TECHNICAL FIELD
[0001] This invention relates to an inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass
sheets.
BACKGROUND
[0002] United States patent 6,543,255 Bennett et al, whose entire disclosure is hereby
incorporated by reference, discloses a system for glass sheet press bending which in one
embodiment is performed after initial preforming of glass sheets in a heating furnace before
conveyance to a press bending station for press bending. A lower wheel bed of the system has lower
support mounting wheel assemblies that convey each preformed glass sheet from the heating furnace
into the press bending station for the press bending. United States patent application Serial No.
12/756,521 filed on April 8, 2010 under the title "Press Bending Station and Method for Bending
Heated Glass Sheets" by Nitschke et al, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by
reference, discloses a conveyor for hot formed glass sheets wherein the conveyor includes wheels,
horizontal rollers and inclined rollers for conveying formed glass sheets.
SUMMARY
[0003] An object of the present invention is to provide an improved inclined roller conveying
assembly for hot formed glass sheets.
[0004] In carrying out the above object, the inclined roller conveying assembly for hot
formed glass sheets is constructed according to the invention to include a pair of supports for
mounting in a hot glass sheet processing system with one of the supports having a horizontal support
axis and with the other support having a horizontal support and drive axis that is at a different
elevation than the horizontal support axis of the one support. A horizontally inclined roller extends
between the pair of supports and has a rotational axis that is inclined from the horizontal by an angle
a . An idler bearing of the assembly rotatably mounts the inclined roller on the one support at its
horizontal support axis, and a drive coupling of the assembly rotatably supports and rotatively drives
the inclined roller on the other support at its horizontal support and drive axis so the inclined roller
provides support for the lower surface of an upper portion of a hot upwardly concave formed glass
sheet being conveyed. The drive coupling includes a female socket that is mounted on either the
inclined roller or the other support and also includes a male insert received within the socket and
mounted on the other of the inclined roller or the other support. The female socket has a socket axis
about which the socket rotates and includes an interior having drive faces that extend parallel to the
socket axis, and each drive face has a peripheral central location from which the drive face is
inclined slightly outwardly in a peripheral direction by an angle b from a line perpendicular to a
radius from the socket axis to its peripheral central location. The male insert has an insert axis about
which the insert rotates and includes drive surfaces of the same number as the number of drive faces
of the female socket. Each drive surface has a straight shape in a peripheral direction perpendicular
to a radius from the insert axis to a peripheral central location along its straight shape, and each drive
surface has a round shape along the insert axis with a diameter just slightly smaller than the diameter
of a circle through the peripheral central locations of the drive faces of the female socket so as to
permit the socket to receive the insert and provide rotational driving between the socket and the
insert with an acute angle a between the socket axis and the insert axis.
[0005] As disclosed, the female socket has an even number of drive faces and the male insert
has an even number of the drive surfaces, specifically, the female socket has six drive faces forming
a generally hexagonal shape and the male insert has six drive surfaces forming a generally hexagonal
shape.
[0006] Also as disclosed, the female socket has recesses located between its adjacent drive
faces and extending outwardly therefrom in a radial direction from the socket axis, and the recesses
of the female socket as disclosed are round and the male insert has round junctions between its
adjacent drive surfaces.
[0007] Furthermore, the angles a and b are related by the formula:
b= arctangent =— - 30, and the angle a is between zero and 25 degrees and the
angle b is between zero and 2.5 degrees.
[0008] The objects, features and advantages of the present invention are readily apparent
from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment when taken in connection with
the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] FIGURE 1 is a side elevational view of a glass sheet processing system including an
inclined roller conveying assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention to convey
hot formed glass sheets.
[0010] FIGURE 2 is a cross sectional view through the system along the direction of line 2-2
in Figure 1 adjacent an exit end of a furnace of the system and illustrates horizontal and inclined
rolls on which each heated glass sheet is conveyed for roll forming prior to exiting the furnace in
preparation for subsequent press forming.
