Patent ID: 8056365

Claim:
A method for reducing air leakage when forming sheet glass using an apparatus that includes a forming trough for receiving molten glass that has sides attached to a wedged shaped sheet forming structure that has downwardly sloping sides converging at the bottom of the wedge such that a glass sheet is formed when molten glass flows over the sides of the trough, down the downwardly sloping sides of the wedged shaped sheet forming structure and meets at the bottom of the wedge, and the apparatus including at least two adjacent zones including a forming zone wherein the sheet glass is formed and another zone positioned adjacent the forming zone, wherein at least the forming zone is enclosed by a forming zone chamber of the apparatus, and the another zone adjacent to the forming zone is enclosed by at least one adjacent chamber of the apparatus, wherein the method comprises the step of: equalizing an internal pressure between at least the forming zone chamber and the at least one adjacent chamber of the apparatus, during a glass cooling process such that a pressure difference across a gas leakage path between the forming zone chamber and the at least one adjacent chamber of the apparatus is substantially zero, thereby eliminating gas leakage.