JP2018090445A - Sheet glass manufacturing method and sheet glass folding apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

[PROBLEMS] To efficiently and reliably fold a plate glass along a scribe line even when the size of a non-product part changes, while preventing contamination of the product part. Of a sheet glass G having a product part Ga and a non-product part Gb with a scribe line S formed on a first main surface G1 as a boundary, a first pressing member 31 is used to make a first main surface G1 of the product part Ga. In the state where the first main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb is pressed by the second pressing member 41, the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G is moved by the folding member 51 at the position corresponding to the scribe line S. The sheet glass G is folded along the scribe line S by pushing into the one principal surface G1 side. The first pressing member 31 is made of a brush-like member, and the second pressing member 41 is made of a cylindrical elastic member. [Selection] Figure 1

Description

  The present invention relates to a plate glass manufacturing method and a plate glass folding apparatus.

  As is well known, plate glass is used in various fields as represented by glass substrates for flat panel displays (FPD) such as liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, and organic EL displays, and cover glasses for organic EL lighting. . The plate glass manufacturing process includes a folding (cleaving) step of cutting a small area plate glass from a large area plate glass (mother glass) or trimming an edge along the side of the plate glass.

  In the folding process, a scribe line is formed on the first main surface (for example, the upper surface) of the glass sheet at the boundary between the product part and the non-product part of the glass sheet to be folded, and then bending stress centered on the scribe line. Fold the plate glass along the scribe line.

  Specifically, for example, in Patent Document 1, the upper surface of the edge portion (sometimes referred to as the ear portion) of the plate glass having a scribe line formed on the upper surface is pressed with the upper pressing bar. In addition, it is disclosed that the lower surface of the plate glass is pushed upward by a lower pressing bar at a position corresponding to the scribe line, and the plate glass is folded along the scribe line. It is described that a flat rubber sheet is stuck on the lower surface of the upper pressing bar.

JP 2007-99563 A

  However, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, when only the upper surface of the non-product part is pressed when bending stress about the scribe line is applied, the holding force of the upper surface of the product part is weak, and the plate glass is scribed with the scribe line. In some cases, it is not possible to fold correctly. Such a problem becomes remarkable especially when the plate glass is thin and rich in flexibility. Here, as with the non-product part, it is conceivable to press the upper surface of the product part with a rubber sheet, but the product part may be stained or damaged.

  Further, as disclosed in Patent Document 1, when the upper surface of the non-product part is pressed with a flat rubber sheet, the size of the non-product part (width in the direction perpendicular to the scribe line) changes due to the type of the plate glass or the like. When the angle changes, the corner of the rubber sheet hits the upper surface of the non-product part and the pressing state tends to become unstable. Therefore, although it is necessary to adjust the position which presses the upper surface of a non-product part according to the magnitude | size of a non-product part, the adjustment operation requires time. Meanwhile, since the plate glass cannot be broken, there is a problem that the production efficiency is deteriorated.

  An object of the present invention is to efficiently and surely break a plate glass along a scribe line even when the size of a non-product part is changed, while preventing the product part from being stained and scratched.

  The present invention, which was created to solve the above-mentioned problems, is the first main surface of the product portion among the plate glass having the product portion and the non-product portion with the scribe line formed on the first main surface as a boundary. In the state where the first main surface of the non-product part is pressed with the second pressing member, the second main surface of the plate glass is moved to the first main surface side with the split member at a position corresponding to the scribe line. A method for manufacturing a sheet glass comprising a step of pressing and breaking the sheet glass along a scribe line, wherein the first pressing member is a brush-shaped member, and the second pressing member is at least a first main surface and The opposing surface is made of an elastic member having a convex curved surface. According to such a structure, the 1st main surface of a product part is pressed auxiliary by the 1st press member which consists of a brush-like member. Moreover, since it is a brush-like member, a contact state with a product part becomes soft and an unnecessary dirt and a damage | wound are hardly attached to a product part. On the other hand, the first main surface of the non-product part is firmly pressed by the second pressing member made of an elastic member. Therefore, when it sees on the whole 1st main surface of plate glass, sufficient pressing force can be made to act. Accordingly, when the folding member is pushed in, the bending stress around the scribe line is sufficiently applied, and the plate glass can be reliably broken along the scribe line. In addition, since the second pressing member has a convex curved surface facing the first main surface, the pressing state becomes unstable even if the contact position between the second pressing member and the first main surface of the non-product portion changes. Hateful. Therefore, even when the size of the non-product portion is changed by changing the type of the plate glass, the position of the second pressing member need not be adjusted.

