KR20080057457A - Rubbing device of an alignment layer for liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

An alignment film rubbing apparatus of an LCD(Liquid Crystal Display) is provided to perform the non-uniform hair removing process of a rubbing cloth before a rubbing treatment process. A rubbing cloth(115) is attached at a rubbing roller(113) and has many rubbing cloth hairs. A scan camera(200) is constructed to the lower portion of the rubbing roller and moves horizontally along the length direction of the rubbing roller. A cutter(400) is constructed to a side of the scan camera and performs the up and down vertical movement and left and right horizontal movement. When the non-uniform specific cloth hair among many rubbing cloth hairs is sensed by the scanning of the scan camera, the corresponding non-uniform cloth hair is removed by the cutter. The scan camera and the cutter are connected with a PLC(Program Logic Controller)(300) located to the outside.

Description

Rubbing device of an alignment layer for liquid crystal display device

1 is a perspective view schematically showing a liquid crystal panel of a general liquid crystal display device;

2 is a perspective view for explaining a general alignment film rubbing process.

3 is a view schematically showing a rubbing portal configured in a rubbing cloth.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel for a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention in a process sequence.

Figure 5 is a perspective view showing a heterogeneous rubbing portal removal process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a perspective view for explaining an alignment film rubbing process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

111: support 113: rubbing roll

115: Loving Can 117: Stage

200: scan camera 300: PLC

400: Cutter

The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a rubbing cloth for forming an alignment pattern for alignment of liquid crystals.

Cathode ray tube (CRT), one of the widely used display devices, has been mainly used for monitors such as TVs, measuring devices, information terminal devices, etc., but the miniaturization of electronic products due to the large weight and size of the CRT itself It could not respond actively to the demand for weight reduction.

In order to replace the CRT, a liquid crystal display device having advantages of small size and light weight has been actively developed, and recently, the liquid crystal display device has been developed enough to perform a role as a flat panel display device, and its demand is gradually increasing.

1 is a perspective view schematically illustrating a liquid crystal panel of a general liquid crystal display device.

As shown in the drawing, a general liquid crystal panel 3 is bonded to the array substrate 31 and the color filter substrate 33 at predetermined intervals, and on one surface of the array substrate 31 facing the color filter substrate 33. The data line DL and the gate line GL defining the pixel area 39 are perpendicularly intersected with each other, and the thin film transistor 37 is formed at the intersection of the two lines DL and GL.

One surface of the color filter substrate 33 facing the array substrate 31 includes a grid-like black matrix 41 and a color filter 43, and includes the color filter 43 and the black matrix 41. The transparent common electrode 45 is formed on the front surface of the color filter substrate 33.

The liquid crystal 35 is filled between the array substrate 31 and the color filter substrate 33. At this time, although not shown, the thin film transistor 37 includes a gate electrode, an active layer, a source and a drain electrode.

Finally, an alignment layer 47 is formed on surfaces of the array substrate 31 and the color filter substrate 33 that face each other.

The liquid crystal panel 3 is an apparatus in which an image is expressed by adjusting the amount of light passing through the liquid crystal layer 35 according to the arrangement characteristics of the liquid crystals exhibiting optical anisotropy.

Therefore, since the arrangement characteristics of the liquid crystal molecules have a great influence on the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal panel 3, it is very important to control the arrangement characteristics of the liquid crystals, and in particular, to have the greatest influence on the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystals. This is the alignment film 47.

The alignment layer 47 is subjected to a rubbing treatment to give a groove to the surface, and this rubbing process refers to rubbing the surface of the alignment layer 47 by using a wound cloth wrapped around a roller.

When the surface of the alignment film 47 is subjected to a rubbing treatment, the surface of the alignment film 47 is shaped to have fine grooves.

2 is a perspective view for explaining a general alignment film rubbing process.

As shown in the drawing, a general alignment layer rubbing device includes a stage 17 on which a substrate 3 is positioned, a rubbing roll 13 to which a rubbing cloth 15 is attached, and a support base 11 supporting the rubbing roll 13. It is composed of

When the substrate 3 on which the alignment layer (47 of FIG. 1) is formed is disposed on the stage 17, the rubbing roll 13, on which the rubbing cloth 15 is wound, maintains a constant gap with the substrate 3. Will be located.

