KR100720424B1 - substrates bonding device for manufacturing of liquid crystal display and method for controlning - Google Patents

Abstract

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to equipment for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding device for bonding a pair of substrates for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device.

To this end, the present invention includes an upper stage and a lower stage to which a pair of substrates for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device are respectively fixed; A pair of reels provided on both sides of at least one of the stages; A protective sheet for wrapping the surface of the stage in the state wound around each reel portion; And, The substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that it comprises a rotating portion for rotating the reel portion.

LCD, substrate bonding, stage surface protection

Description

Substrate bonding device for manufacturing of liquid crystal display and method for controlning

1 and 2 is a block diagram showing a substrate bonding apparatus of the conventional manufacturing equipment of the liquid crystal display device

3 is a schematic view showing a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention

4a and 4b is a detailed configuration diagram of the internal structure of each stage of the substrate bonding apparatus for the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process according to the present invention

5 is a schematic perspective view showing a mounting state of the support means of the substrate bonding apparatus for the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process according to the present invention;

6 and 7 are schematic diagrams illustrating a substrate loading process of a substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

8 to 10 is a schematic view showing a substrate-to-substrate bonding process by the substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of the present invention

11 and 12 are schematic views showing the main part of the protective sheet mounting process of the substrate bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention                 

Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings

100. Base frame 110. First substrate

120. Second substrate 210. Upper chamber unit

220. Lower chamber unit 230. Upper stage

240. Lower stage 250. Sealing member

411, 412. Reel 420. Protective sheet

430. Tension adjustment jig

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process using a liquid crystal dropping method which is advantageous for a large area liquid crystal display device and a control method thereof.

As the information society develops, the demand for display devices is increasing in various forms, and in recent years, liquid crystal display devices (LCDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), electro luminescent displays (ELDs), and vacuum fluorescent (VFD) Various flat panel display devices such as displays have been studied, and some of them are already used as display devices in various devices.

Among them, LCDs are being widely used in place of CRTs (Cathode Ray Tubes) for mobile image display devices due to the advantages of excellent image quality, light weight, thinness, and low power consumption.

As described above, although various technical advances have been made in the liquid crystal display device to serve as a screen display device in many fields, the operation of improving the image quality as the screen display device has many aspects and features. .

Therefore, in order for a liquid crystal display device to be used in various parts as a general screen display device, the key to development is how much high quality images such as high definition, high brightness and large area can be realized while maintaining the characteristics of light weight, thinness and low power consumption. It can be said.

As the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device as described above, the conventional liquid crystal injection method for injecting the liquid crystal through the injection hole of the sealing agent after bonding the substrate in vacuum, and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Nos. 11-089612 and 11-172903 The liquid crystal dropping method which joins the liquid crystal and sealing material which were proposed by the publication to the other board | substrate in vacuum can be largely divided, for example.

FIG. 1 illustrates a substrate bonding apparatus to which a liquid crystal dropping method is applied among the conventional liquid crystal display device manufacturing methods as described above.

That is, in the conventional substrate bonding apparatus, the frame 10, the stage portions 21 and 22, the sealant discharge portion (not shown), the liquid crystal dropping portion 30, the chamber portion 31, 32, the chamber moving means 40, and the stage moving means 50 are large.

In this case, the stage unit is divided into an upper stage 21 and a lower stage 22, respectively, the sealant discharge unit and the liquid crystal dropping unit 30 is mounted on the side of the position where the bonding process of the frame is made, The chamber portion is divided into an upper chamber unit 31 and a lower chamber unit 32 so as to be merged with each other.

In addition, the chamber moving means 40 is composed of a drive motor for driving the lower chamber unit 32 to move to the position where the bonding process is performed, or the position where the discharge of the sealant and the dropping of the liquid crystal is performed, The stage moving means 50 is composed of a drive motor for driving the upper stage to move up or down.

Hereinafter, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device using the conventional substrate bonding apparatus will be described in more detail based on the process sequence.

First, any one substrate 51 is carried in and attached to the upper stage by the loader, and then another substrate is carried in and attached to the lower stage 22 by the loader.

In this state, the lower chamber unit 32 having the lower stage 22 is moved to the process position S1 for applying the sealant and dropping the liquid crystal as shown in FIG. 1 by the chamber moving means 40.

Then, when the application of the sealant by the sealant discharge portion and the liquid crystal dropping portion 30 and the liquid crystal dropping in the above state is completed, the process for bonding between the substrates as shown in FIG. 2 by the chamber moving means 40 again. It moves on the position S2.

Thereafter, the chamber units 31 and 32 are bonded to each other by the chamber moving means 40 to seal the space in which the stages 21 and 22 are located, and to make the space vacuum by a separate vacuum means. do.

The substrate 51 attached to the upper stage 21 is fixed to the lower stage 22 while the upper stage 21 moves downward by the stage moving means 50 in the vacuum state. 52) and the bonding between the substrates through continuous pressing, the manufacturing of the liquid crystal display device is completed.

However, in the conventional substrate bonding apparatus as described above, since the upper chamber unit and the lower chamber unit are open from the external environment, a large amount of foreign substances are introduced into the surface of each stage to cause a defect of the liquid crystal display device.

In other words, when the foreign matter is relatively hard, not only the substrates could be damaged but also the alignment of each substrate was difficult due to the minute position change. It was caused.

In particular, due to the above problems, in the past, frequent cleaning of the stage had to be made, but the yield was inevitably low.

In addition, since the conventional substrate bonding apparatus is configured to apply a separate sealant or liquid crystal dropping to the substrate on which the thin film transistor is formed and the substrate on which the color filter layer is formed, and the bonding between the substrates in the same equipment, There is a problem that was forced to grow in size.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and provides a vacuum bonding apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device of a simple form as a whole, and can prevent the defect of the liquid crystal display device due to various foreign substances in advance. An object of the present invention is to provide a vacuum bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process and a control method thereof.

According to an aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object, an upper stage and a lower stage to which a pair of substrates for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device are respectively fixed; A pair of reels provided on both sides of at least one of the stages; Provided is a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that it comprises a protective sheet surrounding the surface of the stage wound in the reel portion; and a rotating portion for rotating the reel portion.

In addition, the present invention comprises a first step of placing a protective sheet on the surface of any one stage to perform the bonding between the substrates using the stage protection structure of the substrate bonding apparatus; A second step of performing a bonding process between the substrates; A third step of reading a replacement time of the protective sheet; And, when it is time to replace the protective sheet by rotating a pair of reels, the protective sheet on which the operation is performed is wound on one reel portion, and the new protective sheet wound on the other reel portion is positioned on the surface of any one stage Provided is a control method of a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process including a fourth step.

Hereinafter, with reference to Figures 3 to 12 attached to a preferred embodiment of the present invention in more detail.

First, FIG. 3 shows a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process of the present invention.

As can be seen through the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention, the base frame 100, the upper chamber unit 210 and the lower chamber unit 220, the upper stage 230 and the lower stage 240, the sealing member 250, the support means 710 and 720 are included, and a pair of reel portions 411 and 412, a protective sheet 420, a rotating part (not shown), and an upper chamber moving means are further included.

The base frame 100 constituting the bonding apparatus of the present invention forms the appearance of the bonding apparatus in a state fixed to the ground, and serves to support the other components.

In addition, the upper chamber unit 210 and the lower chamber unit 220 are mounted on the upper and lower ends of the base frame 100, respectively, and are coupled to each other.

The upper chamber unit 210 is tightly fixed to the upper base 211 exposed to the external environment and the bottom surface of the upper base 211, the inside of the upper chamber plate made of a rectangular frame having an arbitrary space 212 is configured.

In this case, an upper stage 230 is provided in an arbitrary space formed in the upper chamber plate 212, and the upper stage 230 is mounted to interlock with the upper chamber unit 210.

In addition, the lower chamber unit 220 is mounted on the lower base 221 fixed to the base frame 100 and on the upper surface of the lower base 221 so as to be movable in the front, rear, left and right directions, and the inside thereof. Is configured to include a lower chamber plate 222 made of a rectangular frame having any space.                     

In this case, a lower stage 240 is provided in an arbitrary space formed in the lower chamber plate 222, and the lower stage 240 is fixed to an upper surface of the lower base 221.

Of course, the lower chamber unit 220 may further include a fixing plate 223 for stable fixing between the base frame 100 and the lower base 221 as shown in the embodiment of the present invention. .

In addition, the stages 230 and 240 include fixing plates 231 and 241 fixed to the chamber units 210 and 220, and adsorption plates 232 and 242 to which the substrates are fixed.

