US1996387A

US1996387A - Sheet glass apparatus

Info

Publication number: US1996387A
Authority: US
Inventors: Owen William
Original assignee: Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co
Current assignee: PPG Industries Inc
Priority date: 1934-06-28
Filing date: 1934-06-28
Publication date: 1935-04-02
Anticipated expiration: 1952-04-02

Description

April 2, 1935. w. OWEN SHEET GLASS APPARATUS Filed June 28, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VENTOR w/L-L. IFIM Ou/EN BY f 4/ A TTURNEYS' April 2, 1935. W. OWEN 1,996,387

SHEET GLASS APPARATUS Filed June 28, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 om 0m om Patented Apr. 2, 1935 UNITED s'mrr-zs 1,996,387 'snss'r cuss arrana'rus William Owen, Pittsburgh, Pa., burgh Plate Glass Company,

Pennsylvania assignor to Pittsa corporation of Application June 28, 1934, Serial No. 732,802

5 Claims.

The invention relates to the manufacture of sheet glass by the vertical drawing method, and has particularly to do with the handling of the glass sheets which are cut from the continuously formed ribbon as it emerges from the top of the leer. It has for its objects the provision of improved arrangement for transferring the sheets from a vertical to a horizontal position and cutting them into strips during such operation, thus reducing the labor in handling to a'minimum and eliminating a large part of the cutting costs, since the operators, who are required'for the handling operation, can in the interim between such operations cut the glass sheet into strips. A further object is the provision of an apparatus which will handle the very large sheets, which it is now the practice to produce, with a minimum amount of breakage and without any hazard on the part of the operator. Briefly the above objects areaccomplished by the use of a tilting take-down frame provided with means for engaging the glass sheet and supporting and lifting it after it iscut from the ribbon, which frame is also provided with glass scoring means permitting the sheet to be cut into strips while still on the frame, this structure being coordinated with means for quickly removing the scored sheet from the tilting frame after it reaches horizontal position and 30 then cracking it along the lines of scoring. One

embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a side elevation, of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is an end elevation. And Fig. 3 is a detail view of a portion of the cutter bridge on an enlarged scale, su'ch view being a front elevation.

Referring to the drawings, I is the upper portion of a vertical leer of the Fourcault type through which a glass ribbon 2 is continuously drawn by means of the usual pairs of driven

rolls

3, 3, which frictionally engage the sides of the ribbon. This type of apparatus for continuously drawing a glass ribbonflorsheet from a bath is well known in the art andrequires no further v I speed of draw so that,

description. c

Mounted for tilting movement above the end of the leer is a frame 4 made 'up of channels 5 and a face plate 6 provided withthe slots 1 through which transfer rollers are adapted to project when the frame is swung to horizontal position, as later described. The frame is' provided at its lower end with a pair of plates la, la pivoted upon the standards 8, 8 by means of a transversely extending hollowshaft 9. When the tilting frame is in vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, its front face is parallel to the line of movement of the glass sheet 2. The frame is tilted to move it from vertical to horizontal position by means of a pair of arms Hi, It pivoted at H to the plates la, la and having their other ends pivoted to the cranks l2, I2 keyed to the transverse shaft 13. Thisshaft is rotatedfrom the electric motor l4 through suitable reduction gearing, including aworm and a worm wheel in the casing I5.

In order to assist in drawing the glass and 10 to move the sheet up quickly after it has been cut of! intermediate the leer and the lower end of-the frame, a vacuum frame It is guided for movement longitudinally of the tilting frame 4 and is provided with a plurality of vacuum cups I1, suitable means being providedfor evacuating the cups, which means includes the pipe l8 'connected to suitable exhausting means. The vacuum frame is'moved up and down by a pair of cables l9, l9 extending over

pulleys

20, 20 at the top of the frame 4 and secured at their lower ends to the drums 2|, 2|. These drums are mounted upon a transverse shaft 22 which is rotated by a motor 23 carried by one of the plates la, which motor operates to rotate the shaft through the intermediary of worm gearing in the casing 24. As soon as the end of the ribbon arrives opposite the lower portion of the frame-4, the vacuum frame is positioned opposite such end and the vacuum cups are engaged withthe face of the glass sheet. The motor. 23 is then started, causing the vacuum frame to move upward so that force is applied to assist in the drawing of the sheet.

