JP2007114721A - Multilayer liquid crystal cell and method for manufacturing same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a multilayer liquid crystal cell that has high yield and excellent mass productivity and is hardly affected by glass chips or mixing of dust into the cell, and to provide a method for manufacturing the cell. <P>SOLUTION: The method having stacked layers of two outer glass substrates and at least one center glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates and having liquid crystal layers disposed between the glass substrates includes: a large multilayer cell forming step of laminating a center glass substrate at a predetermined gap between two outer glass substrates to form a plurality of multilayered cells; a substrate removing step of forming first scribe cracks on one of or both of the two outer glass substrates and scraping off unnecessary chips of the outer glass substrates according to the first scribe cracks; and a multilayer liquid crystal cell forming step of forming second scribe cracks in the center glass substrate which is exposed in the above substrate removing step, and cutting the center glass substrate to obtain single multilayer liquid crystal cells. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a multilayer liquid crystal cell in which two outer glass substrates and at least one middle glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates are laminated and a method for manufacturing the same.

  The liquid crystal cell is thin and light and has low power consumption. Therefore, the liquid crystal cell is used not only for display but also as an aberration correction element for correcting wavefront aberration of laser light in an optical pickup in an optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus such as a CD or DVD. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

  The aberration to be corrected by this optical pickup includes a plurality of aberrations such as coma, spherical aberration, and astigmatism. In addition to this aberration correction function, along with the double-layer recording of the optical disc, a variable focus lens function for layer jump and a variable that can obtain the desired phase difference amount by modulating the phase of the liquid crystal A phase difference plate function is also required.

  However, it is difficult to realize two functions of an aberration correction function, a variable focus lens function, and a variable phase difference plate function with only one liquid crystal cell. Therefore, in order to realize such a function with a liquid crystal panel, it is necessary to manufacture a liquid crystal cell for each function and to form a multilayer liquid crystal cell in which they are stacked and combined.

  However, when a plurality of individually prepared liquid crystal cells are bonded to obtain the multi-layer liquid crystal cell, an increase in thickness and weight and a loss of transmittance become problems. Therefore, in reality, a multilayer liquid crystal in which at least three or more glass substrates are combined, a liquid crystal layer is arranged in the gap between each glass substrate, and a transparent electrode pattern sandwiching these liquid crystal layers is shaped to realize each function. A cell is required (see, for example, Patent Document 2 and Patent Document 3). Note that Patent Document 2 discloses an optical pickup having the above-described configuration of the liquid crystal panel and capable of realizing both an aberration correction function and a variable phase difference plate function. Patent Document 3 discloses an optical pickup that can realize both functions of an aberration correction function and a variable focus lens function.

  Further, a manufacturing method applicable to the multi-layer liquid crystal cell is disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 4). In the manufacturing method described in Patent Document 4, the two outer glass substrates and the middle glass substrate are respectively processed into final dimensions of a single liquid crystal cell to be prepared in advance, and as a single liquid crystal cell, This is a method of independently assembling one set of multi-layer liquid crystal cells.

  In addition, another manufacturing method of a conventional multi-layer liquid crystal cell is also disclosed (for example, see Patent Document 5). In the manufacturing method described in Patent Document 5, when a multi-layer liquid crystal cell is formed on a large glass substrate, a single piece is previously formed on an intermediate glass substrate that is sandwiched between outer glass substrates and is not exposed to the outside. A scribe crack is formed in accordance with the dimensions of the liquid crystal cell, and then an outer glass substrate is bonded to both sides of the middle glass substrate. Finally, all the glass substrates are cut to create a target multi-layer liquid crystal cell.

JP-A-9-128785 (page 3-4, FIG. 1-9) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-34996 (pages 9-12, FIGS. 1 and 19) JP 2004-103058 (page 4-8, FIG. 1-8) JP-A-8-254711 (page 3, FIGS. 7-8) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-215480 (page 5-7, FIG. 1-5)

  However, the multi-layer liquid crystal cell manufacturing method described in Patent Document 4 has low mass production efficiency because the multi-layer liquid crystal cell is assembled independently for each single cell. Also, each time the model is changed, the outer dimensions of the cell also change, so that each time a jig stand having a different shape for use in manufacturing the cell is required, and the manufacturing process becomes very complicated.

  Further, in the manufacturing method described in Patent Document 5, scribe cracks are formed in the middle glass substrate in advance before the outer glass substrates are bonded to both sides of the middle glass substrate. Is likely to be mixed into the cell, causing a significant reduction in the production yield of the multi-layer liquid crystal cell.

  SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems and to provide a multi-layer liquid crystal cell which has almost no influence of glass chips and dust mixed in the cell, has a good yield and is excellent in mass productivity, and a method for manufacturing the same.

  In order to achieve the above object, the multi-layer liquid crystal cell manufacturing method of the present invention basically adopts the following configuration.

  The method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to the present invention comprises two outer glass substrates and at least one middle glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates, and a gap between the glass substrates. In a method of manufacturing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell in which a liquid crystal layer is disposed on a large-sized multi-layer cell, a plurality of multi-layer cells are formed by bonding at least one medium glass substrate with a predetermined gap between two outer glass substrates. Layer cell forming step and substrate portion removing step of forming a first scribe crack on one or both of the two outer glass substrates and scraping off unnecessary small pieces on the outer glass substrate based on the first scribe crack. And forming a second scribe crack on the intermediate glass substrate exposed in the substrate partial removal step, cutting the intermediate glass substrate, and cutting out a single multilayer liquid crystal cell. It is characterized in.

  According to the manufacturing method described above, a glass chip is formed in the multilayer liquid crystal cell as compared with the conventional method described in Patent Document 5 in which each glass substrate is manufactured by forming a scribe crack before being bonded to each other through the sealing material. In addition, since a multi-layer liquid crystal cell can be produced by taking a large number of large glass substrates, it is possible to easily manufacture a high-quality multi-layer liquid crystal cell with a very high yield.

  Moreover, the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention is a process in which the said board | substrate part removal process scrapes off the unnecessary small piece in one outer glass substrate, and the said multilayer liquid crystal cell formation process is a medium glass substrate. A second scribe crack is also formed on the other outer glass substrate to cleave both the middle glass substrate and the other outer glass substrate.

  In addition, in the method for manufacturing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to the present invention, the cross-sectional shape of an unnecessary piece scraped off in the substrate partial removal step is such that the glass substrate surface in contact with the liquid crystal layer is located on the bottom, and the opposite side of the liquid crystal layer When the glass substrate surface is the upper base, it is a trapezoidal shape in which the size of the lower base is smaller than the upper base.

  Further, in the method for manufacturing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention, the substrate partial removal step penetrates the outer glass substrate with the first scribe crack having an inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction of the outer glass substrate surface. It is characterized by scraping off unnecessary pieces.

  Further, in the method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to the present invention, the large-sized multi-layer cell forming step includes sandwiching a middle glass substrate in which scribe lines are previously provided at both ends of the substrate, a plurality of sealing materials, A cell forming step of bonding two outer glass substrates with a predetermined gap through an outer peripheral seal that surrounds all of the individual sealing materials, and an outer surface that reduces the thickness of the substrate by polishing the two outer glass substrates A glass substrate polishing step and a substrate cutting step of cutting the middle glass substrate together with the outer glass substrate along the scribe line at two sides of the outer peripheral seal are characterized.

  Moreover, the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention is characterized by the opening part being formed in the said outer periphery seal | sticker.

  According to the manufacturing method described above, since the outer glass substrate can be thinly polished after forming a large cell, the thickness of the liquid crystal cell is larger than that of the multilayer liquid crystal cell obtained by the manufacturing method described above. A multi-layer liquid crystal cell having a reduced thickness can be easily produced.

  The multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention comprises two outer glass substrates and at least one inner glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates, and is disposed in the gap between the glass substrates. In a multi-layer liquid crystal cell in which a liquid crystal layer is arranged, when the cross-sectional shape of at least one outer glass substrate has a glass substrate surface in contact with the liquid crystal layer as a lower base and a glass substrate surface opposite to the liquid crystal layer as an upper base. The trapezoidal shape is such that the size of the lower base is larger than the upper base.

  In the multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention, the above-mentioned middle glass substrate is one, and the cross-sectional shape of one outer glass substrate has a trapezoidal shape. A first liquid crystal cell that is sandwiched and a second liquid crystal cell that is sandwiched between the middle glass substrate and the other glass substrate, and the cell gap of the first liquid crystal cell is the second liquid crystal cell. It is characterized by being made smaller than the cell gap.

  In the multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention, the above-mentioned middle glass substrate is one, and the cross-sectional shape of one outer glass substrate has a trapezoidal shape. A first liquid crystal cell that is sandwiched and a second liquid crystal cell that is sandwiched between the middle glass substrate and the other glass substrate. Further, the cell gap between the first liquid crystal cell and the second liquid crystal cell is increased. Both are the same, and are characterized in that the phase conversion amount of the second liquid crystal cell is larger than the phase change amount of the first liquid crystal cell.

  According to the method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention, there is provided a method for producing a high-quality multi-layer liquid crystal cell with high yield without any concern about glass chips and dust being mixed into the multi-layer liquid crystal cell. It becomes possible.

  Further, according to the configuration of the multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention, even if the liquid crystal layer has at least two different functions, even if the external environment temperature changes, both functions can obtain desired characteristics. become.

  The best mode for carrying out the present invention is to manufacture a multi-layer liquid crystal cell in which two outer glass substrates and at least one middle glass substrate arranged between the two outer glass substrates are stacked. The present invention relates to a multi-layer liquid crystal cell formed by the method and its manufacturing method.

