JPH0736020A - Optical element and display plate - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an optical element formed by utilizing assemblies of fibers as two sheets of sheet-like materials and the display plate of a transmission type or reflection type arranged therewith. CONSTITUTION:This optical element 8 consists of two sheets of the sheet-like materials and has the structure in which at least one sheet thereof is a driving part and is fixed to a fixing part 3 of plural band-shaped electrodes 2 and an insulator 4. The optical element is driven by the electrostatic attraction and repulsion force generated between the driving part and the fixing part when a voltage is impressed to the band-shaped electrodes 2. The sheet-like materials constituting the driving part are the assemblies of the fibers. The display element is constituted by arranging a plurality of these optical elements. The constitution is simple and the thin film-like flexible optical elements having a memory characteristic are obtd. The sheet-like flexible display plate which is formable to a large size and is bendable and roundable is obtd. An effect like that of ground glass is obtd.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an optical element and a display plate, and more particularly to an optical element utilizing electrostatic attraction and repulsion, and a transmission type or reflection type optical element in which the optical elements are arranged. It relates to a display board.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, liquid crystal materials are widely used as display panels. A liquid crystal display (LCD) is divided into a simple matrix type LCD and an active matrix type LCD depending on the operation method, and generally has a low driving voltage,
It has excellent features such as low power consumption.

Further, as a display device utilizing electrostatic attraction and repulsion, a 7-segment display device using an electrostatic film actuator is proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-240890. In Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 4-240890, static electricity is generated between a transparent stator and a transparent mover that form seven sections of a 7-segment display device, so that the mover moves on the surface of the stator. It has been proposed that the display principle is a visual change due to a change in the overlapping of the moving element and the stator when moving back and forth or left and right.

Further, the inventor of this patent has filed a patent for an optical element composed of two light transmitting plates using an electrostatic film actuator, and a flat panel display in which a plurality of the optical elements are arranged.

[0005]

Generally, in a simple matrix type LCD using a super twisted nematic effect,
Controlling the gap of the liquid crystal cell in units of 0.1 micron,
High production technology such as aligning the liquid crystal molecular axes at a constant angle to the glass surface of the cell is required. Further, the simple matrix type LCD has a drawback that the viewing angle is narrow. On the other hand, an active matrix type LCD using a thin film transistor element or an MIM element is advantageous for a large screen, high definition, and halftone display, but requires an advanced thin film processing technique, and the yield at the manufacturing stage is poor. . LCD
Although the cost is currently being reduced due to mass production, it cannot be said to be so inexpensive due to the reasons described above and the fact that the liquid crystal material itself is expensive.

Further, the 7-segment display device using the electrostatic film actuator proposed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-240890 has a visual change due to the moving element moving back and forth or left and right on the surface of the stator. The display principle is used, and there is a problem that an area twice as large as the display section is required to display one section. Further, in the 7-segment display device proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-240890, since the electrostatic film actuator is the operating principle, the constituent material is limited to the film.

Also, in an optical element comprising two light transmitting plates using an electrostatic film actuator, which has been filed by the inventor of the present invention, and in a flat panel display in which a plurality of the optical elements are arranged, the electrostatic film actuator is also used. Since this is the operating principle, the constituent material is limited to the film.

The present invention provides a completely new type of optical element utilizing a fiber aggregate as a sheet, and a transmissive or reflective display panel in which the optical elements are arranged.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, the following constitution is adopted. That is, the optical element of the present invention is composed of two sheet-like materials, at least one of which is a driving part, and the driving part is supported by a fixed part composed of a plurality of strip electrodes and an insulator. Have
In an optical element driven by an electrostatic attractive force and a repulsive force generated between the drive unit and the fixed unit when a voltage is applied to the strip electrode, the sheet-shaped material forming the drive unit is made of fiber. It is characterized by being an aggregate.

The display plate of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the above-mentioned optical elements are arranged.

[0011]

According to the present invention, when an optical element which can obtain a clearer image is studied in comparison with an optical element using a conventional electrostatic film actuator, the drive portion of the optical element is composed of a fiber assembly. It was clarified that the sheet-like material drastically reduces the glare from the outside and gives a clear image with good contrast and good for the eyes.

In the driving means of the fiber assembly which constitutes the driving part made of the sheet-like material in the optical element of the present invention, the driving part is supported by the fixing part composed of a plurality of strip electrodes and an insulator. And when a voltage is applied to the strip electrode,
These are electrostatic attractive force and repulsive force generated between the drive unit and the fixed unit. This driving means is the same as the principle of the electrostatic driving device for the aggregate of fibers, and applying this means to a film is a known technique as an electrostatic film actuator.

The electrostatic film actuator is composed of a fixed part in which electrodes are arranged at regular intervals on an insulating support and a moving part made of a resistor, and the moving part and the fixed part are arranged in contact with each other. Therefore, the moving part is momentarily levitated by the action of static electricity to move the moving part while preventing friction. The operation principle is described in JP-A-2-285978, Proceedings of National Conference of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Japan 1989, 6-191, Nikkei Mechanical 1989, 5, 29 ,.
Since it is described in detail on pages 112 to 113, etc., it is omitted here.

When the principle of the electrostatic driving apparatus for the aggregate of fibers is used as the driving means of the driving portion in the optical element of the present invention, if the strip electrodes are arranged in parallel in the fixing portion, they are supported by the fixing portion. The driven unit moves vertically and horizontally to the vertical direction of the strip electrode, and if the strip electrodes are radially arranged in the fixed unit, the drive unit supported by the fixed unit rotates.

In the optical element of the present invention, the degree of overlap between the two sheet-like materials is changed by driving the sheet-like materials, and as a result, the two sheet-like materials are transmitted or the two sheet-like materials are passed through. Changes (optical changes) in the intensity, color, brightness, and saturation of the light reflected by the sheet-like material are observed. Therefore, the sheet-like object may be moved vertically or horizontally or by rotation. However, when the sheet-like object moves vertically and horizontally, the area where the optical element effectively functions becomes half of the total area of the optical element, whereas the sheet-like object rotates. In that case, the effective area of the optical element is always constant by selecting an appropriate shape of the sheet. Therefore, in the optical element of the present invention, in order to rotate the sheet-shaped material, it is preferable that the band-shaped electrodes are arranged radially in the fixing portion.

At this time, the shape of the sheet-like material is not particularly limited, and may be any shape such as a circle or a polygon, but it is circular in view of the fact that the shape does not change even when rotated. Or it is preferably a regular polygon, and 90 °
A circular shape or a regular n-sided polygon (n is a multiple of 4) is more preferable in view of having the same shape when rotated.

An aggregate of fibers is used as the sheet-like material constituting the drive portion in the optical element of the present invention. The fiber aggregate may be an aggregate of individual fibers or an aggregate of a plurality of fibers. Also,
The shape is not particularly limited either. However,
In order to facilitate driving due to electrostatic attraction and repulsion, it is desirable that the fiber aggregate is thin, and the fiber aggregate is preferably a fiber sheet.

As the fibrous sheet, one composed of at least one of a woven fabric, a knitted fabric and a non-woven fabric can be used, but a woven fabric or non-woven fabric is used in view of the fact that the driving portion can be thinned while maintaining strength. It is preferable. It is also preferable to subject the fibrous sheet to heat press processing or resin processing in order to make the fibrous sheet thin and smooth and to improve the sheet holding property.

When a woven fabric is used as the fiber sheet constituting the drive unit, the woven structure of the woven fabric is not particularly limited, and a commonly known one can be used. However, in order to make the respective roles of the weft and the warp remarkable,
It is preferable that the weft or warp fibers occupy a large amount of the fabric surface. Examples include twill weave, 5 or 8 satin weaves, etc., and the proportion of weft or warp on the surface of the woven fabric is preferably 60% or more, more preferably 70% or more, and 80% or more. Is more preferable. Also, in view of the fact that the surface of the fabric is composed of different threads,
It is also preferable to use a multiple weave design such as a double weave or a triple weave having a front design and a back design which use different yarns. Examples include warp double weave, weft double weave, core weft double weave, weft double backed weave, back warp knotted double weave, and the like.

When a non-woven fabric is used as the fiber sheet constituting the drive unit, the non-woven fabric is passed through a card or a cross wrapper and then subjected to a needle punching or fluid treatment method, a direct spinning method, a silk paper method, a flash spinning method. What was manufactured by the method usually used, such as a method, a melt blow method, and a spun bond method, can be used.

As described above, the optical change in the optical element of the present invention is brought about by the change in the overlapping condition of the two sheet-like objects. Therefore, as long as it has such a function, even if the two sheet-like objects are transparent,
It does not matter whether it is colored or has some indication. Specifically, coloring two sheet-like objects,
An example is changing the color of light that passes through two sheet-like objects by changing the degree of overlap.
Considering the fact that it can be turned off and the effective area of the optical element does not change, it is preferable to use sheet-like materials having polarization as the two sheet-like objects.

The polarizability is a property of converting natural light into linearly polarized light. When two sheet-like materials having polarizability are lined up, if the polarization directions are the same, the light is two sheets. Can pass through the material. From this state, when one sheet-like object is rotated, the amount of light passing therethrough decreases with rotation, and the amount of light passing through becomes zero when the sheet rotates 90 °. In the optical element of the present invention, when two sheet-like materials having a polarizing property are used, this principle is used for turning on / off light. If it is circular or regular n-sided (n is a multiple of 4), there is no change in the display area of the optical element in the ON state and the OFF state of light, and the 7-segment display device proposed in JP-A-4-240890 can be obtained. There is no waste compared to.

When a sheet having a polarizing property is used as the two sheets in the optical element of the present invention, the first sheet constituting the driving section is an assembly of fibers having a polarizing property. Therefore, it is preferable to use a polarizing plate as the second sheet-shaped material.

Here, in the former fiber assembly having polarization properties, it is more preferable that the fiber assembly is a woven fabric from the viewpoint of easy expression of polarization properties.
The latter sheet-like polarizing plate is not particularly limited as long as it has a function of converting natural light into linearly polarized light, and a polarizing prism such as a Nicol prism or a dichroic crystal is aligned by an electric field or the like. It is possible to use a substrate which is then scooped up on the substrate, a polarizing film, or the like. However, it is more preferable to use a polarizing film as the polarizing plate from the viewpoint that the optical element can be made thin and can be made flexible. As the polarizing film, a film in which a dichroic dye is adsorbed and stretched and oriented,
Alternatively, a polyvinyl alcohol oriented film having iodine adsorbed thereon can be used.

The drive unit made of a woven fabric having a polarization property, which is a preferable mode in the optical element of the present invention, is preferably composed of an insulating layer and an antistatic layer in order to rapidly perform a charging-driving cycle. Therefore, it is preferable that the woven fabric having a polarization property is a woven fabric made of an insulating fiber having a polarization property and a fiber having an antistatic effect. Here, the antistatic layer preferably has a surface resistivity of 10 ¹² to 10 ¹⁵ Ω / □ in terms of the balance between charging and discharging.

In this case, it is preferable to use polyvinyl alcohol fibers adsorbing iodine, fibers in which insulating fibers adsorbing dichroic dyes are stretched and oriented, as the insulating fibers having a polarization property. Insulating fibers include recycled fibers such as rayon, semi-synthetic fibers such as acetate, nylon, polyester, polyvinyl alcohol, polyvinyl chloride, polyvinylidene chloride, polyacrylonitrile, polyethylene, polypropylene, polyurethane, polyalkylene paraoxybenzoate, phenol. , General fiber such as synthetic fiber such as fluorine fiber, inorganic fiber such as glass fiber, plant fiber such as cotton and hemp, animal fiber such as wool and silk, mineral fiber such as asbestos, etc. Can be used,
It can be appropriately selected depending on the purpose and application of the optical element.

Fibers having an antistatic effect can be obtained by spray coating an antistatic agent having a weak antistatic effect on the above-mentioned general fibers, but the antistatic effect can be maintained for a long time. From this point of view, it is preferable to use a fiber having low conductivity or antistatic property. In this case, as the fiber having low electrical conductivity or antistatic property, carbon fiber can be used alone or a composite fiber of carbon fiber and other fiber can be used. It is also preferable to use a fiber containing a material containing a conductive component or an antistatic component as one component in view of easy fiberization and cost reduction. At this time,
A polymer containing the conductive component or the antistatic component may be used alone or in the form of a fiber obtained by compounding with another polymer. Further, it is also possible to use a fiber obtained by converting the conductive component or the antistatic component into a composite with another fiber.

