JP2000327351A - Method for flexurally molding glass plate and device for flexurally molding the glass plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a flexurally molded glass plate which has a desired strength and scarcely has an optical strain, by carrying a glass plate in a heating oven, simultaneously heating the glass plate at a molding temperature, rectangularly changing the carrying direction, flexurally molding the glass plate, carrying the molded glass plate with bent rollers, and simultaneously quenching the molded glass plate with cooling winds blown out from blowing ports between the rollers. SOLUTION: This method for flexurally molding a glass plate comprises carrying a glass plate in a heating oven 10, simultaneously heating the glass plate at about 600 to 700 deg.C, floating the plate glass with a sucking means 11 on the downstream side, loading the plate glass on an inserted ring mold 23, carrying the ring mold into a molding zone 20' in the rectangular direction, press-molding the plate glass between the ring mold 23 and the mold 21 to bend the glass plate, and then carrying the downward curved glass plate from the molding zone 20' to the cooling zone 30' through curved rollers 40. The curved rollers 40 preferably have a curve depth of <=15 mm and are preferably curved on the axis in the carrying direction. Herein, the glass plate is quenched from the upper and lower sides with cold winds blown out from a blowing port group 33' between wind boxes 31, 32 having many blowing ports 23 and between the rollers, thus obtaining the molded glass plate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for bending a glass sheet into a predetermined bent shape, and more particularly to a method and an apparatus for bending a glass sheet for an automobile window glass.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a method of bending a glass sheet into a predetermined shape, a glass sheet is heated to a bending temperature (for example, 600 to 700 ° C.) while being conveyed in a horizontal state in a heating furnace, and then is heated up and down. (See, for example, JP-A-5-170468).

[0003] In addition, after a glass sheet is heated to a bending temperature while being conveyed in a horizontal state in a heating furnace, the glass sheet is conveyed by a plurality of rollers curved around an axis in the conveyance direction, and the weight of the glass sheet is reduced. (For example, see US Pat. No. 4,376,643). Since the glass sheet bent by these methods is in a high temperature state, it is cooled by blowing cooling air in a subsequent step. In the present specification, "... curved around an axis" means that a cross section of a glass plate cut along a plane perpendicular to the axis has a curved shape, and the same applies to a roller. Means a curved shape.

When quenched at the time of cooling, a residual stress can be formed in a glass plate, and thus a tempered glass can be formed. The tempered glass thus formed is used, for example, as a glass plate for a side window or a rear window of an automobile.

[0005] The residual stress formed by rapid cooling is a compressive stress on the surface of a glass sheet and a tensile stress inside the glass sheet.
The residual stress formed on the surface and inside of this glass plate is
It is obtained by forming a temperature difference between the surface and the inside of the glass plate. Unless a sufficient temperature difference is applied between the surface and the inside of the glass plate, the desired strengthening treatment cannot be achieved. Therefore, for example, when the thickness of the glass plate is thin, it is difficult to give a temperature difference between the surface and the inside of the glass plate, and a desired tempered glass cannot be obtained.

It is conceivable that a difference in temperature between the surface and the inside of the glass sheet is given by improving the cooling capacity.
That is, the required rapid cooling can be realized by increasing the amount and pressure of the cooling air blown toward the glass plate. On the other hand, in order to increase the flow rate and pressure of the cooling air, it is conceivable to increase the capacity of the blower for blowing the cooling air. However, the capacity of the blower also has a limitation in mechanical structure. Therefore, as a means for improving the cooling ability, a means for shortening the distance between a blowout port such as a nozzle for jetting cooling air and the glass plate is effective.

In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-170468, cooling air is blown while supporting the periphery of a glass plate with a ring. Therefore, it is necessary to maintain an interval for the ring supporting and supporting the glass plate to advance and retreat between the outlet for blowing the cooling air and the glass plate. Therefore,
It is difficult to shorten the distance between the blow port and the glass plate. On the other hand, in the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,643, a blow port can be arranged between the rollers supporting the lower surface of the glass plate. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the interval between the blow port and the glass plate.

[0008]

Generally, a glass sheet for an automobile side window has a radius of curvature about a vertical axis of the automobile larger than a radius of curvature about an axis perpendicular to the vertical direction. Therefore, when streak-like optical distortion is formed in the vertical direction, the optical distortion tends to be easily seen. When the glass plate obtained by the method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,376,643 is verified from the viewpoint of optical distortion, the following problem occurs.

