JP2005001897A - Apparatus for bending flat plate glass - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an apparatus for bending a flat plate glass which can bend a wide glass plate highly precisely into a large radius of curvature without necessitating large scaled equipment such as a heating furnace. <P>SOLUTION: The apparatus for bending the flat plate glass has a glass sending mechanism 2 for continuously sending the flat plate glass G held at one end part Ga of the flat plate glass G, a heating apparatus 3 provided throughout the whole length in the width direction of the flat plate glass G sent from the glass sending mechanism 2 and for heating the flat plate glass G uniformly in the width direction, a supporting member 4 provided between the heating apparatus 3 and a glass sending mechanism 2 and for supporting the glass plate G, a chuck mechanism 5 for holding another end part of the glass plate G and a rotating mechanism 6 for rotating the chuck mechanism 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a flat glass bending apparatus, and more particularly to a flat glass bending apparatus that applies an external force to forcibly bend a quartz plate with a constant curvature.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, since glass is inflexible and easily damaged, various glass plate bending apparatuses have been proposed. The glass plate is heated by a planar heater and external force is applied at a right angle. An apparatus for bending (Patent Document 1), an apparatus for bending quartz glass with high accuracy using a line burner (Patent Document 2), or an apparatus for bending a strip-shaped glass plate in a direction perpendicular to the thickness direction (Patent Document 3) Etc.
[0003]
However, the apparatus of Patent Document 1 heats the glass plate sandwiched between a pair of hot plates, and further rotates the auxiliary hot plate while sandwiching the end of the glass plate with the pair of auxiliary hot plates, An apparatus for bending a glass plate, which can be bent locally but is difficult to bend into a large radius of curvature, requires many heaters for heating, and further increases the size of the apparatus. The apparatus of Patent Document 2 heats quartz glass using a pair of line burners, bends it by its own weight while holding its end by a holding part, and adjusts the angle of the quartz glass bent by an angle setting stopper. Although it is an apparatus that can be used, the dimensions and radius of curvature after processing are not constant and are inaccurate. Furthermore, the device of Patent Document 3 is a device that turns a heating unit that heats and holds a belt-shaped glass plate and folds the belt-shaped glass at a right angle while sliding the same length as the plate width. Is not suitable for bending to a large radius of curvature. There is also a glass plate bending apparatus using a heating furnace and a forming apparatus, but the entire apparatus is large with respect to the workpiece dimensions, the loss of heat energy is large, the processing time is long, and the drying furnace is not easy.
[0004]
Since it is difficult to bend conventional wide flat quartz glass, as shown in FIG. 5, when manufacturing a large diameter quartz glass tube, a large number of curved short narrow flat quartz glasses must be welded. Therefore, it had to be manufactured, resulting in high manufacturing costs.
[0005]
Therefore, there has been a demand for a flat glass bending apparatus that can bend a wide glass plate with a large curvature radius without requiring a large heating furnace or the like.
[0006]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-6-48752 (paragraph numbers [0017] to [0019], [0026], FIGS. 1 and 4)
[0007]
[Patent Document 2]
JP-A-11-322353 (paragraph numbers [0009] to [0013], FIG. 2)
[0008]
[Patent Document 3]
JP 2003-12334 A (paragraph numbers [0012], [0013], [0028], FIGS. 1 and 5)
[0009]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and provides a flat glass bending apparatus that can bend a wide glass plate with a large curvature radius without requiring a large heating furnace or the like. For the purpose.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, a glass feeding mechanism that continuously feeds flat glass while sandwiching one end of the flat glass, and a flat glass that is fed from the glass feeding mechanism A heating device that is provided over the entire length in the width direction and uniformly heats the flat glass in the width direction, a support member that is provided between the heating device and the glass feeding mechanism and supports the glass plate, and the other end of the glass plate There is provided a flat glass bending apparatus characterized by having a chuck mechanism for clamping the part and a rotating mechanism for rotating the chuck mechanism. Thus, a flat glass bending device capable of accurately bending a wide glass plate to a large curvature radius without requiring a large heating furnace or the like is realized.
[0011]
In a preferred example, the heating device is a line burner. Thus, by locally heating, the flat glass can be heated effectively with a small amount of oxygen or hydrogen used, and the processing cost can be reduced.
[0012]
In another preferred example, the line burner includes a divided burner divided into a plurality of blocks, and each divided burner has its heat generation controlled independently. Thereby, the whole flat glass is heated uniformly.
[0013]
In another preferred example, the line burner is disposed at an angle in the glass feeding direction with respect to the vertical. Thereby, it is prevented that one line burner deteriorates with the flame of the other line burner, and the flat glass is prevented from being rapidly cooled.
[0014]
Moreover, in another suitable example, the said line burner is provided so that reciprocation is possible in the direction orthogonal to the feed direction of flat glass. Thereby, a flat glass is heated uniformly.
[0015]
In another preferable example, the support member includes a pair of rollers, and one roller is provided so as to be movable forward and backward in the direction of the other roller. Thereby, the shift | offset | difference of a workpiece | work perpendicular | vertical direction can be suppressed and the plate | board thickness fluctuation | variation of flat glass can be prevented.