Specifically, the method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention is a large format in which a plurality of multi-layer cells are formed by laminating at least one medium glass with a predetermined gap between two outer glass substrates. Substrate part removal by forming a first scribe crack in one or both of the multilayer cell forming step and the two outer glass substrates, and scraping off unnecessary small pieces on the outer glass substrate based on the first scribe crack Forming a second scribe crack on the intermediate glass substrate exposed in the step of removing the substrate part, and cutting the intermediate glass substrate, and then cutting out a single multilayer liquid crystal cell; It is a manufacturing method including.

  The manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention and the multilayer liquid crystal cell formed by this manufacturing method are demonstrated. In the following description, for simplicity, a multi-layer liquid crystal cell including a middle glass substrate between two outer glass substrates and a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the glass substrates is shown as a representative example. The multi-layer liquid crystal cell and the manufacturing method thereof are not limited to this, and a multi-layer liquid crystal cell in which the number of intermediate glass substrates is increased and the number of liquid crystal layers is further increased is also included in the present invention. I want to be.

  First, the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention is demonstrated. FIG. 1A to FIG. 1C are an upper plan view and a side view showing an outline of a manufacturing process from a large format multi-layer cell to a single multi-layer liquid crystal cell. These are the figures for demonstrating a large format multilayer cell formation process and a board | substrate partial removal process, and this figure (b) is drawing which shows the strip multilayer cell obtained by a board | substrate partial removal process, (c) is a drawing for explaining a multi-layer liquid crystal cell forming step.

  First, as shown in FIG. 1A, a transparent electrode having a predetermined shape is formed on one surface of the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 and both surfaces of the middle glass substrate 12 in the large-sized multilayer cell forming step. After that, an alignment film is formed. Then, the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are aligned and bonded via a sealing material (not shown) so that the transparent electrodes face each other on both surfaces of the inner glass substrate 12, and a large number of cells 14 are obtained. The large-sized multi-layer cell 15 is formed.

  Although not clearly shown in FIG. 1A, each cell 14 is surrounded by a sealing material between each glass substrate, and is bonded together so as to secure a space as a single cell 14. is there. In addition, these respective sealing materials formed on the outer glass substrate 11 and the intermediate glass substrate 12 and between the intermediate glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13 are arranged in the same shape. At this point, each glass substrate is not subjected to any mechanical processing such as scribing.

  At the next stage, the large-sized multi-layer cell 15 having a large number of the cells 14 shown in FIG. 1A is subjected to a substrate partial removal process, which will be described in detail later, and the strip-shaped strip 15 shown in FIG. Cut into the multilayer cell 16.

  Thereafter, liquid crystal is injected from the inlet of the strip multi-layer cell 16, and the inlet is sealed to form a liquid crystal cell. Then, as shown in FIG. By processing, it is possible to obtain a single multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 by cutting each individual cell 14 arranged in the strip multilayer cell 16.

  The main point in the method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell of the present invention is the substrate partial removing step in the steps from FIG. 1A to FIG. 1B in the above description. Hereinafter, the process will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a process drawing in which the process flow from FIG. 1A to FIG. 1B is shown by enlarging the part A shown in FIG.

In addition, in the following description, the case where the glass substrate with a plate thickness of 0.3 mm is used for both the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 and the middle glass substrate 12 will be described. In addition, as a scribing device, a crack cutting system (trade name) manufactured by Beldex Co., Ltd., which has the feature of making the scribing crack easy to penetrate when the scribing head part vibrates at a high frequency, and as a scribing wheel, a highly penetrating scribing system. A penet wheel (trade name) manufactured by Mitsuboshi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd., which is generally known as a wheel that can be used, is used. This penet wheel can make 80% or more cracks in the thickness direction of the glass substrate. Then, by combining this penet wheel and a crack cutting system, it is possible to realize 90% or more cracks in the thickness direction of the glass substrate. As described above, in order to apply the substrate partial removal process, which is a process characteristic of the manufacturing method of the present invention, a relatively thin glass substrate having a thickness of 0.3 mm is used as the outer glass substrate 11. More than 30% cracks can be inserted.

  First, as shown in FIG. 2A, in order to punch out the small piece 21 that is an unnecessary part of the outer glass substrate 11, the position is indicated by SO, and the cross-sectional shape of the small piece is located inside the cell 14. When the surface of the outer glass substrate 11 is the lower bottom and the surface of the outer glass substrate 11 located outside the cell is the upper bottom, the outer glass substrate is formed in a trapezoidal shape with the size of the lower bottom smaller than the upper base. The oblique crack 61 corresponding to the first scribe crack is infiltrated in an oblique direction with respect to the surface of 11.

  In addition, the small piece 21 which is an unnecessary part of the outer glass substrate 11 mentioned above refers to a part of the large-sized multi-layer cell 15 having a large number of cells shown in FIG. Point to.

