WO2004077496A2

WO2004077496A2 - Method and device for placing threads on a plastic substrate

Info

Publication number: WO2004077496A2
Application number: PCT/FR2004/000400
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans-Jürgen ECKSTEIN
Original assignee: Saint-Gobin_Glass France
Priority date: 2003-02-24
Filing date: 2004-02-20
Publication date: 2004-09-10
Also published as: DE602004002283T2; PL377270A1; DE602004002283D1; ES2271850T3; PL206127B1; EP1597940B1; EP1597940A2; BRPI0407772A; ATE339075T1; MXPA05008982A; BRPI0407772B1; WO2004077496A3

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for placing threads on a plastic substrate,which is fixed to a support, particularly in the form of a drum, and which is moveable with the aid of a first drive,with the aid of at least one placement unit which is used to place the thread on the surface of the substrate,which is moveable with the aid of a second drive, in relation to the moveable support and independently thereof on the surface of the substrate. According to the invention, a reversible positioning drive, preferably a direct electric drive such as a torque motor, is used as a first drive in order to position the support. At least one linear motor with a guiding device for at least one cursor is used as a second drive for positioning the at least one placement unit. The inventive method and device for the implementation thereof enable, for example, the creation of occupation fields, diverging from a rectangular surface and/or the placement of threads having irregular undulations (lengths, amplitudes).

Description

Method and device for laying wires on a plastic substrate

The invention relates to a method and a device for laying wires on a plastic substrate, having the characteristics of the preamble of claim 1. It also relates to a device particularly suitable for carrying out the method .

It has been known for a long time to integrate in laminated panes of windows for vehicles or buildings heaters, antennas, decorations or also radiation shields, which are essentially formed of electrically conductive wires, which are deposited mechanically on an adhesive layer of the laminated glass in a predetermined pattern. For the electrical contacting of these wires to the outside (arrival of the heating voltage, transfer of antenna signals), there are generally provided at their two ends of the collector conductors, which are electrically connected to all the wires. by soldering, by electrically conductive adhesives or the like.

US-A-5,891,280 describes a method of laying fine wires and the corresponding device, with which the wires are laid on an adhesive film or the like. The method is characterized in that the films to be filled are fixed on a rotary drum, which is used for positioning the films under a laying unit, which is movable in a reciprocal movement parallel to the axis of the rotary drum, with a large positioning accuracy like a drawing table. Thus, the wires can in principle be deposited on tracks

Wis € any, in particular also curved, and their mutual spacings need not necessarily remain constant. However, the direction and the speed of rotation of the drum remain constant.

The installation unit is moved in a reciprocal movement using a longitudinal spindle drive, which allows precise positioning, but which in principle is relatively slow in the case of large movements. The method can also be used to connect collector conductors still on the drum with the wires, and to cut the latter.

An older device known from document DE-A1-42 01 620, for laying fine wires on a thermoplastic film, comprises one or more laying units which can / can again be moved in the direction of the axis of a rotating drum carrying the film, in which however the wires are finally wound in a helix around the drum. In the finished product, this does not prove to be a problem because of the very small angle of inclination between the wires placed very short apart from each other. This process ultimately works faster than the technique mentioned above, but it does not allow the laying of the wires following a contour.

The two types of known devices have in common that the films are fixed to the drums by the application of a pressure difference; the side surfaces of the drums are perforated, and the pressure in the interior space of the hollow drum is reduced relative to atmospheric pressure by suction of air. It is also known to deposit wires on a flat stationary support using a device similar to a drawing table. This device can certainly produce virtually any deposition lines, it is however relatively slow.

Document EP-B1-613,769 discloses a method for cutting heating wires continuously deposited on a substrate, while document EP-B1-656,257 describes a method for bringing the wires of electrical contact into electrical contact. heating laid parallel to each other with collector conductors oriented transversely with respect thereto. The object of the invention is to provide a method, which brings together the advantages of known devices, which allows in particular a high laying speed while following flexible layouts, and to propose a device which is particularly suitable for implementing the process.

According to the invention, this problem is solved with regard to the method by the features of claim 1. The features of claim 11 indicate a corresponding device. The features of the subclaims dependent on the respective independent claims show advantageous embodiments of these inventions.

