KR102011753B1 - Liquid Crystal Discharge Nozzle Assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal ejection nozzle assembly for branching and discharging a supplied liquid crystal and a liquid crystal dispenser having the same.
The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly of the liquid crystal dispenser for dividing and dispensing the supplied liquid crystal, comprising: a distribution unit for dividing and distributing the supplied liquid crystal into at least two; At least two liquid crystal transfer tubes connected to the distribution unit to receive divided liquid crystals; A vibration driver provided outside each of the liquid crystal delivery tubes to apply vibration to the liquid crystal delivery tubes; And a nozzle tip provided at an end of the liquid crystal delivery tube to discharge liquid crystal.

Description

Liquid Crystal Discharge Nozzle Assembly

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly. More specifically, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly for branching and discharging a supplied liquid crystal.

        The liquid crystal display generally includes a first substrate including a color filter layer, a second substrate on which driving elements are arranged, a paste (or sealant) pattern attaching the first substrate and the second substrate, and the first substrate. And a liquid crystal layer positioned between the second substrate and the second substrate.

A liquid crystal dispenser is used during the liquid crystal display manufacturing process to form a liquid crystal layer between the first substrate and the second substrate. The liquid crystal dispenser is a liquid crystal spraying device that forms a liquid crystal layer between the first and second substrates of the liquid crystal display device, and serves to make a uniform liquid crystal layer by dropping a certain amount of liquid crystal onto a glass substrate in a cell process.

        As a method of filling a liquid crystal in a conventional liquid crystal display device, an injection method applied to a single substrate is developed into a dropping method in which a liquid crystal is dropped on an upper portion of a substrate, and a liquid crystal dispensing method using a dropping method is mainly used.

        1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a liquid crystal dispenser, and FIG. 2 is a view illustrating an example of a dispensing head unit of a liquid crystal dispenser.

        The liquid crystal dispenser 1 includes a frame 3, a stage 5 provided on an upper portion of the frame 3 and loaded with a substrate S constituting a panel of the liquid crystal display device, and the stage 5. It includes a head support (7) provided in the upper portion, and a dispensing head unit (9) provided in the head support (7) for dropping the liquid crystal. The stage 5 may be configured to be driven in the X-axis or Y-axis direction. The head support 7 may be installed to be linearly movable in the Y-axis direction from the top of the frame 3 by the drive motor 8. The dispensing head unit 9 can be positioned in the Z-axis direction in order to adjust its relative position with the substrate, and can also be driven in the X-axis and / or Y-axis directions.

        The dispensing head unit 9 includes a liquid crystal bottle 10 for storing liquid crystals to be dropped onto the substrate S, and a cylinder assembly 12 for sucking and dropping liquid crystals stored in the liquid crystal bottle 10 onto the substrate S. And a tube 14, one end of which is inserted into the liquid crystal bottle 10 and the other end of which is connected to the cylinder assembly 12. The liquid crystal stored in the liquid crystal bottle 10 is sucked into the cylinder assembly 12 through the tube 14 and then dropped onto the substrate S placed on the stage 5 through the nozzle 16.

However, as the size of the liquid crystal dropped onto the substrate increases, the liquid crystal does not spread evenly between the two substrates when the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other, thereby preventing defects in the liquid crystal display such as occurrence of the Mura phenomenon, which is a lattice-shaped luminance unevenness phenomenon. cause. Therefore, it is required to reduce the size of the liquid crystal dropped on the substrate.

In order to solve the above problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal ejection nozzle assembly capable of dividing and discharging the supplied liquid crystal to two or more to reduce the size of the liquid crystal dropped on the substrate.

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly of a liquid crystal dispenser for dividing and dispensing a supplied liquid crystal, comprising: a distribution unit for dividing and distributing the supplied liquid crystal into at least two; At least two liquid crystal transfer tubes connected to the distribution unit to receive divided liquid crystals; A vibration driver provided outside each of the liquid crystal delivery tubes to apply vibration to the liquid crystal delivery tubes; And a nozzle tip provided at an end of the liquid crystal delivery tube to discharge liquid crystal.

        The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly may further include a case forming an outer body, and a cover plate may be coupled to one surface of the case.

        In one embodiment, at least one surface of the case is provided with a heat dissipation fin may be effective to heat dissipation. In addition, the cover plate or the case is provided with a cooling gas inlet through which the cooling gas for cooling flows, and a cooling gas outlet through which the cooling gas flowing into the cooling gas inlet flows out to provide heat radiation by the flow of the cooling gas. can do.

        On the other hand, the cover plate may be formed with a liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove into which the liquid crystal supply pipe for transmitting the liquid crystal supplied from the cylinder assembly is inserted.

In one embodiment, the distribution unit, the liquid crystal inlet pipe, the common pipe which is connected to the liquid crystal inlet pipe and transmits the liquid crystal introduced through the liquid crystal inlet pipe in a transverse direction, at least two connected to the common pipe It includes a branch pipe, the liquid crystal transfer pipe may be configured to be coupled to the branch pipe.

In addition, the distribution unit may include an inflow channel into which the liquid crystal flows, a branch channel distributing the liquid crystal to the liquid crystal delivery tube, and a common channel connecting the inflow channel and the branch channel. In addition, a liquid crystal transfer tube insertion hole into which the liquid crystal transfer tube is inserted is formed below the branch channel.

        A flow resistor for maintaining liquid crystal pressure in the common channel may be inserted into an upper end or an inner side of the liquid crystal delivery tube inserted into the liquid crystal delivery tube insertion hole. The flow resistor may be connected through a flow resistor fixing ring and a flow resistor connecting bar corresponding to an end of the liquid crystal delivery tube. Alternatively, the flow resistor may have an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the liquid crystal delivery tube and provided in a cylindrical shape through the center thereof, and may be fixed inside the upper portion of the liquid crystal delivery tube.

        On the other hand, the vibration drive unit may be configured to include a support plate and a piezoelectric element attached to one surface of the support plate. The support plate is elastic and supports the piezoelectric element by the outer circumference of the liquid crystal delivery tube. The piezoelectric element is provided with a piezoelectric element protective film in an area in which the liquid crystal transfer tube contacts.

        The vibration driver may be provided with a pair for each of the liquid crystal transfer tube. The vibration driving unit may be provided for each of the plurality of liquid crystal transmission tubes, and the plurality of vibration driving units may be stacked. In one embodiment, the support plate includes a first support plate ear and a second support plate ear on both sides, the first support plate ear is provided with a first fastening hole and the second support plate ear second A fastening hole is provided. In addition, a first fixing rod inserted into the first fastening hole and a second fixing rod inserted into the second fastening hole are further provided. In addition, the first fixing rod and the second fixing rod is provided with a spacer for maintaining the interval between the vibration drive unit. The spacer may be made of a conductive material to function as one of electrodes for supplying a control signal to the piezoelectric element.

        Furthermore, the liquid crystal delivery tube may be horizontally coupled to the distribution unit and bent in the nozzle tip direction. In one embodiment, the liquid crystal transfer tube may be a flat portion formed in the contact portion of the piezoelectric element so that the vibration generated in the vibration drive unit can be effectively transmitted to the liquid crystal transfer tube.

According to the present invention, the size of the liquid crystal dropped on the substrate can be reduced by branching and discharging the supplied liquid crystal. The liquid crystal dispenser employing the liquid crystal ejection nozzle assembly according to the present invention can minimize defects such as the Mura phenomenon of the liquid crystal display.

In addition, the present invention is provided with a fluid flow resistor in the front of each liquid crystal delivery tube in the process of branching the liquid crystal so that the liquid crystal can be evenly divided by each liquid crystal delivery tube.

In addition, the present invention includes a vibration drive unit employing a piezoelectric element so that the liquid crystal is accurately discharged through the end of each liquid crystal transfer tube.

The present invention can also reduce the size of the liquid crystal discharging nozzle assembly by configuring the vibration driving unit in a stacked type and by placing the liquid crystal transmission tube between the vibration driving units.

