A flexible printing method and apparatus for continuous glass processing and vacuum glass

Abstract

The present application relates to the technical field of surface treatment of vacuum glass, and discloses a flexible printing method and equipment for continuous glass processing and vacuum glass. In the method, the glass substrate is conveyed to the printing workbench, the screen structure is ensured to be above the glass substrate, and the screen body of the screen structure is close to the glass substrate but does not contact the glass substrate; the pressure part of the screen body is pressed on the glass substrate by the pressing force of the printing head; the printing head moves on the screen body along the set path and extrudes the slurry in the walking process, and each part in the non-patterned printing area of the screen body can be penetrated by the slurry. The present application can realize the continuous flexible printing production of the glass substrate with any shape and size smaller than the size of the screen structure without replacing the screen structure, and guarantees the printing quality.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of glass surface treatment technology, and more particularly to a flexible printing method and apparatus for continuous glass processing, as well as vacuum glass. Background Technology

[0002] Some existing deep-processed glass products are obtained by further lamination after the surface of the glass substrate has undergone paste printing treatment, such as vacuum glass, insulated glass, or laminated glass. For example, vacuum glass typically consists of two opposing glass substrates, with sealing material on all four perimeters of the facing sides of the two substrates for welding and sealing during lamination. The sealing material is very thin and is generally printed onto the glass substrate using paste printing technology.

[0003] In existing technologies, the method of printing ink onto a glass substrate generally employs a squeegee in conjunction with a screen printing structure. The screen printing structure typically includes a rectangular frame and a screen body fixed within the frame. The areas on the screen body where the printed pattern is located are perforated to allow ink to pass through, while the non-printed areas are opaque, preventing ink from passing through. During printing, the screen structure is placed on the glass substrate, and the squeegee applies pressure to the ink on the screen body while simultaneously moving at a constant speed from one end of the screen body to the other. During this movement, the ink is forced by the squeegee through the perforations at the printed pattern areas onto the glass substrate.

[0004] However, in this printing method, the graphic pattern of the printing paste on the glass substrate is entirely constrained by the width, shape, and size of the printed pattern formed at the cutouts on the screen. This results in a one-to-one correspondence between the screen structure with the fixed printed pattern and the glass substrate. However, glass substrates are non-standard parts, with numerous sizes and types, and no repetition. Therefore, a large number of screen structures need to be prepared, and the preparation of these structures requires numerous processes and time. Furthermore, each size and each pattern requires a corresponding screen structure, necessitating the design and allocation of ample storage and operational space. Moreover, each time the screen structure is changed, the glass substrate must be aligned with the edge of the screen structure before printing can begin, involving a positioning process. Therefore, this production method, which involves frequent screen structure changes, is also very time-consuming. This situation severely limits the production capacity of vacuum glass and results in high production costs, thus requiring improvement. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problems existing in the prior art, where the one-to-one correspondence between the screen structure and the glass substrate leads to numerous production steps, long processing times, and high costs for vacuum glass, the present invention aims to provide a flexible printing method and equipment for continuous glass processing, as well as vacuum glass. By allowing paste to pass through all parts of the non-patterned printing area on the screen structure, and simultaneously cooperating with a printing head that can move along a predetermined path and extrude and squeeze the paste during movement, flexible fabrication of patterns can be continuously printed on glass substrates of any shape and size smaller than the screen structure without changing the screen structure, while ensuring printing quality.

[0006] To achieve the above objectives, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows:

[0007] A flexible printing method for continuous glass processing includes the following steps:

[0008] S1. The glass substrate is transported to the printing worktable, ensuring that the screen structure is above the glass substrate and that the screen body in the screen structure is close to the glass substrate but does not contact the glass substrate. The screen body has a non-patterned printing area with uniformly distributed mesh holes. The mesh holes in each part of the non-patterned printing area can allow the paste to pass through, and the non-patterned printing area can completely cover the glass substrate.

[0009] S2. The printing mechanism moves above the glass substrate under the drive of the drive device. The printing head at the bottom of the printing mechanism moves downward to contact the screen body and applies downward pressure to the screen body. The pressed part on the screen body is pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head.

[0010] S3. During the printing process, the drive device drives the printing head to move along the set path on the screen body. The paste is extruded from the printing head and printed onto the glass substrate through the non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body. During the printing process, the pressure part of the screen body is always pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head, thereby realizing the flexible preparation of printed patterns on glass substrates of any size smaller than the size of the non-patterned printing area.

[0011] S4. After the printing mechanism completes the set path above the screen body, the printing mechanism moves away from the glass substrate to complete the printing on the glass substrate.

[0012] The present invention is further configured such that, during the printing process, the distance between the non-pressure-bearing part of the screen body and the glass substrate is controlled at 1-10mm.

[0013] The present invention is further configured such that, during the printing process, the downward pressure applied by the printing head to the screen body is F1, where 15N≤F1≤200N.

[0014] The present invention is further configured such that the downward pressure applied by the screen body to the glass substrate through the printing head is F2, where F2 < F1 and 5N ≤ F2 ≤ 190N.

