JP2000233936A - Glass cutting device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent the flowing in of a refrigerant to a heating section by holding a blowing angle θ1 of a nozzle to a glass sheet at a specific angle with the moving direction of the glass sheet when cutting the glass by heating the glass sheet moving in one direction by irradiation with a laser beam and cutting the glass by blowing the refrigerant to the glass sheet on the downstream side of the heating section and rapidly cooling the glass sheet. SOLUTION: The nozzle 5 is lined up in one row in the moving direction (X direction) of an optical system 2 and the glass sheet 1. The nozzle 5 is freely tiltable around a fulcrum. The blowing angle θ1 to the X direction on the glass sheet is held at 75 to 120 deg., by which the blown refrigerant jet is prevented from adversely affecting the heating section. The use of two units of the nozzles is also preferable. The nozzles are so installed as to blow the refrigerant jets from both sides demarcating the line of the irradiation with the laser. The blowing angles to the glass surface are held at 30 to 85 deg. equal to each other. The respective refrigerant jets are negated by each other and do not flow into a beam spot region.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass cutting apparatus for dividing a glass plate by irradiating a laser beam.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art PCT Patent No. WO 93
/ 20015 (Tokuhyo Hei 8-509947) entitled "Division of non-metallic materials", which will be briefly described with reference to FIG. The glass plate 1 moving in the direction of the arrow is irradiated with an elliptical laser beam spot 3 by an optical system 2 for irradiating a laser, and a portion (cooling portion) 4 behind the beam spot 3 is Blows a refrigerant jet. When the portion heated by the laser irradiation is rapidly cooled next, thermal distortion (stress) is generated inside the glass, and the glass plate 1 is divided along the laser irradiation line Q.

[0003]

In order to generate a large thermal strain (stress), there is an optimum position in the interval l from the rear edge of the beam spot 3 to the front edge of the cooling portion 4. However, when the inclination was increased, the scattered water jet flowed into the heated area, which prevented heating by laser irradiation.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a glass cutting apparatus provided with a nozzle that does not allow a coolant to flow into a heating portion even when a beam spot and a cooling portion are brought close to each other.

[0005]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a glass plate moving in one direction is heated by irradiating a laser beam to a glass plate moving in one direction, and the glass plate is moved downstream of the heated portion. In a glass cutting device that cuts a glass plate by spraying a coolant using a nozzle and rapidly cooling it,
The spray angle θ1 of the nozzle with respect to the glass plate is set to 75 ° to 120 ° with respect to the moving direction of the glass plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, a glass plate moving in one direction is heated by irradiating a laser beam to the glass plate, and a coolant is provided downstream of the heated portion by using a nozzle. In a glass cutting apparatus for dividing a glass plate by spraying and rapidly cooling, the nozzles are provided on both sides of the dividing line.

[0007]

FIG. 2 shows a first embodiment of the present invention, in which one nozzle 5 is used. The nozzle 5
As in the case of FIG. 1, the moving direction of the optical system 2 and the glass plate 1
(X direction). The nozzle 5 is provided so as to be tiltable about an arbitrary fulcrum, and the spray angle θ1 with respect to the X direction on the glass plate is maintained in a range of 75 ° to 120 °. It was found that when the installation angle of the nozzle 5 was within this range, the sprayed refrigerant jet did not adversely affect the heating at the heating site.

As a holding mechanism for the nozzle 5, a multi-axis moving mechanism of up to five axes as shown below is provided. First, the mutual relationship among the five axes is shown in FIG. X-axis movement, which is the movement direction when processing the glass plate 1, X
Y-axis movement orthogonal to the axis movement on the work surface, Z-axis movement perpendicular to the surface of the glass plate 1, Y with the Y-axis as the axis center of the rotation axis
There are a total of five elements: (θ) movement and Z (θ) movement with the Z axis as the axis of the rotation axis.

FIG. 4 is a front view showing the first embodiment in the first mode. At the time of processing, the glass plate 1 moves in the X direction, and a suitable holding member 11 is provided on the downstream side of the optical system 2, and the disk 12 is movable at the lower end thereof by Y (θ). Is provided so as to be rotatable as a rotation surface. The nozzle 5 is fixed to a predetermined portion of the disk 12. By setting the holding member 11 at a predetermined position, the distance l (the distance from the rear edge of the beam spot 3 to the front edge of the cooling portion 4) and the distance from the nozzle tip to the glass surface shown in FIG. adjust. In the first embodiment,
It has one movement element of Y (θ) movement.

