JP5856171B2 - Glass sheet scribing apparatus and method - Google Patents

Description

Explanation of related applications

  This application claims the benefit of priority of US Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 378,137, filed Aug. 30, 2010.

  The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for scoring a glass sheet, and more specifically to an apparatus and method for scoring a glass sheet suitable for use in a flat panel display device.

  The glass formed by the “fusion process” flows down in a continuous ribbon, which must be cut into sheets of a predetermined size for further processing. The glass is first scored across its width and then separated from the ribbon by further applying torque and folding the glass at the location of the score line. Although described in this document in connection with a fusion or downdraw process, the concept applies more generally to glass ribbons formed by any method including, for example, updraw, slot draw, and float. Is possible. Furthermore, the concepts herein may be applicable to cutting glass sheets into smaller parts.

  Conventionally, during scoring, a scoring wheel contacts one side of the glass, whereas the opposite side of the glass is supported by a flat plate or “anvil”. During scoring, if a glass that is not completely flat is pressed against a flat anvil and flattened, undesirable stresses are created in the glass.

  To alleviate the problems associated with this flat anvil, attempts have been made to use a curved anvil instead. The convex shape of the curved anvil approximates the general arcuate shape of glass. Thus, the scoring for the first order approximation tracks the expected arcuate contour of the glass.

  This approach also has at least three limitations. First, the actual out-of-plane profile of glass is more complex than the simple shape of a convex curved anvil. Second, this solution is simply an attempt to deal with curvature in the width direction. Third, since the exact undulation of the glass is not known in advance, a curved anvil cannot be designed to match the exact arc of the glass.

  FIG. 7 shows a flat anvil configuration. In this figure, the glass 104 is stretched in a direction 106 which is a downward stretching direction. The transverse stretching direction is a direction extending perpendicular to the page surface. In this configuration, the out-of-plane contour of the glass 104 is forced flattened for scoring, thereby creating undesirable stresses in the glass. If the anvil 120 is a straight bar extending in the direction of the page, when the scribe wheel 140 is pressed against the glass 104 to generate a scribe line, the glass There is a possibility of flattening along both the downward stretching direction. When the scoring wheel is moved along the glass in the transverse direction, the wheel rotates about axis 142 in direction 144. Even if the anvil is arcuate, ie, curved, it will still flatten the glass in the downward stretching direction when the scoring wheel 140 presses the glass 104 against the anvil. For further explanation, as shown in FIG. 7, the glass 104 is bent in the downward stretching direction so that the glass contacts the anvil 120 and the lower part of the anvil but extends in the upward stretching direction. The glass bends away from the anvil. Furthermore, also when the shape of the glass 104 deviates from the arcuate curved surface of the anvil, the scoring wheel 140 flattens the glass 104 in the lateral stretching direction. That is, even in a curved anvil, this undulation cannot be tracked when the undulation of the glass 104 has a different radius of curvature from the arc shape of the anvil.

The present disclosure relates to a scoring apparatus and method that improves the glass scoring process by reducing the stress applied on the glass during scoring. The anvil described in this document is a mobile wheel anvil. The wheel anvil can be positioned by proximity detection and control, which allows the scoring process to track the out-of-plane contour of the glass. A scoring process and equipment that tracks the contour of the glass can prevent the stress on the glass that would occur if the glass was forced into a fixed contour. That is, additional features and advantages that reduce the stress on the glass generated during scoring will be specified in the detailed description below and to some extent will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description. Or will be appreciated by practicing the invention as illustrated in the written description and accompanying drawings. The foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary only of the present invention and are intended to provide an overview or arrangement for understanding the nature and characteristics of the claimed invention. I want you to understand.

  The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the principles of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate one or more embodiments, and together with the description, serve to explain, by way of example, the principles and operations of the invention. It should be understood that the various features of the invention disclosed in this document and in the drawings can be used in any and all combinations. By way of non-limiting example, the various features of the present invention may be combined with each other as follows.

According to a first aspect, a scoring device is provided, the scoring device comprising:
housing,
A wheel anvil connected to the housing, and
A distance meter connected to the housing,
It has.

  According to a second aspect, the apparatus of aspect 1 is provided, the apparatus further comprising an actuator coupled between the housing and the wheel anvil, the actuator based on the signal from the distance meter. It is characterized by moving to a different position.

  According to a third aspect, there is provided the apparatus of aspect 2, wherein the actuator is a voice coil or a servomotor.