That is, US Pat. No. 4,376,643
In the method disclosed in the specification, a glass sheet is bent using a roller curved around a transport direction axis. Therefore, the glass sheet to be bent has a shape curved around the transport direction axis. Therefore, when bending a glass sheet for an automobile side window, the glass sheet is bent and formed in such a manner that the vertical direction at the time of assembling to a vehicle corresponds to the direction perpendicular to the transport direction.

On the other hand, the rollers in the heating zone disclosed in US Pat. No. 4,376,643 are arranged in parallel in the transport direction. Therefore, the portion between the adjacent rollers of the glass plate in the heating zone tends to hang down. Particularly, when the thickness of the glass plate is small, the glass plate has a wavy shape in a cross section perpendicular to the transport direction. The wavy shape causes a streak-like shape defect in a direction perpendicular to the transport direction of the glass sheet. As described above, since the direction perpendicular to the transport direction corresponds to the vertical direction when assembling to the car, the formed glass plate has a vertical streak optical optic that tends to show optical distortion. A strain is formed.

On the other hand, in the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-170468, the glass plate is conveyed to the cooling zone by a ring, so that there is no problem of the optical distortion. However, as mentioned above, the problem of cooling capacity still remains. Furthermore, since the glass plate is supported by a ring immediately after bending the glass plate, the glass plate is still in a high temperature state before the ring is conveyed to the cooling zone. As a result, the curved depth of the glass plate increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art, and a method and apparatus for bending a glass sheet which has not been known so far, particularly, a method for bending a glass sheet suitable for an automobile side window. It is to provide a new method and apparatus.

[0013]

According to the present invention, a glass sheet is heated to a bending temperature while being transported in a heating furnace in a first direction, and is transported to a bending zone disposed downstream of the heating furnace. Then, after sandwiching the glass plate with a molding die and a ring die disposed above and below the glass plate and bending the glass plate into a predetermined shape, the bent glass plate is transported to a cooling zone and cooled. In the method for bending a glass sheet to be formed, the cooling zone is arranged at a position deviated from the first direction extension line of the heating furnace, and the transport direction when the bent glass sheet is transported to the cooling zone is set to the first direction in the horizontal plane. A bending zone so as to be a second direction substantially orthogonal to the direction,
Provided is a method for bending a glass sheet, comprising transporting a bent glass sheet to a cooling zone by a plurality of rollers disposed between and between the bending zone and the cooling zone.

Further, the present invention provides a heating furnace for heating a glass sheet to a bending temperature, conveying means for conveying the glass sheet in the heating furnace in a first direction, and disposed above and below the glass sheet. Forming means disposed downstream of a heating furnace having a forming die and a ring die for bending and forming a glass sheet; and cooling air provided on both sides of the bent glass sheet disposed downstream of the forming means. And a cooling zone having a cooling means having a cooling means for spraying, wherein the cooling zone is disposed at a position deviated from an extension of the first direction of the heating furnace,
A plurality of rollers are disposed in the bending zone provided with the forming means, between the bending zone and the cooling zone, and in the cooling zone, and the plurality of rollers transport the glass sheet bent by the plurality of rollers to the cooling zone. A direction in which a direction is a second direction substantially orthogonal to a first direction on a horizontal plane is provided.

In the above method and apparatus for bending a glass sheet, it is preferable that the plurality of rollers are rollers curved around an axis in the second direction. Further, in this case, it is preferable that the curved depth of the curved roller is 15 mm or less.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of the glass sheet bending apparatus of the present invention. The entire apparatus for bending a glass sheet of this example comprises a heating furnace 10 and a bending means 20.
And the cooling means 30 as basic components, and the glass plate is bent and formed using horizontal conveyance as a basic conveyance mode. In addition,
In the following description, the words "vertical" and "orthogonal" mean "vertical" and "orthogonal" in a horizontal plane, and the words "up" and "down" mean "up" and "down" in the vertical direction with respect to the horizontal plane. The term “level” means a height level in a direction perpendicular to a horizontal plane. Also, “bending” is simply called “forming”.
That.

