JP2010128189A - Information display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display panel which can have its frame made narrow and which constitutes a large screen, having an inconspicuous gap with an adjacent information display panel, especially, even when one large screen is constituted, by arranging a plurality of panels, and to provide a large-screen display system which imparts a sense of unity, as well. <P>SOLUTION: The information display panel displays information of an image etc., at an information display part, by charging a display medium, made of electrically drivable particles between two substrates at least one of which is transparent, and driving the display medium, by applying a voltage to an electrode pair formed, by providing electrodes to substrates opposite each other, the information display part 13 being sealed by closing an inter-substrate opening where lead-out electrodes 18 and 19 connecting with the electrodes forming the electrode pair are present with a sealing agent 15 and also closing an inter-substrate opening, where the lead-out electrodes are absent with a moisture-proof agent 22. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention encloses a display medium composed of electrically drivable particles between two substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and between counter electrodes formed by opposingly arranging electrodes provided on each substrate. The present invention relates to an information display panel that applies a voltage and drives a display medium to display information such as an image on an information display unit.

  Conventionally, a display medium composed of electrically drivable particles is sealed between two substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and a voltage is applied between the counter electrodes formed by opposingly arranging the electrodes provided on each substrate. In an information display panel that applies information and drives a display medium to display information such as an image on an information display unit, the four sides of the panel are surrounded by a sealant, and an opening of the sealant provided on the end surface is sealed An information display panel having a structure in which the information display unit is sealed by sealing with (1) is known (for example, see Patent Document 1).

  FIG. 8 is a view for explaining the structure of an example of a conventional information display panel. In the example shown in FIG. 8, 51 is a transparent front substrate, 52 is a back substrate, 53 is an information display unit formed by providing a counter electrode pair for forming pixels between the front substrate 51 and the back substrate 52, 54 Is a frame rib provided on the outermost four sides of the information display portion 53, 55 is a sealing agent provided on the outer periphery of the frame rib 54, and the opening 56 is sealed with a sealing agent 57. Sealing agent 58 is a routing electrode connected to an electrode (not shown here) provided on the front substrate 51, 59 is a routing electrode connected to an electrode (not shown here) provided on the back substrate 52, and 60 is a front routing. A flexible cable 61 connected to the electrode 58, 61 is a flexible cable connected to the routing electrode 59 on the back surface.

JP 2008-76840 A

  In the conventional information display panel having the above-described structure, as shown in FIG. 9, the sealant 55 is disposed on the four sides, so that the non-display area (so-called frame portion) 62 on the outer periphery of the information display unit 53 becomes large. As a result, there has been a problem that it has not been possible to achieve the narrow frame of the panel, which has been highly demanded in recent years. In particular, as shown in FIG. 10, when four information display panels are arranged in a tile shape and a large screen is to be displayed, there is a gap between the information display panel and the information display panel constituting the large screen. There is a problem that 63 becomes conspicuous and becomes a large screen display method without a sense of unity.

  The object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems and achieve a narrow frame of the information display panel. In particular, even when a plurality of panels are arranged to constitute a single large screen, It is an object of the present invention to provide an information display panel that can form a large screen in which gaps between matching information display panels are not conspicuous, and to provide a large screen display method with a sense of unity.

  The information display panel of the present invention is formed by enclosing a display medium composed of electrically drivable particles between two substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and opposingly arranging electrodes provided on each substrate. In an information display panel that applies a voltage between the counter electrodes and drives a display medium to display information such as an image on the information display unit, an opening between the substrates in which a lead electrode connected to the electrode constituting the counter electrode exists Is sealed with a sealant, and the information display portion is sealed by closing the inter-substrate opening where the routing electrode is not present with a moisture-proof agent.

  As a preferred example of the information display panel of the present invention, each side where the routing electrode connected to the electrode constituting the counter electrode is provided on each substrate is provided at a position adjacent to the panel, and the routing electrode is provided. However, at the end of the other side of the panel that does not exist on either panel substrate, the opening between the frame rib formed on the outermost periphery of the information display unit and the sealing agent provided on the outer periphery is sealed. The sealant provided in the opening between the frame rib and the sealant was processed to flatten the protrusion formed by protruding to the outside of the panel, and the routing electrode, Connecting a flexible cable with a driving IC, connecting a driving IC mounted directly on a substrate to the routing electrode, combining multiple information display panels, and displaying a large screen information table Be a part, there is.

