Apparatus for and method of bending glass sheets
 An apparatus for bending a glass sheet has at least a lower mold, a conveyor device for conveying the heated glass sheet to a prescribed position over the lower mold, and a plurality of rolls for supporting the glass sheet in the prescribed position. A method of bending a glass sheet is carried out by utilizing the apparatus. The apparatus also includes a device for lowering the rolls to a position below the shaping surface of the lower mold, and an arrangement in the lower mold for accommodating the rolls which have been lowered. The apparatus may additionally have an upper mold coacting with the lower mold. The method comprises the steps of lowering the rolls below the shaping surface of the lower mold, transferring the glass sheet from the rolls onto the shaping surface of the lower mold while the rolls are lowered, and bending the glass sheet into conformity with the shaping surface of the lower mold under gravitational forces. The method may also include the step of lowering the upper mold simultaneously with the downward movement of the rolls, and press bending the glass sheet between the upper and lower molds. 
Nippon Sheet Glass Co., Ltd.
C C C C Y C
C03B C03B C03B C03B Y02P C03B
inventional inventional inventional inventional additional inventional
Kaoru Hirotaro Hideo Seiichiro Masaaki Naohiro Togo
Sakurai Usui Yoshizawa Honjo Nushi Iida Tanaka