JPH08122515A - Production of color filter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To obtain a process for production in which production stages are decreased, which is capable of easily and rapidly producing color filters and does not wastefully consume materials. CONSTITUTION: This process includes a stage for successively printing the surface of a transparent substrate 1 having electrical conductivity on its front surface with >=2 colors of nonconductive coloring agents by an ink jet printer in the form of patterns in such a manner that the colored layers of the respective colors to be formed do not come into contact with each other and curing these layers to form the colored layers 3 of >=2 colors and a stage for electrodeposition coating the surface of the substrate 1 having the colored layers 3 consisting of >=2 colors and curing the coatings after washing with water to form black layers 4 between the colored layers 3 of >=2 colors.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a color filter, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a color filter suitable for a color filter used for multicoloring a display element such as a liquid crystal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A dispersion method, a dyeing method, an electrodeposition method and the like have been conventionally known as typical methods for producing color filters.

However, each of these conventional methods has a problem that there are many manufacturing steps and the steps are complicated.

In the dispersion method, for example, a transparent photosensitive resin liquid is coated with a colorant in which a color pigment is dispersed, and then exposed / developed or exposed / developed through a photoresist to form a first color of a predetermined pattern. It is necessary to form a filter layer, and then repeat the same process to form the second and third color filter layers.

In the dyeing method, a layer to be dyed is formed by a spin coating method or the like, exposed and developed through a mask having a predetermined pattern, and dyed with a dye to form a first color filter layer having a predetermined pattern. Then, after forming the antifouling layer, it is necessary to repeat the same process to form the second and third color filter layers.

In the electrodeposition method, after applying a photoresist, exposing and developing, a colorant is applied by electrodeposition coating,
It was necessary to form a color filter layer of the first color having a predetermined pattern and then form color filter layers of the second color and the third color by repeating the same procedure. In the alternative electrodeposition method, the electrodeposited portion is pre-patterned with transparent electrodes, and when manufacturing color filters of the three primary colors, the electrodes corresponding to each are sequentially energized, and three times are applied. Since it is necessary to perform an electrodeposition operation and a curing operation and a transparent electrode corresponding to the three primary colors is required, there are problems that the shape of the electrode is limited and the formation of the electrode is complicated.

In recent years, a colorant can be ejected based on arbitrary pre-input pattern information by computer control or the like, and it is a non-impact printing method in which noise is hardly generated during printing, and high-speed printing is possible. Inkjet systems are also gaining attention.

A method of manufacturing a color filter by an ink jet method is known, for example, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 19114/1993. In the method of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-19114, a photoresist is applied on a substrate, a portion forming a first color is exposed and developed by a mask, and a resist-removed portion is coated with a colorant of a first color by an inkjet printer. This is a method of discharging, forming a color filter layer of the first color, and then forming color filter layers of the second color and the third color by repeating the same procedure, but this method also has many manufacturing steps, and the inkjet method described above is used. There was a problem that the characteristics of were not fully utilized.

[0009]

As described above,
The conventional method of manufacturing a color filter by a dispersion method, a dyeing method, an electrodeposition method, an inkjet method, etc. has a problem in that it has many manufacturing steps and is complicated. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a color filter by a simple method, which solves the above problems, has a small number of manufacturing steps, and utilizes the characteristics of the inkjet system described above.

[0010]

The method for producing a color filter according to the present invention, which achieves the above object, comprises a non-conductive colorant of two or more colors on a transparent substrate surface having conductivity. A step (first step) of sequentially forming a colored layer of two or more colors by printing in an ink jet printer in a pattern and printing so that the formed colored layers do not contact each other, and curing. Then, a step of forming a black layer between the colored layers of two or more colors by electrocoating a black colorant on the surface of the substrate on which the colored layers of the two or more colors are formed, washing it with water and curing it (second) Process), and.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail. In the following description, a case of manufacturing a color filter of three primary colors will be described, but it goes without saying that the present invention can be applied to the manufacture of a color filter of two colors or four or more colors.

The substrate used in the present invention may be any transparent substrate generally used in multicolor display devices, but a transparent glass substrate or a plastic substrate is preferred. These substrates require that at least the surface of the substrate has conductivity in order to form a black layer described later by electrodeposition coating. For example, a transparent conductive material such as indium oxide, tin oxide, antimony oxide, etc. is formed on the substrate surface. Sputtering method, vacuum deposition method, spray method, CVD method,
A substrate coated with a method such as a coating method and usually having a transparent conductive layer of 20 to 300 nm formed thereon can be used. If the transparent substrate itself has conductivity,
Of course, it is not necessary to form such a transparent conductive layer on the surface.

