JP2005122015A - Device and method for manufacturing liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a device and a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel by which the display quality of the liquid crystal display panel is prevented from lowering and the productivity is more improved. <P>SOLUTION: The device for manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel, by which two sheets of substrates 6a, 6b are bonded to each other so that their principal surfaces are made parallel to each other, includes with: a supporting member 5 to support the one substrate 6b; and a substrate fixing part 4 having adherence to fix the substrate 6b to the supporting member 5. The supporting member 5 has nearly annular seal supporting parts 3 formed so as to be protruded from the principal surface of the supporting member 5. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method for a liquid crystal display panel. In particular, the present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method used for the drop bonding method.

  A liquid crystal display panel is bonded to a substrate on which a driving element for driving liquid crystal is formed and a substrate on which opposed electrodes are formed at intervals of several μm so that the main surfaces thereof face each other. It has a configuration. The liquid crystal is sealed between the two bonded substrates.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display panel based on a conventional technique. In FIG. 6, for the sake of simplicity, the driving element, the counter electrode, the alignment film, and the like formed on the main surface of the substrate are omitted. The board | substrate 6a and the board | substrate 6b are bonded together using the sealing material 7 so that the main surface of each other may oppose. A liquid crystal 8 is sealed inside a space surrounded by the two substrates 6a and 6b and the sealing material 7. In addition, a spacer 9 is disposed in this space, and the spacer 9 defines an interval between the substrate 6a and the substrate 6b.

  In manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, it is necessary to bond two substrates together with a sealing material so that the main surfaces face each other, and further enclose the liquid crystal in a region surrounded by the two substrates and the sealing material. .

  As one of liquid crystal sealing methods, there is a method called a vacuum injection method (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-75793). In this method, first, two substrates are bonded together using a sealing material so that the main surfaces face each other. The sealing material is arranged in an annular shape, and an opening is formed in a part of the annular sealing material. Pressurization is stopped when the distance between the two substrates reaches a predetermined value. Next, the sealing material is cured to fix the two substrates. Next, the bonded substrate is cut into a predetermined display panel size. The cut | disconnected board | substrate is arrange | positioned inside a vacuum vessel and the clearance gap between substrates is also evacuated by evacuating the inside of a vacuum vessel. After sufficiently evacuating, the vacuum vessel is opened to atmospheric pressure with the liquid crystal in contact with the opening of the sealing material. Liquid crystal is injected into the gap between the substrates by the pressure difference between the pressure between the substrates and the atmospheric pressure and the surface tension of the liquid crystal. After the liquid crystal is injected up to a predetermined amount, the liquid crystal can be sealed by sealing the opening of the sealing material. In such a liquid crystal sealing method by the vacuum injection method, there is a problem that it takes an injection time as the liquid crystal display panel becomes large.

  For this reason, in recent years, a liquid crystal sealing method called a drop bonding method has been performed (for example, see JP-A-2001-281678). In the drop bonding method, first, a driving element, a counter electrode, and the like are formed on two substrates, respectively. Furthermore, a spacer for fixing the distance between the substrates is disposed on one of the two substrates. In addition, a sealing material for bonding the two substrates to each other or the main surface of both the substrates is annularly arranged. At this time, the sealing material is arranged in a closed annular shape without forming an opening in the sealing material. Next, a predetermined amount of liquid crystal is dropped onto one of the substrates. After these two substrates are bonded together with high positional accuracy in a vacuum, they are released to atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the sealing material is cured, and liquid crystal is sealed between the two substrates.

In the drop bonding method, the space surrounded by the two substrates enclosing the liquid crystal and the sealing material is closed by performing the bonding in a vacuum. In this space, only liquid crystal is arranged without air mixing. For this reason, the liquid crystal can be sealed in a space surrounded by the two substrates and the sealing material by attaching the two substrates in a vacuum and then releasing the air.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-75793 (page 3-15, FIG. 1-14) Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-281678 (page 3-6, FIG. 1-11)

  In the drop bonding method, the two substrates are bonded together in a vacuum, so that there is no air and only liquid crystal exists in the space surrounded by the two substrates and the sealing material. For this reason, by releasing to the atmosphere after bonding, the two substrates are compressed to each other at atmospheric pressure, the sealing material is crushed to a predetermined thickness, and the interval between the substrates becomes a predetermined interval defined by the spacer. .