Here, the conductive component and the antistatic component are those that exhibit conductivity or antistatic property as a whole fiber because of the conductivity of the components. Usually, the components are premixed in a polymer for filament formation and used for spinning. Therefore, the shape of the component is preferably in the form of fine powder or whiskers in order to uniformly disperse in the polymer, and its maximum diameter or maximum length is preferably 5 μm or less, more preferably 1 μm or less, and more preferably 0.1 μm or less.
Even more preferably, it is 3 μm or less. Specific materials for the conductive component include carbon black, various metal powders, tin oxide,
Metal oxides such as zinc oxide, copper oxide, indium oxide, zirconium oxide and tungsten oxide can be used.
Further, particles obtained by applying the metal oxide coating to the non-conductive particles, and conversely, particles obtained by coating the surface of the conductive particles with a non-conductive substance can also be used. Furthermore, metal compounds such as copper sulfide, cuprous iodide, zinc sulfide, and cadmium sulfide, and conductive intercalation compounds can also be used. In addition, organic conductive compounds such as polyacetylene, polypyrrole, polythiophene, and polyaniline may be used. Among these, carbon black is preferable from the viewpoint of conductivity and price.

As the antistatic component, a polymer containing a hydrophilic component can be used. As the hydrophilic component, it is possible to use a polymer containing a polyalkylene ether compound. Polyalkylene ether compounds include polyethylene glycol, polypropylene glycol, unmodified polyalkylene ethers such as copolymers of ethylene oxide and propylene oxide, and trimethylolpropane ethylene oxide adducts, methoxypolyethylene glycol, nonylphenol ethylene oxide adducts, etc. Examples thereof include polyalkylene ethers obtained by modifying the terminal group of alkylene ether. It is also possible to use a block copolymer of polyalkylene ether and polyamide.

The polarizing fabric in the optical element of the present invention is formed by using a polarizing insulating fiber and an antistatic fiber as a weft and a warp, or a warp and a weft, respectively. . As described above, when the weaving and warp yarns have different floating states depending on the surface of the fabric, such as a twill weave, satin weave, and multiple weave, as a woven structure, it has polarization properties in order to effectively repeat charging and discharging. It is preferable that the surface on which a large amount of insulating fibers floats is brought into contact with the fixing portion, and the surface on which a large amount of fibers having an antistatic effect floats is located in the opposite direction to the side where the fixing portion is present.

Up to now, the woven fabric having the polarization property has been described as the one composed of the insulative fiber having the polarization property and the fiber having the antistatic effect, but it goes without saying that the insulation fiber and the electrification fiber are charged. It is also possible to use a woven fabric composed of a polarizing fiber having a preventive effect. In this case, for the same reason as above, the surface on which a large amount of insulating fiber is floating is brought into contact with the fixing portion to charge the surface. It is preferable to position the surface on which a large amount of the polarizing fiber having the prevention effect is floating in the direction opposite to the side where the fixing portion is located.

The fixing portion of the driving means for the aggregate of fibers constituting the sheet-like material in the optical element of the present invention is formed by arranging strip electrodes in parallel or radially on the insulator. The fixing part may be transparent or colored as long as it has a light-transmitting property, but it should be transparent in order to increase the contrast or color, brightness, and saturation changes of the optical element. Is preferred. Therefore, it is preferable that the fixing portion is formed by arranging transparent electrodes radially on a transparent insulator. Examples of transparent insulators include glass plates, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, acrylonitrile-styrene copolymer resin, transparent ABS resin, styrene-butadiene copolymer resin, styrene-maleic acid resin, methyl methacrylate-styrene resin, methacrylic resin. Films of transparent plastics such as polycarbonate, polyarylate, polysulfone, polyethersulfone, polymethylpentene, amorphous polyamide, amorphous polyolefin, transparent fluororesin, fluorinated polyimide, brominated phenoxy resin, transparent polybutylene terephthalate However, it is preferable to use a film from the viewpoint that the optical element can be made thin and can be made flexible.

As the transparent electrode, a transparent metal,
It is preferable to use a metal oxide. Transparent metals include gold, silver, copper, palladium, indium-tin, zinc,
Examples of the transparent metal oxide include indium oxide, indium oxide-tin oxide, zinc oxide, and aluminum oxide.

In the transparent fixing portion, the electrode may be on the surface of the insulator or may be embedded in the insulator.

As a method of forming the electrode on the insulator, a general method similar to the method of forming a circuit such as an IC can be used. A typical example is
Of course, it is not limited to this. First, a thin film of an electrode material is laminated on the insulator by a sputtering method or a vacuum evaporation method. A resist layer is formed on the surface of this thin film by a bar coater method, a spin coater method, a roll coater method, or the like. Subsequently, exposure and development are performed to form a pattern. An electrode can be formed by performing etching using this resist pattern and finally removing the resist pattern with a stripping solution. When the electrode is buried in the insulator, a transparent insulating paste may be applied to the surface of the electrode formed as described above.
As the coating method, various coating methods similar to those for forming the resist layer can be used.

The optical element of the present invention is composed of a first sheet-shaped aggregate of fibers constituting the drive section, a second sheet-shaped article, and a fixing section. However, in the optical element, it is also possible to use the second sheet-like object that is not the latter drive section as the fixing section, that is, two sheet-like articles as the drive section and the fixing section. ,
In this case, the optical element of the present invention has a simpler structure.

The optical element of the present invention obtained as described above turns on / off light or changes in color, brightness, saturation, etc. by driving a sheet-like object with application of a voltage. Although it is inferior in light on / off speed or change speed of color, brightness, and saturation as compared with the element used for, it maintains the same state even when the voltage application is cut off in a certain specific state. It becomes an optical element having a property, that is, a memory property. Further, since the structure is very simple, it is easy to increase the size, and since it can be manufactured from an inexpensive material, it is advantageous in terms of cost. The optical element of the present invention can be made flexible and can be used even on a curved surface. Furthermore, since a fiber assembly is used for the drive section instead of a film, (1) the degree of fiber orientation is higher than that of the film. Therefore, it is possible to provide an optical element with high contrast. (2) Diffuse reflection of light occurs by the fiber,
The optical element looks like frosted glass, gives an excellent clear image, etc., and has a high sensitivity compared to the case of using a film, and the optical element is used as a display material such as a signboard and a banner. Are suitable.

Next, the display panel of the present invention will be described.

The display plate of the present invention is characterized in that a plurality of the optical elements of the present invention described above are arranged. In the display panel, one optical element corresponds to one pixel.

The method for arranging the optical elements in the display plate of the present invention is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the optical elements are arranged with a certain regularity because a clear image can be displayed. As a concrete arrangement method, an assembly of one or several optical elements is arranged parallel to each side when the shape of the display plate is a triangle, a quadrangle, etc., and radially when the shape is a circle, a sphere, an ellipse, etc. Moreover, it is good to arrange them at equal intervals. In these cases, the width and accuracy of the space are appropriately determined depending on the size of the display plate and the purpose of use.

Further, in the display plate of the present invention, of the two sheet-like materials of the plurality of optical elements constituting the display plate,
The second sheet-shaped object is larger than the first sheet-shaped object that constitutes the drive unit, and the second sheet-shaped object has a plurality of first sheets.
It may be in a state common to the sheet-like article. This means that the display plate is configured in a state in which a plurality of sheet-like objects having driving means are arranged on one large sheet-like object, and in this case, the display plate of the present invention is The configuration is simple. At this time, the method of arranging the sheet-like materials having the driving means is not particularly limited, but it is preferable that the sheet-like materials are arranged with a certain regularity because a clear image can be displayed. As a concrete arrangement method,
An assembly of one or several sheet-like objects having driving means is arranged in parallel to each side when the shape of the display plate is a triangle, a quadrangle, etc., and radially when the shape is a circle, a sphere, an ellipse, etc. It is good to arrange them at equal intervals. In these cases, the width and accuracy of the space are appropriately determined depending on the size of the display plate and the purpose of use.

A light incident device can be used for the display panel of the present invention. When the light incident device is used, the display panel of the present invention is a transmissive display panel. As the light incident device in the display panel of the present invention, a known device generally called a backlight can be used and is not particularly limited. As an example, a light-entering device such as a radiation type, a reflection type, and a refraction type can be used. Further, the color of the light source is not particularly limited, and any light such as white light or monochromatic light may be used. The number of light sources is also not particularly limited, and may be one, or one pixel or one pixel may be used. Further, it may be used after being split, condensed, polarized, etc. by a prism, a lens or the like. Further, if a sheet-shaped light emitting body such as an EL panel is used, it is possible to make the entire display board flexible.

In the display panel having the light incident device of the present invention, a color filter can be arranged in front of the display panel. By using the color filter,
The display panel of the present invention is a transmissive color display panel. As the color filter in the display plate of the present invention, known ones used for ordinary color LCDs can be used. If a sheet-shaped color filter is used, the display panel as a whole can be made flexible.

In the display panel of the present invention, if a black light lamp is used as a light incident device and a sheet-like material containing a substance that absorbs black light and emits fluorescence is arranged on the front surface of the display panel as a filter, The display panel of the present invention can be used as a display panel that emits very clear fluorescence.

In the display plate of the present invention, a light reflecting device can be arranged behind the display plate. When the light reflection device is used, the display panel of the present invention is a reflection type display panel. The light reflection device in the display plate of the present invention is not particularly limited as long as it has a property of reflecting light such as a mirror or a metal. By using a metal foil such as aluminum, a sheet-shaped material in which a metal is vapor-deposited, a colored sheet-shaped material, paper, or the like as the light reflecting device, it is possible to make the entire display panel flexible.

Further, as the light reflecting device in the display plate of the present invention, a device in which 3 or 4 primary colors are arranged in a dot shape can be used. The three primary colors are not particularly limited,
Yellow, cyan and magenta can be used. The four primary colors are not particularly limited, and the above three primary colors plus black can be used. The shape of the dot is not limited to a circle, and may be a triangle, a quadrangle, or a polygon, and may be the same shape as the pixel or a different shape. The size of the dot may be the same size as one pixel of the display panel, or may be the same size as a plurality of pixels. When the light reflection device is used, the display panel of the present invention is
It becomes a reflective color display panel. The material of the light reflecting device is not particularly limited, but if a sheet, a film, a metal foil, a paper or the like is used, the entire display panel can be made flexible.

In the display panel of the present invention, a sheet-like material containing a substance that absorbs black light and emits fluorescence is used as the light reflecting device, and the display panel of the present invention is obtained by irradiating the front surface with black light. Can be used as a display board, which emits a very clear fluorescence.

In the display panel of the present invention, a viewing angle enlarging device can be arranged on the forefront of the display panel. The viewing angle enlarging device, even when viewing the display plate from an oblique direction,
It is a device that enables reading the display contents, as when viewed from the front. As the device for enlarging the viewing angle of the display plate in the present invention, a convex lens array plate having a convex lens corresponding to each pixel of the display plate can be used. Further, in the display plate of the present invention, the light transmitting plate on the front surface side may have a convex lens structure. In the display panel of the present invention obtained as described above, it is possible to select a transmission type, a reflection type, a single color or a color display mode. In addition, since a sheet-shaped material can be used for all the constituent materials, a sheet-shaped flexible display board that can be bent or rolled in a thin film shape can be obtained. Further, from the driving principle of the optical element described above, L
Although the display rewriting speed is slower than that of a CD, it has the characteristic that the display content can be retained even when the voltage application is cut off.
Since the structure of the optical element is simple, it is possible to increase the size of the display panel at a low manufacturing cost. In addition, since the aggregate of fibers is used for the drive unit instead of the film,
(1) Since the degree of orientation of fibers is higher than the degree of orientation of the film, when polarizing fibers are used, high polarizing properties can be obtained.
The performance as a display board is good, and (2) the fibers cause irregular reflection of light, so that the display board looks like frosted glass, and other effects are obtained, and the sensitivity is higher than when using a film. Suitable for use as a display material for signs, banners, etc.

Next, examples of the optical element and the display plate of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings, but of course the present invention is not limited thereto.

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view of an example of the optical element of the present invention. A transparent fixing portion 3 having a transparent radial electrode 2 is adhered to a fiber assembly 1 which is a first sheet-like material forming a drive portion with a transparent insulating paste 4 interposed therebetween. In addition to this, the second through the spacer 5 of the transparent film.
The sheet-shaped material 6 of is arranged. Here, 1 was a woven fabric composed of insulating fibers having a polarizing property and fibers having an antistatic effect, and 6 was a polarizing film. When positive and negative voltages are sequentially applied to 2 and 1 is rotated while irradiating light from the rear of 6, the intensity of light observed in front of 1 is increased. In particular, when a voltage for rotating the polarizing plate by 90 ° is applied from the state where the maximum light amount is obtained, the light amount becomes zero and a clear contrast is obtained. Further, when the voltage application is cut off in the state where the maximum amount of light or the amount of light is zero, the state is maintained as it is due to the memory property of the optical element.
Further, since the sheet-shaped flexible material can be used for all of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 constituting the optical element, the optical element can be a thin film-shaped flexible material. It is possible. Further, since the optical element of the present invention uses the aggregate of fibers as the driving portion, it has high sensitivity such as high polarization and looks like frosted glass.

FIG. 2 is a side view of an example of the display plate of the present invention. The display panel 7 is configured by using the optical element 8 of the present invention as a pixel and arranging a plurality of the elements 8. Here, in FIG. 2, for convenience, a part of 8 constituting 7 is omitted. The image control unit 9 controls the rotation state of the drive unit of 8 constituting 7 for each pixel,
Any display on 7 can be obtained. Further, even if the voltage application is cut off, the display of 7 is retained due to the memory property of 8. 7 is
Since it is composed of a thin film-shaped and flexible 8, 7 itself also has a thin-film-shaped and flexible structure. Further, since the structure is simple, it is lightweight, can be easily increased in size, and is inexpensive to manufacture. Further, 7 is a transmissive display plate by disposing a light incident device on the back surface, and a transmissive color display plate by disposing a light incident device on the back surface and a color filter on the front surface. Further, if a light reflecting device is arranged on the back surface of 7, it becomes a reflection type display plate. Also,
By disposing a viewing angle widening device on the front surface of 7, it is possible to read the display contents even when viewed from an oblique direction.

[0052]

EXAMPLES The present invention will be specifically described below with reference to examples, but the present invention is not limited to these examples. That is, it is easy for a person who knows the technical idea of the present invention to change to a more efficient one.

Example 1 An indium oxide-tin oxide conductive layer was formed on a polyethylene terephthalate film by a sputtering method.
A resist film was applied to this, and the resist film was exposed to light using a mask capable of obtaining a radial electrode. Next, after removing the exposed portion, etching was performed to completely remove the residual resist. The drive part was brought into close contact with the fixed part in which the obtained strip electrodes were arranged. Here, the driving part uses 3d, 36 filaments of polyvinyl alcohol fiber having adsorbed iodine in the weft, and 5d of single yarn denier containing 30% by weight of carbon black in the warp, nylon fiber of 24 filaments. Number of drives,
A woven fabric having a weft structure of 5 sheets with a weft of 107 fibers / inch and a warp of 95 fibers / inch was used, and the side where a large amount of polyvinyl alcohol fibers floated was brought into close contact with the fixing portion. Further, a commercially available polarizing film was placed on the surface of the fixing portion on the side not having the driving portion with a spacer interposed therebetween. When positive and negative voltages were applied to the optical element thus obtained, the drive part rotated, and the intensity of light observed on the front surface of the drive part increased. In addition, from the state where the maximum light quantity is obtained,
When a voltage for rotating 0 ° was applied, the amount of light became zero, and clear contrast was obtained. Furthermore, when the voltage application was cut off in the state where the maximum light amount or the light amount was zero, the state was maintained as it was, and the memorability of the optical element was confirmed. Further, since the film-shaped flexible material is used for all the materials forming the optical element, the optical element was a thin-film-shaped flexible material. In addition, since the optical element uses a woven fabric as a driving unit, it has a high polarization property and is a display material such as frosted glass.
It was found that it is particularly suitable for use in signboards, banners, etc. and has a high sensitivity.

[0054]

As described above, the present invention is a completely new type of optical element utilizing two sheet-like materials and electrostatic attraction and repulsion, and a transmission type or reflection type display in which the optical elements are arranged. The board can be obtained.

The optical element obtained by the present invention has the following features.

(1) Since a fiber assembly is driven by a simple device to generate an optical effect, it is surprising and surprising in appearance, and can be widely used for decorative purposes.

(2) Since the thing to be driven is an aggregate of fibers, the appearance is significantly reduced in glare, is gentle to the eyes, and is highly sensitive, as compared with the electrostatic film actuator.

(3) Since the degree of fiber orientation is higher than that of the film, when a polarizing fiber is used, a high polarizing property can be obtained, and an optical element having a high contrast can be provided.

(4) Diffuse reflection of light is caused by the fibers, so that the optical element has the effect of looking like frosted glass. Compared with the case of using a film,
Since it gives an excellent clear image, it is suitable for use as a display material such as signboards and banners.

(5) Since all the constituent materials can be sheet-shaped, a thin-film optical element can be obtained.

