Glass manufacturing – Preform reshaping means
Patent
1997-01-27
1999-03-30
Griffin, Steven P.
Glass manufacturing
Preform reshaping means
65174, 65375, 33 1M, 83879, 83776, 83523, 83821, C05B 3302
Patent
active
058882685
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a glass-plate working apparatus for forming a cut line for bend-breaking in a glass plate, for bend-breaking along the cut line the glass plate on which the cut line has been formed, for grinding and/or polishing a bend-broken edge of the bend-broken glass plate, or concurrently effecting these operations continuously, for effecting taper edge working, round edge working, or the like at the edge of the glass plate, or effecting other working such as surface grinding and/or polishing work at the surface of the glass plate.
BACKGROUND ART
In a glass-plate working apparatus of this type, a working head provided with a tool such as a cutter wheel for effecting desired working on a glass plate is mounted on, for example, an X-direction movable base which is movable in an X-direction, this X-direction movable base is mounted on a frame which is movable in a Y-direction perpendicular to the X-direction, and the X-direction movable base and the frame are moved in the X-direction and the Y-direction, respectively, whereby the working head is moved with respect to the glass plate, thereby to effect working at a desired position on the glass plate by means of the working head.
In the apparatus of the above-described example, the frame on which the X-direction movable base is mounted is supported at its opposite ends by a base or the like movably in the Y-direction, and is moved by moving devices at the opposite ends, respectively. The moving devices for moving the opposite ends of the frame are required to move the opposite ends of the frame accurately in synchronism, and if this requirement is not met, a difference in the amount of movement occurs between one end side and the other end side of the frame.
Generally, since the frame is disposed in such a manner as to be slidably fitted to guide rails provided on the base, and is moved in the Y-direction while being guided by the guide rails, if a difference in the amount of movement occurs as described above, the frame scuffs against or seizes or locks on the guide rails, which makes it impossible to effect smooth movement of the frame. Since the frame and the guide rails are fitted to each other with almost no clearance so as to attain accurate movement in the Y-direction, even if a very small difference occurs in the amount of movement at the opposite ends of the frame, there is a possibility of the occurrence of the above-described drawback.
The present invention has been devised in view of the above-described aspects, and its object is to provide a lass-plate working apparatus which is capable of effecting smooth movement of the frame even if a very small difference occurs in the amount of movement at the opposite ends of the frame.
DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION
In accordance with the present invention, the above object is attained by a glass-plate working apparatus comprising: a base on which a glass plate to be worked is placed; a pair of Y-direction movable bases which are spaced apart from each other in an X-direction and are supported movably in a Y-direction perpendicular to the X-direction; a Y-direction moving device for moving the pair of movable bases in the Y-direction; a frame which is supported by the pair of Y-direction movable bases via scuffing preventing devices which are respectively provided in correspondence with the Y-direction movable bases; and a working head mounted on the frame and adapted to work the glass plate placed on the base.
In a preferred example, each of the scuffing preventing devices in accordance with the present invention may be provided with a rotating permitting device so as to allow the frame to rotate in an X-Y plane with respect to a corresponding one of the Y-direction movable bases, the rotating permitting device may be provided with a shaft and a bearing for rotatably supporting the shaft, wherein the shaft and the bearing may be provided on the Y-direction movable base and the frame, respectively, or the shaft and the bearing may be provided on the frame and the Y
REFERENCES:
patent: 3978748 (1976-09-01), Leslie et al.
patent: 5398579 (1995-03-01), Bando
Bando Kiko Co., Ltd.
Griffin Steven P.
LandOfFree
Glass-plate working apparatus does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Glass-plate working apparatus, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Glass-plate working apparatus will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-1210103