Patent GB-824232-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to article-supporting apparatus
Inventor: HAINES ERNEST MARTIN
IPC: C03B23/045
Filed: 1956-10-03
Abstract: 824,232. Vacuum work-holders. GENERAL ELECTRIC CO. Ltd. Oct. 3, 1957 [Oct. 3, 1956], No. 30183/56. Class 60. Apparatus for supporting an article, such as the body portion 6 of a cathode ray tube, in a pre-set position comprises a support member 24 which is carried by a base member 10 and biased towards a rest position about which it is capable of limited reversal movement, means for locking the support member in a set position, and means for holding the article in a fixed position relative to the support member, the arrangement being such that the article can be positioned by positioning means and then engaged by the support member which is displaced from its rest position to support the article in the pre-set position, the holding and locking means being operable respectively to secure the article to the support member and to lock the support member in its displaced position. The support member 24, which is made of heat resistant material, is carried by a plate 22 connected by universal joints 30 to three or more supports 31, in turn connected by universal joints 32 to plungers 33 axially slidable in holes in the base member 10 carried on a disc 14 secured to a hollow spindle 11. A stub 16 is secured to the base member and carries concentrically-disposed flexible metal bellows 21, 25 attached to the plate 22 and a cylindrical member 26, respectively. The stub is formed with a compartment 18 connected by a duct 29 to the annular space between the bellows and to a tube 15 disposed within the spindle 11 and connected through a rotary coupling to a vacuum pump. The plate 22 is biased away from the base member 10 by one or more springs 51 which, in the rest position of the support member, are either freely extended or press the plate resiliently against one or more stops. At least two of the supports 31 are provided with collars 34 connected to either one or two locking rods 36 having universal-joint connections with plungers 39 axially slidable in holes in the base member 10. When an article, such as the body 6 which is to be sealed to its end portion 7 held in similar apparatus, is held in a pre-set position by suitable positioning means and the support member brought into engagement with the article, the member and plate 22 move from their rest position and axially move the plungers 33, 39 in the holes in the base member 10. The vacuum pump is then connected to the tube 15 to hold the article against the members 24, 26 and the plungers locked in position by means of U-shaped clamps 41 which are acted upon by causing compressed air to displace rods 48 in radially-disposed holes in the disc 14. The positioning means can then be removed, the article being held in the pre-set position by the vacuum between the members 24, 26. The apparatus is rotatably mounted on bearings 12, Fig. 1, on a slide 3, and a similar apparatus, but without the bellows 25 and member 24, carries the end portion 7 coaxially arranged on a slide 4, both slides being rectilinearly movable on a base 5 to bring the portions together whereupon they are rotated together while their edges are sealed by heating means consisting of a multiplicity of gas burners. The positioning means, which may be mounted on the apparatus, for the body and end portions may be as described in Specification 782,189 and comprise means for successively positioning both the body and end portions with their edges in the same pre-set position and transferring each portion to its respective apparatus. Alternatively, the portions may be positioned simultaneously and transferred together to their respective apparatus. Such means may, as described in Specification 824,231, include means for transferring the portions from a preheating stage to the pre-set position.