Method and apparatus for breaking brittle materials
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsRoger A. Allaire, Harry E. Menegus, Bruce H. Raeder, Harrie J. Stevens
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Abstract
A glass breaking system is provided for breaking large sheets of glass into small sheets, in which a laser beam having an elongated beam spot shape, with a largest dimension which is at least 20 mm, more preferably at least 30 mm, and most preferably at least 40 mm, is moved across a glass sheet to produce a partial crack score line. The glass sheet is then separated along the score line by applying a bending moment in the area of the partial crack.
Claims22
A method for separating flat glass sheets comprising:
- moving a laser beam across a glass sheet having a thickness of 2 mm or less to draw a crack across said sheet, said laser beam moving in a direction of travel and having an elongated beam spot where it impinges on said glass sheet, said beam spot having a width and length dimension, the length of the spot being longer than the width of the spot, the length dimension being greater that 20 mm, said length dimension aligned with said direction of travel;
- and
- separating said sheet along said crack.
A method for separating glass substrates for use in flat panel display applications having a thickness between 0.4 and 3.0 mm, comprising:
- providing a flat glass sheet having a thickness between about 0.4 and 3.0 mm;
- using a laser having at least 90 watts of power, forming a laser beam;
- and moving said laser beam across said glass sheet at a speed of at least 300 mm/second, said laser beam having an elongated beam spot where it impinges on said glass sheet, said beam spot having length and width dimension, said length dimension being greater than 30 mm, wherein said moving is sufficient to draw a crack across said glass sheet, and separating said sheet along said crack.
A method for breaking flat glass sheets comprising:
- moving a laser beam across a glass sheet to thereby lead a partial depth crack across said sheet in a desired line of separation, said laser beam being dominantly in a ring mode, with a central region thereof being hollow, said beam having an elongated beam spot where it impinges on said glass sheet, said beam spot having a length and width dimension, the length dimension being greater than 20 mm, and aligned with said line of separation;
- and separating said sheet along said crack.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.