TWI412862B - Electronic paper device - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic paper device is provided. The electronic paper device includes a conductively layer, a plurality of pix electrodes, an electrophoresis layer, a common electrode layer, a voltage detection unit, and a processing unit. Each pix electrode corresponds to a coordinate of a coordinate system. The electrophoresis layer is electrically connected between the plurality of pix electrodes and the common electrode layer. The conductively layer and the common electrode layer have a voltage which capable of driving the electrophoresis layer to change the display state. When the user touches the electronic paper device and causes the conductively layer connected to a pix electrode corresponding to the touch position, then the pix electrode and the common electrode layer have the voltage existed between the conductively layer and the common electrode layer, therefore, the position of the electrophoresis layer corresponding to the touch position is drive to change the display state.

Description

Electronic paper device

The present invention relates to an electronic paper device, and more particularly to an electrophoresis type electronic paper device.

Electronic paper has gradually become a widely used display device because of its close proximity to ordinary paper, that is, high contrast, wide viewing angle, low power consumption and high comfort of reading.

In the prior art, there has been an electronic paper device that implements pen writing or handwriting input. However, most of the current handwriting input electronic paper devices can only realize the function of the drawing board, that is, when the electronic paper device is touched by a stylus or a finger, the area touched by the pen or the finger instantly displays the touch track, but the user cannot touch the touch track. Location and touch track. However, when it is necessary to acquire the user's touch position to control the electronic paper display, the electronic paper device which can only realize the handwriting input obviously cannot satisfy the requirement.

At present, some electronic paper devices control the display of electronic paper through a processing unit by superimposing a touch panel on the surface of the electronic paper, and sensing the user's touch through the touch panel. However, the refresh speed of the electronic paper is slow, if the software is passed through the software. When the user touch is detected, and the change of the corresponding position display of the electronic paper is controlled according to the touch position, the response time is obviously longer.

In addition, current handwritten electronic paper devices cannot be used as ordinary displays.

In view of the above, it is necessary to provide an electronic paper device that supports both handwriting input and touch position recognition or can be used as a general display to solve the above problems.

In view of this, the present invention provides an electronic paper device that supports handwriting input as well as touch position recognition or as a general display.

An electronic paper device includes a common electrode layer, an electrophoretic layer, a plurality of primitive electrodes, a conductive layer, a voltage detecting unit, and a processing unit. The plurality of primitive electrodes are arranged in a matrix and are mapped one to one with coordinates of a coordinate system. The voltage detecting unit is respectively connected to the plurality of primitive electrodes for detecting voltages of the plurality of primitive electrodes. The common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, and the conductive layer are sequentially arranged, and the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material and is located on a side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device; the electrophoretic layer and the common electrode layer and the plurality of primitives The electrode is electrically connected, and the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer. When the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position are Pressing, so that the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position is in contact with the conductive layer, so that the primitive electrode has a voltage of the conductive layer, so that there is a potential difference between the primitive electrode and the common electrode layer, so that the electrophoretic layer corresponds to the touched position. Displaying a certain color, and the voltage detecting unit detects the voltage of the primitive electrode to generate a touch signal to the processing unit. After receiving the touch signal, the processing unit determines the detected voltage-bearing map according to the mapping relationship. The coordinates corresponding to the element electrode determine the touch position.

An electronic paper device comprising a common electrode layer, an electrophoretic layer, a plurality of primitive electrodes, a conductive layer, a TFT matrix circuit, a drive control circuit, and a processing unit. The TFT matrix electricity The circuit includes a plurality of thin film transistors, each of which is connected to a picture element electrode. The common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, and the conductive layer are sequentially arranged, and the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material and is located on a side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device; the electrophoretic layer and the common electrode layer and the plurality of primitives The electrode is electrically connected, and the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer. When the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position are Pressing, so that the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position is in contact with the conductive layer, so that the primitive electrode has a voltage of the conductive layer, so that there is a potential difference between the primitive electrode and the common electrode layer, so that the electrophoretic layer corresponds to the touched position. Display a certain color. The processing unit is configured to generate a display signal according to a user operation, the driving control circuit is configured to receive the display signal, and control, according to the display signal, a corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit, and a corresponding figure of the conductive thin film transistor The element electrode applies a driving voltage to drive a region corresponding to the electrophoretic layer to display a certain color, and the electrophoretic layer displays a picture corresponding to the display signal.

