JPH10142417A - Production of color filters and color liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To rapidly and easily produce color filters without specifically using photomasks and plates by forming dikes on a substrate to segment this substrate to pixels and coloring the parts enclosed with these dikes to respective colors by an ink jet recording system, thereby forming pixel patterns. SOLUTION: A photosetting resin layer 1 is formed on the transparent substrate 2. The surface of this photosetting resin layer 1 is scanned with a photoirradiation head 3 and the parts desired to be formed with the dikes are exposed by irradiation with a light beam 4 to cure the photosetting resin layer 1 of these parts. Next, the uncured parts of the photosetting resin layer 1 are removed by an org. solvent, etc., by which the dikes 5 are formed on the substrate 2. Next, the parts enclosed by the dikes 5 are plotted by an ink jet recording head 6, by which inks 7 to 9 of R, G and B are imparted to the respective prescribed pixel parts. The inks are thereafter dried and cured, by which the color filter 36 having the colored patterns is obtd.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a color filter suitable for a color liquid crystal display used in a color television, a personal computer, a pachinko game console, and the like, and a color filter manufactured by the method. The present invention relates to a color liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly to a method for manufacturing a color filter for liquid crystal using an inkjet recording technique.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, the development of personal computers,
In particular, with the development of portable personal computers, the demand for liquid crystal displays, especially color liquid crystal displays, has been increasing. However, cost reduction is required for further popularization of color liquid crystal displays, and in particular, there is a growing demand for cost reduction of color filters having high specific gravity.

On the other hand, as a method of manufacturing a color filter at low cost, a so-called ink jet method using an ink jet recording method for coloring pixels has been proposed. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 4-121702 discloses a structure in which a bank surrounding a position where each component of a color filter is to be arranged and made of a material having an affinity for a pixel opposite to that of a pixel portion of the color filter is used. A method of forming each pixel of a color filter by previously forming the above-described steps and individually injecting droplets of a color filter material into the bank by an ink jet method has been proposed. Also, in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-347637, the ink applied to portions other than the pixel portion is reliably repelled by the partition pattern provided on the substrate, and there is no ink bleeding to an adjacent pixel portion. A method for manufacturing a color filter is disclosed. In any of these examples, a photoresist method or a printing method is used as a method for forming a partition pattern, and other methods are not shown. On the other hand, portable PCs, which currently use LCD displays most frequently, have a short product life and frequently change the specifications of color filters, so that a new pixel pattern can be formed in a short period of time. A method for manufacturing a color filter is desired.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 4-121702 and 6-3476.
In the method disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 37, when manufacturing a partition pattern, for example, a photoengraving technology or a screen printing technology is used, but each technology has a long process,
In addition, masks and plates are required, so costs are high.Because plate making is required as a preparatory step, it takes a certain period of time before the production of color filters starts, and frequent changes in specifications can be made quickly. It was not something that could be dealt with.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of manufacturing a color filter capable of quickly and simply manufacturing a color filter having a new pattern according to a change in specifications without special use of a photomask or a printing plate. An object of the present invention is to provide a color liquid crystal display panel using a color filter manufactured by the method.

[0006]

The above object is achieved by the present invention described below. That is, the present invention provides a color in which a photo-curable resin is disposed on a transparent substrate, a part of the photo-curable resin is cured, divided into a number of pixels, and the formed pixel portion is colored in a predetermined color. In the method of manufacturing a filter, a predetermined portion of the photocurable resin is exposed and light-cured by scanning a light beam, and a bank is formed on the substrate to be divided into pixels, and is surrounded by the formed bank. And a color liquid crystal display panel using the color filter manufactured by the method.

[0007]

Next, the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to preferred embodiments. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of the method for producing a color filter of the present invention. In the drawing, 1 is a photocurable resin, 2 is a transparent substrate, 3 is a light irradiation head, 4 is a light beam irradiated from the light irradiation head 3, 5 is a resin layer (bank portion) cured by light irradiation, 6 Is an inkjet recording head having a plurality of ink ejection ports, 7,
Reference numerals 8 and 9 denote red (R), green (G), and blue (B) inks 10, 10 and 1, respectively, which are ejected from the fine ink ejection openings of the head 6.
1 and 12 each represent a pixel portion to which RGB ink is applied;
And 36 show color filters formed according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, an example of the procedure of the method for manufacturing a color filter of the present invention will be described below. First,
As shown in FIG. 1A, a photocurable resin is applied to a transparent substrate 2 such as a glass substrate to form a photocurable resin layer 1 having a predetermined thickness. At this time, a glass substrate is generally used for the transparent substrate 2, but the transparent substrate 2 is not limited to a glass substrate as long as it has necessary properties such as transparency and mechanical strength as a color filter for liquid crystal. Plastic plates and the like are also used.

Next, as shown in FIG. 1B, the light irradiation head 3 scans over the photocurable resin layer 1 and irradiates a light beam from a tip of the light irradiation head 3 to a portion where a bank is to be formed. Then, the photocurable resin layer 1 in this portion is cured. Next, as shown in FIG. 1C, the uncured portion is removed with an organic solvent or the like while leaving the photocured portion of the photocurable resin layer 1 to form a bank 5 on the substrate 2. . Next, as shown in FIG. 1D, drawing is performed by an ink jet method on a portion surrounded by the bank 5 formed as described above, and R, G, and B inks are respectively applied to predetermined pixel portions. . Thereafter, the ink is dried and cured to obtain a color filter having a colored pattern (FIG. 1E).

Photocurable resin layer 1 used in the present invention
Is not particularly limited as long as it has a property of being cured by light such as ultraviolet rays and electron beams. For example, conventionally known photopolymerizable prepolymers such as polyester acrylate, epoxy acrylate, and polyurethane acrylate, photopolymerizable monomers, and those containing a photoinitiator may be used. Specifically, for example, an APR stamp resin or the like made by Asahi Kasei Kogyo Co., Ltd. containing an unsaturated polyester as a main component is preferably used. Furthermore, in the present invention, when the photocurable resin layer 1 is formed on a substrate, a material having a color repellent property is contained in the photocurable resin material in order to prevent overflow of ink at the time of coloring. More preferably. As the material having a color repellent property, any material generally having a color repellent property, such as a fluororesin such as polytetrafluoroethylene or a perfluoroalkyl acrylate, can be used. The content is preferably about 0.5 to 5% by weight based on the whole resin.

As a method of disposing the photocurable resin on the substrate as described above, for example, a dipping pulling method, a spin coater method, a die coater method and the like can be mentioned. An application generally used in these methods may be used by setting conditions so that a photocurable resin layer having a required thickness is formed on a substrate.

The method for producing a color filter according to the present invention comprises:
First, a light beam is scanned on the photocurable resin layer formed in this manner, and only the photocurable resin layer in the portion exposed and irradiated with light is selectively cured, and pixels and pixels are formed on the substrate. Is characterized by forming a bank that separates the As a result, a desired pattern can be formed only by irradiating a desired position on the substrate with a light beam without requiring a photomask or a plate as in the conventional method. Since it can be freely controlled by the irradiation area and intensity of the light beam, it is possible to very easily form a precise desired partition pattern. Therefore, a color filter having a new shape pattern can be manufactured in a short period of time, and frequent changes in specifications of the color filter can be promptly dealt with.

Further, in the above-described example, after forming a photocurable resin layer on a transparent substrate, a light beam is scanned on the layer to form a bank, but in another embodiment of the present invention, a photocurable resin layer is formed. It is possible to easily produce a color filter having a pattern with a fine shape without forming a conductive resin layer on a substrate. First, as shown in FIG. 4 and FIG.
0 is immersed in a desired position in the photocurable resin solution and allowed to stand, so that the photocurable resin is disposed on the substrate. Next, in the same manner as in the above-described method, the light curable resin disposed on the substrate 20 is scanned with a light beam to selectively cure only the portions exposed to light, so that the substrate 20 is cured. A predetermined pattern shape is formed thereon. At this time, when scanning with the light beam, light may be irradiated from above the liquid surface of the photocurable resin solution as shown in FIG. 4 or below the photocurable resin solution as shown in FIG. May be irradiated with light.

The light used to cure the photocurable resin applied on the glass substrate includes ultraviolet light, electron beam, visible light, etc., and is appropriately determined according to the type of photocurable resin used. A light source having an appropriate wavelength may be selected. In the present invention, ultraviolet rays or electron beams are preferably used. Furthermore, in the present invention, since it is necessary to precisely form a bank having a desired pattern between fine pixels, from the viewpoint of workability, light is condensed to a sufficient fineness. It is preferable to use a focused light beam. For this reason, in the present invention, it is preferable to use a laser beam that has high directivity, a narrow spectral line width, and can be formed into a very small spot by condensing with a lens.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a light irradiation head of such a light source. In FIG. 2, 13 is an XY table, 14 is a substrate, and 15 is a photocurable resin layer provided on the substrate surface. 16 is a laser beam source, 17
Denotes a reflector, 18 denotes a condenser lens, and 19 denotes a laser beam (light) condensed by the condenser lens 18. That is,
The light emitted from the light source 16 is condensed on the photocurable resin layer 15 which is an object to be irradiated by the reflector 17 and the condenser lens 18. Further, the glass substrate 14 coated with the photocurable resin is arranged on an XY table, and by moving the table 13, beam drawing according to a desired fine pattern can be performed.

As described above, the exposed portion is light-cured by scanning the light-cured resin at a desired position on the glass substrate with the light beam, and then the uncured uncured portion is exposed. The photocurable resin is removed with a solvent or the like to form a bank having a desired shape on the substrate. Examples of the solvent for removing the uncured portion of the photocurable resin used at this time include, for example, an organic solvent such as 1,1,1-trichloroethane, etc., depending on the type of the photocurable resin used. What is necessary is just to select suitably.

In the method of manufacturing a color filter according to the present invention, a colorant of each color is applied to a portion surrounded by the bank formed as described above by an ink jet recording method to form a pixel pattern. I do. As an ink jet system that can be used at this time, for example, a device such as a bubble jet type using an electrothermal converter as an energy generating element or a piezo jet type using a piezoelectric element can be used. Further, as shown in FIG. 1D, red (R), red (R),
Each pixel of green (G) and blue (B) may be ejected, and the pixel portion may be colored according to a predetermined pattern.

The ink used at this time is as follows:
For example, an ink prepared by adjusting an RGB ink using a dye or a pigment of a monoazo type, a disazo type, a phthalocyanine type, or the like as a coloring material, for inkjet, or the like may be used.
In particular, in the method for producing a color ink of the present invention, the ink is directly applied to a substrate such as glass, and then the light of the backlight is applied. Is preferred. For example,
It is preferable to use an organic pigment-based ink in which an organic pigment is dispersed in a desired binder with a dispersant, but the present invention is not limited to this.

Examples of the constitution of such inks include, for example, dyes such as anthraquinone dyes, azo dyes, triphenylmethane dyes, and polymethine dyes; And a solvent such as isopropyl alcohol, ethylene glycol, N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone and the like dissolved in a solvent, and a surface tension modifier such as acetylenol (trade name) is added thereto.
cm, and a surface tension adjusted to 58 dyn / cm. Of course, the ink used in the present invention is not limited to the above configuration.

As described above, a color filter is manufactured without using a mask or a plate by a series of processes in which a light beam is scanned to form a bank, and the pixel portion is colored between the banks using an ink jet method. can do.

The color filter obtained as described above is particularly preferably used for a color liquid crystal display panel in combination with a transistor substrate or the like. Here, in recent years, in an active matrix type color liquid crystal display device, the T
In order to prevent degradation of the FT display characteristics and display characteristics and to improve the production yield, a structure in which a light-shielding film serving as a black matrix is provided on the array substrate side has been proposed (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei. 134271). In this structure, a light-shielding film is not required on the color filter substrate side, and the color filter substrate side is simply provided with color filters corresponding to respective pixels.

The method for producing a color filter of the present invention comprises:
When a color filter used in a liquid crystal display device having such a structure is manufactured, a greater effect is exhibited. That is, in this case, since it is not necessary to provide a light-shielding film on the color filter substrate side, it is possible to form the bank on the color filter side with a light-transmitting resin, which is used in the color filter manufacturing method of the present invention. For photo-curing resin,
Light transmissive materials can be used. As a result, when a light-transmitting material is used, the light beam is transmitted as compared with a case where a light-shielding resin layer is formed on the substrate and a light beam is scanned to cure the exposed portion. Since it is easy, the exposure efficiency is remarkably good, and a highly accurate pattern can be drawn in a short time.

As described above, when the portion of the bank provided between the pixels is transparent, the bank transmits light. Therefore, in order to increase the contrast of the color filter, light leaking between the pixels is required. It is desirable to eliminate it. Therefore, in a color filter produced by the method of the present invention, particularly, a color filter having a transparent bank, as described above, a liquid crystal panel having a structure in which a light-shielding film serving as a black matrix is provided on a transistor-side substrate. It is preferred to use.

FIG. 3 illustrates a preferred liquid crystal panel to which a color filter manufactured by the manufacturing method of the present invention is applied. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 37 denotes a transistor-side substrate, which is configured as follows. 31 is a glass substrate,
Reference numeral 32 denotes a black matrix for shading formed on the glass substrate 31, and reference numeral 38 denotes a thin film transistor for driving liquid crystal, which is formed on the black matrix 32. 33 is a transparent conductive film for applying a voltage to the liquid crystal, 3
Reference numeral 4 denotes a wiring for transmitting a current from the transistor 38 to the transparent conductive film 33. Reference numeral 35 denotes a liquid crystal, which is housed in a cell formed by combining the color filter substrate 36 manufactured by the above-described method and the transistor-side substrate 37. With the liquid crystal display panel having such a configuration, even if the bank 5 of the color filter substrate 36 is formed of a transparent material, the light between the pixels can be effectively blocked by the black matrix 32 on the transistor side. And high contrast is realized.

[0025]

Next, the present invention will be described more specifically with reference to examples. Example 1 In the same manner as in the example of the method for manufacturing a color filter shown in FIG. 1, a transparent photocurable resin containing unsaturated polyester as a main component (trade name: APR stamp resin,
Asahi Chemical Industry Co., Ltd.)
m. Next, the substrate was replaced with X shown in FIG.
-Place on a Y-table and scan with a He-Cd laser (wavelength λ = 325 nm) from the side where the photocurable resin is applied using the light irradiation head 3 to irradiate it in a predetermined pattern shape and expose it. The photo-curable resin in the portion thus cured was cured.
Thereafter, the uncured photocurable resin was removed with 1,1,1-trichloroethane, and a bank having a predetermined pattern was formed on the substrate. RGB ink was applied to a pixel portion (between the banks) of the obtained substrate by an inkjet method, and then dried to obtain a color filter of Example 1.
The coloring was performed using an organic pigment-based ink. The color filter obtained in Example 1 had a bank formed in a predetermined pattern shape, and the colorant was not mixed into other pixels. In addition, when the shape of the obtained bank was observed with a microscope, it was confirmed that the bank was as fine as a conventional bank formed using a photomask.

Example 2 A color filter of Example 2 was prepared in the same manner as in Example 1 except that a polytetrafluoroethylene resin was added as a color repellent material to the photocurable resin. In the obtained color filter, a bank was formed in a predetermined pattern shape as in Example 1. Further, the bank portion had a color repellent property, and the colorant was not mixed into other pixels.

Example 3 Using the photocurable resin containing the color repellent material used in Example 2, a light beam was scanned by a method as shown in FIG. 4 to form a predetermined pattern on a glass substrate. A color filter of this example was manufactured in the same manner as in Example 1 except that the embankment was formed. When a control program for scanning the light beam was variously changed and the same operation as above was performed, a bank having a fine pattern could be formed on the substrate freely as designed. Observation of the obtained embankment with a microscope revealed that the embankment was as fine as a conventional embankment formed using a photomask.

The color filters produced in Examples 1 to 3 were combined with a transistor-side substrate provided with a black matrix as shown in FIG. 3 to produce a color liquid crystal display panel. When an image was displayed using the obtained color liquid crystal display panel, a good color image could be displayed.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The following effects can be obtained. (1) Since a color filter can be manufactured without using a photomask or a plate as in the related art, the time required for plate making and the like can be reduced, and a color filter having a new pixel pattern can be produced in a timely manner. Therefore, there is provided a method of manufacturing a color filter capable of promptly coping with frequent changes in specifications of a color filter accompanying the appearance of a new product. (2) Compared with the conventional manufacturing method, the manufacturing process can be shortened without using expensive photomasks and plates, so that the manufacturing cost of the color filter can be reduced, and accordingly, the color liquid crystal display Panel manufacturing costs can also be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing an example of a color filter manufacturing method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic view showing an example of a light irradiation head for manufacturing a bank.

FIG. 3 is a schematic sectional view showing one example of a color liquid crystal display panel of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view showing another example of the method for producing a color filter of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing another example of the method for producing a color filter of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: photocurable resin 2: substrate (glass substrate) 3: light irradiation head 4: light beam 5: bank 6: inkjet head 7: ink (red) 8: ink (green) 9: ink (blue) 10: pixel (Red) 11: Pixel (green) 12: Pixel (blue) 13: XY table 14: Substrate 15: Substrate surface 16: Light source 17: Reflector 18: Condensing lens 19: Light beam 20: Substrate 21: Light Curable resin solution 22: Beam irradiation head 23: Light beam 31: Glass substrate for liquid crystal 32: Black matrix 33: Transparent conductive film 34: Wiring 35: Liquid crystal 36: Color filter 37: Transistor side substrate 38: Transistor

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A photocurable resin is disposed on a transparent substrate,
In the method of manufacturing a color filter for curing a part of the photocurable resin to divide it into a number of pixels and coloring the formed pixel portion to a predetermined color, by scanning a light beam, A predetermined portion is exposed and light-cured, a bank is formed on the substrate to form a pixel pattern, and the portion surrounded by the formed bank is colored in each color by an inkjet recording method to form a pixel pattern. A method for producing a color filter, comprising: 2. A method of forming a bank on a substrate, comprising: immersing a transparent substrate in a photo-curable resin solution, scanning a light beam on the substrate surface, and exposing a desired position to a vicinity of the substrate surface. 2. The method for producing a color filter according to claim 1, wherein the photocurable resin disposed in the color filter is partially cured. 3. The method for producing a color filter according to claim 1, wherein a color-repellent material is contained in the photocurable resin. 4. A color filter manufactured by the method for manufacturing a color filter according to claim 1 and a transistor-side substrate provided with a black matrix for shielding light. A color liquid crystal display panel characterized by being combined.