1 EP 3 800 006 A1 2  Description TECHNICAL FIELD BACKGROUND ART PRIOR ART DOCUMENTS PATENT DOCUMENTS SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION PROBLEMS THAT THE INVENTION IS TO SOLVE MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS [0001] The present invention relates to a glass-plate working apparatus forgrinding orpolishing,orboth grind- ing and polishing (hereinafter, working) an end face on one side of a glass plate or end faces on both sides of a glassplate,e.g.,a rectangularglassplate,forautomobile use, liquid crystal panel use for such television, solar cell use, furniture use,architectural use, and the like. 5 10 15 working the end face in the one region ofthe glass plate; the first moving means for moving the at least one first working headmeansalong the endface in the one region of the glass plate; the at least one second working head means for working the end face in the other region of the glass plate; and the second moving means for moving the at least one second working head means along the end face in the otherregionofthe glass plate,the working of the end face of the glass plate can be effected by the first working head means and the second working head means. Therefore, the efficiency of working with respect to the end face ofthe glassplateishigh, and the working time of the operations can be shortened, making it pos- sible to carry out glass plate working with high produc- tivity. [0002] Conventionally,the grinding ofa glass plate,for example,iscarriedoutby agrinding apparatus disposed on a transport passage of glass plates. [0008] With the glass-plate working apparatus in ac- cordance with the present invention, in a preferred em- bodiment,the firstmoving means isadaptedto move the at leastone first working head means alongthe end face in the one region of the glass plate to cause the at least one first working head means to work the end face in the one region of the glass plate, and the second moving means is adapted to movethe at leastone secondwork- ing head means along the end face in the other region ofthe glass plate to cause the atleastone second working head means to work the end face in the other region of the glass plate. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the time for working the end face including the one region and the other region of the glass plate, thereby making it possible to efficiently carry out the working of the end face of the glass plate. [0004] Incidentally, the grinding of glass plates is con- ventionally carried out by a grinding apparatus disposed on a transport passage of glass plates, so that it takes time and the glass plate working efficiency as a whole is poor. 20 25 30 35 40 [0009] In anotherembodimentofthe glass-plate work- ing apparatus in accordance with the present invention, each of the first moving means and the second moving means is adapted to move each of the at least one first working head means and the atleastone second working head meanssuch thatthe atleast one first working head means and the atleastone second working head means approach each other or move away from each other. Therefore, it is possible to shorten the working time with respect to the end face of the glass plate. [0005] Thepresentinventionhas been devised inview of the above-described aspects, and its object is to pro- vide a glass-plate working apparatus in which the effi- ciency ofworking with respectto the end face oftheglass plate isexcellent,and which makes itpossible to shorten the working time required therefor and is high in produc- tivity. 45 [0010] In still another embodiment of the glass-plate working apparatusin accordance with the presentinven- tion, the at least one first working head means has at least one grinding wheel or at least one polishing wheel, or at least one grinding wheel and at least one polishing wheel, and the at least one second working head means has at least one grinding wheel or at least one polishing wheel, or at least one grinding wheel and at least one polishing wheel.Therefore,forexample,in a casewhere the atleastone firstworkinghead means has the atleast one grinding wheel and the at least one polishing wheel, and the at least one second working head means has the at least one grinding wheel and the at least one pol- ishing wheel, the operation ranging from grinding to pol- ishingcan beperformed continuously with respect to the end face including the one region and the other region ofthe glass plate,and the working time canbe shortened, [0006] A glass-plate working apparatusin accordance with the present invention comprises: at least one first working head means for working an end face in one re- gion of a glass plate; a first moving means for moving the at least one first working head means along the end face in the one region of the glass plate; at least one second working head means for working an end face in another region of the glass plate; and a second moving means for moving the at least one second working head meansalong theend face in the other region ofthe glass plate. 50 55 [0007] Accordingtotheglass-plate working apparatus in accordancewith the presentinvention,sincethere are provided the at least one first working head means for 2 [0003] Patent Document 1: JP-A-2013-169622