JPH05203969A - Liquid crystal injection device and liquid crystal injection method by this device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To inject liquid crystals into liquid crystal cells in a short period of time and to improve the productivity of the liquid crystal display device by rotating a rotating plate in the state of imposing the liquid crystal cells on a liquid crystal tray. CONSTITUTION:The liquid crystal cells 7 are first imposed on the liquid crystal tray 5 in the state of directing liquid crystal injection ports inward in the radial direction of the rotating plate 6. The pressure in a vacuum vessel 2 is then reduced to evacuate the liquid crystal cells 7 to a vacuum. The rotating plate 6 is rotated in a prescribed direction at a prescribed rotating speed when the evacuation to the vacuum is sufficiently executed. The vacuum vessel 2 is then internally pressurized up to the atm. pressure. The liquid crystals 4 are concentrated toward the outer side of the liquid crystal tray 5 by centrifugal force, by which the liquid crystal injection ports 7a are immersed into the liquid crystals 4 and the liquid crystals 4 are injected by capillarity into the liquid crystals 7 via the liquid crystal injection ports 7a. Since the centrifugal force acts on the liquid crystals 4, the injection of the liquid crystals 4 is accelerated and the injection rate is accelerated. As a result, the need for moving the liquid crystal cells 7 to the liquid crystal tray 5 is eliminated, the need for the moving mechanism for this purpose is eliminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal injecting device and a liquid crystal injecting method using the device, and more specifically, to injecting liquid crystal by rotating a liquid crystal cell to generate a centrifugal force. The present invention relates to an injection device and a liquid crystal injection method using the device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, after a pair of plastic substrates are separated by a spacer, a peripheral edge portion is adhered to form a liquid crystal injection port at a predetermined end to form a liquid crystal cell, Then, when filling the liquid crystal cell with liquid crystal, the inside and outside of the liquid crystal cell are evacuated to a vacuum state, and then the liquid crystal inlet is immersed in the liquid crystal to gradually return the outside air of the liquid crystal cell to the atmospheric pressure. The liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell by the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the cell, that is, the capillary phenomenon is generated (for example, JP-A-63-2).
6620).

[0003]

However, in such a liquid crystal injection method, the pressure difference between the inside of the liquid crystal cell and the outside air gradually decreases as the liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell. However, there is a problem that the injection speed of the liquid crystal is gradually decreased, and it takes a lot of time to completely inject the liquid crystal into the cell, which deteriorates the productivity of the liquid crystal display element.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal injecting device and a liquid crystal injecting method using the device, which can inject liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell in a short time to improve the productivity of liquid crystal display elements. ..

[0005]

The invention according to claim 1 is
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a vacuum container for accommodating a liquid crystal cell in which the outer peripheral portions of two flexible substrates are sealed and a liquid crystal injection port into which liquid crystal can be injected is provided at a predetermined end, and the vacuum container It is provided with a liquid crystal dish in which liquid crystal is injected, and a rotary plate which is rotatably provided in the vacuum container and on which the liquid crystal dish can be mounted. The vacuum container is decompressed to evacuate the liquid crystal cell. After that, the liquid crystal injection device is configured to inject the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell by immersing the liquid crystal injection port in the liquid crystal and pressurizing the inside of the vacuum container to approximately atmospheric pressure. The feature is that the rotating plate is rotated in this state.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the liquid crystal inlet is provided at a predetermined end portion in the width direction of the liquid crystal cell, and when the liquid crystal cell is placed on a liquid crystal dish, It is characterized in that the width direction of the liquid crystal cell is substantially orthogonal to the radial direction of the rotary plate. The invention according to claim 3 is
In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the liquid crystal dish is divided into upper and lower liquid crystal dishes, and a projecting portion that projects inward in the radial direction of the rotary plate is formed on the upper portion of the upper liquid crystal dish. The liquid crystal cell is held by the liquid crystal dish by being sandwiched between the upper and lower liquid crystal dishes such that the longitudinal direction of the liquid crystal cell substantially coincides with the radial direction of the rotary plate.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, in the liquid crystal injection method using the liquid crystal injection device according to the first aspect, the liquid crystal injection port is located outside in the radial direction of the rotary plate. While holding the liquid crystal cell with a specified rotating jig and rotating it, decompress the vacuum container and evacuate the liquid crystal cell, then position the liquid crystal inlet inside the rotating plate in the radial direction and place it on the liquid crystal dish. In this state, the rotary plate is rotated and the inside of the vacuum container is pressurized to about atmospheric pressure to inject the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell.

[0008]

According to the first aspect of the invention, the rotary plate is rotated with the liquid crystal cell placed on the liquid crystal dish. Therefore, a centrifugal force is generated in addition to the capillary phenomenon at the time of injecting the liquid crystal, and the centrifugal force accelerates the injecting of the liquid crystal. As a result, the injection time of the liquid crystal is shortened and the productivity of the liquid crystal display device is improved.