[0015] The present invention is further configured such that when there are multiple glass substrates on the printing worktable at the same time, after the current glass substrate is printed, the printing head moves above the next glass substrate, and then repeats S2 to S4.

[0016] The present invention is further configured such that: S1 further includes: adjusting the relative position between the wire mesh structure and the glass substrate to ensure that the wire mesh structure is located above the glass substrate and that the wire mesh body in the wire mesh structure can completely cover the glass substrate.

[0017] The present invention is further configured such that: in step S3, the printing head travels along the set path at least twice, and the printing head only extrudes the slurry during the first travel, and the subsequent travel is used to spread the slurry.

[0018] The present invention is further configured such that the slurry is a metal slurry or a glass powder slurry.

[0019] The present invention is further configured such that the thickness of the paste layer printed on the glass substrate is 0.001-0.5 mm and the width of the paste layer is 1-20 mm.

[0020] The present invention also provides a vacuum glass comprising at least two glass substrates that can be laminated together, wherein at least one glass substrate is printed with a paste layer using the flexible printing method for continuous glass processing described above.

[0021] This invention also provides a flexible printing apparatus for continuous glass processing, used to print paste onto a glass substrate, comprising a printing worktable, a screen structure, a driving device, and a printing mechanism; the screen structure is located above the glass substrate, and the screen body of the screen structure has a non-patterned printing area with uniformly distributed mesh openings on which no printing pattern is set, and each part of the non-patterned printing area on the printable area of ​​the screen body can allow paste to pass through, and the non-patterned printing area can completely cover the glass substrate; the printing mechanism is located above the screen structure and a printing head is provided at the bottom of the printing mechanism, the driving device is connected to the printing mechanism and drives the printing mechanism to move along a set path; the printing head can extrude paste and, driven by the driving device, contact the screen body and apply downward pressure to the screen body, and the pressed part on the screen body is pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head.

[0022] The present invention is further configured to include a floating clamping mechanism disposed between the driving device and the printing mechanism. The floating clamping mechanism includes a fixed base, a connecting column and a spring. The connecting column passes vertically through the fixed base. The printing mechanism is fixed on the connecting column. The fixed base is fixedly connected to the driving device. The spring is sleeved on the connecting column and is located between the end of the connecting column and the fixed base.

[0023] The present invention is further configured such that: the spring includes an upper spring, which is located between the top of the connecting column and the fixed seat.

[0024] The present invention is further configured to include a lower spring, which is located between the bottom of the connecting column and the fixed seat.

[0025] The present invention is further configured to include a sliding connection component, one end of which is disposed on the driving device and the other end of which is disposed on the printing mechanism, wherein the printing mechanism is vertically slidably connected to the driving device through the sliding connection component.

[0026] The present invention is further configured such that the printing mechanism includes a driving component, an extrusion rod, and a paste container, the paste container being connected to the printing head.

[0027] The present invention is further configured such that: the printing head has a hollow structure, and the discharge port of the printing head is circular, rectangular, elliptical, triangular or slit-shaped.

[0028] In summary, the beneficial effects achieved by this invention include at least the following:

[0029] (1) This invention abandons the conventional design concept that requires a specific printed pattern to match the specific shape of the sealing material on the glass substrate. Therefore, it avoids a series of drawbacks caused by replacing the screen structure due to the one-to-one correspondence between the screen structure and the glass substrate. The specific shape of the sealing material on the glass substrate can be formed by the paste being extruded along the path of the printing head and printed on the glass substrate.

[0030] In this invention, for glass substrates of any shape and size smaller than the non-patterned printing area on the screen body, the non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body can completely cover the glass substrate. Furthermore, since all parts of the non-patterned printing area on the screen body are permeable to the paste, the screen body in the same screen structure can be adapted to glass substrates of different shapes and sizes without the need for frequent changes to the screen structure. This allows the printing process to be carried out continuously, achieving flexible printing of the paste on the glass substrate.

[0031] (2) Using the same wire mesh structure in continuous production not only saves production time and improves efficiency, but also eliminates the cost of preparing and storing different wire mesh structures.

[0032] (3) The printing head is driven by the drive device to walk on the screen according to the set path. The printing head presses the screen body down onto the glass substrate. At the same time, the printing head extrudes the paste by extrusion, thereby achieving precise printing on the glass substrate. Compared with traditional screen printing, it saves a lot of paste.

[0033] (4) The pressure part on the screen body is pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head. The paste extruded by the printing head is printed onto the glass substrate through the screen body. The paste is printed onto the glass substrate through the screen body under a certain pressure, which ensures the thickness and uniformity of the printing and avoids the poor contact between the paste and the glass, thereby ensuring the printing quality.

[0034] (5) In actual production, due to the flatness error of the printing table, glass substrate, and screen body caused by machining, and the travel error of the drive device driving the printing head to travel in a direction parallel to the printing table surface, the contact surface between the drive device driving the printing head and the glass substrate is not flat, and the tightness between the printing head and the glass substrate fluctuates during the printing process. The floating pressure mechanism ensures that the printing head maintains a certain pressure on the glass substrate through the screen body during the travel process, which can offset the adverse effects of flatness error, improve printing quality, and maintain the printing pressure on the glass substrate after the paste is extruded from the printing head, so as to better achieve the paste printing and adhesion on the glass substrate and ensure printing quality. Attached Figure Description

[0035] To more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention, the drawings used in the specification will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments recorded in the present invention. For those skilled in the art, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings.

