JP4400628B2 - Bonding method of LCD panel - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal panel bonding method in which a color filter substrate and a TFT substrate are bonded together with a photo-curable sealant in a liquid crystal panel assembly process.

A liquid crystal screen used for a liquid crystal television or the like includes a liquid crystal panel, a driver for controlling the liquid crystal panel, a backlight for illuminating the liquid crystal panel from the back surface, and the like. The liquid crystal panel encloses liquid crystal and controls the voltage applied to the liquid crystal panel, thereby transmitting or blocking light from the backlight to display a screen.
FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the configuration of the above-described liquid crystal panel (color liquid crystal panel). In the figure, the vertical direction is extremely enlarged compared to the horizontal direction for easy understanding.

The liquid crystal panel is configured by sandwiching a liquid crystal 107 between a color filter substrate 101 and a TFT substrate 102 bonded together by a sealant (adhesive) 109.
The color filter substrate 101 includes a light shielding film 104 (hereinafter abbreviated as BM) called a black matrix, a color filter 103, a transparent substrate (hereinafter described as a glass substrate, but may be a transparent resin substrate) 100. An alignment film 106, a transparent electrode 105, and the like are formed.

Further, on the TFT substrate 102, driving elements for driving the liquid crystal, for example, the TFT element 108, a liquid crystal driving electrode 110 formed of a transparent conductive film, and wiring (not shown) for connecting them are formed.
The BM 104 is formed of, for example, a chromium vapor deposition film or a black resin, and light from the backlight leaks from a portion not related to image display (a portion other than the liquid crystal), for example, a TFT element 108 or a wiring portion. It plays the role of blindfold so as not to disturb the image.
The color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 are manufactured in separate processes until the process of bonding them with the liquid crystal sandwiched therebetween.

Hereinafter, bonding the color filter substrate and the TFT substrate is referred to as panel bonding. Recently, a manufacturing method called a drop method (ODF for short) has been adopted in the panel bonding process. The dropping method is described in Patent Document 1, for example.
The process including the bonding of the panels using the dropping method will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

(1) The color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 are manufactured in each process. Normally, a plurality of screens (each separated into one liquid crystal panel after completion) are formed on one transparent substrate 100 (also called mother glass).
(2) A sealant 109, which is a photo-curing adhesive, is applied so as to surround a plurality of screens formed on the transparent substrate 100. The substrate to which the sealant 109 is applied may be either the color filter substrate 101 or the TFT substrate 102. The width of the sealing agent is about 1 mm to 1.5 mm.
(3) Liquid crystal is dropped and stored in the screen surrounded by the sealant 109. The other substrate is positioned and placed thereon, and light having a wavelength that cures the sealant 109 is irradiated to the sealant 109 through the one substrate. In general, an ultraviolet curable sealant having a sensitivity mainly in the range of 300 nm to 400 nm is used as the photocurable resin.

As a light source that emits light having a wavelength for curing the sealant, a rod-shaped high-pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp is usually used. These lamps efficiently radiate ultraviolet rays in the range of 300 nm to 400 nm corresponding to the sensitivity of the ultraviolet curable sealant and have a rod shape, so that it is easy to cope with an increase in the size of the transparent substrate (mother glass). Specifically, rod-shaped lamps having a light emission length corresponding to the width of the transparent substrate are arranged side by side by the number corresponding to the length of the transparent substrate. Then, the entire transparent substrate is irradiated at once.
(4) The sealing agent is cured by the light from the lamp, and the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 are bonded (bonded). The sealing agent serves as both sealing of the liquid crystal and adhesion of the two substrates.
Note that before bonding, for example, spherical fine particles called spacers may be sprayed between the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 to secure an interval for sandwiching the liquid crystal.

FIG. 6 shows a bonded liquid crystal panel. In the figure, four screens are formed on one transparent substrate.
(5) After bonding, the substrate is divided (cut) for each screen and incorporated into a personal computer or television as a display screen.

As described above, in the bonding process of the liquid crystal panel, an ultraviolet curable sealant is used, and ultraviolet rays are irradiated to cure the sealant. However, the liquid crystal may change in quality or change in characteristics when irradiated with ultraviolet rays. For this reason, when the liquid crystal panel is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the liquid crystal panel is irradiated through a mask having a light shielding portion. The light-shielding part of the mask is formed so that ultraviolet rays are irradiated to the sealing agent but not to the screen on which the liquid crystal exists.
In the field of manufacturing semiconductor devices and printed circuit board devices, it is known that a mask used for an exposure apparatus that exposes a circuit pattern is formed by depositing a metal such as chromium on quartz glass.

However, it has become difficult to use a mask such as that used in an exposure apparatus when bonding liquid crystal panels. This is because in recent years, the transparent substrates of liquid crystal panels have become larger, and there are cases where one side exceeds 2 m. When such a large substrate is irradiated with ultraviolet rays in a lump, a large mask corresponding to the size of the substrate is required.
Such a large quartz glass is expensive, and in order to form a light shielding part by vapor-depositing metal on a large quartz glass, a large-sized dedicated vapor deposition apparatus is required, and the mask manufacturing cost is very high. Become expensive.

In order to avoid an increase in the cost of manufacturing the mask, the use of the color filter substrate of the liquid crystal panel as a mask has been adopted in part. That is, one color filter substrate on which R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filters are formed as a product is extracted from the process before being bonded to the TFT substrate, and this is used as a mask. It is.
The color filter formed on the color filter substrate transmits RGB visible light but has an ultraviolet transmittance of about 2%. Therefore, it can be used as a mask for preventing the liquid crystal from being irradiated with ultraviolet rays. .

If the color filter substrate is used as a mask and aligned with the liquid crystal panel to be bonded and irradiated with ultraviolet rays, the color filter substrate to be used as the mask and the color filter substrate of the panel to be bonded are basically the same. Therefore, the screen portion of the liquid crystal panel is shielded from ultraviolet rays by the color filter of the color filter substrate used as a mask, and the sealing agent outside the screen is irradiated with ultraviolet rays.
Even if one color filter substrate is taken out from the manufacturing process to be used as a mask, it is one of many manufactured ones. Compared to manufacturing a mask in which metal is deposited on quartz glass. For example, the cost is much lower. Note that the color filter substrate used as the light shielding mask is not used as a so-called liquid crystal panel product.

JP-A-9-73096

FIG. 7 shows a schematic configuration of an apparatus for bonding panels using a color filter substrate as a mask.
Reference numeral 10 denotes a light irradiating unit, which includes a plurality of rod-shaped lamps 11 that emit ultraviolet rays. Reference numeral 12 denotes a bowl-shaped mirror that reflects the ultraviolet rays emitted from the lamp 11. The ultraviolet rays radiated from the lamp 11 are reflected directly or reflected by the mirror 12 and emitted from the light emission port 13 formed in the lower part of the light irradiation unit 10 toward the panel P to be bonded.

Between the light irradiation unit 10 and the panel P, a color filter substrate (hereinafter referred to as a mask) M used as a mask is disposed. The ultraviolet rays from the light irradiation unit 10 are applied to the panel P to be bonded through the mask M.
As described above, the panel P is composed of the two substrates of the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102, and the liquid crystal 107 is sandwiched between the screens surrounded by the ultraviolet curable sealant 109. At the time of ultraviolet irradiation, the panel P is placed and held on the work stage WS, with the TFT substrate 102 facing the light irradiation unit 10 and the color filter substrate 101 facing the work stage WS.

This is because when the color filter substrate 101 is directed to the light irradiation unit 10 side, the sealant 109 under the BM 104 is not irradiated with light and may remain uncured.
In FIG. 7, the alignment film and the transparent electrode of the panel P shown in FIG. 5 are omitted so as not to complicate the drawing.
The ultraviolet rays emitted from the light irradiation unit 10 enter the mask M. The ultraviolet rays are shielded from the portion of the mask M where the color filter 103 is formed, and pass through other portions. The ultraviolet rays that have passed through the mask M are applied to the sealing agent 109 applied to the outside of the screen of the panel P.

Before the panel P is irradiated with ultraviolet rays and bonded, the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 are aligned so that the screens formed on the two match exactly.
The alignment procedure of the color filter substrate and the TFT substrate will be described with reference to FIG.
In the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102, two or more alignment marks for alignment are formed on each substrate in each manufacturing process. Here, the alignment mark formed on the color filter substrate 101 is called CAM, and the alignment mark formed on the TFT substrate 102 is called TAM.

