IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR HEATING, FLATTENING, AND ANNEALING GLASS
Year: 1863

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to George Davies, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's
Inn, in the County of Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the
City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and Patent Agent, for the Invention of
"IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR HEATING, FLATTENING, AND ANNEALING
GLASS." A communication from abroad by Andrew Kesler Hay, of
Winslow, New Jersey, United States of America.
Sealed the 9th February 1864, and dated the 15th August 1869.
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said George Davies at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents, with his Petition, on the
15th August 1863.
I, GEORGE DAVIES, of No. 1, Serle Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of
Middlesex, and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil
Engineer and Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of the said Invention
for "IMPROVEMENTS IN FURNACES FOR HEATING, FLATTENING, AND ANNEALING
GLASS," (a communication to me from abroad by Andrew Kesler Hay, of
Winslow, New Jersey, United States of America,) to be as follows:-
This Invention relates to improvements in furnaces for heating, flattening,
and annealing glass, the improvements being such that the three processes
can be prosecuted with rapidity and continuity, whilst the furnace itself may
be considered of limited extent and simple and inexpensive as regards con-
struction in view of the amount of work accomplished in comparison with that
executed by the aid of furnaces of the ordinary construction; at the same

page_text: time these improvements have the advantageous result of economy both as
regards manual labor and the consumption of fuel.
The furnace consists of two compartments, namely, the heating and flattening
compartment and the annealing compartment, and also an intermediate
chamber where the glass is shifted from one truck to the other, as hereafter
described. At each end of the first compartment is a fire chamber, and in the
centre is a brick platform for receiving the cylinders of glass to be operated
on, and which are flattened thereon with the usual wooden tools. At each
side of this platform and between it and the fire chamber is a pit, on the floor
of which are laid rails on which trucks run, the surface of the said trucks
being level with the brick platform, so that the glass when flattened can be
easily pushed on to the trucks. Between each fire chamber and its adjacent
pit is a wall or bridge, and from the arched roof of the furnace project
deflectors for directing the heat from the fires on to the platform. In the
wall between this compartment and the intermediate chamber are openings
sufficiently large to admit of the trucks being pushed from the pits into the
said chamber along the rails which extend into the intermediate chamber.
In the centre of this chamber is another platform, on to which the plates of
glass are pushed from the trucks by means of suitable instruments, the
operators working through openings in the end walls of the compartment;
the trucks are then pushed back into the first compartment to receive fresh
plates.
The annealing compartment runs along the other side of this chamber, and
is provided with rails upon which trucks run, having also two turn-tables to
enable the trucks to be moved into an angular position with one corner
touching the platform, in order to allow of the plates of glass being pushed off
the latter on to the trucks. These trucks are then moved along the rails in
one direction in the annealing compartiment (which is a long narrow covered
chamber), and fresh trucks are introduced at the other end to tako their
places, so that the operation is continuous, three men only being required to
attend to the operation. In this arrangement the process of heating and
flattening the glass, and transferring it to the trucks in the annealing compart-
ment, is carried on at two points at once, but where sufficient space is avail-
able it is preferred to double this arrangement, by placing a heating and
flattening compartment on each side of the annealing compartment, so that
'the flattening is carried on at four points at one time.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent, filed
by the said George Davies in the Great Seal Patent Office on the
15th February 1864.
TO ALL TO WHOM THESE PRESENTS SHALL COME, I, GEORGE
DAVIES, of No. 1, Serlo Street, Lincoln's Inn, in the County of Middlesex,
and No. 28, St. Enoch Square, in the City of Glasgow, Civil Engineer and
Patent Agent, send greeting.
WHEREAS Her most Excellent Majesty Queen Victoria, by Iler Letters
Patent, bearing date the Fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, in the 27th year of Her reign,
did, for Ierself, Her heirs and successors, give and grant unto me, tho
said George Davies, Her special license that I, the said George Davies, my
executors, administrators, and assigns, or such others as I, the said George
Davies, my executors, administrators, or assigns, should at any time agree
with, and no others, from time to time and 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
FURNACES FOR HEATING, FLATTENING, AND ANNEALING GLASS," being a com-
munication to me from abroad by Andrew Kesler Hay, of Winslow, New
Jersey, United States of America, upon the condition (amongst others) that
I, the said George Davies, my executors or administrators, by an instrument
in writing under my hand and seal, or under the hand and seal of one of
them, 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 George Davies, do hereby declare the
nature of the 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 in writing, and on reference to the accompanying Drawings, that is
to say:-
This Invention relates to improvements in furnaces for heating, flattening,
and annealing glass, the improvements being such that the three processes can
be prosecuted with rapidity and continuity, while the furnace itself may be con-
sidered of limited extent and simple and inexpensive as regards construction in
view of the amount of work accomplished in comparison with that executed by

