CN107709260B - Method and apparatus for manufacturing glass plate - Google Patents

Abstract

In a processing space (15) formed between two opposing upper and lower surfaces (13, 14) of a lower structure (11) having an air supply port (26) and an air exhaust port (30) and disposed so that the upper surface (14) of the lower structure faces the lower surface (13) of an upper structure (10), the lower surface (3a) of a glass sheet (3) conveyed in a horizontal direction is subjected to an etching process by a process gas (5) ejected from an air supply port (16) and sucked into the air exhaust port (30), and the air supply port (26) and the air exhaust port (30) are positioned apart from each other in the conveying direction of the glass sheet (3). In addition, in the upper surface (14) of the lower structure (11), the highest upper surface part (22a) in the region from the exhaust port (30) to the air supply port (26) is higher than the highest upper surface part (18ab) in the region on the downstream side of the exhaust port (30) in the flow direction of the processing gas.

Description

Method and apparatus for manufacturing glass plate

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a glass plate, which have a step of performing an etching process on the glass plate using a process gas such as hydrogen fluoride.

Background

As is well known, glass plates of various thicknesses and sizes are incorporated in Flat Panel Displays (FPDs), typified by liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, organic E L displays, field emission displays, and the like, mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet PCs, and other various electronic devices.

In a manufacturing process of a glass plate used as a base for manufacturing a glass plate as a final product, there is a possibility that a problem may occur due to electrostatic charging. For example, when a glass plate is placed on a work table and a predetermined process is performed, the glass plate may stick to the work surface due to static charging. Therefore, when the glass sheet having completed the predetermined processing is peeled off from the work table, the glass sheet may be damaged.

As a countermeasure to the above problem, the following attempts are being made: the above-mentioned problems caused by electrostatic charging are solved by applying an etching treatment to a glass plate by spraying a treatment gas such as hydrogen fluoride to the glass plate to roughen the surface of the glass plate.

As a specific example, patent document 1 discloses the following: when a glass plate conveyed along a certain conveying path passes through the processing space, the lower surface of the glass plate is subjected to etching treatment by using a processing gas which is ejected from an ejection port of a nozzle and sucked into an suction port of a suction nozzle.

Specifically, in the etching apparatus disclosed in this document, a processing space for performing an etching process on the lower surface of a glass plate during conveyance is formed between the lower surface of an upper structure (upper structure) and the upper surface of a lower structure (lower structure). In this case, the upper structure is formed only by the top plate. On the other hand, the lower structure is formed by integrating a nozzle disposed on the rear side (upstream side of the conveyance path) in the conveyance direction of the glass sheet, a suction nozzle disposed on the front side (downstream side of the conveyance path) in the conveyance direction of the glass sheet, and a bottom plate interposed between the two nozzles. The upper surfaces of the nozzle, the bottom plate, and the suction nozzle, which are the lower structure, are coplanar with each other. Therefore, an ejection port for ejecting the process gas into the process space and a suction port for sucking the process gas from the process space are formed in the upper surface of the lower structure having no step.

Prior art documents

Patent document

Patent document 1: international publication No. 2011/105331

Disclosure of Invention

Problems to be solved by the invention

However, in the etching apparatus disclosed in patent document 1, since the entire upper surface of the lower structure is a flat surface having no step, the following problems occur when etching a glass plate in the processing space.

That is, when the process gas flows along the lower surface of the glass plate in the process space, air flows in from the upstream side and the downstream side in the flow direction of the process gas toward the exhaust port on the upper surface of the lower structure. Since the flow direction of the air from the upstream side is the same as the flow direction of the process gas, the air from the upstream side joins the process gas and flows along the lower surface of the glass plate. On the other hand, the flow direction of the air from the downstream side is opposite to the flow direction of the process gas, and the air is sucked into the exhaust port together with the process gas in the vicinity of the downstream end in the flow direction of the process gas in the process space.

In this case, when the entire upper surface of the lower structure is a flat surface having no level difference, the flow resistance (passage resistance) applied to the flow of air from the upstream side is very small. Therefore, a large amount of air flows into the processing space from the upstream side, and the processing gas flowing along the lower surface of the glass sheet is thinned. As a result, the roughening ability of the lower surface of the glass plate by the processing gas is insufficient, and it is difficult to achieve satisfactory roughening of the lower surface of the glass plate, which may cause problems such as unevenness in the roughening process.

In this case, the flow rate of the processing gas is increased, but in this simple method, the flow rate of the processing gas flowing around the upper surface side of the glass plate is increased improperly, and a fatal problem such as an etching defect may occur on the upper surface of the glass plate.

From the above-described points, an object of the present invention is to improve the roughening ability of the lower surface of a glass plate with a processing gas without increasing the flow rate of the processing gas flowing around the upper surface of the glass plate to an undesirable extent.

