JPH08129346A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Object] To provide a display device capable of displaying desired characters, figures, numbers, etc. on a passage by adjusting the amount of transmitted light using an EA fluid. A hollow container 18 is provided with an EA fluid 16 containing EA particles in an electrically insulating medium 19 having a higher specific gravity.
To store. Transparent conductive layers 17 ′ and 17 ″ are formed on the surfaces of the housing 18 that face each other in the vertical direction. The lower transparent conductive layer 17 ′ is a plane that covers almost the entire transparent portion of the housing 18. The transparent conductive layer 17 ″ on the upper side is formed.
Is formed into a fixed or irregular linear conductor 17a and a fixed or irregular heteropolar linear conductor 17b arranged adjacent to the linear conductor 17a. [Effect] When electricity is applied to the linear conductor and the linear conductor having a different polarity, the space between them becomes opaque, and characters and the like can be displayed by making a part of the housing opaque.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device having a mechanism for controlling the amount of transmitted light using a fluid composition, and in particular, it is possible to easily control the amount of transmitted light by applying an electric field to display letters and numbers. , A display device for displaying graphics, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As is well known, earthquakes,
There is a case where an arrow display unit that displays an evacuation shelter in the event of a disaster such as a fire or a time display unit that informs a person passing through a shopping district of the time by digital display is embedded.
Since such a display device can bring about a great display effect by devising the display such as providing illumination inside, its use is regarded as important.

By the way, the arrow display portion is decorated by painting an arrow on a glass plate or sticking an arrow-shaped resin. However, these decorations take a long time to do so and the display contents cannot be changed, so that they are inferior in display and advertising effects, and require more labor for their removal and maintenance.

On the other hand, as the time display part, the one whose display content changes rapidly with time is used, and a liquid crystal composition or an electrochromic composition whose optical characteristics can be controlled by applying a voltage. Things are known.

[0005] For example, when a voltage is applied between two transparent electrodes, they change the polarization property of transmitted light in the case of a liquid crystal mixture, and transmit a specific wavelength in the case of an electrochromic composition. It has an electro-sensitive optical functionality such as absorbing light, and by utilizing this characteristic, application as a surface light control shutter such as window glass and various display devices is considered.

[0006]

However, in the case of a conventional liquid crystal composition such as a liquid crystal composition, an accessory such as a polarizing film is required in manufacturing a display device, and strict control of the interval between transparent electrodes is required. Due to the above factors, the product becomes extremely expensive as the display area increases, which is uneconomical and impractical. Further, in the case of the electrochromic composition, there are problems that the response is slow and the color is specified.

By the way, the inventors of the present invention are studying a novel electrosensing optical functional fluid (hereinafter abbreviated as EA fluid) having a novel electric field arrangement which has never been known. The EA fluid is, for example, a fluid obtained by dispersing solid particles in an electrically insulating medium, and when an electric field is applied to the EA fluid, the solid particles cause dielectric polarization, and furthermore, electrostatic attraction due to the dielectric polarization causes an electric field between them. It has the property of forming a chain structure by being coordinately linked and aligned in the direction. In addition, some solid particles have electrophoretic properties, and thus electrophorese on the electrode portions when they are applied with an electric field to be aligned and oriented, thus showing an arrayed lump structure.

The alignment arrangement of particles under an electric field is called an electric field arrangement effect (hereinafter, abbreviated as EA effect).
Solid particles having such properties are referred to as electric field array particles (hereinafter, abbreviated as EA particles). The EA fluid is obtained by dispersing the EA particles as a main constituent in an electrically insulating medium. Then, the present inventors arrived at the present invention by advancing research on the EA fluid having this novel structure. It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of displaying desired characters, numbers, figures, etc. by adjusting the amount of transmitted light using the composition having this novel structure.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned problem is a display device which is installed horizontally or almost horizontally and displays characters, numbers, figures, etc., in which an EA particle is an electrically insulating medium having a higher specific gravity than the EA particle. EA fluid contained in this EA
A hollow container that contains a fluid and is transparent in at least a part of the two surfaces facing each other in the vertical direction, and a transparent conductive layer is formed on each of the transparent parts of the inner surface of the container. The lower transparent conductive layer is formed in a planar shape that covers almost the entire transparent portion of the container, and the upper transparent conductive layer is one of a fixed shape and an amorphous shape arranged in the transparent portion of the container. This is solved by a display device formed of one or more linear conductors and one or more linear conductors having different polarities, which are fixed or irregular and are disposed adjacent to the linear conductors.

Further, the above-mentioned problem is a display device which is installed horizontally or almost horizontally and displays characters, numbers, figures, etc., and contains EA particles in an electrically insulating medium having a lower specific gravity than the EA particles. And an EA fluid, and a hollow container for accommodating the EA fluid and having at least a part of the two opposing surfaces facing each other in the up-down direction made transparent. A transparent conductive layer is formed, the upper transparent conductive layer is formed into a planar shape that covers substantially the entire transparent portion of the container, and the lower transparent conductive layer is arranged on the transparent portion of the container. Formed from one or more fixed or irregular linear conductors and one or more fixed or irregular linear conductors arranged adjacent to the linear conductors Solved by the device.

The display device is installed horizontally or almost horizontally in order to dispose the EA particles on one of the inner surfaces of the container, and it is not always necessary to dispose the display device exactly horizontally. You may tilt it a few degrees. Further, it is preferable that the EA particles are inorganic / organic composite particles formed by a core body made of an organic polymer compound and a surface layer containing an inorganic substance having an EA effect (hereinafter, abbreviated as EA inorganic substance). Furthermore, it is preferable that the EA inorganic substance is an inorganic ion exchanger, silica gel, an electric semiconductor inorganic substance, or a mixture thereof.

[0012]

In the present invention, since the hollow container is filled with the EA fluid having a special structure, the upper and lower transparent conductive layers are energized to apply an electric field to the EA fluid so that the EA particles in the EA fluid are vertically moved. Oriented in the direction. As a result, when a voltage is applied, the EA particles are coordinately linked in a chain to form a chain, and the chains are arranged parallel to the electric field direction, so that light passes through the gap. , Become transparent. Also,
If no voltage is applied to the transparent conductive layer, the EA particles are not oriented in a specific direction, and the EA particles in the container diffusely reflect light,
The container looks opaque.

Further, the linear conductors and the linear conductors having different polarities are connected to each other, and by energizing them to apply an electric field to the EA fluid, the linear conductors having different polarities from the linear conductors are connected. Between and
A particles are oriented. That is, these EA particles are oriented along the surface direction of the housing body in which the transparent conductive layer is formed, and form a planar body. Light is blocked by this sheet.

