JP2010102134A - Liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve productivity of a liquid crystal display device. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel having a first substrate, a second substrate and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the first and second substrates, wherein the planar forms of the first and second substrates are rectangular, and the first substrate has a non-overlapping region not overlapping with the second substrate. In at least one corner of two corners in the non-overlapping region of the first substrate, scales are marked along two sides interposing the one corner. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a technique effective when applied to a liquid crystal display device (liquid crystal display module) in which a liquid crystal display panel is formed of a glass substrate.

2. Description of the Related Art A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) type liquid crystal display module having a small liquid crystal display panel with a subpixel number of about 240 × 320 × 3 in color display is widely used as a display unit of a portable device such as a mobile phone. .
A liquid crystal display module used as a display unit of a portable device such as a cellular phone includes a liquid crystal display panel, a resin mold frame that accommodates the liquid crystal display panel, and a flexible wiring board (FPC) connected to the liquid crystal display panel. It has.
A liquid crystal display panel includes a first substrate (hereinafter referred to as a TFT substrate) on which pixel electrodes, thin film transistors and the like are formed, a second substrate (hereinafter referred to as a CF substrate) on which color filters and the like are formed, and these The liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the TFT substrate and the CF substrate. The planar shape of each of the TFT substrate and the CF substrate is a rectangular shape (rectangular shape), and is formed, for example, as a rectangle having a long side and a short side. The long side of the TFT substrate is longer than the long side of the CF substrate, and the TFT substrate has a region that does not overlap with the CF substrate (hereinafter referred to as a non-overlapping region). A semiconductor chip on which a driver circuit for driving and controlling the liquid crystal display panel is mounted on the non-overlapping region of the TFT substrate, and one end side of the flexible wiring substrate is further connected. For example, a glass substrate is used as the TFT substrate and the CF substrate.

As prior art documents related to the invention of the present application, there are the following.
JP 2007-25484 A

  In general, in the manufacture of a TFT liquid crystal display module, a plurality of product formation regions each having a plurality of product formation regions each including a pixel electrode, a thin film transistor, and the like are defined by scribe lines in order to improve throughput. One multi-substrate (hereinafter referred to as a multi-TFT substrate) and a second multi-substrate (hereinafter referred to as a multi-CF substrate) each having a plurality of product formation regions each partitioned by a scribe line and having a color filter or the like formed thereon. And a multi-TFT substrate and a multi-CF substrate are bonded to each other by using these sealing materials, and then the multi-TFT substrate and the multi-CF substrate are bonded together. A liquid crystal display panel is formed by dividing (separating) the substrate along each scribe line. It is.

Incidentally, in a TFT liquid crystal display module, a glass substrate is mainly used as a substrate (TFT substrate, CF substrate) constituting the liquid crystal display panel. In recent years, with the increasing demand for thinner liquid crystal display modules in the market, the glass substrate constituting the liquid crystal display panel itself tends to be thinner. Along with this, the potential for glass breakage and chipping due to inadequate handling in the manufacturing process also increases. The occurrence of such a problem is conspicuous in the corner portion of the non-overlapping region because the TFT substrate of the liquid crystal display panel has a non-overlapping region that does not overlap with the CF substrate.
Here, in the manufacture of a TFT-type liquid crystal display module, a standard for maintaining quality assurance is usually provided for the size of a chip generated in a glass substrate constituting a liquid crystal display panel. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the corner portion of the glass substrate is chipped, and FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the edge portion of the glass substrate is chipped, which is illustrated in FIGS. 9 and 10. Thus, when the chip 50 is generated, a pass / fail standard for quality assurance is provided by the size of the chip 50 (X direction, Y direction, Z direction).
However, subtle judgment of the standard dimensions of glass substrate cracks and chips cannot be made with an optical microscope, and it is necessary to make a judgment with a measurement function or special standard dimension regulations, which requires a lot of time for inspection. There is a problem that the productivity of the liquid crystal display module is lowered.
Therefore, the present inventor considered whether the size of the chip of the glass substrate could be easily determined, and made the present invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide a technique capable of improving the productivity of a liquid crystal display device.
The above and other objects and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description of this specification and the accompanying drawings.

Of the inventions disclosed in this application, the outline of typical ones will be briefly described as follows.
(1) A liquid crystal display panel having a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer held between the first substrate and the second substrate, The planar shape of the second substrate is a rectangular shape, and the first substrate is a liquid crystal display device having a non-overlapping region that does not overlap with the second substrate,
At least one corner of the two corners of the non-overlapping region of the first substrate is formed with a scale along two sides sandwiching the one corner.

