JP2008168587A - SCREEN PRINTING DEVICE, SCREEN PRINTING METHOD, AND DISPLAY DEVICE MANUFACTURING METHOD - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a screen printing apparatus, a screen printing method, and a display device manufacturing method capable of forming a sealing material having a stable film thickness and width along with downsizing of the apparatus. The screen printing apparatus is disposed oppositely on the substrate 3 with a predetermined interval, and has a screen plate 4 having an opening pattern 5 and moves in the printing direction on the screen plate 4 to move the sealing material 1 from the opening pattern 5 to the substrate. The squeegee 2a is provided along the direction between the printing direction and the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction within the plane of the screen plate 4.
[Selection] Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to a screen printing apparatus, a screen printing method, and a display device manufacturing method, and more particularly to a screen printing apparatus for forming a sealing material on a substrate, a screen printing method, and a display device using the same. Regarding the method.

  In a liquid crystal display device, a TFT array substrate on which a drive circuit is formed and a counter substrate on which a color filter is formed are arranged to face each other. And it has the structure which enclosed the liquid crystal in the space between the sealing materials which bond these both board | substrates. The sealing material is formed in a frame shape so as to surround the display area of the liquid crystal display device. The TFT array substrate and the counter substrate are maintained by a sealing material, a spacer, or the like so as to have a constant interval.

  As a method for forming the sealing material, a screen printing method, a dispenser method, and the like are known. In the manufacture of liquid crystal display devices, in recent years, there has been a tendency to improve productivity by arranging a large number of panels on a single substrate and performing multi-cavity. In order to efficiently take out the panels, the panels are generally arranged so as to be arranged vertically and horizontally in parallel with the edge of the substrate. As a method for forming a sealing material on such a multi-sided substrate, a screen printing method has become the mainstream because of its high throughput and excellent productivity.

  FIG. 6 is a schematic view showing a conventional general screen printing apparatus and screen printing method. In FIG. 6, an opening pattern 5 is formed in the screen plate 4. A printing squeegee 2 that scans and prints the sealing material 1 corresponding to the printing paste is arranged on the screen plate 4. The printing squeegee 2 moves horizontally in a direction parallel to the outer shape (edge) of the screen plate 4 while in contact with the screen plate 4. The printing squeegee 2 is arranged so that its longitudinal direction is perpendicular to the scanning direction (printing direction). Further, below the screen plate 4, a substrate 3 that is a substrate to be printed is disposed on a stage (printing stand) 9. The substrate 3 is positioned so that its longitudinal direction is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4.

  Here, the opening pattern 5 formed in the screen plate 4 is a seal pattern formed in a frame shape so as to surround the display area of each liquid crystal panel. In the case of multi-chamfering in which a large number of panels are arranged in one substrate, a plurality of seal patterns having a frame shape corresponding to each panel are formed on the substrate. The plurality of seal patterns are arranged so that they are regularly arranged vertically and horizontally in parallel with the edge of the substrate. Therefore, in the conventional screen printing apparatus, as shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of opening patterns 5 having a frame shape are formed on the screen plate 4 so as to be regularly arranged vertically and horizontally in parallel with the edges of the screen plate 4. ing.

  Such a screen plate 4 is set in a screen printing apparatus, and the sealing material 1 is supplied onto the screen plate 4. Then, the substrate 3 placed on the stage 9 is positioned and set immediately below the screen plate 4. Thereafter, the printing squeegee 2 moves horizontally on the screen plate 4 in one direction while applying pressure in the direction of the substrate 3 to print the sealing material 1 on the substrate 3. At this time, the printing direction is a direction parallel to the outer shape (edge side) of the screen plate 4, and is, for example, the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4 indicated by an arrow in FIG. 6. Therefore, most of the sides of the seal pattern to be printed are composed of sides that are substantially parallel to the printing direction and substantially perpendicular to the printing direction.

  However, in the above-described method, the width and film thickness of the sealing material 1 vary greatly between the side substantially parallel to the printing direction and the side substantially perpendicular to the printing direction among the sides of the seal pattern to be formed. There is a problem that you can not. The cause of such variations will be described below.

