JPH11212055A - Liquid crystal display device with input function and electronic device using liquid crystal display device with input function - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the liquid crystal display device with the input function which can improve visibility by securing the lightness of the display screen and also can be made thin and lightweight and is reducible in cost. SOLUTION: This device has a liquid crystal display part having a display- side 1st substrate 16, a 2nd substrate 18 arranged opposite the back side of the 1st substrate 16, and liquid crystal 32 charged between those 1st and 2nd substrates 16 and 18, and an input part 14 having a 3rd substrate 34 arranged opposite the back side of the 2nd substrate 18 and a 4th substrate 36 arranged opposite the back side of the 3rd substrate 34. The 1st substrate 16 and 2nd substrate 18 are formed of transparent flexible materials and have 1st and 2nd display transparent electrodes 26 and 28 on their opposite surfaces, the 3rd substrate 34 is formed of a flexible material and has a 1st input electrode 38 on the surface facing the 4th substrate 36, and the 4th substrate 36 is formed of a hard material and has a 2nd input electrode 40 on the surface facing the 3rd substrate 34.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device with an input function and an electronic apparatus using the liquid crystal display device with an input function.

[0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In recent years,
With the spread of small information electronic devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and palmtop computers, liquid crystal display devices with an input function formed by combining a liquid crystal display device with a transparent input device have been widely used.

This liquid crystal display device with an input function has a configuration in which an input unit is arranged on the display surface side of the liquid crystal display unit, and is in a state of viewing the display of the liquid crystal display unit through the input unit.

For this reason, in a reflection type liquid crystal display device with an input function, incident light passes through the input section to reach the liquid crystal display section, is reflected by the liquid crystal display section, and further passes through the input section to allow human input. There is a problem that the display on the liquid crystal display unit tends to be dark due to being in eyes, and visibility is not good.

The liquid crystal display device having an input function uses a flexible thin substrate such as a plastic film as a substrate on the input side of the input section. Since a relatively thick hard substrate such as glass is used as the substrate, there is a problem that the entire apparatus becomes thick and heavy. This increase in thickness and weight is a major problem in portable electronic devices in which thinning and weight reduction are important points.

Further, since the display on the liquid crystal display section is visually recognized through the input section, the electrodes of the input section must be expensive transparent electrodes, which causes a problem that the cost increases.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to improve the visibility by securing the brightness of a display screen, and to reduce the thickness and weight of the display screen. Another object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal display device with an input function and an electronic device using the liquid crystal display device with an input function, which can reduce costs.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal display device with an input function, comprising: a first substrate on a display side;
A liquid crystal display unit including a second substrate opposed to the first substrate and a liquid crystal sealed between the first and second substrates; and a liquid crystal display unit opposed to the rear surface of the second substrate. A third substrate, and a fourth substrate disposed opposite to the back side of the third substrate.
A liquid crystal display device with an input function, comprising: a substrate; and an input unit having a substrate, wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are formed of a transparent flexible material, and each has a display transparent electrode on an opposing surface. The third substrate is formed of a flexible material, has a first input electrode on a surface facing the fourth substrate, and the fourth substrate is formed of a hard material, and the third substrate is formed of a hard material. A second input electrode is provided on the surface facing the device.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the input to the input unit can be performed from above the liquid crystal display unit, so that the display on the liquid crystal display unit can be directly visually recognized without passing through the input unit. Ensuring the brightness of the LCD screen's display screen,
Visibility can be improved.

Further, since the input to the input unit is performed through the liquid crystal display unit, the first and second substrates of the liquid crystal display unit are formed of a flexible material, which is compared with a case where these are formed of a hard material. In addition, the thickness and weight can be reduced.

Further, since it is not necessary to visually recognize the liquid crystal display unit through the input unit, it is not necessary to use the first and second input electrodes of the input unit as transparent electrodes, and the cost can be reduced.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the first aspect, at least one of the first input electrode and the second input electrode is formed of an opaque electrode material. It is characterized by being.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, cost reduction can be achieved as compared with the case where a transparent electrode is used.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the first or second aspect, the third substrate is formed of a reflector.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the thickness and weight can be further reduced by using both the third substrate and the reflection plate, and the cost can be reduced by omitting the members. It is possible.

A liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a fourth aspect is characterized in that, in the first or second aspect, the third substrate is formed of a polarizing plate.

According to the fourth aspect of the present invention, by using the third substrate and the polarizing plate together, it is possible to further reduce the thickness and weight, and to reduce the cost by omitting the members. It is possible.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the fourth aspect, at least one of the first input electrode and the second input electrode has light reflectivity. It is characterized by being formed by.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, at least one of the first input electrode and the second input electrode can be used as a reflector, and the reflector can be omitted. The cost can be reduced by omitting the members.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the first or second aspect, the third substrate transmits linearly polarized light in a first direction, and It is characterized by being formed of a reflective polarizer that reflects linearly polarized light in a second direction orthogonal to the direction.

According to the sixth aspect of the present invention, the thickness and weight can be further reduced by omitting the reflection plate.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the second substrate and the third substrate are made of one flexible material. It is characterized by being formed.

According to the seventh aspect of the present invention, by using the second substrate and the third substrate together, it is possible to further reduce the thickness and weight and to reduce the cost by omitting the members. Is possible.

The electronic device according to the invention described in claim 8 is:
A liquid crystal display device with an input function according to any one of claims 1 to 7, and a power supply circuit for supplying power to the display device with an input device.

According to the invention described in claim 8, according to claim 1,
Further, an electronic device having the features of claim 7 can be obtained.

[0026]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described below more specifically with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a sectional view showing a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the first embodiment. The liquid crystal display device with an input function 10 includes a liquid crystal display unit 12 and an input unit 14.

The liquid crystal display section 12 includes a first substrate 16 and a second
It includes a substrate 18, polarizing plates 20 and 22, and a reflecting plate 24.

The first substrate 16 and the second substrate 18 are formed of a transparent flexible material, for example, a plastic film such as polycarbonate (PC), polyacrylate (PAr), or polyethersulfone (PES). If necessary, a gas barrier layer formed of ethylene vinyl alcohol (EVA) or another material and a surface layer formed of an epoxy resin or the like are laminated on the front and back surfaces as needed.

The first substrate 16 is disposed at a position on the display side of the liquid crystal display unit 12 (upper position in the figure), and the second substrate 18 is
The first substrate 16 is opposed to a rear side position (a lower position in the drawing) of the first substrate 16 at a predetermined interval.

A first display transparent electrode 26 made of a transparent material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide) is formed on a surface of the first substrate 16 facing the second substrate 18 in a plurality of parallel straight lines. I have. On a surface of the second substrate 18 facing the first substrate 16, a plurality of second display transparent electrodes 28 also made of a transparent material such as ITO are formed in a plurality of parallel straight lines. The first display transparent electrode 26 and the second display transparent electrode 28 are arranged so as to form a lattice in an opposed state.

The range corresponding to the liquid crystal display area of the first substrate 16 and the second substrate 18 is the first display transparent electrode 2.
The portion including the sixth or second display transparent electrode 28 is covered with an alignment film (not shown). Further, a plurality of gap members (not shown) having a predetermined diameter are dispersedly arranged between the first substrate 16 and the second substrate 18, thereby keeping the cell gap of the liquid crystal cell constant. ing. In addition, a sealing material 30 is disposed at an edge of the facing surface of the first substrate 16 and the second substrate 18, and a liquid crystal 32 is sealed between the first substrate 16 and the second substrate 18 sealed by the sealing material 30. Thus, a TN type liquid crystal display section 12 is formed.

The polarizing plate 20 is attached to the display side of the first substrate 16, and the polarizing plate 22 is attached to the back surface of the second substrate 18.

The reflection plate 24 is adhered to the back surface of the polarizing plate 22 so as to reflect light incident from the display surface side of the liquid crystal display unit 12 to perform display.

The input section 14 is arranged on the back side of the liquid crystal display section 12 opposite to the display side. The input section 14 is on the back side of the second substrate 18 of the liquid crystal display section 12, specifically, on the back side of the reflector 24. And a fourth substrate 3 opposed to the rear surface of the third substrate 34 at a predetermined interval.
6 is provided.

The third substrate 34 is made of a flexible material, for example,
Polycarbonate (PC), polyacrylate (PA
r) or a plastic film such as polyethersulfone (PES).

The fourth substrate 36 is formed of a hard material such as glass or hard plastic.

The third substrate 34 and the fourth substrate 36
It is not necessary to form with a transparent material, but can also be formed with an opaque material.

On the surface of the third substrate 34 facing the fourth substrate 36, a first input electrode 38 is formed.
6 is provided with a second input electrode 40 on the surface facing the third substrate 34.
Are formed.

The first and second input electrodes 38, 40
Are formed as surface electrodes, and the position of the input point in the X direction and the position in the Y direction are detected by the contact between the first and second input electrodes 38 and 40.

The first and second input electrodes 3
8, 40 need not be transparent and can be formed of an opaque electrode material. Further, the third substrate 34 and the fourth substrate 36 need not be transparent.

Dot spacers (not shown) are dispersedly arranged at portions corresponding to the first and second input electrode surface electrodes 38 and 40 between the third substrate 34 and the fourth substrate 36. Usually, the first input electrode 38 and the second input electrode 40
Is in a state of not contacting.

A sealing member 42 is disposed at the edge of the opposing surface of the third substrate 34 and the fourth substrate 36.
Silicone oil (not shown) or the like is sealed between the third and fourth substrates 34 and 36 sealed by the seal 2.

As described above, the input unit 14 is disposed on the back side of the liquid crystal display unit 12, and the input unit 14 is disposed from above the liquid crystal display unit 12.
By performing input to the LCD, the display on the liquid crystal display unit 12 can be directly visually recognized without passing through the input unit 14, and the brightness of the display screen of the liquid crystal display unit 12 can be secured to improve the visibility. Can be improved.

Except for the fourth substrate 36 of the input unit 14,
Since the first and second substrates 16, 18 and the third substrate 34 of the liquid crystal display unit 12 are formed of a flexible material, it is possible to achieve a reduction in thickness and weight as compared with a case where these are formed of a hard material. it can.

Further, by forming the first and second substrates 16 and 18 of the liquid crystal display unit 12 from a flexible material, the first substrate 16 can be deformed by pressing with the input pen or the like at the time of input to the input unit 14. Even in this case, since the second substrate 18 is also deformed following the deformation of the first substrate 16, it is possible to prevent the occurrence of color unevenness in the liquid crystal display unit 12 due to a change in the cell pressure.

Further, since there is no need to visually recognize the liquid crystal display section 14 through the input section 12, the first
Further, it is not necessary to use the transparent electrodes for the second input electrodes 38 and 40, and the cost can be reduced.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view showing a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the second embodiment.

In the liquid crystal display device 10 with an input function, the third substrate of the input section 14 is formed by the reflection plate 24 of the liquid crystal display section 12, and the thickness and the thickness corresponding to the third substrate 34 in the first embodiment are provided. While reducing the weight to reduce the thickness and weight,
The cost is reduced by reducing the number of components.

The other constructions and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view showing a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the third embodiment.

In the liquid crystal display device 10 having an input function, the third substrate of the input section 14 is formed of the polarizing plate 22 of the liquid crystal display section 12, and the polarizing plate 22 has an electrode material having light reflectivity, for example, an aluminum electrode. By forming the first input electrode 44 using a material or the like, the first input electrode 44 is also used as a reflector.

Therefore, the third substrate 34 and the reflection plate 24 in the first embodiment can be omitted, and the thickness and weight can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of members.

The other constructions and operations are the same as in the first embodiment, and the common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a fourth embodiment.

In the liquid crystal display device 10 with an input function, the third substrate of the input section 14 transmits linearly polarized light in the first direction and transmits linearly polarized light in the second direction orthogonal to the first direction. It is formed of a reflective polarizer 46 that reflects light.

The reflection polarizer 46 is used for input to the input unit 14, for example, in International Publication No. WO95 / 1770.
It is necessary to use a flexible material such as a laminate type disclosed in 2).

Further, the first input electrode 38 may be colored black or the like to serve also as the absorption layer.

With such a configuration, the third substrate 34 and the reflection plate 24 in the first embodiment can be omitted, so that the thickness and weight can be reduced, and the cost can be reduced by reducing the number of members. Can be achieved.

The other constructions and operations are the same as those in the first embodiment, and the common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view showing a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a fifth embodiment.

The liquid crystal display device 10 with an input function is
The substrate and the third substrate are formed of one flexible material, for example, the reflective polarizer 46 according to the fourth embodiment, the second display transparent electrode 28 on one surface, and the first input electrode on the other surface. Electrodes 38 are formed.

