JPS63313125A - Liquid crystal cell - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a nearly specified inter-substrate spacing in the discontinuous part of the sealing part where two electrode substrates are stuck so that the nonuniform cell spacing near an injection port is eliminated by the constitution consisting in disposing an auxiliary sealing member so as to face the aperture of the main sealing member of the above-mentioned sealing part. CONSTITUTION:The electrode substrates 22, 24 are stuck to each other by the sealing member 20 and the aperture 26 of the main sealing member 28 is formed as the liquid crystal injection port. The auxiliary sealing member 30 is linearly extended to close the injection port. The auxiliary sealing member 30, therefore, maintains nearly the constant inter-substrate spacing near the discontinuous part, by which the nonuniform cell spacing near the injection port is eliminated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a liquid crystal cell, and particularly to the structure of a seal portion of a liquid crystal cell.

(Prior Art) Liquid crystal cells have conventionally been used in two-dimensional display devices such as television sets. Various methods have been proposed for driving liquid crystal cells, and for example, typical driving methods for twisted-nematic (TN) liquid crystal cells include a simple matrix method and an active matrix method. The first and second electrode substrates each have a configuration according to the driving method. For example, in the case of a simple matrix method, the first and second electrode substrates each have a configuration corresponding to the driving method.
The device includes a plurality of striped transparent electrodes and an alignment film subjected to alignment treatment.

To explain the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal cell in detail, first, a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate each having electrodes and other predetermined components are used depending on the driving method, and then one of the electrode substrates is formed. Print a sealant mixed with a spacer on the surface of one of the substrates to form a seal part, and at the same time, sprinkle spacers on the surface of one of the substrates.Next, with these seal parts and spacers interposed, form a seal on both electrode substrates. Place them facing each other.

Thereafter, pressure is applied to the two substrates disposed facing each other, and the seal portion is cured under this pressure, thereby bonding the two substrates together. As a result, a liquid crystal cell without liquid crystal injected is obtained.

After the seal portion is cured, liquid crystal is injected into the liquid crystal cell by, for example, a reduced pressure method or by utilizing capillary action.

Various openings are provided in the sealing part depending on the purpose. For example, when liquid crystal is injected by a reduced pressure method, an opening is used as a liquid crystal injection port, or when liquid crystal is injected using capillary phenomenon. is provided with an opening as an inlet for the liquid crystal and an opening as an air vent.

FIG. 4 shows the structure of a conventional seal portion in a liquid crystal cell manufactured as described above.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram of a conventional seal portion, and is a cutaway side view of a liquid crystal cell. The configuration of the seal portion shown in the figure is for injecting liquid crystal using a reduced pressure method.

In the figure, 10 is a first electrode substrate, 12 is a second electrode substrate, 14 is a sealing part, and 16 is an opening as a liquid crystal injection port. Between the bonded electrode substrates 10 and 12,
A rectangular seal portion 14 and one liquid crystal injection port IB formed by cutting out a portion of the seal portion 14 are provided.

The opening length a of the liquid crystal injection port IS along the substrate surface is designed in consideration of, for example, the injection resistance value of the liquid crystal during injection of the liquid crystal, the size of the electrode substrate, and the size of the liquid crystal enclosed area.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) When manufacturing a liquid crystal cell, it is necessary to provide an opening, particularly a liquid crystal injection port, in the sealing part, but in order to form this opening, the sealing part must be cut out. Inevitably, a discontinuous portion of the seal is thus formed.

However, in the structure of the conventional liquid crystal cell, especially the sealing part, there is a high probability that the spacing between the substrates near the opening becomes non-uniform due to the influence of this discontinuous part, which causes a problem of poor yield.

In particular, when the opening is provided as a liquid crystal injection port, it is necessary to increase the opening length a of the liquid crystal injection port in order to shorten the liquid crystal injection time. This increases the probability that the substrate spacing (cell spacing) in the vicinity of the liquid crystal injection port will become uneven, making it impossible to improve the yield. When curing the liquid crystal, there is a noticeable tendency for the cell spacing to become non-uniform near the liquid crystal injection port.

Furthermore, if an attempt is made to eliminate the non-uniform cell spacing that occurs near the liquid crystal injection port by shortening the aperture length a, the liquid crystal injection time will become longer due to the shorter aperture length a.
For this reason, the yield cannot be improved.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned conventional problems and to provide a liquid crystal cell having a structure that can reduce the probability that the cell spacing becomes unrestricted in the vicinity of the opening provided in the seal portion.

(Means for Solving the Problems) In order to achieve this object, the liquid crystal cell of the present invention includes a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate that are bonded together through a sealing portion, and an opening provided in the sealing portion. In a liquid crystal cell comprising: a main sealing member provided with at least one opening, and an auxiliary sealing member having one or two scenes provided opposite to the opening, consists of

(Function) According to the liquid crystal cell having such a configuration, since the opening is provided in the main seal member, a discontinuous portion is formed in the main seal member. In the vicinity of this discontinuous portion (near the opening), the cell spacing tends to become non-uniform.

However, since one or two auxiliary sealing members are provided facing the opening, the auxiliary sealing members work to maintain the substrate spacing near the discontinuous portion almost constant, so that the opening The probability of non-uniform cell spacing in the vicinity is reduced compared to before.

(Embodiments) Hereinafter, embodiments of the liquid crystal cell of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. It should be noted that the drawings are only schematic illustrations to the extent that the present invention can be understood, and therefore, the dimensions, shapes, and arrangement relationships of each component are not limited to those shown in the drawings.

In this first embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal cell configured to inject liquid crystal by a reduced pressure method.

FIG. 1 is a cutaway plan view schematically showing the structure of a first embodiment of the present invention, and schematically shows the structure of a liquid crystal cell formed by bonding a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate.

In the figure, 20 is a sealing part, 22 and 24 are a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate that are bonded together through the sealing part 20, and 26 is an opening provided in the sealing part 20, for example, a liquid crystal injection port. shows.

'The upper electrode substrates 22 and 24 each include a transparent electrode, an alignment film, and other predetermined components formed according to the driving method of the liquid crystal cell.

Reference numeral 28 indicates a main sealing member provided with at least one opening, e.g. injection port 2B, and 30 indicates one or two auxiliary sealing members provided opposite to the opening e.g. injection port 28; 20 to these main seal members 2
8 and an auxiliary seal member 30.

The liquid crystal enclosure area is mainly formed by the bonded electrode substrate 22.
．． 24 and a main seal member 28 provided between these substrates.

In this embodiment, a - section of the main seal member 28 is cut out to form, for example, one injection port 26, and an auxiliary seal member 30 is provided within the liquid crystal sealing area.

When arranging the auxiliary seal member 30, the auxiliary seal member 30 is provided apart from the main seal member 28 so that a liquid crystal inflow path for injecting the liquid crystal into the sealed region can be secured.

Furthermore, in this embodiment, for example, one auxiliary seal member 3
0 is provided so as to extend linearly so as to close the injection port 2B.

In the liquid crystal cell of this embodiment configured as described above, a discontinuous portion of the main seal member 28 is formed in order to provide the injection port 28, and the cell spacing tends to become uneven near this discontinuous portion. .

However, since the auxiliary seal member 30 is provided as described above to face the injection port 26, the auxiliary seal member 30
acts to keep the substrate spacing near this discontinuous portion substantially constant.

Therefore, the probability that the cell spacing will be uneven near the injection port 28 is reduced compared to the conventional case. In addition, the main seal member 28
The probability that non-uniform cell spacing caused by discontinuity will extend to the display area of the liquid crystal cell is lower than in the past. Therefore, it is possible to improve the yield.

In order to shorten the liquid crystal injection time when only one injection port 2B is provided, for example, the opening length may be set larger, but in this case as well, the probability of uneven cell spacing is reduced, And/or it is possible to reduce the probability that the inconsistency in cell spacing extends to the display area of the liquid crystal cell. Therefore, by setting the aperture length larger, it is possible to increase the yield more effectively. In addition, in FIG. 1, the substrate 22.2
The separation distance between the seal members 28 and 30 after bonding of No. 4 is indicated by C, and the opening length of the injection port 2B in the direction along the substrate surface is indicated by D.

FIG. 2 is a top view for explaining the seal portion of this embodiment. This figure shows a seal portion 30 provided on one of the substrates 22 and 24, for example, the substrate 22, before bonding.

In the same figure, 32 indicates a notch portion, and the opening 2B
For example, a cut-out portion 32 of 1 gA is provided in the main seal member 28 to form the main seal member 28.

Here, the seal member 28 provided on the substrate 22 before bonding
and a separation distance of 30 with symbol c6 and a cutout portion 32
The length in the direction along the substrate surface is indicated by the symbol bo.

When the seal portion 30 is cured while applying pressure to the electrode substrate 20.22, the seal portion 20 is crushed by the pressure, so the opening length is longer than the length bo and the separation pressure aC is smaller than the separation distance CO. They tend to become shorter, and in some cases, for example, the seal members 28 and 30 may come into contact with each other, closing the liquid crystal inflow path. Therefore, it is preferable to design the seal portion 20 with this point in mind.

Next, the manufacturing process of the liquid crystal cell of this embodiment will be briefly explained with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.

First, the seal portion 20 is provided by printing a sealing agent mixed with a spacer on the electrode forming surface of one of the electrode substrates 22 and 24, for example, the substrate 22. At the same time, spacers (not shown) are scattered on the electrode forming surface of one of the electrode substrates 22 and 24, for example, the substrate 22 (see FIG. 2).

Next, after the electrode substrates 22.24 are placed facing each other via the seal portion 30 and the spacer, these electrode substrates 22.2
The seal portion 20 is cured while applying pressure to the seal portion 4.

By bonding the electrode substrates 22 and 24 in this manner, an empty liquid crystal cell is obtained. Bonded electrode substrate 22.
A liquid crystal sealing area is formed between the holes 24 (see FIG. 1).

The liquid crystal is then injected into the encapsulation region, for example by a vacuum method. When injecting liquid crystal, although not shown, a liquid crystal reservoir and an empty liquid crystal cell are placed in a vacuum chamber, and then the pressure inside the vacuum chamber is reduced.After immersing the injection port 28 of the liquid crystal cell into the liquid crystal reservoir. When the vacuum chamber is returned to atmospheric pressure, liquid crystal is injected into the sealed area due to the pressure difference.

Next, the injection port 2B is sealed to obtain a liquid crystal cell filled with liquid crystal.

Second Embodiment In this second embodiment, similarly to the first embodiment, a case will be described in which the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal cell configured to inject liquid crystal by a reduced pressure method.

FIG. 3 is a cutaway view schematically showing the structure of a second embodiment of the present invention, and schematically shows the structure of a liquid crystal cell formed by bonding a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate. ,still,
Constituent components corresponding to the J& components shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 are denoted by the same reference numerals, and detailed explanation thereof will be omitted.

In this embodiment, the main seal member 28 is provided with a plurality of, for example, four, injection ports 28, and furthermore, one auxiliary seal member 30 is provided for each injection port 2B.

In order to further reduce the probability of uneven cell spacing,
As long as the liquid crystal inflow path can be formed, it is preferable to set the aperture length and separation distance C to be small.As the aperture length and/or separation distance glC becomes smaller, the liquid crystal injection time tends to increase. By increasing the number of injection ports 26 provided in the seal member 28,
This can avoid increasing the liquid crystal injection time. It is also possible to reduce the probability that the cell spacing is unrestricted and to shorten the liquid crystal injection time, and therefore, by providing a plurality of injection ports 26, it is possible to effectively improve the yield.

In this second embodiment as well, the same yield direction E as in the first embodiment can be expected.

The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and therefore the numerical conditions, shapes, forming force methods, etc. of each component,
The arrangement position and other conditions can be changed arbitrarily and suitably according to the design.

For example, in the embodiment described above, the configuration of the sealing part was explained when liquid crystal is injected by the reduced pressure method, but the configuration of the sealing part can be changed arbitrarily and suitably to correspond to the liquid crystal injection method. When used, an opening for air vent may be provided at a position facing the liquid crystal injection port (for example, on the left side of the main seal member 28 shown in FIG. 1).

Furthermore, various openings may be provided in the main sealing member depending on the purpose; for example, an opening may be provided to inject liquid crystal, vent air, or achieve any other suitable purpose. good. The arrangement position, size, and number of the openings, and the size, shape, and arrangement positions of the main seal member and the auxiliary seal member can also be changed arbitrarily and suitably. In addition, in the embodiment described above, 1
Although two auxiliary seal members are provided, two or more auxiliary seal members may be provided for each 1g4 opening.

The present invention can be applied to liquid crystal cells with various structures, and the structure of the first and second electrode plates can be changed in accordance with the driving method of the liquid crystal cell, regardless of the structure of the first and second electrode substrates. It can be designed in any suitable manner.

(Effects of the Invention) As is clear from the above description, according to the liquid crystal cell of the present invention, since the auxiliary sealing member is provided opposite the opening, the probability that the cell spacing will be unrestricted near the opening is low. is reduced compared to the conventional method.

Furthermore, the probability that non-uniform cell spacing caused by the opening, that is, the discontinuous portion of the main sealing member extends to the display area of the liquid crystal cell is reduced compared to the prior art. Therefore, it is possible to improve the yield.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a cutaway plan view schematically showing the structure of a liquid crystal cell according to a first embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a plan view schematically showing the structure of the electrode substrate and seal portion before bonding; FIG. The figure is a cutaway plan view schematically showing the structure of a second embodiment of the liquid crystal cell of the present invention. FIG. 4 is a cutaway plan view schematically showing the structure of a conventional liquid crystal cell, particularly the structure of the seal portion. . 20... Seal portion, 22... First electrode substrate 2
4...Second electrode substrate, 26...open (1 part 28...
... L seal member, 30... Auxiliary seal member. Patent applicant: Oki'tunki Kogyo Co., Ltd. 28 Main seal member 30 Auxiliary seal member Fig. 1 Explanatory diagram of the seal portion Fig. 2 Cutaway plan view of the second embodiment Fig. 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a liquid crystal cell comprising a first electrode substrate and a second electrode substrate bonded together through a sealing portion, and an opening provided in the sealing portion, the sealing portion is provided with at least one opening. 1. A liquid crystal cell comprising: a main seal member; and one or more auxiliary seal members provided to face the opening.