DEVICE FOR CUTTING GLASS SHEETS INTO SIZED PIECES

Abstract

PCT No. PCT / AT96 / 00004 Sec. 371 Date Jul. 8, 1997 Sec. 102(e) Date Jul. 8, 1997 PCT Filed Jan. 17, 1996 PCT Pub. No. WO96 / 22948 PCT Pub. Date Aug. 1, 1996Lines are scribed on glass panes in accordance with the sections to be produced and the glass panes are then broken into sections susbtantially in a vertical position. A device suitable therefor comprises a station (2) for scribing the glass panes (1) with a substantially vertical supporting surface (25) and a conveyor (13) at its lower edge. Adjoining the station (2) is a first breaking station (3) and second one (4) in which the X-notches are opened and frontal edge sections (XR) are separated. The sections (27) of glass panes (1) thus obtained are turned through 90 DEG about the axis perpendicular to the supporting surface (25) in a turning station (5). The Y notches are broken in another breaking station (8). After any edge strips (XR) and residual pieces (R) have been removed, the sections thus obtained are inserted directly into a device (12) for their intermediate storage or fed to a double-glazing line.

Description

Description of the Utility Model entitled: "DEVICE FOR CUTTING GLASS SHEETS INTO SIZED PIECES" From Mr.: Lisec Peter of Austrian nationality, resident in Amstetten-Hausmening (NO) (AUSTRIA) - who appoints as agents and domiciliaries, also severally between them, Dr. Diana Domenighetti, Avv. Vincenzo Bilardo, Dr. Ing. Aldo Petruzziello, Dr. Maria Teresa Mannello and Dr. Ing. Maria Chiara Zavattoni, of the office DR. ING. A. RACHELI & C. srl - Milan - Viale San Michele del Carso, 4. Inventor: Lisec Peter Deposited on: £2 cE.l ?J98 N.:|tf / 96 (J qq 4 5 **** DESCRIPTION The innovation concerns a device for cutting glass sheets into formatted pieces, in which the glass sheets are scored according to the formatted pieces to be generated and then broken. Known devices for cutting glass sheets into pieces of any size include glass cutting tables and breaking tables, on which the glass sheets are scratched and broken while lying horizontally. Examples of these devices include EP-A-457 751 and EP-A-564 758. A disadvantage of such well-known glass sheet cutting devices is that not only do they require a lot of space, but the glass sheets, which are stacked in a substantially vertical arrangement in a magazine, must be tilted into a horizontal position and then transported to the glass cutting table. The finished pieces must then be oriented again in a vertical position, before they are taken to another process or to intermediate storage (compartment trolley or similar). The known devices are therefore characterized by a large space requirement, and the known procedure requires the glass sheets to be overturned and the resulting shaped pieces to be straightened again. The aim of this innovation is to offer a device for cutting glass sheets that saves space and avoids the time-consuming handling of glass sheets and cut-to-size pieces. According to the innovation, this aim is achieved in a device of the type mentioned above, due to the fact that the glass sheet scratching station has a support surface with a substantially vertical orientation, with a conveyor at the lower edge thereof and a cutting head movable along the support surface, and that at least a first breaking station, a device for orienting pieces of glass sheet at 90° and at least one further breaking station are provided. Preferred and advantageous embodiments of the device according to innovation is the subject of dependent claims With the device according to the innovation the glass plates, oriented in essentially vertical position (basically leaning backwards by about 5-7°), they are scratched, while they are placed on a support surface, and then transported to the breaking stations. In this way a reduction of the installation surface of the device according to the innovation, and it is no longer necessary to rearrange the glass sheets into a horizontal position after they have been taken from a warehouse, and to straighten the finally obtained shaped pieces back into a substantially vertical position, for example for convey them to an insulating glass processing line or to intermediate storage. Further details, features, and advantages of the device according to the innovation can be deduced from the following description, in which reference is made to the enclosed drawings. They show: Figure 1, a glass sheet with scratch lines; Figure 2, schematically and in view, a device for cutting glass sheets into formatted pieces; Figure 3, a breaking device (known from EP-A-457 751); and Figure 4, an embodiment of a breaking tool (known from EP-A-564 758). Since reference is made in the following description to several scratch lines, parts and pieces in the form of glass plates, these will be described first with reference to figure I. A glass sheet 1, such as the one shown in figure 1, has scratch lines generated by a cutting tool (wheel cutter). These are X-cuts, i.e. scratch lines that extend across the entire width of the glass sheet 1 parallel to its minor edges, Y-cuts, i.e. scratch lines that extend parallel to the longitudinal extension of the glass sheet 1, between the X-cuts, and also W-cuts, which extend between two Y-cuts and finally Z-cuts, which extend parallel to the X-cuts between two Y-cuts. There are also two zero cuts, the OX cut and the OY cut, outside of which are the XR and YR edge strips. Finally, there are residues that cannot be used as format pieces, which are indicated as residual pieces R and end pieces E. It should also be noted that among glassmakers it is the same to call "Traveren", for example X-Traveren (editor's note: X-scratch lines) the continuous cuts from edge to edge. edge of a glass plate or part of it. In the following description, the pieces of glass that were obtained by breaking the glass plate 1 along the scratch lines X are called "parts" of the glass plates 1, while the first part also has an edge strip XR. The glass sheet cutting device 1 comprises a substantially vertical supporting wall 25, which can be designed as a roller wall or an air cushion wall, and which is inclined by 5-7°. At the lower edge of the supporting wall 25, a conveyor device 13 is provided, consisting of motorized rollers in the exemplary embodiment, which supports the glass sheets 1, the parts and the formed pieces from below and moves them from station to station in the direction of the arrow 26. In the embodiment shown, the device includes a cutting station 2, in which a glass sheet 1 is provided with score lines using a cutting tool 15 according to a predefined pattern, for example, one optimized using a computer program. The cutting tool 15 can be moved on a cutting crosspiece 14, which can be moved along the support surface 25 in the cutting station 2. -In the vicinity of the cutting station, a first breaking station 3 is foreseen and, adjacent to the latter, another breaking station 4. The first breaking station 3 is used for opening the cuts X and the second breaking station 4 for breaking the edge strip XR along the cut OX. After the second breaking station 4, an orientation station 5 is provided, to orient the glass plate parts 27 around an axis facing perpendicular to the supporting surface 25, in the position shown. in the region of the third breaking station 8. In this position the Y cuts extend from top to bottom. In the third breaking station 8, the Y-cuts