The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Mar. 12, 2013
Filed:
Apr. 27, 2009
Olus N. Boratav, Ithaca, NY (US);
Keith R. Gaylo, Painted Post, NY (US);
Kiat C. Kang, Painted Post, NY (US);
Bulent Kocatulum, Horseheads, NY (US);
Steven M. Milillo, State College, PA (US);
Douglas G. Neilson, Wilmington, NC (US);
Olus N. Boratav, Ithaca, NY (US);
Keith R. Gaylo, Painted Post, NY (US);
Kiat C. Kang, Painted Post, NY (US);
Bulent Kocatulum, Horseheads, NY (US);
Steven M. Milillo, State College, PA (US);
Douglas G. Neilson, Wilmington, NC (US);
Corning Incorporated, Corning, NY (US);
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for controlling glass flow in, for example, a downdraw glass manufacturing process (e.g., the fusion downdraw process) are provided. In certain aspects, the mass, thickness, and/or the temperature distribution of molten glass () on the surface of forming apparatus () is managed by: (A) constructing a stream-tube mapping between (i) regions (; FIG.A) of a cross-section of a conduit () that supplies molten glass () to the forming apparatus () and (ii) regions (; FIG.B) on the exterior surface of the forming apparatus (); (B) using the stream-tube mapping to select a temperature distribution for the cross-section that results in a desired mass, thickness, and/or temperature distribution of molten glass () on the surface of the forming apparatus (); and (C) heating and/or insulating the conduit () so as to produce a temperature distribution for the cross-section which equals or at least approximates the distribution selected in step (B).