Glass Sheet Production Equipment with Drop Hole Collection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In glass sheet production using the downdraw method, waste glass sheets often break and produce minute chips that float in the cutting chamber, contaminating normal sheets and leading to additional waste, especially with larger, thinner sheets demanded for applications like liquid crystal displays where cleanliness is critical.
Innovation Solution
A method and installation where waste glass sheets are collected through a drop hole in the cutting chamber floor into a separate collection chamber, with the collection chamber being lower and under the cutting chamber, and maintained at a lower air pressure to prevent chip intrusion, and using a nonflammable liquid to suppress chip floating.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If waste glass sheets are collected in a collection box arranged in the cutting chamber, then waste glass sheets can be collected, but glass chips are produced and float in the cutting chamber causing contamination
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into two separate chambers: a cutting chamber for processing glass sheets and a collection chamber for receiving waste glass sheets. This spatial segmentation prevents glass chips generated in the cutting chamber from contaminating the collection area, while still enabling efficient waste collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The collection box is extracted from the cutting chamber and placed in a separate collection chamber located below the cutting chamber. By removing the waste collection function from the cutting environment, glass chips cannot float into the cutting chamber and contaminate normal glass sheets.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If air pressure in collection chamber is lowered to prevent chip intrusion, then contamination is reduced, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
A pressure control mechanism uses pneumatic principles to maintain lower air pressure in the collection chamber compared to the cutting chamber. This pressure differential creates a one-way flow barrier that prevents glass chips from entering the cutting chamber while minimizing energy consumption through efficient pressure regulation.
Solution Approach 2:
The air pressure differential acts as an intermediary barrier between the cutting chamber and collection chamber. Instead of physical barriers that might interfere with waste collection, the pressure difference subtly controls chip movement, preventing intrusion while allowing waste glass sheets to be properly collected.
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
Effectively prevents glass chips from entering the cutting chamber, reducing contamination and waste, and maintaining production efficiency by separating collection and cutting processes and using air pressure and liquid to manage chip dispersion.
Implementation Method 1
by lowering air pressure in the collection chamber
Implementation Method 2
effectively preventing glass chips from floating into the cutting chamber
Data Source
Figure 1
Figure 2
AI summary
A situation where glass chip produced as a result of breakage of waste glass sheets floats in a cutting chamber when the waste glass sheets produced in glass sheet producing steps are collected is suppressed. Provided is a glass sheet production installation (1), in which a sheetshaped glass ribbon (B) is formed by supplying molten glass (A) into a forming body (2) and causing the molten glass (A) to flow downward on a conveyance path extending in an upper and lower direction from the forming body (2), and the glass ribbon (B) is cut into a predetermined dimension in a cutting chamber (6) provided on the conveyance path so that glass substrates (C) are produced. The glass sheet production installation (1) is provided with a drop hole (8) provided in a floor surface of the cutting chamber (6) and a collection chamber (7) provided under the cutting chamber (6) and is configured so as to collect waste glass substrates of the glass substrates (C) by dropping the waste glass substrates through a drop hole (8) into the collection chamber (7), the glass substrates (C) being obtained by cutting.