NEW APPARATUS TO BE USED IN WORKING GLASS OUT OF TANK FURNACES
Year: 1880

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Walter Horn, of the Ayres Quay Bottle Company, of
Sunderland, in the County of Durham, and Robert Bell, of Sunderland afore-
said, in the employ of the said Company, for an Invention of “ NEW
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION filed by the said Walter Horn and Robert Bell
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 27th September 1880.
WALTER HORN, of the Ayres Quay Bottle Company, of Sunderland, in the County
of Durham, and ROBERT BELL, of Sunderland aforesaid, in the employ of the said
Company. "NEW APPARATUS TO BE USED IN WORKING GLASS OUT OF TANK
FURNACES."
In the Specifications to Letters Patent granted to F. Siemens, dated 11th
December 1876, No. 4780, and to C. W. Siemens, dated 22nd November 1879,
No. 4763, were described vessels or boats to be used in working out the glass from
tank furnaces. The glass passes from the tank into the interior of the boat, from
whence it is taken or "gathered" for use.
According to our Invention we construct such floating vessels or boats without
such partitions or dams as are shewn in the said Specifications, and we form the
passage or passages through which the glass enters so as to extend from the inner
bottom of the boat through the side, so that the glass entering the boat may be
drawn from a part of the tank which is sheltered as little as may be from the
heat of the flames playing over the surface of the tank, and also from a part of
the tank sufficiently far below the surface of the molten glass or " metal."
We construct the boat in this way, because we find (especially when working
with crude glass making materials, such as it is the custom to employ in the north
of England for making bottles) that the glass beneath the boat is chilled, and in
an unfit state; also the surface glass is not in a proper condition, and for this
reason the glass should be taken from as low a level as the depth of the boat will
conveniently admit.
The boat should be small or it will have an injurious action in chilling the glass
beneath it in the tank.
We find it convenient to make the boat with an internal diameter of twelve
inches and a depth of 8 inches; these dimensions, which will be found quite

page_text: sufficient for convenient working, are very much less than those of the boats
hitherto employed; a great reduction in the size being rendered possible by the
omission of partitions or dams from the interior of the boat.
In some cases we extend the passage for the entrance of the glass into the boat,
so that it becomes a spout projecting from the side of the boat; the glass then enters
the passage at some distance away from the side of the boat or vessel.
Figure 1 of the accompanying Drawing shews a vertical section of one form of
our-floating vessel or boat. Figure 2 shews a plan of the same. This boat should
be constructed of pot clay, and in the manner in which glass makers' pots are
made. H, H, H, are inclined holes, through which the glass enters the boat.
The boat when in use is so placed that the holes are situated farthest away from
the working hole of the furnace. Horns or fenders are provided as shewn, and as
described in C. W. Siemens' Specification for keeping the boat from contact with
the wall of the furnace. Four holes H are shewn in the Drawing but this number
may be varied. Figure 3 shews a vertical section of a boat in which the inclined
hole or passage H is extended as a spout projecting from the side of the boat.
The boats, vessels, or apparatus constructed according to our Invention present
the following advantages:-
D
1. They are so small that they do not chill the metal much which is beneath
them by sheltering it from the action of the flame.
it.
2. The working out part is so large that it is easy for the men to gather from
3. They expose but a very small surface of the boat at the upper part to the
action of the flame, and for this reason, and also from their form they are not
liable to crack.
4. The metal enters the boat in a condition fit for use.
5. The boats are durable and inexpensive.
Having thus described the nature of our Invention, and in what manner the
same is to be performed, we claim,—
First. The construction of floating vessels or boats used when working out glass
from tank furnaces without partitions or dams, and with one or more inlet holes
or passages extending from the bottom of the inside to the outer side, substantially
as herein described.
Second. The construction of such floating vessels or boats with the inlet hole or
passage extending as a spout projecting from the bottom of the side of the vessel,
substantially as herein described.
In witness whereof, we, the said Walter Horn and Robert Bell, have here-
unto set our hands and seals, this Twenty fifth day of September, in the
year of our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
Signed, sealed, and delivered
by the said Walter Horn
and Robert Bell, in the
presence of
JAS. A. LONGDEN,
Solicitor,
Sunderland.
WALTER HORN. (L.S.)
ROBERT BELL. (L.S.)