KR20080030193A - Method for reparing liquid crystal display device and apparatus for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A repair method for LCDs(Liquid Crystal Displays) and a repair equipment for the same are provided to remove foreign substances effectively by judging the location of a foreign substance through a foreign substance detector, partially dissolving an alignment film stained with the foreign substance, and exfoliating the foreign substance from the alignment film. A repair equipment comprises a stage(550), a foreign substance detection part(610), an ink-jet device, a foreign substance removing part(300), and a control part(600). A substrate containing an alignment film is placed on the stage. The foreign substance detection part detects the location of a foreign substance generated on the substrate. The ink-jet device dispenses an organic solvent at the detected location. When the foreign substance is exposed as the alignment film is partially dissolved by the organic solvent, the foreign substance removing part removes it through an adhesive material. The control part receives the location information of the substrate mounted on the stage and the location information of the foreign substance, and delivers the location information of the foreign substance to the ink-jet device and the foreign substance removing part.

Description

Repair method for liquid crystal display device and repair equipment therefor {Method for Reparing Liquid Crystal Display Device and Apparatus for the Same}

1 is an optical picture of observing a liquid crystal display device in which foreign matter is generated

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display including the foreign material of FIG. 1. FIG.

3 is a process flowchart showing the repair method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

4A to 4C are cross-sectional views illustrating a method for repairing a liquid crystal display of the present invention.

5 is a process schematic diagram showing the repair equipment of the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

6A and 6B show another example of the foreign material removing means in the repair method of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention.

* Description of Symbols Representing Major Parts of Drawings *

100 substrate 110 array substrate

120: alignment film 130: foreign matter

200: array forming substrate 300: foreign material removing unit

301: support portion 302: adhesive material

305: fine fork 311: support portion

316: support film 320: adhesive layer

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a method for repairing a liquid crystal display device and a repair apparatus thereof, in which foreign substances are generated when an foreign material is generated inside a substrate of the liquid crystal panel using an adhesive material.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms, and in recent years, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electro luminescent displays (ELD), and vacuum fluorescent (VFD) 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, LCD is the most widely used as the substitute for CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) for mobile image display device because of its excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption. In addition to the use of the present invention has been developed in various ways such as a television and a computer monitor for receiving and displaying broadcast signals.

In order to use such a liquid crystal display as a general screen display device in various parts, it is a matter of how high quality 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. Can be.

The liquid crystal display device is comprised from the 1st board | substrate and the 2nd board | substrate which were bonded by the fixed space, and the liquid crystal layer injected between the said 1st board | substrate and the 2nd board | substrate.

In more detail, the first substrate has a plurality of gate lines in one direction and a plurality of data lines at regular intervals in a direction perpendicular to the gate line to define a pixel area. A pixel electrode is formed in each of the pixel regions, and a thin film transistor is formed at a portion where the gate line and the data line cross each other, and the data signal of the data line is applied to each pixel electrode according to a signal applied to the gate line. To apply.

In addition, a black matrix layer is formed on the second substrate to block light in portions other than the pixel region, and R, G, and B color filter layers are formed on portions corresponding to the pixel regions. The common electrode is formed on the color filter layer to implement an image.

In the liquid crystal display as described above, the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal layer formed between the first and second substrates is aligned by an electric field formed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode, and the liquid crystal layer is transmitted through the degree of alignment of the liquid crystal layer. You can express the image by adjusting the amount of light.

Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display according to the related art will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is an optical photograph of a liquid crystal display device in which a foreign material is generated, and FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device including the foreign material of FIG. 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, when the liquid crystal display device in which the foreign material 20 is generated is observed through an optical microscope, a portion where the foreign material 20 remains is observed as a light leakage region. In FIG. 1, the foreign material 20 remains in a predetermined portion of the pixel electrode. In addition to the illustrated portion, such foreign matter may be observed.

The foreign material 20 mainly occurs in the process before and after printing the alignment film, and when foreign matter occurs at present, there is no way to remove it.

2 illustrates an example in which the foreign material 20 is generated after the formation of the alignment layer 15. After forming the array layer 11 of the thin film transistor array or the color filter array on one substrate 10 of the liquid crystal display device, FIG. After the formation of the alignment film 15, when the foreign material 20 remains on a predetermined portion of the alignment film 15, the foreign material 20 is observed as shown in FIG. 1.

