JP2007169131A - Floating conveyance method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To convey a glass material while keeping a non-contact state by stably floating it using a gas blowing upward. <P>SOLUTION: Two nozzle holes 26a and 28a are disposed facing each other interleaving a spherical glass material 30. A floating/heating method comprises blowing off a heated nitrogen gas (N<SB>2</SB>) from the nozzle holes 26a and 28a, and heating the spherical glass material 30 by the N<SB>2</SB>gas while floating it in a non-contact state. Further, the heated glass material 30 is conveyed to a prescribed position while floating in the non-contact state. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a levitation conveyance method and apparatus for conveying a member while floating in a non-contact manner.

  Conventionally, there are cases where a soft member or a member that requires a very clean degree is conveyed. In such a case, when the member is supplied to the transport device, the member is lifted and transported to prevent the member from being damaged, deformed or contaminated.

  For example, when an optical element is formed by press-molding a heat-softened glass material with a mold, in a low-viscosity range where the glass material is deformed by its own weight, a jig that holds the glass material during heating It is not easy to prevent fusion between glass and glass. For this reason, a technique is known in which a glass material is heated and softened while being floated by a gas to be ejected, and the softened glass material is dropped into a molding die (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  According to the technique of this patent document 1, the glass material is floated by forming an upper opening in the lifting jig and using a gas flowing upward from the upper opening. Thereby, a glass raw material floats on an upper opening part, and is hold | maintained so that it may not contact a floating jig | tool.

  This is because, for example, when there is a large flow rate of gas ejected from below, Bernoulli's theorem indicates that when the gas velocity increases, the pressure on the back surface (upper surface) of the glass material decreases and an upward force (lift) acts on the glass material. It is explained.

  In addition, as another conventional technique, a support base is composed of a porous member, and a glass material is heated and softened while being held in a non-contact state via a pressurized gas supplied from a porous portion of the support base. Is known (see, for example, Patent Document 2).

  According to the technique of this Patent Document 2, a pressurized gas is passed through a porous support base and ejected from below the glass material, and a fluid film of the pressurized gas is formed between the glass material and the support base. The glass material is levitated from the support base and is held in a non-contact state. In this state, the support base and the glass material are accommodated in the heating furnace.

This is because when the flow rate of gas to be ejected is small, due to the lubrication phenomenon, the glass material and the ejection port are separated from each other across the fluid film, and the gas viscosity, ejection pressure, and the relative movement between the glass material and the ejection port. It is explained that the glass material is floated from the spout by the kinetic energy of the generated gas.
JP-A-8-133758 (page 4, FIG. 1) JP 61-266317 A (page 3, FIG. 1)

  However, as in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the method of heating the glass material by jetting gas from one side (downward) of the glass material and heating in a non-contact state has a limitation on the gas flow rate, For this reason, it is difficult to control the heating time of the glass material. Furthermore, the stability of the position of the glass material is poor due to uncertain factors of the jet gas, which may cause the glass material to rotate at a high speed or cause vibration (oscillation).

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to stably float a member by gas ejected from a plurality of gas ejection ports and hold and transport the member in a non-contact state. It is an object of the present invention to provide a floating transportation method and apparatus.

In order to achieve the object, the invention according to claim 1
Gas is ejected from at least two gas ejection ports arranged opposite to each other with the member interposed therebetween, and the member is transported while floating in a non-contact manner.

The invention according to claim 2 is the levitation conveyance method according to claim 1,
The ejection direction of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports is variable.

The invention according to claim 3 is the levitation conveyance method according to claim 1 or 2,
The relative position of the at least two gas ejection ports is variable.
The invention according to claim 4 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
The gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports has a spiral flow.

The invention according to claim 5 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 4,
The gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports has a spiral flow, and the flow direction is a direction that prevents rotation of the member.

The invention according to claim 6 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
The flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports or the relative distance between the gas ejection ports is changed according to the amount of rotation of the member floating in a non-contact manner.

The invention according to claim 7 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 6,
The vibration of the member floating in a non-contact manner is detected, and the vibration is fed back to change the flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports.

The invention according to claim 8 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 7,
The member is heated to a predetermined temperature by controlling at least one of the temperature and flow rate of the jet gas.

The invention according to claim 9 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 8,
The temperature of the member floating without contact is detected, and the temperature of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports is controlled by feeding back the detected temperature.

The invention according to claim 10 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 9,
The temperature of the member floating without contact is detected, and the detected temperature is fed back to control the flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports.

The invention according to claim 11 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The shape of the member floating in a non-contact manner is changed by heating.
The invention according to claim 12 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 11,
The deformation of the member floating in a non-contact manner is detected by back pressure fluctuation of the gas ejected from the gas ejection port.

The invention according to claim 13 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The member is spherical.
The invention according to claim 14 is the levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 12,
The member is made of glass.

The invention according to claim 15 is:
At least two gas jets disposed opposite to each other with the member interposed therebetween;
Transporting means for transporting the member while floating in a non-contact manner by the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports.

The invention according to claim 16 is the levitation conveyance apparatus according to claim 15,
It further comprises heating means for heating the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports.

  According to the present invention, a member can be stably floated by a gas ejected from at least two gas ejection ports arranged opposite to each other with the member interposed therebetween, held in a non-contact state, and transported.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Throughout the drawings, the same or corresponding members will be described with the same reference numerals as long as there is no possibility of misunderstanding.
[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a configuration example of a levitation transport apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  In FIG. 1, a levitation transfer device 10 includes a drive base 12 driven in an arrow XY direction by an XY robot (not shown), and a pair of swing arms 18 and 20 that are engaged with the drive base 12 and arranged to face each other. And have. Servo motors 14 and 16 are provided on the drive base 12 side, and gear mechanisms 22 and 24 that are driven and controlled by the servo motors 14 and 16 are provided on the swing arms 18 and 20 side.

  The servo motors 14 and 16 are provided with a speed sensor and a position sensor (not shown), and data detected by these sensors is fed back, and control according to the feedback amount is performed. The swing arms 18 and 20 are movable in the X-axis direction and rotate around the X-axis by a combination of the servo motors 14 and 16, the gear mechanisms 22 and 24, and a ball screw (not shown). It can rotate independently in the A direction and the B direction that rotates about the Y axis. Further, the swing arms 18 and 20 can be swung in the C direction within the XY plane.

A pair of injection devices 19 and 21 having nozzle tubes 26 and 28 are attached to one end side of the swing arms 18 and 20. The nozzle tubes 26 and 28 are formed so that the nozzle ports 26a and 28a as gas outlets face each other on the outlet side. Then, facing the nozzle opening 26a, the inter-28a, the glass material 30 serving as a member is sandwiched in a non-contact manner by the nitrogen gas ejected (N _2). The glass material 30 is subjected to vibration detection, movement detection, rotation detection, and the like by a camera 31 provided on the drive base 12.

  Further, gas pipes 32 and 34 for supplying nitrogen gas are connected to the other ends of the swing arms 18 and 20. Pressure gauges 36 and 38 for measuring the supply pressure of nitrogen gas are attached to the gas pipes 32 and 34, respectively. The drive base 12, the pair of swing arms 18, 20, and the pair of injection devices 19, 21 constitute a conveying means.

  In the present embodiment, a case where the glass material 30 is used as the molding material (member) will be described. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the material may be, for example, a synthetic resin. In addition, although a gob (lump) having a substantially elliptical cross section is illustrated as the glass material 30, the shape is not limited to these, and may be, for example, a spherical shape or a repellency shape. . Further, although nitrogen gas is used as the ejection gas, the present invention is not limited to this, and other inert gas may be used, for example. Moreover, the inert gas was used in order to prevent the related members from being oxidized and the like from the viewpoint of safety.

Nitrogen gas is ejected vigorously from the nozzle openings 26a, 28a. The glass material 30 is levitated and held in a non-contact state by the jetted nitrogen gas.
Furthermore, heaters such as nichrome wires 40 and 42 as heating means are incorporated in the middle of the swing arms 18 and 20. The supplied nitrogen gas is heated to 800 to 1000 ° C. by the heater, and the temperature of the nitrogen gas is detected by a thermocouple (not shown) disposed in the injection devices 19 and 21. The temperature of the glass material 30 is detected in a non-contact manner by an infrared sensor 44 that can move integrally with the swing arm 18.

  In the present embodiment, a case has been described in which nitrogen gas is jetted from the two nozzle ports 26a and 28a arranged to face each other and the glass material 30 is floated in a non-contact manner. The gas may be ejected from the gas, or may be ejected from six directions. Reference numerals 46 and 48 denote power supply lines.

2 to 4 are views showing a process of floating and holding the spherical glass material 30 in a non-contact state between the opposed nozzle openings 26a and 28a, heating it, and dropping it to the lower mold 52.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of the opposed nozzle ports 26a and 28a, and the glass material 30 is initially placed on the upper end surface of the support member 50 before heating. Next, the nozzle openings 26a and 28a are arranged to face each other with a predetermined interval so as to sandwich the glass material 30 from both the left and right sides.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a state in which the interval between the nozzle ports 26a and 28a facing each other is narrowed and heated nitrogen gas is ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a. In this case, when the nitrogen gas is ejected, the support member 50 on which the glass material 30 is placed is moved downward (in the direction of the arrow) away from the figure. Thus, the glass material 30 is levitated and held in a non-contact state and heated by nitrogen gas, and the temperature of the heated glass material 30 is detected by the infrared sensor 44.

  At this time, the temperature of the glass material 30 can be achieved by controlling at least one of the temperature and flow rate of nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a. Then, the temperature or flow rate of the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a is controlled by detecting the temperature of the glass material 30 and feeding back the detected temperature to a control unit (not shown).

  By the way, when the spherical glass material 30 is levitated and held in a non-contact state, the levitated state becomes unstable due to the indeterminate factor of the ejected gas, and the levitated glass material 30 starts to rotate and eventually vibrates (oscillates) and is controlled. It becomes difficult. For this reason, for example, the rotation of the glass material 30 is optically detected by the camera 31, and the positions (intervals) of the nozzle openings 26a and 28a are slightly changed or the flow rate of the nitrogen gas to be ejected is changed according to the rotation. Thus, the glass material 30 that has surfaced is stabilized. Alternatively, when vibration occurs in the glass material 30, this is optically detected by the camera 31, and the vibration state is fed back to a control unit (not shown), and the flow rate of nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a, 28a It is changing.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a process of transferring the heated glass material 30 to a predetermined position and dropping it onto the lower mold 52. The glass material 30 is levitated and heated in a non-contact state by nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle openings 26a and 28a, but when heated to a specific temperature by a predetermined time control, the glass material 30 is moved to a predetermined position by an XY robot (not shown). Be transported.

  Then, the movement is stopped when the glass material 30 is transferred to the upper position of the lower mold 52, and the interval between the opposed nozzle ports 26a, 28a is widened. At the same time, the ejection of nitrogen gas from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a is stopped. Thus, the heated glass material 30 falls by its own weight and is placed on the receiving surface of the lower mold 52 below. Thereafter, an upper mold (not shown) moves closer to the lower mold 52, and the glass material 30 is press-molded into a predetermined shape.

According to the present embodiment, the glass material 30 is non-contacted while preventing the rotation of the floated glass material 30 by changing the jetting direction and flow rate of the nitrogen gas ejected from the opposed nozzle ports 26a and 28a. It can be heated and held in a state. Further, if the temperature of the nitrogen gas to be ejected is constant, the heating temperature of the glass material 30 can be controlled by the heating time by the nitrogen gas, so that the heating time of the glass material 30 can be easily controlled.
[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is an enlarged view of the opposed nozzle ports 26 a and 28 a, and the glass material 30 is initially placed on the upper end surface of the support member 50 before heating. Next, the nozzle openings 26a and 28a are arranged to face each other from the left and right sides so as to sandwich the glass material 30 from both the left and right sides.

  FIG. 6 is a view showing a state in which nitrogen gas is ejected from the nozzle openings 26a and 28a. In this case, the space between the nozzle ports 26a and 28a facing each other is narrowed, and at the same time, nitrogen gas is ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a. Further, the support member 50 on which the glass material 30 is placed is moved downward (in the direction of the arrow) in the figure and moved away. At this time, for example, the position of one nozzle port 26a is slightly changed in a direction substantially perpendicular to the nitrogen gas ejection direction (arrow Y direction). In this way, the glass material 30 is heated with high-temperature nitrogen gas while being stabilized in a non-contact state while stabilizing the floating of the glass material 30.

  Similarly, when the glass material 30 is levitated and held, if necessary, the swing arms 18 and 20 are swung in the XY plane in the direction C in FIG. 6 and the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a Change the ejection direction. Thereby, the glass material 30 can be stably levitated and held in a non-contact state while preventing the glass material 30 that has levitated from rotating.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a process of transferring the heated glass material 30 to a predetermined position and dropping it onto the lower mold 52. The glass material 30 is floated and held in a non-contact state by the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle openings 26a and 28a. Then, the transfer is stopped when it comes to the upper position of the lower mold 52, and the opposing nozzle ports 26a and 28a are swung in the C direction in the XY plane to be widened. In this case, the ejection of nitrogen gas from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a may be stopped or may not be stopped. Thus, the heated glass material 30 falls by its own weight and is placed on the receiving surface of the lower mold 52 below. Thereafter, the upper mold (not shown) moves closer to the lower mold 52, and the glass material 30 is press-molded.

According to this embodiment, it is possible to heat in a non-contact state while changing the jetting direction of the nitrogen gas jetted from the opposed nozzle ports 26a, 28a and preventing rotation of the floated glass material 30. .
[Third Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, the levitation heating apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to be rotated by approximately 90 degrees.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the glass material 30 is adsorbed by a separate transfer arm 54, and the adsorbed glass material 30 is transferred onto the nozzle port 28a and dropped. Further, a helical groove 58 is formed in the nozzle tube 28 communicating with the nozzle port 28a. In the present embodiment, a spherical material is used as the glass material 30.

  In FIG. 9, the transfer arm 54 is moved to another position so as to move away, and instead, the nozzle opening 26 a is disposed so as to face the glass material 30 from above and below. A helical groove 56 is also formed in the nozzle pipe 26 communicating with the nozzle port 26a. Then, nitrogen gas is ejected from the nozzle openings 26a and 28a so as to rotate in a spiral manner, and the glass material 30 is levitated and heated in a non-contact state.

  In this case, the floated glass material 30 can be stably held in a non-contact manner by ejecting gas from the nozzle openings 26a, 28a in directions opposite to each other (directions of arrows E and E ′ in the figure). it can. Further, the direction of the spiral flow is a direction in which the glass material 30 that has floated is prevented from rotating. Further, the flow rate from the upper and lower nozzle ports 26a and 28a is appropriately adjusted in consideration of the action such as gravity.

In this case, the shape of the floated glass material 30 can be arbitrarily deformed by controlling the temperature of the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle port 26a.
According to the present embodiment, nitrogen gas is ejected in a spiral shape from opposite nozzle ports 26a, 28a in opposite directions, thereby preventing rotation of the floated glass material 30 and heating in a non-contact state. Can be held.
[Fourth Embodiment]
In the present embodiment, the levitation transport device 10 shown in FIG. 1 is arranged by being rotated by approximately 90 degrees.

  As shown in FIG. 10, the glass material 30 is adsorbed by the transfer arm 54, and the adsorbed glass material 30 is transferred onto the nozzle port 28a and dropped. Further, a helical groove 58 is formed in the nozzle tube 28 communicating with the nozzle port 28a. In the present embodiment, a gob (lump) having a substantially elliptical cross section is used as the glass material 30.

  In FIG. 11, the transfer arm 54 is moved to another position so as to move away, and instead, the nozzle port 26 a is disposed so as to face the glass material 30 from above and below. No spiral groove is formed in the nozzle pipe 26 communicating with the nozzle port 26a. Then, nitrogen gas is ejected in a spiral shape from the lower nozzle port 28a substantially vertically upward. On the other hand, nitrogen gas is ejected straight from the upper nozzle port 26a substantially vertically downward. Thus, the glass material 30 is heated while being floated and held in a non-contact state.

