Column Spacer Storage Hole LCD Cell Gap Stability
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Solution Overview
Problem
LCD devices with column spacers experience touch defects due to large contact areas, leading to substrate shifting, light leakage, uneven cell gaps, and dispersed liquid crystal alignment when subjected to external forces, as the column spacers take longer to return to their original position.
Innovation Solution
A column spacer is configured to contact the pixel electrode through a storage hole, restricting its movement to the bonding margin range and minimizing substrate shifting, thereby reducing light leakage and maintaining a uniform cell gap.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Stability of the object's composition
If a column spacer with large contact area is used to maintain cell gap, then the cell gap stability is improved, but substrate shifting and light leakage occur under external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention divides the spacer structure into multiple column spacers arranged in an array pattern across the substrate. Each column spacer independently maintains the cell gap in its local region, distributing the mechanical load and preventing large-scale substrate shifting while maintaining overall cell gap stability.
Solution Approach 2:
The column spacers are pre-formed on the substrate before liquid crystal injection and sealant application. This preliminary positioning ensures that the spacers are already in place to maintain cell gap stability from the beginning of device assembly, preventing substrate shifting during subsequent processing steps.
2Manufacturing precision
If a column spacer with large contact area is used, then manufacturing precision is improved, but touch defects and wrinkles appear under external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The invention uses multiple small column spacers distributed locally across the substrate rather than a single large spacer. Each column spacer provides localized cell gap maintenance with minimal contact area, reducing the generation of touch defects and wrinkles while maintaining overall manufacturing precision through their collective arrangement.
3Device complexity
If column spacers are used to maintain cell gap, then device complexity is reduced, but substrate shifting occurs under external forces
Solution Approach 1:
The spacer system is segmented into multiple column spacers that work collectively. This segmentation maintains relative structural simplicity of individual spacers while the distributed arrangement provides enhanced reliability by preventing substrate shifting through multiple contact points across the device area.
Data Source
AI summary
An LCD device according to the present invention includes having first and second substrates facing each other gate and data lines crossing each other to define a pixel region, a thin film transistor including a gate electrode protruding from the gate line, a source electrode protruding from the data line and a drain electrode spaced from the source electrode at a predetermined interval, a metal pattern over a predetermined portion of the gate line, a passivation layer over the data line and the metal pattern to have a contact hole exposing the drain electrode and a storage hole exposing the metal pattern, a pixel electrode on the pixel region over the contact hole and the storage hole, a column spacer contacting with the pixel electrode through the storage hole and a liquid crystal layer between the first and second substrates.