Segmented Oven for Laminated Glass Bonding
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing laminated-glass production plants, particularly those using autoclaves and ovens, face challenges such as high power consumption, long processing times, and safety risks due to the handling of hot loads, making them less suitable for small and medium-sized manufacturers.
Innovation Solution
A novel oven system with a hot chamber and a separate cold chamber allows for controlled heating and cooling of pre-assembled glass sheets with a polymer interlayer, maintaining constant pressure between 0.4 and 3 bar above atmospheric pressure, reducing processing time and energy consumption, and enabling safer handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If autoclaves or conventional ovens are used for laminated glass production, then bonding of glass sheets with polymer material is achieved, but power consumption is high and processing time is long
Solution Approach 1:
The oven is divided into two independent chambers: a hot chamber for heating and a cold chamber for cooling. This segmentation allows the cooling chamber to remain at ambient temperature while the hot chamber is heated, eliminating the energy waste of heating and cooling the entire oven structure repeatedly, thus significantly reducing power consumption while maintaining bonding quality.
Solution Approach 2:
The glass sheets are pre-assembled with polymer material in a controlled environment before entering the hot chamber. This preliminary assembly ensures proper positioning and alignment before the actual bonding process, allowing the heating process to focus solely on activating the polymer adhesive, thereby reducing the overall processing time and energy required.
2Manufacturing precision
If autoclaves or conventional ovens are used for laminated glass production, then bonding of glass sheets is achieved, but processing time is long
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the heating and cooling functions into different chambers, the cooling chamber can remain at ambient temperature and does not need to be heated and cooled with each cycle. This eliminates the lengthy cooling-down phase that normally extends processing time, allowing faster cycle turnover while maintaining bonding quality through controlled heating in the hot chamber.
Solution Approach 2:
While one batch of glass sheets is being cooled in the cold chamber, another batch can be heated in the hot chamber simultaneously. This continuous operation eliminates idle time between batches, as both chambers operate independently and concurrently, significantly reducing the overall processing time per unit while maintaining consistent bonding quality.
3Productivity
If hot loads are handled after conventional oven processing, then processed glass sheets are obtained, but safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The separation of heating and cooling into distinct chambers allows the cooled glass sheets to be handled in the cold chamber which maintains ambient temperature. This eliminates the safety hazards associated with handling hot loads, as the cold chamber provides a safe environment for loading and unloading operations while the hot chamber continues processing without interruption, maintaining productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The cold chamber acts as an intermediary zone between the hot processing chamber and the external handling area. Glass sheets are cooled in this intermediate zone before being transferred to the external environment, providing a buffer that protects operators from direct contact with hot materials while maintaining continuous production flow.
4Temperature
If conventional ovens are used for laminated glass production, then thermal processing is achieved, but energy waste increases due to heating and cooling the entire oven
Solution Approach 1:
Dividing the oven into hot and cold chambers allows only the necessary portion (hot chamber) to be heated to processing temperature, while the cold chamber remains at ambient temperature. This eliminates the energy waste of heating and subsequently cooling the entire oven structure, as the cold chamber does not undergo thermal cycling, significantly reducing overall energy consumption while maintaining required thermal processing conditions.
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
This approach enables more efficient and continuous production of laminated glass with reduced energy waste and improved safety, making it suitable for small and medium-sized manufacturers by shortening processing cycles and ensuring reproducible thermal conditions.
Implementation Method 1
heating the load to a given temperature depending on the type of polymer material which forms the sheet of polymer material
Implementation Method 2
cooling the load to a given temperature depending on the type of polymer material which forms the sheet of polymer material
Implementation Method 3
maintaining constant pressure between 0.4 and 3 bar above atmospheric pressure
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an oven (10) for the production of stratified sheets (12) from pre-assembled sheets (14). The pre-assembled sheets (14) comprise at least two sheets (16, 18) and at least one sheet of polymer material (20). The oven (10) comprises a hot chamber (22) which in turn comprises heating means (26) and an inlet opening (28) provided with first closing means (30). The oven also comprises a cold chamber (24) communicating with the hot chamber (22) and able to be separated from the hot chamber (22 via separation means (23). The cold chamber comprises cooling means (36) and an outlet opening (42) provided with second closing means (44). The invention also relates to a method for the production of stratified sheets.