According to the height of the foreign material 20, the cell gap difference between the foreign material 20 generation site and the non-local site 20 is generated, thereby causing cell gap defects for each region. In addition, the rubbing treatment of the alignment layer 15 of the foreign material 20 site | part by the said foreign material 20 is not smooth, and causes a bright point and a weak point of a weak point in the foreign material 20 generation site | part. Since the foreign material 20 has an irregular height and volume, light leakage occurs largely around them, and a light leakage region may expand as time passes. Therefore, generation of such foreign matter 20 causes a decrease in cell yield.

In general, when a high gray (white state) is implemented, the dark point is that one region is dark due to light leakage, and when a low gray (black state) is implemented, the bright point is shown by the light leakage. In this case, the human eye is sensitive to bright spots in a relatively dark state rather than dark spots in a bright state, thereby imparting stricter criteria to bright spot defects than dark spots when determining whether the liquid crystal panel is poor. Accordingly, a method for minimizing the defective rate of the panel due to bright spots is required.

The conventional liquid crystal display as described above has the following problems.

When foreign matter occurred in the cell during the process of forming the liquid crystal display, there was no method of detecting and removing it.

When foreign matter occurs, bright spots or weak spots are generated at the foreign material generation site, causing uneven brightness on the display, thereby reducing the user's sense of vision. Therefore, various efforts have been made to solve this problem.

There is a point that repair is performed through the treatment on the outside of the cell (outside of the substrate) as a repair method currently in progress, but in this case, it is difficult to remove the foreign material itself, and the bright point expands due to the remaining foreign material or causes a short in the case of the conductive foreign material. The solution was difficult.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems and to provide a repair method and a repair equipment of the liquid crystal display device that repairs when foreign matter occurs inside the substrate of the liquid crystal panel using an adhesive material, the object thereof There is this.

The repair method of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of preparing a substrate, inspecting a portion where the foreign material is generated of the substrate and by attaching an adhesive material to the foreign material, It is characterized by comprising the step of peeling from the substrate.

Here, the adhesive material is an adhesive material is applied to the support portion, the contact surface to correspond to the foreign material.

Alternatively, the adhesive material is attached to the support in the form of a film having a flat surface, so that the contact surface corresponding to the foreign material.

In addition, after preparing the substrate, performing an array forming process on the substrate; And forming an alignment layer on the substrate including the array. In this case, the method may further include dissolving the alignment layer of the foreign material generation site after inspecting a foreign material generation site of the substrate and before the adhesive material is applied to the foreign material. The solution for dissolving the alignment layer is an organic solvent. For example, the organic solvent is NMP (N-Methyl Pyrrolidone).

In this case, the array may be a thin film transistor array or a color filter array.

In addition, the repair equipment of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention for achieving the same object includes a stage on which a substrate including an alignment layer is placed, a foreign material detection unit for detecting a position where a foreign material of the substrate occurs, and a position of the detected foreign material. Inkjet equipment for discharging an alignment film organic solvent to the foreign material generation site, a foreign material removal unit for removing the foreign material exposed by melting the alignment film of the foreign material site by the organic solvent, and position information of the substrate mounted on the stage And a controller for receiving the positional information of the foreign matter from the foreign matter detection unit, and transmitting the positional information of the foreign matter to the inkjet apparatus and the foreign material removing unit, respectively.

Hereinafter, a repair method and a repair equipment thereof of the liquid crystal display of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a process flowchart showing the repair method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention, and FIGS. 4A to 4C are process cross-sectional views showing the repair method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

3 to 4C, the repair method of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention is performed in the following order.

First, as shown in FIG. 4A, an array 110 is formed on a substrate 100 (S100). In this case, the array 110 may be a thin film transistor array including a thin film transistor, a metal wire, a pixel electrode, or the like, or may be a color filter array including a black matrix layer and a color filter.

Subsequently, an alignment layer 120 is formed on the substrate 100 including the array 110 (S101). In order to determine the alignment direction of the alignment layer 120 during the formation of the alignment layer 120, a process of rubbing the surface of the alignment layer 120 using a rubbing cloth is performed. In this process, the rubbing cloth falls or the substrate is in the rubbing process. Particles, etc., in the air on which the 100 is placed may float on the alignment layer 120.

The foreign matter 130 is detected, the foreign matter detector is detected, the removal process is performed on the foreign matter generated portion.

In this case, in the foreign material detection (S102), after placing the substrate on which the alignment layer is formed in the foreign material detector, by scanning the regions of the substrate using a device capable of scanning in the foreign material detector, foreign matters are generated. It is done by judging the part which was done In this case, in the foreign material detection process, the position, size and optical image of the foreign material 130 may be detected.

Subsequently, when foreign matter remains on the substrate 100 on which the foreign matter detection is performed, as shown in FIG. 4B, the adhesive material (or adhesive layer) 302 is corresponded (S103) to the foreign material 130 as follows. As in 4c, when a repair operation is performed to separate the foreign material 130 from the alignment layer 120, and it is determined that there is no foreign material 130, the substrate 100 is regarded as good and moved to the next cell process line. .

When there is a foreign material 130 on the alignment layer 120, the adhesive material 302 is adhered to the foreign material before firing of the alignment layer 120 in a process of peeling in correspondence with the foreign material 130. In addition, the force of the foreign material peeling to the alignment layer 120 may be weak. In this case, the organic solvent capable of dissolving the alignment layer 120 is dropped on the portion of the foreign material 130 of the alignment layer 120 to dissolve the alignment layer 120 around the foreign material 130, and then the adhesive material. 302 to correspond to the foreign material 130. Such an organic solvent can be used, for example, NMP (N-Methyl Pyrrolidone).

Here, the adhesive material 302 is applied to the surface of the support 301 that can be introduced from the outside to the substrate 100 side, so that the portion having the adhesive force corresponds to the foreign material 130.

Here, the adhesive material 302 may be made of one material having adhesive properties, or may be formed in a film having a predetermined surface shape applied to the surface of the support 301. And, in the case of a film type, the support film attached to the surface side of the support 301 and the peelable from the support film surface, the foreign material corresponding surface may be made of a two-layer structure of an adhesive film having an adhesive force, In this case, the support film and the adhesive film may be rolled and supplied in a circular tape shape from the outside.

Here, the support 301 functions as a foreign material removing unit together with the adhesive material 302, and the size of the adhesive material 302 applied to the support 301 is the size of the foreign material 130 in the foreign material detector. According to the determination, it may be determined, and the support 301 is in contact with the upper portion of the substrate 100 to correspond to the position of the foreign material 130 to contact the foreign material 130 to the adhesive material 130 to the outside The foreign material 130 may be peeled off.

In the repairing method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention, since the rubbing is not performed on the portion where the foreign material 130 on the alignment layer 120 remains, the alignment of the liquid crystal adjacent to the foreign material 130 is not performed. Is generated, this foreign material 130 generation site is observed as a bright point in the black state. Therefore, in the repair method of the liquid crystal display of the present invention, a process of detecting such foreign matter and a process of removing such foreign matter from the surface of the alignment layer through an adhesive material are performed.

5 is a process schematic diagram showing the repair equipment of the liquid crystal display of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, the repair apparatus for performing the repairing method of the liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes a stage 550 on which a substrate 200 on which an array and an alignment layer are formed for inspection, and the substrate 200 are placed. Foreign material detection unit 610 for detecting the position of the foreign matter on the image, inkjet equipment (not shown, optionally available) for discharging the alignment film organic solvent of the foreign matter generation site according to the detected foreign matter position, and the foreign material site It comprises a foreign material removal unit 300 for removing the foreign matter of the foreign matter and the foreign material removal unit 300, the foreign material detection unit 610 and the control unit 600 for transmitting the position information of the foreign material in the stage 550. .

Here, an array such as a color filter array or a thin film transistor array is formed on the substrate 200, and an alignment layer is formed on the substrate 200. After the array is formed on the substrate 200, even after the cleaning process, the repair equipment of the present invention in order to repair a phenomenon that a phenomenon that particles, foreign matter or cleaning residues, etc. in the process chamber remain on the upper side of the array may occur. Is used. Here, the repair is performed after the formation of the alignment layer, and when the substrate 200 on which the array and the alignment layer are formed is mounted and fixed to the stage 550, the controller 600 operates the foreign object detection unit 610 to operate the foreign material. Proceed with detection. At this time, the foreign matter detection unit 610 is equipped with a scanning device such as a camera, and moves for each pixel region of the substrate 200, and examines the presence or absence of foreign matter.

In addition, the position information on the foreign matter generation region detected by the foreign matter detection unit 610 is transmitted to the control unit 600, the inkjet equipment and the foreign material removal unit 300 from the control unit 600 is the foreign matter generation region. Receiving the positional information of, the foreign matter is removed by the discharge of the alignment film organic solvent and the separation of the exposed foreign matter.

Through the repair process through the repair equipment, it is possible to remove the foreign matter, it is possible to prevent the bright point defects that may be caused by the foreign matter.

The repair method of the present invention may be performed after the process of forming the illustrated alignment film, but in some cases, each film is formed during the process of forming the thin film transistor array or the color filter array, and then selected according to the size of the foreign material determined by inspection. It may also proceed further.

