KR101186517B1 - Up-down apparatus and method of fabricating liquid crystal display device using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a glass lift device for a liquid crystal display device and a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device using the same. To this end, the present invention is a lifting device that lifts while supporting the glass during the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, which is installed at a predetermined interval to move the support portion for supporting a large glass with a relatively large area and a straight line in the vertical direction It is characterized in that it comprises a dual type driving unit of the cylinder type and the support unit for synchronizing (synchronizing) so that the operation of each of the driving unit is made to be the same without error. The glass lifting device of the present invention configured as described above and the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device using the same are able to stably transfer a large area and heavy weight glass stably by precisely introducing a dual cylinder structure and synchronizing the operation of the driving unit. It can be transported.

LCD, glass, elevator, driver

Description

Glass lifting device and manufacturing method of liquid crystal display using the same {UP-DOWN APPARATUS AND METHOD OF FABRICATING LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY DEVICE USING THE SAME}

1 is an exemplary view schematically showing an installation state of the glass elevating device of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an initial state of the glass lifting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a perspective view schematically showing a transport state of the glass lifting apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 is a plan view schematically showing the configuration of a glass lifting apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the glass is seated on the buffer device in the glass lifting device of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the glass is conveyed by operating the buffer device seated on the glass in the lifting device of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

8 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

10a: 1st support part 10b: 2nd support part

11,32: Bearing 12: Shaft

13: seating pin 14: support plate

20a: first drive unit 20b: second drive unit

21: fixing bracket 22: driving means

23: operating rod 30: synchronization unit

31: connecting shaft 33: power switching carrier

34: power vertical carrier

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a glass elevating device in a semiconductor manufacturing process, in particular, a liquid crystal display (LCD) manufacturing process. More specifically, a glass elevating device for elevating a glass drawn into a chamber up and down, and the like. The manufacturing method of the used liquid crystal display device is related.

Recently, with increasing interest in information display and increasing demand for using a portable information carrier, a lightweight flat panel display (FPD), which replaces a conventional display device, a cathode ray tube (CRT), is used. The research and commercialization of Korea is focused on. In particular, the liquid crystal display of the flat panel display device is an image representing the image using the optical anisotropy of the liquid crystal, and has been actively applied to notebooks and desktop monitors because of its excellent resolution, color display and image quality.

In general, a liquid crystal display device displays a desired image by individually supplying data signals according to image information to liquid crystal cells arranged in a matrix form to adjust a light transmittance of the liquid crystal cells. to be.

The manufacturing process of the LCD may be classified into a driving element array process of forming a driving element on a lower array substrate, a color filter process of forming a color filter on an upper color filter substrate, and a cell process. In this case, the array process, the color filter process, and the cell process are made of a plurality of unit processes, and the majority of the unit processes are performed in a closed space called a chamber.

An apparatus for pulling in or pulling out the glass for the array substrate or the color filter substrate into such a chamber includes a lifting device (lift) for lifting while supporting the robot arm and the drawn glass.

Here, the general hoisting apparatus uses a sub-motor in the driving unit to provide power for transferring the supporting part supporting the glass into the chamber.

However, the structure and the driving method of the drive unit to which the sub-motor is applied have the advantage that the lifting device performs the simple operation accurately, that is, the control of the moving speed and the control of the feeding distance. When the sealed state of the chamber is changed by long-term use, precise control is required, such as precisely adjusting the clearance, and thus, the installation structure and operation of the device are cumbersome and difficult.

In particular, in the field of liquid crystal display devices, which have recently been enlarged in size, most of the devices are developed to transfer large-sized glass, but transferring large-sized glass is very careful and difficult.

In addition, the size of the drive device also appears as a problem in order to apply a drive device having an output, that is, a power required for transportation in consideration of the weight of a large glass, but there is a big problem in the installation cost and maintenance according to use. will be. In addition, there is a problem in that the space inside the chamber into which the glass is drawn is narrow so that the robot can not easily pull in the glass to discharge the glass separately.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problem, and a glass lifting device for a liquid crystal display device and a liquid crystal display device using the same to allow a relatively large area and a heavy workpiece to be transported stably and without error through a small driving device. The purpose is to provide a method for producing.

Further objects and features of the present invention will be described in the configuration and claims of the invention which will be described later.

