KR20070048439A - In-line auto clave system and method for processing liquid crystal display panel using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to an autoclave system, comprising: a loading unit for loading a liquid crystal display panel to provide an inlined autoclave system capable of processing a liquid crystal display panel in a single sheet; A liquid crystal display panel processing unit for applying a predetermined temperature and pressure to the liquid crystal display panel; An inline autoclave system including an unloading part for unloading the liquid crystal display panel and a conveying part for conveying the liquid crystal display panel, and a liquid crystal display panel processing method using the same are provided.

Liquid crystal display, autoclave system, inline

Description

In-line auto clave system and method for processing liquid crystal display panel using the same}

1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an autoclave system according to the prior art.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a general liquid crystal display panel.

3 is a schematic functional block diagram of an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

5 is a flowchart of a processing method of a liquid crystal display panel using an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

* Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings *

310; Loading section

320; LCD panel processing unit

321; Heating unit

323; Pressurization unit

325; Alignment unit

330; Unloading Section

340; Carrier

351, 353; Opening and closing unit

360; tray

370; Liquid crystal display panel

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an autoclave system, and more particularly, to an inline autoclave system capable of processing a liquid crystal display panel in a single sheet and a liquid crystal display panel processing method using the same.

In general, the liquid crystal display (LCD) is expanding its application range due to features such as lightweight, thin, low-power drive, full-color, high-resolution implementation. The liquid crystal display device displays a desired image on a panel of the liquid crystal display device by controlling the amount of light transmitted according to image signals applied to a plurality of control switches arranged in a matrix form. Such a liquid crystal display device does not emit light by itself. As a result, a light source such as a backlight unit is installed, and polarizers are attached to both sides of the liquid crystal display panel.

On the other hand, the matters to be careful when attaching the polarizing plate is damage of the liquid crystal display panel by static electricity generated in the polarizing plate attaching process and the mixing of foreign matters generated when attaching the polarizing plate. After attaching the polarizing plate in consideration of the above matters, in order to improve the adhesion between the panel and the polarizing plate, a process of treating the liquid crystal display panel having the polarizing plate at a high temperature and high pressure using an autoclave system is performed.

In general, autoclave systems are heat- and pressure-resistant containers that perform chemical treatment such as synthesis, decomposition, sublimation, and extraction under high temperature and high pressure, and often include stirring devices, vibration devices, and other rotating devices, and materials are made of low carbon steel. Alloy steels such as chromium, nickel, and molybdenum are used. The temperature in a container is about 150 to 600 degreeC, the atmospheric pressure is about 250 to 1200 atm, and there may be 5000 atm or more.

The autoclave system removes air bubbles between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing plate by applying a constant pressure and temperature to the liquid crystal cell with a polarizing plate that provides optical properties during the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, thereby increasing the adhesion of the polarizing plate. do.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an autoclave system according to the prior art.

The autoclave system according to the related art shown in FIG. 2 includes a chamber 110, a heating part 120, a pressing part 130, and a support part 140, and includes a plurality of autoclave systems in the above-described configuration. The cassette 150 on which the liquid crystal display panel 160 is mounted on the support part 140, and then operates the heating part 120 and the pressing part 130 to move the inside of the chamber 110. It is maintained at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure.

In order to increase the adhesive force between the liquid crystal cell and the polarizing plate using the autoclave system, after mounting a plurality of liquid crystal display panel 160 to the cassette, the cassette 150 is placed in the chamber 110. Then. The autoclave system is operated to heat and pressurize the liquid crystal display panel. When the heating and pressing operation is completed, the inside of the chamber is cooled to a predetermined temperature, and the pressure is reduced, and then the plurality of processed liquid crystal display panels are taken out of the chamber, and then the process is performed. However, since the series of operations must be performed by the operator, a safety problem occurs and the work efficiency is very low, resulting in a process speed imbalance with other processes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to overcome the above-mentioned conventional problems, and the technical problem to be achieved by the present invention is to provide an inlined autoclave that can process a liquid crystal display panel in a single sheet to improve worker safety and process speed. It is to provide a system and a method of processing a liquid crystal display panel using the same.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the object of the present invention, a loading unit for loading a liquid crystal display panel; A liquid crystal display panel processing unit for applying a predetermined temperature and pressure to the liquid crystal display panel; An inline autoclave system is provided that includes an unloading portion for unloading the liquid crystal display panel and a conveying portion for conveying the liquid crystal display panel.

