KR101427282B1 - Liquid crystal display device having pad structure and method of fabricating thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for testing a liquid crystal panel for lighting on a mother substrate, comprising the steps of forming a hole in a region of a second mother substrate corresponding to a test pad, filling a sealed region with a conductive material through a hole After that, the probe is brought into contact with the conductive material and the test is performed by inputting the test signal through the probe.

Liquid crystal panel, mother board, inspection, test pad, test signal

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device test pad structure, a liquid crystal display device including the same,

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display device test pad and a liquid crystal display device which are capable of preventing a process from being delayed and an increase in manufacturing cost by detecting a failure by performing a lighting test of a liquid crystal panel in a mother board unit A liquid crystal display element and a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element.

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, various portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone, a PDA, and a notebook computer have been developed. Accordingly, there is a growing need for a flat panel display device for a light and small size. As such flat panel display devices, a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), a field emission display (FED) and a vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) have been actively studied. However, Because of its implementation, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are now spotlighted.

A liquid crystal display device is an apparatus that displays information on a screen by utilizing refractive index anisotropy of a liquid crystal. 1, a liquid crystal display element 1 includes a first substrate 3 and a second substrate 5, and a liquid crystal layer 7 formed between the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 ). The first substrate 3 is a driving element array substrate. Although not shown in the drawing, a plurality of pixels are formed on the first substrate 1, and a driving element such as a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as TFT) is formed in each pixel. The second substrate 5 is a color filter substrate, and a color filter layer for realizing colors is formed. In addition, pixel electrodes and common electrodes are formed on the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5, respectively, and an alignment film for aligning the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7 is coated.

The first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 are bonded together by a sealing material 9 and a liquid crystal layer 7 is formed therebetween to form a drive Information is displayed by controlling the amount of light transmitted through the liquid crystal layer by driving the liquid crystal molecules by the device.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device is largely divided into a driving device array substrate process for forming a driving device on the first substrate 3, a color filter substrate process for forming a color filter on the second substrate 5, and a cell process The process of the liquid crystal display device will now be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, on a first substrate 3 and a second substrate 5, which are glass mother substrate plates having a plurality of liquid crystal panel regions formed through a TFT array process and a color filter process, (S101, S104). Subsequently, the alignment film is applied to the first substrate 3 on which the TFT is formed and the second substrate 5 on which the color filter layer is formed, and rubbing is performed (S102 and S105) The liquid crystal 7 is dropped onto the second substrate 5 and the sealing material 9 is applied to the outer area of the liquid crystal panel of the second substrate 5 (S103, S106).

Thereafter, the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 are aligned with each other by applying a pressure in a state in which the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 are aligned with each other, The liquid crystal 7 dropped by the application of the pressure is uniformly spread over the entire panel (S137). By such a process, a plurality of liquid crystal panels having a liquid crystal layer formed on a large-area glass substrate (first substrate and second substrate) are processed and cut to separate into a plurality of liquid crystal panels, And the panel is inspected to fabricate a liquid crystal display element (S108, S139).

As described above, in the conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing method, liquid crystal is dropped onto a substrate on which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are to be formed, and the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 are bonded together, ) Is divided into unit panel units, whereby a liquid crystal display element can be manufactured.

However, the following problems arise in the above manufacturing method. As described above, in the conventional method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element, liquid crystal is dropped on a mother substrate having a plurality of liquid crystal panel regions, and two substrates are bonded together, and then the mother substrate is cut into a plurality of unit liquid crystal panels. However, in the above method, inspection of the liquid crystal panel is performed after the liquid crystal panel is separated. Therefore, even if a defect occurs before the liquid crystal panel is separated, since the defect can be detected even after the liquid crystal panel is separated, an unnecessary process is performed on the defective liquid crystal panel, so that the manufacturing process is delayed . In particular, when a process for a large-sized mother substrate is performed, even if a failure occurs in a mother substrate that is not separated, it is not recognized. Therefore, unnecessary processes are performed on the defective substrate and expensive manufacturing materials are used. There was an increasing problem.

