CN112479570A

CN112479570A - Hot bending apparatus and hot bending method

Info

Publication number: CN112479570A
Application number: CN201910864510.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 张锡强; 汤金慧; 范剑峰; 魏启玉; 王京岱; 王建
Original assignee: Chengdu Tuomi Shuangdu Photoelectric Co ltd
Current assignee: Chengdu Tuomi Shuangdu Photoelectric Co ltd
Priority date: 2019-09-12
Filing date: 2019-09-12
Publication date: 2021-03-12
Anticipated expiration: 2039-09-12
Also published as: CN112479570B

Abstract

The present invention relates to a hot bending apparatus configured to hot bend a sheet glass into a U-shaped glass. The hot bending device comprises a die and a turnover mechanism, wherein the die comprises a first die part and a second die part. The sheet glass is placed on both the first mold portion and the second mold portion. The flipping mechanism is configured to be removably connected to a first mold portion and a second mold portion of the mold and to be capable of flipping the second mold portion relative to the first mold portion. The turnover mechanism of the hot bending equipment can make one part of the mould perform turnover movement relative to the other part, thereby simply, conveniently and efficiently bending the plate glass into a U shape. The invention also relates to a hot bending method for hot bending and forming the flat glass into the U-shaped glass by using the hot bending device.

Description

Hot bending apparatus and hot bending method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a hot bending apparatus and a hot bending method that can hot-bend a flat glass into a U-shaped glass.

Background

The hot bending glass is formed by bending and molding plate glass under certain pressure after the plate glass is heated and softened. Along with the progress of the industrial level and the improvement of the living standard of people, the hot bending glass is more and more used in the occasions of buildings, civil use and the like, and people can also put forward higher requirements on the hot bending glass. Hot bent glass has evolved from 2.5D, 3D to 3.5D, and even to 4D, i.e., the entire hot bent glass is U-shaped. U-shaped glass or 4D glass will extensively be applied to fields such as smart mobile phone, intelligent wrist-watch, panel computer, wearable intelligent product, instrument board. Competition among the hot bending glass industries is more and more intense, and the improvement of hot bending glass quality and the development of new hot bending glass manufacturing equipment and process are inevitable choices of each enterprise.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art hot bending apparatus and hot bending process flow for making 3D curved glass 4'. The hot bending device for 3D curved glass 4 ' mainly comprises a mould 5 ' and a heating furnace, wherein the mould 5 ' comprises an upper mould 2 ' and a lower mould 3 ' which are separated, and the upper mould 2 ' is generally only required to be translated above the lower mould 3 ' and the mould closing is completed during manufacturing. The outline height dimension of the die after die assembly is generally within 50 mm. When 3D curved glass 4 'is manufactured by flat glass 1' or 2D white sheets, firstly, the flat glass 1 'is put into a mold 5', then the mold 5 'and the flat glass 1' are placed in a heating furnace body to be heated so as to soften the glass, then the glass is subjected to hot bending forming under the action of gravity, then the glass is subjected to annealing treatment, and finally the glass is taken out, so that the hot bending processing of the flat glass 1 'is completed, and the 3D curved glass 4' is obtained.

However, for 3.5D and 4D or U-shaped glass making molds, the mold height is far more than 50mm, even 100mm or more, and it is also required to provide enough space for various movements of the mold in the molding stage in addition to the translation, such as a turning movement of a part of the mold, etc., which cannot be realized by the existing hot bending equipment and hot bending process.

Disclosure of Invention

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a hot bending apparatus and a hot bending method capable of hot-bending a flat glass into a U-shaped glass.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a hot bending apparatus is provided that may be configured to hot bend a flat glass sheet into a U-shaped glass. The hot bending apparatus may include a mold and a turnover mechanism. The mold may include a first mold portion and a second mold portion. The sheet glass may be placed on both the first mold portion and the second mold portion. The flipping mechanism may be configured to be removably connected to the first and second mold portions of the mold and to be capable of flipping the second mold portion relative to the first mold portion.

