JPH05264953A - Message card - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain the message card provided with a liquid crystal display part in which orientation of a liquid crystal molecule is stabilized, and which is excellent in shock resistance, strong against damage and excellent in safety by constituting the display part of a display element formed by inserting and holding a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric high polymer liquid crystal by a resin substrate. CONSTITUTION:A main body 1 of the message card is constituted like a rectangular sheet, and almost the whole surface becomes a liquid crystal display part 2. A ferroelectric liquid crystal material 14 for constituting the liquid crystal display part 2 is inserted and held by two pieces of resin substrates 16 provided with a transparent electrode 15, and connected to an IC chip 7 by this transparent electrode 15. On the display surface side of a polarizing plate 18, a touch panel 21 is provided integrally. In this touch panel 21, a substrate 25 provided with a transparent electrode 24 on the lower face is opposed to the upper polarizing body 18 provided with a transparent electrode 23 on the upper face by placing a spacer 26 between them. Also, in the main body 1, the IC chip 7 consisting of a CPU, a memory, an interface, a driving image signal processing circuit for a liquid crystal, and an input signal processing circuit is contained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a message card used as a postcard, congratulatory call, birthday card, etc.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, this kind of message card is made of paper and is disposable. There is also a method of sending a message to the other party by inputting a message on a magnetic tape or a floppy disk. When such a medium is used, it can be reused, but a reproducing device is required separately. Therefore, it is conceivable to construct a message card with a liquid crystal display panel which has been actively used in recent years.

[0003]

However, the liquid crystal display panel using the low molecular weight liquid crystal material currently used has the following problems and it is inappropriate to use it as a message card. Since the liquid crystal itself does not have a memory property, a constant power or more must be supplied at the time of display, which causes a problem of high power consumption. When a shock or pressure is applied to the liquid crystal display panel, the orientation of the molecules is disturbed, so that the liquid crystal display panel must be handled so that a large shock or pressure is not applied, which is inferior in practicality. Since a glass flat plate is used as the substrate, there are problems that the weight becomes heavy and the thickness becomes thick, and if it is broken, the safety is lost.

The present invention has been proposed in order to solve the problems of the prior art. A liquid crystal memory is constructed by using a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal material for a liquid crystal display panel. Good performance, low power consumption, excellent impact resistance, stable alignment of liquid crystal molecules, no glass plate is used as a substrate, so it is light in weight, thin in thickness, and even when shock is applied. It is an object of the present invention to provide a message card having many features such as being resistant to damage and being safe.

[0005]

In order to achieve this object, a message card according to the present invention comprises a liquid crystal display element in which a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal is sandwiched between resin substrates to form a display portion. If necessary, a memory for storing message information is provided, or an input / output terminal for exchanging message information with the outside is provided.

[0006]

According to the structure corresponding to claim 1 described above, it is possible to provide a message card which makes use of various characteristics of the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal, and to display the information written in the memory on the display section. It can be output to the outside, or message information can be exchanged with the outside through an input / output terminal.

[0007]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Specific embodiments of the message card according to the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a schematic perspective view of the message card, and FIG. 2 shows a block diagram of the message card. In these figures,
The body 1 of this message card has a rectangular thin plate shape,
The liquid crystal display unit 2 is entirely covered. This message card is an example used for a postcard, for example. In the main body 1, a CPU 3, a memory 4, an interface 5,
An IC chip 7 including a drive image signal processing circuit 6 for liquid crystal and an input signal processing circuit 20 for touch panel is built in. An input / output terminal 10 to which a signal cable 9 from a personal computer 8 or the like can be connected is provided on one side of the main body 1. Message information input from the input / output terminal 10 is sent to the CPU via the interface 5.
3 is taken in and written in the built-in memory 4. The message information taken into the memory 4 is processed by the CPU 3 when the secret code input key 11 described later is operated, and is displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 2 via the drive image signal processing circuit 6. The information written in the built-in memory 4 can be output to the external personal computer 8 or the like by connecting the signal cable 9 to the input / output terminal 10.

Further, a touch panel 21 is integrally arranged on the upper layer portion of the liquid crystal display unit 2, and information by a pressing operation on the touch panel 21 is taken in and processed by the CPU 3 via the input signal processing circuit 20. It Thus, the message can be directly written on the display unit 2. The message content written on the display unit 2 from the touch panel 21 can be stored in the memory 4 by pressing the registration key 22 on the lower portion of the front surface of the main body 1. At this time, the display on the display unit 2 is erased.

A password input key 11 is provided on the lower portion of the front surface of the main body 1 so that only the person who receives the message card can read the message contents. By inputting the personal identification code from the personal identification input key 11, the message read from the memory 4 can be displayed on the liquid crystal display unit 2.

Further, a solar cell 12 for supplying power to the liquid crystal display section 2, the IC chip 7, etc. is arranged on one side of the front surface section. The output of the solar cell 12 is supplied to the power supply circuit 13 and converted into a stabilized DC power supply for power supply. As the solar cell 12, an inexpensive amorphous silicon type or the like can be used. The power may be supplied from a thin film battery or the like without using the solar cell.

The liquid crystal display section 2 is composed of a liquid crystal display element containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal material described later. As a circuit for driving this liquid crystal display element, a circuit based on a driving method similar to the driving method for a low-molecular ferroelectric liquid crystal can be used. In the case of the dot matrix method, JP-A-1-26
The driving method described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 543 or Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 1-97445 can be used, and a known driving method can be used even in the case of the segment method. Although existing driver driver ICs for TN cells and various general-purpose ICs can be used for these circuit configurations, when a solar battery or a thin battery is used as a power source, it is particularly preferable to use a CMOS IC with low power consumption. ..

FIG. 3 is a partial sectional view connecting the solar cell 12 and the liquid crystal display unit 2 of the message card shown in FIG. Ferroelectric liquid crystal material 14 constituting the liquid crystal display unit 2
Are sandwiched by two resin substrates 16 each having a transparent electrode 15, and are connected to the IC chip 7 by this transparent electrode 15. Reference numeral 17 is an adhesive, and 18 is a polarizing plate. Numeral 19 is a flexible resin case. A touch panel 21 is integrally arranged on the display surface side of the upper polarizing plate 18. The touch panel 21 is configured such that a substrate 25 having a transparent electrode 24 on the lower surface is opposed to an upper polarizing plate 18 having a transparent electrode 23 on the upper surface with a spacer 26 interposed therebetween. The pressed position of the touch panel 21 is detected by the input signal processing circuit 20 as a coordinate position on the display surface, and the CPU 3 processes this position information,
When the touch panel 21 is pressed, characters or the like can be displayed on the display unit 2 immediately. The touch panel 21 can have any structure described in various documents. The touch panel 21 has flexibility and can flex the message card freely. The number of the polarizing plate 18 may be one, and the polarizing plate 18 on the back surface
A reflector may be arranged between the case 19 and the case 19.

The resin substrate 16 is made of, for example, a crystalline polymer such as uniaxially or biaxially oriented polyethylene terephthalate, an amorphous polymer such as polysulfone or polyethersulfone, a polyolefin such as polyethylene or polypropylene, a polyamide such as polycarbonate or nylon. A constructed substrate can be used. By using the flexible resin substrate 16 as described above, the display surface of the liquid crystal display element can be formed into a curved surface, and a liquid crystal display element having a large area and capable of curved surface display can be obtained.

As the electrode 15 formed on the substrate 16, those usually used for liquid crystal display devices can be used, and transparent or semitransparent ones can be used.
For example, a film made of a NESA film or an ITO film can be used. The electrode pattern may be a stripe shape for dot matrix display or a segment display pattern depending on the required display content. Also,
You may mix these patterns.

As a method for sandwiching the liquid crystal composition with the electrode-attached substrate 16, a known method can be applied without particular limitation. In particular, since a flexible substrate is used, the method of continuously applying the liquid crystal composition to the electrode-attached substrate 16 and laminating it on the counter substrate is excellent in productivity. Further, the liquid crystal display device is preferably subjected to horizontal alignment treatment so that the smectic layer normal of the liquid crystal composition is in the vertical direction of the liquid crystal display device. By doing so, the viewing angle in the lateral direction is widened, and the display content can be easily viewed even from an oblique direction. The orientation treatment method is not particularly limited,
Bending orientation method excellent in continuous and high-speed productivity (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-10
No. 322), a mechanical alignment method such as a rubbing film can be eliminated. As the transparent electrode 15, for example, a tin oxide film called an NESA film, an indium oxide film mixed with tin oxide called an ITO film, an indium oxide film, a vapor deposition film of gold or titanium, or another thin metal film. Alternatively, an alloy or the like can be used.

When a liquid crystal display element containing a polymer ferroelectric liquid crystal is used as the liquid crystal material of the liquid crystal display section 2, the strength and durability against external force such as impact or bending can be improved. Further, the memory property of the ferroelectric liquid crystal can be utilized, power consumption can be reduced, and a liquid crystal display element in which the display does not disappear even after the power is turned off can be configured. Examples of the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal include, for example, one or more kinds of ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals, one or more kinds of ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystals, and one or more kinds of ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals. And a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal comprising one or more kinds of ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal and one or more kinds of other polymer liquid crystal. That is, as the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal, the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal (homopolymer or copolymer, or a mixture thereof) in which the polymer molecule itself exhibits ferroelectric liquid crystal characteristics, the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal and other Mixture of high molecular liquid crystal and / or ordinary polymer, mixture of ferroelectric high molecular liquid crystal and ferroelectric low molecular liquid crystal, ferroelectric high molecular liquid crystal and ferroelectric low molecular liquid crystal and high molecular liquid crystal and / or It is possible to use all polymer liquid crystals exhibiting ferroelectricity, such as a mixture with a usual polymer or a mixture of these with a usual low-molecular liquid crystal.

Among ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals, side chain type ferroelectric polymer liquid crystals having a chiral smectic C phase can be preferably used. Further, the ferroelectric liquid crystal composition may contain an adhesive, a viscosity reducer, a non-liquid crystal chiral compound, a dye, etc., if necessary. The thickness of the liquid crystal layer is not particularly limited, but is preferably 1 to 10 μm, and particularly 1.
The thickness is preferably 5 to 3 μm. Examples of the ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer include acrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, methacrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, chloroacrylate main chain liquid crystal polymer, oxirane main chain liquid crystal polymer, siloxane main chain liquid crystal polymer, and siloxane-olefin. A main chain liquid crystal polymer and an ester main chain liquid crystal polymer are included.

[0018]

[Chemical 1]

[0019]

[Chemical 2]

[0020]

[Chemical 3]

[0021]

[Chemical 4]

In the repeating unit of the above-mentioned ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer, the side chain skeleton may be replaced with a biphenyl skeleton, a phenylbenzoate skeleton, a biphenylbenzoate skeleton, or a phenyl 4-phenylbenzoate skeleton. The benzene ring in the skeleton is a pyrimidine ring, a pyridine ring, a pyridazine ring, a pyrazine ring, a tetrazine ring,
It may be replaced with a cyclohexane ring, a dioxane ring or a dioxaborinane ring. It may be substituted with a halogen group such as fluorine or chlorine, or a cyano group, and may be a 1-methylalkyl group, a 2-fluoroalkyl group, a 2-chloroalkyl group, a 2-chloro-3-methylalkyl group, a 2-trifluoro group. Methylalkyl group, 1-alkoxycarbonylethyl group, 2-alkoxy-1-methylethyl group, 2
It may be replaced with an optically active group such as -alkoxypropyl group, 2-chloro-1-methylalkyl group, 2-alkoxycarbonyl-1-trifluoromethylpropyl group. Further, the length of the spacer has a methylene chain length of 2 to 30.
May vary within the range. The number average molecular weight of the ferroelectric liquid crystal polymer is preferably 1,000 to 200,000. Examples of the ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compound include Schiff base-based ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compounds, azo and azoxy-based ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compounds, biphenyl and aromatics ester-based ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compounds, and halogens. Examples thereof include a ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compound having a ring substituent such as a cyano group and a ferroelectric low-molecular liquid crystal compound having a heterocycle.

[0023]

[Chemical 5]

[0024]

[Chemical 6]

[0025]

[Chemical 7]

[0026]

[Chemical 8]

These compounds are representative examples of ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compounds, and the ferroelectric low molecular weight liquid crystal compounds used in the present invention are not limited to these structural formulas. It is preferable that the ferroelectric liquid crystal material is stretched by a cast-stretching method or the like, or is applied by a roll coating described later and is subjected to an alignment treatment.
As the adhesive 17, for example, an epoxy type is used.

In the message card according to the present invention, the step of patterning the electrodes corresponding to the liquid crystal display section 2 and the drive circuit section on the electrode surface of the substrate 16 with the transparent electrode, and the liquid crystal display section 2 on the electrode surface of the substrate 16 are carried out. And a step of applying a ferroelectric liquid crystal material.

[0029]

As described above, according to the present invention, the message card is made of the liquid crystal material containing the ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal, so that the following effects can be obtained. The liquid crystal has a good memory and consumes less power, and the power can be supplied from a solar cell. Since it does not use a glass substrate, it is lightweight, can be made thin, and is safe even if damaged. Since the orientation of the molecules is not disturbed even when shock or pressure is applied,
It has excellent impact resistance and is practical. You can freely enter a message from the touch panel. It can be configured in any shape and can be rolled and mailed. Can be used over and over again.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a notched part of a message card according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of this message card.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of main parts of the message card shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main body 2 ... Liquid crystal display part 3 ... CPU 4 ... Memory 7 ... IC chip 10 ... Input / output terminal 11 ... Password input key 12 ... Solar cell 14 ... Ferroelectric liquid crystal material 15 ... Transparent electrode 16 ... Resin substrate 18 ... Polarized light Plate 19 ... Resin case 21 ... Touch panel 22 ... Registration key

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A message card comprising a liquid crystal display element formed by sandwiching a liquid crystal material containing a ferroelectric polymer liquid crystal between resin substrates. 2. The message card according to claim 1, further comprising a memory capable of storing message information displayed on the display unit. 3. The message card according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an input / output terminal capable of exchanging message information with the outside.