WO2002088038A1

WO2002088038A1 - Method and device for bend-forming sheet glass

Info

Publication number: WO2002088038A1
Application number: PCT/JP2002/004263
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hiroshi Andou; Junji Hori
Original assignee: Asahi Glass Company, Limited
Priority date: 2001-04-27
Filing date: 2002-04-26
Publication date: 2002-11-07
Also published as: JP4817105B2; JP2002326829A

Abstract

Sheet glass (18) is heated to a bend-forming temperature in a heating furnace (12). This heated sheet glass (18) is conveyed by a conveying means (20), and a mold (14) set above the conveying means (20) is moved in the conveying direction of the sheet glass (18) in synchronization with the conveying speed of the sheet glass (18). The sheet glass (18) is bend-formed by pressing the mold (14) against the sheet glass (18) which is being conveyed.

Description

Method and apparatus for bending sheet glass

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for bending a glass plate,

In a method of bending a curved glass sheet used for a window glass for an automobile, first, a flat glass sheet cut into a predetermined shape is heated to a bending forming temperature in a night while being conveyed by rollers in a heating furnace. Next, the glass sheet is bent and formed by a forming die, and then the glass sheet is conveyed to an air-cooling strengthening zone, where it is air-cooled by air jetted from a lower blow head and an upper blow head. Thus, a glass sheet having a desired curved shape is manufactured.

By the way, in such a glass sheet bending apparatus, high-speed forming of a glass sheet is required in order to improve productivity. For example, the molding apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-127971 discloses a moving device for moving a mold, which is a molding die, in a glass sheet conveying direction in order to realize high-speed molding of a glass sheet. I have it. According to this forming apparatus, first, a glass plate heated to a bending forming temperature in a heating furnace is conveyed by a roller conveyor and then received by a lower ring. After that, the ring is raised, and the glass plate is pressed against a mold arranged above the ring to bend and form. Thereafter, the glass plate is sucked and held by the mold, and the mold is moved in the glass plate transport direction, and the glass plate is transferred to the roller comparator. The glass plate is conveyed to the air-cooling strengthening stage by this roller conveyor. However, in the bending apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-127961, it is necessary to temporarily stop the glass plate conveyed by the roller conveyor on the lower ring before forming by the mold. However, there was a problem that productivity could not be sufficiently increased. Further, in the bending apparatus of the above publication, a mold and a roller Due to the speed difference from the conveyor, slippage occurred between the glass plate and the conveyor, and there was also a problem that the glass plate was easily damaged due to this.

An object of the present invention is to provide a method and an apparatus for bending a glass sheet, which can improve the productivity as compared with the related art, by solving the problems of the related art. Disclosure of the invention

In the present invention, a glass plate is heated to a bending temperature by a heating furnace, and the heated glass plate is transported by a transport unit, and a forming die installed above the transport unit is transported at a transport speed of the glass plate. By moving the glass sheet in the direction of conveyance of the glass sheet in synchronization with the glass sheet and pressing the molding die against the glass sheet while conveying the glass sheet, the glass sheet is bent and formed. Provides a bending method.

Further, as one aspect of the present invention, the transporting means is an opening-conveyor comprising a plurality of rollers, and transports the glass plate on a transport surface formed by the plurality of rollers; By moving a roller to be formed up and down in accordance with the transfer position of the glass plate, at least a part of the transfer surface is bent to form a curved surface, and the molding die is pressed against the glass plate on the curved surface. Therefore, it is preferable to bend the glass plate.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the transporting unit is a roller conveyor having a plurality of rollers, and transports the glass plate on a transport surface formed by the plurality of rollers. The glass sheet is preferably movably provided in the vertical direction and is urged upward. The urging force preferably bends the glass sheet while applying a reaction force suitable for forming the glass sheet to the molding die. .

Further, as one aspect of the present invention, the transfer means includes an air floating means for supporting the glass plate by air floating, and the glass plate is caused to air float by air jetted from the air floating means. It is preferable to press the mold in the state. In one embodiment of the present invention, the glass sheet heated by the heating furnace is conveyed on a conveying surface formed by the plurality of rollers, so that the glass sheet is preliminarily bent by its own weight. After that, it is preferable to perform bending by the above-mentioned mold.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the glass plate is preferably used for manufacturing a window glass of an automobile.