[0016]
Moreover, in another suitable example, the said heating apparatus, the said supporting member, and the said glass feed mechanism are controlled according to the plate | board thickness of flat glass. Thereby, plate | board thickness can be made constant.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of a flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.
[0018]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention.
[0019]
As shown in FIG. 1, a flat glass bending apparatus 1 according to the present invention includes a glass feed mechanism 2 that continuously feeds a flat glass G while sandwiching one end Ga of the flat glass G, and a glass feed mechanism 2. A line burner 3 that is provided over the entire length in the width direction of the flat glass G to be fed and is a heating device that uniformly heats the flat glass G in the width direction, and is provided between the line burner 3 and the glass feed mechanism 2. It has a roller mechanism 4 as a support member that supports the glass plate G, a chuck mechanism 5 that sandwiches the other end Gb of the glass plate G, and a rotation mechanism 6 that rotates the chuck mechanism 5.
[0020]
The glass feed mechanism 2 has a screw shaft 2a arranged horizontally, an L-shaped uniaxial actuator 2b meshing with the screw shaft 2a, and a feeding stepping motor 2c for rotating the screw shaft 2a. The shaft 2a is provided with a chuck portion 2a1 for sandwiching one end portion Ga of the flat glass G.
[0021]
Further, the line burner 3 is attached to a reciprocating mechanism 3a shown in FIG. 2, and can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the feeding direction of the flat glass G. Further, as shown in FIG. 3 is arranged with an angle in the feed direction of the flat glass G with respect to the vertical. Thereby, it is prevented that one line burner deteriorates with the flame of the other line burner, and the flat glass is prevented from being rapidly cooled. However, it is not preferable to set the angle too much in order to make the work red hot part within 25 mm. In addition, when the line burner 3 is used in an upright position, the flame size is different between the upper side and the lower side, and there is a tendency that the heating power is not uniform. For example, when a 25-hole burner is used, it is divided into 5 blocks. In particular, it is preferable that the burner is used as a 5 hole × 5 continuous burner 3b so that the amount of heat generated can be controlled for each burner 3b. In this case, if the amount of heat generated is controlled by each divided burner 3b, the entire flat glass G can be heated uniformly.
[0022]
Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the roller mechanism 4 is a free-rotating mechanism comprising a pair of rollers 4a and 4b, supports the flat glass G, and allows the flat glass G to move without interfering with the movement of the uniaxial actuator 2b. Rotate together. Further, by providing the roller mechanism 4 between the glass feeding mechanism 2 and the line burner 3, it is possible to prevent the heating point from shifting in the horizontal direction when the flat glass G moves, and the roller mechanism 4 is uniaxial. It has a heat shielding effect on the actuator 2b. Although a roller is preferably used as the support member, any member may be used as long as it supports the flat glass and has a heat shielding effect on the uniaxial actuator. In addition, the roller mechanism 4 is provided with the inner roller 4a fixed and the outer roller 4b with respect to the feeding direction of the flat glass G in order to suppress the deviation in the workpiece vertical direction and prevent the fluctuation of the flat glass G. Therefore, the elastic body 4b1 is always urged in the forward direction in the vertical direction to be movable. Since the position of the inner roller 4a is fixed, the inner radius of curvature after bending is constant. The roller mechanism 4 is provided with a length measuring sensor 4c that can measure the thickness of the flat glass G by measuring the distance between the inner roller 4a and the outer roller 4b, that is, by measuring the amount of movement of the movable outer roller 4b. The thickness of the plate crow G being processed is monitored, and the controller 7 controls the amount of heat generated by the burner, the feed speed, and the rotation speed. Even if there is a variation in the thickness of the flat glass G, it can be processed into a curved quartz plate having a constant thickness by controlling the amount of heat generated by the burner, the feed speed, and the rotation speed. For example, when the thickness of the flat glass G is thicker than the reference thickness, if the burner heat generation amount and the feed speed are constant, and the rotation speed is increased, the glass is stretched at the softening point and the thickness is reduced. On the contrary, when the thickness of the flat glass G is thinner than the reference thickness, if the burner heat generation amount and the feed speed are kept constant and the rotation speed is reduced, the glass is compressed at the softening point and the thickness becomes thick.
[0023]
As shown in FIG. 1, the chuck mechanism 5 sandwiches the other end Gb of the glass plate G, and a normal chuck mechanism is used. The rotation mechanism 6 that rotates the chuck mechanism 5 is a chuck. The mechanism 5 has a U-shaped rotating arm 6a attached to one end, a turning shaft 6b attached to the other end, and a turning stepping motor 6c for turning the turning shaft 6b. Note that the chuck mechanism can open the chuck promptly after the end of processing in order to prevent the flat glass from cracking due to residual stress if the flat plate after gripping is held for a long time. Yes.
[0024]
The control of the rotation of the feeding stepping motor 2c and the turning stepping motor 6c, the amount of heat generated by the line burner 3, and the swinging of the swinging mechanism 3a is performed by a control device 7 that controls the entire flat glass bending device 1. .
[0025]
Next, a flat glass bending method using the flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention will be described.
