CN108203220B

CN108203220B - Motion-indexing type curved glass forming device

Info

Publication number: CN108203220B
Application number: CN201711256540.6A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 崔龙岩; 孟虎龙
Original assignee: Daeheung Precision Industry Co ltd
Current assignee: Daeheung Precision Industry Co ltd
Priority date: 2016-12-16
Filing date: 2017-12-04
Publication date: 2020-12-29
Anticipated expiration: 2037-12-04
Also published as: KR101761742B1; CN108203220A

Abstract

The present invention relates to a motion-indexing type curved glass forming apparatus to minimize the space occupied by the apparatus by manufacturing a curved glass forming apparatus that obtains a curved glass surface area at the edge of glass to be used for portable terminals and the like by indexing (finger rotation), and shortens the time required for the forming process by providing a buffer zone between a loading unit and an indexing zone within a chamber, thereby greatly improving the production efficiency. The device comprises: a loading unit that brings a shaping jig holding a flat glass into a chamber; a chamber, which is divided into a plurality of sections, namely a preheating zone, a forming zone, an annealing zone and a quenching zone, respectively, wherein when a forming clamp for clamping plane glass sequentially passes through the sections, a curved surface is formed at the edge of the glass; and an unloading unit moving the forming jig holding the glass having the curved surface formed at the edge to the outside.

Description

Motion-indexing type curved glass forming device

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a curved glass forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a motion index type curved glass forming apparatus for forming a curved surface at an edge of a glass for a portable terminal or the like by an index type method, i.e., a rotation method, and minimizing a time required for a process of forming the curved glass by providing a buffer, thereby greatly improving productivity, to improve space utilization by manufacturing the curved glass forming apparatus.

Background

The glass is mounted to a front cover of a portable terminal such as a smart phone or a tablet PC. In the conventional art, all glasses have a planar shape regardless of the type of the apparatus. However, recently, a glass having a curved surface region has been used at one side edge or both side edges of a portable terminal such as a smart phone (i.e., Galaxy S7edge) or a smart watch as a wearable device. The range of use of glass having curved regions at its edges has gradually expanded.

Flat glass having a desired thickness and size is inexpensively mass-produced by an extrusion method. However, since a glass having a curved surface region at its edge is manufactured by a method of forming a curved surface region including the steps of putting a flat glass into a mold including a lower mold and an upper mold and applying heat and pressure to the mold, there are many differences from the flat glass in manufacturing method and manufacturing cost.

A technique of forming a curved surface region at the edge of a glass is disclosed in korean patent registration No.1206328 entitled "Apparatus for forming a cover glass for a cellular phone having a curved surface region at one side or both sides thereof" (korean patent registration No.1621216 entitled "Apparatus for forming a glass with a curved surface"). However, most conventional apparatuses for forming glass having a curved surface, including the aforementioned technologies, have the following problems:

first, since the forming jig (mold) on which the glass is placed is of a linear type so that a curved surface on the glass is formed by linear motion, the space occupied by the apparatus is large, and therefore the space utilization ratio is not good in view of the production efficiency.

Second, the forming fixture (mold) needs to be heated to several hundred degrees celsius (about 700 ℃) to form a curved region at the edge of the glass. However, as the temperature rises, each mechanism region expands due to thermal expansion, and therefore the planes of the upper plate and the lower plate of the presser curl to press the top of the forming jig (mold) in an inclined state. Therefore, a load unevenly dispersed is partially applied to the glass, resulting in a defective product.

Third, since a buffer (a position where glass is waited before being put into the chamber) is not separately provided, glass is directly put into the preheating section of the chamber from the loading unit when the doors of the loading unit and the chamber are opened, respectively. Therefore, as the travel distance of the pusher for pushing the glass becomes longer, many entire cycle operation times of the pusher are required and thus the entire process time becomes longer, thereby lowering the production efficiency.

Fourth, the material of the forming jig (mold) is graphite. However, graphite is oxidized when reacting with oxygen present inside the chamber, and the generated powder will be accumulated on the glass surface, and fine holes are generated in the forming jig (mold), so that the strength of the forming jig (mold) is weakened, thereby shortening the service life thereof. To prevent this problem, the molding process is started after a nitrogen atmosphere of a certain concentration is produced throughout the inside of the chamber in which the molding jig (mold) is positioned. Since the nitrogen gas supplied to the chamber is injected through the outer wall of the chamber, it takes a long time to make a nitrogen atmosphere of a certain concentration in the entire chamber space, and thus it takes a lot of time until the initial forming process starts.

