JP2010231170A - Inspection device of substrate for liquid crystal display, and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an inspection device of a substrate for a liquid crystal display which inspects the substrate coated with spacer particle dispersion liquid, with high accuracy and at high speed, and to provide a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display. <P>SOLUTION: The inspection device of the substrate for the liquid crystal display includes a table 51 on which a transparent substrate 1 which is an inspection target is placed, a sub-scanning inspecting section 52 which moves along a guiding member 54 supported by a frame 55, and an actuator 53 for moving the sub-scanning inspecting section 52. The sub-scanning inspecting section 52 inspects only part of an inspection area extending in a sub-scanning direction among an inspection face of the transparent substrate 1. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device in which a gap for enclosing a liquid crystal layer is formed by interposing spacer particles between the substrates, and a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device.

  The liquid crystal display device has a configuration in which a transparent electrode, a color filter, and a black matrix are disposed between two substrates, and liquid crystal is sealed in a space between the transparent electrodes. At this time, a spacer is formed in order to regulate the distance between the two substrates and make the thickness of the liquid crystal layer appropriate.

  Conventionally, this spacer has been formed by using a photolithographic method. However, there is a problem that a process using a mask is required and the work process is complicated, and the use efficiency of the material is poor. For this reason, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which spacers are formed with spacer particles by discharging a spacer particle dispersion liquid in which spacer particles are dispersed by an inkjet method on a substrate has been proposed (see Patent Document 1).

  By the way, in the manufacturing process of such a liquid crystal display device, it is necessary to inspect the discharge state of the spacer particle dispersion on the substrate. For this reason, conventionally, a plurality of linear array sensors are arranged in a straight line, and these linear array sensors are moved relative to the substrate to scan the front surface of the substrate and inspect the entire surface of the substrate. An inspection device has been proposed (see Patent Document 2).

JP 2005-4094 A JP 2001-20461 A

  As in the foreign matter inspection apparatus described in Patent Document 2 described above, when the entire substrate coated with the spacer particle dispersion is inspected microscopically with a linear array sensor, the application state of the spacer particle dispersion is accurately determined. Although it can be inspected, there is a problem that it takes an extremely long time for the inspection. For this reason, it is conceivable to inspect the entire substrate macroscopically, but when such a configuration is adopted, it is impossible to accurately inspect the substrate coated with the spacer particle dispersion.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, and a substrate inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal display device and a liquid crystal display device manufacturing capable of accurately and rapidly inspecting a substrate coated with a spacer particle dispersion. It aims to provide a method.

  In the first aspect of the present invention, since the gap for enclosing the liquid crystal layer is formed by interposing spacer particles between the substrates, the substrate is subjected to main scanning relative to the inkjet head unit having a plurality of inkjet heads. An inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device that inspects a substrate coated with a spacer particle dispersion liquid in which spacer particles are dispersed by an ink jet method by moving in a direction, wherein the main scanning of the inspection surface of the substrate Only a part of the region intersecting the direction is inspected.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the present invention, the sub-scanning inspection surface of the substrate is sub-scanned by a sub-scan inspection unit that scans the substrate in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. Only a partial area extending in the direction is inspected.

  The invention according to claim 3 is a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which a gap for enclosing a liquid crystal layer is formed by interposing spacer particles between substrates, and the substrate is an inkjet head unit having a plurality of inkjet heads. A spacer region forming step of forming a spacer region including spacer particles by discharging a spacer particle dispersion liquid in which spacer particles are dispersed by an inkjet method on a substrate by moving in a main scanning direction relative to the substrate; A first inspection step of inspecting only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate intersecting with the main scanning direction to inspect a discharge failure of the spacer particle dispersion; and a substrate on which the spacer region is formed. By drying, the volatile components are evaporated from the spacer particle dispersion, and the spacer particles in the spacer region A drying step for fixing the plate, and a second inspection step for inspecting only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate that intersects the main scanning direction to inspect the appropriateness of the number of spacer particles. It is characterized by.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, it is possible to inspect the substrate coated with the spacer particle dispersion liquid accurately and at high speed.

