JP2008216695A - Liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, liquid crystal device, and optical deflecting apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus capable of easily manufacturing a multi-layered liquid crystal device having a substrate and liquid crystal arranged by turns while a general substrate using a very thin glass plate etc., is used, and a liquid crystal device and an optical deflecting device manufactured using the same. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus, equipped with a chuck unit 3 which chucks a first substrate W2 having liquid crystal W3 stuck on a region defined in a nearly frame shape on the substrate with an uncured seal material W4 and a second substrate provided with neither the seal material W4 nor the liquid crystal W3, includes a positioning means which has a conveyance means of conveying those substrates onto a pedestal 1 one over the other and a camera 4 imaging alignment marks formed on the substrates, a pressing plate 6 presses the substrates so that the liquid crystal W3 may be diffused in the region, and an ultraviolet heat unit 7 which cures the seal material W4 to join the plurality of substrates pressed by the pressing plate 6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus, a liquid crystal element, and an optical deflection element, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus having a multilayer liquid crystal layer, a liquid crystal element, and an optical deflection element.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a liquid crystal element in which a plurality of liquid crystal layers are formed between a pair of substrates arranged opposite to each other, with substrates and liquid crystals arranged alternately.

  As an example of this liquid crystal device, for example, as shown in FIG. 23, the transmitted light can be shifted in one direction by switching the tilt direction of molecules of a ferroelectric liquid crystal W8 provided between a pair of transparent substrates W9. The optical path deflecting element W6 is arranged so as to face the vertical and horizontal shifts, and the optical deflection is provided with a polarization direction switching substrate W7 for switching the polarization direction between the pair of optical path deflecting elements W6. An element is mentioned.

  In addition, as an example of use of the optical path deflecting element configured as described above, for example, in order to obtain a high-definition image of a rear projection type display, the optical path deflecting element is incorporated between the light valve and the screen and transmitted. Used to shift light.

As an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal element including such a multi-layer liquid crystal layer, for example, a plurality of flexible substrates which are bent in a convex curve with a seal wall or the like formed are placed opposite to each other. A manufacturing apparatus is proposed that includes a roller section that presses and heats and a discharge section that discharges liquid crystal onto the flexible substrate immediately before the plurality of flexible substrates are faced to each other (for example, Patent Document 1). (See page 6, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12).
JP 2001-42351 A

  However, the manufacturing apparatus described above can be achieved by adopting a flexible substrate, and a general substrate using an extremely thin glass plate or the like cannot be used as it is.

  However, when manufacturing a multilayer liquid crystal element using a general substrate, first, a single liquid crystal element in which a liquid crystal layer is provided between a pair of substrates is manufactured using a well-known manufacturing method and apparatus, and then the manufacturing is performed. In general, the desired elements are joined in the desired number of stages. For this reason, the number of manufacturing processes is large, and the tact time is appropriate. In addition, it is necessary to make the thickness of the adhesive layer between the substrates uniform so that the wavefront aberration does not increase, and this has affected the yield at least.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to provide a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus, a liquid crystal element, and an optical deflection element that can solve the above problems.

  In order to achieve the above technical problem, a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus, a liquid crystal element, and an optical deflecting element according to the present invention employ the following technical means.

  That is, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1 is an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal element in which substrates and liquid crystals are alternately arranged, and a multilayer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of opposed substrates. The liquid crystal, a substrate holding at least an uncured sealing material formed so as to surround the liquid crystal, and a flat substrate are stacked at predetermined positions so as to form the liquid crystal element. Transporting means capable of transporting, positioning means for positioning the substrates so that the substrates are aligned at the predetermined position, and the liquid crystal can be diffused in a region defined by the uncured sealing material, A pressing unit that presses the substrate positioned by the positioning unit; and a curing unit that cures at least a part of the sealing material so that the plurality of substrates pressed by the pressing unit can be bonded to each other; Characterized in that it comprises.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a second aspect is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the transport means includes a chuck portion capable of chucking the substrate, and the chuck portion is provided with the liquid crystal and the sealing material. The substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held with the surface facing upward is shaped to be at least chuckable.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a third aspect is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the transport means includes a chuck portion capable of chucking the substrate, and the chuck portion is provided with the liquid crystal and the sealing material. The substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held in a state where the surface is faced down is formed so as to be at least chuckable.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fourth aspect of the present invention is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the first aspect, wherein the transport means includes a chuck portion that can chuck the substrate, and the chuck portion holds at least the liquid crystal and the sealing material. Further, the side surface of the substrate is formed so as to be chucked.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fifth aspect of the present invention is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, further comprising substrate forming means for forming the substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held, and the conveying means. Is configured to be capable of reciprocating between the predetermined position and the substrate forming means.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a sixth aspect of the present invention is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the fifth aspect, wherein the substrate forming means includes a sealing material dispenser that discharges the sealing material and a liquid crystal dispenser that discharges the liquid crystal. It is characterized by that.

  The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 7 is an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal element in which substrates and liquid crystals are alternately arranged, and a multi-layer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of opposed substrates. A transport unit configured to transport the substrate to a predetermined position so as to be stacked; and a region formed by the surface of the substrate transported to the predetermined position by the transport unit with a non-cured sealing material. A substrate forming means for discharging the liquid crystal therein; a positioning means for positioning the substrate so that the substrates are aligned at the predetermined position; and the liquid crystal is positioned by the positioning means so as to be able to diffuse in the region. A pressing unit that presses the substrate, and a curing unit that cures at least a part of the sealing material so that the plurality of substrates pressed by the pressing unit can be joined to each other.

