JPH11101976A - Liquid crystal devices, electronic equipment and watches - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [PROBLEMS] To provide a liquid crystal device in which a display appears bright and a display appears floating, and a liquid crystal device capable of coloring or shining the display. Kind Code: A1 A liquid crystal composition is sandwiched between a pair of substrates having a transparent electrode and a absorbing polarizer that absorbs at least a predetermined linearly polarized light component and transmits the remaining polarized light component. Liquid crystal panel, and a reflective polarizing plate 11 that reflects a predetermined linearly polarized light component and transmits the remaining light
1. A liquid crystal device comprising: a liquid crystal panel 1 and a liquid crystal panel 1 arranged in the above order, wherein a gap 113 exists between the liquid crystal panel and the reflective polarizer. Further, a gap 113 between the liquid crystal panel and the reflective polarizer is provided.
The mechanical display member 108 or the colored object 10
9 is provided.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a liquid crystal device, and more particularly, to a reflective or transflective liquid crystal device. further,
The present invention relates to an electronic device equipped with the liquid crystal device, particularly to a timepiece represented by a combination watch.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Reflective or transflective liquid crystal devices are used in portable electronic devices.
Conventionally, these liquid crystal devices have been practically provided with only one point, and have only had a black display on a dull light green background. This is in contrast to a situation in which a transmissive liquid crystal device performs vivid full-color display. However, since watches and mobile phones have become popular and have spread to many young people, it has become necessary for liquid crystal devices to be fashionable. Due to this background, reflective LCD devices colored by color polarizers and transflective LCD devices using bright blue and red backlights have recently begun to be used in watches and mobile phones. Things. However, such colored liquid crystal devices have already
It was invented more than a year ago and does not necessarily have sufficient display characteristics. Coloring is not the only requirement to be fashionable. Therefore, in the present invention, it is desired to provide a fashionable and novel display suitable for a portable electronic device. Before explaining the present invention, first, a liquid crystal device used in a conventional digital watch and a combination watch will be introduced.

The digital watch is mainly used for displaying time, month, day, and day of the week, and is switched to an alarm setting or a stopwatch display as needed. A fixed display may be provided on the background or a part of the display may be colored to make the display easier to see or for convenience of design.

FIG. 13 shows a sectional structure of a liquid crystal device used for a display section of a conventional digital watch. FIG.
, 1301 is a first absorption type polarizing plate, 1302 is a retardation film, 1303 is an upper glass substrate, 1304
Is a transparent electrode, 1305 is a liquid crystal layer, 1306 is a seal portion,
1307 is a lower glass substrate, 1308 is a second absorption polarizer, and 1309 is a light scattering reflector. On 1309, a scale 13 and a portion 13 in which characters, background color, and the like are printed with paint are provided.
10 may be provided. The retardation plate 1302 is for compensating the coloring of the display of the STN liquid crystal, and is not necessary when the TN liquid crystal is used.

On the other hand, a combination watch refers to a combined analog / digital wristwatch, and is characterized by having an analog display unit for displaying time and a digital display unit for displaying data such as calendar display. 1
When it first appeared on the market a couple of years ago, it mainly consisted of a small digital display in one corner of the dial of an analog clock, but later released a type with a digital display on the front of the analog clock Now, more information can be displayed.

FIG. 10 shows the appearance of the combination watch. Reference numerals 1001 and 1002 denote analog display units, where 1001 is a clock hand and 1002 is a clock scale. Reference numerals 1003 and 1004 denote digital display units.
03 is a date display, and 1004 is a calendar display. The digital display is located above the analog display. As for the time display, the analog display using the traditional hour and minute hands is superior in intuitive recognizability than the analog display. On the other hand, data displays such as a stopwatch, calendar display, and telephone number display must be digital. Recently, there has been a movement to incorporate a pager function and a simple information processing function into a watch, and the need for a combination watch has been increasing more and more.

FIG. 14 shows a cross-sectional structure of a liquid crystal device used for a display unit of a conventional combination watch. In FIG. 14, reference numeral 1401 denotes a first absorption polarizer,
1402 is a retardation film, 1403 is an upper glass substrate, 1404 is a transparent electrode, 1405 is a liquid crystal layer, 1406
Is a sealing portion, 1407 is a lower glass substrate, 1408 is a second absorption type polarizing plate, 1409 is a mechanical display member, 14
Reference numeral 1411 denotes a portion where scales and characters are printed with paint.
Is a light scattering reflector. Reference numeral 1409 denotes a clock hand, and reference numerals 1410 and 1411 denote clock faces.
There is a hole in 1411 for connecting a mechanical display member to a drive unit located on the opposite side with respect to 1411. Its structure is exactly the same as that of the conventional digital watch of FIG. 13 except that there is a gap between the second absorbing polarizer and the light scattering reflector, and there is a mechanical display there. .

Next, the display principle of the liquid crystal device used in the conventional combination watch will be described.
In FIG. 15, reference numeral 1501 denotes a first absorption type polarizing plate;
2 is a retardation film, 1503 is an upper glass substrate, 15
04 is a lower glass substrate, 1505 is a second absorption type polarizing plate, 1506 is a mechanical display member, or a portion where scales or characters are printed with paint, 1507 is a light scattering reflector,
1508 is a liquid crystal in a non-selected area, and 1509 is a liquid crystal in a selected area.