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the composition and structure of the flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing in this invention;

[0037] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of the printing mechanism in the present invention. Figure 1 ;

[0038] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the printing mechanism in the present invention. Figure 2 ;

[0039] Figure 4 This is a top view of the wire mesh structure in this invention;

[0040] Figure 5 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of paste printing in this invention. Figure 1 ;

[0041] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the principle of paste printing in this invention. Figure 2 ;

[0042] Figure 7 This is a schematic diagram of the floating clamping mechanism in Embodiment 2 of the present invention;

[0043] Figure 8 This is a schematic diagram of the printing mechanism in Embodiment 3 of the present invention.

[0044] In the diagram: 1. Frame; 2. Conveying mechanism; 3. Printing worktable; 4. Screen printing structure; 41. Frame; 42. Screen printing body; 5. Glass substrate; 6. Drive unit; 7. Printing mechanism; 71. Drive component; 72. Extrusion rod; 73. Paste container; 74. Printing head; 75. Mounting base; 8. Floating clamping mechanism; 81. Fixed base; 82. Connecting column; 83. Sliding sleeve; 84. Upper spring; 85. Lower spring; 9. Sliding connection assembly. Detailed Implementation

[0045] The technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of the present invention, not all embodiments. For ease of explanation, the terms "vertical," "horizontal," "left," "right," "upper," "lower," "inner," "outer," "bottom," etc., used in this specification indicate the orientation or positional relationship based on the orientation or positional relationship shown in the accompanying drawings. They are only for the convenience of describing this application and simplifying the description, and do not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to must have a specific orientation, or be constructed and operated in a specific orientation. Therefore, they should not be construed as limitations on this application.

[0046] Based on the embodiments of this invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without inventive effort are within the scope of protection of this invention.

[0047] Example 1

[0048] As attached Figure 1-6 As shown, a flexible printing device for continuous glass processing is used to print paste onto a glass substrate 5. It includes a frame 1, a conveying mechanism 2, a printing worktable 3, a screen structure 4, a drive device 6, and a printing mechanism 7.

[0049] The printing worktable 3 is mounted on the frame 1, maintaining a horizontal position with a rectangular upper surface. The horizontal dimensions of the printing worktable 3 are sufficient to accommodate the dimensions of glass substrates 5 for a certain size range or various standard sizes of vacuum glass, ensuring that any part of a standard-sized glass substrate 5 can be supported by the printing worktable 3. It should be noted that the "certain size range" or "various standard sizes" needs to be determined by the vacuum glass manufacturer based on the size range of their production orders; different manufacturers may have different choices of printing worktable dimensions.

[0050] The conveying mechanism 2 is a type of conveyor belt device in the prior art. In this embodiment, the printing worktable 3 is composed of multiple support units of the same height, and a conveyor belt is arranged between two adjacent support units. All the conveyor belts constitute the conveying mechanism 2. When the glass substrate 5 is conveyed, the height of the conveyor belt is higher than that of the printing worktable 3, and the glass substrate 5 is supported by the conveyor belt. When the glass substrate 5 is conveyed to the correct position, the conveyor belt descends vertically to a height lower than that of the printing worktable 3, at which point the glass substrate 5 is supported by the printing worktable 3. When the glass substrate 5 is printed, the conveying mechanism 2 rises vertically to a height higher than that of the printing worktable 3, at which point the glass substrate 5 is again supported by the conveying mechanism 2, thereby conveying the printed glass substrate 5 to the downstream process by the conveying mechanism 2.

[0051] Furthermore, optionally, a positioning device for positioning the glass substrate 5 can be provided at the printing worktable 3. The conveying mechanism 2 stops conveying the glass substrate 5 only after it has been transported to a predetermined position. The positioning device can use a positioning cylinder to push different glass substrates 5 to the same corner position of the printing worktable 3, thereby ensuring that different glass substrates 5 have the same printing starting position.

[0052] The screen printing structure 4 includes a frame 41 and a screen body 42. The frame 41 is a rectangular frame, and the edges of the screen body 42 are fixed inside the frame 41, tautning the screen body 42. Unlike existing technologies, the screen body 42 does not have a specific printed pattern. That is, the screen body 42 in this invention has a non-patterned printing area, and this non-patterned printing area has no opaque parts, allowing the ink to pass through any part of the non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body 42. The non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body 42 refers to the area on the screen body 42 that can be printed, and it is not required to be set to a specific shape. For example, the outermost ring area of ​​the screen body 42 near the frame 41 is generally not chosen as the printing area, so even if this part cannot pass through the ink, it will not affect the achievement of the purpose of this invention. Of course, it is flexible; the entire screen body 42 can also be used as a non-patterned printing area.

