Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US7088416?dq=6,587,403
Timestamp: 2016-05-01 18:21:20
Document Index: 372875005

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'art 4', 'Application No. 2001']

Patent US7088416 - Liquid crystal device having pronged dummy electrodes and electronic device - Google PatentsSearch Images Maps Play YouTube News Gmail Drive More »Sign inPatentsA liquid crystal device comprising a pair of substrates 3 a and 3 b which are bonded together by a sealing material 2, and a plurality of electrodes 9 a and 9 b which are formed on the inside surfaces of these substrates. The electrodes 9 a have wiring lines 17 a and 17 b which pass through the sealing...http://www.google.com/patents/US7088416?utm_source=gb-gplus-sharePatent US7088416 - Liquid crystal device having pronged dummy electrodes and electronic deviceAdvanced Patent SearchPublication numberUS7088416 B2Publication typeGrantApplication numberUS 10/874,111Publication dateAug 8, 2006Filing dateJun 22, 2004Priority dateSep 14, 2000Fee statusPaidAlso published asUS6774968, US20020080319, US20040239858Publication number10874111, 874111, US 7088416 B2, US 7088416B2, US-B2-7088416, US7088416 B2, US7088416B2InventorsTakeshi HagiwaraOriginal AssigneeSeiko Epson CorporationExport CitationBiBTeX, EndNote, RefManPatent Citations (27), Non-Patent Citations (2), Referenced by (9), Classifications (14), Legal Events (3) External Links: USPTO, USPTO Assignment, EspacenetLiquid crystal device having pronged dummy electrodes and electronic device
US 7088416 B2Abstract
A liquid crystal device comprising a pair of substrates 3 a and 3 b which are bonded together by a sealing material 2, and a plurality of electrodes 9 a and 9 b which are formed on the inside surfaces of these substrates. The electrodes 9 a have wiring lines 17 a and 17 b which pass through the sealing material 2 and extend to a substrate projecting part 4 a, and dummy patterns 19 a which pass through the sealing material 2 at the side opposite to the wiring lines 17 a and 17 b; dummy patterns 19 a are formed with a width which is smaller than the width of the electrodes 9 a inside the region surrounded by the sealing material 2; preferably, they are formed with the same width as the wiring lines 17 a. Images(18) Claims(7)
This application is a divisional application of U.S. Ser. No. 09/951,356 filed Sep. 13, 2001, now U.S Pat. No. 6,774,968, claiming priority to Japanese Application Nos. 2001-260110 filed Aug. 29, 2001, 2001-064069 filed Mar. 7, 2001 and 2000-280807 filed Sep. 14, 2000, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device which forms text images and so on by using liquid crystal to modulate light and to an electronic apparatus which is formed using the liquid crystal device.
Recently, liquid crystal devices have been widely used in display units of electronic apparatuses such as portable computers, mobile telephones, video cameras, and so on. In general, these liquid crystal devices are formed such that a pair of substrates, each having electrodes formed thereon are bonded by a ring of sealing material such that the electrodes are oriented parallel to each other, and the liquid crystal is encapsulated in the region enclosed by the pair of substrates and the sealing material. In these liquid crystal devices, images such as text, numerals, graphics, and so on are displayed by controlling the orientation of the liquid crystal encapsulated between the pair of substrates at each pixel.
The present invention is made in consideration of the problems mentioned above and its objective is to reduce the nonuniformity in substrate spacing, in other words, to reduce the cell thickness nonuniformity of a liquid crystal panel, by means of patterns of electrodes which are formed on the surfaces of the substrates which make up the liquid crystal device, thereby improving the liquid crystal display quality. In particular, the objective of the present invention is to make the cell thickness uniform over a wide region of the liquid crystal panel.
Moreover, the terms “area occupation ratio” referred to in the structure described above mean the proportion of the area of the dummy patterns passing underneath the sealing material based on the area of the electrodes passing underneath the sealing material in the case where the electrodes pass through the sealing material with their original width unchanged, the proportion of the area of the wiring lines passing underneath the sealing material based on the area of the electrodes passing underneath the sealing material in the case where the electrodes pass through the sealing material with their original width unchanged, and so on. Furthermore, the meaning of the term “substantially the same” of course includes cases which are exactly the same, but also includes cases which, although not exactly the same, differ to such an extent that there are no negative effects in terms of function.