  In general, screen printing is composed of two stages, a filling process and a transfer process. Here, in order to print the seal pattern without variation, it is necessary to appropriately perform both the filling process and the transfer process. In the filling step, the sealing material 1 is filled into the opening pattern 5 of the screen plate 4 by scanning the printing squeegee 2. At this time, it is required to fill the opening pattern 5 of the screen plate 4 with the sealing material 1 without excess or deficiency. By properly managing the pressing of the printing squeegee 2 and making the filling amount of the sealing material 1 into the opening pattern 5 uniform, an appropriate filling process can be realized relatively easily.

  On the other hand, it is a transfer process that the filled sealing material 1 is sequentially transferred to the substrate. By scanning the printing squeegee 2, the screen plate 4 approaches the substrate 3, and the sealing material 1 in the opening pattern 5 comes into contact with the substrate 3. When the printing squeegee 2 passes, the screen plate 4 is sequentially separated from the substrate 3 (plate separation), and the sealing material 1 in the opening pattern 5 is transferred onto the substrate 3. At this time, it is required that the sealing material 1 filled in the opening pattern 5 is completely transferred to the substrate 3, that is, that the sealing material 1 does not remain. However, the squeegee scanning speed and the plate separation speed are complicatedly influenced by the shape and density of the opening pattern 5 and are difficult to realize.

  Here, for example, consider the case of printing an opening pattern 5 as shown in FIG. In the screen plate 4, a plurality of opening patterns 5 having a frame shape are formed so as to be regularly arranged vertically and horizontally in parallel with the edge of the screen plate 4. When the printing squeegee 2 is scanned, the plate separation occurs slightly after the passage of the printing squeegee 2. In FIG. 6, the area where the separation has already been completed is described as the separation area 6, and the boundary where the separation is actually occurring is illustrated as the separation area 7. As shown in FIG. 6, the plate separation boundary 7 has a linear shape substantially parallel to the printing squeegee 2. Then, with a slight delay from the scanning of the printing squeegee 2, the plate separation boundary 7 advances in the printing direction indicated by the arrow. Therefore, when the plate separation boundary 7 passes through a position corresponding to each panel row, no opening pattern 5 exists on the plate separation boundary 7 (region A). That is, the plate separation boundary 7 does not cross the opening pattern 5 in the region A.

  When the opening pattern 5 exists on the plate separation boundary 7 (region B), a drag force that peels off the sealing material 1 works, and the plate separation speed becomes slow. On the other hand, when the plate separation boundary 7 passes through the area A where no opening pattern 5 exists, the drag force for peeling off the sealing material 1 does not work, so that the plate separation speed is increased. Thus, the plate separation speed varies greatly. Then, when the plate separation boundary 7 starts to pass through the region B where the opening pattern 5 exists in a state where the plate separation speed is increased, the remaining of the sealing material 1 is likely to occur. Therefore, in the side of the seal pattern to be formed, the seal material 1 is more likely to be left behind than the side substantially parallel to the side substantially perpendicular to the printing direction.

  Furthermore, when the sealing material 1 is removed from the opening pattern 5 of the screen plate 4 and transferred to the substrate 3, the sealing material 1 that has started to separate from the plate from a certain starting point, such as the side of the sealing pattern substantially parallel to the printing direction, is obtained. When the transfer is gradually performed along the opening pattern 5, it is difficult for the omission to occur. On the other hand, in the side of the seal pattern substantially perpendicular to the printing direction, the entire side starts to release the plate at the same time. Therefore, among the sides of the seal pattern to be formed, the seal material 1 is more likely to be left behind than the side substantially parallel to the side substantially perpendicular to the printing direction.