At this time, the rubbing cloth 15 wound around the rubbing roll 13 is configured with a number of rubbing portals (19a, 19b of Figure 3), the rubbing roll 13 is a high-speed rotation on the substrate 3 In this case, a number of rubbing portals (19a and 19b of FIG. 3) formed on the rubbing cloth 15 come into contact with the alignment film (47 of FIG. 1) formed on the substrate 3 to form the alignment film (47 of FIG. 1). A uniform alignment pattern is formed on the surface.

At this time, the alignment pattern must be uniformly formed on the entire surface of the substrate 3 to have uniform display characteristics.

Therefore, the rubbing process is affected by the number of rubbing, the depth of rubbing, the number of rotations of the rubbing roll 13, the radius of the rubbing roll 13, and the like. The length, strength, thickness, and density of 19b) are also important factors.

FIG. 3 is a view schematically showing the rubbing portals 19a and 19b of the rubbing cloth 15. The general rubbing portal 19a is inclined at a predetermined angle and has a uniform length. Several non-uniform rubbing portals 19b are found, which consist of longer lengths than the rubbing portals 19a.

Since the heterogeneous rubbing portal 19b does not form a normal alignment pattern, it causes stains on the liquid crystal panel. Therefore, the operator should check the non-uniform rubbing portal (19b) by visually shining light on the rubbing roll (13 of FIG. 2) to which the rubbing cloth 15 is attached, and then remove it using a narrowing cradle or the like.

However, this work requires a lot of processing time and at the same time brings inconvenience to the work, there is a problem that it is difficult to completely remove the non-uniform rubbing portal (19b) due to the carelessness of the operator.

The present invention is to solve the above problems, the first object is to completely remove the non-uniform rubbing portal of the rubbing cloth without the inconvenience of working within a fast process time.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device having uniform display characteristics through uniform rubbing.

In order to achieve the object as described above, the present invention is a rubbing roller; A rubbing cloth attached to the rubbing roller and configured with a number of rubbing portals; A scan camera formed under the rubbing roller and capable of horizontal movement along the rubbing roller longitudinal direction; It is configured on one side of the scan camera, and includes a cutter capable of vertical movement up and down and horizontal movement, when the non-uniform specific rubbing portal among the numerous rubbing portals are detected by the scanning of the scan camera, the corresponding unevenness by the cutter An alignment film rubbing device for a liquid crystal display device is provided, characterized in that one rubbing portal is removed.

The scan camera and the cutter is characterized in that connected to the external PLC, the PLC captures a specific non-uniform rubbing portal having a long length compared to the normal rubbing portal of the rubbing cloth through the image signal of the scan camera It is characterized by.

In this case, the PLC is characterized in that coordinates the position where the specific non-uniform rubbing portal is captured, and the coordinates of the rubbing cloth measured through the PLC is transmitted to the cutter, the cutter is moved to the coordinates It is done.

The cutter may further include a sensor, a blade, and a suction port connected to the outside. The cutter may further include a substrate on which an alignment layer is applied, and a stage on which the substrate is seated.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

4 is a flowchart illustrating a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel for a liquid crystal display according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention according to a process sequence.

The first step st1 is a step of preparing a first substrate, which is a color filter substrate, and a second substrate, which is an array substrate. The second substrate includes a thin film transistor including a gate electrode, a semiconductor layer, a source and a drain electrode, and a pixel electrode serving as an electrode.

A color filter layer is formed on the first substrate to transmit only light of a specific wavelength band at a position corresponding to the pixel electrode of the second substrate, and a black matrix is formed at the boundary of each color of the color filter layer to cover the non-pixel region.

In addition, a common electrode for applying a voltage to the liquid crystal layer is formed under the color filter layer and the black matrix.

The second step st2 is a step of forming an alignment layer on the first and second substrates. The liquid crystal display device utilizes the electrical optical effect of the liquid crystal, and the electro-optical effect is determined by the anisotropy of the liquid crystal itself and the molecular arrangement state of the liquid crystal, and the control of the molecular arrangement of the liquid crystal is an image in the liquid crystal display device. It will greatly affect the stabilization of the display quality. Therefore, an alignment process is performed to define an initial arrangement of liquid crystal molecules.

This step forms an alignment film on each of the electrode portions in contact with the liquid crystals of the first and second substrates, and includes application and curing of the alignment film, and a rubbing treatment process. As the alignment layer, polyimide, which is an organic alignment layer, is mainly used.

At this time, the present invention is characterized in that the non-uniform rubbing portal is removed by an automated process before the rubbing treatment step.