The heating furnace 10 heats a glass sheet to a forming temperature (for example, about 600 to 700 ° C.). In the heating furnace 10, a plurality of rollers for supporting the lower surface of the glass plate are arranged in parallel. Then, the glass plate is transported from the upstream side to the downstream side of the heating furnace 10 by the rotation of the rollers. On the downstream side in the heating furnace 10, a suction unit 11 that floats and holds the glass plate from a roller is arranged.

The forming means 20 includes a forming die 21 having a downwardly convex curved surface, and a ring die 23 for supporting a lower peripheral edge of the glass plate. The ring mold 23 can reciprocate between a forming zone 20 ′ in which the forming means 20 is arranged and a downstream side in the heating furnace 10. That is, the ring type 2
Numeral 3 is reciprocable between below the mold 21 and below the suction means 11. In this case, the reciprocating direction of the ring mold 23 is the conveying direction of the glass plate in the heating furnace 10 (first direction).
Is a direction (second direction) substantially orthogonal to.

Between the forming zone 20 'and the cooling zone 30' in which the cooling means 30 is disposed, a plurality of curved rollers 40, 40,... Have been. The plurality of curved rollers 40 are
Each curved roller 40 starts from the upstream end of the forming zone 20 ′ and extends at least to the downstream end of the cooling zone 30 ′.
Are arranged adjacent to each other.

The cooling means 30 comprises wind boxes 31, 3 arranged on the upper and lower surfaces of the glass plate conveyed by the curved roller 40.
2 is provided. On the side of the wind boxes 31 and 32 facing the glass plate, a plurality of outlets 33 for blowing out cooling air are provided. Wind box 32 arranged on the lower surface side of the glass plate
Are formed in a group of outlets 33 'arranged in the first direction, and each group of outlets 33' and each curved roller 40 are alternately arranged adjacent to each other in the second direction. ing.
The glass plate support level of the curved roller 40 is located above the outlet face 32 'of the wind box 32, and the lower limit level of the curved roller is located below the outlet face 32'.

Next, a method for forming a glass sheet using the apparatus for forming a glass sheet shown in FIG. 1 will be described. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 for easy explanation of this method. The ending () in the following description corresponds to () in FIG.

First, a glass plate cut into a predetermined shape is
It is conveyed into the heating furnace 10 and heated to the molding temperature. When the glass sheet 1 is conveyed to the downstream side of the heating furnace 10, the suction means 11 sucks the glass sheet 1 so as to float and hold the glass sheet 1 from the rollers in the heating furnace 10 (a). The levitating level of the glass plate 1 is a level at which a ring mold 23 described later can enter below the lower surface of the glass plate.

When the glass plate 1 is floated and held, the heating furnace 1
The ring mold 23 enters the position below the suction means 11 in the area 0 (b). When the ring mold 23 is located immediately below the glass plate 1, the suction of the suction means 11 is released to drop the glass plate 1 onto the ring mold 23, and the lower peripheral edge of the glass plate 1 is supported by the ring mold 23 (c). ).

Next, the ring mold 23 is transported from immediately below the suction means 11 to immediately below the molding die 21 in the molding zone 20 '(d). Then, the ring mold 23 is raised and the molding die 21 is lowered, so that the glass plate 1 is sandwiched between the ring mold 23 and the molding die 21 (e). Thus, a glass plate is formed.

Thereafter, the ring mold 23 is lowered below the level of the curved roller 40, and the glass plate 1 is
(F). The curved roller 40 provided directly below the molding die 21 of the curved roller 40 is formed by a divided curved roller so that an allowable portion where the ring mold 23 can be lowered below the level of the curved roller 40 is formed. (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-170
No. 468 discloses a split roller disclosed in FIG. ).

Glass plate 1 placed on curved roller 40
Is transported to the cooling zone 30 'by the rotation of the rollers (g). Then, the glass sheets located between the wind boxes 31 and 32 on the downstream side in the transport direction are cooled rapidly and continuously by the cooling air from the wind boxes 31 and 32. Finally, the glass sheet 1 cooled in the cooling zone 30 'is transported to a subsequent step (not shown).

Next, the operation of the glass sheet forming apparatus and method shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. First, FIG.
In (d), the glass sheet 1 levitated and held in the heating furnace 10 is placed on a ring mold 23, and the glass sheet 1 is transported directly below the forming mold 21 by moving the ring mold 23.
Therefore, the glass plate 1 can be easily and accurately positioned with respect to the molding die 21.

