A novel fish lure is provided herein. The lure is shaped in the form of a tail-less minnow having a main body of generally hydrodynamic shape including a head portion and a tail tip portion, the main body having, in side elevational view, a gently rounded upper back surface and an arcuately rounded belly surface and having, in top plan view, side faces which diverge from the head portion to a maximum body thickness and then converge to the tail tip portion; a projecting flat plate-like nose extending from the head in the form of a smooth extension of the gently rounded upper back surface and extending downwardly less than the height of the body from the upper surface to the lower surface, the nose having a shape, in top plan view of diverging side faces, which terminate in a transverse, connecting bevelled edge, to provide two downwardly sloping nose surfaces, the nose being provided with a plurality of spaced apart holes therethrough, disposed along the central longitudinal central axis thereof for securing a fish line drawn through a selected such hole; a depending tail fin along the central longitudinal axis of the body, the tail fin being provided with a fish-line-guiding channel extending along an arcuate path longitudinally through it and through the body. A fish line is adapted to be threaded through one of the holes. One hole imparts the most erratic action. A second hole imparts lessened erratic action, and the third hole imparts extremely vibrant but tight movement from the center. In all cases, the action of the plug is side-to-side at the same time as the plug oscillates on its longitudinal axis. The fish lure is one to which can be imparted erratic action in which the action is a simultaneous side-to-side and oscillation on its longitudinal axis. The lure may be patterned to represent a minnow more closely.

(i) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fish lures.
(ii) Description of the Prior Art
The art is replete with artificial fish bait developed for one purpose or another. Canadian Pat. No. 436,322 dated Aug. 13, 1946 in the name of D. Rosegard attempted to provide improvements in the manner and means of applying the hooks to the plug so as to prevent their fouling one another. This was said to be provided by a fish lure in which the plug body was formed with channels leading from the forward end portion of the body and opening, in spaced relationship, to the underside thereof, with a cord having a loop and two end portions freely passing through the channels to the underside of the plug body, with fish hooks attached to the cord ends, and a fish line slidably connected with the loop.
Canadian Pat. No. 481,461 issued Mar. 4, 1952 to W. Jordan proposed to provide a fish lure and hook assembly wherein the strain upon the hook was evenly distributed through the hook-strand instead of occurring directly on to the lure. This was said to be achieved by a fish lure and hook assembly including an open-ended passageway extending through the lure, a hook strand extending through the passageway, a hook secured to the strand also being secured near the head end opening of the passageway, a swivelling-eye accessory freely slidably on the strand, and a friction stop in the form of an apertured bead.
Canadian Pat. No. 531,671 issued Oct. 16, 1956 to G. P. Heiner proposed to provide a fishing lure for trout, bass or other game fish so designed that it will ride properly in the water and will have the correct amount of action to attract the fish and which has a structure to cause greater wobble in the action of the lure. This was said to be achieved in a fishing lure comprising a solid body having greater length than width and having a particularly recited triangular shape having a curved bottom, a downwardly extending tail with openings in the sides thereof, a double shanked hook pivoted in the openings and attaching means at a particularly recited location adapted for connection to a fish line or fishing hook.
Canadian Pat. No. 537,831 issued Mar. 5, 1957 to J. S. Allman et al proposed to provide an artificial fishing lure which was to be a close representation of a real live bait, a herring for example. This was said to be provided by producing a filler core from deformable interconnected laminations and completely enveloping the filler core within an outside wrapper, which is natural scale-equipped fish and which is cut from real fish skin.
Canadian Pat. No. 562,247 issued Aug. 26, 1958 to G. C. Wentwood proposed to provide a fish lure which would, by the relative motion of its parts and its movement in the water, closely simulate the action of the natural prey of fish and wherein the motion of the lure in the water and the character of its motion as well as the relative motion of the parts of the lure could be easily controlled by the angler. This was said to be achieved in a fishing lure comprising a body having longitudinally and horizontally disposed front, middle and tail sections, means disposed between and pivotally connecting the sections at their lower portions for vertically swinging movement, a hook carried beneath and by at least one of the sections, and a line operatively connected to and spaced from at least two of the sections at the bottom portions thereof and spaced laterally from the pivotal connections of the sections.
