WO2015190282A1

WO2015190282A1 - Method for cutting reinforced glass plate and device for cutting reinforced glass plate

Info

Publication number: WO2015190282A1
Application number: PCT/JP2015/065076
Authority: WO
Inventors: 山田　淳一
Original assignee: 株式会社Ihi
Priority date: 2014-06-11
Filing date: 2015-05-26
Publication date: 2015-12-17
Also published as: TW201604157A

Abstract

This device (1) for cutting a reinforced glass plate (W) is provided with: a masking unit (2) for masking a front end portion and a rear end portion of the reinforced glass plate (W) on the line to be cut (L) in order to prevent those portions from being irradiated with laser light (C), said front end portion and rear end portion being the front end and rear end of the reinforced glass plate (W) in the direction of movement when the reinforced glass plate (W) moves; a processing table (3) on which the masked reinforced glass plate (W) is placed; an initial crack forming unit (21) that forms an initial crack (10) near the mask of the front end portion of the reinforced glass plate (W) on the line to be cut (L) in the direction of movement; a laser irradiation unit (4) that irradiates the reinforced glass plate (W) with the laser light (C); a coolant injection unit (5) that injects a coolant (R) onto the reinforced glass plate (W); and moving means (6) for moving the reinforced glass plate (W) in a preset direction with respect to the laser irradiation unit (4) and the coolant injection unit (5).

Description

Tempered glass sheet cleaving method and tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus

The present invention relates to a tempered glass sheet cleaving method and a tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus.
This application claims priority based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-120741 filed in Japan on June 11, 2014, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

Generally, it is difficult to cut a tempered glass in which a tempered layer composed of a compressed layer is formed on the surface layer. Therefore, at present, it is a mainstream to cut out the mother glass before the tempering process into a desired shape, perform the tempering process on the cut glass to obtain a tempered glass having a desired shape, and then send it to the subsequent process.

As a method for cutting (cutting) glass, a method using a mechanical wheel is also known, but in recent years, a method using a laser beam is common (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such a technique using laser light, first, an initial crack is formed on the surface of the end portion of the substrate to be processed, which is a brittle material such as glass, using a diamond cutter or the like. Next, the laser beam oscillated from the laser engine is irradiated on the planned cutting line on the substrate surface starting from this initial crack, and the substrate to be processed is moved locally so that the laser beam always strikes, while the cutting target line is localized. Heat to.
Immediately after this heating, the heating area is rapidly cooled by injecting the cooling medium from the cooling medium injection nozzle toward the heating area.

加熱 By such heating and cooling, thermal stress is generated on the substrate to be processed, and tensile stress is applied to the substrate surface. As a result, a stress concentration acts on the notch bottom of the initial crack, and a predetermined stress acts, so that the crack progresses on the surface of the substrate starting from this initial crack, and finally, one line on the planned cutting line. It seems to have put. That is, a scribe line is formed. Therefore, the substrate to be processed can be easily cleaved by applying a bending stress to the scribe line with another apparatus after the step of forming the scribe line called “scribe process”.

Incidentally, tempered glass is used as a cover glass for protecting the display on the outer surface of displays such as smart phones and tablets that have been growing rapidly in recent years. The cover glass has recently been in the direction of being thinner and stronger, and therefore, the thickness of the strengthened layer of the tempered glass is often employed from the viewpoint of being stronger.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-184457

However, when trying to cut out such tempered glass into a desired shape and size, if the tempered glass has a tempered layer thickness of, for example, about 20 μm, a scribe line is formed by scribing using laser light. Therefore, it is possible to cleave, but when the reinforcing layer is thick, it becomes difficult to form an initial crack that is a trigger for cutting with a general cutter wheel.

Also, since the reinforcing layer is subjected to compressive stress, the deeper (thick) the reinforcing layer is, the more the release of the compressive stress is triggered, and the cut quality tends to be adversely affected. In the worst case, the end face of the substrate may be crushed by releasing the compressive stress. Such release of the compressive stress becomes remarkable particularly when the edge of the substrate is irradiated with laser light.

Therefore, in order to obtain a tempered glass having a desired shape and size, as described above, the tempering treatment is performed on the glass having a desired shape and size cut out from the mother glass before the tempering treatment.
However, when a large amount of tempered small glass cut in this way is tempered, the productivity decreases, so after tempering the mother glass directly, the resulting tempered glass (tempered glass) is cleaved. There is a strong demand for the provision of technology.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a tempered glass sheet cleaving method and a tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus capable of directly cleaving tempered glass.

1st aspect of this invention is a cutting method of the tempered glass board which cuts a tempered glass board along the planned cutting line, Comprising: The moving direction at the time of moving the tempered glass board on the planned cutting line of a tempered glass board Masking the tip and rear edges of the glass, forming a crack in the vicinity of the masking of the tip in the direction of movement on the cutting line of the tempered glass plate, and irradiating the tempered glass plate with laser light The process of irradiating a laser beam onto the planned cutting line from the laser beam irradiation source while performing the heat treatment while being moved relative to the source, and cooling the heat-treated portion of the tempered glass plate by the laser beam from the coolant injection source A step of forming a scribe line on the tempered glass plate along the planned cutting line, and a step of cleaving the tempered glass plate along the scribe line.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, in the step of performing masking, the masking performed on the distal end portion in the moving direction when the tempered glass plate is moved is performed so as to cover the distal end surface of the tempered glass plate. At the same time, masking performed on the rear end portion in the moving direction is performed so as to cover the rear end face of the tempered glass plate.

