JP2018062433A - Method and equipment for manufacturing glass article - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method and equipment for manufacturing a glass article, capable of suitably coping with high-mix low-volume production of an electronic device, etc., using a glass substrate, reducing an installation space of manufacturing equipment and reducing manufacturing cost.SOLUTION: A line for manufacturing a glass article from a glass ribbon 5 molded using a down draw method includes a glass roll manufacturing line 3 for winding the glass ribbon 5 in a roll shape and a glass sheet manufacturing line 4 for cutting the glass ribbon 5 at a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction. A method for manufacturing a glass article comprises vertically dividing and arranging a first manufacturing area 8 arranging the glass roll manufacturing line 3 and a second manufacturing area 9 arranging the glass sheet manufacturing line 4 and sharing a molding apparatus 2 for molding the glass ribbon 5 with the glass roll manufacturing line 3 and the glass sheet manufacturing line 4 to alternatively use one and the other of both lines 3 and 4. The manufacturing equipment uses the method for manufacturing a glass article.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a glass article and its manufacturing equipment, and more specifically, as a line for manufacturing a glass article from a glass ribbon formed using a downdraw method, a glass roll production line, a glass sheet production line, The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a glass article having the above and a manufacturing facility therefor.

  As is well known, glass substrates used for thin display devices and sensor substrates such as liquid crystal displays and organic EL displays, semiconductor package covers such as solid-state imaging devices and laser diodes, and thin film compound solar cell substrates Is produced using, for example, a downdraw method. Here, examples of the downdraw method include an overflow downdraw method, a slot downdraw method, and a redraw method.

  When manufacturing a glass substrate by this down draw method, molten glass is flowed down from a molding part such as a molded body that is a component of a molding apparatus to form a glass ribbon, and the glass ribbon is wound into a roll shape. There are a case where a glass roll is obtained and a case where a glass sheet (for example, a rectangular glass plate) is obtained by cutting the glass ribbon at a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction.

  As described above, as a method for producing two kinds of glass articles, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, a so-called multi-feeder that distributes and supplies molten glass to a plurality of branch channels from a melting furnace is used. It is known to form a glass ribbon having a thickness of 200 μm or less and a glass ribbon having a thickness of more than 200 μm.

  Furthermore, in the same document, a glass ribbon having a thickness of 200 μm or less is wound into a roll to obtain a glass roll, and a glass ribbon having a thickness of more than 200 μm is cut into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction. Obtaining a glass sheet is disclosed.

JP 2011-162408 A

  By the way, in recent years, the commoditization of the above-mentioned electronic devices and the like has progressed, and therefore, small-quantity, multi-product production is being introduced in order to differentiate products without being biased toward mass production. And in order to respond to the production of such a small quantity and a variety of products such as electronic devices, for example, the glass substrate which is a component thereof has a variety of plate thicknesses ranging from about 50 μm to about 500 μm. You need to produce what you have.

  However, the invention disclosed in the above-mentioned Patent Document 1 continuously and continuously forms two types of glass ribbons used for manufacturing glass rolls and glass ribbons used for manufacturing glass sheets. is there. Therefore, it is difficult to cope with the production of a small variety of products such as the electronic devices described above. In other words, regarding the glass substrate that is a component of the above-described electronic device or the like, it is not possible to appropriately cope with the increase or decrease in the demand for the product type.

  In addition, in the invention disclosed in Patent Document 1 described above, a molding device is arranged at each downstream end of the plurality of branch flow paths of the multi-feeder, and a glass roll is manufactured at each downstream side of the plurality of molding devices. Either one of the line and the glass sheet production line is arranged. Therefore, the manufacturing equipment for the glass roll and the glass sheet becomes large, and the installation space from each forming apparatus to each manufacturing line becomes large, which hinders the reduction of the manufacturing cost of the manufacturing equipment.

  In view of the above, the present invention is a glass article that can appropriately cope with small-quantity, multi-product production such as electronic devices using a glass substrate and can reduce the installation space of manufacturing equipment and reduce manufacturing costs. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method and manufacturing equipment thereof.

  The method according to the present invention created to solve the above problems is a glass roll production line for winding a glass ribbon into a roll as a line for producing a glass article from a glass ribbon formed using a downdraw method. , A glass sheet production line using a glass sheet production line for cutting a glass ribbon into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction, wherein a first production area in which the glass roll production line is arranged and the glass sheet production line are arranged The second production area is divided into upper and lower parts, and the glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line are shared by the glass roll production line, and one or the other of these lines is selected. Characterized by the single use.

  According to such a configuration, since one and the other of the glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line are used alternatively, after producing the required number of glass rolls, It is possible to repeat the production of the required quantity of glass plates). For this reason, it is possible to appropriately cope with a small variety of products such as electronic devices using a glass substrate. In detail, if a glass article is manufactured with only one line, when changing the thickness of the glass ribbon, an apparatus required for manufacturing a glass roll and an apparatus required for manufacturing a glass sheet are provided. There is a case where troublesome and complicated work such as replacement is required. However, if the glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line are used alternatively as in the present invention, such problems are unlikely to occur, and as described above, it is possible to produce a small variety of products such as electronic devices. You will be able to deal with it appropriately. And in this invention, since a shaping | molding apparatus is shared by a glass roll manufacturing line and a glass sheet manufacturing line, while manufacturing equipment is simplified, the manufacturing cost is also reduced. In addition, in the present invention, since the first manufacturing area in which the glass roll manufacturing line is arranged and the second manufacturing area in which the glass sheet manufacturing line is arranged are arranged in the vertical direction, the above-described forming apparatus In combination with the common use, the installation space of the manufacturing facility can be reduced, and the manufacturing cost of the facility can also be reduced.

  In the above configuration, a direction changing unit that changes the direction of the glass ribbon descending from the forming device in the horizontal direction is disposed in the first manufacturing area, and the glass ribbon descending from the forming device is vertically positioned in the second manufacturing area. It is preferable to provide a cutting part that cuts to a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction.

  In this way, a flexible glass ribbon having a thickness of less than 200 μm, for example, can be easily wound into a roll shape by the direction changing portion disposed in the first manufacturing area to obtain a high-quality glass roll. Can do. In addition, the cutting portion disposed in the second manufacturing area allows a glass ribbon having a thickness of 200 μm or more to be inferior in flexibility (inferior in flexibility to the above glass ribbon) in a vertical position and having a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction. Can be easily cut to obtain a high-quality glass sheet.

  In the above configuration, the direction changing unit has a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel so as to support the glass ribbon from the lower side and form a direction changing path curved in a concave shape, and these rollers are assembled to the casing. Preferably it is.

  In this way, since the direction changer can be handled as a single unit, the handleability of the direction changer is improved.

  In the above case, the first production area in which the glass roll production line is arranged can be arranged on the upper side of the second production area in which the glass sheet production line is arranged. It is preferable to adopt such a configuration.

  That is, it is preferable that the direction changing portion is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the downward path from the glass ribbon descending to the second manufacturing area.

  In this way, when the glass roll production line arranged in the upper first production area is used and the glass sheet production line arranged in the lower second production area is not used, By holding the direction changing portion disposed in the first manufacturing area at a normal position, the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus using the downdraw method is appropriately changed in the direction of the horizontal direction. The On the other hand, when the glass roll production line arranged in the lower second production area is used without using the glass roll production line arranged in the upper first production area, By moving the direction changing unit arranged in one manufacturing area to the retracted position and setting it in a standby state, the glass sheet can be appropriately manufactured in the second manufacturing area without being obstructed by the direction changing unit. .

  Moreover, it is preferable to arrange | position the guide roller which guides the descent | fall of a glass ribbon above a cutting part and below a shaping | molding apparatus.

  In this case, when the glass roll production line arranged in the lower second production area is used without using the glass roll production line arranged in the upper first production area. In this case, the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus using the downdraw method has a long distance to the cutting portion disposed in the lower second manufacturing area. Therefore, the glass ribbon is likely to sway in the middle of the descent from the forming device to the cutting part, but this sway is suppressed by the guide roller. Thereby, a glass ribbon is favorably cut | disconnected by a cutting part, without receiving the bad influence by shaking.

  In this case, it is preferable that the guide roller is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the glass roll production line. Here, “does not interfere with the glass roll production line” means that it does not interfere with each component constituting the glass roll production line (hereinafter the same).

  In this way, when the glass roll production line arranged in the upper first production area is used and the glass sheet production line arranged in the lower second production area is not used, The glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus using the down draw method has a short distance until it reaches the direction changing portion. Therefore, it is difficult for the glass ribbon to sway and the guide roller becomes unnecessary. Therefore, by moving the guide roller to the retracted position and setting the standby state, the glass roll can be appropriately manufactured in the first manufacturing area without being disturbed by the guide roller.

  In the above case, the second production area in which the glass sheet production line is arranged can be arranged on the upper side of the first production area in which the glass roll production line is arranged. It is preferable to adopt such a configuration.

  That is, it is preferable that the cutting part is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the descending path from the glass ribbon descending to the first manufacturing area.

  In this way, when the glass sheet production line arranged in the upper second production area is used and the glass roll production line arranged in the lower first production area is not used, By holding the cutting portion at the regular position in the second manufacturing area, the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus using the downdraw method is appropriately cut while maintaining the vertical posture. On the other hand, when the glass roll production line arranged in the lower first production area is used without using the glass sheet production line arranged in the upper second production area, the upper side By moving the cutting part to the retracted position in the second manufacturing area and keeping it in the standby state, the glass roll can be appropriately manufactured without being interrupted by the cutting part.

  Moreover, it is preferable to arrange | position the guide roller which guides the fall of a glass ribbon above the direction change part and below a shaping | molding apparatus.

  In this case, when the glass roll production line arranged in the lower first production area is used without using the glass sheet production line arranged in the upper second production area. In this case, the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus by the downdraw method has a long distance to reach the direction changing portion disposed in the lower first manufacturing area. For this reason, the glass ribbon is likely to sway in the middle of the descent from the forming device to the direction changing part, but this sway is suppressed by the guide roller. Thereby, the direction of the glass ribbon is appropriately changed without being adversely affected by the shaking.

  In this case, it is preferable that the guide roller is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the glass sheet production line. Here, “does not interfere with the glass sheet production line” means that it does not interfere with each component constituting the glass sheet production line (hereinafter the same).

  In this way, when the glass sheet production line arranged in the upper second production area is used and the glass roll production line arranged in the lower first production area is not used, The glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus using the downdraw method has a short distance to reach the cutting portion disposed in the second manufacturing area. Therefore, it is difficult for the glass ribbon to sway and the guide roller becomes unnecessary. Therefore, by moving the guide roller to the retracted position and setting the standby state, the glass sheet can be appropriately manufactured on the second production line without being disturbed by the guide roller.

  In addition, the equipment according to the present invention, which was created to solve the above problems, is a glass roll production in which a glass ribbon is wound into a roll shape as a line for producing a glass article from a glass ribbon formed using a downdraw method. A glass sheet production line comprising a line and a glass sheet production line for cutting the glass ribbon into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction, wherein the first production area in which the glass roll production line is arranged, and the glass sheet production line The arranged second production area is divided into upper and lower parts, and a molding apparatus for forming a glass ribbon is shared by the glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line. It is characterized by having comprised so that it may be used alternatively.

  According to such a manufacturing facility, substantially the same operational effects as the glass article manufacturing method according to the present invention described at the beginning can be obtained.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to appropriately cope with small-scale and multi-product production such as electronic devices using a glass substrate, and it is possible to reduce the installation space of manufacturing equipment and reduce manufacturing costs. Figured.

It is a schematic side view which shows the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and the manufacturing equipment for implementing it. It is a schematic side view which shows the 1st example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a schematic side view which shows the 2nd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a schematic front view which shows the 2nd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a principal part schematic side view which shows the 2nd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a principal part schematic side view which shows the 3rd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a principal part schematic side view which shows the 3rd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a principal part schematic side view which shows the 3rd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a principal part schematic side view which shows the 3rd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a schematic side view which shows the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a schematic side view which shows the 1st example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, and it. It is a schematic side view which shows the 2nd example of the manufacturing equipment for implementing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, and it.

  Hereinafter, a manufacturing method of a glass article and manufacturing equipment for carrying out the method according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic side view showing a production facility for carrying out the method for producing a glass article according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the manufacturing facility 1 is roughly divided into a forming device 2, a glass roll manufacturing line 3, and a glass sheet manufacturing line 4. The forming apparatus 2 forms the glass ribbon 5 using an overflow downdraw method. The glass roll production line 3 changes the direction of the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 in the horizontal direction and winds it into a roll shape to produce a glass roll 6. The glass sheet production line 4 cuts the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction to produce a glass sheet (for example, a rectangular glass plate) 7.

  The glass roll production line 3 is arranged in the first production area 8, the glass sheet production line 4 is arranged in the second production area 9, and both the areas 8 and 9 are arranged separately in the vertical direction. . In the first embodiment, the first manufacturing area 8 is arranged above the second manufacturing area 9. In other words, the glass roll production line 3 is arranged on the first floor 10 on the upper floor, and the glass sheet production line 4 is arranged on the second floor 11 on the lower floor. And one of these lines 3 and 4 and the other are used alternatively.

  The molding apparatus 2 includes, in order from the top, a molded body 12 having a substantially wedge-shaped cross section, a cooling roller 13, an annealing roller 14 arranged in a plurality of upper and lower stages (upper and lower four stages in the example), and two upper and lower stages (even one stage). And first support rollers 15 arranged in a good manner. Among these, the molded body 12, the cooling roller 13, and the annealing roller 14 are accommodated in the internal space of the casing 18 that constitutes the molding furnace 16 and the slow cooling furnace 17. The cooling roller 13 suppresses shrinkage in the width direction while cooling the molten glass 19 overflowing and flowing down from the molded body 12. The annealing roller 14 guides the descent of the glass ribbon 5 that passes through the cooling roller 13 and is gradually cooled. The first support roller 15 is used for giving tension to the glass ribbon 5 that has passed through the annealing roller 14 and has come out below the casing 18. Note that the molding apparatus 2 including the above components is arranged on the upper end side floor 20 of the upper floor (for example, the uppermost floor) of the first manufacturing area 8.

  In this embodiment, the space between the upper end side floor 20 and the first floor 10 corresponds to the first manufacturing area 8, and the space between the first floor 10 and the second floor 11 corresponds to the second manufacturing area 9. It corresponds. Note that through holes 20 a and 10 a for allowing the descending glass ribbon 5 to pass are formed in the upper end floor 20 and the first floor 10, respectively.

  The glass roll production line 3 includes a direction changing unit 21 that changes the direction of the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming device 2 in the horizontal direction, a horizontal transfer unit 22 that transfers the glass ribbon 5 that has passed through the direction changing unit 21 in the horizontal direction, and And a winding unit 23 that winds the glass ribbon 5 conveyed in the lateral direction in a roll shape at the downstream end in the conveying direction. The direction changing unit 21 has a plurality of rollers 24 that support the glass ribbon 5 from below, and the plurality of rollers 24 are arranged in parallel so as to form a direction changing path that is smoothly curved in a concave shape. Thus, it is assembled to the housing 25. As for the housing | casing 25, upper direction and the front (the horizontal conveyance part 22 side) are open | released. And the direction conversion part 21 can be moved to a horizontal direction by mounting | wearing the wheel 26 with the lower part of the housing | casing 25. FIG. The wheel 26 is configured to roll at a position separated from the through hole 10a in the first floor 10.

  The glass sheet production line 4 includes a cutting unit 27 that cuts the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 at a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction while maintaining the vertical posture. The cutting portion 27 includes a chuck mechanism 28 arranged in a plurality of stages (two upper and lower stages in the example), and a scribe line that forms a scribe line along the width direction (direction perpendicular to the transport direction) with respect to the glass ribbon 5. It comprises a forming means (not shown) and a folding support member 29 that can come into contact with the glass ribbon 5 from the back side. The chuck mechanism 28 holds the glass ribbon 5 that has passed through the first manufacturing area 8 and reached the second manufacturing area 9 in a vertical posture. The scribe line forming means forms a scribe line on the glass ribbon 5 above the gripping portion by the chuck mechanism 28, and is constituted by a cutter (linearly moving blade or wheel cutter), a laser irradiator, or the like. The folding support member 29 is disposed above the chuck mechanism 28, and is between a contact position where the scribe line formation portion of the glass ribbon 5 is contacted from the back surface side and a retracted position where the glass ribbon 5 does not interfere with the descending path. It is possible to move with. Furthermore, above the cutting part 27, the 2nd support roller 30 for giving tension | tensile_strength etc. to the glass ribbon 5 is arranged in the upper and lower two steps (it may be one step). In addition, the cutting part 27 may perform laser cleaving using thermal stress.

  Next, a method for producing a glass article when the upper glass roll production line 3 is used and the lower glass sheet production line 4 is not used will be described with reference to FIG. The thickness of the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 to the glass roll production line 3 (the thickness of the glass ribbon 5 in the width direction central side region (product region)) is, for example, less than 200 μm.

  As shown in the figure, the glass ribbon 5 that has descended from the forming apparatus 2 and entered the first manufacturing area 8 is changed in the horizontal direction by the direction changing unit 21 held at the regular position, It is conveyed in the horizontal direction by the conveying unit 22. The lateral conveyance unit 22 is configured by interposing a plurality of support plates 33 between a first conveyor 31 on the upstream side in the conveyance direction and a second conveyor 32 on the downstream side in the conveyance direction. Then, as indicated by a chain line in the figure, an unnecessary glass ribbon (a glass piece or the like) is discarded through the open portion at the upper end by rotating the single support plate 33 with the upper end as a fulcrum. Moreover, the thick part (what is called an ear | edge part thicker than the center side area | region of the width direction) 5a currently formed in the width direction both ends of the glass ribbon 5 is the upper position of the conveyance direction downstream part of the horizontal conveyance part 22. The laser is cleaved and discarded by the cutting means 34 installed in the. The cutting means 34 performs laser cleaving by using thermal stress generated by the laser 35 and the refrigerant 36. Then, the glass ribbon 5 that has passed through the lateral conveyance unit 22 is wound around the winding core 39 in a roll shape while being stacked on the protective sheet 38 that is unwound from the sheet roll 37 in the winding unit 23. In this case, when the winding amount of the glass ribbon 5 reaches the required amount, the glass ribbon 5 and the protective sheet 38 are cut along the width direction, and the glass roll 6 having the required winding radius is obtained.

