Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited

Triplex Safety Glass Limited

Masuhide Kajii

Kazuo Yamada

Colin Michael Bennett

Yoshihiko Hayashi

Katsuhiko Kitaya

Norihiro Fujioka

Atsushi Okai

Tohru Futagami

A glass quenching apparatus for quenching a glass sheet heated to a predetermined temperature, includes a first nozzle group for jetting blower air onto opposite surfaces of the glass sheet, and a second nozzle group for jetting compressor air onto at least one of the opposite surfaces of the glass sheet. The first nozzle group is comprised of stationary nozzles, and the second nozzle group is comprised of movable nozzles which are capable of moving parallel to a plane of the glass sheet. The glass quenching apparatus of the foregoing construction is able to quench the glass sheet uniformly over the entire area thereof without undue wastage of quenching air.

Glass quenching apparatus

When heating and bending glass sheets in a furnace, it has been found to be desirable to raise the glass sheets towards the furnace heat sources to increase obtainable temperature differentials and reduce heating power. An apparatus for bending the glass sheets includes an elongate furnace divided along its length into a plurality of heating zones, each heating zone having an upper part. A plurality of heat sources are arranged in the upper part of such heating zone and a plurality of carriages are arranged in succession along the length of the furnace below the furnace heat sources. A drive device propels the carriages through the zones of the furnace in intermittent steps, and a mould lift raises the bending mould towards the furnace heat sources. The bent glass sheet may be used in the manufacture of a vehicle glazing.

Apparatus for heating and bending glass sheets involving raising a glass

When heating and bending glass sheets in a furnace, it is desirable to raise the sheets towards the furnace heat sources to increase obtainable temperature differentials and reduce heating power. Disclosed is a method of bending a glass sheet on an apparatus comprising an elongate furnace divided along its length into a plurality of heating zones, each heating zone having an upper part, the method comprising the steps of supporting the glass sheet on a bending mould; moving the glass sheet through the zones of the furnace in a plurality of intermittent steps, each step substantially corresponding in length to the distance separating corresponding points of successive heating zones; exposing the glass sheet during its passage through said heating zones to a succession of furnace heat sources contained in the upper part of each zone of said furnace; heating the glass sheet to a heat-softened condition as a result of said exposure; allowing the heat-softened glass sheet to sag into conformity with said bending mould; and raising the bending i-nould, while still supporting the glass sheet, towards the furnace heat sources in at least one of the heating zones. The bent glass sheet may be used in the manufacture of a vehicle glazing.

Method of heating and bending glass sheets

A conveyor apparatus for feeding a sheet material such as a sheet of glass in a heating furnace includes an array of feed rolls for feeding the sheet material in a feeding direction, the feed rolls having respective axes extending in a direction transverse to the feeding direction. A motor is disposed on a side of the array of feed rolls. An array of drive support rollers is disposed on the side of the array of feed rolls and operatively connected to the motor for rotation thereby. Each of the drive support rollers commonly supports adjacent two of the feed rolls for rotating the adjacent two feed rolls.

Conveyor apparatus for horizontally feeding sheet material

An air bed conveying system conveys a workpiece while the workpiece is being floated by air under pressure which is ejected from a plurality of air ejection holes defined in air bed blocks that are supported on respective support blocks. Each of the support blocks is of an integral box-shaped configuration and made of a quartz material having a low thermal expansion coefficient. A plurality of vertical position adjusting mechanisms are disposed underneath each of the support blocks, for adjusting the support block in vertical position.

Air bed conveying system

A local heating source is provided in a heating furnace in which a glass plate is continuously conveyed. The heating source is position-controlled by numerical data in a direction along the glass surface in accordance with the conveyance of the glass plate, so as to data-control the heating trace. As a result, the heating patterns can be easily altered in units of article types of the glass plates which are to be bent in different shapes, resulting in highly efficient production on a multi article type-small lot base.

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Osaka, Japan

Masuhide Kajii