The third aspect of the present invention is the first or second aspect, in the case of cross-cutting the tempered glass plate, set the planned cutting lines on the front surface and the back surface of the tempered glass plate, respectively. The scribe lines are formed along the scribe lines so that the scribe lines formed on the front surface and the scribe lines formed on the back surface do not communicate with each other.

In the fourth aspect of the present invention, in the first to third aspects, in the step of forming the initial crack, the depth of the initial crack is deeper than the thickness of the reinforcing layer of the tempered glass sheet.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a masking portion for performing masking on a front end portion and a rear end portion in a moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass plate, and tempered glass having been subjected to masking. An initial crack forming part for forming an initial crack in the vicinity of masking of the tip part in the moving direction on the cutting line of the tempered glass sheet, and a laser for irradiating the tempered glass sheet with laser light Reinforcement comprising: an irradiation unit; a coolant injection unit for injecting a coolant onto the tempered glass plate; and a moving means for moving the tempered glass plate in a preset direction with respect to the laser irradiation unit and the coolant injection unit. This is a glass plate cleaving device.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the masking portion is configured to cover the front end surface of the tempered glass plate with masking performed on the front end portion in the moving direction when the tempered glass plate is moved. In addition, the masking performed on the rear end portion in the moving direction is configured to cover the rear end face of the tempered glass plate.

According to the method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet of the present invention, the laser beam is prevented from being irradiated to the front end and the rear end in the moving direction when the tempered glass sheet is moved on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass sheet. Therefore, the adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the strengthening layer due to the irradiation of the laser beam on the end portion of the strengthened glass plate can be prevented. Therefore, the tempered glass plate can be directly cleaved.
According to the tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus of the present invention, the front end portion and the rear end portion in the moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass plate are prevented from being irradiated with laser light. Since it has a masking part that performs masking for the purpose, it is possible to prevent the adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the strengthening layer by irradiating the end of the strengthened glass plate with laser light. it can. Therefore, the tempered glass plate can be directly cleaved.

It is a side view showing a schematic structure of one embodiment of a tempered glass board cleaving device concerning the present invention. It is a top view which shows the principal part of a tempered glass board. It is a side view which shows schematic structure of a cleaving apparatus. It is a perspective view of the tempered glass board for explaining the modification of the cleaving method of the tempered glass board concerning the present invention. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 3A. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of the modification of one Embodiment of this invention. It is explanatory drawing of another modification of one Embodiment of this invention.

Hereinafter, with reference to the drawings, a method for cleaving a strengthened glass sheet and a cleaving apparatus for a strengthened glass sheet according to the present invention will be described in detail. In the following drawings, the scale of each member is appropriately changed to make each member a recognizable size.
FIG. 1 is a side view showing a schematic configuration of an embodiment of a tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus according to the present invention. Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 denotes a tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus (hereinafter referred to as a cleaving apparatus). .

This cleaving apparatus 1 is not an apparatus that performs a final full cut in this embodiment, but an apparatus that performs a scribe process for forming a scribe line. The cleaving apparatus 1 includes a masking mechanism 2 (masking part) for masking the tempered glass plate W, a processing table 3 for arranging the tempered glass plate W, and a laser for irradiating the tempered glass plate W with laser light. The irradiation part 4, the coolant injection part 5 which injects a coolant on the tempered glass board W, and the moving mechanism 6 (movement means) which moves the tempered glass board W are provided.

The tempered glass plate W is formed by forming a compressed layer as a reinforced layer in the surface layer portion, having a tensile layer inside the compressed layer, and tempering a general glass by an ion exchange method or the like. In this embodiment, the tempered glass plate W has a relatively thick plate thickness of about 1 to 2 mm, and the tempered layer has a thickness of about 40 μm. However, as the tempered glass plate W to be processed by the cleaving apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the tempered glass plate W having various thicknesses is not limited to the above plate thickness or the thickness of the reinforced layer. It becomes.

The processing table 3 includes a table 3a that holds the tempered glass plate W by being placed thereon, and a conveyance table 3b that holds the table 3a so as to be movable.
The moving mechanism 6 includes a drive unit 7 having a drive source such as a motor disposed on the front side of the processing table 3, and a clamp member (not shown) connected to the drive unit 7 via a connection member (not shown). And comprising. The moving mechanism 6 grips the table 3a with the clamp member and moves the clamp member with the drive unit 7, thereby moving the table 3a in the direction of the arrow P with respect to the fixed conveyance table 3b, and the tempered glass plate W is moved. Move in the direction of arrow P.

As shown in FIG. 2 which is a plan view of the tempered glass sheet W, the masking mechanism 2 is in a moving direction (arrow P direction) when the tempered glass sheet W is moved on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass sheet W. Masking is performed to prevent the front end and the rear end from being irradiated with laser light. As shown in FIG. 1, the masking mechanism 2 includes a front end masking device 2a disposed at the front end in the moving direction of the table 3a and a rear end masking device 2b disposed at the rear end.

The tip masking device 2a includes a mask member 8 that covers the tip portion of the tempered glass plate W in the arrow P direction and is detachably attached thereto, an air cylinder that can move the mask member 8 up and down and move it horizontally. And a movable mechanism 9 comprising: The mask member 8 is an L-shaped member in side view, which is composed of an upper plate 8a that covers the upper surface of the tip of the tempered glass plate W and a side plate 8b that covers the side of the tip, that is, the tip, and is reinforced as shown in FIG. The glass plate W is formed to have a predetermined length around the planned cutting line L. The width of the upper plate 8a is not particularly limited, but is, for example, about several mm, that is, about 2 to 5 mm. As shown in FIG. 1, the side plate 8 b is formed so as to cover the entire region in the thickness direction of the tip surface of the tempered glass plate W.

