Patent Grant
10927031
The present application is a 35 U.S.C. §§ 371 national phase conversion of PCT/JP2015/057316, filed Mar. 12, 2015, which claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-074089, filed Mar. 31, 2014, the contents of both of which are incorporated herein by reference. The PCT International Application was published in the Japanese language.
The present invention relates to a method for dividing a brittle-material substrate.
The manufacture of electrical equipment such as a flat display panel or a solar panel often needs dividing of a brittle-material substrate such as a glass substrate. In a typical dividing method, a scribing apparatus forms a crack, which has penetrated at least partially in the thickness direction of a substrate, extending linearly (hereinafter referred to as a crack line) on a front surface of the substrate.
According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-188534 (Patent Document 1), a dent in the upper surface of a glass plate is a chip of glass caused in scribing, which is referred to as a scribe line. Also according to Patent Document 1, simultaneously with marking of the scribe line, a crack occurs that extends from the scribe line toward beneath the scribe line. The crack line is formed simultaneously with the formation of the scribe line.
If a crack penetrates fully in the thickness direction, the substrate can be divided along a crack line through only the formation of the crack line. If a crack penetrates only partially in the thickness direction, a stress is applied to the substrate in a step referred to as a breaking step after the formation of the crack line. The crack of the crack line fully penetrates in the thickness direction in the breaking step, so that the substrate is divided. Without such a crack line, the substrate cannot be divided along the scribe line even when a stress is applied to the substrate in the breaking step. To reliably divide a glass plate, thus, the reliable formation of a crack line has been required.
The formation of a crack line needs a crack that is a starting point of the crack line (hereinafter referred to as a starting-point crack). The starting-point crack can be easily formed by a cutter edge riding over a perimeter of a substrate because a fracture tends to occur locally at the perimeter of the substrate. The cutter edge that has rode over the perimeter further slides on the surface of the glass substrate to extend the crack line from the starting-point crack. Unfortunately, the cutter edge's operation to ride over the perimeter of the substrate can cause severe damage to the cutter edge or a large chip on the perimeter of the substrate. It is therefore desirable in many cases to avoid such an operation completely or reduce the occurrence of such an operation.
A method independent of riding of a cutter edge over the perimeter of a substrate is studied as a method for forming a starting-point crack. According to Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-264656 (Patent Document 2), a scribing apparatus includes a scribe body including a cutter and a vibration generating device for applying a vibration to the cutter. This method relatively moves the scribe body along a work surface in a state separated from and above a work, thus positioning the cutter directly above the scribing start point. The scribe body is then lowered to allow the tip of the cutter to abut against the scribing start point by a dead weight of the scribe body. Subsequently, an impact is applied to the scribe body, thus forming a starting-point crack at the scribing start point apart from the perimeter on the work surface. The application of a vibration to the work forms a scribe line with the starting-point crack being a trigger.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 09-188534 (1997)
Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-264656
To form a crack line, the shape, scribing load, scribing speed, and the like of a scribe tool need to be adjusted in consideration of various factors such as the type and thickness of a glass plate. The recent development of thinner and higher-strength glass makes it more difficult to reliably form a crack line. For example, if the scribing load is increased to reliably form a crack line, a cutter edge wears away faster, and a larger scratch is caused on a glass surface, resulting in a occurrence of much dust. Also, the scribing speed is difficult to increase. As described above, the conditions for scribing and for a cutter edge to be used in scribing have been narrowed. In some cases, a crack line which is tilted in the thickness direction of a glass plate is formed due to, for example, the undulations of the surface of the glass plate or the stand on which the glass plate is placed, causing the glass edge surface to be tilted after the glass plate is divided.
According to the scribing apparatuses described in Patent Documents 1 and 2, a starting-point crack is formed by applying an impact to the scribe body. To obtain the starting point of the scribing line depending on an impact alone, however, the application of a large impact to the cutter is required. Consequently, the cutter edge of the cutter is severely damaged, and a minute fracture occurs at the scribing starting-point in the surface of the substrate.
The present invention has been made to solve the problems above and has an object to provide a method for dividing a brittle-material substrate, which generates a crack line along a scribe line after the formation of the scribe line and reduces damage to a cutter edge and a surface of a substrate.
A method for dividing a brittle-material substrate according to the present invention includes steps below.
A brittle-material substrate is prepared, which includes a surface surrounded by a perimeter including first and second edges opposite to each other and has a thickness direction perpendicular to the surface.
A cutter edge is pressed against the surface of the brittle-material substrate. The cutter edge includes a protruding portion and a side portion extending from the protruding portion and having a convex shape. The cutter edge is pressed so that, on the surface of the brittle-material substrate, the protruding portion of the cutter edge is positioned between the first edge and the side portion and the side portion of the cutter edge is positioned between the protruding portion and the second edge.
