Apparatus for the glueing of metal bases on glass substrates

Abstract: An apparatus, formed by a plurality of devices, permits the automatic glueing of metal bases onto glass windscreens for automobiles. The apparatus is formed by a device for loading the windscreen, a centering device, a device for the hot glueing of a base, and devices for the automatic feeding of the bases. Devices for the unloading of the windscreen and for the supply of bases also form a part of the same apparatus.

Description: The present invention refers to an apparatus formed by a plurality of devices connected one to the other and to a common supporting structure, particularly suited for the automatic glueing of metal bases on glass substrates. In the field of manufacture of car windows, and in particular front windscreens, some additional operations are sometimes required to render the windscreen usable on an automobile. One of these operations consists in the application by means of glueing of metal bases, suitable for supporting the rear view mirrors. At present the rear view mirrors are applied directly onto the windscreen of an automobile by means of a coupling which connects the stem of the mirror to a metal base previously applied on the windscreen by means of glueing. In this manner the operation of mounting the rear view mirrors was divided into two stages: the first takes place in the factory in which the windscreen is manufactured and consists in the glueing of the bearing base onto the glass; the second takes place on the production line of the automobile, and consists in the application of the mirror to the base. Obviously the stage of fixing the base in a production line for the manufacture of windscreens creates problems in work organization, production speeds and in the quality of the finished product, and therefore also in the final cost of the product. It is necessary, in fact, to add to a complex production line another group of operations which can cause undesired slowing of the production speed and increased production rejects. US-A-3,948,719 describes an apparatus for assembling a mirror mount on a windscreen automatically. In this apparatus the mount is applied to the windscreen by a 180° rotation of a press arm and vacuum is used to maintain the mount supported on a socket member and to press the mount against the windscreen. The mounts are fed by gravity to the socket member from a stack container through a chute placed on the upper side of the windscreen. US-A-4,217,992 describes a device for dispensing a mirror button and feeding the mirror button to a predetermined position from which the mirror button can be bonded to a surface of a windscreen. GB-A-2.064.506 describes a method of bonding a base for a rear view driven mirror to a vehicle windscreen by a body of adhesive material heated by magnetic induction heating means. Object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus which, inserted in a suitable phase of the production line of the windscreen, is able to overcome the problems mentioned above. A further object of the present invention is to provide an automatic machine of simple and economic construction which does not require specialized operators or complex technology for its running. This and other objects are achieved by an apparatus for glueing metal bases onto a sheet of glass, which includes a loading station for loading a sheet of glass onto the apparatus, a precision positioning station for precisely positioning the sheets of glass for glueing, a glueing means for glueing the metal bases onto the sheets of glass and a means for feeding the metal bases to said glueing means, said apparatus being characterized in that said glueing means comprise: a bearing head for supporting a metal base to be glued, said bearing head having an electric resistor for maintaining a metal base on said bearing head at a suitable glueing temperature; a first piston having a piston rod, said piston rod carrying said bearing head on a free end thereof, and said piston rod being movable by said piston between a first position for receiving a metal base on said bearing head and a second position whereat the metal base is glued onto a sheet of glass; and a counter pressure piston disposed opposite said first piston for providing counter pressure on the opposite side of a sheet of glass from the side on which a metal base is being glued by said first piston at said second position; and said means for feeding the metal bases to said glueing means comprise: a heated vibrating channel extending to said bearing head and an electromagnetic vibrator for vibrating said heated vibrating channel to move metal bases in said channel to said bearing head by vibration; a swinging and rotating channel for feeding metal bases to said heated vibrating channel, said swinging and rotating channel being pivotably mounted about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis; and a tank comprised of a plurality of superposed containers for metal bases, said tank being disposable at an inclined plane for gravity feed of the metal bases to said swinging and rotating channel, and said tank having a metal base feed direction substantially perpendicular to said heated vibrating channel, whereas said swinging and rotating channel can move by swinging and rotating from an inclined position aligned with said tank to receive metal bases therefrom to a horizontal position aligned with said heated vibrating channel to feed the metal bases thereto. Further characteristics and advantages of the invention will be further clarified by the description of a preferred, but not exclusive, embodiment of the automatic apparatus for the glueing of bases, illustrated in a non-limitative manner in the enclosed drawings, in which: figure 1 is a schematic side view of the apparatus according to the present invention; figure 2 is a side view of the loading device for the sheets of glass; figure 3 is a view, on a plane orthogonal to the direction of movement of the sheet of glass, of the device for positioning the sheet of glass; figure 4 is a section view of the device for glueing the bases and of the base feeder; and figure 5 is a side view of the device for the storing and feeding of the bases. With reference to figure 1, the automatic apparatus for glueing bases comprises, connected one to the other by means of conveyor belts 2, a device 1 for the automatic loading of the sheets of glass, a device 3 for centering and exact positioning, a glueing device 4, an unloading device 5, and a device 6 for feeding the bases. The apparatus comprises a rotating arm system 5 and a conveyor 8 for the unloading of the finished article and furthermore a swinging and rotating device 7 for the feeding of bases, while the storing device for the bases, perpendicular to the plane of the drawing, is not represented in figure 1, being however illustrated in figure 5. A geared motor 9 commanding the loader 1 and a variable speed motor 10 commanding the conveyor belts 2 are placed, for reasons of bulk, below the feeding channels 6 for the bases. The automatic loading device 1 takes a sheet of glass and places it on the conveyor belts 2. These carry the sheet to the centering station 3, where mechanical stop means provide for the final positioning thereof so as to present it to the glueing station 4 in a precise position. After the glueing of the base has taken place, the sheet of glass is moved towards the rotating arms 5 which carry out its removal by means of the conveyor belts 8. With reference to figure 2, the automatic loading device comprises arms 11 bearing the sheet of glass V, hinged to brackets 13 by means of hinges 25. The brackets 13 are also hinged to a support 20 welded to the body of the tilting device 21, and they are connected at their other end to the shaft of an horizontal piston 12, which is in turn fixed to the support 20. The tilting device 21 is hinged to an axle 14 and by means of a pin 22 to a linkage 18. An arm 19, bolted onto the body of the tilting device 21, bears on its upper free end a horizontal piston, on the rod 23 of which a bar 24 is fixed which bears a support 16. The sheet of glass V is picked up by the arms 11 in a near-vertical position (shown with dashed lines) and placed on the conveyor belts 2 by effect of the rotational movement of the tilting device 21 around the axle 14 under the control of linkage 18. The arms 11 deposit the sheet of glass V on the conveyors 2 due to rotation of the brackets 13 around the hinges 25 and 17. The piston 15 controls the stroke of the bar 24 in such a way as to regulate the height of the support 16 according to the dimensions of the sheet of glass to be loaded. With reference to figure 3, a linkage 33 is connected to a shaft 28 which is in turn connected to the shafts 32, having on their upper part glass-bearing shoes 31. A pair of front stops 34, suitably covered so as not to damage the edge of the sheet of glass, is positioned in the direction of motion of the glass and is shown in its position blocking the sheet of glass. The sheet of glass goes to lie against said stops. Two side stops 35, also suitably covered so as not to damage the edge of the sheet, are placed on the two sides of the sheet and supported by plates 26 and the slidable supports 27. Said side stops are connected respectively to a rack 36 and to a sliding shaft 40. The rack 36 is engaged with a pinion, not shown in the figure, of a motor 37, in turn mounted on a frame 38. On arriving in correspondance with the precision positioning station 3, the sheet of glass V is lifted from the belts 2 by means of the shoes 31 and abutted against the front mechanical stops 34. The side stops 35 together with another pair of mechanical stops at the back, not shown in the figure, hold the sheet of glass between themselves and set the sheet, which can slide on the shoes 31 (two of which are not shown in the figure), in the precise and final position for the following operation of glueing the bases. With reference to figure 4 a piston 45 carries on the free extremity of its rod a base-bearing head 43 in which a base 42 to be glued is inserted. The head 43 is kept at a suitable temperature by an electric resistence 44. Adjacent to the head 43 a heated channel 41 is situated, in which the bases 42 slide due to the effect of vibrations generated by an electromagnetic vibrator. The bases 42 to be glued have, on their contact surface, a thin layer of adhesive, preferably of a vinylic based type. The channel 41 is kept at a suitable temperature by means of heating plates 56 and an insulation 53, preferably of glass wool. A transparent cover 52 avoids the dispersion of heat and at the same time allows the movement of the bases towards the glueing head 43 to be followed visually. A sensor 46 is placed in such a way that its sensing end is on the same plane as the base 42 inserted on the head 43. A counterpressure piston 47 is placed in the upper part of the station, on the opposite side from the sheet of glass V and the belts 2. A counterrotating shaft 48 is rigidly connected to the base-bearing head 43. When the sheet of glass V reaches the station for glueing the bases, the piston 45 lifts the head 43 containing the base 42 towards the glass V. Said base comes from the heated channel 41 and was made to fall into the housing provided in the head 43 through the pushing of a piston not shown in the drawings, placed orthogonally to the plane of figure 4. The lifting movement of the piston 45 is stopped by the sensor 46 sensing the presence of a sheet of glass. The shaft 48 follows the base-holder 43 in its upward movement, preventing its rotation and at the same time forcing the counterpressure piston to descend to block the sheet of glass V. The glueing operation then takes place by pressing together the bases 42 and the thin layer of adhesive, which is at a suitable temperature, on the sheet of glass V. With reference to figure 5, a swinging channel 61 is supported on an electromagnetic vibrator 62, in turn connected to a swinging support 63, hinged to a horizontal rotation axis 65. The inclination of said swinging support 63 is controlled by the operation of the rod of a piston 64. A horizontal piston 66, is fixed to a support 59 and its rod bears the bases 69 sliding along the axle 70. A tank 71 for the bases is connected to an electromagnetic vibrator 72. This is placed on a table 74, slidable along an axis orthogonal to the tank and connected to an electric lifting piston 73. The tank 71 is formed by a suitable number of containers, placed in superposed relationship in such a way as to contain an adequate number of metal bases. A frame 75 supports the whole complex and the tank 71 for the bases. The swinging channel 61 is set in line with the base tank 71 and the upwards or downwards stroke of the table 74 allows the alignment of one of the loaded containers with the channel 61. The bases descend by gravity from the tank and by vibration along the channel 61 and arrive, when the channel 61 rotates by 90°, at the heated channel 41. Driven by the vibrations, the bases 42 are brought to the base glueing device. It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above are efficiently attained and, since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Claims: Apparatus for glueing metal bases onto a sheet of glass, which includes a loading station (1, 2) for loading a sheet of glass (V) onto the apparatus, a precision positioning station (3) for precisely positioning the sheets of glass for glueing, a glueing means (4) for glueing the metal bases onto the sheets of glass and a means (6) for feeding the metal bases to said glueing means, said apparatus being characterized in that said glueing means comprise: a bearing head (43) for supporting a metal base (42) to be glued, said bearing head having an electric resistor (44) for maintaining a metal base on said bearing head at a suitable glueing temperature; a first piston (45) having a piston rod, said piston rod carrying said bearing head (43) on a free end thereof, and said piston rod being movable by said piston between a first position for receiving a metal base (42) on said bearing head (43) and a second position whereat the metal base is glued onto a sheet of glass; and a counter pressure piston (47) disposed opposite said first piston (45) for providing counter pressure on the opposite side of a sheet of glass from the side on which a metal base is being glued by said first piston at said second position; and said means for feeding the metal bases (42) to said glueing means (4) comprise: a heated vibrating channel (41) extending to said bearing head (43) and an electromagnetic vibrator for vibrating said heated vibrating channel (41) to move metal bases (42) in said channel to said bearing head by vibration; a swinging and rotating channel (61) for feeding metal bases (42) to said heated vibrating channel (41), said swinging and rotating channel (61) being pivotably mounted about a vertical axis and a horizontal axis; and a tank (71) comprised of a plurality of superposed containers for metal bases, said tank being disposable at an inclined plane for gravity feed of the metal bases (42) to said swinging and rotating channel (61), and said tank having a metal base feed direction substantially perpendicular to said heated vibrating channel (41), whereas said swinging and rotating channel (61) can move by swinging and rotating from an inclined position aligned with said tank to receive metal bases therefrom to a horizontal position aligned with said heated vibrating channel (41) to feed the metal bases thereto. Apparatus according to claim 1 in which: a sensor (46) is disposed to move with said first piston (45) and said bearing head (43) for sensing the presence of a sheet of glass. Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said tank (71) is pivotally mounted and comprises an electromagnetic vibrator (72). Apparatus according to claim 1, in which said loading means (1) comprises a tilting device (21) for tilting a sheet of glass from a substantially vertical position to a substantially horizontal position on said conveyor (2), said tilting device having arms (11), these arms (11) being hingedly connected to brackets (13) by means of hinges 25. Apparatus according to claim 4, in which said means for precision positioning (3) of the glass substrate comprise shoes (31) bearing the sheet of glass, front stops (34) disposed along the head and tail edges of a base, and side stops (35) disposed along the lateral edges, said stops (35) being connected to laterally sliding plates so as to be able to block between themselves and move laterally the sheet of glass, thus defining its position with absolute precision.

Inventors: DE LEONIBUS VITTORE, PASCALE CARMINE, DE LEONIBUS, VITTORE, PASCALE, CARMINE
Applicants: SIV SOC ITALIANA VETRO, SOCIETA' ITALIANA VETRO - SIV - S.P.A.
Application year: 1989
Main classification: C03C27
IPC codes: C03C27, B62D65, C09J5, B23K3