JPH07318912A - Liquid crystal panel frame, liquid crystal panel body and liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a liquid crystal panel structure having excellent seismic resistance and impact resistance and to completely eliminate the orientation defects and tree-like orientation defects of liquid crystal molecules induced by the penetration process of liquid crystals into a panel structural body and the volumetric shrinkage of the liquid crystals. CONSTITUTION:This liquid crystal panel frame has a pair of substrates 2, 3, at least one of which are transparent, a pair of electrodes 4, 5 which are formed on these substrates 2, 3 and face each other and plural partition members 8 which are disposed between both substrates 2 and 3 and are lined up in parallel with each other at prescribed intervals. These partition members 8 form plural linear spaces R isolated from each other and lined up in parallel between both substrates 2 and 3. The liquid crystals are encapsulated into these linear spaces. This frame is particularly adequately usable for the ferroelectric liquid crystals or antiferroelectric liquid crystals.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an industrial OA (Office
Automation) or household liquid crystal display. Further, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal panel body and a liquid crystal panel frame used for such a liquid crystal display. In particular, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal panel body and a liquid crystal panel frame suitable when using a ferroelectric liquid crystal or an antiferroelectric liquid crystal.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Liquid crystal displays
play: LCD) is lightweight and thin, so it can be used as a display for small calculators, display for measuring instruments such as testers, and for displaying figures and characters on a plane for decoration, POP, etc. It is widely used as various display bodies such as the display body. Recently, thin film transistors (TF)
It is also used as a large-capacity thin terminal display for personal computers and workstations, as well as televisions that display moving images in full color using T).

The above-mentioned various display bodies mainly utilize the shutter property of liquid crystal, and as a typical liquid crystal exhibiting the shutter property, a twisted nematic (TN) using a nematic phase is used. Type liquid crystal and super twisted nematic (STN) type liquid crystal. There are also ferroelectric liquid crystals and antiferroelectric liquid crystals that use a chiral smectic phase. Regarding each of these liquid crystals, (1) "Liquid Crystal", edited by Kobayashi and Okano: Baifukan, 1985 (2) "Structure and Physical Properties of Ferroelectric Liquid Crystal" Fukuda and Takezoe:
Corona Co., Ltd., 1990 (3) "Next-generation liquid crystal displays and liquid crystal materials" Supervised by Fukuda: CMC Co., Ltd., 1992.

Ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC: Ferro-Electric)
Liquid Crystal is based on Clark et al. (Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 56-1072).
No. 16, gazette, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,924). In addition, antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC:
Anti-Ferro-Electric LiquidCrystal is based on Chandani et al. (ADLChandani et al, Japanese Journal
Of Applied Physics, Volume 28, L125
6 (1989)). Since all liquid crystals have so-called memory effect, TF
It is expected that a large-capacity display can be achieved by simple matrix driving without using an active element such as a T (Thin Film Transistor).

These crystals are, for example, a chiral nematic phase (N ^* phase) → smectic A as the temperature is lowered from the liquid phase (that is, the isotropic phase) in the high temperature state.
(SmA phase) → chiral smectic Cα phase (SmCα
^* Phase) → SmCβ ^* phase → SmCγ ^* indicates the complex phase changes as shown in phase → SmC _A ^* phase. There are some phases that do not appear depending on the liquid crystal, and for example, no chiral nematic phase has been found in antiferroelectric liquid crystals. Further, the phase that responds to the electric field required for a liquid crystal display is a chiral smectic phase that is located on a lower temperature side than the chiral nematic phase and has low symmetry, and is close to a crystalline state. The liquid crystal (FLC) has a chiral smectic C phase (SmC ^* phase), and the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFL).
In C), the chiral smectic C _A phase (SmC _A ^* phase),
It is one of a chiral smectic Cα phase (SmCα ^* phase), a chiral smectic Cβ phase (SmCβ ^* phase), and a chiral smectic Cγ phase (SmCγ ^* phase).

However, in order to put a display using a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) or an antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) into practical use, as described in the above-mentioned document (3), two problems are simultaneously overcome. It is necessary to. 1
First, it is necessary to establish a manufacturing method capable of mass-producing a large-area thin film composed of a defect-free chiral smectic phase, particularly an orientation control technique. The other is that a large-area, defect-free chiral smectic phase is stored by a liquid crystal panel frame having excellent earthquake resistance and shock resistance.

Conventionally, as a method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display (LCD), for example, a method using a liquid crystal panel body as shown in FIG. 3 is known. In this method, first, a pair of glass substrates 102, 1 provided with transparent electrodes 104, 105.
03 is adhered to each other with a minute gap therebetween to form a panel frame for enclosing a liquid crystal. Then, a desired liquid crystal 101 is enclosed in the minute gap to form a liquid crystal panel body. Then, the polarizing plate 106 is further attached to the liquid crystal panel body, and further, a driving printed board and auxiliary elements such as a backlight are mounted, whereby a liquid crystal display is manufactured.

When manufacturing a panel frame for enclosing a liquid crystal,
A large number of spherical or cylindrical spacers 107 are arranged on one of the pair of glass substrates 102 and 103, and the seal portion 108 is printed in a frame shape around the spacers 107 by screen printing or the like. Then, while sandwiching the spacer 107 and the seal portion 108, the other glass substrate is pressed against the glass substrate with an appropriate pressure, and in this pressed state, the pair of glass substrates are entirely heated to heat and cure the seal portion 108. Both glass substrates are adhered to each other.

On the glass substrates 102 and 103 facing each other, transparent electrodes 104 and 105, an insulating film, and
A color filter or the like is laminated as needed, and polyimide films 109 and 110 that have been subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment for aligning the liquid crystal, for example, rubbing treatment, are formed on the uppermost portion in contact with the liquid crystal 101. The width of the small gap,
That is, the cell gap is 1 to depending on the liquid crystal to be filled.
It is set to the desired value between 10 μm. 1 for ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC)
˜3 μm, preferably 1.5 to 2 μm.

The liquid crystal is enclosed in the panel frame for enclosing the liquid crystal.
For example, it is performed as follows. First, the panel frame is set in an exhaust device, the interior of the panel frame is exhausted through an opening formed in the panel frame, and then the opening is closed with liquid crystal to be sealed. After that, air is introduced into the exhaust device to apply a differential pressure to the liquid crystal in the opening so that the liquid crystal penetrates into the panel frame. The permeation rate can be controlled by the differential pressure. The slowest is to penetrate by surface tension alone, without applying a pressure differential. In addition, the inside of the liquid crystal panel frame shown in FIG. 3 forms a single continuous space without partitions, and when liquid crystal penetrates into the internal space, it can permeate anywhere in the internal space. Is.

The permeation temperature is a temperature corresponding to the liquid phase of the enclosed liquid crystal, and is about 80 ° C. to 120 ° C. for the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC). After that, when the opening is sealed and cooled again from a high temperature in an oven with a temperature control function, the oriented chiral smectic phase undergoes a phase transition such as liquid phase → chiral nematic phase → smectic A phase → chiral smectic C phase. A liquid crystal panel body having

In this structure, since the upper and lower substrates 102 and 103 are not bonded to each other except the seal portion 108,
When pressed locally, the substrates 102 and 103 have a gentle unevenness, and the liquid crystal 101 in the liquid crystal panel body flows. If the liquid crystal is in the nematic phase state, the nematic phase state is close to the liquid state. Therefore, even if such liquid crystal flow occurs, if the pressing is released, the alignment state returns to the original state and no problem occurs. When carrying a liquid crystal display with a built-in liquid crystal panel as a portable type or when using it in the office on a daily basis, if a certain amount of impact or physical stress is applied to the substrate, the substrate will be slightly deformed. There is no problem because it will reversibly return if released.

On the other hand, when a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) or an anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) is enclosed inside a liquid crystal panel frame of this kind of structure, it is similarly subject to local pressure or impact. When the substrate is deformed, the liquid crystal inside the substrate is caused to flow. Ferroelectric liquid crystals and the like usually have a layer structure unique to smectic as shown in FIG. 7, but once flow occurs in them, zigzag defects and disorder in the unique layer structure occur, and The turbulence never returns. In such a case, it is necessary to heat the liquid crystal layer again to the isotropic phase and further cool it to realign it, but such a work is practically impossible. In order to prevent the disturbance of the liquid crystal layer, it is necessary to handle it carefully so that vibration and shock are not applied to the liquid crystal panel body even during the mounting process of the accessory device after the alignment control, and also as a liquid crystal display. Special measures such as absorbers and panel surface protection members are required. They are,
This leads to a decrease in productivity and an increase in cost, narrowing the range of use as a liquid crystal display.

Therefore, particularly when a liquid crystal such as a ferroelectric liquid crystal is used, seismic resistance and shock resistance such that excessive flow of liquid crystal does not occur even when the substrate is pressed or shocked. A good panel frame is needed. As a method of realizing such a panel structure, a method of firmly adhering a pair of substrates to each other is known. When the display area is about A4 or more, if the two substrates are not adhered, no matter what shape the spacer member is used, there will always be floating between the substrates during orientation control, mounting process and use. Is not practical at all.

In the conventional structure shown in FIG. 3, there is a technique in which adhesive beads (that is, spherical bodies) are dispersed between both substrates to fix the two substrates together.
It is disclosed in the publication. Further, there is a technique of forming a dot-shaped (that is, a columnar) adhesive member on one substrate by photolithography, and bonding the both substrates more flexibly and firmly by the adhesive member. 50817, JP-A-62-96925, JP-A-62-118323 and JP-A-4-
It is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 255826. Further, a technique using a striped adhesive member is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-5.
No. 0817 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 63-135917.

The purpose of adhesion in each of the above prior arts is to
Maintaining a constant gap between the upper and lower substrates and arranging the spacers so as to correspond to the non-pixel portions are important matters in the present invention, namely, (1) penetration of liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel frame. It does not take into consideration, for example, the definition of the method of performing the above, (2) specifying the direction of volume contraction of the liquid crystal due to cooling, and (3) controlling the growth direction of the layer of the chiral smectic phase. As described below,
No defect-free chiral smectic phase can be obtained with respect to those adhered in a dot shape and those adhered using beads. With respect to those that adhere in a striped pattern, a chiral smectic phase with few defects may be obtained, but simply adhering in a striped pattern is not sufficient.

