JP2006350052A - Manufacturing method for liquid crystal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve manufacture efficiency by shortening the drawing time of a sealant. <P>SOLUTION: A manufacturing method includes a stage of forming the sealant 80 on at least one of a pair of large-sized substrates 10', a stage of sticking the large-sized substrates together across the sealant 80, and a stage of cutting the stuck large-sized substrates into individual liquid crystal device units. The sealant 80 includes panel sealants 52 for holding the liquid crystal in the individual liquid crystal device units and outer peripheral sealants 70 surrounding a plurality of panel sealants 52 nearby the outer periphery of the large-sized substrates 10' additionally to in the individual liquid crystal device units, and all or some of the plurality of panel sealants 52 and some or all of the outer peripheral sealants 70 are connected together through first connection parts 59 to be formed into one continuous seal pattern. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device.

  In general, a liquid crystal device has a configuration in which a pair of opposing substrates are attached to each other at a peripheral portion of each substrate via a sealing material, and liquid crystal is sealed in a space surrounded by the pair of substrates and the sealing material. . As a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device, a method of injecting liquid crystal between substrates using a technique such as a vacuum injection method after an empty panel is manufactured by bonding two substrates has been conventionally used ( For example, Patent Document 1). On the other hand, in recent years, a method of dropping a liquid crystal on at least one substrate and then bonding the other substrate so as to sandwich the liquid crystal has been adopted (hereinafter, this method is referred to as this method). Is called “liquid crystal dropping method” for convenience).

  In this liquid crystal dropping method, the bonding of the substrates with the sealing material and the filling of the liquid crystal between the substrates are performed at the same time, so that unlike the conventional vacuum injection method, the sealing material is closed without a liquid crystal injection port. It is formed in a frame shape. Further, in order to prevent the gap from spreading after the substrates are bonded together, another frame-shaped sealing material (outer peripheral sealing material) surrounding the sealing material is formed on the outer peripheral side of the sealing material. This outer peripheral sealing material forms a closed frame-shaped vacuum region together with the inner sealing material (panel sealing material). With this vacuum region, the portion where the panel sealing material is formed is constantly pressurized at atmospheric pressure. can do.

On the other hand, as a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, a method called “multiple-chamfering” in which a plurality of liquid crystal devices are manufactured collectively using a large glass substrate is employed. In this method, a plurality of panel sealing materials are formed on a single large substrate, bonded to another large substrate through the panel sealing material, and then cut into individual liquid crystal device units. When the liquid crystal dropping method is used, the panel sealing material is formed in order for each liquid crystal device unit, and further, on the outer peripheral side thereof, a closed frame-shaped outer periphery is provided so as to surround the plurality of panel sealing materials. A sealing material is formed.
JP-A-5-119325

  However, in the above method, since the individual panel sealing material and the outer peripheral sealing material are sequentially formed, it takes a lot of time to form all the sealing materials, and in particular, the number of panel regions has increased. Cause problems. For example, in the case of forming one seal pattern, first, a process of optimizing the distance between the nozzle and the substrate is required. If it is going to form this seal pattern, it will take tens of minutes.

  Further, in the liquid crystal dropping method, since the panel sealing material is formed in a closed frame shape, the discharge start point and the discharge end point of the dispenser need to overlap each other. The thickness of the sealing material at the portion becomes thicker than other portions, and the gap is not sufficiently uniformed when the substrates are bonded together. In addition, when the seal material is crushed, the width of the seal material at that portion becomes large, so when forming a plurality of seal patterns on a large substrate, there is a dummy space between the adjacent seal patterns. It is necessary to provide.

  SUMMARY An advantage of some aspects of the invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device capable of reducing the drawing time of a sealing material and improving the manufacturing efficiency.