In this case, each of the adsorption plates 232 and 242 is formed of a polymer-based polyimide, and is composed of an electrostatic chuck (ESC) for fixing each substrate by electrostatic power.

In addition, each of the suction plates 232 and 242 is provided with a plurality of vacuum holes 232a and 242a for transmitting a vacuum suction force as shown in FIGS. 4A and 4B, and each of the vacuum holes 232a and 242a is formed at each stage. Communication is performed along the vacuum pipes 271 and 272 formed every 230 and 240.

In addition, the sealing member 250 is composed of an O-ring mounted to protrude to an arbitrary height along the upper surface of the lower chamber plate 222 of the lower chamber unit 220, the O-ring is made of a rubber material Is formed.

In this case, the sealing member 250 has a thickness such that the pair of substrates 110 and 120 fixed to the stages 230 and 240 of the inner space when the chamber units 210 and 220 are coupled to each other does not come into close contact with each other. Is formed.

Of course, when the sealing member 250 is compressed, the pair of substrates 110 and 120 are formed to have a thickness that can be in close contact with each other.

In addition, the support means is configured to protrude upward through the lower stage 240 to seat the substrate 120 loaded into the lower stage 240 and the bonded substrate seated on the lower stage 240 ( 110, 120 serves to unload.

Of course, when the loading of the second substrate 120 is not made, the upper surface of the support means is positioned lower than the upper surface of the lower stage 240.

Such a support means lifts the lift pin 710 and the lift pin 710 in the form of a pin having a thickness such that deflection can be prevented at least when the substrate 120 is supported as shown in FIG. 5. The center of the lift pin 710 is bent downward so that the lift pin 710 does not interfere with the moving path to the loader unit 910 for loading the substrates 110 and 120.

In addition, the pair of reels 411 and 412 are positioned on both sides of the lower stage 240 and are fixed on the inner space of the lower chamber unit 220.

Of course, the reels 411 and 412 may be provided at both sides of the upper stage 230, or may be provided at both sides of each of the upper stage 230 and the lower stage 240.                     

In addition, the protective sheet 420 is covered with both ends wound on the reel portions 411 and 412, and serves to cover the surface of the lower stage 240.

That is, the protective sheet 420 prevents a phenomenon in which foreign matters are deposited on the surface of the lower stage 240.

The protective sheet 420 as described above is formed of a material configured to transfer the electrostatic force generated from the adsorption plate (electrostatic chuck) 242 to the substrates 110 and 120, and each vacuum hole 242a of the lower stage 240. The portion where the position and the position where the lift pin 710 of the support means rises is formed to be opened so that there is no interference in the transmission of the vacuum suction force and the operation of the lift pin 710.

In addition, the protective sheet 420 as described above is made of a plurality of sheets are formed to surround the surface of the lower stage 240, one end of any one reel (hereinafter referred to as "first reel portion") 411 The other end is wound around the other reel portion (hereinafter referred to as "second reel portion") (412).

At this time, the sheet wound on the first reel portion 411 is a sheet that is not used, the sheet waiting to be used when the bonding process between the substrate is made, the sheet wound on the second reel portion 412 is The sheet used is a sheet to be removed, and the sheet located between the reel portions 411 and 412 is a sheet used for a current inter-substrate bonding process.

That is, the protective sheet 420 is wound at both ends of the two reels 411 and 412, and the sheet wound around the first reel 411 at predetermined intervals is positioned in the work area, and the used sheet is the second. It is wound on the reel 412.

In this case, the pair of reels 411 and 412 may have a lower center than the surface of the lower stage 240 so that the protective sheet 420 may surround the lower stage 240. Each adjacent portion (preferably between each reel portion and both sides of the lower stage) is provided with a pair of tension adjusting jig 430, the protective sheet 420 can smoothly wrap the surface of the lower stage 240 have.

In particular, the tension adjusting jig 430 is rotatably mounted (or, vertically or horizontally moved) to maintain the protective sheet 420 in a flat state.

At this time, the configuration for enabling the tension adjustment jig 420 to move up and down is possible by providing an actuator, a step motor, or the like in the tension adjustment jig 420, which is omitted.

Of course, the tension adjusting jig 430 is not a configuration that must be present, but the protective sheet 420 to form a flat state, so that each opening portion of the protective sheet 420 is a vacuum hole 242a of the lower stage 240 However, it is necessary to be able to accurately position the position to prevent the operation interference by the lift pin 710.

The rotating part serves to rotate the pair of reels 411 and 412 and is installed only on the second reel part 412. Of course, it can also be provided in the 1st reel part 411, and can also be provided for each reel part 411,412.

And, the upper chamber moving means may be mounted directly on the upper chamber unit 210, in the embodiment of the present invention is provided in the base frame 100 serves to move the upper chamber unit 210 up and down It is configured to.

The upper chamber moving means includes a drive motor 310 fixed to the base frame 100, a drive shaft 320 axially coupled to the drive motor 310, and a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 320. A connecting shaft 330 which stands up and receives driving force from the driving shaft 320, a connecting portion 340 for connecting the driving shaft 320 and the connecting shaft 330, and is mounted at an end of the connecting shaft 330. It comprises a jockey section 350.

At this time, the drive motor 310 is located in the inner bottom of the base frame 100 is composed of a biaxial motor protruding the axis in a direction parallel to the ground.

In addition, the drive shaft 320 is connected to each other to transmit a driving force in a horizontal direction with respect to the two axes of the drive motor 310, the connecting shaft 330 is a driving force in a direction perpendicular to the drive shaft 320 Is connected to pass.

The jockey 350 mounted at the end of the connecting shaft 330 moves upwardly or downwardly according to the rotation direction of the connecting shaft 330 in contact with the upper chamber unit 210. 210 serves to move, and constitutes a nut housing.

In addition, the connection part 340 is composed of a bevel gear to transmit the rotational force of the drive shaft 320 transmitted in the horizontal direction to the connection shaft 330 connected in the vertical direction.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of a substrate-to-substrate bonding process using the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention configured as described above will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 3 and 6 to 9.

First, as shown in FIG. 3, the protective sheet 420 wound around the first reel 411 by rotating the second reel 412 by driving the rotating unit before performing the substrate-to-substrate bonding to the surface of the lower stage 240. Place it in

At this time, each of the openings of the protective sheet 420 should correspond to the position of each vacuum hole 242a formed on the surface of the lower stage 240 and the mounting position of the lift pin 710. Naturally, this is performed through the rotation amount control of the second reel unit 412.

6 and 7, the first substrate 110 fixed to the upper stage 230 and the second substrate 120 fixed to the lower stage 240 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 shown in the above state. ) Are sequentially loaded and fixed to the respective stages 230 and 240.

At this time, the protective sheet 420 is located between the lower stage 240 and the second substrate 120, but the protective sheet 420 is made of a material capable of transmitting electrostatic power, and the lower stage 240 The second substrate 120 is stably fixed to the upper surface of the lower stage 240 because the portion where each vacuum hole 242a of the () is opened.

When the loading of each of the substrates 110 and 120 is completed, the upper chamber moving unit is driven to move the upper chamber unit 210 downward so that the upper chamber plate 212 is the lower chamber plate 222 as shown in FIG. 8. The upper surface of the sealing member 250 mounted along the circumferential portion of is contacted.

In this state, if the jockey 350 is continuously moved downward, the jockey 350 is taken out of the upper chamber unit 210 as shown in FIG. 9, and the weight of the upper chamber unit 210 itself is increased. And an inner space of each chamber unit 210 or 220 where the substrates 110 and 120 are positioned by the atmospheric pressure is sealed from the outer space.

Subsequently, the space provided with each of the substrates 110 and 120 is vacuumed by a vacuum pump (not shown).

Thereafter, the substrates 110 and 120 are aligned with each other, and bonding between the substrates 110 and 120 is performed.

In this case, the bonding between the substrates 110 and 120 may be bonded by bringing the substrates 110 and 120 into close contact with each other and then venting the space in which the substrates 110 and 120 are located. The substrates may be bonded by venting the space in which the substrates 110 and 120 are positioned while not closely contacting each other.

Such a venting process may be performed by injecting N ₂ gas into the vacuum space as shown in FIG. 10, and thus, the space is in an atmospheric pressure state, and thus the pressure between the substrate 110 and 120 and the external pressure may be reduced. Due to the pressure difference, the substrates 110 and 120 are completely bonded together.

That is, considering that the space between the substrates 110 and 120 is in a vacuum state, the substrates 110 and 120 are further brought into close contact with each other by the pressure difference between the substrates 110 and 120 and between the outside.

Subsequently, the bonding between the substrates 110 and 120 is completed by carrying out the bonded substrates 110 and 120 as described above.

Then, as the above-described series of processes are repeated while carrying out the bonded substrates 110 and 120 as described above, the bonding between the other substrates is performed.

Meanwhile, in the process of bonding the substrates as described above, a controller (not shown) in charge of controlling the substrate bonding apparatus continuously reads the replacement time of the protective sheet 420.

If the controller counts the number of times of the bonding process between the substrates 110 and 120 to perform the preset number of times the counted bonding process is performed, the protective sheet 420 before performing the next substrate bonding process. Perform control for replacement.

Of course, the method of reading the replacement timing of the protective sheet 420 may be performed before the next substrate bonding process is performed if the predetermined time period is exceeded by performing a count of continuous time periods in a state in which a specific time period is set in advance. The control sheet 420 may be set to perform a control for replacement.

In the above method of replacing the protective sheet 420, the second reel unit may include a specific sheet area of the protective sheet 420 on which the operation is performed by rotating the second reel unit 412 as shown in FIG. 11 by controlling the rotating unit. And a specific sheet area of the new protective sheet 420 wound on the first reel portion 411 on the upper surface of the lower stage 240 to surround the upper surface of the lower stage 240. do.

At this time, the pair of tension adjustment jig 430 is rotated (or, if the specific sheet area is located on the upper surface of the lower stage 240 by the rotation of the reel 411,412, as shown in Figure 12) By moving left and right) so that the protective sheet 420 can achieve a flat state to match the position between the protective sheet 420 and the lower stage 240.

As described above, the substrate bonding apparatus and the control method for the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process using the liquid crystal integration method of the present invention can obtain the following effects.

First, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention has the effect that the overall size of the apparatus can be reduced because it is composed of a device for bonding only the respective substrates without the application of liquid crystals or sealing material.

This enables the design of a more effective lay-out and has the effect of causing the saving of installation space.

Secondly, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention has the effect of minimizing the space to be vacuumed and shortening the time required for vacuuming as much as possible.

Therefore, the manufacturing time in the liquid crystal display device manufacturing process can be shortened.

Third, the substrate bonding apparatus of the present invention prevents fine foreign substances flowing between the stages from falling on the surfaces of the stages, thereby preventing defects caused by the foreign substances during the bonding process between the substrates.

Claims (9)

An upper stage and a lower stage to which a pair of substrates for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device are respectively fixed; A pair of reels provided on both sides of at least one of the stages; A protective sheet surrounding the surface of the stage while being wound around each reel portion; and, A rotating unit for rotating the respective reel portion: A substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1, The surface on which the substrate of each stage is fixed A liquid crystal comprising an electrostatic chuck (ESC) formed of a polymer-based polyimide to fix each substrate by electrostatic power, and having a plurality of vacuum holes to which vacuum suction force is transmitted. Substrate bonding apparatus for display element manufacturing process. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The protective sheet A substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process, characterized in that formed of a material capable of transferring the electrostatic force generated from the electrostatic chuck. The method according to claim 1 or 2, The protective sheet A substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process, characterized in that is formed so as to open the portion where the vacuum holes are located. The method of claim 1, The pair of reel portions Substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that the center is provided so as to be located lower than the surface of each stage. The method of claim 1, And a pair of tension adjusting jigs provided at positions where the protective sheet can cover the surface of the stage, and adjacent portions of the pair of reels, respectively. Cementing device. The method of claim 6, Each of the tension adjustment jig is a substrate bonding device for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process, characterized in that mounted to be able to rotate or move up, down, left and right. Positioning a protective sheet on a surface of one stage; A second step of performing a bonding process between the substrates; A third step of reading a replacement time of the protective sheet; And, When it is time to replace the protective sheet by rotating a pair of reels to wind the protective sheet on which the operation is performed to any one reel portion, and to place a new protective sheet wound on the other reel portion on the surface of any one stage 4. The control method of the substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized in that step 4: is repeatedly performed. The method of claim 8, The third step is A method of controlling a substrate bonding apparatus for a liquid crystal display device manufacturing process characterized by counting the number of times of performing the bonding process between the substrates or counting a predetermined time period to read whether the set number of executions exceeds or exceeds the set time period. .

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