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EP-4739634-A1 - METHOD FOR FORMING THIN, THREE-DIMENSIONAL, NEAR NET SHAPED GLASS ARTICLES BY GOB PRESSING AND GLASS ARTICLES FORMED USING THE SAME

EP4739634A1EP 4739634 A1EP4739634 A1EP 4739634A1EP-4739634-A1

Abstract

An enclosure for a consumer electronic device is disclosed. The enclosure comprises a glass body that has a three-dimension shape, an inside surface, and outside surface spaced from the inside surface. Each of the inside surface and the outside surface has a profile deviation within ± 200 µm from a target three-dimensional shape. A glass-containing material of the glass body comprises a marker indicative of high-velocity glass flow of the glass-containing material when in a molten state. The high-velocity glass flow radiates away from an origin within the glass body in directions that are substantially parallel to the inside and outside surfaces.

Inventors

  • DEDIEU, CYRIL RÉMY ANDRÉ
  • FREDHOLM, ALLAN MARK
  • IMMERMAN, JACOB
  • JEANSON, Anne-Claire
  • PALUMBO, ANIELLO MARIO
  • RAI, Rohit
  • STERNQUIST, Brandon Thomas
  • TSVETKOV, Boris Nikolayevich

Assignees

  • Corning Incorporated

Dates

Publication Date
20260513
Application Date
20240701

Claims (20)

  1. 1 . An enclosure for a consumer electronic device, comprising: a glass body having a three-dimension shape, an inside surface, and outside surface spaced from the inside surface, each of the inside surface and the outside surface having a profde deviation within ± 200 pm from a target three-dimensional shape; wherein a glass-containing material of the glass body comprises a marker indicative of high-velocity glass flow of the glass-containing material when in a molten state, the high- velocity glass flow radiating away from an origin within the glass body in directions that are substantially parallel to the inside and outside surfaces.
  2. 2. The enclosure of claim 1, wherein at least one of the inside surface and the outside surface has a profde deviation within ± 50 pm from a target three-dimensional shape.
  3. 3. The enclosure of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the profde deviation is taken along a line extending across an entirety of the inside surface and/or the outside surface of the glass body.
  4. 4. The enclosure of claim 3, wherein the glass body is non axisymmetric, and the profde deviation is taken parallel to the longest axis of the glass body.
  5. 5. The enclosure of any one of claims 1-4, wherein the glass body has a wall thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mm to 4.0 mm.
  6. 6. The enclosure of claim 5, wherein a total variation of the wall thickness is within ± 50 pm of an average wall thickness.
  7. 7. The enclosure of claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the glass body has at least two sections each with an average wall thickness that differs from the other by at least 150 pm.
  8. 8. The enclosure of any one of claims 5-7, wherein the wall thickness is less than or equal to 1 mm.
  9. 9. The enclosure of claim 5 or claim 6, wherein the glass body has at least one section along which the wall thickness continuously increases or decreases.
  10. 10. The enclosure of claim 9, wherein the wall thickness continuously increases or decreases for at least 1 mm along the at least one section.
  11. 11. The enclosure of any one of claims 1-10, wherein the glass body has a flat section and a bend section adjacent to the flat section.
  12. 12. The enclosure of claim 11, wherein the bend section surrounds a periphery of the flat section.
  13. 13. The enclosure of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the bend section comprises at least one bend with a bend radius in a range of from about 0.5 mm to about 20 mm.
  14. 14. The enclosure of claim 13, wherein the at least one bend has a bend angle greater than about 90°.
  15. 15. The enclosure of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the bend section comprises at least two bends each with the bend radius.
  16. 16. The enclosure of claim 13 or claim 14, wherein the bend section comprises at least three bends each with the bend radius.
  17. 17. The enclosure of any one of claims 1-16, wherein the glass-containing material has a composition that comprises a total amount of alkali metal oxides (R2O) equal to or greater than about 10 mol %.
  18. 18. The enclosure of any one of claims 1-17, wherein the marker comprises a density of the glass-containing material, the density having a density gradient that is substantially symmetrical between the inside and outside surfaces.
  19. 19. The enclosure of claim 18, wherein the density gradient comprises a surface density that increases from each of the inside and outside surfaces to a bulk density disposed centrally between the inside and outside surfaces.
  20. 20. The enclosure of any one of claims 1-19, wherein the marker comprises elongate seeds dispersed throughout the glass-containing material, each elongate seed having a lengthwise axis that extends in a direction of elongation and is aligned substantially parallel to the high-velocity glass flow.

Description

METHOD FOR FORMING THIN, THREE-DIMENSIONAL, NEAR NET SHAPED GLASS ARTICLES BY GOB PRESSING AND GLASS ARTICLES FORMED USING THE SAME CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS [0001] This application claims the benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C. § 119 of U.S. Provisional Application No. 63/525,060 filed July 5, 2023, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. FIELD [0002] The present disclosure relates to glass pressing and, more particularly, to forming thin, three-dimensional glass articles via gob pressing with said articles having a net or near net shape without subsequent processing. BACKGROUND [0003] Glass cover articles for electronic devices, such as smart phones, smart watches, tablets, and other electronic devices, are desirably formed with three-dimensional (3D) shapes and non-uniform thicknesses. Such 3D glass cover articles may be formed using a variety of processes. One method of forming 3D glass cover articles includes machining the articles from thick pieces of glass that are initially provided as flat sheets of glass having uniform thickness. Another method of forming 3D glass cover articles includes using a 3D forming process with a glass blank/preform (e.g., sagging or sheet reforming) or with a glass sheet (e.g., vacuum sagging). However, these existing 3D forming processes may not be able to form 3D glass cover articles that meet designed thickness variations and/or designed thickness tolerances along the as-formed part without additional machining. Accordingly, these existing methods may involve significant material removal, leading to appreciable machining time and material waste. [0004] Gob pressing is another 3D forming process that can be used to form 3D glass cover articles. In a gob pressing process, a volume of molten glass from a melt (known as a “gob”) is placed in a mold (e.g., typically at the center of the mold) through an opening at the top of the mold (known as “gathering”). A ring can be located on the top of the mold to cover a portion of the opening. A plunger is configured to be inserted through the ring and moved towards the mold to compress the gob against a shaped surface of the mold. The mold, the ring, and plunger define a closed volume into which the gob is compressed during the gob pressing process. The movement of the plunger towards the mold reduces the closed (or compression) volume, thereby forcing the gob to conform to a desired 3D shape. It would be advantageous to provide as-formed (e.g., via gob pressing) near net shape components having three-dimensional shapes, precise surface profiles with minute profile deviations, and molded features that overcome the challenges of forming 3D glass cover articles using existing processes. SUMMARY [0005] The following summary is a brief description of certain aspects of the present disclosure. The summary should not be considered as limiting of the breadth, scope, or applicability of the present disclosure. [0006] According to aspect (1), an enclosure for a consumer electronic device is provided. The enclosure comprises: a glass body having a three-dimension shape, an inside surface, and outside surface spaced from the inside surface, each of the inside surface and the outside surface having a profde deviation within ± 200 pm from a target three-dimensional shape; wherein a glass-containing material of the glass body comprises a marker indicative of high-velocity glass flow of the glass-containing material when in a molten state, the high-velocity glass flow radiating away from an origin within the glass body in directions that are substantially parallel to the inside and outside surfaces. [0007] According to aspect (2), the enclosure of aspect (1) is provided, wherein at least one of the inside surface and the outside surface has a profile deviation within ± 50 pm from a target three-dimensional shape. [0008] According to aspect (3), the enclosure of aspect (1) or aspect (2) is provided, wherein the profile deviation is taken along a line extending across an entirety of the inside surface and/or the outside surface of the glass body. [0009] According to aspect (4), the enclosure of aspect (3) is provided, wherein the glass body is non axisymmetric, and the profile deviation is taken parallel to the longest axis of the glass body. [0010] According to aspect (5), the enclosure of any one of aspects (1) to (4) is provided, wherein the glass body has a wall thickness in a range of from about 0.5 mm to 4.0 mm. [0011] According to aspect (6), the enclosure of aspect (5) is provided, wherein a total variation of the wall thickness is within ± 50 pm of an average wall thickness. [0012] According to aspect (7), the enclosure of aspect (5) or aspect (6) is provided, wherein the glass body has at least two sections each with an average wall thickness that differs from the other by at least 150 pm. [0013] According to aspect (8), the enclosure of any one of aspects (5) to (7) is provided, wherei