CN113406821A

CN113406821A - Baking device for liquid crystal alignment film

Info

Publication number: CN113406821A
Application number: CN202110674989.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李世龙
Original assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Current assignee: Shenzhen China Star Optoelectronics Semiconductor Display Technology Co Ltd
Priority date: 2021-06-18
Filing date: 2021-06-18
Publication date: 2021-09-17
Anticipated expiration: 2041-06-18
Also published as: CN113406821B

Abstract

The embodiment of the application provides a baking equipment of liquid crystal alignment film, including furnace body, door body and sealing member. The furnace body includes interconnect's body and extension, and the body is provided with accommodation space and the opening that communicates with accommodation space, and accommodation space is used for holding the glass substrate that the coating has liquid crystal to join in marriage to liquid. The extension part is connected with the body and is provided with a channel which is communicated with the opening. The door body is used for closing the channel. The sealing element is spaced from the door body and arranged in the channel, and when the door body closes the channel, the sealing element is in an unfolded state and seals the opening; when the door body does not close the channel, the sealing piece is in a folded state and exposes the opening. Through with sealing member and door body separation design, can reduce the deformation of the sealing member that leads to because the door body warp and then influence the problem of the sealed effect of sealing member.

Description

Baking device for liquid crystal alignment film

Technical Field

The application belongs to the technical field of liquid crystal display panel manufacturing processes, and particularly relates to a baking device for a liquid crystal alignment film.

Background

In the process of manufacturing the glass panel, the PI (Polyimide alignment) process is to coat a PI solution on the surface of the glass substrate, and the PI solution is baked to evaporate the solvent to form a liquid crystal alignment film for the subsequent liquid crystal alignment. The temperature in the baking device needs to be kept constant in the whole baking process, and the condition for ensuring that the glass substrate is uniformly heated is a necessary condition for forming the liquid crystal alignment film.

However, the conventional baking device for the liquid crystal alignment film is prone to have a poor sealing problem.

Disclosure of Invention

The embodiment of the application provides a baking device of a liquid crystal alignment film, which aims to solve the problem that the existing baking device of the liquid crystal alignment film is poor in sealing.

The embodiment of the application provides a baking equipment of liquid crystal alignment film, includes:

the furnace body comprises a body and an extension part which are connected with each other, the body is provided with an accommodating space and an opening communicated with the accommodating space, the accommodating space is used for accommodating a glass substrate coated with liquid crystal alignment liquid, the extension part is provided with a channel, and the channel is communicated with the opening;

the door body is used for closing the channel; and

the sealing piece is spaced from the door body and arranged in the channel, and when the door body closes the channel, the sealing piece is in an unfolded state and seals the opening; when the door body does not close the channel, the sealing piece is in a folded state and exposes the opening.

Optionally, the cross-sectional area of the passage is greater than the cross-sectional area of the opening, and the cross-sectional area of the seal in the deployed state is greater than the cross-sectional area of the opening.

Optionally, the opening movement of the door body and the folding movement of the sealing element are performed synchronously; and/or

The closing movement of the door body and the unfolding movement of the sealing element are carried out synchronously.

Optionally, the baking apparatus further comprises:

the execution part is fixedly connected with the door body;

a folded structure connected with the sealing member; and

the driving part is connected with the execution part to drive the door body to be opened or closed, and the driving part is connected with the folding structure to drive the sealing part to be folded or unfolded.

Optionally, the executing part comprises a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is fixedly connected with the door body;

the driving part comprises a first air cylinder, a first mandrel, a second air cylinder and a second mandrel, the first mandrel is in sliding connection with the first air cylinder, the second mandrel is in sliding connection with the second air cylinder, the first mandrel is in relative arrangement with the second mandrel and the second air cylinder on two sides of the furnace body, and the first mandrel is in relative arrangement with the second mandrel and the second mandrel, and the second mandrel is respectively connected with two ends of the rotating shaft to drive the rotating shaft to rotate through the first mandrel and the second mandrel.

