Glass cover plate for preventing light leakage of liquid crystal display and manufacturing method thereof
Technical Field
The invention relates to the technical field of liquid crystal display, in particular to a device for preventing light leakage of a liquid crystal display, and more particularly relates to a glass cover plate for preventing light leakage of the liquid crystal display and a manufacturing method thereof.
Background
The Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) utilizes the characteristic that liquid crystal molecules can change the arrangement direction under the influence of an external electrostatic field to rotate the polarization direction of light passing through a first polarization filter at the back of a liquid crystal panel so as to control the light to pass through a second polarization filter at the front of the liquid crystal panel. The liquid crystal itself will not emit light, and a backlight module needs to be installed behind the liquid crystal panel. The backlight module is basically composed of a light source, a light guide plate and an optical film, and generally adopts a Light Emitting Diode (LED) as the light source.
Fig. 1 shows a schematic diagram of light leakage of a liquid crystal display in the related art. Referring to fig. 1, in the liquid crystal display, light passes through a first polarization filter (not shown), a liquid crystal panel 2, a second polarization filter (not shown), and a cover glass 1 after passing through a light guide plate and an optical film (not shown), and enters the eyes of viewers. Part of light from the backlight module can be reflected at the end faces 11 of the cover glass on the four sides of the cover glass 1, and when the frame 3 of the display cannot block the reflected light, the reflected light can leak out from the frame 3, and one point or one range of light can be seen from the front of the display, so that the phenomenon of backlight light leakage is caused. Especially when black and dark images are displayed at the edge of the display area, the problem of light leakage is more obvious.
The conventional solution to the problem of light leakage is to attach black or white masking tape along the four sides of the display area on the back of the liquid crystal panel. Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art method for solving the problem of light leakage by using black masking tape 4, and it can be seen that light from the backlight module is absorbed by the black masking tape 4 on four sides of the liquid crystal panel 2. Alternatively, a white masking tape may be used to reflect light from the backlight module back to the liquid crystal panel and the backlight module (not shown in fig. 2).
Sometimes, the masking tape is not wide enough or the pasting position is inclined, so that all light cannot be effectively absorbed and reflected, and light leakage still occurs. Conversely, too wide a masking tape may block too much light, causing the four sides of the screen display area to be dimmer than the center area. Especially, the narrow-frame display is free from exposing the shielding adhesive tape, and only a fine shielding adhesive tape can be pasted, so that the light blocking efficiency is influenced. Another solution is to screen print a light-opaque color frame, such as a black frame, along the four sides of the display area on the back of the cover glass to block the light from the backlight module. Although the process of attaching the masking tape can be eliminated, the width of the wire frame is still limited by the width of the frame, and it is difficult to ensure complete light-tightness.
The light leakage problem is difficult to avoid in a naked eye 3D liquid crystal display with a large visual angle. Fig. 3 shows a schematic diagram of light leakage of a naked-eye 3D display in the prior art. As can be seen from fig. 3, the naked-eye 3D lcd with a large viewing angle generally uses a very thick cover glass 1, sometimes even 8mm or 10mm thick, and the width of the masking tape 4 is much narrower than the thickness of the cover glass. Any light that is not absorbed or reflected by the masking tape is specularly reflected at the four edge faces 11 of the thick cover glass, and the reflected light must be directed toward the viewer, so that the light leakage is clearly visible from the front of the display. The same problem is more serious in a narrow-bezel naked-eye 3D liquid crystal display, which is shown in detail in fig. 4. From the point of view of quality management, this phenomenon is a serious drawback.
Disclosure of Invention
In order to improve the problem of light leakage, the invention utilizes the optical microstructure to change the reflection direction of light rays on the end surface of the cover plate glass. Microstructured optical films are widely used in a variety of display products, for example, to improve backlight metrics and performance of liquid crystal displays, to control the viewing angle and display brightness of the displays, to prevent peeking, to prevent reflection, to prevent glare, and the like.
An object of the present invention is to provide a glass cover plate for preventing light leakage of a liquid crystal display, comprising: the cover plate glass is arranged on the other side of the liquid crystal panel opposite to the side for receiving the light from the backlight module; and a microstructure formed on the end faces of the cover glass on the four sides of the cover glass and having a structural shape with non-planar and regular geometric characteristics arranged in the thickness direction of the cover glass.
The cover plate glass is made of glass materials, and the microstructure and the cover plate glass are integrally formed.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, the microstructures are formed of an optical-grade UV curable resin having the same refractive index as the cover glass material.
The shape of the microstructure is continuous sawtooth shape, wedge shape and spherical arc shape. The non-planar structure of the microstructure can ensure that most of light rays with the incident angle smaller than the critical angle penetrate through the end face in a refraction mode, and the light rays with the incident angle larger than the critical angle are totally reflected in the end face and reflected back into the cover plate glass and cannot come out of the front face of the display.
According to still another object of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a glass cover plate for preventing light leakage of a liquid crystal display, including forming microstructures on end faces of four sides of a cover glass for a liquid crystal display.
Wherein the microstructures may be integrally formed with the cover glass. And grinding the end face of the cover plate glass by grinding rubstones to form the microstructure. Or by controlled chemical etching.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the optical-grade UV curable resin is directly applied to the end surface of the cover glass by using a UV precision coating molding technique, and first, the optical-grade UV curable resin is coated along the end surfaces of the four sides of the cover glass by using a roller; then, the resin is cured and molded using Ultraviolet (UV) rays and firmly attached to the end face of the cover glass.
To our knowledge, no prior art has utilized optical microstructures to prevent backlight leakage. Meanwhile, the geometrical features of the microstructures to be mentioned later are designed specifically for solving the problem of light leakage, which is an innovative and unobvious application.
The glass cover plate for preventing the light leakage of the liquid crystal display and the manufacturing method thereof provided by the invention realize the following technical effects:
(1) the mirror surface of the position is eliminated by the microstructure on the four side end faces of the cover plate glass, light rays from the backlight module cannot be reflected, and the problem is solved more effectively than the existing mode of preventing light leakage by pasting a shielding adhesive tape or a silk screen frame.
(2) After the invention is applied, the pasting shielding adhesive tape or the silk screen wire frame can be omitted, thus the problems that the adhesive tape or the wire frame is inclined and can not effectively block light and expose from the frame and the like can be avoided.
(3) The assembly process does not need to take time to align and paste the adhesive tape or the silk screen printing wire frame, so the assembly efficiency is improved.
(4) The microstructure of the four side end faces is directly arranged on the cover plate glass, so that additional accessories and materials are not needed in subsequent assembly.
Drawings
The stated and unstated features, objects, and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the various views and in which:
FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of light leakage in a prior art liquid crystal display;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a prior art approach to light leakage using black masking tape;
FIG. 3 shows a schematic diagram of naked eye 3D display light leakage in the prior art;
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating light leakage of a narrow bezel naked-eye 3D display in the prior art;
FIG. 5 is a schematic view showing the refraction and reflection of light at the end face of the cover glass;
FIG. 6 shows a schematic representation of one of the geometric feature designs of the microstructure of the cover glass end face of a liquid crystal display according to one embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 7 is a schematic representation of another geometric feature design of the microstructure of a cover glass end face of a liquid crystal display according to another embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 8 shows a schematic view on a larger scale of a part of the microstructure according to FIG. 6 and shows the refractive and reflective paths of a light ray at the microstructure;
FIG. 9 shows a schematic view on a larger scale of a part of the microstructure according to FIG. 7 and shows the refractive and reflective paths of light rays at the microstructure;
FIG. 10 shows a schematic view of microstructures having different shapes according to other alternative embodiments of the present invention;
fig. 11 shows an example of fabricating a microstructure using a UV precision coating molding method according to an embodiment of the present invention.
Wherein, 1, cover glass; 2. a liquid crystal panel; 3. a display bezel; 4. masking tape; 11. a cover plate glass end face; 12. and (4) microstructure.
Detailed Description
Set forth below is what is presently considered to be a preferred embodiment or a best mode representative of the claimed invention. It is contemplated that future and present representations or modifications of the embodiments and preferred embodiments, any changes or modifications that make substantial changes in function, purpose, structure or result, are intended to be covered by the claims of this patent. Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Fig. 5 shows a schematic view of the refraction and reflection of light at the cover glass end face. The end face 11 of the cover glass 1 shown in fig. 5 is a flat surface, and when a light ray falls on the end face, it is refracted or reflected depending on its incident angle. Let the refractive index of the optically thinner medium be n1Refractive index of optically dense medium n2When the incident angle is i and the exit angle is r, the relationship between the incident angle and the exit angle is shown in the following formula (1):
n1sin i=n2sin r……(1)
incident angle i of light on glass end face of cover plate1Less than the critical angle c, most of the light rays will be refracted by the angle r1Penetrates the end face, the remaining very small part will be at the same angle r1Reflection; incident angle i2Greater than the critical angle c by the same angle, i.e. r2=i2Total internal reflection; when the incident angle i is exactly equal to the critical angle c, the exit angleThe angle r is 90 °, and the light is directed along the critical plane of the glass end face, i.e. the critical angle is given by the following equation (2):
c=i=arxsin(n2/n1/sin r)……(2)
for example, since the optically thinner medium is air, n 11, the optically-dense medium is cover glass, generally n21.6 (this value is not an explicitly defined value, and is taken here only for convenience of calculation),
1 sin 90°=1.6 sinc……(3)
c≈38.68°……(4)
therefore, most of the light rays penetrate through the end face in a refraction mode when the incident angle between the cover glass end face and the light rays is smaller than 38.68 degrees, and the light rays are totally reflected in the end face when the incident angle between the cover glass end face and the light rays is larger than 38.68 degrees.