Disclosure of Invention

Technical problem

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to solve the above problems and to provide a motion-indexing type curved glass forming apparatus for forming a curved glass surface area at the edge of glass to be used for a portable terminal or the like by indexing (meaning rotation) and shortening the time required for a forming process by providing a buffer zone between a loading unit and an indexing zone within a chamber, thereby significantly improving production efficiency, to minimize the space occupied by the equipment by manufacturing the curved glass forming apparatus.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a curved glass forming apparatus of a kinematic index type to reduce a defective rate by pressing an upper jig to prevent an unevenly distributed load from being applied to glass even in a case where a shape of the glass is bent at a higher temperature, and to minimize a time required until an initial forming process is started by forming a nitrogen atmosphere early around the forming jig by directly spraying nitrogen gas to each forming jig positioned inside a chamber using a nozzle, thereby greatly improving production efficiency.

Technical scheme

According to an embodiment of the present invention which solves the above problems, there is provided a curved glass forming apparatus of a motion index type for forming glass having a curved surface at an edge thereof, the curved glass forming apparatus including: a loading unit carrying a forming jig that grips a flat glass, changing a direction of the forming jig to a certain angle and pushing the forming jig into a chamber; a chamber including a turntable (rotated to a certain angle around a rotation axis by an operation of a driving unit), a rotating guide (dividing a circumference at a certain angle, and disposed radially around the rotation axis and connected to an outer side of the turntable), and a pressing unit (having a lower plate and an upper plate disposed to correspond to each other between the rotating guides to heat or cool top and bottom portions of the forming jig), wherein the forming jig carried from the loading unit is disposed between the rotating guide and the chamber, which is divided into a preheating zone, a forming zone, an annealing zone, and a quenching zone in order along a rotation direction from a position where the forming jig is carried from the loading unit; and an unloading unit taking the forming jig away from the chamber and loading and unloading the forming jig to the outside after a curved surface is formed at an edge of the flat glass held by the forming jig, wherein the curved surface is formed at the edge of the flat glass while the forming jig (10) holding the flat glass passes through the preheating zone, the forming zone, the annealing zone, and the quenching zone of the chamber in this order; wherein the upper plate in the chamber moves up and down to press the upper jig of the forming jig by the operation of the pressing unit, and the forming jig carried from the loading unit sequentially moves one revolution along the section divided by the rotary guide in the chamber, thereby forming the glass having a curved surface.

Preferably, the curved glass forming apparatus further comprises: a first buffer zone provided between a position where the preheating zone starts and the loading unit, the first buffer zone being a position where the forming jig carried from the loading unit waits before moving to the preheating zone; and a second buffer area provided between a position where the quenching area of the chamber ends and a position where the unloading unit is positioned, the second buffer area being a position where the forming jig that clamps the glass that forms the curved surface at the edge waits before being carried into the unloading unit.

Preferably, the loading unit comprises: a first door that carries a shaping jig that grips a flat glass into a main body of the loading unit; loading angle adjusting pins arranged in two rows at the bottom of the main body to be raised or lowered, the loading angle adjusting pins being equally spaced in each row and protruding to be in contact with both sides of the forming jig carried into the main body to change the direction of the forming jig by control; a second door opened or closed so that the forming jig, which is changed in direction by loading the angle adjustment pin, is carried into the chamber; and a pusher that pushes the redirected forming jig into the chamber when the second door is opened.

Preferably, the unloading unit comprises: a third door carrying the shaping jig holding the glass having the curved surface formed at the edge thereof from the chamber into the main body of the unloading unit; unloading angle adjusting pins positioned at the bottom of the main body in a two-row arrangement to be raised or lowered, the unloading angle adjusting pins being equally spaced in each row and protruding to be in contact with both sides of the forming jig carried into the main body, thereby changing the direction of the forming jig by control; a fourth door opened or closed such that the forming jig by the unloading angle adjusting pin changing method is carried to the outside; and an unloading cylinder which unloads the forming jig, which is changed in direction, to the outside when the fourth door is opened.

Preferably, the pressing unit includes: a pressing unit driving member that generates a driving force; a presser connected to a lower portion of the pressing unit driving part; a pressing plate installed below the pressing device; an upper plate disposed below the pressing plate to press an upper jig of the forming jig; and a position adjusting unit interposed between the pressing plate and the upper plate to adjust a slope of the pressing plate such that a pressure applied to the upper jig is uniformly applied to the entire top of the upper jig.

Preferably, the chamber further comprises: a loading/unloading cylinder disposed above the first and second buffer sections to horizontally push or pull the forming jigs waiting in the first and second buffer sections to be disposed into a preheating section or an unloading unit of the chamber.

Preferably, the chamber further comprises: a nitrogen gas supply unit disposed below the chamber and including a pipe connected to the nitrogen gas supply unit and disposed inside the rotating shaft; and a nozzle radially divided from the pipe and connected between the rotary guides to directly spray nitrogen gas onto each of the forming jigs.

