JP2011059508A - Information display panel - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information display panel driven by a display medium, which comprises particles, is free from leakage between conductive lines and maintains sufficient seal performance even when electric conduction between an electrode on a front surface substrate and an electrode on a rear surface substrate and an information display part are sealed using a sealant including conductive particles. <P>SOLUTION: The information display panel is equipped with: an information display part which is in an intersection of pixel electrodes and displays information; an electrode line concentration part provided on the outside of the information display part, and which electrode lines drawn from the pixel electrodes on both substrates are concentrated for the purpose of connection to connection terminal parts for use in connection to an external driving circuit; and a frame rib provided on the outside of the information display part. A width of a frame rib 23a in a portion corresponding to the electrode concentration part 30 is made wider than that of the frame rib 23 in the other portions, and a sealant 41 not including conductive particles is disposed on the outside of the frame rib in the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration part, and a sealant 24 including conductive particles is disposed on the outside of the frame rib in the portion corresponding to part other than the electrode concentration part. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2011,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information display panel having an information display unit that displays information such as an image by applying a voltage between pixel electrodes provided on each substrate and driving a display medium.

  Conventionally, a display medium composed of electrically drivable particles is sealed between a transparent front substrate and a rear substrate, and a voltage is applied between opposing counter electrodes provided on each substrate to electrically There is known an information display panel that displays information such as an image by being driven to (for example, Patent Document 1).

International Publication WO2005 / 062112 Pamphlet

  In the conventional information display panel described above, it is necessary to connect the electrode provided on the back substrate and the electrode provided on the transparent front substrate, and connect to the connection terminal of the external circuit, for example, at the end of the back substrate. . 5A to 5D are views showing an example of a conventional method for manufacturing an information display panel. First, as shown in FIG. 5A, electrodes B1 to B4 for supplying power to the pixel units forming each information display section and electrodes A1 to A4 for connecting to connection terminals of external circuits are provided. 5B, a transparent front substrate 52 provided with transparent electrodes F1 to F4 for supplying power to the pixel units forming each information display unit is prepared. prepare. Next, as shown in FIG. 5C, an anisotropic conductive sealant 53 made of an adhesive sealant containing conductive particles is provided outside the information display portion on the back substrate 51. Finally, as shown in FIG. 5 (d), the front substrate 52 is superimposed on the back substrate 51 via the sealant 53, and the electrodes F 1 to F 4 of the front substrate 52 are moved from the electrodes A 1 to A 4 of the back substrate 51. It is taken out electrically. By using the anisotropic conductive sealant 53, the electrodes A1 to A4 marked with ○ and the electrodes F1 to F4 of the front substrate 52 are brought into contact with the conductive particles in the sealant 53, and only at that location. Conducted. Reference numeral 54 denotes an information display unit.

  In the conventional information display panel having the structure described above, the gap between the front substrate 52 and the rear substrate 51 is wider than that of a generally known liquid crystal display panel. It was necessary to use large particles as the particles. Moreover, in order to seal the information display part 54, it was necessary to provide the sealing agent 53 containing electroconductive particle so that the outer periphery of the information display part 54 might be enclosed.

  Therefore, in the portion other than the portion marked with ○ in FIG. 5D (portion where the electrodes on each substrate are electrically connected), for example, the X portion, as shown in an enlarged view in FIG. Among the conductive wirings 62 that lead the electrode wirings in the outer area of the information display portion with the pixel electrodes 61 extended to the ends, the space between the adjacent electrodes in the conductive wirings 62 at positions corresponding to the arrangement portions of the sealant 53 is conductive particles. There is a problem in that it is not possible to secure a sufficiently large size with respect to the size of 63 and there is a concern that leakage may occur between the adjacent conductive wirings 62 due to the conductive particles 63.

  An object of the present invention is to solve the above-mentioned problems, and in a display medium drive type information display panel composed of particles, an electrode on the front substrate and a electrode on the rear substrate using a sealing agent containing conductive particles. It is intended to provide an information display panel that does not cause leakage between conductive wirings and can maintain sufficient sealing performance even when it is electrically connected to an electrode and the information display part is sealed. is there.

