JP6265599B2 - Polymer liquid crystal display element - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display element using a polymer liquid crystal, and more particularly to a polymer liquid crystal display element that can be used even in places where there is cold or warm.

  A liquid crystal display element using a polymer dispersed liquid crystal does not require an alignment film and does not require a polarizing plate, so it has a large cost merit, and since a polarizing plate is not used, it has a high light transmittance and a bright display. There are advantages such as being obtained. Therefore, in recent years, it has been used in various fields. For example, a camera finder apparatus described in Patent Document 1 below is one of them.

A liquid crystal display element used in the finder apparatus described in Patent Document 1 will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a display unit using a liquid crystal display element of polymer dispersed liquid crystal, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing a field of view of the finder device. In the figure, the reference numerals are corrected without departing from the spirit of the invention.
A viewfinder device described in Patent Document 1 includes an objective optical system including an objective lens and a prism, an eyepiece optical system including a roof prism and an eyepiece, and a display unit disposed between the objective optical system and the eyepiece optical system. Consists of. The light passing through the objective optical system forms an image on the display unit. FIG. 3 shows a perspective view of the display unit. In FIG. 3, the display unit includes a liquid crystal display element 10 formed by sealing a polymer-dispersed liquid crystal between a pair of transparent glass lower substrate 1 and upper substrate 2, and a liquid crystal display element 10. The light source 50 is an LED provided, and a field frame plate 51 disposed in front of the liquid crystal display element 10. The field frame plate 51 is provided on the front side where light enters the liquid crystal display element 10, and only the light that has passed through the opening 51 a of the field frame plate 51 is incident on the liquid crystal display element 10 and an image is formed on the liquid crystal display element 10. It has come to image. And it is guided to the eyepiece optical system side and visually recognized.

  Further, it has a control device for controlling the display of the display unit, and has a function of selecting a normal photographing mode and a panoramic photographing mode by a mode selector. As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal display element 10 made of polymer dispersed liquid crystal has a panorama shooting area 61, a short distance correction area 62, a panorama upper frame area 63, a panorama lower frame area 64, and a target mark area 65. A region 66 that is shielded by the field frame plate 51 is provided. Further, segment electrodes (transparent electrodes) are provided on the lower substrate 1 and the upper substrate 2 made of a pair of opposed glass in the respective regions other than the region 66 shielded by the field frame plate 51, and the segment electrodes It becomes transparent when a voltage is applied (energized) to it, and an opaque (white turbid) state appears when no voltage is applied (non-energized).

Shooting in the normal shooting mode has a configuration in which the panorama shooting area 61, the short distance correction area 62, the panorama upper frame area 63, and the panorama lower frame area 64 of the liquid crystal display element 10 are set in a transparent state when energized. .
In the case of the panorama shooting mode, when the subject brightness is a certain value or more (for example, shooting outdoors in the daytime), the panorama shooting area 61 is set to the transparent state in the energized state, and the short distance correction area 62 and the panorama upper frame area 63, the panorama lower frame area 64, and the target mark area 65 are set to be in an opaque state in a non-energized state, and shooting is performed, and the subject brightness is below a certain value (for example, shooting in a night view or a dim place). The panorama shooting area 61 and the short-range correction area 62 are set in a transparent state when energized, and the panorama upper frame area 63, the panorama lower frame area 64, and the target mark area 65 are set in an opaque state when not energized. I'm taking it.

  Here, the polymer-dispersed liquid crystal is composed of 0.5 to several μm fine liquid crystal particles dispersed in a polymer material or arranged in a network, and the state of light transmission (transparent) and light scattering depending on the presence or absence of an electric field. It changes between the states (white turbidity). As such liquid crystal, PNLC (Polymer Network Liquid Crystal), PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal) and the like are known. Hereinafter, in this specification, PNLC, PDLC, and the like are referred to as polymer liquid crystal, and a liquid crystal display element using the same is referred to as a polymer liquid crystal display element.

