KR20030075945A - A liquid crystal dispensing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:An apparatus for dispensing liquid crystal is provided to grasp a residual amount of the liquid crystal by installing a transparent tube, thereby preventing waste of expensive liquid crystal. CONSTITUTION:A liquid crystal container(124) is filled with liquid crystal. Gas is applied to an upper part of the liquid crystal container to give pressure to the liquid crystal. A transparent tube(125) is installed in the liquid crystal container and is filled with the liquid crystal for measuring a residual amount of the liquid crystal by a height of the filled liquid crystal. A needle sheet(143) is mounted at a lower part of the liquid crystal container and has an exhaust hole exhausting liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container. A needle(136) is inserted into the liquid crystal container to be movable up and down. A spring(128) is installed at one end part of the needle and the other end part of the needle contacts with the exhaust hole of the needle sheet, so that the exhaust hole of the needle sheet is opened and shut by the movement of the needle. A solenoid coil(130) and a magnetic stick(132) are mounted at an upper part of the needle for generating magnetic force according to applied power source to move the needle upward. A nozzle(145) is mounted at the lower part of the liquid crystal container for dropping the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container on a substrate with an outlet(146).

Description

Liquid crystal dropping device {A LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPENSING APPARATUS}

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal dropping device, and in particular, by installing a transparent tube in a liquid crystal container to grasp the remaining amount of liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container when the liquid crystal is dropped, the dropping efficiency of the expensive liquid crystal can be improved. It relates to a liquid crystal dropping device.

Recently, with the development of various portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and notebook computers, there is a growing demand for flat panel display devices for light and thin applications. Such flat panel displays are being actively researched, such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), FED (Field Emission Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), but mass production technology, ease of driving means, Liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are in the spotlight for reasons of implementation.

LCD is a device for displaying information on the screen using the refractive anisotropy of the liquid crystal. As shown in FIG. 1, the LCD 1 is composed of a lower substrate 5 and an upper substrate 3 and a liquid crystal layer 7 formed between the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3. The lower substrate 5 is a drive element array substrate. Although not shown in the drawing, a plurality of pixels are formed on the lower substrate 5, and a driving element such as a thin film transistor (hereinafter, referred to as TFT) is formed in each pixel. The upper substrate 3 is a color filter substrate, and a color filter layer for real color is formed. In addition, a pixel electrode and a common electrode are formed on the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3, respectively, and an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7 is coated.

The lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 are bonded by a sealing material 9, and a liquid crystal layer 7 is formed therebetween by a driving element formed on the lower substrate 5. Information is displayed by controlling the amount of light passing through the liquid crystal layer by driving the liquid crystal molecules.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device can be largely divided into a driving element array substrate process of forming a driving element on the lower substrate 5, a color filter substrate process of forming a color filter on the upper substrate 3, and a cell process. However, the process of the liquid crystal display will be described with reference to FIG. 2.

First, a plurality of gate lines and data lines arranged on the lower substrate 5 to define a pixel region are formed by a driving element array process, and the gate line and the data are formed in each of the pixel regions. A thin film transistor which is a driving element connected to the line is formed (S101). In addition, the pixel electrode is connected to the thin film transistor through the driving element array process to drive the liquid crystal layer as a signal is applied through the thin film transistor.

In addition, the upper substrate 3 is formed with a color filter layer and a common electrode of R, G, B to implement the color by the color filter process (S104).

Subsequently, an alignment layer is applied to the upper substrate 3 and the lower substrate 5, respectively, and then the alignment control force or surface fixing force (ie, the liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer formed between the upper substrate 3 and the lower substrate 5). In order to provide a pretilt angle and an orientation direction, the alignment layer is rubbed (S102 and S105). Subsequently, a spacer is disposed on the lower substrate 5 to maintain a constant cell gap, and a sealing material 9 is applied to an outer portion of the upper substrate 3, and then the lower substrate 5 is disposed. And the upper substrate 3 by applying pressure (S103, S106, S107).