[0011] FIGURE 3 is a top plan view taken along the direction of line 3-3 in Figure 1 to
illustrate horizontal rollers, wheels and inclined roller conveying assemblies constructed according
to the invention to convey hot formed glass sheets which as shown is within a press ring of a press
forming station of the system.
[0012] FIGURE 4 is a perspective schematic view illustrating one of the horizontal rollers
and the inclined roller conveying assemblies of the invention.
[0013] FIGURE 5 is an elevation view taken in section through one of the inclined roller
conveying assemblies to illustrate its construction.
[0014] FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 5 illustrating an idler bearing
that supports one end of the inclined roller for rotation about its inclined rotational axis.
[0015] FIGURE 7 is also an enlarged view of a portion of Figure 5 and shows the other end
of the inclined roller which is supported and rotatively driven by a drive coupling.
[0016] FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of a female socket of the drive coupling.
[0017] FIGURE 9 is a perspective view of a male insert of the drive coupling which is
received within the female socket as shown in Figure 5 to provide the rotational driving.
[0018] FIGURE 10 is a schematic view that illustrates the construction of the female socket
and the male insert of the drive coupling in the assembled condition.
[0019] FIGURE 11 is taken in the same direction as Figure 10 and shows a portion of the
female socket which has recesses between adjacent drive faces of the socket.
[0020] FIGURE 12 is an axial end view of the male insert which is received within the
female socket as schematically illustrated in Figure 10.
[0021] FIGURE 13 is a side view of the male insert taken along the direction of line 13-13 in
Figure 12.
[0022] FIGURE 14 is a perspective view of a retainer that secures the female socket to its
adjacent support in cooperation with a threaded bolt.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0023] As required, detailed embodiments of the present invention are disclosed herein;
however, it is to be understood that the disclosed embodiments are merely exemplary of the
invention that may be embodied in various and alternative forms. The figures are not necessarily to
scale; some features may be exaggerated or minimized to show details of particular components.
Therefore, specific structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as
limiting, but merely as a representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ
the present invention.
[0024] With reference to Figure 1 of the drawings, a system 10 for processing glass sheets is
generally indicated by 10 and includes a forming or press bending station 12. The system 10
includes a furnace 14 having a roll bending station 16 just upstream along a direction of conveyance
C from the press bending station 12. Downstream from the press bending station 12 along the
direction of conveyance C, the system 10 is illustrated as including a quench station 18 for providing
rapid cooling of a formed glass sheet bent by the roll station 16 and the press bending station 1 as is
hereinafter more fully described. Instead of a quench station, it is also possible for the system to
include an annealing station for slowly cooling the initially formed and subsequently press bent glass
sheet to provide annealing of the glass.
[0025] As illustrated by continuing reference to Figure 1, the furnace 14 has entry and exit
ends 20 and 22 and includes a heating chamber 24 (Figure 2) having a conveyor 26 for conveying
glass sheets along the direction of conveyance through the furnace from the entry end to the exit end.
The conveyor 26 on which the glass sheets are heated can be either a conventional gas hearth or a
roll conveyor on which the glass sheets are conveyed during heating from ambient temperature to a
sufficiently high temperature to permit bending.
[0026] The furnace exit end 22 includes the roll bending station 16 which is illustrated in
Figure 2 as having horizontally extending conveyor rolls 28 that are rotatively driven and spaced
horizontally within the heating chamber along the direction of conveyance extending laterally with
respect thereto to support and convey the heated glass sheets. The roll bending station 16 also
includes a pair of sets 30 of bending rolls 32, with the bending roll sets 30 spaced laterally with
respect to each other within the heating chamber 24 along the direction of conveyance. Each set of
bending rolls 30 is supported and rotatively driven by a drive mechanism 33 with the bending rolls at
progressively increasing inclinations along the direction of conveyance as illustrated by reference
numerals 32a, 32b, 32c and 32d in Figure 2. The conveyance of each heated glass sheet G along the
direction of conveyance in cooperation with the bending rolls 32 provides bending or preforming of
the heated glass sheet with an upwardly concave shape along a direction transverse to the direction
of conveyance as illustrated in Figure 2.