Next, a liquid crystal panel body in which both substrates are adhered by an adhesive member and a liquid crystal panel body of a type in which the distance between both substrates is simply held by beads or the like without using the adhesive member, and a cell gap ( That is, the distance between substrates is set to about 2 μm or less, and a liquid crystal panel body is formed by infiltrating a ferroelectric liquid crystal into a material that has been subjected to ordinary rubbing treatment, and then the liquid crystal panel body is placed in an oven or in a liquid. The initial alignment state of the ferroelectric liquid crystal when cooled will be briefly described.

In the SmC ^* phase layer obtained by cooling the ferroelectric liquid crystal from the high temperature state phase, anomalous orientation inherent to the crystalline material is always found. This misalignment includes loop-shaped zigzag defects (reference numeral 113 in FIG. 4), tree-like defects (reference numeral 114 in FIG. 5) generated in portions where adjacent crystal layer domains collide with each other, and defects close to a straight line type. (Reference numeral 115 in FIG. 6) and the like.

When non-adhesive spacers are scattered between both substrates, or when dot-type spacers are randomly arranged and both substrates are adhered to each other, loop-shaped zigzag defects are often seen, and rarely trees are used. Defect is seen. further,
As shown in FIG. 18, dot-shaped fine spacers 107
In the case of regularly arranging and bonding both substrates to each other,
A zigzag defect 116 occurred in synchronization with the regular period of the spacer 107. A large number of similar zigzag defects also occur when non-adhesive striped spacers are used.

When the two substrates are adhered to each other by the stripe-shaped spacers, large zigzag defects that divide the panel surface into two or three parts are found, and further, linear and tree-like alignment defects are found in the inside. That is, when the two substrates are adhered by the stripe-shaped spacers, the amount of zigzag defects generated is small, but such adhesion is not sufficient to completely eliminate the defects. Further, in this case, when the liquid crystal panel body is rapidly cooled, narrow gaps formed by the liquid crystal layers contracting in opposite directions are found in the gaps between the adjacent stripe spacers.

If at least one alignment defect such as a zigzag defect exists on the electrode, a slight grayscale difference occurs when the refractive index for linearly polarized light is different on both sides of the alignment defect, and a defect occurs when the liquid crystal display is driven. It is difficult to put it to practical use because it has the problems of constantly shining itself and becoming a hotbed for new defects. This is the same even when voids are generated.

The structure of the zigzag defect and the measure for eliminating it have been described in the above-mentioned document (3). According to this, it is considered that the zigzag defect is inevitably generated because the SmC ^* phase has the chevron structure shown in FIG. 7. This chevron structure is a phenomenon in which the chiral smectic phase layer bends into a "<<" shape. This bending direction is not uniquely determined, and there are two types, that is, the one that faces the left in the figure 111 and the one that faces the right 112, and a zigzag defect 113 occurs at each boundary. Figure 8
As shown in FIG. 3, if the chiral smectic layer S has an ideal bookshelf structure, it is considered that domain-shaped zigzag defects do not occur, but tree-like defects and line-like defects may appear. . 7 and 8, the symbol K indicates the interface between the substrate and the liquid crystal layer.

In order to eliminate the zigzag defect, as a method of fixing the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer in the chevron structure to one direction, (1) the liquid crystal molecular axes in the liquid crystal layer are not parallel to the substrate but are in a fixed direction. To form a large and finite angle in advance, that is, to increase the pretilt angle ("Next-generation liquid crystal displays and liquid crystal materials," Fukuda, 8
5 pages, CMC Corporation, 1992), (2)
Use a proper liquid crystal material and make the combination of the alignment film and the rubbing direction proper (ibid, page 19).
Alternatively, (3) a method of using a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) material with little layer bending (that is, reduction of the layer spacing of the smectic phase) at the phase transition of smectic A phase → SmC ^* phase (ibid., P. 37). ) Etc. are illustrated.

However, since the oblique vapor deposition method is adopted in the method (1), it is hardly effective when the display portion is oriented in a large area of B5 size or more. Further, the methods (2) and (3) are effective only for a specific material, are not effective for the progress of the material, and there is no clear guideline for obtaining such a specific material. In addition, even if the bending directions of the crystal layers are aligned in a certain direction by each of the above-mentioned methods, the defects caused by the collision of the domain tubes in the liquid crystal cooling step and the volume contraction of the liquid crystal are caused. Even defects that occur as a result cannot be eliminated.

On the other hand, in the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC), since there is no layer of the chiral nematic phase, it is possible that the smectic A (SmA) phase is directly deposited from the isotropic phase, that is, the nucleus grows. ) Different. Defects are visible when transitioning from the isotropic phase to the smectic A (SmA) phase and when transitioning from the SmA phase to the antiferroelectric state, for example to the SmC _A ^* phase. The defect observed in the transition from the SmA phase to the SmC _A ^* phase is a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC).
It is similar to the case of.

As a method of depositing the smectic A (SmA) phase from the isotropic phase, first, the smectic A (SmA) phase is deposited while growing parallel to the rubbing direction, but generally, it is perpendicular to the rubbing direction at the same or slightly slower rate. Precipitates while spreading in the direction. Alignment defects in this case include: (1) those generated at the portions where the SmA phase domains grown at different locations collide (symbol X in FIG. 9) (2) The growth rate in a certain angle direction with respect to the rubbing direction is A fast domain that occurs in a portion where the orientation direction is slightly different from the surrounding area (symbol Y in FIG. 10). (3) A liquid crystal is often generated in a meandering portion, but a layer of a smectic phase layer. There is something that occurs in a portion where the directions are largely different (reference numeral Z in FIG. 11). The defect (1) is a string-like defect that extends substantially perpendicular to the rubbing direction, and is small in number but large in number. Although the reason for the occurrence of (2) is unknown, it is large in area.

The defects of (1) and (3) are similar, but the size of the discrepancy is different. Regarding the defect of (1), the layer direction of both domains on the boundary of the defect is basically defined as the rubbing direction and is the same. Moreover, this defect is a slight discrepancy because it is formed by growth of both domains from different directions.
Such defects are inherited by the SmC _A ^* phase and remain as defects.

[0028]

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a liquid crystal panel frame, a liquid crystal panel body, and a liquid crystal display capable of completely removing the above-mentioned alignment defects that necessarily occur in the chiral smectic phase layer based on physical laws. The purpose is to provide. In addition, the state in which the alignment defect is removed,
An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal panel frame or the like that can be reliably and stably held during a liquid crystal display manufacturing process or during actual use of the liquid crystal panel body.

More specifically, it is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal panel structure having excellent earthquake resistance and impact resistance. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal panel structure capable of permeating the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal panel frame in a stable state without causing turbulence or distortion in the flow of the liquid crystal. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal panel structure in which the volume contraction direction of liquid crystal can be controlled. Yet another object is to provide a liquid crystal panel structure with controllable growth of layers in the chiral smectic phase.

[0030]

In order to achieve the above object, a liquid crystal panel frame according to the present invention comprises a pair of substrates, at least one of which is transparent, and a pair of substrates formed on these substrates and facing each other. An electrode, a plurality of linear partition members provided between both substrates and arranged in parallel at a predetermined interval, and a uniaxial orientation formed on at least one of the pair of substrates. And an alignment film to be treated. Each partition member extends substantially parallel to the direction of the uniaxial alignment treatment, and each partition member is adhered to the opposing substrate, so that a portion other than the opening end for passing liquid crystal becomes liquid. On the other hand, a linear space that is in a sealed state is formed.

Further, the liquid crystal panel body according to the present invention is formed by enclosing a ferroelectric liquid crystal or an antiferroelectric liquid crystal inside each linear space of the liquid crystal panel frame.

The length of the linear space is preferably longer than the effective display area of the liquid crystal panel body. Since the entrance and exit of the space inevitably has an abnormal orientation, the entrance and exit of the space is generally set to 8 mm or more, and more preferably 12 mm or more.

As the pair of electrodes, a stripe-shaped electrode in which a plurality of linear electrodes are arranged in parallel at a constant pitch,
A planar electrode formed as a single plane can be used. Striped electrodes are widely used in ordinary liquid crystal displays. With respect to the striped electrodes, a pair of upper and lower striped electrodes are arranged at right angles to each other and one of them is selectively energized to drive the liquid crystal display in a matrix. The planar electrode is an electrode formed widely and uniformly on the substrate. With respect to the liquid crystal panel body using the planar electrode, for example, appropriate data can be written by irradiating the appropriate coordinate position of the planar electrode with laser light.

When the striped electrodes are used, the partition member is provided so as to be located between the electrodes of one striped electrode. In some cases, the partition members may be arranged at an appropriate pitch such as every two or three electrodes instead of arranging the partition members between the electrodes. At this time, it is preferable to set the distance between the side surface of the partition member and each electrode as narrow as possible. Desirably, it is set to 5 μm or less. This is because the partition member functions as a light-shielding layer, and if the gap is wide, steady leakage of transmitted light increases and the contrast decreases.

The phase state of the ferroelectric liquid crystal contained in the liquid crystal panel body is set to, for example, the chiral smectic C phase. The phase state of the contained antiferroelectric liquid crystal is any of the chiral smectic C _A phase, the chiral smectic C α phase, the chiral smectic C β phase, and the chiral smectic C γ phase.

Further, it is desirable that a black coloring material be dispersed in the partition member. The partition member has a light-shielding property by itself, but this is most effective when the two polarizing plates are in a completely crossed Nicols state, that is, in a completely orthogonal arrangement. However, in general, it does not operate with a complete crossed nicols, so the light-shielding property deteriorates. Dispersing the black coloring member in the partition member can improve such a decrease in light-shielding property.

By the way, a liquid crystal display is usually a liquid crystal panel 1, as shown by reference numeral 15, and an accessory device, for example, a printed circuit board 20 on which a driving IC is mounted,
It is manufactured by assembling the backlight 11 and the upper and lower frames 12a and 12b. Further, using such a liquid crystal display 15, for example, a display device 16 as shown in FIG. 21 can be manufactured. This display device 16 is
Used as an output device for a computer, for example. The display device 16 includes a support stand 13 and a rectangular frame 14 supported by the stand 13.
And have. The liquid crystal display 15 has a frame 1
It is installed in the center of 4. Regarding this display device 16, it is desirable to position the liquid crystal panel body 1 so that the partition member 8 in the liquid crystal panel body 1 extends in the horizontal direction.

