IMPROVE- MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING AND MOULDING GLASS ARTICLES
Year: 1879

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Charles William Siemens, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate,
Westminster, in the County of Middlesex, for the Invention of "IMPROVE-
MENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING AND MOULDING GLASS ARTICLES."
A communication from abroad by Friedrich Siemens, of Dresden, in the
German Empire.
Sealed the 3rd February 1880, and dated the 22nd November 1879.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Charles William Siemens
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 22nd November 1879.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING AND
MOULDING GLASS ARTICLES." [A communication from abroad by Friedrich
Siemens, of Dresden, in the German Empire.]
This Invention relates to apparatus for the melting, fining, and working out of
glass, and for moulding the glass into bottles or other articles. Glass melting tanks
have hitherto been constructed under the belief that the fining operation of the
material takes place mostly at the surface, and consequently such tanks have been
made of considerable superficial area, but of very moderate depth, such as a foot or
eighteen inches. In such tanks floating bridges or rings have been used, and
these have been made shallow, so as only to exclude from the working out spaces
parted off by them foreign matters floating on the surface. Also boats or floating
vessels for working out glass have been employed, as described in the Specification
to Letters Patent granted to the said Friedrich Siemens on the 11th December,
1876, No. 4780, but these boats were so constructed that the glass was made to
enter them at a high level where it would be in an imperfectly fined condition,
unless the tank were provided with bridges or other means of separating the crude
from the fined material. It has been observed however that in the glass-melting
process the metal as it fines sinks below the surface, and consequently in order to
work out the metal to the best advantage, the depth of the tank should be very
considerably increased, and the floating vessels or rings used should be of such form
and construction as to take their supply from a considerable depth below the
surface of the metal.
According to this Invention for the melting, fining, and working out of glass a
continuously working regenerative gas furnace is employed, in the tank of which

page_text: there are boats or floating vessels made of refractory material one for each working
out hole or door, constructed and operating as will be now described. Each boat
is divided into three compartments; the first supplied through holes at or near its
bottom with glass taken at a level some distance below the surface of the material
in the tank; the second compartment is separated from the first by a bridge or
dam over which the material flows from the first, this bridge acting as a trap to
prevent back flow of the material, which undergoes fining in the second compart-
ment. The third compartment, which in some cases may with advantage be
covered by a hood from the direct action of the flame, receives the fined glass from
the bottom of the second compartment through a slit or hole at the lower part of
the partition which separates the second from the third compartment. From the
third compartment the glass is worked out. Each boat is made with horns pro-
jecting from the front of the third compartment serving as fenders to keep the boat
from contact with the side of the tank to which it might otherwise adhere owing
to the cooling of the material next the side of the tank.
to.
The boats instead of having three compartments may have a greater number;
for example, the third compartment may supply a fourth over a dam or bridge
acting as a trap to prevent back flow, and the fourth compartment thus supplied
may supply from its bottom a fifth or working out compartment. Farther, there
may be in the boats floating rings, as described in the Specification above referred
When such rings are used one of the compartments, namely, that for working
out, may be dispensed with, the glass being worked out of the interior of the rings.
Boats, as above described, may be employed in tanks other than those worked on
the regenerative gas furnace principle. They may be used also in pots, and such
pots may be worked as tanks, that is to say, with the hottest flame playing con-
tinuously on the surface of the material contained in them, in which case they can
be loosely built round and supported by refractory material up or nearly up to
their upper edges.
For moulding bottles or similar articles the moulds are according to the present
Invention constructed as follows:-The bottom, the cylindrical body, and the
folding portions, which are opened and closed in the usual way, are all made with
openings through them giving free passage for access of air to cool the glass, and for
egress of the fumes or gases proceeding from the carbonaceous or oleaginous
material usually introduced for lubricating the mould, so that the bottle or article
blown in it can be freely turned round therein while it is being blown. These
openings through the mould are narrow at the inside of the mould and widen out
considerably towards the outside, so that they readily clear themselves of any soot,
ash, or other material entering them from the mould. In the upper part of the
mould these openings may be in the form of vertical slits; in the vertical sides of
the mould they may be in the form of slits cut obliquely, and in the bottom they
may be of the form of segments separated by bars lying obliquely to the radii.