[0014]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 is a perspective view showing a first embodiment of the display device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the display device shown in FIG. 1 in a non-energized state. In the display device A of this example, as shown in FIG. 2, a pair of transparent substrates 15 and 15 are arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval to form a container 18, and an EA fluid 16 is enclosed between them. However, transparent conductive layers 17 'and 17 "are formed on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 15 and 15 which face each other.

Of the transparent conductive layers facing each other, the lower transparent conductive layer 17 'has a transparent substrate 15 as shown in FIG.
Is formed in a shape that covers the entire inner surface of the. Further, the upper transparent conductive layer 17 ″ is disposed on the transparent substrate 15, and has one or more linear conductors 17 a having a fixed shape or an irregular shape, and a fixed or non-shaped linear conductor arranged adjacent to the linear conductor 17 a. It is formed of one or more fixed-shaped linear conductors 17b having different polarities, and these linear conductors 17a and different-polarity linear conductors 17b are
In the figure, it is arranged along the longitudinal direction of the arrow and is opposed to the outline of the arrow. On the opposite sides of the linear conductors 17a and the linear conductors 17b of different polarities, meshing portions 17a 'and 17b' are formed so as to project substantially vertically from them. The meshing portions 17a 'and 17b' are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals along the longitudinal direction of the graphic to be displayed. The linear conductor 17a is connected to one end of the switch S via the power supply V. The other end of the switch S is switchably arranged between the lower transparent conductive layer 17 'and the linear conductor 17b having a different polarity.

Although not shown in the drawing, a seal member is attached to the outer peripheral edge of the transparent substrates 15 and 15, and the transparent substrates 15 and 15 are provided.
The EA fluid 16 is enclosed in a plate-shaped hollow transparent container 18 formed by the seal member. Also,
As shown in FIG. 4, electrode portions electrically connected to the transparent conductive layers 17 ′ and 17 ″ are formed on the outer peripheral portions of the transparent substrates 15 and 15, and each electrode portion is connected to a power source V by a switch S. Connected through.

Since the transparent substrates 15 and 15 must be capable of containing the EA fluid 16 therein and strong enough to withstand transportation and installation, they are made of various glass substrates, transparent resin substrates made of acrylic resin or the like. Preferably. The transparent substrates 15 and 15 do not have to be wholly transparent, and may have a structure in which only a portion through which light passes is transparent. Therefore, only the peripheral portion may be composed of an opaque metal frame, a resin frame, or the like, and a transparent glass substrate or a resin substrate may be fitted inside the frame. The shape is not particularly limited, but a plate-shaped one is usually used.

The EA fluid 16 is basically an electrically insulating medium 19 in which inorganic / organic composite particles 30 having the structure shown in FIG. 5 are dispersed. The inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are formed of a core body 31 made of an organic polymer compound and a surface layer 33 made of an EA inorganic material 32 that covers the surface of the core body 31 and exhibits the EA effect.

Various kinds of EA inorganic substances 32 are known, and preferred examples thereof include hydroxides of polyvalent metals, hydrotalcites, acid salts of polyvalent metals,
Hydroxyapatite, nasicon-type compounds, clay minerals,
Examples thereof include inorganic ion exchangers composed of potassium titanates, heteropolyacid salts or insoluble ferrocyanides, silica gel, and electrically semiconducting inorganic substances. A core body 31 in which such an EA inorganic substance 32 is made of an organic polymer compound
The EA effect is provided to the EA fluid 16 when the surface layer 33 is formed thereon. In addition, the above-mentioned inorganic / organic composite particles 30
Is preferably manufactured by a method of forming the surface layer 33 at the same time as the core body 31.

Examples of the organic polymer compound which can be used as the core 31 of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 include poly (meth) acrylic acid ester, (meth) acrylic acid ester-styrene copolymer, polystyrene and polyethylene. , Polypropylene, nitrile rubber, butyl rubber, AB
S resin, nylon, polyvinyl butyrate, ionomer, ethylene-vinyl acetate copolymer, vinyl acetate resin,
Examples thereof include one kind or a mixture or copolymer of two or more kinds such as a polycarbonate resin.

A preferred EA inorganic substance 32 which can be used as the surface layer 33 of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 is an inorganic ion exchanger, an electric semiconductor inorganic substance or silica gel. These exhibit an excellent EA effect when the solid particles are dispersed in the electrically insulating medium 19. Examples of the inorganic ion exchanger include (1) polyvalent metal hydroxides, (2) hydrotalcites, (3) polyvalent metal acid salts, (4) hydroxyapatite, and (5) Nasicon-type compounds. , (6) clay minerals, (7) potassium titanates, (8) heteropolyacid salts, and (9) insoluble ferrocyanide.

The respective inorganic ion exchangers will be described in detail below. (1) Hydroxide of polyvalent metal. These compounds are represented by the general formula MO _x (OH) _y (M is a polyvalent metal, x is a number of 0 or more, and y is a positive number), and examples thereof include titanium hydroxide and zirconium hydroxide. , Bismuth hydroxide, tin hydroxide,
Examples thereof include lead hydroxide, aluminum hydroxide, tantalum hydroxide, niobium hydroxide, molybdenum hydroxide, magnesium hydroxide, manganese hydroxide and iron hydroxide. Here, for example, titanium hydroxide includes hydrous titanium oxide (also known as metatitanic acid or β-titanic acid, TiO (OH) ₂ ) and titanium hydroxide (also known as orthotitanic acid or α-titanic acid, Ti (O 2
H) ₄ ) is included, and the same applies to other compounds.

(2) Hydrotalcites. These compounds have the general formula M ₁₃ Al ₆ (OH) ₄₃ (CO) ₃ · 12H
It is represented by ₂ O (M is a divalent metal), and the divalent metal M is, for example, Mg, Ca or Ni. (3) Acid salt of polyvalent metal. These are, for example, titanium phosphate, zirconium phosphate, tin phosphate, cerium phosphate,
Chromium phosphate, zirconium arsenate, titanium arsenate, tin arsenate, cerium arsenate, titanium antimonate, tin antimonate, tantalum antimonate, niobium antimonate, zirconium tungstate, titanium vanadate, zirconium molybdate, selenate Examples include titanium and tin molybdate.

(4) Hydroxyapatite. These are, for example, calcium apatite, lead apatite, strontium apatite, cadmium apatite and the like. (5) Nasicon type compound. These include (H ₃ O)
Although Zr ₂ (PO ₄ ) _{3 and} the like are included, a Nasicon type compound in which H ₃ O is replaced with Na can also be used in the present invention. (6) Clay mineral. These are, for example, montmorillonite, sepiolite, bentonite and the like, and sepiolite is particularly preferable.

