Rolled Plate Glass
Year: 1886

page_text: Rolled Plate Glass,
I, EDWARD WALSH, Jr., of 417 Olive Street in the City of St. Louis, State of
Missouri, United States of America, Glass Manufacturer, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
My invention relates to an improved method of, and apparatus for, rolling plate
glass, and has for its object firstly to improve the finish of the glass and secondly
to produce an ondoyant surface thereon. It consists in causing the rolls by which
the molten glass is spread into a sheet to have a relatively unequal circumferential
rotary and forward or progressive motion along the glass as hereinafter more fully
described.
In ordinary machines for rolling smooth glass the spur wheels are of the same
diameter as the cylindrical roller by which arrangement the sheet or slab of glass
is oftentimes puffy and imperfectly finished on its upper surface and the toothed
side racks being made in sections which are adjusted vertically by the set screws
it is tedious and difficult to bring the racks to a proper level for producing a
uniform thickness of glass.
On the accompanying drawing, Figure 1 is a side elevation representing a glass
rolling machine constructed according to my invention; Figure 2 a plan thereof;
Figure 8 a transverse section on line 1-1 in Figure 1; Figure 4 a detached
sectional elevation, partly broken away, of an alternate arrangement of the
machine; Figure 5 a plan view of a slab of ondoyant glass as produced by the
machine; and Figure 6 a sectional view of the same on the line * Figure 5;
like letters of reference denoting like parts in all the figures.
--
a (Figs. 1, 2 and 3) represents the table of my improved rolling machine over
which is mounted the cylindrical roller b provided with the spindle c on which is
fixed at each end of the roller b a spur wheel & gearing into the toothed rack e
which is fitted and capable of vertical adjustment in the groove or channel f
formed at each side of the table a and hereafter more particularly referred to.
gg are hand wheels fixed on the roller spindles c, and h h are bars placed upon the
table a between the latter and the roller b for gauging or determining the thickness
of the sheets or slabs of glass to be rolled.

page_text: I make the spur wheels d of larger diameter than the roller b so that on rotation
being imparted to the spindle c by the hand wheels g g the progressive circum-
ferential motion of the spur wheels d, which are constrained by the toothed racks e,
will exceed the circumferential progressive motion of the roller b along the table a
the consequence being that the cylindrical surface of the roller b will be retarded
and drag on the upper surface of the sheet or slab of glass and in so doing will
have the effect of drawing together the particles of the glass or increasing its
consistency and of producing a more thorough planishing or polishing of the surface
of the sheet or slab of smooth glass than can be obtained by the ordinary process.
In the apparatus as represented by Figure 4, I make the spur wheels ď ď of
smaller diameter than the cylindrical roller 6 and substitute the same for the spur
wheels d d in Figures 1, 2 and 3.
By this arrangement on motion being imparted to the roller spindle c by the
hand wheels gas before, the progressive circumferential motion of the spur
wheels d will be less than that of the roller b and the periphery of the latter will
consequently be accelerated and drag excessively or slip upon the surface beneath
BO as to produce an irregular ondoyant or waved upper surface on the sheet or slab
of glass whilst being rolled. Glass so produced may be used in cathedrals, houses
or other buildings where the free admission of light is desired and at the same time
the observance of objects through the glass prevented. This ondoyant surface is
shown in Figures 5 and 6 and is readily distinguished from what is known as
hammered glass, as the wave surface is produced by opposing forces and is
consequently irregular, like waves produced by wind on the surface of water
having a tide or current.
For vertically adjusting the toothed side racks e to the varying diameters of the
spur wheels d d and d' d' or thickness of the glass to be rolled each rack e is made
in one piece or casting and through its lower web i are formed transversely slots
or openings across which, between the upper rack bar k and the recessed upper
edges of the sides of the groove or channel f, are placed keys or wedges having
an uniform thickness throughout the series according to the adjustment required.
By this means each rack e inay be brought to a dead level for its entire length at
one operation by raising the same and placing the keys or wedges in position
instead of the tedious and oftimes inaccurate method of adjusting separately each
section of the rack by set screws as at present.
Any longitudinal movement of the racks e is prevented by the keys or wedges
bearing against the ends of their recesses in the edges of the grooves or channels f.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what
I claim is-
1. In a machine for rolling glass, the combination of a table; a cylindrical
roller;
and a rack and pinion, the pinion having a greater or less diameter than
the roller; substantially as and for the purposes described.
2. The method of subjecting the surface of glass, while in the state of a semi
fluid sheet, to the action of a roller having an unequal relative rotary and
progressive motion, substantially as and for the purposes described.
3. As a new article of manufacture, a plate of glass having a rolled ondoyant
surface, substantially as described..
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