JPH11174471A - Liquid crystal panel and manufacturing method thereof, liquid crystal display device and electronic equipment using it - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal panel and a manufacturing method thereof, a liquid crystal display device and electronic equipment using it, which can widely keep an information display part and does not complicate the manufacturing process. SOLUTION: In a liquid crystal panel 11 provided with a liquid crystal substance 13 to be filled into a gap held between two substrates 12 opposed to each other and a sealant 14 which is arranged so as to enclose the liquid crystal substance 13 and adheres the two substrates 12 to each other, projecting parts 141 projecting more outwardly than the other parts on the outer peripheral part of the sealant 14. Since the projecting parts 141 increase the adhering area, it becomes possible to expand an information display part 11A of the liquid crystal panel 11 by forming the inner periphery edge of the sealant more outwardly by the outwardly expanded portion of the adhering surface.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention
A liquid crystal panel including a liquid crystal material filled in a gap between two substrates, and a sealant disposed to surround the liquid crystal material and bonding the two substrates to each other, and a method of manufacturing the same; The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device and an electronic device including the liquid crystal panel.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, liquid crystal display devices using liquid crystal panels have been used in electronic devices such as mobile phones and personal computers.
The use of a liquid crystal display device makes it possible to reduce the weight and thickness of display portions for images, characters, and the like.
The weight can be reduced.

For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, a liquid crystal panel 41 used in such a liquid crystal display device has a 2
A liquid crystal substance 13 filled in a gap between two glass substrates 12, and arranged so as to surround the liquid crystal substance 13. The two glass substrates 12 are adhered to each other to hermetically seal the liquid crystal substance 13. The liquid crystal material 13 is sealed in the information display section 41A.
It is said.

On the surfaces of the two glass substrates 12 on which the liquid crystal material 13 is sealed, electrodes 16 and 17 for controlling the alignment state of the liquid crystal material 13 are provided.
They are electrically connected by upper and lower conductive members 15 arranged outside the sealant 14. By supplying an electric signal to the electrodes 16 and 17 from the outside, the liquid crystal panel 4
It controls the display of information such as one image.

[0005]

However, in such a conventional liquid crystal panel 41, it is necessary to secure a portion for disposing the upper and lower conductive members 15 outside the sealant 14 in the glass substrate 12. In addition, it is necessary to bond the two glass substrates 12 to each other by the sealant 14, and therefore, it is necessary to secure a certain width dimension of the sealant 14.

Therefore, even in the liquid crystal panel 41 using the glass substrate 12 according to the size of the electronic device, the area in which the liquid crystal material 13 is sealed is reduced by the vertical conductive material 15 and the bonding width. . In particular, since the height dimension H0 in FIG. 9 is reduced, there is a problem that the information display section 41A of the liquid crystal panel 41 cannot be sufficiently secured.

The upper and lower conductive members 15 are usually made of silver (A
g) A paste is used, but it is necessary to shield from outside air to prevent deterioration, and the portion where the upper and lower conductive members 15 are disposed is provided with the upper and lower conductive members 15 of the glass substrate 12 as can be seen from FIG. The entire end face must be covered and protected by the sealant 18, which causes a problem that the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel 41 is complicated.

An object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal panel which can secure a large information display portion and does not complicate the manufacturing process, a method of manufacturing the same, a liquid crystal display device and an electronic apparatus using the same. It is in.

[0009]

According to the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal panel comprising: a liquid crystal material filled in a gap between two substrates facing each other; and a liquid crystal material disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal material. A liquid crystal panel comprising a sealant for bonding the substrates to each other, wherein an outer peripheral portion of the sealant includes:
It is characterized in that a convex portion protruding outward from other portions is formed.

[0010] According to the present invention, since the convex portion protruding outward from other portions is provided, the bonding area can be increased by that amount, and the adhesive strength of the two glass substrates can be increased. Is improved.

If the adhesive force of the sealant is already sufficient, the inner peripheral edge of the sealant can be formed more outwardly by the extension of the adhesive surface, and the information display portion of the liquid crystal panel can be expanded. Becomes

In the above, a plurality of the above-mentioned convex portions are formed on the outer peripheral portion of the sealant.
In the case where an upper and lower conductive material for electrically connecting a pair of electrodes provided on each of the substrates is provided, the upper and lower conductive material is preferably arranged between a pair of adjacent convex portions. .

Here, the convex portion is formed in a substantially semicircular convex portion forming a concave portion slightly larger than the width dimension of the upper and lower conductive material, and is formed so as to be close to each other outside the upper and lower conductive material. When two substrates are pressure-bonded to each other, a convex portion formed such that ends of the pair of convex portions can be connected to each other can be considered.

That is, since the upper and lower conductive members are arranged between the pair of convex portions adjacent to the concave and convex portions, the electrical conduction between the pair of electrodes is not impaired, and the bonding area is secured while ensuring the adhesion area. The information display unit can be expanded.

Further, since the upper and lower conductive members are surrounded by the projections, it is possible to simplify the protection of the upper and lower conductive members by the sealing agent, and the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel is not complicated.

Further, if the convex portion is formed in a semicircular shape, the vertical conductive material can be inserted from above and outside into the concave portion surrounded by the pair of convex portions. Arrangement becomes easy.

If the ends of the pair of projections are formed so as to be continuous with each other, it is possible to cover and protect the upper and lower conductive material with the pair of projections by pressing the two substrates together. Therefore, there is no need to separately cover and protect the upper and lower conductive members with a sealant, and the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal panel is significantly simplified.

In a first method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel according to the present invention, the liquid crystal material is filled in a gap between two substrates facing each other, and the liquid crystal material is disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal material. A liquid crystal comprising: a sealant for bonding two substrates to each other; and an upper / lower conductive material provided outside the sealant and electrically connecting a pair of electrodes provided on each of the two substrates. A method of manufacturing a panel, wherein the sealant is disposed on one of the two substrates, and a plurality of convex portions are formed in which an outer peripheral portion of the sealant protrudes outward from other portions. A first step, a second step of arranging the upper and lower conductive members between the pair of adjacent convex portions, and pressing the other of the two substrates to the one substrate by pressing the one of the two substrates; Of the convex parts of A third step of hermetically sealing the upper and lower conductive material in the sealant, and after performing one of the first step and the second step, the other step. And then the third step is performed thereafter.

According to the present invention, since the method includes the first step and the second step, the upper and lower conductive members are hermetically sealed in the sealant only by pressing the two substrates together. This eliminates the need to separately provide a sealant for protecting the upper and lower conductive members, thereby greatly simplifying the method of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel.

Further, a liquid crystal display device according to the present invention includes the above-described liquid crystal panel and a semiconductor element for controlling the liquid crystal panel.

Further, an electronic apparatus according to the present invention includes the liquid crystal display device and a housing for accommodating the liquid crystal display device. is there.

In such a liquid crystal display device and electronic equipment,
Since the information display portion in which the liquid crystal substance is sealed can be ensured to be larger than the area of the substrate, the size of the liquid crystal display device and the electronic device can be further reduced.

[0023]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the description of the same or similar parts as those already described will be simplified or omitted.

FIG. 1 shows a liquid crystal display device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The liquid crystal display device 1 includes a liquid crystal panel 11 serving as a main body of an information display portion and a liquid crystal panel 11.
IC (Integrated Circuit)
t) TCP (registered trademark) (Tape C) equipped with 31
(arrir Package) 32.

The liquid crystal panel 11 has an information display section 11A having a height H1 in which a liquid crystal substance 13 (described later) is filled in a gap sandwiched between two rectangular glass substrates 12.
The glass substrate 12 disposed on the middle and lower sides has an edge that is one side of the rectangle protruding from the edge of the glass substrate 12 disposed on the upper side.

The TCP 32 has a flexible printed circuit board 33 having an electronic circuit printed on its surface, and a TAB (Tape Automated Boad) on the printed circuit board 33.
and an IC 31 mounted on the lower side of the glass substrate 12 by electrical and mechanical connection.

As shown in FIG. 2, a portion of the liquid crystal panel 11 corresponding to the information display portion 11A is filled with a liquid crystal material 13 in a gap between the two glass substrates 12 so as to surround the liquid crystal material 13. A sealant 14 is provided, whereby the liquid crystal substance 13 is hermetically sealed.

The sealant 14 has a function of hermetically sealing the liquid crystal material 13 and bonding the two glass substrates 12 to each other. The terminal portion, which is the outer peripheral portion of the sealant 14 and to which the terminal of the TCP 32 is connected, is provided with a plurality of substantially semi-circular convex portions 141 protruding outward from the outer peripheral edge of the other portion. Are formed.

A plurality of upper and lower conductive members 15 for electrically connecting the upper and lower glass substrates 12 are arranged between a pair of adjacent convex portions 141 in the uneven portion 142.

The concavo-convex portion 142 has a sectional structure shown in FIG. 3, in which the upper and lower conductive members 15 are provided outside the sealant 14, and is connected to the above-mentioned terminal portion of the TCP 32 on the lower glass substrate 12. Wiring pattern and upper glass substrate 12
Are electrically connected to the common electrode 17.

On the other hand, as shown in FIG. 2, the TC corresponding to the outer peripheral edge of the sealant 14 on which the concave and convex portions 142 are not formed.
The terminal portion of P32 is on the upper surface side of the lower glass substrate 12,
That is, it is connected to the segment electrode 16 provided on the surface facing the liquid crystal substance 13.

The vertical conductive member 15 is a columnar member made of silver (Ag), and has a role of supplying an electric signal sent from the IC 31 on the TCP 32 to the common electrode 17.

A molding material (not shown) for protecting the wiring pattern exposed on the glass substrate 12 is provided between the TCP 32 and the end of the liquid crystal panel 11.

Next, a method of manufacturing the liquid crystal panel 11 constituting the above-described liquid crystal display device 1 will be described.

First, the glass substrate 1 arranged on the lower side
An external connection terminal (input wiring or input terminal) 19 connected to the terminal of the TCP 32, an external connection terminal (not shown) connected to the segment electrode 16 and the TCP terminal of the segment are previously formed on the 2 by photolithography or the like. A pattern is formed.

Similarly, a common electrode 17 is formed on the glass substrate 12 disposed on the upper side.

Next, the liquid crystal substance 1 is placed on the glass substrate 12.
The sealing agent 14 is applied so as to form a portion for enclosing the sealing material 3. Here, the uneven portion 142, which is a part of the outer peripheral edge of the sealant 14, can be formed by moving the nozzle along the shape of the uneven portion when the sealant 14 is applied. Further, the sealant 14 can be similarly formed by a printing method. Applying or printing the sealant
Either the upper or lower glass substrate 12 may be used, or both glass substrates 12 may be used.

Either the upper or lower glass substrate 1
The upper and lower conductive members 15 are disposed on the portion of the second part connecting the common electrode 17 and the external connection terminal 19 by a method such as coating or printing. It should be noted that the above steps may be performed by changing the order of the steps.

The lower glass substrate 12 and the upper glass substrate 12 are aligned, pressed, and cured at a predetermined temperature to form a liquid crystal cell.

The liquid crystal material 13 is injected into the liquid crystal cell to complete the liquid crystal panel 11.

The liquid crystal panel 11 manufactured as described above
The liquid crystal display device 1 provided with the liquid crystal display device 1 is incorporated in a housing of various electronic devices and is used as a display portion of information, an image, and the like. The housing 50 of the notebook computer 500 shown in FIG.
1

According to the first embodiment, the following effects can be obtained.

Since the outer peripheral portion of the sealant 14 is formed with the convex portion 141 protruding outward from other portions,
Accordingly, the bonding area can be increased, and the mutual bonding strength of the two glass substrates 12 is improved.

Further, since a convex portion 141 is formed on the outer peripheral portion of the sealant 14 so as to protrude outward from other portions,
The inner peripheral edge of the sealant 14 which becomes the sealing portion of the liquid crystal material 13 can be formed further outside, and the information display portion 11A of the liquid crystal panel 11 can be expanded. That is, in the conventional liquid crystal panel 41, the information display section 41A has the height dimension H0, whereas in the liquid crystal panel 11, the information display section 11A is expanded to the height dimension H1 (> H0). .

Since the upper and lower conductive members 15 are arranged between the pair of convex portions 141 adjacent to the concave and convex portions 142, the electrical conduction between the segment electrode 16 and the common electrode 17 is not impaired, and the bonding area is secured. LCD panel 11
Can be extended.

Next, a liquid crystal panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

The liquid crystal panel 11 according to the first embodiment described above
In the example, the uneven portion 142 formed along the outer peripheral edge of the sealant 14 was formed by the semicircular convex portion 141. On the other hand, the liquid crystal panel 21 according to the second embodiment
As shown in the partial plan view of FIG. 6, a pair of adjacent protrusions 241 are formed so as to be close to each other outside the upper and lower conductive members 15. As shown in the partial plan view of FIG.
1 are continuous with each other, and the upper and lower conductive material 15 is
The difference is that it is completely hidden inside.

Referring to the exploded perspective view of FIG. 9, the liquid crystal panel 21 is formed by the following steps.

A masking tape in which one end in the width direction has an irregular shape is previously applied to the surface of the lower glass substrate 12 to which the sealant 14 is applied, and the sealant 14 is applied in a linear shape. The tape is removed to form the uneven portions 242 (first step).