The colorant used in the present invention to form a colored layer consisting of three primary colors with an ink jet printer is mainly composed of a resin, a coloring pigment or a dye and a solvent, and the formed coloring layer has a black coloring described later. It is necessary for the agent to be non-conductive so as not to be electrodeposited on it, and it is preferable that the agent has a volume resistivity of 10 ¹¹ Ω · cm or more and a surface resistivity of 10 ⁴ Ω · cm or more. The ink jet colorant used can be used without particular limitation.

When the colored layer to be formed is conductive, when a black layer, which will be described later, is formed by electrodeposition coating, not only on the transparent conductive layer of the substrate on which the colored layer of the three primary colors is not formed, The black layer, which is difficult to remove by washing with water, is also formed on the colored layer, which is not preferable.

Typical examples of the resin include various resins such as acrylic resin, silicone resin, acrylic silicone resin, vinyl resin and fluororesin.

As the coloring pigment or dye, various conventionally known red pigments or dyes, green pigments or dyes, and blue pigments or dyes are used in order to form a colored layer consisting of three primary colors. What is usually used for paints and inks can be used without particular limitation.

Examples of the solvent include aromatic hydrocarbon solvents such as toluene and xylene, alcohol solvents such as methyl alcohol and ethyl alcohol, ketone solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone and cyclohexanone, ester solvents such as methyl acetate and ethyl acetate. Although the organic solvent and water can be used without particular limitation, in particular in the present invention, in order to prevent the colored layers of each color from coming into contact with each other, when the ejected colorant reaches the substrate, the ratio should not spread greatly. Evaporation rate (by weight method using 100% pure butyl acetate) is 15
A solvent containing 0 or more, preferably 200 to 650 as a main component is desirable.

Incidentally, as another means for preventing the discharged colorant from spreading greatly, it is also possible to mix Si atom-containing resin and additives.

As the colorant, a normally dry type colorant which has been widely used in the past is suitable, but other Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-2125.
No. 6, an ultraviolet-curable colorant as described in JP-A-62-64874 and a thermosetting colorant as described in JP-A-6-116523 are also usable. In addition, as a matter of course, in order to cure after discharging, ultraviolet irradiation is necessary in the case of an ultraviolet curable colorant, and heating is necessary in the case of a thermosetting colorant.

The colorant usually has a viscosity of 1 to 20 CPS.
(20 ° C.), surface tension 20-60 dyne, specific gravity 0.8-
3 is suitable.

In the present invention, the black colorant used for forming the black layer which becomes the black matrix is
Various conventionally known electrocoatable materials containing a black pigment or dye can be used without particular limitation.

That is, a thermosetting type anionic electrodeposition black colorant containing a combination of an anionic resin and a crosslinking agent; a thermosetting type cationic electrodeposition black colorant containing a cationic resin and a crosslinking agent; an anionic photosensitive resin and light. A photo-curing anion electrodeposition black colorant in which a polymerization initiator is used in combination; a photo-curing cationic electrodeposition black colorant in which a cationic photosensitive resin and a photopolymerization initiator are used in combination are representative.

Examples of these colorants for electrodeposition include, for example, JP-A-59-114572 and JP-A-60-184697.
No. 60-184837, 60-186.
802, JP-A-60-186803, JP-A-61-186
No. 210329, No. 63-210901, No. 4-204701, No. 4-247402, No. 4-280201, No. 5-93807, No. 6-82621, No. 6-82621. Carbon black as a black pigment or dye in the colorant for electrodeposition described in JP-A-88906 and JP-A-6-94908; titanium oxide or oxynitride; C.I. I. Direct Black
19, 32; C.I. I. Acid Black 1, 2
4,31,52; C.I. I. Mordant Black
3, 5; C.I. I. Sulfur Black 1,
2, 5, 10; C.I. I. Disperse Black
It is a black colorant for electrodeposition that contains 1, 3 and the like.

[0024]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing an example of a method of manufacturing a color filter, and FIGS. 1A to 1C are sectional views.

