JP2001133798A - Device and method for injection of liquid crystal - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal injection device in which wasting of liquid crystal during injecting the liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell is prevented and degradation in the yield of the material can be prevented. SOLUTION: The device is equipped with a magazine 16 which holds a liquid crystal cell 1 having a liquid crystal injection port 4, a liquid crystal reservoir 23 which reserves the liquid crystal, a liquid crystal supplying mechanism 31 which supplies the liquid crystal to the liquid crystal reservoir 23 so as to maintain the liquid surface height of the liquid crystal reservoir 23 constant, a sucking body 33 which sucks the liquid crystal from the liquid crystal reservoir 23 by the capillary effect to maintain the liquid crystal in a wet state, a contacting mechanism 24 to relatively move the upper end of the sucking body 33 nearer to and apart from the liquid crystal injection port 4 of the liquid crystal cell 1, and a vacuum chamber 13 which pressurize the liquid crystal cell 1 and the liquid crystal.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal injection device and a liquid crystal injection method for injecting liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell of a liquid crystal display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices have been widely used as display monitors for notebook personal computers and the like. In the liquid crystal cell of the liquid crystal display device, as shown in FIG. 6, two glass plates 2 are arranged so as to face each other at a predetermined minute interval, and a sealing material 3 applied so as to surround the display region is used. The two glass plates 2 are adhered to each other, and a liquid crystal is sealed in the liquid crystal cell 1 from an injection port 4 formed by a broken portion of the sealing material 3. The liquid crystal cell 1 performs display according to the pattern of the transparent electrodes by energizing the transparent electrodes (not shown) formed on both the inner surfaces of the two glass plates 2.

An example of a method of manufacturing the above-described liquid crystal cell will be described. As shown in FIG. 7, a large number of liquid crystal cells 1 connected in a horizontal direction are arranged in a magazine 1 provided in a vacuum chamber 13.
6 and the like. In this case, the liquid crystal cell 1 is arranged so that the injection port 4 faces downward. Boats 60 each having a narrow groove extending in the depth direction of the paper surface in FIG. 7 are arranged for each liquid crystal cell 1, and liquid crystals are stored in the boats 60. At this time, to efficiently inject the liquid crystal stored in the boat 60 into the liquid crystal cell 1, the boat 6
The liquid surface of the liquid crystal stored in 0 is made to swell using the surface tension.

Next, in this state, the vacuum chamber 1
The inside of the liquid crystal cell 1 is evacuated using a vacuum pump 14 and a valve 15, and the air in the liquid crystal cell 1 is discharged. Next, by moving the magazine 16 downward or the boat 60 upward, the injection port 4 of each liquid crystal cell 1 is brought into contact with the liquid surface of the liquid crystal stored in the boat 60. Then, in a state where the injection port 4 is immersed in the liquid surface of the liquid crystal, the pressure in the vacuum chamber 13 is increased. Thereby, the liquid crystal stored in the boat 60 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1 from the injection port 4 due to a rise in pressure outside the liquid crystal cell 1.

[0005] By the way, the liquid crystal cell 1 is manufactured in various sizes according to the demand. In the above-mentioned manufacturing method, if the size of the liquid crystal cell 1 is large, a large amount of liquid crystal is correspondingly increased. It is necessary to inject into the cell 1, and the boat 60 according to the size is used. At this time, the height of the liquid crystal whose liquid level is swollen must also be increased, for example, as the width of the boat 60 increases.

[0006]

However, in the above manufacturing method, it is necessary to finely adjust the pressure in the vacuum chamber 13 with respect to the height of the swollen liquid crystal. That is, if the height of the swollen liquid crystal is too low, air bubbles may enter the liquid crystal cell 1 when the pressure in the vacuum chamber 13 is increased after the liquid surface contacts the injection port 4. If the height of the swollen liquid crystal is too high, the liquid crystal may spill from the boat 60 when the pressure in the vacuum chamber 13 is increased. Therefore, the liquid crystal must be injected by slightly adjusting the pressure according to the height of the swollen liquid crystal, and if the adjustment is incorrect, as shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, The liquid crystal not injected into the liquid crystal cell 1 may excessively adhere to the periphery of the injection port 4 of the liquid crystal cell 1 or the outer surface of the glass plate 2. The adhered liquid crystal is then wiped off, which results in a loss of filling, causing a deterioration in the material yield.

[0007]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been conceived in view of the above circumstances, and it is an object of the present invention to eliminate waste of liquid crystal when injecting liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell and to prevent deterioration of material yield. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal injection device that can perform the above-described operations.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention takes the following technical measures.

According to the liquid crystal injection device provided in the first aspect of the present invention, a holding means for holding a liquid crystal cell in which a liquid crystal injection port is formed, a liquid crystal storage tank for storing liquid crystal, and a liquid crystal storage tank. Liquid crystal supply means for continuously supplying liquid crystal to the liquid crystal storage tank in order to keep the liquid level constant, and liquid crystal suction from the liquid crystal storage tank by capillary action to maintain the liquid crystal in a wet state Body, a contacting / separating means for relatively moving the upper end of the suction body toward and away from the liquid crystal injection port of the liquid crystal cell, and a pressure action means for applying pressure to the liquid crystal cell and the liquid crystal. And

According to this configuration, the liquid crystal is supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank by the liquid crystal supply means. If the liquid crystal is continuously supplied, the liquid crystal overflows from the upper end of the liquid crystal storage tank. It is always kept constant. On the other hand, the siphoning body provided in the liquid crystal storage tank sucks up the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal storage tank by a capillary phenomenon, and maintains a wet state. At this time,
Since the liquid crystal is always supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank, the sucking body does not impair the wet state. Then, the upper end of the suction body and the liquid crystal injection port of the liquid crystal cell are relatively approached by the contacting / separating means, are brought into contact with each other, and are evacuated in advance by the pressure applying means. Is from the upper end of the suction body through the liquid crystal inlet,
Injected into the liquid crystal cell.

At this time, the liquid crystal is always supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank, and the liquid level of the liquid crystal storage tank is always kept at a constant level.
That is, the liquid crystal is supplied to the upper end of the suction body by an amount injected from the liquid crystal injection port. Therefore, since the liquid crystal is not excessively supplied to the liquid crystal cell, it is necessary to prevent the liquid crystal not injected into the liquid crystal cell from being excessively attached to the periphery of the injection port or the outer surface of the glass plate. Can be. Therefore, the liquid crystal can be efficiently injected into the liquid crystal cell, the waste of the liquid crystal can be eliminated, and the deterioration of the material yield can be prevented.

According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention,
The liquid crystal supply means includes an auxiliary storage tank that stores the liquid crystal overflowing from the liquid crystal storage tank, a communication path that communicates the liquid crystal storage tank and the auxiliary storage tank, and a circulation pump that is provided in the middle of the communication path and circulates the liquid crystal. It is constituted by and.

According to the above arrangement, the liquid crystal overflowing from the liquid crystal storage tank is temporarily stored in the auxiliary storage tank.
It is led to the circulation pump via the communication passage. In the circulation pump, the liquid crystal is moved from the upstream side to the downstream side of the communication path, whereby the liquid crystal is guided again to the liquid crystal storage tank. As described above, by circulating the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal can always be supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank as long as a necessary amount of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal cell is supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank and the auxiliary storage tank in advance. Therefore, if liquid crystal swelled into the boat as in the past is injected into the liquid crystal cell, the boat can only store a small amount of liquid crystal. Although it is necessary to repeat the above, if the liquid crystal is circulated by the above configuration, the trouble of replenishing the liquid crystal many times can be omitted, and the manufacturing time can be greatly reduced. Further, conventionally, when injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell, it was necessary to finely adjust the pressure in the vacuum chamber. However, in the present application, the liquid crystal is circulated by the circulation pump. No adjustment is required.

[0014] According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the circulation pump comprises a tube pump. A tube pump is capable of moving a small amount of fluid at a relatively slow speed.By adopting such a tube pump as a circulating pump, liquid crystal is gradually supplied to a liquid crystal storage tank little by little. Can be supplied to
Therefore, the height of the liquid level in the liquid crystal storage tank can be maintained more accurately and constantly.

According to another preferred embodiment of the present invention, the suction body is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a gap having a substantially chrysanthemum cross section is formed in the cylinder. In this manner, when a gap having a substantially chrysanthemum cross section is formed in the sucking body, a capillary phenomenon can be exhibited by the gap, so that the sucking body can be satisfactorily wet.

According to the liquid crystal injection method provided in the second aspect of the present invention, by continuously supplying the liquid crystal to the liquid crystal storage tank for storing the liquid crystal, the liquid level in the liquid crystal storage tank is kept constant. While holding the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal is sucked up by a capillary phenomenon in the liquid crystal storage tank and held in a wet state, and the upper end of the liquid sucking body is relatively close to the liquid crystal injection port of the liquid crystal cell. Thus, the liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell by bringing the liquid crystal injection port of the liquid crystal cell into contact with the upper end of the suction body and applying pressure to the liquid crystal cell and the liquid crystal.

According to the above method, similarly to the liquid crystal injection device according to the first aspect described above, when the liquid crystal is supplied to the liquid crystal cell, the liquid crystal is excessively deposited around the injection port or on the outer surface of the glass plate. Adhesion can be prevented, and deterioration of material yield can be prevented.

[0018] Other features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition,
Here, FIG. 6 described in the section of the related art will be referred to again.

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic overall configuration of an example of a liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention. The liquid crystal cell 1 manufactured in the present liquid crystal injection device S finally has the configuration shown in FIG. 6, but when manufactured, a plurality of liquid crystal cells 1 are connected as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11 is formed in the form of a liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11, and the liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11 is finally divided by a dividing line 12, whereby a single liquid crystal cell 1 is manufactured.

As shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal cell 1 includes two glass plates 2 having a plate thickness of, for example, 1.1 mm and are disposed so as to face each other with a predetermined minute interval therebetween. The two glass plates 2 are adhered to each other by the sealing material 3 made of, for example, epoxy resin. And, by the broken part of the sealing material 3,
An injection port 4 for injecting liquid crystal is formed, and the liquid crystal is injected from the injection port 4 into a gap between the two glass plates 2.

As shown in FIG. 1, the entire liquid crystal injection apparatus S is provided in a vacuum chamber 13 as pressure acting means schematically shown in FIG. A vacuum pump 14 and a valve 15 are connected to the vacuum chamber 13 so that the pressure in the vacuum chamber 13 can be changed as needed.

The liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11 is formed in a plurality of strips, and is vertically held by a magazine 16 as holding means. The magazine 16 is formed in a substantially rectangular frame shape in a plan view, and guide pieces 1 for holding the liquid crystal cell substrate pieces 11 at equal intervals are provided on opposed left and right wall surfaces 17.
8 are formed to protrude. A flange 19 is formed at the lower end of the wall surface 17 so that both ends of each liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11 are locked. Further, an outward flange 20 is formed at an upper end of the wall surface 17, and the outward flange 20 is fixed to a horizontal plate-shaped magazine holder 21.

With the above configuration, the magazine 16 holds a plurality of the liquid crystal cell substrate pieces 11 in the interior thereof with the injection port 4 of each liquid crystal cell 1 downward at an equal interval. Further, since the magazine 16 is formed in a frame shape, the lower edge of the liquid crystal cell substrate piece 11 loaded therein, ie, each liquid crystal cell 1
The edge on which the inlet 4 is provided can be opened downward.

On the other hand, the magazine 1 loaded as described above
Below 6, a liquid crystal storage tank 23, which will be described later, is arranged. The magazine 16 and the liquid crystal storage tank 23 are relatively approached and separated from each other by a contact / separation mechanism 24 as a contact / separation unit.
That is, the contact / separation mechanism 24 is configured such that the upper lift table 25 and the lower lift table 26 are connected at the four corners of the both via the guide rods 28 slidably held on the support base 27 in the vertical direction. . The liquid crystal storage tank 23 and a liquid crystal supply mechanism 3 described later are provided on the upper surface of the upper lift table 25.
1 and the cam surface 29 a of the circumferential cam 29 is in contact with the lower surface of the lower lift base 26.

According to the contact / separation mechanism 24, the circumferential cam 29 is rotationally driven by a drive mechanism (not shown), whereby the lift bases 25, 2 are supported with respect to the support base 27.
6, the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the liquid crystal supply mechanism 31 also move up and down. The contact / separation mechanism 24 includes:
The present invention is not limited to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, and for example, a fluid cylinder such as a hydraulic cylinder or an air cylinder may be used, or a screw drive type mechanism or the like may be adopted. Instead of raising and lowering the liquid crystal storage tank 23, the magazine 16 holding the liquid crystal cell substrate pieces 11 may be raised and lowered by using, for example, the above-mentioned contact / separation mechanism 24 or the like.

The liquid crystal storage tank 23 stores liquid crystal to be injected into the liquid crystal cell 1. The liquid crystal storage tank 23 is supplied with liquid crystal by a liquid crystal supply mechanism 31 as a liquid crystal supply means. FIG. 2 shows the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the liquid crystal supply mechanism 3.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of No. 1. Note that FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the liquid crystal supply mechanism 31 for one liquid crystal cell 1 for convenience of explanation.

The liquid crystal storage tank 23 is made of stainless steel (for example, SUS404) and is formed in a substantially box shape with an open upper surface. On the inner bottom surface 32 of the liquid crystal storage tank 23,
A concave portion 34 for mounting the suction body 33 is formed, and an internal thread is formed on an inner surface 35 of the concave portion 34,
The suction body 33 is fixed by screwing. Also,
An inflow port 37 for injecting liquid crystal is formed in a side surface 36 of the liquid crystal storage tank 23, and the inflow port 37 is connected to a downstream side of a bellows-shaped communication passage 38.

The sucking body 33 sucks the liquid crystal from the liquid crystal storage tank 23 by capillary action and keeps the liquid crystal in a wet state. As shown in FIG. 3, the suction body 33 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape extending from the middle portion to the lower end, and inside the portion extending from the middle portion to the upper end 39, a substantially cylindrical capillary action is formed. The member 40 is press-fitted. More specifically, the upper end of the capillary action generation member 40 is slightly protruded from the upper end 39 of the suction body 33. The capillarity generating member 40 is made of, for example, a polyacetal resin having good properties in chemical resistance, and is formed by, for example, extrusion molding so as to have a gap 41 having a substantially chrysanthemum seat-shaped cross section as shown in FIG. Is done. In the capillary action generating member 40, the width A of the gap 41 in the shape of a chrysanthemum is set to, for example, 30 to 50 μm, and the liquid crystal quickly moves to the upper end 39 of the suction body 33 by the capillary action by the capillary action generating member 40. It is configured to do so. Note that the capillary action generating member 40 may be formed integrally with the suction body 33.

The diameter W of the upper end 39 of the suction body 33 (FIG. 3)
Is set to, for example, about 3 mm, and
Length L from the middle part to the upper end of capillary action generating member 40
Is set in advance so that the length protruding from the liquid level when the liquid crystal storage tank 23 is filled with liquid crystal is, for example, about 2 mm. That is, the suction body 33 has a diameter such that the liquid crystal can be smoothly sucked up by the capillary phenomenon.
Length and shape are set. The diameter, length, and shape of these sucking bodies 33 are determined according to the size of the liquid crystal cell 1 into which the liquid crystal is injected, that is, according to the size of the injection port 4 of the liquid crystal cell 1. May be set.

On the other hand, a plurality of holes 42 are formed on the peripheral surface of a portion extending from the intermediate portion to the lower end.
The liquid crystal in 3 flows into the suction body 33 through the hole 42. A male screw portion 43 that can be screwed into a female screw formed in the concave portion 34 of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 is formed on the lower peripheral edge of the suction body 33.

A liquid crystal supply mechanism 31 is provided below the liquid crystal storage tank 23. The liquid crystal supply mechanism 31, the auxiliary storage tank 50, the communication path 38 that communicates the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the auxiliary storage tank 50, and the circulation pump 5 for circulating the liquid crystal
3. Specifically, the auxiliary storage tank 50 is arranged so as to cover the bottom of the liquid crystal storage tank 23. The auxiliary storage tank 50 stores the liquid crystal overflowing from the liquid crystal storage tank 23, is made of stainless steel (for example, SUS404), and is formed in a substantially box shape having an upper surface that is slightly larger than the liquid crystal storage tank 23. ing. The liquid crystal storage tank 23 is supported by an auxiliary storage tank 50 by a rod (not shown). That is, the upper end of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 is held at a position higher than the upper end of the auxiliary storage tank 50. A discharge port 52 is formed on the periphery of the bottom surface 51 of the auxiliary storage tank 50, and the discharge port 5 is formed.
2, the upstream side of the communication passage 38 is connected,
The liquid crystal stored in the auxiliary storage tank 50 is guided to the communication path 38 via the outlet 52.

