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US 2019/0315647 A1Published application
Sag-assist articulated tooling design for glass bending
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorChao Yu
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A sag-assist articulated tooling apparatus is described for complex, non-developable thin glass bending. The tooling apparatus employs a double-axis articulation design which introduces controllable external force in addition to glass gravity itself. The tooling apparatus described an articulated section along the primary bending direction and an articulated section along the cross bending direction. Each articulated section may include a hinge tower, counterweight, swing stopper, and counterweight stopper.
Claims20
An apparatus for gravity bending sheet glass comprising:
- a base frame;
- a first primary articulated section coupled to the base frame, the first primary articulated section comprising a first primary swing configured to permit gravity bending of the sheet glass along a primary bending direction of the sheet glass;
- and
- a first cross articulated section coupled to the base frame, the first cross articulated section comprising a first cross swing configured to permit gravity bending of the sheet glass along a cross bending direction of the sheet glass;
- wherein the first primary swing is configured to pivot from an open position to a closed position due to gravity bending of the sheet glass, wherein the closed position of the first primary swing is configured to permit bending of the sheet glass to a shape having more curvature in the primary bending direction than permitted by the open position of the first primary swing;
- and
- wherein the first cross swing is configured to pivot from an open position to a closed position due to gravity bending of the sheet, wherein the closed position of the first cross swing is configured to permit bending of the sheet glass to a shape having more curvature in the cross bending direction than permitted by the open position of the first cross swing.
4 more elements
A method comprising:
- placing a glass sheet on a gravity bending tool for bending glass sheets, the gravity bending tool comprising:
- a first primary articulated section coupled to the base frame, the first primary articulated section comprising a first primary swing configured to permit gravity bending of the sheet glass along a primary bending direction of the sheet glass;
- and
- a first cross articulated section coupled to the base frame, the first cross articulated section comprising a first cross swing configured to permit gravity bending of the sheet glass along a cross bending direction of the sheet glass;
- wherein the first primary swing is configured to pivot from an open position to a closed position due to gravity bending of the sheet glass, wherein the closed position of the first primary swing is configured to permit bending of the sheet glass to a shape having more curvature in the primary bending direction than permitted by the open position of the first primary swing;
- and
- wherein the first cross swing is configured to pivot from an open position to a closed position due to gravity bending of the sheet, wherein the closed position of the first cross swing is configured to permit bending of the sheet glass to a shape having more curvature in the cross bending direction than permitted by the open position of the first cross swing;
- applying heat in a first heating stage from a heating element to the sheet glass, while the first primary articulated section and the first cross articulated section are in the open position, to cause gravity bending of the heated sheet glass in the primary direction and pivoting of the first primary articulated section to the closed position in response to a change in the weight distribution of the glass sheet on the primary swing;
- applying heat in a second heating stage from the heating element to the sheet glass while the first primary articulated section is in the closed position and the first cross articulated section is in the open position, to cause gravity bending of the heated sheet glass in the cross direction and pivoting of the first cross articulated section to the closed position in response to a change in the weight distribution of the glass sheet on the cross swing.
6 more elements
A method comprising:
- placing a glass sheet on a gravity bending tool for bending glass sheets;
- applying uniform heat in a first heating stage from a heating element to the sheet glass to cause gravity bending of the heated sheet glass in the primary direction to form a predetermined, developable shape;
- applying non-uniform heat in a second heating stage from the heating element to the sheet glass to cause gravity bending of the heated sheet glass in the cross direction to form a predetermined, non-developable shape.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.