JP2008275721A - Liquid crystal device, method for manufacturing the same and electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a liquid crystal device which has image display characteristics hardly influenced by shrinkage on curing of a sealing material, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device, and electronic equipment equipped with the liquid crystal device. <P>SOLUTION: The liquid crystal device etc. are equipped with a liquid crystal panel having a pair of substrates bonded to each other via a frame-like sealing material to hold a liquid crystal material by means of the pair of substrates and the sealing material. The liquid crystal panel has an injection hole to inject the liquid crystal material thereinto, extending and opening on the frame-like sealing material on an end side of the pair of substrates. When an inside dimension of the opening of the injection hole along a direction of extension of the sealing material is represented by L1, and a width of the injection hole vertically intersecting the direction of extension of the sealing material near the injection port is represented by L2, the ratio L1/L2 is set to 1.2-6. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, a method for manufacturing the liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus. In particular, the present invention relates to a liquid crystal device in which the effect of curing shrinkage of a sealant on image display characteristics is small, a method for manufacturing such a liquid crystal device, and an electronic apparatus including such a liquid crystal device.

Conventionally, a liquid crystal device which is an embodiment of an electro-optical device is configured by disposing a pair of substrates each having a colored layer, a protective film, and an electrode, and injecting a liquid crystal material between the pair of substrates. ing.
For example, in the case of a liquid crystal device provided with a TFT element (Thin Film Transistor) which is a three-terminal type non-linear element, the element substrate is an electric wiring, TFT element, interlayer insulating film, pixel electrode, orientation on a glass substrate or the like. A film or the like is laminated. Further, a colored layer, a light shielding film, a counter electrode, an alignment film, and the like are laminated on the counter substrate facing the element substrate. Then, the element substrate and the counter substrate are bonded together with a conductive sealing material to form a cell structure, and after the liquid crystal material is injected into the formed cell, the injection hole is sealed with a sealant. Thus, a liquid crystal panel is configured.

By the way, when manufacturing such a liquid crystal panel, hardening shrinkage at the time of sealing an injection hole with a sealing agent becomes a problem.
That is, when the injection hole is sealed and cured using a sealant made of an ultraviolet curable resin or a thermosetting resin, there is a problem that the sealant is cured and contracted to cause distortion in the vicinity of the injection hole. It was seen.

Therefore, as shown in FIGS. 12A to 12B, a pair of first substrate 140 and second substrate (not shown) disposed opposite to each other with the sealant 110 interposed therebetween, the first substrate 140, and the second substrate. There has been proposed a liquid crystal panel 100 including a liquid crystal material 122 enclosed in a space surrounded by a substrate and a sealing material 110 (see Patent Document 1).
More specifically, the sealing material 110 is provided with a liquid crystal inlet 128 into which the liquid crystal material 122 is injected, and at least a part of the liquid crystal inlet region 128a in which the liquid crystal inlet 128 is provided is a liquid crystal inlet. The liquid crystal panel 100 is provided with a convex portion 114a that protrudes from at least one of the pair of substrates 140 toward the other substrate at a position that overlaps the region 128a in a plane, and that regulates the distance between the pair of substrates. is there.

Further, as shown in FIG. 13, by providing a dummy pattern 234 in parallel with the wiring pattern 231 formed on the surface of the substrate constituting the liquid crystal device, the non-uniformity of the substrate interval is reduced, and the liquid crystal panel It has been proposed to reduce cell thickness unevenness of 200 (see Patent Document 2).
Further, when forming the laminated spacers in the liquid crystal panel, a color filter substrate having a laminated structure of two or more layers is used so that the variation in height is reduced, and a color is formed so as to become a saturated region as shown in FIG. A liquid crystal device with an adjusted R dot size on a filter substrate has been proposed (Patent Document 3).
JP 2007-47239 A (Claims) JP 2003-149660 A (Claims) JP 2006-30906 A (Claims)

However, all of the liquid crystal devices in Patent Documents 1 to 3 have an opening inner dimension width (L1) along the extending direction of the sealing material in the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material, and the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole. The ratio of the width (L2) orthogonal to the extending direction is not considered at all, and since the ratio of L1 / L2 is usually 1 or less, the cell thickness is caused by the curing shrinkage of the sealing agent of the injection hole. There was a problem that the image display characteristics were partially varied and image display characteristics were likely to deteriorate.
That is, as shown in FIG. 15, due to the hardening shrinkage of the sealing agent 25 of the injection hole, the vicinity of the injection hole 30 is lifted, and as a result, the cell thickness is uneven, and the image display characteristics in the vicinity of the injection hole are There was a problem that it was easy to deteriorate. In particular, when an STN liquid crystal material or the like is used, there has been a problem that image display characteristics are easily deteriorated due to uneven cell thickness.

  On the other hand, the width of the sealing material in the assembled state of the liquid crystal panel depends on the type of the sealing material, etc., but is widened by the pressurizing process at the time of assembling (bonding), so that the seal mask or the sealing material before pressure bonding Since the width is changed by several times or more than the width, the problem is that it is usually difficult to consider the width of the sealing material.

  Accordingly, the inventors of the present invention have determined that the in-hole width (L1: mm) of the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material and the width (L2: mm) orthogonal to the extending direction of the seal material in the vicinity of the injection hole. ), The cell thickness becomes uniform, and even when STN liquid crystal material or the like is used, the adverse effect of curing shrinkage of the sealant in the injection hole when assembling the liquid crystal panel is remarkably reduced. We found that it can be reduced.

That is, an object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal device which is less affected by the curing shrinkage of the sealant in the injection hole, has a uniform cell thickness, and has excellent image display characteristics in the vicinity of the injection hole. .
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method for efficiently manufacturing such a liquid crystal device.
Furthermore, another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic apparatus provided with such a liquid crystal device.

According to the present invention, there is provided a liquid crystal device including a liquid crystal panel in which a pair of substrates are bonded via a frame-shaped sealing material, and the liquid crystal material is held by the pair of substrates and the sealing material, And an opening extending from the frame-shaped sealing material to the end sides of the pair of substrates, and having an injection hole for injecting a liquid crystal material, along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole When the inner dimension width of the opening is L1, and the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2, the ratio of L1 / L2 is set to a value in the range of 1.2 to 6. A liquid crystal device is provided to solve the above-described problems.
That is, the opening width (L1) of the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material and the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the seal material in the vicinity of the injection hole (L2, hereinafter referred to simply as the width of the seal material) The ratio of curing shrinkage of the sealing agent in the injection hole can be reduced. Therefore, a liquid crystal device having a uniform cell thickness and excellent image display characteristics in the vicinity of the injection hole can be obtained.

As described above, the width of the sealing material in the state in which the liquid crystal panel is configured has a feature that it easily changes depending on the pressurizing condition and the heating condition at the time of curing. Therefore, in order to facilitate the adjustment of the L1 / L2 ratio, under the curing conditions (for example, 150 ° C., 10-50 kgf / cm ² ) at the time of assembling the liquid crystal panel, the width of the seal mask or the width of the seal material before pressure bonding is 1 It is preferable to use a sealing material that is 7 to 2 times larger.

Further, in configuring the liquid crystal device of the present invention, it is preferable to set the opening width (L1) of the injection hole to a value within the range of 1 to 2 mm.
In this way, by limiting the inner width (L1) of the injection hole to a predetermined range, the sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel) by the sealing material, the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the effective area for image display A better balance can be achieved in relation to securing.

In configuring the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the width (L2) perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is preferably set to a value within the range of 0.34 to 0.8 mm.
Thus, by limiting the width (L2) of the sealing material to a predetermined range, the sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the securing of the effective area in the image display, Furthermore, a good balance can be achieved.

In forming the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the sealing material is made of a thermosetting resin, and the injection hole is made of a mixture of an ultraviolet curable monomer and an ultraviolet curable oligomer. It is preferable to be sealed using.
As described above, the sealing material and the sealing agent for the injection hole are made of different curable resins, so that stable and excellent sealing properties can be obtained, and the injection hole is quickly and firmly sealed. can do.
Further, since the sealing agent used for the injection hole is composed of a mixture of an ultraviolet curable monomer and an ultraviolet curable oligomer, the sealing agent in the vicinity of the injection hole while maintaining a predetermined ultraviolet curable property. It is possible to effectively reduce the influence of curing shrinkage.

Further, in configuring the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is made larger than the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole. Is preferred.
In this way, by changing the width of the sealing material at a predetermined position, the sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the securing of the effective area in image display A better balance can be achieved.

In configuring the liquid crystal device of the present invention, it is preferable to provide a region for preventing a backflow of the liquid crystal material inside the injection hole.
By comprising in this way, while preventing back flow of a liquid crystal material effectively, between the predetermined injection property of a liquid crystal material, the sealing performance of a liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), and the cure shrinkage of a sealing agent A better balance can be achieved.

Further, in configuring the liquid crystal device of the present invention, it is preferable that an area for preventing leakage of the liquid crystal material is provided outside the injection hole in the injection hole extending direction.
In this way, by forming the leakage prevention region in the outer region of the portion where the sealant extends toward the injection hole, the liquid crystal material is injected in a predetermined manner while preventing the liquid crystal material from leaking to other than the predetermined portion. A better balance can be achieved between the property, the sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), and the curing shrinkage of the sealant.
The region for preventing leakage of the liquid crystal material may be provided on one side as long as it is outside in the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole, but is preferably provided on both sides.

Another embodiment of the present invention is a method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device including a liquid crystal panel in which a pair of substrates are bonded via a frame-shaped sealing material, and the liquid crystal material is held by the pair of substrates and the sealing material. Because
An opening extending to the end sides of the pair of substrates has an injection hole for injecting a liquid crystal material, and the inner width of the opening along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole is L1. A step of preparing an empty cell having a ratio of L1 / L2 within a range of 1.2 to 6 when the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2.
Vacuum injection of the liquid crystal material into the empty cell;
Sealing the injection hole into a liquid crystal panel;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device.
In manufacturing the liquid crystal device in this way, the ratio between the opening width (L1) of the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material and the width (L2) perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is set as follows. By taking into consideration, it is possible to efficiently obtain a liquid crystal device in which the influence of curing shrinkage of the sealant is reduced, the cell thickness is uniform, and the image display characteristics in the vicinity of the injection hole are excellent.
In addition, since the sealing material has already been cured at the stage of forming the empty cell, the influence of the curing shrinkage of the sealant is controlled by controlling the ratio of L1 / L2 to a predetermined range as in the liquid crystal device described above. And the cell thickness can be made uniform.

Still another embodiment of the present invention is an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device described above.
By configuring in this way, an electronic device having a liquid crystal panel that is less affected by the curing shrinkage of the sealant, has a uniform cell thickness, and has excellent image display characteristics in the vicinity of the injection hole. it can.

