JP2001075105A - Scattering nozzle and device for dispersing beads utilizing the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide scattering nozzle, which prevents impurities from being incorporated into the liquid crystal display element while decreasing frictional force at the sliding part of a needle, and a device for dispersing beads utilizing the same. SOLUTION: The scattering nozzle is provided with a nozzle main body 10 which has an air discharging port 22 and a beads-containing liquid discharging port 21 formed on its top end, and a needle 11 which is provided inside the nozzle main body 10, opens and closes the beads-containing liquid discharging port 21 by vertical motion. The air spouted from the air discharging port 22 is made the collide with the beads-containing liquid spouted from the discharging port 21, makes the beads-containing liquid misty and scatters the liquid toward a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display element. A liquid crystal is used as the lubricant for the sliding part of the needle 11. Thereby, frictional force at the sliding part of the needle is decreased. Besides even if the liquid crystal is scattered or falls on the glass substrate while being incorporated in the beads-containing liquid, as the liquid crystal does not make an impurity, it is possible to prevent the quality of the liquid crystal panel from deteriorating.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a spray nozzle for spraying beads on a substrate in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device, and a bead dispersing apparatus using the same.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the display quality of liquid crystal panels has been increasing day by day, and has progressed from use only for character recognition to quality that can withstand full-color image display. Furthermore, in conjunction with the improvement in productivity of large-sized liquid crystal panels, liquid crystal panels have finally entered the monitor market, which was the dominant market for CRTs.

In the monitor market, a liquid crystal monitor is a CRT.
In order to surpass, it is necessary to obtain a larger screen and higher quality. To do so, it is bright and has a wide viewing angle,
In addition to improving the performance aspect of high resolution,
It is important to improve the quality in the production process such that uniform display can be achieved without display unevenness in the screen, and furthermore, the variation in performance between the liquid crystal panels is reduced.

One of the solutions for eliminating display unevenness, which is one of such quality problems, is to make the liquid crystal thickness of a liquid crystal panel (hereinafter, referred to as "cell gap") uniform. In order to make the cell gap uniform, a semi-dry type bead dispersing apparatus is used in a process of dispersing spacers on a substrate.

In the semi-dry method, a bead solution in which beads used as spacers are stirred in a mixed solvent of alcohol and water is atomized using a spray nozzle, and only the beads are evaporated on a glass substrate by vaporizing the solvent. It is a method of dispersing and disposing. Grease is applied to the needle to smooth the movement of the needle of the spray nozzle.

[0006]

However, when the conventional spray nozzle as described above is used, there is a risk that grease is mixed in the bead solution and sprays grease together with beads used as spacers. There has been a problem that it becomes an impurity and degrades display quality.

If grease is not applied to the needle in order to avoid such a problem, the static friction force between the needle and the O-ring, which is the sliding part of the needle, and between the needle and the packing increases. The needle could not completely close the container outlet, the bead solution that had not been atomized leaked from the tip of the spray nozzle, the beads fell on the glass substrate together with the solvent, and the beads in the bead solution aggregated. There is another problem that the orientation of the surrounding liquid crystal is disturbed and the display quality is lowered.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention solves the above-mentioned conventional problems, and reduces the frictional force of the sliding portion of the needle while preventing the introduction of impurities into the liquid crystal display element. It is an object of the present invention to provide a bead dispersion device.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, a spray nozzle according to the present invention is provided in a nozzle body having a gas discharge port and a bead solution discharge port formed at a tip end thereof, and in the nozzle body. A needle for opening and closing the bead solution discharge port by vertical movement, and applying the gas discharged from the gas discharge port to the bead solution discharged from the bead solution discharge port to atomize the bead solution. A spray nozzle for spraying a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display element, wherein liquid crystal is used as a lubricant for a sliding portion of the needle. According to the spray nozzle as described above, it is possible to prevent impurities from entering the liquid crystal display element while reducing the frictional force of the sliding portion of the needle. That is, even if the liquid crystal is mixed with the bead solution and sprayed or dropped on the glass substrate, the liquid crystal does not become an impurity, so that the quality of the liquid crystal panel does not deteriorate.

[0010] In the spray nozzle, it is preferable that the same liquid crystal as the liquid crystal injected into the liquid crystal display element is used for the liquid crystal as the lubricant. According to the spray nozzle as described above, even if the liquid crystal is mixed in the bead solution and sprayed or dropped on the glass substrate, the composition of the liquid crystal is not changed, so that the deterioration of the quality of the liquid crystal panel is prevented. Is more effective.

Next, the bead dispersing apparatus of the present invention is characterized in that each of the spray nozzles is used. According to the bead dispersing apparatus as described above, it is possible to prevent impurities from being mixed into the liquid crystal display element while reducing the frictional force of the sliding portion of the needle. That is, even if the liquid crystal is mixed with the bead solution and sprayed or dropped on the glass substrate, the liquid crystal does not become an impurity, so that the quality of the liquid crystal panel does not deteriorate.

[0012]

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the bead dispersion step will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1A shows a schematic diagram of a bead dispersion device. In the beaker 23,
A bead solution in which beads are stirred in a solvent composed of water and alcohol is stored. The bead solution is discharged from the spray nozzle 24 as a mist 13, and the mist 13 is sprayed toward the glass substrate 25. FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of particles of the fog 13. 26 is a bead and 27 is a solvent. Since the solvent in the mist 13 is vaporized before falling onto the glass substrate 25, only the beads are scattered and arranged on the glass substrate 25.

FIG. 2 shows a mechanism for dispersing beads.
This will be specifically described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the discharge port at the nozzle tip of the spray nozzle is closed.
(B) is a sectional view showing a state in which the discharge port at the nozzle tip of the spray nozzle is open. As shown in FIG. 2A, in an initial state, the needle 11 is pushed in the direction of the nozzle tip 18 by the spring 14. Thus, the discharge port 21 is closed by the needle 11.

As shown in FIG. 2B, when air 15 for opening the piston is blown onto the needle 11, the needle 11 is lifted. As a result, the nozzle tip 18
Will be opened. In this state, the discharge port 2
When the atomizing air 16 is ejected from the nozzle 2, the solution pipe 1
The bead solution 17 in 9 will be pulled out,
The bead solution 17 is ejected from the outlet 21.

The bead solution 17 ejected from the discharge port 21
Impinges on the atomizing air 16 ejected from the discharge port 22, and the bead solution 17 is atomized in the region A in FIG. 2B.

The force for pushing up the needle 11 due to the pressure of the piston opening air 15 is caused by the repulsive force of the spring 14, the frictional force between the needle 11 and the O-ring 12, and the needle 1.
1 is larger than the force obtained by adding the frictional force between the piston 1 and the piston packing 20, the needle 1 is opened by the piston open air 15.
1 can be pushed up to open the discharge port 21.
In the conventional example, grease is applied to the needle 11 in order to reduce the frictional force between the needle 11 and the O-ring 12 and the frictional force between the needle 11 and the piston packing 20.

However, if this grease is mixed in the bead solution 17 and is sprayed on the glass substrate,
Grease serving as an impurity is mixed into the liquid crystal panel. When a liquid crystal panel is manufactured using such a glass substrate, the quality of the liquid crystal panel deteriorates due to impurities.

If grease is not applied to the needle 11 in order to prevent such quality deterioration, the O-ring 12 swells and the frictional force increases as the number of times of spraying increases. When the frictional force increases, when the needle 11 pushed up by the piston open air 15 at the time of spraying returns to the original position (FIG. 2A), the needle 11 cannot completely return only by the pressure of the spring 14 and completely closes the discharge port 21. I can't block it. If the discharge port 21 is not completely closed by the needle 11, the bead solution 17 may leak from the discharge port 21.

