Segmented Glass Transporting Roller Eccentricity Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional glass transporting rollers, produced from monolithic pieces, face limitations in length and cost-effectiveness, leading to high eccentricity issues when joined in a mirror-symmetric configuration, causing substrate drift and increased risk of breakage during high-temperature processing in vacuum coating installations.
Innovation Solution
A transporting device with glass rollers composed of multiple tube segments, where a first segment is joined between two second segments, reducing eccentricity by increasing the number of joints to achieve better concentricity and round running accuracy, allowing for longer production lengths while maintaining low heat conduction and mechanical stability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If a transporting roller is produced from a monolithic piece, then the production is cost-effective for small lengths, but the maximum length is limited by tube drawing device and grinding installation
Solution Approach 1:
The transporting roller is divided into multiple tube segments that are joined together to form a longer roller. This segmentation allows the roller to exceed the length limitations of conventional tube drawing and grinding installations while maintaining cost-effectiveness through modular production.
2Ease of manufacture
If two tube segments are joined together in mirror-symmetric configuration, then the joining process is simplified, but high eccentricity occurs causing substrate drift
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs an asymmetric joining configuration where tube segments are joined with different orientations rather than mirror symmetry. This asymmetric arrangement compensates for manufacturing tolerances and reduces cumulative eccentricity, thereby improving round running accuracy and preventing substrate drift.
3Device complexity
If the number of joints is minimized to achieve exact round running, then manufacturing complexity is reduced, but production tolerances become difficult to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces intermediate joining elements or transition sections between tube segments that act as mediators to absorb and distribute manufacturing tolerances. These intermediaries facilitate precise alignment and rounding of the composite roller surface, enabling maintenance of tight production tolerances across multiple segments.
4Duration of action of stationary object
If glass rollers are used for high-temperature processing, then thermal loading of bearings is reduced and service life increases, but the risk of substrate breakage increases due to eccentricity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent converts the potential harm of jointed construction into a benefit by using the modular segment design to achieve better thermal management. The joints are designed to minimize thermal stress concentration while maintaining mechanical integrity, allowing glass rollers to withstand high-temperature processing without increasing substrate breakage risk.
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 solution significantly reduces substrate drift and breakage risks by improving the round running accuracy and production tolerances, enabling the use of glass rollers in high-temperature vacuum coating processes without compromising thermal or mechanical stability.
Implementation Method 1
glass has a low heat conduction, so that the thermal loading of the rotary bearings is less
Data Source
AI summary
According to various embodiments, a transporting device may comprise: a plurality of transporting rollers, of which at least two transporting rollers comprises: a glass tube mounted rotatably about an axis of rotation; the glass tube being joined together from a plurality of tube segments, a first tube segment of which is arranged between two second tube segments; and the first tube segment having a plurality of portions, the circumferential surfaces of which are surfaces of rotation with respect to the axis of rotation and/or are arranged coaxially; the plurality of transporting rollers providing by means of the circumferential surfaces a transporting surface for transporting a substrate in plate form and/or in strip form.