KR102485431B1 - Array substrate and display device having the same - Google Patents

Abstract

In the display device of the present invention, static electricity generated at the edge of the array substrate can flow into the dummy wiring first. In addition, the display device of the present invention can flow the introduced static electricity to the ground wire after lowering the energy through the discharge unit. Accordingly, the present invention lowers the maximum energy of the introduced static electricity by using the discharge unit, thereby preventing damage to circuit components of the display device connected to the ground wire.

Description

Array substrate and display device including the same {ARRAY SUBSTRATE AND DISPLAY DEVICE HAVING THE SAME}

The present invention relates to an electrostatic protection structure provided on an array substrate of a display device.

Information electronic devices implement high-resolution and high-quality images of various portable devices such as mobile phones, laptops, and computers, and HDTVs. As information electronic devices develop, demand for a flat panel display device applied thereto is gradually increasing. As such flat panel display devices, LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), PDP (Plasma Display Panel), FED (Field Emission Display), and OLED (Organic Light Emitting Diodes) have been actively studied. However, liquid crystal displays (LCDs) are now in the limelight due to mass production technology, ease of driving means, realization of high image quality, and realization of large-area screens.

A liquid crystal display device includes a liquid crystal display panel, a data driving circuit, a gate driving circuit, and a timing controller. The data driving circuit supplies data to the data line of the liquid crystal display panel. The gate driving circuit supplies gate pulses to gate lines of the liquid crystal display panel. The timing controller controls the data driving circuit and the gate driving circuit. Such a liquid crystal display device is generally used by forming a gate and data driving circuit in the form of an integrated circuit and attaching it to the liquid crystal display panel like a TCP or COF tape. As a result, the number of components increases, and the process cost increases due to the increase in the number of components, which has become a problem in reducing the weight and size of the liquid crystal display device. Accordingly, a gate driver-IC in panel (GIP) liquid crystal display device in which a gate driving circuit is formed on the liquid crystal display panel has been proposed.

In a liquid crystal display device having a built-in circuit, the data driving circuit is formed in the form of a chip and attached to the liquid crystal display panel like a TCP or COF tape. In a liquid crystal display device having a built-in circuit, a plurality of gates and data lines defining liquid crystal cells are intersected and formed in a display area of the liquid crystal display panel. A GIP type gate driving circuit composed of a plurality of thin film transistors is provided outside the display area.

1 is a view showing a conventional array substrate.

The display device as described above includes an array substrate 10 including a display area A/A where an image is output and non-display areas 11, 12, 13, and 14 outside the display area. In addition, the array substrate 10 includes a data driving circuit (not shown) for supplying a data voltage to the data lines DL disposed in the display area A/A. In addition, the array substrate 10 includes gate driving circuits 20a and 20b for supplying a scan signal to the gate line GL disposed in the display area A/A. Here, the gate driving circuits 20a and 20b are gates mounted in the second non-display area 12 and the third non-display area 14 of the array substrate 10, as shown in FIG. It can be configured in a panel (Gate In Panel: GIP) method. In addition, ground wires 30 may be disposed in the first to fourth non-display areas 11 , 12 , 13 , and 14 of the array substrate 10 . The ground wire 30 is disposed at the edge of the panel 10 rather than the gate driving circuits 20a and 20b.

In electronic products, static electricity (Electro Static Discharge; ESD) is generally generated.

When static electricity is generated in the array substrate 10 of a conventional display device, static electricity can easily flow into the ground wire 30 disposed at the edge of the array substrate 10 . In this case, there is a problem in that the gate driving circuits 20a and 20b disposed adjacent to the ground wire 30 are damaged due to static electricity. In addition, the ground wire 30 may be connected to other circuit components through the pad 40 . Due to this, there is a problem in that static electricity flowing into the ground wire 30 causes damage to other circuit components connected to the pad 40 .

An object of the present invention is to provide a display device in which the influence of static electricity flowing into a ground wire on a gate driving circuit is reduced.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a display device capable of preventing damage to circuit components of the display device by lowering the energy of static electricity by using a discharge unit to generate high-energy static electricity.

In addition, the present invention provides a display device capable of protecting circuit components of the display device from introduced static electricity regardless of the polarity of the static electricity.

As a means for solving the above problems, it is possible to provide an array substrate including a ground wire to which a ground signal is applied, a dummy wire disposed outside the ground wire, and a discharge unit including one or more diodes and connecting the ground wire and the dummy wire. can Accordingly, the present invention lowers the energy of the static electricity using the discharging unit and sends it to the ground wire, thereby preventing damage to circuit components of the display device connected to the ground wire.

According to the present invention, since the ground wiring is farther apart from the gate driving circuit than in the prior art, the influence of static electricity flowing into the ground wiring on the gate driving circuit is reduced.

Also, in the present invention, due to the dummy wiring, static electricity may be introduced before the ground wiring.

In addition, the present invention lowers the energy of the static electricity using the discharge unit to flow the static electricity instantaneously with high energy into the dummy wiring and sends it to the ground wiring, thereby preventing damage to circuit components of the display device connected to the ground wiring.

In addition, according to the present invention, even if any diode among the plurality of diodes included in the discharge unit is damaged when static electricity is introduced, the remaining diodes operate normally, so that circuit components of the display device can be protected from static electricity.

In addition, according to the present invention, circuit components of a display device can be protected from static electricity regardless of the polarity of the static electricity.

In addition, since the process of a conventional display device can be used in disposing the discharge unit in the present invention, additional processes and costs are not incurred.

1 is a view showing a conventional array substrate.
2 is a block diagram of a display device including an array substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3 is a schematic diagram of a display device to which an array substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.
4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a dummy wire and a discharge unit disposed in a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5 is a view showing a discharge unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.
6 is a view showing a discharge unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The embodiments introduced below are provided as examples to sufficiently convey the spirit of the present invention to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the present invention may be embodied in other forms without being limited to the embodiments described below. Like reference numbers indicate like elements throughout the specification.

Advantages and features of the present invention, and methods for achieving them, will become clear with reference to the embodiments described below in detail in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below and will be implemented in various different forms. In addition, only the present embodiments are provided to complete the disclosure of the present invention and to completely inform those skilled in the art of the scope of the invention to which the present invention belongs. Further, the invention is only defined by the scope of the claims. Like reference numbers designate like elements throughout the specification. The sizes and relative sizes of layers and regions in the drawings may be exaggerated for clarity of explanation.

When an element or layer is referred to as “on” or “on” another element or layer, it includes both cases where another element or layer is intervening as well as directly on another element or layer. do. On the other hand, when an element is referred to as “directly on” or “directly on”, it indicates that no other element or layer is intervening.

The spatially relative terms "below, beneath", "lower", "above", "upper", etc., refer to one element or component as shown in the drawing. It can be used to easily describe the correlation between and other elements or components. Spatially relative terms should be understood as terms that include different orientations of elements in use or operation in addition to the directions shown in the figures. For example, when flipping elements shown in the figures, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements may be placed “above” the other elements. Thus, the exemplary term “below” may include directions both below and above.

Terms used in this specification are for describing embodiments, and therefore are not intended to limit the present invention. In this specification, singular forms also include plural forms unless specifically stated otherwise in a phrase. As used herein, "comprise" and/or "comprising" means that a stated component, step, operation, and/or element is the presence of one or more other components, steps, operations, and/or elements. or do not rule out additions.

2 is a block diagram of a display device including an array substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a display device to which an array substrate according to an embodiment of the present invention is applied.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display device of the present invention includes a display panel including an array substrate 100 and an upper substrate 1000, a timing controller 400, and first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b. ), a data driving circuit 300, and an electrostatic protection area (A). The timing controller 400 may generate various control signals by receiving a timing signal from an external system. The first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b and the data driving circuit 300 may control the array substrate 100 in response to a control signal of the timing controller 400 . The static electricity protection area A may be disposed in the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140 of the array substrate 100 . The static electricity protection area A may include a ground wire 500, a dummy wire 700 to protect the display device from static electricity, and a discharge unit 800.

