JPH09258176A - Curved surface panel and its production - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to uniformly maintain a cell gap and to assure panel strength even when a curved surface panel is made to be a large screen and to have a large curvature. SOLUTION: The curved surface panel 20 is constituted by holding a display medium in the state of enclosing liquid crystal regions 6 with high-polymer walls 7 between circuit surface substrates 1 disposed to face each other. Band- shaped transparent electrodes 2 are formed on both of the display medium side surfaces of the curved surface substrates 1. The transparent electrodes 2 on one side intersect with the transparent electrodes 2 on the other side. Electrical insulating films 3 and oriented films 4 are formed on the curved surface substrates 1 having the transparent electrodes 2. The opposite parts of the transparent electrodes 2 are picture element parts 12 and the non-opposite parts are non-picture element parts 13. The liquid crystal regions 6 exist in the picture element parts 12 and the high-polymer walls 7 exist in the non- picture element parts 13. The peripheral edges between the substrates 1 are provided with sealing materials 9.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal panel used for a display device for displaying characters and images, and more particularly to a curved panel having a curved substrate and a manufacturing method thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, the majority of liquid crystal panels are flat panels, and the liquid crystal panel having a curved surface has only a small curved panel with a small curvature. This is because it is difficult to increase the size and the curvature of the curved panel.
The three main reasons are as follows.

The first reason is that it is difficult to process the panel into a curved shape while keeping the panel gap uniform.

The second reason is that it is difficult to keep the panel gap uniform by the spacer when processing to a large curvature.

The third reason is that when manufacturing a curved panel with a large screen, it is difficult to secure strength enough to keep the curvature and the gap constant for a long time.

By the way, conventionally, as a technique for processing a panel into a curved surface, there has been proposed a method of sandwiching and pressing a seal-like interposing material between substrates (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-1562).
No. 20). Further, as a technique for keeping the gap of the curved panel uniform, a method has been proposed in which the ridge line direction of the linear spacer and the maximum curvature direction of the substrate are substantially matched (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 3-168618).

[0007]

However, when a curved panel having a large screen and a large curvature is produced by using the curved panel produced by the above method or the like, sufficient panel strength is ensured in a vacuum atmosphere. However, there is a problem that the panel is broken when the liquid crystal is vacuum-injected.

Further, when a granular spacer is used as a means for keeping the gap of the curved panel uniform and the cell gap of the curved substrate is controlled by this granular spacer, the cell gap near the spacer becomes almost the same as the spacer thickness. The diameter between the spacers is smaller than the spacer diameter. Therefore, color unevenness due to gap unevenness occurs in the cell, and it is difficult to manufacture a curved panel with good display quality.

Furthermore, in the method in which the ridge direction of the linear spacer and the direction of maximum curvature of the substrate are made to substantially coincide with each other, the spacer is formed in a stripe shape on a flat panel, and then the panel is made into a curved surface. It is difficult to make the spacer thickness constant due to the difference in the expansion and contraction ratios between and. Further, since the spacers are arranged in a stripe shape, it is difficult to maintain sufficient strength after the panel is manufactured.

The present invention has been made in order to solve the problems of the prior art as described above, and it is possible to uniformly hold the cell gab even when a large screen and a large curvature are provided, and a curved panel which can secure the panel strength, and It is an object to provide a manufacturing method thereof.

[0011]

The curved panel of the present invention comprises:
A sealing material made of a polymer material for bonding the substrates is provided on the peripheral edge between a pair of curved substrates which both have display electrodes and are opposed to each other. A display medium in which a liquid crystal region is partially or wholly surrounded by a polymer member in which a liquid crystal region is patterned is provided in the surrounded portion, and thereby the above object is achieved.

In the curved panel of the present invention, it is preferable that the patterned polymer member functions as a spacer for the pair of substrates. Further, it is preferable that the patterned polymer member is in close contact with each of the pair of substrates.

The method of manufacturing a curved panel according to the present invention comprises a step of disposing a pair of curved substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes inside, and a pair of curved substrates disposed so as to face each other. A step of arranging a mixture containing at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound, and irradiating the mixture with light selectively from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the curved substrate to obtain the liquid crystal material. To form a display medium in which a liquid crystal region mainly composed of is surrounded by a polymer member mainly composed of the photopolymerizable compound, which is patterned by irradiation with light, thereby achieving the above object. To be done.

