TW201941971A - Manufacturing method for glass substrate - Google Patents

Abstract

This manufacturing method for a glass substrate GS includes a cutting step for cutting a strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. The cutting step comprises: a preparation step for preparing the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1; a first cutting step for cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 in a width direction WD to form a sheet-shaped mother glass plate MGS2 that includes one or more print patterns 11; and a second cutting step for cutting the sheet-shaped mother glass plate MGS2 along an inclination angle of the print patterns 11 to form a glass substrate GS.

Description

Manufacturing method of glass substrate

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a glass substrate for a touch panel, for example.

As is well known, touch panels are used in display devices such as automatic teller machines (ATMs) in banks, game machines in game centers, and ticket vending machines such as railways and buses. By mounting the touch panel on the display device, the operation of the machine can be performed visually and intuitively based on the information displayed by the display device, and therefore there is an advantage that the operation of the device equipped with the touch panel becomes easy.

In addition, the touch panel can be equipped with an input device in a display device, so there is no need to provide an additional input device, thereby miniaturizing the entire device. Therefore, a miniaturized mobile phone, a smart phone, a portable game console, a tablet personal computer (PC) or a notebook PC is also suitable for using a touch panel.

As the touch panel, a touch panel in which a wiring pattern such as a conductive circuit or an electrode is formed on a surface of a glass substrate is used. For the formation of the wiring pattern, various printing methods are used in accordance with conditions such as the line width and thickness of the pattern. For example, gravure offset printing is a printing method that is effective when forming a fine wiring pattern of about several tens um.

In general gravure lithography, a gravure in which a recessed portion corresponding to a predetermined printing pattern (wiring pattern) is formed, and a blanket having a surface made of silicone rubber are used. The steps of gravure lithography include a doctoring step to fill ink into the concave portion of the gravure; an off step to transfer the ink filled into the concave portion to the surface of the blanket; and a set step to set The ink transferred to the blanket is transferred to a glass plate or the like.

In the scraping step of gravure lithography, after the entire surface of the gravure is coated with ink, the excess ink on the surface of the gravure is scraped off by a doctor blade, thereby filling the recessed portion with ink. However, when scanning a gravure with a doctor blade, the distal end of the doctor blade is elastically deformed and falls into the recessed portion, and some ink in the recessed portion may be scraped off. When excessive scratching of such an ink occurs, in the subsequent separation step, a problem arises in the transfer of the ink from the recessed portion to the blanket, which becomes a major cause of poor printing.

As a technique for preventing such poor printing, Patent Document 1 discloses a gravure lithographic printing method in which a recessed portion on a gravure including a first thin line portion and a second thin line portion is arranged, and the first thin line portion extends along a printing direction. The second thin line portion extends in a direction orthogonal to the printing direction. When the concave portion is filled with ink (printing paste) by a doctor blade, the blade is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the second thin line portion, so that The scraper scans the gravure.

In the printing method, a second thin line portion of a recessed portion is formed on a gravure formed of a rectangular flat plate at a predetermined inclination, and the gravure is transported along a long side direction (conveyance direction). Furthermore, a scraper is arrange | positioned along the direction orthogonal to a conveyance direction. By scanning the scraper in the conveying direction and passing the inclined second thin line portion, the tip of the scraper can be prevented from entering the second thin line portion.
[Prior Art Literature]
[Patent Literature]

[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2014-128924

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention]
In the method, when the separation step is performed, an inclined ink pattern corresponding to the inclination of the second thin line portion is formed on the blanket. Furthermore, when the fixing step is performed, a printed pattern obtained by transferring the second thin line portion in an inclined manner with respect to the long side direction (conveying direction) of the glass plate is formed on the glass plate.

When mass production of a touch panel is performed by using the gravure lithography method, for example, a plurality of printed patterns are formed on a long strip-shaped mother glass plate, and cut from the strip-shaped mother glass plate according to the printed pattern. Out the glass substrate.

However, the printing pattern formed by the gravure lithography described above is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped mother glass plate, so a step of cutting the glass substrate according to the inclined form of the printing pattern is required.

This invention is made | formed in view of the said situation, and its technical subject is to cut out a glass substrate suitably based on the printing pattern formed on the strip | belt-shaped mother glass plate in an inclined shape.
[Means for solving problems]

This invention is to solve the said subject, It is a manufacturing method of the glass substrate which includes the cutting | disconnection step which cut | disconnects the strip | belt-shaped mother-glass board which formed the multiple printed pattern at intervals, The printing pattern is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped mother glass plate, and the cutting step includes a preparation step of preparing the strip-shaped mother glass plate, and a first cutting step along the width Cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate in a direction, thereby forming a single-piece mother glass plate including one or more of the printed patterns; and a second cutting step of cutting all the substrates along the oblique direction of the printed patterns. The single-piece mother glass plate is cut to form the glass substrate.

According to the configuration, the strip-shaped mother glass plate is cut in the width direction by the first cutting step to form a single-piece mother glass plate, thereby making it easy to perform the second cutting step thereafter. Movement and positioning of the single sheet mother glass plate. In the second cutting step, the single-piece mother glass plate is cut along the oblique direction of the printed pattern, whereby the glass substrate containing the printed pattern can be efficiently cut from the single-piece mother glass plate.

In the first cutting step, an initial crack is preferably formed in a part of the strip-shaped mother glass plate in a state where bending stress is applied to the strip-shaped mother glass plate, so that the initial cracks are The strip-shaped mother glass plate is cut in the width direction. As described above, by cutting the band-shaped mother glass plate by stress cutting, the band-shaped mother glass plate can be cut at a high speed.

Preferably, the first cutting step includes a partial cutting step, which is performed after cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate to form the single-piece mother glass plate, followed by the printing. The oblique direction of the pattern cuts a part of the monolithic mother glass plate.

According to the partial cutting step, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate is cut along the oblique direction of the printed pattern, so that the subsequent single-piece mother glass plate forms a side portion inclined like the printed pattern. . The second cutting step can be easily and efficiently performed by using the portion as a cutting start end portion in the subsequent second cutting step.

In the partial cutting step, it is desirable that the initial crack is formed by forming an initial crack in a part of the single-piece mother glass plate in a state where bending stress is applied to the single-piece mother glass plate. Along the oblique direction of the printed pattern, a part of the monolithic mother glass plate is cut. As described above, the first cutting step can be performed efficiently by performing the partial cutting step using the same stress cutting as in the widthwise cutting of the strip-shaped mother glass plate.

In the second cutting step, it is desirable to irradiate the single-piece mother glass plate with laser light and cut the single-piece mother glass plate to form the glass substrate. Thereby, the single-piece mother glass plate can be cut with high accuracy, and the end face of a high-quality glass substrate can be formed.

The cutting step preferably includes a conveying step that moves the single-piece mother glass plate formed by the first cutting step to the second cutting step. Thereby, a series of steps of the first cutting step and the second cutting step can be performed efficiently.
[Effect of the invention]

According to the present invention, a glass substrate can be suitably cut out based on a printing pattern formed on a strip-shaped mother glass plate in an inclined shape.

Hereinafter, the mode for implementing this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings. 1 to 10 show a first embodiment of a method for manufacturing a glass substrate of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a manufacturing apparatus for a glass substrate according to this embodiment. The manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a printing section 2 and a cutting section 3.

The printing unit 2 includes a conveying device 4 and a printing device 5. The conveyance device 4 is constituted by a belt conveyor, but is not limited to this structure, and may be constituted by a roller conveyor and various other conveyance devices. The transfer device 4 transfers the strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 by a roll-to-roll method. That is, the conveying device 4 takes out the strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 from the first glass roll GR1 and conveys it to the downstream side. The strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 passes through the printing device 5 and is wound into a second glass roll GR2.

The printing device 5 is arranged between the first glass roll GR1 and the second glass roll GR2. The printing apparatus 5 includes, for example, a gravure lithographic printing apparatus, but is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration.

The printing device 5 mainly includes a gravure 6, a doctor blade 7, and a blanket 8.

The intaglio plate 6 is formed in a cylindrical shape, for example, and is configured to be rotatable about its axis. The intaglio plate 6 has a concave portion 10 filled with an ink 9. The recessed portion 10 is formed obliquely with respect to the axial direction of the intaglio plate 6. The intaglio plate 6 is in contact with the blanket 8, and the ink 9 filled in the concave portion 10 is transferred to the blanket 8.

The doctor blade 7 is comprised so that the front-end part may contact the surface of the intaglio plate 6. The front end portion of the scraper blade 7 is configured to be elastically deformable. The doctor blade 7 fills the recessed portion 10 with the ink 9 applied to the gravure plate 6 and scrapes off the excess ink 9.

The blanket 8 is configured by, for example, winding a surface of a cylindrical body portion with silicone rubber or the like. The blanket 8 is configured to be rotatable about its axis, and is configured to be movable in a horizontal direction and a vertical direction orthogonal to the axis direction. The blanket 8 transfers the ink 9 transferred from the intaglio plate 6 to the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1, thereby forming a predetermined print pattern 11 on the surface of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

The ink 9 for printing the pattern 11 is configured by, for example, mixing a conductive powder, a resin, a solvent, and the like. As the conductive powder, for example, metal powders such as Ag, Au, Pt, Cu, and Al are preferably used.

The cutting portion 3 includes a first cutting portion 12 that cuts the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 to form a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, and a second cutting portion 13 that cuts the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 and A glass substrate GS is formed; and a conveying section 14 is provided between the first cutting section 12 and the second cutting section 13.

The first cutting section 12 cuts the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 in the width direction WD (a direction orthogonal to the longitudinal direction LD), thereby forming a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2.

The first cutting section 12 includes a conveying device 15 and a bending stress cutting device 16. The transfer device 15 transfers the strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 taken out from the second glass roll GR2 to the downstream bending stress cutting device 16. The conveyance device 15 is constituted by a belt conveyor, but is not limited to this structure, and may be constituted by a roller conveyor and various other conveyance devices.

