IMPROVEMENTS IN THE MANUFACTURE OF GLASS
Year: 1842

page_text: TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, JAMES
TIMMINS CHANCE, of Birmingham, in the County of Warwick, Glass Manu-
facturer, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her present most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Her
Letters Patent under the Great Seal of Great Britain, bearing date at
Westminster, the Seventh day of July, in the sixth year of Her reign, did,
for Herself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, the said James
Timmins Chance, Her especial licence, full power, sole privilege and authority,
that I, the said James Timmins Chance, my exors, adñors, and assigns,
or such others as I, the said James Timmins Chance, my exors, adñíors
or assigns, should at any time agree with, and no other, from time to time
and at all times during the term of years therein expressed, should and
lawfully might make, use, exercise, and vend, within England, Wales, and
the Town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN THE
MANUFACTURE OF GLASS," communicated to me by a certain Foreigner residing
abroad; in which said Letters Patent is contained a proviso that I, the said
James Timmins Chance, shall cause a particular description of the nature of
the said Invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, to
be inrolled in Her said Majesty's High Court of Chancery within six calendar
months next and immediately after the date of the said in part recited Letters
Patent, as in and by the same, reference being thereunto had, will more fully
and at large appear.

page_text: NOW KNOW YE, that in compliance with the said proviso, I, the said
James Timmins Chance, do hereby declare that the nature of the Invention,
and the manner in which the same is to be performed, are fully described
and ascertained in and by the following statement thereof, referénce being
had to the Drawings hereunto annexed, and to the figures and letters marked
thereon (that is to say):-
In the manufacture of sheets, plates, or panes of glass for windows and
other purposes,.when practised according to that process which is well known,
where glass is blown and fashioned by the workman into the form of a cylinder
and split, and then opened or flattened and annealed, those processes of
flattening and annealing, as now and heretofore performed by manufacturers,
are liable to many defects and objections.
In the process of flattening (as heretofore adopted) the glass is at once
transferred abruptly from the temperature of the kiln in which it was flattened
into another kiln, whose temperature is low enough to render and retain the
glass quite stiff and rigid; also, since a certain interval is necessary for the
glass to become stiff and rigid in this second kiln, and since, according to the
methods heretofore adopted, the workman loses time by waiting for such
interval having elapsed before he removes the glass from the position which it
first occupies after entering the second-mentioned kiln, therefore.the glass has
to be lifted up from this said position before it becomes so far stiff as not to be
liable to distortion of shape from the act of lifting and removing. It is
consequently desirable to adopt some plan of flattening and removing the glass,
by which, in the first place, the glass. shall pass through a succession of
decreasing temperatures after having left the flattening kiln, and before it
arrives in that, temperature which is cool enough to render it stiff and rigid,
and, in the second place, the lifting up and shifting shall not take place until
the glass has become stiff and rigid, and at the same time the workman shall
not be hindered from flattening further cylinders of glass in the same flattening
kiln. There are also defects in the plan or plans as heretofore and at present
practised for annealing sheets, panes, or plates of glass for windows or other
purposes formed out of cylinders as before stated. The glass, after having been
flattened in one kiln, then transferred into a second kiln, as before mentioned,
and lifted up and shifted from its first position in this second kiln, and again
deposited alone upon a cooling bed, is raised from this cooling bed after having
become stiff and rigid, and piled upon one of its edges in a part of this second
or annealing kiln, and a large number of sheets are thus piled in contact with
-each other, thereby forming a compact mass of glass. When the complement
of sheets have been thus piled in several distinct compact masses in the second

page_text: or annealing kiln, the glass has to undergo the process of annealing, an
operation which (as is well understood) consists in heating the glass to a certain
degree of temperature, and then (all entrance of external air being carefully
excluded) allowing the glass to cool gradually. Now, since the glass has been
piled together in compact masses, the gradual cooling occupies several days,
and the flattening and annealing kilns being connected, the former has to
be cooled down together with the latter, and the operation of flattening is thus
suspended during every interval required for annealing and drawing the glass
as well as for re-heating the kiln to the temperature required for the process
of flattening, and waste of fuel, and great expence of repairs, are also caused by
this succession of cooling and heating the kilns. Now the object of the
Invention is so to construct and arrange a flattening kiln that each sheet of
glass after having left the flattening chamber may not pass into a tem-
perature of stiffness before it has been subjected to an intervening gradation
of cooling; secondly, that the glass may not be lifted up before it has
become stiff and rigid; and, thirdly, that the workman may be successively
flattening several sheets in the same kiln during the very time occupied
by the gradual cooling of the sheet first mentioned. And in respect to
the annealing, when performed according to the Invention, the sheets, panes,
or plates of glass are gradually cooled by being progressively moved along
a kiln or arch, which is so heated that its temperature diminishes from
point to point in its length, being highest at the part adjacent to the flattening
kiln and where the glass starts, and lowest at the part where the glass is
taken out in an annealed state. And in order that the process of annealing
may be shortened in time as much as possible I employ certain apparatus for
allowing the air within the annealing arch to circulate freely over both
surfaces of the sheets, plates, or panes of glass whilst in their progress through
the annealing kiln or arch. By these means the flattening and annealing
kilns are kept constantly heated, and the processes of flattening and annealing
are rendered continuous and uninterrupted in the same kiln, and the time
required for annealing is considerably abridged. And in order that the
Invention may be more fully understood, and readily carried, into effect, I will
proceed to describe the Drawings hereunto annexed.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS.
The Drawing marked A shews several views of two circular buildings
communicating one with the other, and composed each of an external wall
A, and internal masonry work B, leaving between them an annular space,
which is arched over. In each of these two spaces is placed a cast-iron

page_text: frame F, supported on rollers or castors C, so that it may be turned round at
will; one of which frames F supports the flattening stones and "lagres " L,
eight in number, and disposed as, represented at Figure 1. The other frame
I carries a number of metallic wires D, of copper or other suitable metal,
radiating towards the centre of the building, and in which the annealing of
the glass is effected. The rotatory movement of each frame may be produced
by a man turning a winch, which by means of a combination of spur and
bevelled wheels transmits the movement to the internal circumference of
each cast-iron frame, which has teeth or cogs for this purpose, to prevent
the friction of their external circumferences. Against the external walls of the
two buildings, from distance to distance, I place rollers, for the frames to move
against. The flattening kiln is heated by the grate G; and in order that the
stones and "lagres," which will have cooled during the movement of rotation,
may be reheated, and arrive at the position E at a suitable temperature, I
place a second smaller grate in H. If coke be the fuel employed, a chimney
will be necessary, and may be placed at C. When wood is used there is no
occasion for a chimney. The partitions P are supported by the external walls
and internal brickwork over the "lagres" and over the wires, and merely leave
sufficient interval for these, with the glass to pass under them. They serve to
confine the heat to those parts of the kiln when the flattening requires it, and
also to prevent the entrance of cold air through the working holes. The space
I is reserved for reheating the wires. The space J in which the glass is
shifted from the "lagres" to the wires is lighted by gaslight or otherwise.
The kiln is worked in the following manner :-The cylinder of glass is
placed first in the position K, secondly in the position L, and thirdly in the
position M, on a stone suspended over the "lagres," and the two extremities
of which are supported by the walls A and B respectively; fourthly, it is
placed in the position N on the lagre beneath. Note, to prevent the cylinder
from rolling off, the flattening stones have a ledge . The frame F is then
turned round till the cylinder of glass occupies the position O, opposite the
working hole o, through which it is then flattened in the ordinary way. From
O the glass passes to Q, and thence successively to R, thence it is shifted to
the position T on the wires; by the flattener using his instrument through the
opening S, and after passing through the successive positions arrives finally
at V, where it is drawn at W fully annealed.
By the arrangement above described, it will be seen that each sheet of glass,
after it has been flattened, remains on the stone or bed on which it was
flattened during the very time that several cylinders are being successively
flattened in the same kiln, and that before the sheet of glass is lifted off

