KR20040043207A - substrates bonding device for manufacturing of liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A substrate combining apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display is provided to process substrates having various thicknesses. CONSTITUTION: A substrate combining apparatus includes a base frame(100), upper and lower chamber units(210,220), upper and lower stages(230,240), a gap controller, a sealing member(250), and an upper chamber moving unit. The upper chamber unit includes an upper base(211) and an upper chamber plate(212). The lower chamber unit includes a lower base(221) and a lower chamber plate(222). The gap controller includes a moving axis(411) protruded downward to come into contact with the lower chamber unit, and a moving part(410) one end of which is fixed to the upper chamber unit. The moving part moves the moving axis downward. The moving axis maintains a specific gap between the upper and lower chamber units.

Description

Substrate bonding device for manufacturing of liquid crystal display

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process employing a liquid crystal dropping method which is advantageous for a large area liquid crystal display device.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms, and in recent years, the LCD (Lipuid Crystal Display Device), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), ELD (Electro Luminescent Display), and VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent) Various flat panel display devices such as displays have been studied, and some of them are already used as display devices in various devices.

Among them, LCDs are being used a lot while replacing CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) for mobile image display devices due to the advantages of excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption.

As described above, although various technical advances have been made in the liquid crystal display device to serve as a screen display device in many fields, the operation of improving the image quality as the screen display device has many aspects and features. .

Therefore, in order for a liquid crystal display device to be used in various parts as a general screen display device, the key to development is how much high definition images such as high definition, high brightness, and large area can be realized while maintaining the characteristics of light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. It can be said.

As the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device as described above, the conventional liquid crystal injection method for injecting the liquid crystal through the injection hole of the sealing agent after bonding the substrate in vacuum, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-089612 and 11-172903 One substrate in which the liquid crystal and the seal material proposed in the publication is dropped can be largely classified into a liquid crystal integration method in which the other substrate and the other substrate are bonded in a vacuum.

FIG. 1 illustrates a substrate bonding apparatus to which a liquid crystal accumulation method is applied among the conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing methods as described above.

That is, in the conventional substrate bonding apparatus, the frame 10, the stage portions 21 and 22, the sealant discharge portion (not shown), the liquid crystal dropping portion 30, the chamber portion 31, 32), chamber moving means, and stage moving means.

At this time, the stage portion is divided into an upper stage 21 and a lower stage 22, respectively, the sealant discharge portion and the liquid crystal dropping portion 30 is mounted on the side of the position where the bonding process of the frame is made, the chamber The unit is divided into an upper chamber unit 31 and a lower chamber unit 32 so as to be merged with each other.

In addition, the chamber moving means is composed of a drive motor 40 for driving the lower chamber unit 32 to move to the position where the bonding process is performed, or the position where the discharge of the sealant and the dropping of the liquid crystal is performed, The stage moving means is composed of a drive motor 50 for driving the upper stage to move up or down.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device using the conventional substrate bonding apparatus will be described in more detail based on the process sequence.

First, any one substrate 51 is carried in and attached to the upper stage by the loader, and then another substrate is carried in and attached to the lower stage 22 by the loader.

In this state, the lower chamber unit 32 having the lower stage 22 is moved onto the process position S1 for applying the sealant and dropping the liquid crystal as shown in FIG. 1 by the chamber moving means 40.

In addition, when the application of the sealant by the sealant discharge part and the liquid crystal accumulator 30 and the liquid crystal dropping in the above state are completed, the process for bonding between substrates as shown in FIG. 2 by the chamber moving means 40 is performed again. It moves on the position S2.

Thereafter, the chamber units 31 and 32 are bonded to each other by the chamber moving means 40 to seal the space in which the stages 21 and 22 are located, and to make the space vacuum by a separate vacuum means. do.

The substrate 51 attached to the upper stage 21 is fixed to the lower stage 22 while the upper stage 21 moves downward by the stage moving means 50 in the vacuum state. 52) and the bonding between the substrates through continuous pressing, the manufacturing of the liquid crystal display device is completed.

However, the conventional substrate bonding apparatus as described above has the following problems.