The bending stress cutting device 16 includes a support member 17, a pair of pressing members 18, and a crack formation member 19.

The support member 17 may be a rod-shaped member having a cylindrical surface, or may be a polygonal columnar member. The support member 17 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction. The support member 17 is arranged on the lower side of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 so as to be parallel to the width direction WD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

The pressing member 18 is formed in a cylindrical shape from metal, resin, or the like. The pressing member 18 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The pressing member 18 is arranged above the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 so as to be parallel to the width direction WD of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. The pressing member 18 is disposed at two locations on the upstream side and the downstream side of the support member 17.

The crack formation member 19 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and is arranged above the support member 17. The crack formation member 19 has a diamond cutter at its lower end.

The second cutting section 13 cuts the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 formed by the first cutting section 12 by laser thermal cutting. The second cutting section 13 includes a platen 20 that supports a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, a buffer material 21 placed on the platen 20, and a crack-forming member 22 that forms an initial crack in the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. A laser irradiation device 23 for cutting a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2; and a cooling device 24.

The platen 20 is made of metal and has a supporting surface having a larger surface area than that of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The buffer material 21 is a sheet containing a foamed resin. The buffer material 21 has an area smaller than the support surface of the platen 20 and larger than the area of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2.

The crack formation member 22 is arranged above the platen 20 and is configured to be movable in the horizontal direction and the vertical direction. The crack formation member 22 has a diamond cutter at the lower end portion.

The laser irradiation device 23 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction and the horizontal direction. The laser irradiation device 23 is configured to irradiate laser light L such as a CO ₂ laser, but is not limited to the above-mentioned configuration. The cooling device 24 is configured to inject a refrigerant (mist) R formed by mixing water and air downward. The cooling device 24 is configured to be movable in the vertical and horizontal directions, and is configured to follow the laser irradiation device 23 and move.

The transfer unit 14 transfers the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2 formed by the first cutting unit 12 to the downstream second cutting unit 13. The conveyance unit 14 is constituted by a belt conveyor, but is not limited to this structure, and may be constituted by a roller conveyor and various other conveyance devices.

As the material of the glass substrate GS manufactured by the manufacturing apparatus 1, silicate glass and silica glass can be used, and borosilicate glass, soda lime glass, aluminosilicate glass, and chemical strengthening are preferably used. Glass, preferably alkali-free glass. Here, the alkali-free glass refers to a glass that does not substantially contain an alkali component (alkali metal oxide), and specifically refers to a glass in which the weight ratio of the alkali component is 3000 ppm or less. The weight of the alkali component in the present invention is preferably 1000 ppm or less, more preferably 500 ppm or less, and most preferably 300 ppm or less.

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing the glass substrate GS using the manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration will be described. The manufacturing method of the glass substrate GS mainly includes a preparation step and a cutting step.

The preparation step includes a printing step of forming a printing pattern 11 on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1, and a winding step of winding the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 into a roll shape after the printing step.

The printing step mainly includes a scraping step, a separating step, and a fixing step.

In the scraping step, the printing device 5 rotates the intaglio plate 6 while the blade 7 is in contact with the intaglio plate 6 to fill the concave portion 10 with the ink 9.

In the separating step, the intaglio plate 6 is brought into contact with the blanket 8, and the ink 9 filled in the concave portion 10 is transferred to the outer peripheral surface of the blanket 8. Thereby, a pattern made of the ink 9 is formed on the outer peripheral surface of the blanket 8. The pattern composed of the ink 9 is configured to be inclined with respect to the axial direction of the blanket 8.

In the fixing step, the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 drawn from the first glass roll GR1 is conveyed by the conveying device 4, and the surface of the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is brought into contact with the blanket 8, so that the ink glass The pattern was transferred to the surface of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. Thereby, a plurality of printed patterns 11 having an inclined angle with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 are formed.

In the fixing step, the pattern of the ink 9 can be continuously transferred to the surface of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 while the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is being transported, or the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 can be stopped once. The pattern composed of the ink 9 is intermittently transferred to the surface of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. In the case where the transfer is performed intermittently, an adsorption platen for adsorbing the belt-shaped mother glass substrate may be used.

In FIG. 2, a region corresponding to the print pattern 11 is shown in a rectangular shape. The print pattern 11 includes a first side 11a, a second side 11b, a third side 11c, and a fourth side 11d. The angle formed by the first side 11a and the second side 11b and the angle formed by the first side 11a and the fourth side 11d are both 90 °, but it is not limited to the angle. The first side 11a is parallel to the third side 11c, and the second side 11b is configured to be parallel to the fourth side 11d. The angle formed by the second side 11b and the third side 11c and the angle formed by the third side 11c and the fourth side 11d are both 90 °, but it is not limited to the angle.

