Automation in windscreen production

Sie sind hier: Homepage > Suche

Automation in windscreen production

Karisola, J.

In the manufacturing process of windscreens, the key step is the bending process to reach the necessary optical quality and shape accuracy. The progress in windscreen production made by Glassrobots Oy (Tampere, Finland) is reviewed: three types of process (continous processes: tunnel furnace using separate wagons carrying just one windscreen); serial furnaces (double level tunnel furnaces with closed or open wagons used for long and short series); chamber furnaces (single or double chamber furnaces as low capacity units mainly used for large bus and verhicle glass work); two ways of glass shaping (gravity bending in a serial furnace and pressing into a shape on a two part mould); serial furnace design (loading/unloading station, forced cooling section, free cooling section, edge compression section, bending section, free heating section, preheating section, prebending section, heat recovery system, heat balancing by fuzzybend); heat control by use of heat covers or heat absorption plates or alternatively heat mirrors); fuzzybend control system for adjusting the heating power in respons to the actual surface temperature of the glass; problem predicting on the basis of the data from the operating control system; cost and energy efficiency. The energy input is reduced by 10 % to 15 % using a heat recovery system which transfers heat from the cooling section to heating section. Future developments concern solar control glasses, integrated antenna systems, integrated sensors, and advanced display systems.