JP2008096874A - Liquid crystal device and method for manufacturing the same, and electronic apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal device whose structure to seal a liquid crystal therein has excellent reliability with a favorable yield. <P>SOLUTION: The manufacturing method has: a step to form a conductive sealing part 52a equipped with main portions 152A extending along edges of an element substrate 10 (the first substrate), and connecting portions 152a corresponding to corners of the element substrate 10 or a counter substrate 20 (the second substrate) and having a narrower width than the width of the main potions 152A, on the first principal surface side of the element substrate 10; a step to form a conductive sealing part 52b equipped with main portions 152B extending along edges of the counter substrate 20, and connecting portions 152b corresponding to corners of the element substrate 10 or the counter substrate 20 and having a narrower width than the width of the main potions 152B, on the first principal surface side of the counter substrate 20; and a step to place the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 opposite to each other and stick them to each other, in the state in which the connecting portions 152a of the conductive sealing part 52a and the connecting portions 152b of the conductive sealing part 52b are superposed on each other. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

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

  In general, in the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device, a panel structure in which two substrates are bonded together via a sealing material and a liquid crystal material is sealed inside the sealing material is configured. In addition, a configuration is also known in which a conductive sealing material in which conductive spacer particles are mixed into a sealing material is used to establish conduction between substrates (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In the liquid crystal device described in Patent Document 1, an insulating sealing material is formed in a frame shape on the inner peripheral side of a frame-shaped sealing material, and a conductive sealing material is disposed so as to surround the insulating sealing material. .

JP 2004-212446 A

  In the liquid crystal device described in Patent Document 1, a conductive sealing material is disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal. However, if a conductive sealing material is provided in a portion where the wiring is drawn out from the pixel formation region to the outside of the sealing material, the conductive spacer particles included in the conductive sealing material are adjacent to each other when the wiring interval is narrow. May be short-circuited between wirings. In order to prevent such a short circuit between the wirings, the sealing material in the region intersecting with the wiring may be made of an insulating material, but two kinds of sealing materials must be arranged on the substrate. In particular, in the connection portion between the conductive sealing material and the insulating sealing material, problems such as non-uniform width of the sealing material or breakage are likely to occur, which greatly affects the reliability and manufacturing yield of the liquid crystal device.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems of the prior art, and an object of the present invention is to provide a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device excellent in reliability in a liquid crystal sealing structure with a high yield.

In order to solve the above-described problem, the liquid crystal device manufacturing method of the present invention includes a first main surface of the first substrate on which the conductive seal portion is formed and a first substrate on the second substrate on which the insulating seal portion is formed. A manufacturing method of a liquid crystal device in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded together in a state where the main surface is opposed and the conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion are partially overlapped, A main body portion extending along an end of the first substrate on the first main surface side of the first substrate, and a main body portion corresponding to a corner portion of the first substrate or the second substrate. A step of forming the conductive seal portion having a connection portion having a narrow width; and a main body portion extending along an end portion of the second substrate on the first main surface side of the second substrate. And a connection portion having a width narrower than the main body portion corresponding to a corner portion of the first substrate or the second substrate. The step of forming an edge seal portion, the first main surface of the first substrate and the first main surface of the second substrate are opposed to each other, and the connection portion of the conductive seal portion and the insulating property And a step of bonding the first substrate and the second substrate in a state where the connection portion of the seal portion is overlapped.
According to this manufacturing method, since the width of the connecting portion that overlaps the conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion at the corner portion of the substrate is narrower than that of the main body portion, the seal material is excessive at the overlapped portion. Thus, it is possible to prevent the width of the sealing material from becoming too wide (overweight). In addition, since the seal material can be prevented from being thickened, the connecting portions can be surely overlapped with each other, so that it is difficult to cause shape defects such as cutting or thinning of the seal material due to the displacement of the seal portion. Therefore, it is possible to form a sealing material with excellent reliability at the connection site, and to manufacture a liquid crystal device with excellent reliability in the sealing structure.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the main body portion has a shape narrowed from both sides in the width direction, and the connection portion having a predetermined length with a narrowed constant width is formed. When the sealing part is crushed by bonding the substrates, the connecting part spreads in the width direction. By providing a space on both sides of the connecting part in the width direction, a sealing material smoothly connected with a constant width is obtained. be able to.

  In the present invention, it is preferable that the width of the connecting portion is narrower by 10% or more and 30% or less than the width of the main body portion. By setting it as such a range, when the connection part of an electroconductive seal part and the connection part of an insulating seal part are connected, it can prevent that the nonuniformity of a cell gap arises in the vicinity of a connection part. At the same time, it is possible to prevent the sealing material from being thinned or cut at the connection site.