By the way, if the glass sheet 1 is formed into a shape which is greatly curved around the first direction axis, the apparent thickness of the glass sheet as viewed from the frontage to the cooling zone 30 'becomes large. For this reason, the distance between the glass plate and the outlet of the cooling means increases, which prevents rapid cooling of the glass plate.

On the other hand, in FIGS. 2F and 2G,
The glass plate 1 is transported by the curved roller 40 in a second direction substantially orthogonal to a first direction (a direction perpendicular to the plane of the drawing). The curved roller 40 is curved around the second direction axis, and the glass plate 1 is formed into a shape curved around the second direction axis. Therefore, the apparent thickness of the glass plate viewed from the entrance of the cooling zone 30 'is small, the distance between the glass plate and the blow port can be reduced, and desired strengthening treatment can be performed on the glass plate.

The second direction is substantially perpendicular to the direction of conveyance (first direction) in the heating furnace 10 while securing the advantage that the glass sheet 1 enters the cooling zone 30 'by being conveyed in the second direction. Orientation has the following advantages, especially for the formation of glass panes for automotive side windows.

That is, a glass sheet for a side window of an automobile usually has a radius of curvature around a vertical axis of the automobile larger than a radius of curvature around an axis perpendicular to the vertical direction. Therefore, the glass sheet 1 is conveyed in the second direction and is cooled in the cooling zone 3.
When the second direction and the first direction are set to the same direction while securing the advantage of entering at 0 ', the direction of the glass plate in the heating furnace is perpendicular to the vertical direction and the transport direction at the time of assembly into the automobile. The direction corresponds to the direction. On the other hand, in a state where the glass plate is mounted on an automobile, the vertical line-shaped optical distortion of the glass plate tends to be more visible than the horizontal line-shaped optical distortion. Therefore, if the first direction and the second direction are oriented in the same direction, it becomes easy to enter the cooling zone, thereby causing a problem that optical distortion occurs. On the other hand, by making the first direction and the second direction substantially perpendicular to each other, the streak-like optical distortion generated by the transfer in the heating furnace is reduced.
The direction can be set so that optical distortion is hardly observed.

In the glass sheet forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of curved rollers 40 are arranged in parallel in the second direction from immediately below the forming die 21 to a position between the wind boxes 31 and 32 in parallel with each other. For this reason, the distance between the glass sheet 1 and the blow port can be reduced, and even in a forming apparatus in which the temperature of the glass sheet is easily deprived (an apparatus for forming a glass sheet outside the heating furnace 10), a glass sheet having a small thickness can be used. Particularly, the plate thickness is 2.5 to 3.5.
mm glass plate can be sufficiently strengthened.

Further, a wind box 31, immediately below the mold 21,
By transporting the glass sheet 1 to the position between 32 by the curved roller 40, a change in the bending shape of the glass sheet formed in the forming zone 20 'can be suppressed. That is,
After the glass sheet is formed, when the glass sheet is transported to the cooling zone while being supported by the ring mold, the glass sheet is deformed until the glass sheet is rapidly cooled in the cooling zone. This is because the temperature of the glass sheet immediately after molding is still high. When a glass plate in a high temperature state is supported by a ring type, the central portion of the glass plate is not supported, and this central portion hangs down by its own weight.

In particular, when the temperature of the glass sheet is at a temperature required for the tempering treatment by quenching, the value of the curved depth W (see FIG. 3) of the glass sheet exceeds at least 10 mm due to the droop due to its own weight. There is also. On the other hand, according to the glass sheet forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the glass sheet is conveyed from the forming zone 20 ′ to the cooling zone 30 ′ while the lower surface of the glass sheet is supported by the curved roller 40. Therefore, the method and apparatus for forming a glass sheet according to the present invention can be suitably used for forming glass and the like having a curved depth W of 10 mm or less. Considering the thickness of the glass plate, the bending depth of the bending roller 40 is preferably 15 mm or less. The bending depth of the bending roller 40 is the bending depth at the upper side of the bending roller that supports the lower surface of the glass plate of the bending roller 40, similarly to the bending depth W of the glass plate shown in FIG.

The glass sheet forming method and apparatus of the present invention allow various modifications to the example shown in FIGS. For example, the bent shape of the glass plate to be formed may be not only a curve around the second direction axis but also a curve around the first direction axis. However, in this case, the radius of curvature of the curvature around the first direction axis is larger than the radius of curvature of the curvature around the second direction axis. This is because there are several devices for conveying a glass sheet curved around an axis perpendicular to the conveying direction.

That is, as the most extreme example in which the curvature radius of the curvature about the first direction axis is larger than the curvature radius of the curvature about the second direction axis, the curvature radius of the curvature about the first direction axis is infinite. There is an example (an example in which only the second direction axis is curved). In this case, since the curved roller 40 is a roller curved around the second direction axis, the glass plate can be conveyed only by rotating the curved roller.

On the other hand, although the radius of curvature of the curvature about the first direction axis is larger than the radius of curvature of the curvature about the second direction axis, the conveyance of the glass sheet curved also about the first direction axis is as follows. It is performed as follows. For example, the first of a glass plate
The arrangement of the plurality of bending rollers may be curved so as to have a radius of curvature corresponding to the radius of curvature of the curvature about the direction axis. In other words, the radius of curvature of the line formed by connecting each curved roller corresponds to the radius of curvature of the glass plate around the first direction axis. Thus, the method and apparatus for forming a glass sheet according to the present invention can be applied to forming a glass sheet curved around the first direction axis.

FIG. 4 is a schematic cross-sectional view taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1 for explaining a method different from the method for forming a glass sheet described in FIG. 2 using the apparatus for forming a glass sheet shown in FIG. FIG. As in FIG. 2, the end of the sentence in the following description ()
Correspond to () in FIG.

The steps in FIGS. 4A to 4C are the same as the steps (a) to (c) described in FIG. After the lower peripheral edge of the glass plate 1 is supported by the ring mold 23 (c),
The ring mold 23 is placed directly below the suction means 11 in the molding zone 2.
It is conveyed to immediately below the mold 21 of 0 '(d). At this time,
The next glass plate 1 that is sequentially conveyed into the heating furnace 10 is conveyed right below the suction means 11.

Next, the ring mold 23 is raised and the mold 21 is lowered, so that the ring mold 23 and the mold 21 are moved downward.
Then, the glass plate 1 is sandwiched between (e). Thus, a glass plate is formed. Further, by providing a suction mechanism in the molding die 21, the upper surface of the glass plate 1 is held on the lower surface of the molding die 21. Since the next glass sheet 1 is levitated and held by the suction means 11 of the heating furnace 10, the ring mold 23 can pick up the levitated glass sheet 1 (e ').

Thereafter, the suction of the mold 21 is released, and the glass plate 1 is placed on the curved roller 40 (f). The glass plate 1 placed on the curved roller 40 is transported to the cooling zone 30 'by the rotation of the roller (g). Then, the glass plate is quenched sequentially and continuously from the downstream portion in the transport direction of the glass plate located between the wind boxes 31 and 32. Finally, the glass sheet 1 cooled in the cooling zone 30 'is transported to a subsequent step (not shown).

According to the method for forming a glass sheet described with reference to FIG. 4, the ring mold can pick up the next glass sheet at the stage shown in FIG. 4 (f). Therefore, in the method described with reference to FIG. 4, when a plurality of glass sheets are sequentially formed, more glass sheets can be formed one after another (by comparison with the example of FIG. 2, the high mass production capacity of the example of FIG. 4 can be obtained). Understand). On the other hand, the method described in the example of FIG. 2 can carry the glass sheet into the cooling zone 30 ′ at an earlier stage by the number of steps in FIG. . That is,
The glass sheet can be transported to the cooling zone 30 'with the temperature of the glass sheet being higher. Therefore, the method described in the example of FIG. 2 is suitable for forming a glass sheet having a smaller thickness, which hardly gives a temperature difference between the surface and the inside of the glass sheet for the tempering treatment. Except that the method for forming a glass sheet described in FIG. 2 is superior to the method for forming a glass sheet described in FIG. The sheet forming method has the same function and effect as the glass sheet forming method described with reference to FIG.

