Patent Document

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention relates to a technique for preventing the electrostatic-surge oriented malfunction of a liquid crystal driving semiconductor chip which is to be mounted on a liquid crystal display panel (hereinafter referred to as “LCD”). 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     An LCD is constructed by a segment-side glass plate on which a plurality of segment electrodes are formed in parallel in the vertical direction, for example, laying out a common-side glass plate, on which a plurality of common electrodes are formed in parallel in the horizontal direction, in such a way as to face the segment-side glass plate and filling a liquid crystal between the glass plates. The LCD performs display by using the property that as an electric field is applied between the segment electrode and common electrode, the direction of the liquid crystal between them is aligned to change the light transmissivity. As the segment electrodes and common electrodes should transmit light, they are formed of a material having both light transmissivity and electric conductivity in the form of thin films on the respective glass plates. A COG (Chip on Glass) type LCD has a liquid crystal driving IC (Integrated Circuit) chip mounted on a glass plate of a small LCD which is used for a watch, electric calculator or so. 
       FIG. 1  is a conceptual diagram of a COG type LCD. 
     This COG type LCD has an IC chip mounted on an extended segment-side glass plate of an LCD which has the segment-side glass plate and a common-side glass plate facing each other with a liquid crystal in between. Segment electrodes are extended to the electrodes of the IC chip by a segment wiring pattern formed of the same thin film material on the glass plate. Further, connector electrodes are formed on one side of the segment-side glass plate for connection to an external computer or so by a connector and wirings to connect the connector electrodes to the electrodes of the IC chip are also formed of the same thin film material as that of the segment electrodes on the glass plate by means of a lead wiring pattern. 
       FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  are structural diagrams of a conventional liquid crystal driving IC chip to be used in the COG type LCD. 
     This liquid crystal driving IC chip  10  is to be mounted in the COG manner on, for example, the segment-side glass plate of an LCD. As apparent from the general structure in  FIG. 2   a , the IC chip  10  has a power-supply electrode  11  to connect to a connector electrode  1  formed on a segment-side glass plate, a plurality of address electrodes  12 , a control electrode  13 , a plurality of data electrodes  14 , an enable electrode  15  and a ground electrode  16 . 
     The power-supply electrode  11  is supplied with a power supply voltage VDD from an external computer or so. The address electrodes  12  are supplied with an address signal ADR from the computer for temporarily storage of display data. The control electrode  13  is supplied with a read/write control signal R/W from the computer. The data electrodes  14  are used to input and output a data signal DT to from the computer in parallel. The enable electrode  15  is supplied from the computer with an enable signal EN which indicates the enableness of the operation. The ground electrode  16  is connected to a reference potential for the computer, i.e., a ground potential GND. 
     The IC chip  10  further has a plurality of drive electrodes  17  for outputting a display drive voltage to the individual segment electrodes of a liquid crystal display section  2  and a plurality of drive electrodes  18  for outputting a scan drive voltage to scan the common electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  sequentially. 
     The address electrodes  12 , the control electrode  13 , the data electrodes  14  and the enable electrode  15  are connected to a control section  30 , which controls the general operation of the IC chip  10 , via a buffer  21 , a buffer inverter  22 , a bidirectional buffer  23  and a buffer inverter  24 , respectively. Connected to the control section  30  is a RAM (Random Access Memory)  40  which stores display data. A display signal generating section  50  which generates display signals corresponding to the individual segment electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  is connected to the data output side of the RAM  40 . Also connected to the control section  30  is a common signal generating section  60  which generates a common signal to scan the connector electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  sequentially. 
     The output side of the display signal generating section  50  is connected to the drive electrodes  17  via a plurality of drive sections  70 S which generate display drive voltages, based on the display signals, to drive the respective segment electrodes in the AC manner. The output side of the common signal generating section  60  is connected to the drive electrodes  18  via a plurality of drive sections  70 C which generate display drive voltages, based on the display signals, to drive the respective common electrodes in the AC manner. 
     Further, the IC chip  10  has a drive voltage generating section  80  which generates drive voltages V 1  and V 2  for AC-driving the liquid crystal display section  2  from a chip power supply voltage VDD-C supplied from the connector electrode  1 . The drive voltages V 1  and V 2  are commonly supplied to the individual drive sections  70 S and  70 C. 
