Patent GB-723476-A (GB)
Title: Improvements in or relating to methods of and apparatus for manufacturing toughened bent glass
IPC: C03B23/031
Filed: 1953-09-18
Abstract: 723,476. Glass manufacture. PILKINGTON BROS., Ltd., and BAKER, H. W. Sept. 18, 1953 [Sept. 20, 1952]. No. 23654/52. Class 56. In producing a V-shaped bend in flat glass 4, Fig. 1, before toughening such as in the manufacture of vehicle windscreens, the vertically suspended flat glass after being heated up to near its softening point is caused to wrap itself about a vertical post 3 shaped to impart the angle bend to the glass, the flat glass to each side of the bend being supported by yielding plane members 10, 11, so that the bend at the angle of the Vee is formed and the flatness of the remainder of the glass is maintained. As shown two base members 1, 2, each of which is intended to be mounted on one of a pair of coaxial hydraulically operated rams carry the post 3 and plates 10, 11, respectively the latter being pivoted at 18, 19, to horizontal links, 16, 17 which are themselves pivotally mounted at 14, 15 to the base 2. The juxtaposed ends of the plates 10, 11, are connected by tension springs 22, and rigid arms 24, 25, carried by the plates have rollers or ball bearings 26, 27 engaging a cam bar 23 fixed to the base 2. Horns 30, 31, at the end of the bar 23 act as stops for the arms 24, 25, the plates 10, 11, being coplanar when the arms engage the stops under the action of springs 28, 29 mounted between the base 2 and the plates. The end faces 8, 9, of two abutments 6, 7, mounted on the base 1 engage the plates 10, 11 to limit the angle of the V bend or alternatively the bar 23 may have adjustable abutments (not shown) at each side to limit the backward movement of the arms 24, 25. In a modification, Fig. 5, the supporting plates 10, 11 are mounted directly on rigid arms 32, 33, secured to the base 2 and horizontal arms 40 hinged to the plates project through slots in the base so that apertures or recesses 42 may be engaged by spring catches 41. To prevent relative movement between the glass and the supporting plates, each may be mounted as in Fig. 8. As shown the plate 11 is slidably mounted in a frame 34 hinged at 19 to the arm 33. Recesses or channels in the frame provide runways in which run on roller or ballbearings 35 those edges of the plate 11 which are at right angles to the hinge axis 19. Antifriction means 36 on the frame engage the backs of the plates at the top and bottom. Stops 33a locate the frames in the coplanar position. In a modification the abutments 6, 7 are omitted and the member 1 carrying the post 3 has top and bottom templates, disposed tangentially to the bend in the glass, and end templates. Notches may be formed in the top template and also in the tops of plates 10, 11 to accommodate the carrying tongs. In further forms the compression springs 28, 29 are replaced by tension springs outward of the links or by helical springs co-axial with the hinge pins between the links and the plates, or the resilient support may take the form of an air-cylinder. The carrying tongs 49, Fig. 9, are supported by upright link portions 44, 45, hinged together at 46 and depending by means of suspension 47 from a rigid bar 48 along which the suspension 47 may run. Swivels 50 and the hinge 46 allow the portions 44, 45 and thus the tongs 49 to rotate as the glass is bent. Specifications 423,566 and 641,777 are referred to.