  Here, a method of infiltrating the first scribe crack in the oblique direction into the outer glass substrate 11 in the substrate partial removing step will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a drawing schematically showing the periphery of the head portion of a commercially available scribe device.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the commercially available scribing apparatus main body has a configuration in which a scribing head portion 31 is attached to a moving body 33 via a base plate 32. The scribing head portion 31 is shown in this drawing. In addition, it is installed perpendicular to the stage 36. And the wheel holder 35 for installing a scribe wheel is attached to the front-end | tip of the scribe head part 31, and when the moving body 31 moves back and forth with respect to the paper surface, the glass substrate placed on the stage 36 In addition, desired scribe cracks can be formed.

  Next, an inclination jig attached to the scribe device main body will be described. 4A and 4B are a front view and a side view showing a configuration of an inclination jig having an inclination of a predetermined angle θ used in the scribing apparatus main body.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the tilting jig 34 has a through hole 41 and a screw hole 42 at four corners, and a tilt angle of a predetermined angle θ is formed. The inclined jig 34 is fitted with a protrusion (not shown) in which the through hole 41 is formed on the base plate 32 (see FIG. 3). Then, in a state where the inclined jig 34 is positioned on the base plate 32 in the main body of the scribing device shown in FIG. 3, each component is fixed with a screw or the like through the screw hole 42.

  Next, the scriber main body to which the inclined jig 34 is attached will be described. FIG. 5 is a drawing schematically showing the periphery of the head portion in which the tilt jig 34 shown in FIG. 4 is attached to the scribing device main body shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 5, the wheel holder 35 mounted on the scribe head unit 31 is defined by the inclination jig 34 by incorporating the inclination jig 34 described above between the base plate 32 and the wheel holder 35. It will be inclined by a predetermined angle θ. As a result, the base plate 32
The first scribe crack can be formed at a predetermined angle θ with respect to the glass substrate placed on the substrate.

  Next, the action of forming the first scribe crack by tilting the glass substrate at a predetermined angle θ will be described. 6 (a) is an enlarged view of a main part in which the periphery of the wheel holder 35 shown in FIG. 5 is enlarged. FIG. 6 (b) is a further enlarged view of the B part of FIG. It is drawing which shows the penetration | infiltration state of the 1st scribe crack formed in the glass substrate 11. FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6A, the tilt jig 34 allows the scribe wheel 51 to form the first scribe crack in the outer glass substrate 11 in a state where the scribe wheel 51 is tilted from the vertical by a predetermined angle θ. In this step, the predetermined angle is 4 ° to 10 °.

  As described above, in this step, a penet wheel (trade name) manufactured by Mitsuboshi Diamond Industrial Co., Ltd., which is capable of highly penetrating scribe, is used for the scribe wheel 51, and the apparatus configuration shown in FIG. By combining this with a crack cutting system (trade name) which is a scribing device manufactured by Verdex, as shown in FIG. 6B, the outer glass substrate 11 can be cut almost completely. The first scribe crack (oblique crack 61 in the present drawing) can be infiltrated to about 90% or more in the thickness direction.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 2A, after forming an oblique crack 61 corresponding to the first scribe crack at a predetermined position indicated by SO of the outer glass substrate 11, it is indicated by SV of the outer glass substrate 13. A second scribe crack in the vertical direction can be formed at a predetermined position by ordinary scribe.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2B, the large-sized multi-layer cell 15 (see FIG. 1) having a large number of cells is warped with a predetermined curvature so that the outer glass substrate 11 is convex. In this step, the large-sized multilayer cell 15 was warped with a curvature radius of 1500 mm to 10000 mm.

  And the small piece 21 which is an unnecessary part of the large-sized multilayer cell 15 warped with a predetermined curvature is pulled up with an adhesive tape, vacuum suction tweezers, or the like, so that the small piece 21 can be easily pulled out from the outer glass substrate 11. .

  Next, as shown in FIG. 2 (c), after the small piece 21 is punched out, a second scribe in the vertical direction is formed by a normal scribe at a predetermined position indicated by SV of the middle glass substrate 12 exposed therefrom. Form a crack.

  Next, the second scribe crack in the vertical direction formed at a predetermined position indicated by SV of the outer glass substrate 13 shown in FIG. 2A, and the middle glass substrate 12 shown in FIG. 2C. The second scribe crack formed at a predetermined position indicated by SV is broken by a break bar (not shown), and the inner glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13 are cut, whereby FIG. And the strip multilayer cell 16 shown in FIG.1 (b) can be manufactured.

  Thereafter, a liquid crystal is injected into each cell 14 in the strip multilayer cell 16 to perform a sealing process. And finally, as shown in FIG.1 (c), the liquid crystal cell formed using the strip multilayer cell 16 is cut | disconnected by a dicing process by a multilayer liquid crystal cell formation process, and a single multilayer layer is cut | disconnected. The liquid crystal cell 17 is completed.

