JP4665260B2 - Glass substrate sealing system and sealing method - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a glass substrate sealing system and a sealing method for protecting a thin film device sensitive to the surrounding environment, and more particularly to a glass substrate capable of improving the sealing efficiency of a glass substrate for an organic light emitting display (OLED) display. It relates to a transfer stage used in a sealing system.

  Organic light-emitting display (OLED) displays have a wide viewing angle by utilizing the excellent light-emitting properties of organic semiconductors, and the response speed of pixels is very rapid, so that high-quality moving images have a dynamic feeling. Can be expressed as:

  In addition, the display structure is simple, and it is an ultra-thin display that can be configured to a thickness of about one glass (up to 1 mm). Compared with other displays, the manufacturing process is simple and the production cost can be reduced. Has the advantage of.

  Therefore, OLED displays and related materials, parts, and equipment are currently being developed all over the world due to such excellent characteristics. Recently, small mobile phones such as mobile phones, digital cameras, PDAs, and MP3s have been developed. OLED displays are used for information equipment.

  However, since such an organic light emitting display (OLED) display includes an electrode and an organic layer that are easily deteriorated by oxygen or moisture, it is very important to protect the display from external oxygen or moisture. .

  Therefore, conventionally, in order to prevent oxygen and moisture from flowing into the display from the outside, a resin or glass frit (sealing material) that cures a pair of glass substrates covering such electrodes and organic layers with heat or uv. ) Or the like has been used.

  Generally, a sealing material is disposed between an upper plate and a lower plate, and this is cured to seal the upper plate and the lower plate. The sealing material at this time is a low-temperature melting material of a glass component, which is a dielectric material. Use powdered glass used to make body paste.

  Such a sealing material generates an impurity gas at the time of heat treatment that is cured by heat or uv, which lowers the internal vacuum of the OLED display and lowers the device characteristics.

  Accordingly, in order to improve the degree of vacuum inside the OLED display and prevent deterioration of element characteristics, a sealing material is formed on the periphery of the front plate or the back plate of the OLED display in the atmosphere, and then the front plate and the back plate are mounted. Research has been made on a vacuum in-line method in which a sealing process is performed by mounting in a vacuum chamber and melting the sealing material.

  When sealing a glass substrate with a sealing material by the vacuum in-line method and maintaining a predetermined temperature for a predetermined time at a predetermined pressure, the sealing material may flow during melting depending on the material of the sealing material. There is a problem that bubbles are generated because the melting process is repeated many times at the same temperature.

  The present invention has been invented to solve such problems, and an object of the present invention is to seal a glass substrate that can prevent the flow of the sealing material between the glass substrates and the generation of bubbles. It is to provide a system and a sealing method.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, a glass substrate sealing system having a plurality of display packages is provided.

  The glass substrate sealing system includes a laser processing assembly for forming a hermetic seal by heating and melting a sealing material disposed along a plurality of display packages disposed between the glass substrates, and the laser. A transfer assembly for supplying the glass substrate to a work table disposed below the processing assembly, and the glass substrate being held so that the glass substrate is continuously supplied to the work table through the transfer assembly. And a buffer assembly for temporarily aligning the glass substrate when the transfer assembly places the glass substrate, and a work table for secondary alignment with the glass substrate. Precision alignment means, and a plurality of injection ports for injecting air in a direction opposite to the beam irradiation direction irradiated from the laser processing assembly And wherein the door.

  According to another aspect of the present invention, a laser beam is irradiated using a laser processing assembly along each sealing material disposed along a plurality of display packages disposed between a pair of glass substrates. Thus, a glass substrate sealing method for forming an airtight seal is provided.

  The glass substrate is primarily aligned with a transfer assembly on a work table disposed below the laser processing assembly, and the laser is aligned when the glass substrate is secondarily aligned with a mask assembly. A beam is emitted from the machining assembly, and air is jetted upward from the jetting port of the work table so as to face the beam to be irradiated.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, since a plurality of organic light emitting display elements can be simultaneously processed in-line using a laser processing system having a large number of multi-output heads, work efficiency is increased. Therefore, the work can be performed within an extremely short time, and generation of bubbles of the sealing material can be prevented.

