A furnace (2) has at least one furnace chamber (20) delimited by a wall (25); at least one opening (5) is provided in the wall (25). The opening is provided with at least one nozzle (50), configured to generate a sealing air flow. A glass semi-finished product (4) can be introduced into the furnace chamber.

A method includes pressing a preform with a mold including a mold body and a plurality of mold protrusions extending from the mold body at a pressing temperature and a pressing pressure sufficient to transform the preform into a shaped article including a plurality of cavities corresponding to the plurality of mold protrusions. The preform is formed from a glass material, a glass-ceramic material, or a combination thereof. The mold body is formed from a porous material. The plurality of mold protrusions is formed from a non-porous material.

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing a hollow glass item and, specifically, to a method for manufacturing an item made of hollow pressed glass. The method includes a step of depositing at least one drop of molten glass into a mold intended for modelling a predetermined outer shape of the glass item to be manufactured; a step of pressing the molten glass into the mold by a shaping punch in order to shape the hollow glass item by hollowing out an inside space; a step of marking the glass item with a marking tool which is independent from the shaping punch, in order to imprint at least one raised and/or recessed pattern in the inside space of the glass item; a step of cooling the marked, pressed glass item; and a step of removing the glass item from the mold.

The invention locally deforms a flat surface of a substrate made of glass or a glass ceramic by applying heat exclusively within a locally limited region via the flat surface by laser radiation, a gas flame, infrared radiation, microwaves or a plasma discharge directed towards the flat surface of the substrate to soften the substrate at least on the flat surface within the locally limited region; applies a force acting on the softened flat surface within the locally limited region which deforms the softened surface of the substrate within the locally limited region; cools the substrate to obtain a set deformed surface within the locally limited region; and applies heat exclusively within the locally limited region via the flat surface of the substrate to produce a temperature and viscosity gradient inside the substrate laterally and orthogonal to the flat surface within the locally limited region.

The present disclosure relates to a method for producing an optical element from glass, wherein a glass blank is placed on an annular contact surface of a support body with a hollow cross-section, and heated on the support body, in particular in such a way that a temperature gradient is created in the blank in such a way that the blank is cooler on the inside than in the outer region thereof, wherein the contact surface is cooled by means of a coolant flowing through the support body, wherein, after heating, the glass blank is blank-pressed, in particular on both sides, to form the optical element, wherein the contact surface spans a base area that is not circular.

The present invention is directed to a method for making infrared transmitting graded index optical elements by selecting at least two different infrared-transmitting materials, each with a different refractive index, having similar thermo-viscous behavior; assembling the infrared-transmitting materials into a stack comprising one or more layers of each infrared-transmitting material resulting in the stack having a graded index profile; and forming the stack into a desired shape. Also disclosed is the related optical element made by this method.

A system for use in glass production technology such as for production of glass packaging, glassware, glass home equipments, wherein the system allows all kinds of design additions such as color, pattern, texture, decor, seal and form changing processes to be applied to the product without requiring re-firing of the product, after removal of the product from the moulds in the production lines while the product is still hot and the temperature is kept constant.

In a multi-panel display device in which plural individual display devices are joined, it is possible to guarantee image continuity in panel junction areas of the multi-panel display device by disposing a frame-type optical member, which includes a frame section having plural optical fibers and a central light-transmitting area, on the front surface of the multi-panel display device and optimizing structures of an inner inclined surface of the frame section of the frame-type optical member and optical fibers included in the frame section.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of a glass-ceramic blank for dental purposes with lithium silicate as crystal phase, in which lithium silicate blanks that are no longer required and in particular residues thereof are used as starting material and which allows the production of a homogeneous starting glass within a short time.

A plate-like glass includes a chemically strengthened glass having a first surface, a second surface facing the first surface, and an end surface connecting the first surface and second surface. When a tangential direction from an arbitrary point on the first surface is assumed to be an X-axis, a direction orthogonal to the X-axis is assumed to be a Y-axis, and a direction orthogonal to the X-axis and the Y-axis is assumed to be a Z-axis, the X-axis is a direction in which a first curvature radius R.sub.1 in cross-section of the first surface in an XZ plane passing the X-axis and Z-axis is minimum. The first surface has a curvature part in which the surface is bent in the X-axis direction on the first surface and the first curvature radius R.sub.1 is within a specific range.