FIG. 5 is a front view showing a second embodiment in the first mode, and the same elements as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals. An X-direction moving mechanism 13 is provided at the lower end of the holding member 11 so as to be movable in the X direction.
A disk 12 to which the nozzle 5 is fixed is provided at a predetermined portion of the direction moving member 13 so as to be movable by Y (θ). The distance l can be set freely by moving the X-direction moving mechanism 13. The second embodiment has two moving elements of Y (θ) movement and X movement.

FIG. 6 is a front view showing a third embodiment in the first mode, and FIG. 7 is a side view thereof. In the third embodiment, the Z-axis moving mechanism 14 is interposed between the holding member 11 and the X-direction moving mechanism 13 with respect to FIG. The distance from the tip to the glass surface can be adjusted. The third embodiment has three moving elements of Y (θ) movement, X movement, and Z movement.

FIG. 8 is a front view showing a fourth embodiment of the first aspect, and FIG. 9 is a side view thereof. The fourth embodiment is different from FIG. 6 in that a Y-axis moving mechanism 15 is interposed between a Z-axis moving mechanism 14 and an X-axis moving mechanism 13. ,
The nozzle 5 is located immediately above the laser irradiation line Q shown in FIG.
Nozzle port can be located. The fourth embodiment has four movement elements of Y (θ) movement, X movement, Z movement, and Y movement.

FIG. 10 is a front view showing a fifth embodiment of the first aspect, and FIG. 11 is a side view thereof. The fifth embodiment includes a Z (θ) moving mechanism 16 for moving the disk 12 by Z (θ) with respect to the X-axis moving mechanism 13, and the laser irradiation is performed by the movement of the Z (θ) moving mechanism 16. The nozzle port of the nozzle 5 can be located directly above the line Q of the above. In the fifth embodiment, Y (θ) movement,
It has five movement elements of X movement, Z movement, Y movement, and Z (θ) movement.

FIG. 12 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, in which two nozzles such as 5, 5 'are used. These nozzles 5, 5 'are installed so as to blow a coolant jet from both sides with respect to a laser irradiation line Q. Nozzle 5 for glass surface
The spray angles θ2 and θ2 ′ of 5 ′ are equal to each other, and
° to 85 °. FIG. 13 is a diagram viewed from above, and when viewed from above, the angle θ3 between the nozzles 5 and 5 ′ (the angle formed on the downstream side) is 3 as shown in FIG.
A wide range of 0 ° to 330 ° is possible.

As shown in FIG. 14, the nozzles 5, 5 '
Can be installed on the upstream side (upper side in the figure) of the optical system 2, and since the respective coolant jets are canceled each other and flow downstream, the above-described beam is obtained even if the above-mentioned interval l is made smaller. It does not flow into the spot area.

As a holding mechanism of the nozzles 5, 5 'used in this embodiment, any of the mechanisms shown in FIGS. 4 to 11 and any of the FIGS. 4 to 9 in which a Z (θ) moving mechanism is added. Mechanism can be adopted. As a mechanism for manually setting the nozzles 5 and 5 'to an arbitrary angle, a swingable mechanism 22 using a ball ball 21 as shown in FIG. 15 can also be used.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a second embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention. The difference in the amount of the refrigerant jet sprayed between the nozzle 5 and the nozzle 5 'allows the refrigerant spray condition to be adjusted. There is a difference. As a result, the cooling rates differ on both sides of the laser irradiation line Q, so that the formed vertical cracks are inclined to one side, which is suitable for cutting out a region along a closed curve. Another technique for providing a difference in the refrigerant spraying conditions is the temperature of the refrigerant, the cooling capacity (c
al / min), mass flow rate per unit time (kg / min), etc., and by making these conditions different, the cooling rate is different on both sides of the laser irradiation line Q, resulting in the formation of inclined vertical cracks and Suitable for cutting out areas along closed curves.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view showing a third embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention, in which the spraying angles θ2, θ2 ′ of the nozzles 5, 5 ′ are different from each other so that the installation conditions are different. In this case, too, the cooling rates are different on both sides of the laser irradiation line Q, so that it is suitable for forming inclined vertical cracks and cutting out a region along a closed curve. As another method for making the installation conditions different from each other, in FIG. 13, at the angle θ3 formed by the two nozzles 5 and 5 ′, the respective angles θ with respect to the irradiation line Q
3a and θ3b may be different from each other. Further, it is also possible to use both different installation conditions and different spraying conditions described above.

In the fourth embodiment according to the second aspect of the present invention, a coolant jet is blown from one nozzle 5, and air is blown from the other nozzle 5 'so that the coolant jet can be guided, for example, downstream. According to this configuration, the usage amount of the refrigerant jet can be reduced. The refrigerant may be an inert gas such as nitrogen, carbon dioxide, helium or the like in addition to the jet of a mixture of water and gas.

