Separating Device and Method for Display cover class

Abstract

A display cover glass separator according to one embodiment of the present invention includes a base on which a display is located and a laser heating module provided on the upper part of the base for heating the display.

Description

Technology Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for separating a cover glass of a display using a laser. Background Technology

[0003] Recently, as mobile displays used in mobile phones and the like have become thinner and more curved, the defect rate, such as bubbles, during the assembly of cover glass and OCA (optical clear adhesive) layers has become very high at around 10%, leading to a growing demand for glass separation technology for the rework process.

[0004] Previously, wire cutting and cooling breakage processes were used to separate the cover glass, but there was a problem in that separation was not easy due to the risk of thermal and mechanical damage associated with these methods. Prior art literature

[0005] Republic of Korea Published Patent Application No. 10-2020-0053066 The problem to be solved

[0006] The present invention aims to solve the above-mentioned problems by providing a cover glass separation device and method that can simply separate the cover glass by effectively heating only the OCA layer of the display using a laser.

[0007] The problems that the present invention aims to solve are not limited to those described above, and problems not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from this specification and the attached drawings. means of solving the problem

[0009] The display cover glass separation device and method of the present invention for solving the above problem may include a base on which a display is located and a laser heating module provided on the upper part of the base for heating the display.

[0010] The above laser heating module can be configured to be movable.

[0011] It may further include a separation module for separating the cover glass of the above display.

[0012] The above display includes a flat area and a curved area, and the laser heating module may include a first laser unit for heating the flat area and a second laser unit for heating the curved area.

[0013] The above display includes a flat area and curved areas provided on both sides of the flat area, and the second laser unit can heat the pair of curved areas such that the heat applied to them is different from each other.

[0014] The above separation module may include a driving unit that moves the separation module.

[0015] The above separation module may include a connection part to which power from the driving part is transmitted, a rotating part rotatably coupled to the connection part, a first fixing part coupled to one end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass, and a second fixing part coupled to the other end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass.

[0016] The above connecting part and rotating part are formed in a plate shape, and the connecting part can be rotatably coupled to the middle point of the rotating part around a front-rear axis.

[0017] The method for separating a display cover glass according to the present invention for solving the above-mentioned problem comprises: a first heating step of irradiating a laser onto the upper surface of a display to heat a first area of ​​the upper surface of the display and a second area in contact with the first area; a second heating step of irradiating a laser onto the upper surface of the display and heating a second area of ​​the upper surface of the display and a third area in contact with the second area; a separation module fixing step of fixing a separation module to the cover glass of the display; and a cover glass separation step of applying an external force to the separation module to separate the cover glass from the display.

[0018] A display comprising a flat area and a curved area includes a flat area heating step of heating the flat area using a first laser unit, a curved area heating step of heating the curved area using a second laser unit, a separation module fixing step of fixing a separation module to the cover glass of the display, and a cover glass separation step of applying an external force to the separation module to separate the cover glass from the display.

[0019] The above display includes a pair of curved regions disposed on both sides of a flat region, and the curved region heating step may include a first curved region heating process for heating one of the pair of curved regions and a second curved region heating process for heating the other of the pair of curved regions.

[0020] The above first curved surface area heating process and second curved surface area heating process can apply heat of different sizes.

[0021] The above separation module includes a connection part to which power from a driving part is transmitted, a rotating part rotatably coupled to the connection part, a first fixing part coupled to one end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass, and a second fixing part coupled to the other end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass, and the separation module fixing step can fix two points of the display using the first fixing part and the second fixing part. Effects of the invention

[0023] A display cover glass separation device and method according to one embodiment of the present invention have the following effects.

[0024] First, by using a laser to heat the display with multiple irradiation areas of varying sizes and forming patterns where the transparent adhesive melts to different degrees through the overlapping regions, more effective cover glass separation is possible.

[0025] Second, in a curved display in which a portion of the edge is formed as a curve, the degree of illumination of the curved area and the flat area is different to enable more effective separation of the cover glass.

[0026] Third, in order to separate the cover glass in a curved display, the cover glass can be separated more stably by using a separation module configured to be rotatable during separation.

[0027] The effects of the present invention are not limited to the effects described above, and unmentioned effects will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from this specification and the accompanying drawings. Brief explanation of the drawing

[0029] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section of a display separated through a display cover glass separation device and method of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a display cover glass separation device of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a separation module of a display cover glass separation device of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 4 is a drawing for explaining the process of a separation module of a display cover glass separation device of an embodiment of the present invention separating a cover glass of a display; FIGS. 5 and 6 are drawings for schematically explaining a method of heating the upper surface of a display using a display cover glass separation device of an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the sequence of the display cover glass separation method of the first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the sequence of the display cover glass separation method of the second embodiment of the present invention. Specific details for implementing the invention

[0030] Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. However, the concept of the present invention is not limited to the presented embodiments. Those skilled in the art who understand the concept of the present invention may easily propose other inventions that are inferior or other embodiments included within the scope of the concept of the present invention by adding, changing, or deleting other components within the same scope of the concept, and such are also to be considered to be included within the scope of the concept of the present invention.

