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EP-4737404-A1 - APPARATUS FOR BENDING GLASS SHEETS

EP4737404A1EP 4737404 A1EP4737404 A1EP 4737404A1EP-4737404-A1

Abstract

An apparatus for bending glass sheets. The apparatus comprises a set of mould trolleys for transporting female moulds and glass sheets to be bent in the apparatus. The apparatus further comprises a first glass bending line and a second glass bending line. A second end of the first glass bending line is arranged in connection with a first end of the second glass bending line and a second end of the second glass bending line is arranged in connection with a first end of the first glass bending line. The apparatus further comprises at least one return track from the second end of at least one of the glass bending lines to the first end of the corresponding glass bending line.

Inventors

  • Sääksi, Jukka

Assignees

  • GlassAI Oy

Dates

Publication Date
20260506
Application Date
20251020

Claims (15)

  1. An apparatus for bending glass sheets, the apparatus comprising a set of mould trolleys for transporting female moulds and glass sheets to be bent in the apparatus, a first glass bending line and a second glass bending line, wherein a second end of the first glass bending line is arranged in connection with a first end of the second glass bending line and a second end of the second glass bending line is arranged in connection with a first end of the first glass bending line for allowing the mould trolleys to circulate both through the first glass bending line and through the second glass bending line, and at least one return track for connecting the second end of at least one of the glass bending lines with the first end of the corresponding glass bending line for allowing the mould trolleys to return directly from the second end of the at least one of the glass bending lines to the first end of the corresponding glass bending line.
  2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the first glass bending line comprises at the first end a loading station for loading a mould trolley with at last one glass sheet to be bent and at the second end an unloading station for unloading the at least one bent glass sheet from the mould trolley, the second glass bending line comprises at the first end a loading station for loading a mould trolley with at least one glass sheet to be bent and at the second end an unloading station for unloading the at least one bent glass sheet from the mould trolley, the unloading station of the first glass bending line is arranged in connection with the loading station of the second glass bending line and the unloading station of the second glass bending line is arranged in connection with the loading station of the first glass bending line for allowing the mould trolleys to circulate both through the first glass bending line and through the second glass bending line, and that the at least one return track is arranged to connect the unloading station of at least one of the glass bending lines to the loading station of the corresponding glass bending line for allowing the mould trolleys to return directly from the unloading station of the at least one of the glass bending lines to the loading station of the corresponding glass bending line.
  3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a single return track for connecting both the second end of the first glass bending line with the first end of the first glass bending line and the second end of the second glass bending line with the first end of the second glass bending line.
  4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3, characterized in that the single return track is arranged in a space between the first glass bending line and the second glass bending line.
  5. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a turning station to reverse the position of the mould trolley arriving from the unloading station of the glass bending line to the loading station of the other glass bending line.
  6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5, characterized in that the turning station is arranged between the unloading station of the glass bending line and the loading station of the other glass bending line.
  7. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a sidetrack connected to the unloading station of the glass bending line to receive the at least one bent glass sheet unloaded from the mould trolley at the unloading station of the glass bending line.
  8. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the apparatus comprises at least one mould change station for providing the mould trolley with the female moulds to be used next in the glass bending line.
  9. An apparatus as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the glass bending line comprises a heating section and a cooling section following the heating section.
  10. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9, characterized in that the heating section comprises a preheating section, a pre-bending section and a bending section.
  11. An apparatus as claimed in claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the cooling section comprises an annealing section and an intensive cooling section.
  12. An apparatus as claimed in any one of preceding claims 9 to 11, characterized in that the apparatus comprises a press bending section between the heating section and the cooling section.
  13. An apparatus as claimed in any one of preceding claims 9 to 12, characterized in that the at least one of the heating section and the cooling section is of a modular structure comprising successive modules with a sealing element at an interface between the successive modules to form successive partially separated compartments at the modules.
  14. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13, characterized in that the mould trolleys are configured to form together with the sealing elements closed compartments at the modules.
  15. An apparatus as claimed in claim 13 or 14, characterized in that the mould trolley comprises a substantially horizontal part for receiving the female mould to be provided with at least one glass sheet to be bent on top of the female mould, and an upwards extending part for forming together with the sealing element a closed compartment at the module.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for bending glass sheets. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Bent shapes of glass sheets, i.e., bent glass sheets, may be applied for example in construction industry or in automobile industry. In construction industry, the bent glass sheets with different curvatures may be applied to form in buildings rounded corners provided with windows. In automobile industry, the bent glass sheets are applied especially as windscreens or rear windows in automobiles. The bent glass sheet is manufactured by setting a flat glass sheet on top of a female mould and applying a heating effect to the glass sheet. The heated glass sheet bends downwards due to the force of gravity acting on the heated glass sheet, whereby the heated glass sheet sags under its own weight so as to be bent following a profile of the female mould. When manufacturing windows with two layers, such as the windscreens in automobiles typically are, a set of two overlapping flat glass sheets are set on top of a female mould, whereby the glass sheets bend to each other in a compatible manner. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a novel apparatus for bending glass sheets. The invention is characterized by the features of the independent claim. The invention is based on the idea of an apparatus comprising at least two glass bending lines, which glass bending lines are connected to each other in a way allowing varying usage situations of the apparatus. An advantage of the invention is that the operation of the apparatus can be varied in a versatile manner based especially based on a required production quantity of bent glass sheets to be produced. Some embodiments of the invention are disclosed in the dependent claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the following the invention will be described in greater detail by means of preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 shows schematically a top view of an apparatus for bending glass sheets;Figure 2 shows schematically a side view of a mould trolley carrying a female mould and a glass sheet on top of the female mould; andFigure 3 shows schematically a partial side view of the apparatus of Figure 1 in cross-section. For the sake of clarity, the figures show some embodiments of the invention in a simplified manner. Like reference numerals identify like elements in the figures. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Figure 1 is a schematic top view of an apparatus 1 for bending glass sheets. The apparatus 1 comprises a first glass bending line 10 and a second glass bending line 20. The first glass bending line 10 and the second glass bending line 20 are arranged substantially parallel to each other. The apparatus 1 further comprises mould trolleys 2. Figure 2 is a schematic side view of a mould trolley 2 carrying a female mould 3 and at least one glass sheet 4 on top of the female mould 3. The mould trolley 2 is used to transport the at least one glass sheet 4 to be bent through the first glass bending line 10 and/or through the second glass bending line 20. In the glass bending line 10, 20 the at least one glass sheet 4 having originally a flat shape will achieve a bent shape following a profile of the female mould 3. The travel of the mould trolleys 2 through the glass bending lines 10, 20 is carried out by means of conveyors known per se to a person skilled in the art. Figure 3 shows schematically a conveyor 5. The mould trolley 2 according to the example embodiment of Figure 2 comprises a substantially horizontal part 2a. The mould trolley 2 further comprises, at an end of the horizontal part 2a, a part 2b extending upwards from the horizontal part 2a. Typically the mould trolley 2 travels through the glass bending lines 10, 20 such that the upwards extending part 2b points forward in a direction of travel TD of the mould trolley 2 through the glass bending lines 10, 20. The substantially horizontal part 2a of the mould trolley 2 is configured to receive the female mould 3. The female mould 3 comprises a circumferential edge on top of which the at least one glass sheet 4 to be bent is set. The female mould 3 comprises, in the area limited by the circumferential edge, a cavity, whose profile is designed to correspond to an intended shape of the at least one bent glass sheet 4. The at least one glass sheet 4 moving through heated sections in the glass bending line 10, 20 bends downwards due to the force of gravity acting on the at least one heated glass sheet 4, whereby the at least one heated glass sheet 4 sags under its own weight so as to be bent following the profile of the female mould 3. When manufacturing windows with a single layer, such as glass panes for buildings, typically a single flat glass sheet 4 is set on top of the female mould 3, whereby the glass sheet 4 bends following the profile of the female mould 3. When manufacturing windows with two