Patent Publication Number: US-2004055337-A1

Title: Apparatus and process for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet

Description:
[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and a process for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet, in particular, relates to an apparatus and a process for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet which cools and tempers a glass sheet by blowing cooling air to upper and lower surfaces of a curved glass sheet bent in a high temperature state.  
       [0002] An apparatus for producing a glass sheet for automobile windows by heating a glass sheet to a temperature close to the softening point in a furnace, bending it in a forming zone and quenching it in an air-cooling/tempering apparatus, has been known. The air-cooling/tempering apparatus comprises a conveying apparatus for conveying a bent glass sheet, and air blowing members disposed above and under the conveying apparatus so as to sandwich the conveying apparatus. According to the conventional air-cooling/tempering apparatus, when the whole of a glass sheet conveyed by the conveying apparatus enters in an air-blowing area in which air is blown from upper and lower air blowing members, the conveying apparatus is stopped momentarily, and cooling air is blown from a plurality of air-nozzles of the upper and lower air-blowing members all at once for a predetermined duration to cool and temper the glass sheet. Thereafter, the conveying apparatus starts again to convey the air-cooled and tempered glass sheet to the next process (for example, refer to JP-A-2000-281369, p.  3  and FIG. 1).  
       [0003] The apparatus for producing an automobile window glass comprising a furnace, a forming zone and an air-cooling/tempering apparatus, can improve the productivity by air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet while it is continuously conveyed and by increasing the forming speed.  
       [0004] However, if the forming speed is increased in the forming zone, glass sheets are conveyed into the air-cooling/tempering apparatus with a short conveying interval. In the case of the conventional air-cooling/tempering apparatus, if the glass sheets are cooled and tempered as they are continuously conveyed under such condition, a next glass sheet located upstream a glass sheet being cooled and tempered will enter into the air-blowing area while the cooling air is blown. Therefore, there occurs a time lag between the start of blowing air to the front end of the glass sheet and the start of blowing air to the rear end, which causes uneven cooling of the glass sheet.  
       [0005] Therefore, in the conventional air-cooling/tempering apparatus, there is a disadvantage that the conveying apparatus has to be stopped momentarily when a glass sheet is cooled and tempered, namely, the conventional air-cooling/tempering apparatus can not cool and temper a glass sheet while it is continuously conveyed and accordingly, the productivity can not be increased.  
       [0006] The present invention has been made under these circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to provide an air-cooling/tempering apparatus and a process for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet without adversely affecting the quality of the glass sheet while it is continuously conveyed.  
       [0007] The present invention provides, in order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet, comprising:  
       [0008] a conveying means installed to be operable from a forming zone to a cooling area and to convey a glass sheet in a high temperature state,  
       [0009] a plurality of upper blowing members provided in parallel along a conveying direction of glass sheet above the conveying means in the cooling area,  
       [0010] a plurality of lower blowing members provided in parallel along a conveying direction of glass sheet under the conveying means in the cooling area,  
       [0011] a plurality of air-supply boxes provided in each of the upper and lower blowing members for controlling blow/stop operations of cooling air from each of the blowing members, and  
       [0012] an air-supply source connected to these air-supply boxes,  
       [0013] wherein each of the air-supply boxes comprises a cylindrical damper having a perforated hole provided at its side, a casing for rotatably accommodating the damper and for forming an air channel only when the damper is at a predetermined rotational position, and a slide bearing provided in a space between the damper and the casing, and wherein the cooling air supplied from the air-supply source can be supplied to the upper and/or lower blowing members through air channels by adjusting the rotational position of the damper.  
       [0014] The present invention further provides the apparatus for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet, further comprising a control means for controlling the rotational position of a damper so that it  
       [0015] (a) stops cooling air to be blown from all of the upper and lower blowing members in the cooling area in the initial state,  
       [0016] (b) blows the cooling air from all of the upper and lower blowing members when the substantially whole of a conveyed glass sheet is entered in the cooling area, and  
       [0017] (c) sequentially stops the cooling air blown from the upper and lower blowing members located behind the glass sheet in response to the conveyance portion of the glass sheet after the last glass sheet in the cooling area is passed.  
       [0018] It is preferred that an upper and/or lower blowing member further comprises an air-nozzle swingable in the conveying direction of glass sheet.  
       [0019] Further, it is preferred that the conveying means is a conveyer comprising a plurality of rollers disposed in parallel along the conveying direction of glass sheet.  
       [0020] Further, it is preferred that the rollers move up and down according to the position of a glass sheet so that a curved glass sheet can be conveyed.  
