Asahi Glass Company, Limited

Agc Inc.

Motoichi Iga

Toru Kamihori

Atsushi Inoue

Yoshihiro Shiraishi

Setsuro Ito

Yutaka Kuroiwa

Yasuji Fukasawa

Masanori Nakano

Itsuo Matsumoto

Nobuyuki Ban

Mitsuru Watanabe

Yasuo Sato

Kazuhiko Yamada

Masaya Kunigita

Michito Sasaki

Hajime Itoh

Yoshitaka Ono

Koji Nomaki

Nobuaki Ikawa

Hiroshi Mase

Kuniaki Hiromatsu

Masahiro Saitou

Yuzo Watanabe

Ryosuke Akagi

Kohta Okamoto

Hiroki Ishibashi

A forming apparatus for forming a glass ribbon is provided. The forming apparatus has an axial direction extending from a first end to a second end thereof. The first end is located on an inlet side from which molten glass is supplied. The forming apparatus includes a first protruding portion and a second protruding portion that are disposed at a top thereof and extend from the first end to the second end. A channel is provided between the first protruding portion and the second protruding portion. The molten glass flows within the channel from the first end toward the second end. In a top view, a channel width of the channel continuously decreases toward the second end in a vicinity of the second end and becomes 0 (zero) at the second end. The channel width is in a direction perpendicular to the axial direction.

Forming apparatus

To provide a method for forming molten glass, capable of easily improving the forming accuracy of molten glass. One embodiment of the method for forming molten glass of the present invention comprises a supplying in which molten glass having a temperature of at least the softening point is discharged in a strip shape and supplied on the surface of molten metal, and a transporting the glass ribbon supplied on the surface of the molten metal, wherein the transporting includes a cooling the glass ribbon being transported, in a region on the upstream side in the transport direction, so that the temperature of the glass ribbon becomes lower than the softening point in the entire width direction.

Method for forming molten glass, forming apparatus, and method for producing glass product

A glass substrate comprising a rectangular glass sheet having a first main surface and a second main surface opposite the first main surface, the glass substrate having a first side and a second side which are adjacent to each other in a view along a thickness direction of the glass sheet, in which a thickness tolerance is less than 6.26 &#x3bc;m in a first cross section which is a cross section in the thickness direction of the glass sheet along a straight line parallel to the first side, the thickness tolerance being a difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the thickness of the glass sheet.

Glass substrate

Provided is an apparatus for producing a sheet glass, including: a forming device that forms a glass ribbon by allowing molten glass continuously supplied onto molten metal in a bath to flow on the molten metal; a rotary roll disposed in an outer vicinity of the bath and configured to draw the glass ribbon obliquely upward from the molten metal; and a supporting device supporting the rotary roll from below.

Plate glass production device, and plate glass production method

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new method for reducing the diameter of a bubble existing in a glass plate. Specifically, the present invention provides a method for reducing the diameter of a bubble existing in a glass plate, which comprises irradiating the vicinity of the bubble existing in the glass plate with a light beam emitted from a light source, to raise the temperature of the glass in the vicinity of the bubble to at least the melting point of the glass to reduce the maximum diameter of the bubble.

Method for reducing diameter of bubble existing in a glass plate

A conduit structure for molten glass, a conduit system for molten glass, a vacuum degassing apparatus and a method for vacuum-degassing molten glass by use of the vacuum degassing apparatus, which are capable of effectively removing components eluted from a refractory brick forming a conduit for molten glass, foreign substances generated in the interface between molten glass and a platinum wall surface forming a conduit for molten glass, a bubble remaining in a surface layer of molten glass, a glass material denatured by volatilization, and the like, are provided. A conduit structure for molten glass, which is formed of a hollow pipe made of platinum or a platinum alloy, includes a double-pipe structure disposed in at least a downstream portion of the conduit structure, the double-pipe structure being formed of an inner pipe and an outer pipe; the inner pipe having an upstream end and a downstream end formed as open ends; the outer pipe having a downstream end formed as a closed end in a region located in a gap between the inner pipe and the outer pipe and as an open end in a region located in the inner pipe in the double-pipe structure; the conduit structure having an upstream end formed as an open end; and the outer pipe having an opening formed in a portion close to the downstream end thereof.

Conduit structure for molten glass and vacuum degassing apparatus using the conduit structure

It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus for efficiently remove bubbles present on a surface of molten glass, which can solve a problem that bubbles remaining on a surface of molten glass are get inside at a time of forming the glass to cause inside bubbles, to thereby provide a glass substrate of good quality, and which can improve productivity of glass substrates; and to provide a process for producing glass employing the above method for removing bubbles. The present invention provides a method for removing bubbles from molten glass, which is a method for removing floating bubbles on a surface of molten glass, wherein a floating bubble on the surface of molten glass is irradiated with at least one laser beam.