According to the technical principle, the microstructure 12 is designed on the peripheral end face 11 of the cover glass 1. When light passes through the liquid crystal panel from the backlight module, enters the cover plate glass and then reaches the end face of the glass, the microstructures on the end face refract and penetrate most of the light, or reflect the light back to the direction of the liquid crystal panel and the backlight module, but do not allow the light to be reflected to the front of the display. Moreover, the light penetrating through the microstructure is scattered when falling on the rough inner surface of the outer frame of the display, the light leakage phenomenon can not be generated when the brightness is not concentrated, and the light reflected to the direction of the liquid crystal panel and the backlight module can not overflow from the front side of the screen.
Fig. 6 shows a schematic representation of one of the geometrical feature designs of the microstructure of the cover glass end face of a liquid crystal display according to one embodiment of the invention, and fig. 8 shows a schematic representation of a partial enlargement of the microstructure according to fig. 6 and shows the refractive and reflective course of the light at the microstructure. It can be seen that the cover glass 1 is disposed on the other side of the liquid crystal display panel 2 opposite to the side receiving light from the backlight module, and the microstructures 12 are formed on the end faces 11 of the four sides of the cover glass 1 and are arranged along the thickness direction of the cover glass 1 to form regular zigzag structures of the exemplary equilateral triangle. This non-planar structure allows most of the light rays with an incident angle smaller than the critical angle c, for example 38.68 ° as described above, to penetrate through the end surface and enter the display bezel 3 in a refractive manner, and the light rays with an incident angle larger than the critical angle c, for example 38.68 ° as described above, are totally reflected in the end surface and reflected back into the cover glass 1 without exiting from the front surface of the display.
Fig. 7 shows a schematic representation of another design of geometrical features of the microstructure of the cover glass end face of a liquid crystal display according to another embodiment of the invention, and fig. 9 shows a schematic representation of a partial enlargement of the microstructure according to fig. 7 and shows the refractive and reflective paths of light rays at the microstructure. This microstructure 12 is also a regular saw-tooth structure arranged in the thickness direction of the cover glass 1, but in the shape of a non-equilateral triangle, wherein it is further shown that light rays at an angle of incidence smaller than the critical angle c, for example 38.68 ° as described above, penetrate the end faces in a refracted manner and are reflected again via the outer edges into the display bezel 3.
The microstructure design is related to the incident angle of light on the glass end surface of the cover plate, and the addition of the non-planar microstructure with regular geometric features on the glass end surface can change the glass end surface angle originally perpendicular to the surface of the display screen and achieve the purpose of controlling the final direction of light, so the microstructure designed by the invention includes, but is not limited to, the structures with geometric features illustrated in fig. 6 to 9, and can also include any microstructure capable of achieving the above functions, such as the microstructure 12 with various geometric features illustrated in fig. 10, for example, the microstructure can be regular and continuous sawtooth, wedge, spherical arc, and the like. Moreover, when the microstructure close to the display frame 3 is not in a sharp-pointed shape but is in a small arc surface or a small plane, the panel and the cover glass can be better protected against collision and the like.
The cover glass 1 is made of a glass material, the microstructure 12 can be integrally formed with the cover glass, and the microstructure is formed by grinding the end face of the cover glass 1 by a grinding stone. In another embodiment, the microstructure may also be formed by a controlled chemical etching process.
In other alternative embodiments, the microstructures 12 may be formed by selecting an optical-grade UV curable resin with the same refractive index as the cover glass. Because the refractive index of the resin material is the same as that of the cover plate glass, light rays are not refracted or reflected at the interface of the cover plate glass and the resin material, but are refracted or reflected on the surface of the microstructure according to the conditions described above after penetrating through the interface, and therefore the purpose of controlling the final direction of the light rays is achieved. Fig. 11 shows an example of fabricating a microstructure using a UV precision coating molding method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in fig. 11, the optical-grade UV curable resin is directly applied to the end surface 11 of the cover glass 1 by applying a UV precision coating molding technique, and first, the optical-grade UV curable resin is coated along the end surfaces 11 of the four sides of the cover glass 1 by using a roller; then, the resin is cured and molded using Ultraviolet (UV) rays and firmly attached to the end face 11 of the cover glass 1.
The invention does not involve complicated structure and assembly steps, and does not need to add extra parts, so the design of the product can be directly applied to actual production without modification. Because the design can effectively prevent light from reflecting towards the front of the screen from the four side surfaces of the cover plate glass, the light leakage problem can not be caused even if the shielding adhesive tape is omitted, and the liquid crystal display is very suitable for 2D and 3D liquid crystal display televisions, displays and spliced television wall products with narrow frames and ultra-narrow frames.
The above description is not intended to limit the meaning or scope of the words used in the following claims which define the invention. But rather the description and illustrations are provided to aid in understanding the various embodiments. It is contemplated that future modifications in structure, function or result will exist that are not substantial changes and all such insubstantial changes in the claims are intended to be covered thereby. Thus, while the preferred embodiments of the invention have been illustrated and described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the invention as claimed. In addition, although the terms "claimed invention" or "invention" are sometimes used herein in the singular, it will be understood that there are a plurality of inventions as described and claimed.