Patent Description:
With the development of society, vehicles are indispensable for people's travel. Vehicle production is increasing year by year, and the demand for vehicle glass is also increasing year by year. How to bend the glass and make it into a suitable shape is the key and difficult point in the glass processing.

When glass is processed by using a traditional device for bending vehicle glass, the glass is prone to generate an S-shaped glass spherical surface or a pan-shaped glass spherical surface due to the influence of a shape and gravity distribution of the glass, failing to meet glass forming requirements. Thus, a new device for bending vehicle glass is needed to adjust shapes of regions of the glass at various positions, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

<CIT> discloses a mold for bending glass, including a cellular solid material including cells that form cavities in the molding area, the cells representing more than <NUM>% of the volume of the material. A low-heat-capacity tool bends glass panes in the context of processing tempered or laminated glass. A process for manufacturing the bending mold includes assembly of metal sheets of different shapes placed parallel to one another so as to form a cellular unit, then machining of the molding area of the unit, the area being placed substantially perpendicular to the metal sheet.

<CIT> discloses a process for shaping glass sheets with a surface-shaping mold, against which the glass sheets are pressed using a pressure drop produced by sucking out the air from the space lying between the molding face and that face of the glass sheet on the opposite side from the glass sheet, in which the pressure drop is a maximum at the edge of the glass sheet and decreases towards the center of the glass sheet, because of fact that air is introduced via air-inlet apertures opening into the molding face, the air is again extracted by subjecting suction apertures made in the molding face inside the region covered by the respective glass sheet to a vacuum.

<CIT> discloses a suction mold having a central suction chamber having a flat shaping surface area and a pair of opposite side suction chambers disposed one on each side of the central suction chamber and having respective curved shaping surface areas.

<CIT> discloses a method for bending a glass sheet comprising a heating step for heating a glass sheet to soften the glass sheet, and a bending step for bending the heated and softened glass sheet to have a predetermined shape, wherein the bending step comprises a step of pressing the heated and softened glass sheet, whose edges are supported by a supporting frame, against a forming surface of a bending mold opposed to the supporting frame, and a vacuum forming step for providing a negative pressure through a plurality of suction holes formed on the forming surface so that the shape of the pressed glass sheet is bent along the forming surface of the mold.

Disclosed herein is a device and method for bending vehicle glass, so that shapes of regions of glass at various positions are adjustable, and thus the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

For realizing purposes of the disclosure, the following technical solutions are provided in the disclosure.

In a first aspect, a device for bending vehicle glass is provided. The device for bending vehicle glass includes a concave solid lower mold, at least one blowing pipe, an annular upper mold, and multiple extraction pipes. The concave solid lower mold includes a base and a top plate covered on the base. The base and the top plate cooperatively define an accommodating space. Multiple first partitions are arranged in the accommodating space to divide the accommodating space into multiple subspaces. The top plate has a carrying surface that is concave and away from the base. The top plate has multiple through holes that are in communication with the accommodating space and arranged at intervals. Each of the multiple subspaces corresponds to at least one of the multiple through holes. Each of the at least one blowing pipe communicates with at least one of the multiple subspaces and is configured for blowing gas to the at least one of the multiple subspaces. The multiple extraction pipes communicate with the rest of the multiple subspaces in one-to-one correspondence for extracting gas in the rest of the multiple subspaces. The annular upper mold is disposed at a side of the top plate away from the base and includes an upper mold plate and a side mold plate that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate facing the carrying surface, the annular upper mold has a blowing channel, and the blowing channel of the annular upper mold is configured for blowing gas towards the concave solid lower mold.

In the device for bending vehicle glass provided in the disclosure, the accommodating space is divided into the multiple subspaces, and the at least one blowing pipe and the multiple extraction pipes communicate with the multiple subspaces in one-to-one correspondence to blow gas to or extract gas in the multiple subspaces, so that surface regions of the glass corresponding to the multiple subspaces may be subjected to different vacuum extracting gas effect or gas blowing effect. In this way, shapes of regions of the glass at various positions can be adjusted, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces include a central subspace, a buffer subspace, and multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace corresponds to a middle region of the top plate, the buffer subspace surrounds the central subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces are distributed around the buffer subspace and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace, and the at least one blowing pipe communicates with the buffer subspace, and the multiple extraction pipes communicate with the central subspace and the multiple edge subspaces. The multiple subspaces in the device for bending vehicle glass are divided into the central subspace, the buffer subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace, the buffer subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces respectively correspond to different regions of the glass, the multiple extraction pipes are configured for extracting gas in the central subspace and the multiple edge subspace, and the at least one blowing pipe is configured for blowing gas to the buffer subspace, so that a vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces is adjustable, and thus vacuum adsorption force or gravity effect on the glass at various positions can be changed. In this way, a shape of the glass can be adjusted, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces include a central subspace, a buffer subspace, and multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace corresponds to a middle region of the top plate, the buffer subspace surrounds the central subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces are distributed around the buffer subspace and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace, and the at least one blowing pipe communicates with the central subspace, and the multiple extraction pipes communicate with the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces. With the above structure, it is possible to adjust a vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces, so that vacuum adsorption force or gravity effect on the glass at various positions can be changed. In this way, a shape of the glass can be adjusted, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending. The gas blowing effect can prevent a further falling of a spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to a subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. As a falling of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the central subspace is prevented by the gas blowing effect, the force distribution of the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces) is changed, making it easier to change the shape of the glass under the vacuum adsorption force generated by the multiple extraction pipes, even under a relatively low vacuum adsorption force. The relatively low vacuum adsorption force can further avoid possible excessive extrusion between the carrying surface and the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces), improving the molding surface quality and the optical quality of the glass.

In an embodiment, the multiple edge subspaces include a lower subspace, an upper subspace, a first side subspace, and a second side subspace. The lower subspace and the upper subspace are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace, the first side subspace and the second side subspace are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace, and the top plate has a first region corresponding to the lower subspace and a second region corresponding to the upper subspace, where a radius of curvature of the first region is greater than a radius of curvature of the second region. The multiple edge subspaces are divided into the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, and the second side subspace. The lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, and the second side subspace correspond to different regions of the edge of the glass. Gas extracting is performed for the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, and the second side subspace separately, so that different regions of the edge of the glass are subjected to corresponding vacuum adsorption force, and the shape of the edge of the glass can be adjusted more precisely.

