JPH11311794A - Method and device for manufacturing liquid crystal panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stabilize the image quality of the liquid crystal panel, to improve the production efficiency, and to reduce the labor costs while maintaining alignment precision, fixation precision, and adhered surface precision. SOLUTION: This manufacturing device is equipped with a before-adjustment inspection device 18 which decides whether or not the gap between the substrates of the liquid crystal panel can be adjusted and whether or not the adjustment is needed, an adjusting device 20 which measures the decided gap value of the liquid crystal panel which can be adjusted and automatically adjusts the gap while performing arithmetic processing that the gap value approximates a set gap value, a temporary UV setting device 13 which temporarily fixes the two substrates by irradiating a photosetting adhesive with UV light while holding the gap after the adjustment is completed, a main UV setting device 12 which completes the fixation of the two temporarily fixed substrates, and a moving jig device 14 which is mounted with the liquid crystal panel 1 and moves to the respective devices. Consequently, gap adjusting operation can continuously be performed. Further, the production efficiency is good, the labor costs are reducible, and image quality becomes stable.

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 panel which is assembled by adjusting a gap between two substrates.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art The distance between two opposing substrates (panel gap) of a liquid crystal panel is determined by the image quality, response speed,
This is one of the important factors that determine light transmittance, contrast, and the like. Here, using the conventional liquid crystal panel manufacturing method,
The adjustment of the gap between the two substrates in a conventional liquid crystal panel assembly process will be described.

FIG. 9A shows a conventional liquid crystal panel gap adjustment pre-process (adhesion pre-press process). The pressing material 30 fixed on the pressing material fixing substrate 29 is brought into contact with the surface of the substrate 25 opposite to the surface on which the photocuring adhesive 27 is applied, and the coating of the photocuring adhesive 27 on the substrate 26 is similarly performed. The pressurized material 32 fixed to the pressurized material fixing substrate 31 is brought into contact with the surface opposite to the surface. Between the substrate 25 and the substrate 26, a photocurable adhesive 27 into which a spacer 28 is mixed is provided, and the fixed material 29 or the compressed material 30 is pressed by operating the fixed substrate 29 or the fixed substrate 31 in the Z direction. Through material 32,
The distance between the substrate 25 and the substrate 26 can be made close to the diameter of the spacer 28 for bonding. As shown in FIG. 9B, when viewed from the Z direction, the pressurized material 30 covers the outer peripheral portion of the substrate 25 more widely than the surface on which the photocurable adhesive 27 is applied. In addition, the interference fringe 3 due to the height difference of the gap between the two substrates.
4 is slightly observable with the naked eye of the operator 33. In the gap adjusting step (adhesion pressing step) shown in FIG.
The pressing forces F1 and F2 are set so as to reduce the number of stripes of No. 4, that is, to reduce the difference in height of the gap between the two substrates.
To adjust the gap. While maintaining this state, the worker 33 puts it into the temporary curing furnace (adhesion step) shown in FIG. 11 and irradiates the photocurable adhesive 27 with UV light 35 or 36 to perform temporary curing. After the irradiation time is completed, the operator removes the jig from the temporary curing furnace, further removes the liquid crystal panel from the jig, and then sets the light-shielding plate 38 on the effective pixel portion of the liquid crystal panel, and sets the light-shielding plate 38 shown in FIG. ).
The vicinity of the photo-curing adhesive 27 is irradiated with UV light 37, and the substrate 2
The precision of the adhesive surface when adjusting the gap between the substrate 5 and the substrate 26 is completely fixed. After the irradiation time is completed, the operator 33 takes out the liquid crystal panel from the main curing furnace, and a series of steps of adjusting the gap of the liquid crystal panel is completed.

[0004]

However, in the conventional gap adjustment, the operator performs a visual inspection of the interference fringes 34 indicating the in-plane gap state of the liquid crystal panel, and further, based on the discrimination based on the experience and intuition of the operator. An operator was using an adjustment jig. Therefore, erroneous adjustment due to operator's fatigue occurs, and the interference fringe 34 indicating the gap state in the liquid crystal panel surface before the adjustment.
Because of the lack of sharpness, differences in appearance were caused by individuals, which caused erroneous adjustment, and the adjustment ability was unstable among workers. Accordingly, there is a problem that the image quality of the liquid crystal panel is reduced. In addition, the operator has to transport, load, and remove the liquid crystal panel to a temporary curing furnace and a main curing furnace at different locations, which is inefficient. Further, the operator has to manage the UV light irradiation amount and irradiation time for each of the temporary curing furnace and the main curing furnace.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems, and to stabilize the image quality of a liquid crystal panel, improve production efficiency, and increase labor costs while maintaining alignment accuracy, fixing accuracy, and adhesion surface accuracy. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel for reducing the number of liquid crystal panels.

[0006]

In order to achieve this object, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to the first aspect of the present invention comprises the steps of: bonding two substrates through a photocurable adhesive mixed with a spacer; A pre-adjustment inspection step to determine whether or not the gap between the substrates of the bonded liquid crystal panels can be adjusted and whether it is necessary, and a gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable in the pre-adjustment inspection step is measured and the gap value is set to the set gap. An adjustment step of automatically adjusting the gap while performing arithmetic processing so as to approach the value, and a provisional fixation of the two substrates by irradiating the photocurable adhesive with UV light while maintaining the gap after the adjustment is completed. The method includes a UV curing step and a main UV curing step of permanently fixing the two substrates after the temporary fixing.

