JP2006098872A - Liquid crystal injection method and device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal injection method and a liquid crystal injection device for improving the complication of process management of manufacture and maintenance and the increase of working space and working persons by the use of a pressing pretreatment device as the prestage device of the liquid crystal injection device, and preventing the useless process such as liquid crystal injection into the panel of unstable cell gap and the re-pressing pretreatment for the panel and the deterioration of yield at the final inspection. <P>SOLUTION: A valve 21 for pressing is disposed on an injection chamber 2, a cart C is conveyed into the injection chamber 2 of the liquid crystal injection device, thereafter, pressing gas is introduced into the injection chamber 2 via the valve 21 for pressing and the injection chamber 2 is pressurized until the pressure in the injection chamber 2 exceeds the atmospheric pressure to attain a positive pressure. Then the stabilization and the fixation of cell gap is performed in the injection chamber 2 and, thereafter, liquid crystal injection is subsequently performed. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal injecting apparatus for injecting a liquid crystal material into the liquid crystal panel during the production of the liquid crystal panel for displaying image information and character information on business or home electronic devices.

  Hereinafter, the configuration and operation of a conventional liquid crystal injection apparatus (see, for example, Patent Document 1 and Patent Document 2) will be described with reference to FIG. In FIG. 2A, reference numeral 2 denotes an injection chamber for injecting liquid crystal into the panel 5. A plurality of panels 5 are fixed on a panel base 6 having a structure detachable from the panel 5. In the figure, a state in which the panel 5 is mounted on the panel base 6 is shown. The panel 5 and the panel base 6 constitute a cart C. The liquid crystal dish U is a container having a dish-like liquid crystal reservoir 7 for holding a liquid liquid crystal material (not shown). As shown in FIG. 2B, the panel 5 includes two transparent left and right cells 14, a spacer 15, and a sealing frame 16. The sealing frame 16 is bonded to the end faces of the two cells 14, and the cells 14 and the sealing frame 16 form an airtight hollow box. However, a small opening (not shown) is provided in part on the bottom surface of the sealing frame 16 for exhaust and liquid crystal injection, and the opening is finally sealed after liquid crystal injection is completed. The spacer 15 is inserted between the two cells 14 in order to keep the distance between the cells (hereinafter abbreviated as a cell gap) constant. Hereinafter, the liquid crystal panel refers to a finished liquid crystal panel, and the panel or panel 5 refers to a liquid crystal panel that is being manufactured.

  The injection chamber 2 is provided with gate valves 8 and 9 on the left and right sides, and a leak valve 1 that is opened when leak gas is introduced. Further, the injection chamber 2 is connected to a vacuum exhaust system 13 through an exhaust valve 12. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is monitored by the pressure gauge 11. A heating chamber 3 is provided adjacent to the injection chamber 2 via a gate valve 9. A heater 4 is built in the heating chamber 3 for heating the panel 5 after the liquid crystal is injected, and a gate valve 10 is provided between the heating chamber 3 and the atmosphere side.

  When liquid crystal is injected into the panel 5 having a non-uniform cell gap, the thickness of the liquid crystal becomes non-uniform, resulting in display unevenness when the liquid crystal panel is used. In order to prevent this display unevenness, pressure treatment or press treatment using a separate device as a pre-process for liquid crystal injection (hereinafter, this treatment is collectively referred to as pre-pressure treatment, and the separate device is referred to as pre-pressure treatment). Called a processing device). In the pre-pressurization treatment, a force is applied to the interface between the cell 14 and the spacer 15 to improve the adhesion between them, and the cell gap is made constant and stabilized (for example, see Patent Document 3). After the panel 5 is filled with liquid liquid crystal, the reduction of the cell gap is prevented by the spacer 15 and the increase of the cell gap is prevented by the liquid crystal filling the cell 14, so that the cell gap after liquid crystal injection is stabilized. There is no need to make it.