     The individual electrodes  11  to  16  of the IC chip  10  are connected to the connector electrode  1  via the lead wiring pattern formed on the segment-side glass plate as shown in  FIG. 1 . The individual electrodes  17  and  18  are connected to the liquid crystal display section  2  via the segment wiring pattern and a common wiring pattern both formed on the segment-side glass plate as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     The drive section  70 S comprises a predriver  71 , four switches  72  to  75  and protective diodes  76  and  77 , as exemplified in, for example,  FIG. 2   b . The predriver  71  outputs select signals SL 1  to SL 4  each for selecting an associated one of the four drive voltages VDD-C, V 1 , V 2  and GND-C based on a display signal given from the display signal generating section  50  and a frame signal for AC-driving The switches  72  to  75  output drive voltages according to the select signals SL 1  to SL 4  and their output sides are connected to the corresponding drive electrodes  17 . The protective diodes  76  and  77  serve to prevent the IC chip  10  from being damaged by the electrostatic surge that enter through the segment electrodes and common electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  and are connected between the drive electrode  17  and the power supply voltage VDD-C and the ground potential GND-C in the reverse directions with the normal operational voltage applied. The structure of the drive section  70 C is the same as that of the drive section  70 S. 
     The operation is discussed below. 
     First, as the power supply voltage is supplied to the power-supply electrode  11  and the ground electrode  16  of the liquid crystal driving IC chip  10  through the connector electrode  1 , the power supply voltage VDD-C and the ground potential GND-C are supplied to the individual sections of the IC chip  10 . Then, the drive voltage generating section  80  generates the drive voltages V 1  and V 2  and supply them to the respective drive sections  70 S and  70 C. 
     Data to be displayed on the liquid crystal display section  2  is given to the connector electrode  1  from an external computer. That is, the read/write control signal R/W to be given to the control electrode  13  is set to an “L” level which indicates writing. Then, the address signal ADR that designates the memory position in the RAM  40  is given to the associated address electrode  12  and the display signal DT to write data at the memory position is given to the associated data electrode  14 . When the enable signal EN to be supplied to the enable electrode  15  is set to an “H” level under the situation, the display data is written at the designated address in the RAM  40 . When the enable signal EN is “L”, the writing operation to the RAM  40  is inhibited. 
     The display data written in the RAM  40  is cyclically read out in order and supplied to the display signal generating section  50  under the control of the control section  30 . The display signal generating section  50  generates display signals based on the display data read from the RAM  40  and supplies the display signals to the associated drive sections  70 S. 
     In synchronism with the data reading from the RAM  40 , the common signal generating section  60  generates a common signal to sequentially scan the common electrodes and supplies the signal to the drive sections  70 C. 
     Accordingly, the drive sections  70 C cyclically drive the common electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  in order, the display signal generating section  50  generates display information corresponding to the driven common electrodes and the drive sections  70 S drive the respective segment electrodes. As a result, the liquid crystal display section  2  achieves matrix display according to the invention the display data stored in the RAM  40 . 
     The IC chip  10  however has the following problem. 
     When a finger or so carrying static electricity touches the glass plate of the liquid crystal display section  2 , for example, an electrostatic surge is applied to the segment electrodes or so via the glass plate. The applied electrostatic surge is transmitted to the drive electrodes  17  of the IC chip  10  through the segment wiring pattern on the top surface of the segment-side glass plate and then penetrates the drive sections  70 S. 
     In case where the electrostatic surge has a negative polarity, the protective diode  77  in the drive section  70 S is in the forward direction, so that the ground potential GND-C of the IC chip  10  is attracted toward the negative side. The ground potential GND-C is connected to the connector electrode  1  from the ground electrode  16  via the lead wiring pattern and is further connected to the ground potential GND of the external computer via the connector. Therefore, the negative electrostatic surge applied to the glass plate causes a surge current to flow to the finger or so from the ground potential GND of the external computer through the connector electrode  1 , the lead wiring pattern on the segment-side glass plate, the ground electrode  16 , the protective diode  77  and the segment wiring pattern. 
     As the lead wiring pattern on the segment-side glass plate, like the segment electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2 , is formed into a thin film pattern using a material which has both light transmissivity and electric conductivity, it has a relatively large resistance of about several hundred ohms. Therefore, the voltage drop caused by the surge current flowing to the lead wiring pattern makes the ground potential GND-C of the IC chip  10  lower than the ground potential GND of the external computer. 
     As the surge current does not flow to the lead wiring pattern that connects the enable electrode  15  to the connector electrode  1 , on the other hand, the level of the enable signal EN of the enable electrode  15  is nearly the same as the level of the enable signal which is output from the external computer. In the IC chip  10 , therefore, the level of the enable signal EN becomes relatively high as compared with the ground potential GND-C and may be determined as “H” although the level is “L”. While the operation is prohibited by the external computer, therefore, the IC chip  10  malfunctions to rewrite data in the RAM  40  so that the proper screen display cannot be accomplished. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a liquid crystal driving IC chip capable of preventing an electrostatic-surge originated malfunction. A liquid crystal driving semiconductor chip according to the first aspect of the invention comprises a control section which stores display data into a memory section in accordance with an operation control signal; a drive section which drives a liquid crystal display in accordance with the display data stored in the memory section; a power-supply electrode to which power is supplied from an external power supply circuit; a monitor electrode which is supplied with a power supply potential of the power supply circuit in a path different from a path for the power supplied from the power supply circuit; a control electrode to be supplied with a control signal to enable an operation of the control section; a CMOS inverter which detects a logical level of the control signal to be supplied to the control electrode; and a level monitor section which has an MOS transistor for detecting a logical level of the power supply potential to be supplied to the monitor electrode, outputs a detection signal from the CMOS inverter to the control section as the operation control signal when the MOS transistor detects a correct logical level, and stops outputting the operation control signal when the MOS transistor does not detect the correct logical level. 
     A liquid crystal driving semiconductor chip according to the second aspect of the invention comprises a control section which stores display data into a memory section in accordance with an operation control signal; a drive section which drives a liquid crystal display in accordance with the display data stored in the memory section; a first control electrode to be supplied with a first control signal to enable an operation of the control section; a second control electrode to be supplied with a second control signal which is the first control signal whose logical level is inverted; a first CMOS inverter which detects a logical level of the first control signal to be supplied to the first control electrode; and a level monitor section which has a second CMOS inverter which detects a logical level of the second control signal to be supplied to the second control electrode, outputs a detection signal from the first CMOS inverter to the control section as the operation control signal when a logical level of a signal obtained by inverting a detection signal from the first CMOS inverter coincides with a logical level of a detection signal from the second CMOS inverter, and stops outputting the operation control signal when the logical levels do not match with each other. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a conceptual diagram of a COG type LCD; 
         FIGS. 2   a  and  2   b  are structural diagrams of a conventional liquid crystal driving IC chip; 
         FIG. 3  is a structural diagram of a liquid crystal driving IC chip according to a first embodiment of the invention; 
         FIG. 4  is a signal waveform diagram showing the operation of the IC chip when an electrostatic surge penetrates; 
         FIG. 5  is a structural diagram of a level monitor section according to a second embodiment of the invention; and 
         FIG. 6  is a structural diagram of a level monitor section according to a third embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     The object of the present invention and other objects and novel features thereof may best be understood by reference to the following description of the presently preferred embodiments together with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are however given mainly to be illustrative and do not limit the scope of the invention. 
     (First Embodiment) 
       FIG. 3  is a structural diagram of a liquid crystal driving IC chip  10 A according to the first embodiment of the invention and gives like or same reference numerals given to those components which are the same as the corresponding components in  FIG. 2 . 
     The liquid crystal driving IC chip  10 A, like the liquid crystal driving IC chip  10  in  FIG. 2 , is to be mounted in the COG manner on, for example, the segment-side glass plate of an LCD. The IC chip  10 A has a monitor electrode  19  in addition to a power-supply electrode  11  to connect to a connector electrode  1  formed on a segment-side glass plate, a plurality of address electrodes  12 , a control electrode  13 , a plurality of data electrodes  14 , an enable electrode  15  and a ground electrode  16 . 