In order to achieve the above object, the glass lifting apparatus of the present invention is divided into two sides at a predetermined interval to support the glass and the first support and the second support; A first driving unit and a second driving unit installed at one end of each of the first and second supporting units to operate individually and moving the first and second supporting units to a predetermined position; And a synchronizer connected to the first and second supports so as to keep the first and second supports horizontal.

In addition, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention comprises the steps of providing a mother substrate having a plurality of array substrate or a plurality of color filter substrate; Performing an array process on the array substrates and performing a color filter process on the color filter substrates; In the unit process of the array process and the color filter process, performing a photo process such as photosensitive film coating, exposure and development process to form a predetermined pattern on the mother substrate; Depressurizing and drying the mother substrate to which the photosensitive film is applied in a predetermined chamber; It is installed in the chamber, and is divided into two sides at predetermined intervals to support the glass, the first support and the second support and one end of each of the first and second support are installed separately to operate the first, The glass elevating device includes a first driving part for moving the second support part to a predetermined position, a second driving part, and a synchronization part connected to the first and second support parts to keep the first and second support parts horizontal. Raising and lowering the mother substrate; Bonding a pair of mother substrates of which the array process and the color filter process are completed; And cutting the bonded mother substrate into a plurality of unit liquid crystal display panels.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of a glass lifting device and a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device using the same according to the present invention.

1 to 4, the lifting device for lifting while supporting the glass during the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, as shown in Figure 1, is located at the discharge end of the entire process, the predetermined weight so as to minimize the total weight It is provided at one end of each of the first and second supporting portions 10a and 10b and the first and second supporting portions 10a and 10b that are provided at intervals to support the glass G. It is operated individually and consists of a 1st drive part 20a and a 2nd drive part 20b which move the said 1st, 2nd support part 10a, 10b to a predetermined position. In addition, the glass lifting apparatus of the present invention includes a synchronizer 30 which is connected to the first and second support parts 10a and 10b to maintain horizontality of the first and second support parts 10a and 10b.

At this time, the first support portion 10a is provided at the shaft 12 and one end of the shaft 12 which are respectively arranged and moved in a plurality of bearings 11 installed in the frame 1 of the main body, and the glass G. And a pin 13 for supporting and seating the support plate 14 and a support plate 14 for horizontally fixing and supporting the other end of each shaft 12.

In addition, the second support portion 10b includes the same components as the first support portion 10a described above, and is configured to be identically or symmetrically positioned at predetermined intervals from the first support portion 10a.

At this time, the shaft 12 included in the above-described first support part 10a and the second support part 10b and the plurality of pins 13 provided at the end of the shaft 12 are all one side of the glass G. In this case, the large glass G is uniformly distributed in the same rectangular shape as the glass for the liquid crystal display device when the large glass G is a rectangular liquid crystal display device glass.

As described above, the glass lifting device of the present invention is composed of one support part for supporting the large glass G, and is not driven by one driving part, but the two large glass parts through two support parts 10a and 10b divided into a minimum area. At the same time, the two support parts 10a and 10b are driven by the two driving parts 20a and 20b while supporting the G evenly, so that the driving parts 20a and 20b are excessively driven by the load of the glass G. The transfer is made stable by preventing the load.

At this time, the above-described first driving unit 20a is fixed to the fixing bracket 21 and the fixing bracket 21 fixed to the frame 1 of the main body to provide power required for the movement of the first supporting unit 10a. And a driving rod 23 coupled to the driving means 22 and the driving means 22 to transfer the power provided by the driving means 22 to the first support portion 10a.

Here, the drive means 22 includes a small cylinder and the operating rod 23 includes a piston.

In addition, the above-described second driver 20b includes the same components as the first driver 20a, but is configured to be symmetrically positioned at a predetermined distance from the first driver 20a.

In the glass lifting device of the present invention configured as described above, assuming that one driving means 22 which transmits power to transfer the large glass G, which is relatively heavy, exerts a force of 10, for example. By distributing the load by applying two driving means 22 exerting one-half of a force, the large glass G can be transported stably while using the small driving means 22. By making it possible to minimize the installation area or volume of the device, there is an advantage that it is easy to maintain and repair according to the installation.

