Improvements in Apparatus for Rolling Glass.
Year: 1893

page_text: Date of Application, 14th Nov., 1893—Accepted, 16th Dec., 1893
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Rolling Glass.
A communication by PETER VICTOR PELTIER, of Ottawa, in the County
of La Salle and State of Illinois, United State of America, Glass
Manufacturer.
1, WILLIAM PHILLIPS THOMPSON F.C.S., M.I.M.E., of the Agency for
Foreign Patent Solicitors, 6 Lord Street, Liverpool and 6, Bank Street,
Manchester both in the County of Lancaster, and 323 High Holborn in the
County of Middlesex, Civil Engineer, 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 :-
This invention relates to a machine for rolling sheets of glass, whether colored
or uncolored or opalescent, opaque or semi-opaque, and whether smooth on both
sides or having one smooth and one rippled surface. And the object of the
machine, as distinguished from the prior art, is to make a better article, in that the
glass as it comes from the machine is more even, is tough and strong throughout,
without brittle or distorted portions and evenly opaque or transparent, as the case
may be, throughout; and lastly and most important in that the smooth surface is
perfectly smooth, and, where one side of the sheet is rippled, the ripple is more
regular and perfect, and the brilliancy of the sheet of glass under transmitted
light is heightened, and furthermore the glass is more easily and perfectly cut.
In the old way of rolling glass, the molten glass when taken from the furnace is
poured upon a metal table and the table is caused to pass under a roller, or the
roller is caused to pass over the table while the glass-maker manages the molten
glass with a ferret, and the sidewise spreading of the sheet is limited by adjustable
guides. Various modifications of this plan have been suggested. Among them,
the one which probably most closely approximates this invention is a glass rolling
machine in which the molten glass is poured on to an inclined stationary table and
rolled between two rollers which spread it out in the form of a sheet and feed it
through to a second metal table arranged also at an incline and stationary. In
this machine, an advantage is gained over the older form, in that both the upper
and under surfaces of the glass sheet are in but momentary contact with the parts
of the machine (namely, in the pheripheries of the two rollers), whereby the glass
is being pressed into sheet form. It is objectionable to have the glass sheet remain
in contact with metal longer than absolutely necessary for its formation. Where,
in the old apparatus, the glass was placed on a table and the roller run over it, so
as to spread it down evenly over the table's surface, the glass obtained the
impression of the table and the surface of the glass in contact with the table was
roughened; furthermore the table was liable to rapid and irregular heating causing
irregular cooling of the glass with resulting uneven strain and brittleness and a
very uneven surface. Furthermore, as the table differed in temperature, corre-
sponding differences were produced in the speed of cooling the glass, which affected
its opacity at different points, for, where the table was cold, the glass which rested
on it would become transparent, while, where the table was hot, the overlying glass
would be more or less opaque, and these varying conditions made a very imperfect
production of the glass sheet.
These difficulties were not obviated by the machine above described having two
rollers with inclined stationary metal tables on each side of them. Here, as before,
the glass was in constant contact with metal, the delivery table would become
heated and the glass would receive a roughened surface therefrom, and also become
irregular in its toughness and in its opacity. The delivery table being placed near

