KR101296620B1 - Liquid Crystal Display Device and Method for Manufacturing the Same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method for manufacturing the same to form a fixed cube spacer using inkjet equipment, and to easily fix the cube spacer by dropping a liquid substance around the cube spacer. The liquid crystal display includes a first substrate and a second substrate facing each other, a cube spacer fixed to a predetermined portion of one of the first substrate and the second substrate, and in contact with the other substrate surface. And a liquid crystal layer filled between the second substrates.

Column Spacers, Sticky Cube Spacers, Inkjet, Poor Gravity

Description

[0001] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and a method of manufacturing the same,

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a conventional liquid crystal display device

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display showing a column spacer formed on the gate line of FIG. 1. FIG.

3A to 3D are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a column spacer of a conventional liquid crystal display.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a gravity failure of a conventional liquid crystal display device.

5 is a plan view of the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

6 is a cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 5.

7A and 7B are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a spacer of a liquid crystal display of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an inkjet device used in a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display of the present invention and a method of discharging a jetting liquid including a spacer onto a substrate through the same.

9 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Description of the Related Art [0002]

100 color filter array substrate 110 first substrate

111 black matrix layer 112 color filter layer

113: common electrode 120: second substrate

121: gate line 122: data line

123: pixel electrode 124: semiconductor layer

125 gate insulating film 126 protective film

250: cube spacer 251: adhesive

260 solvent 265 feed tank

270: substrate 280: nozzle monitoring device

280a: light emitting portion 280b: light receiving portion

280c: control unit 280d: light detection area

300: head

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device. In particular, a liquid crystal display device is formed by using an inkjet device to form a fixed cube spacer, and a liquid material is dropped around the cube spacer to facilitate fixing of the cube spacer. And to a method for producing 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 (ELD), 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 device because of its excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. In addition to the use of the present invention has been developed in various ways such as a television and a computer monitor for receiving and displaying broadcast signals.

In order to use such a liquid crystal display as a general screen display device in various parts, it is a matter of how high quality 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. Can be.

A general liquid crystal display device may be largely divided into a liquid crystal panel displaying an image and a driving unit for applying a driving signal to the liquid crystal panel, wherein the liquid crystal panel includes first and second glass substrates bonded to each other with a predetermined space; It consists of a liquid crystal layer injected between the said 1st, 2nd glass substrate.

The first glass substrate (TFT array substrate) may include a plurality of gate wires arranged in one direction at a predetermined interval, a plurality of data wires arranged at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the respective gate wires, A plurality of pixel electrodes formed in a matrix form in each pixel region defined by crossing gate lines and data lines, and a plurality of thin film transistors switched by signals of the gate lines to transfer signals of the data lines to each pixel electrode. Is formed.

The second glass substrate (color filter substrate) includes a light shielding layer for blocking light in portions other than the pixel region, an R, G, and B color filter layers for expressing color colors, and a common electrode for implementing an image. Is formed.

The driving principle of the general liquid crystal display device uses the optical anisotropy and polarization property of the liquid crystal. Since the liquid crystal is thin and long in structure, the liquid crystal has directivity in the arrangement of molecules, and the direction of the arrangement of molecules can be controlled by artificially applying an electric field to the liquid crystal.

Such a liquid crystal display includes a process of manufacturing a lower array substrate on which thin film transistors and pixel electrodes are arranged, a process of manufacturing an upper color filter substrate including a color filter and a common electrode, an arrangement of the two substrates manufactured, and a liquid crystal material It is formed by a liquid crystal cell process consisting of injection, encapsulation, and polarizer attachment.

Hereinafter, a conventional liquid crystal display and a method of manufacturing the same will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a plan view illustrating a conventional liquid crystal display, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display showing a column spacer formed on the gate line of FIG. 1.

1 and 2, a liquid crystal display having a conventional column spacer includes a first substrate 1 and a second substrate 2 bonded to each other with a predetermined space, and the first substrate 1 and the second substrate. It consists of liquid crystals 3 injected between the substrates 2. In this case, all of the first and second substrates 2 and the liquid crystal layer 3 are referred to as a liquid crystal panel 10.

In the conventional liquid crystal display shown, the column spacer 20 is formed to correspond to the wiring area on the first substrate 1 to support the first and second substrates 1 and 2. In a typical liquid crystal display, a cube spacer (not shown in FIG. 1) instead of a column spacer serves to support the first and second substrates 1 and 2.

More specifically, in the array area on the first substrate 1 of the conventional liquid crystal display device, the gate line 4 and the data line 5 are arranged perpendicularly to each other so as to define the pixel area. A thin film transistor TFT is formed at a portion where each gate line 4 and the data line 5 cross each other, and a pixel electrode 6 is formed in each pixel area.

The thin film transistor corresponds to a gate electrode 4a protruding from the gate line 4, a semiconductor layer 17 having a shape covering the gate electrode 4a, and both sides of the semiconductor layer 17. A source electrode 5a protruding from the data line 5 and a drain electrode 5b spaced apart from the source electrode 5a by a predetermined interval are included.

The gate line 4 is formed on the first substrate 1 to insulate the metal lines, and a gate insulating film 15 is formed on the entire surface of the substrate including the gate line 4. A protective film 16 is formed on (15). A predetermined portion of the upper portion of the drain electrode 5b of the passivation layer 16 is removed to form a contact hole electrically connecting the pixel electrode 16 and the drain electrode 5b.

On the second substrate 2 facing the first substrate 1, a black matrix layer 7 for covering non-pixel regions (gate lines, data lines, and thin film transistor regions) other than the pixel region, and The second substrate including the color filter layer 8 and the color filter layer 8 formed on the second substrate 2 including the black matrix layer 7 in correspondence with the R, G, and B pigments in order for each pixel region ( 2) The common electrode 9 formed on the front surface is formed. In addition, a plurality of column spacers 20 for maintaining a cell gap are formed in a predetermined portion above the common electrode 9.

Here, the column spacer 20 is formed to correspond to the upper portion of the gate line 4.

The plurality of formed column spacers 20 are equally spaced apart from each other, and after bonding, serve as a support function between the first and second substrates 1 and 2.

3A to 3D are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a column spacer of a conventional liquid crystal display device.

As shown in FIG. 3A, a black matrix layer 7 is formed by depositing a metal or a block resin capable of blocking light on the second substrate 2 and selectively removing a portion corresponding to the pixel region.

Subsequently, the process of depositing the pigment-colored resin and patterning so that it remains only in a portion corresponding to the pixel region to form R, G, and B color filter layers 8 in each pixel region, including the color filter layer 8 An overcoat layer 11 is formed on the entire substrate. In the case of the IPS mode, the overcoat layer is formed. In the case of the TN mode, the common electrode (see 9 in FIG. 1) is formed instead of the overcoat layer.

As shown in FIG. 3B, a negative photosensitive resin 12 for column spacers is formed on the overcoat layer 11.

As shown in FIG. 3C, an exposed portion of the negative photosensitive resin 12 on the black matrix layer is selectively exposed by an exposure process using the photo mask 13.

As shown in FIG. 3D, the light irradiated portion remains and the non-light irradiated portion is developed to form a column spacer 20.

As described above, the rubbing process is performed by depositing an alignment layer (not shown) on the second substrate 2 having the column spacer 20 and the first substrate 1 having the thin film transistor array formed therein as described above. The next two substrates are bonded together.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a gravity failure of a conventional liquid crystal display.

As shown in FIG. 4, when a liquid crystal is excessively filled in a region between the first and second substrates 1 and 2 in the conventional liquid crystal display device, gravity failure is observed at a high temperature.

In general, the gravity failure phenomenon is observed at the edge of the liquid crystal panel 10 close to the ground. Gravity failure is due to the property of the liquid crystal being concentrated close to the ground when the liquid crystal panel 10 is erected perpendicularly to the ground and the liquid crystal panel is in a condition of high temperature, and the liquid crystal expands at a high temperature. The area near the bulging swelling phenomenon.

Such a gravity failure becomes worse as the amount of liquid crystal filled between the first and second substrates increases, or as the temperature of the environment in which the liquid crystal panel is placed is high.

As described above, when the temperature of the environment in which the liquid crystal panel is placed rises, the liquid crystal 3 flows to the edge of the liquid crystal panel 10 close to the ground and becomes saturated, and as the temperature rises to a high temperature, the liquid crystal 3 increases. Because of this expansion, the cell gap is increased due to thermal expansion of the liquid crystal 3 present in the saturated region. When such a gravity failure occurs, an optical path difference occurs between a portion having a normal cell gap and a portion having a bulging cell gap, such as an edge of the liquid crystal panel 10 close to the ground. In this case, opaque spots are observed at the edges of the liquid crystal panel in which the cell gap is increased.