(7) Potassium titanates. These are general formulas aK ₂ O · bTiO ₂ · nH ₂ O (a is a positive number satisfying 0 <a ≦ 1, b is a positive number satisfying 1 ≦ b ≦ 6, and n is a positive number). , For example, K ₂ · TiO ₂ ·
2H ₂ O, K ₂ O ・ 2TiO ₂・ 2H ₂ O, 0.5K ₂ O ・
TiO ₂ · 2H ₂ O and K ₂ O · 2.5 TiO ₂ · 2H ₂
O etc. In addition, among the above compounds, a compound in which a or b is not an integer is easily synthesized by subjecting a compound in which a or b is an appropriate integer to an acid treatment and replacing K with H. (8) Heteropolyacid salt. These have the general formula H ₃ AE ₁₂ O ₄₀
Represented by nH ₂ O (A is phosphorus, arsenic, germanium, or silicon, E is molybdenum, tungsten, or vanadium, and n is a positive number), for example, ammonium molybdophosphate, and ammonium tungstophosphate. Is. (9) Insoluble ferrocyanide. These are compounds represented by the following general formula. M _b-pxa A [E (CN) ₆ ] (M
Is an alkali metal or hydrogen ion, A is zinc, copper, nickel, cobalt, manganese, cadmium, iron (III)
Or a heavy metal ion such as titanium, E is iron (II), iron (III), cobalt (II) or the like, and b is 4
Or 3, a is the valence of A, and p is 0 to b / a
Is a positive number. ) These include, for example, Cs ₂ Zn [Fe
(CN) ₆ ] and K ₂ Co [Fe (CN) ₆ ] such as insoluble ferrocyan compounds.

The inorganic ion exchangers (1) to (6) each have an OH group, and some or all of the ions present at the ion exchange sites of these inorganic ion exchangers are different ions. Those substituted with (hereinafter, referred to as a substitutional inorganic ion exchanger) are also included in the inorganic ion exchanger of the present invention. That, R-M ¹ inorganic ion exchanger described above (M ¹ represents an ion species of the ion exchange sites) is expressed as a part or all of M ¹ in the R-M ^1, the ion exchange reaction below A substituted inorganic ion exchanger in which an ionic species M ² different from M ¹ is substituted by
It is an inorganic ion exchanger in the present invention. xR−M ¹ + yM ² → Rx− (M ² ) y + xM ¹ (where x and y represent the valences of the ion species M ² and M ¹ , respectively). M ¹ varies depending on the type of the inorganic ion exchanger having an OH group, but when the inorganic ion exchanger exhibits a cation exchange property, M ¹ is generally H ⁺ , and in this case, M ² is an alkali metal or an alkali. Any metal ion other than H ⁺ , such as earth metals, polyvalent typical metals, transition metals or rare earth metals. When the inorganic ion exchanger having an OH group exhibits anion exchange property, M ¹ is generally OH ^−.
Where M ² is, for example, I, Cl, SCN, N
It is any of general anions other than OH ⁻ such as O ₂ , Br, F, CH ₃ COO, SO ₄ or CrO ₄ and complex ions.

Further, regarding the inorganic ion exchanger which has once lost the OH group due to the high temperature heat treatment but becomes to have the OH group again by an operation such as immersion in water, the inorganic ion after the high temperature heat treatment is used. Exchangers and the like are also one kind of inorganic ion exchangers that can be used in the present invention, and specific examples thereof include a Nasicon-type compound such as (H ₃ O) Zr.
₂ (PO ₄₎ obtained by heating ₃ HZr ₂ (PO _{4) 3} and high-temperature heat treatment of hydrotalcite (500 to 700
Heat treated at ℃). These inorganic ion exchangers can be used not only in one kind but also in many kinds simultaneously as a surface layer. It is particularly preferable to use a hydroxide of a polyvalent metal and an acid salt of a polyvalent metal as the above-mentioned inorganic ion exchanger.

Another preferable EA inorganic substance that can be used as the surface layer 33 of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 is a metal oxide having an electric conductivity of 10 ³ to 10 ^-11 Ω ^-1 / cm at room temperature.
Metal hydroxide, metal oxide hydroxide, inorganic ion exchanger,
Alternatively, at least one of these may be metal-doped, or at least one of these may be applied as an electric semiconductor layer on another support regardless of the presence or absence of metal doping.

Other preferable EA inorganic substances will be described in more detail below. (A) Metal oxide: For example, SnO ₂ , amorphous titanium dioxide (manufactured by Idemitsu Petrochemical Co., Ltd.) and the like. (B) Metal hydroxide: Titanium hydroxide, niobium hydroxide or the like. Titanium hydroxide here means hydrous titanium oxide (manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd.), metatitanic acid (also known as β-titanic acid, T
iO (OH) ₂ ) and orthotitanic acid (also known as α-titanic acid, Ti (OH) ₄ ). (C) Metal oxide hydroxide: For example, FeO
(OH) (goethite) and the like can be mentioned.

(D) Hydroxide of polyvalent metal: equivalent to those described in (1) above. (E) Hydrotalcites: equivalent to those described in (2) above. (F) Acid salt of polyvalent metal: equivalent to the one described in (3) above. (G) Hydroxyapatite: equivalent to the one described in (4) above. (H) Nashicon type compound: equivalent to the one described in (5) above. (I) Clay mineral: equivalent to the one described in (6) above. (J) Potassium titanates: equivalent to those described in (7) above. (K) Heteropolyacid salt: equivalent to the one described in (8) above. (L) Insoluble ferrocyanide: equivalent to those described in (9) above.

(M) Metal-Doped EA Inorganic Material: This is obtained by doping the EA inorganic material with a metal such as antimony (Sb) in order to increase the electric conductivity of the EA inorganic materials (A) to (L). For example, antimony (S
b) Doping tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) and the like can be mentioned. (N) EA inorganic material applied as an electric semiconductor layer on another support: for example, titanium oxide, silica as a support,
Examples thereof include inorganic particles such as alumina and silica-alumina, or organic polymer particles such as polyethylene and polypropylene, to which antimony (Sb) -doped tin oxide (SnO ₂ ) is applied as an electric semiconductor layer. . The particles to which the EA inorganic substance has been applied in this way are EA inorganic substances as a whole. These EA inorganic substances may be used not only in one kind but also in two kinds or more simultaneously as a surface layer.

