CN104298009A - Spacer, display panel, display device and method for manufacturing display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

The invention discloses a spacer, a display panel, a display device and a manufacturing method of the display panel, and relates to the field of display technology. The spacer is used to be arranged between the box substrate and the array substrate, and it includes a plurality of sub-spacers and a connecting portion connecting two adjacent sub-spacers, the sub-spacers and the The connecting portion is integrally formed. The display panel includes a box substrate and an array substrate, a spacer is provided between the box substrate and the array substrate, and the spacer is the spacer provided by the present invention. The present invention prevents the contact moiré caused by the movement of the spacer by making an integrated spacer between the array substrate and the box substrate, and at the same time avoids the gravity moiré caused by the overcharging of the liquid crystal, improving the The poor phenomenon of light leakage in the dark state of the liquid crystal display screen improves the display quality.

Description

Spacer, display panel, display device and method for manufacturing display panel

technical field

The present invention relates to the field of display technology, in particular to a spacer, a display panel including the spacer, a display device including the display panel, and a manufacturing method of the display panel.

Background technique

The display principle of the liquid crystal display is mainly to use the electric field to control the orientation of the liquid crystal molecules. The anisotropy of the refractive index of the liquid crystal changes the transmittance, thereby displaying. Its main structure is composed of an array substrate, a box substrate, a polarizer, a backlight The source and liquid crystal are composed of several parts. The most important thing in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display is the cell-forming process of the array substrate and the cell-aligning substrate. In the process of forming a cell, the alignment film material is first coated on the two substrates, and the liquid crystal molecules can be arranged in a certain way on the two substrates through the corresponding alignment process, and then the two substrates are shaped by the vacuum alignment process, and the cell Thickness is controlled by spacers.

At present, spacers can be divided into two categories according to their shapes: ball spacers (BS for short) and post spacers (PS for short). BS is sprayed on the array substrate or on the box substrate. Since the BS spreading process is very random, especially for large substrates, the density uniformity of BS will be difficult to control, resulting in a decrease in the uniformity of the panel box thickness. . On the other hand, the random scatter of BS causes a considerable part of BS to exist in the opening area of the pixel after the panel is completed, so it will have an adverse effect on the display characteristics of the display, such as reducing the contrast of the display, or causing the BS to move. Lead to frequent occurrence of poor bright spots.

The currently used columnar spacers are shown in FIG. 1 , and the spacers 13 are located on the substrate 12 for the box. When a force is applied to the cell substrate 12 and the array substrate 11 , a relative displacement occurs, as shown in FIG. 2 , the displacement changes the contact condition between the spacer 13 and the array substrate 11 . When the external force is removed, since there are step differences between the layers deposited on the array substrate 11, the spacers are blocked by these step differences during the displacement recovery process, making it difficult to recover the displacement, resulting in the black matrix 14 at the position where the displacement is relatively large. The light cannot be blocked, and finally light leakage occurs, which is the main reason for the contact moiré (Mura). Thus, the disadvantages of independently distributed spacers are apparent.

The above-mentioned light leakage phenomenon is especially obvious in the dark state. Since the light leakage in the dark state has a great impact on the contrast of the liquid crystal display, various manufacturers are looking for a method that can effectively improve the light leakage in the dark state without affecting the overall display effect. There is no way to have the best of both worlds yet. At present, there is a known method to control the movement of spacers by increasing the amount of liquid crystal to improve light leakage in the dark state, but this method will cause gravitational moiré (Mura) due to the increase in the amount of liquid crystal, especially after the display product is placed for a long time. This undesirable phenomenon is more obvious, and the display quality is affected.

Contents of the invention

The object of the present invention is to provide a spacer, a display panel, a display device and a manufacturing method of the display panel, so as to improve the bad phenomenon of light leakage in the dark state of the liquid crystal display screen.

In order to solve the above-mentioned technical problems, as a first aspect of the present invention, a spacer is provided, which is used to be arranged between the cell substrate and the array substrate, and the spacer includes a plurality of sub-spacers and connects adjacent The connecting portion of the two sub-spacers, the sub-spacer and the connecting portion are integrally formed.

Preferably, the height of the connecting portion is smaller than the height of the sub-spacer connected thereto.

Preferably, the sub-spacer is columnar.

Preferably, the sub-spacer includes a main sub-spacer and a secondary sub-spacer, the height of the main sub-spacer is greater than the height of the secondary sub-spacer, the main sub-spacer One end of the main sub-spacer is used for connecting with the array substrate, and the other end of the main sub-spacer is used for connecting with the box-matching substrate.