Such a mask member 8 is covered by the movable mechanism 9 on the tip portion in the direction of the arrow P of the tempered glass plate W so as to prevent irradiation with laser light. The mask member 8 also prevents the propellant from being injected. Here, the mask member 8 is made of a metal plate that reflects laser light such as aluminum or stainless steel, or a composite material in which a reflective material such as aluminum is coated on the surface of a resin plate or the like. The reflection prevents the laser light from being applied to the tip of the tempered glass plate W.

Also, the mask member 8 moves integrally with the movement of the table 3a because the movable mechanism 9 is integrally attached to the table 3a. And after a series of processing with respect to the tempered glass board W is complete | finished, the movable mechanism 9 remove | desorbs the mask member 8 from the tempered glass board W, and separates it, as shown by the dashed-two dotted line in FIG.

The rear-end masking device 2b is also configured in the same manner as the front-end masking device 2a, and includes a mask member 8 that covers the rear end portion in the arrow P direction of the tempered glass plate W and is detachably attached thereto, and a mask member 8. And a movable mechanism 9 composed of an air cylinder or the like that can move up and down and move in the horizontal direction.

The mask member 8 of the rear end masking device 2b also moves integrally with the movement of the table 3a because the movable mechanism 9 is integrally attached to the table 3a. And after a series of processing with respect to the tempered glass board W is complete | finished, the movable mechanism 9 remove | desorbs the mask member 8 from the tempered glass board W, and separates it, as shown by the dashed-two dotted line in FIG. Thereby, the tempered glass sheet W is transferred from the table 3a by the robot arm or the like after the processing is completed.

Moreover, in this embodiment, the initial crack formation part 21 is provided in the conveyance stand 3b of the processing stand 3. FIG. The initial crack forming portion 21 includes, for example, a super steel tool having a sharp tip. As shown in FIG. 2, the initial crack forming portion 21 presses the tip of the initial crack forming portion 21 against a predetermined position of the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass sheet W and pulls it along the planned cutting line L. In addition, an initial crack 10 is formed in the vicinity of the mask member 8 (masking) at the tip on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass sheet W.

Here, the formation position of the initial crack 10 is preferably close to the mask member 8 (masking) at the tip. However, the mask member 8 is formed several mm away from the mask member 8 so that the mask member 8 does not interfere with the initial crack forming portion 21 when the initial crack 10 is formed. In addition, after forming the initial crack 10, you may cover the front-end | tip part of the tempered glass board W with the mask member 8. FIG. However, even in this case, the initial crack 10 is formed so as to be separated from the mask member 8 by about several millimeters because the original function cannot be exhibited if the initial crack 10 is covered with the mask member 8.

That is, such an initial crack forming portion 21 may be provided separately from the processing table 3.
In that case, an initial crack 10 is formed at a preset position with respect to the tempered glass plate W, the tempered glass plate W on which the initial crack 10 is formed is placed on the table 3a, and then the masking mechanism 2 To cover (mask) the front and rear ends of the tempered glass sheet W. At that time, as shown in FIG. 2, the initial crack 10 is formed by the initial crack forming portion 21 so that the initial crack 10 formed earlier is positioned in the vicinity of the mask member 8 of the tip masking device 2a.

As shown in FIG. 1, a laser irradiation unit 4 is disposed above the processing table 3. The laser irradiation unit 4 (laser light irradiation source) is fixedly disposed above the moving table 3a, that is, at a position above the tempered glass plate W disposed on the table 3a, and includes a laser oscillator 11 and a laser oscillator. 11 and an optical system device 12 for guiding the laser light C oscillated from the optical device 11.

As the laser oscillator 11, for example, a carbon dioxide laser oscillator having an output of 100 W to several hundred W is preferably used. However, the laser oscillator 11 having another output range or another oscillation mechanism can also be used. The optical system device 12 includes a mirror, a lens, and the like, and guides and condenses the laser light C oscillated from the laser oscillator 11 to a preset region (heating region).

That is, the laser irradiation unit 4 irradiates the tempered glass plate W locally on the tempered glass plate W held on the table 3a by irradiating the laser beam C on the planned cutting line L shown in FIG. Heat to. Here, the space through which the laser beam C passes between the laser irradiation unit 4 and the tempered glass plate W as shown in FIG. 1 is set as the laser beam passage region 13, and the tempered glass plate W as shown in FIG. The upper region irradiated with the laser beam C is defined as a heating region 14. As shown in FIG. 1, the laser beam passing region 13 irradiates the tempered glass plate W with the laser beam C obliquely from above. Formed to head. As shown in FIG. 2, the heating area 14 is set to a substantially rectangular area that is elongated along the planned cutting line L in the present embodiment. That is, the laser oscillator 11 and the optical system device 12 are configured so that the laser irradiation unit 4 forms the elongated and substantially rectangular heating area 14 as described above.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, above the processing table 3, the coolant injection unit 5 is separated from the laser irradiation unit 4 by a predetermined distance in the moving direction (arrow P direction) of the table 3 a from the laser irradiation unit 4. It is fixedly arranged. The coolant injection section 5 (coolant injection source) includes an injection nozzle 15 that is disposed vertically downward with respect to the processing table 3, a liquid feed pump 16, and a tank 17 that stores the coolant. ing. The coolant injection unit 5 having such a configuration injects a coolant R having fluidity from the injection nozzle 15 toward the tempered glass plate W.

Here, a space through which the coolant R passes between the coolant injection unit 5 and the tempered glass plate W is set as a coolant passage region 18, and the coolant on the tempered glass plate W as shown in FIG. 2. A region where R is injected is referred to as a cooling region 19. In this embodiment, the cooling area 19 is set to a small circular area formed on the planned cutting line L, and is formed and arranged at a predetermined distance from the heating area 14 in the moving direction of the table 3a. The coolant R sprayed from the spray nozzle 15 is formed by rapidly cooling the heating region 14 formed on the tempered glass plate W by the laser irradiation unit 4 and mixing gas such as air into water.

In order to cleave the tempered glass sheet W by the cleaving apparatus 1 having such a configuration, first, the tempered glass sheet W is placed on the table 3 a of the processing table 3, and the leading end portion of the tempered glass sheet W is masked by the masking mechanism 2. And the rear end are masked. That is, as shown in FIG. 2, the front end portion and the rear end portion in the arrow P direction on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass plate W are covered (masked) with the front end masking device 2a and the rear end masking device 2b, respectively. .

Subsequently, or prior to this, the initial crack forming portion 21 is located in the vicinity of the mask member 8 at the front end (or in the vicinity of the position covered by the mask member 8 at the front end) on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass sheet W. Thus, the initial crack 10 is formed. At this time, the initial crack 10 is formed deeper than the tempered layer of the tempered glass sheet W. For example, when the depth (thickness) of the reinforcing layer is 40 μm, it is deeper than 40 μm, for example, about 50 μm. The length of the initial crack 10 is arbitrary, and for example, it is formed to about several hundred μm to 1 mm.

Next, while operating the laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5, the tempered glass plate is moved (moved forward) in the direction of arrow P by the moving mechanism 6 shown in FIG. 1 and masked by the masking mechanism 2. Move W. Thereby, the tempered glass plate W is moved in the arrow P direction with respect to the laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5 that are fixedly arranged.

When the tempered glass plate W is moved in this way, the tip of the tempered glass plate W reaches below the laser beam passage region 13. However, since the tip of the tempered glass plate W is covered (masked) with the mask member 8 of the tip masking device 2a, the laser beam C is reflected by the mask member 8. Therefore, the tip of the tempered glass plate W on the planned cutting line L is prevented from being irradiated with the laser beam C by the mask member 8. That is, the heating by the irradiation with the laser beam C is prevented. As a result, the tempered glass sheet W is prevented from being crushed by the compressive stress of the tempered layer being released by heating at the tip.

The tempered glass plate W is further moved to reach the initial crack 10 below the laser beam passage region 13. Then, the heating zone 14 (see FIG. 2) is formed on and near the initial crack 10 of the tempered glass sheet W, and the initial crack 10 and its vicinity are irradiated with the laser beam C and subjected to heat treatment. At that time, the initial crack 10 of the tempered glass sheet W and the vicinity thereof have not reached the lower part of the coolant passage region 18, and thus the cooling process has not been performed. Therefore, only the heat treatment is performed on the tempered glass sheet W. Initial processing is performed.

Next, as a medium-term process following the initial process, the table 3a is further moved (advanced) by the moving mechanism 6 while the laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5 are operated, and the initial crack 10 and the vicinity thereof are cooled. While reaching the lower part of the passing region 18, the rear part slightly reaches the lower part of the laser beam passing region 13 from the tip part. When the tempered glass plate W is moved in this way, the tip of the tempered glass plate W passes below the coolant passage region 18.

However, since the tip of the tempered glass plate W is covered (masked) by the mask member 8 of the tip masking device 2a, the coolant R is blocked by the mask member 8. Therefore, the coolant member R is also prevented from being directly sprayed by the mask member 8 at the front end portion of the tempered glass plate W on the planned cutting line L. That is, cooling due to the injection of the coolant R is prevented. As a result, the tempered glass plate W is prevented from undergoing extreme temperature changes at the tip.

In addition, although expressed as initial machining and medium-term machining for convenience, the table 3a is moved at a constant speed by the moving mechanism 6 without stopping during the transition from the initial machining to the medium-term machining. Therefore, the heating area 14 heated by the irradiation of the laser beam C and the cooling area 19 cooled by the coolant R continuously move (change) on the tempered glass plate W at a constant speed. That is, the heating zone 14 and the cooling zone 19 continuously move (change) at a constant speed in the direction opposite to the moving direction of the table 3a.

When the coolant R is sprayed on the initial crack 10 of the tempered glass sheet W and in the vicinity thereof and the cooling is performed, the previously heated portion is rapidly cooled. Then, tensile stress is generated on the surface (upper surface) of the tempered glass sheet W due to the heating / cooling action, and stress concentration is generated on the notch bottom of the initial crack 10. Therefore, when a predetermined stress is applied, the breaking line progresses along the planned breaking line L with the initial crack 10 as a starting point. That is, since the depth of the initial crack 10 is deeper than the thickness of the compression layer (strengthening layer) of the tempered glass sheet W and reaches the tensile layer inside the compression layer, stress concentration occurs in the tensile layer, The breaking line will surely progress.

Then, as the final processing following such medium-term processing, the table 3a is further moved (advanced) by the moving mechanism 6 while the laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5 are operated. As a result, the rear end portion of the tempered glass plate W covered (masked) by the mask member 8 of the rear end masking device 2b is sequentially placed below the laser beam passage region 13 and below the coolant passage region 18. And reaches below the laser beam passage region 13 and below the coolant passage region 18. At that time, since the rear end portion of the tempered glass sheet W is covered with the mask member 8 of the rear end masking device 2b, it is not heated by the laser irradiating unit 4 as in the case of the front end portion. There is no rapid cooling by the injection unit 5.

