KR100931405B1 - LGP manufacturing device for LCD - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a backlight unit of a liquid crystal display device capable of easily forming a pattern of a desired shape such as a prism pattern and a dot pattern on the light guide plate for a backlight unit. According to the present invention, a light guide plate conveying device for horizontally moving the light guide plate body; A diffusion resin supply unit disposed above the front portion of the movement path of the light guide plate main body and supplying a diffusion layer forming resin material to an upper surface of the light guide plate main body being moved by the light guide plate conveying apparatus to apply a diffusion layer; The prism is provided in contact with the upper portion of the light guide plate body above the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body, and provides the resin material for forming the prism pattern in a predetermined form on the upper surface of the diffusion layer of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. A prism pattern forming part for continuously forming a pattern; Reflective pattern molding is provided below the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body to continuously form the reflection pattern while providing a reflective material for forming a reflective pattern on a lower surface of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. Characterized in that configured to include.

Backlight Unit, Light Guide Plate, Diffusion Layer, Prism Pattern, Forming Belt

Description

LGP manufacturing apparatus for liquid crystal display device {Apparatus for Manufacturing Light Guide Panel for LCD}

The present invention relates to a device for manufacturing a light guide plate for a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly, a backlight of a liquid crystal display device capable of integrally forming a desired shape pattern such as a prism pattern and a dot pattern in the light guide plate for a backlight unit. A light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a unit.

In general, a liquid crystal display (LCD) does not emit light by itself, so a separate light source device is positioned behind the LCD. The back light unit is a light source device that illuminates the entire LCD screen uniformly from the back of the LCD panel that does not have a self-luminous ability to view characters or images on the LCD.

The backlight unit, which is a light source device, must be used for all types of LCD panels such as TN, STN, and TFT, and is transmitted by the brightness (luminance, cd / m 2) and uniformity (uniformity,%) of the light source for emitting light The amount of light and the uniformity of the entire screen are determined.

Such a backlight unit requires a high level of technology to realize thin, light, high brightness, low power, and uniformity.

1 of the accompanying drawings shows a configuration of a backlight unit of a general liquid crystal display device.

Referring to FIG. 1, the backlight unit 1 includes a light guide plate 2 for implementing a surface light source, a light source 3 disposed at one edge of the light guide plate 2, and a rear surface of the light guide plate 2. The reflective sheet 4 disposed on the lower surface of the drawing, the diffusion sheet 5 and the prism sheets 6 which are sequentially stacked on the front surface of the light guide plate 2, and the front surface of the prism sheets 6 are coupled to each other. It consists of a protective sheet 7 which is optionally used.

The light source 3 is configured in a form in which a plurality of light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are circuit-coupled by a flexible printed circuit board (FPCB) or a PCB according to luminance characteristics, and the reflective sheet 4 The light reflects the light incident on the light guide plate 2 and emits the light forward.

The light guide plate 2 functions to emit light incident from the light source 3 on the side to the front light source. In addition, the diffusion sheet 5 diffuses the emitted light by diffuse reflection, and the prism sheets 6 function to collect the diffused emission light to obtain the maximum luminance level.

However, the conventional backlight unit as described above requires a plurality of optical sheets such as a light guide plate and a diffusion sheet, thereby increasing manufacturing cost and causing troublesome assembly.

Recently, the light guide plate has been developed and used to simplify the overall structure of the backlight unit and simplify the assembly process by integrally forming the diffusion layer and the prism pattern on the front surface of the light guide plate and integrally forming the reflective patterns on the rear surface of the light guide plate. .

The conventional light guide plate is manufactured by integrally forming the diffusion layer, the prism pattern, and the reflective patterns during injection molding.

By the way, in the case of injection molding the diffusion layer and the pattern on the light guide plate, any pattern such as a prism pattern and a reflection pattern in the form of dots can be formed on the surface of the light guide plate. There is a problem that it is very difficult to injection molding a large light guide plate.

Of course, using a silkscreen, printing, or inkjet method can easily form a diffusing layer and a reflective pattern even on a large light guide plate 10, the pattern of the silkscreen, printing, inkjet method can be made is limited to the form of dots, Triangular prismatic patterns are practically impossible. Therefore, such silkscreen, printing, inkjet method is not applicable.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a pattern having a desired shape such as a diffusion layer, a prism pattern, and a dot pattern on both sides of the light guide plate even when the panel of the liquid crystal display device is enlarged and the light guide plate is enlarged. The present invention provides a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device that can be easily and quickly formed.

According to the present invention for achieving the above object, a light guide plate conveying device for horizontally moving the light guide plate body; A diffusion resin supply unit disposed above the front portion of the movement path of the light guide plate main body and supplying a diffusion layer forming resin material to an upper surface of the light guide plate main body being moved by the light guide plate conveying apparatus to apply a diffusion layer; The prism is provided in contact with the upper portion of the light guide plate body above the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body, and provides the resin material for forming the prism pattern in a predetermined form on the upper surface of the diffusion layer of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. A prism pattern forming part for continuously forming a pattern; Reflective pattern molding is provided below the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body to continuously form the reflection pattern while providing a reflective material for forming a reflective pattern on a lower surface of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. There is provided a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device comprising a unit.

According to the present invention, since the light guide plate body passes through the diffusion resin supply unit and the diffusion layer is formed integrally, then the prism pattern and the reflection pattern are integrally formed by the molding belt while passing through the prism pattern forming unit and the reflective pattern forming unit, Even if the size is enlarged, a pattern of any desired shape such as a prism pattern or a dot pattern can be easily formed on the surface of the light guide plate, and the manufacturing cost and time can be reduced.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, an embodiment of a light guide plate to be manufactured in the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, the light guide plate 10 of the present invention includes a light guide plate body 11 having a quadrangular plate shape, and a diffusion layer 12 integrally formed on the front surface of the light guide plate body 11. And a prism pattern 13 integrally formed on the front surface of the diffusion layer 12 and reflective patterns 14 having a hemispherical dot shape integrally formed on the rear surface of the light guide plate body 11.

The light guide plate body 11 is made of acrylate or the like.

The diffusion layer 12 and the prism pattern 13 are not formed over the entire area of the light guide plate body 11, but are formed on one side edge of the light guide plate 10, strictly, one edge area adjacent to the side light source of the backlight unit. 12 and the prism pattern 13 are not formed. As such, when the diffusion layer 12 and the prism pattern 13 are not formed in a portion adjacent to the light source, light incident into the interior through one edge of the light guide plate 10 is refracted by the diffusion layer 12 and is not emitted to the outside. This is to minimize the light loss in the portion adjacent to the light source by totally reflected to proceed into the light guide plate (10).

Next, an embodiment of the apparatus for manufacturing the light guide plate 10 of the above-described embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 4.

The light guide plate manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention shown in FIG. 4 is provided on a light guide plate conveying apparatus (not shown) for horizontally moving the light guide plate body 11 in one direction, and above the front portion of the movement path of the light guide plate body 11. And a diffusion resin supply unit 110 for supplying a resin material for forming a diffusion layer on the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11, which is advanced, and a rear side of the movement path of the light guide plate body 11. The prism pattern forming unit 120 and the reflective pattern forming unit 130 forming the prism pattern 13 and the dot-shaped reflective patterns 14 on the lower surface thereof, respectively.

Here, the prism pattern forming unit 120 and the reflective pattern forming unit 130 are disposed to face each other up and down. In this configuration, the light guide plate 11 may pass between the prism pattern forming unit 120 and the reflective pattern forming unit 130, and at the same time, the prism pattern 13 and the reflective pattern 14 may be formed, thereby further increasing manufacturing time. There is an advantage that can be shortened.

Although not shown in the drawings, the light guide plate conveying apparatus for horizontally moving the light guide plate main body 11 may be configured by using a conveying apparatus such as a conveyor, for example.