  The panel 5 that has been subjected to the pre-pressurization process is transported to the liquid crystal injection device, and is arranged in a predetermined position outside the injection chamber 2 in the shape of the cart C. Next, the gate valve 8 is opened, and the cart C is horizontally moved to a predetermined location in the injection chamber 2 by a moving mechanism (not shown). At this time, the gate valve 9 is closed. Next, the liquid crystal dish U in which the liquid crystal material is put in the liquid crystal reservoir 7 is moved horizontally to a predetermined position in the injection chamber 2, then the gate valve 8 is closed, the exhaust valve 12 is opened, and the injection chamber 2 is evacuated. Exhaust at 13. After exhausting, the liquid crystal dish U is raised to a predetermined position below the cart C. Since the panel base 6 is provided with a notch for inserting the liquid crystal dish U from below, the lower part of the panel 5 is immersed in the liquid crystal material when the liquid crystal dish U rises. After completion of the immersion, the exhaust valve 12 is closed, the leak valve 1 is opened, and a leak gas such as dry nitrogen gas is gradually introduced into the injection chamber 2 so that the liquid crystal material can be discharged from the lower opening of the panel 5 in a vacuum state. It penetrates into the gap of panel 5. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is once increased to a positive pressure (on the basis of atmospheric pressure) and then returned to the atmospheric pressure. Next, the gate valve 9 is opened, and the cart C, which has been infiltrated with the liquid crystal material, moves to the heating chamber 3 together with the liquid crystal dish U, and a predetermined heat treatment is performed. Thereafter, the gate valve 10 is opened, and the cart C is taken out of the liquid crystal injection device together with the liquid crystal dish U.

  FIG. 3 shows the relationship between the pressure in the injection chamber 2 and the time after the exhaust valve 12 is opened. When the exhaust valve 12 is opened at time 0, the injection chamber 2 is connected to the vacuum exhaust system 13 and exhaust is started, the pressure in the injection chamber 2 gradually decreases. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 reaches a predetermined low pressure after being temporarily stagnant due to temporary moisture release from the liquid crystal material or the like. In order to exhaust the gas continuously discharged from the constituent materials in the injection chamber 2 including the cart C and the liquid crystal dish U, the liquid crystal dish U rises after the exhaust at the ultimate pressure is continued for a specified time. The lower part of the panel 5 is immersed in the liquid crystal material. Subsequently, the exhaust valve 12 is closed and the leak valve 1 is opened, the pressure in the injection chamber 2 gradually rises, liquid crystal injection into the panel 5 is started, and the liquid crystal material penetrates into the panel 5. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is once increased to a positive pressure on the basis of the atmospheric pressure and then returned to the atmospheric pressure, and liquid crystal injection into the panel 5 is completed.

JP 2002-207219 A (page 1-6) JP 2003-5200 A (page 1-4) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-5405 (pages 1-16)

  The structure of the conventional liquid crystal injection method (hereinafter abbreviated as “method”) and the liquid crystal injection device is as described above. However, this method and structure complicate the manufacturing equipment and manufacturing / maintenance process management of the liquid crystal panel. The number of personnel increases, wasteful processes are likely to occur, and the yield of liquid crystal panels also decreases. In other words, in order to prevent the non-uniformity of the cell gap of the liquid crystal panel, it is necessary to use a pre-pressurization apparatus as a pre-process for liquid crystal injection as described above. Since it is necessary to manage the process and the maintenance process separately, the process management becomes complicated, and the manufacturing place and the manufacturing personnel are increased by a plurality of apparatuses. The panel 5 after pre-pressurization is temporarily stored at atmospheric pressure until it is carried into the injection chamber 2 of the liquid crystal injection device. The temporary storage period varies for each production lot, and the temporary storage becomes long-term. In this case, the cell gap of the panel 5 may change again during the temporary storage period. Until the final product inspection, there is no means to detect a change in the cell gap after temporary storage, so in order to avoid the effects of the change when the temporary storage period is long, the presence or absence of the change cannot be confirmed. It is necessary to perform pre-pressurization pretreatment (hereinafter referred to as re-pressurization pretreatment) again. Therefore, in the conventional method, useless processes such as liquid crystal injection into the panel 5 having an unstable cell gap and re-pressurization pretreatment for the panel 5 to avoid it occur. The manufacturing process management and maintenance process management of each injection device are complicated, and the yield in the final inspection is also reduced. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal injection method and a liquid crystal injection device for solving such problems.