The method for manufacturing a curved panel according to the present invention comprises a step of disposing a pair of flat substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes inside, and a pair of flat substrates disposed so as to face each other. A step of arranging a mixture containing at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound between them, and selectively irradiating the mixture with light from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the flat substrate, A step of forming a display medium in which a liquid crystal region mainly made of a material is patterned by light irradiation and surrounded by a polymer member mainly made of the photopolymerizable compound; and a pair of flat surfaces having the display medium. The step of processing the substrate into a curved substrate by pressing the substrate while applying heat, thereby achieving the above object.

A method of manufacturing a curved panel according to the present invention comprises a step of disposing a pair of flat substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes inside, and a pair of flat substrates disposed so as to face each other. In between, a step of arranging a mixture containing at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound, and a pair of planar substrates injected with the mixture, a step of processing into a curved substrate by pressing while applying heat, The photopolymerizable compound in which a liquid crystal region mainly composed of the liquid crystal material is patterned by irradiating the mixture with light selectively from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the curved substrate, And a step of forming a display medium surrounded by a polymer member mainly composed of, thereby achieving the above object.

The method of manufacturing a curved panel according to the present invention comprises a step of patterning a polymer member on one of a pair of flat substrates each having a display electrode, and one plane having the patterned polymer member. The step of disposing the liquid crystal material in the portion surrounded by the polymer member of the substrate, the one flat substrate on which the liquid crystal material was dropped, and the other of the other flat substrates with the display electrode inside And a step of laminating the pair of flat substrates to each other while pressing them while applying heat to the curved substrates to thereby achieve the above object.

The operation of the present invention will be described below.

In the present invention, a polymeric member patterned in a lattice pattern, for example, is formed in the curved panel. Since this polymer member can be formed in a state of being in close contact with the pair of substrates, sufficient panel strength is ensured after the curved panel is manufactured. Therefore, even if a pressing force is applied from the outside, the cell gap does not change, and the gap can be kept semipermanently uniform. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a curved panel having a large curvature and a large screen with good display quality without color unevenness.

As the operation mode of the curved panel of the present invention, any operation mode such as TN, STN, ECB, FLC and the like that utilizes birefringence and polarized light can be used.

[0020]

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below. The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described below.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing the structure of a curved panel according to an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate used in this embodiment has a thickness of 0.3 mm to 1.1 m.
A flexible substrate such as a glass substrate of m. or a plastic film is suitable.

In a curved panel 20 shown in FIG. 1, a pair of curved substrates 1 made of a glass plate or the like are disposed so as to face each other, and a liquid crystal region 6 is surrounded by a polymer wall 7 between the curved substrates 1 and 1. The display medium in the open state is sandwiched.

A strip-shaped transparent electrode 2 is formed on both surfaces of the curved substrate 1 on the display medium side, and the transparent electrode 2 formed on one of the substrates intersects with the transparent electrode 2 formed on the other substrate. It is like this. An electrically insulating film 3 is formed on a curved substrate 1 having a transparent electrode 2, and an alignment film 4 is further formed thereon. The portion where the transparent electrode 2 faces is the pixel portion 12, and the portion which does not face the non-pixel portion 13 has the liquid crystal region 6 in the pixel portion 12, and the non-pixel portion 13 has a polymer. There is a wall 7.

For the formation of the display medium, a mixture of at least a liquid crystal material and a photocurable resin is used. As the liquid crystal material, any of conventional liquid crystal materials such as TN mode, STN mode, ECB mode, FLC mode, and light scattering mode can be used. As the photocurable resin, any photocurable resin can be used as long as it is polymerized and cured by light. Furthermore, this photocurable resin may be used alone or in combination of several kinds. The mixed material may further contain a photopolymerization initiator.

The curved panel can be manufactured, for example, as follows. In this manufacturing example, the case of the STN mode is given.

First, a transparent electrode 2 made of ITO, for example, is formed in a strip shape on two 5-inch flat substrates by a sputtering method, and SiO is formed so as to cover the strip-shaped transparent electrode 2.
An electrically insulating film 3 such as ₂ is formed by a sputtering method.

Next, an alignment film 4 is formed on the electric insulating film 3 by using SE-150 (manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries) as a material for the alignment film. The thickness is 300 angstroms to 2000 angstroms, preferably 500 angstroms to 1000 angstroms.

Next, the alignment film 4 is rubbed with a nylon cloth or the like so that it is twisted up and down by 240 °.

Next, the two flat substrates are molded into a curved surface having a concave shape on one side and a convex shape on the other side by using a heat pressing device so that the two upper and lower surfaces have the same curvature (curvature radius: 1800 mm). To do. As a result, the curved substrate 1 is manufactured. As the heat pressing device, the device shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 capable of bending both substrates to have the same curvature can be used. FIG.
Of the apparatus comprises a pair of curved surface press molding dies with heaters 41, 42 having pressing surfaces with opposite irregularities.
The buffer film 41 made of rubber or silicon on the press surface
a and 42a are provided. With this device,
Two flat substrates are arranged between the molds 41 and 42 so that their wide surfaces and the press surface face each other, and heat is applied to the substrates to clamp the mold. The apparatus of FIG. 5 is provided with a pair of pressing members 43 and 44 capable of approaching or separating the distance between the two, and the buffer surfaces 43a and 44 made of rubber, silicon or the like on the pressing surfaces thereof.
a is provided. When using this device,
As shown in (a), two flat substrates are arranged between the pressing members 43 and 44 with their end faces and the pressing members 43 and 44 being in contact with and separated from each other, and the initial stress is applied in an atmosphere of 200 ° C to 300 ° C. Is applied to determine the bending direction, and subsequently, as shown in FIG.
The two substrates are bent so that they are close to each other, and then cooled.

Next, these two curved substrates 1 are made to face each other so that the band-shaped transparent electrodes 2 are orthogonal to each other and located inside, and a granular spacer (diameter:
6 μm).

Next, the peripheries of the two curved substrates 1 facing each other are bonded together by the sealing material 9. Structbond XN-21S was used as the sealing material 9, and was fired at a firing temperature of 140 to 150 ° C. and a firing time of 2 hours (hours).

Next, a mixture of at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound such as a photocurable resin is injected between the pair of bonded curved surface substrates 1. In this embodiment, in this embodiment, a mixture of a liquid crystal material, a photocurable resin and a photopolymerization initiator is vacuum injected in a temperature atmosphere of about 30 ° C. As the mixture, in the present embodiment, 4 g of ZLI-4427 (manufactured by Merck & Co., Inc.) which is a liquid crystal for STN in which a chiral agent (S-811) is added to the liquid crystal material by twisting at 240 ° is used. 0.1 g of R-684 (Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) as a resin, 0.07 g of P-phenylstyrene, and 0.8 g of isobornyl methacrylate.
And 0.1 g of perfluoromethacrylate and 0.003 g of Irugacure 651 (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) as a photopolymerization initiator were used. The injection hole is sealed with commercially available UV curable resin or Alon Alpha (# 911PX) which is a flexible adhesive so that the display portion of the substrate is not exposed to light. At this time, a curing accelerator, such as an aa setter, may be used to accelerate the curing speed for adhesion.

Next, one of the pair of curved substrates 1 is covered with the curved photomask 21 shown in FIG. 2, and the mixture is irradiated with UV light (ultraviolet light) from the photomask 21 side. The curved photomask 21 includes the picture element portion 12
Has a pattern in which the light-shielding portion 21a and the non-picture element portion 13 become the light-transmitting portion 21b, and is manufactured to have a curvature equivalent to that of the substrate. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the UV light irradiation is for ultraviolet light irradiation on each surface of the curved photomask 21 that is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the curved substrate 1 and has a uniform light intensity. The high pressure mercury lamp 22 is used and the irradiation position is 10 mW / cm ² below the high pressure mercury lamp 22. The substrate temperature at this time may be set in a temperature range in which the liquid crystal state between the substrates becomes an isotropic liquid state.

As described above, when the mixture is selectively irradiated with light through the curved photomask 21, the liquid crystal region 6 gathers in the pixel portion 12 which is a weak light irradiation region corresponding to the light shielding portion 21a, and strong light irradiation is performed. The polymer wall 7 is phase-separated from the liquid crystal and gathers in the transparent portion 21b which is the region. As a result, a polymer wall 7 mainly made of a polymer material is formed so as to surround the liquid crystal region 6 mainly made of liquid crystal. It is not always necessary to use a curved photomask, and as a light selection means,
Irradiation light distribution may be selectively generated by an organic film, an inorganic film, and a metal film, which are films formed of various materials necessary for a curved display, formed inside the cell instead of the photomask. . Further, when the mixture is kept at a high temperature for light irradiation in order to stabilize the orientation,
After the irradiation, it is preferable to perform gradual cooling to room temperature in a gradual cooling oven in order to cause phase separation between the liquid crystal and the resin in the mixture. The slow cooling speed is preferably 3 ° C./h to 20 ° C./h in order to surely promote the separation of the liquid crystal and the resin. Further, in order to cure the unreacted material after the formation of the polymer wall 7 to seal the granular spacer in the polymer wall by utilizing the difference in surface tension, or to sufficiently crosslink the polymer,
Further, the mixture may be subjected to UV irradiation for a short time with low illuminance.

Next, a polarizing plate and a retardation plate were attached to both sides of the thus-formed curved panel to manufacture an STN type curved display.

The curved display thus obtained is
There was no display disorder due to gap irregularity, and the display quality was good. Further, the strength of the curved panel was measured as shown in FIG. As the strength tester, for example, an autograph manufactured by Shimadzu Corporation was used. This autograph shows a sample table 31 on which a curved panel (or curved display) is placed.
And a spherical portion 32a at the tip for applying a load to the curved panel 20 placed with the convex side upward on the sample table 31.
And a load cell 33 for driving the cylindrical rod 32 to apply a load to the curved panel 20 by the spherical surface portion 32a and to measure the destruction of the curved panel 20. Curved panel 2 by this strength tester
When the strength of 0 was measured, there was no disturbance in the cell gap for loads up to 3.8 kg / cm ² , and 5.9 kg.
The substrate was destroyed by a load of / cm ² .

Further, in order to examine the adhesion between the polymer wall 7 and the curved substrate 1, a 30 mm square having only the polymer wall 7 and the liquid crystal region 6 was cut out and one side of the substrate was pulled. Instead, it had strong adhesion.

(Embodiment 2) In Embodiment 2, a curved panel in the STN mode having the same structure as in FIG. 1 is manufactured by another method.

The curved panel according to the second embodiment can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

First, a transparent electrode 2 made of ITO, for example, is formed in a band shape on two 5-inch flat substrates by, for example, a sputtering method, and subsequently, an electrically conductive material such as SiO ₂ is formed so as to cover the band-shaped transparent electrode 2. The insulating film 3 is formed by the sputtering method.

Next, the alignment film 4 is formed on the electric insulating film 3 by using SE-150 (manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries) as a material for the alignment film. The thickness is 300 angstroms to 2000 angstroms, preferably 500 angstroms to 1000 angstroms.

Next, the alignment film 4 is rubbed with a nylon cloth or the like so that it is twisted up and down by 240 °.

Next, the thin film 2 thus formed was formed.
The planar substrates are made to face each other such that the strip-shaped transparent electrodes 2 are orthogonal to each other and located inside, and granular spacers (diameter: 6 μm) are scattered between the planar substrates.

Next, the periphery of the two flat substrates 1 facing each other is pasted with the sealing material 9. Structbond XN-21S was used as the sealing material 9, and was fired at a firing temperature of 140 to 150 ° C. and a firing time of 2 hours.

Next, a mixture of at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound such as a photocurable resin is injected between the pair of flat substrates thus formed. In this example, a mixture of a liquid crystal material, a photocurable resin and a photopolymerization initiator was added in an amount of about 30.
Vacuum injection is performed in a temperature atmosphere of ℃. As the mixture, in the present embodiment, two chiral agents (S-811) are added to the liquid crystal material.
4 g of ZLI-4427 (manufactured by Merck Ltd.) added so as to be twisted at 40 °, and R-684 as a photocurable resin.
(Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 0.1 g, P-phenylstyrene 0.07 g, isobornyl methacrylate 0.8.
g, 0.1 g of perfluoromethacrylate, and 0.003 g of Irugacure 651 (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) as a photopolymerization initiator were used.
Further, the injection hole is sealed with a commercially available UV curing resin or Alon Alpha (# 911PX) which is a flexible adhesive so that the display portion of the substrate is not exposed to light. At this time, a curing accelerator (aa setter or the like) may be used to accelerate the curing speed for adhesion.

Next, the outside of the flat substrate into which the above mixture is injected is irradiated with ultraviolet light that is patterned, for example, in the form of a mesh or a matrix so that light intensity portions can be selectively obtained. . At this time, the patterned ultraviolet light may be radiated through a photomask provided inside or outside the substrate, or a constituent material forming a cell such as an electrode or a color filter may be used as a photomask. You may.