[0053] The screen mesh structure 4 is located above the glass substrate 5. In this embodiment, a lifting mechanism (a prior art mechanism, not shown in the figure) is also provided between the frame 1 and the screen mesh structure 4, thereby driving the screen mesh structure 4 to move vertically closer to or away from the glass substrate 5 located on the printing worktable 3. When printing is required on the glass substrate 5, the lifting mechanism controls the screen mesh structure 4 to move vertically downwards closer to the glass substrate 5. The distance between the screen mesh body 42 and the upper surface of the glass substrate 5 is controlled at 1-10mm. This distance is beneficial for the non-pressure-bearing parts of the screen mesh body 42 to detach from the printing paste on the glass substrate 5 after printing, without affecting the paste already printed on the glass substrate 5.

[0054] The shape and size of the screen body 42 are adapted to the printing worktable 3, so that the screen body 42 can completely cover the glass substrate 5 when printing glass substrates 5 of any shape and size that can be accommodated.

[0055] The drive device 6 is mounted and fixed on the frame 1. The drive device 6 is connected to the printing mechanism 7. In this invention, the drive device 6 is used to drive the printing mechanism 7 to rise and fall and to move the printing mechanism 7 along a set path. Therefore, the drive device 6 can be a three-axis moving device, a multi-axis robotic arm, or a robot, etc., as used in the prior art, to drive the printing mechanism 7 to move in three-dimensional space according to the set path. In this embodiment, the drive device 6 is a three-axis moving device.

[0056] In this invention, the setting path of the driving device 6 is automatically generated by the computer based on data such as the size information of the glass substrate 5 to be printed, the position information of the glass substrate 5 on the printing table 3, and the printing requirements for the glass substrate 5, which are transferred from the previous printing process. The computer then controls the driving device 6 to perform closed-loop printing along this printing path. The generation of the setting path in the computer and the control of the driving device 6 to move along this path are existing technologies and will not be described in detail here. In other embodiments, the setting path can be manually input into the computer.

[0057] The printing mechanism 7 is located above the screen structure 4. The printing mechanism 7 includes a drive unit 71, an extrusion rod 72, a paste container 73, a printing head 74, and a mounting base 75. This printing mechanism has a simple structure and good durability.

[0058] Mounting base 75 can be an L-shaped plate structure, set in a vertical position, and provides a mounting and support platform for other components of printing mechanism 7.

[0059] The print head 74 is located at the bottom of the printing mechanism 7 and is fixed below the mounting base 75. The print head 74 is connected to the paste container 73 fixed on the mounting base 75 via a connecting pipe. The paste container 73 stores paste inside.

[0060] The drive component 71 is fixed at the top of the mounting base 75 and is used to drive the extrusion rod 72 to move vertically. The top of the extrusion rod 72 is connected to the drive component 71, and the bottom of the extrusion rod 72 extends downward into the paste container 73. When the drive device 6 drives the printing mechanism 7 to move on the screen body 42, the drive component 71 acts on the extrusion rod 72, causing the paste in the paste container 73 to be metered and extruded from the printing head 74 through the connecting pipe. The drive component 71 can be an electric cylinder as in the prior art, thereby precisely controlling the extrusion speed and flow rate of the paste. In some other embodiments, the drive component 71 can also be a combination of a lead screw and a lead sleeve driven by a motor, or directly output the paste inside the paste container 73 by a metering pump and extruded from the printing head 74.

[0061] The print head 74 has a hollow structure with an internal paste channel. The discharge port at the bottom of the print head 74 can be circular, rectangular, elliptical, triangular, or slit-shaped. When the print head 74 moves along a set path in a certain direction under the drive of the drive device 6, the different shapes and sizes of the discharge port of the print head 74 can be used to adjust the width of the printed layer.

[0062] The printing equipment in this embodiment also includes a floating pressing mechanism 8 and a sliding connection assembly 9, both of which are located between the driving device 6 and the printing mechanism 7.

[0063] The floating clamping mechanism 8 includes a fixed base 81, a connecting column 82, a sliding sleeve 83, and an upper spring 84.

[0064] The mounting base 81 is an L-shaped plate structure, installed vertically. The vertical part of the mounting base 81 is fixedly connected to the drive device 6, while the connecting column 82 passes vertically through the horizontal part of the mounting base 81.

[0065] The top of the mounting base 75 is fixedly connected to the bottom of the connecting post 82, that is, the mounting base 75 is located below the fixing base 81.

[0066] Both the sliding sleeve 83 and the upper spring 84 are sleeved around the connecting post 82.

[0067] The sliding sleeve 83 is a T-shaped sleeve structure, passing through the horizontal portion of the fixed base 81 and fixed to it. The top of the sliding sleeve 83 is above the horizontal portion of the fixed base 81, and the bottom of the sliding sleeve 83 is below the fixed base 81. The inner diameter of the sliding sleeve 83 matches the outer diameter of the connecting column 82, and the connecting column 82 passes vertically through the sliding sleeve 83 with their axes coinciding. The sliding sleeve 83 guides and limits the connecting column 82, preventing the axis of the connecting column 82 from deviating from the vertical direction and causing jamming during its up-and-down sliding, thus ensuring that the connecting column 82 can slide smoothly in the vertical direction within the sliding sleeve 83. It should be noted that the sliding sleeve 83 is the preferred structure. Without the sliding sleeve 83, directly placing the upper spring 84 between the top of the connecting column 82 and the fixed base 81 can also achieve the floating clamping function. Alternatively, the sliding sleeve 83 may not be provided on the connecting post 82. Instead, the guide post and the sliding sleeve 83 may be provided separately. The guide post is connected to the fixed seat 81 and the mounting seat 75 for mounting the printing mechanism 7.

