Etching a substrate: processes – Forming or treating article containing a liquid crystal...
Reexamination Certificate
1998-10-13
2001-02-27
Alanko, Anita (Department: 1746)
Etching a substrate: processes
Forming or treating article containing a liquid crystal...
C216S024000, C216S049000, C216S053000, C216S087000, C264S001360, C264S001900, C264S002600, C430S321000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06193898
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of fabricating a reflector for use on a reflective liquid crystal display, having a roughened reflecting surface, and a reflector fabricating apparatus for fabricating such a reflector.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional method of fabricating a reflector having a roughened reflecting surface roughens a surface of a glass plate or a surface of a synthetic resin film formed on a glass plate by blowing glass particles against the surface, and forms a metal reflecting film, such as an aluminum film, on the roughened surface. Another conventional method of fabricating such a reflector etches a surface of a glass plate with hydrofluoric acid to form a roughened surface and forms a metal reflecting film of aluminum or the like on the roughened surface.
These conventional methods, however, have difficulty in fabricating a plurality of reflectors under the same reflector fabricating conditions, and hence the different reflectors fabricated by those methods have reflecting surfaces of different irregularities, respectively. Accordingly, it has been difficult to mass-produce reflectors having reflection characteristics within permissible range of variation by those conventional methods.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention has been made in view of those problems in the conventional reflector fabricating methods and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a reflector fabricating method capable of easily and simply fabricating reflectors having the same reflection characteristics by a mass production system, and a reflector fabricating apparatus for carrying out the same reflector fabricating method.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, a reflector fabricating method comprises the steps of: coating a surface of a transparent substrate with a photosensitive resin film; pressing a rough working surface of an embossing die against a part of the soft photosensitive resin film to form an embossed photosensitive resin part and, at the same time irradiating the embossed photosensitive resin part of the photosensitive resin film from behind a back surface of the transparent substrate for prehardening; removing the embossing die from the prehardened, embossed photosensitive resin part having a desired embossed surface of the photosensitive resin film; repeating those steps to form a plurality of prehardened, embossed photosensitive resin parts in the photosensitive resin film; removing parts of the photosensitive resin film excluding the prehardened, embossed photosensitive resin parts of the same by etching; heating the prehardened, embossed photosensitive resin parts of the photosensitive resin film for hardening; and forming a metal reflecting film over the hardened, embossed photosensitive resin parts of the photosensitive resin film.
Thus, a plurality of reflectors having the same rough surfaces can simultaneously be fabricated on a transparent substrate having a large area in a satisfactory reproducibility. Thus, reflectors not significantly differing from each other in reflection characteristic can easily and simply be mass-produced.
According to a second aspect of the present invention, a reflector fabricating apparatus comprises: a movable embossing die having a rough working surface and capable of being vertically moved; a base provided with a transparent window having a shape substantially corresponding to the external shape of the rough working surface of the embossing die, and disposed opposite to the rough working surface of the embossing die; a substrate carrying device capable of supporting a transparent substrate having a surface coated with a photosensitive resin film and of horizontally moving in a space between the embossing die and the base; and a light source for projecting light rays toward the embossing die through the transparent window of the base.
The reflector fabricating apparatus moves the movable embossing die, the base and the substrate carrying device in horizontal directions relative to each other to form prehardened, embossed photosensitive resin parts successively, and fabricates a plurality of reflectors simultaneously using a transparent substrate having a large area. Thus, the reflector fabricating apparatus is capable of easily and simply mass-producing reflectors.
In a third aspect of the present invention, a reflector fabricating apparatus comprises: a movable embossing die having a rough working surface and capable of being vertically moved; a base for supporting a transparent substrate having a surface coated with a photosensitive resin film, provided with a plurality of transparent windows of a shape substantially corresponding to the external shape of the rough working surface of the embossing die and arranged at intervals, and capable of horizontally moving relative to the embossing die; and a light source for projecting light rays toward the embossing die through the transparent windows of the base.
Thus, the reflector fabricating apparatus is capable of simultaneously, easily and simply mass-producing reflectors.
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Kano Mitsuru
Omote Kenji
Takatsuka Tomomasa
Alanko Anita
Alps Electric Co. ,Ltd.
Brinks Hofer Gilson & Lione
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