TWM606857U - Process equipment for forming liquid crystal alignment film at low temperature - Google Patents

Abstract

This creation provides a process equipment for low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film. The process equipment includes a marking element, a photocuring agent coating part, and a photocuring device. The marking element is mainly used for marking on the surface of a prepared substrate. The alignment pattern, and the photocuring agent is coated on the surface of the substrate with the alignment pattern by the light curing agent coating member, and the light curing agent is photocured with the light curing agent to form a pattern that follows the alignment pattern. For the texture-based liquid crystal alignment film, liquid crystal is finally injected between the two substrates with the liquid crystal alignment film, and packaged and shaped into a panel, and the effect of low-temperature molding of the liquid crystal alignment film is achieved by light curing.

Description

Process equipment for low temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film

This creation is about a kind of liquid crystal panel manufacturing process, especially a kind of process equipment for low temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film.

Commercially available liquid crystal displays (Liquid-Crystal Display, LCD), when the panel is in the alignment process, as shown in Figure 1, the surface of the glass substrate 1 is coated with polyimide 3 (Polyimide, PI), and then heat and bake the polyimide 3 through the heating and baking equipment 4 as shown in Figure 2 to be cured and set, and then rubbed through the flannel roller 5 as shown in Figure 3 to cure and set the polyimide 3 has an alignment pattern formed on the surface to form a liquid crystal alignment film 6. In this way, the liquid crystal alignment film 6 enables the liquid crystal molecules to achieve the uniformity of the alignment direction, so as to control the brightness of the light and achieve the effect of liquid crystal display. However, the temperature of the heating and baking is at least 120°C for the lower one, and even 230°C for the higher one. Therefore, the setting of the heating and baking device 4 is necessary and cannot be omitted, so it is difficult to save the equipment cost.

Furthermore, if the coated polyimide 3 needs to be heated and baked to a temperature above 120°C to be cured and shaped by the foregoing process, if the substrate 1 is made of a soft and flexible material instead of the aforementioned glass material, the substrate 1 It will be deformed and damaged due to the high temperature of heating and baking. Obviously, the base material with soft and flexible material is not suitable for the aforementioned manufacturing process, and further improvement is necessary.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention provides a low-temperature forming process equipment for the liquid crystal alignment film, which can cure the liquid crystal alignment film at a relatively low temperature.

An embodiment of the present invention provides a process equipment for low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film, which includes an imprinting element, a photocuring agent coating member, and a photocuring device. The photocuring agent coating member is arranged after the imprinting element, The light curing device is arranged behind the light curing agent coating member. Wherein, the marking element is used to mark the alignment pattern on the surface of a substrate, the photocuring agent is coated on the surface of the substrate with the alignment pattern by the photocuring agent coating member, and the photocuring agent is photocured by the photocuring device. A liquid crystal alignment film shaped according to the texture of the alignment pattern is formed.

Preferably, when the marking element is marking the alignment pattern on the surface of the substrate, a spacer is also marked on the surface.

Preferably, the substrate is a flexible film made of plastic.

Preferably, the photocuring device is used for photocuring the photocuring agent at a temperature of 25°C to 70°C.

Preferably, the marking element is a roller with a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern.

Preferably, the marking element is a hot pressing mold with a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern.

Therefore, the curing and setting of the liquid crystal alignment film described in this invention is formed by applying a photocuring agent on the surface of the substrate to imprint the alignment pattern on the surface of the substrate, and then using a photocuring device to photocuring the photocuring agent. The created liquid crystal alignment film does not require heating and baking equipment during the curing and shaping process, so relatively expensive heating and baking equipment can be omitted to achieve the effect of saving equipment costs.

Furthermore, if the substrate is made of a soft and flexible material, the temperature generated by the photocuring device during photocuring of the photocuring agent is lower than that of the heating and baking equipment, which can ensure that the curing and setting process of the liquid crystal alignment film will not cause the substrate. The material is deformed and damaged, so it is suitable for making liquid crystal alignment film on the base material with soft and flexible material.

In order to facilitate the description of the central idea of the creation in the column of the above-mentioned new content, specific examples are used to express it. The various objects in the embodiment are drawn according to the proportion, size, deformation or displacement suitable for explanation, rather than drawn according to the proportion of the actual element, which will be described first.

Please refer to Figures 4 to 7, this creation provides a process equipment for low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film. The process equipment is part of the panel manufacturing process in this creation, and is mainly used for forming liquid crystal alignment film in the liquid crystal alignment process. In addition to the process equipment for the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film, the panel manufacturing process also includes other equipment required in the panel manufacturing process. Based on this creation, the focus is on the process improvement of the liquid crystal alignment film, so the panel manufacturing process Other equipment required will not be described in detail, so I will describe it first.

The process equipment for the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film mainly includes an imprinting element 10, a photocuring agent coating member 20, and a photocuring device 30. In the arrangement of the process equipment, the photocuring agent coating member 20 is set after the marking element 10, and the photocuring device 30 is set after the photocuring agent coating member 20, so the marking element 10, the photocuring agent coating member 20 and the photocuring device 30 are based on the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal alignment film And set one after another.

The process equipment of the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film, and its application in the panel manufacturing process are as follows:

A substrate 40 is prepared. In this embodiment, the substrate 40 is a flexible film made of plastic, such as polymer, plastic, or polymethylmethacrylate ( Polymethyl Methacrylate, PMMA), and the polymer is taken as an example in this embodiment. The base material 40 used in this embodiment is soft and flexible, and can be transported by roll to roll (R2R) during the manufacturing process, which is different from the conventional glass base material. The material is a single-piece conveying method.

After the substrate 40 is prepared, the marking element 10 can mark the alignment pattern 42 on the surface 41 of the substrate 40 (as shown in FIG. 4). The alignment pattern 42 is shown here as a zigzag. In this embodiment, the marking element 10 is a roller, which has a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern 42; however, the marking element 10 of the present creation is not limited to the aforementioned roller. In different implementations, the marking element 10 is also It can be a hot pressing mold (not shown in the figure) with a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern 42. In addition, in the marking element 10 of this embodiment, when the alignment pattern 42 is marked on the surface 41 of the substrate 40, spacers 43 are also marked on the surface 41.

After the alignment pattern 42 is printed on the surface 41 of the substrate 40, the photocuring agent 50 is coated on the surface 41 of the substrate 40 by the photocuring agent coating member 20 (as shown in FIG. 5), that is, the photocuring agent 50 It is coated on the alignment pattern 42 and the photocuring agent 50 is zigzag along the alignment pattern 42 at this time. In this embodiment, the photocuring agent coating member 20 is actually a roller, which rolls on the surface 41 of the substrate 40, and provides the photocuring agent 50 during the rolling process to uniformly coat the surface 41 of the substrate 40 . The photocuring agent 50 is here taken as an example of UV resin.

After the photocuring agent 50 is coated on the alignment pattern 42, the photocuring agent 50 is photocured by the photocuring device 30 to form a liquid crystal alignment film 60 (as shown in FIG. 6). The liquid crystal alignment film 60 is cured by light. The back is shaped along the texture of the alignment pattern 42. The photocuring device 30 is an ultraviolet light lamp here, which irradiates the photocuring agent 50 with ultraviolet light for a period of time, so that the photocuring agent 50 is shaped into the liquid crystal alignment film 60 along the texture of the alignment pattern 42. During the action of the light curing device 30, the lower temperature generated is only room temperature (25°C), and the higher temperature is only about 70°C, and the curing and setting of the liquid crystal alignment film 60 can be completed.

After the liquid crystal alignment film 60 is cured and set on the surface 41 of the substrate 40, the liquid crystal injection process can be performed. In this step, the two substrates 40 with the liquid crystal alignment film 60 are overlapped with one on top and the other on the bottom, and the spacers engraved on the surface 41 of the substrate 40 are combined with each other. 43. A gap is formed between the two substrates 40, and the liquid crystal L can be injected into the gap between the two substrates 40 from an injection port (not shown in the figure) (as shown in Figure 7), and then encapsulated to shape Into the panel. In this embodiment, after the liquid crystal L is injected between the two substrates 40 with the liquid crystal alignment film 60, the liquid crystal L injection port is vacuumed to a low degree to expel the bubbles generated when the liquid crystal L is injected, and then The package is shaped into a panel.

