Apparatus for press bending relatively thin glass sheets

Apparatus for bending and heat treating relatively thin glass sheets comprising:

• means including a furnace for heating a flat sheet of glass to substantially the softening point thereof, means including spaced conveyor rolls for supporting and conveying said heated sheet in a horizontal plane and moving the same in a generally horizontal path from said furnace toward and between opposed lower and upper horizontally disposed press members located exteriorly of said furnace and having complemental shaping surfaces, said lower press member having a shaping rail constituting the shaping surface thereof and formed of a plurality of spaced apart segments permitting passage of said shaping rail past said conveyor rolls upon vertical movement relative thereto, a plurality of heating elements detachably mounted on said lower press member for applying supplemental heat to said sheet while the latter is being advanced horizontally between said press members whereby the sheet is substantially continuously heated while conveyed from said furnace to a desired bending position between said press members, means on said lower press member interrupting advancement of said sheet in a desired position between said press members, and means for moving said lower press member toward the other for lifting said sheet from said conveyor rolls and pressing said sheet into shape between said complemental shaping surfaces, said heating elements movable along with said lower press member to maintain a constant spacing between said heating elements and said sheet upon vertical movement of said lower press member, said heating elements being arranged in spaced rows extending generally parallel to the axes of said conveyor rolls and offset therefrom to provide clearance for said rolls upon vertical movement of said lower press member.