Patent ID: 9593033
Date: 2017-03-14
CPC Classifications: C03B

Claim:
1. A method of manufacturing a glass ribbon, comprising: providing a first pull roll apparatus comprising a first upstream pair of draw rolls, a second pull roll apparatus comprising a first midstream pair of draw rolls positioned downstream along a draw path from the first upstream pair of draw rolls, and a third pull roll apparatus comprising a first downstream pair of draw rolls positioned downstream along the draw path from the first midstream pair of draw rolls; forming a glass ribbon with a width extending between a first edge portion and a second edge portion; independently operating the first pull roll apparatus such that at least one draw roll of the first upstream pair of draw rolls rotates with a substantially constant torque to draw the first edge portion of the glass ribbon along the draw path, wherein the first upstream pair of draw rolls apply a substantially constant force to the first edge portion of the glass ribbon along the draw path; independently operating the second pull roll apparatus such that at least one draw roll of the first midstream pair of draw rolls rotates with a substantially constant torque to further draw the first edge portion of the glass ribbon along the draw path, wherein the first midstream pair of draw rolls apply a substantially constant force to the first edge portion of the glass ribbon along the draw path that is different from the substantially constant force applied by the first upstream pair of draw rolls to the first edge portion of the glass ribbon; and independently operating the third pull roll apparatus such that at least one of the first downstream pair of draw rolls rotates with a substantially constant angular velocity to further draw the first edge portion of the glass ribbon along the draw path.