CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

[0001] This application is based on and claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to Korean Patent Application No. 10-2020-0006750, filed on January 17, 2020, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article, and more particularly, to a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article, the method being capable of easily mass-producing glass laminate articles having excellent appearance and high reliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

[0003] A glass laminate article, in which a film is laminated on a glass substrate, has been developed as a construction material, a furniture material, etc. However, processing characteristics of materials laminated on a glass laminate article are largely different from one another, and there may be a large room for development in the processing methods of the materials.

SUMMARY

[0004] Provided is a method of manufacturing glass laminate articles, capable of easily mass-producing glass laminate articles having excellent appearances and high reliability.

[0005] According to an aspect of an embodiment, a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article including providing a glass substrate including an image-printed film attached onto a first surface of the glass substrate, cutting the image-printed film from above the first surface by using an ultrasonic cutter to have a target size, and forming a scoring line on a second surface of the glass substrate that is opposite to the first surface.

[0006] In some embodiments, the cutting of the image-printed film to have the target size may be performed prior to the forming of the scoring line. The scoring line may be formed along a line formed by cutting the image-printed film.

[0007] In some embodiments, the image-printed film may be attached to the glass substrate by an adhesive film, and in the cutting of the image-printed film to have the target size, the adhesive film may be also cut together with the image-printed film. [0008] In some embodiments, a backer substrate may be further provided on an opposite surface of a surface of the image-printed film onto which the glass substrate has been attached. In some embodiments, the forming of the scoring line may be performed prior to the cutting of the image-printed film to have the target size. In some embodiments, the size of the backer substrate may be substantially equal to the target size. In some embodiments, the cutting of the image-printed film to have the target size may be performed prior to the forming of the scoring line.

[0009] In some embodiments, the method may further include dividing the glass substrate along the scoring line, after the cutting of the image-printed film to have the target size and the forming of the scoring line. In some embodiments, the method may further include trimming lateral surfaces of the glass substrate after the dividing of the glass substrate.

[0010] According to an aspect of another embodiment, a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article includes providing a glass substrate including an image-printed film attached onto a first surface of the glass substrate, wherein the glass substrate includes the first surface and a second surface opposite to each other, cutting the image-printed film from above the first surface by using an ultrasonic cutter to have a target size, and identifying a cutting line formed by cutting the image-printed film with the ultrasonic cutter, by using an image of the glass substrate obtained at the second surface, forming a scoring line on the second surface along the identified cutting line, and dividing the glass substrate along the scoring line.

[0011] In some embodiments, the thickness of the glass substrate may be about 0.1 mm to about 1 mm. In some embodiments, the identifying of the cutting line may be performed by a vision system located on the second surface. In some embodiments, the forming of the scoring line may be performed by a scoring device that is controlled by a scoring controller, and the scoring controller may be configured to feed a difference between the cutting line and a location of the scoring device back and determine a target location of the scoring device. In some embodiments, the backer substrate may be further provided on an opposite surface of a surface of the image- printed film onto which the glass substrate has been attached.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0012] FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article according to an embodiment.

[0013] FIG. 3A is a conceptual diagram of a scoring system according to an embodiment, in which a scoring device is configured to score glass substrates along cut lines.

[0014] FIG. 3B is a conceptual diagram of a scoring system according to another embodiment, in which a scoring device is configured to score glass substrates along cut lines.

[0015] FIGS. 6 to 10 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article according to another embodiment.

[0016] FIGS. 11 and 12 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] Reference will now be made in detail to embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout. In this regard, the present embodiments may have different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the descriptions set forth herein. Accordingly, the embodiments are merely described below, by referring to the figures, to explain aspects of the present description. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. Expressions such as "at least one of," when preceding a list of elements, modify the entire list of elements and do not modify the individual elements of the list.

[0018] Hereinafter, one or more embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings. Various modifications, additions and substitutions of the embodiment of the present disclosure are possible, and thus it will be appreciated that the present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the concept of the present disclosure to one of ordinary skill in the art. Like reference numerals may denote like elements throughout the specification. Moreover, various elements and regions in the drawings are schematically illustrated. Accordingly, the disclosure is not limited by relative sizes or intervals illustrated in the attached drawings.