Of course, an inspection for gravity defect is performed to check whether the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate 3 and the second substrate 5 exceeds or falls below a predetermined amount after dropping the liquid crystal and attaching the substrates together , This inspection is simply about the amount of liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer and the gap of the substrate, and no lighting test has been conducted on important components of important liquid crystal display elements such as a pattern, a thin film transistor, or an alignment film.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a test pad, a liquid crystal display element, and a liquid crystal display element manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display element capable of detecting a defect in advance by performing a lighting test of a liquid crystal panel in a mother board unit .

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, the method including: providing a first mother substrate and a second mother substrate on which a thin film transistor and a color filter are formed and on which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed; Attaching the first mother board and the second mother board; Forming a hole in a region of a first mother substrate corresponding to a test pad formed on a liquid crystal panel of the first substrate and sealed by an seal pattern; Filling the conductive material in the sealed region with the seal pattern through the hole; Testing a liquid crystal panel by applying a test signal through the test pad; And separating the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate, which are bonded together, into liquid crystal panels.

The test pad is exposed to the outside by forming a hole in a region of the second mother board corresponding to the test pad and filling the sealed region with the conductive material through the hole, The test can be carried out by contacting the substance and inputting the test signal through the probe.

In the present invention, since the lighting inspection of the liquid crystal panel is performed on the basis of the mother board, it is possible to detect the failure of the liquid crystal panel in advance. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the co-injection and the manufacturing cost from increasing due to the progress of the unnecessary process.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, before the mother substrate is separated into the unit liquid crystal panel, the mother substrate attached to the mother substrate is lighted and inspected to see if there is a defect in the mother substrate of the mother substrate. When the defect is detected by the lighting inspection in advance, the unnecessary process is not performed. Therefore, the manufacturing process can be prevented from being delayed and the manufacturing cost can be prevented from increasing.

3 is a view showing a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a TFT and a color filter layer, which are driving elements, are formed on a first substrate and a second substrate, respectively, which are glass mother substrate plates having a plurality of liquid crystal panel regions formed through a TFT array process and a color filter process (S201, S204). After rubbing (S202, S205) after applying the alignment film to the first substrate on which the TFT is formed and the second substrate on which the color filter layer is formed, liquid crystal is dropped on the liquid crystal panel region of the first substrate, A sealant is applied to the liquid crystal panel outer frame region (S203, S206).

Thereafter, the first substrate and the second substrate are aligned, the pressure is applied, the first substrate and the second substrate are joined together by sealing material, and the liquid crystal dropped by the application of pressure is uniformly (S207).

Next, the liquid crystal panel formed on the first substrate and the second substrate is inspected. That is, a test signal is applied to a plurality of liquid crystal panels formed on a mother substrate that is not separated, and the lighting states of the liquid crystal panel regions of the first substrate and the second substrate bonded together are examined, (S208).

 In the case where no defects are caused by the inspection process as described above, the glass mother substrate is processed and cut, separated into a plurality of liquid crystal panels, and each of the separated liquid crystal panels is finally inspected to produce a liquid crystal display element (S209, S210 ).

As described above, in the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, liquid crystal is dropped onto a substrate on which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are to be formed, the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded together, And then proceeds to the next step to prevent the unnecessary process from proceeding if a failure occurs in the liquid crystal panel.

The inspection of the first substrate and the second substrate is performed through an MPS (Mass Product System) inspection process. The MPS inspection process is for detecting a line defect or a point defect occurring in the liquid crystal panel. The MPS inspection process connects each gate pad and a data pad of the liquid crystal panel to a gate shorting bar and a data shorting bar, A gate shorting bar connected to the gate line of the pixel, and a data shorting bar connected to the data line.

The MPS inspection process will be described in detail as follows.

