JP2665319B2 - Glass substrate heating device for liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for heating a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel. And a heating device for curing the glass substrate by pressing the sealing material to a predetermined gap.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A liquid crystal display (LCD) is maintained at a predetermined distance between two glass substrates coated with a transparent conductive electrode by using a spacer having a thickness of several μm. Liquid crystal is sealed in, and the two glass substrates are stuck together without misalignment by alignment marks.

Meanwhile, two glass substrates constituting a liquid crystal display panel have spacers scattered on one of the glass substrates, and heat is applied to the inner surface of the other glass substrate (the surface facing the one glass substrate). A sealing material of a curable resin is attached, and the upper and lower glass substrates are marked and bonded by a bonding apparatus, and temporarily fixed so that the upper and lower glass substrates are not separated. Then, the pair of glass substrates temporarily bonded and bonded is pressurized and heat-treated to press the sealing material to the gap between the upper and lower glass substrates to the particle size of the spacer, thereby curing the sealing material.

[0004] The conventional device for curing the sealing material is as follows.
A plurality of sets of two glass substrates that have been pasted together are stacked and pressed, set in a jig, placed in a heating furnace, and heated to cure the sealing material.

[0005]

However, when a set of two glass substrates is set in a jig and placed in a heating furnace to heat the glass substrates, the heat conduction due to the heating is caused at the periphery and the center of the glass substrate. There is a problem in that there is a temperature difference, and the upper and lower glass substrates positioned by the difference in thermal expansion move in the horizontal direction, causing a disorder. In order to eliminate this, it is performed while adjusting the heating time and heating temperature,
In this case, there is a problem that workability is reduced and productivity is lacking.

[0006] Further, the sealing material is melted and hardened by heating the pair of glass substrates that are temporarily bonded, but at the time of heating, the pair of glass substrates is pressurized and pressed between the glass substrates. Is set to a predetermined gap (corresponding to the particle size of the spacer), but it is difficult to apply the pressure uniformly to the entire glass substrate, and thus it is difficult to make the gap constant. Have a point.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, and it is an object of the present invention to uniformly heat the entire surface of a glass substrate and to apply pressure to the glass substrate. An object of the present invention is to provide a heating device that can act as a uniform distributed load.

[0008]

The technical means taken by the present invention to achieve the above object is to heat and press a sealing material made of a thermosetting resin interposed between two glass substrates. A fixed platen for holding a pair of aligned and temporarily fixed glass substrates, and a space between the fixed platen and the fixed platen facing the fixed platen. The width and width of the platen are variable, and the platen is made up of a movable platen that is pressurized by a pressurizing means.The fixed platen and the movable platen each have a recess formed by leaving a peripheral edge on a surface facing the glass substrate. The opening of the concave portion is closed with a thin plate, the periphery of the thin plate is adhesively fixed to the peripheral edge, and a heating element is attached to the front surface or the back surface of the thin plate, and further, each of the fixed platen and the movable platen has a concave portion. The air supply means is connected and equipped. As the above-mentioned heating element, a planar heating element in which a conductive member is attached to a thin plate made of an insulating material is effective.

The thin plate for closing the recesses formed in the fixed platen and the movable platen is a metal thin plate having a thickness of 30 μm to 200 μm (for example, a stainless steel plate), preferably 100 μm.
Or a synthetic resin thin plate having a high Young's modulus (for example, a polycarbonate thin plate).
Further, on the side surfaces of the peripheral edges of the fixed surface plate and the movable surface plate, air supply means is connected and connected to the inside of the recess, and a thin plate for closing the opening surface of the recess by air sent from the air supply means. The inside is pressurized and swelled so that a buffering action is generated when the glass substrate is pressurized. Further, the heating device according to the present invention may be a vertical type in which the glass base is horizontally supported and the surface plate is vertically moved up and down, or a horizontal type in which the surface of the glass substrate is horizontally moved and the surface plate is horizontally moved. Any of these may be used. In the case of the horizontal type, since the glass substrate must be supported in an upright state, at least one of the surface plates is provided with a vacuum suction mechanism for holding the glass substrate.

[0010]

According to the above-mentioned means, the fixed platen and the movable platen of the heating device are provided with a recess in the metal platen body leaving a peripheral edge, and the opening surface of the recess is closed with a thin plate. At the same time, the edge of the thin plate is adhered and fixed to the peripheral edge, and furthermore, a heating element is provided on the front or back surface of the thin plate. The difference in thermal expansion on the substrate can be solved. In addition, air is supplied into the recesses of both stools by air supply means to expand the thin plate, so that the slab becomes like a drum skin, and the stool becomes a stool having a buffer function. Therefore, the glass substrate is pressurized through a buffering action, whereby a uniform distributed load is applied to the glass substrate, and the load acts only in the direction perpendicular to the surface of the glass substrate, and the two glass plates are pressed. The gap between the substrates is formed uniformly.

[0011]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. A heating device A includes a machine frame 1, a fixed surface plate 2 fixed to the lower side of the machine frame 1, and a fixed surface plate. A movable platen 3 disposed above the movable platen 2, a driving means 4 for moving the movable platen 3 up and down, and a movable platen 3 which has been lowered to a predetermined position is pressed toward the fixed platen 2 to form a fixed platen. And a pressing means 5 for pressing a pair of two glass substrates a and b, which are temporarily bonded and placed temporarily on the glass substrate 2, and are formed vertically.

A fixed surface plate 2 installed and fixed below the machine frame 1 is provided with a recess 7 having a predetermined depth while leaving a peripheral edge 6 in a metal surface plate main body having a rectangular planar shape. The opening of the recess 7 is closed with a thin plate 8, and the periphery of the thin plate 8 is fixed to the peripheral edge 6. A heating element 9 is adhered and fixed to the surface of the thin plate 8, and a through hole 10 communicating with the inside of the concave portion 7 is formed on a side surface of the peripheral edge 6 of the platen body. Is connected to the air supply means,
The thin plate 8 can be expanded by blowing air into the closed recess 7.

The thin plate 8 for closing the recess 7 has a thickness of 30 .mu.
A stainless steel thin plate of 00 μ, preferably 100 μ, is formed into the same shape as the fixed platen 2, and the peripheral edge of the thin plate 8 is fixed to the upper surface of the peripheral edge 6 of the platen body by welding or an adhesive. Heating element 9 attached and fixed to the surface of thin plate 8
Is an insulator having heat resistance, for example, ceramic, quartz,
Conductor on thin plate (sheet thickness 100μ ~ 300μ) 11 such as synthetic resin material
For example, the conductor 12 is formed in the form of a sheet heating element printed with carbon, and is configured such that when a power source is connected to the conductor 12 and energized, the conductor 12 generates heat.

The movable platen 3 which is disposed above the fixed platen 2 and which moves up and down in the vertical direction includes a metal platen body having a rectangular planar shape and a peripheral edge 13 similar to the fixed platen 2 described above. , A recess 14 having a predetermined depth is formed, the opening of the recess 14 is closed with a thin plate 15, and the periphery of the thin plate 15 is fixed to the peripheral edge 13. A heating element 16 is adhered and fixed to the surface of the thin plate 15, and a through hole 17 communicating with the inside of the concave portion 14 is opened on a side surface of a peripheral edge 13 of the platen body. Is connected to an air supply means, so that the thin plate 15 can be bulged by sending air into the closed concave portion 14.

The thin plate 15 for closing the recess 14 has a thickness of 30 .mu.
Using a thin stainless steel plate of 00μ, preferably 100μ, it is formed in substantially the same shape as the movable platen 3, and the periphery of the thin plate 15 is fixed to the upper surface of the peripheral edge 13 of the platen body by welding or an adhesive. Heating element 16 attached and fixed to the surface of thin plate 15
Is an insulator having heat resistance, for example, ceramic, quartz,
Conductor on thin plate (sheet thickness 100μ ~ 300μ) 18 such as synthetic resin material
For example, the conductor 19 is formed in the form of a sheet heating element printed with carbon, and is configured such that the power is connected to the conductor 19 and the conductor 19 generates heat when energized. The heating element 9 provided on the fixed surface plate 2 and the heating element 16 provided on the movable surface plate 3 are such that conductors are arranged on the thin plate so as to uniformly heat the entire surface of the glass substrate. Needless to say.

The driving means 4 for vertically moving the movable platen 3 constructed as described above includes a guide rail 20 fixed vertically to the side surface of the machine frame 1 and a one-side engagement with one end of the guide rail 20. A supporting frame 21 that moves up and down in a holding state, a hanging member 22 that engages with the supporting frame 21 to move the supporting frame 21 up and down, and a hoist that feeds out or lifts the hanging member 22
And the movable surface plate 3 on the lower surface of the support frame 21.
Are fixed with the heating element 16 on the lower side. Accordingly, if the hoisting machine 23 is driven to draw out the hanging member 22, the support frame 21 is lowered along the guide rail 20 while being held by the hanging member 22, and is placed on the fixed surface plate 2. After contacting a set of glass substrates, the hanging member 22 and the support frame
The engagement with 21 is released, and the movable platen 3 comes to rest on the glass substrate in a free state.

The pressurizing means 5 for pressing the movable platen 3 placed on the glass substrate toward the fixed platen 2 is constituted by an air cylinder 24 attached to the upper part of the machine frame 1, and a support frame 21. Pressurized via

FIG. 6 shows a structure in which a heat insulating material 25 is attached to the opposite side of the fixed heating plate 2 and the movable fixed plate 3 so that the heat of the heating elements 9 and 16 acts on the glass substrate side. The heat insulating material 25 is stuck and fixed to the back side of the thin plates 8 and 15. In the case where the heating elements 9 and 16 are attached and fixed to the backside of the thin plates 8 and 15, the heat insulating material 25 is attached to the backside of the heating elements 9 and 16.

The pair of glass substrates supplied to the heating device constructed as described above are bonded in advance with the glass substrates a and b being marked and bonded by a bonding device, and the gap between the glass substrates is several μm. The spacer 26 is inserted, and a sealing material 27 made of a thermosetting resin is attached along the periphery of the glass substrate. The gap between the two glass substrates a and b is pressurized to about 15 μm and temporarily fixed. I have. Then, the pair of glass substrates is placed on the fixed surface plate 2 of the heating device, and then the driving means 4 is operated to move the movable surface plate 3.
And the heating element 16 of the movable platen 3 is brought into contact with the upper surface of the glass substrate a. Further, the driving means 4 is operated to separate the hanging member 22 from the support frame 21, and the movable platen 3 is free. It is placed on the glass substrate a. Next, the pressurizing means 5 is operated to depress the movable platen 3 and pressurize the glass substrates a and b on the fixed platen 2, and at the same time, energize the heating elements 9 and 16 to make the sealing material 27 have a particle size of the spacer 26. The sealing material 27 is heated and hardened, and the gap between the glass substrates a and b is reduced to about 5 μm. The heat treatment is about 140 ℃ ~ 180 ℃
For about 10 minutes. Here, the fixed surface plate 2 and the movable surface plate 3
Has a buffer structure in which the opening surface of the concave portion is closed with a thin plate as described above, and air is sent into the concave portion so as to be sealed therein. A uniform distributed load acts on the substrate, and the sealing material 27 is uniformly crushed. As a result, the gap between the glass substrates a and b is kept constant, and a high quality product is completed. Although the above-described embodiment has been described with reference to the vertical type, the heating device of the present invention may be of a horizontal type.
Of course, it may be used on a stand, but as described above, the heat treatment time may take about 10 minutes. Therefore, if the apparatus is arranged in a plurality of units (for example, 10 units) in a ring and moved by a chain or the like, It has the advantage of improving work efficiency and productivity.

[0020]

According to the apparatus for heating a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel of the present invention, the glass substrate can be pressurized through a buffer structure between a fixed surface plate and a movable surface plate. As a result, a uniform distributed load can be applied to the entire glass substrate, and the load acts only in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the glass substrate. In addition, since the glass substrate is uniformly heated, the displacement of the upper and lower glass substrates can be reduced. The molding can be performed while keeping the gap constant. Further, since the heating is performed by the heating element provided on the surface plate, the heating is stabilized and the heating time can be shortened.

Further, when the heating element is a planar heating element, the entire surface of the glass substrate can be heated uniformly, thereby preventing the occurrence of displacement between the upper and lower glass substrates, and improving the quality. Stable processing can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a partially cutaway front view showing one embodiment of a heating device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged cross-sectional view showing a portion surrounded by a circle in FIG.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged bottom view taken along line (3)-(3) in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partially cutaway front view showing a state where the movable platen is lowered and mounted on a glass substrate.

5 is a cutaway front view of the same part when the pressing means is operated from the state of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view showing another embodiment of the surface plate structure.

[Explanation of symbols]

 A: Heating device 1: Machine frame 2: Fixed surface plate 3: Movable surface plate 4: Driving means 5: Pressurizing means 6, 13 ... Peripheral edge 7, 14 ... Depression 8, 15 ... Thin plate 9, 16 ... Heating element 11 , 18… Insulator (thin plate) 12,19… Conductor

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Kazuei Uchiyama 2-9-9 Kandanishikicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo Shin-Etsu Engineering Co., Ltd. (56) References JP-A-63-163423 (JP, A) JP-A-2 -282218 (JP, A)

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A heating device for heating and pressurizing a sealing material made of a thermosetting resin interposed between two glass substrates to cure the sealing material.
One fixed surface plate that sandwiches a set of glass substrates, and the distance between the fixed surface plate and the fixed surface plate facing the fixed surface plate can be varied widely,
The fixed surface plate and the movable surface plate each have a peripheral edge left on the surface opposed to the glass substrate, and a concave portion is formed, and the opening of the concave portion is formed by a thin plate. Closed, the periphery of the thin plate was fixed to the peripheral edge, and a heating element was attached to the front surface or the back surface of the thin plate, and further, air supply means was connected to each of the concave portions of the fixed platen and the movable platen. An apparatus for heating a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: 2. The apparatus for heating a glass substrate for a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the heating element is a sheet heating element in which a conductive member is attached to a thin plate made of an insulating material.