Slit Nozzle Plate-End Processing for Glass Edge Chamfering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing plate-end processing methods for hard, brittle materials like glass plates face challenges such as chipping, cracking, and inaccurate chamfering, leading to reduced bending strength and increased costs due to frequent grindstone replacement and contamination from abrasive liquids.
Innovation Solution
A plate-end processing method using a slit nozzle with a small, ultra-hard abrasive ejection system that closely approaches the workpiece edge, allowing for precise, high-pressure ejection and suction of abrasives and dusts to prevent chipping and contamination, enabling accurate chamfering without masking and reducing grindstone wear.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a grooved grindstone is used for chamfering the plate end, then the edge can be ground, but the grindstone becomes abraded or jammed quickly, causing significant variation in processing accuracy and requiring frequent replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the problematic grooved grindstone from the system and replaces it with a sandblasting apparatus. The abrasive grains are ejected directly onto the plate end through a nozzle, eliminating the need for a physical grindstone that undergoes wear and jamming. This extraction of the grinding function from mechanical contact to particle impact resolves the contradiction between maintaining accuracy and extending tool life.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention substitutes the mechanical grinding system (grooved grindstone in point-contact) with a pneumatic-sandblasting system. Compressed gas propels abrasive grains onto the plate end, replacing the mechanical friction-based grinding process. This substitution eliminates the wear and jamming issues inherent in mechanical grindstones while maintaining effective edge processing.
2Reliability
If abrasive liquid is supplied during grinding to suppress chipping, then chipping is reduced, but the workpiece becomes contaminated and requires additional cleaning steps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses pneumatic pressure to eject abrasive grains onto the plate end, replacing liquid-based cooling and chipping suppression. Compressed gas serves both as the propellant for the abrasive and as a means to control the blasting process, eliminating the need for abrasive liquids that cause contamination while still preventing chipping through controlled particle impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention extracts the liquid component from the grinding process, using only gaseous compressed air to propel the abrasive grains. This extraction of the liquid element eliminates the source of contamination (abrasive liquid mixing with cut dusts) while maintaining the chipping suppression function through the kinetic energy of the ejected grains.
3Manufacturing precision
If masking is performed before sandblasting to process only specific areas, then processing accuracy is improved, but the process complexity and time increase due to masking and removal steps
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by designing the nozzle to eject abrasive grains in a focused, directional stream onto specific areas of the plate end. The slit-shaped opening and controlled ejection angle concentrate the abrasive impact precisely where needed, achieving selective processing without requiring physical masking. This localized abrasive delivery maintains processing accuracy while eliminating the complexity of masking and removal steps.
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 method achieves high-accuracy, efficient slight-chamfering with reduced chipping and cracking, maintaining bending strength and eliminating the need for post-processing cleaning, while minimizing abrasive consumption and grindstone wear.
Implementation Method 1
a compressed gas is used to eject the abrasive together with the compressed gas to the edge (11)
Implementation Method 2
a suction device for collecting the ejected abrasive and cut dusts adhered to the plate (10)
Data Source
AI summary
A plate-end processing method comprises the steps of disposing a slit nozzle having a slit-shaped opening at a nozzle tip such that a longitudinal direction of the opening extends along a longitudinal direction of an edge formed along an end of a plate, and such that a distance between the tip of the nozzle and an apex of the edge is equal to 3 mm or smaller, and ejecting an abrasive with a median diameter smaller than or equal to 20 μm with an ejection pressure of 0.1 MPa to 0.5 MPa to the edge via the nozzle and collecting the ejected abrasive and the abrasive and cut dusts adhered to the plate by suctioning the ejected abrasive, the adhered abrasive and cut dusts from a front side of an ejecting direction of the abrasive at an average flow rate of 30 m/s or higher.