Emile Fourcault
Born with Saint-Jose-ten-Noode in 1862, resulting from the upper middle class carolorégienne, Emile Fourcault, is a Belgian engineer typical industrial development of the industrial Sillon of the Wallonia at the XIXe century. He dies in 1919.
His/her father directed the Association of the Belgian Masters of Glassmakings. He became itself director of the Glassmakings of Dampremy.
He is the inventor of the drawing of the Window glass. Before him, to obtain window glass, the Maître glassmaker blew a balloon which was opened and reheated.
Deposit of a patent
He worked with an engineer, Emile Gobbe, which continued in laboratory of research on the mechanical manufacture of the Verre. In 1901, they deposit a patent of manufacture. The experiments are done with the glassmaking Tilly in the the Walloon Brabant then continue with Dampremy (Charleroi). And it is there that a first machine of drawing is installed. Unfortunately, if glass is transparent, it gondole and the differences in thicknesses make function of prisms and lenses. In 1903, Fourcault obtains a second patent for " an apparatus to reheat glass in sheets continues". He manages to stretch glass leafs one meter broad and a uniform thickness, being able to vary between two and eight millimetres with the mirror factories of Jeumont directed by his brother-in-law, Georges Despret. This one convainct the International convention of the Mirror factories to bring the capital necessary.
Industrial success
Fourcault then builds a new furnace with a draw bench with Dampremy. It builds of it a second in 1907 and one third in 1907. It is close to a capacity of 8.000.000 m3 wire rolled glass. In 1912, SA of the Glassmakings of Dampremy is created to reach that point. The company begins work with eight drawing machines. This glass has several advantages on glass of the glass-blowers: a perfect planimetry, a homogeneous solidity and it is of half less expensive.
Compromising during the First War
The First World War here, as in the iron and steel industry seems to have to stop all the Walloon effort industriuel. But an Austrian administrator of Dampremy persuades the German governor of Belgium occupied Moritz von Bissing to allow the provisioning necessary to the continuation of the production. Fourcault agrees in spite of the political ambiguity to do it under German occupation. When the war is finished, the production of its factory is stopped. Fourcault dies the following year. But the Walloon glassmaking will benefit from the invention of Fourcault and will be able to continue to support competition avce the USA which them had also adopted a similar process of manufacture.
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