  Said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable that a 2nd press member is an elongate column shape along a scribe line. If it does in this way, a convex curved surface can be easily formed in an elastic member. Moreover, since it is easy to increase the deformation amount by increasing the thickness of the elastic member, it is possible to further stabilize the pressing state of the first main surface of the non-product part.

  Said structure WHEREIN: It is preferable that the 2nd press member is engage | inserted and hold | maintained at the recessed part formed in the holding member. In this way, the elastic member can be held at a low cost with a simple structure.

  In the above configuration, the surface facing the second main surface of the folding member includes a plane portion straddling both sides of the scribe line, and a pair of inclined portions that are inclined so as to be separated from the second main surface on both sides of the plane portion. It is preferable to have. This has the following advantages. 1stly, since a plane part becomes wider than the line width of a scribe line, it becomes easy to align a folding member in the position corresponding to the scribe line of the 2nd main surface of plate glass. In other words, it becomes easy to absorb the displacement of the plate glass. Secondly, since the second main surface is surely pushed by the flat portion at a position corresponding to the scribe line, the scribe line easily advances straight (vertically) from the first main surface to the second main surface. At this time, it can be expected that the two connecting portions of the flat portion and the both inclined portions, the first pressing member, and the second pressing member each serve as a fulcrum and become a load mode such as a four-point bending preferable for the plate glass. Thirdly, since the space between the cut end surface of the product portion and the cut end surface of the non-product portion is spread by the flat portion immediately after the folding, both the cut end surfaces can be prevented from interfering with each other and being damaged. Fourth, the inclined portion can prevent the plate glass from being bent sharply. That is, it is possible to prevent undue stress from acting on the scribe line. When the plate glass is thin, the flexibility of the plate glass is increased, so that the effect of the inclined portion is particularly useful.

  The present invention, which was created to solve the above-mentioned problems, is a method of breaking a plate glass having a product part and a non-product part having a scribe line formed on the first main surface as a boundary along the scribe line. A second pressing member that presses the first main surface of the product portion, a second pressing member that presses the first main surface of the non-product portion, and a second portion of the plate glass at a position corresponding to the scribe line. A split member that pushes the main surface into the first main surface side, the first pressing member is made of a brush-like member, and the second pressing member is an elastic material in which at least the surface facing the first main surface forms a convex curved surface It consists of a member, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. According to such a configuration, it is possible to receive the same effect as the corresponding configuration already described.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to efficiently and surely break the plate glass along the scribe line even if the size of the non-product part is changed while preventing the product part from being soiled.

It is a side view which shows the plate glass folding apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention, and its operation | movement. It is a top view which shows the relationship between the elastic member and brush-like member which are included in the folding apparatus of FIG. 1, and plate glass. It is a side view which shows the plate glass folding apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, and its operation | movement. It is a side view which shows the plate glass folding apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, and its operation | movement. It is a side view which shows the plate glass folding apparatus which concerns on this embodiment, and its operation | movement.

  Embodiments according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the sheet glass folding device 1 according to the present embodiment is configured to break the sheet glass G along the scribe line S.

  The plate glass G is disposed in a flat position (preferably a horizontal position), and the first main surface G1 on which the scribe line S is formed is an upper surface and the second main surface G2 is a lower surface. The plate glass G is partitioned into a product part Ga and a non-product part Gb with the scribe line S as a boundary. The dimension in the X direction of the non-product part Gb is changed in the range of 30 mm to 200 mm, for example. The non-product part Gb may include a thick part (not shown) having a larger plate thickness than the product part Ga. The thick part of the non-product part Gb can be produced when the glass sheet G is formed using, for example, an overflow downdraw method or a float method.