On the other hand, the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 is made of a large area glass substrate. In other words, a plurality of panel regions are formed on a large area glass substrate, and a TFT and a color filter layer, which are driving elements, are formed in each of the panel regions. Must be processed (S108). Thereafter, the liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal panel processed as described above through the liquid crystal inlet, and the liquid crystal inlet is encapsulated to form a liquid crystal layer. .

The liquid crystal is injected through the liquid crystal inlet formed in the panel. At this time, the injection of the liquid crystal is made by the pressure difference. 3 shows an apparatus for injecting liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel. As shown in FIG. 3, a container 12 filled with liquid crystal is provided in a vacuum chamber 10, and a liquid crystal panel 1 is positioned on an upper portion thereof. The vacuum chamber 10 is connected to a vacuum pump to maintain a set vacuum state. In addition, although not shown in the drawing, an apparatus for moving the liquid crystal panel is installed in the vacuum chamber 10 to move the liquid crystal panel 1 from the upper part of the container 12 to the container, and thus the injection hole 16 formed in the liquid crystal panel 1. ) Is brought into contact with the liquid crystal 14 (this method is referred to as a liquid crystal dipping injection method).

As described above, when nitrogen (N ₂ ) gas is supplied into the vacuum chamber 10 while the injection port 16 of the liquid crystal panel 1 is in contact with the liquid crystal 14, the vacuum degree of the chamber 10 is reduced. The liquid crystal 14 is injected into the panel 1 through the injection hole 16 by the pressure difference between the pressure inside the liquid crystal panel 1 and the vacuum chamber 10 and the liquid crystal is completely filled in the panel 1. The liquid crystal layer is formed by sealing the injection hole 16 with a sealing material (this method is called vacuum injection of liquid crystal).

However, the method of forming the liquid crystal layer by injecting liquid crystal through the injection hole 16 of the liquid crystal panel 1 in the vacuum chamber 10 as described above has the following problems.

First, the liquid crystal injection time to the panel 1 is long. In general, the distance between the driving element array substrate and the color filter substrate of the liquid crystal panel is very narrow, such as several μm, so that only a very small amount of liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal panel per unit time. For example, when a liquid crystal panel of about 15 inches is manufactured, it takes about 8 hours to completely inject the liquid crystal, and the liquid crystal panel manufacturing process is lengthened by the long-term liquid crystal injection, thereby lowering the manufacturing efficiency.

Second, the liquid crystal consumption rate is high in the liquid crystal injection method as described above. Of the liquid crystals 14 filled in the container 12, the amount injected into the liquid crystal panel 1 is a very small amount. On the other hand, when the liquid crystal is exposed to the atmosphere or a specific gas, it reacts with the gas and deteriorates and is contaminated by contact with the substrate. Therefore, even when the liquid crystal 14 filled in the container 12 is injected into the plurality of liquid crystal panels 1, the liquid crystal 14 remaining after the injection must be discarded. This leads to an increase in manufacturing cost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the foregoing, and an object thereof is to provide a liquid crystal dropping apparatus for directly dropping liquid crystal onto a large-area glass substrate including at least one liquid crystal panel.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal dropping device which can determine the remaining liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container by installing the transparent tube filled with the liquid crystal filled in the liquid crystal container in the liquid crystal container.

In order to achieve the above object, the liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to the present invention is a liquid crystal container is filled with a liquid crystal and gas is supplied to the upper pressure to the liquid crystal, and the liquid crystal container is installed in the liquid crystal container filled with liquid crystal Is a transparent liquid crystal remaining amount checking tube, a needle sheet is formed in the lower portion of the liquid crystal container and the discharge hole through which the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container is discharged, and inserted into the liquid crystal container to be able to move up and down, and one end is provided with a spring The end is a needle that is open and closed the discharge hole of the needle sheet in contact with the discharge hole of the needle sheet, and the solenoid coil for generating a magnetic force to move the needle to the upper portion is mounted on top of the needle is applied power; A magnetic rod and a lower portion of the liquid crystal container, the liquid crystal container including at least one panel; It consists of a nozzle for dropping the plate.