The present invention relates to a heating furnace for heating a glass sheet to its molding temperature, a conveying means for conveying the heated glass sheet, a forming die installed above the conveying means, A molding die moving means for moving the molding die in the conveying direction and the vertical direction of the glass sheet; and by controlling the driving of the molding die moving means, the molding die is synchronized with the conveyance of the glass sheet. And a control means for bending the glass sheet by pressing the forming die against the glass sheet while conveying the glass sheet. Provided is an apparatus for bending a plate. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1: All #: perspective views showing an embodiment of a glass sheet bending apparatus according to the present invention. Figure 2: Front view showing the structure of the roller lifting device.

Figure 3: Illustration showing the operation of bending a glass plate using a mold and a mouth conveyor.

Figure 4: Explanatory drawing showing the bending operation by a mouth conveyor.

Figure 5: Side view of the mold mover.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing another embodiment of the roller conveyor.

Fig. 7: Structural view showing the support structure of the two-sided rollers of the roller conveyor shown in Fig. 6. Fig. 8: Structural view showing the support structure of the cantilever rollers of the roller conveyor shown in Fig. 6. FIG. 9 is a side view of a main part of the cantilever roller support structure shown in FIG.

FIG. 10 is an explanatory view showing a state where a glass sheet is formed into a double curve by the roller conveyor shown in FIG. Fig. 11: Explanatory drawing showing the bending operation using the air-floating device. Fig. 12: Explanatory diagram showing a bending operation using a nose-bending roller at the edge of a glass plate. Fig. 13: Structural diagram showing another embodiment of a support structure of a double-supported roller of a roller conveyor.

FIG. 14: Front view showing another embodiment of the roller conveyor.

Fig. 15: Structural drawing showing the support structure of the two-sided rollers of the roller conveyor shown in Fig. 14.

FIG. 16 is a one-side view of a main part showing another embodiment of the roller conveyor.

FIG. 17 is a front view of the roller conveyor shown in FIG.

FIG. 18 is an enlarged front view of a main part of the roller conveyor shown in FIG.

FIG. 19 is a cross-sectional view showing another embodiment of the rollers constituting the one-to-one conveyor. FIG. 20 is a side view of the roller as viewed from the line 20—20 in FIG. BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of a method and an apparatus for bending a glass sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to these.

The glass sheet bending apparatus 10 shown in FIG. 1 mainly includes a heating furnace 12, a forming zone 14, and an air cooling strengthening apparatus 16.

First, the bending process of the glass plate 18 by the forming apparatus 10 will be described. After the glass sheet 18 before bending is positioned at the entrance of the heating furnace 12, the glass sheet 18 is conveyed into the heating furnace 12 by a roller conveyor (not shown). The glass plate 18 is gradually heated by a heater (not shown) installed in the heating furnace 12 while being conveyed in the heating furnace 12. At the outlet, it is heated to the bending temperature (about 680 ° C). The heated glass sheet 18 is conveyed by a roller conveyor 20 for bending (corresponding to the conveying means in the claims) in a forming zone 14 provided on the downstream side of the heating furnace 12. Then, the glass plate 18 is transported by the roller conveyor 20 while the roller conveyor 2 Mold that moves in the glass sheet transport direction in synchronization with the transport speed of 0 (corresponding to the forming die in the claims) 70 Bending to a predetermined curvature by pressing operation of 0 and bending operation by roller conveyor 20 Is done.

The bent glass sheet 18 is conveyed from the exit of the forming zone 14 to the air-cooling and strengthening device 16 by the roller conveyor 22 without stopping, and is then cooled by the roller. The air cooling device 16 includes an upper blow head 24 and a lower blow head 26 arranged with the roller conveyor 22 interposed therebetween, and the glass plate 18 has the blow heads 2 4. The air is strengthened by air blown from the glass 26 to the glass plate 18. At this time, the cooling capacity of the air-cooling strengthening device 16 is appropriately set according to the thickness of the glass plate 18. The glass plate 18 strengthened by air cooling is conveyed from the outlet of the air cooling strengthening device 16 to the inspection device (not shown) in the next process by the mouth conveyor 28.