From the above explanation, it is not difficult to find that the characteristics of this creation are:

1. The liquid crystal alignment film 60 described in this creation is formed by marking the alignment pattern 42 on the surface 41 of the substrate 40 by the marking element 10, and then coating the alignment pattern 42 with a photocuring agent 50, and then using a photocuring device 30 The photocuring agent 50 is photocured, so that the liquid crystal alignment film 60 can be cured and set. Compared with the conventional liquid crystal alignment film manufacturing process, this creation is to cure the photocuring agent 50 into the liquid crystal alignment film 60 by light curing. The curing process does not require heating and baking as in the conventional manufacturing process. Equipment, so relatively expensive heating and baking equipment can be omitted to achieve the effect of saving equipment costs.

2. As in the above embodiment, a soft and flexible material is used as the substrate 40, and when the photocuring agent 50 is photocured by the photocuring device 30, the liquid crystal alignment film 60 is formed at a relatively low temperature (as described above The embodiment is between 25°C and 70°C), which is much lower than the conventional heating and baking equipment at least 120°C to 230°C, so as to ensure that the liquid crystal alignment film 60 will not be affected by high temperature during the curing and setting process. The substrate 40 is deformed and damaged. Therefore, the process equipment for the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film of the present invention is quite suitable for making the liquid crystal alignment film 60 on the substrate 40 with soft and flexible material.

The above-mentioned embodiments are only used to illustrate the creation, not to limit the scope of the creation. All modifications or changes that do not violate the spirit of this creation belong to the scope of this creation.

[Learning part] 1: substrate 2: Coating components 3: Polyimide 4: heating and baking equipment 5: Flannel roller 6: Liquid crystal alignment film [This creation part] 10: Marking components 20: Light curing agent coating parts 30: light curing 40: Substrate 41: Surface 42: Orientation pattern 43: Spacer 50: light curing agent 60: Liquid crystal alignment film

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a conventional substrate coated with polyimide on the surface. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of conventional heating and baking equipment for curing and setting polyimide on the surface of a substrate. Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a conventionally cured polyimide formed with a flannel roller to form a liquid crystal alignment film on the surface of a substrate. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the marking element marking the alignment pattern and the spacer on the surface of the substrate according to this creative embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of the photocuring agent coating member applying the photocuring agent on the alignment pattern on the surface of the substrate according to this creative embodiment. Fig. 6 is a schematic diagram of the photocuring agent applied on the alignment pattern on the surface of the substrate with the photocuring device in this creative embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of the second base material injected into the liquid crystal to form a panel according to this creative embodiment.

30: light curing

40: Substrate

42: Orientation pattern

43: Spacer

60: Liquid crystal alignment film

Claims (6)

A process equipment for low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film, which comprises: An engraving element, with which an alignment pattern is engraved on the surface of a substrate; A photocuring agent coating member, which is arranged after the imprinting element, and using the photocuring agent coating member to coat the photocuring agent on the surface of the substrate with the alignment pattern; and A light curing device is arranged after the light curing agent coating member, and the light curing agent is photocured by the light curing device to form a liquid crystal alignment film shaped according to the texture of the alignment pattern. The process equipment for the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film according to claim 1, wherein when the marking element is marking the alignment pattern on the surface of the substrate, a spacer is also marked on the surface. The process equipment for low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film according to claim 1, wherein the marking element is a roller with a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern. The process equipment for low temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film according to claim 1, wherein the marking element is a hot pressing mold having a texture corresponding to the alignment pattern. The panel manufacturing process of the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a soft and flexible film made of plastic. The panel manufacturing process of the low-temperature forming liquid crystal alignment film according to claim 1, wherein the photocuring device is used for photocuring the photocuring agent at a temperature of 25°C to 70°C.

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