       [0021] Further, it is preferred that a plurality of dampers are connected via an Oldham&#39;s coupling.  
       [0022] Further, it is preferred that the glass sheet is for a window glass of automobiles.  
       [0023] The present invention further provides a process for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet comprising employing an apparatus for air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet, the apparatus comprising a conveying means installed to be operable from a forming zone to a cooling area and to convey a glass sheet in a high temperature state, a plurality of upper blowing members provided in parallel along a conveying direction of glass sheet above the conveying means in the cooling area, a plurality of lower blowing members provided in parallel along a conveying direction of glass sheet under the conveying means in the cooling area, a plurality of air-supply boxes provided in each of the upper and lower blowing members so as to control blow/stop of cooling-air from each of the blowing members, and an air-supply source connected to these air-supply boxes, the process being characterized by comprising:  
       [0024] (a) a step of stopping cooling air from all of the upper and lower blowing members in the cooling area in the initial state,  
       [0025] (b) a step of blowing the cooling air from all of the upper and lower blowing members when the substantially whole of a conveyed glass sheet is entered in the cooling area, and  
       [0026] (c) a step of sequentially stop the cooling air blown from the upper and lower blowing members located behind the glass sheet in response to the conveyance position of the glass sheet after the last glass sheet in the cooling area is passed. 
     
    
    
     [0027] In the accompanying drawings:  
     [0028]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a bending apparatus for a glass sheet in which an air-cooling/tempering apparatus according to the present invention is incorporated.  
     [0029] FIGS.  2 ( a ) to  2 ( e ) are diagrams illustrating a bending operation of a glass sheet by a roller conveyor.  
     [0030]FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the structure of a rotation-driving means and vertical movement means of a roller.  
     [0031]FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of air nozzles of blowing members of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus.  
     [0032]FIG. 5 is a view showing the structure of a rotation mechanism and a vertical movement mechanism of a roller of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus.  
     [0033]FIG. 6 is a view showing the structure of a vertical movement mechanism of a blowing member of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus.  
     [0034]FIG. 7 is a perspective exploded view showing the structure of a damper of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus.  
     [0035]FIG. 8 is a side view of the damper shown in FIG. 7.  
     [0036] FIGS.  9 ( a ) and  9 ( b ) are enlarged cross-sectional views showing a substantial part of the damper shown in FIG. 8.  
     [0037] FIGS.  10 ( a ) and  10 ( b ) are diagrams illustrating the operation of the damper shown in FIG. 7.  
     [0038]FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an embodiment wherein two dampers are connected via a coupling.  
     [0039] FIGS.  12  to  16  are diagrams illustrating the operation of blow/stop operations of cool-air from air nozzles by open/close operations of a damper. 
    
    
     [0040] Now, the preferred embodiments of an air-cooling/tempering apparatus for a glass sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the attached drawings.  
     [0041]FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the structure of a bending apparatus for a glass sheet in which the air-cooling/tempering apparatus according to this embodiment is incorporated.  
     [0042] First, the flow of a glass sheet in the bending process will be described with reference to the figure. A glass sheet  18  before the bending process is positioned at the entrance of a furnace  12 , introduced into the furnace  12  by a roller conveyor for conveying, not shown, and heated up to a predetermined bending temperature (about from 600 to 700° C.) in a process of being conveyed in the furnace  12 .  
     [0043] The glass sheet  18  heated up to the bending is temperature, is transferred from the exit of the furnace  12  to a roller conveyor for bending to be conveyed in the forming zone  14 . The glass  18  is formed into a shape having a predetermined curvature by an up/down moving operation of the roller conveyor for bending in the process of being conveyed in the forming zone  14 .  
     [0044] The curved glass sheet  18  is transferred from the exit of the forming zone  14  to a roller conveyor  22  for air-cooling and tempering (corresponding to the conveying means in Claims). The glass sheet  18  is conveyed by the roller conveyer  22  for air-cooling and tempering into an air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  to be cooled and tempered.  
     [0045] The glass sheet  18  cooled and tempered is transferred to a transferring roller conveyor  28 , and conveyed to an inspection apparatus as a next process, not shown.  
     [0046] As described above, the glass sheet  18  is heated up to a bending temperature in the furnace  12 , bent into a predetermined curved shape in the forming zone  14 , and thereafter, cooled and tempered by the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  in the cooling area. Here, a numeric symbol  11  indicates a controller for controlling the furnace  12 , the forming zone  14  and the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 .  