First, since the conventional substrate bonding apparatus is configured to apply a separate sealant or liquid crystal dropping to the substrate on which the thin film transistor and the color filter layer are formed, and the bonding between the substrates are performed in the same equipment, There is a problem that was forced to grow in size.

Second, there is a problem that it takes a long time to vacuum the space because the space for performing the bonding between the substrates is unnecessarily large.

Third, the thickness of each substrate is different depending on the type, but it is difficult to adjust the operation distance of each stage according to the type of each substrate as described above.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned various problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, which can reduce the overall size and appropriately correspond to the thickness of each substrate. .

1 and 2 is a block diagram showing a substrate bonding apparatus of the conventional manufacturing equipment of the liquid crystal display device

3 is a schematic view showing a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention

4 is a configuration diagram showing an operation state according to the substrate thickness of the substrate bonding apparatus for the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process according to the invention

5 and 6 are schematic diagrams illustrating a substrate loading process of a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention;

7 to 9 are schematic diagrams illustrating a process of bonding between substrates by a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of drawings

100. Base Frame 110. 1st board

120. Second substrate 210. Upper chamber unit

220. Lower chamber unit 230. Upper stage

240. Lower stage 250. Third sealing member

410. Moving part 411. Moving shaft

420. Seal member

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object; An upper chamber unit and a lower chamber unit mounted on the base frame and coupled to each other; An upper stage and a lower stage which are respectively provided in an inner space of each chamber unit to fix a pair of substrates; One end is fixed to one chamber unit, the other end is moved up and down, the interval adjusting means for pushing the other chamber unit; And a sealing member provided on a surface of the one chamber unit to seal a space provided with each stage from an external space thereof, wherein the substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process is provided. .

In addition, the present invention is a first step of checking the thickness of the two substrates to be worked in order to vary the control by the thickness of each substrate using the substrate bonding apparatus described above; A second step of checking a protruding distance of a moving shaft of the gap adjusting means according to the thickness of each of the identified substrates; A third step of driving the gap adjusting means to protrude the moving shaft by the identified protruding distance of the moving shaft is provided.

Hereinafter, with reference to Figures 3 to 9 attached to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in more detail as follows.

First, FIG. 3 shown shows the bonding apparatus for liquid crystal display element manufacturing process of this invention.

As can be seen through the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention, the base frame 100, the upper chamber unit 210 and the lower chamber unit 220, the upper stage 230 and the lower stage 240, the gap adjustment Means and the sealing member 250 is included, and the upper chamber moving means is further included.

The base frame 100 constituting the bonding apparatus of the present invention forms the appearance of the bonding apparatus in a state fixed to the ground, and serves to support the other components.

In addition, the upper chamber unit 210 and the lower chamber unit 220 are mounted on the upper and lower ends of the base frame 100, respectively, and are coupled to each other.

The upper chamber unit 210 is tightly fixed to the upper base 211 exposed to the external environment and the bottom surface of the upper base 211, the inside of the upper chamber plate made of a rectangular frame having an arbitrary space 212 is configured.

In this case, an upper stage 230 is provided in an arbitrary space formed in the upper chamber plate 212, and the upper stage 230 is mounted to interlock with the upper chamber unit 210.

In addition, a sealing member (hereinafter referred to as a “first sealing member”) 213 is provided between the upper base 211 and the upper chamber plate 212 constituting the upper chamber unit 210 so that the upper chamber plate is provided. The inner space of 212 is blocked from the outer space.

In addition, the lower chamber unit 220 is mounted on the lower base 221 fixed to the base frame 100 and on the upper surface of the lower base 221 so as to be movable in the front, rear, left and right directions, and the inside thereof. Is configured to include a lower chamber plate 222 made of a rectangular frame having any space.

In this case, a lower stage 240 is provided in an arbitrary space formed in the lower chamber plate 222, and the lower stage 240 is fixed to an upper surface of the lower base 221.

Of course, the lower chamber unit 220 may further include a fixing plate 223 for stable fixing between the base frame 100 and the lower base 221 as shown in the embodiment of the present invention. .

In addition, since the sealing member (hereinafter referred to as a "second sealing member") 224 is provided between the lower base 221 and the lower chamber plate 222 constituting the lower chamber unit 220, The space between the lower stage 240 inside the lower chamber plate 222 and the outer space other than the two sealing members 224 is blocked from each other.

In addition, at least one support portion 225 is provided between the lower base 221 and the lower chamber plate 222 so that the lower chamber plate 222 is spaced apart from the lower base 221 by a predetermined interval. maintain.

At this time, one end of the support part 225 is fixed to the bottom of the lower chamber plate 222, and the other end thereof is free to flow in a horizontal direction from a part fixed to the bottom of the lower base 221. Is mounted.

The support unit 225 allows the lower chamber plate 222 to be freed from the lower base 221 so that the lower chamber plate 222 can be moved back and forth and left and right.

Each of the stages 230 and 240 may include fixed plates 231 and 241 fixed to the chamber units 210 and 220, adsorption plates 232 and 242 to which each substrate is fixed, and respective fixing plates 231 and 241 and adsorption plates 232 and 242. It is configured to include a plurality of fixed blocks (233, 243) provided between.

At this time, each of the adsorption plates 232 and 242 is composed of an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for fixing each substrate by electrostatic power.

In addition, each of the suction plates 232 and 242 is provided with a plurality of vacuum holes (not shown) through which a vacuum force is transmitted.

In addition, the gap adjusting means protrudes downward and moves to contact the lower chamber unit 220, one end of which is fixed to the upper chamber unit 210, and a moving part which moves the movable shaft 411 downward. 410 is formed.

At this time, the moving unit 410 is to move the moving shaft 411 by a precise distance, such as a linear actuator, a step motor, or a linear motor, in the embodiment of the present invention applies a step motor.

In addition, the moving shaft 410 is in contact with the lower chamber plate 222 of the lower chamber unit 210 serves to maintain a constant distance between the lower chamber unit 220 and the upper chamber unit 210. Do this.

In particular, a seal member for preventing surface damage of the lower chamber plate 222 due to contact with the moving shaft 411 on the surface of the lower chamber plate 222 which is a portion where the moving shaft 411 is contacted ( 420 is urinary mounted.

In addition, the downward movement distance of the moving shaft 411 is set according to the thickness of each substrate (110, 120) of each model.

That is, the initial position of the moving shaft 411 is located at a height such that it does not protrude from the surface of the lower chamber plate 222, and protrudes only by the protruding distance set according to the thickness of each of the substrates 110 and 120, each substrate The interval between (110, 120) is to be maintained in the desired range.

In addition, the sealing member (hereinafter referred to as a “third sealing member”) 250 is an O-ring mounted to protrude to an arbitrary height along the upper surface of the lower chamber plate 222 of the lower chamber unit 220. ring), the O-ring is formed of a rubber material.

In this case, the third sealing member 250 has a thickness such that a pair of substrates 110 and 120 fixed to each stage 230 and 240 of the inner space when the chamber units 210 and 220 are coupled to each other does not come into close contact with each other. It is formed to have.

Of course, when the third sealing member 250 is compressed, it is natural that the pair of substrates 110 and 120 are formed to have a thickness enough to be in close contact with each other.

And, the upper chamber moving means may be mounted directly on the upper chamber unit 210, in the embodiment of the present invention is provided in the base frame 100 to perform the role of moving the upper chamber unit 210 up and down It is composed.

The upper chamber moving means includes a drive motor 310 fixed to the base frame 100, a drive shaft 320 axially coupled to the drive motor 310, and a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 320. A connecting shaft 330 which stands up and receives driving force from the driving shaft 320, a connecting portion 340 for connecting the driving shaft 320 and the connecting shaft 330, and is mounted at an end of the connecting shaft 330. It comprises a jockey section 350.

At this time, the drive motor 310 is located in the inner bottom of the base frame 100 is composed of a biaxial motor protruding the axis in a direction parallel to the ground.

In addition, the drive shaft 320 is connected to each other to transmit a driving force in a horizontal direction with respect to the two axes of the drive motor 310, the connecting shaft 330 is a driving force in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 320 Is connected to pass.

The jockey 350 mounted at the end of the connecting shaft 330 moves upwardly or downwardly according to the rotation direction of the connecting shaft 330 in contact with the upper chamber unit 210. 210 serves to move, and constitutes a nut housing.

In addition, the connection part 340 is composed of a bevel gear to transmit the rotational force of the drive shaft 320 transmitted in the horizontal direction to the connection shaft 330 connected in the vertical direction.

In addition, the interlocking means 510 serves to couple the chamber units 210 and 220 to be interlocked with each other.

The interlocking means 510 has a receiving groove 222a formed on the lower chamber plate 222 surface of the lower chamber unit 220, and one end is fixed to the upper chamber unit 210 to move into the receiving groove 222a. A plurality of linear actuators 511 for driving 512 are included.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of an inter-substrate bonding process using the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 3 to 9.

First, in order to perform the bonding between the two substrates 110 and 120 in the initial state as shown in FIG. 3, the thicknesses of the two substrates 110 and 120 to be performed are checked.

At this time, the thickness check of each of the substrates 110 and 120 is performed by checking the thickness set for each model.

When the thickness of each of the substrates 110 and 120 is confirmed as described above, the distance to which the moving shaft 411 should protrude is determined according to the thickness of each of the substrates 110 and 120.

In this case, the protruding distance of each of the moving shafts 411 is stored in a preset state for each model of each of the substrates 110 and 120.

Therefore, when the protruding distance of the moving shaft 411 is confirmed, the moving unit 410, that is, the driving of the step motor is performed, and as shown in FIG. 4, the moving shaft 411 is lowered by the set distance T. Extrude

5 and 6 show the first substrate 110 fixed to the upper stage 230 and the second substrate 120 fixed to the lower stage 240 as shown in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6. Imported sequentially and fixed to each stage (230, 240).

The loading process may be performed before the process of reading the models of the substrates 110 and 120, or may be performed after the model reading of the substrates 110 and 120.

When the loading of each of the substrates 110 and 120 is completed, the upper chamber moving unit is driven to move the upper chamber unit 210 downward, so that the upper chamber plate 212 is the lower chamber plate 222 as shown in FIG. 7. The upper surface of the sealing member 250 mounted along the circumferential portion of is contacted.

At this time, as the linear actuator 511 constituting the interlocking means 510 is made, the moving shaft 512 is moved downward to be accommodated in the accommodation groove 222a formed on the upper surface of the lower chamber plate 222. Accordingly, the upper chamber unit 210 and the lower chamber unit 220 are combined to prevent the flow.

In this state, if the jockey 350 continues to move downward, the jockey 350 is taken out of the upper chamber unit 210 as shown in FIG. 8, and the weight of the upper chamber unit 210 itself is increased. And an inner space of each chamber unit 210 or 220 where the substrates 110 and 120 are positioned by the atmospheric pressure is sealed from the outer space.

In this case, the substrates 110 and 120 attached to the stages 230 and 240 may be positioned at predetermined intervals without being in close contact with each other.

In particular, in the above case, the seal member is recessed and mounted on the upper surface of the lower chamber plate 222 of the lower chamber unit 220 while the moving shaft 411 constituting the gap adjusting means of the present invention protrudes downward by a predetermined distance. Since the substrate 420 is in close contact with each other, the substrates 110 and 120 fixed to the stages 230 and 240 can be maintained at a constant interval.

That is, even if the third sealing member 250 is not compressed to the required height, the substrates 110 and 120 may be separated from each other by the required distance by the contact between the moving shaft 411 and the seal member 420. It can be.

In the above state, the space provided with the substrates 110 and 120 is vacuumed by a vacuum pump (not shown).

Thereafter, the substrates 110 and 120 are aligned with each other, and the first substrate 110 is removed from the upper stage 230 and the space where the respective substrates 110 and 120 are positioned as shown in FIG. 9. The vent of is performed.

At this time, the upper chamber unit 210 having the upper stage 230 is raised by a predetermined interval, which may be performed not only by the driving of the upper chamber moving means, but also by the adjusting means, that is, driving of the step motor. It may be performed by the upward movement of the moving shaft 411 by.

In addition, the venting process may be performed by injecting N ₂ gas into the vacuum space, whereby the space is at atmospheric pressure.

At this time, the first substrate 110 attached to the upper stage 230 is separated from the upper stage 230 and at the same time the second substrate (B) is driven by the pressure of the N ₂ gas blown from the upper stage 230. 120 and the substrates 110 and 120 are completely bonded by the pressure difference between the pressure between the substrates 110 and 120 and the external pressure by the continuous venting.

That is, considering that the space between the substrates 110 and 120 is in a vacuum state, the substrates 110 and 120 are further brought into close contact with each other by the pressure difference between the substrates 110 and 120 and between the outside.

Subsequently, the bonding between the substrates 110 and 120 is completed by carrying out the bonded substrates 110 and 120 as described above.

As the above-mentioned substrates 110 and 120 are carried out as described above, the bonding between the other substrates is repeatedly performed.

As described above, the following effects can be obtained by the configuration of the substrate bonding apparatus of the liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal integration method of the present invention.

First, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention has the effect that the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced because it is composed of a device for bonding only the respective substrates without the application of liquid crystals or sealing material.

This enables the design of a more effective lay-out and has the effect of causing the saving of installation space.

Secondly, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention has the effect of minimizing the space to be vacuumed and shortening the time required for vacuuming as much as possible.

Therefore, the manufacturing time in the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process can be shortened.

Third, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention has an effect that even if the thickness of each substrate is subjected to a process for a model that can be corresponding.

Claims (10)

A base frame forming an appearance; An upper chamber unit and a lower chamber unit mounted on the base frame and coupled to each other; Chamber moving means for moving the upper chamber unit up and down; An upper stage and a lower stage which are respectively provided in an inner space of each chamber unit to fix a pair of substrates; Interlocking means provided in at least one chamber unit to couple the chamber units to each other; One end is fixed to one chamber unit, the other end is moved up and down, the interval adjusting means for pushing the other chamber unit; And, And a sealing member provided on a surface of the chamber unit to seal a space provided with each stage from an outside space thereof. The method of claim 1, The gap adjusting means A moving shaft which projects downward and contacts the lower chamber unit, One end is fixed to the upper chamber unit, the substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that it comprises a moving portion for moving the moving shaft downward. The method of claim 2, The moving part A substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process, characterized in that the moving shaft can be moved by a precise distance such as a linear actuator, a step motor, or a linear motor. The method of claim 2, And a sealing member is mounted on a surface of the lower chamber unit in which the moving shaft is in contact with the substrate. The method of claim 4, wherein The seal member Substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that the recess is mounted on the surface of the lower chamber unit. The method of claim 1, The interlocking means A receiving groove formed on the surface of the lower chamber unit, And a plurality of linear actuators having one end fixed to the upper chamber unit to drive the moving shaft to be accommodated in the accommodating groove. The method of claim 1, The upper chamber unit is configured to include an upper base plate exposed to the external environment and an upper chamber plate which is fixed to the bottom of the upper base and has a rectangular frame having an arbitrary space therein. The lower chamber unit is mounted to the lower base fixed to the base frame and the upper surface of the lower base so as to be movable in the front and rear and left and right directions, the inside includes a lower chamber plate made of a rectangular frame having an arbitrary space therein. Substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that the configuration. The method according to claim 1 or 7, The upper stage is fixed to the upper base of the upper chamber unit, And the lower stage is fixed to the lower base of the lower chamber unit. The method of claim 1, The chamber moving means A drive motor fixed to the base frame, A drive shaft axially coupled to the drive motor, One end is connected to the upper chamber unit, the other end is connected to the connecting shaft to receive the driving force from the drive shaft, A connecting portion connecting the driving shaft and the connecting shaft; A substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process comprising a jockey coupled to the connecting shaft. A first step of checking the thickness of the two substrates to be worked; A second step of checking a protruding distance of a moving shaft of the gap adjusting means according to the thickness of each of the identified substrates; And, And a third step of protruding the moving shaft by driving the distance adjusting means by the identified protruding distance of the moving shaft.