JP2002040447A - Connector for liquid crystal cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stably impart sealing pressure to a connector to be connected to a port formed on a level difference surface at the edge of a cell while preventing the damage to the cell. SOLUTION: The connector M has a first main body 10 (first supporting section) and a second main body 20 (second supporting section). The first main body 10 is provided with an air cylinder 10X for abutment (drive mechanism for abutment) and a piston 13 of this air cylinder 10X is provided with an abutment projection 14. (abutment member). The second main body 20 is provided with an air cylinder 20X for sealing (drive mechanism for abutment), a nozzle 30 and an elastic sealing member 40. After the edge of the cell C is inserted into a spacing 90 between the main bodies 10 and 20, the abutment member 14 is projected from the first main body 10 by the air cylinder 10X for abutment and is struck against the cell C. Next, the nozzle 30 and the elastic sealing member 40 are pressed to the first substrate 1 of the cell C by the air cylinder 20X for sealing to make the nozzle 30 communicate with ports 6 and 7 of the cell C and ports 6 and 7 are sealed by the elastic sealing member 40.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a connector device which is connected to an injection port or a suction port of a cell having a step formed on an edge when the cell is filled with liquid crystal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An injection port and a suction port are formed at an edge of a liquid crystal cell. A gap in the cell is vacuum-suctioned through a suction port, and liquid crystal is injected into the gap through an injection port. You. By the way, in some liquid crystal cells, the edges of two substrates constituting the liquid crystal cells are shifted to form a step, and a port is arranged in the step. As a connector device for such a stepped cell, for example, there is one described in JP-A-11-72797. The device includes a body (supporting portion), a nozzle provided in the body, and an elastic sealing member that forms an annular shape and surrounds the nozzle. The elastic seal member is slid in the axial direction of the nozzle by a sealing air cylinder. On the other hand, an air cylinder for holding is provided on the opposite side of the cell and the body and the nozzle. At the time of liquid crystal injection, the cell is pressed against the body with the holding air cylinder and fixed. In this state, the port of the cell is located near the tip of the nozzle. Next, an elastic sealing member is pressed around the port of the cell by a sealing air cylinder. This allows the port to be sealed while communicating with the nozzle. In this state, liquid crystal injection or suction is performed.

[0003]

In the conventional apparatus described in the above publication, the cell is pressed against the body by the holding cylinder, and if the pressing force is strong, the cell may be damaged. On the other hand, if the pressing force is weak, the cell cannot move against the sealing air cylinder, the cell moves, and the sealing pressure becomes unstable.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a connector device connected to a port formed on a step surface at an edge of a cell. A contact member provided with first and second support portions arranged in a row and (b) a contact surface, the contact member being provided on the first support portion so as to be movable in a direction facing the second support portion. (C) contacting in which the contact member is retracted in advance, and after the cell is inserted between the first and second support portions, the contact member is advanced toward the second support portion. Drive mechanism; (d) positioning means provided on the first support portion for determining the advance position of the contact member; and (e) the second support portion facing the contact surface. A nozzle whose tip is disposed close to the port of the cell in the inserted state; An elastic seal member surrounding the nozzle and movable in the opposite direction, and (g) the cell is inserted between the first and second support portions, and the contact member is disposed at the advance position. And a sealing drive mechanism for pressing the cell against the contact surface of the contact member while pressing the elastic seal member against the cell in the state to seal the port. .

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the contact drive mechanism is slidable in the cylinder chamber formed in the first support portion along the opposed direction. An air cylinder having a piston accommodated therein, wherein the contact member is integrally formed with the piston and protrudes from the piston, and the first support portion is provided with a stopper for locking the piston. A stopper is provided as the positioning means.

In a third aspect based on the first or second aspect, the sealing drive mechanism slides in the cylinder chamber formed in the second support portion along the facing direction. And an air cylinder having a piston housed therein so that the piston is in contact with the elastic seal member.

In a fourth aspect based on the third aspect, the nozzle is movable separately from the second support portion in the facing direction. And a piston of the driving mechanism is connected so as to be relatively displaceable by a predetermined distance along the facing direction by a connecting mechanism.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. First, the cell C will be described.
As shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9, the cell C has two first and second substrates 1 and 2 stacked on each other.
A gap 3 having a minute thickness (about 5 μm) is formed by interposing spacer beads (not shown) between the two. Each of the substrates 1 and 2 has a rectangular shape, and the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the first substrate 1 are larger than those of the second substrate 2.
Of the second substrate 2 extends outward from the periphery of the second substrate 2. The peripheral edge of the second substrate 2 and a portion inside the peripheral edge of the first substrate 1 are adhered by the adhesive 4. A step surface 5 is formed by the adhesive 4 and the edge surface of the second substrate 2. The adhesive 4 is interrupted at one edge of the second substrate 2, and the interrupted portion serves as an injection port 6.
Similarly, suction ports 7 are formed at the other end of the second substrate 2 at, for example, two places.

