“Discover how to produce Automotive Glass
with Industry 5.0″
meet IOCCO at 33rd China Glass 2024 25th April-28th April Shanghai New International Expo Centre
Hall # N1-Booth # 029
“Meeting Request”
Process innovation for the assembly and de-airing of laminated automotive glass
The world market is showing strong interest in the latest developments in IOCCO’s automotive glass lamination technology. Several installations in China, Europe, Mexico, North and South America in recent years confirm the growing trend towards the level of automation and control required to produce the latest generation of automotive glass to the high quality standards demanded by car manufacturers and the market. The automotive sector has embraced ultra-thin multilayer glass, including PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal), PVB, SPD and XIR technologies.
The production process phases most relevant in respect of technological production innovation are those of assembly and pre-lamination (namely, the de-airing process). Here’s why the R&D team at IOCCO has continuously developed solutions in line with these trends since 2012 – placing highly productive assembly and pre-lamination systems on the market which are unique worldwide. These allow for precise assembly phases and the subsequent phase of air extraction inside the laminate as well as the fusion and encapsulation of these technological interlayers.
To date this system can produce windshields, side windows and sunroofs with production rates of up to 18 seconds per glass. Thanks to advanced sensors and intelligent software the plant is able to calculate the correct production parameters while tracing the technological process for each particular product and changing set-up in the event of unforeseen anomalies.
Conformant with current European Commission directives regarding Industry 5.0 that’s an important step usability-wise. The software here has been designed and developed to make it easily usable, to set up the machinery and maintain it as well as to evaluate and adapt electrical absorption when it exceeds the production requirement. The phases of the production process that have attracted the most interest in terms of technological production innovation are those of assembly and prelamination (called the deairing process), in order to process windscreens, laminated roofs and sidelights that are increasingly lighter, safer, more complex in shape and with innovative technologies equipped with ADAS systems.
IOCCO has developed complex robotic systems, combined with artificial vision systems that are capable of assembling these types of interlayers and has marketed highly productive assembly and pre-lamination systems, unique in the world, which allow precise assembly phases and the subsequent phase of air extraction inside the laminate, as well as the fusion and encapsulation of these technological interlayers.
The vacuum bag furnace (for de-airing) is a unique system that can carry out flexible productions, allowing model changes without interrupting the process, monitoring all process phases, vacuum values and temperatures in each glass produced and reacting autonomously to possible anomalies to guarantee continuous and quality production. To date, this process system can produce a side window every 9 seconds and windscreens/sunroofs every 18 seconds.
Thanks to advanced sensors and intelligent software, the system is able to calculate the correct production parameters, track the technological process for each individual product, and modify the set-up in the event of unforeseen nomalies. The software has been designed and developed to take an important step forward in terms of user friendliness, machine maintenance and set-up, and to be able to evaluate and adjust electrical absorption when it exceeds production requirements. The design is structurally optimised to reach a new level of emission reduction thanks to the air recycling and insulation systems adopted. Moreover, the installed A.I. helps to manage production quality or anomalies and it also has the scope to achieve the best energy efficiency. Automotive glass is everchanging, and engineering solutions are crucial for discovering new methods to process it. Customers involve IOCCO’s engineering team in the feasibility study to find suitable solutions for the entire car glass set.
