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US 4,071,344 AGranted
Glass sheet temperature control apparatus and method
AssigneeLibbey-Owens-Ford Co.
InventorRichard H. Blausey, Jr.
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of and apparatus for controlling the temperatures of glass sheets moving bodily through a furnace by automatically varying the heat exposure time of the sheets in the furnace in accordance with temperature variations from a desired level detected in heated sheets exiting the furnace.
Claims9
A method of accurately controlling the temperature of heated glass sheets comprising:
- supporting a plurality of glass sheets in a substantially horizontal plane and moving the same bodily in a generally horizontal path through a heating furnace at a preselected rate of speed, heating said sheets as they are advanced through said furnace, measuring the individual temperatures of a given series of heated glass sheets exiting the furnace and determining the average temperature deviation of said series of heated glass sheets from a desired temperature, varying the rate of speed of said glass sheets in said furnace in accordance with the amount of deviation of said average temperature from said desired temperature to vary the duration of time said sheets moving through said furnace are exposed to heat, and varying the duration of speed change in accordance with the amount of deviation of said average temperature from said desired temperature.
Apparatus for accurately controlling the temperature of heated glass sheets comprising:
- a heating furnace, a conveyor for supporting a plurality of glass sheets in a substantially horizontal plane and moving the same bodily along a generally horizontal path through said heating furnace at a preselected rate of speed, means in said furnace for heating said sheets, means exteriorly of said furnace for measuring the individual temperatures of a given series of heated glass sheets exiting the furnace, means computing the average temperature deviation of said series of heated glass sheets from a desired temperature, control means responsive to said average temperature deviation for generating a signal to vary the rate of speed of said conveyor to adjust the heat exposure time of said sheets moving through said furnace, and said control means including means for varying the duration of said signal in accordance with the variation in the temperature deviation.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.