JP2002182226A - Liquid crystal device and electronic equipment using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To realize a semi-transmissive reflective liquid crystal device, and also to downsize a liquid crystal panel by reducing an area occupied by a routed wiring part. SOLUTION: A display electrode 12 on a lower substrate 3 and a routed wiring 9 are two-layer-structured holding an insulating film 21 in-between, and in the state in which the lower substrate 3 is placed to face an upper substrate 4, the routed wiring 9 on the lower substrate 3 is formed at the position opposing the display electrodes 13 on the upper substrate 4. The display electrode 12 and/or the routed wiring 9 are (is) formed from a metallic material to arrange semi-transmissive opening parts 51. An illuminating device 100 is arranged outside of the lower substrate 3.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a transflective liquid crystal device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal device in which a region other than a liquid crystal display region can be made as small as possible.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A reflection type liquid crystal device has been conventionally used for a display section of a portable electronic device. However, since a display is performed using external light such as natural light or illumination light, it is used in a dark place. There was a problem that it was difficult to recognize the display. Therefore, in a bright place, external light is used in the same way as a normal reflection type liquid crystal device, and in a dark place, display is recognized using light from a lighting device on the back of the liquid crystal cell (hereinafter, also referred to as a backlight). Liquid crystal devices that have been made available, so-called transflective liquid crystal devices, have been put to practical use.

In order to realize such a transflective liquid crystal device, for example, a conventional transflector having only a reflection function is replaced by a “semitransflector” having both a light transmission function and a reflection function. A conventional reflection type liquid crystal device having an external reflection plate can be a transflective liquid crystal device. As such a semi-transmissive reflection plate, for example, a mixture of fine pearl pigments, a metal film having an opening for light transmission, a metal film having a very small thickness, and the like are used.

In a liquid crystal panel constituting a liquid crystal device, liquid crystal is sealed in a narrow space sandwiched between two transparent substrates, that is, a so-called cell gap. It is schematically configured by forming a strip-shaped transparent display electrode. In this case, a pixel is composed of liquid crystal at a portion where the display electrodes of the two transparent substrates intersect,
A method of externally driving the liquid crystal of each pixel is employed. In order to drive the liquid crystal from the outside, an input terminal is provided in a portion other than the liquid crystal display area where the pixels on the transparent substrate are arranged, and the input terminal and each display electrode in the liquid crystal display area are routed to form wiring. And a driving IC or the like is connected to the input terminal.

Conventionally, an input terminal for sending a signal to each display electrode has been provided in an extending direction of each display electrode. FIG. 14 illustrates an external view of a conventional liquid crystal panel. In the liquid crystal panel 201 of this figure, liquid crystal is sealed between two transparent substrates 203 and 204, and transparent display electrodes orthogonal to each other are formed on the inner surfaces of each of the transparent substrates 203 and 204. The portion where the respective display electrodes of the transparent substrates 203 and 204 overlap each other is a pixel region, and the portion where the pixels are arranged is the liquid crystal display region 202. And one transparent substrate 2
In a portion outside the liquid crystal display area 202 of the reference numeral 03, there is a connection terminal portion 205 provided with a wiring 209 extending from a display electrode and an input terminal 207 connected to the wiring 209. In addition, a wiring line 210 extending from the display electrode is also provided on a portion of the other transparent substrate 204 outside the liquid crystal display area 202.
There is a connection terminal portion 206 provided with an input terminal 208 for connecting to the input terminal 208. As described above, in the conventional liquid crystal device, the connection terminal portions 205 and 206 protrude in two different directions adjacent to the liquid crystal display area 202. An unused space 231 that is not used exists in a corner adjacent to the protruding connection terminal portions 205 and 206. When used as a liquid crystal device, the outermost periphery including all of these parts is fixed by surrounding the frame with a frame to form the liquid crystal panel 201.
The area of the entire liquid crystal panel 201 (W × L in FIG. 14) is considerably larger than the area of the liquid crystal display area 202.

However, recently, there has been a high demand for downsizing of electronic equipment utilizing a liquid crystal device, and accordingly, the necessity of downsizing of a liquid crystal panel has also increased. In order to reduce the size of the liquid crystal panel, a method of collecting input terminals in one place can be considered. That is, as shown in FIG. 15C, the input terminal portion 305 is arranged at one place on the liquid crystal panel 301, and as shown in FIG. An input terminal portion 305 is provided on the input terminal 307, and is connected to the input terminal 307 by a linear wiring 309. The other transparent substrate 304 is shown in FIG.
When the connection terminal portion 305 is not on the extension of the transparent electrode 313 as in (b), a wiring 310 is provided along the periphery of the liquid crystal display panel 301 to connect the tip of the transparent electrode 313 to the terminal 408. Are connected. The terminal 408 is connected to a terminal 508 on the opposite substrate side via an adhesive mixed with conductive particles, and the terminal 508 is connected to the input terminal 30.
8 is connected. With such a structure, the input terminal portion 305 is integrated in one place on the liquid crystal panel 301, and there is no useless unused space in which nothing is arranged, so that the size of the liquid crystal panel 301 can be considerably reduced. Become.

[0007]

However, even in the above-described method, the wiring and the like are arranged in the area adjacent to the liquid crystal display area 302 in three directions, so that the area of the non-liquid crystal display area occupying the size of the liquid crystal panel 301 is reduced. The proportion is still high. Particularly, in a liquid crystal device that requires high-precision image quality, the number of routing wirings increases with an increase in the number of pixels, so that the area occupied by the routing wirings also increases. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to realize a transflective liquid crystal device, and at the same time, reduce the area occupied by wiring lines to further reduce the size of a liquid crystal panel.

[0008]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a two-layer structure in which a lead wiring and a display electrode are sandwiched by an insulating film, so that the lead wiring conventionally disposed outside the liquid crystal display area can be reduced. It is provided in the liquid crystal display area to reduce the area occupied only by the routing wiring in the area of the liquid crystal panel, and to form at least one of the display electrode and the routing wiring having a two-layer structure with a metal material. By providing an opening for semi-transmission, the display electrode and / or the routing wiring have a function as a semi-transmissive reflection plate.

That is, the present invention provides a pair of substrates in which a plurality of substrates having a plurality of display electrodes provided on one surface are opposed to each other so that the display electrodes are inside, and And a lighting device provided on an outer surface side of one of the pair of substrates, wherein a lower layer of a display electrode of the one substrate has an insulating layer. A routing wiring electrically connected to the display electrode via a film is provided, and the one of the display electrodes and / or the routing wiring is made of a metal material, and a display on the pair of substrates is provided. A display electrode made of the metal material in a pixel region where the electrodes intersect, and / or
Alternatively, an opening is provided in the wiring, and the display electrode on the other substrate is made of a transparent material. According to the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the wiring can be accommodated in the liquid crystal display area, so that the size of the liquid crystal device can be reduced. Further, since the display electrode and / or the routing wiring have a function as a transflective reflector, a transflective liquid crystal device can be realized without providing an external transflector.

If a color filter is provided on the other substrate of the pair of substrates opposite to the one on which the lighting device is provided, a transflective color liquid crystal device can be realized. Alternatively, when the display electrode on one of the substrates on which the lighting device is provided is made of a transparent material and the wiring is made of a metal material, a color filter is provided between the display electrode and the wiring. Can also realize a transflective color liquid crystal device. further,
In the case where a color filter is provided between the display electrode and the routing wiring as described above, the color filter can function as an insulating film, so that the structure without the insulating film can be employed.

Further, when the display electrodes on one of the substrates on which the illuminating device is provided are made of a transparent material and the wirings are made of a metal material, the pair of substrates are viewed in plan. In some cases, it is preferable that the pixel region is included in a region where the routing wiring is provided. Conventionally, the routing wiring was arranged outside the liquid crystal display area. Therefore, in order to reduce the size of the liquid crystal panel, the routing wiring had to be formed as thin as possible.
According to the above configuration, the leading wiring is formed so as to include the entire pixel region, so that the line width of the leading wiring can be increased within a range in which insulation between adjacent leading wirings is ensured, Wiring resistance can be reduced without increasing the area of the liquid crystal panel.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. First, a liquid crystal panel structure of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described. FIGS. 1 to 3 show a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 is an exploded schematic perspective view showing the appearance of a liquid crystal panel, and FIG. 2 is an arrangement of display electrodes and wirings. FIG. 3 is a plan view of an essential part of the liquid crystal panel shown in FIG.
It is the figure which showed the cross section which follows the A line. Hereinafter, in the plan view of the main part showing the arrangement of the display electrodes and the routing wirings as shown in FIG. 2, the illustration of the transparent substrates 3, 4 and the insulating film 21 is omitted. The scale of each member such as the thickness is different for each member (the same applies hereinafter).

The liquid crystal panel 1 of this embodiment (hereinafter sometimes simply referred to as the panel 1) has two transparent substrates 3 and 4 (hereinafter, one substrate 3 is referred to as a lower substrate and the other substrate 4 is referred to as an upper substrate). ) Are arranged facing each other with a slight cell gap therebetween to form a pair of substrates. Liquid crystal (not shown) is sealed in a cell gap between the pair of substrates. A plurality of display electrodes 12 and 13 are respectively provided on the inner side surfaces of the lower substrate 3 and the upper substrate 4.
The display electrodes 12 on the upper surface of the lower substrate 3 and the display electrodes 13 on the lower surface of the upper substrate 4 face each other. Liquid crystal panel 1 of the present embodiment
Is entirely rectangular, the display electrodes 13 of the upper substrate 4 are formed along the length direction of the panel 1, and the display electrodes 1 of the lower substrate 3
2 is a direction perpendicular to the length direction of the panel 1 (width direction)
Are formed along. In the present embodiment, the display electrodes 12 and 13 are made of, for example, indium tin oxide (Indium Tin Oxide).
Oxide (ITO) or the like. The thickness of the display electrodes 12 and 13 in this embodiment is 150 n
m.

As shown in FIG. 2, in a state where the liquid crystal panel 1 is viewed in a plan view, an area where the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3 and the display electrode 13 of the upper substrate 4 intersect is a pixel area (this specification). The pixel region 2 is arranged in the liquid crystal display region. Normally, the liquid crystal display area is composed of a large number of pixels, but in this drawing, only pixels of 4 rows × 4 columns are shown in a simplified manner. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a wiring 9 is provided under the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3 with an insulating film 21 interposed therebetween, and the display electrode 12 and the wiring 9 are connected to each other. It has a layered structure. In the liquid crystal panel 1 of the present embodiment, an illumination device 100 is provided on the outer surface side of the lower substrate 3 when configuring a liquid crystal device. The routing wiring 9 in the present embodiment is made of a metal material, and a metal material having a high light reflectance such as aluminum, silver, APC (an alloy of silver, palladium, and copper), and an alloy of aluminum and neodymium is preferably used. In this embodiment, an aluminum film having a thickness of 100 nm is used.

In the present embodiment, the routing wiring 9 on the lower substrate 3 is connected to the upper substrate 4 with the liquid crystal panel 1 viewed from above.
The same width as the display electrode 13 and a direction perpendicular to the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3 are formed so as to face the display electrode 13. In the plan view of FIG. 2, the display electrode 13 and the routing wiring 9 are slightly shifted in the width direction of the display electrode 13 for the sake of convenience, but they are actually overlapped (the same applies hereinafter). One end of the routing wiring 9 is connected to the input terminal 7 provided on the upper surface of the lower substrate 3 at one end in the length direction of the panel 1.
And the other end extends to a position completely intersecting with the display electrode 12b farthest from the input terminal 7 of the lower substrate 3. Further, a branch 9a is formed in the middle of each of the routing wirings 9, thereby forming the liquid crystal panel 1
Are connected to a contact hole 50 provided in a region inside the display electrode 12 to be connected and outside the pixel region 2 when viewed in a plan view. Contact hole 50
There is no insulating film 21 in the portion, and the display electrode 12 and the lead-out wiring 9 are configured to be electrically connected to each other via the contact hole 50 in a one-to-one correspondence. The planar shape of the contact hole 50 is arbitrary, but in the present embodiment, it is preferable that the diameter of the branch 9a of the routing wiring 9 and the diameter of the contact hole be substantially the same.

In each pixel region 2, a semi-transmissive opening 51 is provided in the routing wiring 9. The opening 51 allows the illumination light from the lighting device 100 provided on the outer surface side of the lower substrate 3 to be transmitted through the opening 51 to the upper substrate 4 with an appropriate transmittance, and the opening 51
It is only necessary that the configuration be such that an appropriate reflectance can be obtained by the surface of the routing wiring 9 other than the above, and the size, shape, number, formation position, and the like of the openings 51 can be appropriately set. In the present embodiment, the size of one pixel region 2 is 230 μm × 230
60 μm × 60 μm in the center of the pixel region 2.
One opening 51 having a size of m is formed.

On the other hand, each display electrode 13 of the upper substrate 4 is connected to an input terminal 8 provided on the lower surface of the upper substrate 4 at the other end in the length direction of the panel 1 via a wiring 10. The routing wiring 10 of the upper substrate 4 is connected to each display electrode 13.
Are formed along the length direction of the panel 1, so that the end of the display electrode 13 and the input terminal 8 can be connected as shown in FIG.

The liquid crystal panel 1 having such a configuration can be manufactured, for example, as follows. First, a thin film made of the material of the wiring 9 is formed on the entire surface of the lower substrate (transparent substrate) 3 by sputtering or the like, and the wiring 9 is formed by photolithography. At this time, the opening 51 of the routing wiring 9 is also formed at the same time.

Next, after an insulating film 21 is formed in a region where the routing wiring 9 is formed, etching is performed using a mask to remove the insulating film 21 at the position of the contact hole 50. As a material of the insulating film 21, for example, transparent Si
O ₂ or Si ₃ N ₄ can be used. Alternatively, an organic film such as a photosensitive resin may be used in addition to the inorganic film such as SiO ₂ and Si ₃ N ₄ . When a photosensitive resin is used, a contact hole can be formed by performing development after exposing the resin, so that the process can be simplified. In this embodiment, the insulating film 2
As 1, a film made of an acrylic photosensitive resin having a thickness of 4 μm is used. Further, the end of the wiring 9 may be used as the input terminal 7 without forming the insulating film 21 on the end of the wiring 9. Thereafter, a thin film made of the material of the display electrode 12 is formed on the insulating film 21 and etched by photolithography to form the display electrode 12.

On the other hand, the display electrodes 13 are formed on the upper substrate 4 by a technique such as sputtering and photolithography.
The routing wiring 10 and the input terminal 8 are formed. These can be continuously formed on the upper substrate 4 using the same transparent conductor.

The lower substrate 3 thus obtained is
After an insulating film is formed on the surface of the display electrodes 12 and 13 of the upper substrate 4, an orientation film is applied and rubbed, and the substrates 3 and 4 are placed so that the display electrodes 12 and 13 are on the inside. The liquid crystal panel 1 is assembled to the liquid crystal panel 1 so as to be opposed to each other and bonded using a sealing material. As the sealing material, for example, a thermosetting one-part epoxy resin mixed with silica can be used. A resin ball having a particle diameter of 6 μm is sprayed between the two substrates 3 and 4 so as to keep a gap. A liquid crystal driving IC (not shown) is connected to the input terminals 7 and 8 by thermocompression. further,
A polarizing plate (not shown) and an optical compensator (not shown) are arranged outside the two substrates 3 and 4 as necessary.

