Glass from the old to the new through research (1954)

[Music] industry today is shattering records or productivity in all kinds of industry as for example in glass making immense quantity the bra materials are transformed into goods for the market here raw materials are fed into a glass processing these materials requires specially designed equipment and mass production technique partly these developed out of ingenuity and chant and partly alderman tation the results are products for the home like the glassware being made er and products for other aspects of modern living since a high rate of industrial productivity benefits everyone by providing better products at less cost it is important for laymen as well as industrialists to understand what makes such production possible basic to this understanding is a knowledge of industrial organization each company is directed by a team of experts the leaders of different specialized departments each department has a particular contribution to make to the work of the company it represents for example the production department relies upon men and machines to turn out finished products for the sales department to sell in addition to production and sales a purchasing department buys necessary raw materials parts and machines and the financial department accounts for and finances all purchases it also takes an engineering department to design and test equipment intended to increase the daily output of each worker and decreased drudgery but newest of all the departments to gain a position of eminence and industry is research research is responsible for getting reliable answers to problems that affect the technology underlying production setting up experiments and intelligently interpreting the data revealed by these experiments is an important part of this research which leads to improvements in old products development of new products and reduced costs for consumers industrial research concentrates on discovering fact that can be applied products of research are commonplace they could be pictured in many different settings but because of the universal use of glass products the glass industry is selected as background for this story of progress glass and its many different forms provides one of the most versatile substances ever devised by man in the home it takes such different forms as windows drapery decorations and tableware one of the common forms is molded glass molding processes are used to make bottles and hundreds of varieties of glass containers to package goods for the market [Music] flat glass window panes and plate glass are forms known to everyone glass is made into corrugated panels covers to protect delicate instruments blocks for construction acoustic tiles to deaden sound picture tubes for television sets glass can be made into panels containing electrical resistance wires that radiate heat whatever the kind of glass each is adapted to some special use some kinds are cheaply useful in the home others serve industry or the professions the properties of each kind depend upon its ingredients glass through the ages and until eighteen eighty usually consisted of sand soda ash and limestone mixtures that go into modern glass contain additional substances each is added to produce some special quality not attained by glass craftsmen of the pet besides changes in mixtures improvements have been made in the machines for making glass ingenuity and luck have helped develop some of the modern techniques and machines but today it takes more than ingenuity and luck to satisfy man's increasing desires for example here's a tumbler it looks perfect but let's test it one successful test that has been devised employs polarized light look for strains in the glass they show up as dark areas undesirable strains could lead to early breakage but when the tumblers are annealed by slow cooling these strains disappear this superior product is the result of experimental work all systematic investigations of glass are relatively recent auto shot a German chemist is often considered the first man ever to initiate a systematic program of research in glass shots experiments were planned to improve the mixtures used to make lenses about 1880 he began his work he added different oxides to the customary formulas of sand soda ash potash and lime his work led to improve kinds of glass some of his glasses together with others developed by his successors make possible the high degree of perfection and modern optical equipment used to provide sharp visual images during shots long life and through the intervening years research has repeatedly demonstrated its importance all of the fundamentally new uses for glass as well as many of the improvements in the old have resulted from research today specialists and research continue to study the effects of new materials and procedures here is one such specialist like most of the younger technologists he has a degree in science his knowledge of glass developed in college like other students he included field trips in his training a special interest led him to make most of his trips to glass factory such as a flat glass plant this is where window glass is made raw materials are received by the carload the sand soda ash lime and other raw materials are measured in two batches to be melted huge containers transport the mixtures to the premises periodically a batch of raw materials is added to the other tons already being melted a large furnace like this may hold several hundred tons at one time heat released by burning gas produces a temperature of about 2,700 degrees Fahrenheit the heat transforms the mixture from its solid form into a molten sticky mass the molten glass moves from the furnace as a continuous ribbon knurled rolls maintain the proper thickness of this ribbon like sheet after passing through a cooling tunnel the sheet is cut into sections these sections to be used in windows are clearer and better than ever before it's difficult to imagine how life would be without this product almost everyone has need for window glass wait glass another important kind of flat glass is made from special mixtures of raw materials the materials are melted in a massive crucible once the melting temperature is reached the batch is ready for pouring the molten glass passes through rollers and forms a plate unfinished plates are sometimes called blanks as soon as they have cooled the blanks are ready for finishing to simplify lifting and handling the large heavy plates glass makers use equipment fitted with specially designed suction cups finishing means grinding and polishing these processes remove any roughness on the surfaces of the rolled plate after the final polishing the surfaces are so flat that each is almost a perfect plane these plates are thicker than ordinary window glass and