Patent GB-289790-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to leers
IPC: C03B25/06
Filed: 1928-04-30
Abstract: 289,790. Thermal Engineering Corporation, (Assignees of Shackelford, 0.). April 29, 1927, [Convention date]. Glass-annealing leers; charging; charges, conveying; walls.- Glass articles such as bottles, jars, and the like are fed, while still hot, from a moulding-machine in single file to a leer in which they are annealed by their own heat and which is provided with a roller-way conveyer and with means for arranging the articles in rows transversely of the leer. As shown, the conveyer comprises thin rollers 26 disposed close to the floor 22 and arranged in two groups, that at the entrance or distributing end being rotated at a faster rate than that which extends through the main body of the leer and the cooling section. Secured, outside the leer, to each end of the rollers 26 is a pinion 32, the arrangement being such that these pinions form, on each side, two series which engage with two chains 34 in the distributing section and with two further chains 180 which extend from the point 182, Fig. 4, to the exit end of the leer. The high speed part of the conveyer is driven by a motor 64, Fig. 3a, which operates, through a speed-changing device 70 and chain and pinion gearing, a shaft 84 carrying on each end a pinion 100 which drive by chains 102 pairs of sprockets 104 secured to the ends of floor rollers 26. The rest of the conveyer, i.e. the slowspeed section, is also driven from the motor 64, the rotation of the shaft 84 being transmitted through gearing in a casing 78 to a shaft 96 which carries pinions 170 meshing with sprockets 172 secured to a shaft 174 disposed above the shaft 96. The shaft 174 carries on each side, inside the sprockets 172, a pair of pinions 178 driving the chains 180 which, after passing over guide-sprockets 188, extend through a tension controlling device. This, as shown in Fig. 3, comprises a weight 196 slidable vertically in an oil well 198 and carrying pins 194 on which are mounted sprockets 190 engaging with the chains 180. The driving- chains are enclosed, throughout the greater part of the length of the leer, in casings 200. The bottles 128 are transferred from the moulding-machine 116 by air-pressure operated platform 118 and pivoted lever 132, to a narrow roller-way conveyer 106 which is driven from the end rollers 114 of the leer conveyer and carries the bottles into the leer in single file. Arranged above the high-speed rollers 26 is a series of distributors 148, 158, 160, 162, 164, 166, 168, arranged in triangular formation and pivoted on the lower ends of rods 138, which are adjustably supported in the roof 24. Each distributor comprises, on the forward side of the rod 138, a directing finger 150, and, on the rear side, a fanshaped plate 152 formed with an abutment 154 which limits the movement of the distributor by contact with a stop 156 on the rod 138. A triangular plate 146 is disposed immediately behind the forward distributor 148, and the whole series functions to deliver the first eight bottles into the positions shown at a - - h, Fig. 4. Each succeeding batch of eight bottles is distributed in a similar manner as shown by the positions a<1> - - hl. The longitudinal spacing of the bottles is adjusted by varying the gears 170, 172 to effect a corresponding variation in the relative speed of the main and distributing sections of the conveyer, while the speed of the conveyer as a whole is adjusted by the device 70. The walls 20, floor 22, and roof 24 of the leer are formed of cork brick united with silicate of soda and mineral wool, the whole structure being supported on the foundations 62 by channel beams 36, which are connected at top and bottom by plates 40, 38 to form a closed duct with which communicates an exhaust fan 44, Fig. 1. The floor 22 is formed at intervals with apertures controlled by horizontally slidable dampers 50, each of which is formed on the underside with racks 54 engaged by pinions 56 on a hand-operated cross-shaft 58. In cases where the heat of the ware is insufficient to effect the annealing, there is provided supplementary muffle-heating means comprising a combustion chamber 202 arranged above the roof 24 and fitted at the respective ends with gas burners 210 and damper-controlled chimneys 212.