JP5072758B2 - Optical film pasting apparatus and display panel manufacturing method - Google Patents

Abstract

A device for bonding optical film, and to uniformly press an optical film to be bonded to a display panel with high quality when the optical film is held by a drum and the optical film is nearly simultaneously bonded to both surfaces of a display panel substrate.To easily change kinds at low costs when a drum is used and to prevent bonding defects such as a bubble and a foreign matter generated when an optical film is bonded on a display panel. When the optical film is bonded to the display panel, both the display panel and the optical film are obliquely erected with a predetermined inclination angle from a vertical direction, a polarizing plate is held in an inclined drum in the obliquely erected state and the optical film is nearly simultaneously bonded on both surfaces (a first principal surface (a CF surface) and a second principal surface (a TFT surface)) by controlling rotation of the drum. A suction drum is formed by using a cylindrical drum (a drum formed by winding a thin plate-shaped panel in a cylindrical shape).

Description

  The present invention relates to an optical film attaching apparatus for attaching an optical film composed of a polarizing plate, a retardation plate, etc. to a display panel such as a liquid crystal panel, and a method for producing a display panel using these, and in particular, an adhesive drum or an adsorption The present invention relates to an optical film attaching apparatus for holding an optical film on a drum and attaching the optical film to a display panel while rotating the adhesive drum or suction drum, and a method for manufacturing the display panel.

  In the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal panel is formed by sealing liquid crystal between a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) substrate and a color filter substrate, and then a polarizing plate is attached to the front and back surfaces of the liquid crystal panel. . Furthermore, a phase difference plate for visual compensation may be attached. The pasting operation of the optical film composed of such a polarizing plate and a retardation plate is performed by a pasting device.

Usually, an adhesive is applied to the optical film in advance, and a protective film is put on the adhesive. The pasting device is provided with a first work position for peeling the protective film from the optical film and a second work position for pasting the optical film to the display panel. First, the protective film is peeled off from the optical film at the first working position while being held by holding means such as a suction table, and then the optical film is moved from the first working position to the second working position where the attachment is performed. Then, the optical film is attached to the display panel at the second work position. As an apparatus for attaching an optical film to a liquid crystal panel, for example, a device as described in Patent Document 1 is known.
Korean Patent 10-0556339

  The polarizing plate pasting apparatus described in Patent Document 1 is provided on the suction drum in a state where the liquid crystal cell substrate is erected in order to suppress the expansion of the footprint of the polarizing plate pasting device accompanying the increase in size of the color liquid crystal display. A direction (width) perpendicular to the transport direction of the liquid crystal cell substrate by adsorbing and holding the polarizing plate and simultaneously sticking the polarizing plate to the first main surface (CF surface) and the second main surface (TFT surface) of the liquid crystal cell substrate Direction) footprint is suppressed.

  The polarizing plate pasting apparatus described in Patent Document 1 adsorbs a polarizing plate in an upright state by standing both in a substantially vertical state when the polarizing plate (optical film) is pasted on a liquid crystal cell substrate (display panel). The polarizing plate is attached almost simultaneously to both surfaces (first main surface (CF surface) and second main surface (TFT surface)) of the liquid crystal cell substrate by adsorbing and holding the drum and controlling the rotation of the adsorption drum. However, when the polarizing plates are attached to both surfaces of the liquid crystal cell substrate at the same time, there is a problem that the posture of the liquid crystal cell substrate becomes unstable in the vertical state and affects the attachment quality. In addition, the polarizing plate is uniformly pressed against the liquid crystal cell substrate by the suction drum during pasting, but if it is in a vertical state, the orientation of the liquid crystal cell substrate becomes unstable and it is difficult to apply a uniform pressing pressure to the polarizing plate. There was a problem of being.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described points, and holds an optical film on a drum and presses the optical film uniformly against the display panel when the optical film is applied to both sides of the display panel substrate almost simultaneously. It is to provide an optical film sticking apparatus and a display panel manufacturing method capable of performing a high quality sticking process.

The first feature of the optical film pasting apparatus according to the present invention is that the display panel and the optical film are conveyed in a state inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the optical is applied to the display panel in the inclined state. There is a process of attaching a film.
This is because when the optical film is attached to the display panel, the two are not raised vertically, but are inclined upright at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction. By holding the drum on an inclined drum and controlling the rotation of the drum, the optical film is adhered to both surfaces (first main surface (CF surface) and second main surface (TFT surface)) of the display panel almost simultaneously. It is a thing. Thereby, the pressing pressure of the drum can be made uniform at the time of pasting, and the pasting quality can be improved. In addition, when the display panel and the optical film are transported, there is an effect that the transport characteristics are more stable in the state of being tilted and standing as in the present invention than in the state of being vertically erected. As a method of inclining, a method of inclining an upper bottom portion of a base portion on which each station is placed with respect to a horizontal direction by a predetermined angle, or a floor surface portion on which these bases are installed is inclined by a predetermined angle. Any of the methods may be adopted.

The second feature of the optical film pasting apparatus according to the present invention is that display panel supply means for transporting the display panel in a state inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction, and both left and right sides of the transported display panel. First and second optical film supply means for conveying the optical film in the inclined state at a position along the axis, and a rotation axis with respect to the display panel surface in the inclined state conveyed from the display panel supply means The first and second drum means are arranged so as to be substantially parallel to each other, and the optical transported and supplied from the first and second optical film supply means to the first and second drum means While holding one side of the film and pressing the optical film toward the display panel, the first and second drum means are rotated to move the optical film to the display panel. In that an optical film pasting means to apply substantially adhered simultaneously to both sides.
This is a display panel supply means for feeding and supplying a display panel that is tilted upright in a state inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction, and an optical film supply means for feeding and feeding an optical film in a state of being tilted upright, The present invention relates to an optical film sticking device comprising optical film sticking means for sticking an optical film to a display panel in an inclined standing state.

A third feature of the optical film sticking device according to the present invention is the optical film sticking device according to the second feature, wherein the first and second drum means are provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. One side of the optical film is held in close contact with the first and second adhesive rubber members.
This is a drum means for holding the optical film, using an adhesive rubber member provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof, closely holding the optical film and attaching the optical film to the display panel. is there.

A fourth feature of the optical film sticking device according to the present invention is the optical film sticking device according to the second feature, wherein the first and second drum means are provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The suction hole holds the one side of the optical film by suction.
This is a drum means for holding an optical film, which is provided with suction holes on its outer peripheral surface, and the optical film is sucked and held by the suction holes.

A fifth feature of the optical film pasting apparatus according to the present invention is that the display panel supply means for transporting the display panel in a substantially horizontal state, and the optical film at positions along the upper and lower sides of the transported display panel. The first and second optical film supply means for conveying the image in the substantially horizontal state, and the rotation axis is substantially parallel to the display panel surface in the substantially horizontal state conveyed from the display panel supply means. As described above, the first and second drum means are arranged from the first and second optical film supply means, and are arranged at positions along the upper and lower sides of the display panel. The optical film is held by holding one side of the optical film conveyed and supplied to the display panel and rotating the first and second drum means while pressing the optical film toward the display panel. In that an optical film pasting means paste substantially simultaneously on both surfaces of the display panel.
This is because the display panel supply means and the optical film supply means convey and supply the display panel and the optical film in a substantially horizontal state, and the drum means disposed on the upper and lower sides of the display panel to be conveyed and supplied are optically used. An optical film affixing device that holds one side of the film and rotates it while pressing the optical film that is being held from above and below the display panel, so that the optical film is evenly affixed to the display panel. It is about.

A sixth feature of the optical film sticking apparatus according to the present invention is the optical film sticking apparatus according to the fifth feature, wherein the first and second drum means are provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. In addition, one side of the optical film is held in close contact with the second adhesive rubber member.
This is a drum means for holding an optical film transported in a substantially horizontal state, by using an adhesive rubber member provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof, and holding the optical film in close contact, and the optical film is attached to a display panel. It is something that is pasted.

A seventh feature of the optical film sticking device according to the present invention is the optical film sticking device according to the fifth feature, wherein the first and second drum means are provided on the outer peripheral surface thereof. The suction hole holds the one side of the optical film by suction.
This is a drum means for holding an optical film transported in a substantially horizontal state, and has an adsorption hole on its outer peripheral surface, and the optical film is adsorbed and held by this adsorption hole.

  A feature of the method for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention is that an optical film is attached to the display panel using the optical film attaching device according to any one of the first to seventh features. This relates to a method for manufacturing a display panel in which an optical film is attached to a display panel using any one of the optical film attaching apparatuses.

  According to the present invention, the optical film is held on the drum, and when the optical film is pasted almost simultaneously on both sides of the display panel substrate, the optical film is uniformly pressed against the display panel to perform a high-quality pasting process. There is an effect that can be.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall configuration of a polarizing plate pasting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. This polarizing plate affixing device converts the liquid crystal panel that has moved in a substantially horizontal state from the right direction to the left direction in the figure into an upright state, proceeds in the upright state, and moves the liquid crystal panel in progress. A polarizing plate is attached to the first main surface and the second main surface almost simultaneously.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the polarizing plate attaching apparatus according to this embodiment converts a liquid crystal panel conveyed in a substantially horizontal state into an upright state and supplies the liquid crystal panel to a subsequent polarizing plate attaching station 200. A polarizing plate supply station 700 that is provided on both sides of the supply station 100 and the polarizing plate pasting station 200 and converts the polarizing plate placed in a substantially horizontal state into a substantially vertical state and supplies it to the polarizing plate pasting station 200. , 750 and polarized light supplied from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 in an upright state to the first main surface and the second main surface of the liquid crystal panel (cell) supplied in the upright state from the liquid crystal panel supply station 100. A polarizing plate pasting station 200 for pasting the plates almost simultaneously and provided on both sides of the polarizing plate pasting station 200 The protective film discharge stations 800 and 850 for winding and discharging the protective film peeled off from the polarizing plate and the polarizing plate attached liquid crystal panel at the polarizing plate attaching station 200 are converted from a standing state to a substantially horizontal state. And a liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 for discharging.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the liquid crystal panel supply station of FIG. FIG. 3 is a side view of the liquid crystal panel supply station of FIG. 2 as viewed from the right side. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 is provided in front of the polarizing plate pasting station 200 (on the right side in the figure), and the liquid crystal panel 10 that has been transported in a substantially horizontal state is omitted from the polarizing plate pasting station 200. The liquid crystal panel 10 is supplied in a vertically upright state.

