JPH09113921A - Electrode substrate of liquid crystal display - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an electrode substrate with which the reduction of the area in the parts of the transparent substrate not to be formed as cells is possible and the failure in inspection is averted even if the pitch of transparent electrode parts is small. SOLUTION: This electrode substrate is formed of the transparent electrodes having display electrode parts 13a for applying electric fields on a liquid crystal layer, terminal electrode parts 13b for transmitting the voltages impressed from external terminals to these display electrode parts 13a and inspection electrode parts 13c formed broader than these terminal electrode parts 13b for contact with a probe for external inspection. In such a case, the transparent electrodes are so formed that the electrode parts 13c for inspection are interposed between the display electrode parts 13a and the terminal electrode parts 13b.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display, and more particularly to a structure of a transparent electrode of such an electrode substrate.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A constitutional example of an electrode substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 3 is a plan view conceptually showing an example of an electrode substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display.

In the figure, a transparent substrate 31 such as glass is used as the electrode substrate. On the surface of the transparent substrate 31, cells 32 composed of a plurality of rows of transparent electrodes 33 are formed. In the example shown in FIG. 3, one transparent substrate has two
Individual cells 32 are formed, and each cell has 5
It has individual transparent electrodes 33.

Here, the transparent electrode 33 is the effective electrode portion 34.
And an inspection electrode section 35. The effective electrode portion 34 has a display electrode portion 34a and a terminal electrode portion 34b. The display electrode portion 34a is used to apply an electric field to the liquid crystal layer. In addition, the terminal electrode portion 34b is
The voltage supplied from an external terminal such as B is displayed on the display electrode portion 34a.
Used to communicate to. Furthermore, the inspection electrode unit 35
Is provided for making an open / short inspection of the transparent electrode 33 by bringing it into contact with an external inspection probe when manufacturing the electrode substrate.

When manufacturing a liquid crystal display using such an electrode substrate, first, two electrode substrates as shown in FIG. 3 are prepared, and an alignment film is formed on these electrode substrates.
Furthermore, the two electrode substrates are bonded by heating and pressurizing after placing a sealing material on the portion corresponding to the periphery of each cell 32. Then, after cutting each cell 32 along the cutting line 32a shown in FIG. 3 (hence, the inspection electrode portion 35 is separated from the cell 32), the liquid crystal material is vacuum-injected from the injection port provided in the sealing material.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another configuration example of the electrode substrate of the conventional liquid crystal display.

Also in the electrode substrate shown in FIG. 4, a transparent substrate 41 such as glass is used, and a cell 42 composed of transparent electrodes 43 in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns is formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 41. In the example shown in FIG. 4, one transparent substrate has two
Individual cells 42 are formed, and each cell 42 has 2 × 12 transparent electrodes 43.

The transparent electrode 43 has a display electrode portion 44,
It has a terminal electrode portion 45 and a common electrode portion 46. Since such a transparent electrode 43 does not have an inspection electrode portion, the inspection probe is brought into contact with the terminal electrode portion 45 when the open / short inspection of the transparent electrode 43 is performed. The common electrode portion 46 is formed to prevent electrostatic breakdown in the manufacturing process.

A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display using such an electrode substrate is almost the same as the case of the liquid crystal display shown in FIG. 3, but after the step of cutting the cell 42 along the cutting line 42a, The method further includes the step of removing the common electrode portion 46.

[0011]

As described above, when manufacturing a liquid crystal display, it is common to cut out a plurality of cells 32, 42 from one set (that is, two) of transparent substrates 31, 41. Is.

Here, in order to reduce the manufacturing cost of the liquid crystal display, among the transparent substrates 31 and 41, the cell 32,
It is desirable to reduce the area of the portion that does not become 42 (that is, the portion that is discarded after cutting out the cells 32 and 42) to make as many cells 32 and 42 as possible from a large-area transparent substrate.

However, in the electrode substrate 31 as shown in FIG. 3, the inspection electrode section 3 is provided outside the cell 32.
Had to form 5. This has been an obstacle in increasing the number of cells 32 and 42 that can be manufactured from one set of transparent substrates, and has been an obstacle to reducing the manufacturing cost.

Further, in recent years, the liquid crystal display is becoming larger and higher in definition, so that the area of the effective electrode portion 34 tends to increase. For this reason, it becomes more and more difficult to secure a space for the inspection electrode portion 35, which is a problem in reducing the manufacturing cost.

