JP2007133210A - Spacer arrangement apparatus and manufacturing method of liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a compact spacer arrangement apparatus whose maintenance is easy and which can fix spacers at specified positions on a substrate with high uniformity. <P>SOLUTION: The spacer arrangement apparatus, selectively dispersing and arranging the spacers on the substrate, has a spacer arranging part 10 having a spacer scattering part 1 that scatters the spacers whose surfaces are coated with thermoplastic resin at prescribed regions on the substrate, a light irradiating part 2 for selectively irradiating the scattered spacers with a light to make the spacers fix selectively to prescribed positions on the substrate, a spacer suction part 3 for sucking unfixed spacers on the substrate and a connection part, integrally connecting the light irradiating part and the spacer suction part and further has a conveyance mechanism for moving the relative position of the substrate and the spacer arrangement part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a spacer arrangement device. More specifically, a spacer disposing device that selectively disperses and fixes a spacer used to control the distance between two substrates disposed opposite to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, and the spacer disposition. The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device using a setting device.

  A liquid crystal display device is configured by disposing two electrode substrates opposed to each other at a predetermined interval and injecting liquid crystal between the pair of substrates. In order to maintain the above-described predetermined interval, for example, after a spacer is dispersed on the surface of the electrode substrate on the liquid crystal layer side, the pair of electrode substrates are bonded together. Thereby, the space | interval of board | substrate members is hold | maintained at the magnitude | size of a spacer substantially.

  Conventionally, the spacers are scattered over almost the entire region of the surface of the electrode substrate on the liquid crystal layer side.

  However, such a liquid crystal display device causes uneven color (cell gap unevenness) due to the movement of the spacer due to vibration, temperature change, etc. during liquid crystal injection or after panel formation. There was a problem that the display was uneven due to scratches.

  In order to solve such a problem, a method of adhering and fixing a spacer on an electrode substrate has been proposed. As a specific method for bonding and fixing the spacer on the electrode substrate, a thermoplastic resin is coated on the spacer, and after the spacer is dispersed and dispersed, the spacer is bonded and fixed by heating using hot air or a heating furnace. Such a method is widely used.

  On the other hand, when the spacers are scattered on the substrate, if the spacers are present on a region (pixel region) actually involved in display, the spacers exhibit optical anisotropy different from that of the liquid crystal. There has been a problem that light leakage occurs from the spacers to lower the contrast.

  In order to solve such a problem, a method (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2) in which spacers are arranged only in regions other than pixels (also referred to as black matrix regions) has been proposed.

  For example, a spacer whose surface is described in Patent Document 1 is coated with a thermoplastic resin, an alignment film is formed, the spacer is dispersed on an electrode substrate that has been rubbed, and then dispersed in a region other than the pixel. Infrared light is selectively irradiated to the arranged spacers to selectively bond and fix them. Specifically, infrared irradiation is performed through a photomask whose irradiation width is narrower than the pixel interval, and dispersion of spacers is applied to the entire surface of the electrode substrate after being dispersed in a solvent system, and then dried to remove the other than pixels. The region is irradiated with infrared rays to fix the spacer, and then the unfixed spacer is washed away. By this method, the spacer can be fixed only to the non-pixel region.

  However, this method requires a multi-step process including many wet processes such as application, drying, exposure, and washing of the spacer dispersion liquid, and requires a large-scale manufacturing facility. In addition, since the spacers dispersed and dispersed in the pixel area are removed, 95% of the spacers dispersed and dispersed is wasted. Further, if the recovered spacer is to be reused, a process for recovery and separation is required, resulting in high cost, and further improvement of the process has been desired.

  On the other hand, after the spacers are dispersed by an air flow as disclosed in Patent Document 2, laser light is used to selectively irradiate areas other than the pixels, the spacers are fixed, and then the high-pressure air current is applied to the pixels. A method is described in which unfixed spacers in the region are removed and high-pressure air is exhausted together with the spacers by an exhaust device. As a result, the spacer can be recovered without including the wet process. However, in the method in which high-pressure air is exhausted by the exhaust device as in the device of Patent Document 2, uneven suction pressure occurs in the spacer recovery process, and the removed spacers are scattered in the pixel region and the non-pixel region. There is a problem that the fixed spacer is peeled off from the substrate, resulting in the density of the spacer disposed on the substrate. Moreover, in order to supply high-pressure air, a large amount of air is required, and a large exhaust device is also required.

