JP2007041386A - Electrophoretic display module, electronic appliance, and method for manufacturing the electrophoretic display module - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrophoretic display module capable of reducing the number of components, and miniaturizing, to provide an electronic appliance equipped with the electrophoretic display module, and to provide a method for manufacturing the electrophoretic display module. <P>SOLUTION: An electrical element 16, including a display drive circuit 40, is mounted on one side surface of a substrate 11, and at the same time, an electrophoretic display panel, including an electrode 14 for display, is constructed on the other side surface of the substrate 11, and the electrical element 16 and the electrode 14 for display are made to be connected via a connection conductor 17 mounted on the substrate 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an electrophoretic display module including an electrophoretic display panel and a circuit unit, an electronic apparatus including the electrophoretic display module, and a method for manufacturing the electrophoretic display module.

In recent years, there has been proposed a display device to which an electrophoretic display panel using a phenomenon in which charged particles dispersed in a liquid migrate by applying an electric field, that is, an electrophoretic phenomenon (see, for example, Patent Document 1). This type of display device employs a configuration in which an electrophoretic display panel and a circuit unit are configured as separate modules, and these are electrically connected via a conductive rubber or a connector.
Further, when this type of display device is battery driven, a battery box is provided, and the battery box is connected to the module via a connector or the like.
JP-A-1-86116

  However, the conventional configuration requires a connecting part (conductive rubber or connector) for connecting the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit part and a connecting part for connecting the battery box and the circuit part, so the number of parts increases. End up. For this reason, problems such as an increase in the number of assembly steps and difficulty in miniaturization occur, and the increase in the number of parts lowers the reliability of the joint portion, resulting in problems such as deterioration in yield and environmental resistance. .

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and is an electrophoretic display module that can reduce the number of components and can be miniaturized, an electronic device including the electrophoretic display module, and an electrophoretic display module. It is to provide a manufacturing method.

In order to solve the above-described problems, the present invention provides an electrophoretic display module in which an electric element including a drive circuit is mounted on one surface of a substrate, and a display electrode is included on the other surface of the substrate. An electrophoretic display panel is configured, and the electric element and the display electrode are connected via a connection conductor provided on the substrate.
According to the present invention, an electrical element including a drive circuit is mounted on one surface of the substrate, and an electrophoretic display panel including a display electrode is configured on the other surface of the substrate. Since the electrodes are connected via the connection conductors provided on the substrate, it is not necessary to provide a connector as compared with the case where the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit part are configured separately and connected by a connector. The number of points can be reduced, and the electrophoretic display module can be reduced in size, weight, and manufacturing cost.

  In the above configuration, the electrophoretic display panel may be configured by laminating a display panel structural body including an electrophoretic layer and a common electrode above the display electrode. In this case, the display panel structural body is It is preferable to laminate the display electrode using a vacuum laminator. By using a vacuum laminator, the pressure applied to the electric element or the like can be made appropriate, and destruction of the electric element or the like can be avoided.

  In the above configuration, when the conductive member is brought into contact with a predetermined portion of the display electrode and the display panel structure is laminated, the conductive member may be in contact with the common electrode of the display panel structure. Moreover, in each said structure, components, such as a battery box, can be abbreviate | omitted by providing a pair of power supply terminal which hold | maintains a battery so that attachment or detachment is possible on the said double-sided board | substrate.

  In each of the above configurations, the electric element may include a clock circuit that measures time and displays the time on the electrophoretic display panel by a driving circuit, and the electrophoretic display module may be configured as a clock module. . As a result, it is possible to provide a timepiece module that does not require a connector for connecting the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit unit, and can reduce the number of components and can be miniaturized. Various electric devices may include the electrophoretic display module.

Further, the present invention provides an electrophoretic display module manufacturing method in which an electrical element including a drive circuit is mounted on one side surface of a substrate provided with a connection conductor, and the other side surface of the substrate is used for display. An electrophoretic display panel including an electrode is configured, and the electric element and the display electrode are connected via the connection conductor.
According to the present invention, an electrophoretic display panel including a display electrode on the other surface of the substrate is mounted on one surface of the substrate on which the connection conductor is provided. Since the electrical element and the display electrode are connected via the connection conductor, the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit unit are separately configured and connected to the connector, so that it is not necessary to provide a connector, The number of parts can be reduced, and the electrophoretic display module can be reduced in size, weight, and manufacturing cost.

