JP2007275807A - Pattern forming method, droplet discharging device and liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a pattern forming method and a droplet discharging device capable of avoiding positional deviation of a discharged droplet and thermal damage of a substrate and improving film thickness uniformity of a pattern made from droplets, and to provide a liquid crystal display device using liquid crystal discharged by the droplet discharging device. <P>SOLUTION: An infrared ray heater 41 is formed so as to be extended from a region of a discharging head 40 to the opposite side of a sub scanning direction (Y-arrow direction) when viewed from a main scanning direction (anti X-arrow direction) and is disposed in the main scanning direction of the discharging head 40 when viewed from the sub scanning direction. Accordingly, when the discharging head 40 forms a second scanning region, the boundary region JA between a second liquid film LF2 and a first liquid film LF1 which is precedingly formed adjacently to the second liquid film LF2 is locally heated while following the discharging head 40. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a pattern forming method, a droplet discharge device, and a liquid crystal display device.

  In general, a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device includes a sealing process in which a liquid crystal material is discharged to a discharge region provided on a substrate and the discharge region is sealed with a counter substrate. In this sealing process, in order to stabilize the discharge capacity of the liquid crystal material, an ink jet method is used in which the liquid crystal material is discharged as a plurality of droplets.

In the ink jet method, a liquid material interface (meniscus) formed on a discharge head is forcibly vibrated to form droplets. Therefore, when discharging a highly viscous liquid (for example, liquid crystal material), the flow path of the liquid is heated in advance to reduce the viscosity of the liquid (for example, Patent Document 1). As a result, the droplet discharge operation is stabilized and the droplet discharge capacity becomes uniform.
JP 2004-347695 A

  In the ink jet method, when a large pattern is formed, the ejection head is scanned for line feed multiple times. That is, a pattern formed for each scan is adjacently joined in the line feed direction to form a large pattern.

  However, when the heated liquid crystal material is discharged as droplets, the pattern formed in advance is allowed to cool over time and thicken. For this reason, the pattern formed in advance cannot be bonded to the subsequent pattern uniformly. As a result, the film thickness fluctuates around the boundary of each pattern (a line feed streak is formed), resulting in a problem that the film thickness uniformity of the pattern is impaired.

  It is considered that such a problem can be avoided by always heating the entire substrate in the step of discharging droplets and maintaining the viscosity in the pattern formed in advance. However, when the entire substrate is heated, the substrate may thermally expand, which may reduce the landing accuracy of the droplets. In addition, the heating time of the substrate becomes long, and various members (for example, a sealing member for enclosing a liquid crystal material) formed on the substrate may be thermally damaged.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and its purpose is to avoid positional deviation of the discharged droplets and thermal damage of the substrate, and to improve the film thickness uniformity of the pattern made of the droplets. It is an object to provide an improved pattern forming method, a droplet discharge device, and a liquid crystal display device.

  According to the pattern forming method of the present invention, a discharge head that discharges a liquid material to a substrate as a droplet is main-scanned relative to the substrate along a main scanning direction, and a scan region of the discharge head with respect to the substrate The liquid pattern is formed, and the discharge head is sub-scanned relative to the substrate along a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction, so that the plurality of patterns are adjacent to each other along the sub-scanning direction. In the pattern forming method, when the main scanning is performed, the periphery of the boundary between the pattern formed in the scanning region and the other pattern formed in advance adjacent to the scanning region is locally heated. I made it.

According to the pattern forming method of the present invention, the periphery of the boundary between the pattern formed in the scanning region and the other pattern formed in advance adjacent to the scanning region can be locally heated.
Therefore, it is possible to avoid a temperature rise over the entire substrate and simultaneously reduce the viscosity around the boundary between adjacent patterns. As a result, it is possible to avoid misalignment of the discharged droplets and thermal damage to the substrate, and to uniformly bond adjacent patterns. That is, the film thickness uniformity of the pattern made of droplets can be improved.

  In the pattern forming method, when the main scanning is performed, the heated liquid material is discharged as droplets, and the periphery of the boundary adjacent to the opposite side of the discharge head in the main scanning direction is locally provided. You may make it heat.

  According to this pattern forming method, the temperature around the boundary where the heated droplets land is locally increased immediately after the droplets land. As a result, the vicinity of the boundary between adjacent patterns can be efficiently bonded with a lower heating amount.

In the pattern forming method, when the main scanning is performed, the region to be heated may be main scanned relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction.
According to this pattern forming method, the area to be heated per unit time can be reduced, and the temperature increase rate and temperature decrease rate of the area to be heated can be increased. Therefore, the periphery of the boundary is heated with higher accuracy. As a result, it is possible to more reliably avoid displacement of the ejected droplets and thermal damage to the substrate, and improve the film thickness uniformity of the pattern made of the droplets.

