KR101818904B1 - Display Device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a display device with an innovative design with minimized thickness and aesthetics by boldly omitting elements that have been regarded as essential components in the prior art, and a display device according to an aspect of the present invention includes an upper substrate, A display panel bonded to the substrate and including a lower substrate having a smaller area than the upper substrate; A panel support member formed to surround at least one side surface of the lower substrate and supporting the display panel; And a set cover coupled to the display panel such that an upper substrate of the display panel is exposed to the outside.

Description

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to a display device having a thin thickness and enhanced aesthetics.

A flat panel display device replacing a cathode ray tube, which is an early display device, has been developed as a liquid crystal display device, a plasma display panel (Plasma Display Panel), and a light emitting display device .

Such a flat panel display device has made it possible to increase the size of the device by reducing the weight and volume, and has continued research and development on the response speed and image quality, and thus, many improvements have been made in terms of quality.

In recent years, along with the research and development in such a technical aspect, the necessity of research and development in the design aspect of products that can appeal to consumers is particularly emphasized. Accordingly, efforts to minimize the thickness of the display device have been steadily progressing, and there is a growing demand for a design in which the aesthetic sense which can appeal to the aesthetic sense of the consumer and stimulate the purchase is promoted.

However, the development of a design for minimizing the apparatus thickness and improving the beauty of the apparatus which has been carried out to date has been proceeded by adopting the constituent elements of the conventional display apparatus as it is and changing the structure of the constituent elements thereof, There are some limitations in minimizing the thickness of the device or in developing a new design.

For example, in the case of a liquid crystal display, conventionally, a lower case and an upper case have been essentially used to accommodate a liquid crystal panel and a backlight. In addition, a separate external case Was added. As described above, since the lower case and the upper case, as well as the outer case of the product, are essentially used, there is a limitation in reducing the thickness of the liquid crystal display device or changing the design.

In particular, since the upper case and the case cover essentially cover the upper edge of the liquid crystal panel, the thickness of the liquid crystal display device can not be increased, and the width of the bezel, which is the edge of the liquid crystal display device, The step between the bezel and the liquid crystal panel has become a barrier to devising a variety of innovative designs.

The present invention has been devised in order to overcome the above-described conventional limitations, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a display device of an innovative design in which thickness is minimized and aesthetics are improved by boldly omitting elements which have been regarded as essential components. .

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display device improved in structure that can be vulnerable due to the omission of elements that have been considered essential.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a display device including an upper substrate and a lower substrate bonded to the upper substrate and having a smaller area than the upper substrate; A panel support member formed to surround at least one side surface of the lower substrate and supporting the display panel; And a set cover coupled to the display panel such that an upper substrate of the display panel is exposed to the outside.

According to the present invention, an upper substrate having an area larger than that of the lower substrate is exposed on the front surface without applying the upper case and the case of the display device, thereby making it possible to remove the front step and the bezel of the display device, There is an effect that the aesthetics of the display device can be maximized.

According to the present invention, a display panel can be supported by using a panel support member formed so as to surround at least one of side surfaces of a lower substrate of a display panel, so that a display device can be used with more stability.

1 is a perspective view of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention;
2 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'of the display device shown in FIG. 1;
3 is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a coupling relationship between the panel support member and the set cover shown in Fig.
FIGS. 4 to 6 are schematic exploded perspective views showing a coupling relationship between the panel support member and the set cover according to another embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

In describing an embodiment of the present invention, when a structure is described as being "on" or "under" another structure, such a substrate is not limited to the case where these structures are in contact with each other, It should be interpreted to include the case where the structure is interposed. However, if the terms "directly above" or "directly below" are used, these structures should be construed as limited to being in contact with each other.

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

1 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A 'of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a panel support shown in FIG. 2, Is a schematic exploded perspective view showing a coupling relation between the member and the set cover.

2, a display device 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a display panel 110, a panel support member 120, a sealing member 130, a backlight unit 140, a guide frame 150, a support case 160, and a set cover 170.

The display panel 110 displays an image, and includes an upper substrate 112 and a lower substrate 114.

In the case of the display panel 110 according to the present invention, the upper substrate 112 is formed to have a larger area than the lower substrate 114 as shown in FIG. For this, the display panel 110 according to the present invention includes a color filter substrate on which a TFT substrate on which a thin film transistor (not shown) is formed is used as an upper substrate 112 and a color filter (not shown) . ≪ / RTI >

As described above, according to the present invention, since a TFT substrate having a larger area than the color filter substrate is used as the upper substrate 112 without using an additional upper case or an external case, the front step and the bezel of the display device 100 It is possible to maximize the aesthetics of the display device 100.