In the array substrate 100, gate lines GL 1 to GL n and data lines DL 1 to DL m cross each other in a matrix form on a substrate using glass, and a plurality of pixels are defined at the intersection points. . Each pixel includes a thin film transistor (TFT), a liquid crystal capacitor (Clc), and a storage capacitor (Cst), and all pixels form one display area (A/A). Areas in which pixels are not defined are divided into first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140 . First and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b may be disposed in the second and fourth non-display areas 120 and 140, and static electricity may be disposed in the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140. A protection area (A) may be disposed.

The timing controller 400 controls timing signals such as a video signal (RGB) transmitted from an external system, a clock signal (DCLK), a horizontal synchronization signal (Hsync), a vertical synchronization signal (Vsync), and a data enable signal (DE). control signals of the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b and the data driving circuit 300 are generated.

Here, the horizontal synchronization signal Hsync is a signal representing the time required to display one horizontal line on the screen, and the vertical synchronization signal Vsync is a signal representing the time required to display one frame of the screen. Also, the data enable signal DE is a signal indicating a period for supplying data voltages to pixels defined on the array substrate 100 .

Meanwhile, the timing controller 400 is connected to an external system through a predetermined interface and is designed to receive video-related signals and timing signals output therefrom at high speed without noise. Such an interface includes a low voltage differential signal (LVDS) method or a transistor-transistor logic (TTL) interface method.

In addition, the timing controller 400 generates the control signal GCS of the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b and the control signal DCS of the data driving circuit 300 in synchronization with the input timing signal. .

In addition, the timing controller 400 generates a plurality of clock signals for determining the driving timing of each stage of the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b, and the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b ) is provided. Then, the timing controller 400 aligns and modulates the received image data (RGB DATA) in a form that can be processed by the data driving circuit 300 and outputs them. Here, the sorted image data may have a form to which a color coordinate correction algorithm for image quality improvement is applied. In addition, the control signals GCS of the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b include a gate start signal, a gate shift clock, a gate output enable, and the like. there is

Next, the data driving circuit 300 generates a sampling signal by shifting the source start pulse (SSP) from the timing controller 400 according to the source shift clock (SSC). Also, the data driving circuit 300 latches the image data input according to the source shift clock SSC according to the sampling signal and converts it into a data signal. Thereafter, the data driving circuit 300 supplies a data signal to the data lines DL in units of horizontal lines in response to a source output enable (SOE) signal. To this end, the data driving circuit 300 may include a data sampling unit, a latch unit, a digital-to-analog conversion unit, and an output buffer.

Next, the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b include a plurality of stages including shift registers. The first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b respond to the gate control signal GCS input from the timing controller 400 through a plurality of gate wires GL1 to GLn formed in the liquid crystal panel 100. A gate high voltage (VGH), which is a scan pulse, can be alternately output. Here, the output gate high voltage VGH may overlap for a predetermined horizontal period. This is for precharging the gate lines GL 1 to GL n, and more stable pixel charging can be performed when the data voltage is applied. During the remaining period in which the scan pulse of the gate high voltage VGH is not supplied, the gate low voltage VGL is supplied to the gate lines GL 1 to GL n.

Meanwhile, the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b applied to the present invention may be formed independently of the panel and be electrically connected to the panel in various ways. In addition, the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b are formed on the second and fourth non-display areas 120 and 140 in the form of a thin film pattern when the array substrate 100 is manufactured. It can be embedded in the Gate-In-Panel (GIP) method. In this case, the gate control signal GCS for controlling the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b includes a clock signal CLK and a gate start signal for driving the first stage of the shift register (Gate Start Pulse VST).

The static electricity protection area A may include a ground wire 500 , a dummy wire 700 , and a discharge unit 800 . The static electricity protection area A is a circuit component connected through the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b and the ground wire 500 and the pad 600 from static electricity generated in the array substrate 100. damage can be prevented.

Referring to FIG. 3 , a display panel of a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes an array substrate 100 of various embodiments, an upper substrate 1000 facing the array substrate 100, and both substrates ( 100, 1000) may include a liquid crystal layer 1100 formed between them. The upper substrate 1000 may include color filters corresponding to the pixels. The configuration of the upper substrate 1000 may be changed into various forms known in the art.

4 is a configuration diagram of an embodiment of a dummy wire and a discharge unit disposed in a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the array substrate 100 of the present invention has a display area in which pixels are disposed in each area defined by the intersection of gate lines GL 1 to GL n and data lines DL 1 to DL m. (Active Area; A/A). In addition, the array substrate 100 of the present invention is disposed on both sides of the second and fourth non-display areas 120 and 140 and sequentially passes through the gate lines GL 1 to GL n of the display areas A/A. It may include first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b providing scan signals to . In addition, the array substrate 100 of the present invention is disposed outside the first and second gate driving circuits 200a among the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140, and the display area A/A and a ground wire 500 connected to the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b. In addition, the array substrate 100 of the present invention includes dummy wires 700 disposed outside the ground wires 500 in the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140 . In addition, the array substrate 100 of the present invention includes one or more diodes, a discharge unit 800 connecting the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700, and a plurality of pads 600. The non-display area is an area other than the display area A/A. Specifically, the non-display area may include first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140 .

The gate driving circuit may be disposed on one side or both sides of the non-display area. Specifically, if there is only one gate driving circuit, the gate driving circuit may be disposed on one side of the second non-display area 120 . In addition, when there are two gate driving circuits, the first gate driving circuit 200a is disposed in the second non-display area 120 and the second gate driving circuit 200b is disposed in the fourth non-display area 140. can In addition, the gate driving circuit may be disposed on the array substrate 100 . Therefore, since the arrangement of the gate driving circuit may vary according to the method of providing the scan signal of the gate driving circuit, the embodiment is not limited thereto.

The ground wire 500 may be connected to the display area A/A and the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b to provide a ground signal GND. The ground wire 500 may be disposed on the array substrate 100 . The ground wire 500 may be disposed outside the gate driving circuits 200a and 200b and further spaced apart from the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b than in the prior art. Specifically, the ground wire 500 is disposed in the first non-display area and is connected to the pad 600, and is the second to fourth non-display areas, and the first and second gate driving circuits and the display area (A) /A) can be placed outside. Therefore, in the present invention, since the ground wire is more distant from the gate driving circuit than in the prior art, the influence of static electricity flowing into the ground wire on the gate driving circuit is reduced.

The plurality of pads 600 may be used to connect circuit components or a plurality of wires disposed within the array substrate 100 to circuit components or a plurality of wires outside the array substrate 100 . The plurality of pads 600 may be disposed in the first non-display area 110 .

The dummy wire 700 is located at the outermost part of the signal wires of the array substrate 100, and static electricity is introduced first. The dummy wiring 700 may be disposed on the array substrate 100 . The dummy wiring 700 may be disposed outside the ground wiring 500 and may be connected to the ground wiring 500 through the discharge unit 800 . More specifically, the dummy wiring 700 is the first to fourth non-display areas, and the display area A/A, the first and second gate driving circuits 200a and 200b, and the ground wiring 500 Can be placed outside.

In addition, the dummy wire 700 may be made of the same material as the ground wire 500 and may be made of a material having higher conductivity than the ground wire 500 . Accordingly, static electricity may flow into the dummy wiring 700 before the ground wiring 500 . Also, the dummy wiring 700 may be disposed on the same layer as the ground wiring 500 . Since the dummy wiring of the present invention may be made of a material or arrangement that allows static electricity to flow in before the ground wiring, the material or arrangement of the dummy wiring is not limited to the embodiment.

The discharge unit 800 includes one or more diodes, and uses the diodes to lower the energy of static electricity flowing into the dummy wiring 700 so that it flows to the ground wiring 500 . That is, the discharge unit 800 instantaneously causes static electricity having a high potential difference to pass through the diode in the dummy wiring 700 . The diode lowers the energy of static electricity flowing to the ground wire 500 by allowing static electricity having a potential difference within a saturation region of the diode to flow. Due to this, the present invention lowers the energy of static electricity using the discharge unit to instantaneously flow in high-energy static electricity and sends it to the ground wire, thereby preventing damage to circuit components of the display device connected to the ground wire.

Also, the number of discharge units 800 may be plural. That is, the discharge unit 800 may be disposed only in some of the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140, and may be disposed in all of the first to fourth non-display areas 110 to 140. . The discharge unit 800 may be arranged in an appropriate number corresponding to the size of the display panel 100 or suitable for connecting the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700, so it is not limited to the exemplary embodiment.

5 is a view showing a discharge unit according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5 , a discharge unit 800 according to an embodiment may arrange a plurality of diodes in parallel. More specifically, the discharge unit 800 may include a plurality of diodes connected to the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 and arranged in parallel. Due to this, according to the present invention, even if any diode among the plurality of diodes included in the discharge unit is damaged when static electricity is introduced, the remaining diodes operate normally, so that circuit components of the display device can be protected from static electricity.

Also, the plurality of diodes of the discharge unit 800 may be connected to the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 in forward and reverse directions. More specifically, a first diode D1 among the plurality of diodes may connect the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 in a forward direction. That is, the first diode D1 may be connected to the dummy wire 700 in a forward direction and connected to the ground wire 500 in a reverse direction. Therefore, when positive (+) static electricity flows into the dummy wire 700, the static electricity flows to the ground wire 500 through the first diode D1. Also, a second diode D2 among the plurality of diodes may connect the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 in a reverse direction. In the second diode D2 , the ground wire 500 may be connected in a forward direction and the dummy wire 700 may be connected in a reverse direction. Therefore, when negative (-pole) static electricity flows into the dummy wire 700, the static electricity flows to the ground wire 500 through the second diode D2. Due to this, the present invention can protect the circuit components of the display device from the introduced static electricity regardless of the polarity of the static electricity.

6 is a view showing a discharge unit according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 6 , a discharge unit 900 according to another embodiment may arrange a plurality of transistors in parallel. That is, the discharge unit 900 according to another embodiment may arrange a plurality of diodes of the discharge unit 800 according to an embodiment as a plurality of transistors. More specifically, the discharge unit 900 may include a plurality of transistors disposed in parallel connecting the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 . Due to this, according to the present invention, even if any transistor among the plurality of transistors included in the discharge unit is damaged when static electricity is introduced, the remaining transistors operate normally, so that circuit components of the display device can be protected from static electricity.

Also, the plurality of transistors of the discharge unit 800 may be forward and reverse connected to the ground wire 500 and the dummy wire 700 in a diode connection method. More specifically, among the plurality of transistors, a first transistor T1 may be connected in a forward direction. That is, in the first transistor T1 , the dummy wiring 700 may be connected to a drain terminal and a gate terminal, and the ground wiring 500 may be connected to a source terminal. Accordingly, when positive (+) static electricity flows into the dummy wire 700, the static electricity flows to the ground wire 500 through the first transistor T1. Also, among the plurality of transistors, the second transistor T2 may be connected in a reverse direction. That is, in the second transistor T2 , the ground wire 500 may be connected to a drain terminal and a gate terminal, and the dummy wire 700 may be connected to a source terminal. Therefore, when negative (-pole) static electricity flows into the dummy wire 700, the static electricity flows to the ground wire 500 through the second transistor T2. Due to this, the present invention can protect the circuit components of the display device from the introduced static electricity regardless of the polarity of the static electricity.

