JP2002318545A - Display panel manufacturing method and manufacturing apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To remove attached substances by washing in the same equipment as the equipment for performing chemical etching to make display panels thinner,
Prevent contamination of transport carriers and other manufacturing process equipment. SOLUTION: A display panel manufacturing apparatus uses a substrate having a predetermined thickness to form a display panel 1 and then removes a predetermined amount of the surface of the substrate to reduce the thickness. Is immersed in a chemical solution and a chemical treatment removes a certain amount of the surface of the substrate by a chemical reaction to reduce the thickness of the substrate; A housing 0 for housing the chemical processing unit CE and the adhering substance removing unit PR in the work space while being isolated from the outside, and a display panel 1 in the work space for the chemical processing unit CE.
And a transporting unit 9 for transferring to the attached substance removing unit PR.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a display panel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a technique for reducing the thickness and weight of a flat display panel using a glass substrate represented by a liquid crystal display or the like.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Recently, demands for display panels such as liquid crystal displays for mobile applications have been increasing, and demands for thinner and lighter display panels have been increasing. In a display panel, a glass substrate occupies a large weight in terms of thickness and weight. Therefore, in order to reduce the thickness and weight of the display panel, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the glass substrate. When focusing on a large liquid crystal display, the thickness of the glass substrate has recently been 1.1 to 0.7 m.
m. In this case, it is sufficient to simply reduce the thickness of the glass substrate and put it into the assembling process, and no major change in the production line was required. Regarding the substrate size, it is considered that a 0.7 mm thick substrate can support a display panel having a diagonal dimension of 1 m.

However, there is an increasing demand for thinner substrates for mobile applications. The target of the substrate thickness in the next stage is assumed to be 0.5 mm. When the glass substrate is thinned to 0.5 mm, the deflection increases. For example, when a glass substrate having a size of 600 mm × 700 mm is considered, it is impossible to cope with the current production technology and transport technology. Therefore, the size of the substrate is 400
It is conceivable to reconstruct the production line by reducing the size to mm × 500 mm. However, when the size of the substrate is reduced, the number of liquid crystal panels to be taken out as a final product per one sheet is reduced, so that productivity is greatly reduced. There is also an attempt to reduce the thickness of the display panel by assembling the display panel once while keeping the substrate thick, and then mechanically polishing the surface of the glass substrate. However, in this mechanical polishing method, after assembling a large-sized substrate, cutting the substrate into a plurality of panels, and then performing mechanical polishing for each panel, the productivity also decreases.

[0004]

In order to assemble a liquid crystal display panel, there has been proposed a method of attaching a pair of glass substrates and then thinning the glass substrate by chemical etching. In this case, for example, hydrofluoric acid (HF) is used as an etchant. However, H
In glass etching using F, unnecessary substances generated by a chemical reaction adhere to the display panel. The main component of the glass substrate is SiO ₂ , but Al, B, S
r, Ca, etc. are added. These additional elements combine with fluorine contained in hydrofluoric acid to form a white adhered substance. For example, Al and F combine to form a white deposit of AlF ₃ .

When a glass substrate is etched with hydrofluoric acid,
A few minutes after the etching, a white powdery adhered substance generated by the reaction with the etching solution remains around the substrate. The reaction product adheres to a robot, a carrier or a conveyor for transporting a glass substrate, or a manufacturing facility in the next step or later, and causes contamination. For this reason, it is necessary to frequently wash the related equipment, the carrier, and the manufacturing equipment after the next step, and there is a problem that the number of steps increases. Further, if the reaction product in the form of white powder becomes dust and drifts in the air, there is a possibility that a problem of environmental pollution may occur.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In view of the above-mentioned problems in the prior art, the present invention cleans and removes adhering substances in the same equipment as the equipment for performing chemical etching, and provides equipment such as a carrier for transportation and other manufacturing processes. The purpose is to prevent contamination of The following measures have been taken to achieve this objective. That is, in the present invention, the display panel is a panel forming step of forming the display panel using a substrate having a predetermined thickness, and the display panel is immersed in a chemical solution in a working space isolated from the outside to perform a chemical reaction. And a process for removing a certain amount of the surface of the substrate to reduce the thickness by removing a certain amount of the surface of the substrate from the display panel in the work space. . Preferably, in the chemical treatment step, a plurality of display panels are collectively immersed in a chemical solution to simultaneously reduce the thickness of each display panel. Further, in the adhering substance removing step, the adhering substance is removed by ultrasonic cleaning using water. Alternatively, the adhering substance removing step removes the adhering substance by jet cleaning using pressurized water. Alternatively, in the attached substance removing step, the attached substance is removed by brush cleaning using water. Alternatively, in the adhering substance removing step, the adhering substance is removed by immersing the display panel in water and performing bubble cleaning using gas bubbles.