The third step st3 is a step of printing the seal pattern. At this time, the seal pattern is formed by surrounding the edges of either of the substrates with a sealant of a thermosetting or ultraviolet curing resin by a dispenser or screen printing method. In this case, the liquid crystal inlet through which the liquid crystal can be injected is formed in a portion of the edge of the seal pattern, and the vacuum inlet opened to facilitate the injection of the liquid crystal.

The fourth step st4 is a step of dispersing a spacer. Spacers of constant size are used to precisely and uniformly maintain a cell gap between the first and second substrates.

The fifth step st5 is a step of forming a liquid crystal cell through the bonding process of the first and second substrates after the spacer spreading process is completed.

As a result, a liquid crystal filling space connected to the liquid crystal injection hole and the vacuum suction hole formed at edges facing each other of the first and second substrates is formed.

The sixth step st6 is a step of cutting the prepared liquid crystal cell into a unit liquid crystal cell.

In general, a liquid crystal cell is formed of a plurality of liquid crystal cells on a large glass substrate, and then separated into one liquid crystal cell.

A seventh step st7 is to inject liquid crystal into the liquid crystal cell. In the initial manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device, a process of cutting several cells at the same time and then cutting them into cell units is performed. However, as the cell size increases, the cells are cut into unit cells and then a liquid crystal is injected.

An eighth step st8 is a step of encapsulating the liquid crystal inlet and the vacuum inlet of the liquid crystal cell into which the liquid crystal is injected.

After the liquid crystal injection process is completed, the encapsulation process is a process to prevent the liquid crystal from flowing out of the liquid crystal cell injection port and the suction port configured for vacuum suction after the liquid crystal injection is completed. Irradiate with UV rays to prevent it.

At this time, when the injection hole and the suction hole are in contact with the outside while the liquid crystal is injected, defects due to contamination may occur. Therefore, care must be taken so that external contact does not occur during cell movement or process progress. Should be.

After the quality test, the liquid crystal cell that has undergone the above-described process is connected to a driving circuit to the liquid crystal cell, and then a polarizing plate and a plurality of modules are configured to complete the liquid crystal display device.

In this case, when the alignment layer is formed in the second step (st2), before the rubbing treatment process, the rubbing portal is removed by an automated process to configure the rubbing portal configured in the rubbing cloth to be uniform. It is characterized by. This will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a perspective view illustrating a non-uniform rubbing portal removal process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown, when the rubbing roll 113 wound around the rubbing cloth 115 rotates slowly, the rubbing cloth 115 is scanned by the scan camera 200 configured at one side of the stage 117 and is uneven. The sensing portal (19b of FIG. 3) is detected, wherein the scan camera 200 is configured to allow horizontal movement on the stage 117, so that the rubbing roll 113 of the rubbing cloth 115 is wound. Configure to scan along the longitudinal direction.

One side of the scan camera 200 is provided with a cutter 400 capable of vertical movement and horizontal movement, the cutter 400 is a sensor for detecting only a non-uniform specific length of the rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) (Not shown), a blade (not shown) for cutting the non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3), and a suction port (not shown) for sucking and discharging the cut non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) to the outside. do.

At this time, while controlling the rotation of the rubbing roll 113 on the outside, the position of the non-uniform specific rubbing portal (19b of Figure 3) through the image signal transmitted from the scan camera 200 can be confirmed Program logic controller (PLC) 300 is provided.

That is, when the front surface of the rubbing cloth 115 is scanned through the scan camera 200, the scanning information through the scan camera 200 is transmitted to the PLC 300, and the PLC 300 receives the scanning information. ) Is a specific non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) having a long length compared to the surrounding normal rubbing portal (19a of FIG. 3) in a state in which the normal rubbing portal (19a of FIG. 3) is entirely configured on the rubbing cloth 115. To capture the position and to confirm the position, and coordinate the position and transmit it to the cutter 400.

Cutter 400 received the coordinates with the non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) is moved to the corresponding coordinates on the rubbing cloth 115 of the rubbing roll 113 stopped rotation, the cutter moved to the corresponding coordinates ( 400 detects an uneven rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) having a longer length than a uniform rubbing portal (19a of FIG. 3) through a sensor (not shown), and cuts it through a blade (not shown). The cut non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of Figure 3) is sucked through an inhaler (not shown) configured in the cutter 400 is discharged to the outside.

On the other hand, to learn more about the sensor (not shown) configured in the cutter 400, the sensor (not shown) may use an optical sensor, the rubbing cloth 115 received from the PLC (300) While detecting the inside of the detection range of 120 ° ± 10 ° up and down, and up and down in the vicinity of the corresponding coordinate of the rubbing portal (19b in Figure 3) having a specific length of the rubbing portal (19a in Figure 3) having a uniform length Will be detected.

Therefore, the non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) having a specific length detected through the blade (not shown) of the cutter 400 is cut based on the detection result by the sensor (not shown).

 By forming an alignment pattern on the alignment layer through the rubbing roll 113 to which the rubbing portal 115 with the rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) having such a non-uniform length is attached, the existing rubbing portal (FIG. 3 of FIG. 3) is formed. 19b) solves the problem that a stain occurs due to scratching in all the areas that pass, and the process of removing such a non-uniform rubbing portal (19b of FIG. 3) is made of automation, resulting in shortening of the process time and convenience of the process.

6 is a perspective view for explaining an alignment film rubbing process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated, the alignment layer rubbing device includes a stage 117 for positioning the substrate 103, a rubbing roll 113 to which the rubbing cloth 115 is attached, and a support 111 for supporting the rubbing roll 113. Include.

The alignment layer rubbing process is performed on the substrate 103 through the alignment layer rubbing device configured as described above.

That is, the substrate 103 on which the alignment layer (47 of FIG. 1) is formed is seated on the stage 117, and the rubbing cloth 115 is wound around the stage 117 on which the substrate 103 is seated. It is positioned while maintaining a constant gap with the roll 113.

At this time, the rubbing cloth 115 wound around the rubbing roll 113 is configured with a number of rubbing portals (19a of FIG. 3) having a uniform length, the rubbing roll 113 is rotated at a high speed, the rubbing Numerous rubbing portals (19a in FIG. 3) formed in the fabric 115 form a uniform alignment pattern on the surface of the alignment film (47 in FIG. 1).

More precisely, the rubbing portal (19a of FIG. 3) formed on the rubbing cloth 115 attached to the surface of the high-speed rotating rubbing roll 113 contacts the substrate 103 and at the same time the stage 117 or rubbing roll. As the 113 is moved in one direction at a constant speed, the surface of the alignment film (47 in FIG. 1) on the substrate 103 is rubbed with the rubbing portal (19a in FIG. 3) of the rubbing cloth 115 so that the alignment film (FIG. 1). 47) The polymer chain (side chain) formed internally on the surface is aligned in one direction. Therefore, the surface of the alignment film (47 in FIG. 1) is more precisely aligned with the polymer chain (side chain) on the surface of the alignment film (47 in FIG. 1) in a constant direction.

As such, by performing a rubbing process on the alignment film (47 of FIG. 1) formed on the substrate 103 through the rubbing cloth 115 having the uniform rubbing portal (19a of FIG. 3), the liquid crystal display having uniform display characteristics. It is possible to provide a device.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

As described above, according to the present invention, by forming an alignment pattern on the alignment layer with a rubbing cloth from which a rubbing portal having a non-uniform specific length is removed, an effect of solving a problem in which a stain occurs on the liquid crystal panel with an existing non-uniform rubbing portal is solved. Therefore, there is an effect that can provide a liquid crystal display device having a uniform display characteristics.

In addition, the process of removing the non-uniform rubbing portal is made by the automation has the effect of reducing the process time and the convenience of the process.

Claims (7)

A rubbing roller; A rubbing cloth attached to the rubbing roller and configured with a number of rubbing portals; A scan camera formed under the rubbing roller and capable of horizontal movement along the rubbing roller longitudinal direction; Cutter is configured on one side of the scan camera, the vertical lifting and horizontal movement And a non-uniform specific rubbing portal among the plurality of rubbing portals by detecting the scanning camera, and removing the non-uniform rubbing portal by the cutter. The method of claim 1, And the scan camera and the cutter are connected to an external PLC. The method of claim 2, And the PLC captures a non-uniform specific rubbing portal having a long length compared to the normal rubbing portal of the rubbing cloth through the image signal of the scan camera. The method of claim 3, wherein And said PLC coordinates the position at which the non-uniform specific rubbing portal is captured. The method of claim 4, wherein And a coordinate of the rubbing cloth measured by the PLC to the cutter so that the cutter moves to the coordinate. The method of claim 5, wherein And the cutter includes a sensor, a blade, and a suction port connected to the outside. The method of claim 1, An alignment film rubbing device for a liquid crystal display device further comprising a substrate coated with an alignment film and a stage on which the substrate is mounted.

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