1 is a perspective view illustrating an example of a liquid crystal dispenser.
2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a dispensing head unit of a liquid crystal dispenser.
3 is a view illustrating a dispensing head unit of a liquid crystal dispenser having a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a perspective view of a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a diagram illustrating a liquid crystal branch structure of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
7A is a view showing an embodiment of a flow resistor in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
7B is a view showing another embodiment of the flow resistor in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
8 is a plan view of a vibration driving unit of a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
9 is a cross-sectional view of the vibration driving unit of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a view for explaining liquid crystal pumping according to driving of the vibration driver in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
11 is a view showing another form of the liquid crystal delivery tube in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
12 and 13 illustrate a liquid crystal discharge state using the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.
14 is a view showing another embodiment of the liquid crystal branch structure of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

        Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. First, in adding reference numerals to the components of each drawing, it should be noted that the same reference numerals are assigned to the same components as much as possible, even if shown on different drawings. In addition, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that the detailed description of the related well-known configuration or function may obscure the gist of the present invention, the detailed description thereof will be omitted. In addition, the following will describe a preferred embodiment of the present invention, but the technical idea of the present invention is not limited thereto and may be variously modified and modified by those skilled in the art.

        3 is a view illustrating a dispensing head unit of a liquid crystal dispenser having a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The dispensing head unit 9 includes a liquid crystal bottle 10 for storing liquid crystals to be dropped onto a substrate, a cylinder assembly 12 for sucking and dropping liquid crystals stored in the liquid crystal bottle 10 onto the substrate, and one end of the liquid crystal bottle 10. The other end includes a tube 14 inserted into the bottle 10 and connected to the cylinder assembly 12, and includes a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. The cylinder assembly 12 is preferably configured to deliver the liquid crystal received from the liquid crystal bottle 10 to the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 by a predetermined amount. To this end, the cylinder assembly 12 may be provided with a metering pump. The liquid crystal pumped from the cylinder assembly 12 is transferred to the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 through the liquid crystal supply pipe 18. The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 includes a case 22 and a multi nozzle 24 composed of a plurality of nozzles. The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 divides the liquid crystal supplied through the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 into a plurality so that the divided liquid crystal is discharged from the multi-nozzle 24.

        Figure 4 is a perspective view of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 5 is a perspective view showing the internal configuration of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 6 is a preferred embodiment of the present invention 2 is a diagram illustrating a liquid crystal branch structure of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 4, the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 includes a case 22 having a component for dividing the liquid crystal therein and pumping the branched liquid crystal, and a cover plate covering one surface of the case 22. 28). The cover plate 28 may be configured to be attached to or detached from the case 22. At least one surface of the case 22 may be provided with a heat dissipation fin 26 for dissipating heat inside the case 22 to the outside.

The cover plate 28 is provided with a liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove 30 into which the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 is inserted. In addition, the cover plate 28 may be provided with a control connector connecting hole 32 is inserted into the wire (not shown) for transmitting a control signal to the vibration driver 50 to be described later. Meanwhile, the cover plate 28 may be provided with a cooling gas inlet 34 through which cooling gas for cooling the inside of the case 22 is introduced, and a cooling gas outlet 36 through which the introduced cooling gas is discharged. As the cooling gas, air or an inert gas such as nitrogen, helium, or argon may be used. When air is used as a cooling gas, clean dry air (CDA) from which impurities and moisture are removed may be used. In the above description, the liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove 30, the control unit connecting hole 32, the cooling gas inlet 34, and the cooling gas outlet 36 are provided in the cover plate 28, but these components are the cover plate. Of course, it is also possible to be provided in the case 22 rather than (28).

The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 may have a mounting bracket 38. The mounting bracket 38 may be fixed to the cover plate 28 or the case 22. In one embodiment, the mounting bracket 38 is fixed to the dispensing head unit 9 so that the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 can be mounted to the dispensing head unit 9.

Referring to FIG. 5, the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 may include a distribution unit 40 dividing and distributing the liquid crystal supplied into the case 22, and a plurality of liquid crystals distributed through the distribution unit 40. A nozzle tip for discharging the divided liquid crystal provided in each of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42, the vibration driver 50 for applying vibration to each of the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tube 42, and the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tube 42 (44).