  On the other hand, in the second manufacturing area 9 on the lower floor, the cutting unit 27 constituted by the chuck mechanism 28, the scribe line forming means and the folding support member 29, and the second support roller 30 are in a standby state at predetermined positions. It is in. In this case, it is preferable that the constituent elements 28 and 29 of the cutting portion 27 stand by at retracted positions that do not interfere with the descending path of the glass ribbon 5 that descends through the through hole 10a of the first floor 10.

  Although details will be described later, in this embodiment, a plurality of guide rollers 40 are arranged in the first manufacturing area 8, and these guide rollers 40 interfere with the glass roll manufacturing line 3 (particularly the direction changing portion 21). It is in a state of waiting at the retracted position.

  In this state, after the required number of glass rolls 6 are manufactured, the glass sheet production line 4 arranged in the second production area 9 on the lower floor is used as shown in FIG. The glass roll production line 3 arranged in the first production area 8 on the floor is changed to a state where it is not used. Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the glass article at the time of this change is demonstrated. In addition, the thickness of the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 to the glass sheet production line 4 (thickness in the width direction central side region (product region) of the glass ribbon 5) is, for example, 200 μm or more.

  As shown in the figure, in this usage mode after the change, the direction changing section 21 of the glass roll production line 3 moves to a retracted position that does not interfere with the descending path of the glass ribbon 5 descending from the forming apparatus 2 and is in a standby state. It is said. Then, the glass ribbon 5 reaching the second manufacturing area 9 on the lower floor from the forming device 2 passes through the second support roller 30 and further descends, and the chuck mechanism 28, the scribe line forming means, the folding support member 29 is cut to a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction.

  Specifically, in this usage mode, as shown in FIG. 4, since the distance from the forming device 2 to the second manufacturing area 9 becomes long, the glass ribbon 5 reaches the cutting portion 27 before the glass ribbon. 5 is likely to be shaken. Therefore, the guide roller 40 that guides the lowering of the glass ribbon 5 to the upper region of the cutting unit 27 and the lower side of the molding apparatus 2 (in this embodiment, the first manufacturing area 8) includes a plurality of upper and lower stages (in the illustrated example). (3 steps). These guide rollers 40 are movable between a lowering guide position indicated by a solid line in FIG. 4 and a retracted position indicated by a chain line in FIG. 4 (positions separated on both sides from the lowering path of the glass ribbon 5). In this embodiment, the above-described shaking that may occur in the glass ribbon 5 is appropriately suppressed by the synergistic effect of the guide roller 40 and the second support roller 30.

  The chuck mechanism 28 arranged in the second manufacturing area 9 has one end and the other end in the width direction of the glass ribbon 5 at a plurality of positions in the vertical direction (in the illustrated example, two positions in the vertical direction). For a total of four locations). The folding support member 29 is a rod-shaped body, and both ends in the longitudinal direction protrude from both ends in the width direction of the glass ribbon 5. The glass ribbon 5 is gripped by the chuck mechanism 28 when lowered to a predetermined position, and a scribe line is formed along the width direction by the scribe line forming means. In this case, the chuck mechanism 28 descends following the lowering of the glass ribbon 5, and the scribe line forming means moves so as to incline downward with respect to the width direction of the glass ribbon 5 while lowering the glass ribbon 5. Follow and descend.

