JPH11237637A - Coating device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a coating device for a printing material which can manufacture a liquid crystal display device of high quality by improving printing defects. SOLUTION: A gas density measuring instrument 20 measures the density of solvent gas inside a partition sealing a coating unit for applying a printing material. When the measured value is less than the saturated vapor pressure of a solvent, a main control part 41 drives a gas supply device 30 to supply the solvent gas into the partition and when the measured value is higher than the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, the main control part 41 drives a discharging device 15 and an air suction device 16 to discharge the atmosphere containing the solvent gas in the partition and suck the outside air. Thus, the solvent gas density in the partition is adjusted to density corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent to suppress the volatilization of the solvent from the printing material of the coating unit.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a coating apparatus, and more particularly, to a coating apparatus for applying an adhesive for bonding an array substrate and a counter substrate in a liquid crystal display device, and is sandwiched between the array substrate and the counter substrate. The present invention relates to a coating apparatus for coating an alignment film for aligning a liquid crystal composition in a predetermined alignment direction.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Liquid crystal display devices are widely used as displays for notebook and subnotebook personal computers because of their advantages such as thinness and light weight and low power consumption. In recent years, notebook and subnotebook personal computers have been used for various purposes, and the variety of required liquid crystal display devices has been diversified. Along with this, there is a demand for a production line capable of high-mix low-volume production.

[0005] A liquid crystal display device is generally manufactured by the following steps. That is, a substrate forming step of forming an array substrate and a counter substrate, a cleaning step of cleaning the array substrate and the counter substrate, an alignment film coating step of coating an alignment film on one main surface of each of the array substrate and the counter substrate,
A rubbing process of rubbing the alignment film applied to each of the array substrate and the counter substrate, a cleaning process of cleaning the array substrate and the counter substrate, a spraying process of spraying a spacer material on the array substrate or the counter substrate, an array substrate or A sealant application step of applying a sealant on the counter substrate,
A liquid crystal display device is manufactured by a bonding step of bonding an array substrate and a counter substrate, and a sealing step of sealing a liquid crystal composition between the array substrate and the counter substrate.

In the orientation film coating step, a transfer printing machine is used, and polyimide as a material for the orientation film is applied to each surface of the array substrate and the counter substrate. In the sealing material applying step, a screen printing machine is used to apply an epoxy resin as a sealing material, that is, an adhesive, on the array substrate or the opposing substrate.

[0005]

In a production line for multi-product small-volume production as described above, since the production amount is small, the operation stop time, that is, the tact time in a transfer printing machine or a screen printing machine tends to be long. It is in. In addition, if trouble occurs in a process prior to the application process of applying a printing material such as an alignment film material or a sealing material by these printing machines, the production line is stopped, and accordingly, these printing machines are also shut down. The operation is stopped and the apparatus enters a standby state.

[0006] As described above, if the operation of the printing press is stopped for a long time, the printing plate attached to the printing press dries, and when the operation is started, a printing failure, that is, a coating failure occurs. Problems arise in that the thickness of the printing material becomes non-uniform and coating unevenness tends to occur.

[0007] Such drying of the printing plate occurs because the solvent dissolving the printing material is volatilized from the printing material on the plate. In order to solve such a problem, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
According to Japanese Patent No. 6842, it is proposed to prevent the printing plate from drying by surrounding the printing press with a closed container and adjusting the humidity in the closed container. However, since the vapor pressure and the humidity of the volatile solvent are independent of each other, even if the humidity is controlled, the amount of evaporation of the solvent cannot be controlled, and the drying of the printing plate cannot be efficiently controlled.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and has as its object to provide a printing material coating apparatus capable of improving printing defects and manufacturing a high-quality liquid crystal display device. I do.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made based on the above problems, and according to claim 1, a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal composition sandwiched between a first substrate and a second substrate. A coating device for applying a printing material to at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate in order to manufacture the printing device; a sealing device for sealing the coating device; and the printing material in the sealing device. And an adjusting means for adjusting the solvent gas concentration of the solvent gas obtained by vaporizing the solvent contained in the solvent gas to a predetermined value.

