JPH09230357A - Production of liquid crystal panel and liquid crystal cell used for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to efficiently inject liquid crystals at a high yield with the smallest possible amount of liquid crystals by providing the peripheral edge on a first electrode substrate with a liquid crystal injection port toward one end side of the substrate and using a sealing material in forming the sealing pattern having projecting parts in contact with the side having the injection port at both ends of this side. SOLUTION: The projecting parts 5 are formed at both ends of the liquid crystal injection port 4. Since the thickness of the projecting parts 5 is larger than the thickness of liquid crystals 6, the liquid crystals 6 flow out of the liquid crystal injection port 4 toward a transverse direction are blocked by the projecting parts 5 and cannot flow outward. Then, the liquid crystals 6 are held at the periphery of the liquid crystal injection port 4 by surface tension and are gradually moved from the liquid crystal injection port 4 into a liquid crystal cell, by which the liquid crystals are packed into this liquid crystal cell. The atmosphere is returned to the atm. pressure after the completion of the packing of the liquid crystals 6 and the excess liquid crystals 6 are removed. A sealant is then dropped to the liquid crystal injection port 4 and is cured. As a result, the efficient use of the dropped liquid crystals 6 is made possible and, therefore, the high working efficiency is obtd., the packing failures are eliminated and the yield of the production is enhanced.

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 liquid crystal panel used for a light valve used for a flat panel display, a projection display, a printer, etc., and a liquid crystal cell used for the manufacturing method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a liquid crystal panel, which has been a main component of a liquid crystal display device, is a liquid crystal cell in which a pair of electrode substrates having electrodes, alignment control films, etc. formed on the surface thereof are pasted together with a sealing material. , Sealed. FIG. 5 shows a conventional liquid crystal cell (before liquid crystal injection). In the figure, 1 and 2 are electrode substrates,
Reference numeral 3 is a sealing material, and 4 is a liquid crystal inlet.

As shown in FIG. 5, the sealing pattern of the sealing material is formed in the peripheral portion of one electrode substrate so as to have a liquid crystal injection port toward one end side of the substrate and the other electrode. The substrates are stacked and a predetermined pressure is applied, and the sealing material is cured while the sealing material is crushed to some extent. The liquid crystal cell thus manufactured is placed in a vacuum atmosphere, liquid crystal is injected from the liquid crystal injection port, liquid crystal overflowing from the liquid crystal injection port is removed, and the liquid crystal injection port is sealed to complete a liquid crystal panel.

[0004]

However, when injecting the liquid crystal, the liquid crystal panel is placed upright with the liquid crystal injection port facing upward, and when the liquid crystal is dropped into the liquid crystal injection port, the liquid crystal propagates through the sealing material and becomes horizontal. And the amount of liquid crystal entering the inside is insufficient. Therefore, although measures have been taken such as increasing the amount of dropped liquid crystal or dropping the liquid crystal a plurality of times, defective injection of the liquid crystal is likely to occur, which is a cause of reducing the manufacturing yield of the liquid crystal panel. . Further, the process itself is complicated and the work efficiency is poor, and the liquid crystal is required in a considerably excess amount than a predetermined injection amount, so that the economical efficiency is poor.

The present invention solves the above problems and provides a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel which has good working efficiency and high economic efficiency. Further, the present invention efficiently and yields with a minimum amount of liquid crystal. It is intended to provide a liquid crystal cell into which liquid crystal can be well injected.

[0006]

A first aspect of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, which comprises:
A sealing pattern having a liquid crystal injection port toward one side of the substrate and having protrusions in contact with the side is formed at both ends of the side having the injection port, and the liquid crystal injection port is positioned. The second electrode substrate is overlaid on the first electrode substrate so that the edge of the first electrode substrate projects outward from the edge of the second electrode substrate, and a predetermined pressure is applied to the second electrode substrate. Then, the sealing material is cured to form a liquid crystal cell, and liquid crystal is dropped into the liquid crystal inlet while the liquid crystal cell is placed upright with the liquid crystal inlet facing upward in a vacuum atmosphere. The liquid crystal is injected into the area surrounded by the sealing material, and the liquid crystal injection port is sealed.

A second aspect of the present invention is a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, which is different from the first aspect of the present invention, in which a liquid crystal injection port is provided in a peripheral portion of the first electrode substrate toward one end side of the substrate. The sealing pattern is formed of a sealing material, and a second electrode is formed on the first electrode substrate so that the edge of the first substrate where the liquid crystal injection port is located protrudes outward from the edge of the second electrode substrate. After stacking the electrode substrates and applying a predetermined pressure to the second electrode substrate and curing the sealing material, the sealing material is in contact with both ends of one side of the sealing material where the liquid crystal inlet is located and is thicker than the liquid crystal thickness. A protrusion is formed on the first electrode substrate to form a liquid crystal cell, and liquid crystal is dropped into the liquid crystal inlet with the liquid crystal cell standing upright with the liquid crystal inlet facing upward in a vacuum atmosphere. Injecting liquid crystal into the area surrounded by the sealing material and sealing the liquid crystal inlet. The features.

A third aspect of the present invention is a liquid crystal cell, which is a liquid crystal cell in which a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate are bonded to each other via a sealing material by opening a liquid crystal inlet at the peripheral edge of the substrate. There, the first electrode substrate end side where the liquid crystal injection port is located protrudes outward from the end side of the second electrode substrate, and at both ends of one side of the sealing material where the liquid crystal injection port is located, It is characterized in that it has a protruding portion which is in contact with the side and is thicker than the thickness of the liquid crystal protruding outside the second electrode substrate.

In the liquid crystal cell according to the third aspect of the present invention, the protrusions provided at both ends of one side of the sealing material may be formed by the sealing material at the same time when the sealing material is arranged on the first electrode substrate. Either the sealing material or a material other than the sealing material may be formed at a predetermined position after the first and second electrode substrates are bonded together.

[0010]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION In the present invention, by providing projections on both sides of a liquid crystal injection port of a liquid crystal cell in contact with a sealing material, liquid crystals flowing laterally from the liquid crystal injection port are blocked by the projections. Since the liquid crystal is stopped, the dropped liquid crystal is not wasted, and the liquid crystal does not run short during the injection. Therefore, it is possible to satisfactorily fill the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell with a minimum amount of the liquid crystal to manufacture a liquid crystal panel. Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail.

1 to 4 show an embodiment of a liquid crystal cell and a liquid crystal panel of the present invention. In the figure, the same parts as those of FIG. 3 described above are designated by the same reference numerals and the description thereof will be omitted. In FIG. 3, 5 is a protrusion formed in contact with the sealing material,
6 is a liquid crystal.

FIG. 1 shows a sealing pattern of a sealing material arranged on the first electrode substrate 1. As shown in the figure, the effect of the present invention can be obtained without increasing the number of steps by forming the sealing pattern with the sealing material 3 and at the same time forming the protrusion 5 which is a feature of the present invention. You can As the sealing material 3, a UV curable resin, for example, a UV curable acrylic resin is preferably used. Further, a spacer having a particle diameter of 5 μm is mixed in the sealing material 3. With this sealing material, the sealing pattern of FIG.
It is formed on the substrate by a dispenser with a thickness of μm.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the second electrode substrate 2 is overlapped with the first electrode substrate with its side edges displaced, and the sealing material 3 is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays while applying pressure. The space between both substrates is kept at 5 μm by a spacer mixed with the seal material 3, and the seal material 3 is spread by pressing. However, the second electrode substrate 2
The protruding portion 5 protruding from the second substrate 2 is not pressed by the second substrate 2 and therefore maintains a thickness of 20 μm when the sealing pattern is formed. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 3, the protrusion 5 in the AA ′ cross section of FIG. 2 is thicker than the liquid crystal thickness (cell gap).

FIG. 4 shows a process in which the liquid crystal cell is placed upright with the liquid crystal inlet 4 facing upward, and liquid crystal is dropped and injected into the liquid crystal inlet 4 in a vacuum atmosphere. As shown in the figure, the protrusions 5 are formed at both ends of the liquid crystal inlet 4, and since the protrusions 5 are thicker than the liquid crystal thickness, they flowed out from the liquid crystal inlet 4 in the lateral direction. The liquid crystal 6 is blocked by the protrusion 5 and cannot flow out. Therefore, the liquid crystal is held around the liquid crystal inlet 4 by the surface tension, gradually moves from the liquid crystal inlet 4 into the liquid crystal cell, and is filled in the liquid crystal cell. After the filling of the liquid crystal is completed, the atmosphere is returned to atmospheric pressure, the excess liquid crystal is removed, and the sealing material is dropped into the liquid crystal injection port 4 and cured.

In the liquid crystal cell of the present invention, the reason why the protrusions 5 are formed not at the liquid crystal injection port 4 but at both ends of the side of the sealing material where the injection port 4 is located is at the liquid crystal injection port 4. Forming the protrusion 5 reduces the amount of liquid crystal that can be held,
Because the number of drops is large, it is possible to
The amount of liquid crystal that can be dropped and held each time increases, reducing the number of drops
Alternatively, it is possible to fill the liquid crystal with one drop.

In the above-described embodiment, the sealing pattern is formed by the sealing material and the projection 5 is also formed at the same time. However, after the conventional sealing pattern shown in FIG. The protrusion 5 may be formed at a predetermined position.

[0017]

As described above in detail, in the present invention, since the liquid crystal dropped in the liquid crystal injecting step can be used without waste, the working efficiency is high, and the filling yield is high and the manufacturing yield is high. Therefore, the manufacturing cost is reduced, and an inexpensive and highly reliable liquid crystal panel is provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a sealing pattern of a sealing material of a liquid crystal cell according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal cell of the embodiment shown in FIG.

3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ of the liquid crystal cell shown in FIG.

4 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal injection process of the liquid crystal cell shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a conventional liquid crystal cell.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 First Electrode Substrate 2 Second Electrode Substrate 3 Sealing Material 4 Liquid Crystal Injection Port 5 Projection 6 Liquid Crystal

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal injection port is provided in a peripheral portion of the first electrode substrate toward one end side of the substrate, and projecting portions are provided at both ends of a side having the injection port in contact with the side. The sealing pattern is formed of a sealing material, and a second electrode is formed on the first electrode substrate so that the edge of the first electrode substrate where the liquid crystal injection port is located protrudes outward from the edge of the second electrode substrate. The electrode substrates are stacked, a predetermined pressure is applied to the second electrode substrate, and the sealing material is cured to form a liquid crystal cell, and the liquid crystal cell is placed in a vacuum atmosphere so that the liquid crystal injection port faces upward. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, comprising dropping liquid crystal into the liquid crystal injection port in a state of standing upright, injecting liquid crystal into the region surrounded by the sealing material, and sealing the liquid crystal injection port. 2. A first substrate on which a liquid crystal injection port having a liquid crystal injection port is formed at a peripheral edge portion of the first electrode substrate toward one end side of the substrate with a sealing material, and the liquid crystal injection port is located. The second electrode substrate is superposed on the first electrode substrate so that the edge side of the second electrode substrate projects outward from the edge side of the second electrode substrate, and a predetermined pressure is applied to the second electrode substrate, and then the seal is applied. After the material is cured, the liquid crystal cell is formed by forming a protrusion on the first electrode substrate that is in contact with both ends of one side of the sealing material where the liquid crystal injection port is located, and is thicker than the liquid crystal thickness under a vacuum atmosphere. With the liquid crystal cell placed upright with the liquid crystal inlet facing upward, liquid crystal is dropped into the liquid crystal inlet, liquid crystal is injected into the area surrounded by the sealing material, and the liquid crystal inlet is sealed. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, which comprises stopping. 3. The first electrode substrate and the second electrode substrate,
A liquid crystal cell in which a liquid crystal injection port is opened at a peripheral edge of a substrate and bonded together via a sealing material, wherein a first electrode substrate end side where the liquid crystal injection port is located is more than a second electrode substrate end side. It is characterized in that it has protrusions that are protruded to the outside and that are thicker than the thickness of the liquid crystal that is in contact with the sides and that protrudes outward from the second electrode substrate at both ends of one side of the sealing material where the liquid crystal injection port is located. And liquid crystal cell. 4. The liquid crystal cell according to claim 3, wherein the protrusions provided at both ends of one side of the sealing material are formed of the sealing material. 5. The liquid crystal cell according to claim 3, wherein the sealing material is made of a UV curable resin.