CN-115321837-B - Apparatus and method for manufacturing tempered glass

Abstract

A tempered glass manufacturing apparatus and a method of manufacturing tempered glass are disclosed. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus includes a loading unit for loading glass sheets in the loading unit, a heating unit, a tempering unit, a residual salt discharging unit, and an auxiliary layer providing unit. The heating unit receives a loading unit having glass sheets loaded in the loading unit. The heating unit includes first to third openings. The tempering unit is connected to the heating unit through the first opening, and receives the loading unit having the glass sheets loaded in the loading unit. When the loading unit is positioned in the tempering unit, the tempering unit performs a tempering process on the glass sheet. The residual salt discharging unit is connected to the heating unit through the second opening. The auxiliary layer providing unit is connected to the heating unit through a third opening of the heating unit. The auxiliary layer providing unit includes an auxiliary layer for performing a residual salt pretreatment process to increase removal of residual salt provided on the surface of the glass sheet.

Inventors

• LI XUANZHI
• JIANG LONGKUI
• Li Huiguan

Assignees

• 三星显示有限公司
• 三星显示有限公司

Dates

Publication Date

20260421

Application Date

20220427

Priority Date

20210511

Claims (20)

1. 1. A tempered glass manufacturing apparatus comprising: A loading unit configured to load a glass sheet in the loading unit; A heating unit configured to receive the loading unit having the glass sheets loaded therein, the heating unit including first to third openings; A tempering unit connected to the heating unit through the first opening and configured to receive the loading unit having the glass sheet loaded therein, the tempering unit configured to perform a tempering process on the glass sheet when the loading unit is positioned in the tempering unit; A residual salt discharging unit connected to the heating unit through a second opening, and An auxiliary layer providing unit connected to the heating unit through the third opening of the heating unit, the auxiliary layer providing unit including an auxiliary layer for performing a residual salt pretreatment process to increase removal of residual salt provided on a surface of the glass sheet.
2. 2. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein, A tempering solution including a first ion is arranged in the tempering unit, and The tempering process includes a process of substituting at least a portion of second ions included in the glass sheet with the first ions by immersing the loading unit having the glass sheet loaded in the loading unit in the tempering solution.
3. 3. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein an ionic radius of the first ion is larger than an ionic radius of the second ion.
4. 4. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein an upper surface of the residual salt discharging unit is configured to receive the residual salt displaced from the glass sheet loaded in the loading unit.
5. 5. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 4, wherein the upper surface of the residual salt discharging unit has a net structure.
6. 6. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary layer providing unit provides the auxiliary layer into the heating unit when the loading unit is arranged on the second opening of the heating unit.
7. 7. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 6, wherein the plurality of auxiliary layers provided into the heating unit are each interposed between the plurality of glass sheets and directly contact the residual salt provided on the surface of the glass sheets.
8. 8. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 7, wherein, The auxiliary layer includes a third ion, and The residual salt pretreatment process includes an ion substitution reaction performed when the residual salt provided on the surface of the glass sheet directly contacts the auxiliary layer, the ion substitution reaction including substituting at least a portion of fourth ions included in the residual salt with the third ions.
9. 9. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein a viscosity of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction is smaller than a viscosity of the residual salt before the ion substitution reaction.
10. 10. The tempered glass manufacturing apparatus as claimed in claim 8, wherein a melting point of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction is smaller than a melting point of the residual salt before the ion substitution reaction.
11. 11. A method of making tempered glass, the method comprising: Placing the loading unit having the glass sheets loaded therein in a heating unit having first to third openings; Moving the loading unit into a tempering unit through the first opening of the heating unit and tempering the glass sheet; Placing the loading unit over a second opening in the heating unit after tempering the glass sheet; Receiving an auxiliary layer from an auxiliary layer providing unit through the third opening of the heating unit and inserting each of a plurality of the auxiliary layers between a plurality of the glass sheets, and The residual salt provided on the surface of the glass sheet is discharged into a residual salt discharge unit through the second opening.
12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein, A tempering solution including a first ion is arranged in the tempering unit, and Tempering the glass sheet includes immersing the loading unit in the tempering solution and replacing at least a portion of the second ions included in the glass sheet with the first ions.
13. 13. The method of claim 12, wherein the first ion has a larger ionic radius than the second ion.
14. 14. The method of claim 11, wherein the residual salt moves from the glass sheet loaded in the loading unit into the residual salt discharge unit via an upper surface of the residual salt discharge unit.
15. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the upper surface of the residual salt discharge unit has a mesh structure.
16. 16. The method of claim 11, wherein, The auxiliary layer providing unit includes the auxiliary layer for performing a residual salt pretreatment process to increase removal of the residual salt formed on the surface of the glass sheet, and The auxiliary layer providing unit provides the auxiliary layer into the heating unit when the loading unit is arranged on the second opening of the heating unit.
17. 17. The method of claim 16, wherein a plurality of the auxiliary layers provided into the heating unit are each interposed between a plurality of the glass sheets and directly contact the residual salt provided on the surfaces of the glass sheets.
18. 18. The method of claim 17, wherein, The auxiliary layer includes a third ion, and The residual salt pretreatment process includes an ion substitution reaction performed when the residual salt directly contacts the auxiliary layer, the ion substitution reaction including substituting at least a portion of fourth ions included in the residual salt with the third ions.
19. 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the viscosity of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction is less than the viscosity of the residual salt before the ion substitution reaction.
20. 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the melting point of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction is less than the melting point of the residual salt before the ion substitution reaction.