In order to solve the above problems, a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal device of the present invention is a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and a plurality of liquid crystal devices are simultaneously provided on the pair of substrates. Using a pair of manufacturable large substrates, a step of forming a sealing material on at least one of the pair of large substrates, a step of bonding the pair of large substrates through the sealing material, and the pair of bonded substrates Cutting the large substrate into individual liquid crystal device units, and the sealing material is separate from the panel seal material for sandwiching the liquid crystal for each individual liquid crystal device unit, and the individual liquid crystal device units. A peripheral sealing material surrounding the plurality of panel sealing materials in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the one large substrate, and a part or all of the plurality of panel sealing materials and a part or all of the peripheral sealing material are first. of Characterized by connecting via the connection portion.
According to this method, a part or the whole of the outer peripheral sealing material and a part or the whole of the panel sealing material are formed as a continuous continuous sealing pattern, so that the process is simplified as compared with the case of forming them separately. Can be

In the present invention, it is preferable that the sealing material includes a second connecting portion that connects the plurality of panel sealing materials to each other, and the plurality of panel sealing materials are connected via the second connecting portion.
According to this method, since a plurality of panel sealing materials are formed as a continuous continuous sealing pattern, the process can be further simplified.

In the present invention, it is desirable that a part or all of the plurality of panel sealing materials and a part or all of the outer peripheral sealing material are formed by continuously discharging a sealing material with a dispenser.
According to this method, since the sealing material is always discharged from the dispenser during the formation period of the sealing material, the discharge amount of the dispenser is stabilized, and it is possible to provide a liquid crystal device with high uniformity of the line width and gap of the sealing material. .

In the present invention, it is desirable that the sealing materials are spaced apart from each other without overlapping.
According to this method, since the sealing materials do not overlap with each other, the uniformity of the gap can be improved and the dummy space can be reduced.

In the present invention, the spaced sealant may be disposed so as to be crushed when the large substrate is bonded and to contact each other at the first connection portion and the second connection portion. .
According to this method, since each panel sealing material is formed as a closed frame-shaped sealing material, it becomes possible to form a sealing material suitable for the case of using the liquid crystal dropping method.

In the present invention, the seal material includes the plurality of panel seal materials and the outer peripheral seal material as boundaries between the first connection portion and the second connection portion, and the first connection portion and the second connection portion, respectively. The first region and the second region including the two connecting portions may be divided and arranged so as to be separated from each other so that the first region and the second region do not overlap each other.
Thus, by forming the plurality of panel sealing materials in two types of sealing patterns, an efficient sealing material can be formed.

In the present invention, the sealing material is crushed when the large-sized substrate is bonded, and thereby the sealing material in the first region and the second region in the first connection portion and the second connection portion. The sealing material may be disposed so as to contact each other.
According to this method, since the sealing material in the first region and the sealing material in the second region do not overlap, the uniformity of the gap can be improved and the dummy space can be reduced. Moreover, since each panel sealing material is formed as a closed frame-shaped sealing material, it becomes possible to form a sealing material suitable for the case of using the liquid crystal dropping method.

In the present invention, the sealing material of the first region and the second region can be formed of two different types of sealing materials.
According to this method, it becomes possible to easily cope with a case where one panel sealing material must be formed of two kinds of sealing materials, for example, a conductive sealing material and an insulating sealing material.

In the present invention, it is preferable that a region surrounded by the outer peripheral sealing material and the plurality of panel sealing materials is divided into a plurality of closed regions by the first connection portion and the second connection portion. .
In this method, the region surrounded by the outer peripheral sealing material and the panel sealing material forms the aforementioned vacuum region. In this method, such a vacuum region is partitioned by the first connection portion and the second connection portion, so that the vacuum region is divided into a plurality of small vacuum regions. According to this method, since the distribution of pressure acting on the substrate is made uniform, a liquid crystal device with higher gap uniformity can be provided.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
In the following embodiments, an active matrix liquid crystal device including a thin film diode (TFD) as a pixel switching element will be described as an example. This liquid crystal device can be suitably used as a display unit of a cellular phone, a light valve (light modulation means) of a projection display device, or the like. In each drawing used in the following description, the scale is different for each layer and each member so that each layer and each member can be recognized on the drawing.