Each side 11a to side 11d of the print pattern 11 is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. For example, the first side 11a has an inclination angle θ1 with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. The second side 11b of the print pattern 11 has an inclined angle θ2 with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

The print pattern 11 shown in FIG. 2 is a virtual example, and is not limited to a print pattern having all sides of the first side 11a to the fourth side 11d. The print pattern 11 is only required to have a linear pattern formed in parallel with or parallel to at least one of the first to fourth sides 11a to 11d. The printed pattern 11 may have a plurality of linear patterns in an area surrounded by the first side 11a to the fourth side 11d. The linear portion constituting the print pattern 11 is not limited to a linear shape, and may be configured in a curved shape. The printed pattern 11 may have a linear portion parallel to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 in a part of the printed pattern 11. For example, on the glass substrate GS for a touch panel, a grid-like thin line pattern or a rectangular electrode pattern is formed as the print pattern 11.

In FIG. 2, the glass substrate GS cut out from the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is indicated by a two-dot chain line. The glass substrate GS is configured in a rectangular shape. The area of the glass substrate GS is set larger than the area of the printed pattern 11. The glass substrate GS has a first side GSa, a second side GSb, a third side GSc, and a fourth side GSd corresponding to the first side 11a to the fourth side 11d of the print pattern 11. Each side GSa to side GSd of the glass substrate GS virtually set is inclined with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. For example, the first side GSa of the glass substrate GS is configured to be parallel to the first side 11a of the printed pattern 11. Therefore, the inclination angle of the first side GSa of the glass substrate GS is equal to the inclination angle θ1 of the first side 11a of the print pattern 11. Similarly, the inclination angle of the second side GSb of the glass substrate GS is equal to the inclination angle θ2 of the second side 11b of the print pattern 11.

In the winding step, while the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is being conveyed by the conveying device 4, the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 that has completed the printing step is wound to form a second glass roll GR2.

The cutting step includes a first cutting step of cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 to form a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, and a second cutting step of cutting the single-piece mother glass plate after the first cutting step. MGS2 is cut; and a conveying step, the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2 formed in the first cutting step is conveyed from the first cutting section 12 to the second cutting section 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the first cutting step, a first cut-to-cut line CL1 is set on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 in parallel with the width direction WD. The first planned cutting line CL1 is set between two printed patterns 11 adjacent to each other in the longitudinal direction LD among the plurality of printed patterns 11 formed on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. One end portion of the first planned cut line CL1 is set as a cut start end portion SP, and the other end portion of the first cut planned line CL1 is set as a cut end portion EP.

In the first cutting step, the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is pushed up from the lower side by the support member 17 of the first cutting portion 12, and the belt-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is pressed from above by the pressing member 18. Thereby, the tensile bending stress acts on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. Next, an initial crack is formed by the crack formation member 19 in a part of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1, that is, the cutting start end SP of the first planned cutting line CL1. Thereafter, an initial crack progresses along the first planned cutting line CL1 to the cutting end portion EP by a tensile bending stress acting on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. Thereby, a part of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut, and a single-piece-shaped mother glass plate MGS2 is formed.

As shown in FIG. 4, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is configured in a rectangular shape. The single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 has a first side Sa, a second side Sb, a third side Sc, and a fourth side Sd. Each side GSa to side GSd of the glass substrate GS cut out from the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to each side Sa to side Sd of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2.

In the first cutting step, a partial cutting step is performed, that is, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut by the bending stress cutting device 16.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the partial cutting step, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut along a second planned cutting line CL2 set to the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The second planned cutting line CL2 is set across the first side Sa to the second side Sb of the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2. The second planned cutting line CL2 is set to be inclined so as to form a predetermined angle θ3 with the first side Sa. The angle θ3 of the second planned cutting line CL2 is equal to the inclination angle θ2 of the second side 11 b of the printed pattern 11. In other words, the second planned cutting line CL2 is set to be parallel to the second side GSb of the cut glass substrate GS. The cut start end SP of the second scheduled cut line CL2 is set to the first side Sa of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, and the cut end EP of the second cut scheduled line CL2 is set to the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The second side Sb.

In the partial cutting step, a bending stress is generated by the support member 17 and the pressing member 18 along the second planned cutting line CL2. Next, the crack formation member 19 is brought into contact with the cutting start end SP of the second planned cutting line CL2 to form an initial crack, thereby developing the initial crack to the cutting end EP of the second planned cutting line CL2. As a result, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut into an inclined shape. A fifth side Se connecting the first side Sa and the second side Sb is formed on the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 (see FIG. 5).

The fifth side Se is formed as a hypotenuse between the first side Sa and the second side Sb of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The fifth side Se is configured to be parallel to the second side GSb of the glass substrate GS. The fifth side Se is formed at a position away from the second side GSb so as to retain a cutting margin with respect to the second side GSb of the glass substrate GS.

In the conveying step, after the partial cutting step is completed, the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2 is conveyed to the second cutting section 13 by the conveying section 14.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the second cutting step, first, a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is placed on the buffer material 21 of the second cutting section 13 disposed on the platen 20 (mounting step).

