Abstract: A glass sheet is suspended from a series of tongs which grip the upper margin of the sheet and apply individual forces at the gripping locations at least some of which have components acting out of the plane of the sheet. The magnitude and direction of each of said forces is selected to ensure that the suspended sheet, when at forming temperature, adapts towards a predetermined curved shape. The sheet may be bent with the forces acting at the gripping points before and/or after bending, and the sheet adopts the required curved shape when it is sufficiently stiffened to be influenced by the remanent forces applied at the gripping points.

Abstract: In a method of heating a glass sheet which is moved on a conveyor which contacts one face of the sheet, anticlastic bending of the sheet is caused, and the stable anticlastic shape of the sheet is determined such that the sheet is arched away from the conveyor transversely of the sheet with respect to the conveying direction and with the sheet having a reverse curvature along its longitudinal extent so that the leading and trailing edges of the sheet are bent away from the conveyor. This reduces the contact between the contacted surface of each glass sheet and keeps the leading edge of each sheet clear of the conveyor. Anticlastic bending of the sheet is caused by producing a temperature differential between the central area and at least a part of the periphery of the sheet, for example, by heating said part of the periphery.

Abstract: Thermally toughened glass sheets of thickness 2.5 mm to 4.0 mm for use as motor vehicle side or rear windows, are produced by quenching producing an average central tensile stress in the range 62 MN/m.sup.2 to 44.0 MN/n.sup.2. At least one gas jet is directed at the glass sheet to augment toughening stresses and produce at least one strip-shaped region of more highly toughened glass. The central tensile stress in the strip-shaped region is in the range from 2 MN/m.sup.2 to 5 MN/m.sup.2 greater than the average central tensile stress in the glass sheet. There are major and minor principal stresses in the strip-shaped region acting in the plane of the glass sheet. The difference between the major and minor principal stresses is in the range 5 MN/m.sup.2 to 25 MN/m.sup.2.

Abstract: A method of thermally toughening a glass sheet in which the glass sheet is advanced through a quenching station and subjected to a localized gas flow. The localized gas flow is pulsed at a repetition frequency related to the speed of advance of the glass through the quenching station. The toughened glass sheet so produced has a distribution of regions of more highly toughened glass interspersed with regions of lesser toughened glass.

Abstract: A method of thermally toughening a glass sheet in which the glass sheet is advanced into a flow of quenching gas directed towards at least one surface of the sheet to induce overall toughening stress in the glass sheet. The advance of the sheet relative to the quenching gas flow is terminated, either by halting the sheet in the flow or by moving the outlets providing the flow with the sheet, so that at least one surface of the sheet is subjected to localized gas flows. The toughened glass sheet so produced has a distribution of regions of more highly toughened glass interspersed with regions of lesser toughened glass.

Abstract: A substantially uniform, transparent, electrically conducting, metal oxide film (e.g. of indium/tin oxide) can be deposited on to a substrate such as glass of large lateral dimensions, e.g. a windscreen for an aircraft or a land vehicle, by low-pressure reactive sputtering from a cathode of the metal, using an atmosphere of oxygen and another gas or gases (preferably an inert gas) at reduced pressure, by providing access for the sputtering atmosphere to penetrate into the whole of the working space between the cathode and the substrate so as to maintain a substantial degree of uniformity in the oxygen concentration in the working space. Access for the atmosphere may be provided by means of passages extending through the cathode assembly, by dividing the cathode assembly into parallel strips separated by gaps, and the atmosphere may be supplied direct to the working space through such gaps. Relative movement is effected between the cathode assembly and the substrate, e.g.

Abstract: Thermally toughened glass sheets of thickness 2.5 mm to 3.5 mm, for use as motor vehicle side or rear windows, are produced by differential quenching producing a distribution of regions of more highly toughened glass interspersed with regions of lesser toughened glass. The average central tensile stress is in the range 62 MN/m.sup.2 to 53 MN/m.sup.2, and there is a distribution of areas in which the principal stresses acting in the plane of the glass sheet are unequal. The principal stress difference in some of the areas is at a maximum in the range 8 MN/m.sup.2 to 25 MN/m.sup.2, the major principal stresses in adjacent areas in which the principal stress difference is a maximum are in different directions, and the distance between the centers of such adjacent areas is in the range 15 mm to 30 mm.

Abstract: A method and apparatus are disclosed for depositing transparent electrically-conductive metal oxide coatings or films, e.g. of indium/tin oxides, on non-conducting substrates, such as glass. The substrate may be a windscreen or window for an aircraft, on which the film provides an electrical resistance heating means for de-misting or de-icing. The film is reactively sputtered from a cathode assembly formed of substantially parallel strips of the metal, which is oscillated back and forth in a direction perpendicular to the length of the strips and substantially parallel to the substrate. Control of the thickness of the deposited film over the area of the substrate, e.g. for producing uniform heating over an irregular coated area of the substrate, is effected by bringing different effective areas of the cathode assembly over different parts of the substrate, by masking the cathode strips or by using a series of cathode strips which are tapered or which differ in width from one another.