  Then, when the lower end of the glass ribbon 5 reaches a predetermined position, as shown in FIG. 5, the folding support member 29 comes into contact with the back side of the scribe line 41, and the chuck mechanism 28 uses the contact part as a fulcrum. By rotating the glass ribbon 5, folding along the width direction is performed, and a rectangular glass sheet 7 is obtained. The rectangular glass sheet 7 is conveyed in the thickness direction (arrow A direction) of the glass sheet 7 by the chuck mechanism 28 as shown by a chain line in FIG. . Thereafter, the rectangular glass sheet 7 is moved by the suspension member 42 to a position where it does not interfere with the descending path of the glass ribbon 5 along the surface direction (arrow B direction) of the glass sheet 7 as shown in FIG. Be transported. Thereafter, the rectangular glass sheet 7 is cut by folding along a pair of scribe lines 43 formed along the vertical direction. As a result, both ends 7a in the width direction of the rectangular glass sheet 7 are cut and removed, and a glass sheet 7b that is the basis of the product is obtained. Such an operation is repeatedly performed as the glass ribbon 5 descends, and as a result, a plurality of glass sheets 7b that are the basis of the product are obtained.

  When such a usage mode is changed to the above-described usage mode shown in FIG. 2, the following method is performed.

  That is, as shown in FIG. 6, a pair of scratched portions 44 for scratching the glass ribbon 5 at the start of molding the glass ribbon 5 is assembled to the casing 25 of the direction changing portion 21. These scratched portions 44 are kept waiting at a retracted position (for example, a retracted position spaced apart from both ends in the width direction of the glass ribbon 5) except during the damage. In this embodiment, the scratched portion 44 is a wheel cutter using a diamond tip, but may be a carbide blade, a file, sandpaper, or a device such as a laser irradiator. Good.

  And in the state where direction changing part 21 is waiting at the retreat position shown in Drawing 6, when forming device 2 starts forming glass ribbon 5, until shape of glass ribbon 5 becomes stable, The glass ribbon 5 is continuously lowered from the molding apparatus 2. Thereby, the lower end part of the glass ribbon 5 descends between the direction changing part 21 and the horizontal conveying part 22, and then enters the second manufacturing area 9 through the through hole 10 a provided in the first floor 10. To do.

  After entering such a state, as shown in FIG. 7, the direction changing unit 21 is moved from the retracted position to the lateral conveyance unit 22 side (regular position side). At this time, the glass ribbon 5 is injured from the side of the lateral conveying unit 22 by the injured unit 44. In this case, one of the damaged portions 44 of the pair damages one end portion (one ear portion) in the width direction of the glass ribbon 5, and the other damaged portion 44 is in the width direction of the glass ribbon 5 or the like. The end (the other ear) is injured.

  In the example shown in the figure, the scratched portion 44 is disposed opposite to the lowermost roller 24 of the direction changing portion 21 at the time of scratching. However, if a certain level of support force can be obtained from the lowermost roller 24. In the case of an injury, the damaged portion 44 may be displaced upward or downward from the position facing the lowermost roller 24. The lowermost roller 24 of the direction conversion unit 21 is located on the most distal side in the moving direction of the direction conversion unit 21 among the plurality of rollers 24 of the direction conversion unit 21.

  Then, by continuously moving the direction changing unit 21 to the side of the horizontal conveying unit 22, the lowermost roller 24 of the direction changing unit 21 comes into contact with the glass ribbon 5 as shown in FIG. A pressing force is applied to the ribbon 5. As a result, the glass ribbon 5 is cut in the width direction by being cracked by a pressing force, starting from the site scratched by the scratched portion 44.

  Furthermore, by moving the direction changing unit 21 to the side of the horizontal conveying unit 22, the upper part of the cut part of the glass ribbon 5 is supported from the lower side by the plurality of rollers 24. The direction changing unit 21 reaches the normal position while maintaining the above. It should be noted that the speed at which the direction changing unit 21 moves from the retracted position to the regular position is greater after the wound portion 44 is wound than before the wound portion 44 scratches the glass ribbon 5.

  After that, as shown in FIG. 9, a portion corresponding to the cut portion by breaking the glass ribbon 5 is introduced onto the lateral conveyance unit 22 (first conveyor 31) by driving its own weight or the first support roller 15. (Transfer) will be. And the site | part corresponded to the cutting | disconnection location by folding of the glass ribbon 5 advances to the conveyance direction downstream end of the horizontal conveyance part 22, and the normal driving | operation of the glass roll manufacturing line 3 demonstrated in FIG. 2 is started. In addition, the manufacturing equipment 1 illustrated here is a notch portion (a notch portion) for allowing the glass ribbon 5 to enter the housing 25 in a vertical posture on the bottom wall portion 25a of the housing 25 that is a component of the direction changing section 21. (Missing part) 25x is formed. Therefore, the manufacturing equipment 1 is compared with the manufacturing equipment 1 shown in FIG. 2 and the like described above, and the lateral conveying section 22 (first conveyor 31) is placed in the casing 25 of the direction changing section 21 at the normal position. Although a part will enter, the substantial structure is the same as the manufacturing equipment 1 described above.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention, and the manufacturing equipment for implementing the method are demonstrated.

  FIG. 10: is a schematic side view which shows the manufacturing equipment for enforcing the manufacturing method of the glass article which concerns on 2nd embodiment of this invention. The manufacturing facility 1 according to the second embodiment is mainly different from the manufacturing facility according to the first embodiment described above in that the first manufacturing area 8 in which the glass roll manufacturing lines 3 are arranged is a glass sheet manufacturing. It is the point arrange | positioned under the 2nd manufacturing area 9 in which the line 4 was arranged. Therefore, in the following description, the same reference numerals are given to the components common to the first embodiment, and the detailed description thereof is omitted.

  In the second embodiment, the space between the upper end side floor 20 and the first floor 10 corresponds to the second manufacturing area 9, and the space between the first floor 10 and the second floor 11 is the first. This corresponds to the manufacturing area 8.

  FIG. 11 illustrates a method for manufacturing a glass article when the upper floor glass sheet manufacturing line 4 is used and the lower floor glass roll manufacturing line 3 is not used.

  As shown in the figure, the glass ribbon 5 descending from the molding apparatus 2 and reaching the second manufacturing area 9 on the upper floor is composed of a chuck mechanism 28, a scribe line forming means, and a folding support member 29. A rectangular glass sheet is obtained by being cut into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction by the cutting portion 27. The operation of the cutting unit 27 in this case is the same as that in the first embodiment described above. Moreover, the operation | movement which cuts and removes the both ends of the width direction of this rectangular glass sheet 7 by folding is also the same as the above-mentioned 1st embodiment.

  In this case, since the distance from the glass ribbon 5 to the second manufacturing area 9 is short, the glass ribbon 5 is not easily shaken. Therefore, the guide roller 40 is in a standby state at a retracted position that does not interfere with the descending path of the glass ribbon 5.

  On the other hand, in the first production area 8 on the lower floor, each component of the glass roll production line 3 stands by at a predetermined position. In the second embodiment, the direction changing unit 21 is configured by a plurality of rollers 24 and is not assembled to the housing 25. However, if necessary, the direction changing unit 21 has the same configuration as that of the first embodiment described above. Also good.

  FIG. 12 illustrates a method for manufacturing a glass article when the glass roll manufacturing line 3 on the lower floor is used and the glass sheet manufacturing line 4 on the upper floor is not used.

  As shown in the figure, the glass ribbon 5 descending from the molding apparatus 2 and reaching the second manufacturing area 9 on the upper floor is guided by guide rollers 40 arranged in a plurality of stages in order to prevent shaking. Descend. In this case, the glass sheet production line 4 (particularly, the cutting portion 27 constituted by the chuck mechanism 28, the scribe line forming means, and the folding support member 29) is in a standby state at a retracted position that does not interfere with all the guide rollers 40. It is in.

  On the other hand, in the first manufacturing area 8 on the lower floor, the glass ribbon 5 that descends through the through hole 10a of the first floor 10 is changed in the horizontal direction by the direction changing unit 21, and then taken up by the winding unit 23. The glass roll 6 is obtained by winding in roll shape. The operation for obtaining the glass roll 6 in the glass roll production line 3 in this case is the same as that in the first embodiment. In this case as well, the distance from the glass ribbon 5 to the direction changing unit 21 becomes longer because the glass ribbon 5 becomes longer, so that the glass ribbon 5 is likely to be shaken. And the second support roller 30 are restrained by a synergistic effect.

  According to the above embodiment, since one and the other of the glass roll production line 3 and the glass sheet production line 4 are used alternatively, the glass sheet 7 is produced after producing the necessary number of glass rolls 6. It is possible to repeatedly produce only the necessary quantity. For this reason, it is possible to appropriately cope with a small variety of products such as electronic devices using a glass substrate. In detail, if a glass article is manufactured with only one line, when changing the thickness of the glass ribbon, an apparatus required for manufacturing a glass roll and an apparatus required for manufacturing a glass sheet are provided. There is a case where troublesome and complicated work such as replacement is required. However, if the glass roll production line 3 and the glass sheet production line 4 are alternatively used as in the above-described embodiment, such a problem is hardly caused, and as described above, a small amount of an electronic device or the like is small. It will be able to cope with multi-product production appropriately.

