JP2010173869A - Thin sheet glass, method for treating sheet glass and apparatus for treating thin sheet glass - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide thin sheet glass which is easy to handle and can easily be kept vertical when treated, so as to meet the demand for further thinning of a product. <P>SOLUTION: The periphery of original sheet glass 11 is covered with a mask 4 and the thickness of the original sheet glass 11 is reduced by spraying an eluting liquid L on the original sheet glass 11 to obtain the objective thin sheet glass 12. The thin sheet glass 12 comprises a main part 121 of a thin sheet shape and a rib 122 extending along the edge of the main part 121. The thin sheet glass 12 is kept vertical by holding by a holder 6 at a part of the rib 122 and in this state, the thin sheet glass 12 is treated. The main part 121 has a thickness of ≤100 μm or a thickness at which it cannot be stood without the ribs 122. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The invention of the present application relates to thin glass used for manufacturing various displays, optical devices, semiconductor devices, mounting substrates, and the like, and relates to manufacturing and processing of thin glass.

  The plate glass is used as a substrate (a plate-like material that is the basis of the product) in the manufacture of various products. For example, in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display, a pair of glass substrates are used, one of which is subjected to processing such as electrode formation and the other is subjected to processing such as formation of a color filter, and then bonded together while enclosing liquid crystal. ing. Glass substrates are actively used in the manufacture of organic EL displays and other displays, and plate glass is used for various applications in sensor devices such as image sensors and other optical devices. Furthermore, a glass substrate may be employed in the manufacture of semiconductor devices, and a glass substrate may be employed in a mounting substrate on which various electronic components are mounted.

With regard to plate glass used in such various products, it has been increasingly demanded to use a very thin plate glass in order to make the final product smaller, thinner or more functional. For example, in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display mounted on a mobile phone, since the mobile phone as a final product has become very thin, it is required to make the glass substrate portion very thin.
In response to the demand for reducing the thickness of the glass substrate, recently, a technique for uniformly reducing the thickness by uniformly injecting an eluent capable of eluting glass has been developed.

JP 2006-18217 A

  However, when the thickness of the plate glass is reduced to, for example, 100 μm or less, the technical difficulty at the time of processing, processing, incorporation into a product, and the like rapidly increases. One is that the glass is so thin that it is easy to break and requires extremely delicate handling.

Another major problem is that if the glass becomes too thin, it becomes difficult to stand on its own. That is, in the process of processing the plate glass, the plate glass is often processed in an upright state. The reason for this is that when the glass sheet is processed sideways, the glass sheet is often bent due to its own weight, and if the process is performed in this state, it is often impossible to perform a high quality process in terms of processing uniformity. is there. Moreover, when processing both surfaces of plate glass simultaneously, it is often performed with the plate glass standing upright.
When the plate glass is set up in a standing state, a jig is usually used. However, when the plate glass becomes thin (for example, about 100 μm or less), the plate glass does not stand by itself on the jig, and often collapses as if it is waved.

  If the plate glass is made very small (for example, 50 mm × 50 mm), it may be self-supporting even if it is reduced to about 100 μm. However, in many cases, in order to increase productivity, it is possible to process one large plate glass and finally divide it to produce a large number of products, and in a method that can process only small plate glass, There is a big problem in terms of productivity.

  When processing a plate glass thinned to 100 μm or less as an object while increasing productivity, it is conceivable to apply some reinforcing member on the back side (opposite side to the surface to be processed) before processing (hereinafter referred to as the processing object). Such a reinforcing member is called a backing member). It is conceivable to attach the backing glass to the backing member with an adhesive on the back side of the thin plate glass, and to peel off the plate glass from the backing member after the treatment and mount it on the product. The backing member has a certain thickness and has the same size as the plate glass.

However, the backing member system has several serious drawbacks.
One is an increase in the number of processes. The two processes of attaching and removing the backing member are increased excessively, and productivity is lowered.
Another problem is due to the use of adhesives. In the above case, the sheet glass and the backing member attached to it with an adhesive are generally treated objects, but there are various kinds of treatment such as heating and treatment with various chemical solutions. In some cases, a reactive gas is used for processing. When such various treatments are performed, problems such as deterioration of the adhesive material, lowering the bonding strength between the backing member and the plate glass, or release of gas from the adhesive material, resulting in contamination of the treatment. The latter problem is particularly serious. For example, in the case of processing for forming a film having a specific function on the surface of a plate glass, gas released from the adhesive is mixed, and the quality of the film tends to be deteriorated. For example, in the production of an ITO film, in order to obtain a low resistance film, the film is often formed in a state heated to a high temperature of 200 to 250 ° C. In this case, the components of the adhesive are released by heating and mixed into the film, which easily results in fouling of the film.

