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US 4,101,301 AGranted
Formation of spheres of thermoplastic materials, especially glass
AssigneeTechnion Research & Development Foundation Limited
InventorZvi Rigbi
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method and apparatus for manufacturing spheres from molten material, such as glass, by allowing drops of the molten material to pass from one end to another of a column containing a liquid, such as a mixture of salts, the temperature of the column being so graduated that the drops harden during passage through the column. The column can be bifurcated at the lower end into legs provided with cooling cuffs for alternate use.
Claims10
A method for manufacturing hardened spheres from molten material, comprising:
- filling a column with a liquid which either does not react chemically at all, or does so only to an insignificant extent, with said molten material and which has a specific density less than that of the material at the temperature in the column, said specific density difference being between 0.05-0.2;
- causing a graduation of temperature of the liquid in the column such that the liquid at the top of the column is hotter than that at the bottom, the temperature at the top of the column being above the temperature at which the material passing through the column is sufficiently hard to be handled without deformation, and the temperature graduation within the column being such that a drop of said molten material passing through said column will have hardened sufficiently to be handled without danger of deformation by the time it reaches the bottom;
- and
- allowing a drop of said molten material to enter the liquid at the top of the column and to pass through the liquid in the column, from the top to the bottom thereof.
1 more element
An apparatus for manufacturing hardened spheres from molten material, comprising:
- a tube for carrying a liquid, the lower end of said tube being bifurcated into two legs;
- melting means for melting the material;
- nozzle means for delivering drops of said molten material from said melting means to the top of the tube;
- temperature affecting means for maintaining a temperature gradient in the liquid carried by said tube such that the liquid is hotter at the top of the tube than at the bottom and the temperature of the liquid at the bottom of the tube is below the point at which the molten material hardens;
- and
- directing means for selectively directing hardened spheres falling through said tube into one or the other of said legs.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.