JPH10251036A - Method for firing glass substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for firing glass substrates capable of heating all of the glass substrates loaded in a cassette up to a required temp. within a specified time without using special constitution. SOLUTION: This method executes the firing of the glass substrates in the following manner: The cassette having many stages of upper and lower rack parts for holding the glass substrates is arranged in a firing furnace. This cassette is vertically moved and the glass substrates which exist in the holding rack parts and for which the firing is completed are taken out of the inside of the firing furnace by each sheet. The glass substrates are fed by each sheet into the firing furnace and are loaded into the empty holding rack parts. The respective glass substrates are then fired for the specified time. Dummy substrates D are loaded onto the holding rack parts of the prescribed stages of the cassette and the radiation heat from these dummy substrates D is applied to the glass substrates on the holding rack parts adjacent thereto.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a process for sequentially loading and unloading glass substrates onto and from a holding shelf for glass substrates of a cassette provided in a baking furnace, the glass substrate being held for a predetermined time. The present invention relates to a glass substrate baking method for baking glass.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in this type of glass substrate firing method, a cassette provided with a plurality of stages of glass substrate holding shelves is arranged in a firing furnace, and the cassette is moved up and down to operate the holding shelf. The fired glass substrates in the section are taken out of the firing furnace for each leaf, and the glass substrates are fed into the firing furnace for each leaf, loaded into empty holding shelves, and the respective glass substrates are removed. Baking for a certain period of time (from loading to discharging).

In this case, loading and unloading of the glass substrates are performed sequentially from the uppermost stage to the lowermost stage of the holding shelf of the cassette via means such as a robot.

[0004]

What is problematic here is that the glass substrate in the middle stage of the holding shelf receives radiant heat from the adjacent glass substrate on the upper and lower surfaces in accordance with the heating in the furnace. However, at least one of the glass substrates loaded on the uppermost and lowermost stages (the uppermost one on the upper surface side and the lowermost one on the lower surface side) is heated only by heating in the furnace, and the adjacent glass substrates are heated. Since it does not receive radiant heat from the substrate, it is not heated up to a required temperature within a certain time as compared with the intermediate stage.

As a countermeasure against such a situation, it is conceivable to provide heaters at the uppermost portion and the lowermost portion of the cassette so as to compensate for the amount of radiant heat. As the furnace size increases, the size of the furnace must be increased and the weight of the cassette increases.
There are disadvantages such as the need to increase the capacity of the drive motor for raising and lowering the cassette.

In addition, when the glass substrates loaded on each holding shelf of the cassette are loaded, the adjacent glass substrates have just been loaded in the previous stage and are not sufficiently heated (elapsed time in the furnace). Is short), so that sufficient radiant heat cannot be received, so that the transfer of radiant heat added to the heating in the furnace is delayed, and the firing efficiency is poor.

[0007] The present invention has been made based on the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to make it possible to raise the temperature of all glass substrates loaded in a cassette to a required temperature within a predetermined time without using a special configuration. Another object of the present invention is to provide a glass substrate firing method.

A second object of the present invention is to provide a glass substrate newly loaded in a furnace so that it can immediately receive radiant heat from an adjacent glass substrate.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a glass substrate firing method that takes into account the order of loading cassettes into glass substrate holding shelves.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned object, according to the present invention, a cassette provided with a plurality of glass substrate holding shelves at the top and bottom in a firing furnace is arranged, and the cassette is moved up and down. Along with taking out the fired glass substrate in the holding shelf from the firing furnace for each leaf, sending the glass substrate into the firing furnace for each leaf, and loading the empty holding shelf, In the glass substrate baking method of baking the glass substrate for a certain period of time, a dummy substrate is loaded into a holding shelf at a predetermined stage of the cassette, and radiant heat from the dummy substrate is applied to the glass substrate of the holding shelf adjacent thereto. It is characterized by the following.

[0010] Thus, the temperature of the uppermost and lowermost glass substrates loaded in the cassette can be raised to a required temperature within a certain time without installing special means such as a heater.

Further, in the present invention, a cassette provided with a plurality of glass substrate holding shelves at the top and bottom in a firing furnace is provided.
The cassette is moved up and down to take out the fired glass substrates in the holding shelf from the firing furnace for each leaf, and to send the glass substrates into the firing furnace for each leaf to hold the empty glass substrates. In a glass substrate firing method in which each glass substrate is fired for a certain period of time, the glass substrates are fed into the firing furnace, and the glass substrates are taken out of the firing furnace. The holding shelf is performed at least every one interval.

[0012] Thus, the glass substrate carried into the firing furnace can be quickly heated by receiving sufficient radiant heat from the adjacent crow substrate already heated, in addition to the heating in the furnace, More effective heat treatment can be performed.

