JP2003340697A - Method and device for machining side surfaces of rigid brittle plate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for machining side surfaces of a rigid brittle plate which facilitates a setup procedure when the dimension of the plate is changed, and to provide a device for machining the same which is light in weight and small in installation area. <P>SOLUTION: The device includes tool frames 16 which are each movable in a feeding direction that is almost in parallel with the side surfaces of the plate 1 to be machined, and tools 6 are mounted on each tool frame 16 such that their locations are individually controllable in a lateral direction. Then, positioning marks 3 on the plate are read to detect locations and inclinations of both the side surfaces of the plate, and when the tool frames 16 are moved in the feeding direction, the lateral movement of the tools corresponding to the detected inclination is simultaneously carried out, to thereby move the tools 6 along the side surfaces of the inclined plate. The plate 1 is rigidly sucked to fixing stands arranged on both lateral sides thereof by means of negatively pressurized air, and after machining, the plate is floated by means of pressurized air, and the plate is transfered by feeding devices arranged between the fixing stands. When four sides of the plate are machined, two machining devices for machining both the side surfaces of the plate according to the method are arranged in the feeding direction, and a rotating device for rotating the plate at 90 degrees is set between the two devices. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for chamfering a side of a glass plate, a ceramics plate or other hard brittle plate which is a substrate of a display panel, and an apparatus used for the process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art When manufacturing a glass substrate for a display panel, a chamfering process for cutting off a sharp edge remaining on a cut side of a glass plate cut into a predetermined size or a rounding process for making a cross section into an arc shape. Other external processing is required. In this type of processing, it is common to process both side edges at the same time by passing the glass plate between a pair of left and right sets of grindstones arranged according to the width dimension of the glass plate to be processed.

FIG. 5 shows a conventional side edge processing method by taking chamfering as an example. First, a fixed base 36, which is slightly narrower than the glass plate 1 to be processed, is fixed on a table (not shown), and the glass plate 1 is fixed on the fixed base 36. Both sides 2 of the fixed glass plate protrude from the fixing base 36 and are fixed while floating from the table. Since the glass plate 1 is provided with the positioning marks 3 at predetermined two positions, the positioning mark 3 is read by the camera 4 to detect the position and the inclination of the side 2 of the glass plate. Then, each pair of left and right grindstones 5 arranged facing each other in the width direction of the glass plate 1 is moved in the X direction (the width direction of the glass plate) of the drawing to match the position of the detected side. Further, the table on which the glass plate is placed is placed in the direction C in the figure (direction of rotation about the vertical axis).
Rotate to and correct the inclination of the glass plate 1. Then, the table is fed in the Y direction (horizontal direction orthogonal to X) in the drawing to chamfer both side edges 2 and 2 of the glass plate at the same time.

The chamfering grindstone 6 shown in the drawing is an upper grindstone 6a and a lower grindstone 6b which rotate about an axis substantially parallel to the side 2 of the glass plate.
And the upper grindstone 6a and the lower grindstone 6b are
A plurality of disc grindstones fixed at intervals in the axial direction are provided, and the upper and lower disc grindstones are alternately inserted into each other so that the side edges 2 of the glass plate 1 are aligned as shown in FIG. The upper corner 2a and the lower corner 2b are chamfered at the same time. The rotation directions of the grindstones 6a and 6b are the directions of cutting from the outside of the surface of the glass plate 1 to the end face side, as shown by the arrow in the figure. The rotation axes of the grindstones 6a and 6b are slightly inclined with respect to the glass plate feed direction Y, and the cut amount of each disc grindstone is set by this inclination angle.

In order to perform the side processing of the glass plate 1 by the conventional method as described above, a processing device having the following structure is required. That is, the table on which the glass plate is placed and fixed must be movable in the Y direction in the figure and capable of position control in the C direction. The left and right grindstone groups 5 must be mounted such that their positions can be adjusted in the Z direction (vertical direction) according to the thickness of the glass plate to be processed, and the left and right grindstones can be independently positioned.

In order to perform highly accurate processing,
Precision and rigidity of processing equipment are required. The conventional device that performs side processing by the above method is a machine stand that is installed on the floor of the factory,
A table that is movable in the Y and C directions on this machine base and a frame that is normally gate-shaped supporting the left and right chamfering grindstone groups 5 are provided, each of which is sufficiently rigid and accurate. I needed to.

