JP2002311441A - Fluid material sealing element and its manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a fluid material sealing element to optimally control the drop quantity of a fluid material while making good use of advantages of dropping technique. SOLUTION: The manufacturing method of the fluid material sealing element is constituted so that prescribed quantity of the fluid material is ejected on a prescribed area of the substrate by forming a seal pattern to define a cell on the surface of one of a pair of substrates 11, sticking the seal pattern and the fluid material layer by sticking them together at mutually prescribed interval by directing them inside after forming a fluid material layer on the surface of one substrate or the other substrate, hardening the seal pattern and making good use of a head to eject particles of the fluid material from a minute hole provided in a space into which the fluid material is filled when the fluid material layer is formed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid material sealing element such as a liquid crystal element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as such a fluid material sealing element, a liquid crystal element is composed of, for example, two glass substrates,
It is manufactured by injecting a liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell whose peripheral edge is sealed with a sealant, for example, by a capillary method, a vacuum injection method, a dropping method, or the like.

Here, in the above-mentioned capillary method, as shown in FIG. 6, a liquid crystal 4 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1 by a dispenser 3 from an injection hole 2a provided in a sealant 2 of the liquid crystal cell 1. Has become. In this case, the sealant 2 of the liquid crystal cell 1 is provided with a relief hole 2b on the side opposite to the injection hole 2a, and when the liquid crystal 4 is injected, air in the liquid crystal cell 1 is released from the escape hole 2b. It comes out.

In the vacuum injection method, as shown in FIG. 7, a liquid crystal cell 1 and a liquid crystal tank 5 for storing a liquid crystal 4 are housed in a vacuum tank 6, and after evacuating, the liquid crystal cell 1 7 is brought into contact with the surface of the liquid crystal 4 in the liquid crystal tank 5 (FIG. 7).
(A), and then the inside of the vacuum chamber 6 is returned to the atmospheric pressure by opening to the atmosphere, and as shown in FIG. 7B, the liquid crystal is changed based on the pressure difference between the atmospheric pressure in the liquid crystal cell 1 and the atmospheric pressure. 4 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1. In this case, the liquid crystal cell 1 has only the injection hole 2a and does not have the escape hole 2b.

[0005] On the other hand, in the dropping method, as shown in FIG.
A liquid crystal 4 is dropped by a dispenser 3 on the inside of the sealant 2 on the glass substrate 1a (see FIG. 8A). 8 (B), the other glass substrate 1b is placed and pressure-bonded, and finally, as shown in FIG.
Is to be cured.

[0006]

However, the above-described method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element has the following problems.

In the capillary method, bubbles are likely to remain in the liquid crystal cell 1 when the liquid crystal 4 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 1, and the remaining bubbles will not function as a liquid crystal element. In addition, in the vacuum injection method, when the size of the liquid crystal element is increased, the time required for exhausting the liquid crystal cell 1 and injecting the liquid crystal becomes longer, so that the production efficiency of the liquid crystal element decreases. Further, in both the capillary method and the vacuum injection method, since the injection hole 2a (and the escape hole 2b) is provided in the sealant 2 of the liquid crystal cell 1, after the liquid crystal injection,
It is necessary to cover these injection holes 2a and escape holes 2b, and the number of steps increases.

On the other hand, in the dropping method, the number of steps is small because the sealant 2 has no injection hole 2a.
If the amount of the liquid crystal 4 dropped is excessive, the liquid crystal 4 flows out of the region defined by the sealant 2 and damages the sealant 2. If the drop amount is insufficient, an unfilled area of the liquid crystal 4 will be generated in the area defined by the sealant 2, and the unfilled area will not function as a liquid crystal element. . A similar problem also occurs when the amount of liquid crystal 4 dropped per unit area is too large or too small.

For this reason, in the dropping method, the dispenser 3 is used in order to strictly control the amount of the liquid crystal 4 dropped on the area inside the sealant 2 of the liquid crystal cell 1, but a commercially available dispenser 3 is used. In addition, since the step of the discharge amount is large, it is not suitable for precise control of the drop amount of the liquid crystal 4, and the minimum discharge amount is relatively large. Therefore, it is difficult to adopt the dropping method particularly when manufacturing a small liquid crystal cell 1 having a size of less than 1 inch square.

