KR20060000059A - Device for sealing liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention discloses an encapsulation device capable of automatically and uniformly applying an encapsulant. To this end, the present invention is a vacuum unit for removing the liquid crystal remaining on the outside of the LCD panel; An applicator for applying an encapsulant to the liquid crystal injection hole of the LCD panel; A repair unit configured to automatically clean the coated encapsulant so as to uniformly close the liquid crystal inlet; And it provides a sealing device for an LCD panel consisting of a curing unit for curing the trimmed sealing agent.

LCD, bag, auto repair

Description

Encapsulation device for LCD panel {DEVICE FOR SEALING LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPLAY PANEL}

1 is an exploded perspective view showing the structure of a typical LCD panel;

2 is a flowchart showing a manufacturing process of an LCD panel;

3 is a plan view showing the unit LCD panel bonded;

4 is a schematic view showing a sealing device for an LCD panel according to the present invention;

5 is a schematic view showing an application portion of the encapsulation device for an LCD panel according to the present invention;

6 is a side view showing a repair portion of the LCD panel encapsulation device according to the present invention; And

7A and 7B are front views illustrating a repair portion of the LCD panel encapsulation device according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display panel (hereinafter referred to as an LCD panel: liquid crystal display), and more particularly, to an apparatus for polishing the LCD panel.

In general, LCD panels have characteristics such as low voltage driving, low power consumption, full color implementation, light weight and small size, and are therefore widely used in watches, calculators, PC monitors, notebooks, and the like. Usage is becoming diversified. The general structure of such an LCD panel is shown in FIG.

As shown, the LCD panel includes a lower substrate 1 and an upper substrate 2 bonded to each other with a predetermined space, and a liquid crystal layer 3 injected between the lower substrate 1 and the upper substrate 2. Consists of.

More specifically, the lower substrate 1 has a plurality of gate lines 4 arranged in one direction at regular intervals to define the pixel region P, and in a direction perpendicular to the gate lines 4. A plurality of data lines 5 are arranged at regular intervals, and a pixel electrode 6 is formed in each pixel region P where the gate line 4 and the data line 5 intersect, and each gate line The thin film transistor T is formed at a portion where (4) and the data line 5 intersect.

The upper substrate 2 includes a black matrix layer 7 for blocking light in portions other than the pixel region P, an R, G, B color filter layer 8 for expressing color colors, and an image. The common electrode 9 is formed to implement.

The thin film transistor T may include a gate electrode protruding from the gate line 4, a gate insulating film (not shown) formed on the front surface, an active layer formed on the gate insulating film above the gate electrode, and the data. A source electrode protruding from the line 5 and a drain electrode facing the source electrode. The pixel electrode 6 uses a transparent conductive metal having a relatively high light transmittance, such as indium-tin-oxide (ITO).                         

In the above-described LCD panel, the liquid crystal layer 3 located on the pixel electrode 6 is oriented by a signal applied from the thin film transistor T, and the liquid crystal layer 3 according to the degree of alignment of the liquid crystal layer 3. ), The image can be expressed by adjusting the amount of light passing through.

Referring to Figure 2 will be described a manufacturing method of a general LCD panel as follows.

First, a cassette (not shown) on which a plurality of TFT substrates are loaded and a cassette (not shown) on which a plurality of color filter substrates are loaded are respectively loaded on each port by a loader. It is seated.

The TFT substrate (ie, the lower substrate 1) is arranged with a plurality of gate lines arranged in one direction at regular intervals by an array process and at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the respective gate lines. A plurality of thin film transistors and pixel electrodes are respectively formed in a plurality of data lines and a matrix pixel area defined by the gate line and the data line. In addition, a black matrix layer, a color filter layer, a common electrode, and the like are formed on the color filter substrate (ie, the upper substrate 2) to block light in portions except the pixel region.

Subsequently, the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate are selected using a robot arm programmed to select one of the plurality of TFT substrates and the plurality of color filter substrates, respectively. Subsequently, after the alignment material is applied onto the selected TFT substrate and the color filter substrate, an alignment process S10 is performed in which the liquid crystal molecules have uniform orientation. The alignment step (S10) proceeds in order of washing before the alignment film coating, alignment film printing, alignment film firing, alignment film inspection, rubbing process.

After the alignment process (S10), the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate are cleaned (S20), respectively, and then a silver dispensing device for electrical connection with the common electrode on the color filter substrate in a predetermined region on the TFT substrate. The silver (Ag) dot is applied using (S30). After spreading a spacer (S40) to maintain a constant cell gap on the TFT substrate (S40) and applying a yarn pattern to an outer portion of the color filter substrate (S50), the TFT Pressure is applied to the substrate and the color filter substrate to bond and cure (S60). That is, the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate are each manufactured in different lines, but the subsequent process is performed in a single line from the bonding process.