The side edge processing device having the above structure is capable of processing four sides of a glass plate on the same machine stand. That is, after the opposite sides are machined by the above method, the chamfering grindstone group 5 is opened to the outside and retracted, and then the table is returned and further rotated 90 degrees in the C direction. Then, the chamfering grindstone 6 is positioned in the X direction according to the positions of the new both sides, and the table is moved in the Y direction, whereby the chamfering of the four sides of the glass plate 1 can be performed.

However, in the above method, it takes a long time to return and turn the table and to retract and reposition the chamfering grindstone group 5, resulting in a problem that the tact time becomes long. Therefore, when processing a large number of glass plates of the same size, a method is adopted in which two devices having the above structure are installed in the Y direction and four-side processing is performed. This method requires a delivery device that lifts the glass plate from the table of the upstream device and lowers it onto the table of the downstream device. 9 of the glass plates required when processing the four sides
The 0 degree turning is performed by the table turning of the downstream device.

[0009]

A conventional side processing apparatus for chamfering by the above-described conventional method is capable of moving and positioning a table on which a plate material (glass plate) to be processed is placed in the Y and C directions. Since it has been necessary to provide the device, there is a problem that the device becomes large and the device cost becomes high. Also, every time the size of the glass plate changes, it is necessary to replace the fixed table on the table according to the size of the glass plate, which causes a problem that setup work takes time. Further, in the conventional apparatus, since the table moves, the area of the machine base supporting the table becomes large, and a large installation space is required. In order to further improve the processing throughput, in the method of performing four-sided work by installing two side-side processing devices, each side-side processing device becomes large and expensive.
There has been a problem that the structure of the delivery device provided between both devices is complicated, the entire processing line is expensive, and a large installation space is required.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems that occur when the above-described conventional processing method is adopted, and to perform side edge processing of a plate material with a processing apparatus that is lightweight and has a small installation area. It is possible to perform the setup work easily when the size of the plate material changes, and it is also possible to automate it easily.
An object of the present invention is to provide a device structure for performing four-side processing of a plate material installed on a table, a processing method capable of significantly reducing the installation area, and a processing apparatus suitable for performing the processing method. There is.

[0011]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Claims for solving the above problems
The side edge processing method for a hard brittle plate according to the invention of Item 1,
Move in the feeding direction (Y direction in the figure) that is substantially parallel to the side of the plate 1
By sandwiching the plate material in a movably provided tool frame 16
A pair of opposing tools 6 are arranged in the width direction orthogonal to the feed direction.
Mounted individually (in X direction in the figure) so that position control is possible, and fixed position
Read the positioning mark 3 provided on the plate 1 fixed to the
Detects the position and inclination of both sides 2 of the plate,
Move the tool 6 to the position of the side where
When moving in the feed direction and moving this tool frame
The movement of the tool 6 in the width direction corresponding to the detected inclination
The tool 6 of the tool frame 16
Move along the side of the plate that is inclined with respect to the moving direction.
It is that.

According to the method of processing a side of a hard brittle plate according to a second aspect of the present invention, the plate material 1 to be processed acts on the fixing bases 15 arranged on both sides in the width direction, and acts on the air holes formed on the upper surface of the fixing base. Suction and fixing with negative pressure air, side processing is performed by the method of claim 1, the processed plate material is levitated with pressurized air acting on the air holes, and feed provided between the fixing bases on both sides. The device 14 transfers the material in the feed direction.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of processing a side of a hard brittle plate, wherein the plate material processed by the method of the first or second aspect is conveyed onto a swivel device 11 and swiveled 90 degrees, and then the method of claim 1
Alternatively, the four side processing is performed by performing the side processing by the method 2.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, which implements the above method, a hard brittle plate side edge processing apparatus is guided by both side edges of a machine base 13 and moves in a feed direction parallel to the side edge. A pair of tools 6 mounted on the tool frame so as to be individually position controllable in the width direction orthogonal to the feed direction, and fixed bases 15 on both sides provided on the upper surface of the machine base 13.
And negative pressure air holes 27 formed on the upper surface of the fixing table for adsorbing the glass plate placed on the upper surface, and the fixing tables 1 on both sides.
The feeding device 1 which is arranged between 5 and moves in the feeding direction at a proper time.
4, a detector 4 for detecting the positioning mark 3 provided on the glass plate, and a feed amount movement of the tool frame 16 and a width direction of the tool 6 in a proportional relationship corresponding to the inclination of the plate material detected by the detector. And a control device 28 for controlling the amount of movement.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a side edge processing apparatus, wherein both sides of the fixing base 15 are included in the side edge processing apparatus according to the fourth aspect.
Is a side edge processing device in which the widthwise interval between the two is adjustable.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a lateral side machining apparatus, wherein the lateral side machining apparatus according to the fourth or fifth aspect is arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side in the feeding direction with the turning device 11 interposed therebetween.
The swiveling devices are arranged on both sides in the width direction, and the second feeding device 3 conveys the plate material 1 at the same height as the feeding device 14.
1 and 32, and a swivel base 34 that moves up and down and swivels between the second feeding devices on both sides.

