KR20170067805A - Brittle base plate disjoining method - Google Patents

Abstract

The trench line TL is formed on the glass substrate 4 by rolling the scribing wheel 51 while applying the load F. [ The scribing wheel 51 proceeds toward the traveling direction DP which is the same as the direction of the in-plane component Fi of the load F. [ The process of forming the trench line TL is performed so as to obtain a crackle state. The crack line CL is formed by extending a crack of the glass substrate 4 in the thickness direction DT toward the advancing direction along the trench line TL. The glass substrate 4 is disconnected continuously in the direction crossing the trench line TL immediately below the trench line TL by the crack line CL. The glass substrate 4 is divided along the crack line CL.

Description

[0001] BRITTLE BASE PLATE DISJOINING METHOD [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of dividing a brittle base plate, and more particularly, to a dividing method using a scribing wheel.

In the production of electric devices such as a flat display panel or a solar cell panel, it is often necessary to separate a brittle substrate such as a glass substrate. First, a scribe line is formed on the substrate, and then the substrate is divided along the scribe line. The scribe line can be formed by mechanically processing the substrate by using a blade tip. By sliding or cutting the edge of the substrate on the substrate, a trench due to plastic deformation is formed on the substrate, and a vertical crack is formed immediately below the trench. Thereafter, a stress imparting called a braking process is applied. By progressing the cracks completely in the thickness direction by the breaking process, the substrate is divided.

The step of dividing the substrate is often performed immediately after the step of forming the scribe line on the substrate. However, it has also been proposed to perform a step of machining a substrate between a step of forming a scribe line and a step of breaking. The step of processing the substrate is, for example, a step of forming any member on the substrate.

For example, according to the technique of International Publication No. 2002/104078, in a method of manufacturing an organic EL display, a scribe line is formed on a glass substrate for each region to be an organic EL display before mounting a sealing cap. Therefore, when the scribe line is formed on the glass substrate after the sealing cap is formed, contact between the sealing cap and the glass edge can be avoided.

Further, according to the technique of International Publication No. 2003/006391, for example, in the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, two glass substrates are bonded after scribe lines are formed. Thus, two brittle substrates can be simultaneously braked by one braking process.

International Publication No. 2002/104078 International Publication No. 2003/006391

According to the above conventional technique, machining into a brittle substrate is carried out after formation of the scribe line, and thereafter, the braking process is performed by stress application. This means that a vertical crack already exists at the time of processing into the brittle substrate. Further elongation in the thickness direction of the vertical cracks unexpectedly occurs during processing, so that the brittle substrate, which should be integrated during processing, may be separated. Further, even when the substrate processing step is not performed between the scribing line forming step and the substrate breaking step, it is usually necessary to carry or store the substrate after the scribing line forming step and before the substrate breaking step At that time, the substrate may be unintentionally divided.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in order to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a brittle substrate, which is capable of preventing a brittle substrate from being unintentionally divided before a time when a brittle substrate is to be divided, The method comprising:

The breaking method of the brittle substrate according to the present invention is a breaking method of a brittle substrate using a scribing wheel having an outer peripheral portion with a blade edge formed around the rotation axis, and has the following steps.

A brittle substrate having a first surface, a second surface opposite to the first surface, and a thickness direction perpendicular to the first surface is prepared.

Next, by applying a load to the scribing wheel, the outer peripheral portion of the scribing wheel is pressed onto the first surface of the brittle substrate, and the scribing wheel is rotated on the first surface of the brittle substrate, The trench line having the groove shape is formed. The load has in-plane components parallel to the first surface of the brittle substrate. In the step of forming the trench line, the scribing wheel proceeds on the first surface toward the same traveling direction as the direction of the in-plane component. The step of forming the trench line is performed so as to obtain a crackle state in a state in which the brittle substrate is continuously connected in the direction crossing the trench line immediately below the trench line.

Next, a crack line is formed by extending a crack of the brittle substrate in the thickness direction toward the advancing direction along the trench line. The brittle substrate immediately below the trench line by the crack line is disconnected continuously in the direction crossing the trench line.

Next, the brittle substrate is divided along the crack line.

According to the present invention, as a line defining the position where the brittle substrate is divided, a trench line having no crack is formed immediately below the line. The crackline to be used as a direct gauge of breakdown is formed by extending a crack along the trench line after it is formed. Thus, the brittle substrate after the formation of the trench line and before the formation of the crack line is in a state in which the division is not easily generated because the crack line is not yet formed, while the position where the brittle substrate is to be divided is defined by the trench line. By using this state, it is possible to prevent the brittle substrate from being unintentionally divided before the time when the brittle substrate is to be divided, while stipulating in advance the position where the brittle substrate is divided.

1 is a side view schematically showing a configuration of a cutting mechanism used in a brittle substrate cutting method.
Fig. 2 is a front view (A) and a partially enlarged view (B) thereof schematically showing the configuration of the scribing wheel and pin in Fig.
Fig. 3 is a flow chart schematically showing a configuration of a method for separating a brittle substrate according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention. Fig.
4 is a top view (A) and a top view (B) schematically showing the first and second steps of the brittle substrate breaking method according to the first embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a cross-sectional view schematically showing the configuration of a trench line formed in FIG. 4A and a cross-sectional view (B) schematically showing the configuration of a crack line formed in FIG. 4B.
6 is a top view (A) and a top view (B) schematically showing a dividing method of a brittle substrate in a modification of the first embodiment of the present invention.
Fig. 7 is a top view schematically showing a method of dividing a brittle substrate according to Embodiment 2 of the present invention. Fig.
Fig. 8 is a top view schematically showing a method of dividing a brittle substrate according to Embodiment 3 of the present invention. Fig.
Fig. 9 is a top view schematically showing a method of dividing a brittle substrate according to Embodiment 4 of the present invention. Fig.

(Mode for carrying out the invention)

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following drawings, the same or corresponding parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will not be repeated.

(Embodiment 1)

With reference to Figs. 1, 2A and 2B, a cutting mechanism 50 used in the method of breaking the glass substrate 4 (brittle substrate) of the present embodiment will be described below .

The cutting mechanism 50 is attached to a scribe head (not shown) to move relative to the glass substrate 4, thereby scribing the glass substrate 4. [ The cutting mechanism 50 has a scribing wheel 51, a pin 52, and a holder 53. The scribing wheel 51 has a substantially disk-like shape, and its diameter is typically on the order of several millimeters. The scribing wheel 51 is rotatably supported around the rotating shaft AX via a pin 52 to the holder 53. [

The scribing wheel 51 has an outer peripheral portion PF on which a blade tip is formed. The outer peripheral portion PF extends in a toric shape around the rotary shaft AX. As shown in Fig. 2 (A), the outer peripheral portion PF rises in a ridge shape at the naked eye level, thereby forming a blade edge composed of a ridge line and an inclined plane. On the other hand, at the microscopic level, the ridgeline of the outer peripheral portion PF at the portion (actually lower than the dashed line in Fig. 2 (B)) actually affected by the penetration of the scribing wheel 51 into the glass substrate 4, Shape (MS). It is preferable that the surface shape MS has a curved shape having a finite radius of curvature in a front view (Fig. 2 (B)). The scribing wheel 51 is formed using a hard material such as a cemented carbide, sintered diamond, polycrystalline diamond, or single crystal diamond. The entire scribing wheel 51 may be made of single crystal diamond from the viewpoint of reducing the surface roughness of the above-mentioned ridgelines and slopes.

Next, a method of cutting the glass substrate 4 using the cutting mechanism 50 will be described below with reference to the flow shown in Fig.

1 and 4 (A), a glass substrate 4 having an upper surface SF1 (first surface) and a lower surface SF2 (second surface opposite to the first surface) is prepared 3: step S10). The glass substrate 4 has a thickness direction DT perpendicular to the top surface SF1. In Fig. 4, the glass substrate 4 has sides ED1 and ED2 facing each other.

Next, by moving the scribing wheel 51 on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 (Fig. 1: arrow RT), the scribing wheel 51 moves on the upper surface SF1 in the advancing direction (DP). This progression by the electric motor is performed while pushing the outer peripheral portion PF of the scribing wheel 51 onto the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 by applying the load F to the scribing wheel 51 All. Thus, plastic deformation is generated on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4, thereby forming a trench line TL having a groove shape (Fig. 3: step S20).

The load F has a vertical component Fp parallel to the thickness direction DT of the glass substrate 4 and an in-plane component Fi parallel to the top face SF1. The traveling direction DP is the same as the direction of the in-plane component Fi.

5A, the above-described step of forming the trench line TL is performed in the direction (DC) in which the glass substrate 4 intersects with the trench line TL immediately below the trench line TL, So as to obtain a cracked state in a state in which they are continuously connected to each other. In the cracked state, the trench line TL is formed by the plastic deformation, but no crack is formed along the trench line TL. Therefore, even if a bending moment is applied to the glass substrate 4, division according to the trench line TL does not easily occur. In order to obtain a crackle state, the vertical component Fp (Fig. 1) may not be excessively increased.

