Abstract:
A method and an apparatus that can fabricate a liquid crystal display panel capable of selectively forming a spacer at a desired area. The inventive apparatus includes a sprayer to spray adhesive spacers over a substrate having at least one metal pattern, a dryer to dry the adhesive spacers, and a blower to selectively remove the adhesive spacers located at a region non-overlapping the metal pattern.

Description:
[0001]     This application claims the benefit of Korean patent application No. P2003-59892 filed in Korea on Aug. 28, 2003, which is hereby incorporated by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention pertains to a method and an apparatus to fabricate a liquid crystal display panel, and more particularly, to a method and an apparatus to fabricate a liquid crystal display panel capable of selectively forming a spacer at a desired area.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     A liquid crystal display device typically controls the light transmittance of liquid crystal by using an electric field to display a picture. To this end, the liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel in which liquid crystal cells are arranged in a matrix, and a drive circuit for driving the liquid crystal display panel.  
         [0006]     The liquid crystal display panel includes a thin film transistor array substrate and a color filter array substrate, which face each other.  
         [0007]     The color filter array substrate includes gate lines and data lines, a thin film transistor of a switching device formed at each crossing of the gate lines and the data lines, a pixel electrode formed at each liquid crystal cell and connected to the thin film transistor, and an alignment film coated on top of them.  
         [0008]     The color filter array substrate includes color filters formed at each liquid crystal cell, a black matrix that partitions the color filters and reflects external light, a common electrode to commonly apply a reference voltage to liquid crystal cells, and an alignment film coated on top of them.  
         [0009]     Spacers between the color filter array substrate and the thin film transistor array substrate sustain a defined cell gap between the substrates.  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a diagram representing a related art spacer spray device to form spacers.  
         [0011]     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the related art spacer spray device includes a feed box  12  containing ball spacers  10 . A chamber  4  with a nozzle  8  for sprays the ball spacers  10  in the feed box  12  on a substrate  2  through a pipe  14 .  
         [0012]     The feed box  12  stores the ball spacers  10  destined to be sprayed on the substrate  2 . Nitrogen gas N 2  injected from the exterior supplies the ball spacers  10  stored in the feed box  12  to the pipe  14 .  
         [0013]     The chamber  4  contains the substrate  2  mounted on a stage  6 , and a nozzle  8  for spraying the ball spacers  10  on the substrate  2 . The nozzle  8  located on the upper part of the substrate  2  sprays the ball spacers  10  on the substrate  2  while moving at a designated speed. The substrate  2  is either the thin film transistor array substrate having thin film transistors and pixel electrodes formed thereon or the color filter array substrate having color filters formed thereon.  
         [0014]     The operation of the related art spacer spray device is described below.  
         [0015]     First, nitrogen gas is supplied to the feed box  12  through a supply line (not shown), and the ball spacers  10  stored in the feed box  12  are supplied to the pipe  14  by the nitrogen gas. At this moment, the ball spacers  10  collide with the inner wall of the pipe  14  while moving along the pipe  14 . The ball spacers  10  are thus charged with positive (+) charges by the triboelectric effect. The positively charged ball spacers are sprayed uniformly on the substrate  2  through the nozzle  8 , as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0016]     However, if an undesired electric field associates with the metal patterns on the substrate  2  in the chamber  4 , then the positive (+) charged ball spacers  10  concentrate on a pattern to which negative (−) voltage on the substrate  2  is applied, as shown in  FIG. 3 . In this case, if a display area has an area “A” concentrated by the ball spacers  10 , the ball spacers  10  appear as stains in the display area.  
         [0017]     Further, the ball spacers  10  tend to easily move when impacted from the exterior, and thus an alignment film adjacent to the ball spacers  10  in the display area is damaged. Accordingly, the alignment of the liquid crystal material becomes uneven to cause its brightness to deteriorate. As a result, new spacer technologies are needed to produce high quality displays.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0018]     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method and apparatus to fabricate a liquid crystal display panel capable of selectively forming a spacer at a desired area.  
         [0019]     In order to achieve these and other objects of the invention, an apparatus to fabricate a liquid crystal display panel according to the invention includes a sprayer to spray adhesive spacers over a substrate having at least one metal pattern, a dryer to dry the adhesive spacers, and a blower to selectively remove the adhesive spacers located at a region non-overlapping the metal pattern.  