Further, such a problem is caused not only by a liquid crystal element, but also by a liquid material seal formed by sealing a liquid material between two substrates such as an electrophoretic display and an electrochromic element. It also occurs in a stop element or in an element using a material that is a fluid substance at the time of fabrication and becomes a solid substance when actually used.

In view of the above, the present invention provides a method for manufacturing a flowable material sealing element, which makes it possible to optimally control the dropping amount of a flowable material while taking advantage of the dropping method. It is an object.

[0012]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for forming a seal pattern defining a cell on a surface of one of a pair of substrates;
A step of forming a fluid material layer on the surface of the one substrate or the other substrate, and a bonding step of laminating the pair of substrates at a predetermined interval with the seal pattern and the fluid material layer inside. And a curing step of curing the seal pattern, wherein the step of forming the flowable material layer includes injecting particles of the flowable material from micro holes provided in the space filled with the flowable material. This is achieved by a method of manufacturing a fluid material sealing element, which comprises injecting a predetermined amount of a fluid material into a predetermined region of a substrate using a head.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the fluid substance is dropped onto the cell defined by the seal pattern in a predetermined amount on a predetermined area of the substrate by a so-called ink jet method or bubble jet method. Therefore, since the amount of the fluid substance to be dropped can be strictly controlled, it is particularly suitable for the production of a small liquid crystal cell. In addition, since there is no excess or deficiency of the drop amount per unit area, the uniformity of the whole cell can be improved. Thereby, even in the case of a large cell, an unfilled region of the flowable substance does not occur, and the dripping time of the flowable substance is greatly reduced, so that the manufacturing time can be reduced. Become. In particular, when a high-viscosity liquid crystal such as FLC, VA-LCD, PD-LC or the like is used, the dripping time can be greatly reduced and the device manufacturing time can be significantly reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the step of forming the fluid material layer is performed by an ink jet printer head. According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the configuration of the first aspect, the step of forming the fluid material layer is performed by a bubble jet printer head. According to the configuration of claim 2 or 3, since the fluid material layer is formed by the ink jet type or bubble jet type printer head, the drop amount of the fluid material layer can be easily and strictly controlled. .

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the seal pattern is made of a photocurable sealant, and in the curing step, the seal pattern is irradiated with light. It is characterized by being cured.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to third aspects, the seal pattern is made of a thermosetting sealant, and the seal pattern is cured by a heat treatment in the curing step. It is characterized by the following. According to the configuration of claim 4 or 5, the seal pattern can be easily cured by light irradiation or heat treatment in the curing step.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to fifth aspects, the fluid substance has a liquid crystal property. The invention of claim 7 provides the invention according to claims 1 to 5
In any one of the above structures, the fluid substance is a dielectric fluid. The invention according to claim 8 is the method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the fluid substance is:
It is characterized by containing particles. According to the configuration of claims 6 to 8, the fluid substance has a liquid crystal property or is a dielectric fluid, and further contains particles, so that the liquid substance is used as a fluid substance sealing element. , An electrophoretic display, an electrochromic device, and the like. According to the configuration of the ninth aspect, for example, a solid substance sealing element such as an organic semiconductor element is a fluid substance (for example, a monomer or an oligomer) in a manufacturing stage, and is cured by heat, light, or the like. It is also effective in the production of devices using a substance that solidifies due to phase transition due to, for example, polymer or oligomerization) or temperature.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to ninth aspects, the bonding step is performed in a vacuum. According to an eleventh aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to tenth aspects, the substrate is flexible, and the bonding step is performed by a laminating method. According to the configuration of the tenth or eleventh aspect, air bubbles do not enter the cells defined by the substrate when the substrates are bonded.

A twelfth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the fluid substance is ejected with a volatile fluid added thereto. According to a thirteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to twelfth aspects, the fluid substance is injected in a heated state. According to the twelfth or thirteenth aspect, the viscosity of the fluid substance is reduced, so that the injection can be easily performed.

According to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, the vicinity of an ejection port of the head for ejecting the fluid material is subjected to an orientation treatment. According to the configuration of claim 14, when the fluid substance is a liquid crystal, the alignment process enables the ejection to be performed smoothly.

A fifteenth aspect of the present invention is characterized in that the fluid material sealing element is manufactured by any one of the first to fourteenth aspects. According to the configuration of the fifteenth aspect, compared to the conventional dropping method, by using the ink jet method or the bubble jet method, the drop of the fluid substance into the cell of the fluid substance sealing element is excessive or insufficient. Instead, it is carried out with an optimum dropping amount and an appropriate dropping amount per unit area. Therefore, in a small or large element, a cell having a uniform thickness can be formed, and dripping time can be greatly reduced as compared with the conventional capillary method or vacuum injection method.

As described above, according to the present invention, particles of a fluid substance are ejected into the inside of a seal pattern defining a cell by using an ink jet type or bubble jet type printer head. A predetermined amount of the fluid material layer can be formed in a predetermined region of the substrate. Therefore, in the same manner as the conventional dripping method, by using a seal pattern without an injection hole, the sealing of the injection hole becomes unnecessary, and the dripping of the fluid substance into the inner region of the seal pattern is strictly controlled. So that you can
There is no excess or deficiency in the flow rate of the flowable substance, and the optimum flow rate of the flowable substance can be obtained, especially for small cells, and even for large cells, Thus, a large drop amount can be obtained. Thus, the formation of the fluid material layer is performed easily, accurately, and in a short time, so that the fluid material sealing element can be manufactured easily and in a short time.

[0022]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a case where an embodiment of the present invention is applied to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element will be described. In one embodiment of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention, a liquid crystal element can be manufactured as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

First, in step 1, a sealing agent to which a GC agent (spacer) having a particle size corresponding to the gap of a liquid crystal cell is added is applied to the surface of one of the pair of glass substrates. Then, a seal pattern made of a thermosetting sealant is formed so as to surround the outer periphery of the liquid crystal cell. Then, in step 2, liquid crystal is dropped on the inner region of the seal pattern. In this case, the drop of the liquid crystal is
As will be described in detail later, by using a dropping device 10 using an inkjet printer head shown in FIG.
This is performed by an inkjet method.

Then, in step 3, the two substrates are placed facing each other and overlapped with each other, and in step 4, the seal pattern is cured by performing a heat treatment while being pressed by a pressing process. Thus, the liquid crystal cell defined by the seal pattern is completed.

FIG. 2 shows the configuration of the dropping device. In FIG. 2, the dropping device 10 includes a transport unit 12 for a glass substrate 11 and a liquid crystal emitting unit 20. The transport unit 12 is provided with a lower glass substrate transport roller 1.
3 and an upper glass substrate clamping roller 14. The glass substrate transport roller 13 and the glass substrate clamping roller 14 allow the glass substrate 1 to be positioned from above and below.
The glass substrate 11 is conveyed in the y direction in FIG. 2 by holding the glass substrate 11 and rotating the glass substrate conveying roller 13 by driving means (not shown).

In the case of the drawing, the injection section 20 is composed of a printer head 21 of an ink jet system having a known configuration, and the printer head 21 is arranged in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the transport direction y of the glass substrate 11 described above. It is movably supported by x.

Here, the printer head 21 has a tank having micro holes filled with liquid crystal. Vibration is applied to this tank by, for example, a piezo element, an ultrasonic motor, a linear motor, or the like. Alternatively, the liquid crystal is ejected from the minute holes by applying pressure to the inside of the tank. Here, the liquid crystal in the tank is desirably subjected to a defoaming process in advance. still,
The printer head 21 heats the liquid crystal or a mixture of the liquid crystal and the low-viscosity volatile liquid in the tank to expand or expand the substance.
It may be configured as a so-called bubble jet method in which liquid crystal is ejected from micro holes by foaming. In addition, the liquid crystal can be emitted under a desired pressure such as in a vacuum, under reduced pressure, at atmospheric pressure, or under pressure.

Thus, as shown in FIG. 3, the emission unit 20 is moved and adjusted in the x direction with respect to the glass substrate 11 transported in the y direction by the transport unit 12, so that the The liquid crystal 15 can be emitted to a predetermined position. Here, the amount of liquid crystal to be ejected is determined by the diameter of the microhole in the tank, the vibration at the time of ejection, the energy or heat of pressure, and the number of times of ejection.
As in the case of adjusting the print density in printing with one ordinary ink, it can be appropriately controlled.

