JP2004212783A - Rubbing apparatus and rubbing roller used for the same, manufacturing method using the rubbing apparatus, and method for manufacturing liquid crystal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rubbing apparatus which can subject a surface of an alignment film formed on a substrate surface to rubbing treatment without transfer of a fatty acid amid component thereto during rubbing treatment and a rubbing roller used for the same. <P>SOLUTION: The rubbing apparatus for the substrate in an electro-optic device brings the rubbing roller whose peripheral surface is formed with rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant containing the fatty acid amid component and coated with a reinforcing material such, a resin, on its rear surface into contact with the alignment film formed on the substrate and subjects the alignment film to the rubbing treatment. The apparatus comprises performing the rubbing treatment by using the rubbing roller constituted by using the rubbing cloth containing the fatty acid amid component at ≤5% or preferably not containing the same. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO&NCIPI

Description

[0001]
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a rubbing device and a rubbing roller used for the rubbing device, and more particularly to a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed of a rubbing cloth.
[0002]
[Prior art]
As is well known, a liquid crystal device is configured such that liquid crystal is sealed between two substrates such as a glass substrate and a quartz substrate, and a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as a TFT) is provided on one of the substrates. ) Are arranged in a matrix, an opposing electrode is arranged on the other substrate, and the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer sealed between the two substrates are changed according to an image signal, thereby enabling image display.
[0003]
In addition, a TFT substrate on which a TFT is disposed and a counter substrate disposed opposite to the TFT substrate are manufactured separately, and both substrates are bonded with high precision in a panel assembling process and then filled with liquid crystal. It is supposed to be.
[0004]
In the panel assembling step, first, an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules along the substrate surface is formed on the surface of the TFT substrate and the counter substrate, which are manufactured in each substrate manufacturing step, in contact with the liquid crystal layer. This alignment film is formed, for example, by printing polyimide with a thickness of about several tens of nanometers. After that, baking is performed, and further, a rubbing treatment is performed to determine the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules when no voltage is applied. Next, the TFT substrate and the opposing substrate are opposed to each other, and a seal portion serving as an adhesive is provided on the periphery of one of the substrates. The TFT substrate and the opposing substrate are attached to each other using this seal portion, and pressure-bonded and cured while performing alignment. Then, a method of sealing the liquid crystal through a notch provided in a part of the seal portion is used.
[0005]
Here, the rubbing treatment is a process in which a rubbing roller, whose peripheral surface is formed by a rubbing cloth, is linearly moved while being in contact with the alignment film formed on the substrate surface while rotating, so that a fine groove is formed on the substrate alignment film surface. Is formed to make the alignment film anisotropically oriented. The rubbing treatment for forming a groove in a fixed direction in the alignment film in this manner can regulate the arrangement of the liquid crystal molecules.
[0006]
By the way, in the rubbing roller used for the rubbing treatment at the time of forming the alignment film, the rubbing cloth forming the rubbing roller peripheral surface is formed on the ground yarn 105 such as cupra fiber knitted in a lattice as shown in FIG. , An organic polymer 100 such as rayon, a lubricant 120 of a fatty acid amide (C ₁₈ H ₃₅ CONHCH ₂ OH) such as methylol or stearamide is applied to the woven cloth, and the back surface of the cloth is reinforced with an acrylic resin or the like. It is constituted by coating with an agent 110 (hereinafter, referred to as a back coat).
[0007]
By applying the slipper 120 such as the fatty acid amide to the woven cloth, the surface of the cloth is softened. During the rubbing treatment, when the rubbing roller contacts and moves on the substrate surface, the alignment film surface formed on the substrate surface is reduced. In addition, the occurrence of scratches due to the cross of the rollers is prevented. Further, the back surface reinforcing agent 110 prevents fraying of the cloth by back-coating the woven cloth.
[0008]
A rubbing device that performs a rubbing process by using a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed of a rubbing cloth is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-163,036.
[0009]
[Patent Document 1]
JP-A-5-289083
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In the rubbing roller used in the rubbing device disclosed in Patent Document 1, by applying a lubricant 120 containing a fatty acid amide component to the woven cloth, the surface of the rubbing cloth forming the peripheral surface of the rubbing roller is softened. When the rubbing roller contacts and moves on the substrate surface during the rubbing process, the alignment film formed on the substrate surface is prevented from being damaged by the cross of the roller.
