KR20030015778A - Apparatus and method of forming pattern spacer using the printing process - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: An apparatus and a method for forming a pattern spacer using printing is provided to form a spacer to have an uniform density, thereby maintaining uniform cell gaps of liquid crystal cells. CONSTITUTION: An apparatus for forming a pattern spacer using printing includes a substrate(80) for spacer supply having grooves(80A) formed on an uneven surface of the substrate to which a spacer material is inserted, a roller arranged on the substrate for spacer supply so that spacer material patterns of the substrate for spacer supply are transferred to the roller, and a substrate for a display element forming a spacer by transferring the spacer material patterns by the rotation of the roller in printing direction.

Description

Apparatus and method for forming pattern spacer using printing method {APPARATUS AND METHOD OF FORMING PATTERN SPACER USING THE PRINTING PROCESS}

The present invention relates to a spacer of a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a pattern spacer forming apparatus and a method using a printing method capable of maintaining a cell gap uniformly.

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 LCD 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. 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 (hereinafter referred to as "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. Such LCDs can be miniaturized compared to CRTs, and are widely used in personal computers and notebook computers, as well as office automation devices such as photocopiers, mobile phones and pagers.

Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional LCD includes a top plate composed of a black matrix 32, a color filter 30, a transparent electrode 28, and an alignment layer 34 sequentially formed on an upper substrate 11, and a lower substrate. (1) a lower plate composed of a TFT, a pixel electrode 22, and an alignment film 24, a spacer 26 formed between the upper plate and the lower plate, and an inner space provided by the upper plate, the lower plate, and the spacer 26. And liquid crystal (not shown) to be injected.

Looking at the manufacturing process of the LCD having such a configuration, the manufacturing process of the top plate is as shown in Figures 2a to 2d.

Referring to FIG. 2A, a black matrix 32 is formed on the upper substrate 11. The black matrix 32 is formed by coating or depositing and patterning an opaque metal such as opaque resin and chromium on the upper substrate 11. In this case, the black matrix 32 is formed in the form of a matrix on the upper substrate 11 to divide the surface of the upper substrate 11 into a plurality of cell regions in which the color filters 30 are to be formed, as well as light between adjacent cells. It serves to prevent interference.

As shown in FIG. 2B, color filters 30A, 30B, and 30C of red, green, and blue primary colors are sequentially formed on the upper substrate 11 on which the black matrix 32 is formed. In this case, each of the three primary color filters 30 is positioned in some of the cell regions divided by the black matrix 32, that is, in a cell region corresponding to 1/3 of the cell region. Each of the three primary color filters 30 absorbs a white light source on the front of the upper substrate 11 on which the black matrix 32 is formed, and then applies a material that transmits only a specific wavelength (red, green, or blue) light and then patterning the color filter 30. It is formed by.

Referring to FIG. 2C, a transparent electrode 28 is formed on the upper substrate 11 on which the black matrix 32 and the color filter 30 are formed. The transparent electrode 28 is supplied with a common voltage and is formed by depositing a transparent conductive film.

After the entirety of the alignment layer 34 is applied to the upper substrate 11 formed as shown in FIG. 2D, the top plate is completed by performing a rubbing process.

In the lower panel, the TFT is formed at the intersection of the gate line 2 and the data line 4 as shown in FIG. 3 and overlaps at least one of the data line 4 and the gate line 2 ( 22 are arranged in a matrix and formed on the lower substrate 1.

In detail, a gate line (not shown) and a gate electrode 6 are formed as shown in FIG. 4A by patterning and depositing a metal film on the lower substrate 1. The gate insulating film 12 is formed on the lower substrate so as to cover the gate line 2 and the gate electrode 6. By sequentially depositing and patterning the first and second semiconductor materials 14 and 16 on the gate insulating layer 12, the active layer 14 and the ohmic contact layer 16 are formed as shown in FIG. 4B. Subsequently, a metal film is deposited on the gate insulating film 12 and then patterned to form a data line (not shown), a source electrode 8 and a drain electrode 10 as shown in FIG. 4C, and then a channel having a predetermined size. The ohmic contact layer 16 is etched to form the active layer 14 so that the active layer 14 is exposed. The contact hole 20 is formed so that the drain electrode 10 is exposed as shown in FIG. 4D by patterning the surface of the organic passivation film 18 on the gate insulating film by spin coating. Next, a transparent conductive material is deposited and patterned on the protective layer 18 to form a pixel electrode 22 electrically connected to the drain electrode 10 as shown in FIG. 4E. As shown in FIG. 4F, after the alignment layer 24 is coated on the entire surface of the lower substrate 1 on which the pixel electrode 22 is formed, a rubbing process is performed to complete the lower plate.

