Apparatus for dispensing and submersing batch materials in a molten glass furnace

Apparatus for feeding glass batch materials into a pool of molten glass within a furnace, comprising:

• a base disposed at a batch-feeding end of the furnace above and extending over the pool of molten glass,
• a hopper for dispensing glass batch materials mounted on said base and including an outlet disposed over said pool of molten glass such that all of the dispensed batch materials enter said pool from above,
• a plunger means mounted on said base and including a reciprocable plunger and an actuator for reciprocating the plunger in a vertically inclined linear direction past said hopper outlet into and from the pool of molten glass at the location where batch materials are deposited thereon;
• said plunger including a front pusher face for pushing dispensed batch materials beneath the surface of the pool of molten glass, and
• a barrier mounted on said base and disposed on a side of said hopper outlet opposite said plunger, said barrier extending into the pool of molten material substantially parallel to the direction of reciprocation of said plunger and terminating adjacent the lowermost extent of travel of said pusher face so that batch materials submerged by said plunger travel beneath and past said barrier and are isolated from said batch depositing location.