KR20060095138A - Liquid crystal dropping device and liquid crystal dropping method using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

 The present invention discloses a liquid crystal dropping apparatus for dropping a liquid crystal in an ODF method and a liquid crystal dropping method using the same.

The disclosed liquid crystal dropping device includes a chamber provided with an arbitrary substrate having a liquid crystal dropping mask, a centrifugal blower for dispersing the liquid crystal into uniform fine particles, and forming liquid crystal fine droplets, and mounted in the chamber and formed through the centrifugal blower. An ejection tube for ejecting a liquid crystal microdroplet onto a substrate provided with the liquid crystal dropping mask, an adjustment means for adjusting a moving speed and a moving distance of the liquid crystal microdroplet ejected from the ejection tube, in the chamber; And a reflection type CCD camera for measuring the amount of liquid crystal microdroplets dropped from the substrate on which the dropping process is completed.

Description

Liquid crystal dropping apparatus and liquid crystal dropping method using the same {A LIQUID CRYSTAL DISPENSING APPARATUS AND DISPENSATION METHOD USING IT}

1 is a cross-sectional view of a general liquid crystal display device.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to the present invention.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal dropping apparatus (Liquid Crystal Dispensing Apparatus) and a method for manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to finely adjust the liquid crystal dropping over the entire display area of the substrate, thereby improving the display screen quality and process time The present invention relates to a liquid crystal dropping device capable of improving a tact time and a liquid crystal dropping method using the same.

Recently, with the development of various portable electronic devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, and notebook computers, there is a growing demand for flat panel display devices for light and thin applications. Such flat panel displays are being actively researched, such as LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), FED (Field Emission Display), VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), but mass production technology, ease of driving means, Liquid crystal display devices (LCDs) are in the spotlight for reasons of implementation.

LCD 1 is a device for displaying information on the screen by using the refractive anisotropy of the liquid crystal, as shown in Figure 1, the lower substrate 5, the upper substrate 3 and the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate It consists of the liquid crystal layer 7 formed between (3). The lower substrate 5 is a driving element array substrate, and although not shown in the figure, a plurality of pixels are formed, and each pixel is a driving element such as a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as TFT). Is formed. In addition, the upper substrate 3 is a color filter substrate, and a color filter layer for realizing color is formed. Pixel electrodes and common electrodes are formed on the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3, respectively, and an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer 7 is coated.

Meanwhile, the lower substrate 5 and the upper substrate 3 are bonded by a sealing material 9, and a liquid crystal layer 7 is formed therebetween to form a driving element formed on the lower substrate 5. By driving the liquid crystal molecules by controlling the amount of light passing through the liquid crystal layer to display the information.

The manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device having the above-described configuration is largely a driving element array substrate process for forming a driving element on the lower substrate 5 and a color filter substrate process for forming a color filter on the upper substrate 3 and a cell. It is divided into processes.

In addition, a process of forming a liquid crystal layer by supplying a liquid crystal in the cell process, typically, injecting a liquid crystal between the array substrate and the color filter substrate through a liquid crystal inlet and encapsulating the liquid crystal inlet to form a liquid crystal layer. A method and an ODF (One Drop Filing) method in which a liquid crystal layer is formed by dropping a liquid crystal on one of the array substrate and the color filter substrate are used.

However, the conventional method of dropping the liquid crystal is impossible to finely control the amount of liquid crystal per dot, and also affects the region in which the liquid crystal is dropped. That is, when the fine adjustment of the total amount of liquid crystal dropping is insufficient, the liquid crystal overflows to contaminate the panel, or the liquid crystal is insufficient so that the liquid crystal is not sufficiently filled in the panel, and the portion where the liquid crystal is initially dropped and the portion where the liquid crystal material is spread out. Luminance difference occurs between them, resulting in spots. As a result, when the two substrates are bonded to each other, the rate at which the liquid crystal material spreads is partially different, and the reaction rate of the liquid crystal material and the alignment film is partially changed, or the surface of the alignment film is damaged due to the flow rate at which the liquid crystal material is spread, and thus the screen quality of the liquid crystal display device can It leads to degradation.

In addition, since the liquid crystal dropping method proceeds in such a manner that the total amount of liquid crystals is sequentially dropped instead of the method in which the total amount of liquid crystals is dropped at a time, there is a problem that the process tack time is increased and the productivity is lowered.

Accordingly, in order to solve the above problems, the first object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal injection apparatus capable of improving the screen quality of the liquid crystal display and improving the process tacking time by finely adjusting and dropping the liquid crystal over the entire display area of the substrate. Is to provide.

The second object of the present invention is to use a liquid crystal injection device that can improve the screen quality of the display and improve the process tack time by finely adjusting the liquid crystal dropping over the entire display area of the substrate using the liquid crystal injection device. It relates to a liquid crystal dropping method.

        In order to achieve the first object, in the liquid crystal dropping apparatus for dropping a liquid crystal in an ODF method, the present invention provides a chamber provided with an arbitrary substrate provided with a liquid crystal dropping mask, and the liquid crystal is dispersed in a uniform fine particle form liquid crystal fine droplets A centrifugal blower for forming a furnace, a blower pipe for ejecting liquid crystal microdroplets mounted in the chamber through the centrifugal blower onto a substrate provided with the liquid crystal dropping mask, and mounted in the chamber, And adjusting means for adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance of the liquid crystal microdroplets, and a CCD camera of a reflection type for measuring the amount of liquid crystal microdroplets dropped from the substrate mounted in the chamber and the dropping process is completed. do.

The centrifugal blower disperses the liquid crystal so as to have a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg to form liquid crystal fine droplets.

The adjusting means uses any one of an air fan and a gas fan.

Nitrogen is used as the gas injected into the gas pan.

The liquid crystal dropping mask may be variable according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate.

It is attached to the lower end of the chamber, and adds a tray for receiving the liquid crystal microdroplets flowed down to the liquid crystal dropping mask on the liquid crystal display.

In order to achieve the second object, the liquid crystal dropping method according to the present invention comprises the steps of providing an arbitrary substrate having a liquid crystal dropping mask inside the chamber of the liquid crystal dropping apparatus described above, and using a centrifugal blower Dispersing into fine particles to form liquid crystal microdroplets; and supplying the liquid crystal microdroplets to the substrate with the liquid crystal dropping mask through a spout tube, and at the same time, Adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance, and using the reflection type CCD camera characterized in that it comprises the step of measuring the amount of liquid crystal droplets dropped on the substrate is completed dropping process.

The centrifugal blower disperses the liquid crystal to have a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg to form liquid crystal microdroplets.

The liquid crystal dropping mask is manufactured to be variable according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate.

        (Example)

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the present invention, the liquid crystal is sprayed once in the form of liquid crystal microdroplets having a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg, thereby dropping the liquid crystal evenly over the entire display area of the substrate, The liquid crystal can be dropped by the amount of the desired liquid crystal.

In addition, the present invention is provided with an adjusting means such as an air fan or a gas fan for adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance of the liquid crystal microdroplets, it is possible to accurately drop the total amount of liquid crystal to be dropped.

2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to the present invention.

In the liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to the present invention, a liquid crystal is dropped by an ODF method, and includes a chamber (11), a centrifugal blower (13), a blower pipe (15), an adjusting means (17), and a reflection type CCD camera. (19).

The chamber 11 is provided with an arbitrary substrate 21 provided with a liquid crystal dropping mask 23 for selectively dropping liquid crystal in the display area of the substrate therein, and on one side, the ejection pipe 15 is provided to provide a liquid crystal dropping. The liquid crystal microdroplets are ejected onto the substrate 21 provided with the mask 23.

The liquid crystal drop mask 23 may vary depending on the size and shape of the display area of the substrate. In addition, the liquid crystal microdroplets 14 are liquid crystals dispersed in the form of uniform fine particles through a centrifugal blower 13 installed outside the chamber 11, having a diameter of 50 to 80 μm and a mass of 6.5 × E-14. It is formed to have -2.7 * E-13 mg.

In addition, the chamber 11 is provided with an adjusting means 17 for adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance of the liquid crystal fine droplets 14 ejected from the ejection pipe 15. Here, the adjusting means 17 is provided one or more at each of the upper end portion and one side portion corresponding to the substrate 21 of the chamber 11. In addition, the adjusting means 17 uses any one of an air fan and a gas fan, and nitrogen is used as the gas injected into the gas fan.

In addition, a reflection type CCD camera 19 for measuring the amount of liquid crystal droplets dropped from the substrate 21 in which the liquid crystal dropping step is completed is mounted in the chamber 11.

Meanwhile, a tray 16 is mounted at the lower end of the chamber 11 to receive the liquid crystal microdroplets flowing down the liquid crystal dropping mask 23 on the substrate 21, and the liquid crystals collected therein can be recycled. .

Looking at the method of injecting the liquid crystal using the liquid crystal injection device according to the present invention having the above configuration as follows.

First, in the liquid crystal dropping apparatus shown in FIG. 2, an arbitrary substrate 21 provided with a liquid crystal dropping mask 23 is placed on the mounting portion 12 inside the chamber 11. In this case, the liquid crystal dropping mask 23 has a liquid crystal dropping region open so that the liquid crystal can be selectively dropped only in a region in which the liquid crystal in the substrate 21 is dropped, and varies according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate 21. It is made to be possible.

Subsequently, the liquid crystal was dispersed in the form of uniform fine particles using the centrifugal blower 13 to form liquid crystal microdroplets having a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg. When the liquid crystal microdroplets are ejected into the tunnel type jet tube 15, the liquid crystal microdroplets 14 are supplied to the liquid crystal display 21 having the liquid crystal dropping mask 23 inside the chamber 11 while drawing a parabola. . In this case, the liquid crystal microdroplets 14 are large and heavy liquid crystal drops first by the T.O.F (Time Of Flight) principle, the liquid crystal droplets of small diameter and light fall later and fly far. Therefore, the length of the ejection pipe 15 to fly the liquid crystal droplets acts as an important factor. Therefore, in the present invention, in order to minimize the length of the tunnel tube 15 to fly the liquid crystal droplets, the control means such as an air fan or a gas fan in the upper portion of the ejection tube 15 and the chamber 11 corresponding to the opposite side. By installing (17), the fan's speed and time are artificially adjusted to freely control the liquid crystal's flight speed and flight distance, and as a result, only liquid crystal droplets of desired size fall on the substrate.

Then, the light is projected onto the area where the liquid crystal is dropped by using the reflection type CCD camera 19, and the amount of light reflected by the liquid crystal is calculated, converted into a current value, and the liquid crystal dropped onto the substrate through the difference. Calculate the amount of.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal fine drops blocked by the liquid crystal dropping mask flows into the tray 16, so that the liquid crystal collected in the tray 16 can be recycled and recycled later.

As described above, in the present invention, by dropping the liquid crystal in the form of liquid crystal microdroplets having a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg, the present invention is 3 to 4 at the time of conventional dropping. Damage to the alignment layer can be prevented as compared with dropping the liquid crystal in mg unit, and the liquid crystal can be dropped evenly over the entire display area of the substrate, thereby minimizing the spreading distance of the liquid crystal and solving the problem of deterioration of the screen quality.

In addition, the present invention is provided with an adjusting means for adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance of the liquid crystal microdroplets to accurately drop the total amount of liquid crystal to be dropped, thereby adjusting the cell gap of the liquid crystal display, the liquid crystal is not dropping or excessive dropping The phenomenon and the liquid crystal mura phenomenon can be prevented.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, instead of dropping the liquid crystal dozens of times according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate, the liquid crystal can be dropped by the desired liquid definition amount by spraying the liquid crystal once in the form of liquid crystal microdroplets. This has the advantage of improving time, thereby improving productivity.

Claims (9)

In the liquid crystal dropping apparatus for dropping liquid crystal by ODF method, A chamber provided with an arbitrary substrate provided with a liquid crystal dropping mask, A centrifugal blower for dispersing the liquid crystal into uniform fine particles to form liquid crystal microdroplets, A ejection tube mounted in the chamber for ejecting liquid crystal microdrops formed through the centrifugal blower onto a substrate provided with the liquid crystal dropping mask; Control means mounted in the chamber to adjust a moving speed and a moving distance of the liquid crystal fine droplets ejected from the ejection pipe; And a reflection type CCD camera mounted in the chamber to measure the amount of liquid crystal droplets dropped from the substrate on which the dropping step is completed. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the centrifugal blower disperses the liquid crystal to have a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg to form liquid crystal microdrops. . The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adjusting means uses any one of an air fan and a gas fan. 4. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 3, wherein nitrogen is used as the gas injected into the gas pan. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus of claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal dropping mask is variable according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate. The liquid crystal dropping apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a tray attached to a lower end of the chamber and configured to receive a liquid crystal microdroplet flowing down into the liquid crystal dropping mask on the liquid crystal display. Providing any substrate provided with a liquid crystal dropping mask in a chamber of the liquid crystal dropping apparatus of claim 1, Dispersing the liquid crystal into uniform fine particles using a centrifugal blower to form liquid crystal microdrops; Supplying the liquid crystal microdroplets to the substrate equipped with the liquid crystal dropping mask through a spray tube and simultaneously adjusting the moving speed and the moving distance of the liquid crystal microdroplets ejected from the spray tube by using a control means; And measuring the amount of the liquid crystal droplets dropped on the substrate on which the dropping step is completed using a reflection type CCD camera. The liquid crystal dropping method according to claim 7, wherein the centrifugal blower disperses the liquid crystal to have a diameter of 50 to 80 µm and a mass of 6.5 x E-14 to 2.7 x E-13 mg to form liquid crystal microdroplets. . The liquid crystal dropping method of claim 7, wherein the liquid crystal dropping mask is manufactured to be variable according to the size and shape of the display area of the substrate.

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