WO2011029427A1 - Method and device for archiving and/or temporarily storing coated glass panes in clean rooms - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention relates to a device for archiving and/or temporarily storing coated glass panes in clean rooms in a quick cycle sequence, comprising the following features: a) a plurality of roller conveyors for feeding glass panes, b) a plurality of roller conveyors that are each connected to a transverse conveyor, c) a number of devices for orienting glass panes, d) a plurality of container boxes for horizontally stacking glass panes, e) a number of loading stations having a portal frame having a lifting device for container boxes, f) a number of portal box movers having a lifting apparatus and telescopic forks for moving container boxes, wherein the portal box movers can be moved, and g) a number of container racks.

Description

 Method and device for archiving and / or intermediate storage of coated glass panes in clean rooms

The invention relates to a method and a device for archiving and / or intermediate storage of coated glass plates in clean rooms.

As coated glass plates, photovoltaic elements, TFT screens or other glass plates can be used to cover a coating

Clean room conditions or clean room conditions need to be considered.

From DE 10 2007 052 027 B3, a method and a device for contamination-free treatment are known from the prior art on this subject

shock-sensitive glass plates in clean rooms known. In this case, the method or the corresponding device based on the object to ensure in the alignment and positioning of large thin glass plates under clean room conditions a manufacturing process or a supply to a specific manufacturing process, controlled without the access of people, but of people outside of production and monitors, takes place. The corresponding device must be reliable in operation and inexpensive to manufacture. The movements of the glass plates must exclude unwanted vibrations.

This object is achieved by a device or a corresponding method for kotaminationsfreien, exactly defined, horizontal alignment and positioning of thin, shock-sensitive glass plates below

Clean room conditions with the following characteristics:

a) a roller conveyor with rollers (2) and a drive (3) b) an alignment unit with a lifting frame (8) and a lying on this alignment frame (5), wherein the alignment frame (5) with this pivotally articulated cross braces (4) having support elements which penetrate the free space between the rollers (2), project beyond the support level of the rollers (2) and carry the glass plate (9), c) two sliding elements, each of which is individually controllable

 Actuators (6) are actuated and in each turn in swivel joints (7)

An archiving of glass plates is not possible with this known device.

DE 102007052182B4 describes an apparatus and a method for converting impact-sensitive glass plates in clean rooms. This device, or this method is based on the object, in the implementation of large thin glass plates under clean room conditions an extreme

To ensure positioning accuracy.

 This object is achieved by means of a device, or a method for the contamination-free transfer of thin, impact-sensitive plates,

in particular glass plates (11), in clean rooms, from a horizontal to a defined vertical position, with the following features:

 a) Rollers, each with its own drive in the clean dream for

 Delivery of glass plates (11),

 b) a conversion unit

 c) a transfer fork as part of the transfer unit with a

 Cross member (6) and attached vertically thereto

 Suction head support - Holmen (7), wherein the spars (7) on its upper side over its length distributed suction heads (8)

 have the space between the rollers

 penetrate and each have a suction element (15) and a flow sensor (14),

 d) a lower deflection gear (3) and an upper deflection gear (4) connected thereto via a traverse, wherein the upper deflection gear (4) with the transfer fork and the lower deflection gear (3) have a

 Fastening element (2) are connected to a fastening plate (1),

 e) a storage device (12) with a device for

Detection of their thermal deformation Although a glass sheet can be moved from a horizontal position to a vertical position with this device, a sorting or archiving of glass plates is not possible hereby.

The inventive device, or the method of the invention is therefore the object of coated glass plates below

Clean room conditions for stacking and archiving, wherein the glass plates are stored gently and safely, but nevertheless in a confined space and high cycle times are achieved in the Platzhaltung,

This object is achieved with a device according to claim 1, or a method according to claim 10.

The device according to the invention will be described in more detail below,

In detail, they show:

1: a spatial representation of the overall device according to the invention

2: the overall device in plan view

 3 shows a cross section of the overall device

 4 shows a spatial representation of the portal of a loading station

 5 shows a spatial representation of a comb conveyor

 6: a spatial representation of a container

 7 shows a detailed drawing of a comb conveyor

The coated glass panes used for the present device are predominantly photovoltaic glass panes, correspondingly coated glass panes for TFT screens or for other purposes in clean rooms, or at higher levels

 Requirements also in clean rooms, coated glass panes understood. All these coating processes can only be carried out in clean rooms or clean rooms, since in normal rooms there is a risk that the fine structures of the applied layers are interrupted by very small particles.

A clean room, or a clean dream is a space in which the concentration

airborne particles is regulated. It is constructed and used in such a way that the number of people brought into the room resp deposited particles is as small as possible and other parameters such as temperature, humidity or air pressure are controlled as needed.

 A clean room, much more a clean dream, is because of the required

technical equipment relatively expensive not only in the purchase, but also in operation. Therefore, the continuous process of the manufacturing process and the finished coated glass panes must be temporarily stored in a clean room and on the other hand after completion in a clean room for further processing stored and archived.

Under an archiving is also understood here that the coated glass panes not only on the size of the glass or the type of glass

Coating can be sorted, but that they are arranged according to quality classes and can be recalled specifically. Because many

Coating processes deliver different products due to production

Qualities. Here, up to four quality classes must be considered. At the same time, a large amount of slices to be coated has to be processed or archived in a large production plant. Therefore each glass pane carries a bar code that identifies it, so that the whole

Production-controlling computer is exactly informed, at which point is a specific disc.

 The archiving of the coated glass panes must be done in a confined space because clean room is expensive. At the same time, the cycle rate of loading and unloading, or reloading due to the high production volume must be very high. Of course, the archiving of the glass panes for the

Considered efficiency of the entire manufacturing plant, be very reliable.

1 shows a spatial representation of the invention

Overall device without reference numerals. In the foreground are exemplified two roller conveyors for the supply of coated glass panes to see in

Transfer roller conveyor with a combined cross conveyor. These special roller conveyors can be used for the distribution of glass panes in storage areas for appropriate quality classes. They consist of individually controllable rollers or belts which have a corresponding

Lifting mechanism can be raised above the level of the longitudinal conveyor. There are two loading stations each behind these special roller conveyors each with an empty container box. Behind the right loading station of the left group of loading stations is a portal box converter with its diagonal running track. Behind this lane another row with four container shelves is shown.

FIG. 2 shows the overall device described in FIG. 1 in plan view. Here you can see the two four - part container shelves 1 again in the upper part of the picture. Before that, the roadway 7 runs transversely for a portal-box converter 3. Furthermore, those described in the description of the figures of FIG

Loading stations 2 opposite to, combined with a cross conveyor 12,

Roller conveyors 6 shown in cross section. A transverse conveyor 12 here consists of several, individually driven transverse rollers. On the two roller conveyors 6 each pair of glass panes 4 are shown. This can be for example

Be solar modules.

 In order to align the glass panes 4, devices 32 for aligning these glass panes 4 are provided in this region of the roller conveyor 6. These serve to ensure that the glass sheets 4 are conveyed exactly in alignment with the longitudinal axis of a container box 10 of the roller conveyor 6. The longitudinal axis of the respective container box 10 serves as the reference line, the position of the longitudinal sides of the glass panes 4 being determined via edge detectors 21, as also shown in FIG. 4 on the container box 10. The correction of the position of a glass sheet 4 is then computer controlled via appropriate pulses for the selective drive of longitudinal rollers and / or transverse rollers.

The two lines shown between the carriageway 7 and the

Loading station 2 mounted safety devices 8 are formed in the manner of a curtain of laser beams and ensure that no glass in the lane 7 protrudes.

FIG. 3 shows a cross-section of the overall device at the location of the portal-box converter 3 in FIG. On the left side, in turn, the corresponding container - shelf 1 can be seen, which is the portal - box converter 3 in the form of the portal frame 18 on its lane 7 upstream. In the lateral view, the lifting drive 20 of the portal box converter 3 can be seen here. Of

Furthermore, a telescopic fork 19 of the box converter 3 is shown in this view. These telescopic forks 19 can be arranged next to one another (see FIG. 6, box foot 29), extended and / or retracted on both sides of a portal box converter 3 and pushed under a container box 10.

They thus serve the transport of container boxes 10 from the side of

Roller conveyor 5 to the container - shelf 1 and vice versa. Such

Telescopic fork 19 is constructed according to the known type of pull-out drawer, wherein the telescopic pushing can be done to both sides. The two telescopic forks 19 in this case support the respective container box 10 in the middle between the two box feet 29 (see FIG. That is, in the case of Fig. 6, that the left telescopic fork 19 on the right side of the left

Pit foot glides past and at the same time pushes the right telescopic fork 19 on the left side of the right pit foot over. So that a container box 10 securely rests on the two telescopic forks 19 is at the two

Interfaces between the respective telescopic fork 19 and the respective box foot 29 installed a remotely releasable mechanical connection, which automatically engages when advancing the telescopic forks. For reasons of a clear presentation, this was not drawn out.

It can also be provided, both in the lock, as well as their solution, instead of a mechanical latching produce an electromagnetic connection controllable. This measure ensures that the

Container boxes 10 can be transported without danger at high speed from a gantry box 3.

 Following the right following the safety device 8 is shown, which is the respective loading station 2 in the form of the portal frame 1 1 opposite. At the top of the portal frame 11 are in this side view of the drive 9 for the

Lifting device of the loading station 2 shown in the lower part of the associated lifting spindle 15, and one of the two lifting gripper 16. In the portal frame 11 itself is a container box 10 can be seen in cross section. The, this one

Containerbox 10 associated, comb conveyor 17 can also be seen here. The comb conveyor 17 will be described later in more detail. The portal frame 11 is preceded, according to the plan view of Figure 2, a roller conveyor 6, which is combined with a transverse conveyor 12 to see in cross section. Subsequently, two devices 32 for aligning glass sheets 4 are shown. Below the cross conveyor 12 is a drive 14, representative of the Einzelalantriebe shown. Such a cross conveyor 12 has a plurality of individually driven rollers on which can be raised and lowered in the interstices of the associated normal roller conveyor 6 and thus can convey the corresponding glass 4 transversely to the normal direction of movement. The corresponding mechanism for raising and lowering is not shown for reasons of clarity. These roller conveyors 5 with integrated cross conveyor 12 serve mainly the purpose of incoming glass sheets 4 according to their quality class on the

distribute corresponding container boxes 10. The relevant control for this is done via a central computer.

 For the next following roller conveyor 5, two, partially acting, drives 13 can be seen.

FIG. 4 shows a spatial representation of the portal of a loading station

demonstrated.

 With 11 here again the portal frame of the loading station 2 is designated. On top of the cross-beam, the drive 9 for the lifting device of the container box 10 shown with two parallel mounted, in the zoom in, glass panes 4 watch. In this illustration, the front part of a comb conveyor 17, which is of course only indistinct to make out in Figure 3, with its foremost conveyor roller 22 and the drive 23 front right to recognize. Furthermore, two roller supports 24 for fastening the rollers 22 to the base frame of the comb conveyor 17 in the foreground are also shown on the left and the right side. The overall structure of a comb conveyor 17 can be seen from FIG. He has his name because several pairs of roller supports 24 with their respective roles 22 in a row like the teeth of a comb on one

Base frames are arranged, wherein the rollers 22 are driven together by the drive 23. On these rollers 22, the glass sheets 4 are transported by the respective roller conveyor 5, in the corresponding container box 10. In the container box 10, which has the basic shape of a cuboid, a plurality of layers of horizontally mounted rods are mounted on the two side walls on which the respective glass sheets 4 can be stored. A

Containerbox 10 filled with glass panes 4 in this way can be seen in FIG. In order to fill up the container box 10 with more glass panes 4, the container box 10 is raised via left and right mounted lifting gripper 16. The next, to be moved into the container box 10 glass sheets 4 are thus stored in the space under the already in the container box 10

Glass panes filed. This means that a container box 10 is loaded from top to bottom and vice versa can be unloaded from bottom to top. Therefore, a comb conveyor 17 has a comb-like structure of the drive 23 of its rollers 22 to which it allows him to load the necessary

Vertical movement of a container box 10 does not hinder. At the location of the inlet of glass panes 4, on the left and on the right, there are respectively a detection device 25 for checking the quality of the pane in question. This can be for example a reading device for a bar code mounted on the glass pane 4. Likewise, in the area of the inlet, left and right edge detectors 21 are provided to ensure a collision-free loading of the container box 10.

FIG. 5 shows a three-dimensional view of a comb conveyor 17. Here, the opposing roller supports 24 can be seen on the left and on the right, which are connected via stabilizers 26 to a base frame. As shown on the right side, all rollers are driven together by a drive 23, this being done via an endless belt which, in addition to the actual drive rollers of the respective rollers 22, runs over pulleys arranged in the base frame.

FIG. 5 shows a special form of a detection device 25 for the

Quality inspection shown. In the same form of the arrangement, optical sensors for detecting cracks in the glass panes 4 can also be arranged in addition. Such cracking is due to the presence of

Unrecognizable scattered light to detect a reference light source.

In a special embodiment of a comb conveyor 17 are the

Conveyor rollers 22 are not shared by a drive 23 with the same

Speed driven but wise, each based on one

Drive shaft, separate drives on. This allows the conveyor rollers 22, which are located on a drive axle, to run at different speeds. Thus, a glass pane 4 entering the container box can first be retracted relatively quickly and then gently braked by means of one or more slow-moving conveyor rollers 22 without the risk that a glass pane 4 on the rear side of the container box unintentionally moves out. Such a system can be compared with an automatic braking system (ABS), as is common in the automotive industry, in the effect. The

corresponding control parameters for such an accelerated cycle operation can be determined in preliminary tests as a function of the thickness or the mass of the respective glass pane. In this way, each glass 4 can be spent with optimal speed and high clock frequency in a container box 10.

FIG. 6 shows a three-dimensional view of a container box 10. The container frame 27 in this case has the structural design shown. However, this can, for the skilled person, in each case according to special constructive

Modified requirements without departing from the inventive basic form. This container box is here loaded with a total of 70 glass panes 4 which rest on in each case on three carrier elements 30. At the front left and right, with appropriate supplement at the back of each case a foot 29 can be seen in the middle between the two respective layers of glass panes 4, an additional, the exact position fixing, fixing member 28 is attached

FIG. 7 shows a detailed drawing of the comb conveyor.

 Here it can be seen that a glass pane 4 is additionally mounted on the front and the rear side as a positional fuse 31 in a recess which prevents an unintentional impact sliding out of a glass sheet from a container box. Left and right one roller support 24 of a comb conveyor 17 are shown here. In the middle of a rod-shaped support member 30 is outlined.

The complex control of the described movements requires a special control program. LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

(1) Container - Shelf

 (2) loading station

 (3) Portal - Box Translator

 (4) glass pane (module)

 (5) roller conveyor

 (6) Roller conveyor combined with a cross conveyor (12)

(7) Lane for portal converter

 (8) safety device (laser curtain)

 (9) Drive for the lifting device of the loading station

(10)) container box

 (11; <Portal frame of the loading station

 (2;) Cross conveyor

 (3; I drive for roller conveyor

 (14; I drive for cross conveyor

 (15; Lifting spindle of a lifting device

 (16; lifting grab

 (17; comb conveyor

 (18) Portal frame the boxing converter

 (19) Telescopic Fork (Box Translator)

 (20) Lifting drive (box converter)

 (21) edge detector

 (22; conveyor rollers

 (23) Drive (comb conveyor

 (24) Roller support (comb conveyor

 (25) Detection device (quality)

 (26) Stabilizer

 (27) Container Frame

 (28) Fixing element

 (29) pit foot

 (30) Carrier element

 (31) position assurance

 (32) Device for aligning glass sheets (4)

Claims

 claims Claim 1:  Device for archiving and / or intermediate storage of coated glass panes in clean rooms in rapid cycle sequence and large numbers,  with the following features: a) a plurality of roller conveyors (5) for feeding  Glass panes (4),  b) a plurality of roller conveyors (6), each with a  Cross conveyor (12) is combined in the form of several individually driven rollers  c) a number of devices (32) for aligning  Glass panes (4),  d) a plurality of container boxes (10) for horizontal  Stacking of glass panes (4),  e) a number of loading stations (2) with a gantry frame (11) with a lifting device for container boxes (10), f) a number of gantry box converters (3) with a  Lifting device and telescopic forks (19) for the implementation of container boxes (10), wherein the portal - box converter (3) are movable,  g) a number of container shelves (1) Claim 2:  Device according to claim 1,  characterized, the device (32) for aligning the glass panes (4) has means for detecting the position of the longitudinal axis of a container box (10) as a reference line and edge detectors 21 for determining the side edge of a glass pane (4) and via the selective control of parts of the relevant roller conveyor (6) and the corresponding transverse conveyor (12) causes a parallel alignment of the side edge to the reference line at the necessary distance. Claim 3:  Apparatus according to claim 1 or 2,  characterized,  in that a container box (10) has at least three carrier elements (30) for each depositing surface and the respective glass panes (4) are conveyed horizontally into the container box (10) by a system of rollers acting from below into the area of the container box (10). Claim 4:  Device according to claim 3,  characterized,  in that the system consists of rollers from a comb conveyor (17) in which the axes on which the conveyor rollers (22) run are mounted on vertical roller supports (24) fixed equidistantly on a supporting structure, and in that the axes of the conveyor rollers ( 22) have a common drive (23). Claim 5:  Device according to claim 4,  characterized,  that each axis of the conveyor rollers (22) has a separate drive which is separately controllable. Claim 6:  Device according to one of claims 1 to 5,  characterized, in that a container box (10) has detection devices (25) for detecting quality features of the glass panes (4), devices for detecting cracking on a glass pane (4) and additional edge detectors (21). Claim 7:  Device according to one of claims 1 to 6,  characterized,  a portal box converter (3) has telescopic forks (19) which can mechanically and / or electrically latch onto corresponding devices at the bottom of a container box (10) and can also be released again. Device according to one of claims 1 to 7  characterized,  that all moving parts are clean rooms made of abrasion resistant material according to the conditions. Device according to one of claims 1 to 8,  characterized,  in that each glass pane (4) has a position securing device (31) in a storage box (10) Claim 0:  Method for archiving and / or intermediate storage of coated glass panes in clean rooms in rapid cycle sequence and large numbers,  with the following features:  a) it will be from ongoing production glass panes (4)  Fed to roller conveyors (6) and distributed over transverse conveyor (12) according to their quality class,  b) the longitudinal edges of the glass sheets (4) by means of a device (32) on the longitudinal axis of the respective  Container box (10) aligned, c) then the glass sheets (4) each in a container box (10) in a loading station (2) vertically movable is suspended, moved over a roller system and on  Carrier elements (30) stored,  d) then the container box (10) in question in the  Lifted loading station (2) and the next glass pane (4) retracted and placed on the underlying support members (30),  e) a container box (10) filled in this way is picked up by a ready-to-use portal box converter (3) by means of horizontally movable telescopic forks (19), lifted, and conveyed out of the loading station (2) into the portal box converter (3),  f) the container box (10) is moved in the portal - box converter (3) to a container - shelf (1), in height  according to the shelf to be occupied on the shelf (1)  adapted, spent by the telescopic forks (19) in the shelf (1) and deposited there,  g) a removal of certain glass panes from the container shelf (1) takes place in the reverse manner. Claim 11:  Method according to claim 10,  characterized,  the position of the glass panes (4) is monitored by a safety device (8) and additionally checked by edge detectors (21) on the container box (10). Claim 12:  Method according to claim 11,  characterized, in that the glass panes (4) are first accelerated and then decelerated when entering the container box (10), this process taking place in dependence on the weight of the glass pane (4). Claim 13:  Computer program with a program code for carrying out the method steps according to one of claims 10 to 12, when the program is executed in a computer. Claim 14:  A machine-readable medium having the program code of a computer program for carrying out the method according to one of claims 10 to 12, when the program is executed in a computer.