  Also, according to one embodiment of the present invention, air having a predetermined air pressure is jetted against the laser beams emitted from a number of output heads, so that the sealing material heated and melted by the laser beams flows. Without contaminating the peripheral elements.

  Next, a glass substrate sealing system for an organic light emitting display device display according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  1 and 2 are schematic views of a glass substrate sealing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. That is, the present invention is a display panel sealing system that seals a plurality of light-emitting elements formed between a pair of glass substrates with a sealing material, and includes a laser processing unit and a glass substrate transfer unit described later.

  In this example, the display is described as an organic light emitting display (OLED) display, but the same or similar sealing process requires that the space surrounded by a pair of glass substrates be similarly sealed by both glass substrates. Those with ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate that it can also be applied to the fabrication of certain other displays or optical elements. The “OLED display” means that electrodes or organic layers constituting OLEDs are vapor-deposited on at least one of the upper and lower glass substrates, and a sealing material (frit) is formed along the corners of the upper and lower glass substrates. ) 106 is deposited. On the other hand, the “display package” means that the upper and lower glass substrates are sealed with a sealing material regardless of whether the upper and lower glass substrates include an electrode or an organic layer or other components. Is. In FIG. 1A, one area and one area delimited by the sealing material 106 correspond to the display package 103. In FIG. 1B, reference numeral 104 denotes an electrode, an organic element (organic layer), and the like, and reference numeral 108 denotes a solidified sealing material.

  Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the sealing system 100 of the glass substrates 101, 102 partitions a plurality of OLEDs formed on the glass substrates 101, 102 with a sealing material 106, and a laser beam is emitted from the sealing material 100. A laser processing assembly 110 that irradiates 106 to form a hermetic seal, a transfer assembly 120 for transferring glass substrates 101 and 102 on which a plurality of OLEDs are simultaneously disposed, and an impurity gas generated by the laser processing operation Etc., and the glass substrate 101 transferred by the transfer assembly 120 to continuously maintain the operation, and a clean room assembly 130 for maintaining the sealing system 100 of the glass substrates 101, 102 at a predetermined pressure. , 102 is received by a robot.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the laser processing assembly 110 may be configured to irradiate a laser beam from the laser oscillator 11 through each multi-output head 14 through a flexible channel 15 as shown in FIG. As shown, a plurality of flexible channels includes a laser oscillator 11, a reflecting member 12, a plurality of first coupling lenses 13, a multi-output head unit 14, a plurality of flexible channels 15, and a plurality of second coupling lenses 16. 15 connects the laser oscillator 11 and the multi-output head unit 14 to irradiate a plurality of horizontal laser beams, so that a plurality of OLEDs can be sealed on a single glass substrate. it can. That is, the laser processing assembly 110 forms a plurality of airtight spaces by heating and melting the sealing material 106 arranged so as to isolate the light emitting elements (104 and the like) accommodated between the glass substrates 101 and 102 from each other. It is a laser processing part which irradiates the laser beam for doing.

  The laser oscillator 11 can effectively heat and soften the sealing material 106 to hermetically seal the upper and lower glass substrates 101 and 102 to the sealing material 106, for example, 600 to 1200 nm. Since a Ti: sapphire laser is used and has an average output of 60 W, the work can be performed within a very short time at high temperature and low pressure, and therefore generation of bubbles and cracks can be prevented.

  The reflection member 12 changes the angle of the laser beam emitted from the laser oscillator 11 and makes it incident on the plurality of first coupling lenses 13.

  The plurality of first coupling lenses 13 are lenses that allow the laser beam reflected by the reflecting member 12 to be incident and emitted so that the cross-sectional laser density is uniform.

  The first coupling lens 13 includes a concave lens, so that the laser beam incident from one side thereof can be evenly divided and emitted.

  The flexible channel 15 is an optical path member in which the laser beam emitted from the first coupling lens 13 is input to one end and output to the other end. In one embodiment, the flexible channel 15 can be made of optical fiber.

  Accordingly, in the laser processing assembly 110 used in the glass substrate sealing system according to the present invention, if the first coupling lens 13 is connected to the multi-output head unit 14 with an optical fiber, the laser beam path can be quickly formed. it can.

  At this time, the laser processing assembly 110 may further include a vision assembly capable of monitoring a laser processing state, an X, Y, and Z transfer board for aligning the positions of the laser processing assemblies. A mask assembly 105 can be further provided.