In order to solve such a problem, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which an opening pattern 5 is provided on the screen plate 4 so that the direction of the opening pattern 5 has an inclination angle θ with respect to the printing direction. Printing is performed by positioning so that the substrate 3 on the stage 9 is arranged at an inclination angle θ and a position corresponding to the opening pattern 5 of the screen plate 4. Thereby, the printing squeegee 2 passes through the opening pattern 5 provided on the screen plate 4 with an inclination angle. Therefore, the printing conditions are made more uniform on each side of the seal pattern, and the width and film thickness of the seal material 1 become uniform.
JP-A-7-205396

  However, in the method of Patent Document 1, since the opening pattern 5 is provided so as to have an inclination angle θ with respect to the screen plate 4, the required area of the screen plate 4 becomes large and handling becomes difficult. Furthermore, a space and a rotation mechanism for arranging the substrate 3 at the inclination angle θ are necessary, and the screen printing apparatus itself becomes large. Further, the substrate 3 has an inclination angle θ with respect to the scanning direction of the printing squeegee 2, and the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2 varies as the printing squeegee 2 is scanned. Therefore, the printing pressure is not substantially constant, and the supply amount of the sealing material 1 into the opening pattern 5 varies.

  The present invention was made to solve the above problems, and together with downsizing of the apparatus, a screen printing apparatus and a screen printing method capable of forming a sealing material having a stable film thickness and width, It is another object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a display device.

  A screen printing apparatus according to the present invention is arranged so as to be opposed to each other with a predetermined interval on a printing material, and has a screen plate having an opening pattern, and moves in a printing direction on the screen plate, thereby transferring a printing paste from the opening pattern. A squeegee for printing on the substrate, and the squeegee is provided along a direction between the printing direction and a vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction in the screen plate surface.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a screen printing apparatus, a screen printing method, and a display device manufacturing method capable of forming a sealing material having a stable film thickness and width as well as making the apparatus compact.

  First, the display device according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal display device according to the present embodiment. The display device according to this embodiment will be described using an active matrix liquid crystal display device having a TFT array substrate as an example, but may be a passive matrix liquid crystal display device. A flat display device (flat panel display) such as an organic EL display device can also be used.

  In FIG. 1, in the liquid crystal display device 200 according to the present embodiment, a TFT array substrate 210 and a counter substrate 220 are arranged to face each other. And it has the structure which enclosed the liquid crystal 230 in the space between the sealing material 1 which bonds together these both board | substrates. The sealing material 1 is formed in a frame shape so as to surround the display area of the liquid crystal display device 200.

  In the TFT array substrate 210, a pixel electrode 213, a scanning signal line, and a video signal line that form a display area are formed on a substrate 211 via an insulating film 215. A TFT (Thin Film Transistor) 214 serving as a switching element is formed in the vicinity of the intersection between the scanning signal line and the video signal line. The TFTs 214 are arranged in an array within the display area. The TFT 214 includes a drain electrode and a source electrode formed in the same layer as the video signal line. The source electrode and the drain electrode are connected via a semiconductor layer. The display signal line and the pixel electrode 213 are connected through the TFT 214. Therefore, the display signal is supplied from the display signal line to the pixel electrode 213 by turning on the TFT 214 by the scanning signal.

  An alignment film 212 for aligning the liquid crystal 230 is stacked on the pixel electrode 213. A polarizing plate 231 is attached to the outside of the substrate 211. On the TFT array substrate 210, a terminal 216 for receiving a signal supplied to the TFT 214 from the outside, a transfer electrode 217 for transmitting a signal input from the terminal 216 to the counter substrate 220, and the like are provided.

  In the counter substrate 220, a light shielding layer 225 made of a metal such as a pigment or chromium is formed on the surface of the substrate 221 facing the TFT array substrate 210. A color material made of a pigment or dye is formed so as to fill the space between the light shielding layers 225. The color material is, for example, a color filter 224 of R (red), G (green), and B (blue). Further, a common electrode 223 is formed so as to cover the light shielding layer 225 and the color filter 224. The common electrode 223 generates an electric field between the pixel electrode 213 of the TFT array substrate 210 and drives the liquid crystal 230. The common electrode 223 is electrically connected to the transfer electrode 217 via the transfer material 234. An alignment film 212 for aligning the liquid crystal 230 is stacked on the common electrode 223. A polarizing plate 232 is attached to the outside of the substrate 221.

  The TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded together with the sealing material 1 interposed therebetween. As the substrates 211 and 221, a transparent insulating substrate such as a glass substrate or quartz glass can be used. As the sealing material 1, for example, a photocurable and thermosetting acrylic resin, an epoxy resin, or an ultraviolet curable resin can be used. The liquid crystal display device 200 also includes a control board 235 that generates a drive signal, an FFC (Flexible Flat Cable) 236 that electrically connects the control board 235 to the terminal 216, a backlight unit (not shown) that serves as a light source, and the like. ing.

  In such a liquid crystal display device 200, when an electric signal is input from the control substrate 235, a driving voltage is applied to the pixel electrode 213 and the common electrode 223. The molecular direction of the liquid crystal 230 changes according to the driving voltage. The light emitted from the backlight unit is transmitted or blocked to the outside through the TFT array substrate 210, the liquid crystal 230, and the counter substrate 220, whereby an image or the like is displayed on the liquid crystal display device 200. That is, a desired image can be displayed by changing the drive voltage for each pixel.

  As an operation mode of the liquid crystal display device 200, a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode, a ferroelectric liquid crystal mode, or the like can be used. Further, the liquid crystal display device 200 is a horizontal electric field method in which the common electrode 223 provided on the counter substrate 220 is disposed on the TFT array substrate 210 side, and an electric field is applied to the liquid crystal 230 in the horizontal direction between the pixel electrode 213. May be.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device 200 according to the present invention will be described. First, a TFT 214, a pixel electrode 213, a terminal 216, and a transfer electrode 217 are formed on one surface of the substrate 211 by repeatedly performing film formation, patterning by a photolithography method, and pattern formation by etching or the like. Then, the TFT array substrate 210 is formed. The counter substrate 220 is formed by forming the color filter 224 and the common electrode 223 on one surface of the substrate 221. At this time, each panel is arranged so that a large number of liquid crystal panels can be efficiently manufactured from the pair of TFT array substrates 210 and the counter substrate 220 so as to be arranged in a regular and vertical manner in parallel with the edges of the substrates 211 and 221.

  Next, a method for assembling the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a flow of an assembling method of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 according to the present embodiment. First, the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are cleaned (S1). Then, an alignment film 212 is formed on the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 (S2). For example, after the alignment film 212 made of an organic film is applied by a printing method, a baking process is performed using a hot plate or the like and the film is dried. Thereafter, the alignment film 212 is rubbed (S3) to align the alignment film 212.

  Next, the sealing material 1 is applied to one of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 (S4). The sealing material 1 can be formed by a screen printing method, a dispenser method, or the like. In the present embodiment, the sealing material 1 is formed by a screen printing method. Similarly, the transfer material 234 is applied to one of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 (S5). In addition, spacers are dispersed on one of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 (S6). Spacers such as plastic beads and glass fibers are uniformly sprayed by a wet method or a dry method.

  Thereafter, the electrodes of the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded face to face (S7). And the sealing material 1 is hardened in the state which bonded both the board | substrates (S8). In accordance with the material of the sealing material 1, for example, curing is performed by heating or ultraviolet irradiation. The board | substrate with which the sealing material 1 was hardened is divided | segmented for every panel, and it divides | segments into many panels (S9). Then, the liquid crystal 230 is injected into each divided panel (S10). When the liquid crystal inlet of each panel is immersed in a liquid crystal dish containing liquid crystal material in a vacuum and then returned to normal pressure, the liquid crystal material fills the cell gap. After injecting the liquid crystal 230, the liquid crystal injection port is sealed (S11). For example, a photocurable resin is applied to the liquid crystal injection port, and is cured by being irradiated with light and sealed.

  Next, polarizing plates 231 and 232 are attached to both outer sides of the liquid crystal panel (S12). Then, when the control board 235 is mounted (S13) and a backlight unit or the like is attached, the liquid crystal display device 200 is completed.

  In this embodiment, the case of using the liquid crystal injection method via the liquid crystal injection port as in S7 to S11 has been exemplarily described, but the dropping injection method may be used. In the dropping injection method, a seal pattern having a frame shape without an injection port is formed. Then, the liquid crystal 230 is dropped on either the TFT array substrate 210 or the counter substrate 220 on which the sealing material 1 is formed. After the liquid crystal 230 is dropped, the TFT array substrate 210 and the counter substrate 220 are bonded together, and the sealing material 1 is cured.

  Thus, in this embodiment, the sealing material 1 of the liquid crystal display device 200 is formed by the screen printing method. Next, a screen printing apparatus used for forming the sealing material 1 of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a screen printing apparatus according to the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 3, an opening pattern 5 is formed in a rectangular screen plate 4. The opening pattern 5 corresponds to the frame-shaped sealing material 1 formation region. In the case of multiple layouts, frame-shaped opening patterns 5 are arranged in a matrix. Here, the opening patterns 5 in four columns and four rows are arranged at the same pitch.

  On the screen plate 4, a printing squeegee 2a that scans and prints the sealing material 1 corresponding to the printing paste is disposed. The printing squeegee 2a horizontally moves in the printing direction on the screen plate 4 while being in contact with the screen plate 4. The printing direction is a direction parallel to the outer shape of the screen plate 4, and here, the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4 is the printing direction. In the present embodiment, the printing squeegee 2a is arranged such that its longitudinal direction has an inclination angle θ with respect to a direction perpendicular to the printing direction. That is, the printing squeegee 2a is arranged so that the longitudinal direction thereof is a direction between the printing direction and the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction. As shown in FIG. 3, the vertical direction is a direction perpendicular to the printing direction in the surface of the screen plate 4. Specifically, the contact side of the printing squeegee 2a that contacts the screen plate 4 has an inclination angle θ with respect to the direction perpendicular to the printing direction. In this way, the printing squeegee 2a moves parallel to the printing direction on the screen plate 4 while having an inclination angle θ with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction.

  Under the screen plate 4, a substrate 3 that is a substrate to be printed is disposed on a stage (printing stand) 9. The substrate 3 has a rectangular shape and is positioned so that its longitudinal direction is substantially parallel to the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4. That is, it is positioned so that the arrangement direction of the opening patterns 5 and the outer shape of the substrate 3 are parallel. The printing squeegee 2a has a length that can sufficiently cover the width of the substrate 3 with the inclination angle θ.

  Next, the operation of the screen printing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a screen printing method according to the present embodiment. When the printing squeegee 2 a is scanned, the screen plate 4 approaches the substrate 3, and the sealing material 1 in the opening pattern 5 comes into contact with the substrate 3. When the printing squeegee 2a passes, separation of the plate occurs with a slight delay from the passage of the printing squeegee 2a. In the present embodiment, the printing squeegee 2a is arranged such that its longitudinal direction is a direction between the printing direction and a vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction, and an inclination angle θ is set with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction. Have. Here, the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4 is the printing direction, and the printing squeegee 2 a has an inclination angle θ with respect to the outer shape of the screen plate 4.

  In FIG. 4, the area where the plate separation has already been completed is described as the plate separation area 6 a, and the boundary where the plate separation actually occurs is described as the plate separation boundary 7 a. As shown in FIG. 4, the plate separation boundary 7a has a linear shape substantially parallel to the printing squeegee 2a. That is, the plate separation boundary 7a has an inclination angle θ with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction, like the printing squeegee 2a. Then, with a slight delay from the scanning of the printing squeegee 2a, the plate separation boundary 7a advances in the printing direction indicated by the arrow.

