WO2012120954A1

WO2012120954A1 - Method for manufacturing liquid crystal panel

Info

Publication number: WO2012120954A1
Application number: PCT/JP2012/052876
Authority: WO
Inventors: 藤原　学
Original assignee: シャープ株式会社
Priority date: 2011-03-08
Filing date: 2012-02-08
Publication date: 2012-09-13
Also published as: JP5133436B2; JP2012189628A

Abstract

This invention includes: a scribe line forming step, wherein a scribe line to be provided on one substrate of a pair of substrates, and a scribe line to be provided on the other substrate are formed at positions shifted from each other in the superimposition direction of the pair of substrates; and a loading step, wherein, in a state wherein the pair of substrates are placed on a cushion material after the scribe line forming step, at an intermediate position between an edge side of the one substrate and the scribe line provided on the one substrate, a point load is applied, while moving the point load parallel to the scribe line, and the pair of substrates are cut at respective scribe lines of the substrates.

Description

Manufacturing method of liquid crystal panel

The present invention relates to a method for dividing a pair of bonded substrates in a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal panel, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel in which a liquid crystal panel is manufactured by dividing an end material from a pair of substrates. .

Liquid crystal display devices are used in a wide range of devices such as OA devices, AV devices, and portable terminal devices because of their thinness, light weight, and low power consumption. The liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of glass substrates, a backlight that illuminates the liquid crystal panel, and the like.

In general, in order to reduce manufacturing costs, a liquid crystal panel is manufactured by using a glass substrate having a large size and bonding the substrates together using a sealing material or the like. Manufactured by cutting to a predetermined size.

The following method is known as one of the methods for cutting a pair of substrates. First, the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel is fixed to the stage by vacuum suction. Next, by lowering the cutter for scribing from the upper part of the liquid crystal panel fixed to the stage and moving the cutter while applying a predetermined pressure, one substrate of the liquid crystal panel (the upper glass substrate in this state) ) To form a notch with a predetermined depth (referred to as a scribe line). Next, the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel is vacuum-sucked on the stage with the surface on which the scribe line is formed, and then a vertical load is applied from the top of the liquid crystal panel using a break bar, and one side of the liquid crystal panel (the one of the above) Substrate). Next, with the uncut surface facing up, the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel is vacuum-sucked on the stage, and a scribe line is formed in the same manner, and the surface on which the second scribe line is formed is down (that is, the first scribe line). With the surface on which the line is formed facing up), the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel is vacuum-sucked on the stage. Then, a vertical load is applied from above the liquid crystal panel using a break bar, and one side (the other substrate) of the liquid crystal panel is cut to divide the liquid crystal panel into two.

In this way, when scribing with one side cut and cutting with an impact by a break bar (break), applying a vertical load directly above the scribe line is the same as applying a vertical load to the scribe line. Since the cutting is performed at the position, the cutting is stably performed in the vertical direction.

Another method is disclosed in Patent Document 1. In the method of Patent Document 1, in a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel including a step of cutting a pair of bonded substrates, the pair of substrates is placed on the stage so that end portions on a predetermined side of the pair of substrates protrude from the stage. A first step of vacuum suction, a second step of forming a scribe line at opposite positions of the upper surface and the lower surface of the protruding end, and a rod-shaped or roller-shaped break pin, A third step of applying a load from the direction normal to the substrate or inclined toward the direction of the predetermined side and the traveling direction of the scribe line at a predetermined position on the side near the starting point of the scribe line; And a method including:

In this way, the above-described technique for forming the scribe lines at the opposing positions of the upper and lower surfaces of the end portions of the pair of substrates bonded together to divide the end portions of both substrates together is the yield of the liquid crystal panel. Improvements can be made.

However, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to form a scribe line at a position where the upper and lower surfaces of the end portions of a pair of substrates face each other. It cannot be applied to a structure larger than this substrate.

This structure is shown in FIG. FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view showing a pair of bonded substrates. In the structure shown in FIG. 12, the liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the TFT substrate 200 and the counter substrate 201, and at least one end portion (the right end portion in the figure) of the TFT substrate is wider than the counter substrate. . This expanded portion is used as a region for forming a connection terminal with an external device.

In the case of the structure shown in FIG. 12, it is difficult to apply the above-described technique because the positions of the scribe lines do not match in the overlapping direction of the substrates.