  A droplet discharge apparatus according to the present invention includes a discharge head that discharges a liquid material to a substrate as droplets, a main scanning unit that performs main scanning relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction of the discharge head, A liquid droplet ejection apparatus comprising: a sub-scanning unit that sub-scans the substrate relative to the substrate along a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Formed so as to extend from the region to the opposite side of the sub-scanning direction, and disposed so as to face the substrate on the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the discharge head when viewed from the sub-scanning direction. Heating means for locally heating a region on the side of the substrate that is opposed to the substrate is subjected to main scanning and sub-scanning relative to the substrate.

  According to the droplet discharge device of the present invention, the temperature of the droplets that have landed on the substrate and the other droplets that landed on the opposite side of the droplet in the sub-scanning direction locally rises. Therefore, temperature rise over the entire substrate is avoided, and the viscosity of the landed droplets and other droplets ejected in advance on the opposite side of the droplets in the sub-scanning direction are simultaneously reduced. As a result, it is possible to avoid misalignment of the discharged droplets and thermal damage of the substrate, and to uniformly bond the droplets adjacent in the sub-scanning direction. That is, it is possible to improve the film thickness uniformity of a pattern made of bonded droplets.

  Further, in this droplet discharge device, the discharge head discharges the heated liquid as the droplet, and the heating means is on the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the discharge head as viewed from the sub-scanning direction. It may be adjacent.

  According to this droplet discharge device, the temperature of the droplet immediately after landing of the heated liquid and the other droplets that landed on the opposite side of the droplet in the sub-scanning direction are locally increased. . Therefore, the periphery of the boundary between adjacent patterns can be efficiently bonded with a lower heating amount.

In this droplet discharge device, the liquid material may be a liquid material that absorbs light in the infrared region, and the heating unit may include an infrared heater that irradiates light in the infrared region.
According to this droplet discharge device, each of the previously discharged droplets can be heated in a non-contact manner by infrared rays emitted from an infrared heater. Therefore, the heating for each droplet can be controlled with higher accuracy.

Moreover, in this droplet discharge device, the liquid material may be a liquid crystal material.
According to this droplet discharge apparatus, it is possible to avoid displacement of discharged droplets and thermal damage to the substrate, and to improve the film thickness uniformity of a pattern made of a liquid crystal material.

The liquid crystal display device of the present invention includes the liquid crystal material ejected by the droplet ejection device.
According to the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, a liquid crystal material with improved film thickness uniformity can be provided.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment embodying the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. First, the liquid crystal display device 10 of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the liquid crystal display device 10, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA of FIG.

  In FIG. 1, the liquid crystal display device 10 includes a square plate-like backlight 12 having LEDs 11 on the lower side thereof. Above the backlight 12, there is provided a liquid crystal panel 13 that is formed in a substantially the same square plate shape as the backlight 12 and is irradiated with light from the backlight 12.

  In FIG. 2, the liquid crystal panel 13 includes an element substrate 14 and a counter substrate 15 that face each other. The element substrate 14 and the counter substrate 15 are colorless and transparent glass substrates, and are bonded together by a rectangular frame-shaped sealing material 16 made of an ultraviolet light curable resin. A liquid crystal layer 17 made of a liquid crystal material F as a liquid is formed in the gap between the element substrate 14 and the counter substrate 15. The liquid crystal layer 17 is formed by the droplet discharge device of the present invention, and is uniformly filled without mixing bubbles or making the surface uneven. The liquid crystal material F has a viscosity at room temperature of 50 cP to 100 cP, absorbs light in the infrared region, and lowers the viscosity to less than 20 cP.

  An optical substrate 18 made of a polarizing plate, a retardation plate, or the like is bonded to the lower surface (side surface on the backlight 12 side) of the element substrate 14. The optical substrate 18 converts the light from the backlight 12 into linearly polarized light and emits it to the liquid crystal layer 17.

  On the upper surface of the element substrate 14 (side surface on the counter substrate 15 side: element formation surface 14a), as shown in FIG. ing. Each scanning line Lx is electrically connected to a scanning line driving circuit 19 formed on one side of the element substrate 14, and a scanning signal generated by the scanning line driving circuit 19 is input at a predetermined timing. A plurality of data lines Ly extending in the other direction (Y arrow direction) orthogonal to the X arrow direction are arranged on the element formation surface 14a. Each data line Ly is electrically connected to a data line driving circuit 21 formed on the other side of the element substrate 14, and a data signal generated by the data line driving circuit 21 is input at a predetermined timing.

