US 5,254,151 AGranted

Glass batch charger having seals which prevents accumulation of batch

AssigneeFrazier-Simplex, Inc.

InventorsEdward W. Larson, Thomas H. Gould

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Abstract

A batch charger for a molten glass furnace comprising a stationary hopper having an inlet opening at the upper end and an outlet opening at the lower end. A reciprocable charger plate located below the outlet opening of the hopper to supply material from the hopper to the furnace. The charger plate has a bottom wall and upstanding sidewalls at the edges of the bottom wall which are outwardly spaced from the sidewalls of the hopper. An adjustable seal is attached to the rear wall of the hopper with a lower edge located below the lower edge of the rear wall of the hopper and depending flapper members are pivotally attached to the front wall of the hopper at each edge to prevent loose material from passing between the sidewalls of the charger plate and the sidewalls of the hopper when the charger plate is reciprocated.

Claims17

Dependent claims

Apparatus for charging batch material to a molten glass furnace comprising a stationary material supply hopper having a front wall with vertical edges, a rear wall with vertical edges and opposed sidewalls connecting a vertical edge of said front wall and an inclined edge of said rear wall, a batch material inlet opening at a upper end of said hopper and a batch material outlet opening at a lower end of said hopper, a reciprocable elongated charger plate having a bottom wall with an upper surface located below said outlet opening of said hopper to receive batch material from said outlet opening of said hopper and supply a batch material to the furnace, said reciprocable charger plate bottom wall having side edges and an upstanding sidewall connected at each of said side edges of said bottom wall substantially parallel with and spaced from said sidewalls of said hopper, means for reciprocating said charger plate relative to said stationary hopper, seal means located behind said hopper having a lower edge below the lower edge of said rear wall of said hopper, adjustable means for attaching said seal means to said rear wall of said hopper to adjust said lower edge of said seal means relative to said upper surface of said bottom wall of said charge plate and flapper means connected to said front wall of said hopper adjacent each of said vertical edges of said front wall to prevent loose material from passing between said upstanding sidewalls of said charger plate and said sidewalls of said hopper when said charger plate is reciprocated relative to said hopper, said flapper means including a plate attached to the outer surface of said front wall of said hopper adjacent one of said vertical edges of said front wall, hinge means attached to said mounting plate and a depending elongated flapper member pivotally attached to said hinge means to pivot relative to said hopper when said charger plate is reciprocated relative to said hopper, whereby said seal means and said flapper means prevent loose material from accumulating behind said rear wall of said hopper.

Apparatus for charging batch material to a molten glass furnace comprising a stationary material supply hopper having a front wall with vertical edges, a rear wall with inclined edges and opposed substantially parallel sidewalls connecting a vertical edge of said front wall and an inclined edge of said rear wall, a batch material inlet opening at a upper end of said hopper and a batch material outlet opening at a lower end of said hopper, a reciprocable charger plate having a bottom wall with an upper surface located below said outlet opening of said hopper to receive batch material from said outlet opening of said hopper, said charger plate bottom wall having side edges and an upstanding sidewall at each of said side edges of said bottom wall substantially parallel with and spaced from said sidewalls of said hopper, means for reciprocating said charger plate relative to said stationary hopper, seal means located behind said hopper, means for attaching said seal means to said rear wall of said hopper whereby a lower edge of said seal means is located above the upper surface of said bottom wall of said charger plate, means for adjusting said seal means relative to said upper surface of said bottom wall of said charger plate and a mounting plate attached to the outer surface of said front wall of said hopper adjacent each of said vertical edges of said front wall, a hinge attached to each of said mounting plates, and an elongated flapper member attached to said hinge extending into the space between a sidewall of said hopper and an upstanding sidewall of said charger plate to prevent loose batch material from passing between said upstanding sidewalls of said charger plate and said sidewalls of said hopper when said charger plate is moved rearwardly relative to said hopper, whereby each of said elongated flapper members pivots with said hinge relative to said hopper when said charger plate is reciprocated relative to said hopper.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.