On the other hand, when such a gravity failure, as shown in Figure 4, by cutting the first and second substrates 1, 2 of the liquid crystal panel 10, the column spacer 20 located at the edge of the lower portion of the liquid crystal panel 10 ) Does not reach the thermal expansion force of the liquid crystal 3, and due to the cell gap extended at the edge of the liquid crystal panel 10, the column spacers 20 located at the lower edge of the liquid crystal panel 10 It is not supported between the first and second substrates 1 and 2, and a phenomenon occurs that falls from the first substrate 1 (in this case, the column spacer 20 is formed on the second substrate 2 home).

Here, the first and second substrates 1 and 2 have a seal pattern 25 formed on the outer portion facing each other to form a bonding.

The conventional liquid crystal display device has the following problems.

A method of forming a liquid crystal layer between upper and lower substrates in a liquid crystal panel is injection or dropping. Among these, liquid crystal injection is a method in which a liquid crystal is filled in a panel due to capillary force acting in the panel in a vacuum state, and a liquid crystal dropping is a method of filling a liquid crystal in a panel by dropping a certain amount of liquid crystal.

By the way, in the enlarged panel, the problem of a productivity shortage and a speed fall arises by liquid crystal injection, and the liquid crystal dropping system is applied predominantly. In this case, the liquid crystal dropping method drops the amount of liquid crystal calculated as an appropriate amount to one substrate of the panel, but if the amount of liquid crystal incorrectly calculated due to internal variation in the panel is injected, if the amount of liquid crystal is smaller than the required amount, there is a problem of deterioration of display quality of the panel. Occurs, and a problem of gravity failure occurs when the amount of liquid crystal is larger than the required amount. In particular, when an excessive amount of liquid crystal is dropped on the panel, a gravity failure occurs at a high temperature, which causes disposal. Such a gravity failure is currently being left without a solution.

Gravity failure refers to a phenomenon in which an area close to the ground swells at a high temperature when the liquid crystal panel is erected in a direction perpendicular to the ground. It is observed that this phenomenon is aggravated by the use of a pillar-shaped spacer, for example, a column spacer, which is considered to be due to thermal expansion of the liquid crystal.

In addition, the conventional column spacer is formed by a photo-lithography process including coating, exposure and development, the coating process is spin coating, vacuum drying ( It can be subdivided into Vacuum dry, Edge removing, Soft Baking process, and the developing process can be subdivided into Developing, Rinsing, and Hard Baking processes. Each subdivided process requires a corresponding process equipment, and a single photolithography process requires a large amount of material and burden, as well as a burden of using process equipment and processing time. Therefore, the burden of the process for forming a conventional column spacer is large.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems to form a fixed cube spacer using the inkjet equipment, liquid crystal display device dropping the liquid material around the cube spacer to facilitate the fixing of the cube spacer And to provide a method for producing the same.

The liquid crystal display of the present invention for achieving the above object is fixed to a predetermined portion of the first substrate and the second substrate facing each other, and the substrate surface of any one of the first substrate and the second substrate, the other substrate surface It is characterized in that it comprises a cube spacer formed in contact with the liquid crystal layer filled between the first substrate and the second substrate.

Here, an adhesive is further formed between the cube spacer and the surface on which the cube spacer is fixed.

The length of one side of the cube spacer is a spaced distance between the first and second substrates. At this time, for example, the length of one side of the cube spacer is 2 to 5 mu m.

One or two or more such fixed cube spacers may be formed on the fixed portion.

The substrate surface on which the cube spacer is formed may further include a recessed portion at a portion corresponding to the cube spacer to improve adhesion between the cube spacer and the substrate surface.

On the other hand, a thin film transistor array including a gate line and a data line crossing each other to define a pixel region, a thin film transistor formed at an intersection of the gate line and the data line, and a pixel electrode formed in the pixel region. Is formed. The above-described example is in the case of twisted nematic (TN) mode, and in the case of in-plane switching (IPS) mode, the common electrode may be further formed in the pixel area in an alternating shape with the pixel electrode.

A color filter array including a black matrix layer formed corresponding to portions other than the pixel region and a color filter layer formed corresponding to at least a portion including the pixel region is formed on the second substrate. In this case, in the IPS mode, an overcoat layer may be further formed on the entire surface of the second substrate including the black matrix layer and the color filter layer, and in the TN mode, the first layer including the black matrix layer and the color filter layer. 2 The common electrode may be further formed on the front of the substrate.

When the thin film transistor array structure described above is formed on the first substrate, the cube spacer is formed to correspond to the gate line, the data line, or the thin film transistor forming portion.

In addition, when the above-described color filter array structure is provided on the second substrate, the cube spacer is formed to correspond to the upper portion of the black matrix layer.

Meanwhile, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display of the present invention for achieving the same object includes preparing a first substrate and a second substrate, forming a thin film transistor array on the first substrate, and forming a thin film transistor array on the second substrate. Forming a color filter array, dotting a plurality of cube spacers on the second substrate to form a plurality of cube spacers spaced apart from each other by a predetermined interval, and forming a liquid crystal on any one of the first and second substrates It is characterized in that it comprises a step of dropping and bonding the first and second substrates.

Here, the dotting of the cube spacer is made using an inkjet equipment.

The head of the inkjet equipment is filled with a solution including a cube spacer having an adhesive formed on the surface thereof.

After the doping of the spacer of the cube, the second substrate including the cube spacer is cleaned, and further comprising the step of removing the remaining pressure-sensitive adhesive component leaving only a portion except for the adhesive between the cube spacer and the second substrate.

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

5 is a plan view of the liquid crystal display of the present invention, and FIG. 6 is a structural cross-sectional view taken along line II ′ of FIG. 5.

5 and 6, the liquid crystal display of the present invention is largely opposed to each other, and the first substrate 110 and the second substrate 120 having the color filter array and the thin film transistor array, respectively, and the first substrate 110. ) And a fixed cube spacer 250 formed at a predetermined portion between the first substrate 110 and the second substrate 120 and the liquid crystal (not shown) filled between the second substrate 120 and the second substrate 120.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, the thin film transistor array formed on the second substrate 120 includes the following. That is, the thin film formed at the intersection of the gate line 121 and the data line 122 and the gate line 121 and the data line 122 formed on the second substrate 120 to define a pixel area crossing each other. And a transistor TFT and a pixel electrode 123 formed in the pixel region.

The thin film transistor TFT may be spaced apart from the source electrode 122a protruding from the gate line 121, the source electrode 122a protruding from the data line 122, and the source electrode 122a. And a semiconductor layer 124 formed between the drain electrode 122b and the gate electrode 121a and the drain electrode 122b / source electrode 122a. In this case, the semiconductor layer 124 is formed between the gate electrode 121a and the interlayer between the gate insulating layer 125, and the source electrode 122a and the drain electrode 122b are formed on the semiconductor layer 124. Is formed in contact with both sides.

In addition, a gate insulating layer 125 is formed between the gate line 121 and the data line 122, and a passivation layer 126 is formed between the data line 122 and the pixel electrode 123. Here, a contact hole 126a is provided in the passivation layer 126 to expose a predetermined portion of the drain electrode 122b, and the pixel electrode 123 is connected to the drain electrode through the contact hole 126a. Is electrically connected to 122b.

As shown in FIG. 6, portions other than the pixel region (gate line 121 and data line 121) and the thin film transistor TFT may be disposed on the first substrate 110 facing the second substrate 120. The black matrix layer 111 is formed to have a covering shape, and R, G, and B color filter layers 112 are formed on the first substrate 110 including the black matrix layer 111, and the black matrix layer 111 is formed. And a common electrode 113 on the entire surface of the first substrate 110 including the color filter layer 112.

The above-described plan view (FIG. 5) and cross-sectional view (FIG. 6) have been described with reference to a liquid crystal display device applied in twisted nematic (TN) mode, and when applied to in-plane switching (IPS), the common electrode 113 is overcoat. The pixel electrode 123 formed in the pixel region is replaced by a layer and a pixel electrode and a common electrode which are alternately formed.

Meanwhile, in the liquid crystal display of the present invention, the fixed cube spacer 250 that maintains the cell gap between the first and second substrates 110 and 120 may include the gate line 121 or the data line 122. It is formed on the first substrate 110 or the second substrate 120 corresponding to the position of the phase. In FIG. 6, the fixed cube spacer 250 is formed on the color filter array substrate 100 having the color filter array formed on the first substrate 110. In this case, the fixable cube spacer 250 is formed by an ink-jet method, and further includes an adhesive 251 on the forming surface side, and does not fall off from the doped portion, thereby fixing.

Here, the doped fixed cube spacer 250 is adjusted to the size and the size of the discharge port (가 出口) is discharged from the head to the fixed cube spacer 250, the fixed type discharged together with the solution in the head The number of cube spacers 250 is adjusted to come out one by one, and by moving the stage or the head on which the first substrate is loaded, the doped cube spacer 250 is positioned at the corresponding position by changing the doped portion.

In this case, the reason why the spacer 250 formed in the liquid crystal display device of the present invention has a cube shape is that the spacer 250 may come out from the discharge port of the head during dotting in any direction. To make it possible.

In addition, by forming the spacer 250 as a cube, it is easy to control the amount of liquid crystal filled between the structures formed between the first and second substrates. In addition, by forming a spacer having a uniform cube shape and height, the height of the spacer 250 was measured to calculate the amount of liquid crystal before dropping the liquid crystal. The measuring process becomes unnecessary.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device of this invention is demonstrated with reference to drawings (refer FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 mentioned above).

7A and 7B are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of manufacturing a spacer of a liquid crystal display of the present invention.

First, a first substrate 110 on which a color filter array is formed and a second substrate 120 on which a thin film transistor array are formed are prepared.

The color filter array may include a black matrix layer 111 and the first substrate 110 formed on the first substrate 110 to correspond to a region (gate line or data line) excluding a pixel region and a thin film transistor. A color filter layer 112 formed corresponding to an area including at least a pixel region thereon and a common electrode 113 formed on an entire surface of the first substrate 110 including the black matrix layer 111 and the color filter layer 112. Is done. As described above, in the IPS mode, the common electrode may be formed by replacing the overcoat layer.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the cube spacer 250 is dropped onto a predetermined portion of the first substrate 110 by using the head 300 of the inkjet equipment on the color filter array substrate 100 including the color filter array. do. Here, the portion where the cube spacer 250 is dropped is the black matrix layer 111, that is, the upper portion of the region except the pixel region or the upper portion of the thin film transistor region.

In the head 300 of the inkjet device, a solvent 260 including a cube spacer 250 having an adhesive 251 formed on a surface thereof is included. The cube spacer 250 is discharged together with the solvent from the head 300 of the ink jet equipment. At this time, the solvent is discharged into the air after being discharged into the liquid material of the volatile component. The surface of the color filter array substrate 100 (the uppermost layer of the first substrate 110 (common electrode 113 or overcoat layer)) by the adhesive 251 formed only on the surface of the cube spacer 250. It will bond with. In this case, the cube spacers 250 in the head 300 of the inkjet device are not adhered to each other in the solvent 260 even though the adhesive 251 is formed on the surface thereof. This is because the solvent 260 includes a component that prevents the individual cube spacers 250 from reacting with each other due to the adhesive 251. Here, the adhesive 251 reacts when it meets the color filter array substrate 100 in the atmosphere after discharge from the head 300 of the inkjet equipment.

On the other hand, in the cube spacer dropping process described above, a plurality of cube spacers 250 dropped in the predetermined area may be dropped more than one. In this case, the cube spacer 250 adjusts the ejection speed from the inkjet device 300 so that when the cube spacers 250 doped at a time are plural, the cube spacer 250 is not stacked, and the surface of the color filter array substrate 100 is not stacked. Make sure to dot it.

As illustrated in FIG. 7B, after the cube spacer 250 is doped using the inkjet device 300, the adhesive 251 may be formed between a bottom surface of the cube spacer 250 and a surface where the surface of the color filter array substrate 100 meets. The silver is fixed on the surface of the color filter array substrate 100 through a curing process.

Subsequently, the adhesive 251 or the solvent 260 remaining on the remaining surface is doped with the spacer 250 of the cube on the color filter array substrate 200 and then subjected to a separate washing process. Remove through.

Although not shown, after the cube spacer 250 is formed, liquid crystal is dropped on the surface of the color filter array substrate 200 or the second substrate 120 on which the thin film transistor array is formed, and then the first and second liquid crystals are dropped. The two substrates are bonded together so that the arrays between the substrates 110 and 120 face each other.

In the process of forming the cube spacer 250 of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the cube spacer 250 has a length of one side opposite to the first substrate 110 and the second substrate 120 on which an array is formed when bonding. Defined as the space between planes. The gap between the first and second substrates 110 and 120 is called a cell gap, and the length of one side of the cube spacer 250 corresponds to the cell gap. Therefore, the length of one side of the cube spacer 250 may be, for example, 2 ~ 5㎛.

As described above, the liquid crystal display of the present invention uses the same cube spacers 250 having the same width, length, and height, and thus have the same height for each area of the surface of the color filter array substrate 100 on which the cube spacers 250 are formed. Since the cube spacer 250 is formed, the required amount of liquid crystal required for the liquid crystal panel can be calculated by using the height of the spacer 250 which has no additional height measurement of the liquid crystal after dropping the liquid crystal, thereby measuring the spacer height. The time, equipment, and effort to enter can be omitted.

Here, since the cube spacer 250 has a smaller substrate corresponding area than the general column spacer, the cube spacer 250 may be formed in an increased amount compared to the general column spacer in order to maintain a cell gap.

In addition, the cube spacer 250 is provided with a restoring force that can be restored to its original state after deformation to a predetermined pressure by using a material having elastic force as a component of the material.

In addition, since the cube spacer 250 has strong adhesion due to the color filter array substrate 200 formed thereon and the pressure-sensitive adhesive 251 at the time of dotting, the cube spacers 250 may face the back surfaces of the first and second substrates 110 and 120 in one direction. When rubbing the touch, it is difficult to generate a shift between the first and second substrates 110 and 120, thereby preventing a touch failure in structure.

In some cases, the cubic spacer 250 may be formed on the passivation layer 126 or the pixel electrode 123 on the uppermost surface of the first substrate 100. In this case, in the gate line 121, the data line 122, or the IPS mode, the gate line 121 is formed at a position corresponding to the upper part of the wiring by a common line. This is to prevent the influence of the display by forming the cube spacer 250 by forming the cube spacer 250 in the non-display area.

FIG. 8 is a view illustrating an inkjet device used in a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display of the present invention and a method of discharging a jetting liquid including a spacer onto a substrate through the same.

As shown in FIG. 8, the inkjet equipment 200 used in the method of manufacturing the liquid crystal display device of the present invention is a cube spacer 250 directly on the substrate 270 (corresponding to the color filter array substrate 100 of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention). A supply tank 265 for supplying at least one head 220 and a solvent 260 including a cube spacer 250 to the head 220, and the head 220 and a supply tank 260. And mechanically connected to the injection liquid supply pipe 261 for supplying a solvent 260 including the cube spacer 250 to the head 220. A plurality of nozzles (not shown) are formed in the head 220, and a supply amount and a solvent 260 of a solvent 260 including a cube spacer 250 applied to the substrate 270 by opening and closing the nozzles. ) Drip position is adjusted. In addition, the inkjet device 200 of the present invention includes a nozzle monitoring device 280 that inspects in real time whether the nozzle is in normal operation.

The inkjet process is performed while the stage 270a or the head 220 on which the substrate 270 is positioned moves, and the dotting 230 is selectively formed in the area of the substrate 270 through which the head 220 passes. At this time, by closing a part of the nozzle formed in the head 220 during the movement of the head 220 or the stage 270a, it is possible to selectively print on the substrate 270.

The head 220 of the inkjet printing apparatus 200 is composed of at least one head 220 having a plurality of nozzles to freely adjust the dropping area of the injection liquid 250 according to the size of the substrate 270 have. That is, as the substrate 270 is enlarged, the number of the heads 220 or the number of nozzles is increased to easily cope with the enlargement of the substrate 270, and the printing process time can be adjusted.

In the liquid crystal display of the present invention, in forming the spacer, an inkjet printing process is sequentially performed by separately providing a head corresponding to a cube spacer and a head 220 including a spacer forming material.

The nozzle monitoring device 280 of the inkjet device 200 used to manufacture the spacer of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention is a special optical sensor (280a, 280b) and defective to one-to-one correspond to each nozzle constituting the head 220 And a controller 280c for driving the head to print by replacing the nozzle determined to be a normal nozzle. The light sensors 280a and 280b are mounted on one side of the head 220 again to irradiate light onto a moving path of the jetting liquid discharged from the nozzle, and the inkjet head 220 It detects the light irradiated from the light emitting unit 280a mounted on the other side and inspects the solvent 260 and the spraying state including the cube spacer 250 sprayed from the nozzle according to the light intensity, and converts the result into data. The light receiving unit 280b and the nozzle that receives the data and are determined to be defective include a control unit 280c which transmits a signal to the head 220 so that a normal nozzle is replaced and printed.

9 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, the liquid crystal display according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention has the above-described FIGS. 5 and 5 except that recesses 126a are provided on one substrate surface corresponding to the position of the cube spacer 250. The same content as in the embodiment of FIG. 6.

Here, although the cube spacer 250 is formed on the surface of the color filter array substrate 100, the cube spacer 250 may be formed on the passivation layer 126 that is the top surface of the first substrate 100. The pressure-sensitive adhesive 251 shows a state remaining on the surface of the color filter array substrate 100 in consideration of the formation of the cube spacer 250 on the surface of the color filter array substrate 100, and on the passivation layer 126. When the cube spacer 250 is formed, the adhesive 251 will remain between the surface of the protective film 126 and the cube spacer 250.

In this case, the recessed portion 126a may be defined on the passivation layer 126 on the second substrate 120 or the color filter layer 112 or the overcoat layer formed on the first substrate 100. It may be formed by patterning. That is, the recessed portion 126a may be provided on either the surface on which the cube spacer 250 is formed or on the surface facing the cube spacer 250, and formed to correspond to the cube spacer 250 to enhance adhesion to substrates. Will have the function.

In this case, the structure of the liquid crystal display of the second embodiment of the present invention will be more advantageous to prevent the shift between the first and second substrates 110 and 120 when touched.

Meanwhile, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device according to another exemplary embodiment of the present invention is manufactured according to the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device described above except for the formation of the recessed portion 126a.

The liquid crystal display of the present invention as described above and a method of manufacturing the same have the following effects.

First, in forming the spacer, by forming a fixed cube spacer and the peripheral portion of the spacer forming material to harden, the cubic spacer that is responsible for the actual cell gap intrudes into the pixel region, thereby causing the poor image quality. Can be removed. In particular, due to the characteristics of the shape of the cube spacer relatively less movement than the ball spacer, and has a feature to maintain the original state, it is possible to increase the fixing force between the cube spacer and the opposing substrate.

Secondly, after the main portion is formed in the portion to be doped, and the cube spacer is doted corresponding to the main portion, the cube spacer does not deviate to the outside even in a touch or the like, and since the characteristic of maintaining the original state is strong, the cube spacer and the opposing substrate The adhesion of the liver can be further improved.

Third, by using the cube spacer material to cover the cell gap, even if the liquid crystal flows down to the area close to the ground in the case of gravity failure, the high-elastic cube spacer supports the upper and lower substrates, so that the liquid crystal at the portion of the liquid crystal panel close to the ground The cube spacers are swelled by the bulging, thereby minimizing the cell gap difference between the other part and the part close to the ground. Therefore, the gravity failure can be prevented.

Fourth, the formed cube spacers are formed by dotting to the corresponding portions by using an inkjet method to uniformly form the formation volume of the structure formed on the upper and lower substrates, and also make the cell gaps of the respective regions on the substrates uniform, thereby It is easy to control the amount of liquid crystal filled between the substrates. Therefore, an appropriate amount of liquid crystal dropping is easy, and even when a liquid crystal margin is small, a liquid crystal display device without defect can be formed.

Fifth, the formation of the column spacer by the inkjet method simplifies the processing steps as compared with the photolithography method including the conventional exposure and development processes, thus reducing the process time and the process equipment required for the formation of the column spacer. The burden on the process will be reduced.

Sixth, by using a uniform sized cube spacer already formed, the spacer height is measured in the liquid crystal dropping process, compared with the conventional method of forming the height of the spacer to calculate the amount of liquid crystal required for the panel before dropping. The step can be omitted, which shortens the process time and reduces the process equipment required for the measurement.

Claims (19)

delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete delete Preparing a first substrate and a second substrate; Forming a thin film transistor array on the first substrate and forming a color filter array on the second substrate; On the color filter array of the second substrate, a plurality of cube spacers each having a length of 2 μm to 5 μm is formed through a head of an inkjet device in which a solution including a cube spacer having an adhesive is formed on a surface thereof. Dotting to form a spaced apart from each other one by one independently; Cleaning the color filter array including the cube spacer after the doping of the spacer of the cube, and removing the remaining pressure-sensitive adhesive component leaving only the portion except the adhesive between the cube spacer and the color filter array; Dropping liquid crystal onto any one of the first substrate and the second substrate; And And joining the first and second substrates together. delete delete delete

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