When the liquid crystal panel body has a large area, when the liquid crystal panel body is erected in the vertical direction, a large load is applied to the liquid crystal existing in the lower position by the weight of the liquid crystal existing in the upper position. If no measures are taken, the alignment of the liquid crystal present in the lower position may be destroyed by the action of the load, and the alignment may be abnormal. On the other hand, if the partition member 8 is arranged in the horizontal direction as shown in FIG. 21, the load of the liquid crystal in each part is taken up by each partition member 8, and thus the alignment abnormality occurs in the liquid crystal. Can be prevented.

In the above liquid crystal panel frame or liquid crystal panel body, the uniaxial alignment treatment is a treatment performed for aligning liquid crystal molecules in a certain direction, and for example, a rubbing treatment, an oblique vapor deposition treatment and the like. Conceivable.

The liquid crystal panel frame or liquid crystal panel body to which the present invention is applied has, for example, a structure as shown in FIG.
Further, when the liquid crystal panel frame and the like are viewed from above, the structure is as shown in FIG. In FIG. 1, a linear partition member 8 having a thickness corresponding to the cell gap G is formed between the stripe-shaped transparent electrodes 5 formed on one glass substrate 3. The other glass substrate 2 is adhered to the partition member 8 by an appropriate means, whereby the pair of substrates are completely adhered and the cell gap G is precisely defined. Is configured.

Reference numerals 9 and 7 are polyimide alignment films. Reference numeral 4 is an opposing transparent electrode that faces one transparent electrode 5 and extends in a stripe shape in a direction perpendicular to the transparent electrode 5. Reference numeral 6 is an insulating film. As the insulating film, for example, a thin film of alumina or silica having a thickness of about 1000 Å can be used. Further, the insulating film may be provided on both sides. The color filter can be provided under one of the transparent electrodes. With this configuration, a linear space R is formed between each partition member 8. By enclosing a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) or an antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) in these spaces R, the liquid crystal panel body 1
Is created.

The linear spaces R above the striped electrodes 5 are separated from each other by the partition member 8, and are completely closed spaces except for the openings of the front end portion 22 and the rear end portion 23 in FIG. Is done. That is, the part other than the opening is sealed against the liquid. The rear end portion 23 is
It can also be adhered to the seal portion 21 and closed. The cross-sectional shape of the linear space R is a flat quadrilateral, that is, a rectangular shape. In this case, the minimum width of the long side L of the rectangle is about the same as the line width of the striped electrode 5, for example, about 50 to 500.
Automatically set to μm. The short side S of the rectangle is set to the same level as the cell gap G, for example, 1 to 3 μm. Strictly speaking, the cross-sectional shape of the linear space R is affected by a step due to the thickness of the transparent electrode 5, some irregularities on the surface of the transparent electrode 5, bending of the side surface of the partition member 8 or roundness of the four corners. It is not a perfect quadrilateral.

The width W of the partition wall member 8 as a partition wall that divides the linear space R is set to be less than the distance between two adjacent electrodes 5, for example, 10 to 100 μm. Linear space R
The length L _R (see FIG. 2) of the electrode is set to be longer than the length of the electrode serving as the display unit D, for example, 10 to 40 cm. The reason why the length of the linear space R is set longer than that of the display portion D is that the alignment abnormality E is observed at the length LE or LX of about 5 to 10 mm at the liquid crystal entrance of the linear space R. .
The specific method itself for continuously forming such a linear space R on a substrate is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No.
No. 2-96925.

The uniaxial orientation treatment is applied to the inner wall of the space R substantially parallel to the extending direction of the linear space R. As the uniaxial alignment treatment, for example, a rubbing treatment, an oblique vapor deposition treatment, or the like is used, but when a large-area panel body is targeted,
The rubbing treatment is desirable from the viewpoint of productivity and orientation ability.
This rubbing treatment is applied without interruption to at least one of the two wide surfaces P1 and P2 (FIG. 1) out of the surfaces forming the linear space serving as the liquid crystal passage, that is, the four surfaces in contact with the liquid crystal. Two faces P3 that face each other at right angles
The rubbing process is not impossible for P4 and P4,
Sufficient orientation of crystal molecules cannot be obtained only with these planes.

When imparting orientation to the opposing two surfaces P1 and P2, the rubbing directions can be aligned either parallel or antiparallel. Parallel means two planes P1 and P
The rubbing directions of No. 2 are aligned in the same direction (↑↑), and the anti-parallel is when the rubbing directions of the two surfaces P1 and P2 are set in opposite directions (↑ ↓). However, due to some request, the rubbing directions may not be perfectly aligned between the two surfaces P1 and P2, but the two surfaces may be opposed to each other with a certain angle. In this case, it is desirable that the center line of the angle formed by the two rubbing directions be aligned with the extending direction of the partition member 8. The angle difference between both rubbing directions at this time is preferably within 12 °. When the rubbing direction on one side and the extending direction of the partition wall member 8 are made to substantially coincide with each other, the angular difference between both rubbing directions is set within 6 °. When the rubbing directions are matched between the two surfaces P1 and P2, the angles formed by the rubbing direction and the extending direction of the partition member 8 do not necessarily have to be parallel. However, preferably, the angle formed by the rubbing direction and the partition member 8 is set within 12 °.

Next, the advantages of the structure of the liquid crystal panel frame for enclosing the liquid crystal adopted in the present invention will be described from the viewpoint of liquid crystal penetration. The main problems here are (1) the affinity between the liquid crystal and the alignment film, and (2) the residual bubbles and the liquid crystal formation caused by the meandering of the liquid crystal when it penetrates into the panel frame. It is a problem of distortion accumulation. When both the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) and the anti-ferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC) penetrate into the inside of the liquid crystal panel frame, they are rubbed parallel to the rubbing direction to the deep part of the panel frame. It is desirable to penetrate straight in the direction. The reason is that when the liquid crystal is permeated under the same conditions with respect to the differential pressure and the temperature, if the rubbing direction and the permeation direction are angularly displaced, it is observed that the permeation speed becomes slower accordingly. In other words, if an angle is formed between the rubbing direction and the permeating direction, the affinity between the alignment film surface and the liquid crystal decreases. For example, if the liquid crystal penetrates into the panel frame only by surface tension,
The liquid crystal can be conformed to the alignment film in the most natural and stable state, but in this case, if the angles formed by the rubbing direction and the permeating direction are orthogonal to each other, a speed difference of about 2 to 4 times occurs. .

The better the affinity between the alignment film and the liquid crystal, the faster the liquid crystal penetrates into the panel frame, which is advantageous in manufacturing, and the liquid crystal conforms to the alignment film in a natural state and is stable. Moreover, the orientation of the inside of the liquid crystal becomes stronger due to the function of the orientation film. On the contrary, if the inclination between the rubbing direction and the permeation direction of the liquid crystal is increased, the liquid crystal is more likely to meander, and air pockets, that is, bubbles or voids are easily generated. Further, since the liquid crystal is highly viscous, the meandering pattern of the liquid crystal is stored in the liquid crystal itself as an unstable conformation, and distortion is accumulated around the meandering portion. This is one of the causes of manifesting itself as an alignment abnormality or inducing the alignment abnormality along with the volume change of the liquid crystal. It has been found that when the liquid crystal is permeated in the direction perpendicular to the rubbing direction, the zigzag defects are relatively increased even if the liquid crystal panel body is subsequently cooled under the best conditions according to the present invention. It was This phenomenon occurred regardless of whether or not both the substrates were adhered by the partition member, or regardless of the shape of the partition member.

Next, a means for permeating the liquid crystal in a straight traveling state along the rubbing direction will be described. For this,
It is desirable to form a straight passage that is partitioned as narrow as possible between the pair of substrates and allow the liquid crystal to permeate in the passage. Such a passage is required as the distance to be permeated becomes longer, that is, as the liquid crystal panel body has a larger area. If this is described according to the liquid crystal panel frame for liquid crystal encapsulation, the cross-sectional area is narrow as shown in FIG.
Moreover, it means that the liquid crystal is permeated in the linear space R extending in the rubbing direction.

Further, it is also necessary that the upper and lower substrates are completely adhered to each other by the stripe-shaped partition member so as to uniformly maintain the cell gap. If you do not use a stripe-shaped partition wall member such as bead-shaped spacers or dot-shaped spacers, there is a single open space between the upper and lower substrates, and liquid crystal can in principle permeate anywhere. Is. Generally, although it tends to penetrate in the rubbing direction, it actually penetrates first in a relatively narrow portion of the cell gap. This means that the flow of the liquid crystal is disturbed and meanders, and in the worst case, a non-penetrated part remains as a bubble, or the meandering is stored in the liquid crystal itself and accumulated as distortion of the liquid crystal around the meandering part. To do. This tendency is great for a panel frame in which both substrates are not bonded, but even if a panel frame in which both substrates are bonded is used, if the dot-shaped spacers are used, the meandering of the liquid crystal is completely eliminated. It cannot be prevented. Moreover, when the dot-shaped spacer is used, the existence of the spacer itself may disturb the flow of the liquid crystal, and the distortion of the liquid crystal may be accumulated around the spacer.

In this way, in order to obtain a desired liquid crystal permeation state, it is effective to form a linear space between both substrates by the stripe-shaped partition member and allow the liquid crystal to permeate therein. A panel frame in which such a linear space is formed parallel to the rubbing direction but the partition member is not adhered to the substrate, that is, a structure in which the linear space is not sealed is disclosed in JP-A-61-205919. , Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 61-205921. However, when a large-area liquid crystal panel body is manufactured by using this structure, floating always occurs between the partition member and the substrate, the flow of the liquid crystal is disturbed at that portion, and it becomes difficult to move the liquid crystal straight. To solve this problem, it is conceivable that the two substrates should be temporarily brought into close contact with each other when the liquid crystal penetrates, but in that case, a special device for making the two substrates come into close contact is required. When a liquid crystal display is manufactured by mounting a driving transistor, a backlight or the like on the body, or when the manufactured liquid crystal display is used, the earthquake resistance and shock resistance of the liquid crystal panel body are insufficient, which is not practical.

Next, another reason why the constitution of the present invention is advantageous will be explained in detail from the aspect of the growth mode of the layer of the chiral smectic phase. First, a ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) penetrates parallel to the rubbing direction in a high temperature phase into a panel frame for liquid crystal encapsulation in which the area of the substrate on which the surface of the alignment film is properly formed is about the size of the B5 plate. Let's make a liquid crystal panel body. There are three types of panel frames: (1) both substrates are adhered by a stripe-shaped partition member, (2) both substrates are adhered by a dot-shaped member, and (3) both substrates are not adhered by a stripe-shaped member. Compared with. A liquid crystal panel body using each of these panel frames is dipped in a constant temperature water tank containing water set to a temperature at which the liquid crystal exhibits a liquid phase, and then cooled at a rate of about 0.5 ° C./minute. The reason for cooling in the liquid is to cool the entire surface of the liquid crystal panel body as uniformly as possible.

Then, in the liquid crystal panel body in which both substrates are not adhered only by sandwiching the liquid crystal panel body in which both substrates are adhered by the dot-shaped member and the stripe-shaped member, there is a space for enclosing the liquid crystal formed between both substrates. Since it was released as a single space, many large and small zigzag defects and tree-like defects occurred.
On the other hand, in the case where the stripe-shaped partition wall members were adhered to each other, the defect-free alignment state was stably obtained. However, even in the case where the stripe-shaped partition wall members are bonded together, as the size of the liquid crystal display portion is increased to the A4 size and further the B4 size, the defect-free alignment cannot be obtained.

As for the tendency of orientation defects, large and small zigzag defects are often observed both in the case of using a non-adhesive stripe-shaped member and in the case of using an adhesive or non-adhesive dot-shaped member, and a tree-like defect is found in this. Seems to join a little.
In a liquid crystal panel body in which both substrates are adhered with a stripe-shaped partition member, the number of alignment defects is reduced, but without using the cooling method that is the feature of the present invention, for example, when simply cooling in an oven or the like. Have zigzag defects, tree-like defects, line-like defects, etc. that divide the surface of the liquid crystal panel body into two or three parts.

Therefore, within the range that can be observed with a microscope, SmA
How the SmC ^* phase is generated and grows from the phase will be described with reference to FIGS. 12 and 13. First, the entire surface of the liquid crystal is in the SmA phase (FIG. 12 (a)), and when the transition from the SmA phase to the SmC ^* phase starts, the S in a distorted state appears.
The mC ^* phase domain begins to be visible (FIG. 12 (b)), and zigzag defects begin to form (FIG. 12 (c)). afterwards,
The SmC ^* phase domain grows further (FIG. 13 (d)),
And the SmC ^* phase domains next to each other meet (Fig. 13
(E)).

In this case, there are the following two ways of encountering domains. One is a case where domains having the same bending direction of the layers meet, and if they are not familiar with each other, they may remain inside as tree-like defects or linear defects (FIG. 13 (f)). This is very similar to one of the reasons for the occurrence of alignment defects in the antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC), that is, the one that occurs in the part where the SmA phase domains grown at different locations collide (FIG. 9). It is a defect. Regarding this defect, if the outermost boundary of the merged domains appears outside the region used for the display unit of the liquid crystal display, only domains having the same bending direction exist inside the display unit. The other way of encountering the domains is that domains having different bending directions of the liquid crystal layer grow individually and finally meet. According to this encountering method, a genuine zigzag defect may occur, and further, a tree-like defect due to collision may exist inside each domain.

Apart from defects caused by domain collision, the whole looks like one grown domain, but a small loop-shaped zigzag defect domain may suddenly appear inside it at a certain timing. this is,
It is often seen when dot-shaped spacer members are scattered or adhered.

The following reasons can be considered as the reason why the zigzag defect grows. When the transition from the SmA phase to the SmC ^* phase occurs, the molecules in the layer of the SmA phase incline from the layer normal direction, so that the spacing between the layers of the SmA phase becomes narrow. This narrowing distance is 10% of the length of the molecule, that is, about 3Å. If the volume change of the liquid crystal is small near the transition point of the liquid crystal phase,
Somewhere in the liquid crystal should be slightly stretched to compensate for this reduction in layer spacing. However, shrinkage due to temperature decrease is dominant in the liquid crystal as a whole.

One of the elongations of the liquid crystal described above extends in the cell gap direction, but since it is bound by the pair of glass substrates facing each other, it is curved or bent as much as the elongation. The other extension is the extension of the component perpendicular to this, that is, parallel to the glass substrate. Actually, they appear as a combination of these, but in terms of quantity, the elongation in the cell gap direction is larger. TP Laker etc. (Physical Review, A37,
1053 (1988)), the bending of the layer is found to be almost proportional to the amount of extension, and this bending structure is shown in FIG.
It is called the chevron structure shown in. In general,
There are two directions in which the layer bends, a direction indicated by reference numeral 111 and a direction indicated by reference numeral 112, and the boundary between domains having the respective directions is a zigzag defect 113.

It is considered that the tree-like defect is usually generated by collision between domains in the same bending direction. As in the present invention, a large number of linear spaces are continuously formed in parallel between a pair of opposing glass substrates, and liquid crystals are enclosed in these spaces to form a liquid crystal panel body. However, if a conventional cooling process, for example, uniform cooling in an oven, such a tree-like defect occurs.
However, the amount of defects generated was much smaller than that of the conventional liquid crystal panel body in which liquid crystal was enclosed in a single open space. This is a difference caused by whether or not the liquid crystal is regulated in a thin and narrow space. That is, in the present invention, since there is a linear partition due to the function of the partition member, the liquid crystal phase domain grows in the lateral direction shown by the arrow ZZ in FIG. This is because there are very few collisions. Assuming that the size of the region where one crystal nucleus is generated is unit area 1, the number of collisions is about 2a in the region where a side is a.
^It is proportional to ² −2a (a >> 1). This cannot be ignored for large areas.

When the dot-shaped spacers are used, the liquid crystal layer domain of the liquid crystal phase domain can be defined even if the two substrates are bonded or not bonded by the spacers, even if the deflection direction of the liquid crystal layer can be regulated to a fixed direction. Occurrence of defects due to collision cannot be avoided in a large area. Even if the structure of the liquid crystal panel body according to the present invention is adopted, there is no possibility that the domain grows parallel to the linear space and the dendritic defect occurs. By adopting the cooling treatment of the panel body, it is surely lowered.

Next, means for controlling the bending direction of the layer of the chiral smectic phase, which is the most important element of the present invention,
Explain the facts that support it. The nucleus that causes the alignment defect, that is, the cause of the minute domain is a local temperature unevenness. When the size of the liquid crystal panel body becomes large, even if the liquid crystal panel body is dipped in a medium having a large heat capacity, it is impossible to prevent the occurrence of temperature unevenness. To prevent it, a very large cooling device is needed, which is not possible in reality. Then, the inventors of the present invention found out the following law and empirical facts by conducting an experimental study on what happens in the liquid crystal layer when the temperature locally drops with respect to the liquid crystal panel body. .

That is, the direction in which the liquid crystal layer in the chevron structure bends is in the direction in which the temperature has decreased earlier in time. It is speculated that the cause of such a phenomenon is related to the volume contraction of the liquid crystal due to cooling. This phenomenon did not depend on the combination of the alignment film and the liquid crystal.

As described above, there is always a large volume contraction from the periphery toward the center of the cooling point almost in synchronization with the liquid crystal layer extending in the cell gap direction at the transition point of the liquid crystal phase,
This means that the peripheral portion is pulled toward the cooling point, and as a result, the central portion of the layer parallel to the substrate tends to shift in that direction. That is, as schematically shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 14, the liquid crystal layer A is likely to bend toward the place Q that is cooled earlier in time, and which part is cooled first. That is, there is a high probability that the bending direction is determined depending on whether or not the bending is performed. In addition, in FIG. 14, the symbol M indicates a liquid crystal molecule.

From the above, it is understood that if the liquid crystal panel body is cooled from one direction, the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer can be regulated to a certain direction without fail. Due to the interaction between the alignment film and the liquid crystal, the layer normal direction of the chiral smectic phase layer is regulated to be substantially parallel to the rubbing direction, so that the bending direction is concentric with the cooling point as the center. I won't. In the present invention, in order to limit the bending direction of the smectic phase layer, the liquid crystal panel is cooled from one end while intentionally applying a temperature gradient parallel to the rubbing direction so that the temperature gradient is never reversed. Then, the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer is regulated to a fixed direction. Thereby, the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer can be defined both theoretically and practically.

In fact, in any structure of the liquid crystal panel, when the liquid crystal panel is intentionally cooled so that a temperature gradient is applied along the rubbing direction, the liquid crystal layer bends in almost one direction. It is. A suitable method for cooling while giving a temperature gradient is, for example, immersing the liquid crystal panel body in a liquid kept at a constant temperature, and then pulling up the liquid crystal panel body at a constant speed or draining the liquid. The method of moving the gas-liquid interface can be adopted. However, even if such a cooling method is used, when the object to be cooled is not the liquid crystal panel body having the structure according to the present invention, zigzag defects and tree-like defects occur.

Regarding the angle formed by the direction of the temperature gradient and the rubbing direction (that is, the direction in which the partition member extends), the maximum component of the temperature gradient does not necessarily have to be parallel to the rubbing direction. For example, when a liquid crystal panel body is pulled up from a liquid that acts as a high temperature portion or a low temperature portion to generate a temperature gradient in the liquid crystal panel body, the rubbing direction of the liquid crystal panel body is appropriately angled from the direction perpendicular to the gas-liquid interface by an angle θ. This is a case where the liquid crystal panel body can be pulled up in the vertical direction while being tilted only.

When the inclination angle θ is 90 °, a temperature gradient does not occur in the rubbing direction, so in such a state, many defects may occur. However, θ is 70
No defects occurred when the angle was less than 60 °, more preferably less than 60 °. This is because if θ is large, the direction in which the liquid crystal layer bends will largely deviate from the layer direction of the liquid crystal layer determined by the rubbing process.

On the other hand, another advantage of adopting the liquid crystal panel frame and liquid crystal panel body according to the present invention is that the occurrence of tree-like defects can be reliably prevented. That is, if the liquid crystal panel body is sequentially cooled from one end side to the other end side of the linear space formed by the partition member, it may be cooled in different directions in parallel to the partition member. The liquid crystal phase domains will no longer grow at the same time, thus
Almost no tree-like defects due to domain collision occur in the direction parallel to the partition member.

