A method for separating a portion from a sheet glass element having a thickness of at least 2 millimeters along an intended separation line that divides the sheet glass element into the portion and a remaining main part is provided. The method includes producing filamentary damages comprising sub-micrometer hollow channels in a volume of the glass sheet element adjacently aligned along the separation line; and heating and/or cooling the glass sheet element to cause expansion and/or contraction so that the portion detaches from the main part along the separation line. The portion and the remaining main part each remain intact as a whole. The step of producing the filamentary damages includes generating a plasma within the volume with laser pulses of an ultrashort pulse laser; and displacing points of incidence of the laser pulses over a surface of the glass sheet element along the separation line.

Provided is a method comprises: continuously forming an elongated, glass film having marginal portions from molten glass into a given shape having two marginal portions, in width-directional opposite edge regions thereof, wherein the glass film having marginal portions has the marginal portions, and an effective portion formed in a width-directional central region of the glass film having marginal portions; annealing the glass film having marginal portions; continuously forming resin tapes on the glass film having marginal portions at positions adjacent to and away by a given distance from the respective marginal portions, to extend in a length direction of the glass film having marginal portions; and continuously removing each of the marginal portions from the glass film having marginal portions, along a position between the marginal portion and a corresponding one of the resin tapes, or at a given width-directional position within the corresponding resin tape.

A method of manufacturing a window and a window manufactured by the same are provided. A method of manufacturing a window includes laser cutting a base glass into a preliminary window using first laser light, irradiating, with second laser light, a point spaced apart from an edge of the preliminary window at a first distance, and providing a window including a flat portion and an edge portion by wet etching the preliminary window irradiated with the second laser light. A method of manufacturing a window having a chamfer shape at the edge portion is facilitated.

At the time of performing manufacture-related processing on a glass film (G1) with a manufacture-related-processing unit (9) while conveying the glass film (G1) with a belt conveyor (22d), the belt conveyor (22d) is configured to be capable of attracting the glass film (G1) to the belt (23d) on an upstream side in a conveyance direction of the glass film (G1) with respect to the manufacture-related-processing unit (9), and the belt conveyor (22d) is configured to be capable of changing attraction forces (P11 and P12) with respect to the glass film (G1) in a conveyance direction (X) of the glass film (G1).

Provided is a method of producing a glass roll including: a conveying step of conveying a glass film (G) along a longitudinal direction thereof; a cutting step of irradiating the glass film (G) with a laser beam (L) from a laser irradiation apparatus (19) while conveying the glass film (G) by the conveying step, to thereby separate the glass film (G) into a non-product portion (Gc) and a product portion (Gd); and a take-up step of taking up the product portion (Gd) into a roll shape, to thereby form a glass roll (R). The cutting step includes a step of winding a thread-like peeled material (Ge) generated from an end portion of the product portion (Gd) in a width direction around a rod-shaped collecting member (23), and leading the wound thread-like peeled material (Ge) in a predetermined conveying direction (PX) by a leading device (24).

A method of manufacturing a glass sheet includes: an initial crack forming step of forming an initial crack on a mother glass sheet (MG); and a cleaving step of causing a crack (CR) to propagate in a direction along a preset cleaving line (CL) and in a thickness direction of the mother glass sheet (MG), the crack starting from the initial crack, through use of a thermal stress generated by heating of an irradiation region (SP) of laser light (L) and cooling of a cooling region (CP). The cleaving step includes heating a surface layer (SL) and an inner portion (IL) of the mother glass sheet (MG) with the laser light (L) in the irradiation region (SP) and setting a difference ΔT between a highest temperature in the irradiation region (SP) and a lowest temperature in the cooling region to 575° C. or more.

This method includes a laser irradiation step of radiating, in at least a part of a preset cleaving line (CL) of a mother glass sheet (MG), laser light (L) to a position (OSP) separated from the preset cleaving line (CL) so that a crack (CR2) propagates along the preset cleaving line (CL).

A method for processing a transparent workpiece includes forming a contour of defect in the transparent workpiece and separating the transparent workpiece along the contour using an infrared laser beam. During separation, the method also includes detecting a position and propagation direction of a crack tip relative to a reference location and propagation direction of an infrared beam spot, determining a detected distance and angular offset between the crack tip and the reference location of the infrared beam spot, comparing the detected distance to a preset distance, comparing the detected angular offset to a preset angular offset, and modifying at least one of a power of the infrared laser beam or a speed of relative translation between the infrared laser beam and the transparent workpiece in response to a difference between the detected distance and the preset distance and between the detected angular offset and the preset angular offset.

A cleaving assembly and a method for cleaving a glass body having a face at a desired angle greater than 0 degrees are disclosed. The assembly comprises a laser device for emitting a laser beam, a rotating device, and a positioning fixture. The rotating device has a head that rotates about a central axis that is orthogonal to the laser beam. The positioning fixture is operatively mounted to the head and centered axially along the central axis and is also rotatably driven by the rotating device. The positioning fixture has a tapered surface that is transverse to the central axis and that supports the glass body at a predetermined angle relative to the central axis. Rotation of the positioning fixture about the central axis when the glass body is exposed to the laser beam, cleaves the face of the glass body at the desired angle due to the glass body being supported transverse to the central axis.

A method is disclosed for dividing a composite material in which a brittle material layer and a resin layer are laminated, including: a resin removing step of irradiating the resin layer with a laser beam oscillated from a first laser source along a scheduled dividing line of the composite material to form a processing groove along the scheduled dividing line; a brittle material removing step of irradiating the brittle material layer with a laser beam oscillated from an ultrashort pulsed laser source along the scheduled dividing line to form a processing mark along the scheduled dividing line; and a brittle material layer dividing step of generating thermal stress in the brittle material layer by irradiating the brittle material layer with a laser beam oscillated from a second laser source from the opposite side to the resin layer to thereby divide the brittle material layer.