KR20030055990A - Display device associated with touch panel - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A display device united with a touch panel is provided to enhance the use efficiency of a substrate by removing a signal line connecting to an electrode of the touch panel. CONSTITUTION: A Z-axis electrode is formed on a right edge of an upper substrate(2a'). A projection(37a') for contacting with a lower substrate(2b') is formed on one end of the Z-axis electrode. X-axis electrodes are formed on a left and a right edge of the upper substrate(2a'), and Y-axis electrodes are formed on an upper and a lower edge. All electrodes are electrically divided into each other. A contact hole is formed on a position matched with the projection(37a') formed on the end of the Z-axis electrode of the lower substrate(2b'). The contact holes penetrating the lower substrate(2b') at a center of the above electrodes are respectively formed on the lower substrate(2b'). The projection(37a') formed on the upper substrate(2a') is electrically connected to the contact hole.

Description

Touch panel integrated display device {DISPLAY DEVICE ASSOCIATED WITH TOUCH PANEL}

A touch panel of the present invention, in particular, relates to a liquid crystal panel in which a touch panel is integrated.

The touch panel includes a cathode ray tube (hereinafter referred to as "CRT"), a liquid crystal display (hereinafter referred to as "LCD"), and a field emission display (hereinafter referred to as "FED"). , Plasma display panel (hereinafter referred to as "PDP") and electroluminescent device ("Electro Luminescence Device" as "ELD"), etc. A computer peripheral device that presses a touch panel to input predetermined information into a computer.

Here, the touch panel integrated with the liquid crystal panel in the liquid crystal display will be mainly described.

In general, as shown in FIG. 1, in the liquid crystal display on which the touch panel is mounted, the touch panel 2, the liquid crystal panel 1, and the backlight 3 are all independently present. 2 must be connected to the touch controller 4 by a signal line FPC, which in turn must be electrically connected to the computer body 5.

When the operation thereof is described, when the upper part of the touch panel 2 is touched with a predetermined pressure or more, the voltage value at the position is calculated by the touch controller 4 to recognize the coordinates.

FIG. 2 illustrates a liquid crystal panel in which the resistive touch panel illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted.

Referring to FIG. 2, the liquid crystal panel 1 is positioned between the upper polarizing sheet 4a and the lower polarizing sheet 4b, and the touch panel 2 is placed on the upper polarizing sheet 4a. The liquid crystal panel 1 includes a liquid crystal material 14 and a ball spacer 7 injected between the upper glass substrate 3a and the lower glass substrate 3b. The gate line 6, the insulating film 8, the pixel electrode 10a, and the first alignment layer 12a are sequentially formed on the lower glass substrate 3b. The upper glass substrate 3a includes a black matrix 16, a color filter 18, a common electrode 10b, and a second alignment layer 12b sequentially formed on its lower surface. The ball spacer 7 is sprayed onto the first alignment layer 12a before the upper and lower glass substrates 3a and 3b of the above structure are bonded. The ball spacers 7 hold the upper and lower glass substrates 3a and 3b at regular intervals. In other words, the ball spacer 7 allows the liquid crystal material 14 to have a uniform thickness by keeping the gap between the upper and lower glass substrates 3a and 3b uniform.

The touch panel 2 has a spacer 28 sprayed between the lower substrate 20 and the upper substrate 24 made of a polyethylene telephthalate (hereinafter referred to as "PET") film. The surface of the lower substrate 20 The first electrode layer 26 is formed on the bottom surface, and the second electrode layer 27 is formed on the bottom surface of the upper substrate 24. The second electrode layer 27 is short-circuited with the first electrode layer 26 when the upper substrate 24 is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, resulting in a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position. . In this case, the first and second electrode layers 26 and 27 may include indium tin oxide (hereinafter referred to as "ITO") and indium zinc oxide (Indium-Zinc-Oxide); It is formed by printing silver (Ag) on one of " IZO ") and indium-tin-zinc-oxide (hereinafter referred to as " ITZO ").

The touch panel 2 is further subdivided into four lines, five lines, and the like according to the number of bus lines that recognize the coordinates on the substrate. Among them, five wires have an advantage of higher reliability than four wires.

3 illustrates a configuration of an electrode in a typical 5-wire touch panel. Usually, in the 5-wire system, the electrode is not a straight line because of the problem caused by forming both the X-axis and Y-axis electrodes on one substrate, but the shape of the electrode is briefly described in FIG. It is shown in the form of a straight line.