The work stage WS on which the panel P to be bonded is placed has through holes or notches 201 at positions (two places) where the alignment marks (the color filter side alignment mark CAM and the TFT side alignment mark TAM) of the panel P come. (Shown as a through hole in FIG. 2) is formed.
Under the through hole 201, an alignment microscope 301 for detecting the alignment mark is provided. The alignment microscope 301 receives an alignment mark (CAM, TAM) image of the panel P placed on the work stage WS through the through hole 201. The alignment marks (CAM, TAM) received by the alignment microscope 301 are sent to the control unit 40 for image processing.

An example of the color filter side alignment mark CAM and the TFT side alignment mark TAM received by the alignment microscope 301 is shown in a circle in FIG. In the figure, the alignment mark CAM on the color filter substrate has a cross shape, and the alignment mark TAM on the TFT substrate is composed of four L-shapes that sandwich the cross bar of the alignment mark CAM on the color filter substrate. ing.
The alignment microscope 301 simultaneously detects the alignment marks CAM and TAM (the distance between the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 is narrower than the depth of focus of the alignment microscope 301, and both alignment marks can be detected simultaneously). The TFT substrate 102 is moved and placed on the color filter substrate 101 so that the alignment marks CAM and TAM have a predetermined positional relationship set in advance. Since the sealant 109 is uncured in this state, the TFT substrate 102 can be moved after the TFT substrate 102 is placed on the color filter substrate 101. The alignment may be performed by moving the color filter substrate 101 side.

As described above, the alignment marks used when aligning the two substrates have different shapes on the two substrates. This is because if both alignment marks have the same shape, alignment cannot be performed for the following reason.
If both marks have the same shape, when trying to detect two marks with an alignment microscope, one mark may be in the way and the other mark may not be detected. Further, even if both can be detected, it is impossible to determine which substrate is the alignment mark, and it is not known which substrate should be moved in which direction.
In addition, when only one mark is detected, it is impossible to tell whether the marks on the two substrates coincide by chance or whether one mark is out of the field of view of the alignment microscope.

Here, when a color filter substrate is used as a mask and the panel is irradiated with ultraviolet rays for bonding, the color filter substrate that is the mask and the panel must be aligned. In alignment between the mask and the panel, it is conceivable to use an alignment mark CAM formed on the color filter substrate as an alignment mark for alignment.
However, since the color filter substrate used as the mask and the color filter substrate of the panel to be bonded are originally the same, the formed alignment mark CAM has the same shape. Therefore, if an attempt is made to align the color filter substrate mask and the panel in order to perform ultraviolet irradiation, the above-described problems occur and the alignment cannot be performed.

  The present invention has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and in bonding a liquid crystal panel in which a sealing agent between two substrates is bonded by irradiating light through a mask, the alignment mark of the mask and the bonding Even if the alignment mark of the panel to be aligned has the same shape, the mask and the panel can be aligned.

In the present invention, the above problems are solved as follows.
A liquid crystal panel sandwiched between a color filter substrate and a TFT substrate by sandwiching a photocurable sealant and liquid crystal is irradiated with light through a light shielding mask to cure the sealant and bond the two substrates together. In a liquid crystal panel bonding apparatus, a light irradiation unit for irradiating light, a mask support means for supporting a color filter substrate as a light-shielding mask, and a work holding a liquid crystal panel to be bonded and having a through hole or notch formed A stage, an alignment microscope that is provided below the through hole or notch of the work stage and detects an alignment mark formed on the light shielding mask and the panel, and a work stage that moves the work stage in the horizontal direction (XYθ direction) A moving mechanism and a color which is the light shielding mask without moving the alignment microscope in the horizontal direction. An alignment mark of the filter substrate, so that both alignment marks and alignment marks detected chronologically staggered by the alignment microscope, were detected in the panel of the alignment mark and the same shape of the color filter substrate has a predetermined positional relationship And a controller for relatively moving the light shielding mask and the panel.

In the liquid crystal panel bonding apparatus, the panels are bonded by the following procedure.
(1) The mask and the alignment microscope are brought close to each other so that an alignment mark of a color filter substrate (hereinafter referred to as a mask) used as a light shielding mask is a focal position of the alignment microscope. Further, the panel is moved in the horizontal direction (XY direction) by about 1000 μm to 2000 μm so that the alignment mark of the panel to be bonded (hereinafter referred to as panel) is outside the field of view of the alignment microscope.
(2) The alignment mark of the mask is detected by the alignment microscope through the through hole or notch of the work stage and the panel. The position coordinates are stored in the control unit as the position of the mask alignment mark.

(3) Return the panel horizontally moved in (1) above so that the alignment marks on the panel are within the field of view of the alignment microscope. The alignment microscope is moved (lowered) in the vertical direction (Z direction) so that the alignment mark on the panel becomes the focal position of the alignment microscope. Also, the panel is lowered with the alignment microscope, and the mask alignment mark is removed from the depth of focus of the alignment microscope.
(4) An alignment mark on the panel having the same shape as the alignment mark formed on the light shielding mask is detected by an alignment microscope. The position coordinates are stored in the control unit as the position of the panel alignment mark.

  At this time, if the depth of focus of the alignment microscope is deep, the alignment mark of the mask may be detected together with the alignment mark of the panel. In such a case, the panel is moved downward together with the alignment microscope. The alignment mark is moved out of the depth of focus of the alignment microscope.

(5) The control unit selects in which direction the mask and / or the panel so that the stored mask alignment mark position and panel alignment mark position are in a predetermined positional relationship (for example, match). It is calculated whether it should move only the distance. Based on the result, the mask and the panel are relatively moved.
(6) After the alignment of the mask and the panel is completed, the panel is bonded by irradiating the panel with light through the mask.

In the present invention, the following effects can be obtained.
The mask alignment mark and the panel alignment mark are detected by shifting the alignment microscope position in time without moving the alignment microscope in the horizontal direction XYθ direction, and the positions are stored. Based on the stored alignment mark image Therefore, even if the alignment mark on the mask and the alignment mark on the panel have the same shape, one alignment mark does not become a shadow of the other alignment mark and cannot be detected. There is no problem that it is not possible to determine which is the alignment mark of the panel, and the mask and the panel can be aligned.

FIG. 1 shows a schematic configuration of a liquid crystal panel bonding apparatus according to the present invention. This figure is a cross-sectional view in the direction perpendicular to the longitudinal direction of the rod-shaped lamp, and the same reference numerals are used for the same components as those in FIGS. The description of the structure of the panel P to be bonded has been made in [Background Art], and will be omitted here.
The light irradiation unit 10 includes a plurality of lamps 11 that emit ultraviolet rays. As described above, the lamp 11 is, for example, a rod-shaped high-pressure mercury lamp or a metal halide lamp. The lamps 11 are arranged in the number of rods corresponding to the panel length so that the panels can be processed collectively. As an ultraviolet light source, a plurality of LEDs that emit ultraviolet light may be arranged in place of the lamp.

The ultraviolet rays radiated from the lamp 11 are reflected directly or by the bowl-shaped mirror 12 and emitted from the light emission port 13 formed in the lower part of the light irradiation unit 10 toward the liquid crystal panel P to be bonded. .
A color filter substrate (hereinafter referred to as a mask) M used as a mask is disposed between the light irradiation unit 10 and the panel P.
The color filter substrate used as the mask M needs to have at least R (red), G (green), and B (blue) color filters 103 and a plurality of alignment marks CAM. However, other than that, for example, a transparent electrode, an alignment film, or the like may not be formed. That is, even if it is not completed as a color filter substrate, it can be used as a mask. In the present application, color filter substrates that can be used as masks include those not completed as color filter substrates.

Since the mask M is the same size as the panel P, it cannot be directly held by an opaque mask stage. Therefore, the mask M is once held by the mask holding means 501 that is wider than the mask M and transmits ultraviolet rays, and the mask holding means 501 is supported by the opaque mask stage MS.
The material of the mask holding means 501 is, for example, quartz. A vacuum suction groove (not shown) is formed on the lower surface side of the mask holding means 501 (side holding the mask M), and the mask M is held by supplying a vacuum to the vacuum suction groove.

A work stage moving mechanism 202 is provided on the work stage WS on which the panel P to be bonded is placed. In response to a signal from the control unit 40, the work stage moving mechanism 202 moves the work stage WS in the X direction (left and right direction in the figure), Y direction (front and back direction), Z direction (vertical direction), and θ direction (XY direction). In the direction of rotation about the orthogonal axis).
A through hole 201 is formed at a position where the alignment mark (CAM, TAM) of the panel P of the work stage WS comes. Below the through-hole 201, an alignment microscope 301 for detecting an alignment mark is provided. Instead of the through hole 201, a cutout may be formed in the work stage WS.

The alignment marks (CAM, TAM) on the panel placed on the work stage WS are received by the alignment microscope 301 through the through holes 201 (or notches).
The data of the alignment mark CAM of the mask M and the alignment marks CAM and TAM of the panel received by the alignment microscope 301 is sent to the control unit 40 and processed and stored.
The alignment microscope 301 is provided with an alignment microscope moving mechanism 302. The alignment microscope moving mechanism 302 moves the alignment microscope 301 in the Z direction based on a signal from the control unit 40.

A procedure for bonding a mask and a panel using the liquid crystal panel bonding apparatus of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. In the figure, the work stage moving mechanism 202 and the alignment microscope moving mechanism 302 are omitted.
In addition, since the alignment mark CAM formed on the mask M and the alignment mark CAM formed on the color filter substrate of the panel are the same, the alignment mark CAM of the mask M is MCAM to avoid confusion. The alignment mark CAM of the panel to be bonded is called PCAM.

FIG. 2 (a). A state where the panel P to be bonded is overlapped in a state where the work stage WS and the alignment microscope 301 are greatly lowered in the vertical direction (Z direction) by the work stage moving mechanism 202 and the alignment microscope moving mechanism 302 Then, the color filter substrate 101 is placed on the work stage WS.
FIG. 2 (b). The work stage WS is moved (raised) in the vertical direction (Z direction) by the work stage moving mechanism 202 and the alignment microscope 301 is moved by the alignment microscope moving mechanism 302, respectively. At this time, the work stage WS is moved approximately 1000 μm to 2000 μm in the horizontal direction (XY direction) by the work stage moving mechanism 202. As a result, the alignment marks PCAM and TAM on the panel P deviate from the field of view of the alignment microscope 301.

When the alignment microscope 301 reaches a position where the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M can be detected (focal position of the alignment microscope), the work stage WS and the alignment microscope 301 are lifted.
The alignment microscope 301 passes through a through hole 201 (or notch) formed in the work stage WS and a portion of the two transparent substrates (TFT substrate 102 and color filter substrate 101) of the panel P where nothing is formed. The alignment mark MCAM of the mask M can be detected.
The alignment microscope 301 detects and receives only the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M. The mask alignment mark MCAM image is sent to the control unit 40 for image processing, and its position coordinates are stored.

FIG. 3 (c). The workpiece stage WS is moved by the workpiece stage moving mechanism 202 in the horizontal direction in order to remove the alignment marks PCAM and TAM on the panel P from the field of view of the alignment microscope 301 (1000 μm to 2000 μm) in FIG. Move in the direction. At the same time, the alignment microscope 301 is lowered in the vertical direction (Z direction) until the alignment mark PCAM formed on the panel P on the work stage WS can be detected by the alignment microscope moving mechanism 302 (that is, the focal position). To do.
The alignment microscope 301 detects and receives only the alignment mark PCAM (or both PCAM and TAM) on the panel P. The alignment mark PCAM image (or PCAM image and TAM image) is sent to the control unit 40 for image processing, and its position coordinates are stored.
The alignment microscope 301 is positioned in the vertical direction (Z direction) when detecting the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M in FIG. 2B and when detecting the alignment mark PCAM of the panel P in FIG. However, the position in the horizontal direction (XYθ direction) does not change.

FIG. 3 (d). The control unit 40 places the panel P so that the stored position of the mask alignment mark MCAM and the position of the panel alignment mark PCAM are in a predetermined positional relationship set in advance (for example, match). It is calculated which distance and in what direction of XYθ the work stage WS should be moved.
Based on the result, the control unit 40 moves the work stage WS by the work stage moving mechanism 202 and aligns the mask M and the panel P.
This alignment may be performed by moving the mask side, or by moving both the panel and the mask.

FIG. 4 (e). The work stage WS is moved by the work stage moving mechanism 202, and the distance between the mask M and the panel P is brought close to the exposure gap of about 500 μm. Then, the light irradiation unit 10 irradiates the panel P with ultraviolet rays through the mask M.
The ultraviolet rays emitted from the light irradiation unit 10 enter the mask M, and the portion where the color filter 103 is formed is shielded from light and passes through the other portions. The ultraviolet rays that have passed through the mask M pass through the TFT substrate 102 and are applied to the sealing agent 109.

The sealing agent 109 irradiated with ultraviolet rays is cured by a photoreaction, and the color filter substrate 101 and the TFT substrate 102 are bonded together with a liquid crystal sandwiched therebetween.
In FIG. 3C, when the depth of focus of the alignment microscope 301 is deep, even if the alignment microscope 301 is lowered until the alignment mark PCAM of the panel P reaches the focus position, the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M is not changed. There are cases where both the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M and the alignment mark PCAM of the panel P are detected within the depth of focus.
In such a case, the work stage WS is lowered together with the alignment microscope 30, the distance from the alignment microscope 301 to the mask M is increased, the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M is removed from the depth of focus of the alignment microscope 301, and the panel P Only the alignment mark PCAM is detected.

As described above, the alignment mark MCAM of the mask M and the alignment mark PCAM of the panel P are shifted in time with the alignment microscope 301 not moving the position of the alignment microscope 301 in the horizontal direction (XYθ direction). The image is detected and received, and each position information is stored in the control unit 40. Then, alignment is performed based on the stored alignment mark images, that is, the position coordinates of the MCAM image and the position coordinates of the PCAM image.
Therefore, even if the alignment mark on the mask and the alignment mark on the panel have the same shape, one alignment mark does not become a shadow of the other alignment mark and cannot be detected, and which is the mask and which is the panel alignment mark Therefore, it is possible to align the mask and the panel without causing a problem that it cannot be determined.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the bonding apparatus of the liquid crystal panel of this invention. It is a figure (1) explaining the procedure of bonding of a mask and a panel. It is FIG. (2) explaining the procedure of bonding of a mask and a panel. It is FIG. (3) explaining the procedure of bonding of a mask and a panel. It is sectional drawing which shows an example of a structure of a liquid crystal panel (color liquid crystal panel). It is a figure which shows the bonded liquid crystal panel. It is a figure which shows the apparatus which bonds a panel using a color filter board | substrate as a mask. It is a figure explaining the alignment procedure of a color filter substrate and a TFT substrate.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Ultraviolet irradiation device 11 Lamp 12 Mirror 13 Light emission port 40 Control part 100 Transparent substrate 101 Color filter substrate 102 TFT substrate 103 Color filter 104 Black matrix (BM)
105 Transparent electrode 106 Alignment film 107 Liquid crystal (layer)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 108 TFT element 109 Sealing agent 110 Liquid crystal drive electrode 201 Through-hole 202 Work stage moving mechanism 301 Alignment microscope 302 Alignment microscope moving mechanism 501 Mask holding means 52 Shading part M Mask P (liquid crystal) panel MS Mask stage WS Work stage CAM Color filter substrate Alignment mark of TAM TFT substrate alignment mark MCAM mask alignment mark PCAM panel alignment mark

Claims (1)

The alignment mark detection means detects the alignment mark formed on the liquid crystal panel and the light shielding mask formed on the light-blocking mask by sandwiching the photocurable sealant and the liquid crystal between the color filter substrate and the TFT substrate. In the method of laminating the liquid crystal panel, the light curable sealant is cured by irradiating the liquid crystal panel with light through the light shielding mask, and the two substrates are bonded together.
A first step of holding the color filter substrate on the mask holding means as a light shielding mask;
A second step of holding the liquid crystal panel to be bonded to the panel holding means in which the through hole or notch is formed;
The panel holding means and the alignment mark detection means provided below the panel holding means are raised in the vertical direction, and the panel holding means is moved in the horizontal direction to form the liquid crystal panel from the field of view of the alignment mark detection means. A third step of retracting the alignment mark that has been performed;
A fourth step of detecting an alignment mark formed on the light shielding mask via the through hole or notch and the liquid crystal panel by the alignment mark detection means;
The panel holding means is moved in the horizontal direction to move the alignment mark formed on the liquid crystal panel into the field of view of the alignment mark detecting means, and the alignment mark detecting means is moved in the vertical direction without moving in the horizontal direction. In addition to lowering, a fifth step of lowering the panel holding means together with the alignment mark detecting means to remove the alignment mark formed on the light shielding mask from the depth of focus of the alignment mark detecting means;
A sixth step of detecting an alignment mark formed on the liquid crystal panel having the same shape as the alignment mark formed on the light-shielding mask through the through hole or notch by the alignment mark detection means;
Based on the positional information of both alignment marks detected in the fourth and sixth steps, the mask holding means and the panel holding means are relatively moved to align the light shielding mask and the liquid crystal panel. A liquid crystal panel bonding method comprising: a seventh step.

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