Abstract: A glass melting furnace includes a furnace body including for storing molten glass, an upstanding tank including a bottom member lying flush with the bottom wall of the furnace body and a rear wall remote from the furnace body, the upstanding tank communicating with the furnace body, a feeder disposed upwardly of the rear wall of the upstanding tank and communicating with the upstanding tank, and a drainage mechanism disposed in a corner defined between the rear wall and bottom member of the upstanding tank for draining out heterogeneous molten glass. The upstanding tank has a width smaller than the width of the furnace body. The drainage mechanism comprises a through hole having an inlet opening into the upstanding tank and an outlet opening at a rear surface of the rear wall, the through hole being tapered from the inlet toward the outlet.

Abstract: A travelling vacuum pickup is used to transfer heat softened glass sheets from a heating furnace to between a pair of vertically alignment pressing molds. The downstream movement of the pickup is synchronized with the downstream movement of the glass sheets to be engaged so that there is no relative downstream movement therebetween as the pickup lifts and engages the glass sheet.

Abstract: A horizontal press bending arrangement for press bending heat softened glass sheets during transfer into a shaping station. The glass sheet is conveyed through a roller hearth or gaseous support hearth type furnace to heat the sheet to its heat deformable temperature. The sheet is then transferred beneath a vacuum/pressure pick-up to support the glass sheet in non-engaging contact therewith. The sheet is next deposited on a lower mold. The vacuum/pressure pick-up thereafter splits in two and moves out of the shaping station to allow the sheet to be shaped between a pair of vertically aligned shaping molds. After shaping the shaped sheet is removed for further processing, e.g., tempering.

Abstract: The roller cleaning apparatus of the present invention includes a frame which has a pair of caster mounted wheels located at one of its ends. The casters are connected to one another through a tie-rod which causes them to turn as a unit between a right-hand facing orientation and a left-hand facing orientation. The wheels have a diameter which permits them to span an adjacent pair of the rollers which are to be cleaned. Thus, if the rollers are rotating the apparatus translates across the rollers toward the right when the casters are in their right-hand orientation and toward the left when the casters are in their left-hand orientation. A spring normally urges the casters to their right-hand orientation, however, a latch mechanism locks them in their left-hand orientation when they are manually placed there. The latch mechanism has a release device which automatically releases it when the apparatus reaches the left-hand side of the rollers.

Abstract: The invention relates to a flow barrier in the annealing section of a glass tempering apparatus, said annealing section being provided with glass sheet supporting rollers (7) and cooling air blow boxes (1, 3) are disposed above and below a glass sheet, in addition to which there are, above the glass sheets, "false rolls" (8) in the form of a downward open trough, extending crosswise to the traveling direction of said glass sheets. The purpose of "false rolls" (8) is to increase a pressure applied to the top surface of a glass sheet in order to reduce the risk of a glass sheet becoming afloat. A flow along the trough, which increases towards the ends of the trough, results in a non-uniform tempering. The flow is cut off by fitting the trough with partitions (9) spaced from each other.

Abstract: The support is for an operative member, e.g. a funnel, a baffle or a blowhead, which moves between operative and out-of-the-way positions along a path which has a vertical component and an arcuate component about a vertical axis. The support comprises a first portion (16), a second portion (30) movable vertically relative to the first portion, and clamping means (18,20,28) operable to clamp the first portion to the piston rod (14) of a piston and cylinder assembly which moves the member. The operative member is mounted on the second portion (30) and moving means (32,36) is operable to move the second portion (30) vertically relative to the first portion (16). Operation of the moving means (32,36) can be used to increase the vertical component of the path.

Abstract: This invention is directed to a method for thermal pressing a glass-impregnated preform to create a composite body with a glass or glass-ceramic matrix. The method involves contacting the preform during pressing with members prepared from a material exhibiting significant impedance to heat flow in order to delay cooling of the preform during consolidation. The preferred preform consists of a stack of glass-impregnated plies having ceramic fibers and/or whiskers entrained therein.

Abstract: Curving of glass sheets by application of said sheets against an upper curving form and possibly subsequently, after the deposit of said sheets onto a lower curving form, by depressing in accordance with said upper form is improved. After the taking up of a sheet of glass by the upper form, a current of hot gas is blown under the glass sheets in order to produce a pneumatic pressing. The process and opportunities enables the manufacture of curved glasses in accordance with complicated shapes and/or with an accentuated curvature but, nevertheless, with a surface free from defects.

Abstract: A glassware production system includes an electropneumatic individual section glass forming machine having a multiplicity of operating mechanisms for converting a gob of molten glass into a hollow glass container. A glass forehearth feeds molten gobs at controlled temperature and weight to the forming machine. Electronic controllers individually and selectively control parameters of operation of the multiplicity of machine mechanisms and the forehearth. Glassware from the forming machine is inspected for manufacturing faults and for identifying each inspected container with its associated mold of origin. The glassware inspection devices provide fault signals indicative of a plurality of differing types of faults, which are thereafter associated not only with mold or section of origin but also with fault cause.

