Patent ID: 7086252

Claim:
A glass sheet forming system comprising: a roll bending station for receiving heated glass sheets for forming thereof, the roll bending station including a lower roll conveyor and an upper roll former located above the lower roll conveyor; the lower roll conveyor including a plurality of lower elongated beams having upstream and downstream ends and intermediate portions extending therebetween along a direction of conveyance; lower rolls mounted by the lower elongated beams spaced along the direction of conveyance extending transversely with respect thereto and including a most upstream lower roll, a most downstream lower roll and intermediate lower rolls located along the direction of conveyance between the most upstream lower roll and the most downstream lower roll, an upstream lower support that mounts the upstream ends of the lower elongated beams, the upstream ends of the lower elongated beams supporting the most upstream lower roll with a straight shape, a downstream lower support that mounts the downstream ends of the lower elongated beams, the downstream ends of the lower elongated beams supporting the most downstream lower roll with a predetermined curvature, and the intermediate portions of the lower elongated beams supporting the intermediate lower rolls with progressively increasing curvatures from the most upstream straight lower roll to the most downstream curved lower roll; the upper roll former including a plurality of upper elongated beams having upstream and downstream ends and intermediate portions extending therebetween along the direction of conveyance, upper rolls mounted by the upper elongated beams spaced along the direction of conveyance extending transversely with respect thereto and including a most upstream upper roll, a most downstream upper roll and intermediate upper rolls located along the direction of conveyance between the most upstream upper roll and the most downstream upper roll, an upstream upper support that mounts the upstream ends of the upper elongated beams, the upstream ends of the upper elongated beams supporting the most upstream upper roll with a straight shape, a downstream upper support that mounts the downstream ends of the upper elongated beams, the downstream ends of the upper elongated beams supporting the most downstream upper roll with a curvature complementary to the curvature of the most downstream curved lower roll, and the intermediate portions of the upper elongated beams supporting the intermediate upper rolls with progressively increasing curvatures from the most upstream straight upper roll to the most downstream curved upper roll; and a drive mechanism for rotatively driving the lower rolls of the lower conveyor to receive each heated glass sheet and provide conveyance thereof between the lower roll conveyor and the upper roll former and thereby form the glass sheet to the curved shape of the most downstream curved lower and upper rolls in a direction transverse to the direction of conveyance.