  However, as the two substrates are pressed against each other and the liquid crystal spreads in the closed space, the vacuumed portion of the space surrounded by the two substrates and the sealing material becomes smaller and pushes the sealing material. The external force for crushing also becomes weak. For this reason, the sealing material is not necessarily crushed to a predetermined thickness. For this reason, the distance between the two substrates is not uniform, and as a result, the display quality of the liquid crystal display panel is degraded.

  In Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-75793, bonding is performed under a reduced pressure condition, and after releasing to the atmosphere, a pressure equal to or higher than atmospheric pressure is applied to the entire surface of the main surface of the substrate so that the distance between the substrates is uniform. A method is disclosed. However, according to this method, there is a problem that the sealing material is broken by the pressure at which the liquid crystal is directed outward. For this reason, there was a problem that the yield deteriorated and the productivity deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in order to solve such problems, and provides a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display panel that can prevent deterioration in display quality of the liquid crystal display panel and further improve productivity. The purpose is to do.

  In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is an apparatus for bonding so that main surfaces of two substrates are parallel to each other, and supports one substrate. And a fixing means for fixing the one substrate to the support member. The support member has a substantially annular seal support portion formed so as to protrude from the main surface of the support member. By adopting this configuration, the sealing material can be sufficiently crushed, and display quality can be prevented from deteriorating. Furthermore, a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus with improved productivity can be provided.

  Preferably, in the above invention, the seal support portion is formed along the shape of the seal material to be disposed on the main surface of the one substrate. By employ | adopting this structure, the said sealing material can be crushed efficiently.

  Preferably, in the above invention, the fixing means includes a substrate fixing portion that is formed to protrude from the main surface of the support member and has adhesiveness. By adopting this configuration, the fixing means can be easily formed. Further, the holding force of the fixing means can be easily adjusted.

  Preferably, in the above invention, a plurality of the seal support portions are formed, and the substrate fixing portion is formed in an annular shape so as to collectively surround the two or more seal support portions. By adopting this configuration, the present invention can be applied to a so-called multi-chamfer manufacturing method.

  In order to achieve the above object, an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is an apparatus for bonding so that main surfaces of two substrates are parallel to each other, in order to support one substrate. And a fixing means for fixing the one substrate to the support member. The support member includes a substantially annular seal support portion formed so as to protrude from the main surface of the support member, and the seal support portion is formed of an adhesive material. By adopting this configuration, the sealing material can be sufficiently crushed, and display quality can be prevented from deteriorating. Furthermore, a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus with improved productivity can be provided.

  In order to achieve the above object, a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention includes a sealing material arranging step of arranging a sealing material on the main surface of one of two substrates to be bonded to each other. And a bonding step of bonding the two substrates to each other. The bonding step is performed while supporting the one substrate at a position along the shape where the sealing material is disposed in the surface opposite to the main surface where the sealing material is disposed. By adopting this method, it is possible to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel that prevents deterioration in display quality and further improves productivity.

  Preferably, in the above invention, the bonding step is performed while fixing the one substrate with an adhesive member. By adopting this method, it is possible to easily prevent the bonding position from shifting due to the movement of the one substrate in the bonding step.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the fall of the display quality of a liquid crystal display panel can be prevented, and the manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display panel which can improve productivity can be provided.

(Embodiment 1)
(Device configuration)
With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display panel based on this invention are demonstrated.

  FIG. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view when two substrates are arranged in a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment. The manufacturing apparatus based on this invention is an apparatus which bonds together so that the main surfaces of two board | substrates may mutually become parallel. The manufacturing apparatus includes a support member 5 for supporting the substrate 6b and a substrate holding unit 2 for holding the substrate 6a. In addition, the manufacturing apparatus includes a mechanism (not shown) for performing relative alignment between the two substrates.

  On the main surface of the substrate 6a or the substrate 6b, an electrode, an alignment film, and the like are formed in advance. Further, in addition to the liquid crystal 8 being dropped in a region surrounded by the sealing material 7, a spacer for defining the interval between the two substrates 6a and 6b is disposed (not shown). The spacer may be a glass fiber or glass beads.

  The main surface of the support member holding stage 1 and the main surface of the substrate holding part 2 are formed so as to be parallel to each other. A support member 5 is arranged on the main surface of the support member holding stage 1, and a substrate 6 a is arranged on the main surface of the substrate holding unit 2. The support member 5 is formed to be replaceable depending on the shape of the sealing material 7 disposed on the main surface of the substrate 6b. Support member 5 includes a seal support portion 3 formed so as to protrude from the main surface. The seal support portion 3 is formed so as to be positioned directly below the seal material 7 disposed on the main surface of the substrate 6b. On the upper side of the seal support portion 3 of the support member 5, a substrate 6b is disposed. That is, the substrate 6b is supported by the seal support portion 3 having a convex shape.