Here, a mechanical display member and an area where there is no paint are considered. External light 1511 and 1512 incident from above
Is converted into linearly polarized light by the first absorption polarizer 1501. After that, the light is modulated variously by the retardation film and the liquid crystal panel, but when it is incident on the second absorption type polarizing plate 1505, it returns to almost linearly polarized light. However, the linearly polarized light of the light that has passed through the non-selection area and the light that has passed through the selection area of the liquid crystal panel are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, a second absorption polarizer is arranged in advance so as to transmit light that has passed through the non-selection region and absorb light that has passed through the selection region. In the non-selection region, light transmitted through the second absorption polarizer is reflected by the light scattering reflector 1507 and exits upward through the same path as before, resulting in a bright display. On the other hand, in the selected region, since light is absorbed by the second absorption polarizer,
The display becomes dark. Thus, dark display is performed on the light display background.

[0010]

However, such a conventional liquid crystal device has at least three problems.

The first problem is that the display is dark. In particular, when configuring the digital display of the combination watch, the hands and scales of the watch were dark and difficult to see. This is because two polarizing plates 1401 and 1408 (1501
And 1505), approximately 60
% Is absorbed. Further, when a transflective structure was used to utilize a backlight, the image became even darker.
This is because the transflector reflects only 50-70% of the incident light.

A second problem is that it is difficult to color the display. In the method of coloring the reflector, only the background is colored and it is dark. The method using a color polarizer is excellent in that the lighting portion is colored, but the color of the color polarizer can be easily seen in the background. This is because the degree of polarization of the color polarizing plate is generally not high.

The third problem is the shadow of the display. For example, in the case of a combination watch, the digital display of the liquid crystal panel casts a shadow on the hands 1409 of the clock and the portion 1410 on which the scales and characters are printed, making it difficult to see the analog display. This will be described with reference to FIG. External light 1521 and 1522 to be inserted into the mechanical display member and the paint portion are 1
Only light in the non-selected area reaches the mechanical display member and the paint portion through the same path as 511 and 1512. The light in the selected region has already been absorbed by the second absorbing polarizer. Therefore, the shadow of the selected area of the liquid crystal panel falls on the mechanical display member or the paint. In this way, the shadow of the digital display on the liquid crystal panel makes it difficult to see the hands of the clock and the dial.

When there is a gap between the liquid crystal panel and the reflector, as in a combination watch, the display appears to float with respect to the background. It is preferable that the display appears floating. Depending on how it is used and its design, it can be an interesting display. Characters suddenly emerge from the seemingly empty space. Moreover, the characters are brightly colored. Or, the letters glow. These displays are fashionable and novel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a liquid crystal device in which a display appears bright and a display floats, and a liquid crystal device capable of coloring or shining the display.

[0016]

In order to solve the above problems, a liquid crystal device according to the present invention comprises: a liquid crystal panel having liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates; a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel; A reflective polarizer disposed on the opposite side to the polarizer with respect to the liquid crystal panel, and a member for rear display is provided between the reflective polarizer and the liquid crystal panel. In addition, the member for the rear display and the liquid crystal panel are arranged at a predetermined distance.

In the present invention, a polarizing plate refers to a polarizing plate that absorbs a linearly polarized light component in a predetermined direction and absorbs a linearly polarized light component in a different predetermined direction. It refers to a reflective polarizer that reflects light of a linearly polarized light component in a different direction and transmits light of a linearly polarized light component in a different direction. As a specific example of the reflective polarizing plate, a reflective layer is formed by alternately laminating a first layer having an in-plane refractive index anisotropy and a second layer having no in-plane refractive index anisotropy. Or a reflection type polarizing plate obtained by combining a cholesteric liquid crystal polymer with a 波長 wavelength plate.

The member for displaying the back surface includes, specifically, a mechanical display member typified by a clock hand, a colored layer or an absorption layer formed on a reflective polarizing plate by printing or the like. Any display can be used as long as some kind of display is performed by blocking or coloring the light reflected by the reflective polarizing plate.

In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, a liquid crystal display can be obtained by a bright display by the light reflected by the reflective polarizer and a dark display by transmitting the light through the reflective polarizer. At that time, the liquid crystal display is displayed so as to be raised with respect to the rear display, so that a very varied display is possible.

The degree of floating of the liquid crystal display is determined by the distance between the liquid crystal layer and the member for displaying the rear surface, in other words, the thickness of the substrate below the liquid crystal panel, the distance between the liquid crystal panel and the member for performing the rear display, and the like. Depends on the sum of However, in general, a substrate having a thickness of less than 0.7 mm is often used as a substrate of a liquid crystal panel, and only this 0.7 mm has a small floating effect.

Therefore, in the present invention, the distance between the liquid crystal panel and the member for displaying the rear surface is arranged at a predetermined distance from each other to enhance the floating effect. Specifically, if the predetermined distance is set to 0.3 mm or more and the distance between the liquid crystal layer and the member farthest from the liquid crystal layer is set to 1.0 mm, the floating display appears effectively. On the other hand, if the distance between the member and the liquid crystal layer is more than 10 mm, a problem such as dark display occurs, which is not preferable.

