JPH1124103A - Liquid crystal display element and manufacturing method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to display a high quality image by arranging spacers regularly arrayed in a given portion except pixel portion comprising pixel forming electrodes between a pair of substrates of a liquid crystal display element. SOLUTION: Each pixel comprises thin film transistors (TFT1, 2) a transparent pixel electrode ITO1, and a holding capacitance element Cadd, and has a source electrode SD1, a drain electrode SD2, a black matrix BM, and color filters FIL. In order to set a spacing between one substrate on which the color filters are formed and the other substrate on which TFTs are formed, namely, a cell gap, spacers (spherical beads) SPC are scattered on a data line DL part avoiding pixel electrodes ITO between both substrates. Therefore, the spacing length between the substrates is determined by the spacers SPC arranged on the data line DL, and a predetermined cell gap is maintained, and no spacer exists on the pixel data ITO constituting the pixel portion.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device in which a pair of substrates having pixel forming electrodes on one or both sides thereof are opposed to each other at a predetermined gap, and a liquid crystal composition layer is sandwiched between the gaps, and a method of manufacturing the same. And manufacturing equipment.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Liquid crystal displays are widely used as devices for displaying various images including still images and moving images.

[0003] In a liquid crystal display device, liquid crystal is basically sealed between two substrates at least one of which is made of transparent glass or the like, and the periphery of the substrate is adhered and fixed with a liquid crystal sealant to sandwich the liquid crystal. And a liquid crystal display element in which a driving circuit, a polarizing plate, and other various optical sheets are integrated with the liquid crystal display element, and a backlight is incorporated into the liquid crystal display element to be integrated with a frame.

In this type of liquid crystal display device, a stripe-shaped transparent electrode is disposed on each of two substrates, and each stripe is formed when the two substrates are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap via a liquid crystal composition. Electrodes form a matrix by crossing each other, and a simple matrix type in which pixels are formed at each crossing portion, and an electrode formed on one side of the substrate are separated for each pixel, and each pixel has a switch function such as a thin film transistor. Active matrix type with additional elements.

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a liquid crystal module using a liquid crystal display device to which the present invention is applied, and is an example using an active matrix type liquid crystal display device.

SHD is a shield case (also called a metal frame) made of a metal plate, WD is a display window, INS1
To 3 are insulating sheets, PCB1 to 3 are circuit boards (PCB1
Is a drain side circuit board: a video signal line driving circuit board, P
CB2 is a gate side circuit board, PCB3 is an interface circuit board), JN1 to 3 are joiners for electrically connecting the circuit boards PCB1 to 3, TCP1 and TCP2 are tape carrier packages, PNL is a liquid crystal display panel, G
C is a rubber cushion, ILS is a light shielding spacer, PRS is a prism sheet, SPS is a diffusion sheet, GLB is a light guide plate, RFS is a reflection sheet, MCA is a lower case (mold frame) formed by integral molding, MO is MC
A opening, LP is fluorescent tube, LPC is lamp cable, G
B denotes a rubber bush supporting the fluorescent tube LP, BAT denotes a double-sided adhesive tape, BL denotes a backlight made of a fluorescent tube, a light guide plate, and the like, and a liquid crystal display module MDL is assembled by stacking diffusion plate members in the arrangement shown in the figure. .

The liquid crystal display module MDL has two kinds of storage / holding members of a lower case MCA and a shield case SHD, and includes insulating sheets INS1 to INS3 and circuit boards PCB1 to PCB1.
3. A metal shield case SHD in which the liquid crystal display panel PNL is housed and fixed, and a lower case MCA in which a backlight BL including a fluorescent tube LP, a light guide plate GLB, a prism sheet PRS, and the like are housed are combined.

An integrated circuit chip for driving each pixel of the liquid crystal display panel PNL is mounted on the video signal line driving circuit board PCB1.
The B3 includes an integrated circuit chip that receives a video signal from an external host, receives a control signal such as a timing signal, and a timing converter TCON that processes a timing to generate a clock signal.

The clock signal generated by the timing converter is integrated on the video signal line driving circuit board PCB1 via the clock signal line CLL laid on the interface circuit board PCB3 and the video signal line driving circuit board PCB1. Supplied to the circuit chip.

