Patent ID: 8418502
Filing Date: 2013-04-16
Classification: C03B

Abstract:
1. A method for bending a glass sheet, the method comprising: placing a glass sheet on a frame-shaped bending mold; heating the glass sheet by radiant heat rays radiated from a heating source towards the glass sheet, such that the radiant heat rays are partially shielded by at least one temperature-distributing heat shield that partitions a heating region into a plurality of heat regions so as to form a predetermined temperature distribution on the glass sheet, wherein the temperature-distributing heat shield is attached to an inner wall face of a heating furnace; reducing radiant heat rays from the heating source reaching at least one adjacent portion of a surface of the glass sheet, said adjacent portion facing the temperature-distributing heat shield; and bending the glass sheet by its own weight, wherein: the reducing radiant heat rays comprises adjusting the radiant heat rays with at least one heat-ray-adjusting heat shield fixed to the at least one temperature-distributing heat shield; the heat-ray-adjusting heat shield is situated such that a plane of the heat-ray-adjusting heat shield is substantially parallel to a surface of the glass sheet; and a length L of the heat-ray-adjusting heat shield and a position H, corresponding to a distance from a leading edge of the temperature-distributing heat shield, of the heat-ray-adjusting heat shield satisfy the formulas: wherein: “a” is a distance from the heating source to a surface of the glass sheet; “b” is a width of the heating source; “c” is a length of the temperature-distributing heat shield; “t “t