(6) Since all the constituent materials can be sheet-shaped, a flexible optical element can be obtained.

(7) Although the on / off speed of light or the changing speed of color, brightness, and saturation is slower than that of a liquid crystal cell, it has a memory property for voltage application.

(8) Since it does not require a strict structure like a liquid crystal cell, it is easy to manufacture. (9) Since it is easy to manufacture and the material used is inexpensive, it can be supplied at a much lower cost than LCD.

Since the display plate obtained in the present invention uses the optical element of the present invention as a pixel, it has all the characteristics of the above-mentioned optical element, and further has the following characteristics. It also has a combination.

(1) A transmissive and reflective display plate can be obtained.

(2) Monochromatic and color display boards can be obtained.

(3) The display rewriting speed is slower than that of the LCD, but the display contents can be retained even if the voltage application is cut off.

(4) Since the structure of the optical element is simple, it is possible to increase the size of the display plate at a low manufacturing cost.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a side sectional view showing an example of an optical element of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of a display plate of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1: Fiber assembly 2: Radial electrode 3: Fixing part 4: Insulating paste 5: Spacer 6: Sheet material 7: Display plate 8: Optical element 9: Image control part

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A structure comprising two sheet-like objects, at least one of which is a driving part, and the driving part has a structure in which it is supported by a fixing part composed of a plurality of strip electrodes and an insulator.
In an optical element driven by an electrostatic attractive force and a repulsive force generated between the drive unit and the fixed unit when a voltage is applied to the strip electrode, the sheet-shaped material forming the drive unit is made of fiber. An optical element characterized by being an aggregate. 2. The optical element according to claim 1, wherein the strip electrodes are arranged in a radial pattern. 3. The optical element according to claim 1, wherein the aggregate of fibers is a fiber sheet. 4. An optical element, wherein the fiber sheet according to claim 3 is composed of at least one of a woven fabric, a knitted fabric and a non-woven fabric. 5. An optical element, wherein the fiber sheet according to claim 3 is a woven fabric having a weft or warp ratio on the surface of the woven fabric of 60% or more. 6. An optical element, wherein the fiber sheet according to claim 3 is a woven fabric having a multi-woven structure. 7. The optical element according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, of the two sheet-like objects, the first sheet-like object that constitutes the drive unit is a woven fabric having a polarizing property, and the second sheet-like object. An optical element characterized in that the object is a polarizing plate. 8. The optical element according to claim 1 or 2, wherein, of the two sheet-like objects, the first sheet-like object constituting the driving section is a woven fabric having a polarization property, and the second sheet-like object. An optical element characterized in that the object is a polarizing film. 9. An optical element, wherein the polarizing woven fabric according to any one of claims 7 and 8 is a woven fabric comprising an insulating fiber having a polarizing property and a fiber having an antistatic effect. 10. An optical element, wherein the polarizing insulating insulating fiber is a polyvinyl alcohol fiber having adsorbed iodine. 11. An optical element, wherein the insulating insulating fiber having a polarizing property according to claim 9 is a fiber in which a dichroic dye is adsorbed and stretched and oriented. 12. An optical element, wherein the fiber having an antistatic effect according to claim 9 is a fiber containing a material containing a conductive component or an antistatic component as one component. 13. An optical element, wherein the fiber having an antistatic effect according to claim 9 is a fiber containing a material containing carbon black as a conductive component as one component. 14. An optical element, wherein the fiber having an antistatic effect according to claim 9 is a composite fiber containing a fiber containing carbon black as a conductive component as one component. 15. A display plate comprising a plurality of the optical elements according to claim 1 arranged therein. 16. The display plate according to claim 15,
Of the two sheet-like objects constituting the optical element, the second sheet-like object is larger than the first sheet-like object constituting the drive unit, and the second sheet-like object is a plurality of sheets. A display plate, which is in a state common to the first sheet-like material. 17. The display plate according to claim 15, wherein a light incident device is arranged behind the display plate. 18. The display plate according to claim 17, wherein a color filter is arranged in front of the display plate. 19. The display plate according to claim 15, wherein a light reflecting device is arranged behind the display plate. 20. The display plate according to claim 19, wherein the light reflecting device is one in which 3 or 4 primary colors are arranged in a dot shape. 21. The display plate according to any one of claims 15 to 20, wherein a viewing angle widening device is arranged on the forefront of the display plate.