In one embodiment, the display panel 110 may be a liquid crystal panel in which a liquid crystal layer (not shown) is formed between the upper substrate 112 and the lower substrate 114). The specific configuration of the upper substrate 12 and the lower substrate 114 may be changed depending on the driving mode of the liquid crystal panel, for example, TN (Twisted Nematic) mode, VA (Vertical Alignment) plane switching mode, an FFS (Fringe field switching) mode, and the like.

Hereinafter, the structure of the upper substrate 112 and the lower substrate 114 will be described in more detail on the assumption that the display panel 110 is a liquid crystal panel.

First, the upper substrate 112 includes a plurality of pixels (not shown) formed in regions crossing by a plurality of gate lines (not shown) and a plurality of data lines (not shown).

Each pixel may include a thin film transistor (not shown) connected to a gate line and a data line, a pixel electrode connected to the thin film transistor, and a common electrode formed adjacent to the pixel electrode and supplied with a common voltage. At this time, the common electrode may be formed on the lower substrate 114 according to the driving method of the liquid crystal layer.

The upper substrate 112 forms an electric field corresponding to the difference voltage between the data voltage and the common voltage applied to each pixel to control the light transmittance of the color light passing through the lower substrate 114 and the liquid crystal layer, So that a predetermined image is displayed.

On the other hand, a gate drive circuit (not shown) for supplying a gate (or scan) signal to the gate line is formed on the upper substrate 112. The gate driving circuit generates a gate signal in response to a gate control signal provided from a timing controller (not shown), and supplies the generated gate signal to the corresponding gate line.

In addition, a pad portion (not shown) is provided on the upper surface of the upper substrate 110 in the Z-axis direction, to which various signals for driving each pixel are supplied. A panel driving unit (not shown) for driving the display panel 110 is connected to the pad unit. At this time, the panel driving unit includes a plurality of circuit films (not shown) connected to the pad unit and a printed circuit board (not shown) connected to the plurality of circuit films.

Each of the plurality of circuit films includes a data driving integrated circuit (not shown) for supplying a data signal to a data line formed on the upper substrate 112. The plurality of circuit films are attached to the pad portion and the printed circuit board by a TAB (Tape Automated Bonding) process and may be made of TCP (Tape Carrier Package) or COF (Chip On Flexible Board or Chip On Film). Accordingly, the display panel 110 is electrically connected to the printed circuit board through the plurality of circuit films.

The printed circuit board is electrically connected to a plurality of circuit films to provide various signals for displaying an image on the display panel 110. A timing control unit, various power supply circuits (not shown), memory devices (not shown), and the like for controlling the driving of the display panel 110 are mounted on the printed circuit board.

On the other hand, the data driving integrated circuit converts a digital data signal provided from the timing control unit through a plurality of circuit films into an analog data signal and supplies the analog data signal to the corresponding data line. On the other hand, the data driving integrated circuit is not mounted on a plurality of circuit films but can be directly mounted on a chip mounting region provided in the pad portion according to a COG (Chip On Glass) method.

The lower substrate 114 is formed to have a relatively smaller area than the upper substrate 112, as described above. The lower substrate 114 may be bonded to the upper substrate 112 with the liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween so as to overlap the remaining regions except for the pad portion of the upper substrate 112.

The lower substrate 114 includes a horizontal and vertical shielding layer (not shown) for defining a pixel region corresponding to each pixel formed on the upper substrate 112, an edge shielding layer (not shown) formed at the edge of the lower substrate 114 And a color filter (not shown) formed in each pixel region.

The color filter is made to pass through the lower substrate 114 from the backlight unit 140 to filter the light traveling toward the upper substrate 112 with predetermined color light. A common electrode (not shown) to which a common voltage is supplied may be formed on the lower substrate 114 according to the driving method of the liquid crystal layer.

In addition, when the display panel 110 is a liquid crystal panel, the display panel 110 may further include an upper polarizing member 116 and a lower polarizing member 118 as described above. The upper polarizing member 116 includes an upper polarizing film (not shown) that is coupled (or attached) to the front surface of the upper substrate 112 to polarize the color light transmitted through the upper substrate 112 and emitted to the outside do.

The upper polarizing member 116 further includes a stereoscopic optical member (not shown) coupled (or attached) to the upper polarizing film to convert a two-dimensional image displayed on the display panel 110 into a three-dimensional image . In one embodiment, the stereoscopic optical member may be a retarder film for separating the two-dimensional image, i.e., the left eye image and / or the right eye image into different polarized states.

