Integrated Touch Display Electrode Structure
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current display devices with integrated touch screens face challenges in achieving a slim, low-profile design while maintaining effective touch sensitivity and manufacturing efficiency, particularly in portable devices like smartphones and tablets.
Innovation Solution
The design incorporates a display panel with a first and second substrate, thin film transistors, protective layers, electrodes, and an optical layer that generates an electric field for touch detection, along with a sensing line structure using conductive layers to enhance touch sensitivity without increasing device thickness, and a method of fabrication that includes sequential layer formation and patterning using photoresist patterns and half-tone masks to reduce manufacturing complexity and costs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Length of moving object
If separate touch screen panels are used, then touch sensitivity is maintained, but device thickness increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the display panel and touch sensor panel into a single integrated structure. The touch sensor electrodes are formed on the same substrate as the display elements, eliminating the need for separate touch screen panels while maintaining both display and touch functionality. This integration directly reduces device thickness while preserving touch sensitivity.
Solution Approach 2:
The display panel is designed to serve dual functions: displaying visual information and detecting touch inputs. The same substrate and electrode structures are used for both display operation and touch sensing, allowing a single component to perform multiple functions that previously required separate panels.
2Length of moving object
If integrated touch screen elements are added to display panel, then device thickness is reduced, but manufacturing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing process is divided into distinct sequential stages: forming the display element structure first, then adding the touch sensor electrode structure on top. This segmentation allows each layer to be optimized and manufactured independently using standard processes, reducing overall manufacturing complexity despite the integrated final product.
Solution Approach 2:
The display element structure is formed first as a preliminary step before adding the touch sensor electrodes. This preliminary action establishes the base structure, allowing subsequent touch sensor layers to be added without interfering with display element formation, thereby simplifying the overall manufacturing sequence.
3Ease of manufacture
If touch sensor electrodes are integrated into display panel, then manufacturing steps increase, but separate touch panel assembly is eliminated
Solution Approach 1:
The manufacturing processes for display elements and touch sensor electrodes are merged into a single integrated fabrication sequence. Both structures are formed on the same substrate through coordinated patterning and deposition steps, eliminating the need for separate assembly of touch and display panels while streamlining the overall manufacturing workflow.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enables the creation of slim, touch-sensitive display devices with improved sensitivity and reduced manufacturing costs, allowing for efficient production of low-profile portable devices without the need for separate touch screen panels.
Implementation Method 1
an optical layer configured to selectively transmit and block light by an electric field generated by the first electrode and the second electrode
Data Source
AI summary
A display device includes a display element including a first electrode, a protective layer arranged on the first electrode, a second electrode arranged on the protective layer at a pixel area and contacting a thin film transistor. A sensing line is arranged on the protective layer and contacts the first electrode through a contact hole exposing the first electrode through the third protective layer. The sensing line comprises a first conductive layer arranged on the protective layer and contacting the second electrode through the contact hole, and a second conductive layer arranged on the first conductive layer.