Air Knife Chamber Blocking Member Water Drainage
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Solution Overview
Problem
In air knife chambers used for cleaning glass substrates, water or cleaning liquid often flows down the partition wall and falls behind the air knives, leading to incomplete removal and increased defects in final products.
Innovation Solution
The air knife chamber is designed with a partition wall and blocking member positioned obliquely relative to the substrate movement, allowing water to flow down and fall in front of the partition wall slit, where it can be effectively removed by high-pressure air or inert gas from the air knives.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If water flows down along the partition wall without intervention, then the cleaning liquid is naturally drained, but water falls behind the air knives and attaches to substrates causing defects
Solution Approach 1:
A blocking member is introduced as an intermediary element between the partition wall and the substrate path. This blocking member intercepts water flowing down the partition wall and redirects it to fall in front of the air knives, preventing direct attachment to substrates while maintaining natural drainage functionality.
Solution Approach 2:
The blocking member performs preliminary action by capturing and redirecting water before it can reach the substrate discharge area. By positioning the blocking member to intercept water flow in advance, the system ensures water is redirected to a safe discharge location before potential contamination can occur.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If air knives spray high-pressure air to remove water, then water adherent to substrates is blown away, but complex air streams cause water to attach to the partition wall
Solution Approach 1:
The blocking member converts the harmful effect of water attaching to the partition wall into a beneficial situation by redirecting this water to fall in front of the air knives. The water that would have caused contamination is now positioned where it can be effectively removed by the air knife system.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If the blocking member is positioned to intercept water flow, then water falls in front of the partition wall for effective removal, but the device structure becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The partition wall structure is segmented by adding a separate blocking member component. This segmentation allows independent optimization of water interception and substrate protection functions, making the system more manageable and maintainable despite the increased complexity.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This configuration significantly reduces the amount of water attached to the partition wall and substrates, minimizing defects and improving the effectiveness of the cleaning process.
Implementation Method 1
high-pressure air or a high-pressure inert gas from an air knife 14 is sprayed onto the moving substrates 1 to remove impurities, such as water (or a cleaning liquid)
Implementation Method 2
The water (or cleaning liquid) attached to the partition wall 16 flows down along the partition wall 16
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
Figure 5~6
AI summary
Disclosed is an air knife chamber constructed such that water flowing down along a partition wall is allowed to fall in front of a slit. Due to this construction, the water can be effectively removed by air knives, thus contributing to a reduction in the defective proportion of substrates.