Patent ID: 7540173
Filing Date: 2009-06-02
Classification: C03B

Abstract:
1. A method for bending a glass sheet, comprising the steps of: preparing a plurality of hearth beds and a final hearth bed, the plurality of hearth beds having top surfaces curved in a direction perpendicular to a conveyance direction with curvature radii that gradually decrease as located more downstream, the final hearth bed having an axis extending between upstream and downstream ends thereof, a top surface curved in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the final hearth bed with a predetermined curvature radius and an upstream end surface including a first surface section tilted toward a downstream end surface of the final hearth bed so as to form an angle Θ with respect to a direction perpendicular to the axis of the final hearth bed when observed in plane; disposing the plurality of hearth beds and the final hearth bed in a furnace in such a manner that the final hearth bed is situated downstream of the plurality of hearth beds with the first surface section of the upstream end surface of the final hearth bed being located adjacent to and substantially parallel to a downstream end surface of adjacent one of the plurality of hearth beds; and heating the glass sheet in the furnace while conveying the glass sheet in the conveyance direction over the plurality of hearth beds and the final hearth bed, thereby bending the glass sheet so that the glass sheet has a compound curvature.