CN106020555B

CN106020555B - Touch display panel and touch force detection method

Info

Publication number: CN106020555B
Application number: CN201610421600.4A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 林城兴; 郭威宏; 郭文瑞
Original assignee: AU Optronics Corp
Current assignee: AU Optronics Corp
Priority date: 2016-04-08
Filing date: 2016-06-13
Publication date: 2020-02-18
Anticipated expiration: 2036-06-13
Also published as: CN106020555A; TW201737037A; TWI588705B

Abstract

A touch display panel and a method for detecting a touch force are provided. The touch display panel comprises a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel units and a control module. The control module is coupled with the scanning line and the data line. The control module provides a first detection signal to at least part of the scanning lines and detects at least one first capacitance value between the scanning lines and the conductor structure in at least one detection time interval in the picture period. Or, the control module provides a second detection signal to at least part of the data lines and detects at least one second capacitance value between the data lines and the conductor structure. The control module determines a touch force value according to the detected first capacitance value or the detected second capacitance value. The voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the turn-on voltage of the switch unit in each pixel unit.

Description

Touch display panel and touch force detection method

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a touch display panel and a method for detecting a touch force, and more particularly, to a touch display panel with a conductive structure or a method for detecting a touch force suitable for a touch display panel with a conductive structure.

Background

Touch display panels can be classified into resistive touch display panels, capacitive touch display panels, optical touch display panels, and electromagnetic touch display panels according to their sensing methods. Among them, the capacitive touch display panel has the advantages of short response time, high accuracy and high durability, and is gradually popularized in the current electronic products.

However, although the conventional common capacitive touch panels can detect the touch position of a finger or other touch objects, most of the capacitive touch panels cannot detect the touch force, which limits the development of application programs. At present, only a few manufacturers develop capacitive externally-mounted pressure sensors, which can sense touch force through the externally-mounted pressure sensors, but need to be attached for multiple times in the manufacturing process, and the number of substrates is increased due to the need of externally-mounting the pressure sensors, so that the thickness of the touch display panel is increased, and the penetration rate and the display effect of the display are also affected.

Disclosure of Invention

The present invention provides a touch display panel and a method for detecting a touch force, which can avoid the problem of increasing the number of substrates and the thickness of the touch display panel while providing a pressure sensing function.

The invention discloses a touch display panel, which comprises a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel units and a control module. Each pixel unit is coupled with one of the scanning lines and one of the data lines, and the control module is coupled with the scanning lines and the data lines. At least part of the pixel units are used for updating at least part of the display frame in at least one updating time interval in one frame period. In at least one detection time interval in the frame period, the control module provides a first detection signal to at least part of the scanning lines and detects at least one first capacitance value between the scanning lines and the conductor structure, or the control module provides a second detection signal to at least part of the data lines and detects at least one second capacitance value between the data lines and the conductor structure. The control module determines a distance between the at least one scanning line and the conductor structure according to the at least one first capacitance value to obtain a touch force value, or the control module determines a distance between the at least one data line and the conductor structure according to the at least one second capacitance value to obtain a touch force value. The voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the turn-on voltage of the switch unit in each pixel unit.

The invention discloses a method for detecting touch force, which is suitable for a touch display panel. The touch display panel comprises a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel units and a conductor structure. Each pixel unit is coupled with one of the scanning lines and one of the data lines. The detection method comprises the step of updating at least part of a display picture through at least part of pixel units before at least one updating time interval in a picture period. In at least one detection time interval in the frame period, a first detection signal is provided to at least part of the scanning lines and at least one first capacitance value between the scanning lines and the conductor structure is detected, or a second detection signal is provided to at least part of the data lines and at least one second capacitance value between the data lines and the conductor structure is detected. And judging the distance between the at least one scanning line and the conductor structure according to the detected at least one first capacitance value, or judging the distance between the at least one data line and the conductor structure according to the detected at least one second capacitance value. And judging to obtain a detection force value according to the distance between the at least one scanning line and the conductor structure or the distance between the at least one data line and the conductor structure. The voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the turn-on voltage of the switch unit in each pixel unit.

In summary, the present invention provides a touch display panel and a method for detecting a touch force, which detect a capacitance change between a data line or a scan line and a conductor structure of the touch display panel in an idle time interval of the display panel by a time-sharing control manner, and determine a distance change between the data line or the scan line and the conductor structure of the touch display panel, thereby determining a size of the touch force according to the distance change. By the method, the touch force channel can be sensed without additionally increasing the substrate, and the problem that the number of substrates or the thickness of the touch display panel is increased in order to enable the touch display panel to have a touch force channel sensing function in the prior art is solved.

The foregoing description of the disclosure and the following detailed description are presented to illustrate and explain the principles and spirit of the invention and to provide further explanation of the invention's scope of the claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic diagram of an active device substrate according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 3 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 4 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to a further embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 5 is a schematic grouping diagram of scan lines and data lines according to an embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a schematic grouping diagram of scan lines and data lines according to another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 7 is a schematic grouping diagram of scan lines and data lines according to a further embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 8 is a schematic grouping diagram of scan lines and data lines according to still another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for detecting a touch force according to an embodiment of the invention.

Description of reference numerals:

1 touch control display panel

20 control module

D1-D10 data line

G1-G10 first to tenth groups

P1, 1-P10.10 pixel unit

Prd1, Prd2, Prd3, Prd4, Prd5 picture period

S1-S10 scanning lines

TD1, TD2, TD3, TD41, TD42, TD51, and TD52 update time intervals

TF1, TF2, TF3, TF41, TF42, TF51, TF52 detection time intervals

TP touch detection signal

VD 1-VD 10 data voltage

VH high voltage level

VL low voltage level

VS 1-VS 10 scan voltage

VTF1, VTF2 amplitude voltage levels

Detailed Description

The detailed features and advantages of the present invention are described in detail in the following embodiments, which are sufficient for anyone skilled in the art to understand the technical contents of the present invention and to implement the present invention, and the objectives and advantages related to the present invention can be easily understood by anyone skilled in the art according to the disclosure of the present specification, the claims and the attached drawings. The following examples further illustrate aspects of the present invention in detail, but are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention in any way.

Referring to fig. 1, fig. 1 is a schematic view of an active device substrate according to an embodiment of the invention. The active device substrate 14 includes scan lines S1 to S10, data lines D1 to D10, pixel cells P1,1 to P10,10, a driving circuit 30, and a data circuit 40. It should be noted that, for the sake of brevity, only the scan lines S1-S10, the data lines D1-D10 and the pixel units P1, 1-P10, 10 are taken as examples for description, but the number of the scan lines, the data lines and the pixel units is not limited thereto. Each of the pixel cells P1, 1-P10, 10 is coupled to one of the scan lines S1-S10 and one of the data lines D1-D10. For example, the pixel cell P1,2 represents the pixel cell of the row 1 and column 2 in fig. 1, i.e., the pixel cell coupled between the scan line S1 and the data line D2. The scan lines S1-S10 and the data lines D1-D10 are coupled to the control module 20, the scan lines S1-S10 are coupled to the driving circuit 30, and the data lines D1-D10 are coupled to the data circuit 40. The scan lines S1 to S10 have scan voltages VS1 to VS10, respectively, and the data lines D1 to D10 have data voltages VD1 to VD10, respectively. The driving circuit 30 is used for providing voltage levels of the regulated scan voltages VS 1-VS 10, for example. The data circuit 40 is used for providing voltage levels of the adjusted data voltages VD 1-VD 10, for example.

Referring to fig. 2, fig. 2 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to an embodiment of the invention. As shown in fig. 2, the screen periods Prd1 to Prd3 of the touch display panel 1 respectively define update time intervals TD1, TD2, and TD3 and detection time intervals TF1, TF2, and TF 3. The time lengths of the update time intervals TD1, TD2, TD3 and the detection time intervals TF1, TF2, TF3 may be equal or different, and are not limited herein. In one embodiment, the length of each of the frame periods Prd 1-Prd 3 is, for example, 1/60 seconds. FIG. 2 also shows the relative timings of the scan voltages VS 1-VS 10 on the scan lines S1-S10, the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the data lines D1-D10, and the touch detection signal TP. The following description will take the update time interval TD1 and the detection time interval TF1 in the picture period Prd1 as an example.

In the refresh time interval TD1 of the frame period Prd1, the pixel units P1, 1-P10, 10 are used for refreshing the display frame. More specifically, at this time, the scan voltages VS1 through VS10 are sequentially adjusted to the high voltage level VH, and when the corresponding scan voltages VS1 through VS10 are adjusted to the high voltage level VH, the pixel cells P1,1 through P10,10 in each row sequentially receive the data voltages VD1 through VD10 on the corresponding data lines D1 through D10, and correspondingly emit light. When the scan voltages VS 1-VS 10 are at the low voltage level VL, the corresponding pixel cells P1, 1-P10, 10 substantially maintain the previously written data light-emitting state.

During the detection time interval TF1, the control module 20 provides a first detection signal to the scan lines S1-S10 and detects at least a first capacitance between the scan lines S1-S10 and a conductor structure. The conductor structure may be, for example, a system component of the touch display panel 1, such as a battery or a conductor in a printed circuit board. The conductor structure may also be, for example, a reflective layer in a backlight module of the touch display panel 1, or a metal part of the touch display panel 1, such as an outer frame or a supporting frame. In other words, the conductor structure may be one of a plurality of metal components in the touch display panel 1 or one of a plurality of conductors, and is not limited to the above examples. In one embodiment, the at least one first capacitance is, for example, a capacitance between one of the scan lines S1-S10 and the conductive structure. In another embodiment, the at least one first capacitance is, for example, a capacitance between a portion of the scan lines S1-S10 and the conductive structure. In a further embodiment, the at least one first capacitance value is, for example, a capacitance value between all of the scan lines S1-S10 and the conductor structure. In addition, the at least one capacitance value may be defined as a capacitance value between the respective scan lines S1 through S10 and the conductor structure, or a capacitance value between the common scan line of the scan lines S1 through S10 and the conductor structure. The calculation method herein is freely designable by those skilled in the art without any particular limitation.

In fig. 2, the variation of the first detection signal is represented by a square wave sequence, the square wave sequence has a plurality of square waves, and the width, the interval, the amplitude and the number of the square waves are not limited to those depicted in the figure. In practice, the implementation of the first detection signal is not limited to the square wave, and is only exemplary and not limited thereto. In this embodiment, control module 20 may detect the first capacitance value once in a square wave time. In other words, during the detection time interval TF1, the control module 20 may detect one or more times of the first capacitance value. It should be noted that the voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the turn-on voltage of the switch unit in the pixel units P1,1 to P10,10, so as to avoid turning on the switch unit in the pixel units P1,1 to P10,10 during the detection time interval TF1 and affecting the display image. In this embodiment, the amplitude voltage level VTF1 of the square wave of the first detection signal is lower than the aforementioned low voltage level VL to ensure that the switch units of the pixel units P1,

1P

10,10 are not turned on while the first detection signal is provided on the scan lines S1-S10.

In another type of embodiments, when the corresponding scan voltages VS 1-VS 10 are adjusted to the low voltage level VL, the pixel cells P1, 1-P10, 10 in each row sequentially receive the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the corresponding data lines D1-D10 and correspondingly emit light. When the scan voltages VS 1-VS 10 are at the high voltage level VH, the corresponding pixel cells P1, 1-P10, 10 substantially maintain the previously written data light-emitting state. In such embodiments, the amplitude voltage level VTF1 of the square wave of the first detection signal is higher than the high voltage level VH, so as to ensure that the switch units of the pixel units P1, 1-P10, 10 are not turned on while the first detection signal is provided on the scan lines S1-S10.

Continuing from the above, the control module 20 further provides a second detection signal to the data lines D1-D10 during the detection time interval TF1 and detects at least a second capacitance between the data lines D1-D10 and the conductor structure. The second detection signal is here again illustrated in a sequence of square waves, and the square waves of the second detection signal have an amplitude voltage level VTF 2. The embodiment of the second detection signal is likewise not restricted here. In one embodiment, the control module 20 determines the distance between at least one of the scan lines S1 to S10 and the conductor structure according to at least one first capacitance value to obtain a touch force value. In practice, the control module 20 can further determine the touch force value according to the aforementioned distance and Hooke's law. In more detail, the control module 20 may detect or preset a structural elastic coefficient between each layer of the touch display panel 1, for example. When the control module 20 obtains the distance change, the control module 20 can follow one of the equations in Hooke's Law: and obtaining a touch force value by taking the value of delta F as k delta x. Where Δ F is a variation of the touch force, k is an elastic structural coefficient between the above-mentioned layers, and Δ x is a distance variation obtained by the control module 20. The above description is exemplary only, and not intended to be limiting. In another embodiment, the control module 20 determines the distance between at least one of the data lines D1-D10 and the conductor structure according to at least one second capacitance value to obtain the touch force value. In a further embodiment, the control module 20 obtains the touch force value according to at least one first capacitance value and at least one second capacitance value at the same time.

The control module 20 provides the first detecting signal to the scan lines S1-S10 or provides the second detecting signal to the data lines D1-D10 at different time intervals in the detecting time interval TF 1. In another aspect, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 2, only the scan lines S1-S10 receive the first detecting signal or only the data lines D1-D10 receive the second detecting signal at the same time. In such embodiments, the control module 20 provides one of the first detection signal and the second detection signal at different times to avoid signal interference between the scan lines S1-S10 and the data lines D1-D10. In another class of embodiments, the control module 20 provides the first detecting signal to the scan lines S1-S10 and provides the second detecting signal to the data lines D1-D10.

In one embodiment, the touch detection signal TP is also pulled to a relatively high voltage level during the detection time intervals TF1, TF2, TF 3. That is, the touch display panel 1 detects the touch position in addition to the touch force value in the detection time periods TF1, TF2, and TF 3. Regarding relative time, the touch display panel 1 can detect the touch force value and the touch position at the same time during the same detection time intervals TF1, TF2, TF3, or the touch display panel 1 can detect the touch force value and the touch position at different time intervals TF1, TF2, TF 3. In addition, in another embodiment, the touch detection signal TP may also be generated by the control module 20. The details are freely designable by a person skilled in the art after reading the present specification, and are not to be considered limiting.

It should be noted that the scan voltages VS 1-VS 5 may not overlap each other in time, and the relative timings of the scan voltages VS 1-VS 5 shown in fig. 3 are only exemplary and not limited in practice. Similarly, the relative timings of the scan voltages V6-V10 or the subsequent scan voltages in FIG. 3 are not limited to those shown in the drawings.

Referring to fig. 3, fig. 3 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to another embodiment of the invention. In the embodiment of fig. 3, the picture period Prd4 has the update time intervals TD41 and TD42 and the detection time intervals TF41 and TF 42. The update time interval TD41 precedes the detection time interval TF41, the update time interval TD42 precedes the detection time interval TF42, and the detection time interval TF41 precedes the update time interval TD 42. In the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3, two detection time intervals and two update time intervals are taken as an example, but actually, the number of the detection time intervals and the number of the update time intervals may be any number, and is not limited thereto.

Referring to fig. 3, in the refresh time interval TD41, the scan voltages VS 1-VS 5 are sequentially pulled to high voltage levels, and the first row of the pixel cells P1, 1-P1, 10-the fifth row of the pixel cells P5, 1-P5, 10 sequentially receive the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the corresponding data lines D1-D10 to emit corresponding light. Similarly, in the update time interval TD42, the scan voltages VS 6-VS 10 are sequentially pulled to the high voltage level VH, and the pixel cells P6, 1-P6 in the sixth row, and the pixel cells P10, 1-P10, 10 in the tenth row sequentially receive the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the corresponding data lines D1-D10 to emit corresponding light. In the detection time intervals TF41 and TF42, the first detection signal and the second detection signal are respectively provided to the scan lines S1 to S10 and the data lines D1 to D10 as described above. Therefore, in the screen period Prd4, capacitance values are detected twice for all the scanning lines S1 to S10 and all the data lines D1 to D10. In other words, when the length of the frame period Prd4 is 1/60 seconds, that is, the frame update frequency is 60 Hertz (Hz), the detection frequency of the touch force value is 120 Hz. Therefore, in this embodiment, the detection frequency of the touch force value is increased by two times compared with the embodiment corresponding to fig. 2.

Referring to fig. 4, fig. 4 is a timing diagram of a touch display panel according to a further embodiment of the invention. Similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 3, in the embodiment shown in fig. 4, the picture period Prd5 has the update time intervals TD51 and TD52 and the detection time intervals TF51 and TF 52. The update time interval TD51 precedes the detection time interval TF51, the update time interval TD52 precedes the detection time interval TF52, and the detection time interval TF51 precedes the update time interval TD 52. Such definitions are also provided for exemplary purposes and are not intended to be limiting.

The timing sequence of the refresh time interval TD51 is similar to the embodiment shown in fig. 3, in which the scan voltages VS 1-VS 5 are sequentially pulled to the high voltage level VH, and the pixel cells P1, 1-P1 in the first row, the pixel cells P5, 1-P5, 10 in the fifth row sequentially receive the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the corresponding data lines D1-D10 to emit corresponding light. Similarly, in the update time interval TD52, the scan voltages VS 6-VS 10 are sequentially pulled to high voltage levels, and the pixel cells P6, 1-P6 in the sixth row, and the pixel cells P10, 1-P10, 10 in the tenth row sequentially receive the data voltages VD 1-VD 10 on the corresponding data lines D1-D10 to emit corresponding light.

In the testing time interval TF51, the first testing signal and the second testing signal are respectively provided to the scan lines S1S 5 and the data lines D1D 5. During the testing time interval TF52, the first testing signal and the second testing signal are respectively provided to the scan lines S6S 10 and the data lines D6D 10. Therefore, in the screen period Prd5, the capacitance values of all the scanning lines S1 to S10 and all the data lines D1 to D10 are detected all at once. Compared with the embodiment corresponding to fig. 3, although the frequency of detecting the touch track value cannot be increased in the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4, since the detection is performed only by the scan lines S1 to S5 and the data lines D1 to D5 in the detection time interval TF51 and only by the scan lines S6 to S10 and the data lines D6 to D10 in the detection time interval TF52, the embodiment corresponding to fig. 4 performs the detection only by half the number of scan lines and data lines in the same detection time interval, and thus the signal interference between the scan lines and the data lines is reduced while the frequency of detecting the touch track value is maintained.

In the above embodiments, when the frame period has a plurality of detection time intervals, the scan lines S1-S10 and the data lines D1-D10 may be defined as at least one group corresponding to the number of detection time intervals. And in one detection time interval, capacitance detection is carried out on one or more groups so as to judge the touch force value. Fig. 5 to 8 are schematic diagrams illustrating possible groupings of the scan lines S1 to S10 and the data lines D1 to D10, fig. 5 is a schematic diagram illustrating a grouping of the scan lines and the data lines according to an embodiment of the present invention, fig. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a grouping of the scan lines and the data lines according to another embodiment of the present invention, fig. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a grouping of the scan lines and the data lines according to a further embodiment of the present invention, and fig. 8 is a schematic diagram illustrating a grouping of the scan lines and the data lines according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 5, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, all of the scan lines S1-S10 and the data lines D1-D10 are defined as a first group G1. In the detection time interval, the scan lines or the data lines of the first group G1 are provided with the first detection signal or the second detection signal, respectively. That is, during each detection time interval, all of the scan lines S1-S10 and the data lines D1-D10 are respectively provided with the first detection signal or the second detection signal for detecting the first capacitance value or the second capacitance value.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 6, the scan lines S1-S10 are defined as a first group G1, and the data lines D1-D10 are defined as a second group G2. In one detection time interval, the first group G1 is provided with first detection signals, and in another detection time interval, the second group G2 is provided with second detection signals. That is, the first group G1 and the second group G2 are sequentially provided with the first detection signal and the second detection signal for detecting the first capacitance value or the second capacitance value during different detection time intervals.

As shown in FIG. 7, in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7, the scan lines S1, S2 are defined as a first group G1, the scan lines S3, S4 are defined as a third group G3, and the fifth group G5 to the ninth group G9 are defined in the same manner as the scan lines S5-S10. The data lines D1 and D2 are defined as a second group G2, the data lines D3 and D4 are defined as a fourth group G4, and the sixth group G6, the eighth group G8 and the tenth group G10 are defined with respect to the data lines D5 to D10 in the same way. In this embodiment, each group includes two adjacent scan lines or two adjacent data lines, but in practice, each group may include any number of scan lines or any number of data lines, and the scan lines included in each group may not be adjacent, and the data lines included in each group may not be adjacent. The same group may include not only scan lines but also data lines. The above description is exemplary only, and not intended to be limiting. In the embodiment shown in fig. 7, the corresponding frame period has ten detection time intervals, and each time interval is used for performing capacitance detection on one of the first group G1 to the tenth group G10 to determine the touch force according to the first capacitance or the second capacitance.

As shown in fig. 8, in the embodiment shown in fig. 8, scan lines S1, S2, S5, S6, S9, S10 are defined as a first group G1, scan lines S3, S4, S7, S8 are defined as a third group G3, data lines D1, D2, D5, D6, D9, D10 are defined as a second group G2, and data lines D3, D4, D7, D8 are defined as a fourth group G4. In the embodiment shown in fig. 8, the frame period has four detection time intervals, and each time interval is used for performing capacitance detection on one of the first group G1 to the fourth group G4 to determine the touch force according to the first capacitance or the second capacitance.

Continuing the above idea, the invention also provides a method for detecting the touch force. Referring to fig. 9, fig. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method for detecting a touch force according to an embodiment of the invention. In step S1001, at least a portion of the display screen is updated through at least a portion of the pixel units during at least one update time interval of the frame period. In step S1003, in at least one detection time interval of the frame period, a first detection signal is provided to at least a portion of the scan lines and at least a first capacitance between the scan lines and the conductive structures is detected, or a second detection signal is provided to at least a portion of the data lines and at least a second capacitance between the data lines and the conductive structures is detected. In step S1005, the distance between the at least one scan line and the conductive structure is determined according to the detected at least one first capacitance value, or the distance between the at least one data line and the conductive structure is determined according to the detected at least one second capacitance value. Then, in step S1007, a detection force value is determined according to a distance between at least one scan line and the conductor structure or a distance between at least one data line and the conductor structure. The voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the turn-on voltage of the switch unit in each pixel unit.

In addition, in an embodiment, the number of the at least one update time interval is plural, and the number of the at least one detection time interval is plural. The scan lines are respectively defined into at least one scan line group, and the data lines are respectively defined into at least one data line group. The detection method further includes updating at least a portion of the display frame via at least a portion of the pixel units during one of the update time intervals. In one detection time interval, a first detection signal is provided to one scanning line group or a second detection signal is provided to one data line group.

In summary, the present invention provides a touch display panel and a method for detecting a touch force, which detect a capacitance change between a data line or a scan line and a conductor structure of the touch display panel in a time interval in which the display panel does not update data stored in a pixel unit by a time-sharing control method. And judging the distance change between the data line or the scanning line and the conductor structure of the touch display panel according to the detected capacitance value or capacitance difference value. Therefore, the size of the touch force is judged according to the distance change. Through the method, the touch display panel and the method for detecting the touch force channel can sense the touch force channel without additionally increasing the substrate, and the problem that the number of substrates or the thickness of the touch display panel is increased in order to enable the touch display panel to have a touch force channel sensing function in the prior art is solved. Moreover, the touch display panel provided by the invention can adopt most of the existing capacitive touch panel structures, and the touch force detection method provided by the invention can be applied to most of the existing capacitive touch panels.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the above embodiments, it is not intended to limit the invention. Variations and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. With regard to the scope of protection defined by the present invention, reference should be made to the appended claims.

Claims

1. A touch display panel, comprising:

a plurality of scan lines;

a plurality of data lines;

a plurality of pixel units, each pixel unit coupled to one of the scan lines and one of the data lines, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of pixel units is used to update at least a portion of a display frame during at least one update time interval of a frame period; and

a control module, coupled to the plurality of scan lines and the plurality of data lines, for providing a first detection signal to at least a portion of the plurality of scan lines and detecting at least a first capacitance between the plurality of scan lines and a conductor structure, or providing a second detection signal to at least a portion of the plurality of data lines and detecting at least a second capacitance between the plurality of data lines and the conductor structure, wherein the control module determines a distance between at least one of the plurality of scan lines and the conductor structure according to the at least a first capacitance to obtain a touch force value, or determines a distance between at least one of the plurality of data lines and the conductor structure according to the at least a second capacitance to obtain the touch force value;

the voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the conducting voltage of a switch unit in each pixel unit.

2. The touch display panel according to claim 1, wherein the at least one update time interval is multiple in number and the at least one detection time interval is multiple in number, the scan lines are respectively defined as at least one scan line group, the data lines are respectively defined as at least one data line group, at least a portion of the pixel units are configured to update at least a portion of the display frame during one of the update time intervals, and the control module provides the first detection signal to one of the scan line groups or provides the second detection signal to one of the data line groups during one of the detection time intervals.

3. The touch display panel of claim 1, wherein each of the pixel units receives a data signal on the data line according to a scan signal on the scan line coupled thereto during the refresh interval, the scan signal has a low voltage level and a high voltage level, and when the scan signal received by one of the pixel units is the high voltage level, the pixel unit receives the data signal on the data line coupled thereto, and the voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the low voltage level of the scan signal.

4. The touch display panel of claim 1, wherein each of the pixel units receives a data signal on the data line according to a scan signal on the scan line coupled thereto during the refresh interval, the scan signal has a low voltage level and a high voltage level, and when the scan signal received by one of the pixel units is the low voltage level, the pixel unit receives the data signal on the data line coupled thereto, and the voltage level of the first detection signal is higher than the high voltage level of the scan signal.

5. The touch display panel of claim 1, wherein the at least one update time interval and the at least one detection time interval do not overlap.

6. The touch display panel of claim 1, further comprising a touch module for detecting a touch position associated with the touch force value during the detection time interval.

7. The touch display panel of claim 1, wherein the conductive structure is a battery of the touch display panel, a conductor in a circuit board, a conductive layer in a backlight module, or a conductive housing, and the conductive structure is coupled to the control module.

8. A method for detecting touch force is suitable for a touch display panel, the touch display panel comprises a plurality of scanning lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of pixel units and a conductor structure, each pixel unit is coupled with one of the scanning lines and one of the data lines, the method comprises:

updating at least a part of a display frame through at least a part of the pixel units in at least one updating time interval in a frame period;

providing a first detection signal to at least a part of the plurality of scanning lines and detecting at least a first capacitance value between the plurality of scanning lines and the conductor structure, or providing a second detection signal to at least a part of the plurality of data lines and detecting at least a second capacitance value between the plurality of data lines and the conductor structure, in at least one detection time interval in the picture period;

judging the distance between at least one scanning line and the conductor structure according to the detected at least one first capacitance value, or judging the distance between at least one data line and the conductor structure according to the detected at least one second capacitance value; and

judging a detection force value according to the distance between at least one scanning line and the conductor structure or the distance between at least one data line and the conductor structure;

9. The detecting method of claim 8, wherein the number of the at least one update time interval is plural, the number of the at least one detecting time interval is plural, the scan lines are respectively defined as at least one scan line group, the data lines are respectively defined as at least one data line group, the detecting method further comprising:

updating at least part of the display frame through at least part of the pixel units in one of the updating time intervals; and

in one of the detection time intervals, the first detection signal is provided to one of the scan line groups or the second detection signal is provided to one of the data line groups.

10. The detecting method according to claim 8, wherein in the step of updating at least a portion of a display frame by at least some of the pixel units during the at least one update time interval in the frame period, a scan signal is provided to one of the pixel units via one of the scan lines, so that the pixel unit selectively receives a data signal on the data line coupled thereto according to the scan signal;

when the scanning signal received by one of the pixel units is at the high voltage level, the pixel unit receives the data signal on the data line coupled thereto, and the voltage level of the first detection signal is lower than the low voltage level of the scanning signal.

11. The detecting method according to claim 8, wherein in the step of updating at least a portion of a display frame by at least some of the pixel units during the at least one update time interval in the frame period, a scan signal is provided to one of the pixel units via one of the scan lines, so that the pixel unit selectively receives a data signal on the data line coupled thereto according to the scan signal;

when the scanning signal received by one of the pixel units is at the low voltage level, the pixel unit receives the data signal on the data line coupled thereto, and the voltage level of the first detection signal is higher than the high voltage level of the scanning signal.

12. The detecting method of claim 8, wherein the at least one updating time interval and the at least one detecting time interval do not overlap.

13. The detection method of claim 8, further comprising:

in the detection time interval, a touch position associated with the touch force value is detected.

14. The detecting method according to claim 8, wherein the conductive structure is a battery of the touch display panel, a conductor in a circuit board, a conductive layer in a backlight module, or a conductive housing, and the conductive structure is coupled to the control module.