Other

Glasstech, Inc.

Vend-it Corporation

John S Nitschke

Harold A McMaster

Norman C Nitschke

Dean M Nitschke

Daniel B Kuhary

David B Nitschke

Ronald A McMaster

An automated deep frying system includes a refrigerated food storage compartment having a portion controller and dispenser, an isolated cooking chamber having a frying vessel and a food basket which is movable to a variety of preselected positions for loading, cooking and dispensing the food, and an air purifier including a smooth cold surface for isolating the by-products of the frying process. The system also includes a microprocessor controller which is programmed for the system operation, including automatic dispensing, preparation and serving of preselected portions of food in response to an operator's input, as well as energy efficient control of the refrigerated food storage compartment and the air purifier cold plate.

Automated deep fryer

An automated deep frying system includes a refrigerated food storage compartment having a portion controller and dispenser, an isolated cooking chamber having a frying vessel and a food basket which is movable to a variety of preselected positions for loading, cooking and dispensing the food, and an air purifier including a flat cold surface for isolating the by-products of the frying process. The system also includes a microprocessor controller which is programmed for the system operation, including automatic dispensing, preparation and serving of preselected portions of food in response to an operator's input, as well as energy efficient control of the refrigerated food storage compartment and the air purifier cold plate.

Automated ventless deep fryer

A glass sheet press bending system (20) disclosed has a bending station (30a,30b,30c,30d) for providing press bending between upper and lower molds (32,42) without intrusion into or through a conveyor (26) on which glass sheets are heated prior to the bending. The upper mold (32) is positioned above the conveyor (26), while the lower mold (42) is movable horizontally at an elevation above the conveyor from a first position adjacent the upper mold to a second position below the upper mold whereupon vertical movement therebetween performs the press bending between the molds. A transfer mold (48) receives the bent glass sheet from the upper mold (32) for cooling. Two embodiments of the bending station (30a,30c) have the lower mold continuously positioned within a heated ambient to provide a relatively hot lower mold that reduces breakage, while two other embodiments of the bending station (30b,30d) have the lower mold (42) movable out of the heated ambient after the press bending to provide a cooler mold that does not mark the glass sheets. Two embodiments of the bending station (30a,30b) have a lower mold (42) with a fixed curved shape, while the other two embodiments of the bending station (30c,30d) have a lower mold with first and second mold portions (60,62) that are movable with respect to each other to provide initial and final stages of the press bending operation. Each embodiment of the bending station has particular utility when utilized with a quench station (54) located on the opposite side of the heating conveyor (26) and the upper mold (32) as the lower mold (42) in its first position.

Glass sheet press bending system

A method and apparatus are disclosed for operating an air supply system for a glass sheet quench including a D.C. drive system of a variable speed blower operated on a duty cycle. A quench cycle and a cooling cycle are carried out in the quench. In the preferred embodiment shown for thin glass (i.e. glass which is 5 mm or less in thickness) the drive system is sized to the RMS requirements of the complete cycle to minimize the initial and operating costs, size and power requirements of the D.C. drive system.

Method and apparatus for supplying cooling air in a glass sheet quench

A programmable, microprocessor-based controller is responsive to a displacement command signal and first and second transport signals corresponding to the distance that glass sheets are conveyed on main and auxiliary conveyors, respectively, to provide a speed control signal to a separate, variable speed drive. The variable speed drive drives the auxiliary conveyor independently of the driven main conveyor. The variable speed drive is controlled by the controller to: (1) reduce the rate of glass sheet conveyance; (2) reposition the leading and trailing glass sheets, if necessary, along the direction of conveyance; and (3) insure that as each glass sheet is transferred between the main conveyor and the auxiliary conveyor, the auxiliary conveyor is driven at the same speed as the main conveyor.

Conveyor controller for glass sheet processing equipment

An improved apparatus including a localized heater that moves along the direction of conveyance with conveyed glass sheets to provide localized heating of a portion of each glass sheet to be bent without heating the rest of the glass sheet prior to its subsequent treatment. This invention is especially suitable for locally heating designated portions of glass sheets as they are heated while being conveyed through a furnace on a horizontal roller conveyor where the designated portion of glass sheets are to be formed with bends having relatively short radii of curvature at a bending station. The apparatus includes a pair of elongated localized gas heaters, each of which is positioned above the portion of the glass sheet which requires significant bending. These heaters are mounted on a carriage driven by a drive mechanism. The drive mechanism causes the carriage to move along a path parallel to the path of glass sheet conveyance to allow the heaters to continuously heat the designated portions of the glass sheet between an upstream position and a downstream position of the carriage. After the carriage reaches its downstream position, the drive mechanism causes the carriage to return to its upstream position in preparation for another cycle.

Apparatus and method for locally heating conveyed glass sheets

Sheet glass is heated during conveyance within a furance housing having a fixed roof and vertically movable side doors that define side slots through which ends of conveyor rolls project outwardly to be supported and frictionally driven by continuous drive loops slidably driven over external support surfaces that extend alongside the side slots. A vacuum holder of the apparatus is positioned within the furnace housing above the conveyor and has a downwardly facing surface with spaced openings in which a vacuum is drawn to receive a glass sheet from the conveyor and support the sheet above the conveyor. The holder surface is disclosed as being both planar and curved and as having a porous cover of ceramic fibers so as to distribute the vacuum and prevent marring of the glass as it is supported. A greater vacuum is drawn to initially support the glass and a lesser vacuum is subsequently drawn to prevent glass deformation at the spaced openings. Vertically movable auxiliary lifters positioned between the rolls or vertical movement of the vacuum holder facilitates glass pickup. Sensing of the glass position along the conveyor and operation of a locator cooperatively provide accurate positioning of the glass on the holder surface without requiring the conveyor to be stopped prior to the holder operation. A carrier mold ring moves under the supported glass and the vacuum is then terminated so the glass drops onto the ring and bends under the bias of gravity in a manner that allows thin glass to be accurately bent. Subsequently the mold ring is moved from the furnace to a quench unit between upper and lower blastheads that temper the bent glass. Increased air is then supplied to the lower blasthead relative to the upper blasthead to lift the glass sheet off the ring and allow return of the ring to the furnace.

Apparatus and method for bending glass sheets

Sheet glass is heated during conveyance within a furnace housing having a fixed roof and vertically movable side doors that define side slots through which ends of conveyor rolls project outwardly to be supported and frictionally driven by continuous drive loops slidably driven over external support surfaces that extend alongside the side slots. A vacuum holder of the apparatus is positioned within the furnace housing above the conveyor and has a downwardly facing surface with spaced openings in which a vacuum is drawn to receive a glass sheet from the conveyor and support the sheet above the conveyor. The holder surface is disclosed as being both planar and curved and as having a porous cover of ceramic fibers so as to distribute the vacuum and prevent marring of the glass as it is supported. A greater vacuum is drawn to initially support the glass and a lesser vacuum is subsequently drawn to prevent glass deformation at the spaced openings. Vertically movable auxiliary lifters positioned between the rolls or vertical movement of the vacuum holder facilitates glass pickup. Sensing of the glass position along the conveyor and operation of a locator cooperatively provide accurate positioning of the glass on the holder surface without requiring the conveyor to be stopped prior to the holder operation. A carrier mold ring moves under the supported glass and the vacuum is then terminated so the glass drops onto the ring and bends under the bias of gravity in a manner that allows thin glass to be accurately bent. Subsequently the mold ring is moved from the furnace to a quench unit between upper and lower blastheads that temper the bent glass. Increased air is then supplied to the lower blasthead relative to the upper blasthead to lift the glass sheet off the ring and allow return of the ring to the furnace.

Apparatus for bending and tempering glass sheets

A method and quench unit (10,10a,10b) disclosed provide tempering of a heated glass sheet by impinging pressurized air against its opposite surfaces while within a chamber (18) at super-atmospheric pressure. An enclosure (16) of the quench unit defines the chamber (18) and is preferably pressurized by the spent quenching air which is delivered through opposed blastheads (12). The spent quenching air is removed from the chamber (18) to maintain the air pressure below a predetermined level. An air supply system (24) disclosed cools and pressurizes the spent quenching air received from the chamber (18) and then feeds this air back to the blastheads (12) in a recirculating fashion for impingement with the glass sheet in the chamber.