  According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to inspect a region extending in the sub-scanning direction on the substrate by the sub-scan inspection unit.

  According to the third aspect of the present invention, it is possible to accurately and rapidly inspect the ejection failure of the spacer particle dispersion and the appropriateness of the number of spacer particles.

It is a perspective view of an inkjet coating device. It is the perspective view which looked at the gantry 13 from the lower surface. It is the perspective view which looked at the inkjet head unit 12 from the lower surface. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a part of the inkjet head 18 as viewed from the lower surface. 1 is a schematic diagram of an inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the test | inspection area | region 100 of the transparent substrate 1 by the sub scanning test | inspection part 52. FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the main electrical structures of the test | inspection apparatus of the board | substrate for liquid crystal display devices based on this invention. 3 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention. It is a partial surface view which shows a part of transparent substrate 1 after spacer particle dispersion liquid is discharged to the surface.

  First, the configuration of an ink jet coating apparatus used for coating a spacer particle dispersion at the time of manufacturing a liquid crystal display substrate to be inspected according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an ink jet coating apparatus.

  The inkjet coating apparatus includes a table 11 that supports the transparent substrate 1 and a gantry 13 that supports 12 inkjet head units 12. The table 11 is driven by a linear motor 15 disposed on a base 14 and is guided by a pair of guide members 16 in a main scanning direction perpendicular to the direction in which the inkjet head units 12 are arranged in the gantry 13. Move back and forth.

  A pair of linear motors 21 are disposed at both ends of the gantry 13, and the gantry 13 is supported on the base 14 via these linear motors 21. For this reason, the gantry 13 is configured to be able to change the crossing angle of the table 11 with the transport direction of the transparent substrate 1 by individually driving these linear motors 21. In addition, each inkjet head unit 12 has a configuration in which the pitch can be changed by driving a linear motor (not shown).

  A cleaning unit 22 that cleans the inkjet head unit 12 is disposed at one end of the base 14. The cleaning unit 22 can reciprocate in a direction orthogonal to the transport direction of the transparent substrate 1 by the table 11. Further, twelve drying prevention units 23 for preventing the inkjet head unit 12 from drying are disposed along the movement path of the cleaning unit 22. Each inkjet head 18 to be described later is disposed so as to face these drying prevention units 23 during standby.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the gantry 13 as seen from its lower surface. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the inkjet head unit 12 as viewed from the lower surface. Further, FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a part of the inkjet head 18 as viewed from the lower surface thereof.

  As shown in these drawings, the 12 inkjet head units 12 supported by the gantry 13 are provided with a head support plate 17, and the 5 inkjet heads 18 are provided on the head support plate 17. It is arranged. As shown in FIG. 4, the inkjet head 18 has a large number of spacer particle dispersion discharge ports 19 arranged in one direction.

  When the spacer particle dispersion is applied to the transparent substrate 1 using the ink jet coating apparatus having the above-described configuration, the transparent substrate 1 is first positioned and fixed on the table 11. Further, in correspondence with the pitch of the black matrix 7 in the transparent substrate 1, the intersection angle between the arrangement direction of the ejection openings 19 of the spacer particle dispersion liquid in the inkjet head 18 and the transport direction of the transparent substrate 1, and the inkjet head unit 12 Change the pitch.

  In this state, the spacer particle dispersion is discharged from each of the inkjet heads 18 in the 12 inkjet head units 12 while moving the table 11 together with the transparent substrate 1 in the main scanning direction. A spacer region containing spacer particles can be formed.

  Next, the configuration of the inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 5 is a schematic view of a liquid crystal display substrate inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

  A substrate inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a table 51 on which a transparent substrate 1 to be inspected is placed, a sub-scan inspection unit 52 movable along a guide member 54 supported by a frame 55, , And an actuator 53 for moving the sub-scan inspection unit 52. The sub-scanning inspection unit 52 performs inspection by scanning the transparent substrate 1 in the sub-scanning direction by driving the actuator 53.

  FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the inspection region 100 of the transparent substrate 1 by the sub-scanning inspection unit 52.