     [0047] Next, the construction of the forming zone  14  will be described. A roller conveyor  20  for bending shown in FIG. 13 is constituted by a plurality of rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . each formed into a straight rod as shown in FIG. 2, and the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . are disposed in parallel with a predetermined interval. The glass sheet  18  is conveyed along a conveying plane formed by the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . by rotations of these rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . . Further, each of the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . constituting the roller conveyor  20  is independently rotated by a rotation driving means and independently moved in the vertical direction by a vertical driving means.  
     [0048] The structure of the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means installed in the forming zone  14 , will be described. Here, since the rotation driving means and the vertically driving means of the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . , have each the same structure, only the structures of the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means of a roller  20 A will be described, and the description regarding the structures of other rollers  20 B,  20 C, . . . , is omitted.  
     [0049] Rotation Driving Means  
     [0050] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the roller  20 A is rotatably supported at its both ends by bearings  32 ,  32  mounted on a vertically movable frame  30 . Further, to the left end of the roller  20 A in FIG. 3, a gear  34  is attached, and the gear  34  is engaged with a gear  36 . The gear  36  is connected to a rotational shaft  40  of a servo motor  38  mounted on the vertically movable frame  30 . By driving the servo motor  38 , the roller  20 A is rotated at a predetermined angular speed. This is all about the structure of the rotation driving means.  
     [0051] Vertical Driving Means  
     [0052] As illustrated in FIG. 3, the vertically movable flame  30  is supported by a fixed frame  42  so as to be movable up and down. Namely, guide rails  44 ,  44  are disposed vertically along both sides of the vertically movable frame  30 , and the guide rails  44 ,  44  are engaged with guide blocks  46 ,  46  fixed to the fixed frame  42 . Further, at both ends of a lower portion of the vertically movable frame  30 , racks  48 ,  48  are provided so as to protrude downward therefrom. Pinions  50 ,  50  are engaged with the racks  48 ,  48 , and the pinions  50 ,  50  are fixed to a rotational shaft  52 . The rotational shaft  52  is supported by the bearings  54 ,  54  at its both ends, and its left end portion in FIG. 3 is connected to a spindle  58  of a servo motor  56 . When the servo motor  56  rotates the rotation shaft  52 , the rotational movement is converted to a linear movement by the effect of the pinions  50  and the racks  48 . Accordingly, the vertically movable frame  30  is moved up and down. And the roller  20 A is moved up and down by the movement of the vertically movable frame  30 . That is all about the structure of the elevating means. Here, numeric symbols  60 ,  62  in FIG. 3 indicate heaters provided in the forming zone  14 .  
     [0053] The rotation driving means and the vertical driving means described above, are provided for all of other rollers  20 B,  20 C, . . . . The servo motors  38 ,  56  for these means are all controlled by a controller  11  in FIG. 1.  
     [0054] When a type of the glass sheet  18  is input from an external input means, the controller  11  prepares angular speed control data and up/down movement control data of the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . , which correspond to the curvature of the glass sheet  18  of the type. Then, the controller controls the servo motors  38  based on the angular speed control data prepared, and controls the servo motors  56  based on the up-down movement control data. Namely, the controller  11  carries out multi-axis control of the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . , so that the glass sheet  18  is bent to have a desired curvature in the conveying direction during the conveyance by the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . .  
     [0055] Bending operation of a glass sheet  18  by a roller conveyer  20  having the above construction, will be described with reference to FIGS.  2 ( a ) and  2 ( e ).  
     [0056] In the initial state, all the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . , are at the top position as illustrated in FIG. 2( a ). And when the conveyance of the glass sheet  18  is started, the rollers  20 D to  20 F move down as illustrated in FIG. 2( b ). Accordingly, the conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 D to  20 F deforms to have a gentle curved form having a large curvature radius. When the glass sheet  18  passes on the rollers  20 D to  20 F, the glass sheet  18  bends by its own weight along a conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 D to  20 F, and is bent in the conveying direction.  
     [0057] Thereafter, when the glass sheet  18  is further conveyed as illustrated in FIG. 2( c ), the rollers  20 F to  20 H move down more deeply than the previous rollers  20 D to  20 F. Accordingly, a conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 F to  20 H deforms to have a curved shape having a smaller curvature radius than the previous curved conveying plane. Consequently, when the glass sheet  18  passes on the rollers  20 F to  20 H, the glass sheet  18  further bends by its own weight along the conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 F to  20 H, and is bent in the conveying direction.  
     [0058] Thereafter, when the glass sheet  18  is further conveyed as illustrated in FIG. 2( d ), the rollers  20 H to  20 J move down more deeply than the previous rollers  20 F to  20 H. Accordingly, a conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 H to  20 J deforms to have a curved shape having a smaller curvature radius than the previous curved plane. Consequently, when the glass sheet  18  passes on the rollers  20 H to  20 J, the glass sheet  18  further bends by its own weight along the conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 H to  20 J, and is bent in the conveying direction.  
     [0059] Thereafter, when the glass sheet  18  is conveyed forward as illustrated in FIG. 2( e ), the rollers  20 J to  20 L move down more deeply than the previous rollers  20 H to  20 J. And a conveying plane defined by the rollers  20 J to  20 L deforms into a curved shape having the same curvature as the finally obtainable curvature of the glass sheet  18 . When the glass sheet  18  passes on the rollers  20 J to  20 L, it is bent to have the.finally obtainable curvature in the conveying direction. Thereafter, the rollers  20 M and a succeeding roller move up and down so as to maintain the curved plane having this curvature.  
     [0060] As described above, the glass sheet  18  is bent in the conveying direction by sequentially decreasing the curvature radius of the curved plane defined by the up/down movement of the rollers  20 A,  20 B, . . . of the roller conveyer  20 .  
     [0061] Next, the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  in FIG. 1 will be described. The air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  cools and tempers a glass sheet  18  by blowing cooling air to the top and bottom surfaces of the glass sheet  18  being continuously conveyed by a roller conveyer  22  for air-cooling and tempering. Further, the roller conveyor  22  for air-cooling and tempering has a vertically movable structure like the roller conveyor  20  for bending.  
     [0062] The roller conveyor  22  shown in FIG. 1 is constituted by a plurality of rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . each formed in a straight rod as shown in FIG. 4, and the rollers  22 A,  22 B . . . are disposed in parallel with a predetermined interval. Each of the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . is independently rotated by a rotation driving means, and is independently moved up and down by a vertical driving means.  
     [0063] Next, the structure of the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means will be described. Here, since the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means of the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . , have each the same structure, only the structures of the rotation driving means and the vertically movable means of a roller  22 A will be described, and the description regarding the structures of other rollers  22 B,  22 C, . . . , is omitted.  
     [0064] Rotation Driving Means  
     [0065] As illustrated in FIG. 5, the roller  22 A is rotatably supported at its both ends by bearings  72 A,  72 A mounted on a pair of vertically movable frames  70 A,  70 A. Further, to the right end of the roller  22 A in FIG. 5, an output shaft of a servo motor  78 A is connected. By driving the servo motor  78 A, the roller  22 A is rotated at a predetermined angular speed. This is all about the structure of the rotation driving means.  
     [0066] Vertical Driving Means  
     [0067] A pair of vertically movable flames  70 A,  70 A are supported by a pair of fixed frames  82 A,  82 A respectively so as to be movable up and down. Namely, a guide rail  84 A is disposed vertically along out side of each of the vertically movable frames  70 A, and the guide rail  84 A is supported by guide blocks  86 A,  86 A fixed to inside of the fixed frame  82 A so as to be slidable. Further, at outside of the vertically movable frame  70 A, racks  88 A,  88 A are provided, and pinions  90 A,  90 A are engaged with the racks  88 A,  88 A. The pinions  90 A,  90 A are fixed to a rotational shaft  92 A, and the rotational shaft  92 A is supported by the bearings  94 A,  94 A at its both ends. And to its right end portion in FIG. 5 is connected to a spindle of a servo motor  96 A mounted at the top of one of the fixed frames  82 A. When the servo motor  96 A rotates the rotation shaft  92 A, the rotational movement is converted to a linear movement by the effect of the pinions  90 A and the racks  88 A. Accordingly, the vertically movable frame  70 A is moved up and down, and the roller  22 A is thereby moved up and down. That is all about the structure of the elevating means.  
     [0068] The rotation driving means and the vertical driving means described above, are provided for each of all other rollers  22 B,  22 C, . . . . The servo motors  78 A,  78 B, . . . ,  96 A,  96 B, . . . for those means are all controlled by a controller  11  in FIG. 1.  
     [0069] When a type of the glass sheet  18  is input from an external input means, not shown, the controller  11  prepares angular speed control data and up/down movement control data of the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . , which correspond to the curvature of the glass sheet  18  of the type. Then, the controller controls the servo motors  78 A,  78 B, . . . based on the angular speed control data prepared, and controls the servo motors  96 A,  96 B, . . . based on the up/down movement control data. Namely, the controller  11  carries out multi-axis control of the rollers  22 A,  20 B, . . . , so that the glass sheet  18  bent in the forming zone  14  is conveyed as its shape is maintained.  