Therefore, in the case of the structure shown in FIG. 12, a process is employed in which the end material 101 is manually separated from the liquid crystal panel 100 and removed. The main reason is that when the scribe line is formed on the counter substrate side, the substrate cannot be completely divided only by the scribe line, and a force that does not apply excessive bending stress to the TFT substrate is applied. This is because it is necessary to slide in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. As a specific processing procedure, after a scribe line is formed at a predetermined position on one substrate, the edge side of the scribe line is pressed with a finger and a force is applied with the finger in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. Slide off the scraps.

Japanese Patent Publication “JP 2007-156310 A (published on June 21, 2007)”

However, since the method of FIG. 13 is a manual operation, the yield cannot be avoided, and when removing the end material, the end material is rubbed against the surface of the expanded portion of the TFT substrate. This causes a situation where the surface or the terminal formed on the surface is damaged. In addition, since there is only a part that can be grasped by a finger, there is a possibility that a part where the scribing of the part not grasped does not proceed in the thickness direction of the substrate and the panel and the end material cannot be completely separated remains.

That is, there is still a need for a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel capable of efficiently and satisfactorily removing and removing a pair of substrates configured with end members having different widths. .

The present invention has been made in view of the above-described conventional problems, and the object thereof is the end material in the case where the pair of substrates are configured to have end materials having different widths from the edge. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel that realizes efficient and good division.

That is, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is to solve the above problems,
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step for providing a scribe line for each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in a row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and a row direction provided on the other substrate A scribe line forming step of forming a scribe line extending in a position shifted in a direction in which the substrates overlap in a pair of substrates,
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, the one substrate is provided in the row direction and the edges of the pair of substrates in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region. A load step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between the scribe lines;
It is characterized by including.

According to the above configuration, a region (end material) different from the liquid crystal panel region can be separated from the substrate by a simple method of applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line. The manufacturing yield can be improved.

Moreover, since the end material can be cut off from the substrate by applying the point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line, it is not necessary to slide and remove the end material. Thereby, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the end material to be removed is rubbed against the surface of the other substrate. Therefore, as described above, when the end material adjacent to the counter substrate is removed from one substrate, the end material is rubbed against the surface of the expanded portion of the TFT substrate, and the terminals are damaged. Can be avoided. That is, it can be exposed without damaging the expanded part.

Moreover, since the end material can be separated from the substrate by applying the point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line, the panel and the end material can be completely separated.

From the above, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is efficient and good for the end material when the pair of substrates have end materials having different widths from the edge. It is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel that realizes division.

Further, another manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is to solve the above-described problems.
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step of providing scribe lines in the row direction and the column direction with respect to each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in the row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and the other A scribe line extending step in the row direction provided on the substrate, a scribe line forming step provided at a position where the scribe line is formed at a position aligned in the overlapping direction of the pair of substrates and a position formed at a position shifted in the overlapping direction;
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, a scribe line and a scribe line provided in an adjacent row direction in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region in the one substrate A loading step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between
It is characterized by including.

From the above, the method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention provides an efficient and good separation of the end material when the pair of substrates has end materials having different widths. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel can be provided.

The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as described above.
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step for providing a scribe line for each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in a row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and a row direction provided on the other substrate A scribe line forming step of forming a scribe line extending in a position shifted in a direction in which the substrates overlap in a pair of substrates,
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, the one substrate is provided in the row direction and the edges of the pair of substrates in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region. A load step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between the scribe lines;
It is characterized by including.

Moreover, another manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as described above.
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step of providing scribe lines in the row direction and the column direction with respect to each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in the row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and the other A scribe line extending step in the row direction provided on the substrate, a scribe line forming step provided at a position where the scribe line is formed at a position aligned in the overlapping direction of the pair of substrates and a position formed at a position shifted in the overlapping direction;
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, a scribe line and a scribe line provided in an adjacent row direction in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region in the one substrate A loading step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between
It is characterized by including.

Accordingly, it is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel that realizes efficient and good division of the end material in the case where the pair of substrates has end materials having different widths. .

