JP6906902B2 - How to clean the glass plate - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a method for cleaning a glass plate such as sapphire glass.

Generally, a glass plate such as a glass substrate is cleaned by using a brush that is rotated about an axis orthogonal to the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate. However, in this cleaning method, a uniform cleaning action cannot be obtained because the speed difference between the rotation center portion and the outer peripheral portion of the brush is large.

Other than that, the cleaning methods disclosed in Patent Documents 1 to 3 are known.
The cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 1 uses a brush that is rotated about an axis parallel to the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate.

The cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 2 is to bring a cleaning brush bristles reciprocating at 400 to 600 Hz (hertz) in a direction parallel to the surface to be cleaned of a glass plate into contact with the surface to be cleaned.

In the cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 3, the brush bristles of the cleaning roll brush are brought into contact with the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate at a pressure of at least 40 to 60 KPa (kilopascal).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-228449 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-158656 Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-147879

In the cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the brush is rotated about an axis parallel to the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate, the brush bristles come into contact with the surface to be cleaned from one direction. Become. For this reason, even if the unevenness of the surface to be cleaned is fine, there is a surface that is hardly touched, so to speak, an unwashed surface on the rear side of the brush bristles in the rotation direction, and a high degree of cleaning cannot be achieved. It was a thing.

In the cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 2, since the cleaning brush bristles reciprocate at 400 to 600 Hz in the direction parallel to the surface to be cleaned in a state of contact with the surface to be cleaned, the brush bristles to be cleaned reciprocate on the surface to be cleaned. In, the moving direction of the cleaning brush bristles is reversed in small steps. Therefore, innumerable moving direction reversing portions are formed, and not only cleaning unevenness is formed on the surface to be cleaned, but also the properties of the surface to be cleaned change due to scratches or the like in the moving direction reversing portion, and the properties are uniform. There was a risk that the surface to be cleaned could not be obtained.

In addition, since the brush bristles for cleaning reciprocate at a high frequency, not only the glass plate may be cracked due to the vibration, but also the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate is rubbed many times, and the properties change as described above. Or the coating may peel off.

In the cleaning method disclosed in Patent Document 3, it is disclosed that the roll brush is rotated at 100 to 300 rpm and the glass plate is moved in the same direction as the brush bristles to perform cleaning. Therefore, it is difficult for the cleaning method of Patent Document 3 to achieve a high degree of cleaning as in Patent Document 1.

An object of the present invention is to provide a cleaning method capable of effectively cleaning a glass plate.

In order to achieve the above object, in the present invention, in a cleaning method for cleaning the surface to be cleaned of a glass plate while supplying a cleaning liquid, a cleaning member in which fibers having a hardness lower than that of the surface to be cleaned is assembled. It is characterized in that the surface to be cleaned is cleaned by the cleaning member by linearly moving on the surface to be cleaned and reciprocating by reversing the moving direction at a position off the surface to be cleaned. Here, the linear movement means that the cleaning member is linearly moved in one direction and the opposite direction without being rotated or vibrated as in Patent Document 2.

According to the above cleaning method, the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate is cleaned in one direction by a cleaning member that moves linearly. Therefore, unlike the cleaning member that is rotated in a plane parallel to the surface to be cleaned, even if the unevenness of the surface to be cleaned is fine, there is no portion that is not cleaned. Therefore, the entire surface to be cleaned is cleaned. Will be done. Also, unlike the case where the cleaning member is inverted on the surface to be cleaned or vibrated many times with a short amplitude in a short time, the properties of the surface to be cleaned are prevented from changing and the glass plate is prevented from breaking. can. Then, the fibers constituting the cleaning member are appropriately broken and washed away together with the foreign matter removed from the surface to be cleaned by cleaning.

According to the present invention, the effect that the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate can be appropriately cleaned is exhibited.