[0068] A horizontally positioned baffle is also installed on the top of the connecting column 82. The diameters of the baffle and the sliding sleeve 83 are both larger than the diameter of the upper spring 84. The top of the upper spring 84 rests against the lower surface of the baffle, and the bottom rests against the top of the sliding sleeve 83, thereby vertically confining the upper spring 84 between the baffle and the sliding sleeve 83. Thus, the entire printing mechanism 7 is suspended on the fixed base 81 via the connecting column 82.

[0069] In the non-printing state, the screen body 42 is not under pressure, and the printing head 74 does not contact the glass substrate 5 through the screen body 42. The weight of the entire printing mechanism 7 acts on the upper spring 84 through the connecting post 82, and the upper spring 84 is compressed to its maximum extent. When the printing head 74 moves downward under the drive of the drive device 6 to contact the glass substrate 5 through the screen body 42, the weight borne by the upper spring 84 is borne by the glass substrate 5, so the upper spring 84 can extend. At the same time, the connecting post 82 moves slightly upward relative to the fixed seat 81. That is, the weight of the printing mechanism 7 forms a certain downward pressure on the glass substrate 5, thereby ensuring the printing quality of the glass substrate 5 and ensuring that the printing quality of the glass substrate 5 is always maintained under the action of the floating pressing mechanism 8.

[0070] The sliding connection assembly 9 is located below the connection point between the printing mechanism 7 and the connecting post 82. The sliding connection assembly 9 enables a vertical sliding connection between the printing mechanism 7 and the driving device 6. Specifically, the sliding connection assembly 9 includes a slide rail and a slider. The slide rail is mounted on the driving device 6, and one end of the slider is fixedly connected to the mounting base 75 of the printing mechanism 7. The slider can slide freely up and down relative to the slide rail. The sliding connection assembly 9 strengthens the connection between the printing mechanism 7 and the driving device 6 while simultaneously working with the floating clamping mechanism 8 to maintain the downward pressure of the printing head 74 on the glass substrate 5.

[0071] The implementation principle of the above embodiments is as follows:

[0072] In this embodiment, during operation of the flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing, the conveying mechanism 2 transports the glass substrate 5, which has completed the upstream process, to the printing worktable 3. The height of the conveying mechanism 2 then decreases, and the glass substrate 5 is then carried by the printing worktable 3. A positioning device pushes the glass substrate 5 to a corner position on the printing worktable 3 for corner positioning. The lifting mechanism causes the screen mesh structure 4 to descend vertically, thus approaching the glass substrate 5 located on the printing worktable 3. The computer automatically generates a set path based on various information about the glass substrate 5 and printing requirements, and then controls the drive device 6 to operate. The drive device 6 moves the printing mechanism 7 horizontally to the starting point of the set path, and then moves the printing mechanism 7 vertically downwards. The printing head 74 presses down the portion of the screen mesh body 42 that is in contact with the printing head 74 until it contacts the glass substrate 5, while other parts of the screen mesh body 42 maintain a certain distance from the glass substrate 5. Subsequently, the drive unit 6 drives the printing mechanism 7 to move along the set path. At the same time, the drive component 71 in the printing mechanism 7 moves to continuously squeeze the paste in the paste container 73 out of the discharge port of the printing head 74. The bottom of the printing head 74 flattens the paste during the movement and prints it onto the glass substrate 5 using the screen body 42, thereby improving the printing quality.

[0073] During the printing process of the print head 74, under the adjustment of the floating pressure mechanism 8, a portion of the gravity of the printing mechanism 7 always acts on the glass substrate 5 through the print head 74, thereby maintaining pressure on the glass substrate 5. Furthermore, in the area after the print head 74 has passed, the local screen body 42 that was in contact with the glass substrate 5 automatically recovers from the deformation caused by the downward pressure of the print head 74, that is, the screen body 42 automatically separates from the glass substrate 5.

[0074] After the printing mechanism 7 completes its journey along the set path, the drive device 6 moves the printing mechanism 7 vertically upward to reset. Finally, the conveying mechanism 2 rises vertically to a height higher than the printing worktable 3. At this point, the glass substrate 5 is carried by the conveying mechanism 2 again, and the conveying mechanism 2 transfers the printed glass substrate 5 to the next process. The above steps can then be repeated to print the next glass substrate 5, thus achieving continuous production.

[0075] When there are two or more glass substrates 5 on the printing table at the same time, after printing the current glass substrate 5, the printing head 74 lifts up, detaches from the screen body 42, and moves above the next glass substrate 5. Then the driving device 6 drives the printing mechanism 7 to move downward and press on the screen body 42, repeating the above printing steps.

