JP2005181514A - Liquid crystal device, method for manufacturing liquid crystal device, electronic appliance - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal device which is high in the latitude of design, excellent in manufacturing efficiency, can be downsized by narrowing its frame width, has a high reliability of continuity and is provided with a sealing material excellent in the sealing property of a liquid crystal. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal device is constructed by sealing the liquid crystal 50 in a space surrounded by a pair of substrates 110, 120 and the sealing material 52. The sealing material 52 is constructed in a closed ring shape, and at the same time, wiring 207 to supply a signal to an electrode 23 arranged on the upper substrate 120 is arranged on the lower substrate 110, and further conductive particles 206 to electrically connect the electrode 23 on the upper substrate 120 to the wiring 207 on the lower substrate 110 between the pair of substrates are contained in the sealing material 52. The liquid crystal device is characterized by having the sealing material 52 constructed with a particle containing region 52b containing the conductive particles 206 and a no-particle containing region 52b containing no conductive particles, which are aligned in parallel to each other in the width direction of the sealing material 52. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, a manufacturing method thereof, and an electronic apparatus.

  In recent years, liquid crystal display panels have been widely used as means for displaying various types of information in portable electronic devices such as notebook computers, mobile phones, and watches. In particular, in portable electronic devices and the like, a liquid crystal display panel is accommodated in a limited space inside the housing, and in addition to the demand for increasing the amount of information that can be displayed, the display area is made as wide as possible, and the part outside the display area In the present specification, a configuration is desired in which the portion is narrowed (this portion is referred to as a non-display area or a frame).

  In this type of liquid crystal display device, generally, liquid crystal is sealed between two substrates, electrodes are formed on opposite surfaces of each substrate, and a method of driving the liquid crystal from the outside for each pixel is adopted. ing. In order to drive the liquid crystal using the electrodes arranged opposite to each other, for example, a non-display area on each substrate is projected to the outside of the substrates facing each other, and a signal is supplied to the electrode of each substrate in that area. A configuration has been employed in which each of the driving ICs is mounted, and the terminals of the driving ICs and the electrodes are routed and electrically connected using wiring. However, this configuration has a problem in that the frame becomes large because an area (non-display area) for mounting the driving IC is required for each substrate. In addition, since either the left side or the right side of the liquid crystal display panel, and either the upper side or the lower side of the liquid crystal display panel are greatly extended to one side, that is, an asymmetrical shape, the liquid crystal display panel is accommodated in a casing of a portable electronic device, for example. In some cases, the outer frame portion of the casing cannot be accommodated unless it is enlarged, or the outer frame portion of the casing becomes asymmetrical, so that the liquid crystal display unit cannot be arranged at the center of the electronic device.

Therefore, for the purpose of narrowing the frame of the liquid crystal display panel, symmetrizing the frame, reducing the number of driving ICs used, etc., a large number of all the electrodes on the two substrates are provided in the non-display area on one substrate. There has been proposed a system in which a single driving IC connected to the routing wiring is connected to the driving wiring and connected to the routing wiring. For example, see Patent Document 1.
JP 2003-036040 A

  In the case of a liquid crystal display device as disclosed in Patent Document 1, conductive particles are mixed in a sealing material to conduct vertical conduction, but the sealing material is provided with a liquid crystal inlet, It is configured by sealing with a sealing material. In such a configuration, it is often difficult to perform vertical conduction in the formation region of the liquid crystal injection port, which is a factor in reducing the degree of freedom in designing the formation position of the vertical conduction.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and has a high degree of freedom in design, good manufacturing efficiency, can be downsized by narrowing the frame, and has high conduction reliability. It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal device including a sealing material excellent in liquid crystal sealing performance, a method for manufacturing the same, and an electronic device using the liquid crystal device.

  In order to achieve the above object, a liquid crystal device according to the present invention includes a pair of substrates each having an electrode disposed opposite to each other with a sealant interposed therebetween, and a liquid crystal in a space surrounded by the pair of substrates and the sealant Is a liquid crystal device in which the sealing material is closed and is provided on the second substrate on the first substrate of the pair of substrates. Wiring for supplying a signal to the electrode is provided, and a conductive member that electrically connects the electrode on the second substrate and the wiring on the first substrate between the pair of substrates is the sealing material. The conductive material containing region including the conductive member and the conductive member non-containing region not including the conductive member are juxtaposed in the width direction of the seal material. And

  According to such a liquid crystal device, since the conductive material for electrically connecting the electrodes and wirings on each substrate is contained in the sealing material, the liquid crystal device has a narrow frame, a symmetrized frame, and a driving IC. It is possible to reduce the number of uses. On the other hand, since the sealing material is formed in a closed annular form, when manufacturing the liquid crystal device, it is possible to adopt a technique in which the liquid crystal is disposed inside the formed sealing material and then bonded. Material loss is reduced and manufacturing time can be shortened, which contributes to cost reduction. Further, in the case of the present invention, when configured with a sealing material including a liquid crystal injection port as in the prior art, it is difficult to dispose a conductive member at the position where the liquid crystal injection port is disposed. It becomes possible to provide a conductive member at an arbitrary position of the sealing material, and the design range of the liquid crystal device is widened. Further, the seal material includes a region containing the conductive member (conductive member-containing seal material) and a region not containing the conductive member (conductive member-free seal material) in parallel with the width direction of the seal material. Therefore, it is possible to secure a uniform substrate interval as well as strengthen the sealing material. As the conductive member, for example, conductive particles such as anisotropic conductive particles can be used. That is, the sealing material includes a conductive particle-containing region (also referred to as a particle-containing region or a particle-containing sealing material) and a conductive particle-free region (also referred to as a particle-free region or a particle-free sealing material). It may be formed in parallel in the width direction.

  In the present invention, the conductive member-containing region (particle-containing region) may be formed outside the conductive member-free region (particle-free region). In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the sealing material is formed in a closed annular structure, that is, the sealing material having no liquid crystal inlet is provided. In this case, in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device, it is necessary to employ a process in which liquid crystal is dropped on a substrate on which a sealing material is formed and then the other substrate is bonded. Therefore, if the amount of liquid crystal dripping before bonding is large, the sealing material will be filled, and conversely if the amount of liquid crystal dripping is small, the sealing material will move to the inside of the panel. However, by forming the conductive member non-containing region (particle-free sealing material) on the inside as described above, when the amount of liquid crystal is large, the void entering the sealing material is difficult to reach the conductive member containing region, which is high. The conduction reliability can be secured. On the other hand, when the amount of liquid crystal is small, the inner conductive member-free region (particle-free sealing material) plays the role of a bank, and the movement of the sealing material can be suppressed.

  When the wiring is routed from the inside of the sealing material, the conductive member-containing region (particle-containing region) is formed inside the conductive member-free region (particle-free region). It can be. Thus, when wiring is routed to the sealing material from the inside of the sealing material, the conductive member-containing region (particle-containing sealing material) is disposed inside the conductive member-free region (particle-free sealing material). Thus, more conductive particles can be disposed on the wiring, and the conduction reliability can be further improved.

  The conductive member non-contained region (particle non-contained region) may occupy 20% to 50% of the sealing material. When the conductive member-free region (particle-free region) is less than 20% of the entire sealing material, the effect of reinforcing the sealing material may not be sufficiently exhibited. There is a fear.

  The wiring is mounted on a wiring for supplying the signal to the electrode from an external input terminal provided in a projecting region where the first substrate projects from the second substrate, or mounted on the projecting region. It can be a wiring for supplying the signal from the semiconductor element to the electrode. According to this configuration, an external connection component such as a flexible printed circuit (abbreviated as FPC) can be connected to the overhang region of the liquid crystal device, and the configuration relating to signal supply can be simplified. it can.

  As a method of a liquid crystal device to which the present invention can be applied, the electrodes on the first substrate are a plurality of electrodes formed in stripes, and the electrodes on the second substrate are on the first substrate. A passive matrix liquid crystal device may be configured in which a plurality of electrodes are formed in a stripe shape extending in a direction intersecting with the electrodes.

  Alternatively, the electrodes on the first substrate are a plurality of pixel electrodes electrically connected to the signal lines on the first substrate through switching elements, and the electrodes on the second substrate are striped. The active matrix type liquid crystal device using a thin film diode as the switching element may be formed.

  In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules may be formed on the electrodes of the substrates except for the formation region of the sealing material. By adopting a configuration in which the alignment film is not formed in the sealing material formation region in this way, it is possible to avoid problems such as that the conduction between the substrates is insulated by the alignment film.

  Next, in order to solve the above-described problem, in the method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention, a pair of substrates each having an electrode are arranged to face each other via a sealing material configured in a closed ring shape, A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which liquid crystal is sealed in a space surrounded by a pair of substrates and the sealing material, the seal including a conductive member (conductive particles) on one of the pair of substrates. Including a step of forming the material in a closed ring shape, a step of disposing a liquid crystal inside the formed sealing material, and a step of bonding the other substrate to the one substrate via the sealing material, The sealing material forming step includes a step of forming a particle-containing sealing material including the conductive member (conductive particles) in parallel with the width direction of the sealing material, and a particle-free seal not including the conductive member (conductive particles). Forming a material. And wherein the door.