         [0020]     In order to achieve these and other objects of the invention, a method of fabricating a liquid crystal display panel includes spraying adhesive spacers on a substrate having at least one metal pattern, drying the sprayed adhesive spacers at a designated temperature, and selectively removing the adhesive spacers located at a region non-overlapping the metal pattern by using a blower. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0021]     These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments of the present invention with reference to the accompanying drawings.  
         [0022]      FIG. 1  shows a diagram of a related art spacer spray device.  
         [0023]      FIG. 2  shows spacers sprayed on a substrate using the spray device shown in  FIG. 1 .  
         [0024]      FIG. 3  shows spacers that form a mass that appear as a stain in a display area.  
         [0025]      FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram illustrating an apparatus to fabricate a liquid crystal display panel according to the invention.  
         [0026]      FIGS. 5A  to  5 C show sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel according to the invention.  
         [0027]      FIGS. 6A  to  6 C show sectional views illustrating various types of spacers formed on a lower substrate of the liquid crystal display panel. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0028]     Advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, it should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, are given by way of illustration only, since various changes and modifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description. Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings.  
         [0029]     The preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.  4  to  5 C.  
         [0030]      FIG. 4  shows a block diagram of an apparatus for fabricating a liquid crystal display panel according to the invention. The liquid crystal display panel fabrication apparatus shown in  FIG. 4  will be described in reference to  FIG. 5A  to  5 C.  
         [0031]     The apparatus shown in  FIG. 4  includes a sprayer  82  for spraying adhesive spacers  82  on a substrate  32 . A dryer  88  dries the adhesive spacers  80  sprayed on the substrate  32 . A blower  84  selectively removes the dried adhesive spacers  80 .  
         [0032]     The sprayer  82  unevenly sprays the adhesive spacers  80  with the diameter of about 3 μm to 6 μm stored in a feed box (not shown) on the substrate  32 . The substrate  32  includes a substrate provided with a conductive layer formed of a conductive metal to modulate the thermal conductivity. For example, the substrate includes a lower substrate provided with a data line, a gate line and a thin film transistor, or an upper substrate provided with a black matrix.  
         [0033]     The dryer  88  dries the upper substrate on which the adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed at a designated temperature for a designated time by using infrared rays. However, the invention is not restricted to infrared drying, and other methods of drying can be used. The designated time can be any suitable time, but times between 10 seconds and 24 hours are preferred. At this time, a region of an alignment film  92  overlapping the conductive layer has a thermal conductivity relatively higher than another region of the alignment film without overlapping the conductive layer. When the adhesive spacers  80  are formed on the upper substrate, the conductive layer includes the black matrix. However, when the adhesive spacers are formed on the lower substrate, the conductive layer includes any one of the gate line, the data line and the multiple electrodes of the thin film transistor. Here, the conductive layer serves to raise the thermal conductivity of the alignment film region overlapping the conductive layer. Accordingly, the adhesive spacers adhere relatively well at the alignment film region overlapping the conductive layer.  
         [0034]     Meanwhile, if the adhesive spacers are dried by using a hot gas (such as air or nitrogen) instead of the infrared rays, then the adhesive spacers tend to incline toward the progressing direction of the hot gas. Accordingly, the adhesive spacers appear as a stain.  
         [0035]     The blower  84  selectively forms the adhesive spacers  80  at a designated location by air streams  86 . In other words, the adhesive spacers  80  on the alignment line overlapping the conductive layer have a relatively strong adhesive strength, and the adhesive spacers are thus located on the alignment film. On the other hand, the adhesive spacers on the alignment film non-overlapping the conductive layer have a relatively weak adhesive strength, and the adhesive spacers are thus removed or are moved toward the alignment film overlapping the conductive layer by the blower  84 .  
         [0036]      FIGS. 5A  to  5 C show sectional views illustrating a method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel according to the invention. In this regard, the following description will be made with respect to an exemplary upper substrate including a black matrix.  
         [0037]     First, one prepares an upper substrate  32  over which is formed an upper array that includes a black matrix  70 , a color filter  72 , an overcoat layer  90 , a common electrode  74 , and an upper alignment film  92 . Adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed by the sprayer  82  over the upper substrate  32 . The adhesive spacer  80  includes a ball spacer material encapsulated by an adhesive material. The adhesive material is formed of, e.g., a polyacrylic resin, a methacrylic resin or a polyolefin resin. However, other suitable resins can be used. The adhesive material can also include elastomers, cross-linkers, fillers or accelerants. The ball spacer can be any suitable inorganic or organic material such as glass or plastic beads.  
         [0038]     As shown in  FIG. 5A , the upper substrate  32  to which the adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed is dried by the dryer  88  at a designated temperature for a designated time. The designated temperature is about 120° C. to 140° C. However, other temperatures can be used within a range of, e.g., 20° C. to 200° C. At this time, the adhesive spacers  80  adhere relatively strongly to the alignment film  92  overlapping the black matrix  70 .  
         [0039]     Afterwards, the adhesive spacers  80  are selectively removed by using the blower  84  as shown in  FIG. 5B . That is, the adhesive spacers  80  on the alignment film  92  non-overlapping the black matrix  70  are removed. On the other hand, the adhesive spacers  80  on the alignment film  92  overlapping the black matrix remain, as shown in  FIG. 5C .  
         [0040]     Although the apparatus and the method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel according to the invention had been described with respect to an exemplary upper substrate provide with the black matrix, the apparatus and the method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel according to the invention is also applicable to the lower substrate provided with the conductive electrode including the data line  104 , the gate line  102  and the thin film transistor  106  as shown in  FIGS. 6A  to  6 C.  FIG. 6A  shows the selective formation of spacers  80  over the gate line  102 . A method of fabricating the adhesive spacers shown in  FIG. 6A  will be described as follows. The gate line  102  is formed on the lower substrate, and then the adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed on the lower substrate. The sprayed adhesive spacers  80  are dried at a designated temperature. Then, the adhesive spacers  80  of other regions, i.e., a pixel region and the data line  104  region, except for the adhesive spacers  80  of the region overlapping the gate line  102  are selectively removed by the blower.  
         [0041]      FIG. 6B  shows the selective formation of spacers over the data line  104 . A method of fabricating the adhesive spacers shown in  FIG. 6B  will be described as follows. The data line  104  is formed on the lower substrate, and then the adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed on the lower substrate. The sprayed adhesive spacers  80  are dried at a designated temperature. Then, the adhesive spacers  80  of other regions, i.e., the pixel region and the gate line  102  region, except for the adhesive spacers  80  of the region overlapping the data line  104  are selectively removed by the blower.  
         [0042]      FIG. 6C  shows the formation of spacers over selected gate lines  102  and data lines  104 . A method of fabricating the adhesive spacers shown in  FIG. 6C  will be described as follows. The gate line  102 , the data line  104  crossing the gate line  102  with a gate insulting film positioned therebetween, and a passivation film located so as to cover the data line  104  are sequentially formed. Thereafter, the adhesive spacers  80  are sprayed on the passivation film. The sprayed adhesive spacers  80  are dried at a designated temperature. Then, the adhesive spacers  80  of other regions, i.e., the pixel region, except for the adhesive spacers  80  of the region overlapping the gate line  102  and the data line  104  are selectively removed by the blower.  
         [0043]     As described above, according to the inventive apparatus and method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel, the adhesive spacers sprayed on the substrate are dried at a designated temperature and the spacers relatively strongly adhere at the region overlapping a metal pattern, to thereby selectively form the adhesive spacers at a desired area. Accordingly, the adhesive spacers are selectively located at the region overlapping the metal pattern to make the spacers unmovable at a desired area. In other words, according to the inventive apparatus and method of fabricating the liquid crystal display panel, since the adhesive spacers concentrated in the pixel region among the adhesive spacers charged with positive (+) charges or negative (−) charges by the triboelectric effect are not overlapped with the metal pattern, an adhesive strength becomes weak. Thus, the adhesive spacers concentrated in the pixel region are removed by the blower. Further, it is possible to prevent light leakage by the spacers.  
         [0044]     Although the present invention has been explained by the embodiments shown in the drawings described above, it should be understood to the ordinary skilled person in the art that the invention is not limited to the embodiments, but rather that various changes or modifications thereof are possible without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the invention shall be determined only by the appended claims and their equivalents.