Means for solving the problems

The method of the present invention, which is devised to solve the above problems, is a method of manufacturing a glass plate, in which an upper surface of a lower structure having an air supply port and an air discharge port is disposed to face a lower surface of an upper structure and is formed in a processing space between the facing upper and lower surfaces, an etching process is performed on the lower surface of the glass plate conveyed in a horizontal direction by a process gas ejected from the air supply port and sucked into the air discharge port, and the air supply port and the air discharge port are located at positions separated from each other in a glass plate conveying direction, the method being characterized in that, in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the air discharge port to the air discharge port is higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side of the air discharge port in the process gas flow direction. Here, the "glass plate conveyed in the horizontal direction" includes not only a case where the glass plate is conveyed in the horizontal direction, which is a non-inclined direction, but also a case where the glass plate is conveyed in a direction inclined at an angle of not more than 30 ° above and below the horizontal plane (the same applies hereinafter). The posture of the glass plate in these cases includes not only a posture in which the glass plate is in a non-inclined state with respect to both sides in the conveying direction, but also a posture in which the glass plate is in an inclined state at an angle of 30 ° or less from one side to the other side in the conveying direction (the same applies hereinafter). In addition, the "highest upper surface portion" refers to an upper surface portion that exists at the highest position in the corresponding region (the same applies hereinafter).

According to such a configuration, air sucked from the upstream side of the air supply port toward the air discharge port in the process gas flow direction (simply referred to as air from the upstream side) is applied with a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) by the upper surface portion of the highest position in the region from the air supply port to the air discharge port. In contrast, air sucked into the exhaust port from the downstream side of the exhaust port in the flow direction of the process gas (simply referred to as air from the downstream side) is applied with only a relatively small flow resistance. In this case, the air from the upstream side is ejected upward from the air supply port, flows along the lower surface of the glass plate, and merges with the flow of the process gas sucked into the exhaust port. The flow rate of the air from the upstream side is reduced compared to the case where the entire upper surface of the lower structure is flat, and is much smaller than the flow rate of the air from the downstream side. Therefore, the process gas flowing along the lower surface of the glass plate is not easily diluted by the air from the upstream side merged therewith. As a result, the roughening ability of the lower surface of the glass sheet by the processing gas is improved, and the lower surface of the glass sheet is satisfactorily roughened, thereby avoiding the occurrence of unevenness in the roughening treatment. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the flow rate of the process gas for improving the roughening ability, the flow rate of the process gas flowing around the upper surface side of the glass plate is not increased. Therefore, it is possible to avoid the occurrence of etching defects on the upper surface of the glass plate and to improve the roughening capability with respect to the lower surface of the glass plate.

In the above method, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side in a process gas flow direction of the gas supply port may be higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side in the process gas flow direction of the gas discharge port in an upper surface of the lower structure.

In this way, the air from the upstream side is applied with a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) by the upper surface portion of the highest position in two regions, i.e., the region from the air supply port to the air discharge port and the region on the upstream side of the air supply port. In addition, the gap between the upper surface portions of the highest positions in the two regions can be made to be a substantial air supply port which is close to the lower surface of the glass plate. Accordingly, the effect of improving the roughening ability of the lower surface of the glass plate by the processing gas can be obtained without increasing the flow rate of the processing gas, and therefore, the effect is multiplied by the action superimposed on the above-described action.

In this case, in the upper surface of the lower structure, the highest upper surface portion in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port may be at the same height as the highest upper surface portion in a region on the upstream side of the gas supply port in the flow direction of the process gas.

In this way, the upper surface portions of the highest positions in the two regions are at the same height, and therefore, the gap between the upper surface portions, i.e., the substantial air supply port, is effectively close to the lower surface of the glass plate. Therefore, the above-described superimposed effect can be effectively obtained.

In the above method, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port may be higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side of the gas supply port in a flow direction of the process gas.

In this way, a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) is not wastefully exerted on the air from the upstream side by the uppermost upper surface portion in the region where the air from the upstream side merges with the flow of the process gas. Therefore, effects substantially equivalent to those of the above-described method can be obtained without waste.

In this case, in the upper surface of the lower structure, the highest upper surface portion in the region on the downstream side in the process gas flow direction of the exhaust port and the highest upper surface portion in the region on the upstream side in the process gas flow direction of the gas supply port may be at the same height.

In this way, even if the area on the upstream side of the air supply port in the upper surface of the lower structure is kept as a low surface as in the conventional case, the above-described effects can be obtained. This can reduce the number of modified portions to be applied to the lower structure, and can reduce the manufacturing cost.

In the above method, it is preferable that a vertical separation dimension between an upper surface portion of the highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the air supply port and a lower surface of the glass plate being subjected to the etching process is smaller than a vertical separation dimension between the upper surface of the glass plate and the lower surface of the upper structure.

In this way, a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) is more reliably applied by the upper surface portion of the highest position in the region from the exhaust port to the air supply port. Therefore, the above-described effects are more reliably ensured.

The apparatus of the present invention, which is created to solve the above-described problems, is an apparatus for manufacturing a glass plate, which is configured such that an upper surface of a lower structure having a gas supply port and a gas discharge port is disposed facing a lower surface of an upper structure and is formed in a processing space between the facing upper surface and lower surface, wherein the lower surface of the glass plate conveyed in a horizontal direction is subjected to an etching process by a process gas ejected from the gas supply port and sucked into the gas discharge port, and the gas supply port and the gas discharge port are located at positions separated from each other in a glass plate conveying direction.

