Classifications

• • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
  • C03—GLASS; MINERAL OR SLAG WOOL
  • C03B—MANUFACTURE, SHAPING, OR SUPPLEMENTARY PROCESSES
  • C03B37/00—Manufacture or treatment of flakes, fibres, or filaments from softened glass, minerals, or slags
  • C03B37/08—Bushings, e.g. construction, bushing reinforcement means; Spinnerettes; Nozzles; Nozzle plates
  • C03B37/083—Nozzles; Bushing nozzle plates

Definitions

• the invention relates to apparatus for, and methods of, forming fibers from heat softened mineral material, such as glass. More specifically, this invention relates to bushing or faedar apparatus comprising a porous base plate, such as a plate of a sintered, foamed or fusion bonded material, and elongated rod members projecting from the base plate. Also, this invention relates to methods of forming fibers comprising flowing material through a porous base plate to flood the exterior undersurface thereof and supplying streams of material for attenuation into fibers by flowing the flooded material over elongated rod members projecting downwardly from the base plate.
• molten glass is typically passed through orificed tips in a bushing or stream feeder to create individual cones of glass for the attenuation of fibers therefrom.
• the bushing and fiber forming environment are carefully controlled to avoid flooding of the molten glass material along the undersurface of the bushing. If such flooding occurs, the fiber forming operation is disrupted, and thus, production is stopped.
• the present invention comprises a bushing for the production of mineral fibers such as glass.
• the bushing comprises upwardly extending sidewalls and a bottom wall extending between the sidewalls.
• the bottom wall comprises a base plate, the base plate being of a porous material, such as a sintered, foamed or fusion bonded material, forming a rigid porous structure adapted for flow of molten mineral material therethrough to form a layer of molten mineral material on the undersurface of the base plate.
• the bottom wall further comprises elongated members projecting downwardly from the exterior undersurface of the base plate. The elongated members are adapted for the flow thereon of the molten mineral material from the exterior undersurface and for the attenuation of mineral fibers therefrom.
• the present invention further comprises an apparatus for forming mineral fibers
• a stream feeder for flowing streams of molten mineral material, means attenuating fibers from the streams of molten mineral material, and means for directing gas upwardly into contact with the streams of molten mineral material at a velocity and in an amount effective to convey away from the streams sufficient heat to render the material of the streams atten uab l e into fibers
• the improvement comprising a stream feeder bottom wall assembly which comprises a porous base plate adapted for flow of molten mineral material therethrough to form a layer of molten mineral material on the exterior undersurface thereof and elongated members projecting from the exterior undersurface.
• the elongated members are adapted for flow thereon of the molten mineral material of the layer for attenuation into mineral fibers.
• the present invention comprises methods of forming mineral fibers.
• a method comprises flowing molten mineral material through a porous bushing bottom wall to flood the exterior undersurface of the bottom wall with the material, flowing streams of the material from the flooded undersurface onto rod members projecting downwardly from the bottom wall, and attenuating fibers from the streams of molten mineral material from the rod members.
• the method can further comprise the step of directing gas into the streams of material at a velocity and in an amount effective to convey from the streams sufficient heat to render the material of the streams attenuable to fibers.
• An object of the invention is an improved apparatus and methods for the production of mineral fibers, such as glass fibers.
• Another object of the invention is to provide an improved bushing for use in the manufacture of mineral fibers, such as glass fibers.
• FIG. 1 is a semi-schematic elevational view of a fiber forming apparatus in accordance with the invention.
• FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the bushing of FIG. 1.
• FIG. 3 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the bushing bottom wall area of FIG. 2.
• FIG. 1 illustrates a fiber forming operation.
• Mineral material such as glass
• the bushing assembl ⁇ comprises upwardly extending sidewalls 12 and bottom wall assembly 14 which will be described in more detail later.
• Fibers 16 are attenuated from molten glass material passing through the bushing assembly.
• the fibers are coated by size applicator 22 ana gathered into strand 18 by gathering shoe 19.
• the strand is then collected by winder assembly 24.
• the strand is reciprocated by traverse 28 for collection into package 30 on winder collet 26.
• blower means 20 To control the glass fiber forming environment, blower means 20 is provided. This blower means directs gas, such as air, upwardly into contact with the molten material passing through the bushing, at a velocity and in an amount effective to convey away from the streams of glass sufficient heat to render the material attenuable into fibers.
• gas such as air
• the bushing or stream feeder has a bottom wall assembly comprising a porous base plate and elongated rods or members proj ect i ng from the exterior surface of the base plate.
• the porous plate is adapted for flow of molten mineral material therethrough to form a layer of molten mineral material on the exterior undersurface thereof, and the elongated members are adapted for flow thereon of the molten mineral material of the layer for attenuation into mineral fibers from the end regions thereof.
• the density and uniformity of the porous plate are closely controlled so that the desired rate of flow of molten material occurs therethrough during operation.
• Such a porous plate can be constructed of a sintered powdered metal , such as platinum-rhodium.