In the present invention, since the reflection type polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel are arranged at a predetermined distance from each other, a three-dimensional member, such as a clock hand, is arranged as a member for rear display. Can be.

Further, in the liquid crystal device of the present invention, it is preferable that a light source is provided on a side opposite to the liquid crystal panel with the reflective polarizing plate interposed therebetween.

By doing so, the display device according to the present invention can illuminate the liquid crystal display with light from the light source, and thus has an effect that it is easy to see even in darkness. still,
The light source may be a white light source, but a red or yellow-green LED,
A colored light source such as blue EL is more desirable.

By disposing a gray film or an absorption type polarizing plate between the light source and the reflection type polarizing plate, a high contrast can be obtained in the reflection type display.

Further, the liquid crystal device of the present invention is characterized in that a layer for absorbing a specific color is provided on the opposite side of the reflection type polarizing plate from the liquid crystal panel.

With such a configuration, the liquid crystal device of the present invention can color the dark display of the liquid crystal display.
As a result, it is possible to color the display that appears to be floating. In addition, as a layer that absorbs a specific color, a color film or a color polarizing plate can be used. Further, when a reflective plate is provided on the opposite side of the reflective polarizing plate with respect to this layer, a brighter color display can be obtained.

Further, the liquid crystal device of the present invention is characterized in that a light scattering plate is provided between the liquid crystal panel and the reflective polarizing plate.

With such a configuration, the display becomes cloudy, so that the bright display in the liquid crystal display becomes white.

In this case, it is preferable to provide a colored layer or an absorption layer provided in a partial region of the light scattering plate as a member for the rear display.

Further, the member for displaying the rear surface is a mechanical display member. The mechanical display member specifically refers to a mechanically operated object such as a clock hand.

According to this structure, an epoch-making display in which a liquid crystal display appears on a dynamic display by a mechanical operation can be realized.

Further, in the liquid crystal device according to the present invention, the liquid crystal panel includes a liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel, and the polarizing plate with respect to the liquid crystal panel. It is characterized by comprising a reflective polarizing plate disposed on the opposite side, and a mechanical display member disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the reflective polarizing plate.

In the present invention, a polarizing plate refers to a polarizing plate that absorbs a linearly polarized light component in a predetermined direction and absorbs a linearly polarized light component in a different predetermined direction. It refers to a reflective polarizer that reflects light of a linearly polarized light component in a different direction and transmits light of a linearly polarized light component in a different direction. As a specific example of the reflective polarizing plate, a reflective layer is formed by alternately laminating a first layer having an in-plane refractive index anisotropy and a second layer having no in-plane refractive index anisotropy. Or a reflection type polarizing plate obtained by combining a cholesteric liquid crystal polymer with a 波長 wavelength plate.

Further, the mechanical display member specifically refers to a mechanically operated member represented by a clock hand.

In the liquid crystal device of the present invention, a liquid crystal display can be obtained by a bright display in which light is reflected by a reflective polarizing plate and a dark display in which light passes through a reflective polarizing plate. on the other hand,
The mechanical display member is always displayed regardless of the state of the liquid crystal display. This is because the mechanical display member is located between the reflective polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel, so that the user always sees the reflected light or the scattered light from the mechanical display member. That is, the problem in the related art that the mechanical display member becomes invisible in the dark display shadow of the liquid crystal display and is invisible can be solved.

Further, a light scattering plate is provided between the mechanical display member and the reflective polarizing plate.

This makes it possible to make the bright display in the liquid crystal display white.

Further, a light source is provided on a side opposite to the liquid crystal panel with respect to the reflection type polarizing plate.

In this way, a transflective display device is realized.

An electronic apparatus according to the present invention is an electronic apparatus including a liquid crystal device as a display unit, wherein the liquid crystal device includes a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and one side of the liquid crystal panel. A polarizing plate disposed, and a reflective polarizing plate disposed on the opposite side of the polarizing plate with respect to the liquid crystal panel, between the reflective polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel for a rear display. While the member is provided,
The member for displaying the back surface and the liquid crystal panel are arranged at a predetermined distance.

A timepiece according to the present invention is a timepiece that displays time by mechanically operated hands, and includes a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates, and is disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel. A polarizer, and a reflective polarizer disposed on the opposite side of the liquid crystal panel with respect to the polarizer, wherein the needle is provided between the reflective polarizer and the liquid crystal panel. In addition, the needle and the liquid crystal panel are arranged at a predetermined distance.

[0043]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a main part of the structure of a liquid crystal device according to the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 1, 101 is an absorption type polarizing plate, 102 is a retardation film, 103 is an upper glass substrate, 104 is a transparent electrode, 10
5 is a liquid crystal layer, 106 is a sealing portion, 107 is a lower glass substrate, 108 and 109 are members for rear display,
108 is a clock hand as a mechanical display member, 109 is a colored layer, a scale or characters printed with paint,
110 is a light scattering plate, 111 is a reflective polarizing plate, and 112 is a light absorbing plate. 101 and 102, 102 and 103, 11
0 and 111 and 111 and 112 are adhered to each other with glue. In addition, between 107 and 110, about 0.7
There is a gap 113 of mm. Since the thickness of the lower glass substrate is 0.4 mm and the thickness of the light scattering plate is 0.1 mm,
The distance d between the liquid crystal layer and the reflective polarizing plate is about 1.2 mm. The distance between 109 and the liquid crystal layer is 1.0 mm,
The distance between 108 and the liquid crystal layer is 0.7 mm.

Although the upper and lower transparent electrodes 104 are drawn widely apart, this is for the sake of clarity of the drawing, and they are actually opposed to each other with a narrow gap of several μm to tens of μm. . Further, in order to connect a mechanical display member to a driving unit located on the opposite side with respect to 111, 110, 111, 11
2 has a hole through it. In addition to the components shown in the figure, elements such as a liquid crystal alignment film, an insulating film, a spacer ball, a driver IC, and a drive circuit are indispensable, but they are not particularly necessary for describing the present invention.
It is omitted because it may complicate the figure and make it difficult to understand.

Next, each component will be described in order. The absorption-type polarizing plate 101 has a function of absorbing a predetermined linearly polarized light component and transmitting other polarized light components. This is the most commonly used type of polarizer at present,
It is prepared by adsorbing a halogen substance such as iodine or a dichroic dye on a polymer film.

The retardation film 102 is, for example, a uniaxially stretched film of a polycarbonate resin, and is used for compensating the coloring of the display of the STN type liquid crystal device. TN
In the case of a type liquid crystal device, it is often omitted.

The liquid crystal layer 105 is made of a STN nematic liquid crystal composition twisted from 180 degrees to 270 degrees. When the display capacity is small, a TN liquid crystal composition twisted by 90 ° may be used. The twist angle is determined by the direction of the alignment treatment on the upper and lower glass substrates and the amount of the chiral agent added to the liquid crystal.

The mechanical display member 108 is a portion of a clock hand, and includes an hour hand and a minute hand. If necessary, a second hand may be added to this.

As the light scattering plate 110, a stamped plastic plate, a plastic plate in which beads are dispersed, or the like can be used. However, light scattering must be weak scattering that does not disturb the polarization. If the scattering plate is strong enough to cause multiple scattering, the contrast is reduced. This light scattering plate is disposed for the purpose of appropriately diffusing the reflected light of the reflective polarizing plate close to the mirror surface.

The light absorbing plate 112 is used by adhering a black vinyl sheet or black paper or by directly applying a black paint. In addition, if it is a relatively dark color other than black, it can be used depending on preference, such as blue, brown, and gray.

As the reflective polarizing plate 111, a birefringent dielectric multilayer film was used. This birefringent dielectric multilayer film has a function of reflecting a predetermined linearly polarized light component and transmitting other polarized light components. Such a reflective polarizing plate is described in an internationally published international application (international application number: W
O95 / 17303, WO95 / 17691, WO95
/ 17692, WO95 / 17699, WO95 / 27
919, WO96 / 19347, WO97 / 0143
9, WO97 / 01440, WO97 / 01610, W
O97 / 01726, WO97 / 01774, WO97
/ 01778, WO97 / 01780, WO97 / 01
781, WO97 / 01788, WO97 / 0178
9, WO97 / 07653) Reflective polarizer
It is disclosed as. Such a reflective polarizer is sold by 3M as D-BEF (trade name) and is generally available.

FIG. 2 shows the structure and function of the reflective polarizing plate.
This will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a birefringent dielectric multilayer film, which is formed by alternately laminating two types of polymer layers 201 and 202. The two types of polymers are selected from a material with a high photoelastic modulus and a material with a low photoelastic modulus, while taking care that the refractive indices of the ordinary rays of both are approximately equal. . For example, PEN (2,6-polyethylene naphthalate) is used as a material having a large photoelastic modulus.
Can be selected as coPEN (70-naphthalate / 30-terephthalate copolyester) as a small material. When both films were alternately laminated and stretched appropriately in the x-axis direction of the orthogonal coordinate system 203 in FIG. 2, the refractive index in the x-axis direction was 1.88 in the PEN layer and 1.64 in the coPEN layer. The refractive index in the y-axis direction is PE
The value was almost 1.64 for both the N layer and the coPEN layer. When light is incident on the laminated film from the normal direction, the light component vibrating in the y-axis direction passes through the film as it is. This is the transmission axis. On the other hand, the light component that vibrates in the x-axis direction is reflected only when the PEN layer and the coPEN layer satisfy certain conditions. This is the reflection axis. The condition is the optical path length (product of refractive index and film thickness) of the PEN layer.
And the sum of the optical path length (the product of the refractive index and the film thickness) of the coPEN layer is equal to half the wavelength of light. Such a P
By stacking several tens or more layers, preferably more than one hundred layers, of the EN layer and the coPEN layer, it is possible to reflect almost all of the components of light that vibrate in the x-axis direction. Of course, since this condition can be satisfied only for light in a narrow wavelength range, a polarization ability is generated only for light of a limited color. Therefore, a reflective polarizer that has a polarizing ability in a wider wavelength range is
A plurality of birefringent dielectric multilayer films whose optical path lengths are adjusted to reflect predetermined linearly polarized lights of different colors are obtained by laminating such that their polarization axes (reflection axis and transmission axis) are parallel to each other. .

