JP2001117105A - Manufacturing method of liquid crystal display device - Google Patents

Abstract

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce the time required for applying a liquid crystal member when sealing a liquid crystal member between an array substrate and a counter substrate which are arranged to face each other, and to provide a liquid crystal in an intermediate portion and a corner portion. Provided is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device in which display quality is improved due to lack of members or generation of bubbles. SOLUTION: Liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are dropped on a large number of points on respective planes of an array substrate and a counter substrate, and the array substrate and the counter substrate are bonded and hardened via a seal material 21;
The display quality is improved by sealing the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 between the array substrate and the opposing substrate.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device using a thin film transistor as a switching element.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, liquid crystal display devices take advantage of their features such as thinness, light weight, and low power consumption, and personal OA devices such as personal computer and personal computer, and the like.
Alternatively, it is widely used as a display device of a television receiver. Among them, an active matrix type liquid crystal display device in which a thin film transistor is integrally provided as a switching element for each pixel has become the mainstream at present because there is no crosstalk between adjacent pixels and a good display image can be realized. ing.

In this active matrix type liquid crystal display device, transparent pixel electrodes connected to a plurality of thin film transistors (TFTs) are arranged in a matrix on a substrate generally made of glass material, and an alignment film is further formed thereon. And an array substrate formed with Further, a transparent electrode and an alignment film are sequentially formed on a counter substrate made of a glass material which is disposed to face the array substrate, and in the case of color display,
Three primary color RGB color filters are provided. The array substrate and the opposing substrate are opposed to each other with a predetermined gap therebetween, and are bonded together via a sealing agent. A liquid crystal member is injected into the gap from an injection port, and the injection port is further sealed with a sealant. The thickness of the liquid crystal member is defined by a spacer interposed between the array substrate and the counter substrate.

A retardation plate or a polarizing plate is attached to the outer surface side of the array substrate and the counter substrate, and a backlight is disposed outside the polarizing plate of the array substrate to form a transmission type liquid crystal display device. Be composed. If a polarizing plate is replaced by a light reflecting film instead of the backlight, a reflection type liquid crystal display device can be constructed.

Incidentally, such a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device is generally manufactured through the following steps.
That is, on the main surface of a large-sized electrode substrate on which a plurality of array substrates or opposing substrates are imposed, a seal corresponding to each individual substrate is provided.
A liquid material is applied in a frame shape and in a frame shape by cutting out a portion of a liquid crystal injection port. A spacer material is sprayed on the main surface of the other large-size substrate on which the seal material is not applied. Then, the two substrates are opposed to each other and aligned, and then bonded, and the sealing material is cured to be bonded and fixed via a predetermined gap. Thereafter, the substrate is divided into individual panel forms, and a liquid crystal member is injected into each individual panel from a liquid crystal injection port by a vacuum injection method. Is composed.

In this method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, the liquid crystal member must be injected under a vacuum, and a large amount of time is required for an evacuation process and the like. Had been impaired. As a method of solving this, for example, a material that cures only by irradiating ultraviolet rays to the seal material is used, and a liquid crystal member is dropped on one of the substrates in advance, and then the substrates are opposed to each other. A method is also being developed in which the liquid crystal material is cured, the array substrate and the opposite substrate are bonded, and the liquid crystal member is sealed between the two substrates, thereby omitting the liquid crystal injection step in a vacuum.

[0007]

The drop-injection method, in which a liquid crystal member is dropped on a substrate in advance and then the two substrates are bonded together, has many advantages in terms of productivity as compared with the vacuum injection method. It can be said that this is a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device having a surface, but it takes a relatively long time for the applied liquid crystal member to spread. Further, at present, the residual of bubbles has not been sufficiently eliminated.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and provides a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device capable of achieving high productivity without lowering the manufacturing yield. To be.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided an array substrate in which thin film transistor elements are arranged in a matrix on one plane, a counter substrate disposed opposite to the array substrate, and the array substrate and the counter substrate. And a liquid crystal member sealed between the counter substrate and the array substrate. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device, comprising: The liquid crystal display device is characterized in that the substrate surface is divided into a plurality of blocks, a liquid crystal member is dropped on each of the blocks, and the array substrate and the opposing substrate are adhered to each other with a sealing material. It is a manufacturing method.

The liquid crystal member is dropped at different positions on the array substrate and the opposing substrate, respectively, in the block of the array substrate and the opposing substrate.

Further, the liquid crystal member is dropped at a position where the drop position of the array substrate and the counter substrate is shifted by a half pitch of the divided block.

Still further, the liquid crystal member is dropped on the central portion of the block on the one substrate side, and the liquid crystal member is separated from the central portion of the block of the one substrate on the block on the other substrate side. It is characterized in that it is dropped at a position shifted by 1/2 pitch.

[0013]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a method of manufacturing a light-transmitting active matrix type liquid crystal display device to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
On one surface of a substrate 11 having a size of 00 × 300 × 0.7 mm, transparent pixel electrodes 12 made of indium tin oxide (ITO) or the like are arranged in a matrix.
An array substrate is formed by providing a TFT element 13 connected to the pixel electrode 12 and a drive line 14 connected to the TFT element and supplying a scanning signal or a video signal. An alignment film 15 made of polyimide or the like is further provided on the upper surfaces of the TFT elements 13, the electrodes 12, the drive lines 14, and the like.

A counter substrate facing the array substrate is a substrate 16 also formed of glass material and having a size of 300.times.300.times.0.7 mm, and a planar surface of the substrate 16 facing the array substrate. A transparent electrode 17 made of ITO or the like, a three primary color filter 18 made of an acrylic material, and a black mask 19 for normally blocking light are provided. This transparent electrode 1
7 further has an alignment film 2 made of polyimide.
0 is provided. For example, after applying a polyimide solution to each of the substrates 11 and 16, the alignment films 20 and 15 are subjected to a heat treatment at about 250 ° C. for 30 minutes to have a thickness of 1 after drying.
It can be formed by rubbing after cooling.

An ultraviolet-curable seal material 21 made of an acrylic resin is applied to one of the substrates 11 and 16, for example, a peripheral portion on the main surface of the substrate 11 by a syringe. Further, on one or both of the opposing surfaces of the substrate 16, spacer materials 22 for defining the interval between the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are dispersed so as to be about 200 pieces / mm ² . This spacer can be formed integrally with one substrate.

Next, the opposing main surfaces of the array substrate and the opposing substrate are divided into blocks at regular intervals so as to have a predetermined equal area. The blocks divided into the respective substrates are divided into, for example, 144 blocks, and the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are dropped into the blocks using a dispenser or the like. For example, on the array substrate side, 1.55 μl of the liquid crystal member 23 is dropped at the center of each block. On the other opposing substrate side, 1.55 μl of the liquid crystal member 24 was similarly applied to each block.
The liquid crystal member 2 on the array substrate side.
2 perpendicular to the drop position of 3 and １ ／ pitch of the block
Drops at positions shifted in the directions.

The array substrate on which the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are mounted and the opposing substrate are placed in, for example, a vacuum chamber.
In this case, the sealing material 21 extending between the two substrates 11 and 16 is irradiated with, for example, 2000 mj of ultraviolet rays while the two substrates 11 and 16 are overlapped and pressurized while regulating the position thereof. The material 21 is cured so that the two substrates 11 and 16 are bonded, and the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are sealed. Then, a polarizing plate 2 is placed on the outer surfaces of the array substrate and the counter substrate.
The liquid crystal display device is manufactured by arranging 5, 26.

By manufacturing the liquid crystal display device in this manner, the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are dispersed and applied to both the array substrate and the counter substrate in substantially equal amounts, so that a large amount of the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are formed at one time. Since the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are applied in parallel to both substrates, the time required for application can be shortened as a result as compared with the conventional method of applying. Further, the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are formed in the divided block of the array substrate and the counter substrate, and the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 applied to the substrates 11 and 16 are mixed with each other while the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are mixed. Since the liquid crystal is spread through the inside, the liquid crystal display device can be uniformly spread in a short time to every corner of the divided portion, so that the generation of bubbles is sufficiently suppressed and a liquid crystal display device with high display quality can be obtained.

Further, according to this embodiment, the liquid crystal member 2
The positions where 3, 24 are applied are on the array substrate side.
The liquid crystal member 2 is applied to the central portion of each block and is applied on the opposite substrate side so as to be shifted from the central portion.
3, 24 can be extended in a short time and reliably. Particularly good results could be obtained when the coating position on the counter substrate side was shifted by a half pitch of the block pitch.

In the description of the above embodiment, the case where the liquid crystal member 23 is dropped at the center of the block on the array substrate side and dropped at a position shifted by 1/2 pitch on the opposite substrate side has been described. The liquid crystal member 24 may be dropped at the center of the block on the counter substrate side by inverting the position, and the drop position on the array substrate side may be shifted by ピ ッ チ pitch. Further, although the division of the blocks is described as if they are drawn on the substrates 11 and 16, the case where the blocks are divided by virtual lines that are not actually drawn is naturally included. These are automatically set by adjusting the pitches of the coating machines 23 and 24, that is, the dispenser nozzle device and the ink jet device.

In the above-described embodiment, substantially the same amount of the liquid crystal member is dropped on the pair of substrates. However, the ratio may be larger in one of the substrates than in the other. Further, the position of the liquid crystal member to be dropped is not necessarily required to be uniform in a plane, but is determined by the balance with the amount of the liquid crystal dropped. However, in order to maintain the uniformity of the amount at the time of dropping, it is desirable to drop at equal intervals. Various other applications and modifications are conceivable, but it is obvious that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment.

[0022]

According to the present invention, the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are applied to both the array substrate and the opposing substrate, and the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 are applied to the array substrate and the opposing substrate using the sealing material 21. When sealing is performed, the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 can be spread over the entire area surrounded by the seal material 21 by extending to a predetermined area. Problems such as shortage of liquid crystal members 23 and 24 and generation of bubbles can be prevented, and a liquid crystal display device with excellent display quality can be provided.

By displacing the positions of the liquid crystal members 23 and 24 with each other, this effect can be further enhanced, and when the liquid crystal members 23 (24) are dropped onto one of the substrates 11 (16). Is the central portion of the block, and the liquid crystal member 24 (2) is placed on the other substrate 16 (11) side.
The position where 3) is dropped is set to the one substrate 11 (16).
This effect can be further improved by setting the position to be shifted from the dropping position by １ ／ pitch of the block section.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory view schematically showing a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11: Substrate 13: Thin film transistor (TFT) element 16: Substrate 21: Seal material 23, 24: Liquid crystal member

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An array substrate in which thin film transistor elements are arranged in a matrix on one plane, a counter substrate disposed to face the array substrate, and the array substrate and the counter substrate bonded with a predetermined gap therebetween. In a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising a seal material to be formed and a liquid crystal member sealed between the counter substrate and the array substrate, the opposing substrate surfaces of the array substrate and the counter substrate are formed by a plurality of blocks. A liquid crystal member is dropped on each of the blocks, and the array substrate and the opposing substrate are opposed to each other and adhered with a sealing material. 2. The liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal member is dropped at different positions on the array substrate and the opposing substrate, respectively, in the blocks of the array substrate and the opposing substrate. Method. 3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal member drops a drop position of the array substrate and the counter substrate at a position shifted by a half pitch of the divided block. A method for manufacturing a display device. 4. The liquid crystal member is dropped on a center portion of a block on the one substrate side, and is dropped 1 / from a block center portion of the one substrate on the other substrate side block.
4. The method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal is dropped at a position shifted by two pitches.