Further, the present invention is an apparatus for manufacturing a display panel in which a display panel is manufactured using a substrate having a predetermined thickness, and then the surface of the substrate is removed by a fixed amount to reduce the thickness. A chemical treatment section for immersing the display panel in a chemical solution and removing a certain amount of the surface of the substrate by a chemical reaction to reduce the thickness; And a housing for accommodating the chemical processing section and the adhering substance removing section from the outside in a working space, and transferring the display panel from the chemical processing section to the adhering substance removing section in the working space. And a transfer unit that performs the transfer.

According to the present invention, the adhered substance is removed from the substrate by washing in the same equipment as that for performing the chemical etching. For this reason, it is possible to prevent contamination of the transport carrier, the belt conveyor, and the manufacturing facilities in the next and subsequent steps. Therefore, related equipment, transport carriers,
Cleaning of a belt conveyor or the like is not required, and man-hours can be reduced, and a safe and clean working environment can be constructed.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic view showing a method and an apparatus for manufacturing a display panel according to the present invention. (A)
Represents a schematic plan view of the manufacturing apparatus, and FIG. 4B shows a side view. As shown in the drawing, the present manufacturing apparatus is for manufacturing a display panel 1 using a substrate having a predetermined thickness, and then removing a predetermined amount of the surface of the substrate to reduce the thickness. The display panel produced in the previous process is mounted on the transport carrier 4 and carried into the present manufacturing apparatus, and is taken in by the transport robot 5. This manufacturing apparatus basically includes a chemical treatment section CE and an adhering substance removal section P
R, a housing 0, and a transport unit. The chemical processing unit CE immerses the panel 1 reloaded from the transport carrier 4 to the in-process carrier (cassette) 6 in a chemical solution, and removes a certain amount of the surface of the substrate by a chemical reaction to reduce the thickness. The attached substance removing unit PR removes the attached substance generated by the chemical reaction from the display panel 1. Housing 0
Separates the chemical processing unit CE and the attached substance removing unit PR from the outside and stores them in the work space. Thereby, the attached substance is confined in the housing 0 and is not released to the outside. The transfer unit includes a transfer robot 5, a transfer arm 9, a substrate unloading robot 70, and the like, and transfers the display panel 1 from the chemical processing unit CE to the attached substance removing unit PR in a work space surrounded by the housing 0.

The operation of the present manufacturing apparatus will be described in detail with reference to FIG. Display panel 1 made in the previous process
Is once stored in the transport carrier 4 and transported to the next manufacturing apparatus (etching apparatus) as the next step. In the etching apparatus, the transport carrier 4 is placed on the carrier station, and the display panel is transferred to the in-process carrier (cassette) 6 one by one by the transport robot 5. The cassette 6 is made of, for example, Teflon (registered trademark) and has chemical resistance. For example, about 10 to 20 display panels 1 are stored in the cassette 6. The cassette 6 is turned by the buffer 30 so that the display panel is in the vertical direction. Thereafter, the transfer arm 9 immerses the entire cassette 6 in the etch bath 10. The etch tank 10 is filled with hydrofluoric acid whose concentration has been adjusted to about 10 to 20% in advance. The display panel 1 is immersed in the etch bath 10 for a preset time to etch away the surface of the glass substrate.

The display panel 1 after the etching is cleaned in a cleaning tank 40 filled with pure water. Thus, the hydrofluoric acid attached to the display panel is replaced with pure water. After the replacement with pure water, the display panel is immersed in a transport tank 50 filled with warm water. Here, it is pulled out from the warm water and dried. At this stage, the hydrofluoric acid has been almost completely removed, but white powdery reaction products have adhered along the edges of each display panel. This adhered substance does not easily fall off in the above-described cleaning treatment, but remains on the substrate as it is.

