JP2007052312A - Method for manufacturing liquid crystal device, and apparatus for manufacturing liquid crystal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device capable of preventing a liquid crystal from leaking to the outside of a cell beyond a sealant and obtaining desired electrical characteristics and reliability, and an apparatus for manufacturing the liquid crystal device. <P>SOLUTION: The method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device configured to arrange the liquid crystal between a pair of substrates stuck together via the sealant 52 includes a process of forming the sealant 52 on one substrate 10 of a pair of the substrates, a liquid crystal supply process of supplying the liquid crystal 50 on the one substrate 10, a comparison process for comparing the height H2 of the sealant 52 on the one substrate 10 and the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50, and a process of sticking together the other substrate via the sealant 52 to the one substrate 10 when the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 is lower than the height H2 of the sealant 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

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. . Conventionally, 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 together ( 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).
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-115831

However, in the liquid crystal dropping method, since the liquid crystal supplied on the substrate is greatly raised compared to the thickness of the sealing material, the liquid crystal gets over the sealing material and leaks outside the cell when the substrates are bonded. There was a case. If the liquid crystal gets over the sealing material, the lack of liquid crystal content will cause the uniformity of cell gap thickness to drop, or the liquid crystal adhering to the top of the sealing material will cause problems such as the adhesive strength of the sealing material weakening. was there.
The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and a liquid crystal device capable of preventing liquid crystal from leaking out of the cell over the sealing material and obtaining desired electrical characteristics and reliability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing method and a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus.

  In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present inventor paid attention to the movement of the liquid crystal over the sealing material through the other substrate when the other substrate is bonded onto the one substrate. Then, the present inventor usually has a height of the liquid crystal on one substrate before bonding the pair of substrates higher than the height of the sealing material, but the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. In some cases, when the other substrate is bonded onto one substrate, the movement of the liquid crystal along the other substrate is found to be blocked by the sealing material, and the present invention has been conceived.

  A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is disposed between a pair of substrates bonded together with a sealant, and the method is provided on one of the pair of substrates. Forming the sealing material on the substrate, supplying a liquid crystal on the one substrate, supplying the liquid crystal onto the one substrate, before bonding the pair of substrates, the height of the sealing material on the one substrate, and the liquid crystal And a step of bonding the other substrate to the one substrate through the sealing material when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. It is characterized by.

  In the liquid crystal device manufacturing method of the present invention, before the pair of substrates are bonded, the height of the sealing material on one substrate is compared with the height of the liquid crystal, and the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. Then, the two substrates are bonded together. For this reason, when the other substrate is bonded to one substrate, the other substrate and the liquid crystal come into contact with each other after the other substrate and the sealing material come into contact with each other. As a result, when the liquid crystal comes into contact with the other substrate, the movement of the liquid crystal along the other substrate is blocked by the sealing material already in contact with the other substrate. Accordingly, when the two substrates are bonded, it is possible to effectively prevent the liquid crystal from leaking out of the cell over the sealing material. Therefore, a liquid crystal device having high cell gap thickness uniformity and desired electrical characteristics can be manufactured. In addition, since the liquid crystal does not adhere to the upper portion of the sealing material, it is possible to provide a liquid crystal device with high sealing material adhesive strength and excellent reliability.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device of the present invention, the one substrate can be inclined with respect to the horizontal direction after the liquid crystal supply step.
As a method of making the height of the liquid crystal lower than the height of the sealing material on one substrate, there is a method in which the liquid crystal is supplied to the substrate and left to stand. However, depending on the size of the liquid crystal device, the time for which it is left for a long time may cause a problem in the productivity of the liquid crystal device.
On the other hand, if one substrate is tilted with respect to the horizontal direction after the liquid crystal supply process is performed, the liquid crystal moves on the one substrate to spread the liquid crystal, and the contact area between the liquid crystal and one substrate is easy. Expanded to Therefore, the height of the liquid crystal can be made lower than the height of the sealing material in a short time compared with the case where one substrate is left horizontally.

In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, the liquid crystal supplying step can be performed with the one substrate inclined with respect to the horizontal direction.
In such a manufacturing method, the height of the liquid crystal can be easily made lower than the height of the sealing material simply by performing the liquid crystal supply process, so that compared with the case where the liquid crystal supply process is performed with one substrate being horizontal. Thus, the time from supplying the liquid crystal to the substrate and bonding the two substrates can be shortened.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, vibration can be applied to the one substrate during or after the liquid crystal supply step.
In such a manufacturing method, since the height of the liquid crystal can be easily made lower than the height of the sealing material, the liquid crystal is supplied onto the substrate as compared with the case where no vibration is applied to one substrate. The time until the two substrates are bonded can be shortened.

In the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device of the present invention, the vibration may be ultrasonic vibration.
In such a manufacturing method, vibration can be easily applied to one substrate, and the height of the liquid crystal can be easily made lower than the height of the sealing material.

Moreover, in the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the liquid crystal supplying step may be a method of supplying the liquid crystal to a plurality of locations.
In such a manufacturing method, since the liquid crystal is divided and supplied to a plurality of locations, the liquid crystal can be supplied at a low height in a wide range from the beginning of supplying the liquid crystal.

  In order to solve the above problems, a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention is a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus in which a liquid crystal is disposed between a pair of substrates bonded via a sealing material, the seal A liquid crystal supply device that supplies liquid crystal to an inner region of the sealing material, and a height of the liquid crystal before being bonded on one of the pair of substrates to which the liquid crystal is supplied A measuring device for measuring, a height of the liquid crystal measured by the measuring device, a comparison device for comparing the height of the sealing material on the one substrate before bonding, and the sealing material on the one substrate A substrate laminating apparatus for laminating the other substrate through the substrate, and the substrate laminating apparatus performs laminating when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. And butterflies.

  In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the substrate bonding apparatus performs bonding when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. When the liquid crystal comes into contact with the other substrate, the movement of the liquid crystal along the other substrate is blocked by the sealing material already in contact with the other substrate. Accordingly, when the two substrates are bonded, it is possible to effectively prevent the liquid crystal from leaking out of the cell over the sealing material.

Further, the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention includes a table for holding the one substrate before bonding, and the table can hold the one substrate in a state inclined with respect to the horizontal direction. It is desirable.
By setting it as the manufacturing apparatus of such a liquid crystal device, one board | substrate can be inclined with respect to a horizontal direction, and the expansion of the contact area of the liquid crystal on one board | substrate can be promoted. Therefore, the height of the liquid crystal can be made lower than the height of the sealing material in a short time as compared with the case where a table that can hold only one substrate horizontally is provided.

In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, it is desirable that the table is capable of changing an inclination of the one substrate with respect to a horizontal direction.
By making such a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, for example, one of the substrates is inclined at a first angle with respect to the horizontal direction, and the liquid crystal is spread in the first direction on the one substrate; The method in which one substrate is inclined at a second angle different from the first angle and the liquid crystal is spread in a second direction different from the first direction is performed once or a plurality of times. Thus, the expansion of the contact area of the liquid crystal on one substrate can be effectively promoted.

In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the substrate bonding apparatus can bond the other substrate onto the one substrate held substantially horizontally.
By making such a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, compared with an apparatus for bonding two substrates in a state where one substrate is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, The substrate can be easily pressed uniformly on one substrate, and the two substrates can be bonded in parallel with high accuracy. Therefore, a liquid crystal device excellent in the uniformity of the cell gap thickness can be manufactured.

The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention includes a table that holds the one substrate before bonding, and the table includes a vibration generating device that applies vibration to the one substrate. Can do.
In such a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, the height of the liquid crystal can be easily made lower than the height of the sealing material by applying vibration to one substrate by the vibration generator.

In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the vibration generator may be an ultrasonic generator that generates ultrasonic vibrations.
In such a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, the height of the liquid crystal can be reduced more easily than the height of the sealing material.

  In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the measuring device may be a laser displacement meter. By setting it as the manufacturing apparatus of such a liquid crystal device, the height of the liquid crystal on one board | substrate before bonding can be measured with high precision.

