CN114072709A

CN114072709A - Glass substrate cutting method and light guide plate manufacturing method

Info

Publication number: CN114072709A
Application number: CN202080048087.3A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 郑泰玉; 金殷奭; 朴永善
Original assignee: Corning Inc
Current assignee: Corning Inc
Priority date: 2019-05-23
Filing date: 2020-05-13
Publication date: 2022-02-18
Also published as: KR102286476B1; WO2020236479A1; KR20200135614A; JP2022533719A; TW202102451A

Abstract

A glass substrate cutting method comprising: forming a resin pattern including a lenticular pattern on a first surface of a glass substrate; removing a portion of the resin pattern by using a laser; forming a plurality of scribing lines on a portion of the glass substrate exposed by removing the portion of the resin pattern; and cutting the glass substrate along the scribing line.

Description

Glass substrate cutting method and light guide plate manufacturing method

Technical Field

The present application claims the benefit of priority of korean patent application No. 10-2019-0060416 filed on 23.5.2019 in accordance with the patent laws, which depends on the contents of said korean patent application and which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

One or more embodiments relate to a method of cutting a glass substrate and a method of manufacturing a light guide plate using the same, and more particularly, to a method of cutting a glass substrate having a resin pattern formed thereon and a method of manufacturing a light guide plate using the method of cutting a glass substrate.

Background

A light guide plate used in a display apparatus uniformly scatters and diffuses light, which is incident on the light guide plate from a light source, over a display surface. Generally, such a light guide plate is used in an optical device such as a backlight unit (BLU). At least one light source may be arranged on a side surface of the light guide plate, and light incident on the light guide plate may be guided inside the light guide plate by a total internal reflection method and may be emitted outside the light guide plate through light extraction patterns formed on a surface of the light guide plate.

Disclosure of Invention

One or more embodiments include a glass substrate cutting method and a light guide plate manufacturing method, both of which have improved productivity and reliability.

Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the embodiments presented.

According to one or more embodiments, a glass substrate cutting method includes: forming a resin pattern including a lenticular (lens) pattern on a first surface of a glass substrate; removing a portion of the resin pattern by using a laser; forming a plurality of scribe lines (scribes lines) on the first surface exposed by removing the portion of the resin pattern; and cutting the glass substrate along the scribing line.

The forming of the resin pattern may include: forming reference marks at a plurality of corners of the glass substrate simultaneously with the forming of the resin pattern.

The transmittance of the laser light passing through the glass substrate may be higher than the transmittance of the laser light passing through the resin pattern.

Removing the portion of the resin pattern may include: only a portion of the resin pattern is selectively removed without substantially removing the glass substrate.

A plurality of effective optical areas and an outer area surrounding the effective optical areas may be defined on the glass substrate.

The resin pattern may further include a light extraction pattern formed on the effective optical area.

The lenticular pattern may extend from the active optical area to the outer area.

The scribe line may include: at least one first score line adjacent an edge of the glass substrate, and at least one second score line adjacent a center of the glass substrate.

The cutting of the glass substrate may include: point pressing is carried out on the glass substrate along the first scribing line; and pressing the glass substrate along the second scribing line.

An angle between a normal line of the first surface and a cut surface formed by cutting the glass substrate may be about 1 ° or less.

According to one or more embodiments, a method of manufacturing a light guide plate includes: forming a resin pattern on a first surface of a glass substrate, wherein the resin pattern includes lenticular patterns and light extraction patterns, wherein the lenticular patterns extend along a first direction parallel to the first surface and are arranged in a row in a second direction parallel to the first surface and substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and the light extraction patterns are recessed from the lenticular patterns in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction; forming a first scribing target portion and a second scribing target portion for exposing the first surface of the glass substrate by removing a portion of the resin pattern; forming a score line extending over the first and second scoring target portions on the glass substrate; and cutting the glass substrate along the scribing line.

Forming the first and second scoring target portions may comprise: the first and second scribe target portions are formed by using a laser having a transparent wavelength with respect to the glass substrate.

A cut surface of the glass substrate formed when cutting the glass substrate may be substantially perpendicular to the first surface.

Removing a portion of the resin pattern may include: selectively removing the resin pattern without damaging the glass substrate.

Forming the resin pattern may include: a plurality of reference marks are further formed at a plurality of corners of the glass substrate.

Forming the first and second scoring target portions may comprise: removing the resin patterns arranged on a straight line connecting the reference marks spaced apart from each other in the first direction or the second direction, the resin patterns being located between the reference marks.

