The shipment of display glass has employed surface protection of both substrate sides using a combination of laminated films with paper interleaf or more recently, a very clean single layer paper-only interleaf material. Referring to FIG. 1 (Prior art) in the former process, three sheets were used between adjacent glass sheets 10, 12 and 12, 14. Two outer layers of polymer film 16, 18 were coated onto facing surfaces 20, 22 of the glass, which sandwiched a sheet of paper 24 between them. The laminated film protection method requires a polymer film coater, films and a film peeler. This three layer interleaf adds extra process steps and sheets of material and increases manufacturing costs. It is highly desirable to use a single layer interleaf material to pack glass sheets at the bottom of the draw (BOD) in a fusion draw process, and to pack finished goods.
At the bottom of the draw the glass is unfinished and has sharp edges that chip easily during subsequent handling and finishing operations. This leads to an increased level of glass chips and other particles on the glass that can cause scratching of the glass during subsequent handling, finishing and shipping of the glass. The surface of the glass may also be scratched by the handling and finishing equipment itself, or by dirt and glass particles on or from the handling and finishing equipment and from other sources. It is desirable to protect the surface of the glass from scratching during handling, finishing and shipping operations downstream of the BOD.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds