JP3966545B2 - Glass base material drawing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a glass preform stretching apparatus that heats and stretches a large-diameter glass preform to a predetermined outer diameter to obtain a glass rod having a constant outer diameter (for example, an optical fiber preform).
[0002]
[Prior art]
As the demand for optical fiber for communication has increased in recent years, the glass base material itself has become larger and heavier as the production volume of optical fiber glass base material has increased. It has become to. For this reason, trolleys, overhead transport cranes, and the like are used for transporting glass base materials.
[0003]
On the other hand, with the increase in the size of the glass base material, the scale and number of production facilities have been increased. For this reason, the installation position of the production equipment in the building, the position where the glass base material is supplied, the position where the stretching state is managed, the position where the stretched glass rod is accommodated, etc. are positions far apart from each other in terms of space. It is coming.
However, in order to manage the process with a small number of personnel in order to rationalize productivity and save labor, it is more efficient to operate multiple units simultaneously.
[0004]
In order to operate multiple units at the same time under such circumstances, if a large number of glass base material stretching devices are installed in one building, the glass base material is transported by an overhead transport crane, etc. When loading is performed, naturally the conveyance and loading operations to other glass base material stretching apparatuses are restricted. For this reason, it is not possible to perform parallel work with a plurality of apparatuses using an overhead conveying crane, and as a result, the time required for loading the glass base material into the stretching apparatus increases due to the increase in size of the glass base material. It was.
[0005]
In addition, overhead cranes are originally intended for lifting heavy objects and moving them to other locations, and transporting the glass base material to the stretching device and accurately positioning and loading it. It was not a device.
For this reason, it is necessary to perform final positioning by human power, workability is poor, and work time is increased.
[0006]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In view of the above circumstances, the present invention specializes the function of an overhead carrying crane in conveying a glass base material, and the loading of the glass base material into the stretching apparatus does not depend on the operating conditions of other stretching apparatuses. The present invention provides a glass base material stretching device that is provided with a mechanism that can be used at all times, further simplifies or eliminates the positioning work when loading the glass base material, improves the operating rate of the stretching device, and increases the productivity. It is an issue.
[0007]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The glass base material stretching device of the present invention includes a transport device that transports a glass base material to a plurality of glass base material stretching devices, a glass base material storage mechanism attached to the stretching device, and a heating furnace of the stretching device. A glass base material storage section disposed above; a supply mechanism for supplying the glass base material to a heating furnace of the stretching apparatus; and a take-up mechanism for pulling the stretched glass base material. It has an arm that has a latching part that grips or latches the base material, and a mechanism that rotates and moves the arm up and down. The glass base material is hooked on the arm latching part and transported to the glass base material storage part. It is characterized by doing.
The hooking portion of the arm may be, for example, a U-shaped notch that is open at one end.
[0008]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Although an example of the glass base material extending | stretching apparatus of this invention is demonstrated in detail based on FIGS. 1-4, this invention is not limited to these.
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing the entire glass base material stretching apparatus of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a glass base material is hooked on a hook portion of an arm, and FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a loading state of the glass base material into the glass base material storage portion. FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a transport state of the glass base material by the overhead transport crane.
[0009]
The stretching apparatus includes a heating furnace 1 that heats and softens the glass base material, a glass base material storage portion 2 provided above the glass base material, a supply mechanism 3 that supplies the glass base material into the heating furnace 1, and a stretched glass base material. It has a take-up mechanism 4 for taking up the material, and a glass base material storage mechanism 6 is attached to a frame 5 of the apparatus via a guide rail 7.
An arm 8 is attached to the storage mechanism 6, and operations such as gripping, hanging, and hooking the glass base material via a latching portion provided on the arm 8 can be performed.
[0010]
The glass base material 9 is hooked and hung by, for example, a hooking portion 10 of the arm shown in FIG. Next, the height is adjusted by the vertical movement mechanism of the storage mechanism unit 6, and the arm 8 is rotated and conveyed into the glass base material storage unit 2. Furthermore, after adjusting the position of the arm 8 and aligning the axis of the glass base material 9 with the axis of the heating furnace 1, the glass base material 9 is attached to the support member 12 attached to the supply mechanism 3. Thereafter, the arm 8 is rotated back to the original position.
[0011]
The vertical movement mechanism of the glass base material storage mechanism 6 shown in FIG. 1 is configured to move the storage mechanism 6 up and down along the guide rail 7 attached to the frame 5. The storage mechanism 6 may be fixed to the frame 5 and the arm 8 may be moved up and down by a hydraulic cylinder or the like. In FIG. 1, the storage mechanism unit 6 is attached to the frame 5 of the stretching device. However, the storage mechanism unit 6 may be separated from the stretching device and provided separately near the glass base material storage unit 2.
[0012]
The structure of the latching portion 10 provided at the tip of the arm 8 is simple and preferable if it is formed of a U-shaped notch with one end open, but instead, the latching portion 10 of the arm 8 is opened and closed around the axis. Then, it may be configured to be latched or gripped.