When the vacuum frame arrives at about the position indicated in Fig. l, the glass ribbon is severed intermediate the end of the leer and the bottom of the frame 4 and the vacuum frame then operates to move the sheet up rapidly until the vacuum frame arrives at a. point adjacent the extreme upper end of the frame 4. This rapid movement occurs due to the fact that the motor speed is normally much in excess of the when the sheet is severed and the load on themotor reduced, ,it operates to draw the severed sheet up quickly to its up-, permost position preliminary to tilting the frame. When the vacuum frame arrives at its upper limit of movement, the further operation of the motor 23 is stopped, preferably by a limit switch (not shown) which is actuated by the frame It. The frame 4 is now tilted by the motor l4 acting through the cranks l2 and connecting rods l0, bringing it to the position indicated 'at A in dotted lines,- at which time it approaches a horizontal position, but still lies a few degrees above such position.

It is at this position that the sheet, which is supported upon the frame, is cut into strips. and such cutting is accomplished by means of a cutting bridge 25 which is mounted for movement longitudinally of the frame 4. This bridge is mounted for movement longitudinally of the frame on the

rails

25, 26 extending along the edges of the frame, and is operated to accomplish the cutting function by means of a pair of

endless chains

21, 21 extending over pulleys 22, 23

at the upper end of the frame and around theidler pulleys 29, 30 and driven pulleys 3|, such latter pulleys being mounted upon a shaft 3a which lies inside the hollow shaft 5 constituting the pivot of the tilting frame. The shaft 80 is driven from an electric. motor 32 carried by one of the plates 10., and drives such shaft 3a through the intermediary of worm gearing in the casing 33.

The precise bridge and cutter construction is immaterial in so far as the present invention is concerned, but is preferably of the form shown in my application, Serial No. 686,961, dated August 26. 1933. It includes a transverse beam 34 of U-shape, in which are mounted a plurality of

caniages

35, 35, each of which supports a cutting tool 35, so that the cutting tools may be adjusted to any desired position longitudinally of the beam 34, the carriages being provided with wheels 31 which run in suitable grooves in the flanges of the beam. The cutters 35 are mounted upon arms 35 which are raised and lowered from handles 38. when these handles'are in one position, the cutters are in raised position, and when the handles are rotated through an angle of 90 degrees, the cutters are in operative position. Two of the cutting tools are located adjacent the edges of the sheet for trimming of! such edges, while the other cutters are adjusted so as to out the sheet into strips of any desired width. The adjustment of these cutters will depend upon the location of any defects observed in the sheet by the operator, and upon the size of glass which it is desired to produce in the finished product. when the frame 4 is in vertical position, and while the glass sheet is being positioned on such frame preliminary to cutting it oil and moving it to horizontal position, the cutters 33 are in retracted position so that they do not engage the surface of the glass. It is during this period that the carriages supporting the cutters are adjusted longitudinally of the beam 4 to their proper positions for cutting as dictated by the judgment of the operator, the bridge at this time occupying the position adjacent the lower end of the frame 4, as indicated in Fig. 1.

After the sheet has been cut off and moved to its upper position, the handles 35 controlling the cutter arms 33 are moved to horizontal position to set the cutters 36, thus completing the preparation for the cutting operation after the frame has been moved to approximately horizontal position, as indicated in dotted lines at A. When the frame 4 arrives at this position, the motor 32, which drives the chains 21, is started so that the cutting bridge moves longitudinally of the frame 4, thus scoring the sheet carried uponthe frame, as the bridge moves from its position adjacent the lower end of the frame to a position at the other end of the frame, thus completing the scoring operation and preparing the sheet for the cracking ofi operation, which removes the extreme edges of the sheet and separates it into strips. When the cutting bridge arrives at the end of its movement, it may be stopped by throwing the switch of the motor 32, but this operation is preferably made automatic by having the bridge engage a limit switch, which thus stops the motor and interrupts the movement of the bridge.

