Johns Manville

Terry Joe Hanna

Russell Donovan Arterburn

Thomas Kent Thompson

Walter Alexander Johnson

James Melvin Higginbotham

Alessandro Giorgio Borsa

Michael David Folk

ChangQing Shen

Russell D Arterbum

Methods for substantially improving the stability of a melting furnace system including bushings and cooling apparatus for converting molten mineral material to continuous fibers is disclosed. Apparatus and methods for maintaining the molten material throughput and the electrical power load on fiberizing bushings substantially constant are disclosed. The orifice plate, with or without tips or nozzles, is subjected to a more rapid rate of heat removal after the bushing breaks out than it did while the bushing was in a desired fiberizing mode. Apparatus for blowing cooling air upward onto the orifice plate during the time the bushing is breaking out and/or hanging to provide additional cooling is disclosed along with optional additional or alternative apparatus to use for optional additional or alternative cooling is also disclosed.

Systems for fiberizing molten glass

Fiberizing bushing assemblies, usually of rectangular shape, for fiberizing molten inorganic material like glass require cooling members located in the proximity of the orifices or tips forming the fibers. Cooling tubes carrying a cooling fluid like water are used by some fiber manufacturers and the cooling tubes have always been oriented with the length dimension of the bushing. It has now been discovered that orienting the cooling tubes to be substantially parallel to the width dimension, though more costly to fabricate because of the greater number required per bushing assembly, significantly reduce fiber break out rate and significantly increase productivity because they are easier to keep properly adjusted and result in a more uniform temperature of the fiberizing tips.

Apparatus and method for cooling molten glass and fibers

This invention involves apparatus and methods for making fibers by passing a molten material like glass, polymer, etc. through orifices or tips in a fiberizing bushing and then cooling the molten material coming from the tips and newly formed fibers using cooling tubes. The cooling tubes are made from precious metals and various alloys comprising precious metals, nickel and one or more of titanium, chromium, molybdenum, etc. The one or more fins attached to the top surface of a hollow tube to make the cooling tubes contain spaced apart gaps, notches and/or slots extending from the top edge of the fin to prevent warping of the fins and to make the cooling tube more bendable, adjustable during the operation of making fibers from molten material.

Cooling apparatus for fiberizing bushings and method

Fiberizing bushings for fiberizing molten materials including molten glass are heated by applying a voltage drop across the bushings wherein molten material flows through an array of hollow tips attached to, or integral with, a tip plate having orifices therein that generally align with channels through the hollow tips to form fibers. The uniformity of the diameter of the fibers produced is much improved by using tips of different lengths and/or tips having channels of differing ID's to compensate for unequal electrical heating and/or cooling effects of drawn-in ambient air that cools the tips on the extreme outer periphery and/or cooling or heating effects of external supports or cooling members running through the array of tips that cools or heats adjacent tips more than the interior tips.

Fiberizing bushing with different size tips

An apparatus for adjusting the cooling members located beneath fiberizing bushings is disclosed having the capability of moving each cooling member, or one portion of each cooling member, in a generally vertical direction, and/or in a lateral and/or tilting direction. Also disclosed is a process of using the apparatus to make fibers from molten material including molten glass.

Adjustable positioning apparatus for cooling members

Cooling apparatus for fiberizing bushings

Method of fiberizing molten glass

A fiberizing apparatus for converting molten material into continuous fibers has an internal support structure to minimize high temperature creep and sagging of a tip plate, the reinforcing structure forming at least about 16 internal cells and the hole pattern in a bushing screen is engineered such that the hole area in each screen area above each of the at least 16 cells controls the amount of molten material flowing into each cell to produce a substantially improved tip plate temperature profile and fiberizing efficiency.

Fiberizing apparatus

Electrical resistant bushings and methods for making fibers such as glass fibers by passing molten glass through these bushings to form fibers wherein the bushings have novel ears for attaching to electrical terminal clamps bringing electrical current to the bushing are disclosed. The novel ears have at least one generally V shaped notch at or near the unattached end of the ear to produce an improved temperature profile on the tip plate of the bushing. One preferred bushing of the invention has ears having 5 generally V shaped notches therein.

Fiberizing bushings and methods of using

A fiberizing apparatus for converting molten material into continuous fibers having an improved internal support structure to minimize high temperature creep and sagging of the tip plate or orifice plate is disclosed. The preferred internal support structure is welded to the sidewalls and the top surface of the tip plate and is comprised of a plurality of internal intersecting supports that form a diamond shaped structure. A method of fiberizing a molten material using the fiberizing apparatus is also disclosed.

Growing community of inventors

Millersport, OH, United States of America

Terry Joe Hanna