  A plurality of pixels 22 connected to the corresponding scanning lines Lx and data lines Ly and arranged in a matrix are formed on the element formation surface 14a at positions where the scanning lines Lx and the data lines Ly intersect. . Each pixel 22 includes a control element such as a TFT and a light transmissive pixel electrode 23 made of a transparent conductive film. The control elements of each pixel 22 are selected one by one at a predetermined timing and turned on based on the line sequential scanning of the corresponding scanning line Lx. A data signal based on display data is input to each pixel electrode 23 when the control element of the corresponding pixel 22 is turned on.

  As shown in FIG. 2, an alignment film 24 subjected to an alignment process is stacked on the entire upper side of each pixel 22 (each pixel electrode 23). The alignment film 24 is formed of an alignment polymer such as alignment polyimide, and sets the alignment of liquid crystal molecules in a predetermined direction in the vicinity of the corresponding pixel electrode 23.

  A polarizing plate 25 that emits linearly polarized light orthogonal to the light from the optical substrate 18 outward (upward in FIG. 2) is attached to the upper surface of the counter substrate 15. On the entire lower surface (electrode forming surface 15a) of the counter substrate 15, a counter electrode 26 made of a light-transmitting conductive film formed so as to face each pixel electrode 23 is laminated. The counter electrode 26 is electrically connected to the data line driving circuit 21 and receives a predetermined common potential generated by the data line driving circuit 21. An alignment film 27 that has been subjected to alignment treatment is laminated on the entire lower surface of the counter electrode 26, and the alignment of liquid crystal molecules is set in a predetermined direction in the vicinity of the counter electrode 26.

  The polarization state of light passing through the liquid crystal layer 17 is modulated for each pixel 22 based on a potential difference between each pixel electrode 23 and the counter electrode 26 when a data signal is input to each pixel electrode 23. . The modulated light in the polarization state displays an image based on the display data on the upper side of the liquid crystal panel 13 depending on whether or not it passes through the polarizing plate 25.

  In the displayed image, since the liquid crystal layer 17 is formed uniformly, that is, the distance (cell gap) between each pixel electrode 23 and the counter electrode 26 is formed uniformly, this is caused by variations in the cell gap. The display image quality is maintained without causing brightness unevenness or color unevenness.

Next, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal panel 13 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel 13.
In FIG. 3, first, a sealing material 16 is formed on one side surface (side surface on the alignment film 27 side: ejection surface MAa) of the mother substrate MA from which the four counter substrates 15 can be cut out using a dispenser device or the like. . That is, a rectangular frame-shaped sealing material 16 made of an ultraviolet light curable resin is discharged and formed on the outer edge of a region corresponding to each counter substrate 15 formed on the discharge surface MAa. When each sealing material 16 is formed, a plurality of liquid droplets Fb are ejected to regions (each ejection region S) surrounded by each sealing material 16 using an inkjet device 30 as a droplet ejection device. Then, the droplets Fb that have landed on the discharge regions S are joined together, and a liquid film pattern made of a predetermined volume of the liquid crystal material F is formed in each discharge region S.

  When the pattern of the liquid crystal material F is formed in each ejection region S, the mother substrate MA is transported in a reduced-pressure atmosphere, and the mother substrate MB on which the four element substrates 14 can be cut out on the ejection surface MAa side of the mother substrate MA. to paste together. When the mother substrate MB is bonded to the mother substrate MA, the mother substrate MA and the mother substrate MB are opened to the atmosphere, and each sealing material 16 is irradiated with ultraviolet rays and cured, and the liquid crystal material F is sealed in each discharge region S. . When the liquid crystal material F is sealed, the mother substrate MA and the mother substrate MB are diced to form each liquid crystal panel 13. In the present embodiment, the width in the Y arrow direction of the discharge region S is defined as the discharge width WS.

Next, the ink jet apparatus 30 for discharging the liquid crystal material F will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing the inkjet device 30.
In FIG. 4, the ink jet apparatus 30 includes a base 31 formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape. A pair of guide grooves 32 extending along the longitudinal direction (X arrow direction) is formed on the upper surface of the base 31. Above the guide groove 32, a transport table 33 is provided as main scanning means that moves forward and backward along the guide groove 32 in the X arrow direction and the counter X arrow direction. In the present embodiment, the anti-X arrow direction in FIG. 4 is defined as the main scanning direction.

On the upper surface of the transfer table 33, a placement unit 3 for placing a mother substrate MA with each discharge region S facing upward.
4 is formed. The placement unit 34 positions and fixes the placed mother substrate MA with respect to the transport base 33, and transports the mother substrate MA in the X arrow direction and the counter X arrow direction.

  On both sides of the base 31 in the Y arrow direction, guide members 35 formed in a gate shape are installed so as to straddle the base 31. A storage tank 36 that extends in the direction of the arrow Y is disposed on the upper side of the guide member 35. The storage tank 36 stores the liquid crystal material F and guides the liquid crystal material F to the discharge head 40 disposed below at a predetermined pressure.