[0031] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a cross-section of a display separated through a display cover glass separation device and method of an embodiment of the present invention.

[0032] Referring to FIG. 1, the display (10) includes an OLED (11), a touch screen panel (12, TSP: Touch Screen Panel), a polarizer (13, POL: Polarizer), a clear adhesive (14, OCA: Optical Clear Adhesive), and a cover glass (15).

[0033] FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a display cover glass separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a separation module of a display cover glass separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 4 is a drawing for explaining the process of a separation module of a display cover glass separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention separating the cover glass of a display, FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 are drawings for schematically explaining a method of heating the upper surface of a display using a display cover glass separation device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0034] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the display cover glass separation device (100) of the present invention includes a base (110), a laser heating module (120), and a separation module (130).

[0035] The base (110) is on which the display (10) is located. Specifically, multiple displays (10) may be located thereon, and the base is formed in the form of a conveyor belt so that as the multiple displays (10) move, the cover glass (15) is separated from the display (10) through the laser heating module (120) and separation module (130) described later.

[0036] A laser heating module (120) is provided on the upper part of the base (110) and heats the display (10). As described later, the laser heating module (120) irradiates a laser onto a specific area of ​​the display to melt the transparent adhesive (14) of the display (10).

[0037] The laser heating module (120) can be configured to be movable in the up-down, left-right, and front-back directions so as to irradiate a specific area of ​​the display (10).

[0038] Therefore, multiple irradiations can be performed on the upper surface of a single display (10). Also, during the irradiation process, at least a portion of the irradiated surface can be overlapped. In this case, in the area where the irradiation is overlapped, the transparent adhesive (14) melts more quickly as more heat is applied than in other areas.

[0039] That is, by repeating this process, a specific area of ​​the transparent adhesive (14) at the bottom of the display (10) can be made to be relatively more melted. Therefore, in order to achieve more effective separation during the process of separating the cover glass (15), it will be possible to perform multiple irradiations so that the overlapping irradiated area forms a specific pattern.

[0040] Specifically, as shown in FIG. 5, at least a portion of the upper surface of the display (10) may be divided into adjacent first areas (210), second areas (220), and third areas (230). Then, in the first investigation process, the adjacent first areas (210) and second areas (220) are investigated, and in the second investigation process, the adjacent second areas (220) and third areas (230) are investigated.

[0041] In this case, as heat is applied twice in the second region (220), the transparent adhesive layer (14) becomes more melted. When this process is repeated, multiple irradiations can be performed using a laser heating module (120) so that a pattern is formed in which the areas that are melted a lot in the vertical direction are spaced at regular intervals, as shown in FIG. 5.

[0042] Therefore, compared to the case where the transparent adhesive layer (14) over the entire area is in the same molten state, it will be possible to separate the cover glass (15) more effectively.

[0043] For example, when heating the entire area to a first molten state, and when heating the area that is irradiated once in the entire area to a second molten state that has a lower molten state than the first molten state, it will be possible to heat a specific area to a first molten state while heating through a laser heating module (120) having lower energy.

[0044] The laser heating module (120) in this embodiment may include a first laser part (121) and a second laser part (122) having different irradiation surfaces.

[0045] As the first laser unit (121) and the second laser unit (122) have different irradiation areas, the energy delivered for heating the display (10) may differ, and depending on the shape of the display (10), heating can be performed by irradiating multiple times with different irradiation surfaces for effective heating of the transparent adhesive (14).

[0046] In particular, as shown in FIG. 6, if the display (10) is a curved display (10) in which at least a portion of the perimeter is formed in a curved shape, such as in recent mobile phones, it may be possible to irradiate the curved area (310) and the flat area (320) with the first laser part (121) and the second laser part (122) respectively to have different irradiation surfaces.

[0047] In particular, the cover glass (15) can be effectively separated even in a curved display by applying relatively more heat to the curved area (310), which is relatively difficult to separate in a curved display (10), and irradiating it using the first laser unit (121) and the second laser unit (122) so that it becomes more melted than the flat area (320).

[0048] Meanwhile, the irradiation area of ​​the laser heating module (120) may be adjusted by controlling the distance between the laser heating module (120) and the display (10), or a structure in the form of a slit or mask may be provided on the front to control the shape of the irradiation surface where the laser light source is irradiated onto the upper surface of the display (10).

[0049] That is, in this embodiment, continuous irradiation work on a plurality of displays (10) is possible through the first laser unit (121) and the second laser unit (122) having different irradiation areas, thereby enabling more effective work progress.

[0050] The separation module (130) is configured to separate the cover glass (15) from the display (10). That is, as the display (10) is heated by the laser heating module (120), the transparent adhesive (14) is melted, and the separation module (130) is attached to the cover glass (15) to separate the cover glass (15) from the display (10).

[0051] The separation module (130) includes a driving unit (not shown) for providing an external force for separating the cover glass (15) when the separation module (130) is fixed to the cover glass (15) and for moving the separation module (130) position.

[0052] The separation module (130) includes a connecting part (131), a rotating part (132), a first fixing part (133) and a second fixing part (134).

[0053] The connecting part (131) receives power from the driving part (not shown). Accordingly, the separation module (130) moves to a set position, or an external force for separating the cover glass (15) is transmitted to the separation module (130).

[0054] The rotating part (132) is rotatably coupled to the connecting part (131). Specifically, in this embodiment, the rotating part (132) and the connecting part (131) are formed in a plate shape, and the connecting part (131) is coupled to the rotating part (132) by a rotation axis (132a) that is formed long in the front-rear direction at the central point of the rotating part (132), and the rotating part (132) is coupled to the connecting part (131) so as to be rotatable around a front-rear axis as shown in FIG. 4.

[0055] The first fixing part (133) is coupled to one end of the rotating part (132) and fixes the cover glass (15), and the second fixing part (134) is coupled to the other end of the rotating part (132) and fixes the cover glass (15). At the ends of the first fixing part (133) and the second fixing part (134), an adsorption member (133a, 134a), such as a known adsorption plate or adhesive film, may be provided to fix the cover glass (15).

[0056] That is, when the first fixing part (133) and the second fixing part (134) are combined with the display (10) as shown in FIG. 4, and when an external force of a driving part (not shown) is applied upward to the connecting part (131), one side of the cover glass (15) to which the first fixing part (133) and the second fixing part (134) are connected is separated from the display (10) first, and the rotating part (132) rotates and the other side of the cover glass (15) is separated.

[0057] In particular, as described above, in the case of a display (10) with curved edges, one of the curved areas (310) on both sides of the flat area (320) that is relatively more melted compared to the flat area (320) is separated from the display (10) first, and then the other side is separated sequentially.

[0058] In particular, if more of the transparent adhesive (14) is melted on one of the two curved areas (310), one side can be separated more effectively and then the other side can be separated.

[0059] Meanwhile, if the heating degree is different in both curved regions (310) to have different molten states, and the molten degree of the central flat region (320) is melted to be between the molten degrees of the two curved regions (310), the cover glass (15) can be separated sequentially from one curved region to the other curved region.

[0060] Hereinafter, a method for separating a cover glass from a display using the display cover glass separation device of the present invention described above will be explained.

[0061] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the sequence of the method for separating a display cover glass of the first embodiment of the present invention.

[0062] The method for separating a display cover glass in this embodiment includes a first heating step (S10), a second heating step (S20), a separation module fixing step (S30), and a cover glass separation step (S40).

[0063] As described above, at least a portion of the upper surface of the display (10) in this embodiment is defined to have a first area (210), a second area (220), and a third area (230) arranged adjacent to each other.

[0064] In the first heating step (S10), the first area (210) on the upper surface of the display (10) and the second area (220) in contact with the first area (210) are heated.

[0065] In the second heating step (S20), the second area (220) on the upper surface of the display (10) and the third area (230) in contact with the second area (220) are heated.

[0066] Therefore, the second region (220) is subjected to relatively more heat than the first region (210) and the second region (230), so the transparent adhesive (14) in that region is melted relatively more than in other regions.

[0067] And, heating can be performed multiple times with various irradiation areas and shapes so that heating areas are created by overlapping various patterns on the display (10).

[0068] In the separation module fixing step (S30), the separation module (130) is fixed to the cover glass (15), and in the cover glass separation step (S40), an external force is applied to the separation module (130) to separate the cover glass from the display (10).

[0069] FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing the sequence of the method for separating a display cover glass of the second embodiment of the present invention.

[0070] The display (10) in this embodiment includes a flat area (320) and a curved area (310) positioned on both sides of the flat area (320), as shown in FIG. 6.

[0071] In the flat area heating step (S110), the flat area (320) is heated using the first laser unit (121), and in the curved area heating step (S120), the curved area (310) is heated using the second laser unit (122).

