JP2009231048A - Method of manufacturing illuminating device, liquid crystal device, and light guide plate - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a light guide plate capable of easily thickening the vicinity of its light-incident face and an illuminating device using the same. <P>SOLUTION: For the illuminating device provided with a light source, and a light guide plate guiding light from the light source, the light guide plate 100 includes a substrate 110' with translucency, and a protrusion 130' with translucency adjacent to an end face of the substrate and jointed to an edge of the surface 110b' of the substrate, an end face 110a' of the substrate and an end face 130a' of the protrusion are arranged in opposition to the light source. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a lighting device, a liquid crystal device, and a method for manufacturing a light guide plate, and more particularly, to a structure and a method for manufacturing a light guide plate that emits light from one surface while allowing light to enter the end surface and propagate through the inside.

  Generally, as an illumination device used for a backlight of a liquid crystal display or the like, a sidelight type (edge) having a light source such as an LED (light emitting diode) and a light guide plate having a light incident surface arranged to face the light source. Light type) lighting devices are used. Since this type of lighting device is excellent in that the thickness can be reduced, it is often used when a liquid crystal display is mounted on a portable electronic device such as a cellular phone.

  In recent years, as electronic devices have become thinner, in order to reduce the thickness of the light guide plate while ensuring the efficiency of taking light into the light guide plate, Thin light guide plates have been used (for example, see Patent Document 1 below). Usually, such a light guide plate is manufactured by injection molding.

  On the other hand, recently, design changes are frequently made due to the shortening of the life cycle of electronic devices. In such a situation, the light guide plate of the lighting device is manufactured by injection molding. However, since it is necessary to remake the mold for injection molding every time the design is changed, there is a problem that it is difficult to respond quickly and the manufacturing cost increases due to the cost of creating the mold.

JP-A-2005-339956

  Therefore, the present invention solves the above-described problems, and an object thereof is to provide a light guide plate that can easily increase the thickness of the vicinity of the light incident surface and an illumination device using the same.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, an illumination device of the present invention is a lighting device including a light source and a light guide plate that guides light from the light source, and the light guide plate is a light-transmitting substrate. And a light-transmitting protrusion that is bonded onto an edge of the surface of the substrate adjacent to the end surface of the substrate, the end surface of the substrate and the end surface of the protrusion facing the light source It arrange | positions so that it may do.

  According to this invention, the light-transmitting protrusion is formed on the edge of the surface of the light-transmitting substrate, and the end surface of the substrate and the end surface of the protrusion are arranged so as to face the light source. This makes it possible to manufacture substrates based on the substrate while achieving both improved light capture efficiency and reduced thickness by using the end surface of the substrate and the end surface of the protrusion as the light incident surface, enabling quick response to design changes. Thus, the manufacturing cost can be reduced. As a particularly more specific and preferred configuration, the light guide plate is adjacent to the end surface of the light-transmitting substrate and has a light-transmitting protrusion on the edge of the surface of the substrate. The projecting portion has a continuous surface shape, and the projecting portion has a surface shape inclined from the end surface side to the opposite side toward the surface of the substrate.

  In one aspect of the present invention, at least one of the protrusions has an inclined surface that is radially inclined. According to this, the light incident from the end face of the protrusion is directed toward the inside of the substrate while spreading to the periphery by the inclined surface, so that a uniform luminance distribution of the illumination light can be easily realized. In this case, a single protrusion may be provided to have the inclined surface, or a plurality of protrusions may be provided, and at least one of them may have the inclined surface.

  In another aspect of the invention, the protrusion has a shape extending in the width direction along the end surface of the substrate. According to this, by using the light source extended in the width direction along the end surface of the substrate and the end surface of the protrusion, the protrusion has a shape extending in the width direction along the end surface of the substrate, or Since a plurality of light sources arranged in the width direction can be used, an illumination device having a wide light exit surface can be realized.

  In another aspect of the invention, the plurality of protrusions are arranged in the width direction along the end face of the substrate. According to this, by arranging a plurality of projections in the width direction, when arranging a plurality of light sources in the width direction, by providing the projections at positions corresponding to the arrangement positions of the light sources, the projections The light capture efficiency can be improved while reducing the production range and the manufacturing cost.

