Patent ID: 8245540
Filing Date: 2012-08-21
Classification: C03B,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of scoring a sheet of brittle material, comprising: forming an initial flaw in a surface of the sheet of brittle material at an initiation point located a predetermined distance from a first edge of the sheet of brittle material wherein the initial flaw does not intersect the first edge of the sheet of brittle material; and then after forming the initial flaw, impinging a beam of electromagnetic radiation on the initial flaw such that a vent crack is formed at the initiation point; traversing the beam of electromagnetic radiation to propagate the vent crack toward a second edge of the sheet of brittle material, and wherein the predetermined distance between the initiation point and the first edge is selected to prevent the vent crack from intersecting the first edge during the traversing, and wherein the vent crack does not intersect the first edge during the traversing; and wherein the beam of electromagnetic radiation is prevented from impinging on the surface of the sheet of brittle material between the initiation point and the first edge by a mask extending over the glass sheet a distance d