Apparatus and method for cooling molten glass and fibers

The bushing assembly of claim 2 wherein the bushing is rectangular and comprises two end walls and two side walls.

A bushing assembly comprising a bushing comprising a tip plate having a length dimension L, and a width dimension W of at least about 4 inches, the L:W ratio being at least about 2, the bushing also comprising two or more side walls, two or more end walls and at least one pair of terminal ears, the tip plate having a plurality of spaced apart orifices therethrough from an inside surface to an exposed surface, and a plurality of spaced apart tips on the exposed surface of the tip plate, the bushing assembly also comprising a plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes located in close proximity to the exposed surface for containing a flow of cooling fluid in each cooling tube, the improvement comprising that the plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes are oriented to be substantially parallel with the width dimension of the bushing, at least some of the cooling tubes having one or more fins extending no more than about 6 mm from an outer surface and the cross sectional shape of the cooling tubes being rectangular with the height of the cooling tube being in the range of about 7 to about 16 mm, the width being about and the height of the fin(s) being about 3 mm to about 8 mm.

A method of making fiber from a molten glassy material by flowing the molten glassy material into a bushing in a bushing assembly, the bushing comprising an orifice plate or a tip plate having a length dimension and a width dimension, the length L being at least about 1.5 times the width W, the bushing also comprising at least one wall and at least one pair of terminal ears, the orifice plate or a tip plate having a plurality of spaced apart orifices therethrough from an inside surface to an exposed surface and a plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes located in close proximity to the exposed surface for containing a flow of cooling fluid in each cooling tube, the improvement comprising that the plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes are oriented to be substantially parallel with the dimension W of the orifice plate or tip plate to form fibers and pulling the fibers away from the orifice plate or tip plate and past the cooling tubes.

The method of claim 24 wherein the bushing comprises a tip plate having a length dimension L and a width dimension W of at least about 4 inches, the L:W ratio being at least about 2, the bushing also comprising two or more side walls, two or more end walls and at least one pair of terminal ears, the tip plate having a plurality of spaced apart orifices therethrough from an inside surface to an exposed surface, and a plurality of spaced apart tips on the exposed surface of the tip plate, the bushing assembly also comprising a plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes located in close proximity to the exposed surface for containing a flow of cooling fluid in each cooling tube, the improvement comprising that the plurality of spaced apart cooling tubes are oriented to be substantially parallel with the width dimension of the bushing, at least some of the cooling tubes having one or more fins extending no more than about 6 mm from an outer surface and the cross sectional shape of the cooling tubes being rectangular with the height of the cooling tube being in the range of about 7 to about 16 mm, the width being about and the height of the fin(s) being about 3 mm to about 8 mm.