[First Embodiment]
<Configuration of liquid crystal device>
FIG. 1 is a plan view of each component of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment as viewed from the counter substrate side, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line HH ′ of FIG.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid crystal device 100 of the present embodiment has a configuration in which a liquid crystal 50 is sandwiched between a TFD substrate (first substrate) 10 and a counter substrate (second substrate) 20 that face each other. The TFD substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are bonded together by a sealing material 52 provided on the peripheral edge of these substrates, and the liquid crystal 50 is sealed and held in a region partitioned by the sealing material 52. A peripheral parting 53 made of a light-shielding material is formed in an area inside the sealing material 52 formed in a frame shape, and an area inside the peripheral parting 53 is an image display area 4. On the other hand, a scanning signal driving circuit 110 and a data line driving circuit 120 are formed along one side of the TFD substrate 10 in a region outside the sealing material 52.

FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of various elements and wirings in a plurality of pixels formed in a matrix in the image display area 4 of the liquid crystal device.
As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of dots 150 are formed in a matrix in the image display area 4, and the pixel electrode 31 and the TFD element 40 are formed for each dot 150. The image display area 4 is provided with a plurality of scanning lines 13 and a plurality of data lines 9 intersecting with the scanning lines 13. The scanning lines 13 are provided by a scanning signal driving circuit 110, and the data lines 9 are provided with data signals. Driven by the drive circuit 120. In each dot 150, the TFD element 40 and the liquid crystal layer 50 are connected in series between the scanning line 13 and the data line 9, whereby each dot is connected to each dot via the scanning line 13 and the data line 9. An image signal is supplied.

Next, the structure of the sealing material 52 is demonstrated using FIG.
The sealing material 52 includes two sealing materials 52a and 52b that constitute the left side (−X side) and the right side (+ X side) of the sealing material 52, respectively. The sealing material 52a is formed in an inverted U shape in a plan view, and the sealing material 52b is formed in a U shape in a plan view. By arranging both ends of the two sealing materials 52a and the sealing material 52b to face each other, One rectangular frame-shaped sealing material 52 is formed.

  At both ends of the sealing material 52a and the sealing material 52b, a protruding portion 59a and a protruding portion 59b that protrude toward the outside of the frame are formed. The protruding portions 59a and the protruding portions 59b form a connecting portion 59 that connects adjacent sealing materials 52 when a plurality of sealing materials 52 are formed on a single large substrate. In the present embodiment, the plurality of sealing materials 52 are formed as a continuous continuous sealing pattern, thereby reducing the time required for forming the sealing material. On the large substrate, a plurality of sealing materials 52 are arranged in the vertical direction (Y direction), and a connecting portion 59 that connects adjacent sealing materials 52 along the arrangement direction of the sealing materials 52. However, since the large substrate is divided into individual liquid crystal device units in the central portion of the connection portion 59, a part of the connection portion 59 left on the substrate is formed as a protruding portion at this time. It is. In this embodiment, the outer peripheral sealing material 70 (see FIG. 5A) formed on the outer periphery of the sealing material 52 is also formed at the same time as the sealing material 52, and the connection between the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the sealing material 52 is performed. A similar projecting portion is formed by the portion.

  The projecting portion 59a and the projecting portion 59b constituting the connecting portion 59 are arranged so as to contact each other, whereby the seal material 52 projects outward from the closed frame-shaped annular portion 58 and the annular portion 58. The connection portion 59 is provided.

<Method for manufacturing liquid crystal device>
Next, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device will be described with reference to FIGS.
Here, as a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device 100, a method called “multiple drawing” in which a plurality of liquid crystal devices are manufactured collectively using a large substrate is employed. In other words, it includes a step of bonding a large counter substrate having substantially the same shape on a large TFD substrate and then cutting it to the size of each liquid crystal device. In the following description, a large TFD substrate and a large counter substrate may be simply referred to as a large substrate.

  5A and 5B are schematic plan views of a large substrate used in the method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device 100. FIG. 5A is a diagram illustrating the entire configuration, and FIG. 5B is an enlarged view of one liquid crystal device unit E in FIG. The figure shown, (c) is a figure which expands and shows the connection area | region F which connects the sealing materials 52 mutually.