  And in the above embodiment, since the shaping | molding apparatus 2 is shared by the glass roll manufacturing line 3 and the glass sheet manufacturing line 4, the manufacturing equipment 1 is simplified and the manufacturing cost is also reduced. In addition, in the above embodiment, the 1st manufacturing area 8 in which the glass roll manufacturing line 3 was arranged, and the 2nd manufacturing area 9 in which the glass sheet manufacturing line 4 was arranged are divided and arrange | positioned up and down. Therefore, in combination with the sharing of the molding apparatus 2 described above, the installation space of the production facility 1 can be reduced, and the production cost of the production facility 1 can also be reduced.

  Moreover, if the 1st manufacturing area 8 in which the glass roll manufacturing line 3 was arranged is arrange | positioned above the 2nd manufacturing area 9 in which the glass sheet manufacturing line 4 was arranged like said 1st embodiment, it will descend | fall. Since the direction changing part 21 for performing the complicated action of changing the direction of the glass ribbon 5 in the horizontal direction does not move away from the forming apparatus 2, it is advantageous in manufacturing the high-quality glass roll 6.

  In the first and second embodiments described above, the glass ribbon 5 is formed using the overflow downdraw method. However, the glass ribbon 5 is formed using another downdraw such as a slot downdraw method or a redraw method. 5 may be formed.

  Moreover, in the above 1st and 2nd embodiment, although the thickness of the glass ribbon 5 in the glass roll manufacturing line 3 is made smaller than the thickness of the glass ribbon 5 in the glass sheet manufacturing line 4, both of these The thickness relationship may be reversed, or both thicknesses may be the same.

  Further, the specific configurations of the horizontal conveyance unit 22 that is a component of the glass roll production line 3 and the cutting unit 27 that is a component of the glass sheet production line 4 are described in the first and second embodiments. It is not necessarily limited to matters, and various variations are possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass article manufacturing equipment 2 Molding device 3 Glass roll manufacturing line 4 Glass sheet manufacturing line 5 Glass ribbon 6 Glass roll 7 Glass sheet 8 First manufacturing area 9 Second manufacturing area 21 Direction changing unit 22 Horizontal transport unit 24 Roller 25 Body 27 Cutting unit 40 Guide roller

Claims (12)

As a line for producing a glass article from a glass ribbon formed using the downdraw method, a glass roll production line for winding the glass ribbon into a roll shape, and a glass sheet production for cutting the glass ribbon into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction A method of manufacturing a glass article using a line,
A first manufacturing area in which the glass roll production line is arranged and a second production area in which the glass sheet production line is arranged are arranged in a vertical manner, and a molding device for molding the glass ribbon, The glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line are used in common, and one and the other of these lines are alternatively used.   In the first manufacturing area, a direction changing portion for changing the direction of the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus in the lateral direction is arranged, and in the second manufacturing area, the glass ribbon descending from the forming apparatus is elongated in a vertical posture. The method for producing a glass article according to claim 1, further comprising a cutting portion that cuts in a predetermined length in the direction.   The direction changing portion has a plurality of rollers arranged in parallel so as to form a direction changing path that supports the glass ribbon from the lower side and is curved in a concave shape, and these rollers are assembled to the housing. The manufacturing method of the glass article of Claim 2 characterized by the above-mentioned.   The method for manufacturing a glass article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the first manufacturing area is arranged above the second manufacturing area.   5. The glass article according to claim 4, wherein the direction changing unit is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with a descending path from the glass ribbon descending to the second manufacturing area. Production method.   The method for producing a glass article according to claim 4 or 5, wherein a guide roller for guiding the lowering of the glass ribbon is disposed above the cutting portion and below the molding device.   The method for producing a glass article according to claim 6, wherein the guide roller is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the glass roll production line.   The method for manufacturing a glass article according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second manufacturing area is arranged above the first manufacturing area.   9. The glass article manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein the cutting portion is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with a descending path from the glass ribbon descending to the first manufacturing area. Method.   The method for manufacturing a glass article according to claim 8 or 9, wherein a guide roller for guiding the lowering of the glass ribbon is disposed above the direction changing portion and below the molding device. .   The method for manufacturing a glass article according to claim 10, wherein the guide roller is movable to a retracted position that does not interfere with the glass sheet manufacturing line. As a line for producing a glass article from a glass ribbon formed using the downdraw method, a glass roll production line for winding the glass ribbon into a roll shape, and a glass sheet production for cutting the glass ribbon into a predetermined length in the longitudinal direction A glass article manufacturing facility comprising a line,
A first manufacturing area in which the glass roll production line is arranged and a second production area in which the glass sheet production line is arranged are arranged in a vertical manner, and a molding device for molding the glass ribbon, The glass roll production line and the glass sheet production line are used in common, and one or the other of these lines is alternatively used.

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