IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS
Year: 1866

page_text: LETTERS. PATENT to Antoine Pocheron, of No. 15, Passage des Petites.
Ecuries, Paris, in the Empire of France, Glass Manufacturer, for the
Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS."
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Antoine Pocheron at
the Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
7th May 1866.
I, ANTOINE POCHERON, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, in
the Empire of France, Glass Manufacturer, do hereby declare the nature of
the said Invention for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS," to be
as follows:-
My Invention consists in the suppression of the fire-clay pots or crucibles in
general use, and placing the materials to be melted in the oven or kiln itself.
In order to effect my purpose I modify the usual inner form of the lower part
of the kiln by doing away with the banks, on which the pots are now placed,
and levelling the bottom. I also construct the lateral sides with double walls
uniting at the top, so that there is in each side a chamber through which a
current of refrigerating air may be made to circulate and prevent the too great
heating of these sides which are to retain the matters in fusion.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said Antoine Pocheron in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
31st October 1866.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, 1, ANTOINE
POCHERON, of No. 15, Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, in the Empire of
France, Glass Manufacturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her Letters
Patent, bearing date the Seventh day of May, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six, in the twenty-ninth year of
Her reign, did, for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto
me, the said Antoine Pocheron, Her special licence that I, the said Antoine
Pocheron, my executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I.
the said Antoine Pocheron, 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," upon the condition (amongst
others) that 1, the said Antoine Pocheron, 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 Antoine Pocheron, do hereby declare the
nature of my said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be per-
formed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement, reference being had to the accompanying Sheet of Drawing,
'forming part of this my Specification, and to the figures and letters of reference
placed thereon:-
My improvements relate to the melting or fusing furnaces or kilus used in
glass making, and consist in the suppression of the fire-clay pots or crucibles
hitherto in use, and in placing the materials to be fused or melted within the
furnace itself, the usual inner form of the lower part of which is modified by
doing away with the sieges or banks and the general levelling of the bottom.
The lateral sides are constructed of a hollow form in such wise that a current
of refrigerating or cooling air may be made to circulate around and prevent

page_text: any excessive heating of the sides which are to retain or enclose the materials
in fusion.
My improvements will be thoroughly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawing, on which Figure 1 represents a plan view
of my improved furnace or kiln, taken at the height of the working holes;
Figure 2, a transverse section, and Figure 3, a longitudinal section.
A, indicating the basin or tank which is to contain the materials in fusion ;
B, gratings and fire-places; C, sills between the basins and the gratings; these
sills are made by the aid of two fire-brick walls separated at their base and
united at their summits, so as to establish between them a vacant space D;
which is to serve for the current of refrigerating air; E, free space passing all
round the basin or tank, between the exterior walls and the inner walls or
sides of the basin and communicating with the space D, between the sills
for the circulation of cold air; F, bottom of the basin supported by ironwork ;
G, crown or arch of the furnace; H, arch of the tunnels or fire-places; . i;
working holes; j, annealing kilns; K, arches with gratings; L, chimney; M;
underground compartments or cellars.
In making plate glass the metal is run on to the table in the following
manner:-The table or tables are brought on rails successively to the furnace,
in the side of which an opening or hole has been left, which hole is closed
with clay or other adhesive material during the fusion, and opened for running
the metal on to the table, after which it is again closed, and so on for each
operation. The metal being run on to the table is spread in the usual
manner. For other descriptions of glass this hole or opening is dispensed with,
the usual working holes only being used.
Among the general defects or disadvantages of the furnaces for pots or
crucibles, the use of which my Invention is intended to suppress, are the
following:-In the ordinary working of pot furnaces or kilns there are inevitable
stoppages, which in this manufacture are not considered as losses because
they are inherent to the system adopted. Thus, the placing of the pots is
very costly in this respect, it being generally very difficult of execution, and
these placings occasion a loss of time so considerable that it may be estimated
at a working day. In the course of the daily fusing there is another loss of
time, which may be estimated at half a day at the least, namely, turning the
pots, moving them further from or nearer to the opening, or turning them to
the air chamber when they happen to run. When a pot begins to run it
must be quickly turned to the cold-air chamber, so that the escaping glass may
congeal and stop the fissure; this operation does not, however, take place
without a considerable loss of glass, but it also happens that the pot breaks

page_text: entirely, and then as the chambering cannot be effected the entire pot full of
glass is completely lost. The quantity of glass lost in crucible furnaces is still
very considerable, setting aside the cases above mentioned. Thus in putting
in the materials the workmen to whom the work is confided, notwithstanding
their constant practice, always allow some to fall outside the crucibles, and all
these lost materials unite in the furnace in a special reservoir called the basin,
which must be cleaned daily by piercing it from the bottom, and the glass in
running out falls into the vaults. It is proved that a pot full of glass is
every day thus lost in a furnace. Without taking into account the disastrous
accidents which very often occur in this manufacture it is notorious that the
pottery is the plague of glass making.
By the method herein described and illustrated on the annexed Drawing no
pots or crucibles are used, consequently all expense in this respect is done
away with; there is a considerable saving of fire-bricks in the construction of
my new furnaces; no more deceptions in the calculations of the glass maker ;
quicker fusions; more lengthened working, and no more disasters; in fact, all
the defects of the old furnaces are removed, and a saving of from 50 to 60 per
cent. in fuel is effected.
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Pocheron, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirteenth day of October, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-six.

