TW201324010A - Display substrate, display apparatus and repairing method of scan line failure - Google Patents

Abstract

A display substrate includes plural transistors, plural scan lines, at least one scan driving circuit and at least a backup wire. The transistors are located inside a display area. The scan lines are electrically connected with the transistors. The scan driving circuit is located outside the display area and has plural driving devices electrically connected with the transistors by the scan lines. The backup wire is located outside the display area and disposed corresponding to at least one scan line. The backup wire is overlapped with the scan line and has two overlapped portions along the direction perpendicular to the display area.

Description

Display substrate, display device and scan line fault repairing method

The present invention relates to a display substrate, a display device, and a scan line fault repair method.

Flat display apparatus has been used in a wide variety of electronic products due to its low power consumption, low heat generation, light weight and non-radiation, and has gradually replaced traditional cathode ray tubes. (cathode ray tube, CRT) display device.

In the manufacturing technology of the flat display device, the technology for fabricating the components of the scan driving circuit on the glass substrate (hereinafter referred to as the display substrate) in a thin film transistor process to save the cost of the scan driving IC is simply referred to as GOP (Gate on panel). )technology. In the GOP process of the display substrate, the driving component or the line fault of the GOP circuit (such as the scan driving circuit) is often caused by foreign matter contamination or process defects in the process, thereby causing corresponding scan line driving defects, resulting in scanning lines. Bright line or side line.

Referring to FIG. 1A, most of the current GOP technologies are manufactured by a bilaterally driven display device, that is, a set of GOP circuits are respectively provided on the left and right sides of the display area DA of the display device 1. Circuit), in order to avoid driving a large-size display device on one side, the scan drive circuit may cause the drive signal to be weakened due to the long distance of the line and the high resistance value. However, the bilaterally driven display device 1 may cause a driving defect of the scanning line of the display device 1 due to foreign matter contamination or process defects in the process of the GOP circuit component on one side, for example, forming a bright line of FIG. 1A.

Referring to FIG. 1B, in the prior art, the driving defect technique for repairing the scanning line is to make a backup circuit component at other positions outside the original GOP circuit outside the display area of the display substrate. For example, the left side of FIG. 1B is on the GOP circuit to make a backup drive element SR (for example, a mobile register). If the i-th scanning line of the display device finds a driving defect, the scanning element signal is cut and welded by the driving element SR _i of the i-th stage as shown on the right side of FIG. 1B. The transfer is transferred to the backup drive element SR to isolate the faulty i-th stage drive element SR _i , thereby repairing the scan line drive defect caused by the faulty i-th stage drive element SR _i .

However, in the above repair technique, it is necessary to first guess which side of the left and right side of the GOP circuit is faulty, and then perform the repairing action. Once you guess the error, it will cause irreparable damage, which in turn requires the entire display panel to be scrapped. In addition, the backup drive element SR produced not only compresses the area of use of the original scan driver circuit, but also causes the load of the scan line and the other scan line of the repair stage (ie, the i-th stage of FIG. 1B) not to be loaded. The situation.

Therefore, how to provide a display substrate, a display device, and a scan line fault repair method can repair the scan defect of the scan line without compressing the use area of the scan drive circuit and causing uneven scan line load, which has become an important issue. One.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a display substrate, a display device, and a scan line fault repair capable of repairing scan defects of a scan line without compressing the use area of the scan drive circuit and causing uneven load line load. method.

To achieve the above object, a display substrate according to the present invention includes a plurality of transistors, a plurality of scan lines, at least one scan driving circuit, and at least one backup line. The plurality of transistors are located in a display area. The plurality of scan lines are electrically connected to the transistors. The scan driving circuit is located outside the display area and has a plurality of driving elements electrically connected to the transistors via the scan lines. The backup line is located outside the display area and corresponding to at least one scan line, and in the direction of the vertical display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least two overlapping portions.

In one embodiment, when the number of scan driving circuits is two, the scan driving circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display area outside the display substrate.

