JP2015027936A - Manufacturing method of glass plate having curved surface shape, glass plate having curved surface shape, and manufacturing apparatus of glass plate having curved surface shape - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a glass plate having a curved surface shape by a simple process with high surface accuracy, and to provide a glass plate having a curved surface shape manufactured by the method, and a manufacturing apparatus of a glass plate having a curved surface shape.SOLUTION: A method for manufacturing a glass plate 1 having a curved surface shape includes steps for: preparing a base glass plate 10; deforming elastically the base glass plate 10; and heating the elastically deformed base glass plate 10 at a temperature lower than a softening point of glass constituting the base glass plate, and thereby imparting a curved surface shape thereto by plastic deformation.

Description

  The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a glass plate having a curved shape, particularly a column surface, a glass plate having a curved shape obtained by the manufacturing method, and a glass plate manufacturing apparatus having a curved shape.

  In recent years, mobile devices having a display such as a mobile phone, a smartphone, a notebook personal computer, and a tablet personal computer have been widely used. A display is also used for in-vehicle devices such as a car navigation system.

  In many cases, a cover glass is used for a display used for the mobile device or the vehicle-mounted device. As such a cover glass, a flat glass plate is generally used. However, a glass plate having a curved surface shape may be desired as the cover glass from the viewpoints of operability and aesthetics.

  Conventionally, as described in Patent Document 1, a glass plate having a curved surface is formed by placing a flat glass plate on a curved mold and heating the glass plate to a temperature equal to or higher than the softening point. The glass plate is softened, and the glass plate is deformed so as to follow the shape of the mold by its own weight.

  Patent Document 2 discloses a method in which a coating film is formed on one surface of a glass plate heated to a softening point, and the glass plate is bent into a desired curved shape by the thermal contraction force of the formed coating film. .

Japanese Patent Publication No. 35-16443 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 9-100130

  In the conventional method described in Patent Document 1, since the surface shape of the mold is transferred to the glass plate, the surface accuracy of the glass plate is lowered. For this reason, when using it as cover glass, such as a display, there existed a problem that the surface of a glass plate had to be grind | polished. Further, the conventional method described in Patent Document 2 has a problem that a process for forming a coating film is required and the manufacturing process becomes complicated. There is also a problem that a glass plate without a coating film cannot be produced.

  An object of the present invention is a method capable of producing a glass plate having a curved surface shape with a simple process and high surface accuracy, a glass plate having a curved surface shape produced by the method, and a glass plate having a curved surface shape. It is to provide a manufacturing apparatus.

  The present invention is a method for producing a glass plate having a curved shape, the step of preparing the original glass plate, the step of elastically deforming the original glass plate, and heating the original glass plate in an elastically deformed state, And a step of imparting a curved surface shape by plastic deformation.

  The heating temperature of the original glass plate is not less than the strain point of the glass constituting the original glass plate, and preferably not more than the softening point of the glass.

  In preferable embodiment of this invention, it is preferable to hold | maintain the both ends of an original glass plate, narrow the distance between both ends, and to elastically deform an original glass plate.

  The curved surface shape is preferably a column surface.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to plastically deform the original glass plate without bringing it into contact with the mold.

  The glass plate having a curved shape manufactured by the method of the present invention is, for example, a glass plate used for a display cover glass or a glass plate used for a back cover glass for mobile devices.

  The glass plate having a curved shape of the present invention is a glass plate produced by the method of the present invention.

  The apparatus for producing a glass plate having a curved shape according to the present invention comprises an elastic deformation means for elastically deforming the original glass plate, and heating the original glass plate in an elastically deformed state to plastically deform and impart a curved shape. Means.

  Moreover, it is preferable that an elastic deformation means is provided with the holding part which hold | maintains the both ends of an original glass plate, narrows the distance between both ends, and elastically deforms an original glass plate.

  Moreover, it is preferable to provide a cooling means for cooling the original glass plate that has been plastically deformed.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to produce a glass plate having a curved surface shape with a simple process and high surface accuracy.