[0011]
However, during the rubbing treatment, the rubbing roller contacts and moves on the substrate surface, so that the fatty acid amide component contained in the lubricant 120 is transferred to the substrate.
[0012]
This transcript is visually recognized at the time of display on the liquid crystal panel, which causes a problem of display abnormality.
[0013]
The present invention has been made in view of the above problem, and has as its object to provide a rubbing apparatus capable of performing a rubbing treatment without transferring a fatty acid amide component to an alignment film surface formed on a substrate surface during a rubbing treatment. And a rubbing roller used therefor.
[0014]
Means and Action for Solving the Problems
As one mode of the rubbing device according to the present invention, an electric rubbing process is performed in which a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed by a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant is brought into contact with an alignment film formed on a substrate. A rubbing device for a substrate in an optical device, wherein the lubricant has a fatty acid amide component content of 5% or less.
[0015]
Further, the rubbing device of the present invention is directed to a substrate in an electro-optical device that performs a rubbing process by bringing a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed of a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant into contact with an alignment film formed on the substrate. The rubbing device according to the above, wherein the lubricant does not contain a fatty acid amide component.
[0016]
ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to the rubbing apparatus of this invention, since the rubbing cloth which forms the rubbing roller peripheral surface does not contain preferably 5% or less of the fatty acid amide component, it is produced by the transfer of the fatty acid amide component to the substrate during the rubbing treatment. This has the effect that display defects of the substrate can be prevented.
[0017]
One aspect of the rubbing roller used in the rubbing device according to the present invention is a rubbing roller used in a rubbing device that performs a rubbing process on an alignment film formed on a substrate, and forms a peripheral surface of the rubbing roller. The rubbing cloth is formed by weaving a pile yarn on a ground yarn, and the woven cloth is characterized in that the content of the fatty acid amide component is 5% or less.
[0018]
Further, the rubbing device of the present invention is a rubbing roller used in a rubbing device for performing a rubbing process on an alignment film formed on a substrate, wherein a rubbing cloth forming a peripheral surface of the rubbing roller is formed by piled ground yarn. It is constituted by weaving yarn, and the woven cloth is characterized in that it does not contain a fatty acid amide component.
[0019]
Further, as a rubbing roller used in the rubbing device of the present invention, a raw yarn weaving step of weaving pile yarn into a ground yarn knitted in a lattice shape and a shearing step of cutting this woven cloth into a prescribed size. A refining process of performing a degreasing process and a decontamination cleaning process on the cut cloth, a drying process of drying the cloth, a finishing resin processing process of applying an amideless lubricant to the dried cloth, and a finishing resin process. And a rubbing cloth produced through the respective steps of raising the cloth after raising the cloth.
[0020]
According to the rubbing roller used in the rubbing device of the present invention, the rubbing cloth formed by weaving the pile yarn on the ground yarn preferably contains no fatty acid amide component of 5% or less. In the rubbing treatment, the display failure of the substrate caused by the transfer of the fatty acid amide component to the substrate can be prevented.
[0021]
The rubbing roller used in the rubbing device of the present invention is characterized in that the pile yarn is made of an organic polymer such as rayon, cotton, nylon and the like.
[0022]
According to this configuration, the rubbing effect can be increased by using an organic polymer such as rayon, cotton, or nylon for the pile yarn constituting the rubbing cloth, and the pile yarn has a fatty acid amide component of 5%. % Or less preferably has the effect of preventing display defects of the substrate caused by transfer of the amide component to the substrate during the rubbing treatment.
[0023]
Further, the production method using the rubbing device of the present invention is a production method using a rubbing device for performing a rubbing treatment by contacting an alignment film formed on a substrate, wherein a fatty acid amide component is contained. A step of applying a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant of 5% or less to a rubbing roller, and a step of rotating the rubbing roller to bring the rubbing cloth into contact with an alignment film formed on a substrate to perform a rubbing treatment. And having the following.
[0024]
Further, the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device including a step of performing a rubbing treatment by bringing the liquid crystal device into contact with an alignment film formed on a substrate, wherein the content of a fatty acid amide component is 5%. A rubbing process is performed by rotating a rubbing roller to which a rubbing cloth coated with the following lubricant is applied and bringing the rubbing cloth into contact with an alignment film formed on a substrate.