[0072] Meanwhile, when using the separation module (130) described above, the curved area heating step (S120) includes a first curved area heating process (S121) for heating one of the pair of curved areas (310) and a second curved area heating process (S122) for heating the other one.

[0073] And the first curved surface area heating process (S121) and the second curved surface area heating process (S122) apply heat of different sizes.

[0074] Therefore, the relatively melted transparent adhesive (14) is separated first, causing the rotating part (132) to rotate, and as the other side is separated, it will be possible to separate while minimizing the external force applied to the cover glass (15).

[0075] And in this case, if the transparent adhesive of the flat area is heated in the flat area heating step (S120) such that it is at an intermediate level between both curved areas (310), the cover glass (15) can be separated sequentially.

[0077] Although the structure and features of the present invention have been described above based on embodiments according to the present invention, the present invention is not limited thereto, and it is obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes or modifications can be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention; therefore, it is noted that such changes or modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims. Explanation of the symbols

[0079] 10 : Display 11: OLED 12: Touchscreen panel 13: Polarizer 14: Clear adhesive 15: Cover glass 100: Display cover glass separator 110: Base 120: Laser heating module 121: 1st Laser Unit 122: 2nd Laser Unit 130: Separation module 131: Connection part 132: Rotating part 133: First fixed part 134: Second Fixed Government

Claims

Claim 1 A display cover glass separation device comprising: a base on which a display is located; and a laser heating module provided on the upper part of the base for heating an OCA layer of the display, wherein the display includes a flat area and a curved area, and the laser heating module includes a first laser part for heating the flat area and a second laser part for heating the curved area. Claim 2 In claim 1, the laser heating module is a display cover glass separator configured to be movable. Claim 3 A display cover glass separation device according to claim 1, further comprising a separation module for separating the cover glass of the display. Claim 4 delete Claim 5 In claim 1, the display includes a flat area and curved areas provided on both sides of the flat area, and the second laser unit heats the pair of curved areas such that the heat applied to them is different from each other. Claim 6 In claim 5, the first laser part is a display cover glass separator that heats the transparent adhesive located in the planar area to have a degree of melting between the degree of melting of the transparent adhesive located in the pair of curved areas. Claim 7 A display cover glass separation device comprising: a base on which a display is located; a laser heating module provided on the upper part of the base for heating an OCA layer of the display; and further comprising a separation module for separating a cover glass of the display, wherein the separation module includes a driving unit for moving the separation module, and the separation module includes a connecting unit to which power from the driving unit is transmitted, a rotating unit rotatably coupled to the connecting unit, a first fixing unit coupled to one end of the rotating unit for fixing the cover glass, and a second fixing unit coupled to the other end of the rotating unit for fixing the cover glass, wherein the connecting unit and the rotating unit are formed in a plate shape, and the connecting unit is rotatably coupled to the middle point of the rotating unit around a front-rear axis. Claim 8 delete Claim 9 delete Claim 10 A method for separating a display cover glass, comprising: a first heating step of irradiating a laser to heat an OCA layer on the upper surface of a display to heat a first area on the upper surface of the display and a second area in contact with the first area; a second heating step of irradiating a laser to the upper surface of the display and heating a second area on the upper surface of the display and a third area in contact with the second area; a separation module fixing step of fixing a separation module to the cover glass of the display; and a cover glass separation step of applying an external force to the separation module to separate the cover glass from the display. Claim 11 A method for separating a display cover glass, comprising: a flat area heating step of heating an OCA layer of the flat area using a first laser unit; a curved area heating step of heating an OCA layer of the curved area using a second laser unit; a separation module fixing step of fixing a separation module to a cover glass of the display; and a cover glass separation step of applying an external force to the separation module to separate the cover glass from the display. Claim 12 A method for separating a display cover glass according to claim 11, wherein the display comprises a pair of curved regions disposed on both sides of a flat region, and the curved region heating step comprises a first curved region heating process for heating one of the pair of curved regions and a second curved region heating process for heating the other of the pair of curved regions. Claim 13 In claim 12, the first curved surface area heating process and the second curved surface area heating process are a method for separating a display cover glass by applying heat of different sizes. Claim 14 A method for separating display cover glass according to claim 13, wherein in the above-mentioned planar region heating step, the first laser part heats the transparent adhesive located in the planar region such that it has a degree of melting between the degree of melting of the transparent adhesive located in the pair of curved regions. Claim 15 In claim 13, the separation module comprises a connection part to which power from a driving part is transmitted, a rotating part rotatably coupled to the connection part, a first fixing part coupled to one end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass, and a second fixing part coupled to the other end of the rotating part and fixing a cover glass, and the separation module fixing step is a method for separating a display cover glass by fixing two points of a display using the first fixing part and the second fixing part.

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