Also, the plurality of transistors T1 and T2 may be made of the same material as the transistors disposed in the pixels of the display panel 100 and may be disposed on the same layer. That is, the plurality of transistors T1 and T2 may be arranged in the same process as the transistors of the pixel. Therefore, since the process of the conventional display device can be used in disposing the discharge unit in the present invention, additional processes and costs are not incurred.

Therefore, in the present invention, since the ground wire is farther apart from the gate driving circuit than in the prior art, the influence of static electricity flowing into the ground wire on the gate driving circuit is reduced.

Also, in the present invention, due to the dummy wiring, static electricity may be introduced before the ground wiring.

In addition, the present invention lowers the energy of the static electricity using the discharge unit to flow the static electricity instantaneously with high energy into the dummy wiring and sends it to the ground wiring, thereby preventing damage to circuit components of the display device connected to the ground wiring.

In addition, according to the present invention, even if any diode among the plurality of diodes included in the discharge unit is damaged when static electricity is introduced, the remaining diodes operate normally, so that circuit components of the display device can be protected from static electricity.

In addition, according to the present invention, circuit components of a display device can be protected from static electricity regardless of the polarity of the static electricity.

In addition, since the process of a conventional display device can be used in disposing the discharge unit in the present invention, additional processes and costs are not incurred.

In the detailed description of the present invention described above, it has been described with reference to preferred embodiments of the present invention. However, those skilled in the art or those having ordinary knowledge in the art can make various modifications and changes to the present invention within the scope not departing from the spirit and technical scope of the present invention described in the claims to be described later. You will understand that there is Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification, but should be defined by the claims.

10 Conventional display panel
100 display panel
110 to 140 first to fourth non-display areas
200 gate driving circuit
300 data driving circuit
400 timing controller
500 ground wire
600 pads
700 dummy wiring
800 discharge part

Claims (12)

pixels arranged in the display area;
a gate driving circuit and a plurality of pads disposed in the non-display area;
a ground wire disposed outside the gate driving circuit and connected to one of the plurality of pads to which a ground signal is applied;
a dummy wire disposed outside the ground wire and not connected to the plurality of pads; and
and a discharge unit including one or more diodes and connecting the ground wire and the dummy wire. According to claim 1,
The discharge unit array substrate for arranging a plurality of diodes in parallel. According to claim 2,
The plurality of diodes include a first diode that connects the ground wire and the dummy wire in a forward direction, and a second diode that connects the ground wire and the dummy wire in a reverse direction. According to claim 1,
The diode is an array substrate of a transistor. According to claim 1,
The dummy wiring and the ground wiring are made of the same material. According to claim 4,
The diode and the transistor disposed in the pixel are made of the same material and disposed on the same layer. a display panel including an array substrate including pixels defined by crossing gate lines and data lines, and an upper substrate disposed facing the array substrate; and
A data driving circuit providing data signals to the data lines, a gate driving circuit providing scan signals to the gate lines, and a timing controller providing control signals of the data driving circuit and control signals of the gate driving circuit Including; driving unit comprising a;
The gate driving circuit is disposed in a non-display area of the array substrate;
The array substrate
a plurality of pads disposed in the non-display area;
A ground wire disposed outside the gate driving circuit and connected to one of the plurality of pads to which a ground signal is applied; a dummy wire disposed outside the ground wire and not connected to the plurality of pads; , A display device including a discharge unit including one or more diodes and connecting the ground wire and the dummy wire. According to claim 7,
The discharge unit arranges a plurality of diodes in parallel. According to claim 8,
The plurality of diodes include a first diode that connects the ground wire and the dummy wire in a forward direction, and a second diode that connects the ground wire and the dummy wire in a reverse direction. According to claim 7,
The diode is a transistor display device. According to claim 7,
The dummy wire and the ground wire are made of the same material. According to claim 10,
The diode and the transistor disposed in the pixel are made of the same material and disposed on the same layer.

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