Patent ID: 7896208

Claim:
A method of cleaving a thin rod of glass or quartz having a diameter below 1 mm, comprising the steps of: supporting said rod ( 3 ) in a working position; bringing about a relatively steady movement of a cleaving blade ( 27 ) towards a point of lateral contact with said rod; and superimposing on said relatively steady movement of the blade a relatively small-amplitude vibratory component of movement, said vibratory component being towards and away from the axis of the rod, wherein said vibratory component of movement having a frequency below 1 kHz is applied to the blade; and, further comprising the step of clamping, prior to the supporting step, in which said rod ( 3 ) is clamped in two mutually-spaced clamping locations for holding the rod ( 3 ) extended between these two clamping locations in said working position, and in which the clamping in a first clamping location is carried out by translationally moving a first clamping member ( 22 ) with a clamp face ( 23 ) of substantially V-groove type ( 24 ), for receiving the rod ( 3 ) in the groove ( 24 ), towards a second clamping member ( 21 ) having a flat opposing clamp face ( 25 ) for retaining the rod ( 3 ) in the groove ( 24 ) for clamping the rod ( 3 ).