  In the above configuration, the width ratio between the connection portion and the main body portion in the conductive seal portion may be different from the width ratio between the connection portion and the main body portion in the insulating seal portion. Thus, the cell gap can be made more uniform by adjusting the amount of the sealing material in the portion where the connecting portions are overlapped. Therefore, the width of the connecting portion of the conductive seal portion and the width of the connecting portion of the insulating seal portion are substantially the same, while the width of the main body portion of the conductive seal portion and the main body portion of the insulating seal portion are The conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion may be formed in a configuration having a different width.

  In the present invention, the connecting portion of the conductive seal portion and the connecting portion of the insulating seal portion may be overlapped with each other in a plan view at corners of the first substrate and the second substrate facing each other. preferable. As a result, a reliable connection structure between the seal portions can be obtained, and a liquid crystal device excellent in the reliability of the sealing structure can be easily obtained.

  In the present invention, when the connection portions are overlapped with each other, it is preferable that the front ends of the connection portions protrude from the intersecting portions of the connection portions toward the front end side. By adopting such an intersecting configuration, even if a slight positional shift occurs in the seal portion, it becomes easy to reliably connect the seal portions, and it is difficult to cause a defective shape of the seal material.

In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the first substrate and the second substrate which are disposed to face each other with the liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, and the conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion formed on the peripheral portion of the both substrates are connected to each other. And a sealing connection portion formed by connecting the conductive sealing portion and the insulating sealing portion to opposite corner portions of the first substrate and the second substrate. In the seal connection part, the connection part formed at a width narrower than the other part at the tip part of the conductive seal part and the other part at the tip part of the insulating seal part The connecting portions formed to have a narrower width are overlapped with each other.
According to such a configuration, non-uniformity in the thickness of the sealing material is less likely to occur at the seal connecting portion, and a liquid crystal device having excellent display quality is obtained. In addition, the liquid crystal device is excellent in the reliability of the sealing structure.

  An electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the above-described liquid crystal device. Such an electronic device is provided with a display unit having excellent reliability and display quality.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described 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.

(Liquid crystal device)
First, an embodiment of the liquid crystal device of the present invention will be described.
The liquid crystal device of the present embodiment shown below is an example of an active matrix liquid crystal device using a thin film diode (hereinafter abbreviated as TFD) as a switching element, and is a transmissive type that enables transmissive display. This is a liquid crystal device.
FIG. 1A is a plan view of each component of the liquid crystal device according to the present embodiment as viewed from the counter substrate side, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along the line HH ′ of FIG. It is. FIG. 2 is an enlarged plan view showing a region C of FIG. FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of various elements and wirings in a plurality of pixels formed in a matrix in the image display region of the liquid crystal device, and FIG. 4 is a plan view showing an electrode planar structure (pixel structure) of the various elements. is there.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal device 100 of the present embodiment includes an element substrate (first substrate) 10, a counter substrate (second substrate) 20, a sealing material 52, and a liquid crystal layer 50 as main components. Yes. The sealing material 52 is formed along the periphery of the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 and is sandwiched between the substrates. Further, the liquid crystal layer 50 is sealed and held between the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 and inside the sealing material 52.

The element substrate 10 has a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate as a base, and pixel electrodes 31 having a substantially rectangular shape in plan view are arranged in a plane region corresponding to the image display region 4 on the surface on the liquid crystal layer 50 side. (See FIG. 4). An alignment film (not shown) is formed on the pixel electrode 31. A scanning signal drive circuit 110 and a data signal drive circuit 120 are mounted on the element substrate 10 outside the sealing material 52. Although the illustration is simplified, a plurality of signal wirings 56 extend from the scanning signal driving circuit 110 toward the image display area 4, and an area between the image display area 4 and the sealing material 52 from the data signal driving circuit 120. A plurality of signal wirings 55 extend toward. As shown in FIG. 2, the signal wiring 55 extends across the sealing material 52 to a region inside the sealing material 52 and is connected to a conductive pad 57 formed at a position overlapping the sealing material 52 in plan view. .
Note that only a part of each of the signal wirings 55 and 56 and the conductive pads 54 and 57 in FIG. 2 is shown. Actually, the signal wirings 55 and 56 are formed in the same number as the terminals of the data signal driving circuit 120 and the scanning signal driving circuit 110, respectively, and the conduction pads 54 and 57 correspond to the number of the signal wirings 55. The number to be arranged is arranged.