The tube is made of a transparent material that does not react with the liquid crystal and is mainly formed under the liquid crystal container, so that the liquid crystal filled in the liquid crystal container fills the tube. By measuring the water level of the filled tube it is possible to determine the liquid crystal residual amount of the liquid crystal container.

1 is a cross-sectional view of a general liquid crystal display device.

2 is a flowchart showing a conventional method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

3 is a view showing liquid crystal injection of a conventional liquid crystal display device.

4 is a view showing a liquid crystal display device manufactured by the liquid crystal dropping method according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device by the liquid crystal dropping method.

6 is a view showing a basic concept of the liquid crystal dropping method.

7 is a view showing the structure of a liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to the present invention.

8 is an exploded perspective view of FIG. 7;

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

101: liquid crystal panel 103, 105: substrate

107: liquid crystal 120: liquid crystal dropping device

124: liquid crystal container 125: liquid crystal remaining amount confirmation tube

127: fixing means 128: spring

130: solenoid coil 132: magnetic rod

134: clearance adjustment unit 136: needle

141,142: coupling portion 143: needle seat

In order to overcome the shortcomings of the conventional liquid crystal injection method such as the liquid crystal dipping method or the liquid crystal vacuum injection method, a method proposed in recent years is a liquid crystal layer forming method by the liquid crystal dropping method. The liquid crystal dropping method does not inject the liquid crystal by the pressure difference between the inside and the outside of the panel, but directly dropping and dispensing the liquid crystal onto the substrate and uniformly spreading the liquid crystal dropped by the panel bonding pressure throughout the panel. The liquid crystal layer is formed by distribution. Since the liquid crystal dropping method directly drops the liquid crystal onto the substrate for a short time, the liquid crystal layer formation of the large area liquid crystal display device can be performed very quickly, and only the required amount of liquid crystal is directly dropped onto the substrate. Since it is possible to minimize the consumption of the liquid crystal display device has the advantage that can significantly reduce the manufacturing cost.

4 is a view showing a basic concept of the liquid crystal dropping method. As shown in the figure, in the liquid crystal dropping method, before the lower substrate 105 and the upper substrate 103 on which the driving element and the color filter are formed, respectively, the liquid crystal 107 is droplet-shaped on the lower substrate 105. Dropping The liquid crystal 107 may be dropped on the substrate 103 on which the color filter is formed. In other words, the substrate to be the liquid crystal dropping method in the liquid crystal dropping method can be either a TFT substrate or a CF substrate. However, when the substrates are bonded, the substrate on which the liquid crystal is dropped must be placed on the lower portion.

In this case, a sealing material 109 is applied to the outer region of the upper substrate 103 to apply pressure to the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 so that the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 are bonded together. At the same time, droplets of the liquid crystal 107 are spread out by the pressure to form a liquid crystal layer having a uniform thickness between the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105. In other words, the biggest feature of the liquid crystal dropping method is that the liquid crystal 107 is previously dropped on the lower substrate before the panel 101 is bonded, and then the panel is bonded by the sealing material 109.

The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal dropping method has the following difference from the manufacturing method of the conventional liquid crystal injection method. In the conventional liquid crystal injection method, a large area glass substrate in which a plurality of panels are formed is separated into panel units, and liquid crystal is injected. In the liquid crystal drop method, a liquid crystal layer is formed by dropping a liquid crystal on a substrate in advance, and then a glass substrate is paneled. Processing can be separated in units.

The liquid crystal display device manufacturing method to which the above liquid crystal dropping method is applied is shown in FIG. 5. As shown in the figure, TFT and color filter layers, which are driving elements, are formed on the lower substrate 105 and the upper substrate 103 through the TFT array process and the color filter process, respectively (S201 and S204). The TFT array process and the color filter process are the same as those of the conventional manufacturing method shown in FIG. 2 and are collectively performed on a large-area glass substrate on which a plurality of panel regions are formed. In particular, since the liquid crystal dropping method is applied in the manufacturing method, it can be usefully used in a larger glass substrate, for example, a large area glass substrate having an area of 1000 × 1200 mm ² or more, compared with the conventional manufacturing method.