Further, the first input electrode 38 may be colored black or the like to serve also as the absorption layer.

With such a configuration, the second substrate 28, the third substrate 34, and the reflection plate 24 in the first embodiment can be omitted, so that the thickness and the weight can be reduced. The cost can be reduced by the reduction.

The other constructions and operations are the same as those of the first embodiment, and the common parts are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description is omitted.

FIG. 6 shows a liquid crystal display device 10 with an input function according to the first to fifth embodiments, in which an upper housing 48 and a lower housing 50 are used.
A state of being incorporated in an electronic organizer 52, which is an electronic device having the above, is shown as an exploded perspective view. In FIG. 6, components other than the liquid crystal display device with input function 10 are considerably omitted. The electronic organizer 52 includes various circuits such as a display information output source, a display information processing circuit, and a clock generation circuit on a circuit board 54 and the like, and a power supply circuit for supplying power to these circuits.

The electronic equipment into which the liquid crystal display device with an input function 10 according to each of the above embodiments is incorporated is not limited to an electronic organizer, but may be a mobile phone, a clock, a pager, a calculator, a PO, or the like.
Various electronic devices such as an S terminal, an IC card, and a mini-disc player can be considered.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above.
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the present invention or within the equivalent scope of the claims.

For example, in each of the above embodiments, the liquid crystal display device having the TN type electro-optical characteristics and the input function of the simple matrix drive system has been described.
Various other types of electro-optical characteristics, such as a guest host type, a polymer dispersed phase transition type, and a ferroelectric liquid crystal type, may be used as a liquid crystal display device with an input function. In terms of the driving method, static driving, a three-terminal switching element represented by a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) or an MIM (Me
(Tal Insurator Metal), an active matrix liquid crystal display device using a two-terminal switching element.

Further, in each of the above embodiments, the example in which the liquid crystal display device with the input function is formed including the liquid crystal cell portion and the input device portion has been described. A liquid crystal display device with an input function may be formed including a substrate, and further, a device in which such a liquid crystal display device with an input function with a drive circuit board is fixed to a frame such as a metal is incorporated in an electronic device. It can also be used as a liquid crystal display device. Further, in each of the above embodiments,
Although a liquid crystal display device with an input function without a retardation plate is shown, a retardation plate may be used if coloring due to phase shift due to wavelength poses a problem.

In each of the above embodiments, an analog type input device is shown. However, other types of input device, for example, an XY type or an electromagnetic induction type may be used. Is also good.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a second embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a third embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a fourth embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a liquid crystal display device with an input function according to a fifth embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exploded perspective view showing an electronic organizer using the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to the first to fifth embodiments.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 10 liquid crystal display device with input function 12 liquid crystal display unit 14 input unit 16 first substrate 18 second substrate 20, 22 polarizing plate 24 reflector 26 first display transparent electrode 28 second display transparent electrode 32 liquid crystal 34 third substrate 36 fourth substrate 38,44 first input electrode 40 second input electrode 46 reflective polarizer 52 electronic notebook

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A first substrate on a display side, a second substrate opposed to a back side of the first substrate, and first and second substrates
A liquid crystal display unit including a liquid crystal sealed between the substrates; a third substrate facing the rear surface of the second substrate; and a fourth substrate facing the rear surface of the third substrate. An input function liquid crystal display device comprising: an input unit; wherein the first substrate and the second substrate are formed of a transparent flexible material, and each have a display transparent electrode on a facing surface; The third substrate is formed of a flexible material, and has a first input electrode on a surface facing the fourth substrate. The fourth substrate is formed of a hard material and faces the third substrate. Further comprising a second input electrode. 2. The liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the first input electrode and the second input electrode is formed of an opaque electrode material. 3. The liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the third substrate is formed of a reflection plate. 4. The liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the third substrate is formed of a polarizing plate. 5. The liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 4, wherein at least one of the first input electrode and the second input electrode is formed of an electrode material having light reflectivity. . 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the third substrate transmits linearly polarized light in a first direction,
A liquid crystal display device with an input function, comprising: a reflective polarizer that reflects linearly polarized light in a second direction orthogonal to the first direction. 7. The liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 1, wherein the second substrate and the third substrate are formed of one flexible material. . 8. An electronic apparatus, comprising: the liquid crystal display device with an input function according to claim 1; and a power supply circuit that supplies power to the display device with an input device.