In particular, in the present embodiment, the laser irradiation unit 4 is formed so that the laser light C is directed from the rear end to the front end of the tempered glass plate W, so that the laser light C is directed directly to the rear end surface of the tempered glass plate W. However, in this embodiment, since the rear end face of the tempered glass plate W is covered by the side plate 8b of the mask member 8 of the rear end masking device 2b, the laser beam C is reflected by the mask member 8.

Therefore, at the rear end portion on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass plate W, not only the surface (upper surface) of the tempered glass plate W but also the rear end surface is prevented from being irradiated with the laser beam C by the mask member 8. . That is, the heating by the irradiation with the laser beam C is prevented. As a result, the tempered glass sheet W is prevented from being crushed by the tempered glass sheet W by releasing the compressive stress of the tempered layer by heating even at the rear end. Further, since the coolant R is also prevented from being directly sprayed, the cooling of the tempered glass plate W by the coolant R injection is prevented, and therefore an extreme temperature change is prevented from occurring at the rear end portion. The

In this way, the tempered glass sheet W can be scribed by the planned cutting line L by continuously performing the heating process by the laser irradiation unit 4 and the cooling process by the coolant injection unit 5 along the planned cutting line L. it can. That is, the scribe line can be formed on the planned cutting line L that is exposed without being masked. However, the front end portion and the rear end portion of the tempered glass sheet W covered (masked) by the masking mechanism 2 including the front end masking device 2a and the rear end masking device 2b, that is, the front end portion and the rear end portion of the planned cutting line L. Is maintained in a state where the above-described processing is not performed without being scribed and without being crushed.

When such scribing is completed, the movable mechanisms 9 of the leading edge masking device 2a and the trailing edge masking device 2b are operated, and the mask member 8 is detached from the tempered glass plate W and separated.
Thereafter, the tempered glass plate W is cleaved with the scribe line as a boundary by bending the scribe line of the tempered glass plate W with a bending device (not shown). Thereby, since the length of each front-end | tip part and rear-end part of the tempered glass board W in which the scribe line is not formed is short, it is cleaved with the cleave of the scribe line.

The cutting of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the tempered glass plate W is often made out of the planned cutting line L without being along the planned cutting line L. However, a general glass plate including the tempered glass plate W has a peripheral portion called an “ear”, that is, an area that is a frame-like non-product with a width of about 5 mm to 10 mm, outside the area that becomes the final product. The above-mentioned front end and rear end are located in this non-product area. Therefore, even if the front end portion and the rear end portion of the tempered glass sheet W are deviated from the planned cutting line L, they are eventually cut off to become non-product parts, so that the product area is not affected.

In the cleaving apparatus 1 of the present embodiment, the laser beam C is irradiated to the front end portion and the rear end portion in the moving direction when the tempered glass plate W is moved on the planned cutting line L of the tempered glass plate W. A masking mechanism 2 for performing masking to prevent the occurrence of the masking. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the reinforced layer due to the laser beam C being applied to the end portion of the tempered glass plate W. Therefore, instead of performing the tempering process after cleaving the general glass as in the prior art, the tempered glass sheet W can be directly cleaved.

Further, the front end masking device 2a for masking the front end portion of the tempered glass plate W is configured to cover the front end surface of the tempered glass plate W, and the rear end masking device 2b for masking the rear end portion of the tempered glass plate W is provided. The tempered glass plate W is also configured to cover the rear end surface.
Accordingly, even when the laser irradiation unit 4 is configured so that the laser beam C is incident on the tempered glass plate W at an angle, the laser beam C is irradiated on the front end surface and the rear end surface of the tempered glass plate W. Can be prevented. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the strengthening layer due to the laser beam C being applied to the end face of the strengthened glass plate W.

Further, even in the cleaving method using the cleaving apparatus 1, the laser beam C is applied to the front end portion and the rear end portion in the moving direction when the tempered glass plate W is moved on the cleaving line L of the tempered glass plate W. Masking is performed to prevent irradiation. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the reinforced layer due to the laser beam being applied to the end portion of the tempered glass plate W. Therefore, the tempered glass plate W can be directly cleaved.

Moreover, while performing the masking performed to the front-end | tip part in the movement direction at the time of moving the tempered glass board W so that the front-end | tip surface of the tempered glass board W may also be covered, the masking performed to the rear-end part in a movement direction is carried out. Cover the rear end of the cover. Thereby, it can prevent that the laser beam C is irradiated to the front end surface and rear end surface of the tempered glass board W. Therefore, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the strengthening layer due to the laser beam C being applied to the end face of the strengthened glass plate W.

In addition, since the initial crack 10 is formed deeper than the thickness of the reinforced layer of the tempered glass plate W, stress concentration occurs in the tensile layer inside the compressed layer, so that the cutting line (scribe line) is cut along the planned cutting line L. Can make progress.

In the above embodiment, the masking mechanism 2 is used as the masking unit. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and various methods can be employed for masking.
For example, a vapor deposition apparatus and a sputtering apparatus are integrally incorporated in the cleaving apparatus 1 according to the present invention, and predetermined positions (on the planned cutting line L) of the front end portion and the rear end portion of the tempered glass sheet W are obtained by the vapor deposition apparatus and the sputtering apparatus. The reflective metal may be vapor-deposited or sputtered at a predetermined position) and masked. In addition, such a vapor deposition apparatus and a sputtering apparatus (masking part) are separate from the cleaving apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and are equipped with both the cleaving apparatus 1 and the vapor deposition apparatus and the sputtering apparatus, The cleaving device 1 may be used.

Furthermore, as a masking part, it is good also as a seal sticking apparatus which sticks the resin-made masking seal coated with reflective metals, such as aluminum, to the predetermined position of the front-end | tip part of a tempered glass board W, and a rear-end part. Even in that case, the seal sticking apparatus may be configured integrally with the cleaving apparatus 1 as shown in FIG. 1, and the seal sticking apparatus is separated and includes both the cleaving apparatus 1 and the seal sticking apparatus. The cleaving apparatus 1 may be used.
In addition, you may stick a masking seal | sticker manually, without sticking with a sticker sticking apparatus.

Moreover, in the said embodiment, although the tempered glass board W was moved with the moving mechanism 6 with respect to the laser irradiation part 4 and the coolant injection part 5 which were fixedly arranged, the tempered glass board W was fixed and this fixed strengthening was carried out. The laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5 may be moved with respect to the glass plate W.

Next, the modification of the cutting method of the tempered glass board W which concerns on this invention is demonstrated.
In this modification, the cleaving method using the cleaving apparatus 1 cleaves the tempered glass sheet W into two by one scribe line (breaking line) as shown in FIG. Thus, it is different from the cleaving method using the cleaving apparatus 1 in that it is cleaved into four (or more).
That is, in this modification, as shown in FIG. 3A, which is a perspective view of the tempered glass plate W, the two scribe lines S 1 and the scribe lines S 2 that intersect are not crossed on the same surface of the tempered glass plate W. Formed on the front and back surfaces of the plate W.

As a method of forming each scribe line S1 and scribe line S2, the same method as the formation of the scribe line by the cleaving method by the cleaving apparatus 1 shown in FIG. 1 is adopted. That is, the cutting planned lines L are set on the front and back surfaces of the tempered glass plate W, and the scribe lines S1 (scribe lines S2) are formed along the planned cutting lines L, respectively. At that time, as shown in FIG. 3B, which is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA in FIG. 3A, the scribe line S1 formed on the front surface and the scribe line S2 formed on the back surface are formed so as not to communicate with each other. To do.

In general, a glass plate such as a tempered glass plate W is bent by a bending device or the like if the depth of the scribe line S1 (scribe line S2) is about 15% of the thickness of the glass plate (tempered glass plate W). It is possible to cleave stably. Therefore, also in this modification, if the depth of each scribe line S1 and scribe line S2 is about 15% of the thickness of the tempered glass plate W, the scribe line S1 and scribe line S2 communicate with each other as shown in FIG. 3B. do not do.
The depths of the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 are appropriately set mainly by the irradiation intensity of the laser beam C by the laser irradiation unit 4, that is, the heating condition by the laser irradiation unit 4 in the cleaving apparatus 1 shown in FIG. It can be set by selecting.

That is, also in this modification, when forming each scribe line S1 and scribe line S2, as shown by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3A, the leading end portion (tempered glass plate W) Are masked with a mask M at the front end portion in the moving direction) and the rear end portion (rear end portion in the moving direction of the tempered glass sheet W). This masking is also preferably performed by the masking mechanism 2 shown in FIG. However, as described above, the mask M may be formed by a vapor deposition apparatus, a sputtering apparatus, or a seal sticking apparatus.

When masking is performed in this manner, an initial crack 10 is formed in the vicinity of the mask M (masking) on the front surface and the back surface of the tempered glass sheet W as shown in FIG.

Subsequently, in the same manner as in the above embodiment, one surface (surface) of the tempered glass plate W is continuously subjected to the heat treatment by the laser irradiation unit 4 and the cooling treatment by the coolant injection unit 5 along the planned cutting line L. By doing so, the tempered glass plate W is scribed along the planned cutting line L on one surface of the tempered glass plate W to form a scribe line S1.

Separately or simultaneously, the other surface (back surface) of the tempered glass plate W is continuously subjected to the heat treatment by the laser irradiation unit 4 and the cooling treatment by the coolant injection unit 5 along the planned cutting line L. By doing so, the tempered glass plate W is scribed with the planned cutting line L on the other surface of the tempered glass plate W to form the scribe line S2.

Here, as a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention, when the scribing process on the front surface (one surface) and the scribing process on the back surface (the other surface) of the tempered glass plate W are performed separately, it is shown in FIG. 4A. Such a cleaving apparatus 1 is provided with a holding device 24 (holding tool) for the tempered glass sheet W having a robot arm 23 as shown in FIG. 4B. Then, as shown in FIG. 4B, by lifting the lift pins 22 provided on the table 3a, the tempered glass plate W that has finished scribing the surface (one surface) is lifted from the table 3a, and the tempered glass plate W is By further lifting by the holding device 24, the tempered glass sheet W is separated from the table 3a. Next, as shown in FIG. 4C, the tempered glass sheet W is inverted by this holding device 24 and turned 90 degrees, and after the lift pins 22 are installed on the table 3a returned to the lowered position, as shown in FIG. 4D. The same scribing process is performed by the cleaving device 1. Thereby, the scribe line S1 can be formed on the surface of the tempered glass plate W, and the scribe line S2 can be formed on the back surface. Here, the tempered glass plate W can be installed at a desired position on the table 3a in a desired orientation regardless of the front and back surfaces by the robot arm 23 and the holding device 24.

