Display with touch sensor circuitry

• US 10,019,090 B2
• Filed: 08/16/2016
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/18/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Gharghi, Majid, Lee, Sungki, Jamshidi Roudbari, Abbas, Yeh, Shin-Hung, Chang, Ting-Kuo, Chen, Yu Cheng
• Primary Examiner(s): Chang, Kent W
• Assistant Examiner(s): Brittingham, Nathaniel P
• Application Number:
  US15/238,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20170269744A1
• Time in Patent Office: 693 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13338 Input devices, e.g. touch panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/136286 Wiring, e.g. gate line, drain line
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04111 Cross over in capacitive digitiser, i.e. details of structures for connecting electrodes of the sensing pattern where the connections cross each other, e.g. bridge structures comprising an insulating layer, or vias through substrate
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04164 Connections between sensors and controllers, e.g. routing lines between electrodes and connection pads
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0446 using a grid-like structure of electrodes in at least two directions, e.g. using row and column electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 2354/00 Aspects of interface with display user
• CPC Class Codes: G09G 3/3648 using an active matrix G09G3/367 - G09G3/3696 take precedence

Abstract

A display may have an array of pixels. A transparent conductive layer may serve as a common voltage electrode layer and may distribute a common voltage to each of the pixels. Metal layers may be used to form routing structures. One of the metal layers may be patterned to form gate lines that distribute control signals to thin-film transistors in the pixels. Touch sensor circuitry may be coupled to horizontal and vertical capacitive touch sensor electrodes formed from the transparent conductive layer. A touch sensor signal border routing path in an inactive area of the display may have openings that run parallel to the gate lines and that each overlap one of the gate lines to reduce capacitive coupling between the gate lines and the touch sensor signal border routing path.

Claims

1. A display, comprising:

a substrate; and

thin-film circuitry on the substrate that forms an array of pixels and touch sensor circuitry, wherein the thin-film circuitry includes at least a first conductive layer that forms part of the pixels and that forms touch sensor electrodes for the touch sensor circuitry, a second conductive layer that forms gate lines coupled to the pixels, and a third conductive layer that forms part of a touch sensor signal border routing path, wherein the third conductive layer has openings that each overlap a respective one of the gate lines.

2. The display defined in claim 1 wherein the array of pixels has rows of pixels that extend along a horizontal dimension and columns of pixels that extend along a vertical dimension, wherein the touch sensor electrodes include horizontal electrodes that extend along the horizontal dimension, and wherein the touch sensor electrodes include vertical electrodes that extend along the vertical dimension.

3. The display defined in claim 2 further comprising gate driver circuitry, wherein the gate driver circuitry is coupled to the gate lines.

4. The display defined in claim 3 wherein the display has an active area in which the array of pixels is formed and has an inactive border area that is free of pixels and in which the touch sensor signal border routing path is formed.

5. The display defined in claim 4 wherein the signal border routing path includes multiple conductive layers including the third conductive layer.

6. The display defined in claim 5 wherein the third conductive layer comprises a metal layer.

7. The display defined in claim 6 wherein the multiple conductive layers include at least one indium tin oxide layer.

8. The display defined in claim 6 wherein the first conductive layer comprises an indium tin oxide layer and wherein the multiple conductive layers include at least the indium tin oxide layer and an additional indium tin oxide layer.

9. The display defined in claim 8 wherein the second conductive layer is a metal layer.

10. The display defined in claim 9 wherein the multiple conductive layers include at least two metal layers in addition to the third conductive layer.

11. The display defined in claim 10 wherein a given one of the at least two metal layers is interposed between the first conductive layer and the third conductive layer.

12. The display defined in claim 11 wherein the additional indium tin oxide layer has a portion that is shorted to a portion of the given one of the at least two metal layers.

13. The display defined in claim 12 wherein each pixel includes a thin-film transistor and wherein the portion of the given one of the at least two metal layers forms a source-drain terminal for the transistor.

14. The display defined in claim 13 wherein the openings are slot-shaped openings and wherein portions of the third conductive layer surround each of the slot-shaped openings.

15. The display defined in claim 13 wherein the openings are gaps that each separate a first portion of the third conductive layer in the touch sensor signal border routing path from a second portion of the third conductive layer in the touch sensor signal border routing path and that are not surrounded by portions of the third conductive layer.

16. A display, comprising:

a substrate;

thin-film circuitry on the substrate that forms an array of pixels and touch sensor circuitry;

display driver circuitry coupled to gate lines that are associated with rows of the pixels;

data lines that are associated with columns of the pixels;

horizontal touch sensor electrodes that run parallel to the gate lines;

vertical touch sensor electrodes that run parallel to the data lines;

touch sensor signal border routing paths each coupled to a respective one of the horizontal touch sensor electrodes; and

touch sensor circuitry that supplies signals to the horizontal touch sensor electrodes through the touch sensor signal border routing paths and that receives signals from the vertical touch sensor electrodes, wherein the touch sensor signal border routing paths are each formed from multiple conductive layers and wherein at least one of the multiple conductive layers has slot-shaped openings that run parallel to the gate lines.

17. The display defined in claim 16 wherein each slot-shaped opening overlaps a respective one of the gate lines.

18. The display defined in claim 17 wherein the multiple conductive layers include a common voltage electrode layer that is patterned to form the horizontal touch sensor electrodes and the vertical touch sensor electrodes and that supplies a voltage to a node in each of the pixels.

19. A display, comprising:

pixels;

gate lines that supply signals to the pixels;

capacitive touch sensor electrodes;

touch sensor circuitry;

touch sensor signal border routing paths that supply signals from the touch sensor circuitry to the capacitive touch sensor electrodes, wherein the touch sensor signal border routing paths include at least five conductive layers, wherein at least one of the five conductive layers has openings that run parallel to the gate lines, and wherein each opening overlaps a respective one of the gate lines; and

a transparent conductive layer that is patterned to form the capacitive touch sensor electrodes and that provides a voltage to each of the pixels.