Tool for locally cooling a glass sheet

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12351500-B2
Application number	US-202017782365-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 3, 2020
Priority date	Dec 3, 2019
Publication date	Jul 8, 2025
Grant date	Jul 8, 2025

Abstract

A tool for local cooling by contact of a glass sheet at a temperature higher than 450° C., known as a contact tool, includes a contact face suitable for coming into contact with the glass sheet, the tool including an internal pipe for the circulation of a coolant, in particular air. The tool is used in a device for bending and/or cooling a glass sheet, in particular individual, the tool coming into contact with the glass sheet while it is held by a bending tool or by a cooling frame after bending. A compression zone is created that is capable of being drilled to form an edge having compressive stresses.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A tool for local cooling by contact of a glass sheet at a temperature higher than 450° C., the tool comprising:
an internal pipe for the circulation of a coolant;
a contact face suitable for coming into contact with the glass sheet to locally cool the glass sheet, the contact face in communication with the internal pipe so that the contact face is cooled by the coolant, the glass sheet comprising a peripheral compression belt, and
an orientation member configured to change an orientation of the internal pipe and the contact face under the effect of the tool coming into contact with the glass sheet,
said tool being configured to create, by said contact face, a local compression zone that, situated at least partially inside the peripheral compression belt of the glass sheet, has an area of less than 10 % of an area of the glass sheet.

2. The tool as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the contact face is made from an air-permeable material comprising refractory fibers forming a fibrous material.

3. The tool as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the fibrous material covers a ring-shaped metal surface.

4. The tool as claimed in claim 3 , wherein an outer diameter D e of the ring is in the range of 20 to 60 mm and an inner diameter of the ring is in the range of D e -0.5 mm to D e -20 mm.

5. The tool as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the fibrous material covers a metal surface capable of letting the coolant flow from the pipe through to the fibrous material.

6. The tool as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the metal surface comprises orifices allowing the coolant to leave the pipe and circulate through the fibrous material.

7. The tool as claimed in claim 5 , wherein the metal surface is the surface of an open-pored material allowing the coolant to leave the pipe and circulate through the fibrous material.

8. The tool as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising a damping member damping the coming into contact of the tool with the glass sheet.

9. The tool as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the orientation member is a ball joint.

10. A device for bending and/or cooling a glass sheet, the device comprising:
at least one tool for local cooling by contact of said glass sheet at a temperature higher than 450° C., the at least one tool comprising
an internal pipe for the circulation of a coolant,
a contact face suitable for coming into contact with the glass sheet to locally cool the glass sheet, the contact face in communication with the internal pipe so that the contact face is cooled by the coolant, and
an orientation member configured to change an orientation of the internal pipe and the contact face under the effect of the at least one tool coming into contact with the glass sheet,

the glass sheet comprising a peripheral compression belt while the glass sheet is held by a bending tool or by a cooling frame after bending, the at least one tool being configured to create, by said contact face, a local compression zone that, situated at least partially inside the peripheral compression belt of the glass sheet, has an area of less than 10% of an area of the glass sheet.

11. The device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising an upper bending form and a bending frame to support the sheet and press a periphery of the glass sheet against the upper bending form, at least one contact tool being rigidly connected to the bending frame so that the contact face comes into contact with the glass sheet when the glass sheet is held by the bending frame.

12. The device as claimed in claim 10 , further comprising a forced cooling system that is configured to blow air onto the glass sheet supported by the cooling frame.

13. The device as claimed in claim 12 , wherein the forced cooling system comprises cooling units capable of blowing cooling air towards the two main faces of a glass sheet resting on the cooling frame, wherein the at least one contact tool is mounted on at least one cooling unit.

14. The device as claimed in claim 13 , wherein the cooling units are capable of being moved vertically relative to each other, allowing the cooling units to move together or apart, the units being capable of moving together when the cooling frame holding a glass sheet is between the cooling units so that each contact tool provided on a cooling unit comes into contact with one face of the glass sheet during or at the end of the moving together of all of the cooling units.

15. A method for producing a local compression zone in a glass sheet, the method comprising:
heating the glass sheet to a temperature higher than a strain point temperature of the glass sheet, then
generally cooling the glass sheet to a temperature lower than the strain point temperature of the glass sheet, and
local cooling by local contact being applied by at least one contact tool, the contact starting while the glass sheet is at a temperature higher than its strain point temperature and at a temperature higher than 450° 0 C., the at least one tool comprising
an internal pipe for the circulation of a coolant,
a contact face suitable for coming into contact with the glass sheet to locally cool the glass sheet, the contact face in communication with the internal pipe so that the contact face is cooled by the coolant, the glass sheet comprising a peripheral compression belt, and
an orientation member configured to change an orientation of the internal pipe and the contact face under the effect of the at least one tool coming into contact with the glass sheet,
the at least one tool being configured to create, by said contact face, a local compression zone that, situated at least partially inside the peripheral compression belt of the glass sheet, has an area of less than 10% of an area of the glass sheet,

wherein the local contact is applied while the glass sheet is undergoing or at the end of bending and/or while the glass sheet is undergoing general cooling.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the general cooling brings about a tempering or a semi-tempering of the glass.

17. The method as claimed in claim 15 , wherein the local compression zone is inscribed in a circle with a diameter less than or equal to 80 mm.

18. A method for manufacturing a glass panel comprising a glass sheet comprising a local compression zone produced by the method of claim 15 , comprising cutting a through-orifice in or on a border of the local compression zone of said glass sheet.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein a duration and intensity of the local cooling are sufficient so that, after cutting, a cut edge of the through-orifice has an edge compressive stress of at least 1 MPa and less than 25 MPa.

20. The method as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the glass panel is a laminated glass panel, each glass sheet having, before cutting, a local compression zone facing local compression zones of the other glass sheets of the glass panel, cutting being performed on each glass sheet before assembly into a laminated glass panel, or cutting being performed after assembly of the laminated glass panel.

Assignees

• Saint Gobain

Inventors

• Renaud Romain
• Gobin Jérôme

Classifications

• C03B27/0404

  Nozzles, blow heads, blowing units or their arrangements, specially adapted for flat or bent glass sheets · CPC title

• C03B27/004

  by bringing the hot glass product in contact with a solid cooling surface, e.g. sand grains · CPC title

• C03B23/0307

  Press-bending involving applying local or additional heating, cooling or insulating means · CPC title

• C03B23/0305

  Press-bending accelerated by applying mechanical forces, e.g. inertia, weights or local forces · CPC title

• C03B21/02

  by cutting (C03B9/46 takes precedence) · CPC title