KR101638579B1 - The apparatus for transforming the thin glass plate - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention can partially mold only a part of the glass substrate that needs to be deformed while being heated locally at a flexible temperature, and can mold the glass substrate into various shapes without changing the physical properties and flatness of the thin glass substrate. The present invention relates to a glass substrate forming apparatus, which can be carried out by automating the glass substrate forming apparatus. The glass substrate forming apparatus includes a preheating unit for preheating a glass substrate; A first substrate transfer unit for unloading the glass substrate from the cassette and supplying the unloaded glass substrate to the preheating unit; A molding part provided adjacent to the preheating part and heating a part of the glass substrate to a temperature higher than the softening temperature; A second substrate transfer unit installed between the preheating unit and the molding unit and supplying the glass substrate preheated by the preheating unit to the molding unit; An annealing portion provided adjacent to the forming portion and annealing the formed glass substrate; And a third substrate transfer unit installed between the forming unit and the annealing unit and supplying the glass substrate formed by the forming unit to the annealing unit.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a glass substrate molding apparatus,

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass substrate forming apparatus, and more particularly, to a glass substrate forming apparatus in which only a portion that needs to be deformed is locally heated in a state of being heated at a flexible temperature, , And a glass substrate forming apparatus capable of performing such a forming process by automating in-line method.

Glass is widely used in various fields because it can be easily obtained at a relatively low cost and has excellent properties such as excellent transparency. In particular, in recent years, in the field of display, a display device, a touch screen device, or the like is manufactured using a thin glass substrate having a thickness of 0.3 mm or less. For use in such a variety of fields, the thin glass substrate needs to be formed into various shapes as well as a simple planar shape.

Conventionally, such a glass substrate is generally processed by gravity bending by the weight of the glass substrate. Such a gravitational banding method is a method in which a glass is heated to a softening temperature, bending the glass into a shape of a prepared mold by glass weight, and slowly cooling the glass to form a shape. However, There is a drawback that control is difficult.

On the other hand, when the press mold is used, the bending phenomenon occurs at a portion other than the bending curved surface, which is difficult to mass-produce. Also, a method of covering a metal foil with excellent heat transmission at both ends of the press mold and performing pressing is also devised. (Patent: 10-2002-64802)

However, these conventional glass forming methods have a problem in that it is difficult to maintain the front flatness required by cellular phones or thin glass substrates for displays.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a thin glass substrate which is partially deformed at a localized heating temperature and can be formed into various shapes without changing the physical properties and flatness of the thin glass substrate, And to provide a glass substrate forming apparatus capable of automating such a forming process in an inline manner.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a glass substrate forming apparatus including: a preheating unit for preheating a glass substrate; A first substrate transfer unit for unloading the glass substrate from the cassette and supplying the unloaded glass substrate to the preheating unit; A molding part provided adjacent to the preheating part and heating a part of the glass substrate to a temperature higher than the softening temperature; A second substrate transfer unit installed between the preheating unit and the molding unit and supplying the glass substrate preheated by the preheating unit to the molding unit; An annealing portion provided adjacent to the forming portion and annealing the formed glass substrate; And a third substrate transfer unit installed between the forming unit and the annealing unit and supplying the glass substrate formed by the forming unit to the annealing unit.

In the present invention, the forming unit may include: a process chamber for forming a predetermined sealed space therein; A temperature maintaining means installed in the process chamber for maintaining an atmospheric temperature within the process chamber at 450 to 500 ° C; A lower mold installed below the process chamber and formed by mounting a glass substrate on an upper surface thereof; An upper mold that is vertically movable up and down inside the process chamber and presses the upper surface of the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold to form the upper mold; A substrate fixing unit installed vertically above the lower mold to fix the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold during molding; And rapid heating means installed in the process chamber for rapidly heating the portion to be deformed of the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold.

In the present invention, it is preferable that the lower mold further includes a vacuum adsorption unit for vacuum-fixing the lower surface of the glass substrate mounted on the upper surface thereof.

In the present invention, the rapid heating means may include: a heat generating unit generating heat at a high temperature; And horizontal moving means for horizontally moving the heat generating portion in the forward and backward directions.

In the present invention, the substrate fixing part and the upper mold are interlocked to move up and down. When the lower fixing part is lowered, the substrate fixing part first descends to fix the glass substrate, then the upper mold is lowered, It is preferable that the substrate fixing portion is raised.

Further, in the present invention, it is preferable that the substrate fixing portion further includes a heating portion for heating the substrate fixing portion to a predetermined temperature.

It is preferable that the glass substrate forming apparatus of the present invention further comprises a thermal shock preventing member which is provided on the outer surface of the substrate fixing portion and which prevents thermal shock in the process of contacting the glass substrate.

According to the glass substrate forming apparatus of the present invention, only portions required to be deformed with respect to the glass substrate can be partially molded while being locally heated to a flexible temperature, and molded into various shapes without changing physical properties and flatness of the thin glass substrate , And furthermore, this glass substrate forming operation can be carried out in an in-line manner and can be performed quickly and stably.

1 is a view showing a layout of a glass substrate forming apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 is a view showing a structure of a forming part according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIGS. 3 to 8 are views illustrating a process of forming a glass substrate using a forming unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1, the glass substrate forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a preheating section 100, a forming section 200, and an annealing section 300, And the substrate transferring parts 400, 500, 600, and 700 for transferring the glass substrate may be disposed.

Here, the preheating unit 100 is a component for performing a preheating operation on the glass substrate before performing the molding operation on the glass substrate S, thereby shortening the process time and performing the smooth molding operation. Accordingly, the preheating unit 100 may have a structure having a predetermined space inside and a heater capable of heating the inside of the space to a predetermined temperature, and the specific shape may be variously changed.

The first substrate transfer unit 400 is a component that unloads the glass substrate S from the cassette 800 and supplies the unloaded glass substrate S to the preheating unit 100. Here, the cassette 800 is a structure in which a plurality of glass substrates S to be formed are stacked in a horizontal state, and the first substrate transfer unit 400 enters the cassette 800 to suck the glass substrate Or pick up and take out horizontal. Vertical driving and rotational movement.

1, the forming unit 200 is a component that is installed adjacent to the preheating unit 100 and is formed by heating a part of the glass substrate S to a temperature higher than the softening temperature. 2, the molding unit 200 includes a process chamber 210, a temperature holding unit 220, a lower mold 230, an upper mold 240, The fixing unit 250, and the rapid heating means 260. [0043]

As shown in FIG. 2, the process chamber 210 has a structure in which a predetermined closed space is formed, and a gate (not shown) is formed on one side wall for loading and unloading the glass substrate.

2, the temperature holding means 220 is installed in the process chamber 210 and maintains the atmospheric temperature of the process chamber 210 at 450 to 500 ° C. Specifically, the temperature holding means 220 may be a heater installed in the wall of the process chamber 210, or may be a heat generating lamp installed inside the process chamber 210. The temperature inside the process chamber 210 is maintained at about 450 to 500 ° C. by the temperature holding means 220. Since the temperature is maintained, the time required for molding the glass substrate S is further increased Can be shortened.

2, the lower mold 230 is a component that is installed inside the process chamber 210 and is formed by mounting a glass substrate S on the upper surface thereof. 2, the upper portion of the lower mold 230 has shapes 232 and 234 that correspond to the shape of the glass substrate S, and the glass substrate S is stably formed at the center of the upper surface thereof Lt; / RTI >

As shown in FIG. 2, the lower mold 230 may further include a vacuum adsorption unit 270. The vacuum adsorption unit 270 is formed inside the lower mold 230 and vacuum-absorbs the lower surface of the glass substrate S mounted on the upper surface of the lower mold 230. The vacuum adsorption unit 270 includes a glass substrate S ) Is fixed in a precise position for the molding process so that it does not move.

2, the upper mold 240 is vertically installed on the upper side of the process chamber 210, and the upper mold 240 includes a glass substrate S mounted on the lower mold 230 And the upper surface of the portion to be deformed is pressed to be molded. The lower part of the upper mold 230 has the same shape as the shape of the glass substrate S to be formed and the upper mold 240 may be composed of one piece, As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the upper mold 240 may be divided into a mold 242 and a mold up-and-down driving unit 244 for driving the mold 242 in a vertical direction.

2, the substrate fixing part 250 is installed on the upper part of the lower mold 230 so as to be vertically movable, and a glass substrate S mounted on the lower mold 230, Is fixed during molding. That is, the substrate fixing part 250 is lowered before the upper mold 240 is lowered to form the glass substrate S to press the glass substrate S toward the lower mold 230, The glass substrate S which is primarily fixed by the mold 230 and the vacuum adsorption portion 270 is more securely fixed to the secondary side.

The substrate fixing unit 250 may include a fixing jig 252 and a vertical driving unit 254 for driving the fixing jig 252 in the vertical direction. At this time, a heater (not shown) is installed in the fixing jig 252 to heat the fixing jig 252 to a predetermined temperature or more. The fixing jig 252 is made of a material having a function of preventing a thermal shock, , It may have a structure in which a heat shockproof member 256 is further provided on the outer surface. When the heat-shock-preventing function is provided, there is an advantage that thermal shock is not applied to the glass substrate during the contact of the fixing jig 252 with the glass substrate S.

The heat-shock-preventing member 256 may be made of various materials, for example, SUS fiber.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, an elastic member 258 is provided between the fixing jig 252 and the up-and-down driving unit 254 to absorb a physical impact so that the fixing jig does not exert an excessive pressure on the glass substrate .

Meanwhile, in the glass substrate forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, in order to prevent the glass substrate S from moving during molding, the substrate fixing unit 250 and the upper mold 240 interlock with each other, The substrate fixing unit 250 is first lowered to fix the glass substrate S and then the upper mold 240 is lowered. When the upper mold 240 is lifted, the upper mold 240 is raised first, 250 are controlled to rise.

2, the rapid heating means 260 is installed inside the process chamber 210 and is provided with a predetermined portion S1 of the glass substrate S mounted on the lower mold 230, S2). ≪ / RTI > Thus, only the portions S1 and S2 to be deformed by the rapid heating means 260 are rapidly heated above the softening temperature, so that partial molding of the glass substrate becomes possible. Here, the 'softening temperature' is a temperature at which the glass substrate can be flexibly deformed, and can be, for example, about 750 to 800 ° C.

Therefore, in the present embodiment, only the portions S1 and S2 to be deformed of the glass substrate S can be rapidly heated locally, and the rapid heating means 260 As shown in FIG. 2, the heat generating unit 262 and the horizontal moving unit 264 can be constituted.

The heat generating unit 262 is a component for generating heat at a high temperature and has a structure capable of partially heating only the portions S1 and S2 to be deformed in the glass substrate S, (264) is a component that horizontally moves the heat generating part (262) in the forward and backward directions. Therefore, while the heating unit 262 heats the glass substrate S by the horizontal moving unit 264, the glass substrate S moves to the upper side of the portions S1 and S2 to be deformed in the glass substrate to generate heat, So as not to interfere with the movement of the upper mold 240.

1, the second substrate transfer part 500 is installed between the preheating part 100 and the forming part 200, and the glass substrate S preheated by the preheating part 100 ) To the forming unit 200. [0064] Since the specific configuration of the second substrate transferring part 500 is substantially the same as that of the first substrate transferring part 400, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, the annealing unit 300 is a component that is installed adjacent to the forming unit 200 and anneals the formed glass substrate. Herein, the term " annealing " refers to securing a sufficient strength to the deformed portion by slowly cooling the glass substrate molded by heating at a high temperature. Such an annealing process is performed by keeping the glass substrate in the forming portion 200 In order to shorten the process time, the annealing unit 300 is separately provided in the present embodiment, and the glass substrate S having been formed in the forming unit 200 is moved to the annealing unit 300 And then performing an annealing process. Accordingly, it is preferable that the annealing unit 300 has a certain sealed space therein and can maintain the temperature of the inner space at a specific annealing temperature.

1, the third substrate transfer unit 600 is installed between the molding unit 200 and the annealing unit 300, and the glass substrate S (S) formed by the molding unit 200 ) To the annealing unit (300). Since the third substrate transferring part 600 has substantially the same configuration as the first substrate transferring part 400, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the glass substrate forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a fourth substrate (not shown) for discharging the glass substrate S from the annealing unit 300 and loading the glass substrate S into the discharge cassette 900, A transfer unit 700 may be further provided. When the discharge cassette 900 is filled with a plurality of glass substrates by the fourth substrate transfer unit 700, the discharge cassette 900 is moved to proceed to the next process.

