3.2.8 Press Ring
? The press ring supports the glass during the pressing operation.
? The press operation presses the glass to achieve the proper perimeter shape.
? The press ring resides below the bender conveyor until the glass reaches a position directly above the ring. At this point the ring elevates, lifting the glass above the conveyor towards the mold. The mold is in turn lowering from its home position to contact the press ring. 3.2.9 Quench Ring Shuttle
? The quench ring shuttle holds and transports the quench rings from the bender through the quench then onto the cooler.
? There are three quench rings present on the quench ring shuttle.
3.2.10 Quench
? The quench uses a high-pressure sweep quench for the tempering process through the application of air to the upper and lower surfaces of the glass.
? The quench has a clamshell feature that allows the blast heads to open and close around the quench ring. This allows for easy access for cleaning, maintenance and setup.
? The quench blastheads are configurable to match the curvature of the bent part through the use of a template. The template is part specific and is inserted at the beginning of a new part run.
3.2.11 Glass Catcher Bars ? The glass catcher bars are located over the Quench Ring shuttle at the blow up area and hold the glass until it falls onto the cooler conveyor.
3.2.12 Cooler ? The cooler is used to reduce the temperature of the glass to safe handling temperatures. The cooler is normally divided between Kevlar
covered rolls and rubber coated rolls. The cooler also transports the glass to the unload area.
3.2.13 Unload ? The unload area is located at the end of the cooler conveyor. It has rubber-covered conveyor rolls designed to prevent the glass from being scratched during unloading.
3.2.14 Off-Line Press Stations ? The off-line press stations are used to setup and test the bender module before is it inserted into the system. The stations contain all of the necessary equipment to functionally test the bender module during a part change over. The stations also allow for the pre-heating of the mold to cut-down on the change over time.