Canadian Pat. No. 644,777 issued July 17, 1962 to J. R. Zemen proposed to provide a trigger mechanism for fish lures whereby, upon engagement from a fish, a retracted hook would be released for swift advance to an open position wherein the hook would operate most effectively to catch the fish. This was said to be provided by a fish lure having an elongated based with line-attaching means near its forward end, a shank having one end in pivotal connection with the base and formed at its opposite end with a hook having reversely facing point, a particular trigger mechanism for the shank, and a spring-engaging catch anchored to the base.
Canadian Pat. No. 670,046 issued Sept. 10, 1963 to D. R. Greer proposed to provide an artificial fish lure bearing a novel and realistic overlapping scale simulation of natural size, the objects, advantages and distinguishing features. This is said to be provided by a fish lure provided with a plurality of scale elements including transverse leaves mounted substantially perpendicular to a longitudinal mounting element by means providing a hole in the transverse leaves, each of the transverse leaves having a portion bent rearwardly to create an overlapping relation with an adjacent leaf and contoured to provide a transverse plurality of simulated individual scales and means for spacing and confining the transverse leaves.
Canadian Pat. No. 786,533 issued June 4, 1968 to R. O. Blanks proposed to provide a hollow minnow lure which could work on top water and under water, and which would simulate the action of a lazy minnow, a wounded minnow and will also work from the top water down two feet under and may serve as a floater or a popper. This was said to be provided in a minnow lure, whose body was forwardly tapered, a nose, a tail, a longitudinally extending opening, wires associated with the body, and a guide lip angularly secured to a forward portion of the body.
Canadian Pat. No. 853,419 issued Oct. 13, 1970 to L. R. Bellah et al proposed to provide a buoyant traveling device useful as a bobber or as a lure. This was said to be provided by a buoyant traveling device having a pair of line attachment portions, an upwardly facing planing surface when resting on the water and a weight directly beneath the line attachment portion.
Canadian Pat. No. 950,671 issued July 9, 1974 to C. P. Metzger proposed to provide a lure having the general appearance of a herring strip but which did not require the use of fresh bait to attract fish. This was said to be provided in a lure which was shapes to roll as it is trolled through the water and to move otherwise about in a manner most likely to attract the attention of the salmon or other game fish and to deceive the fish into thinking it is a live but injured herring darting about in the frantic effort to escape. The rate at which the lure rolls or rotates during trolling can be adjusted by altering the position of the leader where it extends forwardly of the lure and relative to adjacent parts of the head of the lure.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,490,101 issued Apr. 15, 1924 to R. F. Dichman proposed to provide an artificial fish bait equipped with a plurality of hooks extending in various directions from different sides, all connected by a single wire, the wire constituting attaching means for the line, and constructed with a spoon head so located as to cause the bait to twirl or zig-zag through the water. The body member had an upstanding head and a down-turned tail. The head had a spoon-shaped recess on its lower face and lines secured to the base of the lower face of the head and to the extreme front end thereof with the bait having hooks carried thereby.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,975 patented July 1, 1924 by J. E. Ford proposed to provide an artificial fish bait, having a pair of holes therethrough so that when fishing in still water the fishing line is passed through the other hole, thereby controlling the action of such bait to have it imitate a live minnow in both characters of water. The artificial bait of buoyant material had a weight in its bottom intermediate the ends thereof, with flexible fins and tail pieces carried by the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,777,004 patented Sept. 30, 1930 by L. S. Lemere et al proposed to provide a fishing bait or lure of flexible construction, made to simulate a living organism and capable of being bent into different positions and of retaining the positions to which it is bent, thereby to secured different movements in the water. The fish lure was a relatively flat body member of flexible material, with a flexible non-resilient material strip embedded in, and extending lengthwise of the body member, hooks secured to the lines through the body member.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,840,273 patented Jan. 5, 1932 by J. S. Lang proposed to provide a class of lures which when drawn through the water have an oscillatory, rolling or diving motion or a combination of these motions imparted to them by the action of the water upon them. This was said to be provided by a traction member extending beneath the body of the lure, and light reflectors borne by the traction member.
