The present invention relates to the shaping of glass sheets and particularly to shaping sheets of glass and other deformable, transparent materials supported horizontally using a technique known by various terms, such as horizontal press bending, drop forming, and sag bending, in which a glass sheet is lifted on a lifting mold to a raised position for support by a vacuum holder and then transferred from the vacuum holder to a ring-like member that transports the glass sheet from a shaping station into a cooling station where a desired degree of temper is imparted to the shaped glass. In particular, the present invention relates to shaping sheets to non-uniform configurations comprising a relatively sharp bend near one side and a relatively shallow bend away from said one side.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds