KR20180055346A - Method for phone connecting in touch input device - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention provides a phone connecting method in a touch input device capable of calling a phone by using a pressure (or a force) when a display screen is turned off. According to an embodiment of the present invention, the phone connecting method in a touch input device having a surface in which the display screen is displayed and having a phone function comprises: a detection step of detecting a magnitude of a pressure input to the surface when the display screen is turned off; a determination step of determining whether the magnitude of the pressure detected when the display screen is turned off is more than or equal to a reference pressure; and a phone connection step of activating the phone function if the magnitude of the pressure is more than or equal to the reference pressure and controlling the phone function so that the phone is connected to a preset phone number.

Description

METHOD FOR PHONE CONNECTING IN TOUCH INPUT DEVICE [0002]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention [0001] The present invention relates to a telephone connection method in a touch input device, and more particularly, to a telephone connection method using pressure in a touch input device capable of sensing input pressure (or force).

Various types of input devices are used for the operation of the computing system. For example, an input device such as a button, a key, a joystick, and a touch screen is used. Due to the easy and simple operation of the touch screen, the use of the touch screen in the operation of the computing system is increasing.

The touch screen may comprise a touch surface of a touch input device including a touch sensor panel, which may be a transparent panel having a touch-sensitive surface. Such a touch sensor panel may be attached to the front of the display screen such that the touch-sensitive surface covers the visible surface of the display screen. The user simply touches the touch screen with a finger or the like so that the user can operate the computing system. Generally, a computing system is able to recognize touch and touch locations on a touch screen and interpret the touch to perform operations accordingly.

At this time, there is a need for a touch input device capable of detecting not only the touch position according to the touch on the touch screen, but also the pressure magnitude of the touch.

An object of the present invention is to provide a telephone connection method of a touch input device capable of making a telephone call while a display screen is turned off using pressure (or force).

A telephone connection method according to an embodiment of the present invention is a telephone connection method in a touch input device having a surface on which a display screen is displayed and having a telephone function, A detecting step of detecting an electric current flowing in the battery; Determining whether a magnitude of the pressure detected when the display screen is turned off is equal to or greater than a reference pressure; And activating the telephone function when the magnitude of the pressure is equal to or greater than the reference pressure, and controlling the telephone function so that the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number.

The use of the telephone connection method of the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention has an advantage that the telephone function of the touch input device in which the display screen is turned off by one motion by pressure can be directly used. Thus, the user has the advantage of using the telephone function with a simple gesture.

In addition, since the telephone function can be used even when the display screen is turned off, the power consumption can be reduced.

There is also a security advantage.

1A and 1B are schematic diagrams of a capacitive touch sensor included in a touch input device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a configuration thereof for operation thereof.
FIG. 2 illustrates a control block for controlling a touch position, a touch pressure, and a display operation in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
3A and 3B are conceptual diagrams for explaining a configuration of a display module in a touch input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
4A to 4F illustrate an example in which a pressure sensor is formed in a touch input device according to an embodiment of the present invention.
5A to 5E illustrate a pattern of the pressure sensor included in the pressure sensor according to the embodiment.
6A and 6B illustrate an attachment position of the pressure sensor according to the embodiment to the touch input device.
7A-7F illustrate a structural cross-section of a pressure sensor according to an embodiment.
8A and 8B illustrate a case where the pressure sensor according to the embodiment is attached to a substrate opposite to a display module.
9A and 9B illustrate a case where the pressure sensor according to the embodiment is attached to the display module.
10A and 10B illustrate a method of attaching the pressure sensor according to the embodiment.
11A to 11C illustrate a method of connecting a pressure sensor according to an embodiment to a touch sensing circuit.
12A to 12C illustrate a case where the pressure sensor according to the embodiment includes a plurality of channels.
13A is a graph showing a difference in normalized capacitance change according to a pressure touch weight for a touch input device including a pressure sensor according to an embodiment.
FIG. 13B is a graph showing a normalized capacitance change difference and a deviation therebetween according to a pressure touch before and after a predetermined number of pressure taps for a touch input device including the pressure sensor according to the embodiment.
13C is a graph showing a change in the normalized pressure difference detected after releasing applied pressure to the touch input device including the pressure sensor according to the embodiment.
FIGS. 14A to 14D are views illustrating shapes of electrodes included in the touch input device according to the present invention.
15A to 15B are cross-sectional views illustrating an embodiment of a strain gauge formed directly on various display panels in a touch input device according to the present invention.
16A to 16D illustrate examples in which a strain gauge is applied in a touch input apparatus according to the present invention.
17A to 17F are plan views of an exemplary pressure sensor (or force sensor) capable of sensing a pressure used in the touch input device according to the present invention.
17B and 17C illustrate exemplary strain gauges that can be applied to a touch input device according to the present invention.
17G to 17I are rear views of a display panel in which a pressure sensor (or force sensor) of a touch input device according to the present invention is formed.
18 is a flowchart for explaining a telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
19 is a front view of the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
20 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 21 is an exemplary view showing a telephone connection screen by the telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 20;
22 is another exemplary diagram for explaining a telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 23 is an exemplary view showing a telephone connection screen by the telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 22;
24 is another exemplary diagram for explaining a telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.
25 is an exemplary view showing a telephone connection screen by the telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig.

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of illustration, specific embodiments in which the invention may be practiced. These embodiments are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the invention. It should be understood that the various embodiments of the present invention are different, but need not be mutually exclusive. For example, certain features, structures, and characteristics described herein may be implemented in other embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention in connection with an embodiment. It is also to be understood that the position or arrangement of the individual components within each disclosed embodiment may be varied without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. In the drawings, like reference numerals refer to the same or similar functions throughout the several views.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Hereinafter, a capacitive touch sensor 10 is exemplified, but a touch sensor 10 capable of detecting a touch position in an arbitrary manner can be applied.

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram of a touch sensor 10 of a capacitive type included in a touch input device according to an embodiment of the present invention and a configuration thereof for operation thereof. 1A, the touch sensor 10 includes a plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and a plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm. The touch sensor 10 includes a plurality of driving electrodes And a plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm for receiving a sensing signal including information on a capacitance change amount that changes in accordance with a touch on a touch surface, And a sensing unit 11 for sensing a touch position.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the touch sensor 10 may include a plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and a plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm. 1A, a plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and a plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm of the touch sensor 10 are shown as an orthogonal array. However, the present invention is not limited to this, The electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm can have any number of dimensions including the diagonal, concentric and three-dimensional random arrangement, and the like and their application arrangements. Here, n and m are positive integers and may be the same or different from each other, and the size may be changed according to the embodiment.

The plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm may be arranged to cross each other. The driving electrode TX includes a plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn extending in a first axis direction and a receiving electrode RX includes a plurality of receiving electrodes extending in a second axis direction intersecting the first axis direction RX1 to RXm).

14A and 14B, in the touch sensor 10 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm are formed in the same layer . For example, the plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm may be formed on a top surface of a display panel 200A to be described later.

Also, as shown in FIG. 14C, the plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm may be formed in different layers. For example, one of the plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm may be formed on the upper surface of the display panel 200A and the other may be formed on the lower surface of the cover, (200A).

The plurality of driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the plurality of receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm are formed of ITO (indium tin oxide) or ATO (tin oxide), which is made of a transparent conductive material (for example, tin oxide (SnO2) (Antimony Tin Oxide)) or the like. However, this is merely an example, and the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX may be formed of another transparent conductive material or an opaque conductive material. For example, the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX may include at least one of silver ink, copper, nano silver, and carbon nanotube (CNT) . In addition, the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX may be realized by a metal mesh.

The driving unit 12 according to the embodiment of the present invention can apply a driving signal to the driving electrodes TX1 to TXn. In an embodiment of the present invention, the driving signal may be sequentially applied to one driving electrode at a time from the first driving electrode TX1 to the nth driving electrode TXn. This application of the driving signal can be repeated again. This is merely an example, and driving signals may be simultaneously applied to a plurality of driving electrodes according to an embodiment.

The sensing unit 11 acquires information on the electrostatic capacitance Cm generated between the driving electrodes TX1 to TXn and the receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm to which the driving signal is applied through the receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm And the touch position and the touch position can be detected by receiving the sensing signal. For example, the sensing signal may be a signal in which a driving signal applied to the driving electrode TX is coupled by a capacitance Cm: 14 generated between the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX. The process of sensing the driving signal applied from the first driving electrode TX1 to the nth driving electrode TXn through the receiving electrodes RX1 to RXm may be referred to as scanning the touch sensor 10 .

For example, the sensing unit 11 may include a receiver (not shown) connected to each of the reception electrodes RX1 to RXm through a switch. The switch is turned on during a period of sensing the signal of the corresponding receiving electrode RX so that a sensing signal can be sensed from the receiving electrode RX at the receiver. The receiver may be comprised of an amplifier (not shown) and a feedback capacitor coupled between the negative input of the amplifier and the output of the amplifier, i. E., The feedback path. At this time, the positive input terminal of the amplifier may be connected to the ground. In addition, the receiver may further include a reset switch connected in parallel with the feedback capacitor. The reset switch can reset the conversion from current to voltage performed by the receiver. A negative input terminal of the amplifier may be connected to the corresponding receiving electrode RX to receive a current signal including information on the capacitance Cm, and integrate the current signal to convert the voltage into a voltage. The sensing unit 11 may further include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting the integrated data to digital data through the receiver. The digital data may then be input to a processor (not shown) and processed to obtain touch information for the touch sensor 10. The sensing unit 11 may be configured to include an ADC and a processor together with a receiver.

The control unit 13 may perform a function of controlling the operation of the driving unit 12 and the sensing unit 11. For example, the controller 13 may generate a driving control signal and transmit the driving control signal to the driving unit 12 so that the driving signal is applied to the driving electrode TX predetermined at a predetermined time. The control unit 13 generates a sensing control signal and transmits the sensing control signal to the sensing unit 11 so that the sensing unit 11 receives a sensing signal from the sensing electrode RX previously set at a predetermined time to perform a predetermined function can do.

In FIG. 1A, the driving unit 12 and the sensing unit 11 may constitute a touch detection device (not shown) capable of detecting whether or not to touch the touch sensor 10 and a touch position. The touch detection apparatus may further include a control section (13). The touch detection device may be integrated on a touch sensing integrated circuit (IC) corresponding to the touch sensor controller 1100 to be described later in the touch input device including the touch sensor 10. The driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX included in the touch sensor 10 are included in the touch sensing IC through a conductive trace and / or a conductive pattern printed on a circuit board And may be connected to the driving unit 12 and the sensing unit 11. The touch sensing IC may be placed on a circuit board on which a conductive pattern is printed, for example, a touch circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a touch PCB) in Figs. 6A to 6I. According to the embodiment, the touch sensing IC may be mounted on a main board for operating the touch input device.

As described above, a capacitance Cm of a predetermined value is generated at each intersection of the driving electrode TX and the reception electrode RX. When an object such as a finger is close to the touch sensor 10, Can be changed. In FIG. 1A, the capacitance may represent mutual capacitance (Cm). The sensing unit 11 senses such electrical characteristics and can detect whether the touch sensor 10 is touched and / or touched. For example, it is possible to detect the touch and / or the position of the touch on the surface of the touch sensor 10 having the two-dimensional plane including the first axis and the second axis.