(2) In (1), the scale is formed on the liquid crystal layer side surface of the first substrate.
(3) In the above (1), the first substrate is a glass substrate.
(4) In the liquid crystal display device according to (1), a semiconductor chip on which a driver circuit is mounted is mounted on the non-overlapping region of the first substrate.
(5) In (1), a resin mold frame having a recess is provided, and the liquid crystal display panel is housed in the recess of the resin mold frame.
(6) In said (1), the length of the area | region where the said scale is formed is 6 mm or more and 10 mm or less.

The effects obtained by the representative ones of the inventions disclosed in the present application will be briefly described as follows.
According to the present invention, it is possible to improve the productivity of a liquid crystal display device.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In all the drawings for explaining the embodiments of the invention, those having the same function are given the same reference numerals, and their repeated explanation is omitted.
1 to 8 are diagrams relating to a liquid crystal display module (liquid crystal display device) according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 1 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a liquid crystal display module;
2 is a side view seen from the direction of arrow A in FIG.
FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a part of FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a multi-TFT substrate used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display module;
FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a schematic configuration of a multi-CF substrate used for manufacturing a liquid crystal display module;
6 is a side view showing a state in which the multi-TFT substrate of FIG. 4 and the multi-CF substrate of FIG.
FIG. 7 is a plan view showing a liquid crystal display panel formed by dividing a bonded multi-TFT substrate and multi-CF substrate into pieces in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display module;
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example in which the corner portion of the TFT substrate of the liquid crystal display panel is chipped in the manufacture of the liquid crystal display module.

The liquid crystal display module 10 of the present embodiment is a TFT type liquid crystal display module having a small liquid crystal display panel DSP having a pixel number of about 240 × 320 × 3 for color display, and is a display unit of a mobile device such as a mobile phone. Used as.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the liquid crystal display module 10 of this embodiment includes a liquid crystal display panel DSP, a backlight unit disposed on the opposite side of the liquid crystal display panel DSP from the viewer side, and a liquid crystal display panel. A frame-shaped mold frame 7 that accommodates and supports the liquid crystal display panel DSP and the backlight unit on the side opposite to the viewer side of the DSP, and a flexible wiring board (FPC) 6 connected to the liquid crystal display panel DSP are provided. Yes. As the mold frame 7, for example, a white resin mold frame is used.
A liquid crystal display panel DSP includes a first substrate (hereinafter referred to as a TFT substrate) 1 on which pixel electrodes, thin film transistors and the like are formed, and a second substrate (hereinafter referred to as a CF substrate) 2 on which color filters and the like are formed. A sealing material 3 that is provided between the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2 and bonds the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2, a liquid crystal sealing port 3 a provided in a part of the sealing material 3, and the TFT substrate A liquid crystal layer made of liquid crystal sealed and sealed in a region surrounded by a sealing material 3 between 1 and the CF substrate 2, and a liquid crystal sealing material (not shown) for closing the liquid crystal sealing port 3a The polarizing plate 4 attached to the surface opposite to the liquid crystal layer side of the CF substrate 2, the semiconductor chip 5 on which a drive circuit for driving and controlling the liquid crystal display panel DSP is mounted, and a plurality of pixels in a matrix form A display area arranged, and a plurality of pixels S has a pixel electrode and a counter electrode.

As the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2, a transparent insulating substrate is used, and for example, a glass substrate is used in this embodiment. As the sealing material 3, for example, a thermosetting epoxy resin material is used.
The material of the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2 may be insulative and is not limited to glass but may be plastic.
Here, since the liquid crystal display panel DSP of this embodiment is an IPS liquid crystal display panel, the counter electrode is provided on the TFT substrate 1 side together with the pixel electrode. However, in the case of a TN liquid crystal display panel or a VA liquid crystal display panel, Unlike the pixel electrode, the counter electrode is provided on the CF substrate side. Reference numeral 8 denotes a reflection sheet.
Each of the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2 has a rectangular shape (rectangular shape) with four corners (1s, 2s) on the plane. For example, the long side (1a, 2a) and the short side (1b, 2b) ). The TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2 have substantially the same size in the X direction when the two directions orthogonal to each other in the same plane are the X direction (first direction) and the Y direction (second direction). However, the size is different in the Y direction, and the TFT substrate 1 is larger. That is, the TFT substrate 1 has a long side 1 a longer than the long side 2 a of the CF substrate 2, and the CF substrate 2 is placed on one short side 1 b side of two short sides 1 b located on opposite sides. It is configured to have a non-overlapping area (hereinafter referred to as a non-overlapping area) 1 m. A semiconductor chip 5 is mounted on the non-overlapping region 1m of the TFT substrate 1, and a plurality of external connection terminals 9 are provided along one short side 1b of the TFT substrate 1 (short side on the non-overlapping region 11m side). (See FIG. 7) is arranged. Each of the plurality of external connection terminals 9 has a different end called ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film), for example, at one end side of each of the plurality of wirings provided on the flexible wiring board 6 corresponding to the plurality of external connection terminals 9. They are electrically and mechanically connected by the isotropic conductive film.