Further, as another modification of the embodiment of the present invention, when performing scribing on the front surface (one surface) of the tempered glass sheet W and scribing on the back surface (the other surface) at the same time, for example, FIG. As shown in FIG. 5, a cleaving device (upper surface cleaving device 1 A, lower surface cleaving device 1 B) having two sets of each component of the cleaving device 1 is prepared. That is, on one surface (for example, the upper surface) and the other surface (for example, the lower surface) of the processing table 3 on which the tempered glass plate W is disposed, the upper surface laser irradiation unit 41, the upper surface coolant injection unit 51, and the lower surface as illustrated in FIG. The laser irradiation part 42 and the lower surface coolant injection part 52 are respectively arranged.

However, in this cleaving device (upper surface cleaving device 1A, lower surface cleaving device 1B), instead of moving the tempered glass plate W with respect to the laser irradiation unit 4 and the coolant injection unit 5 which are fixedly arranged, tempering is performed. The glass plate W is fixed, and the upper surface laser irradiation unit 41, the lower surface laser irradiation unit 42, the upper surface coolant injection unit 51, and the lower surface coolant injection unit 52 are moved with respect to the fixed tempered glass plate W. That is, the first set of upper surface laser irradiation unit 41 and upper surface coolant injection unit 51 are moved in the first direction with respect to the tempered glass plate W, and the second set of lower surface laser irradiation unit 42 and lower surface coolant injection unit. About the part 52, it moves to the 2nd direction with respect to the tempered glass board W, ie, the direction orthogonal to a 1st direction. Therefore, the cleaving device 1A includes an upper surface moving mechanism 30A that moves the upper surface laser irradiation unit 41 and the upper surface coolant injection unit 51 in the first direction, and the cleaving device 1B includes the lower surface laser irradiation unit 42 and the lower surface coolant injection unit. The lower surface moving mechanism 30 B for moving the 52 in the second direction is provided. The upper surface moving mechanism 30A and the lower surface moving mechanism 30B are not shown. Thereby, the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 perpendicular to the scribe line S1 can be formed simultaneously. In addition, the processing table 3 in the cleaving

apparatuses

1A and 1B of this example holds only the peripheral end portion and the side end surface of the front surface and the back surface of the tempered glass plate W because it is necessary to simultaneously process both the front and back surfaces of the tempered glass plate W.
Here, similarly to the laser irradiation unit 4, the upper surface laser irradiation unit 41 includes a laser oscillator 11 A and an optical device 12 A that guides the laser light C oscillated from the laser oscillator 11 A. The lower surface laser irradiation unit 42 includes a laser oscillator 11B and an optical system device 12B that guides the laser light C oscillated from the laser oscillator 11B.
The upper surface coolant injection unit 51 has the same configuration as the coolant injection unit 5. The lower surface coolant injection unit 52 has the same configuration as the coolant injection unit 5 except that the injection nozzle 15B is arranged vertically upward with respect to the processing table 3.

By the cleaving apparatus (upper surface cleaving apparatus 1A, lower surface cleaving apparatus 1B) provided with two sets of each component of such a cleaving apparatus 1, the upper surface laser irradiation unit 41 and the lower surface are respectively applied to the front and back surfaces of the tempered glass sheet W. The heat treatment by the laser irradiation unit 42 and the cooling treatment by the upper surface coolant injection unit 51 and the lower surface coolant injection unit 52 are continuously performed along the planned cutting line L. As a result, the scribe line S1 can be formed on the front surface (one surface) of the tempered glass plate W, and the scribe line S2 can be formed on the back surface (the other surface).

Accordingly, the tempered glass plate W on which the scribe lines S1 and S2 are formed in this manner is bent on each scribe line by a bending device (not shown), thereby strengthening the scribe lines as boundaries. The glass plate W can be divided into four. That is, it can be cross-cut. Since the vicinity of the intersection of the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 is cleaved along the planned cutting line, a high-quality corner with a ensured linearity is obtained unlike the front end and rear end of the cleaving line. be able to.

Even in the cleaving method of this example, masking is performed to prevent the laser beam C from being applied to the front end and the rear end in the moving direction of the tempered glass sheet W. Thereby, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the reinforced layer due to the laser beam being applied to the end portion of the tempered glass plate W. Therefore, the tempered glass plate W can be directly cleaved.

Further, when cross-cutting the tempered glass sheet W, the planned cutting lines L are set on the front surface and the rear surface of the tempered glass sheet W so that the scribe lines S1 and S2 do not intersect on the same surface of the tempered glass sheet W. . In this way, the scribe lines S1 and S2 are formed along the planned cutting line L so that the scribe lines S1 formed on the front surface and the scribe lines S2 formed on the back surface do not communicate with each other. Thus, each scribe line S1 and scribe line S2 are formed under the same conditions, and further bent along these conditions under the same conditions, thereby cutting (slicing) at the scribe line S1 and cutting at the scribe line S2 ( Cleaving) with the same quality.

That is, for example, when trying to form the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 that intersect with each other on the same surface with respect to the tempered glass plate W, there is a possibility that crushing occurs at the point where these intersect. This is because when the laser beam C is irradiated to form a subsequent scribe line with respect to the previously formed scribe line, the scribe line previously formed near the intersection of the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 is a pseudo end face. This is because when the laser beam C is irradiated here, crushing easily occurs.

Therefore, in order to prevent such crushing, for example, the formation condition of the scribe line S2 to be formed later is changed with respect to the scribe line S1 to be formed first, for example, by lowering the irradiation intensity of the laser beam C, and then formed later. It is conceivable to make the depth of the scribe line S2 shallower than the scribe line S1 formed first.

However, if the scribe line S2 to be formed later is formed shallowly by changing the scribe line formation conditions in this way, when bending along each scribe line S1, the scribe line S2, the bending condition on the scribe line S1 It is necessary to change the bending process conditions on the scribe line S2. However, if the bending conditions are changed for each scribe line in this way, the cutting (cleaving) quality at the scribe line S1 and the cutting (cutting) quality at the scribe line S2 are different.

On the other hand, in this example, as described above, the scribe line S1 and the scribe line S2 are formed on the front surface and the back surface of the tempered glass plate W so as not to intersect with each other on the same surface of the tempered glass plate W, and they communicate with each other. Form so as not to. Therefore, the cutting (cleaving) at the scribe line S1 and the cutting (cutting) at the scribe line S2 can be performed with the same quality. Therefore, the product quality of the obtained tempered glass sheet after cross-cutting can be enhanced.

In the above modification, the case where two intersecting scribe lines are formed has been described. However, the scribe lines to be formed do not intersect with each other on the same plane, and the scribe lines on both the front and back surfaces do not communicate with each other. In this case, three or more scribe lines may be formed on one tempered glass plate W. For example, when it is desired to cut out a rectangular or square tempered glass plate from one tempered glass plate W, two scribe lines are formed in parallel on the surface of the tempered glass plate W and two scribe lines are formed on the rear surface of the tempered glass plate W. Are formed in parallel. If a rectangular or square tempered glass plate is cut out in this way, a tempered glass plate having the same cutting (cleaving) quality can be produced.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, a super steel tool having a sharp tip is used as the initial crack forming portion 21, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, by ablation processing using a short pulse laser. The initial crack 10 may be formed. When such a short pulse laser is used, since the initial crack 10 can be formed in a non-contact manner, the occurrence of microcracks can be suppressed.

According to the tempered glass sheet cleaving apparatus of the present invention, it is possible to prevent an adverse effect on the cut quality due to the release of the compressive stress of the tempered layer caused by irradiating the end portion of the tempered glass sheet with laser light. . Therefore, the tempered glass plate can be directly cleaved.

1 Cleaving device for tempered glass plate 2 Masking mechanism (masking part)
2a Front end masking device 2b Rear end masking device 3 Processing table 4 Laser irradiation unit (laser beam irradiation source)
5 Coolant injection part (coolant injection source)
6 Moving mechanism (moving means)
8 Mask member 14 Heating area 19 Cooling area C Laser light L Split line R Coolant S1 Scribe line S2 Scribe line W Tempered glass plate

Claims

A method of cleaving a tempered glass plate that cleaves a tempered glass plate along a planned cleaving line,
On the cutting planned line of the tempered glass plate, a step of masking the front end portion and the rear end portion in the moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate,
Forming an initial crack in the vicinity of the masking of the tip in the moving direction on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass sheet;
A step of performing a heat treatment by irradiating a laser beam on the planned cutting line from the laser light irradiation source while moving the tempered glass plate with respect to the laser light irradiation source;
Performing a cooling process by injecting a coolant from a coolant injection source to the heat-treated part of the tempered glass sheet by the laser light, and forming a scribe line on the tempered glass sheet along the planned cutting line; ,
Cleaving the tempered glass plate along the scribe line;
A method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet.
In the step of performing the masking, masking performed on the front end portion in the moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate is performed so as to cover the front end surface of the tempered glass plate, and masking performed on the rear end portion in the moving direction, The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 1, which is performed so as to cover a rear end surface of the tempered glass sheet.
When cross-cutting a tempered glass plate, set the planned cutting lines on the front and back surfaces of the tempered glass plate, respectively, and scribe lines along the planned cutting lines respectively on the scribe lines and the back surface formed on the surface. The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein the scribe line is formed so as not to communicate with each other.
When cross-cutting a tempered glass plate, set the planned cutting lines on the front and back surfaces of the tempered glass plate, respectively, and scribe lines along the planned cutting lines respectively on the scribe lines and the back surface formed on the surface. The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 2, wherein the scribe line is formed so as not to communicate with each other.
The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 1, wherein in the step of forming the initial crack, the depth of the initial crack is deeper than the thickness of the tempered layer of the tempered glass sheet.
The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 2, wherein, in the step of forming the initial crack, the depth of the initial crack is deeper than the thickness of the tempered layer of the tempered glass sheet.
4. The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 3, wherein in the step of forming the initial crack, the depth of the initial crack is deeper than the thickness of the tempered layer of the tempered glass sheet.
The method for cleaving a tempered glass sheet according to claim 4, wherein in the step of forming the initial crack, the depth of the initial crack is deeper than the thickness of the tempered layer of the tempered glass sheet.
A masking portion that performs masking on the front end portion and the rear end portion in the moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass plate,
A processing table on which the tempered glass plate subjected to masking is disposed;
An initial crack forming portion that forms an initial crack in the vicinity of the masking of the tip portion in the moving direction on the planned cutting line of the tempered glass plate,
A laser irradiation unit for irradiating the tempered glass plate with a laser beam;
A coolant injection part for injecting a coolant onto the tempered glass plate;
Moving means for moving the tempered glass plate in a preset direction with respect to the laser irradiation unit and the coolant injection unit;
A tempered glass sheet cleaving device.
The masking portion is configured to cover the front end surface of the tempered glass plate in the moving direction when moving the tempered glass plate, and to mask the rear end portion in the moving direction. The cleaving device for a tempered glass sheet according to claim 9, configured to cover a rear end surface of the tempered glass sheet.