The hot bending equipment of the invention can realize the technical effects that: the hot bending equipment is provided with the die turnover mechanism, and one part of the die can be turned over relative to the other part by utilizing the turnover mechanism, so that the flat glass can be simply, conveniently and efficiently bent into a U shape. The U-shape should not be understood in a limiting manner, i.e. not limited to the exact shape of the "U". For example, the two sides of the "U" may have different lengths, and the angle formed by the two sides is not only 0 degree, but may even be any angle between 0 degree and 180 degrees, which may be adjusted according to the outer contour of the electronic device to be mounted. In addition, in order to meet the height dimension of the glass product, the device is redesigned to allow the die height stroke to be more than 100 mm.

In some embodiments, the first and second mould parts are each provided with a receptacle for receiving a portion of the sheet glass.

In some embodiments, the mold further comprises a mold core configured to secure the sheet glass to the mold.

In some embodiments, the mold core has, at least in part, an outer profile corresponding to an inner profile of the U-shaped glass to be manufactured.

In some embodiments, the mould further comprises a mould core, the receptacle on the first mould part of the mould being further arranged to receive the mould core, the mould core being capable of being clamped in the receptacle on the first mould part in an interference fit.

In some embodiments, the receptacles on the first and second mold portions of the mold are comprised of ribs protruding from the surfaces of the first and second mold portions.

In some embodiments, the fins are symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis of the mold.

In some embodiments, the first and second mold portions of the mold are hingedly connected by a hinge joint.

In some embodiments, the joint comprises a fork formed on the first mold part, a tongue formed on the second mold part and extending into the middle of the fork, and a pin passing through pin holes in the fork and the tongue.

In some embodiments, the mould comprises two articulated joints arranged symmetrically on both sides of the mould with respect to the longitudinal axis of the mould.

In some exemplary embodiments, a receiving opening is provided in each side of the first and second mold part of the mold, said receiving opening extending perpendicularly to the longitudinal axis of the mold.

In some embodiments, the receiving hole is a through hole.

In some embodiments, the flipping mechanism is provided with a positioning rod and a flipping rod, wherein the positioning rod is insertable into a receiving hole of a first mold part of the mold and the flipping rod is insertable into a receiving hole of a second mold part of the mold.

In some embodiments, the tilting mechanism comprises a tilting motor, on the free end of the motor shaft of which a tilting plate is provided which extends laterally away from the motor shaft, on which tilting plate the tilting bar is fixed or formed and which is arranged offset to the motor shaft.

In some embodiments, the positioning rod is fixedly arranged on the positioning frame, and the positioning frame and the overturning motor are fixed on the same sliding seat.

In some embodiments, the canting mechanism is provided with a fixed base to which the carriage is slidably connected.

In some embodiments, the hot bending apparatus further comprises a heating assembly located directly above the mold.

In some embodiments, the heating assembly is provided with a heating pipe in the middle, the upper surface of the heating assembly is connected with a pressure guide rod, and the lower surface of the heating assembly can be extruded onto a die.

In some embodiments, the pressure guide rod is connected to the pressurizing cylinder through a follow-up mechanism, and the heating assembly can reciprocate up and down along with the follow-up mechanism.

In some embodiments, the stroke of the reciprocating motion can be up to 110mm-150 mm.

In some embodiments, the hot bending apparatus further comprises a material ejecting mechanism, wherein the material ejecting mechanism comprises a driving rod and a plurality of ejecting pieces fixed on the driving rod, and the ejecting pieces can move the die from one station to the next station when the driving rod moves forwards.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a hot bending method for hot-bending a sheet glass into a U-shaped glass using the hot bending apparatus of the present invention. The method comprises the following steps: placing a sheet glass on both a first mold portion and a second mold portion of a mold; the method further comprises the step of flipping: and turning the second mould part relative to the first mould part by using the turning mechanism to obtain the U-shaped glass.

The hot bending method has the technical effects that: the hot bending method of the present invention is carried out by the hot bending apparatus of the present invention, and the sheet glass can be bent into a U-shape simply and efficiently by turning one part of the mold relative to the other part by the turning mechanism.

In some embodiments, the feeding step further comprises: the flat glass is fixed to the mold by the mold core of the mold.

In some embodiments, the canting mechanism is coupled to the first and second mold portions of the mold prior to canting the second mold portion relative to the first mold portion.