  First, two large substrates made of a glass substrate or the like are prepared. Here, on one large substrate, the TFD element 40, the pixel electrode 31 and the like as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are formed to be a large substrate 10 ′, while on the other large substrate, The data lines 9 and the like as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are formed to obtain a large substrate on the opposite side. In FIG. 5A, reference numeral 11 denotes an element region in which the TFD element 40, the pixel electrode 31 and the like are formed, and the outside of the element region 11 is a mutual boundary region 12. Each element region 11 constitutes an individual liquid crystal device unit, and such liquid crystal device units are arranged in a matrix along the X direction and the Y direction.

Next, a sealing material 80 is formed at a predetermined position of the large substrate 10 ′ using a dispenser.
Here, in the sealing material forming step of the present embodiment, as the sealing material 80, a panel sealing material 52 (hereinafter referred to as a panel sealing material) for enclosing the liquid crystal 50 for each individual liquid crystal device unit, In addition to the individual liquid crystal device units, the outer peripheral sealing material 70 surrounding the plurality of panel sealing materials 52 is formed in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the large substrate 10 '. The outer peripheral sealing material 70 forms a closed frame-like vacuum region in the mutual boundary region 12 together with the inner panel sealing material 52.

  As shown in FIG. 5B, the panel sealing material 52 has a sealing material 52a constituting the left side (−X side) and a sealing material 52b constituting the right side (+ X side). Each of the sealing materials 52a and 52b has projecting portions 59a and 59b arranged close to each other at the connection portion 59 to which the panel sealing material 52 is connected. That is, as shown in FIG. 5 (c), the sealing material 52a and the sealing material 52b are respectively formed in a main line portion extending in the Y direction along the arrangement direction of the panel sealing material 52, and in a U shape from the main line portion. And a bent portion. The bent portions of the sealing material 52a and the sealing material 52b are arranged so as to face each other, and the bottom portions of the U-shape facing each other in the vicinity thereof are configured as projecting portions 59a and 59b, respectively. The protrusion 59a and the protrusion 59b expand when the sealing material is crushed, and finally have a shape connected to each other as shown in FIG.

  6 and 7 are schematic plan views for explaining a method for forming the sealing material 80. Here, in order to simplify the drawing, an example in which 2 × 2 element regions 11 are formed on one large substrate 10 ′ will be described. However, the number of element regions 11 is different from this. But the same is true. 6 to 8, among the two rows of panel seal materials 52 arranged in the vertical direction (Y direction), one row of the panel seal materials 52 arranged on the left side is the first row of panel seal materials. The panel seal material 52 for one row arranged on the right side is referred to as a second row of panel seal materials.

<Step 1>
First, as shown in FIG. 6, a discharge start point SP is set in the vicinity of the connection portion 59 on the upper side of the panel seal material in the second row, and the discharge start point SP is extended along the outer periphery of the large substrate 10 ′. Thus, the dispenser is moved clockwise to the position C1 of the connecting portion 59 in the lower side of the panel seal material in the second row. Thereby, the sealing material 70 is formed in the right side part of large sized board | substrate 10 '. This sealing material 70 constitutes a part of the outer peripheral sealing material.

<Step 2>
Next, the dispenser is moved inward from C 1, and the right-side portion 52 b of the second row of panel sealing material is formed inside the outer peripheral sealing material 70. When the right portion 52b of the panel sealing material is formed, the dispenser is moved to the vicinity of the discharge start point SP, and from here again along the outer peripheral portion of the large substrate 10 ', this time in the counterclockwise direction, the first row The dispenser is moved to the position C2 of the connecting portion 59 on the lower side of the panel seal material. Thereby, the outer periphery sealing material 70 is formed in the upper side part and left side part of large sized board | substrate 10 '.

<Step 3>
Next, the dispenser is moved inward from C 2, and the left portion 52 a of the panel seal material in the first row is formed inside the outer peripheral seal material 70. And after moving the vicinity of the outer periphery sealing material 70 once in the position of C3, the right side part 52b of the panel sealing material 52 of the same row | line | column is formed. Thereby, the panel seal material in the first row is completed.