In one embodiment, the backup line overlaps the scan line by an insulating layer.

In an embodiment, the top view shape of the backup line includes a U shape, a ㄇ shape, a polygon, an arc, a curve, or a circle.

In an embodiment, the backup lines are each a metal layer or a transparent conductive layer.

To achieve the above object, a display device according to the present invention includes a display substrate and a pair of substrates. The display substrate includes a plurality of transistors, a plurality of scan lines, at least one scan driving circuit, and at least one backup line. The plurality of transistors are located in a display area. The plurality of scan lines are electrically connected to the transistors. The scan driving circuit is located outside the display area and has a plurality of driving elements electrically connected to the transistors via the scan lines. The backup line is located outside the display area and corresponding to at least one scan line, and in the direction of the vertical display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least two overlapping portions. The opposite substrate is provided opposite to the display substrate.

In one embodiment, when the number of scan driving circuits is two, the scan driving circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display area outside the display substrate.

In one embodiment, the backup line overlaps the scan line by an insulating layer.

In an embodiment, the top view shape of the backup lines includes a U shape, a ㄇ shape, a polygon shape, an arc shape, a curve shape, or a circle shape.

In an embodiment, the backup line is a metal layer or a transparent conductive layer.

In one embodiment, the driving elements are electrically connected to one of the gates of the transistors.

In order to achieve the above object, a scan line fault repair method according to the present invention is for repairing a scan line driving defect of a display device. The display device has a display substrate, and the display substrate includes a plurality of transistors, a plurality of scan lines, and a scan. a driving circuit and at least one backup circuit, wherein the transistors are located in a display area, the scan lines are electrically connected to the transistors, and the scan driving circuit is located outside the display area, and has a plurality of driving elements via the scan lines The transistors are electrically connected, the backup line is located outside the display area, and corresponding to the scan line having the driving defect, and in the direction of the vertical display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least two overlapping portions, and the scan line is repaired. The method includes: finding a scan line of a defect and a corresponding backup line thereof; and cutting the scan line between the backup line and the overlapping portion of the scan line in a direction of the vertical display area.

In an embodiment, the scan line fault repair method further includes: confirming whether the scan line has been repaired.

In an embodiment, the scan line fault repair method further includes: if the scan lines have not been repaired, electrically connecting the backup lines of the overlapping portions to the scan lines.

In an embodiment, the scan line fault repair method further includes: when the number of scan drive circuits is two, the scan drive circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display area outside the display substrate.

In one embodiment, when the scan line driving defect of the display device is removed after the scan line is cut, the display substrate can be driven by another scan driving circuit on the side opposite to the scan line.

In an embodiment, the scan line fault repair method further includes cutting another scan line on a side opposite to the scan line.

As described above, the display substrate, the display device, and the scan line fault repair method of the present invention are disposed by at least one scan line corresponding to at least one scan line, and in the direction of the vertical display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least Two overlapping parts. Therefore, when the display device has a defect of the scanning line driving circuit, the scanning line driving defect can be repaired by cutting off the scanning line segment between the backup line and the overlapping portions of the scanning line. In addition, if the fault is not repaired after the backup line and the overlapping portion of the scan line are cut, the backup line of the overlapping portion can be electrically connected to the scan line, and the scan line can be cut off and scanned. Another scan line on the opposite side. Therefore, the present invention can repair the driving defect of the scanning line without compressing the use area of the scan driving circuit and causing uneven scanning line load.

Hereinafter, a display substrate, a display device, and a scan line fault repairing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein like elements will be described with the same reference numerals.

Please refer to FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B , which are schematic diagrams of a display device 2 according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. In order to clearly illustrate the display device 2, the opposite substrate 4 is not shown in FIG. 2B.

The display device 2 includes a display substrate 3 and a pair of substrates 4, and the display substrate 3 is opposed to the opposite substrate 4. The display device 2 is a flat display device, and may be, for example, a liquid crystal display device or an organic light emitting display device, which is not limited herein. Further, the display substrate 3 can display an image screen.