The liquid crystal display panel processing unit may include a chamber; A heating unit disposed on one side of the chamber, the heating unit for heating the liquid crystal display panel to a predetermined temperature, and a pressurizing unit disposed on one side of the chamber, and configured to maintain a pressure in the chamber at a predetermined pressure. It is done.

The liquid crystal display panel processing unit may be formed at one side of the chamber to form a first opening / closing unit for opening or closing the chamber and a second opening / closing unit for opening or closing the chamber. It further comprises.

The liquid crystal display panel unit may further include an alignment unit for aligning the liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined position.

The inline autoclave system may be installed in the order of the loading unit, the liquid crystal display panel processing unit, and the unloading unit.

The conveying unit is characterized in that the conveyor (conveyor).

The inline autoclave system is characterized in that the liquid crystal display panel is processed by a single sheet.

Meanwhile, according to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display panel processing method using an inline autoclave system, comprising the steps of: (a) loading a liquid crystal display panel having a polarizing plate attached thereto; (b) conveying the stacked liquid crystal display panel; (c) treating the conveyed liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure; (d) conveying the processed liquid crystal display panel and (e) unloading the conveyed liquid crystal display panel.

Steps (a) to (e) are characterized in that executed inline.

In the step (c), the liquid crystal display panel is processed at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure in a sealed state.

The liquid crystal display panel is characterized in that it is processed by a single sheet.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described in detail a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a cross-sectional view of a general liquid crystal display panel. Referring to FIG. 2, a black matrix 32, a color filter 30, and a common electrode 28 are sequentially formed on the upper substrate 10 of the liquid crystal display panel, and a polarizing plate is formed on the upper substrate 10. 46) is attached. The black matrix 32 shields light leaking between the color filter and the pixel, and the color filter 30 is a resin film including dyes or pigments of three basic colors (red, green, and blue). The common electrode 28 is formed of ITO, which is a transparent electrical conductor, and applies a voltage to the liquid crystal cell.

The lower substrate 20 includes a thin film transistor 24, which is a switching element that applies and blocks a signal voltage to a liquid crystal, and a pixel electrode that is formed of transparent and electrically conductive ITO to apply a signal voltage applied to the liquid crystal cell. And a storage capacitor (not shown) for maintaining a signal voltage applied to the pixel electrode for a predetermined time or more, and a polarizing plate 48 is disposed on an outer surface of the lower substrate 20. An upper layer of the upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 20 is a thin organic film made of polyimide, and an alignment layer 40 for aligning liquid crystals is formed between the upper substrate 10 and the lower substrate 20. A spacer 26 is disposed between the upper substrate and the lower substrate to secure a space therebetween, and the liquid crystal layer 26 is injected into the space provided by the spacer. The seal pattern 38 is formed at the periphery of the liquid crystal panel to fix the upper substrate and the lower substrate.

Referring to the process of forming the liquid crystal panel as described above, first, an alignment layer coating and rubbing process for arranging liquid crystal molecules in a predetermined direction on the upper substrate, that is, the color filter substrate and the lower substrate, that is, the thin film transistor substrate, is performed. Next, a thin film transistor substrate is formed with a seal pattern for injecting or dropping a liquid crystal, and a process for forming a short for connecting a common electrode terminal of the color filter substrate to a bonding pad of the thin film transistor substrate is described. And a spacer for maintaining the cell gap in the color filter substrate. Then, after the two substrates are aligned and bonded together, the liquid crystal is vacuum injected or the liquid crystal is dropwise injected. Then, after attaching a polarizing plate to both sides of a liquid crystal display panel, the adhesive force of a polarizing plate is raised using an autoclave system.

3 is a schematic functional block diagram of an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

The inline autoclave system illustrated in FIG. 3 includes a loading unit 310, a liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320, an unloading unit 330, and a transport unit 340, and the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320 is A heating unit 321, a pressing unit 323, and an alignment unit 325.

The loading unit 310 performs a function of loading a liquid crystal display panel with a polarizing plate on an autoclave system through a polarizing plate attachment process. The liquid crystal display panel with a polarizing plate is loaded onto the loading unit 310 in a unit of panel.

The liquid crystal display panel loaded in the loading unit 310 is conveyed to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320 through the transport unit 340. In this case, the transfer unit 340 may be a conveyor, alternatively, may be an arm robot.

The liquid crystal display panel conveyed to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320 is processed at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure in the liquid crystal display panel processing unit. When a predetermined temperature is applied to the liquid crystal display panel with a polarizing plate, the volume of the fine bubbles existing between the polarizing plate and the liquid crystal display panel expands. In addition, when a predetermined pressure is applied to the expanded microbubble, defoaming is easily performed. As a result, the polarizing plate is more strongly adhered to the outside of the liquid crystal display panel.

In addition, the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320 processes one liquid crystal display panel, that is, a single sheet processing method.

The liquid crystal display panel processor 320 includes a heating unit 321, a pressing unit 323, and an alignment unit 325. The heating unit 321 heats the liquid crystal display panel conveyed to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit to a predetermined temperature, thereby expanding the volume of the fine bubbles existing between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing plate. Electric heaters are used; alternatively, various kinds of heaters may be used.

The pressurizing unit 323 pressurizes the liquid crystal display panel conveyed to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit at a predetermined pressure to remove micro bubbles existing between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing plate.

The alignment unit 325 serves to align the liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined position, for example, a central portion of the liquid crystal display panel processing unit, before applying a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure to the liquid crystal display panel.

The liquid crystal display panel, through which the fine bubbles existing on the adhesive surface with the polarizing plate is removed through the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320, may be unloaded through the conveying unit 340. It is unloaded by).

According to the inline autoclave system according to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal display panel with a polarizing plate is conveyed to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit through a conveying unit, and the contact surface of the polarizing plate and the liquid crystal display panel in the liquid crystal display panel processing unit. After removing microbubbles in between, it is conveyed to the next process line through the said conveyance part. As such, as the autoclave system is performed in the inline process, the process progression portion by the operator is greatly reduced, thereby improving the process progress speed and ensuring worker safety.

4 is a schematic cross-sectional view of an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

The inline autoclave system includes a loading unit 310, a liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320, an unloading unit 330, and a transfer unit 340.

The loading unit 310 performs a function of loading a liquid crystal display panel 370 with a polarizing plate on an inline autoclave system through a polarizing plate attaching process, and the unloading unit 330 displays a liquid crystal display from an inline autoclave system. The panel 370 is unloaded.

The transfer units 341 and 343 move the liquid crystal display panel 370 from the loading unit 310 to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320, and from the liquid crystal display panel processing unit 320 to the unloading unit 330. It serves to return. In this case, the liquid crystal display panel 370 is seated on the tray 360 and is conveyed together with the tray 360.

The liquid crystal display panel processor 320 includes a chamber 327, a heating unit 321, a pressing unit 323, an alignment unit 325, and opening / closing units 351 and 353.

The heating unit 321 is disposed at one side of the chamber to heat the liquid crystal display panel to a predetermined temperature. In the present embodiment, but is attached to the upper surface of the chamber, this is just for illustrative purposes, it may be attached to other locations.

The pressurizing unit 323 is disposed on one side of the chamber to maintain the pressure in the chamber at a predetermined pressure to pressurize the liquid crystal display panel. In the present exemplary embodiment, the heating unit 321 is attached to the upper surface of the chamber. Alternatively, the heating unit 321 may be attached to another position.

The alignment unit 325 performs a function of aligning the tray 360 conveyed from the loading unit 310 and the liquid crystal display panel 370 seated on the tray to be disposed below the heating unit 321. .

The opening and closing units 351 and 353 are formed on one side wall and the other side wall of the chamber, respectively, and the first opening and closing unit 351 formed on the side wall of the chamber adjacent to the loading unit 310 is the loading unit 310. When the liquid crystal display panel 370 is conveyed from the opening, when the liquid crystal display panel 370 is disposed in the chamber, the first opening / closing unit 351 is closed.