The diffusion resin supply unit 110 may include a nozzle 111 for supplying a diffusion resin to the lower side and a guide plate for guiding the diffusion resin R1 discharged from the nozzle 111 to the light guide plate main body 11. 112). The lower end of the guide plate 112 is spaced apart from the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 by a distance equal to a thickness of the diffusion layer 12 (see FIG. 2) to be made.

In addition, the prism pattern forming part 120 is wound on the three rollers 121 installed above the movement path of the light guide plate body 11 and the rollers 121 in a state in which tension is applied to the rollers 121 to rotate the rollers 121. The prism pattern molding belt 122 which rotates in one direction (counterclockwise direction on the drawing) and the resin material for the prism pattern which supplies the resin material R2 for forming the prism pattern from the upper side of the prism pattern molding belt 122. It is composed of a feeder 123 and a UV curing device 125 to maintain a prism pattern form by irradiating ultraviolet rays to the resin material applied on the light guide plate body (11).

The rollers 121 are arranged in a triangular composition, and any one of the rollers 121 is connected to the motor to rotate.

In addition, the prism pattern forming belt 122 has a lower portion in contact with an upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 and has a width substantially the same as that of the light guide plate body 11. In addition, molding patterns 122a corresponding to the prism patterns 13 to be formed on the light guide plate body 11 are formed on the outer surface of the prism pattern molding belt 122. Here, the shaping pattern 122a of the prism pattern shaping belt 122 may be formed over the entire length of the prism pattern shaping belt 122, but as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 at the end of the light guide plate 10. When the free space portion E without the diffusion layer 12 and the prism pattern 13 is to be provided, the molding pattern may be formed only as long as the length corresponding to the region of the prism pattern 13 to be formed in the light guide plate 10. For convenience, an area of the outer surface of the prism pattern molding belt 122 without the molding pattern 122a will be described as a 'molding pattern non-forming region 122b'.

Similarly to the prism pattern forming unit 120, the reflective pattern forming unit 130 is also wound with three rollers 131 arranged in a triangular composition, and the roller 131 is wound with tension applied to the roller 131. Reflective pattern molding belt 132 that rotates in one direction (clockwise in the drawing) and a reflective pattern resin material R3 to be squeezed on the outer surface of the reflective pattern molding belt 132 is accommodated. The supply container 133 and the UV curing apparatus 134 for irradiating ultraviolet rays to the resin material applied on the light guide plate main body 11 to maintain the reflection pattern shape.

The upper portion of the reflective pattern forming belt 132 is disposed to be in contact with the lower surface of the light guide plate body 11, and the width thereof is substantially the same as the width of the light guide plate body 11. In addition, hemispherical reflective pattern forming grooves 132a corresponding to the reflective pattern 14 to be formed in the light guide plate body 11 are formed on the outer surface of the reflective pattern forming belt 132 at predetermined intervals.

Referring to the process of manufacturing the light guide plate using the light guide plate manufacturing apparatus configured as described above in detail as follows.

First, a light guide plate body 11 having a flat plate shape without a pattern formed by extrusion molding or the like is prepared and prepared, and then the light guide plate body 11 is horizontally moved in one direction by using a light guide plate conveyer (not shown). .

And, as shown in Figure 5a, through the diffusion resin supply unit 110 supplies a resin for forming a diffusion layer on the upper surface of the light guide plate main body 11 in motion. At this time, the supplied resin material flows down the upper surface of the light guide plate main body 11 along the guide plate 112 of the diffusion resin supply unit 110, and is formed by the gap between the light guide plate main body 11 and the guide plate 112. The upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 is applied to a predetermined thickness to form a diffusion layer 12. The diffusion layer 12 coated on the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 is preferably UV cured by a UV curing apparatus not shown in the drawing.

Here, the supply of the resin to the light guide plate main body 11 is stopped by leaving a certain distance from one end of the light guide plate main body 11, so that the free space portion in which the diffusion layer 12 is not formed at one edge of the light guide plate main body 11 ( E) is formed.

