Process for making an optical compensator film comprising photo-aligned orientation layer
AssigneeEastman Kodak Company
InventorsJason A. Payne, Joseph W. Hoff
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A process for making an optical compensator comprising the steps of coating a photo-alignable resin in a solvent onto a substrate; drying the resin-containing coating to form a orientable layer; heat treating the orientable layer before and/or after orientation, orienting the orientable layer in a predetermined direction; coating an anisotropic liquid crystal compound in a solvent carrier onto the orientation layer; drying the anisotropic layer. In a preferred embodiment, these steps are repeated so that the optical axis of a first anisotropic layer is positioned orthogonally relative to the respective optical axis of a second anisotropic layer about an axis perpendicular to the plane of the substrate.
Claims26
A process for making an optical compensator comprising the steps of:
- a) applying a liquid composition, comprising a photo-orientable resin in a solvent, to form a resin-containing coating on a continuous support;
- b) drying the resin-containing coating for a period of 4 seconds to 10 minutes;
- c) orienting the resin-containing layer in a predetermined direction by photo-alignment to form an orientation layer;
- d) heat treating the orientation layer, after the alignment treatment, comprising heating the orientation layer between 25° C. and 300° C. for a period of at least 30 seconds;
- e) applying a liquid comprising a liquid-crystal compound in a solvent carrier onto the orientation layer on a transparent support to form a liquid-crystal-containing coating;
- f) drying the liquid-crystal-containing coating, thereby forming a liquid-crystal-containing layer.
A process for making an optical compensator comprising the steps of:
- a) applying a liquid composition, comprising a photo-orientable resin in a solvent, to form a resin-containing coating on a moving continuous support;
- b) drying the resin-containing coating for a period of 4 seconds to 10 minutes wherein at least 50 percent of the solvent is removed;
- c) heat treating the resin-containing coating, before the subsequent alignment treatment, comprising heating the resin-containing coating layer between 25° C. and 300° C. for a period of at least 30 seconds;
- d) orienting the resin-containing layer in a predetermined direction by photo-alignment to form an orientation layer;
- e) applying a liquid comprising a liquid-crystal compound in a solvent carrier onto the orientation layer on a transparent support to form a liquid-crystal-containing coating;
- f) drying the liquid-crystal-containing coating, thereby forming a liquid-crystal-containing layer.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.