The flexible wiring board 6 is bent so that one end side is fixed to the short side 1b side of the non-overlapping region 1m side of the TFT substrate 1 and the other end side is arranged on the back side opposite to the liquid crystal layer side of the TFT substrate 1. ing.
As shown in FIG. 3, the TFT substrate 1 has two sides sandwiching one corner 1 s in at least one corner 1 s of the two corners 1 s in the non-overlapping region 1 m among the four corners 1 s ( A scale SC is provided along each of 1a and 1b). In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a scale SC is provided at each of the two corners 1s in the non-overlapping region 1m.
A plurality of scales SC are provided in millimeter units. The scale SC is formed on the surface of the TFT substrate 1 on the liquid crystal layer side, and is formed of, for example, a metal film in the same layer as the external connection terminals 9.

  In the manufacture of the liquid crystal display module 10 according to the present embodiment, in order to improve the throughput, a plurality of product forming regions (device forming regions, each of which is partitioned by a scribe line and each formed with a pixel electrode, a thin film transistor, and the like. A first multi-substrate having a product acquisition region (hereinafter referred to as a multi-TFT substrate) and a plurality of product formation regions (device formation regions and products) each defined by a scribe line and each having a color filter or the like formed therein A second multi-substrate having an acquisition area) (hereinafter referred to as a multi-CF substrate), and after forming a sealing material in each product formation area of the multi-TFT substrate, The multi-CF substrate is bonded, and then the multi-TFT substrate and multi-CF substrate are attached to each scriber. Forming a liquid crystal display panel DSP by dividing along the down (singulation).

Next, a multi-TFT substrate and a multi-CF substrate used for manufacturing the liquid crystal display module of Example 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
As shown in FIG. 4, the multi-TFT substrate 30 has a square shape (rectangular shape) in plan view, and is, for example, rectangular in this embodiment. The multi-TFT substrate 30 has a plurality of product formation regions (device formation region, product) arranged in a matrix in the X and Y directions when two directions orthogonal to each other in the same plane are defined as an X direction and a Y direction. Acquisition region) 31 is provided, and in each of the product formation regions 31, pixel electrodes, thin film transistors, and the like are formed.
Each product formation region 31 is partitioned by a scribe line (separation region) 33 and has basically the same structure and planar shape as the TFT substrate 1 shown in FIG. The TFT substrate 1 is formed by individually dividing each product formation region 31 of the multi-TFT substrate 30. In the present embodiment, the multi-TFT substrate 30 is configured to have nine product formation regions 31 arranged in, for example, a 3 × 3 matrix, although not limited thereto.
Each product formation region 31 has a non-overlapping region 1m that does not overlap with the CF substrate 2 like the TFT substrate 1, and at least one of two corners on the non-overlapping region 1m side, as shown in FIG. In addition, scales SC are respectively provided along two sides sandwiching one corner. In the present embodiment, a scale SC is provided at each of the two corners 1s in the non-overlapping region 1m.
FIG. 4 shows a state in which the sealing material 3 is formed in each product formation region 31.