  The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the pressing means is configured to perform a pressing operation each time the substrates are stacked. It is characterized by.

  According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the eighth aspect, the curing unit is configured to be executed every time the pressing operation of the pressing unit is performed.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a tenth aspect is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, wherein the pressing unit and the curing unit are executed after stacking all desired substrates. It is characterized by being.

  The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to an eleventh aspect is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to tenth aspects, wherein the positioning unit detects a positional deviation of the stacked substrates, and a positional deviation is detected by the detecting unit. And a correction unit that corrects the position of the substrate on which detection is detected.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a twelfth aspect is characterized in that, in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the substrate is stacked upward.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a thirteenth aspect is characterized in that, in any one of the first to eleventh aspects, the substrate is stacked downward.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fourteenth aspect of the present invention is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to thirteenth aspects, wherein the substrates are pressed and bonded together in a state where the pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure or lower. It is characterized by.

  A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fifteenth aspect is the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to fourteenth aspects, wherein the positioning means is executed each time the substrates are stacked or stacked on all desired substrates. It is configured to be executed after being carried out, or to be carried out after the substrate is stacked and when all the desired substrates are stacked.

  A liquid crystal element according to a sixteenth aspect is manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to fifteenth aspects.

  An optical deflection element according to claim 17 is an optical deflection element manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the polarization direction is switched between a pair of transparent substrates. Providing a direction switching substrate, providing a ferroelectric liquid crystal between the polarization direction switching substrate and each of the transparent substrates, and tilting the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal provided on one side across the polarization direction switching substrate; The transmitted light can be shifted in the vertical direction by switching the direction, and the transmitted light can be shifted in the horizontal direction by switching the tilt direction of the ferroelectric liquid crystal molecules provided on the other side across the polarization direction switching substrate. It is characterized by comprising.

  According to the present invention, the conveying means includes a substrate on which a liquid crystal and an uncured sealing material formed so as to surround at least the liquid crystal are held so that the substrate and the liquid crystal are alternately disposed, and a flat The positioning unit positions the substrate so that the substrates are aligned, and the pressing unit presses the positioned substrate by the positioning unit, and the liquid crystal is diffused in the region defined by the sealing material. Since the curing means joins a plurality of substrates being pressed or pressed by the pressing means, a desired number of substrates and liquid crystals are alternately arranged between a pair of ultra-thin glass plates. It is possible to manufacture a liquid crystal element having a multilayer liquid crystal layer. Further, since the direct bonding between the substrates is eliminated via the adhesive layer, the tact time can be shortened. Further, since there is no adhesive layer between the substrates, there is no fear of increasing wavefront aberration, and it is not necessary to make the thickness of the adhesive layer uniform, so that the yield can be improved.

  Further, according to the present invention, there is provided substrate forming means for defining a substantially frame shape with an uncured sealing material on the surface of the substrate conveyed to a predetermined position by the conveying means, and discharging liquid crystal in the defined area. Since it provided, the space of the pre-processing part for providing an unhardened sealing material and a liquid crystal in a board | substrate previously can be made unnecessary.

  Next, an embodiment of a liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the liquid crystal element W1 manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment is formed so as to surround at least the liquid crystal W3 and the liquid crystal W3 so that the substrate and the liquid crystal W3 are alternately arranged. A first substrate W2 on which an uncured sealing material (ultraviolet curing type or ultraviolet curing-thermosetting type) is held, and a flat second substrate W5 on which such a sealing material W4 or liquid crystal W3 is not provided. 21 is a liquid crystal element W1 in which a multilayer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of opposed substrates as shown in FIG.

  Moreover, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment exemplifies an apparatus in which two such liquid crystal elements W1 are simultaneously formed in the surface direction, and cut out from the center after manufacturing so as to take two liquid crystal elements W1. It has become. Hereinafter, each embodiment will be described in detail.

(Embodiment 1)
As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the first exemplary embodiment includes a pedestal 1, a conveying unit, a positioning unit, a pressing unit, a curing unit, and a control unit.

  The pedestal 1 is formed in a plate shape having a high degree of parallelism with a metal material having a required hardness such as stainless steel, aluminum material, etc., and the upper and lower surfaces are arranged at positions corresponding to the portions where the seal material W4 is formed. A slit hole 2 penetrating is formed, and is attached to the upper surface of an ultraviolet head portion 7 (described later) attached to the table T surface of the apparatus. The base 1 is a predetermined position where the first substrate W2 and the second substrate W5 are transported and stacked. The slit hole 2 serves as a light guide for irradiating ultraviolet rays irradiated from an ultraviolet head 7a, which will be described later, to the ultraviolet curable type or ultraviolet curable / heat-cured combined type sealing material W4.

  Since this pedestal 1 is a member that receives a predetermined pressing force by a pressing means to be described later, through which the substrates are placed and stacked, the pedestal 1 is composed of a high-hardness member such as the metal material described above, In addition to the metal material, a transparent material such as glass or quartz may be used. In this case, the slit hole 2 can be made unnecessary.

  The transport means includes a clean robot (not shown) and a chuck portion 3.

  The clean robot includes an arm that can be controlled in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions with a known feed mechanism, and is erected from the table T surface of the apparatus. The X direction is the left-right direction in FIG. 1, the Y direction is the depth direction in FIG. 1, the Z direction is the up-down direction in FIG. 1, and the θ direction is the rotation direction in FIG.

