Sheet cleaning
AssigneeSaint-Gobain Industries
InventorsJean Nierlich, Yves Lavoisey
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Methods and apparatus for removing particles from sheet materials, particularly plastic materials that are to be laminated to other materials, are disclosed. The sheet is destaticized, wiped and lightly scraped to dislodge particles from the sheet. The dislodged particles are removed from the sheet by suction. Scrapers with single fixed blades and scrapers with multiple movable blades are used to dislodge particles that are embedded in or adhered to the sheet. The process and apparatus are particularly useful for cleaning sheets of plastic material that are used in laminated glazings having stringent optical requirements.
Claims18
Apparatus for removing particles from a sheet, comprising:
- a conveyor for transporting the sheet;
- means adjacent said conveyor for removing static charge from the sheet as it passes along said conveyor;
- means adjacent said conveyor for wiping at least one side of the sheet as it passes along said conveyor;
- means adjacent said conveyor for scraping at least one side of the sheet as it passes along said conveyor;
- and
- means associated with said wiping and scraping means for removing the wiped and scraped particles from the sheet.
Apparatus for removing particulates from a surface of a sheet, comprising:
- means for supporting the sheet;
- scraper means comprising a rotatable drum, means for mounting the rotatable drum for rotation, a plurality of metal blades mounted on the rotatable drum to present working edges extending outwardly of the drum transversely of the sheet to extend across the sheet with the working edges of the blades engaging a surface of the sheet;
- and
- suction means operably disposed adjacent the working edges of the blades for removing particles scraped from the sheet by the blades.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.