Description

Apparatus and method for manufacturing tempered glass Cross Reference to Related Applications The present application claims priority to korean patent application No. 10-2021-0060738, filed on day 5 and 11 of 2021, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. Technical Field The present inventive concept relates to an apparatus and method for manufacturing tempered glass, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for manufacturing tempered glass, which increase removal of residual salt formed on a glass surface during a tempering process. Background Glass is provided in display panels and display devices to have strength characteristics greater than or equal to a desired level. For example, tempered glass manufactured by applying a tempering process is used in display panels and display devices to provide a desired level of strength. Such tempered glass may be manufactured through a chemical tempering process. For example, the chemical tempering process may include a process of providing a chemical tempering layer in which compressive stress occurs by a process of replacing alkali metal ions such as sodium ions and lithium ions included in glass with potassium ions having a relatively larger ionic radius than the alkali metal ions. However, in the apparatus and method for manufacturing tempered glass, residual salt, which may cause a reduction in the quality of glass, may be provided on the surface of the glass during the tempering process. Disclosure of Invention One or more embodiments of the inventive concept include an apparatus and a method for manufacturing tempered glass that increase an effect of removing residual salt provided on a surface of glass during a tempering process. These objects, however, are examples and do not limit the scope of the inventive concept. Additional aspects will be set forth in part in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of embodiments of the inventive concepts. According to an embodiment of the inventive concept, a tempered glass manufacturing apparatus includes a loading unit configured to load glass sheets in a loading unit, a heating unit, a tempering unit, a residual salt discharging unit, and an auxiliary layer providing unit. The heating unit is configured to receive a loading unit having glass sheets loaded in the loading unit. The heating unit includes first to third openings. The tempering unit is connected to the heating unit through the first opening and is configured to receive a loading unit having glass sheets loaded in the loading unit. When the loading unit is positioned in the tempering unit, the tempering unit performs a tempering process on the glass sheet. The residual salt discharging unit is connected to the heating unit through the second opening. The auxiliary layer providing unit is connected to the heating unit through a third opening of the heating unit. The auxiliary layer providing unit includes an auxiliary layer for performing a residual salt pretreatment process to increase removal of residual salt provided on the surface of the glass sheet. In an embodiment, a tempering solution including a first ion is disposed within the tempering unit, and the tempering process may include a process of replacing at least a portion of a second ion included in the glass sheet with the first ion by immersing the loading unit having the glass sheet loaded in the loading unit in the tempering solution. In an embodiment, the ionic radius of the first ion may be greater than the ionic radius of the second ion. In an embodiment, an upper surface of the residual salt discharging unit is configured to receive residual salt displaced from the glass sheets loaded in the loading unit. In an embodiment, the upper surface of the residual salt discharging unit may have a mesh structure. In an embodiment, the auxiliary layer providing unit may provide the auxiliary layer into the heating unit when the loading unit is arranged on the second opening of the heating unit. In an embodiment, a plurality of auxiliary layers provided into the heating unit may be each interposed between a plurality of glass sheets and directly contact residual salt provided on the surfaces of the glass sheets. In an embodiment, the auxiliary layer may include a third ion, and the residual salt pretreatment process includes an ion substitution reaction performed when a residual salt provided on a surface of the glass sheet directly contacts the auxiliary layer, the ion substitution reaction including substituting at least a portion of a fourth ion included in the residual salt with the third ion. In embodiments, the viscosity of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction may be less than the viscosity of the residual salt before the ion substitution reaction. In embodiments, the melting point of the residual salt after the ion substitution reaction may be less tha