JP4314026B2 - Optical film mounting apparatus and optical film mounting method using the same - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for attaching an optical film such as a polarizing film used in a liquid crystal display device to a liquid crystal panel.
[0002]
[Prior art]
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view showing a method of sticking a polarizing plate with a paste material in a vacuum chamber and a sticking device using the method (according to Patent Document 1). 106 is a liquid crystal panel before the polarizing plate is pasted, 102 is a polarizing plate prepared to be pasted, 131 is a work table for setting and fixing the liquid crystal panel, 132 is a pressure roll for tracing the polarizing plate, 133 Is a vacuum chamber for the upper surface, a vacuum pump for making the inside of the 134 chamber have a certain degree of vacuum, and 135 is a high-temperature high-pressure gas supply unit for supplying a high-temperature high-pressure gas after being bonded together.
[0003]
The pasting operation is performed by supplying and setting the polarizing plate 102 with glue material and the liquid crystal panel 106 temporarily attached to a fixed position of the liquid crystal panel 106 to the work table 131, pressing the upper surface chamber 133 against the upper surface of the liquid crystal panel 106, and a vacuum pump. A vacuum is drawn until a certain degree of vacuum is reached at 134, and then the upper surface of the polarizing plate 102 is pressed with a pressure roll 132 and moved while tracing, thereby bonding the polarizing plate 102 to the liquid crystal panel 106, Thereafter, the inside of the chamber 133 is maintained in a high temperature and high pressure state by the high temperature and high pressure gas supply unit 135, left for a certain period of time, then leaked, and returned to atmospheric pressure to complete the bonding process of the liquid crystal panel 106 and the polarizing plate 102. The sticking method and the sticking apparatus using the same.
[0004]
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-5878 (pages 2 and 3, FIG. 1)
[0005]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
The following points are mentioned as the disadvantages of the above-described conventional technology.
(1) The working efficiency is deteriorated as compared with the case where the chamber is not used.
(2) Occurrence of chipping defects around the periphery.
(3) Waste consisting of a release tape and a separator is generated.
[0006]
The reason for causing the above disadvantages is as follows.
[0007]
As for (1), since it is necessary to move and pressurize the work into the chamber each time one side is attached, a great number of man-hours are required.
[0008]
About (2) and (3), it is because the separator protection type polarizing film used conventionally is used.
[0009]
An object of the present invention is to provide an optical film attachment device that has good work efficiency, high attachment quality, and does not generate waste, and an optical film attachment method using the same.
[0010]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
The optical film attachment device of the present invention is an optical film attachment device for attaching an optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of a liquid crystal panel,
A lower optical film set unit for attaching the lower optical film to the lower surface of the liquid crystal panel, an upper optical film set unit for attaching the upper optical film to the upper surface of the liquid crystal panel, and an optical film temporarily attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel. An optical film mounting apparatus comprising: a temporary sticking stage to be worn; and an optical film pressure bonding unit that pressurizes the liquid crystal panel temporarily attached with the optical film from above and below while heating.
[0011]
In the optical film mounting apparatus of the present invention, the lower optical film and the upper optical film are polarizing films having a glue surface that generates adhesive force by heating.
[0012]
Further, in the optical film mounting device of the present invention, the lower optical film supply arm and the upper optical film supply arm, respectively, corresponding to the lower optical film set unit and the upper optical film set unit, respectively. The upper optical film supply arm includes heating means for temporarily attaching the upper optical film to the upper surface of the liquid crystal panel, and the temporary application stage includes heating means for temporarily attaching the lower optical film to the lower surface of the liquid crystal panel. .
[0013]
Furthermore, in the optical film mounting apparatus of the present invention, in addition to the lower optical film set unit, the upper optical film set unit, and the optical film crimping unit, a supply-side substrate cassette that houses the liquid crystal panel, It further has a panel supply arm for taking out the liquid crystal panel from the supply side substrate cassette and transporting it to the temporary sticking stage.
[0014]
Furthermore, in the optical film mounting apparatus of the present invention, the housing for accommodating the liquid crystal panel in addition to the lower optical film set unit, the upper optical film set unit, the optical film crimping unit, and the panel supply arm. It further has a panel take-out arm for taking out the side substrate cassette and the liquid crystal panel from the optical film crimping unit and transporting them to the storage side substrate cassette.
[0015]
The optical film mounting method of the present invention is an optical film mounting method for attaching an optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of a liquid crystal panel,
A step of temporarily attaching the upper optical film and the lower optical film on the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel on the temporary attachment stage to form a temporary attachment liquid crystal panel by using a heat-softening adhesive;
A step of bringing the temporarily adhered liquid crystal panel into an optical film crimping unit;
Repeating the step of forming a temporarily attached liquid crystal panel and the step of bringing the temporarily attached liquid crystal panel into an optical film crimping unit, and stacking a plurality of temporarily stuck liquid crystal panels in the optical film crimping unit;
A process of bonding the upper optical film and the lower optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel by applying pressure from above while heating the plurality of temporarily attached liquid crystal panels stacked;
It is characterized by having.
[0016]
In the optical film mounting method of the present invention, in the step of bonding the upper optical film and the lower optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel, bubbles contained in the adhesive material are simultaneously degassed.
[0017]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Drawing 1 is a mimetic diagram for explaining an embodiment of a polarizing film attachment device and a polarizing film attachment method using the same.
[0018]
Referring to FIG. 1, a polarizing film set unit 1 fixes and fixes a polarizing film 2 used on the lower side in a state where a glue surface is on the upper side. Moreover, the polarizing film 2 used here and the polarizing film 12 used on the upper side which will be described later are both characterized by using a paste material that can obtain adhesiveness by heating.
[0019]
The polarizing film supply arm 3 is for supplying the polarizing film 2 to the temporary sticking unit 60. The substrate cassette 5 is for storing the liquid crystal panel 6 before being supplied to the apparatus. The panel drawer arm 7 takes out the liquid crystal panel 6 from the substrate cassette 5, and the panel supply arm 8 is used for the liquid crystal panel. 6 is conveyed to the temporary pasting stage 4.
[0020]
The polarizing film set unit 11 aligns and fixes the polarizing film 12 used on the upper side with the glue surface down. The polarizing film supply arm 13 supplies the polarizing film 12 to the temporary sticking unit 60, and also has a temporary sticking heating device 14 having a function of spot fixing the liquid crystal panel 6 and the polarizing film 12 using a heat source.
[0021]
Similarly to the above, the temporary sticking heating device / push-up pin 9 installed on the temporary sticking stage 4 has a function of spot-fixing the liquid crystal panel 6 and the polarizing film 2 using a heat source.
[0022]
Each of the supply arms 3, 7, and 13 has a function of positioning and transporting what is to be transported to a position where the product is to be attached as a product.
[0023]
The polarizing film cleaner 10 is installed for the purpose of final cleaning of the adhesive surfaces of the polarizing film 2 and the polarizing film 12 supplied to the temporary sticking unit.
[0024]
The main sticking transport arm 15 transports the temporarily pasted liquid crystal panel (liquid crystal panel 6 + polarizing film 2 + polarizing film 12) lifted by the temporary sticking heating device / push-up pin 9 to the main sticking unit 50.
[0025]
The heating oven 16 has functions of causing the polarizing film 2 and the polarizing film 12 to exhibit adhesiveness by heating, and defoaming air that has entered between the liquid crystal panel 6 and the polarizing film 2 and the polarizing film 12. In the heating oven 16, the liquid crystal panel 6 is aligned and fixed by the panel setting jig 17, and a load is applied by the press 18. The panel take-out arm 19 takes out the liquid crystal panels one by one from the main sticking unit 50 and stores them in the substrate cassette 5 using the panel storage arm 20.
[0026]
As described above, in the automatic polarizing plate sticking apparatus for sticking the polarizing film to the liquid crystal panel 6, a polarizing plate having a glue surface that generates adhesive force by heating is used. In the temporary sticking unit 60, the polarizing film is applied to the liquid crystal panel 6. A function of temporarily fixing each of the panels is provided for each panel. In the pasting unit 50, a plurality of panels are pressurized and heated to perform polarizing film pasting and defoaming work. Do it at the same time.
[0027]
Next, operation | movement of the polarizing film attachment apparatus shown in FIG. 1 is demonstrated in order of operation.
(1) A polarizing film 2 set in advance on the polarizing film set unit 1 with the adhesive surface facing upward is supplied to the temporary sticking stage 4 by the polarizing film supply arm 3 and adsorbed, and then the polarizing film cleaner 10 is used. The glue surface of the polarizing film 2 is cleaned.
(2) The liquid crystal panel 6 is taken out from the substrate cassette 5 by the panel drawer arm 7 and transferred to the panel supply arm 8. The panel supply arm 8 supplies the liquid crystal panel 6 to the temporary pasting stage 4.
(3) Temporary sticking heating device 10 is raised, and polarizing film 2 is spot stuck on liquid crystal panel 6.
(4) The polarizing film 12 set in advance on the polarizing film set unit 11 with the adhesive surface facing down is conveyed onto the temporary sticking stage 4 by the polarizing film supply arm 13, and the adhesive surface is removed by the polarizing film cleaner 10. to clean up. After the cleaning is completed, the temporary sticking heating device 14 attached to the polarizing film supply arm 13 is lowered simultaneously with the supply onto the liquid crystal panel 6, and the polarizing film 12 is temporarily attached to the liquid crystal panel 6.
(5) The liquid crystal panel 6 on which the polarizing films are temporarily attached on both sides is conveyed to the panel set jig 17 prepared in the heating oven 16 by the main attachment conveyance arm 15.
(6) The operations of (1) to (5) are repeated, and the liquid crystal panels 6 of a certain unit are stacked in the panel set jig 17. Thereafter, a press 18 is put on the stacked liquid crystal panel 6, the heating oven 16 is sealed, and heating and pressurization are performed, and the polarizing film is stuck and the bubbles defoamed between the paste material and the liquid crystal panel 6 are removed. I do.
