Patent ID: 6918268

Claim:
A glass sheet bending apparatus comprising a heating furnace for heating a glass sheet up to a certain bending temperature, a mold having a certain bending shape, a roller conveyor for conveying the heated glass sheet, a positioning unit for positioning the conveyed glass sheet at a certain glass sheet standby position, and a press ring for pressing the conveyed glass sheet against the mold to bend the glass sheet after receiving the glass sheet at the glass sheet standby position; wherein the positioning unit comprises a guide rail, a guide block slidably provided on the guide rail, a support provided on the guide block; a four-bar linkage provided to the support, an arm provided to the four-bar linkage so as to be able to extend in a horizontal direction; an air cylinder for changing a form of the four-bar linkage, and a controller for controlling an operation of the roller conveyor, a sliding movement of the guide block and an operation of the air cylinder; the four-bar linkage comprises a first link fixed to the support, a second link coupled to one end of the first link with a pin, a third link coupled to one end of the second link with a pin, and a fourth link coupled to one end of the third link with a pin and to the other end of the first link with a pin; the second link includes a tongue coupled to a piston of the air cylinder; and the controller operates the air cylinder to move the arm to a certain initial position for a positioning operation, moves the glass sheet in a conveyance direction thereof with a leading end of the arm kept in contact with a front end of the glass sheet and positions the glass sheet at a certain standby position.