The apparatus for manufacturing a glass plate has substantially the same constituent elements as those of the above-described method. Therefore, the description of the apparatus is also substantially the same as that of the method described above, and therefore, the description thereof is omitted here.

Effects of the invention

According to the present invention, the roughening ability of the lower surface of the glass plate by the processing gas can be improved without increasing the flow rate of the processing gas flowing around the upper surface of the glass plate to an undesirable extent.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional front view showing an overall schematic configuration of a glass plate manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional front view showing a configuration of a main part of a glass plate manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional side view showing a configuration of a main part of the apparatus for manufacturing a glass sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view of a main portion showing a peripheral structure of an air supply port, which is a component of the apparatus for manufacturing a glass plate according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional front view showing a configuration of a main part of the apparatus for manufacturing a glass sheet according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged vertical cross-sectional front view showing a configuration of a main part of a glass plate manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 7 is a partially enlarged vertical sectional front view showing a part of the structure of fig. 1.

Fig. 8 is a vertical sectional front view showing an entire structure of an example in which a part of the structure of fig. 1 is modified.

Fig. 9 is a partially enlarged front view showing a part of the structure of fig. 8.

Detailed Description

Hereinafter, a method for manufacturing a glass plate and a manufacturing apparatus therefor according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

< first embodiment >

First, the overall schematic configuration of the glass plate manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described. Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional front view showing an overall schematic structure thereof. In the following description, a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in fig. 1 is referred to as a width direction. As shown in the figure, the glass plate manufacturing apparatus 1 is configured to perform an etching process using hydrogen fluoride as a process gas 5 in a process field 4 provided on a conveyance path of a glass plate 3 in a chamber 2 while conveying the glass plate 3, which is conveyed into the chamber 2 from a conveyance inlet 2a, in a horizontal direction. Then, the etched glass plate 3 is carried out of the chamber 2 through the carrying-out port 2 b.

The chamber 2 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape elongated in the width direction, and prevents the process gas 5 from flowing out from the internal space thereof. The side wall 2c of the chamber 2 is formed with the above-described carrying-in port 2a and carrying-out port 2 b. The chamber 2 is made of polyvinyl chloride having excellent corrosion resistance against the process gas 5 (hydrogen fluoride).

An etching apparatus 6 is disposed in the processing region 4, and the etching apparatus 6 performs an etching process by spraying a processing gas 5 on the glass plate 3 conveyed in the horizontal direction. The etching device 6 is provided at the bottom 2e of the chamber 2 so as to form a gap 7 with the ceiling wall 2d of the chamber 2.

The glass sheet manufacturing apparatus 1 further includes a plurality of conveying rollers 8, and the plurality of conveying rollers 8 are disposed inside and outside the chamber 2 and convey the glass sheet 3 in a straight line in the horizontal direction. These conveying rollers 8 are not only arranged in plural in the direction along the conveying path but also arranged in plural in the width direction (see fig. 3).

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view for explaining the structure of the etching apparatus 6 in detail. In the following description, a direction perpendicular to the paper surface in fig. 2 is referred to as a width direction. The direction of arrow a shown in fig. 2 is the conveying direction of the glass plate 3, and this direction of arrow a is simply referred to as the conveying direction. In the present embodiment, the conveying direction of the glass plate 3 is the same as the flow direction of the process gas 5 in the process space 15 described later, and the upstream side in the flow direction of the process gas 5 is referred to as the upstream side only, and the downstream side in the flow direction is referred to as the downstream side only, so that the right side in fig. 2 is the upstream side (the rear side in the conveying direction) and the left side is the downstream side (the front side in the conveying direction).

As shown in fig. 2, the etching apparatus 6 includes an upper structure 10 disposed on the upper side and a lower structure 11 disposed on the lower side, and the two structures 10 and 11 are integrally connected to each other by a connecting wall 12 at both ends in the width direction. Further, a processing space 15 for performing an etching process by the process gas 5 on the lower surface of the glass plate 3 being conveyed is formed between the lower surface 13 of the upper structure 10 and the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11. The material of the upper structure 10 and the lower structure 11 is polyvinyl chloride. Further, the upper structural body 10 and the lower structural body 11 incorporate therein a heating member 16 (e.g., a heater or the like) for preventing condensation caused by the process gas 5.

The upper structure 10 is constituted by a top plate 17 having a flat plate shape, and the lower surface of the top plate 17, that is, the lower surface 13 of the upper structure 10 is a single plane. Therefore, the lower surface 13 of the top plate 17 has no unevenness. That is, only both ends in the width direction (longitudinal direction) of the top plate 17 are fixed to the connecting wall 12 by bolts or the like, and therefore, irregularities due to the presence of bolts, bolt holes, or the like are not formed on the lower surface 13 of the top plate 17. The lower surface 13 of the top plate 17 is parallel to the lower surface 3a and the upper surface 3b of the glass plate 3 to be conveyed.

