JP4222849B2 - Automatic loading system of glass sheet into bending furnace - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
In the manufacturing process of curved glass plates for vehicles and industrial use, the present invention takes out flat glass plates stacked vertically on a pallet one by one, and on a conveying line into a bending heating furnace such as a gas hearth furnace. It relates to equipment that automatically puts it at high speed.
[0002]
[Prior art]
When bending and strengthening window glass for vehicles such as automobiles, various bending methods are used depending on the size and shape of the glass plate. However, especially when producing side window glass, the production efficiency is very high. A glass plate bending furnace called a high gas hearth furnace is often used.
[0003]
The glass plate bending method using the gas hearth furnace is a method of raising the glass plate by allowing compressed air or gas to be ejected from numerous holes provided on the upper surface of a fireproof hearth bed slightly inclined and curved. The glass plate is bent and strengthened by transporting the inside of the heating and bending furnace while abutting and supporting the lower end side of the glass plate that floats with a support bracket called a flight fixed to a conveyance chain provided near the side of the bed. The production capacity (called tact) is a very high speed of around 3 seconds at the maximum.
[0004]
The supply of the glass plate into the gas hearth furnace is taken out one by one from the glass plate in the front row of a plurality of glass plates stacked in a vertical posture on a pallet, etc., on the transfer table of the gas hearth furnace input section. It is necessary to transfer and supply the glass plate to supply the glass plate so that a predetermined position of the glass plate comes into contact with the flight fixed to the transport chain.
[0005]
Further, the gas hearth furnace can be manufactured at a very high speed as described above, and even if it is attempted to secure the manufacturing tact and supply the glass plate at a speed synchronized with the manufacturing tact, the gas hearth furnace is loaded in a vertical position on the pallet. It is difficult in terms of speed to perform the process of taking out only the frontmost glass plate from the plurality of glass plate groups and transferring it to a predetermined position on the conveyor with high positional accuracy.
[0006]
As a cause of these speed reductions, if one sheet is taken out at a high speed from the frontmost glass plate of a plurality of glass plates stacked in a vertical position on a pallet or the like, the space between the glass plates is temporarily reduced. When the first glass plate is taken out due to the phenomenon of blocking that the glass plates adhere to each other due to negative pressure, the second glass plate is also dragged, so this blocking must not be generated. The points that must be positioned in order to make the glass plate contact precisely with a predetermined flight for transportation, and the point where the glass plate abuts with a predetermined position of a flight that is moved by the transportation chain. The points are sequentially performed.
Conventionally, since it has been difficult to automate these operations, a plurality of workers have manually removed a glass plate from a pallet and set it into a flight.
[0007]
Further, as an apparatus for taking out glass plates one by one from a pallet and transferring them as they are to a conveyor, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 7-61597 filed by the present applicant, the sheet is placed on a pallet with a slip sheet interposed therebetween. A glass plate transfer device is disclosed that is sucked and supported from the front row of a plurality of glass plates and delivered to another device such as a conveyor (Patent Document 1).
[0008]
Furthermore, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-35150, a moving base that can be moved back and forth is provided on a fixed base, and a lateral turning drive shaft is provided on the moving base. A swivel arm means swiveling around this axis in conjunction with the swivel displacement is installed, and the swivel arm means is provided with a plurality of plate glass suction pads in the same direction, and the suction at the beginning of the swivel drive shaft entering swivel. There is disclosed a plate glass insertion device having a configuration in which a displacement generating mechanism for displacing a pad for use in an obliquely upward direction substantially along the suction surface is provided (Patent Document 2).
