Abstract: An apparatus and method for tempering glass is described. Glass sheets are passed through a tempering furnace along a predetermined generally horizontal path. The temperature of the sheets is measured by a pivoting pyrometer above the sheets and the furnace is regulated to achieve a zero temperature profile across the plates.

Abstract: A noncontacting-type pyrometer for measuring the temperature of a glass ribbon has a hot junction at the center of a circular black body adjacent a first surface thereof and a layer of thermal insulating material on the opposite second surface. The radius (a) of the black body, the spacing (b) of the pyrometer from the glass ribbon and the thickness (c) of the black body is selected to satisfy the equation b<a/5c in order that the temperature of the black body as measured by the hot junction is approximately the temperature of the glass ribbon.

Abstract: A thermocouple connection for a platinum/rhodium glass fiber drawing bushing wherein the dissimilar leads of the thermocouple are extended directly from the bushing and over a length so closely adjacent the bushing that the temperature of the leads over said length is substantially equal to the temperature of the bushing. As a result of thus positioning the leads, migration of the interface between the dissimilar material of the leads does not materially affect the calibration of the thermocouple.

Abstract: Apparatus for thermally treating glass sheets comprising a combustion chamber, a kiln and a hot gas delivery system for delivering a mixture comprising combustion products into the kiln in such a manner as to avoid deviations from a substantially uniform temperature pattern across the kiln suitable for sag bending and annealing glass sheets.The delivery system comprises a delivery pipe, means for dividing said mixture into two approximately equal flows of said mixture for supplying said flows through a pair of branch pipes, then through the length of a pair of manifolds, each comprising an open ended inner pipe, and a concentric apertured outer pipe. The outer pipes have upwardly directed nozzles of substantially equal cross-section located at approximately uniformly spaced intervals along their length.

Abstract: An automatic temperature control system for the forming units of a machine of the press and blow type. It comprises a system for automatically sensing the need for and supplying cooling air to the individual forming units, in accordance with heat transfer therefrom, so that controlled temperatures can be maintained in the various units to thereby form ware of uniform characteristics in the various units.

Abstract: A heat transfer system includes first and second surfaces which are at different temperatures. A bed of fluidizable material is provided in a cavity which is located between the first and second surfaces, and gas from a supply means is supplied to the cavity to form a fluidized bed from the fluidizable material and thereby to enable heat to be transferred between the first and second surfaces. Control means is provided for alternately forming and collapsing the fluidized bed in order to regulate the rate of transfer of heat between the first and second surfaces. The heat transfer system has particular application in the cooling of a forming mould in a glassware forming system.

Abstract: A method of producing clad glass rod of uniform diameter from which an optical fibre is drawn. The rate of drawing of the rod from a glass melt and the diameter of the drawn rod are sensed and the sensed values are fed to a coarse open loop control and a high gain closed loop control which regulate the draw speed of the rod and the movement of a cooling jacket which cools the rod as it is drawn.

Abstract: A method of and apparatus for controlling the temperatures of glass sheets moving bodily through a furnace by automatically varying the heat exposure time of the sheets in the furnace in accordance with temperature variations from a desired level detected in heated sheets exiting the furnace.

Abstract: In the art of manufacturing alkaline glasses in electric resistance furnaces, improved results are obtained by use of a porous insulating blanket formed from granulated or aggregated raw batch and by conforming the interior of the furnace to the currents within the melt and permitting the formed gaseous components to escape the rough the porous insulating blanket.

Abstract: Monitoring the temperature profile of a series of glass sheets heated while conveyed through a furnace where they are heated preparatory to their rapid cooling required for tempering. Representative temperatures are taken at selected portions of the upper and lower surfaces of selected sheets to determine the temperature difference between the top and bottom surfaces and an indication of the temperature profile transverse to the direction of glass sheet movement. The temperature monitoring system may also include an additional temperature measuring station at a suitable position in a quenching zone where the heated glass sheets are rapidly cooled.