The lower structure 11 has a bottom plate 18 having a flat plate shape and an air supply/exhaust structure 19 fixed to a lower portion of the bottom plate 18. An air supply hole 20 leading to the processing space 15 is formed in the bottom plate 18 on the upstream side of the central portion in the upstream and downstream directions. Further, an air supply passage 21 leading to the air supply hole 20 is formed in the air supply and exhaust structure 19 at a position on the upstream side of the central portion in the upstream and downstream directions. In this case, although not shown, the air supply hole 20 may have a small air supply hole portion whose upper portion is narrowed to reduce the passage area. Further, the upper surface 18a of the bottom plate 18 is parallel to the lower surface 13 of the top plate 17.

A flat plate-like main plate body 22 is mounted and fixed on the upper portion of the bottom plate 18 in the vicinity of the center portion in the upstream and downstream directions. The upstream end surface of the main plate-like body 22 is substantially flush with the downstream inner surface of the air supply hole 20. Therefore, no step is formed between the upstream end surface of the main plate-like body 22 and the air supply hole 20. Further, a flat auxiliary plate-like body 23 is mounted and fixed on an upper portion of the bottom plate 18 in a region on the upstream side of the central portion in the upstream and downstream directions. The end surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 on the downstream side is substantially flush with the inner surface of the air supply hole 20 on the upstream side. Therefore, no step is formed between the downstream end surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 and the air supply hole 20. In the present embodiment, the upper surface portion 22a of the main plate-like body 22 and the upper surface portion 23a of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 are located at the same height position. Further, a gap 24 between the upstream end surface of the main plate-like body 22 and the downstream end surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 is opened to the air supply hole 20 of the bottom plate 18. Therefore, the gas supply passage 25 for guiding the process gas 5 upward and discharging the process gas to the process space 15 includes the above-described gap 24, the gas supply hole 20, and the gas supply path 21. The upper end of the air supply passage 25, that is, the upper end of the gap 24, serves as an air supply port 26 formed in the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11.

A gas discharge hole 27 leading to the processing space 15 is formed on the bottom plate 18 on the downstream side of the central portion in the upstream and downstream directions. Further, an exhaust passage 28 leading to the exhaust hole 27 is formed downstream of the central portion in the upstream and downstream directions of the air supply and exhaust structure 19. Therefore, the recovery passage 29 for sucking and recovering the process gas 5 downward from the process space 15 includes the exhaust hole 27 and the exhaust path 28. The upper end opening of the recovery passage 29 serves as an exhaust port 30 formed in the upper surface 18a of the bottom plate 18, i.e., the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11. Here, the processing space 15 is strictly speaking a space formed between the lower surface 13 of the upper structure 10 and the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11 within a separation range between the air supply port 26 and the air discharge port 30. In the air supply/exhaust structure 19, the lower end of the air supply passage 21 and the lower end of the air exhaust passage 28 are respectively led to a pipe passage (not shown) outside the chamber 2 through holes 31 and 32 formed in the bottom wall 2f of the chamber 2.

In this case, the end surface of the main plate-like body 22 on the downstream side is located at a position slightly separated from the exhaust port 30 toward the upstream side. Therefore, a step (step forming surface) 22b, which is an end surface on the downstream side of the main plate-like body 22, is formed between the main plate-like body 22 and the exhaust port 30. Here, the upper surface portion of the highest position in the region from the air supply port 26 to the air discharge port 30 is the upper surface portion 22a of the main plate-like body 22, that is, the upper surface portion 22a whose entire region is a plane. The uppermost upper surface portion in the area on the downstream side of the exhaust port 30 is a partial upper surface 18ab on the downstream side of the exhaust port 30 in the bottom plate 18, that is, a partial upper surface 18ab in which the entire area is a plane. The upper surface portion 22a and the upper surface 18ab are parallel to the lower surface 13 of the upper structure 10. The upper surface portion 22a is higher than a portion of the upper surface 18 ab. In this case, the height difference H is preferably 10 to 90%, more preferably 30 to 70%, of the vertical separation dimension S1 between the partial upper surface 18ab and the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3.

On the other hand, the upstream end surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 is located at a position separated downstream from the upstream end surface of the bottom plate 18. Therefore, a step (step forming surface) 23b, which is an upstream end surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23, is formed between the auxiliary plate-like body 23 and the upstream end surface of the bottom plate 18. Here, the upper surface portion of the highest position in the upstream side region of the air supply port 26 is the upper surface portion 23a of the auxiliary plate-like body 23, that is, the upper surface portion 23a whose entire region is a plane. The upper surface portion 23a is also higher than the highest partial upper surface 18ab in the region on the downstream side of the exhaust port 30, and the height difference between the upper surface portion 23a and the partial upper surface 18ab is the same as in the case of the main plate-like body 22 described above.

In the present embodiment, the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11 is configured as follows. That is, the upper surface portion in the region from the air supply port 26 to the air discharge port 30 includes the upper surface portion 22a constituted by the plane of the main plate-like body 22, the step 22b, and the partial upper surface 18ac constituted by the plane of the bottom plate 18. The upper surface portion in the upstream side region of the air supply port 26 includes an upper surface portion 23a formed by the flat surface of the auxiliary plate-like body 23, a step 23b, and a partial upper surface 18ad formed by the flat surface of the bottom plate 18. Further, the upper surface portion in the region on the downstream side of the exhaust port 30 includes only a part of the upper surface 18ab constituted by the plane of the bottom plate 18.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the bottom plate 18 and its upper peripheral portion, taken along the central axis of flow of the air supply passage 25. As shown in the drawing, the air supply hole 20 formed in the bottom plate 18 and the air supply port 26 formed between the main plate-like body 22 and the auxiliary plate-like body 23 are both formed in a slit shape elongated in the width direction. The width direction dimensions of the air supply holes 20 and the air supply ports 26 are larger than the width direction dimension of the glass plate 3. Although not shown, the exhaust hole 27 and the exhaust port 30 formed in the bottom plate 18 are formed in a slit shape elongated in the width direction. The width-directional dimensions of the exhaust holes 27 and the exhaust ports 30 are also larger than the width-directional dimension of the glass plate 3.

Fig. 4 is a main-part enlarged vertical cross-sectional front view showing a peripheral structure of an upper portion of the air supply hole 20 formed in the bottom plate 18, and as shown in the drawing, a dimension L in the upstream and downstream directions of the air supply hole 20 is adjusted to a fixed dimension by a spacer 33 (see also fig. 3) which is located at a middle in the up-down direction of the air supply hole 20 and is provided with a plurality of spacers in the width direction, that is, in the present embodiment, the air supply hole 20 is a gap between opposing end surfaces of the respective divided bottom plates obtained by dividing the bottom plate 18 at an upstream side portion, and the size of the gap is adjusted by the spacer 33.

Here, the depth dimension B from the upper end opening of the gas supply hole 20 to the spacer 33 is preferably within a range of 10 to 100mm, and when the depth dimension B is too short, the flow of the process gas 5 in the gas supply hole 20 is disturbed by the presence of the spacer 33, and there is a possibility that the roughening of the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 by the etching process may be uneven, whereas when the depth dimension B is too long, it is difficult to finely adjust the upstream and downstream direction dimension L of the gas supply port 26, and therefore, the supply amount of the process gas 5 supplied from the gas supply port 26 to the process space 15 may be too large or too small to roughen the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 to a desired surface roughness, and therefore, the depth dimension B from the upper end opening of the gas supply hole 20 to the spacer 33 is preferably within the above numerical range.

Next, a description will be given of a glass plate manufacturing method, which is an operation of the glass plate manufacturing apparatus 1 having the above-described configuration.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged vertical sectional front view showing the structure of the etching apparatus 6, particularly the upper part thereof in detail. The path indicated by the solid line with arrows in the drawing is a general flow path of the process gas 5, and the path indicated by the broken line with arrows in the drawing is a general flow path of the air. Referring to these flow paths, the processing gas 5 is ejected upward from the gas supply port 26, flows downstream along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3, and is then sucked into the exhaust port 30. Accordingly, the air 34 flowing from the upstream side outside the etching apparatus 6 toward the processing space 15 (hereinafter referred to as air from the upstream side) joins the processing gas 5, flows along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3, and is then sucked into the exhaust port 30. Further, air (hereinafter referred to as air from the downstream side) 35 flowing from the downstream side outside the etching apparatus 6 toward the processing space 15 is brought into contact with or collides with the processing gas 5 at the periphery of the downstream end of the flow of the processing gas 5, and is sucked into the exhaust port 30. By the circulation of the processing gas 5 and the air 34, 35, the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 is appropriately etched.

In this case, since the auxiliary plate-like body 23 and the main plate-like body 22 serve as an interfering portion with respect to the air 34 from the upstream side, the air 34 from the upstream side joins the process gas 5 and flows along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 in a state where a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) is applied. On the other hand, since the air 35 from the downstream side does not have the above-described interference portion, only a relatively small flow resistance is applied. Therefore, the flow rate of air 34 from the upstream side is reduced as compared with the case where the entire upper surface 14 of lower structure 11 is flat, and is significantly reduced as compared with the flow rate of air 35 from the downstream side. Therefore, the processing gas 5 flowing along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 is not easily diluted by the air 34 from the upstream side merged therewith. Since the upper surface portion 23a of the auxiliary plate-like member 23 is located at the same height as the upper surface portion 22a of the main plate-like member 22, the air supply port 26 is located close to the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3.

According to these additive effects, the roughening ability of the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 by the processing gas 5 is improved, satisfactory roughening of the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 is achieved, and generation of unevenness and the like in the roughening process is avoided. Further, since it is not necessary to increase the flow rate of the process gas 5 in order to improve the roughening ability, the flow rate of the process gas 5 flowing around the upper surface 3b of the glass plate 3 is not increased. Therefore, it is possible to avoid a situation where etching defects are generated on the upper surface 3b of the glass plate 3, and to improve the roughening ability with respect to the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3.