In an embodiment, the device further includes a control member. The control member is configured to adjust the multiple extraction pipes and the at least one blowing pipe so that a vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces is adjustable. The control member enables the extraction performance of the extraction pipe and the blowing performance of the blowing pipe to be effectively regulated, so that the vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces can be precisely adjusted, and thus the shape of the glass is changed under a corresponding vacuum adsorption force at the position corresponding to each of the multiple subspaces to meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the device further includes a first gas-heating system. The first gas-heating system is mounted at the at least one blowing pipe and configured to heat gas blown from the at least one blowing pipe to the glass so that a temperature of the gas is adjustable. The first gas-heating system is configured to effectively regulate a temperature of gas blown from the blowing pipe, and in turn adjust a temperature of gas blown into in the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe, so that the temperature of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe can be more precisely controlled, controlling and preventing the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe, and satisfying the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the upper mold plate, the side mold plate, and an upper surface of the glass cooperatively define an accommodating cavity when the annular upper mold and the concave solid lower mold move towards each other to make the side mold plate in contact with the upper surface of the glass, where the accommodating cavity is in communication with the blowing channel, and the blowing channel faces the carrying surface and is configured for blowing gas to the glass. The blowing channel of the annular upper mold is configured for blowing gas to the upper surface of the glass, so that the upper surface of the glass is subjected to a blowing press force while the lower surface of the glass is subjected to a vacuum adsorption force, realizing a rapid bending of the glass. Moreover, when the device for bending vehicle glass includes both the concave solid lower mold and the annular upper mold, multiple glasses stacked may be processed at the same time, which improves the processing efficiency to a certain extent.

In an embodiment, multiple second partitions are arranged in the accommodating cavity and divide the accommodating cavity into multiple accommodating sub-cavities. The multiple accommodating sub-cavities include a central accommodating sub-cavity and multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities, the central accommodating sub-cavity corresponds to the central subspace and the buffer subspace, the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities correspond to the first side subspace, the second side subspace, the lower subspace, and the upper subspace in one-to-one correspondence, and the accommodating cavity has multiple blowing channels, where at least one of the multiple blowing channels is disposed in each of the multiple accommodating sub-cavities. The multiple accommodating sub-cavities are divided into the central accommodating sub-cavity corresponding to a central region of the glass and the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities corresponding to edge regions of the glass. The multiple blowing channels are defined in the central accommodating sub-cavity and the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities to blow gas to regions of the glass at corresponding positions, so that a blowing press force can be applied to a surface of the glass, and a shape of the glass can be adjusted to meet corresponding structural requirements of bending. Moreover, the multiple accommodating sub-cavities correspond to the multiple subspaces, so that each region of the glass can be subjected to a corresponding vacuum adsorption force and blowing press force, facilitating double adjustments of a forming shape of the glass.

In an embodiment, the central accommodating sub-cavity includes a first central accommodating sub-cavity and a second central accommodating sub-cavity. The first central accommodating sub-cavity corresponds to the central subspace, and the second central accommodating sub-cavity corresponds to the buffer subspace, and at least one of the multiple blowing channels is disposed in each of the first central accommodating sub-cavity and the second central accommodating sub-cavity. The central accommodating sub-cavity is divided into the first central accommodating sub-cavity and the second central accommodating sub-cavity. The first central accommodating sub-cavity corresponds to the central subspace and the second central accommodating sub-cavity corresponds to the buffer subspace, so that a shape of the central region of the glass can be adjusted more precisely.

In an embodiment, the blowing channel has a blowing power, a blowing starting time, and a blowing duration that are all adjustable. By adjusting the blowing power, the blowing starting time, and the blowing duration of each blowing channel, a blowing press force generated by each accommodating sub-cavity through the blowing channel can be effectively regulated to adjust a shape of the glass at a position corresponding to each accommodating sub-cavity, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the device further includes a second gas-heating system. The second gas-heating system is mounted at the blowing channel to heat gas blown from the blowing channel to the glass so that a temperature of the gas is adjustable. The second gas-heating system is configured to effectively regulate a temperature of gas blown from the blowing channel so that a bending temperature of the glass can be more precisely controlled, or to compensate heat loss in the above-mentioned gas-blowing process and gas-extracting process. At the same time, the bending temperature of the glass can be more precisely controlled, and the glass forming quality and the stress controllability after annealing can be further improved.

In an embodiment, the device further includes a preformed frame in an annular shape. The preformed frame is sheathed on a periphery of the concave solid lower mold, and has a radius of curvature larger than a radius of curvature of the concave solid lower mold. The preformed frame is used for preforming the glass. The glass heated to a forming temperature is placed on the preformed frame, and the glass is preformed by gravity. Then, the preformed frame is sheathed on the periphery of the concave solid lower mold from the top down, and the glass is placed on the concave solid lower mold for secondary molding.

In an embodiment, there is one glass sheet or multiple glass sheets stacked on the carrying surface. When the multiple glass sheets are stacked on the carrying surface of the concave solid lower mold, the device for bending vehicle glass may process the multiple glass sheets at the same time to improve the processing efficiency.

A device for bending vehicle glass is provided. The device includes a concave solid lower mold, multiple extraction pipes, and at least one blowing pipe. The concave solid lower mold includes a base and a top plate covered on the base. The base and the top plate cooperatively define an accommodating space. The top plate has a carrying surface that is away from the base and is a concave shaping surface. The carrying surface is configured to carry at least one glass sheet. The top plate has multiple through holes. Multiple first partitions are arranged in the accommodating space to divide the accommodating space into multiple subspaces, each of the multiple subspaces communicates with at least one of the multiple through holes, each of the at least one blowing pipe communicates with at least one of the multiple subspaces, and the rest of the multiple subspaces communicates with the multiple extraction pipes in one-to-one correspondence. The annular upper mold is disposed at a side of the top plate away from the base and includes an upper mold plate and a side mold plate that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate facing the carrying surface, the annular upper mold has a blowing channel, and the blowing channel of the annular upper mold is configured for blowing gas towards the concave solid lower mold.

The at least one glass sheet heated to a forming temperature is placed on the carrying surface, the at least one glass sheet is deformed under gravity.

Gas is extracted from in the multiple the subspaces through the multiple extraction pipes and gas is blown into the at least one subspace through the at least one blowing pipe so that the at least one glass sheet can be completely attached to the carrying surface.

The at least one glass sheet is processed by the method for bending vehicle glass provided in the disclosure, which is beneficial to effectively adjust the shapes of regions of the at least one glass sheet at various positions, so that the at least one glass sheet meets the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces include a central subspace, a buffer subspace, and multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace corresponds to a middle region of the top plate, the buffer subspace surrounds the central subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces are distributed around the buffer subspace and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace. The at least one blowing pipe communicates with the buffer subspace, and the multiple extraction pipes communicate with the central subspace and the multiple edge subspaces, and the multiple extraction pipes have different extraction modes.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces include a central subspace, a buffer subspace, and multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace corresponds to a middle region of the top plate, the buffer subspace surrounds the central subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces are distributed around the buffer subspace and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace. The at least one blowing pipe communicates with the central subspace, and the multiple extraction pipes communicate with the buffer subspace and the plurality of edge subspaces, and the multiple extraction pipes have different extraction modes.

In an embodiment, the multiple edge subspaces include a lower subspace, an upper subspace, a first side subspace, and a second side subspace. The lower subspace and the upper subspace are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace, and the first side subspace and the second side subspace are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace. Extraction pipes communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace communicating extract gas in a first mode, extraction pipes communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace extract gas in a second mode, where the first mode is different from the second mode.

By extracting gas in or blowing gas to the multiple subspaces in different modes, regions of the glass corresponding to different subspaces are subjected to different vacuum adsorption forces, thereby adjusting a deformation of each region of the glass, so that the glass meets the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the gas in the multiple subspaces is extracted through the multiple extraction pipes and the gas is blown into the at least one subspace through the at least one blowing pipe as follows, so that the vehicle glass can be completely attached to the carrying surface.

An extraction power, an extraction starting time, and an extraction duration of each of the multiple extraction pipes are adjusted to adjust a vacuum extracting gas effect in each of the multiple subspaces respectively.

A blowing temperature, a blowing power, a blowing starting time, and a blowing duration of the at least one blowing pipe are adjusted.

By regulating the extraction performance of each of the multiple extraction pipes and the blowing performance of the at least one blowing pipe, the vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces can be precisely adjusted, and thus the shape of the glass is changed under a corresponding vacuum adsorption force at the position corresponding to each of the multiple subspaces to meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the extraction power, the extraction starting time, and the extraction duration of each of the multiple extraction pipes are adjusted to adjust the vacuum extracting gas effect in each of the multiple subspaces respectively as follows.

An extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace is adjusted to be a first extraction power, an extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be a second extraction power, and an extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be a third extraction power, where the second extraction power is less than the first extraction power, and the third extraction power is less than the second extraction power. By adjusting the extraction power of the extraction pipe, a vacuum adsorption force exerted on the glass at a position corresponding to each subspace can be adjusted, so that the shape of the glass can be changed to meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

An extraction starting time of an extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace is adjusted to be a first time, an extraction starting time of an extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be a second time, and an extraction starting time of an extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be a third time, where the second time is later than the first time and the third time is later than the second time. By adjusting the extraction starting time of the extraction pipe, a sequence of applying vacuum adsorption forces to regions of the glass corresponding to the multiple subspaces can be adjusted, so that the shape of the glass can be changed to meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

An extraction duration of an extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace is adjusted to be a first duration, an extraction duration of an extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be a second duration, and an extraction duration of an extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be a third duration, where the second duration is shorter than the first duration and the third duration is later than the second duration. By adjusting the extraction duration of the extraction pipe, a duration of exertion of a vacuum adsorption force on the glass at a position corresponding to each of the multiple subspaces can be adjusted, so that the shape of the glass can be changed to meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

An extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be less than an extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace, and an extraction power of an extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be less than the extraction power of the extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace.

An extraction starting time of the extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be later than an extraction starting time of the extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace, and an extraction starting time of the extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be later than the extraction starting time of the extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace.

An extraction duration of the extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace is adjusted to be shorter than an extraction duration of the extraction pipe communicating with the central subspace or the buffer subspace, and an extraction duration of the extraction pipe communicating with the first side subspace and the second side subspace is adjusted to be shorter than the extraction duration of the extraction pipe communicating with the lower subspace and the upper subspace.

The extraction power, the extraction starting time, and the extraction duration of the extraction pipe are adjusted at the same time, thereby more systematically adjusting a shape of each region of the glass, so that the glass can meet the corresponding structural requirements of bend molding.

An extraction pipe communicating with at least one of the central subspace, the buffer subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace is closed, when the at least one glass sheet is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to the at least one of the central subspace, the buffer subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace. When the surface of the glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to one subspace, an extraction pipe communicating with the one subspace may be closed, and the shape of the glass may be indirectly adjusted by extracting gas through extraction pipes communicating with subspaces adjacent to the one subspace, avoiding excessive extrusion between the glass and the carrying surface caused by continuous extracting gas.

In an embodiment, the blowing temperature, the blowing power, the blowing starting time, and the blowing duration of the at least one blowing pipe are adjusted as follows.

The at least one blowing pipe starts blowing when the at least one glass sheet is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to at least one of the central subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the buffer subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace, where the blowing power of the at least one blowing pipe is less than or equal to the extraction power of each of the multiple extraction pipes, and/or the blowing duration of the at least one blowing pipe is less than or equal to the extraction duration of each of the multiple extraction pipes. When the surface of the glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to at least one subspace, in order to avoid optical defects caused by extrusion between the surface of the glass and the carrying surface (where the extrusion is caused by gas extracting through the extraction pipe), gas blowing effect through the blowing pipe can be performed to lower the vacuum extracting gas effect and in turn prevent excessive extrusion between the surface of the glass and the carrying surface. Further, the gas blowing effect can prevent a further falling of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to a subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. As a falling of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the central subspace is prevented by the gas blowing effect, the force distribution of the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces) is changed, making it easier to change the shape of the glass under the vacuum adsorption force generated by the extraction pipe, even under a relatively low vacuum adsorption force. The relatively low vacuum adsorption force can further avoid possible excessive extrusion between the carrying surface and the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces), improving the molding surface quality and the optical quality of the glass.

