Method and device for cutting out hard-brittle substrate

Abstract

To cut out a hard-brittle substrate by blasting, laying out substrates 2 on a plate material 1 made of a hard-brittle material with leaving a space for blasting; forming first protective films 4 on both surfaces of the plate material 1 at layout positions of the substrates 2; and forming second protective films 5 on both surfaces of a margin 3 of the plate material 1 with leaving a space with respect to the first protective films 4 and having outer edges from a periphery of the plate material 1 at a width of 5 mm or less; cutting regions 6 between the films 4, 4 and between the films 4, 5 from one surface of the plate material 1 to a depth of approximately half of a thickness thereof by blasting, then cutting from the other surface of the plate material 1 until the plate material 1 is penetrated.

Claims

1. A device for cutting out a hard-brittle substrate wherein a plurality of substrates to be cut out from a plate material made of a hard-brittle material is laid out on the plate material with leaving a space which is required for cutting by blasting; first protective films with blast-resistant property are formed on each of front and back surfaces of the plate material at a position where each of the substrates is laid out; second protective films with blast-resistant property are formed on outer edges of the substrates with leaving a space which is required for cutting by blasting; a margin of the plate material is covered so that an exposed width in a peripheral portion of the plate material is equal to or less than 5 mm thereby the plate material is a subject to be processed; the device comprising: a plate material suspension jig including a suction fixing plate for fixing by suction the front surface of the plate material and holding the plate material fixed by suction to the suction fixing plate in a state that the plate material is floated in midair; a first ejection nozzle for back surface processing configured to eject abrasives to the back surface of the plate material suspended by the plate material suspension jig; a plate material mounting jig for mounting the plate material after blasting from the back surface of the plate material; the plate material mounting jig including: a plurality of suction fixing bases for substrates with plane shapes corresponding to the substrates to be cut out, configured to fix by suction and mount thereon portions which are covered with the first protective films in the back surface of the plate material; and a margin base disposed at an outer periphery position of a group of the plurality of suction fixing bases for substrates, configured to mount thereon the portions which are covered with the second protective film in the plate material; and a second ejection nozzle for front surface processing configured to eject abrasives to the front surface of the plate material mounted on the plate material mounting jig.

2. The device for cutting out a hard-brittle substrate according to claim 1, wherein the plate material suspension jig includes an up-and-down movement mechanism and a horizontal movement mechanism for the suction fixing plate, the plate material mounting jig includes a traveling mechanism, and the device further comprises a control unit to cause the units to perform operation in which: the plate material suspension jig lowers the suction fixing plate from a starting position thereof and causes the suction fixing plate to fix by suction the plate material placed below the starting position; then the plate material suspension jig moves horizontally with the suction fixing plate moved up thereby to pass above the first ejection nozzle for back surface processing configured to eject the abrasive; then the plate material suspension jig moves to a position above the plate material mounting jig, lowers the suction fixing plate at the position thereby to mount the plate material on the plate material mounting jig, and thereafter release the suction by the suction fixing plate; and the plate material mounting jig starts to fix by suction the plate material, and travels and passes below the second ejection nozzle for front surface processing configured to eject the abrasive.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

(1) The objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments thereof provided in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1 is a plane view of a plate material made of a hard-brittle material;

(3) FIG. 2 is an explanation drawing of a cutout device of the present invention;

(4) FIG. 3 is a bottom view of a suction fixing plate;

(5) FIG. 4 is a plane view of a plate material mounting jig;

(6) FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken along line V-V in FIG. 4;

(7) FIG. 6 is a side view of the plate material mounting jig;

(8) FIG. 7 is an explanation drawing showing dispositions of the plate material and ejection nozzles; and

(9) FIG. 8 is a plane view of a mother glass used to cut out a substrate by blasting (an example of failure).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

(10) Next, embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Workpiece

(11) In the present invention, a workpiece as a subject to be processed is a plate material formed of a material which may be easily cracked and fractured by impact during processing, as a result of having the brittleness of being lacking in toughness or doing the like although it is hard.

(12) Examples of such a material include glass, quartz, ceramics and sapphire, and any of these is a subject to be cut out by the present invention, and may be expected to be used particularly for a glass substrate to be industrially mass-produced as a substrate for a personal digital assistant or a panel display, a substrate for a hard disk, and the like.

(13) Further, such glass is not particularly limited, however, soda glass, soda lime glass, alkali glass, non-alkali glass, and high-strain-point glass which are used in substrates for flat panel displays, aluminosilicate glass and crystallized glass, which are used in substrates for hard disks, borosilicate glass (heat-resistant glass), potash glass, crystal glass, quartz glass, tempered glass and the like may be a subject to be polished by the present invention.

(14) Although the cutout of a substrate generally involves subjecting large-sized glass called mother glass as it is to manufacture without cutting the mother glass, for example, glass plates obtained by dividing the mother glass into a predetermined number of portions may be further cut out into individual substrates.