As illustrated in FIGS. 5B and 5C, the light guide plate body 11 in which the diffusion layer 12 is integrally formed by passing through the diffusion resin supply unit 110 may include a prism pattern forming unit 120 and a reflective pattern forming unit 130. Proceed between). At this time, in the prism pattern forming unit 120, the prism pattern forming belt 122 is rotated counterclockwise in the drawing by the rotation of the rollers 121, and at the same time, the prism pattern is formed from the resin supplier 123 for the prism pattern. The resin material for forming the prism pattern is supplied to the outer surface of the belt 122 to be crushed on the outer surface of the prism pattern forming belt 122.

Therefore, when the light guide plate main body 11 enters the lower portion of the prism pattern forming unit 120, the diffusion layer on the upper surface of the light guide plate main body 11 from a point where the prism pattern forming belt 122 and the light guide plate main body 11 contact each other. Resin is delivered to (12) and crushed. At this time, the resin material squeezed onto the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 is formed into a prism pattern 13 having a desired triangular bar shape by the pattern shape of the prism pattern forming belt 122, and the UV curing apparatus 125 By ultraviolet curing, it is integrally formed on the upper surface of the diffusion layer 12 of the light guide plate body 11.

Here, the resin material for forming the prism pattern supplied from the prism pattern resin supplier 123 is pre-polymerized so as not to collapse and deform at the moment of contact with the surface of the light guide plate main body 11, and thus has a somewhat high viscosity. It is preferable to have.

In this embodiment, the length of the molding region of the prism pattern molding belt 122 is equal to the length of the region where the diffusion layer 12 of the light guide plate body 11 is formed. Therefore, when one prism of the prism pattern shaping belt 122 is formed, the shaping region of the prism pattern shaping belt 122 corresponds to the diffusion layer 12 of the light guide plate body 11 so that the prism from one end of the diffusion layer 12 to the other end thereof. The pattern 13 is molded, and the shaping pattern non-molding region 122b of the prism pattern forming belt 122 accurately corresponds to the portion without the diffusion layer 12 of the light guide plate body 11, that is, the free space portion E. It is preferable to control so that the prism pattern 13 may not be formed in this part. Of course, it is not necessary to form the shaping pattern non-molding region 122b on the prism pattern shaping belt 122 unless the free space portion is provided in the light guide plate 10.

Meanwhile, the prism pattern is formed on the upper surface of the diffusion layer 12 of the light guide plate body 11 by the prism pattern molding part 120, and the reflective pattern molding part 130 is similarly formed on the bottom surface of the light guide plate body 11. As a result, the reflective patterns 14 are integrally formed.

That is, in the reflective pattern forming unit 130, the reflective pattern forming belt 132 is rotated in the clockwise direction by the rotation of the roller 131, the lower end portion of the rotating reflective pattern forming belt 132 is reflected While passing through the resin contained in the patterned resin supply container 133, the resin is immersed. At this time, the resin material does not fall on the outer surface of the reflective pattern forming belt 132, but does not fall off, but is squeezed on the light guide plate body 11 and then prepolymerized so that the shape is maintained as it is. It is preferable to have.

The resin material crushed on the outer surface of the reflective pattern forming belt 132 is transferred to and attached to the lower surface of the light guide plate body 11, and then UV-cured by the UV curing apparatus 134 to be integrally formed on the light guide plate body 11. do.

Through the same process as described above, the diffusion layer 12 and the prism pattern 13 are sequentially formed on the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11, and the reflective pattern 14 is formed on the lower surface of the light guide plate body 11 to form the light guide plate 10. ) Is completed.

Meanwhile, in the above-described embodiment, the entire length of the prism pattern molding belt 122 is the same as the entire length of the light guide plate 10. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the entire length of the prism pattern molding belt 122 is the light guide plate 10. ) May be formed of n times the length.

According to such a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus and method of the present invention. Since the resin layer is provided on the upper surface of the light guide plate body 11 while continuously advancing the light guide plate body 11, the diffusion layer 12, the prism pattern 13, and the reflective pattern 14 can be continuously formed integrally. The process is simplified and the speed can be increased to significantly increase productivity.

In addition, there is an advantage that it is easy to manufacture not only a small but also a large light guide plate.

1 is an exploded perspective view showing a configuration of a backlight unit of a general liquid crystal display device

Figure 2 is a perspective view schematically showing an embodiment of a light guide plate for a liquid crystal display device to be molded by the light guide plate manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention

3 is a longitudinal cross-sectional view of a part of the light guide plate of FIG. 2;

4 is a diagram schematically showing the configuration of an embodiment of a light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display according to the present invention;

5A to 5B are diagrams sequentially showing operations of the light guide plate manufacturing apparatus of FIG. 4.

Explanation of symbols on the main parts of the drawings

Claims (9)

A light guide plate conveying apparatus for horizontally moving the light guide plate body; A diffusion resin supply unit disposed above the front portion of the movement path of the light guide plate main body and supplying a diffusion layer forming resin material to an upper surface of the light guide plate main body being moved by the light guide plate conveying apparatus to apply a diffusion layer; The prism is provided in contact with the upper portion of the light guide plate body above the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body, and provides the resin material for forming the prism pattern in a predetermined form on the upper surface of the diffusion layer of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. A prism pattern forming part for continuously forming a pattern; Reflective pattern molding is provided below the rear part of the movement path of the light guide plate body to continuously form the reflection pattern while providing a reflective material for forming a reflective pattern on a lower surface of the light guide plate body which is advanced by the light guide plate conveying apparatus. It comprises a part; The prism pattern forming unit may include a plurality of rollers installed above the movement path of the light guide plate main body and a prism pattern which is wound in a state in which tension is applied to the rollers and rotates in one direction by the rotation of the rollers to be molded on the outer surface thereof. And a prism pattern molding belt formed with forming patterns to be connected to an upper portion of the light guide plate body, and a resin supplier for a prism pattern for supplying a resin material for forming a prism pattern on the upper side of the prism pattern molding belt. A light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device, characterized in that the resin material contained in the molding pattern of the belt is transferred to and attached to the upper surface of the diffusion layer. delete The light guide plate of claim 1, wherein the prism pattern molding part further comprises a UV curing device configured to maintain a prism pattern shape by irradiating UV light onto a resin material applied on the light guide plate body. Device. The light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device according to claim 1, wherein the length of the prism pattern forming belt is the same as that of the light guide plate body. The light emitting layer of claim 1 or 4, wherein a diffusion layer is applied to an entire surface of the light guide plate main body except for one edge, so that a free space portion having no diffusion layer is formed at one edge of the light guide plate main body; And a molding pattern non-forming region having a size corresponding to the free space of the main body of the light guide plate on an outer surface of the prism pattern molding belt. The light guide plate manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the prism pattern forming unit and the reflective pattern forming unit are disposed to face each other up and down. The method of claim 1, wherein the reflective pattern forming unit is wound on a plurality of rollers installed below the movement path of the light guide plate body and the rollers are applied in a state in which tension is applied to the rollers to rotate in one direction by rotation of the rollers. A reflective pattern molding belt formed with corresponding reflective patterns and connected to a lower part of the light guide plate main body, and a reflective pattern resin supply container containing a reflective pattern resin material to be crushed on an outer surface of the reflective pattern molding belt. Light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device comprising a. The diffusion resin supply unit of claim 1, wherein the diffusion resin supply unit guides the nozzle for supplying the resin layer for forming the diffusion layer to the lower side, and the diffusion resin discharged from the nozzle to the lower light guide plate main body, the lower end of which is connected to the upper surface of the light guide plate main body. Light guide plate manufacturing apparatus for a liquid crystal display device comprising a guide plate spaced apart from a certain distance. The light guide plate manufacturing apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resins are supplied to the light guide plate body in a pre-polymerized state.

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