Patent ID: 8773656

Claim:
An apparatus for characterizing glass sheets as the glass sheets move past the apparatus comprising: a conveyor configured to support a glass sheet in a vertical orientation and to move the vertically oriented glass sheet in a direction of travel past the apparatus; an air bearing comprising an annular inner porous body portion, and an outer porous body portion disposed about the inner porous body portion, the inner porous body portion defining a central passage extending through a thickness of the air bearing, wherein the outer porous body portion and inner porous body portion are positioned to be adjacent a major surface of the glass sheet as said glass sheet moves past the apparatus; and a plurality of stabilizing air knives positioned to be adjacent opposing major surfaces of the glass sheet as said glass sheet moves past the apparatus and disposed upstream of the air bearing relative to the direction of travel of the glass sheets, wherein the air knives are oriented such that a flow of air from each air knife is directed toward the respective major surface of the glass sheet; and a measurement device to measure at least one attribute of the glass sheet, the measurement device being aligned with the central passage of the air bearing.