In-cell touch panel, driving method thereof and display device

• US 10,459,555 B2
• Filed: 10/24/2016
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Beijing BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co Ltd. (BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.), BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Original Assignee: BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd.
• Inventors: Yang, Shengji, Dong, Xue, Xue, Hailin, Chen, Xiaochuan, Wang, Haisheng, Liu, Yingming, Zhao, Weijie, Ding, Xiaoliang, Liu, Hongjuan, Li, Changfeng, Wang, Pengpeng, Liu, Wei
• Primary Examiner(s): Liang, Dong Hui
• Application Number:
  US15/525,781
• Publication Number:
  US 20180018052A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,100 Days
• 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 3/04166 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 3/0443 using a single layer of sensing electrodes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0447 Position sensing using the local deformation of sensor cells
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 50/82 Cathodes
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/1216 the pixel elements being capacitors
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/40 OLEDs integrated with touch screens
• CPC Class Codes: H10K 59/8052 Cathodes

Abstract

An in-cell touch panel, driving method thereof and display device are provided. The in-cell touch panel includes: a base substrate; an opposing substrate arranged opposite to the base substrate; a plurality of organic light-emitting diode pixel units disposed on a side of the base substrate facing the opposing substrate, wherein each of the OLED pixel units include an anode layer; a pressure-sensitive detection chip; and a plurality of mutually independent pressure-sensitive detection electrodes disposed between the cathode layer and the opposing substrate, wherein a capacitor structure is formed by the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes and the cathode layer, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection chip is configured to determine a pressure value at a touch position by detecting a capacitance variation between the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes and the cathode layer.

Claims

1. An in-cell touch panel, comprising:

a base substrate;

an opposing substrate arranged opposite to the base substrate;

a plurality of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) pixel units disposed on a side of the base substrate facing the opposing substrate and arranged in a matrix, wherein each of the OLED pixel units include an anode layer, an emission layer (EML) and a cathode layer disposed on the base substrate in sequence;

a pressure-sensitive detection chip;

a plurality of mutually independent pressure-sensitive detection electrodes disposed between the cathode layer and the opposing substrate, wherein a capacitor structure is formed by the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes and the cathode layer; and

conductive connection points in one-to-one correspondence with the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes,

wherein the pressure-sensitive detection chip is configured to apply pressure-sensitive detection signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes in a pressure-sensitive touch period, and determine a pressure value at a touch position by detecting a capacitance variation between the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes and the cathode layer,

a material of each of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes is a transparent conductive material; and

an orthographic projection of each of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes on the base substrate covers at least one OLED pixel unit, and

the in-cell touch panel further comprises;

a black matrix (BM) layer disposed between the base substrate and the opposing substrate, and orthographic projections of gaps between the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes on the base substrate fall within an orthographic projection of the BM layer on the base substrate,

the conductive connection points are disposed in a peripheral region surrounding a display region of the in-cell touch panel, the peripheral region has four sides, the conductive connection points are distributed on all the sides of the peripheral region, and the conductive connection points corresponding to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are distributed on the sides of the peripheral region which are the closest to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes.

2. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are multiplexed as self-capacitive electrodes;

and

the pressure-sensitive detection chip is further configured to apply capacitance detection signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes in a capacitive touch period, and determine the touch position by detecting the capacitance variation of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes.

3. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 2, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are arranged in a same layer.

4. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 3,

wherein a material of each of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes is a metallic material;

and patterns of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are latticed structures of which orthographic projections on the base substrate fall within regions provided with patterns of the BM layer.

5. A display device, comprising the in-cell touch panel according to claim 1.

6. The display device according to claim 5, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are multiplexed as self-capacitive electrodes;

and

the pressure-sensitive detection chip is further configured to apply capacitance detection signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes in a capacitive touch period, and determine the touch position by detecting the capacitance variation of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes.

7. The display device according to claim 6, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are arranged in a same layer.

8. A driving method of the in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, wherein one frame of time at least includes a display period and a pressure-sensitive touch period;

in the display period, the pressure-sensitive detection chip does not apply signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes; and

in the pressure-sensitive touch period, the pressure-sensitive detection chip applies the pressure-sensitive detection signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes, and determines the pressure value at the touch position by detecting the capacitance variation between the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes and the cathode layer.

9. The driving method according to claim 8, wherein the one frame of time further comprises:

a capacitive touch period; and

in the capacitive touch period, the pressure-sensitive detection chip applies capacitance detection signals to the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes, and determines the touch position by detecting the capacitance variation of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes.

10. The driving method according to claim 9, wherein in the pressure-sensitive touch period, a signal applied to the cathode layer is a capacitance detection signal;

and in the capacitive touch period, the signal applied to the cathode layer is a fixed voltage signal.

11. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, wherein areas of the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are gradually increased along a direction from a central region to a border region of the base substrate.

12. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, further comprising:

leads in one-to-one correspondence with the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes, and conductive connection points in one-to-one correspondence with the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes, wherein

orthographic projections of the leads on the base substrate fall within the orthographic projection of the BM layer on the base substrate;

the conductive connection points are disposed in a peripheral region surrounding a display region of the in-cell touch panel; and

after being connected with the conductive connection points through the leads, the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are electrically connected with the pressure-sensitive detection chip through metal wirings which are in one-to-one correspondence with the conductive connection points and disposed in the peripheral region.

13. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the pressure-sensitive detection electrodes are disposed on a side of the opposing substrate facing the base substrate.

14. The in-cell touch panel according to claim 1, wherein the BM layer is disposed in regions opposite to gaps between the OLED pixel units.