[0013]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(Embodiment 1) FIGS. 1 and 2 show the configuration of a firing furnace applied to a production system according to the present invention.
In the drawing, reference numerals 1 and 4 indicate conveyors, reference numerals 2 and 3 indicate robots, reference numeral 5 indicates a firing furnace, reference G indicates an object to be fired, for example, 360 mm ×
It is a 465 mm square glass substrate having a thickness of 0.7 mm.

Here, the glass substrate G to be fired is
Are transported into the firing furnace 5 one by one on the conveyor 1 at predetermined time intervals. Immediately before the firing furnace 5, the glass substrate G is prepared for loading by a suitable positioning means (not shown), and the glass substrate G is held by the suction hand H of the robot 2 at a predetermined timing. Entrance,
That is, it is put into the firing furnace 5 through the slit S.
Further, the glass substrate G fired over a certain period of time is discharged from the outlet of the firing furnace 5, that is, the same slit S as described above, to the conveyor 4 by the suction hand H of the robot 3, and is discharged to a required portion ( (Not shown).

A heater (not shown) is provided in the sintering furnace 5 to keep the internal temperature uniformly, for example, at a temperature of 230 ° C. Further, a ball screw 8 and a pair of guide rails 9 are installed in the firing furnace 5, and the box-shaped cassette 6 can be moved up and down along the guide rail 9 by rotation of the ball screw 8. The cassette 6 is provided with a plurality of plate-like holding shelves 7 in the vertical direction. Each holding shelf 7 holds a glass substrate G loaded in a furnace. Is done. Reference numeral 10 denotes a motor for driving the ball screw 8 to rotate.

Next, the movement of the cassette in the firing furnace according to the present invention, that is, the order of loading and unloading the glass substrate, will be described with reference to FIGS. In this embodiment, the number of glass substrates G loaded in the cassette 6 is seven, but it is needless to say that this number is variable according to the set firing time.

First, in a state where the cassette 6 is empty, the ball screw 8 is rotated by a predetermined amount with respect to the holding shelf 7 in order from the top with a constant tact, and each holding shelf 7 is sequentially turned to the entrance. The glass substrate G is loaded using the robot 2 in accordance with the slit S (see FIGS. 3 to 9). When the above-described tact is repeated seven times, the loading of the first-order glass substrates G _{1 to} G ₇ into the cassette 6 is completed.

At this time, since the first glass substrate G ₁ has a predetermined baking time, the holding shelf 7 corresponding to this substrate is moved to the position of the slit S at the exit, and , the conveyor 4 takes out the glass substrate G ₁ (see FIGS. 10 and 11). In this state,
Since the entrance of the slit S corresponds to the empty holding ledges 7, 2 glass substrate G _'1 of the forward first is loaded (see Figure 12).

[0019] Similarly, 1 2 to seventh glass substrate G ₂ ~G ₇ forward th are sequentially taken out from the firing furnace 5 at a predetermined tact, while second round of the glass substrate G ₂ ~G ₇ is
The empty holding shelf 7 is loaded (see FIGS. 13 to 21). In this order, the third and subsequent steps are continued.

In this case, the sintering state of the glass substrate G according to the present invention will be verified in comparison with the conventional case. 22 to 27 illustrate the thermal effects on the glass substrate G in the cassette 6. FIG. The respective degrees of thermal influence are displayed as vectors (arrows) schematically divided into three stages. That is, the bold arrow indicates the heat due to the atmosphere in the baking furnace 5, and the middle arrow indicates the radiant heat from the preceding glass substrate G that has been input second or more times (the standby time in the furnace is long and the amount of heat is sufficient).
, And the radiant heat from the preceding glass substrate G (the standby time in the furnace is short and the amount of heat is insufficient), which is input immediately before, is indicated by a thin arrow.

As is clear from FIG. 22, the first sequence (FIG. 3)
To 10) 1-stage glass substrate G ₁ of the can, immediately after being loaded, the heat only to transfer by the atmosphere, the glass substrate G ₂ ~G ₆ of the second and subsequent stages, in addition to the heat from the atmosphere, immediately before The radiant heat from the adjacent glass substrate loaded in is transferred. In other words, the glass substrate G ₁ of the first stage, compared to that of the subsequent second stage 6 stage, so that the Atsushi Nobori late.

In the present invention, the holding shelf 7 on the first stage
By loading and placing a dummy substrate (or a glass substrate) D in advance so as to be heated in the furnace atmosphere, as shown in FIG. Arrow) can be given. For this reason, the desired firing can be achieved even with the same firing time as that of the glass substrate G in the intermediate stage, and insufficient firing does not occur.

Moreover, considering the second round or later (FIG. 11), as seen in Figure 24, the first stage the glass substrate G _'1 of, immediately after loading, in addition to the heat from the atmosphere, directly below radiation heat of the glass substrate G ₂ receives the (middle arrow), but the second stage 6 stage of the glass substrate G _'2 ~G' ₆ also receives radiant heat from the glass substrate G _'1 ~G' ₅ immediately above the .

However, according to the present invention, as shown in FIG. 25, the glass substrate G ′ ₁ can receive and transmit radiant heat from the glass substrate G ′ ₁ because the dummy substrate D is located immediately above the glass substrate G ′ _1. In comparison, the temperature rise is not delayed.

Similarly, as can be seen from FIG. 26, the seventh-stage glass substrate G ₇ or G ′ ₇ does not receive radiant heat from below. Accordingly, in the present invention, as shown in FIG. 27, by providing the dummy substrate D directly below the dummy substrate D, the seventh glass substrate G ₇ or G ′ ₇ can receive radiant heat. In comparison with the above, the temperature rise is not delayed.

As described above, according to the present invention, even if the sintering process is performed for a certain period of time, uniform sintering is achieved for all the glass substrates. In addition, since only the dummy substrate D is placed by using the upper and lower surplus holding shelves in the cassette 6, there is no risk of increasing the cost for equipment.

(Embodiment 2) In the second embodiment of the present invention, the system adopted in the above embodiment is used as it is. Therefore, the firing method of the present invention will be specifically described below, but the description of the components shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be omitted.

FIGS. 28 to 48 show the glass substrate G of the present invention.
And the loading order of the glass substrates G in the cassette at that time. In this embodiment, the number of glass substrates G to be loaded into the cassette 6 is seven. However, this number is variable in consideration of the firing time, as in the above-described embodiment. Of course.

First, the glass substrate G is loaded into the empty cassette 6, and the first order is as follows.
4 → 6 → 1 → 3 → 5 → 7 stages, glass substrate G
₁ ~G ₇ are both are put into a firing furnace 1 at a predetermined tact. The final state is shown in FIG.

In the next second order, the second stage of the holding shelf 7 is aligned with the slit S at the exit, and the glass substrate G ₂ loaded here is taken out of the firing furnace 1 by the robot 3 (FIG. 29). Then, the holding ledges 7 of the sky, through the inlet of the slit S, the robot 3, to introduce a new glass substrate G _'2 (see Figure 30).

Thereafter, the cassette 6 is moved up and down to move the first
In the same order as the first order, align the holding shelf 7 with the slit S,
The robot 3 takes out the fired glass substrate and adds a new glass substrate (G ′ ₄ , G ′ ₆ , G ′ ₁ , G ′).
₃ , G ′ ₅ and G ′ ₇ ) (FIG. 3).
1 to 48). This is repeated in the third and subsequent steps, whereby the continuous firing operation of the glass substrate by the firing furnace 1 is achieved. At this time, the glass substrates G are fired for a certain period of time by loading and unloading the glass substrates G by a certain tact.

FIGS. 49 and 50 show the effect of heat on the glass substrate G in the cassette 6. FIG. Here, similarly to the above-described embodiment, the respective degrees of thermal influence are represented by vectors (arrows) schematically divided into three stages. That is, the bold arrow indicates the heat due to the atmosphere in the baking furnace 5, and the middle arrow indicates the radiant heat from the preceding glass substrate G that has been input second or more times (the standby time in the furnace is long and the amount of heat is sufficient). , And the radiant heat from the preceding glass substrate G (the standby time in the furnace is short and the amount of heat is insufficient), which is input immediately before, is indicated by a thin arrow.

When the glass substrates are loaded and unloaded in order from the top as in the prior art (see FIG. 50), the newly loaded glass substrate G 'must be at least the glass substrate G' at the intermediate stage. In addition to the heat (thick arrow) due to the ambient temperature in the firing furnace 1, one surface thereof receives radiant heat (thin arrow) from the glass substrate G inserted immediately before. Regarding form 2, the so-called
The glass substrate is loaded and unloaded by "single-step skipping" (one step apart) (see FIG. 49), so that the radiant heat from the already loaded glass substrate G (middle arrow) ).

According to the experiment, in the method of the present invention, it took about 10 minutes to raise the temperature (up to 230 ° C.) of each glass substrate.
In the conventional example, 13 minutes were required. As described above, the glass substrate can be quickly fired only by charging and discharging the glass substrate in the holding shelf 7 in a predetermined order.

In the embodiment of the present invention, the order of charging and discharging the glass substrate is "one step", but the number of steps to be dropped can be selected as appropriate. Further, in the second embodiment, the dummy substrate employed in the first embodiment is disposed on the upper and / or lower stage of the holding shelf 7 used so as to achieve uniform firing. Of course, it may be possible.