It is a perspective view which shows the structure of a pair of board | substrate used in one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method concerning this invention. It is the perspective view which showed one liquid crystal panel and the end material adjacent to it in a pair of board | substrate of FIG. FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along an arrow showing a state in which one liquid crystal panel and an end material adjacent thereto are cut along a cutting line AA ′ shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along an arrow showing a state in which a pair of substrates is cut along a cutting line BB ′ shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the scribe (line) formed by the scribe formation process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the pushing roller used at the load process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the structure of the pushing roller used at the load process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the load process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows the load process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows another example of the load process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure explaining the liquid crystal panel isolation | separation process of one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention. It is a figure which shows a conventional structure. It is a figure which shows a conventional structure.

The liquid crystal panel manufacturing method according to the present invention is to manufacture a liquid crystal panel by making a plurality of liquid crystal panels on a large glass substrate and then cutting the substrate into a predetermined size. Below, one Embodiment of the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method which concerns on this invention is described.

The configuration of the liquid crystal panel is not particularly limited, and a conventionally known configuration can be adopted. Specifically, a pixel electrode and an alignment film are provided on a glass substrate (insulating substrate), and in addition, TFTs are provided in the vicinity of the intersections of a large number of scanning signal lines and a large number of data signal lines that intersect each other. An active matrix substrate (hereinafter referred to as a TFT substrate) and a counter substrate having a common electrode and an alignment film on a glass substrate (insulating substrate). A liquid crystal layer may be sandwiched between the substrate and the substrate.

<Configuration of a pair of substrates>
In the present invention, a plurality of TFT substrates are formed on one of a pair of large substrates, and the same number of counter substrates as the TFT substrate is formed on the other. Then, these substrates are bonded to each other using a sealing material or the like so that the TFT substrate and the counter substrate face each other, and a liquid crystal layer is formed in a counter region between the TFT substrate and the counter substrate. A pair of substrates in which is formed is formed. In addition, about the manufacturing method and procedure so far, it is not limited to the above-mentioned thing.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the configuration of the pair of substrates. The pair of substrates shown in FIG. 1 is used in the liquid crystal panel manufacturing method of the present embodiment. FIG. 1A is a view of the pair of substrates with the counter substrate side as an upper surface, and FIG. 1B is a view of the pair of substrates with the TFT substrate side as an upper surface. is there.

In the pair of substrates 1 shown in FIG. 1, a total of 15 liquid crystal panels 2 (5 vertical × 3 horizontal) are formed. (I) Between the liquid crystal panel 2 and the liquid crystal panel 2 arranged side by side, And (ii) a portion that is not configured as a liquid crystal panel is provided between the liquid crystal panel 2 at the end of the liquid crystal panels 2 arranged side by side and the edge 1 'of the pair of substrates. In the present specification, the portion that is not configured as the liquid crystal panel is referred to as an end material 3.

The relationship between the liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing one liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 adjacent thereto in the pair of substrates 1 of FIG.

2 is a counter substrate 21 on the upper side and a TFT substrate 22 on the lower side. The TFT substrate 22 has a portion extending to the right side of the drawing with respect to the counter substrate 21. This expanded portion is referred to as an expansion region 22a in the present specification.

In the extended region 22a of the TFT substrate 22, as shown in FIG. 3, a scanning signal line or a data signal line terminal 23 can be formed. Alternatively, the extension region 22a can be used as a region for mounting a driver for driving the liquid crystal panel.

As shown in FIG. 2, in this embodiment, as the above-described end material 3, the counter substrate side end material 31 adjacent to the counter substrate 21 and the TFT substrate side end material adjacent to the extended region 22 a of the TFT substrate 22. 32. The positions of the end side of the counter substrate side end member 31 and the end side of the TFT substrate side end member 32 are aligned along the substrate superposition direction. That is, the counter substrate side end material 31 and the TFT substrate side end material 32 are configured to have different widths, and the TFT substrate side end material 32 corresponds to the extended region 22a than the counter substrate side end material 31. Is also configured to be narrow.

In the present embodiment, in the liquid crystal panel 2, the end sides of the TFT substrate 22 and the counter substrate 21 are aligned along the overlapping direction of the substrate, except for the end side having the extended region 22a. That is, one liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 adjacent thereto constitute a rectangle (rectangle) having the same shape and the same area on the upper and lower substrates of the pair of substrates 1 as shown in FIG. .

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA ′ shown in FIG. 2 showing a state where one liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 adjacent thereto are cut.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the region of the liquid crystal panel 2, a liquid crystal layer 40 sealed with a sealing material 41a is provided between the counter substrate 21 and the TFT substrate 22. Further, the terminal 23 is formed in the extended region 22a of the TFT substrate 22 as described above.

