JP2012103867A - Portable electronic paper - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a portable electronic paper including an information display panel body with a touch type switch sensor which does not damage or stain a screen for information display by operation of a touch switch.SOLUTION: An information display panel includes display means for displaying information by electrical control between two substrates disposed facing each other, at least one of which is transparent. On a rear surface side substrate on the opposite side to the information displaying side of the information display panel, a touch switch type sensor is disposed toward the outside.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic paper provided with a touch switch sensor (hereinafter also simply referred to as a “touch switch”) on a back side substrate of an information display panel, and more particularly to an electronic paper in which a display screen is held by hand. The present invention relates to a portable electronic paper that improves the visibility of an information display panel on the observation side by enabling a display rewriting operation without touching the display screen of the display panel.

  Conventionally, a display medium that can be electrically driven is sealed between two substrates facing each other, and the display medium is electrically controlled to drive between the substrates to display information such as an image. A panel is known (for example, Patent Document 1).

  Furthermore, there is known a touch panel provided as a touch switch for various operations including switching of display information on the main body of such an information display panel. These are known as a touch panel provided on a surface substrate on the information display side or a back substrate on the opposite side to the information display side (for example, Patent Document 2). Even the operation of the touch panel was executed on the screen displaying information.

JP2007-148381 JP 2009-025644 A

  As described above, since all of the conventional touch switch (touch panel) operations are performed on a screen displaying information, for example, as shown in FIG. In some cases, the display screen is damaged, and as shown in FIG. 11 (b), when the operation is performed with a finger, the fingerprint or the oil stain on the fingertip adheres to the display screen and the display screen is soiled. There was a problem.

  As a second problem, if the information display panel is made flexible as in Patent Document 2, the touch switch can be operated over the information display panel. In this case, however, FIG. As shown in the figure, the finger presses the display screen, and there is still a problem that fingerprints or fingertip oil stains adhere to the display screen, and the display screen is soiled.

  The present invention advantageously solves the above-mentioned problems in portable electronic paper. In portable electronic paper provided with a touch switch sensor in the information display panel body, a screen for displaying information by operating a touch switch is provided. The purpose is to propose a portable electronic paper that will not be damaged or soiled.

That is, the gist configuration of the present invention is as follows.
1. An information display panel comprising a display means for displaying information by electrical control between two substrates that are arranged so that at least one of them is transparent,
A portable electronic paper, characterized in that a touch switch sensor is disposed on the back substrate opposite to the information display side of the information display panel so as to face outward.

2. 1. The portable electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the touch switch sensor is provided on a back side substrate of the information display panel as either a capacitive touch panel or a resistive touch panel.

3. The portable electronic paper according to 1 or 2, wherein the touch switch type sensor functions by dividing an area for each function.

4). 3. The portable electronic paper as set forth in 3 above, wherein the touch switch sensor divided into regions for each function is provided with irregularities as symbols for identifying the regions.

5). 2. The portable electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of membrane switches are provided as the touch switch type sensor at intervals.

6). 5. The portable electronic paper as set forth in 5 above, wherein unevenness serving as a symbol for identifying each region of the plurality of membrane switches is provided.

7). A touch switch type sensor is provided on the back side substrate of the information display panel provided with display means for displaying information by electrical control between the substrates in which at least one of the substrates is transparently disposed, and the display Portable electronic paper of a size that can be held at least with both hands, with a connector for connecting with an external driving device for driving means,
The portable electronic paper according to any one of 1 to 6, wherein an operation for displaying information can be executed in a state connected to the external driving device.

  According to the present invention, a touch switch type sensor is provided on a back-side substrate of an information display panel having display means for displaying information by electrical control between two substrates that are transparent at least one substrate. A portable electronic paper having a size that can be held with at least both hands, and the touch switch sensor is provided with the sensing surface facing outward, so that the touch switch sensor is a screen for displaying information. It can be operated from the back side of the screen, not from the side. Therefore, there is no possibility that the screen displaying information is damaged or soiled.

