KR20160069629A - Touch Display Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a touch display device with reduced thickness, thereby having improved flexibility performance. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the touch display device comprises: a face seal layer covering a plurality of organic light emitting diodes; a transparent substrate attached to the face seal layer by an adhesive film; a buffer layer arranged on the transparent substrate; a plurality of first and second touch electrodes arranged on the buffer layer; and a cover window arranged on the first and second touch electrodes.

Description

[0001] Touch display device [0002]

The present invention relates to a touch display device in which the thickness of a touch panel is reduced to improve a flexible performance.

As mobile electronic devices such as mobile communication terminals and notebook computers are developed, there is an increasing demand for flat panel display devices applicable thereto.

As a flat panel display device, a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display panel (PDP), and an organic light emitting diode display device have been developed.

In recent years, as an input device of a flat panel display device, a conventional input device such as a mouse or a keyboard or an input device such as a keypad, which has been applied to an input device of a portable electronic device, A touch screen capable of inputting information directly is being applied.

Such a touch screen may include a monitor such as navigation, an industrial terminal, a notebook computer, a financial automation device, a game machine, or the like; A portable terminal such as a mobile phone, MP3, PDA, PMP, PSP, portable game machine, DMB receiver, tablet PC and the like; And household appliances such as refrigerators, microwave ovens, washing machines and the like; And the application is being expanded due to the advantage that anyone can easily operate it.

In accordance with a structure in which a touch screen is coupled to a display panel, an in cell type in which a cell of a display panel is refracted, an on cell type formed on a cell of the display panel, And an add-on type in which a touch screen is combined with the touch screen.

Hereinafter, a structure in which a touch screen (touch panel) and a display panel are combined will be referred to as a 'touch display device'.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional touch display device in which a touch screen is applied to a display device in an add-on manner. 1 illustrates an organic light emitting display panel using a plastic substrate as a display panel.

Referring to Fig. 1, the add-on touch display device 10 includes a display panel, a touch panel, and a cover window.

The display panel includes a plastic substrate 11 formed of polyimide, a TFT (thin film transistor) array 12, a plurality of organic light emitting diodes 13 emitting red, green and blue colored light, a face seal layer 14 a barrier film 15 attached on the face seal layer 14 by a pressure sensitive adhesive application (PSA), and a polarizing film 16 disposed on the barrier film 15 do. On the back surface of the plastic substrate 11, a back plate is disposed.

The touch panel includes a first optical transparent adhesive film (OCA1: Optically Clear Adhesive), a plurality of first touch electrodes 17, a plurality of second touch electrodes 18, and a second optical transparent adhesive film OCA2 do.

The touch panel is attached to the upper surface of the display panel by the first optical transparent adhesive film. A second optical transparent adhesive film OCA2 is disposed between the plurality of first touch electrodes 17 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 18. [

Then, the cover window is attached to the upper surface of the touch panel using the third optical transparent adhesive film OCA3.

The add-on type touch display device 10 includes a first optical transparent adhesive film OCA1, a plurality of first touch electrodes 17, a second optical transparent adhesive film OCA2, The total thickness of the touch panel including the touch panel 18 is several hundreds of micro (usually 300um). The flexible implementation of the touch display device and the radius of curvature are proportional to the thickness. However, the add-on type touch display device 10 has a problem that the thickness of the touch panel is 300 m, which is not suitable for flexible implementation.

2 is a view showing a touch display device of the related art in which a touch screen is applied to a display device in an on-cell manner. FIG. 2 shows an organic light emitting display panel using a plastic substrate as a display panel.

Referring to FIG. 2, the on-cell touch display device 20 includes a display panel, a touch panel, a polarizing film 26, and a cover window.

The display panel includes a plastic substrate 21 formed of polyimide, a TFT (thin film transistor) array 22, a plurality of organic light emitting diodes 23 emitting color light of red, green and blue, a face seal layer 24 , face seal layer). On the back surface of the plastic substrate 11, a back plate is disposed.

The touch panel includes a plurality of first touch electrodes 27 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 28 disposed on the lower side and the upper side with the barrier film 25 interposed therebetween. The touch panel is attached to the upper face of the face seal layer 24 by a high performance adhesive film (PSA).

A polarizing film 26 is disposed on the upper surface of the touch panel, and a cover window is attached to the upper surface of the polarizing film 26 by using an optical transparent adhesive film (OCA).

In the case of a top emission type organic light emitting display device, a circular polarizing film 26 is used for enhancing the color and visibility of black, and the lower part of the polarizing film 26 and the upper part of the organic light emitting layer Are optically isotropic.