Formation of Protective Film

(15) The substrates 2 to be cut out are laid out by blanking (plate cutting) on the plate material 1 of the hard-brittle material and the first and second protective films 4, 5 are formed on each of the front and back surfaces of the plate material 1 according to layout positions of the substrates 2 determined by the blanking.

(16) The shape of the substrate 2 to be cut out from the plate material 1 of the hard-brittle material is not limited to a shape formed by straight lines alone such as a rectangular shape, but may be a shape having curved lines such as a shape similar to an eclipse having semicircular ends of a rectangle in its longitudinal direction as illustrated in FIG. 1, and further, the shape of the substrate 2 may be a more complicated shape, and further, the substrate 2 may be provided with an opening and the like.

(17) The layout is set so that a space 1 between the adjacent substrates 2, 2 has a space (cutting allowance by blasting) required for cutting by the blasting.

(18) The cutting allowance varies according to the particle diameter of an abrasive used and the like, however, the cutting allowance is required to be about 1 mm, and if the space between the substrates 2, 2 is too small, during the processing by the blasting, a portion to be left as the substrate 2 is also eroded, and the substrate 2 cannot be cut out in a desired shape.

(19) Meanwhile, if the width is too large, cracks may develop during cutting, and the cutting requires a long time, thus the space 1 is set to 5 mm or less, or preferably set to 2 mm to 3 mm.

(20) On each of the front and back surfaces of the plate material 1, the first protective films 4 having blast-resistant property are formed at the layout positions of the substrates 2 according to layout of the substrates 2 determined by blanking as described above, and the second protective film 5 likewise having blast-resistant property is formed in the margin 3 formed on the outer periphery of the substrates 2 laid out as described above.

(21) Here, the first protective film 4 is served for protecting the substrate to be cut out so that the substrate 2 is not cut by the blasting, and thus, the first protective film 4 is formed in a shape corresponding to the shape of the substrate 2 to be cut out.

(22) On the other hand, the margin 3 which remains after the substrate 2 has been cut out, i.e., residues produced by cutting off including the part masked with the second protective films 5 is a portion which is not used as a product, and even if this portion is cut by the blasting during cutout, no problem arises in term of quality of the product, and therefore, this portion inherently requires no particular protection.

(23) However, as a result of trials and errors by the inventor, the protective film (the second protective film) 5 is formed also in the margin 3 which does not originally required masking and protection with leaving a space required to cut the peripheral portion of the first protective film 4 inbetween, and the margin 3 is protected by the second protective film 5 in such a manner that the exposed width W in the peripheral portion of the plate material 1 is equal to or less than 5 mm, thereby the occurrence of cracks in the margin 3 can be significantly prevented as described in the summary of the invention.

(24) Therefore, the second protective film 5 formed in the margin 3 is not required to be formed in the shape corresponding accurately to the shape of the margin 3 like the first protective film 4, however, the shape of its outer periphery is formed at least in such a manner that the exposed width W in the peripheral portion of the plate material 1 is equal to or less than 5 mm.

(25) Also, if the space 2 between the second protective film 5 and the first protective film 4 is formed equal to or less than the space required for the cutting by the blasting (the space required as the cutting allowance), a portion to be left as the substrate 2 during the blasting is cut, and the substrate 2 cannot be accurately cut out, and thus, the space 2 is also set to the space required for the cutting by the blasting, 1 mm to 5 mm by way of example or preferably 2 mm to 3 mm, same as the space 1 provided between the substrates 2, 2.

(26) In the plate material 1 on which the first and second protective films 4, 5 are formed, the space 1 formed between the first protective films 4, 4 and the space 2 formed between the first protective film 4 and the second protective film 5 are a cutting region 6 to be cut away by the blasting.

(27) When a relatively wide space is formed between curved line portions of the first protective film 4 as is the case when the substrate 2 has a curved line portion as illustrated in FIG. 1, also for the portion between curved line portions, the second protective film 5 is formed with leaving a distance required for cutting from the peripheral portion of the first protective film 4, thereby, in any portion, the cutting region 6 is formed so as to have a space of 1 mm to 5 mm or preferably a space of 2 mm to 3 mm.

(28) The above-described first and second protective films 4, 5 may be formed for example by printing blast-resistant resin ink in a required pattern by screen printing and the like, or may be formed by applying a metal mask made of stainless steel (for example, SUS), aluminum (Al), copper (Cu), or iron (Fe) to the surface of the plate material or doing the like, or, further, the first and second protective films 4, 5 may be formed by attaching a resin film to the surface of the plate material.

(29) In the formation of the above-described first and second protective films 4, 5, the first protective film 4 and the second protective film 5 may be formed by different methods and may be formed of different materials.

(30) As an example, in the embodiment, both of the first and second protective films 4, 5 may be formed by screen printing using ink for screen printing.