  At this time, since the glass material 30 is heated while being rotated by the spiral nitrogen gas from below, the glass material 30 spreads flatly by centrifugal force. Then, when the glass material 30 is deformed to a desired shape, the air flow of nitrogen gas from above is switched from straight to spiral.

The switching of the nitrogen gas flow is performed by an injection device 19 ′ shown in FIG.
This injection device 19 ′ can control the gas injection direction, flow rate, and the like. The injection device 19 ′ has an inner cylinder 62 provided along an axial center inside a bottomed cylindrical outer cylinder 61, and a suction cylinder 64 is attached obliquely at a base end portion of the inner cylinder 62. Yes. As a result, when nitrogen gas is sucked into the inner cylinder 62 from the lower F direction in the figure, the nitrogen gas is ejected straight from the front end side of the inner cylinder 62, and the nitrogen gas is blown into the suction cylinder 64 from the oblique G direction in the figure. When the gas is sucked, this nitrogen gas is ejected from the tip end side of the inner cylinder 62 in a deformed spiral shape. This nitrogen gas is supplied to the nozzle tube 26 of FIG.

  At this time, the suction of the nitrogen gas is switched from the F direction to the G direction, and the nitrogen gas is ejected from the nozzle port 26a in a spiral shape. And by ejecting gas from the nozzle openings 26a, 28a in opposite directions (arrow E direction and E ′ direction in the figure), the glass material 30 is kept in a non-contact state while preventing the glass material 30 from rotating. Keep it levitating.

  Thereafter, the injection device 21 is retracted, and the injection devices 19 and 19 ′ are moved to above the lower mold 52 as shown in FIG. Then, the flat glass material 30 is dropped onto the lower mold 52 by stopping the ejection of nitrogen gas from the nozzle port 26a.

  In the present embodiment, in order to increase the degree of freedom of the floating control of the glass material 30, a deformed vortex gas that is ejected obliquely with respect to the nozzle tube 26 is created. The spiral gas is ejected from the nozzle port 28a, and the deformed vortex gas is ejected from the nozzle port 26a to float and hold the glass material 30. That is, when the floating state of the glass material 30 becomes unstable, it is necessary to finely control the gas ejection direction, the flow rate, and the like to control the rotational speed of the glass material 30. The floating state of the glass material 30 is stabilized by easily controlling the flow rate of the deformed vortex gas.

  Further, as described above, when the glass material 30 is levitated and held, the nozzle tubes 26 and 28 are swung in the C direction as necessary to change the jet direction of the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a. To do. Alternatively, the positions of the nozzle openings 26a and 28a are slightly changed to hold the glass material 30 stably.

  Further, spiral and deformed vortex nitrogen gas can be ejected from the nozzle openings 26a and 28a in opposite directions (arrow E direction and E ′ direction in the figure). In addition, the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle port 26a can be finely controlled in its ejection direction, flow rate, and the like by adjusting the supply amount to the suction cylinder 64 described above.

  Therefore, for example, when vibration occurs in the glass material 30 that has floated, this is optically detected by the camera 31, and the vibration state is fed back to a control unit (not shown), and nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle port 26a. What is necessary is just to change the flow volume of this.

  In general, the temperature of the glass material 30 is controlled by controlling at least one of the temperature and the flow rate of nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle ports 26a and 28a. And the temperature or flow volume of the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle openings 26a, 28a can be controlled by detecting the temperature of the glass material 30 and feeding back the detected temperature to a control unit (not shown).

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 13, by controlling the temperature of nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle openings 26a, 28a, the floated glass material 30 can be extended in the direction of the arrow and deformed into a flat shape. In this case, the deformation of the glass material 30 can be detected by the back pressure fluctuation of the nitrogen gas ejected from the nozzle port 28 a by the pressure gauge 66 attached to the nozzle tube 28.

  As shown in FIG. 14, when the glass material 30 deformed into a flat shape has a predetermined shape, the injection device 19 (or 19 ′) shown in FIG. 1 is moved to lower the glass material 30. Drop onto the mold 52. Thereafter, the upper mold (not shown) moves closer to the lower mold 52, and the glass material 30 is pressed.

  According to the present embodiment, when nitrogen gas is ejected in a spiral shape or a deformed vortex shape from opposite nozzle ports 26a, 28a in opposite directions, and the floating state of the glass material 30 becomes unstable, accordingly The glass material 30 can be heated and held in a stable state by finely controlling the ejection direction, flow rate, and the like from the one nozzle port 26a.

It is a front view of the whole structure of the levitating conveyance apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a principal part enlarged view same as the above, and is a figure which shows the state which has arrange | positioned the glass raw material between the opposing nozzle openings. It is a figure which shows the state which floated the glass raw material in the non-contact state with the heated gas which ejects, and was heat-held. It is a figure which shows the process of dropping the glass raw material after levitation heating to a lower mold | type. It is a figure which shows 2nd Embodiment of the state which has arrange | positioned the glass raw material between the nozzle ports which oppose. It is a figure which shows the state which floated the glass raw material in the non-contact state with the heated gas which ejects, and was heat-held. It is a figure which shows the process of dropping the glass raw material after levitation heating to a lower mold | type. It is a figure which shows 3rd Embodiment which has arrange | positioned the glass raw material above the nozzle pipe | tube which has a spiral groove. It is a figure which shows the state which floated the glass raw material in the non-contact state with the heating gas which spouts in a spiral shape, and was heat-held. It is a figure which shows 4th Embodiment which has arrange | positioned the glass raw material above the nozzle pipe | tube which has a spiral groove. It is a figure which shows the state which floated the glass raw material in the non-contact state by the heating gas which spouts in a spiral form and a deformation | transformation spiral shape, and was heat-held. It is an external view of the injection apparatus which forms a deformation | transformation spiral gas. It is a figure which shows the state which deform | transformed the glass raw material with the heated gas to eject. It is a figure which shows the process of dropping the glass raw material after levitation heating to a lower mold | type.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Levitation conveyance apparatus 12 XY robot 18 Oscillating arm 19 Injecting apparatus 20 Oscillating arm 21 Injecting apparatus 26 Nozzle tube 26a Nozzle port 28 Nozzle tube 28a Nozzle port 30 Glass material 31 Camera 36 Pressure gauge 38 Pressure gauge 40 Nichrome wire 42 Nichrome wire 44 Infrared sensor 50 Support member 52 Lower die 56 Spiral groove 58 Spiral groove 66 Pressure gauge

Claims (16)

Gas is ejected from at least two gas ejection ports disposed opposite to each other with the member interposed therebetween, and the member is conveyed while being floated in a non-contact manner,
A floating transportation method characterized by the above. The ejection direction of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports is variable.
The levitation conveyance method according to claim 1. The relative position of the at least two gas outlets is variable.
The levitation conveyance method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the above-mentioned. The gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports has a spiral flow,
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 3. The gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports has a spiral flow, and the direction of the flow is a direction that prevents the rotation of the member.
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports or the relative distance between the gas ejection ports is changed according to the amount of rotation of the member floating in a non-contact manner,
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 5. Detecting the vibration of the member floating in a non-contact manner, and feeding back the vibration to change the flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Controlling at least one of the temperature and flow rate of the jet gas to heat the member to a predetermined temperature;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 7. Detecting the temperature of the member floating in a non-contact manner, and feeding back the detected temperature to control the temperature of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 8. Detecting the temperature of the member floating in a non-contact manner, and feeding back the detected temperature to control the flow rate of the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 9. The shape of the member floating in a non-contact manner is changed by heating.
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 10. Detecting deformation of the member floating in a non-contact manner by back pressure fluctuation of gas ejected from the gas ejection port;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 11. The member is spherical;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. The member is made of glass;
The levitation conveyance method according to any one of claims 1 to 12. At least two gas jets disposed opposite to each other with the member interposed therebetween;
Transporting means for transporting the member while floating in a non-contact manner by the gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports;
A levitation transport apparatus characterized by the above. Heating means for heating gas ejected from the at least two gas ejection ports;
The levitation conveyance apparatus according to claim 15.