[0019] It will be understood that although the terms "first," "second," etc. may be used herein to describe various components, these components should not be limited by these terms. Terms are only used to distinguish one element from other elements. For example, a first component may be referred to as a second component and vice versa, without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0020] The terms used in the present specification are merely used to describe particular embodiments, and are not intended to limit the present disclosure. An expression used in the singular encompasses the expression of the plural, unless it has a clearly different meaning in the context. In the present specification, it will be understood that the terms "comprises" or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, number, steps, operations, elements, components, and groups thereof, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, number, steps, operations, elements, components, or groups thereof.

[0021] Unless otherwise defined, all terms used herein and including technical and scientific terms have the same meaning as those generally understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Also, terms defined in commonly used dictionaries should be interpreted as having the same meanings as those in the context of related technologies, and unless clearly defined, are not interpreted as ideally or excessively formal meanings.

[0022] When a certain embodiment may be implemented differently, a specific process order may be performed differently from the described order. For example, two consecutively described processes may be performed substantially at the same time or performed in an order opposite to the described order.

[0023] In the drawings, for example, according to the manufacturing technology and/or tolerance, variations from the illustrated shape may be expected. Thus, the embodiments of the present disclosure must not be interpreted to be limited by a particular shape that is illustrated in the drawings and must include a change in the shape occurring, for example, during manufacturing. As used herein, "and/or" includes each and at least one all combinations of the mentioned items. Also, the term "base material" used herein may denote the base material itself, or a stack structure including a base material and a predetermined layer or film formed on the base material. Also, "surface of a base material" used herein may denote an exposed surface of the base material itself, or an outer surface of a predetermined layer or film formed on the base material.

[0024] FIGS. 1 to 5 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing a glass laminate article 100 according to an embodiment.

[0025] Referring to FIG. 1, a laminated body including a glass substrate 110g and a film 110f may be provided.

[0026] The glass substrate 110g may have a first surface GF1 and a second surface GF2 facing the first surface GF1.

[0027] The glass substrate 110g may include a glass material containing about 30 mol% to about 85 mol% S1O2, about 1 mol% to about 25 mol% AI2O3, about 0.1 mol% to about 15 mol% B2O3, about 0.1 mol% to about 10 mol% MgO, and about 0.1 mol% to about 10 mol% CaO. In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may further include, but is not limited to, U2O, K2O, ZnO, SrO, BaO, Sn02, T1O2, V2O3, Nb20s, MnO, Zr02, AS2O3, M0O3, Sb203, and/or Ce02.

[0028] In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may have a thickness T1 of about 50 pm to about 1000 pm. In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may have the thickness T1 of about 80 pm to about 500 pm, about 100 pm to about 400 pm, about 120 pm to about 300 pm, or about 150 pm to about 250 pm. In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may have the thickness T1 of about 100 pm to about 500 pm. When the glass substrate 110g is excessively thick, the glass substrate layer 130 may be easily detached due to the weight and may have an inferior adaptability with respect to a curved surface. When the glass substrate 110g is excessively thin, the glass substrate 110g may have an insufficient strength.

[0029] In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may have a transmittance of about 90% or greater with respect to visible light. In some embodiment, the glass substrate 110g may have a transmittance of about 93% or greater, about 95% or greater, about 96% or greater, about 97% or greater, about 98% or greater, and about 99% or greater with respect to the visible light.

[0030] In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may include a strengthened glass sheet. The glass substrate 110g may include a thermally strengthened or chemically strengthened glass sheet.

[0031] In some embodiments, the glass substrate 110g may include a chemically strengthened glass sheet through an ion exchange process. In the ion exchange process, a glass sheet is immersed in a bath of molten salt for a certain time period so that ions on or around a surface of the glass sheet may be exchanged with larger metal ions in the molten salt to be chemically strengthened. In some embodiments, a temperature of the molten salt bath may be about 430 and the immersion time may be about 8 hours.

[0032] The glass substrate 110g may be strengthened because the larger metal ions are included in the glass and compressive stress is formed around the surface area. Here, tensile stress corresponding to the compressive stress may be caused in a central area of the glass substrate 110g to gain balance. Although the disclosure is not intended to be subject to a certain theory, "ion exchange" herein may denote a process of substituting cations on or around the surface of the glass sheet with other cations having the same valency.

[0033] The film 110f may be provided on the first surface GF1 of the glass substrate 100g.

