Method and apparatus for the rapid transport of glass sheets

A method for rapid transport of glass sheets between different production stations in a large-scale production plant for producing photovoltaic elements, wherein said production plant is subject to clean room conditions, the method comprising:

• transporting a glass sheet to be conveyed from a first production station to a second production station by using a telescopic jack plate, wherein transporting the glass sheet comprises:
• receiving the glass sheet from the first production station by raising the telescopic lack plate,
• delivering the glass sheet to the second production station by lowering the telescopic lack plate,
• moving, as a constituent part of a lifting gantry, the telescopic jack plate between the first and second production stations via a mount on rails, wherein the telescopic jack plate is a constituent part of a vertical lifting carriage within the lifting gantry, and
• linearly extending the telescopic jack plate via a telescopic arm in two opposite directions transverse to the direction of the rails by a drive on the vertical lifting carriage, in response to the first and second production stations being on opposite sides of the rails;
• and
• operating the lifting gantry using wireless power supplied in the region of the rails via induction loops laid in the ground and an induction receiver fitted in the mount.

A machine-readable storage medium with program code executable by a computer to transport a glass sheet from a first station to a second station via a lifting carriage mounted on rails, the program code comprising:

• instructions to move the lifting carriage in a horizontal direction along the rails and between the first station and the second station;
• instructions to extend a telescopic plate of the lifting carriage towards the first station to receive the glass sheet from the first station, the telescopic plate extended in a first horizontal direction away from the lifting carriage and at an angle to the rails;
• instructions retract the telescopic plate with the glass sheet, horizontally, back towards the lifting carriage;
• and
• instructions to extend the telescopic plate towards the second station to place the glass sheet at the second station, the telescopic plate linearly translated in a direction opposite to the first horizontal direction away from the lifting carriage.