[0027] With combined reference to Figures 1, 3 and 4, the press bending station 12 as
previously mentioned is located externally of the furnace 14 downstream from its exit end 22 to
receive the roll bent glass sheets from the roll bending station 16. More specifically, the press
bending station 12 includes a conveyor 34 for receiving a heated glass sheet to be press bent. The
conveyor 34 includes horizontal rollers 36, wheels 38 and inclined roller conveying assemblies 40
the latter of which is constructed in accordance with the present invention as is hereinafter described.
The conveyor 34 conveys the hot formed glass sheets G into the press bending station 12 above an
upwardly concave lower mold ring 42 and below an upper mold 44 having a downwardly convex
forming surface 45. A controller 46 operates lower and upper actuators 48 and 50 that respectively
move the lower mold ring 42 and upper mold 44 upwardly and downwardly toward each other to lift
the hot glass sheet from conveyor 34 and provide press forming of the glass sheet to a design shape
which may include curvature in transverse directions.
[0028] After the press forming, the controller 46 moves the lower mold ring 42 and upper
mold 44 downwardly and upwardly, respectively, away from each other as a vacuum source 52
draws a vacuum at the forming surface 45 of the upper mold 44 to support the press formed glass
sheet. A shuttle 54 of the quench station 18 is then moved by an actuator 56 to move a quench ring
58 toward the left below the upper mold 44. Termination of the vacuum provided by the vacuum
source 52 may then be accompanied by a supply of pressurized gas to the upper press mold surface
45 to release the glass sheet onto the quench ring 58 and the shuttle actuator 56 then moves the
shuttle 54 back toward the right to the position illustrated such that the quench ring 58 and the press
formed glass sheet thereon are located between lower and upper quench heads 60 and 62 which
respectively supply upwardly and downwardly directed quenching gas that rapidly cools the glass
sheet to provide toughening thereof that increases its mechanical strength.
[0029] It should be appreciated that while the press station illustrated has a quench station, it
is also possible for the press station to function without any quench station, such as with annealing as
is the case when manufacturing laminated windshields for vehicles.
[0030] One end of each of the horizontal rollers 36 and each of the wheels 38 is supported
and rotatively driven about a horizontal axis by a wheel assembly of the type disclosed by United
States patent 6,543,255 Bennett et al, the entire disclosure of which has been incorporated by
reference, and the other end of the horizontal roller is supported by an idler wheel assembly. These
wheel assemblies are supported by elongated rails extending along the direction of conveyance and
supported by jacks that permit vertical adjustment for different curvatures of glass sheets to be
conveyed.
[0031] With reference to Figure 5, the inclined roller conveyor assembly 40 of this invention
includes a pair of supports 64 and 66 for mounting within a hot glass sheet processing system such
as the type described above with one of the supports 64 having a horizontal support axis A and with
the other support 66 having a horizontal support and drive axis B that is at a different elevation than
the horizontal support axis A of support 64. While the horizontal support axis A is illustrated at a
lower position than the horizontal support and drive axis B as illustrated, it is also possible for these
respective elevations to be reversed. The supports 64 and 66 include housings 68 that are generally
of the type disclosed by the aforementioned United States patent 6,543,255 and are mountable on
schematically indicated rails 70 which can be adjusted vertically by jacks 72 to provide the
difference in elevation. A horizontally inclined roller 74 extends between the pair of supports 64
and 66 and has an inclined rotational axis C defining an angle a with the horizontal to provide
support for the lower surface of an upper portion Gu of a hot formed glass sheet G being conveyed
with an upwardly concave shape as shown in Figure 4. The idler roller as disclosed includes an
internal metal tube 76 and an outer high temperature fabric type coating such as an aromatic
polyamide fiber.
[0032] As shown in Figures 5 and 6, the support 64 having the horizontal support axis A
includes an idler bearing 80 that supports the adjacent end of the horizontally inclined roller 74.