[0034] In some embodiments, the film 110f may include a polymer film including an image layer. The image layer may be printed on the polymer film. The polymer film may have a single-layered structure or may have a laminate film in which two or more kinds of polymer resin layers are laminated. In some embodiments, the film 110f may include high density polyethylene (HDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene (PS) film, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin film, polypropylene (PP) film, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, polyethylene naphthalate, polybutylene terephthalate, polycarbonate (PC), or a laminate film thereof.

[0035] The image layer may be a printed layer, on which arbitrary content such as characters, pictures, symbols, etc. is printed. The image layer may be formed by, for example, an inkjet printing or a laser printing method. The image layer may include a pigment component of an ink for inkjet printers, or a pigment component of toner for laser printers.

[0036] The film 110f may have a thickness of about 100 pm to about 500 pm, about 150 pm to about 400 pm, or about 200 pm to about 350 pm. When the film 11 Of is excessively thin, for example, less than 100 pm, it may be difficult to handle the film 11 Of and productivity may degrade. When the film 11 Of is excessively thick, for example, greater than 500 pm, an excellent appearance of the article may not be obtained.

[0037] The film 11 Of and the glass substrate 110g may be bonded to each other via an adhesive film 110a. The adhesive film 110a may have adhering force on both of upper and lower surfaces thereof. For example, the adhesive film 110a may include a pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) such as acryl-based, silicon-based, urethane- based, rubber-based, vinyl ether-based adhesive, etc., or an optically clear adhesive (OCA). However, one or more embodiments are not limited thereto.

[0038] The adhesive film 110a may have a thickness of about 20 pm to about 150 pm. In some embodiments, the adhesive film 110a may have a thickness of about 30 pm to about 130 pm, about 50 pm to about 120 pm, or about 70 pm to about 100 pm. [0039] The glass substrate 110g has a size of GS in a horizontal direction and the film 11 Of may have a size of FS in the horizontal direction. GS and FS may be greater than a target size TS. In FIG. 1 , it is shown that FS is larger than GS, but GS may be larger than FS.

[0040] Referring to FIG. 2, the film 110f may be cut according to the target size TS. [0041] The film 110f may be cut by an ultrasonic wave cutter 120a. The ultrasonic wave cutter 120a vibrates a cutter by using ultrasonic waves to cut a cutting target. In detail, the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a may be configured to easily and effectively cut the cutting target by driving an ultrasonic oscillator using electrical energy and finely vibrating a cover unit by using ultrasonic waves of tens to hundreds of kHz generated by the ultrasonic oscillator. As such, the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a has a lifespan that is several to tens of times longer than that of a cutter knife and is more suitable for mass production of the articles. In detail, the ultrasonic oscillator used in the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a may have a frequency of about 10 kHz to about 20 kHz. When the frequency is excessively low, the cutting operation may have a defect, and when the frequency is excessively high, the effects thereof are saturated and thus may not be economically profit.

[0042] The film 110f may be cut toward a side of the first surface GF1 of the glass substrate 110g. The film 110f is cut according to the target size TS, and as described above, the target size TS is smaller than GS that is the size of the glass substrate 110g in the horizontal direction, and thus, the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a faces the first surface GF1 of the glass substrate 100g. Because the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a faces the surface of the glass substrate 110g, a possibility that the glass substrate 110g is damaged due to the ultrasonic wave cutting may be low.

[0043] In addition, when the film 110f is cut into the target size, the adhesive film 110a may be also cut by the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a. Also, due to the cutting operation, a cutting line CL separating the film 11 Of and the adhesive film 110a from each other may be formed.

[0044] Referring to FIG. 3, a scoring line may be formed on the glass substrate 110g according to the target size TS.

[0045] Scoring of the glass substrate 110g may be performed by an arbitrary scoring device 120b. For example, the glass substrate 110g may be scored by such a unit as a scoring wheel. The glass substrate 110g may be scored at a side of the second surface GF2 of the glass substrate 110g. Thus, the scoring device 120b is not in direct contact with the film 11 Of, and residues or debris generated due to different cutting characteristics of the glass substrate 110g and the film 11 Of, direct contact between the scoring device 120b and the film 110f, etc. may be prevented from generating. [0046] The scoring may be performed through some thickness of the glass substrate 110g. Therefore, even after performing the scoring, a portion out of the target size TS may not be still separated, but may remain.

[0047] In particular, the cutting line CL formed by cutting the film 110f using the ultrasonic wave cutter 120a may be visually recognizable from the side of the second surface GF2 of the glass substrate 110g. Therefore, in some embodiments, the scoring performed by the scoring device 120b may be performed along with the cutting line CL that is visible from the side of the second surface GF2.

[0048] FIG. 3A is a conceptual diagram of a scoring system 1 according to an embodiment, in which the scoring device 120b is configured to score the glass substrate 110g along the cutting line CL. [0049] Referring to FIG. 3A, a vision system 136 may be configured to obtain an image of the glass substrate 110g at the side of the first surface GF1 of the glass substrate 110g. The vision system 136 may recognize a location x1 of the cutting line CL by obtaining the image of the glass substrate 110g from the side of the first surface GF1. In FIG. 3A, a coordinate value in an x-axis direction is obtained, but one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a coordinate value in an arbitrary direction may be obtained.

[0050] A scoring controller 132 may receive the location x1 of the cutting line CL sent from the vision system 136. Also, the scoring controller 132 calculates a difference between a current location x2 of the scoring device 120b and the location x1 of the cutting line CL, and may transmit a value corresponding to the difference to a positioner 134 that adjusts a location of the scoring device 120b. The positioner 134 may determine a new target location of the scoring device 120b by using the value corresponding to the difference.

[0051] The vision system 136, the scoring controller 132, and the positioner 134 perform the above processes repeatedly so that the scoring device 120b may perform the scoring along the cutting line CL.

[0052] FIG. 3B is a conceptual diagram of a scoring system 1a according to another embodiment, in which the scoring device 120b is configured to score the glass substrate 110g along the cutting line CL.

[0053] Referring to FIG. 3B, the vision system 136 may obtain the image of the glass substrate 110g from the side of the second surface GF2 of the glass substrate 110g. [0054] The vision system 136 may recognize a location x1 of the cutting line CL by obtaining the image of the glass substrate 110g from the side of the second surface GF2. Although the film 110f on which the cutting line CL is formed is located on the first surface GF1 of the glass substrate 110g, the cutting line CL may be identified from the side of the second surface GF2 because the glass substrate 110g has an excellent transparency. In FIG. 3B, a coordinate value in an x-axis direction is obtained, but one of ordinary skill in the art would understand that a coordinate value in an arbitrary direction may be obtained.

[0055] The scoring controller 132 may receive the location x1 of the cutting line CL sent from the vision system 136. Also, the scoring controller 132 calculates a difference between a current location x2 of the scoring device 120b and the location x1 of the cutting line CL, and may transmit a value corresponding to the difference to the positioner 134 that adjusts a location of the scoring device 120b. The positioner 134 may determine a new location by using a value corresponding to the difference. [0056] The vision system 136, the scoring controller 132, and the positioner 134 perform the above processes repeatedly so that the scoring device 120b may perform the scoring along the cutting line CL.

[0057] Referring to FIG. 4, the glass substrate 110g may be isolated along the scoring line.

[0058] The isolation of the glass substrate 110g may be achieved by applying force with respect to a portion out of the target size TS in a direction perpendicular to the first surface GF1 (or the second surface GF2).

[0059] A body portion 100b and a remaining portion 100res may be separated by the isolation of the glass substrate 110g. The body portion 100b is a portion that becomes the glass laminate article through an additional treatment, and the remaining portion 100res may be a target to be discarded or recycled.

[0060] Referring to FIG. 5, an edge of the body portion 100b is trimmed to obtain a glass laminate article 100.

[0061] The trimming may be a process of removing the edge of the body portion 100b, in particular, an edge of the glass substrate 100g, in a certain angle (Q). The angle (Q) may be about 60 to about 85.

[0062] The trimming may be performed by a certain appropriate unit such as grinding using a grinder GR, brushing, etc., and is not particularly restricted.

[0063] FIGS. 6 to 10 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing the glass laminate article 200 according to another embodiment.

[0064] Referring to FIG. 6, a laminate body including the glass substrate 110g, the film 110f, and a backer substrate 110b may be provided.

[0065] The glass substrate 110g and the film 110f are described above in the embodiments with reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0066] The backer substrate 110b may include, for example, a metal substrate, a wooden substrate, an inorganic substrate, an organic substrate, or a composite material thereof. The metal substrate may include, but is not limited to, one selected from steel, stainless steel, aluminum, copper, other metal alloys, polymers, pulp, paper, and composites thereof.