(7) The liquid crystal panel 6 that has been pasted is stored in the substrate cassette 5 through the panel take-out arm 19 and the panel storage arm 20.
[0028]
According to the polarizing film mounting device having such a configuration and the polarizing film mounting method using the same, the following advantages are brought about.
(A) Since there is no separator on the adhesive surface of the polarizing film, it is possible to prevent peripheral adhesive chipping defects that occur when the separator is peeled off, and at the same time, it is possible to eliminate the generation of a large amount of industrial waste composed of the separator peeling tape and separator.
(B) Realizing a batch pasting operation of a plurality of panels.
(C) Defoaming between the glue surface and the liquid crystal panel, which has been performed using the conventional autoclave device, is performed simultaneously with the pasting by the pasting unit.
[0029]
In the embodiment of the present invention, the polarizing film has been described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and it is needless to say that the present invention can be applied to other optical films that are attached to a liquid crystal panel.
[0030]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, in the optical film mounting apparatus for attaching a polarizing film to a liquid crystal panel, a polarizing plate having a glue surface that generates adhesive force by heating is used. The function of temporarily fixing the polarizing film to each panel is performed for each panel. In addition, in this pasting unit, a plurality of panels are pressurized and heated, and the polarizing film is pasted and defoamed. Work simultaneously. Accordingly, since there is no separator on the glue surface of the polarizing film, it is possible to prevent peripheral glue chipping defects that occur when the separator is peeled off, and at the same time, it is possible to eliminate the generation of a large amount of industrial waste composed of the separator peeling tape and separator. Further, defoaming between the glue surface and the liquid crystal panel, which has been conventionally performed using the autoclave device, can be performed simultaneously with the pasting by the pasting unit.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a schematic view conceptually showing a polarizing film mounting apparatus and a polarizing film mounting method using the same according to an embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional polarizing film mounting device. .
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 11 Polarizing film set unit 2, 12 Polarizing film 3, 7, 13 Polarizing film supply arm 4 Temporary sticking stage 5 Substrate cassette 6, 106 Liquid crystal panel 8 Panel supply arm 9 Temporary sticking heating device and push-up pin 10 Polarizing film cleaner 14 Temporary application heating device 15 Main application conveyance arm 16 Heating oven 17 Panel setting jig 18 Press 19 Panel take-out arm 20 Panel storage arm 50 Main application unit 60 Temporary application unit 102 Polarizing plate 131 Work table 132 Pressure roll 133 For upper surface Vacuum chamber 134 Vacuum pump 135 High-temperature high-pressure gas supply unit

Claims (6)

An optical film mounting device for attaching an optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of a liquid crystal panel,
A lower optical film set unit for attaching the lower optical film to the lower surface of the liquid crystal panel, an upper optical film set unit for attaching the upper optical film to the upper surface of the liquid crystal panel, and an optical film temporarily attached to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel. A temporary sticking stage to be worn; an optical film pressure unit that pressurizes the liquid crystal panel temporarily attached with an optical film from above and below; a supply-side substrate cassette that accommodates the liquid crystal panel; and the liquid crystal panel from the supply-side substrate cassette An optical film mounting apparatus comprising a panel supply arm for taking out and transporting to the temporary sticking stage .   The optical film mounting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the lower optical film and the upper optical film are polarizing films having a glue surface that generates adhesive force by heating.   Corresponding to the lower optical film set unit and the upper optical film set unit, the optical system further includes a lower optical film supply arm and an upper optical film supply arm, respectively, and the upper optical film supply arm includes the upper optical film. The heating means for temporarily attaching to the upper surface of the liquid crystal panel is provided, and the temporary sticking stage includes heating means for temporarily attaching the lower optical film to the lower surface of the liquid crystal panel. Optical film mounting device. In addition to the lower optical film set unit, the upper optical film set unit, the optical film crimping unit, and the panel supply arm, a storage side substrate cassette for housing the liquid crystal panel and the liquid crystal panel are bonded to the optical film. the optical film attaching device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, further comprising a panel takeout arm for transporting the receiving side substrate cassette and remove it from the unit. An optical film mounting method for attaching an optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of a liquid crystal panel,
A step of temporarily attaching the upper optical film and the lower optical film on the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel on the temporary attachment stage to form a temporary attachment liquid crystal panel by using a heat-softening adhesive;
A step of bringing the temporarily adhered liquid crystal panel into an optical film crimping unit;
Repeating the step of forming a temporarily attached liquid crystal panel and the step of bringing the temporarily attached liquid crystal panel into an optical film crimping unit, and stacking a plurality of temporarily stuck liquid crystal panels in the optical film crimping unit;
A process of bonding the upper optical film and the lower optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel by applying pressure from above while heating the plurality of temporarily attached liquid crystal panels stacked;
A method for attaching an optical film, comprising: 6. The method of attaching an optical film according to claim 5 , wherein in the step of adhering the upper optical film and the lower optical film to the upper and lower surfaces of the liquid crystal panel, bubbles contained in the adhesive material are simultaneously degassed. .

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