Method and apparatus for pre-heating glassware in its passage from the forming machine to the annealing lehr
United States Patent [191 Bowman, deceased et al.  
 [ METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRE-HEATING GLASSWARE IN ITS PASSAGE FROM THE FORMING MACHINE TO THE ANNEALING LEHR [73] Assignee: E. W. Bowman Incorporated,  
 Uniontown, Pa.  
 [111 3,877,916 1 Apr. &#39;15, 1975 3,697,243 l0/l972 Artama 65/350 X Primary ExaminerArthur D. Kellogg Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Donald D. Jeffery [57] ABSTRACT The use of pre-heat ovens for pre-heating and equalizing the temperature of the glassware as it passes from the forming machine to the annealing lehr at substantially the annealing temperature to which it has to be raised so that the number and length of heating zones in the annealing lehr can be reduced. At the beginning [22] Fil d; On, 2, 1973 of the annealing cycle the formed glassware must be heated above the temperature needed to remove all [21] Appl&#39; 402705 strains that were introduced in the forming process. As shown in my prior U.S. Pat. No. 3,601,375 granted [52] U.S. Cl. 65/119; 65/162; 65/349 g- 1971. h first z n at h harging end of [51] Int. Cl C03b 25/04 h hr iliz s radiant cup burners at the top and [58] Field of Search 65/118, 1 19, 162, 349, heaters or burners at the bottom for rapid heating of 65/35(), 351, 117, 348 the glassware, from the strain point around 800F. to  
  which it has cooled in passing from the forming ma- [56] Ref r e Cit d chine to the annealing lehr on an open transfer con- UNITED STATES PATENTS veyor, to the annealing point around 1000F. 2,982,052 5/ 196! Lawson 65/162 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures 14 o -l5 I0 1 1 n9 f Q 46 l4 q MENTEDAPR 1 51975 3,877, 916  
 sum 1 3 3 FIG! PATENTEUAPRISISTS 3,877. 916  
 sum 2 5 3 FUSING POlN ANbEALIN INT IOOO&#39;:\ G o RANGE AN NEALIN STRAIN PDINT SURFACE OF GLI SS &#39;CENTZR OF GLAS s TEMPE RATURE B C D TUNNEL LENGTH FIG. 4  
 PATENTED R 1 51975 77, 91  
 SHEET 3 BF 3 HOW  -COUPLE TEMPEFATURE AT WORK LEVEL looon/ dANNEAJNG POINT it?! 2 E z SURFACE OF (BLASS STRA N M 800 &amp;  
  ,ENTER F GLASS 600 6: a 3% 500 E E J It A B c 0 TUNNEL LENGTH FIG. 5  
 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR PRE-HEATING GLASSWARE IN ITS PASSAGE FROMTHE FORMING MACHINE TO THE ANNEALING LEHR SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the present invention, the preheating means is outside of&#39;the annealing lehr through which the conveyor that gathers the ware at the forming machine and conveys it to the annealing lehr passes. to pre-heat the ware to substantially the annealing point of l,O F.  
  By means of thus pre-heating the ware before it enters the lehr, the pre-heat zone as shown by my prior patent referred to above may be eliminated and the ware can be charged at a temperature where all the strain has been removed, which is slightly above l,OO0 F., approximately 50 above 1000&#34;, and this temperature will additionally be equalized as it enters the first zone of the lehr.  
 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING In the drawing FIG. 1 is a top plan view diagrammatically illustrating a forming machine, an annealing lehr and a transfer conveyor traveling from the forming machine to the charging end of the annealing lehr with two heating ovens through which the transfer conveyor passes;  
  FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;  
  FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line 33 of FIG. 1;  
  FIG. 4 is a temperature curve of the preheated glassware charged into the lehr at temperatures up to 1,000 at substantially the annealing point; and  
  FIG. 5 a temperature curve of the strain point, the annealing point and annealing range showing the temperature of the glassware as it is charged into the lehr by conventional practice.  
 DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to the drawings, the numeral designates a forming machine such as an 1.5. Machine. designates a glass annealing lehr. 21 is a conveyor that extends through the length of the lehr tunnel, the charging end of the tunnel being shown. The numeral 11 designates a transfer conveyor which receives the ware from the forming machine 10 and delivers it to the charging end of the lehr belt 21. The numeral 12 designates a pusher mechanism that has a pusher bar 13 which pushes the ware from the conveyor 11 onto the conveyor 21, taking a row of bottles whatever the spacing happens to be. 14 and 15 designate heaters or heating chambers through which the conveyor 11 passes going around a 90 degree transfer device designated by the numeral 16. FIG. 2 is a cross-section of the heating chambers 14 and 15 taken through the line 22 of FIG. 1 and it shows sidewalls 14a forming a chamber in which there is a spaced wall 16a forming a flu or duct 17 which conducts the heating medium from a burner 24, FIG. 3 at the top of the chamber downwardly onto a row of bottles 18 that are supported on the conveyor 11. A fan 19 circulates the heating medium from the bottom through the side flues 17 as shown by arrows and then forces it into a heating chamber 23 and then through a slot or opening 19a in a partition 22 that divides the heating chamber 23 from the heating chamber 23a. Heat is supplied to chamber 23 by a burner 24. A damper may be provided over the central opening 25 to dilute the heating medium with outside atmosphere to maintain a desired temperature. By means of the above described equipment the ware is treated as is best illustrated by the temperature chart of FIG. 5 which is a conventional annealing curve except it starts with the ware entering the lehr at the annealing point temperaturewhich is slightly over l000 F. or thereabouts.  
  It will be evident from&#39;the foregoing description of the invention that by means of the pre-heaters l4 and 15 bringing the temperature of the ware to the annealing point of approximately l000 at which it is charged into the annealing lehr the annealing time is shortened very substantially and permits the shortening of the annealing lehrs by having fewer heating zones. Also it will permit the conveying of single lines of ware whereby each unit of treated ware gets exactly the same treatment so that the quality of the product is uniform. Also proper pre-heating and equalizing the temperature of the ware before it enters the annealing lehr will speed up the belt travel considerably. Although one embodiment of the invention has been here in illustrated and described it will be evident to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction and in the arrangement of the several parts without departing from the principles herein set forth.  
 We claim:  
  1. Glass ware treating equipment for use in combination with a glass ware forming machine and a glass annealing lehr. said equipment comprising conveyor means for conveying said ware from said forming machine to the charging end of said lehr. heating chamber means enclosing a substantial length of said conveyor means, said heating chamber means including means for heating said ware substantially to its annealing temperature of approximately l000 F whereby all strain imposed on the ware during formation thereof is released, and means for transferring said ware subsequent to pre-heating to said annealing lehr.  
  2. The equipment of claim I wherein said heating chamber means comprises a pair of separate pre-heater sections in spaced relation along said conveyor means, and further including transfer means associated with said conveyor means between said pre-heater sections for transferring said ware from a first section of said conveyor means at the outlet of one of said pro-heaters to a second section of said conveyor means substantially at right angles to said first section at the inlet end of the other of said pre-heater sections.  
  3. The equipment of claim 2 wherein said conveyor means adjacent the charging end of said annealing lehr is perpendicular to the axis of said lehr, and wherein said means for transferring said ware subsequent to pre-heating comprises a pusher bar for engaging and pushing said ware from said conveyor means to a second conveyor moving longitudinally in said annealing lehr.  
  4. The equipment of claim 1 wherein said heating chamber means includes burner means for heating the chamber to the designated temperature, and fan means for circulating the heating medium downwardly over said ware passing on said conveyor means through said heating chamber means.  
  5. Glass ware treating equipment for use in combination with a glass ware forming machine and a glass annealing lehr. said equipment comprising conveyor means for conveying said ware from said forming machine to the charging end of said lehr. heating chamber means enclosing a substantial portion of the length of said conveyor means, said heating chamber means including means for heating said ware substantially to its annealing temperature of approximately 1000 F whereby all strain imposed on the ware during formation thereof is released, and means for transferring said ware subsequent to pre-heating to said annealing lehr.  
 6. A method of pre-heating glass ware such as bottles of an annealing lehr, heating said ware along a substan- LII tial length of said conveyor by heating means enclosed around said conveyor so as to elevate the temperature of said ware to an annealing temperature of approximately 1000 F whereby all strain imposed on the ware during formation thereof is released, and transferring said ware when so pre-heated to the charging end of said annealing lehr while substantially maintaining the annealing temperature thereof.