Abstract: An apparatus assembly for distributing and adjusting flow of cooling fluid to control the temperature of a glass forming mold used for forming generally funnel-shaped articles such as, for example, funnel members for glass television picture tube envelopes, the assembly including a cooling fluid distributor in the form of an orifice member or perforate baffle and a plurality of adjustable valves for selectively adjusting and directing the flow of the cooling fluid to and about different parts of the outer surface of the forming mold for selective temperature control of the mold during the forming of glass articles therein.

Abstract: A furnace, which includes a melting and refining tank and a forehearth, is divided into a plurality of zones or regions. Each of the zones is provided with means for sensing temperature within the zone and a means for heating the zone. Means is also provided for measuring the individual heat input into the furnace of the heating means in each of the zones. When changes in temperatures are required, the temperatures in the different zones of the furnace are controlled by adjusting the heat input of the heating means in at least one of the zones to cause the temperatures in each of the zones where changes in temperature are required to approach desired temperatures.

Abstract: A circuit is described for controlling the temperature of a heating element used to heat molten glass in a bushing from which the molten glass is drawn into glass fibers and in which the bushing is divided into two sections. The circuit includes two temperature sensitive elements, such as thermocouples, each of which is connected to a temperature controller. In one embodiment of the invention, the first temperature controller regulates the power supplied by the transformer while the second temperature controller regulates the current to the heating element through a pair of full wave variable impedance devices. In the second embodiment, the transformer maintains a steady level of voltage supply while each temperature controller individually regulates one of two full wave variable impedance devices to regulate the current supplied to each section of the heating element.

Abstract: The disclosure embraces a method of and apparatus for melting and processing glass suitable for attenuation to continuous fibers or filaments and more particularly to an arrangement having a limited capacity for processing glass providing a highly refined glass for the production of comparatively small quantities of textile fibers or filaments of usual glass compositions and for limited production of textile fibers or filaments of special glasses.

Abstract: In an electrical heating element apparatus and control system for tubular glass fiber bushings wherein a plurality of bushings are each individually temperature controlled by a compact power supply and control system and means are provided for mounting and holding the orifice tube fiber units in proper relationship, while at the same time providing the required electrical connection to them. The heating elements or the orifice tubes are connected in parallel across the secondary of a single transformer, and individual control elements are connected in series with each element on the secondary side of the transformer. A special fluid control system is used to provide for differential flow of cooling fluid across the face of the orifice tube. The cooling fluid is controlled along the length of the orifice tube by segmented units, that can be individually controlled to provide for varying cooling fluid flow along a given length of the orifice tube.

Abstract: A predetermined rate of flow of molten glass from a reservoir, for example a glass melting furnace, is maintained by flowing glass from the reservoir to an intermediate vessel in which the glass temperature is fixed in relation to the temperature of glass discharging from the reservoir, continuously developing a control signal representing any change in the quantity of glass in the intermediate vessel, and using that signal to adjust the flow from the reservoir.

Abstract: A glassware forming system includes a forming mould and cooling means for removing heat from the forming mould. The cooling means comprises a cooling chamber which is spaced from an external surface of the forming mould by a cavity which contain fluidizable material. Means is provided for circulating a cooling fluid, such as water, through the cooling chamber. The cooling means further includes means for forming a fluidized bed from the fluidizable material within the cavity whereby heat may be transferred from the mould to the cooling fluid when a fluidized bed is formed in the cavity. The rate of transfer of heat from the external surface of the forming mould may be varied by controlling the rate of supply of gas to the cavity and thereby varying the degree of fluidization of the fluidized bed, by varying the rate of flow of cooling fluid through the cooling chamber, or by varying the temperature of the cooling fluid which is passed into the cooling chamber.

Abstract: A regenerative tank-type furnace and a method for regulating the atmospheric pressure in its working end wherein the headspace above the molten glass contained in the tank at the melting end is separated from the headspace at the working end together with controllable means for regulating the atmospheric pressure in the headspace above the working end independently of the pressure in the headspace of the melting end. The furnace atmospheric pressure in the working end is sensed and compared with the ambient external atmospheric pressure outside the working end to produce a signal which is employed to make adjustments in the dampering of an exhaust system communicating the working end with the outside atmosphere.

