WO2018123406A1 - Method for producing glass plate - Google Patents

Abstract

In this method for producing a glass plate, an original glass plate is inspected for defects, defect information is generated, and identification information is then attached to the original glass plate. Calculation is performed to determine cut-out segment information for the original glass plate and quality information for each of the segments on the basis of the defect information, and each of the pieces of information is associated with the identification information and stored in a first database 1a of a first server 1. Cut-out segment information and quality information excluding the defect information from the first database 1a are transmitted from the first server 1 to a second server 3, then associated with identification information and stored in a second database 3a of the second server 3. The identification information for the original glass plate is scanned, the corresponding cut-out segment information and quality information are acquired from the second server 3, glass plates are cut from the original glass plate on the basis of each of the acquired pieces of information, and good products are selected.

Description

Manufacturing method of glass plate

The present invention relates to a method for producing a glass plate.

In recent years, in the manufacturing process of a glass plate, from the viewpoint of manufacturing efficiency, a method of cutting one or a plurality of glass plates as a product from a large glass original plate may be employed. Such a method is often employed in a manufacturing process of a glass substrate for a flat panel display (FPD) such as a liquid crystal display, a plasma display, and an organic EL display.

Specifically, for example, when mother glass is cut out from a forming original plate produced by cutting a glass ribbon into a predetermined length by a float method or down draw method, or when a glass substrate for FPD is cut out from mother glass. is there. In the former case, the forming original plate is a glass original plate, and in the latter case, mother glass is the glass original plate.

When a glass plate is cut out from a glass original plate, a defect inspection is performed in the state of the glass original plate. As a result of this defect inspection, if at least one defect does not satisfy the quality standard on the glass original plate, the entire glass original plate is generally discarded as a defective product. However, when such a handling is performed, with the increase in the size of the glass original plate, the probability of occurrence of defects inevitably increases, and the amount of glass lost due to disposal becomes very large. As a result, the manufacturing cost increases.

Therefore, for example, in Patent Document 1, defect information of a plurality of mother glasses, a plurality of different cutout arrangement information and evaluation reference information are accumulated, and the simulation is repeated by sequentially changing the combination of these information. It is disclosed to perform a process of finding a combination that can cut out most glass substrates for liquid crystal display devices. Thereby, even if a defect is contained in the mother glass, the mother glass can be effectively used to prevent an increase in manufacturing cost.

WO2003 / 087923

By the way, in the configuration in which various information of the glass original plate is measured or calculated as described above and the optimum cut-out section of the glass original plate is determined based on the information, the measured or calculated information is stored in the database of the server. It is common to be managed. In this case, for example, in the step of cutting out the glass plate from the glass original plate (hereinafter also referred to as a processing step), information is acquired from the server via a predetermined network or the like, and the glass original plate is cut based on the acquired information. become.

However, the server database stores a lot of detailed information about the glass original plate, such as defect information including the position, size, and type of defects. For this reason, if it is attempted to acquire detailed information including defect information from the server in the processing step, the amount of data becomes very large and the server load increases. In particular, when the processing steps are performed simultaneously at a plurality of locations, the server load becomes significant. As a result, system failures such as server function degradation and temporary server down are likely to occur. Therefore, necessary information cannot be obtained smoothly from the server, and a situation in which the glass plate cannot be efficiently manufactured from the glass original plate may occur.

This invention makes it a technical subject to reduce the server load in which the information regarding the glass original plate is memorize | stored, and to manufacture a glass plate efficiently from a glass original plate.

Invented in order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention includes a step of inspecting a defect in the glass original plate to generate defect information, and a glass original plate cut-out division information based on the defect information and the quality of each division A step of obtaining quality information by calculation, a step of storing defect information, segmentation information and quality information in the first database of the first server, and segmentation information and quality information excluding defect information from the first server. Sending to the second server and storing it in the second database of the second server, obtaining the cut-out classification information and quality information corresponding to the glass original plate identification information from the second server, and the cut-out obtained from the second server Based on the quality information acquired from the second server and the process of cutting one or more glass plates from the glass original plate based on the classification information Characterized in that it comprises the step of selecting a non-defective from the glass plate Te.

According to such a configuration, a server that manages various information is divided into a first server and a second server. Detailed information including defect information, cutout classification information, and quality information is stored in the first database of the first server, and cutout classification information and quality information excluding defect information are stored in the second database of the second server. Including simple information is stored. And in the processing step including the step of cutting out the glass original plate and the step of selecting the cut out glass plate, simple information acquired from the second server is used without directly acquiring various information from the first server. Therefore, in the processing step, an excessive load is not applied to the first server, and the information acquired from the second server is also stopped by the simple information, and thus the excessive load is not applied to the second server. Therefore, since the state which can acquire the information required for a process smoothly from a 2nd server can be maintained stably, it becomes possible to manufacture a glass plate efficiently from a glass original plate.

In the above configuration, a step of packing and transporting the glass original plate may be provided after the step of generating defect information and before the step of cutting out the glass plate.

In this way, it is possible to set the place where the defect inspection of the glass original plate to generate defect information and the place where the glass plate is cut out from the glass original plate are separated from each other. For example, the former can be performed at a domestic factory and the latter can be performed at an overseas factory. In this case, the communication speed between the first server and the second server tends to be slow, but since the segmentation information and the quality information are transmitted from the first server to the second server except for defect information, the communication speed of the network line is slow. However, transmission from the first server to the second server can be performed stably.

In the step of obtaining the quality information of the above configuration by calculation, the first server may obtain the quality information by calculation.

¡If the quality information is calculated by the first server in this way, the equipment cost can be reduced compared to the case of calculating by other servers. In addition, as compared with a case where calculation is performed by each computer used for defect inspection or identification information marking, an application for calculating quality information can be updated at a time, thereby improving maintainability.

In the step of cutting out the glass plate having the above-described configuration, when the second server is required to cut out the glass plate based on the second cut-out section information different from the cut-out section information acquired from the second server, the second server has the identification information. In addition, the second cutout section information is transmitted to the first server, and the first server recalculates the second quality information indicating the quality of each section of the second cutout section information based on the defect information corresponding to the identification information. And may be transmitted to the second server.

In this way, in the step of cutting out the glass plate, even if it is required to cut out the glass plate based on the second cut-out section information different from the cut-out section information acquired from the second server, the defect information It is possible to cope with only a small amount of information exchange between the first server and the second server without moving the server to the second server.

According to the present invention as described above, it is possible to reduce the server load in which information about the glass original plate is stored, and to efficiently manufacture the glass plate from the glass original plate.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows the manufacturing method of a glass plate. It is a schematic plan view which shows a formation process. It is a figure for demonstrating cutout division information. It is a figure for demonstrating cutout division information. It is a figure for demonstrating cutout division information. It is a schematic plan view which shows a process process. It is a figure which shows an example of the quality information displayed on a display apparatus.

An embodiment of a method for producing a glass plate according to the present invention will be described.

As shown in FIG. 1, the manufacturing method of the glass plate which concerns on this embodiment is equipped with the formation process S1 of a glass original plate, the transport process S2 of a glass original plate, and the processing process S3 of a glass original plate. In the molding step S1, the first server 1 communicates with the network 2 (for example, an intranet), and in the processing step S3, the second server 3 communicates with the network 4 (for example, the intranet). The first server 1 and the second server 3 communicate via the network 5. The network 5 for communication between the first server 1 and the second server 3 may be a dedicated line (including both wireless and wired), but is preferably the Internet (particularly VPN). For example, the first server 1 is placed in a factory that performs the molding step S1, and the second server 3 is placed in a factory that performs the processing step S3.

As shown in FIG. 2, the forming step S <b> 1 is a cutting step S <b> 11 for manufacturing a glass original plate G that is a forming original plate by cutting a glass ribbon continuously formed by the overflow downdraw method at a predetermined length in a vertical posture. Is provided. In the cutting step S11, the glass ribbon is roughly cut by cleaving due to bending stress. The forming step S1 is not limited to the one using the overflow downdraw method. For example, another downdraw method such as a slot downdraw method or a redraw method, or a float method may be used.

Furthermore, after the cutting step S11, the forming step S1 includes a defect inspection step S12 for inspecting the glass original plate G for defects, a marking step S13 for attaching identification information to the glass original plate G, and a packaging step S14 for packing the glass original plate G. Is provided. In the present embodiment, in the forming step S1, the glass original plate G is conveyed in a vertical posture (preferably a vertical posture) from left to right in FIG. During this conveyance, for example, the glass original plate G is suspended and supported by a chuck mechanism or the like. In addition, you may convey the glass original plate G with a horizontal attitude | position (preferably horizontal attitude | position) with a conveyor etc.

The defect inspection step S12 includes a step S12a for measuring the type (for example, bubbles, foreign matter, etc.), position (coordinates), and size of the defect contained in the glass original plate G by the sensor 6. In the present embodiment, the defect inspection step S12 includes a step S12b of measuring the uneven thickness of the glass original plate G with the sensor 7 and a step S12c of measuring the streaks (striae) of the glass original plate G with the sensor 8 before the step S12a. And further comprising. Note that the order of the steps S12a to S12c is not particularly limited. In the defect inspection step S12, defect information including the inspection results of these steps S12a to S12c is generated and transmitted to the first server 1. Note that step S12b and step S12c may be omitted.

On the other hand, in the first server 1, as shown in FIG. 1, the defect information is associated with the identification information of the glass original plate G and stored in the first database 1a, and the cut-out division information of the glass original plate G based on the defect information. And quality information is automatically obtained by calculation (simulation). Here, the cutout classification information is layout information indicating how to cut out one or a plurality of glass plates Ga from a single glass original plate G. The quality information is determination result information (consisting of information indicating acceptance and information indicating failure) indicating whether the quality for each segment included in the segment classification information is acceptable. One division corresponds to a portion to be a single glass plate Ga.

As shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, the first server 1 has a plurality of different patterns in advance as candidates for the segmentation information. For example, there are three patterns: one piece of FIG. 3A, trimming of FIG. 3B, and multiple chamfering (six examples are shown in FIG. 3C). From these patterns, the optimum segmentation information is automatically selected in consideration of the position and size of the defect included in the defect information. As the cut-out section information, it is preferable to select a pattern that minimizes the amount of discarded glass. In this embodiment, the glass original plate G having no defect is taken as a single piece, and the glass original plate G having a defect is trimmed or multi-faced in consideration of the position and size of the defect. Candidate patterns of cutout segment information can be added, edited, and deleted.

As shown in FIG. 3A, in the case of taking a single piece, a rectangular section C1 excluding the peripheral edge of the glass original plate G is selected as cut-out section information. The size of the section C1 is set in advance, but can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 3B, in the case of trimming, any one of the starting points P1 to P4 formed in the vicinity of the four corners of the glass original plate G except for the peripheral portion of the glass original plate G is used as a corner. A rectangular section having the selected section is selected as cut-out section information. Therefore, information on the selected starting points P1 to P4 is also included in the cutout segment information. For example, when the glass original plate G has defects d1 and d2, a rectangular segment C2 including the starting point P1 is selected as the segment information so as not to include the defects d1 and d2. The size of the section C2 is set in advance, but can be changed.

As shown in FIG. 3C, in the case of multi-chamfering, a plurality of rectangular sections of the same size arranged adjacent to each other in the region excluding the peripheral edge of the glass original plate G are selected as cut-out section information. For example, in the case of six chamfering, the sections C3 to C8 are selected as the cut-out section information. In this case, the quality information includes information that rejects the quality of the sections C3, C5, and C7 in which the defects d3 to d5 exist, and information that passes the quality of the sections C4, C6, and C8 in which no defect exists. included. The number of sections C3 to C8 (the number of multiple chamfers) is set in advance, but can be changed.

The first server 1 stores the segmentation information and quality information obtained by the calculation in the first database 1a in association with the identification information of the glass original plate G. At the same time, the first server 1 transmits the segmentation information and the quality information together with the identification information to the second server 3. The second server 3 associates these pieces of information with identification information and stores them in the second database 3a. As a result, the cutout segment information and quality information stored in the second database 3a are synchronized with the cutout segment information and quality information stored in the first database 1a. At this time, the defect information is not transmitted from the first server 1 to the second server 3 and is excluded from the synchronization information. Accordingly, the first server 1 stores detailed information including defect information, cutout classification information, and quality information, and the second server 3 stores simple information including cutout classification information and quality information excluding defect information. Is done. Note that the segmentation information and quality information transmitted from the first server 1 to the second server 3 may be only difference information from the segmentation information and quality information stored in the second server 3.

Referring back to FIG. 2 again, in the marking step S13, identification information is attached to ineffective portions (for example, portions that are cut and removed at the time of fine cutting) such as the peripheral portion of the glass original plate G by the marking device 9. The identification information is ID information of the glass original plate G, and is attached to the glass original plate G in the form of, for example, a two-dimensional code (preferably a data matrix code). For example, labeling, laser processing, ink-jet printing, or the like is used as a method of attaching identification information with the marking device 9. When using inkjet printing, it is preferable to use ink that does not contain a metal component.

In the packing step S14, a plurality of glass original plates G are stacked on the pallet 10 and packed. At this time, the glass original plate G may be appropriately classified based on the cut-out classification information as necessary. Lamination work is performed by a person or a robot. In the present embodiment, the pallet 10 for laminating the glass original plate G in the vertical posture is used, but a pallet for laminating the glass original plate G in the horizontal posture may be used. In the case of the vertical orientation, the orientation of the glass original plate G is preferably 45 ° to 80 °, and more preferably 60 ° to 75 °, with respect to the horizontal plane. In the horizontal posture, the glass original plate G is preferably at an angle of 0 ° (horizontal posture) to 30 °, more preferably 0 ° to 15 ° with the horizontal plane. In these cases, it is preferable to interpose a protective sheet (not shown) such as paper (interleaf) or a foamed resin sheet between the glass original plates G. The pallet 10 and the glass original plate G packed in the pallet 10 in FIG. 2 are shown as side views for convenience of explanation.

When the above-described packing step S14 is completed, the glass original plate G packed in the pallet 10 is transported to the processing step S3 (transport step S2). Transportation includes at least one of land transportation, air transportation, and sea transportation.

As shown in FIG. 4, the processing step S3 includes a reading step S31 that scans the identification information X attached to the glass original plate G, a cutting step S32 that cuts out the glass plate Ga that is a mother glass from the glass original plate G, and a glass plate. And a sorting step S33 for sorting Ga. In the present embodiment, in the processing step S3, the glass original plate G is transported in a horizontal posture (preferably a horizontal posture) from the left to the right in FIG. 4, but may be transported in a vertical posture. In the present embodiment, a case where the processing step S3 is performed on the glass original plate G taken out from the pallet 10 will be described as an example, but the present invention is not limited thereto. The operation of taking out the glass original plate G from the pallet 10 is performed by a person or a robot. The glass plate G packed in the pallet 10 and the pallet 10 in FIG. 4 is illustrated as a side view for convenience of explanation.

In the reading step S31, the scanned identification information is transmitted to the second server 3, and the segmentation information and the quality information corresponding to the identification information are acquired from the second server 3.

The cutting step S32 includes a step S32a for forming the scribe line L on the glass original plate G based on the cut-out classification information acquired from the second server 3, and a step S32b for breaking the glass original plate G along the scribe line L. In step S32a, the scribe line L is formed by pressing with a wheel cutter, laser irradiation, or the like. Step S32b includes a step of breaking the glass original plate G along a scribe line L extending in a first direction parallel to the conveyance direction of the glass original plate G, and a glass along a scribe line L extending in a second direction orthogonal to the conveyance direction. And a step of folding the original plate G separately. FIG. 4 illustrates a case where the acquired cut-out classification information is information instructing to cut out four glass plates Ga from one glass original plate G.

Here, in the scribing mechanism and the folding mechanism used in the cutting step S32, candidate patterns for the segmentation information are registered in advance. When a person presses the selection switch of the pattern corresponding to the cutout section information acquired from the second server 3, processing corresponding to the cutout section information acquired from the second server 3 is automatically performed. Note that the scribing mechanism or the folding mechanism may directly acquire the segmentation information from the second server 3 and automatically select a process corresponding to the segmentation information from the registered pattern.

In the cutting step S32, the glass original plate G may be cut by laser cutting or laser fusing.

In the sorting step S33, non-defective products are selected from the cut glass plate Ga based on the quality information acquired from the second server 3. When a person performs the sorting step S33, it is preferable to arrange the display device 11 and display quality information. As shown in FIG. 5, on the display device 11, for example, “◯” is displayed in a category where the quality is acceptable, and “X” is displayed in a category where the quality is not acceptable. Note that the sorting step S33 may be automatically performed by a robot. In this case, the display device 11 may be omitted. A glass plate (mother glass) Ga that is regarded as a non-defective product is sold to customers who manufacture liquid crystal display devices.

According to the configuration as described above, the servers that manage various types of information are divided into the first server 1 and the second server 3. Detailed information including defect information, segmentation information, and quality information is stored in the first server 1, and only simple information including segmentation information and quality information, excluding defect information, is stored in the second server 3. Is done. In the processing step S3, only the simple information acquired from the second server 3 is used without directly acquiring various information from the first server 1. For this reason, in the processing step S3, an excessive load is not applied to the first server 1, and information acquired from the second server 3 is also stopped by simple information, so an excessive load may be applied to the second server 3. Absent. Therefore, since the state which can acquire the information required for a process smoothly from the 2nd server 3 can be maintained stably, it becomes possible to manufacture the glass plate Ga from the glass original plate G efficiently. Further, if the worker in the machining step S3 is restricted (prohibited) from accessing the first server 1, the worker in the machining step S3 cannot access the defect information stored only in the first server 1. With such an aspect, it is possible to reduce the risk of leaking highly confidential defect information.

In addition, this invention is not limited to the structure of the said embodiment, It is not limited to the above-mentioned effect. The present invention can be variously modified without departing from the gist of the present invention.

In the above embodiment, the case where the identification information is attached to the glass original plate G has been described. However, the identification information may be attached to an accessory (for example, a pallet) of the glass original plate G. In this case, the glass original plate G can be identified by the identification information of the accessory (pallet) and the loading position. Moreover, you may attach | subject the division | segmentation division information and quality information calculated | required by calculation to the glass original plate G directly. Since these pieces of information have a very small amount of information compared to defect information, they can be embedded in, for example, a two-dimensional code. In this case, in the processing step S3, since the segmentation status and quality information can be read directly from the identification information attached to the glass original plate G, communication with the second server 3 can be reduced or omitted.

In the above-described embodiment, the first server 1 calculates and obtains the segmentation information and quality information of the glass original sheet G based on the defect information, but may be calculated by other servers, such as the defect inspection process S12 and the marking process. You may calculate with the computer used by S13.

In the above embodiment, the case where the glass original plate G is cut according to the cutout section information acquired from the second server 3 in the processing step S3 has been described. However, the cutout section acquired from the second server 3 in the processing step S3. The glass original plate G may be cut based on cut-out section information (second cut-out section information) different from the information. In this case, the following configuration is preferable. That is, the second server 3 transmits the second cut-out classification information to the first server 1 together with the identification information of the glass original plate G that is required to be cut according to the second cut-out classification information. Next, the first server 1 recalculates and obtains second quality information indicating whether the quality of each segment of the second cutout segment information is acceptable based on the defect information corresponding to the identification information. Thereafter, the first server 1 transmits the second quality information to the second server 3. In this way, it is possible to respond to the request for changing the cutout information in the processing step S3 by only transferring a small amount of information between the first server 1 and the second server 3 without transferring the defect information to the second server 3. it can.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the mother glass is cut out from the forming original plate has been described, but the present manufacturing method can be similarly applied to the case where a glass substrate for a final product such as a liquid crystal display device is cut out from the mother glass.

1 1st server 1a 1st database 3 2nd server 3a 2nd database G Glass original plate (forming original plate)
Ga glass plate (mother glass)
S1 Molding process S11 Cutting process (rough cutting)
S12 Defect inspection process S13 Marking process S14 Packing process S2 Transport process S3 Processing process S31 Reading process S32 Cutting process (fine cutting)
S33 Sorting process

Claims (4)

A process of inspecting defects in the glass original plate to generate defect information;
A step of calculating the quality information indicating the pass / fail of the quality for each section and the section information of the glass original plate based on the defect information,
Storing the defect information, the segmentation information and the quality information in a first database of a first server;
Sending the cut out segment information and the quality information excluding the defect information from the first server to the second server, and storing them in the second database of the second server;
Obtaining the cut-out section information and the quality information corresponding to the identification information of the glass original plate from the second server;
Cutting one or a plurality of glass plates from the glass original plate based on the cut segment information acquired from the second server;
And a step of selecting non-defective products from the glass plate based on the quality information acquired from the second server. The manufacturing of the glass plate according to claim 1, further comprising a step of packing and transporting the glass original plate after the step of generating the defect information and before the step of cutting out the glass plate. Method. The method for producing a glass sheet according to claim 1 or 2, wherein in the step of obtaining the quality information by computation, the quality information is obtained by computation at the first server. In the step of cutting out the glass plate, when it is required to cut out the glass plate based on second cut-out section information different from the cut-out section information acquired from the second server, the second server, The second cutout segment information is transmitted to the first server together with the identification information, and the first server determines whether the quality of each second cutout segment information is acceptable based on the defect information corresponding to the identification information. The method for producing a glass sheet according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the second quality information shown is recalculated and transmitted to the second server.

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