As described above, the spherical spacers 26 are scattered on the separately formed upper or lower plates by using a spray nozzle. Thereafter, the LCD is completed by bonding the upper and lower plates together and injecting liquid crystal between the bonded upper and lower plates.

The spacers 26 should be sprayed evenly to maintain a uniform cell gap of the liquid crystal cell. However, in the conventional method of dispersing the spacers 26, the spacers 26 may have non-uniform density because the spacers 26 may not be uniformly distributed on the upper and lower plates. As a result, the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell becomes nonuniform, causing unevenness in the display surface.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus and method for forming a pattern spacer using a printing method capable of maintaining a cell gap uniformly.

1 is a cross-sectional view showing a conventional liquid crystal display device.

2A to 2D are sectional views showing the manufacturing process of the upper plate shown in FIG.

3 is a plan view illustrating the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 1.

4A to 4F are cross-sectional views illustrating a manufacturing process of a lower plate cut along the line “A-A '” shown in FIG. 3.

5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a liquid crystal display device including a pattern spacer according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

6A to 6D are sectional views showing the manufacturing process of the upper plate shown in FIG.

7A to 7F are cross-sectional views illustrating a manufacturing process of the lower plate illustrated in FIG. 5.

8A to 8D are cross-sectional views illustrating a method of forming the spacer illustrated in FIG. 5 in stages.

<Explanation of symbols for main parts of drawing>

1, 41: lower substrate 2: gate line

4: data line 6, 46: gate electrode

8, 48 source electrode 10, 50 drain electrode

12, 52: gate insulating film 14, 54: active layer

16, 56: ohmic contact layer 18, 58: protective layer

20, 60: contact hole 22, 62: pixel electrode

24, 34, 64, 74: alignment layer 26, 66: spacer

28, 68: transparent electrode 30, 70: color filter

32, 72: Black Matrix 80: Cliché Board

82: organic matter 84: doctor blade

86: roller

In order to achieve the above object, the pattern spacer forming apparatus using the printing method according to the present invention is a spacer for supplying a spacer material is injected into each of the grooves of the uneven surface, and the spacer material pattern on the spacer supply substrate on the surface And a roller for being transferred and a substrate for a display device on which the spacer material pattern is transferred by the rotation of the roller to form a spacer.

The spacer material is formed of any one of an acryl organic compound capable of forming a polymer, Teflon, benzocyclobutene (BCB), cytotope, and perfluorocyclobutene (PFCB). It is characterized by.

The spacer supply substrate is formed of any one of glass, plastic, and metal material.

The method of forming a pattern spacer using the printing method according to the present invention comprises the steps of injecting a spacer material into each of the grooves of the uneven surface of the substrate for supplying the uneven surface, the pattern of the spacer material on the spacer supply substrate is transferred to the surface of the roller And inverting and transferring the spacer material pattern by the rotation of the roller on the display device substrate.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above objects 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. 5 to 8D.

Referring to FIG. 5, the LCD according to the present invention includes a top plate composed of a black matrix 72, a color filter 70, a transparent electrode 68, and an alignment layer 74 sequentially formed on the upper substrate 51; A lower plate composed of a TFT and a pixel electrode 62 and an alignment layer 64 formed on the lower substrate 41, a pattern spacer 66 formed between the upper and lower plates, and the upper and lower plates and the spacers 66. A liquid crystal (not shown) injected into the inner space is provided.

The manufacturing process of the top plate in the manufacturing process of the LCD having such a configuration is as shown in Figures 6a to 6d and the same as the contents of the prior art will be omitted.

In the lower plate, the TFT is formed by depositing a metal film on the lower substrate 41 and then patterning the gate electrode 46 as shown in FIG. 7A. The gate insulating film 52 is formed on the lower substrate so as to cover the gate electrode 46. By sequentially depositing and patterning the first and second semiconductor materials 54 and 56 on the gate insulating layer 52, the active layer 54 and the ohmic contact layer 56 are formed as shown in FIG. 7B. Subsequently, a metal film is deposited on the gate insulating film 52 and then patterned to form a source electrode 48 and a drain electrode 50 as shown in FIG. 7C, and then form an ohmic contact layer to form a channel having a predetermined size. Etch 56 to expose the active layer 54. Then, the contact hole 60 is exposed so that the drain electrode 50 is exposed as shown in FIG. 7D by patterning the surface of the protective layer 58 on the gate insulating film 52 by spin coating. Is formed. Next, a transparent conductive material is deposited and patterned on the protective layer 58 to form a pixel electrode 62 electrically connected to the drain electrode 50 as shown in FIG. 7E. As shown in FIG. 7F, after the alignment layer 64 is coated on the entire surface of the lower substrate 41 on which the pixel electrode 62 is formed, a rubbing process is performed to complete the lower plate.