  In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, the measuring device measures the contact area between the liquid crystal and the one substrate, and calculates the height of the liquid crystal based on the contact area. There can be. By setting it as the manufacturing apparatus of such a liquid crystal device, the height of the liquid crystal on one board | substrate before bonding can be measured easily. Further, by making the height of the liquid crystal lower than the height of the sealing material, it can be confirmed whether or not the liquid crystal spreads more than necessary.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a material supply device and a substrate feeding / dispensing device used in the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram of a substrate bonding device used in the manufacturing method. 3 to 7 are process diagrams sequentially showing the manufacturing process of this embodiment, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process. In the following drawings, the ratios of dimensions, film thickness, and the like of each component are appropriately changed in order to make each component easy to see. In the following description, the XY plane is the horizontal direction, the directions along the surface of the substrate are the X direction (for example, the left-right direction in FIG. 2) and the Y direction (for example, the direction perpendicular to the paper surface in FIG. 2). The direction orthogonal to the plane will be described as the Z direction.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the material supply device 63 for applying a sealing material and liquid crystal mainly includes a substantially horizontal table 65, a droplet discharge head 66, and a sealing material application unit 67. The table 65 holds the lower substrate (one substrate) 10 and is movable in the X direction, the Y direction, and the θ direction (rotation direction around an axis parallel to the Z axis). The droplet discharge head 66 is disposed above the table 65 and discharges and drops a liquid crystal material. The sealing material application unit 67 applies a sealing material, and is disposed in the vicinity of the droplet discharge head 66. As a means for dropping the liquid crystal material, any apparatus can be used as long as it can control the amount of liquid crystal material to be dropped, such as a precision liquid discharger (measuring type dispenser) in addition to the liquid drop discharge head 66. Good.

1 is a carrier for transporting the lower substrate 10 between the material supply device 63 and a substrate laminating device 64 described later. The lower substrate 10 is moved in the horizontal direction (XY plane). It is provided with a table 61 (corresponding to “table” in the claims) that can be held in an inclined state. The table 61 holds the lower substrate 10 by a holding method such as adhesive force, vacuum force, mechanical holding, and the inclination of the lower substrate 10 with respect to the XY plane can be changed to any angle within a range of ± 30 °. It is a thing.
The substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 compares the height of the liquid crystal measured by the measuring device 51 with the height of the sealing material on the lower substrate 10 for measuring the height of the liquid crystal on the lower substrate 10. And a control unit 54 that controls the conveyance by the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 based on the comparison result compared by the comparison device 53. The substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 controls the lower substrate 10 received from the material supply device 63 when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material on the lower substrate 10 by being controlled by the control unit 54. It is conveyed to the substrate bonding apparatus 64.

As the measuring device 51, a device that can be measured in a non-contact manner is used. Based on the area of the liquid crystal (contact area between the liquid crystal and the substrate) on the lower substrate 10 photographed by a laser displacement meter or a camera, It is preferable to use an image processing device (area measuring device) that calculates the height of the liquid crystal.
Further, as the comparison device 53 and the control unit 54, a PC (personal computer) can be used. The functions as the comparison device 53 and the control unit 54 are realized by loading a program for realizing these functions into a memory provided in the PC and executing it by a CPU (central processing unit). To do. The height of the sealing material on the lower substrate 10 input to the comparison device 53 can be an actual value measured by the measuring device 51 together with the height of the liquid crystal on the lower substrate 10. An estimated value calculated from the coating amount based on the experiment result obtained by conducting an experiment for obtaining the relationship between the coating amount and the height of the sealing material on the substrate.

  The substrate bonding apparatus 64 shown in FIG. 2 performs bonding when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. The substrate bonding apparatus 64 includes a table 68 that holds the substrate and is movable in the θ direction, which is a rotational direction around an axis parallel to the X direction, the Y direction, and the Z axis, and a lower chuck portion installed on the table 68. 69, a vacuum chamber 70 disposed above the lower chuck portion 69, an upper chuck portion 71 disposed opposite to the lower chuck portion 69 in the vacuum chamber 70, and an upper chuck portion 71 movably supported in the Z direction. And a lowering mechanism 72 that pressurizes the lower chuck portion 69. The vacuum chamber 70 is provided with a viewing window 70 a and an exhaust part 76. A bonding microscope 74 for magnifying and observing the alignment mark on the substrate through the sighting window 70a is disposed above the sighting window 70a. The bonding microscope 74 captures an image of the enlarged alignment mark. A CCD camera 81 is provided. The exhaust unit 76 is connected to a suction device 78 such as a vacuum pump for exhausting (evacuating) the gas in the accommodation space 70b. Further, the vacuum chamber 70 is provided with a UV irradiation unit 82 that uses a fiber or the like as a path from a UV lamp such as a mercury lamp that irradiates ultraviolet rays that temporarily cure the sealing material. In addition, the UV irradiation unit 82 should just supply the energy of the grade which raises the viscosity of a sealing material. The means for applying energy to the sealing material is not limited to the UV lamp, and various devices such as a heating / cooling device and a visible light irradiation device can be used depending on the properties of the sealing material.

  Further, the substrate bonding apparatus 64 includes an image processing unit 83 that processes an image captured by the CCD camera 81, and a control that controls the table 68 and the lowering mechanism 72 based on the data processed by the image processing unit 83. A portion 84 is provided. Further, the lower chuck portion 69 and the upper chuck portion 71 are provided with holding mechanisms (not shown) for holding the substrate by holding surfaces 69a and 71a facing each other. The lower chuck portion 69 and the upper chuck portion 71 are mechanisms that can hold the substrate even in a substantially vacuum atmosphere, such as a chuck mechanism using electrostatic force or adhesive force, or a mechanical holding mechanism that mechanically holds the substrate. Any holding mechanism may be provided as long as it is present. For example, when quartz glass is used for the substrate, if a holding method using electrostatic force is used, the holding force is weak and the relative position of the substrate cannot be adjusted with sufficient accuracy. On the other hand, a holding method such as an adhesive force, an intermolecular force, a vacuum force, or a mechanical holding method can exert a sufficient holding force even with quartz glass, so that the lower chuck portion 69 and the upper chuck portion 71 can be held. It is suitable for use in a mechanism.

Subsequently, a procedure for manufacturing an active matrix liquid crystal device 100 using a thin film transistor (hereinafter abbreviated as TFT) as a switching element using the above manufacturing apparatus will be described with reference to FIGS. To do.
First, a TFT is formed on a glass substrate, and further a pixel electrode and an alignment film are formed to produce a TFT array substrate (step S1 in FIG. 8). Further, a light shielding film, a counter electrode, an alignment film, and the like are formed on another glass substrate to produce a counter substrate (step S2 in FIG. 8).
In the following description, the TFT array substrate is referred to as the lower substrate 10 and the counter substrate is referred to as the upper substrate 20 (the other substrate).

As shown in FIG. 3, the lower substrate 10 on which the TFT and the like are formed is transported by the substrate feeding / unloading device 62 and fed onto the table 65 of the material feeding device 63 (see FIG. 1). Then, the sealing material 52 is supplied from the sealing material application unit 67 while moving the table 65, so that the sealing material 52 is applied in a closed frame shape on the lower substrate 10 (step S3 in FIG. 8).
As the sealing material 52 used in the present embodiment, any sealing material conventionally used as a sealing material can be used as long as it has low fluidity so that the planar shape does not change even when the lower substrate 10 is inclined. For example, a UV curable resin or a thermosetting resin can be used. In the present embodiment, as the sealing material 52, as shown in FIG. 3, a material including a substantially spherical gap control material (spacer) 52a can be used. The gap control material 52a is for keeping the cell thickness constant, and the diameter of the gap control material 52a is approximately the same as the cell gap (diameter 3 to 5 μm). As the gap control material 52a, as shown in FIG. 3, a substantially spherical shape contained in the sealing material 52 can be used. Various things, such as what was not contained but protruded in the column shape from the board | substrate, can be used.

    Next, as shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal 50 is discharged and dropped from the droplet discharge head 66 while moving the table 65, and the liquid crystal 50 is disposed at a position surrounded by the sealing material 52 on the lower substrate 10. ((Liquid Crystal Supply Process) Step S4 in FIG. 8). In FIG. 3, the liquid crystal 50 is shown to be dropped at one place in the region surrounded by the sealing material 52, but the liquid crystal 50 is not limited to being dropped at one place, and is dropped at a plurality of places. May be.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the lower substrate 10 on which the sealing material 52 is formed and the liquid crystal 50 is supplied is taken out from the material supply device 63 and placed and held on the table 61 of the substrate supply / removal device 62. . In the present embodiment, the lower substrate 10 is tilted with respect to the horizontal direction by changing the tilt of the table 61 with respect to the XY plane (step S5 in FIG. 8). Here, the change of the liquid crystal when the lower substrate 10 is tilted in the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of a part of the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62, and is a side view for explaining the state of the liquid crystal on the lower substrate 10 held by the table 61. FIG. 4A is a side view showing the lower substrate 10 immediately after the liquid crystal 50 is dropped, and the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 is higher than the height H2 of the sealing material 52. FIG. As shown in FIG. 4B, when the angle with respect to the horizontal direction of the lower substrate 10 shown in FIG. 4A is inclined by changing the inclination θ1 with respect to the XY plane of the table 61 and held for a predetermined time, The liquid crystal 50 flows and spreads along the inclination on the lower substrate 10, and the contact area of the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 is expanded.
The inclination θ1 of the table 61 with respect to the XY plane is preferably in the range of 5 ° to 40 °, and more preferably in the range of 15 ° to 30 °. If the inclination θ1 is less than 15 °, a flow along the inclination of the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 is difficult to occur, and the effect of spreading the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 may not be sufficiently obtained. In addition, when the inclination θ1 exceeds 30 °, the flow along the inclination of the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 becomes too fast, and there is a possibility that the liquid crystal 50 spreads over the lower substrate 10. It may be difficult to make the contact area of the desired area.

Then, after a predetermined time has elapsed, as shown in FIG. 4C, the inclination θ1 of the table 61 with respect to the XY plane is changed to 0 ° to hold the lower substrate 10 substantially horizontally, and the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 is held. The height H1 and the height H2 of the sealing material 52 are measured by the measuring device 51 (step S6 in FIG. 8). The height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 on the lower substrate 10 shown in FIG. 4C is lower than that before the lower substrate 10 is tilted as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4C. The height of the material 52 hardly changes.
In the present embodiment, the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 and the height H2 of the sealing material 52 are measured by the measuring device 51 in a state where the lower substrate 10 is substantially horizontal. The liquid crystal 50 height H1 and the sealing material 52 height H2 are tilted at an angle with respect to the horizontal direction of the lower substrate 10 using the one that moves in conjunction with the tilt of the table 61 in a state of being opposed to the head 61. You may measure in a state.

 When the measurement data of the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 and the height H2 of the sealing material 52 measured by the measuring device 51 is input to the comparison device 53, the height H2 of the sealing material 52 and the height of the liquid crystal 50 are measured by the comparison device 53. The height H1 is compared ((comparison process) step S7 in FIG. 8). As a result of comparison, when the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 is higher than the height H2 of the sealing material 52, the process returns to step S5 in FIG. 8, and the comparison result shows that the liquid crystal 50 is higher than the height H2 of the sealing material 52. Steps S5 in FIG. 8 to step S7 in FIG. 8 are repeated until the height H1 is lowered. On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 4C, when the comparison result shows that the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 is lower than the height H2 of the sealing material 52, the substrate feeding / unloading device 62 lowers the substrate bonding device 64. The substrate 10 is transferred.

The lower substrate 10 transported by the substrate feeding / unloading device 62 and fed to the lower chuck portion 69 of the substrate bonding device 64 (note that the liquid crystal 50 and the sealing material 52 are not shown in the following description for the sake of convenience) As shown in FIG. 5, it is held by a holding mechanism. Further, the upper substrate 20 on which the counter electrode and the like are formed is transported by the substrate feeding / unloading device 62 and supplied to the upper chuck portion 71 of the substrate bonding device 64, and is held by the holding mechanism as shown in FIG. The
Then, as shown in FIG. 6A, the vacuum chamber 70 is lowered and brought into contact with the lower chuck portion 69 to close the housing space 70b in a sealed state. When the storage space 70b is in a sealed state, negative pressure is sucked from the exhaust part 76 to bring the inside of the storage space 70b into a substantially vacuum state (1.33 Pa to 1.33 × 10 ⁻² Pa).

  When the inside of the accommodation space 70b is in a substantially vacuum state, as shown in FIG. 6B, alignment marks (not shown) formed on the upper substrate 20 and the lower substrate 10 are used using a bonding microscope 74. The image is enlarged and taken into the CCD camera 81. The image data of the alignment mark captured by the CCD camera 81 is input to the image processing unit 83, and the relative position between the upper substrate 20 and the lower substrate 10 is detected. Based on the relative position detected by the image processing unit 83, the control unit 84 drives the table 68 to roughly position the relative position between the upper substrate 20 and the lower substrate 10 within an allowable range. Note that the evacuation in the housing space 70b and the rough positioning of the substrates 10 and 20 may be performed concurrently, or the rough positioning may be performed first and the evacuation may be performed later. . When evacuation and rough positioning are performed at the same time, the manufacturing time can be shortened. Further, a through hole 71b is formed in the upper chuck portion 71 at a position directly below the bonding microscope 74 and the viewing window 70a, and the alignment marks of the substrates 10 and 20 are detected through the through hole 71b. be able to.

When the substrates 10 and 20 are roughly positioned, as shown in FIG. 6C, the lower chuck 72 lowers (relatively moves) the upper chuck portion 71 and bonds the opposing substrates 10 and 20 together (in FIG. 8). Step S8). Further, the upper chuck portion 71 is lowered toward the lower chuck portion 69, and pressurizes the substrates 10 and 20 to crush the sealing material 52. When the bonding of the substrates 10 and 20 is completed, the UV irradiation unit 82 irradiates ultraviolet rays to temporarily cure the sealing material 52 and increase the viscosity of the sealing material (step S9 in FIG. 8).
Note that the pressurization after bonding the substrates 10 and 20 may not be performed depending on the manufacturing process and the selection of the sealing material 52 and the like. Similarly, the temporary curing of the sealing material 52 by the UV irradiation unit 82 may not be performed depending on the sealing material 52.
Further, when a deviation is expected between the pasting and the precise positioning, and the amount and direction of the deviation are predicted statistically, the positional relationship between the substrates 10 and 20 after the occurrence of the deviation is described above. Rough positioning may be performed by offsetting in advance so as to be within the range.

  Thereafter, the atmosphere is introduced into the accommodation space 70b, and the pressure is returned from the substantially vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure. When the accommodation space 70b of the vacuum chamber 70 becomes atmospheric pressure, the substrates 10 and 20 are pressed by the pressure difference, and the sealing material 52 is further crushed (step S10 in FIG. 8). At this time, when the liquid crystal 50 is pressurized together with the sealing material 52, the height of the liquid crystal 50 is further reduced and spreads over the entire inner area of the sealing material 52, thereby forming a predetermined cell gap. Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 7, the holding of the upper chuck portion 71 and the lower chuck portion 69 is released, and the vacuum chamber 70 is raised. Then, the substrate placed in the non-holding state on the lower chuck portion 69 (in this case, the liquid crystal device 100 to which the substrates 10 and 20 are bonded) is removed by the substrate feeding / unloading device 62. Thereafter, precision alignment and main curing of the sealing material 52 using a UV lamp are performed (step S11 in FIG. 8), and the manufacture of the liquid crystal device 100 is completed.

In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of this embodiment, as a result of comparison by the comparison device 53, when the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 is lower than the height H2 of the sealing material 52, the substrate bonding device 64 is used by the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62. Therefore, when the substrates 10 and 20 are bonded together, the upper substrate 20 is already bonded when the liquid crystal 50 comes into contact with the upper substrate 20. The movement of the liquid crystal 50 along the upper substrate 20 is blocked by the sealing material 52 in contact with the upper substrate 20. Therefore, when the substrates 10 and 20 are bonded together, it is possible to effectively prevent the liquid crystal 50 from leaking outside the cell over the sealing material 52.
In the liquid crystal device manufacturing method of the present embodiment, since the lower substrate 10 is tilted with respect to the horizontal direction after the liquid crystal supplying step, the liquid crystal 50 moves and spreads on the lower substrate 10, and the liquid crystal The contact area between 50 and the lower substrate 10 is easily enlarged. Therefore, for example, when liquid crystal is supplied on a 2 inch substrate so that the cell gap is 5 μm, the time required to make the liquid crystal height lower than the sealing material is 5 minutes if it is left alone. As described above, when one substrate is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, it takes about 2 minutes. Compared with the case where the substrate is left in a horizontal position, the liquid crystal 50 has a shorter time than the height of the sealing material 52. The height can be lowered.

  In the liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus of the present embodiment, the step of forming the sealing material 52 is performed before the liquid crystal supplying step, so that the liquid crystal 50 is supplied to the lower substrate 10 on which the sealing material 52 is formed. In other words, when the height of the liquid crystal 50 is made lower than the height of the sealing material 52, it is possible to prevent the liquid crystal 50 from spreading more than necessary by using the sealing material 52 as a bank.

  In addition, this invention is not limited to embodiment mentioned above. In the above-described embodiment, the lower substrate 10 is inclined at the first angle with respect to the horizontal direction (inclination θ1 with respect to the XY plane of the table 61). For example, the lower substrate 10 is formed on the table shown in FIG. An inclination θ1 (first angle) of 61 with respect to the XY plane and a second angle θ2 shown in FIG. 9 with the upper end of the lower substrate 10 at the lower end and the lower end at the upper end when tilted at the first angle θ1, Alternatively, the liquid crystal 50 may be efficiently and uniformly spread in two directions of the first direction and the opposite direction of the first direction by alternately inclining. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the second angle θ <b> 2 is approximately the same as the first angle θ <b> 1. In this case, the liquid crystal 50 can be easily and uniformly spread by making the time for tilting at the first angle θ1 equal to the time for tilting at the second angle θ2. In the example shown in FIG. 9, the second angle θ2 and the first angle θ1 are set to the same degree, but the second angle θ2 and the first angle θ1 may be different. .

  In the above-described embodiment, the table 61 of the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 can be held in a state where the lower substrate 10 is tilted with respect to the horizontal direction, and as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal 50 is discharged and dropped on the table 65. For example, the table 65 of the material supply device 63 can be held in a state where the lower substrate 10 is inclined with respect to the horizontal direction, and the horizontal direction is set. Alternatively, the liquid crystal 50 may be discharged and dropped onto the lower substrate 10 inclined with respect to the substrate 10.

In the present invention, in the liquid crystal supply step, the liquid crystal 50 may be supplied to one place, but as shown in FIG. 10A, the liquid crystal 50 may be divided and supplied to a plurality of places.
In this case, as shown in FIG. 10A, the liquid crystals 50a, 50b, and 50c supplied onto the lower substrate 10 are supplied from the beginning when the liquid crystal 50 is supplied onto the lower substrate 10. In comparison, the height becomes low and the contact area between the lower substrate 10 and the liquid crystal becomes wide. For this reason, when the liquid crystal 50 is divided and supplied to a plurality of locations, the time for lowering the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 than the height H2 of the sealing material 52 is shorter than when the liquid crystal 50 is supplied to one location. It can be a short time.

In the above-described embodiment, the table 61 of the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 is placed horizontally with the lower substrate 10 in order to shorten the time for the height H1 of the liquid crystal 50 to be lower than the height H2 of the sealing material 52. Although it can be held in a state inclined with respect to the direction, for example, as shown in FIG. 10B, the table 61 of the substrate feeding / dispensing device 62 generates vibrations that apply ultrasonic vibration to the lower substrate 10 The apparatus 11 (ultrasonic generator) may be provided.
In this case, the liquid crystal 50 can be easily spread by applying ultrasonic vibration to the lower substrate 10 during or after the liquid crystal supplying step, and the liquid crystal 50 can be easily expanded beyond the height H2 of the sealing material 52. The height H1 can be lowered. Therefore, for example, as compared with the case where ultrasonic vibration is not applied to the lower substrate 10, the time from supplying the liquid crystal onto the substrate to bonding the two substrates can be shortened. In the example shown in FIG. 10B, ultrasonic vibration is applied as the vibration generating device 11, but the vibration generating device is not ultrasonic if it can vibrate the liquid crystal 50 easily. May be.