Optionally, the folding structure includes:

the two ends of the first connecting rod are respectively fixedly connected with the first mandrel and the second mandrel, and the first connecting rod is fixedly connected with one end of the sealing element;

and the second connecting rod is arranged in the channel and is fixedly connected with the other end of the sealing element.

Optionally, the folding structure further includes a support portion, and the support portion is disposed on one side surface of the sealing member and connected to the first connecting rod and the second connecting rod, respectively.

Optionally, the support portion includes a first support frame and a second support frame, and the first support frame and the second support frame are diagonally arranged to support the sealing element.

Optionally, the extension portion includes a first side wall and a second side wall that are arranged oppositely, the first side wall is close to the first cylinder, the second side wall is close to the second cylinder, the first side wall is provided with a first through hole, the second side wall is provided with a second through hole, and the first connecting rod is arranged through the first through hole and the second through hole.

Optionally, the material of the sealing member is a polyimide material.

According to the baking device of the liquid crystal alignment film, the door body is used for sealing the channel, the sealing piece is spaced from the door body and arranged in the channel, and when the door body seals the channel, the sealing piece is in an unfolded state and seals the opening; when the door body does not close the channel, the sealing piece is in a folded state and exposes the opening. Through with sealing member and the design of door body separation, can reduce because the deformation of the sealing member that the door body warp and lead to and influence the problem of the sealed effect of sealing member, solve the current baking equipment of liquid crystal alignment membrane and appear sealed not good problem easily.

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments will be briefly described below. It is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the application, and that other drawings can be derived from these drawings by a person skilled in the art without inventive effort.

For a more complete understanding of the present application and its advantages, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Wherein like reference numerals refer to like parts in the following description.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a baking apparatus of a liquid crystal alignment film according to an embodiment of the present disclosure at a first angle.

Fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of a first state at a second angle of the baking apparatus shown in fig. 1.

FIG. 3 is a second structural diagram of the baking apparatus shown in FIG. 1 at a second angle.

FIG. 4 is a first structural schematic view of a folding structure and a sealing member of the toasting device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a second schematic view of the folding mechanism and sealing member of the toasting device shown in FIG. 1.

Fig. 6 is a third angle schematic view of the toasting device shown in fig. 1.

Fig. 7 is a fourth angle schematic view of the toasting device shown in fig. 1.

Detailed Description

The technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. It is to be understood that the embodiments described are only a few embodiments of the present application and not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be derived by a person skilled in the art from the embodiments given herein without making any creative effort, shall fall within the protection scope of the present application.

In the process of manufacturing the glass panel, the PI (Polyimide alignment) process generally coats a PI solution on the surface of the glass substrate, and the PI solution is baked to evaporate the solvent to form a liquid crystal alignment film for the subsequent liquid crystal alignment. And the solvent in the PI liquid needs to be exhausted in time after being baked and volatilized at high temperature. In order to maintain the gas pressure in the furnace, heated nitrogen N is continuously pumped into the furnace₂In order to prevent the solvent from volatilizing into the factory building to cause the health problem of personnel, the furnace body can keep a certain negative pressure state, thereby ensuring that the solvent is pumped away by an exhaust system after volatilizing. The temperature needs to be kept constant in the whole baking process, the condition that the glass substrate is uniformly heated is a necessary condition for forming the alignment film, and if the furnace body is not sealed well and the furnace body is in a negative pressure state, external cold air is easily sucked into the furnace body to cause the temperature of the glass substrate to change. The non-uniform temperature can cause different chemical reaction degrees of the alignment film, thereby causing different pretilt angles of liquid crystals in subsequent processing procedures and finally causing different brightness of the liquid crystals. After the problem of uneven brightness is formed on the sense of the liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal panel is finally scrapped to cause material waste. Therefore, the sealing of the furnace body is an important link in the liquid crystal alignment process. However, the conventional baking device for the liquid crystal alignment film is prone to have a poor sealing problem.

