A method and/or system is provided for detecting and/or identifying inclusions (e.g., nickel sulfide based inclusions/defects) in glass such as soda-lime-silica based float glass. In certain example instances, during and/or after the glass-making process, following the stage in the float process where the glass sheet is formed and floated on a molten material (e.g., tin bath) and cooled or allowed to cool such as via an annealing lehr, energy such as infrared (IR) energy is directed at the resulting glass and reflectance at various wavelengths is analyzed to detect inclusions.

A sheet of glass can be formed in a batch process by introducing molten glass onto a layer of molten tin within a tank. The tank may be outfitted with infrared emitters to control the amount of heat delivered to the tank while the sheet of glass is formed. A lower surface of the tank can have a three-dimensional shape, and the molten tin may be removed from the tank while the sheet of glass is ductile so that the sheet of glass is molded by the three-dimensional shape, thereby producing a shaped sheet of glass. The delivery of infrared energy to the tank may be facilitated by one or more ceramic glass surface.

The present invention provides a tin alloy bath for a float bath, an apparatus for manufacturing a float glass, a method for manufacturing a float glass that can provide a high quality float glass in which defects due to coagulation and falling of a volatile tin component have been suppressed, and a float glass manufactured using those. The above-mentioned tin alloy bath for a float bath is a molten metal bath to be placed in the float bath for supplying molten glass to a liquid surface of the molten metal bath, thereby forming into a glass ribbon, and includes 1 mass % or more of copper with the remainder being unavoidable impurities and tin.

The present invention provides a tin alloy bath for a float bath, an apparatus for manufacturing a float glass, a method for manufacturing a float glass that can provide a high quality float glass in which defects due to coagulation and falling of a volatile tin component have been suppressed, and a float glass manufactured using those. The above-mentioned tin alloy bath for a float bath is a molten metal bath to be placed in the float bath for supplying molten glass to a liquid surface of the molten metal bath, thereby forming into a glass ribbon, and includes 1 mass % or more of copper with the remainder being unavoidable impurities and tin.

A hot-formed, chemically prestressable glass article having a low percentage of crystals or crystallites, in particular a plate-shaped, chemically prestressable glass article, as well as to a method and a device for its production are provided. The glass article has a composition including the components SiO.sub.2, Al.sub.2O.sub.3, and Li.sub.2O and a content of seed formers (ZrO.sub.2, SnO.sub.2, and TiO.sub.2) of at least 0.8 wt %, as well as at most ten crystals, including crystallites, per kilogram of glass, which have a maximum diameter greater than 1 ?m and up to at most 5 ?m.

A float glass chamber and related methods include a hot section having an atmosphere in at least the lower plenum with less than 3 percent hydrogen based on volume and a cold section having a different volume percent hydrogen.

A float glass chamber and related methods include a hot section having an atmosphere in at least the lower plenum with less than 3 percent hydrogen based on volume and a cold section having a different volume percent hydrogen.

Glass production process whereby at least part of a reducing gas composition (100) introduced into a float chamber (4) receiving molten glass (3) from a melting chamber heated by combustion of fuel (27) with oxidant (28), is preheated by heat exchange with fumes (25) evacuated from a melting furnace (2) before said part of the reducing gas composition (100) is introduced in the float chamber (4) and installation for use in said glass production process.

Glass production process whereby at least part of a reducing gas composition (100) introduced into a float chamber (4) receiving molten glass (3) from a melting chamber heated by combustion of fuel (27) with oxidant (28), is preheated by heat exchange with fumes (25) evacuated from a melting furnace (2) before said part of the reducing gas composition (100) is introduced in the float chamber (4) and installation for use in said glass production process.

A shape measuring device includes: a predetermined pattern; an image pick-up section that captures reflected images of the predetermined pattern on the front face and back face of a transparent measurement object; a calculating section that calculates an inclination angle of at least the front face or the back face from the reflected images; and a determining section that determines a shape of at least the front face or the back face. The predetermined pattern includes a plurality of elements, and one end and the other end of each element of the plurality of elements, which are formed in a direction perpendicular to the extension direction, are deviated from each other in the extension direction.