JPS5912418A - Liquid crystal-optical shutter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To widen the degree of freedom in design and manufacture and to facilitate the manufacture of a shutter array having high resolution and reliability by forming an upper electrode which generates a horizontal electric field into a belt-like construction and combining the same with a lower electrode which generates a vertical electric field into a matrix. CONSTITUTION:Belt-like common electrodes 91, 92 and ground electrodes 81-83 are disposed apart from each other at gaps l5 to upper electrodes. On the other hand, stair step signal electrodes 101-103 are provided to lower electrodes as a counter substrate. The electrodes 91, 92 (shown by dotted lines) and the signal electrodes 101-103 are combined in a matrix when the upper and lower electrodes are combined. A positive dielectric liquid crystal is oriented at 45 to the striped electrodes on the upper and lower electrode surfaces and polarization plates intersecting orthogonally with each other are disposed on both sides. When a voltage Vc is applied to the electrode 91 and the electrode 101 is grounded, the liquid crystal is perpendicularly oriented to a dark state. When a voltage Vd approximate to Vc is applied to the electrode 101, the liquid crystal turns to the bright state. Thus, the shutter having a high degree of freedom in design and manufacture and having high resolution and reliability is obtd.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a liquid crystal-optical shutter, and more particularly to a novel liquid crystal-optical shutter that can be applied to an optical shutter array of a printer using an electrophotographic method.

Now, regarding printers these days, high speed, high density, low price,
Demand for equipment that satisfies conditions such as low noise and high reliability is particularly increasing. Kneading is based on the need for an output mechanism that adapts to kneading, with the development of heavy child technology in the transmission, processing, and creation of information. Most of the signals derived as output information are electrical signals themselves or those that can be converted into electrical signals. Inkjet, multi-stylus wire tod, etc. are used as printer electrical information output terminals.
Laser beam printers and the like have been used. Printers using electronic copying devices having photosensitive drums are widely used. However, printers using this laser beam are expensive and have the drawback of being extremely sensitive to mechanical and optical precision. A solid-state optical shutter array is being considered as an alternative.

However, until now, an optical shutter array that satisfies various conditions has not been put into practical use. There are many candidates for electro-optical elements, materials, and devices as technologies for realizing solid-state shutter arrays. Among these, methods using liquid crystals have attracted attention from an early stage because of their ease of manufacture and the ability to achieve optical modulation with low voltage and low power. However, liquid crystals have been abandoned by many researchers as a technology to replace laser beams due to their slow response speed and difficulty in time-division driving. However, efforts have been made for many years to make liquid crystals operate at high speed. However, the proposals so far have not been able to summarize the technologies that are superior to laser beams. This was partly due to insufficient understanding of the electro-optical phenomenon of liquid crystals and the preconception that they were not suitable for high speed and high density as mentioned above.

Conventional technologies for high-speed metering liquid crystal devices that have been used to realize this type of device 1L include (1) a two-frequency method and (2) a method using a forced electric field in two directions.

The method based on the two-frequency method is described in JP-A-56-94577 and other publications, so a detailed explanation will be omitted. It uses a liquid crystal composition that exhibits anisotropy, selectively switches the applied frequency, and is based on the principle that it is possible to optically distinguish when the liquid crystal is aligned in the direction of the electric field and when it is aligned in the direction perpendicular to the electric field. There is. Generally, the response speed of a liquid crystal increases as the applied voltage increases. Therefore, if one of the two orientation directions produces a bright state and the other orientation produces a dark state, switching between these two states can be achieved by forcibly applying voltage to both, so the response is acceptable. High-speed response is possible by applying as large a voltage as possible. In addition, in order to increase the response speed, it is necessary to use a composition that has low viscosity and exhibits large positive and negative dielectric anisotropy.
To lower the viscosity, we must operate at as high a temperature as possible, to make the cell thickness as thin as possible so that voltage can be applied efficiently, and to control the orientation of the substrate and inside the liquid crystal for easier response. There are methods such as using additives. All of these have their own limits in terms of practicality. For example, if the applied voltage is too high, it may be difficult to create a suitable IC for driving this shutter array, leading to increased costs, and it may also cause dielectric breakdown of the liquid crystal between the electrodes.

