KR102441408B1 - Display lamination apparatus and display lamination method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A display lamination apparatus and a display lamination method using the same are disclosed. A display lamination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a first jig capable of supporting a first panel; a second jig capable of supporting a second panel disposed to face the first panel; a driving unit for elevating and lowering at least one of the first jig and the second jig; and an ultrasonic oscillator provided on at least one side of the first jig or the second jig to generate micro vibrations by ultrasonic waves in the first panel or the second panel.
In the display lamination method according to an embodiment of the present invention, an adhesive layer is interposed between a first panel and a second panel disposed to face the first panel and press-bonded. As a result, it may include a vibration providing step of applying mechanical vibration to the first panel or the second panel.

Description

Display lamination apparatus and display lamination method using same

The present invention relates to a display lamination apparatus and a display lamination method using the same, and more particularly, to a display lamination apparatus for bonding a plurality of panels to each other during a manufacturing process of a display apparatus, and a display lamination method using the same.

Display devices include a liquid crystal display (LCD), an organic light emitting diode display (OLED display), a plasma display panel (PDP), and a micro light emitting display device (Micro) depending on the light emitting method. -LED), etc.

The display device is composed of different functional panels, and each panel is bonded to each other with an adhesive layer interposed between the panels. The panel may include a display panel, a touch film, a polarizer, a cover window, and the like. In addition, the adhesive layer may be divided into a film-type adhesive layer (OCA) and a liquid-type adhesive layer (OCR, optical clear resin) that is cured by applying a liquid type adhesive according to the type. After providing an adhesive layer on one surface of different panels, a bonding process in which a plurality of panels are brought together and pressed using a display lamination device (laminator) may be performed.

Korean Registration Publication No. 10-1701247 discloses a lamination device in which at least one of a first jig on which a cover window is seated and a second jig on which a panel member is disposed are linearly moved to adhere to each other. 2 Because the jig moves in a vertical direction, it is impossible to control the local area force, and in the process of bonding the cover window and the panel member, the bonding force is unevenly decreased in a specific local area. .

Korean Registration Publication No. 10-1701247 (Announcement Date: 2017.02.02.)

One technical problem to be solved by the present invention relates to a display lamination apparatus capable of improving adhesion between a first panel and a second panel constituting a display panel, and a display lamination method using the same.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a display lamination apparatus.

A display lamination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a first jig capable of supporting a first panel; a second jig capable of supporting a second panel disposed to face the first panel; a driving unit for elevating and lowering at least one of the first jig and the second jig; and an ultrasonic oscillator provided on at least one side of the first jig or the second jig to generate micro vibrations by ultrasonic waves in the first panel or the second panel.

According to an embodiment, the ultrasonic oscillator may include a piezoelectric element that converts an applied electrical signal to apply mechanical vibration in a driving direction of the driving unit.

According to an embodiment, the ultrasonic oscillator may further include a controller capable of adjusting the intensity of vibration generated for each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements.

According to an embodiment, the controller may change the mechanical vibration intensity of the piezoelectric element according to a frequency change by adjusting the electrical signal intensity.

According to an embodiment, the piezoelectric element has a vibration intensity of several micrometers, and the vibration intensity of the piezoelectric element may be finely adjusted to a vibration intensity of several nanometers by the controller.

In order to solve the above technical problem, the present invention provides a display lamination method.

In the display lamination method according to an embodiment of the present invention, in the display lamination method of press-bonding with an adhesive layer interposed between a first panel and a second panel disposed to face the first panel, the pressing direction during the press-bonding process As a result, it may include a vibration providing step of applying mechanical vibration to the first panel or the second panel.

A display lamination method according to another embodiment of the present invention includes a first bonding step of pressing a first panel and a second panel opposite to the first panel with a first force; a second bonding step of adjusting the pressing force to a magnitude of a second force that is smaller than the first force; and a vibration providing step of applying mechanical vibration to the first panel or the second panel.

According to an embodiment, the method may further include a third cementation step of pressing with a predetermined amount of force to remove the excitation in the step of providing vibration.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing an ultrasonic oscillator other than the first jig, the second jig, and the driving unit, the first jig, the second jig, and the driving unit induce micro-vibrations in a specific region during the bonding process according to the driving unit, which is a weak sum in the display device. There is an advantage in that it is possible to increase the cohesion force of a local area having adhesion.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, by providing an ultrasonic oscillator other than the first jig, the second jig, and the driving unit, there is an advantage in that the peeling phenomenon of the display device can be minimized.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, by providing an ultrasonic oscillator other than the first jig, the second jig, and the driving unit, parallelism between the first panel and the second panel is increased so that the thickness constituting the display panel is uniform as a whole There are advantages to being able to have .