The connector device M will be described. Figure 1
As shown in FIG. 3, the connector device M includes a first main body 10 (first support portion) and a second main body 2 which face each other with a gap 90 therebetween.
0 (second support portion). 2 and FIG.
The axis extending in the opposing directions of 0 and 20 is denoted by reference symbol L.

The apparatus M is provided with one (one) to be connected to the injection port 6 and two (two) to be connected to the suction port 7 for one cell.
The main bodies 10 and 20 of each device M are moved by a moving mechanism (not shown) to a retracted position away from the cell C and an insertion position where the edge of the cell C is inserted into the gap 90 (see FIGS. 5 and 6). It is possible to move between. In FIG. 2, the tip of the gap 90, that is, the insertion port for the cell C is denoted by reference numeral 91.

The first body 10 includes an air cylinder 1 for contact.
0X (contact drive mechanism) is provided.
The X piston 13 is provided with a contact projection 14 (contact member). The second body 20 includes a sealing air cylinder 20X (seal driving mechanism) and the air cylinder 20X.
The nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 which are moved by X are provided. After the main bodies 10 and 20 are located at the insertion position, the contact protrusion 14 is projected from the first main body 10 by a predetermined amount by the contact air cylinder 10X and is applied to the cell C (see FIG. 5). Next, the sealing air cylinder 20X
The nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 are pushed by
The nozzle 30 communicates with the ports 6 and 7 of the cell C, and the elastic seal member 40 seals the ports 6 and 7 (see FIGS. 6 and 7). The details will be described below.

The first main body 10 includes a cylinder block 11 made of stainless steel and a plate 12 (positioning means, stopper) made of hard resin facing the gap 90. By covering the concave portion of the cylinder block 11 with the plate 12, the cylinder chamber 10a of the contact air cylinder 10X is formed. The piston 13 is accommodated in the cylinder chamber 10a so as to be slidable in the direction of the axis L. The abutment projection 14 is projected from the piston 13 integrally therewith. The distal end surface of the contact protrusion 14 constitutes the “contact surface” in the claims. The contact protrusion 14 is inserted into an insertion hole 12 a formed in the plate 12. The contact protrusion 14 and the insertion hole 12a are elongated in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cell C and the axis L (see FIG. 3).

The cylinder chamber 10a has a cylinder block 1
1 and an air passage 21a formed in a base block 21 of the second main body 20, which will be described later.
Is connected to an electromagnetic switching valve 52 having two positions and three ports. The electromagnetic switching valve 52 allows the air passage 21a,
11a and thus the cylinder chamber 10a
(A negative pressure source) and one of the compressor 51 (a positive pressure source).

That is, when the electromagnetic switching valve 52 is off,
The cylinder chamber 10a is communicated with the vacuum pump 50 to be evacuated, and the piston 13 abuts on the cylinder block 11, as shown in FIG. In this state, the contact protrusion 14 is located at a retracted position retracted into the insertion hole 12a.

When the electromagnetic switching valve 52 is on, the cylinder chamber 10a is communicated with the compressor 51, and the compressed air supplied to the cylinder chamber 10a pushes the piston 13 so as to hit the plate 12. (See FIG. 5). In this state, the contact protrusion 14 is located at a forward position where the contact protrusion 14 protrudes from the insertion hole 12a by the predetermined amount (0.1 mm).

The second main body 20 includes the cylinder block 1 described above.
A stainless steel base block 21 formed longer than one and a hard resin plate 22 are provided. The base end of the cylinder block 11 is connected to an intermediate portion in the longitudinal direction of the base block 21. The plate 22 is fixed to the base block 21, and the gap 90 is formed between the plate 22 and the plate 12. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, a step 22 b is formed on a surface of the plate 22 facing the gap 90. FIG.
As shown in FIG. 7, the step surface 5 of the cell C is applied to the step 22b. As shown in FIG. 2, the dimension D1 of the gap 90 on the tip side (the insertion port 91 side) of the step 22b is slightly larger than the thickness of the cell C, and the dimension D2 of the gap 90 on the back side of the step 22b is the first. It is slightly larger than the thickness of the substrate 1.