(A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating an example of the information display panel with which the electronic paper of this invention uses the particle group containing the charging particle as a display medium with a display memory property, respectively. is there. (A), (b) is for demonstrating the other example of the information display panel with which the electronic paper of this invention uses the particle group containing a charging particle as a display medium with a display memory property, respectively. FIG. These are the figures for demonstrating the further another example of the information display panel with which the electronic paper of this invention using the particle group containing a charging particle as a display medium with display memory property is equipped. These are the figures for demonstrating the further another example of the information display panel with which the electronic paper of this invention using the particle group containing a charging particle as a display medium with display memory property is equipped. These are figures for demonstrating the structural example of the portable electronic paper of this invention. FIG. 1 illustrates an example of electronic paper using either a capacitive touch panel or a resistive touch panel provided on the entire rear surface of an information display panel as a touch switch sensor according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. Is another example of electronic paper using either a capacitive touch panel or a resistive touch panel provided on the entire back surface of the information display panel as a touch switch sensor, which is the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating. These are the figures for demonstrating an example of the electronic paper which used the several membrane switch provided in the back whole surface of the information display panel which is 2nd Embodiment of this invention as a touch switch type sensor. (A), (b) is an example of the electronic paper provided with the connector for electrically connecting with a drive device which is a suitable example of this invention of the structure which made the drive device a separate body, respectively FIG. It is a block diagram for demonstrating the method of rewriting and switching operation | movement of the display screen of an information display panel by connecting the portable electronic paper of the suitable example of this invention with a drive device. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating the display rewriting and display switching which are respectively performed using the touch switch type sensor with the conventional electronic paper. These are the figures for demonstrating the other display rewriting and display switching which are performed using the touch switch type sensor with the conventional electronic paper.

  The present invention will be described below. The present invention is a thin information display device called a so-called electronic paper, which is provided with an information display panel capable of displaying information by electrically driving a display medium. An electronic paper having a configuration in which a drive unit for driving a display medium is mounted on an information display panel, or separated from a drive unit for driving a display medium, and electrically connected to an external drive unit For example, the electronic paper is configured with a connector for taking it. In the case where a display medium having a display memory property is adopted, after displaying information such as an image, the electronic paper can be used separately from the driving device.

<About the information display panel of the present invention>
First, among the information display panels provided in the electronic paper of the present invention, an example of an information display panel having a display memory property using a particle group containing a chargeable particle as a display medium, its basic structure and operation principle Will be described with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1B, 2A, 2B, 3, and 4. FIG.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, at least two types of display media (in this case, including negatively charged white particles 3Wa) configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. A white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including positively-charged black particles 3Ba are shown) in each cell 7 formed of the partition walls 4, the substrate 1 on the back side. A pair of pixel electrodes formed by opposing crossing (preferably opposing orthogonal crossing) of the electrode 5 (stripe electrode) provided on the transparent electrode 6 and the transparent electrode 6 (stripe electrode) provided on the observation-side substrate 2 having at least a transparent display screen region. The substrate is moved between the substrates 1 and 2 in accordance with an electric field generated by applying a voltage between them. Then, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer as shown in FIG. 1A, 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. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. Reference numeral 8 denotes an adhesive. Furthermore, here, an example is shown in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence, but cells and pixels (dots) need not have a one-to-one correspondence. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or be evacuated. Moreover, you may fill with an insulating liquid.

  In the example shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, at least two types of display media (here, including negatively charged white particles 3Wa) configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability are included. The electrode provided on the substrate 1 in each cell formed by the partition walls 4 is a white display medium 3W configured as a particle group and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including positively charged black particles 3Ba). 5 (pixel electrode with TFT (thin film transistor)) and an electric field generated by applying a voltage between the transparent electrode 6 (common electrode) provided on the substrate 2 on the observation side where at least the display screen area is transparent, Move between the substrates 1 and 2. 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. Is displayed in a matrix with black and white dots. Reference numeral 8 denotes an adhesive. Furthermore, here, an example is shown in which cells and pixels (dots) have a one-to-one correspondence, but cells and pixels (dots) need not have a one-to-one correspondence. Furthermore, although the inside of the cell is filled with air here, it may be filled with another gas or be evacuated. Moreover, you may fill with an insulating liquid.

  The example shown in FIG. 3 shows a modified example of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, in which two types of display media are enclosed in a microcapsule 10 together with a transparent insulating liquid 9, and the microcapsules are arranged between electrodes. This is the configuration. Information can be displayed in the same manner as the information display panel shown in FIG.