  In the screen plate 4, a plurality of opening patterns 5 having a frame shape are formed so as to be regularly arranged vertically and horizontally in parallel with the edge of the screen plate 4. Therefore, the plate separation boundary 7a advances in the printing direction while maintaining the inclination angle θ with respect to the opening pattern 5, as shown in FIG. Here, the inclination angle θ is determined so that the plate separation boundary 7 a constantly crosses the opening pattern 5. When the printing squeegee 2a crosses between panel rows, an inclination angle θ is required so as to continuously cross adjacent panel rows at the same time. For example, the inclination angle θ is determined so that the second panel row and the third panel row are printed simultaneously. In this case, the inclination angle is determined so that one end side of the printing squeegee 2a is on the second panel row and the other end side is on the third panel row. Therefore, the plate separation boundary 7a constantly crosses the opening pattern 5 from passing through the first opening pattern 5 to passing through the last opening pattern 5 (region B). On the other hand, in the region A in which the opening pattern 5 does not exist at all on the plate separation boundary 7a, the period from the start of scanning to the passage of the first opening pattern 5 and the period from the passage of the last opening pattern 5 to the end of scanning. It becomes only.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, the printing squeegee 2a is disposed so as to have an inclination angle θ with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction within the screen plate 4 surface. The printing squeegee 2a is scanned in a printing direction parallel to the outer shape of the screen plate. As a result, the plate separation boundary 7a has an inclination angle θ with respect to the opening pattern 5 and continuously moves across the opening pattern except at the start and end of scanning. That is, the plate separation boundary 7a moves at a stable speed without the plate separation speed fluctuating extremely. Furthermore, since the plate separation starts from the corner portion of the seal pattern, the seal material 1 is gradually transferred along the opening pattern 5 even on a side substantially perpendicular to the printing direction. Therefore, as with the side of the seal pattern substantially parallel to the printing direction, the seal material 1 is less likely to be left out on the substantially vertical side, and the seal material 1 having a stable film thickness and width can be formed. Further, since a space and a rotation mechanism for arranging the substrate 3 at the inclination angle θ are not necessary, the apparatus can be made compact.

  Here, the inclination angle θ is preferably about 5 degrees or more and 30 degrees or less with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction (here, the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4). In order to start the separation of the plate starting from the corner portion of the seal pattern, the inclination angle θ is optimally 45 degrees. However, when the printing squeegee 2a having an inclination angle θ with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction is scanned in the printing direction, the second corner after the printing squeegee 2a crosses the first corner of the substrate 3 is scanned. The width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a gradually increases until it crosses. Similarly, the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a decreases after the printing squeegee 2a crosses the third corner of the substrate 3 until it crosses the fourth corner. In the section where the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a varies, the printing pressure is not constant and the supply amount of the sealing material 1 into the opening pattern 5 varies. Therefore, when θ is large in this way, the section in which the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a fluctuates at the start and end of scanning becomes unfavorable. In the section where the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a varies, the printing pressure is not constant and the supply amount of the sealing material 1 into the opening pattern 5 varies. When θ is 30 degrees or less, the section in which the width of the substrate 3 immediately below the printing squeegee 2a fluctuates becomes short and does not overlap with the region B crossing the opening pattern 5, so that the amount of the sealing material 1 supplied into the opening pattern 5 is reduced. Does not vary.

  The required lower limit value of the inclination angle θ varies depending on the distance between the panel rows. However, if the inclination angle θ is 5 degrees or more, most of the distances between the panel rows can be handled. The plate separation boundary 7 a constantly crosses the opening pattern 5. The screen printing apparatus of the present embodiment can adjust the inclination angle θ of the printing squeegee 2a. The inclination angle θ is appropriately set according to the screen plate 4 having various panel rows and the opening pattern 5. You may adjust.

  Since the printing squeegee 2a moves horizontally with an inclination angle θ, after printing, the sealing material 1 on the screen plate 4 approaches one side as shown in FIG. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5B, the scraper 8a is arranged so as to have an inclination angle θ with respect to the vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction so as to be parallel to the printing squeegee 2a, and in a direction opposite to the printing direction of the printing squeegee 2a. Move horizontally. Thereby, the sealing material 1 spreads uniformly on the screen plate 4, and variation in the amount of the sealing material 1 supplied into the opening pattern 5 can be reduced. Then, after the scraper 8a is scanned and the sealing material 1 is supplied into the opening pattern 5, the sealing material 1 is printed again by scanning the printing squeegee 2a. In this way, a series of operations are repeated. In addition to a normal scraper that is arranged perpendicular to the printing direction and operates in parallel, a scraper that is arranged parallel to the printing direction and operates perpendicularly is used in order to return the sealing material 1 approaching one side. It is good also as a structure provided for.

  The screen printing apparatus according to the present embodiment has been described by way of an example in which a sealing material is formed on a liquid crystal display device. However, the screen printing device is merely an example, for example, other than liquid crystal such as electronic paper or an organic EL display device. The screen printing apparatus which forms a sealing material in the display apparatus using this display material may be used. The present invention can be applied not only to the substrate of the display device but also to any substrate to be used for screen printing. Further, the printing paste (ink) is not limited to the sealing material, and can be applied to any printing paste used for screen printing. In the present embodiment, only one direction in the longitudinal direction of the screen plate 4 shown in FIG. 3 is described as an example of the printing direction. However, the present invention is not limited to this.

  The above description describes the embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention is not limited to the above embodiment. Moreover, those skilled in the art can easily change, add, and convert each element of the above embodiment within the scope of the present invention.

It is sectional drawing of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the flowchart which showed the flow of the assembly method of the TFT array substrate and counter substrate which concern on this Embodiment. It is the schematic which showed the screen printing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the schematic which shows the screen printing method which concerns on this Embodiment. It is a figure explaining the motion of the sealing material on the screen plate in the screen printing apparatus which concerns on this Embodiment. It is the schematic which showed the conventional screen printing apparatus and the screen printing method.

Explanation of symbols

1 sealing material, 2 and 2a printing squeegee, 3 substrate,
4 screen plate, 5 aperture pattern, 6, 6a separation area,
7, 7a Plate separation boundary, 8 scraper, 9 stage 200 liquid crystal display device, 210 TFT array substrate,
211 substrate, 212 alignment film, 213 pixel electrode,
215 insulating film, 216 terminal, 217 transfer electrode,
220 counter substrate, 221 substrate, 223 common electrode,
224 color filter, 225 shading layer, 230 liquid crystal,
231, 232 Polarizing plate, 234 Transfer material,
235 Control board

Claims (11)

A screen plate having an opening pattern, which is disposed oppositely on a substrate to be printed with a predetermined interval;
A squeegee that moves in the printing direction on the screen plate and prints a printing paste from the opening pattern onto the substrate.
A screen printing apparatus in which the squeegee is provided along a direction between the printing direction and a vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction in the screen plate surface.   The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the squeegee is disposed at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the inclination angle is not less than 5 degrees and not more than 30 degrees.   The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the squeegee is disposed at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the inclination angle can be changed. A scraper that moves on the screen plate in a direction opposite to the printing direction and supplies the printing paste to the opening pattern of the screen plate;
The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the scraper is provided along a direction between the printing direction and the vertical direction.   The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing direction is a direction parallel to an edge of the screen plate.   The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the printing paste is a sealing material.   The screen printing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the substrate is a display device substrate. A step of disposing a substrate to be opposed to each other with a predetermined interval under the screen plate;
Disposing on the screen plate a squeegee provided along a direction between a printing direction and a vertical direction perpendicular to the printing direction in the screen plate surface;
Moving the squeegee arranged on the screen plate in the printing direction to print the printing paste on the printing material.   The screen printing method according to claim 8, wherein the squeegee is disposed at a predetermined inclination angle with respect to the vertical direction, and the inclination angle is not less than 5 degrees and not more than 30 degrees. Disposing a scraper provided on the screen plate along a direction between a printing direction and the vertical direction;
The screen according to claim 8, further comprising: moving a scraper disposed on the screen plate in a direction opposite to the printing direction to supply the printing paste to an opening pattern of the screen plate. Printing method.   The manufacturing method of a display apparatus provided with the process of forming the said sealing material using the screen printing apparatus of Claim 7.

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