The display substrate 3 includes a plurality of transistors (not shown), a plurality of scan lines SL ₁ to SL _M (only FIG. 2B shows SL ₁ , SL ₂ , SL _i , SL _{M-1 ,} and SL _M ), at least one scan driving circuit, and At least one backup line 32 (not shown in Figure 2B). Here, the two scan driving circuits 31a and 31b are taken as an example. The scan driving circuits 31a, 31b are respectively located on opposite sides of the display substrate 3. The scan driving circuits 31a and 31b are formed on the display substrate 3 by a thin film transistor process, which is also called a GOP (Gate on Plane) circuit. Thus, the cost of the driving IC can be saved, and the cost of the display device 2 can be reduced.

In addition, the transistors are located in one of the display areas DA of the display substrate 3 (not shown) and may be arranged in an array. The transistors may be thin film transistors, and the scan lines SL ₁ -SL _M may be electrically connected to the transistors, respectively. Here, the scan lines SL ₁ to SL _M are electrically connected to the gates of the transistors, respectively, and receive the scan signals output from the scan drive circuits 31a and 31b to sequentially turn on the transistors. In addition, the display area DA refers to an area where the display substrate 3 can display an image screen, and the light system can pass through the display area DA to reach a person viewing the picture.

The scan driving circuits 31a, 31b are located outside the display area DA, so that the penetration of light is not blocked. The scan driving circuits 31a and 31b each have a plurality of driving elements 311, and are electrically connected to the transistors located in the display area DA via the scanning lines SL ₁ to SL _M , respectively. In the present embodiment, the two scan driving circuits 31a, 31b are respectively located on opposite sides of the display area DA of the display substrate 3, and the display device 2 is a bilaterally driveable display device.

In addition, as shown in FIG. 2B, the display device 2 further includes a timing control circuit 21 and a data driving circuit 22. The data driving circuit 22 is electrically connected to the pixel electrodes (not shown) of the pixels of the display substrate 3 by the plurality of data lines DL.

In addition, the timing control circuit 21 is electrically connected to the data driving circuit 22. Furthermore, the timing control circuit 21 is also electrically connected to the scan drive circuits 31a and 31b on the opposite sides. The timing control circuit 21 can transmit the vertical clock signal and the vertical synchronization signal to the scan driving circuits 31a and 31b, and convert the video signal received from the external interface into the data signal used by the data driving circuit 22, and transmit the data signal. The horizontal clock signal and the horizontal synchronization signal are sent to the data driving circuit 22. In addition, the scan driving circuits 31a and 31b sequentially turn on the scan lines SL ₁ to SL _M according to the vertical clock signal and the vertical sync signal. When the scan lines SL ₁ to SL _{M are} turned on, the data driving circuit 22 transmits the voltage signals to the pixel electrodes of the respective pixels by the data lines DL corresponding to the data signals of each column of pixels.

In addition, please refer to FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C at the same time, wherein FIG. 2C is an enlarged schematic plan view of the circular area E in FIG. 2B.

The backup line 32 is located outside the display area DA, and the backup line 32 is corresponding to at least one scan line setting. In this embodiment, outside the display area DA, each of the scan lines SL ₁ -SL _M on the opposite sides respectively has a backup line 32, and each backup line 32 is disposed on each of the scan lines SL ₁ -SL _M The upper part is separated by an insulating layer I, that is, the backup line 32 is first insulated from the scanning lines SL ₁ to SL _M . The backup line 32 and the corresponding scan line have at least two overlapping portions P1 and P2 in the projection direction of the display area DA. In other words, in the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 2C, in the direction of the vertical display area DA (the direction of the vertical display area DA is the direction of the axial direction Z, that is, the top view direction of the display area DA), the backups The line 32 and its corresponding scanning lines SL ₁ to SL _M have two overlapping portions P1 and P2, respectively. In addition, in the projection direction of the display area DA, the shape of the backup line 32 in a plan view may include, for example, a U shape, a meander shape, a polygonal shape, an arc shape, a curved line, or a circular shape. Here, the U shape is taken as an example.

3A and 3B, which are schematic cross-sectional views of the straight line A-A and the straight line B-B of FIG. 2C, respectively.

As shown in FIG. 3A and FIG. 3B, the backup line 32 electrically isolates the backup line 32 from the scan lines SL ₁ -SL _M by the insulating layer I, and in the direction of the vertical display area DA (ie, the axial direction Z). Direction), the backup line 32 and the scan lines SL ₁ to SL _M have at least two overlapping portions. The backup line 32 can be a metal layer or a transparent conductive layer, respectively. Wherein, the metal layer may be a metal layer (ie, a second metal layer) used for manufacturing a drain or a source of the thin film transistor, and the transparent conductive layer may be a material for forming a transparent electrode, for example, indium tin oxide (indium- Tin oxide, ITO), indium-zinc oxide (IZO), aluminum-zinc oxide (AZO), gallium zinc oxide (GZO) or zinc oxide (ZnO), Here, there is no limitation. In addition, since the backup line 32 uses the space between the scanning drive circuits 31a and 31b of the original display substrate 3 and the display area DA in the direction perpendicular to the display area DA (ie, the direction of the axial direction Z), it is not compressed. Since the area of the original scanning drive circuits 31a and 31b is used and the mask can be shared with the thin film transistor process of the display substrate 3, the manufacturing cost of the display device 2 does not increase.

Please refer to FIG. 4 , FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B , wherein FIG. 4 is a schematic top view of another backup line 32 a and corresponding scan lines SL _i-1 ～ SL _i+1 , and FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B . They are schematic cross-sectional views of the straight line CC and the straight line DD of FIG. 4, respectively.

The backup line 32a is mainly different from the backup line 32 of FIG. 2C in that the top view shape of the backup line 32a in the direction of the vertical display area DA (ie, the direction of the axial direction Z) is a hollow quadrilateral. In addition, the backup line 32a electrically isolates the backup line 32a from the scan lines SL _i-1 ～ SL _i+1 by the insulating layer Ia, and the backup line 32a is in the direction of the vertical display area DA (ie, the direction of the axis Z). ) will overlap with the scan lines SL _i-1 to SL _i+1 .

Please refer to FIG. 2B to FIG. 3B and FIG. 6A , wherein FIG. 6A is a schematic flowchart of a method for repairing a scan line fault according to the present invention.

The scan line fault repair method of the present invention is for repairing a scan line driving defect of the display device 2, and the scan line driving defect may be, for example, a defect such as a bright line or a side line of the scan line. Here, it is assumed that the display device 2 has a driving defect of the scanning line SL _i . The display device 2 has been described in detail above, and details are not described herein again.

The scan line fault repairing method includes steps S01 to S02.

Step S01 is to find the defective scan line SL _i and its corresponding backup line 32 as shown in FIG. 2B and FIG. 2C. Here, the scan line SL _i and the backup line 32 located in the left side of the display area DA and corresponding to the scan line SL _{i are taken} as an example.

Step S02 is as shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 3B, in the direction of the vertical display area DA of the display area DA (ie, the direction of the axial direction Z), and at the overlapping portions of the backup line 32 and the scan line SL _i Between P1 and P2, the scanning line SL _{i is} cut. Here, the overlapping portion P1 and P2 of the backup line 32 of the step S01 and the overlapping portion P1 and P2 of the scanning line SL _i are regarded as the area targeted by the cutting device, and the region F of FIG. 3B is taken by the energy of the laser, for example (FIG. 3B). The size of the region F is only an example. The insulating layer I and the scanning line SL _{i are} cut so that the driving element 311 of the scan driving circuit 31a is disconnected from the transistor located in the display area DA without being connected.

In addition, referring to FIG. 6B, the scan line fault repairing method may further include steps S03 to S05.