[0009]
On the other hand, as an apparatus for positioning a glass plate, for example, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-296435 related to a previous application by the present applicant, a deformed glass is placed in a horizontal posture on a support base that is slidable in a horizontal direction. The support table is tilted in the X-axis and Y-axis directions, the deformed glass is brought to the corner portion on the lower end side by the tilt on the support table, and brought into contact with stoppers provided on two sides sandwiching the corner. A method for positioning a deformed glass is disclosed, and further includes sliding means for allowing the deformed glass plate to slide on the support base, and one end of the X axis and Y axis of the support base. Inclining means that makes the side slightly tilted upward and facilitates sliding of the deformed glass plate, vertical and horizontal side abutting plate materials sandwiching the corner portion that became the lower end side of the support base due to the inclination, and provided in the vicinity of the plate material Stock Positioning device of profiled glass, characterized in that the profiled glass plate sliding consisting chromatography equipped with abutting sides abutment means is disclosed (Patent Document 3).
[0010]
Similarly, as an apparatus for positioning a glass plate, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-247594 filed by the present applicant, the roll is attached to one edge on the surface of an air table with a roll conveyor that jets and floats an irregularly shaped glass plate A reference pusher that protrudes in the transverse direction toward the center of the glass plate, contacts with the end face of the glass plate, and has a stopper serving as a reference position, and a horizontal beam of a pedestal installed on the air table at a position opposite to the reference pusher. A transverse pusher provided with a disk-shaped or rectangular plate-shaped abutting member that protrudes in the transverse direction and presses the end face of the glass plate at the lower end of the rod hanging from a traversable pedestal by the provided reciprocating means; The transverse pusher is sandwiched and separated from the conveying direction of the conveyor, and is suspended from a bracket that is reciprocally traversed by a back-and-forth moving means attached to the transverse beam. In the deformed glass positioning device provided with a pair of swivel pushers composed of the reciprocating means, there is provided a turning means for placing the reciprocating means on the bracket and horizontally turning the reciprocating means. A deformed glass positioning device has been disclosed (Patent Document 4).
[0011]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-61597 [Patent Document 2]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-35150 [Patent Document 3]
JP 2000-296435 A [Patent Document 4]
JP-A-6-247594 gazette
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The thing of the said patent document 1 is for the slip sheet at the same time it adsorbs and takes out the glass plate one by one with the suction pad for the glass plate from the glass plate leaned in a state where the slip sheet is sandwiched between the glass plates. Since the slip sheet is also sucked and removed by suction with the suction pad, it takes time to remove the slip sheet inserted between the glass plates, and the glass plate must be supplied at a high speed like a gas hearth furnace. It is difficult in tact when using it.
[0013]
Further, the one described in Patent Document 2 adsorbs the plate glass adsorbed by the displacement generating means composed of parallel links after adsorbing the uppermost layer of the group of plate glasses standing in a stacked manner on the glass stand. In this case, the suction pad is slid obliquely upward with respect to the plate glass immediately below, and the separation of adhesion between the uppermost plate glass and the plate glass directly below along the suction surface is promoted and transferred.
[0014]
However, in the case of the invention described in Patent Document 2, since the glass plate is slid obliquely upward to make it easy for air to naturally enter the gaps between the glass plates, the air at the start of slide movement enters. A certain amount of time is required until separation, and if the glass plate is taken out faster, separation may not be possible.
[0015]
Further, in the above-mentioned Patent Document 3, when positioning the glass plate, the air table is inclined in the X-axis and Y-axis directions and the glass plate is moved by its own weight, and the glass plate is orthogonal to the lower side of the air table. The glass plate after positioning can be brought into contact with the stopper because it is positioned by contacting the positioning stoppers provided on the two sides. This is a case where positioning is performed in the middle, and each time a single glass plate is positioned, there is a problem that it takes time to position the glass plate, for example, by temporarily stopping the glass plate and requiring the air table to be inclined.
[0016]
Further, the one disclosed in Patent Document 4 relates to a glass plate positioning device having an irregular shape used for a vehicle door glass or the like, and floats a flat glass plate on an air table. The positioning is performed by pressing the side or corner of the glass plate from the direction of each side of the glass plate with a pusher, and there is no problem with the positioning device of the invention of Patent Document 4. However, when the invention of Patent Document 4 is applied to a positioning device that must be a support member having play due to a pusher that presses one side of the glass plate being attached to the transport chain, a positioning operation is performed. However, there is a problem that the glass plate cannot always be brought into contact with the flight for transporting the gas hearth furnace.