  PNLC uses a polymer material (monomer) and a liquid crystal material (for example, nematic liquid crystal). The monomer is polymerized by ultraviolet irradiation to form a three-dimensional network polymer network, and liquid crystal is formed in the network. This is a state in which molecules are dispersed. And it becomes transparent when a predetermined voltage is applied, and becomes cloudy when no voltage is applied. This PNLC responds at a low voltage of 1V to 3V, and the response speed is as fast as 10 to 30 ms.

A polymer liquid crystal display element using PNLC as a polymer liquid crystal generally has a configuration as shown in FIG. FIG. 5 shows a cross-sectional view of the main part of a polymer liquid crystal display element using PNLC.
In FIG. 5, reference numeral 10 represents a polymer liquid crystal display element, which corresponds to the liquid crystal display element 10 shown in FIG. The polymer liquid crystal display element 10 includes a lower substrate 1 made of a glass plate provided with a pixel electrode 3 made of an ITO film on the inner surface and an upper substrate 2 made of a glass plate made of a counter electrode 4 made of an ITO film on the inner surface. Is arranged with a certain gap, and the polymer liquid crystal 5 is sealed with the sealing material 6 in the gap. In FIG. 5, the pixel electrode 3 and the counter electrode 4 correspond to the segment electrodes described in Patent Document 1.

  As described above, the polymer liquid crystal 5 is formed by mixing a polymer material (monomer) such as an ultraviolet curable acrylic resin with a liquid crystal material such as a nematic liquid crystal. Upon irradiation, the monomers polymerize to form a three-dimensional network polymer network. Then, liquid crystal molecules are dispersed in the mesh.

  Here, the polymer liquid crystal display element displays images and images by transmitting light in a transparent state by applying a voltage and not transmitting light in a cloudy state by applying no voltage. Under such circumstances, the cloudiness state when no voltage is applied is greatly affected by the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer of the polymer liquid crystal display element. In other words, if the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer is small, the white turbid state becomes thin and light is transmitted, which causes a problem that a clear image cannot be obtained. Further, when the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer is large, although a good cloudy state can be obtained, a high voltage is required for driving, which causes a problem that power consumption is accelerated. In order to avoid such a problem, it is considered preferable to suppress the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer within a range of about 4 to 8 μm.

JP 2000-171860 A

  As one test related to the cold guarantee of the polymer liquid crystal display element, there is a reliability test called a rapid cooling test. This is a test in which a polymer liquid crystal display element in a room temperature state is put into a refrigeration apparatus cooled to −30 ° C. and rapidly cooled, and how quality characteristics change due to the rapid cooling.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram schematically showing the problems that have occurred as a result of the rapid cooling test. The polymer liquid crystal display element 10 is made transparent by voltage application and is viewed from the upper surface side of the upper substrate 2. Is shown. In addition, the polymer liquid crystal display element used for the rapid cooling test has a cell gap amount of 8 μm.

  In FIG. 6, A represents a crack in the cured polymer liquid crystal layer, and innumerable cracks A are generated in the cured polymer liquid crystal layer inside the sealing material 6 along the sealing material 6. . In the following description, the crack A will be simply referred to as a crack.

  The reason for the occurrence of cracks is considered to be that the constituent members of the polymer liquid crystal display element undergo rapid thermal contraction due to rapid cooling. Each component has a different thermal shrinkage rate, and the polymer liquid crystal layer has a particularly higher thermal shrinkage rate than the other components, so as a result of rapid cooling, negative pressure is generated inside the cell sandwiched between the upper and lower substrates. To do. For this reason, the vicinity of the upper and lower substrates that are firmly fixed by the sealing material is unlikely to be deformed on the substrate, so that a large load force due to negative pressure is applied to the cured resin and cracks occur. On the other hand, at the part away from the sealing material, the substrate is deformed such as warping due to a large load force due to negative pressure, so the substrate is deformed first, and the polymer liquid crystal layer is not subjected to a large load force, It is assumed that cracks are unlikely to occur.

  The cracks thus generated deteriorate the appearance quality. In addition, if repeated use in severe cold is frequently performed, the degree of the crack increases and spreads, causing a problem that the refractive index changes and the display image is deteriorated.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a high-quality polymer liquid crystal display element that does not generate cracks even when used repeatedly in severe cold. That is.

As means for solving the above-mentioned problems, the polymer liquid crystal display element of the present invention corresponds to the outer peripheral position of the display region in a polymer liquid crystal display element in which polymer liquid crystal is sealed between a pair of substrates with a sealing material. A parting frame is set , and an insulating film is provided along the sealing material inside each of both substrates of the pair of substrates and along the outside of the parting frame , and the parting frame of the polymer liquid crystal display element The thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer on the outer side is smaller than the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer on the inner side of the parting frame .

When an insulating film is provided along the sealing material inside each of both substrates of the pair of substrates and outside the parting frame, the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in the region outside the parting frame is It becomes smaller than the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in the region inside the parting frame.

When the polymer liquid crystal display element is rapidly cooled, as described in the prior art, rapid thermal shrinkage occurs in the materials used, and negative pressure is generated in the upper and lower substrates due to the rapid thermal contraction.
In the present invention, an insulating film is provided in the region outside the parting frame along the sealing material to reduce the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer. Thereby, the capacity of the polymer liquid crystal layer in which the region outside the parting frame is present is small. Therefore, the negative pressure generated in the region portion is also reduced, the load force on the cured polymer liquid crystal layer is also reduced, and the generation of cracks is suppressed. Note that the area outside the parting frame is thinned by the liquid crystal material as the polymer liquid crystal layer is thinned. There will be no trouble.

  On the other hand, the region inside the parting frame has a large thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer, so that the capacity of the polymer liquid crystal layer existing in the region is large. As a result, the generated negative pressure increases, but the upper and lower substrates of the portion are separated from the fixed portion, so that the substrate itself is easily deformed, and the substrate is warped and deformed by a load force due to the negative pressure. . For this reason, the load force to the cured polymer liquid crystal layer is also reduced, and the occurrence of cracks is suppressed.

  According to the present invention, cracks do not occur even when used in severe cold, and a high-quality polymer liquid crystal display element can be obtained.

The top view and sectional drawing of a polymer liquid crystal display element concerning a 1st embodiment of the present invention are shown, and Drawing 1 (a) is a top view and Drawing 1 (b) is XX in Drawing 1 (a). It is sectional drawing. 2A and 2B are a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a polymer liquid crystal display device according to a second embodiment of the present invention, in which FIG. 2A is a plan view and FIG. 2B is YY in FIG. It is sectional drawing. It is a perspective view of the display unit using the liquid crystal display element of the polymer dispersion liquid crystal shown by patent document 1. FIG. It is a top view which shows the mode of the visual field of the finder apparatus shown by patent document 1. FIG. It is principal part sectional drawing of the polymer liquid crystal display element using PNLC. It is the external view of the conventional polymer liquid crystal display element, and is the figure shown typically explaining the problem which arose by the rapid cooling test.

Hereinafter, embodiments for carrying out the invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
[First Embodiment]
First, the configuration of the polymer liquid crystal display element according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 shows a plan view and a cross-sectional view of a polymer liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 (a) is a plan view, and FIG. 1 (b) is a view in FIG. The XX sectional view is shown. Note that components having the same specifications as the components in the prior art described with reference to FIG. 5 will be described with the same reference numerals.

In the plan view of FIG. 1 (a), the line of reference sign M indicated by a two-dot chain line represents a parting frame line. The parting frame M represents a line indicating the boundary between the display area and the non-display area. Further, in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 1B, m indicates an area inside the parting frame M, and an area m inside the parting frame M is a portion where the display image is visually recognized, that is, the display area. It has become. In addition, the outside of the parting frame M is a portion outside the display area and is not visible to the eyes.
As shown in FIG. 1 (a), the polymer liquid crystal display element 20 in the present embodiment has a sealing material 6 at the outermost edge part over one circumference when viewed from the upper surface side of the upper substrate 2 made of a transparent glass substrate or the like. The insulating film 21 provided along the sealing material 6 can be seen inside the sealing material 6 in the region outside the parting frame M.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the polymer liquid crystal display element 20 according to the first embodiment has a lower substrate 1 made of a transparent glass plate provided with a pixel electrode 3 made of an ITO film on the inner surface, and an inner surface. A counter electrode 4 made of an ITO film and an upper substrate 2 made of a transparent glass plate provided with an insulating film 21 in a region outside the parting frame M of the upper substrate 2 are opposed to each other with a necessary gap. The polymer liquid crystal 5 is sealed with a sealing material 6 in the gap. In the figure, the wiring pattern connected to the pixel electrode 3 and the counter electrode 4 and the injection hole for injecting the polymer liquid crystal layer are omitted.