Step S03 is to confirm whether the scan line SL _i has been repaired. Here, after the previous step S02, if the scan line SL _i that drives the fault has been repaired (ie, the defect such as the bright line or the side line of the scan line has disappeared), it indicates that there is foreign matter pollution in the process or a defect in the process is The drive element 311 of the scan drive circuit 31a on the left side. Therefore, as shown in FIG. 6C, the timing control circuit 21 can drive the display substrate 3 by the scan driving circuit 31b located on the right side of the display area DA, and the scan line SL _i failure repairing work of the display device 2 is completed.

Step S04 is as follows: As shown in FIG. 2C and FIG. 3A, if the scan line SL _i has not been repaired, the backup lines 32 of the overlapping portions P1 and P2 are electrically connected to the scan line SL _i . When this, in step S02 after the cutting scan line SL _i, the drive fault display apparatus 2 of the scanning line SL _i persists, the failure was confirmed that indicates the scanning line SL _i is driven by the scanning of the other side Caused by the drive element 311 of the circuit 31b. Therefore, the operation of step S02 is restored first, that is, the portion where the scanning line SL _i is cut is reconnected. Here, as shown in FIG. 3A, the insulating layer I can be broken down (for example, laser thermal fusion) at the overlapping region G of the overlapping portions P1, P2, so that the backup lines 32 of the overlapping portions P1, P2 are welded to the scan line SL _i, and thus make the backup line 32 and the scan line SL _i is electrically connected to the scan line SL _i is cut again connecting portion.

Step S05 is based: cutting the scan line SL _i relative to the other side of the scanning line SL _i. Here, as shown in FIG. 6D, since it has been confirmed in step S03, the driving failure of the scanning line SL _i is caused by the scanning driving circuit 31b on the other side, and the scanning line SL _i on the left side is cut off in step S02. The portions of the display line DA _{i are} cut off, and the timing control circuit 21 can drive the display substrate 3 by the scan driving circuit 31a located on the left side of the display area DA, thus completing The scanning line SL _{i of the} display device 2 drives the repair work of the defect.

Thus, by the scanning lines of the above-described failure recovery method of the present invention includes a scanning line driving repairable defect SL _i, and the same scan line SL _i repaired line with other lines of the scanning lines, and therefore will not cause the scan driver When the circuit 31a or the scan driving circuit 31b drives the transistors, the load is uneven.

In summary, the display substrate, the display device, and the scan line fault repair method of the present invention are disposed by at least one scan line corresponding to at least one scan line, and in the direction of the vertical display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least two Overlapping sections. Therefore, when the display device has a defect of the scanning line driving circuit, the scanning line driving defect can be repaired by cutting off the scanning line segment between the backup line and the overlapping portions of the scanning line. In addition, if the fault is not repaired after the backup line and the overlapping portion of the scan line are cut, the backup line of the overlapping portion can be electrically connected to the scan line, and the scan line can be cut off and scanned. Another scan line on the opposite side. Therefore, the present invention can repair the driving defect of the scanning line without compressing the use area of the scan driving circuit and causing uneven scanning line load.

The above is intended to be illustrative only and not limiting. Any equivalent modifications or alterations to the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be included in the scope of the appended claims.

1, 2. . . Display device

twenty one. . . Timing control circuit

twenty two. . . Data drive circuit

3. . . Display substrate

31a, 31b. . . Scan drive circuit

311, SR, SR _i-1 , SR _i , SR _i+1 . . . Drive component

32, 32a. . . Backup line

4. . . Counter substrate

A-A, B-B, C-C, D-D. . . straight line

DA. . . Display area

DL. . . Data line

E, F, G. . . region

GOP. . . Gate on panel

I, Ia. . . Insulation

P1, P2. . . Overlap

S01～S05. . . step

SL1～SLM, SLi-1, SLi, SLi+1. . . Scanning line

X, Y, Z. . . Axial

1A is a schematic diagram of a scan line driving failure of a display device;

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram of a conventional repair of a scan line driving fault; FIG.

