JP3022872B1 - Rubbing apparatus and rubbing method for liquid crystal element - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element with small center runout. A rubbing roll for rubbing the surface of a substrate on which an alignment film is attached by rotating, a transfer table for transferring the substrate mounted thereon, and a turn capable of rotating in a horizontal plane while the transfer table is mounted. In a rubbing apparatus composed of a table and a rubbing roll, the rubbing roll is rotated and lowered while keeping the axial direction constant, and the alignment film on the substrate mounted on the transfer table is rubbed with the rubbing roll. Roll runout can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a rubbing device for a liquid crystal device used in a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing process, and more particularly to a buff cloth (fiber such as rayon or nylon) on a glass substrate surface having an alignment film attached thereto. This is a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element in which a groove for turning a liquid crystal in a certain direction is formed by rotating and rubbing a wound roll.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, as shown in FIG. 5, a rubbing roll 5 used in a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element has a turning accuracy (roll parallelism) 6 when the entire roll turns, and a rubbing roll 5 when running. Roll running accuracy of 7,
There are mechanical accuracy such as a roll center runout accuracy 8 around the roll axis center and a roll elevating accuracy 9 shown in FIG. 6. Improving these accuracy greatly affects the yield of the liquid crystal panel in the rubbing process. One. Among these, the roll core deflection accuracy, which indicates whether the roll core is attached and rotated at the center of the buffed roll, and how straight grooves can be cut when the roll rotates on the glass substrate Is a particularly important accuracy item.

In a conventional rubbing device for a liquid crystal element, for example, as shown in FIG. 7, a rotary head 1 on which a rubbing cloth is wound is fixed perpendicularly to a substrate moving direction A, and a substrate 3 of a rotary table 2 is fixed at a specified angle (in this example). Then, rotate 5 degrees)
A method of rubbing an alignment film of a liquid crystal display device of a substrate moving type in which a liquid crystal display device is moved under the substrate is disclosed. The rubbing process of the substrate moving type for moving under the rotary head in the first known example is basically the same as the proposal of the present invention, but in the first known example, as shown in FIG. The present embodiment is different from the present invention in that the rotary head 1 is rotated only 5 degrees with respect to the traveling direction A of the substrate in order to prevent the occurrence. For this reason, the operation axis of the rotary head roll portion of the known example 1 is larger than that of the present invention, and it is considered that the roll runout is larger than that of the present invention.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-04441, which is a second known example,
6, as shown in FIG. 8, the substrate 3 is placed so as to be substantially aligned with the center of the turntable 4, and the turntable 4 is oriented at an orientation angle β.
(A direction) is set to 0, and then the turntable 4 is set to the orientation angle β.
1 (A1 direction), and after that, the orientation angle β2 (A2
Direction is rotated left and the rubbing roll 5 is rotated and moved in parallel, and the alignment treatment is repeated three times.

The means for rubbing by turning the turntable 4 on which the substrate of the known example 2 is mounted right and left at an orientation angle is basically the same as the present invention. However, in the known example 2, since the rubbing process is performed by running the rubbing roll, there is a drawback that the core runout becomes large because the number of operating axes is larger than that of the present invention as in the known example 1.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a substrate moving type rubbing means for rotating a substrate 3 of a rotary table 1 of a known example 1 at a predetermined angle and moving it under a rotary head 1 (corresponding to a rubbing roll of the present invention). Basically the same,
This is basically the same as the means for rubbing by turning the turntable 4 on which the substrate 3 is mounted in the known example 2 right and left at an orientation angle. However, in the present invention, rubbing processing is performed by moving a transfer table on which a substrate is mounted on a turntable, and after this processing, means for returning the turntable of the turntable to the original and transferring the substrate to the next step is known in the prior arts 1 and 2. Is different.

