JP2707178B2 - Rubbing apparatus and rubbing method - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal alignment control technique used in a liquid crystal electro-optical device or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there is a liquid crystal alignment technique as an indispensable technique for manufacturing a liquid crystal electro-optical device used in a wide range of fields. This is TN type, STN type or FLC
In the case of a liquid crystal electro-optical device of the type, it is a technique for controlling elongated molecules of liquid crystal in the minus direction, but the most widely performed is an alignment control by a rubbing method which is most suitable for mass productivity. This alignment control method is a technique in which liquid crystal molecules are aligned in the same direction by rubbing a substrate surface or an alignment film surface with a rubbing cloth such as cotton or chemical fiber in a predetermined direction.

[0003]

In the conventional rubbing process, static electricity is generated because the surface of the substrate is rubbed with a cloth.
In the case of a liquid crystal electro-optical device, for example, a liquid crystal display, particularly when the electrode configuration is a dot matrix, a large number of elongated electrodes are present. ,
In particular, discharge is likely to occur at the end of the electrode.

[0004] This discharge damages the alignment film formed on the electrode surface of the substrate, and causes a problem that the damage of the alignment film disturbs the alignment of the liquid crystal. In recent years, the width of the electrodes has become narrower due to the increase in the size of the display, and the width between the electrodes has become narrower. This problem has been greatly closed up. Recently, as a measure to prevent the generation of this static electricity, raise the humidity of the entire environment when rubbing the alignment film, or install a small humidifier around the rubbing device, so that only the vicinity of the rubbing device is Other methods such as humidification are also employed.

The method of humidifying the entire environment during the rubbing treatment is the most ideal method as a countermeasure against static electricity. For this purpose, it is necessary to humidify a wide area of the entire clean room in which the rubbing device is grounded. Inevitably, a large humidifier is required, and the cost becomes extremely high.

On the other hand, if a small humidifier is installed around the rubbing device, the cost is not so high. However, since humidification is performed in a narrow area, a difference in humidity depending on the location is inevitable and static electricity cannot be prevented effectively. In addition, the air flow changes due to the movement of an operator or the like near the rubbing device, and the humidity distribution becomes unstable. In this respect, the problem caused by static electricity cannot be prevented.

[0007] In addition, in this case, there are many places where excessive humidification occurs, and dew condensation occurs. For this reason, there has been a problem that rust easily occurs in the device, and the life of the device is shortened.

[0008]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a rotating cylinder portion on which a rubbing cloth is wound, and a plurality of holes, which are connected to a humidifier. It is characterized by having been done. Further, the present invention provides a rubbing method characterized by rubbing a substrate surface while humidifying a rubbing cloth through a plurality of holes provided in a cylindrical portion.

Further, the cylinder has a hollow structure, and a humidifier or a humidity control cylinder connected to a humidifier is provided through the hollow cylinder in the cylinder. The hole is provided, and through this hole, the humidified or humidified gas is passed through a rubbing cloth,
Rubbing while maintaining humidity.

A description will be given below with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a rubbing device of the present invention. A rubbing cloth is wound around the cylinder 3 and a small hole is opened in the cylinder. FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view of the cylinder 3 having the hollow structure. The cylinder 3 is connected to a humidity controller 4 by a pipe 5 so that the conditioned gas can flow through the cylinder 3. This gas can pass through the hole 6 of the cylinder 3 to give humidity to the rubbing cloth.

As shown in FIG. 2B, the rubbing cylinder may have a double structure in which a hollow structure cylinder 3 and a humidity control cylinder 7 having a hole 8 formed therein are provided. . In the case of the combination of the hollow structure cylinder 3 and the humidity control cylinder 7, even if dew condensation occurs in the humidity control cylinder 7 due to excessive humidification, the portion directly in contact with the rubbing cloth is exposed to water droplets. There is a feature that the rubbing process is not affected because it is not touched.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2 (B), the inner humidity control cylinder 7 is provided obliquely with respect to the outer hollow cylinder 3, that is, the outer hollow cylinder 3 and the humidity control cylinder 7 are connected to each other. Is not provided in parallel, the condensed water can be easily taken out of the hollow cylinder, and the water droplets do not overflow and wet the rubbing cloth. Further, as shown in FIG. 2 (C), a groove is provided on the lower surface of the humidity control cylinder 7 to collect the water which has been actively condensed in this groove, and the water is easily taken out of the hollow cylinder by taking it out of the hollow cylinder. Can be taken out. FIG. 2
As described in (D), the same effect can be obtained by deforming the cross section of the humidity control cylinder 7 into an elliptical shape and not providing a hole near the bottom surface.

Furthermore, in the present invention, in particular, the total area of the holes used in the cylindrical portion is approximately 0.1% of the surface area of the side surface of the cylindrical portion.
When the content is 01% or more, particularly uniform humidification can be achieved. Also, if the total area of the hole is approximately 20% or more of the surface area of the side surface of the cylindrical part, the shape (curved surface) of the cylinder may be rolled up and uniform rubbing may not be performed. Is preferably about 0.01% to 20% of the surface area.

As another invention of the present invention, FIG.
A rubbing device as shown in FIG. That is, the rubbing cloth 9 to be subjected to the orientation treatment is not wound around the cylinder as described above, but is formed into a band, and the rubbing cloth 9 having no end is disposed outside the plurality of cylinders 10 and 11. The plurality of cylinders 10 and 11 keeps the band-shaped cloth 9 stretched while being kept under tension.

In such an apparatus, a plurality of cylinders 1
At least one of 0 and 11 is hollow and a plurality of holes are formed, and the hollow cylinder is connected to a humidifier or a humidifier, and rubbed by a humidified or humidified gas flowing therefrom. The cloth 9 for use. In such a state, the belt-like cloth rotates and rubs the surface of the substrate 2.

In the case of a rubbing device for winding a rubbing cloth wound on a cylinder as described above, depending on the humidity control condition and the temperature condition,
The rubbing cloth expands and contracts. For this reason, the section of the rotating rubbing cylinder 3 is not apparently a circle,
There was a drawback that it was not possible to perform uniform orientation treatment on the substrate surface, but in the case of such a structure, even if the rubbing cloth was stretched, even if it contracted, the rubbing cloth could always be spread evenly,
In addition, since the cylinder 11 and the cloth 9 in contact with the surface of the substrate always rub the surface of the substrate 2 in a fixed relationship, the degree of the alignment treatment can be kept constant even when the environment such as humidity and temperature changes. .

[0017]

According to the present invention, the rubbing cloth or the roller around which the cloth is wound can be provided with humidity to prevent the generation of static electricity. The alignment treatment can be performed without damaging the surface.

[0018]

【Example】

[Example 1] Rubbing was performed using a rubbing apparatus whose outline is shown in Fig. 1 to produce a liquid crystal panel. Hereinafter, the rubbing device will be described. In this apparatus, a substrate 2 is set on a table 1, and the substrate 2 is sucked by a suction cup.
Fix on top. The table 1 starts moving in the direction of the arrow in the drawing almost at the same time when the cylinder 3 around which the cloth is wound starts to rotate. FIG. 2A is a schematic cross-sectional view for explaining the state of the holes in the cylinder 3. Many holes 6 are formed on the surface. In FIG. 1, the air humidified by the humidifier 4 connected to the end of the cylinder 3 passes through the hole 6 to humidify the cloth wound on the surface.

The holes 6 on the surface of the cylinder used in this embodiment
There are 2500 pieces in mmφ, the cylinder width is 500mm, and the diameter is 100mm, so the total area of the hole 6 is less than the cylinder surface area (excluding the horizontal surface).
It is 05%. By using the apparatus of this example, the cloth could be uniformly humidified, and the adverse effect of the static electricity on the alignment film could be eliminated.

Example 2 Rubbing was performed using the same rubbing device as in FIG. 1 to produce a liquid crystal panel. However, in this embodiment, a rubbing cylinder 3 having a double structure as shown in FIG. 2B was used. In this apparatus, the substrate 2 is set on the table 1 and the substrate 2 is fixed on the table 1 by a suction cup. The table 1 starts to move in the direction of the arrow in the figure almost at the same time when the rubbing cylinder 3 on which the cloth is wound starts to rotate in the direction of the arrow in the figure. A humidifying cylinder 7 penetrates and is fixed inside the rubbing cylinder 3. Each of the rubbing cylinder 3 and the humidifying cylinder 7 has a plurality of holes 6 and 8.
The humidifying cylinder 8 has a humidifier 4 at its end.
Is connected to

In this apparatus, when compared with the structure shown in Embodiment 1, in the structure of Embodiment 1, the cloth is directly wound on the cylinder 3 through which the humidified air passes. However, in the apparatus of the present embodiment, the humidifying cylinder 7 is disposed inside the rubbing cylinder 3 and has a double structure. And does not adhere to the rubbing cylinder, so that the cloth does not partially wet, so that the margin of conditions can be made wider than that of the apparatus of the first embodiment.

In particular, as shown in FIG. 2B, by setting the cylinder 7 not parallel to the Rabink cylinder 3 but at an angle, water droplets adhering to the periphery of the humidifying cylinder 7 can flow to the end of the cylinder. It is possible to prevent water from collecting around the cylinder. Furthermore, it is also effective to provide a groove for flowing water droplets attached to the humidifying cylinder 7.

[Embodiment 3] In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a rubbing cloth is provided in the form of a strip without an end, and this cloth is arranged outside a plurality of cylinders 10 and 11. At this time, the rubbing cloth is tensioned by these cylinders and kept constantly taut.

In this embodiment, the inner cylinder 1 of a plurality of cylinders
0 was a double structure as shown in FIG. 2 (B), and humidity was applied to the rubbing cloth at these two places. With such a configuration, the substrate 2, the rubbing cloth 9, and the rubbing cylinder 11 are formed.
A constant relationship was realized even when the temperature and humidity changed.

[0025]

As described above, by using the present invention, it is possible to eliminate the adverse effects of static electricity during rubbing, so that a uniform and high-quality display can be obtained, and small humidification is required. Therefore, the life of the device can be prolonged at low cost.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a rubbing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a rubbing cylindrical portion of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram of another rubbing device of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 2 ... substrate 3 ... rubbing cylinder 4 ... humidity controller 6 ... hole 7 ... humidity control cylinder 8 ... hole 9 ... strip-shaped rubbing cloth

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A device for rubbing a substrate surface by rotating a cylindrical portion around which a rubbing cloth is wound, wherein the cylindrical portion has a hollow structure and is provided with a plurality of holes, The cylindrical portion is connected to a humidifier or a humidity adjuster, and the gas humidified or humidified by the humidifier or the humidity adjuster flows through the hollow portion of the cylindrical portion.
Rubbing the gas through a plurality of holes provided in
A rubbing device characterized by flowing on a cloth for use . 2. An apparatus for rubbing the surface of a substrate by rotating a rubbing hollow cylindrical portion wound with a cloth, wherein a humidifying cylindrical portion is disposed inside the rubbing hollow cylindrical portion , it the cylindrical portion for the humidity and the rubbing hollow cylindrical portion
Each plurality of holes provided, rubbing device cylinder for dampening the tone is characterized in that it is connected to a humidifier or humidity regulator. 3. The rubbing device according to claim 2, wherein the rubbing hollow cylindrical portion and the humidity controlling cylindrical portion are not arranged in parallel. 4. The cylinder according to claim 3, wherein the humidity control cylindrical portion is a non-rotating member.
A rubbing device , wherein the groove is provided in a lower part of the cylindrical portion . 5. A method for rubbing the surface of a substrate by rotating a cylindrical part around which a rubbing cloth is wound, wherein the rubbing cloth is humidified or adjusted through a plurality of holes provided in the cylindrical part. A rubbing method comprising rubbing the surface of a substrate while flowing a wet gas . 6. A hollow cylinder having at least one of a plurality of cylinders provided with a plurality of holes , wherein said plurality of holes are provided.
Cylinder humidifier or humidity regulator and connection of vignetting hollow
Humidification by the humidifier or the humidity controller
Flows the conditioned gas through the hollow part of the cylindrical part,
The gas is supplied to the rabbi through a plurality of holes provided in a cylindrical portion.
A rubbing apparatus for rubbing the surface of a substrate while flowing the cloth for rubbing, wherein the rubbing cloth having a band shape is arranged in a loop while applying tension around the plurality of cylinders , and For rubbing
A rubbing apparatus characterized in that a substrate is rubbed by rotating a cloth .