Touchscreen displays are becoming increasingly popular in electronic devices because they allow operators to interact directly with what is displayed by the electronic devices, rather than indirectly with a keyboard, mouse, roller ball, or stylus. To simplify their use, many touchscreen displays have touch-sensitive fixed icons or “virtual” keys for certain popular functions or commands such as “Home,” “Menu,” “Back,” “Send,” and “End.”
Most touch-sensitive fixed icons are backlit for better visibility. Unfortunately, the light sources that provide such backlighting either take up space on the main circuit boards of their electronic devices or are sandwiched between the display modules and touch panels of the electronic devices and therefore increase the length and/or thickness of the electronic devices.
Embodiments of the present technology solve this problem by providing an improved display module for use in a touchscreen display of an electronic device. The display module includes a display screen, support structure for the display screen, and one or more LEDs or other light sources for backlighting one or more touch-sensitive fixed icons on a touch panel positioned over the display screen. The light sources are positioned or otherwise integrated between the display screen and the support structure for the display screen and are therefore integrated into the display module. In one embodiment, the light sources are mounted to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) that is positioned over a portion of an inactive border area of the display screen and sandwiched between the display screen and the support structure. Because the light sources are integrated into the display module rather than being positioned on top of the display module or mounted to the circuit board to which the display module is connected, the light sources take up otherwise unused space on the display module, thus reducing the overall size and/or thickness of the electronic device and/or permitting use of a larger display screen without increasing the overall size of the electronic device. Such a configuration also permits the touch-sensitive fixed icons on the touch panel to overlap a portion of the display module and still be backlit.
This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter. Other aspects and advantages of the present technology will be apparent from the following detailed description of the embodiments and the accompanying drawing figures.
Embodiments of the present technology are described in detail below with reference to the attached drawing figures, wherein:
The drawing figures do not limit the present invention to the specific embodiments disclosed and described herein. The drawings are not necessarily to scale, emphasis instead being placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the technology.
The following detailed description of various embodiments of the present technology references the accompanying drawings which illustrate specific embodiments in which the technology can be practiced. The embodiments are intended to describe aspects of the technology in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments can be utilized and changes can be made without departing from the scope of the technology. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense. The scope of the present technology is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
Embodiments of the present technology solve this problem by providing an improved display module for use in a touchscreen display of an electronic device. The display module includes a display screen, support structure for the display screen, and one or more LEDs or other light sources for backlighting one or more touch-sensitive fixed icons on a touch panel positioned over the display screen. The light sources are positioned or otherwise integrated between the display screen and the support structure for the display screen and are therefore integrated into the display module. Because the light sources are integrated into the display module rather than being positioned on top of the display module or mounted to the circuit board to which the display module is connected, the light sources take up otherwise unused space on the display module. This reduces the overall size and/or thickness of the electronic device and/or permits use of a larger display screen without increasing the overall size of the electronic device. Such a configuration also permits the touch-sensitive fixed icons on the touch panel to overlap a portion of the display module and still be backlit. In one embodiment described in more detail below, the light sources are mounted to a flexible printed circuit (FPC) that is positioned over a portion of an inactive border area of the display screen. The flexible printed circuit is then sandwiched between the display screen and a front bezel of the support structure for the display screen.
Exemplary embodiments of the present technology will now be described in more detail with reference to the drawing figures. Turning initially to
Referring now to
In more detail, the display screen 32 is operable to display visual graphics, images, text, etc. in response to external or internal processes and commands of the electronic device's processor 16. The display screen 32 may comprise conventional black and white, monochrome, or color display elements including cathode ray tube (CRT), thin film transistor liquid crystal display (TFT-LCD), and/or light emitting diode (LED) display devices. In one embodiment, the display screen is a 3.2″ LCD with 320×480 pixel resolution.
As depicted in
In embodiments where the display screen 32 utilizes LCD technology, the active display area 46 includes various LCD layers operable to generate a visible image (e.g., a polarizing filter film, a glass substrate, a twisted nematic liquid crystal, a second glass substrate, a second polarize filter film, a reflective surface, combinations thereof, and the like) while the inactive border area 48 includes or supports secondary components such as electrical traces, the display driver IC 34, and/or the like, that provide supporting functionality to the active display area 46.
