JPH01500464A - lcd display - Google Patents

Abstract

PCT No. PCT/US87/01756 Sec. 371 Date Mar. 18, 1988 Sec. 102(e) Date Mar. 18, 1988 PCT Filed Jul. 22, 1986 PCT Pub. No. WO88/00717 PCT Pub. Date Jan. 28, 1988.A display comprises an array of a plurality of liquid crystal elements electrically connected in series. The element with the lowest capacitance when energized comprises a liquid crystal material having a positive dielectric anisotropy so that it has a higher capacitance when energized than when non-energized. A second of the elements has a capacitance when non-energized lower than the capacitance of the first element when it is energized. The display can be used for detecting a voltage or an electric field.

Description

[Detailed description of the invention] lcd display The invention relates to large, low current liquid crystal displays, A method of manufacturing and using the above display to detect a voltage or electric field. Regarding how to

It is known in the art to use liquid crystal displays to detect voltages or electric fields. It is disclosed in For example, German Patent Application No. 2,949 by Walter , 561 discloses an analog voltage display using liquid crystals. this liquid A crystal device consists of many liquid crystal regions formed by superimposed electrode patterns. It has a wide range of areas. Each consecutive display area is It is sized so that it is not driven in the same voltage range as the play area. This requirement As a result of this, the individual display area becomes very large, resulting in approximately 5 Multiple display areas above to display higher voltages than different voltages When used, the device requires a larger current for its operation. this This limits the practicality of the device.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,286,210 by Ignatieff describes the Discloses an apparatus for use in detecting the presence of a field. This Ignatieff's The device utilizes a single liquid crystal element with electrodes connected to multiple large metal plates. , at least one of them is grounded via a human operating the device. Ru. Using one liquid crystal element limits the size of the display, which This makes it difficult to observe at a certain distance.

Detection or measurement of voltage or electric fields using liquid crystal devices was also National Patent No. 3.627. 4os, German Patent Application No. 3,219 by Kehl, No. 703, German Patent Application No. 3,308,9 by Norpel/Hangen et al. No. 72, disclosed in German Patent Application No. 3,402,655 by Geri Soch. It is shown. On each side, one liquid crystal display is used and/or The above device can draw large currents if used in practical display sizes. Requires.

I utilize relatively small currents and detect and/or measure voltages or electric fields. liquid crystal displays to produce large displays that can be used for I discovered how to increase the size of the ray.

One concept of the invention includes a liquid crystal display having an array of liquid crystal elements. Well, the above array is (a) Electrostatic charge in an unexcited state that is smaller than the capacitance of any other liquid crystal element mentioned above. When the liquid crystal element has an excited capacitance that is greater than its capacitance in an unexcited state, Equipped with a liquid crystal material having positive dielectric anisotropy such that its capacitance in the state a first liquid crystal element obtained by (b) comprising a second liquid crystal element electrically connected in series with the first liquid crystal element; The capacitance of the second liquid crystal element is smaller than the capacitance of the first liquid crystal element in its excited state. It has a high capacitance in the unexcited state.

Another concept of the invention comprises an array of multiple liquid crystal elements connected in series. A method of manufacturing a display, the method comprising: (a) first and second support parts; (b) a first predetermined pattern of electrodes; providing a first support member; (C) providing said second support member with electrodes in a second predetermined pattern; the first support when the support members are arranged in an overlapping manner; A part of the electrode of the member is overlapped with the electrode of the second support member to form an overlapping area. (d) said first and second patterns are positioned so as to provide said first and second patterns; positioning a layer of liquid crystal material having positive dielectric anisotropy between the support members of; (e) electrodes each of which faces the liquid crystal layer and has a liquid crystal material between the electrodes; The overlapping regions of are connected in series by the overlapping electrodes. arranging the supporting members in a superimposed manner so as to form a plurality of liquid crystal elements; , the array is in an unexcited state smaller than the capacitance of any other liquid crystal element. a first liquid crystal element having a capacitance of , and the first liquid crystal element having a capacitance of a second liquid having a capacitance in an unexcited state that is smaller than the capacitance of the liquid crystal element; (f) forming the resulting structure into a laminate; I can do it.

Another concept of the invention comprises a method of detecting the presence of an electric field in a given region. , the method comprises positioning the liquid crystal display according to claim 1 in the area. and observing an optical state of the liquid crystal display.

Yet another concept of the invention comprises a method of detecting voltage, the method comprising: At least one lead wire of the pressure source is connected to the display according to claim 1. Provides connection via system contact.

FIG. 1 shows a display of the present invention comprising a plurality of liquid crystal elements electrically connected in series. Show the lei, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of the apparatus shown in FIG. 1 above.

FIG. 3 illustrates the use of a display of the invention to detect the presence of an electric field; Figure 4 shows that one terminal of the display is connected to a voltage source with a half ohm contact. FIG. 5 shows the use of the display of the present invention, and shows one of the plurality of liquid crystal elements. The present invention has a larger liquid crystal element than others to provide an indication of voltage level. shows another device of FIG. 6 shows yet another embodiment of the present invention comprising a plurality of liquid crystal elements connected in series. Showing the display.

The display of the present invention includes a plurality of liquid crystal elements electrically connected in series.

The liquid crystal element is electrically powered by means of an electrical conductor such as a wire or the like. It can be a plurality of individual elements that are electrically connected in series. favorable fruit In embodiments, as described below, the display has overlapping electrodes. Therefore, it has a thin plate-like structure including a plurality of mutually connected liquid crystal elements. The above element The electrodes extending between the elements provide greater electrical conductivity between the elements than the connecting wires. Provides a conductive surface with a

Each liquid crystal element includes a set of opposing electrodes with liquid crystal material between the electrodes. less Both are the first liquid crystal element, i.e. when in the non-excited state it is The liquid crystal material in the device with the smallest capacitance has positive dielectric anisotropy. do. In other words, this positive dielectric anisotropy is in the excited state, i.e. when the power is on. The capacitance of the above element when means greater than. Preferably, the liquid crystal used in each of the above elements The material has positive dielectric anisotropy.

The liquid crystal display has a capacitance of the first element in its excited state. and a second liquid crystal element having a capacitance in its unexcited state that is also small. subordinate Therefore, when a certain voltage is applied to the display, to the first element Because of its small capacitance it is first energized and then its static The capacitance will increase due to its positive dielectric anisotropy. Next, the second element The element has a smaller capacitance than the energized first element and its capacitance A voltage redistribution takes place, so that the voltage across the first element has energy added to it. voltage will be lower compared to the voltage that existed before the voltage was applied. by this, The zener operates to protect the first element from being damaged due to overvoltage. - Eliminates the need to provide protective elements such as diodes. If the power supply If the voltage is high enough, preferably high enough (if The elements are also energized or activated. Next, both The other element will be "on", making it easier to observe the change. typically In this case, it is not necessary to activate a plurality of liquid crystal elements at the same time. they are both ends of them It is activated in an out-of-synchronization state so that the voltage is distributed at. As a result, both The total voltage required to activate one liquid crystal element is the threshold value of the liquid crystal element. The threshold voltage can be lower than twice the voltage when the liquid crystal element is turned on. This is the voltage when the voltage is on. If the above liquid crystal elements are not activated at the same time, The elapsed time between the first and second activations is so short that the human eye It is not possible to detect that both are on at the same time.

Preferably, the liquid crystal display includes more than two liquid crystal elements, and preferably at least 5 liquid crystal elements, most preferably at least 10 liquid crystal elements. Equipped with a crystal element. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, a plurality of elements of said array preferably have substantially the same size, and for a plurality of liquid crystal elements. All of them are energized virtually simultaneously when a voltage is applied. available. Therefore, like prior art devices such as Ignatieff's liquid crystal devices, Instead of one visually visible liquid crystal element, many liquid crystal elements are activated. , the display can be easily viewed even at a certain distance. Optimum for liquid crystal elements The number will vary depending on the application.

As will be described in detail later, each liquid crystal element is Size of the largest single liquid crystal element that can be energized by a source It is a part of. However, when these multiple smaller elements are connected in series, When the display is opened, the size of the display is larger than the size of one liquid crystal element.

Also, since each individual liquid crystal element is smaller than one liquid crystal element, it is has an impedance. By connecting individual liquid crystal elements in series, further The above impedance can be increased. As a result, the above display appears. The current required to deliver the energy is greatly reduced, thus requiring low current and large We can supply a wide variety of liquid crystal displays.

Arrays of liquid crystal elements connected in series can be used alone or as “hot” It can be incorporated into devices such as ``To Stick (110j　5tick)''. Ru. A display with the above array may include additional liquid crystal elements. example For example, the display may include multiple arrays and at least one array. The above array may be connected in parallel with another above array.

As mentioned above, for at least the first liquid crystal element, preferably all liquid crystal The liquid crystal material used for the device has positive dielectric anisotropy. to use The liquid crystal materials that are capable of include nematic liquid crystals and smectinok liquid crystals.

They can be separated individual compositions or mixtures. Conventional technique As is known in the art, liquid crystal materials are often used to the extent that they are transparent. for a wide temperature range or easily implemented using one composition. They can be used in mixtures to obtain other desired properties such as They are cyanobiphenyl, benzoate, or Schiff to name a few. It is possible to form a base model. They give a colored optical effect For this reason, it is possible to include a priochroic dye. Optimal nematic liquid Crystalline materials are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,233, which discloses: Incorporated herein by reference.

Leakage current can discharge the voltage across the conductor, which causes the liquid crystal to The above liquid can be prevented from transitioning from the unexcited state to the excited state. The crystalline material preferably has a high volume resistivity, thereby increasing the volume resistivity. This means that the modulus is preferably greater than 1X1010 Ω-cm.

Preferably, the liquid crystal material is also an encapsulated liquid crystal material. be A quantity of liquid crystal material is encapsulated in a confining or encapsulating medium or material. At that time, the liquid crystal material was encapsulated in a capsule. Liquid crystal material encapsulated in a capsule is produced by mixing together the liquid crystal material and the encapsulating medium. where the liquid crystal material does not dissolve and the individual capsules containing said liquid crystal material It makes it possible to form. Preferably, the medium encapsulated in the capsule is , in order to take into account the leakage current mentioned above, the volume resistance is larger than lXl0”Ω-cm. have a rate. The preferred encapsulating medium is poly(vinyl alcohol). It is.

The liquid crystal material encapsulated is either nematic or smectinok. It is possible that Encapsulating nematic liquid crystal material in capsules U.S. Patent No. 4,435,047 (Felgarn) or U.S. Patent No. 4,591 , No. 233 (Fergerson), the disclosure content of which is referred to. included here by.

The encapsulated liquid crystal material can also be smectisoc.

The encapsulated Smektisok liquid crystal material is suitable for certain applications. have the advantage of being , where they can have "memory", i.e. After being excited, that is, after the power is turned on, apply a voltage across the conductor. Even after stopping the process, the material remains on. The above materials are It is possible to return to the unexcited state by heating. Therefore, the existence of an electric field For applications where it is necessary or desired to have semi-permanent instructions. , encapsulated smectisok liquid crystal material is preferred. smectinok liquid A U.S. patent filed on June 3, 1985 describes the encapsulation of crystalline materials in capsules. It is described in Application No. 740゜218 (Fergerson), the disclosure content of which is Incorporated herein by reference.

As used in this specification, the term "liquid crystal material" refers to individual separated liquid crystal materials. compositions, mixtures of liquid crystals, and encapsulated liquid crystals.

The liquid crystal material is located between a pair of opposing electrodes. Generally the electrodes are transparent . However, all that is needed when viewing the underlying liquid crystal material is At least a portion of the electrode passing through the electrode is transparent. using synthetic electrodes when possible, i.e. when the electrodes are made of a material that is transparent only in the viewing area. It is often more convenient to work with electrodes that are transparent in all areas.

A preferred electrode material is indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as ITO).

). Other suitable materials include gold, nickel, chromium, titanium oxide, tin oxide, These are aluminum, antimony tin oxide, and indium oxide.

The electrodes are generally located on a support material. The choice of support material is not critical. stomach. Generally both support materials are transparent. However, all that is needed the support material is at least as large as the underlying liquid crystal material is visible to the naked eye. It is to be transparent in place. Support that is completely transparent when carrying electrodes It may be more convenient to use materials. Also, it is possible to use the above liquid crystal element. Should have sufficient mechanical integrity to support and protect It should be made of electrically insulating material. The above electrodes are directly supported by a suitable adhesive. Preferably, it is adhered to or held firmly to. suitable support The materials are glass and organic polymers, especially thermoplastics, or may otherwise be conveniently manufactured in film or sheet form. including. A preferred support material is available from DuPont under the registered trademark "Mylar". Poly(ethylene terephthalate) is commercially available.

The supporting material is closed to protect and electrically insulate the liquid crystal element inside. Where it is preferred to form a sealed package, such sealing may not be necessary. Not done. For example, the internal materials may not be particularly sensitive to environmental humidity or atmospheric oxygen. On rollers, or where long-term durability is not critical, the above support material may be sealed. There is no need to form a sealed package.

For proper performance, the device of the present invention should be designed with as small a tested electrical configuration as possible. should be assembled in such a way that it is distorted or interfered with by the electric field generated by the element. It is. For example, devices other than electrodes should not have metal or conductive elements. electric The size and shape of the poles and their relative positioning to each other also affect the electric field. Distortion effects should be taken into account. Connect the display to the voltage source, as described below. for the ohmic contact connection of the array to one or more leads of It may also be provided with one or more terminals.

FIG. 1 shows a liquid crystal display of the invention. This device 23 is sealed at each end. It has a sealed upper support member 24 and a lower support member 25. Upper electrode 26 and lower electrode The poles 27 are provided on the inner surfaces of the upper support material 24 and the lower support material 25, respectively. It will be done. A liquid crystal material 28 having positive dielectric anisotropy is in contact with the electrode between the supporting materials. and sandwiched between them. A portion of each upper electrode 26 except the first electrode and the last electrode is overlapped with two different lower electrodes 27 and vice versa. I will be forgotten. In this method, a series of liquid crystal elements 29 are electrically connected in series. is formed. The size of each of the liquid crystal elements 29 is substantially the same. Each of the liquid crystal elements 29 has substantially the same capacitance. All elements are the same Since it is virtually impossible to manufacture also has a small capacitance and will be activated initially. The liquid crystal material has a positive dielectric difference tropism, so as soon as the smallest element is activated, its capacitance increases. In addition, at this time, other unactivated liquid crystal elements are more active than the first element. It will have a small capacitance. At this time, the voltage is redistributed as described above. .

The display of the present invention can be used to detect electric fields including static electricity. It is. Figure 3 shows the present invention, which consists of liquid crystal elements 1 to 1O connected in series. Diagrammatically shows how a bright display is used to detect electric fields. It is shown in Display 11 of the type illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 is located some distance from electrical component 12. If component 12 carries a voltage, the element 12 has an equipotential which decreases by the order of the potential. generate an electric field represented in two dimensions by the lines V, , V, , V, and v4. . The display is such that it extends across at least two equipotential lines. It is set up so that In FIG. 4, the electrode of element l receives a voltage v1, and the element Ten electrodes receive voltage V4. Since the above elements are electrically connected in series, , a voltage is generated across the elements that turns on at least some of them. It will be difficult.