The electronic paper device of the present invention has both handwriting, touch position recognition, and display functions.

1‧‧‧electronic paper device

10‧‧‧Common electrode layer

20‧‧‧electrophoretic layer

30‧‧‧ element electrode

40‧‧‧ Conductive layer

34‧‧‧Isolation

341‧‧‧Insulated Grid

201‧‧‧Microcavity

202‧‧‧suspension

203‧‧‧Black charged particles

50‧‧‧Protective layer

60‧‧‧Substrate

70‧‧‧Voltage detection unit

80‧‧‧Processing unit

90‧‧‧TFT matrix circuit

100‧‧‧Drive Control Circuit

110‧‧‧Power Management Unit

120‧‧‧Power supply

K‧‧‧Double-pole double-throw switch

1 is a detailed structural view of an electronic paper device of the present invention.

2 is a schematic structural view of an e-paper apparatus performing an eraser erasing function according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an eraser-type erase function portion of an electronic paper device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1 , which is a detailed structural diagram of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to the present invention. The electronic paper device 1 supporting handwriting and touch position recognition includes a common electrode layer 10, an electrophoretic layer 20, a plurality of primitive electrodes 30, and a conductive layer 40. The common electrode layer 10 is adjacent to the viewing surface side of the electronic paper device 1. The plurality of primitive electrodes 30 are distributed on a plane parallel to the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, and the conductive layer 40. The conductive layer 40 An isolation layer 34 is further included between the plurality of pixel electrodes 30, and the isolation layer 34 includes a plurality of insulating grids 341 for the conductive layer 40 and the plurality of electronic paper devices 1 when the user does not touch the electronic paper device 1. The primitive electrode 30 is separated. The electrophoretic layer 20 is located between the common electrode layer 10 and the plurality of primitive electrodes 30 and is electrically connected to the common electrode layer 10 and the plurality of primitive electrodes 30, respectively. In the present embodiment, the common electrode layer 10 is made of a transparent conductive material such as ITO (Indium Tin Oxide).

There is a potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer 20. When the user touches the electronic paper device 1, the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position are pressed, thereby pressing the isolation layer 34 so that the pixel electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is When the conductive layer 40 is in contact, the primitive electrode 30 obtains the same voltage as the conductive layer 40, so that a potential difference is formed between the primitive electrode 30 and the common electrode layer 10, and the area of the electrophoretic layer 20 corresponding to the touch position is driven to be displayed. The color, that is, the user sees from the viewing surface, the electronic paper device 1 displays a certain color in the area corresponding to the touched position.

In the present embodiment, the electrophoretic layer 20 includes a plurality of microcavities 201, wherein at least one microcavity corresponds to one primitive electrode 30, and each microcavity 201 includes a suspension 202 and at least one charged particle, when the primitive electrode 30 is When the common electrode layer 10 generates a potential difference, the The charged particles in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the primitive electrode 30 move, thereby causing the electrophoretic layer 20 to display a certain color corresponding to the region of the primitive electrode 30. For a specific display process of the electrophoretic layer 20, reference may be made to the patent application file of the Patent No. 03820879.2 published by the Chinese Patent Office on June 25, 2008. The microcavity 201 can be a micro-capsule or a micro-cup.

In the present invention, the charged particles in the microcavity 201 include a charged particle 203 of a specific color (for example, black) (hereinafter referred to as black charged particle 203), and the black charged particle 203 is moved to the side close to the common electrode layer 10. The electrophoretic layer 20 displays the color of the black charged particles 203 corresponding to the region of the primitive electrode 30. When the black charged particles 203 move to the side close to the primitive electrode 30, the region is different from the black charged particles 203. s color. The microcavity 201 can also include other color particles (not labeled) that are different from the black charged particles 203.

The electronic paper device 1 further includes a protective layer 50 over the common electrode layer 10 and a substrate 60. The protective layer is made of an insulating transparent material for preventing the electronic paper device from being scratched and preventing the user from directly contacting the common electrode. Layer 10. The substrate 60 is located below the conductive layer 40 for carrying the common electrode layer 10, the electrophoretic layer 20, the plurality of primitive electrodes 30, the conductive layer 40, and the protective layer 50.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic paper device 1 further includes a voltage detecting unit 70 and a processing unit 80 . In this embodiment, the plurality of primitive electrodes 30 are arranged in a matrix, and each of the primitive electrodes is mapped to a coordinate in a coordinate system, and the coordinate system may be a Cartesian coordinate system, a polar coordinate system, or the like. The voltage detecting unit 70 is connected to the plurality of primitive electrodes 30 for detecting the voltage of the primitive electrode 30. As described above, when the user touches the electronic paper device 1, the pixel electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is pressed and electrically conductive. The layer 40 is in contact such that the pixel electrode 30 carries a voltage, so that the voltage detecting unit 70 detects the voltage and generates a touch signal. After receiving the touch signal, the processing unit 80 determines the coordinates of the charged primitive electrode 30 detected by the voltage detecting unit 70 according to the mapping relationship, thereby determining the position of the touched point, and implementing the touch position detecting function.

Referring to FIG. 1 , the electronic paper device 1 further includes a TFT (Thin-Film Transistor) matrix circuit 90 and a drive control circuit 100 . The TFT matrix circuit 90 includes a plurality of thin film transistors (not shown), each of which is connected to a picture element electrode 30, and the drive control circuit 100 is connected to the TFT matrix circuit 90 and the processing unit 80. The processing unit 80 is configured to generate a display signal in response to the user's operation. For example, when the user performs an operation of opening a picture, the processing unit 80 generates a display signal including the picture material. The driving control circuit 100 is configured to receive the display signal generated by the processing unit 80, and control the corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit 90 according to the display signal, and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the conductive thin film transistor. A driving voltage is applied to drive a corresponding region of the electrophoretic layer 20 to display a certain color.

Obviously, when the electronic paper device 1 performs display, since the driving control circuit 100 applies a driving voltage to the primitive electrode 30, so that the primitive electrode 30 carries a voltage, the voltage detecting unit 70 is inevitably caused to be misjudged. In the embodiment, when the electronic paper device 1 performs display screen switching, the voltage detecting unit 70 is prohibited from detecting the voltage of the primitive electrode 30. Specifically, the processing unit 80 disables the voltage detecting unit 70 while the display unit is controlling the electronic paper device 1 to display. Obviously, due to the steady-state display characteristic of the electronic paper device, it is not necessary to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode 30 when the electronic paper device 1 displays one screen, and therefore, it is only required when the display screen is switched. The voltage detecting unit 70 is to be disabled.

In the present embodiment, the screen for handwriting input by the user and the overall screen clear of the display can be sent to the drive control circuit 100 by the processing unit 80 to control the entire screen of the electronic paper device to display a blank, for example, white. For example, it is assumed that the black charged particles 203 in the electrophoretic layer 20 are negatively charged. When displaying, for a region where black is to be displayed, the voltage applied to the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the region by the drive control circuit 100 is a positive voltage, so that black is made. The charged particles 203 move toward the side close to the common electrode layer 10, and the corresponding region of the electrophoretic layer 20 shows black. When the overall cleaning is performed, the processing unit 80 sends the clear display signal to control the driving control circuit 100 to apply a negative voltage to all of the primitive electrodes 30, thereby controlling the black charged particles 203 to move closer to the primitive electrode 30, so that the electrophoretic layer 20 displays black. The color of the area is replaced by another color (for example, white), and the entire screen is blank.

The eraser-type clearing can be controlled by the processing unit 80 to control the driving control circuit 100 to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position so that the area displays blank, that is, the eraser-type clearing is implemented. The user can select to perform overall clearing or eraser-type clearing of the screen by means of function table selection or button pressing, and whether the electronic paper device 1 is to write a screen or clear the screen.

In the present embodiment, the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the positive and negative electrodes of a power source, so that the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 have a potential difference.