Glass sheet tempering utilizing high density air quenching

Sheet glass is heated during conveyance within a furnace housing having a fixed roof and vertically movable side doors that define side slots through which ends of conveyor rolls project outwardly to be supported and frictionally driven by continuous drive loops slidably driven over external support surfaces that extend alongside the side slots. A vacuum holder of the apparatus is positioned within the furnace housing above the conveyor and has a downwardly facing surface with spaced openings in which a vacuum is drawn to receive a glass sheet from the conveyor and support the sheet above the conveyor. The holder surface is disclosed as being both planar and curved and as having a porous cover of ceramic fibers so as to distribute the vacuum and prevent marring of the glass as it is supported. A greater vacuum is drawn to initially support the glass and a lesser vacuum is subsequently drawn to prevent glass deformation at the spaced openings. Vertically movable auxiliary lifters positioned between the rolls or vertical movement of the vacuum holder facilitates glass pickup. Sensing of the glass position along the conveyor and operation of a locator cooperatively provide accurate positioning of the glass on the holder surface without requiring the conveyor to be stopped prior to the holder operation. A carrier mold ring moves under the supported glass and the vacuum is then terminated so the glass drops onto the ring and bends under the bias of gravity in a manner that allows thin glass to be accurately bent. Subsequently the mold ring is moved from the furnace to a quench unit between upper and lower blastheads that temper the bent glass. Increased air is then supplied to the low blasthead relative to the upper blasthead to lift the glass sheet off the ring and allow return of the ring to the furnace.

Apparatus and method for handling heated glass sheets

A microprocessor-based control system for monitoring and controlling the processing of pairs of sheets of glass in a glass bending and tempering system. The glass sheets are conveyed by a horizontal roller conveyor which is driven by a drive motor. The roller conveyor conveys pairs of sheets of glass along the longitudinal length of an elongated heating chamber to a bending station where the glass sheets of each pair are simultaneously lifted by a bending apparatus. The glass sheets are controllably moved within the heating chamber while on a plurality of rolls adjacent the bending apparatus independent of glass sheet conveyance on the other rolls of the conveyor. The control system includes a photoelectric sensor pair mounted on the conveyor for sensing the glass sheets as the glass sheets are conveyed by the conveyor. The photoelectric sensor pair provides a glass sense signal to a control computer. An incremental encoder coupled to the output shaft of the drive motor provides a signal representation of the angular displacement of the output shaft to the control computer. The control computer is programmed to respond to the glass sense signals and a transport signal of the encoder to provide control signals to coordinate the glass bending and tempering system including the bending apparatus and a roll operator.

Control system for monitoring and controlling the processing of glass

Apparatus and method for removing a glass sheet from a carrier

A glass sheet bending system (10) disclosed includes a horizontal roller conveyor (16) having a roll operator for operating a plurality of conveyor rolls (18) adjacent an associated bending apparatus (22) to control conveyance thereon independent of conveyance on the other rolls of the conveyor. In one embodiment, the roll operator comprises a roll shifter (24) for shifting the rolls (18) along the direction of conveyance during continued rotational driving. In another embodiment, the roll operator comprises a positioning drive (140), that drives the conveyor rolls (18) adjacent the bending apparatus (22) independently of the other rolls of the conveyor. Both embodiments reduce the rate of glass sheet conveyance as the holder receives each glass sheet to reduce sliding at a surface (62) of the holder. Also, repositioning of leading and trailing glass sheets can be initially performed along the direction of conveyance to provide accurate location of the sheets on the holder with respect to each other in preparation for bending on associated molds (68).

Roll operator for glass sheet conveyor of bending system

A conveyor drive system including an improved control circuit for a glass manufacturing apparatus transports a glass sheet through a glass processing station. The conveyor drive system includes first and second conveyor drives disposed on opposed lateral sides of the station. Each of the conveyor drives includes first and second pulleys and a continuous drive loop trained thereover. The glass plate is supported on a plurality of elongated rollers that extend between the conveyor drives and have their opposed ends supported on and in frictional engagement with the continuous drive loops. A drive motor applies drive torque to the first pulleys, and a pair of counter-poised drive motors apply a counter-torque to the second pulleys. The control circuit for controlling the energization of the first drive motor and the pair of counter-poised drive motors includes a feedback circuit which provides degenerative speed feedback for stabilizing the motion of the conveyor drive system.

Conveyor drive system for a glass sheet manufacturing system

Sheet glass is heated during conveyance on a conveyor within a furnace. A vacuum holder is positioned within the furnace housing above the conveyor and has a downwardly facing surface with spaced openings in which a vacuum is drawn to receive a glass sheet from the conveyor and support the sheet above the conveyor. The holder surface is disclosed as being both planar and curved and as having a porous cover of ceramic fibers so as to distribute the vacuum and prevent marring of the glass as it is supported. Auxiliary lifters positioned between the rolls or vertical movement of the vacuum holder facilitates glass pickup. A carrier mold ring moves under the supported glass and the vacuum is then terminated so the glass drops onto the ring and bends under the bias of gravity in a manner that allows thin glass to be accurately bent. Subsequently the mold ring is moved from the furnace to a quench unit that temper the bent glass.

Growing community of inventors

Perrysburg, OH, United States of America

John S Nitschke