Electronic ink screen and method of manufacturing the same

Abstract

The application provides an electronic ink screen and a manufacturing method thereof, and relates to the technical field of display.The electronic ink screen is composed of a TFT substrate, an electronic ink layer, an encapsulation film, a light guide plate and a light source.The surface of the TFT substrate comprises a functional area and a light transmission area except the functional area, and the light transmission area is a frosted structure.When the front light of the electronic ink screen is turned on, the light source emits light, and the light guide plate can uniformly distribute the light emitted by the light source on the screen.However, the light emitted by the light source will also irradiate on the light transmission area of the TFT substrate, and since the light transmission area of the TFT substrate is a frosted structure, the light irradiated on the light transmission area will not be specularly reflected, but will be diffusely reflected, thereby weakening the reflection effect of the light transmission area after the front light is turned on compared with the traditional scheme, and thus avoiding the over-brightness of the edge of the screen, which can not only improve the display effect of the electronic ink screen, but also enable the user to obtain a better viewing experience.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to the technical field of display, in particular to an electronic ink screen and a manufacturing method thereof. BACKGROUND

[0002] Electrophoretic display refers to a technology of realizing image display by using directional movement of charged particles in an electric field, and the ink screen as a typical application of electrophoretic display generally includes a TFT (Thin Film Transistor) glass, an ink layer attached to the TFT glass, a light guide plate attached to the ink layer, and an LED (Light Emitting Diode) arranged on one side of the light guide plate. When the ink screen opens the front light function, the light guide plate will make the light emitted by the LED evenly distributed on the screen, thereby improving the clarity of the ink screen in a weak light environment. In the related art, considering factors such as bonding precision and bonding trace space, the ink layer generally does not completely cover the TFT glass. Therefore, when the ink screen opens the front light function, the light emitted by the LED will be irradiated on the area of the TFT glass which is not covered by the ink layer, thereby causing serious reflection, and finally leading to over-brightness of the edge of the screen, which not only reduces the display effect of the ink screen, but also affects the viewing experience of the user. SUMMARY

[0003] The present application provides an electronic ink screen and a manufacturing method thereof, aiming to solve the problems of poor display effect and poor user viewing experience when the ink screen opens the front light function in the related art.

[0004] In order to solve the above-mentioned problems existing in the related art, the present application provides an electronic ink screen in the first aspect, which includes a TFT substrate, an electronic ink layer, an encapsulation film, a light guide plate and a light source. One surface of the TFT substrate includes a functional area and a light transmission area except the functional area. The electronic ink layer is attached to the functional area. The encapsulation film is attached to the electronic ink layer. The light guide plate is attached to the encapsulation film. The light source is arranged on the side of the light guide plate and located at one end of the light guide plate. The light transmission area is a frosted structure. The frosted structure is used to make the light emitted by the light source be diffusely reflected when irradiated on the light transmission area after the electronic ink screen opens the front light.

[0005] In some implementations, the surface of the light guide plate includes an upper surface, a lower surface, and four side surfaces, the upper surface is opposite and spaced apart from the lower surface, the four side surfaces are connected end to end and between the periphery of the upper surface and the periphery of the lower surface, the four side surfaces include two opposite short side surfaces and two opposite long side surfaces, and the lower surface is close to the encapsulation film. In one of the implementations, the light source is arranged on one of the short side surfaces, the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces are each formed with a first black coating, and the edge of the upper surface of the light guide plate is formed with a second black coating that is connected to the first black coating; or, the light source is arranged on one of the short side surfaces, the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces are each attached with a first light shielding tape, and the edge of the upper surface of the light guide plate is attached with a second light shielding tape that is connected to the first light shielding tape.

[0006] In some implementations, the surface of the electronic ink layer away from the TFT substrate includes an effective display area and an ineffective display area other than the effective display area, the effective display area corresponds to the functional area on the TFT substrate, and the ineffective display area always displays a full black picture.

[0007] In some implementations, the light source includes an LED light bar, the LED light bar includes a plurality of light emitting diodes, the electronic ink screen further includes a touch sensing layer, the touch sensing layer is attached to the light guide plate, and the electronic ink screen further includes a cover plate, the cover plate is attached to the touch sensing layer.

[0008] The second aspect of the present application provides a manufacturing method of an electronic ink screen, which is used to manufacture the electronic ink screen provided in the first aspect of the present application, and includes the following steps: obtaining a glass plate with a surface including a functional area and a light transmission area other than the functional area; etching the light transmission area to form a frosted structure on the light transmission area; manufacturing a TFT circuit on the functional area to obtain a TFT substrate; attaching an electronic ink layer to the TFT substrate corresponding to the functional area; attaching an encapsulation film to the electronic ink layer; and attaching a light guide plate to the encapsulation film, the light guide plate is provided with a light source on a side surface thereof, and the light source is located at one end of the light guide plate.

[0009] In some implementations, the step of attaching the electronic ink layer to the TFT substrate corresponding to the functional area includes the following steps: manufacturing the electronic ink layer on a protective substrate, the surface of the electronic ink layer away from the protective substrate includes an effective display area and an ineffective display area other than the effective display area; controlling the surface of the electronic ink layer away from the protective substrate to display a full black picture, and controlling the opposite surface to display a full white picture; peeling the electronic ink layer from the protective substrate; and attaching the surface of the electronic ink layer displaying the full white picture to the TFT substrate, so that the effective display area corresponds to the functional area on the TFT substrate.

[0010] In some implementations, the step of attaching the light guide plate to the encapsulation film is followed by the step of: attaching a touch sensing layer to the light guide plate.

[0011] In some implementations, the step of attaching the touch control sensing layer on the light guide plate further comprises: attaching a cover plate on the touch control sensing layer.

[0012] For the electronic ink screen provided in the first aspect of the present application, the electronic ink screen is composed of a TFT substrate, an electronic ink layer, an encapsulation film, a light guide plate and a light source. One surface of the TFT substrate includes a functional area and a light transmission area other than the functional area. The electronic ink layer is attached on the functional area. The encapsulation film is attached on the electronic ink layer. The light guide plate is attached on the encapsulation film. The light source is arranged on the side surface of the light guide plate and located at one end of the light guide plate. The light transmission area is a frosted structure. When the electronic ink screen is turned on, the frosted structure causes the light emitted by the light source to be diffusely reflected when the light is irradiated on the light transmission area. It can be understood that when the electronic ink screen is turned on, the light source emits light, and the light guide plate can uniformly distribute the light emitted by the light source on the screen. However, the light emitted by the light source will also be irradiated on the light transmission area of the TFT substrate. Since the light transmission area of the TFT substrate is a frosted structure, the light irradiated on the light transmission area will not be specularly reflected, but will be diffusely reflected. Therefore, compared with the conventional scheme, the reflection effect of the light transmission area after the front light is turned on is weakened, that is, the reflectivity of the light emitted by the light source when irradiated on the light transmission area after the front light is turned on is reduced, thereby avoiding the over-brightness of the edges of the screen. Not only the display effect of the electronic ink screen is improved, but also the user can obtain a better viewing experience.

[0013] For the manufacturing method of the electronic ink screen provided in the second aspect of the present application, since the manufacturing method is used to manufacture the electronic ink screen provided in the first aspect of the present application, the manufacturing method has all the advantages of the electronic ink screen provided in the first aspect of the present application. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the related art or the embodiments of the present application, the drawings needed to be used in the description of the related art or the embodiments of the present application will be briefly introduced. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present application, and not all embodiments. Those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings according to these drawings without creating any creative labor.

[0015] Figure 1 The structural schematic diagram of the electronic ink screen provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0016] Figure 2 The schematic diagram of the attachment of the ink layer and the TFT glass under different viewing angles provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0017] Figure 3 The structural schematic diagram of the light guide plate under different viewing angles provided in the embodiments of the present application is shown in the figure.

