Ppg Industries Ohio, Inc.

Dennis D Warren

Yu Jiao

Chao Yu

John E DeAngelis

Robert M Bonaddio

Joseph Medzius

James Franklin Priddy

Russell Willis Schrier

Joseph G Koepfinger

A glass sheet used in the making of an aircraft windshield is shaped using the 'cut-to-size' method instead of the 'out-after-bend' method. In a preferred aspect of the invention the 'cut-to-size' method is practiced using a bending iron having a sheet shaping rail having a stationary shaping rail portion mounted on a support member and an articulating shaping rail portion pivotally mounted on the support member for movement from a non-shaping position to a shaping position.

Bending device for shaping glass for use in aircraft transparencies

A glass sheet used in the making of an aircraft windshield is shaped using the 'cut-to-size' method instead of the 'cut-after-bend' method. In a preferred aspect of the invention the &#x201c;cut-to-size&#x201d; method is practiced using a bending iron having a sheet shaping rail having a stationary shaping rail portion mounted on a support member and an articulating shaping rail portion pivotally mounted on the support member for movement from a non-shaping position to a shaping position.

A furnace for shaping glass sheets for aircraft transparencies using the cut-to-size method includes a preheat and cooling furnace defined as a first furnace, and a shaping furnace. A conveyor geared for reciprocating movement moves a bending iron supporting a glass sheet through the first furnace set to a preheat temperature. The glass sheet supported on the bending iron is heated in the shaping furnace by microwave beams from a gyrotron to heat portions of the glass sheet to be shaped to a complex shape. After the sheet is shaped, the conveyor moves the bending iron supporting the shaped glass sheet from the shaping furnace through the first furnace set to a cooling cycle.

Heating and shaping system using microwave focused beam heating

A sheet bending device includes a sheet shaping rail having a stationary shaping rail portion mounted on a support member and an articulating shaping rail portion pivotally mounted on the support member for movement from a non-shaping position to a shaping position. A retention member limits movement of a sheet to be shaped relative to the stationary shaping rail portion when the articulating shaping rail portion moves to the shaping position. A 'cut-to-size' method is also disclosed to shape a sheet for use in making an aircraft transparency.

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Fayetteville, TN, United States of America

Dennis D Warren