Glass-Plastic Connection via Laser-Etched Undercuts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for creating glass-plastic connections often require additional materials like adhesives or sealants, and may not ensure a stress-free connection, which can lead to issues with fluid proofing and thermal expansion mismatches.
Innovation Solution
A process involving a glass substrate with spaced recesses and undercuts, where solidifying plastic is applied and introduced into the recesses, forming a form-fitting, stress-free connection without additional materials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If additional materials like adhesives or sealants are used to create glass-plastic connections, then the connection strength is improved, but the complexity of the composite structure increases and additional materials may cause stress concentrations leading to cracks
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the need for additional adhesive or sealant materials from the glass-plastic connection system. By creating direct form-fitting mechanical interlocking through recesses and undercuts in the glass substrate, the connection achieves strength without requiring separate bonding materials, thereby reducing structural complexity and eliminating potential stress concentration points at material interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The glass substrate itself provides the connection functionality through its own structural features (recesses and undercuts) rather than relying on external adhesive materials. The glass structure serves dual purposes: maintaining its structural integrity while simultaneously providing the mechanical interlocking features needed for connection to the plastic component.
2Device complexity
If glass and plastic are directly connected without additional materials, then the composite structure is simplified, but achieving fluid-proof and gas-proof sealing becomes difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies local quality by creating specific geometric features (recesses with undercuts) at the interface region between glass and plastic. These localized structural modifications provide both the mechanical interlocking needed for strength and the geometric confinement necessary for sealing, achieving fluid and gas proofing without requiring additional sealing materials or complex multi-layer structures.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention creates a composite connection structure where the glass substrate's recesses and undercuts work in conjunction with the plastic material to form an integrated seal. The combination of the rigid glass structure providing geometric confinement and the plastic material filling and conforming to the recesses creates an effective barrier against fluid and gas penetration.
3Strength
If glass substrate is subjected to mechanical loads during the connection process, then the plastic can be firmly pressed into the glass, but cracks or microcracks may form in the glass
Solution Approach 1:
The invention applies preliminary action by pre-forming the recesses and undercuts in the glass substrate before the plastic insertion process. This pre-structuring eliminates the need for high mechanical loads during assembly, as the plastic simply needs to be inserted into the pre-created geometric features rather than being forced under high pressure into a flat surface, thereby preventing crack formation.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of applying mechanical load to press plastic onto a flat glass surface, the invention inverts the approach by creating recesses in the glass that actively receive and hold the plastic through geometric interlocking. The glass structure is modified in advance to accommodate the plastic, reversing the conventional approach of forcing materials together under load.
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 process achieves a fluid-proof, gas-proof, and/or liquid-proof glass-plastic composite that maintains integrity even with different thermal expansion behaviors between glass and plastic, all without the need for additional materials.
Implementation Method 1
treating a glass substrate with laser pulses at the positions where recesses are to be generated, and subsequently etching the glass substrate. This is because laser pulses generate modifications, e.g. structural changes, in the glass substrate, which are dissolved more quickly during the subsequent etching than non-laser-irradiated areas.
Data Source
AI summary
A process for the production of a glass-plastic connection which is form-fitting, and to a form-fitting composite between glass and plastic which is obtainable by the process. The process and the glass-plastic composite are characterized in that a glass, which in particular is planar, neither during the process nor in the glass-plastic composite is subjected to a mechanical load which could lead to cracks, e.g. microcracks. Accordingly, in the composite, the glass is connected to a plastic in a stress-free manner The composite of glass with plastic is especially gas-proof and/or liquid-proof.