Further, after the liquid crystal cell is placed on the liquid crystal dish and vacuum evacuation is performed, the liquid crystal is injected by rotating the liquid crystal cell. Therefore, after the vacuum evacuation, the liquid crystal is moved by a predetermined moving mechanism. Since it is not necessary to move the cell to the liquid crystal dish, this moving mechanism is unnecessary. According to the second aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal inlet is provided at a predetermined end portion in the width direction of the liquid crystal cell, and when the liquid crystal cell is placed on the liquid crystal dish, the width direction of the liquid crystal cell becomes the radial direction of the rotating plate. It is almost orthogonal. Therefore, when the liquid crystal cell is rotated, a centrifugal force acts in a direction orthogonal to all the surfaces in the width direction of the liquid crystal cell, and the liquid crystal injection efficiency is improved.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the liquid crystal dish is divided into upper and lower liquid crystal dishes, and a projecting portion projecting inward in the radial direction of the rotary plate is formed on the upper liquid crystal dish. To be done. Therefore, even if the liquid crystal dish rotates at a high speed, the protrusion prevents the liquid crystal from flowing out. As a result, the liquid crystal dish is rotated at a high speed, and the liquid crystal injection time is further shortened.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, since the liquid crystal cell is rotated in a state where the liquid crystal inlet is located radially outward of the rotary plate, the vacuum exhaust is performed. Centrifugal force is generated and the evacuation speed becomes faster. Next, the liquid crystal inlet is placed inward of the rotary plate in the radial direction and placed on the liquid crystal dish.In this state, the rotary plate is rotated and the inside of the vacuum container is pressurized to approximately atmospheric pressure to enter the liquid crystal cell. Liquid crystal is injected. Therefore, a centrifugal force is generated in addition to the capillary phenomenon at the time of injecting the liquid crystal, and the injecting of the liquid crystal is promoted by the centrifugal force, so that the time for injecting the liquid crystal is shortened. As a result, the time from evacuation of the liquid crystal cell to liquid crystal injection is significantly shortened, and the productivity of the liquid crystal display device is further improved.

[0012]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be described below based on examples.
1 to 3 are views showing a first embodiment of the liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. 1 and 2, reference numeral 1 is a vacuum injecting device, which is a vacuum container 2
A closing plate 3 provided above the vacuum container 2 to close the vacuum container 2; a donut-shaped liquid crystal plate 5 provided in the vacuum container 2 and filled with liquid crystals 4; The rotary plate 6 is rotatably provided and is connected to a motor or the like (not shown) via a rod 6a, and a rotary plate 6 on which the liquid crystal dish 5 can be placed.

The liquid crystal cell 5 is capable of mounting a liquid crystal cell 7, and the liquid crystal cell 5 has a transparent electrode substrate made of an ITO film or the like formed on the inner surface thereof and an S electrode on the electrode substrate.
A spacer is interposed between at least two plastic films as flexible substrates, which are rubbed with an alignment film made of iO2, and a peripheral portion except for the liquid crystal injection port 7a formed on one of the plastic films is sealed. It consists of things.

Next, a method of injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell 7 by using such a liquid crystal injecting device will be described. First, the liquid crystal cell 7 is placed on the liquid crystal dish 5 with the liquid crystal inlet 7 a directed inward in the radial direction of the rotary plate 6. Next, the inside of the vacuum container 2 is decompressed to evacuate the liquid crystal cell 7, and when the vacuum exhaust is sufficiently performed, the rotary plate 6 is rotated at a predetermined rotation speed in the arrow direction of FIG. The inside of 2 is pressurized to atmospheric pressure. Therefore, due to centrifugal force, the liquid crystal 4
Are collected outside the liquid crystal dish 5 and the liquid crystal injection port 7a is immersed in the liquid crystal 4, and the liquid crystal 4 is injected into the cell 7 through the liquid crystal injection port 7a by the capillary phenomenon. At this time, the liquid crystal 4
Since the centrifugal force acts on the liquid crystal 4, the injection of the liquid crystal 4 is promoted and the injection speed is accelerated. As a result, the liquid crystal display element is completed.

As described above, in this embodiment, since the rotary plate 6 is rotated with the liquid crystal cell 7 placed on the liquid crystal dish 5, centrifugal force is generated in addition to the capillary phenomenon when the liquid crystal 4 is injected. It is possible to accelerate injection of the liquid crystal 4 by the centrifugal force. As a result, the injection time of the liquid crystal 4 can be shortened and the productivity of the liquid crystal display element can be improved.

