KR200269413Y1 - Apparatus For Fabricating Liquid Crystal Display - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device capable of preventing the static electricity of the mask.

An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a mask for determining the shape of a pattern, an exposure machine for irradiating light to the mask, and a line width smaller than the resolution of the exposure machine, and connecting the respective masks to achieve an equipotential between the masks. It has a dummy line.

Description

Apparatus for manufacturing liquid crystal display device {Apparatus For Fabricating Liquid Crystal Display}

The present invention relates to an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device capable of preventing static electricity of a mask.

In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) displays an image by adjusting the light transmittance of the liquid crystal using an electric field. To this end, the liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in a matrix, and a driving circuit for driving the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal panel includes pixel electrodes for applying an electric field to each of the liquid crystal cells and a reference electrode, that is, a common electrode. In general, the pixel electrode is formed for each liquid crystal cell on the lower substrate, while the common electrode is integrally formed on the front surface of the upper substrate. Each of the pixel electrodes is connected to a thin film transistor (TFT) used as a switching element. The liquid crystal cell is driven along with the common electrode in accordance with the data signal supplied through the TFT.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device is divided into substrate cleaning, substrate patterning, alignment film formation, substrate bonding / liquid crystal injection, and mounting process. In the substrate cleaning process, foreign substances on the substrates before and after the upper and lower substrates are patterned are removed using a cleaning agent. The substrate patterning process is divided into a deposition process, a cleaning process, a photoresist coating process, an exposure process, a developing process, an etching process, a photoresist pattern peeling process, and an inspection process. In this substrate patterning process, the upper substrate is patterned and the lower substrate is patterned. A color filter, a common electrode, a black matrix, and the like are formed on the upper substrate. Signal lines such as data lines and gate lines are formed on the lower substrate, and TFTs are formed at intersections of the data lines and gate lines, and pixel electrodes are formed in the pixel region between the data lines and the gate lines so as to be connected to the source electrodes of the TFTs. Is formed. In the substrate bonding / liquid crystal injection process, an alignment film is coated on the lower substrate and rubbed, followed by an upper / lower substrate bonding process using a seal material, liquid crystal injection, and an injection hole encapsulation process. Finally, in the mounting process, a tape carrier package (TCP) in which integrated circuits such as a gate drive and a data drive are mounted is connected to a pad portion on a substrate.

The mask used in the exposure process of the substrate patterning process of the liquid crystal display device can be defined as the shape of the pattern formed on the substrate. These masks are divided into a light transmitting part and a light blocking part that do not allow light to pass through. The shape of the pattern formed on the substrate is determined by the shape of the light transmitting part and the blocking part. Therefore, in order to form a highly reliable device, not only the patterns of the patterns engraved on the mask must be accurate, but also the alignment between the masks must be precise.

In order to form the pixel electrode using the mask, as shown in FIG. 1, the transparent conductive material 6 and the photoresist 8 are entirely coated on the substrate 4. Subsequently, the mask 2 for forming the pixel electrode is arranged on the photoresist 8. The mask 2 has a blocking portion in a region where the pixel electrode is to be formed and a light transmitting portion in other regions. In such a state that the mask 2 is aligned, the photoresist 8 is patterned by an exposure and development process and a wet etching process to form a photoresist pattern (not shown). Using this photoresist pattern as a mask, a pixel electrode is formed by an etching process in which the transparent conductive material 6 is followed by an exposure and development process. Thereafter, the photoresist pattern remaining on the substrate 4 is removed by a stripping process using a stripping liquid.

However, the masks 2 for forming the conventional pixel electrodes are formed at regular intervals, respectively. When the mask 2 is used for a long period of time, charges are concentrated at each corner, thereby generating static electricity 10. Due to the generation of the static electricity 10, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a portion of the mask 2 is damaged and the photoresist pattern 12 formed to correspond to the mask 2 is damaged. have.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device capable of preventing the static electricity of the mask.

1 is a view showing a mask for forming a conventional pixel electrode.

FIG. 2 is a view showing an electrostatic phenomenon generated between the masks shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a view illustrating a defective phenomenon of a photoresist pattern due to the static electricity shown in FIG. 2.

