JP2012166970A - Method for scribing glass plate, and scribing unit therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for scribing a glass plate with which the initial point of a scribing line at a location of a predetermined distance from the edge face is set simply and firmly without breaking the glass plate, and a scribing unit for the method.SOLUTION: The edge face 1a of the glass plate 1 is abutted to the edge face 4a of a guide plate 4. A part of the edge face 4a of the guide plate 4 is protruded higher than the surface of the glass plate 1, and a step 6 is formed at the boundary of the glass plate 1 and the guide plate 4. A wheel cutter 3 is run from the surface of the guide plate 4 toward the surface of the glass plate 1. Owing to the step 6, the wheel cutter 3 arrived at the boundary is transferred on the surface of the glass plate 1 at a location of a predetermined distance from the edge face 1a of the glass plate 1, and thus the initial point of the scribing line 2 is distanced from the edge face of the glass plate 1.

Description

  The present invention relates to an improvement in a technique for forming a scribe line that is engraved on a planned cutting line when a glass plate is cut into a predetermined size.

  As is well known, a flat panel display (FPD) represented by a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, an organic EL display and the like has become the mainstream in recent years. The glass substrate used for these FPDs is collected by cutting a large glass substrate (mother glass plate) into a predetermined size.

  As a method of cutting a glass plate such as a glass substrate for FPD, a scribe line is engraved along a planned cutting line of the glass plate by running while pressing a wheel cutter on the glass plate, and then bent to the glass plate. A method of applying stress and cutting (breaking) the glass plate along the scribe line is generally used.

  Specifically, as this type of cutting method, for example, a method of starting to engrave scribe lines from the end surface of the glass plate by running a wheel cutter from the end surface of the glass plate may be employed.

  However, in this case, when the wheel cutter comes into contact with the end surface of the glass plate, a large resistance acts on the corner portion (end surface and front / back surface connection portion) of the glass plate which is likely to be damaged (chip, crack, etc.). . Therefore, when the wheel cutter comes into contact with the end face of the glass plate and a large impact is applied to the corner portion of the glass plate, there is a problem that breakage such as chipping occurs in the vicinity of the corner portion of the glass plate.

  In addition, when the wheel cutter comes into contact with the end face of the glass plate and a large resistance acts on the wheel cutter, the wheel cutter itself is also subjected to an impact.

  Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, a scribe line that starts forming a scribe line from a position at a predetermined distance from the end face of the glass plate and prevents the wheel cutter from contacting the corner portion of the glass plate is disclosed. A method is disclosed.

  Specifically, after positioning the wheel cutter at a predetermined position above the surface of the glass plate, lower the positioned wheel cutter directly below and contact the surface of the glass plate at a distance from the end surface of the glass plate. The starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end surface of the glass plate.

JP 2002-338285 A JP 2003-292332 A

  By the way, when the starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end surface of the glass plate, if there is a large variation in the distance from the end surface of the starting point of the scribe line in each glass plate, the bending stress required for cutting each glass plate Different sizes make it difficult to achieve stable cutting. Therefore, it is desirable that the distances from the glass plate end faces of the starting points of the scribe lines are substantially equal between the glass plates.

  However, in the case of the methods disclosed in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the start position of the scribe line greatly depends on the positioning accuracy of the wheel cutter with respect to the glass plate. That is, when the wheel cutter is lowered directly and the position in contact with the surface of the glass plate becomes the start position of the scribe line, if the start position of the scribe line is set to the same level in each glass plate, the glass It is necessary to strictly manage the relative position of the wheel cutter with respect to the plate, and there is a problem that the working efficiency is very poor.

  In addition, when the wheel cutter is lowered directly and brought into contact with the surface of the glass plate, a large impact is applied to the glass plate at the time of contact, and the glass plate may be damaged.

  In view of the above circumstances, the present invention is a technique for easily and surely setting the starting point of a scribe line at a predetermined distance from the end face of the glass plate without causing damage to the glass plate. As an objective.

