Method and apparatus for processing sapphire
AssigneeGt Crystal Systems, LLC
InventorsJames N. Highfill, Scott Huard
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of producing a sapphire product from a suitable precursor material is disclosed. The method comprising the steps of placing a sapphire product precursor on a support apparatus of a crystalline material processing assembly further comprising at least one cutting tool and two or more x-ray module fixedly positioned around the product precursor. The support apparatus can be tilted and rotated in order to align the crystalline plane orientations to a fixed cutting direction, and the sapphire product can be produced by cutting in that direction.
Claims18
A method of producing a sapphire product comprising the steps of:
- i) providing a sapphire product precursor having a first crystalline plane orientation and a second crystalline plane orientation;
- ii) providing a crystalline material processing assembly comprising
- a) at least one cutting tool configured to cut the sapphire product precursor along a fixed cutting direction;
- b) a first x-ray module fixedly positioned at a first angle relative to the fixed cutting direction and configured to determine alignment of the first crystalline plane of the sapphire product precursor to the fixed cutting direction;
- c) a second x-ray module fixedly positioned at a second angle relative to the fixed cutting direction and configured to determine alignment of the second crystalline plane of the sapphire product precursor to the fixed cutting direction;
- and
- d) a support apparatus for the sapphire product precursor tiltable and rotatable relative to the fixed cutting direction;
- iii) placing the sapphire product precursor on the support apparatus in a position to be cut by the cutting tool along the fixed cutting direction;
- iv) establishing alignment of the first crystalline plane and of the second crystalline plane of the sapphire product precursor with the fixed cutting direction;
- and
- v) cutting the sapphire product precursor along the fixed cutting direction to produce the sapphire product.
A crystalline material processing assembly for producing a sapphire product from a sapphire product precursor having a first crystalline plane orientation and a second crystalline plane orientation, the crystalline material processing assembly comprising:
- a) at least one cutting tool configured to cut the sapphire product precursor along a fixed cutting direction;
- b) a first x-ray module fixedly positioned at a first angle relative to the fixed cutting direction and configured to determine alignment of the first crystalline plane of the sapphire product precursor to the fixed cutting direction;
- c) a second x-ray module fixedly positioned at a second angle relative to the fixed cutting direction and configured to determine alignment of the second crystalline plane of the sapphire product precursor to the fixed cutting direction;
- and
- d) a support apparatus for the sapphire product precursor tiltable and rotatable relative to the fixed cutting direction;
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.