Glass manufacturing – Preform reshaping means – Sheet bending mold
Reexamination Certificate
2000-02-08
2001-07-24
Colaianni, Michael P. (Department: 1731)
Glass manufacturing
Preform reshaping means
Sheet bending mold
C065S025400, C065S025200, C065S169000, C065S182100, C065S182200, C065S182500, C065S370100
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263705
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention is to provide improved apparatus for handling hot glass sheets.
BACKGROUND ART
Glass sheets are conventionally formed by heating on a heating conveyor within a furnace until being sufficiently hot for deformation. The heated glass sheets are then transferred to a mold for forming either solely by that mold or in cooperation with one or more additional molds. U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,103 Fackelman and U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,724 Fackelman disclose a topside transfer platen that allows transfer of a heated glass sheet from a heating conveyor to a mold without any direct contact during the transfer. More specifically, the glass sheets are heated on a roll conveyor and then conveyed to the topside transfer platen which includes a downwardly facing surface having a first set of holes through which a vacuum is drawn and a second set of holes through which pressurized gas is supplied such that the glass sheet is supported without any direct contact with the topside transfer platen. As such, there is no possibility of scratching, marring or otherwise disfiguring the glass sheet surfaces during the transfer.
The inventions of the two Fackelman patents involve different structure and operation. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,103 Fackelman patent, the topside transfer platen is fixedly mounted and the heating conveyor is a roll conveyor that is specifically disclosed as not overlapping the topside transfer platen since it was then thought that any overlap would result in obstruction problems with the transfer. In the U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,724 Fackelman patent, the topside transfer platen is movable upwardly and downwardly above the heating conveyor to permit a mold to move under the raised topside transfer platen with a heated glass sheet supported thereby so that the release of the vacuum would then provide the transfer to the mold for subsequent movement and cooling of the glass sheet. Both of these Fackelman patents disclose the topside transfer platen as being made of a refractory block including passages for respectively communicating the first and second sets of holes with sources of vacuum and pressurized gas to provide the support of the hot glass sheets without any direct contact.
Since the initial Fackelman inventions, topside transfer platens for handling hot glass sheets as described above have been made from fabricated metal capable of withstanding high temperatures, usually stainless steel, as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,599 McMaster et al. Also, positioners have been developed for positioning hot glass sheets while suspended from topside transfer platens as disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 5,066,321 Kramer et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,669,953 Schnabel, Jr. et al., and U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,366 Schnabel, Jr. et al.
DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide improved apparatus for handling hot glass sheets upon movement from a roll type heating conveyor to a topside transfer platen that provides support without any direct contact.
In carrying out the above object, the hot glass sheet handling apparatus of the invention includes a roll conveyor having a plurality of horizontally extending conveyor rolls spaced along a direction of conveyance along which hot glass sheets are conveyed on the conveyor rolls. The roll conveyor has a downstream end toward which the hot glass sheets are conveyed by the conveyor rolls. The apparatus also includes a topside transfer platen that is fixedly mounted at the downstream end of the roll conveyor. This topside transfer platen has a downwardly facing surface that is located at an elevation just slightly higher than the conveyor rolls. The downwardly facing planar surface has a first set of holes through which a vacuum is drawn to support a hot glass sheet received thereby from the roll conveyor. The downwardly facing planar surface also has a second set of holes to which pressurized gas is supplied to space the hot glass sheet from the downwardly facing planar surface. The topside transfer platen has an upstream end that overlaps the downstream end of the roll conveyor and the downstream end of the roll conveyor underlaps the upstream end of the topside transfer device with at least one conveyor roll located entirely below the downwardly facing planar surface to support the hot glass sheet upon initially being received by the downwardly facing planar surface of the roll conveyor.
In the preferred construction of the apparatus, the roll conveyor has a single conveyor roll located entirely below the upstream end of the topside transfer platen. The roll conveyor also preferably has another conveyor roll that is located immediately adjacent the single conveyor roll and that has a center located directly below an upstream extremity of the upstream end of the topside transfer platen. The preferred construction of the apparatus also has the roll conveyor provided with conveyor rolls that are made of sinter bonded fused silica.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4578103 (1986-03-01), Fackelman
patent: 4615724 (1986-10-01), Fackelman
patent: 5002599 (1991-03-01), McMaster et al.
patent: 5066321 (1991-11-01), Kramer et al.
patent: 5669953 (1997-09-01), Schnabel, Jr. et al.
patent: 5902366 (1999-05-01), Schnabel, Jr. et al.
Stein, Jess; The Random House Dictionary of the English Language, p. 1544, the word “underlap.”, 1967.
Brooks & Kushman P.C.
Colaianni Michael P.
Glasstech, Inc.
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