JPH0652344B2 - Liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device in which a display section and a switch section are integrated.

[Prior Art and Problems to be Solved by the Invention] Electronic equipment using a liquid crystal display device, for example, a digital timepiece,
Electronic desktop calculators, computer input devices, etc. require a display unit and a switch unit consisting of a key switch, etc., but in the past, the display unit and the switch unit had separate structures and were arranged side by side on a plane. Therefore, there is a drawback that the device becomes large in size, and when trying to put it together in a small size, both the liquid crystal display device and the switch portion are limited in space and there is a drawback that the degree of freedom in design is lost.

Furthermore, in the conventional product, when one switch is made to function as another switch by switching the circuit,
Multiple display of switch functions will be displayed, for example, by printing, and it will be difficult for the user to determine which display function is operating the switch, which is impractical. There was a drawback that it was difficult to add a function.

Therefore, the present applicant previously provided a conductive member on the surface between a liquid crystal display panel for displaying characters, symbols or figures by enclosing liquid crystal between upper and lower substrates of a flexible polymer film and a substrate of a driving circuit. A liquid crystal display device in which a switch plate is provided, and a switch member is operated by pressing a liquid crystal display panel to bring a conductive member on the switch plate into contact with a counter electrode provided on a substrate of a drive circuit. Was applied to solve the above drawbacks. However, this mounting device has the disadvantage that the switch plate must be used, which increases the number of parts, complicates the process, and increases the thickness of the device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device in which such disadvantages are eliminated, and an object of the present invention is to enclose a liquid crystal between upper and lower substrates of a flexible polymer film. At the same time, a reflection type liquid crystal display panel in which a flexible reflection plate is laminated on the lower substrate side, and a drive circuit board provided with a drive circuit which is arranged to face the reflection plate of the liquid crystal display panel with a gap therebetween. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a liquid crystal display panel, wherein a display area for displaying a predetermined input content is formed on the liquid crystal display panel, the predetermined input content is displayed on the display area via the drive circuit, and the reflection area is displayed. A conductive member is provided on a surface of the plate facing the drive circuit board and at a position corresponding to the display area, and the conductive member is provided to the external device at a position facing the conductive member. Corresponding to the member This is achieved by a liquid crystal display device characterized in that a counter electrode for inputting a signal according to the input content displayed in the display area is provided.

[Operation] As described above, in the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, the liquid crystal display panel is formed with the display area for displaying predetermined input contents, and the reflecting plate on the side opposite to the display surface is provided with the conductive member. There is. Further, a drive circuit board having a drive circuit disposed opposite to the reflective plate with a gap is provided, and a display area corresponding to the conductive member is provided at a position of the drive circuit board facing the conductive member of the reflective plate. A counter electrode for inputting a signal according to the input content displayed on the external device is provided. Therefore, when the display area where the input content of the liquid crystal display panel is displayed is pressed, the liquid crystal display panel is bent, and the conductive member provided on the reflector comes into contact with the counter electrode on the drive circuit board. A signal corresponding to the input content displayed in the pressed display area is input to the external device. That is, the liquid crystal display device of the present invention functions as an input switch for inputting a predetermined signal to an external device.

[Embodiment] An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. . FIG. 1 is a first embodiment of the present invention in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display device of a light reflection type twist nematic system. Reference numerals 1 and 2 are upper and lower substrates of a liquid crystal display panel, which are a polyethylene terephthalate film, a polybutylene terephthalate film and a polycarbonate. A polymer film having high flexibility such as a film or a polyether sulfone film is used, and a transparent conductive film such as isodium oxide or tin oxide is formed on the surface of these films and subjected to orientation treatment by a known method. Between the upper and lower substrates 1 and 2, the liquid crystal 3 is sealed with a sealant 4 and the electrode of the upper substrate 1 is connected to the substrate 6 of the drive circuit by the zebra contact 5, and various characters are generated based on the signal of the drive circuit.
A symbol or a graphic is displayed, and the position where they are displayed is arbitrarily selected. The upper and lower polarizing plates 7 and 8 are arranged on the upper side of the upper substrate 1 and the lower side of the lower substrate 2, respectively, and the reflecting plate 9 is further arranged on the lower side of the lower polarizing plate. A plurality of conductive films 10 are formed on the lower surface of the reflector 9 to serve also as a switch plate.
The conductive film 10 is separated from the substrate 6 of the drive circuit through the conductive film 10 and faces the conductive film which is a pair of left and right counter electrodes 12 on the substrate 6, and the conductive film 10 contacts the left and right electrodes 12 to short-circuit. Has been done. Then, the substrate of the liquid crystal display panel, the reflector, the spacer, the substrate of the drive circuit, and the like are overlaid and appropriately fixed with an adhesive or the like.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, the upper and lower substrates 1,
2. When a part of the liquid crystal display panel A composed of the upper and lower polarizing plates 7 and 8 is pressed, the liquid crystal display panel A and the reflector 9 are bent to short-circuit the conductive film 10 and the left and right electrodes 12, and the finger 13
When is released, the bent portion of the liquid crystal display panel A and the reflection plate 9 is restored, and the switch operation can be performed such that the conductive film 10 leaves the counter electrode 12.