According to the coating apparatus of the present invention, the coating means for coating the printing material on at least one of the first substrate and the second substrate of the liquid crystal display device is sealed by the sealing means, and the printing in the sealing means is adjusted by the adjusting means. The solvent gas concentration of the solvent gas in which the solvent contained in the material is vaporized is adjusted to a predetermined value corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent.

That is, while measuring the solvent gas concentration of the solvent contained in the printing material in the partition, the solvent gas concentration in the partition is adjusted so that the solvent gas concentration becomes a predetermined value, that is, a gas concentration near the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent. By adjusting, the solvent is in a parallel state, and volatilization of the solvent is suppressed.

For this reason, it is possible to prevent the printing plate from drying due to the evaporation of the solvent, improve the printing failure of the printing material due to the drying of the printing plate, and manufacture a high quality liquid crystal display device. Can be provided.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The embodiments of the coating apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. This application device is applied to, for example, a printing device that applies a printing material such as an alignment film material or a sealing material in a manufacturing process of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing the structure of a liquid crystal display device to which the coating device is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal display device to which the coating device is applied includes an array substrate 100 as a first substrate including a display area 102 for displaying an image and a peripheral area 104 on which a wiring pattern is formed, and An opposing substrate 200 as a second substrate opposing the array substrate 100;
Liquid crystal composition 30 disposed between the first substrate 0 and the opposite substrate 200
0. The display area 102 is the array substrate 1
00 and the opposing substrate 200 are attached to the sealing material 106.
Formed in a region surrounded by
Are formed in a region outside the sealing material 106.

The display area 102 of the array substrate 100 is
A transparent insulating substrate, for example, a glass substrate 101 having a thickness of 0.7 mm is provided with 1024 × 3 signal lines and 768 scanning lines (not shown) arranged orthogonally to each other.

The array substrate 100 includes a thin film transistor or a TFT 121 serving as a switching element disposed in the vicinity of each intersection of each signal line and each scanning line.
And the pixel electrode 15 connected via the TFT 121.
1 is provided. The pixel electrode 151 is formed of a transparent conductive member, for example, indium-tin-oxide, that is, ITO.

The TFT 121 has a semiconductor film and a channel protection film which are sequentially laminated via a gate insulating film using a part of the scanning line as a gate electrode, and is further connected to the semiconductor film via a low-resistance semiconductor film. It has a source electrode and a drain electrode. The source electrode is the pixel electrode 151
And the drain electrode is electrically connected to the signal line.

The surface of the array substrate 100 is covered with an alignment film 141 for aligning the liquid crystal composition 300 interposed between the array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200. The display area 102 of the counter substrate 200 includes a light shielding film 202 disposed on a transparent insulating substrate, for example, a glass substrate 201 having a thickness of 0.7 mm. The light-shielding film 202 shields the wiring pattern on the array substrate 100, that is, the position facing the TFT 121, the pixel electrode 151, the signal line and the scanning line (not shown) of the array substrate 100, and the position facing each gap. It is provided in.

The opposing substrate 200 is a glass substrate 20
The light-shielding film 2 is located at a position facing the first pixel electrode 151.
02, color filters 203R, 203G, and 203B each of which includes three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) for realizing color display.

The color filters 203R, 203G,
The surface of 203 </ b> B is covered with a counter electrode 204 formed of ITO that forms a potential difference with the pixel electrode 151. The surface of the counter electrode 204 is
Liquid crystal composition 300 interposed between array substrate 100
Is covered with an alignment film 205 for orienting.

The array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200 as described above are bonded together by a sealing material 106 applied so as to divide the periphery of the display area 102. At this time, a predetermined gap is formed between the substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200 by the spacers scattered between the array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200.

The liquid crystal composition 300 is injected from an injection port formed by a part of the sealing material 106, and the injection port is sealed so that the array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 2 are sealed.
00 and 00.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG. That is,
The liquid crystal display device as shown in FIG. 1 is formed according to the manufacturing steps shown in FIG.