As shown in FIG. 5, the multi-CF substrate 40 has a square shape (rectangular shape) in plan view, and is, for example, rectangular in this embodiment. The multi-CF substrate 40 includes a plurality of product formation regions (device formation region, product) arranged in a matrix in the X direction and the Y direction when two directions orthogonal to each other in the same plane are defined as an X direction and a Y direction. Acquisition area) 42 is provided, and a color filter or the like is formed in each product formation area 42.
Each product formation region 42 is partitioned by a scribe line (separation region) 43 and basically has the same structure and planar shape as the CF substrate 2 shown in FIG. The CF substrate 2 is formed by individually dividing each product forming region 42 of the multi-CF substrate 40. In the present embodiment, the multi-CF substrate 40 includes, but is not limited to, nine product formation regions 42 arranged in a 3 × 3 matrix, for example, corresponding to the product formation regions 31 of the multi-TFT substrate 30. It has become.
In FIG. 5, of the scribe lines 43, the scribe line 43 a is for forming a region that does not overlap the CF substrate 2 in the non-overlapping region 1 m of the TFT substrate 1, in other words, the CF substrate 2 does not overlap. It is for making.

Next, the manufacture of the liquid crystal display module of Example 1 will be described with reference to FIGS.
First, the multi-TFT substrate 30 shown in FIG. 4 and the multi-CF substrate 40 shown in FIG. 5 are prepared.
Next, as shown in FIG. 4, a sealing material 3 made of, for example, a thermosetting epoxy resin material is formed in each product formation region 31 of the multi-TFT substrate 30. The sealing material 3 is formed with a single stroke by, for example, a dispensing method. In this step, a part of the sealing material 3 is provided with a liquid crystal sealing port 13a.
Next, after forming the sealing material 3, the multi-TFT so that the sealing material 3 is interposed between each product formation region 31 of the multi-TFT substrate 30 and each product formation region 42 of the multi-CF substrate 40. The substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are overlapped and positioned, and the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are heated in a pressurized state to cure the sealing material 3, The product formation region 31 and each product formation region 42 of the multi-CF substrate 40 are bonded and sealed (see FIG. 6). In this step, the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are bonded together by the sealing material 3.

Next, in a state where the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are bonded together, the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are cut along each scribe line (33, 43) to obtain each product formation region. (31, 42) is divided (divided into pieces) individually. Thereby, the TFT substrate 1 including the product formation region 31 of the multi-TFT substrate 30 is formed, and the CF substrate 2 including the product formation region 42 of the multi-CF substrate 40 is formed. In addition, a liquid crystal display panel DSP having these substrates is formed (see FIG. 7).
Next, liquid crystal is injected from the liquid crystal sealing port 3a of the sealing material 3, and then the liquid crystal sealing port 3a is closed with a liquid crystal sealing material made of, for example, an epoxy resin.
Next, a polarizing plate is attached to the TFT substrate 1 and the CF substrate 2 of the liquid crystal display panel DSP, and then the semiconductor chip 5 is mounted on the non-overlapping region 1 m of the TFT substrate 1, and then the non-overlapping region 1 m of the TFT substrate 1. A plurality of external connection terminals 9 and one end side of each of the plurality of wirings 22 of the flexible wiring board 6 are electrically and mechanically connected by, for example, an anisotropic conductive film called ACF, Thereafter, the liquid crystal display panel DSP is arranged on a separately manufactured backlight unit, and then the liquid crystal display panel DSP is housed in the mold frame 7 together with the backlight unit, whereby the liquid crystal display module of the first embodiment is obtained. Almost complete.

Here, in the manufacture of the liquid crystal display module of the present embodiment, as described above, in order to improve the throughput, each is partitioned by the scribe line 33, and a plurality of pixel electrodes, thin film transistors and the like are formed. A multi-TFT substrate 30 using a multi-TFT substrate 30 having a product formation region 31 and a multi-CF substrate 40 having a plurality of product formation regions 42 each of which is partitioned by a scribe line 43 and in which a color filter or the like is formed. After forming the sealing material 3 in each product formation region 31 of 30, the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-CF substrate 40 are bonded together by these sealing materials 3, and then the multi-TFT substrate 30 and the multi-multiplied substrate 30 are bonded together. The CF substrate 40 is divided (separated) along each scribe line (33, 43). Forming a liquid crystal display panel DSP by.
In the liquid crystal display panel DSP manufactured in this way, as shown in FIG. 8, a chip 50 may occur in the corner 1s on the non-overlapping region 1m side of the TFT substrate 1 constituting the liquid crystal display panel DSP. The chip 50 is inspected for size based on a standard for maintaining quality assurance in the inspection process. At this time, since the scale SC is provided along the two sides (1a, 1b) sandwiching the corner 1s in the corner 1s on the non-overlapping region 1m side of the TFT substrate 1, this scale SC is used. Thus, the size of the chip 50 (the size in the X direction and the Y direction) can be easily determined with a magnifying glass or the like. Thereby, the quality judgment speed of product quality can be improved and the inspection time can be shortened, so that the productivity of the liquid crystal display module can be improved.