<Step 4>
Subsequently, the dispenser is moved counterclockwise from C2 along the outer periphery of the large substrate 10 'to the position C1 of the connection portion of the panel seal material in the adjacent row (second row), and the large substrate 10' An outer peripheral sealing material 70 is formed on the lower side.

<Step 5>
Next, the dispenser is moved inward from C1, and the left portion 52a of the panel sealing material in this row is formed. Since the right portion 52b of the panel seal material in this row has been formed previously, all the panel seal materials in the second row are completed by forming the left portion 52a this time. Note that the symbol EP is a discharge end point. The discharge end point EP is set in the vicinity of the connection portion 59 on the upper side of the panel seal material in the second row and in the vicinity of the outer peripheral seal material 70.

  Thus, all the sealing material 80 including the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the plurality of panel sealing materials 52 is completed. In step 1 to step 5, the seal material is always discharged until it moves from the discharge start point SP to the discharge end point EP, and a continuous seal in which all of the outer peripheral seal material 70 and the panel seal material 52 are continuous. It is formed as a pattern. Thereby, the process for optimizing the distance between the dispenser nozzle and the large-sized substrate 10 ′ is only required once, and it is necessary to form the sealing material as compared with the case where the patterns of the individual sealing materials are formed separately. Time can be significantly reduced.

  In addition, in FIG. 6, although shown about the example which forms the panel sealing material for 2 rows, when forming 3 or more rows, by repeating the process 3-the process 4, all the sealing materials are carried out by the same method. It can be formed as a continuous continuous seal pattern.

  When the sealing material 80 is completed as described above, liquid crystal is dropped inside the panel sealing material 52, and the large substrate on the opposite side is bonded onto the large substrate 10 'in a reduced pressure state. In this bonding step, each large substrate is positioned by observing the alignment mark formed on the substrate with a microscope.

  When the substrates are bonded together, the sealing material 80 is crushed and spreads in the width direction, and the thickness is kept constant by the gap material previously mixed inside. Further, as shown in FIG. 7, when the sealing material 80 spreads, the sealing material 59a and the sealing material 59b that are disposed in proximity to each other come into contact with each other, and a closed frame-shaped annular portion 58 is formed. Further, the sealing material 59a and the sealing material 59b formed on C1 and C2 are in contact with each other, and the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the panel sealing material 52 which are arranged close to each other in C3, S and E are in contact with each other. The outer peripheral sealing material 70 is formed in a closed frame shape, and a connecting portion 59 for connecting the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the panel sealing material 52 is formed.

  Further, the outer peripheral sealing material is provided by the connecting portion 59 (second connecting portion) for connecting the panel sealing materials 52 to each other and the connecting portion 59 (first connecting portion) for connecting the panel sealing material 52 and the outer peripheral sealing material 70. A region surrounded by 70 and the panel sealing material 52 is divided into a plurality of closed regions. Each of these regions constitutes a vacuum region.

When the bonding is completed, the sealing material 80 is cured, and thereafter, separation and cutting are performed for each liquid crystal device unit. In the substrate cutting step, for example, a method is used in which a crack is made on the glass surface with a diamond cutter, the impact is applied to the crack, and the crack is grown in the cutting direction, that is, a scribe / break method.
Thus, a plurality of liquid crystal devices 100 are manufactured.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, as a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal device 100, a method of manufacturing a plurality of liquid crystal devices using a large substrate by multi-cavity is adopted, and as a method of injecting liquid crystal, liquid crystal is used on the substrate. A liquid crystal dropping method in which the substrates are bonded after dropping is adopted. This makes it possible to manufacture a highly efficient liquid crystal device. In particular, in the present embodiment, the plurality of panel sealing materials 52 arranged in one row are divided into two parts, a part arranged on the left side of the connection part 59 and a part arranged on the right side, and arranged on these left sides. The portion to be arranged and the portion to be arranged on the right side are each formed as a continuous seal pattern, and these seal patterns formed for each row are all connected to each other via the outer peripheral sealing material 70. Therefore, the process can be further simplified as compared with the conventional method in which these sealing materials 52 and 70 are separately formed.

