The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device, and particularly to a liquid crystal display device provided with spacers sandwiched between a pair of opposing substrates with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween.
Placement of spacers between a pair of opposing substrates with a liquid crystal layer therebetween can establish a uniform thickness of the liquid crystal layer and thereby prevent occurrence of non-uniformity in a displayed image.
Beads, for example, are used as spacers. Initially beads are dispersed on a surface of one of a pair of substrates facing toward a liquid crystal layer, and then the other of the pair of substrates is overlapped over the one of the pair. But the surfaces of the substrates are uneven, some spacers are positioned in indented portions in the surfaces of the substrates, others are positioned in raised portions in the surfaces in the substrates, and consequently, the desired spacing between the pair of substrates are not sometimes obtained.
There is another type of spacers which are fixed at predetermined positions on a surface of one of a pair of substrates facing toward a liquid crystal layer before the other of the pair of substrates is overlapped over the one of the pair. The spacers are formed only on indented portions in the uneven substrate, for example, and consequently, the desired spacing between the pair of substrates is obtained.
Spacers are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-76131 (laid-open on Mar. 22, 1996), Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-114809 (laid-open on May 7, 1996) and Japanese Patent No. 2,907,137 (registered on Apr. 2, 1999).