[0017]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The present invention is intended to solve the above-mentioned problems, that is, one by one from a glass plate laminated in a vertical position on a pallet, and applied at high speed to a flight for conveying a glass plate bending furnace such as a gas hearth furnace. It aims at being able to supply a glass plate so that it may touch.
[0018]
That is, the present invention is a facility for automatically and continuously feeding glass plates into a glass plate heating bending furnace, and transferring the frontmost glass plates from a plurality of glass plates stacked vertically on a pallet for transfer. Transfer means supported by suction with a pad and transferred onto the positioning table; position detecting means for detecting the position coordinates of the glass plate on the positioning table; and position coordinates and reference position coordinates of the glass plate on the positioning table; Based on the difference information, comprising a supply means for transferring the glass plate from the positioning table to a predetermined position on the conveyance table while correcting the position of the glass plate,
The supply means places the glass plate placed on the positioning table in a floating state on a transfer table that blows air from the upper surface by a suction pad for supply provided on the supply hand of the supply means. And a glass plate that is levitated by the air blown from the conveyance table is set so as to abut on the flight provided on the conveyance chain, and the glass plate group placed on the pallet is the Simultaneously perform operations to take out the glass plate in the front row and move the glass plate on the positioning table to the predetermined position on the transfer table while simultaneously imaging the glass plate on the positioning table with the position detection camera. This is a system for automatically putting a glass plate into a bending furnace.
[0019]
Alternatively, the present invention provides flight detection means for detecting the positions of a plurality of flights that support the glass plate on the transfer table and transfer it into the furnace, and that the glass plate comes into contact with the plurality of flights. This is a system for automatically feeding a glass plate into the bending furnace described above.
[0020]
Alternatively, the present invention provides separation means for separating the frontmost glass plates in advance from a plurality of glass plates laminated in a vertical posture on the pallet, and the separation means is provided in the frontmost row of the glass plates and each of the second glass plates. When air from the air nozzle is blown out from the vicinity of the upper end of the glass plate and air is sent into the gap between the glass plates to provide a gap, and a protruding piece can be inserted into the gap between the front row and the second glass plate It is an automatic charging system for glass plates into the bending furnace described above, wherein the separation of the frontmost glass plates is determined to be complete.
[0021]
Alternatively, in the present invention, the glass plate in the foremost row of the plurality of glass plates laminated in a vertical posture on the pallet is temporarily placed on the reversing suction pad of the reversing hand of the reversing unit, and the reversing hand is used by the reversing unit. The glass plate is automatically placed in the bending furnace according to any one of the above-described features, wherein the glass plate is placed on the positioning table so as to be in an inverted state.
[0022]
Alternatively, according to the present invention, the position detecting means detects the position coordinate information of the glass plate by a position detection camera provided above the positioning table. This is an automatic loading system for glass plates.
[0024]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of glass plates 1, 1,... Stacked in a vertical position on a pallet 4, and a transfer hand 12 such as a transfer robot 11 provided with a frontmost glass plate 1. The position of the glass plate 1 is picked up by the transfer means 10 that is sucked and supported by the mounting suction pad 13 and transferred onto the positioning table 32, and the position detection camera 31 provided above the positioning plate 32. Based on the position detection means 30 for detecting coordinates and the position coordinate information of the glass plate 1 on the positioning table 32, the difference from the reference position and the deviation of the angle are corrected, and the glass plate 1 on the positioning table 32 is transferred to the transport table. It comprises supply means 50 for transfer to a predetermined position above.
[0025]
In the transfer means 10, a plurality of glass plates 1, 1,... Stacked in a vertical posture on the pallet 4 are used to transfer the frontmost glass plate 1 by a transfer suction pad 13 provided in the transfer robot 11. If the second glass plate 1 is attached to the first glass plate and lifts when trying to support the adsorption, a so-called blocking phenomenon occurs. Air is jetted from above by the air nozzle 21 or the like toward the front glass plate 1 and the second glass plate 1 to provide a gap, and the glass plates 1 and 1 are separated in advance so as not to block each other. It is preferable to leave.