     [0070] The main body of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  is, as illustrated in FIG. 6, constituted by an upper air-supply box  100  disposed above the roller conveyor  22  and a lower air-supply box  102  disposed below the roller conveyor  22  so that they sandwich the roller conveyor  22 .  
     [0071] To the upper air-supply box  100  and the lower air-supply box  102 , ducts  104  and  106  are respectively connected, and to these ducts  104  and  106 , an air supply source  200  constituted by e.g. a blower is connected. Therefore, cooling air from the air supply source  200  is supplied to the upper air-supply box  100  and the lower air-supply box  102  via ducts  104  and  106 .  
     [0072] The upper air-supply box  100  is, as illustrated in FIG. 1, divided into air-supply boxes from  100 A located most upstream in the conveying path of a glass sheet  18  (refer to FIG. 6) to  100 J as tenth air-supply box, the lower air supply box  102  is divided into air-supply boxes  102 A, . . . in the same manner (a side of the air-supply box  102  is not shown), and the ducts  104  and  106  are connected to each of the divided boxes. Further, the divided boxes have the respective air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J (refer to FIG. 4). Further, the upper air-supply box  100  and the lower air-supply box  102  have, as shown in FIG. 12 to be described later,  20  air nozzles  25 A to  25 T and  27 A to  27 T respectively, and among them, air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J are disposed on the side of the  10  divided boxes, and the remaining air nozzles  25 K to  25 T and  27 K to  27 T are all connected to a 11th large-sized air-supply box, not shown. Here, in FIG. 1, the air-supply box  102 , the  11 th large-sized air-supply box and the air nozzles  25 K to  25 T and  27 K to  27 T are omitted. Here, each of the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J in FIG. 4 employs a swingable head so as to blow air perpendicularly to the conveying plane of a glass sheet. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. The nozzle may be of a type of fixed head.  
     [0073] The cooling air supplied to the upper air-supply box  100  in FIG. 6, is supplied to upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . disposed above the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . shown in FIG. 4 via three flexible ducts  108  in FIG. 6, and blown from air nozzles  25 A,  25 B, . . . of the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . towards the roller conveyer  22 . Meanwhile, cooling air supplied to the lower air-supply box  102  is supplied to lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . provided under the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . via three flexible ducts  110 , and blown from air nozzles  27 A,  27 B, . . . of lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . towards the roller conveyor  22 . Accordingly, the cooling air is blown to the top and bottom surfaces of a glass sheet  18  conveyed by the roller conveyor  22 , whereby the glass sheet  18  is cooled.  
     [0074] Further, the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . are movable up and down. And the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . are moved up and down together with the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . respectively. The rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . are moved up and down according to conveyance of a glass sheet  18 . Here, among the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . , rollers in a position where a glass sheet  18  is conveyed, move up and down so that a conveying plane defined by the plurality of rollers in the position becomes a curved plane in the conveying direction of glass sheets, which corresponds to the curved shape of the bent glass sheet. Then, in accordance with the conveyance of the glass sheet, the rollers are sequentially move up and down so that the curved plane defined by the rollers proceed in the conveying direction of glass sheets.  
     [0075] Next, a mechanism for vertically moving the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . will be described. Here, since the mechanisms for all of the blowing members are the same, only the structure of the vertically movable mechanism of the upper blowing member  24 A will be described. With respect to the structures of other upper blowing members  24 B,  24 C, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . , the same numeric symbols are applied, and description of these members will be omitted.  
     [0076] Vertically Movable Mechanism.  
     [0077] On both sides of the upper blowing member  24 A shown in FIG. 6, frames  112 ,  112  are fixed, and these frames  112 ,  112  are attached to guide frames  114 ,  114  via sliders  116 ,  116 , and supported so as to be vertically movable along the guide frames  114 ,  114 . The guide frames  114  are provided at the lower portion of a supporting member  118  for supporting the upper air-supply box  100  so as to be extended vertically therefrom.  
     [0078] Further, racks  120 ,  120  are vertically attached to the frames  112 ,  112 , and pinions  122 ,  122  are engaged with these racks  120 ,  120 . The pinions  122 ,  122  are attached to a shaft  124 , and the shaft  124  is supported by the supporting member  118  via bearings  126 ,  126 , and the right end portion of the shaft  124  in FIG. 6 is connected to a rotational shaft of a servo motor  128 . Therefore, when the shaft  124  is rotated by a servo motor  128 , the rotation is transformed into a linear movement by the effect of the pinions  122  and the racks  120 . Accordingly, the upper blowing member  24 A is moved in the vertical direction. That is all about the structure of the vertically movable mechanism.  
     [0079] The vertically movable mechanism is provided for each of other upper blowing members  24 B,  24 C, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . . And all of the servo motors  128 ,  128 , . . . of these vertically movable mechanisms are controlled by the controller  11  in FIG. 1.  
     [0080] When a type of glass sheet  18  is input from an external input means, not shown, the controller  11  prepares up/down movement control data of the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B,  24 C, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . , which correspond the curvature of the glass sheet  18  of the type. Then, the controller controls the servo motors  128 ,  128  . . . based on the up/down movement control data prepared. Namely, the controller  11  moves up and down the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . opposing to the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . in accordance with the vertical position of the rollers  22 A,  22 B, . . . maintaining constantly the distance between the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . Accordingly, the distance between the top surface of the glass sheet  18  and the upper blowing members  24 A,  24 B, . . . and the distance between the bottom surface of the glass sheet  18  and the lower blowing members  26 A,  26 B, . . . are controlled to be constant.  
     [0081] Here, the divided air-supply boxes  100 A to  100 J shown in the upper side in FIG. 1, are provided with dampers  130  shown in FIG. 7. Ten divided air-supply boxes in the lower side, not shown in FIG. 1, are also provided with the same dampers  130 .  
     [0082] Each of the divided air-supply boxes  100 A to  100 J shown in FIG. 7, comprises an upper casing  134  made of e.g. SUS formed to have three openings  132  to be connected to a blower side, and a lower casing  136  made of e.g. SUS formed to have three openings  133  to be connected to three flexible ducts  108  shown in FIG. 6, and is constituted by combining them so that three openings  132  of the upper casing  134  and three openings  133  of the lower casing  136  are in line with each other in the vertical direction. Further, on each of mating faces of the upper casing  134  and the lower casing  136 , a channel  138  having an arcuate cross section as shown in FIG. 8 is formed, and a damper  130  is disposed in a space having a circular cross section formed by these channels  138 ,  138 .  
     [0083] The damper  130  made of a metal of e.g. SUS is formed into a cylindrical shape, and three perforated holes  142  are formed in the longitudinal direction. The damper  130  is disposed in the position in which its three perforated holes  142  are in line with three openings  132  of the upper casing  134 . Further, the damper  130  is rotatably supported in the lower casing  136  via a pair of slide bearings  144 ,  144  shown in FIG. 8 each made of metal and formed into a long plate shape. Air channels are provided in the air-supply box when the perforated holes  142  and the openings  132  in the upper and lower side are in line with one another, whereby cooling air is supplied from the air supply source  200  to the blowing members.  
     [0084] Further, each of the slide bearings  144  is inserted into a channel  146  formed in the lower casing  136  as shown in FIGS.  9 ( a ) and  9 ( b ). Further, for the slide bearing  144 , flush bolts  148  and springs  149  are alternately provided along the longitudinal direction. The slide bearing  144  is fixed to the lower casing  136  by tightening the flush bolts  148 ,  148 , . . . to the lower casing  136 , and is pushed against the damper  130  by a force of the springs  149 . A cooler  145  determines the height of the flush bolt  148 , and allows the slide bearing  144  to have a predetermined stroke. The damper  130  is stably supported in the central position of the spacing having a circular cross section by this tension.  
     [0085] To a shaft  131  formed at the end of the damper  130  shown in FIG. 7, an output shaft  152  of a motor  150  is connected via a reduction mechanism, not shown. Thus, when a rotational force of the motor  150  is transmitted to the damper  130 , the damper  130  is rotated in the space  140 .  
     [0086] Further, the rotation of the damper  130  is controlled by the controller  11  shown in FIG. 1 so as to turn every  90 ° with respect to the reference position where the perforated holes  142  of the damper  130  and the openings  132  of the upper casing  134  and the openings  133  of the lower casing are in line. Therefore, the damper  130  is driven intermittently between an open position as shown in FIG. 10( a ) in which the perforated holes  142  of the damper  130  and the openings  132  and  133  are in line, and a close position as shown in FIG. 10( b ) in which the perforated holes  142  are shifted by  90 ° from the openings  132  and  133 . By this open/close operation, supply/stop of cool-air to the upper blowing members  24 A to  24 J and the lower blowing members  26 A to  26 J as shown in FIG. 1 are performed.  
     [0087]FIG. 11 shows another embodiment of a divided air-supply box  101  for blowing cooling air upwardly from below the glass sheet  18  towards the glass sheet  18 . The divided air supply box  101  is constituted as a single unit by connecting divided air-supply boxes  100  in FIG. 7 each having three openings  132  and three openings  133 , together in the longitudinal direction and by connecting dampers, not shown, provided in each of them via an Oldham&#39;s coupling. By employing the divided air-supply box  101 , the number of openings is increased from three to six, whereby it is possible to make the upward air flow larger than the downward air flow.  
     [0088] Next, the control method for the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . is described with reference to diagrams of blow/stop operations of air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J shown in FIGS.  12  to  16 . Here, nozzles for blowing cooling air are each indicated by a white box, and nozzles in a stopped state are each indicated by a black square. Further, in order to illustrate blow/stop operations of the nozzles in a easy way to understand, a conveying path constituted by a roller conveyer  20  for bending and a roller conveyer  22  for air-cooling and tempering are illustrated in a straight shape. Further, since the dampers  130  are not provided in air nozzles  25 K to  25 T and  27 K to  27 T, cooling air is continuously blown from the air nozzles  25 K to  25 T and  27 K to  27 T. Here, in the initial state, air blown from all of the air nozzles in the cooling area is stopped.  
     [0089]FIG. 12 shows a state that two advanced glass sheets  18 A and  18 B are being air-cooled and tempered as they are continuously conveyed by a roller conveyer for air-cooling and tempering, and a third glass sheet  18 C has been conveyed to the entrance of an air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 . Further in this production apparatus  10 , since the conveying speed is high in a forming zone  14 , the glass sheets  18  are continuously conveyed into the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  with reduced intervals between the glass sheets.  
     [0090] The first advanced glass sheet  18 A is continuously conveyed as it is cooled and tempered by cooling air blown continuously from the air nozzles  25 M to  25 T and  27 M to  27 T. Meanwhile, the second advanced glass sheet  18 B is passed a cooling-air blowing area from the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J which are subjected to blow/stop operations by dampers  130 , and therefore, the controller  11  (refer to FIG. 1) controls to open the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 C to  25 J and  27 C to  27 J capable of blowing cooling air to the cooling-air blowing area where the glass sheet  18 B is located. Accordingly, the glass sheet  18 B is continuously conveyed as the whole of it is cooled and tempered by cooling air blown from the air nozzles  25 C to  25 J and  27 C to  27 J. Here, the controller  11  is controlling to close the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . of the air nozzles  25 A,  25 B,  27 A and  27 B in the cooling-air blowing area where the glass sheet  18 B has already passed. This operation is to prepare for the third glass sheet  18 C entering into the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 .  
     [0091]FIG. 13 illustrates a state that the first glass sheet  18  is being transferred from the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 , and the second glass sheet  18 B is still being air-cooled and tempered as it is continuously conveyed. As illustrated in the figure, after the glass sheet  18 B as the last glass sheet in the cooling area (if there is only one glass sheet in the cooling area, it is that glass sheet) is passed, the blowing operation of cooling air from the upper and lower blowing members behind the glass sheet  18 B is sequentially stopped, so as to follow the movement of the glass sheet  18 B being conveyed. Further, the figure shows a state that the leading edge in the conveying direction of a third glass sheet  18 C is brought into the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  by the roller conveyor  22  for air-cooling and tempering.  
     [0092] Since the second glass sheet  18 B has already passed the cooling-air blowing area of the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J which are subjected to blow/stop operations by a damper  130 , the controller  11  (refer to FIG. 1) controls to open the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 F to  25 J and  27 F to  27 J capable of blowing cooling-air to a cooling-air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 B is located. Accordingly, the whole of the glass sheet  18 B is cooled and tempered by cooling air blown from the air nozzles  25 F to  25 J and  27 F to  27 J and the air nozzles  25 K to  25 M and  27 K to  27 M as the glass sheet  18 B is continuously conveyed. Here, the controller  11  controls to close the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 A to  25 E and  27 A to  27 E in a cooling-air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 B has already passed since the whole of the third glass sheet  18 C has not entered into the cool-air tempering apparatus  16  yet.  
     [0093]FIG. 14 shows a state just before the first glass sheet  18 A is transferred from the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 , and a state that the second glass sheet  18 B is continuously cooled and tempered as it is continuously conveyed. Further, the figure shows a state that about a half of the third glass sheet  18 C has entered in the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 .  