  The chuck portion 3 is made of a transparent member and is formed in a plate shape that is slightly larger than the first substrate W2 and the second substrate W5, and the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 of the first substrate W2 are formed on one surface thereof. A portion where the alignment material or the like is not formed, that is, a corner portion where the edge of the liquid crystal side surface intersects with the peripheral side surface of the substrate so as to escape at least the liquid crystal W3 of the first substrate W2, and the surface of the liquid crystal side A concave portion 3d having a step shape (two steps) is formed in contact with the center of the substrate to electrostatically attract the substrate. The chuck portion 3 thus formed is connected horizontally to the above-described arm so that the concave portion 3d is on the lower side.

  As described above, the chuck portion 3 electrostatically attracts the first substrate W2 with the substrate surface provided with at least the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 facing upward. The second substrate W5 can also be electrostatically attracted. Note that when the first substrate W2 and the second substrate W5 are chucked by the chuck portion 3, the above-described clean robot has only one arm, but the level difference is 1 as shown in FIG. When the second substrate W5 is electrostatically adsorbed by the chuck portion 3b in which the stepped recesses 3e are formed, two twin arm clean robots or two single arm clean robots are installed.

  In the present embodiment, a clean robot is used as means for moving the chuck portion 3, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the X, Y, Z, and θ directions of a well-known structure combined with a ball screw feed mechanism and the like are used. The above-described chuck unit 3 may be connected to a movable table device that can be controlled. In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the chuck portion 3b dedicated to the second substrate W5 is provided.

  Further, in the present embodiment, chucking by electrostatic adsorption is illustrated, but vacuum chucking that reduces the atmospheric pressure in the recesses 3d and 3e may be used.

  The positioning means includes a detection unit and a correction unit.

  The detection unit includes a camera 4 connected to a feed mechanism unit (not shown) that can be controlled in the X and Z directions, and is formed in advance on both the first substrate W2 and the second substrate W5. Can be imaged. The alignment mark needs to be formed of a material that can provide a contrast difference that can be detected by the camera 4. For example, an electrode material (such as a tin-added indium oxide film or a chromium film) formed on the substrate can also be used. .

  In this embodiment, the alignment mark is a mark having a different shape at a different position for each substrate so as not to malfunction during each positioning.

  The correction unit includes a plurality of contacts 5 that are connected to a feed mechanism unit (not shown) that can be controlled in the X, Y, and Z directions, and that can contact the four side surfaces of the first substrate W2 and the second substrate W5. Configured. The correction unit calculates the amount of positional deviation of each substrate based on the position of the alignment mark imaged by the camera 4 and the position data of the alignment mark set in advance, and based on the amount of positional deviation, The position is corrected by abutting and pushing the contact 5 on the side surface of the substrate that is waking up.

  Furthermore, the correction unit can recognize the shape pattern of the captured mark, and the alignment marks that are misaligned are stacked by associating the stacking order of the substrates with individual marks in advance. It is possible to grasp the number of the stacked substrates.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the positioning means including the detection unit and the correction unit is illustrated. However, a positioning pin protrudes from the table T surface or the pedestal 1 of the device, and each substrate is attached to the positioning pin. It is good also as a positioning means to position by abutting the side surface. In this case, a part of the chuck part 3 is notched so that the chuck part 3 and the positioning pin do not interfere with each other, and further, there is “play” in the X direction between the chuck part 3 and the chucked substrate. Thus, when the side surface of the substrate is abutted against the positioning pin, the positional deviation is corrected while the substrate escapes in the X direction.

  In addition, if the positioning means using the image processing technology including the detection unit and the correction unit and the positioning unit using the positioning pin are adopted, for example, if the positioning accuracy is about 0.2 mm, the latter positioning pin When the positioning means is used, and the positioning accuracy is required to be high accuracy of less than 0.2 mm, it is easy to secure the respective accuracy by adopting the former positioning means using the image processing technology. Therefore, it is preferable.

  For the pressing means, the pressing plate 6 made of a plate-like transparent material having a required hardness such as glass or quartz is controlled in the Y direction so that the alignment mark can be captured by the camera 4 from the upper surface side. The pressing plate 6 is connected to a movable feeding mechanism (not shown), and is disposed so that the pressing plate 6 is positioned directly above the base 1 (operation initial position).

  Both are arranged so that the parallelism between the bottom surface of the pressing plate 6 and the top surface of the pedestal 1 is extremely high, and the pressing means configured in this way has the pressing plate 6 stacked on the pedestal 1. The liquid crystal W3 descends toward the overlapped substrate and presses until the liquid crystal W3 diffuses into the region defined by the uncured sealing material W4 defined in a substantially rectangular frame shape and the upper and lower substrates. ing.

  The pressing plate 6 is a member that presses the substrate stacked on the pedestal 1, and the above-described glass, quartz or the like is used so that the camera 4 can image the alignment mark from the upper surface side. For example, in the case of the positioning means using the positioning pins as described above, a metal material such as a stainless steel material or an aluminum material can be used.

  The curing means includes a plurality of ultraviolet heads 7a such as LEDs and lamps that are mounted at positions corresponding to the slit holes 2 provided in the pedestal 1, and supports the pedestal 1 at a required height, and the ultraviolet head. The control unit (not shown) is connected to the unit 7 and performs dimming and irradiation control. The ultraviolet head unit 7 is attached to the table T surface of the apparatus.

  The curing means configured as described above irradiates the ultraviolet rays from the ultraviolet head 7a at a required timing, so that the ultraviolet rays reach the sealing material W4 between the substrates through the slit holes 2 serving as the light guide path. The received sealing material W4 is hardened so that the substrates are bonded to each other.

  In the present embodiment, the ultraviolet irradiation is performed from the pedestal 1 side, but it may be performed from the pressing means side.

  Moreover, although the hardening means concerning this Embodiment has illustrated what joins several board | substrates completely, only a part of above-described sealing material W4 is hardened (it is not limited to one place), or In addition to the region where the liquid crystal is diffused, only the temporary fixing portion (not limited to one place) formed of a sealant is cured, and the substrates are temporarily fixed, and then the entire substrate is cured in a subsequent process. May be joined.

  The control means performs overall control of the conveying means, positioning means, pressing means, and curing means to control each component at a predetermined timing, and details thereof will be described in the following operation description.

  Next, a series of operations of the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the first embodiment configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS.

  First, a transparent substrate is set on a substrate forming apparatus (not shown) (FIG. 4: step S1), and a first substrate W2 is formed using required constituent materials such as a sealing material W4 and a liquid crystal W3 (FIG. 4: step S2). . And the chuck | zipper part 3 is moved to the carrying-out position of the 1st board | substrate W2 provided on the board | substrate formation apparatus which is not shown in figure, and the 1st board | substrate W2 is electrostatically adsorbed.

  The chuck portion 3 that electrostatically attracts the first substrate W2 moves to a predetermined position on the pedestal 1 (FIG. 4: step S3), releases the electrostatic attraction, and places the first substrate W2 on the pedestal 1 at the predetermined position. Place. It is determined whether or not the placed substrate is the second substrate W5 which is the uppermost stage, that is, whether or not the preset number of times of conveyance has been reached (FIG. 4: step S5), and the number has not been reached. In the case (FIG. 4: Step S5 / No), the second first substrate W2 is placed on the first first substrate W2 by the same operation as described above.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 2, before releasing the electrostatic attraction of the second first substrate W2, the camera 4 is moved to the upper surface of the chuck portion 3 set in advance, and the first substrate W2 is moved to the first substrate W2. The formed alignment mark is imaged, and it is checked whether the position of the first first substrate W2 is placed at a normal position.

  If the position is misaligned, the contact 5 is brought into contact with and pushed against the side surface of the first first substrate W2 to correct the position, and then the electrostatic adsorption of the second first substrate W2 is performed. And the second first substrate W2 is placed on the first first substrate W2.

  Similarly, before releasing the electrostatic adsorption of the 2 + n-th first substrate W2, the position check and the position correction of the 2 + n-th first substrate W2 are performed (FIG. 4: step S4). This series of operations is repeated until the number of times of transporting (stacking) the second substrate W5 is reached (FIG. 4: Step S5 / No), and a desired number of first substrates W2 are stacked. The camera 4 quickly returns to the standby position after the position correction.

  Subsequently, before and after the stacking of the desired number of first substrates W2 is completed, the chuck portion 3b dedicated to the second substrate W5 is moved to the unloading position of the second substrate W5, and the second substrate W5 is electrostatically attracted. . The chuck part 3b dedicated to the second substrate W5 that electrostatically attracts the second substrate W5 moves to a position directly above the uppermost first substrate W2, and before the electrostatic attraction is released, Checking and position correction are performed, electrostatic attraction is released, and the second substrate W5 is placed on the uppermost first substrate W2. When this placement is completed, the chuck portion 3b dedicated to the second substrate W5 returns to the carry-out position of the second substrate W5.

  When the stacking of all the substrates is completed in this way (FIG. 4: Step S5 / Yes), the pressing plate 6 made of a transparent material starts to descend toward the stacked substrates, and the pressing plate 6 Contact the second substrate W5. When the pressing plate 6 comes into contact with the second substrate W5, as shown in FIG. 3, the camera 4 is moved to the upper surface of the pressing plate 6 set in advance, and the positional deviation of each substrate during the pressing operation is monitored.

  In this way, under the monitoring of the positional deviation, the respective liquid crystals W3 diffuse without gaps in the respective regions defined by the uncured sealing material W4 defined in a substantially rectangular frame shape and the upper and lower substrates. Press until it is done (FIG. 4: Step S6). If the position shift occurs during the pressing operation, the contact 5 is brought into contact with and pushed against the side surface of the corresponding substrate to correct the position.

  When each liquid crystal W3 is pressed until it diffuses into each region without any gap, ultraviolet irradiation starts from the ultraviolet head 7a, and the sealing material W4 between the substrates is passed through the slit hole 2 serving as a light guide path at a predetermined time. Irradiation is continued (FIG. 4: Step S7). The sealing material W4 that has been irradiated with ultraviolet rays starts to be cured and bonds the substrates together.

  When the substrates are bonded after a predetermined time has passed, the pressing plate 6 rises to return to the initial position, and a multi-layer liquid crystal layer is formed on the pedestal 1 between a pair of opposed substrates as shown in FIG. The formed liquid crystal element W1 is completed, and a series of operations ends.

  Note that the liquid crystal element W1 on the pedestal 1 moves to a desired carry-out position, for example, a chuck unit 3b dedicated to the second substrate W5, chucks it, and carries it to a desired carry-out position.

  As mentioned above, although the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus concerning Embodiment 1 was demonstrated, according to this apparatus, between a normal board | substrate consisting of a pair of ultra-thin glass plates etc., a desired number of board | substrates and liquid crystal W3 are alternated. A liquid crystal element W1 having a multi-layer liquid crystal layer can be manufactured. Further, since the direct bonding between the substrates is eliminated via the adhesive layer, the tact time can be shortened. Further, since there is no adhesive layer between the substrates, there is no fear of increasing wavefront aberration, and it is not necessary to make the thickness of the adhesive layer uniform, so that the yield can be improved.

  Also, since the first substrate W2 is chucked from the surface side where the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 are provided, the substrates can be stacked in this state, and the tact time can be shortened. be able to.

  In addition, since the pressing of the substrate and the curing of the sealing material W4 are performed after all the substrates are overlapped, the tact time can be shortened and the entire surface can be pressed uniformly. A liquid crystal element W1 having a multi-layered liquid crystal layer can be manufactured.

  The chuck portion 3 illustrated in the first embodiment electrostatically attracts the first substrate W2 with the substrate surface provided with the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 facing upward. As shown in FIG. 5, with the substrate surface provided with the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 facing downward, the first substrate W2 is chucked by electrostatic adsorption or the pressure in the recess 3d is reduced. It may be chucked by vacuum.

  In this case, since the conveyance of the first inter-layer substrate chucks the surface on which the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 are not provided, the possibility of contamination of the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 can be eliminated. However, since the alignment material is formed even if the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 are not present, it is necessary to form the alignment material and the like so as not to damage the chuck portion 3 illustrated in the first embodiment. . The first substrate placed on the pedestal 1 is the second substrate W5 on which the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 are not provided in advance.

  Furthermore, as another modification of the chuck part 3, as shown in FIG. 6, a chuck part 3c formed so as to contact only the side surface of the substrate may be used. In this case as well, chucking by electrostatic adsorption or vacuum chucking that reduces the pressure in the recess 3f is preferable. According to this modification, since the surface on which the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 are not provided is chucked, the risk of contamination on the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 can be eliminated.

(Embodiment 2)
In the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment, the pressing by the pressing plate 6 and the ultraviolet irradiation by the curing means are replaced with the collective operations after the substrate stacking illustrated in the first embodiment, as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 11, this is an example in which each substrate is overlapped.

  The structure of the mechanical part of the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment is basically the same as that of the first embodiment. However, in the second embodiment, the pressing plate 6 is used while the first substrate W2 is chucked. Because of the pressing (see FIG. 9), the chuck unit 3 exemplified in the first embodiment can be attached to and detached from the arm of a clean robot or a movable table device having a known structure that can be controlled in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions. The chuck portion 3 is brought into a free state when being pressed.

  In addition, since the structure of the mechanism unit is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals as those of the first embodiment are given, and the description of the structure of the mechanism unit is omitted. A series of operations of the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment will be described.

  First, a transparent substrate is set in a substrate forming apparatus (not shown) (FIG. 11: Step S8), and a first substrate W2 is formed using required constituent materials such as a sealing material W4 and a liquid crystal W3 (FIG. 11: Step S9). .

  And the chuck | zipper part 3 is moved to the carrying-out position of the 1st board | substrate W2 provided on the board | substrate formation apparatus which is not shown in figure, and the 1st board | substrate W2 is electrostatically adsorbed.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the chuck portion 3 that electrostatically attracts the first substrate W2 moves to a predetermined position on the pedestal 1 (FIG. 11: Step S10), releases the electrostatic attraction, and predetermined on the pedestal 1. The first substrate W2 is placed at the position. When the placed substrate is the first substrate W2 at the lowest level, it is determined whether it is the first substrate W2 at the lowest level, that is, whether it is the first transfer count (FIG. 11: Step S12). (FIG. 11: Step S12 / Yes), the second first substrate W2 is placed on the first first substrate W2 by the same operation as described above.

  At this time, as shown in FIG. 8, before releasing the electrostatic attraction of the second first substrate W2, the camera 4 is moved to the upper surface of the chuck portion 3 set in advance, and the first substrate W2 is moved to the first substrate W2. The formed alignment mark is imaged, and it is checked whether the position of the first first substrate W2 is placed at a normal position.

  If the position is misaligned, the contact 5 is brought into contact with and pushed against the side surface of the first first substrate W2 to correct the position, and then the electrostatic adsorption of the second first substrate W2 is performed. Is released and the second first substrate W2 is placed on the first first substrate W2, and the chuck portion 3 is set in a free state.

  Thus, when the second first substrate W2 is stacked on the first first substrate W2, the pressing plate 6 formed of a transparent material starts to descend toward the stacked substrate, As shown in FIG. 9, the pressing plate 6 contacts the chuck portion 3. When the pressing plate 6 comes into contact with the chuck portion 3, the camera 4 is moved to the upper surface of the pressing plate 6 set in advance, and the positional deviation between the substrates during the pressing operation is monitored.

  In this way, under the monitoring of the positional deviation, the respective liquid crystals W3 diffuse without gaps in the respective regions defined by the uncured sealing material W4 defined in a substantially rectangular frame shape and the upper and lower substrates. Press until it is done (FIG. 11: Step S13). If the position shift occurs during the pressing operation, the contact 5 is brought into contact with and pushed against the side surface of the corresponding substrate to correct the position.

  When the liquid crystal W3 is pressed until it diffuses into the region without any gaps, irradiation of ultraviolet rays starts from the ultraviolet head 7a, and the sealing material W4 between the substrates is irradiated for a predetermined time through the slit hole 2 that is a light guide path. (FIG. 11: Step S14). The sealing material W4 that has been irradiated with the ultraviolet rays starts to be cured and the substrates are bonded to each other.

  When the substrates are joined after a predetermined time has passed, the pressing plate 6 moves up and returns to the initial position, and the clean robot grips the chuck portion 3 and the first substrate W2 provided on the substrate forming apparatus (not shown). Move to the unloading position.