The interface circuit board PCB3 and the video signal line driving circuit board PCB1 are multilayer wiring boards, and the clock signal line CLL is connected to the interface circuit board PCB3 and the video signal line driving circuit board PC
It is formed as an inner wiring of B1.

The liquid crystal display panel PNL is formed by bonding two substrates, a TFT substrate on which TFTs and various wirings / electrodes are formed, and a filter substrate on which a color filter is formed, and sealing a liquid crystal in a gap therebetween. , A TFT-side circuit board PCB1, a gate-side circuit board PCB2, and an interface circuit board PCB3 for driving TFTs are connected by tape carrier packages TCP1 and TCP2, and the circuit boards are connected by joiners JN1, JN2, JN3. .

In addition to the active matrix type liquid crystal display element described above, in any type of liquid crystal display element of the simple matrix type liquid crystal display element described above, two substrates are stuck together at a fixed gap. In general, a layer of a liquid crystal composition is sandwiched between cell gaps).

If the gap varies in the effective display area, display unevenness occurs, and it becomes impossible to obtain a high quality product.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of an essential part for explaining an example of the structure near one pixel of an active matrix type liquid crystal display element.

As shown in FIG. 1, each pixel has two adjacent scanning signal lines (gate signal lines or horizontal signal lines) GL.
(A gate line) and an adjacent video signal line (drain signal line or vertical signal line) DL (data line) in an intersecting region (in a region surrounded by four signal lines). I have.

Each pixel is a thin film transistor TFT (TFT).
1, TFT2), a transparent pixel electrode ITO1, and a storage capacitor Cadd (additional capacitor). The scanning signal lines GL extend in the left-right direction in the figure, and a plurality of scanning signal lines GL are arranged in the up-down direction. The video signal lines DL extend in the up-down direction, and a plurality of video signal lines DL are arranged in the left-right direction.

Note that SD1 is a source electrode, SD2 is a drain electrode, BM is a black matrix, and FIL is a color filter.

A spacer SPC (here, spherical beads) is set between one substrate on which the color filter FIL is formed and the other substrate on which the TFT is formed, ie, a cell gap, in order to set a cell gap. Are distributed.

That is, conventionally, as a means for keeping the gap constant, a minute spherical spacer or the like is dispersed between the two substrates, and the periphery of the two substrates bonded together is sealed with an organic adhesive (sealant). The gap allowed by the spacer is set in the pressing / heating step when sealing and fixing are performed.

The above spacers are usually made of so-called beads formed of a plastic material or an inorganic insulator material.
This is dispersed in a dispersion medium such as water or alcohol, and this is distributed on the surface of the substrate by spraying means. As shown, the spacer SPC is also arranged on the pixel electrode ITO1.

Incidentally, as this type of liquid crystal display device disclosed, for example, JP-B-51-13666 and JP-A-63-309921 can be mentioned.

[0022]

The method of disposing spacers on a substrate using the above-described conventional method of dispersing beads has a problem in that the sprayed beads aggregate on the substrate and the distribution becomes uneven. In particular, when a large number of beads (spacers SPC) are arranged on the pixel electrode ITO1, if the spacers are made of a transparent material, depending on the arrangement of the polarizing plate, light leakage at the black level and black spots at the white level may occur. When the spacer SPC is made of an opaque material, black spots occur at each white level.

In particular, as the definition increases and the pixel size decreases, these become perfect point defects. Generally, even if no defect occurs, the image quality is degraded.

Further, in the step of setting the cell gap of the liquid crystal display element or the step of enclosing the liquid crystal composition, spacers (beads) move, which may damage the alignment film and disturb the alignment of the liquid crystal molecules. Further, in the bead dispersion method, there is a process in which the dispersion medium covers the alignment film and evaporates, and there is an example in which a step of washing after the rubbing treatment of the alignment film is employed, but contamination due to evaporation of the dispersion medium is performed. However, this has a problem that the rubbing state of the alignment film is adversely affected and the orientation of the liquid crystal is deteriorated.