When the article is turned round while it is being blown in the mould, the edges
of the openings have a planing or smoothing action on the surface of the glass. In
some cases instead of turning the bottle or other article round in a stationary
mould, the mould is caused to turn round or partly round while the article blown
in it is held stationary. Moulds with openings as above described are obviously
applicable in such cases, their operation being the same whether they themselves or
the articles blown in them are caused to rotate. In blowing bottles which have
recesses in their bottoms the centre of the bottom of the mould forms a pivot on
which the bottle turns, and when the recess has a projecting nipple, a corresponding
hollow is formed at the apex of the mould bottom, the nipple in that case forming
the pivot on which the bottle turns. Moulds with openings through them as above
described may either be made in a few parts having the openings cut or cast
through them, or they may be built up in skeleton form of bars or ribs with spaces
between them serving as the openings.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Charles William Siemens in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
22nd May 1880.
CHARLES WILLIAM SIEMENS, of No. 12, Queen Anne's Gate, Westminster, in the
County of Middlesex. "IMPROVEMENTS IN APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING AND
MOULDING GLASS ARTICLES." A communication from abroad by Friedrich
Siemens, of Dresden, in the German Empire.
This Invention relates to apparatus for the melting, fining, and working out of
glass, and for moulding the glass into bottles or other articles." Glass melting tanks
have hitherto been constructed under the belief that the fining operation of the
material takes place mostly at the surface, and consequently such tanks have been
made of considerable superficial area but of very moderate depth, such as a foot or
eighteen inches. In such tanks floating bridges or rings have been used, and
these have been made shallow, so as only to exclude from the working out spaces
parted off by them foreign matters floating on the surface. Also boats or floating
vessels for working out glass have been employed, as described in the Specification
to Letters Patent granted to the said Frederick Siemens on the 11th December,
1876, No. 4780), but these boats were so constructed that the glass was made to
enter them at a high level where it would be in an imperfectly fined condition,
unless the tank were provided with bridges or other means of separating the crude
from the fined material. It has been observed however that in the glass-melting
process the metal as it fines sinks below the surface, and consequently in order to
work out the metal to the best advantage the depth of the tank should be very
considerably increased, such that below the fluid molten metal there may be a layer
of metal in a semi fluid or partially solid condition lining the tank, and the
floating vessels used should be of such form and construction as to take their
supply from a considerable depth below the surface of the metal.
According to this Invention for the melting, fining, and working out of glass, a
continuously working regenerative gas furnace is employed having a deep tank in
which there are boats or floating fining vessels made of refractory material, one or
more for each working out hole or door constructed and operating as will be now
described. Each boat is divided into three compartments, the first supplied
through holes at or near its bottom with glass taken at the lowest practicable level
below the surface of the material in the tank, that is to say, at the point at which
the metal is sufficiently liquid to supply the boat. The boats may be adjusted to
the desired level at their supply end by greater or less thickness of those parts
which project above the metal or by loose bricks placed upon them. The second
compartment is separated from the first by a bridge or dam over which the metal
flows from the first, this bridge acting as a trap to prevent back flow of the metal,
which undergoes fining in the second compartment. The third compartment,
which in some cases may with advantage be covered by a hood from the direct
action of the flame, receives the fined glass from the bottom of the second compart-
ment through a slit or hole at the lower part of the partition, which separates the
second from the third compartment. From the third compartment the glass is
worked out. Each boat is made with horns projecting from its front serving as
fenders to keep the boat from contact with the side of the tank, to which it might
otherwise adhere owing to the cooling of the material next the side of the tank,
and thus also preventing fused material from the roof or sides flowing into the
working out compartment of the boat.
