An improved method and apparatus for melting glass and the like

291,883. Frink, R. L. March 11, 1927. Glass furnaces; charging; hearths. -A method of melting glass consists of feeding the batch material on to a surface which is inclined or curved downwards and on which the material is exposed to heat while spread out in a relatively thin layer. The material melts and flows down the surface until it runs off into a collecting chamber or receptacle. The furnace comprises a body portion containing the regenerators, and a hearth or sole 13 having its upper surface inclined. as shown. The sole may be built up, or may be cast in one piece, and may consist of the refractory material described in Specification 306,216, [Class 22, Cements &c.]. The inclined surface may also consist of a layer of refractory material having a low coefficient of expansion, such as sillimanite, and it is formed with upturned sides 14 so as to form a shoot for the batch material. The shoot may be carried by a movable truck 18 running on rails 19 to enable it to be replaced quickly when the blocks are eroded, a spare shoot being kept ready in a heating-furnace. The furnace body comprises end walls 3 and side walls 4, the bottom being formed as a container 6 having an inner wall which is overlapped by the lower end 16 of the sole 13. The upper part of the body contains recuperator chambers 37 , 38, 42, which are connected by tubes 29, 37, the lowest chamber, 37 , being formed with burner ports 26. The chamber 37 also communicates . by a flue 43 with burner ports 27 in the walls of the container 6. The chambers form with the walls of the furnace a flue 28 that conducts burnt gases to the stack 40. A hanging mantle 72, which closes the working-end of the furnace, extends downwards to a floater 73 under which the glass must pass to the working-out point. The working-chamber to the right of the mantle, is heated by the burners 27. In use, air supplied from a pipe 41 passes through the recuperators 42, 38, 37 and is mixed in the burners 26 with fuel, either oil or gas, supplied by pipes 32 . The combustion of the gases heats the. sole 13 and the burnt gases, passing out through the flue 28, heat the recuperators. The batch is supplied from a bin 7 through a gate 8 to a container which may have its floor 11 watercooled. A reciprocating plunger 10 pushes the batch out of the container through an opening 12. The plunger is a loose fit in the opening 12 in order to prevent jamming. The batch thus fed on to the heated sole moves downwards by gravity and melts d