Upright Glass Cutting Unit with Fluid Support
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional plate material cutting systems face challenges with large, thin glass plates, as they tend to break due to their weight and require extensive and costly infrastructure, leading to elongated systems that are difficult to install and maintain, especially with the need for conveying and rotating mechanisms that complicate the cutting process.
Innovation Solution
A compact plate material cutting unit that supports the lower edge of the plate upright, uses fluid guides for non-contact support, a scribing blade for forming scribes, and a clamp for gripping the plate, allowing for simultaneous scribing and cutting without conveying, with a pressing member to ensure precise cutting at the scribe, and a rotating apparatus for efficient edge trimming.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If plate materials are processed in the horizontal state with conventional facilities, then the processing can be performed with simpler support structures, but the glass plates will break due to their own weight and supporting forces
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical contact support with fluid pressure support. The fluid guide applies fluid pressure to the surface of the plate material to hold it in the upright state without physical contact, eliminating the mechanical forces that cause breakage while maintaining simple support structure
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the processing orientation from horizontal to upright vertical state. By processing plates in the upright state with the lower edge supported and the front surface facing forward, the system eliminates weight-induced breakage while enabling compact single-location processing
2Manufacturing precision
If the plate material is conveyed to separate scribing and cutting devices, then the scribing and cutting operations can be performed separately, but the system becomes greatly elongated and cannot be installed in existing facilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the scribing device and cutting device into a single integrated unit. Both the scribing blade and cutting blade are provided in the same device, allowing scribing and cutting to be performed at one location without conveying the plate between separate devices, thus preventing system elongation
Solution Approach 2:
The scribing blade forms a scribe on the plate material before the cutting blade performs the cut. This preliminary scribing action prepares the plate for precise cutting at the same location, ensuring manufacturing precision while maintaining compact system size
3Ease of operation
If conventional rotating devices rotate plate materials with lower corners as the center of rotation, then the rotation can be performed, but the width of the rotating device must be twice that of the plate material or greater
Solution Approach 1:
The patent changes the rotation center from the lower corner to the center of the plate material. This asymmetric change in rotation geometry allows the plate to rotate within a much smaller width, reducing the rotating device width from twice the plate width to just the plate width plus minimal clearance
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 solution enables efficient and high-quality cutting of large, thin plate materials at a single location, minimizing system size and improving processing quality while preventing inadvertent cutting and maintaining edge perpendicularity.
Implementation Method 1
fluid guides for applying fluid pressure on a surface of the plate material which is held upright on the support devices, to support the plate material in a non-contact manner
Data Source
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AI summary
A compact cutting apparatus capable of scribing and cutting plate materials, such as large thin glass plates, in a short amount of time without reducing the quality of the cut plate materials is provided. The cutting apparatus is equipped with a belt conveyor (2) that supports the bottom edge of a glass plate (G) in an upright state, a fluid guide (8) for applying fluid pressure on a surface of the glass plate (G) to support the glass plate (G) in a non-contact manner, and a pair of cutting units (11, 12) which are provided separated from each other in the conveyance direction of the glass plate (G). Each of the cutting units (11, 12) is equipped with a clamp (15), a scribe forming device (16), and a cutting device (17) in this order from the side thereof closest to the other plate material cutting unit (11, 12). The clamp (15) grips the glass plate from both sides. The scribe forming device (16) forms a scribe for cutting, by moving vertically along the surface of the glass plate (G) in the vicinity of the clamp (15). The cutting device is equipped with a cutting bar (25) for pressing a portion of the glass plate (G) opposite the scribe in a planar direction with respect to the portion of the glass plate (G) which is gripped by the clamp (15).