In some embodiments, the canting mechanism is disconnected from the first and second mold portions of the mold after the second mold portion is inverted relative to the first mold portion.

In some embodiments, a heating step is performed between the feeding step and the turning step, in which the flat glass is heated to the hot bending temperature of the glass.

In some embodiments, a preheating step is performed between the feeding step and the heating step, in which the flat glass is preheated to a set preheating temperature.

In some embodiments, the turning step is followed by a forming step in which the mold is pressurized with a pressurizing cylinder to further form the U-shaped glass.

In some embodiments, a pressure holding step is performed after the molding step, in which a pressure is held for a set time by a pressure cylinder to the mold to obtain a stable structure of the U-shaped glass.

In some embodiments, the step of pressurizing is followed by a cooling step in which a cooling system is used to deliver a cooling fluid to the U-shaped glass to cool the U-shaped glass.

In some embodiments, a blanking step is performed after the cooling step, in which stripping is performed to remove the U-shaped glass.

Advantages of the respective embodiments, as well as various additional embodiments, will become apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of the respective embodiments and by referring to the drawings set forth below. Furthermore, the various features of the drawings discussed below are not necessarily drawn to scale. Dimensions of various features and elements in the drawings may be expanded or reduced to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the invention.

Drawings

The present invention is further described below in conjunction with the following figures and examples, wherein like numerals denote similar or identical elements throughout the figures and their description.

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a prior art hot bending apparatus and hot bending process flow for manufacturing 3D curved glass,

figure 2a is a perspective view of one embodiment of the U-shaped glass of the present invention to be hot bent,

figure 2b is a side view of the U-shaped glass of figure 2a,

figure 3a is an oblique front perspective view of the hot bending apparatus of the invention for hot bending the U-shaped glass of figures 2a and 2b,

figure 3b is a perspective oblique rear view of the hot bending apparatus of figure 3a,

figure 4a is a perspective view of a mold for forming U-shaped glass of the present invention in an initial position,

figure 4b is a perspective view of the mold of figure 4a in an inverted position,

figure 5 is a perspective view of a turnover mechanism of the hot bending apparatus of the present invention,

figure 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of the hot bending apparatus of the present invention with the housing removed,

figure 7 is a further enlarged fragmentary view of the hot bending apparatus of the present invention with the housing removed,

figure 8 is a perspective view of a heating assembly of the hot bending apparatus of the present invention,

figure 9 is a perspective view of the pressure cylinder and its follower mechanism of the hot bending apparatus of the present invention,

FIG. 10 is a flow chart of the U-shaped glass hot bending method of the present invention.

Detailed Description

Various illustrative embodiments of the invention are described below. In the description, various systems, structures and devices are schematically depicted in the drawings for purposes of explanation only and not all features of an actual system, structure or device, such as a well-known function or structure, are not described in detail to avoid obscuring the present invention in unnecessary detail. It will of course be appreciated that in the development of any such actual implementation, numerous implementation-specific decisions must be made to achieve the developers' specific goals, such as compliance with system-related and business-related constraints, which will vary from one implementation to another. Moreover, it will be appreciated that such implementation decisions, while complex and time consuming, are nevertheless routine undertaking for those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure.

The terms and phrases used herein should be understood and interpreted to have a meaning consistent with the understanding of those terms and phrases by those skilled in the relevant art. No special definition of a term or phrase, i.e., a definition that is different from the ordinary and customary meaning as understood by those skilled in the art, is intended to be implied by consistent usage of the term or phrase herein. To the extent that a term or phrase is intended to have a special meaning, i.e., a meaning other than that understood by skilled artisans, such a special definition will be expressly set forth in the specification in a definitional manner that directly and unequivocally provides the special definition for the term or phrase.

Throughout the following description, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise", and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising", will be interpreted in an open, inclusive sense, i.e., as "including but not limited to".

Throughout the description of this specification, references to the description of the terms "an embodiment/implementation," "one embodiment/implementation," "some embodiments/implementations," "an example," "a specific example," or "some examples," etc., mean that a particular feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment/implementation or example is included in at least one embodiment/implementation or example of the invention. Thus, the appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an embodiment" in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Furthermore, the particular features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in any one or more embodiments/implementations or examples.