As a second aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a display panel, including a box substrate and an array substrate, a spacer is provided between the box substrate and the array substrate, and the spacer is the present invention. The spacer provided above.

As a third aspect of the present invention, a display device including the above-mentioned display panel provided by the present invention is further provided.

As a fourth aspect of the present invention, a method for manufacturing a display panel is also provided, including the following steps:

Provide array substrate;

Provide box substrate;

A spacer is provided, the spacer is located between the array substrate and the cell-matching substrate, and the spacer is the above-mentioned spacer provided by the present invention.

Preferably, the spacers are arranged above the grid lines of the array substrate, and the step of arranging the spacers includes:

forming a spacer resin layer on the array substrate;

Photolithography is performed on the spacer resin layer to form the spacer.

Preferably, the step of performing photolithography on the spacer resin layer specifically includes:

exposing the spacer resin layer using a halftone mask;

developing and cleaning the exposed spacer resin layer to form the spacer.

Preferably, the height of the connecting portion is smaller than the height of the sub-spacer connected to it, and the light transmittance of the area on the halftone mask plate used to form the sub-spacer is 30%. -100%, the light transmittance of the region on the half-tone mask used to form the connection part is 10%-50%.

Preferably, the sub-spacers include main sub-spacers and secondary sub-spacers, the height of the main sub-spacers is greater than the height of the secondary sub-spacers, and the halftone mask The light transmittance of the area used to form the main sub-spacer on the board is 50%-100%, and the light transmittance of the area used to form the secondary sub-spacer on the half-tone mask is 50%-100%. The excess rate is 30%-50%.

The present invention prevents the contact moiré caused by the movement of the spacer by making an integrated spacer between the array substrate and the box substrate, and at the same time avoids the gravity moiré caused by the overcharging of the liquid crystal, improving the The poor phenomenon of light leakage in the dark state of the liquid crystal display improves the overall display quality of the liquid crystal display.

Description of drawings

The accompanying drawings are used to provide a further understanding of the present invention, and constitute a part of the description, together with the following specific embodiments, are used to explain the present invention, but do not constitute a limitation to the present invention.

Fig. 1 is the schematic diagram of the spacer used in the prior art;

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of the changing state of the spacer when the display panel is stressed in the prior art;

3 is a schematic diagram of a spacer provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 4 is a schematic diagram of the exposure principle of a halftone mask;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a manufacturing process of a display panel provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

In the accompanying drawings, 11: array substrate: 12: box substrate; 13: spacer in the prior art; 14: black matrix; 23: spacer provided by the present invention; 301: sub-spacer; 302 : connecting portion; 400: main sub-spacer; 500: secondary sub-spacer; 15: spacer resin layer; 16: halftone mask.

Detailed ways

Specific embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described here are only used to illustrate and explain the present invention, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

The present invention firstly provides a spacer, as shown in FIG. 3 , the spacer 23 includes a plurality of sub-spacers 301 and a connecting portion 302 connecting two adjacent sub-spacers 301, and the plurality of sub-spacers 301 and a plurality of connection parts 302 are integrally formed. The spacer 23 is generally disposed between the cell substrate and the array substrate. If the color filter film is arranged on the box-to-box substrate, it is called a color filter substrate, and the spacer 23 is arranged between the color filter substrate and the array substrate, usually on the array substrate. .

In the present invention, the spacer 23 has an integrated strip structure. When the display panel is subjected to an external force, the opposite box substrate and the array substrate will have a tendency of relative displacement. Therefore, the spacer 23 will be subjected to the force from the opposite box substrate or the array substrate, so that the spacer 23 will also generate a corresponding displacement. The tendency of the box substrate or the array substrate to move, because the spacer 23 has an integrated strip structure, therefore, two adjacent sub-spacers 301 are connected by the connection part 302 connected between the two sub-spacers Therefore, the relative movement between two adjacent sub-spacers 301 will be limited, and then the relative movement between the box substrate and the array substrate will be limited, thereby reducing the distance between the box substrate and the array substrate. The relative displacement avoids the dark state light leakage phenomenon caused by the movement of the independently distributed spacer 13 in the prior art, that is, prevents the contact moiré to a certain extent, and improves the dark state light leakage phenomenon of the liquid crystal display.

On the other hand, in the prior art, the movement of the spacer 13 is often controlled by increasing the amount of liquid crystal, but this method will cause gravitational moiré due to the increase in the amount of liquid crystal. In the present invention, there is no need to increase the amount of liquid crystal between the array substrate and the substrate for the cell, so the present invention also avoids the gravitational moiré caused by increasing the amount of liquid crystal, and improves the display quality of the liquid crystal display.

In the present invention, the height of the connection portion 302 is smaller than the height of the sub-spacer 301 connected thereto. The sub-spacer 301 may be a columnar spacer, which is in the shape of a cylinder with a small top area and a large bottom area. The sub-spacer 301 further includes a main sub-spacer 400 and a secondary sub-spacer 500 , the height of the primary sub-spacer 400 is greater than that of the secondary sub-spacer 500 . One end of the main sub-spacer 400 is used for connecting with the array substrate, and the other end is used for connecting with the cell substrate.

The function of the above-mentioned main sub-spacer 400 is to maintain the thickness of the liquid crystal cell. After the array substrate and the cell-aligning substrate complete the cell-aligning process, the main sub-spacer 400 is in contact with the array substrate and the cell-aligning substrate at the same time. Thereby maintaining the thickness of the liquid crystal cell.

The function of the above-mentioned secondary spacer 500 is to relieve external force. When the display panel is subjected to external force, the liquid crystal cell will shrink inward due to the external force, resulting in a decrease in the thickness of the liquid crystal cell. In order to protect the liquid crystal cell from damage and maintain its original optical characteristics, a secondary spacer 500 is required Resists external force when external force acts.

The present invention also provides a display panel, including a box-matching substrate and an array substrate, a spacer is provided between the box-matching substrate and the array substrate, wherein the spacer is the above-mentioned spacer provided by the present invention Spacer. If the color filter film is arranged on the box-to-box substrate, it is called a color filter substrate, and the display panel includes a color filter substrate and an array substrate, and a spacer is arranged between the color filter substrate and the array substrate. Object, wherein, the spacer is the above-mentioned spacer provided by the present invention. The spacers are preferably disposed above the gate lines of the array substrate.

The present invention also provides a display device, including the above-mentioned display panel provided by the present invention.

As mentioned above, the display panel and the display device provided by the present invention can effectively prevent the contact moiré caused by the movement of the scattered spacers due to the adoption of a new type of integrated spacer, improve the phenomenon of light leakage in the dark state, and at the same time avoid The gravitational moiré caused by increasing the amount of liquid crystal in order to overcome the contact moiré in the prior art is eliminated, and the display quality is improved.

The present invention also provides a method for manufacturing a display panel, the method comprising the following steps:

S1, providing an array substrate;

S2. Provide box-to-box substrates;

S3. Setting a spacer, the spacer is located between the array substrate and the cell-matching substrate, and the spacer is the above-mentioned spacer provided by the present invention. If a color filter film is arranged on the cell-matching substrate, it is called a color filter substrate, and the spacer is arranged between the array substrate and the color filter substrate.

In order to obtain a better display effect, the spacers are preferably disposed above the gate lines of the array substrate.

Wherein, the step of setting the spacer described in step S3 specifically includes:

S31, forming a spacer resin layer on the array substrate;

S32 , exposing and etching the spacer resin layer to form the spacer.

In the above step S32, the step of performing photolithography on the spacer resin layer specifically includes:

S321. Exposing the spacer resin layer by using a halftone mask;

S322 , developing and cleaning the exposed spacer resin layer to form the spacer.

Different from the traditional spacer mask, the half tone mask is an exposure method that realizes different exposure intensities and then different photosensitive gradients by controlling the amount of light transmitted. The amount of light transmitted can be controlled by controlling the thickness of the light-blocking lines on the halftone mask, or the halftone mask can be made by using materials with different light transmittances.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of the exposure principle of a halftone mask. In areas with different light transmittances, the spacers formed after exposure and development have different heights. It can be seen from the figure that the spacer resin is completely retained in the area where the light transmittance is 100%, the spacer resin is completely removed in the area where the light transmittance is 0%, and the spacer resin is completely removed in the area where the light transmittance is X % of the area forms a spacer with a height between the former two. Usually, when the light transmittance of the halftone mask is 50%, spacers with a height of about 2 μm can be formed after the spacer resin layer is exposed; when the light transmittance of the halftone mask is 90%, the spacers Spacers with a height of about 3 μm can be formed after the spacer resin layer is exposed.

The manufacturing method of the display panel provided by the present invention will be described in detail below with a specific embodiment. FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of a manufacturing process of a display panel provided by an embodiment of the present invention.

Firstly, an array substrate 11 is provided, and the array substrate may be an array substrate fabricated by a conventional process. The structural layers of the array substrate 11 include: a gate, a gate insulating layer, a gate data line, an active layer, Source and drain electrode layers, data lines, and passivation layers, etc.

Then, a spacer resin layer 15 is formed on the above-mentioned array substrate 11. The method for forming the spacer resin layer 15 may be spin coating, spray coating, or slit coating. coating).

Thereafter, the spacer resin layer 15 is exposed to light using a halftone mask 16 . After the exposure is completed, developing and cleaning are performed to obtain the integrated spacers 23 formed on the array substrate 11 .

As mentioned above, the integrated spacer 23 includes a plurality of sub-spacers 301 and a plurality of connecting parts 302 , and the height of the connecting parts 302 is smaller than that of the sub-spacers 301 connected thereto. Therefore, the light transmittance of the region for forming the sub-spacer 301 on the halftone mask 16 is 30%-100%, and the light transmittance of the region for forming the connection part 302 on the halftone mask 16 is 30%-100%. The rate is 10%-50%.

Further, the sub-spacer 301 includes a main sub-spacer 400 and a secondary sub-spacer 500 , and the height of the main sub-spacer 400 is greater than that of the secondary sub-spacer 500 . Therefore, the light transmittance of the area for forming the main sub-spacer 400 on the half-tone mask 16 is 50%-100%, and the area of the half-tone mask 16 for forming the sub-spacer 500 is 50%-100%. The light transmittance of the area is 30%-50%.

Finally, the array substrate 11 and the cell substrate (or color filter substrate) 12 undergo a complete CELL process, including PI, Rubbing and Ass'y, to obtain a display panel.

The manufacturing method of the display panel provided by the present invention uses a half-tone mask to make an integrated spacer on the array substrate, which can not only prevent the contact moiré caused by the movement of traditional independently distributed spacers, but also It can improve the gravitational moiré caused by liquid crystal overcharging to a certain extent, thereby improving the dark state light leakage phenomenon of the liquid crystal display screen and improving the display quality.

It can be understood that, the above embodiments are only exemplary embodiments adopted for illustrating the principle of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited thereto. For those skilled in the art, various modifications and improvements can be made without departing from the spirit and essence of the present invention, and these modifications and improvements are also regarded as the protection scope of the present invention.

Claims (11)

1. A spacer, which is used to be arranged between the box substrate and the array substrate, characterized in that the spacer includes a plurality of sub-spacers and a connection connecting two adjacent sub-spacers part, the sub-spacer and the connection part are integrally formed. 2. The spacer according to claim 1, wherein the height of the connecting portion is smaller than the height of the sub-spacer connected thereto. 3. The spacer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sub-spacer is columnar. 4. The spacer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the sub-spacer comprises a main sub-spacer and a secondary sub-spacer, and the height of the main sub-spacer is greater than the The height of the secondary sub-spacer, one end of the main sub-spacer is used to connect with the array substrate, and the other end of the main sub-spacer is used to be connected to the substrate of the box. 5. A display panel, comprising a box-matching substrate and an array substrate, a spacer is arranged between the box-matching substrate and the array substrate, it is characterized in that the spacer is any one of claims 1-4 A spacer according to one item. 6. A display device, comprising the display panel according to claim 5. 7. A manufacturing method of a display panel, characterized in that the manufacturing method comprises: Provide array substrate; Provide box substrate; A spacer is provided, the spacer is located between the array substrate and the cell-matching substrate, and the spacer is the spacer according to any one of claims 1-4. 8. The manufacturing method according to claim 7, wherein the spacer is disposed above the grid lines of the array substrate, and the step of arranging the spacer comprises: forming a spacer resin layer on the array substrate; Photolithography is performed on the spacer resin layer to form the spacer. 9. The manufacturing method according to claim 8, wherein the step of performing photolithography on the spacer resin layer specifically comprises: exposing the spacer resin layer using a halftone mask; developing and cleaning the exposed spacer resin layer to form the spacer. 10. The manufacturing method according to claim 9, wherein the height of the connecting portion is smaller than the height of the sub-spacers connected thereto, and the half-tone mask is used to form the sub-spacers. The light transmittance of the area of the spacer is 30%-100%, and the light transmittance of the area on the half-tone mask plate for forming the connecting part is 10%-50%. 11. The manufacturing method according to claim 9, wherein the sub-spacer comprises a main sub-spacer and a secondary sub-spacer, and the height of the main sub-spacer is greater than that of the secondary spacer. The height of the sub-spacer, the light transmittance of the area used to form the main sub-spacer on the half-tone mask is 50%-100%, and the half-tone mask is used to form The light transmittance of the area of the secondary sub-spacer is 30%-50%.