Holding member, glass manufacturing apparatus using same, and glass manufacturing method

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023286848-A1
Application number	US-202318200681-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 23, 2023
Priority date	Dec 4, 2020
Publication date	Sep 14, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

A holding member is used in a glass manufacturing apparatus that cools down a glass raw material that has been levitated by gas and has been heated and melted, and manufactures glass. The holding member includes a gas injection surface that includes a plurality of injection ports from which the gas is injected. The gas injection surface includes a first region and a second region, the first region including first injection ports that are some injection ports of the plurality of injection ports, the second region including second injection ports that are different from the first injection ports from among the plurality of injection ports. The first region is located inside the second region, when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top. An area of the injection ports per unit area of the first region is smaller than the area of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region. The area of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region is a ratio of the total of cross-sectional areas of the first injection ports to the area of the first region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top. The area of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is the ratio of the total of cross-sectional areas of the second injection ports to the area of the second region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

First claim

1 . A holding member that is used in a glass manufacturing apparatus that cools down a glass raw material that has been levitated by gas and has been heated and melted, and manufactures glass, wherein
the holding member includes a gas injection surface that includes a plurality of injection ports from which the gas is injected, the gas injection surface includes a first region and a second region, the first region including first injection ports that are some injection ports of the plurality of injection ports, the second region including second injection ports that are different from the first injection ports from among the plurality of injection ports, the first region is located inside the second region, when the gas injection surface is viewed from a top, an area of the injection ports per unit area of the first region is smaller than the area of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region, the area of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region is a ratio of a total of cross-sectional areas of the first injection ports to the area of the first region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top, and the area of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is the ratio of the total of the cross-sectional areas of the second injection ports to the area of the second region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

2 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the ratio (W1/W2) of the area (W1) of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region to the area (W2) of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is 0.05 to 0.7.

3 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
a number of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region is smaller than the number of the injection ports per the unit are of the second region, the number of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region is the ratio of the number of the first injection ports to the area of the first region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top, and the number of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is the ratio of the number of the second injection ports to the area of the second region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

4 . The holding member according to claim 3 , wherein
the ratio (T1/T2) of the number (T1) of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region to the number (T2) of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is 0.05 to 0.5.

5 . A holding member that is used in a glass manufacturing apparatus that cools down a glass raw material that has been levitated by gas and has been heated and melted, and manufactures glass, wherein
the holding member includes a gas injection surface that includes a plurality of injection ports from which the gas is injected, the gas injection surface includes a first region and a second region, the first region including first injection ports that are some injection ports of the plurality of injection ports, the second region including second injection ports that are different from the first injection ports from among the plurality of injection ports, the first region is located inside the second region, when the gas injection surface is viewed from a top, a number of the injection ports per unit area of the first region is smaller than the number of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region, the number of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region is a ratio of the number of the first injection ports to an area of the first region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top, and the number of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is the ratio of the number of the second injection ports to the area of the second region when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

6 . The holding member according to claim 5 , wherein
the ratio (T1/T2) of the number (T1) of the injection ports per the unit area of the first region to the number (T2) of the injection ports per the unit area of the second region is 0.05 to 0.5.

7 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
at least part of the holding member includes at least one kind selected from a group consisting of stainless steel (SUS), silicon carbide (SiC), alumina (Al 2 O 3 ), zirconia (ZrO 2 ), duralumin, copper (Cu), and carbon (C).

8 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
a radius of the injection port of the first region is 0.2 mm or less, and the radius of the injection port of the second region is 0.5 mm or less.

9 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
at least part of the holding member is porous.

10 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the holding member includes a porous member, and a porosity of the porous member in a portion that corresponds to the first region is lower than the porosity of the porous member in the portion that corresponds to the second region.

11 . The holding member according to claim 9 , wherein
the holding member includes a member made of a porous material and a member made of a metal material in at least part of the holding member.

12 . The holding member according to claim 9 , wherein
a pore diameter of a portion that is porous is 100 μm or less.

13 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the gas is injected in a roughly horizontal direction that is roughly orthogonal to a gravity direction.

14 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the holding member includes an injection port from which the gas is injected in a roughly horizontal direction that is roughly orthogonal to a gravity direction, above the gas injection surface.

15 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the gas injection surface is a roughly circular region, when the holding member is viewed from the top.

16 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the first region is a region that includes a center or a center of gravity, when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

17 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the first region is a region that is at least part of a roughly circular region for which a radius from a center point is r (r<R, R is the radius of the gas injection surface when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top) or less, and the second region is the region that is at least part of a roughly annular region for which the radius of an inner circumference is r or more, when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top.

18 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the first region is a region that is at least part of a roughly circular region for which a radius from a center point is 0.2R or less in comparison with the radius (R) of the gas injection surface when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top, the second region is the region that is at least part of a roughly annular region, when the gas injection surface is viewed from the top, and the radius of an inner circumference of the roughly annular region is 0.2R or more in comparison with the radius (R) of the gas injection surface.

19 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the radius of an outer circumference of the roughly annular region is 0.9R or less in comparison with the radius (R) of the gas injection surface.

20 . The holding member according to claim 1 , wherein
the first region is a region

Assignees

• Nikon Corp

Inventors

• Yoshimoto Kohei

Classifications

• C03B5/23 Primary

  Cooling the molten glass (C03B5/18, C03B5/225 take precedence) · CPC title

• C03B40/04 Primary

  using gas · CPC title

• C03B19/1005

  Forming solid beads (chemical aspects C03C12/00) · CPC title

• C03C3/062

  with less than 40% silica by weight · CPC title