The perspective view of the cleaning apparatus in which the cleaning method of an embodiment is carried out. The plan view of the cleaning apparatus of FIG. The simplified figure which shows the circulation path of a cleaning liquid. The simplified figure which shows the structure about the suction air generation. The cross-sectional view which shows the relationship between a cleaning member and a glass plate. FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the relationship between the cleaning member and the glass plate cut at a position different from that in FIG. The perspective view of the cleaning member of an embodiment. The perspective view of the cleaning member of the modified example. The graph which shows the spectral transmittance of a test piece. A table showing the surface stress values of the test piece.

Hereinafter, embodiments of a cleaning method embodying the present invention will be described.
First, the configuration of the cleaning device for carrying out the cleaning method will be described.
As shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, a cleaning liquid tank 12 is installed in the lower part of the apparatus frame 11, and a cleaning tank 13 is installed in the upper part. Then, the cleaning liquid L in the cleaning liquid tank 12, for example, the cleaning liquid L made of an alcohol-based cleaning agent is supplied into the cleaning tank 13 and used for cleaning the surface F to be cleaned on the surface of the glass plate G, and then in the cleaning liquid tank 12. Will be collected. Therefore, the cleaning liquid L is circulated between the cleaning liquid tank 12 and the cleaning tank 13.

The inside of the cleaning liquid tank 12 is divided into a first chamber 15 and a second chamber 16 by a partition wall 14, and the cleaning liquid L in the first chamber 15 overflows the partition wall 14 and flows down into the second chamber 16.
A cleaning frame 17 is installed in the cleaning tank 13, and an adsorption plate 18 made of a porous material is provided in the cleaning frame 17. A plurality of suction holes 182 are formed in the central portion of the suction plate 18. A glass plate G is placed on the upper surface of the suction plate 18, and is attracted to the upper surface of the suction plate 18 by the negative pressure acting on the suction holes 182. The suction hole 182 is arranged in the mounting area of the glass plate G.

A supply path 21 in which a pump 19 and a filter 20 are interposed is connected between the second chamber 16 and the upper part of the cleaning frame 17. Further, a collection path 22 is connected between the lower part of the washing tank 13 and the first chamber 15. Then, the cleaning liquid L in the second chamber 16 of the cleaning liquid tank 12 is supplied into the cleaning frame 17 by the pump 19 and is used for cleaning the glass plate G. The cleaning liquid L in the cleaning frame 17 overflows from the upper edge of the cleaning frame 17 into the cleaning tank 13, and is dropped and collected from the cleaning tank 13 into the first chamber 15 of the cleaning liquid tank 12 via the collection path 22. Further, the cleaning liquid L overflows the partition wall 14 and flows down to the second chamber 16. In this way, as described above, the cleaning liquid L is circulated between the cleaning liquid tank 12 and the cleaning frame 17.

The funnel-shaped body 231 of the upstream intake pipe 23 is connected to the lower chamber 183 of the suction plate 18. The upper part of the trap 24 is connected to the upstream side intake pipe 23, and the downstream side intake pipe 25 is connected to the upper part of the trap 24. The downstream intake pipe 25 is connected to a ventilation pipe 27 having a blower 26. Then, an air flow is generated in the ventilation pipe 27 by driving the blower 26, and due to the ejector effect based on the air flow, the upstream side intake pipe 23, the trap 24, the downstream side intake pipe 25 and the passage from the suction hole 182 of the suction plate 18 A suction air flow that reaches the trachea 27 is generated. The glass plate G is suction-held on the upper surface of the suction plate 18 by utilizing the suction action of the suction air flow. At this time, the cleaning liquid L contained in the suction air flow is separated in the trap 24.

A drain pipe 28 is connected to the lower part of the trap 24, and a float valve 29 is provided inside the drain pipe 28. The drain pipe 28 is connected to the upper position of the first chamber 15 of the cleaning liquid tank 12. Then, the cleaning liquid L separated in the trap 24 is dropped into the first chamber 15 via the drain pipe 28 by its own weight. At this time, if the pressure inside the trap 24 is negative, the float valve 29 closes to prevent the backflow of water.

