A Method of Rolling Glass, and Machinery and Apparatus therefor
Year: 1888

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Oct., 1888
Complete Specification Left, 27th July, 1889-Accepted, 31st Aug.,
1889
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
A Method of Rolling Glass, and Machinery and Apparatus therefor,
JOHN ARMSTRONG, C.E. 11 Queen Victoria Street London, E.C. do hereby declare
the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
The object of this invention is for the purpose of making Antique, Sheet,
Venetian or other fancy glass.
This is accomplished by an apparatus or machine, constructed upon a framework
and consists of two rollers, of metal or other suitable material geared together and
made to run at equal speed.
The hot glass is fed into these two rollers which are placed in a horizontal position,
immediately underneath there is a sheet of Asbestos cloth, thin sheet metal or other
suitable material which travels at the same surface rate as the rollers above
mentioned or slower or faster as may be required and which may be altered by
shifting the gearing of the two rollers which drive this sheet, one roller is placed to
the rear of the machine and the other is in front of the framework, when the glass is
brought through the first or upper pair of rollers by their being made to rotate the
sheet of glass thus formed between the rollers is received by the travelling sheet
and is carried forward taking the sheet of glass away from underneath the rollers
and carrying it away perfectly flat. This travelling sheet then passes over an iron
or other table for the purpose of keeping it perfectly flat until sufficient time has
elapsed to allow the sheet of glass upon it to stiffen and keep its shape, it is then
moved forward into the annealing oven. These sheets of fancy glass may be made
with patterns upon one or both of their surfaces by making the rollers with the
pattern upon them, a simple method of doing this, besides the ordinary method of
inaking such rollers is as follows.
In the process of making the pattern from other objects such as raised wall papers,
ironwork wood carving plasterwork and other patterns muslin, leather or other objects
of which the pattern is required.
I first take a stereotype or a plaster casting, if the latter I bend the object round.
a block corresponding to the size of the machine roller, then I take the cast of
an entire roller in plaster from this with the pattern upon it.
I then make the mould in the ordinary way (from this plaster pattern) for casting
in gun metal or brass or other suitable material, in which the cast roller comes out
perfectly smooth and ready for work. If the object will not permit its being bent,
then I bend the stereotype pattern and take a mould or casting from it and proceed
as described above, by this process almost any pattern or .surface may be made upon
the glass, either upon one or both sides.
The width of the sheets is regulated by guides placed between the rollers, in their
upper portion, sheet glass with wire netting inserted is also made by this process by
putting the wire work between the rollers and then placing in the hot glass when the
wire work is drawn into the centre of the glass by means of another bar or roller
upon which the wire-work slides and this keeps it in position so that the glass may
be on both sides of the wire. The rollers and other parts of this machine may be
made hollow in order that fluid may be inserted to keep them at their proper working
temperature, set screws are also made to act upon the bearings of the rollers for the
purpose of moving the rollers and keeping them. at the proper distance apart, 50 as to
regulate the thickness of the glass sheets. This glass when finished is made with a
polished surface on one or both sides as may be required for cutting and other
purposes.
A variety of fancy mixed colours are also made by mixing different shades of glass
by nutting them into the space between the two rollers when by the action of the

page_text: rollers the tints are beautifully mixed and impart a beautiful variety of shades, the
action of the rollers making the hot glass revolve between the jaws of the rollers
previous to passing between them. Type or letters and such like designs may be made
also by the above process and impressed upon the surface of the glass to which colour
may be added as required, the rollers may he nickel plated if required to polish the
surface of the glass.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
A Method of Rolling Glass and Machinery and Apparatus therefor.
JOHN ARMSTRONG, C.E. 11 Queen Victoria Street London, E.C. 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:-
-
The object of this invention is for the purpose of making Antique, Sheet, Venetian
or other fancy glass.
This is accomplished by an apparatus or machine constructed upon a framework a. a.
and consists of two rollers b. b. of metal or other suitable material geared together by
gearing such as cog wheels fixed on the spindles of the rollers and made to run at
equal speed. These rollers are used for the purpose of passing the glass between
either in a plastic or semi-plastic state, if in a plastic state the rollers are placed in a
horizontal position, and the plastic glass is poured in between them. Motion is then
given to the rollers, when the sheet of glass coming through between them and falling
upon a sheet of asbestos, metal, or other flexible non inflamable material, h, which
travels at about the same surface speed as the rollers and which carries the newly
formed sheet of glass over an iron plate, m, m, where it is kept until it is
sufficiently cool and perfectly flat, if the glass is required to be thin the gearing may
be altered and the sheet made to travel quicker. The sheet is driven by a cog wheel
upon one of the rollers (c) the sheet passing over the other roller (c¹) at the opposite
end of the machine.
If semi plastic glass is required to be passed between the rollers b, b¹ they are
placed in an angular position shown by the dotted lines and are made to assume this
position by being moved upon the bearing which is the axis of the rollers (c) and
this semi-plastic glass may be either sheets of glass re-heated or of glass previously
rolled into a sheet in such a case the table containing the re-heated sheets, or the
rolling table may be constructed upon a swivel central bearing p. so that it may be
tilted up in order that the hot sheets of glass may easily slide down between the two
rollers as shown in the drawings as at G. G. and F. F. By so doing the machine is
then set in motion and the sheets of glass after passing through the two rollers are
caught by the sheet before described which carries away the sheet of glass over the
iron plate m. m. until cool enough and then into the annealing kiln.
By a catch
which holds the rollers and the part of the framework which carries them, any angle
may be given to the rollers that may be required. The two rollers may be perfectly
smoothe in order to give a polish to both sides of the glass or they may both have a
pattern upon their surfaces or they may be made with only one having the pattern
upon it and the other smoothe, if with a pattern the rollers are made as
follows (that is if not made in the ordinary way of being engraved or chased), I take
any kind of raised pattern such as wall paper, leather, cloth, plaster-work, papier
machie, carved or embossed iron or wood or any object with a raised surface pattern
and if suitable such as wall paper with a flexible nature I simply make a wooden
pattern roller and fix this material around it and cast the roller from it, in metal, if
the pattern required to be copied is not of a flexible character, I make a stereotype
pattern in papier-machie from it and bend it round the wooden pattern roller and
proceed as above, or take a plaster of paris cast from the roller so formed above
and then proceed to mould and cast the roller in metal by the ordinary process of
metal casting.
4.

page_text: No expensive cutting being required on the roller, although the design so re-
produced may be of a very costly and elaborate nature. The rollers or other parts
of the machine may be made hollow for the purpose of inserting cooling agents such
as water steam &c. the rollers are regulated in their distance apart by set screws or
springs. Variety of colours may be given to the glass by different coloured glass
being poured in and the coloured glass mixed by the action of the rollers a beautiful
variety of tints are produced.
The rollers thus produced may be used with the ordinary glass rolling table and
may be done in the following manner first the sheet of glass may be rolled by the
ordinary roller as at present used and afterwards the roller made with the surface
pattern as before described is then rolled over the sheet immediately behind the
ordinary roller or in certain cases the first rolling may be dispensed with.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed 1 declare that what I
claim is.
First. In a machine for rolling glass, two rollers, geared together with, and acting
in conjunction with two rollers and a travelling sheet of metal or asbestos or other
material, substantially for the purpose as herein described or shown.
Second. In a machine for rolling glass the two rollers being constructed upon a
swing bearing so that they may be placed at an angle as herein shown or
described.
Third. In a machine for rolling glass a pair of rollers with a pattern upon either
one or both of their surfaces, reproduced from any material having a raised surface
pattern as herein shown or described.
Fourth. In a machine or table for rolling glass, a roller with a pattern on its
surface produced by the method herein described & shown for the purpose of making
sheets of glass with the pattern upon them, all as herein described or shown.
Fifth. In a machine for rolling glass the method of producing sheets of glass with
a surface pattern all as herein shown or described.
Sixth. The method herein described for the production of coloured and variegated
and mixed tinted glass all as herein described.
Dated this 27th day of July 1889.
JOHN ARMSTRONG.