Patent ID: 7770414

Claim:
An apparatus for drawing glass sheet from a glass preform comprising: a draw tower comprising: a support assembly configured to support the glass preform, the support assembly further configured to move the glass preform along a vertical axis; a draw furnace disposed below the support assembly that heats the glass preform supplied by the support assembly to form a viscous glass pre-sheet that flows in a vertical direction from the draw furnace; stretching arms mounted to actuators below the draw furnace, the actuators configured to move the stretching arms in a direction perpendicular to the pre-sheet flow direction; contact bars operably connected to the stretching arms that adhere to edges of the glass pre-sheet; a carriage assembly that moves the stretching arms vertically along the flow direction of the pre-sheet; and opposing edge rollers rotatably mounted below the stretching arms for engaging the glass sheet and applying a downward force to the glass sheet, thereby reducing a thickness of the glass sheet.