[0026]
In addition, a projection piece (not shown) is inserted into a gap formed by injecting air between the glass plates 1 and 1 by the air nozzle 21, and when the projection piece can be inserted, the front glass plate and the second sheet are inserted. In order to determine that the separation between the glass plates has been completed, a mechanism for inserting a not-shown protruding piece from above is provided at a position shifted from the front surface position of the frontmost glass plate by the glass thickness.
[0027]
If the projecting piece cannot be inserted, air is sprayed again to create a gap between the front glass plate and the second glass plate, and separation is confirmed by reinserting the projecting piece. .
[0028]
In addition, the position detection means 30 is configured such that the glass plate 1 placed on the positioning table 32 by the transfer means 10 is glassed by a position detection camera 31 such as a CCD area camera disposed above the positioning table 32. The position coordinates of the plate 1 are imaged, and an angle such as a positional deviation amount and a deviation direction with respect to preset reference coordinates is calculated by an image processing device or the like (not shown).
[0029]
The position detection camera 31 is imaged by a plurality of position detection cameras 31 according to the size, shape, etc. of the glass plate 1 as necessary, and the positional information obtained by these is integrated and the amount of displacement and the direction of displacement. Such an angle may be detected.
[0030]
Further, the supply means 50 sucks the glass plate 1 placed on the positioning table 32 by the supply suction pad 53 provided in the supply hand 52 of the supply robot 51 and transfers and supplies the glass plate 1 onto the transport table 2.
[0031]
The supply means 50 corrects the deviation amount and deviation angle θ detected in the X and Y directions detected by the position detection means 30 before adsorbing the glass plate 1 on the positioning table 32 by the adsorption pad 53 for supply. If the position and angle of the supply hand 52 are corrected and sucked, the glass plate 1 is sucked and held, and then the supply hand 52 is restored to the set reference position and angle, the position of the glass plate 1 is corrected. Is the reference coordinate position and angle, and the glass plate 1 is brought into contact with the predetermined flight 62 only by moving the supply hand 52 by a fixed stroke amount from the reference position of the positioning table 32 to the flight 62 position on the transfer table. Can do.
[0032]
A plurality of flights 62, 62,... Are fixed at a predetermined interval to the transport chain 3 disposed in the vicinity of one side edge of the transport table 2 and ejected from the pores provided on the upper surface of the transport table 2. The glass plate 1 is carried into the furnace by bringing a predetermined end of the glass plate 1 that is levitated by the air to abut against the flight 62.
[0033]
By the way, the flight 62 has one identification tag that is not brought into direct contact with the glass plate 1 and two to three flights 62 and 62 that are brought into contact with the glass plate 1 and fixed in position. The identification tag and the flights 62, 62,... Are attached to the tip of an extension pin fixed so as to extend the shaft portion of each outer link constituting the transport chain 3. The flight 62 is attached to a predetermined number of extension pins from the identification tag depending on the shape and size of the glass plate 1 put into the bending furnace.
[0034]
For this reason, after the identification tag is detected by the detection camera 61, the flight 62 is detected by the detection camera 61 while taking the timing, and the glass plate 1 supplied by the supply robot 51 is brought into contact with the flight 62. Yes.
[0035]
In addition, when producing a symmetric window glass plate such as left and right side doors for automobiles, the glass plate 1 placed on the positioning table 32 can be placed in an inverted state. It may be necessary.
[0036]
In such a case, the glass plate 1 taken out from the pallet 4 is not placed on the positioning table 32 by the transfer means 10 but attached to the reversing hand 41 of the reversing means 40, and the suction surface is directed upward. The glass plate 1 is temporarily placed on the reversing suction pads 42, 42,... And the glass plate 1 is sucked and fixed by the reversing suction pads 42, 42,. Is placed on the positioning table 32, the glass plate 1 on the positioning table 32 can be placed in an inverted state.