[0036]

As described above, according to the present invention,
In the baking furnace, a cassette having a multi-stage glass substrate holding shelf is arranged vertically, and the cassette is moved up and down to move the fired glass substrate in the holding shelf into the baking furnace for each leaf. In the glass substrate firing method of taking out the glass substrate from the inside, feeding the glass substrates into the firing furnace for each leaf, loading the empty holding shelves, and firing each glass substrate for a predetermined time, Is loaded with a dummy substrate, and radiant heat from the dummy substrate is applied to the glass substrate of the holding shelf adjacent to the dummy shelf.

Therefore, the temperature of the uppermost and lowermost glass substrates loaded in the cassette can be raised to a required temperature within a certain time without installing any special means such as a heater.

Further, according to the present invention, a cassette provided with glass substrate holding shelves at upper and lower stages is arranged in a firing furnace, and the cassette is moved up and down to complete the firing completion on the holding shelf. The glass substrates are taken out of the firing furnace for each leaf, and the glass substrates are fed into the firing furnace for each leaf, loaded into empty holding shelves, and each glass substrate is fired for a certain time. In the glass substrate firing method, the feeding of the glass substrate into the firing furnace and the removal of the glass substrate from the firing furnace are performed on the holding shelf of the cassette at least every one interval.

Therefore, in addition to heating the inside of the furnace, the glass substrate carried into the firing furnace receives sufficient radiant heat from the already heated adjacent crow substrate, so that the temperature can be raised quickly, Effective heat treatment can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus system employed in a firing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side sectional view showing the inside of the firing furnace of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the order of loading and discharging of the glass substrate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 5 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 6 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 7 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 8 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 9 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 10 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 11 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 12 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 13 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 14 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 15 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 16 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 17 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 18 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 19 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 20 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 21 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 22 is a view showing a thermal effect of a first-order glass substrate in the above order.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing a thermal effect of the glass substrate in the above embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing a second order and subsequent steps in a normal (conventional) case.

FIG. 25 is also a diagram when the dummy substrate of the present invention is used in the uppermost stage.

FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a thermal effect of a lowermost glass substrate in a normal (conventional) case.

FIG. 27 is also a diagram in the case where the dummy substrate of the present invention is used in the lowermost stage.

FIG. 28 is a view for explaining the order of charging and discharging glass substrates according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 29 is a view for explaining the order in the same manner.

FIG. 30 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 31 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 32 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 33 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 34 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 35 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 36 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 37 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 38 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 39 is a view for explaining the order in the same manner.

FIG. 40 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 41 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 42 is also a diagram for explaining the order.

FIG. 43 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 44 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 45 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 46 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 47 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 48 is also a view for explaining the order.

FIG. 49 is a diagram showing a thermal effect of a glass substrate according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 50 is a diagram showing a thermal effect of a glass substrate in a conventional order.

[Explanation of symbols]

1,4 conveyor 2,3 robot 5 calcining furnace 6 cassettes 7 holding ledges 8 ball screw 9 guide rails 10 motor _{G, G 1 ~G 7, G} '1 ~G' 7 glass substrate (object to be fired product) H suction hand S slit

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A cassette provided with a plurality of glass substrate holding shelves at the top and bottom in a firing furnace, and the cassette is moved up and down to remove the fired glass substrates in the holding shelf. A glass substrate firing method in which the glass substrates are taken out of the firing furnace every time, and the glass substrates are fed into the firing furnace for each leaf, loaded into empty holding shelves, and each glass substrate is fired for a certain period of time. A method of firing a glass substrate, comprising: loading a dummy substrate in a holding shelf at a predetermined stage of the cassette; and applying radiant heat from the dummy substrate to a glass substrate in a holding shelf adjacent to the dummy shelf. 2. A holding shelf loaded with the dummy substrate,
2. The glass substrate firing method according to claim 1, wherein the glass substrate firing method is set at the top of the holding shelf of the cassette. 3. A holding shelf loaded with the dummy substrate,
2. The glass substrate firing method according to claim 1, wherein the glass substrate is set at the lowermost stage of a holding shelf of the cassette. 4. A holding shelf loaded with the dummy substrate,
2. The glass substrate firing method according to claim 1, wherein the glass shelf is set at the top and bottom of the holding shelf of the cassette. 5. A cassette provided with a plurality of glass substrate holding shelves at the top and bottom in a firing furnace, and the cassette is moved up and down to remove the fired glass substrates in the holding shelf. A glass substrate firing method in which the glass substrates are taken out of the firing furnace every time, and the glass substrates are fed into the firing furnace for each leaf, loaded into empty holding shelves, and each glass substrate is fired for a certain period of time. A method of firing a glass substrate, wherein the feeding of the glass substrate into the firing furnace and the removal of the glass substrate from the firing furnace are performed at least at intervals of a holding shelf of the cassette. 6. The method of firing a glass substrate according to claim 1, wherein the firing furnace includes an in-line and a downstream apparatus linked to each other.