  In the present embodiment, the two types of seal patterns constituting the portion disposed on the left side and the portion disposed on the right side of the panel seal material 52 in each row are disposed so as not to overlap each other, and these are bonded to each other in bonding the substrates. The two are brought into contact with each other at the connection portion 59. For this reason, it is possible to improve the uniformity of the gap and contribute to the reduction of the dummy space by eliminating the overlap of the sealing materials while enabling the efficient formation of the sealing material.

  Further, since the region (vacuum region) surrounded by the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the panel sealing material 52 is divided into a plurality of small vacuum regions by being partitioned by the plurality of connecting portions 59, the large substrate is formed. It is possible to provide the liquid crystal device 100 in which the distribution of the acting pressure is uniform and the gap is more uniform.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.
8 to 10 are schematic plan views for explaining the method for forming the sealing material in the present embodiment. Here, in order to simplify the drawing, an example in which 4 × 3 element regions 11, 11 ′ are formed on one large substrate 10 ′ will be described, but the number of element regions is different from this. Even so, it is the same. In the present embodiment, the same reference numerals are given to the same components as those in the first embodiment, and detailed description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of element regions 11 and 11 ′ are arranged in a matrix in the X direction and the Y direction on the large substrate 10 ′ of this embodiment. The element region 11 and the element substrate 11 ′ are arranged along the Y direction, and the rows made of the element substrates 11 and the rows made of the element substrates 11 ′ are alternately arranged along the X direction. . The element region 11 ′ has a configuration in which the element region 11 is rotated by 180 ° with respect to the center thereof, and components common to the element region 11 and the element region 11 ′ are opposed to each other across the mutual boundary region 12. Are arranged to be. In such a configuration, the same type of sealing material 52a or 52b is disposed in a portion facing each other across the mutual boundary region 12 between the element regions 11 and 11 ′. Therefore, in the present embodiment, the same type of sealing material 52a or 52b opposed across the mutual boundary region 12 is formed as a continuous continuous sealing pattern.

  Such a configuration is effective when the sealing materials 52a and 52b are formed of different materials. For example, when one sealing material 52a is a conductive sealing material and the other sealing material 52b is an insulating sealing material in order to make the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 conductive, these sealing materials 52a, It is impossible to form 52b as a continuous continuous seal pattern. In such a case, the most efficient and wasteful method is to divide the seal pattern into two according to the type of the seal material to be used and to form them as continuous seal patterns. However, in this case, if all the element regions having the same configuration are arranged in the same direction, a seal pattern cannot be formed efficiently. Therefore, here, a plurality of element regions 11 and 11 ′ having the same configuration are arranged. By arranging them alternately by changing the directions by 180 °, the same kind of sealing materials are opposed to each other with the mutual boundary region 12 interposed therebetween, thereby enabling efficient formation.

  First, as shown in FIG. 8, the plurality of mutual boundary regions 12 extending in the vertical direction (Y direction) are divided into odd columns and even columns. Here, the left side (−X side) is the first column. In FIG. 8, five rows of mutual boundary regions 12 are formed from the left side portion to the right side portion of the large substrate 10 ′. The first row and the fifth row of mutual boundary regions 12 are the outer peripheral portions of the large substrate 10 ′, respectively. It is the area that faces.

  First, a continuous series of seal patterns 81, 82, and 83 are formed for the odd-numbered mutual boundary regions 12 respectively. These seal patterns are all formed of the same type of seal material, and finally, a part of one seal material 52a and the outer periphery seal material 70 of each liquid crystal device (the first of the panel seal material and the outer periphery seal material). Region).

  The seal pattern 81 formed in the mutual boundary region 12 in the first row includes an outer peripheral seal material 70 formed on the left side portion of the large substrate 10 'and a left portion 52a of the panel seal material in the first row. These are connected through the protruding portion 59a of the panel seal material 52 constituting the connection portion 59, so that a continuous seal pattern 81 is formed.

  The seal pattern 82 formed in the third row of the mutual boundary region 12 includes a right portion 52a of the second row panel seal material and a left portion 52a of the third row panel seal material, which are connected portions. By being connected via a projecting portion 59a constituting 59, a continuous seal pattern 82 is formed. Here, since the direction of the panel seal material in the second row and the direction of the panel seal material in the third row are opposite to each other, the point that the same type of seal material 52a can be formed for each is the first embodiment. Is different.