The glass base material storage unit 2 is opened and closed by a hinge or the like when the glass base material is loaded. FIG. 2 shows a closed state and FIG. 3 shows an open state.
In the glass base material stretching apparatus of the present invention, a heating furnace for heating and softening the glass base material, a glass base material storage unit, a supply mechanism for supplying the glass base material, a glass rod take-up mechanism, and the like are used. can do.
[0013]
【Example】
Example 1
First, as shown in FIG. 4, the glass base material is transported by the overhead transport crane 13 along the guide 14 to the vicinity of the glass base material storage mechanism portion attached to the stretching device. At this time, the storage mechanism is moved so that the tip of the arm is positioned slightly lower than the lower surface of the protrusion at the upper end of the glass base material. If the height of the overhead carrying crane 13 and the height position of the storage mechanism in such a state are detected by a sensor or the like and these positions are stored in the control device, the subsequent glass base material is transferred / transferred. This is advantageous because the replacement can be performed quickly.
[0014]
Next, the arm 16 attached to the actuator 15 is operated, and the upper end of the glass base material is placed on the U-shaped notch 10 (see FIG. 1) of the arm 8 on the storage mechanism 6 side as shown in FIG. Is inserted. Then, the storage mechanism unit 6 is moved slightly upward to receive the glass base material 9 from the arm 16 of the overhead carrying crane 13 to the arm 8 on the storage mechanism unit 6 side. After the delivery is completed, the overhead transport crane 13 rotates the actuator 15 away from the glass base material 9 and is returned to a predetermined position while confirming safety and the like.
[0015]
Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the arm 8 is rotated to move the glass base material 9 into the glass base material storage portion 2, the position of the arm 8 is adjusted, and the axis of the glass base material 9 is adjusted to the heating furnace 1. After that, the supply mechanism 3 (see FIG. 1) that has been retracted in the horizontal direction during this time is returned to its original position, and the upper end of the glass base material 9 and the front end of the support member 12 of the stretching device are coaxial. While confirming the presence, the supply mechanism 3 is lowered and the glass base material 9 is set on the support member 12. When it is confirmed that the glass base material 9 has been received by the support member 12, the arm 8 of the storage mechanism 6 is rotated and returned to the original position.
[0016]
The loaded glass base material 9 is fed into the heating furnace 1 by the supply mechanism 3, heated and softened, and drawn into a glass rod having a predetermined diameter.
After confirming that the drawing was completed and the inside of the heating furnace 1 was sufficiently cooled, the glass base material storage part 2 at the top of the heating furnace was opened, and the support member 12 attached to the supply mechanism 3 was moved upward, If an unnecessary portion after the stretching process is hooked on this, it is removed and prepared for the loading of the glass base material 9 of the next lot.
[0017]
While the glass base material 9 is being stretched, the glass base material 9 of the next lot is transported in advance to the storage mechanism unit 6 installed in contact with or near the stretching device according to the above procedure, and the arm of the storage mechanism unit 6 By being hooked on 8, it is possible to shorten the transport / loading time.
In this embodiment, when the glass base material is loaded, the supply mechanism 3 is retracted in the horizontal direction in order to avoid interference between the arm 8 of the storage mechanism unit 6 and the support member 12. It is good also as a structure made to evacuate upward.
[0018]
【The invention's effect】
According to the present invention, since the glass base material can be transported by the overhead transport crane regardless of the operating state of the stretching apparatus, the stretching apparatus can be stored in parallel even during the glass base material stretching process. The next lot of glass base material can be loaded into the mechanism section. Furthermore, even when the glass base material is sequentially supplied to a plurality of stretching apparatuses, the usage time of the overhead transport crane does not increase the preparation time for stretching.
In this way, the parallel processing of the glass base material stretching process and the preparation of the next lot of glass base material becomes possible, so that the glass base material is loaded, the heating furnace is heated, stretched, the heating furnace is cooled, and The loading time can be shortened in a series of steps of loading the glass base material of the next lot.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing an overall view of a glass base material stretching apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a schematic explanatory view showing a state in which a glass base material is hooked on a hook portion of an arm in the glass base material stretching apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a schematic explanatory view showing a loading state of a glass base material into a glass base material storage unit in the glass base material stretching apparatus of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a schematic explanatory view showing a transport state of a glass base material by an overhead transport crane.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 heating furnace,
2 Glass base material storage,
3 supply mechanism,
4 Pick-up mechanism,
5 frames,
6 Storage mechanism,
7 Guide rail,
8 arms,
9 Glass base material,
10 Hook,
11 protrusions,
12 support members,
13 Overhead transport crane,
14 guides,
15 Actuator,
16 arms.

Claims (2)

A conveying device that conveys the glass base material to a plurality of glass base material stretching devices, a glass base material storage mechanism attached to the stretching device, and a glass base material storage disposed above the heating furnace of the stretching device And a supply mechanism for supplying the glass base material to the heating furnace of the stretching apparatus, and a take-up mechanism for picking up the stretched glass base material, and the storage mechanism section is a latch for holding or latching the glass base material A glass base material, characterized in that it has an arm having a portion and a mechanism for rotating and moving the arm up and down, and the glass base material is hooked on a hook portion of the arm and conveyed to a glass base material storage portion apparatus.   The glass base material stretching apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the hooking portion of the arm is formed of a U-shaped notch having one end opened.

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