This idler bearing 80 includes a receptor 82 mounted on the upper end of the support 64 extending
along the horizontal support axis A and having a round cylindrical opening 84 that receives a partial
ball end 86 of a projection 88 supported by a mount 90 on the adjacent end of the metal tube 76 of
the inclined roller 74. A set screw 92 or the like maintains the ball end 86 within the opening 84.
This idler bearing 80 thus permits adjustment of angle between the horizontal support axis A and the
horizontally inclined axis C of the inclined roller 74.
[0033] As shown in Figures 5 and 7, the inclined roller conveying assembly 40 also includes
a drive coupling 94 that rotatably supports and rotatively drives the inclined roller 74 on the other
support 66 at its horizontal support and drive axis B to provide conveyance of the upper portion Gu
of the hot upwardly concave formed glass sheet G as shown in Figure 4.
[0034] The drive coupling 94 as shown in Figures 5, 7 and 8 includes a female socket 96 that
is illustrated as being mounted on the adjacent end of the inclined roller 74 for rotation about the
inclined axis C, but the drive coupling may also be mounted on the support 66 along its support and
drive axis B. The drive coupling 94 also includes a male insert 98 as shown in Figures 5, 7 and 9,
that is received within the female socket 96 and as shown is mounted on the support 66 along its
support and drive axis B to provide support and rotational driving of the female socket 94 along its
horizontally inclined rotational axis C. As previously discussed with the female socket, it is also
possible for the male insert 98 to be mounted on the adjacent end of the inclined roller 74 with the
female socket 96 mounted on the support 66 to likewise rotatively drive the inclined roller 74 about
its horizontally inclined support axis C.
[0035] The female socket 96 as shown in Figure 8 has an interior 100 having drive faces 102
that extend parallel to the socket axis. Each drive face 102 has a peripheral central location 104 that
may be either a flat as shown in Figure 8 or a midpoint as shown in Figure 10. From this central
location 104 the drive face 102 is inclined slightly outwardly in a peripheral direction by an angle b
in both clockwise and counterclockwise directions from a line 106 perpendicular to a radius from the
socket axis C to its peripheral central location 104.
[0036] With reference to Figures 9, 12 and 13, the male insert 98 has an insert axis, which is
the support axis B when mounted on the support 66 as shown. The support 66 as shown in Figures 5
and 7 has a drive belt 107 that is driven from a lower rotary connection on the rail 70 and drives an
upper spindle on which the insert 98 is mounted so as to be rotatively driven. The insert 98 includes
drive surfaces 108 which are of the same number as the number of drive faces 102 of the female
socket 96. Each drive surface 108 has a straight shape as shown in Figure 12 perpendicular to a
radius from the insert axis B to a peripheral central location along its straight shape. As shown in
Figure 13, each drive surface has a round shape along the insert axis with a diameter just slightly
smaller than the diameter of a circle through the peripheral central locations 104 of the drive faces
102 of the female socket so as to permit the socket to receive the insert and provide rotational
driving between the socket and the insert with an acute angle a between the socket axis and the
insert axis. It should be understood that the term "slightly smaller" in the preceding sentence means
that there is sufficient clearance so that the male insert can be received within the female socket
without binding during the rotational driving but not so great as to result in excessive backlash.
[0037] As disclosed, the female socket 96 has an even number of drive faces 102 and the
male insert has an even number of drive surfaces 108, specifically the socket has six drive faces 102
forming a generally hexagonal shape and the insert has six drive surfaces 108 forming a generally
hexagonal shape just slightly smaller than the hexagonal shape of the drive faces of the socket.
[0038] As best illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the female socket 96 has recesses 110 located
between its adjacent drive faces 102 and extending outwardly therefrom in a radial direction from
the socket axis C. These recesses 110 of the female socket 96 are round, and the male insert has
round junctions 112. The construction of the female socket with the round recesses 112 and the
male socket with the round junctions 112 insures that there is no interference between the socket
drive faces 102 and the insert drive surfaces 108 during the rotational driving.
