Volume 47, Issue 10 - October 2012
Volume 47, Issue 10 - October 2012
|
feature glasstec, the International Trade Fair for Glass Production,
Processing and Products, will be held October 23-26 at Messe Düsseldorf.
Spread across nine halls, the event also features solar energy/transparent
thermal insulation, as well as display glass and laser technologies. Nearly 1,300 exhibitors from around the world presented their innovations at glasstec 2010, and this year is expected to be just as large. More than 45,000 trade visitors attended the event, as well as the closely related solarpeq, a new trade fair for solar production technology. Read on for an overview of products on display, and be sure
to stop by these booths for a closer look at the newest innovations available
throughout the world. MACHINERY Among the machines to be featured is the company’s line of insulating glass production machinery, which offers optimized cycle times and ability to manufacture double, triple, or quadruple glazed units and stepped glass units.Additionally, Lisec is displaying its frame bending system, the BSV-45ANK, which is suitable for all common types of spacer frames, as well as automatic sealing systems for sealed insulating glass units. The company’s sorting systems, designed to ensure that manufacturing
lines are fed with the appropriate glass sheets in a fast and reliable
manner and in optimum time, also will be on display. Hall 12/Stand C69: ATLAS is a stand-alone solution and is adaptive to a range of combinations, including standard and branded warm-edge spacer systems, small and large units, dual- and triple-glazed, and in any order or combination of the above, according to GED. The system’s machine-controlled consistency is designed
to produce uniform, high-quality sealed units without operator handling.
Hall 13/Stand C47-6: A nominal appliance glass can be produced with ground edges,
grooves, two holes and corner treatment in approximately seven seconds
per part, according to the company. The line features fully automatic
setup of each machine. Hall 13/Stand B59-9: Hall 14/Stand D29: Hall 15/Stands A04 & A15: Among the machine’s features is a loading conveyor that is constructed of heavy-duty aluminum beams supporting driven high-grip transport belts supported in belt runner guides, powered from a central stainless steel drive shaft. An AC-geared motor with inverter speed control is mounted directly on the drive shaft, eliminating chains, sprockets and any other wearing parts, according to the company. Glass plates are transported through the seaming station
by two vacuum belts, one on each side directly in front of the seaming
heads, according to the company. In addition, a series of driven belts
mounted on pivoting arms are arranged across the width of the seaming
station. These are designed to help transport the glass and provide support
for wide plates. Hall 13/C55: SPACERS
“As a regular exhibitor at glasstec, we wanted to do something
special to celebrate the record-breaking sales we’ve enjoyed over the
last year in Europe … ,” says Andy Jones, managing director of Quanex’s
European operations. “We expect an excellent turnout as we showcase Quanex’s
warm-edge spacer products that are proven in the global marketplace to
provide optimal thermal and production efficiencies.” INTERLAYERS TRANSPORTATION AND HANDLING
Hall 11/Stand A35: SEALANTS SOFTWARE
TOOLS To maximize the life of the product, there is a convenient “glass-present” sensor built into the product. When the glass is placed over the instrument, it will automatically illuminate the UV light inside the instrument to identify which surface is the tin side. The tin side surface will cause the UV light to glow a milky white color. If you are on the non-tin (atmosphere) surface, the lamp will glow normally. The glass-present sensor allows for hand-free operation when testing for the tin surface. According to company officials, users slide the glass over the top of the sensor and look for the glow after the TS1420 automatically powers on. The company also will introduce its new Reflex programmable
coating detector, the RX1550. This digital instrument comes pre-loaded
with calibrations to identify numerous specialty coatings available to
the glass and window industry. One of the meter’s features is its ability
to be programmed for new coatings in the field. The meter allows users
to store calibrations of new coatings that they can test in the field
for themselves. Special Sessions Among these, the display will include a portion on Building-Integrated Photovoltaics (BIPV) and will feature thin-film modules for overhead applications and façades, among others. Another focus of “Glass Technology Live” will be the topic “Façade and Design.” In this part of the exhibition, Behling and his team will present hot and cold-bent glass sheets of large dimensions. “Glass Technology Live is not only a mirror image of current developments on the market, [but] it traditionally also allows visitors to look far ahead into the future of glass,” say show organizers. Glass Technology Live will be accompanied by a technical
symposium with more than 60 lectures and presentations designed around
the future of the glass sector both in technical and aesthetic terms.
The technical symposium agenda will feature a different focal theme on
each day of the trade fair, including: glasstec also will feature a Facades Center, which will focus on themes relating to energy-efficient and/or functional building skins. This portion of the show is designed for façade planners, construction engineers and architects as well as the craftsmen installing them, according to show organizers. As part of glasstec’s ancillary program, an International Architectural Congress will be held for the fourth time. The Congress is organized by the North Rhine-Westphalian Chamber of Architects, the Technical University of Delft and the Ostwestfalen-Lippe University. It is scheduled for October 24 and has been designed to “provide a high-caliber setting for architects, structural engineers, construction engineers and façade planners.” Speakers will include Enrique Sobejano, co-owner of the Spanish architects’ office Nieto Sobejano; Kai-Uwe Bergmann, member of the architects’ team at the BIG Bjarke Ingels Group; Copenhagen; and Thomas Auer of the Stuttgart KlimaEngineering-Büro Transsolar. The technical-scientific conference, “Engineered Transparency,” also will be held on October 25 and 26 as part of glasstec. It will address the research and development community as well as experts for civil engineering, construction engineers, planners/architects and building authority representatives. Items of focus will include structural engineering with glass (stress/strain and stability, laminates and composites, uni-axially and bi-axially bent glass), the building physics behavior of façades (building skin and texture, energy and sustainability, projects and case studies), and the use of solar systems in architecture (building integration and design and construction supervision requirements for solar module design). Keynote speakers will include Michael Bell of Columbia University in New York; Till Schneider of Schneider+Schumacher Architekten; and Wolfgang Schiel of Schlaich Bergermann and Partner. Additionally, solarpeq, the International Trade Fair for Solar Production Equipment, again will be held concurrently with glasstec. solarpeq 2012 covers the segments of manufacturing technology for crystalline and thin-film photovoltaics, in an effort to complement the solar products and applications exhibited at glasstec. In keeping with the solar theme, glasstec also will include a conference titled “Solar meets Glass - 3rd Industry Summit for Markets, Costs and Technology.” The event is being organized by Solarpraxis AG and Messe Düsseldorf and is scheduled for October 22 and 23. It will address the current topics affecting both sectors while addressing their different needs, including topics such as future-proof markets, cost-cutting and technology development.
|