SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONFIGURING A GLASS HARDENING SYSTEM CAPABLE OF TRANSITION BETWEEN CONFIGURATIONS FOR ANNEALING AND TEMPERING GLASS OBJECTS

摘要

The present invention relates to a glass hardening system and method capable of transition between configurations for annealing and tempering glass objects comprising a conveyor system, a glass object positioning system, a tempering chamber, and a plurality of temperature zones oriented to form a tunnel through which glass objects are conveyed by a conveyor system. The temperature zones can be set to implement a temperature profile for either annealing or tempering the glass objects. Furthermore, in an exemplary embodiment an annealing lehr can be configured to temper glass objects by making a portion of the conveyor system accessible to the glass object positioning system after preheating, such that the glass object positioning system can temporarily relocate the glass objects from the conveyor into a tempering chamber and then the glass objects are returned to the conveyor system.