  The folding device 1 includes a transport mechanism 2, a first pressing mechanism 3, a second pressing mechanism 4, a folding mechanism 5, and a removing mechanism 6. In addition, in this embodiment, although the structure which folds the plate glass G along the scribe line S located in the downstream of the conveyance direction (X direction) of the plate glass G is illustrated, it is not limited to this.

  The transport mechanism 2 transports the plate glass G in the transport direction and stops it at a predetermined position. The transport mechanism 2 includes a first belt conveyor 21 disposed on the upstream side and a second belt conveyor 22 disposed on the downstream side. The first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22 are arranged at intervals in the transport direction, and a split space B is formed between the two belts 21 and 22. The first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22 are driven at the same speed in the a direction and the b direction when the sheet glass G is conveyed downstream. On the other hand, the first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22 stop conveying the glass sheet G when the scribe line S arrives at a predetermined position in the folding space B. In addition, the conveyance mechanism 2 is not specifically limited to a belt conveyor. For example, a roller conveyor or a robot hand may be used.

  The 1st press mechanism 3 is equipped with the 1st press member 31 which presses the 1st main surface G1 of the product part Ga on the 1st belt conveyor 21 so that raising / lowering is possible to an up-down direction. The first pressing member 31 is composed of a brush-like member. The bristles of the brush have elasticity and bend following the first main surface G1 of the product portion Ga. That is, the bristles of the brush follow subtle movements (including deformation) of the plate glass G. The bristles of the brush are formed from, for example, resin fibers such as nylon.

  The 2nd press mechanism 4 is equipped with the 2nd press member 41 which presses the 1st main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb on the 2nd belt conveyor 22 so that raising / lowering is possible. The second pressing member 41 is made of rubber (elastic member) in which at least the surface facing the first main surface G1 forms a convex curved surface. Since the rubber elastically deforms following the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G, the rubber follows the delicate movement (including deformation) of the plate glass G. In the present embodiment, the rubber is formed in a rod shape, specifically, a columnar shape, but may be, for example, a semi-columnar shape or a cylindrical shape. As the rubber, for example, natural rubber or synthetic rubber can be used. As a cylindrical elastic member, the vinyl which covers the outer surface of the steel pipe among vinyl steel pipes can be used, for example. The elastic member is not limited to rubber, and may be a sponge or the like.

  The 2nd press mechanism 4 is further provided with the holding member 42 which has the recessed part 42a in the surface facing the 1st main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb. The second pressing member 41 is fitted and held in the recess 42 a of the holding member 42. In the present embodiment, the concave portion 42 a is configured by a dovetail groove, and the groove width of the portion opened to the first main surface G 1 side of the concave portion 42 a is smaller than the maximum diameter (diameter) of the second pressing member 41. Yes. In this state, the maximum diameter portion of the second pressing member 41 is accommodated in the recess 42a, and a part of the second pressing member 41 excluding the maximum diameter portion protrudes outside the recess 42a. In this state, the second pressing member 41 may be bonded to the recess 42a.

  The folding mechanism 5 is arranged in the folding space B. The folding mechanism 5 includes a folding member 51 that pushes up the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G at a position directly below the scribe line S so as to be movable up and down. The surface of the folding member 51 that faces the second main surface G2 is a flat surface portion 51a that straddles both sides of the scribe line S (both sides in the X direction orthogonal to the scribe line S), and the second main surface G2 on both sides of the flat surface portion 51a. And a pair of inclined portions 51b inclined downward so as to be separated from each other. In the present embodiment, the cross-sectional shape of the surface of the folding member 51 that faces the second main surface G2 is an isosceles trapezoid. It is preferable that the dimension of the flat part 51a in the X direction is 3 to 15 mm. The flat part 51a is preferably a horizontal plane. The angle θ formed by the flat portion 51a and the inclined portion 51b is preferably 30 to 50 °.

  The removal mechanism 6 is for removing the non-product part Gb from the second belt conveyor 22 after the plate glass G is broken along the scribe line S. In the present embodiment, the removing mechanism 6 includes a first suction member 61 disposed on the upstream side in the transport direction and a second suction member 62 disposed on the downstream side in the transport direction. When the non-product portion Gb of the plate glass G is large, after breaking the plate glass G, the non-product portion Gb is sucked and held by the first suction member 61 and the second suction member 62 and lifted from the second belt conveyor 22. The product part Gb is removed. On the other hand, when the non-product portion Gb of the plate glass G is small, after breaking the plate glass G, the non-product portion Gb is sucked and held only by the first suction member 61 and lifted from the second belt conveyor 22 to the non-product portion Gb. Remove. The first suction member 61 and the second suction member 62 have a bellows shape, and the posture of the suction surface can be changed according to the inclination of the non-product part Gb. The removed non-product part Gb is, for example, crushed and reused as a glass raw material. In addition, the holding | maintenance aspect of the non-product part Gb by the removal mechanism 6 is not limited to adsorption | suction. For example, the non-product part Gb may be held by holding it with a chuck or by hooking it on a nail or the like. Moreover, as a removal mechanism, the structure of inclining the 2nd belt conveyor 22 etc. is employ | adopted, and you may make it fall-collect the non-product part Gb from on the 2nd belt conveyor 22. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the first pressing member 31, the second pressing member 41, and the folding member 51 are elongated bodies that extend in a direction along the scribe line S (a width direction (Y direction) orthogonal to the transport direction). It is. In the present embodiment, the first pressing member 31, the second pressing member 41, and the folding member 51 are continuously in contact with each other over the entire width of the plate glass G. In the present embodiment, the first pressing member 31, the second pressing member 41, and the folding member 51 are longer than the entire width of the plate glass G, but at least one of these members 31, 41, 51 is made of the plate glass G. It may be the same length as the full width or may be a short length. Further, at least one of the first pressing member 31, the second pressing member 41, and the folding member 51 may intermittently contact the glass sheet G in the width direction.

  Next, the manufacturing method of the plate glass which concerns on this embodiment is demonstrated centering on the folding process using the folding apparatus 1 comprised as mentioned above.

  First, a plate glass G to be an original plate is formed from molten glass or the like by a known forming method such as an overflow down draw method. The thickness of the product part Ga of the plate glass G is, for example, 2 mm or less, and preferably 0.3 mm to 0.7 mm.

  Next, on the first main surface G1 of the plate glass G, a scribe line S is formed on the boundary between the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb by pressing with a wheel cutter, laser irradiation, or the like. In this embodiment, the plate glass G has a rectangular shape, and forms a scribe line S parallel to a pair of opposing sides (only two sides) and each side (four sides). The inside of the scribe line S is the product part Ga, and the outside of the scribe line S is the non-product part Gb.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the glass sheet G on which the scribe line S is formed is transported by the transport mechanism 2 with the first main surface G1 facing upward. When the scribe line S located on the downstream side (front side) in the transport direction arrives at a predetermined position in the split space B between the first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22, the transport mechanism 2 The conveyance of the plate glass G is stopped. Thereafter, the first pressing member 31 and the second pressing member 41 retracted above the first main surface G1 of the glass sheet G are lowered, and the first main surface G1 of the product portion Ga and the first main surface of the non-product portion Gb. The surface G1 is pressed. That is, the first main surface G1 of the product part Ga is held by the first pressing member 31 made of a brush-like member, and the first main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb is held by the second pressing member 41 made of rubber.

  From this state, the folding member 51 retracted below the plate glass G is raised, and the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G is pushed upward at a position directly below the scribe line S as shown in FIG. As a result, bending stress about the scribe line S is applied to the glass sheet G. At this time, the flat portion 51a of the folding member 51 contacts the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G so as to straddle both sides of the scribe line S. The ascending amount of the folding member 51 is, for example, 2 mm to 30 mm upward with the conveyance surface of the plate glass G (the upper surfaces of the first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22) as a zero reference. The rising amount of the folding member 51 may or may not be changed depending on the size and plate thickness of the non-product part Gb.

  When bending stress is applied to the plate glass G, as shown in FIG. 4, the plate glass G is folded along the scribe line S, and the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb are separated. At this time, the second main surface G2 of the plate glass G is pushed up by the flat surface portion 51a at a position directly below the scribe line S, and a load mode such as four-point bending is obtained. As a result, the scribe line S is likely to progress straight (vertically). As a result, post-processing of the cut end face Gax of the product portion Ga can be omitted or reduced.

  In the present embodiment, even after the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb are separated, the folding member 51 maintains the raised state. At this time, the space between the cut end face Gx of the product part Ga and the cut end face Gbx of the non-product part Gb is expanded by the flat part 51a of the folding member 51, and the cut end face Gax of the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb are cut. The end face Gbx is in a state of being separated from each other. In this state, the first suction member 61 and the second suction member 62 (or only the first suction member 61) that have been retracted above the first main surface G1 of the non-product portion Gb are lowered, and the non-product portion Gb The first main surface G1 is sucked and held. The first pressing member 31 and the second pressing member 41 are lifted and retracted simultaneously with or before and after the suction holding. Then, the non-product portion Gb sucked and held by the first suction member 61 and the second suction member 62 (or only the first suction member 61) is lifted and removed from the second belt conveyor 22.

  As shown in FIG. 5, after removing the non-product part Gb, the folding member 51 is lowered and retracted, and the first belt conveyor 21 and the second belt conveyor 22 are driven again in the a direction and the b direction, Ga is transported downstream. Thereby, the product part Ga gets over the folding space B and transfers from the first belt conveyor 21 onto the second belt conveyor 22.

  Here, the case where the sheet glass G is folded along the scribe line S located on the downstream side in the transport direction has been described, but the sheet glass G is also folded in the same manner with respect to the scribe line S formed at another position. And However, when the glass sheet G is folded along the scribe line S located on the upstream side (rear side) in the transport direction, for example, the second pressing mechanism 4 and the removal mechanism 6 are arranged on the upstream side in the transport direction, and the transport is performed. The first pressing mechanism 3 is disposed on the downstream side in the direction. That is, the arrangement is reversed from the state of FIG. 1 showing the case where the glass sheet G is folded along the scribe line S located on the downstream side in the transport direction. Moreover, when the scribe line S is formed in parallel with the remaining two opposite sides of the plate glass G, for example, after the plate glass G is rotated by 90 ° in the middle of the conveyance path, the downstream side and the upstream side in the conveyance direction The glass sheet G is folded in the same manner with respect to each scribe line S that has been relocated to.

  If it carries out as mentioned above, the 1st main surface G1 of the product part Ga will be supplementarily pressed by the 1st press member 31 which consists of brush-shaped members, and the 1st main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb will be an elastic member (column shape). The second pressing member 41 made of rubber) is firmly pressed. When viewed on the entire first main surface G1 of the plate glass G, a sufficient pressing force is obtained. Therefore, when the folding member 51 is pushed up, the bending stress around the scribe line S is sufficiently applied, and the plate glass G can be reliably broken along the scribe line S.

  Moreover, since the 1st press member 31 is a brush-shaped member, a contact state with the product part Ga becomes soft. For this reason, it is difficult for the product portion Ga to have unnecessary dirt and scratches.

  Furthermore, since the second pressing member 41 is a cylindrical rubber, the convex curved surface comes into contact with the first main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb. Therefore, even if the contact position of the non-product part Gb with the first main surface G1 changes, the pressed state is unlikely to become unstable. Therefore, even when the type of the plate glass G is changed and the size of the non-product part Gb is changed, it is not necessary to adjust the position of the second pressing member 41. As a result, since the time required for the adjustment work can be omitted, the plate glass G can be manufactured efficiently.

  The sheet glass folding device and the sheet glass manufacturing method according to the embodiment of the present invention have been described above. However, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the present invention. Changes can be made.

  In the above embodiment, the case where the sheet glass G is folded while the sheet glass G is conveyed in the direction orthogonal to the scribe line S (the X direction in FIG. 2) has been described, but the direction along the scribe line S (FIG. 2). The glass sheet G may be folded while being conveyed in the Y direction).