page_text: the aid of furnaces of the ordinary construction; at the same time these improve-
ments have the advantageous result of economy both as regards manual labor
and the consumption of fuel.
Such being the nature and object of the said "Invention for Improvements
in Furnaces for Heating, Flattening, and Annealing Glass," I will now
proceed to describe more in detail the manner in which the same is to be or
may be performed or carried into practical effect; and in order that the same
may be distinctly understood, I have annexed hereunto a Sheet of Drawings
illustrative thereof, and have marked the same with letters of reference
corresponding with those in the following explanation thereof, that is to
say:―
In the accompanying Drawings, three modifications of the improvements
are illustrated, one by Figures 1, 2, and 3, a second by Figures 4, 5, and 6,
and a third by Figure 7.
Figure 1 is a sectional plan view of the furnace; Figure 2, a vertical
section on the line 1, 2, Figure 1; and Figure 3, a transverse vertical section
on the line 3, 4, Figure 1; Figure 4 is a sectional plan view of a modification
of the furnace which is preferable to that illustrated in Figure 1, when cir-
cumstances will permit its erection; Figure 5, a vertical section on the
line 5, 6, Figure 4, and Figure 6, a vertical section on the line 7, 8, Figure 4;
Figure 7 is a plan view of another modification of the furnace.
Description of Funace represented by Figures 1, 2, and 3:-The heating
and flattening compartment of the furnace is contained within the walls A
and A' and B and B' (Figure 1), a vertical section of this portion of the
furnace being represented by Figure 2. C and C' are the fire chambers, and
D is the brick platform for receiving the cylinders of glass. On each side of
this platform is a pit E, on the bottom of which are laid rails e, e, for receiving
the flanged wheels of trucks F, the fire-proof surface of which are level with
the platform D, each pit being separated from the adjacent fire-place by a
partition wall a, and the whole being enclosed by the arched top G of the
furnace from the under side of which project (in this instance) the deflectors
9, 9, for directing the heat from the fire-places on to the platform D. His
the annealing portion of the furnace, and consists of a long and narrow covered
chamber with rails on the bottom for receiving the flanged wheels of the
trucks I, I, there being turn-tables J, J, at the points shown in the Drawing
in order that the trucks may be made to assume the angular position illus-
trated. Between the heating and annealing portion of the furnace is an
intermediate chamber, of which K and K' are the end walls, this chamber
being separated from the heating chamber by the wall A', through which are

page_text: openings of sufficient size to allow the trucks F to pass freely along the pit E,
which with the rails are continued into the intermediate chamber, the rear of
the latter being open to the annealing furnace.
The cylinders of glass are introduced into the heating furnace through
openings d. d, in the front of the same, and deposited in the first instance on
the curved plates f,f, which are arranged to turn on the platform D. From
these plates the cylinders, after being sufficiently heated, are removed to the
trucks F, where, through an opening in the front of the furnace, they are
flattened out by rubbing with the usual wooden instruments. After this the
trucks are pushed along the pits E, E, into the intermediate chamber in the
walls K and K' of which are openings m, m, and through the latter
the attendants, by means of suitable instruments, push the glass from the
trucks F, F, on to the receiving platform L, when the said trucks are at
liberty to be returned to the heating portion of the furnace preparatory to
receiving another plate of glass. In the meantime the plates on the platform L
are removed to the trucks I, the latter by means of the turn-tables J, J, being
caused to assume the angular position illustrated, which permits the attendant
to readily effect this removal through the openings m, m, in the walls K
and K. The trucks I having received the plates of glass are moved in the
direction of the arrow along the annealing portion of the furnace, where the
plates of glass are gradually cooled prior to their removal.
It will be seen that by the improved furnace the processes of heating, flatten-
ing, and annealing are continuous, three attendants only being necessary, one
in front for attending to the heating portion of the furnace, the other two
being stationed one in front of each of the walls K and K', so as to remove
the plates of glass from the trucks F to the platforms L, and thence to the
trucks I, I.
The above described furnace may be erected in localities where the space
is limited; in all cases, however, where there is sufficient room, the furnace
illustrated by Figures 4, 5, and 6 is to be preferred. Figure 4 is a sectional
plan of the modified furnace; Figure 5, a vertical section on the line 5, 6;
and Figure 6 a vertical section on the line 7, 8.
His the annealing compartment of the furnace, and consists, as in the
former case, of a long narrow covered chamber, on the bottom of which are
laid the rails and the turn-tables J, J. On one side of this annealing com-
partment are situated the two fire-places C and C, the pits E and E', the
heating platform D, and receiving platforms L and L'. Each fire-place is
separated from the adjacent pit by a brick partition a, and the heating
platform D'is separated from the receiving platform L and L' by the wall A',

