KR100279528B1 - Flat panel panel sealing device using laser and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for sealing a flat display panel (FDP), and more particularly, to a bonding, sealing, and exhausting process in a vacuum atmosphere at the same time, and sealing using a laser. The present invention relates to a flat panel display panel sealing device using a laser and a method thereof, which can reduce a time, and are provided on a vacuum chamber (110) on which the flat panel display panel (10) is placed, and on the top of the vacuum chamber (110). A transparent body 120 through which light is transmitted, position adjusting means (130, 140, 150) for adjusting the position of the flat panel display panel (10), a vacuum pump (240) for making the vacuum chamber (110) in a vacuum state, A laser 310 installed above the transparent body 120 and irradiated onto the flat panel display panel 10 through the transparent body 120, and receives the laser 310 from the upper surface of the transparent body 120. And a laser transfer means (320,330) for conveying in the vertical direction to perform sealing, and a visual system (400) for observing the sealing process, by locally sealing using a laser having excellent condensing power. The sealing time can be shortened, thermal stress can be minimized, and the "bonding, sealing, and exhaust" process, which is performed at different locations in the related art, can be simplified into one process in vacuum to remove residual gas in frit glass. And it is an invention that has the effect of saving time and space according to the process simplification.

Description

Flat panel panel sealing device using laser and its method

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for sealing a flat display panel (FDP), and more particularly, to a bonding, sealing, and exhausting process in a vacuum atmosphere at the same time, and sealing using a laser. The present invention relates to a flat panel display panel sealing device using a laser that can reduce time, remove gas particles, minimize thermal stress, and efficiently use time and space according to process simplification. .

1 is a front view of a conventional flat panel display panel (FDP) sealing apparatus, and FIG. 2 is a plan view showing a flat panel display panel, which includes a firing furnace 1, an upper end heat source 2, an upper end heat resistant material 3, and a lower end part. A preheating heat source 4 and a lower end portion heat-resistant material 5, a clamp 6 for fixing the flat panel display panel 10 inside the firing furnace 1, and an automatic transfer device for moving the flat panel display panel 10 ( 7), a table 8 on which the apparatuses are placed, and an automatic temperature controller 9 installed at one side of the lower end of the main body, and the flat panel display panel 10 includes a top plate 10a and a paste state. It consists of the in-glass 10b and the lower board 10c, and is placed in the said order.

The configuration and operation of the sealing method using the conventional flat panel display panel sealing apparatus will be described below with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

First, the overall process step is largely in the bonding step (P1) step of bonding the upper plate (10a), frit glass (10b) and lower plate (10c) of the flat panel display panel outside the firing furnace (1), and in the firing furnace (c) It consists of the sealing process P2 which seals at 450 degreeC atmospheric pressure, and the exhaust and gas injection process P3 which vacuum-exhausts and injects gas at 350 degreeC.

In addition, the sealing process (P2) is composed of the following detailed steps.

The flat panel display panel 10 is conveyed to the inside of the firing furnace (c) through the inlet (a) by the automatic transfer device 7 in a state where the upper plate (10a), frit glass (10b) and the lower plate (10c) is bonded together Perform step S1. At this time, the inside of the kiln (c) is at atmospheric pressure.

Next, by operating the preheating heat source (4) at the lower end of the interior (c) of the kiln to perform the preheating source operation step (S2) to maintain the temperature of the inside of the kiln (c) at 300 ℃.

Subsequently, the upper part heat source 2 is operated to perform the upper part heat source operation step S3 of raising the temperature of the entire interior of the firing furnace c to about 450 ° C., and maintaining the temperature at the temperature for 15 minutes to maintain the flat display panel 20. The upper and lower plates are sealed.

Thereafter, the temperature reduction step S4 of lowering the temperature to 350 ° C. for exhaust and gas injection process P3 is performed to the next process.

The upper and lower plates 10a and 10c of the flat panel display panel 10 are soda lime and have a thickness of 2.8 mm, and after the frit glass 10b is applied outside the firing furnace 1, the clamp 6 After performing the bonding process (P1) to be bonded by the) is carried out the transfer step (S1) to enter the interior (c) of the firing furnace by the automatic transfer device (7). At this time, a large amount of gas particles are present between the bonded upper and lower plates 10a and 10c, and when the heat is applied by the preheating source operation step S2 and the upper part heat source operation step S3, such gas particles are provided. As a result, the pressure distribution becomes high, which causes gas particles inside the frit to exit the frit. Frit glass 10b is a kind of adhesive having a melting point of 420 to 450 ° C., and has two kinds of thermosetting, crystalline and amorphous. The frit glass 10b applied to the lower plate 10c has a thickness of 180 mm and a width of about 4 mm. Since the frit glass 10b contains a large amount of gas inside, the gas of the internal powder is in a high pressure state, ie, when heat is applied from the outside. It becomes unstable. These gas particles will try to escape out of frit glass 10b to transition to a more stable state by the energy balance principle. This is because the outside of the fritted glass 10b is an atmospheric pressure state and is more stable than the inside of the fritted glass 10b.

As such, the heating method of the kiln 1 adopts a method of heating the entire inside of the kiln 1 to a high temperature (450 ° C.) by a heating source to insulate it with a heat-resistant material, thereby lowering the thermal efficiency and the temperature increase rate, and thus the sealing time. Not only does it take a long time, there is a problem that the thermal stress occurs due to the temperature difference in the final product.

In addition, since the interior of the kiln 1 is at atmospheric pressure, not a vacuum state, a large amount of gas particles remain, and these gas particles actively obtain high energy when the temperature rise inside the kiln 1 starts, thereby actively moving the inside of the kiln 1. Will move. Therefore, the pressure inside the firing furnace 1 is increased as a whole, and the pressure difference with the gas particles present in the frit glass 10b will not be large. If the pressure difference is not large, the gas particles in the frit glass 10b remain as bubbles in the frit glass 10b by drastically reducing the driving force for moving to a place where the energy is low (low pressure). You are more likely to do it. These remaining bubbles are a major problem as the main cause of the leak in the final product.

The present invention is to solve the above-mentioned shortcomings, shorten the sealing time and minimize the thermal stress by using a local heating method using a laser, simplifying all the processes of bonding, sealing, exhaust in a vacuum in one process Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser that can remove residual gas in frit glass and to efficiently use time and space according to process simplification.

The present invention replaces the heat source used for sealing with a laser and replaces the upper heat-resistant material with a transparent body so that the laser light can be injected into the interior, and constitutes a vacuum pump, the upper and lower bonding and sealing and exhaust process of the flat panel display panel. Is achieved by simultaneously performing in a kiln in a vacuum state.

1 is a front view of a conventional flat panel display panel sealing device;

2 is a plan view illustrating a flat panel display panel;

3 is a step diagram showing all process steps of a conventional flat panel display panel,

4 is a step diagram illustrating a method of sealing a conventional flat panel display panel;

5 is a front view of a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention;

6 is a plan view of a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention;

7 illustrates a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention.

A step diagram showing the configuration of a sealing method.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of the drawings>

100: vacuum chamber unit 110: vacuum chamber

120: transparent body 130, 140, 150: position adjusting means

200: main body 240: vacuum pump

300: laser optical system 310: laser

320,330: laser transfer means 400: visual system unit

410: CCTV camera 420: fixture

430: monitor

An embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 5 is a front view of a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a plan view of a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention. .

First, the present invention is largely composed of the vacuum chamber unit 100, the main body unit 200, the laser optical system 300 and the visual system unit 400.

The vacuum chamber part 100 includes a vacuum chamber 110 and a transparent body 120 installed above the vacuum chamber 110 to allow laser light to pass therethrough, and the flat panel display panel 10 is disposed. The lower plate adjustment support 130, the fine adjustment device 140 for adjusting the position of the lower plate adjustment support 130, the adjustment screw 141 for adjusting the fine adjustment device 140, the lower plate support plate 150 Position adjusting means (130, 140, 150), the lower end of the preheating heat source 160, and the lower end heat insulating material 170 to block the heat generated from the preheating heat source 160 is conducted to the body portion 200 It is composed of

In addition, the main body 200 may include a guide rail 210 for transporting the flat panel display panel 10, a table 220 on which the components are placed, and a temperature inside the vacuum chamber part 100. The thermostat 230 to adjust the vacuum, and the gas installed in the lower portion of the main body to make the vacuum chamber 110 in a vacuum state and the gas present in the gap between the gas particles discharged in the frit glass 10b or the upper and lower plates vacuum It consists of a vacuum pump 240 to be taken out of the chamber 110.

In addition, the laser optical system 300, which is the main part of the present invention, includes a laser 310 installed on the transparent body 120 installed above the vacuum chamber part 100, and controls the vertical movement of the laser 310. The laser transfer means 320, 330 which consists of the Z-axis adjuster 320 and the XY stage 330 which adjusts XY-axis movement is comprised.

And, the visual system unit 400 is composed of a CCTV camera 410, an illuminator 420, and a monitor 430 installed on the side of the laser 310, it is possible to observe the sealing process have.

7 is a step diagram showing the configuration of a sealing method using a flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser of the present invention, the upper and lower plates and frit glass of the flat panel display panel 10 into the vacuum chamber 110 (B) Charging step (S10) to charge, the preheating heat source operation step (S20) for operating the preheating heat source 160 at the lower end to raise the interior (B) of the vacuum chamber 110 to about 300 ℃ and the vacuum pump 240 Operating the vacuum pump 110 to make the vacuum chamber 110 in a vacuum state, and adjusting the adjusting screw 141 to operate the microadjustment device 140 to operate the lower plate 10c of the flat panel display panel 10. The upper and lower plate bonding step (S40) in close contact with the upper plate (10a), the visual system operating step (S50) for operating the visual system unit 400 to input the sealing start point (C), and the laser 310 is oscillated A laser beam that scans the fritted glass 10b and performs "melt → harden → seal". And a sealing step S70 of operating the laser transfer means of the Z-axis adjuster 320 and the XY stage 330 to seal the laser light while tracking the frit glass 10b, and when the laser sealing is completed. It is composed of a transfer step (S80) that is transferred to the next step gas injection process.

Referring to the operation method and operation effect of the flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using the laser of the present invention having the above configuration in detail as follows.

First, charging is performed to charge the upper plate 10a, lower plate 10c and fritted glass 10b of the flat panel display panel 10 from the inlet A of the vacuum chamber 110 to the interior B of the vacuum chamber 110. Step S10 is performed. At this time, the upper plate (10a) and the lower plate (10c) is placed in accordance with the reference point (C) of the lower plate adjustment support (130). The reference point C is where the initial starting point of the laser light coincides. The upper plate 10a is fixed to the reference point C in the vacuum chamber 110, and the lower plate 10c adjusts the position adjusting means of the lower plate adjustment base 130, the lower plate support plate 150, and the fine adjustment device 140. Maintain a constant distance of about 2.0 mm from the top plate. At this time, the reference point of the lower plate 10c is the same as the reference point of the upper plate 10a. The operation of the alignment adjustment mechanism, the lower plate (10c) is placed on the lower plate adjustment support 130, when turning the adjustment screw 141, the fine adjustment device 140 moves with the lower plate support plate 150, and the upper plate (10a) To keep the distance constant.

Thereafter, the preheating heat source 160 is operated to perform the preheating heat source operation step S20 of raising the temperature of the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 to about 300 ° C., and maintaining the temperature at about 10 minutes.

Next, the vacuum pump 240 is operated to perform the vacuum pump operation step S30 of making the interior B of the vacuum chamber 110 into a vacuum state. When the interior B of the vacuum chamber 110 is in a vacuum state, gas particles between the inside of the chamber B and the gap between the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c are drawn out of the vacuum chamber 110. By removing such gas particles, gas particles generated in the frit glass 10b during laser sealing may naturally be kept out of the vacuum chamber 110. That is, when there are a lot of gas particles in the gap between the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c or in the chamber B, the velocity of the gas particles exiting the frit glass 10b during laser sealing will be significantly reduced. .

Thereafter, by adjusting the adjustment screw 141, the lower plate 10c is adhered to the upper plate 10a to perform the upper and lower plate bonding steps S40 to remove the gap. Rotating the adjustment screw 141 is to move the fine adjustment device 140 up and down to freely adjust the gap between the upper plate (10a) and the lower plate (10c). At this time, the upper plate 10a is fixed, and the lower plate 10c is movable only in the up and down direction. The initial positions of the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c are aligned by the visual system unit 400.

As such, when the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c are bonded together in the vacuum chamber 110 rather than outside the chamber, all gases existing between the gap between the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c are removed. That is, the pressure difference between the pressure of the gases in the frit glass 10b and the gap between the upper plate 10a and the lower plate 10c becomes large, and when the laser sealing is performed under such a pressure difference, the gas inside the frit glass 10b It can be easily removed out of frit glass 10b by the pressure difference. These gases are again exhausted out of the vacuum chamber 110 by the vacuum pump 240.

Subsequently, a visual system operation step S50 for operating the visual system unit 400 is performed, and a laser oscillation step S60 for oscillating the laser 310 is performed to determine the starting point C of the portion of the frit glass 10b. After the input, the laser 310 is irradiated to the frit glass 10b to perform "melt-to-curing-to-sealing". In this case, since the entire chamber B is not required to be heated to a high temperature, only the portion to which the frit glass 10b is applied is irradiated with a laser, thereby reducing the sealing time and minimizing thermal stress.

Thereafter, the reference point of the laser light is selected using the visual system unit 400, and the sealing step (S70) of performing the sealing while tracking the frit glass 10b by moving the XY stage 330 using the driving software is performed. The CCTV camera 410 and the illuminator 420 allow the laser 310 to observe the process of the oscillation becoming a seal through the monitor 430. At this time, the sealing time varies slightly depending on the laser source, but the total sealing can be performed within about 5 minutes (40 inches). At this time, the temperature inside the chamber B is maintained at about 300 ° C.

When the frit glass 10b is melted by the irradiation of the laser light, the gas particles in the frit glass 10b rapidly exit to the outside of the frit glass 10b in a high vacuum state and out of the vacuum chamber 110.

After the laser sealing is completed, the top plate 10a and the bottom plate 10c of the flat panel display panel 10 have a whole sealing process by performing a transfer step (S80) which is transferred to a gas injection process, which is the next process, without changing the temperature. Will finish.

As described above, the present invention can shorten the sealing time by locally sealing using a laser having excellent condensing power as a heat source used for sealing, and minimizes thermal stress because the whole inside of the chamber is not heated to a high temperature. It is possible to remove residual gas in frit glass by simplifying the "bonding, sealing and exhausting" process performed at different locations in one vacuum state, and to effectively use time and space according to the process simplification. It is an invention with.

Claims (3)

A vacuum chamber in which the flat panel display panel is placed; A transparent body disposed above the vacuum chamber to transmit laser light; Position adjusting means for adjusting the position of the flat panel display panel; A vacuum pump for making the vacuum chamber into a vacuum state; A laser mounted on the transparent body and irradiated onto the flat panel display panel through the transparent body; Laser transfer means for transferring the laser in the horizontal and vertical directions from above the transparent body to perform sealing; Flat panel display panel sealing apparatus using a laser, characterized in that consisting of a visual system to observe the process of the sealing. According to claim 1, wherein the position adjusting means and the lower plate adjustment support for adjusting the position of the lower plate of the flat panel display panel; Fine adjustment device for adjusting the position of the lower plate adjustment support; Flat panel display panel sealing device using a laser, characterized in that the lower plate supporting plate is installed in the lower portion of the fine adjustment device to move together with the fine adjustment device to maintain a constant distance from the top plate. A charging step of charging the upper and lower plates of the flat panel display panel and the frit glass into the vacuum chamber; A preheating heat source operation step of operating a preheating heat source at a lower end to heat up the inside of the vacuum chamber; A vacuum pump operation step of operating the vacuum pump to make the vacuum chamber into a vacuum state; An upper and lower plate bonding step of bonding the upper plate and the lower plate of the flat panel display panel by operating a fine control device; A visual system operation step of operating a visual system unit to input a sealing starting point; A laser oscillation step of oscillating a laser to scan the frit glass; A sealing step of operating an XY stage to seal the laser light while tracking the frit glass; When the laser sealing is completed, it is composed of a transfer step to be transferred to the next step of gas injection process, A method of sealing a flat panel display panel using a laser, characterized in that simultaneously performing the bonding, sealing, and exhaust process in a vacuum state.