Preferably, the driving unit rotating the turntable and the rotary guide includes: a disk-shaped block fixing plate disposed around the rotation shaft below the chamber and tightly connected to the rotation shaft;

a shaped position determining block having an opening at a side facing outward, securely arranged to be spaced apart from each other equidistantly along a circumferential edge of the block fixing plate; a pair of position fixing cylinders arranged at intervals outside the block fixing plate, each having a rod elevated to be inserted into an opening of the position determining block, thereby fixing the position of the block fixing plate; a rotation guide driving cylinder that generates a rotational driving force; a connection plate that transmits a driving force of the rotation guide driving cylinder to the rotation shaft; and a conveying cylinder positioned outside the block fixing plate, spaced apart from the position fixing cylinder at an interval, and fixedly disposed to the connection plate, the conveying cylinder having a rod elevated to be inserted into the opening of the position determining block and receiving a driving force of the rotation guide driving cylinder, thereby rotating the block fixing plate.

Advantageous effects

The curved glass forming apparatus according to the present invention is not a linear type in which the forming jig moves linearly inside the chamber and occupies a large space to form the curved glass, but an index type in which the forming jig rotates by drawing a circle inside the chamber. Therefore, since the space occupied by the equipment is relatively small, the space utilization ratio for the production efficiency is good. In addition, since the buffer area is provided between the loading unit and the unloading unit and the index area in the chamber, the traveling distance of the pusher or the cylinder pushing the forming jig is shortened, and thus the time required for the forming process is shortened, thereby greatly improving the production efficiency. In addition, since the loading unit and the unloading unit are installed to be separated from the high temperature of the chamber, the loading unit and the unloading unit can operate without being affected by the high temperature of the chamber.

In addition, a slight bend (non-planar state) is created on the glass at the elevated temperature during the forming process before pressure is applied to the upper clamp. The pressing unit, which applies pressure to the upper jig, is securely installed to move up and down, and can uniformly apply pressure to the pressing plate by using the position adjusting unit when the planes of the upper and lower plates curl due to thermal expansion. Therefore, the load of uneven dispersion is prevented from being applied to the glass, the flatness of the formed glass is improved, and the defective glass fraction is remarkably reduced.

In addition, since nitrogen gas is directly sprayed through the nozzle onto each of the forming jigs positioned inside the chamber, a nitrogen atmosphere is formed around the forming jigs earlier, thereby minimizing the time required until the initial forming process. Therefore, the production efficiency is improved and the strength of the forming jig is maintained for a long time, so that the curved glass having no defects can be manufactured and the shortening of the service life of the forming jig is prevented.

Drawings

These and other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a glass forming apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a glass forming apparatus;

fig. 3 is a perspective view and a plan view of the loading unit and the unloading unit;

FIG. 4 illustrates the operational relationship of the movement of the forming fixture disposed from the buffer zone to the indexing zone;

figures 5a and 5b are plan views of the turntable and the rotary guide inside the chamber;

FIG. 6 illustrates a structure of a forming jig for spraying nitrogen gas into the interior of a chamber through a nozzle;

fig. 7a and 7b illustrate a driving unit for rotating the turntable and the guide member according to the first and second embodiments;

fig. 8 shows a pressing unit of the press forming jig;

FIGS. 9a and 9b show examples of glass bent at the edges; and

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a forming fixture (mold) for forming glass with a bend at the edge.

Reference numbers in the drawings illustrate the components

10: forming clamp

11: lower clamp

12: upper clamp

20: loading unit

21: first door

22: loading angle adjusting pin

23: pushing device

24: second door

30: chamber

32: loading/unloading cylinder

33: rotating shaft

331: block fixing plate

332: position determination block

333: position fixing cylinder

334: conveying cylinder

335: rotary guide driving cylinder

336: connecting plate

34: rotary table

341: guide roller

35: rotary guide

36: nitrogen gas supply unit

361: nozzle with a nozzle body

38: press unit

381: lower plate

382: upper plate

383: pressing unit driving member

384: pressing device

385: pressing plate

386: position adjusting unit

40: unloading unit

41: third door

42: unloading angle adjusting pin

44: fourth door

Detailed Description

The present invention now will be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which preferred embodiments of the invention are shown so that those skilled in the art can readily carry out the invention.

The curved glass forming device according to the invention has the following technical characteristics, wherein: since the movement type of the forming jig (die) is a type of indexing which is a rotary type, the production efficiency is increased and the space utilization rate is increased; since the buffer zone is formed between the loading unit and the indexing zone in the chamber, so that the forming jig is not moved directly from the loading unit to the indexing zone, the time required for the forming process is reduced; since the pressing unit pressing the upper jig realizes uniform pressing, uneven dispersed load is prevented from being applied to the glass; and since the nitrogen gas is directly sprayed to the forming jig, the time required until the initial forming process is shortened and the service life of the forming jig is extended.

