Improvements relating to Apparatus for Polishing Glass.
Year: 1899

page_text: Date of Application (in United Kingdom), 30th Aug., 1899
Complete Specification Left, 30th May, 1900-Accepted, 29th Sept., 1900
TRUVIDIVAAL
Improvements relating to Apparatus for Polishing Glass.
We, LA SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME DES MANUFACTURES DES GLACES ET PRODUITS
CHIMIQUES DE ST. GOBANI, CHAUNY, ET CIREY, of 9, Rue Ste. Cécile, Paris, in
the Republic of France, (a Company duly organized in accordance with French
law) Glass Manufacturers, do hereby declare the nature of this invention
to be as follows:-
The present invention has reference to certain improvements relating to
apparatus for polishing glass, the chief object of the invention being to con-
struct the mechanism which carries the rubbers for polishing the glass, in the
form of a single plate, the axis of which is excentric relatively to the axis of
the platform upon which the glass to be polished is laid.
This invention also includes certain devices for operating the platform, and
for feeding the polishing material to the rubbers, which will be hereinafter
described.
It is known that the polishing apparatus in use at the present time is divided
into the two principal classes or types as follows:-
THE BEAM TYPE.
cranks
In this apparatus, the rubbers are arranged upon a frame carried by
(or less). These frames, which were at first used with rectangular tables, were
afterwards applied to circular tables, the reciprocating movement of the rectan-
gular tables being replaced by a slow rotary movement of the circular tables.
A regular and rapid polishing action was thus secured, but, from a mechanical
point of view, these apparatus are complicated, and are liable to strains, which
soon cause them to get out of order.
MULTIPLE PLATE TYPE.
These apparatus, composed of two or more plates, turning with a continuous
rotury motion upon the circular table carrying the glass were formerly employed
for second grinding; then they were used for polishing by replacing the discs
or other appliances for working or scratching the glass by a like number of
plates furnished with rubbers.

page_text: These apparatus work better than the preceding type from a kinematic point
of view, but do not effect an even or regular polishing.
This being so, the invention embraces, in principle, a polishing apparatus
with a single plate, which allows of the realization (in an apparatus in which
the parts move with a continuous rotary motion about fixed axes) of conditions
of work heretofore obtained by the use of "beam" apparatus, or frames sup-
ported upon crauks with a vertical axis, without presenting their disadvantages.
The polishers are all fixed upon a single plate, the diameter of which is pre-
ferably little less than that of the table beneath. The vertical shaft carrying
the plate is guided in supports forming part of a fixed framework, and the
position of this shaft is so regulated that its axis meets the upper surface of
the table at a point, the distance (say r) of which to the centre of the plat-
form, corresponds to the radius of the crank which is used to govern the frame
in a beam apparatus. If, now, rotary movements of equal speed, and in the
same direction, be imparted to the table and plate arranged as above described,
there is obtained, between the rubbers or polishers and the glass, a relative dis-
placement which reproduces the ordinary working of the beam apparatus. As
there is every facility for placing the polishers at any point of the plate, the
friction may be divided up, so as to ensure a polish practically uniform at all
points, and as each polisher describes upon the glass the same path as in the
beam apparatus mounted upon cranks, all the qualities of these latter apparatus
will be preserved, from the point of view of the production and utilization
of the motive force, while at the same time avoiding the disadvantages which
arise from a mechanical point of view.
The construction of the apparatus is also of extreme simplicity, being reduced
to two superposed discs carried each upon a vertical shaft. It is enough, more-
over, in practice, to operate one of these shafts (say, the shaft of the platform
upon which the glass is held, or the rubber shaft), the moving part which is
not directly driven, being set in motion by friction, and moving at nearly
the same speed of rotation as the driven part, with a slight loss of rotation,
which is just sufficient to slightly renew the contacts. By gradually displacing
the polishers, so that they shall not always attack the same spot on the table,
the uniformity of the polishing action is improved.
One of the principle advantages of the platform polisher, with its single
excentric plate, is, in addition to those already above enumerated, that it affords
the possibility of controlling, at will, either the platform or the plate, this
possibility being non-existent in any of the systems now in use, and offering,
in many cases, facilities for installation, transmission of power being either
above or below ground, as may be desired.
The apparatus, then, has the following as its essential characteristics:-
(a) An apparatus for polishing glass, in which the polishing rubbers are all
adapted to one single plate, the axis of which is excentric with relation to the
axis of the table or platform carrying the glass to be polished, these two parts
receiving rotary movements from driving gear, which may be applied either
simultaneously to both, or indifferently to either of the two, the other, in such
case, being carried round by simple friction of contact with the driven member.
(b., An arrangement for feeding the polishing material, consisting of an
annular gutter, integral with the polisher plate, of a scries of distributing tubes
leading from the said gutter, and extending to near each rubber, and of a fixed
reservoir with a spout, and provided with an agitator, the said reservoir being
charged with material and receiving the water to dilute it, from a pipe pro-
vided with a cock for regulating the supply of water, so as to substitute for the
feed of the diluted material, a feed of clear water to dilute the same.
(c) An arrangement for throwing into action, and releasing from its pivot,
the platform carrying the glass, and consisting in mounting rails carrying the
platform in the apparatus upon levers capable of rising and falling motion at
each half revolution of the crank shaft, the driving gear of which is set in

page_text: action by hand, and then automatically thrown out of gear at the end of each
half revolution by the help of cams mounted upon or operated by, the said crank
shaft, the use of cranks allowing the travel of the levers which support the rails
being limited accurately.
Dated the 30th or of August 1000
UOMI LMIM DICITICATION.
Improvements relating to Apparatus for Polishing Glass.
We, LA SOCIÉTÉ ANONYME DES MANUFACTURES DES GLACES ET PRODUITS
CHIMIQUES DE ST. GOBANI CHAUNY, ET CIREY, of 9, Rue Ste. Cécile, Paris, in
the Republic of France, (a Company duly organized in accordance with French
law) Glass Manufacturers, 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 present invention has reference to certain improvements relating to
apparatus for polishing glass, the chief object of the invention being to con-
struct the mechanism which carries the rubbers for polishing the glass in the
form of a single plate, the axis of which is excentric relatively to the axis of
the platform upon which the glass to be polished is laid.
The invention also includes certain devices for operating the platform, and
for feeding the polishing material to the rubbers, which will be hereinafter
described.
It is known that the polishing apparatus in use at the present time is divided
into the two principal classes or types as follows:-
THE BEAM TYPE.
In this apparatus, the rubbers are arranged upon a frame carried by 4 cranks
(or more). These frames, which were at first used with rectangular tables, were
afterwards applied to circular tables, the reciprocating movement of the rectan-
gular tables being replaced by a slow rotary movement of the circular tables.
A regular and rapid polishing action was thus secured, but, from a mechanical
point of view, these apparatus are complicated, and are liable to strains, which
soon cause them to get out of order.
MULTIPLE PLATE TYPE.
This apparatus, composed of two or more plates turning with a continuous
rotary motion upon the circular table carrying the glass were formerly employed
for grinding then they were used for polishing, by replacing the discs or
other appliance for working the glass, by a like number of plates furnished
with rubbers.
These apparatus work better than the preceding type, from a kinematic point
of view, but do not effect an even or regular polishing.
**
This being so, the invention embraces, in principle, a polishing apparatus
with a single plate, which allows of the realization (in an apparatus in which
the parts move with a continuous rotary motion about fixed axes) of conditions
of work heretofore obtained by the use of beam" apparatus, or frames sup-
ported upon cranks with a vertical axis, without presenting their disadvantages.
The polishers are all fixed under a single plate, the diameter of which is pre-
ferably little less than that of the table below. The vertical shaft carrying

page_text: the plate is guided in supports forming part of a fixed framework, and the
position of this shaft is so regulated that its axis meets the upper surface of
the table at a point, the distance (say r) of which to the centre of the plat-
form, corresponds to the radius of the crank which is used to drive the frame
in a "beam apparatus. If, now rotary movements of equal speed, and in the
same direction, be imparted to the table and plate arranged as above described,
there is obtained between the rubbers or polishers and the glass, a relative dis-
placement which reproduces the ordinary working of the beam apparatus. As
there is every facility for placing the polishers at any point of the plate, the
friction may be divided up, so as to ensure a polish practically uniform at all
points, and as each polisher describes upon the glass the same path as in the
beam" apparatus mounted upon cranks, all the qualities of these latter apparatus
will be preserved, from the point of view of the production and utilization
of the motive force, while at the same time avoiding the disadvantages which
arise from a mechanical point of view in the apparatus.
