Two physicists and a glass specialist join forces to develop a unique floor for an indoor sports arena.

It goes like this: a glass expert and two physicists specialised in automation and bespoke mechanical engineering join forces with the idea of developing lighting solutions based around personalised glass and plastic panels. Digital direct printing is their technology of choice. Together, they found the company GlasDruckManufaktur and purchase a Nyala 2 large format printer. Such was their original plan, with process automation as a future option.

Automation for a large order

But when a prospective customer came knocking with a lucrative large order, the team decided that their planned business idea could take a back seat for a while. Instead, they put everything into supplying elements for a novel type of glass flooring in sports halls: a sprung floor with different sports pitch markings delineated on its underside and able to light up or go dark at the press of a button to match the current game. This also came down to printing on glass and a lighting solution – not so remote from the original business idea after all. Yet considering that the elements were plate glass panels weighing 160 kg each, it was soon evident that personnel would need strong support with material handling. It was time to bring on an industrial robot and automation.

A specially developed tilting table swivels glass panels from vertical to horizontal.

Complex integration

The Nyala 2 arrived on the premises in August 2016. The customer asked for the initial test elements to be delivered in December. GlasDruckManufaktur lost no time evaluating a Kuka robot that was installed shortly thereafter in September 2016, and a glass washing machine was added to complete the end-to-end process. In addition, Nagl & Vetter GmbH custom-developed a tilting table that would take vertically-oriented glass panels off the washer and turn them through 90 degrees, whereupon the robot could grab the now horizontal panel and lay it down on the printer flatbed. Nagl and Vetter personally took care of integration and communication between the individual items of equipment and machines. “swissQprint’s cooperative willingness was crucial at this phase because we needed interfaces,” Dr Nagl is keen to point out. Summing up, he says: “I doubt whether we could have done it with another printer manufacturer.”

Cleanroom conditions

A hall kept under cleanroom-like conditions houses the tilting table, the robot and the printer. It is air-conditioned with constantly controlled humidity and the ventilation system is equipped with dust filters. “A single speck of dust ruins the impact of a backlit glass image,” says Uwe Zeiler, the glass specialist in the trio. The washer is situated outside the printing room, which has a slit in the wall for feeding through cleaned glass panels. The control centre is also in an adjoining room: the operators can run and monitor the entire setup from there – yet another step taken to minimise dust issues.

Business gains traction

With the large order now fulfilled, further flooring projects have been negotiated or are in planning and execution. Meanwhile, GlasDruckManufaktur has launched its glass printing services through other channels, in particular glass wholesalers who order personalised elements for interior decoration and shop fitting. Print bed sized (3.2×2 m) plate glass is not uncommon, or even oversized formats of up to four metres. The robot continues to have its grippers full, handling an order from a private customer who wanted a wood-effect glass floor for his squash court, for example.

Dr Nagl integrated the automation himself.