More specifically, the position of the touch in the second axial direction can be detected by detecting the drive electrode TX to which the drive signal is applied when a touch to the touch sensor 10 occurs. Likewise, the position of the touch in the first axis direction can be detected by detecting the capacitance change from the received signal received through the receiving electrode RX when touching the touch sensor 10.

In the above description, the operation of the touch sensor 10 for sensing the touch position has been described based on the amount of mutual capacitance change between the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX, but the present invention is not limited to this. That is, as shown in FIG. 1B, it is also possible to sense the touch position based on the amount of change in self capacitance.

FIG. 1B is a schematic view for explaining still another capacitive touch sensor 10 included in the touch input device according to another embodiment of the present invention and its operation. A plurality of touch electrodes 30 are provided in the touch sensor 10 shown in FIG. The plurality of touch electrodes 30 may be arranged in a lattice pattern at regular intervals as shown in FIG. 7D, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

The drive control signal generated by the control unit 13 is transmitted to the drive unit 12 and the drive unit 12 applies a drive signal to the touch electrode 30 preset at a predetermined time based on the drive control signal. The sensing control signal generated by the control unit 13 is transmitted to the sensing unit 11. The sensing unit 11 senses the sensing signal from the touch electrode 30 preset at a predetermined time Receive input. At this time, the sensing signal may be a signal for the amount of change in self-capacitance formed on the touch electrode 30.

At this time, whether or not the touch sensor 10 is touched and / or the touch position is detected by the sensing signal sensed by the sensing unit 11. For example, since the coordinates of the touch electrode 30 are known in advance, it is possible to detect the touch of the object with respect to the surface of the touch sensor 10 and / or its position.

Although the driving unit 12 and the sensing unit 11 are divided into separate blocks for the sake of convenience, the operation of applying the driving signal to the touch electrode 30 and the sensing signal from the touch electrode 30 May be performed by one driving and sensing unit.

Although the capacitive touch sensor panel as the touch sensor 10 has been described in detail above, the touch sensor 10 for detecting whether or not the touch input device 1000 touches the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention A surface acoustic wave (SAW), an infrared (IR) system, an optical imaging system, a dispersion signal system, A dispersive signal technology, and an acoustic pulse recognition method.

FIG. 2 illustrates a control block for controlling a touch position, a touch pressure, and a display operation in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention. In the touch input apparatus 1000 configured to detect the touch pressure in addition to the display function and the touch position detection, the control block includes a touch sensor controller 1100 for detecting the touch position, a display controller (not shown) for driving the display panel And a pressure sensor controller 1300 for detecting force (or pressure).

The display controller 1200 receives input from a central processing unit (CPU) or an application processor (CPU), which is a central processing unit on the main board for operating the touch input apparatus 1000, And a control circuit for displaying desired contents. Such a control circuit can be mounted on a display circuit board (hereinafter referred to as a display PCB). Such a control circuit may include a display panel control IC, a graphic controller IC, and other circuits necessary for operation of the display panel 200A.

A pressure sensor controller 1300 for detecting pressure through a pressure sensor may be configured similar to the configuration of the touch sensor controller 1100 to operate similarly to the touch sensor controller 1100. Specifically, the pressure sensor controller 1300 includes a driving unit, a sensing unit, and a control unit, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, and can detect the magnitude of the pressure based on the sensing signal sensed by the sensing unit. At this time, the pressure sensor controller 1300 may be mounted on the touch PCB on which the touch sensor controller 1100 is mounted or on the display PCB on which the display controller 1200 is mounted.

According to an embodiment, the touch sensor controller 1100, the display controller 1200, and the pressure sensor controller 1300 may be included in the touch input device 1000 as different components. For example, the touch sensor controller 1100, the display controller 1200, and the pressure sensor controller 1300 may be formed of different chips. At this time, the processor 1500 of the touch input apparatus 1000 may function as a host processor for the touch sensor controller 1100, the display controller 1200, and the pressure sensor controller 1300.

The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to various devices such as a cell phone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistant), a smartphone, a tablet PC, an MP3 player, a notebook, An electronic device including the same display screen and / or a touch screen.

The touch sensor controller 1100, the display controller 1200, and the pressure sensor controller 1300, which are separately configured as described above, to make the touch input apparatus 1000 thin and light weight, May be integrated into one or more configurations in accordance with an embodiment. In addition, it is also possible that these respective controllers are integrated in the processor 1500. In addition, the touch panel 10 and / or the pressure sensor may be incorporated in the display panel 200A according to the embodiment.

The touch sensor 10 for detecting a touch position in the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment may be located outside or inside the display panel 200A. The display panel 200A of the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment may be a display device including a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), an organic light emitting diode (OLED) Display panel. Accordingly, the user can perform an input action by touching the touch surface while visually checking the screen displayed on the display panel.

3A and 3B are conceptual diagrams for explaining the configuration of the display module 200 in the touch input device 1000 according to the present invention. 3A, a configuration of a display module 200 including a display panel 200A using an LCD panel will be described.

3A, the display module 200 includes a display panel 200A as an LCD panel, a first polarizing layer 271 disposed on the display panel 200A, and a first polarizing layer 271 disposed below the display panel 200A. 2 polarizing layer 272 as shown in FIG. The display panel 200A as an LCD panel includes a liquid crystal layer 250 including a liquid crystal cell, a first substrate layer 261 disposed above the liquid crystal layer 250, and a liquid crystal layer 250, And a second substrate layer 262 disposed under the first substrate layer 262. In this case, the first substrate layer 261 may be a color filter glass, and the second substrate layer 262 may be a TFT glass. Also, at least one of the first substrate layer 261 and the second substrate layer 262 may be formed of a bendable material such as a plastic according to an embodiment. 3A, the second substrate layer 262 may include various layers including a data line, a gate line, a TFT, a common electrode (Vcom), and a pixel electrode. Lt; / RTI > These electrical components can operate to generate a controlled electric field to orient the liquid crystals located in the liquid crystal layer 250.

Next, the configuration of the display module 200 including the display panel 200A using the OLED panel will be described with reference to FIG. 3B.

As shown in FIG. 3B, the display module 200 may include a display panel 200A, which is an OLED panel, and a first polarizing layer 282, which is disposed on the display panel 200A. The display panel 200A as an OLED panel includes an organic layer 280 including an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a first substrate layer 281 disposed over the organic layer 280, And a second substrate layer 283 disposed thereon. At this time, the first substrate layer 281 may be an encapsulation glass, and the second substrate layer 283 may be a TFT glass. In addition, at least one of the first substrate layer 281 and the second substrate layer 283 may be formed of a bendable material such as a plastic. In the case of the OLED panel shown in FIGS. 3D to 3F, an electrode used for driving a display panel 200A such as a gate line, a data line, a first power supply line (ELVDD), a second power supply line (ELVSS) . OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) panel is a self-luminous display panel that uses the principle that light is generated when electrons and holes are combined in an organic layer when current is applied to a fluorescent or phosphorescent organic thin film. Determine the color.

Specifically, OLEDs use the principle that an organic material emits light when an organic material is applied to glass or plastic and electricity is supplied. That is, when holes and electrons are injected into the anode and the cathode of the organic material, respectively, and then recombined with the light emitting layer, excitons having a high energy state are formed. When excitons fall into a state of low energy, energy is emitted, And to use the generated principle. At this time, the color of the light changes depending on the organic material of the light emitting layer.

In OLED, a line-driven PM-OLED (Passive-matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) and an AM-OLED (Active-matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode) are used depending on the operation characteristics of the pixels constituting the pixel matrix exist. Since both of them do not require a backlight, the display module can be made very thin, the contrast ratio is constant according to the angle, and color reproducibility according to temperature is good. In addition, un-driven pixels are very economical in that they do not consume power.

In operation, the PM-OLED emits light only for a scanning time with a high current, and the AM-OLED maintains a light emission state for a frame time with a low current. Therefore, AM-OLED has better resolution than PM-OLED, it is advantageous to drive a large-area display panel and has low power consumption. In addition, since each element can be individually controlled by incorporating a thin film transistor (TFT), it is easy to realize a sophisticated screen.

The organic material layer 280 may include a hole injection layer (HIL), a hole transport layer (HTL), an emission layer (EIL), an electron transfer layer (ETL) (Electron Injection Layer, light emitting layer).

Briefly describing each layer, the HIL injects holes, and uses a material such as CuPc. The HTL functions to transfer injected holes, and mainly uses materials having good hole mobility. HTL may be arylamine, TPD, or the like. EIL and ETL are layers for electron injection and transport, and injected electrons and holes are combined in EML to emit light. EML is a material that expresses the emitted color, and is composed of a host that determines the lifetime of the organic material, and a dopant that determines color and efficiency. This is only a description of the basic structure of the organic material layer 280 included in the OLED panel, and the present invention is not limited to the layer structure or material of the organic material layer 280. [

The organic layer 280 is inserted between an anode (not shown) and a cathode (not shown). When the TFT is turned on, a driving current is applied to the anode to inject holes, Electrons are injected, and holes and electrons move to the organic material layer 280 to emit light.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that an LCD panel or an OLED panel may further include other configurations for performing the display function and may be modified.

The display module 200 of the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may include a structure for driving the display panel 200A and the display panel 200A. In detail, when the display panel 200A is an LCD panel, the display module 200 may include a backlight unit (not shown) disposed under the second polarizing layer 272, A display panel control IC, a graphic control IC, and other circuits for operation of the display panel.

The display module 200 of the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may include a structure for driving the display panel 200A and the display panel 200A. In detail, when the display panel 200A is an LCD panel, the display module 200 may include a backlight unit (not shown) disposed under the second polarizing layer 272, A display panel control IC, a graphic control IC, and other circuits for operation of the display panel.

The touch sensor 10 for detecting the touch position in the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be located outside or inside the display module 200. [

In the case where the touch sensor 10 is disposed outside the display module 200 in the touch input device 1000, a touch sensor panel may be disposed above the display module 200, . The touch surface to the touch input device 1000 may be the surface of the touch sensor panel.

When the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display module 200 in the touch input device 1000, the touch sensor 10 may be configured to be located outside the display panel 200A. Specifically, the touch sensor 10 may be formed on the upper surfaces of the first substrate layers 261 and 281. At this time, the touch surface for the touch input device 1000 may be the upper surface or the lower surface in FIGS. 3A and 3B as an outer surface of the display module 200. [

In the case where the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display module 200 in the touch input device 1000, at least some of the touch sensors 10 are configured to be positioned in the display panel 200A, At least a remaining part of the display panel 10 may be configured to be located outside the display panel 200A. For example, any one of the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX constituting the touch sensor 10 may be configured to be located outside the display panel 200A, and the remaining electrodes may be disposed inside the display panel 200A As shown in FIG. Specifically, any one of the driving electrode TX and the receiving electrode RX constituting the touch sensor 10 may be formed on the upper surface of the first substrate layers 261 and 281, and the remaining electrodes may be formed on the first substrate layer 261, 281) or on the upper surface of the second substrate layer 262, 283.

When the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display module 200 in the touch input device 1000, the touch sensor 10 may be positioned inside the display panel 200A. Specifically, the touch sensor 10 may be formed on the lower surface of the first substrate layers 261 and 281 or on the upper surfaces of the second substrate layers 262 and 283.

In the case where the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display panel 200A, an electrode for the touch sensor operation may be additionally arranged. However, various configurations and / or electrodes disposed inside the display panel 200A may perform touch sensing The touch sensor 10 may be used as a touch sensor. More specifically, when the display panel 200A is an LCD panel, at least one of the electrodes included in the touch sensor 10 is a data line, a gate line, a TFT, a common electrode (Vcom: common electrode and a pixel electrode. When the display panel 200A is an OLED panel, at least one of the electrodes included in the touch sensor 10 may include a data line, A gate line, a first power supply line ELVDD, and a second power supply line ELVSS.

At this time, the touch sensor 10 operates as the driving electrode and the receiving electrode described in FIG. 1A, and can detect the touch position according to the mutual capacitance between the driving electrode and the receiving electrode. Also, the touch sensor 10 may operate as the single electrode 30 described with reference to FIG. 1B to detect the touch position according to the self-capacitance of each of the single electrodes 30. In this case, when the electrode included in the touch sensor 10 is an electrode used for driving the display panel 200A, the display panel 200A is driven in the first time period, and the second time The touch position can be detected in the section.

The cover layer 100 formed with the touch sensor for detecting the touch position in the touch input device 1000 of the present invention and the display module 200 including the display panel 200A are bonded with an adhesive such as OCA (Optically Clear Adhesive) Lt; / RTI > Accordingly, display color clarity, visibility, and light transmittance of the display module 200 that can be confirmed through the touch surface of the touch sensor can be improved.

The touch input device 1000 including the touch sensor panel 100 capable of detecting touch and / or touch position has been described above. By applying the pressure sensing module according to the embodiment to the touch input device 1000, it is possible to easily detect the touch pressure and / or the touch pressure as well as the touch pressure. Particularly, in order to mitigate the impact on the display module 200 and maintain the image quality of the display panel 200A, a pressure sensor and an elastic material are inserted between the substrate 300 and the display module 200, . In the embodiment, the elastic material is coupled to the pressure sensor to relieve shock for the display module 200 and to maintain the gap for the pressure detection while assuring the quality of the display module. Hereinafter, the case of detecting the touch pressure by applying the pressure sensor according to the embodiment to the touch input apparatus 1000 will be described in detail, for example.

4A to 4F illustrate an example in which a pressure sensor is formed in the touch input device according to the present invention.

Although the display panel 200A is shown as being directly laminated and attached to the cover layer 100 in Figure 4A and some of the following drawings, this is for illustrative convenience only and the first polarizing layer 271, The display module 200 located on the upper side may be laminated to the cover layer 100 and the second polarizing layer 272 and the backlight unit are omitted when the LCD panel is the display panel 200A.

4A to 4F, the cover layer 100 formed with the touch sensor as the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted on the display module 200 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B with an adhesive The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a case where the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display module 200 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B . 4A to 4C, the cover layer 100 formed with the touch sensor 10 covers the display module 200 including the display panel 200A. However, the touch sensor 10 includes the display module 200A, A touch input device 1000 that is located inside the display device 200 and in which the display module 200 is covered with a cover layer 100 such as glass can be used as an embodiment of the present invention.

The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to various devices such as a cell phone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistant), a smartphone, a tablet PC, an MP3 player, a notebook, And electronic devices including the same touch screen.

The substrate 300 in the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a housing 320 as an outermost structure of the touch input apparatus 1000 and a circuit board 300 for operating the touch input apparatus 1000, And / or a mounting space 310 where the battery can be placed, and the like. A central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (CPU), or the like may be mounted on the circuit board for operating the touch input device 1000 as a main board. The circuit board and / or the battery for the operation of the display module 200 and the touch input device 1000 are separated through the substrate 300 and the electrical noise generated in the display module 200 and the noise generated in the circuit board Can be blocked.

The touch sensor 10 or the cover layer 100 may be formed wider than the display module 200, the substrate 300 and the mounting space 310 in the touch input device 1000, The housing 320 may be formed to enclose the display module 200, the substrate 300 and the circuit board together with the touch sensor 10. The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a touch sensor It is possible to detect the touch position through the touch sensor 10 and detect the touch pressure by using a separate electrode different from the electrode used for detecting the touch position and the electrode used for driving the display and using it as a pressure sensor. At this time, the touch sensor 10 may be located inside or outside the display module 200.

Hereinafter, the configuration for sensing or detecting the pressure will be collectively referred to as the pressure sensing unit 400. The pressure sensing unit 400 may be a pressure sensing module.

In an embodiment, the pressure sensing portion 400 may include pressure sensors 450 and 460 and / or a spacer layer 420. 4A may include pressure sensors 450 and 460 and / or a spacer layer 420, and may further include an electrode sheet 440. The pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be disposed inside the electrode sheet 440 and the electrode sheet 440 may be attached to the display module 200. 4B may include pressure sensors 450 and 460 and / or a spacer layer 420, and pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be formed directly on the display module 200.

The pressure sensing part 400 includes a spacer layer 420 formed of, for example, an air gap, which will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4A to 4F.

Depending on the embodiment, the spacer layer 420 may be implemented with an air gap. The spacer layer may be made of a shock-absorbing material according to an embodiment. The spacer layer 420 may be filled with a dielectric material according to embodiments. Depending on the embodiment, the spacer layer 420 may be formed of a material having a resilient force that contracts upon application of pressure and returns to its original shape upon release of pressure. According to an embodiment, the spacer layer 420 may be formed of an elastic foam. Further, since the spacer layer is disposed under the display module 200, it may be a transparent material or an opaque material.

In addition, the reference potential layer may be disposed under the display module 200. Specifically, the reference potential layer may be formed on the substrate 300 disposed under the display module 200, or the substrate 300 itself may serve as a reference potential layer. The reference potential layer may be formed on a cover (not shown) that is disposed on the substrate 300 and disposed under the display module 200 and functions to protect the display module 200, It can serve as a dislocation layer. The display panel 200A may be bent when pressure is applied to the touch input device 1000 and the distance between the reference potential layer and the pressure sensing part 400 may vary as the display panel 200A is warped. Further, a spacer layer may be disposed between the reference potential layer and the pressure sensing part 400. Specifically, a spacer layer may be disposed between the display module 200 and the substrate 300 on which the reference potential layer is disposed, or between the display module 200 and the cover on which the reference potential layer is disposed.

In addition, the reference potential layer may be disposed inside the display module 200. Specifically, the reference potential layer may be disposed on the upper surface or the lower surface of the first substrate layer 261, 281 of the display panel 200A, or on the upper surface or the lower surface of the second substrate layer 262, 283. The display panel 200A may be bent when pressure is applied to the touch input device 1000 and the distance between the reference potential layer and the pressure sensing part 400 may vary as the display panel 200A is warped. Further, a spacer layer may be disposed between the reference potential layer and the pressure sensing part 400. In the case of the touch input device 1000 shown in Figs. 3A and 3B, the spacer layer may be disposed on the top or inside of the display panel 200A.

Likewise, according to an embodiment, the spacer layer 420 may be implemented with an air gap. The spacer layer may be made of a shock-absorbing material according to an embodiment. The spacer layer may be filled with a dielectric material according to an embodiment. Depending on the embodiment, the spacer layer may be formed of a material having a resilience that contracts upon application of pressure and returns to its original shape upon release of pressure. According to an embodiment, the spacer layer may be formed of an elastic foam. Further, since the spacer layer is disposed on or inside the display panel 200A, it may be a transparent material.

 According to the embodiment, when the spacer layer is disposed inside the display module 200, the spacer layer may be an air gap included in manufacturing the display panel 200A and / or the backlight unit. When the display panel 200A and / or the backlight unit include one air gap, the one air gap can perform the function of the spacer layer. In the case where the display panel 200A and / or the backlight unit include a plurality of air gaps, As a spacer layer.

Hereinafter, the electrodes 450 and 460 for detecting the pressure are referred to as the pressure sensors 450 and 460 so as to be clearly distinguished from the electrodes included in the touch sensor 10. In this case, since the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are disposed on the rear surface of the display panel 200A rather than on the front surface thereof, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be formed of an opaque material as well as a transparent material. When the display panel 200A is an LCD panel, light must be transmitted through the backlight unit, so that the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be made of a transparent material such as ITO.

At this time, a frame 330 having a predetermined height along the rim of the upper portion of the substrate 300 may be formed to hold the spacer layer 420 on which the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are disposed. At this time, the frame 330 may be adhered to the cover layer 100 with an adhesive tape (not shown). 4B, the frame 330 is formed on all the edges of the substrate 300 (e.g., four sides of a tetragonal shape), but the frame 330 may be formed on at least a part of the rim of the substrate 300 Three surfaces). According to an embodiment, the frame 330 may be integrally formed with the substrate 300 on the upper surface of the substrate 300. In an embodiment of the present invention, the frame 330 may be constructed of a material that is not elastic. In the embodiment of the present invention, when the display panel 200A is applied with pressure through the cover layer 100, the display panel 200A may be bent together with the cover layer 100, The magnitude of the touch pressure can be detected even if there is no deformation of the mold.

4D is a cross-sectional view of a touch input device including a pressure sensor according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4D, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be disposed on the lower surface of the display panel 200A as the spacer layer 420. As shown in FIG.

The pressure sensor for detecting the pressure may include a first pressure sensor 450 and a second pressure sensor 460. At this time, one of the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be a driving electrode and the other may be a receiving electrode. A driving signal may be applied to the driving electrode and a sensing signal may be obtained through the receiving electrode. When a voltage is applied, mutual capacitance may be generated between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460.

4E is a sectional view when pressure is applied to the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 4D. The top surface of the substrate 300 may have a ground potential for noise shielding. When the pressure is applied to the surface of the cover layer 100 through the object 500, the cover layer 100 and the display panel 200A may be warped or pressed. The distance d between the ground potential plane and the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be reduced to d '. In this case, as the distance d decreases, the finging capacitance is absorbed to the upper surface of the substrate 300, so that the mutual capacitance between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 decreases . Accordingly, the magnitude of the touch pressure can be calculated by acquiring the amount of decrease in mutual capacitance in the sensing signal obtained through the receiving electrode.

4E, the upper surface of the substrate 300 is the ground potential, that is, the reference potential layer. However, the reference potential layer may be disposed inside the display module 200. At this time, when the pressure is applied to the surface of the cover layer 100 through the object 500, the cover layer 100 and the display panel 200A can be bent or pressed. Accordingly, the distance between the reference potential layer disposed in the display module 200 and the pressure sensors 450 and 460 varies, and thus the capacitance change amount is obtained from the sensing signal obtained through the receiving electrode, and the magnitude of the touch pressure is calculated .

In the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the display panel 200A can be bent or pressed according to a touch to apply pressure. According to the embodiment, the position where the display panel 200A is deformed when the display panel 200A is bent or pressed may not coincide with the touch position, but the display panel 200A may exhibit warping at least at the touch position. For example, when the touch position is close to the edge and the edge of the display panel 200A, the position where the display panel 200A is warped or pressed most greatly may be different from the touch position, It is possible to indicate warping or pressing.

The first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 shown in FIG. 4D and FIG. 4E, respectively, in the form in which the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are formed in the same layer, A plurality of electrodes in the shape of a rhombus as shown in FIG. 14A. Here, the plurality of first pressure sensors 450 are connected to each other in the first axis direction, the plurality of second pressure sensors 460 are connected to each other in the second axis direction orthogonal to the first axis direction, At least one of the pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 is connected to the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 through the bridges so that a plurality of diamond- Lt; / RTI > At this time, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be configured as electrodes of the type shown in FIG. 14B.

It is exemplified that the touch pressure is detected from the change of mutual capacitance between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460. However, the pressure sensing unit 400 may be configured to include only the pressure sensor of either the first pressure sensor 450 or the second pressure sensor 460. In this case, one pressure sensor and the ground layer 300, or the reference potential layer disposed in the display module 200), that is, the magnitude of the self-capacitance, may be detected to detect the magnitude of the touch pressure. At this time, a drive signal is applied to the one pressure sensor, and a change in magnetic capacitance between the pressure sensor and the ground layer can be sensed by the pressure sensor.

4D, the pressure sensor may be configured to include only the first pressure sensor 450, wherein the first pressure sensor 450, which is caused by the distance change between the substrate 300 and the first pressure sensor 450, The magnitude of the touch pressure can be detected from the change in capacitance between the substrate 300 and the substrate 300. [ The capacitance d between the substrate 300 and the first pressure sensor 450 may increase as the touch pressure increases because the distance d decreases as the touch pressure increases. At this time, the pressure sensor does not need to have a comb-shaped or tridentate shape necessary for increasing mutual capacitance change detection accuracy, and may have a single plate (for example, a rectangular plate) A plurality of first pressure sensors 450 may be arranged in a lattice pattern at regular intervals.

4F illustrates a case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are formed on the upper surface of the substrate 300 and the lower surface of the display panel 200A in the spacer layer 420. [ At this time, the first pressure sensor 450 is formed on the lower surface of the display panel 200A, and the second pressure sensor 460 is formed such that the second pressure sensor 460 is formed on the first insulating layer 470 And the second insulating layer 471 is formed on the second pressure sensor 460. The second insulating layer 471 may be formed on the upper surface of the substrate 300 in the form of an electrode sheet. The first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be configured as shown in FIG. 14C.

When the pressure is applied to the surface of the cover layer 100 through the object 500, the cover layer 100 and the display panel 200A may be warped or pressed. Accordingly, the distance d between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 can be reduced. In this case, the mutual capacitance between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may increase as the distance d decreases. Accordingly, it is possible to calculate the magnitude of the touch pressure by acquiring the increase amount of mutual capacitance in the sensing signal obtained through the receiving electrode. 4F, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are formed on different layers. Therefore, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may have a comb- One of the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may have one plate (for example, a rectangular plate), and the other may have a plurality of The electrodes can be arranged in a lattice pattern at regular intervals.

5A to 5E illustrate a pattern of the pressure sensor included in the pressure sensor according to the embodiment.

5A to 5C illustrate a pressure sensor pattern that can be applied to the first embodiment and the second embodiment. When the magnitude of the touch pressure is changed as the mutual capacitance between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 changes, a first pressure sensor (not shown) is provided to generate a capacitance range necessary for increasing the detection accuracy 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are required to be formed. The greater the area where the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 face each other or the longer the length, the greater the magnitude of the generated capacitance. Therefore, the size, length, and shape of the facing area between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 can be adjusted according to the required capacitance range. 5B and 5C show the case where the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are formed on the same layer and the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 face each other A pressure sensor is formed so as to be relatively long. When the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are located on different layers, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may overlap each other .

In the first embodiment and the second embodiment, it is exemplified that the touch pressure is detected from the mutual capacitance change between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460. However, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be configured to include only the pressure sensor of either the first pressure sensor 450 or the second pressure sensor 460, in which case one pressure sensor and the ground layer The module 200 or the substrate 300) to detect the magnitude of the touch pressure.

4A to 4E, the pressure sensor may be configured to include only the first pressure sensor 450, and at this time, the first pressure (for example, the first pressure) caused by the change in the distance between the display module 200 and the first pressure sensor 450 The magnitude of the touch pressure can be detected from the change in magnetic capacitance between the sensor 450 and the reference potential layer. The capacitance d between the reference potential layer and the first pressure sensor 450 may increase as the touch pressure increases because the distance d decreases as the touch pressure increases. At this time, the pressure sensor does not need to have a comb-like shape or a trident shape necessary for increasing mutual capacitance change amount detection accuracy, and may have a plate (for example, a rectangular plate) shape as illustrated in Fig. 5D.

5E illustrates a pressure sensor pattern that can be applied to the third embodiment. Since the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are located on different layers, they may be overlapped with each other. As shown in FIG. 5E, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be arranged so as to be orthogonal to each other, thereby enhancing the sensing sensitivity of the capacitance variation. In the third embodiment, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be implemented to have a plate shape as illustrated in FIG. 5D.

As described above, the pressure sensing unit 400 for sensing the pressure in the touch input device 1000 may include pressure sensors 450 and 460 and a spacer layer 420. Although the spacer layer 420 has been illustrated as a space between the substrate 300 and the display module 200, the spacer layer 420 may be formed of the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the reference potential layer Display module 200), and can be pressed according to a touch having a pressure.

In this case, when sensing the magnitude of the touch pressure to the touch input device 1000 through the pressure sensors 450 and 460, the degree of bending of the spacer layer 420 and its restoring force are required to be uniform . For example, when the touch input device 1000 is touched a plurality of times with the same pressure magnitude, the degree of pressing of the spacer layer 420 by the pressure must be the same so that the pressure magnitude can be detected every time. For example, if the spacer layer 420 is deformed by repeated touches and the gap of the spacer layer 420 is reduced, the uniform performance of the pressure sensing part 400 can not be guaranteed. Therefore, it is important to secure a gap of the spacer layer 420 in order to ensure the pressure sensing performance of the pressure sensing part 400.

Accordingly, in this embodiment, an elastic foam having a high resilience can be used as the spacer layer 420. The pressure sensing part 400 having an elastic foam according to the embodiment may be disposed between the substrate 300 of the touch input device 1000 and the display module 200. The pressure sensing part 400 is configured to include the elastic foam so that the shock to the display module 200 is relieved without inserting additional elastic material between the display module 200 and the substrate 300, 200A can be maintained.

At this time, the elastic foam included in the pressure sensing part 400 according to the embodiment has elasticity such that it can be changed when the impact is applied, for example, Should be available.

Further, the elastic foam needs to have a sufficient thickness to mitigate the impact applied to the display module 200, and at the same time, the pressure between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the reference potential layer It needs to be formed to have a thickness not to be too far away. For example, the elastic foam according to the embodiment may be formed to a thickness of 10 m to 1 mm. If the elastic foam is formed thinner than 10 mu m, the impact can not be sufficiently absorbed. If the elastic foam is thicker than 1 mm, the distance between the reference potential layer and the pressure sensors 450 and 460 or between the first pressure sensor and the second pressure sensor is too large, Can be lowered.

For example, the elastic foam according to the embodiment may include at least one of polyurethane, polyester, polypropylene, and acrylic.

6A and 6B illustrate an attachment position of the pressure sensing part 400 to the touch input device according to the embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 6A, the pressure sensing portion 400 may be configured to be attached on the upper surface of the substrate 300. Also, as illustrated in FIG. 6B, the pressure sensing part 400 may be configured to be attached on the lower surface of the display module 200. Hereinafter, a case where the pressure sensing part 400 is attached on the upper surface of the substrate 300 will be described first.

7A-7F illustrate a structural cross-section of a pressure sensor according to an embodiment.

7A, in the pressure sensor module 400 according to the embodiment, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are positioned between the first insulating layer 410 and the second insulating layer 411. For example, after the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are formed on the first insulating layer 410, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be covered with the second insulating layer 411. At this time, the first insulating layer 410 and the second insulating layer 411 may be an insulating material such as polyimide. The first insulating layer 410 may be made of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) and the second insulating layer 411 may be a cover layer made of ink. Pressure sensors 450 and 460 may include materials such as copper and aluminum. An adhesive such as a liquid bond may be formed between the first insulating layer 410 and the second insulating layer 411 and between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the first insulating layer 410 Not shown). According to the embodiment, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are formed by positioning a mask having a through-hole corresponding to the pressure sensor pattern on the first insulating layer 410 and then spraying a conductive spray. .

7A, the pressure sensing part 400 further includes an elastic foam 440 and the elastic foam 440 may be formed on one side of the second insulation layer 411 in a direction opposite to the first insulation layer 410 have. The elastic foam 440 may be disposed on the substrate 300 side with respect to the second insulation layer 411 when the pressure sensing unit 400 is attached to the substrate 300. [

At this time, an adhesive tape 430 having a predetermined thickness may be formed on the outer surface of the elastic foam 430 to attach the pressure sensing part 400 to the substrate 300. According to the embodiment, the adhesive tape 430 may be a double-sided adhesive tape. At this time, the adhesive tape 430 may also serve to bond the elastic foam 430 to the second insulating layer 411. At this time, the thickness of the pressure sensing part 400 can be effectively reduced by disposing the adhesive tape 430 on the outer side of the elastic foam 430.

When the pressure sensing part 400 illustrated in FIG. 7A is attached to the substrate 300 positioned in the bottom direction of FIG. 7A, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are arranged to detect the pressure as described with reference to FIG. Can operate. For example, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be disposed on the display module 200 side, and the reference potential layer may be a surface of the substrate 300, and the elastic foam 440 may perform an operation corresponding to the spacer layer 420 . For example, when touching the touch input device 1000, the elastic foam 440 is pressed to reduce the distance between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the substrate 300, which is the reference potential layer, The mutual capacitance between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may decrease. The magnitude of the touch pressure can be detected through such capacitance change.

7B is similar to the pressure sensing unit 400 shown in FIG. 7A, and the difference will be mainly described below. 7B, the pressure sensing part 400 is not attached to the substrate 300 through the adhesive tape 430 located outside the elastic foam 440, unlike FIG. 7A. 7B shows a first adhesive tape 431 for bonding the elastic foam 440 to the second insulating layer 411 and a second adhesive tape 432 on the elastic foam 440 to adhere the pressure sensing part 400 to the substrate 300. [ A second adhesive tape 432 may be included. As described above, by disposing the first and second adhesive tapes 431 and 432, the elastic foam 440 is firmly attached to the second insulating layer 411 and the pressure sensing portion 400 is fixed to the substrate 300 . According to the embodiment, the pressure sensing part 400 illustrated in FIG. 7B may not include the second insulating layer 411. [ For example, when the first adhesive tape 431 is attached to the first insulating layer 410 and the pressure sensors 450 and 460 while the elastic foam 440 acts as a cover layer directly covering the pressure sensors 450 and 460 Can play a role. This can also be applied to the case of Figs. 7C to 7F below.