Next, the mouth conveyor 20 of the molding zone 14 will be described with reference to FIGS. The roller conveyor 20 is composed of a number of rollers arranged in a horizontal state parallel to each other in the conveying direction of the glass plate 18, and the glass plate 18 is formed on the conveying surface formed by these rollers. Conveyed.

Each roller is independently driven to rotate by a rotary drive unit such as a servomotor. Further, among these rollers, for example, 18 forming rollers 20A to 2OR (FIG. 3) arranged at the middle stage and thereafter are vertically moved independently by the vertical driving means. The driving of the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means is controlled by a motion controller 200 (corresponding to a control means in the claims).

FIG. 2 is a structural diagram showing the rotation driving means and the vertical driving means of each of the rollers 20A to 2OR. Since the rotary drive means and the vertical drive means of each of the rollers 20A to 2OR have the same structure, the structure of the roller 20A side is described in FIG. The description of the structure on the B-20R side is omitted.

The roller 2 OA has a moving frame 30 formed in a substantially concave shape and a bearing 3 at both ends thereof. It is rotatably supported via 2, 32. Further, a spindle 40 of a servo motor 38 is connected to the left end of the roller 2 OA in FIG. 2 via gears 34 and 36, and by driving the servo motor 38, the roller 2 OA It is rotated at an angular speed of. The above is the structure of the rotation driving means. '

On the other hand, the moving frame 30 is fixed on both sides via a linear motion guide.

It is supported by 42 so that it can move up and down. The linear motion guide is configured such that guide rails 44 are vertically arranged on the moving frame 30 side, and guide blocks 46 on the fixed frame 42 side are engaged with the guide rails 44. .

Further, racks 48 and 48 project downward from both ends of the lower part of the moving frame 30, and pinions 50 and 50 are combined with the racks 48 and 48. The pinions 50, 50 are fixed to a horizontally arranged rotating shaft 52, and the rotating shaft

Both ends of 52 are supported by bearings 54 and 54, and the left end of FIG. 2 is connected to a spindle 58 of the support 56. As a result, when the rotary shaft 52 is rotated in the servomotor 56, the rotational motion is converted into a linear motion by the feed action between the pinion 50 and the rack 48, so that the moving frame 30 is Roller 2 OA is moved up and down. The above is the structure of the vertical driving means. In the forming zone 14, heaters 60 and 62 for heating the glass sheet are provided.

The above-mentioned rotary drive means and vertical drive means are provided for all of the other rollers 20 B to 20 R, and the servo motors 38, 56 of these means are controlled by the motion controller 200. Is controlled.

The motion controller 200 will be described. When the model of the glass plate 18 is inputted from an external input means, the motion controller 200 controls the angular velocity of the rollers 200A to 2OR corresponding to the curvature of the glass plate 18 of that type. Create data and vertical movement control data. The motion controller controls the servo motor 38 based on the created angular velocity control data and controls the servo motor 56 based on the vertical movement control data. That is, the motion controller 200 is configured such that the glass plate 18 is driven by the rollers 20A to 20R. The rollers 20A to 2OR are multiaxially controlled so that the rollers 20A to 2OR are bent and formed to a desired curvature during conveyance.

The moving mechanism of the mold 70 shown in FIG. 5 (corresponding to the mold moving means in the claims) includes a horizontal moving mechanism and a vertical moving mechanism. The horizontal moving mechanism is composed of a pole screw device 72 and a pair of guide rails 74, 74 (FIG. 1 shows a pair of guide rails, and FIG. 5 shows only one guide rail). The screw rod 75 and the guide rails 74, 74 of the pole screw device 72 are arranged in parallel to the glass sheet transport direction indicated by arrow A in FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a nut part 76 is screwed into the screw rod 75, and the moving part body 77 to which the nut part 76 is fixed is slidably engaged with the guide rails 74, 74. I have. A motor 79 of a feed screw device 78 constituting the vertical movement mechanism is fixed to the nut portion 76 with an output shaft (not shown) facing downward, and a screw rod 8 connected to this output shaft is provided. The support part 71 of the mold 70 is screwed to the zero. The supporting portion 71 is supported by the moving portion main body 79 via a linear motion guide 81, 81,.

