179results about "Sensitive elements" patented technology

The present invention discloses improved methods and apparatus for forming sheet glass. In one embodiment, the invention introduces a counteracting force to the stresses on the forming structure in a manner such that the thermal creep which inevitably occurs has a minimum impact on the glass flow characteristics of the forming structure.

Processes of controlling submerged combustion melters, and systems for carrying out the methods. One process includes feeding vitrifiable material into a melter vessel, the melter vessel including a fluid-cooled refractory panel in its floor, ceiling, and / or sidewall, and heating the vitrifiable material with a burner directing combustion products into the melting zone under a level of the molten material in the zone. Burners impart turbulence to the molten material in the melting zone. The fluid-cooled refractory panel is cooled, forming a modified panel having a frozen or highly viscous material layer on a surface of the panel facing the molten material, and a sensor senses temperature of the modified panel using a protected thermocouple positioned in the modified panel shielded from direct contact with turbulent molten material. Processes include controlling the melter using the temperature of the modified panel. Other processes and systems are presented.

The present invention relates to a process for manufacturing flat sheets of a glass-based material and to an apparatus therefor. The process comprises providing a glass preform, heating the glass preform in a furnace, forming a gob and a pre-sheet, removing the gob and drawing the glass pre-sheet into a flat glass sheet. Also provided is an apparatus for drawing a glass preform into a glass sheet, the apparatus comprising a draw furnace, stretching arms for stretching and drawing the pre-sheet into a glass sheet, and opposing edge rollers for applying a downward force on the glass sheet. The draw furnace may include a plurality of individual heating elements, the temperature of each heating element capable of being separately controlled. The apparatus may further include an annealing furnace for annealing the glass sheet.

The present invention discloses improved methods and apparatus for forming sheet glass. In one embodiment, the invention introduces a counteracting force to the stresses on the forming structure in a manner such that the thermal creep which inevitably occurs has a minimum impact on the glass flow characteristics of the forming structure.

The present invention alters the flow path at the inlet of the sheet glass forming apparatus to improve quality. The bottom of the downcomer pipe is preferably shaped to alter the character of the vortex flow in the quiescent flow zone between the pipes. In another embodiment, a bead guide provides hydraulic stresses that are in opposition to the surface tension stress and thus reduces the influence of surface tension on the formation of thick beads on the edges of the sheet. The present invention also measures the temperature of the glass by immersing thermocouples in the glass, at locations where any defects caused by the immersion are in the glass that forms the unusable edges of the sheet. In another embodiment, the support structure for the trough is altered to substantially reduce the aging of the trough due to thermal creep.

A heat diffusion plate and a heating plate are placed in a heat treatment chamber in this order. The heating plate is used for preliminarily heating a glass substrate to a temperature in a range from 200° C. to 400° C. The glass substrate thus preliminarily heated is subjected to a heat treatment by flash light irradiation by a xenon flash lamp. The flash light irradiation makes it possible to uniformly heat an amorphous silicon film on the glass substrate, and consequently to be poly-crystallized. Thus, it becomes possible to provide a heat treatment technique capable of carrying out a uniform heat treatment on the silicon film on the glass substrate sufficiently.

A method and apparatus are disclosed for controlling temperature of a plant comprising plural temperature control zones, wherein an effective control parameter for a first zone for which a signal representing measured temperature is available is produced according to an algorithm relating measured temperature, a desired temperature and a control parameter associated with a device affecting temperature in the first temperature control zone, the effective control parameter is summed with an offset value representing a proportional offset of the effective control parameter of a second temperature control zone relative to the effective control parameter of the first temperature control zone and the result is applied to control a device affecting temperature in the second temperature control zone. Advantageously, the offset value comprises a fixed amount and a variable amount, the variable amount accounting for dynamic differences in temperature control characteristics of the first and second temperature control zones.

A glass forming assembly for forming complex shaped glass, with the glass forming assembly having a hood assembly including a hood lift superstructure movable horizontally back and forth over a cold ring and a cooling shuttle and movable vertically relative to the cold ring and the cooling shuttle, and a hood frame supported by the hood lift superstructure by a hood tilt mechanism. The hood tilt mechanism includes an air cylinder assembly actuable to tilt the hood frame relative to the hood lift superstructure, which allows for proper orientation of the glass prior to dropping it on the cooling shuttle, thus allowing for reduced glass chipping and cracking.

A three step method and apparatus for quenching a formed glass sheet in a manner that reduces cycle time without excessive temporary surface tension that can cause excessive breakage.

A thermal element of a simple structure which can have a reduced cost because a minimum required number of structural components are used, excels in response and endurance and enables forward and backward movement of a piston with the prescribed stroke under the effect of volume changes following the expansion and contraction of a thermally expandable body.A thermal element 10 containing a thermally expandable body (wax 12) inside a case 11 comprises a piston 13 arranged inside the case along the axial line thereof. The inward end of the piston borders on the inside of the thermally expandable body and the outward end thereof protrudes outwardly from one end of the case, thereby enabling the piston to move forward and backward following the expansion and contraction of the thermally expandable body. The piston is slidably held with a guide member 14 disposed in a portion at one end inside the case. Furthermore, a sealing member 15 is disposed in a portion at the inward end of the guide member inside the case and seals the thermally expandable body at the other end inside the case.

The method of making thin glass panes includes conveying a glass melt through a vertical inlet to a drawing tank with a slit nozzle; drawing a glass ribbon downward from the slit nozzle; setting a total throughput by setting length and cross section of the inlet and by heating and cooling the inlet to control glass melt viscosity so that pressure in the inlet decreases; and setting a throughput per unit of length in a lateral direction along the glass ribbon via nozzle system geometry and by heating and cooling of the drawing tank and slit nozzle to control melt viscosity, so that glass does not wet an underside of the slit nozzle near a breaking edge. The setting of the total throughput and the throughput per unit length are largely decoupled to simplify process control. An inventive apparatus for performing the method is also disclosed.

Certain example embodiments of this invention relate to apparatuses for sealing the tips of pump-out tubes of vacuum insulating glass (VIG) units, and / or associated methods. In certain example embodiments, a laser source used in sealing the pump-out tube is thermally insulated from the VIG unit and emits a laser beam through one or more windows in an oven towards a mirror located therein. The mirror is located so as to redirect the laser beam onto the pump-out tube to thereby seal it. For instance, a substantially horizontal laser beam emitted from a laser source located outside the oven enters into the oven through one or more windows and is reflected by a mirror towards the pump-out tube to be sealed. The repositioning of the laser source advantageously can change its effective focal length and / or the location of the laser beam, e.g., because of the fixed location of the mirror.

A control for use with a glass forming machine which is controlled by a programmable sequencer which defines a machine cycle having a set cycle time. A computerized model of a mathematical representation of a network constraint diagram of the unwrapped bottle forming process is provided for determining whether, with the following inputs: the time in an unwrapped bottle forming process for each displacement to occur; the machine cycle time; the motion durations of each of the mechanisms from the retracted position to the advanced position and from the advanced position to the retracted position and the collision zones between interfering paths, a collision will result between the gob, the parison, the bottle or any mechanism.