page_text: the tangential point of the two rollers, its receiving edge would become exceed-
ingly hot, so that, as the glass sheet coming through the rollers struck it, the glass
would become balled-up, the delivery of the sheet would be retarted and its form
spoilt. If it were endeavored to avoid this retardation or to take the sheet away
without touching the delivery table, the tongs employed would strain and distort
the glass sheet. It is impossible to get a good result if the glass sheet is allowed
to remain in contact with metal.
In this improved machine, the molten glass is as usual placed upon a receiving
table, but its only period of contact with metal thereafter is for the moment of
passage between the rollers, which deliver it on to a non-conducting surface.
In the accompanying drawings:
Figure I is a side elevation of the improved machine.
Figure II is a longitudinal sectional view thereof.
Figure III is a plan view thereof.
Figure IV is a transverse sectional view in the plane indicated by the line 4-4,
Figure 3.
Figure V is a side elevation to a larger scale than the preceding figures of one
of the end frames in which the rollers are mounted, showing gear wheels of equal
size for driving the two rollers at the same rate of speed.
1 is the machine frame, which may be of the represented or any other preferred
construction. On this frame is supported a table 2, preferably of cast metal and
having a smoooth upper surface. This surface forms the receiving-table for the
molten glass.
Adjustable guides, 3, limit the width of the sheet of glass to be formed and are
placed at each side of the table 2 in immediate proximity to the rollers 4. Said
rollers are two in number, placed one immediately over the other and arranged so
that the periphery of the lower roller is slightly above the surface of table 2.
Set screws 5 are provided for adjusting the height of the upper roller above the
lower for the purpose of regulating the thickness of the glass sheet.
Any desired means may be employed for driving the rollers. There is here
shown a winch 6 having on its shaft a pinion 7 which engages a large gear 8 on one
end of the shaft of the lower roller 4, which shaft has at its other end gear 9,
meshing with a corresponding gear 10 on the shaft of the upper roller. When
gears 9, 10 of equal diameter are used, as shown in Figure 5, the rollers travel
at the same speed, and the result is that a sheet formed between the same has both
surfaces smooth. If, however, other gears be substituted so that, as shown in
Figure IV, the upper gear is the smaller, and the upper roller is geared up say
with a speed of 2 to 3, the upper surface of the glass sheet formed between the
rollers will be rippled in the manner well known in the art.
11 is the delivery table mounted to slide on horizontal guides 11ª on the frame 1
and having a non-conducting upper surface 12, preferably made of a sheet of
asbestos, but plaster-of-paris or other non-conducting material may be employed.
At each end of the table 11 is connected (as, for example, to upright arms 13)
the end of a rope or cable 14, and the other ends of the said ropes or cables are
connected to and adapted to be alternately wound upon a drum 15 on the shaft
of the lower roller 4.
16 is a metal apron fastened to the frame of the machine, having its upper
edge arranged close to the surface of the lower roller 4 and inclined so that its
lower edge will lie slightly above the asbestos top or cover of table 11. The
upper edge of the apron 16, instead of being brought close up to the discharge
opening between the two rollers, is arranged slightly below the horizontal
diameter of the lower roller, so that this edge is sufficiently removed from the
hot glass sheet and the hot line of contact of the rollers therewith to prevent its
deleterious heating. The surface of the lower roller and the issuing glass sheet
will have lost considerable heat before reaching the apron 16.
Table 2 is on one side supported by the goose-neck 17 so as to allow the free
passage of the arms 13.

page_text: The operation of the machine is as follows:
Before starting, the table 11 is drawn back under the table 2, in which position
its outer end will be somewhere near the lower edge of the apron 16, as shown
in Figure II. The molten glass then being poured on the table 2, the rollers are
started and the glass is managed with a ferret so as to cause it to pass between
the guides 3 and between the rollers, remaining but an instant in contact there-
with. Passing in the form of a sheet through the same, it is directed by the
apron 16 on to the asbestos top of the table 11, which, as the rollers rotate and the
glass sheet is laid upon it, is, by the same operation which drives the rollers,
drawn out till it reaches the position shown in Figure I, when the glass sheet,
having been completed and discharged from the rollers, is laid upon it at full length
in contact not with metal but with a non-conductor which insures its even annealing
so long as it remains on the table. The result is a smoothness of finish of the
glass surface which has not heretofore been attained with rolled glass.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to me by my
foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is:-
1. The combination of stationary glass delivery table 2, the reciprocating glass
receiving table 11 having its top covered with a slow conductor of heat and having
means for passing it under and drawing it out from under said table 2, and the two
rollers 4, 4, arranged one above the other at the edge of table 2 and adapted to be
operated as the table 11 is drawn out to deliver a sheet of glass thereon,
substantially as set forth.
2. The combination of the stationary glass delivery table 2, the reciprocating
receiving table 11 having means for drawing it under or withdrawing it from under
the table 2, the rollers 4, 4, arranged one over the other at the edge of table 2 and
changeable gearing 9, 10, arranged to separate one of said rollers from the other,
whereby, by merely changing said gearing, the upper surface of the glass sheet
may be plain or rippled, substantially as set forth.
3. In a machine for rolling glass, the combination of the stationany table 2, the
rollers 4 arranged at one edge thereof and having suitable means of operation, the
movable table 11 and the apron 16 arranged in proximity to the lower roller
and adapted to deliver the glass on to the said table 11, substantially as set forth.
Dated this 13th day of November 1893.
WM. P. THOMPSON & Co.,
Agents for the Applicant.