US Patent 7644597 Apparatus and method for manufacturing plate glass

An apparatus 10 for producing a plate glass, comprising a bath 14 for float-forming for reserving a molten metal 16 for forming a band-shaped plate glass having a predetermined thickness by feeding a molten glass ribbon 20 in a predetermined direction on the molten metal 16, and a pair of partition walls 46 provided substantially above left and right edges 22 of the molten glass ribbon 20 and substantially along the edges 22 to partition a space above a bath surface of the molten metal into an upper space A above a region covered with the molten glass ribbon 20 and upper spaces B above regions not covered with the molten glass ribbon 20; wherein the partition walls 46 each has a vertically dividable structure dividable into an upper partition wall 46A and a lower partition wall 46B, and the lower partition wall 46B is constituted by strip-shaped lower strip members 58 provided continuously to each other in a lateral direction, and the strip members 58 are configured to be removable or openable from the upper partition wall 46A.