Process of making fibers with a rotary ring furnace above a circular forehearth
OwnerWarren W. Drummondinventor
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A process and apparatus are described for forming glass fibers which utilizes a rotating melter for the fiber glass batch materials and stators which house the fiber forming bushings. The stators are encompassed by the rotating melter, but not physically touching it. The glass melt flows directly from the melter to the bushings in the stators and temperatures at the bushings are controlled by raising or lowering the stator with respect to the melter, the bushings being devoid of any electrical energy input as is conventionally practiced.
Claims15
A method of preparing glass fibers comprising continuously feeding fiber glass forming batch ingredients to a glass melting furnace, heating the furnace to temperature sufficient to melt the glass forming batch ingredients, mixing the molten glass by rotating the melting furnace in a horizontal plane, continuously removing molten glass from the furnace through precious metal tube positioned in the furnace, delivering the molten glass from said tube to a circular forehearth comprising fiber forming stator assembly including a chamber formed of walls of insulation and at spaced intervals a floor consisting of fiber forming bushings and insulation, said stator assembly walls being surrounded in part by insulation forming the bottom and sidewalls of the rotating melter, providing sufficient heat into the furnace to heat the insulation of the furnace and through indirect heat exchange therewith the walls and bottom of the stator which, coupled with the molten glass delivered thereto insures that the fiber forming bushings are maintained at temperatures lower than the temperatures of the molten glass exiting the furnace but high enough to sustain adequate fiber forming temperatures in the glass exiting the bushing to thereby form streams of glass fibers for collection into glass fiber strand.
A method of forming glass fibers comprising feeding fiber glass batch to rotating furnace, said furnace rotating in a horizontal plane heating the fiber glass batch to temperatures sufficient to melt the ingredients, passing the molten glass resulting from melting to a circular stationary forehearth comprising a stator located below and partially surrounded by but not in physical contact with the rotating furnace, said stator being movable in a vertical direction closer to or away from said furnace, positioning a series of fiber forming bushings on the underside of said stator and in fluid communication therewith, passing the molten glass from the stator through the said bushings to form glass fibers and gathering and collecting the glass fibers as they form on exiting the said bushing as fiber strands.
A method of producing glass fibers comprising feeding glass fiber batch ingredients to a glass circular melter rotating in a horizontal plane, rotating and operating the melter at temperatures sufficient to melt the batch ingredients, melting and homogenizing the ingredients as they rotate in the melter to produce uniform molten glass, delivering the molten glass from the melter to a circular stationary forehearth positioned directly below the melter and around which the melter rotates and form which bushings for forming glass fibers are suspended around its periphery, supplying sufficient energy to the forehearth from the insulation of the rotating melter and the molten glass being fed to the forehearth to fully support the cooling as glass passes from the forehearth through the bushing to thereby form glass fibers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.