KR100863477B1 - Flexible printed circuit and display apparatus having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

A flexible PCB and a display apparatus having the same are provided to reduce loss amounts of a conductive film by attaching the conductive film on an end portion of the flexible PCB. A flexible PCB(Printed Circuit Board) includes an insulation film(110a), a metal thin film(110b), and a conductive film(120). The metal thin film is formed on the insulation film by printing a predetermined circuit pattern thereon. The conductive film is formed on the metal thin film. The conductive film across the circuit pattern is formed on an end portion of the metal thin film. The conductive film is Polyimide film. The metal thin film includes a first metal thin film formed on the insulation film and a second metal thin film formed on the first metal thin film.

Description

Flexible printed circuit board and display device including same

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a flexible circuit board and a display device including the same, wherein the conductive film is previously attached to an area of the flexible circuit board to be attached to the panel and the driver of the display device. A flexible circuit board which can be reduced and a display device including the same are provided.

With the development of flat panel display technology, various types of flat panel display devices such as liquid crystal display (LCD), plasma display panel (PDP), organic light emitting device (OLED), etc. Is being developed. The flat panel display apparatus includes a panel displaying an image, a driver driving the panel, and a circuit board connecting the panel and the driver.

The driving unit is a module for inputting image data to the panel and may be connected to the panel according to a tape carrier package (TCP) mounting method and a chip-on-glass (COG) mounting method. The COG mounting method does not need to form TCP separately, thereby reducing the manufacturing cost, but has the disadvantage of increasing the size of the glass substrate required for manufacturing the display device.

TCP is a method of mounting a driving IC on a flexible film including an insulating film and a metal thin film, and a circuit pattern connected to the driving IC is formed on the metal thin film. Recently, Chip-On-Film (COF) technology has been used to bend more than 90 degrees using materials that are more flexible than TCP.

In the case of using the TCP method, an adhesive for connecting the TCP to the driver and the panel is required, and a conductive film is widely used as the adhesive for connecting the TCP to the driver and the panel. The conductive film used as the adhesive may include a conductive ball formed of a metal to electrically connect the TCP with the driver and the panel. After attaching the conductive film to the ends of the panel and the drive and arranging the TCP on the conductive film, the TCP is connected to the drive and the panel by heat pressing the conductive film.

However, if the conductive film is attached to the panel and the driving unit and heat-compresses the TCP, the conductive film must be continuously attached to the end of the panel and the driving unit. Therefore, the conductive film should be attached to the area where the TCP is not connected. The tact time of the manufacturing process can be increased.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to attach a conductive film to the end region of the flexible circuit board connected to the driver and the panel in advance, thereby reducing the amount of wasted conductive film and reducing the tact time of the display device manufacturing process. A substrate and a display device including the same are provided.

In order to achieve the above object, the flexible circuit board according to the present invention includes an insulating film, a metal thin film formed by printing a predetermined circuit pattern on the insulating film, and a conductive film formed on the metal thin film. The conductive film is formed at the end of the metal thin film so as to cross the direction in which the circuit pattern is printed.

In addition, a display device according to the present invention includes a panel for displaying an image, a driver for driving the panel, and a flexible circuit board disposed between the panel and the driver; The flexible circuit board includes an insulating film, a metal thin film formed on the insulating film and printed with a predetermined circuit pattern, and a conductive film formed at an end of the metal thin film crossing the circuit pattern. The conductive film may be attached to the panel and the driving unit to electrically connect the panel and the driving unit with the flexible circuit board.

On the other hand, the manufacturing method of the display device which concerns on this invention is a flexible circuit which comprises the step which comprises the panel which displays an image, the predetermined circuit pattern is printed and is formed in the edge part of the direction which cross | intersects the circuit pattern. Providing a substrate, arranging the flexible circuit board on the panel such that the conductive film is located on the panel, and heating and compressing the conductive film to attach the panel and the flexible circuit board. do.

According to the present invention, a conductive film is attached to an end portion of the flexible circuit board connected with the driving unit and the panel. Therefore, waste of the conductive film that may occur in the manufacturing process of the display device may be reduced, and the tact time may be reduced in the manufacturing process of the display device.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

1A and 1B illustrate a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention. Referring to FIG. 1A, the flexible circuit board 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a substrate 110, a conductive film 120, a driving IC 130, and a circuit pattern 140.

The substrate 110 may be formed of a flexible thin film, and may include an insulating film and a metal thin film formed on the insulating film. When the substrate 110 includes an insulating film and a metal thin film, the circuit pattern 140 and the driving IC 130 may be formed on the metal thin film, and the circuit pattern 140 may include the driving IC 130 and the conductive film. Connected to the 120 to transmit a signal input from the driver of the display device to the panel.

The insulating film used for the substrate 110 may be formed of polyimide, polyester, liquid crystal polymer, or the like, but polyimide having excellent heat resistance and dimensional stability is widely used. . The metal thin film formed on the insulating film may be formed using nickel, gold, copper, or the like.

The conductive film 120 is a kind of adhesive that electrically connects the circuit pattern 140 formed on the flexible circuit board 100 with the driving unit and the panel, and an anisotropic conductive film (ACF) is mainly used. The conductive film 120 may transmit an electrical signal by including a conductive ball for transmitting a signal.

The driver IC 130 is a kind of integrated circuit formed on the substrate 110 and is formed differently according to the type of panel used in the display device. In an embodiment, when the display device is a liquid crystal display (LCD) and is driven by a thin-film transistor (TFT), the driving IC 130 may include a gate driving IC, a data driving IC, or the like. It can be formed as. The driving IC 130 is connected to the circuit pattern 140 to transmit a signal to the panel through the conductive film 120.

The circuit pattern 140 is formed on the substrate 110 to transmit an electrical signal to the panel. The circuit pattern 140 may be formed differently according to the side connected to the panel and the side connected to the driver, and the pitch of the circuit pattern on the side connected to the panel may be narrower.

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section taken along the line AA ′ of the flexible circuit board illustrated in FIG. 1A. Referring to FIG. 1B, the substrate 110 of the flexible circuit board 100 includes an insulating film 110a and a metal thin film 110b. In this embodiment, the insulating film 110a may be a polyimide film, and the metal thin film 110b may have a two to three layer structure as necessary. When the metal thin film 110b is formed in a two-layer structure, the first metal thin film formed on the insulating film 110a may be any one of nickel, gold, and copper, and may be formed on the first metal thin film. The bimetallic thin film may be any one of gold and copper.

The driving IC 130 may be formed on the metal thin film 110b. Although not shown in FIG. 1B, the driving IC 130 is connected to the circuit pattern 140 formed on the metal thin film 110b to transmit a signal to the panel. Meanwhile, the conductive film 120 is formed to be connected to the circuit pattern 140 at the end of the metal thin film 110b connected to the driving unit and the panel.

2A and 2B illustrate a method of supplying a flexible circuit board according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The flexible circuit board 100 according to the present embodiment is supplied to a manufacturing process of a display device while rotating a reel in which a plurality of flexible circuit boards 100 are wound.

Referring to FIG. 2A, a plurality of flexible circuit boards 100 are supplied to a manufacturing process of a display device, and are cut in a direction orthogonal to a supply direction and attached to a panel and a driver. In the flexible circuit board 100 illustrated in FIG. 2, the conductive film 120 is attached and supplied in advance so that the process of attaching the conductive film 120 and the arrangement process of the flexible circuit board 100 included in the manufacturing process of the display device may be performed. Tact time may be reduced by uniting the flexible circuit board 100 in a process of arranging the flexible circuit board 100.

That is, the flexible circuit board 100 supplied while being wound on the reel is cut at positions such as ①, ②, and the like, and the cut flexible circuit board 100 is disposed between the panel and the driving unit of the display device and heated. Compression may simplify the connection process of the flexible circuit board 100. Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing the display device including the flexible circuit board 100 according to the present exemplary embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 2B.

The display device manufactured according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a panel 310 displaying an image, a driver 320 and 330 driving the panel 310, and a flexible circuit connecting the panel 310 and the driver 320 and 330. The substrate 100 is included. The panel 310 may include a plurality of pixels 310a for implementing an image, and the driving units 320 and 330 may include a data driver 320 and a scan driver 330.

In the method of manufacturing the display device according to the present exemplary embodiment, disposing the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330 and disposing the flexible circuit board 100 between the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330. And attaching the flexible circuit board 100 to the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330 by heating and compressing the flexible circuit board 100. When the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330 are disposed, the flexible circuit board 100 wound around the reel is released and disposed between the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330.

The flexible circuit board 100 is disposed such that the conductive film 120 is positioned on the panel 310 and the drivers 320 and 330. When the arrangement of the flexible circuit board 100 is completed, the panel 310 and the driving units 320 and 330 may be pressed by compressing the panel 310 and the conductive film 120 disposed on the driving units 320 and 330. Can be connected with 100. In this case, conductive balls included in the conductive film 120 electrically connect the panel 310 and the driving units 320 and 330 with the circuit pattern 140 formed on the flexible circuit board 100.

The circuit pattern 140 is connected to circuits formed in the driving units 320 and 330 and the panel 310 through the conductive film 120. Referring to FIG. 2B, the data signal line of the pixel 310a included in the panel 310 is connected to the circuit pattern 140. If necessary, the conductive film 120 may be connected to the wiring on the panel 310 through a bonding pad formed at the end of the panel 310.

3A to 3C illustrate a display device including a flexible circuit board according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The display device 300 according to the present exemplary embodiment may be a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting device (OLED), and a liquid crystal display.

3A is a diagram schematically illustrating the display device 300 according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3A, the display device 300 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a panel 310 for displaying an image, driving units 320 and 330 for inputting image data to the panel 310, and a panel 310 and a driving unit. And a flexible circuit board 100 connecting the 320 and 330. The drivers 320 and 330 may include a data driver 320 and a scan driver 330.

In an embodiment, when the display device operates according to an active matrix scheme that can be driven for each pixel 310a, when the scan driver 330 scans each row in which the pixel 310a is disposed, The data driver 320 applies image data in a column direction that intersects a row scanned by the scan driver 330. For the above operation, the circuit of the scan driver 330 is connected to the gate wiring formed for each pixel 310a of the panel 310, and the circuit of the data driver 320 is connected to the data wiring of the pixel 310a. Can be.

The panel 310 and the driving units 320 and 330 are connected to the flexible circuit board 100 through the conductive film 120. The conductive film 120 used in the display device 300 may be an anisotropic conductive film including conductive balls. According to the present embodiment, the conductive film 120 is previously attached to the flexible circuit board 100 and supplied. By attaching and supplying the conductive film 120 to the flexible circuit board 100 in advance, the amount of the conductive film 120 attached to the end of the panel 310 corresponding to the driving units 320 and 330 is reduced, and the manufacturing process is reduced. Simplification can reduce tact time.

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section taken along the line BB ′ of the display device illustrated in FIG. 3A. Referring to FIG. 3B, the display device 300 according to the present exemplary embodiment includes a panel 310, a driver 320, and a flexible circuit board 100 electrically connecting the panel 310 and the driver 320. do.

The driving unit 320 includes a substrate 320a, an integrated circuit unit 320b formed on the substrate, and an insulator 320c. The integrated circuit unit 320b is connected to the conductive film 120 by circuit wiring to transmit a signal for displaying an image to the panel 310.

The flexible circuit board 100 is connected to the substrate 110 including the insulating film 110a and the metal thin film 110b, the conductive film 120 connected to the panel 310, and the driving unit 320, and the substrate 110. The driving IC 130 includes a circuit pattern 140 connected to the driving IC 130, and a resin 15 protecting the driving IC 130. The circuit pattern 140 is not shown in this figure.

The insulating film 110a included in the substrate 110 may be a polyimide film, and the metal thin film 110b may be formed in a two to three layer structure as necessary. The metal thin film 110b may be formed by a laminating method, a sputtering method, or the like, and may be formed of any one of nickel, gold, and copper. In particular, when the metal thin film 110b is formed in a two-layer structure, the first metal thin film formed on the insulating film 110a may be any one of nickel, gold, and copper, and is formed on the first metal thin film. The second metal thin film may be any one of gold and copper.

The conductive film 120 is attached to the metal thin film 110b and supplied to the manufacturing process of the display device 300. The conductive film 120 according to the present embodiment may be an anisotropic conductive film including conductive balls. The conductive ball included in the conductive film 120 may be formed of at least one of conductive metals such as nickel, gold, and copper, and may have an insulating layer formed of a polymer in the metal layer, if necessary.

By attaching the conductive film 120 to the metal thin film 110b in advance and attaching the conductive film 120 to the panel 310 and the driving units 320 and 330, the flexible circuit board 100 may be disposed. The process can be unified in one step. In addition, the manufacturing cost may be reduced by reducing the amount of the conductive film 120 required to connect the flexible circuit board 100 to the panel 310 and the driving units 320 and 330.

The driving IC 130 is an integrated circuit unit that transmits a signal applied to the panel 310 and is connected to the circuit pattern 140 through an inner lead bonding (ILB) pad. The pitch of the ILB pad is usually about 30 μm. The signal transmitted by the driving IC 130 is transmitted to the panel 310 through conductive balls included in the conductive film 120 through an outer lead bonding pad (OLB) connected to the conductive film 120. The pitch of the OLB pad may be 45 μm to 60 μm.

3C is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cross section taken along a line C-C 'of the display device illustrated in FIG. 3A. 3C is a cross-sectional view of the CC ′ direction from the direction of the data driver 320. The plurality of flexible circuit boards 100 are connected to each of the flexible circuit boards 100 by the conductive film 120 attached to and supplied to each flexible circuit board 100. Attached to 320.

According to the present exemplary embodiment, the conductive film 120 may be attached to the data driver 320 to the panel 310 and the conductive film 120 may be connected to the flexible circuit board 100. By reducing the amount, the manufacturing cost can be lowered. In addition, by integrating and supplying the conductive film 120 to the flexible circuit board 100, the manufacturing process may be simplified and the tact time may be reduced. In order to manufacture the display device 300 as in the present exemplary embodiment, the flexible circuit board 100 in which the conductive film 120 is integrated is preferably wound around a reel as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B.

While the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments described above, and the present invention is not limited to the specific embodiments of the present invention, without departing from the spirit of the invention as claimed in the claims. Various modifications can be made by those skilled in the art, and these modifications should not be individually understood from the technical spirit or the prospect of the present invention.

1A and 1B illustrate a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention;

2A and 2B illustrate a process of supplying a flexible circuit board according to an embodiment of the present invention; and

3A to 3C illustrate a display device including a flexible circuit board according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description of the main parts of the drawing

100: flexible circuit board 120: conductive film

130: drive IC 140: circuit pattern

300: display device 310: panel

320: data driver 330: scan driver

Claims (16)

Insulation film; A metal thin film formed by printing a predetermined circuit pattern on the insulating film; And A conductive film formed on the metal thin film; Including, And the conductive film intersects the circuit pattern and is formed at an end portion of the metal thin film. The method of claim 1, wherein the insulating film, A flexible circuit board, characterized in that a polyimide film. The method of claim 1, wherein the metal thin film, A first metal thin film formed on the insulating film, and A second metal thin film formed on the first metal thin film; Flexible circuit board comprising a. The method of claim 3, wherein the first metal thin film, A flexible circuit board formed of any one of gold, nickel, and copper. The method of claim 3, wherein the second metal thin film, Flexible circuit board, characterized in that formed of any one of gold, and copper The method of claim 1, wherein the conductive film, A flexible circuit board, characterized in that it is an anisotropic conductive film containing conductive balls. The method of claim 6, wherein the conductive ball, A flexible circuit board comprising a metal layer formed of at least one of nickel and copper. The method of claim 1, And an integrated circuit (IC) formed to be connected to the circuit pattern. A panel displaying an image; A driving unit driving the panel; And A flexible circuit board disposed between the panel and the driver; Including, The flexible circuit board, Insulation film; A metal thin film formed on the insulating film and printed with a predetermined circuit pattern; And And a conductive film intersecting the circuit pattern and formed at an end of the metal thin film. And the conductive film is attached to the panel and the driver to electrically connect the panel and the driver to the flexible circuit board. The method of claim 9, And the insulating film is a polyimide film. The method of claim 9, The metal thin film may include a first metal thin film formed of any one of gold, nickel, and copper; And A second metal thin film formed of any one of gold and copper; Display device comprising a. The method of claim 9, The conductive film is an anisotropic conductive film comprising a conductive ball. 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the flexible circuit board, And an integrated circuit (IC) formed to be connected to the circuit pattern. Providing a panel for displaying an image; Providing a flexible circuit board on which a predetermined circuit pattern is printed and comprising a conductive film formed at an end portion in a direction crossing the circuit pattern; Disposing the flexible circuit board on the panel such that the conductive film is positioned on the panel; And Thermally compressing the conductive film to attach the panel and the flexible circuit board; Method of manufacturing a display device comprising a. The method of claim 14, The flexible circuit board includes an insulating film and a metal thin film formed on the insulating film to print the circuit pattern. The method of claim 14, The conductive film is a method of manufacturing a display device, characterized in that the anisotropic conductive film containing a conductive ball.

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