What Is The Difference between Horizontal And Vertical Type in Glass Tempering Furnaces? How To Choose?

What is the difference between horizontal and vertical tempering in glass tempering furnaces? Mainly due to the different operating conditions of the glass during the quenching process. Vertical glass tempering furnace uses clamps to hang glass for heating and blowing for quenching, while horizontal tempering is the process of horizontal roller conveyor driving glass for blowing for heating and cooling. Below, we will specifically introduce the differences between the two.

1. The difference between horizontal and vertical tempering in tempering furnaces

1.1. Different quenching operation modes

1.1.1 Horizontal glass tempering furnace: The horizontal tempering furnace transports glass through a horizontal roller conveyor and conducts blowing, heating, and cooling. The glass enters the tempering heating section horizontally from the inlet, and after tempering, it enters the air grille for cooling.

1.1.2. Vertical glass tempering furnace: The vertical tempering furnace uses clamp hanging glass for heating and blowing air for quenching, which is a relatively primitive quenching method. The production line mainly consists of a heating furnace and a tempered air grille, which are clamped with heat-resistant steel clamps and sent into the electric heating furnace for heating. When the glass is heated to the required temperature, it is quickly moved to the air grille and compressed air is evenly and quickly sprayed on both surfaces of the glass to rapidly cool (quench).

1.2. Operational difficulty

1.2.1 Horizontal glass tempering furnace: The horizontal tempering furnace is easy to operate, easy to load and unload pieces, and can achieve automatic control, avoiding unnecessary losses caused by human errors.

1.2.2. Vertical glass tempering furnace: Vertical hanging furnaces cannot achieve continuous production. Hanging, loading, and unloading require manual operation, which is time-consuming and laborious, and it is not easy to achieve automatic control, resulting in low output.

1.3. Product size

1.3.1. Horizontal glass tempering furnace: The horizontal tempering furnace produces products with larger dimensions

1.3.2. Vertical glass tempering furnace: The glass specifications should not be too large and are suitable for producing ultra small glass and double-sided coated glass.

1.4. Product quality

1.4.1. Horizontal glass tempering furnace: During both tempering and cooling processes, the horizontal tempering furnace does not rely on external forces to make any contact with the glass. At the same time, the ceramic roller should be kept clean, and qualified products produced from glass should not have problems such as pitting, white marks, or chipping.

1.4.2. Vertical glass tempering furnace: During the production of glass in the vertical tempering furnace, the fixture is always retained, so obvious clamp marks will be left on the glass during the tempering and cooling processes. Especially for thicker glass, it will elongate the glass and cause warping at the clamping line, affecting the optical performance of the glass.

2. How to choose between two types of glass tempering furnaces

Due to the fact that the production technology of vertical tempering furnaces is developed in the early stages of production, there are many technical problems, such as difficulty in avoiding clamp marks. Moreover, the demand for large-sized tempered glass, which is commonly used in the market, can be better met by horizontal tempering furnaces. Based on comprehensive considerations of production capacity, product quality, and ease of operation, horizontal tempering furnaces outperform vertical tempering furnaces in all aspects of performance.