Process and apparatus for manufacturing a fire-polished glass strip

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A CONTINUOUS FIREPOLISHED GLASS STRIP COMPRISINS FORMING A CONTINUOUS SHEET OF GLASS, SLIDING THE SHEET CONTINOUSLY IN A LONGITUDINAL DIRECTION ONTO A FIXED, METALLIC, SMOOTH, FLAT AND SOLID BASE PLATE WHICH SUPPORT THE SHEET, REGULATING BY HEAT EXCHANGE THE TEMPERATURE OF THE SURFACE OF THE SHEET IN A RANGE IN WHICH THE SURFACE WILL BE FIRE-POLISHED, DIMINISHING THE TEMPERATURE OF SAID SHEET AS IT ADVANCES ALONG THE BASE PLATE, LIFITING THE SHEET FROM THE BASE PLATE TO REMOVE THE SAME THEREFROM BY ENGAGING THE SHEET IN A ZONE THEREOF SUFFICIENTLY COOLED SUCH THAT THE SHEET IS REMOVED FROM THE PLATE WITH THE SURFACE OF THE SHEET UNMARKED, INTERPOSING BETWEEN SAID PLATE AND SAID GLASS SHEET A MOLTEN FILM OF A METAL SALTS SELECTED FROM THE GROUP CONSISTING OF HALOGENATED SALTS OF ALKALINE AND ALKALINE EARTH METALS AND MIXTURE THEREOF, WHICH SALT HAS A LOW COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION AND WETS THE SHEET TO FACILIATE SLIDING THEREOF ON THE BASE PLATE, SAID METAL SALT BEING INERT IN AIR AT THE TEMPERATURES OF THE SHEET AND COVERING THE BASE PLATE TO PROTECT THE SAME FROM CONTACT WITH AIR.