When a curvature of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe is proximate to or equal to a desired curvature, gas blowing effect can prevent the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. By regulating a blowing gas temperature of a gas-heating system communicating with the blowing pipe on the concave solid lower mold, a temperature of the surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe can be precisely controlled. When the blowing gas temperature of the gas-heating system is set to be lower than or equal to the temperature of the surface of the glass, gas blowing effect may lower the temperature of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe, thereby further preventing the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. This means that the closer the curvature of the spherical surface of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe is to the desired curvature, the lower the blowing gas temperature of the gas-heating system is relative to the temperature of the surface of the glass. As such, the temperature of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe can be lowered, better preventing the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe.

In an embodiment of the invention, the device further includes an annular upper mold. The annular upper mold is disposed at a side of the top plate away from the base and includes an upper mold plate and a side mold plate that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate facing the carrying surface. The upper mold plate, the side mold plate, and an upper surface of the vehicle glass cooperatively define an accommodating cavity when the annular upper mold and the concave solid lower mold move towards each other to make the side mold plate in contact with the upper surface of the at least one glass sheet, where the accommodating cavity is in communication with the blowing channel, and the blowing channel faces the carrying surface and is configured for blowing gas to the at least one glass sheet. Gas is blown to the upper surface of the glass through the blowing channel of the annular upper mold, so that the upper surface of the glass is subjected to a blowing press force while the lower surface of the glass is subjected to a vacuum adsorption force, realizing a rapid bending of the glass. Moreover, when the device includes both the concave solid lower mold and the annular upper mold, multiple glasses stacked may be processed at the same time, which improves the processing efficiency to a certain extent.

In an embodiment, multiple second partitions are arranged in the accommodating cavity and divide the accommodating cavity into multiple accommodating sub-cavities, where the multiple accommodating sub-cavities correspond to the multiple subspaces respectively. The accommodating cavity has multiple blowing channels, where at least one of the multiple blowing channels is disposed in each of the multiple accommodating sub-cavities. The method includes the following. A blowing power, a blowing starting time, and a blowing duration of each of the plurality of blowing channels are adjusted, so that the at least one glass sheet is subjected to different blowing pressures at different positions opposite the plurality of accommodating sub-cavities. The multiple accommodating sub-cavities correspond to the multiple subspaces, so that each region of the glass can be subjected to a corresponding vacuum adsorption force and blowing press force, facilitating double adjustments of a forming shape of the glass.

To describe the technical solutions in embodiments of the disclosure or the related art more clearly, the following briefly introduces the accompanying drawings required for describing the embodiments or the related art. Apparently, the accompanying drawings in the following description illustrate some embodiments of the disclosure. Those of ordinary skill in the art may also obtain other drawings based on these accompanying drawings without creative efforts.

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the disclosure are clearly and completely described in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the disclosure.

Refer to <FIG> is a schematic diagram of glass sheets <NUM> preformed.

<FIG> is a schematic structural view of the glass sheets <NUM> that meets corresponding bending requirements.

As illustrated in <FIG>, the glass sheets <NUM> heated to a forming temperature is subjected to a gravity preforming process. However, as the glass sheets <NUM> has different shapes and gravity distributions at different positions thereof, the glass sheets <NUM> preformed is prone to generate an S-shaped glass spherical surface or a pan-shaped glass spherical surface, failing to meet forming requirements of the glass sheets <NUM>.

Therefore, a device for bending vehicle glass is provided in the embodiments of the disclosure and is configured for performing a secondary bending process for the glass sheets <NUM>, so that shapes of different positions of the glass sheets <NUM> are consistent with corresponding desired shapes (as illustrated in <FIG>), that is, a falling depth of a surface of the glass sheets <NUM> is the same as a desired curvature difference, so that corresponding bending structural requirements can be satisfied.

Refer to <FIG> and <FIG>, <FIG> is a schematic structural view of a device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass according to an embodiment.

<FIG> is a schematic structural view of the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass according to another embodiment.

In the embodiments of the disclosure, the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass is provided. The device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass includes a concave solid lower mold <NUM>, at least one blowing pipe <NUM>, and multiple extraction pipes <NUM>. The concave solid lower mold <NUM> includes a base <NUM> and a top plate <NUM> covered on the base <NUM>. The base <NUM> and the top plate <NUM> cooperatively define an accommodating space <NUM>. Multiple first partitions <NUM> are arranged in the accommodating space <NUM> to divide the accommodating space <NUM> into multiple subspaces <NUM>. The top plate <NUM> has a carrying surface <NUM> that is concave and away from the base <NUM>. The top plate <NUM> has multiple through holes <NUM> that are in communication with the accommodating space <NUM> and arranged at intervals. Each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> corresponds to at least one of the multiple through holes <NUM>. Each of the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> communicates with at least one of the multiple subspaces <NUM> and is configured for blowing gas to the at least one of the multiple subspaces <NUM>. The multiple extraction pipes <NUM> communicate with the rest of the multiple subspaces <NUM> in one-to-one correspondence for extracting gas in the rest of the multiple subspaces <NUM>. The carrying surface <NUM> is configured to carry the glass sheets <NUM>, and a shape of the carrying surface <NUM> is the same as a desired shape. That is, when the surface of the glass sheets <NUM> can be completely attached to the carrying surface <NUM>, a shape of the glass sheets <NUM> is consistent with the desired shape, so that the glass sheets <NUM> can meet the corresponding requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the top plate <NUM> has the multiple through holes <NUM> that are in communication with the accommodating space <NUM> and arranged at intervals, and each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> corresponds to at least one of the multiple through holes <NUM>. As such, when gas is extracted from or blown into each subspace <NUM>, a vacuum generated in each subspace <NUM> will directly exert on the surface of the glass sheets <NUM>, so that the shape of the glass sheets <NUM> will change under the influence of a vacuum adsorption force. It is noted that, the subspaces <NUM> are distributed at different positions and correspond to regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at different positions, respectively, and thus shapes of regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at various positions can be adjusted, so that the shapes of the regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at various positions can be consistent with corresponding desired shapes, and accordingly the corresponding structural requirements of bend molding can be satisfied.

In an embodiment, there is one glass sheets <NUM> or multiple glass sheets <NUM> stacked on the carrying surface <NUM>. When the multiple glass sheets <NUM> are stacked on the carrying surface <NUM> of the concave solid lower mold <NUM>, the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass may process the multiple glass sheets <NUM> at the same time to improve the processing efficiency.