[0025]
BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a configuration of a main part of a rubbing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a manufacturing process of a rubbing cloth forming a peripheral surface of a rubbing roller. 3 and 4 are enlarged perspective views of a main part showing a part of the manufacturing process of the rubbing cloth.
[0026]
As shown in FIG. 1, a rubbing device 1 includes a rubbing roller 2 fixed to an upper surface of a base 4 (hereinafter, referred to as a reference plane), and a substrate 3 placed on the rubbing process and moved on the reference plane. The main part is constituted by a stage 5 to be moved and a guide 6 for moving the stage 5 on the reference plane so that the substrate 3 mounted on the stage 5 comes into contact with the rubbing roller 2.
[0027]
The rubbing roller 2 includes a roller portion 2a having a roller peripheral surface 2b formed of a rubbing cloth, and a roller rotating shaft 2c. The roller rotating shaft 2c is parallel to the reference plane by a pair of bearings 2d. It is rotatably supported on a flat surface. The pair of bearings 2d has a height adjustment mechanism (not shown) with respect to the reference plane, and can adjust the roller rotation shaft 2c to an arbitrary height with respect to the reference plane. The roller rotation shaft 2c is driven to rotate by a driving source (not shown). The rubbing roller 2 configured as described above rotates in one direction around the rotation shaft 2c supported by the bearing 2d and abuts on the alignment film formed on the surface of the substrate 3, and By forming fine grooves, the alignment film is made an alignment anisotropic film.
[0028]
Next, a method of manufacturing a rubbing cloth for forming the peripheral surface 2b of the roller portion 2a of the rubbing roller 2 used in the rubbing device 1 thus configured will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 2 and the perspective views of FIGS. Will be explained.
[0029]
First, as shown in FIG. 2, in the raw yarn (fiber) weaving step of step S1, lubricating oil such as wax is attached to the ground yarn composed of cupra fibers, and as shown in FIG. Is knitted in a lattice by the warp yarn 10 and the weft yarn 11, and the pile yarn 15 composed of an organic polymer such as rayon, cotton, nylon or the like is woven in a W shape on the ground yarn knitted in the lattice shape, and the cloth 20 is woven. . Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S2. In step S2, the cloth 20 is cut (sheared) to a prescribed size, and the process proceeds to step S3.
[0030]
In step S3, the cloth 20 cut to a prescribed size is subjected to a degreasing process for removing wax and the like adhered in the weaving process in step S1 and a refining process such as cleaning for removing other contaminants by a known technique. Then, the process proceeds to step S4. In step S4, the cloth 20 is dried, and the process proceeds to step S5.
[0031]
In step S5, as shown in FIG. 4, the cloth 20 subjected to the drying treatment in step S4 contains a known amideless lubricant 30 containing preferably no fatty acid amide component such as methylol or stearoamide of 5% or less. Finish resin processing applied by dipping is performed. As a result, since the cloth 20 preferably contains no fatty acid amide component of 5% or less, the rubbing roller 2 (see FIG. 1) having the roller portion 2a having the peripheral surface 2b formed by the rubbing cloth 20 is used. When performing the rubbing treatment, it is possible to prevent substrate contamination that occurs when the fatty acid amide component is transferred to the substrate. After performing the finishing resin processing, the process proceeds to step S6.
[0032]
In step S6, a raising process is performed on the pile yarn 15 such as rayon of the rubbing cloth 20 using a brush (not shown). By this processing, the rubbing cloth 20 is in a state in which the surface is raised with the pile yarn 15.
[0033]
Here, in the conventional cloth manufacturing process, the back of the cloth 20 after the raising process is back-coated with a reinforcing agent such as resin to prevent the cloth 20 from fraying.
[0034]
However, in the present embodiment, as shown in step S5 described above, the cloth 20 is coated with the amideless lubricant 30 that preferably does not contain 5% or less of fatty acid amide components such as methylol and stearamide. The cloth 20 itself is not sufficiently soft. As a result, the yarn is hardly frayed.
[0035]
Therefore, in the present embodiment, the back coating of the rubbing cloth 20 is not performed. By not curing the back surface of the cloth 20, the cloth 20 can be kept in a soft state without applying a lubricant containing a fatty acid amide component.