The present invention relates to a curved glass forming apparatus for forming glass having a curved surface at an edge thereof. The forming apparatus basically comprises: a loading unit 20 that places the shaping jig 10 provided with the flat glass into the chamber; a chamber 30 divided into several sections, i.e., a preheating zone, a forming zone, an annealing zone, and a quenching zone, through which the forming jig 10 provided with the flat glass passes in order to form a curved surface at the edge of the flat glass; and an unloading unit 40 that exits the forming jig 10 provided with the glass having the curved surface.

The loading unit 20 is configured to carry a forming jig provided with a flat glass and push it into the chamber 30 by changing the direction to a certain angle for placement. For this purpose, the loading unit 20 is arranged outside the chamber 30 and comprises two (2)

doors

21, 24, a loading angle adjustment pin 22 and a pusher 23 to push the forming jig.

The first door 21 is configured to open or close one side of the main body of the loading unit 20 to carry the shaping jig 10 provided with the flat glass. When the first door 21 is opened, the shaping jig 10 provided with the flat glass is pushed into the main body of the loading unit 20 from the outside of the main body of the loading unit 20 by an air cylinder or the like.

A plurality of loading angle adjusting pins 22 are disposed at the bottom of the main body of the loading unit 20. The load angle adjustment pins 22 are disposed in two (2) rows and are configured to be raised or lowered. The loading angle adjustment pins 22 are equally spaced from each other in each row. When the forming jig 10 carried in the main body of the loading unit 20 is positioned between the two rows, the loading angle adjusting pins 22 protrude from the bottom of the main body to contact both sides of the forming jig 10 and change the direction of the forming jig 10 by the control of the control unit (not shown). Instead of the loading angle adjusting pins 22 arranged in each row, one or two plate-like elements having a certain length may be used.

The second door 24 is disposed at an interface between the loading unit 20 and the chamber 30 to open or close one side of the interface, so that the forming jig 10, which is changed in direction by loading the angle adjusting pin 22, is carried in the chamber 30. When the second door 24 is opened, the pusher 23 pushes the rear of the redirected forming jig 10 to be moved into the chamber 30, and then the pusher moves backward and the second door 24 is closed.

The chamber 30 is an enclosed space for forming a flat glass placed in the forming jig 10 so as to have a curved surface at its edge. The chamber 30 basically comprises: a second door 24 and a third door 41 to be opened or closed to carry the forming jig 10 into and out of the chamber 30; a turntable 34 that rotates about a rotation shaft 33; a rotary guide 35 radially and fixedly disposed at an outer side of the turntable 34; a lower plate 381 and an upper plate 382 arranged between the rotary guides 35 and disposed below and above the forming jig 10, respectively; and a pressing unit 38 that presses the upper plate 382.

The second door 24 is disposed at an interface between the loading unit 20 and the chamber 30 to open or close a passage, thereby carrying the forming jig 10 provided with the flat glass, which is taken out from the loading unit 20, into the chamber 30. The third door 41 is disposed at an interface between the unloading unit 40 and the chamber 30 to open or close the passage, thereby withdrawing the forming jig 10 provided with the glass now formed to have a curved surface from the chamber 30 and disposing the forming jig 10 into the unloading unit 40.

The turntable 34 is securely disposed around the rotation shaft to be rotated to a certain angle by the operation of the driving unit. Preferably, the guide rollers 341 are circumferentially disposed at equal intervals below the turn table 34 so that the turn table 34 is smoothly rotated and is prevented from being misaligned.

The rotary guide 35 is securely disposed at the outer side of the turntable 34. The rotary guide 35 is disposed radially around the rotation shaft 33 and connected to the outside of the turntable 34 such that the circumference is divided into a certain angle. In the drawing, the rotary guide 35 is disposed to divide the circumference into twenty-four (24) segments. However, the circumference may be divided into more or less than thirty-six (36) segments. In the case of twenty-four (24) segments, the angle of each segment is 15 °.

The chamber 30 is divided into a buffer region and a indexing region. In the indexing zone, a curved surface is formed on the glass as the forming jig 10 moves sequentially in the sections divided by the rotary guide 35. In the buffer zone, the forming jig 10 carried from the loading unit 20 into the chamber 30 waits before moving to the indexing zone. The buffers may be referred to as a first buffer and a second buffer. The first buffer zone is a position where the forming jigs 10 arranged from the loading unit 20 into the chamber 30 through the second door 20 wait before moving into the preheating zone in the indexing zone. The second buffer zone is a position at which the forming jig 10 provided with the glass whose edge is formed into a curved surface waits between a position at which the quenching zone of the chamber 30 ends and a position of the third door 41 before being brought to the unloading unit 40.