In order to solve the above problem, it is necessary to accurately arrange spacers (beads) in portions other than the pixel electrodes. One possible method is to inject a spacer onto the substrate surface with a syringe through which one spacer can pass, but disperse beads having a diameter of about 5 to 6 μm in the liquid as a dispersion medium. In such a case, the injection arrangement using a syringe as described above is difficult due to the physical properties such as the aggregation effect and the surface tension inherent to the fine particles, and the method has not been put to practical use.

Further, the process time of the current spraying method is very short, and it is necessary to perform dispersion at a speed of about 1 second with respect to A4 size for practical use. There are difficulties to do.

A first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device which solves the above-mentioned problems of the prior art and eliminates point defects of pixels due to spacers such as beads and enables high-quality image display. It is in.

It is a second object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device which enables a spacer such as a bead to be arranged at a designated position on a substrate by one unit. .

Further, a third object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device which realizes the above-mentioned manufacturing method.

[0030]

In order to achieve the first object, the present invention provides a liquid crystal composition comprising a pair of substrates having pixel forming electrodes on one or both sides thereof at a predetermined gap. In the liquid crystal display device having a layer sandwiched between the pair of substrates, spacers are regularly arranged in predetermined portions excluding a pixel portion formed by the pixel forming electrode.

In order to achieve the second object,
The liquid crystal display device according to the present invention is provided with an ablation thin layer in which spacer particles are arranged on the surface of the substrate facing the front surface of a substrate constituting the liquid crystal display device, and a laser beam of a specific wavelength is applied from the back surface of the ablation thin layer. The spacer particles are adhered to the surface of the selected portion of the substrate by the abrasion thrust of the laser beam irradiated portion of the ablation thin layer.

Further, in order to achieve the third object, the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention comprises a laser light source for emitting laser light of a specific wavelength, and a surface opposite to a surface irradiated with the laser light. An ablation thin layer formed on the substrate and an auxiliary substrate transparent to the laser beam in which spacer particles are arranged on the ablation thin layer; and an opening in a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element. ,
A mask provided between a side of the auxiliary substrate where the spacer particles are arranged and a substrate constituting a liquid crystal display element; and a laser light source moving device for moving the laser light source in a direction parallel to a surface of the liquid crystal display element. Irradiating the auxiliary substrate with laser light from the laser light source to ablate the ablation thin layer disposed on the liquid crystal display element side of the auxiliary substrate, and the ablation thrust of the ablation thin layer by the ablation causes the spacer to ablate. The particles are attached to a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element through an opening of the mask.

Further, in order to achieve the third object, an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention comprises a laser light source for emitting a laser beam of a specific wavelength, An ablation thin layer formed on the surface of the ablation layer and an auxiliary substrate transparent to the laser light in which spacer particles are arranged on the ablation thin layer, and an opening in a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element. A laser light source moving device for moving the laser light source in a direction parallel to the surface of the liquid crystal display element, the mask being provided between the side of the auxiliary substrate where the spacer particles are arranged and the substrate constituting the liquid crystal display element And a mask moving device for moving the mask in a direction parallel to the surface of the liquid crystal display element, and irradiating the auxiliary substrate with laser light from the laser light source. Ablation of the ablation thin layer disposed on the liquid crystal display element side of the auxiliary substrate, and removing the spacer particles through the opening of the mask by the ablation thrust of the ablation thin layer by the ablation to remove a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element. It is characterized in that it is attached to a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion.

In the structure of each of the above-mentioned inventions, the laser used is a pulse laser having a pulse width of 100 ns or less. The ablation thin layer is ablated, and the spacer is skipped by the ablation thrust, and adheres to a predetermined portion excluding the pixel portion of the liquid crystal substrate placed opposite to the auxiliary substrate. As the thin layer material that generates the ablation thrust, various polymers that generate gas such as N ₂ , O ₂ , and H ₂ by photolysis, photochemical reaction, or by heating are preferable. Using a polymer material, an inorganic material such as SiO ₂ or Al ₂ O ₃ , a thin layer of a polymer is applied to one surface of a quartz plate, and beads formed of the above spacer material are adhered thereon to form an auxiliary substrate. I do.

It is to be noted that, by using a spacer in which an appropriate solvent or an adhesive is dispersed or sprayed on the ablation thin layer, the adhesion of the spacer to the liquid crystal substrate can be improved.

