Patent Application
20100164890
This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. ยง119(a) of a Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0134553, filed with the Korean Intellectual Property Office on Dec. 26, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
1. Field
The following description relates to an input device for a flexible display and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to an input device and its manufacturing method that may be used in various flexible displays and a flexible display including such input device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Touch panels having a display, an input unit, and an information input for the display, have become popular in mobile terminals and devices. In a touch panel, information is inputted into a flat panel display by touching a screen, for example, using an input pen or a user's finger.
A resistive film method, a static capacitance method, surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology, and/or an infrared (IR) technology may be used for a touch panel.
The conventional input device for a display shown in
When a conventional input device for a display is used in a flexible display instead of a flat type display, an operation error may occur by touching between a top substrate 21 and a bottom substrate 20, even in an untouched state.
When a conventional input device is used in a flexible display, problems may occur, for example, a lack of flexibility of the substrate itself or an input error due to an unnecessary contact between the substrates of the bent input device.
In one aspect, provided is a flexible display input device comprising a flexible transparent substrate, and an electrode printed on the substrate.
The transparent substrate may include at least one of an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate, a plastic substrate, and a dielectric substrate.
The transparent substrate may comprises a plastic substrate that may include at least one of a polyester (PET) film, a polyethylenenaphthalate (PEN) film, a polycarbonate (PC) film, a polyetherimide film, and a polyethersulfone (PES) film.
The electrode may include a conductive ink.
The conductive ink may include at least one of a silver (Ag) powder, a gold (Au) powder, a nickel (Ni) powder, and a copper (Cu) powder.
The conductive ink may includes conductive organic polymer.
The conductive organic polymer may include at least one of a polypyrrole, polyaniline, polyacetylene, polythiophene, polyphenylene vinylene, polyphenylene sulfide, poly p-phenylene, and polyheterocycle vinylene.
The flexible display input device may be an input device for at least one of a mobile terminal, a game machine, an e-paper, and a wearable computer.
In another aspect, provided is a method for manufacturing an input device for a flexible display, the method comprising preparing a flexible transparent substrate, and electrode forming a conductive ink on the substrate.
The electrode forming may include printing a mixture of a binder, a solvent, and at least one of a silver (Ag) powder, a gold (Au) powder, a nickel (Ni) powder, and a copper (Cu) powder.
In another aspect, provided is a flexible display apparatus comprising a flexible transparent substrate, an input unit comprised of an electrode printed on the transparent substrate, and a flexible display unit.
The input unit may be located on a top surface or a bottom surface of the display unit.
The transparent substrate may include at least one of an indium tin oxide (ITO) substrate, a plastic substrate, and a dielectric substrate.
The plastic substrate may include at least one of a polyester (PET) film, a polyethylenenaphthalate (PEN) film, a polycarbonate (PC) film, a polyetherimide film, and a polyethersulfone (PES) film.
The electrode may include a conductive ink.
The conductive ink may include at least one of a silver (Ag) powder, a gold (Au) powder, a nickel (Ni) powder, and a copper (Cu) powder.
The conductive ink includes a conductive organic polymer.
The conductive organic polymer may include at least one of a polypyrrole, polyaniline, polyacetylene, polythiophene, polyphenylene vinylene, polyphenylene sulfide, poly p-phenylene, and polyheterocycle vinylene.
The flexible display apparatus may be at least one of a mobile terminal, a game machine, an e-paper, and a wearable computer.
Other features and aspects will be apparent from the following detailed description, the drawings, and the claims.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated for clarity, illustration, and convenience.
The following description is provided to assist the reader in gaining a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein. Accordingly, various changes, modifications, and equivalents of the methods, apparatuses, and/or systems described herein will be suggested to those of ordinary skill in the art. Also, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions may be omitted for increased clarity and conciseness.
The transparent substrate 110 may be made from various materials, for example, at least one of an indium tin oxide (ITO), a plastic, or a dielectric. The substrate 110 is a flexible transparent substrate and it may be used for a flexible display.
Substrate 110 may include a metal oxide having transparent characteristics. For example, the metal oxide may be an ITO substrate, an indium zinc oxide (IZO) substrate, and the like.
Substrate 110 may include a plastic substrate, for example, at least one of a polyester (PET) film, a polyethylenenaphthalate (PEN) film, a polycarbonate (PC) film, a polyetherimide film, a polyethersulfone (PES) film, and the like.
The electrode 120 printed on a substrate 110 shown in
The electrode 120 may be printed using a conductive ink. The conductive ink may include a metal powder, for example, at least one of a silver (Ag) powder, a gold (Au) powder, a nickel (Ni) powder, a copper (Cu) powder, and the like. The conductive ink may be applied in a printing process through mixing of nano-powder of above-mentioned metals with a solvent or a binder.
The conductive ink may include a conductive organic polymer. The conductive organic polymer may include, for example, at least one of a polypyrrole, polyaniline, polyacetylene, polythiophene, polyphenylene vinylene, polyphenylene sulfide, poly p-phenylene, and polyheterocycle vinylene.
Referring to
The input device 100 may be used in a flexible display, for example, in a mobile phone, a game machine, an e-paper, a wearable computer, and the like.
A manufacturing method of an input device for a flexible display is also provided. The manufacturing method includes preparing a flexible and transparent substrate, and forming an electrode by printing a conductive ink on a substrate.
The electrode may be performed by printing a metal powder, for example, at least one of a silver (Ag) powder, a gold (Au) powder, a nickel (Ni) powder, a copper (Cu) powder, and the like, with a mixture of solvents on a substrate. The electrode may be formed by printing on a substrate using a mixture including a conductive organic polymer instead of the above-described metal powder. The input device 100 may be implemented by forming an electrode more simply through a direct printing of a mixture on a substrate.
An inkjet printing, an aerosol printing, or a dispensing method may be used for an electrode printing. As described above, a metal powder or a mixture including a conductive organic polymer may be printed on a substrate so as to form an electrode pattern. The solvent may be evaporated through a drying process.
For example, an input unit may be located either on a top surface or on a bottom surface of the display unit 240. When the input unit is located on the top surface of the display unit 240, data may be directly inputted into the display screen. When the input unit is located on the bottom surface of the display unit 240, data may be inputted into the input unit located on the bottom surface, and then the inputted data may be received and displayed by the display unit 240.
For example, a mobile terminal may be made from a flexible material that may be mounted on a curved location such as an arm, a shoulder, and the like. For example, a body 350 of the multimedia apparatus and/or the key pad 360 may be manufactured to have an appropriate curvature, and a flexible multimedia apparatus may be manufactured by coupling a flexible display into the body 350.
In some embodiments, when only a display portion is flexible but a body or a key pad is generally non-flexible, then the display portion may be mounted on a human body.
Therefore, an input device for a flexible display may be used in a flexible display and may be evolved into a wearable type or a curved surface mounting. This type of input device may reduce potential errors that are caused in conventional display input devices.
As a non-exhaustive illustration only, the terminal device described herein may refer to mobile devices such as a cellular phone, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a digital camera, a portable game console, and an MP3 player, a portable/personal multimedia player (PMP), a handheld e-book, a portable lab-top PC, a global positioning system (GPS) navigation, and devices such as a desktop PC, a high definition television (HDTV), an optical disc player, a setup box, and the like capable of wireless communication or network communication consistent with that disclosed herein.
A computing system or a computer may include a microprocessor that is electrically connected with a bus, a user interface, and a memory controller. It may further include a flash memory device. The flash memory device may store N-bit data via the memory controller. The N-bit data is processed or will be processed by the microprocessor and N may be 1 or an integer greater than 1. Where the computing system or computer is a mobile apparatus, a battery may be additionally provided to supply operation voltage of the computing system or computer.
It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that the computing system or computer may further include an application chipset, a camera image processor (CIS), a mobile Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), and the like. The memory controller and the flash memory device may constitute a solid state drive/disk (SSD) that uses a non-volatile memory to store data.
A number of examples have been described above. Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may be made. For example, suitable results may be achieved if the described techniques are performed in a different order and/or if components in a described system, architecture, device, or circuit are combined in a different manner and/or replaced or supplemented by other components or their equivalents. Accordingly, other implementations are within the scope of the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10-2008-0134553 | Dec 2008 | KR | national |