U.S. Pat. No. Re. 18390 reissued Mar. 22, 1932 by J. T. Welch proposed to provide an artificial minnow with certain improvements by which a more attractive and serviceable surface finish is produced at a considerable saving in labor and expense. This was said to be provided by a fish bait having a body of transparent material with surface decoration formed in part by the material of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,851,823 patented Oct. 11, 1932 by A. V. McKenzie proposed to provide a metal biat which would float and which had a surface finished to cause the bait to be highly attractive. This was said to be provided by an artificial belt comprising a hollow elongated metal body formed in halves, the body having two coatings, the inner coating having a silver appearance, and the outer coating having an iridescent appearance.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,110,382 patented Mar. 8, 1938 by J. H. Martin proposed to provide a flexible securing means for attaching a hook or plurality of hooks to a fish lure. This was said to be provided by a fish lure provided with a draft link and having a line attached at one end to the link and a hook attached to the free end of the line, and a supporting eye secured to the lure for suspending the free portion of the line.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,256,173 patented Sept. 16, 1941 by O. Schechterle proposed to provide means for attaching hooks to artificial minnow plugs. This was said to be achieved by a screw eye, a socket member, a boss releasably engaged in the socket member and including a line guiding eye, and a trolling line attached to the screw eye.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,283,960 patented May 26, 1942 by W. J. Wade proposed to provide a trolling plug that would have a combined darting and wobbling or oscillating movement when it was drawn through the water to simulate the movement of a stunned or wounded fish. This was said to be achieved by a body member of special circular cross-sectional shape and a rigid plate of special shape and position.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,389,883 patented Nov. 27, 1945 by R. B. Worden proposed to provide a fish lure of a type wherein the line and shaft of a hook may be concealed within the body of the lure but which was readily releasable as the result of a strike. This was said to be provided by a body provided with a reeveway for the line, the body in its under portion being provided with a cavity with which the reeveway communicates and with a slot extending lengthwise of the body and in communication with the cavity, receiving the shank of the hook so that the shank is hidden within the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,545,185 patented Mar. 13, 1951 by C. A. Winslow proposed to provide a trolling gear which included a parafish having means for adjusting its depth when in use and additional means for regulating the direction of travel. This was said to be provided in a trolling device including a thin, flat body member, pivotally arranged laterally projecting fin members, fastening means, a tow line, a bridle for connecting the tow line to the body member, flexible straps, and clamping means for the straps.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,572,616 patented Oct. 23, 1951 by W. A. Hensen proposed to provide a fish lure in which hooks are suspended from the lure by the fishing line. This was said to be provided by a buoyant body having a pair of openings and a spring clip positioned on the upper surface of the body and spaced rearwardly from the opening through the forward end of the body, and fishing line having fish hooks thereon positioned between the opening through the rear portion of the body and opening through the forward end of the body.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,595,191 patented Apr. 29, 1952 by C. E. Erickson proposed to provide an artificial lure which obtains its attracting action in the water without the necessity of resorting to an unnatural bait fish form. This was said to be obtained by a simulated bait fish having two transverse bores through its sides at locations spaced apart lengthwise thereof, a rigging line passed continuously through the bores, and separate hooks slidably secured to the rigging line at the respective ends of the straight bore.