Cutting of glass sheets

Claim 2

Apparatus for dividing a glass sheet along a required line of break delineated by a score line on the sheet, comprising a snapping station where the sheet is supported by an elongated member which makes line contact with the underface of the sheet in the region of the required line of break, actuating means operable to raise one end of said member so that one end of said region of the sheet is raised above the other end while said line contact is maintained, and pressure means associated with said actuating means to apply a bending moment across the raised end of the score line so as to effect a break which runs along the supported line.

Claim 3

Apparatus for dividing a glass sheet along a required line of break delineated by a score line on the sheet, comprising a snapping station where the sheet is supported horizontally by support means including an elongated member having a longitudinal support surface, feeding means for feeding a sheet to the snapping station with the score line positioned above said elongated member which thereby makes line contact with the underface of the sheet in the region of the score line, actuating means operable to raise one end of said member so that one end of the score line is raised while said line contact is maintained, and pressure means associated with said actuating means to apply a bending moment across the raised end of the score line so as to effect a break which runs along the supported line.

Claim 4

Apparatus for dividing a glass sheet along a required line of break delineated by a score line on the sheet, comprising a snapping station where the sheet is supported horizontally by support means including an elongated member having a longitudinal support surface, feeding means for feeding a sheet to the snapping station with the score line positioned above said elongated member which thereby makes line contact with the underface of the sheet in the region of the score line, actuating means operable to raise one end of said member so that one end of the score line is raised while said line contact is maintained, and pressure means associated with said actuating means to apply a bending moment across the raised end of the score line so as to effect a break which runs along the supported line.

Claim 5

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said elongated member has a uniformly curved cross section along its length.

Claim 6

Apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said elongated member comprises a rotatable roller.

Claim 7

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressure means include a pair of finger elements mounted on thrust means operable to thrust the finger elements down onto the surface of the glass on either side of the raised end of the score line.

Claim 8

Apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the finger elements are pivotally mounted at the ends of the limbs of a bifurcated support which is pivotally mounted on said thrust means, the axis of the pivots of the finger elements being at right angles to the axis of the pivot of the bifurcated support, so that the finger elements can adjust their positions on the sheet as they are thrust on to the sheet and thereby apply equal pressures to the sheet on either side of the end of the score line.

Claim 9

Apparatus according to claim 1, including scoring means for scoring said score line on the sheet.

Claim 10

Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the scoring means are positioned at a scoring statioN displaced from the snapping station, the feeding means being capable of feeding the sheet from the scoring station to the snapping station.

Claim 11

Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the apparatus is capable of dividing a glass sheet along at least two lines of break, each line of break being delineated by a score line on the sheet, said apparatus comprising for each said score line, an elongated member which makes line contact with the underface of the sheet in the region of the score line, actuating means operable to raise one end of each said member, and pressure means associated with said actuating means to apply a bending moment across the raised end of each score line so as to effect a break which runs along the supported line.

Claim 12

Apparatus according to claim 9, for dividing a glass sheet into two smaller sheets and for trimming a marginal edge portion from each of said smaller sheets, comprising means to divide the sheet along a first score line to produce said two smaller sheets, means to feed said two smaller sheets in opposite directions normal to said first score line to position a score line on one sheet over one said elongated member and to position a score line on the other sheet over another said elongated member, and actuating and pressure means associated with each of said elongated members to raise one end thereof and to apply a bending movement across the raised end of the score line thereon, thereby to effect breaks which separate a marginal edge portion from each of said smaller sheets.

Claim 13

Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said means to divide the sheet along said first score line comprise a further said elongated member with associated actuating and pressure means.

Claim 14

Apparatus according to claim 10, including feed means to feed the sheet before it is divided in a direction parallel to said first score line to the snapping station at which the sheet is divided along said first score line.

Claim 17

A method according to claim 13, including the step of scoring a surface of the sheet along the required line of break.

Claim 18

A method according to claim 14, wherein the sheet is scored before one end of said region of the sheet is raised above the other end.

Claim 21

A method according to claim 13 for dividing a glass sheet along at least two lines of break, each line of break being delineated by a score line on the sheet, comprising the steps of supporting the sheet while making line contact with the underface of the sheet in each of the regions of said score lines, raising one end of each said region of the sheet above the other end while said line contact is maintained, and applying a bending moment across the raised end of each score line to cause a clean break to run along the score line to its lower end.

Claim 22

A method according to claim 17, for dividing a glass sheet into two smaller sheets and for trimming a marginal edge portion from each of said smaller sheets, comprising the steps of dividing the sheet along a first score line to pRoduce said two smaller sheets, moving apart said two smaller sheets in opposite directions normal to said first score line, supporting each of the moved-apart sheets while making line contact with the undersurface of the sheet in the region of a score line, raising one end of said region of each sheet above the other end while maintaining said line contact, and applying a bending movement across the raised end of the score line on each sheet thereby to effect breaks which separate a marginal edge portion from each of said smaller sheets.

Claim 23

A method according to claim 18, wherein the step of dividing the sheet along said first score line comprises making line contact with the undersurface of the sheet in the region of said first score line, raising one end of said region while maintaining said line contact, and applying a bending movement across the raised end of said first score line.