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A method of automatically mounting a sheet from a cutting table onto a spacer frame of an insulating glass unit begins with identifying a position and orientation of a specified sheet on the cutting table and moving a robotic sheet pickup apparatus to a corresponding position to that identified for

A method of automatically mounting a sheet from a cutting table onto a spacer frame of an insulating glass unit begins with identifying a position and orientation of a specified sheet on the cutting table and moving a robotic sheet pickup apparatus to a corresponding position to that identified for the sheet. An edge of the specified sheet is lifted off of the table, beginning with mechanical suction that brings a corner of the sheet to within proximity of a primary vacuum suction of the pickup apparatus. In particular, the pickup apparatus may have a substantially planar platen with a set of channels coupled to a vacuum source. Once the sheet is fully picked up by vacuum suction, the sheet is laid upon a top surface of a tilt table, which can be simply the platen inverted. The table (or platen) is tilted to bring a corner of the sheet to abut against physical fences. Once the position and orientation of the sheet is so known, the sheet is oriented to correspond to a frame, and attached thereto.

대표청구항 ▼

1. A method of mounting a flexible film polymer sheet onto a spacer frame of an insulating glass unit, the method comprising: identifying a position and orientation upon a cutting table of a specified flexible film polymer sheet to be mounted, from sheets positioned on the cutting table in any order

1. A method of mounting a flexible film polymer sheet onto a spacer frame of an insulating glass unit, the method comprising: identifying a position and orientation upon a cutting table of a specified flexible film polymer sheet to be mounted, from sheets positioned on the cutting table in any order and any orientation, wherein the specified sheet is of any arbitrary size; moving a sheet pickup apparatus to a position corresponding to the identified position and orientation of the specified sheet, wherein the sheet pickup apparatus is provided with a mechanical suction cup and a plurality of parallel vacuum channels coupled to a vacuum source that are independently addressable; lifting a corner of a the specified sheet off of the cutting table by means of the mechanical suction cup; thereafter lifting an edge of the specified sheet off the cutting table by means of activation of one of the plurality of vacuum channels; thereafter lifting a remaining portion of the sheet off the cutting table by vacuum suction by, in turn, activating the remaining plurality of vacuum channels, so the specified sheet lies adjacent to a lifting surface, while leaving the other sheets on the cutting table in the same order and orientation; inverting the sheet pickup apparatus so that the specified sheet lays on the lifting surface; moving the specified sheet to abut a fence on the lifting surface; rotating the sheet pickup apparatus to align the specified sheet with a frame; and attaching the specified sheet to the frame. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the identified position of the specified sheet is identified by a location of the corner of the specified sheet. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the identified orientation of the specified sheet is identified by a longwise direction from the corner. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the edge of the specified sheet is proximate to the corner of the specified sheet. 5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet pickup apparatus comprises a platen that includes the plurality of channels coupled at one end to a vacuum manifold. 6. The method of claim 1, wherein moving the specified sheet to abut the fence on the lifting surface is performed by tilting a platen with the specified sheet thereon in one or more orientations. 7. The method of claim 1, wherein the sheet pickup apparatus comprises a gantry having a substantially planar platen with the plurality of channels coupled to the vacuum source. 8. The method of claim 7, wherein positioning the sheet so that it lays upon the lifting surface comprises tilting the lifting surface. 9. The method of claim 8, wherein moving the sheet to abut the fence is performed by tilting the lifting surface in one or more orientations. 10. The method of claim 1, wherein moving the specified sheet to abut the fence is assisted by suspending the specified sheet on a cushion comprising a flow of compressed air. 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising an active alignment mechanism determining the position and the orientation of the specified sheet on the pickup lifting surface.