A particular characteristic of this process according to the invention consists in that the support is now reversible (with reversal of the direction of advance or rotation) and also that it is driven with an adjustable speed. This opens up considerably wider possibilities on the one hand for laying the wires on the substrate, and on the other hand also for using other tools. For this purpose, use a flat or curved support, of mass as low as possible, which can be driven and positioned very precisely using a positioning drive, preferably a direct drive without play with times of very short reactions. Such direct drives are known per se. It is not absolutely necessary that these be activated electrically, but hydraulic or pneumatic positioning drives can also be used.

Instead of the preferred direct gearless drive, one could also use a drive with gear distribution and appropriate compensation for possible backlash.

This first step in accordance with the invention is completed by the use of a fast and precise linear drive, preferably electric, for the movements of the tools transversely to the direction of movement of the support. For this linear drive, there is a need for at least one guide rail with the drive magnets and at least one slider serving as a tool holder or, as the case may be, configured as such.

It is then possible to have several sliders on the same guide rail and / or to provide several guide rails distributed over the work surface. If necessary, the functions of the tools (installation, electrical connection, cutting of the wires and if necessary of the substrate) can be distributed on different guide rails respectively on several linear drives.

Unlike the previous application, it is however also possible to use as linear motors servomotors driven by a fluid (pneumatic or hydraulic) which can, with their adjusting members, position each tool or several tools synchronously and parallel to each other. Thus also, high adjustment speeds and precise positioning can be achieved.

The complete control of the machine can be programmed, so that, to change a laying scheme, only the control program currently in progress must be modified. With such a procedure and such a laying technique, it is also possible to produce customer-specific laying patterns, for example the laying of a set of wires in a generally wedge shape, that is to say that the wires finally cover a substantially trapezoidal surface, owing to the fact that they are not placed in an exactly parallel manner as hitherto, but with slight inclinations relative to each other. This effect can also be obtained by orienting, for example, the wires exactly parallel to one another as before in the central area of the surface and by laying partial quantities of wires, in the edge regions of the non-rectangular surface. to be trimmed, with a constant, variable or gradually increasing intermediate angle between neighboring wires.

We can thus meet the demands of customers, for example in the automotive industry, who wish to occupy the surface such that heating of the entire surface is possible, in parts, substantially trapezoidal in development, of the barrier surface. -brise or rear glasses, even when the heating wires extend between the two long sides (in the mounted position between the upper edge or roof and the lower edge) of such windows.

According to yet another embodiment of the method, the amplitude of undulation of the laid wires can finally be variable. It is certainly known per se to lay the wires in wavy lines, however, with known means (in which the wires are plastically deformed between two toothed wheels engaged immediately before laying on the substrate), only a uniform undulation is obtained, even if it is visually very unclear and that the wires are well hidden from view. With the process according to the invention, on the contrary, the corresponding devices make it possible, by suitably coordinated control of the advances of the laying units and of the support, to lay the wires also on the air with variable wavelengths and / or amplitudes. . In this way, it is also possible to influence, within wide limits - by the laying of varying lengths of wire - the resistances and thus also the heating power of individual wire lines, without the need to use a material wire of different dimensions / thicknesses or with different specific resistances. In particular, a wire, which must only cross a relatively short distance between the collecting conductors in the case of a predetermined window contour, can acquire, by an appropriate corrugation (with a longer effective wire length consequently). active resistance which is equal to the resistances of the “longer” wires visually electrically mounted in parallel, or in any case at least close to these.

This demand can be met by replacing the mechanical drive of the known laying units, for example with stepping motors or other suitable servos. The control of these stepper drives / motors is naturally synchronized with the support control. This produces a variable electronic distribution.

The axis Z of the movement of the tools, that is to say its component oriented more or less perpendicular to the working surface, respectively to the surface of the substrate, can be put in translation or in rotation. For this latter variant, an electric drive with a hollow shaft can be provided, for example, which can first be moved and positioned along a straight guide, and which can pivot around this axis in translation or an axis parallel to the latter for the action of a tool which it carries, for example a cutting or marking tool. Cutting tools can be integrated into the device both for cutting the length of the wires themselves (pliers, short-circuit electrodes) and for cutting the substrate, for example a thermoplastic adhesive film (knife) , and be ordered with the method according to the invention. One can for example also imagine to combine a laying unit with a cutting tool, so that after laying a defined length of wire, it is immediately cut properly before starting laying the wire next (possibly neighbor). In this case, it would also be possible, contrary to known methods and devices, to pose in opposite directions of laying wires to be laid one after the other.

If desired, it is also possible to produce a sinuous tracing of the wires without interruption and without transformation of the device.

Other details and advantages of the subject of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment.

In the annexed schematic drawings, greatly simplified of the embodiment, Figure 1 shows a side view of a device for implementing the method according to

The invention; Figure 2 shows a plan view of a similar device.

In FIG. 1, a rotary support in the shape of a drum 1 is provided with a direct reversible electric drive 2, which acts on an axis of rotation 3 of the support 1 mounted in a fixed position in a frame and which can on the one hand cause this one around this axis of rotation 3 in both directions of rotation and on the other hand, control and position it in predetermined movement patterns. A plastic substrate 4 is fixed to the surface of the support 1 with suitable means (of known nature). Above the support 1, two laying units 5 of the same type have been indicated. They are intended to lay thin wires 6 on the plastic substrate 4. They are fixed on sliders 7, which can slide along guide rails 8 fixed on the frame, perpendicular to the plane of the drawing.

Another tool 5 'has also been shown diagrammatically on the left side, next to the support. The latter is guided on a cylindrical guide rail 8 ′, and its cursor 7 ′ has a bore adapted to the guide rail 8 ′. This slider cannot only slide along the guide rail

8 ', but it can also rotate around it

(pivoting drive with hollow shaft), so that the corresponding tool 5 ′ can also carry out a lifting movement (pivoting) around it relative to the support 1 and to the plastic substrate. It is thus adjustable back and forth between a rest position (raised; drawn in solid lines) and a working position (in contact with the plastic substrate; drawn in phantom). The tool can for example be a heating tool, a cutting tool and / or a writing tool and it then comes into contact with the plastic substrate only when its function is really necessary.

Naturally, the laying units 5 can also be adjustable in height with respect to their cursor 7, in particular to bring them with their blocks 9 to the exactly correct position above the surface of the substrate, and in addition to facilitate the exchange of spools of thread and insertion of new threads 6.

FIG. 2 illustrates even better the relative mobility of the laying units 5 and of the support 1 with the plastic substrate 4. For simplicity, only FIG. 2 shows a guide rail 8. However, this one carries, apart from the laying unit 5, in addition to the slider 7 still two other cursors 7 drawn in mixed lines with other tools of the type described above. The guide rail 8 extends parallel to the axis 3 and therefore perpendicular to the actual working direction of the support 1. To the left of the device, there is shown a programmable control unit C, which coordinates the movements support 1 and sliders 7 with the laying units and other tools. It is symbolically connected using control and supply lines with the direct drive and the guide rail respectively with the sliders associated with it.

The laying units 5 are suitable for laying the wires 6 in the correct and secure position, independently of the direction of relative movement between the support on the one hand and the sliders on the other hand. This is reproduced here in a very simplified manner because the wires 6 are guided by a block 9, the underside of which is placed as close as possible to the surface of the plastic substrate 4.

In order to at least partially reproduce the multitude of functions that can be executed independently, the plastic substrate 4 is here divided into three sections over the width of the support 1, by two pairs of dashed lines drawn vertically.

While on the far left a segment of wire 6 deposited on the plastic substrate 4 has been deposited simply in a straight line, even if slightly oblique with respect to the axis 3 of the support, the wire 6 currently handled by the 'laying unit 5 is deposited in a wavy line with increasing amplitude from top to bottom. The general direction in which the wavy wire extends forms a small intermediate angle with respect to the wire deposited on the far left.

This is possible by oscillating the cursor 7 back and forth with the laying unit 5 on the guide rail 8 along the predetermined wavy path, as indicated by a double arrow, while the support 1 moves below . Obviously, it is possible to thus lay wires according to any paths, either rectilinear, or in undulations, or in loops or meanders, as well as in parallel and / or with constant or variable intermediate angles between them.

