Method for positioning a glass plate on rollers

1. A method for positioning a glass plate, comprising:

conveying a glass plate by a roller conveyor including a plurality of rollers, each roller having a rolling axis;

determining a first posture of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor;

comparing the first posture to a previously stored reference posture; and

moving at least one of the plurality of rollers in a direction substantially parallel to the rolling axis when the at least one of the plurality of rollers is in contact with the glass plate in conveyance, to position the glass plate so as to conform the glass plate to the previously stored reference posture,

wherein the moving the at least one of the plurality of rollers includes moving each of the at least one of the plurality of rollers independently with respect to each other roller of the plurality of rollers.

2. The method according to claim 1 ,

wherein the determining the first posture includes

using an imaging means to capture an image of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor, and

recognizing the first posture of the glass plate based on the captured image of the glass plate;

wherein the comparing the first posture to the previously stored reference posture includes

comparing the recognized first posture with the previously stored reference posture to find a deviation amount of the posture of the glass plate with respect to the previously stored reference posture, and

finding an axial displacement amount to be applied to the at least one of the plurality rollers that is in contact with the glass plate based on the found deviation amount; and

wherein the moving the at least one of the plurality of rollers includes moving the at least one of the plurality rollers that is in contact with the glass plate in accordance with the found axial displacement amount.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the moving the at least one of the plurality of rollers includes independently moving at least two of the plurality of rollers in sequence one after another in conjunction with the conveyance of the glass plate.

4. A method for bending a glass plate, comprising:

using the method for positioning a glass plate defined in claim 1 to position the glass plate so as to conform the glass plate with the previously stored reference posture, the glass plate having been heated to a glass bending temperature; and

bending the positioned glass plate in a desired curved shape.

5. The method according to claim 4 , wherein the bending of the positioned glass plate is performed by making use of vertical movement of at least one bending roller.

6. A method for positioning a glass plate, comprising:

conveying a glass plate by a roller conveyor including a plurality of rollers, each roller having a rolling axis;

determining a first posture of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor;

comparing the first posture to a previously stored reference posture; and

simultaneously moving at least two of the plurality of rollers in a direction substantially parallel to the rolling axis when the at least two of the plurality of rollers are in contact with the glass plate in conveyance, to position the glass plate so as to conform the glass plate to the previously stored reference posture.

7. The method according to claim 6 ,

wherein the determining the first posture includes

using an imaging means to capture an image of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor, and

recognizing the first posture of the glass plate based on the captured image of the glass plate;

wherein the comparing the first posture to the previously stored reference posture includes

comparing the recognized first posture with the previously stored reference posture to find a deviation amount of the posture of the glass plate with respect to the previously stored reference posture, and

finding an axial displacement amount to be applied to the at least two of the plurality rollers that are in contact with the glass plate based on the found deviation amount; and

wherein the moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers includes moving the at least two of the plurality rollers that are in contact with the glass plate in accordance with the found axial displacement amount.

8. A method for bending a glass plate, comprising:

using the method for positioning a glass plate defined in claim 6 to position the glass plate so as to conform a posture of the glass plate with the previously stored reference posture, the glass plate having been heated to a glass bending temperature; and

bending the positioned glass plate in a desired curved shape.

9. The method according to claim 8 , wherein the bending of the positioned glass plate is performed by making use of vertical movement of at least one bending roller.

10. A method for positioning a glass plate, comprising:

conveying a glass plate by a roller conveyor including a plurality of actuators and a plurality of rollers, each roller having a rolling axis;

determining a first posture of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor;

comparing the first posture to a previously stored reference posture; and

moving at least two of the plurality of rollers in a direction substantially parallel to the rolling axis when the at least two of the plurality of rollers are in contact with the glass plate in conveyance, to position the glass plate so as to conform the glass plate to the previously stored reference posture,

wherein each of the at least two of the plurality of rollers is moved by a different one of the plurality of actuators.

11. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the determining the first posture includes

using an imaging means to capture an image of the glass plate being conveyed by the roller conveyor, and

recognizing the first posture of the glass plate based on the captured image of the glass plate;

wherein the comparing the first posture to the previously stored reference posture includes

comparing the recognized first posture with the previously stored reference posture to find a deviation amount of the posture of the glass plate with respect to the previously stored reference posture, and

and finding an axial displacement amount to be applied to the at least two of the plurality rollers that are in contact with the glass plate based on the found deviation amount; and

wherein the moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers includes moving the at least two of the plurality rollers in accordance with the found axial displacement amount.

12. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers includes independently moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers in sequence one after another in conjunction with the conveyance of the glass plate.

13. The method according to claim 10 , wherein the moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers includes simultaneously moving the at least two of the plurality of rollers.

14. A method for bending a glass plate, comprising:

using the method for positioning a glass plate defined in claim 10 to position the glass plate so as to conform a posture of the glass plate with the previously stored reference posture, the glass plate having been heated to a glass bending temperature; and

bending the positioned glass plate in a desired curved shape.

15. The method according to claim 14 , wherein the bending of the positioned glass plate is performed by making use of vertical movement of at least one bending roller.