| 摘要 |
1,231,653. Glass melting. FORD MOTOR CO. Ltd. 21 June, 1968 [21 June, 1967], No. 29635/68. Heading C1M. [Also in Division F4] In a process for producing molten glass a temperature differential is produced along the longitudinal centre line of the melting chamber between a portion of the molten glass along that line and the molten glass on either side, the portion along the line being at a lower temperature than its surroundings, whereby unmelted batch is maintained away from the side walls of the melting chamber. In a preferred embodiment, a stainless steel hair-pin shaped water-cooled element 36 is positioned through the end wall of the melting chamber along the longitudinal centre-line thereof to dip into the molten glass 44 at the region where all batch is substantially melted. Batch is fed in two streams from hoppers 34 one on each side of element 36. By cooling a portion of the molten glass surface downward convection currents 58, 60 are set up which cause unmolten batch 48c to flow in towards the centre of the furnace away from the end walls. In an alternative embodiment, a baffle (62) (Fig. 4, not shown) is positioned along the longitudinal centre-line between the end wall and the shadow wall 24 proximate the glass surface. The molten glass immediately beneath the baffle is thus shielded from the heat and the desired temperature differential and convection currents are set up. |