     The power-supply electrode  11  is supplied with a power supply voltage VDD from the power supply circuit of an external computer or so. The address electrodes  12  are supplied with an address signal ADR from the computer for temporarily storage of display data. The control electrode  13  is supplied with a read/write control signal R/W from the computer. The data electrodes  14  are used to input and output a data signal DT to from the computer in parallel. The enable electrode  15  is supplied from the computer with an enable signal EN which has an “H” level to enable the operation and an “L” level to disable the operation. The ground electrode  16  is connected to a reference potential for the computer, i.e., a ground potential GND. 
     The monitor electrode  19 , as separate from the ground electrode  16 , receives the ground potential GND on the computer side as a monitor signal MON in a path where the power supply current does not flow in order to monitor the ground potential GND-C of the IC chip  10 A. 
     The IC chip  10 A further has a plurality of drive electrodes  17  for outputting a display drive voltage to the individual segment electrodes of a liquid crystal display section  2  and a plurality of drive electrodes  18  for outputting a scan drive voltage to scan the common electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  sequentially. 
     The address electrodes  12 , the control electrode  13  and the data electrodes  14  are connected to a control section  30 , which controls the general operation of the IC chip  10 A, via a buffer  21 , a buffer inverter  22  and a bidirectional buffer  23 , respectively. The monitor electrode  19  is connected to the level monitor section  90  to which the enable electrode  15  is connected via a CMOS inverter  24 . 
     The level monitor section  90  comprises protective diodes  91  and  92 , an N channel MOS transistor (hereinafter referred to as “NMOS”)  93 , a resistor  94 , an inverter  95  and a not AND gate (hereinafter referred to as “NAND”)  96 . The monitor electrode  19  is connected to the ground potential GND-C and the power supply voltage VDD-C in the reverse directions by the protective diodes  91  and  92 , respectively, and is connected to the gate of the NMOS  93 . 
     The source of the NMOS  93  is connected to the ground potential GND-C, while the drain of the NMOS  93  connected to the power supply voltage VDD-C via the resistor  94  and further connected to the first input side of the NAND  96 . An output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  is inverted by the inverter  95  and is then given to the second input side of the NAND  96 . An enable signal /EN is output from the output side of the NAND  96  to the control section  30 . 
     The other structure is the same as the corresponding structure in  FIG. 2 . 
     Specifically, a RAM  40  which stores display data is connected to the control section  30 . A display signal generating section  50  which generates display signals corresponding to the individual segment electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  is connected to the data output side of the RAM  40 . Also connected to the control section  30  is a common signal generating section  60  which generates a common signal to scan the connector electrodes of the liquid crystal display section  2  sequentially. The output side of the display signal generating section  50  is connected to the drive electrodes  17  via a plurality of drive sections  70 S which generate display drive voltages, based on the display signals, to drive the respective segment electrodes in the AC manner. The output side of the common signal generating section  60  is connected to the drive electrodes  18  via a plurality of drive sections  70 C which generate display drive voltages, based on the display signals, to drive the respective common electrodes in the AC manner. Further, the IC chip  10 A has a drive voltage generating section  80  which generates drive voltages V 1  and V 2  for AC-driving the liquid crystal display section  2  from a chip power supply voltage VDD-C supplied from the connector electrode  1 . The drive voltages V 1  and V 2  are commonly supplied to the individual drive sections  70 S and  70 C. 
     The individual electrodes  11  to  16  and  19  of the IC chip  10 A are connected to the connector electrode  1  via the lead wiring pattern formed on the segment-side glass plate as shown in  FIG. 2 . The individual electrodes  17  and  18  are connected to the liquid crystal display section  2  via the segment wiring pattern and a common wiring pattern both formed on the segment-side glass plate as shown in  FIG. 1 . 
     Next, the operation of the IC chip  10 A is described, an operation in normal state where there is no electrostatic surge and an operation when an electrostatic surge is applied, separately. 
