Device for conveying and retaining a glass sheet, particularly in a washing facility

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10525512-B2
Application number	US-201716091740-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 5, 2017
Priority date	Apr 6, 2016
Publication date	Jan 7, 2020
Grant date	Jan 7, 2020

Abstract

A device for conveying and holding a sheet of glass, includes a conveyor and a holder configured to hold a sheet of glass in position, in particular in a horizontal position, wherein the conveyor comprises at least two spaced-apart and parallel lateral conveying systems extending longitudinally in the conveying direction and intended to be positioned in such a way as to support the lateral sides of the sheet of glass, and the holder comprises at least one holding system placed above the lateral conveying systems and above the sheet of glass and intended to limit the amplitude of the movements of the sheet of glass.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A device for conveying and holding a sheet of glass, comprising a conveyor and a holder configured to hold a sheet of glass in position, wherein the conveyor comprises at least two spaced-apart and parallel lateral conveying systems, extending longitudinally in a conveying direction and intended to be positioned in such a way as to support lateral sides of the sheet of glass, and the holder comprises at least one holding system placed above the lateral conveying systems and above the sheet of glass and intended to limit an amplitude of the movements of the sheet of glass, wherein the or each holding system is a belt on which are distributed protuberances, and wherein each of the protuberances has a shape that limits contact between the belt and the sheet of glass, at a location of the protuberance, to a point contact.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the holder comprises at least two holding systems positioned above and facing the lateral conveying systems and intended to be above the sheet of glass so as to limit the amplitude of the movements of the sheet of glass.

3. The device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the conveyor further comprises at least one central conveying system.

4. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the or each holding system is fixed and is not in contact with the sheet of glass.

5. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the or each holding system moves at a speed of the sheet of glass and is in contact with the sheet of glass at points of contact or along lines of contact.

6. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the protuberances have a height comprised between 5 and 50 mm, and the protuberances are spaced apart by a distance of less than ten times their height.

7. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the or each holding system is intended to generate local contact with the sheet of glass.

8. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the holding systems have contact surfaces that are made of a polymeric plastics material that carries no risk of scratching the sheet of glass, making it possible to adapt to the local curvature of the sheet of glass without applying too great a reaction force to the sheet of glass.

9. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the lateral conveying systems and the holding system are adjustable laterally and heightwise to adapt to the size and curvature of the series of sheets of glass.

10. A washing and drying facility comprising at least one holding device as claimed in claim 1 for cleaning sheets of glass for vehicle glazing.

11. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the holder is configured to hold the sheet of glass in a horizontal position.

12. The device as claimed in claim 2 , wherein the conveyor comprises two parallel and spaced-apart central conveying systems which are positioned between the lateral conveying systems, the sheet of glass being intended to face the central conveying systems in its central part.

13. The device as claimed in claim 6 , wherein the protuberances have a height comprised between 10 and 30 mm, and the protuberances are spaced apart by a distance of less than five times their height.

14. The device as claimed in claim 8 , wherein the polymeric plastics material has a Shore D hardness of less than 90.

15. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein at least one of the protuberances has a shape of a cone, a hemisphere or a pyramid.

16. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a contact area between the belt and the sheet of glass defined by the point contact is at most 25 mm 2 .

17. The device as claimed in claim 1 , wherein a width of the protuberance is less than a width of the belt.

18. A device for conveying and holding a sheet of glass, comprising a conveyor and a holder configured to hold a sheet of glass in position, wherein the conveyor comprises at least two spaced-apart and parallel lateral conveying systems, extending longitudinally in a conveying direction and intended to be positioned in such a way as to support lateral sides of the sheet of glass, and the holder comprises at least one holding system placed above the lateral conveying systems and above the sheet of glass and intended to limit an amplitude of the movements of the sheet of glass, wherein the or each holding system is a wire.

19. The device as claimed in claim 18 , wherein the wire has a diameter comprised between 5 and 50 mm.

20. The device as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the local contact is in the form of at least one point of contact or at least one line of contact.

21. The device as claimed in claim 20 , wherein an area of contact is at most 25 mm 2 or the line of contact has a width of at most 3 mm.

Assignees

• Saint Gobain

Inventors

• Sauvinet Vincent
• Olivier Thierry

Classifications

• H10P72/3204

  using magnetic elements · CPC title

• H10P72/36

  using air tracks · CPC title

• B08B11/02

  Devices for holding articles during cleaning {(B08B9/42 takes precedence)} · CPC title

• B65G49/064

  in a horizontal position (B65G49/066 takes precedence) · CPC title

• B65G2201/0214

  Articles of special size, shape or weigh · CPC title