Fig. 7C is a modification of the structure shown in Fig. 7A. 7C, the elastic foam 440 may be formed with an H hole penetrating the height of the elastic foam 440, so that the elastic foam 440 can be pressed on the touch input device 1000 when the touch input device 1000 is touched . The hole (H) may be filled with air. The degree of civilization of pressure detection can be improved when the elastic foam 440 is pressed well. In addition, by forming the holes H in the elastic foam 400, the phenomenon that the surface of the elastic foam 400 protrudes due to the air when the pressure sensing part 400 is attached to the substrate 300 can be eliminated. 7C, a first adhesive tape 431 may be further included in addition to the adhesive tape 430 to firmly adhere the elastic foam 400 to the second insulating layer 411.

7D is a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 7B. As shown in FIG. 7C, the elastic foam 440 is formed with a hole H passing through the height of the elastic foam 440.

7E is a modification of the structure shown in FIG. 7B, which further includes a second elastic foam 441 on one surface of the first insulating layer 410 in a direction different from that of the elastic foam 440 as one surface. The second elastic foam 441 may be further formed to minimize an impact transmitted to the display module 200 when the pressure sensing unit 400 is attached to the touch input device 1000. At this time, the third adhesive layer 433 may be further included to adhere the second elastic foam 441 to the first insulating layer 410.

Figure 7F illustrates the structure of a pressure sensing portion 400 operable to detect pressure as described with reference to Figure 4D. The structure of the pressure sensing part 400 in which the first pressure sensors 450 and 451 and the second pressure sensors 460 and 461 are disposed with the elastic foam 440 therebetween is shown in FIG. 7B, the first pressure sensors 450 and 451 are formed between the first insulating layer 410 and the second insulating layer 411 and include a first adhesive tape 431, A second adhesive tape 440 and a second adhesive tape 432 may be formed. The second pressure sensors 460 and 461 are formed between the third insulating layer 412 and the fourth insulating layer 413 and the fourth insulating layer 413 is formed between the elastic foam 440 (Not shown). A third adhesive tape 433 may be formed on one side of the substrate of the third insulating layer 412 and a pressure sensitive portion 400 may be attached to the substrate 300 through a third adhesive tape 433 . 7B, the pressure sensing part 400 illustrated in FIG. 7F may not include the second insulating layer 411 and / or the fourth insulating layer 413, according to an embodiment. For example, when the first adhesive tape 431 serves as a cover layer that directly covers the first pressure sensors 450 and 451, the elastic foam 440 is bonded to the first insulating layer 410 and the first pressure sensors 450 and 450, 451, respectively. The second adhesive tape 432 also functions as a cover layer directly covering the second pressure sensors 460 and 461 while the elastic foam 440 is bonded to the third insulating layer 412 and the second pressure sensors 460, 461, respectively.

At this time, the elastic foam 440 is pressed through the touch of the touch input device 1000, so that the mutual electrostatic capacity between the first pressure sensors 450 and 451 and the second pressure sensors 460 and 461 may increase have. The touch pressure can be detected by changing the capacitance. Also, according to the embodiment, one of the first pressure sensors 450 and 451 and the second pressure sensors 460 and 461 may be grounded to sense the self-capacitance through the other one electrode.

7F, the thickness and the manufacturing cost of the pressure sensing part 400 are increased compared with the case where the electrode is formed as a single layer, but the pressure sensing part 400 is not pressure- Performance can be guaranteed. That is, by configuring the pressure sensing unit 400 as shown in FIG. 7F, the influence of the external potential (ground) environment can be minimized during pressure sensing. Therefore, the same pressure sensing unit 400 can be used regardless of the type of the touch input device 1000 to which the pressure sensing unit 400 is applied.

8A and 8B illustrate a case where the pressure sensor according to the embodiment is attached to a substrate opposite to a display module. 8A illustrates a case where the pressure sensing portion 400 of the structure illustrated in FIG. 7B is attached on the upper surface of the substrate 300. FIG. 8b illustrate the case where the pressure sensing part 400 of the structure illustrated in FIG. 7E is attached on the upper surface of the substrate 300. FIG. At this time, an air gap may be positioned between the pressure sensing part 400 and the display module 200 according to the manufacturing process of the touch input device 1000. The influence of the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the substrate 300 on the pressure detection performance may not be large even if the air gap is depressed depending on the touch.

8A shows a case where the substrate 300 functions as a reference potential layer, and it is also possible that the modified form of FIGS. 7A to 7D is attached to the substrate 300 according to the embodiment. 8A, the elastic foam 440 is formed closer to the substrate 300 than the pressure sensors 450 and 460 in the pressure sensing part 400. However, when the elastic foam 440 is pressed by the pressure sensors 450 and 460 The pressure sensing part 400 may be attached to the substrate 300. The pressure sensing part 400 may be attached to the substrate 300 relatively to the display module 200. [ That is, the elastic foam 440 may be formed on the first insulating layer 410. In this case, the reference potential layer may be the display module 200.

9A and 9B illustrate a case where the pressure sensor according to the embodiment is attached to the display module.

7A to 7E may be attached to the display module 200 when the pressure sensing part 400 is inverted upside down. 9A illustrates a case where the pressure sensing part 400 having the structure illustrated in FIG. 7B is vertically inverted and attached to the display module 200. FIG. The distance between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the display module 200 as the reference potential layer is reduced by pressing the elastic foam 440 according to the touch so that the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 may be reduced. The touch pressure can be detected by changing the capacitance.

Depending on the embodiment, the structure of the modified pressure sensing part 400 may be used. 9B illustrates a case where the deformed structure of the pressure sensing part 400 illustrated in FIG. 7B is vertically inverted and attached to the display module 200. FIG. 9B shows a state in which the elastic foam 400 is not positioned between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the display module 200 and the pressure sensing part 400 is positioned such that the elastic foam 400 is positioned between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the substrate 300 Lt; / RTI > In this case, the reference potential layer for pressure detection may be the substrate 300. [ The elastic foam 440 is pressed in accordance with the touch and the distance between the pressure sensors 450 and 460 and the substrate 300 as the reference potential layer is reduced so that the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 The mutual capacitance between the electrodes can be reduced. The touch pressure can be detected from this capacitance change. In this case, an air gap, which may be located between the substrate 300 and the pressure sensing portion 400, may also be used to induce a capacitance change with the elastic foam 440.

Although the pressure sensing unit 400 according to the embodiment is described on the assumption that the touch is performed on the upper surface side of the display module, The touch pressure can be detected.

As described above, in order to detect the pressure through the touch input apparatus 1000 to which the pressure sensing unit 400 according to the embodiment of the present invention is applied, the change in the capacitance generated in the pressure sensors 450 and 460 Need to detect. Therefore, a drive signal needs to be applied to the drive electrodes of the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460, and the touch signal must be obtained from the reception electrode to calculate the touch pressure from the change amount of the capacitance. According to the embodiment, it is also possible to further include a pressure detection device in the form of a pressure sensing IC for operation of pressure detection. The pressure sensing unit 400 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be a structure including such a pressure sensing device as well as the structure exemplified in Fig. 7 or the like including the pressure sensors 450 and 460 for pressure sensing.

In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 1, since the structure similar to that of the driving unit 120, the sensing unit 110, and the control unit 130 is overlapped, there arises a problem that the area and volume of the touch input device 1000 increase .

The touch input apparatus 1000 may be configured to apply a driving signal for pressure detection to the pressure sensors 450 and 460 using a touch detection apparatus for operating the touch sensor panel 100, , 460) to sense the touch pressure. Hereinafter, it is assumed that the first pressure sensor 450 is a driving electrode and the second pressure sensor 460 is a receiving electrode.

The first pressure sensor 450 receives the driving signal from the driving unit 120 and the second pressure sensor 460 receives the driving signal from the driving unit 120. In the touch input apparatus 1000, May transmit a sensing signal to the sensing unit 110. [ The control unit 130 performs scanning of the pressure sensor while performing scanning of the touch sensor panel 100 or the control unit 130 performs time sharing to perform scanning of the touch sensor panel 100 in a first time period And generate a control signal to perform pressure detection scanning in a second time period different from the first time period.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present invention, the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 should be electrically connected to the driving unit 120 and / or the sensing unit 110. At this time, the touch sensing device for the touch sensor panel 100 is generally formed as a touch sensing IC 150 on the same plane as one end of the touch sensor panel 100 or the touch sensor panel 100. The pressure sensors 450 and 460 included in the pressure sensing unit 400 may be electrically connected to the touch sensing device of the touch sensor panel 100 in an arbitrary manner. For example, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be connected to the touch detection device through a connector using the second PCB 210 included in the display module 200.

10A and 10B show a case in which the pressure sensing part 400 including the pressure sensors 450 and 460 is attached to the lower surface of the display module 200. 10A and 10B, the display module 200 has a second PCB 210 on which a circuit for operating the display panel is mounted on a part of the lower surface.

10A shows a state in which the pressure sensing part 400 is connected to the lower surface of the display module 200 so that the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 are connected to one end of the second PCB 210 of the display module 200. [ As shown in Fig. A conductive pattern may be printed on the second PCB 210 so that the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be electrically connected to a required configuration such as the touch sensing IC 150. [ A detailed description thereof will be described with reference to Figs. 11A to 11C. The method of attaching the pressure sensing part 400 including the pressure sensors 450 and 460 illustrated in FIG. 10A may be applied to the substrate 300 as well.

10B illustrates a case where the pressure sensing unit 400 including the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 is integrally formed with the second PCB 210 of the display module 200. [ For example, when the second PCB 210 of the display module 200 is fabricated, a predetermined area 211 is allocated to the second PCB so that the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor (not shown) 460) can be printed. A conductive pattern may be printed on the second PCB 210 to electrically connect the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460 to a necessary configuration such as the touch sensing IC 150.

11A to 11C illustrate a method of connecting the pressure sensors 450 and 460 to the touch sensing IC 150. FIG. 11A to 11C show a case where the touch sensor panel 100 is included in the outside of the display module 200 and the touch detection device of the touch sensor panel 100 is connected to the first PCB 160 for the touch sensor panel 100, And integrated into the touch sensing IC 150 mounted on the touch sensing IC 150. FIG.

11A illustrates a case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 attached to the display module 200 are connected to the touch sensing IC 150 through the first connector 121. [ As illustrated in FIG. 11A, in a mobile communication device such as a smart phone, the touch sensing IC 150 is connected to a second PCB 210 for the display module 200 through a first connector (connector) 121. And the second PCB 210 may be electrically connected to the main board through the second connector 224. [ Accordingly, the touch sensing IC 150 can exchange signals with the CPU or AP for the operation of the touch input device 1000 through the first connector 121 and the second connector 224.

11A, the pressure sensing part 400 is attached to the display module 200 in the manner as illustrated in FIG. 10B, but is also applicable to the case where the pressure sensing part 400 is attached in the manner illustrated in FIG. 10A. A conductive pattern may be printed on the second PCB 210 so that the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be electrically connected to the touch sensing IC 150 through the first connector 121. [

The case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 attached to the display module 200 are connected to the touch sensing IC 150 through the third connector 473 in FIG. 11B is exemplified. 11B, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are connected to the main board for operating the touch input apparatus 1000 through the third connector 473, and the second connector 224 and the first connector 121 To the touch sensing IC 150 through the touch sensing IC 150. At this time, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be printed on the additional PCB separate from the second PCB 210. [ The pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be attached to the touch input device 1000 in a structure as illustrated in FIG. 7 to extend the conductive traces and the like from the pressure sensors 450 and 460, It can also be connected to the main board through.