An actuating arm 31 reciprocated by a drive mechanism (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the device frame 11 adjacent to the washing tank 13, and a support member 32 is fixed to the tip of the actuating arm 31. .. A concave support portion 33 is formed on the lower surface of the support member 32, and the cleaning member 34 is held in the support portion 33 in a state in which the lower half portion thereof is projected. As shown in FIG. 7, the cleaning member 34 is formed by irregularly entwining fibers made of soft iron so as to form a non-woven fabric to form a columnar shape as a whole, and the thickness thereof is 0. It is about 02 to 0.5 mm (millimeter), preferably about 0.05 to 0.1 mm. NS. Then, based on the drive by the drive mechanism, the operating arm 31 is reciprocated along its length direction, and the cleaning member 34 is reciprocated in a direction orthogonal to its length direction. As the drive mechanism, a crank mechanism rotated by a motor, an air cylinder, or the like is adopted.

Next, a cleaning method for cleaning the surface to be cleaned F on the surface of the glass plate G using the cleaning member 34 will be described.
Usually, the glass plate G has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 to 6.5, and the soft iron has a Mohs hardness of 4 to 5. In the present embodiment, the glass plate G has a Mohs hardness of 5, and the soft iron fibers constituting the cleaning member 34 have a Mohs hardness of 4. The fibers of the cleaning member 34 need to have a lower hardness than the glass plate G, and the Mohs hardness is often 10 to 30% lower than the hardness of the glass plate G, and 10 to 20% lower in hardness. It's even better to have. Further, as shown in FIG. 6, the length of the cleaning member 34 in the axial direction is formed to be longer than the width D of the surface F to be cleaned.

The glass plate G is suction-held on the upper surface of the suction plate 18. At this time, if the size of the glass plate G is smaller than the inner method of the outer frame 181 of the suction plate 18, the glass plate G is held in the holding frame 35 having the same outer shape as the inner method of the outer frame 181. NS. When the size of the glass plate G is the same as that of the inner method of the outer frame 181 of the suction plate 18, the glass plate G is independently attracted and held on the upper surface of the suction plate 18 without using the outer frame 181. In the following cleaning method, the outer frame 181 shall be used.

Therefore, the glass plate G held in the outer frame 181 is sucked and held in the outer frame 181 of the suction plate 18 together with the outer frame 181.
In this state, by reciprocating the operating arm by the drive mechanism, the cleaning member 34 is placed on the surface F of the glass plate G to be cleaned, in a plane parallel to the surface F to be cleaned, and with the axis 341 of the cleaning member 34. Reciprocate in the orthogonal direction. Then, in this case, the reciprocating stroke S of the cleaning member 34 is assumed to exceed the length of the surface F to be cleaned (the dimension in the left-right direction in FIG. 5). Therefore, the cleaning member 34 is not inverted on the surface F to be cleaned, but is inverted outside the surface F to be cleaned. Therefore, the surface F to be cleaned is cleaned by the cleaning member 34 in one direction and vice versa. Further, the pressure of the cleaning member 34 with respect to the surface to be cleaned F does not need to be increased. For example, the pressure with respect to the surface to be cleaned F may be about 30 to 150 N (Newton), more preferably about 40 to 70 N. The reciprocating speed may be about 10 to 20 cm (centimeter) per second, and more preferably about 13 to 16 cm.

If the cleaning member 34 is reciprocated in the cleaning liquid L under such conditions, the surface F to be cleaned of the glass plate G is cleaned and cleaned by the cleaning member 34. In this case, since the cleaning operation of the cleaning member 34 is a linear reciprocating operation, the fine irregularities of the surface to be cleaned F are different from the cleaning member rotated in a plane parallel to the surface to be cleaned F. The whole is uniformly washed without any unwashed parts.

