KR100698037B1 - Bonding device for liquid crystal display and method for manufacturing LCD using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a vacuum bonding device for a liquid crystal display device of the liquid crystal dropping method and a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device using the same, comprising: a vacuum chamber in which a substrate bonding process is performed; An upper stage and a lower stage which are provided to face each other in the vacuum chamber and adsorb each of the substrates carried by the transfer device to perform bonding between the substrates; And temperature compensation means for compensating the temperature inside the vacuum chamber.

Liquid crystal drop type liquid crystal display device, vacuum bonding, temperature compensation

Description

Bonding device for liquid crystal display and method for manufacturing LCD using the same}

1A and 1B are operation state diagrams schematically showing a bonding apparatus of a conventional liquid crystal display device.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of principal parts schematically showing an operation state of a substrate support means constituting a conventional bonding apparatus;

3 to 5 is an operating state diagram schematically showing a vacuum bonding apparatus to which the temperature compensation means according to the first embodiment of the present invention is applied;

6 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a state in which the temperature compensation means according to the second embodiment of the present invention is mounted;

7 is a configuration diagram schematically showing a state in which the temperature compensation means according to the third embodiment of the present invention is mounted;

8 is a configuration diagram conceptually showing a configuration state of the temperature compensation means according to the third embodiment of the present invention;

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

110. Vacuum chambers 310,330,360. heater

320. Open transfer space 340. Heat transfer pipe                 

350. Heating Air Delivery Pipeline

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device to which a liquid crystal dropping method including a temperature compensation means is applied, and a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal display device using the same.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms, and in recent years, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electro luminescent displays (ELDs), and vacuum fluorescent (VFD) Various flat panel display devices such as displays have been studied, and some of them are already used as display devices in various devices.

Among them, LCD is the most widely used as the substitute for CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) for mobile image display because of its excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. In addition to the use of the present invention, a variety of applications such as a television, a computer monitor, and the like for receiving and displaying broadcast signals have been developed.

As described above, although various technical advances have been made in order for a liquid crystal display device to serve as a screen display device in various fields, the task of improving the image quality as a screen display device is often arranged with the above characteristics and advantages. . Therefore, in order to use a liquid crystal display device in various parts as a general screen display device, the key to development is how much high definition images such as high definition, high brightness, and large area can be realized while maintaining the characteristics of light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. It can be said.

As a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device as described above, a conventional liquid crystal injection method in which a liquid crystal is injected through an injection hole of a sealant after the sealing agent is pattern-drawn to bond a substrate in a vacuum so as to form an injection hole on one substrate; The substrates prepared in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 11-089612 and 11-172903 are prepared by dropping a substrate into which a liquid crystal is dropped and another substrate, and can be broadly classified into a liquid crystal dropping method in which the upper and lower substrates are brought together and bonded in a vacuum. .

At this time, the liquid crystal integration method of each of the above-described method is shorter than the liquid crystal injection method (for example, the formation of the liquid crystal injection hole, the injection of the liquid crystal, the sealing of the liquid crystal injection hole, etc.) by performing the above The advantage is that no additional equipment is required for the additional process.

Recently, a variety of equipment for using the liquid crystal dropping method has been studied.

1A and 1B show a substrate assembly apparatus to which a conventional liquid crystal dropping method as described above is applied.

That is, the conventional substrate assembly apparatus includes a frame 10, stage portions 21 and 22, an sealant discharge portion (not shown), a liquid crystal dropping portion 30, and a chamber portion 31. 32, the chamber moving means 40, the stop means, and the stage moving means 50 are large.

At this time, the stage portion is divided into an upper stage 21 and a lower stage 22, respectively, the sealant discharge portion and the liquid crystal dropping portion 30 is mounted on the side of the position where the bonding process of the frame is made, the chamber The unit is divided into an upper chamber unit 31 and a lower chamber unit 32 so as to be merged with each other.

In addition, the chamber moving means 40 is composed of a drive motor for driving the lower chamber unit 32 to selectively move to a position where the bonding process is performed or a position where discharge of the sealant and dropping of the liquid crystal are performed. The stage moving means 50 is constituted by a drive motor for driving the upper stage 21 to be selectively moved upward or downward.

The stop means serves to temporarily support the substrate during the vacuum inside the chamber at both diagonal positions of the substrate 52 attached to the upper stage 21.

At this time, the retaining means is composed of a rotating shaft 61, a rotary actuator 63 and the lifting actuator 64, and the support plate 62 supporting the edge of the substrate.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device using the conventional substrate assembly apparatus will be described in more detail based on the process sequence.

First, any one substrate (hereinafter referred to as "second substrate") 52 is attached and fixed to the upper stage 21 in a loaded state, and another substrate (hereinafter referred to as "substrate" is attached to the lower stage 22. 1 substrate ”51 is attached and fixed in a loaded state.

In this state, the lower chamber unit 32 having the lower stage 22 is moved onto the process position for applying the sealant and dropping the liquid crystal as shown in FIG. 1A by the chamber moving means 40.

Then, when the sealant is applied to the first substrate by the sealant discharging unit and the liquid crystal dropping unit 30 and the liquid crystal dropping is completed in the above state, the inter-substrate as shown in FIG. It is moved onto the process position for bonding.

Afterwards, the chamber units 31 and 32 are joined by the chamber moving means 40 to seal the space in which the stages 21 and 22 are located, and the lifting and lowering actuator 64 constituting the stop means and rotation. As the actuator 63 is driven, the support plate 62 is positioned at two corners of the second substrate 52 attached and fixed to the upper stage 31.

In this state, the suction force which fixed the second substrate 52 is released, and the second substrate is dropped onto each support plate 62 of the stop means as shown in FIG. 2.

In addition, the inside of the chamber part is completely vacuumed using the vacuum means 70, and when the inside of the chamber part is completely vacuumed, electrostatic force is applied to the upper stage 31 so as to form the second substrate 52. ) And the rotary actuator (63) and the elevating actuator (64) of the stop means to prevent the support plate (62) and the rotary shaft (61) from joining the two substrates.

In addition, the upper substrate 21 moves downward by the stage moving means 50 in the vacuum state, and the second substrate 52 attached to the upper stage 21 is fixed to the lower stage 22. The adhesion to the first substrate 51 completes the manufacture of the liquid crystal display element.

However, the conventional method of manufacturing the liquid crystal display device of the liquid crystal dropping method has the following problems.

That is, when the inside of the chamber portion is vacuumed to bond the two substrates in the chamber portion, the temperature inside the chamber portion drops sharply, and the moisture contained in the air in the chamber portion condenses and drops or drops on the liquid dropping portion. Since the ash falls on the coated part, it adversely affects the liquid crystal properties and reduces the adhesive strength of the seal material, thereby causing a defect. In addition, moisture in the substrate or liquid crystal may condense.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and the liquid crystal dropping type vacuum bonding device for liquid crystal display device that can prevent the condensation of moisture by compensating the temperature inside the chamber portion constituting the bonding device to a predetermined temperature or more and the same It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

A vacuum bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object includes a vacuum chamber in which a substrate bonding process is performed; An upper stage and a lower stage which are provided to face each other in the vacuum chamber and adsorb each of the substrates carried by the transfer device to perform bonding between the substrates; And a temperature compensating means for compensating the temperature inside the vacuum chamber.

Hereinafter, with reference to Figures 3 to 8 attached to each preferred embodiment of the present invention in more detail as follows.                     

First, FIG. 3 schematically shows a configuration according to the first embodiment of the vacuum bonding apparatus for liquid crystal display device of the present invention.

As can be seen through this, the vacuum bonding apparatus of the present invention includes a vacuum chamber 110, an upper stage 121 and a lower stage 122, a stage mover, a vacuum apparatus 200, and a temperature compensation means. Configured is presented.

The vacuum chamber 110 is a bonding process between a substrate on which liquid crystal is loaded (hereinafter referred to as a “first substrate”) 510 and a substrate on which liquid crystal is not loaded (hereinafter referred to as a “second substrate”) 520. This is performed, and a substrate outlet 111 for carrying in / out of each of the substrates 510 and 520 is formed at the front side of the circumferential surface while forming a single body as a whole.

At this time, the vacuum chamber 110 as described above is connected to an air discharge pipe 112 through which the air suction force transmitted from the vacuum apparatus 200 is received on one side of the circumferential surface thereof and the air existing in the inner space is discharged. Air or other gas is introduced from the outside so that the vent tube 113 is connected to maintain the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 in the standby state so that selective vacuum state formation or release of the internal space is possible. It is composed.

In addition, the air discharge pipe 112 and the vent pipe 113 in the above is provided with on-off valves 112a and 113a which are electronically controlled for the selective opening and closing of the pipe.

In addition, the upper stage 121 and the lower stage 122 constituting the bonding apparatus of the present invention are installed in the upper space and the lower space in the vacuum chamber 110, respectively.

In addition, each of the stages 121 and 122 may vacuum or electrostatically suck each substrate 510 or 520 carried into the vacuum chamber 110 by the transfer device 400 to be fixed at a corresponding working position in the vacuum chamber 110. In addition to being configured to be able to move up and down to perform the bonding between each fixed substrate (510, 520).

In addition, the stage shifting device constituting the bonding apparatus of the present invention has a moving shaft 131 coupled to the upper stage 121 to move the upper stage 121 upward or downward, and coupled to the lower stage 122. And a driving shaft 132 and 134 for rotating or rotating the lower stage, and for driving or rotating the respective shafts coupled to the stages 121 and 122.

And, the vacuum device 200 constituting the bonding apparatus of the present invention serves to transfer the suction force so that the interior of the vacuum chamber 110 can achieve a vacuum state selectively, and is driven to generate a normal air suction force It consists of a suction pump.

At this time, the vacuum device 200 is connected to the air discharge pipe 112 formed in the vacuum chamber 110 is configured to transmit a vacuum suction force through the air discharge pipe (112).

Then, the temperature compensation means constituting the vacuum bonding apparatus of the present invention is configured to compensate for the temperature inside the vacuum chamber.

In this case, the temperature compensating means includes a heater 310 that heats the inner wall surface or the outer wall surface of the vacuum chamber 110.

In particular, the heater 310 of the temperature compensating means is configured to be in contact with the inner wall surface or the outer wall surface of the vacuum chamber 110 so that the hot heat caused by the heat generation is conducted to the interior space of the vacuum chamber 110. can do.

However, when the heater 310 forming the temperature compensating means is configured to be exposed to the outside as described above, contact with each driving part may occur.

Accordingly, in the present invention, the heater 310 is provided inside the wall of the vacuum chamber 110 to compensate for the temperature inside the vacuum chamber 110 as an embodiment.

That is, a predetermined heat transfer space 320 is formed in the wall surface of the vacuum chamber 110, and the heater 310 is mounted in the formed heat transfer space 320. At this time, the heater 310 is preferably configured as a conventional coil heater, but is not necessarily limited thereto.

In addition, the heat transfer space 320 formed inside the vacuum chamber 110 is preferably formed on each wall surface of the vacuum chamber 110, the heater 310 along the entire portion of each wall surface It is more preferable to form so that the heat by heat generation can be evenly conducted.

In other words, a plurality of heat transfer spaces 320 are formed long along the inside of each wall of the vacuum chamber 110, or one heat transfer space 320 is alternately formed along the corresponding wall surface in a staggered state. .                     

Of course, the heater 310 constituting the temperature compensation means of the present invention may also be mounted along the inside of each heat transfer space 320 formed in the vacuum chamber 110, the heat transfer space 320 of a predetermined portion ) Can only be inserted.

If the heater 310 is inserted only into the heat transfer space 320 of the predetermined portion, it should be considered that heat of sufficient temperature may be generated only at the insertion portion of the heater 310.

In addition, the heater 310 constituting the temperature compensation means of the present invention as described above should be configured such that the heat is generated by selective control as necessary.

That is, it is desirable that the heat generated only when a problem occurs according to the low temperature, so that the problem caused by unnecessary heat can be prevented in advance.

In addition, the temperature in the vacuum chamber 110 compensated by the temperature compensation means is preferably not lowered to the lowest 0 ℃ or less, so as to prevent the condensation of moisture contained in the air or liquid crystal.

Hereinafter, the vacuum bonding process between the substrates using the temperature compensation means of the present invention having the configuration as described above will be described.

First, the conveying apparatus 400 receives the first substrate 510 in which the liquid crystal is dropped and the second substrate 520 in which the liquid crystal is not loaded from the previous process, and sequentially carries out the respective loading into the vacuum chamber 110. do.

