JPS61148428A - Liquid crystal shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To apply deviation electric fields in different directions to a liquid crystal and to increase response speed by providing plural rows of Y electrodes and X electrodes in an orthogonal direction and arranging the Y electrodes corresponding to the X electrodes to the other row of the X electrodes by shifting the same by each one dot. CONSTITUTION:The transparent vertical electrodes (Y electrodes) 3-1-3-8 and horizontal electrodes (X electrodes) 5, 6 are disposed on upper and lower glass substrates 2, 4 and are formed to a prescribed pattern. The liquid crystal is put between the substrates 2 and 4. The Y electrodes 3 and the X electrodes 5, 6 are divided to form liquid crystal shutters S1-S16. The respective Y electrodes 3 are disposed to the X electrodes 6 of the other row by shifting the same by each one dot in accordance with the X electrodes 5. The deviation electric fields in the different directions are applied to the X electrodes 5, 6 and the Y electrodes. Since the Y electrode row is arranged to the X-electrode row of the liquid crystal shutters by deviating the electrode rows, the breaking time is made faster by applying the deviation potential to the liquid crystal. The reduction in the response time is thus made possible.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid crystal shutter, and more particularly, to a liquid crystal shutter having a relatively fast response time. Conventionally, it is called an electronic printer, and an electrophotographic device is used to output prints under the control of an electronic computing device. However, the electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive member in the electrophotographic device is formed using a gas laser or a semiconductor. An electronic control device modulates the synchronization of the laser with the polygon mirror, and a laser beam with a narrow beam diameter is applied to the photosensitive member, which is charged and rotated by the required optical scanning. By dot-like irradiation, the required positive electrode,
Alternatively, an electrostatic latent image of the negative electrode is formed. The above printer is a so-called laser beam printer. Laser beam printers require a rotating body to scan the laser beam, but scanning devices that do not require a rotating body and can perform optical scanning in a stationary state use light-emitting diodes or even liquid crystal shutters. has come to be announced. In the case of light emitting diodes, the required number of small light emitting diodes are arranged in the width direction of the photosensitive member in the required manner, and the light emitting diodes are turned on at appropriate intervals in accordance with the required print pattern to perform optical scanning. . For the first time, in a liquid crystal printer using a liquid crystal shutter, there is a
A liquid crystal shutter is provided, and the liquid crystal shutter is opened and closed in dots under electrical control, and an electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member by the dots of light passing through the shutter.

The above-mentioned electrostatic latent image is formed by shaping a beam of laser light, a beam of light emitted from a light emitting diode, and a beam of light passing through a liquid crystal shutter to have a narrow diameter, and expressing the state with resolution. For example, in the case of laser light, the dot diameter, which is the beam diameter, is 30 to 50 μm, so the resolution is 1 m.
m/dot diameter x 2, so 1/(0.03~α05mm
)X2216~10 lines/mm=, compared to this, the diameter of the light passing through the liquid crystal shutter is about 80~100 mm.
Follow /'cm [Resolution is 1/(0, os ~ to 1) 2 =
The resolution is 6.25 to 5 mm/mm, and the outline of the passing light due to the operation of the liquid crystal shutter is further expanded, so the above-mentioned resolution is a value corrected by masking. Furthermore, the response time of the liquid crystal shutter is an important issue that determines the output speed of the printer. In particular, the delay in the fall time relative to the rise time is related to the print speed, so it is necessary to correct the delay in the fall time. In addition to the above-mentioned resolution, which requires consideration for light leakage, it is possible to achieve a high resolution of 8 to 9 lines/mm, which is closer to that of a laser beam.

Conventionally, the response time has been corrected by selecting the waveform and voltage value of the control voltage. However, the present invention aims at shortening the fall time in normal operation by applying a deflection electric field K in a direction different from the normal movement direction of the liquid crystal layer (for example, in a perpendicular direction). That is, the normal electric field and the deflection electric field are switched in terms of potential and time. The present invention will be explained below with reference to the drawings.