In particular, in order to cope with the liquid crystal substrate size (1880 mm × 2150 mm) used in the seventh generation liquid crystal display devices that are becoming mainstream in recent years, it is desired to improve the uniformity of the arrangement density of the spacers.
Japanese Patent No. 3093943 JP 2001-183672 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide a spacer arrangement device that is compact, easy to maintain, and capable of fixing a spacer at a specific position on a substrate with high uniformity.

  The above problem could be solved by the following configuration.

  1. In a spacer disposing apparatus that selectively disperses spacers on a substrate, a spacer spraying unit that sprays a spacer whose surface is coated with a thermoplastic resin on a predetermined region on the substrate, and a sprayed spacer are selected. A light irradiation part for selectively fixing the spacer to a predetermined position on the substrate by irradiating light, a spacer suction part for sucking an unfixed spacer on the substrate, the light irradiation part and the spacer A spacer arrangement comprising a spacer arrangement portion having a connecting portion for integrally connecting the suction portion and a transport mechanism for moving a relative position between the substrate and the spacer arrangement portion. apparatus.

  2. 2. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer spraying unit is integrally connected to the light irradiation unit and the spacer suction unit.

  3. 3. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the spacer arrangement portion has a focus adjustment mechanism for adjusting a distance from the substrate.

  4). 4. The spacer disposing device according to any one of 1 to 3, wherein the transport mechanism moves the substrate.

  5. 4. The spacer arrangement device according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein the transport mechanism moves the spacer arrangement portion.

  6). The spacer disposing device according to any one of 1 to 5, wherein the spacer spraying portion and the spacer suction portion are connected.

  7). In a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which spacers used to control the distance between two substrates disposed opposite to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween are selectively dispersed on the substrate, the spacers are disposed on the substrate in a predetermined manner. A step of spraying the region, a step of fixing the spacer to a predetermined position by irradiating the spacer to which the light has been scattered, and a step of sucking the spacer that is not fixed are performed almost simultaneously at a predetermined interval. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

  With the apparatus of the present invention, a compact design is possible, space saving, no wet process, spacers can be arranged at a predetermined density on the electrode substrate by a complete dry process, and recovery is possible. The obtained material can be reused without waste, and the obtained liquid crystal display device does not leak light and can display with high contrast and high definition.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  A liquid crystal display device produced by a production process to which a spacer arranging device according to the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device 50. A transparent electrode film 53 and an alignment film 54 are formed on the lower substrate 51, and a color filter layer 60 (pixel region 55 (B, G, R) and non-pixel region (black matrix) is formed on the upper substrate 52. 58), the transparent electrode film 56 and the alignment film 54 are formed in this order. The spacer 71 is disposed between the alignment films of the upper and lower substrates, and the liquid crystal layer 61 is formed in the gap formed by the spacer. The spacer is fixed to the non-pixel region 58 by the spacer arrangement device of the present invention. The two transparent electrodes 53 and 56 are in the form of stripes orthogonal to each other, and the stripes are separated by an insulating layer 57.

  Next, a spacer having a surface coated with a thermoplastic resin used in the present invention will be described.

  The spacer material may be a known spacer such as plastic beads or silica spheres, and preferably has a spherical shape with a particle diameter of 1 to 10 μm, preferably 2 to 5 μm, and silica spheres are particularly preferable.

  On the other hand, as the surface thermoplastic resin, materials such as a polyester resin, a polyamide resin, an acrylic resin, a polyethylene resin, a modified polyolefin resin, a polyvinyl acetate ethylene resin, and a polyurethane resin can be used. It is not a thing.

  The substrate to which the spacer is fixed by the spacer arranging apparatus of the present invention may be the upper substrate 52 or the lower substrate 51.

  Next, the spacer arrangement device according to the present invention will be described.