That is, the second substrate 520 is loaded into the upper stage 121 inside the vacuum chamber 110 and then the first substrate 510 is loaded into the lower stage 122 inside the vacuum chamber 110. Import as much as possible.

At this time, each of the stages 121 and 122 performs the adsorption fixation of the substrates 510 and 520 which are sequentially loaded using the vacuum adsorption force or the electrostatic adsorption force.

The reason for bringing in the second substrate 520 before the first substrate 510 is that the second substrate 520 is brought in when the second substrate 520 is brought in while the first substrate 510 is brought in first. This is to prevent the problem in advance because dust, which may be generated during the carrying-in process, may fall into a region where the liquid crystal of the first substrate 510 previously loaded is dropped.

When the loading of the substrates 510 and 520 through the above process is completed, the substrate outlet 111 of the vacuum chamber 110 in which the respective substrates are introduced is closed so that the interior of the vacuum chamber 110 is sealed. do.

Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 4, the vacuum apparatus 200 generates air suction force while driving.

At this time, the on-off valve 112a provided in the air discharge pipe 112 of the vacuum chamber 110 maintains the air discharge pipe 112 in an open state while performing an operation by control of the vacuum device 200. The air suction force generated from the air is transferred into the vacuum chamber 110 through the air discharge pipe 112 so that the vacuum chamber 110 is gradually vacuumed.

As described above, when the adhering chamber 110 is vacuumed, the temperature in the adhering chamber 110 is lowered because it becomes a vacuum state in the standby state.

However, in the process described above, the heater 310 constituting the temperature compensation means according to the present invention generates heat by power supply to open the respective heat transfer spaces 320 formed inside the wall of the vacuum chamber 110. Heating.

Accordingly, high temperature heat generated by the heating of the respective heat transfer spaces 320 is conducted along the inner wall surface of the vacuum chamber 110 so that the moisture contained in the air or the liquid crystal condenses inside the vacuum chamber 110. The temperature will be compensated by the temperature.

Therefore, various problems due to the condensation of moisture as in the prior art do not occur.

At this time, the temperature compensation time point by the temperature compensation means may be performed at the same time as the vacuum is performed as described above, but considering that a sudden temperature drop occurs due to the change to the vacuum state, the temperature compensation means is the same time as the vacuum If performed at, the difference between the heating time due to the temperature compensating means and the temperature dropping time due to vacuum is greatly generated, and thus the temperature compensation may not be performed smoothly.

Accordingly, it is more preferable to perform the temperature compensation time point by the temperature compensating means before the start of the vacuum in the vacuum chamber to allow the inside of the vacuum chamber to reach a predetermined temperature and then vacuum.

However, the present invention is not necessarily limited thereto, and the temperature compensating means may be operated so that the temperature is compensated after the loading of each substrate is completed or the process of sealing the inside of the vacuum chamber is completed.                     

When the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 is in a vacuum state by driving the vacuum apparatus 200 for a predetermined time, driving of the vacuum apparatus 200 is stopped and at the same time, the opening / closing valve 112a of the air discharge pipe 112 is closed. Operate to maintain the air discharge pipe 112 in a closed state.

Subsequently, as illustrated in FIG. 5, the upper stage 121 is moved downward by the driving of the stage moving device to approach the lower stage 122 and the substrates 510 and 520 fixed to the respective stages by the continuous downward movement. Cementation of the liver occurs.

On the other hand, the temperature compensation means according to the present invention can not be configured only as described above.

For example, as shown in the second embodiment of FIG. 6, a separate heater 330 is provided outside the vacuum chamber 110, and the high temperature heat heated by the heat generated by the heater 330 is applied to the vacuum chamber 110. The heat transfer pipe 340 that can be transferred to the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 may be installed along the inside of the vacuum chamber 110.

In this case, the heat transfer pipe 340 is preferably formed of a material having high thermal conductivity, and is not necessarily formed to have a shape of an empty pipe inside, and may be formed as a circular bar as shown. You may form it as a plate.

That is, when the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 is vacuumed, the heater 330 generates heat, and the high temperature heat generated by the heat is conducted to the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 through the heat transfer pipe 340 so that the vacuum chamber It is to compensate the temperature of the interior (110).                     

Of course, in this case, it is obvious that the coupling portion between the heat transfer pipe 340 and the vacuum chamber 110 should be sealed.

In addition, as shown in the third embodiment of FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, a plurality of heating air transfer pipes 350 are formed on the wall of the vacuum chamber 110, and a separate heater is provided outside the vacuum chamber 110. 360, and the space in which the heater 360 is formed and the heating air delivery pipe 350 of the vacuum chamber 110 may be configured to communicate with each other.

Of course, although not shown, the air delivery pipe may be formed inside the wall of the vacuum chamber 110.

At this time, the circulation fan 370 is provided for forced circulation of the air between the space in which the heater 360 is formed and the heating air delivery conduit 350 of the vacuum chamber 110.

That is, when the inside of the vacuum chamber 110 is vacuumed by the configuration according to the third embodiment of the present invention, the heater 360 generates heat and performs heating of air introduced into the heating air delivery pipe. The high temperature air flows along the heated air delivery conduit 350 and is conducted into the vacuum chamber 110 to compensate for the temperature inside the vacuum chamber 110.

On the other hand, the present invention is not limited to the structure for the temperature compensation according to the change to the vacuum state only made of the above configuration.

Although not shown, it is understood that the temperature compensation means according to each embodiment of the present invention described above may be applied to the inside of the upper stage.

By the temperature compensation means of the vacuum bonding device for a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention as described above it is possible to compensate the temperature inside the vacuum chamber during the process for vacuum bonding, the vacuum chamber during the vacuum inside the vacuum chamber The internal temperature is lowered, thereby preventing the defects in the liquid crystal and the material in advance.

Claims (15)

A vacuum chamber in which the bonding process of the substrate is performed; An upper stage and a lower stage which are provided to face each other in the vacuum chamber and adsorb each of the substrates carried by the transfer device to perform bonding between the substrates; And a temperature compensating means provided at a side of the inside of the vacuum chamber to compensate for the temperature of the inside of the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 1, The temperature compensation means And an upper side or a lower side in the vacuum chamber so as to be in contact with the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 1, Temperature compensation means A vacuum bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, comprising a heater for heating an inner wall surface or an outer wall surface of a vacuum chamber. The method of claim 3, wherein The heater of the temperature compensation means And a vacuum bonding device for a liquid crystal display device, which is provided inside a wall surface of the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 3, wherein The heater of the temperature compensation means And a vacuum bonding device for a liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal display device being configured to be in contact with an outer wall surface of the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 3, wherein The heater of the temperature compensation means A vacuum bonding device for a liquid crystal display device, comprising a coil heater. The method of claim 1, The temperature compensation means A separate heater is provided outside the vacuum chamber, It is provided with a heat transfer pipe which transfers the high temperature heat heated by the heat_generation | fever of this heater, The heat transfer pipe is a vacuum bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that configured by installing along the inside of the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 1, The temperature compensation means To form a plurality of heating air delivery conduits on the wall of the vacuum chamber, The outside of the vacuum chamber is provided with a separate heater, And a space between the space where the heater is formed and the heating air transfer pipe of the vacuum chamber communicate with each other. The method of claim 1, And an upper stage temperature compensating means provided in the upper stage to compensate for the temperature of the upper stage. Loading a first substrate on which liquid crystal is dropped and a second substrate on which liquid crystal is not loaded into a vacuum chamber having an upper stage and a lower stage; Evacuating the interior of the vacuum chamber; Heating a plurality of heat transfer spaces configured inside the wall of the vacuum chamber; And attaching a first substrate and a second substrate fixed to the upper stage and the lower stage. The method of claim 10, And manufacturing the second substrate into the vacuum chamber before the first substrate. The method of claim 10, The heating of the heat transfer space is performed by supplying power to the heater constituting the temperature compensation means to generate heat. The method according to claim 10 or 12, The temperature compensation time point by the temperature compensation means is performed before the start of the vacuum in the vacuum chamber to reach the predetermined temperature inside the vacuum chamber, and then vacuum. The method according to claim 10 or 12, Operating the temperature compensation means to compensate for the temperature while loading the first substrate and the second substrate on the upper and lower stages of the vacuum chamber or sealing the interior of the vacuum chamber. The method of claim 10, The first substrate and the second substrate are moved downward by moving the upper stage loaded with the second substrate downward, while continuing to move downward while adhering to the lower stage loaded with the first substrate. Way.

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