[0026]
As shown by a solid line in FIG. 1, the uniaxial actuator 2b is set in the retracted (standby) position, one end Ga of the flat glass G is held by the chuck 2a1, the center is supported by the roller mechanism 4, and the other end Gb is It is clamped by the chuck mechanism 5.
[0027]
Thereafter, each control mechanism is controlled by the control device 7.
[0028]
The line burner 3 is ignited and the flat glass G is locally heated uniformly in the short direction. When the flat glass G is heated, the feeding stepping motor 2c is operated to advance the uniaxial actuator 2b. At the same time, the rotation stepping motor 6c is rotated, and the rotation arm 6a is rotated about the rotation shaft 6b as shown by the dotted line in FIG. The flat glass G heated uniformly in this way is curved into an arc shape having a predetermined curvature corresponding to the length of the rotating arm 6a. During this processing, the plate thickness of the flat plate crow G is monitored by the length measuring sensor 4c, and the burner heat generation amount of the line burner 3, the feed rate of the glass feed mechanism 2, and the roller mechanism 4 of the roller mechanism 4 are monitored via the control device 7 according to the plate thickness. The rotational speed is controlled so that the plate thickness is constant.
[0029]
In addition, as shown in FIG. 3, the arc-shaped flat glass of a desired curvature can be manufactured by changing the length of the rotation arm 6a suitably.
[0030]
In the step of bending the flat glass, the line burner 3 reciprocates in a direction perpendicular to the flat glass G, so that the flat glass G is heated uniformly, and the line burner 3 is flat with respect to the vertical glass G. Since the one line burner is prevented from being deteriorated by the flame of the other line burner, the flat glass is prevented from being rapidly cooled.
[0031]
As shown in FIG. 4, it is possible to manufacture a large-diameter quartz glass tube at a low manufacturing cost by welding a small number of manufactured wide arc-shaped flat quartz glass.
[0032]
According to the present embodiment, the flat glass is continuously fed while sandwiching one end of the flat glass by the glass feeding mechanism, heated over the entire length in the width direction of the flat glass by the heating device, and the other end is pinched. The chuck mechanism is turned by the turning mechanism, and the flat glass is curved in an arc shape, so that a wide glass plate can be accurately bent to a large radius of curvature without the need for a large heating furnace or the like. In addition, the installation location and equipment costs are reduced. Further, since a rotating arm is used for the rotating mechanism, the flat glass can be bent to an easy and accurate radius of curvature, and a slight amount of heat can be obtained by locally heating the heating device using a line burner. The flat glass can be heated effectively with the amount of oxygen and hydrogen used, and the processing costs can be reduced. There is no equipment other than the oxyhydrogen burner that requires careful handling, and the number of parts is small, so maintenance is easy. Further, since the burner heat generation amount, the feed rate of the glass flat plate, and the rotation speed of the roller mechanism can be controlled according to the plate thickness, the flat plate glass can be curved while keeping the plate thickness constant.
[0033]
【The invention's effect】
According to the flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a flat glass bending apparatus capable of accurately bending a wide glass plate to a large curvature radius without requiring a large heating furnace or the like. it can.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram of a flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing a reciprocating state of a line burner used in a flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram showing a state in which the length of a rotating arm used in the flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention is changed.
FIG. 4 is a conceptual diagram showing a method for producing a quartz glass tube using a wide arc-shaped flat quartz glass curved by a flat glass bending apparatus according to the present invention.
FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram showing a method for producing a quartz glass tube using a conventional arc-shaped flat quartz glass.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Flat glass bending apparatus 2 Glass feed mechanism 2a Screw shaft 2b Uniaxial actuator 2c Feeding stepping motor 2a1 Chuck part 3 Line burner 3a Reciprocating mechanism 3b Split burner 4 Roller mechanism 4a Inner roller 4b Outer roller 5 Chuck mechanism 6 Rotating mechanism 6a Rotating arm 6b Rotating shaft 6c Rotating stepping motor 7 Controller G Flat glass Ga One end Gb The other end

Claims (7)

A glass feeding mechanism that continuously feeds flat glass while sandwiching one end of the flat glass, and a flat glass that is provided over the entire length in the width direction of the flat glass sent from this glass feeding mechanism. A heating device for heating, a support member provided between the heating device and the glass feeding mechanism for supporting the glass plate, a chuck mechanism for holding the other end of the glass plate, and a rotation for rotating the chuck mechanism A flat glass bending apparatus having a mechanism. The flat glass bending device according to claim 1, wherein the heating device is a line burner. The flat glass bending apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the line burner includes a divided burner divided into a plurality of blocks, and each of the divided burners is independently controlled in heat generation amount. The flat glass bending apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the line burner is arranged with an angle in a glass traveling direction with respect to a vertical direction. 5. The flat glass bending apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the line burner is provided so as to freely reciprocate in a direction perpendicular to a flat glass feeding direction. 6. The flat glass according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the support member includes a pair of rollers, and one roller is provided so as to be able to advance and retreat in the direction of the other roller. Bending device. The flat glass bending apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the heating device, the support member, and the glass feeding mechanism are controlled according to a plate thickness of the flat glass.

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