According to a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus of aspect 2 or aspect 3,
A second housing,
A scoring wheel coupled to the second housing; and
A second actuator coupled between the second housing and the scoring wheel;
And the second actuator moves the scoring wheel to provide a predetermined force against the resistance force of the wheel anvil.

  According to a fifth aspect, the apparatus of aspect 4 is provided, wherein the second actuator is a voice coil or a servomotor.

  According to a sixth aspect, there is provided the apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the wheel anvil is spherical, elliptical, flattened sphere, or flattened ellipsoidal. It has one of these shapes.

  According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus according to any one of aspects 1 to 5, wherein the wheel anvil has a cylindrical shape.

  According to an eighth aspect, the apparatus of any one of aspects 1-7 is provided and further comprises a second wheel anvil coupled to the housing.

According to a ninth aspect, a method of scoring glass is provided, which method comprises:
Determining the relative position of the wheel anvil and glass;
Driving the wheel anvil into contact with the glass;
Driving the scoring wheel towards the glass to provide a predetermined force against the resistance from the wheel anvil; and
Moving the scribing wheel and wheel anvil relative to the glass while maintaining contact with the glass so as to generate a scoring line in the glass;
including.

  According to a tenth aspect, there is provided the method of aspect 9, wherein the method places the second position of the glass relative to the wheel anvil during the step of moving the scoring wheel and the wheel anvil to generate a scoring line. And determining and moving the wheel anvil to maintain contact between the wheel anvil and the glass accordingly.

  According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided the method of aspect 9 or aspect 10, wherein the wheel anvil is a sphere, an ellipsoid, a flattened sphere, or a flattened ellipsoid. It has one shape.

  According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided the method of aspect 9 or aspect 10, wherein the wheel anvil has a cylindrical shape.

  According to a thirteenth aspect, the method of any one of aspects 9-12 is provided, further comprising a second wheel anvil coupled to the wheel anvil for movement with the wheel anvil.

  According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided a method of making a glass sheet, the method comprising forming a glass ribbon, scoring the glass ribbon according to the method of any one of aspects 9 to 13, and Separating the sheet from the ribbon along the score line.

Schematic showing the scoring device according to the first embodiment as seen in the downward extension direction Schematic showing the cylindrical wheel anvil and scoring wheel as seen from the transverse direction. Schematic diagram showing the ellipsoidal wheel anvil and scoring wheel as seen from the transverse direction. Schematic of ellipsoidal wheel anvil with flat equator part Schematic showing the scoring device according to the second embodiment as seen in the downward extension direction Schematic diagram of equipment for molding glass Schematic of flat anvil according to related technology

  In the following detailed description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, example embodiments disclosing specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of various principles of the invention. It will be apparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art who has benefited from the present disclosure that the present invention may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from the specific details disclosed herein. Moreover, descriptions of well-known devices, methods, and materials may be omitted so as not to obscure the description of various principles of the invention. Finally, wherever applicable, the same reference numbers indicate similar elements.

  The terms used in this document, such as up, down, right, left, front, back, top, bottom, etc., are based solely on the picture being drawn and are absolute orientations. It is not intended to include meaning.

  Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any method specified herein is not intended to be construed as requiring that the steps be performed in any particular order. Thus, if the method claims do not actually describe the order in which the steps follow, or if the steps or claims do not specifically state that the steps are limited to a particular order Is not intended in any way to infer the order. This includes all possible manifestations, including logic issues regarding the placement of steps or operational flows, obvious meanings derived from grammar construction or punctuation, and the number or type of embodiments described herein. It is applied as a principle of interpretation that is not done.

  In this document, the singular includes the plural reference unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to a “component” includes aspects having two or more of this component unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

  A wheel anvil can be used to score a glass sheet without causing the glass to be undesirably flattened, creating unwanted stresses in the glass. With a rangefinder and actuator, the wheel anvil can track the contour of any swell without knowing the contour in advance. The contour length scale that the wheel anvil can track is related to the size, shape, and radius of curvature of the wheel anvil. Although the wheel anvil can track the out-of-plane contour in the glass width (ie, lateral stretch) direction, the contact area between the wheel anvil and the glass is narrow, so the out-of-plane contour in the glass flow (ie, downward stretch) direction is also -Without flattening the glass-can be tolerated. Because the contact area is narrow, the amount of anvil surface that presses the glass flat decreases, i.e. the stress in the glass during scoring decreases.

