JPH09278470A - Cutting device for liquid crystal glass plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a cutting device for liquid crystal glass plates which averts the crack during the course of transportation, makes it easy to obtain the accuracy of a surface plate, occupies a less floor area and is, therefore, inexpensively provided as a device for cutting the glass plate provided with plural liquid crystal patterns to a size of one unit. SOLUTION: This cutting device has the surface plate 1 which has plural slits parallel with each other in one direction and is movable back and forth in a direction orthogonal with these slits within the plane, a freely vertically movable scribing cutter 5 which is arranged above the surface plate 1 and travels in a direction parallel with the slits of the surface plate, a supporting surface plate 6 which faces this scribing cutter, stands by below the surface plate 1 and moves vertically into the slits during the stoppage of the surface plate 1, a lower breaking blade 8 which is disposed below the surface plate 1 is parallel with the slit adjustably in the spacing from the supporting surface plate 6 and moves vertically into the slits during the stoppage of the surface plate 1 and an upper breaking blade 7 which faces this lower breaking blade, is disposed above the surface plate 1 and moves downward in synchronization with the upward movement of the lower breaking blade 8 at the time of edge cutting.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for cutting a glass plate provided with a plurality of liquid crystal patterns into a unit size.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid crystal panel used as a display device for a portable personal computer or the like has a diagonal size of about 250 mm, but when manufacturing such a liquid crystal panel, it is larger than a unit product size, for example, 650. × 550 mm
It is manufactured by a process of printing a plurality of units (a plurality of units) of liquid crystal patterns on a glass substrate having such a size and then cutting the glass substrate into a unit size. The reason why a plurality of liquid crystal patterns are printed at the same time using a large glass substrate is to increase the manufacturing efficiency and reduce the manufacturing cost.

Recently, the demand for this type of liquid crystal panel has been remarkably increased, and it has been desired to mass produce high quality liquid crystal panels at a lower cost. Therefore, there is a demand for printing a larger number of liquid crystal patterns at the same time by using a larger glass substrate (mother glass). Further, with respect to the thickness of the glass substrate used, thinner ones have been used in response to the demand for weight reduction and high quality of parts.

Mother glass on which a plurality of units of liquid crystal patterns are printed is cut into a size of 1 unit by a cutting device and a cutting edge is polished.
Two steps, scribe and break, are required. The scribe is a process of making a cut on the surface of the glass plate with a hard roller such as diamond or a chip, and the break is a process of applying a bending force along the cut to divide the glass plate. In the conventional device, the scribe and the break are performed by different devices.

That is, in the scribing apparatus, as shown in FIG.
As shown in FIG. 1, the mother glass 3 is held on the surface plate 1 by vacuum suction, the reference position of the liquid crystal pattern provided on the mother glass is read by the visual sensor, and the surface plate 1 is moved with reference to the reference position. , The scribe cutter 5 is pressed against a predetermined position to run the mother glass 3
Cuts 9 and 9A are made at the positions of the cutting lines 4 and 4A (4A is a cutting line for ear removal) as shown in FIGS. FIG. 14 is a cutting line when the edge cutting is not performed. However, when accuracy of the positional relationship between the liquid crystal pattern and the panel outer periphery is required, as shown in FIG. 15, a cut line for separating each unit panel. In addition to No. 9, cuts 9A for cutting the edges are provided.

The mother glass 3 with the cuts 9 and 9A thus formed is conveyed from the scribing device to the break device as shown in FIGS. 12 and 13, and the break blades 27 and 28 are pushed along the cuts 9 and 9A. By hitting, it is cut along the cut lines 9 and 9A to be divided. FIG.
The break blade 27 of No. 2 is a break blade for edge cutting, and is an ear portion 3A protruding from the edge of the surface plate 1 in an overhang shape.
13 is a break blade 28 for pressing and cutting from above. The break blade 28 in FIG. 13 is a break blade for dividing the unit panels from each other, and moves upward in the slit provided on the surface plate to form an obtuse top ridge line. By pushing up the back of the cut 9 at 10, the mother glass 3 is divided along the cut 9.

[0007]

In such a conventional apparatus, as the size of the mother glass increases, the area of the surface plate 1 of the scribing apparatus also increases. The scribe cutter 5 has a structure in which it is pressed against a glass plate by a spring, but the distance between the surface of the surface plate and the tip of the scribe cutter requires high dimensional accuracy, and if the surface of the surface plate has undulations or slopes. , The glass is broken or chipped at the place where the scribe cutter is cut into the edge of the mother glass. When the size of the surface plate is increased, it becomes technically difficult to finish the surface of the surface plate to a predetermined positional accuracy, and the cost of the apparatus is rapidly increased.

