Manufacture of glass-ceramic plates having opening(s) of bent perimeter, bent glass-ceramic plates
AssigneeEurokera
InventorsAllan M. Fredholm, Claude Gille, Michel Grassi, Pablo Vilato, Jean-Louis Viron
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present invention relates to: a method of bending the perimeter of at least one opening (2) provided in a glass-ceramic precursor plate (1), said perimeter describing a closed curve without sharp angles; a method of manufacturing a glass-ceramic plate (10′, 10″) in which at least one opening (2) is provided, whose perimeter describing a closed curve without sharp angles is bent; novel glass-ceramic plates (10′, 10″), obtainable by implementing said manufacturing methods.
Claims14
A method of producing a glass-ceramic plate having at least one opening through the plate, the method comprising,
- providing a precursor glass plate having at least one opening through the plate with a perimeter describing a closed curve free of sharp angles,
- preheating the plate having at least one opening to a temperature below the nucleation temperature of the glass,
- further heating an area of the plate around the perimeter of the opening to a temperature at which the viscosity of the area is at a value adapted to bending, and for a time insufficient to cause significant nucleation of the glass in the heated area, and
- applying at least one tool to mechanically bend the further heated perimeter area ceramming the bent plate.
A method of manufacturing a glass-ceramic plate which comprises at least one opening whose perimeter describes a closed curve free of sharp angles, the method comprising:
- providing a plate of a precursor glass for a glass-ceramic,
- forming an opening through the glass plate,
- heating an area around the perimeter of opening to a temperature at which the viscosity is at a value adapted to bending,
- mechanically bending the heated area of plate around the perimeter of opening, and
- ceramming the bent plate.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.