IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES USED FOR FLATTENING GLASS
Year: 1856

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to James Timmins Chance, of Birmingham, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES USED FOR FLATTENING GLASS."
Sealed the 25th July 1856, and dated the 1st February 1856.
Sealed the 25th July 1856, and dated the 1st February 1856.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said James Timmins Chance
at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
1st February 1856.
I, JAMES TIMMINS CHANCE, of Birmingham, de hereby declare the nature.
of the Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES USED FOR FLATTENING GLASS,"
to be as follows:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in furnaces used for flattening
glass. For this purpose, the beds (generally stone) on which the glass is flattened
and cooled are placed each on a frame consisting of two parallel bars or rails
connected together. These bars or rails rest on and are carried by the upper
surfaces of rollers, which roll or move on two parallel fixed rails. The rollers
for each bed are kept correctly in position in respect to each other by a frame
and axles, and they are kept correctly on the fixed rails on which they roll or

page_text: move by flanches or grooves to the peripheries of the rollers, or to the rails on
which the rollers move.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said James Timmins Chance in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 31st July 1856.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TIMMINS CHANCE,. of Birmingham, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the First day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six, in the nineteenth year of Her
reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me,
the said James Timmins Chance, Her special licence that I, the said
James Timmins Chance, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or
such others as I, the said James Timmins Chance, my executors, admi-
nistrators, and assigns, should at any time agree with, and no others, from
time to time and at all times thereafter during the term therein expressed,
should and lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, the Channel Islands, and Isle of
Man, an Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES USED FOR FLATTENING GLASS,"
upon the condition (amongst others) that I, the said James Timmins Chance,
my executors or administrators, by an instrument in writing under my, or
their, or one of their hands and seals, should particularly describe and ascertain
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same was to be
performed, and cause the same to be filed in the Great Seal Patent Office
within six calendar months next and immediately after the date of the said
Letters Patent.
NOW KNOW YE, that I, the said James Timmins Chance, do hereby
declare the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is
to be performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement thereof, that is to say:-
This Invention has for its object improvements in furnaces used for flattening
glass. For this purpose, the beds (generally stone) on which the glass is flattened
and cooled are placed each on a frame consisting of two parallel bars or rails
connected together. These bars or rails rest on and are carried by the upper
surfaces of rollers, which roll or move on two parallel fixed rails; the rollers for

page_text: axles, and they are kept correctly on the fixed rails on which they roll or move
by flanches or grooves to the peripheries of the rollers, or to the rails on which
the rollers move.
Having thus stated the nature of my Invention, I will proceed more fully
to describe the manner of performing the same.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING.
Heretofore wheels have been used for carrying the beds of such furnaces
(generally of stone), and it has been found that their diameters cannot be
diminished below a certain size, say, about eighteen inches diameter, without
great inconvenience, by reason of the difficulty in overcoming the friction at
the axles when the workman has to push or pull the carriages. I have ascer-
tained that it is important to diminish the space which the wheels and the
framework occupy, in order to economize the quantity of fuel required for pro-
ducing a given degree of heat in the flattening furnace. Now, I have
discovered that by the employment of rollers in place of wheels, as herein
explained, the desired object may be accomplished without causing any incon-
venience in moving the carriages. In the case of wheels, the whole weight of
the bed and framework rests on the axles, whereas with rollers, the only weight
which is borne by the axles is that of a light frame, which is used (as is
herein-after described) to keep the rollers in their proper position. I find that
the diameter of the rollers need not exceed six inches, and may be still less if
desired.
Figure A shows the flattening or cooling bed of a furnace, resting on two
bars or rails a, a, which rest on and are carried by the upper surfaces of the
rollers r, r, (having flanches,) and they roll on fixed parallel rails b, b.
Figures B, C, are a plan and end view respectively of the same arrangement.
The rollers are kept in their correct positions by axles c, c, and by a frame f, f,
resting upon them with suitable bearings. The proportion between the lengths
of the flattening or cooling bed, and that of the rolling framework which
carries it, and also the distance between the rollers lengthways, depend upon
the distance to be traversed to and fro and the length of the beds them-
selves. It is perhaps unnecessary to observe, what will be self-evident to a
mechanic, that the frame which is carried travels twice as fast as the frame-
work of rollers which carry it, each revolution of these rollers causing the
bed resting upon them to advance through a distance equal to twice the
circumference of the rollers.

page_text: Having thus described the nature of my Invention, and the manner of per-
forming the same, I would have it understood that what I claim is, the
arranging the beds of furnaces for flattening glass in combination with rollers.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Timmins Chance, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Twenty-eighth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and fifty-six.
Witness,
FRANKLIN TAYLOR,
JAMES T. CHANCE. (L.S.)
Clerk to Mess" Chance, Bro³ & Co.,
Glass Works, near Birmingham.