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US 8,895,892 B2Granted
Non-contact glass shearing device and method for scribing or cutting a moving glass sheet
AssigneeCorning Incorporated
InventorsSean Matthew Garner, Xinghua Li
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A non-contact glass shearing device and a method are described herein that vertically scribes or cuts a downward moving glass sheet to remove outer edges (beads) from the downward moving glass sheet. In addition, the non-contact glass shearing device and method can horizontally scribe or cut the downward moving glass sheet (without the outer edges) so that it can be separated into distinct glass sheets.
Claims23
A method for removing an outer edge from a moving glass sheet, said method comprising the steps of:
- directing a first laser beam at the moving glass sheet to create a first starter defect in the moving glass sheet at a location spaced from an edge of the glass sheet, wherein the glass sheet has a thickness ≦300 microns, and wherein the first starter defect produces a residual stress field in the glass sheet;
- once the first starter defect has been created, turning off the first laser beam, then moving the glass sheet with the first starter defect, and then directing a second laser beam at the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet while the first laser beam is turned off;
- directing a first stream of liquid at the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet, where the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid create a first vent in the moving glass sheet;
- maintaining the directing of the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid at the moving glass sheet even after the first starter defect has passed to propagate the first vent in the moving glass sheet where the propagated first vent enables removal of the outer edge from the moving glass sheet.
1 more element
A non-contact glass shearing device, said glass shearing device comprising:
- a first RF excited laser unit that directs a first laser beam along a defect initiation path and bypassing a flip mirror which has been moved out of the way so the first laser beam interfaces with the moving glass sheet to create a first starter defect in the moving glass sheet at a location spaced from an edge of the glass sheet;
- said first laser unit is configured to turn off the first laser beam once the first starter defect has been created and, after the glass sheet has been moving, further directs a second laser beam towards the flip mirror which directs the second laser beam towards a tilted mirror which directs the second laser beam on a laser scoring path so the second laser beam interfaces with the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet;
- a first liquid jet that directs a first stream of liquid at the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet, where the first stream of liquid is located within or below a trailing edge of the second laser beam, and where the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid create a first vent in the moving glass sheet while the first laser beam is turned off;
- and
- said first laser unit and said first liquid jet both maintain the directing of the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid at the moving glass sheet after the first starter defect has passed to propagate the first vent in the moving glass sheet where the propagated first vent enables removal of an outer edge from the moving glass sheet.
2 more elements
A non-contact glass shearing device, said glass shearing device comprising:
- a first RF excited laser unit that directs a first laser beam along a defect initiation path to interface with the moving glass sheet and creates a first starter defect in the moving glass sheet at a location spaced from an edge of the glass sheet, wherein the starter defect includes a residual stress field in the glass;
- a second laser unit that once the first starter defect has been created and the glass sheet has been moving further directs a second laser beam along a laser scoring path, downstream from the defect initiation path, to interface with the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet;
- a first liquid jet that directs a first stream of liquid, downstream from the laser scoring path, at the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet, where the first stream of liquid is located within or below a trailing edge of the second laser beam, and where the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid create a first vent in the moving glass sheet;
- after the first starter defect in the moving glass sheet has passed by the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid, the first laser unit directs the first laser beam along the defect initiation path to interface with the moving glass sheet and create another defect in the moving glass sheet, and after the another defect in the moving glass sheet has passed by the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid then the first laser unit directs the first laser beam along the defect initiation path to interface with the moving glass sheet and create yet another defect in the moving glass sheet;
- and
- said second laser unit and said first liquid jet both maintain the directing of the second laser beam and the first stream of liquid at the moving glass sheet after the first starter defect, the another defect, and the yet another defect have passed to propagate the first vent in the moving glass sheet in a controlled manner where the propagated first vent enables removal of an outer edge from the moving glass sheet.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.