On the other hand, the domains generated in the liquid crystal grow side by side in the direction perpendicular to the stripe-shaped partition member, that is, in the width direction L of the linear space R in FIG. There is a possibility that a tree defect will occur due to the collision of trees. However, by narrowing the interval L between the adjacent partition members 8, the occurrence of such tree-like defects can be reliably eliminated. When the distance L is set equal to the width of the electrode 5, the probability of occurrence of a tree-like defect is minimized. In the case of a planar electrode, the interval L between the partition members can be set arbitrarily, but if the interval L is set to 2 mm or less, this kind of tree-like defect does not occur at all. In this way, two alignment anomalies, a zigzag defect and a tree-like defect, can be eliminated at the same time. The spacing L between the partition members 8,
That is, since it is desirable to set the width L of the linear space R to 2 mm or less and the cell gap G to 3 μm or less, the cross-sectional area of the linear space R is 0.00.
It means that it is desirable that it is 6 mm ² or less.

Next, advantages obtained by using the liquid crystal panel body having the structure according to the present invention and the specific cooling method for cooling the liquid crystal panel body will be described from the viewpoint of facilitating mass transfer due to volume contraction of liquid crystal. To do. From this viewpoint, the defects that can be eliminated are mainly linear defects and
It is considered to be a void seen in the central portion of 4 (b).
This void usually occurs when the liquid crystal panel body is cooled unevenly. Since the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer is limited to one direction, even if the liquid crystal panel body is cooled from one end of the liquid crystal panel body along the rubbing direction, there are two contradictory cooling directions. However, one of them may cause a linear defect. However, even in such a case, all linear defects disappear completely when the temperature is slowly decreased along the rubbing direction from another properly selected direction.

The appearance of the SmC ^* phase from the liquid phase is schematically shown in FIGS. 15 (a) to 15 (c). In (a), the entire liquid crystal 1 enclosed in the glass substrate 2 is placed in a high temperature state and exhibits a liquid phase. In (b), when the liquid crystal is gradually cooled from the upper part of the figure, the liquid crystal interior undergoes a phase transition in the order of liquid phase → chiral nematic (N ^* ) phase → SmA phase → SmC ^* phase. At this time, most of the liquid crystal except for the vicinity of the alignment film moves in the direction of arrow B and shrinks as a whole in the direction of arrow C.
Proceed in the direction. In (c), the region of the defect-free SmC ^* phase increases as the cooling progresses. It is presumed that a temporary linear defect occurs if such a phase change and the movement of the liquid crystal do not proceed smoothly, and in extreme cases, a void is generated in a direction perpendicular to the direction of movement of the liquid crystal. In rare cases, voids may occur parallel to the rubbing direction.

In a model way, it is considered that a groove formed in the alignment film for the rubbing treatment, that is, a movement of the liquid crystal induced by the rubbing groove is slightly different between the adjacent rubbing grooves to form a linear defect. To be This is because the cooling using an oven is non-uniform and it is difficult to synchronize the mass transfer on the adjacent individual rubbing grooves.

Another cause of occurrence of linear defects is that when the extending direction of the stripe-shaped partition wall member and the rubbing direction are not parallel, the contraction of the liquid crystal due to cooling hits the partition wall member and is prevented. Even if no clear defect appears in the part where the contraction is stopped, the distortion of the liquid crystal accumulates in that part.

The occurrence of linear defects is related to the direction of cooling of the liquid crystal panel body because there is a direction (FIG. 14A) in which the liquid crystal layer easily moves due to the relationship between the alignment film and the liquid crystal. This is because the liquid crystal layer does not move smoothly in the opposite direction (FIG. 14B). In other words, depending on the combination of the alignment film and the liquid crystal, there is a certain preferable liquid crystal layer bending direction, and a defect occurs due to competition between the bending direction defined by cooling and the preferable bending direction. It can be said that it easily occurs. Volume contraction of the liquid crystal also occurs in a direction perpendicular to the direction of cooling, which is regulated by the function of the partition member to prevent propagation.

On the other hand, in the structure of the conventional liquid crystal panel body, the liquid crystal is non-uniformly contracted in all directions other than the direction along the rubbing direction, and the substrate gap changes correspondingly. Therefore, distortion is likely to be accumulated in the liquid crystal surface. And the distortion mainly appears as a large and small defect. In the case of the conventional liquid crystal panel body in which the dot-shaped spacer members are regularly arranged, it can be seen that the liquid crystal distortion is regularly distributed even if the zigzag defects are regularly generated. Regarding such a conventional liquid crystal panel body, even if it is cooled from one end of the liquid crystal panel body, the non-uniform contraction of the liquid crystal cannot be controlled, so that defect-free alignment in the low temperature state phase cannot be obtained. This also occurs when the striped member is used without being adhered.

Although it is particularly important in antiferroelectric liquid crystal (AFLC), generally, the SmA phase also causes volume contraction with cooling. However, according to the present invention, the volume contraction is limited to the extending direction of the partition member in the linear space partitioned by the partition member, so that the potential accumulation of liquid crystal distortion is small. Without such a partition,
Volumetric contraction of the liquid crystal occurs in all directions and distortion of the liquid crystal accumulates, which induces defects.

The present inventor examined the length of the linear space and the width of the end opening. Figure 1 about the result
This will be described with reference to FIG. The width L of the linear space R is determined by the distance between the partition members 8. The partition members 8 function as the light blocking layer, the frequency of occurrence of liquid crystal domains, and the partition members 8 of the partition members 8. Judging from the viewpoint of the adhesive strength with respect to the substrate, the rigidity against the pressure when pressing the substrate, and the like, it is ideal to dispose all the electrodes between the striped electrodes. When using a planar electrode, the arrangement interval of the partition member 8 is not determined in relation to the electrode pitch as in the case of a stripe electrode, and an appropriate arrangement pitch selected from each of the above points is selected. To be done.

If the width L of the end opening of the linear space R is widened, the liquid crystal introduced from the liquid crystal sealing port 10 will have a linear space R.
There is a problem that the distance L1 from entering the inside to becoming a steady flow becomes long. Within this distance L1, there is a high possibility that alignment defects of the liquid crystal will occur, and therefore it cannot be used as a display unit. In general, the flow of liquid crystal is disturbed in the vicinity of the liquid crystal inlet / outlet of the linear space R, and therefore the length of the linear space R needs to be 10 mm or more longer on one side than the area used as the display unit. Further, in order to completely give the temperature gradient to the surface of the liquid crystal panel body when cooling the liquid crystal panel body, the liquid crystal panel body having the linear space R having an excessively short length is not preferable. From the above, the length of the linear space R is preferably 10 cm or more, and the width L of the opening is preferably 2 mm or less.

Regarding the positional relationship between the liquid crystal filling port 10 and the linear space R, it is desirable to form the partition member 8 immediately from the liquid crystal filling port 10 to form the linear space R. However, in that case, it is necessary to make the liquid crystal sealing port 10 large, which may make it difficult to seal the liquid crystal panel body. At the same time, in the vicinity of the liquid crystal sealing port 10, the upper and lower substrates are adhered only by the linear partition member 8 instead of the adhesive by the seal portion, which causes another problem of insufficient adhesive force. Therefore, it is necessary to keep the size of the liquid crystal sealing port 10 small to some extent, and to provide a certain distance between the liquid crystal sealing port 10 and the liquid crystal inlet / outlet of the linear space R to widen the flow of the liquid crystal.

The liquid crystal inlet 10 for introducing the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel frame may be provided at any portion of the liquid crystal panel frame, but preferably, as shown in FIG. It is desirable to install it on the entrance side. By doing so, compared to the case where the liquid crystal sealing port 10 is provided on the side of the linear space R, that is, on the side of the partition member 8, the liquid crystal can be introduced into the linear space R without causing any disturbance, and the sealing is performed. You can save time.

Further, as another method for preventing the disturbance of the liquid crystal near the entrance of the linear space R, as shown in FIG. 22, the partition member 8 is thinned outward at the end on the liquid crystal entrance side. It is desirable to provide the tapered portion T. By doing so, the distance L2 in which the flow of the liquid crystal is disturbed can be reduced in the vicinity of the liquid crystal entrance / exit of each linear space R, and as a result, the occurrence of alignment defects of the liquid crystal can be prevented over a wider range.

Regarding the linear space surrounded by the partition member and the electrode, it is desirable to form a polymer organic material film on its inner wall surface by coating or the like. In this case, the inner wall surface of the linear space that is in contact with the liquid crystal becomes chemically uniform, so that the volume change of the liquid crystal due to cooling is uniformly performed, and the occurrence of defects can be reduced. As the polymer organic material film, for example, polyimide, polyamide, polyvinyl alcohol or the like can be used. As a method for forming the polymer organic material film, a well-known film forming method such as spin coating or roll coating can be adopted.

In order to bring the upper and lower substrates into close contact with each other,
Mechanical pressing is difficult, and it is preferable to press both substrates by utilizing atmospheric pressure. By heating both substrates while pressurizing them at atmospheric pressure, both substrates can be completely bonded. At this time, if the rigidity of the partition member that holds the space between both substrates is insufficient, the partition member may be crushed. On the other hand, when forming the partition member, whether the diameter is the same as the cell gap in advance in the resist,
Alternatively, by dispersing and containing a granular material that is smaller than that and has rigidity, the rigidity of the partition member can be improved and its collapse can be prevented. In addition, external pressure or the weight of the substrate may be applied to the partition wall member when mounting an accessory such as a backlight or when actually using the liquid crystal display. Even in such a case, if the rigid granular material is dispersed in the partition member, the partition member can be prevented from being crushed. This is particularly effective when the liquid crystal panel body is A3 size or larger.

The means for forming the partition wall member is not limited to photolithography, and high definition printing technology can be applied. The bonding method is not limited to heating, and an ultraviolet curing method or the like can be considered.

[0085]

The linear space separated by the partition member allows the enclosed liquid crystal to smoothly flow, and stably occupies it on the alignment film. As a result, the accumulation of strain in the liquid crystal does not occur, and the movement of the liquid crystal molecules due to the phase change and the volume change of the liquid crystal is limited to the extending direction of the linear space to prevent the liquid crystal from interfering with each other. In addition, domain collisions between spaces are also prevented.

If the liquid crystal panel body is cooled from one end of the linear space, the direction in which the liquid crystal layer bends can be limited to one direction, the liquid crystal can be smoothly moved, and the domain can be reduced. Occurrence and collision can be suppressed. as a result,
It is possible to reliably prevent the occurrence of zigzag defects, tree-like defects and linear defects.

In particular, when considering a large-area liquid crystal panel body, the liquid crystal panel frame and the liquid crystal panel body are constructed as in the present invention, and the cooling direction of the liquid crystal panel body corresponds to the extending direction of the linear space. By doing so, it is possible to reliably obtain the chiral smectic phase oriented in the defect-free state.

[0088]

Example 1 In FIG. 1, one set of transparent substrates 2 and 3 prepared by optically polishing a B4 plate-sized glass substrate having a thickness of 1.1 mm and processing the flatness of the flat surface to within 2 μm is prepared. To do. Each transparent substrate 2, 3
An ITO film of 1500 Å is sputtered on top of it, and a line width of 270 is obtained by a conventional photolithography method.
Striped ITO electrodes with a pitch of 300 μm and pitch of 300 μm 4,
5 was formed by removing 1 cm on each side of the substrates 2 and 3. The length of the electrode 4 on the side of the substrate 2 is the same as the length in the longitudinal direction of the substrate 2, and the length of the electrode 5 on the side of the substrate 3 is the same as the length in the lateral direction of the substrate 3.

Then, a 2% solution of a polyimide resin (HL1110; manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) was spin-coated on one of the substrates 3 at 1000 rpm for 20 seconds, and then 180
An alignment film 9 was formed by drying in an oven at 0 ° C. for about 1 hour, and a rubbing treatment was performed at room temperature in a direction parallel to the electrode 5 for rubbing on both sides. Further, a solution of resist AZ1400 (manufactured by Shipley Co., Ltd.) having a viscosity of 24 cp was spin-coated on this substrate 3 at 1000 rpm for 20 seconds. After that, the adhesive partition wall member 8 having the pattern shown in FIG. 2 was uniformly formed in a position not overlapping each ITO electrode 5 by a conventional photolithography. Then, it dried at 140 degreeC for 1 hour. The partition member 8 has a thickness of 2 μm and a width of 30 μ.
m and the length was 20 cm. The number of partition members 8 is 900
It is a book.

In FIG. 2, the wide line portion 21 surrounding the display portion D is for bonding the peripheral portions of the glass substrates 2 and 3, and is a seal for preventing extra diffusion of the enclosed liquid crystal and contact with the atmosphere. Also serves as a division. The liquid crystal filling port 10 is a partition member 8
It was formed on the one end side. 2% of polyimide resin (HL1110; manufactured by Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.) is used for the counter substrate 2.
After spin coating the solution at 1000 rpm for 20 seconds,
The alignment film 7 was formed by drying in an oven at 180 ° C. for about 1 hour. Then, a rubbing process was further performed.

After the rubbing process, the rubbing direction is substantially parallel to the partition member 8 and parallel rubbing is performed.
That is, so that the upper and lower rubbing directions are the same,
Both substrates 2 and 3 were overlapped and temporarily adhered. Then, in this state, the jig was set in an atmospheric pressure pressurizing jig (not shown) and the inside of the panel body, that is, the linear space R was deaerated, and the two substrates 2 and 3 were completely adhered by the atmospheric pressure. Then, with the pressure reduced, the panel body is placed in an oven at 5 ° C.
The temperature was raised to 180 ° C. at a rate of / min, and the temperature was maintained for 1 hour. Then, it was slowly cooled and returned to normal pressure at room temperature. As a result, a liquid crystal panel frame for liquid crystal encapsulation having a cell gap of 1.8 μm, the upper and lower substrates 2 and 3 being completely adhered, and having a partition wall group by the partition wall member 8 was obtained. The area of the display portion D is 27 cm × 20 cm.

Thereafter, the periphery of the obtained liquid crystal panel frame was fixed with an epoxy resin or the like to form a structure excellent in earthquake resistance, impact resistance and sealing performance. This liquid crystal panel frame was set in a decompression heating furnace and decompressed to 10 ^-2 pa, then the temperature was raised to 90 ° C and sealed in a liquid crystal dam containing a ferroelectric liquid crystal CS1014 (manufactured by Chisso Corporation). The inlet 10 was dipped, and the sealing port 10 was closed with liquid crystal. When this state was maintained, the liquid crystal penetrated inside the panel body at a speed of about 1.5 cm / hour. In addition, CS1014 is a liquid phase → 82
℃ → chiral nematic phase → 71 ℃ → SmA phase → 64 ℃
→ SmC ^* phase transition.

After the liquid crystal completely entered the inside of the liquid crystal panel frame, the temperature was returned to room temperature in about 3 hours, and the liquid crystal sealing port 10 was sealed with an epoxy resin to obtain a liquid crystal panel body in which the liquid crystal was completely sealed. . Separately from that, two kinds of liquid crystal panel bodies were prepared, one having exactly the same panel structure and liquid crystal, in which the upper and lower rubbing directions were anti-parallel, and one side rubbing. When the chevron structure and the alignment defect were observed for three kinds of liquid crystal panel bodies in different cooling directions, the results shown in Table 1 were obtained.

[0094]

[Table 1]

As a concrete cooling method, a method using an apparatus as shown in FIG. 29 was adopted. In the figure, first, the liquid crystal panel body 1 is a water tank 3 whose temperature is controlled at 85 ° C.
The whole liquid crystal was made into the liquid phase which is a high temperature state phase by immersing in 4 and holding for 3 minutes. After that, the water 33 in the water tank was drained so that the air-water interface P of the water tank was lowered at a speed of 2.5 cm / min, or the liquid crystal panel body 1 was pulled up from the water as indicated by arrow D. The cooling direction can be changed by reversing the direction in which the liquid crystal panel body 1 is immersed in the liquid.

As a heat insulating member 32 for insulating between the atmosphere, which is a high temperature portion, and the water 33, which is a low temperature portion, a slit through which the liquid crystal panel body 1 can pass is provided, and the thickness is 20 m.
m foam polystyrene plate was used. The heat insulating member 32 floats on the liquid surface so as to prevent the liquid surface from swaying, and when draining, it moves at the same time as the water surface. The air-water interface moves in parallel on the surface of the liquid crystal panel body 1, and the moving direction of the air-water interface is substantially parallel to the rubbing direction applied to the liquid crystal panel body 1, and thus is also substantially parallel to the partition member 8. The relationship between the high temperature side and the low temperature side and the rubbing direction at this time is shown in FIG.
3 to FIG. 28. In these figures, the thick line F indicates the liquid crystal tilt direction preferred by the alignment film, that is, the pretilt direction.

In any of the rubbing directions, the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer in the chevron structure of the liquid crystal was toward the end where cooling started. In the case of parallel rubbing (a and b in Table 1: FIGS. 23 and 24), some linear defects and misalignment are observed, especially when the cooling direction is the same direction as the rubbing direction (b in Table 1: FIG. 24). It was observed. When the cooling direction was opposite to the rubbing direction (a in Table 1; FIG. 23), no misalignment was found in the main part. This is because the interaction between the liquid crystal and the alignment film (a in Table 1:
This is because the state of FIG. 23) is more preferred, and the state of (a in FIG. 23: FIG. 23) allows smoother mass transfer. Even in the state of (b in FIG. 24 in Table 1), defect-free orientation was obtained by reversing the moving direction of the air-water interface. Note that in both cases of FIG. 23 and FIG.
Within about 5 to 10 mm from the liquid crystal entrance / exit of the partition member 8 (see FIG. 2).
And LE and LX) had an abnormal orientation.

Also, rubbing on one side (e and f in Table 1: FIG. 2)
Similar results were obtained in the case of FIG.

In the case of so-called anti-parallel rubbing in which the rubbing directions are different between the upper and lower substrates (c and d in Table 1: FIG. 25, FIG. 2)
In 6), there should be no distinction in the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer.
However, defect-free orientation was obtained only when cooled from either one. However, even if there were defects, the amount was extremely small. It is considered that this is because the partition member was formed on the alignment film by photolithography, so that the action of the alignment film was asymmetrical in the vertical direction. If the partition member is formed by a printing method and the symmetry of the action of the alignment film is maintained, a defect-free alignment state will be obtained regardless of which is cooled. Defects may occur in both photolithography and printing, but these results indicate that the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer can be freely reversed by selecting the cooling direction.

In this case, the normal line direction of the layer was inclined by about 3 ° from the rubbing direction. This LCD panel body has a bottom area of 1
At 0 cm ² or more, no abnormal alignment occurred even when a heavy object of about 2 kg was placed thereon or when it was strongly pressed with a finger. When the pitch was narrower than the pitch of the partition member, that is, the arrangement interval, such as the tip of a ballpoint pen, the liquid crystal was locally moved in parallel with the partition member, but the layer was not destroyed.

(Comparative Example 1) A liquid crystal panel body having the same structure and using the same material and substrate as in Example 1 and having no stripe partition member adhered was prepared. The stripe pattern in the central portion of FIG. 2 was formed in the same manner as in Example 1, dried for 1 hour, and then the seal portion 21 was formed of an epoxy resin by a screen printing method.

Both substrates were superposed in the same procedure as in Example 1 and set on an atmospheric pressure jig, and the atmosphere around both substrates was kept at 90 ° C. to bond them at the seal portion 21. By this method, there was obtained a liquid crystal panel frame (A) which was non-adhesive and closely attached in the vicinity of the seal portion 21, but floated in the central portion. Separately from that, a liquid crystal panel frame (B) was manufactured according to the same procedure as in Example 1 using an adhesive member having a circular shape with a radius of 8 μm. The adhesive members were on the line where the stripe-shaped members of Example 1 were, and were arranged regularly with a pitch of 5 mm.