Further, since the liquid crystal 4 is injected by rotating the liquid crystal cell 7 after performing the vacuum evacuation with the liquid crystal cell 7 placed on the liquid crystal dish 5, a predetermined moving mechanism after the vacuum evacuation is performed. This makes it unnecessary to move the liquid crystal cell 7 to the liquid crystal dish 5, and the moving mechanism can be made unnecessary. 4 to 6 are views showing a second embodiment of the liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention. In the present embodiment, the structure of the liquid crystal cell and the state when the cell is placed on the liquid crystal dish are the first embodiment. Since the other configurations are the same except for the above, the same configurations as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, a liquid crystal inlet 11a is provided at a predetermined end portion in the width direction of the liquid crystal cell 11, and when the liquid crystal cell 11 is placed on the liquid crystal dish 5, the liquid crystal cell 11 is placed. The width direction of 11 is made substantially orthogonal to the radial direction of the rotary plate 6. In this embodiment, in addition to the same effects as the first embodiment,
When the liquid crystal is injected by rotating the rotary plate 6, a centrifugal force can be applied in a direction orthogonal to all the widthwise surfaces of the liquid crystal cell 11, and the liquid crystal injection efficiency can be improved.

7 to 9 are views showing a third embodiment of the liquid crystal injecting device according to the present invention. This embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the structure of the liquid crystal dish and the liquid crystal supply tube are provided. Since the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment, the same configurations as those of the first embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. As shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, the liquid crystal dish 21 is divided into an upper liquid crystal dish 22 and a donut-shaped lower liquid crystal dish 23.
A protrusion 22a is formed on the upper part of the protrusion so as to protrude inward in the radial direction of the rotary plate 6. The upper liquid crystal dish 22 and the lower liquid crystal dish 23 define an insertion opening (not shown) into which the liquid crystal cell 24 can be inserted when they are combined.
24 is inserted into this insertion port and held between the liquid crystal dishes 22 and 23, and at the time of insertion, the portion between the liquid crystal cells 24 is sealed to prevent the liquid crystal 25 from leaking to the outside as shown in FIG.

Further, the vacuum container 2 is provided with a vacuum supply pipe 26, and one end of the vacuum supply pipe 26 extends to the liquid crystal dish 21 in the vacuum container 2 and the other end thereof is illustrated. Not connected to liquid crystal source. In this embodiment, first, the pouring liquid crystal inlet 24a of the liquid crystal cell 24 is located inward of the rotary plate 6 in the radial direction, and the longitudinal direction of the liquid crystal cell 24 is aligned with the radial direction of the rotary plate 6. The liquid crystal dish 21 is held by sandwiching 24 between the upper and lower liquid crystal dishes 22, 23.

After evacuating the liquid crystal cell 24 in this state, liquid crystal is supplied from the liquid crystal supply pipe 26 into the liquid crystal dish 21.
Next, the rotary plate 6 is rotated at a predetermined rotational speed in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 9, and the inside of the vacuum container 2 is pressurized to atmospheric pressure. Therefore, the liquid crystal 25 gathers outside the liquid crystal dish 21 by the centrifugal force, the liquid crystal inlet 24a is immersed in the liquid crystal 25, and the liquid crystal 25 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 24 through the liquid crystal inlet 24a due to the capillary phenomenon. The same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in this embodiment, the liquid crystal dish 21 is divided into upper and lower liquid crystal dishes 22 and 23, and the upper liquid crystal dish is divided.
Since the protrusion 22a protruding inward in the radial direction of the rotary plate 6 is formed on the upper part of the rotary plate 6, even if the liquid crystal dish 21 is rotated at a high speed, the protrusion 22a can regulate the outflow of the liquid crystal 24 to the outside. it can. As a result, the liquid crystal dish 21 can be rotated at high speed, and the injection time of the liquid crystal 24 can be further shortened.

10 to 12 are views showing a fourth embodiment of a liquid crystal injecting device and a liquid crystal injecting method using the device according to the present invention. In this embodiment, the same components as those in the first embodiment have the same reference numerals. Is attached and the description is omitted. In this embodiment, a rotating jig (not shown) that holds the liquid crystal cell 7 and is rotatable is provided above the vacuum container 2. Then, with the liquid crystal injection port 7a positioned outside the rotary plate 6 in the radial direction, the liquid crystal cell 7
The vacuum container 2 is decompressed while being held and rotated by a rotating jig to evacuate the liquid crystal cell 7.

Next, the liquid crystal inlet 7a is positioned radially inward of the rotary plate 6 and placed on the liquid crystal dish 5, and the rotary plate 6 is rotated in this state, and the vacuum container 2 is heated to approximately atmospheric pressure. The liquid crystal 4 is injected into the liquid crystal cell 7 by pressing. Therefore, a centrifugal force can be generated in the liquid crystal cell 7 at the time of evacuation to increase the evacuation speed. Further, centrifugal force can be generated in addition to the capillary phenomenon when the liquid crystal is injected, and the same effect as that of the first embodiment can be obtained. As a result, the time from evacuation of the liquid crystal cell 7 to liquid crystal injection can be significantly shortened, and the productivity of the liquid crystal display element can be further improved.

[0024]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, centrifugal force can be generated in addition to the capillary phenomenon at the time of injecting the liquid crystal, and the injecting of the liquid crystal can be promoted by the centrifugal force. As a result, the injection time of the liquid crystal can be shortened and the productivity of the liquid crystal display device can be improved.

According to the second aspect of the invention, the centrifugal force can be applied in the direction orthogonal to all the widthwise surfaces of the liquid crystal cell, and the liquid crystal injection efficiency can be improved. According to the invention described in claim 3, even if the liquid crystal dish is rotated at a high speed, the protrusion of the liquid crystal can regulate the outflow of the liquid crystal to the outside. As a result, the liquid crystal dish can be rotated at high speed,
The liquid crystal injection time can be further shortened.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, a centrifugal force can be generated in the liquid crystal cell at the time of vacuum evacuation to increase the speed of vacuum evacuation, and at the same time, the injection of the liquid crystal at the time of injecting the liquid crystal can be promoted. The injection time can be shortened. As a result, the time from evacuation of the liquid crystal cell to liquid crystal injection can be significantly shortened, and the productivity of the liquid crystal display device can be further improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view showing a first embodiment of a liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a top view of the liquid crystal injection device when the closing plate of the first embodiment is removed.

FIG. 3 is a state diagram of the liquid crystal injection device when the rotary plate of the first embodiment is rotated.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the liquid crystal injection device when the closing plate of the second embodiment is removed.

FIG. 6 is a state diagram of the liquid crystal injection device when the rotary plate of the second embodiment is rotated.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view showing a third embodiment of the liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a top view of the liquid crystal injection device when the closing plate of the third embodiment is removed.

FIG. 9 is a state diagram of the liquid crystal injection device when the rotating plate of the third embodiment is rotated.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a fourth embodiment of the liquid crystal injection device and the liquid crystal injection method by the device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a top view of the liquid crystal injection device when the closing plate of the fourth embodiment is removed.

FIG. 12 is a state diagram of the liquid crystal injection device when the rotating plate of the fourth embodiment is rotated.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Liquid crystal injecting device 2 Vacuum container 4, 25 Liquid crystal 5, 21 Liquid crystal dish 6 Rotating plate 7, 11, 24 Liquid crystal cell 7a, 11a, 24a Liquid crystal inlet

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An outer peripheral portion of two flexible substrates is sealed,
A vacuum container for accommodating a liquid crystal cell having a liquid crystal injection port at a predetermined end into which liquid crystal can be injected, a liquid crystal plate in which the liquid crystal is injected, and a rotatably provided inside the vacuum container. And a rotary plate on which a liquid crystal dish can be placed, decompress the vacuum container to evacuate the liquid crystal cell, and then immerse the liquid crystal inlet into the liquid crystal to pressurize the interior of the vacuum container to approximately atmospheric pressure. A liquid crystal injecting device for injecting liquid crystal into a liquid crystal cell by means of: rotating a rotating plate with the liquid crystal cell placed on a liquid crystal dish. 2. The liquid crystal inlet is provided at a predetermined end portion in the width direction of the liquid crystal cell, and when the liquid crystal cell is placed on a liquid crystal dish, the width direction of the liquid crystal cell is substantially orthogonal to the radial direction of the rotating plate. The liquid crystal injection device according to claim 1, wherein 3. The liquid crystal cell is divided into an upper liquid crystal dish and an upper liquid crystal dish, and a projecting portion that projects inward in a radial direction of a rotary plate is formed on an upper portion of the upper liquid crystal dish. The liquid crystal cell is held by the liquid crystal dish by being sandwiched between the upper and lower liquid crystal dishes such that the longitudinal direction of the liquid crystal is substantially aligned with the radial direction of the rotary plate. Liquid crystal injection device. 4. A liquid crystal injecting method using the liquid crystal injecting device according to claim 1, 2 or 3, wherein the liquid crystal cell is provided with a predetermined rotating jig in a state where the liquid crystal injecting port is located radially outward of the rotating plate. While holding and rotating, decompress the vacuum container to evacuate the liquid crystal cell, place the liquid crystal inlet inside the rotating plate in the radial direction and place it on the liquid crystal dish, and rotate the rotating plate in this state. A liquid crystal injecting method, characterized in that the liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell by pressurizing the inside of the vacuum container to approximately atmospheric pressure.