As shown in FIG. 3, the pair of substrates is attached by a sealing material 41 a surrounding the liquid crystal layer 40 and a sealing material 41 b formed at a facing portion between the opposing substrate side end material 31 and the TFT substrate side end material 32. Are combined.

As a specific example of the liquid crystal panel 2 and the end member 3 shown in FIG. 2, the dimensions of the entire structure of the rectangle shown in FIG. 2 are (long side) 15 mm × (short side) 8 mm. The width difference between the TFT substrate side end material 32 is 3 mm, the width of the counter substrate side end material 31 is 5 mm, the width of the TFT substrate side end material 32 is 2 mm, the thickness of each substrate is 0.2 mm, the substrate and the substrate The separation distance (height of the sealing material) can be 0.003 to 0.004 mm, but the present invention is not limited to these dimensions.

In the present embodiment, the rectangular structure shown in FIG. 2 has the liquid crystal panel 2 such that the end members 3 are arranged on the same side along the short side of the rectangle and along the long side of the rectangle. A pair of substrates 1 shown in FIG. 1 is formed in such a manner that the end members 3 are alternately arranged. Hereinafter, the direction along the long side of the rectangle may be referred to as the X direction, and the direction along the short side of the rectangle may be referred to as the Y direction. That is, in the pair of substrates 1 shown in FIG. 1, three liquid crystal panels 2 are arranged along the X direction with the end members 3 therebetween. On the other hand, with respect to the Y direction of the pair of substrates 1 shown in FIG. 1, there are locations where the five liquid crystal panels 2 are arranged adjacent to each other and locations where the five end materials 3 are arranged adjacent to each other.

<Manufacturing method of liquid crystal panel (removal of end material from a pair of substrates)>
FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow line showing a state in which the pair of substrates 1 is cut along the cutting line BB ′ shown in FIG. Since the cutting line BB ′ is along the long side (X direction) of the rectangular structure shown in FIG. 2, the horizontal direction in FIG. 4 is the direction along the long side of the rectangular structure (X direction). It hits.

First, scribe lines are formed on the pair of substrates 1 (scribe line forming step). Note that the above-described configuration of the liquid crystal panel 2 is already formed on the pair of substrates 1 shown in FIG. 4 where the scribe lines are formed.

-Scribe line formation process A scribe line formation is performed by mounting the whole surface of a pair of board | substrate 1 on the stage 50 provided in the scribe formation apparatus, and fixing. The stage 50 is made of a material having elasticity, and this elasticity prevents an excessive pressure (load) from being applied to the pair of substrates 1 in the scribe forming process and the loading process following the process. can do. Further, the stage 50 may be provided with a suction hole for adsorbing a pair of substrates during scribe formation to the surface of the stage 50. The suction from the suction hole can be configured to be controlled by a separate device.

In this embodiment, a process of forming a scribe line on each side of the pair of substrates 1 is performed. That is, after a scribe line is formed on one surface, a pair of substrates are reversed using a reversing device (not shown) so that the surface on which the scribe line is formed is opposed to the stage 50 before the other surface. A scribe line is formed.

In this embodiment, in the subsequent loading process, the TFT substrate side starts from a state where the substrate surface faces upward. Therefore, in consideration of this, in the scribe formation process, the substrate on the counter substrate side is first applied. It is preferable to form a scribe line. When the subsequent dividing step is performed on a different stage after moving from the stage 50, or when a device that reverses a pair of substrates during the movement is employed, the scribe formation order is in the order described above. Not limited.

For scribe formation, a scribe cutter made of a super hard material such as diamond or sapphire is used. It is desirable that the same number of scribe cutters as the number of scribe line formation scheduled portions are provided along the X direction. By providing the same number, a scribe line can be collectively formed at a desired location by simultaneously scanning these in the Y direction.

The formation position of the scribe line will be described with reference to FIG. 4. The scribe line is formed at the boundary between the liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 on both the substrate on the counter substrate side and the substrate on the TFT substrate side. Then, when the counter substrate side and the TFT substrate side are paired and the formation position of the scribe line is viewed along the X direction, the scribe lines coincide on the counter substrate side and the TFT substrate side as shown in FIG. It can be seen that the locations where the images are shifted and the locations where they are shifted are located alternately. As described above, the counter substrate-side end member 31 and the TFT substrate-side end member 32 are configured to have different widths, and the TFT substrate-side end member 32 is opposed to the extended region 22a. The width of the substrate side end material 31 is narrower than that of the substrate side end material 31, and the end sides of the liquid crystal panel 2 other than the end side having the extended region 22 a are overlapped with the end sides of the TFT substrate 22 and the counter substrate 21. This is because the positions are aligned along the direction. That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the scribe at the boundary between the extended region 22a and the TFT substrate side end member 32 of the TFT substrate side substrate is paired with the scribe end member 31 of the opposite substrate side of the counter substrate side substrate. Between the scribe lines formed on both sides of the X direction.

The depth of scribing with a scribe cutter is preferably 20% to 50% of the substrate thickness. The reason is that if the cut is less than 20%, the propagation of cracks may not progress vertically in the subsequent loading process, and if the cut exceeds 50%, the substrate surface may be crushed at the time of cutting. is there.

FIG. 5 shows a scribe (line) 24 formed by the scribe formation process. As shown in FIG. 5, the scribe (line) 24 is completed in a state where it is not formed in a part of the thickness of the substrate, specifically, in the part circled in FIG. 5 (the side close to the liquid crystal layer). .

-Load process In the subsequent load process, a point load in the load direction along the overlapping direction of the substrates is applied to the center of the surface of the end material 3 of one substrate of the pair of substrates 1 after the scribe line forming step, and The point load is applied while moving in parallel with the scribe line extending in the Y direction. Thereby, a pair of board | substrate can be cut | disconnected collectively in a scribe line. More specifically, it is as follows.

First, the pair of substrates 1 on which the scribe formation by the scribe formation process has been completed is placed on the stage such that the substrate on the opposite substrate side is the upper surface and the substrate on the TFT substrate side is opposed to the stage. This stage may be the same as or different from the stage 50 provided in the scribe forming apparatus.

Subsequently, a scribe line formed between the counter substrate side end member 31 of the substrate on the counter substrate side, more specifically, between the counter substrate side end member 31 and the counter substrate 21 adjacent on both sides, The pushing roller 60 which is a load means is set at an intermediate position with respect to the scribe line.

Here, the configuration of the pushing roller 60 will be described with reference to FIG. 6A is a side view of the pushing roller 60 as viewed from the rotating shaft portion side, and FIG. 6B shows the contact area of the O-ring when the pushing roller 60 is pushed (when loaded). It is a figure.

As shown in FIG. 6A, the pushing roller 60 includes a rotating shaft portion 61 and an O-ring 62, and the O-ring 62 surrounds the rotating shaft portion 61. .

The rotation shaft portion 61 is configured with a curvature (R) of 20 to 30 mm, and is configured to rotate (turn) around the central axis 63 of the rotation shaft portion 61 as a rotation axis under the control of a rotation drive mechanism (not shown). It has become.

The O-ring 62 is a so-called rubber ring, and a fluorine type or a nitrile rubber type can be used. The O-ring 62 having a diameter of 1.5 to 3 mm can be used.

It is preferable that a plurality of such pushing rollers 60 are provided on the common central shaft 63. Specifically, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 1, a load process is performed on a pair of substrates 1 having three end members 3 in the X direction. It is preferable that the pushing rollers 60 are arranged on one central shaft 63 at equal intervals, that is, at intervals corresponding to the intervals between the end members 3.

As shown in FIG. 6B, the O-ring when the push roller 60 is pushed in (when loaded) is 1.0-2. 2 along the moving direction with respect to the substrate (counter substrate side end material 31). A contact area of 0.5 to 1.5 mm in the width direction (q in FIG. 6B) is realized with a contact length of 5 mm (p in FIG. 6B). It is preferable. This contact area is relatively small, and so-called point contact is realized.

While the pushing roller 60 having the above configuration is moved in parallel with the scribe line extending in the Y direction, a load is applied so as to push the counter substrate side end member 31 toward the TFT substrate side end member 32. This is shown in FIG. In FIG. 8, the left-right direction on the paper surface corresponds to the Y direction, and the counter substrate side end member 31 and the TFT substrate side end member 32 are arranged along the Y direction. When the pushing roller 60 moves in the Y direction, the counter substrate side end member 31 and the TFT substrate side end member 32 are distorted to the stage side at the load point.

Note that the method of moving the push roller 60 in parallel with the scribe line extending in the Y direction is only required to move the push roller 60 and the pair of substrates 1 relatively as described above. Alternatively, the pair of substrates 1 may move together with the stage, or both may move.

As described above, when the pushing roller 60 is moved parallel to the scribe line extending in the Y direction and a vertical load is applied, the end material can be divided from the pair of substrates according to the following principle.

That is, when a vertical load is applied by moving the pushing roller 60 in parallel with the scribe line extending in the Y direction, as shown in FIG. 9, the vicinity of the place where the vertical load is applied on the pair of substrates is downward (toward the stage 50). ). As a result, tensile stress is applied to the surface of the upper substrate, compressive stress is applied to the inner surface, and the incision of the scribe line is subjected to tensile stress. Divided into material 31.

Immediately after that, the compressive stress generated in the lower part of the cut upper substrate is released, and a tensile stress appears on the lower substrate. Therefore, the cut amount of the scribe line of the lower glass substrate is increased, and the lower substrate is divided into the TFT substrate 22 and the TFT substrate side end member 32.

Here, by separating the position where the vertical load is applied and the position of the scribe line as shown in FIGS. 7 and 9, the action point and the force point are separated (the fulcrum is almost the same as the force point). ), A large force is applied to the force point with a small force of action point. This is preferable because the vertical load is small.

Particularly, it is desirable that the vertical load by the pushing roller 60 is directly above the scribe line 24 of the lower substrate. This is because the pressure is effectively transmitted to the lower substrate after the division of the upper substrate by the pushing roller is effectively finished.

In the present embodiment, the stage 50 used in the scribe forming process is used as it is in the loading process. However, the present invention is not limited to this, for example, using a stage and configuration as shown in FIG. Also good. FIG. 10 shows another example of the load device of the loading process, and (a) in FIG. 10 is a top view of the substrate (the counter substrate 21 and the counter substrate side end member 31) viewed from the load means side. (B) in FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view taken along the arrow showing a state in which the substrate is cut along a cutting line CC ′ shown in (a) in FIG.

In the configuration of FIG. 10, the loading process is performed using a stage including a suction plate 70 on which a suction pipe 73 is formed and an elastic sheet 71 placed thereon instead of the stage 50. The suction plate 70 can be made of an aluminum material or the like. A pump device (not shown) is connected to the suction pipe 73 so that the substrate disposed via the elastic sheet 71 can be adsorbed to the surface of the elastic sheet 71. Therefore, the elastic sheet 71 is provided with a hole communicating with the suction pipe 73. The elastic sheet 71 is preferably made of a rubber material or the like so that the substrate is distorted in the loading process. The suction pipe 73 may be provided not only in the region of the end material 3 but also in the region of the liquid crystal panel 2.

Further, in the configuration of FIG. 10, a protective sheet 72 is provided between the substrate (the counter substrate side end member 31 and the TFT substrate side end member 32) and the elastic sheet 71 and between the substrate and the pressing roller 60. Intervene. Thereby, the elastic sheet 71 and the pushing roller 60 can be prevented from coming into direct contact with the substrate, and the substrate can be prevented from being damaged. The protective sheet 72 is made of a breathable material so as not to block the suction holes provided in the suction plate 70 and the elastic sheet 71.

In the configuration of FIG. 10, the loading process is performed with the substrate adsorbed. By adsorbing in this way, the pair of substrates are firmly fixed on the stage, so that the pair of substrates is not large as shown in FIG. 1. For example, as shown in FIG. This is also effective for a pair of relatively small substrates formed in a single row. In this case, since the end material 3 is located on the end sides of the pair of substrates, if a stage having no suction function is used, the substrate may move during loading, and a load may not be applied to a predetermined position. . On the other hand, in the configuration shown in FIG. 10, since the pair of substrates are firmly fixed on the stage, a load can be applied to a predetermined position.

-Liquid crystal panel isolation | separation process The process which isolate | separates a liquid crystal panel and an end material is performed following a load process (liquid crystal panel isolation | separation process).