  A pair of upper and lower guide rails 37 extending in the Y arrow direction is formed on the lower side of the guide member 35 over substantially the entire width in the Y arrow direction. A carriage 38 is attached to the pair of guide rails 37 as sub-scanning means that moves forward and backward along the guide rails 37 in the directions of the Y arrow and the anti-Y arrow. In the present embodiment, the Y arrow direction in FIG. 4 is defined as the sub-scanning direction.

  On the lower side of the carriage 38, an ejection head 40 and an infrared heater 41 as a heating means are mounted in the anti-X arrow direction and the X arrow direction, respectively. FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 as viewed from the lower side (mother substrate MA side). 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 7 and 8 are explanatory diagrams for explaining the scanning region of the ejection head 40 with respect to the mother substrate MA.

  In FIG. 5, the ejection head 40 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape extending in the Y arrow direction. A nozzle plate 42 is provided below the discharge head 40 (on the mother substrate MA side: the upper side in FIG. 5) so as to face the mother substrate MA. The nozzle plate 42 is formed in a plate shape extending in the Y arrow direction, and the width in the Y arrow direction is approximately half the size of the ejection width WS. In the present embodiment, the width of the nozzle plate 42 in the Y arrow direction is defined as the scanning width WH.

  As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a nozzle forming surface 42a exposed to the mother substrate MA side is formed on the lower surface of the nozzle plate 42 (upper surface in FIG. 5). When the mother substrate MA is located immediately below the ejection head 40, the nozzle formation surface 42a has a predetermined distance (1 mm in the present embodiment) between the nozzle formation surface 42a and the ejection surface MAa. To. A plurality of nozzles N are arranged on the nozzle forming surface 42a at equal intervals over substantially the entire width in the Y arrow direction. Each nozzle N is formed to penetrate in the normal direction of the nozzle forming surface 42a. In the present embodiment, in FIG. 6, positions on the ejection surface MAa of the mother substrate MA that correspond to the positions immediately below the nozzles N are defined as landing positions P, respectively.

  A head heater 43 is disposed on the outer periphery of the discharge head 40. The head heater 43 heats the liquid crystal material F from the storage tank 36 to a predetermined temperature (60 ° C. in the present embodiment) to reduce the viscosity (in this embodiment, the viscosity is reduced to 20 cP). Supply to the discharge head 40.

In FIG. 6, cavities 44 communicating with the storage tanks 36 are formed above the nozzles N, respectively. The cavity 44 supplies the liquid crystal material F from the storage tank 36 to the corresponding nozzle N. A vibration plate 45 is attached to the upper side of each cavity 44 to vibrate in the vertical direction so that the volume in the cavity 44 can be enlarged or reduced. A plurality of piezoelectric elements PZ corresponding to the nozzles N are disposed on the upper side of the vibration plate 45. Each piezoelectric element PZ contracts and expands in the vertical direction, vibrates the corresponding region of the diaphragm 45 in the vertical direction, and discharges the droplet Fb of the liquid crystal material F from the corresponding nozzle N. The ejected droplet Fb flies along the anti-Z arrow direction of the corresponding nozzle N and lands on the corresponding landing position P. At this time, the discharge head 40 stabilizes the discharge operation by the amount that the head heater 43 reduces the viscosity of the liquid crystal material F, and uniformizes the volume of each droplet Fb to be discharged. Further, the ejection head 40 maintains the landing accuracy of each droplet Fb ejected from the nozzle forming surface 42a as much as the platen gap is maintained at a predetermined distance.

  In FIG. 7, when the mother substrate MA is transported in the X arrow direction, the ejection head 40 first faces in the main scanning direction (anti-X arrow direction) while facing the opposite Y arrow direction side of each ejection region S. A relatively scan (main scan) is performed. That is, the ejection head 40 forms a trajectory (first scanning area SA1) in which the width in the Y arrow direction is the scanning width WH with respect to the opposite Y arrow direction side on each ejection area S.

  Further, the ejection head 40 contracts and expands each piezoelectric element PZ when each landing position P is positioned at each lattice point defined in the ejection area S (first scanning area SA1), and the corresponding nozzle N From the liquid crystal material F. That is, the ejection head 40 ejects a plurality of droplets Fb to a region where the first scanning region SA1 and the ejection region S overlap, and a liquid film (first liquid film) of the liquid crystal material F joined by the plurality of droplets Fb. LF1). The liquid crystal material F of the first liquid film LF1 formed in each ejection region S is allowed to cool and thicken as the scanning time of the ejection head 40 elapses.

  In FIG. 8, the ejection head 40 is relatively scanned (sub-scanned) by the scanning width WH in the sub-scanning direction after the mother substrate MA is conveyed in the direction of the arrow X (forming the first liquid film LF1). Thereafter, the main scanning is performed again. That is, the ejection head 40 forms a locus (second scanning area SA2) having the same size as the first scanning area SA1 adjacent to the first scanning area SA1 on the Y arrow direction side on each ejection area S.

  The ejection head 40 contracts and expands each piezoelectric element PZ when each landing position P is located at each lattice point defined in the ejection area S (second scanning area SA2), and the corresponding nozzle N. From the liquid crystal material F. That is, the ejection head 40 ejects a plurality of droplets Fb to a region where the second scanning region SA2 and the ejection region S overlap, and a liquid film (second liquid film) of the liquid crystal material F joined by the plurality of droplets Fb. LF2).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the infrared heater 41 is formed in a rectangular parallelepiped shape that is substantially the same size as the ejection head 40. The infrared heater 41 is disposed in the X arrow direction (opposite to the main scanning direction) of the ejection head 40 as viewed from the Y arrow direction (sub-scanning direction), and from the region of the ejection head 40 as viewed from the main scanning direction. It is formed to extend in the anti-Y arrow direction (the direction opposite to the sub-scanning direction).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the infrared heater 41 has an irradiation surface 41a facing the mother substrate MA. The irradiation surface 41a is disposed at the same height as the nozzle formation surface 42a. The irradiation surface 41a locally irradiates the region of the mother substrate MA facing the light L in the infrared region having a high absorption rate with respect to the liquid crystal material F and the mother substrate MA.

  As shown in FIG. 8, when the mother substrate MA is transported in the direction of the arrow X, the infrared heater 41 performs main scanning with respect to the vicinity of the boundary (boundary area JA) between the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2. It is scanned relatively along the direction. That is, the infrared heater 41 locally heats the boundary area JA between the second liquid film LF2 and the first liquid film LF1 immediately after the discharge head 40 forms the second liquid film LF2, and the discharge head 40 Following this, the heated area is scanned in the main scanning direction.

Therefore, the first liquid film LF1 formed in advance has a low viscosity again immediately after the adjacent second liquid film LF2 is formed. The second liquid film LF2 suppresses the increase in viscosity at the same time as the decrease in the viscosity of the adjacent first liquid film LF1 immediately after the corresponding droplet Fb has landed. As a result, the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 are reduced in the viscosity of the first liquid film LF1 corresponding to the boundary area JA, and further, the second liquid film LF2 corresponding to the boundary area JA. As long as the viscosity immediately after formation is maintained, they are bonded uniformly to each other.

Next, the electrical configuration of the inkjet apparatus 30 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIG.
In FIG. 9, the control device 50 includes a CPU, a RAM, a ROM, and the like, reciprocates the carriage 33 and the carriage 38 according to various stored data and various control programs, and controls the driving of each piezoelectric element PZ. And heating control of the infrared heater 41 is performed.

  An input device 51 having operation switches such as a start switch and a stop switch is connected to the control device 50, and the position coordinates of each discharge region S and the discharge capacity for each discharge region S are input as discharge data Ia in a predetermined format. Is done. The control device 50 receives the ejection data Ia from the input device 51 and generates bitmap data BMD.

  Bitmap data BMD defines ON or OFF of each piezoelectric element PZ according to the value (0 or 1) of each bit, and droplets are applied to respective positions on the two-dimensional drawing plane (ejection surface MAa). This is data defining whether or not to discharge Fb. That is, the bitmap data BMD is for discharging the droplets Fb to the respective lattice points defined in each discharge region S.

  An X-axis motor drive circuit 52 is connected to the control device 50 and outputs a drive control signal corresponding to the X-axis motor drive circuit 52. In response to the drive control signal from the control device 50, the X-axis motor drive circuit 52 rotates the X-axis motor MX for reciprocating the transport table 33 in the forward or reverse direction. The control device 50 conveys the mother board MA in the X arrow direction and the counter X arrow direction via the X-axis motor drive circuit 52.

  A Y-axis motor drive circuit 53 is connected to the control device 50 and outputs a drive control signal corresponding to the Y-axis motor drive circuit 53. In response to the drive control signal from the control device 50, the Y-axis motor drive circuit 53 rotates the Y-axis motor MY for reciprocating the carriage 38 in the forward or reverse direction. The control device 50 performs sub-scanning on the carriage 38 via the Y-axis motor drive circuit 53.

  A substrate detection device 54 capable of detecting the edge of the mother substrate MA is connected to the control device 50, and the position of the mother substrate MA with respect to each landing position P is calculated based on a detection signal from the substrate detection device 54. Used for.

  The control device 50 is connected to an X-axis motor rotation detector 55 and receives a detection signal from the X-axis motor rotation detector 55. Based on the detection signal from the X-axis motor rotation detector 55, the control device 50 calculates the movement direction and the movement amount of the transport table 33 (mother substrate MA). The control device 50 outputs a discharge timing signal LP to the discharge head drive circuit 57 every time each landing position P is positioned at each grid point of the discharge region S.

  The control device 50 is connected to a Y-axis motor rotation detector 56 and receives a detection signal from the Y-axis motor rotation detector 56. The control device 50 calculates the movement direction and movement amount of the carriage 38 (each nozzle N) in the Y arrow direction based on the detection signal from the Y-axis motor rotation detector 56. The control device 50 arranges each landing position P on the main scanning path of each lattice point of the ejection region S.

  A discharge head drive circuit 57 is connected to the control device 50 and outputs a discharge timing signal LP. The control device 50 outputs a signal (piezoelectric element drive voltage COM) for driving the piezoelectric element PZ to the ejection head drive circuit 57 in synchronization with the ejection timing signal LP. The control device 50 generates a discharge control signal SI synchronized with a predetermined clock signal based on the bitmap data BMD corresponding to one main scan of the discharge head 40, and uses the discharge control signal SI as the discharge head. Serial transfer to the drive circuit 57 is performed. The ejection head drive circuit 57 sequentially converts the ejection control signal SI from the control device 50 into serial / parallel conversion corresponding to each piezoelectric element PZ. Each time the ejection head drive circuit 57 receives the ejection timing signal LP from the control device 50, the ejection head drive circuit 57 supplies the piezoelectric element drive voltage COM to the piezoelectric element PZ selected based on the ejection control signal SI subjected to serial / parallel conversion.

  An infrared heater drive circuit 58 is connected to the control device 50 and outputs a heater drive signal SL for driving the infrared heater 41. The infrared heater drive circuit 58 receives the heater drive signal SL from the control device 50 and starts heating by the infrared heater 41 before the ejection head 40 is main-scanned.

Next, a method for discharging the liquid crystal material F using the inkjet device 30 will be described.
First, as shown in FIG. 4, the mother substrate MA is placed on the transport table 33 so that the ejection surface MAa is on the upper side. At this time, the mother substrate MA is arranged on the side opposite to the X arrow direction from the carriage 38.

  From this state, the discharge data Ia is input from the input device 51 to the control device 50, and the control device 50 generates and stores bitmap data BMD based on the discharge data Ia. Next, when the mother substrate MA is transported in the X arrow direction, the control device 50 moves the carriage 38 via the Y-axis motor drive circuit 53 so that the ejection head 40 forms the first scanning region SA1. The discharge head 40 and the infrared heater 41 are set. Further, the control device 50 outputs a heater drive signal SL to the infrared heater drive circuit 58 and starts heating the infrared heater 41.

  When the heating state of the infrared heater 41 is stabilized, the control device 50 starts main scanning of the discharge head 40 via the X-axis motor drive circuit 52, and outputs a discharge control signal SI corresponding to the main scan to the discharge head drive circuit 57. Output to. Further, the control device 50 determines whether or not each lattice point of the ejection region S is located at the corresponding landing position P based on detection signals from the substrate detection device 54 and the X-axis motor rotation detector 55. That is, the control device 50 outputs the ejection timing signal LP to the ejection head drive circuit 57 every time each grid point of the ejection area S is located at the corresponding landing position P.

  When the ejection timing signal LP is output, the ejection head drive circuit 57 supplies the piezoelectric element drive voltage COM to each piezoelectric element PZ selected based on the ejection control signal SI, and the liquid is simultaneously supplied from the selected nozzles N. The droplet Fb is discharged. As a result, the first liquid film LF1 corresponding to the first scanning region SA1 is formed in each ejection region S along the main scanning direction.

  Next, when the first liquid film LF1 is formed, the control device 50 ends the main scanning of the ejection head 40, transports the mother substrate MA in the direction of the anti-X arrow, and again moves the mother substrate MA to the carriage 38. It arranges on the anti-X arrow direction side. Further, when the controller 50 moves the carriage 38 via the Y-axis motor drive circuit 53 and transports the mother substrate MA in the X arrow direction, the ejection head 40 forms the second scanning region SA2. The ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 are sub-scanned.

  Next, the control device 50 starts the main scanning of the ejection head 40 again via the X-axis motor driving circuit 52 and outputs the ejection control signal SI corresponding to the main scanning to the ejection head driving circuit 57. Further, the control device 50 causes the droplets Fb to be ejected simultaneously from the nozzles N selected based on the ejection control signal SI every time each lattice point of the ejection region S is located at the corresponding landing position P. As a result, the second liquid film LF2 corresponding to the second scanning area SA2 is formed on the sub-scanning direction side of each ejection area S along the main scanning direction.

  When the second liquid film LF2 is formed, the infrared heater 41 is scanned relative to the boundary area JA between the first liquid film LF1 formed in advance and the second liquid film LF2 just formed. The More specifically, the infrared heater 41 locally heats the boundary area JA, and causes the heating area to follow the ejection head 40 and relatively scan in the main scanning direction.

  As a result, the first liquid film LF1 reduces the viscosity of the boundary region JA corresponding to the second liquid film LF2 immediately after the second liquid film LF2 is formed. Accordingly, the second liquid film LF2 formed by the ejection head 40 is adjacent to the adjacent first liquid film LF1 by the amount that the first liquid film LF1 corresponding to the boundary region JA is heated immediately after the formation of the second liquid film LF2. Bond evenly.

  Thereafter, similarly, the control device 50 repeats relative main scanning and sub-scanning of the ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 with respect to the mother substrate MA. At this time, the controller 50 locally heats the boundary area JA between the first liquid film LF1 formed in advance and the second liquid film LF2 just formed when the ejection head 40 is main-scanned, The heating area is scanned along the main scanning direction. As a result, the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 that are adjacent to each other are uniformly bonded, and a liquid film pattern of the liquid crystal material F having a uniform film thickness is formed in each discharge region S.

Next, effects of the embodiment configured as described above will be described below.
(1) According to the above embodiment, the infrared heater 41 is formed to extend from the region of the ejection head 40 to the opposite side of the sub-scanning direction (Y arrow direction) when viewed from the main scanning direction (counter-X arrow direction). And it is arrange | positioned on the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the discharge head 40 seeing from the sub scanning direction. Therefore, when the discharge head 40 forms the second scanning region, the boundary region JA between the second liquid film LF2 and the first liquid film LF1 formed in advance adjacent to the second liquid film LF2 is discharged. Following the head 40, it is heated locally. Therefore, the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 corresponding to the boundary region JA can be locally reduced in viscosity, and the temperature increase over the entire mother substrate MA can be avoided.

  As a result, it is possible to avoid misalignment of the discharged droplet Fb and thermal damage to the mother substrate MA, and to uniformly bond the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 adjacent to each other.

  (2) According to the above embodiment, the infrared heater 41 is adjacent to the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the ejection head 40 when viewed from the sub-scanning direction. Therefore, when the ejection head 40 forms the second scanning area SA2, the boundary area JA adjacent to the opposite side of the ejection head 40 in the main scanning direction is sequentially heated locally. Therefore, the second liquid film LF2 composed of the droplets Fb immediately after landing and the first liquid film LF1 adjacent to the second liquid film LF2 can be locally heated at the same timing.

As a result, the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 adjacent to each other can be bonded more efficiently.
(3) According to the above embodiment, the infrared heater 41 is mounted on the same carriage 38 as the ejection head 40. Therefore, when the ejection head 40 is main-scanned relatively to the mother substrate MA, the infrared heater 41 can perform main-scanning of the heating area relative to the boundary area JA. Therefore, the temperature increase rate and the temperature decrease rate for the first liquid film LF1 can be increased by the amount of main scanning of the local heating region.

As a result, the heating of the first liquid film LF1 can be controlled with higher accuracy, and the positional deviation of the discharged droplets and the thermal damage of the substrate can be avoided more reliably.
(4) According to the said embodiment, the infrared heater 41 irradiates the light L of an infrared region to the boundary region JA which opposes. Therefore, the boundary area JA can be heated without contact. Therefore, it is possible to control the heating of the boundary area JA with higher accuracy.