Furthermore, the terms "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first," "second," etc. may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of that feature. In the description of the present invention, "a plurality" means two or more unless specifically defined otherwise.

Fig. 2a and 2b are a perspective view and a side view of a U-shaped glass 1 according to one embodiment of the invention. As can be seen from fig. 2a and 2b, the U-shaped glass 1 comprises a first plate 2, a second plate 3, and a connecting portion 4 between the first plate 2 and the second plate 3. The first and

second plates

2, 3 are straight and the connecting portion 4 is arc-shaped. In other embodiments, the first and

second plates

2, 3 may also be non-flat, e.g. with a curvature on both sides; while the connecting portion 4 may also be straight. The first plates 2 are longer than the second plates 3 and are parallel to each other. In other embodiments, the first and

second plates

2, 3 may also be the same length and may be angled rather than parallel to each other. The U-shaped glass 1 may further comprise a bend 5 at the free end of the first plate 2. The above deformation manner may depend on the outer contour of the electronic product.

When the U-shaped glass 1 is installed on an electronic device such as a mobile phone, the inner surface 7 of the U-shaped glass 1 can face the mobile phone, and the outer surface 6 of the U-shaped glass 1 can face the external environment and can be touched and operated by a user. Specifically, the first plate 2 of the U-shaped glass 1 may be used to completely cover the front face of the phone, the second plate 3 may be used to partially cover the back face of the phone, the connecting portion 4 may be used to completely cover one end portion of the phone, and the bent portion 5 may be used to at least partially cover the opposite other end portion of the phone. In some embodiments, the connecting portion 4 may also be used to completely cover one side of the handset rather than the end.

Fig. 3a and 3b are a perspective oblique front view and a perspective oblique rear view of a hot bending apparatus 8 for U-shaped glass 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The hot bending device 8 can manufacture the flat glass 1' into the U-shaped glass 1 by means of hot bending. The hot bending apparatus 8 may comprise a plurality of stations from upstream to downstream. These stations are for example: a loading station 9 for loading the sheet glass 1 'onto the mold 19, a preheating station 10 for preheating the sheet glass, a heating station 11 for heating the sheet glass to a hot bending temperature, an inverting station 12 for inverting the heated sheet glass 1' into a U-shape, a molding station 13 for further molding the inverted glass, a pressure holding station 14 for holding the U-shape glass, a cooling station 15 for cooling the U-shape glass 1 by means of a cooling system 18, a blanking station 16 for unloading the U-shape glass 1 from the mold 19, and so on. In the present embodiment, the heating station 11 and the flipping station 12 can be understood as a single station, or two operations of heating and flipping are performed in a single station, and only the flipping mechanism 30 needs to be moved to the heating station 11 during flipping. In some embodiments, the heating station 11 and the flipping station 12 may also be two stations in different positions.

In this embodiment, the preheating station 10, the heating station 11, the turning station 12, the forming station 13, the pressure maintaining station 14, and the cooling station 15 may be located in a closed box, and a window may be disposed on the box, through which a process in the box may be observed. Thus, openable and closable safety doors may be provided between the loading station 9 and the preheating station 10, between the unloading station 16 and the cooling station 15, and between the turning station 12 or the turning mechanism 30 and the heating station 11. Furthermore, the bending apparatus 8 can also comprise a control system 17 for controlling the bending process and a cooling system 18 for delivering a cooling fluid to the cooling station 15 for cooling the U-shaped glass 1.

Fig. 4a and 4b are perspective views of a mold 19 for forming U-shaped glass according to an embodiment of the present invention in an initial position and in an inverted position. The mold 19 may include a first mold portion 20 and a second mold portion 21. The second mould part 21 can be turned relative to the first mould part 20 about a turning axis from an initial position (fig. 4a) to a turned position (fig. 4 b). In the initial position of the mould 19, the first mould part 20 and the second mould part 21 may be substantially in the same plane; in the turned-over position of the mould 19, the first mould part 20 and the second mould part 21 may face each other.

