IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."
Year: 1874

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Hugh Percival, of Bishopswearmouth, in the
County of Durham, for the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF GLASS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Hugli Percival at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
4th July 1874.
I, HUGH PERCIVAL, of Bishopswearmouth, in the County of Durham,
do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS.
IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," to be as
follows:-
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of flint
glass or any other kind of glass that may be worked from or out of
covered pots or coverings.
The object of my Invention is to effect a material saving in pots, in
time, in labor, and in fuel, and to afford a larger supply of refined glass

page_text: and ensure a greater uniformity of working, besides effecting a reduc-
tion of unproductive labor, such as skimming or mending or setting
pots.
My Invention consists in the adaptation of covered pots or coverings.
to be used in connection with ordinary tanks, and also in the adaptation
of ordinary tanks to be worked in connection with covered pots or
coverings.
In carrying out my Invention the tank is constructed with one or.
more openings on each side of the crown, through which the covered
pots or coverings may be placed inside of the tank, and the said covered
pots or coverings are provided with an opening or openings in the bottom
or side of each for the refined glass to flow in at from the tank as well
as an opening from which the refined glass may be gathered, the
covering of the pots and the coverings referred to in connection with
the pots being intended to protect the refined glass from the direct flame
of the furnace or anything that might injure the quality of the refined
glass while it is being manufactured into merchantable articles, while
the opening or openings in the bottom or sides is to allow the refined
glass to be worked from the bottom of the tank instead of from the top,
thus improving the quality of the glass, as neither seed or boil or any-
thing that may deteriorate the quality of the refined glass can descend
to the bottom of the tank so long as the tank is kept nearly full of
refined glass. Two or more of these covered pots or coverings being
thus placed inside of the tank through the openings described above,
the raw material will then be melted and refined in the covered pots or
coverings as well as in the tank until they are all filled with refined
glass.
To support that portion of the crown which extends from the opening
on one side to that on the other, and which would otherwise be weakened
by said openings, I would erect a pillar from the bottom of the tank to
the top of the crown.
The advantages resulting from my Invention are,-
1st. The covered pots or coverings are only about one-eighth the size
of the pots now in use.
2nd. Two only of these covered pots or coverings may be used in the
tank or furnace at one time (although I may use more than two if
desirable) instead of eight as now used..
:

page_text: 3rd. The covered pots or coverings being small, and having an equal
pressure on the inside and outside, will last much longer than the pots
now used since the latter have an internal pressure of about sixteen
hundredweight, while the whole of the outside surface is exposed to the
direct flame of the furnace.
4th. Should the covered pots or coverings be broken or worn and
rendered useless, no glass will be lost in consequence, as they can be
removed from the tank at any time, their contents flowing into the tank
and remaining there for use.
5th. The tank-used in connection with these covered pots or coverings
need only be about ten inches deep instead of eighteen inches, thus
relieving the bridge or sill from much pressure.
6th. The tank being nearly always full of refined glass the heat from
it will add largely to that of the furnace also.
7th. The raw material will be melted and refined in layer instead of
in mass, and consequently will be melted and refined with great rapidity
owing to the intense heat of the furnace above and the molten glass
below. By this means an economy of about one-half will be effected
in time, in labor, and in fuel.
-
8th. The tanks being reduced in depth, and nearly always full of
refined glass, will raise the temperature of the furnace sufficiently to
consume its own smoke. Thus the colour of the refined glass will be
pure as if melted and refined exclusively in close or covered pots, as is
done at present in the manufacture of flint glass.
9th. By the use of the covered pots or coverings the raw material
can be melted and refined and manufactured into merchantable articles
simultaneously without dividing the tanks into compartments for that
purpose.
10th. By using these covered pots or coverings the tank or furnace
can be kept at a uniform heat and made to last much longer than those
at present in use.
11th. The thickness of the covered pots or coverings will regulate the
temperature of the refined glass contained in them while being manu-
factured into merchantable articles.
12th. The covered pots or coverings may be used in the manufacture