The lower polarizing member 118 is attached to the lower surface of the lower substrate 114 to polarize light incident from the backlight unit 140.

2, the panel supporting member 120 is formed to enclose at least one side surface of the lower substrate 114 constituting the display panel 110 to support the display panel 110. As shown in FIG.

In the present invention, since the front and side surfaces of the upper substrate 112, which is larger than the lower substrate 114, are exposed to the outside without using the upper case or the case, And may be susceptible to forces acting on it. Accordingly, the present invention allows the panel support member 120 to surround the lower substrate 114 of the display panel 110 so that the display panel 100 can be supported.

In one embodiment, the panel support member 120 may be formed using a wire. At this time, such a wire can be formed using a transparent metal material, and may be coated with a material having high strength to increase the strength of the wire.

The panel support member 120 may include a first panel support member 122, a second panel support member 124, and a third panel support member 126, as shown in Figures 2 and 3. have.

First, the first panel support member 122 is formed to surround one surface, e.g., a bottom surface 114a, of both sides of the lower substrate 114 facing the Z-axis direction, thereby supporting the display panel 110. [

The second panel support member 124 is formed to surround one surface 114b of the lower surface of the lower substrate 114 opposite to the Y axis direction to support the display panel 110. [ 3, one end 124a of the second panel support member 124 is connected to one end 122a of the first panel support member 122, and the other end 124a of the second panel support member 124 is connected to one end 122a of the first panel support member 122, (124b) extends to the set cover (170) and is fixed to the set cover (170).

A connecting member 124c for fixing the second panel supporting member 124 to the set cover 170 may be formed at the other end 124b of the second panel supporting member 124. [ The connection member 124c formed at the other end 124b of the second panel support member 124 may be formed in a hook or an annular shape and the connection member 124c may be formed in the second panel support member 124, And may be formed of the same material.

The third panel support member 126 is formed to cover the other surface 114c of the lower surface of the lower substrate 114 in the Y axis direction to support the display panel 110. [ 3, one end 126a of the third panel support member 126 is connected to the other end 122b of the first panel support member 122 and the other end of the third panel support member 126 is connected to the other end 122b of the second panel support member 122. In this case, (126b) extends to the set cover (170) and is fixed to the set cover (170).

A connecting member 126c for fixing the third panel supporting member 126 to the set cover 170 may be formed at the other end 126b of the third panel supporting member 126. [ The connection member 126c formed at the other end 126b of the third panel support member 126 may be formed in a hook or an annular shape and the connection member 126c may be formed in the third panel support member 126, And may be formed of the same material.

According to this embodiment, the panel supporting member 120 is generally in a diagonal shape.

Next, the sealing member 130 seals the panel supporting member 120 such that the panel supporting member 120 is inserted therein. Such a sealing member 130 includes a first sealing member 132, a second sealing member 134, and a third sealing member 136, as shown in Figs.

The first sealing member 132 seals around the bottom surface 114a of the lower substrate 114 on which the first panel supporting member 122 is formed such that the first panel supporting member 122 is inserted into the first panel supporting member 122 .

The second sealing member 134 seals around one side 114b of the lower substrate 114 on which the second panel supporting member 124 is formed such that the second panel supporting member 124 is inserted into the second panel supporting member 124 .

The third sealing member 136 seals around the other surface 114c of the lower surface of the lower substrate 114 on which the third panel supporting member 126 is formed such that the third panel supporting member 126 is inserted therein .

In one embodiment, the sealing member 130 may be formed by sealing a material such as transparent silicon.

As described above, since the display panel 110 is supported in the Z-axis direction by the panel supporting portion 120 and the sealing member 130 formed to surround the side surface of the lower substrate 114, So that it can be used with stability.

Referring back to FIG. 2, the backlight unit 140 irradiates the entire back surface of the display panel 110 with light. To this end, the backlight unit 140 includes a reflective sheet 142, a light guide plate 144, an optical sheet 146, and a light source (not shown).

The reflective sheet 142 is disposed on the back surface of the light guide plate 144 and reflects light incident from the light guide plate 144 toward the display panel 110.

The light guide plate 144 is formed in the shape of a flat plate (or wedge) so as to have a light incidence surface on at least one side surface, and advances the light incident through the light incidence surface toward the display panel 110. Other side surfaces of the light guide plate 144 excluding the light-incident surface to which the light is irradiated, that is, the non-incident surface, can be surrounded by the reflective sheet 142. To this end, the reflective sheet 142 is bent to cover the light incidence surface of the light guide plate 144 by half cutting or the like.

The optical sheet 146 is disposed on the light guide plate 144 to improve the brightness characteristic of light traveling from the light guide plate 144 toward the display panel 110. [ To this end, the optical sheet 146 may include at least one diffusion sheet and at least one prism sheet of a lower diffusion sheet, a lower prism sheet, an upper prism sheet, and an upper diffusion sheet.

The light source is disposed to face the light incidence surface of the light guide plate 144 to make light incident on the light incidence surface. In one embodiment, the light source may comprise a plurality of light emitting diodes. The light source and the upper portion of the light incidence surface of the light guide plate 144 may be surrounded by a light source housing (not shown).

Referring again to FIG. 2, the guide frame 150 is formed in a rectangular frame shape so as to have a "┏" or "┓" cross-section, and is housed in the set cover 170. The guide frame 150 is engaged with the rear edge portion of the display panel 110 by the engaging member 180. At this time, the engaging member 180 may be a double-sided tape or an adhesive. That is, the guide frame 150 is coupled to the rear edge portion of the lower substrate 114 by the engaging member 180, but is not limited thereto. The lower frame 140 may include a lower polarizing member 118 attached to the entire rear surface of the lower substrate 114 It may be bonded to the edge portion.

The support case 160 is formed to have a storage space provided by the support plate 160a and the support side wall 160b bent perpendicularly from the support plate 160a. The support case 160 accommodates the backlight unit 140 through the accommodation space and supports the guide frame 150. At this time, the support case 160 and the guide frame 150 can be coupled to each other by a coupling member (not shown) such as a double-sided tape or an adhesive, a hook, a screw, or the like .

Meanwhile, the support case 160 may be omitted according to the slimming of the display device 100. [ In this case, the set cover 160 may be coupled to the guide frame 150 by a fastening member (not shown) such as a hook or a screw.

The set cover 170 is formed to have a storage space provided by the set plate 170a and the set side wall 170b bent perpendicularly from the set plate 170a. The set cover 170 accommodates the guide frame 150 and the support case 160 through the accommodation space. The set cover 170 also supports the rear edge portion of the display panel 110, for example, a portion of the upper substrate 112 that does not overlap with the lower substrate 114 through the set sidewall 170b. The set cover 170 covers the side surfaces of the second sealing member 130b, the third sealing member 130c and the guide frame 150 while exposing the front and side surfaces of the upper substrate 112 to the outside .

2 and 3, the set cover 170 includes a first projection 172a and a second projection 172b to which the panel supporting member 120 is fixed, and a panel supporting member 120 may be further provided with a first passage groove 174a and a second passage groove 174b for exposing the set cover 170 to the outside.

Specifically, a connecting member 124c formed at the other end 124b of the second panel supporting member 124 is fixed to the first projection 172a. 3, the connecting member 124c formed at the other end 124b of the second panel supporting member 124 passes through the set cover 170 through the first passage groove 174a, 1 protrusion 172a.

A connecting member 126c formed at the other end 126b of the third panel supporting member 126 is fixed to the second projection 172b. 3, the connection member 126c formed at the other end 126b of the third panel support member 126 passes through the set cover 170 through the second passage groove 174b, 2 protrusion 172b.

The first protrusion 172a and the second protrusion 172b and the first passage groove 174a and the second passage groove 174b may be formed in the set plate 170a of the set cover 170. [

In one embodiment, the first and second passage grooves 174a, 174b may be in the form of holes formed to penetrate the set plate 170a.

The panel support member 120 is described as being fixed to the set cover 170 through the first and second protrusions 172a and 172b in the above embodiments, May be directly fixed to the set cover 170 using a fastening member such as a screw. In another embodiment, the panel support member 120 may be fixed directly to a wall other than the set cover. According to this embodiment, the first and second projections 172a and 172b may be omitted.

The panel supporting member 120 includes all of the first to third panel supporting members 122, 124 and 126 and the sealing member 130 includes the first to third sealing members 132 and 132. In this embodiment, 134, and 136, respectively.

4, the panel support member 120 does not include the first panel support member 122, but is provided on both sides of the lower substrate 114 facing in the Y-axis direction The second panel support member 124 and the third panel support member 126 that are formed to surround the first panel support members 114b and 114c and support the display panel 110. [

The sealing member 130 may be formed on one side 114b of both sides of the lower substrate 114 on which the second panel supporting member 124 is formed so that the second panel supporting member 124 is inserted therein. The other surface 114c of the lower substrate 114 on which the third panel supporting member 126 is formed such that the second sealing member 134 and the third panel supporting member 126 formed by sealing the periphery thereof are inserted into the inner surface 114c And a third sealing member 136 formed by sealing the periphery of the third sealing member 136.

5, the panel supporting member 120 does not include the second and third panel supporting members 124 and 126, and the bottom surface 114a of the lower substrate 114 The first panel supporting member 122 may be formed to surround the display panel 110 and support the display panel 110.

The connection member 122c formed at one end 122a of the first panel support member 122 is fixed to the first projection 172a through the first passage groove 174a formed in the set cover 170 The connection member 124c formed at the other end 122b of the first panel support member 122 is fixed to the second projection 172b through the second passage groove 174b formed in the set cover 170. [ The first and second protrusions 172a and 172b and the first and second passage grooves 174a and 174b are formed below the set plate 170a.

According to this embodiment, the sealing member 130 surrounds the bottom surface 114a of the lower substrate 114 where the first panel supporting member 122 is formed such that the first panel supporting member 122 is inserted therein The first sealing member 132 may be formed by sealing the first sealing member 132.

In the above-described embodiments, the first and second passage grooves 174a and 174b are formed in a hole shape. However, in the modified embodiment, as shown in FIG. 6, The first and second passage grooves 174a and 174b may be formed by cutting a part thereof. At this time, the set plate 170a can be cut so that the incision site has a curved shape.

In the above-described embodiments, the size of the lower substrate 114 is smaller than the size of the upper substrate 112 in both the Y-axis direction and the Z-axis direction. However, in the modified embodiment, The size of the lower substrate 114 may be smaller than the size of the upper substrate 112 in the Z-axis direction, but may be the same as the size of the upper substrate 112 in the Y-axis direction.

6 shows only the case where the first panel supporting member 122 and the first sealing member 132 are formed for the sake of convenience of explanation, the structure of the first and second passage grooves 174a and 174b shown in FIG. 6 And the lower substrate 114 are structured such that the first to third panel supporting members 122, 124 and 126 and the first to third sealing members 132, 134 and 136 are all formed, The present invention can be applied to a structure in which only the panel supporting members 124 and 126 and the second to third sealing members 134 and 136 are formed.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof.

For example, although the present invention is applied to a liquid crystal display device as one of the display devices in the above-described embodiments, the present invention is not necessarily applicable to a liquid crystal display device, but may be applied to an organic light emitting device, And may be applied to various display devices such as electrophoretic display devices. In such a case, it is necessary to appropriately change the structure of the guide frame described above.

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: display device 110: display panel
120: panel supporting member 130: sealing member
140: backlight unit 150: guide frame
160: Support case 170: Set cover

Claims (13)

A display panel including an upper substrate and a lower substrate bonded to the upper substrate and having a smaller area than the upper substrate;
A panel support member provided to surround at least one side surface of the lower substrate and supporting the display panel;
A set cover coupled to the display panel such that an upper substrate of the display panel is exposed to the outside; And
And a sealing member sealed to insert the panel support member therein. The method according to claim 1,
The panel support member
And a first panel support member provided to surround one surface of the lower substrate opposite to the first surface in a first direction to support the display panel. 3. The method according to claim 1 or 2,
The panel support member
A second panel supporting member provided to cover one side of both sides of the lower substrate opposite to each other in the second direction; And
And a third panel supporting member provided to cover the other of opposite sides of the lower substrate in the second direction. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the panel support member is made of a wire. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the set cover supports a portion of the upper substrate that is not overlapped with the lower substrate. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the sealing member is made of transparent silicon. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the set cover is provided with a protrusion for fixing the panel support member and a passage groove for exposing the panel support member to the outside of the set cover,
Wherein the panel support member is fixed to the protrusion through the set cover through the through-hole. 8. The method of claim 7,
The projection
A first projection on which one end of the panel supporting member is fixed; And
And a second projection on which the other end of the panel supporting member is fixed. 9. The method of claim 8,
The set cover is provided with a first passage groove for exposing one end of the panel support member to the outside of the set cover and a second passage groove for exposing the other end of the panel support member to the outside of the set cover,
Wherein one end of the panel support member is fixed to the first projection through the set cover through the first passage groove and the other end of the panel support member passes through the set cover through the second passage groove, (2) A display device fixed to a projection. The method according to claim 1,
And a connection member for fixing the panel support member to the set cover is provided at both ends of the panel support member. 11. The method of claim 10,
Wherein the connecting member is a hook or an annular shape. The method according to claim 1,
And a panel driver connected to the pad unit included in the upper substrate to drive the display panel. The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the panel support member includes one end that is in contact with the lower surface of the lower substrate and the other end that is bent perpendicularly from the end of the one end and coupled to the set cover.

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