The first mould part 20 and the second mould part 21 are provided with a receptacle 22 for receiving the sheet glass 1' thereon. The receptacles 22 of the first and

second mould parts

20, 21 are each formed by mutually parallel ribs projecting over the surface of the mould 19, between which ribs the sheet glass 1' can be accommodated in a suitable manner. In the present embodiment, the ribs forming the accommodation 22 of the first mould part 20 may be higher than the ribs forming the accommodation 22 of the second mould part 21, since the ribs forming the accommodation 22 of the first mould part 20 may also accommodate the mould core 27 in addition to the sheet glass.

The mold core 27 can be snapped with slight interference into the receptacle 22 of the first mold part 20 and can thus serve to fix the sheet glass 1'. The outer contour of one end of the mold core 27, which end of the mold core 27 is adjacent to the second mold part 21 of the mold 19 when the mold core 27 is snapped into the receptacle 22 of the first mold part 20, can be adapted to the inner contour of the connection 4 of the U-shaped glass to be produced. The outer contour of the other end of the mold core 27, which end of the mold core 27 is remote from the second mold part 21 of the mold 19 in the receptacle 22 of the first mold part 20 of the mold core 27, can be adapted at least partially to the inner contour of the bend 5 of the U-shaped glass to be produced.

In the initial position, the sheet glass 1 'is placed in the mould 19 and the part of the sheet glass lying on the first mould part 20 can be pressed by the mould core 27 so that the sheet glass is fixed on the mould 19, while the part of the sheet glass 1' lying on the second mould part 21 can be turned over with the second mould part 21 turned over. The second mold part 21 of the mold 19 is turned over onto the first mold part 20 by means of the turning mechanism 30, so that the mold 19 or its second mold part 21 is brought into the turning position.

When the second mold part 21 is brought into the turned position, the second plate 3 of the U-shaped glass 1 is turned over onto the upper surface of the mold core 27, which surface is adapted to the contour of the second plate, the connecting portion 4 of the U-shaped glass 1 rests against the end of the mold core 27 which is close to the second mold part 21 of the mold 19, and the bent portion 5 of the U-shaped glass 1 rests against the end of the mold core 27 which is remote from the second mold part 21 of the mold 19, so that the U-shaped glass is shaped. The second mould part 21 may be parallel to the first mould part 20. In some embodiments, second mold portion 21 may be angled with respect to first mold portion 20, and the shape of the glass is not strictly U-shaped, but the present invention refers to U-shaped glass as including glass of this shape. The angle that the second mold portion 21 makes with the first mold portion 20 may depend on the external structure of the product (e.g., electronic product) to be mounted.

Receiving holes 28, 29 may be provided in the sides of the first and

second mould parts

20, 21 of the mould 19, respectively. In the present embodiment, the receiving holes 28, 29 are through holes, but may be blind holes in other embodiments. In the present exemplary embodiment, two receiving

openings

28, 29 are provided in each case at the side of the first and

second mold parts

20, 21 of the mold 19, although the number of receiving openings can also be varied according to specific requirements. The receiving openings 28 of the first mold part 20 can receive positioning rods 31 of a tilting mechanism 30 (described in more detail below), so that a positioning or fixing of the first mold part 20 can be achieved during tilting. The receiving opening 29 of the second mold part 21 can receive a turning bar 32 of a turning mechanism 30 (described in detail below), and the turning of the second mold part 21 can be carried out by turning the turning bar 32.