Hereinafter, a process of forming a glass substrate by using the glass substrate forming apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to a molding process performed in the forming unit 200. FIG.

As shown in FIG. 3, the glass substrate S is introduced into the process chamber 210. At this time, the glass substrate discharged from the preheating unit by the second substrate transfer unit 500 is loaded on the upper mold 230. The loaded glass substrate S may be aligned with an accurate mounting position while confirming an accurate position by using a vision camera (not shown) installed in the process chamber 210 have.

When the alignment is completed, the vacuum adsorption unit 270 is operated to fix the glass substrate S in a state where the glass substrate S is loaded on the lower mold 230 so that the positional change does not occur.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, the horizontal moving means 264 is driven to move the heat generating portion 262 to above the portions to be deformed S1, S2 of the glass substrate. Then, the temperature of the portions S1 and S2 to be deformed is heated so as to be heated above the softening temperature. When the heating is completed, the horizontal moving unit 264 is driven again to horizontally move the heating unit 262 toward the side wall of the process chamber 210.

5, the upper and lower driving units 254 are driven to move the fixing jig 252 downward, and the upper surface of the glass substrate S is pressed downward, .

Then, as shown in Fig. 6, the mold frame upper and lower driving portion 244 is driven to move the mold frame 242 downward. As the mold 242 moves downward, the portions S2 and S2 of the glass substrate heated at the softening temperature are interposed between the mold 242 and the lower mold 230, The substrate is molded.

Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the mold frame 242 first moves upward, and then the fixing jig 252 moves upward as shown in FIG. Thereafter, the glass substrate S is discharged out of the process chamber 210 by using the third substrate transfer unit 600, and is transferred to the annealing unit 300 to perform the annealing process.

1: Glass substrate forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present invention
100: preheating part 200: forming part
300: annealing section 400, 500, 600, 700: substrate transfer section
210: process chamber 220: temperature holding means
230: lower mold 240: upper mold
250: substrate fixing part 260: rapid heating means
S: glass substrate S1, S2: part to be deformed

Claims (7)

A preheating unit for preheating the glass substrate;
A first substrate transfer unit for unloading the glass substrate from the cassette and supplying the unloaded glass substrate to the preheating unit;
A molding part provided adjacent to the preheating part and heating a part of the glass substrate to a temperature higher than the softening temperature;
A second substrate transfer unit installed between the preheating unit and the molding unit and supplying the glass substrate preheated by the preheating unit to the molding unit;
An annealing portion provided adjacent to the forming portion and annealing the formed glass substrate;
And a third substrate transfer unit installed between the forming unit and the annealing unit and supplying the glass substrate formed by the forming unit to the annealing unit,
The forming unit includes:
A process chamber for forming a predetermined sealed space inside;
A temperature maintaining means installed in the process chamber for maintaining an atmospheric temperature within the process chamber at 450 to 500 ° C;
A lower mold installed below the process chamber and formed by mounting a glass substrate on an upper surface thereof;
An upper mold that is vertically movable up and down inside the process chamber and presses the upper surface of the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold to form the upper mold;
A substrate fixing unit installed vertically above the lower mold to fix the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold during molding;
And rapid heating means installed in the process chamber for rapidly heating a portion to be deformed of the glass substrate mounted on the lower mold,
Wherein the rapid heating means comprises:
A heat generating part for generating high temperature heat;
And horizontally moving means for horizontally moving the heating portion in the forward and backward directions. delete The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a vacuum adsorption unit for vacuum-adsorbing the lower surface of the glass substrate mounted on the upper surface thereof. delete The method according to claim 1,
The substrate fixing part is lowered first to fix the glass substrate and then the upper mold is lowered,
Wherein the upper mold is raised first and then the substrate fixing portion is raised. The substrate processing apparatus according to claim 1,
Further comprising a heating unit for heating the substrate fixing unit to a predetermined temperature. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising a thermal shock preventing member provided on an outer surface of the substrate fixing part to prevent thermal shock in a process of contacting the glass substrate.

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