(31) Here, the film thickness of the first and second protective films 4, 5 varies according to the material and the like, however, as an example, the film thickness is 70 m to 100 m or preferably 90 m to 100 m, and it is preferable that the thickness of the first and second protective films be increased, because blasting time becomes longer as the thickness of the plate material 1 increases.

Abrasive

(32) The cutting of the plate material 1 of the hard-brittle material on which the first and second protective films 4, 5 are formed as described above can be accomplished by ejecting ceramic-base abrasive grains (e.g. silicon carbide, aluminum oxide, zircon, zirconia, diamond, cerium oxide or the like) for common use in the cutting of the hard-brittle material, metal-base abrasive grains (e.g. stainless steel, cast steel, alloy steel, high-speed steel, tungsten carbide or the like), or FeCrB or the like, as an abrasive.

(33) The size of the abrasive grains used as the abrasive may be appropriately selected according to various conditions such as the material of the hard-brittle material to be processed, the shape of the substrate to be cut out, and the material of the abrasive grains used, however, as an example, the abrasive grains having a median diameter of 20 m to 100 m may be preferably used.

Ejecting Method

(34) The above-described abrasive together with compressed gas or compressed air in the embodiment is ejected from an ejection nozzle against at least the above-described cutting region in the plate material of the hard-brittle material.

(35) The ejecting pressure of the compressed air used in the ejection of the abrasive may be appropriately changed according to the particle diameter or material of the abrasive used, however, preferably, the ejecting pressure lies between 0.2 MPa and 0.5 MPa or more preferably between 0.3 MPa and 0.5 MPa.

(36) As the ejection nozzle used in the ejection, a circular nozzle having a circular ejection opening may be used, and when a relatively wide area is processed at the same time, a slit type nozzle (not shown) having an elongated rectangular ejection opening may be preferably used, and, when such a slit type nozzle is used, variations in the ejection speed of the abrasive in a length direction of the slit can be suppressed and uniform processing can be performed, as compared to when the circular nozzle is used.

(37) The nozzle diameter of the ejection nozzle used lies between 3 mm and 10 mm in the case of the circular type (in the range of an opening area corresponding to the above-described diameter in the case of the slit type), or preferably lies between 6 mm and 10 mm in diameter.

(38) The inclination of the ejection nozzle with respect to the surface of the plate material to be processed may lie between 45 and 90 degrees or preferably 60 and 90 degrees, or more preferably, the ejection takes place perpendicularly to the surface of the plate material 1 (at 90 degrees with respect to the surface of the plate material 1).

(39) The ejection of the abrasive may be configured for example by arranging plural ejection nozzles side by side so that the plate material 1 can be covered throughout the entire area in its width direction (refer to FIG. 7), relatively moving the plate material 1 and/or the ejection nozzles in the longitudinal direction of the plate material 1, and ejecting the abrasive throughout the entire area of the plate material 1, or the abrasive may be ejected throughout the entire area of the plate material 1 by reciprocating the ejection nozzles on the plate material 1 or doing the like, and the configuration is not limited.

(40) The ejection of the abrasive is first performed on any one of the front and back surfaces of the plate material 1, and after the cutting region 6 is cut to a depth of about half with respect to the thickness of the plate material 1, the abrasive is ejected from the other surface of the plate material 1 to completely remove the cutting region 6 and penetrate the plate material 1, and thereby cutout of the substrate 1 protected by the first protective film 4 is completed.

Cutout Device

(41) Description will be given with reference to FIG. 2 with regard to an example of a configuration of a cutout device 10 suitable to cut out the hard-brittle substrate 2.

1. Overall Configuration

(42) The cutout device 10 includes a plate material suspension jig 30 configured for moving the plate material 1 of the hard-brittle material to be processed in a state that the plate material 1 is suspended, an ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing configured to eject the abrasive against the back surface of the plate material 1 suspended by the plate material suspension jig 30, a plate material mounting jig 40 configured to mount the plate material 1, and an ejection nozzle 52 for front surface processing configured to eject the abrasive against the front surface of the plate material 1 mounted on the plate material mounting jig 40, which are provided in a working space 12 surrounded by a cover 11. In an illustrated embodiment, the cutout device 10 further includes a transfer means 20 for transferring the plate material 1 disposed at an introduction position 12a for the plate material provided on one end of the cover 11 into the cover 11, and a control unit (not shown) configured to enable the means to cooperate with each other by controlling the operation of the respective means.

2. Transfer Means

(43) Of structural equipments which form the cutout device 10 of the present invention, the transfer means 20 is provided in order to transfer the plate material 1 disposed at the introduction position 12a to a predetermined position in the working space 12, and may be configured by a known transfer means 20 (e.g. a roller conveyor in the illustrated example) such as a roller conveyor or a belt conveyor.

(44) In the illustrated example, the transfer means 20 is provided extending from the introduction position 12a of the plate material 1 to a lower portion of an initial position of the plate material suspension jig 30 to be described later, and, when the plate material 1 to be processed is placed at the introduction position 12a provided on one end side of the cover 11, the plate material 1 can be moved below the plate material suspension jig 30 in the initial position (a position 12b in FIG. 2).