  And it is judged whether the board | substrate joined by this hardening means is the 2nd board | substrate W5 used as the uppermost stage, ie, whether the frequency | count of preset conveyance was reached (FIG. 11: step S15), and the frequency | count If not reached (FIG. 11: Step S15 / No), as shown in FIG. 10, the third first substrate W2 is placed on the second first substrate W2 by the same operation as described above. Then, the above series of operations are performed. This series of operations is performed until the pressed and cured substrate becomes the second substrate W5 which is the uppermost stage. When the second substrate W5 is pressed and cured (FIG. 11: Step S15 / Yes), a liquid crystal element in which a multi-layer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of opposed substrates as shown in FIG. W1 is completed and a series of operations are completed.

  As described above, in the second embodiment, the pressing operation is performed each time the respective substrates are overlapped. When the pressing force is always pressed with a constant pressing force, the lower liquid crystal layer having a higher pressing frequency is the liquid crystal layer. The thickness tends to be crushed and thinned, and the thickness of each liquid crystal layer may be uneven. As a result, the liquid crystal layer thickness becomes thinner than the predetermined thickness, the liquid crystal breaks the sealing material wall and oozes out to the outside, and conversely, the liquid crystal layer does not collapse to the predetermined thickness. In the second embodiment, the pressing force when forming the final liquid crystal layer is larger than the pressing force when forming the first liquid crystal layer because there is a possibility that a problem such as generation of a different layer may occur. It is desirable to make it gradually variable.

  As in the first embodiment, the liquid crystal element W1 on the pedestal 1 moves and chucks a desired transfer means, for example, the chuck portion 3 dedicated to the second substrate W5 to a desired carry-out position.

  As mentioned above, although the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus concerning Embodiment 2 was demonstrated, according to this apparatus, since it presses and hardens | cures each time it superimposes, position shift does not generate | occur | produce easily from Embodiment 1. FIG.

(Embodiment 3)
As shown in FIGS. 12 to 15, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment is an example in which the top and bottom are reversed with respect to the second embodiment and the substrates are stacked downward.

  As shown in FIG. 12, the chuck portion 3 in this case is configured so that when the first substrate W2 is transported, the substrate surface provided with the liquid crystal W3, the sealing material W4, and the like is faced upward. The bottom side is chucked. When chucking the first substrate W2 by the chuck portion 3, the chuck portion 3 as exemplified in the first embodiment chucks from the upper surface side of the first substrate W2, and then temporarily floats, and then the first substrate W2 that has floated. It is preferable that one substrate W2 is chucked from the bottom surface side.

  In this case, the floating chuck portion 3 is preferably incorporated into a substrate forming apparatus (not shown). Further, in the case of the second substrate W5, chucking is performed from the upper surface side and the chuck portion 3 is turned upside down, or it is temporarily floated and chucked from the bottom surface side as described above. The engagement between the base 1 and the second substrate W5 is preferably electrostatically attracted.

  Thus, the configuration of the third embodiment is an example in which the top and bottom are reversed with respect to the second embodiment, the same reference numerals as those of the second embodiment (the first embodiment) are given, and the configuration of the mechanism unit, And explanation of the operation is omitted.

  According to the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the third embodiment, the chuck unit 3 chucks and conveys the bottom side of the substrate, so that the possibility of the substrate falling off during conveyance can be eliminated.

(Embodiment 4)
The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the fourth embodiment is a substrate on which any one of the first to third embodiments forms a first substrate W2 using a sealing material W4 and a liquid crystal W3 as shown in FIG. It is an example provided with the formation means. FIG. 16 exemplifies what is incorporated in the apparatus of the first or second embodiment, and the manufacturing procedure of the liquid crystal element W1 is the same as described above. Therefore, the description of the operation for manufacturing the liquid crystal element W1 is omitted. .

  The substrate forming means according to the fourth embodiment is configured to include a first substrate mounting table 8, a sealant dispenser unit, and a liquid crystal dispenser unit.

  The first substrate mounting table 8 is made of a metal material such as stainless steel or aluminum, and is formed in a column shape so as to be at the same level as the upper surface level of the pedestal 1, and the table T of the apparatus is arranged in parallel with the pedestal 1. It is attached to the surface.

  The dispenser for the seal material is configured to be filled with the seal material W4 and can be controlled in the X, Y, Z, and θ directions with a seal material dispenser head 9 that discharges a predetermined amount of the seal material W4 and a known feed mechanism. And a clean robot (not shown) in which the seal material dispenser head 9 is chucked to the arm. Above the first substrate mounting table 8, the dispenser for seal material is provided. The uncured sealing material W4 can be discharged while the head 9 is controlled. In addition, as the sealing material W4, an ultraviolet curing type or an ultraviolet curing-thermosetting combined type is mentioned.

  The liquid crystal dispenser unit includes a liquid crystal dispenser head 10 that is configured to be filled with liquid crystal W3 and discharges a predetermined amount of liquid crystal W3, and an arm that can be controlled in X, Y, Z, and θ directions with a known feed mechanism. And a clean robot (not shown) having a liquid crystal dispenser head 10 chucked on its arm, and the liquid crystal dispenser head 10 is controlled to move above the first substrate mounting table 8. Thus, the liquid crystal W3 can be discharged.

  In addition, these dispenser parts may be provided with a heating mechanism for viscosity reduction. In order to improve the tact time, a plurality of dispensers may be provided and operated.

