Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system – Plural physical display element control system – Display elements arranged in matrix
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-16
2004-08-03
Shalwala, Bipin (Department: 2673)
Computer graphics processing and selective visual display system
Plural physical display element control system
Display elements arranged in matrix
C345S092000, C345S093000, C345S098000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06771239
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Industrial Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electro-optical device including an electro-optical material such as a liquid crystal disposed between electrodes, and particularly to a semiconductor device (hereinafter also referred to as an IC) used in an electro-optical device to drive an electro-optical material. More particularly, the present invention relates to a configuration of pixels in an active matrix electro-optical panel having an electro-optical material such as a liquid crystal disposed between a pair of substrates.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are various types of electro-optical devices designed to drive an electro-optical material between electrodes. One such device is a simple-matrix liquid crystal device which uses a liquid crystal as the electro-optical material and which includes, as shown in
FIG. 9
, a first substrate
1
made of transparent and alkali-free glass or the like and a second substrate
2
also made of transparent and alkali-free glass or the like wherein transparent electrodes are formed on the opposing surfaces of the respective substrates. Upon one of the substrates, there is disposed a sealing member
3
formed of a photo-setting resin or a thermosetting resin containing spacer elements by means of a printing technique or the like. The first substrate
1
and the second substrate
2
are adhesively bonded to each other via the sealing member
3
such that they are spaced a predetermined distance apart from each other. A liquid crystal is disposed and sealed in a sealing region
4
which is partitioned, by the sealing member
2
, within the gap between the first substrate
1
and the second substrate
2
.
In this liquid crystal device, the first substrate
1
is greater in size than the second substrate
2
, and thus the first substrate
1
, on which the second substrate
2
is disposed, extends outward from the lower surface of the second substrate
2
beyond an edge of the second substrate
2
. On the extending part of the first substrate
1
, an IC mounting area
9
is formed adjacent to the sealing region
4
, and a driving IC
14
is disposed in the IC mounting area
9
by means of a COG (chip on glass) technique. In an area adjacent to the IC mounting area
9
on the extending part, a plurality of input terminals
12
are formed along an edge of the first substrate
1
, and a flexible board
29
is connected to these input terminals
12
.
FIGS. 10 and 11
are plan views illustrating the layout patterns of transparent electrodes formed on the first substrate
1
and the second substrate
2
, respectively, of the liquid crystal device shown in FIG.
9
.
Referring to
FIG. 10
, an electrode pattern
70
formed on the inner surface of the first substrate
1
includes a plurality of stripe-shaped electrodes (first electrodes)
7
a
extending in a vertical direction within the sealing region
4
partitioned by the sealing member
3
(in an area denoted by an alternate long and short dash line L), and also includes wiring lines
7
b
formed outside the sealing region
4
so as to electrically connect the stripe-shaped electrodes
7
a
to the IC mounting area
9
. The electrode pattern
70
is made of an ITO (indium tin oxide) film or the like.
In
FIG. 11
, an electrode pattern
60
formed on the inner surface of the second substrate
2
includes a plurality of stripe-shaped electrodes (second electrodes)
6
a
extending in a horizontal direction within the sealing region
4
partitioned by the sealing member
3
(in the area denoted by the alternate long and short dash line L), and also includes wirings
6
b
formed outside the sealing region
4
so as to electrically connect the stripe-shaped electrodes
6
a
to the respective terminals. The electrode pattern
60
is also made of an ITO (indium tin oxide) film or the like.
The first substrate
1
and the second substrate
2
constructed in the above-described manner are adhesively bonded to each other such that the stripe-shaped electrodes
7
a
of the first substrate
1
and the stripe-shaped electrodes
6
a
of the second substrate
2
cross one another thereby forming a plurality of pixels at respective intersections in the form of a matrix. An alignment film (not shown) is formed over the entire surface of each substrate
1
and
2
.
In the state in which the first and second substrates
1
and
2
are adhesively bonded to each other, the terminals
7
c
of the first substrate
1
and the terminals
6
c
of the second substrate, shown in
FIGS. 10 and 11
, oppose one another. Therefore, if the sealing member
3
used to adhesively bonding the inner surface of the first substrate
1
to the inners surface of the second substrate
2
includes electrically conductive particles, the respective terminals
7
c
of the first substrate
1
are conducted to the corresponding terminals
6
c
of the second substrate
2
via the electrically conductive particles contained in the sealing member
3
. Thus, if a signal and electric power are supplied to the driving IC
14
via the flexible wiring board
29
, the driving IC
14
applies a voltage to a selected stripe-shaped electrode
6
a
and a selected stripe-shaped electrode
7
a
thereby controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal of a corresponding pixel (at the intersection of the stripe-shaped electrodes
6
a
and
7
a
). As a result, a corresponding image is displayed on the liquid crystal device
10
.
FIG. 12
illustrates another example of an electro-optical panel. In this electro-optical panel, an active matrix substrate (first substrate)
82
is formed by disposing pixels in a matrix fashion on the surface of a transparent substrate made of quartz glass or the like wherein each pixel includes a pixel electrode
88
and a thin film transistor (hereinafter referred to as a TFT) serving as a pixel switching device which will be described in detail later. An opposite substrate
83
(second substrate) is disposed opposite the active matrix substrate
82
, wherein the opposite substrate
83
is formed by disposing opposite electrodes
112
on the surface of a substrate made of glass having high heat resistance such as Neoceram. An electro-optical material
129
such as a liquid crystal is placed and sealed between the two substrates described above. The active matrix substrate
82
and the opposite substrate
83
are adhesively bonded to each other via a sealing material
200
′ containing spacer elements such that they are spaced a determined distance apart from each other. An electro-optical material sealing region
127
is formed in the gap between the two substrates by partitioning the gap with the sealing member
200
′, and the electro-optical material
129
is disposed in the electro-optical material sealing region
127
. The sealing member
200
′ containing spacer elements may be formed of an adhesive component such as an epoxy resin or an acrylic resin in which spacer elements such as glass beads are dispersed. Before adhesively bonding the active matrix substrate
82
and the opposite substrate
83
to each other, spacers
128
in the form of beads or fibers are placed in a dispersive fashion on the active matrix substrate
82
or the opposite substrate
83
so that the gap distance between the active matrix substrate
82
and the opposite substrate
83
bonded to each other is determined by the spacers
128
.
In the electro-optical panel
81
f
described above, a TFT (pixel switching device) is formed in each pixel as shown in
FIGS. 13 and 14
. In
FIGS. 13 and 14
, an underlying protective film
201
which is electrically insulating is formed on the surface of a transparent substrate
100
serving as a base element of the active matrix substrate
82
, and a silicon film
92
is formed in the shape of an island on the surface of the underlying protective film
201
. A gate insulating film
93
is formed on the surface of the silicon film
92
, and a scanning line
151
extends across the surface of the gate insulating film
93
so that the scanning
Dharia Prabodh
Gabrik Michael T.
Seiko Epson Corporation
Shalwala Bipin
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