[0076] Example 2

[0077] As attached Figure 7As shown, this invention discloses a flexible printing device for continuous glass processing. Unlike Embodiment 1, the floating clamping mechanism 8 also includes a lower spring 85.

[0078] The lower spring 85 is also sleeved on the connecting post 82 and is located between the bottom of the connecting post 82 and the fixed seat 81.

[0079] In the non-printing state, the print head 74 is not in contact with the glass substrate 5. The weight of the entire printing mechanism 7 acts on the upper spring 84 through the connecting post 82. At this time, the upper spring 84 is compressed to its maximum extent while the lower spring 85 is compressed to its minimum. When the print head 74 comes into contact with the glass substrate 5 through the screen body 42 driven by the drive device 6, part of the weight borne by the upper spring 84 is borne by the glass substrate 5, so the upper spring 84 can extend. At the same time, the connecting post 82 moves slightly upward relative to the fixed seat 81, and the lower spring 85 is further compressed. At this time, a certain downward pressure is formed on the glass substrate 5 by part of the weight of the printing mechanism 7 and the elastic force of the lower spring 85. The setting of the lower spring 85 can increase the downward pressure of the print head 74 on the glass substrate 5 through the screen body 42, thereby improving the printing quality.

[0080] In this embodiment, regardless of whether the printing mechanism 7 moves up or down, the floating pressing mechanism 8 has the ability to adjust the printing mechanism 7 with elasticity, which has a better effect on adjusting the downward pressure held on the glass substrate 5.

[0081] In other embodiments, the floating clamping mechanism 8 may only have a lower spring 85 and no upper spring 84. In this case, the lower spring 85 is in a stretched state when not in the printing state, and it can also achieve the floating clamping effect.

[0082] Example 3

[0083] As attached Figure 8 As shown, this invention discloses a flexible printing device for continuous glass processing. Unlike embodiment two, in this embodiment, the driving device 6 and the printing mechanism 7 are directly fixedly connected, and there is no floating pressing mechanism 8 between them.

[0084] Due to precision issues in machining, the flatness of the printing worktable 3, the screen body, and the glass substrate 5 has certain errors, and the driving device 6 also has travel errors during the horizontal movement of the printing head. This results in uneven contact surfaces between the printing head 74 and the glass substrate 5, causing fluctuations in the tightness between them during the printing process. Sometimes they are tightly pressed together, sometimes the pressure is insufficient, resulting in only brief contact or even separation. In this embodiment, after eliminating the floating pressing mechanism 8, the printing head 74, driven by the driving device 6, can still achieve accurate printing of the ink in cooperation with the screen body 42. However, the adverse effects of flatness errors cannot be eliminated, resulting in relatively low printing quality.

[0085] Example 4

[0086] This invention also discloses a flexible printing method for continuous glass processing, comprising the following steps:

[0087] S1. The glass substrate 5 is transported to the printing worktable 3, ensuring that the screen structure 4 is located above the glass substrate 5 and that the screen body 42 in the screen structure 4 can completely cover the glass substrate 5 in the vertical projection direction; the screen body 42 is controlled to be close to the glass substrate 5 but not in contact with the glass substrate 5; preferably, the distance between the non-pressure part of the screen body 42 and the glass substrate 5 is controlled to be 1-10mm. Specifically, the distance between the non-pressure part of the screen body 42 and the glass substrate 5 is 1mm, 5mm or 10mm. In terms of the value selection, if the distance is too small, the screen body 42 will not be able to quickly separate from the printed paste during the printing process. If the distance is too large, the screen body 42 will be overstretched due to the downward pressure of the printing head 74.

[0088] S2. Under the drive of the drive device 6, the printing head 74 at the bottom of the printing mechanism 7 moves downward to contact the screen body 42 and applies downward pressure to the screen body 42. The pressed part on the screen body 42 is pressed onto the glass substrate 5 under the downward pressure of the printing head 74.

[0089] S3. During the printing process, the drive device 6 drives the printing mechanism 7 to move along the set path on the screen body 42. The printing head 74 extrudes the paste by extrusion and prints it onto the glass substrate 5 through the non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body 42. During the printing process, the screen body 42 is always pressed onto the glass substrate 5 by the downward pressure of the printing head 74, thereby realizing the flexible preparation of printed patterns on glass substrates 5 of any size smaller than the size of the non-patterned printing area.

[0090] S4. After the printing mechanism 7 completes the set path above the screen body 42, the printing mechanism 7 moves away from the glass substrate and completes the printing on the glass substrate 5.

[0091] The printing method in this embodiment can be implemented using the printing equipment or other equipment described in Embodiment 1, 2 or 3.

[0092] When the printing equipment described in Embodiments 1, 2, or 3 is used, the conveying mechanism 2 transports the glass substrate 5 onto the printing table 3. The positioning device uses a positioning cylinder to push the glass substrate 5 to the same corner position on the printing table 3 to complete corner positioning of the glass substrate 5. The lifting mechanism drives the screen structure 4 to descend vertically, thereby approaching the glass substrate 5 located on the printing table 3. The driving device 6 drives the printing mechanism 7 to move along a set path on the screen body 42, and the printing head 74 prints on the glass substrate 5 through the screen body 42. The printed glass substrate 5 is then transported away from the printing table 3 by the conveying mechanism 2. The final thickness of the paste layer printed on the glass substrate 5 is 0.001-0.5 mm.

[0093] The above printing method can control the thickness of the paste layer printed on the glass substrate 5 within the range of 0.001-0.5 mm, and the width of the paste layer is 1-50 mm, preferably 1-20 mm. The selection of this thickness is related to the type of paste material and the intended use after printing. For vacuum glass, the thickness of the printed layer after printing with metal paste is between 0.01-0.5 mm, and the width is between 3 mm-20 mm. Specifically, the thickness can be selected as 0.01 mm, 0.06 mm, 0.15 mm, or 0.5 mm, and the width can be selected as 3 mm, 10 mm, or 20 mm. For vacuum glass, the thickness of the printed layer after printing with glass powder paste is between 0.02-0.5 mm, specifically 0.02 mm, 0.07 mm, 0.15 mm, or 0.5 mm, and the width is between 3 mm-10 mm. Specifically, the width can be selected as 3 mm, 10 mm, or 20 mm. For other applications, such as automotive glass, conventional insulated glass, or laminated glass, the width of the glass substrate 5 is between 1mm and 50mm.

[0094] To facilitate the smooth printing of the paste onto the glass substrate 5, the printing head 74 applies a downward pressure F1 to the screen body 42, where 15N ≤ F1 ≤ 200N; the screen body 42 applies a downward pressure F2 to the glass substrate 5 through the printing head 74, where 5N ≤ F2 ≤ 190N. F2 is the pressure applied to the glass substrate 5 by the printing head 74 after overcoming the elastic resistance of the screen body 42. Specifically, F1 is 15N, 85N, or 200N, and F2 is 5N, 75N, or 190N. Under this pressure selection, the paste can better penetrate the screen body 42 and be printed onto the glass substrate 5, creating a certain pre-adhesion between the paste and the glass substrate 5. This also makes the paste itself more compact and uniform, ensuring the thickness and uniformity of the print, avoiding poor adhesion between the paste and the glass, thus guaranteeing the printing quality of the paste and the subsequent vacuum glass sealing quality. Furthermore, under the action of the floating clamping mechanism 8, the printing quality on the glass substrate 5 is maintained at all times.

[0095] The reasons for considering F1 and F2 above are as follows: Insufficient pressure will lead to incomplete printing, the ink cannot pass through the screen body 42 to form a uniform and dense printing layer on the surface of the glass substrate 5, and the printing consistency around the four edges of the glass substrate 5 will become very poor. Ultimately, the welding quality of the welded edges after the two printed glass substrates 5 are welded together will be poor, resulting in the inability to form a vacuum layer or poor durability of the formed vacuum layer. On the other hand, excessive pressure will cause the ink to be squeezed and diffused, resulting in "bleeding" or "fat edges" at the edges, which will cause the printed pattern size to increase, the edges to become rough, and fine lines to stick together. In addition, excessive pressure will damage the surface of the screen body 42 and the glass substrate 5.

[0096] It should be noted that one option is to use the positioning device to push the glass substrate 5 to the same corner position, or alternatively, a vision inspection mechanism can be used to position the glass substrate 5 on the printing table 3, and then the printing mechanism 7 can be controlled to move above the glass substrate 5 to start printing.

[0097] In some embodiments, the printing mechanism 7 travels twice along a predetermined path above the screen body 42. During the first travel, the printing head 74 extrudes the ink, and the second travel spreads the ink evenly, improving the uniformity and consistency of the ink printing thickness. This enhances the edge welding quality of the vacuum glass formed after the two printed glass substrates 5 are laminated and welded together. It should be noted that for inks with specific compositions, printing can be achieved in a single travel, ensuring printing quality.

[0098] Furthermore, when multiple glass substrates 5 enter the printing worktable 3 together, after printing on one of the glass substrates is completed, the printing mechanism 7 is raised to allow the printing head 74 and the screen body 42 to disengage from the current glass substrate 5. The driving device 6 then moves the printing head 74 above the next glass substrate 5 to be printed, and then repeats steps S2 to S4.

[0099] Example 5

[0100] The present invention also discloses a vacuum glass, comprising at least two glass substrates 5 that can be laminated together, wherein at least one of the two glass substrates 5 is printed with a paste layer using the printing method described in Example 4.

[0101] In this example, the paste printed on the glass substrate 5 of the vacuum glass is a glass powder paste or a metal paste.

[0102] It should be noted that in the above embodiment, the printing worktable 3 has a horizontal table surface, and the glass is horizontally transported into the printing worktable 3. Alternatively, the printing worktable 3 can also be an inclined vertical printing worktable, in which case the glass substrate 5 can be directly inclined vertically transported into the printing equipment at the front end for printing. The advantage of this is that it can reduce the floor space occupied by the equipment. Once the printing worktable 3 is inclined vertically set, the orientation of the equipment structure mentioned in the above embodiment needs to be adapted and adjusted. This adjustment is easily done by those skilled in the art and will not be described in detail.