  An information display panel according to the present invention is an information display panel that displays information by applying a voltage between pixel electrodes provided on each substrate and driving a display medium, wherein the pixel electrodes intersect with each other. In order to connect an information display unit for displaying information and a connection terminal unit provided on the outside of the information display unit and used for connection to an external drive circuit, it is drawn from the pixel electrodes on both substrates. An electrode wiring concentration portion where the electrode wiring gathers and a frame rib provided outside the information display portion, and an electrode connected to the pixel electrode provided on one substrate using a sealing agent containing conductive particles In the information display panel configured to electrically connect the wiring and the electrode wiring provided on the other substrate at a position outside the information display portion, the width of the frame rib in the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion is , The width of the other part of the frame rib Is formed widely, a sealant that does not contain conductive particles is disposed outside the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentrated portion, and the conductive material is disposed outside the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the portion other than the electrode concentrated portion. A sealant containing particles is arranged.

  As a preferred example of the information display panel of the present invention, the space between the panel substrates formed between the sealing agent containing conductive particles and the frame rib formed at the end of the panel is sealed with a sealing agent. The width of the frame rib in the part corresponding to the electrode concentration part is 0.3 to 5.0 mm wide with respect to the width of the frame rib in the other part, and the conductive particles contained in the sealant The average particle size of the material may be 10 to 50 μm.

  According to the present invention, the width of the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion is formed wider than the width of the frame rib of the other portion, and the outside of the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion. A sealing agent that does not include conductive particles is disposed, and a sealing agent that includes conductive particles is disposed outside the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the portion other than the electrode concentration portion, so that the sealing agent of the electrode concentration portion is The conductive particles are not included, and even if the electrical connection between the electrode on the front substrate and the electrode on the rear substrate and the sealing of the information display unit are performed using the sealing agent containing the conductive particles, It is possible to obtain an information display panel that is free from leakage and can maintain sufficient sealing performance.

  Further, as a preferred example of the present invention, when the space between the panel substrates formed between the sealing agent containing conductive particles and the frame rib formed at the end of the panel is sealed with the sealing agent, the conductive property Even if the sealing agent containing particles and the sealing agent not containing conductive particles are not continuous, the sealing performance can be improved. Furthermore, as a preferred example of the present invention, when the width of the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion is 0.3 to 5.0 mm wide with respect to the width of the frame rib of the other portion, The frame rib can be optimized so that the performance is sufficient and not excessive. Furthermore, as a preferred example of the present invention, when the average particle diameter of the conductive particles contained in the sealing agent is 10 to 50 μm, the sealing performance by the sealing agent containing conductive particles can be optimized.

(A), (b) is a figure which shows the structure of an example of the information display panel of this invention, respectively. It is a figure which shows the structure of the other example of the information display panel of this invention. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows the structure of the further another example of the information display panel of this invention, respectively. (A), (b) is a figure for demonstrating an example of the information display panel which concerns on this invention, respectively. (A)-(d) is a figure which shows an example of the manufacturing method of the conventional information display panel, respectively. It is a figure for demonstrating the problem of the conventional information display panel.

  First, a basic configuration of a charged particle electric field driving system information display panel which is an example of the information display panel of the present invention will be described. In the information display panel, an electric field is applied from a counter counter electrode to a display medium configured as a particle group including charged particles sealed between two opposing substrates. Along with the applied electric field direction, the display medium is attracted by an electric field force or a Coulomb force, and the moving direction of the display medium is switched by a change in the electric field direction, whereby information such as an image is displayed. Therefore, it is necessary to design the information display panel so that the display medium can move uniformly and maintain the stability when the display information is rewritten or when the displayed information is continuously displayed. Here, as the force applied to the particles constituting the display medium, in addition to the force attracting each other by the Coulomb force between the particles, an electric mirror image force between the electrode and the substrate, an intermolecular force, a liquid cross-linking force, gravity and the like can be considered.

