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US 9,284,209 B2Granted
Method and apparatus for minimizing inclusions in a glass making process
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsAndrey V Filippov, Chunhong (Chelsie) C He, Bulent Kocatulum, Kathleen Elizabeth Morse, Liming Wang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An apparatus for forming a glass sheet with reduced zircon inclusions in the glass sheet is disclosed. In one embodiment, the apparatus comprises heating elements distributed vertically between the weirs of a forming wedge and the root of the forming wedge, and wherein a thermal barrier is disposed between adjacent heating elements. A method of using the apparatus is also disclosed.
Claims16
An apparatus for forming a glass sheet comprising:
- a forming wedge comprising weirs at the top of the forming wedge and forming surfaces below the weirs that converge to a root at the bottom of the forming wedge;
- a plurality of heating elements disposed proximate to the forming wedge, at least one of the heating elements comprising a center portion disposed between end portions, wherein the end portions of the at least one heating element have a higher resistance than the center portion of the at least one heating element and the end portions of the at least one heating element radiate a greater amount of heat than the center portion of the at least one heating element;
- an enclosure disposed about the forming wedge, the enclosure comprising an inner wall separating the forming wedge from the plurality of heating elements;
- and
- an insulating thermal barrier positioned in the enclosure and horizontally disposed between an adjacent pair of heating elements, wherein the insulating thermal barrier thermally isolates heating elements positioned above the insulating thermal barrier from heating elements positioned below the thermally insulating barrier.
2 more elements
An apparatus for forming a glass sheet comprising:
- a forming wedge comprising weirs at the top of the forming wedge and forming surfaces that converge to a root at the bottom of the forming wedge;
- a plurality of heating elements disposed at an elevation above the root, at least one of the heating elements comprising a center portion disposed between end portions, wherein the end portions of the at least one heating element have a higher resistance than the center portion of the at least one heating element and the end portions of the at least one heating element radiate a greater amount of heat than the center portion of the at least one heating element;
- an enclosure disposed about the forming wedge, the enclosure comprising an inner wall separating the forming wedge and the heating elements;
- an insulating thermal barrier positioned in the enclosure and horizontally disposed between a bottom-most heating element of the plurality of heating elements and a vertically adjacent heating element, wherein the insulating thermal barrier thermally isolates the vertically adjacent heating element from the bottom-most heating element.
1 more element
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.