Also, if the cell thickness is made too thin, special techniques for maintaining a uniform cell thickness, such as electrode substrates, will impede reliability. Therefore, for example, when the following conditions are set: a favorable operating voltage of 50V or less, an operating temperature of 40°C or less, a cell thickness of 6μ or more, appropriate substrate alignment treatment, and addition of additives to aid alignment within the liquid crystal, the response speed is In order to speed up the process, a composition with large positive and negative dielectric anisotropy is required. However, with the current technology, the values of positive and negative dielectric anisotropy of liquid crystals used in the two-frequency method are Positive dielectric anisotropy has been obtained up to about +6, and negative dielectric anisotropy has been obtained only up to a little over 2. Ordinarily, in compositions that utilize only positive dielectric anisotropy, such as those used in watches and calculators, compositions with a dielectric anisotropy of about +9 are also used. Although the response speed has been increased by using two frequencies or a high voltage, due to material limitations (in particular, the lower absolute value determines the slower response), the response has reached its limit. You can also see it.

The response speed when using each upper limit under the above conditions is actually a value of 1 to 27X sec, where one cycle includes rising (opening), saturation, and falling (closing). .

In this way, the two-frequency method has disadvantages in that it is difficult to find materials with large absolute dielectric anisotropy values, and the smaller dielectric anisotropy value limits the response speed. has. Another disadvantage of the two-frequency method is that it requires a high frequency, typically 100 KHz, as one of the frequencies, resulting in increased power consumption. On the other hand, ideas and proposals have been presented for methods using forced electric fields in two directions. However, there are various problems from a practical perspective, such as the idea and understanding of the phenomenon occurring was inaccurate, and the application to shutter arrays was not considered. There are 7.

Regarding applications in which multiple electrodes are provided on the surface of a single substrate and electro-optical phenomena are generated in liquid crystals by applying a voltage parallel to the substrate surface, until now we have mainly focused on liquid crystals that operate between electrodes placed between opposing substrates. Although it has been delayed since the time when the proposal was made, the
, Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-14119, etc. Since then, as seen in many proposals, most of the proposals have applied a voltage in the direction of the substrate surface and attempted to utilize the resulting optical changes. The idea was to use physical changes. For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 49-18597 proposes to utilize the clouding phenomenon that occurs between a plurality of strip-shaped electrodes as a display. However, when electro-optical operation of the liquid crystal is actually caused by such a lateral voltage or electric field, the electric field strength required for the operation of the liquid crystal is about 10'V/m. Therefore, if a gap of about 1tYn is provided between the electrodes and an attempt is made to observe or optically detect electro-optical changes between the electrodes, 10,000 volts will be required. As a means to solve this problem, many examples of using comb-shaped electrodes have been proposed as a method of arranging very fine gaps at high density. This method involves comb-shaped electrodes that are close to each other facing each other, and the electro-optical changes that occur between them are caused with low voltage and high density, and are made directly visible. However, this method has no particular advantage over a normal liquid crystal cell in which two opposing substrates are formed close to each other, and is rarely used. In other words, it requires a technique to form patterned electrodes in a comb tooth shape with high precision, and has the disadvantage that pattern formation for use in segment displays, which are usually used with such electrodes, becomes complicated. was. These methods apply a voltage or electric field in the direction of the substrate surface, but from the viewpoint of quick response of the liquid crystal, the voltage applied between two opposing substrates, or the electric field generated by this (
A proposal to use two-way control of liquid crystals using electric fields in two different directions: one (hereinafter referred to as the vertical electric field) and the voltage or electric field between multiple electrodes in the plane of the substrate (hereinafter referred to as the transverse electric field). (D, J, Channjn: A
ppl, Phys, Lett, 28(6), 1976
).