On the other hand, in the case of the type in which the inspection probe is brought into contact with the terminal electrode portion 45 without providing the inspection electrode portion like the electrode substrate shown in FIG. 4, the above-mentioned drawbacks do not occur. .

However, in this type of electrode substrate, the area for contacting the inspection probe becomes small, so that it becomes difficult to obtain good contact between the terminal electrode portion 45 and the inspection probe. , Another drawback arises. In particular, if the pitch of the terminal electrode portions 45 becomes extremely small as the liquid crystal display becomes finer, the open / short test cannot be performed.

The present invention has been made in view of the above drawbacks of the prior art, and it is possible to reduce the area of a portion of the transparent substrate that does not become a cell, and the pitch of the transparent electrode portions is small. Even if it does not become impossible to inspect,
An object is to provide an electrode substrate for a liquid crystal display.

[0018]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

(1) An electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display according to the present invention includes a display electrode portion for applying an electric field to a liquid crystal layer, a terminal electrode portion for transmitting a voltage supplied from an external terminal to the display electrode portion, In an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display formed with a transparent electrode having an inspection electrode portion formed wider than the terminal electrode portion for contacting with an external inspection probe, the inspection electrode portion is the display electrode. The transparent electrode is formed so as to be interposed between the portion and the terminal electrode portion. (2) In the electrode substrate of such a liquid crystal display, it is desirable to form the transparent electrodes so that the inspection electrode portions are arranged in a zigzag pattern.

[0019]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION First Embodiment Hereinafter, a first embodiment (corresponding to claim 1 and claim 2) of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing the structure of the electrode substrate of the liquid crystal display according to this embodiment.

Also in this embodiment, the conventional case (see FIG.
As in FIG. 4), a transparent substrate 11 made of glass or the like is used as the electrode substrate. And this transparent substrate 1
On the surface of No. 1, a cell 12 composed of a plurality of rows of transparent electrodes 13 is formed.
Are formed. In the example shown in FIG. 1, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, two cells 12 are formed on one transparent substrate, and each cell has five transparent electrodes 13. There is.

The transparent electrode 13 has a display electrode portion 13a, a terminal electrode portion 13b and an inspection electrode portion 13c. Further, between the display electrode portion 13a and the inspection electrode portion 13c,
They are connected by the wiring pattern 13d. here,
The display electrode portion 13a is used to apply an electric field to the liquid crystal layer. Further, the terminal electrode portion 13b is used for transmitting the voltage supplied from the external terminal such as TAB to the display electrode portion 13a. The inspection electrode portion 13c is formed so as to be wider than the terminal electrode portion 13b and have substantially the same width as the display electrode 23a. The inspection electrode portion 13c is made transparent by being brought into contact with an external inspection probe during manufacturing of the electrode substrate. It is used to perform the open / short inspection of the electrode 13.

The electrode substrate according to this embodiment is a transparent electrode 1.
The inspection electrode part 13c of No. 3 is formed so as to be interposed between the display electrode part 13a and the terminal electrode part 13c.
It is different from the conventional electrode substrate. That is, the inspection electrode portion 13c is formed inside the effective electrode portion 13 '.

The process of manufacturing a liquid crystal display using the electrode substrate as shown in FIG. 1 is the same as in the conventional case (see FIG. 4). That is, first, two electrode substrates as shown in FIG. 1 are produced, alignment films are formed on these electrode substrates, and then a sealing material is arranged in a portion corresponding to the periphery of each cell 12 and then heated. By pressing, the two electrode substrates are bonded together. Then, after cutting each cell 12 along the cutting line 12a shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal material is vacuum-injected from the injection port provided in the sealing material.

As described above, in the electrode substrate according to this embodiment, the inspection electrode portion 13c is formed so as to be interposed between the display electrode portion 13a and the terminal electrode portion 13c, so that the effective electrode portion 13 'is formed. There is no need to form a transparent electrode on the outside. Therefore, the area of the transparent substrate 11 that does not become the cells 12 (that is, the portion that is discarded after the cells 12 are cut out) can be suppressed to a small area, so that a large number of cells 12 made of a large-sized transparent substrate are produced. This is effective in reducing the manufacturing cost of the electrode substrate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 1, the inspection electrode portion 1
Since the width of 3c is substantially the same as the width of the display electrode portion 13a, the pitch of the transparent electrodes 13 is not affected,
The area for contacting the inspection probe can be made sufficiently large. This makes it possible to ensure good contact between the terminal electrode portion 45 and the inspection probe.

Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment of the present invention (corresponding to claim 1 and claim 3) will be described.

FIG. 2 is a plan view conceptually showing the structure of the electrode substrate of the liquid crystal display according to this embodiment.

Also in the electrode substrate shown in FIG. 2, a transparent substrate 21 made of glass or the like is used, and cells 22 composed of transparent electrodes 23 in a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns are formed on the surface of the transparent substrate 21. In the example shown in FIG. 2, as in the conventional example shown in FIG. 4, two cells 22 are formed on one transparent substrate, and each cell 22 has 2 × 12 transparent electrodes 2 respectively.
Three.

The transparent electrode 23 includes the display electrode portion 23a, the terminal electrode portion 23b, the inspection electrode portion 23c and the common electrode portion 23.
d. Further, the display electrode portion 23a and the inspection electrode portion 23c are connected by the wiring portion 23e.
Here, the display electrode portion 23a is used to apply an electric field to the liquid crystal layer, as in the case of the first embodiment. The terminal electrode portion 23b is used for transmitting the voltage supplied from the external terminal such as TAB to the display electrode portion 23a. Further, the inspection electrode portion 23c is formed so as to be wider than the terminal electrode portion 23b, and in order to make an open / short inspection of the transparent electrode 23 by contacting with an external inspection probe when manufacturing the electrode substrate. used.

Also in the electrode substrate according to this embodiment, the inspection electrode portion 23c of the transparent electrode 23 is formed so as to be interposed between the display electrode portion 23a and the terminal electrode portion 23c, as in the first embodiment. This is different from the conventional electrode substrate. That is, the inspection electrode portion 23c is the effective electrode portion 23 '.
Formed within.

Further, in the present embodiment, the inspection electrode portion 23c
Are arranged in a zigzag pattern, which is different from the first embodiment described above.

The process of manufacturing a liquid crystal display using the electrode substrate as shown in FIG. 2 is the same as in the conventional case (see FIG. 4). That is, first, two electrode substrates as shown in FIG. 2 are produced, alignment films are formed on these electrode substrates, and then a sealing material is arranged in a portion corresponding to the periphery of each cell 22 and then heated. By pressing, the two electrode substrates are bonded together. Then, after cutting each cell 22 along the cutting line 22a shown in FIG. 2, the liquid crystal material is vacuum-injected from the injection port provided in the sealing material. Then, finally, the common electrode portion 23d is removed.

As described above, in the electrode substrate according to the present embodiment, the inspection electrode portion 23c is formed so as to be interposed between the display electrode portion 23a and the terminal electrode portion 23c, so that the portion that does not become the cell 22 is not formed. The area can be kept small. Therefore, a large number of cells 22 made of a large-area transparent substrate can be manufactured, which is effective in reducing the manufacturing cost of the electrode substrate.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the inspection electrode section 2
Since the 3c's are arranged in a zigzag pattern, even if the pitch of the transparent electrodes 23 is very small, the area for contacting the inspection probe can be made sufficiently large without affecting this pitch. This makes it possible to ensure good contact between the terminal electrode portion 23b and the inspection probe.

[0036]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention, it is possible to suppress the area of the portion of the transparent substrate that does not become a cell, and open / short even if the pitch of the transparent electrode portions is small. It is possible to provide an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display that does not become inspectable.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a plan view conceptually showing the structure of an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a plan view conceptually showing the structure of an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a plan view conceptually showing an example of an electrode substrate of a conventional liquid crystal display.

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing another configuration example of the electrode substrate of the conventional liquid crystal display.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11, 21 Transparent substrate 12, 22 Cell 13, 23 Transparent electrode 13a, 23a Display electrode portion 13b, 23b Terminal electrode portion 13c, 23c Inspection electrode portion 13d, 23d Wiring pattern

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display electrode section for applying an electric field to a liquid crystal layer, a terminal electrode section for transmitting a voltage supplied from an external terminal to the display electrode section, and a contact for an external inspection probe. In an electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display in which a transparent electrode having an inspection electrode portion formed wider than the terminal electrode portion is formed, the inspection electrode portion is provided between the display electrode portion and the terminal electrode portion. An electrode substrate of a liquid crystal display, wherein the transparent electrode is formed so as to be interposed. 2. The electrode substrate of the liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein the width of the inspection electrode is substantially the same as the width of the display electrode portion. 3. The electrode substrate for a liquid crystal display according to claim 1, wherein the transparent electrodes are formed so that the inspection electrode portions are arranged in a zigzag pattern.