JPS5858521A - Liquid crystal color display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To obtain multicolor images conforming to prescribed patterns by coating transparent microcapsules sealed therein with cholesteric liquid crystals on a transparent substrate, scanning thermal heads of the quantity corresponding to set temp. and heating the coating. CONSTITUTION:A polymer film 3 which is transparent and has low heat transfer is provided on a display substrated 1 of glass or the like, and microcpsules 2 contg. cholesteric liquid crystals are coated thereon uniformly, whereby a polymer thin film 4 contg. fine powder of metals is formed. The surface films 2e of the capsules 2 are deriv. of cholesteric liquid crystals which are transparent and have good heat conductivity. When the microcapsules 2a, 2b, 2c are heated at set temp. with thermal heads 5a, 5b, 5c set to a thermal head support 7, the microcapsules emit light in respectively different colors. The support 7 is scanned over a pan 8 by a linear motor and the display device of a large area of multicolors conforming to patterns is obtained.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid crystal color display device that uses cholesteric liquid crystal that exhibits colors corresponding to a plurality of set temperatures, and that performs multicolor display by setting the temperature using a single color head.

In recent years, display devices using liquid crystals have been used in wristwatches, digital counters, and the like. However, its application range is still narrow. One of the reasons for this is that it is difficult and expensive to produce a display panel large enough to be used in a computer terminal or the like. Another problem is that the development of multiple colors is delayed.

In particular, in order to make it possible to display a display the size of a computer terminal using a conventional liquid crystal display method, fine electrodes must be formed over a large area, and creating a large mask with a fine pattern is itself difficult. very difficult and using it,
It is even more difficult to form a large screen using a photo process. Even if it were possible, the display panel itself would be very expensive, making it impractical. In addition, even when colorizing LCD displays, it is possible to make the gap width uniform for panels with a narrow area, and the GH method, TM method using color polarizing plates, and m
Although this can be achieved using the AN method, it is difficult to achieve this using a panel with a large area.

The present invention eliminates the above-mentioned drawbacks and provides a multicolor, large-area display device using liquid crystal.

The basic components of the present invention are as follows.

In order to enable display over a wide area, the method of sealing the liquid crystal in a cell is abandoned, and the liquid crystal is sealed in tiny microcapsules and coated on a wide display substrate. In order to achieve multi-coloring, cholesteric liquid crystals are used that exhibit different colors depending on the set temperature. The temperature setting is performed using multiple thermal heads. The key point of the present invention lies in the combination of these components and the use of a linear motor to move the head at high speed and in a non-contact manner.

In particular, it is important to use a thermal head in which rows or columns of thermal heads are formed for the number of set temperatures corresponding to the number of colors. This is to accommodate faster display speeds. Also, any head can of course be set to any temperature.

Hereinafter, the present invention will be explained in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a display substrate. (1) is a front view of the display substrate, (b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line (1) OA-A', and (C) is a cross-sectional view of the microcapsule. 1 is a transparent substrate such as glass, 2 is a microcapsule sealed with cholesteric liquid crystal, and 3 is a material that prevents heat diffusion;
It is a transparent polymer film such as polyethylene that has low heat transfer and is provided to retain the necessary heat until the next scan of the head. 4 is a thin film layer of a polymer mixed with fine metal powder to make the surface uniform in order to smooth the scanning of the head after applying the microcapsules, and to prevent wear caused by contact with the head. The microcapsules 2d are made of a transparent cholesterol derivative which is a good conductor of heat, and the cholesteric liquid crystal 2- changes the helical pitch of its molecules in accordance with the difference in set temperature to exhibit a corresponding color.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of the display device of the present invention. Display board 1
is provided on the user's side, and a scanning section such as a thermal head and a heating section are provided on the back side.

5α, 54, 5ty are multiple thermal heads,
There are as many columns or rows as the number of colors used, and each can realize the entire set temperature range. Reference numeral 7 denotes a support body for the thermal head, which supports the head and includes an array of electromagnets for scanning in the left and right direction using a linear motor. Reference numeral 8 denotes a bar for scanning the heating thermal head in the left-right direction, and magnets 16 for scanning with a linear motor are provided at a pitch equal to the pixel density. A par 8 for scanning the heating section is provided on a par support 9 for scanning the par itself in the vertical direction of the display panel surface. Magnet arrays 10G are provided on the par support 9 at a pitch equal to the pixel density, and scanning is performed between them and the electromagnet 10b provided on the par 8 side using a linear motor. FIG. 3 is a view of the back side of the display device of the invention.

The heated portion of the area scanned by the head exhibits a color such as 2a, 2b, lc, etc. depending on the corresponding temperature.

The par 8 is scanned over a row of stable stones provided on the par support section 9 in response to a signal sent from the control section 11 via the lexical cable 12, and the corresponding head is scanned based on the display signal. is heated to form a display pattern.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the thermal head of the present invention. Thermal head rows 5g and 5 for multiple colors are placed on the ceramic plate 14.
b, 5e... are formed. Each row also forms several heads depending on the use.

For example, if numbers are to be displayed using 5.times.7 dots, each column will form 7 heads, and each column will be formed with an interval of 5 dots. The reason why heads for multiple colors are provided is that they greatly contribute to the scanning speed. 13 is a processor, which processes signals sent from the controller 11 to determine which dots in each corresponding column are to be heated, and turns on and off the gates of the gate circuits. The signal is sent as one block corresponding to the head, and when processed, the signal is moved by the head and the next block is processed.

FIG. 5 is an explanatory diagram for explaining a heating section scanning method using a thermal head. Magnets 16 are formed on the par 8 at a pixel pitch for scanning with a linear motor, and a thermal head support 7 to which a ceramic 14 forming a thermal head is attached surrounds the magnets. Electromagnets corresponding to 16 are formed with corresponding pitches. Also, the signal and power supply to the head is 7
This is done via the lexical lead 17. However, it is also possible to supply signals and power to one head by providing terminals on the bar 8 and the head support 7, respectively, and contacting them. However, since the reliability is inferior, it is more reliable to use a wired method. FIG. 6 is an external view of an example of a terminal in which the present invention is used. Reference numeral 6 is an operation console on which alphanumeric characters and the like can be entered. The display can output alphanumeric characters and figures, making it suitable for terminals such as combiators.

The present invention configured as described above can realize a fairly large display device using a liquid crystal display that has not been seen before, and can provide a combiator terminal or other display device with multicolor display at low cost. Its industrial value is enormous.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1(α)*Cb) and Ce) are respectively a plan view, a side view, and an enlarged sectional view of a capsule of a display substrate according to the present invention, FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a display device of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a bottom view of the device, FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of the thermal head, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of main parts showing scanning of the heating section, and FIG. 6 is an external perspective view of an example of the display device according to the present invention. It is. 1... Display substrate 2... Microcapsule containing cholesteric liquid crystal 1 5g, 5A, 5c... Thermal head 7...
...Head support 8...Bar 9...Bar support Applicant Daini Seikosha Co., Ltd. Agent Patent Attorney Mogami Affairs Figure 1 (CA) Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4

Claims (1)

[Claims] a heating section having a transparent substrate such as glass coated with transparent microcapsules containing cholesteric liquid crystals that exhibit a plurality of colors corresponding to a plurality of set temperatures; and a heating section having a number of thermal head rows or &j rows corresponding to the number of set temperatures; A liquid crystal color display device comprising a scanning section that scans a heating section with a linear motor.