Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an aging device and an aging method.
Flat display panels have become the mainstream products in current display panels due to the advantages such as light weight, portability, low power consumption and so on, and include such as organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display panels, liquid crystal display (LCD) panels and the like. For example, most of OLED display panels are active matrix (AM) type display panels, which use thin-film transistors (TFTs) and capacitors to drive OLEDs to emit light. An active matrix display panel needs to be aged in the manufacturing process to stabilize the TFT performance so as to allow the luminance of the OLED to be stable.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an aging device for a display panel, comprising: a bearing device, comprising a bearing surface that is configured to bear the display panel; a fixture, comprising a plurality of pins, which are configured to provide screen turning-on signals for the display panel; a first electrode and a second electrode, wherein the first electrode and the second electrode are in an opposite arrangement and configured to apply an electric field to the display panel.
In another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure further provide an aging method of a display panel, comprising: placing the display panel on the bearing device, and electrically connecting a connection point of the display panel with the plurality of pins of the fixture; forming an electric field between the first electrode and the second electrode to act on the display panel; and applying screen turning-on signals to the display panel through the plurality of pins, so as to turn on the display panel.
In order to clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the disclosure, the drawings of the embodiments will be briefly described in the following. It is obvious that the described drawings are only related to some embodiments of the disclosure and thus are not limitative of the disclosure.
In order to make objects, technical details and advantages of the embodiments of the disclosure apparent, the technical solutions of the embodiments will be described in a clearly and fully understandable way in connection with the drawings related to the embodiments of the disclosure. Apparently, the described embodiments are just a part but not all of the embodiments of the disclosure. Based on the described embodiments herein, those skilled in the art can obtain other embodiment(s), without any inventive work, which should be within the scope of the disclosure.
Unless otherwise defined, all the technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meanings as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which the present disclosure belongs. The terms “first,” “second,” etc., which are used in the description and the claims of the present application for disclosure, are not intended to indicate any sequence, amount or importance, but distinguish various components. Also, the terms such as “a,” “an,” etc., are not intended to limit the amount, but indicate the existence of at least one. The terms “comprise,” “comprising,” “include,” “including,” etc., are intended to specify that the elements or the objects stated before these terms encompass the elements or the objects and equivalents thereof listed after these terms, but do not preclude the other elements or objects. The phrases “connect”, “connected”, “coupled”, etc., are not intended to define a physical connection or mechanical connection, but may include an electrical connection, directly or indirectly. “On,” “under,” “right,” “left” and the like are only used to indicate relative position relationship, and when the position of the object which is described is changed, the relative position relationship may be changed accordingly.
When the manufacturing process of an active matrix display panel is completed, due to the influence of various factors such as process conditions, materials used, etc., movable stray electric charges exist inside the TFT device which acts as a driving component or a switch component, especially inside the active layer, and they can cause the electric leakage and tail-up phenomenon of the TFT, affecting the display quality of the display panel. Therefore, it is necessary to conduct the aging process to the display panel to adjust the stray electric charges inside the device, so as to alleviate the electric leakage and tail-up phenomenon of the TFT device.
An aging method of a display panel with TFT devices comprises applying a large gate bias to the TFT devices during the process of turning on the display panel, but this method is easy to burn the TFT devices, and also because of different voltage drops and manufacturing processes which are caused by different positions of the TFT devices, different materials used and the like, it is difficult to obtain a uniform aging effect all over the display panel, which still causes uneven luminescence of the display panel.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an aging device for a display panel and an aging method, and the aging device assists in achieving aging effect by providing an applied electric field for the display panel, which avoids the excessive bias burning TFT devices and allows the TFT devices at different positions to be uniformly aged, also easy to operate and to be implemented. The aging device and the aging method can be used for a flat display panel, a curved display panel and the like.
Referring to
In the figure, the direction from the first electrode 13 to the second electrode 14 is defined as a first direction DE and the opposite direction of the first direction D1 is defined as a second direction D2.
For example, the fixture 12 can comprise a plurality of pin plates 121, and the plurality of pins 120 are sequentially disposed on the pin plates 121.
For example, the fixture 12 can further comprise a lifting device 122, and the lifting device 122 is connected with the pin plate 121 and controls the movement of the pin plate 121 in the first direction and the second direction, such as a lifting movement.
For example, the first electrode 13, the pin plate 121, the bearing surface 110 and the second electrode 14 are sequentially disposed in the first direction, and are parallel to each other.
For example, the first electrode 13 is provided on a substrate 15. The substrate 15, for example, is a flat plate, and for example made of an insulating material, and the insulating material, for example, can be plastic, ceramic and so on.
For example, the second electrode 14 is on a surface of the bearing device 11, which surface is opposite to the bearing surface 110.
For example, as illustrated in
For example, the aging device 10 can further comprise a mechanical arm 16, and a pick-up device is provided on the mechanical arm 16 and is configured to pick up the flat display panel 20 that is to be aged and place the flat display panel 20 on the bearing surface 110, or remove the flat display panel 20 from the bearing surface 110. An example of the pick-up device comprises a vacuum pick-up device, such as a plurality of vacuum chucks 160.
For example, the aging device 10 can further comprise a support plate 17, the support plate 17 is on a side of the bearing device 11 away from the bearing surface 110 (such as the lower side in the figure), a plurality of support pillars 170 are provided on the support plate 17, a plurality of through holes 140 are in the bearing device 11 and the second electrode 14 at the positions corresponding to the plurality of support pillars 170, and the plurality of support pillars 170 can move along the plurality of through holes 140 in the first direction or the second direction, so as to allow the flat display panel 20 that is to be aged to be lift lower or higher when the flat display panel 20 is placed on the top of the support pillars 170, The top of the support pillars 170 can comprise a buffer section such as a rubber. The aging device 10 can further comprise a driving device (not shown), which is configured to control the movement of the support pillars 170, and the driving device, for example, can be a mechanical driving device, a pneumatic driving device or a hydraulic driving device; for example, the mechanical driving device can comprise a stepper motor, a screw and so on.
For example, the aging device 10 can further comprise a cavity 18, and the bearing device 11, the fixture 12, the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 are all disposed inside the cavity 18. The cavity 18 can be in various suitable shapes, comprising side walls, a top ceiling and the like to define an enclosed space, and side walls and the like can be made of a suitable material, such as plastic, glass, metal, etc. If necessary, a transparent window can be further provided for the operator to observe the circumstance inside the cavity 18.
For example, the aging device 10 can further comprise a control device 19, a signal source 191 and a power supply 192. The signal source 191 is in signal connection with the fixture 12, and the control device 19 is configured to control the signal source 191 to provide the screen turning-on signals for the flat display panel 20 that is to be aged through the fixture 12; the power supply 192 is electrically connected with the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 respectively, and the control device 19 is configured to apply a voltage across the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 through the power supply 192.
For example, the control device 19 can comprise a processor and a memory, and the processor, for example, is a central processing unit (CPU) or other form of the processing unit with the data processing capability and/or instruction execution capability. For example, the processor can be implemented as a general purpose processor, and also can be a microcontroller, a microprocessor, a digital signal processor, a dedicated graphics processing, chip, a field programmable logic array or the like. The memory, for example, can comprise a random access memory and/or a non-volatile memory, and for example, can comprise a read-only memory (ROM), a hard disk drive, a flash memory and the like. Accordingly, the memory can be implemented as one or more computer program products, and the computer program product can comprise various forms of the computer readable storage medium in which one or more computer program instructions can be stored. The processor can run the program instructions to implement the function of the control device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure and/or other desired functions. For example, the control device 19 can control the lifting device 122, thereby controlling the lifting movement of the pin plate 121, and also can control the lifting movement of the support plate 17, the open and the closure of the cavity 18, and the like.
For example, device wirings are formed on a side of the flat display panel 20, the side can be referred to as a pattern surface 201 and comprises a plurality of connection points 200, and the plurality of connection points 200 correspond to the plurality of pins 120 in one-to-one relationship for receiving the screen turning-on signals provided by the fixture 12. The plurality of pins 120 are on a side of the pin plate 121 near the bearing surface 110, and the plurality of connection points 200 are on a side of the flat display panel 20, which side is towards the pin plate 121.
For example, the flat display panel 20 is an OLED display panel. Referring to
The gate lines are driven by a gate driving circuit 21 (also referred to as a row driving circuit or a scanning driving circuit), and the data lines are driven by a data driving circuit 22 (also referred to as a column driving circuit). For example, the gate driving circuit 21 and the data driving circuit 22 can comprise a plurality of TFTs.
For example, in order to simplify the process and reduce the material cost, the gate driving circuit 21 can be directly integrated in the non-display area 202 of the OLED display panel 20 to form a gate-driver-on-array (GOA) structure.
For example, the plurality of connection points 200 of the flat display panel 20 comprise an input of the gate driving circuit 21 and an input of the data driving circuit 22. The screen turning-on signals comprise a gate signal Vgs, a data signal Vds and the like.
For example, the screen turning-on signals can further comprise a high level signal Vdd and a low level signal Vss (e.g., a grounded signal).
For example, on the basis of the above 2T1C pixel circuit or other 2T1C pixel circuits, in order to compensate for such as the threshold shift of the driving transistor T2, the voltage drop caused by the power line resistance, etc., the pixel circuit can further comprise a compensation circuit, and the compensation circuit comprises an internal compensation circuit or an external compensation circuit, the compensation circuit comprising a transistor, a capacitor and the like. In addition, as needed, the pixel driving circuit can further comprise a reset circuit, a sensing circuit and the like, so as to obtain the configuration of 3T1C, 4T2C or the like. This aspect is not limited in the embodiments of the present disclosure.
In the following, an aging method of the aging device 10 provided by the first embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in connection with
The flat display panel 20 is placed on the bearing device 11, and electrically the connection points 200 of the flat display panel 20 are connected with the plurality of pins 120 of the fixture 12; an electric field is generated between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 and acts on the flat display panel 20; and screen turning-on signals are applied to the flat display panel 20 through the plurality of pins 120 so as to turn on the flat display panel 20.
For example, at the beginning of the aging process, the cavity 18 is opened, and the vacuum chucks 160 of the mechanical arm 16 pick up the flat display panel 20 and are ready to send the flat display panel 20 into the cavity 18.
The vacuum chucks 160 of the mechanical arm 16 face away from the bearing surface 110 and act on a side 202 of the flat display panel 20, which side is opposite to the pattern surface 201, so as to avoid damaging the device wirings formed on the pattern surface 201. The plurality of connection points 200 on the flat display panel 20 face away from the bearing surface 110 towards the pin plate 121.
As illustrated in
As illustrated in
Under the control of the lifting device 122, the pin plate 121 moves close to the flat display panel 20 in the first direction and contacts the flat display panel 20, and the plurality of pins 120 on the pin plate 121 contact the plurality of the connection points 200 on the flat display panel 20 and establish an electrical connection.
The cavity 18 is closed and the power supply 192 is turned on, so as to allow an electric field E to be generated between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 to age the flat display panel 20.
The embodiments of the present disclosure use an externally formed electric field instead of a large gate voltage to age a TFT device, so as to adjust the stray electric charges inside the TFT device and alleviate the electric leakage and tail-up phenomenon of the TFT. The external electric field direction comprises a first direction D1 and a second direction D2. For example, the TFT comprises a top gate structure and/or a bottom gate structure; the gate electrode of the TFT with the top gate structure is closer to the substrate than the active layer, and the gate electrode of the TFT with the bottom gate structure is farther away from the substrate than the active layer. The TFTs with different structures require the aging electric fields in different directions according to the type of the stray electric charges.
Please refer to
Therefore, the direction of the aging electric field needs to involve the first direction D1 and the second direction D2, so as to allow each of the TFTs to be aged. First, the operation of generating the electric field E between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 comprises: an electric field generated between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 in the first direction D1, and with the direction of the electric field being changed after a period of time, an electric field to be generated between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14 in the second direction.
The signal source 191 is switched on, and screen turning-on signals are provided for the flat display panel 20 through the fixture 12. With observing of the turning-on condition of the device, if the luminescence of the flat display panel 20 is uneven, the amplitude of the electric field can be adjusted.
For example, the amplitude of the electric field can be changed by changing the distance between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14, or by changing the position of the flat display panel 20 between the first electrode 13 and the second electrode 14.
The embodiments of the present disclosure achieve aging by providing an electric field for the flat display panel 20, which avoids the burning of the TFT device caused by the excessive bias and allows the TFTs at different positions to be uniformly aged, also easy to operate and implement.
Please refer to
As illustrated in
The aging method of applying the aging device provided by the second embodiment for aging the flat display device is substantially the same as the aging method of applying the aging device provided by the first embodiment for aging the flat display device, and the differences mainly comprise the following.
As illustrated in
The mechanical arm 16 places the flat display panel 20 on the surface of the pin plate 121, and the plurality of connection points 200 on the flat display panel 20 directly contact the plurality of pins 120 on the pin plate 121 and establish an electrical connection.
The vacuum chucks 160 of the mechanical arm 16 face the bearing surface 110 and act on the side 202 of the flat display panel 20 opposite the pattern surface 201, so as to avoid damaging the device lines formed on the pattern surface 201. The plurality of connection points 200 on the flat display panel 20 face the bearing surface 110 and are connected with the pin plate 121.
The embodiments of the present disclosure achieve aging by providing an electric field for the flat display panel 20, which avoids the burning of the TFT device caused by the excessive bias and allows the TFTs at different positions to be uniformly aged, also easy to operate and implement.
Although the above embodiments are described by taking the display panel to be aged as a flat display panel as an example, those skilled in the art should understand that the aging device provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure can also be used for a curved display panel. For example, according to the shape, the degree of curve (such as the radius of curvature) and the like of the curved display panel to be aged, adaptive changes to the aging device described above can be made, such as adaptive changes to the bearing surface and the fixture, and then the aging method described above can be used to age the curved display panel.
What have been described above are only specific implementations of the present disclosure, the protection scope of the present disclosure is not limited thereto, and the protection scope of the present disclosure should be based on the protection scope of the claims.
The application claims priority to the Chinese patent application No. 201710743300.2, filed on Aug. 25, 2017, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference as part of the present application.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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201710743300.2 | Aug 2017 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2018/083546 | 4/18/2018 | WO | 00 |