Patent ID: 7096691
Filing Date: 2006-08-29
Classification: C03B

Abstract:
1. An apparatus for bending a glass sheet, said apparatus comprising: a furnace for heating the glass sheet, the furnace having an outlet opening for discharging the glass sheet; at least one hearth bed housed in the furnace, for conveying the glass sheet in a first direction toward the outlet opening of the furnace; and a final hearth bed housed in the furnace at a position between the at least one hearth bed and the outlet opening of the furnace, the final hearth bed having a top surface for conveying the glass sheet toward the outlet opening of the furnace while bending the glass sheet to have a curved shape in conformity with the top surface, the final hearth bed having a bottom surface and an axis that is arranged along the bottom surface and toward the outlet opening of the furnace, the top surface being upwardly convexly curved to have a curvature defined along a plane that is perpendicular to the axis, the top surface having, in terms of stream of the glass sheet in the furnace, (1) an upstream end, (2) a downstream end that is at a level lower than that of the upstream end, and (3) an intermediate point defined between the upstream and downstream ends, the top surface having (a) a first section that extends from the upstream end to the intermediate point and that is parallel with the axis or upwardly inclined relative to the axis and (b) a second section that extends from the intermediate point to the downstream end and that is downwardly inclined relative to the axis, the final hearth bed being arranged such that the bottom surface of the final hearth bed is along the first direction or inclined downwardly relative to the first direction, wherein the first section is parallel with the axis, and wherein the intermediate point is at a middle portion defined between the upstream and downstream ends.