Crimping and bonding equipment

Abstract

To provide a press-bonding device of an image display panel which can press-bond an image display panel and an FPC board with high quality even if a length dimension of the tip of the FPC board is large.SOLUTION: A press-bonding device includes a press-bonding head 301 for press-bonding an electrode terminal part 202 provided on a surface of an FPC board 201 to an electrode terminal part 102 provided on a surface of an image display panel 101 constituted by bonding a first substrate 103 and a second substrate 104. The press-bonding head 301 has a side face and a bottom face, and has a suction hole 303 for holding a tip of the FPC board 201 provided on the side face, and the press-bonding head 301 press-bonds the electrode terminal part 202 of the FPC board 201 to the electrode terminal part 102 of the mage display panel 101 by the bottom face while holding the tip of the FPC board 201 by the suction hole 303.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a pressure bonding device. [Background technology]

[0002] In manufacturing an image display device, in order to obtain electrical conduction in an image display panel (for example, a liquid crystal display panel or an organic EL panel) used in the image display device, a pressure bonding method is used in which an electrode terminal portion formed on one substrate of the image display panel is bonded to an electrode terminal portion of a flexible substrate (hereinafter referred to as an FPC substrate) by thermocompression bonding via an anisotropic conductive film (hereinafter referred to as an ACF).

[0003] 6 is a side view showing an example of a conventional pressure bonding apparatus. A conventional, general pressure bonding method involves first placing image display panel 101 on heat-dissipating pressure bonding stage 304, supplying ACF 401 so that electrode terminals 102 of image display panel 101 are covered, and attaching them to a predetermined position. Next, FPC board 201 is supplied onto ACF 401, and terminal electrode portions 202 (see FIG. 3 described below) of FPC board 201 are superimposed on electrode terminals 102 of the image display panel. Next, pressure bonding head 301 is heated, and once it has reached a sufficient temperature, pressure bonding head 301 is lowered and pressed against each of the superimposed electrode terminals via a protective sheet (not shown), thereby pressure bonding each electrode terminal.

[0004] FIG. 7 shows a conventional image display panel, with (a) a perspective view showing a state before an FPC board is pressure-bonded to the image display panel, and (b) a perspective view showing a state after the FPC board is pressure-bonded to the image display panel. The image display panel 101 is formed by bonding a first substrate 103 and a second substrate 104 together at appropriate positions with a resin or the like, with the electrode surfaces of the substrates facing each other. For example, if the image display panel 101 is a liquid crystal display panel, liquid crystal 106 (see FIG. 6) is injected into the gap between the first substrate 103 and the second substrate 104. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 7(a), the image display panel 101 is configured such that the outer periphery of one side of the first substrate 103 on which the electrode terminals 102 are arranged protrudes outward beyond the outer periphery of the second substrate 104, thereby forming a step 105 between the outer periphery of the second substrate 104 and the outer periphery of the first substrate 103. As shown in Fig. 7(b), an FPC board 201 is pressure-bonded to the top surface of the first substrate 103 adjacent to the step portion 105 (see, for example, Patent Document 1). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2020-166104 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] Fig. 8 is a perspective view showing a state in which a long FPC substrate is pressure-bonded to an electrode terminal portion of an image display panel in accordance with the prior art. When the length from the electrode terminal portion to the tip of FPC substrate 201 is longer than the length of the portion of first substrate 103 of image display panel 101 that protrudes outward beyond second substrate 104, as shown in Fig. 8, the conventional pressure-bonding method poses a problem in that the tip of FPC substrate 201 interferes with step portion 105 of image display panel 101 when FPC substrate 201 is pressure-bonded.

[0007] The above problems ultimately lead to various problems such as a decrease in the connection position accuracy of the FPC board 201 during pressure bonding, a decrease in the parallelism between the FPC board 201 and the electrode terminal portion 102 of the image display panel, and poor bonding of the electrode terminal portion.

