Glass sheet press bending system

Abstract

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.