According to the moving mechanism of the mold 70 configured as described above, when the support motor 73 of the pawl screw device 72 rotates forward and backward, the mold 70 moves in the glass sheet transport direction indicated by the arrow A in FIG. Reciprocate in and the opposite direction. When the feed screw device 78 is driven, the mold 70 moves up and down. The lower moving end of the mold 70 is set at a position below the roller conveyor 20 as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. The pole screw device 72 is controlled by the motion controller 200 in FIG. 1 so as to move the mold 70 in the horizontal direction in synchronization with the glass sheet transport speed. Further, the pole screw device 78 is controlled by the motion controller 200 so as to move up and down the mold 70 in conjunction with the up and down movement of the forming rollers 20A to 20R described later.

Next, the multi-axis control operation of the rollers 20A to 2OR by the motion controller 200 and the movement operation of the mold 70 controlled in conjunction therewith will be described. The vertical movement of the rollers 20A to 20R is such that the rollers 20A to 20R sequentially move downward and upward in the order of the rollers 2OA to 2OR as the glass plate 18 is conveyed. The rollers 20A to 20R, which are multi-axis controlled by the motion controller 200, move the heated glass plate 18 to the entrance side of the roller conveyor 20 as shown in, for example, FIGS. 3 (A) and 4 (A). Is reached, all the rollers 20A to 20R are at the uppermost position, and the transport surface formed by the rollers 20A to 20R is horizontal. Next, as shown in FIGS. 3 (B) and 4 (B), when the glass plate 18 is conveyed by a predetermined distance in the direction of the arrow, the rear end 18A of the glass plate 18 in the conveying direction is Immediately before coming into contact with the OA, the convex forming surface 7 OA of the mold 70, which has also been moved in synchronization with the transport direction and has been moved down, comes into contact with the glass plate 18. At this time, the transport surface is still horizontal.

Next, the glass plate 18 is continuously conveyed without stopping or decelerating. Then, when the rear end 18A of the glass plate 18 in the conveying direction comes into contact with the mouthpiece 2OA as shown in FIGS. 3 (C) and 4 (C), the rollers 20A to 20I respectively move down by a predetermined amount. Then, the conveying surface formed by the rollers 20A to 20I is deformed into a curved shape corresponding to the curvature of the glass plate 18 to be formed. Thus, when the glass plate 18 passes over the rollers 20A to 20I, the glass plate 18 radiates downward along the curved surfaces of the rollers 20A to 20I due to the weight of the glass plate 18. Then, in conjunction with the downward movement of the rollers 20A to 20I, the mold, which is also moving in synchronization with the glass sheet transport speed, descends while moving in the transport direction. The glass plate 18 being conveyed is pressed against the molding surface 7 OA of the mold 70. Thus, the glass plate 18 is bent into a glass plate having a desired curvature.

In this state, the vertical movement amount of each of the rollers 20A to 2OR is controlled such that the curved conveyance surface in FIG. 3C moves parallel to the downstream side along with the conveyance position of the glass plate 18. Then, at the positions shown in FIGS. 3D and 4D which have been conveyed downstream by a predetermined amount from the position shown in FIG. 3C, the mold 70 moves up and retreats from the glass plate 18. Then, the mold 70 moves in the direction opposite to the carrying direction as shown in FIGS. 3 (D) and 4 (D), and returns to the original position shown in FIGS. 3 (A) and 4 (A). Waiting for forming the next glass plate 16. The above is the bending process of the glass plate 18 in the forming zone 14. As described above, according to the forming method, the mold 70 disposed above the roller conveyor 20 is conveyed at a substantially constant speed without stopping or decelerating the glass plate 18 being conveyed by the roller conveyor 20. Since the molding is performed by pressing against the glass plate 18, the speed difference in the conveying direction between the two during molding becomes zero. Therefore, in the above-mentioned forming method, the glass plate 18 can be formed without reducing the production tact, so that the productivity is increased. Further, since the bending is started in a short time after being carried out of the heating furnace, the glass plate 18 can be bent without lowering the temperature, and the optical quality of the glass plate 18 is improved. Further, since the final shape of the glass plate 18 is formed by the mold 70, various curved surface shapes can be accommodated, and the shape is stabilized.

