KR100847819B1 - An Apparatus for Dispensing Liquid Crystal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus that can facilitate the connection and detachment of a liquid crystal syringe according to the replenishment and cleaning of a liquid crystal, and comprising a head formed horizontally to maintain a constant distance from a substrate, And a holder for storing liquid crystal and discharging the liquid crystal onto the substrate, and a holder for supporting the liquid crystal syringe and equalizing the height of the liquid crystal syringe from the substrate, wherein the holder is the liquid crystal syringe. A circular ring capable of holding the rod, a bar having a “U” shape for supporting the liquid crystal syringe contained in the ring, a hole provided at a center under the bar to allow the nozzle of the liquid crystal syringe to be inserted, and the liquid crystal syringe It characterized in that it comprises an auxiliary ring for standing and supporting vertically.

Description

An Apparatus for Dispensing Liquid Crystal

1 is a manufacturing flowchart of a liquid crystal display device to which a conventional vacuum injection method is applied.

2 is a perspective view for explaining a liquid crystal dropping method according to the present invention.

3 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

100 liquid crystal dispensing device 103 head

105: liquid crystal syringe 105a: nozzle

107: holder 107a: ring

107b: Bar 107c: Auxiliary Ring

107d: fixing bolt 109: substrate

110: liquid crystal 111: stage

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to liquid crystal dispensing, and the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention relates to a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus having a stage for facilitating connection and detachment of liquid crystal syringes according to replenishment and cleaning of liquid crystals.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms, and in recent years, the LCD (Lipuid Crystal Display Device), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electro Luminescent Display), and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent) 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, liquid crystal displays are the most widely used, replacing the cathode ray tubes for mobile image display devices because of their excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. In addition to the same mobile type, various developments have been made for television monitors.

The LCD is composed of two substrates coupled to face each other and a liquid crystal material injected between them to generate a phase transition according to a change in temperature or a change in concentration.

The liquid crystal is a material having an intermediate property between a liquid and a solid having a liquidity and a long range order of the solid. That is, it means that the solid crystal melts and becomes an intermediate state, not a solid crystal or a liquid, before it becomes a liquid. When the light is irradiated or an electric field or a magnetic field is added, it exhibits birefringence peculiar to optical anisotropic crystals, and within a certain temperature range. Both properties of liquid and crystal are shown.

The LCD is largely manufactured through an array process, a color filter process, a liquid crystal cell process, and a module process.

The array process is a process of fabricating an array of thin film transistors (abbreviated as TFT) on a first substrate (first substrate) by repeating deposition, photolithography, and etching processes. In the color filter process, a black matrix is formed on the second substrate so that light is shielded in portions other than the pixel region, and red, green, and blue colors are formed using dyes or pigments. After manufacturing a color filter, it is a process of forming the indium tin oxide (ITO) film for common electrodes.

In addition, the liquid crystal cell process is bonded to maintain a constant cell gap between the first substrate on which the thin film transistor forming process is completed and the second substrate on which the color filter process is completed, and injects liquid crystal between the first and second substrates to form an LCD cell. The module process is a process of manufacturing a circuit part for signal processing, connecting the panel of the thin film transistor liquid crystal display device and the signal processing circuit part with each other through mounting technology, and then attaching a mechanism to produce a module.

Here, the conventional liquid crystal cell process will be described in more detail as follows.

First, a cassette (not shown) on which a plurality of first substrates are loaded and a cassette (not shown) on which a plurality of second substrates are loaded are respectively loaded to each port by a loader. It is seated.

Here, a plurality of liquid crystal display panels are designed on the first substrate and the second substrate, and a plurality of gate lines arranged in one direction with a predetermined interval on the first substrate corresponding to each panel, and A plurality of thin film transistors and pixel electrodes respectively formed in a plurality of data lines arranged at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to each gate line and in a matrix pixel region defined by the gate lines and the data lines. Are formed. In addition, a black matrix layer, a color filter layer, a common electrode, and the like are formed on the color filter substrate corresponding to each panel to block light in portions except the pixel region.

Next, the first substrate and the second substrate are selected using a robot arm programmed to select one of the plurality of first substrates and the plurality of second substrates, respectively.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1, after the alignment material is applied to each of the panels on the selected first and second substrates, an alignment process 1S is performed so that the liquid crystal molecules have uniform orientation. The alignment step (1S) proceeds in order of washing before application of the alignment film, alignment film printing, alignment film firing, alignment film inspection, and rubbing process.

Next, a gap process proceeds after the orientation process 1S. The gap process cleans the first substrate and the second substrate (2S), and then spreads a spacer (S) for maintaining a cell gap constant on the first substrate (3S), and the second substrate. After applying a seal material having a liquid crystal inlet (4S) to the outer periphery of each panel (4S), the pressure is applied to the first substrate and the second substrate and bonded together (5S).

Then, the bonded first substrate and the second substrate are cut and processed for each unit liquid crystal panel (6S).

Thereafter, liquid crystal is injected into each of the unit liquid crystal panels processed as described above through the liquid crystal inlet, and then the liquid crystal inlet is sealed (7S).

Next, the cut surface of each unit liquid crystal panel is polished, and the liquid crystal display device is manufactured by performing external appearance and electrical defect inspection 8S.

Here, the liquid crystal injection process is as follows.

When injecting the liquid crystal material, the liquid crystal material is first contained in a container, and then the container is placed in a chamber and the pressure in the chamber is kept in a vacuum state to remove moisture from the liquid crystal material or the inner wall of the container and remove bubbles. Defoaming.

Subsequently, the liquid crystal inlet of the empty liquid crystal cell is immersed in or contacted with the liquid crystal material while maintaining the pressure in the chamber in a vacuum state, and then the pressure in the chamber is increased from the vacuum state to the atmospheric pressure state. By the liquid crystal material is injected through the liquid crystal inlet.

However, the conventional method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device by the liquid crystal injection method has the following problems.

First, after cutting into a unit panel, the liquid crystal injection hole is immersed in the liquid crystal liquid by maintaining the vacuum state between the two substrates, so that the liquid crystal injection takes a lot of time, the productivity is reduced.

Second, in the case of manufacturing a large-area liquid crystal display device, when the liquid crystal is injected by the liquid crystal injection method, the liquid crystal is not completely injected into the panel, which causes a defect.

Third, since the process is complicated and time-consuming as described above, several liquid crystal injection equipment is required, which requires a lot of space.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above, and has a holder capable of supporting a liquid crystal syringe dropping liquid crystal directly on a large-area glass substrate including at least one unit liquid crystal panel, thereby connecting and detaching the liquid crystal syringe. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus that can easily facilitate the use of the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus.

The liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention for achieving the above object is a liquid crystal syringe for discharging the liquid crystal on the head and the head which is horizontally formed in order to maintain a constant distance from the substrate, and detachable from the head and storing the liquid crystal And a cradle for supporting the liquid crystal syringe and equalizing the height of the liquid crystal syringe from the substrate.

The liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention can increase productivity by providing a holder for supporting a liquid crystal syringe connected to the head, thereby facilitating connection and detachment of the liquid crystal syringe due to replenishment and cleaning of the liquid crystal.

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional liquid crystal injection method such as the liquid crystal dipping method or the liquid crystal vacuum injection method, a method proposed in recent years is a liquid crystal layer forming method by the liquid crystal dropping method. The liquid crystal dropping method does not inject the liquid crystal by the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the panel, but directly drops and dispenses the liquid crystal onto the substrate, and uniformly spreads the liquid crystal dropped by the bonding pressure of the panel. The liquid crystal layer is formed by distribution. Since the liquid crystal dropping method directly drops the liquid crystal onto the substrate for a short time, not only can the liquid crystal layer formation of a large area liquid crystal display element proceed very quickly, but also only the required amount of liquid crystal is directly dropped onto the substrate. Since the consumption of the liquid crystal can be minimized, the manufacturing cost of the liquid crystal display device can be greatly reduced.

2 is a view showing a basic concept of the liquid crystal dropping method. As shown in the figure, in the liquid crystal dropping method, before the lower substrate 105 and the upper substrate 103 on which the driving element and the color filter are formed, respectively, the liquid crystal 107 is droplet-shaped on the lower substrate 105. Dropping The liquid crystal 107 may be dropped on the substrate 103 on which the color filter is formed. In other words, the substrate to be the liquid crystal dropping method in the liquid crystal dropping method can be either a TFT substrate or a CF substrate. However, when the substrates are bonded, the substrate on which the liquid crystal is dropped must be placed at the bottom.

In this case, a sealing material 109 is applied to the outer region of the upper substrate 103 to apply pressure to the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 so that the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 are bonded together. At the same time, droplets of the liquid crystal 107 are spread out by the pressure to form a liquid crystal layer having a uniform thickness between the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105. In other words, the biggest feature of the liquid crystal dropping method is that the liquid crystal 107 is previously dropped on the lower substrate before the panel 101 is bonded, and then the panel is bonded by the sealing material 109.

The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal dropping method has the following difference from the manufacturing method of the conventional liquid crystal injection method. In the conventional liquid crystal injection method, a glass substrate having a large area in which a plurality of panels are formed is separated into panel units and liquid crystal is injected. In the liquid crystal drop method, a liquid crystal layer is formed by dropping a liquid crystal on a substrate in advance and then a glass substrate is paneled. Processing can be separated in units. This process difference provides many advantages when manufacturing an actual liquid crystal display device. Of course, there is an advantage of the liquid crystal dropping method itself (that is, the advantage of the rapid generation of the liquid crystal layer), but there is also an advantage resulting from forming the liquid crystal layer by the glass substrate unit formed with a plurality of panels. For example, when four liquid crystal panels are formed on a glass substrate, in the process of forming the liquid crystal layer by the liquid crystal injection method, the same conditions (the same liquid crystal container, the same injection) are injected when the liquid crystal is injected into each of the processed four liquid crystal panels at once. The liquid crystal panel having the same cell gap can be formed by a pressure or the like, but in the liquid crystal dropping method, a liquid crystal panel having different cell gaps can be formed by controlling the amount of liquid crystal dropped on the four liquid crystal panels by one drop. Will be.

3 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the liquid crystal dispensing device 50 has a head 85 formed horizontally to maintain a constant distance from the substrate 60, and is connected to the head 85 and stores the liquid crystal 65 and the substrate It comprises a liquid crystal syringe 80 for discharging the liquid crystal 65 on the image.

In addition, it further comprises a clamp 90 for connecting the liquid crystal syringe 80 to the head (85).

Although not shown, the discharge of the liquid crystal can be controlled by a needle which can be vertically moved by an external electrical signal and which can open and close a needle valve (not shown) of the liquid crystal syringe 80, As the stage 70 supporting the substrate 60 moves in the direction of the arrow, the liquid crystal can be dispensed on the entire substrate.

In other words, in the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus 50, the liquid crystal syringe 80 is fixed on each head 85 to drop the liquid crystal 65 on the substrate, and the substrate 60 is moved back, front, left, and right. The liquid crystal 65 can be uniformly dispensed on the entire surface of the substrate 60 by moving in the direction.

Next, after the liquid crystal 65 in the liquid crystal syringe 80 is exhausted, the liquid crystal 65 must be replenished in the liquid crystal syringe 80 again. The replenishment method of the liquid crystal separates the liquid crystal syringe 80 from the head 85 and separates only the container containing the liquid crystal from the liquid crystal syringe 80 to clean it. At this time, since the clamp 90 may be melted during the cleaning, the clamp 90 is detached from the liquid crystal container. After the cleaning is completed, the liquid crystal is filled with the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal syringe 80, the clamp 90 is mounted on the liquid crystal syringe 80, and then the liquid crystal syringe 80 is fastened to the head 85 by The liquid crystal dropping process is performed.

4 is a perspective view for explaining a liquid crystal dispensing apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus 100 of the present invention is connected to each of the head 103 and the head 103 formed horizontally to maintain a constant distance from the substrate and to store the liquid crystal 110 The liquid crystal syringe 105 for discharging the liquid crystal 110 onto the substrate 109 and the liquid crystal syringe 105 are supported and the heights of the plurality of liquid crystal syringes 105 from the substrate 109 are the same. It is configured to include a cradle 107 to be.

Here, the holder 107 is fixed to the head 103, the "U" shape to support the liquid crystal syringe 105 in a circular ring 107a to insert the upper end of the liquid crystal syringe 105 Bars 107b are connected to each other, and a hole is provided at the bottom center of the bar 107b so that the nozzle 105a of the liquid crystal syringe 105 is inserted into the hole.

In addition, when the liquid crystal syringe 105 is mounted on the holder 107, the liquid crystal syringe 105 does not directly contact the holder 107 on the upper side of the hole, and the liquid crystal syringe 105 is removed from the holder 107. Teflon component auxiliary ring (107c) is provided to facilitate the removal of. That is, the auxiliary ring 107c of the Teflon component is interposed between the liquid crystal syringe 105 and the hole of the bar 107b.

In addition, the holder 107 may be provided with a fastening bolt (107d) to be fixed or detached to prevent shaking of the liquid crystal syringe 105.

That is, when the liquid crystal syringe 105 is fastened to the head 103, the liquid crystal syringe 105 is vertically positioned under the head 103, and the circular ring 107a is disposed to detach and couple safely. The both ends of the bar (107b) of the "U" shape, and the nozzle 105a of the liquid crystal syringe 105 protrudes through the hole in the lower center of the bar (107b), the hole and the By inserting the auxiliary ring 107c between the liquid crystal syringe 105, the holder 107 can safely support the liquid crystal syringe 105.

Accordingly, the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention includes a plurality of holders 107 formed to flatten the liquid crystal syringe 105 so that the plurality of liquid crystal syringes 105 may have the same height in the head 103. In addition to having it, it is possible to facilitate the separation and fastening of the liquid crystal syringe 105 for dispensing the liquid crystal.

The above-described first embodiment and the second embodiment will be described as follows.

In the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus described in the first embodiment of FIG. 3, when the liquid crystal syringe 80 is filled with liquid crystal and then fastened to the head 85, the liquid crystal syringe 80 is attached to the head 85. Since it is necessary to connect by hand manually, the liquid crystal syringe 80 filled with the liquid crystal 65 can be tilted and leaked to the outside due to the immaturity of the operator, and when the clamp is incorrectly fastened, the liquid crystal syringe 80 ) May be fastened to be inclined without being vertically connected to the head 85. In addition, when the liquid crystal syringe 80 is fastened to the head 85, the height of the clamp may be adjusted incorrectly, which is not the same height for each of the liquid crystal syringes 80 with respect to the substrate 60. May cause a defect in a liquid crystal dispensing process, such as a liquid crystal spalling phenomenon.

In contrast, in the second embodiment of FIG. 4, the holder 107 may stably support the liquid crystal syringe 105, and thus may be more stable than the first embodiment. In other words, since the liquid crystal syringe 105 can be easily connected and detached by replenishing and cleaning the liquid crystal 110, productivity can be increased.

The present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, and it is common in the art that various substitutions, modifications, and changes can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be evident to those who have knowledge of.

The liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention described above has the following effects.

First, since the liquid crystal is directly dropped onto the substrate for a short time by using the liquid crystal dropping method, the formation of the liquid crystal layer of the large area liquid crystal display device can be performed very quickly, and only the required amount of liquid crystal is directly deposited on the substrate. Since the dropping can minimize the consumption of the liquid crystal has the advantage that can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost of the liquid crystal display device.

Second, the liquid crystal dispensing apparatus of the present invention may have a cradle fixed to the head to support the liquid crystal syringe, thereby facilitating connection and detachment of the liquid crystal syringe due to replenishment and cleaning of liquid crystal, thereby increasing productivity.

Claims (4)

A head formed horizontally to maintain a constant distance from the substrate, A liquid crystal syringe connected to each of the heads for storing liquid crystal and for discharging the liquid crystal onto the substrate; A cradle for supporting the liquid crystal syringe and equalizing the height of the liquid crystal syringe from the substrate; The cradle is a circular ring that can hold the liquid crystal syringe, A bar having a “U” shape for supporting the liquid crystal syringe contained in the ring; A hole provided in the center under the bar to insert the nozzle of the liquid crystal syringe; And an auxiliary ring for vertically supporting and supporting the liquid crystal syringe. The method of claim 1, And the holder is fixed to the head. delete The method of claim 1, The cradle further comprises a fastening bolt for fixing or detaching the liquid crystal syringe to prevent shaking the liquid crystal syringe further.

Images