When the mother glass is large and thin, it becomes very difficult to convey the mother glass from the scribing device to the break device. Normally, mother glass is carried on a fork-shaped carrier, but mother glass with a large area, thin thickness, and cuts is easily broken by the vibration of the carrier during transportation, etc. The loss rate increases.

Further, since it is necessary to separately provide a scribing device having a surface plate having a large area and a break device, the installation space of the device becomes large.

According to the present invention, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of cracks during transportation, it is easy to obtain the precision of the platen, the installation space is small, and therefore the cutting device for the liquid crystal glass plate can be provided at a lower cost. The challenge is to obtain.

[0011]

A liquid crystal glass plate cutting apparatus according to the present invention comprises a plurality of slits 2 which are parallel to each other in one direction.
A surface plate 1 which is provided with and is capable of reciprocating in a direction orthogonal to the slit in a plane, and a scribing cutter 5 which is arranged above the surface plate 1 and which travels in a direction parallel to the slits 2 of the surface plate. A support platen 6 slender in the extending direction of the slit 2 that stands by below the platen 1 facing the scribe cutter and moves up and down in the slit 2 while the platen 1 is stopped;
A lower break blade 8 which is arranged below the support platen in parallel with the slit 2 so as to be adjustable, and which moves up and down into the slit 2 while the surface plate 1 is stopped, and a surface plate facing the lower break blade 8. 1 and an upper break blade 7 which is arranged above 1 and moves downward in synchronization with the upward movement of the lower break blade 8 at the time of ear removal.

The surface plate 1 moves while stopping at a position where each of the plurality of slits 2 faces the support surface plate 6 and a position where the slits 2 face the lower break blade 8.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus provided with the above matters, the surface plate 1 includes a frame member 12 and a plurality of rectangular plate-shaped members 13 fitted in the frame member and having the same longitudinal dimension.
And a spacer 14 forming a slit 2 having a predetermined width between adjacent rectangular plate-shaped members 13, 13.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the apparatus having the above matters, the guide frame 15, the lower break blade 8 and the upper break blade 7 for guiding the traveling of the scribe cutter 5 are provided.
Is provided so that the angle can be adjusted around the axis of the surface plate 1 in the direction perpendicular to the plane.

[0015]

The mother glass 3 to be cut is placed on the surface plate 1 so that the cutting lines 4 and 4A thereof are located at the slits 2 of the surface plate. The placed mother glass is suction-held on the surface plate 1 by vacuum suction as in the conventional apparatus. The plurality of slits 2 of the surface plate 1 must be provided at intervals equal to the intervals of the cutting lines 4 and 4A of the mother glass 3. When the intervals of the cutting lines 4 and 4A are different, the surface plate 1 is exchanged or the interval of the slits 2 of the surface plate is changed.

In the apparatus according to the second aspect, a plurality of types of rectangular plate-shaped members having different width dimensions are prepared, and the plates are exchanged if necessary, whereby the intervals of the slits provided in the surface plate 1 can be changed. You can

On the mother glass held on the surface plate, the reference position of the liquid crystal pattern is detected by the visual sensor as in the conventional apparatus, and the first cutting line based on the detected position is directly below the scribe cutter 5. Surface plate 1 to come to the position
Moves. In this position, the support surface plate 6 has the slit 2
Since the support surface plate 6 is moved upward, the scribe cutter 5 is moved downward while the lower surface of the mother glass in the slit portion is supported to make the cuts 9 and 9A in the mother glass.

Next, the scribe cutter 5 is moved up and the support surface plate 6 is moved down, and the surface plate 1 is moved to a position where the slit 2 faces the lower break blade 8. If the cut 9A is a cut for ear removal, the lower break blade 8 is moved upward and the upper break blade 7 is moved downward so that both ridge lines 1
The mother glass 3 is sandwiched between 0 and 11 at the crossed positions, and the ear portion 3A of the mother glass is broken off. If the cut 9 is a cut for dividing an adjacent liquid crystal panel, only the lower break blade 8 is moved upward to move the top ridge line 1 thereof.
The mother glass 3 is divided by pushing up the back of the cut 9 at 0.

According to the structure of claim 3, the mother glass 3
When the is placed on the surface plate 1 obliquely, the angle of the guide frame 15 of the scribe cutter and the lower break blade 8 and the upper break blade 7 is adjusted according to the inclination angle of the mother glass in a predetermined direction. Can be cut. Since the angle that needs this adjustment is usually a small angle, the locus of the scribe cutter 5 does not deviate from the upper surface of the support platen 6 even if the angle of the support platen 6 is not changed.