  The example shown in FIG. 4 shows a modified example of the configuration shown in FIG. 2, in which two types of display media are used as a white display medium (white particle group) 3W and a blue display medium (blue insulating liquid) 9BL. It is the structure enclosed in the cell between attached substrates. The white particle group 3W is moved between the substrates, the white particle group 3W moved to the observation side is visually recognized by the observer, the white display is moved, the white particle group is moved to the back side, and the blue insulating liquid 9BL is The blue display is made visible to the observer, and the matrix is displayed with white and blue dots.

Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the electronic paper of the present invention will be described.
FIG. 5 is a view for explaining the structure of the electronic paper according to the first embodiment of the present invention. In this example, an information display panel using the basic structure shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is used, and the same members as the examples shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B are used. The same reference numerals are given and the description thereof is omitted. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 11 is an information display panel, and 12 is a touch switch sensor.

  The touch switch type sensor 12 is disposed on the back side of the information display panel with its sensing surface facing outward. The touch switch sensor 12 is adhered to the back side of the information display panel with an adhesive (not shown).

In the electronic paper according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the touch switch sensor 12 is disposed over the entire back side of the information display panel as shown in FIG.
In addition, the electronic paper of the present invention is a size that can be held with one hand or with both hands so that the entire touch switch sensor 12 can be touched with a fingertip that is turned to the back side when the hand is held by the hand. .

  In the electronic paper according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 6, the entire sensing surface of the touch switch type sensor 12 is used to move from an arbitrary start point to an arbitrary end point while touching with a finger. The function determined according to the moving direction can be performed. For example, move the touched fingertip left, right, up, down, or diagonally to scroll the screen in the moving direction, or enlarge the display image by widening the fingertip interval from the point touched with two fingertips The display image can be reduced by narrowing the interval between the fingertips with the point touched by two fingertips as a base point. As described above, if a function that can be operated by touching and moving is determined, an operation desired to be performed can be performed using the entire surface of the touch switch type sensor 12 on the back side.

In the electronic paper according to the first embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 7, the sensing surface of the touch switch sensor 12 is functionally divided, and the entire surface of the touch switch sensor 12 is divided into a plurality of divided regions. Switch. In this case, it is preferable that the area of the divided region serving as a switch for each function is larger than the area of the fingertip.
In addition, it is preferable that a position detection unit is not provided in a width area of at least 1 mm or more between the boundary areas of each divided area, and the area does not have a switch function. This is because an erroneous operation of the switch can be prevented. Further, in this case, an unevenness serving as a symbol that can be recognized by touching with a fingertip may be provided on the sensing surface of each switch position.

  The touch switch type sensor 12 used in the electronic paper of the first embodiment of the present invention is preferably a resistive film type or a capacitance type, but a matrix switch type or a surface acoustic wave type can also be adopted.

  In the resistance film method, when a voltage is applied to one of two opposing resistance films, a voltage corresponding to the operated position is generated on the second sheet. By detecting the voltage, the place operated as an analog quantity can be detected.

  The electrostatic capacity method detects a position by capturing a change in electrostatic capacity between the fingertip and the conductive film. Since electrostatic coupling occurs just by moving the finger close to the sensor surface, it is possible to display a cursor before contact. What is held down needs to be a finger or an electrostatic conductive material equivalent to the finger.

  In the matrix switch system, switches with electrodes arranged like a grid pattern are arranged, and when an operation is performed by pressing a part of the surface, the upper and lower two layers of electrodes come into contact with each other to form an electric circuit. This is a mechanism for detecting vertical and horizontal positional information.

  The surface acoustic wave method is also called an ultrasonic method, and the position is detected by the following principle. First, piezoelectric elements are attached to a plurality of corners of a substrate such as highly rigid glass to generate vibration waves. When touching the board, it becomes a fixed point, and the vibration wave is absorbed there and part of it rebounds. The rebound is detected by the generation of the voltage of the piezoelectric element. Each reflection time can be measured and the place where the finger etc. contacted can be detected. It is also robust in structure and can have a long service life. As with the resistive film system, what is pressed is not necessarily a finger.

In the electronic paper according to the second embodiment of the present invention, as shown in FIG. 8, a plurality of touch paper sensors 12 are arranged with the sensing surface on the outside. Each touch switch sensor 12 is used as a switch for each function. As the touch switch sensor 12 in this case, a membrane switch is preferable. It is preferable that the area of each membrane switch serving as a switch for each function is larger than the area of the fingertip.
Moreover, it is preferable to provide an interval of at least 1 mm between the membrane switches. This is because an erroneous operation of the switch can be prevented. Further, in this case, an unevenness serving as a symbol that can be recognized by touching with a fingertip may be provided on the sensing surface of each switch position.

  Membrane switches, for example, have two types of contact patterns (upper contact sheet and lower contact sheet) formed by printing a conductive ink on a polyester film on a silk screen, and an insulator (spacer) with a hole between them. It is a touch switch type sensor having a switch configuration in which the upper contact is pressed and conducted by pressing the upper contact.

  As described above, according to the electronic paper of the present invention described above, the touch switch sensor 12 is disposed on the back side with the sensing surface facing outward, so that the touch switch sensor 12 can be moved from the display screen side for observing information. However, since it can be operated from the back side, there is no possibility of damaging or soiling the screen displaying information.

Next, as a suitable example of the electronic paper of the present invention, an electronic paper having a configuration in which display rewriting or display switching is performed by being electrically connected to a driving device will be described.
FIG. 9A is a diagram schematically showing an electronic paper as a preferred example of the present invention. FIG. 9B is a block diagram for explaining an example of the configuration of the electronic paper shown in FIG. In the figure, reference numeral 11 is an information display panel, 12 is a touch switch type sensor, 13 is a driver IC for electrically controlling the drive of the display medium, 14 is a serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means, and 15 is an electrical connection with the drive device. The electronic paper 20 is constituted by these connectors.
A chip of the driver IC 13 is mounted on the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper shown in FIG. The driver IC 13 is a method for directly mounting on the substrate of the information display panel, a flexible substrate (tape carrier package: sometimes referred to as TCP) on which the driver IC 13 is mounted, and a flexible cable on which the driver IC 13 is mounted. It is mounted by a method of mounting on the substrate of the panel 11.

In the information display panel having the configuration shown in FIG. 9, at least two driver ICs 13 (for column electrodes and row electrodes) are used for column electrodes and row electrodes, and these driver ICs and serial-parallel bidirectional are used. A parallel data signal obtained by converting the serial data signal received from the driving device side is transmitted between the parallel ports of the conversion means 14. At this time, one serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 is arranged for a plurality of driver ICs, and one connection terminal connector to the driving device is arranged at the tip of the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14. It can also be set as the structure to do. Further, serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 is arranged for each of the plurality of column electrode driver ICs and the plurality of row electrode driver ICs, and further, before the plurality of serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14, It is also possible to adopt a configuration in which connection terminal connectors with the driving device are respectively arranged.
In the former, only one serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 and one connection terminal connector are required, but at least the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector is required for the number of driver ICs. In the latter, serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 and connection terminal connectors are required at least as many as the number of driver ICs, but the number of connection terminals of the connection terminal connector 15 is one for data transmission and one for ground connection. Just two books. Therefore, either one may be selected and adopted in consideration of the ease of attaching / detaching the electronic paper to / from the driving device and the rewriting speed at the time of rewriting information.

  Further, the touch switch sensor 12 and the parallel port of the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 are connected in parallel so that parallel signals can be transmitted. In this case, the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 dedicated to the touch switch type sensor 12 may be used, or the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 14 for the driver circuit 13 may be shared. In the case of exclusive use, a signal line dedicated to the touch switch type sensor 12 is formed in the connection terminal connector 15, and in the case of sharing, the signal line for the driver circuit of the connection terminal connector 15 is shared.

According to the electronic paper 20 shown in FIG. 9, when displaying information or transmitting a display rewriting signal or a display switching signal input by the touch switch type sensor 12, the electronic paper 20 is used using the connection terminal connector 15. Is connected to a driving device (an example of a separate device, not shown here) to display the above information, and the function of display rewriting and display switching is arranged on the back side of the electronic paper. The sensor 12 can be operated with a fingertip turned to the back side of the electronic paper. In addition, an information display panel that uses display memory as the display medium is installed, so that the display memory characteristics of the display medium can be used to maintain the displayed information and disconnect from the drive unit. The electronic paper can display information independently.
FIG. 10 is a block diagram for explaining an example when the electronic paper 20 of the present invention shown in FIG. 9 is electrically connected to a driving device. The example shown in FIG. 10 shows a method of using the electronic paper 20 by connecting it to the driving device 30. In this example, since the electronic paper 20 has the same configuration as the example described based on FIGS. 9A and 9B, the description thereof is omitted here.