  The present invention mounts an electric element including a drive circuit on one surface of a substrate and constitutes an electrophoretic display panel including a display electrode on the other surface of the substrate. The electric element and the display electrode Is connected via a connection conductor provided on the substrate, so that the number of components is reduced by the amount of the parts that are not required to provide a connector compared to the case where the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit unit are configured separately and connected by a connector. The electrophoretic display module can be reduced in size and weight.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an external configuration of a wristwatch 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in this figure, the wristwatch 1 includes a watch case 2 and a pair of watch bands 3 attached to the watch case 2 and wound around the wrist of the user. The timepiece case 2 has a time display window 4 for displaying the time on the front, and a display panel (electrophoretic display panel) 5 for displaying the time is visible from the time display window 4. Further, the time display window 4 is fitted with a cover body 6 made of transparent resin, transparent glass or the like, and the display panel 5 is protected by the cover body 6. Further, the watch case 2 is provided with operation buttons 8 for performing various instructions such as time correction and mode change.

  The display panel 5 is a segment display panel that displays various information using a plurality of segments. In the display area of the display panel 5, there are segments (so-called 7 segments) 5A for displaying numbers 0 to 9. The four columns are arranged, the hour “hour” is displayed by the left two columns 5A, and the “minute” is displayed by the right two columns 5A. Further, between the “hour” segment 5A and the “minute” segment 5A, a segment 5B having a circular shape in front view for displaying characters (colon in this example) indicating the separator of “hour” and “minute” is provided. Is arranged. In the present embodiment, an electrophoretic display panel is used as the display panel 5, and the detailed configuration thereof will be described later. Moreover, in the following description, when it is not necessary to distinguish each of the segments 5A and 5B, they are expressed as a segment 5X.

In the watch case 2, a watch module (electrophoretic display module) 10 configured integrally with the display panel 5 is disposed. As shown in the cross-sectional view of FIG. 2, the timepiece module 10 includes a mounting substrate 11, a display panel structural body 12, and a circuit presser 13 that holds them.
The mounting substrate 11 has a wiring pattern formed on both sides, and a substrate made of a rigid material such as glass epoxy resin or a flexible substrate made of a flexible material such as polyimide resin is applied. On one surface (upper surface) of the mounting substrate 11, a segment electrode (display electrode) 14 corresponding to the segment 5X and a common electrode segment electrode (display electrode) 15 are provided. In addition, on the other surface (lower surface) of the mounting substrate 11, the electric elements 16 constituting the display drive circuit (driver IC) 40, the control unit (microcomputer) 50, and the like are mounted. 11 are electrically connected via a wiring pattern formed on the lower surface of the substrate 11.

  Further, the mounting substrate 11 has a substrate internal wiring (connection conductor) 17 for connecting the electric element 16 and each of the segment electrodes 14 and 15. The substrate internal wiring 17 is formed by vias formed by electroless plating or filling of a conductive material in holes formed in the mounting substrate 11 in advance and a wiring pattern in the inner layer of the multi-layer substrate. A second substrate connecting the first substrate internal wiring 17A for connecting each of the first and second drive terminals 40A of the display drive circuit 40 to the common electrode segment electrode 15 and the common electrode terminal 40B of the display drive circuit 40. And an internal wiring 17B. Thus, the substrate internal wirings 17A and 17B function as drive voltage supply passages for supplying the drive voltage from the display drive circuit 40 to the segment electrodes 14 and 15, respectively.

  Further, a switch electrode 18 is provided on a side surface of the mounting substrate 11, and the switch electrode 18 is electrically connected to the control unit 50 through a wiring pattern formed on the mounting substrate 11. The circuit retainer 13 is provided with a metal leaf spring 19 on the side of the switch electrode 18, and this leaf spring 19 has a gap K between the switch electrode 18 and the switch spring 18 as shown in FIG. It is supported in the formed state, and when the operation button 8 is pressed, the operation button 8 is deformed to the switch electrode 18 side to make the switch electrode 18 conductive. As a result, whether or not the operation button 8 has been pressed is detected by the control unit 50 via the switch electrode 18.

  Further, a circuit frame 21 that protects the element 16 is attached to the lower surface of the mounting substrate 11, and the circuit frame 21 has a hole 21 </ b> A that accommodates a button battery 20 that is a primary battery. A pair of power supply terminals 22 provided on the lower surface of the mounting substrate 11 are exposed in the portion 21A. The pair of power supply terminals 22 includes a negative electrode terminal 22A that contacts the negative electrode portion (back surface) of the button battery 20 and a positive electrode terminal 22B that contacts the positive electrode portion (front surface) of the button battery 20, and these terminals 22A and 22B. The electric power of the button battery 20 is supplied to each element 16 via. The button battery 20 is detachably held by the pair of power terminals 22.

  The display panel structure 12 constitutes an electrophoretic display panel by laminating on the upper surface of the mounting substrate 11, and is formed on the transparent substrate 24 and ITO (Indium-Tin Oxide) vapor deposition on the transparent substrate 24. A transparent common electrode 25 and an electrophoretic layer 30 disposed along the common electrode 25 are schematically configured. A common electrode conductive material (conductive member) 26 is interposed between the common electrode 25 and the common electrode segment electrode 15. A conductive sheet having double-sided adhesive properties is applied to the common electrode conductive material 26, and one adhesive surface of the conductive sheet is attached to the common electrode segment electrode 15, and the other adhesive surface is attached to the common electrode 25. Thus, the common electrode 25 and the common electrode segment electrode 15 are made conductive.

As shown in FIG. 3, the electrophoretic layer 30 includes a plurality of microcapsules 31, and these microcapsules 31 are formed by a non-conductive holding member 34 erected between the mounting substrate 11 and the transparent substrate 24. The holding member 34, the mounting substrate 11 and the transparent substrate 24 are enclosed in a gap.
The microcapsule 31 is filled with an electrophoretic dispersion liquid 33 in which electrophoretic particles 32 are mixed. For example, blue particles charged with positive polarity are applied to the electrophoretic particles 32, and electrophoretic dispersion is performed. The liquid 33 is colored white, so that a so-called one-particle electrophoresis layer is formed.
Accordingly, the common electrode segment electrode 15 (FIG. 2) is held at 0 V potential (ground potential) by the display drive circuit 40, the common electrode 25 is set to 0 V potential, and a positive drive voltage is applied to the predetermined segment electrode 14. Is supplied to a positive potential, an electric field from the segment electrode 14 toward the common electrode 25 is generated, and the positively charged electrophoretic particles (blue particles) 32 in the microcapsule 31 move to the common electrode 25 side. Along with this, the white electrophoretic dispersion liquid 33 moves to the segment electrode 14 side. As a result, since the microcapsule 31 visually recognized from the transparent substrate 24 side exhibits blue, the segment 5X displays blue.

On the other hand, a positive drive voltage is supplied to the common electrode segment electrode 15 by the display drive circuit 40 to set the common electrode 25 to a positive potential, and the predetermined segment electrode 14 is held at a 0 V potential. In this case, the positively charged electrophoretic particles (blue particles) 32 move to the segment electrode 14 side, and accordingly, the white electrophoretic dispersion liquid 33 moves to the common electrode 25 side. The microcapsule 31 visually recognized from the transparent substrate 24 side exhibits white, and the segment displays white. In addition, when no potential difference is generated between the common electrode 25 and the segment electrode 14, the electrophoretic particles (blue particles) 32 do not move, so the display color of the segment remains unchanged and the previous state is maintained. Is done.
In the present embodiment, the display driving circuit 40 has a built-in booster circuit, boosts the voltage (for example, 3V) supplied from the button battery 20 to generate a + 12V voltage, or the + 12V voltage, or A voltage of 0 V is applied to the segment electrode 14 and the common electrode 25 as a drive voltage.