In the apparatus having the above structure, the mother glass is always cut at the position of the slit 2. Therefore, the precision of the surface plate in which the slit is provided may be set to a predetermined accuracy, and the size of the surface plate is large. However, it is not necessary to increase the accuracy of the entire surface plate. Further, since scribing and breaking are performed on the same surface plate, the step of transporting the mother glass from the scribing device to the break device becomes unnecessary, and damage to the mother glass during transportation can be completely avoided.
Further, since the scribing and the break, which are conventionally performed by two devices, are performed by the same device, the overall device cost can be reduced and the installation space of the device can be reduced.

[0021]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the examples shown in FIGS. Figure 7
Shows an example of a surface plate used in the present invention. The surface plate 1 is provided with a large number of parallel slits 2 in the direction of the arrow X, and each slit 2 penetrates the surface plate 1 in the direction perpendicular to the plane. Although not shown, the upper surface of the surface plate 1 is provided with a large number of air suction holes for adsorbing the mother glass placed on the upper surface. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, the slits 2 are spaced from one mother glass 3 to a × b.
Taking as an example the case of cutting out 9 units of a liquid crystal panel of size, there are 3 slits arranged at intervals a, 3 slits arranged at intervals b, of which 7 slits are common. Is provided. The surface plate 1 is provided so as to be movable and positionable in the direction of arrow Z in FIG.

The mother glass 3 shown in FIG. 6 has a surface plate 1 such that its cutting lines 4 and 4A are located at the center of the slit 2.
It is placed on top and held by vacuum suction. The scribe cutter 5, the support surface plate 6, the upper break blade 7, and the lower break blade 8 shown in FIG. 1 are arranged above and below the moving path of the surface plate 1. The scribe cutter 5 is a roller whose outer periphery has a sharp edge, and is moved downward and travels in the longitudinal direction of the slit 2 to form a cut 9 or 9 on the upper surface of the mother glass 3.
Insert A. The support surface plate 6 is a member that can be inserted into the slit 2 and is elongated in the longitudinal direction of the slit 2. The upper surface of the support surface 6 is flush with the upper surface of the surface plate 1 when moved upward, and the scribe cutter 5 makes a cut 9 or 9A. Sometimes supports the back of mother glass 3.

The lower break blade 8 is an elongated member having a top ridge line 10 in the longitudinal direction of the slit 2 at the upper end thereof.
Can be inserted into The upper break blade 7 is an elongated member provided with a bottom ridgeline 11 in the slit longitudinal direction, and the bottom ridgeline 11 is slightly biased in the moving direction of the surface plate 1 with respect to the top ridgeline 10 of the lower break blade. Is facing.

The surface plate 1 moves from the left side to the right side in FIG. 1 with the support surface plate 6 and the lower break blade 8 moving downward and the scribe cutter 5 and the upper break blade 7 moving upward. Then, the first cutting line 4A (or 4) stops at a position directly below the scribe cutter 5. At this time, the slit 2 is located directly above the support surface plate 6. At this position, the support surface plate 6 moves up to support the back surface of the mother glass 3, and then the scribe cutter 5 moves down and then runs in the slit longitudinal direction to form a cut 9A (or 9).
Is inserted.

Next, after the scribe cutter 5 moves up and the support surface plate 6 moves down, the surface plate 1 moves by an amount corresponding to the interval a of the cutting line 4. Then, the first slit is located directly above the lower break blade 8 and the next slit is directly above the support surface plate 6. In that state, the second slit 9 is made in the same manner as described above, and the lower break blade is also formed. 8 is moved upward, and the mother glass 3 is cut by the top ridgeline 10
Divide along A (or 9).

When the cut is the cut 9A for ear removal,
As shown in FIG. 3, the upper break blade 7 moves downward in synchronism with the upward movement of the lower break blade 8, and the top edge line 10 and the lower edge line 11 which are in a deviated mutual positional relationship are attached to the ear portion 3A. Breaks by applying bending force.

Next, the scribe cutter 5 and the upper break blade 7 are moved up, the support surface plate 1 and the lower break blade 8 are moved down, and then the surface plate 1 is further moved by the distance a between the cuts 9. Similarly, by the upward movement of the support surface plate 6, the downward movement of the scribe cutter 5 and the running and lower movement of the lower break blade 8,
The next cut 9 is formed and the mother glass along the previously provided cut 9 is divided. When the cut to be broken is the cut 9 in the middle portion, both sides of the cut 9 of the mother glass are sucked and held by the surface plate 1, so that only the lower break blade 8 is moved upward as shown in FIG. Then, the mother glass is divided.

By repeating the above operation, the formation of the cut 9 along the cutting line 4 and the division are sequentially performed in the state where the mother glass 3 is placed and held on only one surface plate 1. During this time, the upper break blade 7 slightly moves upstream of the surface plate 1. As a result of this movement, as shown in FIG. 5, when the last ear removal portion is divided, a bending force opposite to that at the time of the first ear removal can be used.

