JP2012133137A - Coating device and coating method of alignment film forming liquid - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the quantity of spreading of an alignment film outside a film formation region on a substrate.SOLUTION: In coating a film formation region on a substrate with an alignment film forming liquid, when the substrate in which the film formation region has a high lyophilic property with respect to a surface outside the film formation region is placed on a stage, a moving device for relatively moving a coating head and the stage and the coating head are controlled so as to make droplets of the alignment film forming liquid be discharged from a nozzle of the coating head so that the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied to the film formation region in a set arrangement pattern.

Description

  The present invention relates to an alignment film forming liquid coating apparatus and a coating method for applying an alignment film forming liquid to a film forming region on a substrate.

  In the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display panel, there is an alignment film forming process for forming an alignment film on the surface of the glass substrate. When the alignment film is formed on the glass substrate by this alignment film formation process, the entire surface of the glass substrate where the film formation region is provided is treated with a lyophilic solution by ultraviolet irradiation or the like, and then an inkjet coating apparatus is used. A droplet-like alignment film forming liquid is applied toward the film formation region R of the glass substrate, and an alignment film is formed in the film formation region of the glass substrate (Patent Document 1).

JP 2004-255316 A

  By the way, in recent years, the image non-display area outside the film formation area on the glass substrate, that is, the so-called frame area is becoming narrower (narrow frame).

  Therefore, the allowable amount (edge accuracy) with respect to the spread of the alignment film outside the film formation region (frame region) is becoming more severely limited.

  However, in the above-described prior art, it cannot be said that the amount of wetting and spreading of the alignment film to the outside of the film formation region is sufficient, and a response has been desired.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a coating apparatus and a coating method for an alignment film forming liquid capable of suppressing the amount of the alignment film spreading outside the film formation region on the substrate.

A first feature according to an embodiment of the present invention is an alignment film forming apparatus in which an alignment film forming liquid is applied to a film formation region provided on a substrate to form an alignment film in the film formation region.
A stage on which the substrate is placed;
A coating head comprising a plurality of nozzles arranged along a first direction along a surface of the substrate placed on the stage where the film formation region is provided;
A moving device that scans and moves the stage and the coating head along a second direction that intersects the first direction along the surface;
When a substrate in which the film formation region is highly lyophilic with respect to the surface other than the film formation region is placed on the stage, droplets of the alignment film formation liquid are placed in a preset arrangement pattern. And a control device for controlling the moving device and the coating head so as to eject droplets of the alignment film forming liquid from the nozzle so as to be applied to the film forming region.

A second feature according to the embodiment of the present invention is a method for applying an alignment film forming liquid in which an alignment film forming liquid is applied to a film forming region provided on a substrate.
Making the film forming region of the substrate highly lyophilic with respect to the surface other than the film forming region;
A coating head having a plurality of nozzles arranged along a first direction along the surface of the substrate and the substrate along a second direction along the surface of the substrate and intersecting the first direction. The liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are ejected from the nozzles in the arrangement pattern set for the film forming area, and the liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied to the film forming area. That is.

  According to the present invention, the amount of alignment film spreading out of the film formation region on the substrate can be suppressed.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the alignment film formation process which concerns on the 1st Embodiment of this invention. It is a front view which shows schematic structure of the lyophilic processing apparatus shown in FIG. It is a front view which shows schematic structure of the coating device shown in FIG. It is a top view which shows schematic structure of the coating device shown in FIG. It is a control block diagram of a coating device. It is a top view which shows the arrangement pattern of the droplet of alignment film formation liquid with respect to the film formation area on a board | substrate. It is a top view for demonstrating the application | coating procedure of the arrangement pattern of the droplet of alignment film formation liquid with respect to the film | membrane formation area on a board | substrate. It is a top view which shows the other example of the arrangement pattern of the droplet of alignment film formation liquid with respect to the film formation area on a board | substrate. It is a top view for demonstrating the application | coating procedure of the other example of the arrangement pattern of the droplet of the alignment film formation liquid with respect to the film | membrane formation area on a board | substrate.