The display of the invention is particularly suitable for detecting the distribution of electrostatic charges. . This is important, for example, in semiconductor manufacturing equipment. smectic liquid crystal material Displays using components and printed circuit boards or similar components and printed circuit boards or It can be used to indicate the history of similar objects being subjected to electrostatic fields. One more In one application, natural gas is transmitted through polymer pipes. The flow of gas through the vibrator may generate static electricity. I'll come. The display should be installed in the spa before entering the vibrator to perform maintenance or repairs. Is there any static electricity distribution that can create a arc and cause the gas to burn? Provided is a service device having convenient means for determining whether or not

Generally, since static electricity is discharged due to the power consumption requirements of the detection means, Detecting static electricity is difficult. However, if the display is high impedance or Since the above display is of power consumption, it is easy to detect static electricity. Can be used.

In detecting voltage, the display of the present invention has a half ohm contact, i.e. Used when one end of the spray is simply connected with ohmic contact to the device to be connected. I can do it. Connect the display to the voltage source with ohmic contact at A1/- above. and has one terminal connected to the liquid crystal elements of the array connected in series. will supply. In this case, connect the free end to the other lead wire of the above voltage source. Connected via a capacitor.

The use of the display of the invention by connecting a half ohm contact to the above voltage source is shown in FIG. It is illustrated in the figure. Figure 4 shows a ball 102 suspended above the ground 103. The high voltage electric wire 101 shown in FIG.

The device 104 of the present invention determines whether or not the wire 101 is generating an electric field; is used to determine whether or not it is in an operational state. The device 104 is an insulating comprising a device 105 of the invention attached to a hot stick 106 for performing . The device 105 includes a terminal 107 for connecting to the electric wire 101 and a plurality of liquid crystal elements ( Individual elements are not shown. ) comprises a display 109 consisting of an array of .

The hot stick is held so that the terminal 107 is in contact with the wire 101, and the hot stick is The crystal element is visually inspected to provide an indication of whether voltage on wire 101 is present. It will be done.

Liquid crystal display with an array of the invention having n liquid crystal elements connected in series rays of the same material and thickness that are operable under the conditions given above. It can be made larger than a display consisting of a single large liquid crystal element. It is possible. In the array for the condition of half-ohm contact with voltage source vs. Identical individual liquid crystal elements are most preferably larger than the largest operable single liquid crystal element. It has been determined that even small coefficients are possible.

, where r is Vs:Vt, where Vt is the threshold value of the liquid crystal element. voltage, that is, the starting voltage for turning on. Each item in A1/- above The array has n individual elements when each element is smaller than the largest operable single element. It has an element of The optimal number n of individual elements was determined to be r/2. There is. The area of the display relative to the area of the largest single liquid crystal element) The resulting improvement is determined by the following equation:

where r is the ratio defined above.

Therefore, for devices used with a voltage source of 5000 kV, as well as The largest possible liquid crystal element has a threshold voltage of 50. individual liquid crystal element The optimum number of children is turned on by 5000 k, V applied with half ohm contact. (5000 is 50). (divided by ) 1/2. Improvement in size is theoretical It is a display that is 25 times larger than a single LCD.

The optimal increase in impedance was determined to be (r-1) and the required The decrease in current is approximately determined by the following equation, or if r)1, then by a factor of determined.

Therefore, the display of the present invention may be used in half-ohm contact applications. When the display is the largest liquid used under comparable conditions. It can be about 25 times larger than the crystal element, but it needs about 1/2 to operate. It is possible that only a current of . These values are determined simply by the method shown. It is understood that it is given by The best display is the most suitable Not required for applications. Reducing the size and/or number of elements will reduce the optimum value. Displays that are approximately 0.75-1.4 times, especially approximately 0.85-1.2 times, are extremely useful in most embodiments.