[First Embodiment]
1st Embodiment is a liquid crystal device provided with the liquid crystal panel which bonds a pair of board | substrate through a frame-shaped sealing material, and hold | maintains a liquid crystal material with a pair of board | substrate and a sealing material, And an opening extending from the frame-shaped sealing material to the end sides of the pair of substrates, and having an injection hole for injecting a liquid crystal material, along the sealing material extending direction of the injection hole A liquid crystal in which the ratio of L1 / L2 is a value in the range of 1.2 to 6, where L1 is the width inside the opening and L2 is the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole. Device.
Further, in FIG. 1, the liquid crystal panel 20 is described in order to explain the relationship between the inner dimension width (L1) of the injection hole 23a and the width (L2) perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material 23 in the vicinity of the injection hole 23a. A part of In FIG. 1, the light shielding film 23 b provided in the inner region of the sealing material 23 is also shown.

  That is, by considering the ratio of L1 / L2 in this way, the influence of curing shrinkage of the sealant when the liquid crystal material is sealed in the liquid crystal panel is remarkably reduced, and the entire area including the vicinity of the injection hole is included. In addition, the cell thickness can be made uniform. Therefore, even when the STN liquid crystal material or the like is used, the liquid crystal material 21 is not disturbed or the like in the vicinity of the injection hole 23a in FIG. Excellent image display characteristics can be obtained.

Hereinafter, as the liquid crystal device of the first embodiment, a liquid crystal device including an element substrate having a three-terminal nonlinear element and a pixel electrode having a predetermined structure, and a color filter substrate having a colored layer and a counter electrode as a counter substrate. Will be described as an example.
However, the description of the embodiment shows one aspect of the present invention and can be arbitrarily changed within the scope of the present invention. For example, in the present embodiment, an active matrix structure liquid crystal device including a TFT element which is a three-terminal nonlinear element will be described as an example. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the two-terminal nonlinear element is not limited thereto. An active matrix liquid crystal device including a TFD element (Thin Film Diode) may be used, or a passive matrix liquid crystal device including no switching element may be used.

1. Basic Structure (1) Configuration First, the configuration of the liquid crystal device 10 will be specifically described with reference to FIGS. 2 (a) to 2 (b) and FIG.
2A is a cross-sectional view of the liquid crystal device 10, FIG. 2B is a plan view of the element substrate 60 in the liquid crystal device of FIG. 2A, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view corresponding to the appearance of the liquid crystal device 10. FIG.
In the liquid crystal panel (electro-optical panel) in the liquid crystal device 10, the counter substrate 30 and the element substrate 60 are bonded to each other at a peripheral portion thereof with a sealing material (not shown). The liquid crystal material 21 is basically enclosed in a gap surrounded by the element substrate 60 and the sealing material.

  The counter substrate 30 is formed of glass, plastic, or the like, and on the counter substrate 30, a color filter, that is, colored layers 37r, 37g, and 37b, and a counter layer formed on the colored layers 37r, 37g, and 37b. An electrode 33 and an alignment film 45 formed on the counter electrode 33 are provided. In addition, an insulating layer 41 for optimizing retardation is provided between the colored layers 37r, 37g, and 37b and the counter electrode 33 in the reflective region R.

  Here, the counter electrode 33 is a planar electrode formed over the entire surface of the counter substrate 30 with ITO (indium tin oxide) or the like. The colored layers 37r, 37g, and 37b are disposed at positions facing the pixel electrode 63 on the element substrate 60 side, such as R (red), G (green), B (blue), or C (cyan), M (magenta), and Y. A color filter element of any color such as (yellow) is provided. A black mask or black matrix, that is, a light shielding film 39 is provided next to the colored layers 37 r, 37 g, and 37 b and at a position that does not face the pixel electrode 63.

The element substrate 60 facing the counter substrate 30 is formed of glass, plastic, or the like. On the element substrate 60, a TFT element 69 as an active element functioning as a switching element and a transparent insulating film 81 are sandwiched. And a pixel electrode 63 formed in the upper layer of the TFT element 69.
The TFT element 69 includes a gate electrode 71 formed on the element substrate 60, a gate insulating film 72 formed on the entire area of the element substrate 60 on the gate electrode 71, and the gate insulating film 72 interposed therebetween. A semiconductor layer 70 formed above the gate electrode 71, a source electrode 73 formed on one side of the semiconductor layer 70 via a contact electrode 77, and a contact electrode 77 on the other side of the semiconductor layer 70. And a drain electrode 66 formed through the.

The pixel electrode 63 is also formed in the reflective region R as a light reflecting film 79 (63a) for performing reflective display. In the transmissive region T, the pixel electrode 63 is transparent from ITO (indium tin oxide) or the like. It is formed as an electrode 63b.
The light reflecting film 79 as the pixel electrode 63a is formed of a light reflecting material such as Al (aluminum), Ag (silver), or the like. An alignment film 85 made of a polyimide polymer resin is formed on the pixel electrode 63, and the alignment film 85 is subjected to a rubbing process as an alignment process.

  Further, a phase difference plate 47 is formed on the surface of the counter substrate 30 outside (that is, the upper side in FIG. 2A), and a polarizing plate 49 is further formed thereon. Similarly, a phase difference plate 87 is formed on the surface of the element substrate 60 (that is, the lower side of FIG. 2A), and a polarizing plate 89 is formed therebelow. Further, a backlight unit (not shown) is disposed below the element substrate 60.

(2) Operation In the liquid crystal device 10 having the above-described configuration, external light such as sunlight and indoor illumination light is reflected from the counter substrate 30 side to the reflective region (R) of the liquid crystal device 10 during reflective display. While entering, it passes through the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b), the liquid crystal material 21, etc., and reaches the light reflecting film 79. Therefore, the light is reflected, passes through the liquid crystal material 21 and the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b) and the like again, and is recognized outside the liquid crystal device 10, whereby a reflective display is performed.

On the other hand, at the time of transmissive display, a backlight unit (not shown) is turned on, and light emitted from the backlight unit passes through a translucent transparent electrode 63b portion as a transmissive region (T). Through the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b), the liquid crystal material 21 and the like and recognized outside the liquid crystal device 10, transmissive display is performed.
As will be described later, the ratio of the opening width (L1) of the injection hole for sealing the liquid crystal material with the sealant and the width (L2) perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole By taking into consideration, the adverse effect of curing shrinkage of the sealant can be remarkably reduced, and a liquid crystal device excellent in image display characteristics as a whole can be provided not only in the vicinity of the injection hole.

2. Sealing material (1) Spacer particles As shown in FIG. 4A, conductive particles (DEB), fibers (PF), polymer particles, glass particles, photo spacers, carbon black, etc. are used as the spacer particles. It is preferable to contain in the range of 0.1-30 weight% with respect to the whole quantity.
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 4B, the spacer particles are deformed so as to have a predetermined compression ratio between the color filter substrate (CF glass) as the counter substrate and the element substrate, and in the liquid crystal panel. The cell thickness can be adjusted.

(2) Thermosetting resin The types of thermosetting resins that constitute part of the sealing material include epoxy resins, phenol resins, silicone resins, urea resins, cyanate resins, guanamine resins, thermosetting polyester resins, One kind alone or a combination of two or more kinds such as a thermosetting acrylic resin, SGA, and a thermosetting urethane resin can be used.
In particular, when an epoxy resin is used, it is preferable to use a bisphenol A type epoxy resin, a bisphenol F type epoxy resin, an alicyclic epoxy resin, or the like as the main agent. And as a hardening | curing agent, it is preferable to use an amine compound, a carboxylic acid compound, an imidazole compound, an amide compound etc. in the range of 10-50 weight part with respect to 100 weight part of main agents, for example.

In addition, in order to adjust the viscosity and cure speed when curing the sealing material, diol compound, triol compound, plasticizer, curing catalyst, etc., for example, 0.1 to 30 wt. It is preferable to add in the range of parts.
Furthermore, since the adhesiveness to the glass substrate or the like of the sealing material is good, since the value of cure shrinkage can be adjusted, various fillers, coupling agents, rubber components, etc., for example, 100 parts by weight of the main agent, It is preferable to use in the range of 0.1 to 50 parts by weight.

  In addition, it is also preferable to combine a photocurable resin (ultraviolet curable adhesive) with the thermosetting resin mentioned above. That is, after temporarily fixing by light irradiation using a sealant mainly composed of a photocurable resin, sealing is then performed by thermally curing the sealant mainly composed of the thermosetting resin described above. Is preferred.

Moreover, it is preferable that the sealing material is made of a thermosetting resin and the injection hole is made of an ultraviolet curable resin as a mixture of an ultraviolet curable monomer and an ultraviolet curable oligomer.
The reason for this is that the sealing material and the sealing agent for the injection hole are made of different curable resins, so that a stable and excellent sealing performance can be obtained by the sealing material made of thermosetting resin. In addition, the injection hole can be quickly and firmly sealed with a sealant made of an ultraviolet curable resin.

Further, since the sealing agent used for the injection hole is composed of a mixture of an ultraviolet curable monomer and an ultraviolet curable oligomer, the sealing agent in the vicinity of the injection hole while maintaining a predetermined ultraviolet curable property. This is because the influence of curing shrinkage can be effectively reduced.
That is, with regard to the sealant, a predetermined sealing property can be obtained in a short time while maintaining a predetermined ultraviolet characteristic mainly by the action of the ultraviolet curable monomer, and the sealing is mainly performed by the action of the ultraviolet curable oligomer. The curing shrinkage of the agent can be further reduced.
Therefore, the sealing material is preferably composed of an ultraviolet curable resin containing 10 to 500 parts by weight of an ultraviolet curable oligomer with respect to 100 parts by weight of the ultraviolet curable monomer, and includes 30 to 300 parts by weight of an ultraviolet curable oligomer. It is more preferably composed of an ultraviolet curable resin, and further preferably an ultraviolet curable resin containing 50 to 200 parts by weight of an ultraviolet curable oligomer.

The ultraviolet curable monomer is usually a raw material material as a minimum unit when a cured product is produced by a curing reaction.
On the other hand, the UV curable oligomer is a compound at a stage where a plurality of UV curable monomers, which are raw materials as a minimum unit, are polymerized, and is usually a compound at a stage where 2 to 20 UV curable monomers are polymerized.

(3) Ratio of L1 / L2 The inside dimension width of the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material into the liquid crystal panel is L1, and the width perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2. Sometimes, the ratio of L1 / L2 is set to a value in the range of 1.2-6.
The reason for this is that when the ratio of L1 / L2 is less than 1.2, the opening width of the injection hole becomes small, the injection property of the liquid crystal material is remarkably lowered, or the width of the sealing material is reduced. This is because it becomes excessively thick and it becomes difficult to secure an effective area for image display within a predetermined area.
On the other hand, when the ratio of L1 / L2 exceeds 6, the opening width of the injection hole becomes excessively large, and it becomes susceptible to curing shrinkage, or the width of the sealing material becomes excessively thin. This is because the sealing performance is lowered.
Therefore, the ratio of L1 / L2 is more preferably set to a value within the range of 1.5 to 5, and further preferably set to a value within the range of 2 to 4.
In addition, the width | variety of a sealing material means the width | variety in the state which assembled the liquid crystal panel or the empty cell of the liquid crystal panel mentioned later.