Thereafter, cutting corresponding to the first side GSa and the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS is performed along the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4 set in the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The third planned cutting line CL3 corresponding to the first side GSa of the glass substrate GS is set across the fourth to fifth sides Sd to Se of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. The cutting start end SP of the third planned cutting line CL3 is set on the fifth side Se, and the cutting end part EP is set on the fourth side Sd.

On the other hand, a fourth planned cutting line CL4 corresponding to the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS is set across the fifth side Se to the third side Sc of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. A cutting start end SP of the fourth planned cutting line CL4 is set on the fifth side Se, and a cutting end EP is set on the third side Sc.

In the second cutting step, the crack formation member 22 forms an initial crack at each cutting start end SP of the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4. The crack-forming member 22 descends from a position above the cutting start end SP of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, and contacts the cutting start end SP to form an initial crack.

After the initial crack is formed, the laser irradiation device 23 moves above the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, along the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4 in the horizontal direction from the cutting start portion SP to the cutting Break terminal EP. The laser irradiation device 23 irradiates the laser light L toward the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4 while moving.

The cooling device 24 is located behind the laser irradiation device 23 and moves in the horizontal direction following the laser irradiation device 23. The cooling device 24 sprays the refrigerant R toward a portion irradiated with the laser light L. The portion heated by the laser light L is cooled by the refrigerant R.

Thermal expansion (tensile stress) occurs at the positions of the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4 due to the expansion of the locally heated glass using the laser light L and the contraction of the cooled glass using the refrigerant R. ). Due to the thermal stress, an initial crack develops along the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4, and the crack reaches the cutting end portion EP, thereby a part of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 Cut off.

Thereby, the first side GSa and the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS are formed on the cut single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 (see FIG. 6). In the cutting, it is desirable to scan two laser irradiation devices 23 and two cooling devices 24 in parallel. Thereby, the first side GSa and the third side GSc which are parallel can be formed at the same time, and workability can be improved. In addition, by setting the cutting start end SP on the fifth side Se orthogonal to the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4, the initial crack can be easily formed by the crack formation member 22. In addition, the initial crack can be developed along the third planned cutting line CL3 and the fourth planned cutting line CL4 with high accuracy.

By the cutting, all of the first side Sa and the second side Sb, a part of the third side Sc, the fourth side Sd, and the fifth side Se of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 are cut off. In other words, a part of the third side Sc, the fourth side Sd, and the fifth side Se remains in the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2.

Next, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 corresponding to the second side GSb and the fourth side GSd of the glass substrate GS is cut. As shown in FIG. 6, a fifth planned cutting line CL5 and a sixth planned cutting line CL6 are set across the first side GSa and the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS formed earlier. The fifth planned cutting line CL5 corresponds to the second side GSb of the glass substrate GS, and the sixth planned cutting line CL6 corresponds to the fourth side GSd of the glass substrate GS. In this case, the fifth cutting planned line CL5 and the sixth planned cutting line CL6 are set with the cutting start end SP on the first side GSa of the glass substrate GS, and the cutting end part EP is set on the third side GSc.

Similarly to the cutting of the first side GSa and the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS, the cutting start end SP at the fifth planned cutting line CL5 and the sixth planned cutting line CL6 is formed by the crack formation member 22. Initial crack. Thereafter, the laser light L is irradiated by two laser irradiation devices 23 and the refrigerant R is ejected by two cooling devices 24. Accordingly, due to the thermal stress acting on the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2, the initial crack progresses to the cutting end portion EP, and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut. Thereby, the second side GSb and the fourth side GSd of the glass substrate GS are formed. As a result, as shown in FIG. 7, a rectangular glass substrate GS having sides GSa to GSd parallel to the sides 11 a to 11 d of the print pattern 11 is formed.

8 to 10 show another example of the first cutting step. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of (two in the illustration) print patterns (first print pattern and second print pattern) 11A and print patterns are formed on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 at intervals along the width direction WD. 11B. The first printed pattern 11A and the second printed pattern 11B are inclined at the same angle (θ1, θ2) with respect to the longitudinal direction LD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

As in the example described above, a first cut-off line CL1 is set at a position away from the printed pattern 11A and the printed pattern 11B in parallel with the width direction WD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. In the first cutting step, the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut by the bending stress cutting device 16 in the width direction WD along the first planned cutting line CL1, thereby forming two printing patterns 11A and a printing pattern. A single piece of mother glass plate MGS2 of 11B. In this example, a first glass substrate GSA is set for the first print pattern 11A, and a second glass substrate GSB is set for the second print pattern 11B.

The partial cutting step in this example includes a first partial cutting step and a second partial cutting step.

As shown in FIG. 9, in the first partial cutting step, a second planned cutting line CL2 is set between the first printed pattern 11A and the second printed pattern 11B. The second cut line CL2 is set across the second side Sb to the fourth side Sd of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 so as to be inclined at the same angle as the inclination angle of each of the printed patterns 11A and 11B.