[0007]

However, the above-described conventional rubbing devices for liquid crystal elements have respective problems. That is, the first problem is that the roll part is
It has accuracy items such as turning accuracy for preventing rubbing angle and uneven rubbing, and elevating accuracy for bringing a rubbing roll into contact with a substrate. As described above, there are many conventional machine precision managements for the roll portion, and therefore, defects due to center runout are likely to occur.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element in which the above-mentioned drawbacks of the prior art are improved, the degree of freedom of a roll portion is reduced, and a run-out is added to suppress a center run-out. is there.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the present invention employs the following basic technical structure. That is, as a first aspect according to the present invention, a rubbing roll for rubbing the surface of a substrate on which an alignment film is attached by rotating, a transport table for transporting the substrate in a state where the substrate is mounted, and mounting the transport table In a rubbing device composed of a turntable that can be turned in a horizontal plane while being rotated, the rubbing roll is rotated and lowered while keeping the axial direction constant, and the alignment film on the substrate mounted on the transfer table is lowered. It is characterized by rubbing with a rubbing roll.

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A rubbing device for a liquid crystal device according to the present invention is provided with a rubbing roll for rubbing the surface of a substrate having an alignment film attached thereto by rotating the rubbing roll, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems in the prior art. In a rubbing device composed of a transfer table on which a substrate is mounted and transferred, and a turntable that can rotate in a horizontal plane while the transfer table is mounted, the rubbing roll is rotated at a fixed position and lowered, and the rubbing roll is lowered. Since the alignment film is rubbed while the mounted substrate is being moved, a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element with small center runout can be obtained.

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The specific structure of a rubbing device for a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element showing one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part showing one embodiment of a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element of the present invention. Here, the rubbing device for a liquid crystal element is composed of three basic units: a rubbing roll 10, a turntable 11, and a transport table 12.

The basic operation of the rubbing roll 10 is only the rotation of the roll and the raising and lowering of the roll. Therefore, the accuracy required for the roll is the roll center runout accuracy 8 and the roll elevation accuracy 9 shown in FIG. The turning accuracy 6 and the roll running accuracy 7 are not required as in the related art. As an example of the operating conditions of the roll, the rotation speed of the rubbing roll is 1000 rpm and the diameter is 150 mm.

The turntable 11 has a disk shape and can turn while maintaining a horizontal position. The turntable 11 can turn within a range of 0 ° to ± 45 ° from the reference position.

The transport table 12 includes a turntable 11
The substrate 13 can be reciprocated on a straight line S passing through the center of rotation C while the substrate 13 is fixed by suction by a driving mechanism (not shown). The moving condition is, for example, a transfer speed of 80 mm / sec.

Next, the operation of the rubbing device for a liquid crystal element configured as described above will be described. In FIGS. 1 and 2, first, a substrate 13 having an alignment film attached thereto is placed at a position A on a transfer table 12. When the substrate 13 comes to the position A, the turntable 11 rotates clockwise by a predetermined angle θ, and the transfer table 12 moves to the position B.

Next, the rubbing roll 10 starts rotating and descends by a predetermined amount so as to come into contact with the substrate 13 placed on the transfer table 12. The transfer table 12 moves linearly, and is rubbed when passing under the rubbing roll 10. When the transfer table 12 reaches the position C on the turntable 11, the rubbing roll 10 stops and moves up.

When the rubbing roll 10 completes the ascending operation, the turntable 11 turns counterclockwise by the same θ angle, and the substrate 13 moves to the D position. Then, the substrate 13
Is transported to the next step, the transport table 12 returns to the original position A, and waits until the next substrate 13 is transported. Sequentially
By repeating the above operation, the rubbing process is performed on the substrate 13 one after another.

Next, another embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part showing another embodiment of the rubbing device of the liquid crystal element, and FIG. 4 is a side view of an essential part showing another embodiment of the rubbing device of the liquid crystal element. In FIG. 3, the substrate 13a supplied at the position A is supplied at an angle by the previous process. When the substrate 13a comes to the position A, the turntable 11 turns clockwise by a predetermined angle θ, and the transfer table 12 moves to the position B.

Next, the rubbing roll 10 starts rotating and descends by a predetermined amount so as to come into contact with the substrate 13a placed on the transfer table 12. The transfer table 12 moves linearly, and is rubbed when passing under the rubbing roll 10. When the transfer table 12 reaches the position C on the turntable 11, the rubbing roll 10 stops and moves up.

When the rubbing roll 10 completes the ascent operation, the turntable 11 turns counterclockwise by the same θ angle, and the substrate 13a moves to the D position. Then, the substrate 1
3a is transported to the next step, the transport table 12 returns to the original A position, and waits until the next substrate 13a is transported.
As described above, when the substrate 13a has been supplied at an angle from the previous step, it is possible to prevent the unevenness of the rubbing roll 10 from tipping by turning the turntable.