Further, in the forming method, the rollers 20A to 20R of the roller conveyor 20 are moved up and down in accordance with the transfer position of the glass plate 18, so that the transfer surface including the rollers 20A to 20R is curved into a desired curvature. Since the mold 70 is pressed against the glass plate 18 being conveyed on the curved surface, the shape stability is greatly improved. FIG. 6 shows a second embodiment of the roller conveyor 90 arranged in the forming zone. The roller conveyor 90 has two supporting rollers 90A, 90C, 90E, 90G, 901, 90K and 90M, and two supporting rollers 90B, 90D, 90F, 90H, 90J, 90 L and are alternately arranged.

FIG. 7 shows a support structure 92 at one end of the two-sided supported rollers 90A, 90C, 90E, 90G, 901, 9OK, and 9OM. Here, the support structure 92 at one end of the roller 90A will be described, and the description of the support structure at the other end of the same structure as the support structure 92 will be omitted. The support structure at both ends of the other rollers 90C, 90E, 90G, 901, 9OK, and 90M is the same as the support structure of the roller 90A, and therefore the description is omitted.

As shown in the figure, one end of the roller 90A is supported by a bracket 96 via a bearing 94. The bracket 96 is supported by a vertical moving guide 100 formed on the upper end side of the moving frame 30 via blocks 102, 102 so as to be movable up and down. The rod 96 of the air cylinder device 104 that applies a reaction force F to the roller 90A is connected to the bracket 96. In addition, The vertical moving mechanism of the moving frame 30 is the same as the mechanism shown in FIG. 2, and the description thereof is omitted here.

As a result, when the motor 56 constituting the vertical moving mechanism of the moving frame 30 is driven, the roller 9 OA moves up and down due to the feed action of the rack 48 and the pinion 50, so that the height of the roller 9 OA is increased. Can be adjusted. The roller 9OA is urged upward by the restoring force of the air cylinder device 104 generated when the mold 70 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed against the glass plate 18. This urging force is the reaction force F, and the reaction force F is set to a value suitable for forming the glass plate 18.

FIG. 8 shows one side support structure 110 of a pair of cantilevered rollers 90 B, 90 D, 90 F, 90 H, 90 J and 90 L, respectively. Here, the supporting structure 110 of the roller 90B on one side will be described, and the description of the supporting structure on the other side which is the same as the supporting structure 110 will be omitted. Further, the supporting structure of the other rollers 90D, 90F, 90H, 90J, and 90L is the same as the supporting structure of the roller 9OA, and the description thereof is omitted.

According to the support structure 110, one end of the roller 90B is supported by the casing 114 via the bearings 112, 112. As shown in Fig. 9, pins 1 16 and 1 16 protrude from both ends of the casing 1 14 in the transport direction of the glass plate in parallel with the transport direction of the glass plate. The holder 1 18 is rotatably supported via bearings 120 and 120. Also, the holders 118 are supported by a pedestal 98. Further, an arm 122 is protruded from the casing 114 in the horizontal direction, and a rod 125 of the air cylinder device 124 is connected to the arm 122.

Thus, the roller 90B is urged upward by the restoring force of the air cylinder device 124 generated when the mold 70 shown in FIG. 6 is pressed against the glass plate 18. This urging force becomes a reaction force F, and this reaction force F is set to a value suitable for forming the glass plate 18.