  On the other hand, the counter substrate 20 has a transparent substrate such as a glass substrate as a base, and on the liquid crystal layer 50 side, a light shielding film (black matrix) 23 extending in a region facing the boundary region of the pixel electrode 31 and an image. A frame-shaped peripheral parting line 53 that borders the display area 4 is formed. On the light shielding film 23, a color filter 22 and at least a counter electrode (data line) 9 made of ITO or the like are formed. An alignment film (not shown) is formed on the counter electrode (data line) 9. The counter electrode (data line) 9 is a strip (band) electrode arranged in a stripe shape in plan view (see FIG. 4), and the end extending to the edge of the counter substrate 20 is a conductive pad 54. Is forming. As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive pad 54 is formed at a position overlapping the conductive pad 57 on the element substrate 10 side in plan view.

The liquid crystal layer 50 is injected into the inside of the sealing material 52 through the injection port 58 a provided in the sealing material 52, and is sealed by the sealing material 58. Depending on the operation mode of the liquid crystal device 100, the liquid crystal layer 50 may be, for example, a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode, an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode, an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode, or an OCB (Optically Compensated) mode. The material is appropriately selected according to the operation mode of the Bend mode and the normally white mode / normally black mode.
In the liquid crystal device 100, a retardation plate, a polarizing plate, and the like are provided depending on the type of the liquid crystal layer 50 to be used and the normally white mode / normally black mode, but the illustration is omitted here. .

  As shown in FIG. 1A, the sealing material 52 has a structure in which a conductive sealing portion 52a and an insulating sealing portion 52b extending along the substrate end are connected to each other. Of the four sides surrounding the image display region 4, the sealing material of the side where the scanning signal driving circuit 110 and the data signal driving circuit 120 are disposed and the side opposite thereto is formed by the insulating seal portion 52b. These two sealing materials are formed by the conductive seal portion 52a. The adjacent conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are overlapped with each other at each corner portion of the counter substrate 20 to form a seal connection portion 52c. A seal material 52 is formed.

  As shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the conductive seal portion 52 a is provided corresponding to a region where the conductive pads 54 are arranged. That is, the conductive pad 54 formed on the conductive region between the substrates, and the conductive pad 57 disposed opposite to the conductive pad 54 on the counter substrate 20 side, are brought into a conductive state. The conductive seal portion 52a contains conductive spacer particles 52f. As the conductive spacer particles 52f, particles having a conductive material such as metal particles or a resin surface is plated. Particles can be used. Since the conductive spacer particles 52f have elasticity, when the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are bonded together, the conductive pads 54 and the conductive pads 57 press the conductive spacer particles 52f, thereby conducting. The pad 54 and the conductive pad 57 are held in a conductive state.

On the other hand, the insulating seal portion 52b is a sealing member having electrical insulation, and although omitted in FIG. 2, it contains insulating spacer particles. The insulating seal portion 52b is formed in a region other than the conductive seal portion 52a (region that does not conduct between the substrates). Specifically, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the signal wirings 55 and 56 and the sealing material 52 intersect with each other, and the substrate side edge region where the injection port 58 a is formed. Yes. Since the insulating seal portion 52b is formed in a region where the signal wirings 55 and 56 and the sealing material 52 intersect, it is possible to prevent a short circuit from occurring between a plurality of wirings in each of the signal wirings 55 and 56. It has become.
In both the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b, the main sealing material is a thermosetting or ultraviolet curable resin material, or both thermosetting and ultraviolet curing depending on the curing process. A resin material having the following characteristics is employed.

In the image display area 4, as shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of scanning lines 13 and a plurality of data lines (counter electrodes) 9 extending so as to cross each other are formed. A rectangular region surrounded by the scanning line 13 and the counter electrode (data line) 9 forms a sub-pixel 150, and the plurality of sub-pixels 150 are arranged in a matrix in plan view. In each subpixel 150 region, the TFD element 40 and the liquid crystal display element 160 (liquid crystal layer 50) are connected in series between the scanning line 13 and the counter electrode (data line) 9. The scanning line 13 is electrically connected to the scanning signal driving circuit 110, and the counter electrode (data line) 9 is electrically connected to the data signal driving circuit 120.
In FIG. 3, the TFD element 40 is connected to the scanning line 13 side and the liquid crystal display element 160 is connected to the counter electrode (data line) 9 side, but conversely, the TFD element 40 is connected to the counter electrode ( The liquid crystal display element 160 may be connected to the scanning line 13 side on the data line 9 side.

As shown in the plan view of the image display area 4 shown in FIG. 4, pixel electrodes 31 having a rectangular shape in plan view connected to the scanning lines 13 via the TFD elements 40 are arranged in a matrix, and a plurality of pixel electrodes are arranged. A strip-shaped counter electrode (data line) 9 extending over 31 is formed. The pixel electrode 31 and the counter electrode (data line) 9 are at least transparent electrodes made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (indium tin oxide).
A red (R), green (G), and blue (B) color filter (colored layer) is provided corresponding to each sub-pixel 150.
In the present embodiment, each region in which each pixel electrode 31 is formed corresponds to one subpixel 150, and the TFD element 40 is provided for each subpixel 150 arranged in a matrix. Each sub-pixel 150 is driven via the TFD element 40 and performs color display via a color filter.

  The TFD element 40 is a switching element that connects the scanning line 13 and the pixel electrode 31. The TFD element 40 is formed on the surface of the first conductive film 41 containing Ta as a main component and the first conductive film. ), And an MIM structure including second conductive films 42a and 42b mainly formed of Cr and formed on the surface of the insulating film. The TFD element 40 is connected to the scanning line 13 through one second conductive film 42a, and is connected to the pixel electrode 31 through the other second conductive film 42b.

As shown in FIG. 2, the conductive pad 54, which is the end of the counter electrode (data line) 9 extending outward from the image display region 4, and the conductive pad 54 are opposed to each other through the conductive seal portion 52a. The conductive pad 57 is electrically connected by conductive spacer particles 52f included in the conductive seal portion 52a. Therefore, the drive signal supplied from the data signal drive circuit 120 is applied as a potential to the counter electrode (data line) 9 through the signal wiring 55, the conductive pad 57, the conductive spacer particles 52f, and the conductive pad 54. It has become.
On the other hand, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 2, the drive signal supplied from the scan signal drive circuit 110 is applied as a potential to the scan line 13 in the image display region 4 via the signal wiring 56. It is like that.

In the present embodiment, a TFD active matrix type liquid crystal device has been described as an example of the liquid crystal device 100. However, the liquid crystal device includes a sealing material having a structure in which a conductive seal portion and an insulating seal portion are connected. If there is, the present invention can be applied without any problem, and there is no limitation on other configurations.
For example, it is needless to say that a passive matrix liquid crystal device may be configured as the liquid crystal device 100. Further, instead of the configuration in which the scanning signal driving circuit 110 and the data signal driving circuit 120 are mounted on the element substrate 10, a flexible substrate on which a driving LSI incorporating these driving circuits is mounted is electrically connected to the element substrate 10. You may make it connect to.

(Manufacturing method of liquid crystal device)
Next, a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing an outline of the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal device. FIG. 6A is a plan view corresponding to the process shown in FIG. 5A, and FIG. 6B is an enlarged view showing a portion indicated by a region D in FIGS. 5A and 6A. FIG.

First, as shown in FIG. 5A, an element substrate 10 and a counter substrate 20 on which predetermined constituent members are formed are prepared.
At this time, on the surface of the element substrate 10 facing the counter substrate 20, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 4, the TFD element 40, the scanning line 13, the pixel electrode 31, the signal wirings 55 and 56, the conduction pad 57, An alignment film or the like is formed. These constituent members can be manufactured by applying a known method. Then, in the region to be bonded to the counter substrate 20 on the surface of the element substrate 10, two conductive seal portions 52a extending along the two sides of the region are formed by screen printing.
On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 1, a light shielding film 23, a peripheral parting 53, a color filter 22, a counter electrode (data line) 9, an alignment film, and the like are formed on the surface of the counter substrate 20 facing the element substrate 10. ing. A known manufacturing method can be applied to these components. An insulating seal portion 52b extending in a direction intersecting with the conductive seal portion 52a formed on the element substrate 10 is provided on the outermost surface of the counter substrate 20 at a position along two edges of the counter substrate 20. It is formed by printing.

Next, as shown in FIG. 5B, the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are bonded together with the surfaces on which the conductive seal portions 52a and the insulating seal portions 52b are formed facing each other. Through this step, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b formed on each substrate are partially overlapped and connected, and the substantially frame-shaped seal material 52 along the peripheral edge portion of the counter substrate 20 is connected. Is formed.
Thereafter, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are cured by ultraviolet irradiation treatment or heat treatment. Next, liquid crystal is injected into the sealing material 52 from the injection port 58 a opened at the side end of the substrate, and the injection port 58 a is closed with the sealing material 58. If the scanning signal driving circuit 110 and the data signal driving circuit 120 are mounted on the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a prepared on the element substrate 10, respectively, the liquid crystal device 100 of the above embodiment can be obtained.