Abstract: A succession of glass sheets are processed, for example by heating, bending and toughening in the production of windshield glasses. Each glass sheet is suspended vertically in an elongated furnace from a transport member, and when hot is lifted from the furnace into the lowermost of a vertical series of treatment stations, for example a bending station followed by a toughening station, by a lifting device which engages the transport member. Subsequently the transport member is supported independently of the lifting device at a level above the furnace so that the lifting device can then be lowered to lift the next glass sheet from the furnace.

Abstract: In a method of depositing a transparent electrically conductive metal oxide coating by reactive sputtering onto the surface of a substrate, the substrate is supported, in spaced relationship with a cathode which is to be sputtered, in a vacuum chamber containing an atmosphere comprising an inert gas and a controlled oxygen concentration at a selected total pressure. The substrate is heated prior to sputtering to a selected elevated temperature, and reactive sputtering is caused by applying a selected negative potential relative to the substrate. The oxygen in the atmosphere is provided and maintained at a selected concentration, and the heating of said substrate is controlled during sputtering to maintain the substrate temperature substantially constant at the selected temperature during substrate heating caused by sputtering.

Abstract: A substantially uniform, transparent, electrically conducting, metal oxide film (e.g. of indium/tin oxide) can be deposited on to a substrate such as glass of large lateral dimensions, e.g. a windscreen for an aircraft or a land vehicle, by low-pressure reactive sputtering from a cathode of the metal, using an atmosphere of oxygen and another gas or gases (preferably an inert gas) at reduced pressure, by providing access for the sputtering atmosphere to penetrate into the whole of the working space between the cathode and the substrate so as to maintain a substantial degree of uniformity in the oxygen concentration in the working space. Access for the atmosphere may be provided by means of passages extending through the cathode assembly, by dividing the cathode assembly into parallel strips separated by gaps, and the atmosphere may be supplied direct to the working space through such gaps. Relative movement is effected between the cathode assembly and the substrate, e.g.

Abstract: In forming a laminated glass article a first stage comprises assembling two glass sheets with an interlayer of thermoplastic transparent plastics material and heating the assembly to a first temperature at which some softening of the plastics material occurs. In the second stage the assembly is heated to a second higher temperature and maintained at the second temperature for a period such that full bonding occurs between the glass sheets and the interlayer, and then cooled, the exposed periphery of the interlayer being maintained at a pressure which is a controlled amount below that applied to the faces of the glass sheets for at least part of the period that the assembly is heated to the second temperature.

Abstract: In a high-voltage, liquid-cooled apparatus having at least one component, such as a cathode element of a reactive sputtering apparatus, which is connected both to a source of high voltage and a supply of cooling liquid, an electrical conductor for carrying the high voltage is accommodated with a cooling liquid supply pipe of insulating material. The conductor may be a wire or wire braid lying in the liquid supply pipe or a metal tube fitting closely within an outer electrically insulating sheath of the liquid supply pipe. Better contacts at the connectors and a reduced incidence of insulation breakdown can thus be achieved.

Abstract: A hot glass sheet, which may have been bent to a suitable shape for use in the manufacture of a vehicle window, is heated prior to quenching in a chilling medium such as a chilling liquid, in such a way that the edge of the sheet which first contacts the chilling medium is hotter than the trailing edge of the sheet.

Abstract: A laminated transparent assembly suitable for use as a windscreen for a high speed vehicle, e.g. an aircraft or railway locomotive, comprises a load bearing sheet of toughened glass having a second sheet of glass laminated thereto by means of an impact resistant interlayer of plastics material, e.g. polyvinylbutyral, and an insert of high tensile strength flexible material which extends around the periphery of the interlayer and which has an inner part embedded in the outer marginal portion of the interlayer in a plane parallel to the surfaces of the interlayer, and an outer part extending outwardly beyond the edges of the interlayer to provide for attachment of the assembly to the structure of the vehicle. The insert is preferably a sheet of fabric material, e.g. a fabric woven from rubber-impregnated glass fibre cords and nylon, with the glass fibre cords substantially perpendicular to the adjacent edges of the assembly, embedded between layers of soft polyvinylbutyral.

Abstract: A glass sheet to be heated, for example to a bending or a quenching temperature, is supported on its lower edge in an upright disposition and is advanced along a horizontally disposed path through a furnace. Transient support is provided for the upper edge of the sheet which support is positioned to cause the sheet to lean at a near-vertical angle as it is advanced, and thermal conditions in the furnace as well as the time the sheet is within the furnace are set in dependence on the glass thickness so as to heat the glass to the required temperature while permitting the glass to relax as it is heated only by an amount less than a maximum acceptable deformation of the sheet which depends on the use to which the sheet is to be put.