< second embodiment >

Next, an apparatus for manufacturing a glass plate (a method for manufacturing the same) according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the description of the second embodiment, the same reference numerals are assigned to the constituent elements already described in the above-described first embodiment, and overlapping descriptions are omitted, and only the differences from the first embodiment will be described here.

As shown in fig. 6, the apparatus 1 for manufacturing a glass plate according to the second embodiment differs from the apparatus 1 for manufacturing a glass plate according to the first embodiment in that an auxiliary plate-like body is not provided on the upper portion of the lower structure 11, and only the main plate-like body 22 is placed and fixed thereon. Therefore, upper surface 14 of lower structure 11 includes upper surface portion 22a of main plate-like body 22, partial upper surface 18ad existing on the upstream side of bottom plate 18 at a position lower than upper surface portion 22a, partial upper surfaces 18ab and 18ac existing on the downstream side of bottom plate 18, and step 22 b. The three portions of the upper surface 18ab, 18ac, 18ad of the bottom plate 18 exist at the same height position. The gas supply passage 25 for guiding the process gas 5 upward and discharging the process gas to the process space 15 includes a gas supply hole 20 formed in the bottom plate 18 and a gas supply passage 21 formed in the gas supply/discharge structure 19. The upper end opening of the air supply passage 25, that is, the upper end opening of the air supply hole 20, serves as an air supply port 26 formed in the upper surface 14 of the lower structure 11.

According to the apparatus 1 for manufacturing a glass plate of the second embodiment, since the main plate-like body 22 serves as an interference portion with respect to the air 34 from the upstream side, the air 34 from the upstream side joins the process gas 5 and flows along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 in a state where a relatively large flow resistance (passage resistance) is applied. On the other hand, since the air 35 from the downstream side does not have the above-described interference portion, only a relatively small flow resistance is applied. Therefore, the flow rate of air 34 from the upstream side is reduced as compared with the case where the entire upper surface 14 of lower structure 11 is flat, and is significantly reduced as compared with the flow rate of air 35 from the downstream side. Therefore, the processing gas 5 flowing along the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3 is not easily diluted by the air 34 from the upstream side merged therewith. As a result, although the air supply port 26 is not close to the lower surface 3a of the glass plate 3, the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the main plate-like body 22 and the auxiliary plate-like body 23 having the same upper surface height as the main plate-like body 22 are mounted and fixed on the upper portion of the lower structural body 11, or only the main plate-like body 22 is mounted and fixed thereon. The present invention is not limited to this, and both the main plate-like body 22 and the auxiliary plate-like body 23 may be placed and fixed, and the height position of the upper surface portion 22a of the main plate-like body 22 may be set higher than the height position of the upper surface portion 23a of the auxiliary plate-like body 23.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the main plate-like body 22 is disposed apart from the exhaust port 30 on the downstream side and reaches the air supply port 26 on the upstream side, but may be disposed apart from the air supply port 26 on the upstream side and reaches the exhaust port 30 on the downstream side, or may be disposed apart from the air supply port 26 and the exhaust port 30 on both the upstream side and the downstream side, or may reach the air supply port 26 and the exhaust port 30 on both the upstream side and the downstream side. The positional relationship between the auxiliary plate-like members 23 and the air supply port 26 and the upstream end surface of the bottom plate 18 can be similarly applied to the positional relationship between the main plate-like members 22 and the air supply port 26 and the exhaust port 30 described above.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the upper surface portion 22a of the main plate-like body 22 and the upper surface portion 23a of the auxiliary plate-like body 23 are both flat surfaces, but either or both of the upper surfaces may be curved surfaces that are curved or bent so as to protrude upward or to be recessed upward. In this case, the highest portion of the curved surface is the highest upper surface portion of the main plate-like body 22 and the auxiliary plate-like body 23. The description of the "uppermost upper surface portion" can be similarly applied to the partial upper surfaces 18ab, 18ac, and 18ad of the bottom plate 18.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the conveyance direction of the glass plate 3 is the same as the flow direction of the process gas 5 in the process space 15, but the conveyance direction of the glass plate 3 may be the opposite direction.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the main plate-like body 22 (auxiliary plate-like body 23) is placed and fixed on the upper portion of the bottom plate 18, but the bottom plate 18 and the main plate-like body 22 (auxiliary plate-like body 23) may be formed integrally without being provided separately.

In the first and second embodiments described above, the air supply and exhaust structure 19 is integrated, and the air supply path 21 and the exhaust path 28 are formed in the air supply and exhaust structure 19, but the air supply structure in which the air supply path 21 is formed and the exhaust structure in which the exhaust path 28 is formed may be provided separately, and the air supply structure and the exhaust structure may be disposed separately in the upstream and downstream directions as necessary.

The above description is mainly the description of the etching apparatus 6, but in addition to this, the glass plate manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present invention has the following configuration.

As shown in fig. 1, the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b formed in the chamber 2 are each configured to be adjustable in opening width in the vertical direction. That is, a pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 that are movable in the vertical direction along the side wall portion 2c of the chamber 2 are disposed around the upper edge portions 2aa and 2ba and the lower edge portions 2ab and 2bb of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b, respectively. Further, barometers (not shown) are provided inside the chamber 2 and outside the chamber 2, respectively. Therefore, the adjustment of the opening widths of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b by the opening width adjusting means 36 and 37 is performed based on the difference in the atmospheric pressures inside and outside the chamber 2 measured by the above-mentioned two barometers. Thereby, the flow velocity or the flow rate of the air flow 38 generated by the difference in the air pressure inside and outside the chamber 2 is controlled. Specifically, the flow velocity (flow rate) of the gas flow 38 flowing into the chamber 2 through the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b or the gas flow 38 flowing out of the chamber 2 is controlled based on the difference in gas pressure between the inside and the outside of the chamber 2. The pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 are made of polyvinyl chloride.

The opening width adjusting member 36(37) is formed of a rectangular plate-like member elongated in the width direction, and the width direction dimension of the plate-like member is larger than the width direction dimensions of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2 b. Further, the opening width adjusting member 36(37) is movable in the vertical direction along a guide rail 39 fixedly provided to the side wall portion 2c of the chamber 2. The opening width adjustment member 36(37) is coupled to a ball screw mechanism 40 as a driving mechanism for the movement thereof.

The ball screw mechanism 40 includes: a nut member 40a directly coupled to the opening width adjustment member 36 (37); a ball screw 40b that moves the opening width adjusting member 36(37) up and down through the nut member 40a by rotation; and a rotating shaft 40c that penetrates the inside and outside of the chamber 2 and rotates in synchronization with the ball screw 40 b. A handle 40d that can be operated by an operator is attached to an outer end of the rotating shaft 40c outside the chamber 2. Therefore, the operator can move the opening width adjustment member 36(37) up and down by operating the handle 40d outside the chamber 2 to rotate the ball screw 40 b.

In this case, as shown in fig. 7, the opening widths of the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2b (only the carry-in port 2a is shown in fig. 7) are adjusted as follows: the opening width adjusting member 36 disposed around the upper edge portion 2aa is farther from the glass sheet 3 than the opening width adjusting member 37 disposed around the lower edge portion 2ab with respect to the glass sheet 3 passing through them. That is, the opening width is adjusted to: the upper side interval a1 between the opening width adjustment member 36 disposed in the periphery of the upper edge portion 2aa and the upper surface 3b of the glass sheet 3 is larger than the lower side interval a2 between the opening width adjustment member 37 disposed in the periphery of the lower edge portion 2ab and the lower surface 3a of the glass sheet 3. As the ratio of the length of the upper side inter-space distance a1 to the length of the lower side inter-space distance a2, the length of the upper side inter-space distance a1 is preferably 2 times or more the length of the lower side inter-space distance a 2.

In the illustrated example, the opening widths of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b in the vertical direction are adjusted by moving the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 up and down along the side wall portion 2c of the chamber 2, respectively. For example, the movement direction of the pair of opening width adjustment members 36 and 37 may be inclined with respect to the vertical direction when the carrying in port 2a and the carrying out port 2b are viewed from the front. For example, the opening width may be adjusted by projecting and retracting the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 while being incorporated in partial regions of the side wall portion 2c connected to the upper edge portion 2aa (2ba) and the lower edge portion 2ab (2bb) of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b, respectively.

In the illustrated example, the opening width adjustment members 36 and 37 are configured to be moved by rotating the ball screw 40b by an operation of the handle 40d by an operator, but the ball screw 40b may be rotated by a power source such as a motor without the operator. In the illustrated example, the opening width adjustment members 36(37) are configured to be moved by the ball screw mechanism 40, but the opening width adjustment members 36(37) may be configured to be moved by a rack-and-pinion mechanism or the like, for example.

As described above, the following operational effects can be enjoyed by adopting the configuration in which the opening widths of the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2b are adjusted.

That is, when the gas flow 38 flowing into the chamber 2 through the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b or the gas flow 38 flowing out of the chamber 2 is generated due to the difference in the gas pressures between the inside and the outside of the chamber 2, the flow of the process gas 5 can be prevented from being disturbed by the gas flow 38 as much as possible. Specifically, by adjusting the opening widths of the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2b in the vertical direction based on the difference in the gas pressures inside and outside the chamber 2, the flow rate (flow rate) of the gas flow 38 flowing into the chamber 2 or the gas flow 38 flowing out of the chamber 2 can be controlled to a magnitude that does not affect the flow of the process gas 5. As a result, the etching process of the glass plate 3 by the process gas 5 can be more appropriately performed.

The glass plate manufacturing apparatus 1 of the present invention can adopt the following configurations in addition to the above-described configurations of the chamber 2 and the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37. In the following description, components common to those already described are denoted by the same reference numerals in the drawings, and description thereof is omitted.