Further, the glass substrate 11 and the emission section 20
Since the glass substrate 11 may be relatively moved, the glass substrate 11 may be placed on, for example, a movable stage 16a of an xy table 16 as shown in FIG.
One or one of the injection units 20 may be fixedly arranged, and the other may be movable. These glass substrates 11
The relative position of the light and the emission unit 20 and the amount of liquid crystal emitted from the printer head 21 are determined by, for example, a personal computer or the like in the same manner as in a normal inkjet printer.
It can be controlled by an electric signal, an optical signal, or the like.

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention, the liquid crystal is dropped using an ink jet printer head in the area inside the seal pattern of one of the glass substrates constituting the liquid crystal cell. It is done. As a result, the liquid crystal is dropped by a predetermined amount in a predetermined region on the surface of the glass substrate, and the drop amount per unit area is made uniform.

In order to facilitate the ejection of the liquid crystal by the printer head 21, a heat retaining device may be provided in the liquid crystal tank to reduce the viscosity of the liquid crystal, or a surface treatment may be provided near the liquid crystal emission port of the printer head 21. Or electric field
Liquid crystal alignment control means using a magnetic field or light may be provided, or a low-viscosity volatile fluid may be added to the liquid crystal.

Next, a first specific example of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention will be described. First, a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.4 mm (one of the glass substrates) was coated with a photocurable sealant TB3025G of Three Bond Co., Ltd. as a sealant.
A 2 mm square seal pattern is formed. Then, a liquid crystal for STN (having a viscosity of 17.89 mP) is applied to the inner region of the seal pattern by using an MJ-800 type ink jet printer manufactured by Epson Corporation as the dropping device 10.
aS / 20 ° C) was added dropwise.

[0033] After that, standing the glass substrate in a vacuum, in a state sandwiching the liquid crystal, and placing the other glass substrate, while pressurized at 1.0 kgf / cm ^2, UV (3
000cm ² / 365nm) is irradiated with, to cure the sealing agent. It is desirable that the glass substrates be superimposed in a vacuum state in order to prevent air bubbles.However, for example, the superposition is performed sequentially from one side so that air bubbles are prevented from being mixed in the air. You may. When the glass substrate is flexible such as plastic, the lamination may be performed using a laminator or the like. As a result, a liquid crystal element having a cell thickness of 10 μm was obtained. In this case, the liquid crystal is dropped with high precision on the order of 10 μm, for example, as shown in FIG.

Next, a second specific example of the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention will be described. First, as a sealant, a film substrate (one glass substrate) having a thickness of 0.1 mm was used as a sealant.
50 to ThreeBond's photocurable sealant TB3025G
A seal pattern is formed by dispersing about 3 to 5% by weight of a GC material having a particle size of μm. Using the same ink jet printer as in the first embodiment described above, a dielectric fluid (here, Isopar L) in which particles having a particle size of 0.5 to 10 μm are dispersed by about 10% by weight is applied to the inner region of the seal pattern. Then, a particle migration type element having a cell thickness of 50 μm was obtained.

In this case, it is possible to use a mineral oil such as Isopar, an aromatic such as benzene, dodecylbenzene, acetone or toluene, or a silicone oil as the dielectric fluid. Alternatively, only the dielectric fluid may be dropped by an ink jet printer, and the particles may be separately disposed on the glass substrate by spraying or the like. The particles may be about 0.1 to 30 μm, and a plurality of types of particles having different colors, shapes, sizes, etc. may be arranged on the glass substrate a plurality of times.

In the above embodiment and specific examples,
Although the ink jet printer head 21 is used as the ejection unit 20 of the dropping device 10, it is apparent that the invention is not limited thereto, and a bubble jet printer head may be used. In the above-described embodiments and specific examples, the liquid crystal or the dielectric fluid is dropped as a fluid substance on one glass substrate or the film substrate on which the seal pattern is formed. Instead, the seal pattern may be formed after the fluid substance is dropped.

Further, in the above-described embodiments and specific examples, liquid crystal or a dielectric fluid is dropped as a fluid substance on one glass substrate or film substrate on which a seal pattern is formed. The invention is not limited thereto, and the fluid substance may be dropped on the second glass substrate or the film substrate.

Further, in the above-described embodiments and specific examples, the sealant constituting the seal pattern is made of a thermosetting material and is cured by heat treatment. A curable sealant may be used, in which case, instead of heat treatment,
By irradiating the light, the sealant is cured.

