JP2931508B2 - Liquid crystal spacer sprayer - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an apparatus for dispersing spacers in a liquid crystal display panel manufacturing process.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In order to keep the distance between upper and lower electrode substrates at a predetermined value, spacer particles made of silica, alumina, plastic, or the like are scattered on any of the upper and lower electrode substrates and then adhered to the liquid crystal display panel. In order to obtain a stable quality liquid crystal display panel, it is necessary to always supply and spray a certain amount of spacers.

Conventionally, as a method of supplying the spacer, a volume measurement method in which the spacer is packed in a certain recess or groove and measured, or a weight measurement method in which a vibration type feeder or the like is combined with an electronic balance are used.

As shown in FIG. 6 (a), a method of weighing a spacer is to cut out a spacer while weighing the spacer cutting device with an electronic balance, and a value obtained by reducing the weight of the cutting device as a cut spacer amount. As shown in FIG. 6B, there is a method in which a spacer cut out from the spacer cutting device is received by an electronic balance and the weight of the spacer is measured. In both cases (a) and (b), the cutout amount per unit time is used. The vibration feeder is stopped by predicting the timing at which the set cutout amount is cut out while measuring.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 3-17624 discloses that when a spacer supplied from a spacer container to a supply pipe travels in a horizontal direction along a curved portion of the supply pipe of the spacer due to vibration of a feeder body, the spacer is displaced. It is described that the spacer is in a fine powder state while traveling in the horizontal direction even when the spacer enters the supply pipe in an agglomerated state, thereby preventing agglomeration of the spacer.

[0006]

The spacers scattered on the liquid crystal display panel maintain the distance between the upper and lower electrode substrates at a predetermined value, and maintain the thickness of the liquid crystal layer filled between them at a constant value. Works to keep the degree of light and dark display of the display panel constant, and if the number of spacers is too small, the distance between the upper and lower electrode substrates will be too thin, or the uniform distance will not be obtained, resulting in uneven display colors. Etc., a satisfactory display state cannot be obtained.

On the other hand, the liquid crystal is not filled in the area where the spacer is scattered, and the area around the spacer is
Since slight alignment disturbance occurs, when the liquid crystal display panel is operated, the display of the spacer portion is disturbed. Therefore, from the viewpoint of display quality, the number of spacers is preferably as small as possible.

[0008] Usually, the size of the spacer itself is 1 to
Since a liquid crystal display panel as small as about 10 microns is used, if it is a direct-view type liquid crystal display panel, it is not very noticeable to human eyes, but in a liquid crystal display panel used for a projector, even a small display disturbance is enlarged and projected.

Therefore, it is desirable that the number of spacers scattered on the liquid crystal display panel is the minimum amount necessary to keep the thickness of the liquid crystal layer constant.

[0010] On the other hand, in the volume measurement method, which is one of the conventional spacer supply methods, the spacer particles easily adhere to each other due to moisture in the air or static electricity generated by rotating with a squeegee, resulting in poor fluidity. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the filling rate of the recesses to be filled with the spacers varies, and the error is large.

In the weighing method, FIGS. 6 (a) and 6 (b)
In any case, the cut-out spacer is easily aggregated by the adsorption of moisture in the air, or by the friction between the spacer and the vibratory feeder or by the static electricity generated by the friction between the spacers.

Therefore, the cutting accuracy depends on the size of the agglomeration, and the weight may reach from 0.01 mg unit to about 1 mg in some cases.
Therefore, the weighing set value was 3 mg, and the allowable range was ± 0.
In the case of 3 mg, there is a problem that even if the vibration feeder is stopped in anticipation of the timing of reaching 3 mg, if a large agglomeration is cut out, it exceeds the allowable range.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-17624 discloses that the supply amount of the spacer is controlled by the intensity of the vibration of the feeder body and the time of the vibration, but the specific processing operation is not clear. is there.

[0014]

According to the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for spraying a liquid crystal spacer having a spacer cutting means, a spacer conveying means, a spacer dispersing means, a spacer collecting and discarding means, and a gas introducing means, wherein the spacer conveying means includes the spacer dispersing means. A spacer transfer port connected to the spacer means and a spacer recovery port connected to the spacer recovery and disposal means, wherein the spacer spraying means has a spray box, a spray nozzle and a liquid crystal substrate mounting table in the spray box, and the spacer The cutout means has a control computer for controlling the cutout amount of the spacer, and when the control computer makes an error determination of the cutout amount of the spacer, the gas introducing means and the spacer recovery port are joined, and there is no error. In the case, the above gas introduction means An instruction for connecting the pacer transfer port.

[0015]

When the cut-out amount of the spacer is appropriate in the spacer cut-out means, the control computer in the spacer cut-out means issues an instruction to connect the spacer transfer port and the gas introducing means, and the high-pressure gas from the gas introducing means is transmitted. Sends the spacer to the spray box in the spacer spraying means through the spacer transport port, and sprays the liquid crystal on the liquid crystal substrate.

If the cut-out amount of the spacer is inappropriate, the control computer in the spacer cut-out means issues an instruction to connect the spacer recovery port to the gas introducing means, and the high-pressure gas from the gas introducing means is supplied to the spacer. Is fed into the spacer collecting and discarding means through the spacer collecting port.

[0017]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
Spacer cutting device 100 and spacer transport device 1
01. A feeder 1 for cutting a spacer 12 is attached to a vibrator 2 that vibrates the feeder 1, and these are attached to an electronic balance 4. When the control computer 5 sends a cutout signal to the amplifier 6, the amplifier 6 causes the vibrator 2 to vibrate and the spacer 1
2 is cut out from the feeder 1 to the receiving section 7 of the spacer injection device 101. At this time, the amount of the spacer 12 reduced from the feeder 1 is measured by the electronic balance 4, and the measured value is judged by the control computer 5, and the intensity of the vibration is adjusted according to the flow velocity to cut out a predetermined amount. Stop vibration when dropped. The cut-out amount can be set to an arbitrary amount by setting it on the control computer 5.

However, in practice, the amount of the spacer 12 is not always cut out as set, and the spacer 1
2 is cut out as a certain mass, so that the cutout may be cut out more than the set value, or the feeder 1 may be clogged and not cut out to the set value. For such a case, an upper limit value and a lower limit value are set as the set values, and if the values are outside of the set values, an error is programmed in the control computer 5 in advance. The operation at this time will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

Step 1: The calculation start signal port is confirmed, and the weighing operation of the spacer 12 is started. Here, the weight of the spacer 12 on the vibratory feeder 1 is stored, and the upper limit and the lower limit of the reduction amount of the spacer 12 on the feeder 1 are set.

Step 2: The vibration of the feeder 1 is started, and the amount of decrease of the feeder 1 is measured. Here, when the preset lower limit value of the amount of decrease of the spacer 12 is reached, the feeder oscillation is stopped, and the measurement is performed again in a non-vibration state to confirm.

If the spacer 12 has not reached the set lower limit of the decreasing amount of the spacer 12 (step 2 '): if the cutting speed is too fast, the vibration of the feeder 1 is weakened and the cutting speed is slow. If too much, the vibration of the feeder 1 is increased. Then, the amount of decrease on the vibratory feeder 1 is measured again.

Step 3: It is determined whether or not the amount of reduction of the spacer 12 is equal to or less than the set upper limit. If the amount is equal to or larger than the set upper limit, a metering NG (error) signal, that is, a spacer collection command is issued. A weighing completion signal, that is, a spacer spray command is issued.

FIG. 2 shows a state diagram in which the spacer conveying device 101 has performed a spraying operation. Spacer 12 as set
Is cut out, the receiving section 7 advances by the air cylinder 9, and the transport port 8 descends by the air cylinder 10 to be connected. Subsequently, by introducing a high-pressure gas from the gas inlet 11, the spray spacer 13 is
And sprayed on the target liquid crystal substrate 17.

In FIG. 3, if the spacer 12 is cut out or the error occurs because the spacer 12 is not cut out according to the set value while the spacer conveying device 101 performs the collecting or discarding operation, the receiving section 7 is advanced by the air cylinder 9 and the air cylinder 9 is moved forward. At 16, the recovery port 15 moves forward, and then at the air cylinder 10, the recovery port 15 is lowered and connected. Then the gas inlet 11
By introducing high pressure gas from the
Is collected or discarded by the collecting or discarding means 19.

Although the amount of the spacers 12 required for one spacer application differs depending on the type of the liquid crystal display panel and the type of the spacers 12, in the embodiment of the present invention, the amount of the spacers 12 is up and down with respect to the liquid crystal display panel of 300 mm square. The minimum amount of spacer required to keep the spacing between the electrode substrates uniform is
It was about 3 milligrams, but by setting the lower limit of the cut-out amount to 3.0 milligrams and the upper limit to 3.3 milligrams, a stable application amount could be obtained. Further, when an error occurs in the cut-out amount, the spacer 12 is collected or discarded, and then automatically cut out again so that the productivity is not reduced.

[0026]

According to the above-described structure, an arbitrary amount of spacers can be accurately spread on the target liquid crystal substrate, and a liquid crystal display panel with high display quality can be produced. It is possible to prevent the occurrence of defective products caused by an inappropriate number.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a state of a spacer cutting operation.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state of a spacer spraying operation.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a state of a spacer collecting and discarding operation.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a process for adjusting a cutout amount of a spacer.

FIG. 5 is an operation process diagram showing a problem of the conventional volume measurement method.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a conventional weighing method.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Feeder 2 Oscillator 3 Balancer 4 Electronic balance 5 Control computer 6 Amplifier 7 Receiving part 8 Transport port 9, 10, 16 Air cylinder 11 Gas inlet port 12, 13 Spacer 14 Spray nozzle 15 Collection port 17 Target liquid crystal substrate 18 Spray box 19 Collection or disposal means 100 Spacer cut-out device 101 Spacer transport device

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02F 1/1339 500

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. A liquid crystal spacer dispersing device comprising a spacer cutting means, a spacer conveying means, a spacer dispersing means, a spacer collecting and discarding means, and a gas introducing means, wherein the spacer conveying means is a spacer connected to the spacer dispersing means. A spacer collecting port connected to the spacer collecting and discarding means, the spacer spraying means having a scatter box, a scatter nozzle and a liquid crystal substrate mounting table in the scatter box, and the spacer cutting means being a spacer A control computer for controlling the cut-off amount of the spacer, when the control computer determines an error in the spacer cut-out amount, joins the gas introduction means and the spacer recovery port, and when no error is detected, the gas is used. Introduction means and spacer transportation The liquid crystal spacer spraying apparatus characterized by performing an instruction to joining the mouth.