By creating the multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 according to the procedure described above, a predetermined scribe crack is formed in the middle glass substrate 12 before the large three glass substrates are bonded together via a sealing material as in the prior art. Since there is no need, there is no fear that glass chips and dust are mixed in the multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17, and moreover, the multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 can be produced by taking a large number from the large-sized multi-layer cell 15, so that the yield can be improved very efficiently. Manufacture of a high-quality multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 can be realized.

  In addition, the production of a multi-layer liquid crystal cell having four or more large glass substrates and three or more liquid crystal layers is similarly positioned further after the small piece 21 is punched from the outer glass substrate 11 described above. A desired multi-layer liquid crystal cell can also be manufactured by repeating the process of punching out unnecessary portions of the outer glass substrate.

  Next, the structure of the multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 produced by the method for producing a multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention will be described.

  The multi-layer liquid crystal cell manufactured by the multi-layer liquid crystal cell manufacturing method of the present invention has a configuration in which at least one of the cross sections of the outer glass substrate 11 has an oblique shape, as shown in FIG. Further, the size of the middle glass substrate 12 is always larger than that of the outer glass substrate 11 having an oblique sectional shape.

  Here, the structural example of this multilayer liquid crystal cell is demonstrated. FIG. 7 is a view for explaining the shape of a multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 that can be produced by the method for producing a multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention. Note that the drawing shown in FIG. 7A corresponds to FIG. 2C in the substrate partial removal step shown in FIG.

  The shape of the multi-layer liquid crystal cell that can be produced by the multi-layer liquid crystal cell production method of the present invention is to move the position of the vertical scribe crack corresponding to the second scribe crack indicated by SV in FIG. Thus, a total of four types of configurations shown below can be manufactured.

  FIG. 7A shows the same configuration as FIG. 2C, and the first shape shown in FIG. 2D obtained thereby is that both end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 11 are intermediate glass substrates. 12 having a shape that is shorter than both end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 12, the left end surface of the outer glass substrate 13 is shorter than the left end surface of the middle glass substrate 12, and the right end surface of the outer glass substrate 13 is longer than the right end surface of the middle glass substrate 12. It becomes.

  Further, the second shape is a configuration example shown in FIG. 7B, in which both end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 11 are shorter than both end surfaces of the middle glass substrate 12, and the left and right end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 13 are also It has a shorter shape than the middle glass substrate 12.

  Further, the third shape is a configuration example shown in FIG. 7C, in which both end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 11 are shorter than both end surfaces of the middle glass substrate 12, and left and right end surfaces of the outer glass substrate 13 are It is longer than the middle glass substrate 12, that is, the outer glass substrate 11, the middle glass substrate 12, and the outer glass substrate 13 are shaped so as to be displaced stepwise on both end faces.

  The fourth shape is a configuration example shown in FIG. 7D, in which both end faces of the outer glass substrate 11 are shorter than both end faces of the middle glass substrate 12, and the left end face of the outer glass substrate 13 is the middle. The glass substrate 12 is longer than the left end surface, and the outer glass substrate 13 has a right end surface shorter than the right end surface of the middle glass substrate 12.

Next, two structural examples in the multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention will be described in detail.
As shown in FIG. 6B described above, in the substrate partial removal step, almost complete scribe cracks can be formed in the thickness direction of the outer glass substrate 11, and as shown in FIG. If the multilayer cell 15 can be warped with a predetermined curvature so that the outer glass substrate 11 is convex, unnecessary pieces 21 can be easily scraped off. Therefore, if the above two requirements are satisfied, a thin substrate is used only for the outer glass substrate 11 that performs this substrate partial removal process, and the other glass substrate is a relatively thick substrate that is generally used for a liquid crystal panel. However, a multilayer liquid crystal cell can be similarly constructed.

  Here, a thin glass substrate is used only for the outer glass substrate 11 in the multilayer liquid crystal panel 17, and the other glass substrate is a thick glass substrate generally used for a liquid crystal panel. A configuration example 2 will be described.

  In the first configuration example, a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.3 mm is used as the outer glass substrate 11 in the multilayer liquid crystal panel 17, and a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.5 mm is used as the middle glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13. Is used. The cell gap of the first liquid crystal cell composed of the liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the outer glass substrate 11 and the middle glass substrate 12 is composed of the liquid crystal layer sandwiched between the middle glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13. It is configured to be narrower than the cell gap of the second liquid crystal cell.

  In this first configuration example, the multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 of the present invention is mounted on an optical pickup, and two functions of the aberration correction function, variable focus lens function and variable phase difference plate function explained in the background art are explained. In each of the first liquid crystal cell and the second liquid crystal cell, and in the first liquid crystal cell having a small cell gap, those having a small phase modulation amount among these functions are provided in the second liquid crystal cell. Then, it is suitable when the phase modulation amount is larger than that of the first liquid crystal cell.