The construction of the apparatus is also of extreme simplicity, being reduced
to two superposed discs carried each upon a vertical shaft. It is enough, more-
over, in practice, to operate one of these shafts (say, the shaft of the platform
upon which the glass is held, or the rubber shaft), the moving part which is
not directly driven, being set in motion by friction of contact, and moving at
nearly the same speed of rotation as the driven part, with a slight loss of rotation,
which is just sufficient to slightly renew the contacts. By gradually displacing
the polishers, so that they shall not always attack the same spot on the table,
the uniformity of the polishing action is improved.
One of the principal advantages of the platform polisher, with its single
excentric plate, is, in addition to those already above enumerated, that it affords
the possibility of driving, at will, either the platform or the plate, this
possibility being non-existent in any of the systems now in use, and offering,
in many cases, facilities of installation, transmission of power being either
above or below ground us may be desired.
The drawings accompanying the present specification shew, by way of example,
a polishing apparatus having the peculiarities above set forth.
In these drawings,
Fig. 1 is an elevation, partly in section, on the line A―B of Fig. 3, of the
apparatus.
Fig. 2 is an elevation thereof, partly in section, on the line (-1) of Fig. 3,
that is to say, at 90° to the preceding.
Fig. 3 is a horizontal section thereof on the line E-F of Fig. 1.
Fig. 4 is an elevation, on a larger scale, of the plate, shewing the method of
feeding the polishing medium, which will be hereinafter described
Fig. 5 is a corresponding partial plan view thereof and
Fig. 6 is a section, on a still larger scale, of the gutter or passage distributing
the polishing medium.
In the several figures, a denotes the circular platform or table, upon which
the glass to be polished is secured. This platform is mounted as usual, upon
wheels b, travelling upon rails laid on the floor of the workshop. At the time
of polishing, this platform rests upon the plater, carried by the vertical shaft d,
which is supported in the step tearing e, and receives its motion through the
intermediary of a pair of mitre wheels f and g, and from the shaft h provided
with fast and loose pulleys i j.
The single plate m, furnished with rubbers k, is carried by the shaft 1,
suspended by links n n from one end of a beam o, mounted freely, by means of
a knife edge, upon a block carried by the fixed head piece r. The other end
of the beam o carries a counterweighted rods, the lower end of which is screw-
threaded to receive a nut t, forming an adjustable stop against a sleeve u secured
to the wall. The weight of the plate m is thus partially compensated for by the
counterweight, the nut serving to control, at pleasure, the descent of the said

page_text: plate. The fixed head r may be supported by a series of stays , columns w,
and struts or shores y, forming a rigid triangle resting at its extremities upon
the masonry of the apparatus. This triangle carries, at top, and at the centre
of its base, guiding collars z, for the shatt of the plate.
In the form of construction shewn in the drawings, the motion is, as has
been above described, imparted to the shaft of the platform a, the plate m
being carried round by friction of contact. The gear for imparting motion to
the platform is situated in a well 1, sunk in the ground below the floor of the
workshop, but, as already specified, if the exigencies of the workshop admit of
it, the plate m might have the motion imparted to it, the other movable part a
being then carried round by friction of contact.
In this well is also situated the mechanism employed for throwing the plat-
form, charged with glass, into and out of action. Although only an accessory,
this mechanism is interesting on account of its construction, and therefore we
will proceed to describe it hereafter.
The table a, when introduced into the apparatus, runs upon the rails 2, which
are, for a certain length, fixed to two short movable beams or girders 3. These
beams or girders each carry two vertical rods 4, like pillars, the lower ends of
which are jointed to the levers 5, coupled in pairs. A shaft 6, with cranks 7, 7,
placed beneath the levers, and transversely thereto, receives motion from an
endless screw or worn 8 upon a shaft 9, parallel to the shaft h, and receiving its
motion from this shaft through a belt 10, passing over the fast and loose
pulleys 11 on the shaft 9. The endless screw or worm engages with a helically
toothed, or worm wheel 12, which transmits motion to the shaft 6 through the
gears 13 and 14. As the cranks are connected by links 15 to the ends 16 of
the levers 5, they may be easily alternately raised and lowered, by shifting the
belt 10 onto the fixed pulley of the shaft 9. The beams are therefore raised
and lowered so as to come in contact with, or recede from, the wheels of the
table a, which is (as the case may be) released from the pivot or lowered onto it.