In the processing apparatus for realizing the processing method of the present invention, the fixing base 15 for fixing the plate material does not need to move in the feeding direction on the machine base 13, and also the turning for correcting the inclination of the side edge of the plate material. Since it is not necessary, the table becomes unnecessary, and the weight and cost of the device can be greatly reduced. In the method of the present invention, it is necessary to move the tool frame 16 in the feed direction in place of the conventional table movement in the feed direction. However, since the tool frame 16 has a smaller feed direction dimension than the table, the installation area of the machine is small. it can. Then, the inclination of the side of the fixed plate material is dealt with by finely moving the tool 6 in the width direction according to the feed movement amount of the tool frame 16, so that simplification of the device structure and reduction of the device cost can be achieved. It will be possible.

Further, as shown in claims 2 and 4, when the fixed bases 15 are provided on both sides in the width direction of the machine base, the space between the fixed bases 15 can be adjusted so that the dimensions of the plate material 1 to be processed. Can be changed by changing the distance between the fixed bases 15 on both sides manually or automatically, and labor saving or automation of the setup work can be achieved. Fixed stand 15 on both sides
In order to adjust the distance between the two, the fixing bases 15 are slidably provided on the widthwise guides provided on the machine base 13, and the feed screws, which are threaded in opposite directions in the left and right directions and with equal leads, are screwed into the fixing bases on both sides. This can be easily realized by alternately connecting the fixed bases on both sides to a structure or a belt or chain wound around pulleys or sprockets around the left and right vertical axes and installed in the width direction. For automation, the feed screw or sprocket may be driven by a motor in forward and reverse directions.

Further, by providing a feeding device 14 between the fixed bases on both sides, the plate material before or after processing is fixed.
It is possible to convey the plate material 1 to a position deviated from 5, so that the operation of lifting or lowering the plate material 1 from the fixed base 15 is unnecessary when the plate material 1 is conveyed to the apparatus. Therefore, the structure of the swivel device 11 according to claim 6 can be simplified, and the device cost in this respect can be reduced.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an essential part of an embodiment of the invention described in claim 6. The device of this embodiment is
A chamfering device for a glass plate having a structure in which two side edge processing devices according to claim 4 are installed and a swivel device 11 is arranged between them. The side processing devices 12a and 12b have the same structure. In the figure, the Y direction is the feed direction, the X direction is the width direction,
The Z direction is the vertical direction orthogonal to X and Z.

The side processing devices 12a and 12b are machine bases 13.
And a feeding device 14 arranged at the center of the upper surface of the machine base,
It is provided with fixed bases 15 arranged on both sides of the feeding device and chamfering grindstones 6 arranged outside thereof.

The left and right chamfering grindstones 6 are, as shown in FIG.
The saddles 18 are slidably mounted along the X-direction guides 17 formed on the tool frames 16 provided on the left and right sides of the machine base 13 (FIG. 1) via the height adjusting columns 19, respectively. There is. Saddle 18 has 2 lead screws
The feed screw 20 is connected to each servo motor 21. The height adjusting column 19 is provided on each saddle 18 so as to be positionally adjustable and fixable in the Z direction, and the upper and lower grindstones 6 which are rotationally driven around the Y direction axis inside the lower end of the height adjusting column.
a and 6b and grindstone motors 7 and 7 for driving them are mounted.