In some embodiments, the first mold portion 20 and the second mold portion 21 are connected together by two hinges 23. Each joint 23 may comprise a fork 24 formed on the first mould part 20 and a tongue 25 formed on the second mould part 21 and insertable between the forks 24. The fork 24 and the tongue 25 may each be provided with a pin hole, the pin 26 may be passed through the pin holes of the fork 24 and the tongue 25 so that the fork and the tongue may be hingedly fixed, and the pin 26 may form a tilting axis of the hinge 23. Other configurations of achieving a hinged connection of the first mold portion 20 and the second mold portion 21 are of course also conceivable.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a turnover mechanism 30 of a hot bending apparatus 8 according to an embodiment of the present invention. Turnover mechanism 30 may include a slide 45 and a base 33, slide 45 being slidably coupled to base 33 and being slidable back and forth on base 33. The tilt motor 34 may be fixed to a slide 45, the motor shaft of the tilt motor 34 extending through a sleeve 35 fixed to the motor body, and a flange being provided on the end of the sleeve 35 remote from the motor. A laterally extending tilting plate 36 is connected to the free end of the motor shaft of the tilting motor 34, and a tilting lever 32 projects on the tilting plate 36 offset to the motor shaft and remote from the tilting motor 34, so that the rotation of the tilting motor 34 can be converted into a tilting of the tilting lever 32. The inversion motor 34 may invert the second mold portion 21 while the inversion rod 32 is received in the receiving hole 29 of the second mold portion 21 of the mold 19. Turnover mechanism 30 may also include positioning rods 31 extending parallel to turnover rods 32, positioning rods 31 may be secured to positioning brackets 37, and positioning brackets 37 may be secured to slide 45. The first mould part 20 can be positioned or fixed while the positioning rods 31 are received in the receiving holes 28 in the first mould part 20 of the mould 19. Through the cooperation of upset pole 32 and locating lever 31, can realize turning over the upset motion of mould 19 second mould part 21 from initial position upset to upset position to can be with the glass shaping of sheet glass for U-shaped glass. The number of positioning rods 31 and the number of turning rods is at least 1, but may vary from case to case.

Fig. 6 and 7 are partially enlarged views of the hot bending apparatus 8 according to the embodiment of the present invention with the case removed. The mould 19 and the heating assembly 39 are visible in the various stations with the box removed, and the heating assembly 39 may comprise a plurality of heating tubes 42 which preheat and heat the glass and which are in direct contact with the back of the second mould portion 21 of the mould 19. Fig. 6 and 7 also show the setting mechanism 38 of the hot-bending device 8, the setting mechanism 38 comprising a setting lever 46 and a plurality of setting tabs 47 fixed to the setting lever 46, the setting tabs 47 being able to contact the mold in the operating position of the setting tabs 47. As the shift lever 46 advances, the shift plate 47 can push the mold from one station to the next. After the material shifting action is finished, the shifting rod 46 is rotated 90 degrees outwards to enable the shifting piece 47 to leave the die, then the shifting rod 46 is pulled backwards for a distance of one station, and then the shifting rod 46 is rotated 90 degrees inwards to enable the shifting piece 47 to enter the working position again.

Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the heating assembly 39 of the hot bending apparatus 8 according to the embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 9 is a perspective view of the pressurizing cylinder 43 of the hot bending apparatus 8 and the follower mechanism 44 thereof according to the embodiment of the present invention. A pressure guide 40 and a cooling liquid pipe 41 may be connected to an upper surface of the heating assembly 39. The pressure guide 40 may be coupled to a follower 44 of a pressurization cylinder 43 so that the heater assembly 39 may be pressurized downward. The coolant line 41 may be connected to a line (not shown) for delivering a coolant so that the heating assembly 39 may be cooled. In this embodiment, three pressure guide rods 40 of the heating assembly 39 are respectively located at the heating station 11, the forming station 13 and the pressure maintaining station 14. Pressure guide 40 is fixedly attached to the upper surface of heating assembly 39, and when pressure guide 40 is pressurized by a corresponding pressurizing cylinder 43 via a follower mechanism 44, pressure guide 40 pressurizes the back surface of second mold portion 22 of mold 19 via heating assembly 39, thereby compressing the glass. The heating assembly 39 is directly above the mold 19 and is movable up and down with the pressure guide 40. The heating assembly 39 can be moved upwardly to such an extent that sufficient space is provided to allow the turning operation of the mold 19. The maximum height of the space can be 100mm to 150mm or more, and the height can be, for example, 110mm, 120mm, 130mm or 140mm, so that the requirement of turning the mold up to a height of 100mm can be met.