Subsequently, after the alignment layer is applied to the lower substrate 105 on which the TFT is formed and the upper substrate 103 on which the color filter layer is formed, rubbing is performed (S202 and S205), and the liquid crystal 107 is applied to the liquid crystal panel region of the lower substrate. Is added and the sealing material 109 is applied to the liquid crystal panel outer region of the upper substrate 103 (S203, S206).

Thereafter, pressure is applied while the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 are aligned, and the upper substrate 103 and the lower substrate 105 are bonded together by a sealing material and simultaneously dropped by application of pressure. The liquid crystal 107 is spread evenly over the entire panel (S207). Through this process, a plurality of liquid crystal panels having a liquid crystal layer are formed on glass substrates (lower substrates and upper substrates) having a large area. By inspecting, a liquid crystal display device is produced (S208, S209).

Comparing the difference between the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device to which the liquid crystal drop method shown in FIG. 5 is applied and the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device to which the conventional liquid crystal injection method is shown in FIG. In addition to the difference in the processing time of the area glass substrate it can be seen that there are other differences. That is, in the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device to which the liquid crystal injection method shown in FIG. 2 is applied, the injection hole must be sealed by an encapsulant after the liquid crystal is injected through the injection hole. This eliminates the need for sealing of these inlets. In addition, although not shown in FIG. 2, in the manufacturing method using the conventional liquid crystal injection method, since the substrate contacts the liquid crystal when the liquid crystal is injected, the outer surface of the panel is contaminated by the liquid crystal, thus requiring a process for cleaning the contaminated substrate. However, in the manufacturing method to which the liquid crystal dropping method is applied, since the liquid crystal is directly dropped on the substrate, the panel is not contaminated by the liquid crystal, and as a result, the cleaning process is unnecessary. As described above, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device by the liquid crystal dropping method is a simple process compared to the manufacturing method by the conventional liquid crystal injection method, so that not only the manufacturing efficiency can be improved but also the yield can be improved.

In the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device in which the liquid crystal dropping method is introduced as described above, the most important factors for accurately forming the liquid crystal layer to a desired thickness are the position of the liquid crystal to be dropped and the amount of liquid crystal dropping. In particular, since the thickness of the liquid crystal layer has a close relationship with the cell gap of the liquid crystal panel, the accurate dropping position and the dropping amount of the liquid crystal are very important factors for preventing defects of the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, there is a need for a liquid crystal dropping device for dropping the correct amount of liquid crystal at the correct position.

FIG. 6 is a view showing a basic concept of dropping the liquid crystal 107 onto a substrate (large area glass substrate) 105 using the liquid crystal dropping device 120. As shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the liquid crystal dropping device 120 is provided above the substrate 105. Although not shown in the figure, a liquid crystal is filled in the liquid crystal dropping device 120 to drop a predetermined amount onto the substrate.

Typically, the liquid crystal is dropped onto the substrate in the form of droplets. Since the substrate 105 moves at a set speed in the x and y directions, and the liquid crystal dropping device discharges the liquid crystal at a set time interval, the liquid crystal 107 dropped on the substrate 105 at regular intervals in the x and y directions. Is placed. Of course, the liquid crystal dropping substrate 105 may be fixed and the liquid crystal dropping apparatus 120 may move in the x and y directions to drop the liquid crystal at a predetermined interval. However, in this case, since the droplet-shaped liquid crystals are shaken by the movement of the liquid crystal dropping device 120, an error may occur in the dropping position and the dropping amount of the liquid crystal. Therefore, the liquid crystal dropping device 120 is fixed and the substrate 105 is moved. It is desirable to.

