JPS58192016A - Liquid crystal packing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To minimize contamination caused by a cell liquid crystal and also to reduce a loss of the liquid crystal, by dividing a vacuum vessel into two, the first vessel for defoaming the liquid crystal and the second vessel for deaerating a cell, moving the liquid face of the liquid crystal in a state that the cell remains fixed, and injecting the liquid crystal. CONSTITUTION:A titled device is constituted so that it is divided into the first vessel 15 for defoaming a liquid crystal and the second vessel 16 provided with a liquid crystal cell supporting means for deaerating a cell, also a pressure adjusting means is provided on each vessel 15, 16, also a liquid crystal moving tube 17 is provided between these vessels 15, 16, a liquid crystal 5 is moved by utilizing the difference pressure between these two vessels, and the liquid crystal 5 is injected in a state that a liquid crystal cell 2 remains fixed. According to this method, the liquid crystal 5 does not adhere to the cell in large quantities, therefore, contamination caused by the liquid crystal 5 of the cell 2 is minimized and also a loss of the liquid crystal can be reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an apparatus for filling a liquid crystal cell with liquid crystal.

A liquid crystal cell used in a liquid crystal display element is made by placing two substrates facing each other with a spacer interposed between them, placing them on the periphery while applying pressure, and curing and bonding the skin adhesive to form a space between the substrates. This liquid crystal cell is then filled with liquid crystal, which is a liquid display medium, through an injection port.

A conventional device for filling liquid crystal is shown in FIG. This conventional liquid crystal filling device has a vacuum chamber 1 connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) via a three-way valve, a liquid crystal tank 4 installed below the vacuum chamber 1, and a liquid crystal cell R screen above the liquid crystal tank. A frame 21 is provided.

This fly 11 is heated up and down via a pulley by operating a handle 8. When filling a liquid crystal cell with liquid crystal, a plurality of liquid crystal cells 2 are hung from a frame 21 with the injection port facing down, and after supplying the liquid crystal 6 to the liquid crystal tank 4, the vacuum container 1 is evacuated and the liquid crystal cells 8 are filled with liquid crystal. After degassing, the handle 8 is operated to lower the frame 2/ and the injection port of the liquid crystal cell 2 is immersed in the liquid crystal 6. Next, the three-way valve is switched to the atmosphere side, the inside of the container 1 is opened to the atmosphere, and liquid crystal is filled.

Such conventional liquid crystal filling equipment has the advantage of being able to fill many liquid crystal cells with liquid crystal at the same time, but it requires removing substances dissolved in the liquid crystal under vacuum and creating a vacuum inside the liquid crystal cell. The structure is such that the liquid crystal cell is immersed in the liquid crystal by operating and moving the liquid crystal cell from the outside after performing both in the same container, so if the cell becomes large or
When a large number of cells are implanted, it becomes difficult to manipulate the cells from the outside. However, since substances dissolved in the liquid crystal are removed in the same container, the inside of the liquid crystal cell may be contaminated, or the liquid crystal tank 4 may be equipped with a mechanism for moving the liquid crystal cell up and down, so dirt may be removed when moving the liquid crystal cell up and down. There is a problem that the etc. will fall.

The present invention was made in consideration of these conventional problems, and the vacuum container is divided into two parts, a first container for liquid crystal defoaming and a second container for cell degassing, and the cells are fixed. The above-mentioned problem is solved by moving the liquid crystal surface and injecting it without moving it.

That is, the liquid crystal filling device of the present invention includes a first container that accommodates liquid crystal and is equipped with a first pressure adjustment means, and a second container that is equipped with a second pressure adjustment means and a means that supports a liquid crystal cell therein. , a liquid crystal transport pipe for transporting the liquid crystal in the first container to the second container as soon as the first container and the second container are connected;
The liquid crystal is degassed by fully operating the pressure adjusting means to reduce the pressure inside the first container, and after supporting the liquid crystal cell in the second container, the second pressure reducing means is operated inside the second container. After degassing the inside of the liquid crystal cell, the pressure reducing means @1 is activated to gradually increase the pressure in the first container to near atmospheric pressure, creating a pressure difference between the first and second containers. The liquid crystal cell can be filled with liquid crystal by moving the liquid crystal to the J2 container. In the present invention,
The first pressure 14!1 arm and the second pressure adjusting means may be provided separately, or they may be partially shared as long as the pressures in the first container and the second container can be adjusted to different 11iA. You may do so.

'1.

) The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 shows the first container 15 that houses the liquid crystal tank 4 and the liquid crystal tank 4.
4118, and a ninth liquid crystal transport pipe 17 for transporting the liquid crystal 5 in the liquid crystal tank 4 to the liquid crystal reservoir lδ. In the illustrated apparatus, the first container 1
The liquid crystal tank 4 is placed on a table equipped with an ultrasonic vibrator 14 in the lower part of the liquid crystal tank 6. The first fuel 15 is connected to a vacuum pump P via a vacuum pump P, which can reduce the pressure or create a vacuum in the room, and is connected to a gas supply source, in the illustrated example, a 9 element cylinder B via an empty cock 8. It is possible to return the room from a vacuum state to atmospheric pressure. In this embodiment, a part of the first pressure regulating means and the second pressure regulating means are shared, and the first pressure regulating means has a vacuum hook 6 unique to the first pressure regulating means. It consists of a vacuum hook 8, a vacuum pump P, and a nitrogen cylinder B, which are common parts.

Nine liquid crystal reservoirs 18 are provided in the lower part of the second container 16 and placed on a stand (not shown). This second chamber 16 is also the first vacuum chamber 15.
Similarly, it is connected to a vacuum pump via a vacuum hook 7,
The interior of the room can be evacuated, and it is connected to a nitrogen cylinder via a vacuum cock 9, so that the interior of the room can be returned from a vacuum state to atmospheric pressure.

The second container includes the vacuum cock 7, the vacuum cock 9, and the first
A second pressure regulating means is provided, which includes a vacuum pump P and a nitrogen cylinder B, which are commonly used.

Furthermore, above the liquid crystal reservoir 18 inside the second container, there is a support means for sandwiching the liquid crystal cell 2 from both sides and suspending it from the ceiling of the second container.
111 is provided. 11 and 12 are the first container 1
5.@2 A pressure needle that detects the pressure inside the container 16. 1
Reference numeral 7 denotes a liquid crystal transport tube, and a needle pulp 10 is provided in the middle part.

Now, when filling a liquid crystal cell with liquid crystal using the illustrated device, see Part L! The liquid crystal cell 8 is fixed in the liquid crystal Iv18 in the container with the support means 21 with the injection port facing down.

Turtle: Put the liquid crystal 5 into the liquid crystal tank 4 in the first container.

& Open the needle valve 10tt of the liquid crystal transport tube 17 and operate the first and second pressure regulating means. That is, close the vacuum cock 8.9 and open the vacuum hook 6.7,
The first container 15 and the '#IJ2 container 16 are evacuated by operating the vacuum pump.

4. After confirming that the insides of both containers are sufficiently evacuated using the pressure gauges 11 and 12, the ultrasonic vibrator 14 is operated to remove dissolved substances from the liquid crystal 6 of the liquid crystal tank 1.

After being left under vacuum for 460 minutes at 8 degrees Celsius, the first pressure regulating means, ie, the vacuum chamber, is closed again, the vacuum cock 8 is opened, and nitrogen gas is gradually introduced from the nitrogen cylinder B into the first container 15 to cool the inside of the container. The pressure is increased to bring the differential pressure with the second container 16 to about 2000H9.

a The liquid crystal 5 in the liquid crystal tank 4 is connected to the liquid crystal transport pipe 1 due to the pressure difference.
7 to the liquid crystal reservoir 18 of the second container.

7. After confirming that the liquid crystal is attached to the injection ports 18 of all cells, close the needle valve lO to stop the movement of the liquid crystal.

& Open the vacuum cock 9, which is the second pressure adjustment means,
Close the vacuum cock 7 and put the nitrogen gas cylinder B in the second reactor 16.
Nitrogen gas is gradually introduced into the second container 16 to return the pressure inside the second container 16 to atmospheric pressure. At this time, it is preferable to return to atmospheric pressure in approximately 20 to 80 minutes.

Elephant After reaching atmospheric pressure, close all cocks and
If left as is for a period of time, the inside of the liquid crystal cell will be filled with liquid crystal due to the pressure difference.

In the device shown in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal reservoir 18 is a dish-shaped container, but as shown in FIG. When the cell is fixed so that the injection port is placed within the two protrusions as shown in the figure, and liquid crystal is once filled into the liquid crystal cell using the same method, the surface tension of the liquid crystal prevents the injection port from coming into contact with the surface of the liquid crystal. Since no air enters through the injection port and the area in which the liquid crystal contacts the liquid crystal cell is small, the amount of dirt on the liquid crystal is reduced.

As described above, the liquid crystal filling device of the present invention is provided with a first container for liquid crystal defoaming and a liquid crystal cell support means for cell degassing, which are separated into two containers, and each container is equipped with a pressure adjustment means. A liquid crystal transfer tube is installed between these containers, and the liquid crystal is moved by using the pressure difference between the two containers.The liquid crystal cell is fixed and kept in place, and the surface of the liquid crystal is brought into contact with the injection port of the liquid crystal cell. Compared to the case where the liquid crystal cell 1 is immersed in liquid crystal, a large amount of liquid crystal does not adhere to the cell, so contamination of the cell with liquid crystal is minimized, and liquid crystal loss is minimized. 9th, there are fewer contact areas between the cell and the liquid crystal, and contamination of the liquid crystal is minimized. Furthermore, the apparatus of the present invention has advantages such as being able to easily inject large liquid crystal cells and large quantities of liquid crystal cells, and preventing the liquid crystal cells from being contaminated by substances dissolved in the liquid crystal. The value is extremely great.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional liquid crystal filling device, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an example device of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a perspective view of another example of a liquid crystal tank that can be used in the device of the present invention, and FIG. This figure is an explanatory diagram showing a state after setting a liquid crystal cell on the protrusion of the liquid crystal tank shown in FIG. 8. l...Vacuum container, 2...Liquid crystal cell, 2/...Liquid crystal cell suspension frame, 8...Liquid crystal cell operating handle,
4...Liquid crystal tank, 5...Liquid crystal, 6, 7, 8.9...
Vacuum cock, 10... Needle pulp, 11...
Pressure cage, 12... Pressure gauge, 18... Liquid crystal reservoir, 14... Ultrasonic sensor, 15... First vacuum container,
16... Second vacuum container, 17... Liquid crystal transport tube, 1
8... Inlet, 19... Liquid crystal reservoir, 20... Protrusion,
21...Supporting means. Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 1d

Claims (1)

[Claims] L: a first container equipped with a first pressure adjustment means for accommodating a liquid crystal, a second container equipped with an eighth pressure adjustment means and a means for supporting a liquid crystal cell inside, the first container and a second container.
1. A liquid crystal filling device comprising: a liquid crystal transport pipe connected to a container and configured to transfer liquid crystal in one container to a second container.