Next, the rubbing method of the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described. First, the substrate 13 is placed on the transfer table 12.
The substrate is suction-fixed on the transfer table 12 by the step of mounting the substrate. Next, an angle is given to the rubbing roll 10 by a step of turning the turntable 11 on which the transport table 12 is set, clockwise while keeping the substrate 13 thereon.

While rotating the rubbing roll 10, the substrate 1
The substrate 13 is lowered to the sliding movable position by the step of lowering to the height position of No. 3. Further, the transfer table 12 on the turntable 11 is linearly transferred, and the transfer table 1 is moved.
A rubbing process is performed by rubbing the substrate 13 on the rubbing roll 10 with the rubbing roll 10.

When the rubbing roll 10 stops and is raised, the rubbing roll 10 is
Move out of the way. Turntable 11
Is turned counterclockwise by a predetermined angle to return the transfer table 12 to the original work line.

In the above embodiment, the case where the turntable is turned clockwise and then counterclockwise is described. However, the turntable may be turned in the opposite direction.
It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various design changes can be made based on the technical idea of the present invention.

[0025]

The first effect is that the mechanical freedom of the roll portion is reduced as compared with the conventional rubbing device for a liquid crystal element, and a turntable is added, so that a stable rotary rubbing with a small center runout is provided. Can be processed. The second effect is that, when the substrate to be supplied is supplied at an angle by the previous process, unevenness of the rubbing roll tip can be prevented by the turntable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a main part of a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of a main part showing one embodiment of a rubbing device for a liquid crystal element of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a main part plan view showing another embodiment of the rubbing device for the liquid crystal element.

FIG. 4 is a main part side view showing another embodiment of the rubbing device for the liquid crystal element.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram showing a turning accuracy, a running accuracy, and a center runout accuracy of a rubbing roll used in a rubbing device of the liquid crystal element.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing the elevation accuracy of a rubbing roll used in a rubbing device for the liquid crystal element.

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a main part showing an example of a conventional rubbing device for a liquid crystal element.

FIG. 8 is a main part plan view showing another example of a conventional liquid crystal device rubbing device.

FIG. 9 is a main part side view showing a rubbing device for the liquid crystal element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 C Turning center S Straight line 5 Rubbing roll 6 Turning accuracy 7 Roll running accuracy 8 Roll center runout accuracy 9 Roll elevating accuracy 10 Rubbing roll 11 Turntable 12 Transfer table 13 Substrate

Claims (6)

(57) [Claims] 1. A rubbing roll for rubbing the surface of a substrate having an alignment film attached thereto by rotating, a transfer table for transferring the substrate mounted thereon, and a rotatable horizontal surface with the transfer table mounted. In a rubbing device composed of a turntable, the rubbing roll is rotated and lowered while keeping the axial direction constant, and the alignment film on the substrate mounted on the transfer table is rubbed with the rubbing roll. Characteristic rubbing device for liquid crystal elements. 2. In a state where the turntable is tilted by a predetermined angle with respect to a rotation axis of the rubbing roll,
2. The rubbing device for a liquid crystal element according to claim 1, wherein the rubbing is performed by moving the transport table. 3. The rubbing device for a liquid crystal element according to claim 1, wherein the transfer table moves linearly on a turntable. 4. The rubbing device for a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the transfer table linearly transfers the substrate in a state where the substrate is tilted at a predetermined angle with respect to a rubbing roll in advance. 5. The rubbing roll according to claim 1, wherein the rubbing roll rotates at a fixed position and moves up and down.
A rubbing device for a liquid crystal element as described in the above. 6. A step of mounting a substrate on a transfer table, a step of rotating a turntable on which the transfer table is mounted with a predetermined angle while the substrate is mounted, and a step of rotating a rubbing roll to descend to a substrate height position. The step of causing
Transferring the transfer table on the turntable linearly, rubbing the substrate on the transfer table with the rubbing roll, stopping and raising the rubbing roll, and reversing the turntable by a predetermined angle from the previous time. Rubbing a liquid crystal element.