On the other hand, the TFT substrate and the color filter substrate are formed of a plurality of regions on a large glass substrate facing each other. In other words, a plurality of unit substrate regions are formed in a large area glass substrate, and separate pixel electrodes are formed in lower unit substrate regions of the unit substrate region. In addition, in the large area glass substrate including the upper unit substrate (color filter substrate) regions, a common electrode for driving a liquid crystal together with the pixel electrode is formed on the entire surface of the glass substrate. Therefore, the glass substrate is cut / processed by applying voltages corresponding to pixel electrodes of unit panels of a predetermined standard to produce respective unit panels according to transmittances corresponding to the respective unit panels (S70).

Thereafter, the liquid crystal layer is formed by injecting liquid crystal through the liquid crystal inlet into the individual unit panels processed as described above and encapsulating the liquid crystal inlet (S80). Subsequently, after the cut surface of each unit panel is polished, the manufacturing of the LCD panel is completed by performing external appearance and electrical defect inspection (S90) of the unit panel.

The injection and encapsulation step (S80) of this series of manufacturing processes is made up of the following more detailed processes. First, as shown in FIG. 3, the unit LCD panel 10, which is bonded and cut, has a space 12 enclosed therein by a seal pattern 11 applied before the outside thereof. Here, the seal pattern 11 is partially discontinuously formed as shown, and this part becomes an inlet 13, that is, a liquid crystal injection hole, into the inner space 12 after panel bonding. The space 12 is evacuated by discharging the air therein, and the inlet 13 is immersed in the liquid crystal bath. Therefore, the internal space 12 is filled by the liquid crystal introduced through the injection hole 13 by the pressure difference. Thereafter, an encapsulant 14 is applied to the injection hole 13 so that the filled liquid crystal does not leak out, and the encapsulant 14 is then trimmed to uniformly close the injection hole 13.

However, such a repair process, a so-called repair process, is performed directly by an operator, and thus has various problems. As mentioned above, the space 12 is kept below atmospheric pressure to suck liquid crystals. Therefore, when the worker trims the encapsulant 14 late due to an instantaneous error, the encapsulant 14 enters the space 12 to lower the screen quality of the panel 10. In addition, air may enter together with the encapsulant 14, which also degrades the screen quality. In addition, the cleaning of the encapsulant is performed by hand, so it is often not precisely made. Therefore, the appearance quality of the finished panel 10 may be degraded.

The present invention has been devised to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an LCD panel encapsulation device capable of stably and precisely manipulating the encapsulant.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention in which the above objects can be specifically realized are described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In describing the present embodiment, the same name and the same reference numerals are used for the same configuration and additional description thereof will be omitted below.

4 is a schematic view showing a sealing device for an LCD panel according to the present invention.

As shown, the encapsulation device of the present invention comprises a vacuum unit 100, an application unit 200, a repair unit 300 and a hardening unit 400 which are arranged to be functionally linked to each other.

As described above with reference to FIG. 3, the unit LCD panel 10 bonded and cut is made into a vacuum state and then filled with liquid crystal using the injection hole 13. At this time, since the injection hole 13 is immersed in the liquid crystal tank, the liquid crystal is buried outside the panel 10 after the liquid crystal injection operation is finished. Therefore, first, the vacuum unit 100 serves to remove the liquid crystal remaining outside the LCD panel 10. Here, for the efficiency of the operation, the encapsulation operation is performed for each frame, that is, the cassette 20, filled with a plurality of LCD panels 10 arranged in two rows. More specifically, the vacuum unit 100 has a suction device 110, the suction device 110 sucks air to form a vacuum area around the. Accordingly, the suction device 110 cleans the LCD panel 10 by sucking the liquid crystal remaining in the outside of the panel 10, particularly around the injection hole 13. In addition, as shown, the suction device 110 reciprocates over one side of the panel 10 including the injection hole 13 which is actually immersed in the liquid crystal, so that the remaining liquid crystal can be completely removed. have.

The applicator 200 applies the encapsulant 14 to the injection hole 13 of the LCD panel 10. To this end, the applicator 200 uses a roller 210 in which the encapsulant 14 is buried, as shown in FIG. 5. The roller 210 rolls the side surfaces of the LCD panels 10 arranged in a row with the injection holes 13 formed thereon, and applies the encapsulant 14 buried thereon to the injection holes 13. Accordingly, the encapsulant 14 is applied to each inlet 13 in a batch and accurately by the roller 210.

The applied encapsulant 14 does not close the injection hole 13 uniformly, as shown in FIG. 7A, and may also be applied to protrude from the injection hole 13. Therefore, the repair unit 300 basically repairs the encapsulant 14. To this end, the repair unit 300 is provided with a repair device 310 as shown, and is particularly configured to automatically perform such a cleaning work unlike a general encapsulation device. As shown in FIGS. 6, 7A, and 7B, the repair apparatus 310 includes a repair tool 311, a head 312 for fixing the repair tool 311, and the tool 311 and the head. And a driving unit for moving the 312. First, the repair tool 311 is formed of a bent pin, as clearly shown in FIG. The repair tool 311 contacts the side surface of the panel on which the injection hole 13 is formed and is disposed to cross the injection hole 13 at the same time. Thus, when the tool 311 moves in parallel along the side of the panel, the tool 311 is scraped to evenly spread the applied encapsulant 14. The drive unit may employ various mechanisms, but in the present invention, the motor (not shown) for guiding the movement of the head 312 and the motor for supplying power for the movement to the tool 311 and the head 312 is provided. It consists of a guide part 313.

As mentioned above, the tool 311 has to be linearly moved along the side of the panel in order to clean the encapsulant 14 while the tool 311 is used. It should be repeated around. Accordingly, the drive unit is designed to linearly reciprocate the tool 311 and the head 312 in a predetermined range in the vicinity of the injection hole 13. More specifically, the motor is connected to the head 312 together with a driving mechanism and a transmission mechanism to generate power intermittently in a predetermined section to reciprocate the head 312 and to stably guide the reciprocating motion. The guide unit 313 is preferably made of an LM guide (Linear Motion Guide). As shown in FIG. 7A, the repair apparatus 310 cleans the encapsulant 14 while linearly reciprocating at the injection hole 13 in which the encapsulant 14 is unevenly applied. As a result of this cleaning, as shown in FIG. 7B, the encapsulant 14 is uniformly applied to securely close the inlet 13 and is made flat as the side of the surrounding panel.

Finally, the curing unit 400 cures the encapsulant 14 uniformly applied previously. The encapsulant 14 is generally made of a photocurable material. Accordingly, the curing unit 400 includes an ultraviolet lamp 410 as shown, and the encapsulant 14 is cured by ultraviolet light emitted from the lamp 410 so that the liquid crystal leaks from the panel 10. The injection hole 13 is completely closed so as not to.

Although several embodiments have been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in many other forms without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and all embodiments within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents are included within the scope of the present invention.

The encapsulation device according to the present invention has a repair device configured to automatically reciprocate to uniformly apply the encapsulant accurately within a short time compared to the repair work by hand. This prevents the inflow of air bubbles and the encapsulant due to the operator's mistake and the application of the poor encapsulant and at the same time prevents the LCD panel from being defective. Therefore, the encapsulation device reduces the production cost of the LCD panel and results in improved productivity.

In addition, the appearance quality of the LCD panel is also improved due to the application of a uniform encapsulant, thereby improving the user's reliability of the LCD panel.

Claims (11)

A vacuum unit for removing liquid crystal remaining on the outside of the LCD panel; An applicator for applying an encapsulant to the liquid crystal injection hole of the LCD panel; A repair unit configured to automatically clean the coated encapsulant so as to uniformly close the liquid crystal inlet; And An LCD panel encapsulation device comprising a curing unit for curing the trimmed encapsulant. The method of claim 1, And said vacuum portion has a suction device for generating a vacuum to suck the remaining liquid crystals. The method of claim 1, And the applicator comprises a roller on which an encapsulant is applied to collectively apply the liquid crystal inlet. The method of claim 1, The encapsulation agent is an LCD panel encapsulation device, characterized in that the light curable. The method of claim 1, The repair unit has a repair device for LCD panel characterized in that it has a repair device for cleaning the applied encapsulant while reciprocating around the liquid crystal inlet. The method of claim 5, The repair device is: A repair tool to scrape while in contact with the applied encapsulant; A head for holding the tool; And And a drive unit configured to reciprocate the tool and the head within a predetermined range in the vicinity of the liquid crystal inlet. The method of claim 6, The repair tool is an LCD panel encapsulation device, characterized in that consisting of a pin disposed to cross the liquid crystal inlet. The method of claim 6, And the driving unit includes a motor for supplying power for movement to the repair apparatus and a guide unit for guiding the head to reciprocate linearly. The method of claim 6, The repair unit has an LCD panel encapsulation device, characterized in that it has a pair of repair devices to be able to care for two LCD panels at the same time. The method of claim 6, The repair apparatus is an LCD panel encapsulation device, characterized in that the reciprocating twice. The method of claim 1, And the curing unit includes an ultraviolet lamp for irradiating ultraviolet rays to cure the sealing agent.

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