Methods and apparatus for fabricating and cutting flexible glass and polymer composite structures

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2023415455-A1
Application number	US-202318244591-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Sep 11, 2023
Priority date	Mar 14, 2013
Publication date	Dec 28, 2023
Grant date	—

Abstract

Methods and apparatus provide for: sourcing an ultra-thin glass sheet having first and second opposing major surfaces and perimeter edges therebetween, the glass sheet having a thickness between the first and second surfaces of less than about 400 microns; adhering at least one polymer layer directly or indirectly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet to form a laminated structure; and cutting the laminated structure using at least one of the following techniques: shear cutting, burst cutting, slit cutting, and crush cutting.

First claim

1 . A method, comprising:
sourcing an ultra-thin glass sheet having first and second opposing major surfaces and perimeter edges therebetween, the glass sheet having a thickness between the first and second surfaces of less than about 400 microns; adhering at least one polymer layer directly or indirectly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet to form a laminated structure; and scoring a trench into the glass sheet slightly spaced away from an intended cutting line; cutting the laminated structure along the intended cutting line using a cutting tool with at least one of the following techniques: shear cutting, burst cutting, slit cutting, and crush cutting, wherein the cutting step produces at least one cut edge having an edge characteristic in which lateral cracks running from the cut edge into the glass sheet penetrate no further than the trench.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a thickness of the at least one polymer layer is one of: (i) between about 1-2 mils; (ii) between about 2-3 mils; (iii) about 3-5 mils; (iv) between about 5-10 mils; and (v) between about 10-20 mils.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one polymer layer is formed from at least one of: (i) polypropylene (PP) and/or propylene co-polymers; (ii) polyethylene terephthalate (PET); (iii) ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA); (iv) ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE); (v) cellulose acetate polymers (CA), including cellulose triacetate (TAC); (vi) poly methyl methacrylate (PMMA); (vii) polyethylene and/or polyethylene copolymers (PE); (viii) polyvinylchloride (PVC); (ix) polycarbonate (PC); (x) acrylic polymers (ACRYL); and (xi) nylon polymers.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the thickness of the glass sheet is one of: (i) less than about 400 microns; (ii) less than about 300 microns; (iii) less than about 200 microns; (iv) less than about 100 microns; (v) less than about 50 microns; (vi) less than about 30 microns; (vii) less than about 20 microns; and (viii) less than about 10 microns (IX) about 2 microns.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhering step includes lamination of the at least one polymer layer directly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet.

6 . The method of claim 5 , wherein the lamination of the at least one polymer layer directly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet is carried out at temperature during one of: an up-draw process, a down-draw process, a fusion process, a redraw process, and a slot-draw process.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhering step includes laminating the at least one polymer layer indirectly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet through one or more intermediate adhesive layers.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhering step includes laminating a first one or more polymer layers to the first surface of the glass sheet, and laminating a second one or more polymer layers to the second surface of the glass sheet.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the adhering step includes laminating one or more polymer layers to at least one of the edges of the glass sheet.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the glass sheet is formed from a composition in mole percent of: 50-80% SiO2, 2-15% Al 2 O 3 , 10-36% B 2 O 3 , 1-15% RO (where RO is one or more of MgO, CaO, SrO, BaO, ZnO), and 0-5% other minor components

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trench is formed using a diamond tipped scribing tool.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trench is parallel to the intended cutting line.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trench is on a side of the intended cut line that corresponds to a side of the cutting tool that tends to bend the glass sheet more severely.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the trench is applied to both sides of an intended cut line.

15 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
removing the polymer layer in the intermediate zone; and subsequently removing the portion of the glass sheet of the intermediate zone.

16 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a web of the laminated structure; continuously moving the web to a destination roll in a transport direction along a length of the web; and continuously cutting the web at one or more cutting zones using one or more of the listed cutting techniques into one or more ribbons as the web is moved to the destination roll.

17 . The method of claim 16 , wherein the providing step includes:
providing a web of the glass sheet on a source roll; continuously moving the web from the source roll to a destination roll in a transport direction along a length of the web; and continuously laminating the at least one polymer layer directly or indirectly to the first and second surfaces of the web as the web moves toward the destination roll.

18 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to the cutting step, applying a removable backer layer directly or indirectly to at least one of first and second major surfaces of the laminated structure.

19 . The method of claim 18 , further comprising applying the removable backer layer indirectly to at least one of the first and second major surfaces of the laminated structure through one or more intermediate adhesive layers.

20 . An apparatus prepared from the method of claim 1 , comprising:
an ultra-thin glass sheet having first and second opposing major surfaces and at least one cut perimeter edge therebetween, the glass sheet having a thickness between the first and second surfaces of less than about 400 microns; and at least one polymer layer adhered directly or indirectly to at least one of the first and second surfaces of the glass sheet, thereby forming a laminated structure, wherein the at least one cut perimeter having an edge characteristic in which lateral cracks running from the cut edge into the glass sheet penetrate no further than one of: (i) about 1400 microns; (ii) about 1000 microns; (iii) about 800 microns; (iv) about 600 microns; and (v) about 400 microns; (vi) about 200 microns; (vii) about 100 microns, and (viii) about 50 microns.

Assignees

• Corning Inc

Inventors

• Bookbinder Dana Craig
• Cimo Patrick Joseph
• Gopalakrishnan Karthik
• Gross Timothy Michael
• Guerrero-Medina Glafiro
• Kang Kiat Chyai
• Lewis Sue Camille

Classifications

• B32B17/10 Primary

  of synthetic resin · CPC title

• C03B33/0235

  Ribbons · CPC title

• C03C3/093

  containing zinc or zirconium · CPC title

• B32B2315/08

  Glass · CPC title

• C03C3/091

  containing aluminium · CPC title