4 is a view showing a mattress panel 100 according to the present invention. As shown in the figure, a plurality of liquid crystal panels 110 are formed on a mother substrate 100 on which a first substrate and a second substrate are bonded. The mother board in this state is stuck in the cementing step shown in Fig. That is, in the mother substrate 100, a thin film transistor and a color filter are formed on the first substrate and the second substrate by a TFT array process and a color filter process, respectively. The first substrate and the second substrate are subjected to a rubbing process, 2 An alignment film is formed and rubbed on the substrate. In addition, the liquid crystal is dropped on the first substrate and the seal pattern is formed on the second substrate, and then the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded together to form a cohesive mother substrate 100 having a plurality of liquid crystal panels 110 formed thereon .

At this time, a plurality of test pads 120 for MPS inspection are formed on each liquid crystal panel 110, and test signals are input to the liquid crystal panel 110 through the test pads 120. In the drawing, six liquid crystal panels 110 are formed on the mother substrate, but the present invention is not limited to the number of liquid crystal panels. If necessary, four liquid crystal panels may be formed on one mother substrate or eight liquid crystal panels may be formed. That is, the number of the liquid crystal panel 110 formed on the mother substrate can be variously adjusted according to the size of the mother substrate and the size of the liquid crystal panel 110 to be manufactured.

As shown in FIG. 5, the liquid crystal panel 110 includes a display unit 111 on which an actual image is implemented. At this time, only the thin film transistor substrate on which the thin film transistors are formed is shown in the figure for convenience of explanation, and the color filter substrate on which the color filter is formed is omitted.

A plurality of gate lines 133 and data lines 135, which are arranged vertically and horizontally and define a plurality of pixels, are formed in the display portion 111. [ A thin film transistor (Thin Film Transistor) 137, which is a switching element, is disposed in each pixel, and when an image signal is input through the gate line 103, an image signal, which is switched and input through the data line 105, 139). A gate pad and a data pad are formed at the ends of the gate line 133 and the data line 135, respectively.

Although not shown in the drawing, a gate driving IC and a data driving IC are mounted outside the liquid crystal panel 110 and the gate line 103 and the data line 105 are connected to each other through the gate pad 112 and the data pad 114, Lt; / RTI >

Although not shown in detail in the drawing, the thin film transistor 137 includes a gate electrode connected to the gate line 103 and to which a scanning signal is applied from the gate driving IC, a gate insulating layer formed on the gate electrode, A semiconductor layer formed on the semiconductor layer to form a channel layer as a scan signal is applied to the gate electrode, and a signal input from the data driver IC through the data line 105 as the channel layer is formed, And a source / drain electrode to be applied to the pixel electrode 139.

Though not shown in the drawing, the color filter substrate is provided with a color filter layer of R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) for realizing actual color, and a color filter layer for transmitting light through a gate line, a data line, And a black matrix for blocking off.

A plurality of desk pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b, 126a, and 126b are formed in a dummy area outside the display unit 111 of the liquid crystal panel 110. [ The test signal is applied to the thin film transistor 137 formed on the pixel through the odd and even gate lines 103 connected to the odd and even gate lines 103 on the outer side of the display unit 111 The first gate shorting bar 118a and the second gate shorting bar 118b are connected to the odd and even data lines 105 and the pixel electrodes A first data shorting bar 116a and a second data shortening bar 116b for applying a test image signal to the common electrode in the pixel and a common shorting bar 119 Is formed. At this time, the first gate shorting bar 118a and the second gate shorting bar 118b are connected to the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b through the first signal lines 127a and 127b And the first data shorting bar 116a and the second data shortening bar 116b are connected to the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b through the second signal lines 128a and 128b And the common shorting bar 119 is connected to the common test pad 126 through the third signal wiring 129. [

In the liquid crystal panel 110 configured as described above, a test scan signal is applied to the gate line 103 of the liquid crystal panel from the outside through the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, A test image signal is applied to the pixel electrode 139 of the pixel region through the data line 105 and the thin film transistor through the data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b. Further, a common signal is applied to the common electrode of the pixel through the common test pad 126. [

As described above, as the test scan signal is inputted to the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b are connected to the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, The test signal is inputted through the odd and even gate lines 103 and the thin film transistor 137 formed on each pixel is turned on while the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b The test image signal is applied to the odd and even data lines 105 and the thin film transistor 137 connected to the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b, To the pixel electrode 139 of the pixel.

