in the downstream direction, a certain magnitude of flow resistance is applied to the heap of the raw materials.

Abstract: In the bending and tempering of sharply bent glass sheets supported on a ring-like member for conveyance of the bent glass sheet through a cooling station, a transfer device for unloading the sharply bent, tempered glass sheet is provided. The transfer device is so constructed and arranged that it does not cause a bottleneck in high speed, mass production of sharply bent, tempered glass sheets, avoids uncontrolled departures from the desired shape of the bent, tempered glass sheets, particularly those that develop in the marginal edge portion of the glass sheets that must fit exactly into glass sheet receiving frames of installation structures or vehicles, provides clearance for the sharply bent glass sheets and enables the glass sheet to transfer so gently as to inhibit the likelihood of breakage resulting from uncontrolled dropping of bent, tempered glass sheets during their handling.

Abstract: An apparatus for cleaning a tote box (14) and the contents thereof is disclosed. A tote box support (16) is secured to conveyor chain (20) which are mounted on pulleys (32). Pneumatic motor (36) drives rotatable shafts (34) which are secured to the pulleys (32). This provides a means for supporting the tote box (14) in a load position and an unload position, and also a means for transferring the tote box (14) between the load and unload positions. A contents washing container (40) is disposed in fixed relationship with respect to the supporting and transferring means and is pivotally mounted for movement between first and second positions. In the first position, the container (40) is in a position to receive the contents from the tote box (14), when in the unload position. The container (40) in the second position, is in a position to empty the contents into the tote box (14), when in the load position.

Abstract: In the thermal cycles utilized for frit sealing glass members together for forming a glass housing and for baking-out such housing, shielding means are provided to protect and shield those portions of the glass members having multiple surfaces which would otherwise be exposed to excess thermal energy, from such thermal energy so as to inhibit the formation of detrimental thermal gradients within the housing structure.

Abstract: Coarse-grained solid fuels in particle sizes of at least 2 mm are gasified under a pressure of 5 to 150 bars in a fixed bed which is slowly descending and into which the gasifying agents are introduced from below whereas the incombustible mineral constituents are withdrawn as solid ash or liquid slag from the lower end of the bed. Fine-grained solid fuels are gasified in a fluidized bed under a pressure of 1 to 100 bars. Oxygen, steam and/or carbon dioxide are used as gasifying agents for the gasification in the fixed bed and in the fluidized bed. The product gas from the fluidized-bed gasifier has a temperature of 700.degree. to 1200.degree. C. and is indirectly cooled with water. The resulting steam is fed as gasifying agent to the fixed-bed gasifier. The product gas from the fixed-bed gasifier can be indirectly cooled to produce steam and at least part of said steam is fed as gasifying agent to the fluidized-bed gasifier.

Abstract: Each section of a multi-section glass forming machine contains a plurality of mechanisms for moving functional members in sequence for forming gobs into glass containers and for sweeping the containers from a cooling dead plate to a moving machine conveyor.A plurality of reversible, electric motors are provided for each section to operate the rotation of the sweepout mechanism and for operating the other mechanisms, namely, the parison mold opening and closing mechanism, the funnel operating mechanism, the baffle operating mechanism, the invert arm operating mechanism, the blow mold operating mechanism, the blowhead operating mechanism and the take-out mechanism. Each motor is coupled directly to the drive shaft of the mechanism and the rotation of each motor is controlled by a programmable controller which permits the adjustment of the timing and velocity during machine operation of each motor independently of the other electric motors.

Abstract: A capacitive pressure transducer comprising a pair of disc shaped members having planar surfaces made from an insulator material, one of the members being several times thinner than the other plate and flexible and constituting a diaphragm and the other thicker plate constituting a stationary plate. A thin conductive film is formed on the surface of each of the members to form the plates of the capacitor. A glass frit is applied on the marginal edge of each member and when the members are held in adjacent relationship, the assembly is fired to seal the two members together while spacing them a predetermined distance apart so that the two conductive plates are opposite each other and are separated by an open gap of a predetermined distance, the two conductive plates being insulated one from the other. Leads are electrically connected to the conductive plate of each disc through the fused glass frit.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for electrically melting solidified glass in difficult to reach regions of a glass melting furnace not readily accessible with fossil fuel heating means and, more particularly, to an electrode arrangement for electrically heating solidified glass in difficult to melt regions such as a submerged outlet throat between a furnace melter section and the riser through which the glass is supplied in production.

Abstract: An improved glassware article forming machine employing a hollow arm, one end of which is rigidly carried at the upper end of the vertical hollow shaft, the other end of each hollow arm being provided with a glassware article receiving chuck, and including mechanism for imparting vertical movement to the hollow shaft and associated arm, and mechanism for imparting oscillatory movement to the hollow shaft associated arm, and mechanism for supplying an adjustable amount of air through the hollow shaft and associated hollow arm for circulation into the chuck and about the hot glassware article received from a blow mold to provide an air cushion on which the glassware article will ride while providing cooling for said hot glassware article throughout its vertical and oscillatory movement to a takeout position.

Abstract: A method is provided which permits continuous and rapid blanching or sterilization of foodstuffs in particulate form. The foodstuff is heated rapidly to penetrate the outer portion of the particle by steam or gas under pressure, the heated particles are maintained thereunder until inactivation or destruction of microorganisms and enzymes, after which the pressure and temperature are lowered rapidly.