  The liquid crystal injection method provided by the present invention is a liquid crystal injection method in which liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal panel after the injection chamber containing the liquid crystal panel is evacuated, and then the pressure in the injection chamber is increased prior to the start of vacuum evacuation. A step of pressurizing to a pressure exceeding atmospheric pressure is provided. The liquid crystal injection device provided by the present invention is a liquid crystal injection device that injects liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel after the injection chamber containing the liquid crystal panel is evacuated, and before the start of vacuum evacuation, the pressure in the injection chamber There is provided a pressurizing means for pressurizing to a pressure exceeding atmospheric pressure.

  As an effect of the present invention, the cell gap is stabilized and stabilized by pressurizing the injection chamber to a positive pressure exceeding the atmospheric pressure, so that the conventional cell gap is stabilized and stabilized. This eliminates the need for installation of pre-pressurization equipment, which was necessary for the manufacturing process, simplifies manufacturing equipment, its manufacturing process, and maintenance process management. Wasteful processes such as liquid crystal injection into an unstable panel do not occur, the number of manufacturing locations and manufacturing personnel are reduced, and the yield in the final inspection is improved.

  Prior to the start of vacuum evacuation at the time of liquid crystal injection, the injection chamber is pressurized to a positive pressure exceeding the atmospheric pressure, and then evacuated to inject liquid crystal. Further, the liquid crystal injection apparatus is provided with a pressurizing means for the liquid crystal injection method.

  FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In FIG. 1A, reference numeral 2 denotes an injection chamber for injecting liquid crystal into the panel 5. A plurality of panels 5 are fixed on a panel base 6, and the panel 5 and the panel base 6 constitute a cart C. The liquid crystal dish U is a container having a dish-shaped liquid crystal reservoir 7 for holding a liquid crystal material. Gate valves 8 and 9 are provided on the left and right sides of the injection chamber 2, and a leak valve 1 that is opened when leak gas is introduced and a press valve 21 that is opened when press gas is introduced are connected. Further, the injection chamber 2 is connected to a vacuum exhaust system 13 through an exhaust valve 12. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is monitored by a pressure gauge 11. A heating chamber 3 is provided adjacent to the injection chamber 2 via a gate valve 9. A heater 4 is built in the heating chamber 3 for heating the panel 5, and a gate valve 10 is provided between the heating chamber 3 and the atmosphere side.

  The cart C is disposed at a predetermined position outside the injection chamber 2. Next, the gate valve 8 is opened and the cart C is moved horizontally to a predetermined location in the injection chamber 2. Thereafter, the gate valve 8 is closed, the press valve 21 is opened, the press gas is rapidly introduced into the injection chamber 2, and the injection chamber 2 is pressurized for a specified time. As the press gas, dry nitrogen gas or the like is used. Since the press gas flows into the panel 5 from a small opening on the bottom surface of the panel 5, the pressure rise in the panel 5 is delayed with respect to the pressure rise in the injection chamber 2, and this pressure difference causes the figure to rise. 2 (B), pressure is applied to the interface between the cell 14 and the spacer 15 from the outside of the cell 14 for a while after the press valve 21 is closed from the start of pressurization of the press gas. The degree of adhesion improves. That is, by introducing the press gas, the gap between the two cells 14 is made constant and stabilized, and the effect equivalent to the pre-pressurization process performed in the conventional apparatus can be obtained. After the specified time, the injection chamber 2 is returned to atmospheric pressure by opening the leak valve 1.

