Wrapping member for a glass substrate for FPD and a method of transferring a glass substrate for FPD
A wrapping member for wrapping a glass substrate to be used in production of a FPD such as a liquid crystal display and a plasma display and a method of transferring a glass substrate for FPD, in which the wrapping member for wrapping either one or both of the surfaces of the glass substrate for FPD before transfer is made of a water-soluble film material dissolved in water, so that preprocessing of each of the glass substrates in the production line of the FPD may be simplified and so that the outer shape of a package formed by packing the glass substrates in a transfer box and a lid for closing the transfer box is reduced to an extent enabling a plurality of the glass substrates to be transferred at a high efficiency.
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1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wrapping member for a glass substrate used for the production of a FPD (a Flat Panel Display) such as a liquid crystal display and a plasma display, and relates to a transferring method of a glass substrate for FPD. More, particularly, the present invention relates to a wrapping member for a glass substrate for FPD in which by wrapping the glass substrate or substrates with a water-soluble film, processing of the glass substrates and the wrapping member in the production line of FPDs can be simplified as well as reducing of the outer appearance dimension of the transferred packages can be accomplished thereby making it possible to transfer the glass substrates at a high efficiency, and to a method of transferring the glass substrates for FPD.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hitherto, in transfer of glass substrates used for the production of FPDs such as a liquid crystal display and a plasma display, a transfer box as shown in
Nevertheless, the described transfer box 1 with the respective gaps 8 for fixedly fitting the glass substrates 5 must have suffered from an inconvenience as described below. That is to say, in order to prevent the glass substrates 5 from being damaged due to mutual contact of the neighboring glass substrates if the glass substrates 5 were subjected to bending during the transfer of the box 1 with the glass substrates 5 stored therein, respective gaps 8 of the transfer box 1 should be formed and arranged to define a predetermined distance “g0” between the two neighboring gaps 8 when it is measured at the centers thereof, as shown in a partial enlarged view “P” of
On the other hand, in recent years, as a glass substrate for producing a FPD having a large screen, there has been provided a glass substrate having for example, 1300 mm width×1500 mm height, 1500 mm width×1800 mm height, or 1900 mm width×2100 mm height. Nevertheless, the larger is the size of the glass substrate, the greater must be the bending of the glass substrate. Thus, to prevent the glass substrates 5 juxtaposed in the transfer box 1 from coming in contact with one another, the distance g0 between the neighboring gaps 8 must be further increased, and therefore the depth “D” of the transfer box 1 must be increased. Namely, the volume of the transfer box 1 must be increased depending on an increase in the size of the glass substrate 5 and accordingly, the outer size of the transfer box 1 must be larger resulting in making it difficult to obtain an increased efficiency in the transfer of the transfer box 1 with the glass substrates therein.
In this connection, as a method of reducing the outer size of the glass substrates for FPD after they are completely wrapped by the wrapping material, there has been provided a method in which, as shown in (A) of
Therefore, to overcome the above-described problems encountered by the conventional art, an object of the present invention is to provide a wrapping member for a glass substrate for FPD, which enables it to simplify the processing of the glass substrates and the wrapping member on the production line of the FPD, and to reduce the outer size of the wrapped glass substrates thereby allowing the glass substrates to be transferred at a high efficiency.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method of carrying out such a highly efficient transfer of the glass substrates for FPDs.
To achieve the above objects, in accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a wrapping member for a glass substrate for FPD, which wraps either one or both of the surfaces of the glass substrate for use in production of a FPD in a form suitable for being transferred, and is characterized in that the wrapping member is made of a material, which comprises a water-soluble film able to be dissolved in water.
Due to the above-described constitution of the present invention, the wrapping member used for wrapping the glass substrate for FPD can be dissolved in the water without becoming industrial wastes. Therefore, wrapping of the glass substrate with the water-soluble film can simplify the processing of respective glass substrates and the wrapping member on the production line of the FPD and additionally, reduce the outer size of the glass substrate in its wrapped condition for transfer thereby allowing the wrapped glass substrate to be transferred at a high transferring efficiency.
The above water-soluble film may be made of denatured polyvinyl alcohol. Owing to this, it is possible to adjustably change a temperature at which the water-soluble film is dissolved and the solving speed of the water-soluble film, depending on the mode of use of the water-soluble film and accordingly, dissolving condition of the water-soluble film may be freely selected as required. Therefore, the processing of the glass substrate and the wrapping member conducted on the production line of the FPD can be simplified.
The method of transferring glass substrates for FPD in accordance with another aspect of the present invention is characterized by comprising the steps of:
laminating a water-soluble film soluble in water onto either one or both of surfaces of each of the glass substrates;
admitting the glass substrates in a transfer box via an open end thereof to be stored therein in a manner such that they are superposed on each other; and
covering the open end of the transfer box with a lid to form a packed transfer box with the glass substrates stored therein, so that the packed transfer box is subjected to a transferring process.
When the above-mentioned method is carried out, either one or both of the surfaces of each glass substrate for FPD is laminated with the water-soluble film, and a plurality of the glass substrates, each being laminated with the water-soluble film, is stored in the transfer box in a condition such that they are superposed one another. Then, the transfer box is closed by covering the open end of the transfer box with the lid so as to form a packed transfer box with the glass substrates stored therein, and the packed transfer box is subjected to the transferring process. Owing to this method, the outer size of the packed transfer box can be small enough for being transferred at a high transferring efficiency.
