Pull roll apparatus for controlling glass sheet tension

摘要

A pull roll apparatus and method are described herein that can control a cross-draw tension and a down-draw tension of a glass sheet while manufacturing the glass sheet. In one embodiment, the pull roll apparatus includes a first driven stub roll pair, a second driven stub roll pair and a control device (e.g., PLC) that controls the first and second driven stub roll pairs while a first edge portion of the glass sheet is drawn between two vertically downtilted rolls associated with the first driven stub roll pair and while an opposing second edge portion of the glass sheet is drawn between two vertically downtilted rolls associated with the second driven stub roll pair. If desired, the pull roll apparatus may include a pulling roll assembly (located below the first and second driven stub rolls) or another set of driven stub roll pairs (located below the first and second driven stub roll pairs).

主权项

1. A pull roll apparatus for drawing a glass sheet in a draw direction, said pull roll apparatus comprising:
a first stub roll pair; a second stub roll pair; a mechanical device configured to adjust a downtilt position of said first stub roll pair and said second stub roll pair; a control device configured to control said first stub roll pair and said second stub roll pair while a first edge portion of the glass sheet is drawn between two rolls associated with said first stub roll pair and while an opposing second edge portion of the glass sheet is drawn between two rolls associated with said second stub roll pair; and a cross-draw tension device configured to measure a cross-tension in the glass sheet across the draw direction, wherein said control device is configured to automatically adjust the cross-tension in the glass sheet by interacting with the mechanical device to adjust the downtilt position of said first stub roll pair and said second stub roll pair.