The mother glass thus cut along the cutting line in one direction is rotated 90 degrees and placed on the same surface plate, and the surface plate is intermittently moved by a distance b (FIG. 6). While feeding, it is cut along the cutting line in the direction orthogonal to the above by the same operation.

When cutting the mother glass 3 at different intervals a and b between the cutting lines, the intervals of the slits 2 of the surface plate 1 must be changed. Since the size of the liquid crystal panel is limited to several sizes, it is possible to prepare a dedicated surface plate for each of them, but as shown in FIG. 8, the frame 12 and a plurality of rectangular plate-shaped members are used. If the surface plate 1 is formed by 13 and the plurality of spacers 14, it is possible to deal with various mother glasses having different cutting intervals by preparing rectangular plate-shaped members having various widths.

In order to accurately cut the mother glass 3 when the liquid crystal pattern is printed on the mother glass 3 obliquely or when the mother glass 3 is obliquely placed on the surface plate 1, FIG. 10, the guide frame 15 and the lower break blade 8 for guiding the traveling of the scribe cutter 5 are shown.
Is mounted so that the angle can be adjusted around the vertical axis. In FIG. 9, a guide frame 15 that guides the scribe cutter 5 is rotatable about a central rotation shaft 16, and a screw 18 screwed to a crosshead 17 provided at one end of the guide frame is used by a pulse motor 19. The angle of the guide frame 15 is adjusted by rotating the guide frame 15.

Further, in FIG. 10, a case 20 for guiding the up-and-down movement of the lower break blade 8 is mounted on a base 21 which can be moved and positioned in the moving direction of the surface plate 1 via a swivel bearing 22, and one end of the case 20 is mounted. The angle of the top ridgeline 10 of the lower break blade 8 is adjusted by rotating the screw 24 that is screwed with the crosshead 23 provided on the pulse motor 25.
In FIG. 10, the base 21 can be moved and positioned in the moving direction of the surface plate 1 so that the distance between the scribe position and the break position can be adjusted according to the distance between the slits 2. The angle of the upper break blade 7 can also be adjusted by the structure according to FIG. 9 or 10.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a first stage of a cutting process.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of a second stage of the cutting process.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a third stage of the cutting process.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a fourth step of the cutting process.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram of the final stage of the cutting process.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing an example of a cutting line of mother glass.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a surface plate.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view showing another structure of the surface plate.

FIG. 9 is a schematic perspective view showing an angle adjusting mechanism of a scribe cutter.

FIG. 10 is a schematic perspective view showing an angle adjusting mechanism of a lower break blade.

FIG. 11 is a schematic diagram of a conventional scribing device.

FIG. 12 is a schematic view of a conventional break blade for ear removal.

FIG. 13 is a schematic view of a conventional break blade for dividing a panel.

FIG. 14 is a plan view showing an example of a cutting line of mother glass.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing another example of the cutting line of the mother glass.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 surface plate 2 slit 5 scribe cutter 6 support surface plate 7 upper break blade 8 lower break blade 12 frame 13 rectangular plate member 14 spacer 15 guide frame

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of slits parallel to each other in one direction.
A surface plate (1) which is equipped with (2) and is capable of reciprocating in the plane in a direction orthogonal to the slit, and which is arranged above the surface plate (1) and runs in a direction parallel to the surface plate slit (2). The scribing cutter (5) that can be moved up and down, and a slit facing the scribing cutter while standing below the surface plate (1) while the surface plate (1) is stopped.
(2) A slit (2) that can be adjusted between the support surface plate (6) that is elongated in the direction of the slit (2) that moves up and down inside the support surface (6) and the support surface plate (6) below the surface plate (1) Placed in parallel with
Lower break blade that moves up and down into the slit (2) while (1) is stopped
(8) and the upper break blade (7), which is arranged above the surface plate (1) so as to face the lower break blade and moves downward in synchronism with the upward movement of the lower break blade (8) during ear removal. Provided that the surface plate (1) moves while stopping at each of the positions where the slits (2) face the support surface plate (6) and the lower break blade (8). A device for cutting a liquid crystal glass plate. 2. A platen (1) comprises a frame member (12) and a plurality of rectangular plate-shaped members fitted in the frame member and having the same longitudinal dimension.
The cutting of a liquid crystal glass plate according to claim 1, comprising a (13) and a spacer (14) forming a slit (2) of a predetermined width between adjacent rectangular plate members (13, 13). apparatus. 3. A guide frame (15) for guiding the traveling of the scribe cutter (5), a lower break blade (8) and an upper break blade (7) are angle-adjusted around an axis in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the surface plate (1). The device for cutting a liquid crystal glass plate according to claim 1 or 2, which is provided so as to be possible.