In the above-described loading process, the end material and the liquid crystal panel are already cut in the scribe line. Therefore, in the liquid crystal panel separating step, these are completely separated.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal panel separation step. (A) in FIG. 11 is a pair of substrates after the loading process is performed. In FIG. 11, (a) shows that the pair of substrates themselves hold the shape, but in reality, the pair of substrates placed on the stage in the loading process. is there. From the pair of substrates in FIG. 11A, a row in which the liquid crystal panels 2 are adjacent to each other and a row of end materials 3 adjacent to the same are taken out ((b) in FIG. 11). There is no restriction on the extraction method.

The end material removing stage 80 shown in FIG. 11B is provided with an end material adsorbing portion 81 along the arrangement direction of the end materials 3. The liquid crystal panel and the end material for one row taken out are placed with the counter substrate 21 and the counter substrate side end material 31 facing the end material removing stage 80. At this time, the counter substrate side end material 31 is arranged so as to cover the end material adsorbing portion 81.

While the counter substrate side end material 31 is being adsorbed by the end material adsorbing portion 81, the liquid crystal panel 2 is used by using the panel moving arm 90 having the panel adsorbing pad 91 shown in FIG. Adsorb and move. As the panel suction pad 91, a conventionally known suction pad can be used. For example, panel suction by vacuum suction can be realized.

11 (c), the panel suction pad 91 comes into contact with the TFT substrate 22 and is attracted to the surface thereof.

The TFT substrate 22 and the counter substrate 21 are bonded together by a sealing material 41a as shown in FIG. 3, and the counter substrate side end material 31 and the TFT substrate side end material 32 are sealed as shown in FIG. 41b, by lifting the TFT substrate 22 by the panel suction pad 91, the end material 3 remains on the end material removing stage 80 as shown in FIG. Moves together with the panel suction pad 91.

Thereby, the liquid crystal panel 2 and the end material 3 are separated. Since one panel suction pad 91 is provided for one liquid crystal panel, the liquid crystal panels 2 are separated from each other by operating each panel suction pad 91.

<Operational effects of this embodiment>
According to the above configuration, the end material can be separated from the substrate by a simple method in which the point load is applied while being moved in parallel with the scribe line, so that the production yield of the liquid crystal panel can be improved.

In addition, this invention is not limited to each embodiment mentioned above. Those skilled in the art can make various modifications to the present invention within the scope of the claims. That is, a new embodiment can be obtained by combining appropriately changed technical means within the scope of the claims. In other words, the specific embodiments made in the detailed description section of the invention are merely to clarify the technical contents of the present invention, and are limited to such specific examples and are interpreted narrowly. It should be understood that the invention can be practiced with various modifications within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the following claims.

(Summary of the present invention)
As described above, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step for providing a scribe line for each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in a row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and a row direction provided on the other substrate A scribe line forming step of forming a scribe line extending in a position shifted in a direction in which the substrates overlap in a pair of substrates,
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, the one substrate is provided in the row direction and the edges of the pair of substrates in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region. A load step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between the scribe lines;
It is characterized by including.

In addition to the above configuration, one mode of the method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
In the loading step, it is preferable to apply the point load while moving the point load in parallel with the scribe line using a roller.

According to the above configuration, a load can be applied easily and efficiently.

In addition to the above configuration, one mode of the method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
In the loading step, it is preferable that the one substrate to which the point load is applied is farther from the scribe line than the other substrate.

According to the above configuration, a point load is applied to the substrate whose intermediate position is farther from the scribe line, that is, the substrate having the wider end material, so the load position Precision is not required for alignment. Thereby, the yield can be improved.

In addition to the above configuration, one mode of the method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
In the loading step, it is preferable that the position where the point load is applied is aligned with the formation position of the scribe line on the other substrate in the overlapping direction.

According to the above configuration, the force is optimally applied when the other substrate is divided, that is, no force is applied in the rotation direction, so that the other substrate is divided well, and as a result, the influence on the one substrate is also affected. Therefore, the division of the one substrate can be realized well.

In addition to the above configuration, one mode of the method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
In the loading step, the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is divided in the state of being adsorbed to the adsorbable cushion material,
The above manufacturing method further includes:
After the loading step, after separating the pair of substrates from the cushion material, inverting and placing the substrate on another cushion material configured to be able to adsorb only the region different from the liquid crystal panel region, It is preferable to include a liquid crystal panel separation step of separating the liquid crystal panel region from the different region in a state where only the region different from the liquid crystal panel region is adsorbed by the another cushion material.