The distribution unit 40 divides the liquid crystal supplied from the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 inserted into the liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove 30 and distributes the liquid crystal to the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42. As an example of the distribution unit 40, the distribution unit 40 in the form of a block is illustrated in FIGS.

The liquid crystal delivery tube 42 serves to deliver the dispensed liquid crystal to the nozzle tip 44. In one embodiment, the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is fixed to the lower plate 46 facing the cover plate 28. In addition, the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 may be bent at a right angle to the lower plate 46 and a portion of the liquid crystal transfer tube 42 may be located in the lower plate 46. A nozzle tip 44 is provided at the end of each liquid crystal delivery tube 42. The nozzle tip 44 may be integrally formed with the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 or may be provided separately from the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 and connected to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42. These plurality of nozzle tips 44 constitute a multi-nozzle 24. The liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is preferably made of a material capable of effectively transmitting the vibration of the vibration driver 50. As a material of the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42, polyether ether ketone (

The vibration driver 50 applies vibration to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42. The vibration driver 50 may be provided in a plate shape. In one embodiment, the vibration driver 50 may be provided in a rhombus shape as a whole. Both sides of the vibration driver 50 are provided with a first fastening hole 51a and a second fastening hole 51b.

On the other hand, the case 22 is provided with a first fixing rod 48a and a second fixing rod 48b. In one embodiment, the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is arranged in a line, the first fixing rod 48a and the second fixing rod 48b are arranged on both sides of the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tube 42 arranged in a line Located. One vibration driving unit 50 may be disposed in one liquid crystal transmission tube 42. Furthermore, in order to improve the vibration effect transmitted to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42, the vibration driver 50 may be provided at both sides of one liquid crystal delivery tube 42. In this case, one liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 is positioned between the pair of vibration driving units 50.

Referring to FIG. 5, a plurality of vibration driving units 50 are coupled to the first fixing rod 48a and the second fixing rod 48b to form a stack shape. The first fastening hole 51a of the vibration drive unit 50 is fitted into the first fixing bar 48a, and the second fastening hole 51b is fitted into the second fixing bar 48b. A second spacer 54 is provided between the pair of vibration drivers 50 at both sides of one liquid crystal transmission tube 42, and the pair of vibration drivers 50 and the other pair of vibration drivers 50 are provided. The first spacer 52 is provided therebetween. In one embodiment, the second spacer 54 and the first spacer 52 may be a washer made of metal. In addition, the metal may be a conductive metal. When the vibration driver 50 is provided with a piezoelectric element, which will be described later, a piezoelectric element should be input with a control signal. One of the two electrodes for transmitting the control signal is the first spacer 52 and the second spacer of the metal material. 54 may play that role.

A configuration in which the distribution unit 40 distributes the liquid crystal to the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tubes 42 will be described with reference to FIG. 6. The cover plate 28 is provided with a liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove 30 so that the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 is inserted into the liquid crystal supply pipe insertion groove 30. The distribution unit 40 includes an inflow channel 56 through which the liquid crystal supplied from the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 flows, a common channel 58 that transversely transfers the liquid crystal supplied through the inflow channel 56, and a common channel. A branch channel 62 is provided which is connected to the 58 and connected to each of the plurality of liquid crystal transfer tubes 42. The liquid crystal supplied from the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 flows into the inflow channel 56 and is divided and distributed into the respective branch channels 62 through the common channel 58. The liquid crystal transfer tube insertion hole 64 is provided below the branch channel 62. The liquid crystal transfer tube 42 is inserted into the liquid crystal transfer tube insertion hole 64. The liquid crystal distributed in the branch channel 62 is delivered to each liquid crystal delivery pipe 42.

The common channel 58 of the distribution unit 40 creates a hole across the distribution unit 40 laterally, and blocks both sides of the hole with the first common channel plug 60a and the second common channel plug 60b. Can be formed.

On the other hand, the inflow channel 56 is connected to the substantially central portion of the common channel 58, the plurality of branch channels 62 is branched due to the configuration connected to the common channel 58 in a form deployed along the common channel 58 As channel 62 moves away from inlet channel 56, the amount of liquid crystal dispensed may decrease. In order to solve this problem, the liquid crystal transfer tube 64 may be provided with a flow resistor (64). The flow resistor 64 is configured to reduce the internal cross-sectional area of the liquid crystal delivery tube 64.