[0008] The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to provide a pressure-bonding device for an image display panel that is capable of high-quality pressure-bonding between an image display panel and an FPC board 201 even when the length dimension of the tip of the FPC board is large. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] A crimping head that crimps and joins electrode terminal portions provided on the surface of an FPC substrate to electrode terminal portions provided on the surface of an image display panel formed by bonding a first substrate and a second substrate together. wherein the crimping head has a side surface and a bottom surface, the side surface is provided with a holding portion that holds a tip portion of the FPC board, and the crimping head crimps and joins the electrode terminal portion of the FPC board to the electrode terminal portion of the image display panel with the bottom surface while holding the tip portion of the FPC board with the holding portion.

[0010] The crimping head may be a crimping bonding device that crimps and bonds the electrode terminal portion of the FPC substrate to the electrode terminal portion of the image display panel using the bottom surface while pressing the FPC substrate toward a corner of a step portion formed between the outer periphery of the first substrate and the outer periphery of the second substrate.

[0011] The holding unit may be a pressure bonding device that holds the FPC board by vacuum suction. [Effects of the Invention]

[0012] According to the present invention, the image display panel and the FPC board can be pressure-bonded with high quality. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] Flow diagram showing the method for crimping an FPC board onto an image display panel [Figure 2] 1A and 1B are diagrams illustrating a compression bonding process according to an embodiment of the present invention, in which (a) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state before an FPC board is vacuum-adsorbed onto a compression head, and (b) is a cross-sectional view illustrating a state after the FPC board has been vacuum-adsorbed onto the compression head. [Figure 3] 1 is a top view of an FPC board according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 4] 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views showing a state in which an FPC board vacuum-sucked to a compression head is transported to the periphery of an image display panel, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the FPC board vacuum-sucked to the compression head is being compression-bonded to the image display panel; [Figure 5] 1A and 1B are a perspective view and a side view, respectively, showing an image display panel after an FPC board has been pressure-bonded by a pressure-bonding device according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 6] 1 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of a conventional pressure bonding device; [Figure 7] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing an image display panel according to a conventional technique, in which (a) is a perspective view showing a state before an FPC board is pressure-bonded to the image display panel, and (b) is a perspective view showing a state after the FPC board has been pressure-bonded to the image display panel. [Figure 8] 1 is a perspective view showing a state in which a long FPC board is pressure-bonded to an electrode terminal portion of an image display panel in a conventional technique; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0014] FIG. 1 is a flow diagram showing a method for pressure-bonding an FPC board to an image display panel. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a pressure-bonding process in an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a cross-sectional view showing a state before the FPC board is vacuum-adsorbed to a pressure-bonding head, and (b) is a cross-sectional view showing a state after the FPC board has been vacuum-adsorbed to the pressure-bonding head. FIG. 3 is a top view of an FPC board in an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a pressure-bonding process in an embodiment of the present invention, where (a) is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the FPC board vacuum-adsorbed to the pressure-bonding head has been transported to the periphery of the image display panel, and (b) is a cross-sectional view showing a state in which the FPC board vacuum-adsorbed to the pressure-bonding head has been pressure-bonded to the image display panel. FIG. 5 is (a) a perspective view and (b) a side view showing an image display panel after the FPC board has been pressure-bonded by a pressure-bonding device in an embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0015] The compression bonding apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a compression head 301 as shown in Fig. 2(a) and a compression stage similar to the compression stage 304 as shown in Fig. 6. A vacuum line and suction holes 303 for vacuum-adsorbing the FPC board 201 are provided on the side wall of the compression head 301. A heater 302 for thermocompression bonding the image display panel 101 and the FPC board 201 via the ACF 401 is provided on the bottom of the compression head 301.

[0016] 3, in the FPC board 201 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the electrode terminal portion 202 is located closer to the center in the longitudinal direction than the tip of the FPC board 201, and the length from the tip of the FPC board 201 to the electrode terminal portion 202 is greater than the length of the protruding portion of the first substrate 3 of the image display panel 101 (the portion protruding outward beyond the second substrate 4). Therefore, when performing pressure bonding using a conventional pressure bonding device, the step portion 105 of the image display panel 101 may interfere with the FPC board 201 during pressure bonding, resulting in inappropriate bonding. In contrast, in the embodiment of the present invention, when pressure bonding the FPC board 201 to the image display panel 101, a pressure bonding device equipped with a pressure bonding head as shown in FIG. 2 is used, and each process is performed according to the flow as shown in FIG. 1, for example.

[0017] First, an image display panel 101 is manufactured in an image display panel manufacturing process G1 shown in Fig. 1. The image display panel 101 is similar to the image display panel 101 shown in Fig. 7, for example.

[0018] Next, in the ACF attachment process G2 shown in FIG. 1, ACF 401 (see FIG. 6) is supplied and attached to the terminal electrode portion 102 of the image display panel. Specifically, as a preparation process, the pressure bonding device is first started, and pre-production inspections such as temperature and position adjustments of the pressure bonding head 301 are sequentially performed. The terminal electrode portion 102 of the image display panel 101 and the terminal electrode portion 202 of the FPC board 201 are then cleaned. Pressure bonding of the ACF 401 with foreign matter or dirt adhering to the terminal electrode portion can weaken the bond and cause the bonded surfaces to peel off. After cleaning the terminal electrode portion, the parts required for pressure bonding are loaded into a designated parts loader, and a tray for storing the pressure-bonded image display panel 101 is placed on the unloader side. The position of the image display panel 101 is then adjusted so that the pixel portion 107 (see FIG. 6) fits within the opening of a recess formed in the pressure bonding stage 304, and the image display panel 101 is then placed on the pressure bonding stage 304. Both the pressure bonding stage 304 and the pressure bonding head 301 can be moved in the x-axis direction, the y-axis direction, and the z-axis direction by air cylinders.

[0019] After these preparation steps are completed, ACF 401 cut to the shape required for pressure bonding is transported from the parts loader and attached to cover the terminal electrode portion 102 of the image display panel 101. The pressure bonding head 301 then moves to the supply tray for the FPC board 201, rotates 90° so that the suction holes 303 come into contact with the back surface of the FPC board 201 as shown in FIG. 2(a), descends from above the FPC board 201, and uses a sensor or the like to detect whether the pressure bonding head 301 is in contact with the FPC board 201. After it is detected that the pressure bonding head 301 is in contact with the FPC board 201, the suction holes 303 of the pressure bonding head 301 suck in air, and the FPC board 201 is fixed by suction. At the same time, the heater 302 is operated to start heating the pressure bonding head 301. After the FPC board 201 has been adsorbed and fixed, the pressure-bonding head 301 rises and is rotated again by 90° so that the bonding surface (bottom surface) of the pressure-bonding head 301 faces downward and so that the FPC board 201 is perpendicular to the image display panel 101, as shown in FIG. 2(b), and the FPC board 201 is transported near the pressure-bonding stage 304. During this transport, the positions of the terminal electrode portions 102 of the image display panel 101 and the terminal electrode portions 202 of the FPC board 201 are adjusted so that they are at predetermined joining positions. The position at which the FPC board 201 is adsorbed and fixed is adjusted so that the heater 302 and each electrode terminal portion overlap when the pressure-bonding head 301 is rotated by 90°.

[0020] 1, as shown in FIG. 4(a), preheated compression head 301 is moved diagonally from above toward corner 602 of step portion 105 of image display panel 101, and FPC board 201 is conveyed onto the upper surface of first substrate 103 of image display panel 101. At this time, compression head 301 is moved diagonally so that corner 601 on one side of compression head 301 is aligned with corner 602 of step portion 105 of image display panel 101, and the corners are pressed against each other. When corner 601 of compression head 301 is pressed against corner 602 of step portion 105 of image display panel 101, FPC board 201 is positioned in a bent state at approximately 90° so as to match the shape of corner 601 of compression head 301. In this state, heat is applied by heater 302 mounted on compression head 301, and while pressing, temporary compression bonding is performed between electrode terminal portions 102 of image display panel 101 and electrode terminal portions 202 of FPC board 201 via ACF 401. When attaching ACF 401, it is preferable that it is in close contact with the substrate surface so that no air bubbles are trapped between each terminal electrode portion and ACF 401, as this can eliminate concerns about insufficient bonding strength or compression bonding problems.

[0021] Next, in the permanent pressure bonding step G4 of Fig. 1, the pressure bonding head 301 applies a stronger and more uniform pressure to the ACF 401 than during the temporary pressure bonding, thereby permanently bonding the terminal electrode portion 102 of the image display panel 101 to the terminal electrode portion 202 of the FPC board 202. The heat transferred to the ACF 401 is preferably in the range of approximately 160°C to 200°C, so that the heat is not transferred to the pixel portion 107 of the image display panel 101. After the permanent pressure bonding, the image display panel 101 is transported to a storage tray on the unloader side, and the series of processes is completed. This results in an image display panel 1 to which the FPC board 201 is pressure bonded, as shown in Fig. 5.

[0022] According to the pressure bonding device in the embodiment of the present invention described above, the tip of the FPC board 201 can be easily bent, thereby suppressing interference between the tip of the FPC board 201 and the step portion 105 of the image display panel 101.

[0023] During the compression bonding, as in the conventional technology, a protective sheet may be placed between the compression bonding head 301 and the FPC board 201. The protective sheet is used to prevent warping and thermal degradation of the FPC board 201 due to heating during the compression bonding.

[0024] The suction hole 303 formed in the crimping head 301 may be provided in one place or in multiple places, and the shape of the tip of the suction surface is not limited to that in the embodiment, but may be other shapes.

[0025] During pressure bonding, when corner 601 of pressure bonding head 301 butts against corner 602 of step 105 of image display panel 101, a member that relieves stress applied to step 105 may be placed between each corner and FPC 201.

[0026] During the pressure bonding, the pressure bonding device may be provided with a cooling function for cooling the image display panel 101 using gas or liquid in order to protect the pixel section 107 from heat.

[0027] During crimping and bonding, the crimping head 301 moves linearly when the corner 601 of the crimping head 301 butts against the corner 602 of the step portion 105 of the image display panel 101, but this is not limited to this and the operation may be changed as appropriate to suit the specifications.

[0028] The method of holding the FPC board 201 on the pressure bonding head 301 is not limited to vacuum suction, but may be, for example, holding by adhesive such as resin or seal, or holding by a mechanical gripping mechanism, etc.

[0029] The image display panel 101 is not limited to a liquid crystal display panel, but may be any other image display panel such as an organic EL panel. [Explanation of symbols]

[0030] 101 Image display panel 102 Electrode terminal portion of image display panel 103 First board 104 Second board 105 Step 106 LCD 107 Pixel section 201 FPC board 202 FPC board electrode terminal 301 Crimping Head 302 Heater 303 Adsorption hole 304 Crimping stage 401 ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) 601 Crimping head corner 602 Corner of step of image display panel

Claims

1. A crimping and bonding device including a crimping head that crimps and bonds electrode terminal portions provided on a surface of an FPC substrate to electrode terminal portions provided on a surface of an image display panel formed by bonding a first substrate and a second substrate, The crimping head has a side surface and a bottom surface, a holding portion for holding a tip end of the FPC board is provided on the side surface; the crimping head crimps and joins the electrode terminal portion of the FPC board to the electrode terminal portion of the image display panel with the bottom surface while holding the tip portion of the FPC board with the holding portion. A crimping and joining device characterized by:

2. 2. The crimping bonding device according to claim 1, wherein the crimping head crimps and bonds the electrode terminal portion of the FPC board to the electrode terminal portion of the image display panel with the bottom surface while pressing the FPC board toward a corner of a step portion formed between the outer periphery of the first substrate and the outer periphery of the second substrate.

3. 3. The pressure bonding apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the holding portion holds the FPC board by vacuum suction.

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