In the first partial cutting step, an initial crack formed on the cutting start end SP of the second planned cutting line CL2 is developed by the bending stress cutting device 16 along the second planned cutting line CL2, thereby cutting. Monolithic mother glass plate MGS2. By the cutting, a first single-piece mother glass plate MGS2A including the first print pattern 11A and a second single-piece mother glass plate MGS2B including the second print pattern 11B are formed. As shown in FIG. 10, among the sides Sa to Sd of each of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2A and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2B, the third side Sc becomes a hypotenuse parallel to the third side GSc of the glass substrate GS.

As shown in FIG. 10, in the second partial cutting step, in order to cut a part of each of the single-piece mother glass plates MGS2A and MGS2B, the single-piece mother glass plates MGS2A, The first side Sa to the second side Sb of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2B set a third planned cutting line CL3. The third planned cutting line CL3 is set to be parallel to the second side GSb of the glass substrate GS. In the second partial cutting step, a part of each of the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2A and the single-piece mother glass sheet MGS2B is cut by the bending stress cutting device 16 along the third predetermined cutting line CL3. Thereby, the fifth side (not shown) is formed in each of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2A and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2B in the same manner as in the above-mentioned example.

Thereafter, a second cutting step similar to the examples of FIGS. 5 and 6 is performed on each of the single-piece mother glass sheets MGS2A and MGS2B. Thereby, a first glass substrate GSA including the first print pattern 11A and a second glass substrate GSB including the second print pattern 11B are formed.

According to the manufacturing method of the glass substrate GS of the present embodiment described above, the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut in the width direction WD in the first cutting step to form a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. Thereby, in the subsequent second cutting step, the movement and positioning of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 can be easily performed. In the second cutting step, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut along the oblique direction of the printed pattern 11, whereby the glass substrate GS including the printed pattern 11 can be efficiently cut out. In addition, in the second cutting step, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut by laser thermal cutting, so that a glass substrate GS having a high-quality end surface can be manufactured.

FIG. 11 shows a second embodiment of the method for manufacturing a glass substrate. In the first embodiment, in the preparation step, the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is wound by a winding step after the printing step to form a second glass roll GR2. In the manufacturing method of the glass substrate GS of this embodiment In the process, the winding step is not performed, and the cutting step is performed after the printing step. The manufacturing apparatus 1 includes a first cutting section 12 on the downstream side of the printing section 2. The first cutting section 12 directly cuts the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 on which the printed pattern 11 is formed by the printing section 2. The other configurations of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment are denoted by common symbols.

In the manufacturing method of the glass substrate GS of this embodiment, in the preparation step (printing step), the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is drawn from the first glass roll GR1 and conveyed by the conveying device 4, and at the same time, the The strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 forms a plurality of printed patterns 11. Thereafter, the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut in the width direction WD by the bending stress cutting device 16 of the first cutting portion 12 located on the downstream side of the printing device 5 to form a single-piece mother glass plate MGS2. (First cutting step). Further, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is removed by the bending stress cutting device 16 (partial cutting step), and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is transferred to the second cutting portion 13 by the transfer unit 14 (transfer step). Finally, the glass substrate GS is cut out from the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 by the second cutting section 13 (second cutting step).

FIG. 12 shows a third embodiment of the method for manufacturing a glass substrate. In the first embodiment, a strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 is drawn from the first glass roll GR1, and a preparation step and a cutting step are performed on the strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1. In this embodiment, a glass roll is not used To manufacture a glass substrate GS.

The manufacturing apparatus 1 has a forming section 25 on the upstream side of the printing section 2. The forming section 25 includes a forming body 27 with an overflow groove 26 formed at the upper end and a substantially wedge-shaped cross-section; a burring roller 28 is disposed directly below the forming body 27 and overflows from the forming body 27 between the front and back sides Molten glass; and an annealing furnace 29, which is provided directly below the edging roller 28.

The molding part 25 makes molten glass which overflows from the upper part of the overflow tank 26 flow down both the side surfaces of the molded body 27, and merges in the lower end part, and is shape | molded into a plate shape. The edging rolls 28 restrict the shrinkage in the width direction of the molten glass to be a strip-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 having a predetermined width. The annealing furnace 29 performs a strain relief process on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

A direction conversion unit 30 that changes the conveyance direction of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is disposed below the forming portion 25. A lateral conveyance unit 31 is disposed on the side of the direction conversion unit 30, and the lateral conveyance unit 31 conveys the belt-shaped mother glass sheet MGS1 whose direction has been changed.

A cutting device 32 is disposed above the horizontal transfer portion 31 to remove a thick portion (ear portion) of the widthwise end portion of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. The cutting device 32 cuts the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 by laser thermal cutting, but is not limited to this configuration. The cutting device 32 includes a pair of laser irradiation devices 33 and a pair of cooling devices 34 corresponding to both ends of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 in the width direction.