It is a perspective view which shows an example of the glass plate which has a curved surface shape of this invention. In the 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is a front view which shows the state before making it elastically deform. In the 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is a perspective view which shows the jig | tool for hold | maintaining and elastically deforming an original glass plate. In the 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is a front view which shows the state which elastically deformed the original glass plate. In the 1st Embodiment of this invention, it is typical sectional drawing which shows the state at the time of arrange | positioning and heating the original glass plate of the state elastically deformed in an electric furnace. In the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is a front view which shows the state which elastically deformed the original glass plate. In the 2nd Embodiment of this invention, it is the front view which shows the state when the original glass plate plastically deformed by heating in the state elastically deformed is made to contact the surface of the recessed part of a type | mold, and is cooled. .

  Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described. However, the following embodiments are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments. Moreover, in each drawing, the member which has the substantially the same function may be referred with the same code | symbol.

  FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of a glass plate having a curved shape according to the present invention. A glass plate 1 having a curved shape shown in FIG. 1 has a curved surface having a curvature only in one direction, that is, a so-called columnar surface, and in particular, has a cylindrical surface having a single curvature radius in a cross section in one direction. doing. The manufacturing method of the present invention can be applied to manufacturing a glass plate 1 having a column surface as shown in FIG. However, the present invention is not limited to the production of such a glass plate, and a glass plate having an elliptical column surface, a hyperbolic column surface, a parabolic column surface, or the like, or a column surface is provided in part. The present invention can also be applied to manufacturing a glass plate or a glass plate provided with a plurality of column surfaces.

  FIG. 2 is a front view showing a state before elastic deformation in the first embodiment of the present invention.

  As shown in FIG. 2, first, a flat original glass plate 10 is prepared, and the original glass plate 10 is placed on the mounting table 21 of the jig 20. The original glass plate 10 is placed between the holding unit 22 and the holding unit 23. The jig 20 is configured as follows.

  FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the jig 20. On the mounting table 21, a holding portion 22 for holding one end portion 11 of the original glass plate 10 and a holding portion 23 for holding the other end portion 12 are provided. The holding part 22 is attached to the fixing part 26 via two screw parts 24. Similarly, the holding part 23 is attached to the fixing part 27 via two screw parts 25. The fixing portions 26 and 27 are fixed to the mounting table 21. The holding part 22 can be moved on the mounting table 21 so as to be close to or away from the opposing holding part 23 by rotating the screw part 24 in a predetermined direction. Similarly, the holding part 23 can be moved on the mounting table 21 so as to be close to or away from the opposing holding part 22 by rotating the screw part 25 in a predetermined direction.

  The surface of the mounting table 21 in contact with the original glass plate 10 and the surfaces of the holding portions 22 and 23 are covered with a cloth that can be elastically deformed in the thickness direction, such as a glass cloth, a ceramic cloth, or a carbon fiber cloth. Coolant introduction pipes 28 and 29 are passed through the holding portions 22 and 23, respectively. The surface of the holding portions 22 and 23 can be cooled by flowing the coolant through the coolant introduction pipes 28 and 29. It is preferable to use a gas such as air as the coolant.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the original glass plate 10 is placed on the mounting table 21 of the jig 20 configured as described above. The original glass plate 10 is disposed between the holding portion 22 and the holding portion 23, and the one end portion 11 of the original glass plate 10 is held by the holding portion 22, and the other end portion 12 of the glass plate 10 is held by the holding portion 23. Hold. In this state, the screw portion 24 is rotated to move the holding portion 22 to a desired position in the arrow A direction, and the screw portion 25 is rotated to move the holding portion 23 to the desired position in the arrow B direction. As shown in FIG. 4, the original glass plate 10 is elastically deformed, and a column surface that is the same as or similar to the glass plate 1 is formed on the original glass plate 10. More specifically, both end surfaces 11 and 12 of the original glass plate 10 are sandwiched, and a direction substantially parallel to the main surface of the original glass plate 10 before elastic deformation with respect to both end surfaces 11 and 12 of the original glass plate 10. An external force is applied to the original glass plate 10 to elastically deform the original glass plate 10. In addition, in this process, although it is not necessary to heat, when heating, it is preferable to suppress to the temperature to the strain point of the original glass plate 10. FIG.

  The thickness of the original glass plate 10 should just be the thickness which can elastically deform the original glass plate 10, for example, it is preferable to exist in the range of 0.2-2 mm, More preferably, it is 0.3-1 Within the range of 8 mm. Further, the original glass plate 10 is not limited to a flat plate shape, and may have, for example, a curved surface. Next, as described above, with the original glass plate 10 elastically deformed, the original glass plate 10 is heated and plastically deformed.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a state in which an elastically deformed original glass plate is placed in an electric furnace and heated. As shown in FIG. 5, the elastically deformed original glass plate 10 is placed in an electric furnace 30. A heater 31 is provided in the electric furnace 30, and the electric furnace 30 can be heated to a predetermined temperature by the heater 31. The temperature at which the original glass plate 10 is heated is equal to or higher than the temperature at which the original glass plate 10 begins to cause plastic deformation and is less than the temperature at which softening deformation starts to occur due to its own weight. It is preferable that it is above the strain point and below the softening point. More preferably, it is above the transition point of the glass and below the softening point. The heating time is not particularly limited as long as the elastic deformation of the original glass plate 10 can be changed to plastic deformation. For example, the range of 10 minutes to 5 hours is common.

  After heating as described above, the original glass plate 10 is cooled. By this heating, the cooled original glass plate 10 is maintained in a state that is maintained even when the external force to which the curved surface shape formed by elastic deformation is applied, that is, plastically deformed and has a curved surface shape (columnar). The glass plate 1 is formed with a surface.

  In the present invention, a glass plate having a curved surface shape is manufactured by heating and plastically deforming the original glass plate that has been elastically deformed. For this reason, the glass plate which has a curved-surface shape can be manufactured by a simple process. Moreover, since a shaping | molding die is not used unlike the past, the surface shape of a shaping | molding die is not transcribe | transferred on the surface of an original glass plate. In this embodiment, at the time of heating, the surface of the original glass plate is plastically deformed without contacting the mold. For this reason, a glass plate having a curved surface shape can be produced with high surface accuracy.

  In the present invention, when the heated original glass plate 10 is cooled, the glass plate may be cooled by contacting with the mold. Hereinafter, such an embodiment will be described as a second embodiment.

  FIG. 6 is a front view showing a state in which the original glass plate 10 is elastically deformed in the second embodiment of the present invention. One end 11 of the original glass plate 10 is held by a holder 32, and the other end 12 is held by a holder 33. A holding groove 34 is formed in the holder 32, and one end 11 of the original glass plate 10 is inserted into the holding groove 34. Similarly, a holding groove 35 is formed in the holder 33, and the other end 12 of the original glass plate 10 is inserted into the holding groove 35. As in the holders 22 and 23 of the first embodiment, coolant introduction pipes 36 and 37 are inserted into the holders 32 and 33. Similarly to the holding portions 22 and 23 of the first embodiment, the surfaces of the holding tools 32 and 33 are covered with a cloth that can be elastically deformed in the thickness direction, such as a glass cloth, a ceramic cloth, or a carbon fiber cloth.

  In the state shown in FIG. 6, the distance between the both ends 11 and 12 of the original glass plate 10 is reduced by reducing the distance between the holder 32 and the holder 33, and both ends 11 of the original glass plate 10, An external force is applied to 12 to elastically deform the original glass plate 10. In this case, an external force may not be applied to the original glass plate 10, and the original glass plate 10 may be elastically deformed by its own weight. In this state, as in the first embodiment, the original glass plate 10 is placed in the electric furnace 30 and the original glass plate 10 is heated.

  FIG. 7 is a front view showing a state in which the original glass plate 10 plastically deformed by heating is brought into contact with the surface of the concave portion 41 of the mold 40 and cooled in the elastically deformed state in the second embodiment. It is. As shown in FIG. 7, the mold 40 is moved in the direction of arrow C to bring the mold 40 closer to the original glass plate 10. The surface of the concave portion 41 of the mold 40 is brought into contact with the convex surface 10 a of the original glass plate 10 to cool the original glass plate 10. The surface of the recess 41 of the mold 40 is covered with a cloth in the same manner as the surfaces of the holders 32 and 33. A plurality of coolant introduction pipes 42 are inserted into the mold 40. The mold 40 is cooled by flowing the coolant into the coolant introduction pipe 42, and the surface of the recess 41 is set to a predetermined temperature by this cooling. The temperature of the surface of the recess 41 is a temperature at which the original glass plate 10 plastically deformed by heating is not plastically deformed by contact in a relatively short time, specifically, a temperature lower than the temperature of the original glass plate 10, preferably The temperature is lower than the temperature of the original glass plate 10 and is set to be not less than the strain point of glass and not more than −30 ° C. of glass. For this reason, the surface shape of the concave portion 41 is difficult to be transferred to the convex surface 10 a of the original glass plate 10.

  In the second embodiment, when the heated original glass plate 10 is cooled, the original glass plate 10 is cooled by being brought into contact with the mold 40. For this reason, the time concerning a manufacturing process can be shortened. In 2nd Embodiment, although the type | mold which has a recessed part is used, the surface on the opposite side to the surface 10a of the original glass plate 10 is cooled using the type | mold which has a convex part corresponding to the curved-surface shape of the original glass plate 10. May be.

  In the present invention, it is preferable to heat the mounting glass 21 while moving it in a continuous heat treatment furnace while keeping the original glass plate 10 in a curved surface. As a result, a large amount of the original glass plate 10 can be efficiently heated.

  The glass plate having a curved shape of the present invention is, for example, a cover glass for display used in mobile devices such as mobile phones, smartphones, notebook personal computers, tablet personal computers, and in-vehicle devices such as car navigation systems, mobile devices, etc. It can be used as a cover glass for a back surface used in the above. When used as a display cover glass, a curved surface can be used as a display display unit.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Glass plate 10 which has curved-surface shape ... Original glass plate 10a ... Surface 11 ... One end part 12 ... The other end part 20 ... Jig 21 ... Mounting stand 22, 23 ... Holding part 24, 25 ... Screw part 26, 27 ... Fixing portion 28, 29 ... Pipe for introducing coolant 30 ... Electric furnace 31 ... Heater 32, 33 ... Holder 34, 35 ... Holding groove 36, 37 ... Pipe for introducing coolant 40 ... Mold 41 ... Recess 42 ... Pipe for introducing coolant

Claims (12)

A method of manufacturing a glass plate having a curved shape,
Preparing the original glass plate;
A step of elastically deforming the original glass plate;
Heating the original glass plate in an elastically deformed state at a temperature equal to or lower than the softening point of the glass constituting the original glass plate, and plastically deforming to provide the curved surface shape. A manufacturing method of a board. Heating the original glass plate in an elastically deformed state, and a method for producing a glass plate having a curved surface shape that is plastically deformed to give a curved surface shape,
A method for producing a glass plate having a curved shape, wherein the shape of an original glass plate in an elastically deformed state matches the shape of a glass plate obtained by plastic deformation.   The manufacturing method of the glass plate which has a curved shape of Claim 1 or 2 whose heating temperature of the said original glass plate is more than the strain point of the glass which comprises the said original glass plate.   The manufacturing of the glass plate which has a curved-surface shape as described in any one of Claims 1-3 which hold | maintains the both ends of the said original glass plate, narrows the distance between both ends, and elastically deforms the said original glass plate. Method.   The manufacturing method of the glass plate which has a curved surface shape as described in any one of Claims 1-4 whose said curved surface shape is a column surface.   The manufacturing method of the glass plate which has a curved-surface shape as described in any one of Claims 1-5 which plastically deforms the said original glass plate, without making a type | mold contact.   The manufacturing method of the glass plate which has a curved shape as described in any one of Claims 1-6 whose glass plate which has the said curved shape is a glass plate used for the cover glass for a display.   The manufacturing method of the glass plate which has a curved shape as described in any one of Claims 1-6 whose glass plate which has the said curved shape is a glass plate used for the back cover glass for mobile devices.   The glass plate which has the curved surface shape manufactured by the method as described in any one of Claims 1-8. A glass plate manufacturing apparatus having a curved shape,
Elastic deformation means for elastically deforming the original glass plate;
Heating means for heating the original glass plate in an elastically deformed state at a temperature equal to or lower than a softening point of the glass constituting the original glass plate, and plastically deforming to give the curved surface shape;
An apparatus for producing a glass plate having a curved shape.   11. The curved shape according to claim 10, wherein the elastic deformation means includes a holding portion that holds both ends of the original glass plate, reduces a distance between the both ends, and elastically deforms the original glass plate. Glass plate manufacturing equipment.   The manufacturing apparatus of the glass plate which has a curved shape of Claim 10 or 11 provided with the cooling means which cools the original glass plate plastically deformed.

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