Patent Application
20130337233
a. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a glass-strengthening coating material and to a strengthened glass block applied with the glass-strengthening coating material.
b. Description of the Related Art
Generally, conventional methods for strengthening glass mainly include a physically strengthening treatment and a chemically strengthening treatment. For example, in a typical chemically strengthening treatment, an ion-exchange phenomenon occurs in the glass skin to form a chemically strengthened layer. Under the circumstance, a compression stress layer is correspondingly formed in the glass skin as a result of the chemically strengthened layer and capable of constraining the growth of cracks in the glass skin to enhance the glass strength. In a typical process of performing a chemically strengthening treatment, a glass substrate to be strengthened is entirely dipped into high-temperature potassium molten salts for ion-exchange. However, such process is difficult to strengthen only a part of the glass substrate, and the necessary high-temperature may damage a coating on the glass substrate. Further, if the chemically strengthened glass substrate undergoes subsequent machining processes, the machining processes may remove a part of the strengthened layer already formed on the glass substrate or create a newly-born surface without the strengthened layer. Therefore, for a strengthened glass substrate having been subject to machining processes, it is relatively easy to grow cracks on a surface area without the strengthened layer to therefore reduce the glass strength.
The invention provides a glass-strengthening coating material and a strengthened glass block having enhanced strength, where a strengthened layer is formed on an entire surface of the strengthened glass block by the use of the glass-strengthening coating material.
The invention further provides a touch-sensitive display device protected by strengthened glass.
Other objects and advantages of the invention can be better understood from the technical characteristics disclosed by the invention.
According to an embodiment of the invention, a glass-strengthening coating material is provided. The glass-strengthening coating material is applied to a surface area without a strengthened layer or a newly-born surface area of a strengthened glass block subject to a preliminary chemically strengthened treatment. The newly-born surface area is formed as a result of machining or material removing treatments, and the glass-strengthening coating material is selected from the group consisting of inorganic polymer, organic polymer, and organic/inorganic hybrid polymer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a strengthened glass block is cut from a mother glass substrate given a preliminary chemically strengthening treatment. The strengthened glass block has a preliminary strengthened surface area and at least one newly-born surface area. The newly-born surface area is formed as a result of a machining or material removing treatment, and a glass-strengthening coating material is at least formed on the newly-born surface area. The glass-strengthening coating material is selected from the group consisting of inorganic polymer, organic polymer, and organic/inorganic hybrid polymer.
According to another embodiment of the invention, a touch-sensitive display device protected by strengthened glass includes a cover lens, a glass-strengthening coating material, and a touch-sensitive display panel. The glass-strengthening coating material is formed on at least a part of the cover lens, and the glass-strengthening coating material is selected from the group consisting of inorganic polymer, organic polymer, and organic/inorganic hybrid polymer. The touch-sensitive display panel is disposed on the cover lens,
According to the above embodiments, a glass-strengthening coating material is used to form a chemically strengthened layer on a newly-born surface area or to reinforce the original strengthened layer that is weaken or removed in part as a result of machining or material removing treatments. Therefore, a chemically strengthened layer and a corresponding compression stress layer are formed on the entire surface to further enhance the overall strength, Since the glass-strengthening coating material may be disposed on a glass substrate by coating, it becomes easier to give the glass substrate local reinforcement. Besides, the glass-strengthening coating material may fill cracks in the glass skin to further enhance glass strength. In addition, since the glass-strengthening coating material has a low curing temperature, the low curing temperature does a coating layer on the glass substrate no harm to thus increase production yields and reliability.
Other objectives, features and advantages of the invention will be further understood from the further technological features disclosed by the embodiments of the invention wherein there are shown and described preferred embodiments of this invention, simply by way of illustration of modes best suited to carry out the invention.
FIG, 3 shows a schematic diagram illustrating a machining or material removing treatment and a secondary chemically strengthening treatment on a glass substrate according to another embodiment of the invention.
In the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments, reference is made to the accompanying drawings which form a part hereof, and in which are shown by way of illustration specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. In this regard, directional terminology, such as “top,” “bottom,” “front,” “back,” etc., is used with reference to the orientation of the Figure(s) being described. The components of the invention can be positioned in a number of different orientations. As such, the directional terminology is used for purposes of illustration and is in no way limiting. On the other hand, the drawings are only schematic and the sizes of components may be exaggerated for clarity. it is to be understood that other embodiments may be utilized and structural changes may be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. The use of “including,” “comprising,” or “having” and variations thereof herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Unless limited otherwise, the terms “connected,” “coupled,” and “mounted” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect connections, couplings, and mountings. Similarly, the terms “facing,” “faces” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass direct and indirect facing, and “adjacent to” and variations thereof herein are used broadly and encompass directly and indirectly “adjacent to”. Therefore, the description of “A” component facing “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component directly faces “B” component or one or more additional components are between “A” component and “B” component. Also, the description of “A” component “adjacent to” “B” component herein may contain the situations that “A” component is directly “adjacent to” “B” component or one or more additional components are between “A” component and “B” component. Accordingly, the drawings and descriptions will be regarded as illustrative in nature and not as restrictive.
The invention provides a glass-strengthening coating material applied over a part or an entire area of glass to be strengthened by coating or dipping to achieve partial or entire chemically strengthening effects. For example, a chemically strengthened layer may not be formed in some surface area of a glass substrate given a preliminary chemically strengthening treatment, or a glass substrate given a preliminary chemically strengthening treatment may be subject to at least one machining or material removing treatment to form a newly-born surface area without a chemically strengthened layer. The glass-strengthening coating material may be applied to the aforementioned surface area without a chemically strengthened layer or the newly-born surface area to provide chemically strengthening effects. Moreover, except for applying the coating material to part of a strengthened glass substrate to provide partially reinforced effects, the coating material may be applied to the entire surface area of a strengthened or non-strengthened glass substrate according to actual demands.
As shown in
(Formulation Example 1)
The glass-strengthening coating material 12 is inorganic polymer, preferably comprising silicon oxide sol-gel (SiO2 sol-gel) and potassium salt, and the SiO2 sol-gel is derived from organic silane and formed by a sol-gel method. Details are as follows:
(1) SiO2 sol-gel, where SiO2 sol-gel is derived by hydrolysis and polymerization of a silane precursor and the silane precursor is, for example, tetraethoxysilane, tetramethxysilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane or methyltrimethoxysilane; and
(2) 1-30 wt % of potassium salt, where the potassium salt includes, for example, at least one of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium manganate, potassium ferrate, potassium nitrate, potassium formate, potassium ferric oxalate, and aluminium potassium sulfate. The potassium salt is used to realize ion-exchange to form a chemically strengthened layer. Besides, the dissolved potassium salt may form ions used to prevent crosslinking between molecules so as to prolong the time for sol becoming gel; that is, the storage life of the coating material.
The glass-strengthening coating material 12 may be made from the aforementioned raw materials at pH 1-4, and a curing (hardening) temperature of the glass-strengthening coating material 12 may be 100-480° C.
Certainly, in an alternate embodiment, potassium salt may be excluded and only the silica layer is used to provide the effects of filling cracks in the glass skin and increasing the resistance to an impact of a foreign body. Besides, the inorganic polymer is not limited to silicon oxide sol-gel and may be selected from other organic silanes. Preferably, the inorganic polymer is derived from silicon alkoxides and made by a sol-gel method. In addition, the inorganic polymer may be aluminum silicates having a three-dimensional structure.
(Formulation Example 2)
The glass-strengthening coating material is organic/inorganic hybrid polymer, comprising:
(1) silicon oxide sol-gel (SiO2 sol-gel), where SiO2 sol-gel is derived by hydrolysis and polymerization of a silane precursor and the silane precursor is, for example, tetraethoxysilane, tetramethoxysilane, vinyltrimethoxysilane or methyltrimethoxysilane;
(2) acrylates, such as 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate or dipentaerythritol hexacrylate, where acrylates may be added after the hydrolyzing process of the silicon oxide sol-gel preparation is performed to hybrid with silicon oxide sol-gel to form acrylate/silicon oxide hybrid material, thus increasing toughness of the coating material and the capability to absorb impact forces; and
(3) 1-30 wt % of potassium salt, where the potassium salt includes, for example, at least one of potassium dihydrogen phosphate, potassium manganate, potassium ferrate, potassium nitrate, potassium formate, potassium ferric oxalate, and aluminium potassium sulfate.
The glass-strengthening coating material 12 may be made from the aforementioned raw materials at pH 1-4, and a curing (hardening) temperature of the glass-strengthening coating material 12 may be 100-480° C.
Certainly, in an alternate embodiment, potassium salt may be excluded and only the acrylate/silicon oxide hybrid material is added to increase toughness of the coating material, as compared with the formulation example 1. In addition, other organic/inorganic hybrid polymers formed by various resins (for example, PU, silica gel, epoxy, adamantine, PC, PE, PS resins, etc.) modified by silicon, silane or siloxane may also be used.
(Formulation Example 3)
The glass-strengthening coating material is organic polymer, preferably a UV curable resin that is a photo-polymerizable resin, and the UV curable resin may be an acrylic resin or an epoxy resin. The acrylic UV curable resin generally includes acrylaic oligomers or monomers, photo-initiator, and other additives, where the oligomers or monomers contain acrylic moiety. When light induces the photo-initiator to generate free radicals, the acrylic moiety may react with the radicals to achieve the purpose of photo-curing or hardening. The epoxy UV curable resin generally includes resin, photo-initiator, filler, and other additives. After the photo-initiator absorbs light, a series of reactions occur to form proton acid and thus to initiate a photo-curing reaction. It should be noted that the photo-polymerizable resin as recited in the above embodiment may be also thermally polymerizable. Certainly, the organic polymer according to the the invention may be selected from various themo-polymerizable resins, such as acrylic thermosetting resins, thermo-curable PU resins, or thermo-curable epoxy resins. The thermo-polymerizable resins are not described in detail here as they are well-known in the art.