[0037]
In this way, the frontmost glass plate 1 is taken out from the glass plate group 1, 1,... Placed on the pallet 4, and is transferred onto the positioning table 32 and simultaneously on the positioning table 32. Since the glass plate 1 is imaged by the position detection camera, and the operation of correcting the position and setting the predetermined flight 62 on the conveyance table 2 is simultaneously executed in parallel, from the removal of the glass plate 1 from the pallet 4 to the conveyance table 2 The time to set to the upper flight 62 can be greatly shortened.
[0038]
Further, when taking out the frontmost glass plate 1 on the pallet 4 by the transfer robot 11, an air nozzle by the separating means 20 is used so that the second glass plate 1 is not lifted together by blocking the glass plates. If the air from No. 21 is injected into the gap between the front glass plate and the second glass plate to prevent the blocking of the glass plates, only the front glass plate can be surely taken out quickly. Can do.
[0039]
In order to confirm the separation of the frontmost glass plate, when a protruding piece (not shown) is inserted into the gap and the protruding piece can be inserted, the separation of the frontmost glass plate is completed. If the projecting piece could not be inserted, it could not be separated, and air was injected again so that a gap was formed between the front glass plate and the second glass plate. What is necessary is just to confirm isolation | separation by inserting a piece again.
[0040]
In the supply means 50, the glass plate 1 placed on the positioning table 32 is moved onto the transfer table in a state of being sucked by the supply suction pad 53 of the supply means 50, and further applied to the predetermined flight. The flight is attached to the tip of the extension pin fixed so as to extend the shaft part of each outer link of the transport chain 3, and the flight chain attached to the extension pin is not necessarily located Since it does not become a fixed position, the amount of movement until the glass plate is brought into contact with the flight is slightly different.
[0041]
For this reason, in order to absorb the fluctuation | variation of the movement amount until the glass plate 1 is made to contact | abut to the flight 62 reliably, it had innumerable pores in the upper surface by the adsorption | suction force of the supply suction pad 53 of the supply means 50. The glass plate 1 is moved onto the transport table 2 and only the suction force of the supply suction pad 53 that sucks the upper surface of the glass plate 1 on the transport table is stopped.
[0042]
Further, when the supply hand 52 is moved to the flight 62 side, a pressing member 54 made of sponge rubber or the like provided on the supply hand 52 is pressed near the supply suction pad 53 from the upper surface of the glass surface, and the transport table 2 is thinned. If the supply hand 52 is pressed against the flight 62 in a state where the glass plate 1 floating by the air ejected from the hole is sandwiched by the frictional force of the pressing member 54 from above, the supply suction pad 53 is made of glass. Since the plate 1 is not attracted and fixed, the pressing member 54 slides on the surface of the glass plate 1 at the stage of contact with the flight 62 and stops without contacting the flight 62 or does not make excessive contact. Since delicate control is not required, the glass plate 1 can be moved and brought into contact with the flight 62 at a high speed.
[0043]
The pressing member 54 is provided in the supply hand 52 so as to be stretchable by a spring material (not shown), and protrudes downward from the suction pad 53 for supply by the spring material (not shown) when the glass plate 1 is not sucked. In this state, when the glass plate 1 is sucked and handled by the suction pad 53 for supply, the pressing member 54 is pushed up above the suction surface of the glass plate 1 by the glass plate 1.
[0044]
Although the preferred embodiment has been described above, the present invention is not limited to this.
[0045]
【The invention's effect】
The present invention takes out the frontmost glass plate 1 from the glass plate group 1, 1,... Placed on the pallet 4, and simultaneously transfers the glass on the positioning table 32 to the positioning table 32 during the transfer operation. Since the plate 1 is picked up by the position detection camera, and the operation of correcting the position and setting the predetermined flight 62 on the transfer table 2 is executed in parallel, the glass plate 1 is removed from the pallet 4 and the transfer table 2 is moved. The time to set the flight 62 can be greatly reduced.
[0046]
Further, when taking out the frontmost glass plate 1 on the pallet 4 by the transfer robot 11, an air nozzle by the separating means 20 is used so that the second glass plate 1 is not lifted together by blocking the glass plates. If the air from No. 21 is injected into the gap between the front glass plate and the second glass plate to prevent the blocking of the glass plates, only the front glass plate can be surely taken out quickly. Can do.
[0047]
Further, in order to confirm the separation of the frontmost glass plate, when a protruding piece (not shown) is inserted into the gap and the protruding piece can be inserted, the separation of the frontmost glass plate is completed. Since it is determined, separation can be confirmed easily and reliably.
[0048]
In addition, the glass plate can be reliably and easily brought into contact with a supporting member called a flight having play or play attached to the transport chain.
[0049]
Moreover, since the speed at which the glass plate is positioned is high, the production efficiency is good, and even various shapes can be easily positioned.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is an overall explanatory view of a glass sheet automatic charging system according to the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass plate 2 Transfer table 3 Transfer chain 4 Pallet 10 Transfer means 11 Transfer robot 12 Transfer hand 13 Transfer suction pad 20 Separation means 21 Air nozzle 30 Position detection means 31 Position detection camera 32 Positioning table 40 Inversion means 41 Inversion Hand 42 Reverse suction pad 50 Supply means 51 Supply robot 52 Supply hand 53 Supply suction pad 54 Press member 60 Flight detection means 61 Flight detection camera 62 Flight

Claims (5)

In the equipment that automatically and continuously inserts the glass plate into the glass plate heating bending furnace, the frontmost glass plate is adsorbed and supported by the transfer adsorption pad from the plurality of glass plates stacked vertically on the pallet, Based on transfer information for transferring on the positioning table, position detecting means for detecting the position coordinates of the glass plate on the positioning table, and difference information between the position coordinates of the glass plate on the positioning table and the reference position coordinates And a supply means for transferring the glass plate from the positioning table to a predetermined position on the transport table while correcting the position of the glass plate,
The supply means places the glass plate placed on the positioning table in a floating state on a transfer table that blows air from the upper surface by a suction pad for supply provided on the supply hand of the supply means. A glass plate that is levitated by the pressure member and the air ejected from the conveyance table is set so as to contact the flight provided on the conveyance chain,
The front glass plate is taken out from the glass plate group placed on the pallet, and during the transfer operation on the positioning table, the glass plate on the positioning table is simultaneously imaged and corrected by the position detection camera. An automatic loading system for a glass sheet into a bending furnace, wherein the operation of setting a predetermined position on a transfer table is executed simultaneously in parallel.   The flight detection means which detects the position of the several flight which supports the glass plate on the said conveyance table and is conveyed in a furnace is provided, The said glass plate was contact | abutted to the several flight, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. A system for automatically loading glass sheets into the bending furnace described.   Separation means for separating the frontmost glass plates from a plurality of glass plates stacked vertically on the pallet is provided in advance, and the separation means is an air nozzle from the frontmost row of glass plates and the vicinity of the upper end of each second glass plate. Air is blown out and air is sent into the gaps between the glass plates to create a gap, and when the protruding piece can be inserted into the gap between the front row and the second glass plate, the front row glass plates are separated. The automatic loading system for glass sheets into the bending furnace according to claim 1, wherein the determination is made as complete.   The glass plate in the foremost row of the plurality of glass plates stacked in a vertical posture on the pallet is temporarily placed on the reversing suction pad of the reversing hand of the reversing means, and the reversing hand is swiveled and reversed by the reversing means. 4. The system for automatically loading a glass plate into a bending furnace according to claim 1, wherein the plate is placed on a positioning table so as to be in an inverted state.   The said position detection means detects the position coordinate information of a glass plate with the position detection camera provided above the positioning table, The glass plate in the bending furnace in any one of Claim 1 thru | or 4 characterized by the above-mentioned. Automatic loading system.

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