As the electrically insulating medium 19 used for the EA fluid 16, the one used for the conventionally known electric field arranging fluid can be used. However, the electrically insulating medium 19 is heavier than the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, has high electrical insulation and electrical breakdown strength, is chemically stable, and can stably float and disperse the inorganic / organic composite particles. Any fluid can be used, and a mixture thereof can also be used. For example, when the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is about 1.5 or less, a perfluoro compound having a higher specific gravity can be used. As this perfluoro compound, DuPont Japan Krytox (KRYTOX) having physical properties of a specific gravity of 0 ° C. of 1.87, a specific gravity of 100 ° C. of 1.67, a kinematic viscosity of 20 ° C. of 7 cSt, and a kinematic viscosity of 40 ° C. of 4 cSt. GPL
100, specific gravity at 0 ° C 1.89, specific gravity at 100 ° C 1.7
Kinematic viscosity of 16 cSt at 0 and 20 ° C, 8 cS at 40 ° C
CRYTOX GPL101 manufactured by the same company with t physical properties
And a specific gravity of 1.87 at 25 ° C. and a kinematic viscosity of 2.2 cSt
Fluorinert FC-40 manufactured by Sumitomo 3M Co., Ltd., which has the physical properties described above, and Fluorinert FC-40 manufactured by Sumitomo 3M, which has the physical properties of 1.88 at 25 ° C. and a kinematic viscosity of 2.8 cSt, and a specific gravity of 1 at 25 ° C. .9
4, Fluorinert FC-70 manufactured by the same company having physical properties of kinematic viscosity 14.0 cSt, specific gravity of 15 ° C 1.75, 40 ° C
Phosphazene oil Otsuka Phosphalol NF-36 manufactured by Otsuka Chemical Co., Ltd. having a physical viscosity of 37 cSt.

The electrically insulating medium 19 of the present application is not limited to the above-mentioned example, and the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 may be used.
Anything with a higher specific gravity may be used. For example, if the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is 1.0, various halogen element-containing media such as diphenyl chloride, chlorinated paraffin, brominated oil, fluorocarbon-based oil, fluorosilicone-based oil, freon-based media, etc. And methylphenylpolysiloxane-based silicone oil can be used, and a mixture thereof can also be used.

The electrically insulating medium 19 can be colored according to the purpose. In the case of coloring, it is preferable to use a type and amount of an oil-soluble dye or a dispersible dye that is soluble in the selected electrically insulating medium 19 and does not impair its electrical characteristics. In addition to this, the electrically insulating medium 19 includes
A dispersant, a surfactant, a viscosity adjusting agent, an antioxidant, a stabilizer and the like may be contained.

Such inorganic / organic composite particles 30 can be manufactured by various methods. For example, a particulate core body 31 made of an organic polymer compound and a particulate EA
There is a method in which the inorganic substance 32 is transported by a jet stream and collides with it. In this case, EA is formed on the surface of the particulate core 31.
The fine particles of the inorganic material 32 collide with each other at a high speed and are fixed to be fixed to the surface layer
3 is formed. Another example of the manufacturing method is a method in which the particulate core body 31 is suspended in a gas and a solution of the EA inorganic substance is atomized and sprayed on the surface. In this case, the surface layer 33 is formed by adhering the solution to the surface of the core body 31 and drying it.

However, a preferred manufacturing method for manufacturing the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 is a method of forming the surface layer 33 at the same time as the core body 31. In this method, for example, when emulsion-polymerizing, suspension-polymerizing, or dispersion-polymerizing a monomer of an organic polymer compound forming the core body 31 in a polymerization medium, a fine particle EA inorganic substance 32 is contained in the monomer or the polymerization medium. The idea is to let it exist inside. Water is preferred as the polymerization medium, but a mixture of water and a water-soluble organic solvent can be used, and an organic poor solvent can also be used. According to this method, the monomers are polymerized in the polymerization medium to form core particles, and at the same time, the fine particle EA inorganic substance 32 is oriented in a layer on the surface of the core 31 to cover the surface of the core 31, and the surface layer 33 is formed. Form.

When the inorganic / organic composite particles are produced by emulsion polymerization or suspension polymerization, most of the fine particles of the EA inorganic substance 32 are combined by combining the hydrophobic property of the monomer and the hydrophilic property of the EA inorganic substance 32. Can be oriented on the surface of the core particles. According to the method of simultaneously forming the core body 31 and the surface layer 33, the EA inorganic substance 32 particles are densely and firmly adhered to the surface of the core body 31 particles made of an organic polymer compound, and the robust inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are obtained. It is formed.

Inorganic / organic composite particles 30 used in the present invention
Does not necessarily have to be spherical, but when the particulate core 31 is manufactured by the controlled emulsion / suspension polymerization method, the resulting inorganic / organic composite particles 30 have a substantially spherical shape. Become. In addition, since the spherical shape allows light to be scattered in all directions when adjusting the amount of transmitted light, the spherical shape is more advantageous than the irregular shape. The particle size of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is not particularly limited, but it is preferably 0.1 to 500 μm, particularly preferably 5 to 200 μm. The particle size of the fine particle EA inorganic substance 32 at this time is not particularly limited, but is preferably 0.005 to 100 μm, and more preferably 0.01 to 10 μm.

In such an inorganic / organic composite particle 30, the weight ratio of the EA inorganic substance 32 forming the surface layer 33 and the organic polymer compound forming the core body 31 is not particularly limited, but (EA inorganic substance) : (Organic polymer compound) ratio in the range of (1-60) :( 99-40), especially (4-3)
0): (96 to 70) is preferable. Here, if the weight ratio of the EA inorganic substance 32 is less than 1%, the electric field arrangement effect of the obtained EA fluid is insufficient, and if it exceeds 60%, an excessive current flows in the obtained EA fluid 16. The specific gravity of these inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is made relatively small as compared with the specific gravity of the EA inorganic substance 32 forming the surface layer 33 because an organic polymer compound having a relatively small specific gravity is used for the core body 31. be able to. Depending on the type and ratio of the organic polymer compound used and the EA inorganic substance,
The specific gravity of the organic composite particles 30 can be freely adjusted, but in general, the specific gravity is 1.0 because of the relationship with the electrically insulating medium used.
It is adjusted to about 2.0.