  The insulating film 21 is provided on the inner surface of the upper substrate 2 in the first embodiment. This insulating film 21 is provided in order to reduce the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in this part. In the first embodiment, an insulating film having a thickness of 2 μm is provided, and the polymer liquid crystal layer in this part is provided. The thickness is suppressed to 6 μm. Therefore, the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in the region m inside the parting frame M is set to 8 μm. Since the insulating film 21 is provided to reduce the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer at this portion, the insulating film 21 is not necessarily limited to the upper substrate 2 and may be provided on the lower substrate 1 side. Further, it may be provided on both the upper and lower substrates.

  Here, the specification of the component which comprises said structure is demonstrated. The lower substrate 1 and the upper substrate 2 are made of a transparent glass plate, and soda glass, quartz glass, borosilicate glass, normal plate glass, and the like can be used, and most of them are selected from 03 to 1.1 mm.

  The pixel electrode 3 and the counter electrode 4 are made of an ITO film, formed by a vacuum deposition method, a sputtering method, a CVD method, or the like, and then formed into a desired shape by an etching method. In order to obtain a high voltage, the thickness is generally reduced to a thickness of about 100 to 200 mm and a high sheet resistance value of about 10 KΩ to 500Ω.

  A resin such as a thermosetting acrylic resin or polyimide resin can be suitably selected for the insulating film 21. These resins are formed to have a required thickness by a printing method, a spin method, and the like, and are subjected to a thermosetting treatment. In forming the insulating film 21 outside the parting frame M, it is preferable to form the shape by a photolithography method when the disposition position accuracy is strictly required.

  The polymer liquid crystal 5 uses a PNLC in which a liquid crystal material is mixed with a polymer material (monomer). Examples of the polymer liquid crystal material include an ultraviolet curable acrylic resin, and particularly an acrylic monomer and an acrylic oligomer that are polymerized and cured by ultraviolet irradiation. It is preferable to contain. As the liquid crystal material, nematic liquid crystal, smectic liquid crystal, and cholesteric liquid crystal are preferably selected. The mixing ratio of these liquid crystal materials is preferably 60 to 90% by weight, and if it is 60% by weight or less, the scattering effect is poor, and if it is 90% by weight or more, the polymer and the liquid crystal tend to phase-separate into upper and lower two layers. Becomes stronger, the ratio of the interface becomes smaller, and the scattering characteristics are lowered.

  Although not shown, an insulating spacer having a required particle size is blended in order to obtain a required cell gap. Glass beads or the like are used as the spacer material.

When the polymer liquid crystal 5 is sealed in a pair of substrates and then irradiated with ultraviolet rays using a mercury lamp or the like, the polymer liquid crystal material is polymerized to form a three-dimensional network polymer network. A state in which liquid crystal molecules are dispersed in the mesh is obtained. The ultraviolet irradiation is performed by heating at a temperature higher than the nematic-isotropic phase transition temperature. Usually, the temperature is around 40 ° C., and the intensity is 20 to 80 mW / cm ² and the time is in the range of 30 to 120 seconds. It is preferable to set appropriately considering the reliability and display characteristics.

As the material of the sealing material 6, a thermosetting epoxy resin or an acrylic resin is preferably used. Further, in order to provide a required cell gap, an insulating glass ball or glass fiber having a required particle size is blended. The sealing material 6 is formed by screen printing or the like, and curing the resin under pressure and heating between a pair of upper and lower substrates.

  In the first embodiment, the cell gap is set to 8 μm in the region inside the parting frame M, the insulating film 21 having a thickness of 2 μm is provided in the region outside the parting frame M, and the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer is set to 6 μm. Set. Under such a thickness setting of the polymer liquid crystal layer, the same quenching test as the quenching test described in the prior art was performed.

  As a result of the rapid cooling test, no cracks were observed in the polymer liquid crystal layer in which the polymer network in the vicinity of the sealing material 6 was formed. In addition, no cracking phenomenon appeared in the area inside the parting frame M.

  Experimentally, as a result of a rapid cooling test in which the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer was set to 6 μm in both the region inside the parting frame M and the region outside the parting frame M, no cracking phenomenon appeared. . However, the result showed that the white turbidity of the liquid crystal when no voltage was applied was slightly reduced.

  From the above, it has been found that cracks do not occur when the cell gap amount in the region outside the parting frame M is suppressed to 6 μm or less. In addition, the region outside the parting frame M has a reduced thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer and is less turbid, but does not cause any trouble because it is a portion that is not visually recognized.

  It is judged that when the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer is reduced, the capacity of the polymer liquid crystal layer at that portion is reduced, and the generation of negative pressure due to rapid thermal contraction due to rapid cooling is suppressed to a small level. Therefore, the generation of cracks can be prevented by providing an insulating film in the region outside the parting frame M and suppressing the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer to be small.

  Here, the formation width of the insulating film 21 provided to reduce the cell gap amount is closely related to the occurrence of cracks. In FIG. 1, n represents the width of the insulating film 21. Although the insulating film 21 is provided outside the parting frame M, if the width n of the insulating film 21 is too small, a crack is generated at a portion outside the width n of the insulating film 21. Then, if the parting frame M is provided in the marginal line with the insulating film 21 having a small width n, cracks appear inside the parting frame M. For this reason, the width n of the insulating film 21 is such that the insulating film 21 is provided close to the position where the negative pressure in the cell gap generated by thermal contraction is absorbed by the deformation of the upper and lower substrates. Is preferably set. In this way, the negative pressure generated by the rapid thermal contraction at the place deviated from the insulating film 21 causes the upper and lower substrates to be deformed such as warping and absorbs pressure, so that the pressure load on the polymer liquid crystal layer is reduced. This is because the generation of cracks is suppressed.

  The parting frame M is obtained and set according to product specifications and the like. Therefore, the size of the liquid crystal display element is set in consideration of the width n of the insulating film 21 and the width of the sealing material 6 set in consideration of the above contents in the set size of the parting frame M. Is preferred.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, the structure of the polymer liquid crystal display device according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 2A is a plan view of the polymer liquid crystal display element according to the present embodiment, and FIG. 2B is a YY cross-sectional view of FIG. 2A.

The configuration of the polymer liquid crystal display element according to the second embodiment is different from the configuration of the polymer liquid crystal display element according to the first embodiment described above, as shown in FIG. The difference is that the insulating film 21 provided in the region is provided at two locations on the inner surface of each of the upper substrate 2 and the lower substrate 1. And the other component has taken the same structure as the structure in 1st Embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 2B, the polymer liquid crystal display element 30 according to the second embodiment has an insulation with a thickness of 2 μm on the inner surface side of each of the upper substrate 2 and the lower substrate 1 in a region outside the parting frame M. A film 21 is provided. The thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in the region (m) inside the parting frame M is set to 8 μm, and the thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer in the region where the insulating film 21 is provided is set to 4 μm.

  As a result of adopting the above configuration, when a rapid cooling test was performed, the occurrence of cracks did not appear in the outer region and the inner region of the parting frame M as in the case of the first embodiment.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Lower substrate 2 Upper substrate 3 Pixel electrode 4 Counter electrode 5 Polymer liquid crystal layer 6 Sealing material 10, 20, 30 Polymer liquid crystal display element 21 Insulating film A Crack M Parting frame m Area n inside parting frame Width

Claims (1)

In a polymer liquid crystal display element in which a polymer liquid crystal layer is sealed with a sealing material between a pair of substrates, a parting frame corresponding to the outer peripheral position of the display region is set, and the inside of each of both substrates of the pair of substrates is set. And an insulating film is provided along the sealing material in a region that is outside the parting frame ,
A polymer liquid crystal display element, wherein a thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer outside the parting frame of the polymer liquid crystal display element is smaller than a thickness of the polymer liquid crystal layer inside the parting frame .