  As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 includes a liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 and a substantially vertical conversion unit 150. The liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 converts the liquid crystal panel 10 from a substantially horizontal state to a standing state (substantially vertical state) while transferring the liquid crystal panel 10, and as shown in FIGS. It consists of. The side roller 111 is provided on a side portion facing both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10, supports the liquid crystal panel 10 so that it does not fall vertically or horizontally and contacts the side surface of the liquid crystal panel 10 and identifies the liquid crystal panel 10. It plays the role of moving in the direction of. The lower roller 112 is in contact with the lower surface of the standing liquid crystal panel 10 to support the liquid crystal panel 10 and to move the liquid crystal panel 10 in a specific direction. The side roller 111 is rotationally controlled by a driving force source (not shown) such as a motor. The lower roller 112 does not rotate by the driving force, but passively rotates by contacting the liquid crystal panel 10 that moves according to the rotation of the side roller 111. The lower roller 112 may also be provided with a power source to actively control rotation.

  A plurality of side rollers 111 are provided throughout the liquid crystal panel supply station 100. For example, nine side rollers 111 are provided on one side. A plurality of contact portion rollers 111 a to 111 d are provided on the rotation shaft of each side roller 111. Each contact portion roller 111 a to 111 d has an outer peripheral portion that comes into contact with the surface of the liquid crystal panel 10. The rotation shafts of the side rollers 111 are mechanically connected via power transmission means, and are rotationally controlled by one or a plurality of driving force sources.

  The lower roller 112 has a plurality of rollers arranged in a line at predetermined intervals in a substantially horizontal direction. Each roller constituting the lower roller 112 is in contact with the lower end portion of the liquid crystal panel 10 in the standing state and guides the movement of the liquid crystal panel 10 while passively rotating. As described above, the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 includes the side roller 111 and the lower roller 112 as basic components, and these components are coupled and configured by frame means or the like, so that FIGS. A liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 as shown in FIG.

  The substantially vertical conversion unit 150 includes a moving unit main body 151, guide rails 152 and 153, racks 154 and 155, pinions 156 and 157, power transmission shafts 158 and 159, power transmission disks 160 and 161, and a substantially vertical substantially horizontal movable unit. 162, 163. The moving part main body 151 is configured to be movable in the vertical direction in the drawing along the guide rails 152 and 153. Although the movement of the moving part main body 151 is not shown, a ball screw is provided below the guide rails 152 and 153, and the nut part coupled to the ball screw and the moving part main body 151 are mechanically connected to each other. The moving unit main body 151 is configured to move along the guide rails 152 and 153 by rotational driving. In addition, you may make it move with a drive method other than this.

  The racks 154 and 155 are provided outside the guide rails 152 and 153 and in parallel along the guide rails 152 and 153. The racks 154 and 155 are engaged with pinions 156 and 157 provided on the moving unit main body 151. Therefore, when the moving part main body 151 moves along the guide rails 152 and 153, the moving parts main body 151 rotates on the racks 154 and 155 while the pinions 156 and 157 are engaged. As shown in FIG. 3, power transmission shafts 158 and 159 having gears on the outer periphery are mechanically coupled to the pinions 156 and 157. The power transmission discs 160 and 161 are provided in the moving unit main body 151 and include gears that engage with the gears of the power transmission shafts 158 and 159. Further, the power transmission disks 160 and 161 are mechanically coupled to the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110. Therefore, when the moving part main body 151 moves along the guide rails 152 and 153, the pinions 156 and 157 and the power transmission shafts 158 and 159 rotate and move, so that the power transmission disks 160 and 161 rotate together. Accordingly, the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 coupled thereto also rotates as a whole.

  4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating an example of an operation in which the liquid crystal panel supply station converts the liquid crystal panel 10 in a substantially horizontal state into an upright state. As the moving unit main body 151 moves along the guide rails 152 and 153 in the right direction in the figure, the pinions 156 and 157 rotate on the racks 154 and 155, and the rotational driving force thereof moves the power transmission shafts 158 and 159. To the power transmission discs 160 and 161, and the power transmission discs 160 and 161 rotate. As a result, the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 rotates about the power transmission disks 160 and 161.

  4 and 5 show that the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 rotates about the power transmission discs 160 and 161. FIG. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the moving unit main body 151 has moved about one-fourth along the guide rails 152 and 153 to the right in the drawing. As a result, the power transmission discs 160 and 161 rotate about 45 degrees counterclockwise. Accordingly, the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 is inclined by 45 degrees as shown in FIG. 4 from the substantially horizontal state of FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, when the moving unit main body 151 moves to the right side in the drawing along the guide rails 152 and 153 and moves to approximately the center of the guide rails 152 and 153, the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 is From the substantially horizontal state shown in FIG. 3 to the state inclined 45 degrees as shown in FIG. 4, the state rises 90 degrees as shown in FIG. The liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 can transport the liquid crystal panel 10 more efficiently when the liquid crystal panel 10 is tilted about 5 degrees, such as 85 degrees or 95 degrees, than when the liquid crystal panel 10 stands 90 degrees. .

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the overall configuration of the polarizing plate pasting station 200. As shown in FIG. 6, the polarizing plate pasting station 200 includes a liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201, protective film peeling units 300 and 350, a polarizing plate pasting unit 400 and 450, a polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 and 550, and a polarizing plate attached. The liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 is configured. The liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 aligns the liquid crystal panel 10 conveyed from the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 and the polarizing plate. The protective film peeling parts 300 and 350 peel the protective film from the polarizing plate before being attached to the liquid crystal panel 10. The polarizing plate attaching portions 400 and 450 are for attaching the polarizing plate to the standing liquid crystal panel 10. The polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 supply the polarizing plate conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 to the polarizing plate attaching units 400 and 450 in an upright state. The polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 transports the liquid crystal panel 10 on which the polarizing plate is pasted by the polarizing plate pasting units 400 and 450 to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit of FIG. 6, and shows an enlarged view of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 of FIG. 6, and is a diagram seen from above the polarizing plate attaching device. is there. The liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 supplies the liquid crystal panel 10 in the standing state (substantially vertical state) transported from the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 to the rotating roller portions of the polarizing plate pasting units 400 and 450 with accurate alignment. 3 and includes a side roller 202 and a lower roller 203 similar to the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 of FIG. The side rollers 202 are provided so as to face both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10, support the liquid crystal panel 10 so as not to fall to the left and right sides in contact with both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10, and support the liquid crystal panel 10 in a specific direction (see FIG. It plays the role of moving in the left direction. The lower roller 203 is in contact with the lower side of the standing liquid crystal panel 10 to support the liquid crystal panel 10 and move the liquid crystal panel 10 in a specific direction (left direction in the figure).

  In this embodiment, the side roller 202 is rotationally controlled by motors (driving force sources) 204 and 205 provided on the left and right, respectively. As shown in FIG. 7, the driving force of the motors 204 and 205 is transmitted to the respective side rollers 202 via transmission means 2023 and 2024. The lower roller 203 is provided on the lower side of the moving liquid crystal panel 10, is set to the same height as the lower roller 112 of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 described above, and is actively controlled for rotation by the motor 2031. The liquid crystal panel 10 supplied from the supply station 100 is actively moved to the left in the drawing.

  FIG. 8 is a side view of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 of FIG. 7 viewed from the lower side of the drawing. In FIG. 8, only one side of the side roller 202 of FIG. 7 is shown, and the illustration of the opposite side is omitted. As shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of side rollers 202 are provided over the entire liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201. In the figure, the side roller 202 is provided with nine rotating shafts on one side. Each rotating shaft is provided with a plurality (six in the figure) of contact portion rollers 202a to 202f. As shown in FIG. 8, the contact portion rollers 202 a to 202 f are configured such that the outer peripheral surfaces of the contact portion rollers 202 a to 202 f are in contact with both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10 as viewed from the side.

  The rotation shafts of the side rollers 202 are mechanically connected via power transmission means and are controlled to rotate by motors 204 and 205. The lower roller 203 includes a plurality (14 in the figure) of rollers arranged in a line at predetermined intervals in a substantially horizontal direction. A number of rollers constituting the lower roller 203 move the liquid crystal panel 10 in a substantially horizontal direction while actively rotating in contact with the lower end of the liquid crystal panel 10 in an upright state. As described above, the basic configuration of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 is the side roller 202 and the lower roller 203, and these are configured by using frame means or the like, whereby the liquid crystal panel alignment as shown in FIGS. Part 201 is formed. The contact rollers 202a to 202f are not evenly arranged on the entire side roller 202, but are mainly arranged on the upper side of the side roller 202 as shown in FIG. This is configured to correspond to optical films of different varieties, that is, sizes, so that any one of the contact roller 202a to 202f can come into contact with the vicinity of its upper end. Therefore, no contact roller is provided below the side roller 202. However, it goes without saying that a contact roller may be provided below the side roller 202.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a state in which one side of the side roller 202 of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 has been moved (drawn) to the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 side. That is, in order to observe whether or not the liquid crystal panel 10 held by the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 is accurately positioned on the suction drums of the polarizing plate pasting units 400 and 450 in FIG. To move one side of the side roller 202 to the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 side and visually confirm the positioning state between the suction drum and the liquid crystal panel 10 (for example, the sticking start position, the gap state, etc.). It is. In addition, even when the line stops during the transportation of the liquid crystal panel 10 or when a failure occurs in the liquid crystal panel 10, the liquid crystal panel 10 during the transportation can be easily and safely taken out.

  10, FIG. 11 and FIG. 12 are diagrams showing the detailed configuration of the polarizing plate upright supply unit and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit in FIG. FIG. 10 is an enlarged view of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 of FIG. 6, and is a view seen from above the polarizing plate pasting apparatus. FIG. 11 is a view of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 of FIG. 10 as viewed from the lower side of the drawing. FIG. 12 is a diagram of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 in FIG. 10 as viewed from the right side (at the suction drum side).

  The polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 convert the polarizing plate in a substantially horizontal state conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 into a standing state (substantially vertical state), and It is supplied by accurately aligning the suction drum. The polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 transports the liquid crystal panel 10 after the polarizing plate is pasted by the polarizing plate pasting units 400 and 450 to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900. The polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 include side rollers 502 and 552, lower rollers 503 and 553, upright drums 505 and 555, and conveying rollers 506 and 556. As shown in FIG. 10, the side rollers 502 and 552 are provided facing both surfaces of the polarizing plate, lifted while sandwiching the polarizing plate conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750, and stood up ( Set to (substantially vertical). As shown in FIG. 11, the side roller 502 is provided with a plurality of pairs of a first side roller 5021 made of a large diameter roller and a second side roller 5022 made of a small diameter roller in a substantially vertical direction. The belt 5023 is wound around the first side roller 5021 and the second side roller 5022, and the belt 5023 provided on both sides of the polarizing plate 10 holds the polarizing plate 10 upward. It is designed to lift. In FIG. 11, the belt 5023 is not shown for convenience of explanation.

  The lower rollers 503 and 553 are in contact with the lower end portion of the polarizing plate 10 in an upright state to support the polarizing plate 10 and support the polarizing plate 10 in a specific direction (right direction in FIG. 11), that is, on the suction drum side. To be moved. In this embodiment, the side rollers 502 and 552 are rotationally controlled by motors (driving force sources) 504 and 554 provided on the left and right, respectively. The driving force of the motors 504 and 554 is transmitted to the side rollers 502 and 552, respectively. The lower rollers 503 and 553 are provided on the lower end side of the upright polarizing plate, and are set to the same height as the lower roller 112 of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 or the lower roller 203 of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 described above. The polarizing plate 10 that is actively controlled by the motors 5031 and 5032 and moves upright is actively moved from the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 to the suction drum side.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the air blocks 520 to 526 are provided between the first side roller having a large diameter and the second side roller having a small diameter, and are attached to the polarizing plate 10 in an upright state. On the other hand, air is blown to maintain the standing state. The air blocks 520 to 526 are completely accommodated in the side rollers 502 and 552 of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550, and air is applied to both surfaces of the polarizing plate 10 whose lower ends are in contact with the conveying belts 5033 and 5034. By spraying, the standing state of the polarizing plate 10 is maintained. The air blocks 520 to 526 may have any shape as long as the polarizing plate 10 in an upright state is prevented from coming into contact with the side rollers 502 and 552. In addition, the polarizing plate 10 may be efficiently transported by setting the air blowing direction of the air blocks 520 to 526 to a direction along the transporting direction of the polarizing plate 10.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the lower roller 503 of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 does not directly contact the lower end portion of the polarizing plate, but instead divides the plurality of rollers into two, and the plurality of divided rollers. Conveying belts 5033 and 5034 are wound around the belt. The conveyor belts 5033 and 5034 are configured to directly contact the lower end of the polarizing plate. The side roller 111 of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 and the side roller 202 of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 have no problem because the roller rotation direction and the transport direction of the liquid crystal panel 10 are the same, but the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 , 550 side rollers 502 and 552 are rotated in a substantially vertical direction and perpendicular to the substantially horizontal direction, which is the conveying direction of the polarizing plate, so there are some problems in conveying the polarizing plate. When the polarizing plate 10 is lifted upward, the side rollers 502 and 552 move away from the polarizing plate 10 to release the holding of the polarizing plate 10. As a result, the polarizing plate 10 falls due to its own weight, and its lower end comes into contact with the conveyor belts 5033 and 5034. Since the conveyance belts 5033 and 5034 have a sufficiently large contact area with the polarizing plate 10, the polarizing plate 10 can be efficiently moved in the conveyance direction.

  In the lower side of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 of FIG. 10, as shown in FIG. 12, the polarizing plate supplied from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 in a substantially horizontal state is supplied to the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550. Standing drums 505 and 555 are provided for guiding the side rollers 502 and 552. Conveying rollers 506 and 556 for conveying the polarizing plate from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 to the standing drums 505 and 555 are provided between the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 and the upright drums 505 and 555. . As shown in FIG. 10, the conveying rollers 506 and 556 are provided in parallel to the upright drums 505 and 555, and the length is substantially the same as that of the upright drums 505 and 555. Further, power transmission rollers 507 and 557 are provided at end portions of the transport rollers 506 and 556. The power transmission rollers 507 and 557 are connected to drive motors 511 and 561 coupled to the upright drums 505 and 555 via power transmission rollers 509, 510, 559, and 560, respectively. Accordingly, the upright drums 505 and 555 and the transport rollers 506 and 556 rotate in synchronization with each other.

  In order to guide the polarizing plates supplied from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 in a substantially horizontal state into the side rollers 502 and 552 of the polarizing plate standing supply unit 500, as shown in FIG. On the lower side, a guide belt 512 that rotates according to the rotation of the upright drum 505 is provided over a quarter of the circumferential surface of the upright drum 505. The guide belt 512 is supported at three points by guide rollers 513, 514, and 515, and is configured to rotate according to the rotation of the standing drum 505. Similarly, as shown in FIG. 12, a guide belt 562 that rotates according to the rotation of the standing drum 555 is provided on the lower left side of the standing drum 555 over a quarter of the circumferential surface of the standing drum 555. Yes. The guide belt 562 is supported at three points by guide rollers 563, 564, and 565, and is configured to rotate in accordance with the rotation of the standing drum 555.

  Accordingly, the polarizing plate supplied in a substantially horizontal state from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 passes between the standing drums 505 and 555 and the guide belts 512 and 562, and is bent there to stand up from the substantially horizontal state. It is converted into a state, and is sandwiched between the side rollers 502 and 552 of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 and guided upward. In FIG. 12, the conveyor belts 5033 and 5034 move to the center and retract until the polarizing plates are completely guided into the side rollers 502 and 552 of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550. When the polarizing plate 10 is completely stored in the side rollers 502 and 552 of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500, the polarizing plate 10 moves to a position where it comes into contact with the lower end of the polarizing plate as shown in FIG. ing. FIG. 12 shows a state in which the right conveyor belts 5533, 5534, 5533, and 5534 are moved to the center and retracted, and a state in which the left conveyor belts 5033 and 5534 are moved to positions where they can come into contact with the polarizing plate. Yes. Actually, the conveyor belts 5033, 5034, 5533, and 5534 move in the same way, but for convenience of explanation, different operation states are shown in FIG.

  Note that only one polarizing plate 11 is supplied from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750, but in reality, a plurality of polarizing plates may be supplied in a stacked state. is there. In such a case, discharge guide plates 530 and 580 configured to discharge the superimposed polarizing plates to the outside are provided between the power transmission rollers 509 and 559 and the guide rollers 513 and 563. When a plurality of polarizing plates are supplied in a superimposed state, a thickness detector (not shown) recognizes that there are a plurality of polarizing plates. When the thickness detector recognizes that there are a plurality of polarizing plates, a discharge guide is provided between the power transmission roller 509 and the guide roller 513 as in the discharge guide plate 530 on the lower left side of FIG. The plate 530 rotates and discharges the stacked polarizing plates to the outside. When only one polarizing plate 11 is supplied from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750, the discharge guide plate 580 includes a power transmission roller 559 and a guide roller 563 as shown in the lower right side of FIG. The polarizing plate 11 is normally guided to the upright drum 555 side.

  As shown in FIGS. 10 and 12, the polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 is polarized in an upright state (substantially vertical state) after the polarizing plate is pasted by the suction drums of the polarizing plate pasting portions 400 and 450 in FIG. 6. The liquid crystal panel 10 with a plate is conveyed to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900. The polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 includes side rollers 602 and lower rollers 615 similar to the liquid crystal panel transport unit 110 in FIG. 3 or the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 in FIG. The side roller 602 is provided so as to face both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10 with a polarizing plate, and is in contact with both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel 10 with a polarizing plate to support the liquid crystal panel 10a with a polarizing plate so that it does not fall to the left and right sides. To fulfill. The lower roller 615 is in contact with the lower side of the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a in an upright state to support the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a and moves the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a in a specific direction (left direction in FIG. 10). It is something to be made.

  In this embodiment, the side roller 602 is rotationally controlled by motors (driving force sources) 603 and 604 provided on the left and right, respectively. The driving force of the motors 603 and 604 is transmitted to the respective side rollers 602 via power transmission means 605 and 606. The lower roller 615 is provided on the lower side of the moving liquid crystal panel 10a with a polarizing plate, is set at the same height as the lower roller 112 of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 described above, and is actively controlled for rotation by a motor 608. The polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel 10a supplied from the suction drums of the polarizing plate pasting portions 400 and 450 is positively moved to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 (left direction in FIG. 10).

  As shown in FIG. 10, a plurality of side rollers 602 are provided over the entire polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600. In the figure, the side roller 602 is provided with a plurality of rotating shafts on one side. Each rotating shaft is provided with a plurality (six in FIG. 12) of contact portion rollers 602a to 602f. As shown in FIG. 12, the contact roller 602a to 602f is configured such that the outer peripheral surface of the contact roller 602a to 602f is in contact with the surface of the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a (polarizing plate surface). The contact rollers 602a to 602f are not evenly arranged on the entire side roller 602, and are mainly arranged on the upper side of the side roller 602 as shown in FIG. This is configured so that any one of the contact roller 602a to 602f can be brought into contact with the vicinity of the upper end portion in association with liquid crystal panels of different varieties, that is, sizes. Therefore, no contact roller is provided below the side roller 602. However, it goes without saying that the contact roller may be provided below the side roller 602. Each rotation shaft of the side roller 602 is connected to motors 603 and 604 via power transmission means 605 and 606, and the rotation is controlled by the motors 603 and 604. Although not shown, the lower roller 615 has a plurality of rollers arranged in a line at a predetermined interval in the substantially horizontal direction, similarly to the side roller 602. The plurality of rollers constituting the lower roller 615 moves the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a in a substantially horizontal direction while actively rotating in contact with the lower end of the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate 10a in an upright state. As described above, the basic configuration of the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 is the side roller 602 and the lower roller 615. By configuring these using frame means or the like, polarization as shown in FIGS. A plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 is formed.

  FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a state where one side of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 has moved to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 side. That is, the pasting state of the liquid crystal panel 10 after the polarizing plate is pasted by the suction drums of the polarizing plate pasting portions 400 and 450 in FIG. For this purpose, one side of the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 can be moved to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 side. As shown in FIG. 12, the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 are coupled by the frame means 609 to 612, and as shown in FIG. The configuration is such that the side roller 602 on one side of the liquid crystal panel conveyance unit 600 with a polarizing plate moves together with the supply unit 550. As shown in FIG. 13, by moving the side roller 602 on one side of the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 together with the polarizing plate upright supply unit 550, the attached state of the polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel 10 a immediately after attachment is visually observed. It becomes possible to confirm easily. Moreover, even when a line stops in the middle of conveyance, or a malfunction generate | occur | produces in the liquid crystal panel 10a with a polarizing plate, the liquid crystal panel 10a with a polarizing plate in the middle of conveyance can be taken out easily and safely.

  FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the protective film peeling portion and the polarizing plate pasting portion in FIG. 6, in which the protective film peeling portion and the polarizing plate pasting portion are enlarged and shown in FIG. It is the figure seen from the attaching apparatus upper side. FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating the peeling operation of the protective film peeling portion of FIG. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing a detailed configuration of the peeling unit portion of the protective film peeling portion of FIG. FIG. 17 is a development view of the cylindrical suction drum showing the detailed configuration of the polarizing plate attaching portion. FIG. 18 is a side view of the vicinity of the suction drum of the polarizing plate attaching portion of FIG. In addition, since the structure of the protective film peeling part 300 and the polarizing plate sticking part 400, and the protective film peeling part 350 and the polarizing plate sticking part 450 are the same, only the structure of the protective film peeling part 300 and the polarizing plate sticking part 400 The protective film peeling part 350 and the polarizing plate attaching part 450 are not shown and described.

  The protective film peeling part 300 is comprised from the peeling unit part 301, the peeling unit drive part 320, and the polarizing plate guide part 330, as shown in FIG. The peeling unit 301 includes an adhesive tape 310 that is in contact with one end of the polarizing plate 11 (dotted line in the drawing) vacuum-adsorbed on the adsorption drum 410, rollers 311 to 314 around which the adhesive tape 310 is wound, The chuck 321 sandwiches the end of the protective film 11a (the one-dot chain line in the figure) attached to the adhesive tape 310 by the rotation of the roller, and the protective film connecting portion for connecting the peeled protective film 11a and the previously peeled protective film 11b 315.

  As shown in FIG. 16, a plurality of peeling unit portions 301 are provided along the longitudinal direction of the suction drum. In this embodiment, five peeling unit portions 301 are provided. Therefore, the peeling unit portion 301 performs the peeling operation at five locations on the protective film. In FIG. 16, the adhesive tape 310 is omitted. The peeling unit driving part 320 controls the movement of the entire peeling unit part 301 except the protective film connecting part 315. The peeling unit driving part 320 moves the adhesive tape 310 to a position where it can contact the protective film 11a, and the peeled protective film 11a is moved. The embossing process of guiding the current protective film 11a to the protective film 11b previously peeled by the protective film connecting part 315 is controlled by guiding the sandwiched chuck 321 to the protective film connecting part 315. In addition, you may connect a protective film by processes other than an embossing process, for example, a thermocompression bonding process or an ultrasonic connection process.

  As shown in FIG. 14, the protective film peeling part 300 makes the adhesive tape 310 contact the front-end | tip part of the protective film 11a by the peeling unit drive part 320 in the position near the sticking position of the liquid crystal panel 10 and the polarizing plate 11. As shown in FIG. And the peeling unit part 301 pulls away the edge of the protective film 11a adhering to the adhesive tape 310 from the polarizing plate 11, moving slightly in a peeling direction (lower side direction of FIG. 14). The end of the protective film 11 a separated from the polarizing plate 11 is introduced into the chuck by the rotation of the rollers 311 to 314, and the end of the protective film 11 a is sandwiched between the chucks 321. Next, the peeling unit 301 moves a predetermined distance in the peeling direction (downward direction in the figure) while holding the end of the protective film 11 a between the chucks 321 to peel the protective film 11 a from the polarizing plate 11. Then, as shown in FIG. 15, the peeling unit 301 further moves in the peeling direction (the lower direction in the figure), and the part where the protective film 11 a is peeled off is over the protective film 11 b previously peeled off from the protective film connecting part 315. To overlay.

  Since the protective film connecting part 315 is provided with a hole 317 into which the pin 316 can be inserted, the peeling unit driving part 320 inserts the pin 316 into the hole 317 as shown in FIG. Thus, the previous protective film 11b and the current protective film 11a are connected to each other by embossing. The connected protective film 11 a is guided by the guide roller 318 and is sequentially peeled from the polarizing plate 11. The protective film 11a of the polarizing plate 11 can be sequentially peeled off at a position close to the position where the liquid crystal panel 10 and the polarizing plate 11 are attached, thereby preventing foreign matter from adhering to the polarizing plate 11.

  The polarizing plate guide unit 330 guides the standing state (substantially vertical state) polarizing plate conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 to the suction drum 410 of the polarizing plate attaching unit 400. Is composed of a feed roller 331 that feeds the suction drum 410 to the suction drum 410, a cleaning unit 332 that cleans the surface of the polarizing plate 11, and a support frame 333 that supports them. The feed roller 331 has a clamping function, and accurately positions the polarizing plate 11 on the suction drum 410. The cleaning unit 332 may be configured with a cleaning roller unit or the like.

  The polarizing plate pasting unit 400 temporarily adsorbs the polarizing plate in the standing state (substantially vertical state) conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 and stands up from the liquid crystal panel supply station 100. It is attached to the liquid crystal panel 10 in a state (substantially vertical state). That is, the polarizing plate attaching section 400 is for attaching the polarizing plate 11 simultaneously to both the left and right surfaces of the liquid crystal panel supplied in an upright state. As shown in FIG. 6, the suction drum 410 is arranged in parallel with two cylindrical suction drums 410 standing substantially vertically. The two cylindrical suction drums 410 are configured such that the outer peripheral surfaces of both suction drums 410 are in contact with the surface of the liquid crystal panel transferred from the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 in a straight line. Further, since both suction drums 410 are provided in a state in which a predetermined force is applied in opposite directions, a predetermined pressure is applied to the surface of the liquid crystal panel passing between the two suction drums 410. Thus, the simultaneous double-sided pasting operation of the polarizing plate 11 is performed. At this time, a pressure applying member that always applies a predetermined pressure between the two adsorbing drums 410 so that the interval between the two adsorbing drums 410 is freely changed according to the thickness of the liquid crystal panel passing between the two adsorbing drums 410. (Not shown) is provided. The pressure application members are provided to be coupled to the suction drums 410, respectively, so that the suction drum 410 is pushed in a direction facing each other so that a constant pressure is always applied to the contact surface between the suction drum 410 and the liquid crystal panel. Yes.

  As described above, the polarizing plate pasting portion 400 includes the two cylindrical suction drums 410. The suction drum 410 has a configuration in which a thin plate panel having a predetermined thickness is wound in a cylindrical shape. Here, an example is shown in which a thin plate-like panel is wound in a cylindrical shape, but a columnar member may be used as the suction drum. FIG. 17 is a development view showing the cylindrical suction drum 410 in a developed state. As shown in FIG. 17, the suction drum 410 is provided with a large number of suction areas 411 (regions surrounded by a dotted frame) in about a half. The suction area 411 includes a suction hole provided in the cavity 412 corresponding to the length in the minor axis direction of the polarizing plate 11c having the smallest area and a cavity corresponding to the length in the minor axis direction of the polarizing plate 11d having the largest area. The suction holes provided on the side portions of the portion 413 and the cavity portions provided so that the number of suction holes gradually increase from the cavity portion 412 toward the cavity portion 413 are configured. The hollow portion is provided linearly so as to be substantially parallel to the rotation axis of the cylindrical suction drum 410. In other words, the suction drum 410 has a diameter large enough to wind the polarizing plate 11d having the largest area without overlapping the front end portion and the rear end portion thereof. By sticking while applying pressure from both the left and right sides of the liquid crystal panel using the suction drum 410 having a large diameter in this way, the size of the polarizing plate to be simultaneously attached to the CF surface and the TFT surface of the liquid crystal panel, the attachment start position, etc. Even when they are different from each other, polarizing plates can be applied to both surfaces of the liquid crystal panel almost simultaneously.

  Each suction hole is an opening hole provided from the side surface of the cylindrical drum toward the cavity with respect to the cavity provided in the plate of the thin plate panel. The cavity of each suction hole has openings at both ends of the suction drum 410, but the opening end on the left side of the suction drum 410 is airtightly held by a stopper (not shown). Only the hollow part in the thin plate-like panel in which the vacuum suction port 414 is inserted and attached to the opening end of each is vacuum-sucked.

  On the other hand, in the cavity 420 provided with a suction hole that first sucks the tip of the polarizing plate 11 in the standing state (substantially vertical state) conveyed from the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750, Also, a suction hole having a large opening area is provided. This is because the protective film is peeled off by the adhesive tape 310 of the protective film peeling portion 300, and a large stress is applied at the time of peeling, so that the polarizing plate 11 is adsorbed to withstand it. Since the opening area of the suction hole provided in the cavity 420 is large, there is a possibility that the pressing force cannot be sufficiently transmitted when the polarizing plate is bonded to the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, in this embodiment, after the protective film 11a is peeled off and the protective films 11a and 11b are connected by embossing, the position of the tip of the polarizing plate is shifted to the position of the suction hole provided in the cavity 421. Thus, the polarizing plate 11 is sucked and held by the suction holes provided in the cavity portion 421.

