Claims
- 1. An apparatus for stepwise bending of a glass sheet, comprising:
- an initial bending station in which a substantially horizontally arranged glass sheet can be initially bent;
- a final bending station in which the substantially horizontally arranged glass sheet can be finally bent; and
- a support device which transfers the initially bent glass sheet from the initial bending station into the final bending station, wherein the support device comprises a rigid support frame and a fabric carrier mounted resiliently on the support frame and supporting the glass sheet.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the rigid support frame includes opposing rods, and wherein the fabric carrier is laid loosely over the rods and subjected to tension.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 1 including a concave bending mold in each of said initial and final bending stations, the concave bending mold being upwardly movable to a position engaging a lower surface of the fabric carrier.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein each of said bending molds has a concave surface having at least one bore through which a partial vacuum can be applied.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4 including a plate provided in the initial bending station above the bending mold therein, said plate having a planar surface which is engageable with a glass sheet supported by the fabric carrier in the initial bending station to prevent corrugation of edges of the glass sheet during an initial bending operation.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said plate includes means for applying an overpressure to the planar surface.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1 including a plurality of said support devices, each of said support devices including a moveable carriage mounted for stepwise movement in a cycle from the initial bending station to the final bending station and back to the initial bending station.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1 including a plurality of said support devices mounted for stepwise rotary movement in a cycle from the initial bending station to the final bending station and back to the initial bending station.
Priority Claims (1)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
196 43 935 |
Oct 1996 |
DEX |
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Parent Case Info
This application is a divisional of Ser. No. 08/962,440 filed Oct. 31, 1997, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,992,178.
US Referenced Citations (24)
Divisions (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
962440 |
Oct 1997 |
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