Improvements in Plate Glass, in the Art of Rolling same, and in Machinery therefor.
Year: 1892

page_text: Date of Application, 18th May 1892-Accepted, 18th June, 1892
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Plate Glass, in the Art of Rolling same, and in
Machinery therefor.
I, EDWARD WALSH, Jr., of No. 304 North Eighth Street in the City of
St. Louis, State of Missouri, United States of America, Gentleman, 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 improvements in the art of producing rolled plate glass
with parallel surfaces other than plain, ¿.e., rolled plate glass with similar surfaces
on both sides, of a uniform thickness, the depressed and raised portions of one side
corresponding, respectively, to the raised and depressed portions on the other side;
to the herein-described rolled plate glass, similarly corrugated on both sides, as a
new article of manufacture; in the method of forming such plate glass; and in the
new and special construction of apparatus for producing rolled plate glass of
corrugated form, whereby the uniform gauge, or thickness, of the plate is maintained
throughout, and whereby the registration of the male and female portions of the
opposite forming or molding surfaces is insured, and to the two latter ends, my
invention especially consists in the combination with the forming or molding
surfaces of a pinion and adjustable rack therefor, and in the combination with said
forming or molding surfaces of gauge bars for controlling the thickness of
the plate.
In usual practice, rolled plate glass is produced by machinery comprising
essentially a plane bed-plate or table and a roller with plane surface, or two plane
rollers. If it is desired to give any particular configuration to the surface of the
glass, it is done by subsequently subjecting the rolled sheet, while yet in a semi-
molten state, to the impression of a second roller, on the surface of which is formed
the reverse of desired configuration on the glass plate. By this method, one
surface is left flat. By my improved method, I give to the surface of the glass
the desired form by giving to both the working surface of the bed-plate and the
surface of the roller a corresponding form or character, which will co-act together
as male and female parts, giving to the glass plate similar surfaces on both sides
and making the sheet of a uniform thickness throughout.
In the accompanying drawings, in which like letters of reference denote like
parts in the several figures,
Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a glass rolling machine, in which the roller travels
along the length of the bed-plate of the machine;
Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same, showing the bed-plate corrugated longitudinally
and the roller circumferentially;
Fig. 3 is an end elevation or a transverse vertical section taken on the line 3-3
in Fig. 1;
Figs. 4 and 5 are, respectively, a plan view of a sheet of corrugated glass,
or of my new product, and a cross-section of the same, taken on the line 5-5
in Fig. 4;
vertical
Figs. 6 and 7 are, respectively, a side sectional elevation and an end view, or
section taken on the line 7-7 in Fig. 6, of a two-roller machine, the rollers being
both corrugated circumferentially, matching together as male and female parts.
1, Figs. 1, 2, and 3, represents the table or bed-plate of the rolling machine over
which is mounted the roller 2, provided with a spindle 4, on which is fixed, at the
ends of the roller 2, the spur-wheels 6. The spur-wheels 6, gear into the racks 8
(see Fig. 1), which are fitted into channels 9 (see Fig. 3) formed at each side of
the table 1 and are capable of vertical adjustment therein by 'the removable

page_text: adjusting keys 10.
11-11 are hand wheels rigidly secured on the ends of the
spindle for operating the roller 2, and 12-12 are bars placed along the sides of
the table 1, between the latter and the roller 2, by which the thickness of the
sheets of glass is gauged or determined.
As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, I form the bed-plate or table 1 with corrugations
which extend lengthwise to the same, and the roller 2 with similar corrugations
circumferentially, and so place the roller longitudinally that the depressions in
the corrugations thereon correspond with the elevated parts in the corrugations
on the bed-plate, as shown in Fig. 3. In this manner, a sheet of glass 13, with
similar corrugations on each side, of practically a uniform thickness, is produced,
similar to that shown in Fig. 5. In the two-roller machine illustrated in Figs. 6
and 7, I corrugate both rollers 14 and 15, circumferentially, like the roller 2 in the
one-roller machine illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. In this instance, the rollers 14
and 15 are made to rotate uniformly by having secured to the ends of their spindles
gear wheels 16 which gear together, power to rotate them being applied, in any
desired manner, to the spindle of either of the rollers. The rollers are supported
in position by journal bearings provided in the general framing of the machine,
one set of such bearings, preferably the upper, being adjustable vertically in order
to gauge the thickness of the glass.
The rollers are placed relative to each other longitudinally so that the raised
part of the corrugations of one is relatively opposite the depressed part of the same
on the other roller. In this form of machine, the following table 18, or that one
on which the rolled glass is received from the rollers, is necessarily corrugated to
conform with the under side of the rolled sheet of glass as it leaves the rollers.
I am aware that rolled plate glass has been made before with corrugations on
one side only, the other side being flat. There are serious objections to this form
of plate glass in the process of manufacture, in that the glass cannot be properly
annealed.
My improved product possesses the following advantages over a plate corrugated
on one side only-primarily, and of paramount importance, the sheet can be
effectively annealed; for the same weight, it is much stronger, irrespective of the
superior annealing; in use, it is much more conveniently matched and manipulated
in glazing. As compared with flat plate glass, when used for such purposes as
sky-lights, it is an important improvement for the following reasons; its form gives
a translucent quality desirable for such uses; it presents, at all parts, a curved
instead of flat surface, which is better able to resist the breaking force of the
impact of hail, etc.; and the corrugations themselves offer a more effectual
draining surface; another advantage over flat sheet glass is that the corrugated
sheet, such as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, is possessed of an elasticity, when supported
in or by a framework of some other material, making it less liable to be broken by
a strain put upon it.
It is evident that, in the manufacture, the corrugations may be terminate at a
certain point in the width of the sheet, forming the sheet with flat edges for
cutting and matching.
Among the advantages of my apparatus for producing corrugated rolled plates,
are the following: first, the gauge or thickness of the plate can be adjusted and
maintained uniform throughout, and, second, the registering of the male and female
operative surfaces is insured, all of which results in the production of a corrugated
plate glass which can be effectively annealed, and will possess superior elasticity
and strength, which adapts it for sky-lights, vault-lights, and like places of great
exposure with frequent shocks and blows or unusual strains.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
I. The herein-described method of forming plate glass corrugated on both sides,
consisting in subiecting the surfaces of the glass, while in a semi-fluid state, to the

page_text: action of a circumferentially corrugated roller on a longitudinally corrugated table,
substantially as described and for the purposes specified.
II. In a machine for rolling glass, the combination of a table formed with
corrugations longitudinally of the same and a cylindrical roller formed with
corrugations circumferentially of the same, combined and operating substantially in
the manner and for the purposes specified.
III. As a new article of manufacture, a plate of rolled sheet glass having a
similar corrugated surface on both sides, substantially as described.
IV. In apparatus for forming corrugated plate glass, the combination with a
longitudinally corrugated bed and roller having corrugations on its periphery, of
a pinion on the roll shaft and an adjustable rack on the corrugated bed; sub-
stantially as and for the purposes specified.
V. In apparatus for forming corrugated plate glass, the combination with a
corrugated bed having a rack channel, of an adjustable rack arranged in said
channel, and a corrugated roller having on its shaft a pinion which engages the rack;
substantially as and for the purposes specified.
VI. In apparatus for forming corrugated plate glass, the combination with a
corrugated bed and corrugated roller, of gauge bars, an adjustable rack arranged
on the bed, and a pinion on the shaft of the corrugated roller; substantially as
and for the purposes specified.
Dated the 18th day of May 1892
PHILIP M. JUSTICE, Fel. Chart. Inst. P.A.,
55 & 56, Chancery Lane, London, Associate Agent.

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