  In this case, it is preferable that the protrusion has a surface shape that is inclined from the central portion toward the surface of the substrate in the width direction. According to this, since the surface shape of each protrusion can be configured corresponding to the light incident in the oblique width direction from the light incident position, the light emitted from the light emitting surface can be made more uniform. In particular, it is preferable that the planar shape of the protruding portion is formed in an arc shape and has a surface shape that is radially inclined in the radial direction from the center of the protruding portion toward the arc-shaped side edge.

  In addition, the liquid crystal device of the present invention includes the above-described illumination device and a liquid crystal panel including a drive region, and the liquid crystal device has a planar overlap with the region where the substrate of the light guide plate is exposed. A panel is arranged.

  Furthermore, the light guide plate manufacturing method of the present invention is a light guide plate manufacturing method in which a material disposing step of disposing an uncured material on a surface of a light-transmitting substrate, and curing the uncured material to form a laminate. It comprises a material curing step to be formed, and a substrate cutting step for cutting the substrate along a line passing through the formation range of the laminate together with the laminate.

  According to the present invention, after the uncured material is placed on the substrate and cured to form a laminate, the substrate is left by cutting along the line passing through the formation range of the laminate together with the laminate. An end face of the substrate and an end face of the protrusion as a part of the laminated body remaining on the edge of the substrate are provided, and a light guide plate that can use these end faces as a light incident surface is formed. Therefore, it is possible to manufacture a light guide plate that achieves both improvement in light capture efficiency and thickness reduction at a low cost, and it is possible to respond quickly to design changes. In particular, since the end face of the remaining substrate and the end face of the protrusion can be formed into a continuous surface shape, the light incident distribution can be made uniform, and the remaining protrusion of the laminate can also be achieved. Can be made to have a surface shape that is inclined from the end surface side to the opposite side toward the surface of the substrate, so that the efficiency of capturing light incident from the end surface of the protruding portion into the substrate can be further improved.

  In one aspect of the present invention, a material molding step of molding the uncured material with a molding die is further provided between the material arranging step and the material curing step. By further providing a material molding process, the shape of the laminate formed on the substrate can be arbitrarily shaped, so the surface shape of the remaining protrusions can be optimized, and the light capture efficiency of the light guide plate Further improvement and further reduction in thickness can be achieved.

  Next, an embodiment of a light guide plate manufacturing method according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[First embodiment]
First, an embodiment of a light guide plate and a manufacturing method thereof according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 1A is a schematic longitudinal sectional view schematically showing a material arranging step in the light guide plate manufacturing method of the first embodiment according to the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a completion of the material arranging step of the first embodiment. 2 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view schematically showing the subsequent state, FIG. 2 is a schematic plan view schematically showing the state after the material curing step of the first embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a III-III ′ line in FIG. FIG. 4 is a schematic plan view showing a light guide plate formed by a material cutting process, and FIG. 5 is a schematic vertical cross section showing a cross section taken along the line VV ′ of FIG. FIG.

  The light guide plate manufacturing method of the first embodiment is a method of sequentially performing a material arranging step, a material curing step, and a substrate cutting step, which will be described below, on a parallel plate-shaped translucent substrate 110. .

  The substrate 110 may be any material as long as it has translucency, but is preferably composed of a plate-like material made of a transparent material. As the transparent material, an acrylic resin, a resin material such as polycarbonate or polyester, or an inorganic material such as glass or quartz can be used. The substrate 110 only needs to be configured in a plate shape (sheet shape). In particular, since the handling becomes easy and the thickness dimension of the light guide plate can be easily set to a desired value, the parallel plate having a uniform thickness is used. It is preferable on manufacture that it is a shape. Furthermore, it is more desirable in manufacturing that the substrate 110 is made of a flexible resin material in that it is difficult to break and can be wound up. Further, by making the substrate 110 a long material extending in the left-right direction in FIG. 1, more efficient manufacturing becomes possible.

  In the material placement step, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the uncured material 120 is led out from the container (dispenser) P and placed on a partial surface of the substrate 110. Here, the uncured material 120 may be any material having a certain degree of fluidity, such as a semi-solid (gel) or liquid material. For example, a resin material such as a photocurable or thermosetting translucent resin (acrylic resin, polycarbonate, polyester, or the like), water glass, or other silicate material can be used, and at least optically approximates the substrate 110. Those having characteristics are preferred. Further, it is more preferable if it has an elastic modulus and a thermal expansion coefficient equivalent to those of the substrate 110 from the viewpoint of impact resistance and heat resistance. Therefore, the uncured material 120 is most preferably a material that is substantially the same material as the substrate 110 after curing, which will be described later.

  The surface 120a of the uncured material 120 disposed in the material disposing step has a predetermined shape on the substrate 110 according to the fluidity and / or surface tension of the uncured material 120. In the illustrated example, the uncured material 120 has a convexly curved surface 120a. Moreover, the arrangement range of the uncured material 120 can be appropriately set by moving the position where the uncured material 120 is led out from the container P. In the present embodiment, for example, as shown in FIG. 2, the uncured material 120 has a shape extended in a direction perpendicular to the paper surface of FIG. In the region where the uncured material 120 is disposed, a two-layer laminated structure of the substrate 110 and the uncured material 120 is formed, and is formed thicker by the thickness of the uncured material than the region where the uncured material 120 is not disposed. The

  Next, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, a material curing step is performed. In this material curing step, the ineffective material 120 is converted to a cured laminate 130 which is cured and solidified, and the laminate 130 is bonded to the substrate 110. Here, the material curing step can be performed in various processing modes according to the characteristics of the uncured material 120. For example, if the uncured material is a photocurable resin, light irradiation is performed, and if it is a thermosetting resin, heat treatment is performed. Furthermore, the uncured material 120 containing a volatile solvent or the like may be simply left to stand to dry, or may be heated to promote drying.

  Thereafter, a substrate cutting process is performed. In this substrate cutting step, the substrate 110 is cut along a predetermined cutting line A (indicated by a one-dot chain line in FIG. 2) passing through the range where the stacked body 130 is formed. Note that the cutting line A is not limited to a straight line as in the illustrated example, and may be a curved line. In FIG. 3, the cutting position is indicated by a one-dot chain line B. By cutting the substrate 110 at the cutting position B, an end surface 100a which is a cut surface shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 is formed. The end surface 100a is composed of the end surface 110a 'of the remaining substrate 110' and the end surface 130a 'of the remaining protrusion 130', and the end surface 110a 'and the end surface 130a' are continuously formed with each other. 100a is an integral continuous surface shape. Further, the thickness of the end face 100a is configured to be thicker by the thickness of the protrusion 130 'than the thickness of the substrate 110'. Thus, the light guide plate 100 composed of the substrate 110 ′ and the protrusion 130 ′ is formed, and the end surface 100 a becomes a light incident surface.

  Further, the protrusion 130 ′ on the substrate 110 ′ has an inclined surface 130 b ′ inclined toward the surface 110 b of the substrate 110 from the end surface 100 a side (the left side in the drawing) to the opposite side (the right side in the drawing). The inclined surface 130b 'has a function of reflecting the light incident from the end surface 100a into the substrate 110' by internally reflecting the light. Then, the light that is incident from the end face 100a and propagates inside is finally emitted from the surface portion (light emitting surface) of the substrate 110 ′ where the protrusion 130 ′ is not formed.

  If the original substrate 110 is a long object or a large substrate, then other portions are appropriately cut to form other end surfaces other than the end surface 100a of the substrate 110 ', for example, FIG. 4 and FIG.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the light guide plate 100 manufactured as described above can constitute a sidelight type illumination device by disposing light sources 141, 142, and 143 so as to face the end surface 100 a. Here, in the illustrated example, the protrusion 130 ′ has a shape extending in the width direction (vertical direction in FIG. 4) of the end surface 100 a, and the LEDs 141, 142, and 143 that are a plurality of light sources are predetermined in the width direction. Arranged at intervals.

  In the first embodiment, the uncured material 120 is disposed on the substrate 110, and the uncured material 120 is cured to form the laminated body 130, and then the cutting line A passing through the formation range of the laminated body 130. The light guide plate 100 having the end surface 100a, which is a cut surface composed of the end surface 110a 'of the substrate 110' and the end surface 130a 'of the protrusion 130', can be formed. Therefore, the light guide plate 100 that can achieve both improvement in the efficiency of taking in light and reduction in thickness can be configured, and it is not necessary to remake a mold every time the design of the light guide plate 100 is changed. Manufacturing costs can also be reduced.

  In the case of the illustrated example, the protruding portion 130 ′ has a shape extending along the width direction of the end surface 110 a ′ of the substrate 110 ′ and has the end surface 130 a ′ extended in the same manner, so that the end surface 100 a extends in the width direction. Therefore, when configuring the lighting device, a plurality of LEDs 141, 142, and 143 can be arranged in the width direction along the extended end surface 100a. In configuring the lighting device, a plurality of light sources are not arranged in the width direction, but a single light source (for example, a point light source such as an LED or a linear light source having an extended shape such as a cold cathode tube). May be arranged.

[Second Embodiment]
Next, a second embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 6 is a schematic plan view schematically showing a state in which the material arranging step is performed in the light guide plate manufacturing method of the second embodiment, and FIG. 7 is a view schematically showing a state in which the material cutting step of the second embodiment is performed. It is a schematic plan view. In the present embodiment, the same parts as those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and the description thereof is omitted.

  As shown in FIG. 6, in the second embodiment, a plurality of (three in the figure) uncured materials 121, 122, and 123 are placed at predetermined intervals in the width direction of the substrate 110 (vertical direction in FIG. 6). Arrange them to be empty.

  Thereafter, the uncured materials 121, 122, and 123 are cured in the material curing process and converted into the stacked bodies 131, 132, and 133, and then passed through the stacked bodies 131, 132, and 133 in the width direction in the substrate cutting process. The light guide plate 100 shown in FIG. 7 is manufactured by cutting along the extending cutting line A.

  As shown in FIG. 7, the light guide plate 100 includes end surface portions 131 a ′, 132 a ′, and 133 a ′ whose thickness is increased in the respective formation ranges of the protruding portions 131 ′, 132 ′, and 133 ′ remaining after cutting. Yes. Each end surface portion 131a ', 132a', 133a 'is constituted by the end surface of the substrate 110' and the end surfaces of the projections 131 ', 132', 133 'that are continuous with each other, as in the first embodiment. Then, by arranging the LEDs 141, 142, and 143, which are light sources, so as to face the end face portions 131a ', 132a', and 133a ', respectively, a sidelight type illumination device can be configured.

  The protrusions 131 ′, 132 ′, and 133 ′ are formed on the substrate 110 ′ from the end surface portions 131 a ′, 132 a ′, and 133 a ′ (left side in the drawing) to the opposite side (right side in the drawing) as in the first embodiment. Surfaces 131b ', 132b', 133b 'inclined toward the surface 110b' are provided. As a result, the end face portions 131a ′, 132a ′, and 133a ′ can be formed corresponding to the light incident portion, so that the formation amount and formation range of the protrusion portions 131 ′, 132 ′, and 133 ′ are reduced, and the manufacturing cost is reduced. However, it is possible to increase the light capture efficiency.

  Unlike the first embodiment, the surfaces 131b ', 132b', 133b 'have a surface shape inclined from the center toward the surface 110b' in the width direction (the vertical direction in the figure). Particularly in the illustrated example, the protrusions 131 ′, 132 ′, 133 ′ have an arcuate periphery on the opposite side of the end surface portions 131 a ′, 132 a ′, 133 a ′, and are inclined radially from the center toward the periphery. It has a conical surface shape. As a result, the light incident from the light source can be uniformly dispersed in the periphery, and the illumination light emitted from the light exit surface of the surface 110b ′ of the substrate 110 ′ can be made more uniform.

[Third Embodiment]
Next, a third embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this embodiment, the same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B, the material placement step is performed in the same manner as in the above embodiments, and the uncured material 120 is placed on the surface of the substrate 110. However, in the present embodiment, thereafter, as shown in FIG. 8C, a material forming step of forming the uncured material 120 using the forming die Q is performed. In the illustrated example, the uncured material 120 is molded so as to have a convex curved surface similar to the previous embodiment. And a material hardening process is implemented with respect to the uncured material 120 with the surface shape shape | molded by the shaping | molding die Q. FIG. Here, the molding die Q is not limited to the entire uncured material 120, but may be one that molds at least a part of the surface shape. This material molding body can be easily performed using various known imprint techniques as required.

  Here, if the uncured material 120 is of a level that can hold the shape at the time of molding with the molding die Q, the material curing step similar to the above is performed after the molding die Q is removed. Further, when the uncured material 120 is a material that cannot retain the shape at the time of molding (for example, a material having high fluidity), the material curing process may be performed while the molding state of the molding die Q is maintained. By performing the material curing step, as shown in FIG. 8D, a laminated body 130 having a molded surface 130a is formed.

  Thereafter, the light guide plate can be manufactured by performing the substrate cutting step in the same manner as in each of the above-described embodiments.

