JPH10197853A - Method and device for manufacturing liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the method and device structure which can securely remove dust sticking on the surface of a liquid crystal substrate and prevents the dust from resticking without using any cleaning liquid in the manufacture process of the liquid crystal display device. SOLUTION: When a liquid crystal substrate 10 is carried toward a contact roller 21, the top surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 comes into contact with a tape 26 present below the circumferential surface of the contact roller 21 to come into contact with an adhesive surface provided on the reverse surface of the tape 26. The adhesive surface of the tape 26 is pressed against the top surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 with the downward pressing force of a press rod 22. When the liquid crystal substrate 10 is further moved so that the movement quantity of the liquid crystal substrate 10 is nearly as large as the feed quantity of the tape 26, the tape 26 is adhered temporarily to the top surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 and then peeled off, so dust sticking on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 is adhered to the adhesive surface of the tape 26 and removed.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus for removing foreign substances adhering on a liquid crystal substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device, wirings, electrodes and the like are formed on the surface of a liquid crystal substrate, an alignment film is formed thereon, and a rubbing process is performed on the surface of the alignment film. After that, it is bonded to another liquid crystal substrate formed in the same manner via a sealing material to form a liquid crystal cell. Thereafter, liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell.
Further, in the case of a TN or STN liquid crystal display device, for example, there is a step of attaching a polarizing plate on the outer surface of the liquid crystal cell.

In the above-described manufacturing process, for example, it is necessary to remove dust on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate before forming a pattern of the upper structure in the pattern configuration on the inner surface of the liquid crystal substrate. Further, a large amount of dust generated during rubbing adheres to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate after the liquid crystal substrate has been subjected to the rubbing treatment, and it is necessary to remove the dust before proceeding to the next step. Further, various dusts adhere to the outer surface of the liquid crystal substrate after the completion of the liquid crystal cell, and these dusts must also be removed before attaching the polarizing plate.

In order to remove such dust adhering to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate, a wet type cleaning step using a pure water or another cleaning liquid is conventionally provided. The liquid crystal substrate is immersed in a cleaning liquid, and further, ultrasonic vibration or the like is applied to the cleaning liquid to separate dust on the substrate surface.

[0005] Instead of performing a cleaning step, an air blow method is also employed in which air is blown onto the surface of a liquid crystal substrate to blow off dust adhering to the surface. in this way,
In some cases, the blown-out dust is sucked using an exhaust device or the like.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned conventional cleaning step, the liquid crystal substrate must be immersed in a cleaning liquid and then dried, so that the processing must be performed in a batch process, and the processing efficiency is reduced. There is a problem that it takes time and processing cost.

On the other hand, in the air blow method, the processing can be performed more easily than in the wet type cleaning step. However, since the dust is blown off by blowing air, the dust only on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate can be removed. Although it can be blown off, it is difficult to blow off the dust attached with a certain level of attraction, and there is a problem that the dust remains, and the dust that has been blown off once again reappears on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate. There is also a problem of adhesion.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to reliably remove dust adhering to the surface of a liquid crystal substrate without using a cleaning liquid in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device. Another object of the present invention is to realize a method and an apparatus structure that can prevent dust from reattaching.

[0009]

Means taken by the present invention to solve the above-mentioned problems is to press an adhesive surface formed on a carrier against the surface of a liquid crystal substrate of a liquid crystal display device, and then press the carrier. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, comprising removing adhered substances on the surface by peeling.

According to this means, dust adhering to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate can be reliably removed by pressing the adhesive surface of the removing member against the surface of the liquid crystal substrate and peeling off. Since no dust is scattered around, there is no danger of contaminating the surrounding environment, and reattachment to the substrate surface can be prevented. In addition, since it is not necessary to immerse in the cleaning liquid, the processing can be performed efficiently.

