Substrate of LCD device having external terminals covered with protective film and manufacturing method thereof

A liquid crystal display device comprising:

• a first substrate having an image display area defined on a principal surface of said first substrate and a terminal area defined in a partial area outside of the image display area;
• a plurality of first bus lines disposed on the image display area on the principal surface of said first substrate, an end portion of each of said first bus lines being formed in the terminal area;
• a first insulating film disposed over the principal surface of said first substrate, said first insulating film covering said first bus lines;
• a plurality of external terminals formed on the terminal area of said first substrate, each of the external terminals being electrically connected to a corresponding end portion of each of said first bus lines via a corresponding one of first contact holes formed through said first insulating film and reaching an upper surface of said end portion of each of the first bus lines;
• a protective film made of insulating material covering a partial area of upper surfaces of said external terminals so as not to cover at least partial areas of the upper surfaces of said external terminals near a border of said first substrate;
• a second substrate facing the principal surface of said first substrate and spaced apart by a gap from the principal surface, said second substrate having a common electrode formed on a surface facing said first substrate and being disposed so that a partial border of said second substrate passes an inner area of said protective film as viewed along a direction normal to said second substrate;
• and
• a sealing member for fixing said second substrate to said first substrate in a peripheral area of said second substrate and hermetically sealing the gap between said first and second substrates, and liquid crystal material filled in the gap between said first and second substrates;
• wherein said sealing member is fixed to said first substrate further from the border than the area where the protective film is located or at least partially in contact with the protective film.

A method of manufacturing a liquid crystal display device comprising the steps of:

• preparing a first substrate having an image display area defined on a principal surface of said first substrate and a terminal area defined in a partial area outside of the image display area, the first substrate being formed with:
• a plurality of first bus lines disposed on the image display area on the principal surface of the first substrate;
• a first insulating film disposed over the principal surface of the first substrate, the first insulating film covering said first bus lines;
• a plurality of external terminals formed on the terminal area of the first substrate, each of said external terminals being electrically connected to a corresponding end portion of each of the first bus lines via a corresponding one of first contact holes formed through the first insulating film and reaching an upper surface of the end portion of the first bus lines;
• a protective film made of insulating material covering a partial area of an upper surface of the external terminals so as not to cover at least a partial area of the upper surface of the external terminals near a border of the first substrate;
• a plurality of second bus lines formed on the image display area and crossing the first bus lines;
• a plurality of pixel electrodes formed on the image display area and disposed corresponding to cross points between the first and second bus lines;
• and a plurality of switching elements corresponding to the pixel electrodes, each of switching elements connecting a corresponding first bus line and a corresponding second bus line, a conduction state of each of the switching elements being controlled by a signal applied to one of the corresponding first bus line and the corresponding second bus lines;
• preparing a second substrate formed with a common electrode on a surface thereof;
• disposing the first and second substrates so that the surface of the second substrate with the common electrode is spaced apart by a gap from the principal surface of the first substrate, and fixing the first and second substrates with a sealing in such a manner that the sealing member does not cover at least a partial area of an upper surface of the protective film near the border of the first substrate;
• and
• cutting off a portion of the second substrate near a border of the second substrate so that a new border of the cut second substrate passes an inner area of the protective film as viewed along a direction normal to said first substrate.