Non-contact transportation system for thin glass plate utilizing combination of air bearing and electrostatic force

Reports on a non-contact transportation system for a thin glass plate utilizing an air bearing and electrostatic force. An electrode structure which can accelerate the polarization on the surface of the glass plate, compared with the normal slit type electrode structure, is proposed. Experimental results confirmed that the proposed electrode structure induced an attractive force that was four times that of the normal slit type electrode, for a particular condition. The lateral stability of the glass plate during transportation was also investigated experimentally and it was confirmed that the lateral vibration was absolutely smaller, and hence gave a maximum transportation speed that was about 6 times faster than that of the slit type electrode.