Elastic Abrasive Jet Grinding for Brittle Substrate Side Portions
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current grinding methods for hard, brittle material substrates, such as glass, quartz, and ceramic, face issues like chipping, contamination, and high abrasive grain consumption, leading to reduced strength and increased costs, especially when processing multiple substrates simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
A method using elastic abrasives with abrasive grains dispersed in or adhered to an elastic base material, ejected with compressed gas to grind the substrates, preventing chipping and allowing for uniform processing without environmental contamination, and enabling reuse of the abrasive.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If normal grinding methods using grindstones or slurry are used, then the side portion can be ground, but chipping occurs at the edges and corners
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces traditional mechanical grinding systems (grindstones, rotating brushes) with a jet-based system that uses compressed gas to propel abrasive particles. This substitution eliminates the mechanical contact and impact forces that cause chipping, while still achieving effective material removal and surface finishing through the kinetic energy of the abrasive jet.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs compressed gas (pneumatics) to accelerate abrasive particles toward the workpiece surface. The pneumatic system propels the abrasives at controlled velocities, enabling precise material removal without the mechanical impact and vibration inherent in traditional grinding methods, thereby preventing chipping at edges and corners.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If slurry-based grinding is used, then chipping is reduced, but abrasive grains scatter and contaminate the environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the liquid slurry component from the grinding process, using only dry abrasive particles propelled by compressed gas. This extraction eliminates the scattering and environmental contamination issues associated with slurry while maintaining the chipping-prevention benefits through controlled abrasive delivery and reduced mechanical impact.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful scattered abrasives into a beneficial controlled jet stream. By using compressed gas to propel abrasives in a directed manner, the system that could have caused contamination is transformed into a precise, controllable process that removes material effectively without environmental harm.
3Productivity
If multiple substrates are processed simultaneously, then productivity increases, but processing uniformity decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs a universal abrasive jet that can simultaneously process multiple substrates with identical parameters. The compressed gas propels abrasives in a uniform manner across all substrates in the workpiece stack, ensuring consistent material removal and surface finish throughout, thereby maintaining processing uniformity while enabling multi-substrate processing.
4Manufacturing precision
If traditional grinding is used, then material is removed, but abrasive grain consumption is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a reusable abrasive system where particles are collected after use and regenerated through classification and re-supply. This allows the same abrasive grains to be used multiple times, significantly reducing consumption compared to traditional single-use or slurry-based methods where abrasives are discarded with the spent slurry.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The method effectively prevents chipping, maintains uniformity in processing, reduces abrasive grain consumption, and allows for economical grinding with constant processing conditions, enhancing the mechanical strength and surface finish of the substrates.
Implementation Method 1
ejecting an elastic abrasive made of abrasive grains dispersed in an elastic base material or an elastic abrasive made of abrasive grains adhered to a surface of an elastic base material, from an ejection nozzle toward the side portion of the workpiece or the hard, brittle material substrate together with compressed gas
Implementation Method 2
make the elastic abrasive collide with the side portion
Implementation Method 3
grinding process is performed on the side portion so as to remove the edges by chamfering, and also to remove cracks and micro-cracks by polishing the edge surfaces
Implementation Method 4
an elastic abrasive made of abrasive grains dispersed in an elastic base material or an elastic abrasive made of abrasive grains adhered to a surface of an elastic base material
Data Source
AI summary
An elastic abrasive with abrasive grains dispersed in or adhered to an elastic base material is ejected toward a side portion of a substrate together with compressed air. The elastic abrasive is ejected toward a predetermined processing area centered on a processing point in an ejection direction that intersects a widthwise line at the processing point and that forms a predetermined inclination angle selected from a range of 2° to 60° relative to a contact line. Moreover, an ejection nozzle and the workpiece are moved relatively to each other so that the processing area is moved at a fixed speed in a circumferential direction of the workpiece and so that the ejection direction is maintained at each processing point after moving. If multiple stacked substrates are to be processed, the processing area is moved at a fixed speed also in a widthwise direction of the substrates.