The tool frame 16 is slidably guided by a Y-direction guide 35 formed on the side surface of the machine base 13, and is screwed with a Y-direction feed screw 24. The feed screw 24 in the Y direction is driven by the servo motor 25 almost in synchronization. The tool frame may have a left-right integrated gate structure, and in this case, the left and right saddles 18 are provided on the same tool frame so as to be individually driven in the X direction.

A large number of air holes are provided on the upper surface of the fixed base 15, and these air holes are connected to a pressurized air source and a negative pressure air source via a switching valve (not shown). The feeding device 14 in the figure is a belt conveyor, and its upper surface height is slightly higher than the upper surface of the fixed base 15, and both ends thereof are located outside both ends of the fixed base 15 in the Y direction. When the glass plate 1 is attracted to the fixed base 15 by the negative pressure, the belt of the feeding device 14 slightly bends downward. When the adsorption of the glass plate on the fixed base 15 is released, the glass plate 1 is slightly lifted from the upper surface of the fixed base 15 due to the elastic return of the belt 26 of the feeding device. Fixing stand 15 for glass plate at this time
In order to ensure separation from the upper surface, pressurized air is jetted from the air holes 27 of the fixed base 15.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, as shown in FIG. 2, a camera 4 for reading the positioning marks 3 on the glass plate fixed to the fixed base 15 is provided as in the conventional apparatus. Servo motor 2 for positioning the tool 6 in the X direction
The servomotor 25 for moving the 1L and 21R and the tool frame 16 in the Y direction is controlled in the amount of rotation by the control device 28, and the signal of the camera 4 is processed by the image processing device 29 so that the position of the positioning mark 3 is changed. The X coordinate and the Y coordinate are input to the control device 28.

As shown in FIG. 2, the chamfering grindstone 6 of the side processing devices 12a and 12b having the above-described structure adjusts the position of the height adjusting column 19 with respect to the saddle 18 to adjust the thickness of the glass plate 1. In addition, the position can be adjusted in the Z direction. Then, by the movement of the tool frame 16 and the movement of the saddle 18, the grindstones on both sides can be moved almost in the Y direction and individually in the X direction.

When processing the side 2 of the glass plate 1,
As shown in FIG. 3, by reading the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the two positioning marks 3 marked on the glass plate 1, the distance W between both marks and the deviation A in the Y direction are calculated to calculate the tool frame. When moving 16, the tool frame movement amount L and the saddle X-direction feed amount B relative to the movement amount are W: A
= L: B so that the servomotors 21 and 25
Is controlled to move the chamfering grindstone 6 along the inclined side 2 of the glass plate 1 fixed to the fixed base 15.

As shown in FIG. 1, the swivel device 11 is provided with feed devices 31 and 32 on both sides in the width direction of the glass plate, which are similar to the feed device 14 of the side processing device. In the example shown in the figure, feeding devices 31 and 32 that are synchronously driven to the outside and inside are provided, and the feeding device 32 inside thereof is provided separately for the upstream side and the downstream side. A swivel base 34 is provided at a position between the feeding devices 31 and 32 so that the heads of the four pins 33 support the glass plate. The swivel base 34 is provided with a swivel drive device and a lifting drive device, which are not shown in the figure, at its lower part, and
Is erected on the swivel base 34.

Next, chamfering of the four sides of the glass plate by the apparatus shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described. A glass plate to be processed by a supply device (not shown) (belt conveyor, roller conveyor, etc.) is supplied to the upstream side processing device 12a, and the glass plate supplied by the feeding device 14 of the device 12a is provided at the center of the device. The air holes 27 of the fixed base 15 are transported.
By supplying a negative pressure to, the conveyed glass plate 1 is fixed. Next, read the positioning mark 3 with the camera 4,
The chamfering grindstone 6 is moved to the position of the detected upstream side portion. Then, the servo motor 25 is driven to move the tool frame 16 in the Y direction, and the servo motor 21 is driven in the proportional relationship described in FIG. 3 to move the saddle 18 in the X direction. When the processing is completed, the chamfering grindstone 6 is slightly retracted to the outside, the pressurized air is ejected from the air holes of the fixed base 15, and the feeding device 14 of the side processing device 12a and the turning device 1 are ejected.
The glass sheet 1 is conveyed to the center of the turning device 11 by synchronously driving the feeding devices 31 and 32 of No. 1.