Normally, when the beads are not sprayed, the atomizing air 16 is not jetted. This is for uniformly dispersing the beads in the plane of the glass substrate. Therefore, if the discharge port 21 is not completely closed by the needle 11, the bead solution 17 leaking from the discharge port 21 falls onto the glass substrate 25 without being atomized. In this case, the beads in the bead solution 17 dropped on the glass substrate 25 aggregate. This aggregation significantly disturbs the orientation of the liquid crystal, so that the display quality is significantly reduced.

In this embodiment, liquid crystal is applied to the needle 11 instead of grease. By applying this liquid crystal,
The frictional force between the needle 11 and the O-ring 12 and the frictional force between the needle 11 and the needle packing 20 can be reduced as compared with a case where no grease is applied.

Further, when liquid crystal is used in place of grease, even if the liquid crystal is mixed in the bead solution and is sprayed or dropped on the glass substrate, the liquid crystal does not become an impurity. It does not degrade the quality. It is more preferable that the liquid crystal applied to the needle 11 is the same as that injected into the liquid crystal panel because the composition of the liquid crystal is not changed.

The static friction force was measured and compared between the case where the needle 11 was coated with liquid crystal and the case where nothing was coated. FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of a method for measuring the static friction force, which will be specifically described with reference to FIG. With the tip of the spring 31 attached to the rear portion 32 of the needle 11, the needle 11 closes the discharge port 21. With the nozzle body 10 fixed, the spring meter 31 is pulled in the direction in which the needle 11 opens the discharge port 21 (arrow 33), and the value indicated by the spring meter 31 when the needle 11 starts moving is defined as the static friction force. With such a measurement method,
The static friction force (gf) was measured 10 times each when the liquid crystal to be injected into the liquid crystal panel was applied to the needle 11 and when no liquid was applied. Table 1 below shows the measurement results.

[0023]

Table 1 Number of times Liquid crystal is applied Nothing is applied 1 151 1050 2 147 1039 3 150 1076 4 147 1065 5 145 1045 6 150 1078 7 153 1056 8 154 1046 9 147 1064 10 149 1055 Average value 1057.4

As is clear from Table 1, it is found that the static friction force is significantly reduced by applying the injected liquid crystal to the needle 11 as compared with the case where nothing is applied.

[0025]

As described above, according to the present invention, the frictional force of the sliding portion of the needle can be reduced by using liquid crystal as the lubricant of the sliding portion of the needle of the spray nozzle. Even if the liquid crystal is mixed in the bead solution and sprayed or dropped on the glass substrate, the liquid crystal does not become an impurity, so that the quality deterioration of the liquid crystal panel can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

1A is a schematic view of a bead dispersing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1B is an enlarged view of particles of the mist 13 in FIG.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view of a spray nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention in which a discharge port is closed. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view of a spray nozzle according to an embodiment of the present invention in a state in which a discharge port is open.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a method for measuring a static friction force of a spray nozzle according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 nozzle body 11 needle 12 O-ring 13 fog 14 spring 15 piston open air 16 atomizing air 17 bead solution 18 nozzle tip 19 bead solution piping 20 needle packing 21,22 discharge port 23 beaker 24 spray nozzle 25 glass substrate 26 beads 27 Solvent 31 Spring only 32 Needle rear 33 Needle pulling direction

Claims (3)

[Claims] A nozzle body having a gas discharge port and a bead solution discharge port formed at a distal end thereof; and a needle provided in the nozzle body for opening and closing the bead solution discharge port by moving up and down. A spray nozzle for spraying a bead solution ejected from a bead solution ejection port with a gas ejected from the gas ejection port to atomize the bead solution and spraying the atomized solution toward a glass substrate of a liquid crystal display element, wherein the needle A spray nozzle characterized in that a liquid crystal is used as a lubricant for a sliding portion of (1). 2. The spray nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the same liquid crystal as the liquid crystal injected into the liquid crystal display element is used as the liquid crystal as the lubricant. 3. A bead dispersing device using the spray nozzle according to claim 1 or 2.