Normal LCD operation mode is "rising" or "falling" 1
A voltage is applied in one direction to either of them to cause one orientation change, and then when the voltage falls (or rises), the voltage is removed and a certain stable orientation state due to the natural restoring force is created. It takes advantage of being relaxed. Therefore, the natural restoring force is difficult to force due to external fields, and it is necessary to align the walls that make up the cell, reduce the cell thickness to reduce the influence of the walls, and intermolecular forces inside the liquid crystal. Addition of optically active substances to promote this, and lower viscosity (
Addition of low viscosity agent, heating - external field but does not determine directionality of orientation).

Although these methods have been thoroughly researched and improved, the return of orientation due to natural slow rolling has generally not been possible at less than 1 m5ec. As mentioned above, the speed of the forced orientation change due to the applied voltage is inversely proportional to the square of the applied voltage. Therefore, a liquid crystal that shows a response of 100 m5ec at 1V will show a response of 1m5ec at 10V. In reality, the proportional coefficient is larger than 1, so the response is a little slower, but the effect of the voltage is extremely large. Therefore, by switching the voltage in two directions, it is possible to control the liquid crystal with large dielectric anisotropy as mentioned above. The characteristics are the moat\
Can be used. Against this background, proposals for use in shutter arrays have recently been made.

The conventional technology of shutter arrays will be explained by Akihiko Sugimura, Hideaki Nakatsuka, Kosuke Moriwaki, Takao Kawamura, Proceedings of the 29th Applied Physics Association Lecture Proceedings P5126. FIG. 1 shows an electrode structure that allows application of fields and fields in two directions. 1st
Figure (a) shows the cross-sectional structure of this cell. Indium (abbreviated as ITO) is often used.

22.23.

24 is a signal electrode, which is also made of ITO.

30, 31, 32, 33, and 34 are common ground electrodes. The cell is constructed by keeping the distance between the two electrode substrates at 9 μm, for example, and sealing the liquid crystal 41 between them. The opposing surfaces of one signal electrode and one common electrode serve as a shutter opening. The density of the signal electrodes is actually 10/200 I! −
It is assumed that 2000 pieces are arranged in a row.

The sealed liquid crystal 41 is of a signal type (45 with respect to the rectangular direction Vc of the temporary line) as shown by the arrow 51 in FIG. 1(1)).
The counter substrate is also horizontally aligned in the corresponding direction. Liquid crystal used:
It has di-1bi anisotropy (abbreviated as Np liquid crystal) of It is placed in the state of. Next, the operation of this cell is shown in FIG.

A positive pressure is always applied to the common electrode 12. −
As an example, a 10 KHz + 40 V sine wave is applied. 31.32 connected to the ground type '@1.60 is always grounded. Figure 2 (Al is in the closed state. The signal type 5 pole 22 is in the grounded state. Therefore, there is a potential difference of Vc between the opposing surfaces of 12 and 22, which should be the opening, and the Np liquid crystal is vertically aligned. However, it appears as a dark pass between crossed nicols.Incidentally, at this time, Vc is also applied between 231.52 and ÷ki, so
It is dark outside the opening.

Next, in FIG. 2 (bl indicates an open state (bright state). When a voltage Vd close to Vc is applied to the signal electrode 22, a potential difference is generated between the signal electrode 22 and the ground electrode 3L32, and a lateral electric field (
(intertwined with transverse electric field) occurs. Inside the signal electrode, Vc and Vd
Accordingly, the potential difference between the common electrode 12 and the signal electrode 22 can be reduced. At this time, the alignment of the transverse electric field caused by the gap V between 22 and the ground bucket becomes dominant, and the liquid crystal 41 shown in FIG. 2(b) becomes parallel at the opening. If this orientation completely coincides with the horizontal direction, that is, the polarization direction 61 shown in FIG.
d is slightly different, and the initial orientation is in the direction of the cumulative electric field 1 and 4.
Due to the 5° deviation, selecting the voltage of Vd affects the polarization angle and allows light to pass through. Figure 6 shows the relationship between the temporal changes of Figure 2 (al l (bl). At the same frequency, Vd is set to Vc.Therefore, the voltage between the ground electrode and the common electrode 12 is as shown by 71, but it becomes smaller as shown by the dotted line 72.

As shown in Figure 3 (al), the change in the amount of transmitted light caused by this is an orientation induced by the transverse electric field between the gaps, and shows a rise as shown at 11.Subsequently, Vd is applied. When Vd is switched to ground, the potential difference of τ Vc acts strongly and returns to the vertical alignment and returns to the dark state in time 17, a. Having a region where the amount of transmitted light is completely saturated is the substantial amount 1]
It is important for the childish taste that makes it bigger. This relationship is shown in Figure 4 (a
) to (d). FIG. 4(a) shows an ideal state in which when pressure is applied, the amount of transmitted light I immediately saturates, and when the pressure is removed, it immediately returns to the dark state. The aperture ratio at this time is 67. Furthermore, in Figure 4 (cl, it is 50, and in Figure 4 (dl, it is a case where it is erased before reaching the saturation value. Opening time = J'o) In the above example, the value of !0 when the opening weight is at least 50% higher is 500.
μsec is possible. In this way, as mentioned above, the current limit for dual frequencies is about 1 m5 ec, whereas control using electric fields in two directions is superior in that it allows for 500 μsec.

However, there are the following disadvantages in applying this method to an actual shutter array.

In other words, the first figure price) shows the actual dimensions.
However, when actually trying to provide, for example, 2,000 openings in a length of 200 υm, the dimensions of 131.12 and 13 are constrained from the viewpoint of specifications, manufacturing technology, practical operation, etc.
Ru.

Fortunately, in the case of having the above-mentioned 10% m aperture, the pitch between adjacent apertures is 100 μm, and 11 is 100 μm.
m or less, which is a value at which a practical response speed can be obtained for transmitting the above-mentioned orientation change.

12, the electrodes needed to generate the transverse electric field may be too large.

As mentioned earlier, this value is f110'V, and the electric field strength in the 41 range is the standard for liquid crystal operation. is preferably 10 μm or less. By the way, if one attempts to pattern a high-precision gap of 10 μm or less to a length of 200 yen with high precision, it is not only technologically advanced, but also increases the price of the product. Also, the electrode configuration in this part and 1. Then, 14-212+
It is inevitable that there will be a gap of 13. 12, 13 to 1
When set to 0μm, this gap increases to 50μm, 100
At a pitch of μm, it reaches 30%. Although 12 may contribute to actual electro-optical operation, 13 is always in a dark state, and at least 10% of the aperture will have a gap. If this lak is made too thin, the resistance value may increase or it may easily cause a failure due to disconnection.

One operational defect among these many openings appears as a line defect on the printed material in the electronic printing process. In practical terms, it is important that the structure has a structure that makes it difficult for defects to occur.

Next, in the above example, when ll is 70 μm, 2000 signal electrodes come out on one side across 200 wVC at a density of 10 electrodes/electrode. This poses an extremely large disadvantage in terms of implementation. That is, although it is technically possible to connect 200 wires to the drive circuit with 10 wires/+++I+, it has drawbacks that cannot be guaranteed in terms of high reliability and low cost.

The disadvantage of this structure is that time-division driving is not possible. To electrically control 2000 signal electrodes independently for 2000 14i ports of the shutter array requires 2000 drive IC bins to be connected. This means that one ICVC 50 bin has 0 connections.
T function is 2000÷5[)-40, that is, 40 ICs.
i will be using it. A large number of ICs increases cost and is also disadvantageous in terms of reliability.

The first object of the present invention is to eliminate all the drawbacks of the above-mentioned conventional example, and at the same time, to provide a simple electrode structure and increase the degree of freedom in design and manufacturing.
The purpose of this invention is to provide a complete liquid crystal-optical shutter that can be used in a wide variety of applications.

The 42nd object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal that can be manufactured easily, achieves high reliability and improved yield, and can be supplied at a low price by making the gap pattern of the front J-W simple and simple. - To provide an optical shutter - A sixth object of the present invention is that the wiring density can be reduced to 1/4 or less, and the number of ICs can be reduced to 1/2 or less. The object of the present invention is to provide an advantageous liquid crystal-optical shutter with high reliability and low cost.

Furthermore, a fourth object of the present invention is to provide a liquid crystal-optical shirt shirt in which the gap in the opening Mi+I can be substantially eliminated and the pole arrangement elbow can be made more comfortable.

Such an object of the present invention is to provide an upper substrate having a transverse center field generating portion that occurs only in this small gap by a plurality of band-shaped common electrodes and auxiliary electrodes adjacent to the common electrodes with a small gap.
In a liquid crystal cell, in which multiple signal electrodes are provided in positions facing the common electrode, a lower substrate that can apply a vertical electric field between them and the common electrode, and a liquid crystal whose molecular orientation changes depending on the electric field between the two, This is achieved by a liquid crystal optical shutter array in which electrodes and signal +3 electrodes are wired in a matrix.

The basic structure of the electrode according to the present invention is shown in FIG.

FIG. 5 (Al is the structure of the upper electrode used in the configuration according to the present invention. 91.92 is the two common electrodes, 81° 82.
83 is a ground electrode. These electrodes I\i1 are arranged in an insulating manner with a gap 15 between the electrodes. On the other hand, a lower electrode serving as a counter substrate is shown in FIG. 5(b)K. 101, 1.02, 103 are signal type, poles, preferably formed in a P shape, by the upper and lower substrates □
The dotted line indicates the position of the common electrode when the cell is configured.

Although the terminals of the signal electrodes can be brought out only on one side, this structure in which they are led alternately to the end of the cell allows the wiring connection density to the drive circuit section to be 4 or less.

Next, we will explain the operation of this configuration in Figure 6 (a) l (b
) and how many.

The liquid crystal and orientation used can be any divine liquid crystal mode, but for the sake of explanation, the same one as in the conventional example described above will be used. That is, the Np liquid crystal is shown in Figure 5 (b1201゜202,
The stripe electrodes are oriented in the 45'' direction on the upper and lower electrode surfaces, and the polarizers are crossed nicols as shown by 301.302.FIG. 6 shows the common electrode 91 and the ground electrode 81.
82 is shown at a portion facing the signal electrode 101. The electrodes 81 and 82 are always grounded [2], and Vc is always applied to the common electrode 91. FIG. 6 (al indicates the closed width. At this time, the signal electrode 101 carries gold in a grounded state. A potential difference of VC is generated between the common electrode 91 and the signal electrode 101, the Np liquid crystal becomes vertically aligned, and it is dark between crossed nicols. Figure 6(b) shows the Sekiguchi state (bright state).

At this time, the signal electrode 101 selects Vd. Vd has the same frequency and phase as the sine wave of Va, and a voltage approximately close to Vc is applied. Therefore, the potential difference between 91 and 101 is relatively small, and the orientation due to the transverse electric field between 91 and the ground electrodes 81 and 82 becomes dominant. The polarization direction changes depending on the orientation at this time, and the light passes between crossed nicols. The differences in operation from the conventional example are shown in Figure 2 (al closed state (dark) and WX
6 @ As is clear from comparing the closed state in (a), the method according to the present invention behaves differently in the overlapping portion of the ground electrode and the signal electrode (corresponding to the square in FIG. 6). That is, in the common electrode part opposite to the ground electrode in FIG. 2, Vc is always applied, so it is in a dark state, but in FIG. 5, the liquid crystal 41 is arranged parallel to the electrode surface. At this time, if they are completely parallel, a dark state will occur between crossed nicols, but light leaks due to the influence of the initial orientation and because the molecular orientation becomes oblique between 81 and 101 transiently. In order to avoid this, the present invention uses a light-opaque conductive member for the ground electrodes 81 and 82. In other words, it is a metal electrode,
kl, Cr+Au+Ag+Mor N1, etc. are used.

As can be understood from the above invention, the structure of the present invention is such that the upper electrode generates a transverse electric field, and each signal electrode of the lower electrode generates a vertical electric field, so that the function of the electric field generation direction is separated into the upper and lower electrodes. By selecting such a structure, an extremely simple pattern as shown in FIG. 5 could be obtained.

Furthermore, with this electrode configuration, any opening 1] can be selectively opened (
This section explains how to make the screen bright (bright state). Figure 6 (al + (
In the explanation in b), it was shown that the voltage of Vc is always applied to the m common electrode 91, but if Vc is also applied to the m common electrode 92 at this time, when the signal of the electrode 101 is Vd0, both will be in the open state at the same time. Therefore, it is possible for each signal electrode to exhibit an independent open/close state with respect to 91.92. In the present invention, a selective signal is sent to the common electrode (indicated by C) and the signal electrode (indicated by R). VC is applied to each shutter opening in a selectively open state.

FIG. 7 shows the connection of drive signals when the upper cylinder, pole, and lower electrode are combined. 81.82.83 grounding am is always in the grounded state. First, the voltage Vc of the power supply 501 is applied to the common electrode 91, and at this time, the common electrode 92; h Ground the electrode. 91
When Vc is applied to 101, 102 and 103, the 'If voltage Vdl of the power supply 502 is applied if they are open, and the ground potential is applied if they are closed. Next, connect 91 to ground and 92 to V
c is applied, and an opening or closing signal for 92 is applied to each signal electrode. The method in which the common electrodes and electrodes are sequentially turned on in this way and timing is applied to simultaneously apply open and close signals to the signal electrodes of one common electrode is called line sequential scanning, but in this invention, the method is called line sequential scanning. This line-sequential scanning can be used. When the common electrode CKVc is applied, it is indicated as ON, and the ground state is indicated as OFF', and the signal 'electrode R is also V.
Turn on when d is applied.

The table below shows the brightness and darkness of these combinations when the ground is set to OFF.

By the way, the problem here is that the common electrode also receives the signal 't11.
; The pole is also in the OFF state. Normally, the liquid crystal alignment in a state where no Ichikawa is applied at all reaches some kind of stable state between the original alignment state of the liquid crystal and the alignment due to interaction with the wall. However, since the present invention uses an extremely rapid change in orientation, when there is no forced orientation due to an external force, the bright and dark portions (both are grounded) will maintain the orientation state at the last timing. In other words, when the immediately preceding state is in the bright state, the shutter remains open. In this sense, a signal is applied to turn one of the electrodes ON just before the OFF/('')FF state, so that the orientation in the dark state at this time is maintained.

This is how it works by using 0FF1 in the table above.
At 0FF, (lSt) is marked with an American mark.Also, to avoid misunderstanding, (cl in Fig. 6 indicates the alignment state of the liquid crystal.However, just before reaching 0FF10FF, either the C or R electrode Since a dark state is created by a very short ON timing, it actually indicates a vertically aligned state.

By using the electrode structure according to the present invention as described above, firstly, the electrode structure can be extremely simple. In Figure 5 (&l), it is only necessary to form electrodes with a linear inter-electrode gap as indicated by 15. Next, in the IC, the pattern shown in Figure 5 (bl) can be arranged at an interval twice the pitch of the signal! electrodes, and the gap between the electrodes can be provided with a width equivalent to that of the signal electrode.Width of the signal electrode. 47 is determined by the resolution of the shutter array. That is, to obtain the resolution of 10 lines/dragon, 17 is 100 μm. Therefore, the gap of /8 is also 11]i
It becomes 1 μm. Formation of a pattern allowing a gap of about 100 μm can be easily achieved by photolithography.

In this application example, the common electrode is divided into two and time-divisionally driven, so the number of lead terminals for the signal electrodes can be half of that of the conventional one. This is extremely advantageous since the rc used can be halved. Furthermore, the instructions indicate that these lead terminals should be led alternately upward and downward to the cell end face, but this allows all the terminals to be guided to one side (the wiring density is one-fourth that of the conventional method, making it easier to implement). become.

Next, although the shutter openings are arranged in two stages, upper and lower, due to the common electrode, it is possible to reduce the gap between these openings to zero when performing optical writing on a photoreceptor that moves vertically in the paper. It has become.

In order to align the optically written points on the photoconductor by the apertures in this arrangement, adjust the pitch of 91 and 92, the moving speed of the photoconductor, and the opening time, and adjust the pitch corresponding to 91.92. , the serial signal for one line is passed through the buffer circuit and opened at the timing adjusted above.

FIG. 8 shows a modification of FIG. 7, showing a lower electrode structure 101.
102 and the common electrodes 91 and 92 extending therefrom are shown in a plan view when the surface formed by the open part 601 and the optical part 602 is formed.

This is the invention according to Figure 7, and the ground electrode of 81.82 is 10
Even if 1,401 is in a bright state at 0N10N, this ground electrode part was always required to be in a dark state, so we proposed using a metal M1 pole, but 401.40
When 2 is a transparent electrode and 81182.83 is a metal electrode, films of two kinds of materials are formed on the same substrate, and it is necessary to selectively etch these films. By the way, in the method shown in FIG. 8, it is possible to use a transparent conductive material for both the ground electrode and the common electrode. That is,
This is based on the fact that even if the structure is such that light leaks from the ground electrode section or transverse electric field generating section, these problems can be solved by cutting off the openings with a light-shielding material as shown in FIG.

This light shielding material q is formed by applying a light-impermeable material such as black paint to the outside of the cell substrate by means such as screen printing, or by forming it on the electrode surface side with an insulating material such as a polymeric material that does not interact with the liquid crystal. , FIG. 9 shows an example in which the number of time divisions is further increased to three.

The explanation of each symbol is the same as in the previous example. Opening 601
The signal electrodes 101 and 102 are arranged in three stages with respect to the common electrodes 91, 92, and 93, and the signal electrodes 101 and 102 are shifted by one dot with respect to the common electrodes, and each has one opening.

FIG. 10 shows a conceptual diagram of a shutter array constructed using this application example. 500 is a shutter array according to this invention. 602 is a shutter opening. In reality, it has many openings. For example, 16 pieces/ll1
6200 for a 2001 length shutter array of 1
It has several openings. 101 to 104 are signal electrode terminals, 9
Reference numerals 1, 92, and 93 denote signal electrode terminals, which are led from the common electrode substrate to the signal electrode side by electrical connections inside the cell. The same applies to the ground electrode terminal 80.

In this way, by using the method according to the present invention, it is possible in principle to provide a large number of time divisions.

In this example, compared to the conventional example in which one signal electrode is provided for one opening, only one-sixth the signal line is required, and instead of leading the signal line only on one side, the signal line is led alternately on both sides. As a result, the total wiring density becomes 141. This means, for example, when 2000 signal lines are installed for 200 tomocho, 50
A drive IC that can connect pin signal lines requires a connection density of 10 wires/wire and 40 TCff, but with this time division number of 6, the wiring density is approximately 1.7 wires/wire. 14 in density
This means that only a few ICs are needed, which is advantageous in lowering costs and improving reliability. However, if the number of time divisions is increased, the aperture time for each common electrode will be reduced by that amount, and the light source will have to be strengthened, and the arrangement of these factors will cause a difference in aperture time. Since it requires an additional line buffer, this v! 1. is limited. However, higher-density, higher-definition printing is required, and for this purpose, the ability to drive in time division is extremely important.

FIG. 11 shows the shutter array 701 of the present invention
FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment used in a Shigeko photographic printer.

In FIG. 11, a light source 702 is always on and constantly illuminates the liquid crystal-optical shutter array 701. The shutter array 701 transmits or totally reflects the light beam from the light source 702 using a liquid crystal drive circuit (not shown) to generate an optical signal, and can control the light beam irradiated onto the photosensitive drum 706 . - Also, the light beam from the light source 702 and the optical signal from the Nyatsuta array 701 are condensed (ZJ+
In order to obtain this, it is desirable to arrange thin lenses 704 and 705 in the optical path. Before the photosensitive drum 706 is irradiated with an optical signal, the photosensitive drum 706 is charged with a corona discharge device or the like in advance, and then the photosensitive drum 706 is charged with a positive or negative charge using a sub-tion 706.
At the portion of the photosensitive drum 7 [13 that is irradiated with light, the charged charges disappear and an electrostatic latent image is formed. The electrostatic latent image formed in this way is magnetically developed in the developing section 707 while applying a developing bias in the presence of a developer consisting of toner and carrier of the opposite polarity to the polarity at the time of charging, or of the same polarity when performing reversal development. Developed with brush developable gado7
After that, the image is transferred to an image holding member 709 (for example, paper) in a transfer unit 708, and then fixed in a fixing unit 710 using heat, pressure, etc., to obtain a completely fixed print.

The photoreceptor that receives the optical signal generated from the shutter array 701 is not limited to the electrophotographic type described above, but is also, for example, a silver halide photoreceptor (for example, a monochrome paper,
Color paper, 3M USA "Dry Silver"
etc.).

As explained above [7], the upper house generates a transverse electric field.

The structure in which a plurality of poles are provided in a strip-like structure and combined in a matrix with lower electrodes that are illuminated to generate a full vertical electric field produces the following h effect.

1. The degree of freedom in design has expanded, and high-resolution shutter arrays can now be easily created.

2. The pattern is simple and pattern processing is easy.

3. Packaging density can be lowered 4. Drive TC
can be reduced.

5. A light-shielding and holding reservoir structure can be easily obtained.

6. Stiffness, etc. As a comprehensive effect, there are many VCs that can make low-cost, highly reliable shutter arrays.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 8g1 (ai is a cross-sectional view of a conventional shutter array,
FIG. 1 (bl is a plan view thereof. FIG. 2 (al and FIG. 2(b) fi is an explanatory view showing the mode of operation of a conventional shutter array. FIGS. 3(a) and 3). Figure (b
1 is an explanatory diagram showing the response state of the shutter array. Figure 4 (al), Figure 4 (b), Figure 4 (C) and Figure 4
Figure (d) is an explanatory diagram showing the response state of the liquid crystal. Fifth
Figure Ta) is a plan view of one electrode structure of the shutter array of the present invention, and Figure 6 is a plan view of the other electrode structure of the shutter array of the present invention. (b), Fig. 6 (cl) and Fig. 6 (d) are explanatory diagrams showing the operating table of the 7-Year array of the present invention.
The figure is an explanatory diagram showing the operation circuit of the seven-shot shutter array of the present invention, FIG. 8 is a plan view of the seven-shot shutter array of the present invention, and FIG. 9 is a plan view of another shutter array of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a plan view showing an embodiment of the shutter array of the present invention. FIG. 11 shows the use of the shutter array of the present invention in a Shigeko photographic printer (i-series of seven embodiments).
, the opening of the country. 11...Substrate 12.91.92.93...Common electrode 21.2
2, 23, 24, 101, 102, 103...
Signal electrode 30.31.32.33, 81.82.83・
...Ground electrode 41...Liquid crystal 61.62...Polarizing plate 601...Light blocking section 602...Opening section 401.402... ... Switches 501, 502 ... Power supply patent applicant Canon Co., Ltd. agent Patent attorney Yoshi Marushima - No. 1 [-86・1U B

Claims (1)

[Claims] A substrate having a common electrode wired in a matrix and an auxiliary electrode arranged with a slight gap therebetween, and a substrate having a signal electrode divided into a plurality of parts and wired in a matrix at a position facing the common electrode, and the common electrode and the auxiliary electrode and means for generating a vertical electric field between the common electrode and the signal electrode, and the vertical electric field acts on the liquid crystal sealed between the two types of substrates. 1. A liquid crystal-optical shutter characterized in that one of transmission and blocking of incident light is controlled by changing the alignment direction of the liquid crystal when the liquid crystal is oriented and the alignment direction when a transverse electric field is applied to the liquid crystal.