Glass Sheet Edge Holding at Non-Rectangular Corners
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing apparatuses struggle to effectively hold and work on glass sheets with non-rectangular shapes, particularly at sharp or rounded vertices, leading to poor quality products, dimensional inaccuracies, surface damage, and breakage.
Innovation Solution
A method and apparatus that utilize sliding contact elements on lateral surfaces and angularly oriented stabilizing devices to maintain consistent contact with the sheet during work, especially at corners, by coordinating the movement of the sheet and work head with the orientation of the stabilizing device to ensure symmetrical and balanced holding.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the stabilizing device maintains a constant distance from the edge of the glass sheet, then it works well for rectangular shapes, but it cannot hold sheets with non-rectangular shapes or sharp/rounded vertices correctly
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizing device is made dynamically adjustable through the control unit, which modifies the distance between the stabilizing device and the work tool based on the detected vertex characteristics. This allows the system to adapt to different sheet shapes while maintaining precise holding at corners, resolving the contradiction between versatility and manufacturing precision.
Solution Approach 2:
A detection device identifies the presence and characteristics of vertices, providing feedback to the control unit. The control unit then adjusts the stabilizing device position accordingly, ensuring optimal holding for each specific sheet geometry. This feedback mechanism enables the system to maintain high manufacturing precision across various sheet shapes.
2Productivity
If the work tool is moved vertically to continue working the perimeter edge at a corner, then the working can continue, but the wheels lose contact with the sheet and have to regain contact through new insertion
Solution Approach 1:
The stabilizing device position is dynamically adjusted before vertical movement of the work tool occurs. The control unit modifies the distance between the stabilizing device and work tool based on vertex detection, ensuring the wheels maintain contact during the transition. This dynamic adjustment enables continuous working without loss of holding stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The detection device identifies vertices in advance, and the control unit pre-adjusts the stabilizing device position before the work tool reaches the corner. This preliminary action ensures that when vertical movement occurs, the wheels are already positioned to maintain contact, preventing loss of holding stability and enabling continuous operation.
3Device complexity
If the wheels are positioned to maintain constant distance from the edge, then the structure is simple, but they exit the sheet outline at sharp or rounded vertices causing poor quality
Solution Approach 1:
The detection device provides feedback about vertex presence and characteristics to the control unit, which then adjusts the stabilizing device position accordingly. This feedback-based adjustment maintains manufacturing precision at vertices without requiring complex mechanical structures, as the adjustment is controlled through intelligent positioning based on detected geometry.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the positioning parameter (distance between stabilizing device and work tool) based on detected sheet geometry. The control unit modifies this parameter dynamically according to vertex characteristics, maintaining high manufacturing precision while keeping the overall device structure relatively simple through software-based parameter adjustment rather than complex mechanical mechanisms.
Data Source
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AI summary
Method for holding and performing work on a sheet (200) which has a first lateral surface (210), an opposing second lateral surface (211) and a perimeter edge (212), comprising: a step of holding said sheet (200), a step of working said perimeter edge (212) and also a coordinated step of moving said sheet (200) and/or a step of moving said work head (123).