FIG. 7 is a view showing a liquid crystal dropping device, FIG. 7 (a) is a view showing the structure of the liquid crystal when it is dropping, and FIG. 7 (b) is a view showing the structure of the liquid crystal dropping, and FIG. 8 is a decomposition of FIG. Perspective view.

As shown in the figure, in the liquid crystal dropping device 120 of the present invention, the liquid crystal is filled in the cylindrical liquid crystal container 124. The liquid crystal container 124 is made of a metal such as stainless steel, and although not shown in the drawing, a gas supply pipe connected to an external gas supply unit is formed at an upper portion thereof. A gas such as nitrogen is supplied from an external gas supply unit through the gas supply pipe to fill a region in which the liquid crystal is not filled in the liquid crystal container 124 to apply pressure to the liquid crystal, thereby dropping the liquid crystal.

The transparent tube 125 is mounted on the side of the liquid crystal container 124. Since the tube 125 penetrates the lower sidewall of the liquid crystal container 124 and is formed at a height substantially similar to that of the liquid crystal container 124, the liquid crystal 107 of the liquid crystal container 124 is filled with the tube 125. do. The tube 125 is a liquid crystal remaining amount confirming tube for confirming the remaining amount of the liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container 124 when the liquid crystal 107 is dripping. The reason for installing the liquid crystal remaining amount confirmation tube 125 is as follows.

The liquid crystal container 124 of the liquid crystal dropping device 120 is filled with a limited liquid crystal 107. Therefore, when dropping liquid crystal onto the substrate, after dropping the liquid crystal onto the set number of substrates, the liquid crystal container 124 must be filled with a new liquid crystal 107 again. However, the liquid crystal of the set dripping amount does not always drop on the board | substrate when dripping liquid crystal. A small change may occur in the amount of liquid crystal dropped by factors such as an external environment, and a large difference may occur in the total drop amount and the total drop amount set on the actual substrate by the change of the minute drop amount. For example, when the actual amount of liquid crystal dropping is larger than the set dropping amount, the amount of liquid crystal smaller than the set amount is dropped on the last dropping substrate among the plurality of substrates on which the liquid crystal is dropped by one liquid crystal container 124. As such, when a liquid crystal of less than the set amount is dropped on a specific substrate, when the liquid crystal display device is manufactured, a problem occurs in the black luminance of the liquid crystal display device of the normally black mode and normally In the case of a white mode liquid crystal display, a problem occurs in white luminance.

On the contrary, when the actual liquid crystal drop amount is less than the set liquid crystal drop amount, all liquid crystals filled in one liquid crystal container 124 are dropped and an excessive amount of liquid crystal remains in the liquid crystal container 124. The remaining liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container 124 is exposed to the air when the new liquid crystal is filled, and reacts with the components (especially, moisture) in the air, and thus must be disposed of. In particular, when the amount of the remaining liquid crystal is larger than the dropping amount dropping on one substrate, the remaining liquid crystal can be dropped on the substrate. Thus, the disposal of the liquid crystal as described above is an obstacle to reducing the manufacturing cost of the liquid crystal display device. do.

Therefore, even when the drop amount of the liquid crystal is set, the operator should always check the remaining amount of the liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container 124 to prevent the expensive liquid crystal from being disposed of unnecessarily.

As described above, since the liquid crystal container 124 of the liquid crystal dropping device 120 is made of opaque stainless steel, it is impossible for an operator to check the remaining amount of liquid crystal in the liquid crystal container 124 during the dropping process.

In the present invention, the remaining amount of liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container 124 can be confirmed by using the transparent tube 125 for liquid crystal remaining amount confirmation. Since the transparent tube 125 penetrates the liquid crystal container 124, the liquid crystal 107 filled in the liquid crystal container 124 flows in to fill the liquid crystal at the same level as that of the liquid crystal container 124. By checking the level of the liquid crystal 107 filled in the can be confirmed the remaining amount of the liquid crystal container 124 from time to time. Accordingly, when the remaining amount of the liquid crystal container 124 is smaller than the set remaining amount (subtracted from the total filling amount) or the remaining amount is larger than the set remaining amount, the liquid crystal can be dropped efficiently by adjusting the number of substrates on which the liquid crystal is dropped. Done.