A circulating pump 53 as a circulating means for circulating the liquid crystal is provided in the communication passage 38 connected to the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the auxiliary storage tank 50, respectively. The circulation pump 53 is a so-called tube pump that can move a small amount of fluid at a relatively slow speed.

With the above configuration, when an appropriate amount of liquid crystal is supplied to the auxiliary storage tank 50, the liquid crystal flows from the discharge port 52 of the auxiliary storage tank 50 through the upstream side of the communication path 38 to the circulation pump 5.
Reaches 3. The liquid crystal is moved from the upstream side of the communication path 38 to the downstream side by the circulation pump 53, and is supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank 23 from the inlet 37 of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 via the downstream side of the communication path 38. At this time, since the liquid crystal is continuously supplied by the circulation pump 53, the liquid crystal exceeds the capacity of the liquid crystal storage tank 23, overflows from the upper end of the liquid crystal storage tank 23, and flows down to the auxiliary storage tank 50. Then, the liquid crystal is again guided from the discharge port 52 to the circulation pump 53 via the upstream side of the communication path 38.

On the other hand, in the liquid crystal storage tank 23, the liquid crystal is guided to the inside through the hole 42 of the suction body 33, passes through the capillary phenomenon generating member 40 by capillary action, and passes through the suction body 33.
Is guided to the upper end 39.

As described above, the liquid crystal is continuously circulated and supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank 23 by the circulation pump 53, and the liquid level in the liquid crystal storage tank 23 is always kept constant. The upper end 39 of the body 33 can always be kept wet. That is, the liquid crystal is supplied to the upper end 39 of the suction body 33 by an amount injected from the injection port 4. for that reason,
Since the liquid crystal is not excessively supplied to the liquid crystal cell 1, the liquid crystal that has not been injected into the liquid crystal cell 1 around the injection port 4 or the outer surface of the glass plate 2 as in the conventional configuration. Excessive adhesion can be suppressed. Therefore, waste of liquid crystal can be eliminated, and deterioration of material yield can be prevented.

In FIG. 2, a single liquid crystal cell 1 and a liquid crystal injection device S for injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell 1 are shown.
However, as described above, a liquid crystal injection device S for injecting liquid crystal corresponding to each liquid crystal cell 1 may be provided.

Next, the liquid crystal injection device S having the above configuration
A procedure for injecting a liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell 1 will be described with reference to FIG. First, an appropriate amount of liquid crystal is supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the auxiliary storage tank 50. Actually, when the liquid crystal is circulated, the amount of liquid crystal overflows from the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and does not overflow from the auxiliary storage tank 50.
Even after the injection into the inside, the amount is set to just overflow the liquid crystal storage tank 23.

Next, the circulation pump 53 is operated to circulate the liquid crystal. For example, about 5 cc per minute is
The liquid crystal is circulated at a slow moving speed of the fluid supplied to the liquid crystal. Therefore, the liquid crystal can be gradually supplied to the liquid crystal storage tank 23 little by little, and the height of the liquid surface of the liquid crystal when overflowing from the liquid crystal storage tank 23 can be maintained more accurately and constantly. In addition, the boat 60
When the swelled liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1, the boat 60 can store only a small amount of liquid crystal.
It is necessary to replenish the liquid crystal in the boat 60 many times and repeat vacuuming and the like. However, if the liquid crystal is circulated by the above configuration, the trouble of replenishing the liquid crystal many times can be omitted. Thus, the manufacturing time can be greatly reduced.

On the other hand, a part of the liquid crystal stored in the liquid crystal storage tank 23 rises inside the suction body 33 due to the capillary action by the capillary action generation member 40, and the suction body 33.
In the above, the wet state is maintained.

Next, the vacuum pump 14 and the valve 15
Is operated to bring the inside of the vacuum chamber 13 into a vacuum state (for example, 0.05 Torr).