The boats instead of having three compartments may have a greater number;
for example, the third compartment may supply a fourth over a dam or bridge
acting as a trap to prevent back flow, and the fourth compartment thus supplied
may supply from its bottom a fifth or working out compartment. Farther, there

page_text: may be in the boats floating rings, as described in the Specification above referred
to; such rings should be made very deep, and when they are used one of the com-
partments, namely, that for working out, may be dispensed with, the glass being
worked out of the interior of the rings, and the rings may be cleaned from time to
time by holding them up in the hot flame which melts impurities off their surfaces.
Boats as above described may be employed in tanks other than those worked on
the regenerative gas furnace principle. They may be used also in pots, and such
pots may be worked as tanks, that is to say, with the hottest flame playing con-
tinuously on the surface of the material contained in them, in which case they can
be loosely built round and supported by refractory material up to or nearly up to
their upper edges.
For moulding bottles or similar articles the moulds are according to the present
Invention constructed as follows:-The bottom, the cylindrical body, and the
folding portions which are opened and closed in the usual way are all made with
openings through them giving free passage for access of air to cool the mould and
the glass, also for egress of the fumes or gases proceeding from the carbonaceous or
oleaginous material usually introduced for lubricating the mould, so that the bottle
or article blown in it can be freely turned round therein while it is being blown.
These openings through the mould are narrow at the inside of the mould and
widen out considerably towards the outside, so that they readily clear themselves
of any soot, ash, or other material entering them from the mould. In the upper
part of the mould these openings may be in the form of vertical slits; in the
vertical sides of the mould they may be in the form of slits cut obliquely, and in
the bottom they may be of the form of segments separated by bars lying obliquely
to the radii. When the article is turned round while it is being blown in the
mould, the edges of the openings have a planing or smoothing action on the
surface of the glass. In some cases instead of turning the bottle or other article
round in a stationary mould the mould is caused to turn round or partly round
while the article blown in it is held stationary. Moulds with openings as above
described are obviously applicable in such cases, their operation being the same
whether they themselves or the articles blown in them are caused to rotate. In
blowing bottles which have recesses in their bottoms the centre of the bottom of
the mould forms a pivot on which the bottle turns, and when the recess has a pro-
jecting nipple, a corresponding hollow is formed at the apex of the mould bottom,
the nipple in that case forming the pivot on which the bottle turns. Skeleton
moulds with openings through them, as above described, may either be made in a
few parts having the openings cut or cast through them, or they might be built up
in skeleton form of bars or ribs with spaces between them serving as the openings.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
Fig. 1 is a longitudinal section on the line a, a, of Fig. 2, which represents two
half transverse sections, the left half on the line b, b, and the right half on the
line c, c, of Fig. 1, shewing the construction and arrangement of a deep glass tank
according to this Invention. A is the cave with the regenerative chambers B, B,
for air, and C, C, for gas arranged on each side of it below the tank D, which is
made to contain a considerable depth of glass for the purpose above stated; E and F
are the flues conveying the heated air and gas up from the regenerative chambers on
the one side, whilst the products of combustion pass down by corresponding flues
to the regenerative chambers on the other side, this movement being from time to
time alternated in the known manner according to which regenerative gas furnaces
are operated. G is one of the working out holes of which a number are arranged
at one end of the tank, each having a flue H to cause a draught of air for the
protection of the workman; I is one of the feeding doors of which there may be
several at the end opposite to that where the glass is worked out. The bottom
and sides of the tank are externally cooled by the air currents through and from
the cave A and through flues K. Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of a deep glass

page_text: tank furnace divided into compartments, this section being taken on the line d, d,
of Fig. 4, which is a plan on the line e, e, of Fig. 3. A transverse section on f, f,
(Fig. 4) is shewn at Fig. 5. In this construction the tanks are built on the ground,
the regenerative chambers B and C being placed at each end with their air any
gas flues E and F.) The furnace is divided into four compartments forming four
tanks separated by partitions, which as well as the end bridges are kept cool by
currents of air through flues K; G are the working out holes at each side, each of
which may have a boat, as shewn at L¹ or L³, or two or more such boats of smaller
size, of kinds that will presently be described. The furnace may obviously be
divided into a less or greater number of separate compartments according to the
varieties of glass to be produced; Fig. 6 is a longitudinal section on the line g, g,
of Fig. 7, which is a plan on i, i, (Fig. 6) of a pot furnace, Fig. 8 being a
transverse section on h, h, (Fig. 7). This furnace contains pots M, which are
bedded in and supported by refractory material N, so that they may be made of
oval form or of forms other than circular, the support given by the material in
which they are bedded rendering great strength of the pots themselves unnecessary
and the bedding material protecting them from extreme heat or change of
temperature. The parts of this furnace corresponding with parts of those pre-
viously described are marked by similar letters of reference. The number of pots
may obviously be varied according to the dimensions and purpose of the furnace,
and the pots may be worked continuously as tanks.
The boats or floating fining vessels according to this Invention may be made of
various forms, some of which are shown at L, L1, L2, in Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8,
and to an enlarged scale at Fig. 9, which is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 10,
which is a plan, Figs. 11 and 12 being plans of modified forms. A circular form
is shewn in section at Fig. 13, and in plan at Fig. 14. O is the inlet by which the
glass enters the boat. It flows over the bridge o into the fining compartment P,
and thence under the bridge p into the working out compartment Q, which as
shewn at L', in Figs. 4 and 5, is sometimes provided with a hood. This compart-
ment may be dispensed with when floating rings are employed, as shewn at Ĺ³, in
Figs. 4 and 5, and in Figs. 13 and 14. When there are several such rings the
glass may be worked out from them in succession. The boat is kept from contact
with the side of the tank by the projecting horns R butting against the side.
Fig. 15 is a vertical section, and Fig. 16 a side elevation of a skeleton bottle
mould according to this Invention; Fig. 17 is a section shewing the bottom piece
forming the pivot on which the bottle is turned round while it is in the mould;
Fig. 18 is a sectional plan of the body of the mould, and Fig. 19 is a plan of the
bottom piece. The mould as shewn in the Drawings is made with slits or
openings T in its upper part, U in its body, and V in its bottom, permitting escape
of fumes or gases and admitting air to cool the glass, and to prevent the mould
from becoming overheated. The edges of the slits T and U, and of the openings V
serve to plane or smooth the surface of the bottle when it is turned round in the
mould, and in order that the slits U and openings V may more efficiently exert
this planing action their edges are set obliquely to the direction of motion of the
surface on which they act. The slits T and U are also widened out, so that they
readily clear themselves of soot, ash, or other material that may enter them from
the interior of the mould.
Having thus described the nature of this Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my foreign correspondent,
I claim,
First. The construction of regenerative gas furnaces with deep tanks for the
manufacture of glass, substantially as herein described with reference to Figs. 1
and 2 of the accompanying Drawings.
Second. The modified construction of furnace divided into several separate deep
tanks, substantially as described with reference to Figures 3, 4, and 5.
Third. The construction of regenerative gas furnace for the manufacture of glass

page_text: in pots bedded in and supported by refractory material, substantially as herein
described with reference to Figs. 6, 7, and 8.
Fourth. The use for working out glass from tanks or pots, of boats or floating
fining vessels supplied at or near the bottom with molten metal taken from a low
level in the tank, and provided with a dam to prevent back flow from the fining
compartment, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying
Drawings.
Fifth. The use for the manufacture of glass bottles and like articles of skeleton
moulds, substantially as and for the purposes herein set forth, and as herein
described with reference to Figs. 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19.
In witness whereof, I, the said Charles William Siemens, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Twenty first day of May, in the year of Our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and eighty.
C. WILLIAM SIEMENS. (LS.)