are opened. If there is also a cutting line (Z-cut or W-cut) in the part of the glass sheet 1 thus formed, this part is rotated in the second orientation station 9 and the Z-cut or W-cut is opened in the last breaking station 10. At the dispensing end of the device according to the innovation, a glass stacking device 12, for example a compartment trolley, is provided. Compartment trolleys that can be used are shown, for example, in EP-A 477 163 and EP-A 603 151. The embodiment of the breaking stations and the breaking devices and breaking tools provided therein is not primarily important for the innovation. The examples described below with reference to Figures 3 and 4 are therefore only preferred embodiments. The first breaking station 3, in which a glass sheet I is divided into parts 27 by being broken along the cuts X, has a breaking strip 7 and, in the example of the execution as a sheet holder, two suction cups 20, the most common structure of which is shown by way of example in figure 3. This embodiment can also be used in the breaking stations 8 and 10. The breaking strip 7 is provided in a cavity 28 in the supporting wall 25, which can be moved perpendicularly to it. The glass sheet I to be split is transported forward so that a cut Z is located in front of the breaking strip 7. To carry out the breaking process, the breaking strip 7 is pushed forward by pressurized fluid cylinders or similar into the position shown in dashed lines in figure 3. In order to bend the glass plate 1 during the breaking process, i.e. to load it onto the supporting wall 25, suction cups 20 subject to a vacuum are provided on both sides of the gap 28 for the breaking strip 7, which are articulated with their operating devices 21, such that they are not only movable in the direction of the arrows 22, but also tiltable around axes oriented parallel to the breaking strip 7 in the direction of the double arrows 23. In this way, the suction cups 20, as indicated in dotted lines in figure 3, can be arranged obliquely during the breaking process and thus adhere securely to the underside of the glass plate 1, whereby it is pulled with the corresponding force onto the supporting wall 25. The breaking strip 7 can also be moved so that its end lying in the region of the suction cups 20 is pushed forward first, so that the cut X opens from below to above producing a fracture. The first part 27 obtained by breaking the glass sheet 1 along the furthest forward scratch line X in the direction of transport (arrow 26) also has the edge strip XR. This is broken along the cut OX in the second breaking station 4. The second breaking station 4 may, for example, have a breaking tool 30 with a design shown in Figure 4. In the breaking station 4, an edge strip E can be cut - if available - along the furthest scratch line X, referred to the direction of transport, from a part 27 of the glass sheet 1. The breaking station 8 is used for breaking parts 27 of glass sheets 1 along the scratch lines Y to obtain formatted pieces and for separating edge strips YR (which lie outside the cut OY (zero cut along the Y lines) from the last formatted piece in each case. The example shown in Figure 4 of a breaking tool 30, which can be used at the breaking stations 3, 4, 8 and 10, has two lifting and lowering plate holders 40, which can be applied on one side against the glass sheet 1 to be split, or a part 27 thereof, and a reaction element 41 which can be applied on the other side, for example against the supporting wall 25, in the region of the OX cut or another cut, for example a Y cut. Both the plate holders 40 and the reaction element 41 are designed, for example, as (partly) cylindrical plastic strips, which with a generatrix rest against the part 27 or the glass sheet 1. The distance between the plate holders 40 is variable, so that the forces acting on the part 27 or on the glass plate 1 can be varied. Therefore, in the case of thicker glass, the distance between the plate holders 40 will be chosen greater than that for thinner glass. When breaking glass parts 27 or glass panes 1, using the breaking tool 30, the reaction element 41 can be pushed in front of the front side of the supporting wall 25, thus achieving a safe fracture path, for example along the cut OX. The amount of advancement of the reaction element 41 in front of the front side of the supporting wall 25 is selected depending on the thickness of the glass. For thicker glass, the advancement will be less than for thinner glass. The orientation stations* 5 and 9 each have an orientation gripper 16, which is orientable around an axis lying in the region of the transport device 13, in particular its upper edge (formed by several motorized transport rollers) in the direction of the arrows shown, to orient a part 27 from the position it assumes in the breaking stations 4 and 5 to the "reclined" position shown in the breaking station 8. The orienting gripper 16 can be equipped with arbitrary gripping tools. Preferably, suction cups are arranged on the arms of the orienting gripper 16 and engage against the surface of the parts or formed pieces not facing the support wall 25, to orient them at 90°. The other orientation station 9 provided at the end of the breaking station 8 serves to rotate the obtained shaped pieces, so that their longest side lies in the transport direction (arrow 26), before they are pushed into the stacking device 12. If there are also Z or W cuts along a piece in the glass sheet parts obtained after the breaking station 8, as shown in Figure 2, these are opened in the breaking station 10 with the aid of the breaking tool 30, i.e., for example, a residual piece R is separated from the cut piece. In summary, innovation can for example be represented as follows: Glass sheets are scored according to the size pieces to be generated, and then broken into size pieces, while oriented in a substantially vertical position. A device suitable for this purpose has a station 2 for scratching the Leon glass sheets, a substantially vertically oriented support surface 25, and a conveyor 13 at the lower edge thereof. Adjacent to station 2 are a first breaking station 3 and a second 4, in which the scratch lines X are opened in succession and the front edge sections XR are separated. The glass sheet parts 27 thus obtained are oriented at 90° in an orientation station 5 around a perpendicular axis. to the support surface 25. In another breaking station 8 the scratch lines Y are broken. The format pieces thus obtained, after any edge strips (XR) present and the residual pieces R have been separated, can be fed directly into a device 12 for the intermediate storage of format pieces or can be fed to an insulating glass line.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. Device for cutting glass sheets (1) into pieces of a certain size, with a station (2) for scratching glass sheets (1) and with stations (3, 4, 8, 10) for breaking the glass sheets (1) along the scratch lines (X, Y) previously generated to obtain pieces of a certain size, characterised in that the station (2) for scratching the glass sheets (1) has a support surface (25) substantially oriented vertically with a conveyor (13) at the lower edge thereof and with a cutting head (15) movable along the support surface (25), and that at least a first breaking station (3), a device (5) for 90° reorientation of parts (27) of glass sheets (1) and at least one further breaking station (4) are provided.