The cutter edge pressed in the pressing of a cutter edge is caused to slide on the surface of the brittle-material substrate to form a scribe line having a groove shape between a first position closer to the first edge of the first and second edges and a second position closer to the second edge of the first and second edges on the surface of the brittle-material substrate.
After the formation of the scribe line, a crack of the brittle-material substrate in the thickness direction is extended from the second position toward the first position along the scribe line to form a crack line.
The brittle-material substrate is divided along the crack line.
According to the present invention, after the formation of the scribe line, the crack line can be formed along the scribe line. The crack line needs not to be generated simultaneously with the scribing, thus simplifying the selection of a cutter edge and scribe conditions and also increasing a scribing speed. The influence of uneven surface of the substrate or the stand is small, leading to stabilized, improved quality of the end surface of the brittle material after the dividing. In addition, damage to the cutter edge and the surface of the substrate can be reduced, resulting in a longer life of the cutter edge and an improved strength of the substrate after the dividing.
Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The same or corresponding portions are denoted by the same references in the drawings, and description thereof will not be repeated.
In the present embodiment, a glass substrate is used as a brittle-material substrate. Other examples of the brittle-material substrate include a ceramic substrate of, for example, low-temperature firing ceramic or high-temperature firing ceramic, a silicon substrate, a compound semiconductor substrate, a sapphire substrate, and a quartz substrate.
With reference to
The cutter edge 51 is provided with a top surface SD1 (first surface) and a plurality of surfaces surrounding the top surface SD1. The plurality of surfaces include a side surface SD2 (second surface) and a side surface SD3 (third surface). The top surface SD1 and the side surfaces SD2 and SD3 (the first to third surfaces) are oriented in different directions and are adjacent to each other. The cutter edge 51 has a vertex at which the top surface SD1 and the side surfaces SD2 and SD3 meet, and the vertex forms a protruding portion PP of the cutter edge 51. The side surfaces SD2 and SD3 form a ridge forming a side portion PS of the cutter edge 51. The side portion PS linearly extends from the protruding portion PP. The side portion PS, which is a ridge as described above, has a convex shape extending linearly.
It is desirable that the cutter edge 51 be a diamond point. Specifically, the cutter edge 51 is desirably made of diamond in terms of hardness and reduced surface roughness. More desirably, the cutter edge 51 is made of single-crystal diamond. Still more desirably, in crystallography, the top surface SD1 is a {001} plane, and each of the side surfaces SD2 and SD3 is a {111} plane. In this case, the side surfaces SD2 and SD3 are crystal planes equivalent to each other in crystallography though they have different directions.
Diamond other than single-crystal diamond may be used, and for example, polycrystalline diamond synthesized by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) may be used. Alternatively, sintered diamond may be used that is obtained by binding, with a binder such as iron group elements, polycrystalline diamond particles sintered from particulate graphite or non-graphitic carbon so as not to contain the binder such as iron group elements.
The shank 52 extends along an axial direction AX. The cutter edge 51 is preferably attached to the shank 52 in such a manner that the direction normal to the top surface SD1 extends substantially along the axial direction AX.
With reference to
With further reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In step S20 (
In step S30 (
In the formation of the scribe lines SL, the cutter edge 51 is displaced from the position N1 to the position N2 and is further displaced from the position N2 to the position N3 in the present embodiment. With reference to
With reference to
Although the method for forming the assist line AL is not particularly limited, as illustrated in
The crack lines CL are less likely to be formed in the direction from the position N2 to the position N3 than in the direction from the position N2 to the position N1. In other words, ease of the extension of the crack lines CL involves direction dependency. This can result in a phenomenon in which the crack lines CL are formed between the positions N1 and the N2 and are not formed between the positions N2 and N3. The present embodiment is aimed to divide the glass substrate 4 along between the positions N1 and N2 and is not aimed to separate the glass substrate 4 along between the positions N2 and N3. Thus, while the formation of the crack line CL is necessary between the positions N1 and N2, the difficulty of forming the crack line CL between the positions N2 and N3 is not an issue.
In step S50 (
The glass substrate 4 is divided as described above.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The other steps are substantially identical to those of the first embodiment described above.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The cutter edge 51 is caused to slide from the position N1 beyond the edge ED2. When the cutter edge 51 passes through the edge ED2, the stress distortion generated inside the substrate directly below the scribe line is released, so that the crack line extends from the end of the scribe line SL located on the edge ED2 toward the position N1 (
Although a constant load may be applied to the cutter edge 51 in the formation of the scribe lines SL, the load applied to the cutter edge 51 at the position N2 may be increased when the cutter edge 51 is displaced from the position N1 to the position N2. For example, the load is increased by approximately 50%. The cutter edge 51 whose load has been increased is caused to slide beyond the edge ED2. In other words, the load of the cutter edge 51 is increased at the end portion of the scribe line SL. When the cutter edge 51 reaches the edge ED2, the crack line extends from the end of the scribe line SL located on the edge ED2 via the position N2 toward the position N1 (
The other steps are substantially identical to those of the first embodiment above.
With reference to
With reference to
As the application of a stress, specifically, the pressed cutter edge 51 is caused to slide between the position N2 and the edge ED2 (in the figure, the area between the dashed line and the edge ED2) on the front surface SF. This sliding is performed until the cutter edge 51 reaches the edge ED2. The cutter edge 51 is caused to slide preferably to intersect the path of the scribe line SL that has been first formed, more preferably to overlap the path of the scribe line SL that has been first formed. The length of a second sliding is, for example, approximately 0.5 mm. A second sliding may be performed after each of a plurality of scribe lines SL (
In a modification, to apply a stress between the position N2 and the edge ED2, laser light may be applied between the position N2 and the edge ED2 on the front surface SF, in place of causing the cutter edge 51 to slide again as described above. A resultant thermal stress can also induce the formation of crack lines.
The other steps are substantially identical to those of the first embodiment described above.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
The other steps are substantially identical to those of the first embodiment described above.
With reference to
Although the first and second edges of the perimeter of the glass substrate are short sides of a rectangle in the embodiments above, the first and second edges may be long sides of the rectangle. The shape of the perimeter is not limited to a rectangle and may be, for example, a square. The first and second edges are not limited to linear edges and may be curved edges. Although the front surface of the glass substrate is flat in the embodiments above, the front surface may be curved.
The embodiments according to the present invention may be arbitrarily combined, modified, and omitted as appropriate within the scope of the present invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| JP2014-074089 | Mar 2014 | JP | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/JP2015/057316 | 3/12/2015 | WO | 00 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2015/151755 | 10/8/2015 | WO | A |
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3138875 | Christensen | Jun 1964 | A |
| 3230625 | Meyer | Jan 1966 | A |
| 3680213 | Reichert | Aug 1972 | A |
| 5963289 | Stefanov | Oct 1999 | A |
| 8723314 | Su | May 2014 | B2 |
| 20050212092 | Nishizawa | Sep 2005 | A1 |
| 20070164072 | Nishio | Jul 2007 | A1 |
| 20090078105 | Maekawa | Mar 2009 | A1 |
| 20090183617 | Ito et al. | Jul 2009 | A1 |
| 20110300661 | Pearce | Dec 2011 | A1 |
| 20120012632 | Tominaga | Jan 2012 | A1 |
| 20120312141 | Tomei | Dec 2012 | A1 |
| 20130313301 | Brown | Nov 2013 | A1 |
| 20140292344 | Le Neel | Oct 2014 | A1 |
| 20150097272 | Jang | Apr 2015 | A1 |
| 20170103925 | Jhon | Apr 2017 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 101579854 | Nov 2009 | CN |
| 102026926 | Apr 2011 | CN |
| 102275229 | Dec 2011 | CN |
| 102807316 | Dec 2012 | CN |
| 09-188534 | Jul 1997 | JP |
| 2000-264656 | Sep 2000 | JP |
| 2003-183040 | Jul 2003 | JP |
| 2007-331983 | Dec 2007 | JP |
| 2008-201629 | Sep 2008 | JP |
| 2009-208237 | Sep 2009 | JP |
| 2009208237 | Sep 2009 | JP |
| WO 2009128334 | Oct 2009 | JP |
| 2011-054709 | Mar 2011 | JP |
| 2011054709 | Mar 2011 | JP |
| 2012-000793 | Jan 2012 | JP |
| 2013-010644 | Jan 2013 | JP |
| Entry |
|---|
| Decision to Grant a Patent dated Mar. 16, 2018 issued in corresponding Application No. 10-2016-7026885. |
| Korean Office Action (Application No. 10-2016-7026885)) dated Sep. 26, 2017 and its partial English translation. |
| Extended EP Search Report dated Nov. 7, 2017 issued in corresponding European Patent Application (Application No. 15772939.3). |
| German Article in Wikipedia: “Glasschneider” (glass cutter) published on Oct. 29, 2013, XP055419231, URL: https//de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Glasschneider&oldid=123936432 and its machine English translation thereof. |
| Office Action dated Feb. 13, 2018 in counterpart Chinese Patent Application No. 201580017504.7 with partial English translation. |
| International Search Report dated Jun. 16, 2015 in corresponding PCT International Application No. PCT/JP2015/057316. |
| Extended European Search Report and Opinion dated Jul. 2, 2019 in counterpart European Patent Application No. EP 18 20 5159. |
| Chinese Office Action (Application No. 201580017504.7) dated May 16, 2017 and its partial English translation. |
| Japanese Office Action (Application No. 2016-511500) dated May 23, 2017 and its partial English translation. |
| International Preliminary Report on Patentability (IPRP) issued by the International Bureau of WIPO dated Oct. 13, 2016 in connection with corresponding application PCT/JP2015/057316, with English translation. |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170113960 A1 | Apr 2017 | US |