According to another embodiment of the present invention, by providing a controller capable of adjusting the vibration intensity of the piezoelectric element for each local part, there is an advantage in that the durability of the display device can be improved by adjusting the adhesion force of the local part.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the strength of the ultrasonic oscillator is provided differently for each region based on the surface pressure measured by the surface pressure sensor during the lamination process, thereby improving the durability of the display device by adjusting the adhesion force of the local area. There is this.

1(a) to 1(d) are views showing a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
2 (a) and 2 (b) are views showing a display lamination apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 (a) and 3 (b) are views showing a display lamination apparatus according to another embodiment of the present invention.
4A and 4B are diagrams illustrating an electrostatic chuck in which an ultrasonic oscillator is embedded according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 (a) and 5 (b) are diagrams for explaining a vacuum chuck having an ultrasonic oscillator built-in according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6(a) to 6(d) are diagrams illustrating examples in which the intensity of vibration provided for each region is different from the ultrasonic oscillator according to an embodiment of the present invention.
7 is a flowchart illustrating a display lamination method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the technical spirit of the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described herein and may be embodied in other forms. Rather, the embodiments introduced herein are provided so that the disclosed content may be thorough and complete, and the spirit of the present invention may be sufficiently conveyed to those skilled in the art.

In this specification, when a component is referred to as being on another component, it may be directly formed on the other component or a third component may be interposed therebetween. In addition, in the drawings, the shape and size are exaggerated for effective description of technical content.

Also, in various embodiments of the present specification, terms such as first, second, third, etc. are used to describe various components, but these components should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one component from another. Accordingly, what is referred to as a first component in one embodiment may be referred to as a second component in another embodiment. Each embodiment described and illustrated herein also includes a complementary embodiment thereof. In addition, in this specification, 'and/or' is used in the sense of including at least one of the elements listed before and after.

In the specification, the singular expression includes the plural expression unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. In addition, terms such as "comprise" or "have" are intended to designate that a feature, number, step, element, or a combination thereof described in the specification exists, and one or more other features, numbers, steps, or configurations It should not be construed as excluding the possibility of the presence or addition of elements or combinations thereof. In addition, in this specification, "connection" is used in a sense including both indirectly connecting a plurality of components and directly connecting a plurality of components.

In addition, in the following description of the present invention, if it is determined that a detailed description of a related well-known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1(a) to 1(d) are views showing display apparatuses P1, A, and P2 according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) are one embodiment of the present invention. It is a view showing a display lamination apparatus 10 according to an embodiment, and FIGS. 3(a) and 3(b) are views showing a display lamination apparatus 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4(a) ) and FIG. 4(b) are views for explaining the electrostatic chucks 210, 220a, and 220b in which the ultrasonic oscillator 400 is embedded according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b) is a view for explaining the vacuum chucks 210 and 230 in which the ultrasonic oscillator 300 is built-in according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIGS. 6(a) to 6(d) are views according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a diagram showing an example in which the intensity of vibration provided by the ultrasonic oscillator 400 is different for each region.

Hereinafter, each component constituting the display lamination apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

The first panel (P1) and the second panel (P2) according to an embodiment of the present invention are any one of a display panel, a touch panel, a polarizer, and a window panel such as LCD, OLED, and PDP panel, It may be a panel composed of a plurality of layers laminated and bonded. In addition, the first panel P1 and the second panel P2 may include a flexible panel made of a flexible material that can be bent, folded, or rolled, as well as a rigid panel.

1 (a) and 1 (b), and FIGS. 1 (c) and 1 (d) show a foldable flexible display panel according to different embodiments.

Each of the different panels P1 and P2 may be manufactured by a separate process and may be laminated in multiple layers to constitute a display device.

An adhesive layer A having adhesiveness and light transmittance may be interposed between the first panel P1 and the second panel P2 . The adhesive layer (A) may be an optically transparent resin (OCR, optical clear resin, hereinafter referred to as OCR). The adhesive layer (A) may be any one or a mixture of acrylic, epoxy, silicone, and rubber-based resins, preferably UV-curable resins curable by UV light.

