Hot Glass Sheet Positioning on Roll Conveyor
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Solution Overview
Problem
Hot glass sheets on roll conveyors experience rotation and lateral migration due to uneven heating and wear, leading to inaccurate positioning during processing, which existing technologies fail to correct effectively.
Innovation Solution
A system with a roll conveyor and rotatable turntable, equipped with sensors and actuators, that senses the glass sheet's edge locations and adjusts the conveyor rolls' rotation and axial movement to accurately position the glass sheet rotationally and laterally without sliding, ensuring precise alignment for further processing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Temperature
If glass sheets are heated on a roll conveyor, then the glass sheets are heated to forming temperature, but the glass sheets rotate and migrate laterally due to uneven heating and wear, resulting in inaccurate positioning
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary sensing of the glass sheet's actual position and orientation on the conveyor, then calculates and executes corrective movements of the vacuum platen in advance before the glass sheet reaches the forming station, ensuring accurate positioning despite thermal distortion
Solution Approach 2:
A computer-controlled vacuum platen acts as an intermediary between the conveyor and the forming station, capturing the glass sheet and adjusting its position through calculated movements to compensate for rotation and lateral migration caused by uneven heating
2Use of energy by moving object
If conveyor rolls provide conductive heat to the bottom surface of the glass sheet, then heating efficiency is increased, but the glass sheet bows upwardly into an upwardly concave shape, causing rotation and lateral migration
Solution Approach 1:
The system uses sensors to detect the glass sheet's actual position and orientation, feeds this information to the computer control system, which then calculates corrective movements of the vacuum platen to compensate for the bowing and maintain accurate positioning
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the operational parameters of the vacuum platen (position, orientation, movement trajectory) based on real-time feedback about the glass sheet's shape and position, allowing dynamic compensation for thermal distortion
3Temperature
If paint at the periphery of the glass sheet absorbs additional heat, then the glass sheet is heated more uniformly, but the glass sheet assumes a saddle shape, resulting in rotation and lateral migration
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary detection of the glass sheet's position and orientation, then pre-calculates the necessary corrective movements of the vacuum platen before the glass sheet arrives at the forming station, ensuring accurate positioning despite saddle-shaped distortion
Solution Approach 2:
The vacuum platen serves as an intermediary that captures the glass sheet and uses computer-calculated movements to correct positioning errors caused by saddle-shaped distortion, transferring the glass sheet accurately to the forming station
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
The system achieves accurate rotational and lateral positioning of hot glass sheets, enabling precise transfer to a vacuum platen for further processing, such as forming, by correcting for misalignment caused by uneven heating and wear, thereby improving the efficiency of glass sheet handling and processing.
Implementation Method 1
rotation as necessary of the turntable and the plurality of rolls supported thereon about the vertical axis
Implementation Method 2
axial movement as necessary of the rolls on the turntable to convey the glass sheet
Implementation Method 3
Sensors sense edge locations of the glass sheet during the conveyance of the glass sheet to generate signals corresponding to the rotational position, the location along the direction of conveyance, and the lateral location
Implementation Method 4
conductive heat that is supplied by the conveyor rolls to the bottom surface of the glass sheet during the conveyance
Data Source
AI summary
A system (10) and method for positioning a hot glass sheet G on a roll conveyor 24 for further processing utilizes sensors (60, 62, 64) for sensing a conveyed glass sheet position and a turntable (72) having an actuator (74) for providing axial shifting of rolls (26) supported on the turntable to properly locate the glass sheet G, without any sliding between the glass sheet and the conveyor rolls, both rotationally and laterally for further processing which is specifically disclosed as forming.