In addition, the synchronization unit 30 of the present invention is connected to the shaft 31 and the first axis of the first and second driving units (20a, 20b) that are horizontally arranged on the bearing 32 provided in the fixing bracket (21) , Within the range of the supporting plate 14 of each of the second supporting portions 10a and 10b, each of the power transfer carrier 33 and the first and second supporting portions 10a and 10b fixedly installed on the connecting shaft 31. It is vertically symmetrically installed on the support plate 14, and includes a power vertical transmission body 34 for transmitting power according to the operation of the drive means 22 to the power conversion transmission body (33).

In this case, the connecting shaft 31 is constructed only in the bearing 32 provided in the above-described fixing bracket 21.

At this time, the power conversion transfer member 33 is installed in correspondence with the power vertical transfer body 34, and includes a spur gear for converting the linear power transmitted from the power vertical transfer body 34 to the rotational power, the power vertical transfer body 34 includes a rack gear corresponding to the spur gear of the power transfer transmission body 33.

The glass elevating device of the present invention configured as described above has a power switching transmitter 33 and the first and second supporting parts 10a, the connecting shaft 31 included in the synchronizing part 30 installed on the connecting shaft 31. 10b) the first and second driving units 20a and 20b which are horizontally installed through the power vertical transfer body 34 provided on each of the supporting plates 14 to move the first and second supporting units 10a and 10b, respectively. For example, even if a minute error occurs, the horizontal movement is performed.

That is, the driving means 22 applied to the present invention includes a cylinder as an embodiment, and the cylinder is characterized in that the output is small and large.

Such cylinders are suitable for generating power to move large glass that is large in size and heavy in weight.

In addition, the glass elevating device of the present invention by connecting the synchronizer 30 to the first and second support portions (10a, 10b) horizontally and moving the elevating device while controlling to maintain the horizontal always, a fine error in the operation of the cylinder Is generated to prevent the problem of not supporting the large glass horizontally accurately.

The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device using the glass elevating device configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

7 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 8 is a flowchart sequentially illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

In this case, the first embodiment shows a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel when the liquid crystal layer is formed by the liquid crystal injection method, and the second embodiment shows a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel when the liquid crystal layer is formed by the liquid crystal drop method. The method is shown.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device may be largely divided into a driving element array process of forming a driving element on a lower array substrate, a color filter process of forming a color filter on an upper color filter substrate, and a cell process.

First, a plurality of gate lines and data lines arranged on a lower substrate to define a pixel region are formed by an array process, and thin film transistors, which are driving elements connected to the gate lines and data lines, are formed in each of the pixel regions (S101). ). In addition, the pixel electrode is connected to the thin film transistor through the array process to drive the liquid crystal layer as a signal is applied through the thin film transistor.

In addition, the upper substrate is formed with a color filter layer and a common electrode composed of sub-color filters of red, green, and blue that implement color by a color filter process (S103).

In this case, the array process and the color filter process include a plurality of unit processes, and a number of photolithography processes are performed to manufacture the array substrate including the thin film transistor and the color filter substrate including the color filter layer. in need.

The photolithography process is a series of processes for transferring a pattern drawn on a mask onto a substrate on which a thin film is deposited to form a desired pattern. The photolithography process includes a plurality of processes such as photoresist coating, exposure, and development.

At this time, for example, after the photosensitive film is applied to the glass surface of the liquid crystal display device through the photosensitive film coating device, the glass is transferred to the upper or lower portion of the drying chamber through the lifting device of the present invention. Thereafter, the vacuum suction device provided in the drying chamber sucks and discharges the air in the drying chamber and dries and discharges chemical substances such as solvent contained in the photosensitive film.

After the alignment films are printed on the upper substrate and the lower substrate, which have completed the photolithography process, the alignment control force or the surface fixing force (ie, the pretilt angle) is applied to the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer formed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate. The alignment layer is oriented to provide (pretilt angel and orientation direction) (S102 and S104). In this case, a rubbing or photoalignment method may be applied as the alignment treatment method.

Thereafter, the upper substrate and the lower substrate having finished the rubbing process are inspected for defects of the alignment layer through an alignment layer inspector (S105). In this case, a steam tester may be used as the alignment film tester.

As shown in FIG. 7, spacers for maintaining a constant cell gap are dispersed on the lower substrate after the alignment layer inspection, and a sealing material is applied to the outer portion of the upper substrate, and then pressure is applied to the lower substrate and the upper substrate. To be attached (S106, S107, S108).

On the other hand, the lower substrate and the upper substrate is composed of a large area mother substrate. In other words, a plurality of panel regions are formed in a large area mother substrate, and a thin film transistor and a color filter layer serving as driving elements are formed in each of the panel regions, so that the mother substrate is cut and processed in order to manufacture a single liquid crystal display panel. Must be (S109). Thereafter, the liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal display panel processed as described above through the liquid crystal inlet, and the liquid crystal inlet is encapsulated to form a liquid crystal layer, and then each liquid crystal panel is inspected to produce a liquid crystal display panel (S1109, S111). ).

At this time, the injection of the liquid crystal uses a vacuum injection method using a pressure difference, the vacuum injection method is a container filled with the liquid crystal in the chamber in which a constant vacuum is set in the liquid crystal injection hole of the unit liquid crystal display panel separated from the mother substrate of a large area The liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal display panel by injecting the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal display panel by the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the liquid crystal display panel. The liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal display panel is formed. Therefore, when the liquid crystal layer is formed in the liquid crystal display panel through a vacuum injection method, a part of the seal pattern must be opened to have a function of the liquid crystal injection hole.

However, the vacuum injection method as described above has the following problems.

First, it takes a very long time to fill the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal display panel. In general, since the bonded liquid crystal display panel has a gap of several μm in an area of several hundred cm 2, even if a vacuum injection method using a pressure difference is applied, the amount of liquid crystal injected per unit time is very small. For example, when manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel of about 15 inches takes about 8 hours to fill the liquid crystal there is a problem that the production of the liquid crystal display panel takes a lot of time, productivity is lowered. In addition, as the size of the liquid crystal display panel increases in size, the time required for filling the liquid crystal becomes longer, resulting in poor filling of the liquid crystal, and as a result, there is a problem in that it cannot cope with the increase in size of the liquid crystal display panel.

Second, the consumption of liquid crystal is high. In general, the amount of liquid crystal actually injected into the liquid crystal display panel is very small compared to the amount of liquid crystal filled in the container, and when the liquid crystal is exposed to the air or a specific gas, it deteriorates by reacting with the gas. Therefore, even if the liquid crystal filled in the container is filled in a plurality of liquid crystal display panels, a large amount of liquid crystals remaining after the filling should be discarded. As such, the expensive liquid crystals are discarded, resulting in an increase in the cost of the liquid crystal display panel. It is a factor that weakens the price competitiveness of the product.

The dropping method may be applied to overcome the problems of the vacuum injection method as described above.

As shown in FIG. 8, in the second embodiment using the dropping method, after completing the alignment film inspection (S105), a predetermined seal pattern is formed on the color filter substrate with a sealant and a liquid crystal layer is formed on the array substrate. (S106 ', S107').

The dropping method uses a dispenser to drop and dispense liquid crystals in an image display area of a first large substrate having a plurality of array substrates or a second mother substrate having a plurality of color filter substrates disposed thereon. The liquid crystal layer is formed by uniformly distributing the liquid crystals to the entire image display area by the pressure for bonding the first and second mother substrates together.

Therefore, when the liquid crystal layer is formed on the liquid crystal display panel by dropping, the seal pattern should be formed in a closed pattern surrounding the pixel portion region to prevent the liquid crystal from leaking outside the image display region.

The dropping method can drop the liquid crystal in a short time compared to the vacuum injection method, and even when the liquid crystal display panel is enlarged, the liquid crystal layer can be formed very quickly.

In addition, since only the required amount of liquid crystal is dropped on the substrate, the price competitiveness of the liquid crystal display panel due to the disposal of expensive liquid crystal, such as a vacuum injection method, is prevented, thereby enhancing the price competitiveness of the product.

Thereafter, the liquid crystal is dropped as described above and the pressure is applied while the upper substrate and the lower substrate on which the sealing material is applied are aligned to bond the lower substrate and the upper substrate by the sealing material, and the liquid crystal dropped by application of pressure at the same time. To spread evenly across the panel (S108 '). By such a process, a plurality of liquid crystal display panels having a liquid crystal layer are formed on a large-area mother substrate (lower substrate and upper substrate), and the glass substrates are processed and cut and separated into a plurality of liquid crystal display panels. By inspecting the display panel, a liquid crystal display panel is produced (S109 ', S110').

Many details are set forth in the foregoing description but should be construed as illustrative of preferred embodiments rather than to limit the scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention should not be construed as limited to the embodiments described, but should be determined by equivalents to the appended claims and the claims.

As described above, the glass lifting device and the method of manufacturing the liquid crystal display device using the same according to the present invention by using a dual cylinder type drive unit and at the same time by synchronizing the operation of each drive unit, a large area and heavy weight glass Not only can it be transported stably but it can also be transported accurately.

In addition, the glass lifting device according to the present invention and the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device using the same by allowing the support plate to be raised and lowered within a limited chamber, the separate robot arm can be placed on the glass seated on the support plate.

Claims (16)

A first support part and a second support part which are dividedly installed at both sides at predetermined intervals to support the glass; A first driving unit and a second driving unit installed at one end of each of the first and second supporting units to operate individually and moving the first and second supporting units to a predetermined position; And And a synchronizer connected to the first and second supports to keep the first and second supports horizontal. The method of claim 1, wherein the first support portion A shaft which is arranged in a plurality of bearings installed in the frame of the main body and moves; A pin provided at one end of the shaft to support the glass; And And a support plate for horizontally fixing and supporting the other end of each shaft. The glass lifting apparatus of claim 2, wherein the second support includes the same components as the first support, and is positioned at the same distance from the first support. The method of claim 3, wherein the first drive unit A fixing bracket fixed to the frame of the main body; Driving means fixed to the fixing bracket to provide power for movement of the first support part; And And a working rod coupled to the driving means to transfer the power provided by the driving means to the first support part. 5. The glass elevating apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the driving means includes a small cylinder. 5. The glass elevating device according to claim 4, wherein the operating rod comprises a piston. The glass lifting apparatus of claim 4, wherein the second driving unit includes the same components as the first driving unit and is symmetrically positioned at a predetermined distance from the first driving unit. The method of claim 7, wherein the synchronization unit A connecting shaft horizontally arranged on a bearing provided in each of the fixing brackets of the first and second driving units; A power switching transmission body fixedly installed on the connecting shaft within a range of the supporting plate of each of the first and second supports; And And a vertically symmetrical installation on each support plate of the first and second supports, the power vertical transmitting body transmitting power according to the operation of the driving means to the power switching transmission body. The glass elevating apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the power switching transmission body includes a spur gear that is installed to correspond to the power vertical transmission body and converts linear power transmitted from the power vertical transmission body into rotational power. 10. The glass elevating apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the power vertical transfer member comprises a rack gear corresponding to the spur gear of the power conversion transfer member. Providing a mother substrate on which a plurality of array substrates or a plurality of color filter substrates are disposed; Performing an array process on the array substrates and performing a color filter process on the color filter substrates; In the unit process of the array process and the color filter process, performing a photo process such as photosensitive film coating, exposure and development process to form a predetermined pattern on the mother substrate; Depressurizing and drying the mother substrate to which the photosensitive film is applied in a predetermined chamber; It is installed in the chamber, and is divided into two sides at predetermined intervals to support the glass, the first support and the second support and one end of each of the first and second support are installed separately to operate the first, The glass elevating device includes a first driving part for moving the second support part to a predetermined position, a second driving part, and a synchronization part connected to the first and second support parts to keep the first and second support parts horizontal. Raising and lowering the mother substrate; Bonding a pair of mother substrates of which the array process and the color filter process are completed; And And cutting the joined mother substrate into a plurality of unit liquid crystal display panels. The method of claim 11, wherein the first support portion A shaft which is arranged in a plurality of bearings installed in the frame of the main body and moves; A pin provided at one end of the shaft to support the glass; And And a support plate for horizontally holding and supporting the other end of each of the shafts horizontally. The method of claim 12, wherein the second support part includes the same components as the first support part, and is positioned in the same manner at a predetermined interval from the first support part. The method of claim 13, wherein the first drive unit A fixing bracket fixed to the frame of the main body; Driving means fixed to the fixing bracket to provide power for movement of the first support part; And And a working rod coupled to the driving means to transfer the power provided by the driving means to the first support part. 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the second driver includes the same components as the first driver, and is positioned symmetrically with a predetermined distance from the first driver. The method of claim 15, wherein the synchronization unit A connecting shaft horizontally arranged on a bearing provided in each of the fixing brackets of the first and second driving units; A power switching transmission body fixedly installed on the connecting shaft within a range of the supporting plate of each of the first and second supports; And And a power vertical transfer body which is vertically symmetrically installed on each of the first and second support portions to transfer power according to the operation of the driving means to the power conversion transfer body. .

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