Hood tilt mechanism for curved glass processing

Abstract

A glass forming assembly for forming complex shaped glass, with the glass forming assembly having a hood assembly including a hood lift superstructure movable horizontally back and forth over a cold ring and a cooling shuttle and movable vertically relative to the cold ring and the cooling shuttle, and a hood frame supported by the hood lift superstructure by a hood tilt mechanism. The hood tilt mechanism includes an air cylinder assembly actuable to tilt the hood frame relative to the hood lift superstructure, which allows for proper orientation of the glass prior to dropping it on the cooling shuttle, thus allowing for reduced glass chipping and cracking.

1 . A glass forming assembly for forming complex shaped glass, the assembly comprising: 
 a cold ring;    a cooling shuttle; and    a hood assembly having a hood lift superstructure movable horizontally back and forth over the cold ring and the cooling shuttle and movable vertically relative to the cold ring and the cooling shuttle, a hood frame supported by the hood lift superstructure by a hood tilt mechanism, and with the hood tilt mechanism including an air cylinder assembly actuable to tilt the hood frame relative to the hood lift superstructure.    
     
     
         2 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 1  wherein the hood tilt mechanism further includes a solenoid valve operatively engaging the air cylinder to thereby actuate the air cylinder.  
     
     
         3 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 2  further including a controller operatively engaging the solenoid valve to thereby activate the solenoid valve.  
     
     
         4 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 2  further including a switch, with the switch being activatable when the hood tilt mechanism tilts the hood frame downward relative to the hood lift superstructure.  
     
     
         5 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 4  further including a controller operatively engaging the solenoid valve and the switch to thereby activate the solenoid valve and detect an activation state of the switch.  
     
     
         6 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 1  further including a vacuum mold; a cold ring shuttle upon which the cold ring is mounted, with the cold ring shuttle actuable to move the cold ring into and out of the vacuum mold; a non-articulating hot ring; and a hot ring shuttle upon which the hot ring is mounted, with the hot ring shuttle actuable to move the non-articulating hot ring into and out of the vacuum mold.  
     
     
         7 . A glass forming assembly for forming complex shaped glass, the assembly comprising: 
 a cold ring;    a cooling shuttle;    a hood assembly having a hood lift superstructure movable horizontally back and forth over the cold ring and the cooling shuttle and movable vertically relative to the cold ring and the cooling shuttle, a hood frame supported by the hood lift superstructure by a hood tilt mechanism, and with the hood tilt mechanism including an air cylinder assembly actuable to tilt the hood frame relative to the hood lift superstructure;    a vacuum mold;    a cold ring shuttle upon which the cold ring is mounted, with the cold ring shuttle actuable to move the cold ring into and out of the vacuum mold; and    a non-articulating hot ring; and a hot ring shuttle upon which the hot ring is mounted, with the hot ring shuttle actuable to move the non-articulating hot ring into and out of the vacuum mold.    
     
     
         8 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 7  wherein the hood tilt mechanism further includes a solenoid valve operatively engaging the air cylinder to thereby actuate the air cylinder.  
     
     
         9 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 8  further including a controller operatively engaging the solenoid valve to thereby activate the solenoid valve.  
     
     
         10 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 8  further including a switch, with the switch being activatable when the hood tilt mechanism tilts the hood frame downward relative to the hood lift superstructure.  
     
     
         11 . The glass forming assembly of  claim 10  further including a controller operatively engaging the solenoid valve and the switch to thereby activate the solenoid valve and detect an activation state of the switch.  
     
     
         12 . An apparatus for forming glass into a complex shape comprising: 
 means for heating the glass;    means for supporting the glass on a hot ring;    means for moving the hot ring into a mold;    means for shaping the glass;    means for supporting the glass on a cold ring;    means for moving the cold ring out of the mold;    means for lifting the glass from the cold ring by vacuum pressure from a hood assembly;    means for moving the hood assembly horizontally over a cooling shuttle;    means for lowering a hood lift superstructure to be adjacent to the cooling shuttle;    means for tilting a hood frame portion of the hood lift superstructure downward thereby reorienting the glass relative to the cooling shuttle; and    means for releasing the vacuum pressure from the hood assembly to thereby drop the glass onto the cooling shuttle.    
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  further including means for activating a switch as the hood frame portion is tilted downward; and means for preventing the cooling shuttle from moving while the switch is actuated.  
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further including means for tilting the hood frame portion upward; and means for deactivating the switch as the hood frame portion is tilted upward.  
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein the means for tilting the hood frame portion includes a solenoid valve operatively engaging an air cylinder.