Patent GB-1417298-A (GB)
Title: Apparatus for making all glass double glazing units
IPC: C03B23/24
Filed: 1973-09-14
Abstract: 1417298 Double glazing units FLACHGLAS AG DELOG-DETAG 14 Sept 1973 [14 Sept 1972 24 March 1973] 43277/73 Heading C1M In apparatus for making all glass double glazing units by welding together the corresponding edges of a pair of parallel, spaced apart glass panes which are conveyed through a treatment furnace in a vertical position on a lower guide and guided at their upper edges by an upper guide, at least one of the guides, normally the upper guide, comprises individual independent elongate sections, each section comprising three parallel and horizontally spaced rail-shaped guide elements. As shown, Figs. 1, 2, each guide section comprises guide elements 10, 11, 12 secured with spacers 17 by a pin 16 fixed at 18 to a bracket 14 for guiding the upper edges of panes 24. The pin 16 passes through slots 19 in the elements 10, 11, 12 to allow for expansion. The leading edges of the rail elements for receiving the panes 24 are chamfered, as element 11 at 20, the elements 10, 12 being chamfered only on their inner edges. As shown, Fig. 3, the panes 24 are conveyed through a tunnel furnace 22 on a lower guide comprising rollers 56 and by an upper guide consisting of individual guide sections 61 to 65 each of which has a mounting member 66 for a guide part 67 consisting of elements 10, 11, 12 as in Figs. 1 and 2. The member 66, which is a tube, is carried by guiding bolts 68, 69, the connection to bolt 68 being fixed but that to bolt 69 including rollers 78 to allow sliding on a surface 79 on the bolt (Fig. 5). to compensate for thermal expansion. Bolts 68, 69 pass through bearings 71 mounted in a frame 70 and are connected at their top ends to a frame 72, the vertical position of which is adjustable on spindles 73 by a drive motor 74 and transmissions 75 to allow for variations of height of panes 24. Adjustment to adjust each section in dependence on the preceding section comprises tunnel switches 81, 82 at the ends of a switch strip 80 operated by a switch strip 83 on the preceding section. A fine adjustment for each section in dependence on their position in relation to the top pane edge utilizes air barriers 84, 85 (Fig. 5), as sensing devices and air barrier 86 checks presence or absence of a pane. The fine adjustments allow for variations due to different temperatures between one section and another. Similarly the burner arm 87 is roughly adjusted between sections 63 and 64 by two limit switches 88, 89 on the burner and switch strip 90 on the section 63 and accurately and continuously adjusted by air barriers 91, 92 in dependence on the position of the top edge of the pane 24 in relation to the burner nozzles (93). The sensing devices 80-83; 84-86; 88-90 and 91, 92 and drive for the panes 24 are connected via a central control device to the drive motor 74. The automatic adjustments allow for small scale production of different size glazing units and for slight variations in the sizes of pane. Instead of one pair of panes 24, as shown in Fig. 3 in full lines, two pairs of smaller panes of the same height may pass through at the same time, as shown in dashed lines.