In the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass provided in the disclosure, the accommodating space <NUM> is divided into the multiple subspaces <NUM>, where at least one subspace <NUM> communicates with at least one blowing pipe <NUM> to blow gas into the at least one subspace <NUM>, and the rest of the multiple subspaces <NUM> communicate with the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> in one-to-one correspondence to extract gas in the multiple subspaces <NUM>, so that surface regions of the glass sheets <NUM> corresponding to the multiple subspaces <NUM> may be subjected to different vacuum extracting gas effect or gas blowing effect. In this way, the shapes of regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at various positions can be adjusted, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the device <NUM> further includes a first gas-heating system (not illustrated). The first gas-heating system is mounted at the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> and configured to heat gas blown from the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> to the glass sheets <NUM> so that a temperature of the gas is adjustable. The first gas-heating system is configured to effectively regulate a temperature of gas blown from the blowing pipe <NUM>, and in turn adjust a temperature of gas blown into in the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>, so that the temperature of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> can be more precisely controlled, controlling and preventing a spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>, and satisfying the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

It is noted that, when a curvature of the spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> at a position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> is close to or equal to a desired curvature, gas blowing effect can prevent the spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>. By regulating a blowing gas temperature of the first gas-heating system communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> on the concave solid lower mold <NUM>, a temperature of the surface of the glass sheets <NUM> at a position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> can be precisely controlled. When the blowing gas temperature of the first gas-heating system is set to be lower than or equal to the temperature of the surface of the glass sheets <NUM>, gas blowing effect may lower the temperature of the glass sheets <NUM> at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>, thereby further preventing the spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>. This means that the closer the curvature of the spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> is to the desired curvature, the lower the blowing gas temperature of the first gas-heating system is relative to the temperature of the surface of the glass sheets <NUM>. As such, the temperature of the glass sheets <NUM> at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM> can be lowered, better preventing the spherical surface of the glass sheets <NUM> from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe.

Refer to <FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating region division of the concave solid lower mold <NUM> according to an embodiment.

<FIG> is a top view of the concave solid lower mold <NUM> according to an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces <NUM> include a central subspace <NUM>, a buffer subspace <NUM>, and multiple edge subspaces <NUM>. The central subspace <NUM> corresponds to a middle region of the top plate <NUM>, the buffer subspace <NUM> surrounds the central subspace <NUM>, and the multiple edge subspaces <NUM> are distributed around the buffer subspace <NUM> and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace <NUM>. In an embodiment, as illustrated in <FIG>, the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> communicates with the buffer subspace <NUM>, and the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> communicate with the central subspace <NUM> and the multiple edge subspaces <NUM>. The multiple subspaces <NUM> in the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass are divided into the central subspace <NUM>, the buffer subspace <NUM>, and the multiple edge subspaces <NUM>. The central subspace <NUM>, the buffer subspace <NUM>, and the multiple edge subspaces <NUM> respectively correspond to different regions of the glass sheets <NUM>, the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> are configured for extracting gas in the central subspace <NUM> and the multiple edge subspace <NUM>, and the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> is configured for blowing gas to the buffer subspace <NUM>, so that a vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> is adjustable, and thus vacuum adsorption forces on the glass sheets <NUM> at various positions can be changed. In this way, a shape of the glass sheets <NUM> can be adjusted, so that the glass can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In another embodiment, the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> communicates with the central subspace <NUM>, and the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> communicate with the buffer subspace <NUM> and the multiple edge subspaces <NUM> (as illustrated in <FIG>). It is noted that, the blowing pipe <NUM> may communicate with the subspace <NUM> in but is not limited to the above two modes, and the blowing pipe <NUM> may also communicate with any other subspace <NUM> to meet different operation requirements, which will not be described herein.

It is noted that, the gas blowing effect can prevent a further falling of the region of the glass at a position corresponding to a subspace <NUM> communicating with the blowing pipe <NUM>. As a falling of the region of the glass at a position corresponding to the central subspace <NUM> or the buffer subspace <NUM> is prevented by the gas blowing effect, the force distribution of the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces <NUM> is changed, making it easier to change the shape of the glass sheets <NUM> under the vacuum adsorption force generated by the extraction pipe <NUM>, even under a relatively low vacuum adsorption force. The relatively low vacuum adsorption force can further avoid possible excessive extrusion between the carrying surface <NUM> and the glass sheets <NUM> at positions corresponding to the other subspaces <NUM>, improving the molding surface quality and the optical quality of the glass sheets <NUM>.

In an embodiment, the multiple edge subspaces <NUM> include a lower subspace <NUM>, an upper subspace <NUM>, a first side subspace <NUM>, and a second side subspace <NUM>. The lower subspace <NUM> and the upper subspace <NUM> are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace <NUM>, the first side subspace <NUM> and the second side subspace <NUM> are located at opposite sides of the buffer subspace <NUM>. The top plate <NUM> has a first region corresponding to the lower subspace <NUM> and a second region corresponding to the upper subspace <NUM>, where a radius of curvature of the first region is greater than a radius of curvature of the second region. The multiple edge subspaces <NUM> are divided into the lower subspace <NUM>, the upper subspace <NUM>, the first side subspace <NUM>, and the second side subspace <NUM>. The lower subspace <NUM>, the upper subspace <NUM>, the first side subspace <NUM>, and the second side subspace <NUM> correspond to different regions of the edge of the glass sheets <NUM>. Gas extracting is performed for the lower subspace <NUM>, the upper subspace <NUM>, the first side subspace <NUM>, and the second side subspace <NUM> separately, so that different regions of the edge of the glass sheets <NUM> are subjected to corresponding vacuum adsorption forces, and the shape of the edge of the glass sheets <NUM> can be adjusted more precisely.

It is noted that, the central subspace <NUM>, the buffer subspace <NUM>, the lower subspace <NUM>, the upper subspace <NUM>, the first side subspace <NUM>, and the second side subspace <NUM> correspond to the regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at different positions, respectively. The vacuum adsorption forces generated by extracting gas in the multiple subspaces <NUM> through the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> exert on the glass sheets <NUM> to adjust the shapes of the regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at different positions. It is noted that, the multiple subspaces <NUM> are divided according to regions with different shapes of the glass sheets <NUM> preformed. In an embodiment, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the greatest forming difficulty and the greatest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the central subspace <NUM>, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the second greatest forming difficulty and the second largest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the lower subspace <NUM> and the upper subspace <NUM>, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the third greatest forming difficulty and the third largest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the buffer subspace <NUM>, and a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the minimum greatest forming difficulty and the minimum difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the first side subspace <NUM> and the second side subspace <NUM>. In another embodiment, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the greatest forming difficulty and the greatest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the buffer subspace <NUM>, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the second greatest forming difficulty and the second largest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the lower subspace <NUM> and the upper subspace <NUM>, a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the third greatest forming difficulty and the third largest difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the central subspace <NUM>, and a region of the glass sheets <NUM> with the minimum greatest forming difficulty and the minimum difference between a preformed spherical curvature and the desired curvature corresponds to the first side subspace <NUM> and the second side subspace <NUM>.

Since differences between the desired shapes and the shapes of the regions of the preformed glass sheets <NUM> at positions corresponding to different subspaces <NUM> vary, it is necessary to adjust the extraction performance of each of the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> communicating with the multiple subspaces <NUM>, so that the vacuum adsorption force in each subspace can be adjusted. As such, the regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at different positions may be subjected to different vacuum adsorption forces, and thus each of the shapes of the regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at different positions may be adjusted to be the same as the desired shape, that is, the glass sheets <NUM> satisfies the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the device <NUM> further includes a control member (not illustrated). The control member is configured to adjust the multiple extraction pipes <NUM> and the at least one blowing pipe <NUM> so that a vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> is adjustable. The control member enables the extraction performance of the extraction pipe <NUM> and the blowing performance of the blowing pipe <NUM> to be effectively regulated, so that the vacuum extracting gas effect of or gas blowing effect for each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> can be precisely adjusted, and thus the shape of the glass sheets <NUM> is changed under a corresponding vacuum adsorption force at the position corresponding to each of the multiple subspaces <NUM> to meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

Refer to <FIG> is a schematic structural view illustrating a connection between the concave solid lower mold and a preformed frame <NUM> according to an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the device <NUM> further includes a preformed frame <NUM> in an annular shape. The preformed frame <NUM> may be sheathed on a periphery of the concave solid lower mold <NUM>, and has a radius of curvature larger than a radius of curvature of the concave solid lower mold <NUM>. The preformed frame <NUM> is used for preforming the glass sheets <NUM>. The glass sheets <NUM> heated to a forming temperature is placed on the preformed frame <NUM>, and the glass sheets <NUM> is preformed by gravity. Then, the preformed frame <NUM> is sheathed on the periphery of the concave solid lower mold <NUM> from the top down, and the glass sheets <NUM> is placed on the concave solid lower mold <NUM> for secondary molding. It is noted that, with the preformed frame <NUM>, the preforming process and the secondary forming process can be carried out in succession, the forming temperature of the glass sheets <NUM> can be ensured, and the processing efficiency can also be improved.

Refer to <FIG>, <FIG> is a schematic structural view of a device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass according to another embodiment.

<FIG> is a schematic structural view of the annular upper mold <NUM> according to an embodiment.

<FIG> is a top view of the annular upper mold <NUM> according to an embodiment.

In an embodiment, the device <NUM> further includes the annular upper mold <NUM>. The annular upper mold <NUM> is disposed at a side of the top plate <NUM> away from the base <NUM> and includes an upper mold plate <NUM> and a side mold plate <NUM> that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate <NUM> facing the carrying surface <NUM>. The upper mold plate <NUM>, the side mold plate <NUM>, and an upper surface of the glass sheets <NUM> cooperatively define an accommodating cavity <NUM> when the annular upper mold <NUM> and the concave solid lower mold <NUM> move towards each other to make the side mold plate <NUM> in contact with the upper surface of the glass sheets <NUM>, where the accommodating cavity <NUM> is in communication with the blowing channel <NUM>, and the blowing channel <NUM> faces the carrying surface <NUM> and is configured for blowing gas to the glass sheets <NUM>. The blowing channel <NUM> of the annular upper mold <NUM> is configured for blowing gas to the upper surface of the glass sheets <NUM>, so that the upper surface of the glass sheets <NUM> is subjected to a blowing press force while the lower surface of the glass sheets <NUM> is subjected to a vacuum adsorption force, realizing a rapid bending of the glass sheets <NUM>. Moreover, when the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass includes both the concave solid lower mold <NUM> and the annular upper mold <NUM>, multiple glass sheets <NUM> stacked may be processed at the same time, which improves the processing efficiency to a certain extent.

There is a gap between the annular upper mold <NUM> and the concave solid lower mold <NUM>, and the glass sheets <NUM> to be processed can be placed in the gap. A lower surface of the annular upper mold <NUM> has the same curvature as a desired curvature of an upper surface of a periphery of the glass sheets <NUM>. With the above-mentioned structure, the annular upper mold <NUM> can be closely attached to the glass sheets <NUM>, thereby avoiding gas leakage during the secondary molding process of the glass sheets <NUM> that is performed via the annular upper mold <NUM>. In an embodiment, a region of the annular upper mold <NUM> where the annular upper mold <NUM> is in contact with the periphery of the glass sheets <NUM> has a width ranging from <NUM> to <NUM>. The annular upper mold <NUM> may be made of metal, ceramic, or any other material that meets the corresponding requirements, which is not limited herein.

In an embodiment, the device <NUM> further includes a second gas-heating system (not illustrated). The second gas-heating system is mounted at the blowing channel <NUM> to heat gas blown from the blowing channel <NUM> to the glass sheets <NUM> so that a temperature of the gas is adjustable. The second gas-heating system is configured to effectively regulate a temperature of gas blown from the blowing channel <NUM> so that a bending temperature of the glass sheets <NUM> can be more precisely controlled, or to compensate heat loss in the above-mentioned gas-blowing process and gas-extracting process. At the same time, the bending temperature of the glass sheets <NUM> can be more precisely controlled, and the glass forming quality and the stress controllability after annealing can be further improved.

It is noted that, during a bending process of thin glass, the thin glass is more prone to decrease in temperature, increase in viscosity, and even harden of surface due to heat loss, thus it is more difficult to form a desired spherical surface under the same blow-molding conditions, resulting in an excessively large difference between a final bending curvature of the glass and the desired curvature. Here, by adjusting a temperature of the second gas-heating system communicating with the blowing channel <NUM> of the annular upper mold <NUM> to proximate to or even exceed a forming temperature of the glass sheets <NUM>, the heat loss of the glass sheets <NUM> during the gas-blowing process and the gas-extracting process can be reduced, and even the glass sheets <NUM> can be heated, so that the glass sheets <NUM> is easier to achieve the desired spherical curvature.

Refer to <FIG>, <FIG> is a schematic structural view of the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass according to another embodiment.

