Method and apparatus for bending and tempering a glass panel
AssigneeGlaston Corporation
InventorsPete Harjunen, Veijo Valtonen, Mika Olan, Mikko Tanhuanpää
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Abstract
The invention relates to a method and apparatus for bending a glass panel. A heated flat glass panel is fed from a furnace onto a bending conveyor while the bending conveyor is in a straight configuration. The bending conveyor and the glass panel are arched to a desired curvature while the glass panel travels along the bending conveyor. The bent glass panel is passed from the bending conveyor onto a tempering conveyor present as its extension, which has been previously arched to a desired curve as early as or even prior to having the flat glass panel received by the straight bending conveyor.
Claims10
A method for bending and tempering a glass panel, said method comprises:
- heating a glass panel in a heating furnace for bending and tempering
- feeding a flat glass panel from the furnace onto a bending conveyor with the bending conveyor in a straight configuration
- arching the bending conveyor and a glass panel to a desired curvature while the glass panel travels along the bending conveyor,
- wherein a bent glass panel is passed from the bending conveyor onto a tempering conveyor present as its extension, which has been previously arched to a desired curve as early as or even prior to a flat glass panel is received onto the straight bending conveyor.
An apparatus for bending and tempering a glass panel, said apparatus comprises:
- a heating furnace for heating glass panels to a bending temperature
- a bending conveyor for bending glass panels, the bending conveyor comprising horizontal conveyor rolls
- means for arching the bending conveyor to a curve matching the desired curvature of a glass panel and means for cooling the bent glass panel for tempering,
- wherein the bending conveyor is adapted to receive a flat glass panel while itself in a straight configuration and the bending conveyor is followed by an arching-ready tempering conveyor, which is already in a configuration arched to a desired curve even as the bending conveyor is still in a straight configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.