  Vacuum suction ports 415 and 416 are inserted and attached to the right end portions of the hollow portions 420 and 421, and the hollow portions 420 and 421 are sucked into vacuum. On the other hand, rod-like stopper members 422 and 423 are inserted into the left end portions of the hollow portions 420 and 421 so that the suction holes of the hollow portions 420 and 421 can be set valid / invalid according to the size of the polarizing plate. It is. That is, in FIG. 17, the tip end portions of the stopper members 422 and 423 are inserted up to the position of the left end portion of the polarizing plate 11c, and the suction holes where the stopper members 422 and 423 are inserted do not function as vacuum suction. It has become. Therefore, when the polarizing plate 11d having the largest area is sucked and held, the tip end portions of the stopper members 422 and 423 are arranged as shown in FIG. 17 so that the tip end portions of the stopper members 422 and 423 are located at the left end portion of the polarizing plate 11d. Move to the left rather than the case. Thus, by positioning the tip portions of the stopper members 422 and 423 at the left end portion of the polarizing plate, it is possible to efficiently adsorb various sizes of polarizing plates.

  As described above, the polarizing plate rotates while being wound around the outer peripheral surface of the suction drum 410. Since the polarizing plate itself is very flexible, when the suction drum 410 pulls the polarizing plate, the polarizing plate is bent according to the curvature of the suction drum 410 and is wound around the suction drum 410. In this embodiment, the polarizing plate is rotated while being wound around the suction drum 410, and the attaching operation to the liquid crystal panel is simultaneously performed. In this embodiment, neither the cavity portion nor the suction hole is provided between the cavity portion 412 and the cavity portion 421, but the cavity portion having the same suction hole as the cavity portion 412 is replaced with the cavity portion 412 and the cavity portion 421. A plurality of units may be provided between the unit 421 and the unit 421.

  FIG. 18 is a side view showing a detailed configuration in the vicinity of the suction drum of the polarizing plate attaching portion. As shown in FIG. 18, the suction drum 410 is obtained by winding a thin plate-like panel into a cylindrical shape, and the inside of the suction drum 410 is in a hollow state. Circular closure members 430 and 431 are provided on both bottom surfaces of the cylindrical suction drum 410. A rotation shaft 432 is inserted through the centers of the closing members 430 and 431. The upper and lower sides of the rotating shaft 432 are rotatably supported. As shown in FIG. 18, a ventilation member 433 having a ventilation hole is provided at the lower end of the rotation shaft 432. From the ventilation member 433, intake pipes 417, 418, and 419 are connected to vacuum intake ports 414, 415, and 416, respectively. The support member 435 supports the rotary shaft 432 in a rotatable manner, and the support member 436 supports the ventilation member 433. The support members 435 and 436 are supported by the support column 437. The ventilation member 433 is configured to connect a ventilation hole that rotates together with the rotating suction drum 410 and a vacuum pump provided outside.

  19 and 20 are diagrams showing a detailed configuration of the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 1, and FIG. 19 is an enlarged view of the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. It is the figure seen from the side. FIG. 20 is a side view of the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 19 as viewed from the lower side of the drawing. The polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 take out the polarizing plate from the polarizing plate stocker 701 and supply it to the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550. Since the configuration of the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 is the same, only the configuration of the polarizing plate supply station 700 is shown in FIGS. 19 and 20.

  The polarizing plate supply station 700 includes a polarizing plate stocker 701, suction pads 7021 to 702c, vertical movement mechanisms 703 and 704, and front and rear movement mechanisms 705 and 706. The polarizing plate stocker 701 mounts and stores a plurality of polarizing plates for sticking. The suction pads 7021 to 702c suck one side of the polarizing plate 11 placed on the polarizing plate stocker 701. The polarizing plate 11 sucked by the suction pads 7021 to 702c is lifted from the polarizing plate stocker 701 by the vertical movement mechanisms 703 and 704. The lifted polarizing plate 11 is supplied to the conveyance roller 506 of the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500 by the back and forth moving mechanisms 705 and 706.

  In FIG. 19, twelve suction pads 7021 to 702c are provided. The suction pads 7021, 7024, 7027, and 702a are on the pad support frame 707, the suction pads 7022, 7025, 7028, and 702b are on the pad support frame 708, and the suction pads 7023, 7026, 7029, and 702c are on the pad support frame 709. , Each provided. The pad support frame 708 and the pad support frame 709 are configured to be movable in the vertical direction in the drawing along the guide rails 710 and 711. The suction pads 7027 and 702a are configured to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the pad support frame 707 (the horizontal direction in the figure). Similarly, the suction pads 7028 and 702b are movable in the longitudinal direction of the pad support frame 708 (left and right in the figure), and the suction pads 7029 and 702c are movable in the longitudinal direction of the pad support frame 709 (left and right in the figure). It is configured. This is because the size of the polarizing plate supplied by the polarizing plate supply station 700 is different depending on the size of the liquid crystal panel 10, so that the arrangement of the suction pads 7021 to 702c corresponds to the polarizing plates having different sizes. It is. The suction pads 7021 and 7024 are not configured to be movable because there is no need to change their positions even if the sizes of the polarizing plates are different.

  FIG. 21 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the suction pads 7022, 7023, 7025, 7026, 7027, 7028, 7029, 702a, 702b, and 702c have moved in correspondence with the small-size polarizing plates. The suction pads 7022, 7025, 7028, and 702 b can be moved in the vertical direction in the figure as the pad support frame 708 moves along the guide rails 710 and 711. Similarly, the suction pads 7023, 7026, 7029, and 702c are also movable in the vertical direction in the figure as the support frame 709 moves along the guide rails 710 and 711. Further, the suction pads 7027, 702a, 7028, 702b, 7029, 702c can move along the longitudinal direction (left-right direction in the figure) of the pad support frames 707, 708, 709. As shown in the figure, it is configured to be able to move in the plane above the polarizing plate stocker 701 in accordance with the size of the polarizing plate.

  22 and 23 are diagrams showing a detailed configuration of the protective film discharge station of FIG. 1, and FIG. 22 is an enlarged view of the protective film discharge station of FIG. It is the figure seen from the side. FIG. 23 is a side view of the protective film discharge station of FIG. 22 as viewed from the lower side of the figure. The protective film discharge stations 800 and 850 wind up and discharge the protective film 11b peeled off by the protective film peeling portions 300 and 350. Since the protective film discharge stations 800 and 850 have the same configuration, FIGS. 22 and 23 show only the configuration of the protective film discharge station 800.

  The protective film discharge station 800 includes a winding buffer 810, a winding unit 820, and a protective film discharge cart 827. The winding buffer 810 temporarily sucks the protective film 11b continuously supplied from the protective film connecting portion 315 into the inside, and puts a predetermined tension on the protective film 11b. The winding buffer 810 is configured by a housing that is capable of sucking the protective film 11b. A gas ejection portion 811 is provided on the left side of the drawing, and an exhaust port 812 is provided on the opposite right side. A predetermined pressure of air is ejected from the gas ejection portion 811 toward the right exhaust port 812. The protective film 11b is taken into the take-up buffer 810 through the guide rollers 813 and 814 and pushed toward the exhaust port 812 by the air ejected from the gas ejection part 811 as shown in the figure. Become. Accordingly, a constant tension is applied to the protective film 11b, and a constant tension can be applied to the above-described protective film peeling operation. The winding buffer 810 can also supply the protective film 11b to the winding unit 820 with a certain tension. The take-up buffer 810 is configured to apply a constant tension using air of a predetermined pressure. However, the tension may be applied using other tension applying means.

  As shown in FIG. 23, the winding unit 820 includes a winding driving unit 821, a winding shaft 822, a gas supply unit 823, a rotating shaft holding unit 824, a protective film holding unit 825, a protective film retracting unit 826, and a protective film discharge unit. A carriage 827 is used. The winding drive unit 821 is composed of a driving force source such as a motor, and transmits the rotational driving force to the winding shaft 822 via the rotating gears 828 and 829. Accordingly, the winding shaft 822 is controlled to rotate by the winding drive unit 821. The gas supply unit 823 supplies compressed gas from a compressor (not shown) provided outside to a flow path 830 provided in the take-up shaft 822. The flow path 830 provided in the winding shaft 822 extends in the longitudinal direction of the winding shaft 822 as shown in the figure, and is hermetically sealed at the end portion thereof. The flow path 830 provided in the winding shaft 822 is provided with exhaust ports 831 to 836 for exhausting compressed gas from the side surface of the winding shaft 822. The exhaust ports 831 to 836 are configured by 3 to 5 straight flow paths extending in the normal direction from the central axis of the winding shaft 822, and these straight flow paths are flow paths provided in the winding shaft 822. Each is connected to a path 830. Therefore, the compressed gas supplied from the gas supply unit 823 passes through the flow path 830 and is uniformly discharged from the exhaust ports 831 to 836.

  A cylindrical elastic member made of rubber or the like is airtightly attached so as to cover the winding shaft 822 including the exhaust ports 831 to 836. When the compressed gas is discharged from the exhaust ports 831 to 836 through the flow path 830 of the winding shaft 822, the cylindrical elastic member is thereby expanded. The cylindrical elastic member is further provided with a resin cylindrical member (not shown) having a slit along the long axis direction of the winding shaft 822 so as to cover the periphery thereof. Therefore, when the cylindrical elastic member expands, the slits provided along the long axis direction are separated and enlarged, and as a result, the diameter of the cylindrical member is enlarged. On the other hand, when the cylindrical elastic member contracts due to the supply stop of the compressed gas to the flow path 830, the interval between the slits along the long axis direction is reduced, and as a result, the diameter of the cylindrical member is reduced. The upper ends of both the cylindrical member and the elastic member are attached to the winding shaft 822 by an attachment member 843. The means for expanding and contracting the cylindrical elastic member may be configured to expand and contract the cylindrical elastic member by rotating a plate member by driving a motor instead of compressed gas. That is, other means than the compressed gas may be used as long as the cylindrical elastic member is expanded and contracted.

  At the time of attaching the polarizing plate, the cylindrical elastic member is in an expanded state, and the protective film 11b is wound around sequentially. FIG. 23 shows a state in which the protective film 11 c is wound around the winding shaft 822. As shown in FIG. 23, when the protective film 11c is wound as shown by the alternate long and short dash line, the supply of the compressed gas to the gas supply unit 823 is stopped. When the compressed gas is stopped, the cylindrical elastic member contracts and the diameter of the cylindrical member is reduced. Therefore, the diameter of the cylindrical member becomes smaller than the inner diameter of the protective film 11c and is wound around the winding shaft 822. The retained protective film 11c is detached from the take-up shaft 822 by its own weight and falls downward.

  Since the protective film 11c wound around the winding shaft 822 is wound many times, its weight is as heavy as about several tens of kilograms. The protective film holding part 825 moves the protective film 11c, which has been detached and dropped by its own weight, to the lower protective film retracting part 826 while being held on the holding base 8251. The protective film holding portion 825 is supported by two support columns 8261 and 8262 provided on the back surface thereof. The holding table 8251 is attached to a moving unit 8252 that slides along the columns 8261 and 8262. The holding table 8251 and the moving unit 8252 are coupled to a wire 8263 that is rotatably wound around pulleys 8264 and 8265 provided on the upper and lower sides. Therefore, when the pulleys 8264 and 8265 are rotationally driven by the rotational driving force source 8266, the protective film holding part 825 moves up and down in the vertical direction.

  The protective film 11 c that has been detached from the winding shaft 822 is placed on the protective film discharge carriage 827 of the protective film retracting portion 826 as the protective film 11 d by the protective film holding portion 825. As shown in FIG. 23, the protective film discharge carriage 827 moves on the guide rail 8271 with the protective film 11d placed thereon, and discharges the protective film 11d from the protective film retracting portion 826 to the outside, thereby protecting the protective film 11e. To the state. As shown in FIG. 22, the protective film discharge carriage 827 has a C shape with a notch in the center. The protective film holding part 825 has a shape capable of passing through the central part in the C-shape, and is protected by passing through the central part of the protective film discharge carriage 827 in a state where the protective film 11d is placed. The film 11d is placed on the protective film discharge carriage 827.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 is provided downstream of the polarizing plate pasting station 200 and discharges the liquid crystal panel with polarizing plate to which the polarizing plate is attached by the polarizing plate pasting station 200. The liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 has the same structure as that of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100. The liquid crystal panel with the polarizing plates pasted on both sides thereof is erected substantially vertically by the reverse operation of the liquid crystal panel supply station 100. A process of receiving, converting to a substantially horizontal state and discharging is performed.

  In the above-described embodiment, the liquid crystal panel is transferred to the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 while having a function of converting from a substantially horizontal state to an upright state (substantially vertical state), and the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate is transferred to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900. While the case where the function of converting from the substantially vertical state to the substantially horizontal state is described has been described, the function of converting from the substantially horizontal state to the standing state (substantially vertical state) while transferring the liquid crystal panel 10 to the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201. And a function of converting from a substantially vertical state to a substantially horizontal state while transporting the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate to the liquid crystal panel transporting portion 600 with a polarizing plate. Accordingly, the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 and / or the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 can be omitted, and the footprint in the transport direction of the liquid crystal panel can be greatly reduced.

  In the above-described embodiment, the polarizing plate pasting station 200 includes the liquid crystal panel supply station 100, the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750, the protective film discharge stations 800 and 850, and the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 as shown in FIG. It is arranged in a casing 210 that secures an area with the highest degree of cleanliness isolated from the station. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201, the protective film peeling units 300 and 350, the polarizing plate pasting units 400 and 450, the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550, and the polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 are It is arranged in the casing 210 having the highest degree of cleanliness. A housing 210 between the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 and the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 is a slit that can move one side of the side roller 202 of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 to the liquid crystal panel supply station 100 side. It has a slit that can pass through the liquid crystal panel in the state. The casing 210 between the protective film peeling portions 300 and 350 and the protective film discharge stations 800 and 850 has a slit through which the peeled protective film can pass in an upright state. The casing 210 between the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate supply stations 700 and 750 has a slit through which the polarizing plate placed on the polarizing plate stocker can pass in a substantially horizontal state. In the case 210 between the liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 with a polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900, one side of the polarizing plate standing supply units 500 and 550 and the liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 with a polarizing plate moves to the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 side. A slit that can pass through the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate in an upright state. As described above, the housing 210 is provided with only the minimum necessary slits, and is configured to suppress the entry of foreign substances as much as possible, and maintains a high degree of cleanliness.

  In addition, as described above, the liquid crystal panel 10 is transferred to the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 while having the function of converting from a substantially horizontal state to an upright state (substantially vertical state), and the liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate is provided in the liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 with a polarizing plate. When the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 and the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 are standing upright, the slit that can pass through the liquid crystal panel in a standing state is provided. May be provided in the housing. Further, only the protective film peeling portions 300 and 350 and the polarizing plate attaching portions 400 and 450 are provided in a case that is kept highly clean, and only the minimum necessary slits are provided on the side surfaces of the case. May be. For example, a housing is provided so as to surround only the protective film peeling portions 300 and 350 and the polarizing plate attaching portions 400 and 450, and on the side surfaces of the housing, the polarizing plate attaching portions 400 and 450 and the liquid crystal panel alignment portion The slit which can pass only a liquid crystal panel is provided between 201, and the slit which can pass only a liquid crystal panel with a polarizing plate is provided between polarizing plate sticking parts 400 and 450 and the liquid crystal panel conveyance part 600 with a polarizing plate. In addition, a slit capable of passing only the polarizing plate is provided between the polarizing plate pasting unit 400, 450 and the polarizing plate upright supply unit 500, 550, and the protective film peeling unit 300, 350 and the protective film discharging station 800, 850, It is sufficient to provide a slit through which only the peeled protective film can pass. In the above-described embodiment, the configuration in which the side roller on one side of the liquid crystal panel alignment unit 201 and the liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 with a polarizing plate can be moved has been described. The supply station 100 and the liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 can be similarly provided.

  FIG. 24 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the polarizing plate attaching apparatus according to the present invention, in which the polarizing plate upright supply units 500 and 550 and the polarizing plate-attached liquid crystal panel transport unit in the polarizing plate attaching apparatus of FIG. FIG. 6 is a view of 600 and protective film discharge stations 800 and 850 as viewed from the liquid crystal panel supply station side. In FIG. 24, the polarizing plate pasting portions 400 and 450 and the liquid crystal panel alignment portion 201 are omitted, and correspond to FIG. 24 is different from the above-described embodiment in that the polarizing plate pasting apparatus is inclined by about 3 ° clockwise relative to the vertical direction as is clear from FIG. It is a point. This is because, as in the present invention, when the liquid crystal cell is vertically placed and the polarizing plates are attached simultaneously on both sides, the posture of the liquid crystal cell becomes unstable in the vertical state, and the pressing of the attaching drum affects the attaching quality of the polarizing plate. Since it may be difficult to equalize the pressure, in order to solve the problem, as shown in FIG. 24, the polarizing plate attaching device is moved about 3 to 5 clockwise or counterclockwise with respect to the vertical direction as a whole. It is designed to be tilted by about °. Thereby, the pressing pressure of the sticking drum can be made uniform, and sticking quality is improved. By tilting the polarizing plate pasting apparatus as a whole with respect to the vertical direction, there is an effect that the transport characteristics at the time of transporting the vertical feed substrate are stabilized. In the embodiment of FIG. 24, the upper bottom portion of the base portion on which each station is placed is inclined by about 3 to 5 ° with respect to the horizontal direction, but the floor on which these bases are installed You may make it incline a surface part.

  FIG. 25 is a view showing a modification of the polarizing plate attaching portion and the protective film peeling portion of the polarizing plate attaching device according to the present invention, and the first main surface of the liquid crystal panel (cell) supplied in an upright state; A polarizing plate attaching portion for attaching the polarizing plate supplied in an upright state to the second main surface almost simultaneously, and a protective film provided on both sides of the polarizing plate attaching portion and for peeling the protective film from the polarizing plate It is a figure which shows schematic structure of a peeling part. In addition, FIG. 25 has expanded and showed the principal part of a polarizing plate sticking part and a protective film peeling part, respectively, and has shown the part from the diagonally upper side.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vacuum suction drum provided with a large number of vacuum suction holes on the side surface of the drum has been described as an example. However, when the polarizing plate as an optical film is vacuum-sucked and held by the vacuum suction holes, this vacuum suction is performed. Since the holding force exerts an adsorption force on a part of the optical film, the optical film may be slightly deformed by waviness or warping, which may cause bubbles in the pasted area or foreign objects to be caught was there. Therefore, in this embodiment, an adhesive drum that does not cause poor sticking such as bubbles or foreign matter entrained when sticking the optical film to the display panel is used.

  The adhesive drums 11 and 12 shown in FIG. 25 use an adhesive rubber member provided on the outer peripheral surface of a cylindrical drum means to hold the optical film in close contact and attach the optical film to the display panel. It is a thing. According to this embodiment, since the suction hole is not used, it is possible to easily switch the type regardless of the size of the member to be inserted, to simplify the structure, and to realize cost reduction. In addition, since the entire surface of the display panel is held with an adhesive material, the warpage of the member can be corrected, and it can be applied with the holding corrected, so that the end face of the optical film is separated or affected by wrinkles, etc. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the occurrence of defects such as bubbles and foreign matter entrainment and to perform a high-quality pasting operation. In addition, this optical film sticking means is not limited to the case of sticking in a substantially vertical state, but can be applied to sticking in a substantially horizontal state.

  The polarizing plate pasting apparatus of FIG. 25 converts the liquid crystal panel that has moved in a substantially horizontal state from the left direction in the figure into a standing state by the liquid crystal panel supply unit, and has proceeded in the standing state. The polarizing plates 51 and 61 are attached almost simultaneously using two adhesive drums 11 and 12 rotatably supported on the first main surface and the second main surface of 71. . In addition, although the protective film peeling means 30 and the protective film winding means 40 exist also in the adhesion drum 12 side, this illustration is abbreviate | omitted in this figure.

  This polarizing plate affixing device has been conveyed from the liquid crystal panel supply unit while temporarily holding (adhering) the polarizing plate 50 in an upright state (substantially vertical state) conveyed from the polarizing plate supply unit. It is affixed to the liquid crystal panel 71 in a standing state (substantially vertical state). In other words, the polarizing plate attaching apparatus attaches the polarizing plates 50 and 60 simultaneously to both the left and right sides of the liquid crystal panel 71 supplied in an upright state. As shown in the figure, the adhesive drums 11 and 12 are rotatably supported on both sides of the polarizing plate attaching portion where the polarizing plate attaching operation is performed, and the two cylindrical drums stand substantially vertically. Are arranged in parallel.

  The adhesive drums 11 and 12 are formed of a cylindrical urethane layer, and adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 are wound around the rotation surfaces of the adhesive drums 11 and 12, that is, the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical urethane layer. . The entire surface of the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 has adhesiveness, and the entire surface of the polarizing plate is tightly held on the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14. The adhesive drums 11 and 12 hold the polarizing plates 50 and 60 conveyed in a standing state from a polarizing plate supply unit (not shown) in close contact with the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14, and the polarizing plates are applied by the adhesive force of the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14. 50 and 60 can be held.

  As shown in the figure, the adhesive rubber belt 13 of the adhesive drum 11 sticks and holds the tip of the polarizing plate 51 conveyed from the right side of FIG. 25, and then the adhesive drum 13 rotates clockwise, whereby the polarizing plate 50, the adhesive rubber belt 13 is held in close contact (adhesion) with the outer peripheral surface. The polarizing plate 50 rotates clockwise while being held in close contact with the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive rubber belt 13, and is conveyed to a position where it is attached to the liquid crystal panel 71. On the other hand, the adhesive rubber belt 14 of the adhesive drum 12 similarly holds the tip of the polarizing plate 61 conveyed from the right side of FIG. 25, and then the adhesive drum 12 rotates counterclockwise, Like the polarizing plate 60, it is adhered (adhered) to the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive rubber belt 14. The polarizing plate 60 rotates counterclockwise while being adhered and held on the outer peripheral surface of the adhesive rubber belt 14, and is conveyed to a bonding position with respect to the liquid crystal panel 71.

  The two cylindrical adhesive drums 11 and 12 are arranged such that the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 disposed on the outer peripheral surface thereof are in contact with the surface of the liquid crystal panel 71 transferred from the liquid crystal panel supply unit in a straight line. It is configured. Furthermore, since both the adhesive drums 11 and 12 are provided in a state in which a predetermined force is applied in the direction toward the central axis of each other, the surface of the liquid crystal panel 71 passing between the both adhesive drums 11 and 12 is predetermined. Thus, the simultaneous double-sided bonding operation of the polarizing plates 50 and 60 is performed.

  At this time, there is always a predetermined distance between the two adhesive drums 11 and 12 so that the interval between the two adhesive drums 11 and 12 can be freely changed according to the thickness of the liquid crystal panel 71 passing between the two adhesive drums 11 and 12. A pressure applying member (not shown) for applying the above pressure is provided. The pressure applying members are respectively connected to both the adhesive drums 11 and 12, and are always fixed to the contact surface between the adhesive drums 11 and 12 and the liquid crystal panel 71 by pressing the adhesive drums 11 and 12 in a direction facing each other. Pressure is applied. Since the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 are elastically deformed by themselves, the elastic deformation function may be used to absorb the variation in the thickness of the liquid crystal panel 71.

  The adhesive drums 11 and 12 are moved to the vicinity of the protective film peeling means 30 according to the rotational movement of the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 in a state in which the conveyed polarizing plates 50 and 60 are adhered and held. The protective film peeling means on the second adhesive drum 20 side is not shown.

  The protective film peeling means 30 is peeled off from an adhesive tape that is in contact with one end of the polarizing plates 51 and 61 held in close contact with the adhesive drums 11 and 12 and a chuck that sandwiches the end of the protective film that is attached to the adhesive tape by rotation. The protective film connecting portion connects the protective film and the protective film peeled off last time. In FIG. 25, the details of each of these constituent means are omitted, and for convenience, a protective film 41 that is peeled and connected is shown.

  The connected protective film 41 is guided to the protective film winding means 40 by a guide roller (not shown) and the like, and is sequentially peeled off from the polarizing plate 51 and simultaneously wound on the protective film winding means 40. The protective film 41 of the polarizing plate 51 can be sequentially peeled off at a position close to the attachment position between the liquid crystal panel 71 and the polarizing plate 51, thereby preventing foreign matter from adhering to the polarizing plate 51.

  The adhesive drums 11 and 12 have such a diameter that the polarizing plate having the largest area can be wound without overlapping the front end portion and the rear end portion thereof. By sticking while applying pressure from both the left and right sides of the liquid crystal panel using such a large-diameter adhesive drum, the size of the polarizing plate that is simultaneously attached to the CF surface and the TFT surface of the liquid crystal panel, the attachment start position, etc. Even if they are different, polarizing plates can be attached to both sides of the liquid crystal panel almost simultaneously.

  Although not shown in the drawing, a strong adhesive cleaning roller is placed in the vicinity of the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 of the adhesive drums 11 and 12 with a predetermined pressing force at a location where the polarizing plates 51 and 61 are not held tightly. It is also possible to remove impurities such as dust adhering to the adhesive rubber belts 13 and 14 by pressing. The present invention is not limited to the application of a polarizing plate to a liquid crystal panel, but can be widely applied to the application of an optical film having a protective film to a display panel.

  In the above-described embodiment, the case where the optical film (polarizing plate) is attached in a substantially vertical state has been described. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the optical film (polarizing plate) can be attached in a substantially horizontal state. FIG. 26 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration when the polarizing plate pasting apparatus is configured with the adhesive drum of FIG. 25 in a substantially horizontal state. The polarizing plate pasting apparatus of FIG. 26 advances the liquid crystal panel that has moved in a substantially horizontal state as it is, and puts polarizing plates on both the first main surface and the second main surface of the liquid crystal panel in progress. Paste almost at the same time. As shown in the figure, the adhesive drums 15 and 16 are rotatably supported on both sides of the polarizing plate attaching portion where the polarizing plate attaching operation is performed, and the two cylindrical drums are vertically parallel in a substantially horizontal state. Is arranged.

  The adhesive drums 15 and 16 are formed of a cylindrical urethane layer, similar to that shown in FIG. 25. An adhesive rubber belt (on the outer peripheral surface of the cylindrical urethane layer, that is, the rotation surface of the adhesive drums 15 and 16 is provided. (Not shown) is wound. The entire surface of the adhesive rubber belt has adhesiveness in the outer peripheral direction, and the entire surface of the polarizing plate is closely held on the adhesive rubber belt. The adhesive drums 15 and 16 hold the polarizing plates 50 and 60 conveyed in a substantially horizontal state from a polarizing plate supply unit (not shown) in close contact with the adhesive rubber belt, and hold the polarizing plates 50 and 60 by the adhesive force of the adhesive rubber belt. It is configured to be able to. In addition, what was shown in FIG. 26 is what the polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. 25 was made into the substantially horizontal state, The structure is the same as the polarizing plate sticking apparatus of FIG. 25 mentioned above.

  FIG. 27 is a diagram showing an example of a polarizing plate attaching apparatus for attaching an optical film (polarizing plate) in the substantially horizontal state of FIG. 26 shows the concept of attaching the optical film (polarizing plate) in a substantially horizontal state, but FIG. 27 shows the substantially horizontal state of FIG. 26 on the polarizing plate attaching portion of the polarizing plate attaching apparatus of FIG. The specific example at the time of using the adhesive drum (adhesive rubber belt) which affixes an optical film (polarizing plate) is shown. In this polarizing plate attaching apparatus, an optical film (polarizing plate) is attached to a liquid crystal panel (display panel) in a substantially horizontal state as shown in FIG. 26 at the polarizing plate attaching portion of the polarizing plate attaching station 200a. It is configured. In this case, the liquid crystal panel supply station, which is essential in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 and 6, converts the liquid crystal panel conveyed in a substantially horizontal state into a standing state and supplies it to the polarizing plate pasting station in the subsequent stage. 100, polarizing plate standing supply units 500, 550 for supplying a polarizing plate mounted in a substantially horizontal state into a substantially vertical state and supplying the polarizing plate to a polarizing plate pasting station; The liquid crystal panel discharge station 900 for converting the liquid crystal panel from a standing state to a substantially horizontal state and discharging the liquid crystal panel can be omitted, and the overall footprint of the polarizing plate pasting apparatus can be greatly reduced.

  In FIG. 27, it is the figure which looked at the polarizing plate sticking station 200a from the side surface. In this polarizing plate pasting station 200a, two cylindrical adhesive drums 15 and 16 arranged in a substantially horizontal state are arranged in parallel in the vertical vertical direction. 27, the polarizing plate supply stations 700a and 750a and the protective film discharge stations 800a and 850a are also arranged vertically in the vertical direction. The adhesive drums 15 and 16 are constituted by the adhesive drum of FIG. 25 or FIG.

  The polarizing plate supply stations 700a and 750a take out the polarizing plate from the polarizing plate stocker 701a, accurately align and supply it to the adhesive drums 15 and 16 of the polarizing plate attaching portion, and supply the polarizing plate from the polarizing plate stocker 701a. The mechanism for taking out is composed of the same mechanism as shown in FIGS. 19 to 21, and the mechanism for accurately aligning and supplying the polarizing plate to the adhesive drums 15 and 16 is the liquid crystal panel shown in FIGS. It is configured by applying the same transport mechanism as the alignment unit 201 or the polarizing plate-equipped liquid crystal panel transport unit 600 shown in FIG. 13 for horizontally transporting the polarizing plate. In FIG. 27, only the polarizing plate supply station 700a, the polarizing plate stocker 701a and its take-out mechanism are shown. A similar mechanism exists on the side of the polarizing plate supply station 750a, but is not shown because it is located on the back side of the polarizing plate pasting apparatus.

  The basic configuration of the protective film discharge stations 800a and 850a is the same as that shown in FIG. In addition, because the polarizing plate is transported in a substantially horizontal state, a protective film winding body peeled off at the protective film peeling portion (a protective film wound around a winding shaft) is attached to the polarizing plate. It was moved down in the vertical direction using a protective film holder (not shown) that moved in the back direction of the apparatus (depth direction in FIG. 27) and moved up and down in the vertical direction. It is configured to be conveyed and discharged from a protective film discharge carriage (not shown).

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus by one embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the liquid crystal panel supply station of FIG. It is the side view which looked at the liquid crystal panel supply station of FIG. 2 from the right side. It is a figure which shows the first half part of an example of the operation | movement which a liquid crystal panel supply station converts the substantially horizontal liquid crystal panel into a standing state. It is a figure which shows the latter half part of an example of the operation | movement which a liquid crystal panel supply station converts the substantially horizontal liquid crystal panel into a standing state. It is a figure which shows the whole structure of a polarizing plate sticking station. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the liquid crystal panel alignment part of FIG. 6, is the figure which expanded and showed the liquid crystal panel alignment part of FIG. 6, and was the figure seen from the polarizing plate sticking apparatus upper side. It is the side view which looked at the liquid crystal panel alignment part of FIG. 7 from the lower side of the figure. It is a figure which shows the state which one side of the side roller of the liquid crystal panel alignment part moved to (drawn out) the liquid crystal panel supply station side. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the polarizing plate standing supply part of FIG. 6, and a liquid crystal panel conveyance part with a polarizing plate, and expands and shows the polarizing plate standing supply part of FIG. It is the figure seen from the board sticking apparatus upper side. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the polarizing plate standing supply part of FIG. 6, and a liquid crystal panel conveyance part with a polarizing plate, and is the figure which looked at the polarizing plate standing supply part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the polarizing plate standing supply part of FIG. 6, and a liquid crystal panel conveyance part with a polarizing plate, and sees the polarizing plate standing supply part and the liquid crystal panel conveyance part with a polarizing plate of FIG. 10 from the right side (suction drum side) of a figure. It is a figure. It is a figure which shows the state which one side of the polarizing plate standing supply part and the liquid crystal panel conveyance part with a polarizing plate moved to the liquid crystal panel discharge station side. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film peeling part of FIG. 6, and a polarizing plate sticking part, and is each expanding and showing a protective film peeling part and a polarizing plate sticking part, and a polarizing plate sticking apparatus upper side It is the figure seen from. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film peeling part and polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. 6, and is a figure explaining peeling operation | movement of the protective film peeling part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film peeling part and polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. 6, and is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the peeling unit part of the protective film peeling part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film peeling part and polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. 6, and is a development view of the cylindrical adsorption drum which shows the detailed structure of a polarizing plate sticking part. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film peeling part and polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. 6, and is the side view which looked at the adsorption drum vicinity of the polarizing plate sticking part of FIG. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 1, is the figure which expanded and showed the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 1, and was the figure seen from the polarizing plate sticking apparatus upper side. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 1, and is the side view which looked at the polarizing plate supply station of FIG. 19 from the lower side of the figure. It is a figure which shows the state which each suction pad moved corresponding to the polarizing plate of a small size. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film discharge station of FIG. 1, and is the figure which expanded and showed the protective film discharge station of FIG. 1, and was the figure seen from the polarizing plate sticking apparatus upper side. It is a figure which shows the detailed structure of the protective film discharge station of FIG. 1, and is the side view which looked at the protective film discharge station of FIG. 22 from the lower side of the figure. It is a figure which shows another Example of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the modification of the polarizing plate sticking part and protective film peeling part of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows schematic structure at the time of comprising the adhesive drum of FIG. 25 in a substantially horizontal state, and comprising a polarizing plate sticking apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus which sticks an optical film (polarizing plate) in the substantially horizontal state of FIG.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Liquid crystal panel 100 ... Liquid crystal panel supply station 11, 12 ... Adhesive drum 110 ... Liquid crystal panel conveyance part 111 ... Side roller 111a-111d ... Contact part roller 112 ... Lower roller 13,14 ... Adhesive rubber belt 15,16 ... Adhesive drum 150 ... substantially vertical conversion part 151 ... moving part main body 152,153 ... guide rails 154,155 ... rack 156,157 ... pinion 158,159 ... power transmission shafts 160,161 ... power transmission discs 162,163 ... substantially vertical substantially horizontal Movable part 200 ... Polarizing plate pasting station 200a ... Polarizing plate pasting station 201 ... Liquid crystal panel alignment unit 202 ... Side roller 203 ... Lower rollers 204, 205 ... Motor (drive power source)
2023, 2024 ... transmission means 2031 ... motors 202a to 202f ... contact part roller 210 ... casing 30 ... protective film peeling means 300, 350 ... protective film peeling part 301 ... peeling unit part 310 ... adhesive tape 311-314 ... roller 315 ... Protective film connecting part 321 ... chuck 320 ... peeling unit driving part 330 ... polarizing plate guide part 320 ... peeling unit driving part 316 ... pin 317 ... hole 318 ... guide roller 330 ... polarizing plate guide part 331 ... feed roller 332 ... roller unit 333 ... Support frame 40 ... Protective film winding means 41 ... Protective film 400, 450 ... Polarizing plate attaching part 410 ... Suction drum 411 ... Suction area 412,413,420,421 ... Cavity part 414,415,416 ... Vacuum intake port 422, 423 ... Stopper members 430, 43 ... Closing member 432 ... Rotating shaft 433 ... Ventilation members 414, 415, 416 ... Vacuum suction ports 417, 418, 419 ... Intake pipes 435, 436 ... Support members 437 ... Struts 50, 60, 51, 61 ... Polarizing plates 500, 550 ... Standing plate upright supply unit 502,552 ... Side roller 503,553 ... Lower roller 504,554 ... Motor 505,555 ... Elevating drum 506,556 ... Conveying roller 507,557 ... Power transmission roller 502,552 ... Side roller 5021 ... First side roller 5022 ... Second side roller 5023 ... Belt 5031 ... Motors 5033 and 5034 ... Conveyance belts 509, 510, 559 and 560 ... Power transmission rollers 511 and 561 ... Driving motors 512 and 562 ... Guide belts 513, 514, 515, 563, 564, 565 ... guide rollers 520 26 ... Air blocks 530,580 ... discharge guide plates 600 ... a polarizing plate liquid crystal panel conveyance unit 602 ... side roller 602A～602f ... contact portion roller 603 and 604 ... motor (drive power source)
605, 606 ... power transmission means 608 ... motors 609-612 ... frame means 615 ... lower roller 71 ... liquid crystal panel 700, 750 ... polarizing plate supply station 700a, 750a ... polarizing plate supply station 701 ... polarizing plate stocker 701a ... polarizing plate stocker 7021 to 702c ... suction pads 703, 704 ... vertical movement mechanisms 705, 706 ... forward / backward movement mechanisms 707, 708, 709 ... pad support frames 710, 711 ... guide rails 800, 850 ... protective film discharge stations 800a, 850a ... protective film discharge Station 810 ... Winding buffer 820 ... Winding part 821 ... Winding drive part 822 ... Winding shaft 823 ... Gas supply part 824 ... Rotating shaft holding part 825 ... Protective film holding part 826 ... Protective film retracting part 827 ... Protective film discharge Dolly 8 8,829 ... Rotary gears 8261, 8262 ... Stand 8251 ... Holding base 8252 ... Moving part 8264, 8265 ... Pulley 8263 ... Wire 8264 ... Rotary driving force source 8271 ... Guide rail 830 ... Flow path 831-836 ... Exhaust port 843 ... Attachment Member 900 ... Liquid crystal panel discharge station

Claims (5)

Display panel supply means for standing and transporting the display panel that has been transported in a substantially horizontal state while being inclined at a predetermined angle with respect to the vertical direction;
First and second optical film supply means for conveying the optical film in an inclined state as much as the predetermined angle at positions along the left and right sides of the display panel conveyed in the standing state inclined at the predetermined angle ;
Consists of first and second cylindrical drum means arranged so that the rotation axis is substantially parallel to the standing display panel surface inclined from the display panel supply means and inclined at a predetermined angle. And holding one side of the optical film conveyed and supplied from the first and second optical film supply means to the first and second cylindrical drum means and bringing the optical film to the display panel side. An optical film attaching means for rotating the first and second cylindrical drum means while applying pressure to attach the optical film to both surfaces of the display panel substantially simultaneously;
In response to the optical film application operation of the optical film application means, the display panel in an upright state inclined by the predetermined angle with the optical film attached to both surfaces is received from the optical film application means, and the transport direction An optical film sticking device comprising: a display panel discharge means for discharging from a standing state to a substantially horizontal state while being conveyed . Oite the optical film pasting device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second cylindrical drum means, one surface of the optical film by the first and second adhesive rubber member provided on the outer peripheral surface An optical film affixing device characterized in that the side is closely held. Oite the optical film pasting device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second cylindrical drum means, it sucks and holds the one side of the optical film by a plurality of suction holes provided on the outer peripheral surface An optical film affixing device. 4. The optical film sticking device according to claim 1, wherein the optical film sticking device is tilted by about 3 to 5 degrees with respect to a vertical direction as the predetermined angle . A method for producing a display panel, comprising: attaching an optical film to a display panel using the optical film attaching apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 .

Images