Gas-ejecting bearings for transport of glass sheets
US8511461B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | May 14, 2009 |
| Grant date | Aug 20, 2013 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 28, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH01L21/67721
- WIPO fieldHandling
- WIPO sectorMechanical engineering
Abstract
Non-contact, gas-ejecting bearings (3) are provided for conveying flexible glass sheets (13), such as LCD substrates, at high conveyance speeds, e.g., speeds of 40 meters/minute and above, e.g., 60 meters/minute. Gas is provided to the bearing's orifices (22) from a plenum which operates at a pressure Pplenum and the bearings have a calculated static pressure Pmidpoint at the midpoints (27) between the bearing's centermost orifice (26) and each of its nearest neighbors (28) in a horizontal direction which satisfies the relationship Pmidpoint/Pplenum≧0.05. The bearings (3) can reduce the time-averaged, peak-to-peak variation in the spacing between a LCD substrate (13) traveling at, for example, 60 meters/minute and the face (20) of the bearing (3) to less than 500 microns, thus reducing the chances that the substrate (13) will hit and be damaged by the bearing (3).
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.