  An example of an information display panel of a charged particle electric field drive system that is an object of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 (a), 1 (b), 2 and 3 (a) to 3 (d).

  In the example shown in FIGS. 1 (a) and 1 (b), at least two types of display media having different optical reflectance and charging characteristics, which are configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and charging properties, are used. (Here, a white display medium 3W configured as a particle group including charged white particles 3Wa and a black display medium 3B configured as a particle group including charged black particles 3Ba are shown). And the electrode 6 provided on the substrate 2 are moved perpendicularly to the substrates 1 and 2 according to the electric field generated by applying a voltage, and the black display medium 3B is visually recognized by the observer. Alternatively, the white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer and white display is performed. In the example shown in FIG. 1B, for example, a partition 4 is provided in a lattice shape between the substrates 1 and 2 to form cells. In addition, in FIG. 1B, the partition in front is omitted.

  In the example shown in FIG. 2, one type of display medium configured as a particle group including particles having at least optical reflectance and chargeability (in this case, a white display configured as a particle group including chargeable white particles 3Wa). The medium 3W is moved in a direction substantially perpendicular to the substrates 1 and 2 in accordance with the electric field generated by applying a voltage between the electrode 5 provided on the substrate 1 and the electrode 6 provided on the substrate 2. The white display medium 3W is visually recognized by the observer, or white display is performed, or the color of the color plate 7 (black here) provided under the transparent electrode 6 on the substrate 1 is visually recognized by the observer. Black display. In the example shown in FIG. 2, for example, a grid-like partition wall 4 is provided between the substrates 1 and 2 to form a cell. Moreover, in FIG. 2, the partition in front is abbreviate | omitted.

  FIGS. 3A to 3D are views showing still other examples of the information display panel of the charged particle electric field driving method. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, the electrodes 5 and 6 of the charged particle electric field drive type information display panel are individual electrodes. In the example shown in FIG. 3B, the electrodes 5 and 6 of the charged particle electric field driving type information display panel are line electrodes. In the example shown in FIG. 3C, the electrodes 5 and 6 are individual electrodes, and a display medium composed of electrically drivable particles is filled in the capsule 8 and disposed between the substrates 1 and 2. Indicates. In the example shown in FIG. 3 (d), the microcapsules in which the electrodes 5 and 6 are individual electrodes, and the rotating ball type display medium 9 which has a different charging polarity by half and is separated into black and white are sealed together with an insulating liquid. The example arrange | positioned between the board | substrates 1 and 2 is shown. The present invention can be preferably applied to any of the examples shown in FIGS.

  4 (a) and 4 (b) are diagrams for explaining the configuration of an example of the information display panel of the present invention. In the example shown in FIGS. 4 (a) and 4 (b), the conductive particles are used to connect the electrodes on the front substrate and the electrodes on the rear substrate, and the sealing agent containing the conductive particles is used on two substrates. The points arranged between them are the same as the example shown in FIGS. 5A to 5D described as the conventional example.

  4 (a) and 4 (b), 21 is an information display panel, 22 is an information display unit in which a display medium that is driven and displayed is arranged, and 23 is on the outermost periphery of the information display unit 22. Provided frame ribs, 24 is a sealing agent containing conductive particles, 25 is an extraction electrode wiring from a pixel electrode provided on one substrate, and 26 is one substrate through a sealing agent 24 containing conductive particles. An electrode wiring led out from the upper lead-out electrode wiring 25 onto the other substrate, 27 is a lead-out electrode wiring from the pixel electrode provided on the other substrate, and 28 is a flexible cable used for connection to an external circuit. A flexible circuit board (FPC board), 29 is an electrode connection portion on the information display panel 21 side to be connected to the flexible cable, and 30 is an electrode wiring 2 drawn from the pixel electrode on both substrates. , 27 is an electrode wiring concentration portion where all of the electrodes 27 are gathered, and a portion where the space between the electrode wirings becomes narrower than the particle diameter of the conductive particles in the sealant is included in order to connect to the electrode connection portion 29 ahead. , 41 is a sealant containing no conductive particles. It should be noted that the extraction electrode wiring 25 from the pixel electrode on one substrate is drawn out to the electrode wiring 26 on the other substrate through the sealing agent 24 containing conductive particles at the location of the circle.

  Hereafter, the characteristic part in the information display panel of this invention shown to Fig.4 (a), (b) is demonstrated. In the example shown in FIG. 4A, for the connection with the connection terminal portion 29 used for connection with the external drive circuit outside the information display portion 22 where the pixel electrodes intersect and display information. A sealant comprising conductive particles, comprising an electrode wiring concentration part 30 where electrode wirings 25 and 26 drawn from pixel electrodes on both substrates gather and a frame rib 23 provided outside the information display part 22 24, the electrode wiring 25 connected to the pixel electrode provided on one substrate and the electrode wiring 26 provided on the other substrate are electrically connected at a position outside the information display unit 22. Then, the width of the frame rib 23a corresponding to the electrode wiring concentrated portion 30 is formed wider than the width of the other portion of the frame rib 23a, and the portion other than the portion corresponding to the electrode wiring concentrated portion 30 is electrically conductive. The sealant 24 including particles is disposed, and the sealant 41 that does not include conductive particles is disposed outside the frame ribs 23a that are formed wider than the other frame ribs 23 at the portions corresponding to the electrode wiring concentrated portions 30. Is arranged. In other words, in the electrode wiring concentration part 30 in the outer region of the information display part 22, the sealing agent 41 not including conductive particles is provided, and the width of the frame rib 23 a corresponding to the electrode wiring concentration part 30 is set to another frame rib 23. It is wider than the width of.

  In this example, since the conductive agent is not included in the sealant 41 in the portion of the electrode wiring concentrated portion 30, no leakage occurs between adjacent electrode wirings. In addition to this, the portion of the electrode wiring concentrated portion 30 is also sealed by the frame rib 23a in which the width of the frame rib 23 is increased. Therefore, the moisture barrier property can be enhanced in the electrode concentration part 30, and migration (electrolytic corrosion) of the electrode part of the electrode wiring concentration part 30 can be reduced. In addition, by arranging a sealing agent containing conductive particles on three sides and arranging a sealing agent not containing conductive particles on one side, all four sides of the outer periphery of the panel are surrounded by the sealing agent. A barrier property against moisture equivalent to an example in which all four sides are surrounded by a sealing agent containing conductive particles can be ensured.

  Note that the width of the frame rib 23a formed wider than the width of the other frame ribs is not particularly specified as to how much the width of the frame ribs 23a is wider than that of the other frame ribs. The width of the rib 23a is preferably 0.3 to 5.0 mm with respect to the width of the other portion of the frame rib 23. Here, it is preferable that the width of the frame rib 23a is 0.3 to 5.0 mm with respect to the width of the other portion of the frame rib 23. This is because there is a case where the image quality is insufficient, and when the thickness exceeds 5.0 mm, a so-called frame outside the display area spreads, and design restrictions may occur.

  In the example shown in FIG. 4B, in addition to the example shown in FIG. 4A, the sealing agent 32 is disposed in the gap 31 between the sealing agent 24 containing the conductive particles and the frame rib 23, thereby providing a seal. A gap 31 between the agent 24 and the frame rib 23 is sealed. In this example, higher sealing performance can be obtained as compared with the example shown in FIG.

  In addition, as the information display panel according to the present invention, any conventionally known material is suitable for the sealing agent 24 containing conductive particles, the sealing agent 32, and the sealing agent 41 containing no conductive particles. Can be used for The particle diameter of the conductive particles used for the sealant is preferably matched to the inter-substrate gap of the information display panel, and preferably has a particle diameter in the range of 10 to 50 μm and a uniform particle diameter. A sealant containing conductive particles having a particle size suitable for the gap between panel substrates is used.