  The seal pattern 83 formed in the fifth row of the mutual boundary region 12 includes a right portion 52a of the fourth row of panel seal material and an outer peripheral seal material 70 on the right side of the large substrate 10 '. These are connected through the projecting portions 59a of the panel sealing material 52 constituting the connecting portion 59, so that a continuous seal pattern 83 is formed.

  In FIG. 8, each seal pattern 81, 82, 83 is formed in a closed frame shape. However, the discharge start point and the discharge end point of each seal pattern are separated from each other, and when the seal material is crushed, It is desirable to configure so that they contact each other. Thereby, the uniformity of a gap improves and it can contribute also to reduction of a dummy space.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 9, a series of continuous seal patterns 84 and 85 are formed for the even-numbered mutual boundary regions 12 respectively. These seal patterns are all formed of the same type of seal material, and finally, the other seal material 52b and the remaining portion of the outer peripheral seal material of each liquid crystal device (the second of the panel seal material and the outer peripheral seal material). Region).

  The seal pattern 84 formed in the mutual boundary region 12 in the second row includes a right portion 52b of the first row of panel seal material and a left portion 52b of the second row of panel seal material, which are connected portions. By being connected via a projecting portion 59b constituting 59, a continuous seal pattern 84 is formed. Here, since the direction of the panel sealing material in the first row and the direction of the panel sealing material in the second row are opposite to each other, the same type of sealing material 52b can be formed for each.

  Similarly, the seal pattern 85 formed in the mutual boundary region 12 in the fourth row includes a right portion 52b of the third row panel seal material and a left portion 52b of the fourth row panel seal material. Are connected via a projecting portion 59b constituting the connecting portion 59, thereby forming a continuous seal pattern 85. Here, since the direction of the panel seal material in the third row and the direction of the panel seal material in the fourth row are opposite to each other, the same type of seal material 52b can be formed for each.

  In FIG. 9, each of the seal patterns 84 and 85 is formed in a closed frame shape. However, the discharge start point and the discharge end point of each seal pattern are separated from each other, and these contact with each other when the seal material is crushed. It is desirable to make it so. Thereby, the uniformity of a gap improves and it can contribute also to reduction of a dummy space.

When all the sealing patterns 81 to 85 are completed as described above, liquid crystal is dropped into the panel sealing material 52, and the large substrate on the opposite side is bonded onto the large substrate 10 'in a reduced pressure state.
When the substrates are bonded together, the sealing material is crushed and spreads in the width direction, and the thickness is kept constant by the gap material previously mixed inside. Further, as shown in FIG. 10, when the sealing material is crushed and spread, the sealing material 59a and the sealing material 59b which are disposed in close contact with each other, and a closed frame-shaped annular portion 58 is formed. At the same time, the outer peripheral sealing material 70 is formed in a closed frame shape, and a connecting portion 59 for connecting the outer peripheral sealing material 70 and the panel sealing material 52 is formed.

Further, the outer peripheral sealing material is provided by the connecting portion 59 (first connecting portion) that connects the panel sealing materials 52 and the connecting portion 59 (second connecting portion) that connects the panel sealing material 52 and the outer peripheral sealing material 70. A region surrounded by 70 and the panel sealing material 52 is divided into a plurality of closed regions. Each of these regions constitutes a vacuum region.
When the bonding is completed, the sealing material is cured, and thereafter, separation and cutting are performed for each liquid crystal device unit. These steps are the same as those in the first embodiment.

  In such a method, since it is necessary to form a plurality of seal patterns, the process is complicated as compared with the method of the first embodiment. However, the method can be applied to the case where two types of seal materials are used. It is possible to easily cope with a change in the configuration of the apparatus.