     [0094] Since the second glass sheet  18 B is passing the air-cooling blowing area of the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J which are subjected to blow/stop operations by a damper  130 , the controller  11  (refer to FIG. 1) controls to open the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 H to  25 J and  27 H to  27 J capable of blowing cooling-air to the cooling-air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 B is located. Accordingly, substantially the whole of the glass sheet  18 B is cooled and tempered by cooling air blown from the air nozzles  25 H to  25 J,  27 H to  27 J and air nozzles  25 K to  25 P and  27 K to  27 P, as the glass sheet  18 B is continuously conveyed. Air blow does not have to be started after the glass sheet  18 C is completely entered in the cooling area, but the blowing may be started in a state that the glass sheet  18 C still protrudes from the cooling area by about the width of the air nozzle  25 A or  27 A.  
     [0095] Here, the controller  11  controls to close the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for air nozzles  25 A to  25 G and  27 A to  27 G in the cooling-air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 B has already passed. This operation is because the whole of the third glass sheet  18 C has not entered in the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  yet.  
     [0096]FIG. 15 shows a state that the first glass sheet  18 A has completely transferred from the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 , and a state that the second glass sheet  18 B is being continuously cooled and tempered as it is continuously conveyed. Further, a state that the substantially whole of the third glass sheet  18 C has entered in the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 . At this moment, the controller  11  (refer to FIG. 1) controls to open the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J. Accordingly, the substantially whole of the third glass sheet  18 C is cooled and tempered by cooling-air blown from air nozzles  25 A to  25 H and  27 A to  27 H, as it is continuously conveyed.  
     [0097]FIG. 16 shows a state that the second glass sheet  18 B is being transferred from the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16 , and a state that the third glass sheet  18 C is continuously cooled and tempered as it is continuously conveyed. Further, the figure shows a state that a fourth glass sheet  18 D has conveyed to the entrance of the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  by a roller conveyer  20  for bending.  
     [0098] Since the third glass sheet  18 C has already passed the cooling-air blowing area of the air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J which are subjected to blow/stop operations by a damper  130 , the controller  11  (refer to FIG. 1) controls to open the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 C to  25 J and  27 C to  27 J capable of blowing cooling air to the cooling air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 C is located. Accordingly, the whole of the glass sheet  18 C is cooled and tempered by cooling-air blown from the air nozzles  25 C to  25 J and  27 C to  27 J, as the glass sheet  18 C is continuously conveyed. Here, the controller  11  controls to close the dampers  130 ,  130 , . . . for the air nozzles  25 A,  25 B,  27 A and  27 B in the cooling-air blowing area in which the glass sheet  18 C has already passed. This operation is done since the whole of the fourth glass sheet  18 D has not entered the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  yet.  
     [0099] As described above, according to the air-cooling/tempering apparatus  16  of this embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 15, a controller  11  controls a plurality of dampers  130  for a plurality of air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J capable of blowing cooling air to a cooling-air blowing area, so that cooling-air is blown all at once to the glass sheet  18  from the plurality of air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J.  
     [0100] And as illustrated in FIGS.  12  to  14 , the controller  11  controls the plurality of dampers  130  so as to sequentially stop the blow of cooling air from the plurality of air nozzles  25 A to  25 J and  27 A to  27 J at a position corresponding to the position in which the glass sheet  18  has already passed, so as to follow the movement of the glass sheet  18  conveyed by the roller conveyor  22  for air-cooling and tempering. Accordingly, the glass sheet  18  can be air-cooled and tempered as the glass sheet  18  is continuously conveyed without adversely affecting the quality of the glass sheet  18 .  
     [0101] Here, description has been made with respect to an air-cooling/tempering apparatus for a bent glass sheet in the embodiment. However, the present invention is not limited thereto but can be applied to an air-cooling/tempering apparatus for flat glass sheets.  
     [0102] As described above, an air-cooling/tempering apparatus for a glass sheet according to the present invention, employs rotation type dampers having an excellent durability, whereby blow/stop operations of cooling air can be controlled frequently blow/stop operations of cooling air can be controlled precisely according to the position of a glass sheet being conveyed, and a glass sheet can be cooled and tempered without stopping the conveyance. In the present invention in particular, since cooling air can be blown to the whole of the glass sheet entered in the cooling area, uneven cooling does not occur and a high quality glass sheet can thereby be produced.  
     [0103] Here, the present invention can be suitably applied to the production of a glass sheet for automobile use. It can also be applied for e.g. a window glass employed for ships, airplanes, trains or architectural structures.  
     [0104] The entire disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-275149 filed on Sep. 20, 2002 including specification, claims, drawings and summary is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.