Surface layer 33 of the above-mentioned inorganic / organic composite particles 30
Alternatively, the core body 31 may include a pigment. The pigment that can be used for the surface layer 33 is a pigment. When the surface layer 33 made of the EA inorganic material 32 is formed on the core body 31 by the above method, this pigment is preferably mixed with the EA inorganic material 32 and used to be contained in the surface layer 33. Core 3
When 1 contains a dye, any dye or pigment generally known for synthetic resins can be used.
This dye can be contained in the core body 31 by mixing it in the monomer forming the core body 31 in advance and then polymerizing the monomer, or by kneading it into a synthetic resin to be the core body 31. By using the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 containing a pigment in the surface layer 33 or the core 31, or both of them, the scattered light of the obtained EA fluid 16 when no voltage is applied can be colored in any color. You can

For example, white color can be obtained by mixing titanium hydroxide or silica gel, and blue color can be obtained by mixing blue pigment phthalocyanine blue (Cyanine Blue S-32 manufactured by Dainichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd.). Can be colored, yellow pigment First Yellow (Dainichi Seika Kogyo Co., Ltd., NL First Yellow 5G (S))
Can be colored yellow by mixing with. Furthermore, black iron (III) tetraoxide (Fe ₃
It can be colored black by mixing O ₄ ) and can be colored red by mixing red ferric trioxide (Fe ₂ O ₃ ) which is an electric semiconductor inorganic substance.

Inorganic / organic composite particles 30 produced by the various methods described above, particularly the method of simultaneously forming the core body 31 and the surface layer 33, generally have the surface layer 33 entirely or partially made of an organic polymer material, Covered with a thin film of dispersants, emulsifiers and other additives used in the manufacturing process,
The EA effect of 32 fine particles of the EA inorganic material may not be sufficiently exhibited. This thin film of inert material can be easily removed by polishing the surface of the particles.

The surface of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 can be polished by various methods. For example, the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 may be dispersed in a dispersion medium such as water and the mixture may be stirred. On this occasion,
It is also possible to use a method in which an abrasive such as sand particles or balls is mixed in the dispersion medium and stirred with the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, or a method in which a grinding wheel is used for stirring. For example, it is also possible to perform the stirring by dry method using the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, the abrasive as described above, and a grinding wheel without using the dispersion medium.

A more preferable polishing method is a method in which the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are agitated by a jet stream or the like. This is a method in which the particles themselves are violently collided with each other in a gas phase and polished, and a preferable method in that an inert substance exfoliated from the surface of the particles can be easily separated by classification without the need for another abrasive. Is. In the above jet stream agitation, the type of equipment used for it,
Although it is difficult to specify the polishing conditions depending on the stirring speed, the material of the inorganic / organic composite particles, etc., it is generally preferable to stir the jet stream at a stirring speed of 6000 rpm for about 0.5 to 15 minutes. The EA fluid 16 used in the present invention can be manufactured by uniformly stirring and mixing the above-mentioned inorganic / organic composite particles 30 in the electrically insulating medium 19 together with other components such as a dispersant. As the stirrer, any stirrer normally used for dispersing solid particles in a liquid dispersion medium can be used.

Next, the concentration of the inorganic / organic composite particles, the kinematic viscosity of the electrically insulating medium 19 and the applied voltage which are effective when used in the display device according to the present invention will be described. The particle concentration of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 in the EA fluid 16 used in the present invention is not particularly limited, but is 0.5 to 1
It is preferably 5% by weight. The particle concentration is 0.
If it is less than 5% by weight, a sufficient transmitted light control effect cannot be obtained, and 1
When the content is 5% by weight or more, the particle concentration is too high and a large amount of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is mixed in the EA fluid 16. Therefore, an electric field is applied as will be described later to apply the inorganic / organic composite particles 30.
Even if the orientation is controlled, transparency may not be obtained.

Next, the kinematic viscosity of the electrically insulating medium 19 used in the present invention is preferably in the range of 1 to 3000 cSt. When the kinematic viscosity is less than 1 cSt, a large amount of volatile components are mixed in the dispersion medium, resulting in insufficient storage stability of the EA fluid, and when the kinematic viscosity is more than 3000 cSt, foaming is difficult to come off, which is not preferable. When air bubbles are left in the electrically insulating medium, there is a risk of partial discharge in a micro region inside the air bubbles during energization to cause sparks and deterioration of insulation. The range of kinematic viscosity is 10 to 1
000 cSt is more preferable range, 10 to 100 cSt
Is a more preferable range.

Next, as the voltage applied to the EA fluid 16, for example, an arbitrary electric field can be applied within a range of 0.1 to 5.0 kV / mm, but an electric field larger than this range is applied. Is also good. Further, in this applied voltage range, it is more preferable to set it in a range of 0.25 to 1.5 kV / mm.

Next, the principle of obtaining a desired display by controlling the amount of transmitted light using the display device A shown in FIG. 1 will be described. 2 shows the transparent conductive layer 1 with the switch S open.
7'and 17 '' are not energized, but in this state the electric field does not act on the inorganic-organic composite particles 30, so that they float randomly above the electrically insulating medium 19. When light is incident on the container 18 in this state, the light is scattered in various directions due to the presence of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30, so that the container 18 becomes opaque.
For example, when a titanium hydroxide-based material is used as the EA inorganic material 32, the color tone becomes cloudy. When either or both of the surface layer 33 of the inorganic / organic composite particles and the core body 3 contain a pigment, the container 18 is colored with the pigment. Here, the inorganic / organic composite particles 30
If is spherical, light is scattered in all directions, so
Light is less likely to be converged in a specific direction.

Next, as shown in FIG. 4, if the switch S is closed to energize the transparent conductive layers 17 ', 17 ", a myriad of inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are distributed between the transparent conductive layers 17', 17". These transparent conductive layers can be combined in a chain in a direction perpendicular to each other to form a chain 30 'structure, and at the same time, each chain 3
The 0'can be oriented in parallel. That is, the ratio of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 dispersed in the electrically insulating medium 19 is about 10% by weight or less as described above and is small as a whole. With the above structure, there is a space between the chain-like bodies 30 ′ that is considerably wider than the diameter of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30, and as a result, most of the light incident in the thickness direction of the housing body 18 is It passes through the storage body 18 without being attenuated.
Therefore, the container 18 can be made transparent. By these operations, the container can be changed from the opaque state to the transparent state depending on whether or not the transparent conductive layers 17 ′ and 17 ″ are energized.

Next, when the switch S is switched to connect to the linear conductor 17b having the different polarity, as shown in FIG. 6, the meshing portion 17a 'of the linear conductor 17a and the linear conductor 17b having the different polarity are formed.
The inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are aligned with the meshing portions 17b ′ of the. That is, the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 are oriented along the surface of the container 18 which is the transparent conductive layer 17 ″ surface direction,
This constitutes the planar body 30 ″. Therefore, the light incident from one surface of the housing 18 is blocked by the planar body 30 ″, and the housing 1
Part of 8 is in a dark frosted glass state, and a graphic as shown in FIG. 1 can be displayed. In addition, as a result of the particles in the part without the electrode being almost attracted to the electrode side, the part without the electrode becomes transparent. By switching the switch S in this way, it is possible to easily and quickly display the characters on the container 18.

In the display device A, 0.1
It can be driven with an extremely small current of at most several mA / m ² at a voltage of up to 5.0 kV / mm, so that it can be sufficiently driven with about 10 W / m ² of electric power, and a power saving structure can be achieved. . Further, since the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 can be arranged at the same time when the transparent conductive layer 17 is energized, sufficient responsiveness can be obtained. Further, if the transmitted light amount is controlled by the EA fluid 16, the transmitted light amount can be uniformly controlled in the entire wavelength range without absorbing the light of a specific frequency, so that there is no fear of heat generation due to the light absorption. A display device with no energy waste can be obtained.

Further, once the electric field is applied to orient the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 ..., The inorganic / organic composite particles 30.
··· maintains the state for a while even if the voltage is cut off, so the applied voltage becomes intermittently better, and energy-saving driving can be performed accordingly. In addition, the maintaining time of the alignment state of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 in the absence of an electric field depends on
0 itself or an electrically insulating medium 19 in which it is dispersed
It can be appropriately adjusted according to the kinematic viscosity of. That is, if the kinematic viscosity of the electrically insulating medium 19 is lowered, the maintenance time can be shortened, and if the kinematic viscosity is increased, the maintenance time can be lengthened.

In the above-mentioned embodiments, the phenomenon in which the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 form a row of chain-like bodies and are arranged in parallel by the application of an electric field has been described. When the amount exceeds 1% by weight, the chain bodies 30 'are joined to each other in a plurality of rows instead of the chain bodies 30' in one row, and the columns C are arranged and arranged as shown in FIG.

In this column C, the left and right chains 3
Inorganic / organic composite particles 30 of 0'and 30 'are staggered one by one and adjacently staggered. With respect to this, the inventors of the present invention staggeredly adjoin the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 that are dielectrically polarized in the + pole portion and the − pole portion, and arrange the + pole portion and the − pole portion to attract each other. It is estimated that this is because it is more stable in terms of energy.

Therefore, when the content of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 is large, a large number of columns C are formed between the electrodes, and the mechanism of increasing the amount of transmitted light acts by the generation of the columns C. . In this case, since a large amount of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, ... Are collected in the plurality of columns C, the intervals between the adjacent columns C are widened, and the function of increasing the amount of transmitted light becomes remarkable.

By the way, the particle size of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is set in the range of 0.1 to 500 μm, preferably 5 to 200 μm as described above, because the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 of the present invention are This is due to the fact that it is a light-scattering particle or a light-reflecting particle in terms of function. As is well known, the wavelength of visible light is 380 to 780 nm, that is, 0.38 to
Since it is 0.78 μm, in order to control the transmitted light by scattering or reflecting the light of this wavelength, the particle size of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is at least 0.1 μm or more, preferably 5 μm. It is necessary to do the above.

On the other hand, a particle size smaller than the wavelength of visible light that causes Brownian motion, for example, 5 nm to several 1
When dielectric ultrafine particles of about 0 nm (= 0.005 to 0.02 μm) are dispersed in the electrically insulating medium 19, it is possible that the ultrafine particles can be oriented by an electric field. The transmission mechanism is completely different from the above-mentioned example of the present invention, in which the ultrafine particles are dispersed to completely transmit light when no electric field is applied, and when the electric field is applied, the ultrafine particles are oriented to scatter and attenuate light, It is not preferable because it behaves completely differently.

Next, from the viewpoint of colorability, it is difficult to color the ultrafine particles, and even if they can be colored, the particle size is too small.
The color of the ultrafine particles dispersed in No. 9 cannot be perceptibly developed. Therefore, when the ultrafine particles are used, only the color of the electrically insulating medium 19 can be exhibited, and only one coloring pattern can be realized. For example, only changes between red transparent and red opaque are feasible.

On the other hand, according to the present invention, when the medium is red transparent and the inorganic / organic composite particles are white, discoloration of turbid opaque to red transparent can be realized, and the medium is colorless and transparent.
When the inorganic / organic composite particles are blue, blue opacity
A colorless and transparent discoloration can be realized, and when the medium is red and the inorganic / organic composite particles are blue, a violet opaque to red transparent discoloration can be realized, and when the medium is light blue and the particles are yellow, greenish opaque. ~ Light blue transparency can be realized. Further, even when looking at the portion to be colored, all of the core body 31, the surface layer 33, and the electrically insulating medium 19 of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 can be colored, and coloring variations can be easily added. The surface of the core body 31 of the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 is covered with an inorganic substance, but since the color leaks from the gap between the inorganic substances, the color when the core body 31 is colored is effectively reflected in the color of the EA fluid. It

The surface layer 33 of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30
For coloring, the required number of colored inorganic pigments are mixed into the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 used when manufacturing the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 and uniformly mixed, and the above-mentioned method is used. Then, the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 may be manufactured. Inorganic / organic composite particles 30 produced in this way
For example, as shown in FIG. 9, a part of the inorganic / organic composite particles attached to the periphery of the core body 31 has a structure in which the colored inorganic pigments 35 are replaced. Thereby, the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 can be colored.

According to such a display device, which is installed horizontally or almost horizontally and displays characters, numbers, figures, etc., the EA particles are contained in an electrically insulating medium having a higher specific gravity than the EA particles. EA fluid contained in and this EA
Since a hollow container containing a fluid and having at least a part of the two facing surfaces facing each other in the vertical direction is transparent, the EA particles are floated in the electrically insulating medium, and the inner surface of the container is EA particles are placed in the container, and the container becomes opaque. Then, since the transparent conductive layers are formed on each of the transparent portions on the inner surface of the container, by energizing these transparent conductive layers, the EA particles are vertically oriented between them, and the container becomes transparent. . Therefore, the container can be easily switched to the transparent state or the opaque state depending on the energized state of the transparent conductive layer.

Further, the display device of the present invention can be provided with a simple structure and at a much lower cost than the conventional device using a liquid crystal, in the manufacturing unit price. Incidentally, the EA fluid described above is considered to be 1/10 or less in raw material cost as compared with the usual liquid crystal material, and is extremely inexpensive. Further, in a device using liquid crystal, various control circuits and LS for driving liquid crystal are used.
Although it is necessary to use I, the display device A according to the present invention may have a simple structure as described above, and an electric circuit around the power supply and the like can be composed of only minimum switches and wiring.

In particular, the EA particles can be oriented between the linear conductors and the heterogeneous linear conductors by energizing them. That is, these EA particles can be oriented along the surface of the upper transparent conductive layer. As a result, the light passing through the container is blocked, and a part of the container can be made opaque. Therefore, by arranging the linear conductors and the linear conductors of different polarities at the positions of the shapes of letters, numbers, and figures, it is possible to switch the desired letters, numbers, and figures to a horizontal or almost horizontal surface. The desired characters, numbers, and figures can be displayed at a low cost.

(Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, an electrically insulating medium having a specific gravity larger than that of the EA particles is used, whereas an electrically insulating medium having a specific gravity smaller than that of the EA particles is used. The transparent conductive layer on the upper side and the transparent conductive layer on the lower side are replaced with each other. In the display device of the second embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, transparent conductive layers 47 ', 47 "are formed on each of the transparent portions on the inner surface of the housing body 18. That is, the upper transparent conductive layer 47. 'Contains 18
Of the transparent conductive layer 47 ″ on the lower side, and one or more fixed or fixed linear conductors 47a and adjacent to the linear conductors 47a. One or more fixed or irregular shaped linear conductors 4 having different polarities
And 7b. Then, these linear conductors 47a
And the linear conductors 47b of different polarities, and the meshing portions 47a 'which are alternately arranged at predetermined intervals in the longitudinal direction of the characters to be displayed,
47b 'are formed respectively.

The electrically insulating medium 19 used in the second embodiment is lighter than the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, has high electrical insulation and electrical breakdown strength, and is chemically stable and inorganic. Any fluid can be used as long as it can stably settle the organic composite particles 30, and a mixture thereof can also be used. For example, when the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is 2.0 or more, any of the electrically insulating media 19 described above can be used. Also,
When the specific gravity of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30 is in the range of 2.0 to 1.0, butyl sebacate, as the electrically insulating medium 19,
Dioctyl sebacate, aromatic polycarboxylic acid higher alcohol ester, trans oil, hydrocarbon-based medium, polydimethylsiloxane-based silicone-based oil, cyclic polysiloxane-based silicone oil, etc. can be used, and a mixture thereof can be used. You can also

In the display device of the second embodiment, the upper transparent conductive layer 47 'and the lower transparent conductive layer 47 "are made non-conductive, and the lower transparent conductive layer 47" has a linear conductive state. When the body 47a and the linear conductor 47b of the different polarity are brought into a non-energized state, as shown in FIG.
Will settle on the lower transparent conductive layer 47 ″, and the container 18 will be in an opaque state. In this lower transparent conductive layer 47 ″, a linear conductor 47a ′ and a different linear conductor 47b ′ are formed. 11 is turned on, as shown in FIG. 11, the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 are oriented between the linear conductors 47a and the different-polarity linear conductors 47b to form a planar body 30 ″. This sheet 30 "blocks light and can display characters and the like. Also,
Most of the particles in the part without the electrode are attracted to the electrode side, so that the part without the electrode becomes transparent.

According to the display device of the second embodiment, since the electrically insulating medium 19 has a specific gravity lighter than that of the inorganic / organic composite particles 30, the inorganic / organic composite particles 3 are used.
0 settles in the electrically insulating medium 19 due to its own weight.
Then, the linear conductor 47a ′ is formed on the lower transparent conductive layer 47 ″.
Since the linear conductors 47b 'having different polarities are formed, when these are energized, the inorganic-organic composite particles 30 are oriented between them to form a sheet 30 ". The light is blocked by, and characters can be displayed. Therefore, the characters can be displayed on the upper part of the building structure such as the ceiling.

Hereinafter, the effects of the present invention will be clarified by showing examples. [Production Example] As shown in FIG. 3, a transparent conductive layer made of an ITO (indium tin oxide) film is formed and covered on the surface of a plate-shaped glass to be a glass show window, as shown in FIG. The surface of another plate-shaped glass was coated with a transparent conductive layer having a linear conductor and a linear conductor having a different polarity. A 1.0 mm thick IT coated with these transparent conductive layers
Two pieces of O glass were prepared, and the two pieces of glass were opposed to each other in parallel at an interval of 2 mm with the respective transparent conductive layers facing each other, and the periphery was sealed with a resin sealing member. Next, an injection hole is formed in a part of the seal member, a liquid EA fluid is injected from the injection hole, the injection hole is closed after the injection hole, and the linear conductor and the heterogeneous linear conductor are covered. The display device having the configuration shown in FIG.

The manufacturing process of the EA fluid used here will be described below. First, a mixture of titanium hydroxide (general name; hydrous titanium oxide, manufactured by Ishihara Sangyo Co., Ltd., C-II), butyl acrylate, 1,3-butylene glycol dimethacrylate, and a polymerization initiator is dispersed and stabilized with tricalcium phosphate. It was dispersed in water contained as an agent and suspension polymerization was carried out at 60 ° C. for 1 hour with stirring. The obtained product was filtered, washed with acid, further washed with water, and then dried to obtain inorganic / organic composite particles.

The inorganic / organic composite particles obtained above were agitated with a jet airflow stirrer (Hybridizer manufactured by Nara Machinery Co., Ltd.), and surface-polished to obtain inorganic / organic composite particles. The specific gravity of this thing is 1.1
57 and the average particle diameter was 13.7 μm. The inorganic / organic composite particles are uniformly dispersed in silicone oils of various kinematic viscosities (TSF451 series, manufactured by Toshiba Silicone Co., Ltd.) so that the content is various weight%. An EA fluid was obtained using a fluid composition having a constant particle concentration and various particle concentrations and a silicone oil having a constant particle concentration and various kinematic viscosities as an electrically insulating medium.

The results of transmitted light control experiments conducted using the various EA fluids are shown in the drawings. The experiment was carried out by detecting the intensity of light incident on the transparent housing and the intensity of light passing through the housing with an optical sensor, and comparing the results with each other and displaying the result in dBm as increased light. In this case 3.2
An increase in dBm means a 2.09 times increase in optical power, and an increase in 4.2 dBm results in 2.6 in optical power.
This means a 3-fold increase.

Further, FIG. 12 shows a case where a pair of linear conductors are connected by the switch S and a case where these are connected by the switch S.
Shows the wavelength dependence of the amount of transmitted light when not connected to. Here, in the figure, the transmitted light amount was measured using an EA fluid in which 4% by weight of blue-colored inorganic / organic composite particles were added to a silicone oil having a kinematic viscosity of 10 cSt. inorganic·
The coloring of the organic composite particles was performed by substituting 20% by weight of the EA inorganic material forming the surface layer of the inorganic-organic composite particles with a blue pigment. In the figure, E = 0 kV
The curve indicated by indicates the amount of transmitted light when there is no electric field, and E = 2
The curve indicated by kV shows the amount of transmitted light when a potential of 2 kV is applied to the electrodes.

In the figure, the curve indicated by E = 2 kV and located at the upper side in the figure shows the amount of transmitted light when a linear conductor is connected to one transparent conductive layer via a switch. As is clear from this curve, the inorganic-organic composite particles are vertically oriented between the meshing portion of the linear conductor and one transparent conductive layer, and light in a wide range of wavelengths is transmitted. The curve located in the center of the figure shows a state in which no switch is connected, that is, a state in which there is no electric field, and the inorganic / organic composite particles are randomly suspended / dispersed. The curve located in the lower part of the figure shows the amount of transmitted light when a linear conductor is connected to a linear conductor of different polarity via a switch. As is clear from this curve, as shown in FIG. 6, between the meshing portion of the linear conductors and the meshing portion of the linear conductors of different polarities, the inorganic / organic composite particles are in the surface direction of the container. It was clarified that they could be oriented along them to form a sheet, blocking light of wavelengths other than blue, and that they could be made opaque.

[0074]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the specific gravity of the electrically insulating medium is heavier than that of the EA particles, the EA particles are floated on the electrically insulating medium, and the EA particles are placed on the upper surface of the container. The particles are arranged and the container becomes opaque. Then, since the transparent conductive layers are formed on each of the transparent portions on the inner surface of the container, by energizing these transparent conductive layers, the EA particles are vertically oriented between them, and the container becomes transparent. . Therefore, the container can be easily switched to the transparent state or the opaque state depending on the energized state of the transparent conductive layer.

Further, the display device of the present invention has a simple structure and can be provided at a much lower cost than the conventional device using a liquid crystal at a manufacturing unit price. Incidentally, the EA fluid described above is considered to be 1/10 or less in raw material cost as compared with the usual liquid crystal material, and is extremely inexpensive. Further, in a device using liquid crystal, various control circuits and LS for driving liquid crystal are used.
Although it is necessary to use I, the display device according to the present invention may have a simple structure as described above, and an electric circuit around the power supply can be composed of only minimum switches and wiring.

Further, in particular, by energizing the linear conductor and the linear conductor of different polarity, the EA particles can be oriented between them. That is, these EA particles can be oriented along the surface of the upper transparent conductive layer. As a result, the light passing through the container is blocked, and a part of the container can be made opaque. Therefore, by arranging the linear conductors and the linear conductors of different polarities at the positions of the letters, numbers, and figures, the desired letters, numbers, figures, and figures can be displayed in a switchable state. You can

Further, the EA fluid is composed of EA particles and an electrically insulating medium having a specific gravity smaller than that of the EA particles, and the upper transparent conductive layer is formed in a plane shape covering almost the entire transparent portion of the container, By forming the lower transparent conductive layer on the linear conductor and the linear conductor of the different polarity which is arranged adjacent to the linear conductor, the EA particles of the lower transparent conductive layer are formed. It can be oriented along the plane. Therefore, characters and the like can be displayed on the upper and lower surfaces of the storage body.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an embodiment of a display device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line BB of FIG. 1 in a non-energized state.

FIG. 3 is a development view showing a transparent conductive layer in the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an alignment state of inorganic / organic composite particles in a state where electricity is applied to a transparent conductive layer of the transmitted light amount control device shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view showing an example of the inorganic / organic composite particles used in the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a state in which the linear conductor of FIG. 2 and a linear conductor of different polarity are connected.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram showing a state in which a chain body constitutes a column.

8 is an explanatory diagram showing the dielectric polarization of the inorganic-organic composite particles shown in FIG.

FIG. 9 is an explanatory diagram showing a colored state of the inorganic / organic composite particles.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view showing a second embodiment of the present invention in a non-energized state.

11 is a diagram for explaining the orientation state of the inorganic / organic composite particles in the energized state of FIG.

FIG. 12 shows a kinematic viscosity of 10 cSt in the apparatus of the example.
FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the wavelength dependence of the amount of transmitted light when the amount of transmitted light is measured using the EA fluid in which 4% by weight of the inorganic / organic composite particles colored blue is added to the silicone oil.

[Explanation of symbols]

15 ... Transparent substrate, 16 ... EA fluid (electrosensitive optical functional fluid), 17 ... Transparent conductive layer, 17 '... Lower transparent conductive layer, 17 "... Upper transparent conductive layer, 17a ... Linear conductor, 17a '... Engagement portion, 17b ... Different polar linear conductor, 1
7b '... Engagement part, 18 ... Storage body, 19 ... Electrically insulating medium, 30 ... Inorganic / organic composite particle, 31 ... Core body.

Front page continuation (72) Inventor Kazuya Akashi 1-5-1, Kiba, Koto-ku, Tokyo Fujikura Stock Company (72) Inventor Yasufumi Otsubo 9-21 1-1 Nakanakadai, Inage-ku, Chiba, Chiba 206

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A display device, which is installed horizontally or substantially horizontally and displays characters, numbers, figures, etc., containing solid particles having an electric field array effect in an electrically insulating medium having a specific gravity higher than that of the solid particles. And an electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition containing the electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition, and a hollow housing containing the electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition and transparent at least a part of the two facing surfaces facing each other in the vertical direction. A transparent conductive layer is formed on each of the transparent portions on the inner surface of the housing, and the lower transparent conductive layer is formed in a planar shape that covers substantially the entire transparent portion of the housing, The upper transparent conductive layer comprises one or more fixed or fixed linear conductors arranged in the transparent portion of the container, and a fixed or fixed linear conductor arranged adjacent to the linear conductors. Table formed by two or more linear conductors of different polarities Indicating device. 2. A display device which is installed horizontally or substantially horizontally and displays characters, numbers, figures, etc., and contains solid particles having an electric field array effect in an electrically insulating medium having a specific gravity lighter than that of the solid particles. And an electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition containing the electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition, and a hollow housing containing the electro-sensitive photo-functional fluid composition and transparent at least a part of the two facing surfaces facing each other in the vertical direction. A transparent conductive layer is formed on each of the transparent portions on the inner surface of the storage body, and the upper transparent conductive layer is formed in a planar shape that covers substantially the entire transparent portion of the storage body. The transparent conductive layer on the side is composed of one or more fixed or indeterminate linear conductors arranged in the transparent portion of the container, and one of fixed or indeterminate shapes arranged adjacent to the linear conductors. Table formed by two or more linear conductors of different polarities Indicating device.