[0036]
Finally, in step S7, the rubbing cloth manufactured in the above-described steps S1 to S6 is inspected, and the content of the fatty acid amide component, the fraying of the cloth 20, and the like are checked. The content of the amide component is confirmed by a known GC / MS (Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry) analysis method using a gas chromatograph mass spectrometer. If the concentration of the amide component in the organic solvent is 5% or less, the amide component is added to the substrate. It is possible to prevent display defects of the substrate caused by the transfer.
[0037]
In this manner, an amideless cloth which does not contain a fatty acid amide component of preferably 5% or less, which forms the peripheral surface of the roller portion 2a of the rubbing roller 2 (see FIG. 1) used in the rubbing device 1, is produced. A peripheral surface 2b of a roller portion 2a of the rubbing roller 2 is formed.
[0038]
In the above embodiment, the pile yarn 15 constituting the rubbing cloth 20 is made of rayon, cotton, nylon or the like. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the rubbing effect is enhanced, and the rubbing treatment may damage the substrate 3. Of course, any organic polymer may be used, as long as it is not an organic polymer.
[0039]
In addition, although the component to be transferred to the substrate 3 in the conventional lubricant applied to the rubbing cloth 20 is a fatty acid amide such as methylol or stearamide, other fatty acid amide (for example, stearamide) may be used. Then, the amide component is transferred to the substrate surface. Therefore, the lubricant applied to the rubbing cloth 20 used in the rubbing roll of the present invention preferably does not contain any fatty acid amide component at 5% or less.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view showing a configuration of a main part of a rubbing device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of a rubbing cloth forming a peripheral surface of a rubbing roller;
FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the cloth showing a state in which pile yarn is woven on ground yarn in a cloth manufacturing process;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of the cloth showing a state in which a lubricant is applied to the cloth in a cloth manufacturing process;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged perspective view of a main part of a cloth showing an example of a conventional cloth manufacturing process.
[Explanation of symbols]
1 rubbing device 2 rubbing roller 2a rubbing roller peripheral surface 10 ground yarn (warp yarn)
11 ... ground yarn (weft)
20: Loving cloth

Claims (8)

A rubbing device for a substrate in an electro-optical device that performs a rubbing process by bringing a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed by a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant into contact with an alignment film formed on the substrate,
A rubbing device wherein the lubricant has a fatty acid amide component content of 5% or less. A rubbing device for a substrate in an electro-optical device that performs a rubbing process by bringing a rubbing roller having a peripheral surface formed by a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant into contact with an alignment film formed on the substrate,
A rubbing device, wherein the lubricant does not contain a fatty acid amide component. A rubbing roller used in a rubbing device that performs a rubbing process on an alignment film formed on a substrate,
The rubbing cloth forming the peripheral surface of the rubbing roller is formed by weaving a pile yarn on ground yarn, and the woven cloth has a fatty acid amide component content of 5% or less. A rubbing roller used for the device. A rubbing roller used in a rubbing device that performs a rubbing process on an alignment film formed on a substrate,
The rubbing cloth forming the peripheral surface of the rubbing roller is constituted by weaving pile yarn on ground yarn, and the woven cloth does not contain a fatty acid amide component. Rubbing roller used. The rubbing roller according to claim 2, wherein the pile yarn is made of an organic polymer such as rayon, cotton, and nylon. An original yarn weaving process in which pile yarns are woven into a lattice-like ground yarn and woven.
A shearing step of cutting the woven cloth into a prescribed size, a refining processing step of performing a degreasing treatment and a decontamination cleaning treatment on the cut cloth,
A drying step of drying the cloth,
A finishing resin processing step of applying an amideless lubricant to the dried cloth,
A rubbing roller configured by using a rubbing cloth produced through each of the following steps: a raising step of raising the finished cloth. A manufacturing method using a rubbing device for performing a rubbing process by contacting an alignment film formed on a substrate,
Attaching a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant having a fatty acid amide component content of 5% or less to a rubbing roller;
Rotating the rubbing roller, contacting the rubbing cloth with the alignment film formed on the substrate, and performing a rubbing process;
A manufacturing method using a rubbing device, comprising: A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: a step of performing a rubbing process by contacting an alignment film formed on a substrate,
A rubbing treatment is performed by rotating a rubbing roller to which a rubbing cloth coated with a lubricant having a fatty acid amide content of 5% or less is applied, and bringing the rubbing cloth into contact with an alignment film formed on a substrate. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising:

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