18B — February 23 - March 15, 2018 — Owners, Developers & Managers — M id A tlantic
Real Estate Journal
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O wners , D evelopers & M anagers
Manufacturer brings automated Triple IGU capabilities to Scranton area facility Crystal PA adds new comprehensive state-of-the-art glass line B
ENTON TWP., PA — Continuing the expan- sion of capabilities at its Northeast Pennsylvania production center, national manufacturer Crystal Win- dow&Door Systems recently added a new state-of-the-art insulated glass unit (IGU) fab- rication line at its Benton Twp. factory. The new equipment has the ability for automated as- sembly of triple pane insulated glass units (IGUs). With an investment of several million dollars, the new equipment has greatly increased capabilities and overall window production
capacity for the manufacturer. "We specified and purchased top of the line equipment from leading US manufacturers, including GED Integrated Solu- tions and Billco Manufacturing, to create our new automated insulated glass unit line," said Steve Chen , COO for Crystal. "This allows our Pennsylvania factory to complete many more window orders much more quickly and automates the pro- duction of energy efficient triple IGUs. Now Crystal can rapidly produce triple panes, as well as double panes, with improved uniform quality."
The new glass line includes several cutting, washing, spacer, IGU, gas filling, and grid fabrication components, which were integrated into one seamless operation. Three of the central components of the new IGU line were provided by GED Integrated Solutions of Twinsburg, OH. The GED Automated Tri-Lite Assembly System (ATLAS) allows triple- pane and dual-pane IGUs to be fabricated quickly and ef- ficiently without any operator handling of center glass panels. Using automated “touch-free” Bernoulli vacuum lift technol- ogy to suspend the middle lite, the ATLAS equipment ensures contamination-free placement and alignment of triple IGUs. The ATLAS system delivers newly assembled IGUs to a GED Smart oven. The GED In- tercept i-3 spacer frame equip- ment accommodates steel coil of different alloys including stainless steel and tin plate, and in varying widths. Through precise control and rapidly selecting from the preloaded 10-spool rack, the GED system can produce variable thickness spacers, automatically. Billco Manufacturing of Ze- lienople, PA supplied its Z-Se- ries automated glass cleaning system which accommodates glass thickness up to 19 mm and panel widths up to 96”. The Z-Series is engineered for easy maintenance and clean- ing, greatly reducing operating expenses and downtime. Inte- grated Automation Systems- OptiGas of Bedford Heights, OH, supplied its Automatic Free Fall Glass Loader, which directly integrates with the new glass cutting system and can drop glass from two sides in sizes up to 96” x 130”. The glass loader is synchronized with the new Billco CNC 2200 system featuring the Z-95 cutting head with edge deletion. The equip- ment utilizes glass optimization software, precise CNC controls, and a rapid servo-controlled cutting wheel to cut glass ac- curately and reliably. Rounding out Crystal’s com- prehensive new glass line are two more major pieces of equip- ment. The FastGas argon filling and monitoring system, also from Integrated Automation Systems, can fill and verify standard IGUs in as fast as 10 seconds with one operator. Us- ing “Twin-Turbo” precise and reliable technology and auto- continued on page 20B
Insulated glass unit (IGU) fabrication line
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