In the present embodiment, the scale SC is formed on the surface of the TFT substrate 1 on the liquid crystal layer side, and is formed of, for example, a metal film in the same layer as the external connection terminals 9. Thus, the number of manufacturing steps can be omitted by forming the scale SC with the same metal film as the external connection terminals 9.
Further, by forming the scale SC with a metal film, it is possible to form a scale SC that is easier to see than when the scale SC is formed with an inorganic film such as a silicon oxide film or a silicon nitride film or an organic film such as a resist film. it can.
Here, although the example in which the scale SC is formed of a metal film in the same layer as the external connection terminal 9 has been described in the present embodiment, it may be formed of another metal film used for manufacturing the TFT substrate 1.
In the non-overlapping region 1m of the TFT substrate 1, a plurality of external connection terminals are arranged on the short side 1b side, and wiring is routed on the long side 1a side. The length of cannot be increased. On the other hand, in order to determine the size of the defect 50 for quality assurance using the scale SC, the length may be a little larger than the size that passes. Therefore, the length of the region where the scale SC is formed is preferably 6 mm or more and 10 mm or less.
In addition, since the liquid crystal display panel DSP has a configuration in which the TFT substrate 1 has a non-overlapping region 1m that does not overlap the CF substrate 2, a chip 50 is likely to occur at the corner 1s of the non-overlapping region 1m. Therefore, it is desirable to provide the scale SC at the corner 1s of the non-overlapping region 1m as in this embodiment.
As mentioned above, the invention made by the present inventor has been specifically described based on the above embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. Of course.

It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the liquid crystal display module which is one Example of this invention. It is the side view seen from the direction of arrow A of FIG. It is the top view which expanded a part of FIG. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the multi TFT substrate used for manufacture of the liquid crystal display module which is one Example of this invention. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the multi-CF board | substrate used for manufacture of the liquid crystal display module which is one Example of this invention. FIG. 6 is a side view showing a state in which the multi-TFT substrate of FIG. 4 and the multi-CF substrate of FIG. 5 are bonded together in the manufacture of the liquid crystal display module which is an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view showing a liquid crystal display panel formed by separating a bonded multi-TFT substrate and multi-CF substrate into pieces in the manufacture of a liquid crystal display module according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which shows the example which the chip | corner produced in the corner | angular part of the TFT substrate of a liquid crystal display panel in manufacture of the liquid crystal display module which is one Example of this invention. It is a figure which shows the example which the chip | corner produced in the corner | angular part of the glass substrate which comprises a liquid crystal display panel in manufacture of the conventional liquid crystal display module. In manufacture of the conventional liquid crystal display module, it is a figure which shows the example in which the chip | tip occurred in the edge part of the glass substrate which comprises a liquid crystal display panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 TFT substrate 1a, 2a Long side 1b, 2b Short side 1s, 2s Corner | angular part 1m Non-overlapping area | region 2 CF board | substrate 3 Sealing material 3a Liquid crystal enclosure 4 Polarizing plate 5 Semiconductor chip 6 Flexible wiring board 7 Mold frame 8 Reflective sheet 9 External Connection terminal 10 Liquid crystal display module 30 Multi-TFT substrate 31 Product formation region 33 Scribe line 40 Multi-CF substrate 42 Product formation region 43 Scribe line 50 Chipping DSP Liquid crystal display panel SC Scale

Claims (6)

A liquid crystal display panel having a first substrate, a second substrate, and a liquid crystal layer held between the first substrate and the second substrate;
The planar shape of the first and second substrates is a rectangular shape,
The first substrate is a liquid crystal display device having a non-overlapping region that does not overlap with the second substrate,
The scale is formed along each of two sides sandwiching the one corner at at least one of the two corners of the non-overlapping region of the first substrate. Liquid crystal display device.   The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the scale is formed on a surface of the first substrate on a liquid crystal layer side.   The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the first substrate is a glass substrate.   The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein a semiconductor chip on which a driver circuit is mounted is mounted on the non-overlapping region of the first substrate. A resin mold frame having a recess,
The liquid crystal display device is housed in the recess of the resin mold frame.   2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein a length of the area where the scale is formed is 6 mm or more and 10 mm or less.

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