     (1) Operation in Normal State 
     First, as the power supply voltage VDD is supplied to the power-supply electrode  11  of the IC chip  10 A via the connector electrode  1  and the ground electrode  16  is connected to the ground potential GND, the power supply voltage VDD-C and the ground potential GND-C are given to the individual sections of the IC chip  10 A. Then, the drive voltage generating section  80  generates the drive voltages V 1  and V 2  and supplies the voltages to the individual drive sections  70 S and  70 C. 
     At this time, the power supply current flows to the lead wiring patterns that connect the power-supply electrode  11  and ground electrode  16  to the connector electrode  1  and those lead wiring patterns cause voltage drops. As the power supply current has a small value, however, the difference between the voltage drops is small. Further, the voltage drops cause the power supply voltage VDD-C to fall below the power supply voltage VDD of the external power supply circuit, but cause the ground potential GND-C to rise above the external ground potential GND. Accordingly, the threshold voltage of the CMOS or so hardly changes, raising no operational problem. 
     As the ground potential GND is given to the monitor electrode  19  from the external computer, the NMOS  93  of the level monitor section  90  is turned off so that a signal S 93  at the drain of the NMOS  93  goes to “H”. As a result, the signal S 24  output from the CMOS inverter  24  is inverted twice by the inverter  95  and the NAND  96 , respectively, and is output to the control section  30  as the enable signal /EN from the NAND  96 . Therefore, the subsequent operation in the normal state is the same as has been discussed in the Description of the Related Art. 
     (2) Operation when Electrostatic Surge is Applied 
       FIG. 4  is a signal waveform diagram showing the operation of the IC chip  10 A in  FIG. 3  when an electrostatic surge penetrates. 
     When a finger or so carrying static electricity touches the glass plate of the liquid crystal display section  2 , for example, an electrostatic surge SRG is applied to the segment electrodes or so via the glass plate. The applied electrostatic surge SRG is transmitted to the drive electrodes  17  of the IC chip  10 A through the segment wiring pattern on the top surface of the segment-side glass plate and then penetrates the drive sections  70 S. 
     In case where the electrostatic surge SRG has a negative polarity, a surge current flows to the finger or so from the ground potential GND of the external computer through the connector electrode  1 , the lead wiring patterns on the segment-side glass plate, the ground electrode  16 , the protective diode  77  in the drive section  70  and the segment wiring pattern. 
     The surge current causes a voltage drop in the lead wiring pattern so that the ground potential GND-C of the IC chip  10 A becomes lower than the ground potential GND of the external computer. Meanwhile, the surge current does not flow to both the lead wiring patterns that connect the enable electrode  15  and the monitor electrode  19  to the connector electrode  1 . Therefore, the level of the signal of the enable electrode  15  is nearly the same as the level of the enable signal EN which is output from the external computer. The signal level of the monitor electrode  19  is the same as the ground potential GND of the external computer. Therefore, a voltage Ven of the enable electrode  15  with the internal ground potential GND-C as a reference and a voltage Vmon of the monitor electrode  19  rise as the surge current causes the ground potential GND-C to drop. As the protective diodes are provided on the input sides of the CMOS inverter  24  and the level monitor section  90 , a voltage rise above the voltage that is the forward voltage of the protective diodes added to the internal power supply voltage VDD-C is suppressed. 
     While the voltages Ven and Vmon both rise due to the negative electrostatic surge SRG, a threshold voltage VT 93  of the NMOS  93  in the level monitor section  90  is lower than a threshold voltage VT 24  of the CMOS inverter  24 . Therefore, the NMOS  93  is turned on first and its output signal S 93  becomes “L” after which the output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  becomes “L”. 
     Thereafter, as the surge current decreases and the voltages Ven and Vmon gradually drop, the output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  returns “H” first after which the NMOS  93  which has a lower threshold voltage is turned off and its output signal S 93  returns to “H”. Therefore, the enable signal /EN to be output to the control section  30  from the level monitor section  90  is not influenced by the negative electrostatic surge. 
     In case where the electrostatic surge SRG is positive, the surge current flows from the finger or so to the power supply voltage VDD of the external computer via the segment wiring pattern, the protective diode  76  in the drive section  70 , the power-supply electrode  11 , the lead wiring patterns on the segment-side glass plate and the connector electrode  1 . This causes the internal power supply voltage VDD-C to rise, and the ground potential GND-C rises accordingly. As the surge current does not flow to both the lead wiring patterns that connect the enable electrode  15  and the monitor electrode  19  to the connector electrode  1 , therefore, the voltage Ven of the enable electrode  15  with the internal ground potential GND-C as a reference and the voltage Vmon of the monitor electrode  19  fall as the surge current causes the ground potential GND-C to increase. As the protective diodes are provided on the input sides of the CMOS inverter  24  and the level monitor section  90 , a voltage drop below the forward voltage of the protective diodes is suppressed. Therefore, the enable signal /EN to be output to the control section  30  from the level monitor section  90  is not influenced by the positive electrostatic surge. 
     As described above, the liquid crystal driving IC chip  10 A according to the first embodiment is provided with the NMOS  93  that has a lower threshold voltage than that of the CMOS inverter  24  which detects the enable signal EN, detects a variation in the ground potential GND of the external power supply circuit by means of the NMOS  93  and masks the detection signal from the CMOS inverter  24  with the detection signal from the NMOS  93 . The IC chip  10 A therefore has an advantage such that even when the ground potential GND-C of the IC chip  10 A is changed by the electrostatic surge, the enable signal EN is not erroneously detected and an electrostatic-surge originated malfunction can be prevented. 
     (Second Embodiment) 
       FIG. 5  is a structural diagram of a level monitor section  90 A according to the second embodiment of the invention and gives like or same reference numerals given to those components which are the same as the corresponding components in  FIG. 3 . 
     This level monitor section  90 A is provided in place of the level monitor section  90  when an enable signal /EN with an inverted logical level (which becomes “L” to enable the operation and “H” to disable the operation) is used as a signal to be given to the enable electrode  15  of the liquid crystal driving IC chip  10 A in  FIG. 3 . 
     The CMOS inverter  24  is supplied with the enable signal /EN from the enable electrode  15 . The monitor electrode  19  is supplied with the power supply voltage VDD of the power supply circuit of a computer or so in a path where the power supply current does not flow, in order to monitor the power supply voltage VDD-C in the IC chip. 
     The level monitor section  90 A comprises the protective diodes  91  and  92 , a P channel MOS transistor (hereinafter referred to as “PMOS”)  97 , a resistor  98 , an inverter  99  and the NAND  96 . The monitor electrode  19  is connected to the ground potential GND-C and the power supply voltage VDD-C in the reverse directions by the protective diodes  91  and  92 , respectively, and is connected to the gate of the PMOS  97 . 
     The source of the PMOS  97  is connected to the power supply voltage VDD-C while the drain of the PMOS  97  is connected to the ground potential GND-C via the resistor  98  and further connected to the first input side of the NAND  96  via the inverter  99 . The output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  is given to the second input side of the NAND  96 . The enable signal /EN is output from the output side of the NAND  96  to the control section  30 . 
     In the level monitor section  90 A in the normal state where there is no electrostatic surge, the PMOS  97  is turned off and a signal S 97  to be output from the drain of the PMOS  97  becomes “L”. The signal S 7  is inverted by the inverter  99  to become “H” and is then supplied to the first input side of the NAND  96 . Therefore, the enable signal /EN having the same logical level as that of the enable signal given to the enable electrode  15  is output from the output side of the NAND  96 . 
     When a positive electrostatic surge SRG is applied, on the other hand, the power supply voltage VDD-C in the IC chip rises, causing the levels of the enable signal /EN of the enable electrode  15  and the monitor signal MON of the monitor electrode  19  come lower than the power supply voltage VDD-C. In this case, the PMOS  97  which has a higher threshold voltage is turned on first, setting the signal S 97  to “H”, so that the output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  is masked by the NAND  96  whose enable signal /EN is kept at “H”. 
     With regard to the negative electrostatic surge SRG, an erroneous enable signal /EN is not output and an electrostatic-surge originated malfunction does not occur. 
     As described above, the level monitor section  90 A according to the second embodiment is provided with the PMOS  97  that has a higher threshold voltage than that of the CMOS inverter  24  which detects the enable signal /EN, detects a variation in the power supply voltage VDD of the external power supply circuit by means of the PMOS  97  and masks the detection signal from the CMOS inverter  24  with the detection signal from the PMOS  97 . The embodiment therefore has an advantage such that even when the power supply voltage VDD-C of the IC chip varies due to the electrostatic surge, the enable signal /EN is not erroneously detected and an electrostatic-surge originated malfunction can be prevented. 
     (Third Embodiment) 
       FIG. 6  is a structural diagram of a level monitor section  90 B according to the third embodiment of the invention and gives like or same reference numerals given to those components which are the same as the corresponding components in  FIG. 3 . 
     The level monitor section  90 B is provided with an enable electrode  15 B, which is supplied with the enable signal /EN with an inverted logical level from an external computer or so, in place of the monitor electrode  19  of the IC chip  10 A in  FIG. 3 . The level monitor section  90 B comprises the inverter  95 , the NAND  96  and a CMOS inverter  100 . The enable electrode  15 B is connected to the input side of the CMOS inverter  100  similar to the CMOS inverter  24 , and the output side of the CMOS inverter  100  is connected to the first input side of the NAND  96 . The output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24 , like the one shown in  FIG. 3 , is inverted by the inverter  95  and is then supplied to the second input side of the NAND  96 . 
     In the level monitor section  90 B in the normal state where there is no electrostatic surge, complementary enable signals EN and /EN are respectively supplied to the enable electrodes  15  and  15 B. The enable signal /EN is inverted by the CMOS inverter  100  and is then supplied to the first input side of the NAND  96 , while the enable signal EN is inverted twice by the inverters  24  and  95  and is then supplied to the second input side of the NAND  96 . Therefore, the enable signal /EN is output from the NAND  96 . 
     When a positive electrostatic surge SRG is applied, the power supply voltage VDD-C in the IC chip rises, so that even when the enable signal /EN of the enable electrode  15 B has an “H” level, an output signal S 100  with an “H” level may be output from the CMOS inverter  100 . Because the enable signal EN with an “L” level to be given to the CMOS inverter  24  from the enable electrode  15  is not influenced by a rise in power supply voltage VDD, however, the output signal S 24  of the CMOS inverter  24  is at “H”. Therefore, the enable signal /EN to be output from the NAND  96  is kept at “H”. 
     When a negative electrostatic surge SRG is applied, on the other hand, the ground potential GND-C in the IC chip falls, so that even when the enable signal EN of the enable electrode  15  has an “L” level, the output signal S 24  with an “L” level may be output from the CMOS inverter  24 . Because the enable signal /EN with an “H” level to be given to the CMOS inverter  100  from the enable electrode  15 B is not influenced by a fall in ground potential GND-C, however, the output signal S 100  of the CMOS inverter  100  is at “L”. Therefore, the enable signal /EN to be output from the NAND  96  is kept at “H”. 
     As described above, the level monitor section  90 B according to the third embodiment is provided with the CMOS inverter  100  which detects the enable signal /EN complement to the enable signal EN in addition to the CMOS inverter  24  which detects the enable signal EN, and generates an enable signal to be used in the actual control in accordance with the logical product of the enable signals detected by the CMOS inverters  24  and  100 . The embodiment therefore has an advantage such that even when the power supply voltage VDD-C and ground potential GND-C of the liquid crystal driving IC chip vary due to the positive and negative electrostatic surges, an erroneous enable signal is not output, thereby preventing an electrostatic-surge originated malfunction. 
     The above-described embodiments have been given to make the technical contents of the invention clear. The invention should not be considered restrictive to the embodiments but can be worked out in various modifications within the scope of the appended claims. The following are some of the modifications. 
     (a) The general structure of the liquid crystal driving IC chip  10 A shown in  FIG. 3  is just one example, and the invention can be adapted to IC chips with other structures, e.g., an IC chip which does not have capability of reading data from a RAM and send it to an external unit. 
     (b) The logical gate structures constituted by the inverters and NANDs of the level monitor sections  90 ,  90 A and  90 B are illustrative and can be achieved by other circuits having similar functions.

Technology Category: 3