[Electronics]
Next, specific examples of electronic devices including the above-described liquid crystal device will be described.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone. In FIG. 11, a mobile phone (electronic device) 600 includes a display unit 601 using the liquid crystal device 100. Since such an electronic device includes the above-described liquid crystal device 100 as the display portion 601, display can be performed using a high-quality liquid crystal device with few defective products, and a highly reliable electronic device can be realized. it can.
Note that the liquid crystal device of the present invention is not limited to the mobile phone described above, and can be mounted on various electronic devices. Examples of the electronic apparatus include an electronic book, a personal computer, a digital still camera, a liquid crystal television, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct-view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, a pager, an electronic notebook, a calculator, a word processor, a workstation, and a video phone. , A POS terminal, a device provided with a touch panel, and the like, and the liquid crystal device can be suitably used as these display means. Furthermore, it can be widely used as light modulation means for electronic devices other than direct-view display devices such as projector light valves.

  The preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to such examples. Various shapes, combinations, and the like of the constituent members shown in the above-described examples are examples, and various modifications can be made based on design requirements and the like without departing from the gist of the present invention.

1 is a plan view of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment. It is a cross-sectional block diagram which follows the H-H 'line | wire of FIG. 2 is an equivalent circuit diagram of the liquid crystal device. FIG. It is a top view which shows the structure of the sealing material of a liquid crystal device similarly. (A) is a plan view showing a state where a sealing material is formed on a large substrate, (b) is an enlarged plan view showing one liquid crystal device unit E in (a), and (c) is a connection in (b). It is a top view which expands and shows the area | region F further. It is a top view for demonstrating the manufacturing method of a liquid crystal device. FIG. 7 is a plan view illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 6. It is a top view for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a plan view illustrating a process following the process in FIG. 9. It is a perspective view which shows the mobile telephone which is an example of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... TFD board | substrate, 10 '... Large-sized board | substrate, 20 ... Opposite board | substrate, 50 ... Liquid crystal, 52 ... Panel sealing material, 59 ... Connection part (1st connection part, 2nd connection part), 70 ... Outer periphery sealing material, 80 ... Sealing material, 100 ... Liquid crystal device, 600 ... Mobile phone (electronic device), E ... Liquid crystal device unit

Claims (9)

A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates,
A pair of large substrates capable of simultaneously manufacturing a plurality of liquid crystal devices are used for the pair of substrates,
Forming a sealing material on at least one of the pair of large substrates;
Bonding the pair of large substrates through the sealing material; and
Cutting the pair of bonded large substrates into individual liquid crystal device units,
The sealing material includes a panel sealing material for sandwiching the liquid crystal for each individual liquid crystal device unit, and the plurality of panel sealing materials in the vicinity of the outer periphery of the one large substrate separately from the individual liquid crystal device unit. Including a surrounding sealing material,
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising: connecting a part or all of the plurality of panel sealing materials and a part or all of the outer peripheral sealing material via a first connecting portion.   The said sealing material contains the 2nd connection part which mutually connects these panel sealing materials mutually, A plurality of panel sealing materials are connected through the said 2nd connection part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned. A manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device according to the description.   3. The liquid crystal according to claim 1, wherein a part or all of the plurality of panel sealing materials and a part or all of the outer peripheral sealing material are formed by continuously discharging a sealing material with a dispenser. Device manufacturing method.   The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein the sealing materials are spaced apart from each other without overlapping.   5. The spaced apart sealant is disposed so as to be crushed when the large substrate is bonded and to contact each other in the first connection portion and the second connection portion. Liquid crystal device manufacturing method.   The sealing material includes the plurality of panel sealing materials and the outer peripheral sealing material, with the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion as boundaries, and the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion, respectively. 4. The liquid crystal device manufacturing method according to claim 3, wherein the first region and the second region are divided, and the first region and the second region are arranged so as not to overlap each other. Method.   The sealing material is crushed when the large substrate is bonded, whereby the sealing material in the first region and the sealing material in the second region are mutually connected in the first connection portion and the second connection portion. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 6, wherein the liquid crystal device is disposed so as to come into contact.   8. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 6, wherein the sealing material of the first region and the second region is formed of two different types of sealing materials. The region surrounded by the outer peripheral sealing material and the plurality of panel sealing materials is divided into a plurality of closed regions by the first connecting portion and the second connecting portion. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 5.

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