Process and apparatus for making glass sheet
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsDaniel Warren Hawtof, Michael Donovan Brady
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus and process for making glass soot sheet and sintered glass sheet. Glass soot particles are deposited on a curved deposition surface of a rotating drum to form a soot sheet. The soot sheet is then released from the deposition surface. The soot sheet can be sintered into a consolidated glass. The soot sheet and the sintered glass can be sufficiently long and flexible to be reeled into a roll.
Claims48
An apparatus for making a glass sheet, comprising:
- (I) a soot-providing device for providing glass soot particles;
- (II) a rotatable drum having an outer curved deposition surface on which the glass soot particles can be deposited to form a soot sheet;
- (III) a soot-sheet-releasing device for releasing at least part of the soot sheet from the outer deposition surface of the rotatable drum;
- and
- (IV) a soot-sheet-guiding device for guiding the movement of the part of soot sheet immediately released from the deposition surface away from the outer deposition surface of the rotatable drum in a length direction of the soot sheet and adapted to provide a tensile stress across a width of the soot sheet during sintering thereof, wherein the soot-sheet-guiding device comprises clamping conveyer belts.
A process for making a glass sheet, comprising the following steps:
- (A) providing a plurality of glass soot particles;
- (B) depositing the glass soot particles on a curved deposition surface of a rotating drum to form a soot sheet;
- (C) releasing at least part of the soot sheet from the deposition surface of the drum;
- and
- (E) sintering at least a part of the soot sheet into densified glass by heating the part of the moving soot sheet to a sintering temperature, wherein both sides of both peripheral portions of both main surfaces of the soot sheet being sintered are placed in contact with a soot-sheet-guiding device, and the soot-sheet-guiding device applies a tensile stress across a width of the soot sheet during sintering.
An apparatus for making a glass sheet, comprising:
- (I) a soot-providing device for providing glass soot particles, the soot-providing device including a burner array comprising a linear array of burners;
- (II) a rotatable drum having an outer curved deposition surface on which the glass soot particles can be deposited to form a soot sheet;
- (III) a soot-sheet-releasing device for releasing at least part of the soot sheet from the outer deposition surface of the rotatable drum;
- and
- (IV) a soot-sheet-guiding device for guiding the movement of the part of soot sheet immediately released from the deposition surface away from the outer deposition surface of the rotatable drum, wherein the soot-sheet-guiding device comprises clamping conveyor belts capable of providing tensile stress across a width of the soot sheet when the soot sheet is sintered.
A process for making a glass sheet, comprising the following steps:
- (A) providing a plurality of glass soot particles;
- (B) depositing the glass soot particles on a curved deposition surface of a rotating drum using a linear array of burners to form a soot sheet;
- (C) releasing at least part of the soot sheet from the deposition surface of the drum;
- and
- (E) sintering at least a part of the soot sheet into densified glass by heating the part of the moving soot sheet to a sintering temperature, wherein both sides of both peripheral portions of both main surfaces of the soot sheet being sintered are placed in contact with a soot-sheet-guiding device, and the soot-sheet-guiding device applies a tensile stress across a width of the soot sheet during sintering.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.