(45) Of course, the transfer means 20 is not necessarily required to be provided and may be omitted, for example in the case of a configuration in which the plate material 1 can be manually disposed at the predetermined position in the working space 12 (below the plate material suspension jig 30 in the initial position).

3. Plate Material Suspension Jig

(46) The plate material suspension jig 30 fixes by suction the front surface of the plate material 1 to be processed and can suspend the plate material 1 with its back surface floated, and enables the blasting of the plate material 1 from the back surface by suspending the plate material 1 in this manner.

(47) In the illustrated embodiment, the plate material suspension jig 30 includes a suction fixing plate 31 to fix by suction the front surface of the plate material 1, an up-and-down movement mechanism 32 to move the suction fixing plate 31 up and down, and a traveling mechanism 33 to horizontally move the plate material 1 above the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing to be described later in a state that the plate material 1 is fixed by suction on the suction fixing plate 31. In the illustrated embodiment, the traveling mechanism 33 includes rails 33a and a pedestal 33b which travels along the rails 33a, and the suction fixing plate 31 is mounted to the pedestal 33b through the up-and-down movement mechanism 32 so that the suction fixing plate 31 can move up and down.

(48) As illustrated in FIG. 3, the suction fixing plate 31 provided in the plate material suspension jig 30 includes a suction fixing pad 311 mounted on a bottom surface in a predetermined arrangement, and an inside of the suction fixing pad 311 is sucked by a suction means such as a vacuum pump (not shown) through a hose (not shown) communicating with the suction fixing pad 311 with an opening of the suction fixing pad 311 abutting the plate material 1, and thereby, the plate material 1 to be processed can be fixed by suction.

(49) As illustrated in FIG. 2, an upper surface of the suction fixing plate 31 is linked to the pedestal 33b through a linking mechanism 34 and the up-and-down movement mechanism 32.

(50) In the illustrated embodiment, four (4) columns 34c are stood on an intermediate linking plate 34b placed on an upper end of four (4) columns 34a mounted to the upper surface of the suction fixing plate 31. Though the detailed illustration is omitted, the columns 34c are fit in insertion holes provided in the pedestal 33b so as to be moved up and down so that the pedestal 33b can be moved synchronous with the four (4) columns 34c. Furthermore, an upper end linking plate 34d is placed on an upper end of the four (4) columns 34c to configure the linking mechanism 34 formed of the four (4) columns 34c. However, a configuration of the linking mechanism 34 is not limited thereto, and the linking mechanism 34 may have other configurations, provided that the suction fixing plate 31 can be held in a stable position during up and down movement.

(51) The up-and-down movement mechanism 32 provided on the pedestal 33b, e.g. a piston rod of a hydraulic cylinder in the illustrated embodiment, is linked to an upper portion of the linking mechanism 34 formed as described above, e.g., the upper end linking plate 34d in the illustrated embodiment, and thereby, the suction fixing plate 31 can be moved up and down by the up-and-down movement mechanism 32.

(52) In the embodiment, as described above, the hydraulic cylinder is provided as the up-and-down movement mechanism 32, however, the up-and-down movement mechanism 32 is not limited to the hydraulic cylinder, and an air pressure cylinder may be used, and various known structures employed as the up-and-down movement mechanism 32, such as a structure for moving the suction fixing plate 31 up and down, may be employed.

(53) Of course, when an impact such as great vibration is applied to the plate material 1 fixed by suction while the suction fixing plate 31 is moving up and down, the plate material 1 may become damaged, and thus, it is desirable that a structure capable of relatively smooth up and down movement and also smooth starting and stopping operation be selected.

(54) Although not shown, the plate material suspension jig 30 is provided with a driving mechanism (not shown) for allowing the pedestal 33b to travel on the rails 33a at a predetermined speed, and the plate material can pass at a certain speed above the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing to be described later.

(55) The driving mechanism may be configured for example so that a motor for driving wheels provided on the pedestal 33b is mounted on the pedestal 33b, or a mechanism for pulling and/or pushing the pedestal 33b may be provided separately from the pedestal 33b, and various configurations may be employed, provided only that the pedestal 33b can be moved at a set certain speed.

(56) The plate material 1 can be moved by the plate material suspension jig 30 from the position 12b in FIG. 2 through the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing (position 12c) to above the starting position of the plate material mounting jig 40 to be described later (position 12d).

4. Plate Material Mounting Jig

(57) The plate material mounting jig 40 is a jig used for mounting thereon the plate material 1 which has undergone the back surface processing with being suspended by the plate material suspension jig 30 and blasting the front surface of the plate material 1. The plate material mounting jig 40 includes suction fixing bases for substrates 41 to respectively fix by suction and mount a portion of the plate material 1 covered with the first protective film 4, and a margin base 42 disposed at an outer peripheral position of a group of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and configured to mount a portion of the plate material 1 covered with the second protective film 5 (refer to FIG. 4).