Referring to FIGS. 2(a) and 2(b) or 3(a) and 3(b), the display lamination apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first panel constituting the display apparatus. (P1) and the second panel (P2) may be laminated and pressed together. The display lamination apparatus 10 may include a first jig 100 , a second jig 200 , a driving unit 300 , an ultrasonic oscillator 400 , and may further include a surface pressure sensor 500 .

Referring again to FIGS. 2A to 3B , the first jig 100 may be provided to face the second jig 200 . The first jig 100 may support the first panel P1 .

The first jig 100 may be made of an elastic material such as silicone and rubber. Accordingly, the first jig 100 may absorb a certain force during the bonding process or the micro-vibration providing process to gradually and gently press the first panel P1 .

More specifically, the first jig 100 may seat and support the first panel P1 by an electrostatic force or a vacuum adsorption method. The first jig 100 may be an electrostatic chuck (ESD) or a vacuum chuck.

The second jig 200 may be provided under the first jig 100 . The second jig 200 may support the second panel P2 . The second panel P2 may be disposed to face and face the first panel P1 .

The second jig 200 may be made of an elastic material such as silicone and rubber. Accordingly, the second jig 200 may absorb a constant force during the bonding process or the micro-vibration providing process to gradually and gently press the second panel P2 .

More specifically, the second jig 200 may seat and support the second panel P2 by an electrostatic force or a vacuum adsorption method. The second jig 200 may be an electrostatic chuck (ESD) or a vacuum chuck.

The second jig 200 of the electrostatic chuck method according to an embodiment includes a support chuck 210, an electrode layer 220a, and a dielectric layer 220b, and the second panel P2 is connected to the electrode layer by a charged potential. 220a) can be fixedly supported.

The electrode layer 220a may be disposed on one end of the support chuck 210 to generate a charging potential.

The dielectric layer 220b may be disposed on one end of the electrode layer 220a and may be a type of insulator.

The second jig 200 of the vacuum adsorption method according to another embodiment includes a support chuck 210 and a vacuum layer 230 , and sucks air from the contact surface of the second panel P2 to the second panel P2 . can be fixedly supported.

The vacuum layer 230 may be disposed at one end of the support chuck 210 . The vacuum layer 230 may be formed of a porous ceramic or a porous film. The vacuum layer 230 may adsorb and support the second panel P2 by air suction. The vacuum layer 230 may be formed of a porous material for adsorption and seating. The vacuum layer 230 may be connected to a vacuum pump (not shown) so that the adsorption process of the second panel P2 may be performed.

The driving unit 300 may drive the first jig 100 or the second jig 200 up and down. The driving unit 300 may include a motor (not shown), a cylinder (not shown) moving forward and backward by the motor, and a shaft (not shown) providing a travel path of the cylinder, but is not limited thereto. The driving unit 300 may raise or lower at least one of the first jig 100 and the second jig 200 while maintaining parallel to each other.

Referring back to FIGS. 2A and 2B , the first jig 100 moves up and down in the direction of the second jig 200 provided below by the operation of the driving unit 300 according to the embodiment. In addition, a plurality of panels constituting the display device can be pressed together while facing each other.

Referring back to FIGS. 3 ( a ) and 3 ( b ), the second jig 200 moves up and down in the direction of the first jig 200 provided on the upper part by the operation of the driving unit 300 according to another embodiment. In addition, a plurality of panels constituting the display device can be pressed together while facing each other.

The driving unit 300 according to another embodiment may drive both the first jig 100 and the second jig 200 in a direction facing each other to press a plurality of panels constituting the display device while facing each other to be bonded. .

Referring again to FIGS. 4A to 6D , the ultrasonic oscillator 400 may generate micro-vibrations by a plurality of ultrasonic waves to transmit the micro-vibrations to the panels P1 and P2 . The ultrasonic oscillator 400 may include a piezoelectric element 410 and further include a controller 420 .

The ultrasonic oscillator 400 may be provided in the first jig 100 and/or the second jig 200 . According to an embodiment, the ultrasonic oscillator 400 may be built-in to the first jig 100 . According to another embodiment, the ultrasonic oscillator 400 may be built-in to the second jig 200 . According to another embodiment, the ultrasonic oscillator 400 may be provided in both the first jig 100 and the second jig 200 .

In the following embodiment, it is assumed that the ultrasonic oscillator 400 is provided in the second jig 200, for example, and when the ultrasonic oscillator 400 is provided in the first jig 100, it is replaced by this, and a description thereof is to be omitted.

The ultrasonic oscillator 400 may induce micro-vibrations in a specific region during the bonding process of the driving unit 300 to increase the bonding force of a local region having a weak bonding strength in the display device.

Again, FIG. 6(a) is a view showing a folding area in the flexible display apparatus in the vertical direction shown in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), and FIG. 6(b) is an ultrasonic oscillator for each area of the flexible display apparatus ( 400) is a diagram showing the assumption that the operation value is set differently as an example.

Also, again, FIG. 6(c) is a view showing a folding area in the horizontal flexible display apparatus shown in FIGS. 1(c) and 1(d), and FIG. 6(d) is an ultrasonic oscillator for each area of the flexible display apparatus. It is a diagram showing the assumption that the operation value of 400 is set differently as an example.

As shown in FIGS. 6(b) and 6(d) , the ultrasonic oscillator 400 may provide different vibration intensity for each region based on the surface pressure value measured by the surface pressure sensor 500 .

The piezoelectric element 410 may generate mechanical vibration by an applied electrical signal. The electric pulse generating apparatus (not shown) may generate an electric signal and be electrically connected to the piezoelectric element 410 to apply the electric signal. The piezoelectric element 410 may provide a vibration force of a predetermined magnitude to the second panel P2 in the driving direction of the driving unit 300 .

A plurality of piezoelectric elements 410 may be arranged at arbitrary intervals in a region corresponding to the shape of the second panel P2 .

The piezoelectric element 410 may have a vibration intensity of several micrometers. In addition, the piezoelectric element 410 may be fine-displaced by adjusting the controller 420, which will be described later, and more specifically, the fine-displacement size may have a value of several nanometers.

The controller 420 may adjust the intensity of the electric signal to have different vibration intensity for each of the plurality of piezoelectric elements 410 .

According to an embodiment, the controller 420 may adjust the strength of an electrical signal applied to any one of the piezoelectric elements 410 to vary the time according to the frequency fluctuation to change the mechanical vibration strength.

The controller 420 may receive a measured surface pressure value per unit area for each area from a surface pressure sensor 500 to be described later. In addition, the controller (not shown) may control the electric signal strength applied to the piezoelectric element 410 for each region based on the measured surface pressure value.

The controller 420 may be electrically connected to a computer (not shown) to provide the operator with electrical signal strength, number of vibrations, and vibration intensity for each area. The operator may check the vibration information of the piezoelectric element 410 in real time through a computer (not shown), and may manipulate the vibration intensity manually.

Each region of the display device may be partitioned, and the intensity of vibration of the piezoelectric element 410 by the controller 420 may be adjusted for each region. As shown in FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), according to an embodiment, in a flexible display device that undergoes frequent physical deformation such as bending according to use, it is divided into a folding area and other areas, As shown in FIGS. 6(b) and 6(d), the ultrasonic oscillator 400 is operated with A vibration intensity in the partitioned area including the folding area, and the other area is A vibration intensity The ultrasonic oscillator 400 may be operated with a separate B vibration intensity (B Vibration). In this case, the A vibration intensity may mean applying a vibration with a mechanical force greater than the B vibration intensity.

Referring back to FIG. 4 or FIG. 5 , the surface pressure sensor 500 may be provided to be seated on at least one of the first jig 100 and the second jig 200 . The surface pressure sensor 500 according to an embodiment may be disposed on the support chuck 210 . The surface pressure sensor 500 may include a plurality of force sensors (not shown). A plurality of force sensors (not shown) may be embedded in the support chuck 210 .

The surface pressure sensor 500 may be made of an insulating material and function as an insulator of the second jig 200 of the electrostatic chuck method. The surface pressure sensor 500 may measure the surface pressure and output the measured surface pressure to the operator.

When the surface pressure sensor 500 is built into the second jig 200, the second panel P2 is pressed against the first panel P1 according to the elevating driving of the second jig 200 by the driving unit 300, It is possible to improve the accuracy of the pressure applied per unit area.

The force sensor (not shown) may be provided embedded in the second jig 200 to be adjacent to the seating surface of the second panel P2 at arbitrary intervals. The force sensor (not shown) may measure the local pressure per unit area of the second panel P2 to obtain pressure distribution information of the second panel P2 .

According to an embodiment, the force sensor (not shown) may be provided to be arranged at regular intervals in rows and columns on an area corresponding to the second panel P2 . In addition, according to an embodiment, the number and arrangement interval of the plurality of force sensors (not shown) are provided to correspond to the number and arrangement interval of the above-described piezoelectric elements 410 , thereby increasing the measurement and control accuracy for each area. have.

The force sensor (not shown) may measure a specific area pressure and provide the measured pressure value along with location information to the above-described controller 420 .

7 is a flowchart illustrating a display lamination method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

A display lamination method using the display lamination apparatus 10 according to an embodiment of the present invention having the above components will be described.

Referring to FIG. 7 , the display lamination method may include providing vibration ( S30 ). In addition, the display lamination method includes a first bonding step (S10), a second bonding step (S20), a vibration providing step (S30), and a third bonding step (S40), and further includes a third bonding step (S40). can do.

In the first bonding step ( S10 ), a magnitude of a first force may be applied when the first panel and the second panel are press-bonded.

In the second bonding step ( S20 ), the first panel and the second panel may be press-bonded by adjusting the pressing force with a second force smaller than the first force. The second force may be an adjustment step for pressing with a small force so that the piezoelectric element can flow on the rear surface of the first panel and the second panel by pressing with a force smaller than the magnitude of the first force.

In the vibration providing step ( S30 ), vibration may be mechanically applied to the first panel or the second panel. More specifically, in the vibration providing step ( S30 ), mechanical vibration may be applied to the first panel or the second panel during the pressure bonding process of pressure bonding the opposing first panel and the second panel. In the vibration providing step ( S30 ), the mechanical vibration intensity for each area may be adjusted according to the measured surface pressure.

The vibration providing step ( S30 ) may be performed at the same time or at the same time as the second bonding step ( S20 ) in a time series manner.

In the third bonding step ( S40 ), the residual vibration generated in the vibration providing step ( S30 ), that is, to remove the excitation, may be press-bonded to the first panel or the second panel with a predetermined amount of force.

The magnitude of the force provided in the third cementation step S40 may be equal to or smaller than the magnitude of the first force provided in the first cementation step S10 .

As mentioned above, although the present invention has been described in detail using preferred embodiments, the scope of the present invention is not limited to specific embodiments, and should be interpreted by the appended claims. In addition, those skilled in the art should understand that many modifications and variations are possible without departing from the scope of the present invention.

10: display lamination device
100: first jig
200: second jig 210: chuck base
220a: electrode layer 220b: dielectric layer
230: vacuum layer
300: drive unit
400: ultrasonic oscillator 410: piezoelectric element
420: controller
500: surface pressure sensor
P1: first panel P2: second panel
A: adhesive layer

Claims (8)

a first jig capable of supporting the first panel;
a second jig capable of supporting a second panel disposed to face the first panel;
a driving unit for elevating and lowering at least one of the first jig and the second jig; and
During the pressure bonding process provided on at least one side of the first jig or the second jig and surface-contacting the first panel to the second panel by driving of the driving unit, based on the surface pressure value measured by the surface pressure sensor, the An ultrasonic oscillator that selectively induces micro-vibrations by ultrasonic waves in a specific area of the first panel or the second panel to increase the adhesion force of a local area having a weak adhesion force;
The ultrasonic oscillator,
a piezoelectric element converting the applied electrical signal to apply mechanical vibration in the driving direction of the driving unit; and
and a controller capable of adjusting the intensity of vibration provided to each region of the piezoelectric element, in which a plurality of piezoelectric elements are provided to be spaced apart from each other at arbitrary intervals to correspond to the area of the first panel or the second panel.
delete delete The method of claim 1,
The controller is
The display lamination apparatus of claim 1, wherein the mechanical vibration intensity of the piezoelectric element can be varied according to a frequency change by adjusting the electrical signal intensity.
The method of claim 1,
The piezoelectric element has a vibration intensity of several micrometers,
A display lamination device capable of fine-tuning the vibration intensity of the piezoelectric element to several nano vibration intensity by the controller.
In the display lamination method for press bonding with an adhesive layer interposed between a first panel and a second panel disposed to face the first panel,
The first panel is surface-contacted to the second panel by a pressure bonding process, and micro-vibration by ultrasonic waves is selectively applied to a specific area of the first panel or the second panel based on the surface pressure value measured by the surface pressure sensor to make it weak. A display lamination method comprising the step of providing vibrations to increase adhesion of a local area having adhesion.
a first bonding step of pressing the first panel and the second panel facing the first panel with a first force;
a second cementation step of adjusting the pressing force to a magnitude of a second force that is smaller than the first force; and
and providing vibration for applying mechanical vibration to the first panel or the second panel.
8. The method of claim 7,
The display lamination method further comprising a third bonding step of pressing with a certain amount of force to remove the excitation in the step of providing vibration.

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