  The substrate forming means configured as described above first discharges the sealing material W4 while the sealing material dispenser head 9 moves in a frame shape directly above the first substrate W2 mounted on the first substrate mounting table 8. . Thus, when the substantially rectangular frame shape is defined on the first substrate W2 by the uncured sealing material W4, the liquid crystal dispenser head 10 has a predetermined amount in the region defined by the substantially rectangular frame shape. The liquid crystal W3 is discharged. These discharge operations are performed so that two liquid crystal elements W1 can be taken later.

  Thus, the first substrate W2 formed by the substrate forming means is moved toward the base 1 by chucking the chuck portion 3 of the transfer means, and the liquid crystal element W1 is manufactured by a series of operations as described above. To do.

  As described above, the substrate forming means according to the fourth embodiment has been described. According to this apparatus, since the substrates are superimposed immediately after the liquid crystal W3 and the sealing material W4 are formed, the tact time can be shortened. The risk of contamination of the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 can be eliminated.

(Embodiment 5)
As shown in FIG. 17, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment omits the first substrate mounting table 8 illustrated in the fourth embodiment, and replaces the sealing material dispenser unit and the liquid crystal dispenser unit. 1 is configured to be controllable on 1, and the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 are ejected on the pedestal 1 and overlapped. Note that the manufacturing procedure of the first substrate W2 and the manufacturing procedure of the liquid crystal element W1 are substantially the same as described above, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  According to the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the fifth embodiment, since the first substrate mounting table 8 is omitted, space saving can be achieved, and only the second substrate W5 is transferred by the transfer means. Therefore, the chuck portion 3b shown in FIG. 2 can be used, and the number of clean robots for the conveying means can be reduced.

(Embodiment 6)
In the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment, as shown in FIG. 18, a pressing plate 6a provided with a slit hole 2a is disposed on the upper side, and a base 1a is disposed on the lower side so as to face the pressing plate 6a. Then, the first substrate mounting table 8 illustrated in the fourth embodiment is omitted, and the sealer dispenser unit and the liquid crystal dispenser unit are configured to be controllable on the base 1, and the chuck shown in FIG. In this example, the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 are ejected and superimposed on the second substrate W5 transported onto the base 1a by the part 3b. The engagement between the pressing plate 6a and the second substrate W5 is preferably electrostatically attracted.

  Further, since the manufacturing procedure of the first substrate W2 and the manufacturing procedure of the liquid crystal element W1 are substantially the same as described above, the description is omitted.

  According to the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the sixth embodiment, as in the fifth embodiment, since the first substrate mounting table 8 is omitted, space saving can be achieved, and the substrate transported by the transport means is the first. Since there are only two substrates W5, the shape of the chuck portion 3 can be simplified as shown in FIG. 2, and the number of clean robots of the transfer means can be reduced.

(Embodiment 7)
In the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 19 and 20, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment is located at a position corresponding to the edge on the bottom surface side of the chuck part 3 moved onto the base 1b. Thus, a groove 11 provided on the upper surface of the pedestal 1b, a compression spring 12 appropriately disposed in the groove 11, and a partition wall 13 engaged with the groove 11 so as to be seated on the compression spring 12 and movable up and down. And a vacuum pump (not shown) that depressurizes the closed space formed in the partition wall 13 by lowering the chuck portion 3, and presses the substrates against each other and irradiates ultraviolet rays when a predetermined atmospheric pressure is reached. This is an example of bonding substrates together.

  According to the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment, since the substrates are pressed and bonded to each other in a state where the pressure is reduced to the atmospheric pressure or less, the possibility of bubbles being mixed into the sealing material W4 and the liquid crystal W3 can be avoided. .

  In the seventh embodiment, since the closed space (decompression space) is formed by the chuck portion 3, the pedestal 1, and the partition wall 13, it is difficult to move the contact 5; If a cover that covers all the components is provided and the inside of the cover is depressurized, position correction can be easily performed.

  Although the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment has been described above, the liquid crystal element W1 manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of the first to seventh embodiments is disposed to face each other as shown in FIG. A multilayer liquid crystal layer is formed between the pair of substrates.

  Such a liquid crystal element W1 can be, for example, a liquid crystal element W1 in which each color of RGB is assigned to each liquid crystal layer and a color image can be obtained by additive color mixing or subtractive color mixing. The present invention can be applied to a liquid crystal display in which liquid crystal layers are laminated for improving viewing angle and luminance uniformity.

  Further, as described above, conventionally, as shown in FIG. 23, the transmitted light can be shifted in one direction by switching the tilt direction of the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal W8 provided between the pair of transparent substrates W9. Polarized light that switches the polarization direction between the pair of optical path deflecting elements W6 by arranging the configured optical path deflecting elements W6 so as to be shifted in the vertical direction (Y direction) and in the horizontal direction (X direction). Although there is an optical deflection element provided with the direction switching substrate W7, by using the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 22, among the pair of transparent substrates W9 constituting the optical path deflection element W6 The transparent substrate W9 on the polarization direction switching substrate W7 side can be dispensed with.

  Therefore, it is a high-quality optical deflection element that is low in cost and has no fear of increasing wavefront aberration.

  Of course, the configuration of the optical deflection element shown in FIG. 22 is provided with a polarization direction switching substrate W7 for switching the polarization direction between a pair of transparent substrates W9, and the polarization direction switching substrate W7 and each of the transparent substrates. A ferroelectric liquid crystal W8 is provided between W9 and the polarization direction switching substrate W7, and the tilt direction of the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal W8 provided on one side is switched to shift the transmitted light in the vertical direction (Y direction). In this configuration, the tilt direction of the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal W8 provided on the other side across the polarization direction switching substrate W7 is switched to shift the transmitted light in the horizontal direction (X direction).