Next, the upper lift 2 is moved by the contact / separation mechanism 24.
5 and the lower lift 26 are raised, and the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the auxiliary storage tank 50 are raised. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5, the upper end 39 of the suction body 33 (strictly, the upper end of the capillary action generating member 40) is connected to the injection port 4 of each liquid crystal cell 1.
Contact or close contact.

Thereafter, the vacuum pump 14 and the valve 15
To make the inside of the vacuum chamber 13 open to the atmosphere. As a result, the pressure difference between the inside and outside of the gap for filling the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal cell 1 and the two glass plates 2
The liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1 from the suction body 33 through the injection port 4 with the synergistic action with the capillary action occurring therebetween.

At this time, since the liquid crystal is circulated by the circulation pump 53 and the liquid level in the liquid crystal storage tank 23 is always kept constant, the upper end 39 of the suction body 33 can always be kept in a wet state. The amount of liquid crystal injected from the inlet 4 can be constantly replenished to the upper end 39 of the suction body 33.
Therefore, the liquid crystal can be satisfactorily applied to the liquid crystal cell 1 without excessively adhering the liquid crystal around the injection port 4 or the outer surface of the glass plate 2.
Injected into. Thereafter, the liquid crystal cell 1 is allowed to stand for about 5 minutes. If it is confirmed that the liquid crystal has been injected into the liquid crystal cell 1, the upper lift 25 and the lower lift 2
6 is lowered, the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the auxiliary storage tank 50 are lowered, and the liquid crystal cell 1 is taken out of the magazine 16.

Of course, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the capillarity generation member 40 formed in the shape of a chrysanthemum is used for the suction body 33, but the invention is not limited thereto. In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal overflows from the upper end of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and circulates. However, for example, a discharge port is formed above the inflow port 37 on the side surface of the liquid crystal storage tank 23 and the discharge port is formed. The liquid crystal may overflow from the outlet.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing a schematic overall configuration of an example of a liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a main part of the liquid crystal injection device.

FIG. 3 is an external view of a suction body.

FIG. 4 is an external view of a main part of a suction body.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a liquid crystal injection method.

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view of a liquid crystal cell.

FIG. 7 is a schematic configuration diagram of a conventional liquid crystal injection device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a conventional state of injecting liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a conventional state of injection of liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 liquid crystal cell 4 inlet 13 vacuum chamber 16 magazine 23 liquid crystal storage tank 24 contact / separation mechanism 31 liquid crystal supply mechanism 33 suction body 50 auxiliary storage tank 53 circulation pump S liquid crystal injection device

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A holding means for holding a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal injection port formed therein, a liquid crystal storage tank for storing liquid crystal, and a liquid crystal storage tank for keeping the liquid level of the liquid crystal storage tank constant. A liquid crystal supply means for continuously supplying liquid crystal to the tank, a suction body for sucking the liquid crystal from the liquid crystal storage tank by capillary action and holding the liquid crystal in a wet state, and a liquid crystal injection port of the liquid crystal cell. A liquid crystal injection device, comprising: a contact / separation means for relatively approaching and separating the upper end of the suction body; and a pressure action means for applying pressure to the liquid crystal cell and the liquid crystal. 2. The liquid crystal supply means includes an auxiliary storage tank for storing liquid crystal overflowing from the liquid crystal storage tank, a communication path communicating the liquid crystal storage tank and the auxiliary storage tank, and provided in the middle of the communication path. The liquid crystal injection device according to claim 1, comprising a circulating pump for circulating the liquid crystal. 3. The liquid crystal injection device according to claim 2, wherein the circulation pump is a tube pump. 4. The liquid crystal injection device according to claim 1, wherein the suction body is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and a gap having a substantially chrysanthemum cross section is formed in the cylinder. 5. A liquid crystal storage tank for storing a liquid crystal, wherein the liquid crystal is continuously supplied so that the liquid level of the liquid crystal storage tank is maintained at a constant level, while a suction body built in the liquid crystal storage tank is provided. The liquid crystal is sucked up by a capillary phenomenon and kept in a wet state, and the upper end of the sucking body is made relatively close to the liquid crystal filling port of the liquid crystal cell. A liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell by contacting the upper end of the liquid crystal with the liquid crystal cell and applying pressure to the liquid crystal cell and the liquid crystal.