Exemplary embodiments of the present invention can be understood in more detail from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be understood below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The present invention may be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein.
With reference to
The display panel 400 is provided with a lower substrate 410 in which a pixel electrode (not shown) is provided, an upper substrate 420 in which a common electrode (not shown) is provided, and a liquid crystal (not shown) that is provided between the lower substrate 410 and the upper substrate 420.
The upper substrate 420 includes a black matrix and red, green, and blue color filters that are provided under an insulating substrate comprising a transparent insulating substance such as glass to prevent interference of light between cell regions, an overcoat layer that is provided on the color filters and comprising an organic substance, and the common electrode that is provided on the overcoat layer and comprises a transparent conductive substance such as indium tin oxide (ITO) or indium zinc oxide (IZO).
The lower substrate 410 includes a plurality of gate lines that are arranged in one direction at regular intervals, a plurality of source lines that are arranged at regular intervals to be perpendicular to the gate lines, a plurality of pixel electrodes that are provided in a matrix form in a pixel region defined by the gate lines and the source lines intersecting, and a plurality of thin film transistors switched by a signal applied to the gate lines to transfer the signal from the source lines to the pixel electrodes. The thin film transistor includes a gate electrode, a gate insulating layer, an active layer, an ohmic contact layer, a source electrode, and a drain electrode. The lower substrate also includes a protective layer that insulates the thin film transistor from the pixel electrode.
The display panel 400 can be produced by attaching the lower substrate 410 and the upper substrate 420 using a sealing member (not shown) such as a sealant and providing the liquid crystal between the lower substrate 410 and the upper substrate 420. In the display panel 400, an electric field is changed between the pixel electrode and the common electrode to change the arrangement of the liquid crystals, thus adjusting the transmittance of light. As a result, the image is displayed.
The display device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a gate driving circuit part that transmits a gate signal to a plurality of gate lines, and a data driving circuit part that transmits a data signal to a plurality of data lines. The gate driving circuit part and the data driving circuit part are not shown. The gate driving circuit part and the data driving circuit part are provided on a printed circuit board to be connected through the flexible printed circuit board to the display panel 400. The gate driving circuit part may be provided on the lower substrate 410 of the display panel 400. A control part may be provided on the printed circuit board to control the gate driving circuit part and the data driving circuit part.
A protective window 100 to which the upper polarizing plate 200 and the impact absorbing sheet 300 are attached is provided on the upper part of the display panel 400. The lower polarizing plate 500 is provided under the display panel 400. The protective window 100 is disposed on the upper surface of the display panel 400, which is formed opposite to the surface on which the common electrode of the upper substrate 420 is formed. The lower polarizing plate 500 is disposed on the lower surface of the display panel 400, which is formed opposite the surface on which the pixel electrode of the lower substrate 410 is formed.
A polarized light refers to a light beam that is substantially vibrated in a predetermined direction among light beams perpendicular to a progress direction of light. Among incident lights vibrating in various directions, a light vibrating in a predetermined direction penetrates the polarizing plates 200 and 500, and other types of light are absorbed by the polarizing plates 200 and 500. The birefringence of the liquid crystal is used in the display panel 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. Accordingly, the polarizing plates 200 are disposed on and under the display panel 400.
The polarizing plates 200 and 500 provided on and under the display panel 400 are described with reference to
Examples of the dichroic element include iodine or a dye. The direction of a polarization axis of the polarizing plate 200 may be changed according to a stretching direction of the dichroic element, which dyes the PVA film 210. The first and the second TAC films 220 and 230 act as supporters, which support the PVA film 210. The surface reinforcing layer 250 may include at least one of an anti-glare layer, an anti-reflection layer, and a hard coating layer. The retarder film 240 delays a phase of light that penetrates the retarder film 240. For example, when the central axis of the retarder film 240 and the polarization axis of the polarizing plate 200 converge at an angle of 45 degrees, the phase of light that penetrates the retarder film 240 is delayed by λ/4 (λ is a wavelength).