When the glass plate is conveyed to the center of the turning device 11, the feeding devices 14, 31, 32 are stopped and the turning table 3
Raise 4 and turn 90 degrees, then lower it. By this operation, the glass plate 1 turns 90 degrees around the turning device 11.
Next, the feeding devices 31 and 32 of the turning device 11 and the feeding device 14 of the downstream side processing device 12b are simultaneously driven to convey the glass sheet 1 to the center of the downstream side processing device 12b. Hereinafter, both sides of the glass plate are processed by the same procedure as the procedure of the upstream side processing device 12a.

While the glass plate is swung by the swivel device 11, the tool frame 16 of the upstream side processing device 12a is returned to the upstream side and the next glass plate is supplied. Therefore,
As shown in FIG. 4, the upstream and downstream side edge processing devices 12
a and 12b perform the side processing of the two glass plates that are continuously sent in synchronism with each other in parallel, and the glass plates are transferred from the side processing device 12a on the upstream side to the turning device 11. When being conveyed, the glass plate having the four sides processed from the downstream side processing device 12b is further carried out to the downstream side. The carried glass plate is carried to the next step by an appropriate carrying device (for example, a belt conveyor or a roller conveyor).

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a plate material fixing and conveying structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a tool moving structure according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for calculating an inclination of a plate material from two positioning marks.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of the apparatus of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a schematic explanatory view of a conventional side edge processing method.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory view of side chamfering of a hard brittle plate with a disc grindstone.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 glass plate (plate material) 2 sides 3 Positioning mark 6 whetstone 11 swivel 13 machines 14 Feeder 15 fixed base 16 tool frame 27 air holes 28 Controller 31 feeder 32 feeder 34 swivel

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A pair of tools (6) opposed to each other with a plate material sandwiched in a tool frame (16) provided so as to be movable in a feed direction substantially parallel to a side edge of the plate material (1) to be processed. The position and inclination of both sides (2) of the plate are detected by reading the positioning mark (3) provided on the plate (1) that is mounted in a position that can be position-controlled individually in the width direction orthogonal to Then move the tool (6) to the detected side position and move the tool frame (16).
In the feed direction, and when the tool frame is moved, by simultaneously moving the tool (6) in the width direction corresponding to the detected inclination, the tool (6) is moved to the tool frame (1
A method for processing a side of a hard brittle plate, which is characterized in that the plate is moved along a side of the plate inclined with respect to the moving direction of 6). 2. The plate material (1) to be processed is suction-fixed to the fixing bases (15) arranged on both sides in the width direction by negative pressure air acting on air holes formed on the upper surface of the fixing base. The side plate is processed by the method described above, the processed plate material is floated by the pressurized air acting on the air holes, and is transferred in the feeding direction by the feeding device (14) provided between the fixed bases on both sides. A method for processing a side of a hard brittle plate, which is characterized in that 3. A plate material processed by the method according to claim 1 or 2 is conveyed on a turning device (11) and turned 90 degrees, and then,
Alternatively, a side edge processing method for a hard brittle plate, in which four sides are processed by performing the side edges by the method of 2. 4. A tool frame (16) which is guided by both side portions of a machine base (13) and moves in a feed direction parallel to the side edge, and an individual tool frame in the width direction orthogonal to the feed direction. A pair of tools (6) mounted on the upper surface of the machine base (13), and a pair of tools (6) mounted on the upper surface of the machine base (13). A negative pressure air hole (27) for adsorbing the glass plate, a feeding device (14) arranged between the fixed bases (15) on both sides and moving in the feeding direction at appropriate time, and a positioning mark ( Detector to detect 3) (4)
And a controller (28) for controlling the feed direction movement amount of the tool frame (16) and the width direction movement amount of the tool (6) in a proportional relationship corresponding to the inclination of the plate material detected by this detector. A side processing device for hard brittle plates. 5. The side processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the fixed bases (15) on both sides are provided so that the distance between them can be adjusted. 6. The side processing device according to claim 4 or 5 is arranged on the upstream side and the downstream side in the feed direction with the swivel device (11) interposed therebetween, and the swivel devices are arranged on both sides in the width direction. A second feeding device (31, 32) that conveys the plate material (1) at the same height as the feeding device (14), and a swivel base (34) that moves up and down between the second feeding devices on both sides. An apparatus for processing a side of a hard brittle plate, which is provided with.