The laser irradiation device 33 irradiates a predetermined portion of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 with laser light La such as a CO ₂ laser, thereby locally heating the portion. The cooling device 34 is arranged on the downstream side of the laser irradiation device 33 in the conveyance direction of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1. The cooling device 34 sprays a refrigerant Ra on a portion of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 irradiated with the laser light La, and cools the portion. The cutting device 32 radiates laser light La and sprays refrigerant Ra to generate thermal stress to the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1, and uses the thermal stress to cause an initial crack formed in advance on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 to follow the strip-shaped mother glass. The glass plate MGS1 develops in the longitudinal direction LD. Thereby, the ear portion was cut out from the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1.

A printing section 2 is arranged on the downstream side of the lateral conveying section 31, and a cutting section 3 is arranged on the downstream side of the printing section 2. The other configurations of this embodiment are the same as those of the first embodiment. The cutting device 32 is disposed between the forming section 25 and the printing section 2. However, the cutting device 32 is not limited to this, and may be disposed between the first cutting section 12 and the second cutting section 13. In this case, the cutting device 32 is disposed above the conveyance unit 14. In the cutting device 32, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 formed by the first cutting portion 12 is transferred by the transfer unit 14 and the ears remaining on the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 are removed at the same time.

In the manufacturing method of the glass substrate GS of this embodiment, in the preparation step, the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is continuously formed by the forming section 25 (forming step), and is conveyed by the direction changing section 30 and the lateral conveying section 31. This strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 (direction changing step and lateral conveying step). In addition, in the preparation step, the ear portion of the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut off by the cutting device 32 while the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is transported by the lateral transfer portion 31 (ear removal step). Thereafter, a plurality of printing patterns 11 are formed on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 by the printing unit 2 (printing step).

Subsequently, the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is formed by cutting the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 by the first cutting portion 12 arranged on the downstream side of the printing portion 2 (first cutting step). The single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is transferred to the second cutting portion 13 by the transfer portion 14 (transfer step), and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 is cut by the second cutting portion 13 to form glass. Substrate GS (second cutting step). When a cutting device 32 for removing ears is disposed between the first cutting section 12 and the second cutting section 13, the single-piece mother glass is simultaneously carried out by the carrying section 14 while carrying out the carrying step. The plate MGS2 performs an ear removal step. The ear removing step in this case is included in the cutting step and is a partial cutting step of cutting a part (ear) of the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 after the first cutting step.
Examples

Hereinafter, examples of the glass substrate manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to the examples.

The present inventors compared each example with respect to the quality of a product manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention as the glass substrates of Examples 1 and 2 and a product manufactured by another method of the glass substrate of Comparative Example 1. the study.

After the glass substrate of Example 1 was formed into a rectangular single-piece mother glass plate without performing a partial cutting step in the first cutting step, the second cutting step was performed to produce the glass substrate. The glass substrate of Example 2 was produced by performing a second cutting step after performing a partial cutting step in the first cutting step. The glass substrate of Comparative Example 1 was produced by pressing using a cutting blade. Each of the glass substrates was formed in a rectangular shape having four sides.

For each of Example 1, Example 2, and Comparative Example 1, the sides of the glass substrate were visually confirmed to determine the quality of the glass substrate. The determination results are shown in Table 1.
[Table 1]

Since the state of each side of the glass substrate of Example 1 has a quality which can be shipped as a product, it was evaluated as "○" (excellent). Since the state of each side of the glass substrate of Example 2 is better than that of Example 1, its evaluation is set to "◎" (optimal). In addition, the glass substrate of Comparative Example 1 cannot be cut out as a product because it is broken from each side. Therefore, the evaluation is set to "×" (bad).

In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment, nor is it limited to the said effect. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the embodiment, in the first cutting step, a bending stress cutting device 16 is used. The bending stress cutting device 16 develops an initial crack formed in the band-shaped glass plate MGS1 by the bending stress, but the present invention does not It is limited to the said structure. For example, in the first cutting step (including the partial cutting step), a scribe line is formed along the first planned cutting line CL1 (the second planned cutting line CL2) set on the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 to cause stress. The strip-shaped mother glass plate can be cut by cutting on the portion where the scribe line is formed (the scribe line is cut).

In the above-mentioned embodiment, in the first cutting step, the first cutting line CL1 is set to be parallel to the width direction WD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration. The first planned cutting line CL1 may be set to be inclined according to the inclined form of the printed pattern 11.

In the above-mentioned embodiment, the cylindrical intaglio plate 6 is exemplified, but the invention is not limited thereto, and the intaglio plate 6 may be formed in a flat plate shape, for example.

In the above embodiment, the first cutting step is exemplified by cutting the widthwise WD of the strip-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 by a bending stress cutting device 16 and the single-piece mother glass plate. Although the MGS2 is partially cut off, the present invention is not limited to the above configuration. That is, the manufacturing apparatus 1 may include a plurality of (for example, two) bending stress cutting devices 16. In this case, the band-shaped mother glass plate MGS1 is cut by the first bending stress cutting device 16 along the width direction WD, and the single-piece mother glass plate MGS2 formed as described above is cut by the second bending stress cutting device 16. Partial cutting step. The second bending stress cutting device 16 may be arranged on the downstream side of the first bending stress cutting device 16, and may be arranged, for example, near the conveying section 14 or the second cutting section 13.

1‧‧‧ manufacturing equipment

2‧‧‧Printing Department

3‧‧‧ cutting section

4‧‧‧ transport device

5‧‧‧Printing device

6‧‧‧ Gravure

7‧‧‧ scraper

8‧‧‧ blanket

9‧‧‧ Ink

10‧‧‧ recess

11, 11A, 11B‧‧‧Printed pattern

11a‧‧‧first side

11b‧‧‧Second side

11c‧‧‧ Third side

11d‧‧‧ Fourth side

12‧‧‧The first cutting section

13‧‧‧Second cutting section

14‧‧‧ Transport Department

15‧‧‧ transport device

16‧‧‧Bending stress cutting device

17‧‧‧ support member

18‧‧‧Pressing member

19, 22‧‧‧Crack-forming members

20‧‧‧Press plate

21‧‧‧ buffer material

23, 33‧‧‧laser irradiation device

24, 34‧‧‧ Cooling device

25‧‧‧Forming Department

26‧‧‧ overflow tank

27‧‧‧ shaped body

28‧‧‧Roller

29‧‧‧annealing furnace

30‧‧‧Direction Conversion Department

31‧‧‧Transportation Department

32‧‧‧ cutting device

CL1‧‧‧The first cut off line

CL2‧‧‧Second cut off line

CL3‧‧‧ Third cut-off line

CL4‧‧‧ Fourth cut-off line

CL5‧‧‧ Fifth cut off planned line

CL6‧‧‧ Sixth cut-off scheduled line

EP‧‧‧ Cut-off terminal

GR1‧‧‧The first glass roll

GR2‧‧‧Second Glass Roll

GS‧‧‧ glass substrate

GSA‧‧‧First glass substrate

GSB‧‧‧Second glass substrate

GSa‧‧‧First side

GSb‧‧‧Second side

GSc‧‧‧ Third Side

GSd‧‧‧ Fourth side

L, La‧‧‧ laser light

LD‧‧‧long side direction

MGS1‧‧‧ ribbon mother glass

MGS2‧‧‧Single sheet mother glass plate

MGS2A‧‧‧The first single sheet mother glass plate

MGS2B‧‧‧Second single sheet mother glass plate

R, Ra‧‧‧ Refrigerant

Sa‧‧‧first side

Sb‧‧‧Second side

Sc‧‧‧ Third side

Sd‧‧‧ Fourth side

Se‧‧‧Fifth side

SP‧‧‧ Cut off the beginning

WD‧‧‧Width direction

θ1, θ2, θ3‧‧‧ tilt angle

FIG. 1 is a side view showing a glass substrate manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a preparation step.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a first cutting step.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a partial cutting step of the first cutting step.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a second cutting step.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a second cutting step.

FIG. 7 is a plan view showing the glass substrate when the second cutting step is completed.

FIG. 8 is a plan view showing another example of the first cutting step.

FIG. 9 is a plan view showing another example of a partial cutting step in the first cutting step.

FIG. 10 is a plan view showing another example of a partial cutting step in the first cutting step.

FIG. 11 is a side view showing a glass substrate manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a side view showing a glass substrate manufacturing apparatus according to a third embodiment.

Claims (6)

A method for manufacturing a glass substrate, comprising a cutting step of cutting a strip-shaped mother glass plate having a plurality of printed patterns formed at intervals, and the method for manufacturing a glass substrate is characterized in that: The printing pattern is formed in an inclined shape with respect to a longitudinal direction of the strip-shaped mother glass plate, The cutting step includes a preparation step of preparing the strip-shaped mother glass plate, and a first cutting step of cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate along a width direction, thereby forming one or more of the strip-shaped mother glass plate. A monolithic mother glass plate with a printed pattern; and a second cutting step of cutting the monolithic mother glass plate along an oblique direction of the printed pattern, thereby forming the glass substrate. The method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to item 1 of the scope of patent application, wherein in the first cutting step, in a state where bending stress is applied to the band-shaped mother glass plate, the band-shaped mother glass is An initial crack is formed in a part of the plate, thereby causing the initial crack to develop in the width direction, thereby cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate. The method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to item 1 or 2 of the scope of patent application, wherein the first cutting step includes a partial cutting step for cutting the strip-shaped mother glass plate. After being cut to form the single-piece mother glass plate, a part of the single-piece mother glass plate is cut along the oblique direction of the printed pattern. The method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to item 3 of the scope of patent application, wherein, in the partial cutting step, in a state where bending stress is applied to the single-piece mother glass plate, the single-piece mother glass is An initial crack is formed in a part of the glass plate, thereby causing the initial crack to develop along the oblique direction of the printed pattern, thereby cutting a part of the single-piece mother glass plate. The method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein in the second cutting step, the single-piece mother glass plate is irradiated with laser light, and The single-piece mother glass plate is cut to form the glass substrate. The method for manufacturing a glass substrate according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the cutting step includes a transfer step, and the transfer step is formed by the first cutting step. The single sheet mother glass plate moves to the second cutting step.