Then, the iron fibers constituting the cleaning member 34 are appropriately broken and washed away together with the foreign matter removed from the surface F to be cleaned by cleaning. Further, since the inverted position of the cleaning member 34 is outside the surface to be cleaned F, unnecessary vibration does not occur in the glass plate G, the glass plate G may be cracked, or an uncleaned portion may remain on the surface to be cleaned F. It's not. Further, since the contact pressure of the cleaning member 34 with respect to the surface to be cleaned F is low and the moving speed of the cleaning member 34 is not too fast, there is no possibility that the properties of the surface to be cleaned F will change. As described above, the surface F to be cleaned can be effectively cleaned without deteriorating the surface F to be cleaned or breaking the glass plate G.

Therefore, in this embodiment, there are the following effects.
(1) Since the cleaning operation of the cleaning member 34 is a linear reciprocating motion, unlike the cleaning methods described in Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2, the entire surface F to be cleaned is uniformly cleaned, and as a result, the surface to be cleaned F is uniformly cleaned. Foreign matter on the cleaning surface F is appropriately removed.

(2) Since the iron fibers constituting the cleaning member 34 are appropriately broken, it is possible to suppress damage to the surface F to be cleaned, and the iron fibers in which foreign matter removed from the surface F to be cleaned by cleaning is broken. It is washed away with.

(3) Since the inverted position of the cleaning member 34 is outside the surface to be cleaned F, unnecessary vibration does not occur in the glass plate G, and unlike the cleaning method described in Patent Document 2, the glass plate G may crack. , There is no possibility that an uncleaned portion remains on the surface F to be cleaned.

(4) Since the contact pressure of the cleaning member 34 with respect to the surface to be cleaned F is low and the moving speed of the cleaning member 34 is not too fast, there is no possibility that the properties of the surface to be cleaned F will change.
(Change example)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be embodied in the following aspects.

-Use a cleaning member 34 made of a material different from that of the above embodiment. For example, use a metal other than iron such as aluminum, aluminum alloy, magnesium, silver, zinc, brass, etc., or an irregularly assembled hard fiber such as a hard synthetic resin.

-Use a cleaning member 34 having a shape different from that of the above embodiment. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, use a flat plate in which fibers are irregularly assembled.
-Use a cleaning device that can move the reciprocating position of the cleaning member 34 in the axial direction of the cleaning member 34. By using such a cleaning device, the cleaning member 34 can be moved in the axial direction outside the surface F to be cleaned, so that the glass plate G having a width wider than the axial dimension of the cleaning member 34 can be cleaned.

-Glass plate G has a coating, and cleaning should be performed on the coated surface. In this case, the fibers constituting the cleaning member 34 should have a hardness lower than that of the coated surface.

(Example)
Hereinafter, examples and comparative examples of the above-described embodiment will be described.
In this embodiment, three tempered glass plates G are used as test pieces. The hardness of these tempered glass plates G is 5 in Mohs hardness. Each of these test pieces was pretreated and washed with n-hexane.

Then, a red color of an oil-based marker (trade name: McKee Thick) manufactured by Zebra Co., Ltd. was applied to the entire surface of each test piece, and after the application, the mixture was left at room temperature for 24 hours.
Then, one test piece (hereinafter referred to as A piece) was washed by the washing method of the above embodiment to obtain an example. The other test piece (hereinafter referred to as B piece) was ultrasonically cleaned with sodium water to obtain Comparative Example 1. The remaining one test piece (hereinafter referred to as C piece) was ultrasonically cleaned with a hydrocarbon-based cleaning agent to obtain Comparative Example 2. Further details are as follows.

Example (A piece): Washing was performed twice for 2 minutes each in an alcohol-based detergent having a liquid temperature of 15 degrees Celsius. The cleaning member 34 is made of soft iron having a diameter of 0.1 mm, and fibers having a hardness of Mohs hardness 4 are irregularly entwined so as to form a non-woven fabric to form a columnar shape as a whole. The cleaning member 34 was pressed against the surface of the A piece at a pressure of 50 N (Newton) and reciprocated along the surface of the A piece at a speed of 15 cm per second. The reversing position of the reciprocating movement is a position 1 mm away from the end of the surface of the A piece.

Comparative Example 1 (B piece): Ultrasonic washing (100 volts, 150 watts, 25 kHz) was performed twice for 5 minutes each in a washing solution containing 25% sodium hydroxide at a liquid temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.

Comparative Example 2 (C piece): Ultrasonic washing (100 volts, 150 watts, 25 kHz) was performed twice for 5 minutes each in an isoparaffin-based hydrocarbon cleaning solution at a liquid temperature of 15 degrees Celsius.

Then, the spectral transmittance of each of the three pieces was measured using a spectrophotometer (product name: SolidSpec-3700DUV) manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation. The measurement result is shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 9, the A piece of Example showed higher spectral transmittance than the B piece of Comparative Example 1 and the C piece of Comparative Example 2. Moreover, the cleaning time of Examples was as short as 40% of the cleaning time of Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, but even if it was so short, it showed high transmittance as described above. Therefore, according to the examples, it is shown that the working time required for cleaning can be significantly shortened.

Here, in the examples, when the pressure on the A piece by the cleaning member 34 decreased to 29N, a decrease in the spectral transmittance was observed. Further, in the examples, when the moving speed of the cleaning member 34 with respect to the A piece was less than 10 cm per second, a decrease in the spectral transmittance was observed.

Further, the surface stress of each piece washed in Example, Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2 was measured using a refractometer type glass surface stress meter (product name: FSM-6000LE) manufactured by Luceo Co., Ltd. The measurement result is shown in FIG. As is clear from FIG. 10, there is almost no difference in the surface stress values of the pieces washed by Example, Comparative Example 1 and Comparative Example 2, and the strength difference is negligible. Therefore, even if a decrease in strength is observed after scraping with soft iron, the decrease is considered to be within the margin of error.

Further, in the examples, it was found that when the pressure on the A piece exceeds 150 N, the surface stress value shifts to the strength lowering side. Further, when the moving speed of the cleaning member 34 with respect to the A piece exceeds 20 cm per second, it was confirmed that the surface stress value shifts to the strength lowering side in the same manner as described above.

(Other technical ideas)
The technical idea grasped from the above embodiment is as follows.
(A) A suction plate that can hold a plate-shaped object to be cleaned, a support member that holds a cleaning member in which hard fibers are irregularly assembled, and the cleaning member are inverted on the outside of the object to be cleaned. A cleaning device having a drive mechanism that linearly reciprocates to clean the surface of the object to be cleaned by a cleaning member, and a supply mechanism that supplies a cleaning liquid to a cleaning position by the cleaning member.

(B) The cleaning apparatus according to the technical idea (A), which is provided with a circulation path for circulating the cleaning solution and is provided with a filter for filtering the cleaning solution in the circulation path.

34 ... Cleaning member, F ... Surface to be cleaned, G ... Glass plate.

Claims (3)

In the cleaning method for cleaning the surface to be cleaned of the glass plate in the cleaning liquid while supplying the cleaning liquid into the cleaning tank.
The glass plate is attracted and held on the upper surface of the suction plate, and fibers made of iron or iron-based metal having a lower hardness than the surface to be cleaned are entangled to form a non-woven fabric to form a columnar shape and a length in the axial direction. Holds the cleaning member formed longer than the width of the surface to be cleaned by the support member so as not to rotate , and moves the cleaning member linearly on the surface to be cleaned and at a position off the surface to be cleaned. A method for cleaning a glass plate in which the surface to be cleaned is cleaned by the cleaning member by reversing the direction and reciprocating. The method for cleaning a glass plate according to claim 1, wherein the cleaning member is moved in a direction orthogonal to the length direction to be cleaned. The method for cleaning a glass plate according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the moving speed of the cleaning member with respect to the surface to be cleaned is 10 to 20 centimeters per second.

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