Glass Slab Separation Using Automated Spacing Wire
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spacer materials for separating glass slabs during storage are inefficient, as they require manual connection/disconnection, can deteriorate during transport, and leave residues on the glass slabs, necessitating human intervention for cleaning and inspection.
Innovation Solution
A separating apparatus for glass slabs that uses a spacing wire or multiple wires to automatically separate glass slabs, allowing for automated insertion and recovery of the wire, thus eliminating manual intervention and residue issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If spacer materials such as sheets of paper or adhesive spacers are used to separate glass slabs, then the glass slabs are protected from scoring and damage, but the connection and disconnection of spacer materials cannot be automated and slows down storage operations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses thin wires as spacers that can be easily removed and reused. After the glass slabs are processed, the wires are discarded from the slabs and recovered for reuse in separating the next batch of slabs, enabling automation while maintaining protection
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the essential function of spacing and protection from complex adhesive materials and simplifies it to thin wires that can be easily inserted and removed, enabling automated operations while maintaining the protective function against scoring
2Reliability
If adhesive spacers or sheets of paper are used to separate glass slabs, then the slabs are kept separated during storage, but the spacer materials can deteriorate during transport and leave residues on the glass slabs
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the material parameters from adhesive-based spacers to thin non-adhesive wires. This parameter change eliminates the residue problem while maintaining the separation function, as the wires do not adhere to the glass surfaces and can be cleanly removed
3Reliability
If manual intervention is used to check and clean glass slabs before following operations, then the quality of glass slabs is maintained, but the process requires human intervention and slows down operations
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the source of contamination by using non-adhesive thin wires instead of adhesive spacers. This removes the need for manual cleaning operations, enabling full automation of the process while maintaining glass quality
Data Source
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AI summary
A separating apparatus (100) for glass slabs is described, comprising a supporting structure (14), winding/unwinding means (12) of a spacing wire (15) of the glass slabs (21), fastening means (27) of an end of the wire (15), lifting means (38) configured for lifting/lowering the winding/unwinding means (12) between a lower position and an upper position, actuating means (31) configured for actuating the winding/unwinding means (12) and the lifting means (38) in order to keep the spacing wire (15) taut between the fastening means (27) and the winding/unwinding means (12), and in contact with the glass slab (21) during the storage operations of the mutually abutted glass slabs (21), to store them separated by a spacing wire (15) interposed between two adjacent glass slabs (21); a process of use of such separating apparatus (100) is further described.