Air knife and conveyor system

An air knife for directing a stream of air through a region comprising:

• a) an elongated housing having an inlet for receiving air into the housing, said housing defines an elongated gap that allows air entering the housing through the inlet to exit the housing and form a curtain of air;
• b) said elongated housing constructed from two elongated bent pieces of sheet metal that are bent to form two wall defining members that mate to form said housing and are bent to define a hollow region into which air is forced and said gap extending along a length of the housing from which the air exits;
• and
• c) a third member made from an elongated sheet of metal which combines with one of said first and second wall defining members to form an elongated nozzle that defines the gap which extends along a length of said housing.

A method of fabricating an air knife for directing a curtain of air against a surface of a glass sheet, comprising:

• a) providing a sheet of metal having a length substantially equal to a length of the air knife;
• b) forming a housing by bending the sheet metal and bringing opposing edges of the sheet metal into spaced relation with each other to form a gap through which air can escape from an interior of said housing, form a curtain of air, and be directed against a surface of a glass sheet during operation of said air knife;
• and
• c) coupling said interior region of said air knife to a source of pressured air.

A method of fabricating an air knife comprising:

• a) providing a sheet of metal having a length substantially equal to a length of the air knife;
• b) forming a housing by bending two elongated sheet metal members and attaching the two sheet metal members together to form said housing and bringing opposing edges of the sheet metal into spaced relation with each other to form a gap through which air can escape from an interior of said housing during operation of said air knife;
• c) coupling said interior region of said air knife to a source of pressured air;
• d) inserting a compressible material between conforming surfaces of said two elongated sheet metal members and wherein the members are attached by connectors.

A method of fabricating an air knife comprising:

• a) providing a sheet of metal having a length substantially equal to a length of the air knife;
• b) forming a housing by bending the sheet metal and bringing opposing edges of the sheet metal into spaced relation with each other to form a gap through which air can escape from an interior of said housing during operation of said air knife;
• c) attaching an elongated nozzle defining member to the housing to define a chamber next to the gap through which air exits from the housing;
• and
• d) coupling said interior region of said air knife to a source of pressured air.

Apparatus positioned with respect to a glass washer for blowing liquid from a surface of a glass sheet that has been cleaned by the glass washer comprising:

• a first set of driven rollers for moving a glass sheet in a travel path direction away from a glass washer;
• an air knife mounted to direct a stream of air through a region to contact the glass sheet as it moves away from the glass washer comprising an elongated housing having an inlet for receiving air into the housing, said housing defining an elongated air gap that allows air entering the elongated housing through the inlet to exit the housing and form an air curtain that contacts the glass sheet;
• said elongated air gap extending in a direction that forms an angle with respect to the travel path direction so that the air curtain contacts progressively different parts of said leading edge as the rollers move said glass sheet away from the washer;
• and
• a second set of one or more rollers having a rotation axis that is aligned generally with the air gap in said housing but is offset from an angle of rotation of the first set of rollers.