Displays with minimized border regions having an apertured TFT layer for signal conductors

• US 10,261,370 B2
• Filed: 10/05/2011
• Issued: 04/16/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/05/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Drzaic, Paul S., Franklin, Jeremy C., Lynch, Stephen Brian, Myers, Scott A., Rappoport, Benjamin M., Rothkopf, Fletcher R., Ternus, John P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Jordan, Andrew
• Application Number:
  US13/253,844
• Publication Number:
  US 20130088671A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,750 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/13452 Conductors connecting driver circuitry and terminals of panels
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 2201/42 Arrangements for providing conduction through an insulating substrate

Abstract

An electronic device may be provided with a display having a thin-film transistor layer. One or more holes in the thin-film transistor layer may be used to form pathways from display circuitry to other circuitry underneath the display. One or more conductive bridges may pass through holes in the thin-film transistor layer and may have one end that couples to the display circuitry and a second end that couples to a printed circuit underneath the display. These conductive bridges may be formed from wire bonding. Wire bond connections may be encapsulated with potting material to improve the reliability of the wire bond and increase the resiliency of the display. Display signal lines may be routed through holes in a thin-film transistor layer to run along a backside of the display thereby reducing the need for space in the border region for display circuitry.

Claims

1. An electronic device, comprising:

a printed circuit substrate;

a thin-film transistor layer having an upper surface and having thin-film transistor circuitry on the upper surface that controls display pixels of different colors, wherein the thin-film transistor layer includes an array of openings, wherein the thin-film transistor layer forms part of a display for the electronic device having a layer of liquid crystal material, and wherein the thin-film transistor layer extends around an entire perimeter of each of the openings;

conductive structures that each pass through a respective one of the openings in the thin-film transistor layer, wherein the conductive structures electrically couple the thin-film transistor circuitry to circuitry on the printed circuit substrate; and

a backlight layer interposed between the printed circuit substrate and the thin-film transistor layer, wherein the backlight layer illuminates the layer of liquid crystal material.

2. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the conductive structures each comprise a wire bond that passes through a respective one of the openings in the thin-film transistor layer.

3. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein each of the wire bonds has a first end that is electrically connected to a bond pad on the thin-film transistor layer and a second end that is electrically connected to a bond pad on the printed circuit substrate.

4. The electronic device defined in claim 2 further comprising:

potting material that fills each of the respective openings in the thin-film transistor layer and that encapsulates each of the wire bonds that passes through each of the respective openings.

5. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein each of the wire bonds has a first end that is electrically connected to a bond pad on the upper surface of the thin-film transistor layer and has a second end that is electrically connected to a bond pad on the printed circuit substrate.

6. The electronic device defined in claim 5 wherein the display comprises a color filter layer, and wherein the layer of liquid crystal material is interposed between the color filter layer and the thin-film transistor layer.

7. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the thin-film transistor layer comprises a flexible substrate that includes at least one sheet of polymer.

8. The electronic device defined in claim 2 wherein the thin-film transistor layer comprises a flexible substrate that includes a metal foil.

9. The electronic device defined in claim 1 wherein the printed circuit substrate comprises a flexible printed circuit substrate.

10. The electronic device defined in claim 1, further comprising:

a color filter layer that overlaps the thin-film transistor layer to form the display pixels of different colors; and

a plurality of additional openings in the thin-film transistor layer, wherein the plurality of additional openings overlap the thin-film transistor layer, the color filter layer, and the display pixels of different colors.

11. The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the display pixels of different colors are arranged in an array, and wherein the backlight layer, the printed circuit substrate, and the array of display pixels of different colors each overlap each other.

12. The electronic device defined in claim 11, wherein the printed circuit substrate has an upper surface and a lower surface, and wherein the upper surface is interposed between the backlight layer and the lower surface, the electronic device further comprising:

a driver integrated circuit mounted to the lower surface of the printed circuit substrate, wherein the driver integrated circuit provides control signals to the thin-film transistor circuitry through the conductive structures that each pass through a respective one of the openings.

13. The electronic device defined in claim 12, wherein the backlight layer, the printed circuit substrate, the array of display pixels of different colors, the layer of liquid crystal material, and the driver integrated circuit each overlap each other.

14. The electronic device defined in claim 1, wherein the conductive structures each comprise conductive material that fills a respective one of the openings and that electrically couples the thin-film transistor circuitry to the circuitry on the printed circuit substrate.

15. An electronic device, comprising:

a thin-film transistor layer having a thin-film transistor layer substrate with opposing first and second surfaces, wherein an array of display pixels of different colors are formed on the first surface, wherein control lines are formed on the first surface that are configured to control the display pixels, wherein the thin-film transistor layer substrate has a plurality of openings, and wherein each of the plurality of openings extends from the first surface to the second surface; and

a printed circuit that extends behind the thin-film transistor layer substrate such that the second surface is interposed between the first surface and the printed circuit, wherein the printed circuit contains signal lines that distribute control signals to the control lines through the plurality of openings, wherein a given one of the signal lines passes from the first surface of the thin-film transistor layer substrate to the printed circuit through a first opening in the plurality of openings, wherein the given one of the signal lines extends behind the thin-film transistor layer substrate on the printed circuit to a second opening in the plurality of openings, and wherein the given one of the signal lines passes from the printed circuit to the first surface of the thin-film transistor layer through the second opening to couple the printed circuit to at least one of the control lines.

16. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising conductive material that fills the openings, wherein the control signals are conveyed through the conductive material.

17. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising wire bonds that pass through the openings, wherein the control signals are conveyed through the wire bonds.

18. The electronic device defined in claim 17, wherein each of the wire bonds passes through a respective opening in the plurality of openings, the electronic device further comprising potting material that covers each of the wire bonds in each of the respective openings.

19. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising a backlight layer interposed between the printed circuit and the thin-film transistor layer, wherein the backlight layer illuminates the display pixels of different colors.

20. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the thin-film transistor layer forms part of a liquid crystal display, wherein the liquid crystal display comprises a color filter layer, and wherein the liquid crystal display comprises a layer of liquid crystal material interposed between the color filter layer and the thin-film transistor layer.

21. The electronic device defined in claim 15 wherein the display pixels comprise thin-film transistors and wherein the control lines include data lines and gate lines.

22. The electronic device defined in claim 15 further comprising:

a driver integrated circuit mounted on the printed circuit behind the thin-film transistor layer substrate, wherein the given one of the signal lines couples the driver integrated circuit to the at least one of the control lines through the at least one of the plurality of openings.

23. The electronic device defined in claim 22, wherein the printed circuit has upper and lower surfaces, wherein the upper surface is interposed between the lower surface and the second surface of the thin-film transistor layer substrate, and wherein the driver integrated circuit is mounted to the lower surface of the printed circuit.

24. The electronic device defined in claim 23, wherein the array of display pixels of different colors overlaps the driver integrated circuit.

25. The electronic device defined in claim 15, further comprising:

a driver integrated circuit mounted on the first surface of the thin-film transistor layer substrate, wherein the at least one of the signal lines is coupled to the driver integrated circuit on the first surface and extends on the first surface from the driver integrated circuit to the first opening.

26. The electronic device defined in claim 25, wherein the control lines comprise gate lines and data lines, wherein the at least one of the signal lines couples the driver integrated circuit to the gate lines such that the driver integrated circuit provides control signals to the gate lines through the first and second openings, and wherein the display driver integrated circuit provides additional control signals to the data lines through conductive traces that are formed only on the first surface of the thin-film transistor layer substrate.