The use of cranks offers the advantage of being able to limit the travel of the
levers. The shaft 9 is thrown into action by hand, but is thrown out of action
automatically, this being effected by means of cams. To this end, the belt 10
is provided with a belt shipping rod 17, attached to a counterweighted lever 18.
By throwing this lever over from the right to the left, the belt 10 is shifted
onto the fast pulley on the shaft 9. On the other hand, the shaft 6 carries
camis 19 acting upon a second rod 20, similarly connected to the counterweighted
lever 18, in such manner that, at the end of each half revolution of the shaft 6,
the counterweighted lever is automatically pushed over from left to right, and
the mechanism thrown out of action.
Figs. 4, 5, and 6 of the drawings illustrate another form of detail, which,
without being absolutely essential, may, however, like the preceding one, be of
considerable practical interest.
This arrangement has reference to the feeding of the polishing material. To
ensure uniformity of action, it is necessary to feed the whole of the polishing
rubbers with water charged with polishing material (say, rouge), regularly and
in very small quantities. This result is attained by fitting the plate m with
an annular gutter 21, provided with small tubes 22, leading from it (bolted to
the gutter, as shewn in Fig. 6), and having their outlets near the various rubbers k.
The gutter revolves with the plate, and, by causing a thin stream of liquid to
run into it from a fixed point, a uniform feed is obtained. The liquid which
runs into the gutter is prepared in a small cylindrical reservoir 23, wherein are
placed the water and the polishing material, and which is kept in suspension by
an agitator 24. To regulate the flow, it has been necessary to resort to an
expedient, in view of the impossibility of employing a tap with a small delivery
for the muddy liquid. To this end, the reservoir has, at its upper end, a
spout 25, forming the outlet, and a small tap in a pipe for the supply of clear
water, serves to regulate the stream of liquid admitted to the reservoir. This

page_text: latter is first filled with water, and the polishing material placed at the bottom,
mixing with the whole mass of liquid, it suthces to so regulate the inlet of
clear water, that a corresponding quantity of the rouge-laden liquid shall escape
by the overflow spout, and be distributed by passing through the fixed pipe 26,
and by the rotating gutter 21, to all the polishing rubbers."
We would remark, in conclusion, that we do not limit ourselves to the forms,
dimensions, and details of construction above described and shewn in the
drawings.
For example, the table carrying the glass, and the plate for the rubbers,
may both be square, rectangular, or of any polygonal form. In this case, how-
ever, it will be necessary to drive both at the same speed, as it is evident that
the one of them could not be retarded with respect to the other.
In the case where these parts are both circular, if it is desired that they
may be both driven, they may have rotary motion in the same direction, but
at slightly different speeds, imparted to them, to set up the necessary "drag"
between them. But it is manifestly more simple to drive only one of them.
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. An apparatus for polishing glass consisting essentially of a movable plat-
form or table carrying the glass to be polished, and a single movable plate
provided with polishers, the plate having a diameter approximately equal to
that of the platform, and being mounted slightly excentric thereto, so that it
will cover all the surface of the same, the two movable parts receiving rotary
motion in the same direction, but at slightly different speeds, as set forth.
2. The arrangement for feeding the polishing material, consisting of an
annular gutter integral with the polisher plate, of a series of distributing tubes
leading from the said gutter, and extending to near each rubber, and of a fixed
reservoir with a spout, and provided with an agitator, the said reservoir being
charged with material, and receiving the water to dilute it from a pipe provided
with a cock for regulating the supply of water, so as to substitute for the feed
of the diluted material, a feed of clear water to dilute the
same, substantially
us described.
3. The arrangement for throwing into action, and releasing from its pivot,
the platform carrying the glass, and consisting in mounting the rails carrying
the platform in the apparatus upon levers capable of a rising and falling motion
at each half revolution of the crank shaft, the driving gear of which is set in
action by hand, and then automatically thrown out of gear, at the end of each
half revolution, by the help of cams mounted upon or operated by the said
crank shaft, the use of cranks allowing the travel of the levers which support
the rails being limited accurately, substantially as described.
4. The arrangement and combination of the whole, as well as the different
details of construction of the glass polishing apparatus above described, with
reference to the accompanying drawings.
Dated this 30th day of May 1900