Please refer to FIG. 2 , which is a schematic structural diagram of an Eraser-type erasing function portion of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic paper device 1 further includes a power management unit 110 and a power source 120. In the formula, the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the power management unit 110, and the power management unit 110 is controlled by the processing unit 80 to distribute the voltage provided by the power source 120 to the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40, so that The potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 is positive or negative, correspondingly causing the electronic paper device 1 to be in a write mode or an eraser-like clear mode. For example, if the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 are negatively charged, the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 is positive by the voltage distributed by the power management unit 110 during writing. The electronic paper device 1 is touched so that the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the primitive electrode 30 corresponding to the touch position is also positive, so that the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the primitive electrode 30 are directed to the common electrode layer 10. The one side of the electronic paper device 1 displays black in the area corresponding to the touched position, thereby displaying the touch trajectory touched by the user by the touch pen or the hand, thereby realizing the handwriting function. At the time of erasing, the processing unit 80 controls the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 that the power management unit 110 assigns to be negative, and the user touches the electronic paper device 1 such that the common electrode layer 10 corresponds to the touched position. When the pixel electrode 30 is in contact, the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the primitive electrode 30 is also negative, so that the black charged particles 203 in the microcavity 201 corresponding to the touch position move toward the side close to the primitive electrode 30. The screen displayed by the area touched by the user is cleared, so that the eraser type can be cleared.

In the present embodiment, the user can also select the write screen or erase the screen by the function table selection or key press.

Please refer to FIG. 3 , which is a structural diagram of an eraser-type erasing function portion of an electronic paper device supporting handwriting and touch position recognition according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the electronic paper device 1 further includes a double-pole double-throw switch K, a common electrode The layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 are respectively connected to the positive and negative electrodes of the power source 120 through the double-pole double-throw switch K. The external performance of the double-pole double-throw switch K can be a button switch or a slide switch, and the user can switch the connection relationship between the common electrode layer 10, the conductive layer 40 and the positive and negative electrodes of the power source 120 through the double-pole double-throw switch K. Thereby, the positive and negative of the potential difference between the common electrode layer 10 and the conductive layer 40 is switched, thereby realizing the switching between the writing and the eraser-type cleaning of the electronic paper device.

The electronic paper device of the present invention can support handwriting, touch position recognition, and general electronic paper display functions.

1‧‧‧electronic paper device

10‧‧‧Common electrode layer

20‧‧‧electrophoretic layer

30‧‧‧ element electrode

40‧‧‧ Conductive layer

34‧‧‧Isolation

341‧‧‧Insulated Grid

201‧‧‧Microcavity

202‧‧‧suspension

203‧‧‧Black charged particles

50‧‧‧Protective layer

60‧‧‧Substrate

70‧‧‧Voltage detection unit

80‧‧‧Processing unit

90‧‧‧TFT matrix circuit

100‧‧‧Drive Control Circuit

Claims (13)

An electronic paper device is improved in that the electronic paper device comprises: a common electrode layer; an electrophoretic layer; a plurality of primitive electrodes arranged in a matrix and mapped one to one coordinate of a coordinate system; a conductive layer; a voltage detecting unit Connected to the plurality of primitive electrodes for detecting voltages of the plurality of primitive electrodes; and a processing unit; wherein the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material and is located on a side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device, the common The electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, and the conductive layer are sequentially arranged from a viewing surface side of the electronic device to a side away from a viewing surface side of the electronic device; the electrophoretic layer and the common electrode layer and the plurality of primitive electrodes are electrically Connecting, the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer, and when the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position are pressed So that the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position is in contact with the conductive layer, so that the primitive electrode has a voltage of the conductive layer, so that the primitive And having a potential difference between the common electrode layer and the common electrode layer, so that the area of the electrophoretic layer corresponding to the touch position displays a certain color, and the voltage detecting unit detects the voltage of the element electrode to generate a touch signal to the processing unit, and the processing unit receives After the touch signal, determining, according to the mapping relationship, the detected pixel electrode having a voltage corresponding to the pixel The coordinates determine the touch location. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises an isolation layer between the conductive layer and the plurality of primitive electrodes, the isolation layer comprising a plurality of transparent grids, the user not touching the In the case of an electronic paper device, the plurality of transparent grids separate the conductive layer from the plurality of primitive electrodes. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a TFT matrix circuit and a driving control circuit, the TFT matrix circuit comprising a plurality of thin film transistors, each of the thin film transistors respectively The pixel electrode is connected to the TFT matrix circuit and the processing unit for receiving the display signal of the processing unit to control the corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit, and corresponding to the conductive thin film transistor A driving voltage is applied to the element electrode, and the electrophoretic layer is driven to display a certain color corresponding to the area of the element electrode, and the electronic paper device displays a picture corresponding to the display signal. The electronic paper device of claim 3, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a clear display signal to the drive control circuit, thereby controlling the drive control circuit to clear the image displayed by the entire electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 3, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine a user touch position, and then control the drive control circuit to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position, thereby clearing the corresponding position of the touch position. The screen displayed in the area of the electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a power source and a power management unit, the conductive layer and the common electrode layer are connected to the power management unit, and the power management unit is in the processing unit Under the control of the distribution of the power supply to the conductive layer and the voltage of the common electrode layer, by making the conductive layer as well The potential difference between the common electrode layers is positive or negative. The electronic paper device of claim 1, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a double-pole double-throw switch and a power source, and the conductive layer and the common electrode layer pass through the double-pole double-throw switch and the positive and negative electrodes of the power supply. Connection, through the switching of the double-pole double-throw switch, the connection relationship between the conductive layer and the common electrode layer and the positive and negative electrodes of the power source changes. An electronic paper device is improved in that the electronic paper device comprises: a common electrode layer; an electrophoretic layer; a plurality of primitive electrodes arranged in a matrix and mapped one by one with a coordinate system; a conductive layer; a TFT matrix circuit, a plurality of thin film transistors, each of which is connected to a picture element electrode; a drive control circuit; and a processing unit; wherein the common electrode layer is made of a transparent conductive material and is located on a side of the viewing surface of the electronic paper device, The common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, the plurality of primitive electrodes, and the conductive layer are sequentially arranged from a viewing surface side of the electronic device to a side away from a viewing surface side of the electronic device; the electrophoretic layer and the common electrode layer and the plurality of primitives The electrode is electrically connected, and the common electrode layer and the conductive layer have a potential difference, and the potential difference is sufficient to drive the display of the electrophoretic layer. When the user touches the electronic paper device, the common electrode layer, the electrophoretic layer, and the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position are Pressing, so that the pixel electrode corresponding to the touch position is in contact with the conductive layer, so that the electrode of the primitive has a voltage of the conductive layer, The picture element electrode layer between the common electrode having the electric potential difference, so that the electrophoretic layer to be touched position The area displays a certain color; the processing unit is configured to generate a display signal according to a user operation, the driving control circuit is configured to receive the display signal, and control a corresponding thin film transistor in the TFT matrix circuit to be turned on according to the display signal, and electrically connect the conductive film A driving voltage is applied to the pixel electrode corresponding to the crystal, so that a region corresponding to the driving electrophoretic layer displays a certain color, and the electrophoretic layer displays a screen corresponding to the display signal. The electronic paper device of claim 8, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises an isolation layer between the conductive layer and the plurality of primitive electrodes, the isolation layer comprising a plurality of transparent grids, which are not touched by the user. In the electronic paper device, the plurality of transparent grids separate the conductive layer from the plurality of primitive electrodes. The electronic paper device of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is further configured to generate a clear display signal to the drive control circuit, thereby controlling the drive control circuit to clear the image displayed by the entire electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 8, wherein the processing unit is further configured to determine a user touch position, and then control the driving control circuit to apply a voltage to the primitive electrode corresponding to the touch position, thereby clearing the corresponding position of the touch position. The screen displayed in the area of the electrophoretic layer. The electronic paper device of claim 8, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a power source and a power management unit, the conductive layer and the common electrode layer are connected to the power management unit, and the power management unit is in the processing unit The voltage supplied to the conductive layer and the common electrode layer is distributed under control by making the potential difference between the conductive layer and the common electrode layer positive or negative. The electronic paper device of claim 8, wherein the electronic paper device further comprises a double-pole double-throw switch and a power source through which the conductive layer and the common electrode layer pass The double-pole double-throw switch is connected to the positive and negative poles of the power supply. Through the switching of the double-pole double-throw switch, the connection relationship between the conductive layer and the common electrode layer and the positive and negative poles of the power source changes.