Forming the first and second scoring target portions may further comprise: the reference mark is removed.

The first scoring target portion may extend in the first direction and the second scoring target portion may extend in the second direction.

According to one or more embodiments, a method of manufacturing a light guide plate includes: forming a resin pattern and a plurality of reference marks on a first surface of a glass substrate; removing a portion of the reference mark and the resin pattern by using a laser; forming a scribing line on the glass substrate in a region where the portion of the resin pattern is removed; and cutting the glass substrate along the scribing line.

The depth of field (depth of field) of the laser may be less than-3 mm.

Removing the portion of the resin pattern may include: irradiating the laser light to the resin pattern at a speed of 100mm/s or less.

The laser may have a wavelength of about 8 μm to about 12 μm.

Drawings

These and/or other aspects will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a scoring apparatus, according to some embodiments;

fig. 2A to 2D are diagrams illustrating effects according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 3A is a graph illustrating the result of cutting a glass substrate according to a comparative example;

fig. 3B is a graph illustrating the result of cutting a glass substrate according to an experimental example;

fig. 4 is a flow diagram of a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 5A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5B is an enlarged perspective view of portion 5E of FIG. 5A according to some embodiments;

FIG. 5C is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 5I-5I ', 5II-5II ', and 5III-5III ' of FIG. 5A according to some embodiments;

fig. 6A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6B is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 6I-6I ', 6II-6II ', and 6III-6III ' of FIG. 6A according to some embodiments;

fig. 7A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments;

FIGS. 7B to 7D are partial sectional views taken along line 7I-7I ', 7II-7II ', and 7III-7III ' of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart illustrating a glass manufacturing method according to some embodiments; and

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a glass manufacturing method according to some embodiments.

Detailed Description

Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. As such, the embodiments of the present disclosure may take different forms and should not be construed as limited to the description set forth herein. Therefore, only the embodiments are described below in order to explain aspects of the present specification by referring to the figures. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. This disclosure may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. The embodiments of the present disclosure may be construed as more fully describing the present disclosure by those skilled in the art. Throughout this disclosure, like reference numerals designate like components. Also, various components and regions in the drawings are schematically illustrated. Accordingly, the present disclosure is not limited by the relative sizes or distances shown in the drawings.

Although terms such as "first" and "second" may be used herein to describe various components or parts, these components or parts should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element or component from another component or component. For example, a first component can be termed a second component, and, similarly, a second component can be termed a first component, without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be understood that terms, such as "comprising," "including," and "having," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, components, parts, or combinations thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. Also, it will be understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

While certain embodiments may be practiced in different ways, the particular process sequence may be executed differently than the described sequence. For example, two processes described in succession may be executed substantially concurrently or in the reverse order to that described.

Light guide plates comprising glass may have better strength and Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (CTE) characteristics than plastic and may be used to fabricate Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Televisions (TVs) with reduced thickness. The light guide plate may include a lenticular pattern and a light extraction pattern. The related art light guide plate includes a lenticular pattern and a light extraction pattern on opposite surfaces. In contrast, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure, the light guide plate may be formed on the same surface of the glass substrate and may include an integrated pattern of a lenticular pattern and a light extraction pattern. The integrated pattern included in the light guide plate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may include a resin and may have better optical performance than a light guide plate including a lenticular pattern and a light extraction pattern formed on opposite surfaces. Also, since the lenticular pattern and the light extraction pattern are simultaneously formed through one imprinting process, the productivity of the light guide plate according to some embodiments of the present disclosure may be greatly improved.

Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a scoring apparatus SA according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 1, the scribing apparatus SA may be an apparatus for processing the resin pattern 120 and the glass substrate 110. According to some embodiments, the scribing apparatus SA may be an apparatus for partially and selectively removing the resin pattern 120. According to some embodiments, the scribing apparatus SA may be an apparatus for forming a scribing line SL (see fig. 7B and 7C) on the glass substrate 110. The structure of the glass substrate 110 and the resin pattern 120 processed by the scribing apparatus SA will be described in detail below with reference to fig. 5A to 5D.

According to some embodiments, the scribing apparatus SA may include first to third scribing tools ST1, ST2, and ST 3. According to some embodiments, any one of the second scribing tool ST2 and the third scribing tool ST3 may be omitted. According to some embodiments, the scoring apparatus SA may include only the first and second scoring tools ST1 and ST2, the first and second scoring tools ST1 and ST2 arranged adjacent to the first surface of the glass substrate 110, i.e., the third scoring tool ST3 may be omitted from the scoring apparatus SA. The first surface may refer to a surface of the glass substrate 110 contacting the resin pattern 120, and the second surface may refer to a surface opposite to the first surface. According to some other embodiments, when the scribing apparatus SA does not include the second tool ST2, the scribing apparatus SA may include only the first tool ST1 arranged adjacent to the first surface of the glass substrate 110, and the third scribing tool ST3 arranged on the second surface.

According to some embodiments, the first scoring tool ST1 may include a laser source. According to some embodiments, the first scribing tool ST1 may partially remove the resin pattern 120 (see fig. 2A). According to some embodiments, the second scribing tool ST2 and the third scribing tool ST3 may be mechanical wheels, such as diamond wheels. According to some embodiments, the second scribing tool ST2 and the third scribing tool ST3 may form a scribing line SL (see fig. 7A), which will be described below.

According to some embodiments, the first to third scribing tools ST1, ST2, and ST3 may be connected to the same driving device, or may be respectively connected to different synchronous driving devices to operate substantially simultaneously. In this case, when the first scribing tool ST1 is moved while partially removing the resin pattern 120, the second scribing tool ST2 and/or the third scribing tool ST3 may form the scribing line SL while being moved in synchronization with the first scribing tool ST1 (see fig. 7A). Accordingly, the scribing line SL (see fig. 7A and 7B) may be formed on the first surface of the glass substrate 110 exposed by removing the resin pattern 120, or on the second surface corresponding to the first surface.

According to some other embodiments, the first to third scribing tools ST1, ST2, and ST3 may be connected with separate driving units to operate at different times. In this case, scribing may be performed after the partial removal of the resin pattern 120 by the first scribing tool ST1 is completed. According to some other embodiments, when only the first scribing tool ST1 and the third scribing tool ST3 are provided, scribing may be first performed by using the reference mark 123 (see fig. 5A), and then the resin pattern 120 may be selectively removed.

Fig. 2A to 2D are diagrams illustrating effects according to one or more exemplary embodiments. In more detail, fig. 2A to 2D are diagrams illustrating the treatment of the resin pattern 120 by the scribing apparatus SA illustrated in fig. 1, and respectively show the results of experimental examples 1 to 4 shown in table 1 below.

The resin pattern 120 is formed by screen-printing a material layer including Ultraviolet (UV) curable Polycarbonate (PC). In experimental examples 1 to 4, the resin pattern 120 had a thickness of about 31 μm. In this case, the resin pattern 120 may include a lenticular pattern LT as described with reference to fig. 5A, and the thickness of the resin pattern 120 may be a distance between a peak point (i.e., a point farthest from the glass substrate 110) of the lenticular pattern LT and the bottom surface of the resin pattern 120.

The laser used in the treatment of the resin pattern 120 is CO₂A laser, and the laser generates light having a wavelength of about 10 μm. The laser power used in the experiment was about 48.4W.

TABLE 1

Referring to fig. 2A and table 1, it can be seen that in experimental example 1, when the resin pattern 120 was removed by using the laser having a depth of field of about 5.4mm and a traveling speed of about 1,500mm/s, the depth of the removed portion was about 32 μm, and the top of the glass substrate 100 was partially removed (i.e., damaged) in addition to the removal of the resin pattern 120 having a thickness of about 31 μm. The damage of the glass substrate 100 may mean that an upper portion of the glass substrate 100 is partially removed by removing the resin pattern 120, or that an excessive stress exceeding an allowable value is applied to the glass substrate 100 during the removal of the resin pattern 120 without partially removing the top of the glass substrate.

Referring to fig. 2B and table 1, it can be seen that, in experimental example 2, when the resin pattern 120 was removed by using the laser having a depth of field of about-3 mm and a traveling speed of about 500mm/s, the depth of the removed portion was about 22 μm, and the resin pattern 120 was not completely removed from the top of the glass substrate 100. Accordingly, the first surface of the glass substrate 110 arranged under the resin pattern 120 is not exposed.

Referring to fig. 2C and table 1, it can be seen that, in experimental example 3, when the resin pattern 120 was removed by using the laser having a depth of field of about-3 mm and a traveling speed of about 200mm/s, the depth of the removed portion was about 31 μm, and the glass substrate 110 was not damaged. Although not shown in fig. 2C, the laser is irradiated to the first surface of the glass substrate 110, and a portion of the resin pattern 120 in a region is not removed. The horizontal width of the portion where the resin pattern 120 is removed is about 400 μm to about 800 μm.

Referring to fig. 2D and table 1, it can be seen that, in experimental example 4, when the resin pattern 120 was removed by using the laser having a depth of field of about-8 mm and a travel speed of about 100mm/s, the depth of the removed portion was about 31 μm, the resin pattern 120 was cleanly removed, and the glass substrate 110 was not damaged. Thus, the first surface of the glass substrate 110 is exposed. The width of the portion where the resin pattern 120 is removed is about 670 μm to about 1170 μm.

Fig. 3A is a graph showing a result of cutting a glass substrate according to a comparative example, and fig. 3B is a graph showing a result of cutting a glass substrate according to an experimental example.

Fig. 3A shows the result of the following operations: without removing the resin pattern 120, a scribing line SL (see fig. 7A) is formed on a second surface (i.e., a surface opposite to the surface on which the resin pattern 120 is formed) by using a third scribing tool ST3, and then the glass substrate 110 is cut and separated. The glass substrate 110 is cut by a method of pressing the scribe line SL. Referring to fig. 3A, it can be seen that the resin pattern 120 is peeled off from the glass substrate 110 in the process of separating the glass substrate 110.

Fig. 3B shows the result of the following operations: the resin pattern 120 is removed, the scribing line SL (see fig. 7B) is formed on the second surface, and then the glass substrate 110 is cut along the scribing line SL (see fig. 7B). Referring to fig. 3B, it can be seen that the resin pattern 120 is not peeled off from the glass substrate 110 in the process of separating the glass substrate 110.

Referring to fig. 1 to 3B, it can be seen that in the case of partially removing the resin pattern 120, forming the scribing line SL (see fig. 7A), and then cutting the glass substrate, the resin pattern 120 is not separated from the glass substrate 110. Therefore, the reliability of cutting and manufacturing the glass substrate 110 can be improved.

Fig. 4 is a flow chart of a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Fig. 5A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments, fig. 5B is an enlarged perspective view of a portion 5E of fig. 5A according to some embodiments, and fig. 5C is a partial cross-sectional view taken along line 5I-5I ', 5II-5II ', and 5III-5III ' of fig. 5A according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 4 to 5C, in operation P10, the resin pattern 120 including the integrated pattern IP and the reference mark 123 may be formed on the glass substrate 110.

According to some embodiments, the glass substrate 110 may have a flat plate shape. Hereinafter, for convenience of description, it is considered that the glass substrate 110 has a substantially rectangular plate shape, however, the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited thereto. For example, the glass substrate 110 may have any of various flat plate shapes, such as a circle, an ellipse, a triangle, and a polygon having five or more angles.

Forming the resin pattern 120 and the reference mark 123 on the glass substrate 110 may include coating a resin layer (not shown) on the substrate and patterning the resin layer by a method such as imprinting. According to some embodiments, the resin pattern 120 may include a material such as Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), MMA-styrene copolymer (MS), Polystyrene (PS), PC, or polyethylene terephthalate (PET), but is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the resin pattern 120 may include a UV curable material. According to some embodiments, UV and/or Infrared (IR) curing may be additionally performed on the resin pattern 120. The strength of the resin pattern 120 and the adhesion to the glass substrate 110 may be enhanced by UV and/or IR curing.

Hereinafter, the surface contacting the resin pattern 120 is referred to as a first surface, and the surface opposite to the first surface is referred to as a second surface, as defined with respect to fig. 1. Also, a direction substantially parallel to the first surface of the glass substrate 110 and a direction substantially perpendicular to the direction substantially parallel to the first surface are defined as a first direction (X direction) and a second direction (Y direction), respectively, and a direction substantially perpendicular to the first surface is defined as a third direction (Z direction).

According to some embodiments, an effective optical area 110E and an outer area 110R may be defined on the glass substrate 110. According to some embodiments, the outer region 110R may surround the effective optical area 110E. According to some embodiments, when the glass product made by the methods described herein is applied to any optical product (e.g., a display), the effective optical area 110E can be an area having a substantial optical function (e.g., high uniform light extraction).

According to some embodiments, the resin pattern 120 may include the integration pattern IP. According to some embodiments, the Integration Pattern (IP) may include a lenticular pattern LT and a light extraction pattern EP. According to some embodiments, the integrated pattern IP may be formed on the effective optical area 110E. According to some embodiments, the integration pattern IP may not be formed on the outer region 110R. According to some embodiments, in the outer region 110R, only the lenticular pattern LT may be formed, and the light extraction pattern EP may not be formed. According to some embodiments, the lenticular pattern LT may extend from the effective optical area 110E to the outer area 110R.