As an example of the ultraviolet irradiation, a high-pressure mercury lamp 22 for ultraviolet irradiation is used, which can uniformly obtain light to be irradiated vertically to the substrate, and the irradiation position is 10 mW / cm ² under the high-pressure mercury lamp. By the way The substrate temperature at this time is in a temperature range in which the liquid crystal state between the substrates becomes an isotropic liquid state. When the light is selectively irradiated in this manner, the liquid crystal regions 6 gather in the picture element portion 12 which is the weak light irradiation area, and the polymer wall 7 is phase-separated from the liquid crystal in the non-picture element portion 13 which is the strong light irradiation area. Come together.

Next, the flat substrate is molded into the curved substrate 1 having a radius of curvature of 1800 mm by the heat pressing device which presses while applying heat. At this time, in consideration of the physical strength of the constituent material of the panel and the glass transition temperature (Tg), the pressing force on the substrate is set to 1 kg to 10 kg, and the temperature is set to 200 ° C to 30 ° C.
Set to 0 ° C. In addition, it is annealed to room temperature in an annealing oven. The speed of slow cooling is 3 ℃ / h for the same reason as before.
-20 ° C / h is sufficient. In addition, after the polymer wall is formed, the unreacted material is hardened to seal the spacer in the polymer wall, or the polymer is sufficiently cross-linked.
V irradiation may be performed.

By attaching a polarizing plate and a retardation plate to both sides of the curved panel thus manufactured, STN
Molded curved display was manufactured.

The curved display thus obtained is
There was no display disorder due to gap irregularity, and the display quality was good. Furthermore, when the strength of the curved panel (or curved display) was measured using the strength tester shown in FIG. 3 as before, the cell gap was not disturbed under a load up to 3.5 kg / cm ^2. The substrate was broken under a load of 0.1 kg / cm ² .

Further, according to the manufacturing method of this embodiment, it is possible to manufacture a curved panel having a radius of curvature of 300 mm and a substrate size of 14 inches without any problem.

Further, in order to check the adhesion between the polymer wall 7 and the substrate, only the polymer wall 7 and the liquid crystal region 6 are present at 30 m.
When an m-square was cut out and one side of the substrate was pulled, it was not easily peeled off and had a strong adhesion.

(Third Embodiment) In the third embodiment, a curved panel in the STN mode having the same structure as in FIG. 1 is manufactured by another method.

The curved panel according to the third embodiment can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

First, a transparent electrode 2 made of ITO, for example, is formed in a strip shape on two 5-inch flat substrates by, for example, a sputtering method, and subsequently, an electric material such as SiO ₂ is formed so as to cover the strip-shaped transparent electrode 2. The insulating film 3 is formed by the sputtering method.

Next, an alignment film 4 is formed on the electric insulating film 3 by using SE-150 (manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries) as a material for the alignment film. The thickness is 300 angstroms to 2000 angstroms, preferably 500 angstroms to 1000 angstroms.

Next, the alignment film 4 is rubbed with a nylon cloth or the like so that it is twisted up and down by 240 °.

Next, the thin film 2 thus formed was formed.
The planar substrates are made to face each other such that the strip-shaped transparent electrodes 2 are orthogonal to each other and located inside, and granular spacers (diameter: 6 μm) are scattered between the planar substrates.

Then, the periphery of the two flat substrates 1 facing each other is bonded by the sealing material 9. Structbond XN-21S was used as the sealing material 9, and was fired at a firing temperature of 140 to 150 ° C. and a firing time of 2 hours.

Next, a mixture of at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound such as a photocurable resin is injected between the pair of flat substrates thus formed. In this example, a mixture of a liquid crystal material, a photocurable resin and a photopolymerization initiator was added in an amount of about 30.
Vacuum injection is performed in a temperature atmosphere of ℃. As the mixture, in the present embodiment, two chiral agents (S-811) are added to the liquid crystal material.
4 g of ZLI-4427 (manufactured by Merck Ltd.) added so as to be twisted at 40 °, and R-684 as a photocurable resin.
(Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.) 0.1 g, P-phenylstyrene 0.07 g, isobornyl methacrylate 0.8.
g, 0.1 g of perfluoromethacrylate, and 0.003 g of Irugacure 651 (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) as a photopolymerization initiator were used.
Further, the injection hole is sealed with a commercially available UV curing resin or Alon Alpha (# 911PX) which is a flexible adhesive so that the display portion of the substrate is not exposed to light. At this time, a curing accelerator (aa setter or the like) may be used to accelerate the curing speed for adhesion.

Next, the flat substrate is molded into the curved substrate 1 having a radius of curvature of 1800 mm by the heat pressing device which presses while applying heat. At this time, the pressing force is 1 in consideration of the physical strength and the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the panel constituent material.
The temperature is 200 ° C to 300 ° C, and the temperature is 200 ° C to 300 ° C.

Next, on one of the pair of curved substrates 1 in which the above mixture is injected, the curved photomask 2 shown in FIG. 2 is formed.
1 is covered, and UV light (ultraviolet light) is applied to the mixture from the photomask 21 side. The curved photomask 21
The pixel portion 12 is the light-shielding portion 21a, and the non-pixel portion 13 is
Is formed so as to have a pattern of the light transmitting portion 21b and has a curvature equivalent to that of the substrate. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, the UV light irradiation is for ultraviolet light irradiation on each surface of the curved photomask 21 that is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the curved substrate 1 and has a uniform light intensity. The high pressure mercury lamp 22 is used and the irradiation position is 10 mW / cm ² below the high pressure mercury lamp 22. The substrate temperature at this time may be set in a temperature range in which the liquid crystal state between the substrates becomes an isotropic liquid state.

As described above, when the mixture is selectively irradiated with light through the curved photomask 21, the liquid crystal region 6 gathers in the pixel portion 12 which is a weak light irradiation region corresponding to the light shielding part 21a, and strong light irradiation is performed. The polymer wall 7 is phase-separated from the liquid crystal and gathers in the transparent portion 21b which is the region. As a result, a polymer wall 7 mainly made of a polymer material is formed so as to surround the liquid crystal region 6 mainly made of liquid crystal. It is not always necessary to use a curved photomask, and as a light selection means,
Irradiation light distribution may be selectively generated by an organic film, an inorganic film, and a metal film, which are films formed of various materials necessary for a curved display, formed inside the cell instead of the photomask. . Further, when the mixture is kept at a high temperature for light irradiation in order to stabilize the orientation,
After the irradiation, it is preferable to perform gradual cooling to room temperature in a gradual cooling oven in order to cause phase separation between the liquid crystal and the resin in the mixture. The slow cooling speed is preferably 3 ° C./h to 20 ° C./h in order to surely promote the separation of the liquid crystal and the resin. Further, in order to cure the unreacted material after the formation of the polymer wall 7 to seal the granular spacer in the polymer wall by utilizing the difference in surface tension, or to sufficiently crosslink the polymer,
Further, the mixture may be subjected to UV irradiation for a short time with low illuminance.

Next, a polarizing plate and a retardation plate were attached to both sides of the thus-formed curved panel to manufacture an STN type curved display.

The curved display thus obtained is
The characteristics similar to those of the panel manufactured in the third embodiment were obtained.

(Embodiment 4) In Embodiment 4, an STN mode curved panel having the same structure as that of FIG. 1 is manufactured by another method.

The curved panel according to Embodiment 4 can be manufactured, for example, as follows.

First, a transparent electrode 2 made of ITO, for example, is formed in a strip shape on two 5-inch flat substrates by, for example, a sputtering method, and SiO is formed so as to cover the strip-shaped transparent electrode 2.
An electrically insulating film 3 such as ₂ is formed by a sputtering method.

Next, the alignment film 4 is formed on the electric insulating film 3 by using SE-150 (manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries) as a material for the alignment film. The thickness is 300 angstroms to 2000 angstroms, preferably 500 angstroms to 1000 angstroms.

Next, the alignment film 4 is rubbed with a nylon cloth or the like so that it is twisted up and down by 240 °.

Next, on one of the two flat substrates processed as described above, a negative photoresist, for example, O, is formed on the rubbing-treated alignment film of one flat substrate.
After applying MR-83 (manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Co., Ltd.) to a film thickness of 5 μm, patterning is performed along the hollow portion of the transparent electrode 2 made of ITO by a photolithography process to form a stripe shape. As a result, the polymer wall 7 having a stripe shape is formed.

The flat substrate on one side on which the thin film is formed in this manner and the flat substrate on the other side are opposed to each other so that the strip-shaped transparent electrodes 2 are orthogonal to each other and located inside. Disperse the granular spacers (diameter: 6 μm) between them.

Next, a mixture of at least a liquid crystal material and a photopolymerizable compound such as a photocurable resin is applied on the above-mentioned flat substrate on one side by coating or dropping. As a mixture, 4 g of ZLI-14427 (manufactured by Merck), which was prepared by adding a chiral agent (S-811) to a liquid crystal material by twisting at 240 °.
And R-684 as a photocurable resin (manufactured by Nippon Kayaku Co., Ltd.)
0.1 g and P-phenylstyrene 0.07 g,
0.8 g of isobornyl methacrylate, 0.1 g of perfluoromethacrylate, and 0.1 g of Irugacure 651 (manufactured by Ciba Geigy) as a photopolymerization initiator.
A mixture with 003 g was used. The step of arranging the mixture on one of the flat substrates may be performed before the two flat substrates are opposed to each other.

Next, the periphery of the two opposed flat substrates is
The sealing material 9 is used for bonding. As the sealing material 9,
Structbond XN-21S is used, firing temperature: 1
Firing was performed at 40 ° C to 150 ° C for 2 hours. At this time, the striped polymer wall 7 is in close contact with the flat substrates on both sides.

Next, the flat substrate is molded into the curved substrate 1 having a radius of curvature of 1800 mm by the heat pressing device which presses while applying heat. At this time, for the same reason as above, the pressing force is set to 1 kg to 10 kg and the temperature is set to 200 ° C to 300 ° C.

Next, a polarizing plate and a retardation plate were attached to both sides of the thus-formed curved panel to manufacture an STN type curved display.

The curved display thus obtained is
There was no display disorder due to gap irregularity, and the display quality was good. Furthermore, when the strength of the curved panel (or curved display) was measured using the strength tester shown in FIG. 3 as before, there was no disturbance of the cell gab for a load up to 3.5 kg / cm ² , and 6. The substrate was broken under a load of 1 kg / cm ² .

Further, according to the manufacturing method of this embodiment, it is possible to manufacture a curved panel (or curved display) having a radius of curvature of 300 mm and a substrate size of up to 14 inches without any problem.

Further, in order to check the adhesion between the polymer wall 7 and the substrate, only the polymer wall 7 and the liquid crystal region 6 are present at 30 m.
When an m-square was cut out and one side of the substrate was pulled, it was not easily peeled off and had a strong adhesion.

A comparative example will be described below.

Comparative Example 1 In Comparative Example 1, a curved panel having the same size and configuration as in Embodiment 1 was manufactured in the same manner as in Embodiment 1 except for a part. The difference from the first embodiment is that Z added by adding a chiral agent (S-811) to the material to be injected between the pair of substrates so as to be twisted by 240 °.
Only LI-4427 was used and the exposure process was omitted.

In the curved panel of Comparative Example 1 manufactured as described above, display disorder due to unevenness of the gap was observed in the vicinity of the spacer, and the display quality was inferior to that of the panel of the first embodiment. Furthermore, the strength of the curved panel was measured using the strength tester shown in FIG.
cm display unevenness due to disturbance of the cell gap is conspicuous in the ^second load, the substrate was destroyed at a load of 1.7 kg / cm ^2.

(Comparative Example 2) In Comparative Example 2, a curved panel having the same size and configuration as in Embodiment 2 was manufactured in the same manner as in Embodiment 2 except for a part. The difference from the second embodiment is that Z added by adding a chiral agent (S-811) to the material to be injected between the pair of substrates so as to twist 240 °.
Only LI-4427 was used and the exposure process was omitted.

In the thus-produced curved panel of Comparative Example 2, the spacers were partially broken, and the STN orientation was not caused due to the disorder of the gap.

Each of the embodiments and comparative example 1 described above,
As can be understood from 2, the polymer wall formed in a lattice or stripe shape in the curved panel does not change the cell gap because it has a function as a spacer, and the polymer walls are formed on both sides of the substrate. Due to the close contact, unlike the curved panel in which only the liquid crystal and the spacer exist between the substrates, a marked improvement in panel strength was observed.

[0086]

According to the present invention, since the patterned polymer member is formed in the curved panel, sufficient panel strength is ensured after the curved panel is manufactured, and the cell is resistant to external pressure. The gap does not change, and the gap can be maintained semi-permanently and uniformly. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a curved panel having a large screen with a good display quality and a large curvature with a good display quality. Further, since the adhesion between the polymer member and the substrate is high, it is possible to fabricate a curved panel with good display quality without causing gap disturbance due to the difference in expansion / contraction ratio between the polymer member and the substrate material. It was

Further, according to the present invention, the cell gap can be controlled by a process that is easy to carry out, so that the cost can be reduced as compared with the conventional curved panel.