As described above, it is determined in the pre-adjustment inspection step whether or not the adjustment of the gap between the two substrates is necessary or not, and the gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable in the pre-adjustment inspection step in the adjustment step is measured. Since the gap adjustment is automatically performed while performing arithmetic processing so that the gap value approaches the set gap value, the gap adjustment operation can be continuously and automatically performed, thereby improving production efficiency and reducing labor costs. In addition, since there is no difference in ability between workers caused by relying on the experience and intuition of the worker and erroneous adjustment due to fatigue or the like, accurate and stable adjustment can be performed. In addition, the precision of the bonding surface between the two substrates is dramatically improved, and a stable liquid crystal panel with improved image quality can be manufactured.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel.
2. The pressure-applying material according to claim 1, wherein when the gap is adjusted, the two substrates are not directly pressurized, and the vicinity where the adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is present from a surface where neither of the substrates touches the adhesive. And the inspection processing unit determines whether the adjustment gap is good or not. As described above, when performing the gap adjustment, the pressing material is not directly applied to both substrates, and the pressing material is applied to the vicinity where the adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate does not come into contact with the adhesive. Then, the quality of the adjustment gap is determined by the inspection processing unit, so that the state management and quality control of the adjusted liquid crystal panel can be performed.

[0009] The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 3 is characterized in that:
In claim 2, the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the gap value is divided by the wavelength based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by measuring the gap between the two substrates in-plane at multiple points and calculating the gap value. By calculating the number of calculated interference fringes, the center position of the calculated interference fringes is determined by using the area centroid method for the calculated fringes representing the distribution of the gap value, and the number and center of the calculated calculated interference fringes are determined. Adjust the gap based on the position. As described above, the number of calculated interference fringes is obtained by dividing the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the gap value by the wavelength, and the calculation is performed by using the area centroid method for the calculated interference fringes representing the gap value distribution. Since the center position of the interference fringes is determined, and the gap is adjusted based on the calculated number and center position of the calculated interference fringes, this is one reference for a digital interference fringe calculation method in the gap adjustment method.

[0010] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal panel manufacturing method.
In claim 3, the substrate can be pressurized when the number of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference and the center position of the calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference with respect to the center position of the liquid crystal panel according to the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface. Of the two or more independent adjustment pins, one adjustment pin is adjusted to the vicinity of the center position of the calculated interference fringe, and adjustment is performed only by pressing one of the adjustment pins at that position. According to this configuration, the gap can be adjusted with only one pressurization, which leads to an increase in tact time. However, adjustment is difficult when the interference fringes of the liquid crystal panel are eccentric.

[0011] The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 5 is as follows.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein when the number of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a predetermined reference and the center position of the calculated interference fringes is shifted from the center position of the liquid crystal panel by a predetermined reference or more, two or more independent pressurizable substrates can be applied. One of the adjustment pins is pressurized at a fixed position from the center of the calculation interference fringe on the straight line connecting the center of the calculation interference fringe and the center of the liquid crystal panel to the center of the calculation interference fringe. The center of the calculation interference fringe, which is distant from the center of the fringe, is brought closer to the center of the liquid crystal panel, and the center of the liquid crystal panel is controlled to swell, and one adjustment pin is pressed and held, and then the other second The adjustment pin is adjusted by applying pressure to the vicinity of the center of the liquid crystal panel. According to this configuration, the gap can be adjusted even when the interference fringes of the liquid crystal panel are eccentric.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel.
Adjustable with a pre-adjustment inspection device and a pre-adjustment inspection device that determines whether or not to adjust the gap between the substrates of a liquid crystal panel where two substrates are bonded together via a photo-curable adhesive mixed with spacers An adjustment device that automatically measures the gap value while measuring the gap value of the liquid crystal panel that is determined to be closer to the set gap value, and performs photo-curing while maintaining the gap after the adjustment is completed. Temporary UV for irradiating the mold adhesive with UV light and temporarily fixing the two substrates
A curing device and a main UV for permanently fixing the two substrates after the temporary fixing
A curing device and a moving jig device that carries a liquid crystal panel and moves to each device were provided.

With these configurations, the gap of the liquid crystal panel is continuously inspected by the pre-adjustment inspection device, and the gap is adjusted by the adjustment device based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel. The light-curing adhesive is cured by a temporary UV curing device and a main UV curing device, and is stored in a non-defective product container as a non-defective liquid crystal panel.
On the other hand, the liquid crystal panel determined to be unadjustable by the pre-adjustment inspection device and the panel that could not be adjusted by the adjustment device are respectively stored in the defective container. In this way, the pre-adjustment inspection device determines whether or not the gap between the two substrates can be adjusted and whether it is necessary, and the adjustment device measures the gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable by the pre-adjustment inspection device. Since the gap adjustment is automatically performed while performing the arithmetic processing so that the value approaches the set gap value, the gap adjustment operation can be continuously and automatically performed, thereby improving the production efficiency and reducing the labor cost. In addition, since there is no difference in ability between workers or erroneous adjustment due to fatigue or the like, accurate and stable adjustment can be performed. In addition, the precision of the bonding surface of the two substrates can be managed independently, and the image quality of the liquid crystal panel can be improved. In addition, since the liquid crystal panel is moved to each device by the moving jig device, there is no need for an operator to carry, load, and take out the liquid crystal panel, thereby improving the production efficiency.

According to a seventh aspect of the invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel.
In claim 6, the pre-adjustment inspection device measures the gap between the two substrates in-plane at multiple points, and determines whether the adjustment is necessary or not based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by calculating the gap value. I do. As described above, the pre-adjustment inspection device determines whether or not adjustment is necessary or not based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface on which the gap value has been arithmetically processed. Can be inspected and managed digitally.

[0015] The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 8 is:
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the adjustment device has an inspection processing unit that can adjust the gap between the two substrates based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel plane and determine whether the adjustment gap is good or not. As described above, since the adjustment device has the inspection processing unit that can adjust the gap between the two substrates based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface and determine whether the adjustment gap is good or not, the gap adjustment is performed using the set gap value. The gap adjustment and the measurement calculation process can be performed while measuring and calculating the gap value so as to approach. for that reason,
The state and quality of the adjusted liquid crystal panel can be controlled at a high level.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, comprising:
In claim 6, the adjusting device does not directly press the two substrates, but presses the vicinity where the photocurable adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate exists from the surface where neither the substrates contact the adhesive. The in-plane gap between the two substrates is adjusted by pressing with one or two or more independent adjustment pins via the material, and the moving jig device adjusts the pressing force by itself with the adjusted gap. While holding the liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal panel is moved to each device. In this manner, one or two or more independent adjustment pins adjusted by the adjustment device can be held by the moving jig device by themselves, and thus can be moved in the adjustment state in the next process. In addition, a liquid crystal panel can be mounted on each device and can be moved.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect, the adjustment pin of the moving jig device is connected to the actuator of the adjustment device, and the pressing force of the adjustment pin is controlled by an adjustment command amount to the actuator. I do. As described above, since the adjusting pin of the moving jig device is connected to the actuator of the adjusting device, and the pressing force of the adjusting pin is controlled by the adjustment command amount to the actuator, the adjusting device and the moving jig device can be separated. The gap of the liquid crystal panel can be continuously adjusted with only one adjusting device.

In the liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus according to an eleventh aspect, in the ninth aspect, the temporary UV curing apparatus includes one or more adjustment pins for fixing an in-plane gap between two substrates to a target value. While moving the moving jig device, the entire surface or a part of the photocurable adhesive between the two substrates is temporarily cured. Thus, the temporary UV curing device is
While self-holding one or more adjustment pins for applying pressure so that the in-plane gap between the substrates becomes a target value,
Since the entire surface or a part of the photo-curable adhesive between the two substrates is temporarily cured while moving the moving jig device, the liquid crystal panel is not taken out from the moving jig device and is temporarily cured while the gap adjustment is good. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the adhesion deviation from the vibration at the time of moving to the next process and the process stress in the next process.

According to a twelfth aspect of the present invention, in the ninth aspect of the present invention, the UV curing apparatus removes the liquid crystal panel from the moving jig device, releases the pressure, and then completely removes the photocurable adhesive. To cure. As described above, the present UV curing device completely removes the liquid crystal panel from the moving jig device, releases the pressure, and then completely cures the photocurable adhesive. However, deterioration of the pressurized material due to curing energy can be prevented.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is an automatic gap adjusting apparatus. Hereinafter, the device configuration of the gap adjusting device will be described. In FIG. 1, 1 is a liquid crystal panel, 2 is a supply magazine for liquid crystal panels, 3 is a storage magazine for non-defective liquid crystal panels, 4 is a pickup for supplying liquid crystal panels, 5 is a pickup for storing non-defective liquid crystal panels, and 6 is a movement recovery of liquid crystal panels. 7 is a pickup for storing a moving jig device for a liquid crystal panel, 8 is a standby buffer before main UV curing, 9 is a conveyor for the main UV curing device, 10 is a standby buffer after main UV curing, and 11 is a main UV of the liquid crystal panel. Curing pickup, 12 is this UV curing device, 13 is temporary UV curing device,
14 is a moving jig device, 15a, 15b and 15c are moving jig feeding devices, 16a, 16b, 16c and 16d are moving jig feeding rails, 17 is a moving jig cleaning device, and 18 is a moving jig cleaning device. Inspection device before adjustment of liquid crystal panel, 19 is a standby POS after inspection process before adjustment, 20 is an adjustment device for liquid crystal panel, 21 is a POS after standby for adjustment process, 22
Reference numerals a and 22b denote storage picks for defective liquid crystal panels, reference numeral 23 denotes storage pallets for defective liquid crystal panels, and reference numerals 24a and 24b denote conveyors for the moving jig device.

As shown in FIG. 2, the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 is a liquid crystal panel 1 in which two substrates 25 and 26 are bonded via a photo-curable adhesive 27 into which a spacer 28 is mixed.
The gap between the substrates 25 and 26 is inspected. At this time, 2
A function is provided for measuring the gap between the substrates 25 and 26 in-plane at multiple points, and determining whether or not adjustment is necessary and whether the adjustment is necessary or not based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by calculating the gap value.

As shown in FIG. 4, the adjusting device 20 controls the two substrates 25, 2 based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel.
Adjustment of the gap between 6 is performed automatically. At this time, the adjusting device 20 also has an inspection processing unit that can measure the in-plane gap of the liquid crystal panel 1 at multiple points and determine the quality of the liquid crystal panel in-plane gap information calculated based on the gap value. Also, without directly pressing both substrates 25 and 26,
In the vicinity of the presence of the photo-curable adhesive 28 applied to the outer peripheral portions of the substrates 5 and 26, one or two independent members via the pressurized material 30 from the surface where neither of the substrates 25 and 26 contact the adhesive 27. The in-plane gap between the two substrates 25 and 26 is adjusted by applying pressure using the adjustment pins 47 described above.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the adjusting device and the moving jig device according to the embodiment of the present invention. Although the A adjustment pin 47 and the B adjustment pin 48 of the moving jig device 14 are arranged independently of each other, only the A adjustment pin 47 is shown for simplification of the description. In FIG. 8, 46 is a gap measuring machine, 49 is a speed reducer, 50 is a clutch, 51 is an actuator, 52 and 53 are cylinders, and 54 is XY-.
It is a θ table. Adjusting pins 47 of the moving jig device 14,
Reference numeral 48 is connected to the actuator 51 of the adjustment device 20, and the pressure of the adjustment pin 47 is controlled by an adjustment command amount to the actuator 51. Then, in the moving jig device 14, the adjusting pins 47 and 48 hold the pressing force by themselves while keeping the gap state adjusted by the adjusting device 20, and the liquid crystal panel 1 is mounted and moved to each device.

The temporary UV curing device 13 applies UV light to the photocurable adhesive 27 while maintaining the gap after the adjustment.
Light 35 and 36 (see FIG. 10) are applied to the two substrates 25 and
26 is temporarily fixed. The UV curing device 12 permanently fixes the two substrates 25 and 26 after the temporary fixing. Next, the operation of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus will be described. The liquid crystal panel 1 in the supply magazine 2 is taken out by the supply pickup 4, and further set by the moving jig device supply pickup 6 on the moving jig device 14 by one unit. And the liquid crystal panel 1
Is set on the feed jig rail 1
It moves in the direction of arrow A on the conveyor 24a together with 6a. Further, the moving jig device 14 is transferred on the feed guide rails 16a to 16c into the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 by the feed device 15a. The pre-adjustment inspection device 18 measures the in-plane gap of the liquid crystal panel 1 at multiple points, and determines whether or not adjustment is necessary or not based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by calculating the gap value (inspection step before adjustment). ). The liquid crystal panel 1 determined to be unadjustable by the liquid crystal panel in-plane gap information of the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 is moved to the moving jig device 14.
With the feeder 15a and wait P after the inspection process before adjustment.
The defective liquid crystal panel is transferred to the OS 19 and stored on the defective liquid crystal panel storage pallet 23 by the defective liquid crystal panel storage pickup 22a.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal panel 1 determined to be adjustable based on the gap information on the liquid crystal panel surface of the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 is set on the moving jig device 14 while the feeding device 1 is set.
5a, through the standby POS 19 after the pre-adjustment inspection process,
It is transferred into the adjusting device 20. The gap of the liquid crystal panel 1 is adjusted by the adjusting device 20 based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel, which is processed by the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 (adjustment step). At this time, the adjusting device 20 also measures the in-plane gap of the liquid crystal panel 1 at multiple points, and determines whether or not the liquid crystal panel in-plane gap information calculated based on the gap value is good or bad by an inspection processing unit. Then, the gap adjustment is performed while measuring the gap value so as to approach the set gap value and repeating the gap adjustment and the measurement calculation processing while performing the calculation processing. The liquid crystal panel 1 that is determined to be difficult to adjust any further or requires time to adjust based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface of the adjustment device 20 and hinders the processing capability (tact, etc.) of the entire gap adjustment device, Along with the moving jig device 14, the feeding device 15a sets the standby POS 21 after the adjustment process.
Is transferred to the storage pick-up 22b for the defective liquid crystal panel.
Accordingly, the defective liquid crystal panel is stored in the storage pallet 23.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal panel 1 determined to have been adjusted based on the gap information on the liquid crystal panel surface of the adjusting device 20 is set on the moving jig device 14 while the feeding device 15a is set.
Is transferred to the temporary UV curing device 13 via the standby POS 21 after the adjustment process. At this time, the moving jig device 14 maintains the gap state of the set liquid crystal panel 1 after the adjustment is completed. Then, the gap-adjusted liquid crystal panel 1 in the moving jig device 14 transferred into the temporary UV curing device 13 is moved on the feed guide rail 16c in the temporary UV curing device 13 by the feed device 15b at a constant speed and for a fixed time. Moving. Here, in the liquid crystal panel 1, the photocurable adhesive 27 is cured by the temporary UV light 35, 36, and the gap value at the time of completing the gap adjustment is secured (temporary UV curing step).

Further, the moving jig device 14 on which the liquid crystal panel 1 with the secured gap value is set is moved from the feed guide rails 16c to 16b by the feed device 15b, and is transferred by the conveyor 24b. The liquid crystal panel 1 in which the gap value is secured is taken out of the moving jig device 14 by the moving jig device storage pickup 7 and temporarily stored in the standby buffer 8 before the main UV curing for the time adjustment, and the main UV curing pickup 11. Is transferred to the main UV curing device conveyor 9 and sent into the main UV curing device 12 in the direction of arrow C. With the UV light 37 (see FIG. 10) of the present UV curing device 12, the liquid crystal panel 1 can more reliably cure the photocurable adhesive 27 cured by the temporary UV curing device 13 to the crystal grain region (this UV curing). Process). And UV light 37 for a certain time
Then, the non-defective gap liquid crystal panel 1 is sent in the direction of arrow D by the main UV curing device conveyor 9 and temporarily stored in the standby buffer 10 after the main UV curing by the main UV curing pickup 11 for time adjustment. Further, the liquid crystal panel 1 on the post-UV curing standby buffer 10 is stored as a non-defective gap liquid crystal panel in the storage magazine 3 by the storage pickup 5. On the other hand, the moving jig device storage pickup 7
The moving jig device 14 from which the liquid crystal panel 1 has been removed is moved from the feed guide rail 16b by the feed device 15c.
The process moves to 6d, and after the cleaning by the cleaning device 17, the next liquid crystal panel 1 is set.

By repeating the above operation, the gap of the liquid crystal panel 1 is continuously adjusted. Here, a description will be given of a gap adjusting method related to the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method of the present invention. FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a gap measurement of a liquid crystal panel in a moving jig device in the inspection device before adjustment, and FIG.
FIG. 4 is a plan view showing gap measurement points of the liquid crystal panel. In FIG. 2A, the gap 39 between the substrate 25 and the substrate 26 of the liquid crystal panel in the moving jig device 14 is changed as shown in FIG. 2B by the movement of the gap measuring device 40 in the X and Y directions. As shown in the figure, multi-point measurement is performed on the liquid crystal panel surface in a matrix of m × n divisions. In this case, the multi-point measurement was performed by moving the gap measuring device 40.
The multi-point measurement may be performed by fixing the gap measuring device 40 and moving the liquid crystal panel.

Next, how to determine the number and center position of the calculated interference fringes in the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel as a reference for adjusting the gap will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 (a) and 3 (b). explain. Here, the reason that the interference fringes 34 (see FIG. 9), which usually occur due to the gap height difference between the two substrates and are not used as data by a recognition device or the like, are not adopted as the data by the recognition device or the like is a level at which the interference fringes 34 are difficult to recognize. Because it was a pattern. FIG. 3 (a) shows the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface as ranks of the gap values. FIG. 3A shows the gap difference between the maximum average 42 and the minimum average 43 among these gap values. When divided by 40 wavelengths 41, the number of calculated interference fringes 44 shown in FIG.
Is found. In addition, when the same rank level of the gap value is connected to each other, a pseudo interference fringe is formed. When the area centroid method is used, the center position of the pseudo interference fringe can be obtained. This is defined as the calculation interference fringe center position 45. The calculated number 44 and the center position 45 of the calculated interference fringes are used as references for the method of adjusting the gap of the liquid crystal panel. Note that the pseudo (computation) interference fringe is very similar to the interference fringe 34 that can be actually viewed. When the number of m × n divisions is increased, the fringe shape of the interference fringe 34 becomes closer. In addition, the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 uses a gap adjustment device 20
Is instructed to determine whether the gap adjustment is possible or not.

Next, the content of adjusting the gap of the liquid crystal panel based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG.
(A) is a plan view showing one mode of gap information in a liquid crystal panel plane in an adjustment step of a liquid crystal panel manufacturing method, (b)
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel in the moving jig device at the start of pushing up the pins. From the gap information on the LCD panel,
When the number 44 of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference and the center position 45 of the calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference with respect to the center position of the liquid crystal panel, the gap between the two substrates 25 and 26 is adjusted.

In this case, the A adjustment pin 47 moves to below the center of the calculated interference fringe and starts pushing up. Simultaneously with the start of pushing up, the gap value near the center is monitored by the gap measuring device 46. Then, the A adjustment pins 47 are raised until the measurement gap value starts to change, that is, until the A adjustment pins 47 contact the pressurized material fixing substrate 31 and the pressing force is transmitted to the liquid crystal panel 1. The ascending speed at this time is irrelevant to the gap adjustment, and it is desirable that the ascending speed be increased at a high speed in order to shorten the adjusting tact. In this case, it is determined that the pin has contacted the pressurized material fixing substrate 31 based on the change in the gap value, but a pressure sensor or the like may be used.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5 (a), the A adjusting pin 47 is further raised or lowered to increase and decrease the pressure until the gap value near the center position approaches the set value.
Then, as shown in FIG. 5B, when the gap value near the center position reaches the set value, the A adjustment pin 47 is stopped. Then, the gap measuring device 46 is moved in the X or Y direction to measure the gap in the liquid crystal panel surface. If the information is within the standard according to the gap information on the liquid crystal panel surface at this time, the liquid crystal panel 1 is moved to the next step by the moving jig device 14.
Conversely, if it is out of the standard, the adjustment contents of FIGS. 5A and 5B are repeated.

On the other hand, FIG. 6A is a plan view showing another mode of the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface in the adjustment step of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method, and FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel of FIG. If the number 44 of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a predetermined reference and the center position 45 of the calculated interference fringes is shifted from the center position of the liquid crystal panel by a predetermined reference or more based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel, 2
The gap between the substrates 25 and 26 is adjusted.

In this case, the A-adjustment pin 47 moves below the center of the interference fringes and a certain position away from the center of the liquid crystal panel 1 on a straight line connecting the center of the calculated interference fringe and the center of the liquid crystal panel 1. , Start pushing up. At the same time, a gap value near the calculated interference fringe center position 45 is monitored by the gap measuring device 46. Then, as described above, the A adjustment pin 47 is raised until the measurement gap value starts to change.
Further, the A adjustment pin 47 is raised or lowered until the gap value near the center position becomes close to the set value, and the pressure is reduced. By doing so, the in-plane gap of the liquid crystal panel is changed so that the calculated interference fringe center position 45 approaches the center of the liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. I do. In this state, the A adjustment pin 47 is stopped and the pressing force is self-held, and then the B adjustment pin 48 is moved to the vicinity of the center of the liquid crystal panel as shown in FIG. When the gap value near the center of the liquid crystal panel becomes close to the set value, the B adjustment pin 48 is stopped and the pressing force is self-held.
(B) Similarly, the gap measuring device 46 is moved in the X or Y direction to measure the gap in the liquid crystal panel. According to the gap information on the liquid crystal panel surface at this time, the liquid crystal panel is moved to the next process by the moving jig device 14 if it is within the standard. 6 to 7 or 5
Repeat the adjustment of (b).

The operation when the A adjustment pin 47 is moved up and down or decompressed after moving the A adjustment pin 47 based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel measured by the pre-adjustment inspection device 18 will be described with reference to FIG. I do. As shown in FIG. 8, first, the A adjustment pin 47 is chucked by the cylinder 53 and moved to the designated position below the liquid crystal panel 1 by the XY-θ table 54. Next, ascending pressure is applied to the clutch 5 by the cylinder 52.
After 0 is connected, the A adjustment pin 47 is raised and lowered in the Z direction by the actuator 51 via the speed reducer 49. Here, since the gap adjustment amount is affected, it is desirable that the vibration and the lifting force are not transmitted when the clutch is connected or disconnected. In the present invention, the speed reducer 4
Measures were taken by inserting 9. In addition, the moving jig device 1
4 moves on the guide rail 16 to the next step after the gap adjustment, and at this time, the A adjustment pin 47 and the B adjustment pin 48
Reducer 4 to maintain the amount of pressurization when the adjustment is completed.
9 was set.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the gap between the two substrates 25 and 26 of the liquid crystal panel 1 can be automatically adjusted and fixed and the defect can be determined automatically without any manual operation. In addition, adjustments that rely on the experience and intuition of conventional workers can also be processed digitally, and the substrates 25 and 26 can be processed.
The accuracy of the bonding surface between the substrates is dramatically improved, and the image quality is improved and a stable liquid crystal panel can be manufactured.

[0037]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be specifically described below. A substrate 25 having a liquid crystal panel size of 0.9 inch type having a thickness of 1.1 mm and a substrate 26 having a thickness of 0.8 mm was used, and the gap was formed with an accuracy of 4 μm. As the photo-curable adhesive 27, an epoxy photo-curable resin that is cured at 8000 mJ with UV light was used.

In the inspection step before adjustment, the effective pixel portion of the liquid crystal panel was divided into 35, and the inspection processing time at that time was about 40 seconds. In the adjustment step, an adjustment time is required due to an increase in the number of interference fringes and a shift amount of the center position. When the number of interference fringes is 5 or less and the shift amount of the center position is less than ± 3 mm, the adjustment time is about 50 seconds. .

A white light interference type gap measuring machine was used for each of the pre-adjustment inspection step and the adjustment step. In the temporary UV curing step, after adjusting the gap accuracy between the substrate 25 and the substrate 26 to ± 0.3 μm or less in the adjusting step, the photocurable adhesive 2
7 was temporarily cured by applying UV light. The irradiation amount at this time is 300
The irradiation time is 300 seconds at 00mJ and the number of positions is 6PO
S.

Thereafter, in the UV curing step, the moving jig 14
Then, the liquid crystal panel 1 was taken out, fully cured by applying UV light, and the gap accuracy between the substrate 25 and the substrate 26 was fixed at ± 0.3 μm or less. At this time, the irradiation amount was 45000 mJ, the irradiation time was about 350 seconds, and the number of positions was 8 POS. In this way, the quality of the gap adjustment of the liquid crystal panel by the automatic machine can be equal to or higher than that of the conventional adjustment by the worker, and the processing time is also equal to or less than the same.

[0041]

According to the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to the first aspect of the present invention, it is determined whether or not the gap between the two substrates can be adjusted by the inspection step before adjustment, and whether or not the adjustment is necessary. The gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable in the process is measured, and the gap adjustment is automatically performed while performing arithmetic processing so that the gap value approaches the set gap value. Can be carried out with good production efficiency and reduced labor costs. In addition, since there is no difference in ability between workers caused by relying on the experience and intuition of the worker and erroneous adjustment due to fatigue or the like, accurate and stable adjustment can be performed. In addition, the precision of the bonding surface between the two substrates is dramatically improved, and a stable liquid crystal panel with improved image quality can be manufactured.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, when adjusting the gap, the two substrates are not directly pressed, and the vicinity where the adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is present from the surface where neither of the substrates touches the adhesive. Since the pressure is applied via the pressurized material and the quality of the adjustment gap is determined by the inspection processing unit, the state management and quality control of the adjusted liquid crystal panel can be performed. In claim 3, the number of the calculated interference fringes is obtained by dividing the difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the gap value by the wavelength, and the area centroid method is used for the calculated interference fringes representing the gap value distribution. Since the center position of the calculated interference fringes is determined, and the gap is adjusted based on the calculated number and center position of the calculated interference fringes, the gap is adjusted.

According to the fourth aspect, one adjustment pin is set near the center position of the calculation interference fringe, and the adjustment is performed by only one pressure at that position, which leads to an increase in tact time. According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, one adjustment pin presses a fixed position on a straight line connecting the center of the calculation interference fringe and the center of the liquid crystal panel from the center of the calculation interference fringe which is distant from the center of the liquid crystal panel. The center of the calculation interference fringe, which is distant from the center of the fringe, is brought closer to the center of the liquid crystal panel, and the center of the liquid crystal panel is controlled to swell, and one adjustment pin is pressed and held, and then the other second Since the adjustment pin is adjusted by pressing the vicinity of the center of the liquid crystal panel, the gap can be adjusted even when the interference fringes of the liquid crystal panel are eccentric.

According to the liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus of the present invention, whether or not the adjustment of the gap between the two substrates is necessary or not is determined by the inspection apparatus before adjustment, and the adjusting apparatus determines whether or not the gap is necessary. The gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable is measured, and the gap adjustment is automatically performed while performing arithmetic processing so that the gap value approaches the set gap value. The production efficiency is high and labor costs can be reduced. Also,
Accurate and stable adjustments can be made because differences in abilities between workers and erroneous adjustments due to fatigue and the like are eliminated. In addition, the precision of the bonding surface of the two substrates can be managed independently, and the image quality of the liquid crystal panel can be improved.
In addition, since the liquid crystal panel is moved to each device by the moving jig device, there is no need for an operator to carry, load, and take out the liquid crystal panel, thereby improving the production efficiency.

According to the seventh aspect, the pre-adjustment inspection device determines whether or not adjustment is necessary or not on the basis of the gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface on which the gap value has been arithmetically processed. It is possible to digitally inspect and manage commands and liquid crystal panel manufacturing conditions. According to the eighth aspect, the adjustment device has an inspection processing unit that can adjust the gap between the two substrates based on the gap information in the liquid crystal panel plane and can determine whether the adjustment gap is good or not. The gap adjustment and the measurement calculation process can be performed while repeating the gap adjustment and the measurement calculation process while measuring and calculating the gap value so as to approach the value. Therefore, the state management and the quality management of the adjusted liquid crystal panel can be performed at a high level.

In the ninth aspect, the 1 adjusted by the adjusting device.
Since the book or two or more independent adjustment pins can be self-held by the moving jig device, they can be moved in the adjusted state in the next step. In addition, a liquid crystal panel can be mounted on each device and can be moved. According to the tenth aspect, the adjusting pin of the moving jig device is connected to the actuator of the adjusting device, and the pressing force of the adjusting pin is controlled by an adjustment command amount to the actuator, so that the adjusting device and the moving jig device can be separated. The gap between the liquid crystal panels can be continuously adjusted with only one adjusting device.

In the eleventh aspect, the temporary UV curing apparatus may include a moving jig while self-holding one or more adjustment pins for applying pressure so that an in-plane gap between the two substrates becomes a target value. Since the entire surface or a part of the photo-curable adhesive between the two substrates is temporarily cured while moving the device, the liquid crystal panel can not be taken out from the moving jig device, and the temporary adjustment can be performed with good gap adjustment. Adhesion deviation can be prevented from vibration at the time of moving to the next step and process stress in the next step.

According to the twelfth aspect, the present UV curing device completely removes the liquid crystal panel from the moving jig device, releases the pressure, and then completely cures the photocurable adhesive. This can prevent the pressurized material from deteriorating due to curing energy at the time of curing.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view of an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view showing a gap inspection by the pre-adjustment inspection apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2B is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 3A is a plan view showing gap information in a liquid crystal panel plane according to an embodiment of the present invention as ranks of gap values, and FIG. 3B is a plan view showing the number of calculated interference fringes.

FIG. 4A is a plan view showing a case where the number of calculated interference fringes and the center position of the liquid crystal panel are below a certain reference in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel at the time.

5A is a cross-sectional view showing an adjustment state in an adjustment step according to the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view showing an inspection state after the adjustment.

FIG. 6A is a plan view showing a case where the number of calculated interference fringes of the liquid crystal panel is below a certain reference and the center position is shifted by more than a certain reference in the embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. It is sectional drawing of the liquid crystal panel at the time of the start of pin push-up in a process.

FIG. 7A is a plan view of the liquid crystal panel after adjustment in FIG. 6,
7B is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal panel at the time of starting another pin push-up after the adjustment of FIG.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view of the adjusting device and the moving jig device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9A is a cross-sectional view of a conventional liquid crystal panel before a gap adjustment process (adhesion pressing pre-process), and FIG. 9B is a plan view thereof.

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional liquid crystal panel gap adjusting step (adhesion pressing step).

FIG. 11 shows a conventional liquid crystal panel temporary curing process (adhesion process).
FIG.

FIG. 12 is a conventional liquid crystal panel main curing step (fixing step).
FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal panel 12 This UV curing device 13 Temporary UV curing device 14 Moving jig device 18 Pre-adjustment inspection device 20 Adjustment device 25 Substrate 26 Substrate 27 Light curing adhesive 28 Spacer 33 Worker 39 Gap 40 Gap measuring device 41 Wavelength 42 Average gap maximum value 43 Average gap minimum value 44 Number of calculated interference fringes 45 Center position of calculated interference fringes 46 Gap measuring machine 47 A adjustment pin 48 B adjustment pin 49 Reduction gear 50 Clutch 51 Actuator

Claims (12)

[Claims] A pre-adjustment inspection step of judging whether or not an adjustment of a gap between said substrates of a liquid crystal panel in which two substrates are bonded via a photo-curable adhesive mixed with a spacer; An adjustment step of measuring a gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable in the pre-adjustment inspection step and automatically performing gap adjustment while performing arithmetic processing so that the gap value approaches the set gap value; and A temporary UV curing step of irradiating the photocurable adhesive with UV light while holding the gap to temporarily fix the two substrates, and a full UV curing step of permanently fixing the two substrates after the temporary fixation; A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel including: 2. When adjusting the gap, the two substrates are not directly pressurized, and the area where the adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate is present is pressed from the surface where both substrates do not contact the adhesive. 2. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 1, wherein a pressure is applied via the control unit, and the quality of the adjustment gap is determined by an inspection processing unit. 3. The difference between the maximum value and the minimum value of the gap value is divided by the wavelength based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel obtained by measuring the gap between two substrates in the plane at multiple points and calculating the gap value. By calculating the number of calculated interference fringes, the center position of the calculated interference fringes is determined by using the area centroid method for the calculated fringes representing the gap value distribution, and the number and center of the calculated calculated interference fringes are determined. 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the gap is adjusted based on the position. 4. The substrate can be pressurized when the number of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference and the center position of the calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference with respect to the center position of the liquid crystal panel based on gap information in the liquid crystal panel surface. Of two or more independent adjustment pins
Align one adjustment pin near the center position of the calculation interference fringe,
4. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 3, wherein the adjustment is performed only by pressing one line at the position. 5. When the number of calculated interference fringes is equal to or less than a certain reference and the center position of the calculated interference fringes is displaced from the center position of the liquid crystal panel by a certain reference or more based on the in-plane gap information of the liquid crystal panel, the substrate is added. Of the two or more independently adjustable pressure pins, one of the adjustment pins is connected to the center of the calculation interference fringe that is distant from the center of the liquid crystal panel on a straight line connecting the center of the calculation interference fringe and the center of the liquid crystal panel. A certain position is pressurized, the center of the calculation interference fringe which is far from the center of the calculation interference fringe is brought close to the center of the liquid crystal panel, and the control is performed so that the center portion of the liquid crystal panel expands, and the one adjustment pin is pressed and held. 4. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 3, wherein the adjustment is performed by pressing the other second adjustment pin near the center of the liquid crystal panel. 6. A pre-adjustment inspection device for judging whether or not adjustment of a gap between said substrates of a liquid crystal panel in which two substrates are bonded via a photocurable adhesive mixed with a spacer, and An adjusting device that measures a gap value of the liquid crystal panel determined to be adjustable by the inspection device before adjustment and automatically performs gap adjustment while performing arithmetic processing so that the gap value approaches a set gap value; and A temporary UV curing device that irradiates the photocurable adhesive with UV light while holding the gap to temporarily fix the two substrates, and a full UV curing device that permanently fixes the two substrates after the temporary fixation. And a moving jig device that carries the liquid crystal panel and moves to each device. 7. A pre-adjustment inspection apparatus measures a gap between two substrates in a plane at multiple points, and determines whether or not adjustment is necessary and whether the adjustment is necessary or not based on the gap information in a liquid crystal panel plane obtained by arithmetically processing the gap value. An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 6. 8. The liquid crystal device according to claim 7, wherein the adjustment device has an inspection processing unit that adjusts a gap between the two substrates based on gap information in a liquid crystal panel plane and can determine whether the adjustment gap is good or not. Panel manufacturing equipment. 9. The adjusting device does not directly apply pressure to both substrates, but adds a portion near the photo-curable adhesive applied to the outer peripheral portion of the substrate from a surface where neither of the substrates is in contact with the adhesive. By adjusting the in-plane gap between the two substrates by pressing with one or two or more independent adjustment pins via a pressure material,
7. The liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein the moving jig device moves the liquid crystal panel to each device in a state where the adjustment pin holds the pressing force by itself while maintaining the adjusted gap. 10. The liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the adjustment pin of the moving jig device is connected to an actuator of the adjustment device, and a pressing force of the adjustment pin is controlled by an adjustment command amount to the actuator. 11. A temporary UV curing device which moves a moving jig device while holding one or more adjustment pins for fixing an in-plane gap between two substrates to a target value. 10. The liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the entire surface or a part of the photocurable adhesive between the two substrates is temporarily cured. 12. The liquid crystal panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the UV curing apparatus completely removes the liquid crystal panel from the moving jig device, releases the pressure, and then completely cures the photocurable adhesive.