page_text: the "lagre," or the bed or stone on which it was flattened, it has passed
gradually through a decreasing temperature, and has had time to cool into a
stiff and rigid state, and yet the workman has not been hindered in his work
at the flattening; and although I prefer the arrangement herein described, the
same may be varied, so long as several different beds or stones are caused to
pass through the same flattening kiln, and in such manner that each plate,
sheet, or pane may remain without being lifted up during the very time that
several cylinders are being successively flattened in the same flattening kiln,
and at the same time be gradually brought, after having been conveyed from
the flattening chamber, into the temperature which will produce stiffness and
rigidity. And the annealing in like manner will be carried on progressively,
without lowering the temperature of the kilns, by the movement of the frame
F of the annealing kiln, and the sheets of glass, being isolated by the wires,
will be gradually cooled far more quickly.
I will now proceed to describe the Drawing marked B, shewing several
views of a second combination of an annealing kiln with a flattening kiln, by
which Drawing the construction of the same will readily be understood. The
flattening kiln shewn in this Drawing is similar to that heretofore generally
used, and therefore is not separately claimed, being shown in order to exhibit
merely its connection with the annealing arch. Z is a long annealing arch,
which is kept heated by any suitable means, so as to render that part the
hottest which is adjacent to the flattening kiln, and to allow the temperature
to decrease gradually from that part to the furthest end.
Several views of one of the carriages which convey the glass upon a railway
along the arch Z are shewn in the Drawing, whereby their general construction
is explained sufficiently without describing the same in detail. Their pecu-
liarity consists in carrying a system (f) of light frames turning upon axes (x),
and so arranged that each, beginning with the inner or narrower one (n), can
be separately raised in succession into a stable position, suitable for supporting
glass, resting with one edge upon the body of the carriage. Each of these
carriages, having its moveable frames lying down horizontally, is first placed in a
small chamber (c), situated at the hottest end of the annealing arch Z, and
communicating with the external air, and this arch respectively by two counter-
poised draw doors (d', d"). The workman, by means of a rod passing through
a small hole in the first draw door (a¹), pushes the carriage from its warming
chamber as far as another carriage, which, being loaded with its complement
of glass, is ready for advancing forwards, and a drop catch (e) in front of the
empty carriage falling into a corresponding eye (b), at the back of the loaded

page_text: carriage, links the two carriages together. The successive raising of the light
frames, as before mentioned, for the purpose of piling the glass, as is well
understood, from the cooling stone, is readily accomplished by means of the
same fork or instrument with which the glass is lifted and piled. This and
the piling may be both performed through either of the holes (a' and a"), care
being taken not to leave both holes open at the same time. At the coolest
extremity of the annealing arch Z is an unloading chamber Y, heated by a
stove into which loaded carriages emerge in succession from the arch Z. The
length of this chamber (Y) depends upon the number of carriages which it
may be found convenient to unload at one time. The unloaded carriages are
taken out through a door (D) in the chamber Y, and conveyed again outside
the kiln to the warming chamber (c). The progressive movement of the
carriages along the annealing arch Y is effected by a windlass (w) and a chain
passing through the extremity of the unloading chamber Y, and being attached
to.the foremost of the train of carriages. When a certain number of carriages
have been unloaded and unlinked, the end of the chain before mentioned is
always fastened to the foremost of the train of the remaining loaded carriages.
A counterpoised draw door (d) is placed between the unloading chamber Y
and the annealing arch Z, for the purpose of assisting the regulation of the
temperature of the latter; also, another similar door is placed at (d), which
is applied to keep the annealing arch closed when the flattening kiln may
require to be reheated, in consequence of not having been used or any other
cause. By means of this annealing arch and apparatus the glass will be
annealed far more speedily than by any method hitherto practised, and without
requiring the flattening kiln or annealing arch to be cooled down; and hence
the same objects are obtained as by the above-mentioned annealing arch
containing a revolving frame. But the last detailed combination will clash
less than the other with the present excise restrictions.
Having thus described the nature of the Invention, and the manner in
which the same is to be performed, I would have it understood that, although
I have been particular in shewing and in describing the nature of the
Invention, and the various details of the kilns and apparatus used, yet I do
not confine myself thereto, provided the peculiar character of either part of
the Invention be retained. But what I claim is,-
First, the so constructing and arranging of flattening kilns that each sheet
of glass may, without being lifted, be conveyed through a succession of
temperatures, between the high temperature of the flattening chamber and the
temperature suitable for rendering such glass stiff and rigid, and in such

page_text: manner that the workman may go on flattening several cylinders in the same
furnace during the interval occupied in conveying each sheet of glass through
such succession of temperatures, as herein described.
Secondly, I claim the so combining with a flattening kiln such an annealing
kiln that the sheets, plates, or panes of glass will not remain stationary during
the annealing process.
And thirdly, I claim the so arranging of the apparatus for conveying sheets
of glass along an annealing kiln, combined with a flattening kiln, that the
sheets of glass may be kept isolated, as described, thereby shortening the time
occupied in annealing such sheets.
In witness whereof, I, the said James Timmins Chance, have hereunto
set my hand and seal, this Seventh day of January, in the year of
our Lord One thousand eight hundred and forty-three.
JAMES TIMMINS (L.S.) CHANCE.
AND BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the Seventh day of January, in the
year of our Lord 1843, the aforesaid James Timmins Chance came before
our said Lady the Queen in Her Chancery, and acknowledged the Specification
aforesaid, and all and every thing therein contained and specified, in form
above written. And also the Specification aforesaid was stamped according
to the tenor of the Statute made for that purpose.
Enrolled the Seventh day of January, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and forty-three.