Abstract: A gas distributor beam includes a plenum and distribution slot surrounded by a generally V-shaped cooling fluid chamber. The circulation of a suitable cooling fluid tends to maintain the plenum and distribution slot at a temperature below four hundred degrees Fahrenheit for the distribution of diborane gas to an upper surface of a heated glass ribbon. Carbon blocks are utilized to stabilize the glass temperature above nine hundred fifty degrees Fahrenheit for the proper deposition of boron on the surface of the glass. Insulation between the carbon blocks and the outer walls of the cooling fluid chamber minimize heat transfer and the shape of the cooling chamber minimizes the exposure of the glass to the lower temperatures of the cooling chamber.

Abstract: An improved quality vitreous silica boby and/or improved quality product made at high temperature in a vitreous silica vessel is/are obtained by applying a polarizing potential across the boundary surfaces of the vitreous silica body or vessel to cause migration of impurity ions away from one of the boundary surfaces thereof. Single crystal silicon (10) of reduced alkali content is drawn from melt (12) in a vitreous silica crucible (14) with a polarizing voltage applied across the wall of the crucible.

Abstract: A method of producing heat strengthened glass in which the glass is heated to a temperature above its strain point and is then cooled while horizontally supported. Discontinuous support is provided for the glass as it is cooled by intermittent regional contact with the lower surface of the glass, whereby any pattern of iridescence resulting from heat transfer between the lower glass surface and the support is free of prominent continuous features. A glass treatment furnace for producing heat strengthened glass, has horizontal glass-supporting rollers and cooling-flow supply means in the vicinity of those rollers, the bearing surface of each roller comprising discontinuous bearing elements which provide intermittent regional support contact with the lower surface of the glass.

Abstract: Glass sheets are positioned on the shaping rail of an outline shaping mold for movement through a heating lehr and subsequent preliminary sag bending. The mold with the glass sheet supported thereon is then positioned between a pair of vertically aligned full surface pressing molds. The mold includes selected press surface areas that extend outside the perimeter of the outline mold. As the lower mold raises to lift the glass sheet off the outline mold, selected portions of the shaping rail move outwardly to allow the lower mold to pass through the outline mold. The glass sheet is then pressed between the upper and lower pressing molds.

Abstract: There is disclosed an apparatus for producing optical elements, provided with a conveyor for transporting carriers for materials of optical elements into an evacuatable process chamber, and with a heating system for the material supported by the carrier, a forming system for the material supported by the carrier while the material is heated by the heating system, and a system for depositing a thin film to the material formed by the forming system and supported by the carrier.

Abstract: Curved glass is maufactured by supporting glass on a sag bending mould which is passed through a furnace. During initial heating of the glass on the mould, hot air is directed around the mould beneath the glass to minimize the temperature difference between the mould and the glass.

Abstract: A mold cover for a glass sheet shaping mold having an insulating layer interposed between the shaping surface of the mold and an outer layer of knitted wire mesh. The knitted mesh is sufficiently flexible to conform to compound and/or complex shaping surface without wrinkling so as to maintain a smooth shaping surface.

Abstract: A method of correcting the attitude of an article being conveyed in a feed system including two second feed paths for receiving the article from a first feed path and feeding the article so that a first part and a second part, which are related to each other, of the article will reach a target position for each of the first and second parts. The attitude of the article is corrected until the target positions are reached by compensating for a relative shift beyond a predetermined distance in a feeding direction between the first part and the second part of the article on the first feed path.

Abstract: A glass melting system involving preheating, precalcining, and prefluxing of batch materials prior to injection into a glass furnace. The precursors are heated by convection rather than by radiation in present furnaces. Upon injection into the furnace, batch materials are intimately coated with molten flux so as to undergo or at least begin the process of dissolution reaction prior to entering the melt pool.

Abstract: A glassware forming machine having swinging arms carrying mold members with passages extending upwardly therethrough for flow of air for cooling said members, and first and second conduit members for delivery of air to a plenum associated with each arm, the first being oscillable on a fixed vertical axis and the second being slidably and sealably associated with the first and pivotally interconnected with a respective plenum.

Abstract: In glass tempering using a cooling gas, the impact of gas jets on glass is modified through the use of perturbations to which said jets are subject. The perturbations may be introduced laterally with respect to the tempering jets, and spaced from the opening providing said tempering jets. The characteristics of the perturbations vary cyclically. The invention makes it possible to obtain homogeneous tempering, even for highly bulged glass sheets.