Electrostatic transportation device for glass plates

In the manufacture of liquid crystal display devices, there is a strong demand for contactless glass plate handling devices without contaminating or damaging it. The device proposed in this paper can directly drive a glass plate and simultaneously provide contactless suspension by electrostatic forces. To accomplish these two functions, a feedback control strategy and the operational principle of an electrostatic induction motor are utilized. Experimental results show that the glass plate has been transported with a speed of about 25.6 mm/s while being suspended stably at a gap length of 0.3 mm.