Next, FIG. 3 exemplifies a front view of an electronic desk calculator using the liquid crystal display device of this embodiment. In this case, the liquid crystal display panels A are doubly stacked and the first panel is In addition to the display unit 15 for displaying the calculation process or the calculation result, a liquid crystal display pattern is arranged so as to display the function 16 of each key switch as shown in FIGS. As shown in FIG. 3c, a liquid crystal display pattern is arranged so that symbols can be displayed when it is used as a computer input device, for example. Therefore,
When the "MODE" key or the "STAGE" key is selected, the function of each key is individually displayed as shown in any one of FIGS. 3a, 3b and 3c depending on the user's need. Even if a single switch is provided with a plurality of functions, the user can surely distinguish the functions by displaying the keys.

In FIG. 3, the display unit 15 for displaying the calculation result and the switch function display 16 are arranged separately, but the position of the display unit 15 can be set freely.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which is an example of a guest-host system using a light-reflective phase transition. In this embodiment, a liquid crystal display panel B including upper and lower substrates 1 and 2, an upper polarizing plate 7 and the like.
The reflecting plate 9 is arranged on the lower side, and the circuit 14 is formed of a conductive film on the lower surface of the reflecting plate 9, and one end of the circuit 14 is electrically connected to the drive circuit by a zebra contact or the like.

Therefore, when a part of the liquid crystal display panel B is pressed with a finger or the like as in the first embodiment, the reflection plate 9 is also bent and the circuit 14 and the counter electrode 12 are electrically connected to each other so that the circuit is closed. .

In addition to the first and second embodiments, for example, in a guest-host type liquid crystal display device using a light reflection type twisted nematic system, a conductive film is directly provided on the lower surface of the reflection plate, and the reflection plate also serves as a switch plate. You can do it like this.

EFFECTS OF THE INVENTION As described above, in the liquid crystal display device of the present invention, a conductive member is provided on the reflection plate provided on the liquid crystal display panel, and the conductive member is opposed to the drive circuit board by pressing the liquid crystal display panel. The electrodes are brought into contact with each other, and a signal is input to an external device according to the display content on the liquid crystal display panel. Therefore, the liquid crystal display panel and the input switch can be integrated to make the device extremely compact. Further, since the liquid crystal display panel directly serves as an input switch, it is possible to increase the number of input switches by displaying a large number of input contents on the liquid crystal display panel and providing a conductive member and a counter electrode corresponding to each display area. Further, if the function of signal input to the counter electrode and the display content in each display area are switched, more signal input can be performed very easily.

Further, in the present invention, since the reflecting plate is made to function as a switch plate by providing a conductive member on the reflecting plate, the device is thinner by the amount of the switch plate and the number of parts is smaller than that when the switch plate is specially provided. Can be reduced.

Further, in the present invention, the drive circuit board is disposed so as to face the reflection plate side of the liquid crystal display panel, and a conductive member for turning on / off the counter electrode on the drive circuit board is formed on the reflection plate. Since the circuit board and the conductive member are disposed on the side opposite to the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel, it is not necessary to make each of these parts with a light-transmissive material. After forming, the reflective plate is laminated on the lower substrate side of the liquid crystal display panel body, in which liquid crystal is sealed between the upper and lower substrates, to easily manufacture.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an enlarged sectional view showing a first embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a usage state of the same example, and FIG. 3 is a front view when the liquid crystal display device of the same example is used for an electronic desk calculator. FIG. 4 and FIG. 4 are exploded perspective views showing a second embodiment of the present invention. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Upper substrate, 2 ... Lower substrate, 3 ... Liquid crystal, 6 ... Driving circuit substrate, 7, 8 ... Polarizing plate, 9 ... Reflector, 11 ... Spacer

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A reflection type liquid crystal display panel in which liquid crystal is sealed between upper and lower substrates of a flexible polymer film, and a flexible reflection plate is laminated on the lower substrate side, and a reflection of the liquid crystal display panel. A liquid crystal display device comprising: a drive circuit board provided with a drive circuit opposed to a plate with a gap therebetween; wherein a display area for displaying a predetermined input content is formed on the liquid crystal display panel, A predetermined input content is displayed on the display area via a drive circuit, and a conductive member is provided on the surface of the reflector facing the drive circuit board and at a position corresponding to the display area. A counter electrode for inputting a signal according to an input content displayed in a display area corresponding to the conductive member to an external device is provided at a position of the drive circuit board facing the conductive member. Liquid crystal display