Patent ID: 7682220

Claim:
A glass-plate working apparatus comprising: a glass-plate placing means having the glass-plate placing surface for placing a glass plate thereon; a first movable base which is movable along the glass-plate placing surface in two directions perpendicular to each other; a first moving means for linearly moving said first movable base along the glass-plate placing surface in said two directions; a second movable base provided on said first movable base movably in a direction perpendicular to the glass-plate placing surface so as to be capable of moving toward or away from the glass-plate placing surface; a second moving means for moving under control said second movable base in a vertical direction perpendicular to the glass-plate placing surface; a grinding wheel provided on said second movable base in such a manner as to be capable of being linearly lifted or lowered with respect to said second movable base in a vertical direction and having a perpendicular axis perpendicular to the vertical axis which extends in the same direction as the direction in which said second movable base is moved by said second moving means; a rotating means for rotating said grinding wheel about the perpendicular axis; a resilient pressing means interposed between said second movable base and said grinding wheel for linearly lowering said grinding wheel with respect to said second movable base along the vertical axis so as to press the grinding wheel resiliently against one surface of the glass plate; and an orienting means provided on said second movable base for swiveling said grinding wheel about said vertical axis so as to orient said grinding wheel in a direction of movement of said first movable base by said first moving means, a portion of one surface of the glass-plate on which the grinding wheel abuts and the axis of said grinding wheel being aligned on said vertical axis.