Slit-Shaped Nozzle Blasting for Maskless Scribing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional scribing methods, such as laser and mechanical scribing, are costly and inefficient for forming fine grooves on workpieces like solar cell components, and existing blasting methods require masking and cannot produce grooves narrower than 1 mm without it.
Innovation Solution
A blasting method using a slit-shaped ejection nozzle with a width of 10 μm to 500 μm and an abrasive with a median diameter less than half the nozzle width, ejected with compressed gas at specific pressures, allowing precise formation of grooves and cut-off lines without masking, using an abrasive with high specific gravity to enhance accuracy and control.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional blasting method is used, then scribing can be performed, but groove width cannot be less than 1 mm and masking is required
Solution Approach 1:
The ejection nozzle is divided into multiple nozzle units arranged in an array, with each nozzle having a specific pitch relationship to adjacent nozzles. This segmentation allows precise control of abrasive jet distribution, enabling groove formation with width less than 1 mm without requiring masking, thus resolving the contradiction between manufacturing precision and device complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes key parameters including nozzle pitch (0.3-2.0 mm), nozzle diameter (0.1-1.0 mm), and abrasive particle size (0.01-0.1 mm) to achieve fine groove formation. By optimizing these parameters, the system can produce grooves narrower than 1 mm without masking, improving manufacturing precision while avoiding the complexity of masking processes.
2Manufacturing precision
If laser scribing is used, then precise cut-off lines can be formed, but the apparatus is complicated and expensive
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces the laser optical system with a mechanical abrasive jet system. Instead of using laser beams requiring complex optical components, mirrors, and focal adjustment mechanisms, the invention uses compressed gas to eject abrasives through simple nozzle structures. This substitution maintains cut-off line precision while dramatically reducing apparatus complexity and cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent employs pneumatic principles by using compressed gas to propel abrasives through nozzles at high velocity. This pneumatic delivery system replaces complex laser positioning and focusing mechanisms with simpler pressure-controlled gas flow, achieving precise material removal without the apparatus complexity of laser systems.
3Ease of manufacture
If mechanical scribing with grinding wheel is used, then grooves can be formed, but tool wears out and requires frequent replacement
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses inexpensive abrasive particles that can be continuously supplied through the nozzle. Unlike expensive grinding wheels that wear out, the abrasives are cheap consumables that can be replenished without replacing entire tooling systems. This enables continuous operation as abrasives can be constantly supplied via compressed gas, resolving the contradiction between ease of manufacture and productivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system is designed to continuously supply fresh abrasives through the nozzle while spent abrasives are discarded. This continuous replenishment mechanism eliminates the need for tool replacement, enabling uninterrupted continuous operation while maintaining groove formation capability throughout the manufacturing process.
4Manufacturing precision
If laser scribing is used on transparent materials, then cutting can be performed, but focal point adjustment is difficult and dross may cause malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces laser thermal processing with mechanical abrasive impact. Instead of using heat that causes melting, dross formation, and focal point adjustment issues, the invention uses kinetic energy of ejected abrasives to mechanically erode material. This eliminates dross formation entirely and removes the need for focal point adjustment on transparent materials, resolving both aspects of the contradiction.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the potentially harmful effect of abrasive impact into a beneficial precision cutting mechanism. By controlling abrasive particle size, velocity, and nozzle geometry, the harmful impact force is directed precisely to remove material cleanly without creating dross, transforming what could be a damaging force into a precise manufacturing tool.
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
Enables the precise formation of grooves and cut-off lines with widths less than 0.5 mm, reducing process costs and time, improving productivity by eliminating the need for masking and minimizing material usage, while maintaining high accuracy and preventing adhering material issues.
Implementation Method 1
ejecting the abrasive together with compressed gas on a surface of a workpiece
Implementation Method 2
scribing by blasting that ejects an abrasive together with compressed gas
Data Source
AI summary
To provide a scribing method by blasting that allows forming a groove at high accuracy without masking, a blasting machine that includes an ejection nozzle having a slit-shaped ejection opening with a width of 10 to 500 μm and a length of 5 to 5000 times the width, and an abrasive with a median diameter equal to or less than one-half of a width of the ejection opening of the ejection nozzle and with a maximum particle diameter smaller than a width of the ejection opening are used; and the abrasive is ejected together with compressed gas on a surface of a workpiece at an ejection distance of 0.1 to 3.0 mm and an ejection pressure of 0.2 MPa to 0.6 MPa without masking so that 0.25 cm3 or less of the abrasive is included per 1000 cm3 of the compressed gas discharged from the ejection nozzle.