Support apparatus to maintain physical geometry of sheet glass and methods of using same
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsFrank Thomas Coppola, Monica Jo Mashewske
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are devices and methods for supporting glass sheets during a thermal treatment process, such as heat treating, to maintain the physical geometry of the glass sheets. The device can comprise means for separating adjacent glass sheets to prevent them from touching. The separating means can comprise a separation comb having projections and channels configured for receiving the glass sheets, separating rods configured to be positioned between the glass sheets, or a combination of separation combs and separating rods.
Claims15
A method for heat treating a plurality of glass sheets for display substrates each comprising at least a respective upper edge and an opposing bottom edge, comprising:
- placing the plurality of glass sheets within a device wherein the device comprises:
- a support frame;
- and
- means for separating each of the glass sheets to prevent adjacent sheets from touching, wherein the means for separating comprises at least one elongate separating rod having a proximal portion and an opposing distal portion and at least one upper separation comb comprising:
- an upper comb base defining a longitudinal axis;
- and
- a plurality of upper comb projections spaced apart along the upper comb base and projecting outwardly from the upper comb base in a direction substantially transverse to the longitudinal axis, wherein each upper comb projection comprises a proximal end and a spaced distal end, wherein adjacent upper comb projections define an upper comb channel therebetween, and wherein each upper comb channel is configured to receive a portion of the upper edge of a respective glass sheet;
- positioning the at least one upper separation comb along at least the upper edges of the glass sheets such that the glass sheet is maintained in a substantially vertical flat plane;
- positioning the at least one elongate separating rod between at least two adjacent glass sheets proximate the bottom edges of the respective adjacent glass sheets in a direction substantially parallel to a plane defined by each of the glass sheets;
- placing the device into an oven;
- and
- operating the oven to heat each of the plurality of glass sheets.
A method for heat treating a plurality of glass sheets for display substrates each comprising at least a respective bottom edge and an opposing upper edge, comprising:
- placing the plurality of glass sheets within a device, wherein the device comprises:
- a support frame;
- and
- means for separating each of the glass sheets to prevent adjacent sheets from touching, comprising at least two upper elongate separating rods each having a proximal portion and an opposing distal portion, wherein the upper elongate separating rods are configured to be positioned between at least two adjacent glass sheets in a direction substantially parallel to a plane defined by each of the glass sheets, and wherein the upper elongate separating rods are configured to be positioned proximate at least the upper edges of respective adjacent glass sheets;
- positioning the upper elongate separating rods between adjacent glass sheets proximate the upper edges of the respective adjacent glass sheets in a direction substantially parallel to a plane defined by each of the glass sheets such that the adjacent upper elongate separating rods define an upper slot restraining the upper edge of a glass sheet and the glass sheet is maintained substantially in a vertical plane;
- placing the device into an oven;
- and
- operating the oven to heat each of the plurality of glass sheets.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.