In order to solve the above problems, embodiments of the present application provide a baking apparatus for a liquid crystal alignment film, which will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

For example, referring to fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a baking apparatus of a liquid crystal alignment film according to an embodiment of the present disclosure at a first angle, and fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of the baking apparatus shown in fig. 1 at a first state at a second angle. The embodiment of the application provides a baking equipment 1 of liquid crystal alignment film, and baking equipment 1 includes furnace body 10, door body 30 and sealing member 40. The furnace body 10 includes a body 12 and an extension part 14 connected to each other, the body 12 is provided with an accommodating space 122 and an opening 124 communicating with the accommodating space 122, and the accommodating space 122 is used for accommodating a glass substrate coated with a liquid crystal alignment liquid. Extension 14 is connected to body 12, and extension 14 has a passage 142, passage 142 communicating with opening 124. The door 30 is used to close the passage 142. The sealing element 40 is spaced from the door body 30 and arranged in the channel 142, and when the door body 30 closes the channel 142, the sealing element 40 is in an unfolded state and seals the opening 124; when the door 30 does not close the passage 142, the sealing member 40 is in a folded state, exposing the opening 124. Through with sealing member 40 and door body 30 separation design, can reduce the deformation of sealing member 40 that leads to because door body 30 warp and then influence the problem of the sealed effect of sealing member 40, solved the current baking equipment of liquid crystal alignment film and appeared sealed not good problem easily.

The shape of the furnace body 10 may be a cylindrical shape, a square column shape, or a special shape, and the like, which is not limited herein, and the embodiment of the present application takes the shape of the furnace body 10 as the square column shape as an example for explanation. The accommodating space 122 of the body 12 may be designed to accommodate the volume of the glass substrate to be subjected to liquid crystal alignment. The shape of the opening 124 may be square, circular or irregular, and the embodiment of the present application is illustrated by the case that the shape of the opening 124 is square, and should not be construed as a limitation on the shape of the opening 124.

Extension 14 is connected to body 12. Illustratively, the extension 14 has a channel 142, the periphery of the extension 14 surrounding the channel 142 is connected to the body 12, and the channel 142 communicates with the opening 124. It should be noted that the shape of the channel 142 may be the same as the shape of the opening 124, so that the furnace body 10 can be conveniently manufactured. For example, the channel 142 is also square, and the cross-sectional area of the channel 142 is larger than the cross-sectional area of the opening 124, and the center of the channel 142 coincides with the center of the opening 124. Of course, in other embodiments, the shape of the channel 142 may be different from the shape of the opening 124, and the embodiment of the present application only exemplifies that the shape of the channel 142 is the same as the shape of the opening 124, and should not be construed as limiting the shapes of the channel 142 and the opening 124.

The shape of the door 30 may be adapted to the shape of the channel 142, and the door 30 is used for closing the channel 142. It can be understood that, when the door 30 is closing the channel 142, the door 30 and the extending portion 14 are both hard materials, and a gap is inevitably generated between the door 30 and the extending portion 14, so that the furnace body 10 cannot be sealed, and therefore, a sealable member needs to be disposed between the door 30 and the furnace body 10, for example, a sealing member 40 is disposed between the door 30 and the furnace body 10.

The sealing member 40 is spaced apart from the door 30 and disposed in the channel 142, and when the door 30 closes the channel 142, the sealing member 40 is in an unfolded state, and the sealing member 40 can cover the opening 124. When the door 30 does not close the channel 142, that is, the door 30 is in the open state, the sealing member 40 is in the folded state, and the opening 124 is exposed. The cross-sectional area of the sealing member 40 in the expanded state is larger than that of the opening 124 so that the expanded sealing member 40 can cover the opening 124 to seal the furnace body 10. The shape of the sealing member 40 may be designed to adapt to the shape of the opening 124, for example, the opening 124 has a rectangular structure, and the sealing member 40 may also have a rectangular structure, and of course, the opening 124 may have other shapes, which is not illustrated here, and the embodiment of the present invention is described by taking the example that the sealing member 40 and the opening 124 have the rectangular shapes. The sealing member 40 may be made of soft and high temperature resistant material, the soft material is sandwiched between two hard materials and is compressed to a certain degree to realize sealing, and the sealing member 40 is disposed in the baking device, so the material of the sealing member 40 needs to be high temperature resistant. For example, the sealing member 40 can be made of polyimide material, which is one of organic polymer materials with the best comprehensive performance, has high temperature resistance of more than 400 ℃, long-term use temperature range of-200 to 300 ℃, no obvious melting point at part, high insulation performance, dielectric constant of 4.0 at 103 Hz and dielectric loss of only 0.004 to 0.007, and belongs to F-H insulation.