• the sintered metallic powder forms a rigid porous structure adapted for flow of such material.
• the plate can also be constructed of an open cell, foamed material, such as a platinum alloy material, or a fusion bonded material, such as a bonded platinum alloy wire cloth structure.
• Elongated rods or members are attached to the base plate.
• holes c a n be drilled through the porous plate and elongated rods or members inserted therein so that they project downwardly from the exterior undersurface thereof.
• the members can be welded, for example, by laser techniques to the base plate for attachment thereto.
• the pore openings of the porous material be relatively small.
• the transverse cross section of the elongated members at the exterior undersurface can be greater than the size of the pore openings at the exterior undersurface.
• an internal support system for the bushing bottom wall can be desirable to provide an internal support system for the bushing bottom wall.
• an egg crate structure, gusset assembly system or other conventional support system can be welded or otherwise secured inside the bushing assembly to restrict sagging of the bottom wall during operation.
• FIGS. 2 and 3 show the bushing assembly in more detail.
• the bottom wall assembly 14 is connected to tne upwardly extending sidewalls 12. This can be done by diffusion bonding, welding or other conventional attaching techniques.
• the bottom wall assembly comprises a porous base plate 17 and elongated members or projections 15.
• the sidewalls, base plate and rod members can all be made of a platinum-rhodium alloy or other materials which perform in the high temperature fiber forming environment.
• the base plate thickness and porosity are d etermi n ed by t he st rength and r i g i d i ty needed by t h e bottom wall to be structurally sound during operation as well as by the quantity of glass desired to flow through the bushing.
• the flow porosity is shown to be generally uniform along the exterior undersurface of the base plate. It is within the scape of the invention, however, that s ome areas o f t he base pl ate c an b e more po ro us t ha n others , thus allowing greater flow through some areas than through others for a particular flow pattern through the base plate.
• a uniform flow of glass flooding over the bottom surface of the bushing (forming a generally uniform layer) is, however, preferred.
• the porous openings are designed for substantially the same flow rate of material therethrough as will be attenuated away into fibers during operation.
• elongated rod members or projections 15 extend from the exterior undersurface of the base plate.
• the rod members can extend from the plate in any suitable manner.
• the members can extend through the base plate or be atttached to its lower surface.
• the molten mineral material flooding the exterior undersurface of the base plate flows onto the rod members from which it is attenuated into fibers.
• the rod members have a relatively short length projecting below the bottom wall such as, for example, in the range of from about 40 mils to about 150 mils and that the rod members be relatively small in diameter such as, for example, in the range of from about 20 mils to about 40 mils.
• each rod member has a circular cross-sectional shape and the end region of each ro ⁇ member terminates beneath the bottom wall with a conical shape.
• the rod members can have other cross-sectional shapes, such as, for example, square or oval. Also, the rod members can terminate with a flat surface or a rounded surface rather than a sharp point.
• the rod members are shown to be of a solid, uniform construction but it is within the scope of the invention that they be hollow or of a composite construction.
• such a bushing construction can provide a means for producing a large number of filaments from a small bushing bottom wall area.
• Rod members can be placed in a highly dense fashion along the exterior undersurface of the base plate.
• the rod members per square inch of bottom wall density (and consequently, resulting fibers per square inch density) can be in the range of from about 50 to about 200.
• molten glass material flows through the porous base plate 17 from above to flood the exterior undersurface of the wall member, and thus, form a generally uniform layer of glass 11 theron.
• Streams of molten material are supplied from the flooded area by flowing the material over elongated members 15 projecting downwardly from the bottom wall. Fibers 15 are attenuated from the streams of molten mineral material flowing over the rod members. As shown, an individual fiber is attenuated from each rod member.
• the present invention would be useful in the mineral fiber forming art and, in particular, in the glass fiber forming art.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
• Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• General Life Sciences & Earth Sciences (AREA)
• Geochemistry & Mineralogy (AREA)
• Manufacturing & Machinery (AREA)
• Materials Engineering (AREA)
• Organic Chemistry (AREA)
• Manufacture, Treatment Of Glass Fibers (AREA)
• Inorganic Fibers (AREA)
• Spinning Methods And Devices For Manufacturing Artificial Fibers (AREA)
• Glass Compositions (AREA)

Priority Applications (2)

Applications Claiming Priority (2)

Publications (1)

Family

ID=22679618

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (8)

Citations (6)

• 1980
  • 1980-09-08 US US06/185,106 patent/US4303429A/en not_active Expired - Lifetime
• 1981
  • 1981-04-27 AU AU72216/81A patent/AU7221681A/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1981-04-27 GB GB8211414A patent/GB2096986B/en not_active Expired
  • 1981-04-27 JP JP56501896A patent/JPS57501324A/ja active Pending
  • 1981-04-27 WO PCT/US1981/000564 patent/WO1982000818A1/en not_active Ceased
  • 1981-04-27 DE DE813152301A patent/DE3152301A1/de active Pending
  • 1981-06-19 FR FR8112147A patent/FR2489809A1/fr active Granted
  • 1981-08-28 CA CA000384769A patent/CA1159259A/en not_active Expired

Patent Citations (6)

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