page_text: through which the pits E and E' are continued to the edge of the annealing
compartment IT.
In the wall A, which forms one side of the furnace, is a suitable opening y
for each fire-place; also openings x, x, and d, d, similar to those described
above. On the opposite side of the annealing compartment is a similar
arrangement of fire-places C" and C","pits E" and E, heating platform D',
and receiving platforms L" and L. On the bottom of the several pits are
rails suited to the flanged wheels of trucks F, there being one truck to each pit,
and the top of the truck being level with the heating platform and receiving
platforms, and the walls A' having openings through which the trucks can
pass to and fro, so that each truck can be moved to a position between the
partition of one of the fire-places and the heating platform, and from thence
through one of the said openings in the wall A' to a position adjacent to the
receiving platform and annealing furnace.
It will be seen that the process of heating and flattening the glass, and
transferring the plates to the trucks of the annealing compartment, is carried
on at four points simultaneously in the furnace, and that the operation is rapid
and continuous.
Prior to this Invention, furnaces for flattening window glass were of very
limited capacity as regards the accomplishment of the desired work, but at the
same time they necessarily occupied an extensive space, and were costly
structures. There was but one heating and flattening compartment, and as
an adjunct to these, an annealing compartment of a length and capacity equal
to that of the improved furnace was necessary, so that while the old fashioned
furnace was of limited working capacity, it covered an extended area of ground,
and involved expence in building by no means commensurate with the work
accomplished.
The defects of former glass-flattening furnaces are in a great measure
obviated by the improvements illustrated in Figures 1, 2, and 3, the furnace
being so built that the heating and flattening processes can be conducted
simultaneously at two points, one annealing compartment only being used as
being sufficient to receive the glass heated and flattened at the two points. In
the furnace shown in Figures 4, 5, and 6, however, the heating and flattening
are conducted at four points, and the annealing compartment is situated in such
a central position that the trucks in that compartment can receive the flattened
glass from the four points without confusion, and with rapidity and continuity
of operation. The working capacity of this furnace compared with that of
the old furnaces is thus quadrupled, and when compared with that of the
furnace described above, doubled, and this without much additional expence;

page_text: in other words, the improved furnace (Figures 4, 5, and 6) actually consists
of four furnaces combined in one structure, and arranged in a peculiar manner
in respect to the annealing compartment, so that the latter may be common to
all four furnaces.
It should be understood that the annealing compartment extends in the
direction of the arrow to a distance of from forty to fifty feet, and that the
trucks are gradually pushed along the same as they receive their complement
of flattened plates.
After each car has been withdrawn at the end of the annealing compart-
ment it is wheeled round the furnace and deposited at the rear II' of the
compartment, which is closed by a moveable door h, and at this point the
empty truck is subjected to heat from a fire in the recess u, Figure 6, so as
to be in a proper condition for receiving the heated and flattened plates.
Description of furnace represented by Figure 7.-In this instanco the
several compartments are arranged in a manner differing from that shown in
Figures 4, 5, and 6, but with the same object in view. C, C, C", and C¹¹¹
are the four fire-places E, E¹, E", and E, the four pits, each of which is
furnished with suitable rails for the reception of the flanged wheels of a
truck F; D, D', D", and D, the four platforms on which the glass cylinders
are deposited, in the first instance, through openings d. L, L', L", and L",
are the receiving or cooling platforms, and II is the annealing compartment
in which are laid suitable rails for trucks.
As in the furnace illustrated by Figures 4, 5, and 6, the operations are
carried on at four points, the glass cylinders are first placed on the platforms D,
and after being sufficiently heated, are removed to the trucks F, on the
surface of which they are flattened by suitable instruments inserted through
openings a, after which the trucks are pushed along the pits E until they
coincide with the receiving or cooling platforms L, on to which the flattened
From
plates are pushed by suitable instruments inserted through openings m.
the platforms L the plates are removed to trucks arranged to traverse the
rails of the annealing compartment H, these trucks being either simple open
trucks, or closed, such as have been heretofore used in glass furnaces.
Having now described the nature and object of the said Invention for
Improvements in Furnaces for Heating, Flattening, and Annealing Glass,"
together with the manner in which the same is to be or may be performed or
carried into practical effect, I would remark, in conclusion, that I claim as
the Invention communicated to me by the above-named Andrew Kesler Hay,
the within-described furnaces having the fire-places, pits, heating platforms,

page_text: receiving platforms, and annealing compartments all arranged, substantially as
and for the purpose herein set forth.
In witness whereof, I, the said George Davies, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Fifteenth day of February, in the year of our Lord
One thousand eight hundred and sixty-four.
GEORGE DAVIES. (L.S.)