Referring to fig. 3 in conjunction with fig. 1 and fig. 2, fig. 3 is a second state structure diagram of the baking apparatus shown in fig. 1 at a second angle. The opening movement of the door 30 is synchronized with the folding movement of the sealing element 40 and/or the closing movement of the door 30 is synchronized with the unfolding movement of the sealing element 40. That is, the synchronous movement of the door 30 and the sealing member 40 can be divided into three cases: in the first case, the folding movement of the sealing member 40 may be performed in synchronization with the opening movement of the door body 30. In the second case, the unfolding movement of the sealing member 40 may be performed in synchronization with the closing movement of the door 30. In the third case, it is also possible that the folding movement of the sealing member 40 is performed in synchronization with the opening movement of the door body 30 and the unfolding movement of the sealing member 40 is performed in synchronization with the closing movement of the door body 30. The third case is taken as an example in the embodiment of the present application, and the embodiment of the present application should not be construed as limiting the synchronous movement of the door body 30 and the sealing member 40. It will be appreciated that when the door 30 is opened to expose the channel 142, the sealing member 40 is simultaneously folded to expose the opening 124, and the glass substrate can be taken out or put in. The door body 30 and the sealing member 40 are designed separately, and the sealing member 40 can be folded along with the opening of the door body 30 and can also be unfolded along with the closing of the door body 30, so that the sealing member 40 can seal the furnace body 10 when being unfolded, and the opening 124 can be exposed when the sealing member 40 is folded to take and place the glass substrate.

It should be noted that the opening and closing of the door 30 may be achieved by a driving member. The toasting device 1 further comprises a driving portion 50 and an executing portion 60. The actuator 60 is connected to the driving unit 50, and the actuator 60 is fixedly connected to the door 30. The driving portion 50 can drive the actuating portion 60 to drive the door 30 to open or close, that is, the actuating portion 60 can rotate under the driving of the driving portion 50, and the door 30 can open or close along with the rotation of the actuating portion 60.

Illustratively, the actuating portion 60 includes a rotating shaft 62, and the rotating shaft 62 is fixedly connected to the door 30, so that when the rotating shaft 62 rotates, the door 30 is driven to rotate, and the door 30 is opened or closed. The driving part 50 may include a first cylinder 51, a first spindle 52, a second cylinder 53, and a second spindle 54. In order to facilitate manufacturing of the cylinder structure, the first cylinder 51 and the second cylinder 53 may be configured in the same structure, the first mandrel 52 is slidably connected to the first cylinder 51, the second mandrel 54 is slidably connected to the second cylinder 53, the first mandrel 52 and the first cylinder 51 are disposed at two sides of the furnace body 10 opposite to the second mandrel 54 and the second cylinder 53, and the first mandrel 52 and the second mandrel 54 are respectively connected to two ends of the rotating shaft 62 to drive the rotating shaft 62 to rotate through the movement of the first mandrel 52 and the second mandrel 54. It should be noted that a connection structure for converting sliding into rotation may be further disposed between the first mandrel 52 and the rotating shaft 62, so that the piston motion of the first mandrel 52 relative to the first cylinder 51 is converted into rotation of the rotating shaft 62, and further the opening or closing motion of the door 30 is driven. The connection between the second shaft 54 and the rotating shaft 62 can refer to the connection between the first shaft 52 and the rotating shaft 62, and will not be described herein. Of course, the driving portion 50 may have other configurations as long as it can drive the actuator 60 to rotate, and the description is not limited herein, and only the cylinder configuration will be taken as an example.