  The X direction shown in FIG. 6 is a main scanning direction in which the table 11 on which the transparent substrate 1 is placed is reciprocated with respect to the inkjet head unit 12, and the Y direction shown in FIGS. 5 and 6 is the main scanning direction. The sub-scanning directions are orthogonal.

  When the spacer particle dispersion liquid is applied to the transparent substrate 1 using the above-described ink jet coating apparatus, the deviation in which the ejection direction of the spacer particle dispersion liquid changes due to the dirt or clogging of the ink jet head 18, or the spacer particles of the ink jet head 18 When non-ejection or the like due to blockage of the dispersion liquid ejection port 19 occurs, the defect appears continuously in a linear region facing the main scanning direction as indicated by reference numeral 101 in FIG.

  For this reason, in the inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, one of the inspection surfaces of the transparent substrate 1 extending in the sub-scanning direction by the sub-scan inspection unit 52 that scans the transparent substrate 1 in the sub-scanning direction. A configuration in which only the inspection region 100 of the part is inspected is employed. By adopting such a configuration, it is not necessary to inspect the entire surface of the transparent substrate 1, so that the transparent substrate 1 coated with the spacer particle dispersion can be inspected at high speed. At this time, defects generated when the spacer particle dispersion is applied to the transparent substrate 1 using the ink jet coating apparatus always appear continuously in the linear region 101 facing the main scanning direction. It is possible to accurately inspect the transparent substrate 1 only by inspecting the extending inspection region 100.

  FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the main electrical configuration of the liquid crystal display substrate inspection apparatus according to the present invention.

  The substrate inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a control unit 60 having an area setting unit 61, an image processing unit 62, and a determination unit 63. The control unit 60 is connected to the sub-scanning inspection unit 52 described above. The control unit 60 is also connected to a data input device 65 and a display device 66 for displaying a detected defect or the like.

  The operator uses the input device 65 to set a part of the inspection area 100 extending in the sub-scanning direction on the inspection surface of the transparent substrate 1. In addition, application information when the spacer particle dispersion is applied is transferred from the inkjet image recording apparatus. Based on these pieces of information, the area setting unit 61 determines information on the inspection area 100 to be inspected as area information.

  This area information is transferred to the sub-scanning inspection unit 52. The sub-scan inspection unit 52 inspects the set inspection region 100 based on the area information input thereto. This inspection result is transferred from the sub-scanning inspection unit 52 to the image processing unit 62.

  In the image processing unit 62, the inspection result obtained by the sub-scanning inspection unit 52 is subjected to image processing and transmitted to the determination unit 63. The determination unit 63 determines a defect based on the image signal obtained from the image processing unit. The determination result is displayed on the display device 66.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention will be described. FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

  As described above, this method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device is executed as a pre-process such as a liquid crystal sealing process, and forms a gap for sealing a liquid crystal layer by interposing spacer particles between transparent substrates. Is for.

  When the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is executed, first, a spacer region generation step is executed (step S1). In this spacer area | region production | generation process, it is the process of discharging the spacer particle dispersion liquid on the transparent substrate 1 and forming the spacer area | region containing a spacer particle | grain with the inkjet image recording apparatus mentioned above.

  FIG. 9 is a partial surface view showing a part of the transparent substrate 1 after the spacer particle dispersion is discharged onto the surface.

  On the surface of the transparent substrate 1, there are a red color filter region R, a green color filter region G, a blue color filter region B, and a black matrix 7 region defining these regions. Composed. Then, the spacer particle dispersion is discharged toward the region of the black matrix 7 to form the spacer region 5 there. In this state, the spacer particle dispersion in the spacer region 5 is not yet dried.

  Next, the first inspection process is executed (step S2). In the first inspection step, the defective ejection of the spacer particle dispersion liquid is inspected by inspecting only a part of the inspection region 100 extending in the sub-scanning direction on the inspection surface of the transparent substrate 1. Here, the defective discharge of the spacer particle dispersion liquid means unevenness caused by a deviation in which the discharge direction of the spacer particle dispersion liquid changes due to dirt or clogging of the inkjet head 18, or the spacer particle dispersion liquid discharge port 19 of the inkjet head 18. For example, nozzle omission due to blockage.

  When a discharge failure of the spacer particle dispersion is found in the first inspection process (step S3), the transparent substrate 1 is recovered and the inkjet head 18 is cleaned by the cleaning unit 22 (step S7). . However, in this state, since the spacer particle dispersion in the spacer region 5 has not yet been dried, the transparent substrate 1 is reused after removing the spacer particle dispersion.

  On the other hand, when no discharge failure of the spacer particle dispersion is found in the first inspection process (step S3), the spacer particle fixing process is executed (step S4). In this spacer particle fixing step, the transparent substrate 1 is transported to a hot plate, and the transparent substrate 1 is heated to about 100 degrees Celsius to about 200 degrees Celsius on the hot plate, thereby evaporating volatile components from the spacer particle dispersion. At the same time, the spacer particles in the spacer region 5 are fixed to the transparent substrate 1. In this spacer particle fixing step, volatile components are first evaporated from the spacer particle dispersion, so that the spacer particles in the spacer region 5 gather together and come into contact with each other due to surface tension. Then, they are baked and fixed to each other, and are also fixed to the surface of the transparent substrate 1 with a strong force.

  If the spacer particle fixing step is completed, the second inspection step is executed (step S5). In this second inspection step, the suitability of the number of spacer particles in each spacer region 5 is inspected by inspecting only a part of the inspection region 100 extending in the sub-scanning direction on the inspection surface of the transparent substrate 1.

  When a defect in the number of spacer particle dispersions is found in the second inspection process (step S6), the transparent substrate 1 is recovered and the inkjet head 18 is cleaned by the cleaning unit 22 (step S8). ). On the other hand, if no defect in the number of spacer particle dispersions is found in the second inspection step (step S6), the transparent substrate 1 is determined to be normal and the process is terminated.

  In the above-described embodiment, the sub-scanning inspection unit 52 may have a configuration in which linear array sensors or the like are linearly arranged, or a configuration in which the inspection region 100 is optically scanned. The inspection area 100 may be single or a plurality of inspection areas may be set.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Transparent substrate 5 Spacer area 7 Black matrix 11 Table 12 Inkjet head unit 13 Gantry 14 Base 15 Linear motor 16 Guide member 17 Head support plate 18 Inkjet head 19 Discharge port 21 Linear motor 22 Washing part 23 Drying prevention part 51 Table 52 Secondary Scanning inspection unit 53 Actuator 54 Guide member 55 Frame 60 Control unit 61 Area setting unit 62 Image processing unit 63 Determination unit 65 Input device 66 Display device 100 Inspection region 101 Defect

Claims (3)

In order to form a gap for encapsulating a liquid crystal layer by interposing spacer particles between the substrates, the substrate is moved in the main scanning direction relative to an inkjet head unit having a plurality of inkjet heads, thereby forming an inkjet system. A substrate inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal display device for inspecting a substrate coated with a spacer particle dispersion in which spacer particles are dispersed by:
A substrate inspection apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, wherein only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate that intersects the main scanning direction is inspected. The inspection apparatus for a substrate for a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1,
Inspection of a substrate for a liquid crystal display device in which only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate extending in the sub-scanning direction is inspected by a sub-scan inspection unit that scans the substrate in a sub-scanning direction orthogonal to the main scanning direction. apparatus. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device that forms a gap for enclosing a liquid crystal layer by interposing spacer particles between substrates,
By moving the substrate in the main scanning direction relative to an inkjet head unit having a plurality of inkjet heads, a spacer particle dispersion liquid in which spacer particles are dispersed by an inkjet method is ejected onto the substrate to thereby generate spacer particles. A spacer region forming step for forming a spacer region including:
A first inspection step of inspecting only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate that intersects the main scanning direction to inspect a discharge failure of the spacer particle dispersion;
Drying the substrate on which the spacer region is formed, evaporating volatile components from the spacer particle dispersion, and fixing the spacer particles in the spacer region and the substrate;
A second inspection step of inspecting only a part of the inspection surface of the substrate that intersects the main scanning direction to inspect the appropriateness of the number of spacer particles;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, comprising: