US1416595A

US1416595A - bailey

Info

Publication number: US1416595A
Authority: US
Publication date: 1922-05-16
Anticipated expiration: 1939-05-16

Description

' J. BAILEY.

ROTATING LEER AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME: APPLICATION r1150 MAR. 17, 1919.

Patented my 16,1922.

2 SHEETSSHEET l. I

J. BAILEY.

ROTATING LEER AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 11, 1919.

1,416,595. Patented May16,1922.

ZSHEETS-SHEET 2.

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UNITED STATES Parent OFFIQE,

JAMES BAILEY, or coamno, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 comqme GLASS wonxs, or comuno, new YORK, a oonronsrron or NEW YORK.

ROTATING LEER AND METHOD OF OPERATING THE SAME.

Application filed March r7, 1919.

To aZZ whom it may concern Be it known that 1, JA? as BAILEY, a citi- Zen of the United States of America, and a resident of Corning, in the county of Steuben and State of New York, have invented certain new and. useful improve ments in Rotating Leers and vhilethod of Uperating the Same, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has for its purpose to provide a novel method of feeding articles during the heat treatment thereof and a novel apparatus whereby such a 'method may be carried on;, to the end that all parts of the surface of such article shall be uniformly exposed to identical heat conditions during the period in question.

This invention in so far as it relates to the apparatus employed comprises a rotary chamber. preferabl circular in cross-section (although this shape may be de arted from. to some extent), and means 'for heating the interior thereof, preferably, but not nece sarily. by conduction through the walls of the chamber. If articles which are circular or substantially circular in cross-section, are fed into one end of such a chamber, gravity will tend in the rotation thereof to cause them to rest on and remain in the bottom thereof, and in this tendency will cause a rotary motion to be imparted thereto, whereby they will roll on the inner wall of such chamber, the articles tending to assume a position at an angle to the plane in which the articles are rotated by the chamber. According to this invention the shape of the chamber and of the articles should be such that in the rotation of the articles around. their longitudinal axes they will be given a progressive motion through the chamber. This will be accomplished by a cylindrical. chamber, if the articles be substantially conoidal, while, if the chamber be conoidal, cylindrical articles will be given a progressive motion. ln the first case the direction of motion in towards the apex of the conoid, and in the second towards the base. Thus this invention is causing a feeding motion due to the rotation. of the articles under the influence of gravity and of the rotation of the chamber, dispenses With the use of? articulated carrying or driving elements within the heated chamber, the driving element in this invention taking thel'orm of the rotating chamber, the bearing for which may be Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 16, 1922.

Serial No. 283,062.

located outside of the heated Zone. It has been also found that, if the bottom of the chamber be inclined to the horizontal, While the driving effect of the rotation of the chamher on articles capable of being set in rotation therein will be suilicient to cause such articles fed to the lower end thereof to move upwardly through the chamber, broken particles and fragments, not of proper crosssection to be set in rotation, will slide down to the bottom of the chamber and fall from the charging end, thus causing the device to act as a separator.

With a chamber such described is associated proper feeding and removing devices.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, which represent an apparatus capable of being used in carrying out the present process and embodying the present invention,

Figure l is a side elevation partly in sectionof such apparatus. a

Figure 2 is a horizontal section through the heated chamber showing the feed and renmving devices in plan.

Figure 3 is an end view partly in through the heated chamber.

Figure elis a vertical transverse on the line l-e of Figure 2, and

- l i -ure 5 is a vertical longitudinal section of modified form of apparatus falling within the broad invention here claimed.

In Figures l. to 1, this invention is shown in a form which has been found well adapted to the heat treatment (annealing) of bulbs intended for fabrication into electric lamps, and .isembodied in a leer. with proper de vices for feeding the bulbs thereto, and the tlollowing description of construction and operation is directed to such embodiment,

section section the same forms an example of that species of the invention which contemplates the feeding of a cone-shaped article through a rotating heating cylil'lder, although it will be understood that by the specific illustration and description here to be made it is not intended to restrict the invention toannealing of bulbs or to the details of the apparatus described as suitable therefor, such particular description being made for the purposes of illustration, and not as a limitation of the invention.

As preliminary to the description of the construction shown it is noted, that the bulbs, which the specific embodiment here taken for purposes of illustration is adapted to anneal, are the form in which they are fabricated by the blower or blowing machine (the moil or neclrring having been by preference removed). Such abulb commonly consists of a conoidal' body portion, from the smaller end of which projects 'a more or less cylindrical neck. All portions of such a bulb are within a frustum of a cone, the generating line of which touches the surface of the rear and front end of the conoidal body, or the rear end of the conoidal body and the front end of the neck, dependent upon the length of the neck and the diameter ofthe forward end thereof, By preference the axis of the cone should be longer than its greatest diameter. In the particular bulb here chosen for illustration the length of the neck is such that the enclosing cone touches the forward end of the neck and the conoidal body portion near the rear thereof. Such a bulb will. have two circles of contact with a plane surface on which. it may be rolled, the larger circle be ing formed by the rear of its conoidal body, and the smaller circle formed by the end of the neck.