It should be noted that the simultaneous movement of the sealing member 40 and the door body 30 can be achieved by a folding structure. Illustratively, referring to fig. 4 and 5 in conjunction with fig. 1 and 2, fig. 4 is a first structural schematic view of the folding structure and the sealing member of the toasting apparatus shown in fig. 1, and fig. 5 is a second structural schematic view of the folding structure and the sealing member of the toasting apparatus shown in fig. 1. The baking device 1 further comprises a folding structure 70, the folding structure 70 is connected with the sealing element 40, the folding structure 70 is connected with the driving portion 50, and the driving portion 50 drives the folding structure 70 to drive the sealing element 40 to fold or unfold. The folding structure 70 may include a first link 72 and a second link 74, both ends of the first link 72 are fixedly connected to the first mandrel 52 and the second mandrel 54, respectively, and the first link 72 is fixedly connected to one end of the sealing member 40, and the first link 72 may move along with the first mandrel 52 and the second mandrel 54. The second link 74 is disposed in the channel 142, and the second link 74 is fixedly connected to the other end of the sealing member 40. The second link 74 may be fixedly disposed within the channel 142, and the first link 72 may move with the first and

second mandrels

52, 54 to expand or collapse the sealing member 40 to seal or uncover the opening 124. It should be noted that the sealing member 40 can be disposed adjacent to the opening 124 and then tensioned by the first linkage 72 and the second linkage 74, and at the same time, the first linkage 72 and the second linkage 74 can also act to compress the sealing member 40 to seal the opening 124. So as to drive the movement of the first connecting rod 72 by the movement of the first mandrel 52 and the second mandrel 54, and further to enable the sealing element 40 to fold or unfold following the movement of the first connecting rod 72, thereby realizing the sealing or exposing of the opening 124 of the furnace body 10. In addition, the design of separating the door 30 from the sealing member 40 can reduce the influence on the sealing effect of the sealing member 40 due to the deformation of the door 30.

The folding structure 70 further includes a support portion 76, and the support portion 76 is disposed at a side of the sealing member 40 and is connected to the first link 72 and the second link 74, respectively. The support portion 76 serves to support the sealing member 40, and since the sealing member 40 has a rectangular structure, the support portion 76 may be provided to prevent the sealing member 40 from being deformed in the longitudinal direction. For example, the supporting portion 76 may include a first supporting bracket 762 and a second supporting bracket 764, and the first supporting bracket 762 and the second supporting bracket 764 are diagonally disposed to support the sealing member 40. It is understood that the two ends of the first support frame 762 are connected to the first link 72 and the second link 74, respectively, the two ends of the second support frame 764 are connected to the first link 72 and the second link 74, respectively, and the first support frame 762 and the second support frame 764 are disposed in a crossing manner to form a skeleton structure for supporting the sealing member 40.

In order to connect the first link 72 in contact with the first spindle 52 and the second spindle 54, the extension portion 14 needs to provide a space for avoiding and a space for moving the first link 72. Referring to fig. 6 and 7, fig. 6 is a schematic structural diagram of a third angle of the baking apparatus shown in fig. 1, and fig. 7 is a schematic structural diagram of a fourth angle of the baking apparatus shown in fig. 1. The extension 14 includes a first side wall 144 and a second side wall 146 disposed opposite each other, the first side wall 144 being disposed adjacent the first cylinder 51, and the second side wall 146 being disposed adjacent the second cylinder 53. The first sidewall 144 is provided with a first through hole 1442, the second sidewall 146 is provided with a second through hole 1462, and the first link 72 is inserted through the first through hole 1442 and the second through hole 1462. It should be noted that the first through hole 1442 may be an elongated through hole for allowing the first rod 72 to pass through to connect with the first core 52, and the first through hole 1442 may provide a space for the first rod 72 to move. The second through hole 1462 may be provided with reference to the first through hole 1442, and will not be described in detail herein.