Method for removing bubbles from molten glass and process for producing glass

An apparatusfor producing a plate glass, comprising a bathfor float-forming for reserving a molten metalfor forming a band-shaped plate glass having a predetermined thickness by feeding a molten glass ribbonin a predetermined direction on the molten metal, and a pair of partition wallsprovided substantially above left and right edgesof the molten glass ribbonand substantially along the edgesto partition a space above a bath surface of the molten metal into an upper space A above a region covered with the molten glass ribbonand upper spaces B above regions not covered with the molten glass ribbonwherein the partition wallseach has a vertically dividable structure dividable into an upper partition wallA and a lower partition wallB, and the lower partition wallB is constituted by strip-shaped lower strip membersprovided continuously to each other in a lateral direction, and the strip membersare configured to be removable or openable from the upper partition wallA.

Apparatus and method for manufacturing plate glass

The present invention relates to production of a flat glass, which can improve the surface smoothness of a flat glass in the moving direction and which prevents formation of stripes on the flat glass. A fixed bedcomprising a plurality of supportsarranged in such a state that they will not move at least in a direction in parallel with the moving direction of a glass ribbon, and having groovesB to let loose the steam generated by vaporization of a steam film forming agent formed between the respective supports, is used, and the amount of the steam let loose from the grooves is adjusted in accordance with the glass temperature distribution in the moving direction of the glass ribbonwhich moves on the fixed bed

Process and apparatus for producing flat glass

It is to provide a method for removing a tin defect present on the surface of a glass substrate produced by a float process in a short time without the glass substrate surface being damaged regardless of the glass temperature. A method for removing a tin-containing foreign matter from the surface of glass, which comprises applying to the surface of a glass substrate produced by a float process a pulse laser beam having a transmittance of at least 70% through the glass substrate and having a pulse width, a wavelength and an energy density per unit area on the glass substrate surface which satisfy specific relations, to remove a tin-containing foreign matter present on the rear face opposite to the face irradiated with the pulse laser beam.

Method for removing foreign matter on glass substrate surface

An apparatusfor producing a plate glass, comprising a bathfor float-forming for reserving a molten metalfor forming a band-shaped plate glass having a predetermined thickness by feeding a molten glass ribbonin a predetermined direction on the molten metaland a pair of partition wallsprovided substantially above left and right edgesof the molten glass ribbonand substantially along the edgesto partition a space above a bath surface of the molten metal into an upper space A above a region covered with the molten glass ribbonand upper spaces B above regions not covered with the molten glass ribbonwherein the partition wallseach has a vertically dividable structure dividable into an upper partition wallA and a lower partition wallB, and the lower partition wallB is constituted by strip-shaped lower strip membersprovided continuously to each other in a lateral direction, and the strip membersare configured to be removable or openable from the upper partition wallA.

The present invention relates to production of a flat glass, which can improve the surface smoothness of a flat glass in the moving direction and which prevents formation of stripes on the flat glass. A fixed bedcomprising a plurality of supportsarranged in such a state that they will not move at least in a direction in parallel with the moving direction of a glass ribbonand having groovesB to let loose the steam generated by vaporization of a steam film forming agent formed between the respective supportsis used, and the amount of the steam let loose from the grooves is adjusted in accordance with the glass temperature distribution in the moving direction of the glass ribbonwhich moves on the fixed bed

Process for producing flat glass

The present invention relates to improvement in a method of supplying a glass ribbon in a molten state to be supplied from a glass melting furnace to a flat glass forming apparatus, which can further improve the smoothness of a flat glass after formed. A glass ribbonsupplied from a glass melting furnaceto a flat glass forming apparatusis stretched between one pair of tension rollersA andB in an S-shape and the tension rollersA andB are rotated while applying a surface pressure to the glass ribbonface via a thin layer of a steam film generated by vaporization of a steam film forming agent. By means of rotation of the tension rollersA andB, the face of the glass ribbonstill in a molten state is polished via the steam film

A method and apparatus for producing a sheet glass includes pouring a molten glass into a bathtub containing a molten metal so that it will form a molten glass stream having a constant width in a high temperature zone on the molten metal bath. The molten glass stream in the form of a ribbon having a desired thickness is led into a subsequent shaping zone, wherein, in the high temperature zone, the molten metal level in the vicinity of the edge of the molten glass stream is differentiated from the molten metal level at the center of the glass stream to complement a force of the molten glass stream for expanding or contracting in the width direction and thereby to maintain the edge at a predetermined position.

Method and apparatus for producing a sheet glass

A method for holding an edge of a molten glass flow, comprising forming a molten glass flow by continuously feeding molten glass on a bath surface of molten metal contained in a vessel, holding an edge of the molten glass flow in a width direction thereof when advancing the molten glass flow to draw the molten glass flow in a glass ribbon having a target thickness, and controlling a flow of the molten metal so that a bath surface level in height of the molten metal in the vicinity of the edge of the molten glass flow is different from that of the molten metal in the vicinity of a central portion of the molten glass flow in the width direction thereof, whereby a force to spread or narrow the molten glass flow in the width direction is compensated so as to hold the edge of the molten glass flow at a predetermined position.

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Yokohama, Japan

Motoichi Iga