Further, when the size of the liquid crystal panel (diagonal length of the outer dimension) is relatively small, for example, in the case of 1 to 3 inches, the ratio of L1 / L2 is a value within the range of 1.7 to 5. It is preferable that
This is because the influence of the curing shrinkage of the sealant on the image display characteristics can be more effectively reduced by determining the ratio of L1 / L2 in consideration of the size of the liquid crystal panel. .
That is, even when the size of the liquid crystal panel is relatively small, the influence of curing shrinkage of the sealant can be effectively reduced.
Therefore, when the size of the liquid crystal panel is 1 to 3 inches, the ratio of L1 / L2 is more preferably set to a value within the range of 2.0 to 4.8, and 2.5 to 4.0. More preferably, the value is within the range.
When the size of the liquid crystal panel (diagonal length of the outer dimensions) is relatively large, for example, 20 inches or more, the ratio of L1 / L2 is 1.2 to 6 as described above. A value within the range is preferable.

Moreover, when adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, it is usually preferable to set the opening width (L1) of the injection hole to a value within the range of 1 to 2 mm.
The reason for this is that, by configuring in this way, there is a better balance between the sealing properties of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the securing of an effective area for image display. It is because it can do.
That is, this configuration makes it easy to adjust the ratio of L1 / L2, and restricts the inner dimension width (L1) of the injection hole from being excessively narrow, so that good injection of the liquid crystal material can be achieved. This is because the property can be secured. In addition, by configuring in this way, it is possible to restrict an excessively wide opening inside dimension (L1) of the injection hole, and to prevent deterioration of the sealing performance in the vicinity of the injection hole.
Therefore, in adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, it is more preferable to set the opening width (L1) of the injection hole to a value in the range of 1.1 to 1.8 mm, and 1.2 to 1.7 mm. More preferably, the value is within the range.

In adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, it is usually preferable to set the width (L2) perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole to a value within the range of 0.34 to 0.8 mm. .
The reason for this is that, by configuring in this way, there is a better balance between the sealing properties of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the securing of an effective area for image display. It is because it can do.
That is, with this configuration, the ratio of L1 / L2 can be easily adjusted, and the seal material in the vicinity of the injection hole is restricted by excessively narrowing the width (L2) of the seal material at a predetermined position. This is because deterioration of the property can be prevented. In addition, this configuration is because it is easy to secure an effective area for image display by restricting the width (L2) of the sealing material at a predetermined position to be excessively wide.
Therefore, in adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, it is more preferable to set the width (L2) of the sealing material at a predetermined position to a value within the range of 0.40 to 0.75 mm, and 0.45 to 0.7 mm. More preferably, the value is within the range.

Further, in adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, as shown in FIGS. 5A to 5B, the width (L2 ′) of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is changed to the width (L2 in the vicinity of the injection hole). ″) Is preferably thicker.
That is, as shown in FIG. 5A, the width (L2 ′) of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is changed from the vicinity of the injection hole, for example, from the end of the liquid crystal panel toward the vicinity of the injection hole. It is preferable to increase the thickness in a tapered shape, or increase the thickness in a stepwise manner as shown in FIG.
The reason for this is that, by configuring in this way, there is a better balance between the sealing properties of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), the curing shrinkage of the sealant, and the securing of an effective area for image display. It is because it can do.
That is, a predetermined sealing property can be obtained while the width (L2) of the sealing material at a predetermined position is relatively thin, while the influence of curing shrinkage of the sealant can be eliminated.
In addition, what is necessary is just to let it be the maximum value of the width | variety of a sealing material as the width | variety (L2 ') of the sealing material in the vicinity of an injection hole. Moreover, what is necessary is just to let the minimum value of the width | variety of a sealing material as the width | variety (L2 '') of the sealing material in the non-near vicinity of an injection hole.

(4) Backflow prevention region As shown in FIGS. 6A to 6D, when adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, a backflow prevention region 23d for the liquid crystal material is provided inside the injection hole 23a. It is preferable.
The reason for this is that by providing a backflow prevention region in this way to prevent the backflow of the liquid crystal material, the predetermined injection property of the liquid crystal material, the sealability of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), and the curing of the sealant This is because a better balance can be achieved between the contraction and the shrinkage.
That is, with this configuration, the backflow prevention region can function as a spacer in the vicinity of the injection hole, and as a result, the opening inner dimension width (L1) of the injection hole is relatively wide. It can be designed or designed relatively narrowly. Therefore, when the opening size (L1) of the injection hole is designed to be relatively wide, excellent liquid crystal material injection property and curing shrinkage of the sealant can be obtained. In addition, when the opening width (L1) of the injection hole is designed to be relatively narrow, an excellent sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel) can be obtained by the backflow prevention region.

Note that a typical backflow prevention region can be a photo spacer mode. Therefore, for example, as shown in FIG. 6A, the planar shape may be a backflow prevention region 23d made of a photo spacer having a circular shape, and in the inflow direction of the liquid crystal material as shown in FIG. 6B. On the other hand, it may be a backflow prevention region 23d made of a horizontally long rectangular photo spacer.
Further, as shown in FIG. 6C, a plurality of rectangular photo spacers that are vertically long with respect to the inflow direction of the liquid crystal material may be arranged as the backflow prevention region 23d, as shown in FIG. A plurality of backflow prevention regions 23d made of rhombus-shaped photo spacers may be disposed in the inflow direction of the liquid crystal material.

(5) Leakage prevention region Further, in adjusting the ratio of L1 / L2, as shown in FIGS. 7A to 7D, the leakage prevention region 23c of the liquid crystal material is provided on both outer sides of the injection hole 23a. Are preferably provided.
That is, as shown in FIG. 7A, leakage prevention regions 23c made of a line-shaped seal material are formed in parallel on both sides of the seal material 23 constituting the injection hole 23a. As shown in FIG. 5, the leakage preventing regions 23c made of a plurality of line-shaped sealing materials can be formed in parallel on both sides of the sealing material 23 constituting the injection hole 23a.
Further, as shown in FIG. 7C, a leakage preventing region 23c made of a line-shaped sealing material is formed adjacent to both sides of the sealing material 23 constituting the injection hole 23a. As shown in FIG. 5, the leakage prevention regions 23c made of a semicircular sealing material can be formed adjacent to both sides of the sealing material 23 constituting the injection hole 23a.
The reason for this is that by forming such a liquid crystal material leakage prevention region, it is possible to prevent the liquid crystal material from leaking to other than a predetermined location. Therefore, a better balance can be achieved between the injection property of the liquid crystal material, the sealing property of the liquid crystal device (liquid crystal panel), and the curing shrinkage of the sealant.
In addition, as a region for preventing leakage of a typical liquid crystal material, it can be formed at the same time in the same process as the sealing material by forming it from the same material as the sealing material, but it can also be formed from different materials. preferable.

[Second Embodiment]
2nd Embodiment of this invention is a manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device provided with the liquid crystal panel which bonds a pair of board | substrate through a frame-shaped sealing material, and hold | maintains a liquid crystal material with a pair of board | substrate and a sealing material. There,
An opening extending to the end sides of the pair of substrates has an injection hole for injecting a liquid crystal material, and the inner width of the opening along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole is L1. A step of preparing an empty cell having a ratio of L1 / L2 within a range of 1.2 to 6 when the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2.
A step of vacuum-injecting a liquid crystal material into the empty cell;
Sealing the injection hole into a liquid crystal panel;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device.
Hereinafter, the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device will be described by taking the liquid crystal device including the TFT element described in the first embodiment as an example with reference to FIGS. 8 to 10 as appropriate.

1. TFT Element Formation Step First, a TFT element formation step is performed. The TFT element forming step is a step of forming a switching element such as the TFT element 69 as shown in FIG. 8A by forming a metal film and an insulating film on the base of the element substrate and patterning. is there.
In forming such a switching element 69, a gate electrode 71 is formed on a base 61 made of a glass substrate or the like. The gate electrode 71 is made of a low resistance material such as chromium, tantalum, or molybdenum, and can be formed using a sputtering method or an electron beam evaporation method.

Next, a gate insulating film 72 as an insulating layer is formed on the gate electrode 71. The gate insulating film 72 can be formed by laminating an electrical insulating material made of a semiconductor material such as silicon nitride (SiNx) or silicon oxide (SiOx).
Next, a semiconductor layer 70 is formed on the gate insulating film 72 by stacking semiconductor materials such as amorphous silicon (a-Si), polycrystalline silicon, and CdSe. Further, contact electrodes 77 are formed at both ends of the semiconductor layer 70 from doped amorphous silicon or the like.

  Finally, the source electrode 73 and the drain electrode 66 and the source bus wiring 75 integrated therewith are formed so as to come into contact with the contact electrode 77. At this time, the source electrode 73, the source bus wiring 75, and the drain electrode 66 can be formed by using a low-resistance material such as titanium, molybdenum, or aluminum, for example, by a sputtering method or an electron beam evaporation method. On the other hand, a signal line (electric wiring) 65 for switching the TFT element 69 is electrically connected.

2. Step of forming pixel electrode etc. Next, a step of forming pixel electrode etc. is carried out. As shown in FIGS. 8B to 8C, the formation process of the pixel electrode and the like includes a protective film 81 made of an organic insulating film and a transparent conductive film on the base 61 on which the TFT element 69 is formed. In this step, the pixel electrodes 63 are sequentially formed.
More specifically, a resin material such as a photocurable resin is applied onto the base 61 on which the TFT element 69 is formed, and the resin layer is subjected to predetermined patterning to form an organic insulating film. A protective film 81 is formed.

Next, after depositing a metal such as aluminum on the periphery of the contact hole 83 provided in the protective film 81 made of the organic insulating film and corresponding to the reflective region (R), this film On the other hand, a matrix-like light reflecting film 79 is formed in the display region by performing photolithography and etching.
On the other hand, a pixel electrode 63 is formed by forming a transparent conductive film by a sputtering method or the like in a region corresponding to the transmissive region (T), which is a basic form of the element substrate 60.

Next, an orientation film 85 made of polyimide resin or the like is formed on the element substrate 60 obtained as described above, and the orientation control function can be provided by performing a rubbing process on the orientation film 85. .
Finally, columnar spacers (photospacers) as a resin film made of a photosensitive resin material are formed on the substrate on which the TFT elements and pixel electrodes are formed by using a photolithography method or the like. With this columnar spacer, the gap width (cell gap) between the element substrate 60 and the counter substrate 30 can be accurately defined, and desired display characteristics can be obtained.

3. Step of forming colored layer Next, a step of manufacturing the counter substrate will be described. First, a colored layer forming step is performed. As shown in FIGS. 9A to 9B, the colored layer forming process includes a colored layer 37 (37 r, 37 g, 37 b), a light shielding film 39, and a layer thickness adjusting layer 41 on the base 31 of the counter substrate 30. And the like are sequentially formed.
More specifically, a photosensitive resin made of a resin material in which a coloring material such as a pigment or a dye is dispersed is applied on the substrate 31, and pattern exposure and development processing are sequentially performed on the photosensitive resin. The colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b) can be formed.
The exposure and development processes are repeated for each color of R (red), G (green), and B (blue), thereby forming colored layers 37r, 37g, and 37b corresponding to the three colors, respectively. it can.

Next, a light shielding film 39 is formed in the boundary region between the respective pixel regions. As a material used for the light shielding film 39, for example, a metal film such as chromium (Cr) or molybdenum (Mo) is used, or a coloring material of three colors of R, G, B is used as a resin or other base material. What was disperse | distributed in the material, what disperse | distributed coloring materials, such as a black pigment and dye, in resin and another base material, etc. can be used.
Therefore, when forming the light shielding film 39 from a metal film, for example, a metal material such as chromium (Cr) is laminated on the substrate 31 by a sputtering method or the like, and then subjected to an etching process according to a predetermined pattern. Will form.

Finally, on the substrate 31 of the counter substrate on which the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b), the light-shielding film 39, and the like are formed, for example, an acrylic resin, an epoxy resin, a polyimide resin, a fluorine resin, or the like is used. Thus, the layer thickness adjusting layer 41 is formed.
The layer thickness adjusting layer 41 is a layer for adjusting the retardation of the transmission region (T) and the reflection region (R), and has a predetermined patterning with respect to a resin material such as a photocurable resin or a thermosetting resin. It is formed by applying.

4). Step of forming counter electrode, etc. Next, a step of forming the counter electrode is performed. As shown in FIG. 9C, such a counter electrode forming process includes a transparent conductive material or the like on the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b), the light shielding film 39, and the layer thickness adjusting layer 41 formed on the counter substrate. This is a step of forming the counter electrode 33 made of
More specifically, a transparent conductive film is laminated by sputtering or the like on the substrate 31 of the counter substrate on which the colored layer 37 (37r, 37g, 37b) and the light shielding film 39 are formed, and then a photolithography method and an etching method. Thus, the counter electrode 33 having a predetermined pattern is formed on the entire display area.
Furthermore, by forming an alignment film 45 made of polyimide resin or the like on the surface of the counter electrode 33, the basic form of the counter substrate 30 can be obtained.
Here, the switching element used for the element substrate 60 described above is a TFT element (Thin
In the case of a film transistor 69, the counter electrode 33 is patterned as a planar electrode corresponding to each cell region.

5. Assembling Step Next, as shown in FIGS. 10A to 10B, the assembling step is performed by bonding the element substrate 60 and the counter substrate 30 through the sealing material 23 and injecting the liquid crystal material 21 into the gap. It is a process to do. More specifically, the counter substrate 30 and the element substrate 60 on which the sealing material 23 is formed are aligned to determine the bonding position.
Thereafter, the two substrates are overlapped and bonded, and then heated and pressurized, and the counter substrate 30 and the element substrate 60 are bonded to each other while curing the sealing material 23, whereby FIG. 10B is obtained. As shown, an empty cell having a gap 21a therein is formed.

Next, after the liquid crystal material 21 is injected into the gap 21a of the empty cell by a known method such as a vacuum suction method, the injection port is sealed using a sealing resin such as an ultraviolet curable resin.
Thus, when the opening width of the injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material is L1, and the width of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2, the ratio of L1 / L2 is 1.2-6. A step of preparing an empty cell having a value within the range of, a step of vacuum-injecting a liquid crystal material into the empty cell, and a step of sealing the injection hole to form a liquid crystal panel, The influence of curing shrinkage of the sealant when the liquid crystal material is sealed in the liquid crystal panel can be significantly reduced.
Therefore, the cell thickness can be made uniform as a whole, including the vicinity of the injection hole, so that a liquid crystal panel having excellent image display characteristics even when STN liquid crystal material or the like is used. Can be obtained efficiently.

Finally, the retardation plate 87 and the polarizing plate 89 are attached to the outer surface of the element substrate 60, and the retardation plate 47 and the polarizing plate 49 are attached to the outer surface of the counter substrate 30. As shown in FIG. 10B, the assembly of the liquid crystal panel 20 can be completed.
Although not shown in the drawings after the liquid crystal panel 20 is assembled, it is usually preferable to perform a lighting inspection by cutting the same potential line provided in a part of the electrical wiring and applying a voltage or the like.

6). As shown in FIG. 3, the electronic component such as the semiconductor element 91 is mounted on the substrate projecting portion 60T of the assembled liquid crystal panel 20, and the flexible circuit board 93 is connected. The liquid crystal device 10 can be manufactured by disposing illumination members such as a backlight (not shown) at predetermined positions and incorporating them into a casing (not shown).

[Third Embodiment]
As a third embodiment of the present invention, an electronic apparatus including the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment will be specifically described.

FIG. 11 is a schematic configuration diagram showing the overall configuration of the electronic apparatus of the present embodiment. This electronic device has a liquid crystal panel 20 and a control means 200 for controlling the liquid crystal panel 20. In FIG. 11, the liquid crystal panel 20 is conceptually divided into a panel structure 20 </ b> A and a drive circuit 20 </ b> B composed of a semiconductor element (IC) or the like. The control means 200 preferably includes a display information output source 201, a display processing circuit 202, a power supply circuit 203, and a timing generator 204.
The display information output source 201 includes a memory composed of a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), etc., a storage unit composed of a magnetic recording disk, an optical recording disk, etc., and a tuning that outputs a digital image signal in a synchronized manner. It is preferable that the display information is supplied to the display processing circuit 202 in the form of an image signal or the like of a predetermined format based on various clock signals generated by the timing generator 1240.