page_text: of green or black bottles, also that of sheet glass, as any degree of heat
can be obtained and regulated as last above described.
13th. By the use of these pots or coverings in the manufacture of
sheet glass all seed or boil would be removed as it cannot descend to the
bottom of the tanks, being only generated or compressed air, but must 5
remain on or near the surface of the refined glass in the tank.
SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent,
filed by the said Hugh Percival in the Great Seal Patent Office
on the 4th January 1875.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, .HUGH
PERCIVAL, of Bishopswearmouth, in the County of Durham, send
greeting..
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent, bearing date the Fourth day of July, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-four, in the thirty-
eighth year of Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors,
give and grant unto me, the said Hugh Percival, Her special licence
that I, the said Hugh Percival, my executors, administrators, and
assigns, or such others as I, the said Hugh Percival, my executors,
administrators, 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 THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS, AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME," upon the
condition (amongst others) that I, the said Hugh Percival, 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 Hugh Percival, do hereby declare
the nature of the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be

page_text: performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the
following statement, reference being had to the accompanying Drawing
and to the letters and figures marked thereon (that is to say) :-
.
My Invention relates to improvements in the manufacture of flint
glass or other kinds of glass that may be worked from or out of covered
pots or coverings.
The object of my Invention is to effect a material saving in pots, in
time, in labor, and in fuel, and to afford a larger supply of refined
glass, and ensure a greater uniformity of working, besides effecting a
reduction of unproductive labor, such as skimming or mending or setting
'pots.
:
My Invention consists in the adaptation of covered pots or coverings
(or pots sufficiently covered to prevent the direct access of the intense
heat of the furnace thereto) to be used in connection with ordinary.
tanks, and also in the adaptation of ordinary tanks to be worked in
connection with covered pots or coverings.
In order that my Invention may be more readily understood I have
illustrated it in the accompanying Drawing, in which Figure 1 shows an
elevation and Figure 2 a horizontal section of one tank with the pots
placed therein; Figure 3 is a vertical section taken on line 1-1,
Figure 1, of one-half the tank on a larger scale, showing also a section
of a covered pot as employed by me in carrying out my Invention.
A, A, is the tank or tanks constructed with one or more openings K
on each side of the crown, through which the covered pots or coverings
B, B, must be placed inside the tank, as shown. The covered pots
or coverings B, B, are somewhat like those used in the manufacture of
flint glass, but have an opening C or openings in the bottom or side
(near the bottom) of each for the refined glass to flow in at from the
tank, as well as the mouth D, from which the refined glass may be
gathered. The pots are stood upon the bottom of the tank so that the
opening or openings C will alway be below the level of the surface of
the glass in the tank, and the refined glass surrounding the lower part
of the pot flows into the latter, which is thus kept constantly filled to
the same level as the glass in the tank. When the hole C is in the
bottom of the pot the latter may be slightly raised from the bottom of
the tank to allow the refined glass to more readily flow into the pot?

page_text: The covering or dome of the pot is intended to protect the refined glass
contained therein from the direct flame of the furnace or anything that
might injure the quality of the refined glass whilst it is being manu-
factured into merchantable articles, the opening or openings C in the
bottom or sides of the pot being intended to allow the refined glass to
be worked from the bottom of the tank instead of from the top, whereby
the quality of the glass is improved, as neither "seed" nor "boil" nor
anything that may deteriorate the quality of the refined glass can
descend to the bottom of the tank so long as it is kept nearly full of
refined glass. E are the ordinary founding holes through which the raw
material is supplied to the tank, the refined glass being worked into
merchantable articles from the holes D of the covered pots or coverings,
as before mentioned; F, F, are the furnaces or fire-boxes; G, the sill or
bridge separating the fire-box from the tank, and over which the flame
passes into the tank. H, the side walls of the tank supporting the crown I.
· All these parts last enumerated are constructed in the ordinary manner,
.but to support that portion of the crown which extends from the
opening K on the one side to the other opening K on the other side (and
which would otherwise be weakened by the said openings) I would erect
a pillar L from the bottom A of the tank to the crown above, but the
crown may be otherwise strengthened if preferred. The openings K are
each enclosed by a cover M through an aperture, in front of which the
mouth D of the pot B projects, as shown, the said cover being held
securely by cheeks N, N, at either side of the opening K.
The tank A may be constructed of any suitable dimensions, but
should a larger supply of glass be needed than can be contained in one
tank (in the manufacture of sheet glass for instance) one or more other
tanks could be added to the tank wherein the covered pots or coverings
are placed, the several tanks being connected to the one in which the
'pots are contained by conduits at or near the bottom of the tanks so as
to be below the surface of the glass in the tanks. Through these
conduits the refined glass can flow from the one tank to the other until
it reaches the tank in which the pots are placed, so that any desired
quantity of glass can be made and refined at the same time that it is
being worked from the pots.
In the accompanying Drawings I have represented the pots as being
placed one on each side of the tank, but it will be found preferable in
the manufacture of bottles to place both the pots on the same side, aș

