Laser Cutting of Laminated Glazing for Precise Insert Hole Alignment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current methods for cutting holes in laminated glazings, particularly for automotive applications, face challenges such as misalignment, increased stress risk, aesthetic issues, and complexity due to the mechanical behavior differences between laminated and monolithic glazings, as well as limitations in cutting quality and safety concerns with laser use.
Innovation Solution
A method using a laser source to cut laminated glazings after assembly, with steps involving contour detection, path calculation, and precise cutting to create holes with high precision and freedom of shape, eliminating misalignment and safety hazards by housing an insert in a recess within the interlayer, thus avoiding polymer material and potential gas release.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If mechanical boring is used to create holes in laminated glazings, then holes can be made through the glass sheets, but misalignment between holes in different glass sheets occurs and stress concentration increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical boring with laser cutting to create holes in laminated glazings. The laser beam precisely cuts through the glass sheets and interlayer simultaneously, eliminating misalignment issues between holes in different glass sheets. This substitution of mechanical system with optical/thermal system resolves the contradiction by achieving both high precision and reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an insert with a pre-defined hole positioned in the interlayer before the glazing is fully assembled. The insert serves as a guide template that ensures accurate hole positioning. This preliminary action of placing the insert before final assembly eliminates misalignment and stress concentration problems that occur with post-assembly mechanical boring.
2Productivity
If laser cutting is used on polymer interlayer material, then cutting speed increases, but harmful gases are released
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts or removes the polymer interlayer material from the cutting zone by using an insert that creates a recess in the interlayer. The laser cutting is performed on the glass sheets around the insert, and the interlayer material is excluded from the direct laser path. This extraction of the harmful polymer material from the cutting process enables high-speed laser cutting without harmful gas release.
Solution Approach 2:
The insert acts as an intermediary element between the laser beam and the polymer interlayer. The insert with its pre-formed hole serves as a mediator that allows the laser to cut the glass sheets without directly interacting with the polymer material that would generate harmful gases. This intermediary structure enables productive laser cutting while avoiding the harmful byproduct.
3Manufacturing precision
If holes are made before assembling the glazing, then alignment can be controlled, but the process complexity increases and production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent places the insert with the pre-defined hole in the interlayer before final assembly, serving as a permanent alignment reference. This preliminary positioning of the insert simplifies the overall process compared to making holes in each glass sheet separately before assembly, as the insert automatically ensures precise hole alignment without requiring complex coordination between multiple drilling operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the complex mechanical process of coordinating hole drilling in multiple glass sheets before assembly with a simplified laser cutting process. The laser cuts through the assembled structure guided by the insert, eliminating the need for complex pre-assembly hole-making operations and reducing overall process complexity while maintaining high precision.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If the glass sheets have reduced thickness in laminated glazings, then the glazing offers better acoustic comfort and UV blocking, but the mechanical strength decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the composite structure of laminated glazings with thin glass sheets and polymer interlayer. The composite material design allows the thin glass sheets to provide acoustic comfort and UV blocking properties while the polymer interlayer compensates for the reduced mechanical strength. The laser cutting process respects this composite structure by cutting through all layers simultaneously, maintaining the integrity and strength benefits of the composite construction.
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 achieves high precision and coaxiality of holes, reduces the risk of breakage, minimizes material loss, and maintains consistent cutting quality without tool wear, enabling efficient production with reduced operational costs and time.
Implementation Method 1
a step of cutting, by means of a laser source having a beam, said first glass sheet based on said calculated cutting path
Data Source
AI summary
A laminated glazing having at least one cut-out and a method for cutting a laminated glazing, particularly for a motor vehicle, including at least a first glass sheet, a second glass assembled by an interlayer including at least one sheet of polymer material, the glazing further including an insert having a hole delimited by an inner contour, the insert being housed in a recess provided in the interlayer, the method including detecting, by a vision device, the inner contour; calculating a cutting path to be traveled based on the detection of the inner contour; and cutting, by a laser source having a beam, the first glass sheet based on the calculated cutting path.