TWI672277B - Apparatus for manufacturing a glass ribbon - Google Patents

Abstract

A glass manufacturing apparatus includes a forming body, from which molten glass is drawn to produce a glass ribbon, and a roll is configured to engage a first edge portion of the glass ribbon at a predetermined distance from a bottom edge of the forming body, the The roll includes a main body portion connected to a shaft member. A deflector is positioned in a direction perpendicular to the direction of drawing of the glass ribbon to extend through the shaft and the main portion of the roll. The deflector includes a central portion that faces in a direction away from the glass ribbon. It is inclined downward and is configured to guide the molten glass to contact an upper surface of the central portion leaving the glass ribbon.

Description

Equipment for manufacturing glass ribbons [Related applications]

The invention of this application claims the priority of US Provisional Application Serial No. 62/094313, which was filed on December 19, 2014 according to the patent law, and the content of this case is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to an apparatus for pulling a glass ribbon from molten glass, and in particular to a shield configured to prevent improper molten glass from a dirt roll from contacting the glass ribbon during drawing.

A down-draw glass manufacturing process for forming a glass sheet generally uses a roller ("roller") to pull a molten material from a forming body, which is hereinafter referred to as "fused glass" and has a band shape. The rolls may include driven pulling rolls, designed to apply a pull-down force to the glass ribbon, or other undriven rolls, and among other things, may be used to apply outward tension to the glass. In either case, the rolls are arranged in counter-rotation pairs, which engage the edge portions of the glass ribbon.

Occasionally, molten glass may fall on such rolls. The improper molten glass may become wrapped around a roll, disrupting the pulling process.

Many glass manufacturing facilities utilize rolls that are usually arranged in pairs to join and draw or shape the molten glass, for example, in the manufacture of glass ribbons into glass sheets. Molten glass that falls from the area of the glass manufacturing equipment onto these rolls can cause disruption in the manufacturing process, including lead times that cannot be used to make glass ribbons, or even require equipment replacement. To avoid this difficulty, a diverter is placed above the rolls to divert the fallen molten glass from the path of the rolls.

Accordingly, in a specific embodiment, an apparatus for drawing a glass ribbon is disclosed. The device includes a forming body, a roll, and a diverter. The forming body draws molten glass to manufacture a glass ribbon. A roller is configured to engage a first edge portion of the glass ribbon at a predetermined distance from a bottom edge of the forming body, the roller includes a main body portion connected to a shaft member, and the diverter is pulled perpendicular to the glass ribbon The direction extends through the shaft and the main body portion of the roll. The diverter includes a central portion that slopes downward in a direction away from the glass ribbon and is configured to guide the molten glass to and away from the glass. An upper surface of the central portion of the glass ribbon is in contact. The angle a between the central part and a horizontal plane is between 0 <a In the range of 20 degrees.

The central portion includes a first edge extending along the length of the central portion, and an upper lip portion extending upward from the first edge. The central portion also includes a second edge extending along the length of the central portion, and a lower lip portion extending downward from the second edge.

In some embodiments, the apparatus includes a plurality of rolls and a plurality of diverters.

In certain embodiments, the shaped body may include a groove in an upper surface thereof, the groove being configured to receive a stream of molten glass. The shaped body also includes a plurality of convergent shaped surfaces configured to receive a stream of molten glass from the groove.

The additional features and advantages of these and other specific embodiments will be described in the following [Embodiments], and part of them will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the description or identification of the specific embodiments described herein. , Including the following [embodiments], patent application scope, and additional drawings.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of specific embodiments of the presently disclosed invention are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and characteristics of the scope of the claimed patent application. The accompanying drawings are also included to provide further understanding of these and other specific embodiments, and are integrated and form part of this application. The drawings describe these various specific embodiments and other specific embodiments, and together with this description are used to explain their principles and operations.

