Glass Canada

Features Fabrication Processing & productivity
sedak automates production of insulating glass units

September 16, 2015  By sedak



Sept. 16, 2015 – More efficient production processes and constantly high quality standards: with a new insulating glass line, sedak based in Gersthofen, Germany further expands its leading position in the industry of oversize glass units. Machinery especially fabricated for the corporation, enables sedak now to industrially produce insulating glass units up to 15m. “The manufacturing time has been reduced and insulating glass units are therefore even more economical,” says sedak CEO Bernhard Veh.

For a long time sedak has established itself as a technological pioneer for glass in oversize formats up to 3.2m x 15m. The manufacturer produces oversize insulating, and safety glass with almost any kind of treatment for the global market: processed, tempered, laminated, printed, coated, and processed further into insulating glass. Large insulating glass units have been fabricated manually in a time-consuming process – until now. The new insulating glass line automates the production process completely. That leads to high quality standards and a fabrication that can be reproduced. “The biggest advance is the radical reduction of the production time. Insulating glass used to be fabricated manually by several qualified employees over various days. Now, the total production needs less than an hour,” explains General Manager Ulrich Theisen. Since producing insulating glass has thus become more cost-effective, sedak units are even more competitive. “Due to efficiently created designs and short construction times, oversize glass units have been profitable before. This cost-effectiveness has been increased now,” says Ulrich Theisen.

Perfect Esthetics – Quickly Produced in Constantly the Same Quality

The fully automated production line is unique in the world. With a length up to 145m and a load capacity of 450kg per linear meter, the insulating glass line is the largest around the globe. Another aspect besides efficiency and quality should not be disregarded: perfect esthetics are now reproducible easily. Positioning the spacers accurate to a millimeter, especially on ceramic-ink printed insulating glass units, allows flawless transitions. Glass units stepped on all four sides are a special feature. On the bottom edge, steps of 700mm are possible. Therefore sedak can realize homogeneous façades with precise, especially narrow joints. Structures simply disappear behind the glass. „Transparent, esthetic façades have become a trend in architecture during the last few years. Now, they can be manufactured more quickly, economically and reliably,“ Bernhard Veh sums up. In connection with the ceramic-ink digital printing technology for oversize glass units, a technology which is still new, sedak offers a worldwide unique range of glass products.

Advertisement

Big Panes Need Big Machinery

To be able to produce the world’s biggest glass units, also the machinery must be big. Particularly the weight of insulating glass consisting of several panes impresses. A complex, over-size unit weighs up to 7t. Therefore, the fully automated machine at sedak can handle loads of 450kg/m. The production line has a total length of 145m.

Printed Glass in Oversize Formats

sedak does not only fabricate oversize insulating glass quickly and in an especially high quality but also offers a further unique treat-ment for large glass: printed, translucent units up to 3.2m x 15m. The glass panes can be printed fully covered with the roller coater technique or with the digital flatbed printer which enables complex, multiple-color designs, and high resolution photos being printed. Due to the digital printing technology, the colors are applied in a thinner layer than it is possible using a screen or rotary printer. That allows translucent printing and designing smooth transitions. The printing inks are composed of fine ceramic particles that permanently bond to the surface during the burning process in the oven. The color coat stays scratch resistant. Afterwards, the glass panes can be laminated, cold bent, or processed to insulating glass units. Possible designs are photos, imitations of material structures, or the repeated pattern of ornaments. The ceramic-ink digital printing thus offers a cost-effective way to an individually designed façade or wall.

For more information
www.sedak.com


Print this page

Advertisement

Stories continue below


Related



Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*