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AssigneePPG Industries, Inc.
InventorThomas R. Trevorrow
Estimating the term…
A flat glass manufacturing facility is provided with a threshold for supporting and delivering a layer of molten glass from a glassmaking furnace to a glass forming chamber containing a pool of glass-supporting molten metal wherein the threshold has an upper glass-supporting surface having one or more transverse grooves, each of which extends from an upstream point near the center of the threshold outwardly to the sides of the threshold and in a direction that is oriented slightly in the direction of the glass delivery over the threshold in order to divert a small portion of molten glass in the lowermost part of the delivered layer of glass to the marginal regions of the delivered layer of glass whereby small bubbles or seeds, products of reaction or other contaminants may be diverted from the main portion of the glass to its marginal portions.
In an apparatus for delivering a layer of molten glass onto a pool of molten metal for forming flat glass comprising a threshold for supporting the molten glass during its delivery, side members for constraining the molten glass to a defined path of delivery and a movable metering member extending between the side members and in facing relation to the threshold, the improvement which comprises a threshold having at least one transverse groove in its upper glass-supporting surface which extends from a point in the vicinity of the center of the threshold outwardly toward each of the side members, the outwardly extending portions of the groove being oriented at an abtuse angle of less than 180.degree. with respect to each other which angle faces in the direction of glass delivery toward the pool of molten metal;
In a method of delivering a layer of molten glass over a threshold onto a pool of molten metal for forming flat glass, the improvement which comprises diverting a small effective amount of the molten glass from a lowermost central portion of the layer being delivered toward andinto two lowermost marginal portions of the layer being delivered substantially immediately prior to the advance of the marginal portions onto the pool of molten metal.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.