Year: 1887

page_text: Date of Application, 15th Sept., 1887
Complete Specification Left, 15th June, 1888
Complete Specification Accepted, 15th Sept., 1888
wasgow, in the county
of Lanark, JOSEPH FRENCH, Glass Cutter of 21 Wellington Road, Bishopwearmouth,
Sunderland in the county of Durham and JAMES CRAIG, Glass Flattener of
18 Wellington Road, Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland in the county of Durham, do
hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:--
This invention relates to certain improvements in and connected with glass annealing
kilns.
According to the ordinary process of annealing rolled plate glass the plates of glass
are placed in a kiln where they are allowed to remain till sufficiently cool to admit of
their being piled; the kiln fires are allowed to die out and the process of annealing is
accomplished.
::
In the ordinary process of annealing sheet glass the glass is placed in the kiln in
the form of a cylinder, which having been previously split longitudinally, gradually
flattens out by the action of the surrounding temperature. The sheet is then removed
to a compartment of lower temperature; it is then transferred to the backstone"
or chamber above the kiln furnace of which there are usually two or three arranged
successively, and thence by a single system of travelling bars throughout the length of
the leer" or kiln.
By this arrangement the duty of one kiln is limited to the superficial area of its
depositing surface.
The object of our invention is to increase the duty and utility of such kilns or leers
and thereby secure also considerable economy of production. To accomplish these
objects we provide two three or more tiers of depositing surfaces in each kiln, and
so arrange them and the parts connected therewith that any one or all of them may
he utilized. Thus when a sheet of glass undergoing the annealing process arrives at
the second, third, or last backstone it may be elevated as desired to the level of any one
of the upper tiers aforesaid. For this purpose we provide for each tier suitable
elevating gear and two systems of bars, the one permanent and the other adapted to
Price 81

page_text: travel longitudinally. The elevating gear consists substantially or part
placed transversely across the kiln and having arms suitably connected to an upper
bearing surface or platform for receiving the sheet or sheets of glass to be elevated,
the whole being worked by levers by manual or other power preferably placed outside
the kilns. The permanent bearing bars extending the full length of the leer may be f
arranged on the usual system the upper ones being supported by transverse girders.
The travelling bars are preferably arranged alternately with the permanent bars and
are adapted to raise lower and carry the sheets of glass as hereinafter described. The
elevator platform when in its normal position may be arranged to lie at a slightly
lower level than that of the backstone, suitable grooves or openings being formed in
the latter for the purpose of allowing the elevator arms to work up and down through
the same as well as for the travelling bars of the hottom tier of the leer to work in.
The travelling bars of the upper tiers need not extend over the width of the backstone
as in the bottom tier, the elevator platform answering all the purposes of any such
otherwise necessary extension. To elevate any sheet of glass to any of the upper
tiers of the leer the elevator with the sheet upon it is raised to the level of such tier,
the travelling bars are then caused to move under the platform of the elevator which
returning to its original position leaves the sheet of glass upon the end of the travelling
bars, which are then raised by means of suitable levers and cranks at the same time
raising all the sheets of glass previously deposited on the permanent bars of such tier,
throughout its full length. The travelling bars are then withdrawn the required distance
and being gently lowered deposit their load of sheets on the permanent bars. The
travelling bars of any of the upper tiers are then ready to be moved forward again
under the elevator which in the meantime may have taken up another sheet which in
turn is deposited on the permanent bars of any tier in the leer precisely as already
described. By this arrangement the elevator may supply any tier of travelling bars
in the leer, the bottom travelling bars excepted because such bottom bars act as their
own elevator, and as the travelling bars of the upper tiers supply the permanent bars
of such tiers a continuous system is developed the annealed sheets being delivered at
the rearmost end of the leer; or if so required the bottom tier may be supplied with
permanent bars as in the upper tiers the sheets being deposited on such permanen
bars instead of on the permanent floor. The travelling bars are of bar iron or other
suitable material and may work in grooved pullies or other suitable equivalent th
latter being secured to suitable cranks keyed to shafts having bearings in the kiln sid
walls and worked by levers from outside the kiln, or for the same purpose a
arrangement of synchronous sliding shafts and travelling bars may be substituted.
In all other respects we adopt the usual system of firing, fireholes, flues and chimney
adopted in ordinary kilns for annealing glass.
Dated this Rificenth day of September 1887.
J. C. CHATMAN,
70, Chancery Lane, W.C.,
Agent for Applicants.

page_text: Class Annealing Kins.
We ANTHONY DIXON BROGAN, Manufacturer of Firhill Glasgow in the County of
Lanark JOSEPH FRENCH Glass Cutter of 570 Wabashaw Street, St. Pauls Minnesota
United States of America and JAMES CRAIG, Glass Flattener, of Firhill, Glasgow,
aforesaid, 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:-
Our invention has for its object to enable the duty or working capacity of glass
annealing kilns or leers to be largely increased without adding or materially adding
to their length or superficial area and to that ond the invention consists in providing
such kilns with two three or more tiers of stationary and travelling bars or grids or
like depositing surfaces by means of which the plates or sheets of glass in process of
annealing are gradually traversed through the kiln, and with an elevator or other
means for raising the plates or sheets from the floor or "backstone" of the kiln and
laying them upon any of the upper tiers of bars or grids-Each tier of depositing
surfaces is composed of a stationary set of bars and a grid or set of travelling bars
adapted to be traversed back and forth longitudinally and to be raised and lowered as
in the ordinary single tier leer kiln; and in operation the glass plates or sheets are
delivered singly and in rotation upon the several grids or depositing surfaces the latter
being also in like rotation operated to draw a stage forward at a time the glass plates
or sheets upon them one grid being operated whilst the other grid or grids lie idlo
with the glass resting upon it or them so that whilst cach plate or sheet of glass
remains for the usual length of time within the kiln the quantity of glass in process
of annealing at a given time is doubled tripled or quadrupled according as two threo
or four tiers of bars or grids are employed in lieu of the usual single tier.
In the accompanying drawings figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of an
annealing kiln or leer with three tiers of bars or grids, figure 2 is a horizontal section of
the same showing the stationary and travelling bars or grids in plan, figure 3 is a
side elevation showing the levers by means of which the elevator and the travelling
bars are raised and lowered, figures 4 and 5 are elevations of opposite ends of the
kiln and figures 6 and 7 are views of details hereinafter referred to.
22
The kiln A is as regards the building of the chamber and the firing arrangement similar
to the ordinary form of leer kiln but just beyond the "back stone or floor B on which the
glass plates or sheets are laid on being introduced through the usual slit or doorway Cinto
the kiln and at the floor level is placed an elevator I composed of a framework of bars
carried upon lever arms E. The said lever arms are secured upou cross shafts F extend-
ing out through the side of the kiln and having on their ends arins G to which is attached a
connecting rod or link g whose other end near the rear or delivery end of the kiln is
ointed to a bellcrank or hand lever H by which the raising and lowering of the
elevator is effected-The hand lever H works in a quadrant or like device in which it
may be set to either of three positions, the normal one in which the elevator grid lies
na line with the lowest tier of bars at the level of the backstone or floor of the kiln,
nid position in which the elevator rests in or over the line of the second tier of bars,
nd a third position in which the elevator is brought up as indicated by dotted lines in
igure 1 just over the line of the upper tier of bars-Thus, when the plate or sheet of
lass is pushed from the backstone on to the elevator it may, by operating the lever
andle H be brought to a convenient position to be delivered on to either of the tiers
of bars. 11, 12, 1, are the stationary bars of each tier and J, J2, J³, the travelling bars

page_text: or grids, which are constructed and fitted in the usual way, an upper surface
coating of asbestos or like material being however applied to the bars to avoid
chilling and cracking the glass at the lines of contact with the bars-Each of
the travelling bars or grids J, J², J³, rests upon grooved wheels or pulleys K
carried by lever arms L on cross shafts M. extending through the side wall
wall of the kiln and connected together by links N-The links N are connected to
hand levers, one P¹ provided for operating the lower tier of travelling bars J¹, a
second P2 for operating the bars J, and a third P³ for operating the bars J³; and by
means of these hand levers P1, P2, P³, any of the bars or grids may, by operating on
the lever arms L carrying the pulleys K, be raised slightly over the level of the corre-
sponding stationary bars 11, 12, 13, or depressed to lic slightly under the level of said
stationary bars.
In the operation of the kiln, a plate or sheet of glass being raised by the elevator for
example to the line of the tier of bars 13, J³, the travelling bars J³ are depressed by
means of the hand lever P³, the bars J³ are then pushed forward under the elevator as
shown at figure 1, the elevator bars being so spaced that the travelling bars enter
between them, then by means of the hand lever H the elevator is lowered leaving the
glass upon the travelling bars J³ which are then raised and pulled back drawing the
glass plate with them, after which the bars are lowered thereby depositing the glass
on the stationary bars-The next plate of glass pushed from the backstone on to the
elevator is delivered on to the travelling bars J which are operated in like manner,
and the following sheet is deposited on to the bars J of the lowest tier in which the
kiln floor may serve as the depositing surface instead of the set of stationary bars I'.
By continuing the operations of depositing the glass plates or sheets on the several
tiers of bars and periodically drawing them rearwards and depositing them, a series of
plates or sheets are deposited one a stage in advance of another throughout the entire
length of the bars the whole of said plates or sheets in each tier being raised carried
along by the travelling bars and deposited afresh at each action of said bars, and by
the time the plates or sheets reach the delivery end of the kiln they have sufficiently
cooled and are lifted off and removed.
To facilitate the operations of drawing and pushing the travelling bars which when
fully loaded are of considerable weight, the pulleys K which support the said bars in
lieu of being carried in fixed bearings in the lever arms L in the ordinary way as
shown at figure 6 may be carried with their axes or spindles k in slots formed in the
arms Las shown at figure 7, or on guideways formed on the arms, so that the pulley
spindles may run freely and travel with the bars in the early part of the movement or
throughout the movement of the latter and thus lessen friction.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed we declare that what
. we claim is :-
1. A glass annealing kiln or leer having two or more tiers of depositing surfaces
and means such as an elevator for laying the glass on any of said surfaces.
2. A glass annealing kiln or leer having two or more tiers of depositing surface
⚫ composed of stationary and travelling bars or grids.
3. A glass annealing kiln or leer having two or more tiers of depositing surface
composed of stationary and travelling bars, and an elevator or grid capable of being
raised and lowered to the level of any of said depositing surfaces.
T Wountsanth day of Lune 1888
.CRUIKSHANK & FAIRWEATHER,
62, Saint Vincent Street, Glasgow,
Agents.