Connecting the display of the invention directly across the voltage to be detected and/or measured It is possible to connect the voltage source with an ohmic contact, i.e. to a voltage source. This is the above Leads from the voltage source to the series-connected array of liquid crystal elements that form the display. This is done by attaching a wire. Electrodes of liquid crystal elements, generally the last of the array elements can be provided with conventional terminals for this purpose.

The display of the invention can be used to measure the voltage level of a power supply. Ru. For this use, the display has a size in addition to the first and second liquid crystal elements. Equipped with a changing liquid crystal element. This example is explained in detail in Experimental Example 2 and FIG. This will be explained later.

The following experimental examples illustrate various embodiments of the invention.

Experimental example 1 This example demonstrates the preparation of a preferred embodiment with a thin plate structure. This implementation In the example, the liquid crystal material is "sandwiched" between two layers of support material, each support material being A pattern of electrical conductors is supported on the surface facing the liquid crystal material.

A drawing of the desired conductor pattern was created. using conventional photoresist technology , each drawing is made of one piece of transparent support material (Mylar) coated with ITO on one side. transferred onto the sheet. Excessive and undesired ITO is removed; A pattern of ITO conductors was thus left on each sheet. Then that one scene from Tariq Corporation, Mountain View, California. On the conductor side with the liquid crystal material mixed with the obtained medium encapsulated in the capsule. coated. A sticky layer made of a mixture of liquid crystal and the medium contained in the capsule is nourished. was born. For other sheets, the conductor side faces the liquid crystal material and the conductive pattern is appropriate. placed on top of the encapsulated liquid crystal layer to ensure that the Ta. The sheet is then made into a thin plate with multiple liquid crystal units connected in series. thinned by heating in an oven to produce a shaped structure It is made into a plate shape.

This special material is opaque in its unexcited state and transparent in its excited state. be.

Experimental example 2 This experimental example demonstrates the use of the device of the invention for the detection and evaluation of voltage magnitudes. ing.

Referring to FIG. 5, a thin plate shaped device having an upper conductor 32 is shown in FIG. A series of liquid crystal elements 3 electrically connected in series in the same manner as described above in the figure. 4 with the lower conductor 33. (For convenience, The upper and lower conductors 32 and 33 are free of support material and liquid, respectively. The remaining crystal material is removed and the LCD element 34 is labeled. ) Thin plate shape A sample was prepared according to Experimental Example 1. The supporting material is mylar and the liquid crystal material is , U.S. Patent No. 4.435.047, hereby incorporated by reference above. It was encapsulated in a capsule according to the method of The device is located 4 feet above the ground. The corona bell should be positioned 3 inches vertically below the corona bell of the transformer 39 to be installed. (This device was held in place with electrical insulating tape. Special None The voltage of the transformer when the CD element changes (from opaque state to transparent state) The pressure is shown below.

Changing status of LCD unit Transformer voltage (kV) for each of columns 5-11 16 Excluding the two central units all units 45 in each of columns 6-11 Excluding the two central units all units 60 in each of columns 7-11 Excluding the two central uni y) all units 9° in each of columns 8-11 Excluding the two central Uniso) all units (The rows are counted from the top base to the bottom base.) Therefore, which liquid crystal unit, l-, changes Determine the voltage at the transformer by referring to whether it has a can be done.

Experimental example 3 The apparatus of Experimental Example 2 is connected to line 35-35', as shown in FIG.

Cut along 36-36', 37-37' and 38-38', experimental example Two experiments were repeated.

LCD unit Transformer voltage (kV) Left unit of columns 1 and 2; 9 Partially on left side of 5th row 3 and 4 unit Left unit of rows 5 and 6 102 125 on the right side of columns 1-5 some two knits This example experiment shows that when all the liquid crystal elements in the array are electrically connected in series, A higher voltage is required than when they are all connected in series, and Fewer elements are turned on, making it easier to observe the optical state of the display. It shows that you are being shy.

Experimental example 4 This example demonstrates the use of the device of my invention for the detection of static electricity.

To form LCD elements 42 electrically connected in series as shown in FIG. A device having an upper conductor 40 and a lower conductor 41 superimposed on each other is prepared. It will be done. (For convenience, the support material and liquid crystal material are not shown in Figure 6, and the upper base and The LCD element 42 is placed on the label without each of the bottom conductors 40, 41 being present. be attached. ) it is a support material such as mylar prepared according to Example 1. It had a thin plate-shaped structure with -. The liquid crystal material is made by By the method of U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,047, incorporated herein, as mentioned above, (vinyl alcohol) in a capsule. Each element is approximately With a liquid crystal material having a thickness between 10 microns and about 20 microns, the cross-sectional area It was approximately 5 x 5 mm.

A piece of 2 1/4 inch poly(vinyl chloride) vibrator is attached using a cloth. By rubbing the surface of the device, it is charged with static electricity.

Simco Model 5S-2X Static Detection Voltages at Various Points Along the Vibrator measured by a device. Then emit 2 1/2 inches of radiation from the device or vibrator. set at a distance. Where the above detector indicates the presence of a voltage of 7kV or more is transferred anywhere in one or more of the LCD elements of said device. movement was observed.

b Lee-3 f7G-4 I6 5 IG 6 international search report

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal display comprising an array of a plurality of liquid crystal elements, the array comprising: , (a) Electrostatic charge in an unexcited state that is smaller than the capacitance of any other liquid crystal element mentioned above. When the liquid crystal element has an excited capacitance that is greater than its capacitance in an unexcited state, Equipped with a liquid crystal material having positive dielectric anisotropy such that its capacitance in the state a first liquid crystal element obtained by (b) comprising a second liquid crystal element electrically connected in series with the first liquid crystal element; The capacitance of the second liquid crystal element is smaller than the capacitance of the first liquid crystal element in its excited state. The capacitance in the unexcited state is LCD display. 2. The liquid crystal display includes at least five liquid crystal elements, and the elements are electrically connected. 2. The liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal display is connected in series. 3. Claim 2, wherein the liquid crystal element includes a liquid crystal material having positive dielectric anisotropy. display. 4. Claim 3, wherein the liquid crystal material is smectic or nematic. display. 5. Claim 4, wherein the liquid crystal material is a liquid crystal material encapsulated in a capsule. display. 6. The display according to claim 2, wherein the liquid crystal elements have substantially the same size. play. 7. A liquid crystal device comprising a plurality of liquid crystal arrays according to claim 1, comprising: at least one of the arrays is parallel to at least one other of said arrays LCD device connected to. 8. Manufacture a display with an array of multiple liquid crystal elements connected in series A method, the method comprising: (a) providing first and second support members; b) providing said first support member with electrodes in a first predetermined pattern; And, (c) providing said second support member with electrodes in a second predetermined pattern; and when the support members are arranged in an overlapping manner, the first support member A part of the electrode of the holding member is overlapped with the electrode of the second supporting member, and the overlapping area is (d) the first and second patterns are positioned so as to provide a positioning a layer of liquid crystal material having positive dielectric anisotropy between the two supporting members; (e) electrodes each of which faces the liquid crystal layer and has a liquid crystal material between the electrodes; The overlapping regions of are connected in series by the overlapping electrodes. arranging the supporting members in a superimposed manner so as to form a plurality of liquid crystal elements; , the array is in an unexcited state smaller than the capacitance of any other liquid crystal element. a first liquid crystal element having a capacitance of , and the first liquid crystal element having a capacitance of a second liquid having a capacitance in an unexcited state that is smaller than the capacitance of the liquid crystal element; (f) forming the resulting structure into a laminate; A method of manufacturing a display that 9. A method for detecting the presence of an electric field in a given region, the method comprising: positions the liquid crystal display according to claim 1 in the area. and observing an optical state of the liquid crystal display. 10. The display according to claim 1 is provided with at least one lead of a voltage source. A method of detecting voltage comprising connecting wires with ohmic contact.