FIG. 4 shows an electrical configuration of the timepiece module 10.
The control unit 50 is electrically connected to the display drive circuit 40 and the button battery 20 via a wiring pattern provided on the mounting substrate 11, and the control unit 50 includes a timer circuit 51 and an input / output circuit (I / O circuit). ) 52, a voltage control circuit 53, an operation control circuit 54, and a control circuit (control means) 57. The timer circuit 51 measures time by counting the oscillation pulses of an oscillation circuit (not shown). The timer circuit 51 is connected to the display drive circuit 40 via an input / output circuit 52.
The voltage control circuit 53 supplies power supplied from the button battery 20 to each unit in the control unit 50 and the display drive circuit 40, and the operation control circuit 54 connects / disconnects the switch electrode 18. By detecting the continuity, the operation of the operation button 8 is detected, and the detection result is notified to the control circuit 57.

The control circuit 57 centrally controls the timepiece module 10 as a whole. The control circuit 57 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like. When the CPU executes a control program stored in the ROM, each control unit 50 has a control circuit 57. While controlling the operation, various signals are output to the display drive circuit 40 via the input / output unit (I / O) 52.
As described above, the display drive circuit 40 is a circuit for driving the display panel 5, acquires time information measured by the time measuring circuit 51 under the instruction of the control circuit 57, and displays it at the designated rewriting interval. The panel 5 is rewritten and the time is displayed on the display panel 5. As described above, since the timepiece module 10 integrally includes the electric element (time) 16 and the button battery 20 constituting the timepiece circuit for driving the electrophoretic display panel 5 to display the time, The wristwatch 1 can be easily manufactured simply by incorporating the timepiece module 10 in the timepiece case 2.

When the timepiece module 10 is manufactured, a mounting process of mounting the electric elements 16 constituting the display drive circuit 40, the control unit 50, and the like by reflow or the like is performed on one surface (lower surface) of the mounting substrate 11, After the mounting process, a laminating process for laminating the display panel structure 12 is performed on the other surface (upper surface) of the mounting substrate 11, and the timepiece module 10 is manufactured by these two processes.
In this case, after the mounting step, the common electrode conductive material 26 made of a conductive sheet having double-sided adhesive properties is brought into contact with (attached to) the common electrode segment electrode 15 in the lamination step. In addition, the common electrode conductive material 26 comes into contact with the common electrode 25 of the display panel structure 12, and the common electrode 25 and the common electrode segment electrode 15 can be easily connected.

Here, the reflow is a method in which paste solder (so-called cream solder) is printed in advance on the mounting substrate 11, and the solder is soldered by applying heat to the mounting substrate 11 after disposing the electric element 16. Yes, as a method other than reflow, a flow may be applied in which the mounting substrate 11 is poured over a solder bath containing heated and melted liquid solder and soldering is performed on the joint between the electric element 16 and the substrate. . As described above, since the electric element 11 is mounted before the display panel structural body 12 is mounted, it is possible to avoid a situation in which the electrophoretic layer 30 and the like are adversely affected by heat when the electric element 11 is soldered.
A vacuum laminator is applied as a laminator for laminating the display panel structure 12. By using a vacuum laminator, compared to the case of using a roll laminator that has a large limit on the thickness, etc., it is excellent in uneven followability, and the pressure applied to the electric element 16 and the like can be within an appropriate range. It is possible to avoid destruction of the element 16 and the like.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the circuit unit including the electric element 16 is provided on one surface of the mounting substrate 11, and the display panel structure 12 is mounted on the other surface of the mounting substrate 11. By configuring the electrophoretic display panel, the timepiece module 10 including the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit unit can be easily manufactured.
For this reason, in this embodiment, it is not necessary to provide a connector, and the number of parts can be reduced, compared to a case where the electrophoretic display panel and the circuit unit are configured separately and connected by a connector. 10 can be reduced in size, weight and manufacturing cost.
Further, since a pair of power supply terminals 22 are integrally provided on the mounting substrate 11 and the pair of power supply terminals 22 detachably hold the button battery 20, compared with a separate battery box connected to the substrate by a connector. Thus, the number of parts can be reduced. As a result, the reliability and yield of the joint portion can be reduced, and the wristwatch 1 can be made thinner and lighter, and the design flexibility can be improved.

The above-described embodiment is merely one aspect of the present invention, and can be arbitrarily modified within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the case where the electrical element 16 of the mounting substrate 11 and the segment electrodes 14 and 15 are connected via the substrate internal wiring 17 is described. A through-hole plating may be formed by forming a metal layer such as copper on the wall surface by electroless plating, and the electric element 16 and the segment electrodes 14 and 15 may be connected via this through-hole plating. The electric element 16 and the segment electrodes 14 and 15 may be connected via a connection conductor provided in the thickness direction of the mounting substrate 11. Moreover, in the said embodiment, you may use multiple layer substrates, such as a double-sided board (two-layer board | substrate), a four-layer board | substrate, and a seven-layer board | substrate, for the said mounting board | substrate 11. FIG. In the above embodiment, other conductive members such as conductive paste and conductive rubber may be used for the common electrode conductive material 26.
Moreover, although the case where the timepiece module 10 was used for the wristwatch 1 was illustrated in the above-described embodiment, it can be used for various types of timepieces such as a table clock, a wall clock, a wall clock, and a pocket watch. In addition, the present invention is not limited to being applied to a watch module, but can be widely applied to an electrophoretic display module other than a watch application. For example, an electronic device including a display panel such as a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants) or a mobile phone. Can be widely applied to equipment.

It is a figure which shows the external appearance structure of the wristwatch which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is sectional drawing which shows typically the timepiece module of a wristwatch. It is sectional drawing for demonstrating the structure of a display panel. It is a block diagram which shows the electric constitution of a timepiece module.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Wristwatch, 5 ... Display panel (electrophoretic display panel), 5A, 5B, 5X ... Segment, 10 ... Clock module (electrophoretic display module), 11 ... Mounting board (double-sided board), 12 ... Display panel structure, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 13 ... Circuit holding | suppressing, 14 ... Segment electrode, 15 ... Segment electrode for common electrodes, 16 ... Electric element, 17 ... Board | substrate internal wiring (connection conductor), 17A ... 1st board | substrate internal wiring, 17B ... 2nd board | substrate internal wiring, 18 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS ... Switch electrode, 19 ... Leaf spring, 20 ... Button battery, 21 ... Circuit frame, 22 ... Power supply terminal, 24 ... Transparent substrate, 25 ... Common electrode, 26 ... Conductive material (conductive member) for common electrode, 30 ... Electricity Electrophoresis layer, 31 ... microcapsule, 40 ... display drive circuit, 50 ... control unit, 51 ... timer circuit, 52 ... input / output circuit, 53 ... voltage control circuit, 54 ... operation control circuit, 57 ... control circuit .

Claims (8)

An electrical element including a drive circuit is mounted on one surface of the substrate, and an electrophoretic display panel including a display electrode is configured on the other surface of the substrate. The electrical element, the display electrode, Are connected through a connection conductor provided on the substrate. The electrophoretic display panel according to claim 1, wherein the electrophoretic display panel is configured by laminating a display panel structure including an electrophoretic layer and a common electrode above the display electrode. module. The electrophoretic display module according to claim 2, wherein the display panel constituting body is laminated on the display electrode using a vacuum laminator. The conductive member is in contact with a common electrode of the display panel structure when the conductive member is brought into contact with a predetermined portion of the display electrode and the display panel structure is laminated. 4. The electrophoretic display module according to 3. 5. The electrophoretic display module according to claim 1, wherein the double-sided substrate is provided with a pair of power supply terminals for detachably holding a battery. 6. The electrical device includes a clock circuit for measuring time and displaying the time on the electrophoretic display panel by the driving circuit, and the electrophoretic display module is configured as a clock module. The electrophoretic display module according to any one of 1 to 5. An electronic apparatus comprising the electrophoretic display module according to claim 1. An electrical element including a drive circuit is mounted on one side surface of the substrate provided with the connection conductor, and an electrophoretic display panel including a display electrode is configured on the other side surface of the substrate. A method for manufacturing an electrophoretic display module, wherein the display electrode is connected via the connection conductor.

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