page_text: by this means the raw material will be kept away from the part where
the bottles are being made. In this case the pillar L may be dispensed
with.
The advantages resulting from my Invention are,-
1st. The covered pots or coverings are only about one-half the size of,
the pots now in use.
2nd. Only two of the covered pots or coverings need be used in the
tank or furnace at one time (although I reserve the right to use more
than two if desirable) instead of eight as now used.
3rd. The covered pots or coverings being small, and having an equal
pressure of the glass in the inside and outside, will last much longer
than the pots as now used since the latter have an internal pressure of
about eighteen hundred weight, while the whole of the outside surface
is exposed to the direct flame of the furnace.
4th. Should the covered pots or coverings be broken or worn and
rendered useless no glass will be lost in consequence, as they can be
removed from the furnace at any time, their contents flowing into the
tank and remaining there for use..
.
5th. The tank used in connection with these covered pots or coverings
need only be about ten inches deep instead of eighteen inches, thus
relieving the bridge or sill from much pressure..
6th. The tank being nearly always full of refined glass the heat from
it will add largely to that of the furnace also.
7th. The raw. material will be melted and refined in layer instead of
in mass, and consequently will be melted and refined with great rapidity
owing to the intense heat of the furnace above and the molten glass
below. By this means an economy of about one-half will be effected in
time, in labor, and in fuel.
3.
:
8thly. The tanks being reduced in depth and being nearly always full
of refined glass will raise the temperature of the furnace sufficiently to
consume its own smoke. Owing to this the color of the refined glass-
will be purer than if melted and refined exclusively in close or covered
pots, it being well known that quick melting and refining always
improves the quality of the glass.

page_text: 9thly. By the use of the covered pots or coverings the raw material
can be melted and refined and manufactured into merchantable articles
simultaneously without dividing the tanks into compartments for that
purpose.
10th. By using these covered pots or coverings the tank or furnace
can be kept at a uniform heat and made to last much longer than those
at present in use.
"
11th. The thickness of the covered pots or coverings will regulate
the temperature of the refined glass contained in them while being
manufactured into merchantable articles:
"
12th. The covered pots or coverings may be used in the manufacture
of flint, sheet, or bottle glass equally well, as any degree of heat can be
obtained and regulated as last above described..
]
13th. By the use of these pots or coverings, as before described, in
the manufacture of sheet glass all seed or boil would be removed, as it 1
cannot descend to the. bottom of the tank, being only generated or
compressed air, but must remain at or near the surface of the refined
glass in the tank.
Having described the nature of the Invention and the manner of
performing the same, I declare that what I claim as the Invention to be 2
protected by the herein-before in part recited Letters Patent is, the
employment in the manufacture of glass of one or more covered pots or
coverings (or of pots sufficiently covered to prevent the direct access of
the intense heat of the furnace thereto) placed within a tank, as herein
shown and described, the said pots or coverings being constructed with 2
an opening at or near the bottom for the refined glass to flow in at, as
well as an opening at the upper part, at which the glass is gathered and
worked into merchantable articles, as herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said Hugh Percival, have hereunto set.
my hand and seal, this First day of January, in the year of our 30
Lord One thousand eight hundred and seventy-five.