In the example illustrated in FIG. 10, the operation of the touch switch sensor for information display, information rewriting and display switching is performed in a state where the electronic paper 20 and the driving device 30 are electrically connected. The same members as those in the above example are indicated by the same reference numerals, 21 is a connector, 22 is a serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means, 23 is a CPU, 24 is a power supply means, and 25 is a memory. The drive apparatus 30 is comprised by this.
The driving device 30 is connected to the connector 21 of the electronic paper 20 and the connector 21, connected to the connector 21, serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 22 that converts a parallel signal and a serial signal bidirectionally, and serial-parallel bidirectional. The CPU 23 performs transmission / reception of signals to / from the conversion means 22 and controls the entire drive device 30; the power supply means 24 connected to the CPU 23; and the memory 25 connected to the CPU 23 for storing various data. Although not shown, the driving device 30 further boosts the data signal to a voltage level necessary for driving the display medium, a logic controller for controlling the electric signal supplied to the driver IC in accordance with information to be displayed. A booster circuit and a communication means that can receive at least data from the outside can also be provided.

Conventionally, transmission and reception of data signals in the driving device 30 are performed in parallel in consideration of the transmission speed. That is, the CPU 23 transmits the parallel signal to the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 22. The serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 22 converts the received parallel signal into a serial signal, and transmits the converted serial signal to the electronic paper 20 via the connectors 21 and 15. On the other hand, a serial signal (display rewriting signal or display switching signal input by the touch switch sensor 12) from the electronic paper 20 is supplied to the serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 22 via the connector 21. The serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means 22 converts the received serial signal into a parallel signal, and supplies the converted parallel signal to the CPU 23.
The connectors 15 and 21 may be assigned terminals for serial signals and one ground, and the number of terminals can be reduced as compared with the case of transmitting parallel signals. For example, a connector having four terminals such as a commercially available USB connector can be adopted, and in an extreme example, a connector having two terminals of a data signal line and a ground terminal line can be used. The smaller the number of terminals of the connector, the easier the connection is. On the other hand, since it takes time to transmit the data signal and it takes time to rewrite the display, the number of terminals is in the range of 4 to 16. It is preferable to do.

Further, as the driving device 30, a portable terminal represented by a mobile phone, a personal computer (PC), or the like can be adopted.
In the case where the driving device 30 is a mobile phone, a function for displaying information on the display screen of the mobile phone is given, but as a means necessary for connecting and driving the information display of the present invention, It is necessary to add at least the logic controller, the booster circuit, and the parallel-serial conversion means described above. Since these functions are small and lightweight, the mobile phone can be made into a small and lightweight drive device and does not interfere with the portability of the mobile phone, so it is easy to carry with the information display. Information that is difficult to see on a small screen such as a display screen can be made easier to see on the information display screen by connecting a separate large screen information display.

  In the above-described example, the information display panel mounted on the electronic paper uses the passive drive type that transmits signals to the plurality of stripe electrodes shown in FIG. 1, but the information display panel shown in FIG. Even in the case of using an active drive type utilizing the above, the signal transmitted to the electrode with TFT can be processed in the same manner as in the above-described example.

As described above, according to the first embodiment of the present invention, the touch switch sensor is provided on the entire surface of the back side substrate of the information display panel as either a capacitive touch panel or a resistive touch panel. So, by touching and moving the touch switch sensor from any start point to any end point, you can perform a function that is determined according to the moving direction, or you can change the touch switch sensor for each function. It can be divided into areas and operated to function.
Furthermore, according to the second embodiment of the present invention, the touch switch sensor is used as a membrane switch, and a plurality of membrane switches are provided on the back side substrate of the information display panel with a space between each other. Since it was made to operate and operate, it can be operated for each function of each switch on the back side. As a suitable example of the first embodiment and the second embodiment of the present invention, the switch function is provided on the touch surface of each divided area of the touch switch type sensor that is divided into the areas for each function and operated. There is a case where unevenness is provided as a symbol for identification. Thereby, the area to be operated can be reliably identified, a touch operation without any mistake can be performed, and a suitable display switching operation can be performed.

  Furthermore, as a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the back side substrate of the information display panel having a display means for displaying information by electrical control is provided between the substrates on which at least one is transparent and two substrates are arranged to face each other. A portable electronic paper having a switch type sensor and a connector for connecting to an external driving device for driving the display means and having a size that can be held by at least both hands, and connected to the external driving device In this state, the information display operation can be executed. Since this electronic paper is not equipped with a driving device for driving the information display panel, the entire electronic paper can be configured to be thin and lightweight, and is excellent in portability. Even when the driving device is large, it is possible to execute an operation related to display rewriting by electrically connecting to the driving device via the connector of the electronic paper. After displaying information on the electronic paper, the electronic paper can be carried by disconnecting the connection between the electronic paper and the driving device.

Next, each member of the information display panel provided in the present invention will be described.
<About the information display panel>
The substrate of the information display panel can be composed of two flexible substrates 1 and 2. Such a configuration is preferable because it can be an information display panel suitable for electronic paper that is thin, light, and excellent in portability. For the substrates 1 and 2 of this information display panel, resin sheets such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), and polyethersulfone (PES) are preferably used. Although a glass substrate can be used, it may be easily broken, and a resin sheet is preferable for portable electronic paper. At least the display screen region is transparent on the front side that is the observation surface. Even if it is on the front surface side as the observation surface, it may not be transparent as long as it is outside the display screen area. Moreover, the board | substrate used for a back side may be transparent, and does not need to be transparent.

  The thicknesses of the substrates 1 and 2 are preferably in the range of 25 μm to 200 μm. If the thickness exceeds 200 μm, the electronic paper of the information display panel cannot be made thin, and there is a risk that the portability may be impaired. On the other hand, if the thickness is less than 25 μm, handling during manufacture becomes difficult. It is preferable to provide a hard coat layer on the outermost surface of the transparent display screen area of the substrate 2 on the observation side in order to prevent damage from the outside. A general hard coat material can be used for the hard coat layer.

  A partition wall used as a spacer for securing a gap between two substrates of an information display panel and a partition wall provided for forming a cell for storing a particle group serving as a display medium are formed by a photolithography technique using a resist material. Form. As the resist material, a dry film resist material is preferable in terms of handling. For example, Alfo NIT2 (manufactured by Nichigo Morton) or PDF300 (manufactured by Nippon Steel Chemical Co., Ltd.) is used as the dry film resist material.

  In the above partition wall, the width of the partition wall serving as a spacer for securing the gap between the substrates is preferably in the range of 20 μm to 100 μm, and the width of the partition wall for cell formation is preferably in the range of 5 μm to 30 μm. In addition, the height of the partition walls is in the range of 5 μm to 100 μm, and the height of the partition walls is in the range of 10 μm to 100 μm in the information display panel using the particle group including the chargeable particles as the display medium. Is preferred. As the spacer for securing the inter-substrate gap, in addition to the partition wall, a dot spacer such as a columnar spacer or a spherical spacer can be used.

<About electrode materials>
When an electrode is provided on the information display panel provided in the information display device of the present invention, the electrode is formed by using metals such as aluminum, silver, nickel, copper, and gold, indium tin oxide (ITO), indium oxide, and zinc. Transparent conductive metal oxides such as doped indium oxide (IZO), aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tin oxide (ATO), conductive tin oxide, conductive zinc oxide, polyaniline, polypyrrole, conductive polymer Transparent conductive polymers such as polythiophenes such as certain PEDOT: PSS (poly- (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) -poly- (styrenesulfonate)) are exemplified and used as appropriate.
As a method for forming an 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 mixing a conductive agent with a solvent or a synthetic resin binder. The method of apply | coating is used.
An electrode provided on the substrate of the information display panel and provided in the display screen region of the substrate on the observation side needs to be transparent, but an electrode provided in other regions does not need to be transparent. In any case, the above-mentioned material that can be patterned and is electrically conductive can be suitably used. In addition, the electrode thickness should just be able to ensure electroconductivity, Preferably it is 0.05 micrometer-10 micrometers, More preferably, it is 0.1 micrometer-5 micrometers.
Electrodes provided on the substrate of the information display panel, and the materials and thicknesses of the electrodes provided on the display screen area of the substrate on the observation side are determined in consideration of light transmittance in addition to those described above. Transparent conductive metal oxides such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium oxide, zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), antimony tin oxide (ATO), conductive tin oxide, and conductive zinc oxide Transparent conductive polymers such as polythiophenes such as polyaniline, polypyrrole, and PEDOT: PSS (poly- (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) -poly- (styrenesulfonate)), which are conductive polymers, are selected as appropriate. Used.

<About display media>
When using a particle group containing a chargeable particle as the display medium, the display medium particle may contain a charge control agent, a colorant, an inorganic additive, etc., as necessary, in the resin as the main component. Can do. In addition to the particle group including the chargeable particles, for example, conductive particles, cholesteric liquid crystal, or the like may be used. It is also possible to adopt a method of rotating and displaying particles with two colors and different charging polarities by an electric field, or a method of changing the phase state by applying a voltage to the cholesteric liquid crystal. By adopting the display medium and the display method described above, it is possible to obtain a display memory property that maintains a state once displayed until it is rewritten next time.
Therefore, these display media and display methods are suitable for use as electronic paper. Among them, the method of moving the particle group containing the charged particles in the gas (including vacuum) has a mechanism in which the particle group adheres to the moved substrate on the inner surface of the information display panel where the particle group is arranged. Since high display memory property is obtained, it is particularly preferable.

The electronic paper of the present invention is provided with a touch switch type sensor on the back side of the information display panel, and is designed to have a size that allows a finger to reach the entire back side when held with one or both hands (A4 size or smaller), Since the touch switch sensor can be operated with the fingertip turned to the back side of the electronic paper, it is suitable for use as portable electronic paper that is operated with one hand or both hands.
In the electronic paper of the present invention, since the touch switch type sensor is operated by blind touch, an interval is provided in the arrangement of the switch function, and the boundary area of each switch function is adjacent to the boundary area without providing the position detection function Prevents mistakes in pressing between switches, prevents gaps between adjacent switches by providing gaps in the placement of switches for each function, and identifies each function switch placed with its fingertip on the surface Concavities and convexities that can be used as symbols are provided to prevent erroneous pressing between adjacent switches.
Further, according to the present invention, when the electronic paper is easily detachable from the driving device (display information rewriting device), the electronic paper can be used by being electrically connected to the driving device via the connector. In this case, a notebook personal computer, an electronic notebook, a personal digital assistant PDA (represented as Personal Digital Assistant or Personal Data Assistant), a mobile phone, a handy terminal, a portable media player, or the like is used as a driving device. It is also possible to do so. When the electronic paper of the present invention is used in connection with these devices, the electronic paper of the present invention can be used as a main display for these portable devices and can also be used as a sub display with low power consumption. It is.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Back side board | substrate 2 Display side board | substrate 3W White display medium 3Wa Negatively charged white particle 3B Black display medium 3Ba Positively charged black particle 4 Bulkhead 5, 6 Electrode 7 Cell 8 Adhesive 9 Insulating liquid 9BL Blue insulating liquid 10 With insulating liquid Capsule 11 Information display panel 12 Touch switch sensor 13 Driver IC
14 Serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means (electronic paper side)
15 Connector (electronic paper side)
20 Electronic paper 21 Connector (Driver side)
22 Serial-parallel bidirectional conversion means (Driver side)
23 CPU
24 Power supply means 25 Memory 30 Drive device

Claims (7)

An information display panel comprising a display means for displaying information by electrical control between two substrates that are arranged so that at least one of them is transparent,
A portable electronic paper, characterized in that a touch switch sensor is disposed on the back side substrate opposite to the information display side of the information display panel so as to face outward.   The portable electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the touch switch type sensor is either a capacitive touch panel or a resistive touch panel.   The portable electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein the touch switch type sensor functions by dividing an area for each function.   4. The portable electronic paper according to claim 3, wherein the touch switch type sensor divided into regions for each function is provided with unevenness as a symbol for identifying the region. 5.   2. The portable electronic paper according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of membrane switches are provided as the touch switch sensor at intervals.   6. The portable electronic paper according to claim 5, wherein each region of the plurality of membrane switches is provided with unevenness that serves as a symbol for identifying the region. A touch switch type sensor is provided on the back side substrate of the information display panel provided with display means for displaying information by electrical control between the substrates in which at least one of the substrates is transparently disposed, and the display Portable electronic paper comprising a connector for connecting with an external drive device for driving means,
The portable electronic paper according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein an information display operation can be executed in a state connected to the external driving device.

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