[0103] The paste can be a metal paste, glass powder paste, or ink. The above-described printing equipment and method can be used not only for printing metal paste or glass powder paste on the glass substrate 5 of vacuum glass, but also for ink printing around the glass substrate 5 of automotive glass, conventional insulated glass, or laminated glass. Although preferred embodiments of the invention have been described, those skilled in the art, upon learning the basic inventive concept, can make other changes and modifications to these embodiments. Therefore, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including the preferred embodiments as well as all changes and modifications falling within the scope of the invention. Obviously, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and variations to the invention without departing from its spirit and scope. Thus, if these modifications and variations of the invention fall within the scope of the claims of the invention and their equivalents, the invention also intends to include these modifications and variations.

Claims

1. A flexible printing method for continuous glass processing, characterized in that, Includes the following steps: S1. The glass substrate is transported to the printing worktable, ensuring that the screen structure is above the glass substrate and that the screen body in the screen structure is close to the glass substrate but does not contact the glass substrate. The screen body has a non-patterned printing area with uniformly distributed mesh holes. The mesh holes in each part of the non-patterned printing area can be allowed to pass through the paste, and the non-patterned printing area can completely cover the glass substrate. S2. The printing mechanism moves above the glass substrate under the drive of the drive device. The printing head at the bottom of the printing mechanism moves downward to contact the screen body and applies downward pressure to the screen body. The pressed part on the screen body is pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head. S3. During the printing process, the drive device drives the printing head to move along the set path on the screen body. The paste is extruded from the printing head and printed onto the glass substrate through the non-patterned printing area of ​​the screen body. During the printing process, the pressure part of the screen body is always pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head, thereby realizing the flexible preparation of printed patterns on glass substrates of any size smaller than the non-patterned printing area. S4. After the printing mechanism completes the set path above the screen body, the printing mechanism moves away from the glass substrate to complete the printing on the glass substrate.

2. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, During the printing process, the distance between the non-pressure-bearing part of the screen body and the glass substrate is controlled at 1-10mm.

3. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, During the printing process, the downward pressure applied by the printing head to the screen body is F1, where 15N≤F1≤200N.

4. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 3, characterized in that, The downward pressure applied by the screen body to the glass substrate through the printing head is F2, where F2 < F1 and 5N ≤ F2 ≤ 190N.

5. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, When there are multiple glass substrates on the printing table at the same time, after printing the current glass substrate, the printing head moves to the top of the next glass substrate, and then repeats S2 to S4.

6. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, In step S3, the print head travels along the set path at least twice, and the print head only extrudes the paste during the first travel, with subsequent travels used to spread the paste.

7. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1, characterized in that, The slurry is a metal slurry or a glass powder slurry.

8. The flexible printing method for continuous glass processing according to claim 1 or 7, characterized in that, The thickness of the paste layer printed onto the glass substrate is 0.001-0.5 mm, and the width of the paste layer is 1-20 mm.

9. A vacuum glass comprising at least two glass substrates capable of being laminated together, characterized in that, At least one glass substrate is printed with a paste layer using the flexible printing method for continuous glass processing as described in any one of claims 1-8.

10. A flexible printing apparatus for continuous glass processing, used for printing paste onto a glass substrate, characterized in that, The system includes a printing worktable, a screen structure, a drive unit, and a printing mechanism. The screen structure is located above a glass substrate. The screen body within the screen structure has a non-patterned printing area with uniformly distributed mesh openings. Each mesh opening within the non-patterned printing area allows ink to pass through, and the non-patterned printing area completely covers the glass substrate. The printing mechanism is located above the screen structure, and a printing head is located at the bottom of the printing mechanism. The drive unit is connected to the printing mechanism and drives the printing mechanism to move along a set path. The printing head can extrude ink and, driven by the drive unit, contacts the screen body and applies downward pressure to the screen body. The pressed portion of the screen body is pressed onto the glass substrate by the downward pressure of the printing head.

11. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 10, characterized in that, It also includes a floating clamping mechanism disposed between the driving device and the printing mechanism. The floating clamping mechanism includes a fixed base, a connecting column and a spring. The connecting column passes vertically through the fixed base. The printing mechanism is fixed on the connecting column. The fixed base is fixedly connected to the driving device. The spring is sleeved on the connecting column and is located between the end of the connecting column and the fixed base.

12. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 11, characterized in that, The spring includes an upper spring, which is located between the top of the connecting column and the fixed base.

13. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 12, characterized in that, The spring also includes a lower spring, which is located between the bottom of the connecting column and the fixed base.

14. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 10, characterized in that, It also includes a sliding connection component, one end of which is disposed on the driving device and the other end of which is disposed on the printing mechanism. The printing mechanism is vertically slidably connected to the driving device through the sliding connection component.

15. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 10, characterized in that, The printing mechanism also includes a drive unit, an extrusion rod, and a paste container, with the paste container connected to the printing head.

16. The flexible printing equipment for continuous glass processing according to claim 10, characterized in that, The printing head has a hollow structure, and the outlet of the printing head is circular, rectangular, elliptical, triangular, or slit-shaped.

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