The thickness of the resin pattern 120, i.e., the length in the third direction (Z direction), may be about 30 μm or more. In this case, since the resin pattern 120 includes the lenticular pattern LT, the thickness of the resin pattern 120 may refer to the maximum thickness in the third direction (Z direction). Alternatively, the thickness of the resin pattern 120 may be a distance from a peak point of the lenticular pattern LT to a bottom surface of the resin pattern 120 in contact with the glass substrate 110.

Although fig. 5A illustrates that four substantially identical effective optical areas 110E are defined on one glass substrate 110, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. More particularly, various sizes and numbers of the effective optical areas 110E may be defined according to specifications of a glass product (e.g., a light guide plate) to be manufactured. That is, on one glass substrate 110, two, three, or five, or more effective optical areas may be defined, or effective optical areas having different sizes and shapes may be defined.

According to some embodiments, the cross-sectional shape of the lenticular pattern LT may be, for example, any one of the following: wedge, convex arc, polygonal arc, and dome shapes. According to some embodiments, the lenticular pattern LT may be elongated in the second direction (Y direction). The lenticular patterns LT may be formed in a plurality of rows aligned in the first direction (X direction).

According to some embodiments, the light extraction pattern EP may have a partially recessed shape of the lenticular pattern LT. According to some embodiments, the light extraction pattern EP may be an indentation or a recess formed in the lenticular pattern LT. According to some embodiments, the light extraction patterns EP may be formed to have a periodic or aperiodic pitch. According to some embodiments, the light extraction patterns EP may have regular or irregular shapes and/or sizes. Although fig. 2C illustrates that the top profile of the light extraction pattern EP has a rectangular shape, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The top profile of the light extraction pattern EP may have any one of various shapes such as a polygon, a circle, and an ellipse.

According to some embodiments, the lenticular pattern LT may increase the average tilt angle of the effective optical area 110E. Accordingly, light traveling in the effective optical area 110E may have many components below the critical angle for total reflection, and thus the amount of output light may increase.

According to some embodiments, the reference mark 123 may be formed when the resin layer is patterned. The reference mark 123 may have a substantially cross shape. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the reference mark 123 may have any optically easily recognizable shape, such as a polygon, a circle, a star, an ellipse, or an irregular shape. The lengths of the reference mark 123 in the first and second directions (X and Y directions) may each be in the range of about several hundred micrometers, and the width thereof may be about 100 micrometers. However, this is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. According to some embodiments, the reference mark 123 may be a reference mark for improving accuracy of the selective removal process of the resin pattern 120, which will be described below.

According to some embodiments, two or more reference marks 123 may be arranged near each corner of the resin pattern 120. According to some embodiments, the reference mark 123 may be arranged near the center of four sides of the resin pattern 120. However, the arrangement of the reference marks 123 shown in fig. 5A is merely an example, and the present disclosure is not limited thereto. That is, the arrangement of the reference marks 123 may be variously modified depending on the size and shape of the glass product to be formed through the cutting process.

When cutting and separating the glass substrate 110, errors in a series of processes including coating, imprinting, cutting, and grinding may be accumulated. Due to the accumulated error, the cut surface of the glass substrate 110 and the extending direction of the lenticular pattern LT included in the integrated pattern IP, i.e., the second direction (Y direction), may be misaligned.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the first and second scribing target portions SPPl and SPP2 (see fig. 6A) may be formed by using the reference mark 123 precisely aligned with the integration pattern IP in the imprinting process, and the scribing line SL (see fig. 7A) may be formed according to the first and second scribing line target portions SPP1 and SPP2 (see fig. 6A). Therefore, the cut surface of the glass substrate 110 and the extending direction (i.e., the second direction) of the lenticular pattern LT may be accurately aligned. In particular, when the glass substrate 110 is used as a light guide plate, the lenticular pattern LT and the cut surface corresponding to a light extraction surface in a cut surface of the glass substrate 110 formed in a cutting process described below may be aligned to be substantially parallel to each other. Therefore, the optical performance of the light guide plate as a final product can be improved.

Fig. 6A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments, and fig. 6B is a partial sectional view taken along line 6I-6I ', 6II-6II ', and 6III-6III ' of fig. 6A according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 1, 4, 6A, and 6B, a portion of the resin pattern 120 may be selectively removed in operation P20.

According to some embodiments, the first and second scribing target portions SPP1 and SPP2 may be formed by selectively removing the resin pattern 120. According to some embodiments, the top surface of the glass substrate 100 may be exposed at the first and second scribing target portions SPP1 and SPP 2. According to some embodiments, the first scoring target portion SPP1 may extend substantially parallel to the first direction (X-direction). The second scribing target portion SPP2 may extend substantially parallel to the second direction (Y direction). According to some embodiments, each of the first scoring target portions SPP1 may intersect each of the second scoring target portions SPP2 in a cross shape.

According to some embodiments, the resin pattern 120 may be selectively removed by the first scribing tool ST 1. According to some embodiments, the first scribing tool ST1 may include a laser source, and the laser generated by the first scribing tool ST1 may have a wavelength that is transparent to the glass substrate 110. According to some embodiments, the transmittance of the laser light generated by the first scribing tool ST1 through the glass substrate 110 may be higher than the transmittance of the laser light through the resin pattern 120. According to some embodiments, the wavelength of the laser light generated by first scribing tool ST1 may be about 8 μm to about 12 μm. Accordingly, the laser generated by the first scribing tool ST1 may selectively remove only the resin pattern 120 without substantially damaging the glass substrate 110. That is, selectively removing the resin pattern 120 may mean only partially removing the resin pattern 120 without damaging the glass substrate 110.

According to some embodiments, the depth of field of the laser light generated by the first scribing tool STl may be equal to or less than-3 mm. According to some embodiments, the travel speed of the first scoring tool ST1 and the travel speed of the laser according to the first scoring tool ST1 may be about 200mm/s or less.

According to some embodiments, the selective removal of the resin pattern 120 may be performed by using the reference mark 123 (see fig. 5A) as an alignment mark. According to some embodiments, the reference marks 123 (see fig. 5A) spaced apart from each other by the resin pattern 120 in the first direction (X direction) may be connected to each other, and the resin pattern 120 arranged in a first line substantially parallel to the first direction (X direction) may be removed to form the first scribing target portion SPP 1. Likewise, according to some embodiments, the reference marks 123 (see fig. 5A) spaced apart from each other in the second direction (Y direction) by the resin pattern 120 may be connected to each other, and the resin pattern 120 arranged on a second line substantially parallel to the second direction (Y direction) may be removed to form the second scribing target portion SPP 2.

According to some embodiments, during the selective removal of the resin pattern 120, the reference mark 123 (see fig. 5A) may be removed by the first scribing tool ST 1. Referring to fig. 6A, although the reference mark 123 (see fig. 5A) is illustrated as being completely removed, the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and a portion of the reference mark 123 (see fig. 5A) may be left on the glass substrate 110.

Fig. 7A is a plan view illustrating a glass substrate cutting method according to some embodiments, and fig. 7B is a partial sectional view taken along line 7I-7I ', 7II-7II ', and 7III-7III ' of fig. 7A according to some embodiments.

Referring to fig. 1, 4, 7A, and 7B, a scribe line SL may be formed in operation P30.

According to some embodiments, the scribe line SL may be a crack, a micro-tunnel, and/or a perforation to improve the quality of the cut surface in a cutting process to be described below. Fig. 7B is a diagram of a case in which the third scribing tool ST3 is omitted (or the third scribing tool ST3 is not omitted but the scribing process is not performed). The scribe line SL shown in fig. 7B may be formed by a second scribing tool ST 2. According to some embodiments, the depth of the scribe line SL may be about 1/20 to about 1/2 of the thickness (i.e., the length in the third direction (Z direction)) of the glass substrate 110, although the disclosure is not limited thereto.

According to some embodiments, the scribing line SL may be formed with reference to the first and second scribing target parts SPP1 and SPP 2. According to some embodiments, the scribing line SL may extend along the center line of the first and second scribing target parts SPP1 and SPP 2. According to some embodiments, the scribe line SL may extend entirely over the entire top surface of the glass substrate 110. According to some embodiments, the glass substrate 110 may be divided into two portions by respective scribe lines SL. Therefore, in the cutting process, the glass substrate 110 may be divided into different glass products around the scribing line SL.

According to some embodiments, each active optical area 110E may be surrounded by a scribe line SL. According to some embodiments, the respective active optical areas 110E may be spaced apart from each other with scribe lines SL between the active optical areas 110E.

Fig. 7C and 7D are partial cross-sectional views taken along line segments 7I-7I ', 7II-7II ', and 7III-7III ' according to some embodiments, and more particularly, fig. 7C and 7D are partial cross-sectional views illustrating the scribe line SL formed differently according to some embodiments.

Fig. 7C is a diagram of a case in which the second scribing tool ST2 is omitted and the scribing line SL is formed by the third scribing tool ST 3. Alternatively, fig. 7C is a diagram of a case in which the second scribing tool ST2 and the third scribing tool ST3 are both provided but the scribing process is not performed by the third scribing tool ST 3. Referring to fig. 1 and 7C, a scribe line SL may be formed on the second surface. The scribing line SL formed on the second surface may extend entirely over the entire top surface of the glass substrate 110, and according to some embodiments, the glass substrate 110 may be divided into two parts by separate scribing lines SL.

Fig. 7D is a diagram of a case in which all of the first to third scribing tools ST1, ST2, and ST3 are used. Referring to fig. 7D, a scribing line SL may be formed on each of the first and second surfaces.

Referring to fig. 4 and 7A, the glass substrate 110 may be cut in operation P40.

The glass substrate 110 may be cut along the scribing line SL. The separation of the glass substrate 110 may be performed by a method such as ball breaking, bar breaking, or tilt breaking. The ball breaking may be a cutting method in which the scribing line SL formed on the glass substrate 110 is point-pressed. The bar breaking may be a cutting method in which the scribing line SL formed on the glass substrate 110 is line-pressed. According to some embodiments, the ball breaking method may be used when cutting the glass substrate 110 along the scribing line SL arranged adjacent to the edge of the glass substrate 110. According to some embodiments, when the glass substrate 110 is cut along the scribing line SL arranged adjacent to the center of the glass substrate 110, a bar breaking method and an inclined breaking method may be used.

In the related art light guide plate manufacturing process, a glass substrate is cut according to a desired purpose, and then respective processes for forming a lenticular pattern and a light extraction pattern are performed for each portion of the cut glass substrate. According to an exemplary embodiment, since the resin pattern 120 is uniformly formed on the glass substrate 110 before the glass substrate 110 is cut, and then the glass substrate 110 is cut, the productivity of the method of forming a glass product (or a light guide plate) may be greatly improved.

Since light is incident on a general light guide plate through its side cut surface, it may be very important for the optical performance of a glass product to form a cut surface of high-quality (i.e., defect-free) embossed glass. In the case of mechanically cutting the surface on which the resin pattern 120 is formed, even when a high-pressure cutting wheel is used, it may be technically difficult to bring the wheel into contact with the surface of the glass substrate 110 due to the resin pattern 120.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, the first scribing tool ST1 may be used to selectively remove only the resin pattern 120 without damaging the glass substrate 110, and the second scribing tool ST2 and/or the third scribing tool ST3 may be used to form the scribing line SL on the first surface in which a portion of the resin pattern 120 is removed and/or on the second surface of a portion corresponding thereto. Accordingly, as described above, by selectively removing the resin pattern 120 before forming the scribing line SL, the productivity of the method may be improved and reliability may be ensured.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram of a method of making glass according to some embodiments. FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a glass manufacturing method according to some embodiments. More specifically, fig. 9 is a partially enlarged cross-sectional view of a cut surface portion of the glass substrate 110.

Operations P10-P40 of fig. 8 may be substantially the same as operations P10-P40, respectively, described with reference to fig. 4. Therefore, for convenience of description, the description of the contents described with reference to fig. 4 may be omitted, and the difference between the two will be mainly described.

Referring to fig. 8 and 9, the cut surface may be chamfered (chamfer) in operation P50.

The chamfering of the cutting surface may include approaching the substrate to the rotating chamfering wheel CHW in the extending direction. The quality of the chamfered glass substrate 110 may be characterized by a thickness t, a chamfer width Wc, a chamfer height Hc, and a cut surface angle θ. The cutting surface angle θ may be defined by an angle formed by the cutting surface and a normal to the first surface.

In particular, when the finally manufactured glass product is a light guide plate, it may be very important for the optical performance of the light guide plate that the cut surface is substantially perpendicular to the first surface. In an embodiment according to one or more exemplary embodiments, the cut surface angle θ of the glass substrate 110 may be about 1 ° or less, which enables improved optical characteristics.

Then, referring to fig. 9, the cut glass substrate 110 may be cleaned in operation P60. The cleaning of the glass substrate 110 may be performed by a cleaning apparatus. According to some embodiments, the cleaning apparatus may be in-line or batch. The inline cleaning apparatus may clean the glass substrate moving along the conveyor by using a cleaning liquid, a sponge, or the like. The batch type cleaning apparatus may clean the glass substrate by immersing the glass substrate in the cleaning liquid.

In one or more exemplary embodiments, a resin pattern is formed on a glass substrate, and the resin pattern is partially removed to form a scribing target portion. Thereafter, the glass substrate is cut along the scribing line formed on the scribing target portion, thereby improving the productivity and reliability of the method.

Example embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Although specific terms are used herein to describe embodiments, they are used only to describe exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure, and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure described in the claims below. Thus, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that various modifications and other equivalent embodiments can be derived from the described embodiments. Accordingly, the spirit and scope of the present disclosure should be limited only by the attached claims.

It is to be understood that the embodiments described herein are to be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects in each embodiment should generally be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other embodiments.

While one or more embodiments have been described with reference to the drawings, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the following claims.

Claims

1. A glass substrate cutting method comprising:

forming a resin pattern including a lenticular (lens) pattern on a first surface of a glass substrate;

removing a portion of the resin pattern by using a laser;

forming a plurality of scribe lines (scribes lines) on the first surface exposed by removing the portion of the resin pattern; and

cutting the glass substrate along the scribe line.

2. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein the forming of the resin pattern includes: forming reference marks at a plurality of corners of the glass substrate simultaneously with the forming of the resin pattern.

3. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein a transmittance of the laser light passing through the glass substrate is higher than a transmittance of the laser light passing through the resin pattern.

4. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein removing the portion of the resin pattern comprises: only a portion of the resin pattern is selectively removed without substantially removing the glass substrate.

5. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of effective optical regions and an outer region surrounding the effective optical regions are defined on the glass substrate; and

the resin pattern further includes a light extraction pattern formed on the effective optical area.

6. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 5, wherein the lenticular pattern extends from the effective optical area to the outer area.

7. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein the scribing line includes: at least one first score line adjacent an edge of the glass substrate, and at least one second score line adjacent a center of the glass substrate; and is

The cutting of the glass substrate includes:

point pressing is carried out on the glass substrate along the first scribing line; and

and pressing the glass substrate along the second scribing line.

8. The glass substrate cutting method according to claim 1, wherein an angle between a normal line of the first surface and a cut surface formed by cutting the glass substrate may be about 1 ° or less.

9. A method of manufacturing a light guide plate, comprising:

forming a resin pattern on a first surface of a glass substrate, wherein the resin pattern includes lenticular patterns and light extraction patterns, wherein the lenticular patterns extend along a first direction parallel to the first surface and are arranged in a row in a second direction parallel to the first surface and substantially perpendicular to the first direction, and the light extraction patterns are recessed from the lenticular patterns in a third direction perpendicular to the first direction and the second direction;

forming a first scribing target portion and a second scribing target portion for exposing the first surface of the glass substrate by removing a portion of the resin pattern;

forming a score line extending over the first and second scoring target portions on the glass substrate; and

cutting the glass substrate along the scribe line.

10. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 9, wherein forming the first and second scribing target portions comprises: the first and second scribe target portions are formed by using a laser having a transparent wavelength with respect to the glass substrate.

11. The method for manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 9, wherein a cut surface of the glass substrate formed when the glass substrate is cut is substantially perpendicular to the first surface.

12. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 9, wherein removing the portion of the resin pattern comprises: selectively removing the resin pattern without damaging the glass substrate.

13. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 9, wherein forming the resin pattern comprises: a plurality of reference marks are further formed at a plurality of corners of the glass substrate.

14. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 13, wherein forming the first and second scribing target portions comprises: removing the resin patterns arranged on a straight line connecting the reference marks spaced apart from each other in the first direction or the second direction with the resin patterns between the reference marks.

15. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 13, wherein forming the first and second scribing target portions further comprises: the reference mark is removed.

16. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 13, wherein the first scribing target portion extends in the first direction and the second scribing target portion extends in the second direction.

17. A method of manufacturing a light guide plate, comprising:

forming a resin pattern and a plurality of reference marks on a first surface of a glass substrate;

removing a portion of the reference mark and the resin pattern by using a laser;

forming a plurality of scribe lines on the glass substrate in a region where at least a portion of the resin pattern is removed; and

cutting the glass substrate along the scribe line.

18. The method for manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 17, wherein the depth of field of the laser is less than-3 mm.

19. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 17, wherein removing the at least a portion of the resin pattern comprises: irradiating the laser light to the resin pattern at a speed of 100mm/s or less.

20. The method of manufacturing a light guide plate according to claim 17, wherein the wavelength of the laser light is about 8 μm to about 12 μm.