Abstract:
A method of forming an array from a bundle of individual channel multipliers, the individual channels being fabricated of a lower temperature softening glass tube to permit the walls of the individual channels to be spiralled and also expanded to fill the interstices within a higher softening temperature outer tube, Also, the invention could be practiced utilizing glass tubes of the same temperature softening characteristic. The expanding and spiralling operation is preformed simultaneously by drawing the bundle of individual channels through a furnace while rotating the feed or pull assemblies of the drawing apparatus to spiral the channel bundle and exhausting the area between the individual tubes and the equal or higher temperature softening glass tube to expand the individual channels.
Abstract:
A method for forming a honeycomb structure from glass tubes and the resulting article including arranging the tubes in a stack, heating the stack, and maintaining the interstitial spaces of the stack at a predetermined gas pressure no greater than that of the remainder of the stack, in order to radially expand the individual tubes of the stack and reduce the cross sectional size of interstitial spaces between tubes a predetermined amount. The method can be used to change the cross sectional shape of a round tube of the stack to other shapes such as hexagonal or square.
Abstract:
A bundle of individual channel multipliers stacked to form a multiplier array, the individual channels being fabricated of a lower temperature softening glass and the bundle being inserted into a higher temperature softening glass tube, the walls of the individual channels being expanded to fill the interstices within the higher softening temperature tube.