The structure shown in Figures 1, 2 and 3, embodies a metallic cylindrical pipe 10, which forms the heating chamber, and is mounted in suitable end bearings 11, formed of lower members 12, supporting the pipe by means of rollers 13, and of hold down collars 14, the pipe having flanges 15 thereon to prevent endwise motion. Throughout a greater portion of its length the pipe is within a chamber 16, pr ferably lined with heat-insulation 17, and provided with the burners 18 by which it may be heated, and by which its temperature at various points throughout its length may be regulated. The pipe carries on one end a sprocket wheel 20 driven by a chain. 21 from a motor 22 through a reduction gearing 23, the motor being mounted in the base of the frame. An inclined trough 30 is adapted to feed the articles to the entrance end of the chamber 10, and a second trough 31 is provided into which the articles may drop from the delivery end of the chamber, and be carried to any desired point. 7

The feeding trough has a central channel 82 in its bottom, as isv shown in Figure 4, by which channel the bulbs 34 when placed on the trough with their necks down are guided and prevented from turning end for end, and are thus fed to the leer small end first. By preference, a slot 33 is formed in the bottom of the trough through which pieces of bulbs broken while in the trough may fall, and thus be separatedfrom the perfect articles.

In the operation of the device described, inannealing bulbs, the rotary chamber 10 having been put in rotation, and the flames of the burners 18 having been properly adjusted to give the desired temperatures throughout the different zones of the leer, the bulbs are deposited, neck down, on the chute 30 down which they slide by gravity into and on the bottom of one (in the type shown, the lower) end of the chamber 10, substantially lengthwise thereof, with their necks to the front. If the chamber was not in rotation, each bulb would assume a position with its axis in the same vertical plane as the axis of rotation of the chamber, which may be called the vertical fore and aft plane. Gravity tends to maintain the bulb in this position, while the rotation of the chamber tends to move the bulb side-ways and upwards. These two forces, acting in opposition to each other, put the bulbs into continual intermittent rotation around, or substantially around, the longitudinal axes thereof, and cause a slight shifting of the axis of each of the bulbs from time to time to a position slightly inclined to the fore and aft plane, with the result that in practice some of the force causing rotation of the chamber will be so exerted on the bulb as to cause rotation thereof substantially on its longitudinal axis and thus a motion of the latter along the chamber. Upon reaching the exit end of the chamber the bulb will fall upon the removing trough 31. It may be that with certain articles it will be desirable to feed from the upper end. This, for instance, will be the case with certain types of bulbs which tend to break into pieces of such shape and size that they will not feed upwardly and cannot slide downwardly past the upwardly moving perfect articles.

As the feed of the bulb through the chamber is dependent on the rotation of the bulb,

it will be seen that broken bulbs which can f notbe set in rotation will not feed through the leer, but will, if fed to the lower end thereof,.slide down out of the charging end thereof, being thus separated from the complete ones.

It will be further seen, as the motion of the bulbs is dependent on their rotation, that no part on any bulb can remain in prolonged contact with the wall of the chamber, and that the points of contact are constantly, shifting. From this result that every part of each bulb willbe subjected to the air temperature within the chamber and thus uniform annealing is assured. V By preference, for. assembly in the shop the delivery trough is, as shown, placed at an angle to the fore and aft plane of the chamber, but obviously this is not essential.

In Figure 5 isillustrateda species falling within-the broad scope of the invention above described, and which is adapted to feed. a cylindrical article 35 and in which the rotating chamber 36 is inthe form of a frustum of a cone. With such a structurethe resulting rotation of the article will cause, for

reasons before stated, a feeding motion of the article from the small to the large end of the trustum.

Having thus described the invention, What claimed is, i. 'he herein described method of feeding an article through a heat treating zone, which consists in rotating the article about an axis inclined at an oblique angle to the direction of feed.

:2. The herein described method of feed ing an article through a heat treating zone, ".vhich consists in alternately raising the article and permitting it to roll down a sup porting surface under the influence of gravity by rotating about an axis oblique to the direction of feed.

3. The herein described method of feed in an article through a heat treating zone, which consists in alternately raising the article and permitting it to roll down a supporting surface under the influence of gravity by rotating about an axis oblique to the direction at "feed, while constraining the an ticle against motion tending to change the direction of such axis.

i. The herein described method of feeding articles through a heat treating zone which consists in rotating the article around its longitudinal axis by a force supplied to periphery at an angle to the direction of .d, while constraining the article against motion tending to change the direction of such axis.

The herein described method of feed ing an article through a rotating chamber, which consists in alternately lifting the article by the power applied. to rotate the chamber and permitting the article to roll down the walls of the chamber by rotating about an axis oblique to the direction of feed through the chamber.

6. The herein described method of feeding an article through a rotating chamber, which consists in alternately lifting the artiele by the power applied to rotate the chamher and permitting the article to roll down the Walls of the chamber by rotating about an axis oblique to the direction of feed through the chamber, while constraining the article against motion tending to change the direction of such axis.

7. In a device for the heat treatment of articles, the combination of a rotating tubuiar chamber whose interior circular Wall is substantially smooth from end to end, and substantially concentric with its axis of rotation, the lower Wall of the chamber being slightly inclined, and means for controlling the temperature Within the chamber.

A leer consisting of a heated rotating chamber Whose axis is at an angle to the hori zontal.

9. A. device for the heat treatment of articles Which in crosssection are approximately circular, the diameter of a cross-seetion taken at on point along the longitudinal axis of the article being different from the diameter of a cross-section taken at any other point along said axis, consisting of a rotating chamber, the diameter of the chamber being such in relation to the corn figuration of the article to be treated that gravity tends to cause the article to assume a position with its longitudinal axis in the same vertical plane as the axis of the rotation of the chamber.

10. A leer tor the heat treatment of an article which in cross section is approximately circular and Whose diameter taken at one point along its longitudinal axis is dif- 'lerent from its diameter taken at another point along such axis, consisting oi a heated rotating chamber and means for feeding the article to one end of the chamber, the diameter oi": the chamber being such in relation to the configuration of the article that gravity tends to cause the article to assume aposition with its longitudinal axis in the same vertical. plane as the axis of rotation of the chamber.

In testimony "whereof I sign my name this 10th day of March 1919.

JAMES BAILEY.