The cold top batch charger is used for electrically heated furnaces and consists mainly of a base frame, feeding hopper and vibratory chute.

The base frame can be moved in both the x-axis and y-axis by means of two carriages. In this way, the batch charger can apply directly into the glass bath, batch layers which are lying parallel to each other on the y-axis. Therefore 7 initiators on the y-axis are installed to find the positions. One initiator for each track and one for the position “Filling Station”.

On the x-axis, there are 5 initiators for the start signal, the move signal, the front signal, the back signal
and the filling signal. Each of these initiators has 3 sides so that the position can be approached precisely.

The batch charger has a batch container which is filled using the filling station. The filling station is located in the middle of the tracks for the batch layers. The batch charger has to approach the filling station to be filled. A fill level detector is built into the batch feeder of the batch charger. It informs the batch charger when the batch feeder has to be refilled.

The feeder distributes the batch evenly on the charging belt. This charging belt transports the batch evenly to the front where the outlet is situated. If a test run was carried out, the batch charger now moves to the indicator of the first track. The charging belt starts vibrating in order to transport the batch to the outlet.

The batch charger then slowly moves forward over the glass bath. During this process, the batch slowly falls into the glass bath and forms a layer. When the batch charger reaches the stop position, it automatically moves back to the beginning of the glass bath. To protect against the great heat, the batch charger moves directly above the batch layer.

The lower carriage now moves to the next track and places another batch layer into the glass bath. The first three tracks are always placed into the glass bath, independently of the fill level detector’s notification in the batch container. From the fourth batch layer onwards, the fill level detector is queried.

If the fill level detector detects too little contents in the batch container, the batch charger automatically moves to the filling station. It connects with the batch feeder of the machine and fills it. After completion of the filling process, the filling station undocks. The batch charger now continues where it left off before refilling in order to avoid a thick layer of batch.