When the first buffer area is set, since the pusher 23 of the loading unit 20 pushes the forming jig 10 just to the first buffer area in the middle position without pushing it from the loading unit 20 to the indexing area of the chamber 30, the traveling distance of the pusher 23 is shortened, thereby greatly shortening the time required for the forming process. In addition, when the second buffer area is set, since the pusher 23 pushes the forming jig 10 just to the second buffer area without pushing it from the position where the quenching area of the chamber 30 ends to the unloading unit 40, the traveling distance of the cylinder is shortened, resulting in a reduction in the time required for the forming process.

As shown in fig. 4, the loading/unloading cylinder 32 is further arranged above the first and second buffer zones to horizontally push or pull the forming jigs 10 waiting in the first and second buffer zones to be arranged into the preheating zone of the chamber 30, or to be taken out from the chamber 30 and arranged into the unloading unit 40.

The indexing zone is divided into four (4) sections, specifically, a preheater, a forming zone, an annealing zone, and a quenching zone, which are sequentially arranged in the rotational direction to form a circle from the position where the forming jig 10 is carried to the loading unit 20 (fig. 2). For example, when the circumference is divided into twenty-four (24) sections, it is preferable that the preheating zone is provided in six (6) to nine (9) sections, the forming zone is provided in three (3) to four (4) sections, the annealing zone is provided in six (6) to nine (9) sections, and the quenching zone is provided in three (3) to four (4) sections. The forming jig 10 taken out of the loading unit 20 and carried into the chamber 30 is sequentially moved through the divided sections by one circumferential section by the rotary guide 35 to form a curved surface on the edge of the glass.

In the preheating zone, the shaping jig 10 carrying the flat glass is rotated by one revolution as predetermined to be heated by gradually raising the temperature. In the forming zone, the preheated forming jig 10 is pressed to form a curved surface region at the edge of the glass by continuously applying heat and pressure to the upper plate 382 and the lower plate 381.

When the glass on which the curved surface is formed is immediately cooled at about 750 ℃, the glass may be broken or damaged. Therefore, the glass requires an annealing process. In the annealing zone, the forming jig 10 is gradually cooled by gradually lowering the temperature every time the forming jig 10 moves for one revolution to prevent the formed glass from being deformed and stress from being generated. In the quenching zone, the forming jig 10 cooled to a certain temperature by the annealing zone is cooled only by the coolant without applying any heat.

The upper plate 382 and the lower plate 381 are installed to correspond to each other between the rotary guides 35 to heat or cool the top and bottom of the forming jig 10. The lower plate 381 is fixedly installed and the upper plate 382 is installed to move upward or downward. The upper plate 382 is pressed by the operation of the pressing unit 38, thereby pressing the top of the forming jig 10.

The upper plate 382 and the lower plate 381, which are disposed in the preheating zone, the forming zone, and the annealing zone, are heating plates including heaters and supplying a coolant. The upper plate 382 and the lower plate 381 arranged in the quenching zone are cooling plates that do not include heaters and are supplied with only coolant. The temperature of each of the sections in the preheating zone and the forming zone is set higher as the section advances. The temperature of each of the sections in the annealing zone and the quenching zone is set lower as the section advances.

The pressing unit 38 will press the upper clamp 12 of the forming clamp 10 arranged in the section of the chamber 30. The pressing unit 38 basically includes: a pressing unit driving part 383 generating a driving force; a presser 384 connected to a bottom of the pressing unit driving part 383; a pressing plate 385 installed under the pressing device; and an upper plate 382 disposed below the pressing plate 385 to press the upper jig 12 of the forming jig 10. The pressing unit driving part 383 includes a pneumatic cylinder, a servo motor, or the like. The pressing unit driving part 383 can also use different power sources in the preheating zone, the forming zone, the annealing zone, and the quenching zone in the indexing zone.

As the temperature becomes higher, each mechanism unit expands by thermal expansion, so that the planes of the upper and lower plates of the presser bend, and the top of the forming jig 10 is pressed in a slightly inclined state. In this case, a load unevenly distributed is partially applied to the glass, resulting in a defective product. The present invention solves the above problem by using the position adjusting unit 386.

One of the features of the curved glass forming apparatus according to the present invention is a position adjustment unit 386. A position adjusting unit 386 is inserted between the pressing plate 385 and the upper plate 382 at a uniform interval to adjust the inclination of the pressing plate 385 such that the pressure to be applied to the upper jig 12 is uniformly applied to the entire top of the upper jig 12.

