Keraglass present innovative laminating line at Glasstec 2006

Particular effort and consistent resources are dedicated both to the perfection of existing products, as well as to the development of new ones, in response to the demands and needs of a continuously evolving market that requests ever more quality and innovation.In Spring 2004 Keraglass has set up the new head quarter of the company, with a show room where clients and visitors can get close to the technology and details of its machinery.At the 2004 edition of Glasstec, Keraglass exhibited a glass sheet of 3,210 x 7,000 mm, the result of its most recent product development. Keraglass has, for Zanatta Vetro, built a tempering plant for flat glass suitable for those markets that request only high quality. A screen-printing and enamelling line for glass sheets of 2,600 x 5,100 millimetres, and a Heat Soak Test plant were also supplied by Keraglass.

In 2006, in line with company strategy aimed at reaching new goals Keraglass is presenting the laminating line. After an year of research and development in cooperation with specialized engineers (that knows in deep the laminated glass and how to work it) and using his long-term experience Keraglass is proud to present his line: after the Open House in Keraglass’ show room in September Keraglass is ready to present to customers all over the world his innovative laminating line at Glasstec 2006 (Hall 16 – StandA21).

Laminating line
The laminating line is available in 4 different sizes up to 3,210x7,000mm to suitable for those companies that would be ready to the future challengers and in 2 different layout: in line and U.

Studied and realized considering the operator at the centre, the line it’s full of technological advantages and the result is an high productivity and flexible line able to process jumbo sheet and also small pieces.

The pre-heating chamber for tempering furnace
The tempering line, able to process glass sheets with maximum dimensions of 3,210 x 7,000 millimetres, was subject of a detailed study with respect to standard machines. In order to obtain a revolutionary product suitable for the needs of this particular client, the machine is also equipped with a pre-heating convection chamber located just before the normal heating chamber. This section has the same dimensions as the normal radiance chamber, but uses a forced convection system to pre-heat the glass sheets. At this point, the glass is ready to be transferred to the main chamber, for the tempering process, via a system of electrical resistances arranged in coordination. This particular system reduces heating times of float and new generation glass types, such as low-E, etc.

The two-stage heating of the glass enables to lower considerably the shock thermic that the material normally has to withstand during traditional heating phases. This is made possible by avoiding that the glass goes from environmental temperatures to those of 700°C immediately, thus eliminating distortions of the glass in the initial processing phases. The glass is, therefore, pre-heated very delicately, preparing it before its entry into the main chamber. Moreover, breakages of large thickness glass sheets, tensioned or with production defects in the heating area are also drastically reduced, maintaining the main chamber perfectly clean. Therefore, using convection only in the pre-heating phase, there is no dangerous recirculation of air (direct or residual) that disturbs the fine regulation of the resistances.

The supervision system
The supervision system, developed in response to the needs of operators, is made up of two PCs that also have an archive of technical data for certifications as per normatives in force. In order to simplify the work of temperers, and to facilitate plant management, as is Keraglass’ standard, a scanner has been installed between the heating and tempering sections. This tool carries out, at each passing of material being processed, a complete thermograph of the pieces making up the load. The obtained image enables to verify “at a glance” all the modifications that need to be made. The archive also contains images of previous loads, with information regarding the temperature, up to a tenth of a degree, of each piece at any given moment.

The Heat Soak plant
Keraglass also supplied the Heat Soak plant, created to process glass sheets up to 3,210 x 7,000 millimetres. Thanks to this machinery, it is possible to certify the glass sheets as per the normative in force regarding safety.

Pre-tempering
As far as pre-tempering processes such as screen printing and enamelling are concerned, a new line of machines have been created, able to process glass sheets with widths of up to 2,600 millimetres. A new screen printing machine has been developed for glass sheets up to five meters in length, while, for enamelling, two roller coating machines have been located, in line with the screen printing machine, to obtain glass with both satiné and covered effects.

The last part of the line is made up of the dryer, which, in just seven metres, completely dries and cools down the applied varnish. This enables to stand the glass sheets vertically with only one sheet of paper between them with, therefore, considerable space saving, also facilitating the movement of the same glass sheets in the glassworks.

Bending and tempering
Another big satisfaction, for Keraglass, is made up of its new bending and tempering plant, presented in 2004 during the Open House to celebrate the inauguration of its new premises. At present, four of these plants, sold during this year, are being completed.

With a market in continuous expansion, and with ever more needs for quality, performance and dimension, constant studies of the global market are necessary, as well as complete satisfaction of clients’ needs and continuous technological evolution. These are the goals that Keraglass has fixed for this new year ahead.


Keraglass Engineering srl
Via Sassogattone 7/B
42031 Baiso (RE)
ITALY
Tel: +39 - 0522 - 993027
Fax: +39 - 0522 - 993030
E-mail: info@keraglass.com
www.keraglass.com