Abstract: An apparatus for providing a uniform thermal history of a free-falling glass gob having a hollow, heat-resistant conveyor tube extending between the point of shear of the molten glass and the desired mold to which the glass is to be directed and having an electrical heating means associated with at least a portion of the tube which may be controlled by a control means to transfer thermal energy through the tube to the glass gobs passing within the tube, the control means being fed information received from sensing means located at selected points along the tube which is activated by infrared rays transmitted through openings in the tubing by the glass gobs, which temperature information is transmitted to the control means and integrated to determine the operation of the heating means.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for making a controlled opening or bubble in the bore of a glass clinical thermometer comprises directing a narrow light beam at the heated glass while introducing pressurized fluid into the bore. The light beam is chosen to form a diffraction pattern including a shaprly imaged area whose width corresponds to the bore diameter. The diffraction image area width is used to obtain the desired bubble dimensions.

Abstract: Apparatus is disclosed for automated mass production of precision transparent silica glass products in accordance with a unique process in which slip-cast fused silica articles are rapidly heated and sintered in a vacuum or in a helium or hydrogen atmosphere at high temperatures, such as 2950.degree. to 3150.degree.F. A heated graphite susceptor shaped to conform to the outer surface of the fused silica article is automatically moved between a cooling zone and an induction furnace chamber which is opened momentarily to admit the article. The furnace and the graphite susceptor are designed to cause the trapped gases in the article to move radially outwardly and to effect rapid heating so as to avoid substantial devitrification during sintering.

Abstract: In an electrical heating element apparatus and control system for tubular glass fiber bushings wherein a plurality of bushings are each individually temperature controlled by a compact power supply and control system and means are provided for mounting and holding the orifice tube fiber units in proper relationship, while at the same time providing the required electrical connection to them. The heating elements or the orifice tubes are connected in parallel across the secondary of a single transformer, and individual control elements are connected in series with each element on the secondary side of the transformer. A special fluid control system is used to provide for differential flow of cooling fluid across the face of the orifice tube. The cooling fluid is controlled along the length of the orifice tube by segmented units, that can be individually controlled to provide for varying cooling fluid flow along a given length of the orifice tube.

Abstract: Apparatus for detecting and reducing bowing of a rotating roll used with hot material comprises a proximity sensor mounted adjacent the surface of a roll or of a member attached thereto, and arranged to generate an electric signal which varies between maximum and minimum limit values during each revolution of the roll in dependence on any bowing of the roll, cooling means for selectively cooling parts of the roll and a bowing detection circuit arranged to receive the electric signal and provide an operating signal when the electric signal varies by more than a predetermined amount from one of the said limit values, and actuating means arranged to respond to the operating signal and operate the cooling means to cool a required part of the roll to reduce bowing.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for continually monitoring the surface temperature of a moving glass ribbon at a given distance from the edge of the ribbon where the ribbon moves through a critical portion of an annealing lehr where the rate of cooling determines whether the ribbon may be cut easily after annealing and whether the ribbon is subjected to spontaneous breakage during annealing.

Abstract: Heat softenable material, typically glass, is heated in a furnace from above its surface, as by fossil fuel burners, and below its surface, as by Joule effect heating by electrical current flowing between electrodes immersed in the melt where predetermined relationships of the amount of heat supplied from each source is automatically established. One form of coordinated control employs ratio control where the relationship of fossil fuel burner heat supplied is maintained in constant proportion to the Joule effect heat supplied. Melter temperature is a primary control for a combustion air supply. A combustion air-fossil fuel ratio controller proportionally controls Joule effect heat applied in one embodiment. In other embodiments the electrical controller provides the master signal to a combustion air control proportionate to the requisite change of heat input dictated, or the combustion air control issues a ratio signal to the electrical controller for proportional changes.

Abstract: There is disclosed a system for controlling the cooling of the molds in a glass forming machine which involves compensating the pressure set point for the control of the cooling air to correct for changes in the temperature of the cooling air and changes in the mass flow rate of the glass. During maximum and minimum flow conditions for the cooling air the heat transfer equilibrium between the coolant and the parisons being cooled is modified as by modifying the set points of the temperature controllers on the feeder supplying the forming machine or alternatively by changing the speed of the forming machine so that the parisons tend to stay at the desired temperature with the limited range of coolant supply.