  In order to cut the glass plate, the glass plate scribing method according to the present invention, which was created to solve the above-mentioned problems, uses a wheel cutter to engrave a scribe line on the surface of the glass plate. In the scribing method, a guide plate is disposed on the side of the glass plate, the surface of the guide plate is positioned above the surface of the glass plate, and the surface of the guide plate and the surface of the glass plate After the wheel cutter is run from the surface of the guide plate toward the surface of the glass plate with a vertical step formed therebetween, the step is placed at a predetermined distance from the end surface of the glass plate. It is characterized in that it is transferred to the surface of the glass plate at a certain position and the starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end surface of the glass plate.

  According to such a method, when transferring the wheel cutter from the surface of the guide plate to the surface of the glass plate, the wheel cutter is made of glass by the step formed between the surface of the glass plate and the surface of the guide plate. Without contacting the end face of the plate, in other words, the corner portion, it comes into contact with the surface of the glass plate at a predetermined distance from the end face of the glass plate. Therefore, the position of the starting point of the scribe line is automatically separated from the end face of the glass plate due to the step. And the position of the starting point of this scribe line mainly depends on the height of the step if the diameter of the wheel cutter is the same. Therefore, if the same wheel cutter is used, the start point of the scribe line can be set easily and reliably at a certain distance from the end face of the glass plate by simply making the height of the step constant. can do.

  In addition, since the wheel cutter travels along the surface of the guide plate before coming into contact with the surface of the glass plate, the wheel cutter is lowered only by the height of the step when changing to the surface of the glass plate. Therefore, compared with the case where the wheel cutter positioned above the glass plate is lowered directly and brought into contact with the surface of the glass plate, the impact applied to the glass plate can be greatly reduced. As a result, it is possible to reduce as much as possible the situation in which the glass plate is damaged when the scribe line is engraved due to a synergistic effect with the effect that the starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end face of the glass plate.

  In the above method, it is preferable that an end surface of the guide plate is brought into contact with an end surface of the glass plate.

  If it does in this way, since it can position a glass plate easily with a guide plate, it will become possible to manage the position of the starting point of a scribe line more accurately.

  In the above method, it is preferable that the guide plate is made of an elastic body.

  In this way, the impact that occurs when the wheel cutter is first brought into contact with the surface of the guide plate is weakened by the elasticity of the guide plate, so it is possible to reliably reduce the situation where the wheel cutter is worn by the impact at the time of contact. can do. Similarly, after the contact, the amount of wear of the wheel cutter can be reduced as much as possible while the wheel cutter is traveling along the surface of the guide plate. Therefore, the service life of the wheel cutter can be extended and the replacement frequency can be suppressed. Further, when the end face of the guide plate is in contact with the end face of the glass plate, the guide plate elastically deforms following the end face of the glass plate when the end face of the guide plate is brought into contact with the end face of the glass plate. To do. Therefore, the situation where the end surface of a glass plate is damaged by contact with the end surface of a guide plate can be prevented as much as possible.

  Here, the elastic body is preferably a hard elastic body (for example, hard rubber). If this is a hard elastic body, it is possible to reduce the wear that occurs at the time of contact with the wheel cutter, so that it is possible to enjoy the advantage that the service life of the guide plate is increased.

  In said method, it is preferable that the plate | board thickness of the said glass plate is 0.5-3 mm.

  That is, any glass plate having a thickness within the above numerical range can be easily damaged by impact or the like, and therefore, the advantage of the scribing method of the present invention can be maximized.

  The glass plate scribing apparatus according to the present invention, which was created to solve the above problems, includes a wheel cutter that forms a scribe line on the surface of the glass plate, and a side of the glass plate to cut the glass plate. And a moving means for causing the wheel cutter to travel from the surface of the guide plate toward the surface of the glass plate, the surface of the guide plate being higher than the surface of the glass plate A step in the vertical direction is formed between the surface of the guide plate and the surface of the glass plate, and the wheel cutter that travels on the surface of the guide plate is moved by the step to the end surface of the glass plate. Is moved to the surface of the glass plate at a predetermined distance from the surface, and the starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end surface of the glass plate.