  The invention of the present application is to solve the above-described points, and is a thin plate glass corresponding to the thinning of the product and the like, and is easy to handle and can be easily put in a standing posture during processing. It is meaningful to provide a processing glass and a processing apparatus for such a glass sheet.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is a thin glass comprising a thin plate-like main portion and a rib formed along an edge of the main portion,
The main part is obtained by reducing the thickness of the plate glass by injecting an eluent capable of eluting glass from the nozzle, impacting the plate surface of the original plate glass, and continuing the impact by the eluate. And
The rib is formed by covering the periphery of the base plate glass with a mask of a material that is not dissolved in the eluate when impacted by the eluent to obtain the main part,
The main portion has a thickness of 100 μm or less, or a thickness that cannot be self-supported when there is no rib, and the rib has a thickness of 300 μm or more.
Moreover, in order to solve the said subject, invention of Claim 3 forms the mask along the periphery of the base plate glass, and the mask formation process which covers a periphery with a mask,
After the mask formation process, it is possible to elute the original glass material, but to inject the eluate that does not elute the mask material onto the original glass sheet, and to reduce the thickness of the original glass sheet to obtain a thin glass sheet, and ,
After the reduction process, it has a main processing step for processing thin glass,
In the reduction process, the peripheral edge covered with the mask remains without being eluted, and a rib is formed, and the thickness of the original plate glass is reduced to a thickness of 100 μm or less,
In this processing step, the thin glass sheet is processed while being held by the holder at the rib portion.
Moreover, in order to solve the said subject, invention of Claim 4 forms the mask along the periphery of the base plate glass, and the mask formation process which covers a periphery with a mask,
After the mask formation process, it is possible to elute the original glass material, but to inject the eluate that does not elute the mask material onto the original glass sheet, and to reduce the thickness of the original glass sheet to obtain a thin glass sheet, and ,
After the reduction process, it has a main processing step for processing thin glass,
In the reduction process, the peripheral edge covered with the mask remains without being eluted and a rib is formed, and when there is no rib, the thickness of the original plate glass is reduced to a thickness that cannot stand by itself,
In this processing step, the sheet glass is processed while being held by the holder at the rib portion.
In order to solve the above-mentioned problem, the invention according to claim 7 is a thin glass processing apparatus for processing a thin glass comprising a thin plate-like main portion and a rib extending along an edge of the main portion,
The main part has a thickness of 100 μm or less or a thickness that cannot stand by itself when there is no rib.
It has a configuration in which it includes a holder that is held by a rib portion during processing and has a posture in which a thin glass plate stands.

  As described below, according to the invention described in each claim of the present application, since the thin glass is composed of a thin plate-like main portion and a rib formed around the thin plate-like glass, it can be held by the rib portion and handled. Becomes easy. Further, there is no need to reinforce with a backing member, and there is no problem of a decrease in productivity or contamination of processing quality.

It is the front schematic which showed about "independence is possible." It is the schematic of the plate glass processing method which concerns on 1st embodiment of this invention. It is the schematic shown about the mask formation in a mask formation process. It is the schematic of the sheet glass 12 obtained by the reduction process in embodiment. It is the schematic shown about the reduction process for making the connection surface 123 into a taper surface. It is a front schematic diagram of the thin glass processing apparatus of an embodiment. It is the schematic of the plate glass processing method which concerns on 2nd embodiment. It is the schematic shown about the example of the manufacturing method of the product using the thin glass 12 obtained by 2nd embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic front view showing another example of the holder 6. It is the side surface schematic shown about the other example of rib formation.

Next, modes for carrying out the present invention (hereinafter referred to as embodiments) will be described.
First, the concept of “self-supporting” used in the description of each embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic front view showing “independence is possible”. In addition, in description of embodiment, the figure which looks at the end surface of the plate glass 1 is made into a front view, and the figure which looks at the plate surface (front surface or back surface) of the plate glass 1 is made into a side view.

“Self-standing” means that when the glass sheet 1 is placed upright, the glass sheet 1 can maintain a standing posture while substantially maintaining its shape. The plate glass 1 is “self-supporting” when the thickness is large, but when the thickness becomes thin, it is not “self-supporting” as described above.
Specifically, when the plate glass 1 is placed upright, as shown in FIGS. 1 (1-a) and (1-b), the plate glass 1 is placed upright against the wall 2 of a certain jig, or FIG. a) As shown in (2-b), there is a case where it is arranged so as to be housed in the frame-shaped jig 3 (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-18217).