Liquid crystals were permeated into the liquid crystal panel frames A and B so as to be substantially parallel to the rubbing direction. Then, they were immersed in a water bath at the same temperature as in Example 1 and cooled under the same conditions, but no defect-free initial orientation was obtained regardless of the cooling direction. In the liquid crystal panel body (A), large and small zigzag defects were scattered, and in the liquid crystal panel body (B), defects synchronized with the dot arrangement of FIG. 18 and tree-like defects were found in addition to the zigzag defects. At the center of the liquid crystal panel body (A), the liquid crystal has penetrated into the gaps between the stripe-shaped members, and the light-shielding property has deteriorated. Further, in the liquid crystal panel body (A), the alignment abnormality occurred concentrically just by lightly touching the central portion.

(Embodiment 2) Four types of liquid crystal panel bodies having the same configuration and the same procedure as in Embodiment 1 and having the angles formed by the striped partition member and the rubbing direction are 90 °, 40 °, 23 ° and 12 °. Was produced. Cooling was performed in the same manner as in Example 1, but in the case of 90 °, no matter what angle the air-water interface was moved, many zigzag defects were generated in parallel with the partition member. Since the liquid crystal of the liquid crystal panel body in which the stripe-shaped partition member and the rubbing direction are substantially parallel to each other is completely defect-free, the defect occurrence rate is continuous while the inclination angle of the partition member is substantially parallel to 90 °. It can be seen that it has increased to.

Therefore, arranging the partition member so as to be displaced in a direction that is not parallel to the rubbing direction only causes the risk of occurrence of defects, and performing such an operation is practically meaningless. By the way, even when the partition member had an inclination angle of 23 °, a small number of line defects parallel to the rubbing direction occurred. This is because the liquid crystal permeation direction deviates from the rubbing direction, and the more dominant reason is
It is considered that the movement of the liquid crystal, which tends to move along the rubbing direction, collides with the partition wall member and is hindered.

With respect to the partition wall member having an inclination angle of 40 °, a larger number of linear defects and a part of smaller zigzag defects were generated than those having an inclination angle of 23 °. When the partition member has an inclination angle of 12 °, defect-free liquid crystal was obtained. Therefore, the angle formed by the partition member and the rubbing direction is
It is desirable to keep it within 12 °.

Example 3 A liquid crystal panel body was manufactured by the same configuration and the same procedure as in Example 1. However, as shown in FIG. 17, some of the plurality of partition members 8 were thinned out to form the partition members 8. Two kinds of linear spaces R1 and R2, each having a width L of the opening between about 1 mm and about 2 mm, were formed by 10 pieces each. The liquid crystal was permeated and cooled in the same manner as in Example 1.
A small number of zigzag defects and linear defects were generated in the liquid crystal infiltrated into the linear space R2 having the width L = 2 mm. L
= 1 mm, there was no defect. As a result, it can be seen that it is preferable that the opening of the stripe-shaped partition member is narrow. However, the specific numerical value is selected according to the panel size, the pixel size, the arrangement of the color filters, the adhesive strength, the pressure resistance, and the like. Further, when the present liquid crystal panel body is used as a writing body for optical writing, it is selected according to the scanning pitch of the writing laser beam or the like.

Example 4 In FIG. 16, a pair of transparent substrates 2 and 3 were prepared by optically polishing a 45 cm square glass substrate with a thickness of 1.1 mm and processing the flatness of the flat surface within 2 μm. On the transparent substrates 2 and 3, a 1500 Å ITO film was formed by sputtering to form planar electrodes 4 and 5.

Then, a 2% solution of polyimide resin HL1110 was spin-coated on one of the substrates 3 at 1000 rpm for 20 seconds, dried in an oven at 180 ° C. for about 1 hour, and rubbed in a direction parallel to one side at room temperature. did. Further, in order to disperse the granular rigid body in the partition member 8, the viscosity of a rubber-based resist OMR-83 (manufactured by Tokyo Ohka Kogyo Co., Ltd.) in which spherical spacers are added to the substrate in an amount of 1% by weight based on the resin content. 30 cp solution at 3000 rpm for 15
Spin coated for seconds.

After that, the adhesive partition wall member 8 having the pattern shown in FIG. 2 was formed in the central portion of the substrate 2 by the conventional photolithography so as to be parallel to the rubbing direction. The partition member 8 has a thickness of 2.2 μm and a width of 28 μm.
The length was 37 cm, and the number was 900. The main difference from Example 1 is the length of the linear space R formed. The area D that can be used as a display unit (see FIG. 2) is 3
It will be 7 cm x 30 cm. The counter substrate 2 was spin-coated with a 2% solution of polyimide resin HL1110 at 1000 rpm for 20 seconds, and then dried in an oven at 180 ° C. for about 1 hour.

Similar to the first embodiment, the upper and lower substrates 2, 3
A liquid crystal panel frame was obtained in which the rubbing directions were parallel and the same, there was no sinking in the central part, the cell gap was about 2.0 μm, and the upper and lower substrates were completely adhered to each other to form a partition member group. Then, in this liquid crystal panel frame, the ferroelectric liquid crystal ZL13
774 (manufactured by Merck Ltd.) was enclosed. This liquid crystal has a liquid phase → 86 ° C. → N ^* phase → 76 ° C. → SmA phase → 62 ° C. → S
It undergoes a phase transition of the mC ^* phase.

The liquid crystal panel was immersed in a water tank whose temperature was controlled at 88 ° C. and kept for 3 minutes so that the entire liquid crystal became a liquid phase. Then, the air-water interface of the water tank was lowered at a rate of 2.5 cm / min. The water in the aquarium was drained. The air-water interface moves in parallel on the surface of the liquid crystal panel, and the moving direction of the air-water interface is opposite to the rubbing direction applied to the liquid crystal panel. No defects were found in the main part of the liquid crystal panel body thus obtained. When the cooling direction was reversed, only a few linear defects were found. The combination of the alignment film and the liquid crystal layer in the liquid crystal panel body of this example is
The direction in which the liquid crystal layer bends in the opposite direction to that of Example 1 is set to a natural state. However, at the beginning and end of the partition member,
There was an abnormal alignment including zigzag defects up to about 10 mm.

With the liquid crystal panel body immersed in the liquid,
It was cooled to room temperature while controlling the temperature so that the temperature difference across the panel was 0.1 ° C. at a rate of 0.2 ° C./min. In this case, a zigzag defect appeared across the adhesive member at a position where the entire surface of the panel was divided into approximately 1: 2. A large number of linear defects were found inside the two liquid crystal phase domains forming zigzag defects. When the liquid crystal panel body was cooled by changing the dipping method, the position of the zigzag gap was changed, but was not lost. This indicates that the distribution of cooling points and the movement of crystals during volume contraction are the causes of defects.

(Example 6) A liquid crystal panel frame for liquid crystal encapsulation was produced by the same configuration and the same procedure as in Example 1, and the antiferroelectric liquid crystal CS4000 (manufactured by Chisso Corporation) was further placed in the liquid crystal panel frame. Was sealed to prepare a liquid crystal panel body. The other materials are the same as in Example 1. CS4000 has an antiferroelectric phase and its phase transition is an isotropic phase (liquid phase) → 101
℃ → smectic A phase → 84 ° C. → chiral smectic C phase → 82 ° C. → chiral smectic C _A phase. Cover the liquid crystal panel with a synthetic resin protective sheet, and
After being immersed in silicon oil at 5 ° C., a temperature gradient was formed on the liquid crystal panel under the same conditions as in Example 1, and the gas-liquid interface was moved parallel to the rubbing direction. The reason for covering with the protective sheet is to prevent the silicone oil from adhering to the liquid crystal panel body and making it difficult to handle the liquid crystal panel body.

In this example, no matter what side the liquid crystal panel body was cooled from, it was not found that the obtained alignment state had a large difference, and in each case, elongated zigzag defects were found. However, the number of alignment defects was extremely small, that is, the alignment property was remarkably excellent, as compared with the case where the liquid crystal panel body was cooled while being immersed in silicon oil without providing a temperature gradient.

Example 7 A liquid crystal panel body was manufactured with the same configuration and the same procedure as in Example 1. However, after forming the adhesive member, a 10% aqueous solution of polyvinyl alcohol was spin-coated at 1000 rpm for 40 seconds as an alignment film,
Dry at 30 ° C. for 30 minutes. The same polyvinyl alcohol film was formed on the counter substrate and subjected to rubbing treatment. The liquid crystal panel body was obtained by laminating the rubbing directions so as to be substantially parallel to the partition member. When cooled under the same conditions as in Example 1, a defect-free orientation state was obtained no matter which one was cooled.

Example 8 A liquid crystal panel frame for liquid crystal encapsulation was produced with the same configuration and the same procedure as in Example 1. However, regarding the partition member, the length of the starting portion and the ending portion is 5 mm.
Is tapered so that it gradually narrows toward the tip, and the color index number 7 is added in the partition member.
The organic pigment having a particle size of 0.3 μm or less and the dispersant were dispersed. When the same liquid crystal as in Example 1 was sealed and cooled under the same conditions, the abnormal alignment region at the liquid crystal inlet / outlet was reduced to a maximum of 4 mm. Even when the pigment or the dispersant was dispersed in the partition member, the adhesiveness was maintained and a liquid crystal panel excellent in light shielding property was obtained.

Example 9 The same liquid crystal panel body as in Example 3 was produced. However, the terminal end portion 23 (FIG. 2) of the partition wall member was adhered to the seal portion 21. At the terminal end, there was an abnormal orientation in the range of about 7 to 10 mm. When the liquid crystal panel body was allowed to stand for about 10 days so that the terminal end portion was located in the lower portion, that is, the stripe-shaped partition wall member extended in the vertical direction with respect to the visual sense, the abnormal alignment region in the lower portion increased by about 7 to 8 mm. It reached an equilibrium state and stopped. Such misalignment is
It is considered that this is because the gravity acting on the liquid crystal in the linear space is applied to the lower region of the liquid crystal.

From this, it can be seen that if the partition member 8 inside the liquid crystal panel is set so as to extend in the horizontal direction when the liquid crystal display is placed in a normal use state, it will enter each linear space. The gravitational force acting on the liquid crystal that is being generated is received by each partition member 8.
This means that it is possible to prevent the alignment error from occurring in the liquid crystal located below the liquid crystal panel body.

Example 10 A liquid crystal and a polyimide for alignment in which perfect defect-free alignment was obtained by appropriately selecting the high temperature phase temperature and the cooling direction by the same procedure as in Example 1 and Example 3. Listed below are combinations with resins.