The on-cell type touch display device 20 uses an optically isotropic PC (Polycarbonate) film or COP (Cyclo Olefin Polymer) film as the material of the barrier film 25 which is the base film of the touch panel. In order to improve the touch process and precisely form the patterns of the touch electrodes, there is a limitation on the thickness of the barrier film 25, and a barrier film 25 having a thickness of 100 mu m is currently used.

The overall thickness of the touch panel including the plurality of first touch electrodes 27, the barrier film 25 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 28 is 110um in the touch display device 20 of the on-cell type. The thickness of the touch panel is reduced as compared with the add-on method. However, the conventional on-cell touch display device 20 is also not suitable for flexible implementation and having a radius of curvature of less than 5.0 mmR.

The insole method can reduce the thickness of the touch panel. In the case of a top emission organic light emitting display, if a touch is formed on the TFT, the cathode is deposited on the entire surface, and the touch operation is not performed. In order to perform a touch operation, a touch must be formed on the upper part of the organic light emitting diode cathode. When all the touch X and Y patterns are present inside the cell, it is defined as a top emission organic light emitting display. However, in order to apply the in-cell method, a conductive ball contact structure is required, and another pad area must be designed in the bezel area.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a touch display device which is advantageous in flexibility by reducing the thickness of a touch panel and a manufacturing method thereof.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, or may be obvious to those skilled in the art from the description and the claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a touch display device including: a face seal layer covering a plurality of organic light emitting diodes; A transparent substrate attached on the face seal layer by an adhesive film; A buffer layer disposed on the transparent substrate; A plurality of first touch electrodes and a plurality of second touch electrodes disposed on the buffer layer; And a cover window disposed on the plurality of first touch electrodes and the plurality of second touch electrodes.

The touch display device of the present invention is advantageous in flexibility because the thickness of the touch panel is thin.

The present invention makes it possible to fabricate a touch panel with a thin thickness and manufacture a touch display device advantageous for flexible display.

In addition, other features and advantages of the present invention may be newly understood through embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional touch display device in which a touch screen is applied to a display device in an add-on manner.
2 is a view showing a touch display device of the related art in which a touch screen is applied to a display device in an on-cell manner.
3 is a view illustrating a touch display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention.
4 is a view showing a plurality of first touch electrodes and a plurality of second touch electrodes formed on a touch panel.
5 is a view illustrating a touch display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The advantages and features of the present invention, and the manner of achieving them, will be apparent from and elucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The present invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as being limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art. Is provided to fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, and the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

It should be noted that, in the specification of the present invention, the same reference numerals as in the drawings denote the same elements, but they are numbered as much as possible even if they are shown in different drawings.

The shapes, sizes, ratios, angles, numbers, and the like disclosed in the drawings for describing the embodiments of the present invention are illustrative, and thus the present invention is not limited thereto. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout the specification. In the following description, well-known functions or constructions are not described in detail since they would obscure the invention in unnecessary detail. In the case where the word 'includes', 'having', 'done', etc. are used in this specification, other parts can be added unless '~ only' is used. Unless the context clearly dictates otherwise, including the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

In interpreting the constituent elements, it is construed to include the error range even if there is no separate description.

In the case of a description of the positional relationship, for example, if the positional relationship between two parts is described as 'on', 'on top', 'under', and 'next to' Or " direct " is not used, one or more other portions may be located between the two portions.

In the case of a description of a temporal relationship, for example, if the temporal relationship is described by 'after', 'after', 'after', 'before', etc., May not be continuous unless they are not used.

The term " at least one " should be understood to include all possible combinations from one or more related items. For example, the meaning of 'at least one of the first item, the second item and the third item' means not only the first item, the second item or the third item, but also the second item, the second item and the third item, Means any combination of items that can be presented from more than one.

The first, second, etc. are used to describe various components, but these components are not limited by these terms. These terms are used only to distinguish one component from another. Therefore, the first component mentioned below may be the second component within the technical spirit of the present invention.

It is to be understood that each of the features of the various embodiments of the present invention may be combined or combined with each other, partially or wholly, technically various interlocking and driving, and that the embodiments may be practiced independently of each other, It is possible.

Hereinafter, a touch display device and a method of manufacturing the same according to embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The touch display device according to the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to a liquid crystal display panel or an organic light emitting display panel as a display panel. Hereinafter, an example in which the organic light emitting display panel is applied to the touch display device according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described.

3 is a view illustrating a touch display device according to a first embodiment of the present invention. The touch display device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a touch panel built in the organic light emitting display device. Although not shown in FIG. 3, the driver circuit portion is composed of a display driver and a touch driver.

Referring to FIG. 3, the touch display device 100 according to the first embodiment of the present invention includes a back plate, a display panel, a touch panel, and a cover window.

The display panel includes a flexible substrate 110, a TFT array 120, a plurality of organic light emitting diodes 130, a face seal layer 140, a high performance adhesive film 150, and a polarizing film 160. Here, the flexible substrate 110 may be formed of various materials that can be bent, and may be formed of, for example, plastic.

A flexible substrate 110 formed of polyimide is disposed on the back plate.

A plurality of pixel regions are defined on the flexible substrate 110, and a TFT array 120 is disposed in each pixel region.

A plurality of organic light emitting diodes 130 emitting red, green, and blue color light are disposed on the TFT array 120.

A face seal layer 140 for protecting the organic material of the organic light emitting diode 130 from external factors is disposed to cover the organic light emitting diode 130.

A polarizing film 160 is attached on the face seal layer 140 by a high performance adhesive / adhesive film 150 (Adhesive, PSA).

The touch panel includes a transparent substrate 170, a buffer layer 180, and a touch electrode layer 190. The touch electrode layer 190 includes a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194.

The transparent substrate 170 is disposed on the polarizing film 160. The transparent substrate 170 may be formed of polyimide or polyamide, and may have a thickness of 5 탆 to 20 탆. The transparent substrate 170 is anisotropic, and is formed by a coating and curing method or a film lamination method.

A buffer layer 180 is formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 170. The buffer layer 180 is formed as a barrier layer, and is formed of a multilayer of materials such as SiO 2, SiN x, and Al 2 O 3. Or may be formed as a single layer. This buffer layer 180 has a thickness of 0.4 mu m.

A plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 are formed on the upper surface of the buffer layer 180. The plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 may be formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) It is formed of metal and has a thickness of 5 μm or less. The plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 may be formed of an ITO sensor and a metal mesh structure.

4 is a view showing a plurality of first touch electrodes and a plurality of second touch electrodes formed on a touch panel. FIG. 4 shows a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 of a mutual capacitance type.

Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 are formed on the same layer. The plurality of first touch electrodes 192 may be formed as driving electrodes to which a touch driving signal is applied and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 may be formed as reception electrodes sensing capacitance. In FIG. 4, a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 are formed in the longitudinal direction, and a plurality of the second touch electrodes 194 are formed in the lateral direction.

The plurality of first touch electrodes 192 are formed of bar-shaped wirings, and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 are patterned and spaced apart from one another. The second touch electrodes 194 arranged on the same line with respect to the horizontal direction can be connected by using the bridge pattern 196. [

The bridge pattern 196 may be formed of a transparent conductive material such as indium tin oxide (ITO), indium zinc oxide (IZO), or indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) .

The second touch electrodes 194 are connected by a bridge pattern 196 at a point where the first touch electrode 192 and the second touch electrode 194 intersect. As described above, the coordinates of the X axis and the Y axis are calculated through the plurality of first touch electrodes 192 arranged in the Y axis direction and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 arranged in the X axis direction, and the touch position is sensed .

In the description with reference to FIG. 4, a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 are driven in a mutual manner. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and a plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 may be driven by a self-touch sensing method.

Referring again to FIG. 3, a cover window is attached to the upper surface of the touch panel using an optical transparent adhesive film (OCA). That is, the first surface of the optical transparent adhesive film (OCA) is attached to the upper side of the plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194, A cover window is attached on two sides.

A touch panel including a transparent substrate 170, a buffer layer 180, a plurality of first touch electrodes 192, and a plurality of second touch electrodes 194 is formed on the transparent substrate 170, Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > um. ≪ / RTI > That is, the thickness from the lower surface of the transparent substrate 170 to the upper surfaces of the plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194 is 15 占 퐉 or less.

When the touch panel has a thickness of 15 mu m or less, the total thickness of the touch display device 100 including the cover window is 300 mu m or less. As described above, if the touch panel is formed to have a thickness of 15 μm or less, folding can be realized to 2.5 mmR or less.

In addition, although the thickness of the touch panel is the same as that of the in-cell type, there is no need for a conductive ball such as ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) or ACP (Anisotropic Conductive Paste) There is an advantage of not having to design the pad.

5 is a view illustrating a touch display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the touch display device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a touch panel built in the organic light emitting display device. Although not shown in FIG. 5, the driver circuit portion is composed of a display driver and a touch driver.

5, the touch display device 200 according to the second embodiment of the present invention includes a back plate, a flexible substrate 210, a TFT array 220, a plurality of organic light emitting diodes 230, a face seal layer 240 And a high functional adhesive / adhesive film 150, a transparent substrate 270, a buffer layer 280, and a touch electrode layer 290. The touch electrode layer 290 includes a plurality of first touch electrodes 292 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 294.

A flexible substrate 210 formed of polyimide is disposed on the back plate.

A plurality of pixel regions are defined on the flexible substrate 210, and a TFT array 220 is disposed in each pixel region.

A plurality of organic light emitting diodes 230 emitting red, green, and blue color light are arranged on the TFT array 220.

A face seal layer 240 for protecting the organic material of the organic light emitting diode 230 from external factors is disposed to cover the organic light emitting diode 230.

A transparent substrate 270 is attached on the face seal layer 240 by a high performance adhesive / adhesive film 150 (Adhesive, PSA).

The transparent substrate 270 may be formed of polyimide or polyamide and may have a thickness of 5 占 퐉 to 20 占 퐉. The transparent substrate 270 has optical isotropy, and is formed by a coating and curing method or a film lamination method. A buffer layer 280 is formed on the upper surface of the transparent substrate 270. The buffer layer 280 is formed of a barrier layer and is formed of a multilayer of SiO 2, SiN x, and Al 2 O 3. Or may be formed as a single layer. This buffer layer 280 has a thickness of 0.4 mu m.

A plurality of first touch electrodes 292 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 294 are formed on the upper surface of the buffer layer 280. The plurality of second touch electrodes 292 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 294 may be formed of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (indium tin oxide), IZO (indium zinc oxide), ITZO (indium tin zinc oxide) It is formed of metal and has a thickness of 5 μm or less. The plurality of first touch electrodes 292 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 294 may be formed of an ITO sensor and a metal mesh structure. The structure of the first touch electrode 292 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 294 is the same as that of the first embodiment described with reference to FIG. 4, and a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The polarizing layer 260 is attached to the upper surface of the touch panel by using an optical transparent adhesive film (OCA). That is, the first surface of the optical transparent adhesive film (OCA) is attached to the upper side of the plurality of first touch electrodes 192 and the plurality of second touch electrodes 194, A polarizing layer 260 is attached to two surfaces. A cover window is disposed above the polarizing layer 260.

Here, a polarizing material is coated on the back surface of the cover window to form the polarizing layer 260. [ An integral cover window coated with a polarizing layer can be used, the coated polarizing layer has a thickness of about 20 um, and a cover window can be made of a plastic material such as PI, PET.

A touch panel including a transparent substrate 270, a buffer layer 280, a plurality of first touch electrodes 292 and a plurality of second touch electrodes 294 is formed in a 15 Lt; RTI ID = 0.0 > um. ≪ / RTI >

When the touch panel has a thickness of 15 mu m or less, the total thickness of the touch display device 200 including the cover window is 300 mu m or less. As described above, if the touch panel is formed to have a thickness of 15 μm or less, folding can be realized to 2.5 mmR or less.

In addition, although the thickness of the touch panel is the same as that of the in-cell type, there is no need for a conductive ball such as ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film) or ACP (Anisotropic Conductive Paste) There is an advantage of not having to design the pad.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention can be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative in all aspects and not restrictive.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the detailed description and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and their equivalents are to be construed as being included within the scope of the present invention do.

100, 200: Touch display device
110, 210: Flexible substrate
120, 220: TFT array
130, 230: organic light emitting diode
140, 240: face thread layer
150: 250: High function adhesive film
160: polarizing film
170, 270: transparent substrate
180, 280: buffer layer
190, 290: touch electrode layer
192, 292: first touch electrode
194, 294: a second touch electrode
260: polarizing layer

Claims (8)

A face seal layer covering a plurality of organic light emitting diodes;
A transparent substrate attached on the face seal layer by an adhesive film;
A buffer layer disposed on the transparent substrate;
A plurality of first touch electrodes and a plurality of second touch electrodes disposed on the buffer layer;
And a cover window disposed on the plurality of first touch electrodes and the plurality of second touch electrodes. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the transparent substrate is formed of polyimide or polyamide. The method according to claim 1,
A polarizing film is disposed under the transparent substrate,
Wherein the transparent substrate is anisotropic. The method according to claim 1,
A polarizing layer is disposed on the first touch electrodes and the second touch electrodes,
Wherein the transparent substrate is optically isotropic. 5. The method of claim 4,
And the polarizing layer is formed on the back surface of the cover window. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the transparent substrate has a thickness of 10 mu m or less. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the first touch electrode and the second touch electrode have a thickness of 5 mu m or less. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein a thickness from the lower surface of the transparent substrate to the upper surfaces of the plurality of first touch electrodes and the plurality of second touch electrodes is 15 占 퐉 or less.

Images