Melters for glass forming apparatuses

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11492281-B2
Application number	US-201816623621-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 27, 2018
Priority date	Jun 28, 2017
Publication date	Nov 8, 2022
Grant date	Nov 8, 2022

Abstract

In embodiments, a melter for melting glass may include an inlet wall, an outlet wall opposite the inlet wall, and sidewalls extending from the inlet wall to the outlet wall. The inlet wall, outlet wall, and sidewalls define a glass melting space enclosed by a floor and a top. In embodiments, the inlet wall may comprise a glass contact wall comprising a glass contact surface facing the glass melting space. A superstructure of the inlet wall comprises a jack arch positioned over the glass contact wall and at least a portion of the glass melting space. A plane of an interior face of the jack arch and a plane of the glass contact surface are off-set in a horizontal direction. A vertical distance from the floor to an underside of the jack arch is less than a vertical distance from the floor to an underside of the top.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A melter for melting glass batch materials, the melter comprising:
an inlet wall, an outlet wall positioned opposite the inlet wall, and a pair of sidewalls extending from the inlet wall to the outlet wall, wherein the inlet wall, the outlet wall, and the pair of sidewalls define a glass melting space of the melter enclosed by a floor portion and a top, the inlet wall comprising:
a glass contact wall supported on the floor portion, the glass contact wall comprising a glass contact surface facing the glass melting space and extending vertically away from the floor portion;
a jack arch positioned over at least a portion of the glass contact wall and at least a portion of the glass melting space, the jack arch comprising a front face facing the glass melting space and extending vertically away from the top towards the floor portion, a back face positioned opposite the front face, and an underside extending horizontally from the front face to the back face, wherein:
a plane of the front face of the jack arch and a plane of the glass contact surface are off-set from one another in a horizontal direction; and
a vertical distance from the floor portion to the underside of the jack arch is less than a vertical distance from the floor portion to an underside of the top.

2. The melter of claim 1 , wherein a space between the plane of the front face of the jack arch and the plane of the glass contact surface includes a batch receiving volume bounded by at least the floor portion of the melter, the underside of the jack arch, the plane of the front face of the jack arch, and the plane of the glass contact surface.

3. The melter of claim 1 , further comprising a plurality of burners, wherein the burners adjacent to the front face of the jack arch are at a level above the underside of the jack arch.

4. The melter of claim 1 , wherein at least a portion of the glass contact surface is inclined away from the glass melting space of the melter with respect to a normal to the floor portion.

5. The melter of claim 4 , wherein the glass contact wall comprises a base portion and an upper portion and the upper portion tapers from the base portion to a top of the glass contact wall.

6. The melter of claim 4 , wherein the portion of the glass contact surface is inclined at an inclination angle from about 5 degrees to about 25 degrees with respect to the normal to the floor portion.

7. The melter of claim 1 , wherein the glass contact wall is formed from zirconia refractory material.

8. The melter of claim 1 , wherein the inlet wall comprises at least three batch inlet ports extending through the inlet wall.

9. The melter of claim 8 , wherein the at least three batch inlet ports are equidistantly spaced from each other in a width direction of the inlet wall.

10. The melter of claim 1 , wherein the jack arch is supported by brackets affixed to an exoskeleton of the melter and the brackets are displaceable and recoverable in a width direction of the inlet wall to accommodate expansion and contraction of the jack arch.

11. A melter for melting glass batch materials, the melter comprising:
an inlet wall, an outlet wall positioned opposite the inlet wall, and a pair of sidewalls extending from the inlet wall to the outlet wall, the inlet wall, the outlet wall, and the pair of sidewalls defining a glass melting space of the melter enclosed by a floor portion and a top, the inlet wall comprising:
a glass contact wall supported on the floor portion, the glass contact wall comprising a glass contact surface facing the glass melting space and extending vertically away from the floor portion;
a jack arch positioned over at least a portion of the glass contact wall and at least a portion of the glass melting space, the jack arch comprising a front face facing the glass melting space and extending vertically away from the top towards the floor portion, a back face positioned opposite the front face, and an underside extending horizontally from the front face to the back face, wherein:
a plane of the front face of the jack arch and a plane of the glass contact surface are off-set from one another in a horizontal direction;
a vertical distance from the floor portion to the underside of the jack arch is less than a vertical distance from the floor portion to an underside of the top;
at least three batch inlet ports extend through the inlet wall; and

a plurality of burners, wherein the burners adjacent to the front face of the jack arch are above the underside of the jack arch.

12. The melter of claim 11 , wherein a space between the plane of the front face of the jack arch and the plane of the glass contact surface includes a batch receiving volume bounded by at least the floor portion of the melter, the underside of the jack arch, the plane of the front face of the jack arch, and the plane of the glass contact surface.

13. The melter of claim 11 , wherein at least a portion of the glass contact surface is inclined away from the glass melting space of the melter with respect to a normal to the floor portion.

14. The melter of claim 13 , wherein the glass contact wall comprises a base portion and an upper portion and the upper portion tapers from the base portion to a top of the glass contact wall.

15. The melter of claim 13 , wherein the at least a portion of the glass contact surface is inclined at an inclination angle from about 5 degrees to about 25 degrees with respect to the normal to the floor portion.

16. The melter of claim 11 , wherein the glass contact wall is formed from zirconia refractory material.

17. The melter of claim 11 , wherein the at least three batch inlet ports are equidistantly spaced from each other in a width direction of the inlet wall.

18. The melter of claim 11 , wherein the jack arch is supported by brackets affixed to an exoskeleton of the melter and the brackets are displaceable and recoverable in a width direction of the inlet wall to accommodate expansion and contraction of the jack arch.

Assignees

• Corning Inc

Inventors

• De Angelis Gilbert
• Delamielleure Megan Aurora
• Riegel Kevin Scott

Classifications

• C03B3/00

  Charging the melting furnaces · CPC title

• Y02P40/57

  Improving the yield, e-g- reduction of reject rates · CPC title

• C03B5/04

  in tank furnaces {(C03B5/02 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• F27D99/0033

  using burners · CPC title

• C03B5/43

  Use of materials for furnace walls, e.g. fire-bricks · CPC title