In addition, in the repair method of the present invention, a slight trace may remain on the surface of the alignment layer on which the foreign material is located in the process of separating the foreign material by the adhesive material, which is more inferior to the case of causing bright spots when the foreign material remains. Since there is little influence, it is seen that the probability of dropping the user's eyes by this trace is almost low.

6A and 6B are views showing another example of the foreign material removing means in the repair method of the liquid crystal display device of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the foreign material removing unit 300 may be formed by adhering the adhesive material 302 to the end of the fine fork 305, and as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the foreign matter removing unit 300 may be peeled from the support film 316. After only winding the adhesive film 320 in a tape shape, the adhesive surface of the adhesive film 320 may correspond to the foreign material 130.

At this time, the fine fork 305 of FIG. 6A has a function corresponding to the support part 301 disclosed in FIG. 4B, and may contact the corresponding foreign material 130 portion of the substrate 100 according to the foreign material inspection position determination from the outside. So that its position on the substrate 100 can be moved from the controller. In addition, the tape-shaped adhesive film 320 of Figure 6b is used by separating the adhesive film 320 according to the size of the foreign material 130 detected during the foreign material inspection, the separated adhesive film 320 of Figure 6a It may be attached to the fine fork 305 or the support 301 disclosed in FIG. 4B to correspond to the foreign material 130.

 On the other hand, the present invention described above is not limited to the above-described embodiment and the accompanying drawings, it is possible that various substitutions, modifications and changes within the scope without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in Esau.

As described above, the repair method and the repair equipment of the liquid crystal display of the present invention have the following effects.

First, when the repair method of the liquid crystal display device is used by using the repair equipment of the present invention, in contrast to the fact that the repair is performed according to the foreign material determination after the formation of the liquid crystal panel, foreign substances in the cell can be directly removed. It is more effective in preventing adverse effects by foreign matters.

Second, by accurately determining the position of the foreign matter through the foreign material detector, by partially melting the alignment film buried the foreign matter in the cell, it is possible to peel off the foreign material from the alignment film, it is effective to remove the foreign material.

Third, foreign matters of the corresponding coordinates can be mechanically detected through the foreign material detector by coordinates the substrate without requiring the manual labor of the operator, and foreign matters can be physically removed by the adhesive material on the foreign material region recognized as the coordinates. It is easy to detect and remove fine foreign matter. In particular, the foreign material repair can be performed only by the correspondence of simple materials such as adhesive materials.

Fourth, one of poor quality defects in manufacturing a liquid crystal display device is a cell foreign matter defect caused by environmental factors. In particular, foreign material defects generated during the formation of the alignment film are present because there is a foreign material inspection device, but it is possible to find a foreign material that is difficult to repair. Yield improvement can be expected.

Claims (10)

Preparing a substrate; Inspecting a site where a foreign material of the substrate is generated; And A method of repairing a liquid crystal display device, the method comprising: peeling a foreign material from the substrate by applying an adhesive material to the foreign material. The method of claim 1, The adhesive material is a repair method of the liquid crystal display device, characterized in that the adhesive material is applied to the support portion, the contact surface corresponding to the foreign material. The method of claim 1, The adhesive material is attached to the support in the form of a flat film, the contact surface of the liquid crystal display device, characterized in that the contact surface corresponding to the foreign matter. The method of claim 1, After preparation of the substrate, Performing an array forming process on the substrate; And The method of claim 1, further comprising forming an alignment layer on the substrate including the array. The method of claim 4, wherein And dissolving the alignment layer of the foreign material generation site after inspecting the foreign material generation site of the substrate and before the adhesive material is applied to the foreign material. The method of claim 4, wherein The array is a repair method of a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that the thin film transistor array. The method of claim 4, wherein The array is a repair method of a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that the color filter array. The method of claim 5, The solution which melt | dissolves the said oriented film is an organic solvent, The repair method of the liquid crystal display device characterized by the above-mentioned. The method of claim 8, The organic solvent is NMP (N-Methyl Pyrrolidone) repair method of a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that. A stage on which a substrate including an alignment film is placed; A foreign matter detection unit detecting a position where foreign matter on the substrate occurs; An inkjet device for discharging an alignment layer organic solvent to the foreign matter generation site according to the detected foreign matter position; A foreign material removing unit for removing an exposed foreign material by melting the alignment layer of the foreign material site by the organic solvent through an adhesive material; And And a control unit which receives the positional information of the substrate mounted on the stage and the positional information of the foreign matter from the foreign matter detection unit, and transfers the positional information of the foreign matter to the inkjet apparatus and the foreign material removing unit, respectively.

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