  The multi-layer liquid crystal cell in the first configuration example configured as described above has a narrow cell gap even if a temperature change of the external environment occurs in an optical disk recording / reproducing apparatus equipped with an optical pickup. The gap fluctuation is smaller than that of the second liquid crystal cell. On the other hand, in the second liquid crystal cell, since both the middle glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13 use a relatively thick glass substrate, the gap fluctuation is also reduced.

  The first configuration example can be a multi-layer liquid crystal cell that is always stable against changes in the external environment, and satisfies the two requirements in the substrate partial removal process described above. Effects similar to those of the invention in the manufacturing method shown can be obtained.

The relationship of the glass substrate thickness can also be applied to the second configuration example described below.
As in the previous configuration example, the second configuration example uses a glass substrate having a thickness of 0.3 mm for the outer glass substrate 11, and glass having a thickness of 0.5 mm for the middle glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13. A substrate is used. In the multilayer liquid crystal cell 17, the first liquid crystal cell and the second liquid crystal cell have the same cell gap.

  In this configuration example, the second liquid crystal cell is provided with an aberration correction function with a large amount of phase change. On the other hand, the first liquid crystal cell has a configuration that is driven with a small amount of phase change and has a function for fine adjustment of aberration correction.

  According to this configuration example, even if there is a temperature change in the external environment, it is assumed that the cell gap of the first liquid crystal cell greatly fluctuates because the outer glass substrate 11 is configured by a relatively thin glass substrate. However, since the phase modulation amount applied to the first liquid crystal cell is originally small, the influence on the phase change amount can be reduced. On the other hand, since the second liquid crystal cell is composed of the medium glass substrate 11 and the outer glass substrate 12 having a relatively thick glass thickness, even if there is a temperature change in the external environment, the cell gap fluctuation is not caused. It can be suppressed as much as possible.

  By receiving such an action, the second configuration example can correct a desired aberration in the laser light passing through the first liquid crystal cell and the second liquid crystal cell. Furthermore, the same effects as described above can be obtained from the manufacturing effects of this configuration.

Next, another method for producing the multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 of the present invention will be described.
The manufacturing method described in the present embodiment includes an outer glass substrate polishing step for thinning the outer glass substrate, in addition to the manufacturing method of the first embodiment described above. Thereby, if the manufacturing method described in the present embodiment is adopted, a multilayer liquid crystal cell in which the thickness of the finally obtained cell is reduced can be manufactured.

  Note that the manufacturing method of the multi-layer liquid crystal cell in this example differs from the manufacturing method described in Example 1 only in the large format multi-layer cell forming process, and other processes (substrate partial removing process, multi-layer liquid crystal) The cell formation step) is the same. Therefore, in the following description, the large-sized multilayer cell forming process which is a characteristic part in the present embodiment will be mainly described.

  First, the large-sized multilayer cell forming step, which is a characteristic part in the present embodiment, will be described in detail. FIG. 8A is a diagram for explaining a cell forming process in the large-sized recovery layer cell forming process, and FIG. 8B is a diagram for explaining an outer glass substrate polishing process and a substrate cutting process. is there.

  First, a transparent electrode having a predetermined shape is formed on one surface of the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 having a thickness of 0.3 mm and both surfaces of the inner glass substrate 12 having a thickness of 0.3 mm, and then an alignment film is formed. To do. And the scribe crack 105 is provided in the both ends of one surface of the middle glass board | substrate 12 shown to (a) of FIG. Next, the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are bonded to each other through a sealing material (not shown) and the outer peripheral seal 101 so that the transparent electrodes are disposed on both surfaces of the middle glass substrate 12 so as to face each other. A first large-sized multilayer cell 115 in which a large number of cells are taken is formed. The outer peripheral seal 101 is provided so as to surround all the cells 14 and has an opening 102. The above process corresponds to the cell formation process in the large format multilayer cell formation process.

Here, the reason why the middle glass substrate 12 is arranged between the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 through the outer peripheral seal 101 and the outer glass substrate polishing step is performed will be described.
For example, in order to manufacture the first large-sized multilayer cell 115 of 300 mm × 300 mm, the thicknesses of the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 and the middle glass substrate 12 are set to 0. 0 for convenience of handling in a series of manufacturing processes. It is preferable to use a glass substrate of 3 mm or more. Therefore, the thickness of the first large-sized multilayer cell 115 in which the middle glass substrate 12 is bonded with a predetermined gap between the two outer glass substrates 11 and 13 is 0.9 mm or more. It becomes. Therefore, in order to make the 0.9 mm-thick first large-sized multilayer cell 115 0.6 mm thick, after the first large-sized multilayer cell 115 is formed, both side surfaces of the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are formed. A polishing process for thinning must be performed.

  However, when the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are polished with the configuration of the large-sized multilayer cell 15 in FIG. 1A shown in FIG. 1A, the polishing liquid and the polishing abrasive used in the outer glass substrate polishing step are performed. Grain will penetrate into the cells 14 in the large-sized multilayer cell 15 or between the adjacent cells 14. The polishing liquid and abrasive grains that have entered once are difficult to eliminate later, so it is desirable to suppress the penetration of the polishing liquid and abrasive grains between the glass substrates as much as possible. Therefore, in this embodiment, like the first large-sized multilayer cell 115 shown in FIG. 8A, an outer peripheral seal 101 is provided on the outer edge of the substrate, and the polishing liquid used in the outer glass substrate polishing step A means for preventing the abrasive grains from entering the cells 14 or between the adjacent cells 14 was adopted.

  Since the outer peripheral seal 101 becomes an obstacle to the subsequent substrate partial removal process, the manufacturing method of this embodiment is provided with a scribe line 105 on the middle glass substrate 12 in advance, and further in the first embodiment described above. A substrate cutting step for cutting both end surfaces of the outer peripheral seal 101 is added before the substrate portion removing step. In this way, by providing the scribe line 105 in advance on the middle glass substrate 12 and adding this substrate cutting step, a large multi-layer cell 115 having a thickness of 0.6 mm made of three glass substrates is obtained. The multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 can be efficiently manufactured.

  Further, although not explicitly shown in FIG. 8A, each cell 14 is surrounded by a sealing material between the glass substrates in the same manner as in Example 1, so that a space as a single cell 14 is formed. They are pasted together to ensure. In addition, these respective sealing materials formed on the outer glass substrate 11 and the intermediate glass substrate 12 and between the intermediate glass substrate 12 and the outer glass substrate 13 are arranged in the same shape.

  Next, the opening 102 shown above in the outer peripheral seal 101 provided in the above process is sealed with a sealing material 103. The reason why the opening 102 is provided is to allow air interposed therebetween to escape to the outside when the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are bonded to both sides of the middle glass substrate 12. Therefore, the opening 102 is not necessarily required when the glass substrates are bonded in a vacuum. Thereafter, both surfaces of the outer glass substrate 11 and the outer glass substrate 13 are polished to a thickness of 0.15 mm in the outer glass substrate polishing step using a polishing liquid and polishing abrasive grains. At this time, as described above, since the outer peripheral seal 101 is formed in the first large-sized multilayer cell 115, the polishing liquid and the abrasive grains enter the cell 14 and between the adjacent cells 14. Never do.

  Next, in the substrate cutting step, scribe cracks are formed on the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 by a normal scribe step at substantially the same position as the scribe cracks 105 provided on the middle glass substrate 12, together with the outer glass substrates 11 and 13. The middle glass substrate 12 is cut to form the second large-sized multilayer cell 116 shown in FIG.

  Using the second large-sized multilayer cell 116 obtained through the above-described steps, the following steps (substrate partial removing step, multilayer liquid crystal cell forming step) are performed in the same manner as in Example 1. FIG. 9A is a diagram for explaining a substrate partial removal process using the second large-sized multilayer cell obtained in FIG. 8B, and FIG. It is drawing which shows the strip multilayer cell obtained by a process, and this FIG.9 (c) is drawing for demonstrating a multilayer liquid crystal cell formation process.

  As shown in FIG. 9A, in the same manner as in the first embodiment, the second large-sized multilayer cell 116 in which both sides of the outer peripheral seal 101 are cut is subjected to the substrate partial removal process, and then the state shown in FIG. The strip-shaped strip multilayer cell 16 shown is obtained. At this time, the outer peripheral seals 101 at both end portions of the second large-sized multilayer cell 116 have been removed by the substrate cutting step shown in FIG. There is no obstacle to doing this.

  Then, after injecting liquid crystal from the inlet of the strip multilayer cell 16 and sealing the inlet to form a liquid crystal cell, as shown in FIG. 9C, dicing in the multilayer liquid crystal cell formation step By processing, it is possible to obtain a single multilayer liquid crystal cell 17 by cutting each individual cell 14 arranged in the strip multilayer cell 16.

As described above, according to the example of the method for manufacturing a multilayer liquid crystal cell in this example, after forming the first large-sized multilayer cell 115, the outer glass substrates 11 and 13 are thinly polished, In the substrate cutting step, the second large-sized multi-layer cell 116 is obtained, and in the subsequent steps, the multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 is formed in the same manner as in the first embodiment. As compared with the multi-layer liquid crystal cell formed in (1), it is possible to easily manufacture the multi-layer liquid crystal cell 17 having a thinner liquid crystal cell.