In the glass sheet forming apparatus shown in FIG. 1, the transfer direction in the heating furnace is substantially orthogonal to the heating furnace → forming zone transfer direction, and the heating furnace → forming zone transfer direction and the forming zone → cooling zone transfer direction. And are the same. Alternatively, the transfer direction in the heating furnace may be the same as the heating furnace → forming zone transfer direction, and the heating furnace → forming zone transfer direction may be substantially orthogonal to the forming zone → cooling zone transfer direction.

In this case, if the glass sheet is conveyed by rollers in the heating furnace, the glass sheet can be conveyed by rollers to the forming zone. In any case, the direction of conveyance of the glass sheet in the heating furnace (first direction) is substantially orthogonal to the direction of conveyance from the forming zone to the cooling zone (second direction). Thereby, it is possible to provide a molding method and apparatus having advantages of the above-described advantages regarding optical distortion and easy entry into the cooling zone.

[0045]

According to the present invention, the conveying direction (first direction) of the glass sheet in the heating furnace is substantially orthogonal to the forming zone → the cooling zone conveying direction (second direction), and the forming zone → The cooling zone is transported by a plurality of rollers. Therefore, even when the glass plate is deformed or optically distorted due to the transfer in the heating furnace, the deformation or the optical distortion can be made in a direction that is hardly observed when the glass plate is assembled to an automobile. In addition, taking this direction into consideration, the cooling air in the cooling zone is blown between the blower and the glass plate so that sufficient strengthening treatment can be performed even if the thickness of the glass plate is small. The distance can be reduced.

Further, the plurality of rollers for conveying the glass sheet between the forming zone and the cooling zone are curved rollers, and the curved depth is set to 15 mm or less.
Deformation of the curved shape due to sagging of the glass plate due to its own weight after molding can be prevented, and a glass plate having a small curved depth can be formed. In particular, even when the thickness of the glass sheet is small and the heating temperature of the glass sheet must be increased for the strengthening treatment, it is possible to prevent the glass sheet from sagging due to its own weight after molding and from being deformed in a curved shape.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a glass sheet bending apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a curved depth of a glass plate.

FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view as seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: glass plate 10: heating furnace 11: suction means 20: forming means 21: forming die 23: ring die 30: cooling means 31, 32: wind box 33: blow port 40: curved roller

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A glass sheet is heated in a heating furnace to a bending temperature while being conveyed in a first direction, and is conveyed to a bending zone disposed downstream of the heating furnace, and is vertically moved above and below the glass sheet. After bending the glass plate into a predetermined shape by sandwiching the glass plate with the forming die and the ring die arranged respectively,
In a method for bending a glass sheet, which conveys a bent glass sheet to a cooling zone and cools the glass sheet, the cooling zone is arranged at a position off an extension of the heating furnace in the first direction, and the bent glass sheet is cooled. A plurality of rollers disposed in the bending zone, between the bending zone and the cooling zone, and in the cooling zone such that the transport direction when transporting to the zone is a second direction substantially orthogonal to the first direction on the horizontal plane. And conveying the bent glass sheet to a cooling zone. 2. The method of bending a glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein a roller curved around an axis in a second direction is used as said plurality of rollers. 3. A curved roller having a curved depth of 1
The method for bending a glass sheet according to claim 2, wherein a roller having a diameter of 5 mm or less is used. 4. A heating furnace for heating a glass sheet to a bending temperature, a conveying means for conveying the glass sheet in the heating furnace in a first direction, and a forming die and a ring arranged above and below the glass sheet. Forming means disposed on the downstream side of a heating furnace having a mold for bending and forming a glass sheet; and cooling for blowing cooling air to both surfaces of the bent and formed glass sheet disposed on the downstream side of the forming means. A bending zone provided with a forming means, wherein the cooling zone is disposed at a position deviated from an extension of the heating furnace in the first direction. A plurality of rollers are arranged between the zone and the cooling zone and in the cooling zone,
An apparatus for bending a glass sheet, wherein a conveying direction of the glass sheet bent by the plurality of rollers to a cooling zone is a second direction substantially orthogonal to a first direction on a horizontal plane. 5. The apparatus for bending a glass sheet according to claim 4, wherein said plurality of rollers are rollers curved around an axis in a second direction. 6. The curved roller has a curved depth of 15 mm.
The glass sheet bending apparatus according to claim 5, which is a roller described below.