The figures are enlarged views, FIG. 1 is a sectional side view, and FIG. 2 is a plan view. As shown in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal shutter 1 has transparent vertical (Y electrodes) 3-1 to 3-8 and horizontal (X' [poles) 5 and 60 predetermined patterns formed on the upper and lower glass substrates. Up,
The lower glass substrates 2 and 4 are provided with a spacer 7 to obtain a required uniform gap, and are further sealed with a seal 8 to maintain airtightness. Further, on the three groups of Y electrodes and the X electrodes 5 and 6, alignment control films 9 and 9, 10 and 102 are formed. In addition, the three groups of Y electrodes are made common, and the corresponding X electrode 5
and 6 into respective liquid crystal shutters, a partition member 11 formed of a dielectric material is used to divide the shutters A and 6 into respective liquid crystal shutters.
1 and shutter B. In the shutters A and B, dielectric substrates 12 and 13 are arranged opposite to the partition member 11 as shown in the figure, and on both sides of the partition member 110, electrodes 14A,
and 14B, and further electrodes 15 on the dielectric substrates 12 and 13.
and 16. Liquid crystal is injected and sealed through an opening (not shown) formed at one end of the seal to form liquid crystal layers 17 and 18. Each electrode 14A and 14B is connected to an input terminal 19 via a lead wire. Further, the electrodes 15 and 16 are also connected to the respective switches TG4 and Te3 via lead wires.
Connect to terminals 21 and 24 of.

Terminals 22 and 23 of switches TG4 and Te3 are connected to input terminal 20. X electrodes 5 and 6 are connected to terminals 29 and 31 of switches TG2 and Te3 via lead wires, respectively. Also, terminals 30 and 3 of switches TG2 and Te3
2 is connected to the input terminal 26. 3 groups of Y electrodes (3-1 to 3
-8) is a common electrode for X electrodes 5 and 6;
The shutter formed between the electrodes 5 and 6 is shifted by one dot in parallel to the extending direction of the X electrode. The three groups of Y electrodes are connected to terminals 2 of each switch TGI-1 to TGI-8.
Connect to 7-1 to 27-8 via lead wires. Furthermore, terminals 28-1 to 28-8 of switches TG-1 to TG-8 are connected to input terminal 25.

FIG. 2 is a plan view. With respect to the X electrodes 5 and 6, the 3 groups of Y electrodes are arranged to cross each other, and the shutters at the intersections are 81 to S16. With respect to the electric field generated by the electric potential applied to the above-mentioned X electrodes 5 and 6 and the 3 groups of Y electrodes, orthogonal electric field generated by the electric potential applied to the electrodes 15 and 16 with respect to the electrodes 14A and 148. It is an electric field. Various inventions have been devised to speed up the response speed of the liquid crystal depending on the voltage waveform and potential amount applied to each of the above-mentioned electrodes, but the present invention always controls the opening and closing of the shutter with the rise time We will take care to ensure that it operates in
Therefore, even if the liquid crystal layers 17 and 18 are made thicker in order to improve the light-shielding property, the rise time is not affected.