  FIG. 1 schematically shows a scoring device 2 according to an embodiment as viewed in a downward extending direction. The glass 4 shown in FIG. 1 is stretched in the direction toward this page. The scoring device 2 may be connected to equipment for shaping the glass 4 or any other suitable structure so that it can move in the direction 37 and the opposite direction 57 relative to the glass 4. For example, as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art, the scoring device 2 can be moved as used at the bottom of a glass ribbon drawing machine (see 200 in FIG. 6) to separate the glass sheet from the ribbon. It may be attached to an anvil device (TAM, see 205 in FIG. 6). Since the TAM moves in the downward stretching direction at the same speed as the ribbon of the glass 4, when the scoring device 2 further moves in either the direction of the arrow 37 or the arrow 57, the device is straight across the glass 4. Generate a line. The scoring device 2 includes a housing 20 for attaching the wheel anvil 22 on one side of the glass 4 and a second housing 40 for attaching a scoring wheel 42 on the opposite side of the glass 4.

  The housing 20 provides a mounting location for the wheel anvil 22, the actuator 26, and the distance meter 28. The wheel anvil 22 is attached to the shaft 24 via the rotation shaft 25. The shaft 24 is coupled to the housing 20 for movement in the direction of the arrow 35 moving toward and away from the glass 4. The actuator 26 is connected to the shaft 24 as schematically indicated by the arrow 33 and moves the shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow 35.

  The actuator 26 may be a voice coil or a servo motor, for example. The actuator receives a signal from the distance meter 28 via the path 31 and then moves the shaft 24 in the direction of the arrow 35 based on the received signal. Actuator 26 positions shaft 24, i.e., the outer edge of wheel anvil 22, in a defined position coinciding with the surface of glass 4 to resist the force of glass 4 against the force from scoring wheel 42 during the scoring operation. Can be supported. In order to return the wheel anvil 22 to the initial position, the actuator 26 may move the wheel anvil 22 away from the expected plane of the glass 4 or in the direction of the arrow 57. Alternatively, in the next ruled line, the ruled operation may be performed in the opposite direction. That is, when both the housing 20 and 40 move in the direction of the arrow 37 in a state where the scribing wheel 42 and the anvil 22 are in contact with the glass 4, one scoring operation is performed, and then the housings 20 and 40 are moved to the arrow 57. When moving in the direction of, another ruled operation may be executed.

  The distance meter 28 may be, for example, an optical distance meter, an ultrasonic distance meter, or a laser measurement sensor. Suitable laser measurement sensors are, for example, from Schmitt Industries, Portland, Oregon (Acuity AccuRange laser measurement sensor), or Keyence Corporation of America, Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Available. The distance meter 28 can be used to determine the position of the wheel anvil 22 relative to the glass 4 in a direction perpendicular to the glass 4 (ie, in the direction of the arrow 35) and can be used with the actuator 26 to The wheel anvil 22 can be moved to track the outer contour. See, for example, FIG. 5, which shows a glass 4 having an out-of-plane profile. At present, distance meters with a resolution of approximately a few μm are available. It may be possible to monitor the distance just before and after the contact point between the anvil wheel and the seat with one or more additional rangefinders to help the actuator 26 predict how to move the wheel anvil 22 accurately. . Furthermore, the presence of a distance meter on both sides of housing 20 (in the direction of arrows 37 and 57) will help generate a scoring line in any direction of scoring device 2.

  The second housing 40 provides a mounting portion for the scoring wheel 42 and the actuator 46. The scribing wheel 42 is attached to the shaft 44 via a rotating shaft 45. The shaft 44 is coupled to the second housing 40 for movement in a direction along an arrow 55 that approaches or leaves the glass 4. The actuator 46 is coupled to the shaft 44 as schematically indicated by the arrow 53 and moves the shaft 44 in the direction of the arrow 55.

  The actuator 46 may be, for example, a voice coil, a servo motor, or a constant force actuator. The actuator 46 may be configured to push the shaft 44, i.e. the scoring wheel 42, towards the glass 4 to provide a constant force that resists the glass 4 that the wheel anvil 22 supports. . Suitable constant force actuators are also available from Keyence and SMAC, Carlsbad, California. The amount of force can be selected appropriately to produce an appropriate scoring line on the glass. The amount of force depends on one or more of the thickness and hardness of the glass 4, the configuration of the scoring wheel 42, and the desired depth of the scoring line. Thus, by driving the scoring wheel 42 to provide a constant force, the scoring wheel 42 tracks and contacts the glass 4 as the wheel anvil 22 moves following the contour of the glass. maintain. In this approach, the wheel anvil 22 and the scoring wheel 42 track the undulations of the glass 4 instead of flattening the glass 4 and inducing undesirable stress on the glass 4.

