JP2005049738A - Liquid crystal display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent a liquid crystal display panel which has a dummy metal layer of relatively large area at its frame part from electrostatically being broken due to exfoliation charging etc. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal display panel is equipped with a matrix of wires for driving display elements and a terminal part 53 provided at the peripheral edge part 51 of the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel to connect the wires to driver elements or connectors and is characterized in that the wires are concentrated and connected to a terminal part 53 at the peripheral edge part 51 and the dummy metal layer 55 is provided in an area present between line concentration parts 52, and the metal layer 55 is formed by being segmented into a plurality of areas. The area of the metal layer 55 is made small, so an electrostatic charging quantity in friction charging, exfoliation charging, etc., becomes small. Therefore, even if the friction charging or exfoliation charging is caused between an exposure stage and the liquid crystal display panel in the process of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel, a spark is hardly generated between the metal layer 55 and a wire such as a nearby gate wire. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

    The present invention relates to an active matrix type liquid crystal display panel with countermeasures against static electricity, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display panel in which the wiring structure at the periphery of the liquid crystal display panel is effective in preventing electrostatic breakdown. Is.

    In recent years, display devices used for OA devices are required to be lighter, thinner, lower power consumption, higher definition, and larger screens. Although there is a strong demand for large-screen televisions that allow you to experience a greater sense of realism even in ordinary households, conventional CRTs increase in volume and weight with the increase in screen size. The practical application of flat panel displays is strongly desired.

  For this reason, development and commercialization of a large screen are being promoted also in display devices such as liquid crystal display devices (LCD), plasma display devices (PDP), EL (electro luminescent) display devices, and LED (light emitting display). . In particular, the liquid crystal display device has advantages in that the thickness (depth) can be remarkably reduced as compared with other display devices, the power consumption is small, and full color is easy. There is also great expectation for larger screens.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of a general active matrix liquid crystal display panel. As shown in FIG. 4, the liquid crystal display panel includes a gate line 1 as a scanning line, a source line 2 as a signal line, and a thin film transistor 3 (hereinafter referred to as TFT) as a switching element. Are connected to a terminal unit 4 (scanning line input pad) and a terminal unit 5 (signal line input pad) for inputting external signals to the pixel unit, respectively.

  In the matrix substrate, a plurality of source lines 2 as signal lines are arranged orthogonal to a plurality of gate lines 1 as scanning lines, and a TFT 3 is provided at the intersection. The gate wiring 1 and the source wiring 2 are each provided with a lead line independently, and a scanning line input pad 4 and a signal line input pad 5 are provided at the end of the lead line.

  FIG. 5 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the structure of a liquid crystal display device using such a liquid crystal display panel. In FIG. 5, a liquid crystal display panel 16 in which display pixels are arranged via a first polarizing plate 14 is arranged on the surface of the backlight 12, and a second polarizing plate 18 is arranged on the top. The liquid crystal panel 16 includes a rear glass plate 16a located on the light incident side, a front glass plate 16b located on the light emission side, a pixel electrode 16c formed on the inner surface of the rear glass plate 16a, and a front glass plate 16b. The color filter 16d formed on the inner surface and the liquid crystal 16e hermetically filled with a sealing material 16f between the rear glass plate 16a and the front glass plate 16b.

  In the manufacturing process of such a liquid crystal display panel, countermeasures are taken because the semiconductor elements and the like may be damaged by static electricity. For example, Patent Document 1 below discloses a liquid crystal display panel in which measures for preventing electrostatic breakdown are taken with the structure shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the liquid crystal display panel disclosed in Patent Document 1 includes a short bar 34 that connects drain lines 22, 23, 24 and gate lines 25, 26, 27 connected to each terminal of the TFT element 28. And providing anti-static electrodes 30, 31, 32, 33 between adjacent drain lines 22, 23, 24 and between adjacent gate lines 25, 26, 27, respectively. An electrostatic capacity is formed on the substrate.

In the process of cutting the TFT substrate, the TFT substrate is cut to cut out each TFT substrate 21 and, after cutting, the short bar 34 connected to each wiring is cut off. It becomes difficult. When static electricity enters from the outside, the charge is dispersed from the wiring where the charge is concentrated to the adjacent wiring through the above-described anti-static electrodes 30, 31, 32 and 33, thereby reducing the concentration of the charge. This prevents damage to elements and wiring due to static electricity.
JP-A-9-197376 (FIG. 1)

  By the way, in the liquid crystal display panel as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the upper and lower substrates enclosing the liquid crystal, for example, the TFT substrate 41, the gate wiring and the source wiring are arranged in a matrix with a certain interval. However, as shown in FIG. 1, each wiring is drawn out by being drawn out by a lead line typically indicated by reference numeral 46 at the peripheral portion 42 (frame portion) of the display surface, and connected to a driver element or a connector. Connected to the terminal portion 43.

  For this reason, in the peripheral part 42, the part 44 in which the wiring of the lead line is not formed occurs. If such a portion where no wiring is formed is present, it becomes difficult to keep the distance between the substrates constant when the TFT substrate and the CF substrate are bonded via a spacer. A configuration is adopted in which a dummy metal layer 45 is provided to maintain a uniform spacing between the substrates.

  In the process of manufacturing such a liquid crystal display panel, a TFT substrate is placed on the exposure stage and a predetermined manufacturing operation such as exposure is performed. In the process, the process of aligning the TFT substrate on the exposure stage, etc. In this case, static electricity is generated by friction between the TFT substrate made of a glass substrate and the exposure stage.

  Further, peeling electrification also occurs when the TFT substrate is moved from the exposure stage by the conveying means after the exposure is completed. At this time, the charged static electricity increases and sparks, and electrostatic breakdown occurs that destroys the element formed on the substrate.

  In the liquid crystal display panel disclosed in Patent Document 1, electrostatic breakdown that occurs in a liquid crystal display panel having a dummy metal layer 45 having a relatively large area at the peripheral edge 42 as shown in FIG. 1 is not considered. However, there is a problem that the liquid crystal display panel is not sufficiently configured to prevent electrostatic breakdown.

  The inventor of the present application has conducted various studies to solve the above problems, and as a result, the dummy metal layer has a larger area than other lead wirings, so the amount of charge during frictional charging and peeling charging is large. In particular, the present invention has been completed by finding that sparks are generated between the wiring such as the gate wiring and the source wiring close to the metal layer, leading to electrostatic breakdown.

  That is, in the present invention, the metal layer is not formed extensively in one region (formed in a solid shape), but is formed by appropriately providing slits to form an island-shaped metal layer. The amount of charge is reduced to prevent the occurrence of sparks.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems, and in a liquid crystal display panel having a dummy metal layer 45 having a relatively large area at the peripheral portion 42, it is possible to prevent electrostatic breakdown due to peeling charging or the like. An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display panel having a possible structure.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention according to claim 1 of the present application is directed to a matrix-like wiring for driving a display element and a peripheral edge of a display surface of the liquid crystal display panel for connecting the wiring to a driver element or a connector. A terminal part provided in the part,
In the liquid crystal display panel in which the wiring is drawn out by a lead-out line at the peripheral part, the lead-out line is gathered by a concentrating part and connected to a terminal part, and a dummy metal layer is provided in a region existing between the concentrating parts ,
A plurality of slits are provided in the metal layer, and a plurality of metal layer regions divided by the slits are formed.

  The invention according to claim 2 of the present application is characterized in that, in the liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, the slit is provided in a portion close to the lead-out line concentrated in the concentrator.

  In the invention according to claim 1, since the dummy metal layer is formed by being divided into a plurality of regions, the area of each divided dummy metal layer is larger than that of the dummy metal layer formed integrally. Therefore, the amount of charge at the time of frictional charging and peeling charging generated in the dummy metal layer can be suppressed to be small. Therefore, even if frictional charging or peeling charging occurs between the exposure stage and the liquid crystal display panel in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel, it is difficult to generate a spark between the metal layer and the wiring such as the gate wiring in the vicinity. The occurrence of electrostatic breakdown can be prevented.

  Moreover, in the invention which concerns on Claim 2, the area of the metal layer of an applicable part is provided by dividing the metal layer of the part adjacent to wiring by a slit, without providing a slit over the whole metal layer and forming a several area | region. Can be reduced. As a result, the charge amount of the corresponding metal layer can be kept small, and the occurrence of electrostatic breakdown can be prevented.

  Hereinafter, a liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

  FIG. 2 is a partially enlarged schematic view of the liquid crystal display panel according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The configuration of the present invention corresponding to the frame portion 42 and the metal layer 45 shown in the region A of FIG. It is a figure shown. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention, and is a schematic view in which the liquid crystal display panel is partially enlarged.

  In FIG. 2, a peripheral portion (frame portion) 51 is provided at the peripheral edge of the display surface 50, and a terminal portion 53 for connecting a wiring such as a gate wiring and a source wiring is provided at the end of the peripheral portion 51. These wirings are drawn out by a lead wire, which is typically indicated by the reference numeral 57 at the peripheral portion 51, and the lead wire 57 is gathered by the concentrating portion 52 and connected to the terminal portion 53. To a driver circuit (not shown) for driving each wiring.

  In general, the spacing between the terminals of the terminal portion 53 is close to the spacing between the matrix wirings such as the gate wiring and the source wiring on the display surface, and each of the terminals connected from the display surface 50 to the terminal portion 53 is dense. The lead wires of the wiring are concentrated toward the terminal portion 53 as schematically shown in FIG. That is, each wiring such as a gate wiring and a source wiring that are wired at a predetermined pitch on the display surface 50 is concentrated in a fan shape in the concentrating portion 52 with the terminal portion 53 as a key of the fan.

  For this reason, as described above, a portion 54 (triangular portion) where no lead wire is formed is formed between the adjacent terminal portions 53. If there is a portion where no wiring is formed in this way, it becomes difficult to maintain a constant distance between the substrates when the TFT substrate and the CF substrate are bonded via a spacer. A dummy (not electrically connected anywhere) metal layer 55 is provided to keep the distance between the substrates uniform.

  The liquid crystal display panel according to the present invention is characterized in that the dummy metal layer 55 is divided into a plurality of regions by a plurality of slits 56 as shown in FIG. As described above, when the dummy metal layer 55 is divided into a plurality of regions, the area of the divided dummy metal layer 55 is extremely smaller than the integrally formed dummy metal layer 45 shown in FIG. It becomes.

  For this reason, the amount of charge at the time of frictional charging or peeling charging can be kept small, and even if frictional charging or peeling charging occurs between the exposure stage and the liquid crystal display panel in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel, the metal layer It is difficult for sparks to occur between the wiring 55 and adjacent wiring such as a gate wiring, and the occurrence of electrostatic breakdown can be prevented.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram showing another embodiment of the liquid crystal display panel according to Example 2 of the present invention, and is a schematic diagram in which the liquid crystal display panel is partially enlarged as in FIG. In order to facilitate understanding, the same reference numerals in FIG. 3 denote the same parts as in FIG. 2, and a description thereof will be omitted because it is redundant.

  FIG. 3 shows a plurality of metal layers in which a dummy metal layer formed in a region 54 where no wiring exists does not have a slit over the entire metal layer 55, and a slit 56 is provided only in a portion adjacent to the wiring of the concentrating portion 52. It is divided into 55 areas. Accordingly, a metal layer 55 ′ having a relatively large area that is not divided by the slit 56 exists in the central portion of the region 54 where no wiring exists.

  Even in such a configuration, the portion of the metal layer 55 adjacent to the wiring of the concentrator 52 is divided into small areas, and the amount of triboelectric charging or peeling charging can be kept small. Since the generation condition of the spark between the adjacent wiring differs depending on the charge amount and the distance, the generation of the spark between the metal layer 55 adjacent to the wiring is suppressed and the metal having a relatively large central area is suppressed. Sparks between the layers 55 'are less likely to occur due to the increased distance. As a result, the occurrence of electrostatic breakdown can be prevented as in the configuration of FIG.

It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the liquid crystal display panel which formed the dummy metal layer in the frame part. It is the schematic diagram which expanded and showed partially the structure of the liquid crystal display panel which concerns on Example 1 of this invention. It is the schematic diagram which expanded and showed partially the structure of the liquid crystal display panel which concerns on Example 2 of this invention. It is a figure which shows the equivalent circuit of the conventional common active matrix type liquid crystal display panel. It is a schematic cross-sectional view which shows the structure of the liquid crystal display device using the liquid crystal display panel of FIG. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a circuit configuration of a conventional liquid crystal display panel in which measures are taken to prevent electrostatic breakdown.

Explanation of symbols

50 ... Display surface 51 ... Peripheral part (frame part)
52 ... Concentration part 53 ... Terminal part 54 ... Area 55 where wiring is not formed ... Dummy metal layer 57 ... Lead-out line

Claims (2)

A matrix-like wiring for driving the display element, and a terminal portion provided at a peripheral portion of the display surface of the liquid crystal display panel for connecting the wiring to a driver element or a connector,
In the liquid crystal display panel in which the wiring is drawn out by a lead-out line at the peripheral portion, the lead-out line is gathered at a concentrating portion and connected to a terminal portion, and a dummy metal layer is provided in a region existing between the concentrating portions ,
A liquid crystal display panel, wherein a plurality of slits are provided in the metal layer, and a plurality of metal layer regions separated by the slits are formed.   The liquid crystal display panel according to claim 1, wherein the slit is provided in a portion close to a lead line to be collected in the concentrating portion.

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