JPS5945614B2 - Bushings containing heat-softening materials - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to bushings containing molten mineral materials, and more particularly to internal supports for bushings for spinning glass fibers.

In recent years, there has been a trend towards producing textile glass filaments or glass fibers of smaller diameter, and as is well known, the benefits offered by such thin filaments are numerous.

The advantage of reducing the fiber diameter is that more filaments can be spun from each bushing while maintaining the glass output of the bushings at a reasonable rate.

This creates a relatively large tip area or bottom wall to provide more tips for spinning filaments.

If the bottom wall is made thicker (then the total load to which it is subjected will be thicker), such a bottom wall will flex more easily than a bottom wall with a relatively smaller area.

Furthermore, in recent years, there has been a demand for filaments made of materials with excellent fire resistance that can be used in high-temperature atmospheres compared to conventional filaments.

Such filaments are obtained by spinning thermosoftenable materials at relatively high temperatures, so that the filaments must be softened or melted in the bushing at relatively high temperatures.

However, these high temperatures tend to cause the bushing to flex or creep at a greater rate on average.

Such deflection occurs even when the bushing is made from the highest temperature resistant alloys known, but with suitable properties for making the bushing.

Attempts have been made to solve this sag or creep problem with special bushing constructions or by using supports under the bottom wall of the bushing.

However, although such attempts were somewhat successful,
It has not been possible to significantly extend bushing life without excess or leap or deflection.

The supports described above also had the disadvantage of interfering with the thermal pattern at the bottom of the bushing, ie, tending to interfere with filament spinning and disrupt the fiber-forming operation.

There were other attempts to reduce deflection, but these required large amounts of very expensive alloy to make the bushings.

The present invention provides an improved bushing support that is highly effective in preventing or significantly reducing deflection or creep in the bushing bottom wall.

This new support also does not interfere with the heat pattern of the bushing.

In other words, it does not interfere with the fiber forming operation as with conventional supports or support methods.

The bushing support includes an elongated internal member, preferably a hollow internal member, extending between vertical walls of the bushing in the bushing bottom wall.

A connecting member or plate is secured to these elongate internal members and to the bottom wall of the bushing below these members.

Preferably, the elongated member extends across the bushing bottom wall between opposing vertical sidewalls, and the connecting member is secured to the bushing bottom wall between the rows of bushing tips extending downwardly from the bottom wall.

In a preferred embodiment, a rod of refractory ceramic material extends through the hollow elongate member and beyond the vertical wall of the bushing to form an auxiliary support.

Another object of the invention is to provide a filament spinning bushing that has a relatively long useful life.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a bushing with a support for the bottom wall of the bushing that does not interfere with fiber forming operations.

Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an internal support for a bushing that extends between the vertical walls of the bushing and is connected to the bottom wall of the bushing.

Yet another object of the invention is to include hollow elongated members extending between the bushing vertical walls on the bottom wall, and with means for connecting the hollow elongated members to a transverse portion of the bottom wall and extending through the hollow members. An object of the present invention is to provide a bushing support provided with a fire-resistant rod.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 shows a container, particularly a bushing 10, adapted to receive and house a heat softenable material such as glass, particularly glass capable of spinning into fine (and continuous) filaments for textile applications. It is arranged.

Bushing 10 is disposed below and in communication with a forehearth 12 which receives purified, heat softened or molten glass from a melting furnace 14.

This bushing 10 is also melted in its upper region.
comprising spheres or pieces of molten pre-refined glass, the glass being drawn from the bushing in multiple streams at a predetermined rate;
That is, it may be connected to other glass heating devices such as those used for spinning.

The glass stream 16 is thus spun into filaments 18.
Then, a suitable swirl binder or the like is applied to each filament 18 using the applicator 24, and then the focusing shoe 2
2 into a strand 20.

This strand 20 is then moved into a tube or sleeve 2 mounted on a mandrel 28 and driven by a suitable drive means provided in a coiler 30.
6. Wind it up.

