The Selection of Hot Bent Glass Molds

Hot bent glass is curved glass made by heating and softening flat glass in a mold. It can be made into different curved glass. Hot bent glass molds play an important role in the molding of hot bent glass. 

The molding temperature of hot bent glass is about 580℃, near the softening point of the glass. The molding temperature and the mold making is the key to the molding of hot bent glass. Proper molding time of the hot bent glass is the guarantee of the quality of products. 

 

The main tools for manufacturing hot bent glass include steel for making molds, welding machine, bending machine, cutting machine, etc... The main materials for manufacturing hot bent glass include glass with different thickness, the release agent and high-temperature glass cloth. 

 

The hot bent glass molds can be divided into three types: solid mold, hollow mold and frame mold. Based on this, many manufactures have their own characteristics in the mold processing. 

 

The solid mold, as its name implies, has solid core and is made of iron plate. It can easily ensure the consistency of the curvature of glass and spherical glass. Glass will not be excessively bent. It has less demanding on the operator. The disadvantage is the high cost of mold making, long production cycle and pitting during the heating process. 

 

Hollow mold is made of angle steel and flat steel. The mold is simple to make, consumes less materials and absorbs less heat during the hot bending process. During the bending process, the middle part of glass should be supported with springs. There is no pitting on the surface of products. However, it has high requirements on the operators. Due to the thermal hysteresis phenomenon, glass may be over bent. 

 

The frame mold is a type of mold between the solid mold and the hollow mold. Its making is relative simple compared to the solid mold and has lower requirements on the operator.