Manufacturing process for electrophoretic display
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A process for manufacturing a micro-cup array, comprising:
- a. coating, onto a male mold having an array of protrusions adapted for forming the micro-cup array to be manufactured, a thermoset or thermoplastic precursor composition to form a contiguous precursor layer on the male mold;
b. contacting the precursor layer with a transfer sheet;
c. curing the precursor layer to form the micro-cup array; and
d. releasing the micro-cup array from the male mold.
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Abstract
This invention relates to a method of manufacturing a micro-cup array. Such an array may find use in a number of applications such as, for example, a video display. The micro-cups find particular use in electrophoretic or liquid crystal displays.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A process for manufacturing a micro-cup array, comprising:
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a. coating, onto a male mold having an array of protrusions adapted for forming the micro-cup array to be manufactured, a thermoset or thermoplastic precursor composition to form a contiguous precursor layer on the male mold;
b. contacting the precursor layer with a transfer sheet;
c. curing the precursor layer to form the micro-cup array; and
d. releasing the micro-cup array from the male mold. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A process for manufacturing a micro-cup array for an electrophoretic or liquid crystal display, comprising:
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a. coating, onto a male mold having an array of protrusions adapted for forming the micro-cup array to be manufactured, a thermoset or thermoplastic precursor composition to form a contiguous precursor layer on the male mold;
b. contacting the precursor layer with a transparent substrate having a patterned transparent conductor layer facing the precursor layer;
c. uniformly applying pressure to the substrate;
d. curing the precursor layer to form a micro-cup array adherent to the transparent substrate; and
e. releasing the micro-cup array from the male mold. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28)
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29. A process for the manufacture of an electrophoretic display, comprising:
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a. preparing an array of micro-cups on a conductor film by coating a layer of thermoset or thermoplastic precursor on a first conductor film followed by forming the array of micro-cups by embossing the precursor layer with a male mold or imagewise exposing the precursor layer and removing the unexposed areas;
b. filling the thus-formed micro-cups with a dielectric fluid containing at least a charged pigment suspension in a dielectric solvent or solvent mixture;
c. sealing the filled micro-cups to form an array of electrophoretic cells; and
d. laminating the array of electrophoretic cells, on a side of the array opposite the side facing the first conductor film, with a second conductor film pre-coated with an adhesive layer.
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30. A process for the manufacture of a multi-color electrophoretic display, comprising the steps of:
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a. preparing an array of micro-cups on a conductor film by coating a layer of thermoset or thermoplastic precursor on a first conductor film followed by forming the array of micro-cups by embossing the precursor layer with a male mold or imagewise exposing the precursor layer and removing the unexposed areas;
b. laminating the array of micro-cups with a layer of positive photoresist to seal the micro-cups;
c. imagewise exposing the positive photoresist to selectively open the micro-cups in a predetermined area;
d. filling the opened micro-cups with a dielectric fluid comprising at least a white pigment dispersion in a dielectric solvent or solvent mixture containing a dye or pigment dispersion of a first color;
e. sealing the filled micro-cups to form electrophoretic cells;
f. repeating steps c) to e) in different areas of the array using dielectric fluids of different colors;
g. removing any residual positive photoresist; and
h. laminating the array of electrophoretic cells, on a side of the array opposite the side facing the first conductor film, with a second conductor film precoated with an adhesive layer.
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Specification