The tube 125 may be, for example, a transparent tube formed of a material having a high strength, such as quartz, or may be formed of a flexible tube made of a fluorine resin component such as teflon. The material constituting the tube 125 is not limited to a specific material, and any material may be used as long as it is a transparent material that does not react with the liquid crystal 107.

In addition, the tube 125 may be installed at any position of the liquid crystal container 124, but in order to check the remaining amount of all liquid crystals 107 filled in the liquid crystal container 124, the lower portion of the rear liquid crystal container 107 may be used. It is preferably installed in. At this time, a ring-shaped fixing means 127 is mounted on the upper portion of the liquid crystal container 124, and the tube 125 is inserted into and fixed to the ring.

As described above, a protrusion 138 is formed at the lower end of the liquid crystal container 124 in which the tube 125 is installed to be coupled to the first coupling part 141. A nut is formed in the protrusion 138 and a bolt is formed at one side of the first coupling part 141, so that the protrusion 138 and the first coupling part 141 are fastened by the nut and the bolt.

A nut is formed at the other end of the first coupling part 141, and a bolt is formed at one end of the second coupling part 142 to fasten the first coupling part 141 and the second coupling part 142. . In this case, a needle sheet 143 is positioned between the first coupling part 141 and the second coupling part 142. The needle seat 143 is inserted into the nut of the first coupling part 141 and the first coupling part 141 and the second coupling part 142 when the bolt of the second coupling part 142 is inserted and fastened. Are coupled between. A discharge hole 144 is formed in the needle sheet 143 so that the liquid crystal 107 filled in the liquid crystal container 124 is discharged through the discharge hole 144.

In addition, the nozzle 145 is coupled to the second coupling portion 142. The nozzle 145 is for dropping a small amount of the liquid crystal 107 filled in the liquid crystal container 124, the second coupling portion 142 is fastened with a nut of one end of the second coupling portion (145) 142 and a discharge port 146 protruding from the support 147 to drop a small amount of liquid crystal onto the substrate in a drop shape. A discharge pipe extending from the discharge hole 144 of the needle sheet 143 is formed in the support part 147, and the discharge pipe is connected to the discharge hole 146. Typically, the outlet 146 of the nozzle 145 has a very small diameter (to adjust the fine liquid crystal dropping amount) and protrudes from the support 147.

The needle 136 is inserted into the liquid crystal container 124 so that one end thereof contacts the needle sheet 143. In particular, since the end portion of the needle 136 in contact with the needle sheet 143 has a conical shape, when the needle 136 is in contact with the needle sheet 143, the end of the conical needle 136 is in the needle sheet. It is inserted into the discharge hole 144 of 143 to block the discharge hole.

In addition, a spring 128 is mounted at the other end of the needle 136 located in the upper case 126 of the liquid crystal dropping device 120, and a magnetic rod having a gap adjusting part 134 attached thereon. 132 is mounted. The magnetic rod 132 is made of a ferromagnetic material or a soft magnetic material, the outside of the cylindrical solenoid coil 130 is installed. Although not shown in the drawing, the solenoid coil 130 is connected to a power supply means to supply power, and as the power is applied, a magnetic force is generated in the magnetic rod 132.

The needle 136 and the magnetic rod 132 are provided at a predetermined interval (x). When the power is supplied to the solenoid coil 130 to generate a magnetic force on the magnetic rod 132, the magnetic force causes the magnetic rod. Needle 136 is raised to reach the magnetic rod 132, when the power supply is stopped by the elasticity of the spring 128 installed at the end of the needle 136 is restored to its original position. The discharge hole 144 formed in the needle sheet 143 is opened or closed by the vertical movement of the needle 136. The end of the needle 136 and the needle seat 143 is repeatedly contacted as power is supplied to the solenoid coil 130 and stopped. Due to such repeated contact, the end of the needle 136 and the needle seat 143 are exposed to a constant impact, so there is a possibility of breakage. Therefore, it is preferable that the end of the needle 136 and the needle sheet 143 is formed of a material resistant to impact, for example, cemented carbide, to prevent breakage due to impact.

