JP2013257487A - Support jig for glass workpiece and method for handling the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a support jig for a glass workpiece which can pass through various manufacturing processes without hindering securing of handling and flatness even when a glass workpiece with a thickness of 400 μm or less is used, and dispenses with an expensive device, and to provide a method for handing the same.SOLUTION: A support jig for a glass workpiece includes a base substrate 10 on which a glass workpiece 1 with a thickness of 400 μm or less is mounted, an adhesive material 11 which is provided on the surface of the base substrate 10 and adheres to a peripheral edge portion 2 on the surface facing the glass workpiece 1, and a surrounding wall 12 which is provided on the base substrate 10 and surrounds the glass workpiece 1. The base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 are formed from a heat resistant optical glass, and the adhesive material 11 is formed from a heat resistant adhesive material and the thickness of the adhesive material 11 is set within a range of 1 to 60 μm. Thereby, when the glass workpiece 1 is surrounded by the surrounding wall 12, an exposed surface of the glass workpiece 1 is prevented from being positioned above the surface of the surrounding wall 12, and the surrounding wall 12 is endlessly formed so as to partition a space with 1 to 5 mm between the surrounding wall 12 and the peripheral surface of the glass workpiece 1.

Description

  The present invention relates to a work glass support jig used in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device or a liquid crystal lens, and a method of handling the jig.

  Conventionally, when thinning a liquid crystal device, although not shown, a work glass having a thickness of about 500 μm is prepared, a liquid crystal device is manufactured using the thick work glass, and then the manufactured liquid crystal device is wet. Thinning by an etching method, a grinding method, or the like (see Patent Documents 1, 2, 3, and 4).

  However, when the manufactured liquid crystal device is thinned by the wet etching method, it is difficult to obtain uniform thinness accuracy. Also, when adopting the wet etching method, it is necessary to mask and etch the peripheral edge of the liquid crystal device from the viewpoint of preventing the intrusion of the etching solution, but then the peripheral edge of the liquid crystal device remains thick, The work which cuts a peripheral part later is needed newly. Also, from the viewpoint of area, there is a great possibility that the product rate will decrease. Furthermore, in the case of the wet etching method, since it is necessary to consider the treatment of the waste liquid, an expensive waste liquid treatment apparatus must be installed, and there is a problem that the cost cannot be reduced.

On the other hand, when the liquid crystal device is thinned by a grinding method, since a semiconductor grinding device or the like can be used, uniform thinness accuracy can be easily obtained. However, when the grinding method is adopted, there is a limit to the quantity that can be processed at one time, and thus a big problem that productivity is reduced is newly generated.
In order to solve these problems, a method of using a thin workpiece glass instead of using a thick workpiece glass has been proposed and studied from the beginning.

JP 2011-164427 A JP 2009-69759 A JP 2001-108838 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-330006

  However, since the work glass is bent and deformed when the thickness is 400 μm or less, particularly 100 μm or less, it hinders the handling and flatness of the single unit, and can be passed through each manufacturing process. become unable. In view of this point, a method in which a work glass is wound around a roll having a large radius of curvature and is continuously processed by a roll-to-roll method has been studied. If this method is employed, an extremely expensive feeding device or winding device is used. A new problem arises that must be prepared.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and even if a thin work glass having a thickness of 400 μm or less is used, it is possible to pass through various manufacturing processes without hindering handling and ensuring flatness. And it aims at providing the support jig for work glass which does not require an expensive apparatus, and its handling method.

In the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problem, a handleable base substrate on which a work glass having a thickness of 400 μm or less is mounted, and at least a part of a peripheral edge portion provided on one surface of the base substrate and facing the work glass. And an adhesive material that adheres to the base substrate and surrounds the work glass.
The base substrate and the surrounding wall are each formed of heat-resistant optical glass, the adhesive material is formed of a heat-resistant adhesive material, and the thickness thereof is in the range of 1 to 60 μm, whereby the surrounding wall When the workpiece glass is surrounded, the exposed surface of the workpiece glass is restricted from being positioned above the surface of the surrounding wall, and a gap of 1 to 5 mm is provided between the surrounding wall and the peripheral surface of the workpiece glass. It is characterized by the fact that it is formed endlessly.

Note that the base substrate and the surrounding wall can be formed of either borosilicate glass or alkali-free glass having heat resistance of at least 200 ° C. or more.
In addition, a planar substantially frame-shaped surrounding wall can be integrally formed on the base substrate, and an adhesive material can be positioned near the inner peripheral edge of the surrounding wall.
It is also possible to laminate and bond a plane substantially frame-shaped surrounding wall to the surface of the base substrate and position the adhesive material in the vicinity of the inner peripheral edge of the surrounding wall.

Further, the pressure-sensitive adhesive material may be a silicone-based or fluorine-based pressure-sensitive adhesive material having a heat resistance of at least 200 ° C., and the pressure-sensitive adhesive material can be printed in a substantially plane frame shape.
Further, the pressure-sensitive adhesive material may be a condensation type silicone elastomer having heat resistance of at least 200 ° C. or more, and the pressure-sensitive adhesive material can be printed in a substantially planar frame shape.

  In order to solve the above problems, the present invention is characterized in that the work glass is handled by adhering to the work glass support jig described in claim 1, 2, or 3 in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

In addition, it is preferable to adhere | attach a work glass on the adhesive material of the support jig for work glass under pressure reduction.
In addition, the bonded work glass is subjected to a predetermined treatment to produce a TFT array substrate, and after the alignment film resin is applied to the exposed surface of the TFT array substrate, the alignment film is formed on the exposed surface of the TFT array substrate by rubbing treatment. can do.

Further, after a predetermined treatment is performed on the exposed surface of the work glass, an enclosing wall that surrounds the work glass can be bonded to the surface of the base substrate.
Further, after forming an alignment film on the surface of the TFT array substrate by rubbing, it is possible to adhere an enclosing wall surrounding the work glass to the surface of the base substrate.

  Here, the thickness of the work glass in the claims may be about 200 μm, 100 μm, 75 μm, or 50 μm as long as it is 400 μm or less which is difficult to handle. The surrounding wall may be provided before or after the adhesive material is provided on one side of the base substrate. The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device includes at least a vacuum process, a heating process, a process for forming an alignment film that gives directionality to the liquid crystal, and the like.

  According to the present invention, if a thin work glass having a thickness of 400 μm or less is disposed on one surface of a base substrate of a work glass support jig, and the peripheral edge of the opposing surface of the work glass is adhesively supported on an adhesive material, a thin and brittle work The glass can be prevented from being bent, and the work glass can be handled.

  According to the present invention, there is an effect that even if a thin work glass having a thickness of 400 μm or less is used, there is little trouble in handling and ensuring flatness. Moreover, a thin work glass can be easily passed through various manufacturing processes of the liquid crystal device, and an expensive manufacturing apparatus can be omitted. In addition, since a thin work glass can be used from the beginning of the manufacture of the liquid crystal device, it is possible to efficiently obtain a liquid crystal device with uniform thinness accuracy, and to cut the thick peripheral portion of the liquid crystal device later. It is possible to effectively eliminate the possibility of omitting or causing a decrease in the product rate.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the plane substantially frame-shaped surrounding wall is integrally formed on the base substrate, the work time required for manufacturing the work glass support jig is reduced, and the number of parts is reduced. be able to.
According to the invention described in claim 3, when the work glass support jig is manufactured, after the adhesive material is printed on the surface of the base substrate, the surrounding wall is adhered to the surface of the base substrate. In this case, since the surrounding wall is less likely to obstruct printing of the adhesive material, the adhesive material can be easily formed on the base substrate.

  Furthermore, according to the invention described in claim 5, since the exposed surface height of the work glass does not exceed the surface height of the surrounding wall, when the alignment film is formed on the work glass by the rubbing treatment, the interference of the rubbing device. As a result, it is possible to effectively prevent the work glass from dripping from the peripheral portion and hindering the formation of the alignment film.

It is a perspective explanatory view showing typically an embodiment of a support jig for work glass concerning the present invention. It is a plane explanatory view showing typically an embodiment of a support jig for work glass concerning the present invention. It is a section explanatory view showing typically an embodiment of a support jig for work glass concerning the present invention. It is a section explanatory view showing typically a 2nd embodiment of a support jig for work glass concerning the present invention.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. A work glass support jig according to the present embodiment mounts a thin work glass 1 which is made into a single sheet as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3. A thick base substrate 10, a weak adhesive material 11 that is provided on the base substrate 10 and adheres to an unnecessary peripheral edge 2 of the work glass 1, and is integrated with the base substrate 10 to surround the work glass 1. And an enclosure wall 12 having a flat frame shape, and used in a liquid crystal device manufacturing process including an alignment film forming process.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the work glass 1 is made of a flat rectangular thin plate glass having a size of about 183 mm × about 255 mm, for example, and most of the work glass 1 other than the peripheral portion 2 is used for manufacturing a liquid crystal device. . This work glass 1 has a thickness of 400 μm or less, preferably 200 μm or less, more preferably 100 μm or less, and is characterized by being easily bent and deformed and difficult to handle alone.

  As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 are integrally formed of a predetermined optical glass, and are at least 200 ° C. × 30 minutes, preferably 250 ° C. or more × 1 hour, more preferably 300 It has heat resistance in an environment of about 1 ° C. for about 1 hour. The reason why such heat resistance is imparted is that there is a heating process (for example, a sputtering process or a baking process) in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device.

  Examples of the optical glass include borosilicate glass and alkali-free glass called white plate glass having excellent heat resistance. However, it is preferable to use transparent borosilicate glass that prevents the release of ions and is excellent in low expansion coefficient, chemical resistance, permeability, and the like. Since this borosilicate glass contains a large amount of boron oxide, the durability of the base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 can also be improved.

  The base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 are formed to have a thickness of 500 μm or more, for example, about 700 μm to 800 μm, and have rigidity capable of handling. The base substrate 10 is formed in a planar rectangle larger than the work glass 1 of about 320 mm × about 400 mm, for example, and the surrounding wall 12 is integrally formed on the flat surface side facing the work glass 1.

  As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 3, the adhesive material 11 is made of a heat-resistant adhesive material that takes into account the heating process of the liquid crystal device, for example, and is formed endlessly on the surface of the base substrate 10. It is located in the vicinity and adheres detachably to the peripheral edge 2 on the opposing surface of the workpiece glass 1.

  Specific examples of the adhesive material of the adhesive material 11 include acrylic, silicone, and fluorine rubbers and elastomers. However, among these, silicone-based or fluorine-based rubbers exhibiting excellent heat resistance in an environment of at least 200 ° C. for 30 minutes, preferably 250 ° C. for 1 hour, more preferably about 300 ° C. for 1 hour. Elastomer is good. When a silicone adhesive material is selected, a relatively inexpensive condensation type (room temperature curing type) silicone elastomer (for example, manufactured by Shin-Etsu Chemical Co., Ltd.) that is extremely excellent in heat resistance and adhesion is optimal.

  The adhesive material 11 is formed, for example, in a strip having a width of 1 mm and a rectangular cross section, and partitions a frame corresponding to the peripheral edge 2 of the work glass 1 on the surface of the base substrate 10. When this adhesive material 11 is formed, for example, masking with a predetermined thickness is performed around the area where the adhesive material 11 is to be formed, and the adhesive material 11 is filled with the adhesive material using a dispenser or the like. By rubbing the surface with a squeegee or the like, the pressure-sensitive adhesive material can be flattened to remove excess pressure-sensitive adhesive material, and then the masking can be removed to form a uniform layer.

  However, if the adhesive material 11 is thick (high), the center portion of the work glass 1 may be bent in the direction of the base substrate 10, so that the work glass 1 is thinned with high accuracy and the work glass 1 is bent. In order to prevent this, it is preferable to form by screen printing or gravure printing.

  The thickness of the adhesive 11 is such that when the work glass 1 is fitted and surrounded by the surrounding wall 12, the exposed surface of the work glass 1 is not positioned above the flat surface of the surrounding wall 12, and the work glass 1 Is adjusted to be flush with the surface of the surrounding wall 12 or the surface height of the work glass 1 is slightly lower than the surface height of the surrounding wall 12 (see FIG. 3).

  This is because when the surface height of the work glass 1 exceeds the surface height of the surrounding wall 12, the work glass 1 is interfered with the rubbing brush of the rubbing apparatus when the alignment film is formed on the surface of the work glass 1 by rubbing treatment. This is because 1 is rolled up from the peripheral edge 2 and hinders the forming operation. On the other hand, if the surface height of the work glass 1 is equal to or lower than the surface height of the surrounding wall 12, the alignment film can be smoothly formed on the surface of the work glass 1 by rubbing treatment.

  Specifically, the thickness of the adhesive 11 is 1 to 60 μm, 1/6 to 1/3 of the thickness of the work glass 1, preferably 10 to 50 μm, and 1 / th of the thickness of the work glass 1. 5 to 1/3, more preferably 10 to 25 μm, and about 1/4 of the thickness of the work glass 1 is good.

  The surrounding wall 12 is formed in an endless plane frame shape larger than the workpiece glass 1, exposes the adhesive material 11 from the flat rectangular hollow 13, and surrounds and positions the workpiece glass 1 by loose fitting. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the inner peripheral surface of the surrounding wall 12 is not in close contact with the peripheral surface of the work glass 1, and is 1 mm to 5 mm, preferably about 4 mm between the peripheral surface of the work glass 1. By dividing the gap C, the workpiece glass 1 functions to be easily attached and detached.

  In the above, when manufacturing a workpiece glass support jig, first, a planar rectangular recess slightly larger than the workpiece glass 1 is formed on the surface of the prepared base substrate 10 by an etching method or the like. After printing a fluid adhesive material on the front, back, left, and right edges in a flat frame shape by screen printing, etc., set a work glass support jig on a dry rack, etc., and leave it for a predetermined time to cure the adhesive material. If the adhesive material 11 is formed, a work glass support jig in which the base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 are integrated can be manufactured.

  Next, when handling the thin and flexible work glass 1 in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device, first, the work glass 1 is loosely fitted in the hollow 13 of the surrounding wall 12 of the work glass support jig, and the work glass 1 is attached to the adhesive 11. The opposing surface peripheral portion 2 of the glass 1 is pressed and horizontally supported by adhesion. At this time, it is preferable to adhere the work glass 1 to the adhesive material 11 under reduced pressure in order to prevent the work glass 1 from temporarily floating in a subsequent vacuum process or the like. Since the opposing surface peripheral edge portion 2 of the work glass 1 is adhered and supported on the adhesive material 11, even if the work glass support jig is tilted or inverted, the work glass 1 is effectively prevented from falling off with a simple configuration. can do.

  After the work glass 1 is adhered and supported on the work glass support jig in this manner, the work glass 1 is manufactured on the TFT array substrate by sequentially supplying and repeating the work glass 1 to the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device. Specifically, (1) cleaning and drying of the work glass 1, (2) ITO sputtering under conditions of 250 ° C. × about 30 minutes, (3) resist coating on the surface of the work glass 1, (4) photomask By sequentially supplying to the exposure patterning, (5) development, (6) wet etching or dry etching, (7) resist stripping process, and repeating these multiple times (for example, three times), the work glass 1 is turned into the TFT array substrate. To manufacture.

  Next, an alignment film resin is applied to the surface of the TFT array substrate, the alignment film resin is rubbed to form an alignment film, and a liquid crystal is dropped on the alignment film. Heat, level and fire under conditions of 20 minutes. When the liquid crystal is baked, an intermediate product is manufactured by adhering a component coated with a color filter, an alignment film, and an epoxy sealant to the liquid crystal in a vacuum, and this intermediate product is subjected to conditions of 150 ° C. × about 1 hour. The epoxy sealant is cured by heating under.

  Next, the intermediate product is scribed and broken to the size of a 5-inch liquid crystal to form a 5-inch sized liquid crystal cell, and polarizing plates are attached to both sides of the 5-inch sized liquid crystal cell in two directions. A liquid crystal module can be manufactured by taking out an electrode using TCP, attaching a driver IC, and attaching a backlight.

  Next, when handling the thin and flexible work glass 1 in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal lens device, the work glass 1 is first adhered and supported on the work glass support jig, and the same manufacturing process of the liquid crystal lens device as described above is performed. By sequentially supplying and repeating the work glass 1, the work glass 1 is manufactured on the TFT array substrate. When the TFT array substrate is manufactured, an alignment film resin is applied to the surface of the TFT array substrate, the alignment film resin is rubbed to form an alignment film, and a liquid crystal is dropped on the alignment film. The liquid crystal is heated at 230 ° C. for about 20 minutes, leveled and fired.

  Next, an epoxy sealant is applied to another work glass 1, and the other work glass 1 and the baked liquid crystal are stuck in a vacuum to produce a stuck product. Further, another work glass 1 is sequentially supplied and repeated in the same manufacturing process as described above, whereby another work glass 1 is manufactured on the TFT array substrate, and the alignment film resin is applied to the surface of the other TFT array substrate. In addition to coating, the alignment film resin is rubbed to form an alignment film. After the liquid crystal is dropped on the alignment film, the liquid crystal is heated under conditions of 230 ° C. × about 20 minutes, leveling and firing. To do.

  When the liquid crystal is baked, an epoxy sealant is applied to the liquid crystal, and the liquid crystal and the pasted product are stuck in a vacuum to produce an intermediate product. The intermediate product is heated at 150 ° C. for 1 hour. By doing this, if the epoxy sealant is cured and then the intermediate product is scribed, a liquid crystal lens device of 5 mm □ can be manufactured.

  According to the above, since the work glass 1 having a thickness of 400 μm or less that is easily bent is supported and integrated with the base substrate 10, the work glass 1 can be effectively prevented from being bent or deformed. Therefore, there is no hindrance to the handling of the workpiece glass 1 and the flatness, and it can be surely passed through each manufacturing process. Further, since it is not necessary to prepare an expensive feeding device or winding device, cost reduction can be greatly expected. In addition, since the adhesive material 11 is not a flat L-shape or the like but defines a continuous flat frame shape, the cleaning solution or the etching solution enters the inside from the outside of the adhesive material 11 and causes the work glass 1 to be contaminated or unnecessary etched. Can be effectively prevented.

  Further, the adhesive material 11 does not adhere to the entire facing surface of the work glass 1 but adheres only to the unnecessary peripheral edge 2, so that, for example, a wiring layer is formed on the facing surface of the work glass 1. It is not necessary to wash away the unnecessary adhesive material 11 from the entire surface. Moreover, since the inner peripheral surface of the surrounding wall 12 does not define a wide gap C of about 10 mm between the inner peripheral surface of the work glass 1 and the narrow gap C of about 1 mm to 5 mm, the rubbing process is hindered. Never come. Furthermore, since the adhesive material 11 is not strong adhesive but weak adhesive, the workpiece glass 1 can be easily attached and detached.

  Next, FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention. In this case, the base substrate 10 and the surrounding wall 12 are separately formed of optical glass, and an alignment film is formed on the surface of the TFT array substrate. Is formed by rubbing, and a planar frame-shaped surrounding wall 12 is laminated and bonded to the surface of the base substrate 10 via an adhesive 14 so that the TFT array substrate and the surrounding wall 12 are fitted to each other. .

  When the surrounding wall 12 is laminated and adhered later, the adhesive material 11 is exposed from the hollow 13 of the surrounding wall 12 and is located near the inner peripheral edge of the surrounding wall 12. The other parts are substantially the same as those in the above embodiment, and thus description thereof is omitted.

  In this embodiment, the same effect as the above embodiment can be expected, and a step is formed between the surrounding wall 12 and the surface of the base substrate 10 when the work glass support jig is manufactured. Obviously, the adhesive material 11 can be easily printed on the surface of the base substrate 10 because there is no risk of obstructing printing. Further, since there is no possibility of forming a step between the surrounding wall 12 and the peripheral edge 2 of the work glass 1 during the rubbing process, the alignment film can be smoothly rubbed on the surface of the TFT array substrate. Become.

  In addition, a gap may be formed between the adhesive material 11 of the above embodiment and the inner peripheral surface of the surrounding wall 12, or there may be no gap. Moreover, although the adhesive material 11 was formed in the continuous plane frame shape in the said embodiment, you may form in a discontinuous plane frame shape as needed. Further, the adhesive material 11 may be positioned near the inner peripheral edge of the four sides of the surrounding wall 12, but it is positioned near the inner peripheral edge of the two sides or three sides, and a part of the peripheral edge 2 of the facing surface of the work glass 1. You may stick.

  The work glass support jig and its handling method according to the present invention can be used in the field of manufacturing liquid crystal devices and liquid crystal lens devices.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Work glass 2 Peripheral part 10 Base substrate 11 Adhesive material 12 Surrounding wall 13 Hollow C Crevice

Claims (5)

A base substrate capable of handling a work glass having a thickness of 400 μm or less, an adhesive material that is provided on one side of the base substrate and adheres to at least a part of the peripheral edge of the opposing surface of the work glass, and provided on the base substrate And a surrounding wall surrounding the work glass,
The base substrate and the surrounding wall are each formed of heat-resistant optical glass, the adhesive material is formed of a heat-resistant adhesive material, and the thickness thereof is in the range of 1 to 60 μm, whereby the surrounding wall When the workpiece glass is surrounded, the exposed surface of the workpiece glass is restricted from being positioned above the surface of the surrounding wall, and a gap of 1 to 5 mm is provided between the surrounding wall and the peripheral surface of the workpiece glass. Support jig for work glass, characterized in that it is formed endlessly.   The work glass support jig according to claim 1, wherein an encircling wall having a substantially flat frame shape is integrally formed on the base substrate, and an adhesive material is positioned in the vicinity of the inner peripheral edge of the encircling wall.   The work glass support jig according to claim 1, wherein a planar substantially frame-shaped surrounding wall is laminated and bonded to the surface of the base substrate, and an adhesive material is positioned in the vicinity of the inner peripheral edge of the surrounding wall.   A method for handling a work glass support jig, comprising: adhering a work glass to the work glass support jig according to claim 1, 2 or 3 in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device.   A predetermined process is performed on the adhered work glass to manufacture a TFT array substrate, and an alignment film resin is applied to the exposed surface of the TFT array substrate, and then the alignment film is formed on the exposed surface of the TFT array substrate by rubbing. Item 5. A method for handling a work glass support jig according to Item 4.

Images