Apparatus for touch screen and electronic device comprising the same

• US 10,379,669 B2
• Filed: 09/13/2016
• Issued: 08/13/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: LG Display Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Oh, JunSeok, Hwang, JongHee
• Primary Examiner(s): Boddie, William
• Assistant Examiner(s): Tzeng, Fred
• Application Number:
  US15/264,443
• Publication Number:
  US 20170315669A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,064 Days
• Field of Search: 345174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04101 2.5D-digitiser, i.e. digitiser detecting the X/Y position of the input means, finger or stylus, also when it does not touch, but is proximate to the digitiser's interaction surface and also measures the distance of the input means within a short range in the Z direction, possibly with a separate measurement setup
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04102 Flexible digitiser, i.e. constructional details for allowing the whole digitising part of a device to be flexed or rolled like a sheet of paper
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04105 Pressure sensors for measuring the pressure or force exerted on the touch surface without providing the touch position
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0412 Digitisers structurally integrated in a display
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04144 using an array of force sensing means position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells G06F3/0447
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04166 Details of scanning methods, e.g. sampling time, grouping of sub areas or time sharing with display driving Synchronisation with the driving of the display or the backlighting unit to avoid interferences generated internally G06F3/04184
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0418 for error correction or compensation, e.g. based on parallax, calibration or alignment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/044 by capacitive means
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/045 using resistive elements, e.g. a single continuous surface or two parallel surfaces put in contact

Abstract

Discussed is a touch screen apparatus according to an embodiment having a flat, curved or bending type display device, and an electronic device including the same. The touch screen apparatus includes a touch sensing circuit for outputting three-dimensional (3D) touch information by sensing a touch position through a first touch sensor and sensing a touch force through a second touch sensor.

Claims

1. A touch screen apparatus comprising:

a first touch panel having a first touch sensor whose capacitance is changed by a user touch input;

a second touch panel having a second touch sensor whose resistance is changed by the user touch input; and

a touch sensing circuit configured to generate and output three-dimensional (3D) touch information by sensing a touch position through the first touch sensor and sensing a touch force through the second touch sensor based on of a touch synchronization signal,

wherein the first and second touch panels are separated from each other and disposed at different layers,

wherein the touch synchronization signal has first and second periods,

wherein the touch sensing circuit is further configured to;

during the first period, generate touch raw data corresponding to the user touch input by sensing a change of capacitance in the first touch sensor, and

during the second period, generate force raw data corresponding to the user touch input by sensing a change of resistance in the second touch sensor, calculate a touch position including coordinates of the user touch input based on the touch raw data, and generate and output the 3D touch information based on the touch position and the force raw data, and

wherein the touch sensing circuit generates the force raw data by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor and simultaneously calculates touch position data from the touch raw data.

2. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensing circuit calculates touch force data from the force raw data, and generates and outputs the 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data.

3. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensing circuit includes:

a first touch integrated circuit for generating the touch raw data by sensing the change of capacitance in the first touch sensor and calculating touch position data from the touch raw data; and

a second touch integrated circuit for generating the force raw data by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor and calculating touch force data from the force raw data,

wherein the first touch integrated circuit or second touch integrated circuit generates and outputs the 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data.

4. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the first touch integrated circuit generates a force touch synchronization signal based on the touch synchronization signal, and generates and outputs the 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data, and

wherein the second touch integrated circuit calculates the touch force data based on the force raw data according to the force touch synchronization signal and provides the touch force data to the first touch integrated circuit.

5. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second touch panel includes:

a first substrate having a touch sensing line;

a second substrate having a touch driving line being in perpendicular to the touch sensing line; and

a resistor member prepared between the touch driving line and the touch sensing line,

wherein the second touch sensor is provided at an intersection of the touch driving line and the touch sensing line.

6. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second touch panel includes:

a first substrate having a touch driving line and a touch sensing line being in parallel;

a second substrate for covering the first substrate;

a resistor member prepared on a lower surface of the second substrate while being confronted with the first substrate; and

a substrate attachment member for preparing a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate,

wherein the second touch sensor is provided between the touch sensing line and the touch driving line being in contact with the resistor member.

7. An electronic device comprising:

a display panel for displaying an image; and

the touch screen apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein each of the first and second touch panels of the touch screen apparatus is overlapped with the display panel.

8. The electronic device according to claim 7, further comprising:

a housing with a space for receiving the display panel and the first and second touch panels therein; and

a cover window for covering the space of the housing,

wherein the second touch panel is disposed below the display panel or the cover window.

9. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the touch sensing circuit of the touch screen apparatus includes:

a first touch integrated circuit for generating touch raw data by sensing the change of capacitance in the first touch sensor and calculating touch position data from the touch raw data; and

a second touch integrated circuit for generating force raw data by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor and calculating touch force data from the force raw data,

wherein the first touch integrated circuit or second touch integrated circuit generates and outputs 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, wherein the first touch integrated circuit generates a force touch synchronization signal based on a touch synchronization signal, generates the 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data, and outputs the 3D touch information to a host processing circuit, and

wherein the second touch integrated circuit calculates the touch force data based the force raw data according to on the force touch synchronization signal, and provides the touch force data to the first integrated circuit.

11. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the second touch panel includes:

a first substrate having a touch sensing line;

a second substrate having a touch driving line being in perpendicular to the touch sensing line; and

a resistor member prepared between the touch driving line and the touch sensing line,

wherein the second touch sensor is provided at an intersection between the touch driving line and the touch sensing line.

12. The electronic device according to claim 7, wherein the second touch panel includes:

a first substrate having a touch driving line and a touch sensing line being in parallel;

a second substrate for covering the first substrate;

a resistor member prepared on a lower surface of the second substrate while being confronted with the first substrate; and

a substrate attachment member for preparing a gap between the first substrate and the second substrate,

wherein the second touch sensor is provided between the touch sensing line and the touch driving line being in contact with the resistor member.

13. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the touch sensing circuit includes:

a selector;

a first sensing unit that generates a touch sensing signal in accordance with the change of capacitance in the first touch sensor;

a second sensing unit that generates a force sensing signal in accordance with the change of resistance in the second touch sensor; and

a touch processing circuit,

wherein the selector selects the first sensing unit or the second sensing unit, and

wherein the touch processing circuit generates the 3D touch information based on the touch sensing signal and the force sensing signal.

14. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the touch sensing circuit further includes a second selector that selectively supplies a touch driving signal to the first touch panel or the second touch panel.

15. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 13, wherein the touch synchronization signal has first and second periods, and

wherein the first sensing unit generates a touch sensing signal by sensing the change of capacitance in the first touch sensor for the first period, the second sensing unit generates the force sensing signal by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor for the second period, and the touch processing circuit generates and outputs the 3D touch information based on the touch sensing signal and the force sensing signal.

16. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the second sensing unit generates the force sensing signal by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor and simultaneously, the touch processing circuit calculates touch position data from the touch sensing signal, calculates touch force data from the force sensing signal, and generates and outputs the 3D touch information based on the touch position data and the touch force data.

17. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 1, wherein generation of the touch raw data in the first period is completed before a start of generation of the force raw data in the second period, and generation of the force raw data and calculation of the touch position are performed in parallel during the second period.

18. A touch screen apparatus comprising:

a first touch panel having a first touch sensor whose capacitance is changed by a user touch input;

a second touch panel having a second touch sensor whose resistance is changed by the user touch input; and

a touch sensing circuit configured to generate and output three-dimensional (3D) touch information by sensing a touch position through the first touch sensor and sensing a touch force through the second touch sensor on the basis of a touch synchronization signal,

wherein the first and second touch panels are separated from each other and disposed at different layers,

wherein the touch synchronization signal has first and second periods,

wherein the first period of the touch synchronization signal includes at least one first sensing period and at least one second sensing period different from the at least one first sensing period, and

wherein the touch sensing circuit is further configured to;

during the at least one first sensing period in the first period, generate touch raw data corresponding to the user touch input by sensing a change of capacitance in the first touch sensor,

during the at least one second sensing period in the first period, generate force raw data corresponding to the user touch input by sensing a change of resistance in the second touch sensor, and

during the second period, generate and output the 3D touch information based on the touch position and the force raw data,

wherein the touch sensing circuit generates the force raw data by sensing the change of resistance in the second touch sensor and simultaneously calculates touch position data from the touch raw data during the at least one second sensing period.

19. The touch screen apparatus according to claim 18, wherein the touch sensing circuit includes:

a selector;

a first sensing unit that generates a touch sensing signal in accordance with the change of capacitance in the first touch sensor;

a second sensing unit that generates a force sensing signal in accordance with the change of resistance in the second touch sensor; and

a touch processing circuit,

wherein the selector selects the first sensing unit or the second sensing unit, and

wherein the touch processing circuit generates the 3D touch information based on the touch sensing signal and the force sensing signal.

20. An electronic device comprising:

a display panel for displaying an image; and

the touch screen apparatus according to claim 18,

wherein each of the first and second touch panels of the touch screen apparatus is overlapped with the display panel.