  The wheel anvil 22 may be made and / or coated with, for example, rubber, silicone, or Vespel® (available from DuPont). Further, the wheel anvil 22 may have various configurations as shown in FIGS. In these figures, the illustrated glass 4 moves in the downward stretching direction 6, where the transverse stretching direction, that is, the width of the ribbon of the glass 4 perpendicular to the downward stretching direction extends in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface. Yes.

  In FIG. 2, the wheel anvil 22 is cylindrical. When the housing 20 moves in the transverse direction with the wheel anvil 22 in contact with the glass 4, the wheel anvil 22 rotates in the direction 39 with respect to its longitudinal axis that coincides with the rotational axis 25. The cylindrical wheel anvil 22 tracks the out-of-plane contour in the width direction of the glass 4, that is, the transverse stretching direction. The radius of the cylindrical wheel anvil 22 determines the length scale or radius of curvature of the undulation profile that it can track. There is a trade-off between the fine waviness that the wheel anvil 22 can track and practical considerations such as the accuracy of synchronization between the scoring wheel 42 and the wheel anvil 22.

  In FIG. 3, the wheel anvil has an ellipsoidal shape, and its short axis coincides with the rotation axis 25. The wheel anvil 22 of FIG. 3 may be a specific example of a sphere. Ellipsoidal wheel anvils offer the advantage over cylindrical ones in that they can allow out-of-plane contours in the downward stretching direction as well as the lateral stretching direction. That is, because the ellipsoidal wheel anvil is curved in the downward stretching direction, the cylindrical wheel anvil having a width equal to the minor axis of the ellipsoid is less likely to flatten the glass in the downward stretching direction. . The ellipsoid equator and the edge of the scoring wheel 42 are closely synchronized or harmonized so that the force exerted by the scoring wheel 42 on the glass 4 is appropriately reduced by the wheel anvil 22 so that the glass 4 is not damaged. it can. In order to give some error in alignment, FIG. 4 shows an ellipsoid with a flat equator portion 23. As shown, the equator may be flattened parallel to the rotation axis 25, or the equator may be reshaped with a larger radius of curvature. This expands the “target” for scribing wheel / glass / wheel anvil contact.

  Here, the operation of the ruler 2 will be described. In order to draw a marking line on the glass 4, the distance meter 28 sends a beam 30 toward the glass 4 to find the position of the glass 4 relative to the distance meter 28. The actuator 26 receives a signal indicating the relative position of the glass 4 from the distance meter 28 via the path 31 and drives the shaft 24 so that the outer edge of the wheel anvil 22 is placed at a position supporting the glass 4. Once the wheel anvil 22 is in place, the actuator 46 then drives the shaft 44 with a predetermined force so that the scoring wheel 42 contacts the glass. When both the wheel anvil 22 and the scribing wheel 42 are in contact with the glass 4, the housings 20 and 40 move together in either the direction of arrow 37 or the direction of arrow 57. As the housings 20, 40 move in the direction of arrow 37, the wheel anvil 22 rotates in the direction of arrow 39, and the scoring wheel further engages the glass 4 in the direction of arrow 59 (eg, FIGS. 2-4). ). If the scoring operation continues during movement of the housings 20, 40, the actuator 26 continues to receive position information from the distance meter 28. If the sheet is curved, the distance meter 28 detects the curvature as a change in position, and the signal sent indicates the new relative position. The actuator 26 then moves the shaft 24 to drive the outer edge of the wheel anvil 22 to its new position, maintaining contact between the wheel anvil 22 and the glass 4. At the same time, the actuator 46 drives the shaft 44 to provide a constant force so that the scoring wheel 42 tracks the movement of the wheel anvil 22 as the glass contour changes.

  Another embodiment of the scoring device 2 is shown in FIG. 5, which, like FIG. 1, schematically shows the scoring device 2 as viewed in the downward extension direction. That is, the glass 4 shown in FIG. 5 is stretched in the direction toward the page. The scoring device 2 includes a housing 20 for attaching the wheel anvil 22 on one side of the glass 4 and a second housing 40 for attaching a scoring wheel 42 on the opposite side of the glass 4. Since the configuration and operation of this second embodiment are similar to those described above in connection with the first embodiment, like elements are indicated by the same reference numerals and are different from the first embodiment. The part will be mainly described.