First, in the step (first step) shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, a transparent conductive substrate having a conductive layer 2 formed on the entire surface of the substrate 1 is prepared, and an inkjet is formed on the surface thereof. With a printer, a red colorant (hereinafter referred to as "R"),
A green coloring agent (hereinafter referred to as “G”) and a blue coloring agent (hereinafter referred to as “B”) are printed and cured so that the respective colored layers to be formed do not come into contact with each other, and are cured to form a three-primary-colored coloring layer 3.
To form. As the coloring layer 3, it is suitable that the R layer, the B layer, and the G layer are distributed in a stripe shape as shown in FIG. 2 or the matrix is distributed as shown in FIG. 3, but the distribution is not limited to these. Not a thing. The width or diameter of the colored layer 3 of each color is 30 to 500 μm, and the width between the colored layers 3 of each color (that is, the width of the black layer 4) is 5 to 400 μm.
The length is appropriate, but the length is not limited to these.

As the ink jet printer, a conventionally known printer can be applied, for example, a charge control system,
Typical examples include an ink-on-demand method and a method of ejecting a colorant by a thermal head.

In the printing method using an ink jet printer, the diameter of the colorant is preferably 20 to 1 for discharging the colorant.
A nozzle of 00 μm is provided below (toward the substrate), and R,
A method in which at least three or more printer heads to which G and B are respectively sent are moved one by one, or while all of them are simultaneously moved to discharge a colorant and print on a fixed transparent conductive substrate surface; A method of ejecting and printing a colorant while moving a transparent conductive substrate; or a method of combining these methods and ejecting and printing a colorant while simultaneously moving a printer head and a transparent conductive substrate is possible. . The colorant is discharged one by one by operating the printer heads one by one (for example, R discharge → G discharge →
B discharge) or a method of simultaneously discharging three colors by simultaneously operating three or more printer heads arranged side by side.

The method described above is an example in which a printer head is provided for each color, but it is also possible for one printer head to share each color.

The colorant is suitably ejected by a known computer control method in which a control unit issues a control signal based on pattern data of a storage unit into which a pattern of three primary colors to be printed is input and ejected. is there.

In this way, the colorants consisting of the three primary colors are printed on the predetermined places, and naturally dried, and if necessary, irradiated with ultraviolet rays,
The colored layer 3 is formed by heating and curing. The thickness of the colored layer 3 is suitably 0.5 to 10 μm, but is not limited to this thickness.

Then, in the step (second step) shown in FIG. 1 (C), the substrate obtained in the step of FIG. 1 (B) is immersed in an electrodeposition bath containing the above-mentioned black colorant for electrodeposition, The electrodeposition coating is carried out by the method described in the patent publication cited in the explanation of the colorant for electrodeposition.

That is, for example, a direct current is applied between the substrate and the electrodes, and electrodeposition coating is performed under the conditions of a voltage of 2 to 50 V and an energization time of 5 to 120 seconds.

By this electrodeposition coating, since the surface of the substrate where the colored layer 3 is not formed remains on the surface with the conductive layer remaining, the black colorant for electrodeposition is electrodeposited on the surface. . Immediately after the electrodeposition coating, the electrodeposited black colorant adhering to the surface of the colored layer 3 is washed away by washing with water. In addition,
The black colorant for electrodeposition that has been electrodeposited on the conductive layer adheres strongly to the substrate and is not washed away by washing with water.

After the electrodeposition coating is performed in this manner to form the black layer 4, if the black colorant for electrodeposition is a thermosetting type, it is bake hardened, and if it is a photocurable type, it is hardened by ultraviolet irradiation.

Next, if necessary, a coloring layer 3 composed of three primary colors
The surface of the black layer 4 is polished in order to make the thickness of the black layer 4 uniform, and a color filter is manufactured.

Next, more specific examples will be described.
You. <Red colorant> Note 1) 17.5 (parts by weight) of Solvent Red 83 Solvent Yellow 89 2.5 Amine-modified epoxy resin 15.0 Acrylic silicone resin 0.5 Methyl ethyl ketone 56.5 Methyl alcohol 18.0 Note 1 ) Viscosity 2.8 CPS (20 ° C.), surface tension 25.1
Dyne, specific gravity 0.86, volume resistivity of the resulting film 1.0
7 x 10¹³Ω · cm, surface resistivity 8.03 × 10 ^Ten <Green colorant> Note 2) Solvent Yellow 89 5.8 (parts by weight) Solvent Blue 117 4.2 Amine-modified epoxy resin 15.0 Acrylic silicone resin 0.5 Methyl ethyl ketone 56.5 Methyl alcohol 18.0 Note 2) Viscosity 2.7 CPS (20 ° C.), surface tension 24.0
Dyne, specific gravity 0.86, volume resistivity of the resulting film 1.2
3 x 10¹³Ω · cm, surface resistivity 8.18 × 10 ^Ten <Blue colorant> Note 3) Solvent Blue 117 10.0 (parts by weight) Amine-modified epoxy resin 15.0 Acrylic silicone resin 0.5 Methyl ethyl ketone 56.5 Methyl alcohol 18.0 Note 3) Viscosity 2.7 CPS (20 ° C) ), Surface tension 24.6
Dyne, specific gravity 0.86, volume resistivity of the resulting film 1.5
6 x 10¹³Ω · cm, surface resistivity 8.31 × 10 ^Ten <Black colorant> Carbon black 5.0 (parts by weight) Amine neutralized anion type acrylic resin varnish 157.0 Melamine resin 42.0 Pure water 796.0 (Example 1) Stage X-axis (front-back direction) and stage Y
Reciprocating movement that can be horizontally reciprocated by air drive on the axis (left and right direction)
Transparent glass with tin-containing indium oxide deposited on the table
The board is fixed, and the jet printer is installed above the carriage.
-(R printer head, G printer head and
Arrange the printer head for B in the direction of the stage X axis,
Moreover, a nose with a diameter of 60 μm is located below each printer head.
The distance between the substrate and the tip of the nozzle is 6 cm.
It was fixedly arranged so that.

The jet printer is provided with a pattern data storage unit for storing the pattern shown in FIG. 2, and a control unit for issuing a signal for controlling the discharge of the colorant based on the pattern data input from the storage unit. On the other hand, a sensor for detecting the position of the substrate is separately provided, the position of the substrate is detected by the sensor, and the detection signal is transmitted to the control unit.

First, the stage X-axis handle and the stage Y
After adjusting the position so that the edge of the substrate comes directly under the nozzle of the printer head for R by operating the shaft handle, the carriage is moved forward and at the same time the red colorant is continuously discharged from the nozzle of the jet printer. It was

When the board comes to the other end, the carriage automatically stops, and then the carriage is moved to the right by a predetermined distance by operating the stage Y-axis handle, and then the carriage is moved backward and at the same time. The green colorant was continuously discharged from the nozzle of the jet printer. When the board comes to the other end, the carriage automatically stops, and then the stage Y-axis handle is operated to move the carriage to the right for a predetermined distance,
Next, the carriage was moved in the forward direction, and at the same time, the blue colorant was continuously discharged from the nozzle of the jet printer.

The same procedure is repeated below to obtain a colored layer width of 300 μm.
m, a colored layer composed of three primary colors with a distance between the colored layers of 90 μm was formed.

After leaving the substrate on which the colored layers of the three primary colors are formed for 5 minutes, it is immersed in the electrodeposition bath containing the black colorant, the substrate serves as the anode, and the separately immersed stainless steel plate serves as the cathode under the following conditions: It was electrodeposited.

Bath temperature 25 ° C. Voltage 25 V Immersion time 10 seconds Distance between electrodes 150 mm After electrodeposition coating, the substrate was taken out, washed with pure water, set for 10 minutes, and baked at 170 ° C. for 20 minutes. Then, the entire surface was polished to make the thickness of the colored layer and the black layer uniform. The obtained color filter has a color layer thickness of about 2 μm.
Then, a colored layer composed of three primary colors as shown in FIG. 2 is formed,
Further, it was found that a black layer was formed between each colored layer, and a color filter could be manufactured in a small number of steps, and each colorant was not wasted without removing the material.

[0044]

As described above, the method for manufacturing a color filter of the present invention has fewer manufacturing steps, can be manufactured easily and in a short time as compared with the conventional manufacturing method, and can provide a colorant necessary for a predetermined pattern portion. Since it is only applied, there is no waste of material such as removal of unnecessary parts by exposure and development.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a process drawing showing a manufacturing process of a color filter of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a distribution of a colored layer and a black layer which are made of three primary colors of a color filter.

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing another distribution of the colored layers and the black layers of the three primary colors of the color filter.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 transparent substrate 2 transparent conductive layer 3 colored layer consisting of three primary colors 4 black layer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A non-conductive colorant of two or more colors is successively patterned in an inkjet printer on the surface of a transparent substrate having conductivity, and each color colored layer formed is in contact with each other. Do not print, let it harden,
A step of forming a colored layer consisting of two or more colors, then, on the substrate surface on which the colored layer consisting of the two or more colors is formed, a black colorant is electrodeposited, washed with water and cured, and then two or more. A step of forming a black layer between colored layers,
A method for manufacturing a color filter comprising: