Patent ID: 8516854

Claim:
A method for forming, thin glass articles, said method comprising the steps of: providing a mold consisting of a die having a cavity and a plunger capable of fitting within the cavity of said die, said die being a bottomless die having side walls between 70° and the perpendicular to the bottomless area of the die, a plurality of terminal walls, and a shaped transition area within said die extending outwardly from said side walls to said terminal area, said transition area being continuous about the interior of the die cavity from the terminal walls to the side walls; providing a glass sheet having a length, width and thickness dimensions such that the glass fits within the mold at the junction of the terminal walls and the transition area, wherein the die initially only contacts the glass sheet substantially at the edges; heating the glass to a viscosity in the range of 10 7 -10 13 poise; lowering the plunger to contact the glass; applying increasing pressure to the glass; pressing the glass until the edges of the glass are sufficiently bent and a shaped glass article is formed and the glass article is pressed through the die and deposited on a receiving surface.