Among the manufacturing steps outlined above, in the step shown in FIG. 5A, the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 that are arranged to face each other for bonding are viewed from the counter substrate 20 side. As shown in FIG. 6A, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are arranged.
In the manufacturing method according to the present embodiment, the conductive seal portion 52a including at least the main body portion 152A extending along the side edge of the element substrate 10 and the connection portions 152a extending from both ends of the main body portion 152A is formed. To do. As for the insulating seal portion 52b, the main body portion 152B extending along the side edge of the counter substrate 20 and the connection portion 152b extending from the end portion of the main body portion 152B on the side connected to the conductive seal portion 52a. And forming at least more. The connection portion 152a of the conductive seal portion 52a and the connection portion 152b of the insulating seal portion 52b are arranged so as to overlap each other at each corner portion of the counter substrate 20.

As shown in the enlarged view of FIG. 6B, the connection portion 152a of the conductive seal portion 52a is formed to have a narrower width than the main body portion 152A. The width Wa of the connection portion 152a is 70% to 90% (width reduced by 10% to 30%) with respect to the width WA of the main body portion 152A. The length La of the connecting portion 152a may be a length that overlaps with the connecting portion 152b of the insulating seal portion 52b, but in the present embodiment, the length La is the main body portion of the insulating seal portion 52b. The length is twice the width WB of 152B.
On the other hand, the connecting portion 152b of the insulating seal portion 52b is also formed with a narrower width than the main body portion 152B. The width Wb of the connection portion 152b is also 70% to 90% of the width WB of the main body portion 152B. The length Lb of the connecting portion 152b is twice as long as the width WA of the conductive seal portion 52a.

  In the present embodiment, the conductive seal portion 52a including the connection portion 152a formed with a relatively narrow width, and the insulating seal portion 52b including the connection portion 152b formed with a relatively narrow width, The connection portions 152a and 152b are connected to each other so as to overlap each other. In a state where the connection portion 152a and the connection portion 152b are arranged so as to intersect with each other, as shown in FIG. 6B, the tip of the connection portion 152a and the tip of the connection portion 152b are more than the intersection portion 152c. It is preferable that they are arranged so as to protrude to the tip side. By disposing the connection portions 152a and 152b in such a manner, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b can be reliably connected at the intersecting portion 152c, and the sealing material 52 having excellent sealing performance. Can be obtained.

Here, FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a plurality of shape examples following FIG. 6B in order to describe the shape of the seal connecting portion 52c. According to the present embodiment, by overlapping the connection portion 152a and the connection portion 152b formed to have a relatively narrow width, as shown in FIG. 7A, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal are provided. A sealing material 52 having a shape in which the portion 52b is smoothly connected with a constant width can be obtained.
This is because the amount of the sealing material at the portion where the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b overlap is reduced, so that the overlapped portion of the seal material is prevented from spreading outside the region that should be originally formed. This is because it is possible to prevent the cell gap from becoming non-uniform due to the thickening of the sealing material 52 (FIG. 7B).

  By the way, such thickening of the sealing material can be alleviated by adjusting the overlap width between the tip of the conductive seal portion 52a and the tip of the insulating seal portion 52b. However, if it is attempted to control the shape of the seal connecting portion by aligning the tip, there is almost no margin for the positional deviation of each seal portion. As a result, the sealing material shown in FIG. 7C is cut and air bubbles are mixed into the liquid crystal layer 50, or the thinning shown in FIG. There arises a problem that reliability is lowered. On the other hand, in this embodiment, since the connection parts 152a and 152b are formed with a narrow width to solve the problem related to the thickening of the sealing material, the connection parts 152a and 152b are connected as shown in FIG. You can overlap and overlap. For this reason, a margin for displacement of the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b is large, and the problem of thinning or cutting can be solved. Furthermore, even if the seal material increases or decreases at the tips of the connecting portion 152a and the connecting portion 152b, the tips of the connecting portions 152a and 152b are arranged so as to protrude outward from the intersecting portion 152c. It does not significantly affect the shape of

As described above, the degree of narrowing the connecting portion 152a and the connecting portion 152b with respect to the main body portions 152A and 152B is in the range of 10% to 30% of the width of the main body portions 152A and 152B. By setting it as such a range, when connecting part 152a, 152b is connected, it can prevent that the cell gap nonuniformity arises in the vicinity of the seal | sticker connection part 52c, and a sealing material in the seal | sticker connection part 52c. It is possible to prevent the thinning or cutting of the film.
In this embodiment, the width WA of the conductive seal portion 52a and the width WB of the insulating seal portion 52b are substantially the same, but the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b may have different widths. Good. When the widths are different as described above, the ratio of the width Wa to the width WA and the ratio of the width Wb to the width WB do not necessarily coincide with each other so that the shape of the seal connecting portion 52c can be optimized. Each ratio may be set.

  Further, by setting the length La of the connecting portion 152a to twice the width WB of the main body portion 152B of the insulating seal portion, the insulating seal portion 52b can be obtained even if a slight displacement occurs in the insulating seal portion 52b. Since the connecting portion 152b can be disposed on the connecting portion 152a, it is possible to prevent the formation failure of the seal connecting portion 52c due to the displacement. Therefore, the margin for the formation accuracy of the insulating seal portion 52b is increased, and the yield is hardly reduced. The reason why the length Lb of the connecting portion 152b is twice the width WA of the main body portion 152A is the same reason.

  The connecting portion 152a has a shape in which the main body portion 152A is narrowed from both sides in the width direction, and the distal end portion of the conductive seal portion 52a including the connecting portion 152a has a “convex” shape. The connecting portion 152b of the insulating seal portion 52b has a similar shape. When the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are bonded to each other and the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are crushed, the sealing material spreads in the width direction rather than the extending direction, so that the connection portion 152a and By forming the connecting portion 152b to be narrowed from both sides in the width direction, the spread in the surface direction when being crushed by the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 becomes uniform, and it becomes difficult to cause a shape defect in the seal connecting portion 52c.

  As described above, according to the manufacturing method of the present embodiment, the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are connected via the connection portions 152a and 152b provided at the portions where they are connected. Further, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of a shape defect in the seal connecting portion 52c, and it is possible to form the sealing material 52 having excellent reliability. In addition, since the cell gap non-uniformity due to the shape defect is eliminated, a liquid crystal device excellent in reliability and display quality can be manufactured according to the present invention.

  In the present embodiment, the case where one liquid crystal device 100 is manufactured has been described. However, an element substrate base material capable of manufacturing a plurality of element substrates 10 and a counter substrate base material capable of manufacturing a plurality of counter substrates 20 are described. Of course, the manufacturing process may be carried out using In this case, after the element substrate base material and the counter substrate base material are bonded together, both the base materials are cut and divided into one or a plurality of panels, and then a liquid crystal injection step is performed. A plurality of liquid crystal devices 100 can be manufactured by cutting each panel as necessary after liquid crystal injection and mounting a drive circuit.

(Modification of connection part)
In the above-described embodiment, the case where the main body portions 152A and 152B are narrowed from both sides in the width direction has been described as the shape of the connection portions 152a and 152b. However, the shape of the connection portions 152a and 152b is limited to the previous embodiment. It is not a thing.
FIG. 8 is a view showing a modified example of the connecting portion corresponding to FIG. In the example shown in FIG. 8A, the connection portion 152a and the connection portion 152b are located on the opposite side (outside of the seal material) from the image display region 4 as compared with FIG. 6B. That is, the connection portion 152a is narrowed so that the inner side (image display region 4 side) of the front end portion of the conductive seal portion 52a is partially removed. The same applies to the connecting portion 152b.
In the example shown in FIG. 8B, conversely to FIG. 8A, the connecting portions 152a and 152b are located on the image display region 4 side (inside the seal material) compared to FIG. 6B. The connection portions 152a and 152b are narrowed so that the outer sides (opposite to the image display region 4) of the respective end portions of the conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portion 52b are partially removed. is there.

In any of the modifications shown in FIG. 8, a good shape can be obtained for the seal connecting portion 52c formed by overlapping the connecting portions 152a and 152b, and a highly reliable liquid crystal device can be manufactured. .
Note that when the substrates are bonded together, the connecting portion 152a and the connecting portion 152b are crushed so as to spread in the width direction, and therefore the seal connecting portion 52c in FIG. It is formed at a position slightly shifted to the outside with respect to the case. In the example shown in FIG. 8B, conversely, the seal connecting portion 52c is formed at a position displaced inward. Therefore, the shape of the seal connecting portion 52c can be adjusted by adjusting the formation positions of the connecting portions 152a and 152b.

(Modification of seal material)
In the above embodiment, the liquid crystal device includes the sealing material 52 having the configuration in which the conductive seal portions 52a are formed on the two opposite sides of the counter substrate 20 and the insulating seal portions 52b are formed on the other two opposite sides. Although explained, it is not limited to this.
The liquid crystal device to which the present invention can be applied may have the structure shown in FIGS. FIG. 9A is a plan view of a liquid crystal device showing a first modification of the sealing material 52, and FIG. 9B is a plan view of the liquid crystal device showing a second modification. FIG. 10 is a plan view of a liquid crystal device showing a third modification.
In this example, since the configuration of the sealing material 52 is the same as that of the liquid crystal device 100 shown in FIGS. 1 to 6, common constituent elements in FIGS. 9 and 10 are the same as those in FIGS. 1 to 6. Is attached.

In the first modification shown in FIG. 9A, the conductive seal portion 52a is formed along the side edge of the counter substrate 20 located on the side where the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a are provided. Insulating seal portions 52b1 and 52b2 having a substantially L shape in a plan view are formed along the other side edges of 20. The conductive seal portion 52a and the insulating seal portions 52b1 and 52b2 are connected to each other at the corner portion of the counter substrate 20 in the vicinity of the circuit mounting region 120a. The insulating seal portions 52b1 and 52b2 form an injection port 58a at the side edge of the counter substrate 20 opposite to the circuit mounting region 110a. In the liquid crystal device of the first modified example having the above-described configuration, the constituent members (signal wiring and the like) on the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are formed by the conductive seal portion 52a disposed in the vicinity of the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a. The component members (such as conductive pads) are electrically connected. As described above, the present invention can be applied without any problem even if the insulating seal portion has a bent shape instead of a linear shape.
In the insulating seal portions 52b1 and 52b2 having a bent shape as in this example, a slit 52s as illustrated may be formed inside the bent portions of the insulating seal portions 52b1 and 52b2. By providing such slits 52s, it is possible to prevent a defective shape from occurring at the bent portion when the element substrate 10 and the counter substrate 20 are bonded together.

  In the second modification shown in FIG. 9B, a first insulating seal having an L shape in plan view extending from the side edge of the counter substrate 20 on the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a side to the other side edge adjacent to the left side in the drawing. A portion 52b1 is formed. Furthermore, a first conductive seal portion 52a1 and a second conductive seal portion 52a2 are connected to both ends of the L-shaped insulating seal portion 52b1, respectively. The first conductive seal portion 52a1 extending from the counter substrate corner near the circuit mounting region 120a on the right side of the drawing along the side edge on the right side of the drawing has a second halfway along the side edge where the conductive seal portion 52a1 extends. The insulating seal portion 52b2 is connected. On the other hand, the second conductive seal portion 52a2 is connected to the L-shaped first insulating seal portion 52b1 in the middle of the left edge of the counter substrate 20 in the drawing, and the counter connection substrate 52d is connected to the counter substrate. 20 extends to the other corner. Further, the corner portion is connected to a third insulating seal portion 52b3 extending along the side edge located on the opposite side to the circuit mounting region. The second insulating seal portion 52b2 and the third insulating seal portion 52b3 form the injection port 58a at the side edge on the side where the second insulating seal portion 52b2 is formed.

  The first conductive seal portion 52a1 and the second conductive seal portion 52a2 are arranged so as to be shifted from each other in the extending direction of the side edge where they are formed. As a result, the conductive connection between the counter electrode (data line) 9 (see FIG. 1) formed on the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a side and the conductive pad on the element substrate 10 is connected to the first conductive seal portion 52a1. The conductive connection between the counter electrode (data line) 9 formed on the side away from the circuit mounting regions 110a and 120a and the conductive pad on the element substrate 10 is performed via the second conductive seal portion 52a2. It has been made. With such a configuration, the lead wiring area outside the display area can be effectively used.

In the second modification, the conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion are connected in the middle of the side edge of the counter substrate 20 to form the seal connection portion 52d. And in this example, also about the site | part which comprises this seal | sticker connection part 52d, the connection part 152a and the connection part 152b which were formed more narrowly than the main-body part are formed, and a shape defect generate | occur | produces in the seal | sticker connection part 52d. It is designed to prevent this.
In this example as well, it is needless to say that the slits 52s may be formed in the bent portions of the first insulating seal portion 52b1 and the third insulating seal portion 52b3.

The third modification shown in FIG. 10 is a configuration of the sealing material in the liquid crystal device having a configuration in which the image display region 4 is long in the horizontal direction in the drawing. In such a liquid crystal device, the first insulating seal portion 52b1 and the second insulating seal portion 52b2 having an L shape in plan view extend along the left and right side edges in the drawing and the upper edge in the drawing. Along the side edges of the counter substrate 20 on the regions 110a and 120a side, the first conductive seal portion 52a1 and the second conductive seal portion 52a2, and the first conductive seal portion 52a1 and the second conductive seal. A third insulating seal part 52b3 is formed between the part 52a2 and connected to the part 52a2. The first conductive seal portion 52a1 is connected to the first insulating seal portion 52b1 at the corner portion of the counter substrate 20. The second conductive seal portion 52a2 is connected to the second insulating seal portion 52b2 at the corner portion of the counter substrate 20. The first insulating seal portion 52b1 and the second insulating seal portion 52b2 form an injection port 58a at the side edge on the upper side in the drawing.
In the liquid crystal device having such a configuration, the first conductive seal portion 52a1 and the second conductive seal portion 52a2 are selectively formed only in the vicinity of the circuit mounting region 120a, and the conductive seal portions 52a1 and 52a2 form the conductive seal portions 52a1 and 52a2. The counter electrode (data line) 9 on the counter substrate 20 (or the wiring drawn from the counter electrode (data line) 9) and the signal wiring extending from the circuit mounting region 120a are conductively connected.
In this example as well, it is needless to say that the slits 52s may be formed in the bent portions of the first insulating seal portion 52b1 and the second insulating seal portion 52b2.

(Electronics)
FIG. 11 is a perspective view showing an example of an electronic apparatus according to the invention. A cellular phone 1300 in the figure includes the liquid crystal device of the present invention as a small-sized display portion 1301, and includes a plurality of operation buttons 1302, an earpiece 1303, and a mouthpiece 1304. The liquid crystal device of each of the above embodiments is not limited to a mobile phone, but an electronic book, a personal computer, a digital still camera, a liquid crystal television, a viewfinder type or a monitor direct view type video tape recorder, a car navigation device, a pager, an electronic notebook, a calculator It can be suitably used as an image display means for a word processor, a workstation, a videophone, a POS terminal, a device equipped with a touch panel, and the like, and can also be used as a light modulation means (light valve) of a projector. In any electronic apparatus, a liquid crystal display unit having excellent reliability such as sealing property of liquid crystal and insulation between wirings is provided.

1 is a diagram showing a liquid crystal device according to an embodiment. The figure which expands and shows the area | region C of FIG. FIG. 3 is an equivalent circuit diagram of a liquid crystal device. 2 is a pixel configuration diagram of a liquid crystal device. FIG. The perspective view for demonstrating the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device which concerns on embodiment. FIG. 5 is a plan view for explaining the method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device according to the embodiment. The top view for demonstrating the shape of a seal | sticker connection part. The figure which shows the other structural example of a seal connection structure. The figure which shows the other structural example of a sealing material. The figure which shows the other structural example of a sealing material. FIG. 14 illustrates an example of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Element board | substrate (1st board | substrate), 20 ... Opposite board | substrate (2nd board | substrate), 50 ... Liquid crystal layer, 52 ... Sealing material, 52a ... Conductive sealing part, 52b ... Insulating sealing part, 52c, 52d ... Seal connection Part, 52s ... slit, 58 ... sealing material, 58a ... injection port, 100 ... liquid crystal device, 152a ... connection part, 152b ... connection part.

Claims (7)

The conductive seal portion and the insulating seal are formed so that the first main surface of the first substrate on which the conductive seal portion is formed and the first main surface of the second substrate on which the insulating seal portion is formed are opposed to each other. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device in which the first substrate and the second substrate are bonded to each other in a partially overlapping state,
A main body portion extending along an end of the first substrate on the first main surface side of the first substrate, and a main body portion corresponding to a corner portion of the first substrate or the second substrate. Forming the conductive seal portion with a connection portion having a narrow width;
From the main body portion corresponding to the first main surface side of the second substrate along the end portion of the second substrate and the corner portion of the first substrate or the second substrate. Forming the insulating seal portion including a connection portion having a narrow width;
The connection portion of the conductive seal portion and the connection portion of the insulating seal portion are overlapped with the first main surface of the first substrate facing the first main surface of the second substrate. Bonding the first substrate and the second substrate in a state where
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising:   2. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the main body portion has a shape narrowed from both sides in the width direction, and the connecting portion having a predetermined width and a predetermined narrow width is formed.   3. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a width of the connection portion is formed to be narrower by 10% or more and 30% or less than a width of the main body portion.   The connection portion of the conductive seal portion and the connection portion of the insulating seal portion are overlapped and overlapped with each other in a plan view at corner portions of the first substrate and the second substrate facing each other. Item 4. The method for producing a liquid crystal device according to any one of Items 1 to 3.   5. The method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device according to claim 4, wherein when the connection portions are overlapped with each other, the front ends of the connection portions are protruded from the intersection portions of the connection portions toward the front end side. A first substrate and a second substrate disposed opposite to each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween, and a sealing material formed by connecting a conductive seal portion and an insulating seal portion formed on the peripheral edge of the two substrates to each other. A liquid crystal device comprising:
A seal connecting portion formed by connecting the conductive seal portion and the insulating seal portion is formed at opposite corner portions of the first substrate and the second substrate,
In the seal connection part, a connection part formed at a narrower width than the other part at the tip part of the conductive seal part and a narrower width than the other part at the tip part of the insulating seal part The liquid crystal device is characterized in that the connected portions intersect and overlap each other.   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 6.

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