US3607187A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Method and apparatus for reshaping glass sheets
Assignee: Permaglass Inc
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Filing: 1969-01-08
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Granted: 1971-09-21
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Expires: 1989-01-08
Abstract
Abstract A method and apparatus for curving a sheet of glass wherein a substantially flat sheet of glass is conveyed through a heating means and removed from the conveyor by a mold means having a curved surface with a vacuum supplied thereto for pulling the sheet thereagainst to curve the sheet. The mold means is then moved through the apparatus to move the sheet to a cooler medium where it is replaced on conveyor means. There is also included a cooling means. In one embodiment the conveying means comprises an endless loop conveyor extending through the heating means and through the cooling means, and the mold means moves into the cooling means and replaces the curved sheet onto the conveyor in the cooling means. In a second embodiment the conveying means includes an endless loop conveyor in the heating means only and an endless frame or ring is disposed exteriorly of a cooling means so that the mold means lifts the sheet of glass from the loop conveyor with the vacuum and then moves to place the curved sheet of glass on the frame which in turn moves into the cooling means for cooling the sheet of glass.
Inventors
- 👤 Harold A Mcmaster
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-02 10:09
CPC Classifications
C; C03; C03B; C03B23/00; C03B23/02; C03B23/023; C03B23/035; C03B23/0352; C03B23/0357; C03B35/00; C03B35/14; C03B35/145
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 29
Claim 1
Independent Claim
82 words
An apparatus for curving a sheet of material such as glass comprising; heating means for heating the sheet, cooling means for cooling the sheet, conveying means for moving a sheet in said heating means and in said cooling means, vacuum mold means for removing a sheet from said conveying means and forming the sheet and for replacing the sheet on said conveying means, said conveying means comprising an endless loop conveyor which extends through said heating means and into said cooling means.
Claim 2
Independent Claim
82 words
An apparatus for curving a sheet of material such as glass comprising; heating means for heating the sheet, cooling means for cooling the sheet, conveying means for moving a sheet in said heating means and in said cooling means, vacuum mold means for removing a sheet from said conveying means and forming the sheet and for replacing the sheet on said conveying means, said conveying means comprising an endless loop conveyor which extends through said heating means and into said cooling means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 1 including actuation means for moving said mold means horizontally along said apparatus to remove a sheet from said conveyor and into said cooling means and onto said conveyor.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 2 wherein said heating means includes a support bed over which said conveyor moves, said conveyor extending across said support bed and having openings therethrough and gas supply means for supplying gases over said support bed and through said openings in said conveyor.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
30 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 3 wherein said mold means has a surface and passages therein for supplying a vacuum thereto for holding a sheet against said surface.
Claim 6
Independent Claim
156 words
An apparatus for curving a sheet of material such as glass comprising; heating means for heating the sheet, cooling means for cooling the sheet, conveying means for moving a sheet in said heating means and in said cooling means, vacuum mold means for removing a sheet from said conveying means and forming the sheet and for replacing the sheet on said conveying means, said conveying means comprising a conveyor for moving the sheet in said heating means and a conveyor assembly for moving the sheet in said cooling means, said vacuum mold means being operable to move a sheet from said conveyor to said conveyor assembly, said conveyor comprising an endless loop conveyor which extends through at least a portion of said heating means and said conveyor assembly including a frame for receiving the sheet from said mold means and movable from a position outside of said cooling means to a position within said cooling means.
Claim 7
Independent Claim
156 words
An apparatus for curving a sheet of material such as glass comprising; heating means for heating the sheet, cooling means for cooling the sheet, conveying means for moving a sheet in said heating means and in said cooling means, vacuum mold means for removing a sheet from said conveying means and forming the sheet and for replacing the sheet on said conveying means, said conveying means comprising a conveyor for moving the sheet in said heating means and a conveyor assembly for moving the sheet in said cooling means, said vacuum mold means being operable to move a sheet from said conveyor to said conveyor assembly, said conveyor comprising an endless loop conveyor which extends through at least a portion of said heating means and said conveyor assembly including a frame for receiving the sheet from said mold means and movable from a position outside of said cooling means to a position within said cooling means.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
37 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 5 including actuation means for moving said mold means horizontally along said apparatus to remove a sheet from said conveyor and onto said frame for movement into said cooling means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
32 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 6 wherein said frame is an endless loop having an upper surface contoured to the surface of said mold for receiving a curved sheet therefrom.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
50 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 7 wherein said heating means includes a support bed over which said conveyor moves, said conveyor extending across said supPort bed and having openings therethrough, and gas supply means for supplying gases over said support bed and through said openings in said conveyor.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
30 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 8 wherein said mold means has a surface and passages therein for supplying a vacuum thereto for holding a sheet against said surface.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
35 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 9 wherein said conveyor assembly also includes means in said cooling means for receiving the sheet from said frame and for moving said sheet in said cooling means.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
92 words
An apparatus for forming a sheet of material such as glass comprising: an elongated enclosed furnace, conveying means for moving a sheet through said furnace, heating means for heating the sheet in said furnace, and vacuum mold means adjacent one end of said furnace and movable vertically to lift a heat softened sheet upwardly against gravity solely through a vacuum, said vacuum mold means including a surface with passages therein for applying a vacuum thereover to hold the sheet thereto for lifting the sheet and for forming the sheet to said surface.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
92 words
An apparatus for forming a sheet of material such as glass comprising: an elongated enclosed furnace, conveying means for moving a sheet through said furnace, heating means for heating the sheet in said furnace, and vacuum mold means adjacent one end of said furnace and movable vertically to lift a heat softened sheet upwardly against gravity solely through a vacuum, said vacuum mold means including a surface with passages therein for applying a vacuum thereover to hold the sheet thereto for lifting the sheet and for forming the sheet to said surface.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
36 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 including cooling means adjacent said one end of said furnace for cooling the sheet, said vacuum mold means being operable to move the sheet into said cooling means.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
20 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 including actuation means for moving said vacuum means horizontally along said apparatus.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
65 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 including cooling means adjacent said one end of said furnace for cooling the sheet, said conveying means being operable to move the sheet in said furnace and in said cooling means, said vacuum mold means being operable to remove the sheet from said conveying means and forming the sheet and replacing the sheet on said conveying means.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
63 words
An apparatus as set forth in claim 11 including cooling means adjacent said one end of said furnace for cooling the sheet, said conveying means comprising a conveyor for moving the sheet in said furnace and a conveyor assembly for moving the sheet in said cooling means, said vacuum means being operable to move a sheet from said conveyor to said conveyor assembly.
Claim 19
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of forming a sheet of material such as glass comprising the steps: conveying the sheet through an elongated enclosed furnace with conveying means, heating the sheet in said furnace, lifting a heat-softened sheet vertically upward against gravity solely by a vacuum applied through passages in a vacuum mold surface positioned adjacent the sheet to lift the sheet as the sheet is formed to the vacuum mold surface.
Claim 20
Independent Claim
69 words
A method of forming a sheet of material such as glass comprising the steps: conveying the sheet through an elongated enclosed furnace with conveying means, heating the sheet in said furnace, lifting a heat-softened sheet vertically upward against gravity solely by a vacuum applied through passages in a vacuum mold surface positioned adjacent the sheet to lift the sheet as the sheet is formed to the vacuum mold surface.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method as set forth in claim 16 including moving the vacuum mold means with the sheet thereagainst into a cooler environment for cooling the sheet.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
The method as set forth in claim 17 including curving the sheet by forming the sheet to a mold surface which is curved.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
37 words
The method as set forth in claim 16 including lifting the sheet from the conveying means with the vacuum mold means to form the sheet and replacing the sheet on the conveying means with the mold means.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
The method as set forth in claim 19 further defined as replacing the sheet on the conveying means in a cooling means.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
40 words
The method as set forth in claim 19 further defined as removing the sheet from the conveying means in the heating means and thereafter moving the sheet into a cooling means and then replacing the sheet on the conveying means.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
45 words
The method as set forth in claim 19 further defined as removing the sheet from a conveyor of the conveying means in the heating means and replacing the sheet on a conveyor assembly of the conveying means at a position exteriorly of the heating means.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
27 words
The method as set forth in claim 22 further defined as moving the sheet in a cooling means with the conveyor assembly for cooling of the sheet.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
44 words
The method as set forth in claim 19 further defined as removing the sheet from a conveyor of the conveying means in the heating means and replacing the sHeet on a frame of the conveying means at a position exteriorly of the heating means.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
26 words
The method as set forth in claim 24 further defined as moving the sheet into a cooling means with the frame for cooling of the sheet.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3177060A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1974-09-20 | 1975-03-22 | 1975-09-21 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 1978-09-20 | 1979-03-22 | 1979-09-21 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 1982-09-20 | 1983-03-22 | 1983-09-21 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |