JPH117003A - Manufacture of liquid crystal display element - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the manufacture of the liquid crystal display element which does not be affected in its pixels by photosensitive resin and has no deterioration of the performance of the liquid crystal by partially forming the photosensitive resin without using any adhesive such as a sealant and adhering a couple of substrates. SOLUTION: A liquid crystal material 2 with which a photosensitive material is mixed is applied or dripped on the electrode side of at least one substrate between a couple of substrates and after spacers 8 are scattered on the electrode side of the substrate 1', the substrates 1 and 1' are put one over the other with the electrodes in; and the substrates 1 and 1' after being exposed through a mask while pressed are gradually cooled to cause the phase separation of the liquid crystal and photosensitive material, photosensitive resin is formed at the part irradiated with light through the mask exposure, and the substrates 1 and 1' are adhered together to manufacture the liquid crystal display element.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device applied to various displays.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, there are various types of liquid crystal display devices using a nematic liquid crystal material, such as TFT, STN, and IPS. On the other hand, as a device using a smectic material instead of a nematic liquid crystal material, there are a liquid crystal display device using a ferroelectric liquid crystal material and a liquid crystal display device using an antiferroelectric liquid crystal material.

In the manufacturing process of any of the liquid crystal display devices using these liquid crystal materials, first, a sealant is formed while leaving a liquid crystal injection port on one substrate, and a spacer is sprayed on the other substrate. The two substrates were attached to each other to cure the sealant, thereby producing a cell. Then, this cell is placed in a vacuum vessel, and after the inside of the cell is evacuated, the inlet is brought into contact with the liquid crystal reservoir, and then the inside of the vacuum vessel is returned to atmospheric pressure, utilizing the capillary phenomenon. Liquid crystal was injected into the gap between the substrates held by the spacer.

[0004] However, in recent years, as the size of the display has increased, the injection time has dramatically increased, and this has become a rate-limiting factor in the production of the display.

As a method of avoiding this, as shown in FIG. 14, a liquid crystal 102 is applied after dispersing a spacer 108 on one substrate 101 ', and an ultraviolet curable adhesive 103 is applied on the other substrate 101 by a dotted line. The substrates 101 and 101 ′ are press-bonded in a vacuum to fill the liquid crystal, and then returned to the atmospheric pressure. Then, the adhesive is cured by irradiating ultraviolet light from the glass press-bonding side. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 62-16 / 1987).
No. 5622). According to this method, the injection time of the liquid crystal material can be reduced.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 15, a sealant 114 having an escape hole 113 is formed on one substrate 111, and a sealant 114 is formed on the other substrate 111 '.
A method has been proposed in which a liquid crystal film 112 is formed by printing so as to be inside the substrate, the substrates 111 and 111 'are bonded together, and the sealant 114 is cured to produce a liquid crystal display element (patent registration). No. 2,535,506). The feature of this method is that the liquid crystal film 112 is formed so as to be located inside the sealant 114, and the escape agent 113 is provided to form the sealant.
For example, the air bubbles entering between the substrates can be released to the outside through the escape holes 113 at the time of bonding the substrates 1 and 111 ′, and the substrates can be bonded in the air.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 16, substrates 121 and 121 'are arranged in a wedge shape, and a material 12 containing a liquid crystal material, a photopolymerizable composition, and a photopolymerization initiator is interposed between the substrates.
2 was injected using the supply nozzle 123 while FIG.
(1)-(2)-(3)-(4) and the substrates 121, 1 in that order.
A method has also been proposed in which the layers 21 'are bonded substantially parallel to each other (see JP-A-5-53098). In this method, ultraviolet rays are subsequently irradiated to form a uniform three-dimensional polymer network in the liquid crystal layer.

Further, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 8-160437, a liquid crystal composition containing a gap material (spacer) and a photopolymerizable composition is placed on one substrate, and is determined by the gap material using the other substrate. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element is described in which a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal layer is formed by irradiating light after rolling to a gap, thereby bonding the two substrates together.

[0009]

However, the above prior art has the following problems. JP-A-6
In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-165622, since the liquid crystal comes into contact with an uncured ultraviolet-curable adhesive, impurities such as ions are mixed into the liquid crystal, which may cause display defects. Had become.

In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element as described in Japanese Patent No. 2535506, even if a liquid crystal film is formed so as to be inside a sealant, the liquid crystal is uncured when bonded. Because of the contact with the sealant, display failure also occurred for the same reason. Also, even if the printing range of the liquid crystal film is devised so that the liquid crystal does not come into contact with the sealant when they are bonded together, air is present between the sealant and the liquid crystal, so that bubbles move due to the air. Caused display failure.

In the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device as described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-53098, a polymer network is formed inside the liquid crystal, and the response speed of the liquid crystal is reduced. was there. Furthermore, in the liquid crystal display device obtained by this, the liquid crystal was easily deteriorated because the liquid crystal was in contact with the surrounding air. In addition, when a sealant is applied to the periphery to prevent such deterioration, the uncured sealant comes into contact with the liquid crystal of the polymer network, causing display failure.

In Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 8-160437, a polymer is formed on the entire surface of the substrate by irradiating light, and the two substrates are bonded to each other. Although the method of forming a polymer on the entire surface of the substrate is effective for polymer-dispersed liquid crystal, it is effective for general transmission type TN (twisted nematic) liquid crystal and STN (super twisted nematic) liquid crystal. Since a polymer is also formed inside, light is scattered and cannot be used for these liquid crystal materials.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and a photosensitive resin is partially formed without using an adhesive such as a sealant to form a pair of substrates. An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element in which pixels are not affected by a photosensitive resin in a pixel and the performance of a liquid crystal is not deteriorated.

[0014]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a liquid crystal material sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode. A liquid crystal material in which a photosensitive material is mixed is applied or dropped on at least one of the substrates, and a spacer is scattered on at least one of the pair of substrates. Are superimposed so that they are on the inside, mask exposure is performed while pressing the pair of substrates, and then the substrate is gradually cooled, so that the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material are phase-separated to each other where light is irradiated by the mask exposure. A photosensitive resin is formed and a pair of substrates is bonded.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which a liquid crystal material is sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode, at least one of the pair of substrates has an electrode side. A liquid crystal material mixed with a photosensitive material is applied or dropped, and the substrate and the other substrate are overlapped so that the electrodes are on the inside, and pressure is applied so as to adjust the distance between the pair of substrates. After performing mask exposure while maintaining the pressure state, the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material are phase-separated by slow cooling to form a photosensitive resin in a portion irradiated with light by the mask exposure, and a pair of substrates is bonded. And

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the first or second aspect,
Any of a dispenser method, a screen printing method, and a roll coating method is used in a step of applying a liquid crystal material mixed with a photosensitive material.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the first or second aspect, the pair of substrates is pressurized by gas to pressurize the pair of substrates.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the first or second aspect,
The step of superposing the pair of substrates and the step of pressing are performed in a vacuum.

According to the present invention, after a liquid crystal material containing a photosensitive material is applied to one substrate, it is superimposed on the other substrate,
By pressing and performing mask exposure, phase separation between the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material occurs, and columns of the photosensitive resin are formed only in the portions irradiated with light, thereby bonding a pair of substrates. The present invention proposes a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element. Therefore, according to the present invention, since a pair of substrates can be bonded without using an adhesive such as a sealant, it is possible to prevent the performance degradation of the liquid crystal which occurs in the above-described conventional technology. Furthermore, if the columns of the photosensitive resin are formed in the black matrix portion, it is possible to prevent the pixels from being affected by the photosensitive resin at all.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The basic steps in the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element of the present embodiment will be described. First,
An insulating film is formed on a transparent substrate made of glass, plastic, or the like on which a transparent electrode such as ITO is formed. As a film forming method at this time, oblique evaporation of SiO ₂ , a roll coating method, a spin coating method, or the like can be used. However,
In some cases, this insulating film does not need to be formed.

Subsequently, an alignment film is formed. Generally, soluble polyimide, polyamic acid, or the like is used for the alignment film. Also at this time, the film is formed by applying the film on the substrate by a roll coating method, a spin coating method or the like. Next, a rubbing treatment is performed on the alignment film thus formed.

The substrate used here has only a transparent electrode made of ITO or the like formed thereon for simplicity of explanation. However, depending on a display system such as a TFT system or an STN system, May be processed. Further, one substrate may be a color filter.

A spacer is scattered on the electrode side of one of the two substrates subjected to such a process. However, there are cases where this spacer does not need to be sprayed. Liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material is applied to the electrode side of this substrate or the other substrate.

As the coating method at this time, there are the following several methods. (1) Dispenser Method As shown in a perspective view of a main part of FIG. 1, a device (dispenser) 3 for extruding liquid crystal by air pressure or the like is moved to uniformly apply the liquid crystal on the substrate 1 to form a liquid crystal film 2. . Liquid crystal is put inside the dispenser 3 in advance,
The part where the liquid crystal comes out is made of material such as mesh,
From there, the liquid crystal bleeds due to air pressure or the like, and the liquid crystal 2 can be uniformly applied onto the substrate 1.

(2) Screen printing method As shown in the perspective view of the main part of FIG. 2, a screen printing plate 4 is arranged on a substrate 1, a liquid crystal 2a is placed on the screen printing plate 4, and it is rubbed with a squeegee 5. And a method of transferring liquid crystal onto the substrate 1 to form a liquid crystal film.

(3) Roll coating method As shown in the perspective view of the main part of FIG.
This is a method in which liquid crystal is dropped on a roll 6 using the method described above, and the liquid crystal is transferred from the roller 6 to the substrate 1 to form a liquid crystal film 2.

By using these methods, the liquid crystal can be uniformly coated on the substrate in various patterns. Although the thickness of the liquid crystal film formed at this time can be adjusted in any manner, it is 0 to 50% of the desired cell gap.
The increase (1 to 1.5 times the cell gap) is preferable. Further, the phase of the liquid crystal at the time of coating may be a nematic phase or an isotropic phase. The phase of the liquid crystal after application may be a nematic phase or an isotropic phase, but is more preferably an isotropic phase. In order to increase the temperature of the substrate in order to control the phase of the liquid crystal, a rubber heater may be arranged below the substrate and heated.

Next, by one of the above methods, another substrate is superposed on the liquid crystal coated substrate such that the transparent electrode of each substrate is located on the other substrate. As a method of superposition at this time, as shown in a cross-sectional view of a main part of FIG. 4, a state in which the lower substrate 1 on which the liquid crystal film 2 is formed and the upper substrate 1 ′ are kept substantially parallel to each other,
There is a method in which the upper substrate is gradually lowered and overlapped. In FIG. 4, the lower substrate 1 is a rubber heater 10.
FIG. 2 shows a state in which spacers 8 are scattered on the inside of the upper substrate 1 ′ disposed on the stage 9 through the substrate.

As another method of superimposing the substrates, as shown in the sectional view of the main part of FIG. 5, one side of the upper substrate 1 is brought into contact with the lower substrate 1 ', and the contact portion is used as an axis. Then, there is a method of gradually lowering the side opposite to that of the upper substrate 1. In FIG. 5, the lower substrate 1 is arranged on the stage 9 via the rubber heater 10, and the spacers 8 are scattered inside the upper substrate 1 '.

When these superimposing operations are performed in the atmosphere, the latter method shown in FIG. 5 is preferable because air bubbles do not enter between the substrates. Further, when the treatment is performed in a vacuum, any of these methods may be used since the generation of such bubbles can be prevented.

After the substrates are overlapped in this way, the two substrates may be aligned.
It is preferable to perform the positioning and then superimpose, since the positional deviation hardly occurs.

Then, there is a method of fixing the periphery of these two substrates using pins or the like so that the positions of these two substrates do not shift. This will be described with reference to a cross-sectional view of main parts in FIG. 6A and a plan view of main parts in FIG. 6B. In the drawing, the substrates 1 and 2 sandwiching the liquid crystal film 2 are illustrated.
A plurality of pins 11 are arranged around 1 ', and the substrates 1 and 1' are fixed so that no displacement occurs. In FIG. 6A, the lower substrate 1 is disposed on the stage 9 via the rubber heater 10, and the substrate 1-1 'is formed.
FIG. 3 illustrates a structure in which a spacer 8 is interposed therebetween.

Thereafter, as shown in a sectional view of a main part of FIG. 7A and a plan view of a main part of FIG. 7B, pressure is applied from above the substrate 1 'by a press machine 12 in a vertical direction. At this time, in the present embodiment, the press machine 12 is configured as shown in FIG.
As shown in (b), the entire surface except for a few millimeters in the peripheral portion of the substrate 1 'is pressed. In addition, this press machine 1
The pressurized portion 2 also functions as a photomask in an exposure process performed thereafter.

Then, the portion where the liquid crystal protrudes to the outside of the substrate by this pressure is covered with a mask 13 so that
Only the peripheral portion of the 1 'overlapping portion is irradiated with ultraviolet light (UV). At this time, the pressurized portion of the press machine 12 also functions as a mask, and in the present embodiment, an ultraviolet curable material is used as the photosensitive material. At this time, the liquid crystal is in an isotropic phase. In the present embodiment,
Although the mask 13 disposed around the substrate is used, the mask 13 is not necessary if light is irradiated after wiping the liquid crystal protruding outside the substrate.

Thereafter, by slow cooling, phase separation from the liquid crystal occurs in the liquid crystal film 2, and the photosensitive material moves to the portion irradiated with the ultraviolet light. As shown in a plan view of a main part in FIG. 8B, a columnar photosensitive resin 14 is formed, and the substrate 1 and the substrate 1 ′ are bonded. Thereafter, the pressure is released, and unnecessary liquid crystal protruding outside the substrate is wiped off, thereby completing the manufacture of the liquid crystal display element.

In order to further increase the bonding strength between the substrates, the following steps are added. That is, after the step of forming the columnar resin 14 as described above, the pressure is released and unnecessary liquid crystal that has protruded outside the substrate is wiped off.
As shown in the main part sectional view of FIG. 9A and the main part plan view of FIG. 9B, the mask 15 is arranged on the substrate 1 ′, the liquid crystal is made isotropic, and ultraviolet light (UV) is irradiated. After irradiation, cool slowly.
By performing such a process, as shown in a sectional view of a main part of FIG. 10A and a plan view of a main part of FIG.
A columnar photosensitive resin 14 'is formed over the entire surface of the element corresponding to the shape of the mask 15, and the substrate 1 and the substrate 1' are firmly bonded. At this time, since the columnar resin 14 'is formed not only around the substrate but also in the element as compared with those shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the bonding strength of the substrate is stronger. It will be.

The pressing step described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B can be performed as follows. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, the substrate 1, 1 ′ is surrounded by a frame 16 so as to cover the entire substrate, a gas such as air is supplied, and the pressure can be applied from above the substrate 1 ′ using the pressure. . In this case, as shown in FIGS. 7 (a) and 7 (b), a pressing machine 1 for directly contacting and pressing a substrate is provided.
Since it is not necessary to use the photomask 2, a photomask substantially similar to the mask 15 in FIG. 9 can be used when performing mask exposure while applying pressure. That is, as shown in FIG. 11, a mask 15 ′ is arranged on a substrate 1 ′ and pressurized by the pressure (gas pressure) of air or the like as described above, and the ultraviolet light (U
After irradiation with V), it is only necessary to gradually cool.

According to such a series of steps, only one irradiation of ultraviolet light can be applied to not only the periphery of the liquid crystal display element, but also
The columnar resin can also be formed in the middle part, and the element manufacturing process can be simplified. The difference between the mask 15 in FIG. 9 and the mask 15 ′ in FIG.
Is that the outermost peripheral portion is in a transmission state (open state) so that a columnar resin is formed in the outermost peripheral portion.

The substrate used in the above description is
The terminal portion is exposed from the beginning and does not need to be divided. On the other hand, an element manufacturing process using a substrate whose terminal portion is not exposed is described with reference to FIG.
The description will be made with reference to the cross-sectional views of the main parts of FIGS. In such a case, in the pressurization / mask exposure step after the substrate is superimposed, as shown in FIG. The pressurized part of the press machine 12 and the mask 1 to be a part
3 'shape. Then, in the same manner as described above, the photosensitive resin 14 'is irradiated with ultraviolet light and then gradually cooled to form a columnar photosensitive resin 14' inside the peripheral edge of the substrate 1 '(FIG. 12B).
Then, by dividing the peripheral portion of the substrate 1 ′, a terminal portion (not shown) can be exposed (FIG. 12).
(C)). The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, but can be applied to the production of liquid crystal display elements of various display systems such as TFT, STN, IPS and the like. Further, the liquid crystal material is not limited to a nematic liquid crystal, but can be applied to the production of a liquid crystal display element using various liquid crystal materials such as a ferroelectric liquid crystal and an antiferroelectric liquid crystal.

Hereinafter, more specific examples according to the present invention will be described, but the present invention is not limited to these examples.

[0041]

【Example】

Example 1 In Example 1, the dispenser method shown in FIG. 1 was used as the liquid crystal coating step on the substrate, and the ultraviolet light was used as the columnar photosensitive resin forming step shown in FIGS. 7 and 9 described above. A description will be given of a case where a liquid crystal display element is manufactured by light irradiation.

First, a pair of substrates as shown in the sectional view of the main part of FIG. 13 was prepared. On a substrate 1 made of glass, an ITO film 17 having a thickness of 1000 ° was formed in a predetermined pattern. On this ITO film 17, an insulating film 1 having a thickness of 1200 ° is formed.
8 (A2014 manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd.).
Note that the insulating film 18 was formed by spin coating at a temperature of 200 ° C. for 90 minutes after spin coating of the insulating film raw material solution.

Next, an alignment film 19 (SE-7792, manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd.) having a thickness of 500 ° was formed on the insulating film 18. The alignment film 19 was formed by spin coating at a temperature of 180 ° C. for 90 minutes after spin coating of an insulating film raw material solution. After that, the alignment film 19 was subjected to a rubbing treatment. As described above, two substrates having the structure shown in FIG. 13 were manufactured.

On one of these substrates, spacers having a diameter of 5 μm are scattered on the alignment film 19, and this is used as a substrate A. On the other substrate, a liquid crystal material mixed with a photosensitive material is applied on the alignment film 19 by the dispenser method described with reference to FIG. 1 to form a liquid crystal film 2 having a thickness of 7 μm. This is called substrate B. Table 1 below shows the liquid crystal materials, photosensitive materials, and initiators used in this example, and the mixing ratios of the respective chemicals of the photosensitive materials. The initiator is mixed with the photosensitive material in the liquid crystal material to start the reaction. The mixing ratio of these components is: liquid crystal material: photosensitive material: initiator = 80: 19.5: 0.5
And

[0045]

[Table 1]

The substrate B having such a liquid crystal film 2 formed thereon is
As shown in FIG. 5, placed on the rubber heater 10,
After heating the temperature of the liquid crystal to 80 ° C. to make the liquid crystal isotropic,
One end of the substrate A (corresponding to the substrate 1 'in FIG. 5) was brought into contact with the substrate B (corresponding to the substrate 1 in FIG. 5), and the other end of the substrate A was slowly lowered. Then, when these two substrates A and B were overlaid, no air bubbles entered between these substrates. Note that the rubbing directions of the alignment films of the substrate A and the substrate B were arranged to be orthogonal to each other.

Next, as shown in FIG. 7, the substrate A (corresponding to the substrate 1 'side in FIG. 7) and the substrate B (corresponding to the substrate 1 side in FIG. The mask 13 was placed under a pressure of ² kg / cm ² using the press machine 12, and ultraviolet light (UV) was irradiated from above the substrate A. At this time, the liquid crystal was in an isotropic phase, the irradiation range of the ultraviolet light was 2 mm in width, and the irradiation intensity was 14 mW /
Performed in cm ² for 8 minutes.

When this ultraviolet light irradiation is gradually cooled, phase separation between the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material occurs. As shown in FIG. 8, the columnar photosensitive resin 14 has a width of 2 mm and a thickness of 5 μm. The upper and lower substrates A and B are formed on the portion of the film 2 irradiated with ultraviolet light.
Was pasted together. Then, after the pressurization by the press was released, the liquid crystal oozing around the substrates A and B was wiped off.

Then, as shown in FIG.
Was placed on the substrate A, the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal film 2 was made isotropic, and the columnar resin 14 was irradiated with ultraviolet light under the same conditions as in the forming step, and then gradually cooled. As a result, a columnar photosensitive resin 14 'as shown in FIG. 9 was also formed inside the device due to the phase separation between the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material. Finally, 1
The entire surface of the device was exposed to ultraviolet light at an intensity of 4 mW / cm ² for 3 minutes.

The liquid crystal display device of the present example fabricated as described above had uniform orientation, and was able to perform uniform switching without display unevenness by applying a voltage to the transparent electrodes of the upper and lower substrates.

[Second Embodiment] In the second embodiment, the first embodiment is used.
A liquid crystal display element manufactured without dispersing the spacers dispersed on the substrate A will be described.

In the second embodiment, two substrates having the structure shown in FIG. 13 are manufactured in the same manner as in the first embodiment, and one of the substrates is used and the same as in the first embodiment is performed. The same substrate B coated with liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material was produced by a dispenser method. Unlike the first embodiment, spacers are not sprayed on the other substrate, which is referred to as a substrate A '.

The subsequent steps are almost the same as those in the first embodiment. However, in this embodiment, since no spacer is used, the pressure at the time of pressing by the press machine 12 as shown in FIG. Changed. That is, in Example 2, the pressure at the time of pressurization by the press machine 12 as shown in FIG.
cm ² . The other conditions were the same as in Example 1, and the ultraviolet light exposure step and the slow cooling step as shown in FIG. 7 were performed.

As a result, similarly to the first embodiment, the columnar resin 14 as shown in FIG.
Thus, the upper and lower substrates A ′ and B were able to be bonded to each other by forming the liquid crystal film 2 on the portion irradiated with ultraviolet light. From this,
It was found that the cell thickness could be controlled by the pressure at the time of ultraviolet light irradiation and the upper and lower substrates could be bonded without dispersing spacers on one of the substrates.

[Third Embodiment] In the third embodiment, the first embodiment is used.
After the substrate A and the substrate B are overlapped in the same manner as described above,
As shown in FIG. 11 described above, a liquid crystal display element manufactured by pressurizing with gas pressure (gas pressure) and performing mask exposure with ultraviolet light will be described.

First, a pair of substrates prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 were rubbed and a spacer A was scattered on an alignment film of one of the substrates and a substrate A was scattered on the alignment film of the other substrate. A substrate B coated with a liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material by a dispenser method was overlapped by a method as shown in FIG.

Then, as shown in FIG. 11, the superposed substrate A (corresponding to the substrate 1 'in FIG. 11) and the substrate B (corresponding to the substrate 1 in FIG. 11) are arranged inside the frame 16. At the same time, the mask 15 was placed on the substrate A, and the substrate was pressed at a pressure of ² kg / cm ² by nitrogen pressure. At this time, frame 1
The upper surface of 6 was made of glass so as to transmit ultraviolet light.

Next, while maintaining such pressurization,
By performing mask exposure with ultraviolet light from above the mask 15 and then gradually cooling, the phase separation between the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material in the liquid crystal film 2 causes the periphery and inside of the substrates A and B to be as shown in FIG. Such a columnar photosensitive resin is formed,
The upper and lower substrates A and B could be bonded.

According to the third embodiment, since the pressure is applied by the gas in the pressurizing step of the substrate as described above, the columnar resin is formed around and inside the substrate in one exposure step. This makes it possible to reduce the number of steps and perform firm bonding of substrates.

[Fourth Embodiment] In the fourth embodiment, the aforementioned FIG.
A description will be given of a case where a liquid crystal display element is manufactured by performing a substrate overlapping step as shown in FIG. 5 and a substrate pressing / ultraviolet light exposure step as shown in FIG.

First, a substrate A in which spacers are scattered on an alignment film of one substrate on which a pair of substrates manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 have been subjected to a rubbing treatment, and an alignment film of the other substrate A substrate B coated with a liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material by a dispenser method was prepared.

Then, as shown in FIG. 4, the pair of substrates A and B are evacuated to a substrate A (substrate 1 ′ of FIG. 4) in a vacuum state.
Side) and a substrate B (corresponding to the substrate 1 side in FIG. 4) were arranged so as to be substantially horizontal to each other, and gradually lowered while being substantially horizontal, thereby superimposing the substrates. Also, as shown in FIG. 5, one end of the substrate A (corresponding to the substrate 1 'side in FIG.
(Corresponding to the substrate 1 side in FIG. 5), and the substrates were superposed such that one end on the opposite side of the substrate A was gradually lowered.

In any of the samples on which the substrates were superimposed, the substrate was kept in a vacuum state and subjected to the substrate pressing / ultraviolet light exposure process as shown in FIG. Thus, a liquid crystal display device was manufactured.

According to the fourth embodiment, as shown in FIGS.
No air bubbles were generated between the substrates of the manufactured liquid crystal display element in any of the samples obtained by any one of the superposing steps, and good results were obtained.

In the fourth embodiment, the vacuum state is maintained in a series of the substrate overlapping step and the pressing / ultraviolet light exposure step. However, the overlapping step and the pressing / ultraviolet light exposing step are performed. Even if the vacuum state is broken between the steps, the generation of bubbles may not be a problem for a short time. Further, there is a case where the generation of bubbles can be sufficiently suppressed only by performing the superposition step in a vacuum state. These may be appropriately changed according to the specifications of the liquid crystal display element to be manufactured, such as the design of the liquid crystal material to be used, the display size, the display quality, and the like.

In the above Examples 1-4, the dispenser method as shown in FIG. 1 was used in the step of applying the liquid crystal containing the photosensitive material to the substrate, but the screen as shown in FIG. Irrespective of the printing method or the roll coating method as shown in FIG. 3, coating could be performed uniformly as in the case of the dispenser method.

[0067]

As described above, according to the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of the present invention, a liquid crystal material mixed with a photosensitive material is formed into a pair by a dispenser method, a screen printing method, a roll coating method or the like. By applying to one of the substrates, overlapping with the other substrate, pressing and exposing, and then slowly cooling, phase separation between liquid crystal and photosensitive material occurs,
A pair of substrates can be bonded by forming a columnar photosensitive resin.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the liquid crystal can be injected in a shorter time as compared with the conventional one, and the deterioration of the liquid crystal material due to the influence of the sealant or the like can be prevented.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an essential part showing how liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material is applied on a substrate by a dispenser method in an embodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an essential part showing how liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material is applied on a substrate by a screen printing method.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of an essential part showing a state where a liquid crystal mixed with a photosensitive material is applied on a substrate by a roll coating method.

FIG. 4 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing a state where a pair of substrates are overlapped.

FIG. 5 is an essential part cross-sectional view showing a state when a pair of substrates are overlapped.

FIGS. 6A and 6B are views showing how to prevent a position shift of a pair of superposed substrates, wherein FIG.
(B) is a main part plan view.

FIGS. 7A and 7B are diagrams illustrating a state where ultraviolet light irradiation is performed by pressing a pair of superposed substrates, wherein FIG. 7A is a cross-sectional view of a main part and FIG.

8A and 8B are diagrams showing a state of a columnar photosensitive resin formed by irradiation with ultraviolet light in FIG. 7, wherein FIG.
(B) is a main part plan view.

9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating a state where ultraviolet light irradiation is performed on the liquid crystal display element on which the columnar photosensitive resin illustrated in FIG. 8 is formed, wherein FIG. It is a top view.

10A and 10B are diagrams showing a state of a columnar photosensitive resin formed by irradiation with ultraviolet light in FIG. 8, wherein FIG.
(B) is a main part plan view.

FIG. 11 is a cross-sectional view of relevant parts showing a state where ultraviolet light irradiation is performed by pressing a pair of superposed substrates in a vacuum state.

FIG. 12 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing an element manufacturing step when a substrate whose terminal portions are not exposed is used.

13 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view schematically showing the structure of the substrate manufactured in Example 1. FIG.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view showing a manufacturing step of a conventional liquid crystal display element.

FIG. 15 is a conceptual plan view illustrating a manufacturing process of a conventional liquid crystal display element.

FIG. 16 is a conceptual side view showing a manufacturing process of a conventional liquid crystal display element.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1,1 'substrate 2 liquid crystal film 2a liquid crystal 13,13', 15,15 'photomask 14,14' columnar resin

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element comprising a liquid crystal material sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode, wherein a liquid crystal in which a photosensitive material is mixed on at least one electrode side of the pair of substrates. After applying or dropping a material and dispersing a spacer on the electrode side of at least one of the pair of substrates, the pair of substrates is overlapped so that the electrodes are on the inside, and the mask is pressed while pressing the pair of substrates. The liquid crystal is characterized in that the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material are phase-separated by slow cooling after exposure, a photosensitive resin is formed in a portion irradiated with light by the mask exposure, and the pair of substrates is bonded. A method for manufacturing a display element. 2. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element comprising a liquid crystal material sandwiched between a pair of substrates each having an electrode, wherein a liquid crystal in which a photosensitive material is mixed on at least one electrode side of the pair of substrates. The material is applied or dropped, and the substrate and the other substrate are overlapped so that the electrodes are on the inside,
Pressure is applied to adjust the distance between the pair of substrates, mask exposure is performed while maintaining the pressurized state, and then the liquid crystal and the photosensitive material are phase-separated and light is irradiated by the mask exposure. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, comprising: forming a photosensitive resin in a portion irradiated with a resin; and bonding the pair of substrates. 3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of applying the liquid crystal material mixed with the photosensitive material includes a dispenser method, a screen printing method, and the like.
3. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein any one of a roll coating method and a roll coating method is used. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the pair of substrates is pressurized by gas to pressurize the pair of substrates. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of superposing the pair of substrates and the step of pressing are performed in a vacuum.
Or the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display element of 2.