  According to the present invention, one side of the panel on which the routing electrode connected to the electrode constituting the counter electrode is provided on one substrate, and the routing electrode connected to the electrode constituting the counter electrode provided on the other substrate On one side of the panel where there is a sealant, a sealant is provided in the opening between the substrates on the outer periphery of the information display unit, and on the other side of the panel where the routing electrode does not exist on either panel substrate, the end of the panel The information display panel can be narrowed by sealing the information display section by closing the openings between the substrates with a moisture-proofing agent. Even when the screen is configured, it is possible to obtain an information display panel that can configure a large screen in which the gap between one information display panel and another information display panel is not conspicuous. Door can be.

  First, a basic configuration of a charged particle electric field driving system information display panel which is an example of the information display panel of the present invention will be described. In the information display panel, an electric field is applied from a counter counter electrode to a display medium configured as a particle group including charged particles sealed between two opposing substrates. Along with the applied electric field direction, the display medium is attracted by an electric field force or a Coulomb force, and the moving direction of the display medium is switched by a change in the electric field direction, whereby information such as an image is displayed. Therefore, it is necessary to design the information display panel so that the display medium can move uniformly and maintain the stability when the display information is rewritten or when the displayed information is continuously displayed. Here, as the force applied to the particles constituting the display medium, in addition to the force attracting each other by the Coulomb force between the particles, an electric mirror image force between the electrode and the substrate, an intermolecular force, a liquid cross-linking force, gravity and the like can be considered.

  An example of an information display panel of a charged particle electric field drive system that is an object of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a) and (b) to FIGS. 2 (a) and 2 (b).

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), at least two types of display media having different optical reflectivity and charging characteristics (here, configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectivity and chargeability) The white display medium 3W configured as a particle group including the negatively charged white particles 3Wa and the black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including the positively charged black particles 3Ba are shown). In the cell, in response to an electric field generated by applying a voltage to a pixel electrode pair formed by facing an electrode 5 (pixel electrode with TFT) provided on the substrate 1 and an electrode 6 (common electrode) provided on the substrate 2. The substrate 1 and 2 are moved vertically. Then, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 1A, or the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 1B. Are displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. A matrix display of black and white dots can be performed by moving the display medium of each pixel. In addition, in FIG. 1 (a), (b), the partition in front is abbreviate | omitted.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, at least two types of display media having different optical reflectance and charging characteristics (here, configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and charging properties (here) The white display medium 3W configured as a particle group including the negatively charged white particles 3Wa and the black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including the positively charged black particles 3Ba are shown). In the cell, the substrate 1, 2 corresponds to an electric field generated by applying a voltage to a pixel electrode pair formed by the line electrode 6 provided on the substrate 2 and the line electrode 5 provided on the substrate 1 facing each other. And move vertically. Then, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 2A, or the white display is displayed by the observer, or the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 2B. Are displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. A matrix display of black and white dots can be performed by moving the display medium of each pixel. In addition, in FIG. 2 (a), (b), the partition in front is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIG. 3 is a view for explaining the structure of an example of the information display panel of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 3, 11 is a transparent front substrate, 12 is a back substrate, 13 is an information display section formed by providing a partition wall (not shown here) between the front substrate 11 and the back substrate 12, 14 is a frame rib provided on the outermost four sides of the information display section 13, 15 is a sealant provided on the outer periphery of the frame rib 14, and 18 is an electrode constituting a counter electrode provided on the front substrate 11 (here A routing electrode connected to an electrode (not shown here) provided on the rear substrate 12, a flexible cable connected to the routing electrode 18 on the front surface, A flexible cable 21 is connected to the routing electrode 19 on the back surface.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of another example of the information display panel of the present invention. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the same members as those in the example shown in FIG. The example shown in FIG. 4 is different from the example shown in FIG. 3 in that driving ICs 25 and 26 used for applying a driving voltage to each electrode are mounted on each of the flexible cables 20 and 21.

  In the information display panel of the present invention described above, the sealing agent 15 provided on the outer periphery of the frame rib 14 is only two sides where the routing electrodes 18 and 19 are present, and two sides where the routing electrodes 18 and 19 are not arranged. In this case, without providing the sealant 15, the moisture barrier 22 is disposed outside the frame rib 14 and at the end of the panel, thereby closing the opening between the substrates and ensuring the barrier property. The opening 24 generated in the gap between the sealing agent 15 and the frame rib 14 is sealed with a sealing agent 23.