When power is supplied to the solenoid coil 130, as shown in FIG. 7B, the discharge hole 144 of the needle sheet 143 is opened by the raising of the needle 136 to the liquid crystal container 124. Nitrogen supplied pressurizes the liquid crystal, and the liquid crystal 107 starts to drop from the nozzle 145. At this time, the amount of the liquid crystal 107 is dropped depends on the time that the discharge hole 144 of the needle sheet 143 is opened and the pressure applied to the liquid crystal, the open time is the needle 136 and the magnetic rod 132 Is determined by the magnetic force of the magnetic rod 132 generated by the solenoid coil 130 and the elastic force of the spring 128 installed on the needle 136. The magnetic force of the magnetic rod 132 may be adjusted according to the number of windings of the solenoid coil 130 installed around the magnetic rod 132 or the size of the power applied to the solenoid coil 130, and the needle 136 and the magnetic rod ( The interval x of the 132 can be adjusted by the gap adjusting unit 134 provided at the end of the magnetic rod 132.

As described above, the present invention provides a liquid crystal dropping device for directly dropping a liquid crystal onto a substrate. Particularly, in the present invention, the liquid crystal container 124 and the liquid crystal container 124 penetrating the remaining amount of liquid crystal are installed in the liquid crystal container 124 of the liquid crystal 107 by measuring the liquid crystal level of the tube 125. The remaining amount of the liquid crystal 107 can be checked at any time. The present invention is not limited to the liquid crystal dropping device having a specific structure. Although the above-mentioned detailed description discloses a liquid crystal dropping device having a specific structure, the liquid crystal dropping device merely shows an example of the present invention, and the liquid crystal dropping of any structure having a transparent liquid crystal remaining tube which is the biggest feature of the present invention. If the device also uses the present invention anyone who is in the technical field to which the present invention belongs can be easily applied.

As described above, in the present invention, a transparent tube for checking the remaining amount of liquid crystal is provided in the liquid crystal container of the liquid crystal dropping device. Therefore, the remaining amount of the liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container during the loading of the liquid crystal can always be grasped, and as a result, it is possible to prevent expensive liquid crystals from being wasted.

Claims (10)

A liquid crystal container in which a liquid crystal is filled and a gas is supplied to the upper part to apply pressure to the liquid crystal; A transparent tube installed in the liquid crystal container and filled with a liquid crystal filled in the liquid crystal container; A needle sheet mounted below the liquid crystal container and having a discharge hole through which liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container is discharged; A needle inserted into the liquid crystal container so as to be movable up and down, and having a spring installed at one end thereof, and a discharge hole of the needle sheet opened and closed as the other end contacts the discharge hole of the needle sheet and moves up and down; A solenoid coil and a magnetic rod mounted on an upper portion of the needle to generate a magnetic force to move the needle to an upper portion when power is applied; And And a nozzle mounted below the liquid crystal container and dropping liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container onto a substrate including at least one panel. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal dropping device is installed under the liquid crystal container, and combines the liquid crystal container, the nozzle and the needle sheet, and further comprises a coupling means. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal container is made of an opaque material. 4. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the liquid crystal container is made of stainless steel. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube is a transparent tube made of quartz. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube is made of a fluorine resin. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the tube is formed under the liquid crystal container. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the tube is formed at a height substantially equal to that of the liquid crystal container. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a fixing means installed in the liquid crystal container to fix the tube. In the liquid crystal dropping apparatus for dropping a liquid crystal filled in a liquid crystal container on a substrate, And a transparent tube installed in the liquid crystal container to fill a liquid crystal of the liquid crystal container and measuring a residual amount of liquid crystal remaining in the liquid crystal container by the height of the filled liquid crystal.