In the substrate forming step ST1, the glass substrate 10
Various wiring patterns such as scanning lines and signal lines arranged orthogonally to each other, TFTs 121 arranged near intersections between the scanning lines and the signal lines, pixel electrodes 151 connected to the TFTs 121 and the like are formed on the pixel 1. Thus, the array substrate 100 is formed. Further, a light-shielding film 202 and color filters 203R, 203G, 203 are formed on a glass substrate 201.
B, by forming the counter electrode 204, the counter substrate 20
0 is formed.

In the substrate cleaning step ST2, a substrate forming step S
The array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200 formed at T1 are washed. In the alignment film coating step ST3, one main surface of each of the cleaned array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200, that is, T
An alignment film material, for example, polyimide is applied to the surface of the main surface on which the FT 121 and the pixel electrode 151 are disposed and the surface of the main surface of the counter substrate 200 on which the counter electrode is disposed. In this orientation film application step, polyimide as a printing material is applied to the surface of each substrate by a transfer printing device as an application device described later.

In the rubbing step ST4, the array substrate 10
Rubbing the alignment film material applied to the surface of each of the first and second substrates 200 and 90 in a predetermined direction,
205 are respectively formed.

In the substrate cleaning step ST5, in the rubbing step, the array substrate 100 and the counter substrate 200 are each cleaned in order to remove alignment film material pieces generated when the alignment film material is rubbed.

In the spacer dispersing step ST6, the alignment film 141 or 20 of the array substrate 100 or the counter substrate 200 is formed.
A spacer material is sprayed on 5. Seal material application step ST7
Then, an adhesive, for example, an epoxy resin, as a sealant 106 is applied around the display area of the array substrate 100 or the counter substrate 200. In this sealing material application step, an epoxy resin as a printing material is applied to one of the substrates by a screen printing device as an application device described later. At this time, an inlet for injecting the liquid crystal composition 300 is secured.

In the bonding step ST8, the array substrate 10
The two substrates are bonded to each other by the sealing material 106 applied to the counter substrate 200 or 0. At this time, a predetermined gap is formed between the two substrates by the spacer material.

In the liquid crystal composition enclosing step ST9, the liquid crystal composition 300 is injected between the array substrate 100 and the opposing substrate 200 from the injection port, and the injection port is sealed with an ultraviolet curable resin or the like. A liquid crystal composition is sealed between the substrates.

A liquid crystal display device is formed by the above steps ST1 to ST9. Next, the configuration of a transfer printing apparatus that applies an alignment film material to the surfaces of the array substrate and the counter substrate will be described.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing an example of the transfer printing apparatus. The transfer printing apparatus 1 includes an array substrate 100
Alternatively, a stage 2 on which the counter substrate 200 is mounted, an application unit 3 as an application unit for applying an alignment film material as a printing material, for example, polyimide (PI), to the surface of the substrate mounted on the stage 2, and a stage. And a partition 4 as a sealing means for sealing the substrate mounted on 2 and the coating unit 3. The coating unit 3 includes a plate cylinder 6 around which the printing plate 5 is wound, an anilox roll 7 for supplying polyimide, ie, PI, as a printing material to the printing plate 5, and a doctor roll for uniformizing the printing material attached to the anilox roll 7. Eight. Polyimide as a printing material is dissolved by a solvent, for example, gamma-butyrolactone.

The transfer printing apparatus 1 includes a self-circulating air conditioner 10 for adjusting the atmosphere in the partition 4. The self-circulating air conditioner 10 includes an intake port 11 for inhaling the atmosphere from the inside of the partition 4, and an outlet 1 for cleaning and blowing out the atmosphere from the intake port 11 through a filter 12.
3, an exhaust device 15 as an exhaust device for exhausting the atmosphere in the partition 4 to the outside as necessary, and an intake device 16 as an intake device for taking in outside air into the partition 4 as necessary.

Further, the transfer printing apparatus 1 has a partition 4
The apparatus includes a gas concentration measuring device 20 as a detecting means for detecting the concentration of the solvent gas in which the solvent is vaporized, and a gas supply device 30 as a supplying means for containing the solvent and supplying the solvent gas.

The gas concentration measuring device 20 measures the concentration of the solvent gas in the partition 4, and a measuring device using a gas chromatography method, a measuring device using a well-known vapor pressure measuring device, or the like can be applied. It is. That is, when the concentration of the solvent gas generated by the vaporization of the solvent in the partition 4 increases, the pressure of the solvent gas in the partition 4 increases. Then, when the pressure of the solvent gas in the partition 4 reaches the saturated vapor pressure (vapor pressure) of the solvent,
The solvent gas as a gas and the solvent as a liquid are in an equilibrium state, and the solvent gas is less likely to evaporate from the liquid solvent.

That is, when the concentration of the solvent gas in the partition 4 reaches a gas concentration corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure, the solvent in the partition 4 is hardly vaporized, and the volatilization of the solvent can be suppressed. . On the other hand, when the concentration of the solvent gas is lower than the saturated vapor pressure, the solvent in the partition 4
It becomes a state that is easy to evaporate. When the concentration of the solvent gas is higher than the saturated vapor pressure, the solvent gas in the partition 4 is easily condensed.

The gas supply device 30 comprises a container 31 containing the same solvent as that for dissolving the printing material,
And a closing mechanism 33 as opening / closing means for opening / closing the lid 32.

The transfer printing apparatus 1 constitutes a gas concentration control section 40 which functions as an adjusting means by using components as shown in FIG. That is, the gas concentration control unit 40
The main controller 41 as a judging means for controlling the solvent gas concentration in the atmosphere in the partition 4 to around the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, the gas concentration measuring device 20 for measuring the solvent gas concentration in the atmosphere, The partition 4 is constituted by a gas supply device 30 for supplying a solvent gas therein, an exhaust device 15 for exhausting an atmosphere containing the solvent gas from the inside of the partition 4, and an intake device 16 for taking in outside air into the partition 4.

That is, when the main controller 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the atmosphere in the partition 4 measured by the gas concentration measuring device 20 is lower than the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, the main controller 41 Is a gas supply device 30
Is driven to open the lid 32 of the container 31 containing the solvent. At this time, the exhaust device 15
The intake device 16 blocks the space inside the partition 4 from outside air, and seals the inside of the partition 4.

When the lid 32 of the container 31 is opened, the solvent contained in the container 31 is vaporized to generate a solvent gas, and the partition 4 is filled with the solvent gas. When the main control unit 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 has reached the saturated vapor pressure, the main control unit 4
1 drives the lid opening / closing mechanism 33 of the gas supply device 30 to close the lid 31. At this time, the inside of the partition 4 is still maintained in a sealed state.

When the main controller 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 is higher than the saturated vapor pressure, the main controller 41 controls the lid opening / closing mechanism 3 of the gas supply device 30.
3 is driven to close the lid 31. Further, the main control unit 41 drives the exhaust device 15 to exhaust the atmosphere containing the solvent gas in the partition 4 sucked from the intake port 11 of the self-circulating air conditioner 10 and also drives the intake device 16. Then, outside air is taken into the partition 4 from the outlet 13.

When the main control unit 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 has reached the saturated vapor pressure, the main control unit 41 sets the exhaust device 15 and the intake device 16
Is stopped, and the inside of the partition 4 is shut off from the outside air and sealed.

In the case of this transfer printing apparatus, the saturation vapor pressure of gamma-butyrolactone used as a solvent for dissolving polyimide, ie, an alignment film material as a printing material, is 79 ° C.
Is 10 mmHg.

As described above, in the transfer printing apparatus for transferring and printing the printing material, the coating unit for applying the printing material is sealed by the partition, and the solvent gas concentration of the solvent dissolving the printing material in the partition is measured. Meanwhile, by adjusting the solvent gas concentration in the partition so that the solvent gas concentration is a predetermined value, that is, a gas concentration near the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, volatilization of the solvent is suppressed, and the printing plate due to the volatilization of the solvent is reduced. Drying can be prevented.

Therefore, the printing failure of the printing material due to the drying of the printing plate is improved, and it is possible to provide a printing apparatus capable of manufacturing a high quality liquid crystal display. Next, the configuration of a screen printing apparatus that applies a sealing material around the display area of the array substrate or the counter substrate will be described.

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing an example of a screen printing apparatus. Note that the same components as those of the transfer printing apparatus shown in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

This printing apparatus comprises a stage 2 on which a substrate is placed, and a coating means for applying a sealing material such as an epoxy resin (EP) as a printing material on the surface of the substrate placed on the stage 2. The coating unit 50 includes a coating unit 50 and a partition 4 as a sealing unit that seals the substrate mounted on the stage 2 and the coating unit 3. The coating unit 50 includes a frame 5 supporting the screen printing plate 51.
2, and a squeegee 53 that slides under pressure on the screen printing plate 51 to cause an epoxy resin, ie, EP, as a printing material to flow out of the opening of the screen printing plate 51. Epoxy resin as a printing material is dissolved by a solvent, for example, methyl carbitol.

The screen printing apparatus comprises an exhaust device 15 and an intake device 16 for adjusting the atmosphere in the partition 4.
A self-circulating air conditioner 10 having: a gas concentration measuring device 20 as a detecting means for detecting the concentration of the solvent gas in which the solvent has vaporized in the partition 4; and a supply means for containing the solvent and supplying the solvent gas. And a gas supply device 30.

The gas supply device 30 comprises a container 31 containing the same solvent as that for dissolving the printing material,
And a closing mechanism 33 as opening / closing means for opening / closing the lid 32.

Also in such a screen printing apparatus, the concentration of the solvent gas in the atmosphere in the partition 4 is adjusted by the gas concentration controller 40. In the case of this screen printing apparatus, the saturated vapor pressure of methyl carbitol used as a solvent for dissolving a sealing material, ie, an epoxy resin, as a printing material is 0.18 m at 25 ° C.
mHg.

As described above, in the screen printing apparatus for screen-printing the printing material, the coating unit for applying the printing material is sealed by the partition, and the solvent gas concentration of the solvent dissolving the printing material in the partition is measured. Meanwhile, by adjusting the solvent gas concentration in the partition so that the solvent gas concentration is a predetermined value, that is, a gas concentration near the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, volatilization of the solvent is suppressed, and the printing plate due to the volatilization of the solvent is reduced. Drying can be prevented.

For this reason, the printing failure of the printing material due to the drying of the printing plate is improved, and it is possible to provide a printing apparatus capable of manufacturing a high quality liquid crystal display. The gas supply device 30 applied to the above-described transfer printing device and screen printing device includes a container 31, a lid 32, and a lid opening / closing mechanism 3.
3, the configuration is not limited to this example, and another configuration may be used.

For example, the gas supply device 35 shown in FIG.
A container 31 for storing the solvent, a heater wire 36 wound around the container 31 and heating the container 31, and a heater controller 3 for controlling heating by the heater wire 36
7, and a diffusion fan 38 as diffusion means for diffusing the vaporized solvent gas from the container 31 into the partition.

The gas concentration control unit 45 including such a gas supply device 35 includes a main control unit 41 and a gas concentration measurement device 2.
0, a gas supply device 30, an exhaust device 15, and an intake device 16.

That is, when the main control unit 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the atmosphere in the partition 4 measured by the gas concentration measuring device 20 is lower than the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, the main control unit 41 Is a gas supply device 30
The heater 31 is controlled to heat the container 31 via the heater wire 36, and the solvent is positively vaporized.
Further, the main controller 41 drives the diffusion fan 38 to diffuse the vaporized solvent gas into the partition 4. At this time, the exhaust device 15 and the intake device 16 block the space inside the partition 4 from the outside air and seal the inside of the partition 4. As a result, the partition 4 is filled with the solvent gas.

When the main control unit 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 has reached the saturated vapor pressure, the main control unit 41 uses the heater controller 37 of the gas supply device 30 to operate the container 31. Is stopped, and the driving of the diffusion fan 38 is stopped.

When the main controller 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 is higher than the saturated vapor pressure, the main controller 41 controls the heater controller 37 of the gas supply device 30 to operate the container 31. Heating and diffusion fan 3
8 is stopped. Further, the main control unit 41 drives the exhaust device 15 to exhaust the atmosphere containing the solvent gas in the partition 4 and drives the intake device 16,
The outside air is introduced into the partition 4.

When the main control unit 41 determines that the solvent gas concentration in the partition 4 has reached the saturated vapor pressure, the main control unit 41 sets the exhaust device 15 and the intake device 16
Is stopped, and the inside of the partition 4 is shut off from the outside air and sealed.

By applying such a gas supply device, when the solvent gas concentration in the partition is lower than the saturated vapor pressure, the solvent can be quickly vaporized, and the solvent can be quickly stored in the partition. Since the gas can be diffused, the solvent gas concentration in the partition can quickly reach the gas concentration corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure. For this reason, it is possible to efficiently suppress the evaporation of the solvent from the printing plate, and it is possible to prevent printing failure due to drying of the printing plate.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the solvent used in the above-described example, and adjusts the solvent gas concentration in the atmosphere in the partition to the saturated vapor pressure of each solvent even when another solvent is used. It is applicable by doing.

When propylene glycol monoethyl ether acetate is used as another solvent, the saturated vapor pressure is 1.7 mmHg at 20 ° C., and when dipropylene glycol monomethyl ether (DPME) is used, the saturated vapor pressure is 0.3 mmH at 25 ° C
g, when using butyl cellosolve, the saturated vapor pressure is 0.852 mmHg at 25 ° C.
When methylpyrrolidone is used, the saturated vapor pressure is 10
24 mmHg at 0 ° C, 4 mmHg at 60 ° C
It is.

By adjusting the concentration of the solvent gas in the partition in accordance with the saturated vapor pressure of the solvent, it is possible to suppress the volatilization of the solvent, suppress the drying of the printing plate, and reduce the printing failure due to the drying of the printing plate. It can be improved.

[0063]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a printing material coating apparatus capable of improving printing defects and manufacturing a high-quality liquid crystal display device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view schematically showing a configuration of a liquid crystal display device to which a printing material is applied by a printing device of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically showing a manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a transfer printing apparatus as a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a gas concentration control unit of the transfer printing apparatus illustrated in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing a configuration of a screen printing apparatus as a printing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram schematically showing another example of a gas supply device applicable to the printing device of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a configuration of another gas concentration control unit including the gas supply device shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Transfer printing device 3 ... Coating unit 4 ... Partition 10 ... Self-circulation type air conditioner 15 ... Exhaust device 16 ... Intake device 20 ... Gas concentration measuring device 30 ... Gas supply device 31 ... Container 32 ... Lid 33 ... Lid opening / closing mechanism 35 ... gas supply device 37 ... heater controller 38 ... diffusion fan 40 ... gas concentration control unit 41 ... main control unit 50 ... coating unit

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A coating means for coating a printing material on at least one of the first and second substrates to manufacture a liquid crystal display device having a liquid crystal composition sandwiched between the first and second substrates. A coating device, comprising: sealing means for sealing the coating means; and adjusting means for adjusting a solvent gas concentration of a solvent gas in which the solvent contained in the printing material is vaporized in the sealing means to a predetermined value. A coating device. 2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said adjusting means has a concentration adjusting means for adjusting a solvent gas concentration in said sealing means to a solvent gas concentration corresponding to a saturated vapor pressure of said solvent. Coating equipment. 3. The adjusting means comprises: detecting means for detecting the solvent gas concentration in the sealing means; and the solvent gas concentration detected by the detecting means is a solvent gas concentration corresponding to a saturated vapor pressure of the solvent. Determining means for determining whether or not, when the determining means determines that the solvent gas concentration in the sealing means is lower than the solvent gas concentration corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure, the solvent in the sealing means Supply means for supplying a gas that has been vaporized, and when it is determined by the determination means that the solvent gas concentration in the sealing means is higher than the solvent gas concentration corresponding to the saturated vapor pressure, the inside of the sealing means is The coating apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an exhaust unit configured to exhaust air.