Glass sheet bending station and method for glass sheet bending
AssigneeGlasstech, Inc.
InventorsAlfredo Serrano, Gilbert L. Reed, Thomas J. Zalesak, Paul D. Ducat
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A glass sheet bending station (20) and method for glass sheet bending utilize a primary actuating mechanism (154) for moving mold support linkages to provide glass sheet bending with a constant radius and utilize control link detachable connections (39) that allow a secondary actuating mechanism (155) to provide bending of a glass sheet independently of linkage movement on the other side of the detached connections.
Claims20
A glass sheet bending station for cylindrically bending heated flat glass sheets, comprising:
- a framework;
- lower and upper deformable molds each of which includes a plurality of elongated mold members having opposite ends, and a plurality of roll assemblies supported by the mold members to receive a flat glass sheet to be bent;
- a pair of sets of lower and upper linkages that respectively support the lower and upper deformable molds on the framework and respectively extend between the opposite ends of the mold members to control movement thereof from a flat shape to a cylindrically bent shape;
- each linkage including connector links that are fixedly connected to associated ends of the mold members thereof and have pivotal connections to their adjacent connector links about axes that extend parallel to the glass sheet throughout the bending;
- each linkage also having control links that have respective pivotal connections to the connector links thereof about axes that extend perpendicular to the glass sheet throughout the bending, and universal connections that connect adjacent control links to each other;
- a primary actuating mechanism that is mounted by the framework and that moves the linkages such that the linkages move the mold members of the lower and upper deformable molds to bend the glass sheet with a constant radius;
- each linkage having at least one control link detachable connection that is detachable to permit glass sheet bending by linkage movement on one side thereof independently of linkage movement on the other side thereof;
- and
- a secondary actuating mechanism that is mounted by the framework and that moves the linkages on the one side of their detached connections of the control links to provide bending of the glass sheet independently of linkage movement on the other side of the detached connections.
A glass sheet bending station for cylindrically bending heated flat glass sheets, comprising:
- a framework;
- lower and upper deformable molds each of which includes a plurality of elongated mold members having opposite ends, the elongated mold members being hollow quench tubes having quench plenums mounted thereon and having quench openings, and a plurality of roll assemblies supported by the mold members to receive a flat glass sheet to be bent and quenched;
- a pair of sets of lower and upper linkages that respectively support the lower and upper deformable molds on the framework and respectively extend between the opposite ends of the mold members to control movement thereof from a flat shape to a cylindrically bent shape;
- each linkage including connector links that are fixedly connected to associated ends of the mold members thereof and have pivotal connections to their adjacent connector links about axes that extend parallel to the glass sheet throughout the bending;
- each connector link of each linkage also having a pair of control links that have a pivotal connection to the connector link thereof about an axis that extends perpendicular to the glass sheet throughout the bending, and universal connections that connect adjacent control links to each other;
- a primary actuating mechanism that is mounted by the framework and has flexible connectors to opposite ends of the linkages such that the linkages move the mold members of the lower and upper deformable molds to bend the glass sheet with a constant radius;
- each linkage having each of the pair of control links of at least one connector link having a pair of portions that extend in opposite directions from the pivotal axis thereof, and detachable connections that are detachable to disconnect said oppositely extending control link portions for pivoting independently of each other to permit glass sheet bending by linkage movement on one side thereof independently of linkage movement on the other side thereof;
- and
- a secondary actuating mechanism including a pair of actuator motors that is mounted by the framework and that moves the linkages on the one side of their detached connections of the control links to provide bending of the glass sheet independently of linkage movement and glass sheet bending on the other side of the detached connections.
A method for cylindrically bending heated flat glass sheets at a glass sheet bending station including a framework, lower and upper deformable molds each of which includes a plurality of elongated mold members having opposite ends, a plurality of roll assemblies supported by the mold members to receive a flat glass sheet to be bent, a pair of sets of lower and upper linkages that respectively support the lower and upper deformable molds on the framework and respectively extend between the opposite ends of the mold members to control movement thereof from a flat shape to a cylindrically bent shape, each linkage including connector links that are fixedly connected to associated ends of the mold members thereof and have pivotal connections to their adjacent connector links about axes that extend parallel to the glass sheet throughout the bending, each linkage also having control links that have respective pivotal connections to the connector links thereof about axes that extend perpendicular to the glass sheet throughout the bending, universal connections that connect adjacent control links to each other, and a primary actuating mechanism that is mounted by the framework and that moves the linkages such that the linkages move the mold members of the lower and upper deformable molds to bend the glass sheet with a constant radius, the glass sheet bending method comprising:
- providing each linkage with a detached control link connection that permits glass sheet bending by linkage movement on one side thereof independently of linkage movement on the other side thereof;
- and
- operating a secondary actuating mechanism that is mounted by the framework and that moves the linkages on the one side of their detached control links to provide bending of the glass sheet independently of linkage movement on the other side of the detached connections.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.