Deformation of large liquid crystal display glass sheets across a gap between noncontact transportation devices

In this paper, an air-levitating transportation device that had air-supply pads with orifice restrictors and vacuum ports was proposed to support a 500 mm square, liquid crystal display glass sheet. The deformation of the glass sheet supported by the proposed transportation device was investigated numerically and experimentally when the glass sheet jumped over the gap between the proposed devices. In addition, the optimum combinations of air supply and vacuum pressures and their areas in the proposed device were studied for obtaining the largest jumping distance of the thin glass sheet. It was found that by properly selecting supply and vacuum pressures and their areas, the largest jumping distance supported by the proposed device could reach approximately 75 mm.