As shown in FIG. 2 and FIG.
Is formed with a receiving hole 22a penetrating in the direction of the axis S. The accommodation hole 22a is elongated in a direction perpendicular to the insertion direction of the cell C and the axis L. The accommodation hole 22a is formed so as to cut out the center of the step 22b, and the surface of the accommodation hole 22a on the insertion opening 91 side and the step 22b are located on the same plane.

The nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 are accommodated in the accommodation hole 22a so as to face the contact protrusion 14. The nozzle 30 has a pair of shoulders 30.
c, and has a substantially “convex” character plate shape. The nozzle 30 has a nozzle hole 30a formed along the axis L direction. The base end of the nozzle hole 30a is connected to a storage recess 23a and a communication hole 23b of the piston 23, a cylinder chamber 20a closer to the plate 22 than the piston 23, and a notch 22c of the plate 22 through a fluid passage of the base block 21. 21c. If the device M is to be connected to the injection port 6, this fluid passage 21c
Consequently, the nozzle hole 30a is connected to the liquid crystal tank 60 (liquid crystal supply source). Although not shown, when the apparatus M is to be connected to the suction port 7, the flow passage 21c and thus the nozzle hole 30a are connected to the same or a separate suction means as the vacuum pump 50.

At the tip end of the nozzle 30, a thin plate-shaped port connecting portion 31 projects toward the insertion port 91. The thickness of the port connection portion 31 is sufficiently smaller than the height of the step surface 5 of the cell C (see FIG. 7). Gap 9 of port connection part 31
A concave portion 31a is formed on the surface facing the zero. The tip end of the nozzle hole 30a faces the concave portion 31, and the insertion port 91 side of the concave portion 31a is the protruding end (port
Side). The depth of the concave portion 31a is substantially equal to the thickness of the gap 3 and the ports 6 and 7 of the cell C (shown exaggeratedly in the figure). In addition, the concave portion 31a is
The device M to be connected to the suction port 7 has a width substantially equal to the injection port 6, and the device M to be connected to the suction port 7 has a width substantially equal to the suction port 7.

The elastic seal member 40 is made of an elastically deformable fluorine-based rubber, soft plastic, or the like.
1 to form a flat annular shape. The nozzle 30 is inserted into the hole 41. A pair of shoulders 41 a is formed in the middle of the length of the hole 41 in the length direction, and the shoulders 41 a contact the shoulder 30 c of the nozzle 30. The front end face of the elastic seal member 40 facing the gap 90 is flush with the front end face of the nozzle 30. A cutout portion 42 into which the port connection portion 31 is fitted is formed on the distal end surface of the elastic seal member 40. The surfaces of the elastic seal member 40 and the port connection portion 31 on the insertion port 91 side are flush with each other.

As described above, the nozzle 30 and the elastic sealing member 40 are moved in the direction of the axis L along the receiving hole 22a of the plate 22 by the sealing air cylinder 20X. Air cylinder for sealing 2
0X includes a cylinder chamber 20a formed by covering the recess of the base block 21 with the plate 22, and a piston 23 slidably accommodated in the cylinder chamber 20a. The piston 23 has a smaller diameter and a smaller pressure receiving area than the piston 13 of the contact air cylinder 10X.

On the left end surface of the piston 23, a flat pressing projection 24 is provided. The pressing projection 24 is inserted into the receiving hole 22 a of the plate 22 and is brought into contact with the elastic seal member 40.

The piston 23 is formed with a housing recess 23a having a flat section and extending in the direction of the axis L. The storage recess 23 a is open at the tip end surface of the pressing projection 24. The base end of the nozzle 30 protruding from the elastic seal member 40 is inserted into the storage recess 23a. This nozzle 3
A long hole 30b extending in the direction of the axis L is formed at the base end of the 0, and the straight pin 25 (engaging portion) is inserted into the long hole 30b. Both ends of the straight pin 25 are fitted in a pair of circular holes 24 a formed in the pressing projection 24. The straight pin 25 is in contact with the inner edge of the elongated hole 30b.

The cylinder chamber 20a has a base block 21
Is connected to an electromagnetic switching valve 53 having two positions and three ports via an air passage 21b formed at the bottom. This electromagnetic switching valve 53
Thereby, the cylinder chamber 20a is selectively communicated with one of the vacuum pump 50 and the compressor 51.

That is, when the electromagnetic switching valve 53 is off,
The cylinder chamber 20a is communicated with the vacuum pump 50 to be evacuated, the piston 23 is retracted, and the base block 21
, And the nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 are located at the retracted position. The distal ends of the nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 at the retracted position are retracted into the accommodation hole 22a.

When the electromagnetic switching valve 53 is on, the cylinder chamber 20a is communicated with the compressor 51, and the piston 23 is pushed toward the plate 22 by the compressed air supplied to the cylinder chamber 20a (see FIG. 2). See FIG. 6). The elastic sealing member 40 is slid toward the first main body 10 by the pressing projection 24 of the piston 23, and the elastic sealing member 40 is attached to the shoulder 30 c of the nozzle 30.
And the port connection unit 31 presses the nozzle 3
0 is slid in the same direction. Furthermore,
In a state where the nozzle 30 hits the cell C inserted in the gap 90 and cannot slide, the straight pin 25 slides along the long hole 31a, and the elastic seal member 40 is compressed by the pressing projection 24. ing.

A method for filling the cell C with the liquid crystal by the connector device M configured as described above will be described. First, the operation of the connector device M to be connected to the injection port 6 will be described. As shown in FIG. 2, initially, the main body 10,
Reference numeral 20 is located at the retracted position. Further, the switching valve 52 is turned off, and the contact protrusion 14 is located at the retracted position.
The switching valve 53 is also turned off, and the nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 are located at the retracted positions.

From this state, the main body 1 is moved by the moving mechanism.
Move 0,20 so that the edge of cell C is inserted into gap 90. At this time, the contact protrusion 14 is
The cell C can be easily inserted without being hooked on the contact projection 14 because the cell C is retracted into the insertion hole 12a. When the step 22c of the plate 22 hits the step surface 5 of the cell C, the main bodies 10, 20 are positioned at the insertion position.

Next, the switching valve 52 is turned on. Thereby, as shown in FIG. 5, the piston 13 moves forward until it hits the plate 12, and the contact protrusion 14 hits the first substrate 1 of the cell C (positioned at the forward position).

Next, the switching valve 53 is turned on. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, the piston 23 advances, and the nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40
It is hit against the substrate 1. Thereby, the concave portion 31a of the nozzle 30 and the first substrate 1 cooperate to form a connection path 31a ', and this connection path 31a' is connected to the port 6.

The nozzle 30 is stopped when it hits the first substrate 1. On the other hand, the piston 23 further advances while the straight pin 25 slides along the long hole 31a of the nozzle 30. Thereby, the elastic sealing member 4
0 is compressed in the direction of the axis L, and the front end face is strongly pressed against the first substrate 1 to come into close contact therewith. Also, the elastic sealing member 4
0 is expanded in the direction perpendicular to the axis L with the above-mentioned compression, and is strongly pressed against the step surface 5 of the cell C and closely adhered thereto.
As a result, the connection path 30b 'and the port 6 can be sealed.

The cell C is pressed against the contact projection 14 by receiving a sealing pressure due to the compression of the elastic sealing member 40. At this time, due to the above-described relationship between the pressure receiving areas of the pistons 13 and 23, the piston 1 has a smaller force than the pressing force on the cell C.
The force with which 3 is pressed against plate 12 is greater.
Therefore, the piston 13 is not retracted, and the contact protrusion 14 maintains the forward position. Therefore, cell C also:
It is fixed in a state where it comes into contact with the contact protrusion 14 at the advanced position, and does not move. As a result, the sealing pressure is stabilized, and the connection path 3
1a 'and the port 6 can be reliably sealed. Moreover, since the cell C is fixed only by the sealing pressure, the cell C
Can be prevented from hurting.

The same operation as described above is performed for the connector device M to be connected to the suction port 7, and the connection path 31
a 'and port 7 are sealed. Then, in the gap 3 of the cell C, the nozzle hole 30a of the device M for the port 7
The air is sucked and exhausted by the suction means via a fluid path extending from the fluid path to the fluid passage 21c. After the inside of the gap 3 reaches a predetermined degree of vacuum, the suction operation is continued and the gap 3 is supplied from the liquid crystal tank 60 through the fluid path of the device M for the injection port 6.
Liquid crystal is injected into the inside. Since the ports 6 and 7 are securely sealed, the suction operation and the injection operation can be performed satisfactorily. Moreover, since the sealing pressure by the elastic sealing member 40 is applied to the first substrate 1 and the step surface 5,
The first and second substrates 1 and 2 are not brought close to each other by this sealing pressure. Therefore, the port 6 and the gap 3 are not narrowed. Therefore, suction and liquid crystal injection can be easily performed without increasing suction resistance and injection resistance.

