JP2001117069A - Display device and display panel used for display device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device in which a displayed image can be visually recognized in a good state with little influence by distortion. SOLUTION: The display device 2 has a thin plate type display member (such as a liquid crystal panel) 8 to display an image and thin plate type light- transmitting members (such as a touch panel) 6, 10, 12, 14 disposed on the front face of the display member 8. The display member 8 and the light transmitting members 6, 10, 12, 14 are joined to overlap with each other.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device (for example, a liquid crystal display or an electroluminescence display), and more particularly to a display device having a light transmitting member (for example, a touch panel or a light guide plate) provided on the front surface of the display device. The present invention relates to a display panel used for a display device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, there has been an increasing demand for weight reduction of display devices such as liquid crystal displays. For this reason, a light and thin material such as resin is used for a light-transmitting member mounted on the front surface of a display member, for example, a touch panel. There is a need.

[0003]

However, a touch panel using such a material has a problem that the strength against bending is generally low. In general, a predetermined interval (clearance) is provided between the touch panel and the display element in order to prevent the pressure on the touch panel from adversely affecting the display of the display element on the back of the touch panel.
In the case of a touch panel having a low strength against bending as described above, even if a clearance is provided between the touch panel and the display element, when the user touches the touch panel with a pen or a finger, the bent touch panel is physically connected to the display member. May cause mechanical interference. For example, when the display member is a liquid crystal panel, pressing the touch panel also applies pressure to the liquid crystal, and as a result, the state of the liquid crystal may change and the display screen may be disturbed.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned interference, it is conceivable to increase the clearance between the touch panel and the display member. On the other hand, the position where the user touches the touch panel and the position where the user sees (the viewpoint on the display screen) are different. A problem arises because of parallax.

In the case where a non-glare process is performed on the surface of the touch panel facing the user to prevent regular reflection and prevent contamination, if the touch panel is far from the display member, the brightness is reduced due to the diffusion of light rays. In the case of a reflective display member, light passes through the touch panel twice (incidence and reflection), which is particularly significant. There is also a problem that the display is blurred as the distance between the touch panel and the display element is increased due to diffusion of light by the non-glare processing.

Further, if the clearance between the touch panel and the display member is not uniform and varies depending on the position (for example, when the touch panel and the liquid crystal panel are formed into a curved surface), the sharpness of the displayed image varies depending on the location and the display quality is reduced. descend.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to provide a display device capable of satisfactorily visually confirming a display image and having less influence from bending. Another object is to provide a display panel suitable for such a display device.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device having a flexible display member and a thin plate-shaped light-transmitting member provided on a front surface of the display member. In a display device having a transparent member and an exterior member covering at least a back surface of the display member, the display member and the light-transmitting member are joined so as to overlap each other.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the display device of the first aspect, a touch panel is used as the translucent member.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the display device of the first aspect, a light guide plate is used as the translucent member.

A display device according to a fourth aspect is the display device according to the third aspect, further comprising a light source for irradiating the light guide plate with light.

A display device according to a fifth aspect is the display device according to the first to fourth aspects.
3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a liquid crystal panel is used as the display member.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the display device of the fifth aspect, the liquid crystal panel has a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a pair of flexible resin substrates.

A display device according to claim 7 is the display device according to claims 1 to 6.
3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a clearance is provided between the back surface of the display member and the exterior member.

The display device according to the eighth aspect is the display device according to the first to seventh aspects.
The display device according to any one of the above, further comprising a screen display control unit that controls display of the display member between a back surface of the display member and the exterior member.

According to a ninth aspect of the present invention, in the display device of the eighth aspect, a clearance is provided between the display member and the screen display control section.

According to a tenth aspect of the present invention, in the display device according to the eighth aspect, the screen display control unit includes a flexible substrate, and the substrate is bonded to a back surface of the display member. It is.

In the display panel for a display device according to the eleventh aspect, a flexible display member and a thin plate-shaped translucent member provided on the front surface of the display member are joined so as to overlap each other. It is characterized by the following.

A display panel according to a twelfth aspect is the display panel according to the first aspect.
In the first display panel, a liquid crystal panel is used as the display member, and a touch panel is used as the translucent member.

A display panel according to a thirteenth aspect is the display panel according to the first aspect.
The display panel according to 1, wherein a liquid crystal panel is used as the display member, and a light guide plate is used as the translucent member.

A display panel according to claim 14 is the display panel according to claim 1.
3. The display panel according to 3, wherein the liquid crystal panel is formed by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer between a pair of flexible resin substrates.

[0022]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a display device according to the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In FIG.
A display device represented by a touch panel 5 including a press detection film 4 facing a user (not shown) and a base portion 6 made of a resin such as plastic (for example, polycarbonate), and a thin liquid crystal panel having flexibility ( (Display member) 8, which are directly bonded to each other in a planar shape and laminated to form a display panel.

Therefore, since there is no clearance between the touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8, parallax shift is suppressed, and good display without image blur can be performed.
As the liquid crystal panel 8, for example, a liquid crystal sandwiched between a resin film substrate having flexibility and a spacer is used, and a reflection type liquid crystal panel using selective reflection by a cholesteric phase of the liquid crystal is used. be able to.

The touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8
Is covered by the exterior member 7 and the back side thereof. However, in order to facilitate understanding, FIG. 1 shows only a part of the exterior member 7 (the part on the back side of the liquid crystal panel 8).

On the back surface (lower side in the drawing) of the liquid crystal panel 8, a predetermined distance is provided from the flat liquid crystal panel 8.
A substrate (screen display control unit) 9 on which various components for controlling the touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8 are mounted is provided on the exterior member 7, and the size L of the space is flat as described later. When the laminated touch panel 5 and liquid crystal panel 8 bend downward due to external force, the liquid crystal panel 8
Is set not to touch The touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8 may be fixed to a mount (not shown) provided on the substrate 9 so as to provide a clearance between the substrate 9 and the liquid crystal panel 8. As shown in FIG. 5, a holding portion 7a may be provided on the exterior member 7 and fixed by the holding portion 7a.

More specifically, as shown in FIG. 2A, the press detection film 4 includes first and second films 10A and 10B arranged at a predetermined distance from each other.
First and second transparent conductive films (for example, ITO films) 12 formed inside these films 10A and 10B, respectively.
A, 12B, and a plurality of spacers 14 for maintaining a gap between the conductive films 12A, 12B substantially uniformly. A flat base portion 6 is joined to the back surface (the lower side in the drawing) of the second film 10B, and the thin thin touch panel 5 having flexibility is held by the base portion 6 in a flat shape.

When the flexibility of the liquid crystal panel 8 is large,
The liquid crystal panel 8 may be held flat by the base portion 6. As described above, by sharing the base portion 6 between the touch panel and the liquid crystal panel, the base portion 6 can be maintained in a predetermined shape (in this case, a flat shape) without providing a shape holding member, and as a result, The thickness can be prevented from increasing, and the weight can be reduced.

In the display device 2 configured as described above, an external force (arrows in FIG. 2) is applied to the first film 10A of the touch panel 5, and as a result, as shown in FIG.
The first conductive film portion corresponding to the portion where the force is applied is brought into contact with the second conductive film portion as described above (at the same time,
The spacer 14 may be crushed in the direction of the force as shown in FIG. ). As a result, an electric circuit (not shown) including the conductive portion 16 is formed, and the coordinates of the pressed position on the touch panel are specified electrically by a position detection circuit (not shown) through the electric circuit. If necessary, a predetermined voltage is applied to a predetermined liquid crystal portion (for example, a portion below the conductive portion 16) in the liquid crystal panel 8 by a drive circuit (not shown) based on the coordinates to apply the liquid crystal. Change the state of the part.

On the other hand, the first film 1 of the touch panel 5
When an external force is applied to 0A, the touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8 stacked in a plane are simultaneously bent downward as a whole as shown in FIG. Are dispersed in the plane direction, and the pressure prevents the state of the liquid crystal in the liquid crystal panel 8 from changing.

The material of the base portion 6 of the touch panel 5 and the substrate of the liquid crystal panel 8 are formed in a curved shape as described later in order to prevent the occurrence of cracks when deformed. For ease of processing in this case, and for further weight reduction, it is preferable to be made of a flexible resin such as plastic (for example, polycarbonate). However, even a hard material such as glass can be used as long as it is thin and can be bent.

The above description relates to one embodiment of the present invention, and the present invention can be variously modified. For example,
The shapes of the touch panel 5 and the liquid crystal panel 8 are not limited to planar shapes, but may be curved surfaces (secondary curved surfaces, cubic curved surfaces) as shown in FIG. In this case, a press detection film 4 'is attached to the front surface of the base portion 6' curved into a predetermined shape to form a touch panel 5 ', and a liquid crystal panel 8' is attached to the back surface of the touch panel 5 '. Thus, the touch panel 5 '
Even when the liquid crystal panel 8 'is formed into a curved surface shape, since the two are joined so as to overlap with each other, it is not necessary to consider processing accuracy and holding accuracy for uniforming the clearance between the two, and the parallax is not required. It is possible to provide an optically stable display device with less displacement or reduced brightness.

As shown in FIG. 4, if a film-like flexible board is used as the mounting board 9 ″ for each component,
By attaching the mounting substrate 9 "to the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel 8", it is not necessary to set a clearance between the liquid crystal panel 8 "and the mounting substrate 9", and a more compact display device 2 "can be provided. Components that cannot be arranged at the junction with the liquid crystal panel 8 "may be arranged on the opposite side of the junction with respect to the mounting board 9".
In the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, the base portion 6 ″ of the touch panel 5 ′
By using the strength of the mounting board 9 ", the strength of the mounting board 9" for holding the mounting board 9 "in a predetermined shape can be set low.
This makes it possible to make the display device 2 ″ lighter. The configuration shown in FIG. 4 is of course also possible when each member is a flat surface. In FIGS. Although the surface is convex, it may be concave.

In the above embodiment, a pressure-sensitive touch panel is used as a panel mounted on the front surface of the display device. However, an optical touch panel or a touch panel using surface acoustic waves may be used. May be used simply for protecting the display unit.

In addition, a liquid crystal panel is used as a display member in the above-described embodiment. However, if the display member is a thin plate-like display member such as an EL (electroluminescence) display panel, the display of which is degraded by pressing. The same goes for anything.

The liquid crystal panel is not only a reflection type liquid crystal by selective reflection of the liquid crystal itself, but also a transmission type liquid crystal, a reflection type having a reflection plate on a back surface, and a transmission type requiring a backlight. Liquid crystal panel.
In the former case, it is sufficient that the entire liquid crystal panel including the reflector is flexible. In the latter case, the backlight (for example, the back diffuser constituting the backlight) is made flexible to include the backlight. If the entire liquid crystal panel is flexible, it can be applied to the present invention.

Further, the film 1 of the touch panel 5
Non-glare processing may be performed on 0A. Also in this case, since there is no clearance between the touch panel and the liquid crystal panel, a decrease in luminance is suppressed. The film 10A of the touch panel 5 may be provided with a regular anti-reflection film, or may be subjected to regular reflection prevention processing.

The touch panel and the liquid crystal panel may be bonded to each other on the entire surface, or may be bonded to each other only at the peripheral portion. Alternatively, both may be sandwiched between the peripheral portions without a gap by a sandwiching member as shown in FIG. 5, for example.

Further, in this embodiment, the mounting board, which is a screen display control unit for controlling the display of the liquid crystal panel, is arranged on the back of the liquid crystal panel, which is a display member. Alternatively, the rear surface of the liquid crystal panel may directly face the exterior member without providing any member.

As the translucent member, not only the above touch panel but also various optical members can be applied. Hereinafter, an embodiment in which a light guide plate for illumination for illuminating a liquid crystal panel as a display member from the front surface is used as a light transmitting member will be described.

FIG. 6 shows the light guide plate 1 on the front of the liquid crystal panel 15.
6 is an example in which a light source 20 (for example, a white LED, a fluorescent lamp, or the like) having a reflector 18 disposed on the rear surface is disposed opposite to the side surface of the light guide plate 16. In this example, the light guide plate 16 also serves as a base material for holding the liquid crystal panel 15, thereby reducing the overall thickness.

FIG. 7 shows a light guide plate 16 in addition to the configuration of FIG.
This is an example in which a touch panel 22 (only a press detection film) is bonded to the front surface of the touch panel. In this example, the light guide plate 16 also serves as a base material of the touch panel 22, and suppresses an increase in thickness due to the addition of the touch panel function.

The display devices shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 correspond to FIGS.
5, and further, on the back of the liquid crystal panel, absorbs the bending of the touch panel and the liquid crystal panel due to the pressing force from the outer surface of the touch panel, and disperses the local external force to the liquid crystal panel in a wide range. You may provide the buffer member made to perform.

As a liquid crystal panel whose display becomes clear by illumination from the front, the liquid crystal panel can be made by selective reflection of the liquid crystal itself as described above, or a reflection type can be used as a whole by using a transmission type liquid crystal and having a reflection plate on the rear side. A reflection type liquid crystal panel is exemplified. Of course, the display device is not limited to the reflective panel, and may be a non-light emitting display device.

[0044]

According to the display device and the display panel of the present invention, the display member is bent together with the deformation of the light transmissive member, so that the display member is affected by an external force acting on the light transmissive member. And a stable screen can be provided.

Further, since the display member and the translucent member are joined and there is no clearance between the two, a parallax shift is suppressed and a favorable display without image blur can be performed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a display device according to an embodiment of the invention. (B) It is a display concerning one embodiment of the present invention, and is a sectional view showing a state when an external force acts on a touch panel.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a display device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a display device according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing a display device including an exterior member according to one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a display device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a display device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

2: display device, 4: press detection film, 5: touch panel, 6: base portion, 8: display member (liquid crystal panel), 9:
Mounting substrate, 10: film, 12: transparent conductive film, 14:
Spacer, 15: Display member (liquid crystal panel) 16: Light guide plate, 22: Touch panel.

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 3/033 350 G06F 3/033 350A G09F 9/00 302 G09F 9/00 302 336 336B 366 366A 9/30 310 9/30 310

Claims (14)

[Claims] 1. A display device comprising: a display member having flexibility; a thin plate-shaped translucent member provided on a front surface of the display member; and an exterior member covering at least a back surface of the display member. A display device, wherein the display member and the translucent member are joined so as to overlap each other. 2. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a touch panel is used as the translucent member. 3. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a light guide plate is used as said translucent member. 4. The display device according to claim 3, further comprising a light source for irradiating the light guide plate with light. 5. The display device according to claim 1, wherein a liquid crystal panel is used as the display member. 6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the liquid crystal panel has a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a pair of flexible resin substrates. 7. A clearance is provided between a back surface of the display member and the exterior member.
7. The display device according to any one of 6. 8. A screen display control unit for controlling display of the display member is provided between a back surface of the display member and the exterior member. Display device. 9. The display device according to claim 8, wherein a clearance is provided between the display member and the screen display control unit. 10. The display device according to claim 8, wherein said screen display control unit includes a flexible substrate, and further comprises joining said substrate to a back surface of said display member. 11. A display panel, wherein a flexible display member and a thin plate-shaped light-transmitting member provided on the front surface of the display member are joined so as to overlap each other. 12. The display panel according to claim 11, wherein a liquid crystal panel is used as said display member, and a touch panel is used as said translucent member. 13. The display panel according to claim 11, wherein a liquid crystal panel is used as said display member, and a light guide plate is used as said translucent member. 14. The display panel according to claim 13, wherein the liquid crystal panel has a liquid crystal layer sandwiched between a pair of flexible resin substrates.