The manufacture of the polarizing plate 200 is described below. The PVA film 210 is dyed with the dichroic element and stretched. Subsequently, rolls of the first and the second TAC films 220 and 230 are attached to the upper and the lower sides of a roll of the PVA film 210 using, for example, a roller. The retarder film 240 is then attached to the lower side of the second TAC film 230 using the roller. The anti-glare layer, the anti-reflection layer, and the hard coating layer are formed on the first TAC film 220 by a surface treatment process. The films may be attached to each other using an adhesive agent. The polarizing place 200 has a surface hardness enough to protect the surface thereof while the polarizing plate 200 contacts external structures. The surface hardness of the polarizing plate is subjected to the surface treatment process. In an exemplary embodiment, the surface hardness of the polarizing plate 200 can be about 4 H or more. The term “H” is an initial letter of hardness, and is used as a unit of hardness. The hardness is increased as H is increased. For example, the hardness of a diamond is considered 10 H. When the polarizing plate 200 having the surface hardness of about 3 H or more is used, the surface of the polarizing plate 200 may be protected while an additional protective sheet is not used. Accordingly, the occurrence of scratches may be prevented on the surface of the polarizing plate 200. Therefore, the polarizing plate 200 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention has a surface hardness of about 3 H or more.
In an exemplary embodiment, the surface reinforcing layer 250 may be omitted. Since the additional protective window 100 is attached to the upper side of the polarizing plate 200, the surface reinforcing layer 250 may be omitted. As described above, the formation of the surface reinforcing layer 250 may be omitted in the polarizing plate 200 to reduce the number of processes for manufacturing the surface reinforcing layer 250 or to reduce the thickness of the polarizing plate 200. In an exemplary embodiment, the retarder film 240 may be omitted. Referring to
The impact absorbing sheet 300 can be attached to the lower side of the upper polarizing plate 200.
The impact absorbing sheet 300 is used to protect the display panel 400 from an external impact. In an exemplary embodiment, the impact absorbing sheet 300 may comprise a transparent substance capable of absorbing and reducing the impact. The impact absorbing sheet 300 may comprise an acryl-based or silicon-based material that has excellent durability or impact absorbing ability. When the impact is applied to the impact absorbing sheet 300, the impact absorbing sheet 300 absorbs the impact so that the display panel 400 is not affected. The impact absorbing sheet 300 prevents the display panel 400 from being broken or deformed due to the external impact. Preferring to
The upper polarizing plate 200 to which the impact absorbing sheet 300 is attached is attached to the protective window 100.
In an exemplary embodiment, the protective window 100 may comprise a light transmission substance having high strength. For example, the protective window 100 may comprise a plastic or acryl-based substance, which has the light transmission of 80% or more. In an exemplary embodiment, the protective window 100 can be attached to the upper polarizing plate 200 combined with the impact absorbing sheet 300. Impurities can be removed from the attachment surface of the protective window 100 by a washing process using, for example, plasma. Subsequently, the upper polarizing plate 200 combined with the impact absorbing sheet 300 is attached to the attachment surface of the protective window 100. In an exemplary embodiment, the attachment of the protective window 100 and the upper polarizing plate 200 can be performed using an adhesive agent. After an end of the upper polarizing plate 200 is attached to the attachment surface of the protective window 100, a middle portion of the upper polarizing plate is attached to the attachment surface of the protective window 100, and another end of the upper polarizing plate 200 is attached to the protective window 100 using the rollers to prevent defects such as bubbles from being formed on the interface of the upper polarizing plate 200 and the protective window 100.
The protective window 100 to which the upper polarizing plate 200 and the impact absorbing sheet 300 are attached may be attached to the display panel 400 to prevent the breaking or deformation of the display panel 400 due to the external impact. That is, when the external physical impact is applied to the protective window 100, the impact may be reduced due to the protective window 100 and the impact absorbing sheet 300 to protect the display panel 400. When the display panel 400 is exposed, scratches may be formed on the surface of the display panel 400 when the display panel 400 contacts external structures. The protective window 100 may protect the scratches from being formed on the display panel 400. Since the protective window 100 to which the polarizing plate 200 and the impact absorbing sheet 300 are attached may be used instead of the light transmission cover protecting a display region of the display device, it is possible to reduce the whole size of the display device, slim the display device, improve brightness, simplify the process of manufacturing the electronic apparatus, and reduce production cost. Thereby, the productivity can be improved.
Referring to
The second impact absorbing layer 330 of the impact absorbing sheet 300 is attached to the upper surface of the upper substrate 420 of the display panel 400. As described above, since the second impact absorbing layer 330 has an adhesive property, an additional adhesive agent does not need to be used. The impurity can be removed from the upper surface of the upper substrate 420 by a predetermined washing process using, for example, plasma before the second impact absorbing layer 330 and the upper substrate 420 are attached to each other.
As described above, the impact absorbing sheet 300, the upper polarizing plate 200, and the protective window 100 are sequentially disposed on the upper surface of the display panel 400 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. The display panel 100 includes a display region, which displays an image and a peripheral circuit region, which provides signals to the display region. Referring to
Referring to
A plurality of optical sheets 600 and a back light unit 700 are provided on the lower side of the display panel 400 in which the impact absorbing sheet 300, the upper polarizing layer 200, and the protective window 100 are sequentially attached to the upper side thereof, and the lower polarizing plate 500 is attached to the lower side thereof.
At least one diffusion plate or brightness improving plate may be used as the optical sheet 600. The diffusion plate guides light emitted from the back light unit 700 to progress toward the front side of the display panel 400, and diffuses light to achieve uniform distribution in a wide region. The diffusion plate may comprise a film including a transparent resin. Both sides of the film are coated with a predetermined light diffusion member. The brightness improving plate causes the light beam being parallel to the penetration axis thereof to penetrate, and reflects the light beam that being perpendicular to the penetration axis thereof, thereby improving brightness.
The back light unit 700 can be an edge type including a light source (not shown) and a light guide plate (not shown). The back light unit may be a direct type in which a plurality of light sources (not shown) are disposed on a same side. A cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) or a light emitting diode (LED) may be used as the light source.
The mold frame 800 supporting the back light unit 700, the optical sheet 600, and the display panel 400 can have an empty frame shape. Predetermined protrusions 810 are provided at a lower part of an internal side of a wall of the frame 800, and the back light unit 700 is disposed to the region between the protrusions to be supported. The optical sheets 600 and the display panel 400 are provided on the upper sides of the protrusions 810. Referring to
In an exemplary embodiment, a receiving member 900 is provided to receive the mold frame 800. A reflection plate 910 can be disposed on the bottom of the receiving member 900. The receiving member 900 may be omitted according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. When the receiving member 900 is omitted, the mold frame 800 and the reflection plate 910 provided under the mold frame 800, may function as the receiving member 900. The display device having the above-mentioned structure may be produced to have a total thickness of about 2 mm or less. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the display device can be produced to have a total thickness in the range of about 0.7 to about 1.2 mm.
The display panel according to an exemplary embodiment is not limited to a liquid crystal display panel, but various types of display panels such as, for example, plasma display panels and organic electro luminescence panels may be used. Accordingly, the optical sheets and the back light unit may be omitted according to a type of the display panel.
With reference to
The electronic apparatus including the display device 2100 according to an exemplary embodiment may protect the display device 2100 from the external impact using the impact absorbing sheet 300 and the protective window 100 formed on the external surface of the display panel 400. An additional light transmission cover for protecting the display device 2100 can be omitted in the screen display part 2000 due to the high surface hardness of the protective window 100 and the upper polarizing plate 200. Since the light transmission cover is not formed, the thickness of the electronic apparatus can be reduced. Thus, reduction in size and slimness are achieved, the production process is simplified, and the production cost is reduced.
The display device is not limited to the folder type terminal described above, but may be applied to the image display part of the electronic apparatus such as, for example, a flip type of terminal, a slide type of terminal, or a thin plate type of terminal. In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the electronic device can display a same image on both sides of the display part or different images on either side of the display part. For example, the display device may be used in the dual folder type of mobile phone as shown in
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, a polarizing plate having high strength in which an impact absorbing sheet is attached to the external surface of a display panel is provided, or a protective window to which the impact absorbing sheet and the polarizing plate are attached is provided on the upper side of the display panel to protect the display panel from the external impact.
In exemplary embodiments of the present invention, since the polarizing plate which has high strength and to which the impact absorbing sheet is attached or the protective window to which the impact absorbing sheet and the polarizing plate are attached is used as a light transmission cover to protect the display device in the electronic apparatus, the thickness of the electronic apparatus is reduced, the process of producing the electronic apparatus is simplified, and the production cost is reduced. As a result, productivity can be improved.
Although exemplary embodiments have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that the present invention is not limited to these precise embodiments, but various changes and modifications can be made by one skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. All such changes and modifications are intended to be included within the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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10-2006-0009298 | Jan 2006 | KR | national |
10-2006-0130901 | Dec 2006 | KR | national |