10‧‧‧ Glass manufacturing equipment

12‧‧‧ the first body

14‧‧‧formed body

16‧‧‧ the second body

18‧‧‧ roll

20‧‧‧ groove

22‧‧‧ Converging Shaped Surfaces

24‧‧‧ bottom edge

26‧‧‧ Molten glass

28‧‧‧glass ribbon

29‧‧‧ pulling direction

30‧‧‧cooling element

32‧‧‧shaft body

34‧‧‧ Shaft

36‧‧‧ Molten glass

38‧‧‧ Steering gear

40‧‧‧ Steering gear center

42‧‧‧Vertical axis

44‧‧‧ surface above center

46‧‧‧ vertical plane

48‧‧‧ Vector

48h‧‧‧horizontal component

48v‧‧‧vertical component

50‧‧‧ first longitudinal edge

52‧‧‧ second longitudinal edge

54‧‧‧first lip

56‧‧‧ second lip

58‧‧‧ surface under the central part

Fig. 1 is a front view of an example glass manufacturing equipment; Fig. 2 is a side view of an example roll for engaging the edge portion of a glass ribbon drawn from the manufacturing apparatus of Fig. 1; Figure 3 is a perspective view of a steering gear according to one of the disclosed inventions, depicting selective upper and lower lip portions; Figure 4 is an end view of the steering gear of Figure 3 seen from one end, and includes the upper and lower parts Lip-shaped portion; Figure 5 is a perspective view of a portion of the glass manufacturing equipment of Figure 1, showing a pair of rolls protected by a pair of deflectors positioned above the rolls; and Figure 6 is when the Side view of the rolls and steering gear of Figure 5 when seen at one end of the rolls.

Reference will now be made to specific embodiments of the disclosed invention, examples of which are depicted in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary fusion-type glass manufacturing apparatus 10 including a first package body 12, a shaped body 14 located in the first package body, and a second package body 16 below the first package body. Also shown are a plurality of rolls 18 located below the forming body. For example, the roll 18 may be located in the second enclosure. The rolls 18 are generally arranged in counter-rotation pairs and are configured to engage edge portions of the glass ribbon. There may be one or more pairs of counter-rotating rolls configured to engage the edge portions of the glass ribbon.

The shaped body 14 may include a groove 20 formed in an upper surface of the shaped body, and a plurality of converging shaped surfaces 22 on the outside of the shaped body, which are connected at the lower edge 24 of the shaped body 14. Pick up. The molten glass 26 is supplied to the groove 20 and overflows from a wall portion thereof. The overflow molten glass flows through the converging forming surface 22 in a separated flow manner, and the remaining lower edges 24 are connected to form a glass ribbon 28. The glass ribbon 28 is joined by a plurality of rollers 18 along the edge portion of the glass ribbon 28 and pulled down to a predetermined thickness in a pulling direction 29. Most roll pairs are located at different distances from the lower edge. Most cooling elements 30 may be located adjacent to the converging forming surfaces and near the lower edge of the forming body to assist in thickness control. Once the glass ribbon has reached a predetermined thickness and cooled sufficiently to become an elastic solid, most glass flakes are then separated from the glass ribbon and provided to downstream processing equipment that processes the glass flakes.

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary roll 18 including a main body portion 32 connected to a shaft member 34. The shaft member 34 may be further connected to a (not shown) driving device, such as if the roll is driven to an electric motor, or the shaft member may be connected to a bearing mechanism to position the roll and allow The roll, for example, the shaft member 34 can rotate freely.

In some cases, molten glass may penetrate from the junction between the conveying equipment and the shaped body 14 (eg, a pipeline that carries molten glass to the shaped body). In some cases, this penetration or improper molten glass 36 may fall from the area of the manufacturing device 10 located above the rolls 18 and contact the rolls. If contact with the rolls occurs, the improper molten glass may stick to the rolls and become entangled with the rolls. This may be special if the location where the improper molten glass sticks is consistent with the surface of the main body of the roll that joins the glass ribbon problem. In extreme cases, when the glass ribbon is not guided by the rolls and flows freely from the forming body, it may cause a complete interruption of the drawing process.

Accordingly, the glass manufacturing apparatus 10 further includes a diverter 38 located above the roll 18. As shown in FIG. 3, the diverter 38 includes a central portion 40 extending along the length of the roller 18 in a direction perpendicular to the pulling direction 29, thereby protecting the main body portion 32 and the shaft member 34 from improper molten glass 36. For example, the central portion 40 may be configured as a rectangular plate having a length L and a width W, where the length is oriented parallel to the longitudinal axis 42 of the roll 18. The diverter may include a high-temperature material having the ability to withstand temperatures that may reach 1100 ° C or higher in the vicinity of the shaped body. For example, the steering gear may include one or more high temperature metal alloys, such as Haynes® Alloy No. 214 or Haynes® Alloy No. 230. The central portion 40 can be positioned so that the upper surface 44 of the central portion 40 slopes downward in a direction away from the vertical plane 46 that is parallel and intersects the lower edge 24. In other words, and referring to FIG. 4, the vector 48 perpendicular to the upper surface 44 of the central portion 40 has an upward vertical vector component 48 v and a non-zero horizontal component 48 h in a direction away from the vertical plane 46. Therefore, the inappropriate molten glass 36 dropped from the above roll 18 will be intercepted by the central portion 40 and guided away from the roll 18 by the upper surface 44. The improper molten glass 36 may then flow downward and sideways over the upper surface 44 and safely fall to a lower position. For example, in some embodiments, a (not shown) container may be located under the diverter to collect improper molten glass falling from the diverter.