  FIG. 5 shows the glass 4 having an out-of-plane contour in the transverse stretching direction. Another difference from FIG. 1 is that the second embodiment comprises two wheel anvils 22 connected to a shaft 24. The two wheel anvils 22 may be idler rollers or may be coated with a silicone material so as not to damage the glass 4. In this design, the alignment of the scribing wheel 42 and the support for the glass in the transverse direction is not a problem, since the wheel anvil 22 hits the glass 4 and between the two tangents of the wheel anvil 22. This is because an expanded support area is provided. If desired, this support area can be reduced by staggering and / or overlapping the wheel anvil 22. The operation of the second embodiment is substantially similar to that specified for the first embodiment.

  The wheel anvil can be used in a method for producing a glass sheet. As shown in FIG. 6, the glass making equipment may include a ribbon drawing machine 200 and a TAM 205. The ribbon stretching machine 200 includes a forming body 230 and a stretching device 240. The molded body 230 receives molten glass from the inlet 232. The molten glass then flows over the side 238 of the molded body to the bottom 239. The molten glass leaves the bottom as a glass ribbon 207, and the glass ribbon 207 is pulled by the stretching device 240. The TAM is located below the stretching device 240 and includes a mechanism for separating the glass sheet 209 from the ribbon 207. As described above, the embodiment of the scoring device 2 may be used in the TAM 205.

  It should be emphasized that the above-described embodiments of the present invention, particularly any "preferred" embodiments, are merely possible examples and are merely illustrative for a clear understanding of the various principles of the invention. Many variations and modifications may be made to the above-described embodiments of the invention without departing substantially from the spirit and various principles of the invention. All such modifications and variations are intended to be included herein within the scope of this disclosure and the present invention and protected by the following claims.

  For example, although the glass 4 is shown in FIG. 1 as being generally planar in the transverse direction, it may alternatively have a curve in the transverse direction as shown in FIG. Similarly, although the glass 4 is shown in FIG. 5 as having a curve in the transverse direction, it may instead be generally planar as shown in FIG. In any of the cases described above, the glass 4 may have a curve in the downward stretching direction, or may be relatively flat.

2 scribing device 4 glass 20, 40 housing 22 wheel anvil 24, 44 shaft 25, 45 rotating shaft 26, 46 actuator 28 distance meter 42 scoring wheel

Claims (12)

A scoring device for scoring glass ,
housing,
A wheel anvil connected to the housing,
A distance meter coupled to the housing;
An actuator coupled between the housing and the wheel anvil;
A second housing,
A scoring wheel coupled to the second housing; and
A second actuator coupled between the second housing and the scoring wheel;
With
The actuator moves the wheel anvil to a position based on a signal from the rangefinder to bring the wheel anvil into contact with one side of the glass;
The apparatus wherein the second actuator moves the scoring wheel to provide a predetermined force relative to the resistance force of the wheel anvil to bring the scoring wheel into contact with the opposite side of the glass . The wheel anvil, spherical, ellipsoidal, among flattened spherical or flattened ellipsoidal, apparatus according to claim 1, characterized in that it has a single shape . The apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , further comprising a second wheel anvil coupled to the housing.   4. The apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a shaft connected to the housing for movement toward and away from the glass, wherein the wheel anvil is attached to the shaft. The device according to item.   A shaft coupled to the second housing for movement in a direction toward and away from the glass, and the scoring wheel is attached to the shaft coupled to the second housing; An apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4. A method of marking on glass,
Determining the relative position of the wheel anvil and glass;
Driving the wheel anvil into contact with one side of the glass;
Driving the scoring wheel toward the glass to bring a predetermined force against resistance from the wheel anvil to bring the scoring wheel into contact with the opposite side of the glass ; and
Moving the scoring wheel and the wheel anvil relative to the glass while maintaining contact with the glass so as to generate a scoring line on the glass;
A method comprising the steps of:   Determining the second position of the glass relative to the wheel anvil during the step of moving the scoring wheel and the wheel anvil to generate a scoring line, and accordingly the wheel anvil and the glass The method of claim 6, further comprising moving the wheel anvil to maintain contact with the wheel anvil.   The wheel anvil has one of a sphere shape, an ellipsoid shape, a flattened sphere shape, and a flattened ellipsoid shape. the method of.   The method according to any one of claims 6 to 8, further comprising a second wheel anvil coupled to the wheel anvil for movement with the wheel anvil.   Forming a glass ribbon; scoring the glass ribbon according to the method of any one of claims 6 to 9; and separating the sheet from the ribbon along a scoring line. A method characterized by that.   11. A method according to any one of claims 6 to 10, wherein the step of determining the relative position of the wheel anvil and the glass comprises a range finder sending a beam towards the glass.   12. A method according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein the step of determining the relative position of the wheel anvil and the glass comprises sensing the curvature of the glass.

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