EP0272585A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Liquid crystal optical device and process for its production.
Assignee: AGC Inc
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Filing: 1987-12-15
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2007-12-15
Abstract
Abstract A liquid crystal optical device comprising a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a layer containing a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein said layer is formed by irradiating light to a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes, to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Inventors
- 👤 Tomoki Gunjima
- 👤 Hiroshi Kumai
- 👤 Shoichi Tsuchiya
- 👤 Kaoriko Masuda
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-26 03:45
CPC Classifications
C; C09; C09K; C09K19/00; C09K19/52; C09K19/54; C09K19/542; C09K19/544; C09K2019/546; C09K2323/00; C09K2323/05; C09K2323/057; G; G02; G02F; G02F1/00; G02F1/01; G02F1/13; G02F1/133; G02F1/1333; G02F1/1334; G02F1/13347
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 14
Claim 1
Independent Claim
132 words
A liquid crystal optical device comprising a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a layer containing a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein said layer is formed by irradiating light to a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes, to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
132 words
A liquid crystal optical device comprising a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a layer containing a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein said layer is formed by irradiating light to a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes, to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
51 words
The liquid crystal optical device according to Claim 1, wherein the photo-curable vinyl compound is selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to the ordinary refractive index (n₀) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, and the nematic liquid crystal material has a positive dielectric anisotropy.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
The liquid crystal optical device according to Claim 1, wherein the photo-curable vinyl compound contains from 15 to 70% by weight of an acryl oligomer.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The liquid crystal optical device according to Claim 1, wherein the substrates provided with electrodes are plastic substrates provided with transparent electrodes.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
27 words
The liquid crystal optical device according to Claim 4, wherein a protective sheet is laminated on the outer side of at least one of the plastic substrates.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
48 words
The liquid crystal optical device according to Claim 5, wherein the protective sheet is a glass sheet, and the glass sheet is bonded by polyvinyl butyral to the outer side of each of the plastic substrates provided with transparent electrodes, integrally in the form of a laminated glass.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
144 words
A process for producing a liquid crystal optical device, which comprises supplying a mixture of a liquid crystal material and a resin between a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and curing the mixture, wherein used as said mixture is a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, and the solution is held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes and irradiated with light to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
144 words
A process for producing a liquid crystal optical device, which comprises supplying a mixture of a liquid crystal material and a resin between a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and curing the mixture, wherein used as said mixture is a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, and the solution is held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes and irradiated with light to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
45 words
The process according to Claim 7, wherein the photo-curable vinyl compound is selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
52 words
The process according to Claim 7 or 8, wherein the solution of the nematic liquid crystal material and the photo-curable vinyl compound is supplied onto one of the substrates provided with electrodes, and then, the other substrate is overlaid thereon, followed by the irradiation with light to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
46 words
The process according to Claim 7, 8 or 9, wherein a spacer to secure a cell gap is introduced together with the solution, or before or after the supply of the solution onto one of the substrates and prior to the overlaying of the other substrate.
Claim 13
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for operating a liquid crystal optical device comprising a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a layer containing a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein a liquid crystal optical device prepared by irradiating light to a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes, to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product, is used, and wherein when a voltage is to be applied, an AC voltage is applied, and when no voltage is applied, the two electrodes are short-circuited with an impedance lower than the impedance of the layer comprising the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
Claim 14
Independent Claim
185 words
A method for operating a liquid crystal optical device comprising a pair of substrates provided with electrodes and a layer containing a liquid crystal material sandwiched between the pair of substrates, wherein a liquid crystal optical device prepared by irradiating light to a solution of a nematic liquid crystal material and a photo-curable vinyl compound selected so that the refractive index of the resulting cured product agrees to either the ordinary refractive index (n₀) or the extraordinary refractive index (n e ) of the nematic liquid crystal material used, or the refractive index (n x ) of the nematic liquid crystal material when it is randomly oriented, held between the pair of substrates provided with electrodes, to cure the photo-curable vinyl compound and fix the resulting phase separation of the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product, is used, and wherein when a voltage is to be applied, an AC voltage is applied, and when no voltage is applied, the two electrodes are short-circuited with an impedance lower than the impedance of the layer comprising the nematic liquid crystal material and the cured product.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
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