When the chamber is closed and a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure are applied to the liquid crystal display panel to remove micro bubbles existing between the polarizing plate and the contact surface of the liquid crystal display panel, the chamber adjacent to the unloading unit 330 is completed. The second open / close unit 353 formed on the sidewall is opened, and when the liquid crystal display panel is conveyed to the unloading unit 330, the second open / close unit 353 is closed.

5 is a flowchart of a processing method of a liquid crystal display panel using an inline autoclave system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, a method of processing a liquid crystal display panel using an inline autoclave system will be described. First, a polarizing plate is attached to the liquid crystal display panel (S510). In general, after the upper substrate and the lower substrate of the liquid crystal display panel are bonded together, when the liquid crystal injection is completed, the liquid crystal injection hole is sealed, the liquid crystal cell is cut, and then the polarizing plates are attached to both surfaces of the liquid crystal display panel. do. After removing the protective film on the adhesive surface, the polarizing plate is aligned and attached to a predetermined position of the liquid crystal display panel, and rubbed under pressure. At this time, even if the polarizing plate is rubbed well, fine bubbles may be generated between the liquid crystal display panel and the adhesive surface of the polarizing plate, and there is a need to remove such fine bubbles.

In order to remove the fine bubbles and to promote adhesion between the polarizing plate and the liquid crystal display panel, the liquid crystal display panel with the polarizing plate is loaded into the inline autoclave system (S520).

The loaded liquid crystal display panel is returned to the liquid crystal display panel processing unit of the inline autoclave system (S530), and heated and pressurized at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure (S540). As described above, when the liquid crystal display panel with the polarizing plate is heated to a predetermined temperature, the volume of the micro bubbles existing between the liquid crystal display panel and the polarizing plate is expanded. When the liquid crystal display panel is pressed at a predetermined pressure, the expanded fine bubbles are easily removed under pressure.

Then, the heated and pressurized liquid crystal display panel is unloaded and conveyed to another process line (S550).

What has been described above is merely an exemplary embodiment of an inline autoclave system and a liquid crystal display panel processing method using the same, and the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and is claimed in the following claims. Likewise, without departing from the gist of the present invention, any person having ordinary knowledge in the field of the present invention will have the technical spirit of the present invention to the extent that various modifications can be made.

As described above, according to the present invention, by changing the structure of the autoclave system in an inline manner, it becomes possible to automatically process the liquid crystal display panel single sheet. In addition, this results in an operator's safety and process speed.

Claims (11)

A loading unit for loading a liquid crystal display panel; A liquid crystal display panel processing unit for applying a predetermined temperature and pressure to the liquid crystal display panel; An unloading unit for loading the liquid crystal display panel; An inline autoclave system comprising a conveying section for conveying the liquid crystal display panel. The method of claim 1, The liquid crystal display panel processing unit, chamber; A heating unit disposed at one side of the chamber and configured to heat the liquid crystal display panel to a predetermined temperature; An inlet autoclave system disposed on one side of said chamber, said pressurizing unit for maintaining a pressure in said chamber at a predetermined pressure. The method of claim 2, The liquid crystal display panel processing unit, Is formed on one side of the chamber, the first opening and closing unit for opening or closing the chamber and And a second opening / closing unit, formed on the other side of the chamber, for opening or closing the chamber. The method of claim 2, The liquid crystal display panel processing unit, And an alignment unit for aligning the liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined position. The method of claim 1, The inline autoclave system is installed in the order of the loading unit, the liquid crystal display panel processing unit and the unloading unit. The method of claim 1, The conveying unit is a conveyor (conveyor), characterized in that the inline autoclave system. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 6, And said inline autoclave system treats said liquid crystal display panel in a sheet type. In the liquid crystal display panel processing method using an inline autoclave system, (a) loading a liquid crystal display panel with a polarizing plate attached to the inline autoclave system; (b) conveying the stacked liquid crystal display panel; (c) treating the conveyed liquid crystal display panel at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure; (d) conveying the treated liquid crystal display panel; and (e) unloading the conveyed liquid crystal display panel; the liquid crystal display panel processing method characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 8, The process of (a) to (e) is performed inline. The method of claim 8, In the step (c), the liquid crystal display panel is processed at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure in a sealed state. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10, And said liquid crystal display panel is processed by a single sheet.

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