IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME
Year: 1882

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Christian August Wilhelm Schön of Hamburg in the
Empire of Germany, for an invention of " IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE
OF GLASS AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE SAME."-A communication by George
Leuffgen of Berlin in the Empire of Germany
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Christian August Wilhelm
Schön at the Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 20th March
1882.
CHRISTIAN AUGUST WILHELM SCHÖN of Hamburg in the Empire of Germany
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
SAME (A communication from George Leuffgen of Berlin in the Empire of
Germany.)
This invention relates to the construction of melting vessels or furnaces for
continuous or intermittent working, and its object is to produce glass quite free
from clay or other impurities and to manufacture "cassin" glass.
The glass may
be drawn from the melting vessel by tapping the latter or taken out of it by the
ordinary blow pipe.
And the invention consists in the first place in substituting for the ordinary clay
plug in the melting vessel (which plug is liable to be injured by the fluid glass) a
hollow iron plug which is cooled as required by meaus of a stream of water, air or
other suitable fluid and which is brought to its place or removed from it by means
of an excentric, toggle lever, gearing or other suitable means. The cooling fluid is
admitted to the plug by one pipe and leaves it by another. The plug may be
varied in form, and more than one plug can be used as required. The glass can
be readily drawn from the melting vessel by means of this kind of plug, thereby
admitting of such vessel being used for continuous working.
The invention consists in the second place in constructing the melting vessel or
furnace with a central trough for receiving the material and one or two working
troughs the admission to which is over ridges at the ends of the central trough,

page_text: and also skimming arches (with cooling fluid passing through them) in order to
prevent scum from entering the said working troughs, all the foregoing parts being
either combined with dip bonnets and cooled tapping plugs of the kind above
described or otherwise.
The invention relates in the third place to the use of "dip bonnets" for blow
pipe work, such "dip bonnet" consisting of a pipe descending obliquely into the
melting vessel from the arched top thereof, and having an opening at the top for
observation and a branch or passage terminating in the working opening. Through
this branch or passage the glass is taken out with the blow pipe. The end of the
said oblique pipe should always dip into the fluid glass.
The invention relates in the fourth place to a modification of the above described
dip bonnets" when intended for pot work in which case the "bonnet" has two
horizontal branch pipes fitting into sleeves set in the openings in the furnace walls
so as to have play therein, a half round wall or fence being arranged for the
protection of the workinan.
And the invention consists in the last place in the arrangement of a hollow
cooled turntable which can be lowered or raised as required and a set of moulds
upon it into which the fluid glass is deposited and subjected to the action of a press
suitably arranged for working in the said moulds as required.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed by
the said Christian August Wilhelm Schön in the Great Seal Patent Office on
the 1st September 1882.
CHRISTIAN AUGUST WILHELM SCHÖN of Hamburg in the Empire of Germany
"IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS AND IN APPARATUS FOR THE
SAME" (A Communication from George Leuffgen of Berlin in the Empire of
Germany.")
"
This Invention relates to the construction of melting vessels or furnaces for
continuous or intermittent working and its object is to produce glass quite free
from clay or other impurities and to manufacture "cassin" glass-The glass may
be drawn from the melting vessel by tapping the latter or taken out of it by the
ordinary blow pipe.
And the Invention consists in the first place in substituting for the ordinary
clay plug in the melting vessel (which plug is liable to be injured by the fluid
glass) a hollow iron plug which is coiled as required by means of a stream of water,
air, or other suitable fluid and which is brought to its place or removed from it by
means of an excentric toggle lever gearing or other suitable means-The cooling
fluid is admitted to the plug by one pipe and leaves it by another.
The plug may
be varied in form and more than one plug can be used as required. The glass can
be readily drawn from the melting vessel by means of this kind of plug, thereby,
admitting of such vessel being used for continuous working.
The Invention consists in the second place in constructing the melting vessel or
furnace with a central trough for receiving the material and one or two working
troughs, the admission to which is over ridges at the ends of the central trough
and also skimming arches (with cooling fluid passing through them) in order to
prevent scum from entering the said working troughs; all the foregoing parts being
either combined with "dip bonnets" and cooled tapping plugs of the kind above
described or otherwise.
The Invention relates in the third place to the use of "dip bonnets" for blow
pipe work such "dip bonnet" consisting of a pipe descending obliquely into the
melting vessel from the arched top thereof and having an opening at the top for
observation and a branch or passage terminating in the working opening. Through
this branch or passage the glass is taken out with the blow pipe. The end of the
said oblique pipe should always dip into the fluid glass.
The Invention relates in the fourth place to a modification of the above described
dip bonnets" when intended for pot work in which case the bonnet has two
horizontal branch pipes fitting into sleeves set in openings in the furnace walls so
as to have played therein, a half round wall or fence being arranged for the
protection of the workman.
And the Invention consists in the last place in the arrangement of a hollow
cooled turn-table which can be lowered or raised as required and a set of moulds
upon it into which the fluid glass is deposited and subjected to the action of a press
suitably arranged for working in the said moulds as required.
Having thus stated the nature of the said Invention I will proceed to describe.
more particularly in what manner the same is to be performed by the aid of
the accompanying drawings in which are represented the parts of apparatus above
referred to.

page_text: •
means of furnishing pure glass for casting purposes or for working with the blow
pipe Fig 3 is a longitudinal section of the same taken on the line A B. of fig: 2
while fig: 2 is taken on the line C D E F of fig 3. Fig 4 is a plan or horizontal
view shewing the arrangement of pipes for cooling-Fig: 5 shews a modification
of the tapping plug-Figures 6. 7. 8 shew the dip bonnets used for continuous
work applied to pot work-Figures 9. 10. 11 and 12 shew in different views the
apparatus for making "cassin glass"
As the most important part of the glass melting process is the production of a.
pure glass free from impurities and as the only known means of closing the
tapping hole in melting vats has been a stopper or plug of clay a great difficulty
has been found in drawing the fluid glass therefrom intermittently as required
owing to the clay of which the plug was composed becoming dissolved by the
fluid glass.
In the present Invention the clay plug is replaced by a hollow iron one (Figures
1, 2 and 5) which is cooled by a stream of water, air, or other suitable fluid and
which is brought into position or removed therefrom by means of an excentric,
toggle lever gearing or other suitable means.
The cooling fluid enters the hollow plug n through the pipe p and leaves it
through the pipe q-The front end o of the plug being thicker in proportion than
the walls thereof becomes hot and the glass adheres to it so that the plug n on being
withdrawn will draw the fluid glass after it
By this arrangement any portion of the glass in the melting vat may be drawn
with the greatest case at any time and the bulky vats or vessels hitherto used for
large work and requiring to be emptied by tilting involving the use of heavy
machinery and a large space can be dispensed with and stationary vessels substituted
which can be emptied by means of this new tapping plug.
It must be understood that in one vessel not only one plug can be used but as
many as are suitable or convenient for the work and the quantity of glass required
The shape of the plug may also be varied-In figures 1 and 2 it is shown as
straight and conical while in fig: 5 it is curved Fig: 1 shews its application to
a melting vat of smaller size and fig: 2 to a larger stationary vessel of peculiar
construction.
Prior to the Invention of this cooled plug such melting vessel could not be used
at all as it could not be emptied within the required time but by the use of
such plug it is possible to melt continuously in the vessel to work with blow pipes,
and to draw from the vessel large or small quantities of glass just as the work
requires.
The melting vessel or furnace consists of an outer casing of two iron shells
separated from each other by stays and cooled in those places which are exposed
to the beat by a cooling fluid streaming through and issuing from the pipes g
against the plates-The bottom is lined with a reverberatory material in the
central part of which is formed a shallow trough or tray,a and on each side thereof
two deeper troughs bb-Those portions of the lining which are exposed to the
heat are protected by cooling pipes embedded in the lining-The whole vessel is
arched over but leaving the necessary openings for feeding in the material at ff
for working at d d and for inspection at c
The heat enters and leaves the furnace through suitable openings in the end
walls The trough a is charged through the openings f with material,-which is
melted down and new material is added at regular intervals until the fluid after.
overflowing the two ridges b at the ends of the troughs a fills the two troughs to
the height required-In order to prevent unmelted material from passing the
ridges 6 two narrow pipe-cooled arches or beams d d extend over and along the
trough a so that the highest part of the opening of such arches is lower than the
ridge By this arrangement' only the molten glass can flow from under the
arches d over the ridges b-All scum and impurities being retained by the arches d
-The arrangement of the cooling pipes to be used advantageously in this melting
yat (figures 2 and 3) is represented by dotted lines in fig: 4.

page_text: Greater quantities of molten glass are drawn from the furnace by removing the
plugs n For blow pipe work there are arranged dip bonnets consisting of a pipe a¹
with an inspection opening c¹ and a branch b' terminating in a working opening d
Through the branch b₁ the glass is taken out with the blow pipe the workmen
being protected against the heat of the furnace and still able to observe the state of
the glass through the opening c¹
The end e¹ of the pipe a should always dip into the fluid
A modification of these bonnets when intended for pot work is shewn in figures
6. 7 and 8. represents a pot a¹ is the bonnet which has two horizontal branch
pipes fitting into sleeves k set in openings of the furnace walls fitting loosely
therein The sleeves k are made with external flanges e so as to protect the workmen
from the heat
A semicircular wall or fence d is mounted immediately above the bonnet al
leaving an opening -Into the space thus prepared to receive it the material is
deposited through the feeding opening which lies between and above the said
branch pipes so that the glass as it is melted flows down through the opening r
into the pot The bonnet a¹ is kept in position by its being suspended by means
of the books v over the pot in such a way that it can rise and fall with the glass
in the pot h upon which it rests but it is prevented from falling into the Pot. By
the above described arrangement the work may be carried on continuously with
two workmen from or out of the same pot.
It is to be understood that it is preferred to use as the raw material employed
in the above described melting vats furnaces or pots ready made glass in lumps or
in broken or brick shaped pieces but nevertheless the glass may be manufactured
also from its rough original ingredients and these furnaces may be used for the
preparation of the said raw material which is termed "cassin glass
"
For this purpose there is arranged in front of a tapping hole an apparatus which
consists of a circular plate or table a (see figures 9. 10, 11, 12) cooled by means of
water and mounted upon wheels running on a circular track b-Upon this table a
(which can be raised or lowered as required by means of jacks s) are arranged a
series of iron moulds k which can be heated by steam on one of these moulds being
filled with the fluid glass from the tapping hole the table is turned so far that the
next mould may be in the right position to be filled-The steam is now turned off
and the mould cooled by means of cold water or air-According to the time
required for the mould to travel a certain distance the glass is enabled to acquire
the requisite degree of consistency before it reaches the press which is arranged
near to and over the table a as shewn fig. 9 This press is provided with a hollow
plunger e cooled by water or air which plunger is worked by means of the levers h
and i which cause the screw f to be moved up and down in the nut g and force
the plunger e into the mould thereby compressing the glass and cooling it to such
a degree that it is ready to be taken out of the mould and carried to the annealing
oven The shape of the mould k may be varied as required-The pieces, bricks or
lumps of this "Cassin glass" are assorted according to color and may be shipped.
to other places where required by which means the Manufacturer can always be
supplied with glass of that particular color and kind which is best suited for his
purposes It is to be understood that the Invention is not confined to the use of
such pieces bricks or lumps but includes also the casting and pressing of glass in
moulds of other forms and the glass can be at once formed into goods ready for the
market without needing any further melting.
Having thus described the nature of the said Invention and in what manner the
same is to be performed I hereby declare that what I claim as of the Invention
communicated to me as aforesaid is
First The hollow iron plug n cooled by any suitable fluid such as water air
compound fluids and the like supplied and carried off as required by pipes such
plug being moved into and out of its seat or tapping hole by means of suitable
mechanism substantially as and for the purpose represented and described.
Secondly Melting vats vessels or furnaces for glass constructed with a receiving

page_text: trough a one or two working troughs c overflow ridges b and skimming arches or
beams d cooled as required by any suitable cooling fluid supplied through pipes as
described in combination with dip-bonnets a¹ and cooled hollow tapping plugs n or
either of these substantially as represented and described
Thirdly Dip-bonnets a¹ with branches b' and inspection openings c¹ as repre-
sented in fig: 2 and described.
Fourthly-Dip-bonnets a¹ in combination with the sleeves k and the semicircular.
wall or fence d when used in combination with glass melting pots h as represented
in figures 6. 7. 8 and described
And lastly-The arrangement of a hollow cooled turn-table capable of being
raised and lowered as required with a set of moulds upon it into which the fluid
glass is deposited and subjected to pressure by means of a press suitably arranged
and worked all as represented in figures 9. 10. 11. 12 and described.
. In witness whereof I the said Christian August Wilhelm Schön have
hereunto set my hand and seal this twenty first day of August in the
year our Lord One thousand eight hundred and eighty two :— › * .
CHRISTIAN AUGUST WILHELM SCHON. (L.S.)