2. Device according to claim 1, characterised in that in the breaking stations (3, 4, 8, 10) on both sides of the breaking devices or tools there are provided support surfaces parallel to the support surface (25) of the station (2) for scratching the glass sheets (1) and preferably aligned with them, and that a transport device (13) is provided at the lower edge of the support surfaces.

3. Device according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the first breaking station (3) has a breaking strip (7) which can be moved transversely to the support surface (25) and on both sides of the same has plate holders, for example in the form of suction cups (20).

4. Device according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterised in that the other breaking station (4, 8, 10) has a breaking tool 30 with a reaction element (41) applicable from the side opposite to the scratch line on the parts (27) of the glass sheets (1) and with two counter-supports (40) applicable from the opposite side against the parts (27) of glass plates (1), where the distance of the counter-supports (40) from the reaction element (41) can be reduced during the execution of the breakage.

5. Device according to claim 3 or 4, characterised in that the plate holders (20) and the breaking tools (30) are provided in the region of the transport device (13).

6. Device according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterised in that the other station (5, 9) for orienting parts of glass sheets (1) or format pieces has a gripper (16) tiltable around an axis perpendicular to the supporting surface (25), gripping the parts (27) or format pieces.

7. Device according to claim 6, characterised in that the gripper (16) is tiltable around an axis arranged at the height of the transport device (13), in particular at the height of the upper edge of the latter. Dr. Ing. A. RACHEll & C S.rl Aldo Petruzziello