JPH0434509Y2 - - Google Patents

Description

[Detailed explanation of the idea] [Technical field of invention] This invention relates to a liquid crystal device.

[Prior art and its problems]

Conventionally, in a liquid crystal display device, an insulating layer is formed on the electrode formation surfaces of a pair of electrode substrates, and after the surface of this insulating layer is subjected to an alignment treatment by a rubbing method or the like, a liquid crystal is placed between both electrode substrates. I'm trying to inject it. In this case, the liquid crystal injection port can be used regardless of the alignment direction.
It was set up at a certain location.

For this reason, when liquid crystal is injected from the injection port, the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules tends to face the flow direction, but if the orientation direction is oblique to the flow direction, the liquid crystal molecules will not rotate. However, since the liquid crystal flows so as to be aligned in the orientation direction, the fluidity is poor and the injection of liquid crystal becomes slow.

Furthermore, if the force of the flow is stronger than the force that aligns the liquid crystal molecules in the alignment direction, the alignment may be disturbed.
When the initial alignment is disrupted in this way, it is necessary to raise the temperature to turn the liquid crystal into a liquid state, and then lower the temperature to turn it into a liquid crystal state, which is a tedious process.

[Purpose of invention]

This invention was made against the background of the above-mentioned circumstances, and the object is to provide a liquid crystal device that can improve the fluidity when liquid crystal is injected and can prevent initial alignment defects.

[Key points of the idea]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, this invention
The gist is that the orientation treatment direction is approximately the same direction or approximately opposite to the flow direction when liquid crystal is injected.

[Configuration of Example]

The configuration of this embodiment is applied to a guest-host effect type liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal shutter is driven at high speed by a two-frequency drive method.

1 in the figure is a plurality of minute shutters Sn (for example, 1≦
This is a liquid crystal shutter portion in which n≦1500) is formed.
The microshatter Sn has the shape of square dots arranged in a zigzag pattern, and in this example, by using a liquid crystal composition in which a dichroic dye (guest) is added to the liquid crystal material (host), the dye is It consists of a guest-host effect liquid crystal element that utilizes light absorption anisotropy. That is, in FIG. 2, among a pair of glass substrates 3 and 4 that face each other vertically with a liquid crystal layer 2 formed by adding dichroic dye added to a liquid crystal for dual-frequency driving, the inner surface of the lower glass substrate 3 is A plurality of scanning electrodes 5, 5 (two in this embodiment) extending in the horizontal direction are formed, and a plurality of scanning electrodes (650 in this embodiment) extending in the vertical direction are formed on the inner surface of the upper glass substrate 4.
signal electrodes 6, 6, . has been done. Note that the scanning electrode 5
When a signal is applied to the signal electrode 6, the long axes of the liquid crystal molecules and dichroic dye molecules between the two electrodes are aligned in the direction of the electric field when the signal is a low frequency signal, and aligned in the direction of the electric field when the signal is a high frequency signal. Arranged perpendicularly to the direction of the electric field. Therefore, due to the difference in absorption characteristics of the dichroic dye, the minute shutter is opened when a low frequency signal is applied and closed when a high frequency signal is applied.

Moreover, on the inner surfaces of the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4,
On the transparent conductive films 7 and 8 constituting the scanning electrode 5 and the signal electrode 6, a metal conductive layer (chromium thin film) is formed on the other parts except for the part constituting the minute shutter Sn.
Further, on these metal conductive layers 9 and 10, insulating layers (polyimide resin) 11 and 12 coated to cover the transparent conductive films 7 and 8 are formed. Here, the metal conductive layers 9 and 10 are for optically masking parts other than the minute shutter Sn, and the insulating layers 11 and 12 are for controlling liquid crystal molecules by horizontal alignment treatment applied to their surfaces. This is for homogeneous arrangement. In this case, the horizontal alignment treatment includes the insulating layer 11,
This was done by a rubbing method in which the surface of No. 12 was rubbed in a certain direction with cotton to form finer grooves each time. In this case, the orientation treatment direction of the insulating layer 11 is set in the same direction as the flow direction of liquid crystal injected from a liquid crystal injection port 21, which will be described later, and the orientation treatment direction of the insulating layer 12 is set in the opposite direction to the flow direction of the liquid crystal. ing. Note that other parts of the transparent conductive film 8 that constitute the signal electrode 6 constitute the lead wire portion 13 and the connection terminal portion 14.

Furthermore, inner seal members 15 are provided on both sides of the liquid crystal shutter section 1 between the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4 and on the scanning electrodes 5 and 5. Further, near the peripheral edges of the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4, an outer seal member 16 disposed outside the inner seal member 15 is provided. That is, the liquid crystal device of this embodiment has a double seal structure, and air layers 1 are provided on both sides of the liquid crystal shutter section 1 in the width direction.
7 and 18, respectively. In addition,
The air layers 17 and 18 are sealed between the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4 by inner and outer seal members 15 and 16.

In addition, liquid crystal reservoir portions 19 communicating with the liquid crystal shutter portion 1 are provided at both ends in the length direction of the liquid crystal shutter portion 1.
20 are provided. This liquid crystal reservoir 19, 20
is surrounded by inner and outer seal members 15 and 16 between the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4, and has a wide rectangular box shape as a whole. Also, one of the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20, in this embodiment, the liquid crystal reservoir 19 on the right side in FIG.
A liquid crystal injection port 21 is formed in the. In this case, the liquid crystal injection port 21 is provided in the outer seal member 16 on the center line in the width direction of the liquid crystal shutter section 1, and is sealed after the liquid crystal is injected. It should be noted that the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20 are not directly involved in driving the liquid crystal shutter section 1, but merely serve to store liquid crystal. Further, the liquid crystal reservoir 19 is provided with test electrodes T for testing the transmittance, operability, etc. of the liquid crystal material. This test electrode T is formed on the inner surface of the upper glass substrate 4 and faces the scanning electrodes 5, 5, respectively. Note that seal members 22, 22 are provided near both sides of the test electrode T. The seal members 22, 22 are provided on an extension line of the inner seal members 15, 15 forming both side walls of the liquid crystal shutter section 1, and the distance between the inner walls matches the width of the liquid crystal shutter section 1.

Next, the sizes of each part of the liquid crystal device in this embodiment will be explained in detail as follows. That is, the length of the liquid crystal shutter section 1 is 250 mm,
The width is 1 mm, and the length of the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20 is
It is set at 11.4mm and the width is 8.4mm. On the other hand, the thickness of the transparent conductive films 7 and 8 is 350 Å to 400 Å, the thickness of the metal conductive layers 9 and 10 is 1700 Å, the thickness of the insulating layers 11 and 12 is 400 Å to 700 Å, and the thickness of the upper and lower glass substrates 3 and 4. is set to 0.7mm to 0.8mm.

Next, the manufacturing process of this liquid crystal device will be explained with reference to FIGS. 3A to 3E. First, FIG. 3A shows the upper glass substrate 4, and FIG. 3B shows the lower glass substrate 3. A transparent conductive film 8 is formed on the inner surface of the upper glass substrate 4 according to an electrode pattern, and an opaque metal conductive layer 10 is formed thereon. Then, unnecessary portions of the metal conductive layer 10 are removed by etching, and then the metal conductive layer 10 is cleaned. Thereafter, an insulating layer 12 is formed thereon. In this case, the insulating layer 12
are formed not only in the liquid crystal shutter section 1 but also in locations corresponding to the liquid crystal reservoir sections 19 and 20 communicating therewith. After forming the insulating layer 12 in this way,
The surface is horizontally aligned by rubbing.
The arrow direction shown in FIG. 3A indicates the orientation treatment direction in this case. Note that the transparent conductive film 7, the metal conductive layer 9, and the insulating layer 11 are also formed on the inner surface of the lower glass substrate 3 in the same manner as described above. And Figure 3B
The direction of the arrow shown in indicates the direction of the alignment process in this case.

Then, on the upper surface of the lower glass substrate 3,
As shown in FIG. 2, the inner seal member 15 and the outer seal member 16 are formed by printing. When the upper glass substrate 4 shown in FIG. 3 is superimposed on this lower glass substrate 3, a cell container as shown in FIG. 3E is manufactured.

The cell container manufactured in this way forms a long and narrow strip-shaped rectangular parallelepiped, and a liquid crystal injection port 21 is provided on the short side of the rectangular parallelepiped.
is provided. When injecting liquid crystal, the short side of the liquid crystal layer is immersed in a vacuum with the liquid crystal injection port 21 facing downward, and then when the outside pressure is set to atmospheric pressure, the liquid crystal is poured from the injection port 21 into the liquid crystal layer. It will be injected inside. After filling the cell container with liquid crystal in this manner, the injection port 21 is sealed.

[Effect of the embodiment]

According to the liquid crystal device configured as described above, the surfaces of the insulating layers 11 and 12 are subjected to horizontal alignment treatment along the length direction of the liquid crystal device, and
Since the liquid crystal injection port 21 is formed in the outer sealing member 16 on the short side of the display device, the alignment treatment direction is the same as or opposite to the flow direction when liquid crystal is injected. As a result, the long axis direction of the liquid crystal molecules flows along the flow direction, so that the fluidity when injecting the liquid crystal becomes extremely good and the injection speed increases. Furthermore, since the initial arrangement is not disturbed, there is no need for the troublesome work of raising the temperature and then lowering it all at once as in the conventional method. Furthermore, since the short side of the cell container is immersed in the liquid crystal bath when liquid crystal is injected, the amount of liquid crystal that adheres to the surface of the cell container is reduced, which is economical.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, since the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20 communicating with the liquid crystal shutter part 1 are provided at both ends in the length direction of the liquid crystal shutter part 1, changes in the external temperature are caused by changes in the cell container. It can be absorbed.

That is, at high temperatures, the cell container swells outward as the internal pressure of the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20 increases.
Furthermore, at low temperatures, the internal pressure of the liquid crystal reservoirs 19 and 20 decreases, causing the cell container to recess inward. Therefore, even in the device using the elongated strip-shaped liquid crystal shutter section 1, by providing the liquid crystal reservoir sections 19 and 20 communicating with the liquid crystal shutter section 1, changes in external temperature can be absorbed by changes in the cell container. can do. As a result, there is no risk of air bubbles forming inside the cell container or leakage.
Reliability against changes in external temperature is improved.

Furthermore, since this example has a double seal structure,
Air layers 17 and 18 are formed in the other parts (lead wire parts) except for the liquid crystal shutter part 1, and as a result, the lead wire parts are also sealed with a liquid crystal material having a high dielectric constant, which has a single seal structure. Compared to the above, heat generation during high frequency drive can be sufficiently suppressed, the amount of liquid crystal used can be reduced, and short circuits in the air layers 17 and 18 due to the intrusion of dirt and dust can be prevented, and the structure is also improved. It becomes stronger and more robust.

Note that this invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and can be modified and applied in various ways without departing from this invention. For example, although the above embodiment is applied to a guest-host effect type liquid crystal device, it is of course applicable to other liquid crystal devices.

[Effect of idea]

As explained in detail above, this idea improves the fluidity during liquid crystal injection because the alignment treatment direction of the inner surfaces of the opposing substrates is set to be approximately the same or approximately opposite to the flow direction when liquid crystal is injected. In addition, initial alignment defects can be prevented.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

The drawings show an embodiment of this invention, and FIG.
is a sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 2, and Figure 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line A-A in Figure 2.
An enlarged view of the X part shown in Figure 2 is B-B in Figure 1A.
The line sectional views and FIGS. 3A to 3E are manufacturing process diagrams. 2...Liquid crystal layer, 3...Lower glass substrate, 4...
Upper glass substrate, 11, 12... Insulating layer, 21...
...LCD inlet.

Claims (1)

[Scope of utility model registration request] In a liquid crystal device in which a liquid crystal is sealed between a pair of facing electrode substrates that have been subjected to alignment treatment, and a plurality of microshutters for controlling light transmission are formed in an array, one of the mutually facing inner surfaces of the pair of electrode substrates is provided. one insulating film formed on the surface and oriented in substantially the same direction as the flow direction of the liquid crystal when injecting the liquid crystal, and the other of the opposing inner surfaces,
the other insulating film which has been subjected to alignment treatment in a direction substantially opposite to the flow direction of the liquid crystal and substantially parallel to the direction in which the one insulating film is aligned; A liquid crystal device comprising a liquid crystal layer in which liquid crystal molecules between the insulating films are aligned in one direction substantially parallel to the direction of the alignment treatment by alignment treatment.