Dispensing – Jarring and/or vibrating – Supply container wall flexing
Reexamination Certificate
2002-06-25
2004-08-10
Jacyna, J. Casimer (Department: 3751)
Dispensing
Jarring and/or vibrating
Supply container wall flexing
C222S196000, C222S420000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06772917
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal applicator and a liquid crystal application method for applying a liquid crystal on a substrate, and an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel having the liquid crystal applicator.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal panel for use with a display device for the information equipment has a liquid crystal filled into a gap (liquid crystal pouring space) of as large as about several &mgr;m that is formed by inserting a spacer between a pair of glass substrates. One method for filling the liquid crystal between the substrates involves forming a filler hole
102
through a panel
100
consisting of a pair of substrates laminated by an adhesive
101
and pouring the liquid crystal through the filler hole
102
owing to a differential pressure, as shown in FIG.
9
.
A liquid crystal container
105
for containing a liquid crystal
104
and the panel
100
are placed within a vacuum vessel, and the filler hole
102
of the panel
100
is immersed in the liquid crystal
104
, as shown in FIG.
9
. Thereafter, the vacuum vessel is supplied with a gas and placed in a pressurized (or atmospheric pressure) state. Since a liquid crystal pouring space
103
formed by the substrates and the adhesive
101
has been evacuated, the liquid crystal
104
enters from the liquid crystal container
105
into the liquid crystal pouring space
103
owing to a differential pressure. If the liquid crystal space
103
is filled with the liquid crystal
104
, the filler hole
102
is sealed with the adhesive.
However, there was a problem that the liquid crystal pouring method of
FIG. 9
had a longer pouring time and the lower productivity, along with the increased size of the panel
100
and the smaller panel gap size. Instead of this pouring method, a method of laminating one substrate with another substrate after applying the liquid crystal on the one substrate, employing a dispenser
106
as shown in FIG.
10
.
In this dispenser system, the liquid crystal
104
within a tank
108
is force fed to the dispenser
106
, using a gas pressure of the compressed air to discharge liquid droplets of the liquid crystal
104
through a nozzle
107
of the dispenser onto a substrate
109
. The substrate
109
has applied an adhesive
110
serving as a sealing agent and the liquid crystal droplets
104
are dripped uniformly on a region surrounded by the adhesive
110
by moving the substrate
109
or dispenser
106
. Thereafter, this substrate
109
is laminated with the other substrate (not shown) to produce the liquid crystal panel.
However, with the related-art dispenser system, since the liquid crystal
104
is force fed to the dispenser
106
, using a gas pressure, and discharged, there is a great dispersion in the discharge amount in a situation where the discharge is started or stopped, such as a pressure rise delay at the start of discharge, resulting in a problem that the quantitative stability in the discharge amount is impaired. Also, since the discharge is turned on or off under the control of gas pressure, the resolution of discharge amount is poor, and the quantitative stability is impaired as the required discharge amount is smaller.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide a liquid crystal applicator of dispenser system that has the improved quantitative stability and a liquid crystal application method, and an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel having the liquid crystal applicator.
The embodiments of the present invention will be set forth below with reference to
FIGS. 1
,
5
and
8
.
(1) In order to accomplish the above object, according to a first aspect of the invention as shown in
FIG. 1
, there is provided a liquid crystal applicator for applying a liquid crystal on a substrate
12
, comprising a liquid crystal discharge unit
1
having a piezoelectric transducer
1
b
for discharging a liquid crystal
5
a
due to a vibration of the piezoelectric transducer
1
b
, a switch unit
6
,
8
,
9
,
11
for switching whether the liquid crystal
5
a
discharged from the liquid crystal discharge unit
1
is led to the substrate
12
, and a controller
15
for controlling the switch unit
6
,
8
,
9
,
11
so that a predetermined amount of liquid crystal
5
a
may be applied on the substrate
12
.
(2) According to a second aspect of the invention as shown in
FIG. 5
, in the above-mentioned liquid crystal applicator, it is preferable that the switch unit comprises a shutter plate
30
for capturing the liquid crystal
5
a
discharged from the liquid crystal discharge unit
1
, and a shutter plate driver
31
for driving the shutter plate
30
to move into or from a path of the liquid crystal.
(3) According to a third aspect of the invention as shown in
FIG. 1
, in the above-mentioned liquid crystal applicator, it is also preferable that the switch unit comprises an ionizer
6
for ionizing the liquid crystal
5
a
discharged from the liquid crystal discharge unit
1
, a capture member
11
disposed in a discharge direction of the liquid crystal
5
a
and capturing the liquid crystal
5
a
, and a deflector
9
for deflecting the ionized liquid crystal
5
a
to be led to the substrate, wherein the controller
15
controls the ionizer
6
to be turned on or off so that a predetermined amount of liquid crystal
5
a
maybe applied on the substrate
12
.
(4) According to a fourth aspect of the invention as shown in
FIG. 8
, there is provided an apparatus for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel
40
for laminating a first substrate
12
B and a second substrate
12
A having a liquid crystal dripped on one face so that the liquid crystal
5
may be provided between the first substrate
12
B and the second substrate
12
A to form a liquid crystal panel
50
, wherein the liquid crystal is applied on one face of the second substrate
12
A, employing the liquid crystal applicator
41
according to any one of the first to third aspects of the invention.
Though the embodiments are set forth with reference to the accompanying drawings to make the understanding easier, the invention is not limited to the above embodiments.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4819831 (1989-04-01), Green et al.
patent: 4934564 (1990-06-01), Piatt
patent: 6331884 (2001-12-01), Masazumi et al.
Jacyna J. Casimer
Rankin, Hill Porter & Clark LLP
Shimadzu Corporation
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