Patent ID: 8439241

Claim:
An apparatus for detaching portions of glass rods, comprising: a breaking bar having a first side and a second side and a crest surface that extends in a first direction and supports a number of glass rods that are parallel to one another and extend in a second direction perpendicular to the first direction so that first arm sections of said glass rods extend on said first side of said breaking bar and second arm sections of said glass rods extend on said second side of said breaking bar; wherein said glass rods are held and fixed in parallel and lateral fixed relationship; a hold down means engaging said first arm sections of said glass rods for pressing said glass rods against said crest surface in a third direction perpendicular to said first and second directions; a breaking beam engaging said second arm sections of said glass rods for pressing said glass rods against said crest surface of the breaking bar in said third direction; a scoring wheel disposed between said hold down means and said breaking beam and, with interposition of a respective glass rod, directly opposite to said breaking bar, said scoring wheel being for scoring a number of parallel traces in said first direction within a scoring zone in each said glass rod; a scoring wheel holder for rotably mounting said scoring wheel around an axis parallel to said second direction; at least one pressing spring for pressing said scoring wheel in said third direction against said glass rods; and wherein said parallel and lateral held and fixed glass rods and said scoring wheel past one another parallel to said first direction so as to score said traces in the glass rods when said glass rods pass said scoring wheel; wherein the glass rods are fixed in a rotationally fixed manner by elastic holding elements; wherein the hold down means and the breaking beam are with respect to the glass rods arranged opposite to the breaking bar bringing about an exact three-point bearing of the glass rods during scoring and breaking; and wherein the scored glass rods are bent in said scoring zone opposite said breaking bar by action from said hold down means and said breaking beam, and said glass rods are broken with a planar, uniform fracture surface that develops from said scoring zone to said crest surface.