An Improved Method of Lining Metallic or other Objects with Glass, and Means or Apparatus for use therein.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 27th Aug., 1898-Accepted, 10th Dec.,
1898
An Improved Method of Lining Metallic or other Objects with Glass,
and Means or Apparatus for use therein.
I, LOUIS BERGIER, of 54, Rue Etienne Marcel, Paris, France, Engineer, 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, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the letters
and figures marked thereon, that is to say:
My invention relates to an improved method of lining metallic or other objects
with glass, without the use of cement, and it has reference also to means or
apparatus for carrying out such method.
Although I will describe my invention with reference more particularly to
metallic pipes, it is to be understood that it may be used for the lining of other
objects, such for instance as milk cans, basins, and other vessels.
So far as I am aware, the only method hitherto. in use for lining objects with
glass has been as follows: The object to be lined with glass is heated to a dull
red, and the operator or gatherer then forms, on the end of his blowing tube,
a suitable parason, that is to say a glass muff of nearly the size of the object to be
lined. This parason is introduced with great care into the object, which latter, as
before stated, is heated to a dull red heat. It is then blown up to the full size
of the interior of the object so as to cause the glass to adhere to the said object,
after which, the latter, together with its glass lining, is suitably annealed.
Now, by this method, the lining only adheres very imperfectly to the object,
and any variation in temperature causes it to break off in consequence of the
great difference between the coefficients of expansion of the glass and metal, or
other material of which the object is formed. Moreover, and this is the greatest
draw back, it is impossible to thus line branched or compound pipes, as T's Y's
and U's successfully. All such pipes at present on the market have their lining
secured by a suitable cement.
Now, after very long investigation I have discovered that it is the disregard
of the following points that renders the above method unsuitable for commercial
or practical purposes:-
f. The glass to be used ought to have a coefficient of expansion comparable with
that of the metal, and hence a special glass ought to be used, the choosing of
which is a matter of importance.
2. The lining operation ought to be performed at the highest possible tempera-
ture, consequently:
(a) the vessel or pipe to be lined should be heated to a white heat and not to a
dull red.
(b) working of the glass, before it is introduced into the object, particularly the
operation of making a parason, should be carefully avoided, because the glass
cools very rapidly, it is very difficult to introduce the paraison into the pipe and as
such introduction takes some time the glass becomes still further cooled.

page_text: Now, by my invention, am enabled to provide glass linings very conveniently
and expeditiously in pipes of any shape, such as T, Y, and U pipes, in elbows,
and the like, which linings will withstand great variations in temperature, will
not break, even if allowed to fall from a great height, unless the pipe or object
itself breaks.
And in order that my invention may be readily understood I will describe the
same fully with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figs. 1 and 2 show a blowing tube with a quantity of glass thereon in the form
suitable for making a lining.
Fig. 3 illustrates the operation of glass lining an open ended pipe.
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 illustrate the operation of glass lining a Y shaped pipe.
Figs. 7 and 8 shew respectively a T and a Y with three branches.
Figs. 9 and 10 illustrate, respectively, the operation of glass lining an elbow,
and a U pipe.
Fig. 11 shews a glass-lined vessel.
As hereinbefore explained, a special glass is to be used in carrying out my
invention.
After many experiments I have found that a suitable glass may be produced
from the following ingredients:
100
33
kilos. very dry sand.
kilos. potash or soda.
2
kilos. nitrate of potash or soda.
15
5
kilos. red lead.
kilos. powdered marble.
0.100 kilos. bichromate.
0.050 kilos. cuprous oxide.
0.050 kilos. metallic antimony.
The above will produce about 100 kilos. of bottle glass.
To line an open ended pipe (Fig. 3) with glass, I heat it to a white heat and
place it vertically upon a suitable stand or matrix 1. With each kind of pipe a
corresponding stand or matrix having a truncated or other suitably shaped cavity
is employed, the upper diameter of which cavity is equal to that of the pipe.
An assistant holds the pipe in its vertical position upon the matrix 1 during
the lining operation.
The operator or gatherer takes on his blowing tube the necessary quantity of
hot metal, and after giving it the form shewn in Fig. 1, replaces in the furnace
to bring it to a very high temperature. At this instant, the pipe must be quite
ready on the matrix. The operator then quickly removes the blowing tube from
the furnace, swings it rapidly so as to cause the glass to assume the form of a
thick muff, as shewn in Fig. 2, and immediately introduces it centrally into the
pipe, as in Fig. 3, so that the lower end touches the matrix 1, whilst the blowing-
tube remains above the upper end of the pipe. All these operations should be
executed promptly while both the pipe and the glass are at a white heat. The
operator next blows the muff up to the full size of the interior of the pipe to
cause the glass to adhere to the inner wall of the latter. The matrix 1 serves to
close the pipe at one end and prevents the muff becoming longer whilst being
blown. The operation is finished in less than one minute.
After the blowing-tube 2 and the matrix 1 are taken away, the glass forming
the "burst-off" is removed by grinding, or by any other suitable means.
It is obvious that when lining a vessel, or a pipe, with a closed end, the
matrix or stand can be dispensed with, the operation being otherwise the same as
already described.
To line a Y-shaped pipe with glass, the operator must be aided by an assistant
using a puntil or iron rod 3. The operation is as follows. The pipe, suitably
heated, is placed on the matrix 1 and the blower introduces the muff centrally into
the vertical branch until the lower end of it reaches the matrix, as with the
pipe shewn in Fig. 2. Then the assistant, who has taken on the end of the puntil

page_text: a quantity of hot metal introduces it into the other branch of the pipe and
pushes it against the muff to which it will stick (Fig. 4). On the muff being now
blown up it will expand laterally, the assistant guiding it by means of his puntil
centrally up the short branch of the pipe, as in Fig. 5. The continuation of the
blowing brings the puntil out of the pipe and causes the glass to fit properly
therein. When the glass has been blown up to the full size of the pipe, a
burst-off" 4, 5, will be formed around the top of each branch (Fig. 6). The
blowing-tube, the matrix, and the puntil are finally removed, and the "burst off"
is ground away.
66
The operation is the same for lining a T pipe (Fig. 7), and for a Y pipe with
three branches (Fig. 8), but in the latter case it is obvious that a second assistant
with a puntil should assist at the third branch.
To line an elbow (Fig. 9), it is heated to a white heat and is then placed upon
the matrix 1 in the position shewn in dotted lines, so as to enable the blower to
introduce the muff, hanging from his blowing tube, into the elbow so as to reach
the matrix. This being done, the elbow is brought into the position shewn in full
lines, and the blowing is continued, as above described.
To line a U-shaped pipe, the same is placed, while at a white heat, in an upright
position with the bend downward as in Fig. 10. The blower then introduces the
muff into one of the branches as far as possible, and an assistant sticks against the
lower end thereof a piece of comparatively cold glass on the end of a puntil. By
this means he draws the muff through the other branch of the pipe. When the
muff has thus been completely introduced into the pipe, the operator blows it
up until a
burst-off" is formed on the top of each branch.
"
After each pipe or object has been properly lined with glass, it is quickly
passed into an annealing arch and is therein annealed, say from 20 to 24 hours,
at an appropriate heat to ensure the perfect adherence of the glass.
It is obvious that, if desired, the glass muff (Fig. 2) may be formed by means
of mechanical pressing and blowing operations; and in the same manner an
air pump, or other suitable mechanical means, may be used for blowing up the
glass lining into the pipe or other object.
It will thus be understood that my method is characterized by:
1. The special composition of the glass hereinbefore described.
2. By the very great heat at which the operation is conducted; this high
degree of heat being obtained by heating the pipe or other object to a white
heat, and by dispensing with a parason, the blower first giving the hot metal on
the end of his blowing pipe the form illustrated in Fig. 1, heating it again almost
to its fusing point, then quickly removing it from the furnace, swinging it to
form the muff (Fig. 2), and immediately introducing the latter into the object to
be lined, which latter is heated to a white heat.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The method of lining metallic or other objects, more especially pipes of
various shapes, without the use of cement, which consists in heating the object
to a white heat, introducing into it, by means of the blowing-tube, a thick glass
muff at a very high temperature, and then blowing up the muff to fit the interior
of the object, substantially as described.
2. The use, in connection with the above claimed method, of a stand or holder
having a truncated or other suitable cavity or opening, substantially as and for
the purpose described.
3. In the lining of pipes according to the method above claimed, guiding the
muff through the pipe, or guiding the portion thereof which serves to line the
branch or branches of the pipe, by means of a puntil, substantially as described.
4. In the lining of objects according to the method above claimed, the formation
of the glass muff by mechanical pressing and blowing.

page_text: 5. In the lining of objects according to the method above claimed, the blowing
up of the lining inside the object by an air pump, or other suitable means.
6. The use, in connection with the method above claimed, of a glass of the com-
position mentioned, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
7. My improved method of lining metallic or other objects with glass, and the
means or apparatus for use therein, substantially as described with reference to
the annexed drawings.
ERNEST DE PASS,
Chartered Patent Agent,
78, Fleet Street, London, and 5A Market Street, Nottingham,
Agent for the Applicant