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,994,982 patented Aug. 8, 1961 by S. A. Murawski proposed to provide an artificial fishing lure which is so constructed as to attract fish thereto due to the fact that the lure will have every appearance of a live minnow or the like and in which the hook is concealed from fish approaching the lure. This was said to be achieved in a hollow body member of soft pliable plastic material, fins of thin flexible structure, a head member and a tail member, a downwardly and rearwardly inclined channel, a hook member disposed within the channel, an abutment in the base of the channel, the hook being releasable upon compressive force upon the tail member of the lure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,218,750 patented Nov. 23, 1965 by Irving I. Levin proposed to provide a fishing lure resembling a fish, and having the physical connection between the body of the fish and tail piece so formed that such body connection and the tail piece will constitute an elastic system which will create a restoring force to operate upon the mass of the tail piece to establish the basic combination of a spring and mass of a vibrating system. This was said to be provided by a body formed of soft rubber-like material to resemble an actual small fish of minnow size, having fins, an oscillatable tail, a resilient curved bib, and the bib was freely flexible with respect to the tail in response to reaction pressure from water through which the lure is being drawn.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,370,375 patented Feb. 27, 1968 by G. J. Offeonello proposed to provide a fish lure which will travel when pulled through the water in a relatively buoyant mode and will maintain an axis with the bottom surface pointing downwardly and the top surface pointing upwardly with high resistance towards rotation. This was said to be provided in a fishing lure having a weighted elongated body, means mounted on the front end of the lure for attaching a fish line, attaching means at the rear, longitudinally disposed guides in each face, a centrally disposed raised projection mounted on the rear end of the lure, and a water-flow protuberance across the frontal end of the channel.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,392,474 patented July 16, 1968 to R. M. de Weese proposed to provide a multipurpose lure. This was said to be provided by a body to which a cover jacket of springy material having a desired color surface design or artwork was attached. The cover jacket could be removed to allow substitution of a different cover jacket.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,393,466 patented July 23, 1968 by H. A. Le Master proposed to provide a plastic molded fishing lure having predetermined buoyancy characteristics. This was said to be provided by a hollow fishing lure having a cavity therein to provide a predetermined buoyancy in water. A semi-cylindrical weight is adjustably retained in the body to adjust the attitude and buoyancy in water from fresh to various degrees of salt density.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,494,065 patented Feb. 10, 1970 proposed to provide a fishing lure in which areas of flashing reflected light is created which have real or apparent movement on a uniformly colored background as the lure moves through the water. This was said to be achieved in a fishing lure having the form of a small fish, the skin of which is of a uniform reflective color and which comprises a specified transparent synthetic resin material layer. By the specific structure, a traveling visual pattern of contiguous hexagons with bright centers is presented while the lure is moved.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,847 patented May 18, 1976 by J. W. Bayes proposed to provide a deep line weight which is in the shape of a fish so that as it descends downwardly through a school of fish, the weight simulating another school of fish causes some of the school of fish to turn and follow it and grab other lures that are adjacent thereto on the commercial setup. This was said to be provided by a weight that is cast into the shape of a fish, the weight being secured to fish lines by special means.


Animal feeds, which include compositions utilizing mucosa byproducts derived from mucosal material, such as digested gut material, are provided. The feeds can include a mucosa byproduct which contains at least about 10 wt. % nucleic acid material; at least about 20 wt. % mucopolysaccharides; and no more than about 10 wt. % proteinaceous material. The mucosa byproduct is produced by a process which includes digesting animal mucosal material to form a mucosal digest; and separating the mucosal digest to provide (a) a protein-enriched stream and (b) a polyanionic-enriched stream, which includes mucopolysaccharides and nucleic acid material.

In food production, and specifically producing animal products such as milk, beef, pork, eggs, chicken, fish etc., there is a constant need to improve production efficiency. Production efficiency, i.e. producing the maximum quantity of animal products while minimizing the time and/or cost of production for those products, is important in maintaining a competitive advantage.
Producers are constantly trying to increase these production efficiencies. One way of increasing production efficiencies is by altering the feed which animals are fed. For example, a feed with certain amounts of nutrients can cause an animal to grow or produce animal products quickly and/or perform better, whereas a different feed with different amounts of nutrients may cause an animal to grow or produce animal products on a more cost effective basis.
Since feed often comprises the largest portion of total animal production costs, providing well-balanced rations makes economic sense. When the ration is properly balanced for energy and all other essential food nutrients, the amount of feed consumed will generally determine an animal's growth rate and feed efficiency.
For both economic and environmental reasons, there is continued pressure to make productive of an increasing percentage of the waste material generated as a result of the slaughter of animals, such as livestock. A major use of livestock waste or other by-products is in the production of the blood anti-coagulant heparin. It has been estimated that over 90 wt. % of the heparin currently used as a-blood anti-coagulant is obtained from porcine intestinal mucosa.
Mucosa byproducts associated with heparin extraction from mucosal material typically contain chondroitin sulfate and other mucopolysaccharides (also sometimes referred to in the art as glucosaminoglycans or "MBP"). The mucopolysaccharides can include one or more of a number of types of glucosaminoglycans, such as hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, dermatin sulfate, keratin sulfate, heparin sulfate and heparin. Some of these glucosaminoglycans have recently appeared in the human and nutraceutical industries as treatments for arthritis and other cartilage related challenges. It should be noted that other sources of glucosaminoglycans include, shellfish and plants, and sources of cartilage such as trachea, aorta, nasal septa. Currently, the bulk of mucopolysaccharides (less heparin) produced as a result of the heparin industry are often simply dumped as waste material into the municipal sewage system and lost at a significant cost or the waste material is routed back and combined into another byproduct stream (e.g., peptone product).


A method for cutting a substrate is disclosed which uses a femtosecond laser capable of preventing thermal expansion and generation of shock waves from occurring around a region where a cutting process is carried out when the femtosecond laser is used to cut the substrate, thereby being capable of achieving a reduction in costs. The method includes the steps of arranging the substrate on a stage, and irradiating a femtosecond laser to a predetermined portion of the substrate arranged on the stage, thereby cutting the substrate along the predetermined substrate portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display (LCD) device, and more particularly, to a method for cutting a substrate using a femtosecond laser, which is capable of achieving an enhancement in productivity.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
With the recent rapid development of information communication fields, displays adapted to display desired information are gaining importance. Of such information displays, cathode ray tubes (CRTs) have continuously enjoyed popularity by virtue of their advantages, including the reproducibility of diverse colors and superior screen brightness.
Due to the recent demand for large-size, portable, and high-resolution displays, flat panel displays are in high demand, in order to replace CRTs which are heavy and bulky.
Flat panel displays are useful in a wide and diverse range of applications from industrial and consumer uses to applications in aircraft and spacecraft.
Currently, there are several types of commercially-available flat panel displays, such as LCDs, electro-luminescent displays (ELDs), field emission displays (FEDs), plasma display panels (PDPs), and the like.
Manufacturing flat panel displays generally involves singulation, or separation, of a fragile substrate into unit elements using a cutting process. Normally, a plurality of unit elements such as semiconductor chips are formed on the fragile substrate in a matrix array to produce large-scale integrated circuits.
The fragile substrates used in flat panel displays are typically manufactured from glass, silicon, or ceramics. There are two representative methods used in the cutting process for separation of the fragile substrate, namely, a dicing method and a scribing method. The dicing method involves cutting grooves on a substrate using a diamond blade having a thickness of 50 to 200 μm by rotating the blade at high speed. The scribing method involves cutting grooves onto a surface of the substrate using a scribing wheel made of a diamond to form a crack in a thickness direction of the substrate. The diamond normally has having a thickness of 0.6 to 2.0 mm.
The dicing method is suitable for cutting a substrate formed with a thin film or a convex portion at a surface of the substrate because a very thin blade is used. In the dicing method, heat is generated from friction at a region where the blade cuts the substrate. Furthermore, because the cutting process is performed with cooling water being supplied to the cutting region, the dicing method is not considered to be a method suitable for a flat panel display that includes metal portions such as metal electrode layers or metal terminals.
It is often difficult to completely remove the cooling water after the cutting process. If moisture from the cooling water is not completely removed, the metal portions of the flat panel display may be eroded or rusted. Furthermore, the dicing method typically takes more time than the scribing method, lowering productivity and manufacturing efficiency.
Cooling water is not required when cutting a substrate using the scribing method, which makes the scribing method a more efficient process than the dicing method.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a general LCD device. This LCD device is manufactured in accordance with the following method. For simplicity, the following description will be given only in conjunction with one pixel region, although the formation of all pixel regions is typical of this description.
As shown in FIG. 1, a gate electrode 11 that is made from a conductive material, such as metal, is first formed at a predetermined region on a first transparent substrate 10. A gate insulating film 12 made of a silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiO2) is then applied over the entire upper surface of the first substrate 10 including the gate electrode 11.
Thereafter, an active layer 13 made of amorphous silicon is placed on the gate insulating film 12 at a region corresponding to the gate electrode 11. An ohmic contact layer 14 is formed on the active layer 13 at regions corresponding to respective lateral edge portions of the active layer 13. The ohmic contact layer 14 is made of a doped amorphous silicon.
Source and drain electrodes 15 and 16, which are made of a conductive material such as metal, are subsequently applied on the ohmic contact layer 14. The source and drain electrodes 15 and 16 constitute a thin film transistor T, together with the gate electrode 11.
Meanwhile, although not shown, the gate electrode 11 is connected to a gate line, and the source electrode 15 is connected to a data line. The gate line and data line cross each other, and define a pixel region.
A protective film 17 is then formed over the entire upper surface of the first substrate 10 including the source and drain electrodes 15 and 16. The protective film 17 is made of a silicon nitride, silicon oxide, or organic insulating material. The protective film 17 has a contact hole 18 through which a predetermined portion of the surface of the drain electrode 16 is exposed.
Thereafter, a pixel electrode 19, which made of a transparent conductive material, is applied to the protective film 17 at the pixel region. The pixel electrode 19 is connected to the drain electrode 16 via the contact hole 18.
A first orientation film 20 is then formed over the entire upper surface of the first substrate 10 including the pixel electrode 19. The first orientation film 20 is made of, for example, polyimide, and has a surface on which the molecules of the first orientation film 20 are oriented in a predetermined direction.
Meanwhile, a second transparent substrate 31 is arranged over the first substrate 10 while being vertically spaced apart from the first substrate 10 by a predetermined distance.
A black matrix 32 is formed on a lower surface of the second substrate 31 at a region corresponding to the thin film transistor T of the first substrate 10. Although not shown, the black matrix 32 also covers a region other than the pixel electrode 19.
A color filter 33 is then formed on the second substrate 31 beneath the black matrix 32. Practically, color filters are arranged in the form of repeated filter patterns of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), each of which corresponds to one pixel region.
A common electrode 34 made of a transparent conductive material is subsequently formed on the second substrate 31 beneath the color filter 33. A second orientation film 35 is then formed on the second substrate 31 beneath the common electrode 34. The second orientation film 35 is made of, for example, polyimide, and has a surface on which the molecules of the second orientation film 35 are oriented in a predetermined direction. A liquid crystal layer 40 is sealed between the first orientation film 20 and the second orientation film 35.
The above-described LCD device is manufactured using an array substrate fabrication process that involves the formation of thin film transistors and pixel electrodes on a substrate to fabricate an array substrate, a color filter substrate fabrication process involving formation of color filters and a common electrode on another substrate to fabricate a color filter substrate, and a liquid crystal panel fabrication process involving the arrangement of the two fabricated substrates, the injection and sealing of a liquid crystal material, and the attachment of polarizing plates to fabricate a liquid crystal panel.
FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a general LCD manufacturing method.
In accordance with this method, a thin film transistor (TFT) array substrate including TFTs and a color filter substrate including color filters are first prepared (S1), as shown in FIG. 2.
The TFT array substrate is fabricated by repeatedly performing the processes of depositing a thin film and patterning the deposited thin film. In this case, the number of masks used for patterning the thin films in the fabrication of the TFT array substrate represents the number of processes used in the fabrication of the TFT array substrate. Currently, research is being performed to reduce the number of masks, and thus, to reduce the manufacturing costs.
The color filter substrate is fabricated by sequentially forming a black matrix for preventing light from being leaked through a region other than from pixel regions, R, G, and B color filters, and a common electrode. The color filters may be formed using a dyeing method, a printing method, a pigment dispersion method, an electro-deposition method, or the like. Currently, the pigment dispersion method is most often used. Thereafter, an orientation film is formed over each substrate to determine an initial alignment direction of liquid crystal molecules (S2).
The formation of the orientation film is achieved using a process for coating a polymer thin film, and treating the surface of the polymer thin film such that the molecules of the polymer thin film on the treated surface are oriented in a predetermined direction. Generally, polyimide-based organic materials are mainly used for the orientation film. A rubbing method is generally used for the orientation method.
In accordance with the rubbing method, the orientation film is rubbed in a predetermined direction using a rubbing cloth. This rubbing method is suitable for mass production because it is possible to easily achieve treatment for orientation. Also, the rubbing method has advantages of stable orientation and easy control of pretilt angle.
An optical orientation method has also been developed and used which achieves orientation using polarized beams.
Next, a seal pattern is formed at one of the two substrates (S3). The seal pattern is arranged around a region where an image is displayed. The seal pattern has a port for injection of a liquid crystal material, and serves to prevent the injected liquid crystal material from being leaked.
The seal pattern is formed by applying a thermosetting resin layer in a predetermined pattern. A screen printing method using a screen mask is used when forming the seal pattern. Alternatively, a method using a seal dispenser may also be used.
The screen printing method has a drawback in that products of poor quality may be produced if the screen mask comes into contact with the orientation film. Furthermore, the screen mask process becomes more difficult and error prone with increased substrate sizes. Therefore, the seal dispenser method is being used more often because it does not have the disadvantages of the screen printing method.
Subsequently, spacers having a predetermined size are sprayed on one of the TFT array substrate and color filter substrate to maintain an accurate and uniform space between the two substrates (S4).
A wet spray method is used to spray the spacers, which involves spraying the spacers while mixed with alcohol. Additionally, a dry spray method can be used wherein spacers are sprayed without alcohol. There are two types of dry spraying methods, an electrostatic spray method using static electricity, and an ionic spray method using pressurized gas. Since LCDs are weak against static electricity, the ionic spray method is preferred.
Thereafter, the two substrates of the LCD, i.e., the TFT array substrate and color filter substrate, are arranged such that the seal pattern is interposed between the substrates. In this state, the seal pattern is cured under pressure to join the substrates (S5). In this orientation, the orientation films of the substrates face each other, and the pixel electrodes and color filters correspond to each other in a one-to-one relationship. Next, the joined substrates are cut, or singulated, into liquid crystal panels (S6).
Generally, a plurality of liquid crystal panels, each of which will be one LCD device, are formed on one substrate sheet, and are then separated into individual panels. This is done to improve the manufacturing efficiency and reduce the manufacturing costs.
The liquid crystal panel cutting process includes a scribing process for forming a crack in a surface of each substrate using a scribing wheel made of a diamond material having a hardness higher than that of the substrate, which may be made from glass or similar materials, and a breaking process for positioning a breaking bar at a portion of the substrate where the crack is formed. After the breaking bar is positioned on the substrate, a predetermined pressure is applied to the breaking bar, thereby cutting the substrate in a direction along which the crack extend.
Subsequently, a liquid crystal material is injected between the two substrates of each liquid crystal panel (S7). A vacuum injection method is often used to inject the liquid crystal, which utilizes a pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the liquid crystal panel. Micro air bubbles may be present in the liquid crystal injected into the interior of the liquid crystal panel, which cause the liquid crystal panel to have poor quality. In order to prevent such a problem, it is necessary to perform a de-bubbling process in which the liquid crystal is maintained in a vacuum state for a prolonged time to remove bubbles.
After completion of the liquid crystal injection, the injection port is sealed to prevent the liquid crystal from being outwardly leaked through the injection port. The injection port is sealed by coating the injection port with an ultraviolet-setting resin, and the coated resin is irradiated with ultraviolet rays, which sets the coated resin. Next, polarizing plates (S8) are attached to the outer surfaces of the liquid crystal panel and finally, driving circuits are connected to the liquid crystal panel.
A conventional substrate cutting apparatus and a conventional substrate cutting method using the same will be described with reference to the figures.
FIG. 3 is a schematic view illustrating a conventional scribing device. The conventional scribing device includes a table 51, on which a substrate G is laid, and a vacuum chucking unit adapted to fix the substrate G to the table 51. Additionally, the conventional scribing device includes and a pair of parallel guide rails 52 for pivotally supporting the table 51 in a suspended state while allowing the table 51 to be movable in a Y-axis direction. The scribing device also includes a ball screw 53 for moving the table 51 along the guide rails 52, a guide bar 54 installed above the table 51 such that the guide bar 54 extends in an X-axis direction, and a scribing head 55 mounted on the guide bar 54 such that the scribing head 55 is slidable in the X-axis direction along the guide bar 54. The scribing device further includes a motor 56 for sliding the scribing head 55, a tip holder 57 mounted to a lower end of the scribing head 55 to be vertically movable as well as rotatable, and a scribing wheel 1 rotatably mounted to a lower end of the tip holder 57.
In the conventional substrate cutting method using the above-mentioned scribing device, a crack with a predetermined depth is formed in a substrate to be cut, based on the rotation of the scribing wheel 1. The substrate with the crack is then fed into a breaking device, which applies pressure to the substrate along the crack using a breaking bar to cut the substrate.
FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic views respectively illustrating scribing and breaking processes involved in the conventional substrate cutting method. In the scribing process as shown in FIG. 4, a scribing or cutting wheel 82 makes contact with the surface of a substrate 81. The scribing wheel 82 is rotated along the substrate 81 while applying a pressure of about 2.40 Kgf/cm2 to the substrate 81, which forms a crack 83 having a predetermined depth on the surface of the substrate 81 along the track of the scribing wheel 82.
Next, the breaking process to cut the substrate 81 is performed along the crack 83 formed to the predetermined depth in the surface of the substrate 81. As shown in FIG. 5, a breaking bar 84 is arranged on the substrate 81 along the line of the crack 83. The portion of the breaking bar 84 that contacts the substrate 81 is made of a material such as urethane rubber that is sufficiently hard, but does not form scratches on the surface of substrate 81.
Pressure is momentarily applied to the substrate 81 with the breaking bar 84, which causes the crack 83 to be extended and splits the substrate along the line of the crack.
Thereafter, a grinding process is then performed using a grindstone having a predetermined mesh size, to grind the cut surfaces and corners of the substrate formed during the scribing and breaking processes.
This conventional substrate cutting method has various problems or disadvantages. One major disadvantage is that the scribing wheel used for cutting the substrate is expensive and has a short lifespan, which requires periodic replacement of the scribing wheel. The scribing wheels are relatively expensive and the replacement cost is a large percentage of the manufacturing cost of the units. For this reason, an increase in manufacturing costs is incurred.

Method for cutting substrate using femtosecond laser