Even if the pressure electrodes 450 and 460 are printed on the second PCB 210 or on an additional PCB separated from the second PCB 210, the pressure electrodes 450 and 460 may be printed on the printed PCB portion and the pressure electrodes 450 and 460, 460 may be collectively referred to as a pressure sensing unit 400. [

The case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are directly connected to the touch sensing IC 150 through the fourth connector 474 in FIG. 11C is exemplified. 11C, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be connected to the first PCB 160 through the fourth connector 474. A conductive pattern electrically connecting the fourth connector 474 to the touch sensing IC 150 may be printed on the first PCB 160. Accordingly, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be connected to the touch sensing IC 150 through the fourth connector 474. At this time, the pressure sensors 450 and 460 can be printed on the additional PCB separate from the second PCB 210. [ The second PCB 210 and the additional PCB may be insulated from each other so as not to be short-circuited. The pressure sensors 450 and 460 may be attached to the touch input device 1000 in a structure as illustrated in FIG. 7 to extend the conductive traces and the like from the pressure sensors 450 and 460, The first PCB 160 may be connected to the first PCB 160. Here, the fourth connector 474 may be directly connected to the second PCB 210, unlike FIG. 11C.

11B and 11C can be applied to the case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are formed on the substrate 300 as well as the lower surface of the display module 200.

11A to 11C, the touch sensing IC 150 has been described on the assumption that a chip on film (COF) structure is formed on the first PCB 160. However, this is merely an example, and the present invention can also be applied to a chip on board (COB) structure in which the touch sensing IC 150 is mounted on the main board in the mounting space 310 of the touch input device 1000. It will be clear from the discussion of Figs. 11A-11C that the connection of the pressure sensors 450, 460 through the connector will be apparent to those skilled in the art in other embodiments.

In the above description, the first pressure sensor 450 constitutes one channel as the driving electrode and the pressure sensors 450 and 460 constitute one channel by the second pressure sensor 460 as the receiving electrode. However, this is merely an example. According to the embodiment, the driving electrode and the receiving electrode constitute a plurality of channels, respectively, so that multiple pressure detection can be performed according to multi touch.

12A to 12C illustrate a case where the pressure sensor of the present invention constitutes a plurality of channels. In Fig. 12A, the case where the first pressure sensors 450-1 and 450-2 and the second pressure sensors 460-1 and 460-2 constitute two channels is illustrated. 12A, the first pressure sensor 450-1 and the second pressure sensor 460-1 constituting the first channel are included in the first pressure sensing part 400, and the first pressure sensor 450-1 and the second pressure sensor 460-1, The first pressure sensor 450-2 and the second pressure sensor 460-2 are included in the second pressure sensor 400. The first pressure sensors 450-1 and 450-2, And the second pressure sensors 460-1 and 460-2 may be included in one pressure sensing unit 400. [ 12B illustrates a case where the first pressure sensor 450 constitutes two channels 450-1 and 450-2 while the second pressure sensor 460 constitutes one channel. In FIG. 12C, the first pressure sensors 450-1 through 450-5 and the second pressure sensors 460-1 and 460-5 constitute five channels, respectively. In this case, all the electrodes constituting the five channels may be included in one pressure sensing unit 400.

12A to 12C illustrate a case where the pressure sensor constitutes a single channel or a plurality of channels, and the pressure sensor may be composed of a single channel or a plurality of channels in various ways. 12A to 12C illustrate the case where the pressure sensors 450 and 460 are electrically connected to the touch sensing IC 150, May be connected to the sensing IC 150.

As described above, by applying the pressure sensing unit 400 according to the embodiment of the present invention to the touch input device 1000 including the touch sensor panel capable of detecting the existing touch and the touch position, It is possible to easily detect the touch pressure through the input device 1000. The touch pressure can be detected using the conventional touch input device 1000 by minimally changing the existing touch input device 1000 and disposing the pressure sensing part 400 of the present invention.

In the experiment of FIGS. 13A to 13C, the touch input apparatus 1000 having the structure as illustrated in FIG. 8A was performed. In the following experiments, the elastic foam 440 included in the pressure sensing part 400 is made of polypropylene.

13A is a graph showing a difference in normalized capacitance change according to a weight of a pressure touch for a touch input device including a pressure sensor according to an embodiment. In FIG. 13A, 0 gf (gram force), 100 gf, ... Is a graph normalizing the difference in capacitance change occurring between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460, which is calculated by the pressure detecting device when the touch surface is pressed at 1000 gf. Here, the difference in capacitance change represents the difference in capacitance change when the touch input apparatus 1000 is pressure-touched to 0 gf and when the weight is gf. Although the difference in the capacitance change according to the magnitude of the touch weight with respect to the touch input apparatus 1000 changes in a monotone increasing form even if the difference does not change in direct proportion, It is possible to detect the size.

FIG. 13B is a graph showing a difference between the normalized capacitance change according to the pressure touch before and after a predetermined number of pressure taps for the touch input device including the pressure sensor according to the embodiment, and a deviation thereof. The experiment of FIG. 13B was performed for four touch input devices 1000, respectively. 13B. In the upper graph of FIG. 13B, A and B indicate before and after the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment is performed with a weight of 800 gf and a pressure touch of 100,000 times. A and B are respectively 800 gf and a difference in capacitance variation occurring between the first pressure sensor 450 and the second pressure sensor 460, which is calculated by the pressure detecting device when the touch surface of the touch input device 1000 is pressed, Is a normalized value. It can be seen that the difference in capacitance change occurring between the touch (A) and the touch (B) after the touch of 100,000 times is not equal, but the deviation is very small.

In the lower part of FIG. 13B, a deviation between the difference value of the capacitance change of the graph A and the graph B is displayed. It can be seen that the difference between the difference values of the capacitance changes occurring before and after touching the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment by 100,000 times of pressure is within 5%. It can be seen from FIG. 13B that even when the pressure sensing part 400 using the elastic foam according to the embodiment is used for a long time, the pressure sensing performance can be maintained uniform.

13C is a graph showing a change in the normalized pressure difference detected after releasing applied pressure to the touch input device including the pressure sensor according to the embodiment. In FIG. 13C, the magnitude of the pressure calculated by the pressure detecting device when the touch surface of the touch input device 1000 is pressed at 800 gf is represented by 1, and the magnitude of the calculated pressure after releasing the pressure application is shown. Referring to FIG. 13C, the time taken from 90% to 10% of the maximum pressure magnitude of 1 after releasing the pressure application may be about 0.7 seconds. As described above, when the pressure sensing part 400 including the elastic foam according to the embodiment is used, the restoration force after the release of the pressure touch is high, so that the accuracy of the pressure detection can be prevented from being lowered even in the continuous pressure touch. At this time, the required restoration speed may vary depending on the embodiment. Depending on the embodiment, the time to reach from 90% to 10% of the maximum pressure magnitude may be less than one second.

Meanwhile, in the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the present invention, the strain gage 450 may be formed directly on the display panel 200A. 15A to 15B are cross-sectional views illustrating an embodiment of a strain gauge formed directly on various display panels in a touch input device according to the present invention.

15A shows a strain gauge 450 formed on a display panel 200A using an LCD panel. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 15A, a strain gage 450 may be formed on the bottom surface of the second substrate layer 262. At this time, the strain gage 450 may be formed on the lower surface of the second polarizing layer 272. Next, FIG. 15B shows a strain gauge 450 formed on the lower surface of the display panel 200A using an OLED panel (particularly, an AM-OLED panel). Specifically, a strain gauge 450 may be formed on the bottom surface of the second substrate layer 283.

In the case of the OLED panel, since the light is emitted from the organic material layer 280, the strain gage 450 formed on the lower surface of the second substrate layer 283 disposed under the organic material layer 280 may be made of an opaque material. In this case, since the pattern of the strain gage 450 formed on the lower surface of the display panel 200A can be seen by the user, in order to directly form the strain gage 450 on the lower surface of the second substrate layer 283, A strain gauge 450 may be formed on the light shielding layer after the light shielding layer such as black ink is applied to the lower surface of the layer 283. In Fig. A third substrate layer (not shown) may be disposed under the second substrate layer 283 and a strain gauge 450 may be formed on the lower surface of the third substrate layer. Particularly, when the display panel 200A is a flexible OLED panel, since the display panel 200A composed of the first substrate layer 281, the organic layer 280 and the second substrate layer 283 is very thin and well warped, It is possible to dispose a third substrate layer that does not bend relatively well below the substrate layer 283.

16A to 16D illustrate examples in which a strain gauge is applied in a touch input apparatus according to the present invention.

The cover layer 100 formed with the touch sensor for detecting the touch position in the touch input device 1000 of the present invention and the display module 200 including the display panel 200A are bonded with an adhesive such as OCA (Optically Clear Adhesive) Lt; / RTI > Accordingly, display color clarity, visibility, and light transmittance of the display module 200 that can be confirmed through the touch surface of the touch sensor can be improved.

Although the display panel 200A is shown as being directly laminated and attached to the cover layer 100 in Figure 16a and some of the following figures, this is for illustrative convenience only and the first polarizing layer 271, The display module 200 located on the upper side may be laminated to the cover layer 100 and the second polarizing layer 272 and the backlight unit are omitted when the LCD panel is the display panel 200A.

16A to 16D, a cover layer 100 formed with a touch sensor as the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention is mounted on a display module 200 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a case where the touch sensor 10 is disposed inside the display module 200 shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B can do. 16A and 16B illustrate that the cover layer 100 on which the touch sensor is formed covers the display module 200 including the display panel 200A, And the display module 200 is covered with a cover layer 100 such as glass can be used as an embodiment of the present invention.

The touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be applied to various devices such as a cell phone, a PDA (Personal Data Assistant), a smartphone, a tablet PC, an MP3 player, a notebook, And electronic devices including the same touch screen.

The substrate 300 in the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention may include a housing 320 as an outermost structure of the touch input apparatus 1000 and a circuit board 300 for operating the touch input apparatus 1000, And / or a mounting space 310 where the battery can be placed, and the like. A central processing unit (CPU), an application processor (CPU), or the like may be mounted on the circuit board for operating the touch input device 1000 as a main board. The circuit board and / or the battery for the operation of the display module 200 and the touch input device 1000 are separated through the substrate 300 and the electrical noise generated in the display module 200 and the noise generated from the circuit board Can be blocked.

The touch sensor 10 or the cover layer 100 may be formed wider than the display module 200, the substrate 300 and the mounting space 310 in the touch input device 1000, The housing 320 may be formed to enclose the display module 200, the substrate 300, and the circuit board together with the touch sensor 10.

Hereinafter, the pressure sensor 450 for detecting the pressure or the force may be a strain gauge so that the distinction from the electrode included in the touch sensor 10 is clear.

The touch input apparatus 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention detects the touch position through the touch sensor 10 and detects the touch pressure (or force) from the strain gage 450 formed on the display module 200 have. At this time, the touch sensor 10 may be located inside or outside the display module 200.

The touch input apparatus 1000 according to an embodiment of the present invention may include a spacer layer 420 formed of an air gap. At this time, the spacer layer 420 may be made of a shock-absorbing material according to an embodiment. The spacer layer 420 may be filled with a dielectric material according to embodiments.

Since the strain gauge 450 is disposed on the rear surface of the display panel 200A, the strain gauge 450 may be formed of an opaque material as well as a transparent material. When the display panel 200A is an LCD panel, the light must be transmitted through the backlight unit, so that the strain gauge 450 may be made of a transparent material such as ITO.

At this time, a frame 330 having a predetermined height along the rim of the upper portion of the substrate 300 may be formed to hold the spacer layer 420. At this time, the frame 330 may be adhered to the cover layer 100 with an adhesive tape (not shown). 5B, the frame 330 is shown to be formed on all the edges of the substrate 300 (e.g., four sides of a tetragonal shape), but the frame 330 may include at least some of the edges of the substrate 300 Three surfaces). According to an embodiment, the frame 330 may be integrally formed with the substrate 300 on the upper surface of the substrate 300. In an embodiment of the present invention, the frame 330 may be constructed of a material that is not elastic. The display panel 200A may be bent together with the cover layer 100 when pressure (or force) is applied to the display panel 200A through the cover layer 100. Therefore, The magnitude of the touch pressure (or force) can be detected even if there is no deformation of the shape depending on this pressure (or force).

16C is a cross-sectional view of a touch input device including a strain gauge according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 16C, the strain gauge 450 according to the embodiment of the present invention may be formed on the bottom surface of the display panel 200A.

16D is a sectional view when pressure (or force) is applied to the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in Fig. 16C. The top surface of the substrate 300 may have a ground potential for noise shielding. When applying pressure (or force) to the surface of the cover layer 100 through the object 500, the cover layer 100 and the display panel 200A may be warped or pressed. As the display panel 200A is warped, the strain gage 450 formed on the display panel 200A is deformed, and thus the resistance value of the strain gage 450 can be changed. The magnitude of the touch pressure (or force) can be calculated from the change of the resistance value.

In the touch input device 1000 according to the embodiment of the present invention, the display panel 200A can be bent or pressed according to a touch to apply pressure (or force). The display panel 200A can be bent or pressed to show a deformation according to a touch. According to the embodiment, the position where the display panel 200A is deformed when the display panel 200A is bent or pressed may not coincide with the touch position, but the display panel 200A may exhibit warping at least at the touch position. For example, when the touch position is close to the edge and the edge of the display panel 200A, the position where the display panel 200A is warped or pressed most greatly may be different from the touch position, It is possible to indicate warping or pressing.

17A, 17D to 17F are plan views of an exemplary pressure (or force) sensor capable of sensing pressure (or force) used in a touch input device according to the present invention. In this case, the pressure (or force) sensor may be a strain gauge. A strain gauge is a device whose electrical resistance varies in proportion to the amount of strain, and generally a metal-bonded strain gauge can be used.

Materials that can be used for the strain gage include transparent conductive materials such as conductive polymers (PEDOT), indium tin oxide (ITO), antimony tin oxide (ATO), carbon nanotubes (CNT), graphene ), Gallium zinc oxide, indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO), tin oxide (SnO2), indium oxide (In2O3), zinc oxide (ZnO), gallium oxide (Ga2O3) Cadmium (CdO), other doped metal oxides, piezoresistive elements, piezoresistive semiconductor materials, piezoresistive metal materials, silver nanowires, platinum nanowires, nickel nanowires, and other metallic nanowires may be used. Examples of opaque materials include silver ink, copper, nano silver, carbon nanotube (CNT), Constantan alloy, Karma alloys, doped Polycrystalline silicon, doped amorphous silicon, doped single crystal silicon, doped other semiconductor material, and the like can be used.

As shown in Fig. 17A, the metal strain gauge may be composed of a metal foil arranged in a lattice-like manner. The lattice type method can maximize the deformation amount of the metal wire or foil which is likely to be deformed in the parallel direction. At this time, the vertical lattice cross-section of the strain gage 450 shown in Fig. 17A can be minimized to reduce the effects of shear strain and Poisson strain.

In the example of FIG. 17A, the strain gage 450 may include traces 451 that are not in contact while they are in an at rest state, i.e., are not strained or otherwise deformed, have. The strain gage may have a nominal resistance, such as 1.8 K? 0.1% in the absence of strain or force. As a basic parameter of the strain gauge, the sensitivity to strain can be expressed by the gauge coefficient (GF). At this time, the gauge coefficient can be defined as a ratio of the electrical resistance change to the change in length (strain) and can be expressed as a function of the strain epsilon as follows.

Where R is the variation of the strain gage resistance, R is the resistance of the undeformed strain gage, and GF is the gage coefficient.

At this time, in order to measure small changes in resistance, strain gauges are used in bridge settings with voltage driven sources in most cases.

17B and 17C illustrate exemplary strain gauges that can be applied to a touch input device according to the present invention. As shown in the example of Figure 17b, the strain gage is included in a Wheatstone bridge 3000 having four different resistances (shown as R1, R2, R3, R4) The resistance of the gauge can be sensed (for other resistors). The bridge 3000 is coupled to a force sensor interface (not shown) to receive a drive signal (voltage VEX) from a touch controller (not shown) to drive the strain gage and generate a sense signal ) To the touch controller. At this time, the output voltage VO of the bridge 3000 can be expressed as follows.

When R1 / R2 = R4 / R3 in the above equation, the output voltage VO becomes zero. Under this condition, the bridge 3000 is in a balanced state. At this time, when the resistance value of any one of the resistors included in the bridge 3000 is changed, a non-zero output voltage VO is outputted.

17C, when the strain gage 450 is RG and the RG changes, a change in the strain gage 450 resistance results in an imbalance in the bridge and a non-zero output voltage VO . When the nominal resistance of the strain gage 450 is RG, the change? R of the resistance induced by the strain can be expressed as? R = RG x GF x? Through the above gage coefficient equation. Assuming that R1 = R2 and R3 = RG, the bridge equation is rewritten as a function of the strain? Of VO / VEX as follows.

Although the bridge of Figure 17c includes only one strain gage 450, it can be used up to four strain gauges at the locations shown as R1, R2, R3, R4 included in the bridge of Figure 17b, It will be appreciated that the resistance change can be used to sense the applied force.

17C and 17D, when a force is applied to the display panel 200A on which the strain gauge 450 is formed, the display panel 200A is warped and the traces 451 And the trace 451 becomes longer and narrower, thereby increasing the resistance of the strain gauge 450. [0064] As the applied force increases, the resistance of the strain gage 450 may correspondingly increase. Therefore, when the pressure sensor controller 1300 detects an increase in the resistance value of the strain gauge 450, the rise can be interpreted as a force applied to the display panel 200A.

In yet another embodiment, the bridge 3000 may be integrated with the pressure sensor controller 1300, in which case at least one of the resistors R1, R2, R3 may be replaced by a resistor in the pressure sensor controller 1300 have. For example, resistors R2 and R3 may be replaced by resistors in pressure sensor controller 1300 and bridge 3000 may be formed by strain gage 450 and resistor R1. Thus, the space occupied by the bridge 3000 can be reduced.

The strain gauge 450 shown in Fig. 17A has a high sensitivity to deformation in the horizontal direction because the trace 451 is largely changed in the horizontal direction due to the horizontal alignment of the traces 451, As for the deformation in the direction, the change in the length of the trace 451 is relatively small, so that the sensitivity to deformation in the vertical direction is low. As shown in FIG. 6D, the strain gauge 450 includes a plurality of sub-regions, and the alignment direction of the traces 451 included in each sub-region can be configured differently. By configuring the strain gauge 450 including the traces 451 having different alignment directions, the sensitivity difference of the strain gauge 450 with respect to the strain direction can be reduced.

The touch input apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may include a force sensor composed of a single channel by forming one strain gauge 450 under the display panel 200A as shown in Figs. 17A and 17D. In addition, the touch input apparatus 1000 according to the present invention may include a force sensor having a plurality of channels by forming a plurality of strain gauges 450 under the display panel 200A as shown in FIG. 17E. The magnitude of each of a plurality of forces for a plurality of touches may be simultaneously sensed by using the plurality of force sensors composed of a plurality of channels.

The temperature increase may adversely affect the strain gage 450 because the temperature increase may cause the display panel 200A to expand without the applied force and as a result the strain gage 450 formed on the display panel 200A may increase . As a result, the resistance of the strain gage 450 increases and can be misinterpreted as a force applied to the strain gage 450.

To compensate for the temperature change, at least one or more of the resistances R1, R2, R3 of the bridge 3000 shown in Fig. 17C may be replaced by a thermistor. The resistance change due to the temperature of the thermistor can correspond to the resistance change due to the temperature of the strain gauge 450 due to the thermal expansion of the display panel 200A in which the strain gauge 450 is formed, ) Can be reduced.

In addition, two gauges can be used to minimize the effect of temperature changes. 17F, when the strain in the horizontal direction occurs, the trace 451 of the strain gage 450 can be aligned in the horizontal direction parallel to the direction of deformation, The traces 461 may be aligned in a direction perpendicular to the direction of deformation. At this time, the strain affects strain gage 450 and has little effect on dummy gage 460, but the temperature has the same effect on both strain gage 450 and dummy gage 460. Thus, since the temperature change is equally applied to two gauges, the ratio of the nominal resistance RG of the two gauges does not change. At this time, when these two gauges share the output node of the Wheatstone bridge, that is, when the two gauges are R1 and R2 in Fig. 6B, or R3 and R4, the output voltage VO of the bridge 3000 The influence of the temperature change can be minimized.

17G to 17I are rear views of a display panel in which a force sensor of a touch input device according to the present invention is formed.

The trace 451 of the strain gauge 450 is preferably aligned in a direction parallel to the direction of deformation so that the edges of the display panel 200A are aligned with the edges of the display panel 200A So that the traces 451 of the strain gages 450 are aligned in one direction. More specifically, since the edge of the display panel 200A is fixed, when the force is applied to the display panel 200A, the edge of the display panel 200A in the direction parallel to the straight line connecting the center of the display panel 200A and the position The strain may be greatest. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the traces 451 of the strain gauges 450 so as to be aligned in a direction parallel to a straight line connecting the positions of the strain gauges 450 and the center of the display panel 200A.

17G, the edge 462 of the dummy gauge 460 is preferably aligned in a direction perpendicular to the direction of deformation. Thus, in the edge area of the display panel 200A, So that the traces 461 of the dummy gage 460 are aligned. More specifically, since the edge of the display panel 200A is fixed, when a force is applied to the display panel 200A, the edge of the display panel 200A in the direction perpendicular to the straight line connecting the center of the display panel 200A and the position The strain may be the smallest. Therefore, it is preferable to arrange the traces 461 of the dummy gage 460 so as to be aligned in a direction perpendicular to a straight line connecting the position where the dummy gage 460 is disposed and the center of the display panel 200A.

At this time, as shown in FIG. 17G, the strain gage 450 and the dummy gage 460 may be arranged in pairs and disposed at positions adjacent to each other. In this case, since the temperature difference between adjacent positions may not be large, the influence of the temperature change can be further minimized.

17H, along the rim of the display panel 200A, a plurality of dummy gauges 460 (see Fig. 17A) having traces 461 aligned in a direction parallel to the rim of the display panel 200A, for example, ) May be disposed. In this case, since the edge area of the display panel 200A has a very small amount of deformation due to the force, the dummy gage 460 disposed in the edge area of the display panel 200A can be more effective in compensating for the influence of the temperature change have. 17I, the dummy gage 460 can be disposed in the four corner areas of the display panel 200A having the smallest deformation amount, and the traces of the dummy gage 460 can be disposed in the four corners of the display panel 200A, And can be arranged so as to be aligned in a direction perpendicular to the large direction.

In the foregoing, a touch input device according to various embodiments capable of detecting pressure (or force) from the outside has been described. Hereinafter, a method of connecting a telephone in the touch input device according to various embodiments described above will be described in detail with reference to the drawings shown in FIG.

18 is a flowchart for explaining a telephone connection method in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention.

It is assumed that the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention has at least a surface on which a display screen is displayed and has a telephone function. The surface on which the display screen is displayed may be the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in Fig.

Referring to Fig. 18, a telephone connection method in a touch input device according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a step 1810 of detecting the magnitude of pressure, a determination step 1820, and a telephone connection step 1830. Fig.

The step 1810 of detecting the magnitude of the pressure may be performed with the display screen turned off. In this specification, the state that the display screen is turned off means that the surface of the cover layer 100 shown in FIG. 19 is displayed in black and is distinguished from the power-off state of the touch input apparatus 1000. (For example, touching a power button or pressing a power button, or pressing a predetermined button installed on the side of the touch input apparatus 1000) while the display screen of the touch input apparatus 1000 is turned off, The display screen may be turned on at any time by external communication (telephone reception, text reception, e-mail reception) or the like.

The step 1810 of detecting the magnitude of the pressure is a step of detecting the pressure (or force) input to the surface of the cover layer 100 shown in Fig. The magnitude of the pressure can be detected by the pressure sensor controller 1300 shown in Fig. The details of the pressure sensor controller 1300 have been described above with reference to FIG. 2, and the description thereof will be omitted.

The discrimination step 1820 is performed with the display screen turned off, as shown in Fig. The discrimination step 1820 compares the magnitude P1 of the pressure detected in the step 1810 of detecting the magnitude of the pressure with the reference pressure Th1 to determine whether the magnitude P1 of the detected pressure is greater than the reference pressure Th1 ) Or more. Whether the magnitude P1 of the detected pressure is equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1 can be performed in the processor 1500 shown in FIG. The processor 1500 may receive a signal regarding the magnitude P1 of the pressure detected by the pressure sensor controller 1300 and compare the magnitude of the magnitude P1 with a predetermined reference pressure Th1.

The telephone connection step 1830 activates the telephone function as shown in FIG. 21 if the result of the discrimination step 1820, that is, the magnitude P1 of the detected pressure is equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1, And controlling the telephone function so that the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number, for example, the telephone number of the wife shown in Fig.

The 'telephone function' shown in FIG. 21 corresponds to the software installed in the memory (not shown) of the touch input device 1000 shown in FIG. 19 and the software installed in the touch input device 1000 Or may be a function implemented through hardware (e.g., communication module).

The telephone connection step 1830 can be performed by the processor 1500 shown in FIG. If it is determined in step 1820 that the magnitude P1 of the pressure is equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1, the processor 1500 activates the phone application stored and installed in the memory (not shown) of the touch input apparatus 1000, You can control the activated phone application to connect the phone to the number.

21 can be controlled to be displayed on the display screen of the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 19. In contrast, in the telephone connection step 1830, the telephone connection screen shown in FIG. May be controlled not to be displayed on the display screen of the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in Fig. In other words, the processor 1500 shown in FIG. 2 may activate the telephone application and control the telephone application to be controlled to be turned off to the display screen so that the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number. In this case, the user can not confirm anything through the display screen, and can receive and transmit voice through the speaker and microphone of the touch input device 1000.

Also, in the telephone connection step 1830, the speaker of the touch input apparatus 1000 may be deactivated. This is because, when the user performs the above-described telephone connection method in an urgent situation such as a situation where a crime occurs, the user may be in a more dangerous situation due to the sound emitted through the speaker. In this case, in the telephone connection step 1830, the telephone connection screen as shown in FIG. 21 may be controlled to be displayed on the display screen of the touch input apparatus 1000 shown in FIG. 19, or may be controlled so as not to be displayed.

The method for connecting a telephone in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in FIG. 18 may further include detecting a touch position in addition to steps 1810 to 1830.

The step of detecting the touch position is a step of detecting the position of the touch input to the surface in a state in which the display screen is turned off. The touch position can be performed in the touch sensor controller 1100 shown in Fig.

When the step of detecting the touch position is further performed, the telephone connection step 1830 activates the telephone function, and the telephone function can be controlled so that the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number corresponding to the detected touch position. This operation can be performed in the processor 1500 shown in FIG. Specifically, the processor 1500 activates the telephone function and can control the telephone function so that the telephone is connected to the telephone number corresponding to the touch position provided from the touch sensor controller 1100. [ 20, when the user touches the lower end of the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 at a reference pressure Th1 or more, as shown in FIG. 21, When the user touches the upper end of the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 with the reference pressure Th1 or more as shown in FIG. 22, The telephone can be connected to the preset second telephone number 112 as shown in FIG.

Here, the step of detecting the touch position may be further controlled so that the speaker of the touch input apparatus 1000 described above is deactivated, or the telephone connection screen shown in Fig. 23 is controlled not to be displayed on the display screen It is possible.

The method for connecting a telephone in the touch input device according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in Fig. 18 may further include a step of detecting multi-touch in addition to steps 1810 to 1830. [

The step of detecting multi-touch is a step of detecting multi-touch input to the surface while the display screen is turned off. The multi-touch may be performed in the touch sensor controller 1100 shown in Fig.

When the step of detecting multiple touches is further performed, the telephone connection step 1830 activates the telephone function, and the telephone connection step 1830 activates the telephone function, and when the magnitude of pressure of at least one of the multiple touches is equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1, The telephone function can be controlled so that the telephone is connected to the corresponding preset telephone number. This operation can be performed in the processor 1500 shown in FIG. Specifically, the processor 1500 activates the telephone function and can control the telephone function so that the telephone is connected to the telephone number according to the multi-touch provided from the touch sensor controller 1100. [

For example, as shown in FIG. 24, when the user multi-touches the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 with two or more fingers, and the pressure of at least one of the multi- Th1), it is possible to connect the telephone to another telephone number (My daughter) set in advance as shown in FIG. Here, the telephone can be connected to another preset telephone number (My daughter) only when the input multi-touch is matched with a predetermined pattern. Specifically, one touch of the multi-touch having a preset pattern is touched to the upper end of the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000, When the input to the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 matches with the preset pattern, when the touch input device 1000 is set to be touched at the lower end of the surface of the touch panel 100, If the phone is connected and there is a mismatch, the phone may not be connected to the My daughter.

As another example, although not shown in the drawings, when the user touches the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 at a first time at a first time, And when the pressure of at least one of the first touch and the second touch is equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1, the telephone can be connected to another preset telephone number. And may further include one or more touches in addition to the first touch and the second touch. Here, the telephone can be connected to another preset telephone number only when the input first touch and the second touch match a preset pattern. Specifically, when the pressure of the first touch is less than the reference pressure Th1 and the pressure of the second touch is set to be equal to or greater than the reference pressure Th1, the touch pattern of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 Only when the input to the surface matches the preset pattern is the telephone connected to the telephone number, and in case of inconsistency, the telephone may not be connected to the telephone number.

Here, each of the first touch and the second touch includes a single touch or multiple touches. That is, the first touch and the second touch may be a single touch or multiple touch, respectively. Or the first touch may be a single touch, the second touch may be multiple touch, or vice versa.

Here, in the invention in which the step of detecting multi-touch is further added, the preset phone number may be changed in consideration of the position of the multi-touch. For example, as shown in FIG. 24, when the user's two fingers touch the upper end and the lower end of the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000, A phone can be connected to the My daughter, and although not shown as a separate drawing, two fingers of the user touch two places of the upper end (or the lower end) of the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000 The telephone can be connected to the telephone number (Wife or 112) as shown in FIG. 21 or FIG. Further, on the surface of the cover layer 100 of the touch input apparatus 1000, the telephone number connected to the first touch at the first time and the second touch at the second time may be different.

Here, in the invention in which the multi-touch detection step is further added, the speaker of the touch input apparatus 1000 described above may be controlled to be inactive, or the telephone connection screen shown in Fig. 23 may be controlled so as not to be displayed on the display screen It is possible.

While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is clearly understood that the same is by way of illustration and example only and is not to be taken by way of illustration, It can be seen that various modifications and applications are possible. For example, each component specifically shown in the embodiments can be modified and implemented. It is to be understood that all changes and modifications that come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

Claims (11)

A telephone connection method in a touch input device having a surface on which a display screen is displayed and having a telephone function,
Detecting a magnitude of a pressure input to the surface when the display screen is turned off;
Determining whether a magnitude of the pressure detected when the display screen is turned off is equal to or greater than a reference pressure; And
Activating the telephone function when the magnitude of the pressure is equal to or greater than the reference pressure and controlling the telephone function to connect a telephone to a preset telephone number;
The method comprising the steps of:
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the telephone connection step controls so that a telephone connection screen to which the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number is not displayed on the display screen.
The method according to claim 1,
Wherein the telephone connection step controls the speaker of the touch input device to be deactivated when the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising detecting a position of a touch input to the surface while the display screen is turned off,
Wherein the predetermined telephone number in the telephone connection step is a telephone number corresponding to the detected position of the touch.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising detecting multi-touch input to the surface while the display screen is turned off,
Wherein the telephone connection step activates the telephone function when at least one touch among the multiple touches is equal to or greater than the reference pressure and controls the telephone function to connect a telephone to a preset telephone number corresponding to the multi- A method of connecting a telephone in a touch input device.
6. The method of claim 5,
Wherein the preset telephone number in the telephone connection step is a telephone number corresponding to the positions of the multi-touch.
The method according to claim 5 or 6,
Wherein the telephone connection step is a step in which the telephone is connected to the preset telephone number when the multi-touch matches a preset pattern, and the telephone is not connected to the preset telephone number if the multi- A method of connecting a telephone in a touch input device.
The method according to claim 1,
Further comprising detecting a first touch at a first time input to the surface while the display screen is turned off and a second touch at a second time subsequent to the first time,
Wherein the telephone connection step activates the telephone function when at least one of the first touch and the second touch is equal to or greater than the reference pressure and sets the first touch and the second touch to a preset telephone number corresponding to the first touch and the second touch And controlling the telephone function so that the telephone is connected to the telephone.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein each of the first touch and the second touch is a single touch or multiple touches.
9. The method of claim 8,
Wherein the preset telephone number in the telephone connection step is a phone number corresponding to the positions of the first touch and the second touch.
11. The method according to any one of claims 8 to 10,
Wherein the telephone connection step is such that the telephone is connected to another telephone number set in advance only when the first touch and the second touch match a predetermined pattern, and the first touch and the second touch are connected to the predetermined pattern And the telephone is not connected to the preset telephone number if there is a mismatch.

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