The chemically strengthening effects of a glass-strengthening coating material are exemplified in the following embodiments, where the glass-strengthening coating material is applied to a strengthened mother glass substrate that has been given a preliminary chemically strengthening treatment and then given at least one machining or material removing treatment. As shown in
In the above embodiments, the glass-strengthening coating material 12 is disposed in the glass skin by coating. However, this in not limited, in an alternate embodiment, the glass substrate may be partially or completely dipped into the glass-strengthening coating material 12 to form a chemically strengthened layer.
According to the above embodiments, a glass-strengthening coating material is used to form a chemically strengthened layer on a newly-born surface area or to reinforce the original strengthened layer that is weaken or removed in part as a result of machining or material removing treatments. Therefore, a chemically strengthened layer and a corresponding compression stress layer are formed on the entire surface to farther enhance the overall strength of a strengthened glass block. Since the glass-strengthening coating material containing potassium salt may be disposed on a glass substrate by coating to achieve ion-exchange strengthening effects, it becomes easier to give the glass substrate local reinforcement. Besides, inorganic or organic polymer (such as SiO2 layer or UV curable resin) in the glass-strengthening coating material may fill cracks in the glass skin to further enhance glass strength. In addition, compared with a conventional chemically strengthening treatment where a glass substrate is dipped into high-temperature potassium molten salt, since a curing temperature for the glass-strengthening coating material containing potassium salt may be lowered to about 100° C., the low curing temperature does a coating layer on the glass substrate no harm to increase production yields and reliability.
As shown in FIG, 6, a touch-sensitive display device 50 includes a cover lens 51 and a display device 58. Before cutting a mother glass substrate, the mother glass substrate may undergo a mother glass fabrication process, such as film deposition, photolithography, etching, screen printing or ink printing to form a decorative layer 52 and a touch-sensing structure 54. Then, the mother glass substrate is cut to form multiple strengthened glass blocks 20a each serving as a cover lens 51. A side surface 511 of the cover lens 51 is optionally given an etching treatment and a secondary chemically strengthening treatment (such as coating the glass-strengthening coating material 12) to obtain a strengthened cover lens 51. Similarly, display units 55 may be formed on a mother glass substrate by aforementioned mother glass fabrication process, and the mother glass substrate is cut to form multiple strengthened glass blocks 20a each functioning as an array substrate. The array substrate may serve as a bottom substrate 56 of an LCD device or an OLED device, and the array substrate may combine with a color filter substrate or a sealing cap 57 to form a display device 58. Typically, a touch-sensing structure is formed by patterning an electrode layer. For example, as shown in
Further, the touch-sensing structure 54 may be formed by patterning a single-layered electrode layer. For example, as shown in
Referring to
Referring to
In an alternate embodiment, the touch-sensing structure 744 may be omitted from the display device 76, and touch-sensing operations are performed only by the touch-sensing structure 742 of the display device 76 with touch-sensing functions. The touch-sensing structure 742 may be in the form of single-layer electrodes or multi-layered electrodes. Besides, in this embodiment, the color filter substrate 762 is replaced with a sealing cap of an OLED. The cover lens 71 combines with the display device 76 with touch-sensing functions to form a touch-sensitive display device 70 protected by strengthened glass.
As shown in
As shown in
Referring to
The foregoing description of the preferred embodiments of the invention has been presented for purposes of illustration and description. It is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise form or to exemplary embodiments disclosed. Accordingly, the foregoing description should be regarded as illustrative rather than restrictive. Obviously, many modifications and variations will be apparent to practitioners skilled in this art. The embodiments are chosen and described in order to best explain the principles of the invention and its best mode practical application, thereby to enable persons skilled in the art to understand the invention for various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use or implementation contemplated. It is intended that the scope of the invention be defined by the claims appended hereto and their equivalents in which all terms are meant in their broadest reasonable sense unless otherwise indicated. Therefore, the term “the invention”, “the present invention” or the like does not necessarily limit the claim scope to a specific embodiment, and the reference to particularly preferred exemplary embodiments of the invention does not imply a limitation on the invention, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The invention is limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims. The abstract of the disclosure is provided to comply with the rules requiring an abstract, which will allow a searcher to quickly ascertain the subject matter of the technical disclosure of any patent issued from this disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. Any advantages and benefits described may not apply to all embodiments of the invention. It should be appreciated that variations may be made in the embodiments described by persons skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims. Moreover, no element and component in the present disclosure is intended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether the element or component is explicitly recited in the following claims. Each of the terms “first” and “second” is only a nomenclature used to modify its corresponding element. These terms are not used to set up the upper limit or lower limit of the number of elements.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 101121669 | Jun 2012 | TW | national |
| 101141241 | Nov 2012 | TW | national |