The outward inclination of the drive faces 102 from their central locations 104 as shown in Figure 10
is necessary when the drive faces are not at the top and bottom positions when viewed as shown in
Figure 7. At the top and bottom positions, the socket would not have any interference with the insert
faces 108. However, the inclination of angle a between the female socket and insert axes results in
interference upon movement when not at the top and bottom positions. This interference is greater
when the angle a is greater. More specifically, the angles a and b are related by the formula:
b= arctangent (-=— —30.
VV3 cosine a
Furthermore, the angle a is between zero and 25 degrees, and the angle b is between zero and 2.5
degrees.
[0039] As shown in Figure 7, the end of the inclined roller 74 connected to the drive
coupling 94 has an annular ring 114 suitably secured within the metallic tube 76 of inclined roller.
A retainer 116 positioned on the axial inner side of the retainer 116 is secured by a bolt 118 to the
female socket 96 of the drive coupling 94 to provide the connection that permits the rotary driving of
the inclined roller 74.
[0040] While an exemplary embodiment is described above, it is not intended that this
embodiment describes all possible forms of the invention. Rather, the words used in the
specification are words of description rather than limitation, and it is understood that various
changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, the
features of various implementing embodiments may be combined to form further embodiments of
the invention.

WE CLAIMS:-
1. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets
comprising:
a pair of supports for mounting in a hot glass sheet processing system with one of the
supports having a horizontal support axis and with the other support having a horizontal support and
drive axis that is at a different elevation than the horizontal support axis of said one support;
a horizontally inclined roller extending between the pair of supports and having a
rotational axis that is inclined from the horizontal by an angle a;
an idler bearing that rotatably mounts the inclined roller on said one support at its
horizontal support axis;
a drive coupling that rotatably supports and rotatively drives the inclined roller on the
other support at its horizontal support and drive axis to provide support for the lower surface of an
upper portion of a hot upwardly concave formed glass sheet being conveyed;
the drive coupling including: a female socket that is mounted on either the inclined
roller or said other support; and a male insert received within the socket and mounted on the other of
the inclined roller or said other support;
the female socket having a socket axis about which the socket rotates and including
an interior having drive faces that extend parallel to the socket axis, and each drive face having a
peripheral central location from which the drive face is inclined slightly outwardly in a peripheral
direction by an angle b from a line perpendicular to a radius from the socket axis to its peripheral
central location; and
the male insert having an insert axis about which the insert rotates and including drive
surfaces of the same number as the number of drive faces of the female socket, each drive surface
having a straight shape in a peripheral direction perpendicular to a radius from the insert axis to a
peripheral central location along its straight shape, and each drive surface having a round shape
along the insert axis with a diameter just slightly smaller than the diameter of a circle through the
peripheral central locations of the drive faces of the female socket so as to permit the socket to
receive the insert and provide rotational driving between the socket and the insert with an acute
angle a between the socket axis and the insert axis.
2. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the female socket has an even number of drive faces and wherein the male insert has an
even number of the drive surfaces.
3. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the female socket has six drive faces forming a generally hexagonal shape and wherein the
male insert has six drive surfaces forming a generally hexagonal shape.
4. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the female socket has recesses located between its adjacent drive faces and extending
outwardly therefrom in a radial direction from the socket axis.
5. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
4 wherein the recesses of the female socket are round and wherein the male insert has round
junctions between its adjacent drive surfaces.
6. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the angles a and b are related by the formula:
b= arctangent (-=— —30.
VV3 cosine a
7. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the angle a is between zero and 25 degrees, and wherein the angle b is between zero and
2.5 degrees.
8. An inclined roller conveying assembly for hot formed glass sheets as in claim
1 wherein the angles a and b are related by the formula:
b= arctangent (-=— —30
VV3 cosine a
angle a being between zero and 25 degrees, and angle b being between zero and 2.5
degrees.