Furthermore, since the display screen is a curved surface, it is possible to provide a curved panel with a wide viewing angle, no color unevenness, and a high utility value that can be viewed by a large number of people. Further, by using a plastic substrate for the substrate of the curved panel of the present invention, it can be applied to a large and thin curved display,
It has become possible to apply spectacle lenses to displays.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a configuration of a curved panel according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view schematically showing a curved photomask used in the present invention and an ultraviolet irradiation device that can uniformly obtain light perpendicular to the curved photomask.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view (front view) showing a strength tester used to measure the strength of the curved panel of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a schematic view (front view) showing an example of a heat pressing device used in the present invention.

FIG. 5 (a) is a schematic view (front view) showing another example of the heat pressing device used in the present invention, and FIG. 5 (b) is a schematic view showing a state in which stress is applied by the heat pressing device. It is a figure (front view).

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 Curved Substrate 2 Transparent Electrode 3 Electrical Insulating Film 4 Alignment Film 6 Liquid Crystal Region 7 Polymer Wall 9 Sealing Material 12 Picture Element Part 13 Non-Picture Element Part 20 Curved Panel 21 Curved Photomask 21a Light Shielding Part 21b Light Transmitting Part 22 High Pressure Mercury Lamp 30 Strength tester 31 Sample stand 32a Spherical part 32 Cylindrical rod 33 Load cell

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. A sealing material made of a polymer material for adhering substrates to each other is provided at a peripheral edge between a pair of curved substrates which are arranged opposite to each other and have display electrodes, and the pair of curved substrates is further provided. And a curved surface panel in which a display medium in which a liquid crystal region is partially or wholly surrounded by a polymer member having a pattern formed therein is provided in a part surrounded by the sealing material. 2. The patterned polymeric member comprises:
The curved panel according to claim 1, which functions as a spacer for the pair of substrates. 3. The patterned polymeric member comprises:
The device according to claim 1, wherein the substrates are in close contact with each other.
Curved panel described in. 4. A step of disposing a pair of curved substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes inside, and at least a liquid crystal material and a liquid crystal material between the pair of curved substrates opposed to each other. A step of injecting a mixture containing a photopolymerizable compound, and selectively irradiating the mixture with light from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the curved substrate so that the liquid crystal region mainly composed of the liquid crystal material is exposed to light. And a step of forming a display medium which is patterned by irradiation and which is surrounded by a polymer member mainly composed of the photopolymerizable compound. 5. A step of arranging a pair of flat substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes arranged inside, and at least a liquid crystal material and a liquid crystal material between the pair of flat substrates facing each other. Arranging a mixture containing a photopolymerizable compound, and selectively irradiating the mixture with light from a direction substantially perpendicular to the surface of the planar substrate to form a liquid crystal region mainly composed of the liquid crystal material, A step of forming a display medium which is patterned by light irradiation and surrounded by a polymer member mainly composed of the photopolymerizable compound; and a step of applying heat to a pair of flat substrates having the display medium. A method of manufacturing a curved panel, comprising the step of processing the curved substrate by pressing. 6. A step of arranging a pair of flat substrates having display electrodes together so as to face each other with the display electrodes disposed inside, and at least a liquid crystal material and a liquid crystal material between the pair of flat substrates arranged to face each other. A step of disposing a mixture containing a photopolymerizable compound; a step of processing a pair of flat substrates into which the mixture has been injected into a curved substrate by pressing while applying heat; Is selectively irradiated with light in a direction substantially perpendicular to the liquid crystal region mainly composed of the liquid crystal material, and the polymer member mainly composed of the photopolymerizable compound is patterned by the light irradiation. A method of manufacturing a curved panel, the method including the step of forming an enclosed display medium. 7. A step of patterning a polymer member on one of a pair of flat substrates each having a display electrode, and a step of surrounding the polymer member on the one flat substrate having the patterned polymer member. A step of disposing a liquid crystal material in the exposed portion, and a step of adhering the one flat substrate on which the liquid crystal material is dropped and the remaining other flat substrate so as to face each other with the display electrode inside. A method of manufacturing a curved panel, comprising the step of processing the pair of flat substrates that have been bonded together while applying heat to form a curved substrate.