Further, in the manufacturing apparatus of the liquid crystal display device for removing the adhering substance on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate of the liquid crystal display device, the adhesive surface of the adhesive tape provided on the peripheral surface is attached to the surface. A contact roller that contacts the contact roller, a tape supply unit that supplies the tape to the contact roller, a collection unit that collects the tape from the contact roller, a pressing unit that presses the contact roller against the surface, A moving means for relatively moving between the liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller is provided.

According to this means, the adhesive surface can be brought into contact with the surface of the liquid crystal substrate while the tape is being fed by the supply means, the contact roller and the collection means, and the tape can be peeled off.
It is possible to prevent re-adhesion of dust previously attached to the adhesive surface, and to reliably remove dust attached to the substrate surface.

Here, it is preferable that the relative movement speed between the liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller is substantially equal to the feed speed of the tape.

According to this means, the relative movement speed between the liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller is configured so that the tape feeding speed substantially matches, so that the substrate surface is always attached to a new adhesive surface. Since the contact can be made, dust can be more reliably removed, and damage due to friction with the adhesive surface can be prevented from occurring on the surface of the liquid crystal substrate.

In some cases, the contact roller is provided on a transport path after a processing unit of a rubbing device for the liquid crystal substrate.

In this case, dust can be automatically removed immediately after the rubbing process by arranging the contact roller on the transport path after the processing section of the rubbing device. Dust can be quickly removed without being scattered around, and an accident caused by dust in another manufacturing process can be prevented.

Further, the contact roller may be provided on a transport path in front of a processing unit of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus for the liquid crystal substrate.

In this case, by arranging the contact roller on the transport path in front of the processing section of the polarizing plate attaching apparatus, dust can be automatically removed immediately before attaching the polarizing plate. It is possible to prevent dust from being mixed between the substrate and the polarizing plate.

[0019]

Next, an embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a schematic structure of a manufacturing apparatus for realizing a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment. The liquid crystal substrate 10 is sent along the transport path 11 from the right side in the figure by a transport mechanism (not shown), for example, a row of transport rollers, a transport belt, or the like.

A contact roller 21 is disposed on the transport path 11 of the liquid crystal substrate 10. The rotation shaft 21 a of the contact roller 21 is rotatably attached to the pressing rod 22. The pressing rod 22 is connected to the supporting rod 23 so as to be extendable and contractible, and the pressing rod 22 is moved downward by a predetermined amount by an elastic member (not shown) or a fluid mechanism (a hydraulic mechanism, an air pressure mechanism, etc.) housed inside the supporting rod 23. It is pressed so as to protrude by pressure. The other end of the support rod 23 is fixed to a frame of a device (not shown).

Above the contact roller 21, a supply roller 24 is provided.
Is arranged. The supply roller 24 is rotatably mounted on a rotation shaft 24a fixed to the frame. Similarly, a collection roller 25 rotatably attached to a rotation shaft 25a fixed to the frame is also provided.

A tape 26 having an adhesive surface is wound around the supply roller 24. The tape 26 is pulled out from the supply roller 24 and is disposed below the peripheral surface of the contact roller 21 disposed below. After partially circling the side, it is pulled out again and wound around the collection roller 25.

The tape 26 is wound around the supply roller 24 with the adhesive surface facing the center of the roller.
In a state following the peripheral surface of the contact roller 21, it is installed so that the adhesive surface faces the lower side, that is, the side facing the surface of the liquid crystal substrate. After the tape 26 moves on the peripheral surface of the contact roller 21, the tape 26 is finally wound with the adhesive surface facing the roller center side of the collection roller 25.

The adhesiveness of the adhesive surface of the tape 26 can sufficiently capture dust on the liquid crystal substrate according to the pressing force of the contact roller 21, and the peel strength of the adhesive surface adversely affects the structure on the liquid crystal substrate. It is set to the range not given. The pressing force of the contact roller is set to a value sufficient to ensure that the adhesive surface comes into contact with dust on the liquid crystal substrate. Note that the width of the tape 26 needs to be greater than the width of the surface of the liquid crystal substrate from which dust needs to be removed.

In the above structure, since the adhesive surface of the tape faces inward with respect to the supply roller 24 and the recovery roller 25, dust adheres to the adhesive surface of the tape 26 in the wound state of the roller and dust from the adhesive surface. Separation hardly occurs.

In this apparatus, a tape driving means for feeding the tape 26 by an amount substantially equal to the moving amount of the liquid crystal substrate is provided. Although various types of tape driving means are conceivable, a roller rotating means configured to act on the collection roller 25 for winding the tape 26 is preferable. This roller rotating means is a collection roller 2
The winding roller 5 rotates the collecting roller 25 by winding the tape 26. For example, a drive motor connected to the collecting roller 25 may be used, or the collecting roller 25 is rotated in conjunction with a transfer mechanism for transferring the liquid crystal substrate 10. A transmission mechanism may be used.

As will be described later, these roller rotating means are capable of completely moving the liquid crystal substrate 10 at a moving speed such that the adhesive surface of the tape 26 is not rubbed against the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 in the operating state to cause damage. It is preferable to synchronize with. Although the liquid crystal substrate 10 is not actively transported, the liquid crystal substrate 10 may be automatically moved by the adhesive force of the tape 26 fed at a predetermined speed. Alternatively, the driving force of the roller rotating means is transmitted to the collection roller 25 with a predetermined transmission force by an oil coupling having an oil rotor, a magnetic coupling, or the like. The tape 26 may be configured to be wound by tension.

The liquid crystal substrate 10 is placed on the contact roller 2 from the right side in the figure.
When transported toward 1, the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 comes into contact with the tape 26 existing below the peripheral surface of the contact roller 21 and comes into contact with the adhesive surface provided on the lower surface of the tape 26. here,
The adhesive surface of the tape 26 is pressed against the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 by the downward pressing force of the pressing rod 22.

In this state, when the liquid crystal substrate 10 is moved to the left side in the figure by the above-described tape driving means so that the moving amount of the liquid crystal substrate 10 and the feeding amount of the tape 26 are substantially the same, the tape 26 Is adhered to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 and then peeled off, so that the dust adhered to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate 10 can be removed by adhering to the adhesive surface of the tape 26.

FIG. 2 shows a state in which the dust removing device 20 having the above-mentioned structure is integrally formed inside a rubbing processing device for performing a rubbing process on a liquid crystal substrate. In this case, the bristles of the rubbing cloth 31 adhered to the surface of the rotating rubbing roller 30 rub the surface of the conveyed liquid crystal substrate 10 in a predetermined direction. The transport mechanism (not shown) of the rubbing device is the transport mechanism of the dust removing device 20 as it is, and the liquid crystal substrate 10 is moved along the transport path 32 by the transport mechanism.
After the completion of the rubbing process, the wafer is automatically transported until it comes into contact with the contact roller 21 as described above, and dust adhering to the surface is removed.

In this case, the rubbing transfer mechanism existing in the related art is used as it is and is configured to operate in accordance with the rubbing mechanism, so that dust generated during rubbing is immediately removed inside the apparatus. Therefore, the processing can be performed quickly and reliably without releasing dust to the outside.

FIG. 3 shows an example in which the dust removing device 20 is incorporated in a polarizing plate sticking device for sticking a polarizing plate on the outer surface of a liquid crystal cell 40. In the processing unit of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus, the polarizing plate 4
2 is pressed against the polarizing plate 42 toward the other end of the outer surface.
Is configured to operate by a driving mechanism (not shown).

A transport mechanism (not shown) is provided to supply the liquid crystal cells 40 to the processing section. The dust removing device 20 is disposed in the middle of a transport path 41 by the transport mechanism. The liquid crystal cell 40 conveyed along the conveyance path 41 is adhered to the tape 26 on the peripheral surface of the contact roller, and is immediately peeled off from the tape 26, thereby removing dust adhering on the outer surface. Is done.

Also in this case, the dust can be removed by using the transport system of the polarizing plate sticking apparatus as it is, and the dust can be removed immediately before sticking the polarizing plate. The probability that dust is caught between the polarizing plate and the polarizing plate can be further reduced than before.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment different from the above. In this embodiment, tension rollers 51 and 52 are arranged before and after the contact roller 21,
The tension rollers 51 and 52 operate so as to apply a predetermined tension to the tape 26 by tension mechanisms 57 and 58 shown in a simplified manner. In the present embodiment, the tape 26 is formed endless, and the guide roller 5
3, 54, 55, 56.

Also in this embodiment, the tape 26 operates almost as much as the moving amount of the liquid crystal substrate 10, and operates as a driving roller having the same peripheral speed as the moving speed of the liquid crystal substrate 10 from the liquid crystal substrate 10 itself. To be received from one of the guide rollers described above.

[0037]

As described above, according to the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.

According to the first aspect, the adhesive surface of the removing member is pressed against the surface of the liquid crystal substrate to be peeled off, whereby dust adhering to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate can be reliably removed. In addition, since dust is not scattered around, there is no danger of contaminating the surrounding environment, and it is possible to prevent re-adhesion to the substrate surface. In addition, since it is not necessary to immerse in the cleaning liquid, the processing can be performed efficiently.

According to the second aspect, the adhesive surface can be brought into contact with the surface of the liquid crystal substrate while the tape is being fed by the supply means, the contact roller, and the recovery means, and the tape can be separated.
It is possible to prevent re-adhesion of dust previously attached to the adhesive surface, and to reliably remove dust attached to the substrate surface.

According to the third aspect, the relative movement speed between the liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller is configured to be substantially equal to the tape feeding speed. Can be contacted, dust can be more reliably removed, and damage to the surface of the liquid crystal substrate due to friction with the adhesive surface can be prevented.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, the contact roller is disposed on the transport path after the processing section of the rubbing device.
Since dust can be automatically removed immediately after the rubbing process, dust generated during the rubbing process can be quickly removed without being scattered around, and an accident caused by dust in another manufacturing process can be prevented.

According to the fifth aspect, by disposing the contact roller on the transport path in front of the processing section of the polarizing plate attaching apparatus, dust can be automatically removed immediately before attaching the polarizing plate. In addition, it is possible to prevent dust from being mixed between the liquid crystal substrate and the polarizing plate.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of an apparatus for illustrating an embodiment of a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the embodiment is incorporated in a rubbing processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic configuration diagram showing a state where the embodiment is incorporated in a polarizing plate sticking apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an embodiment different from the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 liquid crystal substrate 20 dust removing device 21 contact roller 22 pressing rod 23 support rod 24 supply roller 25 collection roller 30 rubbing roller 32, 41 transport path 40 liquid crystal cell 43 sticking member 51, 52 tension roller 53, 54, 55, 56 guide roller

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method according to claim 1, wherein an adhesive surface formed on the carrier is pressed against the surface of the liquid crystal substrate of the liquid crystal display device, and then the carrier is peeled off to remove the deposits on the surface. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device. 2. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device for removing a substance adhering to a surface of a liquid crystal substrate of the liquid crystal display device, wherein an adhesive surface of an adhesive tape provided on a peripheral surface is attached to the surface. A contact roller that contacts the contact roller, a tape supply unit that supplies the tape to the contact roller, a collection unit that collects the tape from the contact roller, a pressing unit that presses the contact roller against the surface, A manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, further comprising a moving unit that relatively moves between a liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller. 3. The liquid crystal display according to claim 2, wherein a relative moving speed between the liquid crystal substrate and the contact roller substantially coincides with a tape feeding speed. Equipment manufacturing equipment. 4. The manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, wherein the contact roller is provided on a transport path after a processing unit of a rubbing device for the liquid crystal substrate. 5. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 2, wherein the contact roller is provided on a transport path in a preceding stage of a processing unit of the polarizing plate sticking device with respect to the liquid crystal substrate. Manufacturing equipment.