Page 26 - Glass-Technology International no. 6/2017

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GRENZEBACH sets new standards. Length- and cross-wise cutting sys-
tems rely on field-proven Grenzebach cutting heads. The
THIN GLASS PERFECTION electromagnetic cutting force controllers allow accurate
cutting force adjustment. The newly developed closed-
FOR CHINESE GLASS loop controller makes the process even more accurate
within fractions of a second.
PROCESSOR More special features of the Grenzebach thin glass
production lines include: Special edge trim conveyor for
“As thin glass produc- controlled glass edge snapping, contact-less alignment
tion is quite complex and using sensors in order to avoid glass scrap, and the Inline
expensive, we offer technologies which minimize the glass Sheet Inspection FSP G10 for the inspection of shape and
reject at the cold end while providing top-notch quality sheet size as well as edge evaluation.
right from the beginning,” says Werner Rührer, Glass Information, conversation, communication, and interac-
Sales Manager at Grenzebach; A challenging task, with tion: If thin glass is manufactured for specialty products,
glass thinner than a sheet of paper that is very instable we must have clean room conditions in the environment.
and can easily. In order to safely handle sheets of 0.2 to There is barely any dust in the manufacturing hall. The
1.1 millimetres, Grenzebach lines work with very nar- use of a blowing and suction device eliminates even the
row roller-ring spacing so the glass won’t bend too much smallest particles produced when the glass is scored and
during conveyance. For this purpose, the rings have to snapped. Special-purpose crushers are completely encap-
provide a precise concentric run.” sulated and are equipped with a suction system.
With production speeds of 6 to 15 meters per minute, the At the end of the line: stacking with a robot. The robots
Grenzebach measuring system FPI float st&th executes with special suction frames sort the glass for air-tin-side
continuous strain and thickness measurements while meas- stacking with respect to quality and position in the endless
uring width and temperature of the glass at the same time. glass ribbon onto several rack locations. In the case of
“The tolerances in thin glass production are very small but thin glass, paper inter-layers are used in order to avoid
with our measuring system, the producers are on the safe potential damages. Grenzebach has automated the pro-
side,” explains Werner Rührer. The Grenzebach defect cess for paper application.
scanner FPI float vision reveals defects in or on the glass in If requested, the manufacturer can apply his logo to every
real time. Inclusions and optical distortions are classified thin glass sheet. The code is applied to the glass sheets
and allow a high transparency and product analysis. during the production process with the DMC laser mark-
Thin glass lines produce 30 to 300 tons of thin glass per ing system. This allows identification of every single sheet,
day. The cutting equipment at the cold end is the impor- and the manufacturing information is directly supplied
tant core of the automated line and where Grenzebach with the product.

NORTHGLASS
NEW WORLD RECORD FOR TEMPERING FURNACE

After setting multiple world records glass suppliers for the headquarters putting into production, the company
with their glass tempering furnaces, building of Apple Inc. Since 2007, the will become the only global glass manu-
NorthGlass has customized another company has been providing oversize facturer capable of fabricating glass
furnace for seele & sedak, North- glass to many globally well-known up to 3.5 by 20 metres, strengthening
Glass’s regular customers in Germany, enterprises and top-level landmark their leading role as a jumbo-size glass
enabling their client to fabricate flat buildings. The three sets of oversize specialist.
glass up to 3.5 by 20 metres. A single glass tempering furnaces the company “In recent years, the market demand for
panel of such a large size of glass can currently put into production were all jumbo-size glass has been growing year
fabricate a five-storey building facade, purchased from NorthGlass, each of by year,” said Bernhard Veh, the general
which is undoubtedly a piece of amaz- which was a technological revolution at manager of seele & sedak. “Ten-year
ing and stunning artwork. the time. The fourth furnace newly or- technical experiences and sustainably
seele & sedak is one of the world’s dered from NorthGlass brings a further optimistic order demands encourages
most famous jumbo-size glass manu- expansion of the production capacity of us to take this
facturers and one of the architectural seele & sedak. With this new furnace new step.”

24 Glass-Technology International 6/2017