  Next, liquid crystal material is put into the liquid crystal reservoir 7, the gate valve 8 is opened, the liquid crystal dish U is moved horizontally to a predetermined position in the injection chamber 2, the gate valve 8 is closed, the exhaust valve 12 is opened, and injection is performed. The chamber 2 is evacuated by the evacuation system 13. After exhausting, the liquid crystal dish U is raised to a predetermined position below the cart C, and the lower part of the panel 5 is immersed in the liquid crystal material. After completion of the immersion, the exhaust valve 12 is closed, the leak valve 1 is opened, and a leak gas such as dry nitrogen gas is gradually introduced into the injection chamber 2 so that the liquid crystal material can be discharged from the lower opening of the panel 5 in a vacuum state. It penetrates into the gap of panel 5. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is once increased to a positive pressure (on the basis of atmospheric pressure) and then returned to the atmospheric pressure. Next, the gate valve 9 is opened, and the cart C, which has been infiltrated with the liquid crystal material, moves to the heating chamber 3 together with the liquid crystal dish U, and a predetermined heat treatment is performed. Thereafter, the gate valve 10 is opened, and the cart C is taken out of the liquid crystal injection device together with the liquid crystal dish U.

  FIG. 1B shows the relationship between the pressure in the injection chamber 2 and the time after the press valve 21 is opened. The press valve 21 is opened at time 0, the injection chamber 2 is pressurized with the press gas, and the pressurization / pressing process is started. The injection chamber 2 is returned to the atmospheric pressure after a separately specified time, the exhaust valve 12 is opened, the injection chamber 2 is connected to the vacuum exhaust system 13 and the exhaust is started, and the pressure in the injection chamber 2 gradually decreases. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 reaches a predetermined low pressure after being temporarily stagnated due to temporary moisture release from the liquid crystal material. After the exhaust at the ultimate pressure is continued for a predetermined time in order to exhaust the gas continuously discharged from the constituent materials in the injection chamber 2 including the cart C and the liquid crystal dish U, the liquid crystal dish U is raised. The lower part of the panel 5 is immersed in a liquid crystal material. Subsequently, the exhaust valve 12 is closed and the leak valve 1 is opened, the pressure in the injection chamber 2 gradually increases, and liquid crystal injection into the panel 5 is started. The pressure in the injection chamber 2 is once increased to a positive pressure on the basis of the atmospheric pressure and then returned to the atmospheric pressure, and liquid crystal injection into the panel 5 is completed.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modified embodiments can be given. For example, in FIG. 1A, the injection chamber 2 is returned to atmospheric pressure by opening the leak valve 1 after introducing the press gas, but a dedicated valve for returning to atmospheric pressure may be provided separately. Further, the structure of the liquid crystal injection device, the presence or absence of the heating chamber 3, and the like are not limited to the structure of FIG. The present invention is not limited to whether the operation of the apparatus is automatic or manual. The present invention includes all of these.

  The present invention can be applied to a liquid crystal injecting apparatus for injecting a liquid crystal material into the liquid crystal panel in the course of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel for displaying image information and text information on business or home electronic devices. it can.

(A) is a block diagram of the Example of this invention, (B) is the relationship between the pressure change of the injection | pouring chamber of the apparatus of this invention, and time. (A) is a block diagram of the conventional Example, (B) is a figure which shows the detailed structure of a panel. It is the relationship between the pressure change in the injection chamber of the conventional apparatus and time.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Leak valve 2 Injection chamber 3 Heating chamber 4 Heater 5 Panel 6 Panel stand 7 Liquid crystal reservoir 8 Gate valve 9 Gate valve 10 Gate valve 11 Pressure gauge 12 Exhaust valve 13 Vacuum exhaust system 14 Cell 15 Spacer 16 Sealing frame 21 Valve for press C Cart U Liquid crystal dish

Claims (2)

  In a liquid crystal injection method for injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel after evacuating the injection chamber containing the liquid crystal panel, a step of pressurizing the pressure in the injection chamber to a pressure exceeding atmospheric pressure is provided prior to the start of vacuum evacuation. A liquid crystal injection method characterized by the above.   In a liquid crystal injection apparatus for injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel after evacuating the injection chamber containing the liquid crystal panel, pressurizing means for pressurizing the pressure in the injection chamber to a pressure exceeding atmospheric pressure before starting the vacuum evacuation A liquid crystal injection device characterized by comprising:

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