  In the spacer arrangement device of the present invention, a substrate and a spacer arrangement portion composed of a spacer spraying portion, a light irradiation portion, and a spacer suction portion, which will be described later, are arranged in the XY direction (the plane main scanning direction is the Y direction, and the sub scanning direction is the X direction. It is necessary to have a transport mechanism that moves the relative position in the direction). The transport mechanism may be a mechanism that moves the substrate or a mechanism that moves the spacer arrangement portion.

  FIG. 2 shows an XY moving frame system in which the conveying means moves the electrode substrate, and FIG. 3 shows a spacer arrangement apparatus in which the conveying means moves the spacer arrangement portion.

  The spacer arrangement device 100 in FIG. 2 is of a moving gantry type in which an electrode substrate is placed on the transfer means. One spacer arrangement portion 10 is fixed to a support column 21, and a movable frame 22 on which the electrode substrate 9 is placed can be moved in the Y direction (main scanning direction) on a rail 23 by a linear motor (not shown). The rail 23 can be moved in the X direction (sub-scanning direction) on the rail 24 by a linear motor (not shown). That is, the movable gantry 22, the rail 23, the rail 24, and the linear motor (not shown) cooperate to function as a transport mechanism. The spacer arrangement unit 10 scans the entire surface of the electrode substrate 9 by repeating main scanning and sub-scanning with respect to the electrode substrate 9 by the transport mechanism, sprays the spacers, and fixes the spacers in the black matrix region 58 by exposure. Aspirate unnecessary spacers. The spacer disposition portion 10 may have a focus stage that can move only in the Z (vertical) direction, and it is preferable to perform focus adjustment.

  On the other hand, the spacer arrangement device 100 of FIG. 3 is of a type in which the conveying means moves the spacer arrangement portion 10, and an example in which six spacer arrangement portions 10 are installed on the moving gate 25 is shown. The moving gate 25 can be moved in the Y direction on the rail 23 by a linear motor (not shown), and the individual spacer disposing portions 10 can be arbitrarily moved and arranged in the X direction by a linear motor (not shown). That is, the movable gate 25, the rail 23, and a linear motor (not shown) cooperate to function as a transport mechanism. Each spacer arrangement unit 10 scans the entire surface of the electrode substrate 9 fixed on the mounting table 26 by repeating main scanning in the Y direction and sub-scanning in the X direction of the electrode substrate 9 by the transport mechanism. The spacers are dispersed, the spacers in the black matrix region are fixed by exposure, and unfixed unnecessary spacers are sucked and collected. The number of spacer arrangement portions 10 may be one, but it is preferable to install a plurality of spacer arrangement portions 10 to reduce the number of main scans by a factor of one and improve productivity. Further, by installing a plurality of spacer disposing means, for example, even when one spacer disposing portion 10 breaks down, it is possible to reduce the tact time by rearranging the remaining spacer disposing portions 10 at equal intervals. Can be minimized.

  In the present invention, the type that moves the spacer arrangement portion 10 shown in FIG. 3 does not take up space, the apparatus can be designed in a compact manner, and the capability to cope with failure is high. It is preferably used in the manufacturing process of large liquid crystal display devices such as the seventh generation.

  Details of the spacer spraying portion, the light irradiation portion, and the spacer suction portion according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 4 is a front view showing a schematic configuration of the spacer placement portion 10 used in the spacer placement device shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and FIG. 5 is a plan view thereof.

  In FIG. 4, the spacer disposing unit 10 includes a spacer scattering unit 1, a light irradiation unit 2, and a spacer suction unit 3 that are integrally connected by a support member (connecting unit) 11.

  The spacer spraying unit 1 incorporates a mechanism for uniformly spraying the spacer 5 whose surface is coated with a thermoplastic resin, and sprays the spacer 5 on the electrode substrate 9 from the nozzle 4.

  The dispersed spacers 5 are irradiated with light by the light irradiating unit 2 installed on the spacer disposing unit 10 at an interval, and fixed on the electrode substrate. The light irradiation unit 2 selects a non-pixel region 58 on the electrode substrate 9 as a beam 8 formed by condensing and deflecting laser light emitted from a light source (not shown) by an optical system such as a reflecting member or a condensing lens. Then, the thermoplastic resin provided on the surface of the spacer dispersed in the non-pixel region 58 is melted to fix the spacer 5a to the electrode substrate 9.

