An apparatus for bending a glass plate includes a lower ring mold to be disposed under a glass plate and configured to support an edge portion of the glass plate; a plurality of supporting members configured to support the lower ring mold; an upper mold to be disposed above the glass plate and having a downwardly convex forming surface configured to be pressed against the glass plate supported by the lower ring mold; a lower heater configured to heat the lower ring mold; and a spacer attached to the lower ring mold, the spacer configured to control a gap between the upper mold and the lower ring mold.

A glass product forming mold includes a first mold and a second mold opposite to the first mold, a flat glass is formed into a three-dimensional glass structure after the first mold and the second mold are molded together. The first mold includes a first molding surface, a bottom surface, a side surface connecting the first molding surface and the bottom surface, and a first inclined surface; the second mold includes a second molding surface; and the first inclined surface extends to connect to the side surface from an edge of the first molding surface along a direction away from the first molding surface and the second mold. A thermal expansion coefficient of the first mold is smaller than that of the flat glass. Before complete cooling, the three-dimensional glass structure has been separated from the first molding surface, avoiding the deformation and rupture of the three-dimensional glass structure.

A glass product forming mold includes a mold body and a plurality of ejector mechanisms disposed on the mold body at intervals. The mold body is defined a plurality of gaps surrounding separately the mold body, and each gap receives one ejector mechanism. The mold body includes a forming surface for forming a glass product, the ejector mechanism includes a first wedge configured to lift the glass product and a second wedge configured to drive the first wedge to move vertically with respect to the forming surface, and the first wedge is flush with the forming surface. After the formation of the glass product, the ejector mechanisms lift the glass product so that the glass product does not contact with the mold body, avoiding the deformation and crack of the glass product, ensuring the quality of the glass product, accelerating the cooling of the glass product.

A glass product forming mold includes a mold body and a plurality of sliding blocks slidably mounted on the mold body and facing the glass product; each of the plurality of sliding blocks includes a first inclined surface; the plurality of sliding blocks are configured to be inserted between the glass product and the mold body through the plurality of the first inclined surfaces to separate the glass product from the mold body. The sliding blocks are driven to separate the glass product from the mold body, avoiding the deformation of raw glass products resulting from the uneven heat distribution, uneven shrinkage or excessive adhesion, and the glass products will not be interfered by the mold body during the process of cooling shrinkage, which reduces the risk of cracking of the glass product.

A mold includes a mold component, a plurality of ejector pins and a stop block. The mold component has a molding surface for forming a glass product and a bottom surface disposed opposite to the molding surface. The mold component defines a plurality of passing through holes through the molding surface and the bottom surface. Each ejector pin passes movably through one corresponding through hole and is configured to separate the glass product from the mold component. The stop block for forming a stop on the ejector pins disposed on one side of the bottom surface. Separates the glass product from the mold component before the glass product is completely cooled down by using the combination of the ejector pins together with the stop block, which can make the cooling of the glass product more uniform.

A method of molding an optical element includes: preparing a molding material; preparing an upper mold having an upper surface molding surface, a lower mold having a lower surface molding surface, and a side mold having a side surface molding surface; inserting a neck portion of the upper mold and a neck portion of the lower mold into a hole portion of the side mold; positioning a distal end of the neck portion of the lower mold below an opening rim of the hole portion, and electing oxygen that is in the molds through a gap formed between the opening rim of the hole portion and the molding material that has been placed on the lower surface molding surface; heating up the molding material; and press molding the molding material by bringing the upper mold and side mold, and the lower mold, closer to each other.

A method for producing a component with portions of a rare earth metal-doped quartz glass, an intermediate product containing voids and consisting of a SiO.sub.2 raw material doped with rare earth metal is introduced into a sinter mold the interior of which is bordered by a carbonaceous mold wall, and is melted therein into the component by gas pressure sintering at a maximum temperature above 1500 C. A shield is arranged between the mold wall and the intermediate product. In order to indicate a modified gas pressure sintering method that ensures the production of rare earth metal-doped quartz glass with reproducible properties, a bulk material of amorphous SiO.sub.2 particles with a layer thickness of at least 2 mm is used as the shield, the softening temperature thereof being at least 20 C. higher than the softening temperature of the doped SiO.sub.2 raw material, and the bulk material being gas-permeable at the beginning of the melting of the intermediate product, and the bulk material sintering during melting into an outer layer that is gas-tight to a pressure gas.

The present disclosure relates to a method for manufacturing an optical element out of glass, wherein a blank made of glass is laid on an annular contact face of a supporting body having a hollow cross section, and is heated on the supporting body, in a cavity of a protective cap that is arranged in a furnace cavity, such that a temperature gradient is established in the blank in such a way that the blank is cooler inside than on an outside region, wherein the contact face is cooled by means of a cooling medium flowing through the supporting body, wherein following heating the glass blank is press molded to form the optical element.

In the conventional direct press method, it was difficult to control the weight of molten glass gob when manufacturing a small precision glass component and thus the weight of the glass gob varies widely. Accordingly, the problem is that the precise molding cannot be expected stably. As a solution, the present invention provides a mold for molding a glass-made optical component and a manufacturing method using the mold, the mold comprising: a female mold which has a lower mold of a molding mold for molding the glass-made optical component on an outer peripheral portion of a concave surface of the female mold; a male mold which has a convex surface combined with the concave surface of the female mold; and a ring mold which is arranged on an outer peripheral portion of the male mold, the ring mold having an upper mold of the molding mold for molding the glass-made optical component, wherein molten glass gob introduced into the concave surface of the female mold is configured to be pressed from above by the male mold having the convex surface so that the molten glass gob is injected into a space formed between the lower mold and the upper mold of the molding mold.

A glass forming furnace includes a forming zone, a cleaning zone, a plurality of sealing doors, and a conveying channel. The forming zone includes a pressure device. The pressure device includes a servo motor, a push rod, and a mold pressurizing mechanism. The push rod is connected with the servo motor. The push rod includes an end notch and an embedded structure. The mold pressurizing mechanism includes an inlet notch. The inlet notch is connected with the embedded structure. Wherein, the end notch is in contact with the inlet notch. The cleaning zone includes an active brush mechanism. The sealing doors are disposed at an inlet and an outlet of the forming zone, respectively. The sealing doors each include a valve. The valve has a cross-sectional thickness that is gradually decreased from top to bottom. The conveying channel passes through the forming zone and the cleaning zone. The conveying channel is configured to convey a plurality of glass forming molds. The beneficial effect of the present invention is that the heating zone can be sealed and the molds can be cleaned more effectively.