Abstract: In apparatus for shaping sheets of heat-softenable material, such as glass and plastics, an upper vacuum mold is provided with an apertured wall member of low expansion refractory material to engage a heat-softened sheet during a portion of its shaping. In order to improve its durability, metal clamping devices that cause high local stresses in the refractory wall member are not used to secure the refractory wall member to metal structural elements of the vacuum mold. The present invention comprises novel mold structure to support a lower apertured wall member of refractory material on an inverted metal box member without metal attachment devices that induce high local stresses.

Abstract: Glass sheet handling devices are provided with glass sheet engaging surfaces composed of a phenolic resin reinforced with fibers of an aromatic polyamide composition. In a specific embodiment of this invention, a sufficient number of said fibers extend to an exposed surface of said devices to develop a coefficient of friction sufficient to prevent relative sliding between the exposed surface of said glass sheet engaging member and said glass sheet.

Abstract: Sheets of heat-deformable material, such as glass, are shaped to non-uniform curvatures that include a localized sharply bent portion near one side portion of the sheet by lifting the sheet while the latter is at a deformation temperature range on a lower lifting mold of special construction that includes spaced, transversely extending slats having upper edge surfaces defining the non-uniform bend and a longitudinally extending end slat whose upper edge surface defines a transverse curve that merges with the upper edge surfaces of said transversely extending slats.

Abstract: Bending a glass sheet to a complicated shape that comprises one portion bent sharply relative to a main portion of the sheet involving the use of a vacuum holder, an auxiliary shaping rail and means to correlate the movement of the shaping rail with that of the glass sheet during a bending cycle to insure that the glass sheet is clear of the auxiliary shaping rail except for such time in the glass sheet bending cycle that requires the auxiliary shaping rail to engage the glass sheet portion to be sharply bent against the corresponding portion of the vacuum holder. Another feature incorporated in a preferred embodiment of the present invention facilitates ready removal of glass fragments whenever a flawed glass sheet fractures at or beyond a shaping station outside a furnace where the glass sheet is heated to its deformation temperature.

Abstract: A deformable vacuum mold for shaping glass sheets to complicated shapes includes mold stiffening structure engaging the central portion of the mold, mold lifting means engaging the longitudinal end portions of the vacuum mold to lift the latter relative to the mold stiffening structure and optional bar means adjustable in position and orientation to provide local control imparted to the shape of the vacuum mold when the longitudinal end portions of the mold are lifted. The deformable vacuum mold may also include a pair of lifting means providing different amounts of lift to the longitudinal end portions on opposite sides of the longitudinal center line of the mold and approximately equal amounts of lift to the longitudinal end portions on opposite sides of the transverse center line of the mold.

Abstract: This invention concerns shaping sheets of glass or other deformable material to compound shapes. A sheet having a desired transverse component of curvature engages the downward facing surface of a deformable vacuum mold having a lower transversely curved wall and is held thereagainst by vacuum while still hot enough to be distorted as the vacuum mold deforms to apply the longitudinal bending component to the sheet to be shaped.