  The display processing circuit 202 includes various well-known circuits such as a serial-parallel conversion circuit, an amplification / inversion circuit, a rotation circuit, a gamma correction circuit, and a clamp circuit, and executes processing of input display information to display the image. Information is preferably supplied to the drive circuit 20B together with the clock signal CLK. Further, the drive circuit 20B preferably includes a first wiring pattern drive circuit, a second wiring pattern drive circuit, and an inspection circuit. Further, the power supply circuit 203 has a function of supplying a predetermined voltage to each of the above-described components.

  And if it is the electronic device of this embodiment, the bad influence of hardening shrinkage | contraction of the sealing agent at the time of assembling a liquid crystal panel can be reduced significantly. Therefore, since the cell thickness is uniform and the liquid crystal panel having excellent image display characteristics is provided, excellent image display characteristics can be exhibited as an electronic device such as a mobile phone.

According to the liquid crystal device and the manufacturing method of the liquid crystal device of the present invention, the adverse effect of curing shrinkage of the sealing agent when assembling the liquid crystal panel can be significantly reduced.
Therefore, the overall cell thickness can be made uniform, and a liquid crystal panel having excellent image display characteristics can be provided even when an STN liquid crystal material or the like is used.
Therefore, not only the image display characteristics of the liquid crystal device can be improved, but also the yield in manufacturing can be improved. As a result, electronic devices equipped with liquid crystal devices, such as mobile phones and personal computers, liquid crystal televisions, viewfinder type / monitor direct view type video tape recorders, car navigation devices, pagers, electrophoresis devices, electronic notebooks. , Calculators, word processors, workstations, videophones, POS terminals, electronic devices with touch panels, devices with electron-emitting devices (FED: Field Emission Display and SCED: Surface-Conduction Electron-Emitter Display) can do.

It is the schematic provided in order to demonstrate the sealing material in a liquid crystal device. (A)-(b) is sectional drawing and a top view which show the liquid crystal device of 1st Embodiment, respectively. It is a schematic perspective view which shows the liquid crystal device of 1st Embodiment. (A)-(b) is a figure provided in order to demonstrate spacer particle | grains, respectively. (A)-(b) is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the one aspect | mode of a sealing material, respectively. (A)-(d) is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the area | region for backflow prevention, respectively. (A)-(d) is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the area | region for leak prevention, respectively. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the manufacturing process for forming an element substrate. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the manufacturing process for forming a counter substrate. (A)-(c) is a figure which shows the manufacturing process of a liquid crystal device. It is a figure provided in order to demonstrate an electronic device. (A)-(b) is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the conventional liquid crystal device, respectively. It is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the conventional liquid crystal device. It is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the influence of R dot size in the conventional liquid crystal device. It is a figure provided in order to demonstrate the mechanism which a cell nonuniformity produces in a liquid crystal panel.

Explanation of symbols

10: Liquid crystal device, 11: External terminal, 20: Liquid crystal panel, 23: Sealing material, 23a: Injection hole, 23b: Light shielding film, 23c: Leakage prevention region, 23d: Backflow prevention region, 24: Spacer particles, 25 : Sealant, 30: Counter substrate, 37 (37r, 37g, 37b): Color filter, 60: Element substrate, 63: Pixel electrode, 65 :: Electrical wiring, 69: Non-linear element (TFT element), 75: Electricity Wiring, 79: Light reflecting film, 85: Alignment film, 93: Flexible circuit board

Claims (9)

A pair of substrates are bonded together via a frame-shaped sealing material, and the liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal panel that holds a liquid crystal material by the pair of substrates and the sealing material,
The liquid crystal panel extends from the frame-shaped sealing material to the end sides of the pair of substrates and has an injection hole for injecting the liquid crystal material.
When the inner dimension width of the opening along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole is L1, and the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2, the ratio of L1 / L2 is 1. A liquid crystal device having a value in the range of 1.2 to 6.   2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein an inside dimension L <b> 1 of the opening along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole is set to a value within a range of 1 to 2 mm.   3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a width L <b> 2 orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is set to a value within a range of 0.34 to 0.8 mm.   The sealing material is made of a thermosetting resin, and the injection hole is sealed with an ultraviolet curable resin made of a mixture of an ultraviolet curable monomer and an ultraviolet curable oligomer. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the liquid crystal device is a liquid crystal device.   The width perpendicular to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is made thicker than the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the non-near vicinity of the injection hole. The liquid crystal device according to any one of the above.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein a region for preventing a backflow of liquid crystal material is provided inside the injection hole.   The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein an area for preventing leakage of the liquid crystal material is provided outside the injection hole in the extending direction of the sealing material. A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal device including a liquid crystal panel that holds a liquid crystal material by bonding a pair of substrates via a frame-shaped sealing material, and holding the liquid crystal material by the pair of substrates and the sealing material,
An opening extending to the end sides of the pair of substrates and having an injection hole for injecting a liquid crystal material, and the inner width of the opening along the extending direction of the sealing material of the injection hole is L1. And a step of preparing empty cells in which the ratio of L1 / L2 is a value in the range of 1.2 to 6 when the width orthogonal to the extending direction of the sealing material in the vicinity of the injection hole is L2. ,
Vacuum injection of the liquid crystal material into the empty cell;
Sealing the injection hole to form a liquid crystal panel;
A method for manufacturing a liquid crystal device, comprising:   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 1.

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