Photo-Cured Side-Chain Alignment for LCD Cost Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional liquid crystal display devices of the MVA system face challenges in achieving good liquid crystal alignment, particularly with large mother glasses and substrates of special shapes, leading to increased production costs and complexity due to the need for alignment films, which can result in irregular film thickness and foreign matter infiltration.
Innovation Solution
A liquid crystal display device utilizing a photo-cured product with a side chain structure, formed by polymerizing a polymerizable component containing a polyfunctional monomer with a symmetrical structure, to control liquid crystal alignment near the substrate interfaces, eliminating the need for alignment films and enabling alignment on large or irregularly shaped substrates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If alignment films are used to control liquid crystal alignment, then liquid crystal alignment can be achieved, but production costs increase and film thickness irregularity occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts and eliminates the alignment film from the liquid crystal display device structure. Instead of using a separate alignment film layer, the alignment function is integrated directly into the substrate surface through photo-cured protrusions, thereby removing the source of thickness irregularity and reducing production costs associated with alignment film application and processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention merges the alignment function with the substrate structure by forming photo-cured protrusions directly on the substrate surface. This combines the structural support function of the substrate with the alignment control function, eliminating the need for a separate alignment film layer and reducing overall device complexity.
2Manufacturing precision
If alignment films are used to control liquid crystal alignment, then liquid crystal alignment can be achieved, but foreign matter infiltration occurs
Solution Approach 1:
By removing the alignment film layer entirely and replacing it with photo-cured protrusions formed directly on the substrate, the invention eliminates the interface where foreign matter could infiltrate between the alignment film and liquid crystal, thereby preventing contamination while maintaining alignment precision.
3Manufacturing precision
If conventional MVA system is used, then liquid crystal molecules can be vertically aligned, but production process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the alignment film processing steps from the production process while maintaining vertical alignment capability through photo-cured protrusions. This simplifies the production process by eliminating coating, drying, and rubbing steps associated with alignment films, reducing overall process complexity.
4Manufacturing precision
If alignment films are used, then liquid crystal alignment is controlled, but production time increases
Solution Approach 1:
By eliminating the alignment film application and processing steps and replacing them with a photo-curing process that can be performed in a single step, the invention significantly reduces production time while maintaining precise liquid crystal alignment control.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention replaces the mechanical rubbing process traditionally used to align liquid crystals on alignment films with a photo-curing process that uses light to induce alignment. This substitution eliminates time-consuming mechanical operations and enables faster, more efficient production.
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
This approach reduces production costs and ensures good liquid crystal alignment without the need for alignment films, facilitating the use of large mother glasses and special-shaped substrates, while improving display quality and simplifying the production process.
Implementation Method 1
a photo-cured product having a side chain structure for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystals, the photo-cured product being formed near the interfaces to the pair of substrates upon polymerizing a polymerizable component containing a polyfunctional monomer having a symmetrical structure mixed in the liquid crystals with light
Data Source
AI summary
A liquid crystal display device which is capable of further decreasing the cost of production yet obtaining a good liquid crystal alignment, and a method of producing the same. The liquid crystal display device comprises a pair of substrates arranged facing each other; a liquid crystal sealed between the substrates; and an ultraviolet ray-cured product for controlling the alignment of the liquid crystal. The ultraviolet ray-cured product is formed near the interfaces to the substrates by polymerizing a polymerizable component mixed in the liquid crystal with light. The polymerizable component contains a polyfunctional monomer having a symmetrical structure, and the ultraviolet ray-cured product has a side-chain structure.