The liquid crystal device manufactured according to the present invention can be used for, for example, liquid crystal displays in general, especially small liquid crystal displays, writing light sources for instant films and photographic papers, optical pickups, apertures and shutters for cameras, and liquid crystal lights for laser printers. Shutter, liquid crystal lens, liquid crystal optical head,
All products with a liquid crystal sensor and the like are eligible. Further, the fluid material sealing device manufactured according to the present invention is intended for all devices manufactured by sealing a fluid material other than liquid crystal between substrates, such as electronic paper displays, shutters, lenses, and sensors. .

[0040]

As described above, according to the method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element according to the present invention, the so-called ink jet method or bubble jet method is used to drop a fluid material onto cells defined by a seal pattern. By
This is performed in a predetermined amount on a predetermined area of the substrate. Therefore, since the amount of the fluid substance to be dropped can be strictly controlled, it is particularly suitable for the production of a small liquid crystal cell. In addition, since there is no excess or deficiency of the drop amount per unit area, the uniformity of the whole cell can be improved. Thereby, even in the case of a large cell, an unfilled region of the flowable substance does not occur, and the dripping time of the flowable substance is greatly reduced, so that the manufacturing time can be reduced. Become. Thus, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an extremely excellent method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element, which makes it possible to optimally control the amount of fluid material to be dropped while taking advantage of the dripping method. You will get.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flowchart showing each step in one embodiment of a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration example of a dropping device used in a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal element according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view showing an operation state of the dropping device of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing another configuration example of the transport unit in the dropping device of FIG.

FIG. 5 is a partially enlarged plan view showing, in an enlarged manner, a state of dropping liquid crystal by the dropping device of FIG. 1; (Photo of liquid crystal glass substrate ejected by inkjet printer head)

FIG. 6 is a schematic perspective view showing liquid crystal injection by a conventional capillary method.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing liquid crystal injection by a conventional vacuum injection method.

FIG. 8 is a schematic perspective view showing liquid crystal injection by a conventional dropping method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Dropping apparatus 11 Glass substrate 12 Conveying part 13 Glass substrate conveying roller 14 Glass substrate clamping roller 15 Liquid crystal 16 xy table 16a xy stage 20 Injection part 21 Ink jet printer head

Continued on the front page F term (reference) 2H089 HA04 LA21 NA13 NA24 NA31 NA32 NA33 NA35 NA44 NA49 NA53 NA58 NA60 QA11 QA12 QA13 5G435 AA17 BB12 EE09 EE10 KK02 KK05 KK10

Claims (15)

[Claims] 1. A step of forming a seal pattern defining a cell on a surface of one of a pair of substrates, and forming a fluid material layer on a surface of the one substrate or the other substrate. A step of laminating the pair of substrates with each other at a predetermined interval with the seal pattern and the fluid material layer inside, and a curing step of curing the seal pattern. In the step of forming the material layer, a predetermined amount of the flowable material is injected into a predetermined region of the substrate by using a head that injects particles of the flowable material from micro holes provided in the space filled with the flowable material. A method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of forming the fluid material layer is performed by an ink jet printer head. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of forming the fluid material layer is performed by a bubble jet (registered trademark) type printer head. 4. The seal pattern according to claim 1, wherein the seal pattern is made of a photocurable sealant, and the seal pattern is cured by light irradiation in the curing step. 3. The method for producing a fluid material sealing element according to item 1. 5. The seal pattern according to claim 1, wherein the seal pattern is made of a thermosetting sealant, and the seal pattern is cured by a heat treatment in the curing step. 3. The method for producing a fluid material sealing element according to item 1. 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid substance has a liquid crystal property. 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the fluid substance is a dielectric fluid. 8. The method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element according to claim 1, wherein the fluid material contains particles. 9. The element for sealing a fluid material according to claim 1, wherein the fluid material represents a state at a production stage, and is a material which is solidified by a curing step or a phase transition. Manufacturing method. 10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the attaching step is performed in a vacuum. 11. The method according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is flexible, and the bonding step is performed by a laminating method. . 12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the flowable substance is injected with a volatile fluid added thereto.
12. The method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element according to any one of items 1 to 11. 13. The method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element according to claim 1, wherein the fluid material is injected while being heated. 14. The method for manufacturing a fluid material sealing element according to claim 1, wherein the vicinity of an ejection port of the head for ejecting the fluid material is subjected to an orientation treatment. . 15. A fluid material sealing element manufactured by the method according to claim 1. Description: