KR20000050911A - Cutting apparatus using a laser - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A cutting device is provided to elevate cutting speed in a cutting process using laser beams. CONSTITUTION: A laser(220) and a nozzle(260) disperse a laser beam(228) and a cooling agent(262) of an oval structure. Cutting is progressed along the predetermined cutting line on a workpiece(100). The optional position of the predetermined cutting lien heated at a certain temperature by the irradiation of the laser beam contacts to the cooling agent dispersed repeatedly. A cooling line(104) affects to the lowest temperature region of temperature transfer region placed under the workpiece. The diffusion of a crack is activated and the cut-surface is smoothened. The predetermined cutting line is selectively preheated before the laser beam is irradiated to improve the quality of the cut-surface and to elevate cutting speed.

Description

Cutting apparatus using a laser

The present invention relates to a laser cutting device for cutting a cutting object using a laser, and more particularly to a laser cutting device that can improve the cutting speed.

It is well known to form precut grooves using diamond blades along certain lines of material such as glass having fragile properties, and to cut by impact.

Since the above-described method of cutting using diamond blades has a disadvantage in that a lot of glass chips are generated and the cut surface is rough, an alternative to compensate for this disadvantage has been required.

The laser cutting method of irradiating a laser beam along a specific line of a cutting object and cutting by rapidly cooling a specific line heated by the irradiation of the laser beam is one alternative that can solve the problems caused by the use of diamond blades. to be.

According to the inventors of the present invention, the laser cutting may be used particularly effectively in the cutting process for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel, that is, in the cutting process performed after the bonding of the bonded thin film transistor substrate and the color filter substrate and before the injection of the liquid crystal. Already proposed.

In the use of such a laser cutting device, the improvement in cutting speed is an important factor in determining the efficiency of the process.

Therefore, the present invention has an object to improve the cutting speed in the cutting process using a laser beam.

1 is a schematic perspective view of a cutting device using a laser.

2 is a schematic diagram showing a process of cutting a cutting object using the cutting device of FIG.

Figure 3 is a schematic diagram showing a process of cutting a cutting object using a cutting device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4a is a bottom view of the nozzle used in the cutting device of Figure 3;

4b is a cross-sectional view of the nozzle used in the cutting device of FIG.

5 is a schematic view of a cooling apparatus in a laser cutting device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In order to achieve the above object, according to an aspect of the present invention, a cutting device using a laser is a laser for irradiating a laser beam of a specific wavelength along the cutting target line of the cutting object, and the heating is cut by irradiation of the laser beam And cooling means for rapidly cooling the predetermined line, wherein the cooling means includes a nozzle having a rectangular structure in which the jet of the coolant is rectangular so that the coolant is injected into the elliptic structure.

According to another aspect of the present invention, a cutting device using a laser, the laser unit for irradiating a laser beam having a long axis parallel to the cutting target line of the cutting object along the cutting schedule line, and the cutting schedule line irradiated with the laser beam A coolant having a coolant spreading nozzle for dispersing the coolant, and a coolant scattered from the nozzle of the cooler at a predetermined pressure so that the coolant in contact with the cut line is rectangular with a long axis parallel to the cut line. The main includes gas injection means.

One injection gas of the gas injection means is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, helium, and argon, and preferably nitrogen gas.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a perspective view of a cutting device 200 using a laser beam of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, the object to be cut is, for example, a liquid crystal display panel 100 in which a thin film transistor substrate and a color filter substrate are bonded to each other. The substrate is in a state before the liquid crystal injection process is started.

Although not shown in FIG. 1, the thin film transistor substrate includes a thin film transistor formed on an inner surface thereof, data and gate bus lines connected to the thin film transistor, and a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, and the color filter substrate includes a color filter layer formed on an inner surface thereof. And a counter electrode.

Referring to FIG. 1, the laser cutting device 200 includes a laser unit 220 for irradiating a laser beam along a cutting schedule line (or a scribe line) displayed on an outer surface of the liquid crystal display panel 100, and a laser unit. And a nozzle 230 that distributes the coolant along the cut line heated by the laser beam 228 irradiated from 220. One end of the nozzle 230 is connected to the coolant supply unit 232 through a supply pipe for supplying a coolant.

The speed at which the cutting line is heated and the speed at which the heated cutting line is cooled have a great influence on the cutting speed. Thus, according to the present invention, the laser beam causes the long axis to be irradiated with a rectangular ellipse structure parallel to the cut line, and the coolant also causes the long axis to be scattered into an elliptic structure parallel to the cut line.

FIG. 2 is a view showing a case in which the laser beam of an elliptic structure whose long axis is parallel to the cutting line is irradiated along the cutting line, and the coolant is scattered in a circle relatively smaller than the contact diameter of the laser beam. Reference numeral 100 denotes only one substrate of the LCD panel in the bonded state.

Since the laser beam has a rectangular elliptic structure, the traveling speed can be increased compared to the circular laser beam.

As shown in FIG. 2, the substrate 100 to which the laser beam is irradiated has a temperature transition layer showing a distribution in which the temperature decreases downward from the irradiation surface of the laser beam.

However, considering the case where the dispersion of the coolant becomes circular unlike the elliptic structure of the laser beam, as the laser beam 228 becomes an elliptic structure, the traveling speed of the laser beam is increased, and at the same time, the dispersion of the coolant is also increased. . By the way, since the contact structure of a coolant continues to be circular, the contact time and the contact amount of a coolant reduce in arbitrary positions of a cutting plan line, and a cooling effect falls as a result.

Therefore, in the present invention, in order to prevent the cooling effect due to the increase in the irradiation speed of the laser beam, the dispersion form of the coolant is an elliptic structure having a long axis parallel to the cutting schedule line as shown in FIG. 3.

In order to make the dispersion form of the coolant into an elliptic structure, the injection port 260a of the nozzle 260 is formed in a rectangle as shown in Fig. 4A. Then, the spray hole 260a has a funnel shape with a wide end diameter and a relatively small diameter of the supply path so that the coolant dispersed from the injection hole 260a has a sufficient injection pressure.

Optionally, the nozzle 239a of the nozzle may be formed in a straight shape as shown in FIG. 5, but one side of the cutting line to which the laser beam is irradiated in order to make the ellipsoidal coolant scattered in a nearly round shape. The gas injector 270 for blowing the coolant scattered in the direction should be provided essentially.

One coolant is optionally used from the group consisting of nitrogen gas, helium gas, and argon gas. Therefore, it is preferable to use the same gas as the gas used as the coolant so as to prevent the gas injected from the gas injector 270 and the lowering of the cooling effect by mixing with the gas used as the coolant.

Again, referring to FIG. 3, the laser 220 and the nozzle 260 proceed at high speed along the cutting target line of the cutting object 100 while scattering the elliptical laser beam 228 and the coolant 262. .

Since the coolant 262 is scattered in an elliptic structure, any position of the cut line to be heated to a predetermined temperature by the irradiation of the preceding laser beam 228 is in contact with the coolant repeatedly scattered. As a result, since the cooling line 104 affects the lowest temperature transition region located below the cutting object 100 among the temperature transition regions, the propagation of the crack is smoother than in the case of FIG. Becomes smoother.

Optionally, in addition to the above-described configuration, by preheating the cutting target line before the cutting laser beam is irradiated along the cutting target line, the quality of the cutting surface and the cutting speed can be further improved.

On the other hand, in the above embodiment, the cutting object is a thin substrate transistor substrate and the color filter substrate is bonded to the substrate described, for example, but the cutting object is not limited to them. That is, brittle materials such as wafers can also be applied to the laser cutting device of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the cutting device cuts and cuts the cutting object while being transported. However, the cutting device is in a fixed state, and the cutting plate may move while the plate supporting the cutting object is moved. That is, it is possible to irradiate a laser beam along the cutting schedule line of a cutting object by changing the relative position of a laser and cutting object.

As described above, the laser cutting device of the present invention improves the cutting speed and the quality of the cutting surface by causing the laser beam and the coolant to contact the cutting target line of the cutting target with an ellipse structure in which the major axis is parallel to the cutting target line.

Meanwhile, although specific embodiments of the present invention have been described and illustrated herein, modifications and variations may be made by those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the following claims are intended to embrace all such alterations and modifications without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims (4)

A laser unit for irradiating a laser beam of a specific wavelength along a cutting target line of the cutting object; And a cooling device that cools the cut line to be heated by irradiation of the laser beam emitted from the laser unit, wherein the cooler has a rectangular shape in which the injection hole of the nozzle for injecting the coolant has a long axis parallel to the cut line. Cutting device using a laser, characterized in that the. The cutting device using a laser according to claim 1, wherein the laser unit has an elliptical structure laser beam having a long axis parallel to the cutting target line of the cutting object. A laser unit for irradiating a laser beam of a specific wavelength along a cutting target line of the cutting object; A cooling device including a nozzle dispersing a coolant to cool the cut cutting line heated by the irradiation of the laser beam emitted from the laser unit; And And a gas injection means for blowing the coolant scattered from the nozzle of the cooling device at a predetermined pressure so that the coolant in contact with the cutting target line becomes a rectangle having a long axis parallel to the cutting target line. Device. 4. The cutting device using a laser according to claim 3, wherein one injection gas of the gas injection means is selected from the group consisting of nitrogen, helium, and argon.