To remove the sheet which has thus been scored from the tilting frame, a transfer table is provided lying immediately below the tilting frame when such frame is in horizontal position. This transfer table is made up of the plurality of parallel shafts 40, each provided with a. plurality of spaced rollers 4| positioned so that when the tilting frame reaches the horizontal position marked B, the rollers will project through the slot 1 in the plate 6 and receive the glass sheet. At this time the shafts 40 are rotated so as to carry the glass sheet laterally onto the snapping table 42 (Fig. 2) The rotation of the shafts 40 is accomplished from a motor 43 which drives the sprocket 44 through the intermediary of suitable reduction gearing in the casing 45. The chain 46 passes around the sprocket 44 on the shaft 41 and around

sprockets

48, 48, 48, etc. on the ends of the shafts 40. This chain also passes around a series of

idler sprockets

49, 49, etc. (Fig. 2) which carry the chain below the level of the shafts 40. The purpose of this expedient is to provide spaces for the channels 5 of the frame 4 when such frame is in horizontal position. Suitable switch mechanism is provided for starting the motor 43 and causing the sheet to be run ofl. onto the cracking off table 42 when the tilting frame 4 reaches horizontal position. As soon as the sheet is run onto the cracking off table 42, the tilting frame 4 is swung back to vertical position, as indicated in Fig. 1, the bridge 25 being moved back to the position shown in Fig. 1 as the frame swings to its original position. The apparatus is now ready for a second operation, which is carried out as heretofore described.

The snapping ofl' table is provided with a series of rolls 50 for receiving the glass sheet and is also provided with suitable cracking oif means. As shown, this cracking off means comprises a vertically movable angle 5i which can be moved up by means of the foot pedal 52. This pedal is keyed to the shaft 53 which is provided with crank arms 54 connected to the angle 5| by means of the bars 55. This provides a means for applying upward pressure to the glass sheet beneath one of the lines of scoring and so causing the sheet to crack along this line. In order to prevent the sheet from lifting when upward pressure is applied by the angle 5|, a series of rollers 56 are provided carried by the arms 51, which rollers are positioned to engage the surface of the sheet. The arms 51 are-carried by a transverse bar 58 supported on suitable brackets at the sides of the table. At the extreme left hand side of the table is a snapping bar 59 which comes into play in snapping off the extreme forward edge of the sheet, which is waste glass. The sheet is run forward to the position indicated in Fig. 2, and the edge snapped by the operator who manually applies downward pressure thereto. The successive strips are snapped from the sheet by moving the sheet step by step to the left and applying upward pressure by the bar 5| as each line of scoring is positioned over such bar.

What I claim is:

1. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cut from a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, a tilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engaging the glass sheet as it moves upward and for lifting it after it is cut off, and a cutter bridge mounted on the frame for movement longitudinally thereof and pro vided with scoring tools.

2. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cut from a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, a tilting frame mounted above the leer, a vacuum frame provided with vacuum cups mounted on the tilting frame for movement longitudinally and adapted to engage the glass sheet and to lift it after it is cut off, a cutter bridge mounted on the tilting frame for movement longitudinally thereof and provided with scoring means, and power means carried by the tilting frame for moving the vacuum frame and the bridge.

3. In combination in apparatus for handlingand scoring glass sheets cut from a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, a tilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engaging the glass sheet as it moves upward and for lifting it after it is cut off, a cutter bridge mounted on the frame for a tilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engaging the glass sheet as it moves upward and for lifting it after it is cut oil, a cutter bridge mounted on the frame for movement longitudinally thereof and provided with cutting tools, a horizontal transfer table adapted to receive the glass sheet from the tilting frame when it is swung to horizontal position and to carry such sheet laterally, and a snapping table at the side of the transfer table adapted to receive the sheet therefrom and provided with means for cracking the sheet along the lines of scoring.

5. In combination in apparatus for handling and scoring glass sheets cut from a continuous sheet or ribbon emerging from a vertical leer, a tilting frame mounted above the leer, means on the frame for engaging the glass sheet as it is swung to horizontal position and to carry such sheet laterally, a snapping table at the side of the transfer table in position to receive the glass sheet therefrom, and power means carried by the tilting frame for tilting such frame and for moving the cutter bridge.

WILLIAM OWEN.