AIR-COOLING/TEMPERING APPARATUS AND AIR-COOLING/TEMPERING METHOD FOR A GLASS SHEET

The present invention provides an air-cooling/tempering device and an air-cooling/tempering method for a glass sheet, which are capable of uniformly air-cooling and tempering a glass sheet as a whole without being affected by the pitch between adjacent rollers and a roller diameter. The roller body of each roller forming the air-cooling/tempering device includes a rotary shaft formed of a guide shaft permitting a bendable action; and a plurality of ring rollers carried on the guide shaft and engaged and coupled with adjacent ring rollers; and disc rollers fixedly carried at intervals on ring rollers so as not to overlap the disc rollers on an adjacent roller with respect to a conveying direction of the glass sheet. Further, outlet modules are disposed on ring rollers between adjacent disc rollers through bearings so as to be rotatable with respect to the rotary shaft. The coupled ring rollers can curve the guide shaft to curve the roller body, and the glass sheet is air-cooled and tempered by blowing cooling air to the glass sheet from the outlet modules while the glass sheet is conveyed by the disc rollers rotated via the ring rollers.