Patent ID: 7993476
Filing Date: 2011-08-09
Classification: B32B,G02F,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method for continuously manufacturing liquid-crystal display elements, using a continuous optical film laminate which comprises at least an optically functional film having an adhesive layer provided thereon and a carrier film releasably laminated on said adhesive layer, the optically functional film including at least one defect-free region and at least one defect-containing region, the defect-free and defective regions being defined along the longitudinal direction in accordance with position of a defect existing in the optically functional film and detected through a preliminary inspection, said defect-free region having a predefined length corresponding to a dimension of a liquid-crystal panel to which said optically functional film is to be laminated, said defect-containing region including at least one defect and defined as a region having a predefined length which is different from the length of said defect-free region, the length of the defect-containing region being defined across said position of the defect, slit lines being sequentially formed in a transverse direction of said optical film laminate at a side opposite to said carrier film to a depth reaching a surface of said carrier film adjacent to said adhesive layer, longitudinally adjacent two of said slit lines forming one sheet of said optically functional film having a definite length on said carrier film, said sheet is a normal optically functional sheet corresponding to said defect-free region having said predefined length if it does not contain any defect, and said sheet is a defect-containing optically functional sheet corresponding to said defect-containing region, the continuous optical film laminate being wound into a roll, the method comprising steps of; continuously unrolling a continuous optical film laminate with predefined slit lines from the roll to a lamination station for lamination with the liquid-crystal panel, measuring a feed length between sequential ones of the predefined slit lines of the continuous optical film laminate with predefined slit lines and calculating the length of the sheet of the optically functional film separated by respective ones of predefined slit lines on the continuous optical film laminate, based on the feed length, comparing the length of the sheet of the optically functional film to said predefined length and determining whether the sheet is a normal optically functional film sheet or a defect-containing optically functional film sheet, peeling the sheet from the continuous optical film laminate if the sheet of the optically functional film is determined to be a normal polarizing sheet, and conveying liquid-crystal panel in synchronization with transportation of the normal optically functional film sheet to the lamination station and laminating the normal optically functional film sheet to said liquid-crystal panel.