  The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus, the liquid crystal element, and the optical deflection element according to the present embodiment have been described above. However, the above-described embodiment shows an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention.

  For example, the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus and the liquid crystal element according to the present embodiment exemplify (made) a substantially rectangular frame shape with an uncured sealing material W4. The shape of the frame is not particularly limited, such as a polygonal shape excluding a rectangle. Also, the type of liquid crystal is not limited.

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a first embodiment. It is the schematic sectional drawing which showed the operation | movement following FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation following FIG. 2. It is a flowchart showing a process. It is the schematic 1 of the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus which showed the modification of chucking. It is the schematic 2 of the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus which showed the modification of chucking. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a second embodiment. It is the schematic sectional drawing which showed the operation | movement following FIG. FIG. 9 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation following FIG. 8. FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation following FIG. 9. It is a flowchart showing a process. FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a third embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation following FIG. 12. It is the schematic sectional drawing which showed the operation | movement following FIG. It is the schematic sectional drawing which showed the operation | movement following FIG. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to a seventh embodiment. FIG. 20 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing an operation following FIG. 19. It is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal element manufactured with the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus concerning this Embodiment. It is a perspective view of the light deflection element manufactured with the liquid crystal element manufacturing device concerning this embodiment. It is a perspective view of the conventional light deflection element.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Base 2 Slit hole 3 Chuck part 4 Camera 5 Contact 6 Pressing plate 7 Ultraviolet head part 7a Ultraviolet head 8 First board | substrate mounting base 9 Dispensing head for sealing materials 10 Dispenser head for liquid crystal 11 Groove 12 Compression spring 13 Bulkhead W1 Liquid crystal element W2 First substrate W3 Liquid crystal W4 Sealing material W5 Second substrate W6 Optical path deflecting element W7 Polarization direction switching substrate W8 Ferroelectric liquid crystal W9 Transparent substrate T Table

Claims (17)

An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal element in which a plurality of substrates and liquid crystals are alternately arranged, and a multi-layer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of substrates arranged opposite to each other.
The liquid crystal, a substrate holding at least an uncured sealing material formed so as to surround the liquid crystal, and a flat substrate can be stacked at predetermined positions so as to form the liquid crystal element. Conveying means for conveying to,
Positioning means for positioning the substrates so that the substrates are aligned at the predetermined position;
A pressing unit that presses the substrate positioned by the positioning unit so that the liquid crystal can diffuse in an area defined by the uncured sealing material;
A curing unit that cures at least a part of the sealing material so that the plurality of substrates pressed by the pressing unit can be joined together;
A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus comprising: The transport means includes a chuck portion that can chuck the substrate,
The chuck portion is shaped so that at least chucking of the substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held with the substrate surface on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are provided facing upward. The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1. The transport means includes a chuck portion that can chuck the substrate,
The chuck portion is shaped so that at least chucking of the substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held in a state where the substrate surface on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are provided faces downward. The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1. The transport means includes a chuck portion that can chuck the substrate,
The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the chuck portion is formed so that at least a side surface of the substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held can be chucked. Comprising substrate forming means for forming the substrate on which the liquid crystal and the sealing material are held;
5. The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the transport unit is configured to be capable of reciprocating between the predetermined position and the substrate forming unit. 6.   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the substrate forming unit includes a sealant dispenser for discharging the sealant and a liquid crystal dispenser for discharging the liquid crystal. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal element in which a plurality of substrates and liquid crystals are alternately arranged, and a multilayer liquid crystal layer is formed between a pair of substrates arranged opposite to each other,
Transport means for transporting the substrate to a predetermined position in a stackable manner;
Substrate forming means for defining the surface of the substrate transported to a predetermined position by the transporting means into a required shape with an uncured sealing material, and discharging the liquid crystal into the defined area;
Positioning means for positioning the substrates so that the substrates are aligned at the predetermined position;
A pressing means for pressing the substrate positioned by the positioning means so that the liquid crystal can diffuse in the region;
A curing unit that cures at least a part of the sealing material so that the plurality of substrates pressed by the pressing unit can be joined together;
A liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus comprising:   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit is configured to perform a pressing operation each time the substrates are stacked.   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the curing unit is configured to be executed every time the pressing operation of the pressing unit is performed.   The liquid crystal element according to claim 1, wherein the pressing unit and the curing unit are configured to be executed after stacking all the desired substrates. Manufacturing equipment. The positioning means includes
A detection unit for detecting a positional shift of the stacked substrates;
11. The liquid crystal device manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a correction unit that corrects a position of the substrate in which the positional deviation is detected by the detection unit.   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is configured to be stacked upward.   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is configured to be stacked downward.   The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 13, wherein the substrate is pressed and bonded to each other in a state where the pressure is reduced to an atmospheric pressure or lower.   The positioning means is executed every time the substrates are stacked, or is executed after all the desired substrates are stacked, or every time the substrates are stacked and all the desired substrates are stacked. The liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus is configured to be executed after being stacked.   A liquid crystal element manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1. An optical deflection element manufactured by the liquid crystal element manufacturing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 15,
A polarization direction switching substrate for switching the polarization direction is provided between a pair of transparent substrates, a ferroelectric liquid crystal is provided between the polarization direction switching substrate and each of the transparent substrates, and one side of the polarization direction switching substrate is sandwiched The tilt direction of the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal provided on the other side of the ferroelectric liquid crystal provided on the other side of the polarization direction switching substrate is configured to switch the tilt direction of the molecules of the ferroelectric liquid crystal provided on The light deflecting element is configured so that the transmitted light can be shifted in the left-right direction by switching.

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