In such a case, as shown in FIG. 1 (1-b), when the glass sheet 1 is broken, it is not “self-supporting”. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 (1-a), when a standing flat posture is substantially maintained, it is “self-standing”.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 1 (2-b), when it collapses so as to wave in the jig 3, it is not “self-supporting”. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1 (2-a), when the flat plate-like posture standing in the jig 3 is substantially maintained, it is “self-standing”.

Whether it is “self-supporting” or “self-supporting” depends not only on the thickness of the glass sheet 1 but also on its size. As described above, even a thin plate glass 1 may be “self-supporting” as the size decreases.
Moreover, although it means the “standing posture”, it basically means standing upright, but includes up to tilting up to a certain angle. A range from 45 degrees to 90 degrees with respect to the horizontal is included in the range of “standing posture”. Preferably, it is 60 degrees or more with respect to the horizontal, and more preferably 75 degrees or more.

Next, an embodiment of the plate glass processing method of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 2 is a schematic view of the sheet glass processing method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, in the method of the embodiment, a mask formation process, a reduction process, a mask removal process, a cleaning / drying process, a main processing process, and a rib cutting process are sequentially performed.

  In the method of the present embodiment, a plate glass (hereinafter referred to as a base plate glass) 11 having a somewhat large thickness is used as the original plate glass for obtaining the thin plate glass 12. The original glass plate 11 has a thickness capable of supporting itself. For example, it is a plate glass having a thickness of about 0.3 to 1.1 mm. In addition, the original plate glass 11 is a square (rectangle or square), for example, the thing of about 500 mm x 600 mm can be used.

In the mask forming step, the mask 4 is formed along the periphery of the base glass 11 and the periphery is covered with the mask 4. FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing mask formation in the mask formation step. FIG. 3A is a schematic front sectional view, and FIG. 3B is a schematic side view.
As shown in FIG. 3 (2), the mask 4 is formed over the entire circumference of the periphery of the square base plate glass 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 3A, the mask 4 is formed so as to completely cover the end face of the original glass plate 11 and to extend slightly toward the front side and the back side around the periphery.

The width of the extending margin (hereinafter referred to as extending margin) 4w on the front surface side and the rear surface side is important because it is directly connected to the size of the rib to be formed. The extension width 4w is set to be slightly larger than the width of the rib to be formed.
The mask 4 is made of a material that is not eluted in the eluent used in the reduction process. For example, in the case of an organic material, a fluororesin material such as polypropylene (PP) or Teflon (registered trademark of DuPont) is used. Be If it is a metal, chromium can be used.

As a method for forming the mask 4, for example, a resin sheet can be used, and a lamination method can be used. That is, a belt-shaped resin sheet is attached along the periphery of the base plate glass 11, and the resin sheet is fixed by heating and degassing.
As another method, there is a method in which a pace-like resin is applied and fixed, or a sheet-like material is attached with an adhesive. The use of the adhesive has the problems as described above, but the method of this embodiment has only a few problems because it is used only along the periphery of the original glass plate 11. Further, as will be described later, if the mask is removed and washed prior to this process, there is no problem even if an adhesive is used.

Further, in the case of a metal such as chromium, the film attachment method is often used. That is, the film is formed along the periphery by vacuum deposition or sputtering. At this time, a peelable sheet is attached to the plate surface of the original glass plate 11 to cover the plate surface so that no film is formed on the portion other than the mask 4.
The thickness of the mask 4 is sufficiently thick against the eluate. In the case of resin, the thickness of the mask 4 is about 30 to 100 μm, and in the case of a metal such as chromium, it is about 1000 to 3000 angstroms.

Next, the reduction process will be described. The reduction process is a process of obtaining the thin glass sheet 12 by reducing the thickness of the original glass sheet 11 to 100 μm or less or a thickness that cannot be self-supported when there is no rib.
As shown in FIG. 1, in the reduction process, the original glass plate 11 is held upright and the eluate L is sprayed from the nozzles 7 arranged on both sides thereof. As the eluent L, a strong acid such as hydrofluoric acid is used. In the case of hydrofluoric acid, for example, it is diluted to about 10 to 50% (volume percentage) with respect to water 100 and used. The impact pressure is 0.5 kg / cm ^{2 to} 3.5 kgcm ² on the plate surface (front surface and back surface) of the original plate glass 11.

The eluate L ejected from the nozzle 7 hits the plate surface of the original glass plate 11 and impacts both surfaces. The plate surface impacted by the eluent L is dissolved in the eluent L and flows out by the impact of the eluent L. When the impact by the eluent L is continued for a predetermined time, the thickness of the original glass plate 11 is reduced, and the thin glass plate 12 is obtained.
At this time, since the mask 4 is formed along the periphery of the base plate glass 11, the obtained thin plate glass 12 has a shape having ribs 122 on the periphery. In addition, as shown in FIG. 1 (2), the thin glass plate 12 has an I shape when viewed from the front. In the present application, the “rib” means a thick portion having a thickness larger than that of the main portion.

  Moreover, in this embodiment, the application to a display etc. is considered and the structure which reduces the thickness of the original plate glass 11 uniformly is employ | adopted. That is, as employed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-18217, a plurality of nozzles 7 are arranged at equal intervals along a plane parallel to the plate surface of the original glass plate 11, and the distance between the nozzle 7 and the plate surface, the nozzle The flatness of the plate surface after reduction (for example, the maximum roughness of the surface is 0.5 μm) by adjusting the arrangement interval of 7, the injection pressure of the eluate L, the degree of overlap of the spread of the eluate L on the plate surface, etc. Hereinafter, more preferably, a maximum roughness of 0.1 μm or less can be ensured.

  The thin glass 12 obtained by the reduction process in the embodiment will be described in more detail. The following description is also a description of an embodiment of the invention for thin glass. Drawing 4 is a schematic diagram of thin glass 12 obtained by a reduction process in an embodiment, (1) is a front view and (2) is a side view.

  As can be understood from the above description, the thin glass 12 obtained by the reduction process includes a thin plate-like main portion 121 and ribs 122 formed along the edge of the main portion 121. In the present embodiment, the rib 122 is formed along the entire circumference of the rectangular main portion 121. The thickness of the main part 121 is 100 micrometers or less, for example, about 30-50 micrometers. The thickness of the rib 122 is substantially the same as the thickness of the original glass plate 11 and is, for example, about 0.3 mm to 1.1 mm. A thicker glass plate may be used, so that a thicker rib 122 can be formed.

The thickness of the main part 12 is preferably 30 μm or more, and more preferably 50 μm or more. Even if it is less than 30 μm, it can be used for a product, but since it is too thin, it is difficult to handle even if there is a rib 122.
Further, the thickness of the rib 122 is equal to the thickness of the original glass plate 11 in this embodiment, but is preferably 300 μm or more. When the thickness is less than 300 μm, delicate force adjustment is required when holding the rib 122, and handling difficulty increases.
In addition, as the whole shape of the thin glass 12, it may be circular besides a square. When the semiconductor device is a package substrate or mounting substrate of a sensor device, a circular device may be adopted. The size is, for example, about 6 to 8 inches in diameter.

  Further, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. 4 (1), a surface (hereinafter referred to as a connecting surface) 123 connected to the main portion 121 of the rib 122 is not perpendicular to the main portion 121 but is a tapered surface. Yes. The reason for the tapered surface is for strength reasons. Although it is not impossible for the connecting surface 123 to be perpendicular to the main portion 121, if the connecting surface 123 is perpendicular to the main portion 121, the thickness from the thick portion of the rib 122 to the main portion 121 is thin. There is a drawback that the strength is weakened because the thickness is suddenly changed. As shown in the present embodiment, when the connecting surface 123 is a tapered surface, the thickness is gradually reduced, and thus there is no such defect.

In order to make the connecting surface 123 into a tapered surface, the pressure of the eluent L injection and the concentration of the eluate L in the reduction process may be appropriately adjusted. This point will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing a reduction process for making the connecting surface 123 a tapered surface.
As described above, the reduction of the original glass plate 11 in the reduction process uses two actions of melting the glass material by the eluent L and impact by the eluent L. That is, a chemical action and a physical action are used in combination. Here, since the chemical action is dissolution by the eluent L, there is no directionality and it occurs evenly (isotropically). On the other hand, as described above, the physical action is an impact on the plate surface by the eluent L, and thus occurs in the direction of the impact. In FIG. 5, the speed of melting glass by chemical action is Vc, and the speed of cutting glass by physical action is Vp. Vc and Vp are speeds of how much melting or cutting progresses per unit time.

As shown in FIG. 5, since the dissolution that is a chemical action proceeds isotropically, Vc is distributed substantially uniformly in the steps formed in the portion of the mask 4 at the time of reduction. On the other hand, since the cutting by the physical action substantially exists only in the direction of the ejection of the eluent L, Vp is the highest at the bottom part of the step and is substantially zero in the other parts.
Here, when Vc >> Vp, that is, when Vp is very small compared to Vc and Vp can be considered to be substantially zero, only the chemical dissolution, which is substantially dissolved, substantially acts and is reduced. Progress isotropically. Therefore, by reducing the spray pressure of the eluent L when eluting the vicinity of the mask 4 to make the chemical action dominant, the connecting surface 123 can be made a tapered surface of about 45 degrees. At this time, the original glass plate 11 is slightly agitated on the back side of the mask 4.

As can be seen from the above description, the chemical action can be enhanced by increasing the concentration of the eluent L. Therefore, in the vicinity of the mask 4, instead of decreasing the spray pressure of the eluent L, the concentration of the eluent L is changed. You may make it raise.
Further, as can be seen from the above description, the angle of the tapered surface can be changed by adjusting the degree of chemical action and physical action. For example, if the injection pressure is increased to increase the degree of physical action, the angle of the tapered surface becomes steeper.

  The thin glass 12 with the ribs 122 as described above is significant as a semi-finished product. While having a main portion 121 that is as thin as 100 μm or less and has high surface flatness, a thick rib 122 is provided at the periphery to reinforce. Such a thin glass 12 can be used not only for displays but also for various optical devices and semiconductor devices that are required to be thin, electronic devices equipped with a mounting substrate, and the like.

  The thin glass in the present embodiment is obtained by glass processing using the impact of the eluate as described above, but has a rib 122 and the main portion 121 as thin as 100 μm or less is an impact caused by the eluate. Other than the above-described method using the method, it cannot be obtained practically. As is well known, the plate glass can be obtained by the float method. However, there is no technique for forming the glass in a thin state of 100 μm or less when it is obtained from the molten glass by the float method, and the rib 122 is formed. There is no float technology to mold.

  As a technique for cutting glass, a sandblasting method is known. Although it is not impossible to thin the plate glass by using the sand blast method, it is impossible to finish it in a thin state of 100 μm or less. In the process of thinning, the original plate glass is broken by the impact of sandblasting. Furthermore, the surface of the glass treated by the sandblast method has many small cracks and cracks called microcracks, but the plate surface of the main portion 121 of the thin glass obtained by the method according to the embodiment has this Such cracks and cracks are hardly seen. It is because it is a method of reducing while melting the surface. Therefore, there is a significant structural difference between the thin glass obtained by the method of the embodiment and the thin glass that is not. In addition, the presence of microcracks is considered to be a factor that glass is generally weaker than other materials, and the thin glass 12 of the embodiment having no microcracks has advantages in terms of strength. ing.

  After the reduction process, as shown in FIG. 1, mask removal, cleaning and drying processes are performed. For example, when the mask is attached with an adhesive, the mask is removed by dissolving the adhesive with an organic solvent and peeling off the mask. In the case of a mask made of metal such as chromium, this is often performed by a chemical solution that dissolves the metal. If the presence of the mask does not cause a problem during this processing, it may be left as it is. The washing / drying step is a step for removing the remaining eluate and removing moisture for the present treatment step. In some cases, the cleaning / drying step is performed first, the mask is then removed, and cleaning / drying is performed again.

  Next, this processing step will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic front view of the thin glass processing apparatus of the embodiment. The following description is also an explanation of the thin glass processing apparatus of the embodiment. This processing step is a step of performing original plate glass processing. It can be said that each process mentioned above is a pre-process for performing this process process.

The contents of this processing step are not particularly limited in carrying out the present invention, and any one can be adopted. In the following description, as an example, a process of forming an ITO film (indium tin oxide film) for a transparent electrode is taken up.
The ITO film is generally formed by sputtering. As shown in FIG. 6, the thin glass 12 is placed in a vacuum chamber 51 provided with an ITO target 52, and the plate surface is opposed to the target 52. A sputtering power source 53 is connected to the target 52, and a magnet 54 for magnetron sputtering is provided behind the target 52. A gas such as argon is introduced, and in this state, a voltage is applied to the target 52 to perform sputtering, and an ITO film is deposited on the plate surface of the thin glass 12.

At this time, the thin glass 12 is held by the holder 6 at the rib 122 and is in a standing posture. The holder 6 is provided in the vacuum chamber 51, and the thin glass sheet 12 is held by the holder 6 in a standing posture as shown in FIG.
In this embodiment, the holder 6 includes a base plate 61, a support base 62 and an opening / closing hook 63 attached to the base plate 61. The base plate 61 is provided in a posture standing vertically in the vacuum chamber 51. The opening / closing hook 63 and the support base 62 are provided on a plate surface on one side of the base plate 61 (for example, the left plate surface). The opening / closing hook 63 is located on the upper side, and the support base 62 is located on the lower side. The interval between the opening / closing hook 63 and the support base 62 is adapted to the height of the thin glass 12 to be held.

The support table 62 is provided so as to protrude horizontally from the plate surface of the base plate 61. The tip of the support base 62 is bent in an L shape. However, a flat support base may be adopted in order to make it easy to attach and remove the thin glass 12.
The open / close hook 63 is an openable / closable hook, and is closed when the thin glass 12 is supported on the support base 62 so that the thin glass 12 does not fall down. In the closed state, an elastic force is applied by an elastic member such as a spring (not shown) so that the hook is not opened. When removing the thin glass 12, the opening / closing hook 63 is opened against the elastic force.

Using the holder 6 as described above, the thin glass 12 is placed at a predetermined position in the vacuum chamber 51 and the above-described processing is performed. After the processing is completed, the thin glass 12 is taken out from the vacuum chamber 51.
The operation of carrying the thin glass 12 into and out of the vacuum chamber 51 may be performed while being held by the holder 6. That is, a mechanism capable of transporting the entire holder 6 is provided inside and outside the vacuum chamber 51, the thin glass 12 is mounted on the holder 6 outside the vacuum chamber 51, and the holder 6 is taken out from the vacuum chamber 51 after the processing is completed and is thinned outside the vacuum chamber 51. The structure which removes the glass 12 from the holder 6 may be employ | adopted.

  As can be seen from the above description, the thin glass 12 subjected to this processing step has ribs 122 formed on the periphery and an ITO film formed on one plate surface of the main portion 121. This thin glass 12 with ITO film is also a kind of semi-finished product, and is used for manufacturing products such as liquid crystal displays and organic EL displays. At this time, since the ribs 122 are formed along the peripheral edge, the ribs 122 can be held during the subsequent handling and processing, and the workability in each process is improved.

Next, returning to FIG. 1, the process will be described after the present process.
After the main processing step, a rib cutting step is performed as necessary. As described above, the rib 122 is formed in order to hold the thin glass 12 in this process, and is not necessary for the product. Therefore, it is removed at an appropriate timing prior to mounting on the product. As shown in FIG. 1, the rib cutting step is a step of cutting the thin glass 12 at a boundary portion between the rib 122 and the main portion 121 and removing the rib 122. For the cutting, a cutting device used in a manufacturing process of a multi-piece liquid crystal substrate (a process of manufacturing a plurality of liquid crystal substrates from one large glass substrate) can be used.
In addition, this process process and a rib cut process may be performed on a completely different manufacturing line. When this processed thin glass is shipped from one factory as a semi-finished product and incorporated into the final product at another factory,

  As can be understood from the above description, according to the plate glass processing method of the present embodiment, the reduction process using the eluent L is performed on the base plate glass 11 with the ribs 122 left, and the ribs 122 are held in the subsequent main processing step. Since the treatment is performed, the thin glass 12 having a thickness of 100 μm or less, which has been considered impossible in the conventional art, can also be treated. For this reason, it can contribute to further thinning of the product.

Next, the thin glass 12 and the thin glass processing method which concern on 2nd embodiment are demonstrated.
FIG. 7 is a schematic view of a plate glass processing method according to the second embodiment. Also in the second embodiment, the mask formation process, the reduction process, the mask removal, the cleaning / drying process, the main processing process, and the rib cutting process are sequentially performed. In 2nd embodiment, the mask formation position in mask formation differs, Therefore, the shape of the thin glass 12 obtained after a reduction process differs.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, in the mask forming process, the mask 4 is formed not only on the periphery of the base plate glass 11 but also on the entire plate surface. The peripheral portion of the mask 4 has a margin extending with respect to the other plate surface. This part is the same as in the first embodiment. The material, thickness, formation method, and the like of the mask 4 may be the same as those in the first embodiment.

  After the mask 4 is formed in this way, a reduction process is performed. In the reduction process, as shown in FIG. 7B, the eluent L is sprayed only from the other plate surface side where the mask 4 is not formed. When the elution of the eluent L is continued for a predetermined time and the predetermined thickness is reduced, the thin glass 12 is obtained. As shown in FIG. 7B, the obtained thin glass 12 has a U-shape when viewed from the front. In the reduction process, since the eluate L is injected only from the other side, it is not necessary to form a mask on the plate surface on one side, but the plate surface on the one side in consideration of the wraparound of the eluate L. The whole is covered with a mask 4.

This processing step and rib cutting step can be performed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. The thin glass 12 obtained in the second embodiment has a shape in which the ribs 122 protrude only on one side, and therefore can be suitably used in the case of manufacturing a device by superimposing the two thin glass 12. . This point will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is a schematic view showing an example of a manufacturing method of a product using the thin glass 12 obtained in the second embodiment. In the example shown in FIG. 8, it is assumed that a small and very thin display for a cellular phone or the like is manufactured.

  In the example shown in FIG. 8, a product is manufactured by bonding two thin glass plates 12 together. For example, when manufacturing a liquid crystal display, a transparent electrode or the like is formed on the surface of one thin glass 12 and a color filter or the like is formed on the surface of the other thin glass 12. The thin glass 12 is laminated and bonded together. Functional layers such as a transparent electrode and a filter are formed on the plate surface of each thin glass 12 on the side where the ribs 122 do not protrude.

  After bonding, a liquid crystal display is completed when a rib cutting process or the like is performed. In addition, when manufacturing a some display from a pair of thin glass 12, a transparent electrode, a filter, etc. are each created in each area | region of the plate surface of each thin glass 12, and it cut | disconnects after bonding. The rib cutting step is performed together with this cutting. Other displays such as organic EL can be manufactured basically in the same manner.

  Thus, the U-shaped thin glass sheet 12 can be suitably used in the case of manufacturing a product by bonding a pair of glass sheets. The I-shaped thin glass sheet 12 obtained in the first embodiment can also be cut into a U-shape by cutting only the portion of the rib 122 protruding to one side at the stage of bonding. good. Since the rib 122 and the main part 121 are flush with each other in the U-shaped thin glass 12, the I-shaped thin glass 12 is superior in terms of protection of the main part 121 by the rib 122. I can say that.

Next, another example of the holder 6 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic front view showing another example of the holder 6.
FIG. 9 (1) is an example of the holder 6 in the case where the plate surfaces on both sides of the thin glass 12 are the processing target surfaces. In the holder 6 in this example, an opening 610 is provided in the base plate 61. The opening / closing hook 63 is fixed to the plate surface of the base plate 61 at a position above the opening 610, and the support base 62 is fixed to the plate surface of the base plate 61 at a position below the opening 610.

  By using the holder 6 as shown in FIG. 9 (1), both the surfaces of the main part 121 of the thin glass 12 can be processed simultaneously. For example, in the case where film formation as described above is performed, a pair of targets are arranged in parallel in a vacuum chamber, and a holder 6 is provided in the middle to hold the thin glass plate 12, thereby An ITO film or the like can be simultaneously formed on both surfaces.

  FIG. 9B shows another example of the holder 6. The holder 6 in this example also enables double-sided simultaneous processing. The holder 6 in this example is also provided with an opening, and holds the thin glass 12 in the opening. That is, a pair of left and right opening / closing hooks 63 are provided on the upper and lower edges of the opening. When the thin glass 12 is mounted, after the thin glass 12 is stored in the opening with the upper and lower open / close hooks 63 opened, the upper and lower open / close hooks 63 are closed.

In the case of the holder 6 shown in FIG. 9 (2), the left and right plate surfaces can be processed simultaneously in exactly the same manner since the structure is symmetrical. In the case of the holder 6 shown in FIG. 9 (1), a portion where the base plate 61 is shaded appears at the periphery of the right plate surface. For this reason, there is a case where complete simultaneous processing cannot be performed up to the peripheral portion on the right side plate surface (for example, a shadow effect in the case of sputtering film formation). In the case of the configuration shown in FIG. There is no problem.
In addition to the above-described examples, the holder 6 may have various structures as long as the thin glass 12 can be held by the rib 122, and can be appropriately selected and used.

  Next, another example of rib formation will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 10 is a schematic side view illustrating another example of rib formation. In each of the above-described embodiments, the rib 122 is formed only on the entire circumference of the peripheral edge of the rectangular main portion 121, but as shown in FIG. 10, the rib 122 is formed inside the rib along the peripheral edge (hereinafter referred to as an outer rib). There may be cases. The example shown in FIG. 10 is an example in which ribs (hereinafter referred to as inner ribs) 122 are formed in a lattice shape inside the outer ribs 122.

There are several possible purposes for the inner rib 122. One is for reinforcement. When the main part 121 is very thin as 100 μm or less, the main part 121 may be broken by a slight impact or wind when the size of the main part 121 becomes considerably large. Therefore, it is preferable to form the inner rib 122 for reinforcement.
Similarly to the outer rib 122, the inner rib 122 can also be formed by forming the mask 4 in an appropriate pattern. In the example shown in FIG. 10, in addition to forming a mask for the outer rib 122, it can be obtained by forming the mask 4 in a lattice shape at an appropriate position on the plate surface of the original glass plate 11. The inner rib 122 may be formed only on one plate surface, or may be formed on both surfaces.
The inner rib 122 as described above is also finally cut in the rib cutting process and mounted on the product in a removed state. In this case, a plurality of products may be produced from one region surrounded by the inner rib 122 and the outer rib 122 as indicated by dotted lines in FIG.

The inner rib 122 as described above may be provided for the purpose of the product in addition to reinforcement. For example, when the thin glass 12 is used for a product in one rectangular region surrounded by the inner rib 122 and the outer rib 122, the inner rib 122 and the outer rib 122 are also used as a frame to be incorporated in the product itself. In some cases.
The same applies to the I-shaped thin glass sheet 12 obtained in the first embodiment and the U-shaped thin glass sheet 12 obtained in the second embodiment. It is possible that the rib 122 remains uncut and incorporated into the product.

  In each of the above embodiments, the rib 122 is formed along the entire periphery of the main portion 121, but may not be the entire periphery. For example, it may be formed intermittently along the peripheral edge of the main part 121 or only on two sides facing each other with respect to the rectangular main part 121. Further, there may be a case where the rib 122 is provided only at the upper edge of the main portion 121 and the thin glass 12 is suspended while being processed.

In the above description, an example in which a thin film of an ITO film is formed by sputtering is used as the main treatment process after the reduction process. However, in some cases, the film may be formed by vacuum deposition, CVD (chemical vapor deposition), or the like. In some cases, processes other than film formation such as surface modification are performed.
Even in such a case, the configuration of the present embodiment in which the rib 122 is formed in the reduction process and the processing is performed while holding the rib 122 is higher in productivity than the case where the backing member is used, and the processing quality is deteriorated. There is little fear of.

  Moreover, the thin glass of this invention can be used for an optical device, a semiconductor device, a mounting substrate, etc. other than various displays as mentioned above. For example, a glass substrate may be used in an optical device such as an optical sensor, and a glass substrate may be used as a package substrate in manufacturing a semiconductor device. Of course, the display can be applied to so-called COG (Chip On Glass) technology. Furthermore, a glass substrate may be used as a mounting substrate for mounting various elements, and a technique for forming a CPU on a glass substrate using CG silicon (Continuous Grain Silicon) is also known. The thin glass of the present invention can also be used for such various products.

  As described above, the present invention can be suitably used for manufacturing various products using thin glass.

11 Original plate glass 12 Thin plate glass 121 Main part 122 Rib 4 Mask 5 Holder 61 Vacuum chamber 62 Target 7 Nozzle L Eluate

Claims (7)

A thin glass comprising a thin plate-like main portion and ribs formed along the edge of the main portion,
The main part is obtained by reducing the thickness of the plate glass by injecting an eluent capable of eluting glass from the nozzle, impacting the plate surface of the original plate glass, and continuing the impact by the eluate. And
The rib is formed by covering the periphery of the base plate glass with a mask of a material that is not dissolved in the eluate when impacted by the eluent to obtain the main part,
A thin glass characterized in that the main part has a thickness of 100 μm or less or a thickness that cannot stand by itself when there is no rib, and the rib has a thickness of 300 μm or more. The main plate is rectangular or circular, and the rib is formed over the entire circumference of the edge of the main plate. A mask forming step of forming a mask along the periphery of the original plate glass and covering the periphery with a mask;
After the mask formation process, it is possible to elute the original glass material, but to inject the eluate that does not elute the mask material onto the original glass sheet, and to reduce the thickness of the original glass sheet to obtain a thin glass sheet, and ,
After the reduction process, it has a main processing step for processing thin glass,
In the reduction process, the peripheral edge covered with the mask remains without being eluted, and a rib is formed, and the thickness of the original plate glass is reduced to a thickness of 100 μm or less,
In this processing step, the processing is performed while the thin glass is being held by the holder at the rib portion. A mask forming step of forming a mask along the periphery of the original plate glass and covering the periphery with a mask;
After the mask formation process, it is possible to elute the original glass material, but to inject the eluate that does not elute the mask material onto the original glass sheet, and to reduce the thickness of the original glass sheet to obtain a thin glass sheet, and ,
After the reduction process, it has a main processing step for processing thin glass,
In the reduction process, the peripheral edge covered with the mask remains without being eluted and a rib is formed, and when there is no rib, the thickness of the original plate glass is reduced to a thickness that cannot stand by itself,
In this processing step, the sheet glass is processed while the sheet glass is held by the holder at the rib portion, and the sheet glass is processed. 5. The sheet glass processing method according to claim 3, wherein in the main processing step, the thin glass sheet is held in an upright position by being held by the holder. The plate glass processing method according to claim 3, 4 or 5, wherein a cutting step of cutting the thin glass plate and separating the ribs is performed after the main processing step. A thin glass processing apparatus for processing a thin glass composed of a thin plate-like main portion and a rib extending along an edge of the main portion,
The main part has a thickness of 100 μm or less or a thickness that cannot stand by itself when there is no rib.
A thin glass processing apparatus comprising a holder that is held at a rib portion during processing and has a posture in which a thin glass is stood.

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