  By such a manufacturing method, the above-described liquid crystal device of the present invention can be preferably manufactured. In particular, in the manufacturing method of the present invention, since the sealing material is formed in a closed annular structure that does not include the liquid crystal injection port, the liquid crystal can be disposed on one substrate before the substrates are bonded together. Compared with the injection method, liquid crystal loss can be reduced, and the manufacturing process is simplified. In the bonding step, it is possible to ensure good conduction between the substrates by performing bonding while elastically deforming the conductive member (conductive particles).

  Note that the conductive member-containing sealing material (particle-containing sealing material) and the conductive member-free sealing material (particle-free sealing material) may be formed in the same process, or any of them is formed first in separate processes. It is good as a thing. In addition, as the material used for the sealing material, it is possible to adopt either a photo-curing resin, a thermosetting resin, or a curable resin having both properties. These resins may be used, or different resins may be used.

  Next, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid crystal device according to the present invention. According to this configuration, by providing a small liquid crystal device by narrowing the frame, an electronic device having a wide display area and excellent portability can be realized although the entire device is small.

  An embodiment of the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In each drawing used in the following description, the scale is different for each layer and each member so that each layer and each member can be recognized on the drawing.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a schematic plan view of each component viewed from the counter substrate side of the liquid crystal display device of the present embodiment, and FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view thereof. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, in the liquid crystal display device 100 of this embodiment, a lower substrate 110 and an upper substrate 120 that form a pair are bonded together by an ultraviolet curable sealing material 52, and the partitioning is performed by the sealing material 52. The liquid crystal 50 is sealed and held in the region. The sealing material 52 is formed in an annular shape (frame shape) closed within the substrate surface, and does not include a liquid crystal injection port. That is, the sealing material for sealing the liquid crystal injection port is not provided, and the entire ring is continuously formed of the same material.

  Of the rectangular annular sealing material 52, the portions along the right side and the left side (two opposite sides) of the lower substrate 110 shown in FIG. 1 are regions that are electrically connected between the lower substrate 110 and the upper substrate 120. 52b and a region 52a that is not electrically conductive. Here, the electrically conductive region 52b is composed of a sealing material containing conductive particles 206, while the non-electrically conductive region 52a is composed of a sealing material containing no conductive particles.

  Further, portions of the sealing material 52 along the upper side and the lower side of the lower substrate 110 shown in FIG. 1 are regions 52a in which the upper and lower substrates are not electrically connected to each other, and the sealing material does not include conductive particles. It is configured. In this case, the conductive particles 206 are composed of anisotropic conductive particles, and the sealing material for the region 52b including the conductive particles 206 is a conductive sealing material (hereinafter referred to as a vertical conductive portion) in addition to liquid crystal sealing. , Which is also referred to as a conductive sealing material 52b), and the sealing material in the region 52a not including conductive particles is a non-conductive sealing material (hereinafter referred to as a non-conductive sealing material) for liquid crystal sealing and / or for regulating the substrate interval. 52a). The inner non-conductive sealing material 52a and the outer conductive sealing material 52b are not necessarily formed in contact with each other, and a gap may be formed between them.

  A plurality of pixel electrodes 9 are formed in a matrix on the inner surface side of the lower substrate 110, and a striped stripe electrode 23 is formed on the inner surface side of the upper substrate 120. Further, alignment films 20 and 22 (see FIG. 4) are formed. The pixel electrode 9 is provided with a TFD (thin film diode) as a switching element.

  Further, in this embodiment, the outer dimension of the lower substrate 110 is larger than that of the upper substrate 120, and the three sides (the upper side, the right side, and the left side in FIG. 1) of the upper substrate 120 and the lower substrate 110 are substantially edges (of the substrate). The end surfaces are aligned, but the peripheral portion of the lower substrate 110 is arranged so as to protrude from the remaining one side (the lower side in FIG. 1) of the upper substrate 120, thereby forming an extended region 90. The overhang region 90 includes a first drive IC 201 for driving the pixel electrode 9 formed on the lower substrate 110 side, and a second drive IC 202 for driving the stripe electrode 23 formed on the upper substrate 120 side. Has been implemented. Each drive IC 201, 202 is provided with an external connection terminal (not shown) so that a display control signal or the like can be received from an external device different from the liquid crystal display device 100.

  The first driving IC 201 and the second driving 202 are both disposed on the lower substrate 110 and are formed in the same overhanging region 90 of the rectangular lower substrate 110. The first driving IC 201 is an IC for transmitting a signal to the TFD and eventually the pixel electrode 9 via a signal line (not shown) formed on the lower substrate 110 side, and a wiring formed on the lower substrate 110. A signal is supplied via 205. Since the second driving IC 202 is an IC for transmitting a signal to the stripe electrode 23 formed on the upper substrate 120 while being formed on the lower substrate 110, the second driving IC 202 is routed through the routing wiring 207 formed on the lower substrate 110. Further, a signal is supplied to the stripe electrode 23 through the conductive particles 206 formed on the sealing material 52. Here, the routing wiring 207 is connected to the conductive particles 206 from the annular inner side of the sealing material 52 across the lower side portion of the sealing material 52 shown in FIG.

  In the liquid crystal display device 100, depending on the type of the liquid crystal 50 to be used, that is, depending on the operation mode such as TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode, and normally white mode / normally black mode. A retardation plate, a polarizing plate and the like are arranged in a predetermined direction, but are not shown here. Further, when the liquid crystal display device 100 is configured for color display, for example, red (R), green (G), and blue (B) are formed on the upper substrate 120 in regions facing the pixel electrodes 9 of the lower substrate 110. The color filter is formed together with a protective film.

  In the image display region of the liquid crystal display device 100 having such a configuration, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of pixels 15 are configured in a matrix. As shown in FIG. 3, the liquid crystal display device 100 includes a first driving IC 201 and a second driving IC 202, and a plurality of scanning lines 14 and a plurality of data lines 13 intersecting with the scanning lines 14 are provided. The data line 13 supplies the signal from the first driving IC 201, and the scanning line 14 supplies the signal from the second driving IC 202 to the pixel 15. In each pixel 15, the TFD element 4 and the liquid crystal display element 16 (liquid crystal layer) are connected in series between the data line 13 and the scanning line 14. In FIG. 3, the TFD element 4 is connected to the data line 13 side and the liquid crystal display element 16 is connected to the scanning line 14 side. On the contrary, the TFD element 4 is connected to the scanning line 14 side and the liquid crystal display element 16 is connected to the scanning line 14 side. The display element 16 may be provided on the data line 13 side.

  With the circuit configuration as described above, the liquid crystal display element 16 is driven and controlled based on the switching characteristics of the TFD element 4, and light and dark are displayed for each pixel 15 based on the driving of the liquid crystal display element 16. Image display is performed in 100 display areas.

  As described above, in the liquid crystal display device 100 according to the present embodiment, the closed rectangular sealing material 52 includes the region 52b containing the conductive particles 206 in parallel with the width direction thereof, and does not contain the conductive particles. It is comprised from the area | region 52a. In the particle-containing region 52b, the upper substrate 110 and the lower substrate 120 are electrically connected via the conductive particles 206.

  Here, the aspect of vertical conduction will be described in detail. FIG. 4 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the region where the sealing material 52 of the liquid crystal display device 100 is formed. The pair of substrates 110 and 120 are bonded together via the sealing material 52 and the inner surface side ( A pixel electrode 9 and a stripe electrode 23 are formed on the liquid crystal layer side, and alignment films 20 and 22 are formed on the inner surface thereof. Note that one or both ends of the stripe electrode 23 formed on the upper substrate 120 extend into the sealant 52 and are electrically connected to the conductive particles 206 inside the sealant 52. ing.

  Further, on the lower substrate 110 side, a lead wiring 207 connected to the above-described second drive IC 202 (see FIG. 1) is formed, and one end of the lead wiring 207 bites into the seal material 52. It is arranged by. As shown in FIG. 1, the lead wiring 207 is formed by bending from the second driving IC 202 mounted in the overhanging region 90 on the lower side of the lower substrate 110 so as to extend in the left and right side directions of the lower substrate 110. The lower region of the lower substrate 110 straddles the sealing material 52, extends in the vertical direction along the left and right sides of the lower substrate 110, and connects to a predetermined stripe electrode 23. It is electrically connected to the inside of the sealing material 52 (specifically, the conductive sealing material 52b) and is electrically connected to the conductive particles 206.

  Here, the conductive particles 206 are configured using anisotropic conductive particles, and are arranged in an elastically deformed shape so as to ensure connection in the vertical direction. As the particles 206, it is preferable to use particles having a diameter approximately 0.1 μm to 1.0 μm larger than the diameter of a spacer (not shown) that defines the thickness of the liquid crystal layer before bonding the substrates. It is good to use it compressed about 1% -10%. The alignment films 20 and 22 formed on the respective substrates 110 and 120 are formed except for the region where the sealing material 52 is formed, and problems such as insulation between the substrates being avoided by the alignment film 22 are avoided. .

  According to the liquid crystal display device 100 configured as described above, in order to connect the stripe electrode 23 disposed on the upper substrate 120 and the second driving IC 202 disposed on the lower substrate 110, the lower substrate 110 side is connected. The lead wire 207 is disposed, and the conductive particles 206 are disposed inside the conductive sealing material 52 b of the sealing material 52. Since the conductive particles 206 for electrically connecting the upper and lower substrates are provided on the sealing material 52 in this way, the liquid crystal display device 100 has a narrow frame, a symmetrical frame, and the number of driving ICs used. Can be reduced.

  On the other hand, since the sealing material 52 is configured in a closed annular shape, a method is employed in which the liquid crystal display device 100 is bonded after the liquid crystal is disposed inside the formed sealing material 52 when the liquid crystal display device 100 is manufactured. In production, the loss of the liquid crystal material is reduced, and the manufacturing time can be shortened, which can contribute to cost reduction. Further, when the sealing material includes a liquid crystal injection port as in the prior art, it is difficult to dispose the conductive particles 206 at the position where the liquid crystal injection port is disposed. As a result, the conductive particles 206 can be disposed at any location of the sealing material 52 having a closed rectangular shape (specifically, the conductive sealing material 52b), and the design range of the liquid crystal display device 100 can be widened. Become. That is, in the configuration having a liquid crystal injection port as in the prior art, it may be difficult to dispose the drive IC on the injection port side, but a closed rectangular sealing material that does not include the injection port is used. Thus, the driving ICs 201 and 202 can be arranged at arbitrary locations on the substrate.

  Furthermore, in the liquid crystal display device 100 of the present embodiment, the region 52b containing the conductive particles 206 (conductive sealing material 52b) is formed outside the region 52a not containing the conductive particles. On the other hand, the liquid crystal display device 100 has a configuration in which the sealing material 52 is formed in a closed ring shape, that is, does not have a liquid crystal injection port. Therefore, in the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal display device 100, it is necessary to employ a process in which liquid crystal is dropped onto a substrate on which a sealing material is formed and then the other substrate is bonded. Here, if the liquid crystal dripping amount before bonding is large, the sealing material 52 gets voided at the time of bonding, and conversely if the liquid crystal dropping amount is small, the sealing material 52 moves to the inside of the panel at the time of bonding. . However, in this embodiment, by forming the non-conductive sealing material 52a inside the conductive sealing material 52b, even when the amount of liquid crystal is large, the void that can enter the sealing material 52 does not easily reach the conductive sealing material 52b. Therefore, high conduction reliability can be ensured. On the other hand, even when the amount of liquid crystal is small, the inner non-conductive sealing material 52a serves as a bank, and the movement of the sealing material 52 can be suppressed.

  In addition, as an abundance ratio of the conductive sealing material 52b and the non-conductive sealing material 52a, for example, the non-conductive sealing material 52a can occupy 20% to 50% of the sealing material 52. Specifically, FIG. In the width direction of the sealing material 52 shown, it is preferable that the width ratio (x: y) of the sealing materials 52a and 52b is about 1: 4 to 1: 1.

  In the above embodiment, an active matrix type liquid crystal display device using TFD as a switching element is shown. However, a passive matrix type liquid crystal display device in which stripe electrodes intersecting each other are arranged on upper and lower substrates is also possible. good. Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the non-conductive sealing material 52a may contain a spacer 51 for regulating the interval (cell gap) between the upper and lower substrates.

  Furthermore, in this embodiment, the conductive material is included in the sealing material 52 in order to establish electrical continuity between the lower substrate 110 and the upper substrate 120. For example, a columnar member may be used as long as it is a conductive member that can secure the conductivity.

  Next, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal display device 100 will be described. The outline is a drawing process for drawing a sealing material on at least one substrate, a precuring process for the drawn sealing material, and a liquid crystal arrangement process for arranging liquid crystal in a region surrounded by the sealing material on the substrate, It includes a bonding step of bonding the substrates so as to be integrated with each other with a sealing material, and a sealing material curing step of curing the sealing material by ultraviolet irradiation. Before the sealing material drawing step, an alignment mark is formed so that the sealing material or liquid crystal can be drawn and applied at a predetermined position, and an alignment step is performed for positioning the substrate according to the alignment mark. Here, description of the alignment step is omitted.

  First, prior to the drawing process of the sealing material, the routing wiring 207, the TFT element 4, the pixel electrode 9, the alignment film 20 and the like are formed on the lower substrate 110, while the stripe electrode 23 and the alignment film are formed on the upper substrate 120. 22 etc. are formed. Note that the alignment films 20 and 22 are not disposed in a region for drawing a sealing material to be described later (seal material drawing scheduled region). For example, after a polyimide film is formed by spin coating, the alignment films 20 and 22 are dried via a mask. What is necessary is just to selectively remove the seal material drawing scheduled area by etching or the like.

  Thereafter, in this embodiment, a sealing material is drawn on the lower substrate 110. This drawing step includes two processes, that is, a step of drawing a sealing material (non-conductive sealing material 52a) not including conductive particles 206, and a sealing material (conductive sealing material 52b) including conductive particles 206. Drawing process. Here, after drawing the inner non-conductive sealing material 52a, the outer conductive sealing material 52b is drawn.

  In the drawing process of the inner non-conductive sealing material 52a, a coating material containing a spacer if necessary for the resin material constituting the sealing material does not include a liquid crystal injection port by a dispensing method, a printing method, an inkjet method, or the like. Draw in a closed ring form. On the other hand, in the drawing process of the outer conductive sealing material 52b, the coating material containing the conductive particles 206 in the resin material constituting the sealing material does not include a liquid crystal injection port by a dispensing method, a printing method, an inkjet method, or the like. Draw in a closed ring form. The resin material is an epoxy or acrylic resin having viscosity, and an ultraviolet curable and / or thermosetting resin is used. The conductive sealing material 52b is disposed so as to overlap the end portion of the above-described lead wiring 207.

  After drawing the sealing material, after a lapse of about 10 seconds to 120 seconds, a preliminary curing step of the sealing material is performed. In the preliminary curing step, various heating means such as a hot plate are used, for example, the sealing material is heated at a temperature of 80 ° C. to 120 ° C. for 15 seconds to 60 seconds. Although the sealing material can be cured by ultraviolet irradiation, in the preliminary curing process, it is necessary to cure the sealing material moderately while maintaining elasticity and adhesiveness, and it is better to cure the sealing material by heating. It is preferable to perform heating in the preliminary curing step because fine adjustment to the degree of curing of the sealing material is effective.

  Next, a liquid crystal arrangement step is performed. As the liquid crystal material, a TN type or STN type can be used. An appropriate amount of such a liquid crystal material is applied to a region surrounded by a sealing material on the substrate 110 by using a known technique such as an inkjet method.

After the liquid crystal arranging step, the lower substrate 110 and the upper substrate 120 are bonded together through the formed sealing material. The pressure applied at the time of bonding is, for example, about 10 ⁵ Pa. As a result, the anisotropic conductive particles contained in the sealing material described above are crushed while being slightly elastically deformed between the substrates, so that the stripe electrode 23 and the routing wiring 207 are surely brought into contact with each other. Note that here, the bonding is performed under non-heating conditions.

After bonding the substrates, a sealing material curing step is performed. In this sealing material curing step, a method using various devices such as a UV lamp, a heating device, and a visible light irradiation device can be used. In this embodiment, the sealing material is cured by ultraviolet irradiation using a UV lamp. Let UV irradiation is performed, for example, at 2000mJ ^/ cm ² ~10000mJ ^/ cm 2 approximately irradiation conditions.

The liquid crystal display device 100 described above can be manufactured through the above steps.
According to such a method, the above-described liquid crystal display device 100 of the present embodiment can be suitably manufactured. In particular, in the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the sealing material is formed in a closed annular structure that does not include the liquid crystal inlet, and the liquid crystal is disposed inside the sealing material on the substrate before the substrates are bonded together. Compared to a conventional method in which a sealing material having a liquid crystal injection port is formed and liquid crystal is injected after the substrates are bonded together, the loss of liquid crystal can be reduced, and the manufacturing process is simplified.

  Note that, in the bonding step, the conductive particles 206 are bonded while being elastically deformed. Therefore, it is possible to ensure good conduction between the upper and lower sides in the manufactured liquid crystal display device.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, different embodiments of the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view of each component viewed from the counter substrate side of the liquid crystal display device 200 according to the second embodiment. FIG. 7 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of the sealing material in an enlarged manner. . In the liquid crystal display device 200 of the second embodiment, the configuration of the sealing material 52 is mainly different from that of the first embodiment. Therefore, unless otherwise specified, the other configurations are the same as those of the first embodiment. The description is omitted because it is substantially the same.

  As shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, in the liquid crystal display device 200 of the present embodiment, a lower substrate 110 and an upper substrate 120 that form a pair are bonded together by an ultraviolet curable sealing material 52, and the partitioning is performed by the sealing material 52. The liquid crystal 50 is sealed and held in the region. The sealing material 52 is formed in an annular shape (frame shape) closed in the substrate surface, and does not include a liquid crystal injection port. That is, the sealing material for sealing the liquid crystal injection port is not provided, and the entire ring is continuously formed of the same material.

  Of the rectangular annular sealing material 52, the portions along the right side and the left side (two opposing sides) of the lower substrate 110 shown in FIG. 6 are regions that are electrically connected between the lower substrate 110 and the upper substrate 120. 52b and a region 52a that is not electrically conductive. Here, the electrically conductive region 52b is formed on the outer side relatively and is formed of the sealing material including the conductive particles 206, while the non-electrically conductive region 52b is formed on the relatively inner side. The seal material does not contain conductive particles.

  Further, in the sealing material 52, the upper side and the lower side of the lower substrate 110 shown in FIG. 6 are regions 52a where the upper and lower substrates are not electrically connected, and the sealing material does not include conductive particles. Configured. In this case, the conductive particles 206 are composed of anisotropic conductive particles, and the sealing material for the region 52b including the conductive particles 206 is a conductive sealing material (hereinafter referred to as a vertical conductive portion) in addition to liquid crystal sealing. , Which is also referred to as a conductive sealing material 52b), and the sealing material in the region 52a not including conductive particles is a non-conductive sealing material (hereinafter referred to as a non-conductive sealing material) for liquid crystal sealing and / or for regulating the substrate interval. 52a). The outer non-conductive sealing material 52a and the inner conductive sealing material 52b are not necessarily formed in contact with each other, and a gap may be formed between them.

  FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic sectional view showing the vicinity of the region where the sealing material 52 of the liquid crystal display device 200 is formed. The pair of substrates 110 and 120 are bonded together via the sealing material 52 and the inner surface side ( A pixel electrode 9 and a stripe electrode 23 are formed on the liquid crystal layer side, and alignment films 20 and 22 are formed on the inner surface thereof. Note that one or both ends of the stripe electrode 23 formed on the upper substrate 120 extend into the sealant 52 and are electrically connected to the conductive particles 206 inside the sealant 52. ing.

  Further, on the lower substrate 110 side, a routing wiring 207 connected to the second drive IC 202 (see FIG. 6) similar to the first embodiment is formed, and one end of the routing wiring 207 is sealed. It arrange | positions in the form which bites into the inside of the material 52. FIG. The lead wiring 207 extends in the vertical direction along the left and right sides of the lower substrate 110 in the inner region of the sealing material 52 and is connected to a predetermined stripe electrode 23 at the position where the sealing material 52 (specifically, the conductive sealing material 52b) is connected. It is electrically connected to the inside and electrically connected to the conductive particles 206. As shown in FIG. 6, the lead wiring 207 is formed by bending from the second driving IC 202 mounted in the overhanging region 90 on the lower side of the lower substrate 110 so as to extend in the left and right side directions of the lower substrate 110. The lower region of the lower substrate 110 straddles the sealing material 52, extends in the vertical direction along the left and right sides of the lower substrate 110, and connects to a predetermined stripe electrode 23. Of the sealing material 52, the conductive material is electrically connected to the inside of a conductive sealing material 52 b formed inside, and is electrically connected to the conductive particles 206.

  Also in the liquid crystal display device 200 of the second embodiment configured as described above, the stripe electrode 23 disposed on the upper substrate 120 and the second driving IC 202 disposed on the lower substrate 110 are connected. In addition, a routing wiring 207 is disposed on the lower substrate 110 side, and conductive particles 206 are disposed inside the conductive sealing material 52 b of the sealing material 52. Since the conductive particles 206 for electrically connecting the upper and lower substrates are provided on the sealing material 52 in this way, the liquid crystal display device 200 has a narrow frame, a symmetric frame, and the number of driving ICs used. Can be reduced.

  On the other hand, since the sealing material 52 is configured in a closed annular shape, a method is employed in which the liquid crystal display device 200 is bonded after the liquid crystal is disposed inside the formed sealing material 52 when the liquid crystal display device 200 is manufactured. In production, the loss of the liquid crystal material is reduced, and the manufacturing time can be shortened, which can contribute to cost reduction. Further, when the sealing material includes a liquid crystal injection port as in the prior art, it is difficult to dispose the conductive particles 206 at the position where the liquid crystal injection port is disposed. As a result, the conductive particles 206 can be disposed at any location of the sealing material 52 having a closed rectangular shape (specifically, the conductive sealing material 52b), and the design range of the liquid crystal display device 200 is widened. Become. That is, in the configuration having a liquid crystal injection port as in the prior art, it may be difficult to dispose the drive IC on the injection port side, but a closed rectangular sealing material that does not include the injection port is used. Thus, the driving ICs 201 and 202 can be arranged at arbitrary locations on the substrate.

  Further, in the liquid crystal display device 200 of the present embodiment, the region 52b (conductive sealing material 52b) containing the conductive particles 206 is formed inside the region 52a (non-conductive sealing material 52a) containing no conductive particles. ing. When the routing wiring 207 is routed from the inside of the sealing material 52 as in the present embodiment, the conductive sealing material 52b is disposed inside the non-conductive sealing material 52a, so that the lower substrate 110 is drawn. More conductive particles 206 can be disposed on the rotating wiring 207, and the conduction reliability can be further improved. That is, when the conductive sealing material 52b is disposed on the outside, there is a possibility that the end of the routing wiring 207 is disposed in the conductive sealing material 52b, and there are conductive particles 206 that do not contact the routing wiring 207. However, by disposing the conductive sealing material 52b on the inner side as in the present embodiment, it is possible to arrange the routing wiring 207 so as to penetrate the conductive sealing material 52b. This makes it possible to reliably bring the routing wiring 207 into contact with the conductive particles 206.

  The manufacturing method of the liquid crystal display device 200 is substantially the same as that of the first embodiment. In the sealing material drawing process, after drawing the sealing material containing the conductive particles 206 on the inside, the outside is electrically connected. What is necessary is just to draw the sealing material which does not contain a property particle.

Next, specific examples of the electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal display device according to the above embodiment of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing an example of a mobile phone. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 500 denotes a mobile phone body, and reference numeral 501 denotes a display unit using the liquid crystal display device. Since such an electronic device includes the display portion using the liquid crystal display device of the above embodiment, it is possible to form a large display portion in a relatively small space, and the driving reliability is high. It becomes an electronic device.

  The preferred embodiment according to the present invention has been described above, but it goes without saying that the present invention is not limited to this embodiment, and can be appropriately changed to such an extent that the gist of the present invention is not impaired. For example, in the present embodiment, after the sealing material is drawn, a preliminary curing step of the sealing material is provided, but the present invention may not include this preliminary curing step. In the liquid crystal arranging step, the liquid crystal is arranged on the lower substrate side, but may be arranged on the upper substrate side.

1 is a schematic plan view illustrating a configuration of a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment. The cross-sectional schematic diagram which showed the cross-sectional structure of the liquid crystal display device of FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an equivalent circuit of the liquid crystal display device of FIG. 1. FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a sealing material of the liquid crystal display device of FIG. 1. The cross-sectional schematic diagram which expands and shows the structural example of the sealing material containing a spacer. The plane schematic diagram which showed the structure of the liquid crystal display device which concerns on 2nd Embodiment. FIG. 7 is an enlarged schematic cross-sectional view showing the vicinity of a sealing material of the liquid crystal display device of FIG. 6. FIG. 11 is a perspective view illustrating an embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 9 ... Pixel electrode, 20, 22 ... Orientation film | membrane, 23 ... Stripe electrode, 52 ... Sealing material, 52a ... Particle-free area | region (non-conductive sealing material), 52b ... Particle-containing area | region (conductive sealing material), 100, 200 ... Liquid crystal display device, 110 ... lower substrate, 120 ... upper substrate, 206 ... conductive particles (conductive particles), 207 ... routing wiring

Claims (11)

A liquid crystal device in which a pair of substrates each having an electrode are disposed to face each other with a sealant interposed therebetween, and liquid crystal is sealed in a space surrounded by the pair of substrates and the sealant,
The sealing material is configured in a closed ring shape,
Of the pair of substrates, a wiring for supplying a signal to an electrode provided on the second substrate is provided on the first substrate, and the electrode on the second substrate and the first substrate are provided. A conductive member for electrically connecting the wiring on the substrate between the pair of substrates is contained in the sealing material,
The liquid crystal device, wherein the sealing material includes a conductive member containing region including the conductive member and a conductive member non-containing region not including the conductive member arranged in parallel in the width direction of the sealing material.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the conducting member is a conductive particle.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member-containing region is formed outside the conductive member-free region.   The liquid crystal according to claim 1, wherein the wiring is routed from the inside of the sealing material, and the conductive member-containing region is formed inside the conductive member-free region. apparatus.   5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the conductive member-free region occupies 20% to 50% of the sealing material.   The wiring is mounted on a wiring for supplying the signal to the electrode from an external input terminal provided in a projecting region where the first substrate projects from the second substrate, or mounted on the projecting region. 6. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal device is a wiring for supplying the signal from the semiconductor element to the electrode.   The electrodes on the first substrate are a plurality of electrodes formed in a stripe shape, and the electrodes on the second substrate extend in a direction intersecting with the electrodes on the first substrate in a stripe shape. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of formed electrodes constitute a passive matrix liquid crystal device.   The electrodes on the first substrate are a plurality of pixel electrodes electrically connected to the signal lines on the first substrate through switching elements, and the electrodes on the second substrate are formed in a stripe shape 7. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal device comprises an active matrix type liquid crystal device using a thin film diode as the switching element.   9. The alignment film according to claim 1, wherein an alignment film for aligning liquid crystal molecules is formed on the electrodes of each substrate except for a region where the sealing material is formed. LCD device. A pair of substrates each having an electrode are arranged to face each other through a closed annular sealing material, and liquid crystal is sealed in a space surrounded by the pair of substrates and the sealing material A device manufacturing method comprising:
Forming a sealing material including a conductive member on one of the pair of substrates in a closed ring;
Arranging the liquid crystal inside the formed sealing material;
Bonding the other substrate to the one substrate via the sealing material,
The sealing material forming step includes a step of forming a conductive member-containing sealing material including the conductive member in parallel with a width direction of the sealing material, and a step of forming a conductive member-free sealing material not including the conductive member. A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising:   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.

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