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of a method of hot bending the U-shaped glass 1 according to the embodiment of the present invention. For the sake of clarity, only the mold 19 and the glass (sheet glass or U-shaped glass) are shown here. The following describes in detail the steps of the method for bending the U-shaped glass 1 with reference to fig. 10 and fig. 3a and 3 b:

a) placing the plate glass 1' in the mould 19 at the feeding station 9 and fixing the plate glass with the mould core 27 to complete feeding;

b) the feeding safety door is opened, the material poking mechanism 38 acts, the mold 19 and the plate glass are moved into the preheating station 10 together, the feeding safety door is closed, and the plate glass is preheated;

c) after the set preheating time is reached, the material stirring mechanism 38 acts to convey the die 19 and the plate glass to the heating station 11, and the plate glass is heated at the heating station 11;

d) after the glass has reached the set process temperature, the roll-over safety door opens and the slide 45 of the roll-over mechanism 30 slides on the base close to the mould 19, so that the roll-over mechanism 30 is connected to the mould 19, to be precise the roll-over rods 32 and the positioning rods 31 are inserted into the receiving holes 29 and 28 of the second and

first mould parts

21 and 20, respectively, of the mould 19. The reversing motor 34 is then rotated to reverse the second mould part 21 of the mould 19 with the sheet glass portion thereon towards the first mould part 20 of the mould 19, whereby the second mould part 21 of the mould 19 can be reversed from the initial position to the reversed position, whereby the sheet glass can be reversed to form a U-shaped glass. Then the heating cylinder is pressed downwards, the turnover mechanism 30 is disconnected with the die 19, and the turnover safety door is closed;

e) the material pulling mechanism 38 acts to send the die 19 and the U-shaped glass to the forming station 13, and the forming cylinder presses downwards to further form the U-shaped glass;

f) after the forming process reaches the set time, the material stirring mechanism 38 acts to convey the die 19 and the U-shaped glass to the pressure maintaining station 14, and the pressure maintaining cylinder presses down to perform pressure maintaining work;

g) after the pressure maintaining process reaches the set time, the material poking mechanism 38 acts to convey the die 19 and the U-shaped glass to the cooling station 15 for cooling;

h) after the cooling process reaches the set time, the blanking safety door is opened, the material poking mechanism 38 acts, and the die 19 together with the U-shaped glass is conveyed to the blanking station 16.

i) And (5) stripping at the blanking station 16, taking out the U-shaped glass, and finishing the whole work flow.

Depending on the specific production requirements, the above deletion or rearrangement of method steps and the addition of further method steps is also permissible if necessary.

The invention may comprise any feature or combination of features disclosed herein either implicitly or explicitly or any generalisation thereof and is not to be limited in scope by any of the limitations listed above. Any of the elements, features and/or structural arrangements described herein may be combined in any suitable manner.

The particular embodiments disclosed above are illustrative only, as the invention may be modified and practiced in different but equivalent manners apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings herein. It is therefore evident that the particular embodiments disclosed above may be altered or modified and all such variations are considered within the scope and spirit of the invention.

Claims

1. A hot bending apparatus configured to hot bend a sheet glass into a U-shaped glass, characterized in that the hot bending apparatus comprises a mold including a first mold portion and a second mold portion on both of which the sheet glass is placed, and a turnover mechanism configured to be removably connected to the first mold portion and the second mold portion of the mold and to be capable of turning the second mold portion relative to the first mold portion.

2. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said first mould part and said second mould part are each provided with a receiving portion for receiving a portion of the sheet glass.

3. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the mould further comprises a mould core configured to secure the sheet glass to the mould.

4. Hot bending apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the mould core has at least in part an outer profile corresponding to the inner profile of the U-shaped glass to be manufactured.

5. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the mould further comprises a mould core, the receptacle on the first mould part of the mould being further arranged to receive the mould core, the mould core being capable of being clamped in the receptacle on the first mould part in an interference fit.

6. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the receptacles on the first and second mould parts of the mould are formed by ribs projecting from the surfaces of the first and second mould parts.

7. The apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said fins are symmetrically disposed about the longitudinal axis of the die.

8. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first mould part and the second mould part of the mould are hingedly connected by a hinge joint.

9. A hot bending apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the articulated joint comprises a fork formed on the first mould part, a tongue formed on the second mould part and extending into the middle of the fork, and a pin passing through pin holes in the fork and the tongue.

10. A hot bending method for hot-bending a flat glass into a U-shaped glass using the hot bending apparatus according to claims 1 to 9, characterized by comprising:

a feeding step: placing a sheet glass on both the first and second mold portions of the mold,

turning over: and turning the second mould part relative to the first mould part by using the turning mechanism to obtain the U-shaped glass.