  Moreover, although said embodiment demonstrated the case where the surface (upper end part) which opposes the 2nd main surface G2 of the split member 51 was made into a trapezoid cross section, it opposes the 2nd main surface G2 of the split member 51. The surface to be processed may have a triangular cross section, a semicircular cross section, a quadrangular cross section, or the like.

  In the above embodiment, the case where two holding members (suction members 61 and 62) are arranged as the removing mechanism 6 has been described. However, one or three or more holding members may be arranged. When arranging a plurality of holding members, it is preferable to adjust the number of holding members that hold the non-product part Gb according to the size and weight of the non-product part Gb. On the other hand, when one holding member is arranged, the number of holding members that adsorb the non-product part Gb cannot be adjusted according to the size or weight of the non-product part Gb. If you adjust the lifting position, there is no problem. For example, if the non-product part Gb lifted upward is changed to a vertical posture (vertical posture), gravity acts along the surface, so that it can be safely carried.

  Further, in the above embodiment, after the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb are separated by the folding member 51, the first main part of the non-product part Gb is obtained by the adsorption member 61 and the adsorption member 62 (or only the adsorption member 61). Although the case where the surface G1 is held by suction has been described, before the product member Ga and the non-product part Gb are separated by the folding member 51, the suction member 61 and the suction member 62 (or only the suction member 61) are used as the non-product part. The first main surface G1 of Gb may be held by suction. That is, the product part Ga and the non-product part Gb are separated by the folding member 51 in a state in which the first main surface G1 of the non-product part Gb is sucked and held by the suction member 61 and the suction member 62 (or only the suction member 61). You may let them.

  In the second pressing member 41 of the above embodiment, the surface facing the first main surface G1 is a convex curved surface, and the shape of the cross section of the convex curved surface is a semicircular shape. The shape of the cross section of the convex curved surface is not limited to a semicircular shape, and may be, for example, a semielliptical shape or a parabolic shape.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Folding device 2 Conveying mechanism 21 1st belt conveyor 22 2nd belt conveyor 3 1st press mechanism 31 1st press member 4 2nd press mechanism 41 2nd press member 42 Holding member 42a Recessed part 5 Split mechanism 51 Folding member 51a Plane part 51b Inclined part 6 Removal mechanism 61 First adsorbing member 62 Second adsorbing member B Split space G Sheet glass G1 First main surface G2 Second main surface Ga Product part Gb Non-product part S Scribe line

Claims (5)

Of the plate glass having a product part and a non-product part with a scribe line formed on the first main surface as a boundary, press the first main surface of the product part with a first pressing member, and the non-product part In a state where the first main surface is pressed by the second pressing member, the second main surface of the plate glass is pushed into the first main surface side with a folding member at a position corresponding to the scribe line, and the scribe line A method for producing a plate glass comprising a folding step of breaking the plate glass along,
The first pressing member is a brush-like member,
The method for producing a sheet glass, wherein the second pressing member is made of an elastic member in which at least a surface facing the first main surface forms a convex curved surface.   The method for producing a plate glass according to claim 1, wherein the second pressing member has a long cylindrical shape along the scribe line.   The method for producing a plate glass according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the second pressing member is fitted and held in a recess formed in the holding member.   The surface of the folding member that faces the second main surface includes a plane portion straddling both sides of the scribe line, and a pair of inclined portions that are inclined so as to be separated from the second main surface on both sides of the plane portion. It has, The manufacturing method of the plate glass of any one of Claims 1-3 characterized by the above-mentioned. A plate glass breaking device for breaking a plate glass having a product part and a non-product part with a scribe line formed on the first main surface as a boundary along the scribe line,
A first pressing member that presses the first main surface of the product part, a second pressing member that presses the first main surface of the non-product part, and a position corresponding to the scribe line, A split member that pushes the two main surfaces into the first main surface side,
The first pressing member is a brush-like member,
The plate glass folding device, wherein the second pressing member is made of an elastic member having a convex curved surface at least on a surface facing the first main surface.

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