Patent ID: 8181485

Claim:
A method of forming an ultra-thin glass sheet, the method comprising: providing a glass soot sheet and a sintering furnace, the glass soot sheet having a length, a width, and two opposing primary surfaces separated by a thickness, and the sintering furnace having a heater defining a sintering zone, wherein said heater comprises a first leg and a second leg that intersect at a predetermined angle to form a V-shape; passing the glass soot sheet through the sintering zone by moving at least one of the glass soot sheet and the heater; and heating localized segments of the glass soot sheet to a temperature effective to sinter the glass soot sheet and form an ultra-thin glass sheet, wherein the heater is oriented relative to the glass soot sheet such that said step of heating comprises initially heating and sintering one or more central segments of the glass soot sheet, and progressively heating and sintering glass soot sheet segments located laterally or axially adjacent to previously-sintered segments such that, along respective width directions of the glass soot sheet, only a portion of the width is sintered at a given time interval during the heating.