A new cell structure has been proposed, in which parallel micro grooves are etched on glass substrates and a pair of them are adhered to ribs in parallel alignment to the direction of grooves, Uniform smectic orientations have been achieved in this cell structure with both the grooves and ribs, and excelled the orientation in cells with rubbed polyimide. However, the best orientations have never been achieved within the cells using only grooves or only ribs. The important role of ribs is considered to control the shape and moving rate of liquid crystal-air boundaries when liquid crystals were introduced into the cell.