Further, the above-mentioned transfer box and the lid are preferably made of material having hydroscopic property. Owing to this hydroscopic property of the material of the transfer box and the lid, the transfer box together with the lid may absorb the humidity in the atmosphere, so that solving of the water-soluble film may be prevented. Accordingly, during transferring of the glass substrates in the transfer box, the glass substrates can be always kept in a condition where the glass substrates within the transfer box are prevented from coming in contact with one another and therefore the surfaces of the glass substrates may be protected against damage.
Further, the transfer box and/or the lid may be provided with drying agent or desiccant in the inside thereof. Thus, any humidity contained within the transfer box and the lid may be absorbed by the drying agent or the desiccant, so that solving of the water-soluble film during the transferring of the glass substrates in the transfer box may be prevented. Therefore, during transferring of the glass substrates in the transfer box, the glass substrates can be always kept in a condition where the glass substrates within the transfer box are prevented from coming in contact with one another and therefore the surfaces of the glass substrates may be protected against damage.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Referring to
At this stage, in the present invention, the above-mentioned wrapping member 14 is made of a water-soluble material, i.e., a water-soluble film that can be dissolved in water. The water-soluble film 14 is a membrane material made of denatured polyvinyl alcohol and therefore, it is possible to adjust dissolving condition of the water-soluble film 14 depending on a change in the mode in which the film 14 is used. Namely, since the dissolving speed of the water-soluble film 14 changes in response to a change in the water temperature, the thickness of the film 14, and dissolving method adopted, any arbitrary dissolving condition can be selectively set as required. Thus, the glass substrates 5 transferred as a package packed by the transfer box 12 and the lid 13, and the water-soluble film 14 as the wrapping member can be simply processed on the production line of the FPD. Namely, from a plurality of glass substrates 5 as shown in (A) of
Therefore, the preprocessing of the glass substrates 5 and the processing of the water-soluble film 14 can be simplified. Moreover, since the water-soluble film 14 different from the conventional plastic film 9 is excellent in its hydrophilicity, it cannot be electrified by static electricity. Accordingly, any dust and other foreign matters such as paper powder and the like does not attach to the surface of the glass substrate 5 and thus, the preprocessing of the glass substrate 5 can be prevented from becoming cumbersome. Further, since only preparation of the water vessel 15 for dissolving the water-soluble film 114 is required, and since no device or apparatus for removing the spacer is required, it is possible to curtail expense for the facility investment necessary for processing the glass substrates 5. Furthermore, the water-soluble film 14 is finally dissolved in water to be separated into carbon dioxide and water, and therefore generation of industrial wastes can be suppressed. Since the water-soluble film 14 does not contain therein any halogen element such as chlorine, it can be wasted with reduced adverse affect on the global environment in comparison with the employment of the ordinary plastic film.
The water-soluble film 14 described in the foregoing may be embodied by, for example, a product manufactured and sold under the name of “Hi-Selon: the registered trademark in Japan” by the Nippon Synthetic Chemical Industry Co., Ltd. that is one of the chemical industries in Japan. It should be noted that the water-soluble film 14 exhibits excellent properties as a wrapping material such as good mechanical properties including an excellent initial coefficient of elasticity, and an improved tensile strength and stretchability, and a heat-seal strength. Further, since the water-soluble film 14 can be easily either severed mechanically or cut by melting, it can be easily laminated onto the surface of each of the glass substrates 5 Now, the description of a method of transferring a plurality of glass substrates 5 packaged in the interior of the transfer box 12 and the lid 13 by the employment of the above-described water-soluble 14 will be provided hereinbelow with reference to the illustration of
Referring first to (A) of
Then, the roll of the water-soluble film 14 as shown in (A) of
Subsequently, the glass substrates 5 for FPD laminated with the water-soluble film 14, respectively, are placed in succession in the interior of the transfer box 12 in a condition such that they are superposed on one another within the transfer box 12 as shown in (C) of
It should here be understood that the transfer box 12 and the lid 13 as shown in
Further, as shown in a partial enlarged view “Q” of
According to the foregoing description, an explanation of the embodiment was provided in which the water-soluble film 14 functioning as a spacer member is laminated onto the upper surfaces of respective glass substrates 5. However, the present invention should not be limited to only such embodiment, and therefore the water-soluble film 14 may be embodied to be applied to both the upper and lower surfaces of each glass substrate 5 according to the steps illustrated in (A) and (B) of
Although the present invention has been described in relation to the preferred embodiments thereof, it should be understood that various changes and modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as claimed in the accompanying claims.
Claims
1. A wrapping member for wrapping either one or both of surfaces of a glass substrate for use in production of a FPD in order to permit the glass substrate to be transferred, wherein said wrapping member is made of a material comprising a water-soluble film dissolved in water.
2. The wrapping member according to claim 1, wherein said water-soluble film comprises a film member made of denatured polyvinyl alcohol.
3. A method of transferring a glass substrate for FPD comprising the steps of:
- laminating a water-soluble film dissolvable in water onto either one or both of surfaces of a glass substrate for use in production of a FPD;
- admitting said glass substrate for FPD laminated with said water-soluble film in a transfer box in a condition where respective said glass substrates are superposed one another within said transfer box; and
- covering said transfer box with a lid to form a package to be transferred.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein said transfer box and lid to be transferred are made of a material having hygroscopicity.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein said transfer box and lid to be transferred are provided with desiccant arranged in the inside of at least one of said transfer box and said lid.
6. The method according to claim 3, wherein said transfer box and said lid to be transferred are provided with desiccant arranged in the inside of at least one of said transfer box and said lid.
Type: Application
Filed: Oct 29, 2004
Publication Date: May 26, 2005
Applicant: Fujimori Technical Laboratory Inc. (Tokyo)
Inventor: Kay Fujimori (Tokyo)
Application Number: 10/976,745