JP2009116236A - Touch panel integrated type liquid crystal display element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a touch panel integrated type liquid crystal display element which does not have display quality of liquid crystal display impaired even when operation pressing force in a switch operation is applied and is also low in manufacturing cost. <P>SOLUTION: A glass substrate 11 and a transparent substrate 21 are arranged at predetermined intervals on both sides of a glass substrate 12 as members of both a liquid crystal display element section 10 and a touch panel section 20 to compose the liquid crystal display element section 10 of the glass substrate 12 and the glass substrate 11, and to compose the touch panel section 20 of the glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21. The liquid crystal display element section 10 has a transparent electrode 11a for liquid crystal driving formed on the surface of the glass substrate 11 on the side facing the glass substrate 12, a liquid crystal material of IPS mode is sandwiched between the glass substrate 11 and the glass substrate 12, and the touch panel section 20 has transparent electrodes for touch input detection formed on the mutually-opposite surfaces of the glass substrate 12 and the glass substrate 11. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element, and more particularly to a touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element in which a touch panel having a touch input function and a liquid crystal display element are integrated.

  Conventionally, a touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element of this type has been proposed as described below.

  As shown in FIG. 5, a liquid crystal layer 54 is sandwiched between a pair of transparent substrates 51 and 52 in which transparent electrodes 51a and 52a for driving liquid crystals are formed on the surfaces facing each other. A polarizing plate 51c is affixed to the outer surface of one of the transparent substrates 51 through an adhesive, and one transparent electrode 52b for touch input detection is formed on the outer surface of the other transparent substrate 52. ing.

  A transparent film substrate 53 having a polarizing plate 53c attached to one surface via an adhesive and the other transparent electrode 53b for touch input detection formed on the other surface is transparent for mutual touch input detection. The electrodes 52b and 53b are opposed to each other and are arranged in a state where a space 55 of a predetermined interval is held on the transparent substrate 52.

Thus, a liquid crystal display element portion 56 is formed by the liquid crystal layer 54 including the polarizing plates 51c and 53c and the pair of transparent substrates 51 and 52 sandwiching the liquid crystal layer 54, and the transparent electrodes 52b and 53b for touch input detection, respectively. A touch panel portion 57 is formed by the transparent substrate 52 and the transparent film substrate 53 on which the touch panel is formed, and the touch panel portion 57 is integrated to form the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 50.
JP-A-61-174587

  By the way, in the configuration of the above-described conventional touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 50, the transparent substrate 52 that is a constituent member of the liquid crystal display element portion 56 and a constituent member of the touch panel portion 57 has a transparent electrode for driving liquid crystal on one surface. 52a is formed, the transparent electrode 52b for touch input detection is formed on the other surface, and it is necessary to form the transparent electrodes 52a and 52b on both surfaces of the transparent substrate 52. For this reason, the manufacturing cost increases because the number of manufacturing steps and the material cost increase.

  In addition, when a switch operation is performed on the touch panel unit 57 by a pressing force, an operating pressing force is applied to the liquid crystal display element unit 56 positioned below the touch panel unit 57, and the liquid crystal layer of the liquid crystal display element unit 56 is applied by the pressure. The distance (cell gap) between the transparent substrates 51 and 52 sandwiching 54 is changed to change the layer thickness of the liquid crystal layer 54, which adversely affects the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer 54.

  Specifically, a phenomenon in which the display quality is impaired such as a change in the display color of the liquid crystal display or an interference fringe (moire) on the display screen appears when the switch is operated.

  Therefore, the present invention was devised in view of the above problems, and the object of the present invention is that the display quality of the liquid crystal display is not deteriorated even if an operation pressing force is applied at the time of operating the switch, and the manufacturing is performed. The object is to realize a liquid crystal display element integrated with a touch panel at low cost.

In order to solve the above problem, the invention described in claim 1 of the present invention includes a first substrate, a second substrate, and a third substrate,
The first substrate includes a transparent electrode for driving a liquid crystal and an alignment film on a surface facing the second substrate and facing the second substrate,
The second substrate faces the first substrate and the third substrate and has an alignment film on the surface facing the first substrate, and on the surface facing the third substrate. With one transparent electrode for touch input detection formed in a predetermined shape,
The third substrate includes the other transparent electrode for touch input detection formed in a predetermined shape on a surface facing the second substrate and facing the second substrate,
The first substrate and the second substrate are held at a predetermined interval by a gap control material to sandwich the liquid crystal layer,
The second substrate and the third substrate are held at a predetermined interval to sandwich a gas layer,
A pair of polarizing plates is provided on the outer surfaces of the first substrate and the third substrate.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the second substrate is made of borosilicate glass.

The invention described in claim 3 of the present invention is characterized in that, in any one of claims 1 and 2, the gap control material is dispersed at a density of 100 pieces / mm ^2. Is.

  The invention described in claim 4 of the present invention is characterized in that, in claim 3, the gap control material is mainly made of acrylic resin, borosilicate glass, or silica. is there.

  The invention described in claim 5 of the present invention is the liquid crystal layer according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the liquid crystal layer exhibits parallel alignment by an alignment treatment in which liquid crystal molecules are applied to the alignment film, The alignment control is performed by in-plane switching of the transparent electrode for driving the liquid crystal formed only on the first substrate.

  In the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element of the present invention, the first substrate and the third substrate are respectively held at predetermined intervals on both sides of the second substrate serving as both the liquid crystal display element unit and the touch panel unit. The liquid crystal display element portion was constituted by the second substrate and the first substrate, and the touch panel was constituted by the second substrate and the third substrate. In the liquid crystal display element portion, a transparent electrode for driving liquid crystal is formed on a surface of the first substrate facing the second substrate, and an IPS mode liquid crystal material is sandwiched between the first substrate and the second substrate. The part formed transparent electrodes for touch input detection on the surfaces of the second substrate and the third substrate that face each other.

  As a result, the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode may be formed only on one surface of the first substrate that holds the liquid crystal material. Therefore, both the first substrate and the second substrate sandwiching the liquid crystal material are formed with transparent electrodes on only one surface, and transparent electrodes are formed on both surfaces (transparent electrode for driving liquid crystal on one surface and touching the other surface). Compared to a conventional touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element that forms a transparent electrode for input detection), the manufacturing man-hours and material costs are reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.

  In the IPS mode liquid crystal material, the influence of the thickness variation of the liquid crystal layer on the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer is small. Therefore, the display color of the liquid crystal display changes due to the operating pressure when the switch is operated, and there are almost no display problems such as interference fringes (moire) on the display screen, maintaining good display quality at all times. can do.

  Hereinafter, a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 (the same reference numerals are given to the same parts). The embodiments described below are preferable specific examples of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention particularly limits the present invention in the following description. Unless stated to the effect, the present invention is not limited to these embodiments.

  FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element of the present invention. The touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1 includes a liquid crystal display element unit 10 having a display function and a touch panel unit 20 having a touch switch function. The liquid crystal display element unit 10 and the touch panel unit 20 are integrated.

  Among them, the liquid crystal display element unit 10 has the following configuration. A pair of glass substrates 11 and 12 are arranged to face each other at a predetermined interval (cell gap), and one glass substrate 11 has a transparent electrode for driving liquid crystal on a surface facing the other glass substrate 12. 11a is formed, and an alignment film 11b is formed so as to cover the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode 11a, and an alignment film 12b is formed on the other glass substrate 12 on the surface facing the one glass substrate 11. ing.

  Of the pair of glass substrates 11 and 12, the glass substrate 12 in which only the alignment film 12b is formed on at least the surfaces facing each other is preferably made of borosilicate glass.

  The pair of glass substrates 11 and 12 are bonded to each other at a peripheral edge between the glass substrates 11 and 12 by a sealing material 13 provided in a closed ring shape, and surrounded by the glass substrates 11 and 12 and the sealing material 13. In the sealed space, a gap control material 14 for maintaining a predetermined cell gap over the entire display area of the glass substrates 11 and 12 is dispersed and a liquid crystal material 15 is enclosed.

The gap control material 14 is mainly made of any one of acrylic resin, borosilicate glass, and silica, and its dispersion density is preferably 100 or more / mm ² .

  A polarizing plate 11c is attached to the surface of the glass substrate 11 opposite to the surface on which the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode 11a and the alignment film 11b are formed, and an alignment film 12b of the glass substrate 12 is formed. A polarizing plate 16c, which will be described later, is disposed above the surface on the opposite side of the surface.

  The above is the configuration of the liquid crystal display element unit 10, but the driving method of the liquid crystal material 15 may be any driving method such as a passive driving control method or an active driving control method. However, the alignment mode of the liquid crystal material 15 is an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode, in which the liquid crystal molecules rotate in a plane parallel to the glass substrates 11 and 12.

  Therefore, in alignment modes such as TN mode, STN mode, or VA mode, both glass substrates are formed by applying an electric field between the liquid crystal driving transparent electrodes formed on the surfaces of the pair of glass substrates facing each other. In the IPS mode, the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode is provided only on one side of the liquid crystal material, and the liquid crystal is applied by a horizontal electric field applied in the plane. It controls the orientation of molecules.

  Therefore, the liquid crystal display element portion 10 of the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1 of the present invention in which the alignment mode of the liquid crystal material 15 is the IPS mode is one of the pair of glass substrates 11 and 12 holding the liquid crystal material 15. Only the substrate 11 is provided with a liquid crystal driving transparent electrode 11a.

  Next, the configuration of the touch panel unit 20 constituting the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element will be described.

  One transparent electrode 12a for touch input detection is arranged in parallel in the horizontal direction in the figure on the other surface of the glass substrate 12 in which the alignment film 12b is formed on one surface of the pair of glass substrates 11 and 12. It is installed.

  Then, a polarizing plate 16c is attached to one surface via an adhesive, and a transparent substrate 21 having a plurality of other transparent electrodes 21a for touch input detection arranged in parallel in the depth direction of the figure on the other surface is provided. The transparent electrodes 12a, 21a for touch input detection are arranged on the transparent substrate 12 at a predetermined interval with the transparent electrodes 12a, 21a facing each other.

  In this case, the transparent substrate 21 may be a flexible film or a flexible thin glass.

  The glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21 are bonded to each other at a peripheral edge between the glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21 by a sealing material 22 provided in a closed ring shape, and the glass substrate 12, the transparent substrate 21, and the sealing material are bonded together. In the sealed space surrounded by 22, spacers 23 for maintaining a predetermined distance are distributed over the entire touch input area of the glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21, and a gas such as air or nitrogen gas is distributed. 24 is enclosed.

  Each of the spacers 23 is made of a translucent resin material and has a convex shape with a substantially uniform height, and one of the surfaces of the glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21 facing each other, Assuming a state in which the opposing surfaces are combined, the touch input detection transparent electrodes 12a, 21a are formed by a method such as printing in a region other than the region where the electrodes overlap. In the present embodiment, the spacer 23 is formed on the glass substrate 12.

  The touch input detecting transparent electrodes 12a and 21a and the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode 11a are all made of one of materials of ITO (indium tin oxide), IGO (indium germanium oxide), and IZO (indium zinc oxide). Made of material.

  The configuration of the touch panel unit 20 has been described above, and the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1 is formed by being integrated with the liquid crystal display element unit 10 described above.

  In practical use of the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1, a backlight for illumination of the liquid crystal display element unit 10 is necessary. In this embodiment, the lower side of the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1 (the polarizing plate 11c side of the glass substrate 11). ) To illuminate the liquid crystal display element unit 10 from directly below the liquid crystal display element unit 10.

  Next, an operation function of the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element having the above-described configuration will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 2 is a view of the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element 1 as viewed from above (the polarizing plate 16c side of the transparent substrate 21), and FIG. 3 is a view showing a state of the touch panel unit 20 at the time of touch switch input operation.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the display screen 17 of the liquid crystal display element unit 10 can be viewed by the switch operator through the touch panel unit 20 located on the upper side. At this time, when it is assumed that the display screen 17 of the liquid crystal display element unit 10 is a combination of the glass substrate 12 and the transparent substrate 21 of the touch panel unit 20 facing each other, the touch input detection transparent electrodes 12a and 21a are connected to each other. A switch menu 18 representing a switch function is displayed at a position corresponding to each of the overlapping areas.

  Therefore, the switch operator selects a desired menu from the switch menu 18 on the display screen 17, and presses the area of the touch panel unit 20 corresponding to the position with a finger or a dedicated input pen.

  Then, as shown in FIG. 3, the polarizing plate 16c and the transparent substrate 21 of the touch panel unit 20 are bent downward by the pressing force F, and the touch input detection transparent electrode 21a comes into contact with the touch input detection transparent electrode 12a. Although not described, a position corresponding to the selected switch menu 18 is detected by a touch input detection circuit arranged outside.

  Then, the detection result (signal) is fed back to the display on the display screen 17 of the liquid crystal display element unit 10 or used for drive control of other devices.

  By the way, the pressing force F applied to the touch panel unit 20 is also applied to the glass substrate 12 positioned on the lower side via the touch panel unit 20, so that the glass substrate 12 bends downward and the distance between the glass substrate 11 and the glass substrate 12. (Cell gap) will change.

  At this time, when the liquid crystal material 15 sandwiched between the glass substrate 11 and the glass substrate 12 is an alignment mode such as a TN mode, an STN mode, or a VA mode, the variation in the thickness of the liquid crystal layer due to a change in cell gap The effect on the optical characteristics of the layer is large, and the phenomenon of impairing the display quality appears, such as the display color of the liquid crystal display changing or the occurrence of interference fringes (moire) on the display screen.

  In contrast, the present invention uses a liquid crystal material 15 of an IPS mode in which the influence of the thickness variation of the liquid crystal layer on the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer is small, and the display color of the liquid crystal display changes when the switch is operated. Display defects such as interference fringes (moire) on the display screen are rarely generated, and a good display quality can be maintained at all times.

  In the present embodiment, the transparent electrode 21a for touch input detection is formed on one surface of the transparent substrate 21 and the polarizing plate 16c is formed on the other surface. However, the transparent substrate 21 having such a configuration is used instead. It is also possible to use a polarizing plate 16c having a transparent electrode 21a for detecting touch input as shown in FIG.

  Thereby, the manufacturing man-hour and the material cost are reduced, and the reduction of the manufacturing cost can be realized.

  As described above, the touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element of the present invention uses a liquid crystal having an alignment mode of IPS mode as the liquid crystal material constituting the liquid crystal display element unit. As a result, the following excellent effects were achieved.

(1) The liquid crystal driving transparent electrode may be formed only on one surface of the glass substrate that holds the liquid crystal material. Therefore, each of the pair of glass substrates sandwiching the liquid crystal material has a transparent electrode formed on only one surface, and transparent electrodes on both surfaces (a liquid crystal driving transparent electrode on one surface and a touch input detecting transparent electrode on the other surface). Compared with a conventional touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element, the manufacturing man-hour and the material cost are reduced, and the manufacturing cost can be reduced.
(2) Since the number of transparent electrode layers for driving the liquid crystal is smaller than that of a conventional touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element, the transmittance of light from the backlight is high correspondingly, and a bright liquid crystal display is possible.
(3) In the IPS mode liquid crystal material, the influence of the thickness variation of the liquid crystal layer on the optical characteristics of the liquid crystal layer is small. Therefore, the display color of the liquid crystal display changes due to the operating pressure when the switch is operated, and there are almost no display problems such as interference fringes (moire) on the display screen, maintaining good display quality at all times. can do.

It is a lineblock diagram of an embodiment concerning the present invention. It is explanatory drawing of the liquid crystal display of the Example form concerning this invention. It is a figure which shows the state at the time of input operation of embodiment concerning this invention. It is explanatory drawing which shows the state which changed a part of embodiment concerning this invention. It is a block diagram of a prior art example.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Touchscreen integrated liquid crystal display element 10 Liquid crystal display element part 11 Glass substrate 11a Transparent electrode for liquid crystal drive 11b Alignment film 11c Polarizing plate 12 Glass substrate 12a Transparent electrode for touch input detection 12b Alignment film 13 Seal material 14 Gap control material 15 Liquid crystal material 16c Polarizing plate 17 Display screen 18 Switch menu 20 Touch panel portion 21 Transparent substrate 21a Transparent electrode for touch input detection 22 Sealing material 23 Spacer 24 Gas 30 Backlight

Claims (5)

Comprising a first substrate, a second substrate, and a third substrate;
The first substrate includes a transparent electrode for driving a liquid crystal and an alignment film on a surface facing the second substrate and facing the second substrate,
The second substrate faces the first substrate and the third substrate and has an alignment film on the surface facing the first substrate, and on the surface facing the third substrate. With one transparent electrode for touch input detection formed in a predetermined shape,
The third substrate includes the other transparent electrode for touch input detection formed in a predetermined shape on a surface facing the second substrate and facing the second substrate,
The first substrate and the second substrate are held at a predetermined interval by a gap control material to sandwich the liquid crystal layer,
The second substrate and the third substrate are held at a predetermined interval to sandwich a gas layer,
A touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element, wherein a pair of polarizing plates is provided on outer surfaces of the first substrate and the third substrate.   The touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate is made of borosilicate glass. The touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element according to claim 1, wherein the gap control material is dispersed at a density of 100 / mm ² .   4. The touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element according to claim 3, wherein the gap control material is mainly made of acrylic resin, borosilicate glass, or silica.   The liquid crystal layer exhibits parallel alignment by an alignment process in which liquid crystal molecules are applied to the alignment film, and alignment control is performed by in-plane switching of the liquid crystal driving transparent electrode formed only on the first substrate. The touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display element is a touch panel integrated liquid crystal display element.

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