  In addition, it is preferable that the protrusion part of the sealing agent 23 that protrudes outside the panel after sealing is flattened by a process such as polishing (see FIG. 5). Accordingly, when a large screen is configured by combining a plurality of information display panels, it is possible to provide a large screen with a narrow gap between the information display panels.

  In the information display panel of the present invention shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an example in which the sealant 15 is adjacent is shown. However, the configuration is not limited to this configuration from the standpoint of narrowing the frame only. It is also possible to provide a sealing agent 15 on the surface. 3 and 4 show an example in which only one flexible cable or driving IC is connected to each substrate, but the same effect can be expected with the same configuration even when multiple cables are connected. it can.

  In the information display panel of the present invention, as the sealant 15, the moistureproof agent 22, and the sealant 23, any materials conventionally known as a sealant, a moistureproof agent, and a sealant are preferably used. Can be used. For example, as the sealant, a thermosetting or UV curing type used for liquid crystals can be used. As the moisture-proofing agent, Hitachi Chemical's Taffy series can be exemplified. As the sealant, a UV curable resin used for liquid crystal can be used.

  6 and 7 are diagrams for explaining an example of the effect of the information display panel of the present invention. As an example of the effect of the information display panel of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, for the two sides where the routing electrodes 18 and 19 are not arranged, the opening between the substrates on the panel end face is only blocked by the moisture-proof agent 22. Since the sealing agent 15 is not provided, the frame portion 31 can be narrowed in that portion. As another example of the effect of the information display panel of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, four information display panels are arranged in a tile shape so that the sides where the sealant 15 is not provided face each other. In the large screen display method that constitutes a large screen, the gap 32 between the panels is not conspicuous, and a large screen display method with a sense of unity can be achieved.

  Hereinafter, each member which comprises the information display panel of this invention is demonstrated.

  As for the substrate, at least one of the observation side substrates is the transparent substrate 2 from which the color of the display medium can be confirmed from the outside of the information display panel, and a material having high visible light transmittance and good heat resistance is preferable. The substrate 1 may be transparent or opaque. Examples of substrate materials include polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyethersulfone, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polyimide, and acrylic, flexible materials such as metals, glass, quartz, and hard plastics. There are things that are not flexible. The thickness of the substrate is preferably from 2 to 5000 μm, more preferably from 5 to 2000 μm. If it is too thin, it will be difficult to maintain the strength and the spacing uniformity between the substrates, and if it is thicker than 5000 μm, it will be a thin information display panel. Is inconvenient.

  Electrode forming materials include metals such as aluminum, silver, nickel, copper, and gold, indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), indium oxide, and conductive tin oxide. Examples thereof include conductive metal oxides such as antimony tin oxide (ATO) and conductive zinc oxide, and conductive polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole and polythiophene, which are appropriately selected and used. As a method for forming the electrode, a method of forming the above-described materials into a thin film by sputtering, vacuum deposition, CVD (chemical vapor deposition), coating, or the like, or metal foil (for example, rolled copper foil) And a method in which a conductive agent is mixed with a solvent or a synthetic resin binder and applied. Although the electrode provided in the information display part of the display surface side substrate 2 that needs to be transparent on the viewing side needs to be transparent, the electrode provided on the display surface side substrate 2 other than the information display part or the back side substrate 1 The provided electrode need not be transparent. In any case, the above-mentioned material that can be patterned and is electrically conductive can be suitably used. Note that the electrode thickness may be 0.01 to 10 [mu] m, preferably 0.05 to 10 [mu] m, as long as electrical conductivity can be ensured and there is no problem with light transmittance. The material and thickness of the electrode provided on the back side substrate 1 are the same as those of the electrode provided on the display surface side substrate described above, but need not be transparent. Further, the external voltage input to the pixel electrode arranged in the information display unit may be a direct current or a direct current superimposed on a direct current.

The shape of the partition wall 4 forming a cell that accommodates a display medium, which is preferably provided in the information display unit, is optimally set as appropriate depending on the type of display medium involved in display, the shape of the electrode to be arranged, and the arrangement. Is not limited, but the width of the partition is adjusted to 2 to 100 μm, preferably 3 to 50 μm, and the height of the partition is adjusted to 10 to 500 μm, preferably 10 to 100 μm, more preferably 10 to 50 μm, and the same as the gap between the substrates Or lower than the gap between the substrates. In addition, the partition wall part that secures the gap between the substrates is matched with the gap between the substrates.
In forming the partition wall, a both-rib method in which ribs are formed on each of the opposing substrates 1 and 2 and then bonded, and a single-rib method in which ribs are formed only on one substrate are conceivable. In the present invention, any method is preferably used.
The cells formed by the partition walls made of these ribs are exemplified by a square shape, a triangular shape, a line shape, a circular shape, and a hexagonal shape when viewed from the substrate plane direction, and the arrangement is exemplified by a lattice shape, a honeycomb shape, or a mesh shape. The It is better to make the portion corresponding to the cross section of the partition wall visible from the display surface side (the area of the cell frame) as small as possible, and the clearness of the display increases.
Here, examples of the method for forming the partition include a mold transfer method, a screen printing method, a sand blast method, a photolithography method, and an additive method. Any of these methods can be suitably used for the information display panel of the present invention, and among these, a photolithography method using a resist film and a mold transfer method are suitably used.

  The information display panel according to the present invention includes a notebook computer, an electronic notebook, a portable information device called PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a display unit of a mobile device such as a mobile phone and a handy terminal, an electronic paper such as an electronic book and an electronic newspaper. , Billboards such as signboards, posters, blackboards (whiteboards), electronic desk calculators, display units for home appliances, automotive products, card display units such as point cards, IC cards, electronic advertisements, information boards, electronic POPs (Point Of) Presence, Point Of Purchase advertising), electronic price tag, electronic shelf label, electronic score, display part of RF-ID equipment, as well as other electronic equipment display parts such as POS terminals, car navigation devices, watches, etc. It is also suitably used as a display unit (rewritable paper) that is connected to external rewriting means and performs display rewriting. In particular, it is more suitably used for applications in which a large screen display method is performed by combining a plurality of information display panels.

  As the display medium, in addition to the particle group including the charged particles described above, a particle group including conductive particles, a particle group including semiconductor particles, and the like can be electrically driven via an electrode. Various types of display media can be used. As for the driving method of the information display panel of the present invention, a simple matrix driving method and a static driving method which do not use a switching element in the panel itself, a three-terminal switching element represented by a thin film transistor (TFT) or a thin film diode (TFD) The present invention can be applied to an active matrix drive system using a two-terminal switching element represented by the above and an information display panel of various types of drive systems.

(A), (b) is a figure which shows an example of a structure of the information display part of the information display panel of this invention, respectively. (A), (b) is a figure which shows the other example of a structure of the information display part of the information display panel of this invention, respectively. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of an example of the information display panel of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of the other example of the information display panel of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the sealing agent projection part made flat in the information display panel of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the effect of the information display panel of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the effect of the information display panel of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the structure of an example of the conventional information display panel. It is a figure for demonstrating an example of the problem of the conventional information display panel. It is a figure for demonstrating the other example of the problem of the conventional information display panel.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Substrate 3W White display medium 3Wa Chargeable white particle 3B Black display medium 3Ba Chargeable black particle 4 Bulkhead 5, 6 Electrode 11 Front substrate 12 Rear substrate 13 Information display part 14 Frame rib 15 Sealing agent 16, 24 Opening part 18 Front routing electrode 19 Rear routing electrode 20, 21 Flexible cable 22 Moisture-proofing agent 23 Sealing agent 25, 26 Driving IC
31 Frame part 32 Gap between panels

Claims (7)

A display medium composed of electrically drivable particles is sealed between two substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and a voltage is applied between the counter electrodes formed by opposingly arranging the electrodes provided on each substrate. In the information display panel for driving the display medium and displaying information such as an image on the information display unit,
Sealing the information display section by closing the inter-substrate opening where the routing electrode connected to the electrode constituting the counter electrode is present with a sealant, and closing the inter-substrate opening where the routing electrode is not present with the moisture-proofing agent. Characteristic information display panel.   2. The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein each side on which a lead-out electrode connected to an electrode constituting a counter electrode is provided on each of the substrates is provided at an adjacent position in the panel.   An opening between a frame rib formed on the outermost periphery of the information display unit and a sealant provided on the outer periphery of the other side of the panel where the routing electrode does not exist on either panel substrate. The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein the information display panel is sealed with a sealant.   The sealing agent provided in the opening part between the said frame rib and a sealing agent was processed so that the projection part which protruded and formed in the outer side of a panel might be made flat. Information display panel.   The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein a flexible cable having a driving IC is connected to the routing electrode.   The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein a driving IC mounted directly on a substrate is connected to the routing electrode.   The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of information display panels are combined to form an information display unit having a large screen.

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