Etching Thin Glass Substrates Using Back-Surface Scribe Marks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current display device manufacturing processes are limited in reducing the thickness of TFT and sealing mother substrates due to cutting restrictions, necessitating a method to simultaneously etch and cut these substrates efficiently while minimizing steps and costs.
Innovation Solution
Forming scribe marks on the back surfaces of glass substrates and etching the front surfaces to separate individual display devices, eliminating the need for a mask step and enabling simultaneous etching and cutting, thus allowing for thinner and lighter display devices.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If the thickness of TFT mother substrate and sealing mother substrate is reduced to enable thinner display devices, then the thickness reduction is achieved, but cutting becomes difficult or impossible
Solution Approach 1:
The invention forms scribe marks on the back surface of the substrates before etching. These pre-formed marks serve as guides for subsequent cutting operations, enabling precise separation even when substrate thickness is reduced to enable thinner display devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention separates the etching process into stages by first forming scribe marks that define division lines, then etching along these marks. This segmentation allows the cutting process to proceed accurately on thin substrates that would otherwise be difficult or impossible to cut.
2Manufacturing precision
If a mask step is used to form division grooves by etching, then precise division is achieved, but the number of manufacturing steps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the division guidance function from the etching mask step and implements it separately as scribe mark formation on the back surface. This eliminates the need for a mask during etching, reducing the number of manufacturing steps while maintaining division precision through the pre-formed scribe marks.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of forming division guides on the front surface using a mask during etching, the invention forms scribe marks on the back surface before etching. This inverted approach eliminates the mask step while achieving the same division guidance function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This method reduces the thickness and weight of display devices, simplifies the manufacturing process, and facilitates mass production of thinner devices by eliminating cutting restrictions, thereby reducing production costs and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
by etching a front surface of at least one substrate thus separating these substrates into the individual display devices
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a manufacturing method of a display device which can efficiently separate individual thin-thickness display devices from a large-sized mother substrate. Scribe marks for separating a plurality of display devices are preliminarily formed on back surfaces of a TFT mother substrate and a sealing mother substrate. By etching front surfaces of these mother substrates, etching portions reach the scribe marks so that a plurality of display devices each of which is constituted of a TFT substrate and a sealing substrate can be separated from each other.