Reflection type liquid-crystal display unit

• US 6,507,378 B1
• Filed: 05/11/1999
• Issued: 01/14/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/11/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nitto Denko Corporation
• Inventors: Umemoto, Seiji, Takahira, Hitoshi, Yano, Shuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Sikes, William L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, DUNG T
• Application Number:
  US09/309,308
• Time in Patent Office: 1,344 Days
• Field of Search: 349/63, 349/64, 349/65, 362/31, 362/330
• US Class Current: 349/63
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0031 Reflecting element, sheet or layer
• CPC Class Codes: G02B 6/0048 with stepwise taper
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133553 Reflecting elements associated to illuminating devices G02F1/133605
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133615 Edge-illuminating devices, i.e. illuminating from the side
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133616 Front illuminating devices

Abstract

A reflection type liquid-crystal in which a light guide plate is in tight contact with a liquid-crystal display element having a reflecting layer through a bonding layer with refractive index in a range of from 1.40 to 1.55 and whole light transmittivity in a range of not less than 90%, the light guide plate being designed so that incident light from an incidence side surface is emitted from a lower surface through prismatic irregularities formed on an upper surface, and the light emitted from the lower surface takes maximum intensity at an angle of 30 degrees or less with respect to a normal to a plane of the lower surface, while maximum intensity of leakage light from the upper surface at that angle is not larger than ⅕ of the maximum intensity in the lower surface, and incident light from the lower surface is transmitted from the upper surface.

Claims

1. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit comprising:

a light guide plate having an upper surface, a lower surface and a light incident surface, said light guide plate being provided with a light emitting means constituted by prismatic irregularities formed on said upper surface, so that incident light from said incidence side surface is emitted from said lower surface by reflection of said light emitting means, and the light emitted from said lower surface takes maximum intensity in a direction at an angle of 30 degrees or less with respect to a normal to a reference plane defmed by said lower surface, while maximum intensity of leakage light from said upper surface in said direction at an angle of 30 degrees or less is not larger than ⅕

of the maximum intensity in said lower surface, while incident light from said lower surface is transmitted from said upper surface; and

a liquid-crystal display element provided with a reflection layer and disposed in contact on said lower surface of said light guide plate through a bonding layer, said bonding layer having a refractive index in a range of from 1.40 to 1.55 and whole light transmittivity in a range of not less than 90%.

2. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 1, in which said light emitting means has a structure in which continuous or discontinuous prismatic irregularities constituted by short sides and long sides are repeated at a pitch in a range of from 50 μ

m to 1.5 mm, each of said short sides being constituted by a slope which is inclined so as to descend from said incident side surface to an opposite end at an inclination angle in a range of from 30 to 40 degrees with respect to said reference plane defined by said lower surface and with a projection width in a range not larger than 40 μ

m, each of said long sides being constituted by a slope which is inclined at an inclination angle in a range of from over 0 to 10 degrees with respect to said reference plane, while a difference in inclination angle between all the slopes of said long sides is not larger than 5 degrees, and a difference in inclination angle between any adjacent two of said long sides is not larger than 1 degree, a projection area of any one of said long sides to said reference plane being 5 times or more as large as a projection area of any one of said short sides to said reference plane.

3. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 2, wherein a direction of ridges of said prismatic irregularities is within an angle range of ±

30 degrees with respect to a reference plane defined by said incident side surface.

4. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 3, wherein said light guide plate provided with a light source disposed on said incident side surface is used as a planer light source unit.

5. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 2, wherein said light guide plate provided with a light source disposed on said incident side surface is used as a planer light source unit.

6. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 1, wherein a direction of ridges of said prismatic irregularities is within an angle range of ±

30 degrees with respect to a reference plane defined by said incident side surface.

7. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 6, wherein said light guide plate provided with a light source disposed on said incident side surface is used as a planer light source unit. respect to a reference plane defined by said incident side surface.

8. A reflection type liquid-crystal display unit according to claim 1, wherein said light guide plate provided with a light source disposed on said incident side surface is used as a planer light source unit.