Figure 7a is a view showing an embodiment of the flow resistor in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 7b is another of the flow resistor in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention It is a figure which shows an Example.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the flow resistor 64 according to an exemplary embodiment is connected to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 through a flow resistor fixing ring 66 and a flow resistor connecting bar 68. It may be provided in the tube (42). Referring to FIG. 7B, the flow resistor 70 according to another embodiment has a hollow cylinder shape in which an outer diameter is substantially the same as the inner diameter of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 and the center is penetrated. In this case, the flow resistor 70 may be coupled to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 using an interference fit method or an adhesive.

        8 is a plan view of a vibration drive unit of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Figure 9 is a cross-sectional view of the vibration drive unit of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In one embodiment, the vibration drive unit 50 includes a plate-shaped support plate 72 and a piezoelectric element 76 attached to the support plate 72. The piezoelectric element 76 is disposed in contact with the liquid crystal transfer tube 42. The support plate 72 may be composed of a leaf spring for applying a force to the piezoelectric element 76 toward the liquid crystal transfer tube 42 so that the piezoelectric element 76 may be in close contact with the outer wall of the liquid crystal transfer tube 42. have. 9, the support plate 72 includes a first support plate ear 74a and a second support plate ear 74b having a predetermined angle in a direction opposite to the surface on which the piezoelectric element 76 is attached. A first fastening hole 51a is provided in the first support plate ear 74a, and a second fastening hole 51b is provided in the second support plate ear 74b. When the first fixing rod 48a and the second fixing rod 48b are inserted into the first fastening hole 51a and the second fastening hole 51b, respectively, and the vibration driving unit 50 is coupled, the piezoelectric element 76 is The force is brought into close contact with the liquid crystal delivery tube 42. In one embodiment, the support plate 72 has a substantially rhombus shape so that vibration by the piezoelectric element 76 can be effectively transmitted to the liquid crystal delivery tube 42.

Meanwhile, the electrode connecting portion 80 is connected to the piezoelectric element 76. One of the electrodes for driving the piezoelectric element 76 is constituted by the electrode connecting portion 80, and the other is formed by the first spacer 52 and the second spacer 54 having electrical conductivity as described above. Can be configured.

A passivation layer 78 may be provided on the piezoelectric element 76 to protect the piezoelectric element 76. The passivation layer 78 may be provided along a surface where the piezoelectric element 76 and the liquid crystal transfer tube 42 contact each other. The protective film 78 minimizes damage to the piezoelectric element 76 or excessive heat generated by friction. The protective film 78 is preferably made of a material having good heat resistance and abrasion resistance. As an example, a kapton tape made of polyimide may be used as the protective film.

        FIG. 10 is a view for explaining liquid crystal pumping according to driving of the vibration driver in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The outer circumferential surface of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is provided in a state in which the vibration driving unit 50 is in contact. As described above, one of the vibration drivers 50 may be used, and as shown in FIG. 10, a pair of vibration drivers 50 may be provided on the outer circumferential surface of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42. In one embodiment, the support plate 72 of the vibration driver 50 supports the piezoelectric element 76 in contact with the outer circumferential surface of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 in a state of elasticity. The piezoelectric element protective film 78 is provided at the contact portion between the piezoelectric element 76 and the liquid crystal transmission tube 42. Referring to (b) and (c) of FIG. 10, as the control signal is input to the piezoelectric element 76, the piezoelectric element 76 contracts and expands, thereby generating vibration. The generated vibration is transmitted to the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42. Upstream of the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 is a state supplied from the cylinder assembly 12 through the liquid crystal supply pipe 18. The liquid crystal supplied into the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 by the vibration generated by the vibration driver 50 is pumped to the downstream side of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42.

        11 is a view showing another form of the liquid crystal delivery tube in the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

The liquid crystal delivery tube 42 shown in FIG. 11 is characterized by including a flat portion 82. The flat portion 82 is provided on at least one side of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42, and when the pair of vibration driving units 50 are provided, the flat portion 82 is provided on both side surfaces of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42. . In one embodiment, the flat portion 82 may be formed by pressing both sides of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 to induce plastic deformation. In the present invention, the flat portion 82 does not necessarily have a flat surface. Even in the case where the longitudinal cross section of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is in an elliptical form at the flat portion 82 position, the flat portion 80 achieves its function. This is because the contact area between the piezoelectric element 76 and the liquid crystal transfer tube 42 may be wider when the flat portion 82 is present than when the flat portion 82 is not present.

        12 and 13 illustrate a liquid crystal discharge state using the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

12 is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 in the longitudinal direction of the liquid crystal delivery tube 42, and FIG. 13 is a view of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 viewed from the left side based on FIG. 12. The liquid crystal supplied through the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 is divided by the number of liquid crystal delivery pipes 42 in the distribution unit 40. The liquid crystal distributed to each liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 is discharged from each nozzle tip 44 constituting the multi-nozzle 24 and dropped onto the substrate.

Referring to FIG. 12, the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 20 has a liquid crystal delivery tube 42 connected horizontally from the distribution part 40 and at a predetermined position (in the vicinity of or in the lower plate 46 in FIG. 12). It is bent in the vertical direction. As a result, the nozzle tip 44 faces the substrate S. FIG. In other words, the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is bent in a "-" shape so that the nozzle tip is provided on one side of the liquid crystal delivery tube and the other side of the liquid crystal delivery tube is coupled to the distribution unit. On the other hand, in the practice of the present invention, the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 may be disposed in the vertical direction. However, as shown in FIG. 12, when the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is disposed horizontally from the distribution unit 40, the distributed liquid crystal is driven by the vibration driving unit 50 instead of its own weight, and thus, the direction of the nozzle tip 44. There is an advantage in that it is pumped into. In addition, it is possible to prevent or minimize bubbles remaining in the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 by the configuration in which the liquid crystal delivery tube 42 is bent from the horizontal direction to the vertical direction.

14 is a view showing another embodiment of the liquid crystal branch structure of the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In the above description with reference to FIG. 6, the distribution unit 40 has a common inflow channel 56 through which the liquid crystal supplied from the liquid crystal supply pipe 18 flows, and a liquid crystal supplied through the inflow channel 56 in a transverse direction. It is illustrated in block form with a channel 58 and a branch channel 62 connected to the common channel 58 and connected to each of the plurality of liquid crystal delivery tubes 42.

Referring to FIG. 14, the distribution unit 100 according to another embodiment includes a liquid crystal inlet tube 102 connected to the liquid crystal supply tube insertion groove 30 of the cover plate 28, and the liquid crystal inlet tube 102. It is configured to include a common pipe 104 and the branch pipe 106 connected to the common pipe 104 and the liquid crystal inlet pipe 102 and the liquid crystal flowing through the transverse direction. The lower side of the cover plate 28 is provided with a liquid crystal inlet tube insertion groove 108 in communication with the liquid crystal supply tube insertion groove 30, the liquid crystal inlet tube 102 is inserted into the liquid crystal inlet tube insertion groove 108. do.

The liquid crystal transfer pipe 42 is coupled to the branch pipe 106. In one embodiment, the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 is coupled to the outside of the branch pipe 106 as shown in FIG. 14. Of course, in some cases, the liquid crystal delivery pipe 42 may be coupled to the inside of the branch pipe 106. Here, the liquid crystal inlet tube 102, the common tube 104 and the branch tube 106 may be made of a material having a certain degree of rigidity, the material may be glass, metal or plastic resin. .

        The above description is merely illustrative of the technical idea of the present invention, and various modifications, changes, and substitutions may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the essential characteristics of the present invention. will be. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention and the accompanying drawings are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by the embodiments and the accompanying drawings. . The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

10 liquid crystal bottle 12 cylinder assembly
14 tube 18 liquid crystal supply tube
20 liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly 22 case
24: multi-nozzle 26: heat radiation fin
28: cover plate 30: liquid crystal supply tube insertion groove
32: control unit connector 34: cooling gas inlet
36: Cooling gas outlet 38: Mounting bracket
40: distributor 42: liquid crystal transfer tube
44: nozzle tip 46: lower plate
48a: first fixing rod 48b: second fixing rod
50: vibration drive 52: first spacer
54: second spacer 56: inlet channel
58: common channel 62: branch channel
64, 70: flow resistor 66: flow resistor holding ring
72: support plate 76: piezoelectric element
78: piezoelectric element protective film 82: flat part

Claims (21)

In the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly of the liquid crystal dispenser for dividing and discharging the supplied liquid crystal,
A distribution unit dividing and distributing the supplied liquid crystal into at least two;
At least two liquid crystal transfer tubes connected to the distribution unit to receive divided liquid crystals;
A vibration driver provided outside each of the liquid crystal delivery tubes to apply vibration to the liquid crystal delivery tubes; And
A nozzle tip provided at an end of the liquid crystal delivery tube to discharge liquid crystal;
Including,
The vibration drive unit is provided with a pair for each of the liquid crystal transfer tube,
The vibration driver is provided for each liquid crystal transmission tube and a plurality of vibration drivers are provided in a stacked type,
The vibration drive unit includes a support plate and a piezoelectric element attached to one surface of the support plate,
The support plate includes a first support plate ear and a second support plate ear on both sides,
The first support plate ear is provided with a first fastening hole, and the second support plate ear is provided with a second fastening hole, a first fixing rod is inserted into the first fastening hole, and a second fixing hole is fixed to the second fastening hole. Liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the plurality of vibration driving unit is provided in a stacked form by inserting a rod. The method of claim 1,
Further comprising a case forming an outer body, the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the cover plate is coupled to one surface of the case. The method of claim 2,
Liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the heat radiation fin is provided on at least one surface of the case. The method of claim 2,
And a cooling gas inlet through which the cooling gas for cooling flows in the cover plate or the case, and a cooling gas outlet through which the cooling gas flowing into the cooling gas inlet flows out. The method of claim 1,
The distribution unit includes a liquid crystal inlet tube, a common tube connected to the liquid crystal inlet tube and transversely transferring the liquid crystal introduced through the liquid crystal inlet tube, and at least two branch tubes connected to the common tube, The liquid crystal delivery nozzle assembly, characterized in that the liquid crystal delivery tube is coupled to the branch pipe. The method of claim 1,
And the distribution unit includes an inflow channel into which the liquid crystal flows, a branch channel for distributing liquid crystal to the liquid crystal delivery tube, and a common channel connecting the inflow channel and the branch channel. The method of claim 6,
And a liquid crystal delivery tube insertion hole into which the liquid crystal transfer tube is inserted below the branch channel. The method of claim 7, wherein
The liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the flow resistor to occupy a portion of the inner cross-sectional area of the liquid crystal transfer tube is inserted into the upper end or the inside of the liquid crystal transfer tube inserted into the liquid crystal transfer tube insertion hole. The method of claim 8,
The flow resistor is connected to the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that provided through the flow resistor fixing ring and the flow resistor connecting bar corresponding to the end of the liquid crystal delivery tube. The method of claim 8,
The flow resistor has an outer diameter corresponding to the inner diameter of the liquid crystal delivery tube, the center is provided with a cylindrical through the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that fixed to the upper inside of the liquid crystal delivery tube. delete The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The support plate is elastic and the liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that for supporting the piezoelectric element to the outer periphery of the liquid crystal delivery tube. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The piezoelectric element is a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the piezoelectric element protective film is provided in the area in which the liquid crystal transfer tube is in contact. delete delete delete delete The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
Liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that the first fixing rod and the second fixing rod is provided with a spacer for maintaining the interval between the vibration drive unit. The method of claim 18,
The spacer is a liquid crystal discharge nozzle assembly, characterized in that made of a conductive material. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The liquid crystal delivery tube is bent in a "-" shape is provided with the liquid crystal delivery tube, characterized in that the nozzle tip is provided on one side of the liquid crystal delivery tube and the other side of the liquid crystal delivery tube is coupled to the distribution unit. Nozzle assembly. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10,
The liquid crystal delivery nozzle assembly, characterized in that the flat portion is formed in the portion that the piezoelectric element is in contact with the liquid crystal delivery tube.

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