Ferroelectric liquid crystal: CS1013, CS101
5, CS1017, CS1019 (manufactured by Chisso Corporation), ZLI3774 (manufactured by Merck Ltd.), SCE8,
SCE9, SCE10, SCE11 (all manufactured by BDH) Polyimide resin: S610 (manufactured by Nissan Chemical Industries, Ltd.), PI
Q1400, PIQ5200, (above Hitachi Chemical Co., Ltd.)
AL3046, AL1051, (made by Japan Synthetic Rubber)

[0122]

According to the liquid crystal panel frame and the liquid crystal panel body of the present invention, since the partition member forming the linear space firmly and flexibly adheres the upper and lower substrates, the seismic resistance that does not destroy the aligned liquid crystal phase. A liquid crystal panel frame or liquid crystal panel body having excellent impact resistance can be obtained. This liquid crystal panel frame, etc. does not bend even if you touch it with your hand, and you can also carry it freely without deforming it, so when assembling a liquid crystal display with auxiliary elements such as driving transistors attached to the liquid crystal panel body Operability is improved. It also improves seismic and shock resistance when used as a liquid crystal display.

It is possible to smoothly introduce the liquid crystal into the liquid crystal panel frame without causing the liquid crystal to be disturbed, and it is possible to control the contraction direction of the liquid crystal and the layer growth mode. Therefore,
A perfectly defect-free chiral smectic phase can be formed on a large-area liquid crystal panel with good reproducibility and absolutely surely. Therefore, it becomes possible to manufacture a high-quality large-sized liquid crystal display at low cost.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of the fifth aspect, the abnormal alignment can be surely eliminated from the display area.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of the sixth aspect, the partition member is reinforced to obtain a liquid crystal panel body having a uniform cell gap even in a large area.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of the seventh aspect, since the inner wall surface of the linear space contacting the liquid crystal is chemically uniform, the volume change of the liquid crystal due to cooling can be smoothly performed.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of the eighth aspect, the penetration time of the liquid crystal can be shortened as compared with the case where the liquid crystal is introduced from the lateral position of the partition member.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of claim 11,
Since the partition wall member works efficiently as a light-shielding member, a high-quality image with high contrast can be obtained when the image is displayed by the liquid crystal panel body.

According to the liquid crystal panel body of the twelfth aspect,
Since the flow of the liquid crystal in the vicinity of the liquid crystal inlet / outlet of the partition member can be made smooth, it is possible to expand the area of the surface of the liquid crystal panel that can be used as the display area.

According to the liquid crystal display of claim 13,
It is possible to surely prevent the alignment abnormality from occurring in the liquid crystal due to the action of gravity acting on the liquid crystal stored in the liquid crystal panel body.

[0131]

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective sectional view showing an internal structure of a liquid crystal panel frame or a liquid crystal panel body used in a method of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan sectional view of the liquid crystal panel body.

FIG. 3 is a front sectional view showing an internal structure of an example of a conventional liquid crystal panel body.

FIG. 4 is a plan view schematically showing an example of a zigzag defect which is one of alignment abnormalities.

FIG. 5 is a plan view schematically showing a tree-like defect which is another one of the orientation abnormalities.

FIG. 6 is a plan view schematically showing a linear defect which is another one of the abnormal orientations.

FIG. 7 is a perspective cross-sectional view schematically showing the relationship between the chevron structure and the zigzag defect structure found in the SmC ^* phase layer.

FIG. 8 is a perspective sectional view showing a bookshell structure of a layer of SmC ^* phase.

FIG. 9 is a diagram schematically showing a state of misalignment of layers, which is one of the alignment abnormalities of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal.

FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which there are two domains with different growth directions, which is one of the alignment anomalies of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal.

FIG. 11 is a diagram schematically showing another state of layer misalignment, which is another one of the alignment anomalies of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal.

FIG. 12 is a diagram schematically showing the generation process of tree-like defects.

FIG. 13 is a diagram schematically showing a process of generating a tree-like defect following FIG.

FIG. 14 is a diagram schematically showing a situation in which the liquid crystal layer bends toward a lower temperature. In particular, (a) shows the case where the temperature decreases from the right side first, and (b) shows the case where the temperature decreases sequentially from the central part to the left and right sides.

FIG. 15 is a diagram schematically showing a state in which different phases are gradually generated toward the lower temperature inside the liquid crystal, and the layer of the SmC ^* phase is further bent.

FIG. 16 is a perspective sectional view showing another embodiment of the internal structures of the liquid crystal panel frame and the liquid crystal panel body according to the present invention.

FIG. 17 is a perspective sectional view showing still another embodiment of the internal structures of the liquid crystal panel frame and the liquid crystal panel body according to the present invention.

FIG. 18 is a diagram schematically showing an example of how zigzag defects appear in a liquid crystal panel body bonded with regular dot-shaped members.

FIG. 19 is a diagram schematically showing a flow of liquid crystal in the vicinity of a liquid crystal inlet / outlet of a linear space.

FIG. 20 is an exploded perspective view of an example of a liquid crystal display.

FIG. 21 is a perspective view showing an example of a usage state of a liquid crystal display.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing a modified example of the partition member.

FIG. 23 is a diagram schematically showing a bending direction of a liquid crystal layer and an inclined state of liquid crystal molecules corresponding to a relationship between a rubbing direction and a cooling direction, particularly a situation in which parallel rubbing and a cooling direction are opposite to the rubbing direction. is there.

FIG. 24 is a diagram schematically showing a bending direction of a liquid crystal layer and an inclined state of liquid crystal molecules corresponding to a relationship between a rubbing direction and a cooling direction, particularly a situation in which parallel rubbing and a cooling direction are the same as the rubbing direction. is there.

FIG. 25 schematically illustrates the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer and the tilted state of the liquid crystal molecules corresponding to the relationship between the rubbing direction and the cooling direction, in particular, the situation where the cooling direction is the same as the lower rubbing direction in antiparallel rubbing. FIG.

FIG. 26 schematically shows the bending direction of the liquid crystal layer and the tilted state of the liquid crystal molecules corresponding to the relationship between the rubbing direction and the cooling direction, in particular, the situation when the cooling direction is the same as the upper rubbing direction in antiparallel rubbing. It is a figure.

FIG. 27 is a diagram schematically showing a bending direction of a liquid crystal layer and a tilted state of liquid crystal molecules corresponding to a relationship between a rubbing direction and a cooling direction, particularly a situation in which one side rubbing is performed and the cooling direction is opposite to the rubbing direction. is there.

FIG. 28 is a diagram schematically showing a bending direction of a liquid crystal layer and a tilted state of liquid crystal molecules corresponding to a relationship between a rubbing direction and a cooling direction, particularly a situation where one side rubbing is performed and the cooling direction is the same as the rubbing direction. is there.

FIG. 29 is a front sectional view showing an example of an apparatus for cooling a liquid crystal panel body.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal panel body 2,3 Glass transparent substrate 4,5 Transparent ITO electrode 6 Insulating film 7,9 Polyimide alignment film 8 Partition member 10 Liquid crystal sealing port 21 Seal part 22 Tip part of linear space 23 Rear end part of linear space R Linear space L Long-side dimension of cross-section of linear space R S Short-side dimension of cross-section of linear space R W Width of partition member 8 P ₁ , P ₂ Wide surface P of linear space R in contact with liquid crystal P ₃ , P ₄ Narrow width surface in contact with liquid crystal in linear space R

Claims (13)

[Claims] 1. A pair of substrates, at least one of which is transparent, a pair of electrodes formed on the substrates and facing each other, and arranged between the substrates in parallel with each other at a predetermined interval. A plurality of linear partition members, and an alignment film formed on at least one of the pair of substrates and subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment, each partition member having a uniaxial alignment A straight line that extends substantially parallel to the processing direction, and that each partition member is adhered to an opposing substrate so that a portion other than the liquid crystal passage opening end is sealed against the liquid. A liquid crystal panel frame characterized by forming a space. 2. A pair of substrates, at least one of which is transparent, a pair of electrodes formed on the substrates and facing each other, and arranged in parallel with each other with a predetermined space provided between the substrates. A plurality of linear partition members, and an alignment film formed on at least one of the pair of substrates and subjected to uniaxial alignment treatment, each partition member having a uniaxial alignment Extending substantially parallel to the processing direction, each partition member is adhered to the opposing substrate,
A linear space is formed in a state in which the liquid crystal is not sealed except for the opening end, and a ferroelectric liquid crystal or an antiferroelectric liquid crystal is enclosed in each of the linear spaces. A liquid crystal panel body characterized in that 3. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein the pair of electrodes are formed by a pair of striped electrodes facing each other formed by arranging a plurality of linear electrodes at a predetermined pitch. The pair of striped electrodes are orthogonal to each other, and each of the above-mentioned partition members linearly extends between the striped electrodes on one substrate at the same pitch as the electrodes or at a plurality of pitch intervals. body. 4. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein each of the pair of electrodes is composed of a planar electrode, and each partition member is formed on one planar electrode at an appropriate pitch. A liquid crystal panel body characterized in that 5. The liquid crystal panel according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the length of the linear space is longer than the length of a region effectively used as a display unit. Liquid crystal panel body characterized by. 6. The liquid crystal panel body according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein a rigid body is dispersed in the partition member. 7. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein a polymer organic film is formed on the inner wall surface of the linear space. 8. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein a liquid crystal sealing port is provided on an end portion side of the linear space for passing the liquid crystal. Liquid crystal panel body. 9. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein the phase state of the ferroelectric liquid crystal is a chiral smectic C phase. . 10. The liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein a phase state of the antiferroelectric liquid crystal is a chiral smectic C _A phase, a chiral smectic C α phase, or a chiral smectic. A liquid crystal panel body, which is either a Cβ phase or a chiral smectic Cγ phase. 11. A liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein a black coloring material is dispersed in the partition member. 12. The liquid crystal panel body according to any one of claims 2 to 11, wherein a taper portion that narrows toward the outside is provided at an end portion of the partition wall member on the liquid crystal inlet / outlet side. Liquid crystal panel body characterized by. 13. A liquid crystal display configured by mounting an accessory device on the liquid crystal panel body according to claim 2, wherein the partition wall member is in use when the liquid crystal panel body is in use. A liquid crystal display characterized in that a liquid crystal panel body is arranged so that is extended in the horizontal direction.