  On the main surface of the support member 5, a substrate fixing portion 4 is disposed as a fixing means for fixing the substrate 6 b to the support member 5. The substrate fixing portion 4 is formed outside the region where the seal support portion 3 is formed. The board | substrate fixing | fixed part 4 is formed with the material which has adhesiveness, such as unsaturated polybutadiene, for example. The substrate fixing portion 4 is formed so as to protrude from the main surface of the support member 5. The substrate 6a is fixed to the substrate holder 2 by a method such as suction.

  FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the substrate holding stage, the support member, and the substrate. The sealing material 7 formed on the main surface of the substrate 6b is formed in a ring shape, and the liquid crystal 8 is dripped inside each ring. The seal support portion 3 formed on the main surface of the support member 5 is formed in an annular shape on the main surface of the support member 5 along the annular shape of the seal material 7. In the present embodiment, four annular sealing materials 7 are formed on the substrate 6b. Correspondingly, four seal support portions 3 are formed on the main surface of the support member 5. The substrate fixing portion 4 is formed in an annular shape so as to surround these four seal support portions 3. The substrate fixing portion 4 is formed so that at least the substrate fixing portion 4 contacts the substrate 6b when the substrate 6b is placed on the support member 5.

(Operation and effect of manufacturing equipment, manufacturing method)
An electrode, an alignment film, or the like is formed in advance on the main surface of the substrate 6a or the substrate 6b. In addition, the liquid crystal 8 is dropped on a region surrounded by the sealing material 7. Further, a spacer that defines the distance between the two substrates 6 a and 6 b is disposed in a region surrounded by the sealing material 7. In FIG. 1, the sealing material 7 is disposed only on the substrate 6b. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the sealing material may be disposed on the substrate 6a. Or the sealing material 7 may be formed in both the board | substrates 6a and 6b, respectively. Next, in FIG. 1, the substrates 6 a and 6 b are fixed to predetermined positions of the support member 5 or the substrate holding unit 2. The substrate 6a is held by the substrate holding unit 2 by suction or the like, and the substrate 6b is fixed to the seal support unit 3 by bonding the substrate fixing unit 4.

  Next, the inside of the manufacturing apparatus holding the two substrates 6a and 6b is evacuated. After reducing the pressure to a predetermined pressure, the two substrates 6a and 6b are bonded together while maintaining the state that their main surfaces are parallel to each other. At this time, after the relative alignment between the substrates 6a and 6b is performed, the substrates 6a and 6b are brought close to each other so that the sealing material 7 is bonded to the substrates 6a and 6b.

  When the sealing material 7 comes into contact with the two substrates, the support member holding stage 1 and the substrate holding unit 2 are brought closer to each other to bring the two substrates 6a and 6b into contact with each other in order to keep the two substrates at a predetermined interval. Apply pressure. Immediately below the position where the seal material 7 is formed, the seal support portion 3 is formed along the shape of the seal material 7, so that pressure is concentrated on the portion where the seal material 7 is formed. Is done. For this reason, it can prevent that the sealing material 7 is torn. The pressurization is continued until the distance between the two substrates 6a and 6b reaches a predetermined distance.

  The substrate 6 b is fixed to the support member 5 by the substrate fixing part 4. The substrate can be easily fixed by including a substrate fixing portion that is formed to protrude from the main surface of the support member and has adhesiveness as the fixing means. Further, the holding force for fixing the substrate can be easily adjusted by changing the width and material of the substrate fixing portion. In addition, by forming the substrate fixing portion with unsaturated polybutadiene, even if the substrate is later removed from the substrate fixing portion, the deposit can be easily separated without remaining. The fixing means is not limited to such a support member having adhesiveness, and may be, for example, one that mechanically fixes the substrate.

  After applying a predetermined pressure to the two substrates 6a and 6b and compressing, the inside of the manufacturing apparatus is returned to atmospheric pressure. Thereafter, the sealing material 7 is cured. If the sealing material 7 is a photo-curing type, it is cured by irradiating ultraviolet rays with an ultraviolet irradiation device. If the sealing material 7 is of a light / heat combined curing type, the ultraviolet light is irradiated using an ultraviolet irradiation device to perform temporary curing, and then the main curing is performed with a baking device.

  As described above, the method includes a bonding process in which two substrates are bonded to each other, and the bonding process is performed along the shape in which the sealing material is disposed in the surface opposite to the main surface in which the sealing material is disposed. By carrying out while supporting the substrate at the position, it is possible to prevent the liquid crystal from leaking because the sealing material is broken while the two substrates are being compressed. In addition, the sealing material can be sufficiently crushed, the distance between the two substrates can be adjusted strictly, and display quality deterioration such as display failure can be prevented. Furthermore, in the bonding step, one substrate can be fixed with an adhesive member, so that precise alignment can be performed and misalignment that occurs during the bonding of the two substrates can be prevented. Can do.

  In the present embodiment, four sealing materials are formed on one substrate. Correspondingly, a plurality of seal support portions are formed. By adopting this configuration, a so-called multi-sided process for manufacturing a plurality of liquid crystal display panels from a set of substrates can be performed.

  In the present embodiment, the substrate fixing portion is formed in an annular shape so as to surround the plurality of seal support portions. As described above, since the plurality of support portions are formed according to the number of the annular sealing materials, the relative positions of the substrates are shifted with respect to all horizontal directions when the substrates are bonded to each other. Can be prevented. In the present embodiment, the substrate fixing portion is formed so as to surround all of the seal support portions, but is not particularly limited to this configuration, and a predetermined number of seal support portions may be surrounded. Further, in the present embodiment, the substrate fixing portion is formed in a completely closed annular shape, but a part thereof may be interrupted or may be formed intermittently. Alternatively, it may be larger than the shape in which the sealing material is formed.

(Embodiment 2)
(Device configuration)
With reference to FIG. 3 to FIG. 5, a manufacturing apparatus and a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display panel in the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view when two substrates are arranged in the liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus according to the present embodiment. FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the substrate holding stage, the support member, and the substrate. The support member is disposed on the main surface of the support member holding stage, and the substrate is supported by the support member, as in the manufacturing apparatus in the first embodiment. It is the same as that of the manufacturing apparatus in Embodiment 1 that the seal support portion is formed so as to correspond to the position where the seal material is disposed on the main surface of the support member.

  In the present embodiment, the support member 15 itself is formed of an adhesive material. The support member 15 includes a seal support portion 13, and when the seal support portion 13 contacts the substrate 6 b, the support member 15 supports the substrate 6 b and fixes the substrate 6 b. The seal support portion 13 is formed using, for example, unsaturated polybutadiene as a material. No substrate fixing portion is formed around the region where the seal support portion 13 is formed.

  Since other configurations are the same as the configuration of the manufacturing apparatus in the first embodiment, description thereof will not be repeated here.

(Operation / effect of device, manufacturing method)
In the present embodiment, the seal support portion 13 has adhesiveness, and the substrate 6 b is fixed by being bonded to the seal support portion 13. By adopting this configuration, when the two substrates 6a and 6b are compressed together, the applied pressure concentrates on the portion where the sealing material 7 is disposed, and the sealing material 7 can be reliably crushed. it can. Alternatively, the liquid crystal can be prevented from leaking due to the sealing material being broken. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a liquid crystal display panel in which productivity is improved and display quality is prevented from being lowered.

  In the present embodiment, the width of the upper surface of the seal support portion 13 is substantially the same as the width in which the seal material 7 is disposed. However, the width is not particularly limited, and for example, the holding force of the substrate 6b is insufficient. In some cases, the width of the seal support 13 may be increased to increase the adhesive force. On the other hand, if the adhesive force is too strong even if the seal support portion 13 having the same width as the width of the seal material is formed, the upper surface of the seal support portion 13 is meshed with the substrate. What is necessary is just to reduce a contact area.

  When the holding force of the substrate 6b is insufficient and the width of the seal support portion 13 is increased, the pressure applied to the two substrates 6a or 6b is dispersed, and there is a possibility that the same problem as that in the prior art may occur. . In this case, instead of increasing the width of the seal support portion 13, as shown in FIG. 5, an adhesive substrate fixing portion 14 is formed around the seal support portion 13. It is preferable to adjust the width and length of the substrate fixing portion 14 so as to have a necessary adhesive force according to each substrate. Furthermore, if the adhesive strength is still insufficient, it is preferable to previously form a dummy seal 49 on the back surface of the substrate 6b so as to come into contact with the substrate fixing portion 14. It is preferable to adjust the width, length or shape of the dummy seal 49 as appropriate so that the adhesive force between the substrate fixing portion 14 and the substrate 6b is optimized. By adopting this configuration, the adhesive force can be supplemented even when the contact force between the seal support portion and the substrate is insufficient.

  In the present embodiment, all of the support member 15 is formed of an adhesive material. However, the present invention is not particularly limited thereto, and only the seal support portion 13 may be formed of an adhesive material. . Alternatively, an adhesive tape or the like may be attached to the upper surface of the seal support portion 13.

  Since the operation, effect, and manufacturing method of the other devices are the same as those of the first embodiment, description thereof will not be repeated here.

  In all the above embodiments, the width of the upper surface of the seal support portion is substantially the same as the width at which the seal material is disposed, but may be smaller or larger than the width at which the seal material is disposed. Good. However, if the width is smaller than the width at which the sealing material is disposed, there is a possibility that the entire portion where the sealing material is disposed cannot be supported by a slight deviation when the substrate is disposed on the support member. Moreover, if it is larger than the width | variety where a sealing material is arrange | positioned, pressure will not fully concentrate on the part by which the sealing material is arrange | positioned. Therefore, the width of the upper surface of the seal support portion is preferably slightly larger than the width at which the seal material is disposed.

  In all the above-described embodiments, the support member is disposed on the lower side. However, the present invention is not limited to this configuration, and the support member may be disposed on the upper side. Or you may arrange | position a supporting member in both upper and lower sides. Moreover, the manufacturing apparatus and manufacturing method based on this invention can be used for the display panel containing liquid crystals, such as not only a monochrome liquid crystal display panel but a color liquid crystal display panel.

  In addition, the said embodiment disclosed this time is an illustration in all the points, Comprising: It is not restrictive. The scope of the present invention is defined by the terms of the claims, rather than the description above, and includes all modifications within the scope and meaning equivalent to the terms of the claims.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the manufacturing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 5 is a perspective view for explaining the positional relationship between a substrate and a support member in the manufacturing apparatus according to Embodiment 1. FIG. 6 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a first manufacturing apparatus in a second embodiment. FIG. FIG. 10 is a perspective view for explaining the positional relationship between a substrate and a support member in the first manufacturing apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a perspective view for explaining the positional relationship between a substrate and a support member in a second manufacturing apparatus according to Embodiment 2. It is a schematic sectional drawing of a liquid crystal display panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Support member holding | maintenance stage, 2 Substrate holding | maintenance part, 3,13 Seal support part, 4,14 Substrate fixing | fixed part, 5,15 Support member, 6a, 6b Substrate, 7 Seal material, 8 Liquid crystal, 9 Spacer, 49 Dummy seal.

Claims (7)

An apparatus for laminating so that main surfaces of two substrates are parallel to each other,
A support member for supporting one substrate;
Fixing means for fixing the one substrate to the support member, and the support member
An apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, comprising: a substantially annular seal support portion formed so as to protrude from a main surface of the support member.   The liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the seal support portion is formed along a shape of a seal material to be disposed on a main surface of the one substrate.   The liquid crystal display panel manufacturing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the fixing unit includes a substrate fixing part that is formed to protrude from a main surface of the support member and has adhesiveness. A plurality of the seal support portions are formed,
The apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel according to claim 3, wherein the substrate fixing portion is formed in an annular shape so as to collectively surround the two or more seal support portions. An apparatus for laminating so that main surfaces of two substrates are parallel to each other,
A support member for supporting one substrate;
Fixing means for fixing the one substrate to the support member, and the support member
A substantially annular seal support portion formed so as to protrude from the main surface of the support member;
The said sealing support part is a manufacturing apparatus of the liquid crystal display panel formed from the material which has adhesiveness. A sealing material arranging step of arranging a sealing material on the main surface of one of the two substrates to be bonded to each other;
A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, comprising a bonding step of bonding the two substrates to each other,
Manufacturing the liquid crystal display panel, wherein the bonding step is performed while supporting the one substrate at a position along the shape where the sealing material is arranged in the surface opposite to the main surface where the sealing material is arranged. Method.   The liquid crystal display panel manufacturing method according to claim 6, wherein the bonding step is performed while fixing the one substrate with an adhesive member.

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