The reflection type polarizing plate thus manufactured is
30% compared to the configuration of ordinary absorption-type reflector + reflector
It has the characteristic of being bright. There are two reasons. One is that while the reflectivity of metal aluminum, which is usually used for a reflector, is less than 90%, this reflective polarizer reflects almost 100% of light parallel to the reflection axis. Another reason is that ordinary absorption polarizers use dichroic substances such as dyes and halogen substances such as iodine,
This is because about 20% of the light is wasted because the dichroic ratio is not always high.

As the reflective polarizing plate, a liquid crystal polymer exhibiting a cholesteric phase can be used in addition to the above-described birefringent dielectric multilayer film. This has a function of reflecting a predetermined circularly polarized light component and transmitting other polarized light components. When this is combined with a quarter-wave plate, it has a function of reflecting a predetermined linearly polarized light component and transmitting other polarized light components. The details of such a reflective polarizing plate are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-271837. Further, such a reflective polarizer is manufactured by Merck
It is marketed by the company under the name TransMax (trade name) and is generally available.

Since the light scattering plate 110, the reflective polarizing plate 111, and the light absorbing plate 112 are all thin films, a plastic support base or the like may be disposed as necessary.

The liquid crystal device of the present invention has two points different from the conventional liquid crystal device. One is that a reflective polarizing plate is used. As described above, a bright display can be realized even if polarized light is used, as described above.
The other is that the position of the lower polarizer is conventionally on a mechanical display member, a scale, or the like, but in the present invention, it is located below it. This new configuration has a new effect in that the display shadow of the liquid crystal panel is inconspicuous. The details will be described below.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the display principle of the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment. In FIG. 3, reference numeral 301 denotes an absorption polarizer,
302 is a retardation film, 303 is an upper glass substrate, 3
04 is a lower glass substrate, 305 is a mechanical display member, or a portion where scales or characters are printed with paint, 306 is a reflective polarizing plate, 307 is a light absorbing plate, 308 is a liquid crystal in a non-selected area, and 309 is The liquid crystal in the selected area.

First, an area without a mechanical display member or a colored layer is considered. External light 311 and 312 incident from above are converted into linearly polarized light by the absorption polarizing plate 301. After that, the light is modulated in various ways by the retardation film and the liquid crystal panel. However, the linearly polarized light of the light that has passed through the non-selection area and the light that has passed through the selection area of the liquid crystal panel are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, a reflective polarizer is arranged in advance so as to reflect light passing through the non-selection area and transmit light passing through the selection area. In the non-selection region, light reflected by the reflective polarizing plate is emitted upward through the same path as before, and thus a bright display is obtained. On the other hand, in the selected region, light transmitted through the reflective polarizing plate is absorbed by the light absorbing plate 307, so that dark display is performed. Thus, dark display is performed on the light display background. This bright display is very bright due to the high efficiency of the reflective polarizer. Also, depending on the design of the selective reflection wavelength of the reflective polarizer, in addition to white, yellow, sky blue, pink, etc.
Can be any color. Also, a dark display can take any color other than black, such as blue, brown, and green, depending on the design of the absorption color wavelength of the light absorbing plate.

Next, consider the light that enters the mechanical display member or the paint portion. The external lights 321 and 322 reach the mechanical display member and the paint portion through the same path as the above, but the light is linearly polarized light regardless of whether it is in the selected area. Moreover, it is bright light that has passed through the polarizing plate only once. This light is considerably scattered by the mechanical display member and the paint, and is emitted upward after being disturbed in polarization. Therefore, the difference in brightness between the selected area and the non-selected area is slight, and the selected area of the liquid crystal panel does not cast a shadow on the hands of the clock or the dial.

As described above, the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment of the present invention realizes a bright display with few shadows. There is also an effect that the display appears to float.

Example 2 FIG. 4 is a view showing a main part of the structure of a liquid crystal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 401 denotes an absorption type polarizing plate;
402 is a retardation film, 403 is an upper glass substrate, 4
04 is a transparent electrode, 405 is a liquid crystal layer, 406 is a seal portion,
407 is a lower glass substrate, 408 and 409 are members for rear display, 408 is a mechanical display member,
Reference numeral 9 denotes a portion where a scale, characters, and the like are printed with a paint as a coloring layer, 410 denotes a reflective polarizing plate, and 411 denotes a light absorbing plate.
401 and 402, 402 and 403, 410 and 411,
Each is glued together. Although the upper and lower transparent electrodes 404 are drawn widely apart, this is for the sake of clarity in the drawing, and they are actually opposed to each other with a narrow gap of several μm to several tens μm. In order to connect a mechanical display member to a drive unit located on the opposite side with respect to the 410, holes are penetrated in the 410 and 411. In addition to the components shown in the figure, elements such as a liquid crystal alignment film, an insulating film, a spacer ball, a driver IC, and a drive circuit are also indispensable. Is omitted because it may be complicated and difficult to understand. The components used were the same as those in Example 1.

A feature of the liquid crystal device of the second embodiment is that the background is made a mirror surface by not providing a light scattering plate on the reflective polarizer. As a result, a very novel display with black characters floating on the mirror background was realized. Light absorbing plate 4
If 11 is replaced with a diffuse reflection plate, a display in which white characters float on the mirror surface background is also possible. Of course, this display is also a bright display with few shadows, as in the first embodiment.

Example 3 FIG. 5 is a view showing a main part of the structure of a liquid crystal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 5, reference numeral 501 denotes an absorption polarizer, 502 denotes a retardation film, 503 denotes an upper glass substrate, 504 denotes a transparent electrode, 505 denotes a liquid crystal layer, and 505 denotes a liquid crystal layer.
6 is a seal part, 507 is a lower glass substrate, 508 and 5
Reference numeral 09 denotes a member for displaying a rear surface, 508 denotes a mechanical display member, 509 denotes a portion on which scales and characters are printed with paint, 510 denotes a light scattering plate, 511 denotes a reflective polarizing plate, and 512 denotes a reflective polarizing plate.
Denotes a color filter, and 513 denotes a light reflection plate. 501 and 502, 502 and 503, 510 and 511, 511 and 5
12, 512 and 513 are adhered to each other with glue. Although the upper and lower transparent electrodes 504 are drawn widely apart, this is for the sake of clarity in the drawing, and they are actually opposed to each other with a narrow gap of several μm to tens of μm. Further, in order to connect a mechanical display member to a driving unit located on the opposite side with respect to 511, 510, 511, 51
2, 513 are provided with holes therethrough. In addition to the components shown in the figure, elements such as a liquid crystal alignment film, an insulating film, a spacer ball, a driver IC, and a drive circuit are also indispensable. Is omitted because it may be complicated and difficult to understand.

Next, each component will be described in order. The color filter 512 was obtained by applying a red pigment that mainly absorbs cyan to a plastic film. The light reflection plate 513 is a mirror reflection plate, and was obtained by depositing aluminum on a plastic film. The other components used were the same as in Example 1.

With the above configuration, the liquid crystal device according to the third embodiment has a display in which red characters float on a white background. The principle will be briefly described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numeral 601 denotes an absorption type polarizing plate;
2 is a retardation film, 603 is an upper glass substrate, 604
Is a lower glass substrate, 605 is a member for rear display, is a mechanical display member, or a portion where scales and characters are printed with paint, 606 is a reflective polarizing plate, 607 is a color filter, and 608 is The light reflecting plate, 609 is a liquid crystal in a non-selected area, and 610 is a liquid crystal in a selected area.

First, an area where there is no mechanical display member or paint is considered. External light 611 and 612 incident from above are converted into linearly polarized light by the absorption type polarizing plate 601. After that, the light is modulated in various ways by the retardation film 602 and the liquid crystal panel.
Return to almost linear polarization. However, the linearly polarized light of the light that has passed through the non-selection area and the light that has passed through the selection area of the liquid crystal panel are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, a reflective polarizer is arranged in advance so as to reflect light passing through the non-selection area and transmit light passing through the selection area. In unselected areas,
Since the light reflected by the reflective polarizing plate is emitted upward through the same path as before, a white display is obtained. On the other hand, in the selected region, the cyan color of the light transmitted through the reflective polarizer is absorbed by the color filter 607, and the remaining red color is reflected by the light reflective plate 608.
It is displayed in red because it is reflected by. Thus, red display is performed on a white background. This white display is very bright due to the high efficiency of the reflective polarizer.

Next, consider light incident on a mechanical display member or a paint portion. The external light 621 and 622 reach the mechanical display member and the paint portion through the same path as the above, but the light is linearly polarized light regardless of whether it is in the selected area. Moreover, it is bright light that has passed through the polarizing plate only once. This light is considerably scattered by the mechanical display member and the paint, and is emitted upward after being disturbed in polarization. Therefore, the difference in brightness between the selected area and the non-selected area is slight, and the selected area of the liquid crystal panel does not cast a shadow on the hands of the clock or the dial. In addition, since the color filter is located below the clock hands and the dial, the color is not colored.

By changing the color of the color filter, it is possible to display blue or green on a white background. Further, by partially changing the color of the color filter, it is possible to mix red display and black display. However, when performing color display by the above method, it is possible to display bright colors by designing the selection area to be as large as possible. This is because when light that has passed through the non-selection region from an oblique direction enters the selection region, the light is orthogonal to the reflection axis of the reflective polarizer, and the display is darkened.

(Embodiment 4) FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a main part of the structure of a liquid crystal device according to the first, second, fourth and sixth aspects of the present invention. First, the configuration will be described.
7, reference numeral 701 denotes an absorption polarizer, 702 denotes a retardation film, 703 denotes an upper glass substrate, 704 denotes a transparent electrode, 705 denotes a liquid crystal layer, 705 denotes a sealing portion, 706 denotes a lower glass substrate, 707 denotes lower surfaces, and 708 and 709 denote back surfaces. Reference numeral 708 denotes a member for display, 708 denotes a mechanical display member, 709 denotes a portion on which graduations and characters are printed with paint, 710 denotes a light scattering plate,
1 is a reflective polarizing plate, 712 is a semi-light absorbing plate, and 713 is a light source. 701 and 702, 702 and 703, 710 and 7
11, 711 and 712 are glued to each other with glue. Further, in order to connect a mechanical display member to a drive unit located on the opposite side with respect to 711, 710, 711, 71
2, 713 has a hole.

Next, each component will be described in order. Absorption-type polarizing plate 701, retardation film 702, liquid crystal layer 70
5, light scattering plate 708 and reflective polarizing plate 709
The same one as in Example 1 was used.

As the semi-light absorbing plate 712, a gray translucent film can be used. As a gray translucent film, 10% or more and 80% with respect to light in the entire wavelength range of visible light
A scattering film having a transmittance of 50% or more and 70% or less is suitable. Such a film is marketed, for example, by Tsujimoto Electric Manufacturing Co., Ltd. under the name of light diffusion film D202 (trade name). This film is gray in appearance and has a transmission of 59%.
The semi-light absorbing plate is provided to enhance the contrast of the reflection type liquid crystal display, and display can be performed without it. In addition, as the semi-light absorbing plate, a partially transparent light absorbing film, for example, a black film having a large number of fine holes that are invisible to the naked eye can be used. Further, an absorption type polarizing plate can also be used to improve the contrast of the transmission type liquid crystal display.

As the light source 713, an LED (light emitting diode) or a cold cathode tube may be used in combination with a light guide plate. In the fourth embodiment, an EL emitting light green light is used. In short, the backlight used in the present invention only needs to have low external light reflection. The semi-light absorbing plate 712 and the light source 7 in FIG.
The configuration of No. 13 is an example. In addition, for example, a configuration in which a light absorbing plate is provided on the back of a light guide plate without providing a semi-light absorbing plate may be used. Further, if an EL lamp designed to emit light from a transparent state or a dark scattering state is used, a simpler configuration is required.

Next, the display principle of the liquid crystal device according to the fourth embodiment will be described. In FIG. 8, reference numeral 801 denotes an absorption type polarizing plate;
2 is a retardation film, 803 is an upper glass substrate, 804
Is a lower glass substrate, 805 is a reflective polarizing plate, 806 is a light source, 807 is a liquid crystal in a non-selected area, and 808 is a liquid crystal in a selected area. Although a mechanical display member and portions where scales, characters, and the like are printed with paint are omitted, they are located between 804 and 805.

First, consider the case where the light source 806 does not emit light, that is, the case of reflective display. External light 8 incident from above
11 and 812 are converted into linearly polarized light by the absorption-type polarizing plate 801. After that, the light is modulated variously by the retardation film and the liquid crystal panel, but when it is incident on the reflective polarizing plate 805, it is almost returned to linearly polarized light. However, the light passing through the non-selection area and the light passing through the selection area of the liquid crystal panel are:
The linearly polarized lights are orthogonal to each other. Therefore, a reflective polarizer is arranged in advance so as to reflect light passing through the non-selection area and transmit light passing through the selection area. In the non-selection region, the linearly polarized light reflected by the reflective polarizing plate is emitted upward through the same path as before, and thus a bright display is obtained.
On the other hand, in the selected area, all the linearly polarized light incident on the reflective polarizing plate is transmitted and absorbed by the light source or the light absorbing plates before and after the light source, so that a dark display is obtained.

Next, consider the case where the light source 806 emits light, that is, the case of the transmissive display. In a situation where transmissive display is performed by a transflective liquid crystal device, the surrounding light is considered to be sufficiently dark, so that the external light 811 and 812 can be ignored. Light source 80
Lights 813 and 814 emitted from the reflective polarizer 8
05 reflects one linearly polarized light and transmits the other linearly polarized light. The reflected linearly polarized light is absorbed by the light source or the light absorbing plates before and after the light source. The transmitted linearly polarized light is modulated by the liquid crystal panel and the retardation film, and is absorbed by the absorption type polarizing plate 801 to provide a dark display. On the other hand, in the selected region, similarly, light transmitted through the reflective polarizing plate also transmits through the absorbing polarizing plate, and a bright display is obtained.

As described above, the liquid crystal device according to the fourth embodiment enables a transflective display without deteriorating the display characteristics of the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment at the time of reflection. In addition, the display at the time of transmission is a kind of fantastic display in which glowing characters float in a space where nothing seems to be present. Of course, the emission color can be red, orange, yellow, blue, etc. other than light green depending on the selection of the backlight.

(Embodiment 5) FIG. 9 is a view showing a main part of a liquid crystal device according to another embodiment of the present invention. First, the configuration will be described. In FIG. 9, reference numeral 901 denotes an absorption polarizer, 902 denotes a retardation film, 903 denotes an upper glass substrate, 904 denotes a transparent electrode, 905 denotes a liquid crystal layer, 905 denotes a sealing portion, 907 denotes a lower glass substrate, 908 denotes scales and characters. 909 is a light scattering plate, 910 is a reflective polarizing plate, 9
11 is a light absorbing plate. 901 and 902, 902 and 90
3, 909 and 910, and 910 and 911 are bonded to each other with glue. Although the upper and lower transparent electrodes 904 are drawn widely apart, this is for the sake of clarity of the drawing. Actually, they face each other with a narrow gap of several μm to several tens μm. In addition to the illustrated components,
Elements such as a liquid crystal alignment film, an insulating film, a spacer ball, a driver IC, and a drive circuit are also indispensable, but they are not particularly necessary for describing the present invention, and may complicate the drawing and make it difficult to understand. Because it is, it was omitted. The components used were the same as those in Example 1.

A feature of the liquid crystal device of the fifth embodiment is that it does not include a mechanical display member. Even if there is no mechanical display member, some scales and characters on the light scattering plate,
When a pattern or the like is printed, or when the light scattering plate itself has irregularities and its texture can be recognized, there is an effect that the display appears to be floating.