In the curved glass forming apparatus, nitrogen gas is supplied into a chamber to prevent the glass and a forming jig made of graphite from being oxidized. In order to form a nitrogen atmosphere of a certain concentration throughout the inside of the chamber, a long time is required for supplying nitrogen gas into the chamber. Since all the conventional glass forming apparatuses have a structure in which nitrogen gas is supplied through the side wall of the chamber regardless of the position of the forming jig, it takes too much time until the initial forming process starts. In order to solve the above problem, the present invention is to directly spray nitrogen gas to the forming jig 10 by using the nozzle 361.

Specifically, the nitrogen gas supply unit 36 is disposed below the chamber 30 and a pipe connected to the nitrogen gas supply unit 36 is provided in the rotary shaft 33. The nozzles 361 are radially separated from the pipe and connected between the rotary guides 35 to directly spray nitrogen gas into each of the forming jigs 10. Therefore, since the forming jig 10 is continued for a short time in a nitrogen atmosphere of a certain concentration, it is possible to start the initial forming process early. A sensor (not shown) measuring a nitrogen atmosphere is installed at a position where the forming jig 10 is arranged.

Fig. 7a shows a drive unit according to a first embodiment of the invention. The drive unit rotates the rotation shaft 33, the turntable 34, and the rotation guide 35. As shown in fig. 7a, the driving unit disposed below the chamber 30 basically includes: a block fixing plate 331, a position determining block 332, a position fixing cylinder 333, a conveying cylinder 334, a rotary guide driving cylinder 335, and a connecting plate 336.

The block fixing plate 331 surrounds the rotation shaft 33 and has a disk shape (but it may be sprocket-shaped) securely connected to the rotation shaft 33. The position determination blocks 332 are securely arranged at equal intervals along the edge of the circumference of the block fixing plate 331. The position determining block 332 has an opening on the side facing the outside

And (4) shape. A pair of position fixing cylinders 333 are disposed to face the outside of the block fixing plate 331 at uniform intervals. For example, the position fixing cylinders 333 are arranged perpendicular to each other. When the position fixing cylinder 333 is operated, the rod is raised to be inserted into the opening of the position determining block 332, thereby fixing the position of the block fixing plate 331.

The rotary guide driving cylinder 335 generates a rotational driving force and transmits the driving force to the rotary shaft 33 through the connecting plate 336, so that the rotary shaft 33 rotates and the rotary guides 35 rotate, and thus the forming jig 10 disposed between the rotary guides 35 moves by one revolution. A pneumatic cylinder, indexing cylinder, or servo motor may be used as the rotary guide drive cylinder 335.

The connecting plate 336 belongs to a force transmission member for transmitting the driving force of the rotary guide driving cylinder 335 to the rotary shaft 33, which is plate-shaped or strip-shaped, and which can use force transmission means of various shapes such as a chain, a belt, and the like.

The transfer cylinder 334 is disposed outside the block fixing plate 331 so as to be spaced apart from the position fixing cylinder 333 at a fixed interval. One end of the feed cylinder 334 is fastened to the connecting plate 336. When the rod is raised by the operation of the rotary guide driving cylinder 335 and inserted into the opening of the position determination block 332, the conveying cylinder 334 receives the driving force transmitted from the rotary guide driving cylinder 335, thereby rotating the block fixing plate 331. After the rod of the conveying cylinder 334 is inserted into the opening of the position determining block 332 to rotate the block fixing plate 331, the rod of the conveying cylinder 334 comes out of the opening of the position determining block 332, and at the same time, the rod of the position fixing cylinder 333 is inserted into the opening of the position determining block 332 to secure the position of the block fixing plate 331.

Fig. 7b shows a drive unit according to a second embodiment of the invention. The driving unit according to the second embodiment has the same configuration as that of the driving unit according to the first embodiment in fig. 7a except that a sprocket 331' is used instead of the block fixing plate 331. The sprocket 331' is disposed around the rotation shaft 33 and has a disk-shaped configuration to be fixed to the rotation shaft 33. The sprocket 331' includes teeth on its outer circumference that are equally spaced from each other. After the sprocket 331 ' is rotated by one revolution, the ratchet 334 ' is inserted between the teeth to function as a stopper for stopping the sprocket 331 '.

When the forming jig 10 carrying the flat glass passes through the preheating zone, the forming zone, the annealing zone and the quenching zone of the chamber 30 in sequence, the flat glass held in the forming jig 10 is formed into glass having a curved surface at the edge of the glass. Thereafter, the unloading unit 40 disposed outside the chamber 30 carries the forming jig 10 that has been withdrawn from the chamber 30 and disposes the forming jig 10 to the outside. The unloading unit 40 basically includes two (2) doors (referred to as a third door 41 and a fourth door 44), an unloading angle adjusting pin 42 and an unloading cylinder to push the forming jig 10.

The third door 41 will open or close the passage to bring the forming jig 10 carrying glass with an edge forming a curved surface from the chamber into the body of the unloading unit 40 as the forming jig 10 passes sequentially through the indexing zone of the chamber 30. The unloading angle adjusting pins 42 are provided in two (2) rows to be raised or lowered on the bottom of the main body of the unloading unit 40. The unloading angle adjusting pins 42 are equally spaced in each row. Each of the unloading angle adjusting pins 42 protrudes to come into contact with both sides of the forming jig 10 brought into the main body of the unloading unit 40, thereby changing the direction of the forming jig 10 by control. The unloading angle adjusting pins 42 arranged in each row do not have to be pins, but flat plate-like members may be used.

The fourth door 44 will open or close one side of the main body of the unloading unit 40 so that the forming jig 10, which is changed in direction by the unloading angle adjusting pin, is brought to the outside. An unloading cylinder (not shown) is installed to unload the forming jig 10, and the forming jig 10 changes its direction when the fourth door 44 is opened.

A control unit (not shown) will control the overall operation of the curved glass forming apparatus. The control unit contains and stores all data including the temperature inside the chamber, the pressure of the nitrogen gas, the temperature and pressure of the coolant, the short circuit of the heater, the heating operation and the cooling operation, the abnormality in the gas pressure, and the like, to perform necessary control of the operation of the curved glass forming apparatus.

The forming jig 10 is formed of a lower jig 11 and an upper jig 12, which are made of a graphite material. The lower clamp 11 has a curved groove 111 to fit into the curved glass area. The upper jig 12 has a convex portion 121 corresponding to the curved portion 111 of the lower jig 11.

Accordingly, while example embodiments of the invention are capable of various modifications and alternative forms, embodiments thereof are shown by way of example in the drawings and will herein be described in detail. It should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit example embodiments of the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, example embodiments of the invention are to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives falling within the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A curved glass forming apparatus of the index of motion type for forming glass having a curved surface at an edge thereof, the apparatus comprising:

a loading unit (20) for carrying a shaping jig (10) for gripping a flat glass, changing the direction of the shaping jig (10) to a certain angle and pushing the shaping jig (10) into a chamber (30);

a chamber (30) comprising: a turntable (34) rotated to a certain angle around a rotation shaft (33) by the operation of a driving unit; a rotary guide (35) dividing the circumference at an angle and arranged radially around the rotation axis (33) and connected to the outside of the turntable (34); and a pressing unit (38) having a lower plate (381) and an upper plate (382) arranged to correspond to each other between the rotary guides (35) to heat or cool the top and bottom of the forming jig (10), wherein the forming jig (10) carried from the loading unit (20) is arranged between the rotary guides (35) and the chamber (30), and the chamber (30) is divided into a preheating zone, a forming zone, an annealing zone, and a quenching zone in order along a rotation direction from a position where the forming jig (10) is carried from the loading unit (20); and

an unloading unit (40) which takes the forming jig (10) away from the chamber (30) and unloads the forming jig (10) to the outside after a curved surface is formed at the edge of the flat glass gripped by the forming jig (10), wherein the curved surface is formed at the edge of the flat glass during the forming jig (10) gripping the flat glass passes through the preheating zone, the forming zone, the annealing zone, and the quenching zone of the chamber in this order;

wherein the upper plate (382) in the chamber (30) moves up and down to press an upper jig (12) of the forming jig (10) by operation of the pressing unit (38),

the shaping jig (10) carried from the loading unit (20) is sequentially moved one pitch along the section divided by the rotary guide (35) in the chamber (30) to form the glass having the curved surface,

a first buffer zone provided between a position where the preheating zone starts and the loading unit (20), the first buffer zone being a position where the forming jig (10) carried from the loading unit (20) waits before moving to the preheating zone, and

a second buffer zone provided between a position where the quenching zone of the chamber (30) ends and a position where the unloading unit (40) is disposed, the second buffer zone being a position where the forming jig (10) that clamps the glass that forms the curved surface at the edge waits before being carried into the unloading unit (40).

2. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the loading unit (20) comprises:

a first door (21) that carries the shaping jig (10) that grips the flat glass into a main body of the loading unit (20);

loading angle adjusting pins (22) arranged in two rows at the bottom of the main body to be raised or lowered, the loading angle adjusting pins (22) being equally spaced in each row and protruding to be in contact with both sides of the forming jig (10) carried to the main body, thereby changing the direction of the forming jig (10) by control;

a second door (24) opened or closed so that the forming jig (10) changed in direction by the loading angle adjusting pin (22) is carried into the chamber (30); and

a pusher (23) that pushes the redirecting forming fixture (10) into the chamber (30) when the second door (24) is opened.

3. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the unloading unit (40) comprises:

a third door (41) carrying the forming jig (10) holding the glass forming a curved surface at an edge from the chamber (30) into a main body of the unloading unit (40);

unloading angle adjusting pins (42) arranged in two rows at the bottom of the main body to be raised or lowered, the unloading angle adjusting pins (42) being equally spaced in each row and protruding to be in contact with both sides of the forming jig (10) carried to the main body, thereby changing the direction of the forming jig (10) by control;

a fourth door (44) opened or closed such that the forming jig (10) changed in direction by the unloading angle adjusting pin (42) is carried to the outside; and

an unloading cylinder unloading the forming jig (10) changed in direction to the outside when the fourth door (44) is opened.

4. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit (38) comprises:

a pressing unit driving member (383) for generating a driving force;

a presser (384) connected to a lower portion of the pressing unit driving part (383);

a pressing plate (385) attached below the pressing device (384);

an upper plate (382) arranged below the pressing plate (385) to press the upper jig (12) of the forming jig (10); and

a position adjusting unit (386) interposed between the pressing plate (385) and the upper plate (382) to adjust a slope of the pressing plate (385) such that the pressure applied to the upper jig (12) of the forming jig (10) is uniformly applied to the entire top of the upper jig (12).

5. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the chamber (30) is divided into: a buffer, wherein the first and second buffers are adjacent to the second and third gates (24, 41), respectively; and a transposition zone, wherein the preheating zone, the forming zone, the annealing zone and the quenching zone are arranged in this order to form a circle,

the upper plate (382) and the lower plate (381) disposed in the preheating zone, the forming zone and the annealing zone are heating plates including heaters, and the upper plate (382) and the lower plate (381) disposed in the quenching zone are cooling plates to which only coolant is supplied,

the temperature of each of the sections in the pre-heating zone and the forming zone increases as the section advances; and is

The temperature of each of the sections in the annealing zone and the quenching zone decreases as the section advances.

6. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chamber (30) further comprises: a loading/unloading cylinder (32) arranged above the first and second buffer zones to horizontally push or pull the forming jig (10) waiting in the first and second buffer zones to be arranged into the preheating zone of the chamber or into the unloading unit (40).

7. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chamber (30) further comprises: a nitrogen gas supply unit (36) disposed below the chamber (30) and including a pipe connected to the nitrogen gas supply unit (36) and disposed inside the rotating shaft (33); and a nozzle (361) radially divided from the duct and connected between the rotary guides (35) to spray nitrogen gas directly onto each of the forming jigs (10).

8. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chamber (30) further comprises: guide rollers (341) arranged below the turn table (34) and equally spaced from each other on the circumference to enable smooth rotation of the turn table (34) and prevent loosening of the turn table (34).

9. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit that rotates the turntable (34) and the rotary guide (35) includes:

a block fixing plate (331) having a disk shape, disposed around the rotation shaft (33) below the chamber (30) and fixedly connected to the rotation shaft (33);

a position determination block (332) of

-a block fixing plate (331) having an opening at a side facing the outside, tightly arranged spaced apart from each other equidistantly along a circumferential edge of the block fixing plate (331);

a pair of position fixing cylinders (333) arranged at intervals outside the block fixing plate (331), each position fixing cylinder (333) having a rod elevated to be inserted into the opening of the position determining block (332) so as to fix the position of the block fixing plate (331);

a rotary guide driving cylinder (335) that generates a rotary driving force;

a connecting plate (336) that transmits the driving force of the rotary guide driving cylinder (335) to the rotary shaft (33); and

a transfer cylinder (334) positioned outside the block fixing plate (331), spaced apart from the position fixing cylinder (333) at an interval, and fixedly disposed to the connection plate (336), the transfer cylinder (334) having a rod elevated to be inserted into the opening of the position determining block (332) and receiving a driving force of the rotary guide driving cylinder (335) to rotate the block fixing plate (331).

10. The curved glass forming apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the drive unit that rotates the turntable (34) and the rotary guide (35) includes:

a sprocket (331') in the shape of a disc arranged around the rotation axis (33) below the chamber (30) and tightly connected to the rotation axis (33);

a position determination block (332) of

The side facing the outside is provided with an opening along the openingThe circumferential edges of the sprockets (331') being tightly arranged equidistantly spaced from each other;

a pair of position fixing cylinders (333) arranged outside the sprocket (331 ') at intervals, each position fixing cylinder (333) having a rod elevated to be inserted into the opening of the position determining block (332) to fix the position of the sprocket (331');

a rotary guide driving cylinder (335) that generates a rotary driving force;

a ratchet (334 ') disposed outside the sprocket (331 '), spaced apart from the position fixing cylinder (333) at a certain interval, and tightly disposed to the connecting plate (336), thereby fastening the position of the sprocket (331 ').