(First embodiment)
A first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

  As shown in FIG. 1, an alignment film forming apparatus 1 used in an alignment film forming process is a lyophilic processing apparatus 10 that performs lyophilic processing on a glass substrate (hereinafter simply referred to as “substrate”) W for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel. And a coating device 20 for applying the alignment film forming liquid to the film forming region R on the lyophilic substrate, and a drying device 30 for drying the alignment film forming liquid applied to the film forming region R. The

  Here, the alignment film forming liquid is, for example, a solution containing polyimide as a solute. Further, the substrate W has liquid repellency over the entire surface including the alignment film forming region R.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the lyophilic processing apparatus 10 is disposed on the stage 11 on which the substrate W is placed, and is provided above the stage 11 so that the entire surface of the substrate W placed on the stage 11 can be irradiated with ultraviolet light. And a mask member 13 disposed between the stage 11 and the light source 12.

  The stage 11 can hold the substrate W flat on the substrate mounting surface 11a on the upper surface thereof. The stage 11 may hold the placed substrate W by suction means such as vacuum suction or electrostatic suction, or may be held by a frictional resistance between the substrate placement surface 11a and the substrate W. May be.

  The light source 12 is formed by arranging a plurality of long ultraviolet lamps in parallel. As the ultraviolet lamp, for example, an excimer UV lamp can be used.

  The mask member 13 is formed such that a portion of the substrate W placed on the stage 11 that faces the film forming region R can transmit ultraviolet rays, and another portion that does not face the film forming region R can shield ultraviolet rays. It is a plate-shaped member. The mask member 13 is arranged above the stage 11 and spaced from the upper surface of the substrate W placed on the stage 11 by a distance of about several millimeters. The ultraviolet light emitted from the light source 12 is shielded by the mask member 12 at a portion that does not face the film forming region R, and only the film forming region R is irradiated. As a result, the lyophilicity of the film forming region R in the substrate W is enhanced as compared with the portion other than the film forming region R.

  Here, the example of ultraviolet treatment using an ultraviolet light source is used for the lyophilic treatment apparatus 10, but it is sufficient that the film forming region R can be lyophilic treated. For example, plasma treatment or ozone is not limited thereto. It may be due to processing.

  The coating device 20 is an inkjet type coating device, and includes a gantry 21, a stage 21, and a gantry 21 that are supported on the gantry 21 via an X-axis direction moving device 22 so as to be movable along the X-axis direction indicated by the arrow X. Above, a gate-shaped support member 24 provided so as to straddle the moving region of the moving stage 23, and supported by the support member 24 via a Y-axis direction moving device 25 so as to be movable in the Y-axis direction indicated by the arrow Y. Frame body 26, a plurality (three in this embodiment) of ink jet type coating heads 27 supported by the frame body 26, an X-axis direction moving device 22, a Y-axis direction moving device 25, a coating head 27, etc. And a control device 28 for controlling the driving of the motor.

  The X-axis direction moving device 22 is a moving device provided with a linear motor type or ball screw type driving source. The X-axis direction moving device 22 is accompanied by a position detector 22a (FIG. 5) such as a linear scale that detects the moving position of the moving stage 23 in the X-axis direction.

  The upper surface of the moving stage 23 is a substrate placement surface 23a, and the substrate W is placed on the substrate placement surface 23a and can be sucked and held by a suction means such as a vacuum suction means or an electrostatic suction means.

  The Y-axis direction moving device 25 is a moving device provided with a linear motor type or ball screw type drive source.

  Each coating head 27 is provided with a plurality of nozzles arranged in a straight line at equal intervals. The three coating heads 27 are supported by the frame body 26 so that each is along the Y-axis direction and the nozzle array direction of each coating head 27 is along the Y-hour direction. Further, as shown in FIG. 4, the three coating heads 27 are configured by the three coating heads 27 by arranging them in a staggered manner in a plan view so that a part of the coating heads 27 adjacent to each other overlap. The arrangement interval of the nozzles in the nozzle row along the Y direction is set to be equal between the application heads 27. The length of the nozzle row constituted by the three coating heads 27 is set to be longer than the length of the substrate W placed on the transfer stage 23 in the Y-axis direction. That is, in the present embodiment, three coating heads 27 are arranged, but the number of coating heads 27 is the length of the nozzle row of one coating head 27 and the Y of the substrate W placed on the transfer stage 23. If the length in the Y-axis direction is three times or more than the length of the nozzle row, the number of coating heads 27 to be arranged is four or more. Become.

  Each coating head 27 is a piezo-type inkjet coating head having a well-known configuration, and includes a liquid chamber and a piezoelectric element (piezoelectric element) corresponding to each nozzle. The volume change of the liquid chamber accompanying expansion and contraction of the piezoelectric element. The liquid in the liquid chamber (alignment film forming liquid) is ejected as droplets from the nozzle. The piezo element deforms with a magnitude corresponding to the magnitude of the applied voltage, so the amount of droplets ejected from the nozzle can be adjusted by adjusting the magnitude of the voltage applied to the piezo element. It is.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the control device 28 is connected to the X-axis direction moving device 22, the Y-axis direction moving device 25, and each coating head 27. The control device 28 also includes a storage unit 28a that stores application information and various programs related to the application of the alignment film forming liquid. Here, the application information includes the arrangement pattern of droplets applied to the film forming region R, the magnitude of the drive voltage applied to each piezo element of the application head 27, the application time and application interval (ejection frequency), and the movement stage 23. Contains information about speed of movement. Note that by changing the magnitude of the drive voltage, it is possible to adjust the amount of droplets ejected from the nozzle (ejection amount). Further, by changing the ejection frequency and the moving speed of the moving stage 23, the interval between the droplets arranged in the moving direction (X-axis direction) of the moving stage 23 on the substrate W can be adjusted.

  Here, an example of an arrangement pattern of droplets applied to the film forming region R will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 6 shows one film formation region R formed on the substrate W. The film formation region R is indicated by a solid line, and two outlines S of a liquid crystal display panel obtained by cutting the substrate W are shown in FIG. Shown with a chain line. Moreover, the white circle part shown in FIG. 6 represents the dripping position of the droplet of alignment film formation liquid.

  The droplet arrangement pattern P is set at predetermined arrangement intervals in the row and column directions along each side of the film formation region R so as to fill the rectangular film formation region R. The arrangement interval of the liquid droplets in the row direction and the column direction is such that the applied liquid droplets wet and spread on the film formation region R, so that adjacent liquid droplets adhere to each other and are integrated to form a film. Set the size so that In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, a total of 15 film forming regions R, five in the X-axis direction and three in the Y-axis direction, are provided on the substrate W. Therefore, in the storage unit of the control device 28, the drawing position information of the droplet arrangement pattern P corresponding to each film forming region R is stored as position information in the XY axis directions with reference to a predetermined point on the substrate W. Has been.

  The drying apparatus 30 removes the solvent component from the alignment film forming liquid applied to the film forming region R of the substrate W, and heat drying or reduced pressure drying can be used as the solvent component removing means.

  Next, the operation will be described.

  First, the substrate W is transported by a transport robot (not shown) and placed on the stage 11 of the lyophilic processing apparatus 10.

  When the substrate W is placed on the stage 11, the light source 12 is turned on for a preset time, whereby ultraviolet light is irradiated toward the surface of the substrate W. The ultraviolet light irradiated from the light source 12 is blocked by the mask member 13 at a portion facing the region other than the film forming region R on the substrate W, and is irradiated only to the film forming region R. As a result, the lyophilicity of the film forming region R is improved as compared to other regions.

  The substrate W that has been subjected to the lyophilic treatment is transferred to the coating device 20 by a delivery robot (not shown) provided between the lyophilic processing device 10 and the coating device 20, and placed on the moving stage 23 of the coating device 20. Placed.

  When the substrate W is placed on the moving stage 23, the position of the substrate W is detected using a substrate position detecting device (not shown), and the position of the substrate W placed on the moving stage 23 is shifted from the reference position. Is required. When the positional deviation of the substrate W is detected, for example, the angular deviation of the substrate W is corrected by a rotary table (not shown) provided on the moving stage 23, and the positional deviation in the Y-axis direction is corrected by the Y-axis direction moving device. 25, the coating head 27 is corrected by moving it in the Y-axis direction. The positional deviation in the X-axis direction is corrected by shifting the positional information in the X-axis direction among the drawing position information of the arrangement pattern P stored in the storage unit of the control device 28 by the positional deviation.

  Next, under the control of the control device 28, the moving stage 23 starts moving from the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 3 toward the left side in the X-axis direction at the set moving speed. When the substrate W placed on the moving stage 23 passes under the coating head 27 by the movement of the moving stage 23 in the X-axis direction, the nozzles of the coating heads 27 are controlled based on the control of the control device 28. Droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are discharged at a discharge amount and a discharge frequency set by the application information stored in the storage unit.

  That is, during the movement of the moving stage 23, the moving position of the moving stage 23 is detected by the position detector 22 a provided along with the X-axis direction moving device 22. The control device 28 is based on the movement position detected by the position detector 22a, the drawing position information of each arrangement pattern stored in the storage unit 28a, and the position information of the substrate W detected using the substrate position detection device. The positional relationship between each nozzle position of each coating head 27 and each film formation region R on the substrate W is calculated in real time. Then, based on the positional relationship calculated in real time according to the movement of the moving stage 23, the drive voltage and application stored in the storage unit 28a in accordance with the timing at which each film forming region R passes under each nozzle. The droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are discharged from the nozzles over time, and the alignment film forming liquid droplets are applied to the film forming region R in a pattern according to the arrangement pattern stored in the storage unit 28a.

  As a result, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied in the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. The liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied in this manner wet and spread on the lyophilic film forming region R, adhere to each other, and are integrated to form a liquid film of the alignment film forming liquid on the film forming region R. Form.

  At this time, each droplet applied to the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern tends to spread to the region outside the film formation region R due to wetting and spreading, but the region outside the film formation region R is subjected to lyophilic treatment. Therefore, the liquid repellency is higher than that in the film formation region R, and therefore, the spread of the alignment film formation liquid is suppressed at the boundary between the film formation region R and the outer region.

  When the moving stage 23 reaches the moving end at the left end in the X-axis direction indicated by a two-dot chain line in FIG. 3, the movement of the moving stage 23 by the X-axis direction moving device 22 is stopped.

  If the moving stage 23 is stopped, the substrate W coated with the alignment film forming liquid is transferred to the drying device 30 by a delivery robot (not shown) provided between the coating device 20 and the drying device 30.

  The substrate W transferred to the drying device 30 is dried and solidified by removing the solvent component in the alignment film forming liquid by heat drying or drying under reduced pressure. Thereby, an alignment film is formed on the substrate W.

According to the present embodiment, the substrate W that has been subjected to lyophilic processing in each film forming region R by the lyophilic processing apparatus 10 is placed on the moving stage 23 in the coating apparatus 20, and each film formation on the substrate W is formed. In the region R, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied in the arrangement pattern stored in the storage unit 28 a under the control of the control device 28. The droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied to each film forming region R spread out and adhere to each other to form a film, and at the outermost periphery, an image non-image outside the film forming region R is formed. An attempt is made to extend to the display area, so-called frame area G. However, since the frame region G is not subjected to lyophilic treatment, the liquid repellency is higher than that in the film formation region R. Therefore, due to the liquid repellency of the frame region G, the film formation region R and the frame region G The spread of the alignment film forming liquid is suppressed at the boundary portion. Accordingly, it is possible to suppress the spread of the alignment film forming liquid to the frame region G, and it is possible to narrow the blank portion in consideration of the spread of the alignment film forming liquid in the frame region G. For this reason, the frame region G itself can be narrowed, and as a result, the space for incorporating the liquid crystal display panel can be saved. In addition, as described above, since the spread of the alignment film forming liquid is suppressed at the boundary portion between the film forming region R and the frame region G, a decrease in film thickness due to the spread of the liquid is suppressed, and the outer periphery of the film forming region R Thus, it is possible to prevent the thickness of the alignment film forming liquid from being reduced. Thereby, the uniformity of the film thickness of the alignment film forming liquid can be maintained even in the outer peripheral portion of the film forming region R, and a liquid crystal display panel with good display quality can be obtained.
(Second Embodiment)
The second embodiment is different from the above-described first embodiment in the procedure for applying the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. Note that the configuration of the alignment film forming apparatus 1 is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

  In the first embodiment described above, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied with the arrangement pattern set in the film forming region R by one movement of the moving table 23, that is, one scanning movement. However, in the second embodiment, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied in the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. FIG. 7 shows the same arrangement pattern as in FIG. 6 and shows the procedure for applying the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the arrangement pattern by two scanning applications.

  First, at the time of the first movement of the movement table 23, that is, the first scanning movement, the application positions for one row arranged along the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern stored in the storage unit 28a (indicated by the diagonal lines in FIG. 7). The liquid droplets are applied to the liquid droplet application position (first pattern).

  Next, at the time of the second movement of the moving table 23, that is, the second scanning movement, all application positions (second patterns) positioned on the inner side of the application position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery. A droplet is applied to the surface.

  The liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement are wet spread before the liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied during the second scanning movement, and adjacent liquid droplets adhere to each other. A ring-shaped liquid film is formed. At this time, as in the first embodiment described above, the droplets try to spread to the frame region G, but the spread is suppressed by the lyophilic difference between the film formation region R and the frame region G. In addition, since the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement are composed only of the droplets applied at the application position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery, the film forming region Compared to the first embodiment applied to the entire R, the total amount of the alignment film forming liquid constituting the liquid film is small, and the action of the alignment film forming liquid to spread to the frame region G is small. Therefore, the spread of the alignment film forming liquid into the frame region G is less than that in the first embodiment.

During the second scanning movement, the alignment film forming liquid droplets are applied to the inner region of the annular film formed by the alignment film forming liquid droplets applied during the first scanning movement. At this time, since there is a time difference between the first scanning movement and the second scanning movement, the solvent component in the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement volatilizes during this time. The viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the second scanning movement, that is, the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid constituting the annular liquid film is higher than the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid when applied by the second scanning movement. To increase. Therefore, even if the droplet of the alignment film forming liquid applied by the second scanning movement spreads and adheres to the annular liquid film, the alignment film forming liquid constituting the annular liquid film increases in viscosity. Therefore, the annular liquid film becomes a weir and it is possible to prevent the alignment film forming liquid from further spreading to the frame region G. Therefore, by applying in the above-described procedure, it is possible to further suppress the spread of the alignment film forming liquid to the frame region G than in the first embodiment.
(Third embodiment)
The third embodiment is different from the first embodiment described above in the arrangement pattern of the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid set for the film forming region R. The configuration of the alignment film forming apparatus 1 and the procedure of applying the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the arrangement pattern set for the film forming region R are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the description thereof is as follows. Omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 8, the arrangement pattern of the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the third embodiment is a frame region in which the coating position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery is outside the film forming region R. Set on G. In the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. 8, the arrangement interval of the droplets in the row direction and the column direction is such that the applied droplets wet and spread on the film forming region R, so that adjacent droplets adhere to each other. It is the same as that of the first embodiment in that the size is set so that the film can be integrally formed. In the third embodiment, the liquid-repellent property is higher than that of the film formation region R, that is, the alignment film formation liquid is difficult to spread (wet spread is weak). Drop a droplet. For this reason, the arrangement interval in the matrix direction is narrower than the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. 6 and the amount of one droplet is set to be smaller than the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. . Here, the reason for setting the amount of one droplet to be small is to make the coating amount per unit area equal to that in the first embodiment. The coating amount per unit area increases as the arrangement interval of the droplets in the matrix direction becomes dense if the droplet amount of one droplet is constant. Therefore, when the coating amount per unit area is made constant, it is necessary to reduce the amount of one droplet by reducing the arrangement interval of the droplets in the matrix direction.

  In addition, the arrangement position of the droplets dropped on the frame region G is determined according to an allowable amount with respect to the spread of the alignment film forming liquid to the frame region G. For example, when the tolerance for spreading is 1 mm from the outer periphery of the film forming region R, even when the droplet of the alignment film forming liquid is dropped on the frame region G and spreads with a weak wetting spread, the alignment film forming liquid The droplet placement position is set at a position on the frame region G such that the wetting spread is within 1 mm from the outer periphery of the film formation region R.

  When such an arrangement pattern is set, the alignment film forming liquid droplets applied to the application position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern are applied onto the frame region G.

  Since the frame region G is not subjected to lyophilic treatment, the frame region G has higher liquid repellency than the film forming region R. Therefore, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied to the frame region G adhere to each other and are integrated, but the liquid repellent property of the frame region G makes it difficult to spread and wet compared to the film forming region R. Is kept within an allowable range. On the other hand, the droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied in the film forming region R spread well on the lyophilic-treated surface and adhere to each other to form a film as in the first embodiment. To do. Then, the droplets in the film formation region R wetted and spread in this way are integrated with the droplets on the frame region G to form one liquid film.

Since the outer peripheral portion of the alignment film forming liquid formed in this way is on the frame region G having higher liquid repellency than in the film forming region R, the frame region is the same as in the first embodiment. Since the spread of the alignment film forming liquid is suppressed by the liquid repellency of G, the same effects as those of the first embodiment can be obtained.
(Fourth embodiment)
In the fourth embodiment, the application procedure of the second embodiment is applied to the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. 8 in the third embodiment.

  That is, at the time of one scanning movement, a droplet is applied to the coating position for one column arranged on the frame area G along the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern, and the second scanning movement is performed. Sometimes, droplets are applied to the remaining application positions in the arrangement pattern located in the film formation region R.

  Even in this case, it is possible to obtain the same effect as that of the second embodiment.

  In the above-described embodiment, the entire surface of the substrate W has lyophobic properties, and lyophilic treatment is performed only on the film forming region R so that the lyophilic property is formed between the film forming region R and the frame region G. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the film formation region R may be subjected to lyophilic treatment and the frame region G may be subjected to lyophobic treatment. A liquid repellent treatment may be performed. For the liquid repellent treatment, a method of forming a silicone-based liquid repellent film, a fluorine-containing liquid repellent film, or the like on the frame region G by vapor deposition, sputtering, CVD, or the like can be employed. Further, after the formation of the alignment film, the liquid repellent film may be removed, or may be left if there is no problem in the display quality of the liquid crystal display panel.

  Further, in the second embodiment described above, at the time of the first scanning movement, the droplet of the alignment film forming liquid is applied to the application position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the coating may be performed on two or more rows of coating positions located on the outer periphery. The number of rows positioned on the outer periphery during the first scanning movement is determined by the liquid crystal display panel image display in the outer peripheral edge of the film forming region R and in the film forming region R. What is necessary is just to determine based on the difference with the outer periphery of the area | region (effective display area) used. That is, it is only necessary that several rows of droplets applied during the first scanning movement fall between the outer periphery of the film formation region R and the outer periphery of the effective display region. For example, if the arrangement interval in the matrix direction in the arrangement pattern is 0.5 mm each and the distance between the outer periphery of the film formation region R and the outer periphery of the effective display region is 0.7 mm, there is one column between them. Since only the application position can be set, the number of droplets applied during the first scanning movement is one row. Further, if the arrangement interval in the matrix direction in the arrangement pattern is 0.5 mm each and the distance between the outer periphery of the film formation region R and the outer periphery of the effective display region is 1.4 mm, there are two columns between them. Since the application position can be set, the number of droplets applied during the first scanning movement can be two rows.

  Further, in the second and fourth embodiments described above, a single arrangement pattern is applied in two separate scans. However, the single arrangement pattern is separately applied during the first scan movement and during the second scan movement. An arrangement pattern may be set in That is, a rectangular annular droplet arrangement pattern is set as the arrangement pattern for the first scanning movement, and the inner area of the rectangular annular arrangement pattern is filled as the arrangement pattern for the second scanning movement. The rectangular arrangement pattern is set. At this time, the arrangement interval of the droplets may be changed between the rectangular annular arrangement pattern and the rectangular arrangement pattern. Further, the rectangular arrangement pattern may be set so as to overlap the inner peripheral side of the rectangular annular arrangement pattern.

  For example, in the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. 9 in the fourth embodiment, the arrangement interval in the matrix direction is made larger than the arrangement pattern set on the frame area G in the arrangement pattern set on the film formation area R. At the same time, the amount of droplets (discharge amount) applied to each application position is large, that is, the same arrangement interval and discharge amount as the arrangement pattern shown in FIG. In this case, since the number of droplet application positions in the film formation region R is smaller than that in the fourth embodiment, the time required for applying the droplets in the film formation region R is reduced accordingly. Therefore, the liquid film of the alignment film forming liquid can be rapidly formed on the film forming region R.

  In the second and fourth embodiments described above, a waiting time may be set between the first scanning movement and the second scanning movement. That is, the liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement are volatilized by the solvent component until the liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied during the second scanning movement. Although it will increase, a waiting time may be set for the purpose of controlling the viscosity. For example, when it is desired to increase the viscosity of the droplet of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement before the liquid droplet of the alignment film forming liquid is applied by the second scanning movement. The time is set longer. By doing so, it is possible to optimize the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid applied during the first scanning movement at the time when the alignment film forming liquid droplets are applied by the second scanning movement. . Therefore, the alignment film forming liquid droplets applied in two scanning movements are restrained from causing unevenness at the boundary, and the spread of the alignment film forming liquid on the frame region G is prevented. It becomes possible.

  In the second and fourth embodiments described above, the alignment film forming liquid droplets having different viscosities (or concentrations) are ejected between the first scanning movement and the second scanning movement. Also good. For example, the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid discharged during the first scanning movement is higher than that during the second scanning movement. In this way, since the droplets applied along the outer periphery of the film forming region R can be made less likely to spread than the droplets applied to the inner region, the alignment film applied to the film forming region R can be prevented. It becomes possible to more effectively suppress the formation liquid from spreading to the frame region G. In this case, the arrangement interval of the droplets applied during the first scanning movement is preferably set smaller than the arrangement interval of the droplets applied during the second scanning movement because the viscosity (or density) is higher. . That is, when the viscosity is increased, the droplets are difficult to spread and spread, so that adjacent droplets are difficult to adhere to each other. Therefore, when the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid is increased, it is possible to ensure that adjacent droplets adhere to each other by narrowing the arrangement interval of the droplets. Also, in order to apply alignment film forming liquids having different viscosities (or concentrations), two sets of coating heads 27 may be provided and used in accordance with the viscosity (or concentration) of the alignment film forming liquid to be applied. .

  Further, in the second and fourth embodiments described above, the arrangement interval of the rectangular annular arrangement pattern at the first scanning movement is narrower than the rectangular arrangement pattern at the second scanning movement, and one droplet is dropped. The amount (discharge amount) may be small and the viscosity of the alignment film forming liquid may be set high.

  In this way, the following effects can be obtained.

  a. Since the droplet applied along the outer periphery of the film forming region R during the first scanning movement has a higher viscosity than the droplet applied during the second scanning movement and is difficult to spread, it is applied to the film forming region R. It is possible to effectively suppress the alignment film forming liquid thus formed from spreading into the frame region G.

  b. Since the interval between the droplets applied during the first scanning movement with high viscosity is set narrow, adjacent droplets can be reliably brought into contact with each other even under conditions where wetting and spreading are difficult due to the high viscosity. Can be formed satisfactorily.

  c. The droplet amount (discharge amount) of one droplet applied along the outer periphery of the film forming region R during the first scanning movement was reduced, and the arrangement interval was also reduced. Therefore, the diameter of the droplet applied to the surface of the substrate W is small, and the arrangement interval is also narrowed. These droplets adhere to each other and are connected by a circular arc to form the outer peripheral portion of the liquid film of the alignment film forming liquid. At this time, since the diameter of each droplet constituting the arc is small (than the droplet applied during the second scanning movement), it is generated at the edge of the wave shape formed on the outer periphery of the liquid film by the connected arc. Unevenness can be made small. Therefore, it is possible to improve the linearity of the outer peripheral edge of the liquid film to be formed (suppressing variation in the amount of spread to the outside of the film formation region R). As a result, the spread amount of the liquid film to the outside of the film formation region R can be managed more systematically, and the alignment film formation liquid more effectively suppresses the spread of the alignment film formation liquid to the frame region G. It becomes possible. Therefore, the frame area can be made narrower, and it is possible to further contribute to the space saving of the installation space of the liquid crystal display panel.

  In addition, in the third and fourth embodiments described above, an example in which the coating position for one row arranged along the outermost periphery in the arrangement pattern is set on the frame region G that is outside the film forming region R. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and two or more application positions on the outer periphery may be set on the frame region G. The number of rows of application positions set on the frame region G (how many application positions are arranged along the outer periphery of the film formation region R) depends on the allowance for the spread of the alignment film formation liquid to the frame region G. What is necessary is just to determine according to a capacity | capacitance. For example, when the allowable amount with respect to the spread of the alignment film forming liquid into the frame region G is 2 mm, the outer peripheral edge of the liquid film of the formed alignment film forming liquid is located within a range within 2 mm from the outer periphery of the film forming region R. Thus, the number of rows of application positions to be set on the frame area G may be determined.

  In the above-described embodiment, the arrangement pattern set for the film formation region R has been described as an example of a matrix arrangement along the sides of the rectangular film formation region R. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, a matrix arrangement inclined with respect to the sides of the film formation region R or a staggered arrangement may be used.

  In the above-described embodiment, the nozzle arrangement direction of the coating head 27 is set to the Y-axis direction (corresponding to the first direction along the surface on which the film formation region is provided on the substrate placed on the stage), and the moving stage The movement direction of 23 is described as an X-axis direction (corresponding to the second direction intersecting the first direction), and both directions are orthogonal to each other. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the movement direction of the movement stage 23 is not limited to this. On the other hand, the arrangement direction of the nozzles may be inclined.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Alignment film forming apparatus 10 Lipophilic processing apparatus 20 Coating apparatus 22 X-axis direction moving apparatus 25 Y-axis direction moving apparatus 27 Coating head 28 Control apparatus 30 Drying apparatus

Claims (6)

In a coating apparatus for an alignment film forming liquid for applying an alignment film forming liquid to a film forming region provided on a substrate,
A stage on which the substrate is placed;
A coating head comprising a plurality of nozzles arranged along a first direction along a surface of the substrate placed on the stage where the film formation region is provided;
A moving device that scans and moves the stage and the coating head along a second direction that intersects the first direction along the surface;
When the substrate in which the film formation region is highly lyophilic with respect to the surface other than the film formation region is placed on the stage, the alignment film formation liquid droplets are arranged in a set arrangement pattern. Alignment film formation comprising the moving device and a control device for controlling the coating head to eject droplets of the alignment film forming liquid from the nozzle so as to be applied to a film formation region Liquid application device.   2. The alignment film forming liquid application according to claim 1, wherein the arrangement pattern is configured such that at least one row of droplets arranged along an outer peripheral portion is positioned in a region outside the film formation region. apparatus.   The control device applies the first pattern located on the outer periphery of the set arrangement pattern, and then applies the second pattern other than the first pattern to the application device. The alignment film forming liquid coating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the head is controlled. A plurality of the application heads are arranged along the first direction;
The nozzle row composed of the plurality of coating heads has a length over the entire width of the substrate in the direction orthogonal to the second direction,
The controller applies the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the first pattern by the first scanning movement, and applies the alignment film forming liquid droplets in the second pattern by the second scanning movement. Coating and controlling the moving device and the coating head to complete the application of the alignment film forming liquid droplets to all the film forming regions of the substrate by two scanning movements. 4. The alignment film forming liquid coating apparatus according to claim 3, wherein In the coating method of the alignment film forming liquid, the alignment film forming liquid is applied to the film forming region provided on the substrate.
Making the film forming region of the substrate highly lyophilic with respect to the surface other than the film forming region;
A coating head having a plurality of nozzles arranged along a first direction along the surface of the substrate and the substrate along a second direction along the surface of the substrate and intersecting the first direction. The liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are ejected from the nozzles in the arrangement pattern set for the film forming area, and the liquid droplets of the alignment film forming liquid are applied to the film forming area. A method for applying an alignment film forming liquid.   The alignment film formation according to claim 6, wherein a first pattern located on an outer periphery of the set arrangement pattern is applied, and then a second pattern other than the first pattern is applied. Liquid application method.

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