Patent ID: 7573524

Claim:
A liquid crystal light control element comprising a plurality of liquid crystal light control units, each having a liquid crystal layer held between transparent electrodes, which are placed on top of each other in a thickness direction of said liquid crystal layers, each of said liquid crystal light control units constructed to control an amount of light passing in the thickness direction of said liquid crystal layers in response to a voltage applied to said transparent electrodes, wherein said plurality of liquid crystal light control units are composed of a first liquid crystal light control unit and a second liquid crystal light control unit which are placed on top of the other, said first liquid crystal light control unit having a first and a second transparent substrates extending parallel to each other a certain distance apart, a first and a second transparent electrodes formed on opposing sides of the first and second transparent substrates, a first and a second alignment layers formed on the opposing sides of the first and second transparent electrodes, and a first liquid crystal layer sealed between the first and second alignment layers, said second liquid crystal light control unit having the second transparent substrate and a third transparent substrate extending parallel to each other a certain distance apart, a third and a fourth transparent electrodes formed on the opposing sides of the second and third transparent substrates, a third and a fourth alignment layers formed on the opposing sides of the third and fourth transparent electrodes, and a second liquid crystal layer sealed between the third and fourth alignment layers, said second transparent substrate having a first projecting part that projects from said first transparent substrate, said first projecting part having a first connecting terminal electrically connected to said first and second transparent electrodes, said third transparent substrate having a second projecting part that projects from said second transparent substrate, said second projecting part having a second connecting terminal electrically connected to the third and fourth transparent electrodes, wherein the first and second liquid crystal layers comprise rod-like crystal molecules which incline while maintaining parallel long axes.