Manufacturing process for electrophoretic display

A process for manufacturing a micro-cup array for an electrophoretic or liquid crystal display, 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 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.

A process for the manufacture of an electrophoretic display, comprising:

• 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.

A process for the manufacture of a multi-color electrophoretic display, comprising the steps of:

• 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.