  Next, with reference to FIG.3 and FIG.4, the sealing system for preventing the thermal influence at the time of laser beam irradiation and the fluidization of a sealing material and its operating method are demonstrated in detail.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic side view of a work table used in a glass substrate sealing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates a precision alignment unit of the work table according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a top view of the work table 40 made.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, the work table 40 of the present invention includes a mask holder 41 that can accommodate a mask assembly 105 at an upper portion thereof, and the mask assembly 105 and the glass substrates 101 and 102 are connected to the transfer assembly. When being transferred by the three-dimensional body 120 and arranged on the work table 40, the guide protrusions 20 are provided on the periphery thereof so that they can be easily seated and aligned. That is, the transfer assembly 120 is a glass substrate transfer unit for supplying the pair of glass substrates 101 and 102 onto the work table 40 disposed below the laser processing unit.

  The work table 40 is arranged on a table made of stone and has a hollow portion 45 formed therein, and a plurality of injection holes 45a are arranged in the hollow portion 45 in a predetermined pattern.

  The spray port 45a may be a nozzle formed in a groove shape, and the spray port 45a is formed in a pattern corresponding to the pattern of the sealing material 106 disposed on the glass substrates 101 and 102. .

  On the other hand, since a predetermined net pattern is formed on the mask assembly 105 in correspondence with the pattern of the sealing material 106, the pattern of the ejection openings 45 a also corresponds to the pattern of the mask assembly 105. It should be noted that since there is a dummy area between the edge of the mask assembly 105 and the net pattern, the mask assembly 105 does not fall apart.

  Air controlled to a predetermined air pressure is supplied through the injection port 45a. At this time, the air pressure is raised to a predetermined pressure temporarily by the air pump 50 connected to the hollow portion 45 and then finely controlled to the predetermined pressure while being lowered by the control unit 60. Has been. As described above, the injection port 45a is formed in the form of a groove or a slit, and is used for selectively concentrating and injecting air to the sealing material 106 arranged in a lattice shape. In addition, the injection port 45a is arrange | positioned along the division | segmentation area | region where the sealing material 106 is arrange | positioned.

  The work table 40 further includes a control base (uvw transfer stage) 30 below. In FIG. 4, a dotted line is shown to indicate that the work table 40 is arranged below the work table 40. Since the control base 30 can move not only finely and precisely in the x and y axis directions but also finely and precisely move in the θ axis direction, each of the plurality of display sealing materials 106 formed on the glass substrate The pattern on the mask assembly 105 and the pattern of the ejection port 45a can be precisely adjusted and aligned. As described above, the work table 40 has air from an alignment means for primarily aligning the glass substrates 101 and 102 and a direction opposite to the irradiation direction of the laser beam irradiated from the laser processing unit (a direction opposite to the beam irradiation direction). And a plurality of air injection holes 45a for injecting the air to the glass substrates 101 and 102 in the portion where the sealing material 106 is located.

  Therefore, according to an embodiment of the present invention, when the glass substrates 101 and 102 are disposed on the work table 40 disposed below the laser processing assembly 110 by the transfer assembly 120, a mask assembly is provided. 105 and the glass substrates 101 and 102 are roughly temporarily positioned by the guide projections 20 and primarily aligned, and the glass substrates 101 and 102 are secondarily precisely aligned by the control base 30 with respect to the mask assembly 105. After that, a beam is emitted from the laser processing assembly 110. At this time, air is jetted upward from the jetting opening 45a of the work table 40 so as to face the beam, and the glass substrates 101 and 102 are irradiated. The sealing material 106 disposed above does not flow and can be hermetically sealed under a predetermined pressure.

  The work table 40 has an O-ring 43 disposed on its upper surface along the periphery thereof, and the glass substrates 101 and 102 are disposed on the O-ring 43 and have a predetermined air pressure through the ejection port 45a. By injecting air, the lower portions of the glass substrates 101 and 102 are maintained in a constant pressure state.

  That is, the O-ring 43 prevents the air blown from the ejection port 45a from leaking to the outside when the glass substrates 101 and 102 are disposed on the upper surface of the work table 40. 101, 102 and the mask assembly 105 are applied upward at a constant pressure.

  Therefore, even when the sealing material 106 is heated and softened by laser beam irradiation and melted many times, air pressure is applied upward from below, so that the sealing material is solidified upward and flow can be prevented.

  Therefore, even if the sealing material 106 is melted, it does not flow to the periphery, and it is possible to prevent the element from being deteriorated without affecting the electrodes and the organic layer.

  Meanwhile, in one embodiment of the present invention, in order to adjust the air pressure, the injection port 45a is connected to a hydraulic hose, and the pressure of the hydraulic hose can be controlled by a solenoid valve.

  The solenoid valve is configured again as a main valve and a fine valve, and is configured to increase to a constant pressure using the main valve, and the increased pressure is gradually reduced using the fine valve. However, it is configured to adjust a certain pressure.

  Such hydraulic control can be remotely controlled by a controller 60 connected to the main valve and the fine valve.

  While several specific examples of the present invention have been illustrated in the accompanying drawings and described in the foregoing detailed description, the present invention is not limited to the specific examples disclosed, and Various modifications, changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention as described and defined in the claims.

(A) is the schematic of the glass substrate sealing system by one Example of this invention, (b) is the schematic which shows an example of the display package of this invention. 1 is a schematic view of a glass substrate sealing system according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a schematic side view of the work table used for the glass substrate sealing system by one Example of this invention. FIG. 3 is a plan view of a work table in which fine alignment means of the work table according to an embodiment of the present invention is disposed at the bottom.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Laser oscillator 12 Reflective member 13 1st coupling lens 14 Multi-output head part 15 Flexible channel 20 Guide protrusion part 30 Control base 40 Work table 41 Mask holder 43 O-ring 45 Hollow part 45a Injection port 60 Controller 100 Sealing system 101 , 102 Glass substrate 103 Display package 105 Mask assembly 106 Sealing material 110 Laser processing assembly 120 Transfer assembly 130 Clean room assembly 140 Buffer assembly

Claims (8)

In a glass substrate sealing system having a plurality of display packages,
A laser processing assembly for heating and melting a sealing material disposed along a plurality of display packages disposed between the glass substrates to form an airtight seal;
A transfer assembly for supplying the glass substrate to a work table disposed below the laser processing assembly;
A buffer assembly for holding the glass substrate so that the glass substrate is continuously supplied to the work table through the transfer assembly;
The work table includes temporary position alignment means for primarily aligning the glass substrate when the transfer assembly places the glass substrate, precision alignment means for secondary alignment with the glass substrate, and laser processing. A glass substrate sealing system, comprising: a plurality of injection ports for injecting air in a direction opposite to a beam irradiation direction irradiated from the assembly.   The glass substrate sealing system according to claim 1, wherein an O-ring is disposed along a peripheral edge of the upper surface of the work table. 2. The glass according to claim 1, wherein the injection port is disposed corresponding to a sealing material disposed along a plurality of display packages on the glass substrate when the glass substrate is precisely aligned on the work table. Substrate sealing system.   The glass substrate sealing system according to claim 1, wherein the spray ports are arranged in a matrix pattern.   2. The glass substrate sealing system according to claim 1, wherein the alignment means is a plurality of guide protrusions protrudingly disposed on a peripheral edge of the work table.   The glass substrate sealing system according to claim 1, wherein the precision alignment means is a control base that can be precisely aligned with the x, y, and θ axes arranged below the work table. Glass that forms a hermetic seal by irradiating a laser beam using a laser processing assembly along each sealing material arranged along a plurality of display packages arranged between a pair of glass substrates In the sealing method of the substrate,
When the glass substrate is arranged by a transfer assembly on a work table arranged below the laser processing assembly, it is primarily aligned.
When the glass substrate is secondarily aligned with the mask assembly, a beam is emitted from the laser processing assembly;
A glass substrate sealing method in which air is jetted upward from a jet port of the work table so as to face the irradiated beam. The spray port is formed in a mesh pattern along each sealing material disposed along a plurality of display packages, and the air pressure of the spray port of the mesh pattern is simultaneously increased to a predetermined pressure; The glass substrate sealing method according to claim 7, wherein fine adjustment is performed while lowering the air pressure that has risen to the pressure.

Images