Patent Application
20200108485
The present application is directed to the industrial sector and relates to a water jet machine employed in flat glass cutting, with horizontal cutting occurring by means of high pressure water combined with abrasives to perform holes and cut-outs in said flat glass sheets, with the large differential, compared to the Water Jet machines existing in the market, to be able to work in automated production line, with feeding of the glass pieces, squaring and automatic referencing, serving in this format to the glass branch with high productivity and standardization of the productive process.
By means of an ultra-high-pressure abrasive fluid jet the abrasive particles are sucked and directed against the glass of a pressurized source. Currently, the market offers various configurations of machines for the cutting and reaming of flat glass, whether machines equipped with milling cutters or water jet combined with abrasives. Although functional, such machines always rely on auxiliary equipment to carry and position the glass below the car responsible for cutting or reaming the part. In the same way, the car always acts on the three axes (X, Y, and Z) while the part remains static during the cutting.
Referring to the most relevant prior art, U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,591 discloses a system for making single cuts, in raw glass of various thicknesses at a high speed. For initial penetration into the glass, the pressurized source is maintained at a first pressure level so that the glass is initially penetrated without fracturing or flaking unduly at the penetration point and wherein the flow of abrasive fluid can be advanced along the desired path to the glass at a first speed.
Although performing the task as determined by its specification, the ultra-high-pressure jet cutting machine does not have automated means for capturing and positioning the glass below the car, requiring the work of at least four people to insert the glass on its table, which action can compromise the appearance of the piece due to scratches possibly produced on its surface during the process. Another deficiency of the device is in the car which works on the three axes (X, Y, and Z), and may cause inaccuracies if the car is not perfectly calibrated or if there is an involuntary movement of the part during the process.
Realizing the absence of automated machines having water jet cutting combined with abrasives and deficiencies detected in the state of the art, the present invention aims at making available to the market a new technology capable of performing the cutting or reaming of glass parts in a more precise, automated, safe manner and without the possibility of generating faults in the parts, mainly scratches commonly caused in the prior arts.
The following description seeks to highlight the proposal at its principle level, without limiting itself to drawings or models of the components, with reference to the following illustrations listed below:
In accordance with
The operation of the water jet machine for cutting flat glass (1) is initiated by operation at the input table (2A) which, through its input conveyor belts (2.1), receives the glass plate of a process prior to processing, it is moved and finished with automatic sizing of the part on sizing ruler (2.3) and pick-up by means of actuation of photoelectric sensors (2.2). In this initial stage, the operator recognizes the bar code of the part generated from the drawing made within a dedicated CAD software. The machine, in front of its system, stores the measures of the part, its cutouts and positions in the supervisor. Further, on the inlet conveyor belts (2.1), the part to be bored or sized is sent to the machine input where the second sensor (2.4) causes the conveyors to collect and move the part to the axis referencing mechanism responsible to find the zero point of the part. The machine now starts its cutting process by moving the part through the X axis through the input conveyor belts (2.1) while the main car (4A) carries out the cutting movement on the Y axis and approaches or retreats the cutting head (4.1) in the Z axis, the combination of these axes and interpolation of movements in an efficient and coordinated manner via PLC, taking into account the predefined drawing in the CAD software.
The cutout is generated by the high pressure of a water pumping intensifier system as of an external unit integrated into the machine, by sending to the cutting head (4.1) an abrasive water jet which cuts the glass sheet. After the machine has cut out all the defined patterns, the part is transferred by the input conveyor belts (2.1) to the next conveyors referred to as output conveyors (2.5) belonging to the output conveyor belts (2B) which can be coupled to another process machine of glass sheet processing.
In addition to the pattern presented, the waterjet glass cutting machine (1) according to
Another tool that can be used with the waterjet glass cutting machine (
As for the loading (2A) and unloading (2B) counters of the glass sheets, the belts used (2.1 and 2.5) can be replaced by drive shafts (2.6) equipped with rubber or polymer wheels (2.7) (detail G of
Finally, the last tool to be implemented is a second carriage (4B) (
According to its function, the waterjet glass cutting machine performs the holes, cutouts and reaming in glass sheets of various sizes in length, thickness and width, especially by the action of the positioning tools and functional machining movements (holes and/or cutouts), configured for the main carriage (4A), loading counter (2A) and unloading counter (2B) functions, in particular by positioning and synchronized functional movements during the drilling or cutting process of a specific part, ensuring better performance, precision and productivity of the equipment, dispensing complementary equipment.
The inventive step must be understood in representative and non-limiting details and may undergo variations and modifications in its execution, provided that these modifications do not change the essence of the equipment.