  The counter electrode gap in the information display panel of the present invention is designed in relation to the average particle diameter of the display medium particle group enclosed between the counter electrodes, and in the display medium particle group having an average particle diameter of 1 to 20 μm. The gap between the opposing counter electrodes is formed at 20 to 100 μm, preferably 30 to 50 μm.

  In the present invention, the conductive particles contained in the sealant are particles that are at least coated with a metal having excellent conductivity or composed of a single metal having excellent conductivity. The conductive particles may have dispersed cavities, may be hollow, or may not have cavities. The particle diameter of the conductive particles is preferably in the range of 1.0 to 1.2 times the gap between the counter electrodes. If it exceeds 1.2 times, the force to push and spread the two substrates on which the electrodes are formed becomes large, which may cause a problem that the bonded panel substrate is peeled off. There is a risk of causing inconvenience that the continuity cannot be obtained.

  Content of electroconductive particle is 1-30 with respect to the weight 100 of a sealing compound, Preferably it is 5-10. As a conductive material constituting at least the surface layer of the conductive particles, a metal such as silver, gold, copper, nickel, aluminum, chromium, platinum, iron or an alloy containing these as a main component (for example, neodymium-chromium Nd-Cr). Etc.) are preferably used.

  Hereinafter, each member which comprises the information display panel of this invention is demonstrated.

  As for the substrate, at least one of the observation side substrates is the transparent substrate 2 from which the color of the display medium can be confirmed from the outside of the information display panel, and a material having high visible light transmittance and good heat resistance is preferable. The substrate 1 may be transparent or opaque. Examples of substrate materials include polymer materials such as polyethylene terephthalate, polyethylene naphthalate, polyethersulfone, polyethylene, polycarbonate, polyimide, and acrylic, flexible materials such as metals, glass, quartz, and hard plastics. There are things that are not flexible. The thickness of the substrate is preferably from 2 to 5000 μm, more preferably from 5 to 2000 μm. If it is too thin, it will be difficult to maintain the strength and the spacing uniformity between the substrates, and if it is thicker than 5000 μm, it will be a thin information display panel. Is inconvenient.

  Electrode forming materials include metals such as aluminum, silver, nickel, copper, and gold, indium tin oxide (ITO), zinc-doped indium oxide (IZO), aluminum-doped zinc oxide (AZO), indium oxide, and conductive tin oxide. Examples thereof include conductive metal oxides such as antimony tin oxide (ATO) and conductive zinc oxide, and conductive polymers such as polyaniline, polypyrrole and polythiophene, which are appropriately selected and used. As a method for forming the electrode, a method of forming the above-described materials into a thin film by sputtering, vacuum deposition, CVD (chemical vapor deposition), coating, or the like, or metal foil (for example, rolled copper foil) And a method in which a conductive agent is mixed with a solvent or a synthetic resin binder and applied. The electrode provided on the display surface side substrate 2 which is on the viewing side and needs to be transparent needs to be transparent, but the electrode provided on the back side substrate 1 does not need to be transparent. In any case, the above-mentioned material that can be patterned and is electrically conductive can be suitably used. Note that the electrode thickness may be 0.01 to 10 [mu] m, preferably 0.05 to 10 [mu] m, as long as electrical conductivity can be ensured and there is no problem with light transmittance. The material and thickness of the electrode provided on the back side substrate 1 are the same as those of the electrode provided on the display surface side substrate described above, but need not be transparent. In this case, the external voltage input may be superimposed with a direct current or an alternating current.

The shape of the partition wall 4 is appropriately set appropriately depending on the type of display medium involved in display, the shape and arrangement of electrodes to be arranged, and is not limited in general, but the width of the partition wall is 2 to 100 μm, preferably 3 to 50 μm. In addition, the height of the partition wall is adjusted to 10 to 100 μm, preferably 10 to 50 μm. In addition, the partition wall part that secures the gap between the substrates is matched with the gap between the substrates.
In forming the partition wall, a both-rib method in which ribs are formed on each of the opposing substrates 1 and 2 and then bonded, and a single-rib method in which ribs are formed only on one substrate are conceivable. In the present invention, any method is preferably used.
The cells formed by the partition walls made of these ribs are exemplified by a square shape, a triangular shape, a line shape, a circular shape, and a hexagonal shape when viewed from the substrate plane direction, and the arrangement is exemplified by a lattice shape, a honeycomb shape, or a mesh shape. The It is better to make the portion corresponding to the cross section of the partition wall visible from the display surface side (the area of the cell frame) as small as possible, and the display becomes clearer.
Examples of the method for forming the partition include a mold transfer method, a screen printing method, a sand blast method, a photolithography method, and an additive method. Any of these methods can be suitably used for the information display panel of the present invention, and among these, a photolithography method using a resist film and a mold transfer method are suitably used.

  The information display panel according to the present invention includes a notebook computer, an electronic notebook, a portable information device called PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), a display unit of a mobile device such as a mobile phone and a handy terminal, an electronic paper such as an electronic book and an electronic newspaper. , Billboards such as signboards, posters, blackboards (whiteboards), electronic desk calculators, display units for home appliances, automotive products, card display units such as point cards, IC cards, electronic advertisements, information boards, electronic POPs (Point Of) Presence, Point Of Purchase advertising), electronic price tag, electronic shelf label, electronic score, display part of RF-ID equipment, as well as other electronic equipment display parts such as POS terminals, car navigation devices, watches, etc. It is also suitably used as a display unit (rewritable paper) that is connected to external rewriting means and performs display rewriting.

  As the display medium, in addition to the particle group including the charged particles described above, a particle group including conductive particles, a particle group including semiconductor particles, and the like can be electrically driven via an electrode. Various types of display media can be used. As for the driving method of the information display panel that is the object of the manufacturing method of the present invention, a simple matrix driving method and a static driving method that do not use a switching element in the panel itself, and a three-terminal switching element represented by a thin film transistor (TFT) Alternatively, the present invention can be applied to an active matrix driving method using a two-terminal switching element typified by a thin film diode (TFD) and various types of driving information display panels.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1, 2 Substrate 3W White display medium 3Wa Chargeable white particle 3B Black display medium 3Ba Chargeable black particle 4 Bulkhead 5, 6 Electrode 7 Color plate 8 Capsule 9 Rotating ball (Rotation drive type particle)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 21 Information display panel 22 Information display part 23 Frame rib 23a Wide frame rib 24 Seal agent containing electroconductive particle 25, 26, 27 Electrode wiring 28 Flexible circuit board 29 Electrode connection part 30 Electrode wiring concentration part 31 Gap 32 Sealant 41 Sealant containing no conductive particles

Claims (4)

An information display panel that displays information by applying a voltage between pixel electrodes provided on each substrate and driving a display medium, and an information display unit that displays information at a portion where the pixel electrodes intersect with each other An electrode wiring concentration portion that is provided outside the information display portion and for gathering electrode wirings drawn from the pixel electrodes on both substrates for connection with a connection terminal portion used for connection with an external drive circuit And a frame rib provided on the outside of the information display unit, and using a sealing agent containing conductive particles, the electrode wiring connected to the pixel electrode provided on one substrate, and provided on the other substrate In the information display panel configured to electrically connect the electrode wiring at a position outside the information display unit,
The width of the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion is formed wider than the width of the frame rib of the other portion, and no conductive particles are included outside the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion. An information display panel, wherein a sealant is disposed, and a sealant including conductive particles is disposed outside a frame rib in a portion corresponding to a portion other than the electrode concentration portion.   2. The information display according to claim 1, wherein a space between the panel substrates formed between the sealing agent containing conductive particles and the frame rib formed at the end of the panel is sealed with a sealing agent. panel.   The width of the frame rib of the portion corresponding to the electrode concentration portion is 0.3 to 5.0 mm with respect to the width of the frame rib of the other portion. Information display panel.   The information display panel according to claim 1, wherein the conductive particles contained in the sealant have an average particle diameter of 10 to 50 μm.

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