Liquid crystal cells – elements and systems – Nominal manufacturing methods or post manufacturing... – Aligning liquid crystal with means other than alignment layer
Reexamination Certificate
2001-11-07
2003-11-04
Kim, Robert H. (Department: 2871)
Liquid crystal cells, elements and systems
Nominal manufacturing methods or post manufacturing...
Aligning liquid crystal with means other than alignment layer
C349S093000, C349S153000, C349S190000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06642992
ABSTRACT:
The present invention claims the benefit of Korean Patent Application No. P2000-0066138 filed in Korea on Nov. 8, 2000, which is hereby incorporated by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD), and more particularly, to a liquid crystal display panel and method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel.
2. Background of the Related Art
Historically, the cathode ray tube (CRT) has been widely used as a display device in applications such as televisions and computer monitors, for example, because CRT screens can display multiple colors with high brightness. However, the CRT cannot adequately satisfy present demands for display applications requiring reduced volume and weight, portability, and low power consumption while having a large screen size and high resolution. Accordingly, a greater emphasis has been placed on developing flat panel displays to replace the CRT. To date, flat panel displays have found wide application in monitors for computers, spacecraft, and aircraft. Examples of flat panel display types currently in use include liquid crystal displays (LCDs), electroluminescent displays (ELDs), field emission displays (FEDs), and plasma display panels (PDPs). Flat panel displays are advantageous because of their light weight, high luminance, high efficiency, high resolution, high speed response time, low driving voltage, low power consumption, low cost, and natural color.
Currently, LCD devices are widely used as monitors for portable computers. These LCDs typically include two opposing glass substrates with a liquid crystal layer sealed therebetween. A plurality of pixel patterns is formed on one of the glass substrates, and a color filter layer is provided on the other substrate. The two glass substrates are attached to each other using a sealant that serves to attach and fix the two glass substrates to each other. Since liquid crystal materials have low specific resistance and easily absorb ambient moisture, they are susceptible to contamination by impurities. Accordingly, the sealant used to attach the two glass substrates must also resist permeation of external moisture that can adversely affect the liquid crystal material. Commonly used sealants include inorganic and organic materials. Inorganic sealant materials have been conventional for sealing LCDs. However, with development of new liquid crystal materials, inorganic sealant materials are generally no longer used. Instead, organic epoxy-based resins such as phenol-based or acryl-based resins, for example, are presently used as LCD sealant materials. The organic epoxy-based resins can be divided into either a two-liquid state type that requires mixing a main material with a hardener, or a one-liquid state type that includes hardener already incorporated into the main material.
Depending on the type of hardener, an organic resin sealant is generally hardened by either a thermal process or exposure to ultra-violet (UV) rays. In either case, high adhesion strength, high crystallization ratio, and exceptional printing performance are required to obtain a seal with high reliability. Uniform distribution of the organic sealant also is necessary to accurately control a liquid crystal cell gap while pressurizing, heating, and hardening the glass substrates. Thermo-hardening resins have high mechanical strength, high adhesion strength, and high cross-linkage at high temperature. Epoxy and phenol resins are mainly used as a thermohardening resin. However, UV hardening resins are most often used for sealing large size display panels because, as compared to thermo-hardening resin, they harden at low temperature, have reduced hardening time and improved adhesion. Moreover, when a thermo-hardening resin is applied to large sized substrates, thermal expansion of the resin often occurs.
A related art LCD panel will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
FIG. 1
is a plane view of a related art LCD panel, and
FIGS. 2A
to
2
E are sectional views illustrating manufacturing processes of the related art LCD panel. In
FIG. 1
, the related art LCD panel comprises a thin film transistor (TFT) substrate
13
where an active region A is defined, a color filter substrate
15
, and a sealant
17
for attaching the TFT substrate
13
to the color filter substrate
15
. A plurality of TFTs and pixel electrodes are patterned on the TFT substrate
13
corresponding to the active region. In addition, a plurality of color filter patterns, light-shielding layers, and common electrodes are patterned on the color filter substrate
15
.
FIGS. 2A-2E
show a manufacturing process for the LCD panel.
In
FIG. 2A
, the TFT substrate
13
and the color filter substrate
15
are prepared. In the TFT substrate
13
, a plurality of TFTs and pixel electrodes are patterned on an active region of the TFT substrate
13
. In the color filter substrate
15
, a color filter pattern is formed. Then, a first alignment layer
16
and a second alignment layer
16
a
are formed on the TFT substrate
13
and the color filter substrate
15
, respectively. The TFT substrate
13
includes a gate line orthogonally crossing a data line formed on a glass substrate. The TFT is formed at each crossing point of the gate and data lines. The TFT includes a gate electrode that extends to the gate line and source/drain electrodes that extend to the data line. The TFT further includes a pixel electrode electrically connected with the drain electrode. Meanwhile, the color filter substrate
15
is provided with red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filter patterns to display colors on the glass substrate, a light-shielding layer that prevents light from being transmitted to regions other than the pixel electrode, and common electrodes for applying a voltage to the pixel electrode.
In
FIG. 2B
, a spacer
19
is formed on the TFT substrate
13
to maintain a cell gap. A UV hardening sealant
17
is then formed along a periphery of the active region on the color filter substrate
15
. In
FIG. 2C
, liquid crystals
21
are dispersed on the active region inside the sealant
17
by a dispensing method.
FIG. 2D
, the TFT substrate
13
is attached to the color filter substrate
15
in a chamber so that the liquid crystals
21
are uniformly dispersed in the cell, thereby forming a liquid crystal layer
21
a.
In
FIG. 2E
, the active region filled with the liquid crystals is masked, and the sealant
17
is irradiated by UV light using an opened mask
23
, thereby hardening the sealant
17
.
However, the related art method for manufacturing an LCD panel has several problems. With the development of large-sized LCD panels, UV hardening sealants are conventionally used to attach lower and upper substrates to each other. In this case, UV light must be radiated on the UV hardening sealant and not on the active region that is filled with liquid crystals. Accordingly, if UV light is irradiated on the entire LCD panel without a mask, characteristics of the liquid crystals are changed by the UV light, thereby deteriorating picture quality. Therefore, it is necessary to use a mask to prevent the UV light from irradiating the active region. Implementing a mask will increase costs.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a liquid crystal display panel and a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display panel, in which a UV hardening sealant is hardened without using a separate mask.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display panel manufactured with reduced production costs.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, and in part will be apparent from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention. The objectives and other ad
Di Grazio Jeanne
Kim Robert H.
LG.Philips LCD Co. , Ltd.
Morgan & Lewis & Bockius, LLP
LandOfFree
Liquid crystal display panel and method of manufacturing the... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Liquid crystal display panel and method of manufacturing the..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Liquid crystal display panel and method of manufacturing the... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3158324