Corning Incorporated

Anatoli Anatolyevich Abramov

Naiyue Zhou

Yawei Sun

Jae Hyun Yu

Qi Wu

Chester Hann Huei Chang

Sinue Gomez

Anping Liu

Sergio Tsuda

Michael Yoshiya Nishimoto

William Anthony Whedon

Marvin William Kemmerer

Craig Gene Stewart

Bernd Christoph Hoetzel

Ljerka Ukrainczyk

Alexander Mikhailovich Streltsov

Sean Matthew Garner

Lisa Anne Moore

Xinghua Li

James William Brown

Steven Roy Burdette

Eric Lee Miller

Donald O Bigelow

Weiwei Luo

Wei Xu

Rui Zhang

Priyank Paras Jain

Todd Benson Fleming

Nicholas Dominic Cavallaro, Iii

Ian David Tracy

George Davis Treichler

Jonathan Earl Walter

Jingru Zhang

Donald Orrin Bigelow

Jonathan E Walter

A control apparatus for controlling a thickness of a substrate, such as a glass ribbon. The control apparatus comprises a laser assembly and a shielding assembly. The laser assembly generates an elongated laser beam traveling in a propagation direction along an optical path. The shielding assembly comprises at least one shield selectively disposed in the optical path. The shield is configured to decrease an optical intensity of a region of the elongated laser beam. The shielding assembly is configured to change an intensity profile of the elongated laser beam from an initial intensity profile to a targeted intensity profile. A desired targeted intensity profile can be dictated by an arrangement of the shield(s) relative to the optical path, and can be selected to affect a temperature change at portions of the substrate determined to benefit from a reduction in thickness.

Apparatus and method for controlling substrate thickness

Methods of separating a glass web include exposing a separation path on the glass web to a laser beam that produces thermal stress along the separation path without damaging the glass web. The methods further include redirecting a portion of the laser beam to create a defect on the separation path while the separation path is under thermal stress produced during the exposing the separation path on the glass web to the laser beam, whereupon the glass web separates along the separation path in response to creating the defect. Apparatus are further provided for separating a glass web with at least one laser beam generator that produces a laser beam to heat a separation path and a mirror configured to reflect an end portion of the laser beam to create a defect at a location of the separation path on the glass web.

Methods of separating a glass web

Methods of separating a glass web that is moving at a glass web velocity. The method includes exposing a separation path on the glass web to at least one laser beam spot that moves with a laser beam spot velocity vector that is equal to a glass web velocity vector in a conveyance direction. The method also includes creating a defect on the separation path while the separation path is under thermal stress from the laser beam spot, whereupon the glass web spontaneously separates along the separation path in response to the defect. In further examples, a glass web separation apparatus includes a first reflector that rotates such that a laser beam spot repeatedly passes along a separation path and a second reflector that rotates such that the laser beam spot moves in a conveyance direction of the glass web.

Methods of separating a glass web include the step (I) of exposing a path on the glass web to at least one laser beam to produce thermal stress along the path without damaging the glass web. The methods further include the step (II) of creating a defect on the path while the path is under thermal stress produced during step (I), whereupon the glass web spontaneously separates along the path in response to the defect.

A method of cutting a glass article includes translating a laser beam relative to a first surface of the glass article. The laser beam includes a beam waist having a center. The center of the beam waist of the laser beam is positioned at or below a second surface of the glass article. The laser beam creates a plurality of defects along a score line in the glass article such that the plurality of defects extends a distance into the glass article, and at least some individual defects of the plurality of defects are non-orthogonal to the first surface of the glass article and are biased in a direction of translation of the laser beam. Glass articles having edge defects are also disclosed.

Methods of cutting glass using a laser

A method for cutting a flexible glass ribbon includes directing the flexible glass ribbon to a flexible glass cutting apparatus including a laser. The flexible glass ribbon includes a first broad surface and a second broad surface that extend between a first edge and a second edge of the flexible glass ribbon. A laser beam is directed from the laser onto a region of the flexible glass ribbon. A crack is formed through the flexible glass ribbon using the laser beam. The crack is propagated along the flexible glass ribbon using the laser beam and a local mechanical deformation in the flexible glass ribbon.

Apparatus and methods for continuous laser cutting of flexible glass

Methods and apparatus provide for sourcing a glass web, the glass web having a length and a width transverse to the length; continuously moving the glass web from the source to a destination in a transport direction along the length of the glass web; and cutting the glass web at a cutting zone into at least first and second glass ribbons as the glass web is moved from the source to the destination, the first glass ribbon having a first width and the second glass ribbon having a second width, where the first and second widths are not equal.

Methods and apparatus for fabricating glass ribbon of varying widths

Methods of fabricating a glass ribbon comprise the step of bending a glass ribbon in a cutting zone to provide a bent target segment with a bent orientation in the cutting zone. The methods further include the step of severing at least one of the edge portions from the central portion of the bent target segment within the cutting zone. Further methods are provided including the step of bending a glass ribbon in a bending zone downstream from a downward zone, wherein the glass ribbon includes an upwardly concave surface through the bending zone. The methods further include the step of severing at least one of the edge portions from the central portion of a target segment within the bending zone.

Methods of fabricating a glass ribbon

Methods and apparatus provide for supporting a source glass sheet and defining an at least partially non-straight cutting line that establishes a closed pattern that circumscribes a desired final shape; scoring the glass sheet at an initiation line using a mechanical scoring device; applying a laser beam to the glass sheet starting at the initiation line and continuously moving the laser beam relative to the glass sheet along the cutting line to elevate a temperature of the glass sheet at the cutting line to a substantially consistent temperature, where the laser beam is of a circular shape; and applying a cooling fluid simultaneously with the application of the laser beam, such that the cooling fluid at least reduces the temperature of the glass sheet in order to propagate a fracture in the glass sheet along the cutting line.

Methods and apparatus for free-shape cutting of flexible thin glass

A method of forming a glass article includes drawing a glass ribbon from a draw housing in a downstream direction, heating portions of only a bead of the glass ribbon to form compressive stress regions in the bead, scoring the glass ribbon to form a score line on which the glass ribbon is broken. The bead is heated at a position upstream from the score line. An apparatus for manufacturing a glass article includes a draw housing for forming a glass ribbon having a bead, a heating apparatus with a heat source for forming compressive stress regions in portions of only the bead of the glass ribbon, and a scoring apparatus that forms a score line on which the glass ribbon is broken to form the glass article. The heat source moves downstream simultaneously with the glass ribbon.

Thermal barriers to guide glass cutting and prevent crackout

Method and apparatus for laser scoring a sheet material. An elongated laser beam having S-mode intensity profile in the width direction and a flat-top-mode profile in the length direction is used to achieve high precision scoring. The invention can be used for scoring large-size glass substrates for LCD displays.

Precision laser scoring

Disclosed is a method of separating a glass sheet from a moving glass ribbon, wherein the glass ribbon comprises thickened bead portions. The method comprises weakening the bead portions of the ribbon using laser-initiated ablation at the bead portions to overcome the potential for uncontrolled cracking through the bead portion.

Method for low energy separation of a glass ribbon

This disclosure describes a process for strengthening, by ion-exchange, the edges of an article separated from a large glass sheet after the sheet has been ion-exchanged to strengthen by exposing only the one or a plurality of the edges of the separated article to an ion-exchange medium (for example without limitation, a salt, paste, frit, glass) while the glass surface is maintained at temperatures less than 200&#xb0; C.

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Painted Post, NY, United States of America

Anatoli Anatolyevich Abramov