As shown in fig. 8, three ceiling holes 2g are formed in the chamber 2, and a plate-shaped lid body 2h for closing each ceiling hole 2g is attached. The lid body 2h can entirely close the opening of the ceiling hole 2g, and can be attached to and detached from the chamber 2. The cover 2h is made of polyvinyl chloride.

As shown in fig. 9, each of the pair of opening width adjustment members 36 and 37 is formed of a plate-like member, and has a pair of elongated holes 36b (37b) elongated in the vertical direction for passing bolts 36a (37 a). The pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 and the bolt 36a (37a) are made of polyvinyl chloride. The bolt 36a (37a) is movably inserted into the elongated hole 36b (37b) and fixed to a screw hole (not shown) formed in the side wall portion 2c of the chamber 2. Therefore, the opening widths of the carrying-in port 2a and the carrying-out port 2b in the vertical direction can be adjusted by adjusting the relative positional relationship between the bolts 36a (37a) and the elongated holes 36b (37b) in the vertical direction and positioning and fixing the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 by the bolts 36a (37 a). The adjustment of the opening widths of the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2b by the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 can be performed by an operator detaching the lid body 2h from the chamber 2 and passing through the ceiling hole 2 g.

The upper opening width adjustment member 36 of the pair of opening width adjustment members 36, 37 is adjusted to: even if the opening width adjustment member 36 falls downward by its own weight due to loosening of the bolt 36a, the glass plate 3 is not prevented from passing through the carrying-in opening 2a and the carrying-out opening 2 b. Specifically, even when the opening width adjustment member 36 is positioned at the lowermost position, that is, when the bolt 36a is positioned at the upper end of the elongated hole 36b as shown in fig. 9, the lower end of the opening width adjustment member 36 is positioned above the conveyance path of the glass plate 3. The fixing position of the bolt 36a (the formation position of the screw hole formed in the side wall portion 2c of the chamber 2) and the vertical dimension of the elongated hole 36b are adjusted so as to have such a positional relationship.

According to the above configuration, after detaching the lid body 2h from the chamber 2, the operator can perform the positioning of each of the pair of opening width adjusting members 36 and 37 with respect to the vertical direction via the ceiling hole 2g based on the measured air pressure difference. Therefore, in this case, the opening widths of the carry-in port 2a and the carry-out port 2b in the vertical direction can be adjusted.

Description of reference numerals:

1 apparatus for producing glass plate

3 glass plate

Lower surface of 3a glass plate

Upper surface of 3b glass plate

5 treating gas

6 etching device

10 superstructure

11 lower structure

13 lower surface of upper structure

14 upper surface of lower structure

15 treatment space

17 Top plate

18 bottom plate

22 main board body

23 auxiliary plate-shaped body

26 air supply port

30 exhaust port

34 air (air)

35 air.

Claims (7)

1. A method for manufacturing a glass plate, wherein an upper surface of a lower structure having an air supply port and an air discharge port is disposed facing a lower surface of an upper structure and formed in a processing space between the facing upper and lower surfaces, the lower surface of the glass plate conveyed in a horizontal direction is subjected to an etching process by a process gas ejected from the air supply port and sucked into the air discharge port, and the air supply port and the air discharge port are positioned at positions separated from each other in a glass plate conveying direction,

the method for manufacturing a glass sheet is characterized in that,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port is higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side of the exhaust port in a process gas flow direction.

2. The method for producing glass sheet according to claim 1,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side in a process gas flow direction of the gas supply port is higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side in the process gas flow direction of the gas discharge port.

3. The method for producing a glass sheet according to claim 1 or 2,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port is at the same height as an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side of the gas supply port in a flow direction of the process gas.

4. The method for producing glass sheet according to claim 1,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port is higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side of the gas supply port in a flow direction of the process gas.

5. The method for producing a glass sheet according to claim 1 or 4,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side in a process gas flow direction of the exhaust port and an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on an upstream side in the process gas flow direction of the gas supply port are at the same height.

6. The method for producing a glass sheet according to claim 1 or 2,

the vertical separation dimension between the upper surface portion of the highest position in the region from the exhaust port to the air supply port and the lower surface of the glass plate being subjected to the etching process is smaller than the vertical separation dimension between the upper surface of the glass plate and the lower surface of the upper structure.

7. A glass plate manufacturing apparatus, wherein an upper surface of a lower structure having a gas supply port and a gas discharge port is disposed facing a lower surface of an upper structure and formed in a processing space between the facing upper and lower surfaces, wherein the lower surface of a glass plate conveyed in a horizontal direction is subjected to an etching process by a process gas ejected from the gas supply port and sucked into the gas discharge port, and the gas supply port and the gas discharge port are located at positions separated from each other in a glass plate conveying direction,

the apparatus for manufacturing a glass sheet is characterized in that,

in the upper surface of the lower structure, an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region from the exhaust port to the gas supply port is higher than an upper surface portion of a highest position in a region on a downstream side of the exhaust port in a process gas flow direction.

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