Therefore, according to the roller conveyor 90, a reaction force F suitable for forming the glass plate 18 is applied to the mold 70, so that the bent shape of the glass plate 18 is stable. I do. Further, according to the roller conveyor 90, as shown in FIG. 10, for example, a reaction force F generated by a double-sided supporter 2OA acts as a reaction force for pressing the central portion of the glass plate 18 against the mold 70. Then, the reaction force F generated by the cantilevered rollers 20 B, 2 OB acts as a reaction force for pressing the peripheral portion of the glass plate 18 against the mold 70. Therefore, the entire surface of the glass plate can be pressed against the mold 70 with an optimal force, so that the glass plate 18 can be bent well. Further, since the glass sheet 18 can be bent in a direction orthogonal to the glass sheet transport direction, it is possible to cope with the bending of the multi-curved glass sheet 18.

In the present embodiment, the reaction force F is generated using the air cylinder devices 104 and 124. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the air cylinder devices 104 and 124 may be used. Instead, a reaction force generating means such as a spring may be used. Further, a felt-like elastic sheet made of ceramic fiber may be wound around the roller without supporting the roller movably up and down, and the reaction force F may be generated by the elastic restoring force of the sheet.

FIG. 11 shows a third embodiment of the roller conveyor 130 arranged in the forming zone. The roller conveyor 130 uses a plurality of rollers located upstream (in the left part of FIG. 11) in the glass sheet transport direction as preforming rollers, and a plurality of rollers following these preforming rollers. These rollers are used as forming rollers.

When the glass plate 18 is conveyed by the preforming roller, the glass plate 18 is curved along the curved conveying surface formed by the preforming roller only by the action of its own weight, as shown in Fig. 11 (A). You. When the glass sheet 18 is conveyed by the forming roller, the glass sheet 18 moves in synchronization with the curved conveying surface formed by the forming roller and the glass sheet conveying speed as shown in FIGS. 11 (B) to 11 (E). It is bent between the mold 70 and the mold. The operations of the molding roller and the mold 70 are the same as those of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the description thereof is omitted here.

In addition, the mouth conveyor 130 shown in FIG. 11 has a number of air injection nozzles below the rollers of the molding rollers (which are used as air floating means in the claims). 1) There are 1 32, 1 32 and so on. These air injection nozzles 13 2 and 13 2 are arranged with their injection ports facing upward. Also, air injection nozzle 1

The air pressure of the hot air injected from 3 2 and 1 3 2 is set to a pressure that allows the glass plate 18 being transported on the curved transport surface to air float and press against the molding surface 7 OA of the mold 70. Is set. In this way, even when the glass plate 18 is configured to be pressed against the mold 70 by air pressure, the glass plate 18 is not stopped or decelerated at the time of molding, and moves together with the mold 70 in the glass sheet transport direction. To increase production capacity. In addition, since the sheet is bent while being supported by air floating, there is an advantage that the lower surface of the glass plate 18 is not damaged by the roller during the bending.

On the other hand, the air injection nozzles 13 2, 13 2... Are controlled by an elevating device (not shown) to move up and down by the same distance in conjunction with the up and down movement of the forming roller. As a result, even if the forming roller moves down, the glass plate 18 does not hit the air injection nozzle 132. In addition, since the distance between the air injection nozzles 13 and 2 and the glass plate 18 is always kept constant, the air-floating ability becomes constant, and the glass plate 18 can be stably supported by air floating. . FIG. 12 shows a fourth embodiment of the roller conveyor 140 arranged in the forming zone. This roller conveyor 140 is provided with a so-called nose-bending roller 14 OA on the upstream side of the forming roller in the glass sheet conveying direction, and on the downstream side of the glass sheet conveying direction across a plurality of rollers. A nose-bending roller 140B is disposed in the nose. The rollers 140A and 140B are connected to a moving device (not shown) so as to move at the same speed as the glass plate conveying speed.

By the way, the glass sheet 18 for automobiles is generally formed such that the curvature of the end of the glass sheet 18 is larger than that of other parts. In such a portion having a large curvature, the bending shape cannot be obtained satisfactorily unless the molding time is made longer than in the other portions.

Therefore, as shown in Fig. 12 (C), roller 1 conveyor 1

When the end of the glass plate 18 comes in contact with 4 OA, 140 B, the roller 140 A and 14OB move in the glass sheet conveying direction at the same speed as the glass sheet conveying speed while maintaining this state, as shown in FIG. 12 (C). Thus, the end of the glass plate 18 having a large curvature can be formed longer than other portions, so that the shape of the end having a large curvature can be favorably obtained. The operation of the mold 70 is the same as that of the embodiment shown in FIG. 3, and the description thereof is omitted here.

Further, a vacuum suction function for sucking and holding the glass plate on the mold 70 and an air blowing function for peeling the glass plate from the mold 70 may be added. FIG. 13 shows another embodiment of the roller support structure shown in FIG. This roller support structure does not employ the mechanism composed of the rack 48 and the pinion 50 shown in FIG. 7 as the vertical movement mechanism of the roller 9 OA, but employs a worm jack device 150 as shown in FIG. It is. The worm jack device 150 has a motor 154 for driving a worm wheel incorporated in the gear box 152, and by driving the motor 154, the worm wheel rotates, and the worm 150 6 moves up and down. An air cylinder device 104 is connected to an upper end of the worm 156, and a rod 106 of the air cylinder device 104 is connected to a bracket 96.

FIG. 14 shows an example in which rollers 16 0, 16 0... Having a double-sided structure are alternately tilted to the left and right to cope with bending of a double curved glass. Fig. 15 shows an example of the two-sided support structure.

The support structure shown in Fig. 15 is an improvement of the roller support structure shown in Fig. 2, that is, the rotation shaft 52 is divided into a rotation shaft 52A and a rotation shaft 52B, and these rotations are performed. The shafts 52A and 52B are connected to a motor 1664 via an operating gear device (for example, a differential unit of Harmonic Drive Systems) 16. According to this structure, when the motor 16 4 is driven, the rotating shaft 52 A and the rotating shaft 52 B rotate in the opposite directions by the action of the operating gear device 16 2, so that the left and right moving frames 30 L , 30 R height difference. As a result, the roller 160 supported by the moving frames 30L and 3OR tilts.

Figs. 16 to 18 show two cylindrical bumps 170 and 170 on one roller 20. In this figure, an apparatus is shown in which a glass plate is conveyed by rotating rollers 170 and 170 by rollers 20 and a glass plate is bent and formed by roller 170 and mold 70. The distance between the bumps 170 is changed for each roller as shown in FIG. Explaining the control of the height (vertical position) of the roller 20, as shown in FIG. 18, the roller with the hump 170 outside is controlled higher by the amount calculated from the radius of curvature R. Also, control the lower ones with Cobb 170 inside. That is, the value of the roll elevating / lowering is changed and controlled in accordance with the position of each of the knobs 170 in accordance with the compound track R. By arranging a plurality of roller groups, each of which includes three bumped rollers 20, 20... Shown in FIG. 16 and a normal flat roller 20, the bending of the double-curved glass can be smoothly performed. Can be implemented.

The roller 180 shown in FIG. 19 is a roller having a double shaft structure composed of a flat roller 20 and a cylindrical roller (hereinafter, referred to as a free port—a roller) 182. The roller 182 is relatively rotatably connected to the roller 184 via bearings 18 and 18.

When the flat roller 20 is rotated by the motor 186, the free roller 182 rotates due to the friction and viscous resistance of the bearing 184 when no load is applied to the free roller 182. Thus, the torque of the motor 186 is given to the glass plate 16 via the free roller 182.

When a load such as the pressing force of the mold 70 is applied to the free rollers 18 2, the torque of the motor 18 6 is transmitted to the free rollers 18 2 by idling at the bearings 18 4. Not transmitted to the glass plate 18.

By the above operation, when the speed of the mold 70 and the speed of the roller 180 do not match, the speed of the glass plate 18 matches the speed of the mold 70, and the transmission of torque to the roller 180 is stopped. As a result, no slip occurs between the roller 180 and the glass plate 18, so that the glass plate 18 can be prevented from being damaged by slippage.

Here, the conditions for a free roller that produces the above-described effects are as follows:

Outside diameter of free roller 18 2: D r (mm)

Average diameter of bearings 18 4: D b (mm) Pressing force of glass plate by mold 70: Fp (kg)

Weight of glass plate per roll: Wg (kg)

Weight of free roller 182: Wr (kg)

Friction force between glass plate and free roller 182: n

Rolling friction coefficient of bearing 184: b

Then

II-(Fp + Wg) · Dr / 2> b-(Fp + Wg + Wr) ■ Design the roll dimensions so that the relational expression of Db / 2 holds. Industrial applicability

As described above, according to the method and the apparatus for bending a glass sheet according to the present invention, the glass sheet being conveyed by the conveying means is stopped at the same speed without being stopped or decelerated, and the glass sheet is conveyed at the same speed. Pressing the mold placed on the glass plate and bending it causes the productivity to be higher than before. According to the present invention, it is possible to manufacture glass sheets for transportation equipment such as automobiles, ships, railways, and aircrafts, or for building and other various uses.

Claims

The scope of the claims

1. The glass sheet is heated to the bending temperature by a heating furnace, and the heated glass sheet is conveyed by a conveying means, and a forming die installed above the conveying means is synchronized with a conveying speed of the glass sheet. The glass sheet is bent by pressing the forming die against the glass sheet while moving the glass sheet while conveying the glass sheet. .

2. The transport means is a roller conveyor composed of a plurality of rollers, and transports the glass plate on a transport surface formed by the plurality of rollers,

The roller forming the transfer surface is moved up and down in accordance with the transfer position of the glass plate to bend at least a part of the transfer surface to form a curved surface. 2. The method for bending a glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein the glass sheet is bent by pressing a mold.

3. The transport means is a roller conveyor including a plurality of rollers, and transports the glass plate on a transport surface formed by the plurality of rollers,

The roller is provided movably in the up-down direction and is urged upward. The urging force bends the glass sheet while applying a reaction force suitable for forming the glass sheet to the molding die. 2. The method for bending a glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein

4. The transfer means includes an air floating means for supporting the glass plate in an air floating manner, and presses the glass plate to the molding die in a state where the glass plate is air-floated by air injected from the air floating means. 2. The method for bending a glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein:

5. The glass plate heated by the heating furnace is conveyed on a conveying surface formed by the plurality of rollers to perform pre-bending by the own weight of the glass plate, and then bend by the forming die. The method for bending a glass sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the method is performed.

6. The method of bending a glass sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the glass sheet is used for manufacturing a window glass of an automobile.

7. a heating furnace for heating the glass sheet to its forming temperature;

Conveying means for conveying the heated glass sheet,

A mold set above the conveying means,

Forming mold moving means for moving the forming mold in the direction of transport of the glass sheet and in the vertical direction;

By controlling the driving of the forming die moving means, the forming die is moved in the conveying direction of the glass plate in synchronization with the transfer of the glass plate, and the forming die is transferred while the glass plate is transferred. Control means for bending the glass plate by pressing against the glass plate;

An apparatus for bending a glass sheet, comprising:

8. The transfer means is a roller conveyor including a plurality of rollers, and transfers the glass plate on a transfer surface formed by the plurality of rollers.

The roller forming the transfer surface is moved up and down in accordance with the transfer position of the glass plate to bend at least a part of the transfer surface to form a curved surface. The glass sheet bending apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the glass sheet is bent by pressing a mold.

9. The transport means is a roller conveyor including a plurality of rollers, and transports the glass plate on a transport surface formed by the plurality of rollers,

The roller is provided movably in the up-down direction and is urged upward. The urging force bends the glass sheet while applying a reaction force suitable for forming the glass sheet to the molding die. 8. The glass sheet bending apparatus according to claim 7, wherein:

10. The transfer means includes an air floating means for supporting the glass plate in an air floating manner. The glass plate is pressed against the molding die in a state where the glass plate is air-floated by air jetted from the air-floating means. 8. The apparatus for bending a glass sheet according to claim 7, wherein the glass sheet is bent.

11. The control means carries out pre-bending by the weight of the glass sheet by transferring the glass sheet heated by the heating furnace on a transfer surface formed by the plurality of rollers, The glass sheet bending apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 10, wherein bending is performed by the forming die thereafter.

12. The glass sheet bending apparatus according to any one of claims 7 to 11, wherein the glass sheet is used for manufacturing a window glass of an automobile.