Nippon Sheet Glass Company, Limited

Yasuhiro Fuchigami

Kazuo Yamada

Seiichiro Honjo

Tetsuya Mizusugi

Atsushi Okai

A floating mold changer carriage is movable between a shaping device for shaping a sheet of glass with at least one mold and a mold storage area spaced from the shaping device, for replacing the mold with a new mold. The carriage includes a main frame having a plurality of pallets mounted on a lower surface thereof and each having a flow passage with its one open end connected to fluid source. The pallet has a cylindrical portion on its lower surface and a hollow annular member of a resilient material disposed around the cylindrical portion. The annular member has an opening confronting the other open end of the flow passage. When a fluid or air is supplied from the fluid source via the flow passage into the annular members, the annular members are inflated to float the main frame off the floor. Continued supply of air develops a fluid or air layer between the floor and the annular members to lower the coefficient of friction therebetween, thus allowing the carriage to be moved easily.

Floating mold changer carriage

An apparatus for manufacturing a curved glass sheet has a glass sheet conveyor mechanism for conveying a glass sheet heated up to its softening point in a heating furnace, and a mold assembly disposed downstream of the heating station with respect to a direction in which the glass sheet is conveyed by the conveyor mechanism, for curving the glass sheet to prescribed curvature. The glass sheet conveyor mechanism includes a pair of fixed rails extending in the glass sheet conveyance direction, a pair of movable rails disposed outwardly of and extending parallel to the fixed rails, the movable rails being movable transversely of the glass sheet conveyance direction, and traveling assemblies guided by the fixed rails for movement between a 'standby position' where the softened glass sheet is received from the heating furnace and a 'transfer position' where the glass sheet is transferred into the mold assembly. A plurality of pairs of conveyor plates are supported on the traveling assemblies in engagement with the movable rails. The conveyor plates receive the glass sheet at the 'standby position'. When the conveyor plates reach the 'transfer position', the conveyor plates are moved transversely of the glass sheet conveyance direction to allow the glass sheet to be placed on a mold of the mold mechanism.

Apparatus for manufacturing curved glass sheets

An oscillating device for oscillating an object includes a single motor mounted on a base, a support base mounted on the base for supporting an object and movable in first and second orthogonal horizontal directions, a first converter mechanism mounted on the base and coupled to the support base for converting rotation from the motor into a first linear motion in the first horizontal direction and applying the first linear motion in the support base, a second converter mechanism mounted on the base and coupled to the support base for converting rotation from the motor into a second linear motion in the second horizontal direction and applying the second linear motion to the support base, and a clutch mechanism mounted on the base and having two clutch plates with respective engaging surfaces thereof angularly displaced from each other for selectively transmitting the rotation from the motor to the second converter mechanism.

Device for oscillating a ring mold for sheet glass

A joint assembly interconnecting first and second rotatable shafts includes an engaging member mounted on a shaft portion of the first rotatable shaft, a tubular assembly including a first tubular member in which the shaft portion is coaxially inserted and which has an engaged member for engaging the engaging member, and a second tubular member coupled to the second rotatable shaft, and an urging assembly disposed in the first tubular member for normally urging the first tubular member and the first rotatable shaft axially away from each other to keep the engaging member and the engaged member in engagement with each other. The engaged member has a central through hole through which the first rotatable shaft is inserted, and holes extending radially from the central through holes for allowing the engaging member to be axially inserted therethrough, for thereby permitting the first rotatable shaft to be connected to and disconnected from the joint assembly.

Joint assembly

There is disclosed an improved apparatus for locally heating selected portions of glass sheets conveyed through a tunnel type furnace on a roller conveyor. The apparatus comprises two localized heaters positioned within the furnace, supporting members for supporting the localized heaters, at least one portion of each of the supporting members extending into the furnace, and a drive mechanism positioned externally of the furnace and adapted to reciprocatingly moving the localized heaters in a direction transversely to the direction of conveyance of the glass sheets in a substantially synchronized relation to movement of the conveyed glass sheets so that the selected portions of the glass sheets are locally heated by the localized heaters and can thereafter be bent, at a bending station, to a much smaller radius of curvature than the rest of the glass sheet.

Growing community of inventors

Osaka, Japan

Yasuhiro Fuchigami