<FIG> is a schematic structural view of the annular upper mold <NUM> according to another embodiment.

<FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating distribution of accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> of the annular upper mold <NUM> according to another embodiment.

In an embodiment, multiple second partitions <NUM> are arranged in the accommodating cavity <NUM> and divide the accommodating cavity <NUM> into multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM>. The multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> include a central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> and multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities <NUM>, the central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponds to the central subspace <NUM> and the buffer subspace <NUM>, the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> correspond to the first side subspace <NUM>, the second side subspace <NUM>, the lower subspace <NUM>, and the upper subspace <NUM> in one-to-one correspondence, and the accommodating cavity <NUM> has multiple blowing channels <NUM>, where at least one of the multiple blowing channels <NUM> is disposed in each of the multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM>. The multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> are divided into the central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponding to a central region of the glass sheets <NUM> and the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> corresponding to edge regions of the glass sheets <NUM>. The multiple blowing channels <NUM> are defined in the central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> and the multiple edge accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> to blow gas to regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at corresponding positions, so that a blowing press force can be applied to a surface of the glass sheets <NUM>, and a shape of the glass sheets <NUM> can be adjusted to meet corresponding structural requirements of bending. Moreover, the multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> correspond to the multiple subspaces <NUM>, so that each region of the glass sheets <NUM> can be subjected to a corresponding vacuum adsorption force and blowing press force, facilitating double adjustments of a forming shape of the glass sheets <NUM>.

In an embodiment, there are multiple second gas-heating systems, and the multiple second gas-heating systems are mounted at the multiple blowing channels <NUM> respectively. By adjusting blowing gas temperatures of the multiple second gas-heating systems, regions of the glass sheets <NUM> at positions corresponding to the multiple accommodating sub-cavities are heated or cooled to different degrees, so that temperatures of the regions of the glass at positions corresponding to the multiple accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> can be more precisely controlled, the stress controllability of the glass sheets <NUM> after forming and annealing can be further improved, and the quality of the glass sheets <NUM> after forming can be improved, satisfying the corresponding structural requirements of bending.

In an embodiment, the blowing channel <NUM> has a blowing power, a blowing starting time, and a blowing duration that are all adjustable. By adjusting the blowing power, the blowing starting time, and the blowing duration of each blowing channel <NUM>, a blowing press force generated by each accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> through the blowing channel <NUM> can be effectively regulated to adjust a shape of the glass sheets <NUM> at a position corresponding to each accommodating sub-cavity <NUM>, so that the glass sheets <NUM> can meet corresponding structural requirements of bending.

Refer to <FIG> is a schematic diagram illustrating distribution of accommodating sub-cavities <NUM> of the annular upper mold <NUM> according to another embodiment.

In an embodiment, the central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> includes a first central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> and a second central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM>. The first central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponds to the central subspace <NUM>, and the second central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponds to the buffer subspace <NUM>, and at least one of the multiple blowing channels <NUM> is disposed in each of the first central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> and the second central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM>. The central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> is divided into the first central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> and the second central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM>. The first central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponds to the central subspace <NUM> and the second central accommodating sub-cavity <NUM> corresponds to the buffer subspace <NUM>, so that a shape of the central region of the glass sheets <NUM> can be adjusted more precisely.

Refer to <FIG> and <FIG>, <FIG> is a schematic structural view of a traditional device for gravity bending vehicle glass. A typical gravity forming device includes a heating-preforming region S1, a heating-forming region S2, an annealing region S3, a cooling region S4, and a loading/unloading region S5. Heaters are positioned at the upper and/or bottom of the heating-preforming region S1 and the heating-forming region S2, and the glass is placed on a mold at the loading/unloading region S5. Then the mold and the glass on the mold are intermittently transported in the heating-preforming region S1, the heating-forming region S2, the annealing region S3, the cooling region S4, and the unloading region S5, realizing heating and gravity pre-bending, heating and gravity bending, annealing, and cooling of the glass. Finally, the glass is removed from the mold in the unloading region, and then another glass is placed on the mold to start the next round of self-weight molding.

<FIG> is a schematic flow chart of a method for bending vehicle glass according to an embodiment.

Different from the traditional device for gravity bending vehicle glass, in the embodiment of the disclosure, the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass operates after operations in the heating-forming region S2. That is, after the glass on the mold is subjected to heating and gravity pre-bending, heating and gravity bending through the heating-preforming region S1 and the heating-forming region S2, the glass subjected to gravity bending is transferred to the concave solid lower mold <NUM> of the device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass provided in the embodiments of the disclosure, so that bending is further carried out for the glass according to processes illustrated in <FIG>. After bending, the glass is further transferred to a gravity forming mold for annealing, cooling, and unloading. The device <NUM> for bending vehicle glass provided in the embodiments of the disclosure is not limited to be installed in a double-deck device for gravity bending vehicle glass as illustrated in <FIG>, but can also be installed in a single-deck device for gravity bending vehicle glass, where in the single-deck device for gravity bending vehicle glass, the heating-preforming region S1, the heating-forming region S2, the annealing region S3, the cooling region S4, and the loading/unloading region S5 are on the same plane.

A method for bending vehicle glass provided in the embodiments of the disclosure begins with operations at block A1.

At block A1, a device for bending vehicle glass is provided. The device includes a concave solid lower mold, multiple extraction pipes, and at least one blowing pipe. The concave solid lower mold includes a base and a top plate covered on the base. The base and the top plate cooperatively define an accommodating space. The top plate has a carrying surface that is away from the base and is a concave shaping surface. The carrying surface is configured to carry at least one glass sheet. The top plate has multiple through holes. Multiple first partitions are arranged in the accommodating space to divide the accommodating space into multiple subspaces, each of the multiple subspaces communicates with at least one of the multiple through holes, each of the at least one blowing pipe communicates with at least one of the multiple subspaces, and the rest of the multiple subspaces communicates with the multiple extraction pipes in one-to-one correspondence.

At block A2, the at least one glass sheet heated to a forming temperature is placed on the carrying surface, the at least one glass sheet is deformed under gravity.

At block A3, gas is extracted from in the multiple the subspaces through the multiple extraction pipes and gas is blown into the at least one subspace through the at least one blowing pipe so that the at least one glass sheet can be completely attached to the carrying surface.