  On the other hand, the spacers 5b scattered on the pixel region 55 and not fixed without being irradiated with light are sucked and collected by the nozzles 6 of the spacer sucking unit 3 that are integrally spaced from the spacer disposing unit 10. The The nozzle 6 communicates with a suction pump (not shown), and the spacer 5b sucked and collected from the nozzle 6 is stored in a spacer storage portion (not shown).

  The support member 11 is not particularly limited in material and form as long as the positional relationship among the spacer spraying unit 1, the light irradiation unit 2, and the spacer suction unit 3 is kept constant during the spacer spraying step. Preferably, it has an adjustment mechanism for adjusting the positional relationship.

  According to the present embodiment, it is necessary that the light irradiation unit 2 and the spacer suction unit 3 are integrally formed by the support member 11, and the positional relationship between the light irradiation unit 2 and the spacer suction unit 3 is constant. Can be maintained. As a result, the spacers not fixed by the light irradiation unit 2 are always sucked by the spacer suction unit 3 with a predetermined suction force after a predetermined time has elapsed, so that the spacer arrangement density is made uniform in all regions of the electrode substrate 9. can do. Moreover, since the spacer suction part 3 can be brought close to the electrode substrate 9, the sucked spacers are not scattered.

  Furthermore, in this invention, it is preferable that the spacer spreading | diffusion part 1 is integrally connected with the said light irradiation part 2 and the spacer attraction | suction part 3, Thereby, the said effect can be heightened further.

  It is preferable that the spacer dispersal unit 1 and the spacer suction unit 3 of the spacer disposing means 10 are connected to each other so that the sucked and recovered spacer is supplied to the spacer spray unit again. At this time, supply of the spacer to the spacer spraying unit 1 is appropriately performed from a spacer storage unit (not shown) at another location. Moreover, it is preferable that the spacer sucked and collected by the spacer suction unit is supplied to the spacer storage unit via the solid recovery mechanism.

  The spacer arrangement portion 10 in the spacer arrangement device of the present invention may be externally controlled for position, exposure, and other controls, but the spacer arrangement portion has a sensor function, and the measurement result It is preferable to have a self-control function for adjusting the exposure position and focus by feeding back the above.

  In the spacer disposing unit 10 shown in FIG. 6, a spacer spraying unit 1, a light irradiating unit 2 and a spacer sucking unit 3 are integrally formed, and further a focus adjusting mechanism and spacer disposing means having other functions. 10 is shown. The focus adjustment mechanism here refers to a focus measurement unit 12 that measures the distance between the spacer arrangement means and the electrode substrate, a focus stage 14 that moves the spacer arrangement unit in the Z direction (height direction), and a focus. A control unit 141 for controlling the focus stage 14 so as to keep the spacer disposition means at a constant distance from the substrate by feeding back the measurement result of the measurement unit 12;

  By having this focus adjustment mechanism, even if the substrate is curved due to the method of holding the electrode substrate, it becomes possible for the spacer disposition portion 10 to follow the curvature of the surface of the electrode substrate during scanning, and a predetermined exposure is performed. It is possible to perform exposure in focus at the position. At the same time, the spacer dispersal part 1 and the spacer suction part 3 integrally formed with the light irradiating part 2 as the spacer disposing part 10 move integrally to follow the curve, so that the dispersal of the spacer can be accurately performed. Recovery is possible.

  Further, it has a CCD monitor camera 13 for recognizing the pixel region 55 and the non-pixel region 58, and has a control unit 131 that controls the light irradiation by the light irradiation unit 2 and controls the exposure position based on the information. It may be a thing. Based on the information of the CCD monitor camera 13, the light irradiation unit 2 exposes the non-pixel area 58, exposes the spacer 5a on the non-pixel area 58, melts the thermoplastic resin on the surface of the spacer, A spacer is fixed to the region 58. The spacer 5b in the pixel region 55 is not exposed and is collected by the spacer suction unit 3.

  The operation of the spacer arranging device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 7 shows a plan view of spacers dispersed and fixed on the electrode substrate.

  In FIG. 7A, a pixel region 72 and a non-pixel region 73 are formed on the electrode substrate 70, and the non-pixel region in the X direction is irradiated with a line beam 8 of laser light, and further in the Y direction. The movement of the pixel region is repeated and the line beam is irradiated in the next non-pixel region.

  The beam shape of the exposure light source is a rectangle (constant intensity) in the X direction (sub-scanning direction) as shown in FIG. 7B-1 and the width in the X direction is about 10 mm, for example. ), It is preferable to use a 20-30 μm Gaussian line beam exposure in the Y direction (main scanning direction) that is about the same as the width of the black matrix. Here, the Gaussian beam width represents the full width of the diameter at which the light intensity peak intensity of the beam is 13.5%, and in FIG. 7B-2, it represents a 30 μm diameter.

  FIG. 7 (c) shows a diagram when the spacers are simply dispersed, and FIG. 7 (d) shows a state in which the spacers 71 are fixed on the black matrix in the X direction by the spacer arranging device of the present invention.

  Any method can be used as the spacer spraying portion integrally mounted on the spacer disposition portion as long as it can spray fine powder uniformly on the surface of the electrode substrate.

  In addition, the spacer suction part that is integrally mounted on the spacer arrangement part uses a suction force based on an air laminar flow, and generates a large air flow by adjusting the positions of the electrode substrate and the nozzle port. It can be collected without suction. In addition, by setting the width of the nozzle opening to be approximately the same as the beam width in the X direction, there is no uneven suction force depending on the position, and unfixed spacers can be sucked and collected.

  In the spacer disposing device of the present invention, the spacer disposing portion, the light irradiating portion, and the spacer sucking portion are integrally formed by the support member as described above, and thus, the spacer disposing device is placed at a specific position on the substrate. It is possible to arrange the spacers with a uniform density.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device manufactured by a spacer disposing device according to the present invention. It is a figure which shows the thing of the movable mount system which a conveyance means moves an electrode substrate. It is a figure which shows the system in which a conveyance means moves a spacer arrangement | positioning part. It is a front view which shows the structure of a board | substrate and a spacer arrangement | positioning part. It is a top view which shows the structure of a board | substrate and a spacer arrangement | positioning part. The spacer arrangement | positioning part which has a focus adjustment mechanism etc. is shown. The top view of the spacer spread | dispersed on the electrode substrate is represented.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Spacer dispersion | distribution part 2 Light irradiation part 3 Spacer suction part 4,6 Nozzle 5,71 Spacer 9,70 Electrode board 10 Spacer arrangement part 11 Support member 12 Focus measurement part 13 CCD monitor camera 14 Focus stage 21 Strut 22 Moving stand 23 24 rail 25 moving gate 26 mounting table 50 liquid crystal display device 51 lower substrate 52 upper substrate 53, 56 transparent electrode film 54 alignment film 55 pixel region (R, G, B)
58 Non-pixel area 60 Filter layer 100 Spacer disposition device

Claims (7)

In a spacer disposing apparatus that selectively disperses spacers on a substrate, a spacer spraying unit that sprays a spacer whose surface is coated with a thermoplastic resin on a predetermined region on the substrate, and a sprayed spacer are selected. A light irradiation part for selectively fixing the spacer to a predetermined position on the substrate by irradiating light, a spacer suction part for sucking an unfixed spacer on the substrate, the light irradiation part and the spacer A spacer arrangement comprising a spacer arrangement portion having a connecting portion for integrally connecting the suction portion and a transport mechanism for moving a relative position between the substrate and the spacer arrangement portion. apparatus. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer spraying unit is integrally connected to the light irradiation unit and the spacer suction unit. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1, wherein the spacer arrangement portion has a focus adjustment mechanism for adjusting a distance from the substrate. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism moves the substrate. The spacer arrangement device according to claim 1, wherein the transport mechanism moves the spacer arrangement portion. The spacer arrangement device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the spacer spraying portion and the spacer suction portion are connected. In a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which spacers used to control the distance between two substrates disposed opposite to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween are selectively dispersed on the substrate, the spacers are disposed on the substrate in a predetermined manner. A step of spraying the region, a step of fixing the spacer to a predetermined position by irradiating the spacer to which the light has been scattered, and a step of sucking the spacer that is not fixed are performed almost simultaneously at a predetermined interval. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

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