To check whether the thin film transistor is operating, the voltage of the pixel electrode of the pixel to which the test image signal is applied must be measured. If a voltage change is detected in the pixel electrode, a test image signal input through the thin film transistor is applied to the pixel electrode to determine that the thin film transistor operates normally and there is no defect in the pattern. If no voltage change occurs in the pixel electrode, It is judged that a defect has occurred in the transistor and the pattern.

On the other hand, in the present invention, the MPS inspection is not performed on a liquid crystal panel basis but on a mother substrate unit in which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed. Therefore, the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b, and the common test pad 126b, which are formed on the respective liquid crystal panels, Is located inside the mosquito plate which is not attached to the outside. Therefore, in the present invention, the test is performed on the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b, and the common test pad 126, A first data test pad 124a and a second data test pad 124b and a second data test pad 124b on the common test pad 126 are formed on the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, Holes 141 are formed in the mother substrate so that a part of the pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b and 126 are exposed to the outside to input signals through the exposed pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b and 126 .

The structure of the test pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b, and 126 will be described in more detail with reference to FIG.

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG. 5, in which the first gate test pad 122a and the second gate test pad 122b, the first data test pad 124a and the second data test pad 124b, And a common test pad 126. As shown in FIG. Here, a second gate test pad 122b among the plurality of test pads will be described with reference to FIG.

As shown in FIG. 6, a second gate test pad 122b is formed on the liquid crystal panel of the first mother substrate 103, and a second mother substrate 105 is disposed thereon. And an acoustic pattern 142 is formed around the second gate test pad 122b. The seal pattern 142 surrounds the second gate test pad 122b, thereby blocking the seal pattern 142 from the outside. That is, the second gate test pad 122b is sealed by the seal pattern 142 and the first mother substrate 103 and the second mother substrate 105. [ A hole 141 is formed in a second mother substrate 105 above the seal pattern 142 and a first mother substrate 103 and a second mother substrate 105 are filled with a conductive material 144 such as silver. At this time, since the second gate test pad 122b is sealed by the seal pattern 142, the conductive material 144 does not spread to other regions of the liquid crystal panel.

In the second gate test pad 122b having the above structure, when the test signal is applied to the conductive material 144 while the probe 150 is in contact with the conductive material 144, The applied test signal is inputted to the second gate test pad 122b through the conductive material 144 and is tested by the thin film transistor 137 of the liquid crystal panel through the second gate shorting bar 118b Signal is input.

The holes 141 are formed in the second mother substrate 105 on the test pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b, and 126 of the plurality of liquid crystal panels formed on the mother substrate 100 to which the mother substrate 100 is bonded. Therefore, by applying a test signal to each of the test pads 122a, 122b, 124a, 124b, and 126 using a probe, MPS inspection can be performed on all the liquid crystal panels.

7A to 7C are views showing a method of forming the test pad structure.

First, as shown in FIG. 7A, an actual pattern 242 is formed on a first mother substrate 203 on which a test pad 222 is formed. The first substrate 203 and the second substrate 205 are formed on the outer surface of the first substrate 203 of the seal pattern 242 by the same process as the seal pattern for attaching the first substrate 203 and the second substrate 205 together. After the first mother substrate 203 and the second mother substrate 205 are bonded together, a hole 241 is formed in the second mother substrate 205 using a tool such as a drill. As the first mother substrate 203 and the second mother substrate 205 are bonded together, the test pad 222 is sealed and separated from other regions of the liquid crystal panel.

7B, a space sealed by the seal pattern 242 through the hole 241 is filled with a conductive material 244 such as silver or aluminum in liquid state, and then the conductive material 244 is cooled, (244). At this time, since the conductive material 244 is filled only in the space sealed by the seal pattern 242, it is possible to prevent a defect that the conductive material 244 flows to other regions of the liquid crystal panel. The conductive material 244 is hardened and the conductive material 244 and the test pad 222 are brought into contact with each other to be in the energized state.