According to the above configuration, the liquid crystal panel separation step is performed after the pair of substrates are inverted after the loading step. Therefore, in the loading step, the width of a region (end material) different from the liquid crystal panel region. In the liquid crystal panel separating step, the liquid crystal panel is detached from the end material in a state where the wide end material is adsorbed with the wide side of the end material facing another cushion material. Can be separated.

Therefore, when a pair of substrates on which a plurality of liquid crystal panels are formed along the extending direction of the scribe line is used, the plurality of liquid crystal panels are collectively processed into an end material group in the liquid crystal panel separation step. Can be separated from Therefore, the yield can be improved.

In addition to the above configuration, one mode of the method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention is as follows.
In the loading step, it is preferable to apply the point load in a state where a protective material is interposed between the cushion material and the pair of substrates, and a protective material is also interposed on the one substrate.

According to said structure, by interposing the said protective material, it can avoid that a pair of board | substrate and the said cushion material or the means which applies the said point load contact directly, and a pair of board | substrate is damaged. Can be prevented.

The present invention can be applied to the production of a liquid crystal panel of a liquid crystal display device.

1 A pair of substrates 2 Liquid crystal panel 3 Edge material (area different from liquid crystal panel area)
21 Counter substrate 22 TFT substrate 22a Expansion area 23 Terminal 24 Scribe (line)
31 Opposite substrate side material (region different from liquid crystal panel region)
32 TFT substrate side edge material (area different from liquid crystal panel area)
40 Liquid crystal layers 41a and 41b Sealing material 50 Stage (cushioning material)
60 Pushing roller 61 Rotating shaft portion 62 O-ring 63 Center shaft 70 Suction plate 71 Elastic sheet (cushion material)
72 Protection sheet (protective material)
73 Adsorbing pipe 80 End material removal stage 81 End material adsorbing part 90 Panel moving arm 91 Panel adsorbing pad

Claims

A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step for providing a scribe line for each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in a row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and a row direction provided on the other substrate A scribe line forming step of forming a scribe line extending in a position shifted in a direction in which the substrates overlap in a pair of substrates,
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, the one substrate is provided in the row direction and the edges of the pair of substrates in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region. A load step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between the scribe lines;
A method for producing a liquid crystal panel, comprising:
A liquid crystal panel manufacturing method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel by cutting out a liquid crystal panel region in which a liquid crystal layer is sandwiched between the pair of substrates from a part of a pair of substrates,
A scribe line forming step of providing scribe lines in the row direction and the column direction with respect to each of the pair of substrates, the scribe line extending in the row direction provided on one of the pair of substrates, and the other A scribe line extending step in the row direction provided on the substrate, a scribe line forming step provided at a position where the scribe line is formed at a position aligned in the overlapping direction of the pair of substrates and a position formed at a position shifted in the overlapping direction;
In a state where the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is placed on a cushioning material, a scribe line and a scribe line provided in an adjacent row direction in a region different from the liquid crystal panel region in the one substrate A loading step of dividing the substrate at each of the scribe lines of the pair of substrates by applying a point load while moving in parallel with the scribe line at a position between
A method for producing a liquid crystal panel, comprising:
3. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 1, wherein, in the loading step, the point load is applied using a roller while moving in parallel with the scribe line.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein, in the loading step, the one substrate to which the point load is applied is located farther from the scribe line than the other substrate. 5. The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel as described in any one of.
5. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to claim 4, wherein, in the loading step, the position where the point load is applied is aligned with the formation position of the scribe line on the other substrate in the overlapping direction.
In the loading step, the pair of substrates after the scribe line forming step is divided in the state of being adsorbed to the adsorbable cushion material,
The above manufacturing method further includes:
After the loading step, after separating the pair of substrates from the cushion material, inverting and placing the substrate on another cushion material configured to be able to adsorb only the region different from the liquid crystal panel region, 6. A liquid crystal panel separation step of separating the liquid crystal panel region from the different region in a state where only the region different from the liquid crystal panel region is adsorbed by the another cushion material. The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal panel of any one of these.
In the loading step, the point load is applied in a state where a protective material is interposed between the cushion material and the pair of substrates, and the protective material is also interposed on the one substrate. The method for producing a liquid crystal panel according to any one of claims 1 to 6.