When irradiating strong light to form a strong electrostatic latent image, the thickness of the liquid crystal layer becomes a problem, and in order to prevent light leakage, it is necessary to increase the light-shielding properties, so it is effective to make the liquid crystal layer thicker. However, this affects the response time, but by applying the strong orthogonal electric field of the present invention, it was possible to prevent the delay in response time. Although not shown in the drawings, to form an electrostatic latent image, the charged potential on the photosensitive layer is removed either from a non-image area or from an image area. Correspondingly, the scanning shutter sometimes closes and sometimes opens the image area, and therefore the closing and opening of the shutter is performed electrically in accordance with the image pattern. In FIG. 2, a predetermined AC voltage v2 is applied to the terminals 19 and 2, which describes the case where the shutters 81 to S16 are sequentially opened and closed.
0, the switches TG4 and Te3 are closed, and an electric field is generated between the electrodes 14A and 15 and 14B and 16, and the liquid crystal layers 17 and 18 are open in the direction of the electric field. Therefore, the shutters 81 to 816 is closed. When opening the paddy shutter S1, input terminal 2
Since a predetermined AC voltage v1 is applied to terminals 5 and 26, switch TG4 is opened at the same time as switches TGI-1 and Te3 are closed, and voltage 1 is applied to X electrode 5 and Y electrode 3.
-1, and the shutter S1 is opened depending on the electric field. That is, the electric field between the electrodes 14A and 15 is forced to be deflected between the KX electrode 5 and the Y electrode 3-1,
At the start of operation, the required electric field is applied in an instantaneous unrestricted state, improving the responsiveness of the liquid crystal. The shutter 81 is opened for the required time (and then closed by opening the switches TGI-1 and Te3 and closing the switch TG4 at the same time. The shutter S1 falls at the same time as the rising time, and the shutter S1 In the method of driving the liquid crystal, the response speed is α
The time is 5 mS or less. Next, when opening/closing the shutter 82, switch TGI-1 and Te3 are turned on, simultaneously opening switch TG5 and opening shutter S2; when closing shutter 82, turning on switches TGI-1 and Te3.
3 and close switch TG5. To open or close the shutter S3, turn on the switches TGI-2 and Te3 and simultaneously open the switch TG4, which opens the shutter 83, opens the switches TGI-2 and Te3,
When the switch TG4 is closed, the shutter 83 is closed 2. The above-mentioned operations are repeated in sequence to open and close the shutter. The above describes the electrodes X electrode 5 and Y electrode 3-1 that face the liquid crystal layer 17 when forming the liquid crystal shutter A.
~3-8 It is surrounded on all sides by electrodes 14A and 15,
For example, by using the X electrode 5 in common, the electrode 15 and the Y electrode 3-
It is also possible to switch the shutters from 1 to 3-8, that is, to open and close the shutters on three sides. In addition, in the above, the applied voltage is turned off and on by opening and closing each switch, but although it is not shown in the diagram, it is weak when it is necessary to prevent the liquid crystal from becoming irregularly arranged when the power is cut off. It is also useful to apply an electric field. As mentioned above, by controlling the electric fields applied in different directions, it is possible to improve the responsiveness of the rise and fall times when opening and closing the shutter, and when the shutter is used for transmitting light, the spot of the transmitted light can be improved. The distribution of the amount of light becomes uniform, and for example, when the transmitted light is used to irradiate a photosensitive member, an electrostatic latent image with sharp edges can be formed. In addition to this, it is even more effective to apply masking to correct the contour.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

The figures relate to the present invention; FIG. 1 is a side sectional view and an electrical connection diagram, and FIG. 2 is a plan view and an electrical connection diagram. 10・Φ・・Liquid crystal shutter 3-1~3-8・・@0
・Y electrode 5.6. ......X electrode 11...
・Partition member 12.13.・0...Dielectric substrate 14
A, 14B-Φ・Written electrode 15.16.・・１１＠
...The electrode mackerel scale is also an exception.

Claims (1)

[Claims] A plurality of rows of liquid crystal shutters are arranged to seal the liquid crystal layer from all sides, and in the liquid crystal shutters, predetermined transparent electrodes are arranged on each of the upper and lower transparent glass substrates facing each other. A plurality of Y electrodes are provided on the opposite inner side of the upper glass substrate in a direction orthogonal to the optical scanning direction, and on the opposite inner side of the lower glass substrate, X electrodes are provided in the same direction as the optical scanning direction. Arrange the electrodes. Predetermined left and right conductive electrodes are attached to the walls made of dielectric members on the left and right sides of the plurality of rows of liquid crystal shutters, and the left and right conductive electrodes arranged on the left and right sides are attached to the central partition wall made of dielectric members. , a center conductive electrode is attached opposite to the right conductive electrode, and for each of the X electrodes attached to the plurality of rows of liquid crystal shutters, the Y electrode corresponding to the X electrode is attached to the other row of the X electrodes. The opposing portions of the X electrode and the Y electrode are used to form a shutter, and the left, right, center, X,
A liquid crystal shutter comprising a terminal attached to each of the and Y electrodes.