  According to such a structure, the same effect as the corresponding structure already described can be enjoyed.

  According to the present invention as described above, the step formed between the surface of the glass plate and the surface of the guide plate is used, and from the end surface of the glass plate without causing damage to the glass plate by the wheel cutter. A scribe line can be easily and reliably engraved from a position at a predetermined distance.

It is a figure which shows the principal part of the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the scribing method by the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on the Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on the comparative example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the scribing apparatus of the glass plate which concerns on the comparative example of this invention.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a glass plate scribing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The scribing device includes a wheel cutter 3 that forms a scribe line 2 on the surface of the glass plate 1, a guide plate 4 that is disposed adjacent to the side of the glass plate 1, and a moving means 5 that causes the wheel cutter 3 to travel. It has.

  The wheel cutter 3 is rotatably supported at the tip of the moving means 5 and is configured to travel on the surfaces of both the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1 in order by the moving means 5. Further, the wheel cutter 3 travels while being pressed downward by the moving means 5 so that a constant pressing force acts on the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1. Therefore, when the wheel cutter 3 is moved along the planned cutting line of the glass plate 1 by the moving means 5, the scribe line 2 is engraved along the planned cutting line of the glass plate 1.

  In this embodiment, the guide plate 4 has a flat plate shape that is thicker than the glass plate 1. Due to this thickness difference, the surface of the guide plate 4 is positioned above the surface of the glass plate 1 with the end surface 4a of the guide plate 4 being in contact with the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1, and the surface of the glass plate 1 A step 6 in the vertical direction is formed between the guide plate 4 and the surface of the guide plate 4.

  In this embodiment, the guide plate 4 is formed of a hard elastic body such as a polyamideimide resin. Accordingly, when the wheel cutter 3 is first brought into contact with the guide plate 4 or when the wheel cutter 3 travels along the surface of the guide plate 4, the wheel cutter 3 is worn or the end face of the guide plate 4 is moved. Generation | occurrence | production of the malfunction that the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1 to contact | abut is damaged can be reduced. Moreover, if it is a hard elastic body, since the abrasion of the guide plate 4 itself by the wheel cutter 3 can also be reduced, the same guide plate 4 can be repeatedly used with respect to the several glass plate 1. FIG. Of course, the guide plate 4 is not limited to one formed of an elastic body such as a hard elastic body, and may be formed of an inelastic body such as a glass plate.

  Here, in this embodiment, the plate | board thickness of the glass plate 1 used as the object which engraves the scribe line 2 is 0.5-3 mm, for example. The glass plate 1 is used, for example, as a glass substrate for FPD such as a plasma display or a glass substrate for solar cells, and is formed by a known molding method such as a float method.

  In addition, the chain line shown with the code | symbol L1 of FIG. 1 has shown the locus | trajectory of the center of the wheel cutter 3 at the time of driving | running | working. Moreover, the area | region shown with the code | symbol X has shown the bite allowance of the guide plate 4 at the time of pressing the wheel cutter 3. FIG.

  Next, a method for scribing a glass plate using the scribing apparatus configured as described above will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2, the end surface 1 a of the glass plate 1 is brought into contact with the end surface 4 a of the guide plate 4 to position the glass plate 1. Next, in this state, the wheel cutter 3 is lowered to the surface of the guide plate 4 and travels on an extension line of the planned cutting line of the glass plate 1. At this time, since the guide plate 4 is formed of a hard elastic body, a portion where the wheel cutter 3 is pressed is elastically deformed, and a part of the wheel cutter 3 bites into the surface of the guide plate 4. A in the figure represents the height of the bite allowance (region with cross-hatching in the figure) X formed on the guide plate 4. In this case, the range of B in the figure excluding A is the height of the step 6.

  The wheel cutter 3 that has traveled on the surface of the guide plate 4 is transferred to the surface of the glass plate 1 when it reaches the boundary between the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1 and continues to travel on the surface of the glass plate 1. Let Thus, when the wheel cutter 3 is transferred, since the step 6 is formed at the boundary between the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1, the wheel cutter 3 does not contact the end surface of the glass plate 1. It contacts the surface of the glass plate 1 for the first time at a position at a predetermined distance from the end face 1 a of the glass plate 1. That is, this contact point P1 becomes the starting point of the scribe line 2 engraved on the surface of the glass plate 1. Here, the separation distance C from the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1 of the starting point P1 of the scribe line 2 is set to, for example, 0.1 to 2.0 mm.

  This separation distance C is mainly determined by the height B of the step 6 and the diameter of the wheel cutter 3. Therefore, when the same wheel cutter 3 is used, if the height B of the step 6 is constant, the start point P1 of the scribe line 2 is set to the end surface of the glass plate 1 in each of the plurality of glass plates 1. It can be separated from la by the same distance. And since the level | step difference 6 is formed by the thickness difference between the glass plate 1 and the guide plate 4, the starting point of the scribe line 2 can be easily set at a position at a certain distance from the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1. It can be provided reliably.

  Further, since the wheel cutter 3 has traveled along the surface of the guide plate 4 in advance, when the wheel cutter 3 is transferred to the surface of the glass plate 1, it is lowered only by the height of the step 6. Therefore, the impact generated when the wheel cutter 3 contacts the surface of the glass plate 1 can be greatly reduced. As a result, it is possible to prevent the glass plate 1 from being damaged when the scribe line 2 is engraved.

  Therefore, if the step 6 formed at the boundary portion between the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1 is used, the wheel cutter 3 allows a certain distance from the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1 without causing damage to the glass plate 1. The start point P1 of the scribe line 2 can be set easily and reliably at the placed position.

  After the scribe line 2 is engraved on the glass plate 1, bending stress is applied to the engraved portion of the scribe line 2, and the glass plate 1 is cut along the scribe line 2. In this case, the scribe line 2 is not formed in the vicinity of the end face of the glass plate 1, but this region also has no problem by extending the cut surface formed in the scribe line 2 onto the extension line of the scribe line 2 by bending stress. Can be cut. Therefore, no chipping is formed in the vicinity of the end face of the glass plate 1, and the vicinity of the end face of the glass plate 1 can be used as a product without being discarded. That is, the waste of the glass plate 1 can be eliminated and the entire glass plate 1 can be effectively used.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to said embodiment, It can implement with a various form. For example, in the above embodiment, a case where a flat plate is used as the guide plate 4 has been described. However, the guide plate 4 is not particularly limited as long as it has a step at the boundary with the glass plate 1. Specifically, for example, as shown in FIG. 3, the plane on which the wheel cutter 3 runs may be a guide plate 4 having an upward slope toward the glass plate 1 side, or as shown in FIG. 4. Further, the plane on which the wheel cutter 3 travels may be the guide plate 4 having a downward slope toward the glass plate 1 side.

  Moreover, although said embodiment demonstrated the case where the end surface 1a of the glass plate 1 was contact | abutted to the end surface 4a of the guide plate 4, both end surface 4a, 1a is mutually spaced apart (for example, 0.1-2.0 mm). May be placed opposite each other.

  In order to demonstrate the usefulness of the present invention, a comparison test between Example 1 and Comparative Examples 1 and 2 was performed. Specifically, a plurality of glass plates having a thickness of 1.8 mm, a length of 500 mm, and a width of 600 mm were prepared as glass plates for forming scribe lines. A wheel cutter having a diameter of 5.0 mm was used, and the wheel cutter was run at a speed of 1 m / sec. And in Example 1, the comparative example 1, and the comparative example 2 on said conditions, the scribe line was formed with respect to 10 glass plates, respectively, and the presence or absence of the failure | damage of a glass plate was evaluated. Hereinafter, each scribing method of Example 1, Comparative Example 1, and Comparative Example 2 will be described.

  In Example 1, as shown in FIG. 5, the wheel cutter 3 is moved from the surface of the guide plate 4 in a state where the end surface 4 a of the guide plate 4 having a thickness of 2.0 mm is brought into contact with the end surface 1 a of the glass plate 1. The scribe line 2 was formed on the surface of the glass plate 1 by running over the surface of the glass plate 1.