permit vision with very little distortion production methods or plate glass have been improved so greatly in this century that it is now available at relatively low cost much plate glass is used to make automobile windows containers such as bottles are another type of product in use for centuries of course the glass makers of a hundred years ago never saw containers like these making glass containers such as bottles is one of the most economically important branches of the entire industry bottles are made by blowing as they were in the days of glass blowers but the quality of glass bottles has been greatly improved and the methods of production highly developed today containers are not only better than ever before but they are produced at rates that would astound glass makers of even half a century ago virtually every home or market in the world has used for some examples of the container industry's products in some modern factories glass blowers still practice their ancient art no amount of systematic research or ingenuity as yet devised machines and procedures for making certain types of glassware glass blowers follow techniques handed down by generations of their predecessors precision and craftsmanship results from long years of experience here a volumetric flask is being blown by using a blow mode glass blowers make equipment like this flask the laboratories of science but like any hand operation their output is limited wherever possible machine production replaces this colorful art much of the laboratory where of today is made by modern high speed mechanical means even tools like these are changed as experiments reveal ways of doing the work more efficiently marking products like graduated cylinders requires precision machinery the manufacturers of laboratory where continually search for improvements such as glassware with greater resistance to shock new mixtures of raw materials improved manufacturing procedures and refinements in testing apparatus contribute to more perfect products most glass products have benefitted from research but some are direct result of research such as glass blocks crude blocks of glass were made as far back as the days of early room but such early counterparts could not compare with the quality of glass blocks today mass production of modern blocks is the outcome of a systematic research program began in the early 1930s the program was planned to perfect mixtures and develop procedures for high speed efficient production of blocks with unique properties glass blocks have opened up new uses for glass and helped make glass competitive with some of the other common construction material this competition favors the consumer because it offers him a greater variety of materials to select from and leads to lowered prices it's an example of more and better products or less money an important contribution to a high standard of living glass fibers like glass blocks have been known for centuries but were merely curiosities until recently to make fibers the melted glass is formed into marble after inspection the marbles are conveyed into an electric furnace each marble will make more than a hundred miles of fibers fibers can be made from these marbles that are much finer than a human hair transformation into fibers for textiles depends upon molten glass flowing through fine holes and a platinum trough text goes like this drapery can be manufactured from fibres of glass such textos resist many of the hazards that could destroy ordinary fabrics the raw materials of glass can be made into other kinds of fiber products without going through a marble stage this is glass wool fibers of glass wool have many valuable properties these fibers will neither shrink nor stretch and they will not burn rot or rust the fibers can be sandwiched between layers of heavy paper to form blankets like these each blanket provides insulation that will block or reduce the transfer of heat it can provide insulation for a building to help keep the interior cooler and summer and warmer and litter to insulate buildings the paper covered blankets are tacked between wall or roof supports compressed more firmly and treated with a special binding material glass fibers are made into a preformed kind of insulating board for such uses as roof and cold storage container insulation other types of fibre wool bats are used as insulation and appliances designed either to exclude or retain heat treated in other ways fibers of glass can be made into insulation that deadens found from automobile or aircraft engine retainer mats and separators for storage batteries preformed coverings for pipes and filters for air conditioning and forced warm air heating systems and here is a special use this is a bulletproof vest which contains for its armor plastic sheets reinforced with glass fibers vests like this have saved many fighting men from vital injury and combat in these and other ways research helps lead from the old to the new in glass by developing better products for modern living the practical value of research in glass is demonstrated in many settings for example improved optical glass has meant improved spectacles and improved spectacles mean greater enjoyment while reading driving or using our eyes in other ways optical glass makes possible to find lenses of cameras more perfect lenses for microscopes contribute to the development of virtually all the sciences the microscope reveals objects too small to be seen by the eye alone such as this reproductive action of a one-celled animal nearly all aspects of biology have profited by the use of optical glass there is always the challenge of problems yet unsolved for example who will discover a cheap method of extracting aluminum from clay an ordinary clay brick contains about a half a pound of aluminum but no one knows how to extract it economically or who will learn to harness the power of the waves extract more of the valuable elements in sea water or juice energy directly from the Sun who will be first to conquer outer space who will be the next to convert some glass mixture into a new and unique product for the market progress in glass as an industry generally becomes increasingly dependent upon research the results of systematic experimentation may not often be as spectacular as in this production of electric lamp bulbs but inevitably research leads to more products at less cost to serve the needs of more people industry is learning to use research effectively and is thereby helping raise our standard of living today men and women are working to solve many different problem their success will influence our future the achievements being made in glass and in all other industries assure for industrial research a role of increasing importance in furthering industrial progress and the welfare of our society [Music]