In the structure described above, the term “area occupation ratio” means the proportion of the area of the parts of the wiring lines or dummy patterns which pass through the sealing material with respect to the area of the sealing material, and this area occupation ratio is set according to the width and spacing of the wiring lines or dummy patterns. More concretely, in the case where a plurality of patterns are arrayed along the sealing material, the proportion of area mentioned above means the ratio of the passing area of the pattern with respect to the total area of the sealing material in one period within those array periods. Therefore, if the array period is constant, the area occupation ratio is also constant along the sealing material; however, if the array period is not constant, the area occupation ratio varies along the sealing material.
FIG. 1 is a partially cut-away plan view showing one embodiment of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a cross sectional view showing the cross-sectional structure of the liquid crystal device taken along line II—II in FIG. 1.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view showing the cross-sectional structure of the liquid crystal panel taken along the line VI—VI in FIG. 5.
The case in which a COG-type liquid crystal device, which is a simple matrix type, is applied to the present invention will be described below as an example. FIG. 1 shows one embodiment of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention. This liquid crystal device 1 includes a pair of substrates 3 a and 3 b which are bonded to each other by a sealing material 2. The first substrate 3 a has a substrate projecting part 4 a which projects further outside than the second substrate 3 b, and the second substrate 3 b has a substrate projecting part 4 b which projects further outside than the first substrate 3 a. A liquid crystal driving IC 6 a is mounted on the surface of the substrate projecting part 4 a with an ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) 7, and a liquid crystal driving IC 6 b is mounted on the surface of the substrate projecting part 4 b with the ACF 7. In the present embodiment, the liquid crystal driving IC 6 a includes a data signal supplying circuit and the liquid crystal driving IC 6 b includes a scanning signal supplying circuit.
FIG. 5 shows a liquid crystal panel which is an element of another embodiment of the liquid crystal device according to the present invention. Although not shown in the figure, a polarizing plate, a backlight acting as a light source, a flexible board acting as a wiring member, a support member, and so on are mounted, as necessary, to the liquid crystal panel 45 shown here, thus forming the liquid crystal device. Furthermore, the liquid crystal panel 45 is a simple-matrix type, COG-type liquid crystal panel.
FIG. 12 shows one embodiment of a case in which a liquid crystal device according to the present invention is used as a display apparatus of various types of electronic apparatus. The electronic apparatus shown here has a display information output source 70, a display information processing circuit 71, a power supply circuit 72, a timing generator 73, and a liquid crystal device 74. Furthermore, the liquid crystal device 74 has a liquid crystal panel 75 and a driving circuit 76. The liquid crystal device 74 may be configured by using a liquid crystal device in which, for example, the liquid crystal panel 5 shown in FIG. 2 or the liquid crystal panel 45 shown in FIG. 5 is provided.
FIG. 13 shows a mobile telephone which is one embodiment of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention. A mobile telephone 80 shown here has a plurality of operating buttons 81 and a liquid crystal device 82. The liquid crystal device 82 may be configured by using, for example, the liquid crystal device 1 which is shown in FIG. 2.
FIG. 14 shows another example of a mobile telephone which is one embodiment of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention. In this mobile telephone 90, a circuit board 92 is disposed inside a casing 91, and a liquid crystal panel 93 is installed facing this circuit board 92. Operating buttons 94 are arranged on the front surface of the casing 91, and an expandable and retractable antenna 96 is mounted at one end.
While the present invention has been described in terms of the preferred embodiments described above, the present invention is not limited to those embodiments, and various modifications are possible within the scope of the invention described in the claims.
Patent CitationsCited PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS5200847Apr 25, 1991Apr 6, 1993Casio Computer Co., Ltd.Liquid crystal display device having driving circuit forming on a heat-resistant sub-substrateUS5467210Feb 7, 1994Nov 14, 1995Casio Computer Co., Ltd.Arrangement of bonding IC chip to liquid crystal display deviceUS5619358Nov 13, 1995Apr 8, 1997Sharp Kabushiki KaishaLiquid crystal display device with seal contacting substrates between two conductive films of dummy electrodesUS5739888Jul 24, 1996Apr 14, 1998Sharp Kabushiki KaishaLiquid crystal display elementUS5760855Sep 30, 1996Jun 2, 1998Sharp Kabushiki KaishaActive matrix type liquid crystal display panel having a guard ring electrically connected to the common electrodeUS5798812Sep 26, 1996Aug 25, 1998Sharp Kabushiki KaishaActive matrix substrate and display device using the same with extending protrusions between gate and source line terminalsUS5838412 *Nov 4, 1996Nov 17, 1998Hitachi, Ltd.Liquid crystal display device assembled by flip chip technology comprising a folded multi-layered flexible driving circuit substrateUS5982470Aug 15, 1997Nov 9, 1999Sharp Kabushiki KaishaLiquid crystal display device having dummy electrodes with interleave ratio same on all sidesUS5986739Mar 25, 1997Nov 16, 1999Seiko Epson CorporationLiquid crystal panel substrate, its fabrication method, liquid crystal device and electronic apparatusUS6052169Dec 26, 1997Apr 18, 2000Samsung Display Devices Co., Ltd.Liquid crystal display device having an equipotential electrode structureUS6172732 *Jun 16, 1995Jan 9, 2001Hitachi, Ltd.Liquid crystal display device suited to narrow frameUS6507384Mar 24, 2000Jan 14, 2003Seiko Epson CorporationFlexible printed wiring board, electro-optical device, and electronic equipmentJP2000075312A Title not availableJP2000187236A Title not availableJPH0530841A Title not availableJPH0876137A Title not availableJPH1068963A Title not availableJPH1184404A Title not availableJPH03163418A Title not availableJPH04242719A Title not availableJPH05297393A Title not availableJPH09179131A Title not availableJPH10228026A Title not availableJPH11142865A Title not availableJPH11223841A Title not availableJPS62245220A Title not availableJPS63266427A Title not available* Cited by examinerNon-Patent CitationsReference1Communication from Japanese Patent Office regarding counterpart application.2Examination report issued Jul. 15, 2003 for the corresponding Japanese Application No. 2001-260110.Referenced byCiting PatentFiling datePublication dateApplicantTitleUS7515240 *Oct 5, 2004Apr 7, 2009Au Optronics CorporationFlat display panel and assembly process or driver components in flat display panelUS7547587 *Mar 21, 2008Jun 16, 2009Mitsubishi Electric CorporationMethod for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting deviceUS7847911 *Jul 16, 2008Dec 7, 2010Au Optronics CorporationDisplay panel, laminated substrate, liquid crystal cell and method of manufacturing laminated substrateUS20050280883 *Jun 18, 2004Dec 22, 2005Angstrom Inc. & Stereo Display Inc.Discretely controlled micromirror with multi-level positionsUS20060072060 *Oct 5, 2004Apr 6, 2006Chao-Liang LuFlat display panel and assembly process or driver components in flat display panelUS20080278671 *Jul 16, 2008Nov 13, 2008Shunji SuzukiDisplay panel, laminated substrate, liquid crystal cell and method of manufacturing laminated substrateUS20080289859 *Jun 9, 2005Nov 27, 2008Ibiden Co., Ltd.Flex-Rigid Wiring Board and Manufacturing Method ThereofUS20090111203 *Mar 21, 2008Apr 30, 2009Mitsubishi Electric CorporationMethod for manufacturing semiconductor light emitting deviceUS20090237783 *Mar 18, 2008Sep 24, 2009Stereo Display, Inc.Binoculars with micromirror array lenses* Cited by examinerClassifications U.S. Classification349/149, 349/139, 349/153International ClassificationG02F1/1343, G09F9/00, G09F9/35, G09F9/30, G02F1/1335, G02F1/1339, G02F1/1345Cooperative ClassificationG02F1/1339, G02F1/1345European ClassificationG02F1/1345, G02F1/1339Legal EventsDateCodeEventDescriptionJan 6, 2010FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 4Jan 8, 2014FPAYFee paymentYear of fee payment: 8Jan 14, 2016ASAssignmentOwner name: BOE TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED, CHINAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:SEIKO EPSON CORPORATION;REEL/FRAME:037515/0050Effective date: 20141118Owner name: BOE TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD., CHINAFree format text: ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNORS INTEREST;ASSIGNOR:BOE TECHNOLOGY (HK) LIMITED;REEL/FRAME:037515/0082Effective date: 20150214RotateOriginal ImageGoogle Home - Sitemap - USPTO Bulk Downloads - Privacy Policy - Terms of Service - About Google Patents - Send FeedbackData provided by IFI CLAIMS Patent Services