The display driver IC 34 may be any integrated circuit or other logic device capable of storing code or other instructions for driving the display screen 32 in response to instructions from the processor 16 or other electronic circuitry of the electronic device 10. In one embodiment, the display driver IC 34 is glued or otherwise adhered to a portion of the inactive display area 48 of the display screen, but it may be positioned elsewhere without departing from the scope of the appended claims.
In one embodiment, the display driver IC 34 may be electrically connected to the processor 16 and/or other components of the electronic device 10 via a flexible printed circuit 50. The flexible printed circuit 50 may include circuitry for the display driver 34 and an electrical connector 52 that plugs into components on the main circuit board 30. The specific construction and configuration of the flexible printed circuit 50 is not germane to the technology of the present application and is therefore not described in detail herein.
The light sources 36 are best illustrated in
The light sources 38 are best illustrated in
The light sources 38 may use any type of lighting technology such as light emitting diodes (LEDs) or incandescent lamps. The light sources 38 can be front-firing or side-firing type, used with or without a light guide and/or diffuser. In one embodiment, the lights are low profile, upward-lighting type LEDs such as the CL-2825 series LEDs manufactured by Citizen Electronics Co., Ltd. The light sources 38 may be mounted within the inactive border 42 of the display module 12 below or otherwise near the display driver IC 34. However, in some configurations, the light sources 38 may be mounted anywhere within the inactive border 42.
Any number of light sources 38 may be integrated in the display module 12 for backlighting any number of touch-sensitive fixed icons on the touch panel 14. In one embodiment, the display module 12 may include a single light source, in another embodiment the display module may include three light sources, and in still another embodiment, the display module may include five light sources.
The frame 40 supports the display screen 32 and provides a reflective surface for the light sources 36. The frame 40 may include a raised outer edge 58 for securely holding the display screen and in some embodiments may include a plurality of light guides 60 and diffusers aligned with or adjacent the light sources 36 to guide and diffuse the light from the light sources 36. The frame 40 may also include a number of optical films to assist with such light diffusion. In one embodiment, the frame is made of plastic and is colored white or some other highly reflective color.
The front bezel 42 and rear bezel 44 surround and support the display screen 32 and other components of the display module and together form a support structure for the display module 12. In various embodiments, the front bezel 42 may at least partially overlay a front face portion of the display screen 32 and the rear bezel 44 may overlay the rear face of the frame 40 to provide desired support. The front and rear bezel may be formed of steel, aluminum, lightweight metals, or any other suitable material.
As shown in
The touch panel 14 is positioned over the display module 12 and is operable for sensing touches on areas overlying the display screen 32. The touch panel 14 may be a capacitive type touch panel, a resistive type touch panel, a surface acoustic wave type touch panel, an infrared type touch panel, or a strain gauge type touch panel.
The touch panel 14 may be formed of glass, clear plastic, or any other transparent material and has a transparent area 74 that substantially overlies the active display area 46 on the display screen 32 so that graphics, images, text, etc. displayed on the display screen can be seen through the touch panel. The transparent panel 74 may be mounted within a frame 76 or housing that fits over the display module 12 and that attaches to a back panel or cover of the electronic device.
The touch panel 14 also includes one or more touch-sensitive fixed icons 78 that are backlit by the light sources 38 of the display module and that may be touched to execute certain popular functions of the electronic device. The touch-sensitive fixed icons 78 may be etched in or printed on the touch panel 14 and aligned with and therefore illuminated by the light sources 38 of the display module. However, the touch-sensitive fixed icons 78 may comprise any portion of the touch panel 14. The touch-sensitive fixed icons may enable any functions of the electronic device 10 such as “Home,” “Menu,” “Back,” “Send,” or “End.” In various embodiments, the touch panel 14 is larger than the active display area 46 of the display screen 32.
The above-described construction and configuration of the display module 12 provides numerous advantages. For example, because the light sources 38 are integrated into the display module 12 rather than being positioned on top of the display module or mounted to the circuit board 30 to which the display module is connected, the light sources 38 take up otherwise unused space on the display module. This reduces the overall size and/or thickness of the electronic device 10 and/or permits use of a larger display screen 32 without increasing the overall size of the electronic device 10. Such a configuration also permits the touch-sensitive fixed icons 78 on the touch panel 14 to overlap a portion of the display module 12 and still be backlit.
The other components of the electronic device 10 may include conventional electronic components to provide desired functionality. The processor 16 may be any electronic device or component capable of executing logical and mathematical operations on data. The processor 16 may be a single electronic component or it may be a combination of components that provide the requisite functionality. The processor 16 may comprise a microprocessor, a microcontroller, programmable logic controller (PLC), field-programmable gate array (FPGA), application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other component or components that are operable to perform, or assist in the performance of, the required operations. The processor may be coupled with other components of the electronic device through wired or wireless connections, such as a data bus 80, to enable information to be exchanged between the various components.
The memory elements 18 may be any electronic memory that can be accessed by the processor 16 and operable for storing instructions or data. The memory elements 18 may be a single component or may be a combination of components that provide the requisite functionality. The memory elements 18 may include various types of volatile or non-volatile memory such as flash memory, optical discs, magnetic storage devices, SRAM, DRAM, or other memory devices capable of storing data and instructions. The memory elements 18 may communicate directly with the processor 16, or they may communicate with the processor over the bus 80 or other mechanism that facilitates direct or indirect communication between the devices. The memory elements may optionally be structured with a file system to provide organized access to data existing thereon.
The communications component 20 enables the device 10 to communicate with other electronic devices through a communication network, such as a cellular phone network, the Internet, a local area network, a wide area network, and ad hoc or peer to peer network, or a direct connection such as a USB, Firewire, or Bluetooth™ connection, etc. The communications component 20 may communicate utilizing wireless data transfer methods such as WiFi (802.11), Wi-Max, Bluetooth™, ANT®, ultra-wideband, infrared, cellular telephony, radio frequency, etc. The communications component 20 may make and receive any communications including incoming and outgoing phone calls, text messages, instant message, voicemail messages, e-mail message, missed phone calls, and any other known communications. In one embodiment, the communications component 20 is a cellular transceiver for transmitting and receiving communications over a cellular phone network such as those operated by Sprint®, AT&T®, Verizon®, and other companies. The cellular phone network may operate with GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access), or any other known standards.
The location determining component 22 determines locations of the electronic device 10 as it is carried or otherwise moved from place to place. The location determining component 22 may be a satellite navigation receiver that works with a global navigation satellite system (GNSS) such as the global positioning system (GPS) primarily used in the United States, the GLONASS system primarily used in the Soviet union, or the Galileo system primarily used in Europe.
The antennas 24 may include an antenna for the location determining component 22 to assist in receiving satellite signals and an antenna for the communications component 20 to assist in receiving and transmitting wireless communications. The antennas may be patch antennas, linear antennas, or any other type of antennas.
The I/O ports 26 permit data and other information to be transferred to and from the electronic device 10. The I/O ports 26 may include a Secure Digital (SD) card slot, Mini SD Card slot, Micro SD Card slot or the like for receiving removable SD cards, Mini SD Cards, Micro SD Cards, or the like, and a USB port for coupling with a USB cable connected to another computing device such as a personal computer. Navigational software, cartographic maps and other data and information may be loaded in the electronic device 10 via the I/O ports 26.
The power source 28 provides electrical power to the other components of the electronic device 10 and may comprise conventional power supply elements, such as batteries, battery packs, etc. The power source 28 may also comprise power conduits, connectors, and receptacles operable to receive batteries, battery connectors, or power cables,. For example, the power source 28 may include both a battery to enable portable operation and a power input for receiving power from an external source such as an automobile or home computer/wall outlet.
The circuit board 30 may be any conventional circuit board or other type of electronic substrate operable for supporting and electrically interconnecting one or more components of the electronic device 10.
The components of the electronic device may be supported in a handheld or otherwise portable housing to facilitate easy transport of the device. The housing may comprise the frame 76 of the touch panel 14 along with a back panel or plate (not shown) that connects with the frame 76. The housing may be constructed from a suitable lightweight and impact-resistant material such as, for example, plastic, nylon, aluminum, or any combination thereof and may include one or more appropriate gaskets or seals to make it substantially waterproof or resistant. The housing may take any suitable shape for size, and the particular size, weight and configuration of the housing may be changed without departing from the scope of the present invention.
The components of the electronic device and described herein need not be physically connected to one another since wireless communication among the various depicted components is permissible and intended to fall within the scope of the present invention.
Although various embodiments of the invention have been described herein with reference to attached drawing figures, it is noted that equivalents may be employed and substitutions made herein without departing from the scope of the invention as recited in the claims.