Winding traces are possible, if you use the direct drive option 2 to move in oscillation back and forth the support 1 itself

(also indicated on the left by a double arrow) and at the same time continue the laying of a wire 6. This variant is illustrated in the central part of the plastic substrate 4, where one produces on the edge thereof. ci with the wire 6 a wavy pattern propagating parallel to the axis 3 of the support 1, only by the oscillation of the support 1 and at the same time the translational movement of a cursor 7 carrying a laying unit in addition to the block 9. If we still consider the option of superimposing on the oscillating movement of the support an equally oscillating movement of the cursor, we can then deposit practically all the patterns of thread on the plastic substrate; these can also be made for purely decorative purposes, for example without any electrical function.

Finally, in the right part of the plastic substrate 4, we see a cutting line 10, which is made here using another slider 7 equipped with a cutting tool 5 ', to divide the material substrate plastic 4.

Claims

1. Method for laying heating, antenna and / or decoration wires on a plastic substrate, which is fixed on a support, in particular in the form of a drum, movable by means of a first drive , using at least one laying unit intended for laying the wire on the surface of the substrate, which is mobile using a second drive relative to the mobile support and independently of the latter on the substrate surface, characterized in that a reversible positioning drive is used as the first drive for positioning the support, and that at least one linear motor is used as the second drive with a guide device for at least a slider for positioning at least one laying unit.

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a direct electric drive, in particular a torque motor, is used as the positioning drive.

3. Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that several sliders can be used which can be positioned independently of each other for the positioning of at least one laying unit and at least one other tool with the using one or more linear motors.

4. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one second guide device is used for the independent guidance of sliders carrying tools.

5. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a first guide device is used for guiding wire laying units and a second guide device for guiding other tools, particular cutting tools.

6. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a partial quantity of the wires is placed one next to the other with a non-parallel orientation.

7. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a partial quantity of wire parts is laid with a variable undulation, that is to say a wavelength and / or a variable amplitude.

8. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one cuts to a suitable length at least a partial quantity of parts of son immediately after laying.

9. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that one places one next to the other at least a partial quantity of parts of neighboring wires in a direction each time alternated.

10. Method according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least a partial quantity of son parts is laid in sinuous form without cutting.

11. Device for laying heating wires, antenna and / or decoration on a plastic substrate (4), with a support (1), in particular in the shape of a drum, movable with a first drive (2) for fixing the substrate, and with at least one laying unit (5) intended for laying a wire (6) on the surface of the substrate, which is movable using a second drive (7, 8) relative to and independently of the movable substrate reversibly and positionable on the surface of the substrate, characterized in that the support (1) can be displaced reversibly and positioned using a positioning drive (2), and in that at least one laying unit is movable using at least one linear motor with a guide device (8) for at least one cursor (7) carrying the installation unit (5).

12. Device according to claim 11, characterized in that the working axis of the linear motor is disposed substantially transversely, preferably at an angle of 90 °, relative to the working direction of the support.

13. Device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the linear motor is constituted by a fluid-controlled drive, that is to say pneumatic or hydraulic.

14. Device according to claim 11 or 12, characterized in that the linear motor is constituted by an electric drive.

15. Device according to claim 14, characterized in that the linear motor has a guide device (8) for several sliders (7) which can be moved and positioned independently of each other.

16. Device according to any one of the preceding device claims, characterized in that beside at least one laying unit (5), other tools (5 ') with other functions, in particular heating tools, cutting tools, d.es writing tools, can still be positioned using sliders (7) and linear motors on the substrate (4) and to act on it and on the son (6).

17. Device according to any one of the preceding device claims, characterized in that pivoting drives are provided, in particular drives by hollow shaft (7 ′, 8 ′), for adjusting tools in the direction of general work perpendicular to the surface of the substrate.

18. Device according to claim 17, characterized in that at least one cursor (7) can be moved as well and positioned in a straight line along a guide device (8) as tilted around the axis of this guide device.

19. Device according to any one of the preceding device claims, characterized in that the positioning drive is a direct electric drive, in particular a torque motor.