In an embodiment, the shapes of regions of the at least one glass sheet at various positions are adjusted, so that the regions of the at least one glass sheet at various positions are formed to be able to be attached to the carrying surface at the same time or almost at the same time, so that the at least one glass sheet can meet the corresponding structural requirements of bending. In this case, it means that not only a complex glass sheet with a high precision and large spherical surface can be obtained, but also any visible optical defects can be avoided.

In an embodiment, the multiple subspaces include a central subspace, a buffer subspace, and multiple edge subspaces. The central subspace corresponds to a middle region of the top plate, the buffer subspace surrounds the central subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces are distributed around the buffer subspace and cooperatively surround the buffer subspace. Multiple extraction pipes communicating with the central subspace, the buffer subspace, and the multiple edge subspaces have different extraction modes.

An extraction pipe communicating with at least one of the central subspace, the buffer subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace is closed, when the vehicle glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to the at least one of the central subspace, the buffer subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace. When the surface of the glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to one subspace, an extraction pipe communicating with the one subspace may be closed, and the shape of the glass may be indirectly adjusted by extracting gas through extraction pipes communicating with subspaces adjacent to the one subspace, avoiding excessive extrusion between the glass and the carrying surface caused by continuous extracting gas.

It is noted that, the extraction power, the extraction starting time, and the extraction duration of each extraction pipe can be adjusted in but is not limited to the above modes, and other adjustment modes can be adopted according to the actual situation as long as it can make the glass satisfy the corresponding structural requirements of bending, which is not limited herein.

The at least one blowing pipe starts blowing when the vehicle glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to at least one of the central subspace, the lower subspace, the upper subspace, the buffer subspace, the first side subspace, or the second side subspace, where the blowing power of the at least one blowing pipe is less than or equal to the extraction power of each of the multiple extraction pipes, and/or the blowing duration of the at least one blowing pipe is less than or equal to the extraction duration of each of the multiple extraction pipes. When the surface of the glass is attached to or proximately attached to the carrying surface at a position corresponding to at least one subspace, in order to avoid optical defects caused by extrusion between the surface of the glass and the carrying surface (where the extrusion is caused by gas extracting through the extraction pipe), gas blowing through the blowing pipe can be performed to lower the vacuum extracting gas effect and in turn prevent excessive extrusion between the surface of the glass and the carrying surface.

It is noted that, the gas blowing can prevent a further falling of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to a subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. As a falling of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the central subspace is prevented by the gas blowing, the force distribution of the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces) is changed, making it easier to change the shape of the glass under the vacuum adsorption force generated by the extraction pipe, even under a relatively low vacuum adsorption force. The relatively low vacuum adsorption force can further avoid possible excessive extrusion between the carrying surface and the glass at positions corresponding to the other subspaces (which include the buffer subspace and the multiple edge subspaces), improving the molding surface quality and the optical quality of the glass.

When a curvature of the spherical surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe is proximate to or equal to a desired curvature, gas blowing can prevent the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. By regulating a blowing gas temperature of a gas-heating system communicating with the blowing pipe on the concave solid lower mold, a temperature of the surface of the glass at a position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe can be precisely controlled. When the blowing gas temperature of the gas-heating system is set to be lower than or equal to the temperature of the surface of the glass, gas blowing may lower the temperature of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe, thereby further preventing the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe. This means that the closer the curvature of the spherical surface of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe is to the desired curvature, the lower the blowing gas temperature of the gas-heating system is relative to the temperature of the surface of the glass. As such, the temperature of the glass at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe can be lowered, better preventing the spherical surface of the glass from further falling at the position corresponding to the subspace communicating with the blowing pipe.

In an embodiment of the invention, the device further includes an annular upper mold. The annular upper mold is disposed at a side of the top plate away from the base and includes an upper mold plate and a side mold plate that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate facing the carrying surface. The upper mold plate, the side mold plate, and an upper surface of the vehicle glass cooperatively define an accommodating cavity when the annular upper mold and the concave solid lower mold move towards each other to make the side mold plate in contact with the upper surface of the vehicle glass, where the accommodating cavity is in communication with the blowing channel, and the blowing channel faces the carrying surface and is configured for blowing gas to the vehicle glass. Gas is blown to the upper surface of the glass through the blowing channel of the annular upper mold, so that the upper surface of the glass is subjected to a blowing press force while the lower surface of the glass is subjected to a vacuum adsorption force, realizing a rapid bending of the glass. Moreover, when the device includes both the concave solid lower mold and the annular upper mold, multiple glasses stacked may be processed at the same time, which improves the processing efficiency to a certain extent.

Claim 1:
A device (<NUM>) for bending vehicle glass (<NUM>), comprising a concave solid lower mold (<NUM>), at least one blowing pipe (<NUM>), a plurality of extraction pipes (<NUM>), and an annular upper mold (<NUM>), wherein the concave solid lower mold (<NUM>) comprises a base (<NUM>) and a top plate (<NUM>) covered on the base (<NUM>), the base (<NUM>) and the top plate (<NUM>) cooperatively define an accommodating space (<NUM>), and a plurality of first partitions (<NUM>) are arranged in the accommodating space (<NUM>) to divide the accommodating space (<NUM>) into a plurality of subspaces (<NUM>), the top plate (<NUM>) has a carrying surface (<NUM>) that is concave and away from the base (<NUM>), and the top plate (<NUM>) has a plurality of through holes (<NUM>) that are in communication with the accommodating space (<NUM>) and arranged at intervals, each of the plurality of subspaces (<NUM>) corresponds to at least one of the plurality of through holes (<NUM>), each of the at least one blowing pipe (<NUM>) communicates with at least one of the plurality of subspaces (<NUM>) and is configured for blowing gas to the at least one of the plurality of subspaces (<NUM>), and the plurality of extraction pipes (<NUM>) communicate with the rest of the plurality of subspaces (<NUM>) in one-to-one correspondence for extracting gas in the rest of the plurality of subspaces (<NUM>);
characterized in that:
the annular upper mold (<NUM>) is disposed at a side of the top plate (<NUM>) away from the base (<NUM>) and comprises an upper mold plate (<NUM>) and a side mold plate (<NUM>) that is disposed at a side of the upper mold plate (<NUM>) facing the carrying surface (<NUM>),
wherein the annular upper mold (<NUM>) has a blowing channel (<NUM>), and the blowing channel (<NUM>) of the annular upper mold (<NUM>) is configured for blowing gas towards the concave solid lower mold (<NUM>).