  In Comparative Example 1, as shown in FIG. 6, after the wheel cutter 3 is run from the end surface of the glass plate 1 without contacting another member to the end surface 1 a of the glass plate 1, the wheel cutter 3 is moved to the glass plate 1. The scribe line 2 was formed on the surface of the glass plate 1 by running along the surface of the glass plate 1.

  In Comparative Example 2, as shown in FIG. 7, the wheel cutter 3 is guided to the end face 1 a of the glass plate 1 with the end face 7 a of the guide plate 7 having substantially the same thickness as the glass plate 1 in contact with the end face 1 a. The scribe line 2 was formed on the surface of the glass plate 1 by running from the surface of 7 to the surface of the glass plate 1.

  As a result of these comparison tests, in Comparative Example 1, when the wheel cutter 3 is ridden from the end surface of the glass plate 1, a large impact is applied to the end surface of the glass plate 1, and all the ten glass plates 1 are large in the vicinity of the end surface. The result that chipping occurred was obtained.

  Further, in Comparative Example 2, in order to make the height of the surface of the guide plate 7 and the height of the surface of the glass plate 1 completely the same, it is necessary to strictly manage the dimensional accuracy of both, which is practically difficult. There are many cases. Therefore, the situation in which the wheel cutter 3 directly collides with the end surface 1 a of the glass plate 1 cannot be completely avoided, and an impact may be applied to the end surface 1 a of the glass plate 1. Further, even if the dimensional accuracy is strictly controlled and the surface of the guide plate 5 and the surface of the glass plate 1 are maintained at the same height, the corner portion that is continuous with the end surface of the glass plate 1 by the wheel cutter 3. Since the scribe line 2 starts to be formed, an unreasonable stress is likely to act near the end face 1a of the glass plate 1 having a low mechanical strength when the scribe line 2 is engraved. As a result, among the ten glass plates 1, the result that a small chip occurred near the end face was obtained.

  On the other hand, in Example 1, the wheel cutter 3 is constant from the end surface of the glass plate 1 without contacting the end surface of the glass plate 1 due to the step formed at the boundary between the guide plate 4 and the glass plate 1. The scribe line 2 starts to be engraved from that position. Therefore, good results were obtained that no chipping (chipping) occurred in the vicinity of the end face in all the ten glass plates 1.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass plate 1a End surface 2 of glass plate 2 Scribe line 3 Wheel cutter 4 Guide plate 4a End surface 5 of guide plate 5 Moving means 6 Step

Claims (5)

In order to cut the glass plate, in the scribing method of the glass plate that engraves a scribe line on the surface of the glass plate using a wheel cutter,
A guide plate is disposed on the side of the glass plate, and the surface of the guide plate is positioned above the surface of the glass plate, so that the vertical direction is between the surface of the guide plate and the surface of the glass plate. With the step of
After the wheel cutter travels from the surface of the guide plate toward the surface of the glass plate, the wheel cutter is transferred to the surface of the glass plate at a predetermined distance from the end surface of the glass plate by the step. A scribing method for a glass plate, wherein a starting point of the scribe line is separated from an end surface of the glass plate.   The glass plate scribing method according to claim 1, wherein an end surface of the guide plate is brought into contact with an end surface of the glass plate.   The glass plate scribing method according to claim 1, wherein the guide plate is made of an elastic body.   The plate thickness of the said glass plate is 0.5-3 mm, The scribing method of the glass plate of any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. A wheel cutter for forming a scribe line on the surface of the glass plate to cut the glass plate;
A guide plate disposed on the side of the glass plate;
Moving means for causing the wheel cutter to travel from the surface of the guide plate toward the surface of the glass plate;
The surface of the guide plate is positioned above the surface of the glass plate, and a step in the vertical direction is formed between the surface of the guide plate and the surface of the glass plate. The wheel cutter traveling on the surface of the plate is transferred to the surface of the glass plate at a predetermined distance from the end surface of the glass plate, and the starting point of the scribe line is separated from the end surface of the glass plate. A glass plate scribing device characterized by

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