[0018] Figure 4 A flowchart of a manufacturing method of an electronic ink screen provided by an embodiment of the present application is shown.

[0019] The labels in each of the above figures respectively represent:

[0020] 100-TFT substrate, 200-electronic ink layer, 300-encapsulation film, 400-optical adhesive, 500-light guide plate, 600-light source, 700-touch sensing layer, 800-cover plate, 110-function area, 120-light transmission area, 111-TFT circuit, 121-matt structure, 210-effective display area, 220-inactive display area, 510-first black coating, 520-second black coating, 610-LED light bar. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In the related art, the ink screen includes a TFT glass, an ink layer attached to the TFT glass, a light guide plate attached to the ink layer, and an LED arranged on one side of the light guide plate. Considering factors such as attachment precision and bonding trace space, the ink layer does not completely cover the TFT glass. When the front light function of the ink screen is turned on, the light emitted by the LED will be irradiated on the area of the TFT glass that is not covered by the ink layer, thereby causing serious reflection, and ultimately leading to over-brightness of the edge of the screen, which not only reduces the display effect of the ink screen, but also affects the viewing experience of the user. In view of this, the present application proposes an electronic ink screen and a manufacturing method thereof in the following embodiments to solve the above-mentioned drawbacks existing in the related art.

[0022] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more obvious and easy to understand, the present application will be described clearly and completely below in conjunction with the embodiments of the present application and the corresponding drawings, wherein the same or similar labels represent the same or similar elements or elements with the same or similar functions throughout. It should be understood that the embodiments of the present application described below are only used to explain the present application and do not limit the present application, i.e. based on each embodiment of the present application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative labor belong to the scope of protection of the present application. In addition, the technical features involved in each embodiment of the present application described below can be combined with each other as long as they do not conflict with each other.

[0023] Please refer to Figure 1 and Figure 2 , Figure 1 is a structural schematic diagram of an electronic ink screen, Figure 2is a schematic diagram of the adhesion of the ink layer and the TFT glass under different perspectives. The embodiment provides an electronic ink screen, which comprises a TFT substrate 100, an electronic ink layer 200, an encapsulation film 300, a light guide plate 500 and a light source 600. One surface of the TFT substrate 100 comprises a functional area 110 and a light-transmitting area 120 except the functional area 110. The electronic ink layer 200 is attached to the functional area 110. The encapsulation film 300 is attached to the electronic ink layer 200. The light guide plate 500 is attached to the encapsulation film 300 through an optical adhesive 400. The light source 600 is arranged on the side of the light guide plate 500 and at one end of the light guide plate 500. The light-transmitting area 120 is a frosted structure 121. As the name implies, the functional area 110 refers to the area that realizes the function of the TFT substrate 100. The TFT circuit 111 comprising a large number of thin film transistors is usually arranged in the functional area 110. The light-transmitting area 120 refers to the area on the TFT substrate 100 that only has glass (i.e. no structure is arranged). In addition, it should be noted that although the electronic ink layer 200 of the embodiment is attached to the functional area 110 of the TFT substrate 100, this does not mean that the electronic ink layer 200 cannot exceed the functional area 110 of the TFT substrate 100. In the actual manufacturing process, the edge of the electronic ink layer 200 can exceed the functional area 110 of the TFT substrate 100 and enter the light-transmitting area 120. The specific arrangement can be determined according to actual needs, and the embodiment is not limited in this regard.

[0024] In the embodiment, the frosted structure 121 is obtained by etching (such as AG etching) in the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate 100. That is, a glass plate is first obtained. The surface of the glass plate is divided into the functional area 110 and the light-transmitting area 120 except the functional area 110 according to the TFT pattern range. Then, the light-transmitting area 120 of the glass plate is subjected to AG etching with high haze through a shielding process, so as to form the frosted structure 121 in the light-transmitting area 120. Finally, the TFT circuit 111 is manufactured in the functional area 110 of the glass plate. Finally, the TFT substrate 100 can be obtained. Preferably, the depth of AG etching is less than 0.05 mm. In this way, the strength of the TFT substrate 100 will not be affected. The TFT circuit 111 will not be damaged by the subsequent manufacturing of the TFT circuit 111, and problems such as peeling of coating materials will not occur. The precision is easy to control. It can be understood that if the frosted structure 121 is formed by AG etching after the TFT circuit 111 is manufactured in the manufacturing process of the TFT substrate 100, the TFT circuit 111 will be damaged, which will eventually cause product defects and increase the manufacturing cost. In the embodiment, the frosted structure 121 is formed by AG etching before the TFT circuit 111 is manufactured. In this way, the product defect rate can be reduced.

[0025] In the present embodiment, the electronic ink layer 200 is the core part of the electronic ink screen to realize the display function. The electronic ink layer 200 contains a large number of tiny capsules, which contain a transparent liquid, and the transparent liquid suspends white and black pigment particles with different charges. By applying an electric field to the upper and lower ends of the capsules, the moving direction of the pigment particles can be controlled, so that the screen displays black or white patterns and characters. This display mode simulates the black and white display effect of paper, and has good readability and contrast. Specifically, when an electric field is applied to the electrodes of the electronic ink layer 200, the white pigment particles with positive charges and the black pigment particles with negative charges will move in opposite directions under the action of the electric field force. If the white pigment particles move to the top of the capsule (i.e., the side of the electronic ink layer 200 away from the TFT substrate 100), the corresponding pixel point will display white, and if the black pigment particles move to the top, the corresponding pixel point will display black. By accurately controlling the electric field in each pixel corresponding capsule, various complex images and text information can be displayed on the screen.

[0026] In the present embodiment, the TFT substrate 100 is mainly used to control the electric field of each pixel in the electronic ink layer 200, so as to realize accurate control of the display content. The functional area 110 of the TFT substrate 100 is provided with a TFT circuit 111, which contains a large number of thin film transistors. These thin film transistors act as electronic switches and can independently control the charging and discharging process of each pixel, thereby adjusting the position of the pigment particles in the electronic ink layer 200, and finally realizing the display of images. In addition, the TFT circuit 111 can also integrate some driving circuits and signal transmission lines, which are used for communication with the mainboard of the device and receive and process display data. Specifically, during the display process, the mainboard of the device sends image signals to the driving circuit in the TFT circuit 111, and the driving circuit controls the opening and closing of each thin film transistor according to the signal content. When the thin film transistor is turned on, it will apply an electric field to the corresponding pixel, so that the pigment particles in the electronic ink layer 200 move in a predetermined manner, thereby displaying the corresponding pixel color. By quickly controlling the on-off state of a large number of thin film transistors, a complete image and text information can be refreshed on the screen.

[0027] In this embodiment, the encapsulation film 300 is used to encapsulate and protect the electronic ink layer 200, prevent ink leakage and external substances from polluting the ink, and also play the role of isolating oxygen and moisture, avoiding the performance change or damage of the materials in the electronic ink layer 200 due to the influence of oxygen and moisture. In addition, the encapsulation film 300 can also provide mechanical support to a certain extent, maintain the shape and structural stability of the electronic ink layer 200. It should be noted that the encapsulation film 300 needs to have good sealing, chemical stability and flexibility, and it is usually made of high molecular materials such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and the like. These materials not only can effectively prevent the penetration of oxygen and moisture, but also can adapt to the expansion and contraction of the electronic ink screen in different temperature and humidity environments, thereby avoiding the rupture of the encapsulation film 300.

[0028] In this embodiment, the light guide plate 500 is mainly used to uniformly guide the light to the display area of the electronic ink screen before the screen is turned on. The light emitted by the light source 600 in the front light system is scattered and reflected by the special structure of the light guide plate 500, so that the light can be uniformly distributed on the entire screen, avoiding the situation that the local brightness is too high or too low, thereby providing a comfortable and uniform lighting effect and improving the display clarity of the electronic ink screen in a weak light environment. It should be noted that the design of the light guide plate 500 is usually based on the principles of optical refraction and reflection, and it contains microstructures such as dots or prism sheets inside. These microstructures can change the propagation direction of light. After the light enters the light guide plate 500 from the light source 600, it will be reflected and refracted inside the light guide plate 500, and finally emitted from the light exit surface of the light guide plate 500 in a uniform manner, and illuminate the display area of the electronic ink screen.

[0029] In this embodiment, the optical adhesive 400 between the light guide plate 500 and the encapsulation film 300 mainly serves to tightly bond the light guide plate 500 and the encapsulation film 300 together and ensure good optical performance between them. In addition, the optical adhesive 400 can effectively fill the small gap between the light guide plate 500 and the encapsulation film 300, reduce the refraction and reflection of light by the air layer, and thus improve the light transmittance and display clarity of the screen. It should be noted that the optical adhesive 400 needs to have high transparency, low refractive index, good adhesion and weather resistance, etc. These characteristics enable it to maintain stable performance in different temperature and humidity environments, ensuring that the bonding between the light guide plate 500 and the encapsulation film 300 is firm and the optical performance is not affected.

[0030] In this embodiment, when the electronic ink screen is turned on, the matte structure 121 will cause the light emitted by the light source 600 to be diffusely reflected when it is incident on the light transmission area 120. Preferably, the light source 600 uses an LED light bar 610, and the LED light bar 610 is composed of a plurality of light-emitting diodes.

[0031] It can be understood that when the electronic ink screen is turned on with front light, the light source 600 emits light, and the light guide plate 500 can uniformly distribute the light emitted by the light source 600 on the screen, but the light emitted by the light source 600 will also be irradiated on the light transmission area 120 of the TFT substrate 100, and since the light transmission area 120 of the TFT substrate 100 is a frosted structure 121, the light irradiated on the light transmission area 120 will not be specularly reflected, but will be diffusely reflected, thereby weakening the reflection effect of the light transmission area 120 after the front light is turned on compared with the traditional scheme, that is, reducing the reflectivity of the light emitted by the light source 600 when irradiating on the light transmission area 120 after the front light is turned on, thereby avoiding the over-brightness of the edge of the screen, not only improving the display effect of the electronic ink screen, but also enabling the user to obtain a better viewing experience.

[0032] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 3 , Figure 3 The structure schematic diagram of the light guide plate under different viewing angles is shown, the cross-sectional shape of the light guide plate 500 is rectangular, in this case, the surface of the light guide plate 500 includes an upper surface, a lower surface and four side surfaces, the upper surface is opposite and spaced apart from the lower surface, the four side surfaces are connected between the periphery of the upper surface and the periphery of the lower surface, the four side surfaces include two opposite short side surfaces and two opposite long side surfaces, and the lower surface is close to the encapsulation film 300. Specifically, the light source 600 is arranged on one short side surface, the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces are each formed with a first black coating layer 510, and the edge of the upper surface of the light guide plate 500 is formed with a second black coating layer 520 connected with the first black coating layer 510. It can be understood that by arranging the first black coating layer 510 and the second black coating layer 520, the light absorption effect can be strengthened, the edge light can be reduced, and thus the amount of light reflected by the light transmission area 120 of the TFT substrate 100 after the front light is turned on can be further weakened, and the display effect of the electronic ink screen can be further improved.

[0033] Of course, the structure for light absorption on the light guide plate 500 is not limited to the black coating layer (i.e. the first black coating layer 510 and the second black coating layer 520), and in other embodiments, the black coating layer can be replaced by other structures with light absorption function in the art, such as replacing the black coating layer with an optical tape, i.e. the light source 600 is arranged on one short side surface, the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces are each attached with a first optical tape, and the edge of the upper surface of the light guide plate 500 is attached with a second optical tape connected with the first optical tape. It should be noted that whether the structure for light absorption on the light guide plate 500 is a black coating layer or an optical tape can be selected according to actual needs, and the present application does not make a unique limitation in this regard.

[0034] In some embodiments, the surface of the electronic ink layer 200 away from the TFT substrate 100 includes an effective display area 210 and an ineffective display area 220 other than the effective display area 210, the effective display area 210 corresponding to the functional area 110 on the TFT substrate 100, so that the pigment particles in each capsule in the effective display area 210 can be controlled by the TFT circuit 111 in the functional area 110, but the pigment particles in each capsule in the ineffective display area 220 cannot be controlled by the TFT circuit 111 in the functional area 110, that is, the picture in the effective display area 210 is changeable while the picture in the ineffective display area 220 is fixed when the electronic ink screen is used. Preferably, the ineffective display area 220 always displays a full black picture so as to better absorb light and improve the display effect of the electronic ink screen.

[0035] Specifically, in the actual bonding process of the electronic ink layer 200 and the TFT substrate 100, the electronic ink layer 200 can be first made on a protective substrate, which temporarily supports and protects the electronic ink layer 200, at this time the surface of the electronic ink layer 200 away from the protective substrate includes an effective display area 210 and an ineffective display area 220 other than the effective display area 210; then, by controlling the pigment particles in each capsule in the electronic ink layer 200, the surface of the electronic ink layer 200 away from the protective substrate displays a full black picture (i.e. the effective display area 210 and the ineffective display area 220 both display a full black picture), and the opposite surface (i.e. the surface of the electronic ink layer 200 close to the protective substrate) displays a full white picture; finally, the electronic ink layer 200 is peeled off from the protective substrate so as to paste the surface of the electronic ink layer 200 displaying a full white picture on the TFT substrate 100, and make the effective display area 210 correspond to the functional area 110 on the TFT substrate 100. It can be understood that although the effective display area 210 and the ineffective display area 220 both display a full black picture before and after the electronic ink layer 200 is bonded with the TFT substrate 100, when the electronic ink screen is manufactured and put into use, the pigment particles in each capsule in the effective display area 210 can be controlled by the TFT circuit 111 in the functional area 110, that is, the picture in the effective display area 210 is changeable, while the ineffective display area 220 displays a full black picture all the time because it does not correspond to the functional area 110 on the TFT substrate 100, thereby enhancing the light absorption effect.

[0036] In some embodiments, please refer to Figure 1, in addition to the structure given in the foregoing, the electronic ink screen further comprises a touch sensing layer 700 which is attached to the light guide plate 500 through the optical adhesive 400. It can be understood that the touch sensing layer 700 is mainly used to realize the touch operation function of the electronic ink screen by the user, when the user touches the screen, the touch sensing layer 700 can perceive the information such as touch position, touch force and touch gesture, and transmit these information to the control system of the device, so as to realize the operation functions such as page turning, selection, writing and so on, and thus enhance the interactivity of the device. In addition, it should be noted that the common touch technology includes capacitive touch and resistive touch, the capacitive touch is the way adopted by most electronic devices at present, which uses the human body electric field and the capacitive sensing electrode inside the screen to detect the touch operation, when the finger touches the screen, the capacitance value at the touch point will change, if the touch sensing layer 700 adopts capacitive touch, then the touch sensing layer 700 can determine the touch position by detecting these capacitance changes. It should be noted that, since the technology of the touch sensing layer 700 is mature in the art, the present application does not make too much description on the touch sensing layer 700.

[0037] In some embodiments, referring to Figure 1 , in addition to the structure given in the foregoing, the electronic ink screen further comprises a cover plate 800 which is attached to the touch sensing layer 700 through the optical adhesive 400. It can be understood that the cover plate 800 is the outermost protective structure of the electronic ink screen, similar to the glass cover plate of the mobile phone screen, its main function is to protect the electronic elements and display materials inside the electronic ink screen from physical damage (such as scratching, collision, dust and water, etc.) from the outside world, at the same time, the cover plate 800 also needs to have good light transmittance to ensure that the user can clearly see the content displayed on the screen. In addition, it should be noted that the cover plate 800 generally adopts high-hardness glass materials such as corning gorilla glass, etc., so as to provide sufficient wear resistance and scratch resistance; the surface of the cover plate 800 is usually treated specially, the purpose is to reduce the adhesion of fingerprints and reflection, so as to improve the visual experience of the user.

[0038] Referring to Figure 4 , Figure 4is a flowchart of a manufacturing method of an electronic ink screen. The embodiment provides a manufacturing method of an electronic ink screen, which is used for manufacturing the electronic ink screen described above, and includes steps 401 to 406 (abbreviated as S401 to S406), namely: S401, obtaining a glass plate with a functional area and a light-transmitting area other than the functional area; S402, etching the light-transmitting area to form a frosted structure on the light-transmitting area; S403, manufacturing a TFT circuit on the functional area to obtain a TFT substrate; S404, attaching an electronic ink layer on the TFT substrate corresponding to the functional area; S405, attaching an encapsulation film on the electronic ink layer; and S406, attaching a light guide plate on the encapsulation film, and the light guide plate is provided with a light source on a side surface of the light guide plate, and the light source is located at one end of the light guide plate. In addition, it should be noted that for the details not described in the manufacturing method, please refer to the related description of the electronic ink screen above, and the embodiment will not be described here.

[0039] The above embodiment is only a preferred implementation of the present application, and is not the only limitation of the electronic ink screen and the manufacturing method thereof; based on the above embodiment, those skilled in the art can flexibly set it according to the actual application scene. It can be understood that through the implementation of the above embodiment of the present application, the TFT substrate 100, the electronic ink layer 200, the encapsulation film 300, the light guide plate 500 and the light source 600 together constitute the electronic ink screen, one surface of the TFT substrate 100 includes the functional area 110 and the light-transmitting area 120 other than the functional area 110, the electronic ink layer 200 is attached on the functional area 110, the encapsulation film 300 is attached on the electronic ink layer 200, the light guide plate 500 is attached on the encapsulation film 300 through the optical adhesive 400, the light source 600 is arranged on the side surface of the light guide plate 500 and located at one end of the light guide plate 500, and the light-transmitting area 120 is the frosted structure 121. When the electronic ink screen is turned on, the frosted structure 121 will cause the light emitted by the light source 600 to be diffusely reflected when irradiating on the light-transmitting area 120. In actual application, when the electronic ink screen is turned on, the light source 600 emits light, and the light guide plate 500 can uniformly distribute the light emitted by the light source 600 on the screen, but the light emitted by the light source 600 will also irradiate on the light-transmitting area 120 of the TFT substrate 100. Since the light-transmitting area 120 of the TFT substrate 100 is the frosted structure 121, the light irradiating on the light-transmitting area 120 will not be specularly reflected, but will be diffusely reflected, thereby weakening the reflection effect of the light-transmitting area 120 after the front light is turned on compared with the traditional scheme, i.e., reducing the reflectivity of the light emitted by the light source 600 when irradiating on the light-transmitting area 120 after the front light is turned on, thereby avoiding the over-brightness of the edge of the screen, which not only improves the display effect of the electronic ink screen, but also enables the user to obtain a better viewing experience.

[0040] It should be noted that the several embodiments shown above in this application are described in a progressive manner, with each embodiment focusing on the differences from other embodiments. Similar or identical parts between embodiments can be referred to interchangeably. It should also be noted that in the textual description of this application, relational terms such as "first" and "second" are used only to distinguish one entity or operation from another, and do not necessarily require or imply such an actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Furthermore, the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements may include not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or apparatus; and, without further limitations, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or apparatus that includes said element.

[0041] Furthermore, those skilled in the art can implement or use this application by practicing the several embodiments shown above. Various modifications to the embodiments shown above will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the general principles defined herein may be implemented in other embodiments not shown without departing from the spirit or scope of this application. Therefore, this application is not to be limited to the several embodiments shown above, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. An electronic ink screen, characterized in that, The device includes a light source, a light guide plate, an encapsulation film, an electronic ink layer, and a TFT substrate. One surface of the TFT substrate includes a functional area and a light-transmitting area other than the functional area. The electronic ink layer is attached to the functional area, the encapsulation film is attached to the electronic ink layer, and the light guide plate is attached to the encapsulation film. The light source is disposed on the side of the light guide plate and located at one end of the light guide plate. The light-transmitting area has a matte structure. The matte structure is used to cause diffuse reflection of the light emitted by the light source when it shines on the light-transmitting area after the front light of the electronic ink screen is turned on.

2. The electronic ink screen according to claim 1, characterized in that, The surface of the light guide plate includes an upper surface, a lower surface, and four side surfaces. The upper surface and the lower surface are opposite to each other and spaced apart. The four side surfaces are connected end to end and between the periphery of the upper surface and the periphery of the lower surface. The four side surfaces include two opposite short side surfaces and two opposite long side surfaces. The lower surface is close to the encapsulation film. The light source is disposed on one of the short side surfaces. A first black coating is formed on the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces.

3. The electronic ink screen according to claim 2, characterized in that, The edge of the upper surface is formed with a second black coating that is in contact with the first black coating.

4. The electronic ink screen according to claim 1, characterized in that, The surface of the light guide plate includes an upper surface, a lower surface, and four side surfaces. The upper surface and the lower surface are opposite to each other and spaced apart. The four side surfaces are connected end to end and between the periphery of the upper surface and the periphery of the lower surface. The four side surfaces include two opposite short side surfaces and two opposite long side surfaces. The lower surface is close to the encapsulation film. The light source is disposed on one of the short side surfaces. A first light-shielding tape is attached to the other short side surface and the two long side surfaces.

5. The electronic ink screen according to claim 4, characterized in that, The edge of the upper surface is covered with a second light-blocking tape that is connected to the first light-blocking tape.

6. The electronic ink screen according to claim 1, characterized in that, The surface of the electronic ink layer away from the TFT substrate includes an effective display area and an ineffective display area other than the effective display area. The effective display area corresponds to the functional area on the TFT substrate, and the ineffective display area always displays a completely black screen.

7. The electronic ink screen according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes a touch sensing layer, which is attached to the light guide plate by optical adhesive.

8. The electronic ink screen according to claim 7, characterized in that, It also includes a cover plate, which is attached to the touch sensing layer by optical adhesive.

9. The electronic ink screen according to claim 1, characterized in that, The light source includes an LED light strip, which comprises a plurality of light-emitting diodes.

10. A method for manufacturing an electronic ink screen, characterized in that, For manufacturing an electronic ink screen according to any one of claims 1 to 9, comprising: Obtain a glass plate whose surface includes a functional area and a light-transmitting area other than the functional area; The light-transmitting area is etched to form a matte structure in the light-transmitting area; A TFT circuit is fabricated in the functional area to obtain a TFT substrate; An electronic ink layer is attached to the TFT substrate corresponding to the functional area; An encapsulation film is attached to the electronic ink layer; A light guide plate is attached to the encapsulation film, and a light source is provided on the side of the light guide plate, with the light source located at one end of the light guide plate.

11. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, characterized in that, The step of attaching an electronic ink layer on the TFT substrate corresponding to the functional area includes: An electronic ink layer is fabricated on a protective substrate, wherein the surface of the electronic ink layer away from the protective substrate includes an effective display area and an ineffective display area other than the effective display area; The surface of the electronic ink layer away from the protective substrate displays a completely black image, while the opposite surface displays a completely white image. Peel the electronic ink layer off the protective substrate; The surface of the electronic ink layer displaying a pure white image is attached to the TFT substrate, and the effective display area corresponds to the functional area on the TFT substrate.

12. The manufacturing method according to claim 10, characterized in that, After the step of attaching the light guide plate to the encapsulation film, the method further includes: A touch-sensing layer is attached to the light guide plate.

13. The manufacturing method according to claim 12, characterized in that, After the step of attaching the touch sensing layer to the light guide plate, the method further includes: A cover plate is attached to the touch sensing layer.

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