[0067] In some embodiments, the backer substrate 110b may be obtained by coating the metal substrate, the wooden substrate, the inorganic substrate, the organic substrate, or a composite material thereof with an organic film. In some embodiments, the backer substrate 110b may be obtained by coating the metal substrate, the wooden substrate, the inorganic substrate, the organic substrate, or a composite material thereof with a paint.

[0068] In some embodiments, the backer substrate 110b may include a high-pressure laminate (HPL), a paint-coated metal (PCM), a medium density fiberboard (MDF), or a vinyl-coated metal (VCM). In some embodiments, the backer substrate 110b may be used in wall panels, backsplash, the exterior of a cabinet or furniture, the exterior of home appliances, marker boards, or other construction applications.

[0069] In some embodiments, the backer substrate 110b may have a size in the horizontal direction, wherein the size is equal to the target size TS. That is, the size of the backer substrate 110b is smaller than the size GS of the glass substrate 110g in the horizontal direction, and smaller than the size FS of the film 110f in the horizontal direction.

[0070] The backer substrate 110b may be coupled to the film 110f via an adhesive resin 11 Or. The adhesive resin 11 Or may include, for example, an optically clear resin (OCR).

[0071] Referring to FIG. 7, the film 110f may be cut according to the target size TS. In some embodiments, when the backer substrate 110b has a size that is equal to the target size TS in the horizontal direction, the cutting of the film 110f may be performed along the edges of the backer substrate 110b.

[0072] The cutting of the film 110f is described above with reference to FIG. 2, and additional descriptions are not provided here.

[0073] Referring to FIG. 8, a scoring line may be formed on the glass substrate 110g according to the target size TS. The scoring line may be formed by using the scoring system 1 or 1a shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B.

[0074] Referring to FIG. 9, the glass substrate 110g may be isolated along the scoring line. A body portion 200b and a remaining portion 200res may be separated by the isolation of the glass substrate 110g. The body portion 200b is a portion that becomes the glass laminate article through an additional treatment, and the remaining portion 200res may be a target to be discarded or recycled.

[0075] The isolation of the glass substrate 110g may be achieved by applying the force with respect to the portion out of the target size TS (or the size of the backer substrate 110b in the horizontal direction) in a direction perpendicular to the first surface GF1 (or the second surface GF2).

[0076] Referring to FIG. 10, an edge of the body portion 200b is trimmed to obtain a glass laminate article 200. The trimming is described above with reference to FIG. 5, and thus, detailed descriptions about the trimming are omitted.

[0077] FIGS. 11 and 12 are side views illustrating a method of manufacturing the glass laminate article 200 according to another embodiment. The process shown in FIG. 11 may correspond to a next process of the process shown in FIG. 6, and the process of FIG. 6 is described above and detailed descriptions are omitted.

[0078] Referring to FIG. 11, the scoring of the glass substrate 110g may be performed before cutting the film 11 Of. The scoring line may be formed by using the scoring system 1 or 1a shown in FIG. 3A or FIG. 3B.

[0079] The vision system 136 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B is configured to identify the cutting line CL, and the location of the scoring device 120b may be controlled by the cutting line CL, as described above. In addition, the vision system 136 of FIGS. 3A and 3B may identify the edge of the backer substrate 110b, and the location of the scoring device 120b may be controlled by the edge of the backer substrate 110b. As described above, dimensions of the backer substrate 110b in the horizontal direction may be equal to the target size TS, and in this case, the vision system 136 may identify the edge of the backer substrate 110b instead of the cutting line CL. The scoring controller 132 receiving feedback about the edge of the backer substrate 110b may perform the scoring by using the scoring device 120b along the identified edge of the backer substrate 110b.

[0080] Referring to FIG. 12, the film 110f may be cut along the scoring line. In some embodiments, the film 110f may be cut along the edge of the backer substrate 110b. [0081] The unit for cutting the film 110f is described above with reference to FIG. 2, and detailed descriptions thereof are omitted.

[0082] After that, as described with reference to FIG. 4 or FIG. 9, the glass substrate 110g is isolated along the scoring line, and as described above with reference to FIG. 5 or FIG. 10, the trimming process is performed to obtain the final glass laminate article 200.

[0083] According to the method of manufacturing the glass laminate article of the disclosure, the glass laminate article having excellent appearance and high reliability may be mass produced.

[0084] It should be understood that embodiments described herein should be considered in a descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation. Descriptions of features or aspects within each embodiment should typically be considered as available for other similar features or aspects in other embodiments. While one or more embodiments have been described with reference to the figures, it will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the following claims.