(58) The plate material mounting jig 40 illustrated in FIGS. 4 to 6 is further provided with rails 60 in the cover 11 so that the plate material 1 mounted on the plate material mounting jig 40 can pass below the ejection nozzle 52 for front surface processing disposed to a downward direction (refer to FIG. 2), and the plate material mounting jig 40 is provided with a pedestal 43 including wheels for traveling on the rails 60.

(59) As illustrated in FIG. 4, the respective suction fixing bases for substrates 41 are formed in the same shape as the substrate 2 to be cut out in plane view. The suction fixing bases for substrates 41 are formed independently of each other and also formed independently of the margin base 42 to be described later. The number, layout pattern and height of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 are the same with those of the substrates laid out on the plate material 1.

(60) Also, the margin base 42 formed in the same shape as the margin (border) 3 covered with the second protective film in plane view is provided at the outer peripheral position of the group of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 formed by arranging the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 in a predetermined pattern.

(61) Then, the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42 are disposed with being floated above the pedestal 43 with leaving a predetermined space inbetween through leg portions 44, and therefore, even when the abrasive is ejected to the plate material 1 by the ejection of the abrasive by the ejection nozzle 52 for front surface processing and the plate material 1 is penetrated by the cutting with the abrasive, a flow of the abrasive passing through the plate material 1 can pass downward through a space between the suction fixing bases for substrates 41, 41 or between the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42, and the cut-out substrates 2 and the margin 3 can be mounted on the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42 independently of each other.

(62) The suction fixing bases for substrates 41, preferably, the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42, are configured to fix by suction the portions of the substrates 2 and the margin 3 mounted thereon. In the illustrated embodiment, grooves 41a, 42a are formed in the surfaces of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42, through holes 41b, 42b communicating with the grooves 41a, 42a are formed through the thickness of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42, and the through holes 41b, 42b communicate with a suction means such as a vacuum pump (not shown) through a hose and the like (not shown) and suction is performed, and thereby the substrates 2 and the margin 3 mounted on the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42 can be fixed by suction, and even when the substrates 2, 2 are cut off from each other and the substrate 2 is cut off from the margin 3, the relative positions therebetween do not change.

(63) By the rails 60 provided in the cover 11 and the pedestal 43 which travels on the rails 60, the plate material mounting jig 40 can travel on the rails 60 so as to start at a position immediately below the plate material suspension jig 30 located at an endpoint position (position 12d in FIG. 2), pass below the ejection nozzle for front surface processing disposed to a downward direction (position 12e in FIG. 2), and travel to a removal position 12f provided on the other end side of the cover 11.

(64) Incidentally, the pedestal 43 is provided with a wheel driving motor (not shown) mounted on the pedestal 43 and a driving mechanism (not shown) for pulling and/or pushing the pedestal 43, in order that the pedestal 43 can travel between the above-described positions (between 12d and 12e) and can pass through at least below the ejection nozzle 52 for front surface processing at preset certain speed.

5. Ejection Nozzle

(65) The ejection nozzle 51 is provided below a traveling path of the plate material suspension jig 30 and the ejection nozzle 52 is provided above a traveling path of the plate material mounting jig 40.

(66) The ejection nozzle 51 disposed below the traveling path of the plate material suspension jig 30 is the ejection nozzle for back surface processing, which is disposed with its ejection direction oriented upward and is provided to process the back surface of the plate material 1 mounted on the plate material suspension jig 30, while the ejection nozzle 52 disposed above the traveling path of the plate material mounting jig 40 is the ejection nozzle for front surface processing, which is disposed with its ejection direction oriented downward and is provided to process the front surface of the plate material 1 mounted on the plate material mounting jig 40.

(67) Both the nozzles 51, 52 can eject the abrasive introduced as a fluid mixed with compressed gas, e.g. compressed air in the embodiment, from an abrasive supply source (not shown), and a configuration of an already known blasting apparatus may be employed as such an abrasive supply method.

(68) In the embodiment in which a subject to be processed is the plate material 1 provided with the cutting region 6 formed in the shape illustrated in FIG. 7, it is necessary that the ejection nozzles 51, 52 be disposed so that the abrasive can be ejected throughout the range of a region where the cutting region 6 is present in the width direction of the plate material 1 (region X in FIG. 7), and such an ejection range is ensured for example by arranging the plural ejection nozzles 51 (52) in the width direction of the plate material 1.

(69) In this case, when the plate material 1 passes above (or below) the ejection nozzle 51 (52), in the present embodiment, a configuration is such that all the nozzles 51 (52) eject the abrasive. However, instead of this configuration, for example for the purpose of reducing the amount of abrasive used, in FIG. 7, control is performed so that the first to third nozzles eject the abrasive when an A block of the plate material 1 passes above or below the ejection nozzle 51 (52), the first, third, fourth and fifth nozzles eject the abrasive when a B block of the plate material 1 passes above or below the ejection nozzle 51 (52), the first, second, third and fifth nozzles eject the abrasive when a C block of the plate material 1 passes above or below the ejection nozzle 51 (52), and the other nozzles stop ejecting the abrasive, thereby the abrasive is ejected to a portion where the cutting region 6 is existed.

Control Unit

(70) Operation of the members configured as described above is controlled by a control unit (not shown) to collectively control these members.

(71) The control unit is configured for example by a microcontroller storing a predetermined program and the like, and the operation of the respective means is controlled based on position information on the plate material or the respective means detected by a sensor and the like, and thereby, operation of the cutout device 10 as described below as an example is achieved.

(72) The plate material 1 on which the first and second protective films 4, 5 have been formed in a predetermined pattern is set in a predetermined direction at the introduction position 12a of the cutout device 10, and thereafter, for example, an operator inputs a start command by pressing a start switch or doing the like or the sensor provided at the introduction position 12a detects the disposition of the plate material 1, thereby the control unit restores the plate material suspension jig 30 and the plate material mounting jig 40 to their original positions where the jigs 30, 40 are moved to the starting positions of the traveling paths (the position 12b for the plate material suspension jig 30 and the position 12d for the plate material mounting jig 40), and starts the transfer device 20 to move the plate material 1 set at the introduction position 12a to a predetermined position in the working space 12.

(73) When the plate material 1 moves to the predetermined position in the working space 12 (the position 12b in the example of FIG. 2), the control unit stops the transfer means 20, while the control unit operates the up-and-down movement mechanism 32 provided in the plate material suspension jig 30 to move the suction fixing plate 31 downwardly until the suction fixing plate 31 abuts the front surface of the plate material 1, and starts to suck an inside of the suction fixing pad 311 to allow the suction fixing plate 31 to fix by suction the plate material 1.

(74) Upon completion of fixing by suction of the plate material 1 by the suction fixing plate 31, the control unit operates the up-and-down movement mechanism 32 of the plate material suspension jig 30 to move the suction fixing plate 31 upwardly.

(75) Upon completion of the upward movement of the suction fixing plate 31, the control unit causes the pedestal 33b to travel and thereby starts to move the plate material suspension jig 30 along the rails 33a, and introduces the abrasive together with the compressed gas into the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing thereby to eject the abrasive to the back surface of the plate material 1 suspended by the plate material suspension jig 30 passing above the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing.

(76) By the ejection of the abrasive, the cutting region 6 of the plate material 1 is cut to a depth of about half of the thickness of the plate material 1 from the back surface of the plate material 1, and in this state, the processing from the back surface of the plate material 1 is completed.

(77) After passing above the ejection nozzle 51 for back surface processing, the plate material suspension jig 30 further moves to the position 12d to the right side of the sheet in FIG. 2, and, when the plate material suspension jig 30 reaches this position, the control unit finishes the movement of the plate material suspension jig 30 and operates the up-and-down movement mechanism 32 to move the suction fixing plate 31 downwardly.

(78) The height of the bottom surface of the plate material at the position where the suction fixing plate 31 is lowered is set equal to the height of the mounting surface of the plate material mounting jig 40 at the starting position (position 12d in FIG. 2), and the endpoint position of the plate material suspension jig 30 is aligned with high accuracy with the starting point position of the plate material mounting jig 40, so that the layout position of the substrate 2 on the plate material 1 precisely conform to the disposition of the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 provided in the plate material mounting jig 40. Thus, by the downward movement of the suction fixing plate 31 described above, the substrates 2 laid out on the plate material 1 are mounted on the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 of the plate material mounting jig 40 in such a way as to exactly overlap with the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 in plane view.

(79) Upon completion of the downward movement of the suction fixing plate 31 provided in the plate material suspension jig 30 as described above, the control unit causes the sucking means such as the vacuum pump (not shown) to suck insides of the grooves 41a, 42a through through-holes 41b, 42b provided in the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42 of the plate material mounting jig 40 thereby the plate material 1 is fixed by suction to the plate material mounting jig 40, and fixing by suction of the plate material 1 by the suction fixing pad 311 provided on the suction fixing plate 31 of the plate material suspension jig 30 is finished

(80) After that, the control unit causes the plate material mounting jig 40 to travel rightward in the sheet of FIG. 2, and causes the ejection nozzle 52 for front surface processing to eject the abrasive from the front surface side of the plate material 1 mounted on the plate material mounting jig 40 passing below the ejection nozzle 52 until the plate material 1 is penetrated and the cutting region 6 is completely removed, thereby cutout of the substrates 2 is completed.

(81) While each of the cut-out substrates 2 and the margin 3 are respectively kept mounted and fixed by suction on the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42, the plate material mounting jig 40 continues traveling to the removal position 12f and stops at the position, and fixing by suction of the substrates 2 and the margins 3 by the suction fixing bases for substrates 41 and the margin base 42 is stopped, and the substrates 2 and the margins 3 after the cutout can be recovered.

Example 1

(82) An example will be given below in which a glass plate is used as a substrate made of a hard-brittle material and a cover glass for protecting a liquid crystal display screen is cut out as the substrate.

Cutout Conditions

Hard-Brittle Plate Material

(83) The glass plate (mother glass) used had a width of 400 mm, a length of 500 mm and a thickness of 0.7 mm, and substrates are laid out thereon and blanking is performed as illustrated in FIG. 1, and the first protective film and the second protective film were respectively formed in hatched portions.

(84) Here, dimensions of the substrates to be cut out were such that a length was 160 mm, a width was 80 mm, and a diameter was 40 mm in curved portions of both ends.

(85) Also, any of the widths of the cutting regions (spaces 1, 2, refer to an enlarged view in FIG. 1) were set to 2 mm, and the exposed width W in the peripheral portion of the plate material (refer to an enlarged view in FIG. 1) was set to 2 mm.

Protective Film

(86) Both of the first and second protective films were formed by screen printing UV curing ink for screen printing having urethane acrylate as a resin content on the front surface of the mother glass, and then curing the ink by UV irradiation, thereby forming the first and second protective films having a film thickness of 90 m.

Ejection Conditions

(87) Abrasive used was abrasive grains (material: aluminum oxide) of #320 (having an average particle diameter of 60 m), and the abrasive was ejected at an ejection speed of 1.1 kg/min, at an ejection pressure of 0.5 MPa, at an ejection distance of 80 mm, and at an ejection angle of 90 to the front surface of the plate material (perpendicularly to the front surface).

(88) The ejection of the abrasive is performed from the bottom surface side of the plate material suspended by the plate material suspension jig 30 provided in the above described cutout device 10 until the thickness of the cutting region reaches about a half of the thickness of the plate material, and then, the ejection of the abrasive is performed from the front surface side of the plate material mounted on the above described plate material mounting jig 40 until the plate material is penetrated in the cutting region to cut off the substrates from each other and cut off the substrates from the margins completely.

Results of Cutout

(89) In cutting out of the substrates under the above-described conditions, the substrates 2 and the margins 3 could be cut off with reliability without the plate material 1 being broken in the process of cutting out the substrates 2.

(90) Here, in the method described with reference to FIG. 8, cracks develop in the margin 3 of the plate material 1 during the ejection of the abrasive to one surface of the plate material, accordingly the substrates 2 could not be cut out. However, when the method described in Example 1 was used for cutting out the substrates, cracks do not develop both in the margin 3 of the plate material 1 and in the layout portions of the substrates 2, accordingly the substrates 2 could be cut out.

(91) Therefore, it has been observed that the formation of masking (the second protective film 5) for the margin (border) 3 formed on the outer periphery of a group of the substrates 2 as well as the layout portions of the substrates 2 as a masking for the plate material 1, is extremely effective in preventing the plate material 1 from being fractured at the time of cutting out of the substrates 2 from the mother glass, and it has been observed that the formation of the second protective film 5 makes it possible to apply the blasting which has not hitherto been used to cut out of the substrates 2 from the plate material 1 of a hard-brittle material.

Example 2

(92) Next, an example in which substantially spherical abrasive is used for cutting out a cover glass for protecting a liquid crystal display screen as the substrate 2 from the a glass plate made of a hard-brittle material will be given below together with Comparative Example.

Hard-Brittle Plate Material

(93) The glass plate (mother glass) used had a thickness of 1.1 mm, and substrates are laid out thereon and blanking is performed as illustrated in FIG. 1, and the first protective film and the second protective film respectively were formed in hatched portions.

(94) Also, each of the widths of the cutting regions (spaces 1, 2, refer to an enlarged view in FIG. 1) was set to 1 mm, and the exposed width W in the peripheral portion of the plate material (refer to an enlarged view in FIG. 1) were set to 2 mm.

Protective Film

(95) Both the first and second protective films were formed by screen printing UV curing ink for screen printing having urethane acrylate as a resin content on the front surface of the mother glass, and then curing the ink by UV irradiation.

Processing Conditions

(96) Processing conditions of Examples and details of the abrasive used, and results of evaluation of workpieces after processing are given in Table 1.

(97) TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 EXAMPLES Example 1 Example 2 Material of abrasive FeCrB High-speed steel bead Processing conditions Slit nozzle of 15 mm 2 mm Slit nozzle of 15 mm 2 mm Ejection pressure: 0.5 MPa Ejection pressure: 0.5 MPa Ejection amount: about 550 Ejection amount: about 550 g/min g/min Distance: 100 mm Distance: 100 mm Shape of abrasive, Particle Shape: substantially spherical Shape: substantially spherical size Particle size: Median Particle size: Median diameter of 47 m diameter of 49 m Hardness of abrasive HV 1200 HV 700 to HV 900 Processing speed (ratio) 1 2 Time required for cutting out 18 sec 36 sec a portable cover glass (Thickness: 1.1 mm) Consumption of abrasive 1 1 (ratio) Specific gravity 7.4 (true specific gravity) 8.0 to 8.13 (true specific gravity) Thickness of protective film 80 m (four (4) screen 80 m (four (4) screen printings) printings)

(98) Also, processing conditions of Comparative Examples and details of the abrasive used, and results of evaluation of workpieces after processing are given in Table 2.

(99) TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 COMPARATIVE EXAMPLES Comparative Example 1 Comparative Example 2 Material of abrasive SUS bead WA, A Processing conditions Slit nozzle of 15 mm 2 mm Slit nozzle of 15 mm 2 mm Ejection pressure: 0.5 MPa Ejection pressure: 0.5 MPa Ejection amount: Ejection amount: 400 g/min about 550 g/min Distance: 100 mm Distance: 100 mm Shape of abrasive, Shape: substantially spherical Shape: polygonal Particle size Particle size: Particle size: Median diameter of 62 m Median diameter of 56 m Hardness of abrasive HV 300 to HV 500 HV 1300 to HV 1500 Processing speed (ratio) Comparison is impossible 3 because cutting is impossible Time required for cutting out 55 sec a portable cover glass (Thickness: 1.1 mm) Consumption of abrasive 10 (ratio) Specific gravity 7.6 (true specific gravity) 1.76 to 1.95 (bulk specific gravity) Thickness of protective film 140 m (seven (7) screen printings)

Test Results and Verification

(100) In Examples and Comparative Example 2, the substrates 2 could be cut out, however, in Comparative Example 1, the substrates 2 could not be cut out. Since the abrasive used in Comparative Example 1 had lower hardness (Hv 300 to Hv 500) than the abrasive in Examples, even if the specific gravity (true specific gravity) of the abrasive in Comparative Example 1 was substantially the same as the specific gravity in Examples, the glass could not be cut out.

(101) Also, it has been observed that consumption of the abrasive in Examples is smaller than that of the abrasive in Comparative Example 2.

(102) Also, it has been observed that, in Examples, the speed for cutting out the glass is faster than that of Comparative Example 2 (that is, in Examples, the time required for cutting out the substrates 2 is shorter than that of Comparative Example 2). The speed for cutting out the glass in Example 1 is about three times (3) faster than that in Comparative Example 2, and also, the speed for cutting out the glass in Example 2 is about 1.5 times faster than that that in Comparative Example 2.

(103) Also, it has been observed that since the abrasive in Examples is substantially spherical, the abrasive does not stick in the protective films, or slightly stick in the protective films, as a result, consumption of the protective films is reduced, and the thicknesses of the protective films can be reduced as compared to Comparative Example 2 in which the polygonal abrasive is used. The resulting thin protective films enable to increase the processing accuracy (accuracy of cutout dimension) and further reduce the cost.

(104) Here, considering Examples, it has been shown that the substantially spherical abrasive in Examples has high hardness and hence undergoes little deformation at the time of collision and collision energy is difficult to diffuse, and moreover, the abrasive has a high specific gravity and thus high collision energy can be concentrated on a point (a narrow range), accordingly the abrasive in Examples is suitable to cut out (grind) a hard-brittle material such as glass.

(105) Further, verifying from the viewpoint of the cutout speed and the processing accuracy, although a larger particle size typically leads to higher collision energy and hence to a higher cutout speed, chipping becomes correspondingly larger and the processing accuracy (accuracy of cutout dimension) becomes lower, on the other hand, when the particle size is too small for the processing accuracy, the energy is reduced and thus damage more than necessary is not caused to the workpiece and the protective films, however, the cutout speed becomes slow. To increase the cutout speed while maintaining the processing accuracy, the abrasive with high specific gravity, high hardness and small particle size in Examples is suitable.

(106) In this case, abrasive made of FeCrB is particularly suitable.

(107) Thus the broadest claims that follow are not directed to a machine that is configured in a specific way. Instead, said broadest claims are intended to protect the heart or essence of this breakthrough invention. This invention is clearly new and useful. Moreover, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art at the time it was made, in view of the prior art when considered as a whole.

(108) Moreover, in view of the revolutionary nature of this invention, it is clearly a pioneering invention. As such, the claims that follow are entitled to very broad interpretation so as to protect the heart of this invention, as a matter of law.

(109) It will thus be seen that the objects set forth above, and those made apparent from the foregoing description, are efficiently attained and since certain changes may be made in the above construction without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained in the foregoing description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

(110) It is also to be understood that the following claims are intended to cover all of the generic and specific features of the invention herein described, and all statements of the scope of the invention which, as a matter of language, might be said to fall therebetween.

(111) Now that the invention has been described;