The laser beam is a linear beam condensed to a width of 20 μm or less, and the length of the linear beam is set to a length that completely covers one side of the display surface of the liquid crystal substrate. The laser light source is oscillated in relative movement in one axis direction in synchronization with a position interval at which the spacer is to be arranged.

The ablation thin layer is ablated by the laser light, and the spacer is skipped by the thrust to adhere to a predetermined position on the liquid crystal substrate.

Further, a mask having an opening for shielding the portion other than the spacer arrangement portion on the liquid crystal substrate is arranged between the auxiliary substrate and the liquid crystal substrate, and the scattered spacers adhere to portions of the pixel portion or the like where spacer attachment is to be avoided. To suppress.

An underlayer made of a metal or the like that absorbs laser light and converts it into heat may be provided below the ablation thin layer applied to the auxiliary substrate.

[0040]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part for explaining an example of a structure around one pixel of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device for explaining one embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 7, the pixel shown in FIG. 8 includes two adjacent scanning signal lines (gate signal lines or horizontal signal lines) GL (gate lines) and two adjacent scanning signal lines (gate signal lines). Video signal line (drain signal line or vertical signal line) DL
(A data line) in the intersection area (in an area surrounded by four signal lines).

Each pixel is a thin film transistor TFT (TFT).
1, TFT2), a transparent pixel electrode ITO1, and a storage capacitor Cadd (additional capacitor). The scanning signal lines GL extend in the left-right direction in the figure, and a plurality of scanning signal lines GL are arranged in the up-down direction. The video signal lines DL extend in the up-down direction, and a plurality of video signal lines DL are arranged in the left-right direction.

SD1 is a source electrode, SD2 is a drain electrode, BM is a black matrix, and FIL is a color filter.

In order to set an interval between one substrate on which the color filter FIL is formed and the other substrate on which the TFT is formed, that is, a cell gap, a data line of a portion avoiding the pixel electrode ITO between the two substrates is set. Spacers (spherical beads) SPC are dispersed on the DL.

Therefore, in this liquid crystal display element, a gap between the two substrates is defined by the spacers SPC arranged on the data lines DL, a predetermined cell gap is maintained, and a pixel portion is formed. Pixel data ITO
There is no spacer on top.

As a result, it is possible to obtain a high-quality liquid crystal display element without image quality deterioration such as pixel point defects as described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 2 is a principle diagram of a method of arranging spacers using ablation. As shown in FIG.
AXP is a substrate (auxiliary substrate) transparent to the wavelength of the laser beam LSL. An ablation thin film ABL is applied to the surface of the auxiliary substrate AXP on the liquid crystal substrate SUB side, and a spacer material SPC is formed on the ablation thin layer ABL. Are densely arranged.

FIG. 7B is an enlarged view of a main part of FIG. 7A, in which a laser beam LSL from a pulse laser having a pulse width of 100 ns or less is incident on the auxiliary substrate AXP and applied to the emission surface thereof. The light is focused on the ablation thin layer ABL. The condensed laser beam ablates and vaporizes the ablation thin layer at the condensed portion, and this propellant S
Spacer material SP which was LE and was arranged in the relevant portion
Skip C. The removed spacer material SPC adheres to the liquid crystal substrate SUB shown in FIG.

The laser beam LSL is condensed by the condenser lens LCL at the position of the ablation thin layer ABL so as to be equal to or smaller than the diameter of the spacer SPC.

When the laser beam is directly applied to the ablation thin layer ABL, the ablation of the ablation thin layer is carried out by utilizing photolysis or a photochemical reaction of a polymer constituting the ablation thin layer. A thin metal film or the like for converting light into heat is formed below the layer ABL, and the focused laser light is converted into heat to utilize a thermal decomposition reaction of the polymer.

The above-described ablation phenomenon is a kind of explosion phenomenon in which a thin ablation layer is instantaneously decomposed into gas by the energy of excimer laser light, and photochemical decomposition and thermal decomposition are known.

A well-known example is non-thermal high-speed decomposition by excimer laser light, which is used for micromachining. However, not only ultraviolet rays but also thermal decomposition phenomena can be used from the infrared region to the ultraviolet region. Is observed in a wide range of wavelengths. In short, the principle is to use pulsed light having a high energy density, which utilizes a phenomenon in which the decomposition of a substance is explosively caused, and the decomposed particles are scattered at a high speed.

Since this emission speed is on the order of supersonic speed, a shock wave front is usually formed, and then the particles are emitted while growing in the form of a mushroom cloud (plume). Each aspect and speed in this phenomenon depends on the incident energy density and the irradiated substance.
The time for e to rise by several mm is approximately 100 μs or less,
At this time, the speed of the particles has been reduced to several tens m / s. That is, this is a kind of explosion phenomenon, which is applied as thrust.

As an example, when the wavelength of the excimer laser beam was set to 248 nm and the energy was set to 1 J / cm ^2, and this was irradiated to a thin polyimide layer, a thickness of about 0.5 μm was ablated. Laser beam diameter is 10μmφ
, A volume of about 40 μm ² of material is released.
The velocity of the emitted particles varies greatly with time, but is on average about one half of the initial supersonic velocity. When spherical beads of polystyrene having a diameter of 5 μm are used as the spacers in FIG. 2, the beads fly several mm at a speed of at least about the speed of sound, considering the momentum of collision. Therefore, if the energy substrate is disposed to face, beads adhere to the energy substrate. To increase the adhesion, a thin adhesive layer may be added to the beads.

Material transfer utilizing such ablation phenomenon (LAB: Laser Ablation T)
transfer) is described, for example, in T.W. Sameshim
a, Applied Surface Science
96-98 (1996) pp352. In this document, by irradiating the a-Si in XeCl excimer laser, a-S hydrogen gas H ₂ generated as a propellant
The Al film formed on i is attached to a glass substrate disposed so as to face the Al film.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram for explaining a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention and a basic configuration of the device.

In the figure, it is assumed that an alignment film is formed on a liquid crystal substrate SUB as an upper layer of various electrodes for forming pixels. The mask MSK is arranged close to the front surface. This mask MSK substantially matches the width of the spacer arrangement portion on the liquid crystal substrate SUB, and the liquid crystal substrate SUB
Is formed to completely cover the width of the display area.

The auxiliary substrate AXP is made of, for example, a quartz plate and is transparent to the wavelength of the laser beam LSL. A thin layer of a triazene polymer is applied as an ablation thin layer ABL on the entire surface of the liquid crystal substrate side. An organic polymer or spacer beads such as SiO ₂ or Al ₂ O ₃ are attached to the surface.

The laser beam LSL is condensed by the condenser lens LCL, irradiates the ablation thin layer ABL applied to the auxiliary substrate AXP, and ablates it. The propellant generated by this ablation converts the spacer material to the liquid crystal substrate SU.
Fly in the B direction. The mask NSK prevents the arriving spacer material from attaching to portions other than the predetermined portion of the liquid crystal substrate SUB.

According to the above-described principle of the present invention, it is possible to fly individual spacers (beads). However, for practical use, these spacers must be accurately attached to a target place. In addition, since the process for arranging the spacer is required to be short, it is necessary to increase the illuminating area. However, considering the diameter of the spacer, a width of about 10 μm covers one side of the display area of the energy substrate. It is effective to form a slit having a length as long as possible.

Even if the spacer material is distributed at a sufficient density on the auxiliary substrate AXP, the distribution of the spacers to be removed by ablation on the liquid crystal substrate SUB is not always uniform. If the center of the spacer coincides with the irradiation center of the laser beam LSL, the spacer flies straight, but if it deviates from the center, it flies obliquely and cannot be attached to an accurate position. For this reason, a mask MSK in which a slit SLK is formed is placed between the auxiliary substrate AXP and the liquid crystal substrate SUB so that only beads that fall within the allowable attachment range are allowed to pass. The mask MSK also has a function of preventing the liquid crystal substrate SUB from being contaminated by a material generating thrust.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view for explaining a configuration example of a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention, wherein XTB is an X table, LSS is a laser light source, LCL is a condensing laser, CT
L is a control unit.

In this configuration example, the liquid crystal substrate S shown in FIG.
The UB is sucked and held on an X table XTB which is a one-way moving table, and the auxiliary substrate AXP is moved to a liquid crystal substrate SUB.
Is fixed to the X table XTB.

On the other hand, a mask MSK having one slit SLT is separately provided between the liquid crystal substrate SUB and the auxiliary substrate AXP. The laser light source LSS is fixed,
The X table XTB is moved in one direction with respect to the laser light source LSS.

The liquid crystal substrate SUB and the auxiliary substrate AXP are intermittently moved by the X table XTB, and are stopped when the slit SLT of the mask MSK matches the spacer arrangement position on the liquid crystal substrate SUB.

In synchronization with the stop, the control unit CTL drives the laser light source LSS to emit laser light. By performing this operation intermittently and sequentially, spacers are attached to necessary portions of the liquid crystal substrate SUB.

In this configuration, the ablation thin layer A
370 mm x 2 using triazene polymer as BL
The above triazene polymer is applied to an auxiliary substrate AXP made of a quartz plate of 00 mm in a thickness of 1 μm by spin coating, and SiO ₂ beads having an average particle size of 5 μm are further dispersed in an alcohol solution. To adhere tightly.

The liquid crystal substrate SUB has a diagonal of 26.4 mm.
(Nominally 10.4 inches), a TFT substrate having 1920 dots × 480 dots and a pixel pitch of 110 μm × 330 μm was used.

The distance between the spacer attachment surface of the auxiliary substrate AXP and the surface of the liquid crystal substrate SUB was set to 4 mm.

The width of the slit SLT is 20 μm, and the laser light source LSS is a XeCl excimer laser with a wavelength of 308.
nm, a laser beam with a repetition frequency of 500 Hz,
The condensing lens has a uniform light intensity distribution of “tophat” having a width of 100 μm and a length of 200 mm by a homogenizer optical system, and the light is further condensed to a width of 10 μm through a cylindrical lens having a length of 200 mm.

The incident energy intensity of the laser beam LSL on the auxiliary substrate AXP is 1 J / cm ² , and the ablative thin layer of triazene polymer having a thickness of 1 μm is completely ablated. Reaches and adheres to the liquid crystal substrate SUB in about 50 μs after the irradiation.

The moving speed of the X table XTB was 1/500 = 2 ms for a pixel pitch of 110 μm. Laser light source L
The oscillation of SS is synchronized with the movement of X table XTB,
Oscillation is performed with a negative delay by the time required for the beam to reach the liquid crystal substrate SUB. In this manner, the spacers SP are selectively placed on all the data lines DL shown in FIG.
C (beads) can be attached.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view for explaining another example of the structure of the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, wherein SSB is a liquid crystal substrate holding mechanism, LSM is a laser light source moving mechanism, LCL.
Is a condenser lens, LSS is a laser light source, CTL is a control unit,
MKM is a mask moving mechanism.

This configuration example is based on a fixed liquid crystal substrate SUB.
MSK and laser light source L with respect to the auxiliary substrate AXP
This is the same as FIG. 4 except that the SS is moved in one direction in synchronization.

The mask MSK is installed so as to be movable in one direction by a mask moving mechanism MKM, and the laser light source LSS is moved in one direction by the laser light source moving mechanism LSM in synchronization with the mask MSK. Laser light source LSS and mask MS
The synchronous movement of K is controlled by the control unit CTL mask moving mechanism MKM and the laser light source moving mechanism LSM.

The laser light source LSS and the mask MSK sequentially stop at the position of the spacer on the liquid crystal substrate, and control the laser light source LSS to oscillate laser light in synchronization with the stop.

According to this configuration, spacers SPC (beads) can be selectively attached on all data lines DL shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a schematic view for explaining still another example of the structure of the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

In this configuration, slits (opening patterns) formed one-to-one at the positions of the spacers on the liquid crystal substrate SUB.
A liquid crystal substrate SUB and an auxiliary substrate AXP
Fixed between.

The laser light source LSS is a laser light source moving mechanism L
It is moved in one direction by SM, and the mask M
The laser light source LSS is driven when the slit SLT of the SK coincides with the spacer arrangement portion of the liquid crystal substrate SUB and the center of the laser beam, and the spacer is attached to a predetermined portion of the liquid crystal substrate SUB.

In this structure, similarly, spacers SPC are selectively provided on all data lines DL shown in FIG.
(Beads) can be attached.

The manufacturing apparatus of each of the above-described embodiments is provided with a sensor for detecting the relative positions of the liquid crystal substrate, the mask, and the laser light source and providing the detected position to the control unit.

The present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment, and it goes without saying that various modifications are possible within the scope of the idea described in the claims.

[0085]

As described above, according to the present invention,
A spacer can be attached only to a required portion of the liquid crystal substrate, so that the cell gap can be accurately determined, the image quality can be improved, and a high quality liquid crystal display device can be provided.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an essential part for explaining an example of a configuration in the vicinity of one pixel of an active matrix type liquid crystal display device for explaining one embodiment of a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a principle diagram of a method of arranging spacers using ablation.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention and a basic configuration of an apparatus therefor.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration example of a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram for explaining another configuration example of the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating still another example of the configuration of the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a developed perspective view illustrating an example of the overall configuration of a liquid crystal module using a liquid crystal display element to which the present invention is applied.

FIG. 8 is a plan view of a principal part for explaining a configuration example near one pixel of an active matrix type liquid crystal display element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 GL Gate line DL Data line TFT Thin film transistor ITO Pixel electrode Cadd Storage capacitance element SD1 Source electrode SD2 Drain electrode BM Black matrix FIL Color filter SPC Spacer AXP Auxiliary substrate ABL Ablation thin layer LSL Laser light LCL Condensing lens SUB Liquid crystal substrate MSK Mask SLT Slit LSS laser light source LSE propulsion material.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal display device comprising a pair of substrates having pixel forming electrodes on one or both sides thereof at a predetermined gap, and a liquid crystal composition layer sandwiched in the gap. A liquid crystal display device comprising a spacer regularly arranged in a predetermined portion except for a pixel portion formed by a pixel forming electrode. 2. An ablation thin layer having spacer particles disposed on the surface of the substrate facing the front surface of a substrate constituting a liquid crystal display device, and a laser beam of a specific wavelength is irradiated from the back surface of the ablation thin layer. The method according to claim 1, wherein the spacer particles are adhered to the surface of the selected portion of the substrate by the abrasion thrust of the laser beam irradiated portion of the ablation thin layer. 3. A laser light source for emitting laser light of a specific wavelength, an ablation thin layer formed on a surface opposite to a surface irradiated with the laser light, and the laser light having spacer particles disposed on the ablation thin layer. An auxiliary substrate that is transparent to the substrate, an opening is provided in a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding the pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element, and between the side of the auxiliary substrate where the spacer particles are arranged and the substrate that constitutes the liquid crystal display element. An installed mask; and a laser light source moving device for moving the laser light source in a direction parallel to a surface of the liquid crystal display element. By irradiating the auxiliary substrate with laser light from the laser light source, the auxiliary substrate The ablation thin layer disposed on the liquid crystal display element side of the above is ablated, and the ablation thrust of the ablation thin layer by the ablation causes the spacer to ablate. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, wherein particles are attached to a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding a pixel portion of the liquid crystal display device through an opening of the mask. 4. A laser light source for emitting a laser beam of a specific wavelength, an ablation thin layer formed on a surface opposite to a surface irradiated with the laser light, and the laser light having spacer particles disposed on the ablation thin layer. An auxiliary substrate that is transparent to the substrate, an opening is provided in a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding the pixel portion of the liquid crystal display element, and between the side of the auxiliary substrate where the spacer particles are arranged and the substrate that constitutes the liquid crystal display element. An installed mask, a laser light source moving device that moves the laser light source in a direction parallel to the surface of the liquid crystal display element, and a mask moving device that moves the mask in a direction parallel to the surface of the liquid crystal display device Irradiating the auxiliary substrate with laser light from the laser light source to ablate the ablation thin layer disposed on the liquid crystal display element side of the auxiliary substrate; Apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in the ablation thrust of the ablation thin layer by ablating, characterized in that depositing the spacer particles in a portion corresponding to a predetermined portion excluding the pixel portion of the liquid crystal display device through an opening in the mask.