Carrier apparatus and methods of processing a carrier apparatus

#The present disclosure relates generally to a carrier apparatus and methods of processing a carrier apparatus and, more particularly, to a carrier apparatus including an article including a coating disposed on the article and methods of processing the carrier apparatus by exposing an exposed portion of the coating to an etchant.

#Glass sheets are commonly used, for example, in display applications, for example liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electrophoretic displays (EPD), organic light emitting diode displays (OLEDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), or the like. Glass sheets are commonly fabricated by flowing molten glass to a forming body whereby a glass ribbon may be formed by a variety of ribbon forming processes, for example, slot draw, float, down-draw, fusion down-draw, rolling, or up-draw. The glass ribbon may then be subsequently divided to provide sheet glass suitable for further processing into a desired display application including, but not limited to, a screen or cover glass for mobile devices, televisions, computers, tablets, and other display monitors.

#There is a demand for high quality glass sheets that include a material deposited on a major surface of the glass sheet to, for example, provide at least one of an abrasion and scratch resistant coating on the glass sheet and increase a strength of the glass sheet to prevent breakage of the glass sheet. The demand extends to glass sheets including planar (e.g., 2D) portions as well as to glass sheets including non-planar (e.g., 3D) portions. Some processes of depositing a material on the glass sheet include handling and transport of the glass sheet. For example, some glass coating deposition technologies include at least one of physical, plasma, and chemical vapor deposition that provides a coating on the glass sheet as the glass sheet is handled and transported during the coating deposition process. The coatings may be optically transparent so as to provide minimal to no interference with or distortion of images that may be displayed on or viewed through the glass sheet. Other techniques may provide a sapphire cover glass to protect the glass sheet from scratches; however, a surface coating provided by depositing a material on the glass sheet that prevents abrasions and scratches on the glass sheet and increases a strength of the glass sheet may provide a more efficient and less expensive glass sheet than, for example, a sapphire cover glass and may, therefore, be employed in a variety of display applications with significant cost savings.

#The above and other features and advantages of embodiments of the present disclosure are better understood when the following detailed description is read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

#FIG. 1 illustrates a plan view of an exemplary article in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure;

#FIG. 2 shows a partial cross-sectional view of the exemplary article along line 2-2 of FIG. 1 in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure;

#Embodiments will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings in which exemplary embodiments are shown. Whenever possible, the same reference numerals are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts. However, claims may encompass many different aspects of various embodiments and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.

#As briefly indicated above, in various embodiments there are provided methods and apparatus for processing an article. Embodiments of articles may include silicon wafers, ceramic sheets, glass-ceramic sheets, and glass sheets. That is, in some embodiments, the articles may include glass, glass-ceramic, ceramic, silicon, or combinations thereof. When glass-ceramic, such materials include those produced through controlled crystallization of glass. In some embodiments, glass-ceramics have about 30% to about 90% crystallinity. Examples of suitable glass-ceramics may include Li2O—Al2O3—SiO2 system (i.e., LAS-System) glass-ceramics, MgO—Al2O3—SiO2 system (i.e., MAS-System) glass-ceramics, ZnO×Al2O3×nSiO2 (i.e., ZAS system), and/or glass-ceramics that include a predominant crystal phase including β-quartz solid solution, β-spodumene, cordierite, and lithium disilicate. In some embodiments, the glass-ceramic substrates may be strengthened using the chemical strengthening processes disclosed herein. In some embodiments, MAS-System glass-ceramic substrates may be strengthened in Li2SO4 molten salt, whereby an exchange of 2Li+ for Mg2+ may occur. In some embodiments, the article may include a sheet of glass such as a sheet containing glass or a sheet substantially or entirely fabricated from glass. The glass, if provided, may include a variety of glass compositions including, but not limited to, soda-lime glass, borosilicate glass, alumino-borosilicate glass, an alkali-containing glass, or an alkali-free glass. In some embodiments, the glass may be thermally or chemically strengthened and, when chemically strengthened, the strengthening may be ion-exchange strengthening. Features of the carrier apparatus discussed below will be described with reference to one or more glass sheets that may be incorporated as part of the carrier apparatus with the understanding that, unless otherwise noted, articles other than glass sheets may likewise be incorporated as part of the carrier apparatus.

#Manufacturers of glass sheets (e.g., for use in liquid crystal displays “LCDs,” electrophoretic displays “EPD,” organic light emitting diode displays “OLEDs,” plasma display panels “PDPs”) often heat treat and/or chemically strengthen the glass sheets to improve or modify their properties. In some embodiments, a device is provided for supporting an article (e.g., a glass sheet) during processing. As may be appreciated, a glass sheet according to various embodiments may include one or more edges. For example, a glass sheet may be provided that has four edges and a generally square, rectangular, trapezoidal, parallelogram or other shape. In some embodiments, a round, oblong, or elliptical glass sheet may be provided that has one continuous edge. Other glass sheets having two, three, five, etc. edges may also be provided and are contemplated as being within the scope of the disclosure. Glass sheets of various sizes, including varying lengths, heights, and thicknesses, are also contemplated within the scope of the disclosure. In some embodiments, a nominal thickness (i.e., the thickness “t” discussed below and illustrated in the figures) of a central portion of the glass sheet may be less than or equal to about 3 mm, for example, from about 30 μm to about 3 mm, from about 30 μm to about 2 mm, from about 30 μm to about 1.5 mm, from about 30 μm to about 1 mm, from about 30 μm to about 750 μm, from about 30 μm to about 500 μm, from about 30 μm to about 400 μm, from about 30 μm to about 300 μm, from about 30 μm to about 200 μm, from about 30 μm to about 100 μm, from about 30 μm to about 50 μm, and all ranges and subranges of thicknesses therebetween.