The pattern spacer 66 is formed on the upper or lower plate after the process of FIGS. 6 to 7 to uniformly maintain the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell. Thereafter, the LCD is completed by bonding the upper and lower plates together and injecting liquid crystal between the bonded upper and lower plates.

8A to 8D are cross-sectional views showing a pattern spacer forming method using a printing method according to the present invention.

The spacer 66 is formed on the upper plate or the lower plate by gravure offset printing and serves to maintain the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell. A groove 80A is formed in the cliché substrate 80 to correspond to a predetermined position of the upper or lower plate on which the spacer 66 is to be formed.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the spacer forming method according to the gravure offset printing method according to the present invention first prepares the cliché substrate 80 having the uneven groove 80A having the same pattern as the spacer 66. The cliché substrate 80 is formed of glass, plastic, or a metal material, and the grooves 80A are formed by the surface irregularities by the mold method.

Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 7B, an acryl organic compound, Teflon, and benzocyclobutene (BCB) which may form a polymer on the cliché substrate 80 having the groove 80A formed therein. ), A cytoplasm (cytop), perfluorocyclobutene (perfluorocyclobutene (PFCB)), such as a small dielectric constant 82 is injected into the groove (80A) of the uneven surface. Then, the doctor blade 84 is used to uniformly distribute the organic material 82 injected into the groove 80A of the uneven surface of the cliché substrate 80.

As shown in FIG. 8C, rollers 86 coated with silicon having good hydrophilicity on the surface are aligned on the cliché substrate 80. When the roller 86 is advanced in the printing direction, the organic matter 82 filled in the grooves 80A of the cliché substrate 80 is attracted to the roller 86.

The roller 86 having the organic matter 82 adsorbed according to the pattern of the groove 80A is thus advanced to the upper plate or the lower plate 88 as shown in FIG. 8D in the same printing direction as described above. Accordingly, the spacers 66 are formed by forming the organic material 82 pattern on the upper or lower plate 88 in the same manner as the pattern of the grooves 80A. As a result, the spacer 66 may be formed at a predetermined position of the upper plate or the lower plate 88, thereby uniformly distributing the spacer 66.

As described above, in the spacer forming apparatus and method using the printing method according to the present invention, the spacer can be formed to have a uniform density by using a cliché substrate having grooves formed therein. Accordingly, the spacer forming apparatus and method using the printing method according to the present invention can maintain the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell uniformly.

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 defined by the claims.

Claims (8)

A spacer supply substrate into which spacer material is injected into each of the grooves of the uneven surface; A roller on which a spacer material pattern on the substrate for supplying spacers is transferred to a surface; And a display element substrate on which the spacer material pattern is transferred by rotation of the roller to form a spacer. The method of claim 1, The spacer material is formed of any one of an acryl organic compound capable of forming a polymer, Teflon, benzocyclobutene (BCB), cytotope, and perfluorocyclobutene (PFCB). Pattern spacer forming apparatus using a printing method characterized in that. The method of claim 1, The spacer supply substrate is a pattern spacer forming apparatus using a printing method, characterized in that formed of any one of glass, plastic, metal material. The method of claim 1, And a doctor blade for uniformizing the surface of the spacer supply substrate including the spacer material injected into the groove. Injecting a spacer material into each of the grooves of the uneven surface of the substrate for supplying the uneven surface of the spacer; Transferring the spacer material pattern on the spacer supply substrate to the surface of the roller; And inverting and transferring the spacer material pattern by the rotation of the roller on the substrate for display element. The method of claim 5, The spacer material is formed of any one of an acryl organic compound capable of forming a polymer, Teflon, benzocyclobutene (BCB), cytotope, and perfluorocyclobutene (PFCB). Pattern spacer forming apparatus using a printing method characterized in that. The method of claim 5, The spacer supply substrate is a pattern spacer forming apparatus using a printing method, characterized in that formed of any one of glass, plastic, metal material. The method of claim 5, And rubbing with a doctor blade such that the surface of the spacer supply substrate including the spacer material injected into the groove is uniform.