(Embodiment 6) Three examples of the electronic device according to claim 7 of the present invention will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the appearance of the combination watch. 1001 and 1002 are analog display units, 1001 is a clock hand, and 1002 is a scale. Reference numerals 1003 and 1004 denote digital display units.
03 is a date display, and 1004 is a calendar display. The digital display is located above the analog display.

Although not different from the conventional combination watch in the drawing, the brightness is improved by 30% or more, and a clear display with few shadows is realized. In addition, the display can be colored red or blue, or glow to a desired color.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the appearance of a digital clock. Digital display 110 on the front of main body 1101
2. A fixed display 1103 is provided behind it. The digital display is a black liquid crystal display on a white background, and the fixed display is one in which green or blue colored plastic is adhered on a light scattering plate. This digital clock has an EL backlight, and the digital display can be illuminated in blue by pressing a switch at the top.

FIG. 12 is a view showing the appearance of the pocket game machine. A liquid crystal display 1202 is provided at the center of the main body 1201, and a fixed display 1203 is provided behind the liquid crystal display 1202. The liquid crystal display has a white background, but the display color varies depending on the location, and displays black, blue, brown, and red. The fixed display is on the light scattering plate.
It is printed with a pigment such as yellow, cyan, or black. Thus, the colorful display is suitable for a pocket game machine.

[0086]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a liquid crystal device which is bright and has few shadows. Further, it is possible to provide a liquid crystal device in which a display can appear floating, or the display can be colored or illuminated. Further, it is possible to provide an electronic device that performs an analog / digital composite display that is easy to view.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a reflective polarizer used in the liquid crystal device of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a display principle of the liquid crystal device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a display principle of a liquid crystal device according to a third embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a display principle of a liquid crystal device according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device according to a fifth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance of an electronic device (combination watch) according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention and a conventional electronic device.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an electronic device (digital clock) according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an appearance of an electronic device (pocket game machine) according to a sixth embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device used for a display unit of a conventional digital watch.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a main part of a structure of a liquid crystal device used for a display unit of a conventional combination watch.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating a display principle of a conventional liquid crystal device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 101 Absorption-type polarizing plate 102 Retardation film 103 Upper glass substrate 104 Transparent electrode 105 Liquid crystal layer 106 Sealing part 107 Lower glass substrate 108 Mechanical display member 109 Part where scales, characters, etc. were printed with paint 110 Light scattering plate 111 Reflection Type polarizing plate 112 Light absorbing plate 113 Void 201 Layer of material with high photoelastic modulus 202 Layer of material with low photoelastic modulus 203 Orthogonal coordinate system, x-axis direction is stretching direction

Claims (11)

[Claims] A liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal layer between a pair of substrates; a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel; and a reflection type disposed on the opposite side of the liquid crystal panel from the polarizing plate. A polarizing plate, and a member for rear display is provided between the reflective polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel, and the member for rear display and the liquid crystal panel are separated by a predetermined distance. A liquid crystal device, wherein the liquid crystal device is disposed. 2. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, further comprising a light source on a side opposite to the liquid crystal panel with the reflective polarizing plate interposed therebetween. 3. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, further comprising a layer that absorbs a specific color, on a side opposite to the liquid crystal panel with respect to the reflective polarizing plate. . 4. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, further comprising a light scattering plate between the reflective polarizing plate and the member for displaying the rear surface. 5. The liquid crystal device according to claim 4, wherein the member for displaying the back surface is a colored layer or an absorption layer provided in a partial region of the light scattering plate. Liquid crystal devices. 6. The liquid crystal device according to claim 1, wherein the member for displaying the back surface is a mechanical display member. 7. A liquid crystal panel in which liquid crystal is sandwiched between a pair of substrates, a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel, and a reflection type disposed on the opposite side of the liquid crystal panel from the polarizing plate. A liquid crystal device comprising: a polarizing plate; and a mechanical display member disposed between the liquid crystal panel and the reflective polarizing plate. 8. The liquid crystal device according to claim 7, wherein a light scattering plate is provided between the mechanical display member and the reflective polarizing plate. 9. The liquid crystal device according to claim 7, further comprising a light source on a side opposite to the liquid crystal panel with the reflective polarizing plate interposed therebetween. 10. An electronic apparatus comprising a liquid crystal device as a display portion thereof, wherein the liquid crystal device comprises: a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates; and a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel. A reflective polarizing plate disposed on the side opposite to the polarizing plate with respect to the liquid crystal panel, and a member for rear display is provided between the reflective polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel. A liquid crystal device, wherein the rear display member and the liquid crystal panel are arranged at a predetermined distance from each other. 11. A timepiece for displaying time by mechanically operated hands, comprising: a liquid crystal panel having a liquid crystal sandwiched between a pair of substrates; a polarizing plate disposed on one side of the liquid crystal panel; A reflective polarizing plate disposed on the opposite side to the polarizing plate with respect to the panel, wherein the needle is provided between the reflective polarizing plate and the liquid crystal panel, and the needle and the liquid crystal panel are provided. A timepiece wherein a liquid crystal panel is arranged at a predetermined distance.