  In the present embodiment, since at least a part of the uncured material 120 is molded using the molding die Q, the shape of the laminate 130, particularly the shape of the surface 130a, can be any shape. The thickness of the protruding portion 130 ′ formed in the same manner as the shape, the inclined surface shape of the inclined surface 130 b ′ of the protruding portion 130 ′, etc. can be set as appropriate, and a more optically high performance light guide plate can be manufactured. Become. For example, it is possible to improve the light capturing efficiency as a light guide plate or a lighting device and to make the in-plane luminance uniform.

[Fourth Embodiment]
Next, a fourth embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this embodiment, the same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 9A, the uncured material 120 is molded by the molding die R as in the third embodiment, but the molding die R has a substantially flat or relatively inclined angle inside. A laminated body 130 having a groove-shaped molding surface having a small bottom portion Ra and an inner surface portion Rb that is inclined or has a relatively large inclination angle, and is cured after being molded on this molding surface is shown in FIG. As shown in b), in the length direction (the left-right direction in the figure) which is the incident direction of light, the top portion 130c formed by the bottom portion Ra and having a relatively small inclination angle and the inner side surface portion Rb. The formed inclined surface portion 130d that is inclined or has a relatively large inclination angle is formed adjacently. In the laminated body 130 having such a surface shape, the substrate 110 is cut at the cutting position B passing through the top portion 130c, thereby having a thickness defined by the top portion 130c, and the entire inclined surface portion 130d on the surface. The protrusion part containing can be left. Therefore, even when the cutting position B is slightly shifted in the length direction, the thickness of the protruding portion can be made constant, and the inclined surface portion 130d serving as the light guide surface can be formed with high accuracy.

  The molding die R further includes an inner side surface portion Rc inclined in the opposite direction on the opposite side to the inner side surface portion Rb across the bottom portion Ra. Thereby, irrespective of the fluidity of the uncured resin 120, the uncured resin 120 can be easily deformed, so that molding can be easily performed.

[Fifth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this embodiment, the same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10 (a), the molding die S is provided with a groove-shaped molding surface having an inclined inner surface portion Sa, and by this inner surface portion Sa, as shown in FIG. 10 (b), An inclined surface portion 130e is formed in the laminated body 130. In addition, an inner side surface portion Sb that is reversely inclined is provided adjacent to the inner side surface portion Sa, and an inclined surface portion 130f that is inclined in the reverse direction is formed on the stacked body 130 by the inner side surface portion Sb. As a result, the stacked body 130 has a shape in which the height always changes when viewed in the length direction (the left-right direction in the drawing).

  In the present embodiment, it is possible to easily change the shape of the remaining protrusions by moving the cutting position B of the laminate 130 in the length direction. That is, even if the laminated body 130 is formed in the same shape using the same mold S, the height (end surface 100a) of the protrusion 130 'is adjusted by adjusting the cutting position B in the length direction according to the design change. The thickness of the protrusion 130 'can be adjusted.

[Sixth Embodiment]
Next, a fifth embodiment according to the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. Also in this embodiment, the same parts as those described above are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof will be omitted.

  In this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 11A, the uncured material 120 is discharged from the container P ′ as a droplet T, and this is dropped onto the surface of the substrate 110. And by dripping the said droplet T several times, as shown in FIG.11 (b), predetermined amount uncured resin 120 is arrange | positioned and the laminated body 130 is formed by the material hardening process similar to the above. The subsequent steps can be performed in the same manner as in the above embodiments.

  In this embodiment, the position and range where the uncured resin 120 is disposed can be determined by landing a plurality of droplets T on the substrate 110, and the amount of the uncured resin 120 can be accurately set. . In this case, an ink jet head used for a printer or the like can be used as the container P ′. As a result, the discharge amount of the droplet T can be set more accurately.

  When a predetermined amount of the uncured resin 120 is disposed on the substrate 110 by dropping the droplet T a plurality of times, the droplet T is further dropped while curing each dropped droplet on the substrate 110. As shown in FIG. 11B, by adjusting the dropping position of the droplet T, the dropping density, the ratio of the dropping rate to the curing rate, and the like without using a molding die as described above. It is possible to form a laminated body 130 having an appropriate shape in a manner in which laminated materials corresponding to the respective droplets T are stacked.

  In each of the above-described embodiments, the protrusion is formed by placing an uncured material on the substrate and then curing it. For example, a previously formed laminate or protrusion is placed on the substrate. (Further, it may be bonded or welded).

  Further, in each of the above-described embodiments, the protrusion is provided with an inclined surface that is inclined toward the surface of the substrate. However, a reflective layer, a reflective plate, or the like is provided on the inclined surface of the protrusion or an arbitrarily shaped surface. By arranging the reflecting member, it is possible to increase the efficiency of taking light into the substrate.

[Liquid Crystal Device]
Next, the structure of the illuminating device 10 provided with the light-guide plate 100 of each said embodiment and the liquid crystal device 1 containing this is demonstrated.

  The illuminating device 10 includes an LED 141 as a light source, a light guide plate 100 including the substrate 110 ′ and a protrusion 130 ′ bonded thereto, and an uneven scattering structure of the light guide plate 100, preferably as shown in FIG. Can be formed, for example, by the same method as in Patent Document 2.) A reflection sheet 145 disposed below the bottom surface provided with a surface, and a surface portion 100b (substrate 110) which is a light emitting surface formed on the surface of the light guide plate 100. And one or a plurality of optical sheets (light diffusing plate, light condensing plate, etc.) 146 disposed on the surface 110b 'of the surface of ′ and exposed on the surface of the protruding portion 130 ′ that are not joined. Yes. And the end surface 100a used as the light-incidence surface of the light-guide plate 100 is equipped with the thickness more than the height of the light emission surface of LED141 which opposes.

  The light emitted from the LED 141 enters the light guide plate 100 from the end surface 100a, and the light incident on the protrusion 130 'is totally reflected by the inclined surface 130b' and then enters the substrate 110 'of the light guide plate 100. To do. Then, while propagating in the right direction in the figure, the light is gradually emitted from the surface portion 100b by the scattering structure and the reflection sheet 145 on the bottom surface, passes through the optical sheet 146, and illuminates the upper part in the figure.

  In the liquid crystal device 1, a liquid crystal panel 20 is disposed above the lighting device 10. The liquid crystal panel 20 is formed by laminating transparent substrates 21 and 22 made of glass or the like through a sealing material 23, and enclosing a liquid crystal 24 therebetween, and on the outer surfaces of the transparent substrates 21 and 22 as necessary. Polarizing plates 25 and 26 are arranged. Transparent electrodes (not shown) are formed on the inner surfaces of the transparent substrates 21 and 22, respectively, and the liquid crystal disposed in the area where these transparent electrodes are opposed constitutes a pixel. An electronic component 27 such as an FPC or a driver IC is appropriately mounted on the transparent substrate 21.

  The display area (driving area) G of the liquid crystal panel 20 is an area where the pixels are arranged and a desired image can be displayed. The display area G fits within the surface portion 100 b of the light guide plate 100 in the illumination device 10. So that it is planarly positioned. In particular, when the entire transparent substrate 21 on the lighting device 10 side of the liquid crystal panel 20 is arranged on the surface portion 100b, the entire thickness of the liquid crystal device 1 can be further reduced.

[Electronics]
Finally, an electronic apparatus equipped with the liquid crystal device 1 of each of the above embodiments will be described. FIG. 13 shows a mobile phone which is an embodiment of an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. A cellular phone 200 shown here includes an operation unit 201 having a plurality of operation buttons, a mouthpiece, and the like, and a display unit 202 having a mouthpiece and the like, and the liquid crystal device 1 described above is provided inside the display unit 202. Will be incorporated. The display area G of the liquid crystal device 1 can be viewed on the surface (inner surface) of the display unit 202. In this case, a display control circuit to be described later for controlling the liquid crystal device 1 is provided in the mobile phone 200. The display control circuit sends a predetermined control signal to a known drive circuit that drives the liquid crystal panel 20 to determine the display mode of the liquid crystal device 1.

  FIG. 14 is a schematic configuration diagram showing an overall configuration of a control system (display control system) for the liquid crystal device 1 in an electronic apparatus. The electronic device shown here (the mobile phone 200) includes a display information output source 291, a display information processing circuit 292, a power supply circuit 293, a timing generator 294, and a light source control circuit 295 that supplies power to the lighting device 10. A display control circuit 290 including Further, the liquid crystal device 1 is provided with a liquid crystal panel 20 that is a liquid crystal display body having the above-described configuration, a drive circuit 29 that drives the liquid crystal panel 20, and an illumination device 10 that illuminates the liquid crystal panel 20. .

  The display information output source 291 includes a memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Access Memory), a storage unit such as a magnetic recording disk or an optical recording disk, and a tuning circuit that tunes and outputs a digital image signal. The display information is supplied to the display information processing circuit 292 in the form of an image signal or the like of a predetermined format based on various clock signals generated by the timing generator 294.

  The display information processing circuit 292 includes various 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 obtain image information. Are supplied to the drive circuit 29 together with the clock signal CLK. The drive circuit 29 includes a scanning line drive circuit, a signal line drive circuit, and an inspection circuit. The power supply circuit 293 supplies a predetermined voltage to each of the above-described components.

  The light source control circuit 295 supplies power to the light source of the lighting device 10 based on the voltage supplied from the power supply circuit 293, and controls whether or not the light source is turned on and its brightness based on a predetermined control signal. ing.

  In addition to the mobile phone shown in FIG. 13, examples of the electronic apparatus according to the present invention include a liquid crystal television, a car navigation device, an electronic notebook, a calculator, a workstation, a videophone, and a POS terminal. The liquid crystal device according to the present invention can be used as a display portion of these various electronic devices. However, the present invention has a feature that does not hinder downsizing, thinning, and power saving of the liquid crystal device 1, and is particularly effective when used in portable electronic devices such as a mobile phone, an electronic watch, and a portable information terminal. It is.

Sectional drawing (a) which shows the mode at the time of the material arrangement | positioning process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of 1st Embodiment, and sectional drawing (b) which shows the mode before the material hardening process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of the embodiment. The top view which shows the mode after the material hardening process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of the embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the mode after the material hardening process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of the embodiment. The top view which shows the mode after the board | substrate cutting process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of the embodiment. Sectional drawing which shows the mode after the board | substrate cutting process at the time of manufacture of the light-guide plate of the embodiment. The top view which shows the mode at the time of the material arrangement | positioning process and material hardening process of 2nd Embodiment. The top view which shows the mode after the board | substrate cutting process of 2nd Embodiment. Sectional drawing (a) thru | or (d) which shows from the material arrangement | positioning process of 3rd Embodiment to a material hardening process. Sectional drawing (a) and (b) which show the mode at the time of the material formation process of 4th Embodiment, and after a material hardening process. Sectional drawing (a) and (b) which show the mode at the time of the material shaping | molding process of 5th Embodiment, and after a material hardening process. Sectional drawing (a) and (b) which show the mode at the time of the material arrangement | positioning process of 6th Embodiment. 1 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal device including an illumination device and a liquid crystal panel. The schematic perspective view which shows the external appearance of an electronic device. The schematic block diagram of the display control system of an electronic device.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Liquid crystal device, 10 ... Illuminating device, 20 ... Liquid crystal panel, 100 ... Light guide plate, 100a ... End surface, 100b ... Surface, 110, 110 '... Substrate, 110a' ... End surface, 110b '... Surface, 120 ... Uncured material , 130 ... Laminate, 130 '... Projection, 130a' ... End face, 130b '... Surface

Claims (7)

A lighting device comprising a light source and a light guide plate that guides light from the light source,
The light guide plate includes a substrate having translucency, and a projecting portion having translucency bonded to an edge of the surface of the substrate adjacent to an end surface of the substrate,
An illuminating device, wherein an end face of the substrate and an end face of the protrusion are arranged to face the light source.   The lighting device according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the protrusions has an inclined surface that is radially inclined.   3. A lighting device according to claim 1, and a liquid crystal panel including a display area that overlaps the light guide plate of the lighting device in a plane, and the light emitted from the light source is transmitted through the light guide plate. A liquid crystal device incident on the liquid crystal panel.   An electronic apparatus comprising the liquid crystal device according to claim 3 as a display portion. A translucent substrate; and a translucent protrusion bonded to an edge of the surface of the substrate adjacent to an end surface of the substrate;
The light guide plate according to claim 1, wherein the end surface of the substrate and the end surface of the protrusion constitute an incident surface on which light is incident. In the method of manufacturing the light guide plate,
A material disposing step of disposing an uncured material on a surface of a light-transmitting substrate; a material curing step of curing the uncured material to form a laminate; and forming the laminate together with the substrate and the laminate And a substrate cutting step of cutting along a line passing through the range.   The light guide plate manufacturing method according to claim 6, further comprising a material forming step of forming the uncured material with a forming die between the material arranging step and the material curing step.

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