It should be noted that, because the opening 124 of the baking apparatus 1 is generally rectangular, the length of the door 30 is large, which can reach 3 meters, and the door 30 may deform to affect the sealing effect of the sealing member adhered to the surface thereof after long-time use, so that the door 30 and the sealing member 40 are designed to be separated from each other in the embodiment of the present application, thereby avoiding the above situation.

The baking device 1 for the liquid crystal alignment film provided by the embodiment of the application comprises a furnace body 10, a door body 30 and a sealing piece 40. The furnace body 10 includes a body 12 and an extension part 14 connected to each other, the body 12 is provided with an accommodating space 122 and an opening 124 communicating with the accommodating space 122, and the accommodating space 122 is used for accommodating a glass substrate coated with a liquid crystal alignment liquid. Extension 14 is connected to body 12, and extension 14 has a passage 142, passage 142 communicating with opening 124. The door 30 is used to close the passage 142. The sealing element 40 is spaced from the door body 30 and arranged in the channel 142, when the door body 30 closes the channel 142, the sealing element 40 is in an unfolded state, and the opening 124 is covered by the sealing element 40; when the door 30 does not close the passage 142, the sealing member 40 is in a folded state, and the opening 124 is exposed. Through with sealing member 40 and door body 30 separation design, can reduce the deformation of sealing member 40 that leads to because door body 30 warp and then influence the problem of the sealed effect of sealing member 40, solved the current baking equipment of liquid crystal alignment film and appeared sealed not good problem easily.

In the foregoing embodiments, the descriptions of the respective embodiments have respective emphasis, and for parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions of other embodiments.

In the description of the present application, the terms "first", "second" are used for descriptive purposes only and are not to be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implying any number of technical features indicated. Thus, a feature defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more features.

The baking device for the liquid crystal alignment film provided in the embodiment of the present application is described in detail above, and the principle and the embodiment of the present application are explained herein by applying specific examples, and the description of the above embodiments is only used to help understanding the method and the core concept of the present application; meanwhile, for those skilled in the art, according to the idea of the present application, there may be variations in the specific embodiments and the application scope, and in summary, the content of the present specification should not be construed as a limitation to the present application.

Claims

1. The baking device for the liquid crystal alignment film is characterized by comprising the following components:

the door body is used for closing the channel; and

2. The toasting apparatus according to claim 1 wherein the cross-sectional area of the passageway is greater than the cross-sectional area of the opening and the cross-sectional area of the sealing member in the deployed state is greater than the cross-sectional area of the opening.

3. The toasting apparatus according to claim 2, characterized in that the opening movement of the door is synchronized with the folding movement of the sealing member; and/or

4. The toasting apparatus of claim 3, further comprising:

the execution part is fixedly connected with the door body;

a folded structure connected with the sealing member; and

5. The baking device as claimed in claim 4, wherein the executing part comprises a rotating shaft, and the rotating shaft is fixedly connected with the door body;

6. The toasting apparatus of claim 5 wherein the folding structure comprises:

7. The toasting apparatus according to claim 6 wherein the folding structure further comprises a support portion disposed on a side of the sealing member and connected to the first and second links, respectively.

8. The toasting device according to claim 7 wherein the support portion comprises a first support bracket and a second support bracket, the first support bracket and the second support bracket being diagonally disposed to support the sealing member.

9. The toasting device according to claim 6, wherein the extension includes a first side wall and a second side wall that are oppositely disposed, the first side wall is disposed adjacent to the first cylinder, the second side wall is disposed adjacent to the second cylinder, the first side wall is provided with a first through hole, the second side wall is provided with a second through hole, and the first link is disposed through the first through hole and the second through hole.

10. The toasting device according to any of the claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the material of the sealing is a polyimide material.