Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited

Masaaki Nushi

Naohiro Iida

Hideo Yoshizawa

Seiichiro Honjo

Kaoru Sakurai

Hirotaro Usui

Togo Tanaka

A glass sheet bending apparatus has a lower mold and conveyor rolls for conveying a heated glass sheet horizontally to a position over the lower mold, the lower mold having slots for receiving the conveyor rolls when the lower mold is lifted. The glass sheet bending apparatus has a main ring mold disposed around the outer peripheral surface of the lower mold which has a first shaping surface for shaping the central area of the glass sheet, the main ring mold having a second shaping surface for shaping the peripheral edge of the glass sheet. The glass sheet bending apparatus also has an auxiliary ring mold disposed between the main ring mold and the lower mold and having a substantially horizontal, flat support surface for supporting the glass sheet between the central area and peripheral edge of the glass sheet. The auxiliary ring mold is lifted prior to the upward movement of the lower mold and the main ring mold for raising the glass support off the conveyor rolls with its support surface. There is also disclosed a method of bending a glass sheet.

Apparatus for and method of bending glass sheets

An apparatus for bending a glass sheet has at least a lower mold, a conveyor device for conveying the heated glass sheet to a prescribed position over the lower mold, and a plurality of rolls for supporting the glass sheet in the prescribed position. A method of bending a glass sheet is carried out by utilizing the apparatus. The apparatus also includes a device for lowering the rolls to a position below the shaping surface of the lower mold, and an arrangement in the lower mold for accommodating the rolls which have been lowered. The apparatus may additionally have an upper mold coacting with the lower mold. The method comprises the steps of lowering the rolls below the shaping surface of the lower mold, transferring the glass sheet from the rolls onto the shaping surface of the lower mold while the rolls are lowered, and bending the glass sheet into conformity with the shaping surface of the lower mold under gravitational forces. The method may also include the step of lowering the upper mold simultaneously with the downward movement of the rolls, and press bending the glass sheet between the upper and lower molds.

Growing community of inventors

Tokyo, Japan

Masaaki Nushi