[Electronics]
Hereinafter, specific examples of electronic devices including the liquid crystal device of the above embodiment will be described.
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone.
In FIG. 11, reference numeral 1000 denotes a mobile phone main body, and reference numeral 1001 denotes a display unit using the liquid crystal device of the above embodiment.
Since the cellular phone 1000 illustrated in FIG. 11 includes the display portion 1001 using the above liquid crystal device, an electronic device having a display portion with desired electrical characteristics and excellent reliability can be realized. it can.

  The technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example of an active matrix liquid crystal device using a TFT as a switching element is given as an example of an electro-optical device. However, an active matrix liquid crystal device using a thin film diode (TFD) as a switching element. A device or a passive matrix liquid crystal device may be used.

It is a schematic block diagram of the material supply apparatus and board | substrate supply / discharge apparatus used for the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device of this embodiment. It is a schematic block diagram of the board | substrate bonding apparatus used for a manufacturing method equally. It is process drawing which shows a manufacturing process equally. It is a continuation of the process diagram. It is a continuation of the process diagram. It is a continuation of the process diagram. It is a continuation of the process diagram. 2 is a flowchart of the manufacturing process. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of this invention, and is a side view for demonstrating the state of the liquid crystal on a lower board | substrate. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of this invention, and is a side view for demonstrating the state of the liquid crystal on a lower board | substrate. It is a perspective view which shows an example of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Lower board | substrate (one board | substrate), 11 ... Vibration generator, 20 ... Upper board | substrate, 50, 50a, 50b, 50c ... Liquid crystal, 52 ... Sealing material, 62 ... Substrate feeding / discharging apparatus, 51 ... Measuring apparatus, 53 ... Comparative device 54... Control unit 63. Material supply device 64. Substrate bonding device 61, 65, 68. Table 66 66 Droplet discharge head 67 67 Seal material application unit 69 69 Lower chuck unit 70 ... Vacuum chamber, 70b ... Accommodating space, 100 ... Liquid crystal device

Claims (14)

A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is disposed between a pair of substrates bonded via a sealing material,
Forming the sealing material on one of the pair of substrates;
A liquid crystal supply step for supplying liquid crystal on the one substrate;
A comparison step of comparing the height of the sealing material on the one substrate and the height of the liquid crystal before bonding the pair of substrates;
And a step of bonding the other substrate to the one substrate via the sealing material when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. .   The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the one substrate is inclined with respect to a horizontal direction after the liquid crystal supply step.   3. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein, in the liquid crystal supply step, the liquid crystal is supplied while the one substrate is inclined with respect to a horizontal direction.  2. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein vibration is applied to the one substrate during or after the liquid crystal supply step.   The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 4, wherein the vibration is ultrasonic vibration.  The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal supplying step supplies the liquid crystal to a plurality of locations. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is disposed between a pair of substrates bonded via a sealing material,
A liquid crystal supply device that forms the sealing material and supplies liquid crystal to a region inside the sealing material;
A measuring device for measuring the height of the liquid crystal before being bonded on one of the pair of substrates supplied with the liquid crystal;
A comparison device for comparing the height of the liquid crystal measured by the measurement device with the height of the sealing material on the one substrate before bonding;
A substrate laminating apparatus for laminating the other substrate on the one substrate via the sealing material;
The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, wherein the substrate bonding apparatus performs bonding when the height of the liquid crystal is lower than the height of the sealing material. A table for holding the one substrate before being bonded;
The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the table is capable of holding the one substrate in a state inclined with respect to a horizontal direction.   The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the table is capable of changing an inclination of the one substrate with respect to a horizontal direction.   10. The liquid crystal device according to claim 7, wherein the substrate bonding apparatus bonds the other substrate onto the one substrate held substantially horizontally. Manufacturing equipment. A table for holding the one substrate before being bonded;
The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the table includes a vibration generating device that applies vibration to the one substrate.   The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 11, wherein the vibration generator is an ultrasonic generator that generates ultrasonic vibrations.   13. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 7, wherein the measuring device is a laser displacement meter. The measurement apparatus is an area measurement apparatus that measures a contact area between the liquid crystal and the one substrate and calculates a height of the liquid crystal based on the contact area. The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 12.

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