Apparatus for aligning glass sheets in a production line

An apparatus for aligning with respect to a reference point sheets of material of different dimensions moving along a path of travel, comprising:

• at least two stop pins positioned in a plane in which sheets of material are to be aligned for engaging a leading edge of sheets of material in said plane to align said sheets with respect to a reference point, said reference point being a center line defining said path of travel of said sheets of material;
• at least one side aligning means positioned in said plane for movement from a selected one of at least two different predetermined distances toward said reference point for engaging an end edge of sheets of material in said plane to align said sheets with respect to said reference point;
• means for automatically selecting one of said predetermined distances in accordance with a predetermined sequence of delivery of sheets of material of different dimensions along said path of travel to said stop pins;
• means for moving said side aligning means relative to said reference point in response to said means for automatically selecting;
• means for moving at least one of said stop pins along a predetermined path generally parallel to said center line;
• and
• a sensor means for detecting a leading edge of sheets of material and generating a detection signal, and control means responsive to said detection signal for actuating said means for moving at least one of said stop pins.

An apparatus for automatically aligning a plurality of different length glass sheets prior to a manufacturing operation comprising:

• at least two stop pins positioned to engage a leading edge of a glass sheet at a predetermined position with respect to a reference line;
• at least one side aligning means, including pusher means positioned for movement into engagement with an end edge of a glass sheet from a predetermined distance toward the reference line, and reciprocating means for moving said pusher means;
• means for positioning said side aligning means at said predetermined distance;
• means for selectively changing said predetermined distance in accordance with a predetermined sequence of delivering glass sheets of different lengths to said stop pins;
• and
• sensor means for detecting a glass sheet and generating a sequence signal representing an identification of the glass sheet by length, and wherein said means for selectively changing is responsive to said sequence signal for actuating said means for positioning.

An apparatus for aligning sheets of glass prior to a manufacturing operation, the sheets being conveyed to the alignment apparatus in a predetermined sequence according to end-to-end length, comprising:

• at least a pair of stop pins extending into a plane in which sheets of glass are to be aligned for engaging a leading edge of the sheets, each stop pin of said pair being positioned on opposite sides of a reference line defining a path of travel along which the sheets of glass are being conveyed to align the sheets with respect to said reference line;
• a pair of side aligning means positioned on opposite sides of said reference line for engaging opposed end edges of sheets of glass to align the sheets with respect to said reference line;
• means connected to said side aligning means for automatically moving said side aligning means to one of a plurality of predetermined positions with respect to said reference line corresponding to the end-to-end length of a glass sheet engaged by said stop pins;
• sensor means for detecting the alignment of a leading edge of a glass sheet with respect to said reference line and for generating an alignment signal;
• and means responsive to said alignment signal for moving said stop pins in a direction generally parallel to said reference line.

An apparatus for automatically aligning a plurality of different length glass sheets prior to a manufacturing operation comprising:

• at least two stop pins positioned to engage a leading edge of a glass sheet at a predetermined position with respect to a reference line;
• at least one side aligning means positioned for movement from a predetermined distance toward the reference line to engage an end edge of a glass sheet;
• means for positioning said side aligning means at said predetermined distance;
• means for selectively changing said predetermined distance in accordance with a predetermined sequence of delivering glass sheets of different lengths to said stop pins;
• sensor means for detecting a glass sheet and generating a sequence signal representing an identification of the glass sheet by length, and wherein said means for selectively changing is responsive to said sequence signal for actuating said means for positioning;
• means for individually moving each of said stop pins along a predetermined path generally parallel to said reference line;
• second sensor means for detecting a leading edge of a glass sheet and generating a detection signal and;
• control means responsive to said detection signal for actuating said means for individually moving.