The upper and lower conductive members 15 are arranged between a pair of adjacent protrusions 241 (second step).

The two glass substrates 12 are pressed against each other to hermetically enclose the liquid crystal substance 13 (third step).

The other steps are substantially the same as those for manufacturing the liquid crystal panel 11 according to the above-described first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

According to the second embodiment, the following effects are obtained in addition to the effects of the first embodiment.

That is, since the ends of the pair of projections 241 are formed to be continuous, the two glass substrates 12
When they are press-bonded to each other, the upper and lower conductive members 15 can be covered and protected by the pair of convex portions 241, and there is no need to separately cover and protect the upper and lower conductive members 15 with a sealant and a molding material 34. Can be significantly simplified.

Further, since the uneven portions 242 are formed by the masking tape, the flat convex portions 241 can be easily formed.

Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, but includes the following modifications.

That is, in each of the above embodiments, the substrate 1
Although 2 is made of glass, the present invention is not limited to this, and the present invention may be applied to a flexible substrate such as a plastic film. Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the uneven portion 242 is formed only in the portion where the upper and lower conductive members 15 are arranged.
An uneven portion may be formed over the entire outer peripheral portion of the sealant.

Further, in the first embodiment, the liquid crystal panels 11 and 21 correspond to the portable telephone 400 and the notebook computer 5 respectively.
Although it was used as the information display unit of 00, it is not limited to this and may be used for other electronic devices such as a pager and a calculator.

In addition, specific structures, shapes, and materials for implementing the present invention may be other structures and the like as long as the object of the present invention can be achieved.

[0060]

According to the liquid crystal panel and the method of manufacturing the same of the present invention, the liquid crystal display device and the electronic apparatus using the same, the outer peripheral portion of the sealant is formed with a convex portion projecting outward from other portions. Therefore, the bonding area can be increased, the inner peripheral edge of the sealant is provided on the outer side by that amount, the information display portion can be secured large, and the manufacturing process does not become complicated.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view illustrating a liquid crystal display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view illustrating a liquid crystal panel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a schematic perspective view showing an electronic device using the liquid crystal panel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a schematic perspective view illustrating an electronic device using the liquid crystal panel according to the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a partial plan view illustrating a liquid crystal panel according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a partial plan view showing a liquid crystal panel in a state where two substrates are crimped in the embodiment described above.

FIG. 8 is an exploded perspective view for explaining a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal panel in the embodiment described above.

FIG. 9 is a plan view illustrating a conventional liquid crystal panel.

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken along line IX-IX in FIG. 2;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Liquid crystal display device 12 Substrate 13 Liquid crystal substance 14 Sealant 15 Vertical conductive material 31 Semiconductor element (IC) 141 Convex part 400, 500 Electronic equipment

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A liquid crystal material filled in a gap between two substrates facing each other, and a sealant disposed so as to surround the liquid crystal material and adhere the two substrates to each other. A liquid crystal panel according to claim 1, wherein a projection projecting outward from other portions is formed on an outer peripheral portion of the sealant. 2. The liquid crystal panel according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the convex portions are formed on an outer peripheral portion of the sealant, and a pair of the convex portions are provided on each of the two substrates outside the sealant. A vertical conductive material for electrically connecting the electrodes to each other, wherein the vertical conductive material is disposed between a pair of adjacent protrusions. 3. The liquid crystal panel according to claim 2, wherein the pair of protrusions are formed so as to be close to each other outside the upper and lower conductive members, and the two substrates are pressed together for bonding. A liquid crystal panel, wherein the end portions of the pair of convex portions are formed so as to be continuous with each other. 4. A liquid crystal material to be filled in a gap between two substrates opposed to each other, a sealant disposed to surround the liquid crystal material and bonding the two substrates to each other; A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal panel, comprising: a vertically conductive material that is provided outside a sealant and electrically conducts a pair of electrodes provided on each of the two substrates. A first step of arranging the sealant on one of the substrates and forming a plurality of protrusions in which an outer peripheral portion of the sealant protrudes outward from other portions; and a pair of the protrusions adjacent to each other. A second step of disposing the upper and lower conductive members between the first and second substrates; and a third step of pressing the other substrate out of the two substrates to the one substrate. Any one of the second steps And then performing one of the other steps, and further performing the third step. 5. A liquid crystal display device comprising: the liquid crystal panel according to claim 1; and a semiconductor device for controlling the liquid crystal panel. 6. An electronic apparatus, comprising: the liquid crystal display device according to claim 5; and a housing in which the liquid crystal display device is housed.