It is process drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. Example 1 It is process drawing for demonstrating the board | substrate partial removal process in the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. Example 1 1 is a schematic view showing a head portion of a scribing device used in a method for producing a multilayer liquid crystal cell of the present invention. Example 1 It is drawing which shows the structure of the inclination jig of the scribe apparatus used with the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. Example 1 It is drawing which shows the structure of the scribe apparatus used with the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. Example 1 It is drawing which shows the penetration | invasion of the wheel holder part of a scribe apparatus used with the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention, and a 1st scribe crack. Example 1 It is drawing which shows the structure of the multilayer liquid crystal cell which can be produced with the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. Example 1 It is process drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. (Example 2) It is process drawing for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the multilayer liquid crystal cell of this invention. (Example 2)

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Outer glass substrate 12 Medium glass substrate 13 Outer glass substrate 14 Cell 15 Large format multilayer cell 16 Strip multilayer cell 17 Multi-layer liquid crystal cell 21 Small piece 31 Scribe head part 32 Base plate 33 Moving body 34 Inclined jig 35 Wheel holder 36 Stage 41 Through hole 42 Screw hole 51 Scribe wheel 61 Diagonal crack 101 Peripheral seal 102 Opening 103 Sealing material 105 Scribe crack 115 First large multi-layer cell 116 Second large multi-layer cell

Claims (9)

Manufacture of a multi-layer liquid crystal cell in which two outer glass substrates and at least one inner glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates are stacked and a liquid crystal layer is disposed in the gap between the glass substrates. In the method
A large-sized multilayer cell forming step of forming a plurality of multilayer cells by laminating at least one medium glass substrate with a predetermined gap between the two outer glass substrates;
A substrate part removing step of forming a first scribe crack on either or both of the two outer glass substrates, and scraping off unnecessary pieces on the outer glass substrate based on the first scribe crack;
Forming a second scribe crack in the intermediate glass substrate exposed in the substrate partial removal step, cutting the intermediate glass substrate, and cutting out a single multilayer liquid crystal cell; and
A method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell, comprising: The substrate part removing step is a step of scraping off unnecessary pieces on one outer glass substrate,
The multilayer liquid crystal cell forming step is a step of forming a second scribe crack in the other outer glass substrate together with the middle glass substrate, and cutting both the middle glass substrate and the other outer glass substrate. The method for producing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to claim 1.   The cross-sectional shape of an unnecessary piece scraped off in the substrate partial removal step is such that when the glass substrate surface in contact with the liquid crystal layer is the bottom, and the glass substrate surface opposite to the liquid crystal layer is the top bottom, 3. The method of manufacturing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to claim 1, wherein the size of the lower base is smaller than that of the upper base.   The substrate partial removal step is characterized in that the first scribe crack having an inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction of the outer glass substrate surface is infiltrated into the outer glass substrate, and then the unnecessary small pieces are scraped off. A method for producing a multilayer liquid crystal cell according to claim 3. The large-sized multilayer cell forming step includes sandwiching the middle glass substrate in which scribe lines are previously provided at both ends of the substrate, and a plurality of sealing materials and an outer peripheral seal surrounding all of the plurality of sealing materials. A cell forming step of bonding the two outer glass substrates with a predetermined gap; an outer glass substrate polishing step of polishing the two outer glass substrates to reduce the thickness of the substrate; and two sides of the outer peripheral seal. A substrate cutting step for cutting the middle glass substrate together with the outer glass substrate along the scribe line;
5. The method for producing a multilayer liquid crystal cell according to claim 1, comprising:   6. The method of manufacturing a multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to claim 5, wherein the outer peripheral seal is provided with an opening. In a multilayer liquid crystal cell in which two outer glass substrates and at least one inner glass substrate disposed between the two outer glass substrates are stacked and a liquid crystal layer is disposed in the gap between the glass substrates,
When the cross-sectional shape of at least one of the outer glass substrates is such that the glass substrate surface in contact with the liquid crystal layer is the lower base and the glass substrate surface opposite to the liquid crystal layer is the upper base, the lower base is more than the upper base. A multilayer liquid crystal cell having a trapezoidal shape with a large size. A first liquid crystal cell in which the number of the middle glass substrates is one and the cross-sectional shape of one outer glass substrate has the trapezoidal shape, and is sandwiched between the one outer glass substrate and the middle glass substrate. And a second liquid crystal cell sandwiched between the middle glass substrate and the other glass substrate,
8. The multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to claim 7, wherein a cell gap of the first liquid crystal cell is smaller than a cell gap of the second liquid crystal cell. A first liquid crystal cell in which the number of the middle glass substrates is one and the cross-sectional shape of one outer glass substrate has the trapezoidal shape, and is sandwiched between the one outer glass substrate and the middle glass substrate. And a second liquid crystal cell sandwiched between the middle glass substrate and the other glass substrate,
Further, the cell gaps of the first liquid crystal cell and the second liquid crystal cell are the same, and the phase conversion amount of the second liquid crystal cell is larger than the phase change amount of the first liquid crystal cell. The multi-layer liquid crystal cell according to claim 7, which is configured as described above.

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