Design optimization of conveyor rollers arrangement for stable flat-panel display (FPD) glass transfer

摘要

In recent years, together with the rapid growth of smart product markets, the flat-panel display (FPD) technology is advancing simultaneously to satisfy the dual demand for larger and thinner display panels. Glass transfer stability is one of the most critical problems when designing manufacturing equipment. Shaft pitch and number of rollers are important design variables to ensure stable glass transfer. In this study, the shaft pitch at which the maximum deflection occurs during glass transfer is theoretically calculated, and the deflection with nonlinear contact is analyzed to determine the initial shaft pitch. The developed optimization model using 8G glass was simplified for iterative analysis, and the nonlinear contact was included in the analysis. The number of rollers was minimized using the verified boundary conditions, and optimization was performed. The optimization analysis significantly reduced the number of rollers by 40 % while minimizing the contact surface.