After the cell C is filled with the liquid crystal, the switching valve 53
Is turned off, the nozzle 30 and the elastic seal member 40 are returned to the retracted position, and the switching valve 52 is turned off to return the contact projection 14 to the retracted position. Then, the apparatus M is returned to the retracted position by the moving mechanism.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can adopt various forms. For example, the first and second main bodies 1
0 and 20 may be integrated. The contact member may be separate from the piston of the contact air cylinder, and both may be connected by a cam mechanism. In this case, the piston is
The contact member is slid in a direction orthogonal to the opposing direction of 0 and 20, and the contact member is moved in the opposing direction via a cam mechanism or the like. The pressing projection 24 of the piston 23 and the elastic seal member 40 may be integrally connected by an adhesive or the like. A long hole may be formed in the piston 23, and the nozzle 30 may be provided with an engaging portion that engages with the long hole. The long hole may be a depression (concave groove).

As described above, in the first invention,
The cell can be prevented from being damaged, and the sealing pressure can be stably applied. In addition, the cell can be easily taken in and out between the first and second support portions by retracting the contact member. In the second invention, the device can be downsized by incorporating the contacting air cylinder in the first support portion. According to the third aspect, the size of the device can be reduced by incorporating the sealing air cylinder in the second support portion. In the fourth aspect, the piston of the sealing air cylinder can be advanced even after the nozzle has hit the cell to compress the elastic sealing member and apply the sealing pressure.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a view of a connector device according to an embodiment of the present invention when viewed from a first main body side in a retracted position.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the device taken along line II-II of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the device taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of a plate, a nozzle, an elastic seal member, a piston, and a straight pin of a second main body of the device.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the device in a state where a contact protrusion is at a forward position.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view showing the device with a port sealed.

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view showing the periphery of the port in the state of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view of the liquid crystal cell as viewed from a second substrate side.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 8;

[Explanation of symbols]

 C cell M Connector device 5 Step surface 6 Injection port 7 Suction port 10 First body (first support) 10X Contact air cylinder (Contact drive mechanism) 10a Cylinder chamber 12 Plate (positioning means, stopper) 13 Piston 14 contact protrusion (contact member) 20 second body (second support portion) 20X sealing air cylinder (seal driving mechanism) 20a cylinder chamber 23 piston 30 nozzle 40 elastic seal member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A connector device connected to a port formed on a step surface at an edge portion of a cell, comprising: (a) first and second support portions arranged opposite to each other; A contact member having a contact surface, the contact member being provided on the first support portion so as to be movable along a direction facing the second support portion, and (c) retreating the contact member in advance. The cell is the first or second cell.
A contact driving mechanism for moving the contact member forward toward the second support portion after being inserted between the support portions; and (d) provided at the first support portion, wherein the advancing position of the contact member is set. Positioning means for determining; and (e) a nozzle provided on the second support portion so as to face the contact surface, the tip of which is arranged so as to be close to the port of the inserted cell. (F) an elastic sealing member which surrounds the nozzle in an annular shape and is movable in the facing direction; and (g) the cell is inserted between the first and second support portions, and the contact member is moved forward. And a sealing drive mechanism for pressing the cell against the contact surface of the contact member while pressing the elastic seal member against the cell in the state where the cell is disposed. CONNECTOR FOR LIQUID CRYSTAL CELL Apparatus. 2. An air cylinder comprising: a cylinder chamber formed in the first support portion; and a piston slidably accommodated in the cylinder chamber along the facing direction. The contact member is formed integrally with the piston and protrudes from the piston, and the first support portion is provided with a stopper for locking the piston, and the stopper is provided as the positioning means. The connector device for a liquid crystal cell according to claim 1, wherein: 3. The seal driving mechanism comprises an air cylinder having a cylinder chamber formed in the second support portion and a piston slidably housed in the cylinder chamber along the facing direction. 3. The connector device for a liquid crystal cell according to claim 1, wherein the piston is in contact with the elastic seal member. 4. The nozzle according to claim 1, wherein the nozzle is separate from the second support portion and is movable in the facing direction. A base end of the nozzle and a piston of the sealing drive mechanism are connected to each other by a coupling mechanism. 4. The liquid crystal cell connector device according to claim 3, wherein the connector is connected so as to be relatively displaceable by a predetermined distance along the facing direction.