3, the Z-axis electrode 27a is formed at the right edge of the upper substrate 2a of the touch panel 2 when viewed from the front. In addition, the lower substrate 2b has X-axis electrodes 26a and 26b and Y-axis electrodes 26c and 26d formed at left and right edges when viewed from the front.

In addition, a signal line 29a is formed on the upper substrate 2a of the touch panel 2 to supply a signal having a current amount or a voltage level to the touch controller 4, which is derived from one end of the Z-axis electrode 27a. .

In addition, the lower substrate 2b of the touch panel 2 is led from one end of each of the X-axis electrodes 26a and 26b and the Y-axis electrodes 26c and 26d to one side of the substrate, thereby providing a touch controller 4. ) Is provided with signal lines 28a, 28b, 28c, and 28d for supplying a signal having a current amount or voltage level.

Subsequently, when joining the upper and lower substrates, the signal lines 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d and 29a derived from the center of the electrodes 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d and 27a are one side of the touch panel 2. Is derived.

However, when the signal lines 28a, 28b, 28c, 28d, and 29a are led out to one side of the touch panel 2, one or more signal lines are formed on at least two sides of the touch panel 2. In this case, the external shape of the touch panel 2 requires a space A and B for the signal lines in addition to the display area surrounded by the electrodes 26a, 26b, 26c, 26d and 27a. As a result, the use efficiency of the substrate is lowered, and as a result, there is a problem of increasing the cost and increasing the volume of the application system.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a touch panel that can increase the use efficiency of a high substrate by removing signal lines connected to the electrodes of the touch panel.

1 is a view showing a liquid crystal panel on which a conventional resistive touch panel is mounted.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a liquid crystal panel in which the resistive touch panel illustrated in FIG. 1 is mounted.

3 is a view for explaining the configuration of the electrode and the signal line in a conventional 5-wire touch panel.

4 is a diagram illustrating a touch panel separated according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a state in which the touch panel of FIG. 4 is integrated with a liquid crystal panel.

6 is a front perspective view of an upper glass substrate of a liquid crystal panel.

<Description of Symbols for Main Parts of Drawings>

1: liquid crystal panel 2: touch panel

2a ': upper substrate 2b': lower substrate

3a: upper glass substrate 36a, 36b: X-axis electrode

36c, 36d: Y-axis electrode 37a: Z-axis electrode

37a ': protrusion

38a, 39a, 39b, 39c, 39d: contact hole

40a, 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d: connection pad

In order to achieve the above object, the touch panel according to the present invention is a conductive film made of a transparent conductive material formed on the upper substrate and the lower substrate, the upper and lower substrates, the first formed on one side edge of the upper substrate on which the conductive film is formed A first electrode, second electrodes and third electrodes formed at edges of the first and second directions of the lower substrate on which the conductive film is formed, and formed to penetrate the lower substrate, and the first electrode and the second electrode; And a first connection portion to which electrodes and the third electrodes are connected, and second and third connection portions, respectively.

The first connecting portion and the second and third connecting portions may be formed of a first contact hole, a second contact hole, and a third contact hole, respectively.

The first contact hole formed through the lower substrate is formed at a position corresponding to an end of the first electrode formed on the upper substrate, and the second and third contact holes are respectively the second electrodes and the first electrode. It is characterized in that it is formed at a position corresponding to the central portion of the two electrodes.

A protruding portion is formed at an end portion of the first electrode to contact the first contact hole formed in the lower substrate.

In addition, the touch panel integrated display device according to the present invention includes a conductive film formed of an upper substrate and a lower substrate, a transparent conductive material formed on the upper and lower substrates, and a first electrode formed on one side edge of the upper substrate on which the conductive film is formed. Second and third electrodes formed at edges of the first and second directions of the lower substrate on which the conductive film is formed, and penetrate the lower substrate, and the first electrode and the second electrodes. And a first contact hole to which the third electrodes are connected, a touch panel including second and third contact holes, and connection pads connected to the first contact hole and the second and third contact holes. An upper glass substrate, a lower glass substrate, and a material encapsulated therebetween are provided, and a display panel to which the touch panel is attached is provided.

The connection pads formed on the upper glass substrate of the display panel may be electrically connected to dummy pads of a driver IC for driving the display panel through lines formed on the glass substrate.

Connection pads and lines formed on the upper glass substrate of the display panel may be formed by a LOG process.

Other objects and features of the present invention in addition to the above objects will become apparent from the description of the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 6.

In the present invention, as shown in FIG. 1, the LCD including the touch panel includes the touch panel 2, the liquid crystal panel 1, and the backlight 3 independently. 2) must be electrically connected to the touch controller 4, and the touch controller 4 must be electrically connected to the computer body 5 again.

When the operation thereof is described, when the upper part of the touch panel 2 is touched with a predetermined pressure or more, the voltage value at the position is calculated by the touch controller 4 to recognize the coordinates.

4 is a diagram illustrating a touch panel separated according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, the touch panel 2 includes an upper substrate 2a 'and a lower substrate 2b' formed of ITO and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) film, and an upper substrate 2a 'and a lower substrate 2b'. And spacers spread out therebetween. In addition, upper and lower substrates 2a 'and 2b' are formed with conductive layers (not shown) coated with one of ITO, IZO, and ITZO, which are transparent conductive materials.

Z-axis electrodes 37a are formed on the right edge of the upper substrate 2a 'on which the conductive layer is applied, and X-axis electrodes 36a on the left and right edges and upper and lower edges of the lower substrate 2b', respectively. , 36b) and Y-axis electrodes 36c and 36d are formed. These electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c, 36d and 37a are formed of silver (Ag), and a predetermined voltage is applied therebetween.

Each electrode will be described in more detail with reference to FIG. 5. In the upper substrate 2a ', a Z-axis electrode 37a is formed at the right edge of the upper substrate 2a' when viewed from the front. Further, a protruding portion 37a 'for contact with the lower substrate 2b' is formed near one end of the Z-axis electrode 37a.

In addition, in the lower substrate 2b ', X-axis electrodes 36a and 36b are formed at left and right edges of the lower substrate 2b' when viewed from the front, and at upper and lower edges of the lower substrate 2b '. Y-axis electrodes 36c and 36d are formed. These electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c, 36d are all electrically isolated from each other. Further, on the lower substrate 2b ', a contact hole 38a is formed at a position corresponding to the protrusion 37a' formed at the end of the Z-axis electrode 37a of the upper substrate 2a '. In addition, contact holes 39a, 39b, 39c, and 39d are formed in the lower substrate 2b 'to penetrate the lower substrate 2b' at the centers of the electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d, respectively. have.

The protrusion 37a 'formed on the upper substrate 2a' described above is electrically connected to the contact hole 38a.

As described above, in the conventional configuration, the connection of the touch panel 2 and the controller 4 is performed using a signal line such as an FPC cable. In the present invention, the signal line is removed and the touch panel 2 is Contact holes 38a, 39a, 39b, 39c, and 39d are formed in the lower substrate 2b ', thereby connecting to the controller 4 through them.

5 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a liquid crystal panel in which the touch panel of FIG. 4 is mounted. Referring to FIG. 5, the Z-axis electrode 37a formed on the upper substrate 2a 'is formed on the upper glass of the liquid crystal panel 1 through the contact hole 38a formed on the protrusion 37a' and the lower substrate 2b '. It is connected to the connection pad 40a formed in the board | substrate 3a. In addition, the X- and Y-axis electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c, and 36d formed on the lower substrate 2b ′ are respectively formed on the upper glass of the liquid crystal panel 1 through the contact holes 39a, 39b, 39c, and 39d. Connection pads 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d formed on the substrate 3a are respectively connected.

In addition, these connection pads 40a and 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d are electrically connected to a dummy pad of a driver IC for driving the liquid crystal panel 1, for example, a dummy pad (not shown) of a source driver IC. do. This electrical connection is done by a line on glass (LOG) process. Usually, a dummy pad is formed in the driver IC which drives the liquid crystal panel 1. The signal generated from the touch panel 2 is transmitted to the controller of the dummy pad of the driver IC.

The operation of the touch panel 2 configured as described above is performed as follows. That is, when the upper substrate 2a 'is pressed by a stylus pen or finger, the first electrode layer and the second electrode layer are short-circuited, and as a result, a signal having a current amount or voltage level that varies depending on the pressed position is generated.

The Z-axis electrode 37a is connected to the external controller through the protrusion 37a ', the contact hole 38a, the connection pad 40a, and the dummy pad of the driver IC, and the X-axis and Y-axis electrodes 36a, 36b, 36c and 36d are connected to an external controller through contact holes 39a, 39b, 39c, 39d, connection pads 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d and dummy pads of a driver IC. As a result, a signal having a current level or a voltage level generated from the first and second electrode layers is supplied to the controller. In addition, the controller receives the signal to recognize the coordinates of the position pressed by the user.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the upper glass substrate 3a of the liquid crystal panel 1 in which the connection pads 40a and 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d are formed.

Referring to FIG. 6, connection pads 41a, 41b, 41c, and 41d are formed at the center of each side, and a connection pad 40a is formed at the upper right corner when viewed from the front.

In addition, these connection pads 40a, 41a, 41b, 41c, 41d are connected to the dummy pads (not shown) of the driver IC for driving the liquid crystal panel 1 by lines formed on the upper glass substrate 3a. It is electrically connected.

Usually, pads and lines formed on the upper glass substrate 3a are formed by a LOG process.

Thus, in the present invention, all signal lines, i.e., tail parts, such as FPC cables requiring a certain margin are removed, and each electrode is connected to a connection pad formed on the upper glass substrate of the liquid crystal panel through a contact hole. In addition, in the present invention, the connection pads are again connected to the dummy pad of the driver IC to transmit a signal to the outside. By forming a contact hole penetrating the electrode as described above, it is possible to transmit a signal to the outside without forming a signal line for transmitting a signal such as a tail portion to the outside.

The display panel to which the touch panel is attached may be applied to the display panel constituting PDP, FED, and ELD in addition to the liquid crystal panel of the liquid crystal display device as in the above example.

As described above, the touch panel according to the present invention removes the tail portion and transmits a signal from the conductive layer to the outside through the contact hole. By doing this, the touch panel having a smaller margin can be realized because the unnecessary margin for the signal line generated when the conventional signal line is used and only the space required for the electrode configuration is required.

Further, according to the present invention, since the line resistance can be minimized by forming a contact hole for electrical contact with the external controller at the center of the electrode, the reliability of the detection degree of the signal is higher.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various changes and modifications can be made without departing from the technical spirit of the present invention. Therefore, the technical scope of the present invention should not be limited to the contents described in the detailed description of the specification but should be defined by the claims.

Claims (7)

Upper and lower substrates, A conductive film made of a transparent conductive material formed on the upper and lower substrates, A first electrode formed on one side edge of the upper substrate on which the conductive film is formed; Second and third electrodes formed at edges of a first direction and a second direction of the lower substrate on which the conductive film is formed, and The touch panel is formed to penetrate the lower substrate, and includes a first connection part to which the first electrode, the second electrodes and the third electrodes are connected, and second and third connection parts, respectively. The method of claim 1, And the first connecting portion, and the second and third connecting portions each include a first contact hole, a second contact hole, and a third contact hole. The method of claim 2, The first contact hole formed through the lower substrate is formed at a position corresponding to an end of the first electrode formed on the upper substrate, and the second and third contact holes are respectively the second electrodes and the first electrode. The touch panel, characterized in that formed in a position corresponding to the central portion of the two electrodes. The method of claim 3, wherein And a protrusion formed at an end of the first electrode so as to be connected to the first contact hole formed in the lower substrate. A conductive film made of an upper substrate and a lower substrate, a transparent conductive material formed on the upper and lower substrates, a first electrode formed on one side edge of the upper substrate on which the conductive film is formed, a first direction of the lower substrate on which the conductive film is formed, and A first contact formed to penetrate the second and third electrodes formed on the edge of the second direction and the lower substrate, and the first contact connected to the first electrode, the second electrodes and the third electrodes, respectively; A touch panel having a hole and second and third contact holes, and A display panel having an upper glass substrate having connection pads connected to the first contact hole and the second and third contact holes, a lower glass substrate, and a material encapsulated therebetween, and to which the touch panel is attached. Touch panel integrated display device, characterized in that provided. The method of claim 5, And the connection pads formed on the upper glass substrate of the display panel are electrically connected to a dummy pad of a driver IC for driving the display panel through a line formed on the glass substrate. The method of claim 6, And the connection pads and lines formed on the upper glass substrate of the display panel are formed by a line on glass (LOG) process.