As can also be seen from Figures 3 and 4, the central portion 40 includes an upper or first longitudinal edge 50 and a lower or second longitudinal edge 52, wherein the first and second longitudinal edges 50, 52 are both Both extend along the length L of the central portion. The first and second edges may be parallel to each other and may be further parallel to the longitudinal axis 42. In certain embodiments, the diverter 38 may further include a selective upper or first lip portion 54 extending along the first longitudinal edge 50 and / or a selective Lower or second lip-like portion 56. As depicted in FIGS. 4 to 6, both the first and second lip portions 54, 56 may be inclined with respect to the surface of the individual central portion 40. For example, the first lip portion 54 can be positioned, so the angle β between the first lip portion 54 and the upper surface 44 of the central portion 40 is in a range of 90 <β <180. The second lip portion 56 can be positioned, so the angle Φ between the second lip portion 56 and the lower surface 58 of the central portion 40 is in a range of 90 <Φ <180. The angle β and the angle Φ may be equal (β = Φ), for example. The first lip portion 54 can prevent improper glass accumulation from overflowing from the first longitudinal edge 50 of the central portion 40 and contacting the roller 18 to defeat the purpose of the diverter 38, while the second lip portion 56 can avoid reaching the second longitudinal edge The improper molten glass 52 flows back toward the roll 18 along the lower surface 58.

It should be apparent from the foregoing that the diverter 38 may be positioned above any and all rolls used in molten glass drawing, and is not limited to a fused pull-down procedure as depicted and described herein. For example, the diverter 38 may be used in a slot pull procedure where The molten glass is drawn from a slit formed in the lower surface of a forming body and pulled downward from there, or it can be used in a pull-up procedure where the molten glass is drawn upward from a molten glass pool . In addition, the diverter 38 can be used to protect the roll 18 from other possible contamination, such as condensate collected on the inner surface of these packages and may fall or fall down and may contact the roll.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and changes can be made to the specific embodiments of the present disclosure without departing from the spirit and viewpoints of the present disclosure. Therefore, as long as it falls within the scope of such additional patent applications and their equivalents, it is expected that the disclosed invention encompasses such modifications and changes.

Claims (11)

An apparatus for manufacturing a glass ribbon includes: a forming body from which molten glass is drawn to manufacture a glass ribbon; and a roll configured to be at a predetermined distance from a bottom edge of the forming body A first edge portion of the glass ribbon, the roller includes a main body portion connected to a shaft; and a diverter that extends through the shaft and the roller in a direction perpendicular to the drawing direction of the glass ribbon The main body portion, the diverter includes a central portion that is inclined downward in a direction away from the glass ribbon, and is configured to guide the molten glass to contact an upper surface of the central portion away from the glass ribbon. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the central portion includes a first edge extending along the length of the central portion, and an upper lip portion extending upward from the first edge. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the central portion includes a second edge extending along the length of the central portion, and a lower lip portion extending downward from the second edge. The device according to claim 1, wherein an angle a between the central portion and a horizontal plane is between 0 <a

Within a range of 20 degrees. The equipment according to claim 1, wherein the equipment includes a plurality of rollers and a plurality of diverters. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the forming body includes a groove configured to receive a flow of molten glass. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein the forming body includes a plurality of converging forming surfaces configured to receive a flow of molten glass from the groove. An apparatus for manufacturing a glass ribbon includes: a forming body from which molten glass is drawn to manufacture a glass ribbon, the forming body including a groove in an upper surface thereof, configured to Receiving the flow of molten glass, the forming body further includes a plurality of converging forming surfaces that meet at a bottom edge of the forming body; a plurality of rollers configured to join the glass ribbon at a predetermined distance from the bottom edge of the forming body A first edge portion, each of the plurality of rollers includes a main body portion connected to a shaft; and a diverter that extends across the shaft and the plurality in a direction perpendicular to the drawing direction of the glass ribbon The main portion of each of the rolls, the diverter includes a central portion that slopes downward in a direction away from the glass ribbon and is configured to guide the molten glass to separate from the central portion of the glass ribbon The upper surface of the contact. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the plurality of rolls are arranged in a pair of reverse rotations. The apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the central portion includes a first edge extending along the length of the central portion, and an upper lip portion extending upward from the first edge. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the central portion includes a second edge extending along the length of the central portion, and a lower lip portion extending downward from the second edge.