Liquid Crystal Lens Light Shade for Cell Gap Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing electrically-driven liquid crystal lenses face challenges in forming a gentle parabolic lens surface, alignment control of liquid crystals, high sag leading to increased liquid crystal quantity and cost, difficulty in reducing cell gap, and display grade deterioration due to discontinuous surfaces.
Innovation Solution
An electrically-driven liquid crystal lens with a light shade at the boundary of each lens region, allowing voltage control to reduce cell gap, and a stereoscopic display device using this lens with switchable light shades to optimize cell gap and brightness.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If a liquid crystal layer is used to form an electrically-driven lens, then the lens can control light paths through voltage application, but the cell gap must be large (30 μm or more) to form a sufficient electric field, which increases the quantity and cost of liquid crystal
Solution Approach 1:
The lens is divided into multiple sub-regions with different voltage applications. By segmenting the electrode structure into first and second electrodes with different potentials, the patent creates localized electric fields that can form a complete lens profile without requiring a uniformly large cell gap throughout the entire structure.
Solution Approach 2:
Different regions of the liquid crystal layer are given different properties through selective voltage application. The patent applies voltage differently across the lens surface, creating strong electric fields only where needed to form the parabolic profile, rather than maintaining a large cell gap everywhere.
2Shape
If a large cell gap is used to ensure sufficient liquid crystal quantity for lens formation, then the lens can achieve the required sag, but the focal distance becomes excessively long
Solution Approach 1:
The lens formation process is segmented into regions with different voltage applications. This allows the patent to achieve the required lens sag through localized electric field effects rather than requiring a uniformly large cell gap, thereby reducing the focal distance.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the voltage parameter across different regions of the lens to optimize the balance between sag and focal distance. By applying higher voltages in specific regions, the lens achieves sufficient sag with a smaller overall cell gap, reducing focal distance.
3Manufacturing precision
If the lens region is divided into multiple sub-regions, then the lens profile can be controlled more precisely, but discontinuous surfaces are created at boundaries causing display grade deterioration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces asymmetric light shade structures at the boundaries between sub-regions. These light shades are positioned to compensate for the discontinuities created by segmentation, creating a visually continuous lens surface that maintains display quality while preserving the precision benefits of regional control.
Solution Approach 2:
The light shade acts as an intermediary element at the boundaries between sub-regions. It mediates the transition between different voltage-controlled regions, smoothing out the discontinuities and preventing display quality deterioration while maintaining precise lens profile control.
4Length of stationary object
If a light shade is added at the boundary of lens regions, then the cell gap can be reduced, but the light shade may cause brightness loss
Solution Approach 1:
The light shade is made dynamically controllable through voltage application. By switching the light shade on or off based on operational requirements, the system can optimize between cell gap reduction benefits and brightness maintenance, allowing the light shade to be transparent when not needed for boundary definition.
Solution Approach 2:
The light shade functionality is made reversible through voltage control. When the light shade is not needed for lens region separation, it can be switched off to recover brightness, allowing the system to discard the light-blocking function temporarily while maintaining the structural benefit of reduced cell gap.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The solution enables a precise and stable lens profile with reduced cell gap, minimizing brightness loss and maintaining display quality by creating a gentle parabolic lens shape and allowing switchable operation for 2D and 3D image display.
Implementation Method 1
incident light introduced into the liquid crystal layer undergoes different phase variations on a per position basis, and as a result, the liquid crystal layer is able to control the path of the incident light in the same manner as an actual lens
Implementation Method 2
optical anisotropy refers to a change in path or polarization of light to be emitted according to an incidence direction or polarization of incident light, which is caused by an elongated shape of liquid crystal molecules and the above-mentioned molecular arrangement direction
Implementation Method 3
polarization refers to a change in molecular arrangement direction according an electric field, which is caused as electrons in liquid crystal molecules are gathered to opposite sides of the liquid crystal molecules when the liquid crystal molecules are under the influence of an electric field
Implementation Method 4
Liquid crystal molecules of the liquid crystal layer are driven by an electric field created when voltages are applied to the two electrodes
Data Source
AI summary
Disclosed are an electrically-driven liquid crystal lens which includes a light shade to be switched on/off according to whether or not voltage is applied, reducing a cell gap of a liquid crystal layer, and a stereoscopic display device using the same, the electrically-driven liquid crystal lens includes first and second substrates opposite each other and each including plural lens regions and a light shade provided at a boundary of each lens region, first electrodes formed in a given direction on the first substrate in each lens region, a second electrode formed on the second substrate and having an aperture corresponding to the light shade, first and second light shade switching electrodes formed at the light shade and extending parallel to the first electrodes, a liquid crystal layer between both the substrates, and a polarizer plate formed above the second substrate and having a first transmission axis.