JP3002324B2 - Dispersion liquid filling device - Google Patents

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 an electrophoretic display element in which an electric field is applied to electrophoretic particles to perform a desired display operation. The present invention relates to a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display element, which is suitable as a means for stably and reliably enclosing without mixing of a liquid.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art An electrophoretic display device of this type is composed of a dispersion liquid in which appropriate electrophoretic particles are dispersed in a dispersion medium between two opposed electrode plates on which a required electrode pattern is formed. It is sealed or divided and sealed in a fine discontinuous phase through a porous spacer or the like, and the electrophoretic particles are adsorbed to or separated from one electrode plate under the action of an electric field applied between the two electrode plates. Display operation of desired characters, figures, symbols, or the like.

[0003] In order to manufacture such an electrophoretic display element, a counter electrode plate is formed as quickly as possible with one electrode plate commonly called a glass cell being filled with a display dispersion prepared in advance. A general technique of closely contacting the electrode plates and then sealing the outer peripheral portions of both electrode plates is adopted.

[0004] In a mode in which one of the opposing electrode plates is constituted by a film substrate on which a required electrode pattern is formed using an indium tin oxide film or the like, an electrode plate filled with a dispersion liquid composed of glass cells is used. A method in which the film substrates are sequentially brought into close contact with each other by using a suitable pressing means such as a roller can also be employed.

[0005]

In such an electrophoretic display device, the display dispersion liquid is securely sealed without any foreign matter such as dust or air bubbles between the opposed electrode plates. Otherwise, display defects will be caused, and the quality as an electrophoretic display element will be extremely reduced.

However, it is not easy to seal the dispersion liquid between the counter electrode plates stably and reliably without altering the display dispersion liquid and especially without fear of introducing bubbles, except for large-scale equipment. is there.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, the present invention provides an electrophoretic device capable of stably and reliably enclosing a display dispersion liquid in a simple vacuum atmosphere mechanism without introducing foreign matter such as air bubbles between opposing electrode plates. An object of the present invention is to provide a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing a display element.

For this purpose, in the present invention, a display dispersion liquid in which electrophoretic particles are dispersed is poured onto a glass cell provided with electrodes, and a film substrate provided with a transparent electrode pattern is brought into close contact with the glass cell. In a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display element in which a dispersion liquid is encapsulated by
A vacuum chamber in which the upper end opening can be hermetically sealed with a detachable lid, in which the glass cell is arranged, and which can be evacuated.
The vacuum chamber is provided with a clamper for removably engaging one end of the film substrate and supporting the film substrate above the glass cell. A movable rod for pressing the other end of the film substrate against the upper end of the glass cell and another movable rod for dropping the film substrate onto the glass cell by releasing the locked state by the clamper are hermetically sealed. And a means for supplying a dispersion liquid into the vacuum chamber.

Here, it is also preferable that the above-mentioned clamper is mounted so as to be capable of returning and has a clamp for locking and holding one end of the film substrate in a curved state.

[0010]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to one embodiment shown in the drawings. FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional view of a principal part of a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display element constituted according to an embodiment of the present invention. A vacuum chamber 2 is preferably made of, for example, reinforced glass or reinforced plastic. Is a transparent member formed in the shape of a tray having an upper end opening having a required depth. O attached to the site
The inside of the vacuum chamber 2 can be maintained in an airtight state with the lid 1 closed with a hermetic seal material 3 such as a ring.

A holder for mounting a required glass cell 24 provided with an electrode at a predetermined position is disposed on the inner bottom surface of the vacuum chamber-2. Is provided with a clamper 15 for holding one end of the film substrate 23 on which the transparent electrode pattern is formed, thereby holding the film substrate 23 substantially horizontally above the glass cell 24. The clamper 15 is mounted on a support 14 which is constantly urged to a return state as shown by a coil spring or the like. 21 is a vacuum chamber-2
Is a discharge port for the dispersion provided on one side, and 22 is a vacuum exhaust port formed on the other side, which is connected to a vacuum pump (not shown).

On the other hand, on the upper surface of the lid 1, the clamper-1
Airtight bellows 4 and 5 having a return elasticity and capable of vertically expanding and contracting are installed at a position corresponding to the position 5 and a position corresponding to one central end of the film substrate 23, respectively. In each of the bellows 4 and 5, movable rods 6 and 7, which are vertically movable and whose upper end is fixed to the upper part and whose lower end penetrates the lid 1 and faces the inside of the vacuum chamber 2, are separately mounted. It is.

Reference numerals 8 and 9 denote stoppers having one ends fixed to the tops of the bellows 4 and 5, respectively.
The other end portions are configured to separately contact the corresponding release levers 10 and 11, respectively. 12 is an open / close valve 13
And a supply pipe for the dispersion liquid having a tip end portion which air-tightly penetrates the lid 1 and faces the inside of the vacuum chamber-2.

Here, the return elasticity of each of the hermetic bellows 4, 5 is appropriately selected to be large or small in accordance with the predetermined vacuum pressure of the vacuum chamber 2, or the auxiliary elastic pressure urging means such as a coil spring is used in combination. The movable rods 6 and 7 may be gradually lowered in response to the vacuum pressure of the vacuum chamber-2. In such a case, the vacuum chamber-
When the inside of the chamber 2 reaches a predetermined vacuum pressure, for example, each bellows 4,
By applying a light additional pressing force to the top of the film 5, an operation of dropping the film substrate 23 described later can be easily processed. Therefore, when this configuration is adopted, it is optional to eliminate the stoppers 8 and 9 and the release levers 10 and 11.

FIG. 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the clamper 15. The clamper 15 is provided with appropriate chamfers at both ends of a lower end thereof and can be vertically adjusted by a fixture 17 such as a screw. Center clamp 16 mounted
And two lower clamps 18 whose inclinations can be appropriately adjusted via fittings 19 such as screws near the chamfered portions at both lower ends of the center clamp 16.

The film substrate 2 is inserted into the gap formed by the center clamp 16 and the lower clamps 18.
3 is inserted and locked, the film substrate 2
3 is supported in a curved state like an imaginary line, so that the clamper 15 can support the film substrate 23 substantially horizontally in a cantilevered state.

In such a manner of supporting the film substrate 23, the position of the center clamp 16 is arbitrarily set in order to adjust the insertion gap according to the thickness of the film substrate 23 and its elasticity. By appropriately adjusting the inclination of the clamp 18, various film substrates 23 can be locked and held in an optimal state.

When the electrophoretic display device is manufactured, the lid 1 is released in a clean atmosphere and the vacuum chamber is opened in order to fill the glass cell 24 with the dispersion liquid using the above-described apparatus.
2, a glass cell 24 is placed at a predetermined position on the inner bottom surface, and the film substrate 23 is clamped according to the above embodiment.
5, the lid 1 is closed and the vacuum chamber 2 is sealed at the stage where it is set in a horizontal state as shown by the broken line in FIG. In this state, the dispersion liquid supply pipe 12 is closed by the valve 13,
Further, the dispersion liquid outlet 21 is also closed.

Then, the vacuum pump is started and the exhaust port 2 is started.
After the evacuation is completed until the inside of the vacuum chamber 2 reaches a vacuum state of about 0.5 torr through the line 2, the opening / closing valve 13 is first opened and the display dispersion prepared in advance from the dispersion supply pipe 12 is supplied to the vacuum chamber. The supply is stopped when the dispersion liquid is sufficiently filled in the glass cell 24 by supplying the dispersion liquid into the glass cell 24.

Next, one of the levers 11 is rotated to release the stopper 9, and the movable rod 7 is gradually lowered through the bellows 5 while resisting the negative pressure of the vacuum chamber 2. At the lower end, one end of the film substrate 23 is brought into close contact with the upper end of the glass cell 24 as shown by a broken line. Similarly, the stopper 8 is released by operating another release lever 10 and the bellows 4 is released. Similarly, the movable rod 6 is gradually lowered while resisting the negative pressure of the vacuum chamber 2 through the clamper.
The clamper 15 is rotated clockwise in response to bringing the lower end portion thereof into contact with the upper end portion of the film 15. As a result, the film substrate 23 naturally falls onto the glass cell 24 and comes into close contact therewith.

Then, the interior of the vacuum chamber 2 is returned to normal pressure by, for example, a process such as gradually opening the lid 1, and the glass cell 24 in which the dispersion is sealed under the close contact of the film substrate 23 as described above is taken out. By subjecting this to a sealing step and sealing the outer peripheral end thereof, a good electrophoretic display element free from defects such as voids can be manufactured.

Then, the residual dispersion in the vacuum chamber 2 is discarded from the outlet 21 and then the apparatus is set again to the state shown in FIG.

[0023]

According to the present invention, a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display element can fill a glass cell with a display dispersion liquid in a simple vacuum atmosphere mechanism and closely contact an opposite film substrate. It is possible to manufacture an electrophoretic display element having good display quality without voids such as air bubbles.

According to the clamper of this dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus, one end of various film substrates can be locked and held without employing a complicated mechanism.
Can be naturally performed at a predetermined rotation stage. Such a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus can be configured easily, compactly and at low cost, and a series of operations can be easily automated easily by providing an appropriate program control system.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a conceptual cross-sectional configuration diagram of a principal part of a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display device configured according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual front view of a preferred clamper according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Cover 13 Opening / closing valve 2 Vacuum chamber 14 Supporting device 3 Hermetic seal material 15 Clamper 4 Hermetic bellows 16 Center clamp 5 Hermetic bellows 17 Attachment 6 Movable rod 18 Lower clamp 7 Movable rod DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 19 Attachment 8 Stopper 21 Dispersion liquid discharge outlet 9 Stopper 22 Vacuum exhaust port 10 Release lever 23 Film substrate 11 Release lever 24 Glass cell 12 Dispersion liquid supply pipe

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A dispersion liquid for display in which electrophoretic particles are dispersed is poured onto a glass cell provided with electrodes, and a film substrate provided with a transparent electrode pattern is brought into close contact with the glass cell to encapsulate the dispersion liquid. In a dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus for manufacturing an electrophoretic display element, a vacuum chamber in which an upper end opening can be hermetically sealed by a detachable lid, in which the glass cell is arranged, and vacuum evacuation is possible. The vacuum chamber is provided with a clamper for removably engaging one end of the film substrate and supporting the film substrate above the glass cell. A movable rod for pressing the other end of the film substrate against the upper end of the glass cell and another movable rod for dropping the film substrate onto the glass cell by releasing the locked state by the clamper are hermetically sealed. And a means for supplying a dispersion liquid into the vacuum chamber. 2. The dispersion liquid enclosing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the clamper is mounted so as to be capable of returning and has a clamp for locking and holding one end of the film substrate in a curved state.