page_text: In the Matter of a Patent granted to ANTOINE POCHERON, of No. 15,
Passage des Petites Ecuries, Paris, in the Empire of France, Glass
Manufacturer, for "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS,"
bearing date at Westminster the 7th day of May 1866 (No. 1297).
DISCLAIMER AND MEMORANDUM OF ALTERATION proposed to be
entered by the said Antoine Pocheron, as such Patentee as aforesaid, pur-
suant to the Statutes in that case made and provided.
WHEREAS I have been advised that the Specification to the said Letters
Patent may be held to claim generally the suppression of the fire-clay pots or
crucibles hitherto in use in glass making, and the placing the materials to be
fused or melted within the furnace itself, and as I do not wish to retain, or
make any such extended claim to Invention, but desire to limit my claim to
the forming the sides of the tank or chamber containing the glass-making
materials hollow in suchwise that a current of refrigerating air may circulate
and prevent any excessive heating of the sides which retain or enclose the
fused materials, I for this reason wish to disclaim and do hereby disclaim all

page_text: parts of the said Specification which claim the suppression of the fire-clay
pots and placing the materials to be fused or melted in the furnace itself; and
I alter the Specification by striking out the words "consist in," and introduce
in place thereof the words have reference to; and also by striking out the
word "in," and inserting in place thereof the word to; and I further alter
the said Specification by introducing the words to which separately I make
no claim, but according to my Invention after the words "levelling of the
bottom" in the introductory paragraph of the said Specification.
And in order that the effect of this Disclaimer and Memorandum of Altera-
tion may be better understood I annex a copy of the Specification as it will
appear when such Disclaimer and Memorandum of Alteration have been made
as aforesaid..
"
.
66 My improvements relate to the melting or fusing furnaces or kilns used
"in glass making, and have reference to the suppression of the fire-clay pots
or crucibles hitherto in use, and to placing the materials to be fused or
"melted within the furnace itself, the usual inner form of the lower part
"of which is modified by doing away with the sieges or banks and the
general levelling of the bottom, to which separately I make no claim, but
"according to my Invention the lateral sides are constructed of a hollow
"form in suchwise that a current of refrigerating or cooling air may be made.
"to circulate around and prevent any excessive heating of the sides which
are to retain or enclose the materials in fusion.
"
66
:
..
"My improvements will be thoroughly understood by reference to the
accompanying Sheet of Drawing, on which Figure 1' represents a plan view
"of my improved furnace or kiln taken at the height of the working holes ;
"Figure 2, a transverse section; and Figure 8, a longitudinal section..
"A, indicating the basin or tank which is to contain the materials in
"fusion; B, gratings and fire-places; C, sills between the basins and the
"gratings; these sills. are made by the aid of two fire-brick walls separated
at their base and united at their summits, so as to establish between them
a vacant space
D, which is to serve for the current of refrigerating air; E,
free space passing all round the basin or tank between the exterior walls
and the inner walls or sides of the basin, and communicating with the
"D.between the sills for the circulation of cold air; F, bottom of the basin
"supported by ironwork; G, crown or arch of the furnace; H, arch of the
" tunnels or fire-places; i, working holes; j, annealing kilns; K, arches
"with gratings; L, chimney; M, underground compartments or cellars.
space
"In making plate glass the metal is run on to the table in the following

page_text: manner :-The table or tables are brought on rails successively' to the
"furnace, in the side of which an opening or hole has been left, which hole'
is closed with clay or other adhésive material during the fusion, and opened
"for running the metal on to the table, after which it is again closed, and so
"on for each operation.. The metal being run on to the table is spread
"in the usual manner. For other descriptions of glass this hole or
"opening is dispensed with, the usual working holes only being used.
66
Among the general defects or disadvantages of the furnaces for 'pots or
"crucibles, the use of which my Invention is intended to suppress, are the
"following: In the ordinary working of pot furnaces or kilns there are
" inevitable stoppages, which in this manufacture are not considered as losses
"because they are inherent to the system adopted. Thus the placing of the
" pots is very costly in this respect, it being generally very difficult of execu-
tion, and these placings occasion a loss of time so considerable that it may
"be estimated at a working day. In the course of the daily fusing there is
"another loss of time, which may be estimated at half a day at the least,
"namely, turning the pots, moving them further from or nearer to the
"opening, or turning them to the air chamber when they happen to run.
"When a pot begins to run it must be quickly turned to the cold air
"chamber, so that the escaping glass may congeal and stop the fissure; this
"operation does not, however, take place without a considerable loss of glass,
"but it also happens that the pot breaks entirely, and then, as the cham-
"bering cannot be effected, the entire pot full of glass is completely lost.
"The quantity of glass lost in crucible furnaces is still very considerable,
"setting aside the cases above mentioned; thus, in putting in the materials
"the workmen to whom the work is confided, notwithstanding their constant
"practice, always allows some to fall outside the crucibles, and all these lost
"materials unite in the furnace in a special reservoir called the basin, which
"must be cleaned daily by piercing it from the bottom, and the glass - in
"running out falls into the vaults. It is proved that a potfull of glass is
"
every day thus lost in a furnace, without taking into account the disastrous
"accidents which very often occur; in this manufacture it is notorious that
"the pottery is the plague of glass making.
66
66
By the method herein described and illustrated on the annexed Drawing
no pots or crucibles are used, consequently all expense in this respect is
done away with; there is a considerable saving of fire-bricks in the con-
"struction of my new furnaces; no more deceptions in the calculations of
"the glass maker; quicker fusions, more lengthened working, and no more

page_text: "disasters; in fact all the defects of the old furnaces are removed, and a
"saving of from 50 to 60 per cent. in fuel is effected."
In witness whereof, I, the said Antoine Pocheron, have hereunto set
my hand and seal, this Fourth day of April, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven. ·