Abstract: Selected portions of a glass sheet are heated to elevated temperatures and offset, i.e. reformed, relative to the remaining portions of the glass sheet while maintaining the optical properties of the remaining portions of the glass sheet. The reformed area can be used as a structure to which guide brackets are other hardware can be secured or as an integral glass ledge to guide the up and down movement of the glass sheet within a vehicle door frame.

Abstract: The method for forming Fresnel lens according to the present invention is such that a Fresnel lens comprising a body with a frontal surface having a plurality of annular Fresnel-type prism elements concentrically disposed thereon and a back surface formed substantially flat is formed from a molten sheet glass. The method comprises a step of preparing cavities of which the shapes are derived from inversion of the shapes of the plurality of annular Fresnel-type prism elements, a step of disposing the molten sheet glass on a stationary mold having a substantially flat surface, a step of pressing the molten sheet glass with a moving mold having the cavities to make a portion of the molten glass flow into said cavities, and a step of solidifying the molten glass and removing the moving mold thereafter.

Abstract: Method and apparatus are set forth for forming articles from molten sheet glass wherein the molten sheet glass initially substantially conforms to a mold cavity by a combination of vacuum and/or gravity, and then while still in a semi-molten condition the sheet is pressed into a finished ware article.

Abstract: A mold assembly for making blocks of glass and constituting five parts assembled into a mold to make a mold having a cavity open at opposite ends for molding an article of glass as a sheet cut into blocks having an upstanding flange along an edge thereof and a v-shaped ridge along an opposite edge for assembly with other similar articles along a scarf joint defined by the corresponding v-shaped ridges.

Abstract: Thermal convection currents in the headspace above a body of glass being formed into a continuous sheet of glass while supported on molten metal are controlled to prevent the development of surface distortion patterns in the upper surface of the glass being formed. This is accomplished by establishing a series of small convection cells at least adjacent the upper surface of the glass so that the characteristic convective cooling rate for the glass in the forming chamber is substantially diminished, particularly near the inlet end of the forming chamber.