[0020]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, the spray angle of the nozzle is set to 75 ° to 120 ° with respect to the moving direction of the glass plate. In addition, the sprayed refrigerant jet does not adversely affect the heating at the heating portion. In the second aspect of the present invention, the nozzles are provided on both sides of the dividing line, and the flow of the refrigerant from one nozzle is controlled by the flow of the refrigerant from the other nozzle, or is canceled. Eliminates inflow.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a conventional glass cutting method using laser irradiation.

FIG. 2 is a view of a glass cutting apparatus showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a relationship between axes in a five-axis moving mechanism.

FIG. 4 is a front view of the glass cutting apparatus showing the first embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a glass cutting device showing a second embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 6 is a front view of a glass cutting device showing a third embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 7 is a side view of a glass cutting device showing a third embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 8 is a front view of a glass cutting device showing a fourth embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 9 is a side view of a glass cutting device showing a fourth embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 10 is a front view of a glass cutting device showing a fifth embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 11 is a side view of a glass cutting device showing a fifth embodiment of the first aspect.

FIG. 12 is a view of a glass cutting apparatus showing a first embodiment of a second aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a view of the glass cutting apparatus of FIG. 12 as viewed from above.

14 is a diagram showing an angle range of an angle θ3 in FIG.

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing a nozzle holding mechanism according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 16 is a view of a glass cutting apparatus showing a second embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a view of a glass cutting apparatus showing a third embodiment of the second aspect of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Glass plate 2 Optical system 3 Beam spot 4 Cooling part 5 Nozzle 11 Holding member 12 Disk 13 X-direction moving mechanism 14 Z-axis moving mechanism 15 Y-axis moving mechanism 16 Z (θ) moving mechanism Q Laser irradiation line

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Hiroso Haraguchi 14-7 Koroen, Settsu-shi, Osaka Samsung Diamond Industry Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Masato Matsumoto 14-7 Koroen, Settsu-shi, Osaka Samsung Diamond Monde 4G015 FA06 FB01 FC04 FC11 FC14

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A glass cutting machine that irradiates a glass plate moving in one direction with a laser beam and heats it, and blows a coolant using a nozzle at a downstream side of the heated portion to rapidly cool the glass plate to cut the glass plate. In the apparatus, the spray angle θ1 of the nozzle to the glass plate is set to 75 ° to 120 ° with respect to the moving direction of the glass plate. 2. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a one-axis moving / rotating mechanism that allows the nozzle to rotate or tilt about a fulcrum. 3. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a one-axis moving / rotating mechanism.
The glass cutting apparatus according to the above. 4. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a two-axis moving / rotating mechanism.
The glass cutting apparatus according to the above. 5. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a three-axis moving / rotating mechanism.
The glass cutting apparatus according to the above. 6. The apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising a four-axis moving / rotating mechanism.
The glass cutting apparatus according to the above. 7. A glass cutting device that irradiates a glass plate moving in one direction with a laser beam and heats it, and blows a coolant using a nozzle at a downstream side of the heated portion to rapidly cool the glass plate, thereby cutting the glass plate. In the apparatus, the nozzle is provided on both sides of the dividing line, respectively. 8. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the spray angle θ2 of the nozzle with respect to the glass plate is 30 to 85 °, and the angle θ3 between the two cooling nozzles when viewed from above is 30 ° to 330 °. . 9. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the glass sheet is divided by providing different conditions for spraying the refrigerant between the two nozzles and / or by setting different installation conditions. 10. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the dividing line is a closed curve. 11. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 8, wherein a coolant is blown from one nozzle and air is blown from the other nozzle to guide the coolant in a predetermined direction. 12. A glass cutting machine which irradiates a laser beam onto a glass plate moving in one direction and heats it, and blows a coolant using a nozzle at a downstream side of the heated portion to rapidly cool the glass plate, thereby cutting the glass plate. In the method, the nozzles are provided on both sides of the dividing line, respectively, and a spray angle θ2 of the nozzles with respect to a glass plate is set to 30 °.
A glass cutting method, characterized in that inclined vertical cracks are generated by setting a difference in the condition of spraying the refrigerant between the two nozzles and / or setting different installation conditions. 13. The glass cutting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the refrigerant is a gas or a mixture of a gas and a liquid. 14. The glass cutting method according to claim 12, wherein the refrigerant is a gas or a mixture of a gas and a liquid.