In Fig. 4 (A), the trench line TL is formed from the starting point N1 to the end point N3 via the midpoint N2. The trench line TL is preferably formed away from the edge of the upper surface SF1. This eliminates the need for the scribing wheel 51 to contact the edge of the upper surface SF1.

Referring to Fig. 4 (B), an assist line AL is formed next. As a result, a crack line CL is formed along the trench line TL (Fig. 3: step S30).

The glass substrate 4 is formed in the extending direction of the trench line TL (Fig. 4 (A)) immediately below the trench line TL by the crack line CL with reference to Fig. 5 (B) And in the direction (DC) intersecting with the longitudinal direction (lateral direction in Figs. 5A and 5B). Here, " continuous connection ", in other words, is a connection not blocked by a crack. Further, in the state where the continuous connection is disconnected as described above, the portions of the glass substrate 4 may be in contact with each other through the cracks of the crack line CL. The formation of the crack line CL is performed by extending a crack (see Fig. 5 (B)) of the glass substrate 4 in the thickness direction DT toward the advancing direction DP along the trench line TL All.

The assist line AL is formed in contact with the trench line TL on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 and is formed so as to intersect with the trench line TL in the present embodiment. The assist line AL is a general scribe line and therefore involves a crack penetrating the thickness direction DT of the glass substrate 4. [ In order to form the assist line AL, a cutting mechanism 50 used for forming the trench line TL may be used. In this case, a load larger than the load F at the time of forming the trench line TL is required . Further, another mechanism may be used to more reliably form the assist line AL. For example, a scribing wheel having a concave-convex shape along the peripheral portion PF may be used. According to this mechanism, it is easy to form an assist line (AL) involving a deeper crack. Further, as shown in Fig. 4 (B), even when the assist line AL is started from a position away from the edge of the glass substrate 4 (so-called inner cutting), cracks can be generated more reliably.

It is considered that formation of the crack line CL is started by releasing the distortion of the internal stress in the vicinity of the trench line TL. Concretely, it is considered that the internal stress is released by the stress applied to the glass substrate 4 at the time of forming the assist line AL. It is considered that the process that is the trigger for starting the formation of the crack line CL is not limited to the process of forming the assist line AL but may be any process that causes the internal stress to be released.

According to the examination by the inventor of the present invention, the crack line CL was hardly formed in the direction from the midpoint N2 to the viewpoint N1, as compared with the direction from the midpoint N2 to the end point N3. That is, there is a direction dependency that the crack line CL is liable to extend toward the same direction as the traveling direction DP of the scribing wheel 51 at the time of forming the trench line TL. This cause is considered to be due to the distribution of the internal stress described above.

Next, in step S40 (Fig. 3), the glass substrate 4 is divided along the crack line CL by a so-called break process. The breaking process can be performed, for example, by bending the glass substrate 4 by application of an external force. When the crack line CL is completely formed in the thickness direction DT at the time of its formation, the formation of the crack line CL and the division of the glass substrate 4 can occur at the same time. In this case, the braking process is omitted.

According to the present embodiment, as a line defining the position where the glass substrate 4 is divided, a trench line TL (Fig. 5 (A)) having no cracks is formed immediately under the line. The crack line CL (FIG. 5 (B)) to be used as a direct gauge of division is formed by extending a crack along the trench line TL after formation thereof. Thus, the glass substrate 4 (Fig. 4 (A)) after the formation of the trench line TL and before the formation of the crack line CL has a position where the glass substrate 4 is divided into the trench line TL And a cracked state along which the crack is not yet formed. The crackle state is easily maintained as long as no excessive stress is applied to the glass substrate 4. Therefore, it is possible to stably perform the processing such as the storage and transport of the glass substrate 4 and the processing such as the film formation and etching on the glass substrate 4 without accompanied by the unintended occurrence of cracks during this crackle state have.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, by using the crackle state, it is possible to prevent the glass substrate 4 from being unintentionally divided before a desired time, while specifying the position at which the glass substrate 4 is divided in advance .

In addition, the step of forming the crack line CL in this embodiment is essentially different from the occurrence of the crack in the so-called break step. The breaking process is to completely separate the substrate by further extending the already formed cracks in the thickness direction. On the other hand, the process of forming the crack line CL involves a qualitative change from a crackle state obtained by forming the trench line TL to a state having a crack along the trench line TL. It is considered that this change is caused by the opening of the internal stress of the crackle state.

Next, a modified example of the present embodiment will be described. Referring to FIG. 6 (A), a crack line CL along the trench line TL may not be formed only by forming the assist line AL. Referring to Fig. 6 (B), even in such a case, the formation of the crack line CL can be started by separating the glass substrate 4 along the assist line AL.

The assist line AL in this modification may be formed in the same manner as the crack line CL described above. That is, it may be formed by forming a crack along the trench line after formation thereof.

(Embodiment 2)

The trench line TL (Fig. 4 (A)) is formed on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 by the same method as in the first embodiment, .

Referring to Fig. 7, next, an assist line AL is formed on the lower surface SF2 of the glass substrate 4. Fig. The assist line AL intersects the trench line TL in the planar layout. In the present embodiment, the assist line AL and the trench line TL are not directly in contact with each other because the glass substrate 4 is formed on a different surface.

Next, almost the same as in Fig. 6B of Embodiment 1, the glass substrate 4 is separated along the assist line AL. Thus, formation of the crack line CL is started. Thereafter, as in Embodiment 1, the glass substrate 4 is divided along the crack line CL.

(Embodiment 3)

The trench line TL (Fig. 4 (A)) is formed on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 by the same method as in the first embodiment, .

8, the assist line AL is formed so as to partially overlap the trench line TL on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4. [ In the drawing, the assist line AL is formed so as to overlap with the portion between the point N1 and the point N2 in the trench line TL and away from the end point N3. The length of the assist line AL is, for example, about 0.5 mm. With the formation of the assist line AL as an opportunity, the crack line CL is formed.

The configuration other than the above is substantially the same as the configuration of the first embodiment described above, so that the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

(Fourth Embodiment)

The trench line TL (Fig. 4 (A)) is formed on the upper surface SF1 of the glass substrate 4 by the same method as in the first embodiment, .

Referring to Fig. 9, next, a part of the trench line TL is irradiated with laser light. In the drawing, laser light is irradiated to a portion of the trench line TL, which is distant from the end point N3, between the point N1 and the point N2. As a result, a crack line CL is formed at a portion between the point of time N1 and the midpoint N2 of the trench line TL and the crack line CL is formed as an instrument from the midpoint N2 to the end point N3, (CL) is formed.

The configuration other than the above is substantially the same as the configuration of the first embodiment described above, so that the same or corresponding elements are denoted by the same reference numerals and description thereof will not be repeated.

The brittle substrate cutting method according to each of the above embodiments is particularly suitable for a glass substrate, but the brittle substrate may be made of a material other than glass. For example, ceramics, silicon, compound semiconductor, sapphire, or quartz may be used as a material other than glass.

4: Glass substrate (brittle substrate)
50:
51: Scraping wheel
52:
53: Holder
AL: assist line
AX:
CL: crack line
DP: direction
DT: thickness direction
F: Load
Fi: Ingredients in cotton
Fp: vertical component
MS: Mirror surface
N1:
N2: midway point
N3: End point
PF: outer periphery
SF1: upper surface (first surface)
SF2: Lower (second side)
TL: Trench line

Claims (7)

A method of dividing a brittle substrate using a scribing wheel having an outer peripheral portion with a blade tip formed around a rotation axis,
Preparing a brittle substrate having a first surface and a second surface opposite to the first surface and having a thickness direction perpendicular to the first surface;
By moving the scribing wheel on the first upper surface of the brittle substrate while pushing the outer peripheral portion of the scribing wheel onto the first surface of the brittle substrate by applying a load to the scribing wheel, And forming a trench line having a groove shape by causing plastic deformation on the first surface of the brittle substrate, wherein the load has an in-plane component parallel to the first surface of the brittle substrate, Wherein the step of forming the trench line comprises the step of forming the trench line in a direction immediately below the trench line in the step of forming the trench line, And the brittle substrate is continuously connected in the direction intersecting with the trench line, thereby obtaining a crackle state Locked, additional
And forming a crack line by extending a crack of the brittle substrate in the thickness direction toward the advancing direction along the trench line. The crack line is formed by the crack line directly below the trench line Wherein the brittle substrate is continuously disconnected in a direction crossing the trench line,
And dividing the brittle substrate along the crack line. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of forming the crackline includes a step of forming an assist line in contact with the trench line on the first surface of the brittle substrate accompanied by a crack penetrating the brittle substrate in the thickness direction of the brittle substrate . 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the assist line is formed so as to intersect the trench line on the first surface of the brittle substrate in the step of forming the assist line. The method of claim 3,
Wherein the step of forming the crack line includes a step of separating the brittle substrate along the assist line. 3. The method of claim 2,
Wherein the assist line in the step of forming the assist line is formed so as to partially overlap the trench line on the first surface of the brittle substrate. The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising the step of forming an assist line on the second side of the brittle substrate, the assist line intersecting the trench line in a planar layout,
Wherein the step of forming the crack line includes a step of separating the brittle substrate along the assist line. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the step of forming the crack line includes a step of irradiating a part of the trench line with laser light.

Images