In addition, you may change the said embodiment as follows.
In the above embodiment, the infrared heater 41 is embodied to have substantially the same size as the ejection head 40. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the infrared heater 41 may be made smaller than the discharge head 40 and only the vicinity of the boundary between the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 formed in advance may be locally heated. According to this, the joining of the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2 can be made uniform by a smaller heating region.
In the above embodiment, the case where the pattern of the liquid crystal material F (the first liquid film LF1 and the second liquid film LF2) is formed by two main scans has been described. For example, the pattern of the liquid crystal material F may be formed by three or more main scans. That is, any configuration may be used as long as the periphery of the boundary between the pattern formed in advance and the pattern formed in the scanning region is locally heated to join the pattern formed in advance and the pattern formed in the scanning region.
In the above embodiment, the sealing material 16 is formed on the mother substrate MA, and the droplet Fb of the liquid crystal material F is discharged onto the mother substrate MA. For example, the sealing material 16 may be formed on the mother substrate MB, and the droplet Fb may be discharged onto the mother substrate MB.
In the above embodiment, the bitmap data BMD is generated based on the ejection data Ia. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the configuration may be such that bitmap data BMD previously generated by an external device is input from the input device 51 to the control device 50.
In the above embodiment, the ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 are arranged and fixed, and the mother substrate MA is moved. For example, the mother substrate MA may be arranged and fixed, and the ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 may be moved. That is, it is sufficient if the ejection head 40 and the infrared heater 41 are configured to perform main scanning relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction. The discharge head 40 and the infrared heater 41 may be configured to perform sub-scanning relative to the substrate along the sub-scanning direction.
In the above embodiment, the heating means is embodied as the infrared heater 41. For example, the heating means may be embodied as a resistance heater, and any means may be used as long as the viscosity of the liquid is reduced by local heating.
In the above embodiment, the case where the liquid crystal material F of 50 cP to 100 cP is discharged has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a liquid crystal material F of less than 50 cP or a liquid crystal material F higher than 100 cP may be discharged. Furthermore, the structure which discharges the metal ink containing a metal microparticle may be sufficient. That is, the liquid material of the present invention may be a liquid material that can be bonded by reducing the viscosity by local heating.
In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal display device 10 is embodied as an active matrix transmissive liquid crystal display device. For example, the liquid crystal display device 10 may be embodied as a reflection / transmission liquid crystal display device or a passive liquid crystal display device. That is, the liquid crystal display device only needs to enclose the liquid crystal layer 17 between the element substrate 14 and the counter substrate 15.
In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal layer 17 (the liquid crystal display device 10) is manufactured by discharging the liquid crystal material F. For example, the liquid material may be embodied in metal ink, and various metal wirings of the liquid crystal display device 10 may be formed. In addition, a field effect device (FED or SE) that includes a flat electron-emitting device and uses light emission of a fluorescent material by electrons emitted from the device.
D, etc.) may be formed. In other words, any structure may be used as long as the pattern is formed by liquid droplets.
In the above embodiment, the droplet discharge device is embodied in the inkjet device 30. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and may be embodied in a dispenser device as long as the device forms a pattern on a substrate by discharging liquid droplets.

The perspective view of the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment. Similarly, sectional drawing of a liquid crystal display device. Similarly, explanatory drawing explaining the manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display. Similarly, the perspective view of a droplet discharge device. Similarly, the perspective view of an ejection head. Similarly, the sectional side view of an ejection head. Similarly, an explanatory view for explaining a scanning region of the ejection head. FIG. Similarly, an explanatory view for explaining a scanning region of the ejection head. FIG. Similarly, the electric block circuit diagram for demonstrating the electrical structure of a droplet discharge apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  L ... light, MA ... mother substrate as substrate, F ... liquid crystal material as liquid, Fb ... droplet, SA1 ... first scanning region, SA2 ... second scanning region, 10 ... liquid crystal display device, 17 ... as pattern A liquid crystal layer, 30... An ink jet device as a droplet discharge device, 40... Discharge head, 41.

Claims (8)

A discharge head for discharging the liquid material to the substrate as a droplet is subjected to main scanning relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction, and a pattern made of the liquid material is formed in a scanning region of the discharge head with respect to the substrate. Forming a pattern in which the ejection head is sub-scanned relative to the substrate along a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction so that a plurality of the patterns are adjacent to each other along the sub-scanning direction. In the method
A pattern in which the periphery of the boundary between a pattern formed in the scanning region and another pattern formed in advance adjacent to the scanning region is locally heated during the main scanning. Forming method. In the pattern formation method of Claim 1,
When the main scanning is performed, the heated liquid is discharged as droplets, and the periphery of the boundary adjacent to the opposite side of the discharge head in the main scanning direction is locally heated. Pattern forming method. In the pattern formation method of Claim 1 or 2,
A pattern forming method, wherein, during the main scanning, the region to be heated is subjected to main scanning relatively to the substrate along a main scanning direction. A discharge head for discharging the liquid into droplets onto the substrate;
Main scanning means for performing main scanning relative to the substrate along the main scanning direction of the discharge head;
A sub-scanning means for sub-scanning the sub-scan relative to the substrate along a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction;
It is formed so as to extend from the region of the ejection head to the opposite side of the sub-scanning direction when viewed from the main scanning direction, and to face the substrate on the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the ejection head when viewed from the sub-scanning direction. A droplet discharge device comprising: a heating unit that is disposed and that is main-scanned and sub-scanned relative to the substrate together with the discharge head to locally heat a region on the opposite substrate side apparatus. The droplet discharge device according to claim 4,
The discharge head discharges the heated liquid as the droplets,
The liquid droplet ejection apparatus, wherein the heating means is adjacent to the opposite side of the main scanning direction of the ejection head as viewed from the sub scanning direction. In the droplet discharge device according to claim 4 or 5,
The liquid is a liquid that absorbs light in the infrared region,
The droplet discharge apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heating means includes an infrared heater that emits light in an infrared region. In the droplet discharge device according to any one of claims 4 to 6,
A liquid droplet ejection apparatus, wherein the liquid material is a liquid crystal material. A liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal material discharged by the droplet discharge device according to claim 7.

Images