Glass fiber drawing machine

A glass fiber drawing machine comprising:

• a first rigid frame;
• support means to hold a body of glass in a vertical position rigid relative to said frame and with a free end extending downwardly;
• a hollow oven to heat said body;
• first reversible power means to move said oven upwardly around said free end;
• and second power means to draw glass downwardly from said free end, said support means including a chuck fixed to said frame to hold the upper end of said body, said body extending in a downward vertical direction from said chuck, said oven being cylindrical and having a bracket fixed thereto, said bracket having guide hole means and a threaded hole extending vertically therethrough, a guide rod in each of said guide hole means fixed to said frame, a lead screw meshed in said threaded hole and rotatable in a fixed vertical position on said frame about a vertical axis the same as its symmetrical axis, said first power means coupled to said lead screw to turn said lead screw at a constant velocity in a direction to cause said bracket to be raised, said oven being fixed to said bracket in a position to cause said oven to rise so that its hollow interior surrounds said body in a uniformly spaced relationship, the axes of said oven and said body being the same vertical axis, said second power means being adapted to draw glass at a constant rate from said body at a position therebelow on the axis thereof.