4 is a plan view showing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a plan view showing a mask for forming the pixel electrode shown in FIG. 4; FIG.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a photoresist pattern formed of the mask illustrated in FIG. 5. FIG.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

2,22: mask 4,31: substrate

6,52a: transparent conductive material 8: photoresist

10: static electricity 12,26: photoresist pattern

24: dummy line 32: gate line

34: data line 36: gate electrode

38: source electrode 40: drain electrode

52: pixel electrode

In order to achieve the above object, the manufacturing apparatus of the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention has a mask for determining the shape of the pattern, an exposure machine for irradiating light to the mask, and a line width smaller than the resolution of the exposure machine to achieve an equipotential between the masks It is provided with a dummy line for connecting each mask.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above object will be apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 to 6.

Referring to FIG. 4, the lower substrate 31 of the liquid crystal display according to the present invention includes a drain electrode (TFT) and a TFT (T) positioned at an intersection of the data line 34 and the gate line 32. The pixel electrode 52 connected to the 40 is provided.

The TFT T is a gate electrode 36 connected to the gate line 32, a source electrode 38 connected to the data line 34, and a drain electrode connected to the pixel electrode 52 through the contact hole 50. It consists of 40. In addition, the TFT (T) further includes a semiconductor layer (not shown) for forming a channel between the source electrode 38 and the drain electrode 40 by the gate voltage supplied to the gate electrode 36. The TFT T selectively supplies the data signal from the data line 34 to the pixel electrode 52 in response to the gate signal from the gate line 32.

The pixel electrode 52 is formed in a cell region divided by the data line 34 and the gate line 32 and is made of a transparent conductive material having high light transmittance. The pixel electrode 52 generates a potential difference from a common transparent electrode (not shown) formed on the upper substrate (not shown) by the data signal supplied through the contact hole 50. Due to this potential difference, the liquid crystal positioned between the lower substrate 31 and the upper substrate (not shown) is rotated by dielectric anisotropy. Accordingly, the light supplied from the light source via the pixel electrode 52 is transmitted toward the upper substrate.

In the mask 22 for forming the pixel electrode 52, a dummy line 24 connecting each mask 22 is formed as shown in FIG. 5. Due to the dummy line 24, each mask 22 forms an equipotential to prevent static electricity.

The dummy line 24 is formed to have a line width of about 1 μm, which is smaller than this, since the resolution of the exposure machine is generally 3 μm. Preferably, the dummy line 24 is finely formed at about 0.3 μm to 0.5 μm. Accordingly, the dummy line 24 of the mask 22 is not formed as the photoresist pattern 26 on the substrate 31 as shown in FIG. 6.

In order to form the pixel electrode 52 with the mask 22 connected to the dummy line 24, the transparent conductive material 52a and the photoresist are uniformly coated on the substrate 31 with a uniform thickness. Subsequently, the mask 22 for forming the pixel electrode 52 is aligned on the photoresist. In the state where the mask 22 connected to the dummy line 24 is aligned, the photoresist is patterned by an exposure and development process and a wet etching process so that the dummy line 24 of the mask 22 is not formed. 26 is formed. Using the photoresist pattern 26 as a mask, the pixel electrode 52 is formed by an etching process in which the transparent conductive material 52a is followed by an exposure and development process. Thereafter, the photoresist pattern 26 remaining on the lower substrate 31 is removed by a stripping process using a stripping liquid.

As described above, in the apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention, a mask having a dummy line is formed to form a pixel electrode. The mask has an equipotential between the masks due to the dummy line, thereby preventing static electricity. Accordingly, it is possible to prevent the loss of the mask due to static electricity and at the same time prevent the defect of the photoresist pattern. Furthermore, the cost due to the loss of the mask can also be reduced, resulting in higher productivity.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be determined by the scope of the utility model registration request.

Claims (1)

A mask 22 for determining the shape of the pattern, An exposure machine for irradiating light to the mask 22; And a dummy line (24) connecting each mask (22) to achieve an equipotential between the masks (22) with a line width smaller than the resolution of the exposure machine.