Radiant energy – Photocells; circuits and apparatus – Photocell controls its own optical systems
Patent
1993-03-02
1994-06-07
Nelms, David C.
Radiant energy
Photocells; circuits and apparatus
Photocell controls its own optical systems
250560, 356386, 156109, B32B 3110
Patent
active
053191862
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
This invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the movement of a tool along the edge of glass panes, particularly of insulating glass panes, comprising a horizontal conveyor, on which the glass panes are conveyed while they are supported by backing means, which by their supporting forward surface define a plane of pane travel, also comprising one or more optical sensors, which scan the glass panes, and a drive motor for displacing the tool in a direction which is parallel to the plane of travel of the panes and transverse to the direction of travel of the horizontal conveyor.
PRIOR ART
Such an apparatus is known from DE-C-28 16 437. In the known apparatus a nozzle for sealing the edge gap of insulating glass panes is controlled by a photodetector, which is moved in unison with the sealing nozzle and indicates the arrival of the nozzle at a corner of the insulating glass pane. The photodetector controls the drive of the nozzle in such a manner that the nozzle is pivotally moved through 90.degree. at the corner of the insulating glass pane and then moves along the adjoining portion of the edge of the insulating glass pane. That control mode is well adapted fro use with rectangular insulating glass panes but is less suitable for controlling the movement of a tool along the edge of individual glass panes or of insulating glass panes which have a non-rectangular configuration --so-called model panes. For a control of the movement of a tool along the edge of model panes it is known to use a numerically controlled drive for moving the tool and to store selected configurations of model panes in a data memory and, whenever a glass pane having a stored configuration is to be processed, to read out by a computer the characteristic data defining the configuration and to control the tool in accordance therewith. That practice has the disadvantage that glass panes having a configuration which has not been stored cannot be automatically processed but must be processed by hand. Another disadvantage resides in that the means for the numerical control for the tool must somehow be informed that a model pane is to be processed and what is the configuration of that glass pane, e.g., in that the configuration and size of the glass panes are initially detected and the glass panes are coded by the application of a machine-readable data carrier, which is read in the processing apparatus by a reader, which is connected to the computer by which the movement of the tool is controlled, (EP-A-0 252 066) or in that the dimensions of the glass panes to be processed and the order in which they are supplied for being processed are determined from the beginning for an entire production sequence by a detailed computer-assisted manufacturing program. But most manufacturers who process glass panes are not prepared to make such a detailed manufacturing program and such program would not be sufficiently versatile in view of the continual change of the size of the glass panes to be processed.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide for the control of the movement of a tool along the edge of glass panes an apparatus which permits an automatic processing of rectangular glass panes and of model panes of any desired configuration as they arrive, i.e., in any desired order, without a detailed manufacturing program and without an application of machine-readable data carriers.
That object is accomplished by the provision of an apparatus for controlling the movement of a tool along the apparatus for controlling the movement of a tool along the edge of glass panes, particularly of insulating glass panes, comprising a horizontal conveyor, on which the glass panes are conveyed while they are supported by backing means, which by their supporting forward surface define a plane of pane travel, also comprising one or more optical sensors, which scan the glass panes, and a drive motor for displacing the tool in a direction which is parallel to the plane of travel of the panes and transverse to t
REFERENCES:
patent: 2275811 (1942-03-01), Woelfel
patent: 4145237 (1979-03-01), Mercier et al.
patent: 4561929 (1985-12-01), Lenhardt
patent: 4973436 (1990-11-01), Lisec
patent: 5051145 (1991-11-01), Lenhardt
patent: 5136974 (1992-08-01), Lisec
Allen S. B.
Lenhardt Maschinenbau GmbH
Nelms David C.
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