2A and 2B are respectively schematic views of a display device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

2C is a schematic enlarged plan view of a region E in FIG. 2B;

3A and 3B are schematic cross-sectional views of the line A-A and the line B-B of FIG. 2C, respectively;

4 is a top plan view of another aspect of the backup line and the corresponding scan line;

5A and 5B are respectively schematic cross-sectional views of the straight line C-C and the straight line D-D of FIG. 4;

6A and FIG. 6B are respectively schematic flowcharts of a method for repairing a scan line fault according to the present invention;

6C and 6D are respectively schematic views of a display device to which the scan line fault repairing method of the present invention is applied.

31a. . . Scan drive circuit

32. . . Backup line

A-A, B-B. . . straight line

DA. . . Display area

E. . . region

P1, P2. . . Overlap

SL _i-1 , SL _i , SL _i+1 . . . Scanning line

Claims (17)

A display substrate includes: a plurality of transistors located in a display area; a plurality of scan lines electrically connected to the transistors; at least one scan driving circuit located outside the display area and having a plurality of driving elements via the scans The line is electrically connected to the transistors; and at least one backup line is located outside the display area and corresponding to at least one of the scan lines, and in the direction perpendicular to the display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least Two overlapping parts. The display substrate of claim 1, wherein when the number of the scan driving circuits is two, the scan driving circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display substrate outside the display area. The display substrate of claim 1, wherein the backup line overlaps the scan line by an insulating layer. The display substrate of claim 1, wherein the backup circuit has a U-shaped shape, a meander shape, a polygonal shape, an arc shape, a curved line or a circular shape. The display substrate of claim 1, wherein the backup circuit is a metal layer or a transparent conductive layer. A display device comprising: a display substrate comprising: a plurality of transistors located in a display area; a plurality of scan lines electrically connected to the transistors; at least one scan driving circuit located outside the display area and having a plurality The driving component is electrically connected to the transistors via the scan lines; and at least one backup circuit is located outside the display area and corresponding to at least one of the scan lines, and in the direction perpendicular to the display area, the backup The line and the scan line have at least two overlapping portions; and a pair of substrates facing the display substrate. The display device of claim 6, wherein when the number of the scan driving circuits is two, the scan driving circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display substrate outside the display area. The display device of claim 6, wherein the backup line overlaps the scan line by an insulating layer. The display device of claim 6, wherein the backup circuit has a U-shaped shape, a meander shape, a polygonal shape, an arc shape, a curved line or a circular shape. The display device of claim 6, wherein the backup circuit is a metal layer or a transparent conductive layer. The display device of claim 6, wherein the driving elements are electrically connected to one of the gates of the transistors. A scan line fault repair method for repairing a scan line driving defect of a display device, the display device having a display substrate, the display substrate comprising a plurality of transistors, a plurality of scan lines, a scan driving circuit and at least one backup line The transistors are located in a display area, and the scan lines are electrically connected to the transistors, and the scan driving circuit is located outside the display area, and has a plurality of driving elements electrically connected to the transistors via the scan lines a backup connection, the backup line is located outside the display area, and corresponding to the scan line having a driving defect, and in a direction perpendicular to the display area, the backup line and the scan line have at least two overlapping portions, the scan line The fault repairing method includes: finding a scan line of the defect and a corresponding backup line thereof; and cutting the scan between the backup line and the overlapping portion of the scan line in a direction perpendicular to the display area line. The method for repairing a scan line fault as described in claim 12, further comprising: confirming whether the scan line has been repaired. The scanning line fault repairing method of claim 13, further comprising: if the scanning line has not been repaired, electrically connecting the backup line of the overlapping portions to the scanning line. The scanning line fault repairing method of claim 12, wherein when the number of the scanning driving circuits is two, the scanning driving circuits are respectively located on opposite sides of the display substrate outside the display area. The scanning line fault repairing method of claim 15, wherein the display substrate is detachable from the scanning line when the scanning line driving defect of the display device is removed after the scanning line is cut off Another scan drive circuit drives the transistors. The scanning line fault repairing method of claim 16, further comprising: cutting off another scanning line on a side opposite to the scanning line.