In the liquid crystal device of this embodiment, the display electrodes 12 on the lower substrate 3 of the liquid crystal panel 1 and the wirings 9 connected thereto have a two-layer structure with an insulating film 21 interposed therebetween. In addition, it is possible to reduce the area occupied by only the wiring 9 in the liquid crystal panel 1 by housing the wiring 9 in the liquid crystal display area. The display electrode 1 on the lower substrate 3
Despite being arranged along the vertical direction (width direction) with respect to the length direction of the panel 1, the wiring 2
Can be pulled out in the length direction of the panel 1. Therefore, an input terminal 7 for inputting a signal to the display electrode 12 can be provided at an end in the longitudinal direction of the panel 1, and
It is not necessary to arrange the wirings 9 on both sides in the width direction of the panel 1. On the other hand, since the display electrodes 13 of the upper substrate 4 are formed along the length direction of the panel 1, the input terminals 8 for inputting signals to the display electrodes 13 are provided at the ends of the panel 1 in the length direction. Can be provided. Thus, the input terminal 7,
8 can be provided at the ends of the liquid crystal panel 1, so that the width of the panel 1 can be made almost the same as the width of the liquid crystal display area, although the panel 1 becomes longer in the length direction. As a result, the size of the liquid crystal display area occupying the entire liquid crystal panel 1 can be increased, and a liquid crystal device having a liquid crystal display area that is easy to see even when the size of the entire liquid crystal panel 1 is relatively reduced can be obtained.

The lead wiring 9 on the lower substrate 3 is made of a metal material and has an opening 51 in the pixel region 2.
Is provided, so that it functions as a transflective plate. Therefore, in the reflection mode, reflection display is performed using the routing wiring 9 made of a metal material as a reflection plate, and in the transmission mode,
A transflective liquid crystal device that performs transmissive display using light from a lighting device (backlight) 100 that passes through an opening 51 provided in the routing wiring 9 is obtained. In particular, in the configuration of the present embodiment, the semi-transmissive opening portion 51 is
And the surface of the display electrode 12 in contact with the liquid crystal layer can be made flat. Therefore, the manner in which the display electrode 12 applies an electric field to the liquid crystal layer in each pixel region 2 can be easily uniformized, which is preferable.

In this embodiment, the routing wiring 9
Are formed in the same width as the display electrodes 13 of the upper substrate 4, so that the pixel area 2 is included in the area where the wiring 9 is formed when the liquid crystal panel 1 is viewed in plan. Therefore, since the routing wiring 9 having the function of the semi-transmissive reflection plate exists in the entire area of the pixel region 2, the efficiency of using the reflected light in the reflection mode is high, and a bright display can be obtained.
Further, the line width of the lead-out wiring 9 can be made large as long as the insulation between the adjacent lead-out wirings 9 is ensured, thereby reducing the wiring resistance without increasing the area of the liquid crystal panel. It can be reduced.

Further, in the present embodiment, since the contact hole 50 is provided outside the pixel region 2, no contact hole is arranged in the pixel region 2. Therefore, even when the alignment of the liquid crystal is poor at the portion where the contact hole 50 is formed, the pixel is not affected and the appearance of the liquid crystal display can be prevented from being deteriorated. In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal panel 1 is rectangular, but the shape of the panel 1 can be arbitrary.

Next, a modification of the first embodiment will be described. First
As a modified example, as shown in FIGS. 4 to 6, the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3 may be made of a metal material, and the routing wiring 9 may be made of a transparent conductor. FIG. 4 is a main part plan view showing the arrangement of the display electrodes and the routing wiring in the liquid crystal panel.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 4, and FIG.
It is sectional drawing which follows the middle BB line. The same components as those of the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted (the same applies hereinafter).

In this embodiment, no opening is required for the routing wiring 9 made of a transparent conductor, and instead, as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, a half of the opening is not formed in the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3 made of a metal material. It is necessary to provide an opening 52 for transmission.
In the first embodiment, the contact hole 50 is provided outside the pixel region 2. However, the contact hole 50 may be provided inside the pixel region 2 as shown in FIGS. In the case where the contact hole 50 is provided inside the pixel region 2, it is not necessary to provide the branch 9 a in the middle of the routing wiring 9.

As a second modification of the first embodiment, both the display electrode 12 and the routing line 9 on the lower substrate 3 can be made of a metal material. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, it is necessary to provide openings 51 and 52 in both the routing wiring 9 and the display electrode 12 of the lower substrate 3, respectively. Opening 51 of routing wiring 9 and display electrode 12
The opening 52 is provided so as to overlap when the liquid crystal panel 1 is viewed in a plan view.

As a third modification of the first embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG.
May have a substantially L-shaped planar shape. FIG. 8 is a plan view of a main part showing the arrangement of display electrodes and routing wirings in the liquid crystal panel, and FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional view along line BB in FIG.

In this embodiment, one end of the lead wiring 29 on the lower substrate 3 is connected to the input terminal 7 at the end of the lower substrate 3.
From there, in the direction perpendicular to the display electrodes 22 of the lower substrate 3, the same width as the display electrodes 13 so as to overlap with the display electrodes 13 of the upper substrate 4 in a state where the liquid crystal panel is viewed in a plan view.
It extends until it completely intersects the display electrode 22 of the connection partner. A region which is bent at a right angle and overlaps the display electrode 22 of the lower substrate 3 is formed continuously with the same width as the display electrode 22 until it reaches one end 25 of the display electrode 22. Then, as shown in FIG. 9, the display electrodes 22 are connected at one end 25 of the display electrodes 22 by directly forming the display electrodes 22 on the wiring 29 without interposing the insulating film 21 therebetween. In this example, the display electrode 22 is made of a transparent conductor, the routing electrode 29 is composed of a metal material, and the routing wiring 29 is provided with an opening 51 for each pixel region 2.

In the third modification, when the liquid crystal panel 1 is viewed in a plan view, a part of the routing wiring 29 of the lower substrate 3 overlaps with the display electrode 13 of the upper substrate 4 and another part. Overlaps the display electrode 22 of the lower substrate 3. In order to include the entire pixel region 2 in the region where the routing wiring 29 is provided, the line width of the routing wiring 29 of the lower substrate 3 is set equal to the width of the display electrode 13 of the upper substrate 4 and the width of the lower electrode 3. Substrate 3
Is equal to or greater than the width of the display electrode 22. Further, since the leading wiring 29 of the lower substrate 3 is connected to the display electrode 22 at the end 25 of the display electrode 22, no contact hole is arranged in the pixel region 2. With such a configuration, in particular, a larger area of the contact hole 25 can be obtained.
Nine contacts can be more reliably obtained.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a second embodiment of the present invention, which is an example of a liquid crystal panel suitable for constructing a transflective liquid crystal device having a color filter. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a main part showing the arrangement of the display electrodes and the routing wirings, and FIG. The difference between the liquid crystal panel 101 of the present embodiment and the liquid crystal panel 1 of the first embodiment is that
Color filter 60 and flattening film 61 on upper substrate 4
And a region where three display electrodes 113a, 113b and 113c of the upper substrate 4 intersect with one of the display electrodes 112 of the lower substrate 3 is one pixel region. 102 (shown by oblique lines in FIG. 10). In the present embodiment, the display electrode 11
The reference numerals 2 and 113 are made of the same transparent conductor as in the first embodiment, and the routing wiring 109 is made of the same metal material as in the first embodiment. In the liquid crystal panel 101 of the present embodiment, the illumination device 100 is provided on the outer surface side of the lower substrate 3 when configuring a liquid crystal device.

The color filter 60 in the present embodiment
As shown in FIG. 10, regions of respective colors of R, G, and B are regularly arranged.
G and B are arranged one by one. The display electrodes 113a, 113b, 113c on the upper substrate 4 are
Are formed so as to overlap with the respective color regions.

On the other hand, under the display electrode 112 on the lower substrate 3, a wiring 109 is stacked via the insulating film 21. The routing wiring 109 is connected to the liquid crystal panel 101.
When viewed in plan, one routing wiring 109 is
The three display electrodes 113 a, 113 b, 113 c of the upper substrate 4 constituting one pixel region 102 and the region including the electrode gap therebetween are formed so as to overlap. In addition, one or more semi-transmissive openings 151 are provided in the routing wiring 109 in each of the regions overlapping with the three display electrodes 113a, 113b, and 113c of the upper substrate 4. The display electrodes 112 of the lower substrate 3 correspond to the routing wirings 109 on a one-to-one basis, and the pixel regions 1 where the corresponding display electrodes 112 intersect with the routing wirings 109 are provided.
02, a contact hole 150 is formed in the insulating film 21.
Is provided. The contact hole 150 may be provided outside the pixel region 102. The connection structure between the display electrodes 112 and 113 and the input terminals 7 and 8 is the same as in the first embodiment.

According to this embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and since the color filter 60 is provided on the upper substrate 4, a transflective color liquid crystal device can be obtained. Can be Also in this embodiment, the display electrode 112 of the lower substrate 3 is made of a metal material as in the first modified example of the first embodiment, and
Is formed of a transparent conductor, and the opening 151 is formed in the display electrode 112.
May be provided. Alternatively, the second embodiment of the first embodiment
Both the display electrode 112 and the routing wiring 109 of the lower substrate 3 may be made of a metal material, and the openings 151 may be provided in the same plane position of the routing wiring 109 and the display electrode 112, respectively, as in the modification of the above. Further, in the present embodiment, the flattening film 61 is formed on the color filter 60, but this can be omitted. As in the third modification of the first embodiment, the planar shape of the routing wiring 109 may be substantially L-shaped.

FIG. 12 shows a third embodiment of the present invention, which is an example of a liquid crystal panel suitable for constituting a transflective liquid crystal device having a color filter. The major difference between the liquid crystal panel of the present embodiment and the second embodiment is that the wiring lines 109, the color filters 60, and the display electrodes 112 are sequentially stacked on the lower substrate 3, and the upper substrate 4 has The point is that no color filter is provided, and the insulating film 21 is not provided on the lower substrate 3. In the present embodiment, the same components as those in the second embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted. When the liquid crystal panel of the present embodiment is also configured with a liquid crystal device, the lighting device 100 is provided on the outer surface side of the lower substrate 3.

In this embodiment, the display electrodes 112, 1
Reference numeral 13 is made of the same transparent conductor as in the first embodiment, and the routing wiring 109 is made of the same metal material as in the first embodiment. In the configuration of the present embodiment, the color filter 60 provided between the routing wiring 109 and the display electrode 112 serves as an insulating film. There is provided a contact hole 250 for making an electrical connection with the contact hole 112.

According to this embodiment, the same operation and effect as those of the first embodiment can be obtained, and since the color filter 60 is provided on the upper substrate 4, a transflective color liquid crystal device can be obtained. Can be Also in the present embodiment, a flattening film can be formed on the color filter 60 if necessary. In that case, however, it is necessary to form a contact hole in the flattening film. Also in the present embodiment, the plane shape of the routing wiring 109 may be substantially L-shaped as in the third modification of the first embodiment.

In each of the above embodiments, the input terminals 7 and 8 are provided on the lower substrate 3 and the upper substrate 4, respectively, but the input terminals 7 and 8 are provided only on one of the two transparent substrates 3 and 4. A configuration in which a terminal is provided may be employed. For example, when the input terminals are provided only on the lower substrate, the lead wiring of the upper substrate 4 is connected to the relay wiring on the lower substrate using an anisotropic conductive adhesive, and the input is performed via the relay wiring. What is necessary is just to connect to a terminal.

Next, an electronic apparatus of the present invention using the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example of an electronic device of the present invention.
3 is shown. FIG. 13A is a perspective view illustrating an example of a mobile phone. 1000 indicates the mobile phone body, of which 100
1 is a liquid crystal device of the present invention. FIG. 13B is a perspective view illustrating an example of a wristwatch-type electronic device. Reference numeral 1100 denotes a watch main body, and 1101 denotes a liquid crystal device of the present invention. FIG.
(C) is a perspective view showing an example of a portable information processing device such as a word processor or a personal computer. In the figure, reference numeral 1200 denotes an information processing apparatus; 1202, an input unit such as a keyboard; 1204, an information processing apparatus main body; 1206, a liquid crystal device of the present invention.

When the liquid crystal device of the present invention is used in these electronic devices, the area ratio of the liquid crystal display area in the liquid crystal device can be increased, and a small-sized display can be realized. Since a transflective liquid crystal device is used, a bright and easily recognizable display can be made even in a dark place with low power consumption. Color display is also possible.

[0042]

According to the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the wiring can be accommodated in the liquid crystal display area, and the input terminals provided adjacent to the liquid crystal display area can be moved in any direction with respect to the liquid crystal display area. Can be arranged. Therefore, the ratio of the liquid crystal display area to the entire liquid crystal panel can be increased, and the length or width of the liquid crystal panel can be shortened to reduce the size. In addition, display electrodes and / or
Alternatively, since the routing wiring is made of a metal material and the opening is provided, the display electrode and / or the routing wiring made of the metal material functions as a semi-transmissive reflection plate, and an external semi-transmissive reflection plate is provided. Without this, a transflective liquid crystal device can be realized. That is, in the reflection mode, reflective display is performed using the display electrode and / or the routing wiring made of a metal material as a reflection plate, and in the transmission mode, the display electrode and / or the routing wiring passing through the opening provided in the routing wiring are formed. A transflective liquid crystal device that performs transmissive display using light from an illuminating device (backlight) that emits light is obtained.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view showing an example of a liquid crystal panel of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main part of the first embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a main part plan view showing a modification of the first embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view showing a modification of the first embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a main part plan view showing a modification of the first embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along line BB in FIG.

FIG. 10 is a main part plan view showing a second embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 11 is a sectional view taken along line AA in FIG.

FIG. 12 is a sectional view showing a third embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention.

FIG. 13 is an external view illustrating an example of an electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view showing an example of a conventional liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing another example of a conventional liquid crystal panel.

[Explanation of symbols]

1, 101, 201, 301: liquid crystal panel, 2, 10
2, 202, 302 ... pixel area, 3, 203, 303 ...
Transparent substrate (lower substrate), 4, 204, 304 ... Transparent substrate (upper substrate), 7, 8, 207, 208, 307, 308
... Input terminals, 9, 29, 109, 209, 210, 30
9, 310 ... routing wiring, 12, 13, 22, 11
2,113 ... display electrode, 21 ... insulating film, 50,150,
Reference numeral 250: contact hole, 51, 52, 151: opening, 60: color filter, 100: lighting device.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued from the front page F term (reference) 2H091 FA02Y FA15Y FB08 FD04 FD05 GA02 GA07 LA11 LA13 2H092 GA14 GA17 GA25 GA26 GA33 GA34 HA04 HA05 JA46 JB07 JB23 JB24 JB32 JB33 JB56 JB58 KB25 NA25 PA08 PA12 5C0919 AA DA15 EA10 ED03 FB12 HA10

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A pair of substrates in which a plurality of display electrodes provided on one surface are opposed to each other such that the display electrodes are inside, and are sandwiched between the pair of substrates. A liquid crystal layer, and a lighting device provided on an outer surface side of one of the pair of substrates, wherein a lower layer of a display electrode of the one of the substrates has an insulating film interposed therebetween. Routing wires electrically connected to the display electrodes are provided, and the display electrodes and / or the routing wires on the one substrate are made of a metal material, and display on the pair of substrates is performed. A liquid crystal is characterized in that an opening is provided in a display electrode and / or a lead wiring made of the metal material in a pixel region where electrodes intersect, and the display electrode on the other substrate is made of a transparent material. apparatus. 2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a color filter is provided on the other substrate. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein said display electrode on said one substrate is made of a transparent material, said wiring is made of a metal material, and a color filter is provided between said display electrode and said wiring on said one substrate. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, further comprising: 4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 3, wherein a color filter is provided in place of said insulating film. 5. An electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.