7C, when a test signal is applied to the conductive material by bringing the probe 250 into contact with the conductive material 244, the test signal is applied to the gate line of the liquid crystal panel through the test pad 222, Or a data line to drive a thin film transistor formed in the pixel and supply a signal to the pixel to perform the MPS inspection.

If a defect occurs by performing the MPS inspection as described above, the corresponding liquid crystal panel is discarded or the repair process is performed on the liquid crystal panel in which the defective liquid crystal panel is not processed, If not, proceed to the next step.

The mosquito board finished with the MPS inspection is processed by a processing step. That is, the bonded mother substrate is cut and separated by the unit liquid crystal panel, and the cut liquid crystal panel is polished and cleaned, thereby completing the liquid crystal panel. At this time, the inspection may be performed once again on the manufactured liquid crystal panel.

Meanwhile, the test pads and the shutting bars are separated from the liquid crystal panel when the mother substrate is cut. In other words, the test pad and the shorting bar are removed from the completed liquid crystal panel.

While a great many are described in the foregoing description, it should be construed as an example of preferred embodiments rather than limiting the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention should not be determined by the described embodiments but should be determined by the appended claims.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of a general liquid crystal display device;

2 is a flow chart showing a conventional method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element.

3 is a flow chart showing a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display element according to the present invention.

4 is a view showing a mother board attached with a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention;

5 is a plan view showing a structure of a liquid crystal panel formed on a mother substrate;

6 is a sectional view taken along the line I-I 'of FIG. 4;

Figures 7a-7c illustrate a method of forming a test pad structure in accordance with the present invention.

Claims (12)

Providing a first mother board and a second mother board on which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed, in which a thin film transistor and a color filter are respectively formed; Attaching the first mother board and the second mother board; Forming a hole in a region of the first mother substrate corresponding to the test pad formed on the liquid crystal panel of the first mother substrate and sealed by the seal pattern; Filling the conductive material in the sealed region with the seal pattern through the hole; Testing a liquid crystal panel by applying a test signal through the test pad; And And separating the first mother substrate and the second mother substrate, which are bonded together, into liquid crystal panels. delete The method of claim 1, wherein the step of inspecting the liquid crystal panel comprises: Contacting the probe with a conductive material; And And inputting a test signal through a probe. The method of claim 3, wherein the conductive material comprises silver. The method of claim 1, wherein providing the first mosquito plate comprises: Forming a gate line, a data line, and a thin film transistor on a display portion of the liquid crystal panel of the first mother substrate; And And forming a plurality of shorting bars for connecting the gate line, the data line, and the test pad to a dummy area outside the display unit. 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the test pad and the shutting bar are removed when the liquid crystal panel is separated from the mating plate. The method of claim 1, wherein providing color filters comprises: Forming a color filter layer on the display portion of the liquid crystal panel of the second mother substrate; And And forming a black matrix on the display portion. A first mother board and a second mother board including a plurality of liquid crystal panel areas; A plurality of gate lines and data lines formed on a display portion of the liquid crystal panel region of the first mother substrate to define a plurality of pixels; A thin film transistor formed on each pixel of the display portion of the liquid crystal panel region of the first mother substrate; A color filter layer and a black matrix formed in the liquid crystal panel region of the second mother substrate; And A plurality of test pads formed on a dummy portion of the liquid crystal panel region of the first mother substrate and receiving a test signal from the outside; A seal pattern formed on a dummy portion of the liquid crystal panel region of the first mother substrate to seal the test pad; A hole formed in a second mother board of a region corresponding to the test pad; And And a conductive material filled in the space sealed by the seal pattern Wherein the test pad is exposed to the outside through a hole formed in the second mother substrate. delete The liquid crystal display device according to claim 8, wherein the conductive material comprises silver. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 8, further comprising: a plurality of shorting bars formed on the dummy portion of the liquid crystal panel region of the first mother substrate and connected to the gate lines and the data lines of the test pad and the display unit, . delete

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