During winding, the strand is given a reciprocating motion along the length of the tube 26 by known traversing means 32.

The bushing 10 is mounted in communication with an opening 34 in the bottom of the forehearth 12.

Specifically, the bushing 10 is a castable refractory body 3.
6 and 38, and these refractories are supported by frames 40 and 42 which are secured to the forehearth support structure by suitable means.

In this embodiment, the bushing 10 includes horizontally extending flanges 44, 46 which are positioned in the refractory interstices of the forehearth 12 forming an opening 34 with the refractories 36, 38.

Vertical side walls 48,50 and vertical end walls 52,54 extend downwardly from the horizontal flange, terminating at their lower ends in a bottom wall or tip area 56.

Extending downwardly from the tip area 56 are a plurality of fiber-forming tips 58 having optional openings or channels 60 (FIG. 3) therethrough for finely fibrillating the heat softenable material. to form filament 18.

The bushing 10 is heated by electrical current applied to the bushing wall through conventional terminals 62 (FIG. 4) located at each end thereof.

When a bushing is used for a period of time, its bottom wall or tip area 56, particularly its central portion, tends to stretch or sag.

This is true even if the bushing is made of the highest temperature resistant alloys such as platinum or radium.

Although other alloys exist that can withstand high temperatures for extended periods of time, these alloys are unsuitable for use in bushing 10.

These alloys do not have the properties necessary to make bushings, have undesirable electrical properties, and are too expensive.

With a given alloy, the life of the bushing is limited to the bottom wall 56.
is affected by the size of the material, its thickness and the temperature of use.

The greater the number of chips 58 in making a relatively thin filament 18, the thicker the area of the bottom wall 56 (and the shorter its lifetime).

Although the bottom wall 56 can be made relatively thicker to increase life, elongate, and reduce deflection, increasing the thickness of the bottom wall affects the pattern of current passing from one side of the terminal 62 to the other. This can have a detrimental effect on the temperature pattern of the bushing.

Increasing the bottom wall thickness also adversely affects the fiber forming operation due to changes in the physical dimensions of the channel 60, and also significantly increases the cost of the bushing due to the increased amount of alloy used.

The operating temperature has a great effect on the lifespan of the bushing; the higher the temperature, the shorter its lifespan.

In order to produce fibers suitable for making textile products, for example, bushings used at temperatures of about 1204 degrees Celsius (below about 2200 degrees Celsius) have a lifespan of about 9 degrees, after which they tend to sag. It cannot withstand use.

Identical bushings used for special purposes, especially in the manufacture of fibers that can withstand high temperatures, e.g. causes excessive deflection.

According to the invention, the bushing tip area or bottom wall 56
The bushings are preferably internally supported at spaced locations to significantly reduce deflection of the bushing and extend its life.

The bushing supports the bushing in such a way that it does not interfere with the heat pattern of the bushing or interfere with the fiber forming operation.

Accordingly, a plurality of elongated, high temperature resistant metal members, preferably hollow and tube-shaped, are provided on the vertical walls 48-54 as shown.
, specifically extending between side walls 48 and 50.

A connecting means extends between the elongated metal member 64 and the bottom wall 56, and the connecting means includes a gusset or plate fixed to the bottom surface of the metal member 64 and the top surface of the bottom wall 56. 6
He has a 6th shape.

The plate 66 is continuously or intermittently fixed to the tube 64 by welding, as shown at 68.

Preferably, the plate 66 is welded to the bottom wall 56 at short intervals, as shown at 70.

Tube 64 may have a tube diameter of approximately 9/32 inch and a wall thickness of approximately 0.030 inch, while plate 66 may have a diameter of approximately 9/32 inch (0.71 cM) and a wall thickness of approximately 0.030 inch (0.076 Cr/L), while plate 66 may have a diameter of approximately 9/32 inch (0.71 cM) and a wall thickness of approximately 0.030 inch (0.076 Cr/L), while plate 66 may have a tube diameter of approximately 9/32 inch (0.71 cM) and a wall thickness of approximately 0.030 inch (0.076 Cr/L).
approximately 1/2 inch) or more and approximately 0.05
It is approximately 1 cIrL (approximately 0.020 inch) thick and extends substantially between vertical walls 48 and 50.

As shown in FIG. 3, each tube or elongated metal member 64 is open at both walls 48 and 50 and defines a passageway 72 for receiving an elongated refractory member or rod 74 of ceramic material, such as alumina. is forming.

Rod 74 is approximately 0.559CwL (approximately 7/32 inch)
It may be approximately 0.635C1rL (approximately 1/4 inch) or more longer in diameter than tube 64.

The length of the rod is determined by the refractory body 36 into which the rod 74 can be cast.
, 38 and supporting them.
The distance between 8 and 50 is more than that.

Therefore, the castable refractory can be poured while holding the rod in place.

It is preferable that the diameter of the passage 72 is larger than the diameter of the rod 74 (and the upper surface of the rod 74 comes into contact with the upper inner surface of the passage 72, so that the rod is larger than the diameter of the rod 74).
2, it provides sufficient support for the tube and substantially prevents the tendency of tube 64 to sag.

The hollow tube 64 serves as a support for the plate 66 and thus also as a transverse support for the bottom wall 56, significantly reducing the deflection of the bushing and increasing its dimensional stability.

As shown in FIG. 4, a plurality of transverse plates 66 are provided on the bottom wall 56, and the plates 66 are generally spaced approximately 2 inches apart along the length of the bushing. There is.

The spacing of the supports will, of course, depend on a number of factors including the length and width of the bushing, the temperature used, the physical properties of the bottom wall 56, and the like.

Since the present invention is constructed as described above, the bottom wall has a large number of small-diameter orifices and is subjected to a large load, and there is a risk that the bottom wall may deflect or creep due to the high temperature of the heat-softening material. In some bushings, the bottom wall support means also have the effect of preventing sagging or creep of the bushing.

That is, according to the inventor's experiments, the bushing 10 having 4,000 or more fiber-forming chips 58 was previously thought to be almost unusable;
Bushings 10 having fiber-formed tips 58 can be used by including the bottom wall support device of the present invention.

Moreover, the bushing 10 having 2000 fiber-formed chips 58 and equipped with the bottom wall support device of the present invention has a lifespan of 25 to 50% compared to a bushing without the bottom wall support device.
It is estimated that this will continue.

The embodiment described above is merely an example of the present invention, and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that various changes may be made thereto, and therefore the present invention is within the scope of the technical idea described in the specification. Of course, this also applies to other modifications.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway, partially sectional schematic front view of the entire apparatus for forming glass or other heat-softening materials into thin continuous filaments. FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view taken along line 3-3 in FIG. 2. FIG. 4 is a schematic side view of the bushing shown in FIGS. 1-3. 10... Bushing, 48, 50...
Vertical side wall, 52.54... Vertical end wall, 56...
...Bottom wall (chip area), 64...Pipe, 66
...Plate body, 72...Passway, 74...
···rod.

Claims (1)

Claims: 1 having vertical end walls 52, 54, vertical side walls 48, 50, and an elongated bottom wall 56 extending between the vertical walls 48, 50, 52, 54, the bottom wall 56 has a plurality of fiber forming tips 58 for spinning molten mineral material to form fibers, oriented across bottom wall 56 in bushing 10 containing the molten mineral material for spinning fibers. and a bottom wall support having a plurality of rods 74 attached to the vertical side walls 48° 50 so as to be spaced apart from each other in the longitudinal direction of the bottom wall 56, and the same number of connecting plates 66 as the rods 74. A bushing having a device, wherein the connecting plate 66 has a hollow member 64 at its upper end into which the rod 74 is inserted, and its lower end is fixed to the bottom wall 56.