JP2759677B2 - Electro-optic display cell - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electro-optical display cell.

[Related Art] In recent years, an electro-optical element represented by a liquid crystal display element has been regarded as a promising display element capable of displaying a large screen with low power.

The above-mentioned liquid crystal display elements are typical ones.In particular, recently, with the demand for high-speed display, it is necessary to obtain a substrate with a narrower spacing between substrates than before. Is needed. In the case of such a substrate having a small space, if the thickness unevenness of the space between the substrates is large, color unevenness or the like is conspicuous, and it is easy to cause a product defect.

One of the problems that often arises as a cause of the uneven thickness of the interval between the substrates is uneven thickness due to the thickness of the electrode between the portion where the electrode exists and the portion where the electrode does not exist on the substrate.

Conventionally, in order to prevent such uneven thickness,
Dummy electrodes made of the same conductive film as the electrodes are provided also on portions of the substrate where no electrodes are present, to prevent unevenness in the thickness of the substrate interval caused by the presence or absence of the electrodes.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] By the method as described above, it is possible to suppress the thickness unevenness of the substrate interval due to the presence or absence of the electrode. However, when an electro-optical display element is used, static electricity is easily charged on a substrate made of an insulator. This force often causes uneven thickness.

Means for Solving the Problems The present invention has been made to solve the problems, and an electro-optical medium is sandwiched between a pair of substrates provided with electrodes, and the periphery is sealed with a sealing material. In the electro-optical display cell, one of the substrates has a portion on which a dummy electrode not formed in the display is formed, and the other substrate has an electrode or at least a portion facing the dummy electrode. It has a dummy electrode, and the dummy electrode on one substrate is
Another object of the present invention is to provide an electro-optical display cell characterized in that the electro-optical display cell is electrically conductively connected to the electrode or the dummy electrode opposite to the electrode on the other substrate.

Hereinafter, the configuration of the present invention will be described by taking a case where the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display cell as an example.

FIG. 1 is a top view of an arrangement of electrodes on a pair of substrates when the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display cell, as viewed from the same direction, where (A) is an upper substrate and (B) is a lower substrate. It is a side substrate. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1 in a state where the pair of substrates is stacked and pressed via a sealing material. In the figure, 1 and 3 are substrates, 2 and 4 are display electrodes, 5 is a peripheral seal, 6 is a liquid crystal layer, and 7, 7a and 7b are dummy electrodes.

In the present invention, it is preferable to provide an electrode so as to cover almost the entire surface of the substrate as shown in FIG. That is,
It is preferable that a dummy electrode is provided also on a portion of the substrate facing the above-mentioned lead wire, and a dummy electrode and a dummy electrode facing the dummy electrode are provided on a portion where no electrode is necessary for display. The place where the dummy electrode is provided is provided not only in the display surface where the display is actually performed, but also in the peripheral part as shown in FIG. 1, and the substrate is almost covered with the electrode, its lead wire and the dummy electrode. It is desirable to make the distance between the substrates of the cell more uniform as a whole.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 7 denotes a dummy electrode facing the display electrode 2 or 4, and reference numerals 7a and 7b denote a pair of dummy electrodes facing each other. As can be understood from FIG. 1, the dummy electrode always has at least a part of a counter electrode facing the dummy electrode. The counter electrode may be a display electrode or its lead wire, or may be a dummy electrode. In any case, the dummy electrode is configured to have an opposite electrode.

In the present invention, the dummy electrode is conductively connected to the counter electrode. The method of the conductive connection will be described with reference to the example shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The conductive particles 8 are mixed in the seal 5, and the dummy electrode and its counter electrode are extended to the region of the seal 5. By letting them do. That is, the dummy electrode and its counter electrode are conductively connected via the mixed conductive particles 8 in the seal 5.

This conductive connection need not necessarily be performed in a seal, and the dummy electrode and the counter electrode can be drawn out to the outside of the cell by a lead wire, and can be conductively connected to each other outside the cell. However, conductive connection within the seal as in the present embodiment is preferable because conductive connection can be easily performed even when the pitch of the electrode pattern is small, and reliability is high. When the conductive connection is made by the conductive particles in the seal in this manner, if the size of the conductive particles is approximately the same as the diameter of the spacer usually mixed and used in the sealing material, the conductive particles can be used as the spacer. This is more preferable because it can also serve the role of.

The above-described method for manufacturing a liquid crystal display element can be applied to a conventional method, and various modifications can be made without impairing the effects of the present invention.

[Embodiment] As in FIG. 1, electrodes made of indium tin oxide patterned on two substrates (400 row electrodes on one substrate and orthogonal to the row electrodes on the other substrate) In the direction
640 column electrodes). At this time, an electrode was provided as a dummy in order to make the thickness of the substrate interval constant even in a portion unnecessary for performing display. From there, a film thickness of 0.1
A μm polyimide film was formed and rubbed to form an alignment film. Thereafter, a sealing material containing spacers is provided on one substrate by screen printing, and a sealing material containing conductive particles is screen-printed on the other substrate at a position where the above-mentioned dummy electrode and its counter electrode are conductively connected. Formed by printing. Thereafter, the above-mentioned two electrode substrates were thermocompression-bonded via the above-mentioned sealing material to form empty cells, and liquid crystal was sealed therein to obtain liquid crystal cells. The liquid crystal display device using the obtained liquid crystal cell was excellent in appearance without color unevenness due to thickness unevenness between the substrates.

[Effects of the Invention] According to the present invention, since the electrodes and the dummy electrodes are provided on the entire surface of the substrate, it is possible to eliminate the thickness unevenness of the substrate interval due to the presence or absence of the electrodes, and furthermore, the dummy electrodes and the electrodes facing the dummy electrodes Are conductively connected, and have the same potential,
The thickness variation of the substrate spacing and the variation of the substrate spacing due to the force of static electricity are eliminated, and an electro-optical display cell free from color unevenness and contrast unevenness can be obtained.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, since the electrodes and the dummy electrodes are provided on the entire surface of the substrate, the colors of the electrodes provided on the substrate can be seen uniformly, and the appearance of the electro-optical display cell can be improved. I do.

Further, according to the third aspect of the present invention, the conductive connection between the dummy electrode and the electrode facing the dummy electrode can be easily obtained even with a very fine electrode pattern, and a highly reliable electrode can be obtained. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a top view of an arrangement of electrodes on a pair of substrates when the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display cell, as viewed from the same direction, where (A) is an upper substrate and (B) is a lower substrate. It is a side substrate. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line AA of FIG. 1 in a state where the pair of substrates is stacked and pressed via a sealing material. 1, 3, substrate 2, 4, electrode 5, seal 6, liquid crystal layer 7, dummy electrode 8, conductive particles

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁶ , DB name) G02F 1/1345

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. An electro-optical display cell comprising an electro-optical medium sandwiched between a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a periphery thereof sealed with a sealing material, wherein one of the substrates is deposited for display. The other substrate has an electrode or a dummy electrode at least partially opposed to the dummy electrode, and the dummy electrode of one substrate is the same as that of the other substrate. An electro-optical display cell, which is conductively connected to an opposing electrode or a dummy electrode. 2. The electro-optical display cell according to claim 1, wherein the opposing surfaces of the pair of substrates are substantially covered with electrodes, lead wires and dummy electrodes. 3. The semiconductor device according to claim 1, wherein the dummy electrode on one substrate and the electrode or the dummy electrode facing the dummy electrode on the other substrate are conductively connected by conductive particles mixed in the sealing material. An electro-optical display cell according to claim 1.