Therefore, the display panel is transported together with the cassette 6 from the chemical processing section CE to the attached substance removing section PR. The display panel of the cassette 6 is changed from the vertical position to the horizontal position by the direction changer 60. Here, the display panels are taken out of the cassette 6 one by one by the substrate take-out robot 70 and sent to the station where the washing nozzle 80 is installed. This cleaning station is provided with four cleaning nozzles 80 corresponding to the four sides of the display panel 1 placed horizontally, and applies a physical force to forcibly remove adhered substances from the periphery of the display panel. are doing. For example, the reaction products near the periphery of the substrate are removed by cleaning using an ultrasonic cleaning nozzle 80 using pure water or water. The ultrasonic cleaning nozzle 80 is for irradiating the pressurized water flow to which the ultrasonic wave is applied directly to the periphery of the display panel to physically remove the adhered substance. The display panel after the cleaning is dried by the air knife 90 and then placed on the buffer 30a.
From the transport carrier 4. Thereafter, the processed display panel is sent out of the housing 0 to the outside. still,
The cleaning nozzle 80 may clean and remove reaction products in the vicinity of the substrate using a jet nozzle that pumps pure water or water. Alternatively, the cleaning nozzle 80 may wash and remove reaction products near the periphery of the substrate using a brush while showering pure water or water. Alternatively, the cleaning nozzle 80 may immerse the substrate in pure water or water and bubble out an inert gas such as air or nitrogen from the nozzle into the water to wash and remove the reaction products in the vicinity of the substrate. As described above, according to this method, even if the reaction product generated after etching adheres to the glass substrate, the cassette 6, the transfer robot 5, and the transfer carrier 4 in the process can be cleaned and removed in the etching apparatus. The substrate can be made thinner without contaminating the substrate. Since the carrier 4 and the display panel are sent to the next step and subsequent steps without being contaminated by the attached substance, contamination of the entire manufacturing equipment can be prevented.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional manufacturing apparatus. For easy understanding, parts corresponding to those of the manufacturing apparatus of the present invention shown in FIG. 1 are denoted by corresponding reference numerals. As shown in the figure, the substrate assembled on the display panel in the previous process is once stored in the transport carrier 4 and transported to the etching device in the next process. In the etching apparatus, the transport carrier 4 is placed on the carrier station, and the transport robot 5 transfers the substrates one by one to the cassette 6. For example, about 10 to 20 substrates are stored in one cassette 6. The direction of the cassette 6 is changed by the buffer 30 so that the substrate is in the vertical direction, and the cassette 6 is immersed in the etch tank 10 together with the cassette 6 by the transfer arm 9. In the etch tank 10, the concentration is 10-2.
A hydrofluoric acid adjusted to about 0% is filled in advance, and the substrate is immersed for a set time to reduce the thickness by reactive etching. The substrate after the etching is washed in a washing tank 40 filled with pure water, and the hydrofluoric acid is replaced with pure water. After the replacement, it is pulled up from, for example, warm water in the drying tank 50 and dried. After drying, the transport arm 9 again operates the buffer 30.
The substrate is returned from the cassette 6 to the transport carrier 4 by the transport robot 5. The transport carrier 4 containing a predetermined number of substrates is taken out of the etching apparatus and transported to the next scribe-break step. However, the reaction-etched substrate has a white powdery reaction product adhered to the peripheral portion of the substrate, and may contaminate the cassette 6, the transfer robot 5, the transfer carrier 4, and the entire manufacturing facility.

FIG. 3 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing a specific configuration example of the etch tank 10 incorporated in the etching apparatus shown in FIG. As shown in the figure, the etch tank is basically based on a container 20 and is filled with a chemical 17. The cassette 6 on which the panel 1 to be processed is mounted can be put into the chemical solution 17. The cassette 6 can swing up and down in the container 20 as shown by the arrow. Container 2
0 is a chemical solution 17 containing hydrofluoric acid via the HF supply line 7.
Can be input. The container 20 has a pure water supply line 8.
Pure water can also be introduced via. A waste liquid line 13 is connected to the bottom of the container 20, and the used chemical 17
Can be discharged. As shown in the drawing, in the manufacturing method of the present invention, after a large-sized substrate is bonded to form a panel 1, the panel 1 is placed in a cassette 6, immersed in a container 20 filled with a chemical solution 17, and Is removed by a fixed amount. Hydrofluoric acid (HF) is used as the chemical solution 17, and the concentration is set to 20% by weight. The size of the container 20 is
It is 700 mm long x 700 mm wide x 900 mm high.

FIG. 4 shows a state where the panel 1 is assembled by bonding two substrates. The size of the glass substrate is 600 mm × 720 mm. For example, 7059 manufactured by Corning Incorporated can be used. The two glass substrates are adhered to each other by a sealant 3. The area surrounded by the sealant 3 becomes the display area 2. Note that a sealant 3a is also provided on the outer periphery of the two glass substrates. The outer sealant 3a surrounds the inner display area 2 and protects the inside from a chemical solution used in a later process. After a certain amount of thickness of the glass substrate is removed by the chemical treatment, the panel 1 is cut for each display area 2, and finally four display panels are obtained in the case of this example. In this example, the sealant 3 surrounding the display area 2 has a completely closed shape, and has a structure such that a chemical solution cannot enter the display area. Since the application of the sealants 3 and 3a is performed by a dispenser, it is easy to edit a program for automatic control and apply the sealants 3 and 3a along a closed pattern. Sealant 3,
3a uses a thermosetting resin such as an epoxy resin.
Since the epoxy resin has resistance to etching with HF, the display area 2 can be protected even when the panel 1 is immersed in HF.

FIG. 5 is a schematic sectional view showing the panel after the chemical treatment. As shown in the figure, the panel 1 has a structure in which a pair of substrates 1a and 1b are bonded together with sealants 3 and 3a. After bonding the substrates 1a and 1b made of glass, the panel 1 was immersed in a reaction tank containing HF to etch the glass surface. The time is 60 minutes.
As a result, as shown by the dotted lines, a certain amount of thickness is removed from the surfaces of both substrates 1a and 1b. After one hour, the cleaning tank was filled with pure water, and the substrate surface was rinsed. Rinse time is 5 minutes. After the drying treatment, the in-plane thickness of the panel 1 was measured. Before processing, the average value was 1.410 mm for 25 points in the plane.
The dispersion was 0.016 mm. After the treatment, the average value was 1.008 mm, the variance was 0.036, and the in-plane uniformity without any problem as a display panel was obtained.

After the etching process, the panel on which the large-sized substrates were bonded was scribed and broken, and cut out for each display panel 1x as shown in FIG. At this time, a part of the sealant 3 surrounding the display area 2 of the display panel 1x is cut off at the injection port. After the break, liquid crystal was injected from the injection port, and a polarizing plate was attached to display an image. As a result, good display without fogging, unevenness, pixel defects, etc. was obtained.

FIG. 7 is a schematic perspective view showing an example of a display panel manufactured according to the present invention. This example is a liquid crystal display device formed by bonding a pair of substrates. As shown in the drawing, the display device has a pair of insulating substrates 100 and 1.
02 and a panel structure provided with an electro-optical material 103 held between them. As the electro-optic substance 103, a liquid crystal material is used. On the lower insulating substrate 100, a pixel array section 104 and a drive circuit section are integrally formed.
The drive circuit section includes a vertical drive circuit 105 and a horizontal drive circuit 106
And divided into A terminal 107 for external connection is formed at the upper end of the peripheral portion of the insulating substrate 100. The terminal portion 107 is connected to a vertical drive circuit 105 and a horizontal drive circuit 106 via a wiring 108. Pixel array unit 104
, A row-shaped gate wiring 109 and a column-shaped signal wiring 110 are formed. A pixel electrode 111 and a thin film transistor TFT for driving the pixel electrode 111 are formed at the intersection of the two wires. The gate electrode of the thin film transistor TFT is connected to the corresponding gate line 109, the drain region is connected to the corresponding pixel electrode 111, and the source region is connected to the corresponding signal line 110. The gate wiring 109 is connected to the vertical drive circuit 105, while the signal wiring 110 is connected to the horizontal drive circuit 106.

FIG. 8 is a schematic partial sectional view showing another example of the display device manufactured according to the present invention. In this example, an electroluminescent display device is manufactured using one substrate. When this panel is etched, it is immersed in HF with the pixel portion protected in advance,
Preferably, the glass substrate is etched. In this embodiment, an organic electroluminescent element OLED is used as a pixel. As shown in the figure, the OLED has an anode A, an organic layer 210, and a cathode K which are sequentially stacked.
The anode A is separated for each pixel, and is made of, for example, chromium and is basically light-reflective. The cathode K is commonly connected between the pixels, for example, an extremely thin metal layer 211 and a transparent conductive layer 21.
2 and is basically light transmissive. When a forward voltage (about 10 V) is applied between the anode A and the cathode K of the OLED having such a configuration, carriers such as electrons and holes are injected, and light emission is observed. The operation of the OLED is considered to be light emission by excitons formed by holes injected from the anode A and electrons injected from the cathode K.

On the other hand, a thin film transistor TFT for driving an OLED is provided with a gate electrode 201 formed on a substrate 200 made of glass or the like, a gate insulating film 223 overlaid on the upper surface thereof, and a gate insulating film 223 interposed therebetween. The semiconductor thin film 205 is overlaid on the gate electrode 201. The thin film transistor TFT has a source region S and a channel region Ch serving as a path of a current supplied to the OLED.
And a drain region D. The channel region Ch is located just above the gate electrode 201. The thin film transistor TFT having this bottom gate structure is covered with an interlayer insulating film 207, and a wiring electrode 20
9 and a drain electrode 220 are formed. The OLED described above is interposed on these via another interlayer insulating film 291.
Is formed. The anode A of the OLED is electrically connected to the thin film transistor TFT via the drain electrode 220.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, a display panel is immersed in a chemical solution in a working space isolated from the outside, and a certain amount of the surface of the substrate is removed by a chemical reaction to reduce the thickness. After performing the chemical treatment step, an adhering substance removing step of removing adhering substances generated by a chemical reaction from the display panel is performed in the same working space. According to the present invention, since the reaction product is washed and removed in the same equipment as the equipment for performing the reactive etching, it is possible to prevent contamination in the carrier, the manufacturing process, and the subsequent processes. This eliminates the need for cleaning related equipment, transport carriers, and manufacturing processes, which were required in the past, thus reducing man-hours and preventing contamination of the work environment, thus establishing safe and clean processes. be able to.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view and a side view showing a display panel manufacturing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view showing a conventional display panel manufacturing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view showing a chemical treatment step included in the display panel manufacturing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an example of a display panel before a chemical treatment.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing the display panel after being subjected to a chemical treatment.

FIG. 6 is a plan view showing a final state of a display panel manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing an example of a display panel manufactured according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view showing another example of the display panel manufactured according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

0 ... Housing, 1 ... Display panel, 4 ... Transport carrier, 5 ... Transport robot, 6 ... In-process carrier (cassette), 9 ... Transport arm, 10 ...
Etch tank, 30 ... buffer, 40 ... wash tank, 5
0 ... drying tank, 70 ... substrate removal robot, 80
... Cleaning nozzle, 90 ... Air knife, CE ...
Chemical processing unit, PR: Adhered substance removal unit

──────────────────────────────────────────────────の Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) // C03C 15/00 C03C 15/00 C 23/00 23/00 A (72) Inventor Shoichi Miyauchi Tokyo 6-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku Sony Corporation (72) Inventor Hiroshi Ishiyama 6-35 Kita Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Sony Corporation F-term (reference) 2H088 FA17 FA18 FA21 HA01 MA20 3K007 AB18 CA01 DA01 DB03 EB00 FA00 4G059 AA08 AB09 AB11 AB19 AC30 BB04 BB11 5G435 AA17 AA18 BB05 BB12 KK05 KK10

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A panel forming step of forming a display panel using a substrate having a predetermined thickness; and dipping the display panel in a chemical solution in a work space isolated from the outside; A method of manufacturing a display panel, comprising: performing a chemical treatment step of reducing a thickness by removing a certain amount of the substance from the display panel; and a step of removing an attached substance generated by a chemical reaction from the display panel in the work space. 2. The display panel manufacturing method according to claim 1, wherein in the chemical treatment step, a plurality of display panels are collectively immersed in a chemical solution to simultaneously reduce the thickness of each display panel. 3. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhering substance removing step removes the adhering substance by ultrasonic cleaning using water. 4. The method for manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein the adhering substance removing step removes the adhering substance by jet cleaning using pressurized water. 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the adhering substance removing step removes the adhering substance by brush cleaning using water. 6. The method of manufacturing a display panel according to claim 1, wherein in the adhering substance removing step, the adhering substance is removed by bubble washing in which the display panel is immersed in water and gas bubbles are applied. 7. A display panel manufacturing apparatus for manufacturing a display panel using a substrate having a predetermined thickness, and then removing a predetermined amount of the surface of the substrate to reduce the thickness. Immersed in a chemical solution to remove a certain amount of the surface of the substrate by a chemical reaction to reduce the thickness, an attached substance removing section to remove attached substances generated by the chemical reaction from the display panel, A housing for accommodating the chemical processing unit and the adhering substance removing unit in the working space while being isolated from the outside; and a transport unit for transferring the display panel from the chemical processing unit to the adhering substance removing unit in the working space. Display panel manufacturing apparatus comprising: